this one is about running

With the start of the new semester came the start of slogging with students after class.  Slogging is “slow-jogging,” and it often alternates between jogging and walking.  There is always lots of talking and laughing mixed in too.  We’ve been doing this for a couple of years now and it’s been a great way to get to know students better or even meet new freshmen.  At the first slog of the semester, Michael, who “slalked” with the group of slow walkers all of last year decided to run with us.  I asked him if he had run in the past, and he said, “Yes.”  I asked if he ran cross country or track, and he responded with, “I ran in elementary school, you know, to the playground.”  Three miles later Michael had completed his first 5K.  His legs were tired, but he was pretty amped up and very proud of himself.

Two weeks later E. Coop showed up and said she was going to run too.  She is a self-proclaimed non-runner, but what the heck?  She hung right in there with us, alternating between running and walking in 95 degree heat and full sun for 2 miles.  When she told us she was heading back to her dorm, she appeared to be dying.  An hour later she posted on social media “So now that I’ve been able to sit, shower, and drink water, I feel more alive.  And I’m a little proud of myself for actually running today.”

If I’m completely honest, I run for selfish reasons.  I love the way I feel after a run.  I love the quiet time in my brain while I run.  I love what running does for my health.  I run to stay in shape and to hopefully stay alive long enough to see my kids grow up.  I run so that I can be healthy enough to enjoy life.  I run so that I can eat doughnuts, waffles, and ice cream.  But somewhere under all that selfishness, I also run for moments like the ones described above.  I love to share something so wonderful - something I truly believe in – with the people around me.  I know how it can help them, and I want them to experience it. 

The last week of July my son Blue joined the Cross Country team at his school.  He was not a runner and had zero desire to run Cross Country.  Basically, he was told he needed to find a school sport he wanted to participate in.  The physical activity and social aspects of team sports are important, and it’s something he’s avoided up until 8^th grade.  So he looked at the practice times and the length of the seasons and decided that Cross Country might be the lesser of all the evils.  Some of you may be thinking his runner dad pressured him into running.  You would be wrong.  I never ran for any team or school and other than running every day and having great running shoes, I know relatively nothing about running.  His first Cross Country practice was also my first Cross Country practice. 

On July 25 Blue ran 1.5 miles in 18 minutes.  On August 20 he ran his first ever 5K in 44:55.  He’s been steadily improving since.  He’s shaved more than 10 minutes off his 5K time, lost about 6 pounds, and has stopped feeling like he’s seriously dying every time he runs. 

To qualify to run with the team in a meet, male runners must run a 5K on a tough course in under 31 minutes.  The last .25 miles of the 5K is up a killer hill.  The kind of hill that leaves you gagging at the top.  And the heat and humidity in the South during August and September is something you have to experience to fully understand. 

Everyone on the team knows exactly how difficult it is to start running.  Some of these kids are running 18 and 19 minute 5Ks.  But there’s something really amazing about runners.  Runners encourage each other.  Everyone probably wants to be the fastest person on the team.  Everyone wants to make All-State and win awards, so there is a level of competition, but even when they’re running in a race you’ll hear these kids encouraging other runners.  I watched a girl pass another runner in the final stretch of a race and she managed to shout “You’re doing great!” to the runner as she passed. 

While his teammates wait for Blue to finish running, they often backtrack on the trail until they meet him and then run with him to get him to the finish line.  On laps they all shout instructions and encouragement to him.  The team parents also do this.  On the days I’m not able to make it to practice, some of the other dads run with him.  It’s so cool. 

Last week during a Saturday morning practice Blue had to run 2 miles and his goal was sub 20 minutes.  We started out strong and he was at the front of the pack, running with the fastest runners.  As we approached the .5 mile mark, the other runners slowly started to pass and move forward.  As each one passed Blue they shouted encouragement telling him what a great start he had.  I stayed with him, just a couple of steps ahead, for the entire time.  I shouted, pushed and encouraged.  I told him his pace and when he needed to pick it up.  The last .5 miles of his run was going to be downhill and he needed to make up some time.  There were several college team runners on the trail doing laps for a long run and as we approached the last .5 mile a group of them were gaining on us.  I urged Blue to run hard, to sprint to the finish.  I told him not to let those guys pass him.  He turned it on and ran as hard as he could.  For that entire stretch I shouted and he pushed.  And then the coolest thing happened.  As the group finally started to overtake him near his finish line, each of them started shouting encouragement to him.  They called him by his name and told him to finish strong, that he could do it, and to not give up.  It was truly wonderful.  Blue finished his two miles in 20:02, just 2 seconds over his goal.  He felt great.

