Good news and GREAT news! Or maybe GREAT news and GREAT news: I’m still having an awesome time helping out with the middle school xc team, and I ran! Twice – and my shin feels good! If things keep going well with my leg, I’ll describe my feelings, ideas, and running experiences ad nauseum – but for now I’d just like to reintroduce a feature that has been missing too-long from my blog – my year’s mileage counter at the end of my posts. Unlike in the past, I’m not going to set any goals about how many miles I’m going to run because I don’t want to push myself and overdo it, but for now I’m just excited to have the mileage counter back.
See how healed it is? And how cute my puppy is?
Helping out with the xc team has made me even more excited for running. I’m glad my leg has decided to at least pretend to be better for now, because I would probably be feeling pretty sad right now if I was out watching a bunch of kids run around while I couldn’t. But I’m not just excited for me to run, I’m also excited for the kids to run, and happy to play even the smallest part in getting them involved in running.
Not everyone is going to be a lifelong runner, but more importantly, I like seeing kids learn how to work hard. There are some kids on our team that already know how – the kids that have either realized that it’s cool to run the extra lap when your coach gives you that option, or are just driven to always do their best. I love these kids. I was on my way to being one of these kids in middle school, but definitely wasn’t there yet – it took me a couple more years to really adopt that mentality. I’m excited to see which kids are like me – able to work hard, but need someone to push them to get that attitude, to learn to really want it. And I hope to be one of the people that pushes them to get there.
Of course these kids also need a coach who’s going to not just push them, but also teach them how to take care of themselves and to run smart. I am great at telling stories about how I’ve injured myself and handing out sarcastic training advice… so it’s a good thing these kids have other coaches to provide actual running knowledge.
When you work at a computer all day you get really into terrible memes.
Miles run in 2014: 4!!!!*
*There have probably been a few other random miles here and there, but I’m starting with this week because these have been my first 4 completely pain-free, enjoyable miles.
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