The girl in the above picture is not my daughter, but it reminds me of her. Yesterday was the second time I ran the practice 1-mile run with her in preparation for Saturday, and it was then that I realized how silly I had been to expect her to run at a slower, more moderate pace so that she could run further without having to stop. Running at anything but full speed ahead is not something a 5-year old can comprehend. To them, running is something they do with one main goal in mind: To get there as fast as they can, and to have as much fun as possible getting there. Running slower is too boring to them. Running fast makes your hair flow back behind you; the wind hits your face harder; it feels more like flying.
I realized that I wasn't making it exciting enough for her. Why would she want to run just for the sake of running? So I began to have little mini "races" with her, with the finish line being a certain landmark each time. One time we just ran in an "S" pattern around the small trees along the side of the road. Each time, she ran further and faster. I let her beat me most of the time, and it thrilled her to realize that she was "beating mama." During one of the "races," an airplane flew overhead and she said, "I'm going to CATCH that airplane!" So she ran faster and jumped up high in the air and said, "I caught it!"
She didn't care that she couldn't catch the plane. She wanted to try anyway. It was fun and exhilirating just to try.
Maybe I should try running more like a child.
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