Running

Our oldest wants to join high school cross country team. He started training a couple of week ago - these are optional training sessions run by their coach. Mandatory training is starting in earnest in mid-August. 

He seems to like it. 

Which is interesting because in some ways we are so much alike... but not when it comes to running.

Running was a normal part of childhood back in those days. Many kids, when they wanted to get from point A to point B, would just run in one happy pell-mell group. Not me - I just never could keep up. I honestly admitted this terrible shortcoming to my friends and neighbors - that I was a "slow runner", so that they wouldn't think I was not running along with them out of some misguided feeling of superiority. As it was, I did my best to avoid running whenever possible. 

It became more of an issue when we moved to Latvia when I was 13, where the school actually had gym classes and teachers. Gym classes were intense. We ran. We did high jumps. We did long jumps. We threw javelin. We threw dud grenades (yes, really). Your grade was based on how well you did on those tests - how high, how far, how fast. 

I routinely had a "C" equivalent in my report card for gym. It was a "C" only because the gym teacher felt bad for me - otherwise, it would have been an "F". I showed up, I did the drills, I practiced... I just never got better and never ran fast enough, jumped high or far enough to get a passing grade.

As traumatic and terrible as all that was... and let me tell you, being left behind is totally traumatic! For running practice, our gym teacher would take our class on a neighborhood run. Guess who couldn't keep up? The problem was, I was new in town, so after a few turns in and out residential neighborhoods and courtyards, I would fall completely behind and get completely lost. So I would end up wondering around random streets and mustering up the courage to ask someone for directions. It felt too mortifyingly embarrassing to ask "Where is the school?" So I opted for "Where is the hospital?" because I knew how to get from the hospital to the school (it was only like a block away). I still remember how to say it in Latvian: "Kur ir slimnica?"

Guess who was late for the next class?

So yes, so sad, so traumatic. But also - so cool! If it wasn't for those gym classes, I would have never tried any of those things. Did I hate gym class? Totally. But now, looking back, it was so cool that everyone had a chance to push themselves, to try something new... not just the kids on track & field teams.

I took a gym class in the 12th grade at the American high school. I got an A. Because it wasn't about achievements - it was all about putting in the work. I even enjoyed exercise for the first time in my life. I didn't have to take risks. I didn't feel uncomfortable or scared. I learned that I was able to run 20 minutes without stopping. 

I still dislike running and avoid it.

I do hope my kids get to try high jumps, long jumps, and javelin-throwing in school at some point even if they don't join track & field.