My older one is involved with his school’s cross country team this fall. All summer he’d been curious about running, and would often ask if I could take him to practice his running so that he could get faster. So his interest in cross country this fall isn’t exactly surprising.
What is surprising (in the best possible way), is that the boys on his cross country team get to participate in the 5km run as part of the Toronto Marathon next month, AND as part of their training, each boy has a goal of aggregating 37km of running during course of their training so that when they’re done the 5km at the marathon, they will have run a full marathon over the course of their season.
And the BEST part about all of this . . . well, clearly it’s that I’ve gained a running partner. This morning was our first run together. We did a solid 2km at a decent pace (I let him set the pace, and worked on technique as I had a bit – not much – of a slower pace than normal). And while he could use this run towards his total kms for school, I’ve looked up a few virtual runs that would be fun for us to do together, and came across this, The Hogwarts Running Club. This month has been shaping to be a Harry Potter kind of month . . . we’re reading the first book together, we’re going to have a movie night and watch the first movie as a family when we’re done reading the book . . . and now we can do a run together and earn a Harry Potter medal!
But on a serious note, this morning’s run was one of my favourite moments as a parent yet. Running may not be your thing, but try going for even just a walk with your kids. It’s amazing what they will share with you, when you’re one on one with no other distractions, and how connected you may end up feeling by the time you walk through your front door.
nancyhotson 