Last night Blue ran the 5K course and hoped to qualify.  During the team time before running, the coach asked the runners to share something they were thankful for.  One of the varsity runners said he was thankful for Blue and that he was working so hard to get better. 

When we started running the 5K Blue didn’t feel like he was going fast enough.  He did well on the first mile but stopped hitting his goals after that.  His legs were tired and felt sluggish.  Every runner knows this feeling well.  He was getting frustrated but still he was close.  Close enough to have hope all the way to the last terrible uphill stretch.  Other runners were on the course, strangers not affiliated with his team or any team.  As they passed each one offered encouragement to Blue.  During the last half mile the male varsity runners from Blue’s team left their practice sprints and backtracked down the trail to find Blue and run him in to the finish line.  They ran with him every step and offered advice and encouragement to the very last step.  They paused to congratulate him on running hard and told him he was doing great before heading back to finish their practice.  Blue didn’t make his qualifying time but shaved another minute off his 5K.  He did great.

Now I can’t stop thinking about the encouragement Blue has been given since he joined the team.  These runners offering words of encouragement and acts of kindness are just regular people  They’re high school and middle school students with normal lives and stresses of their own.  But when they encourage someone they become extraordinary.  They literally change another person’s life. 

I can’t help but wonder what it would look like if I lived my life like those runners.  What would it look like if you metaphorically stopped your regular practice and backtracked to meet a frustrated soul where they were and ran with them to the finish?  What would it look like if I encouraged strangers with kind words and deeds that literally changed their lives? 

I want to find out.

capsized

Yesterday there was drama, excitement and danger.  It. Was. Awesome.

Yesterday was December 28.  It was sunny and an unseasonable 65 degrees.  Blue, Violet and I slept late while G got up early and went to work.  If you're new here, my job during summer and winter break is to keep the kids alive.  So yesterday I did my morning routine and while I was having a wonderful coffee at breakfast I realized that it would be a sin to waste such a beautiful day sitting inside.  Winter is coming, I can feel it, and a day like this may not come around again until spring.  The kids were apparently ready for an adventure so they started on picnic lunches and water bottles while I loaded up the kayaks.  

It was beautiful out on the water.  I was in shorts and a tshirt.  I forgot my sweatshirt, but luckily I didn't need it.  I had the kids dressed a little more appropriately (again, my job is to keep them alive).  From the shore we set out across the way to an island.  It's some sort of protected land owned by the state and with the lake level low for winter, there was a lot of exposed shoreline to explore.  We paddled to one side to get a good look and as Blue was pointing out something he spied from his boat, he pointed too hard and leaned too far and his boat tipped.  His panic tipped it further, water rushed inside and in a blink, he was neck deep in the lake.  His life jacket kept him up so far that it took him a moment to realize he could touch the bottom but once he did, he ran to the shore.  I'm sure his life flashed before his eyes.  I may have mentioned that it was December 28.  While the day was warm, the lake water was decidedly not warm.  

So how was that awesome?  It seems like Blue asks me that a lot when we have these types of experiences.  And it's funny how things have changed in that regard.  When he was born my life was all about keeping him alive.  We covered all the electrical outlets with little plastic things.  We moved furniture with sharp corners so it wouldn't be in his path.  Cleaning products were moved up high and we even put those little plastic locks on all the cabinets.  He couldn't go outside if it was too hot or too cold.  We bathed him in Lysol and GermX.  We protected him from every physical, emotional and mental danger we could possibly imagine.  

