Recently, I came across a post on Facebook about the “10 Things I want my 10 year old Daughter to know.” I loved it….you can find it here.
Of course, it got me thinking about putting together my own, fantastic, going to go viral blog post about all the things I want Piper to know but she will never listen to because she is a 10 year old girl-child.
Then I realized a couple things….1) the list above pretty much nails it (and I’m not into plagarization) and 2) no one warned me, and I survived. Actually, some of the best lessons in life cannot be taught, but have to be lived and learned (how is that for profound at 5:39am)
One thing I can and do tell Piper on a daily basis (often because of her selectiveness deafness) is that if you want something, go get it. TRY! Don’t be afraid to fail because again, that’s where the lesson lies. If it is one thing I could get across to anyone it’s that….failure (if taken the right direction) can be as motivating as success.
I get soooooo furious when a training run sucks. WHY do I struggle with 3 miles or 5 miles but 10 feels great?? Well it finally dawned on me that 10 feels great because 3 sucked…and that pushed me to run harder and kick those 3 miles in the ass and add a few more. Because I can. The human body is capable of so much more then we like to think it is. Once we realize that we won’t break, just because we ache a little (ok, some people do and some aching needs medical attention, but for the sake of this blog, I’m not talking about those situations) and you won’t die if your start panting a little harder than your used to on your first run ever. Push through. Get some ice. Take a hot shower. Invest in KT Tape, Flexerall, Blue Ice, Advil, Aleve, anything and everything compression, and go kick that in the ass.
The #1 rule in my house is do your best. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but whatever you do, do your best. Don’t go out on the basketball court and half-ass the effort…..give it 110% and regardless of the score, I will be proud of you. Same goes for myself……I’m never going to run a 1:45 ½ and if I do, it will be a long long LONG time! I do want to run a sub 2, and I’m working my way to it…..but for now, I just want to beat my PR (2:14) and know that above all, I left everything I had on the road. I blew out my lungs, my tank was on E, I had nothing left at the end of the run. Nothing left to give = no regrets. If there is 1 thing in life I could teach my children, that is it…give it your all, you have nothing left to give, you can’t say I wish I did more.
Do you run your races like they are the last one ever?? How do you push through??
I loved the list and I hope that if Piper takes one thing away from it, #8 “It’s Not About You”, is what she’ll remember.