Running is admittedly irrationally important to me. I've run off and on for quite a bit of my adult life, but only in the last 5-6 years has it become a priority, my primary form of exercise - the thing that gets my ya-yas out. I know it is inevitable that our passions influence our children and I'm mostly ok with that. I do try to be careful to make space for them to discover the things they love to do...
The girls asked if we could sign up for the Grand Blue Mile this week, a road race that kicks off the Drake Relays. And I will admit, I had my credit card out of my wallet pretty quick to make it so! Tuesday night, on a gorgeous night we toed the line for our first race together. I thought my heart might burst right out of my chest running a race alongside my girls.
Ava had already run her Girls on the Run practice that afternoon, so she was working pretty hard on the mile race. Amelia had the giddy-ups right from the start. Ava and I finally cut her loose at the 3/4 mile mark and she darted ahead, finishing 21 seconds before us. Both girls ran the race faster than I would have predicted, but it made everything go by too quick for this sentimental mama.
I want the girls to find their own way, their own sports, their own passions. I don't want them to run because it is important to me. But for the 9-ish minutes it took us to run the Grand Blue Mile what kept going through my mind was, "please, let this be the first of many races we run together...."
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