We had a creek that cut across our yard when I was a kid.  At some point it was piped underground but when I was around 10 the pipes under the driveway gave way and had to be replaced.  These things happened slowly as work like this was often traded as favors and had to happen to fit someone else's work schedule.  Early on a backhoe came by on a slow day and dug up the entire path across the driveway and removed the pipes.  Dirt was piled head high on both sides of the creek.  These two completely awesome "ramps" were conveniently located at the low spot on the driveway.  We had a downhill run and visions of Evel Knievel in our heads.  One afternoon my older brothers and I were jumping our little Grand Canyon on our bikes and some stranger lady pulled in the driveway.  She drove around the little detour and knocked on the door to our house.  She then informed my parents that we were all about to kill ourselves jumping over that pit in our driveway.  Of course, we did this just about every day so mom and dad shrugged it off and sent her on her way.  

My parents protected us.  They made sure we were safe.  But they also allowed us to live and explore and have adventures.  We dug giant holes.  We cut down trees with hatchets.  We got cuts and scrapes and probably a few concussions, but we didn't know what those were so it's ok.  All those adventures helped to teach us how to live and how to be people.  

I realize this is not a newsflash to most of you but we are raising generations of children who think an adventure is something you play on an XBox.  Excitement is only something they feel when there's a new season of their favorite show released on Netflix.  They survive on carbonated sugar drinks and Cheetos.  And all this because their parents have hovered and tried to protect them from all sorts of dangers.  So they sit inside and breath processed air and they whine incessantly when the temperature varies one degree in either direction.  They don't know what it's like to go exploring in the woods.  They never play in the mud.  They never experience any kid-friendly "danger".

So when they grow up into teens and 20somethings they are pasty, unhealthy, scared of everything and they don't know how to deal with real excitement or challenges because their parents aren't there to hover and fix it anymore.  

In their book "The Dangerous Book For Boys", Conn and Hal Iggulden write, "In this age of video games and cell phones, there must still be a place for knots, tree houses, and stories of incredible courage."  Yes, there must be.  


Yesterday Blue caught his breath on the shore.  He was truly terrified by the cold and unexpected swim.  We stood in the sun as he dripped dry and then we walked the shoreline and found cool treasures.  He started making jokes about being wet and falling out of his boat.  Then he got back in his kayak and paddled himself across the lake like a dude who just punched a dragon in the face.

It was awesome.  


(If you have kids or if you plan to have kids ever, buy "The Dangerous Book For Boys".  Read it and do some of the cool stuff with your kids.  It's totally safe for girls too.)

family tradition

When I was 7 my dad thought I was old enough to take my first crack at welding.  I used a stick welder and made an ugly 3 legged table out of scrap steel.  I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  

Today at 7 years old, my boy Blue stepped into the family tradition.  He's a natural.  After the first tack he was excited and he kept grabbing steel scraps out of the floor and zapping them on to make his first steel sculpture.  


Papa Mac would be so proud.

blue's point of view

A couple of years ago Blue got a kid camera for Christmas.  He loved the indestructible thing and took tons of photos and videos.  He still has it and at the beach this year he started complaining about the poor quality of the photos on his camera.  Yeah, he's 6 years old.  

So this week I found the old iPhone 3g and charged the battery.  It's not a phone but it still works as a tiny computer and I thought I'd let him take some photos with it to see how he did.  When we go on our summer adventures it allows him to play games in the car and to take photos while we are there.  

This week we took our first field trips and here's how Blue saw them:

  

 So excited to have the camera he started taking pictures before we left the house.

 Our trip to the Columbia Museum of Art.  I thought this was a rather nice photo of the Henry Moore sculpture.

 And the photo that everyone takes of the Chihuly.

 He was excited to find all the hidden stars in this painting.

 He made me stand still for this one.

 He was especially fond of the older art upstairs.  After seeing him take a photo of this one, I also took one for myself.  

 He got an art explorer pack and got to draw in the community sketchbook.  He was inspired by the squares downstairs and drew this.  I love the skull and crossbones he put on top of it.

 That afternoon he took this one of Zeke.

 Next field trip, to Musgrove State Historical site.  A photo of a soldier.

 He took this one while we were all collecting ticks.

 Horseshoe Falls from his picnic site.

 He was thrilled to find this mushroom.  I was thrilled by the way he took the photo from directly overhead making an abstract composition.

And his view of dinner at Blue Ocean.