I'm going to vent... don't say I didn't warn you.
I'm venting in a good way... but I'm insulted & frustrated & I must get it off my bosom.
It was mentioned to me that registering my 4 year old to race another 1km might be a 'stupid idea' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF??
Apparently 4 is too young to learn the values & integrity that come from racing, and 1km can be run on the soccer field any day, why should I pay and why should he even bother??????????? WTF??
First off, I'll start by admitting that yes, I am thrilled & I take great pride in the fact that Dylan is competitive. He enjoys his victories, no matter how big or how small (he's 4, having proper aim in the toilet is a victory). And I believe he should. We celebrate a 'perfect pee' because I am raising a person here, one whom I can only pray I have raised to be a decent and contributing adult one day. Much the same way we stand straight and look at where we are 'shooting', we also train for these 1km races because he has learned that reaching a goal is a victory no matter how cumbersome.
He knows that the medal comes with a rush of pride in his little-big heart that he did it on his own. No piggyback, no scooter, no alternative way of making it real. The raw human truths that exist for us as we swim, bike, run our way through the miles are just as evident and life changing for him in 1 km. Now, I'm not crazy enough to believe he puts as much stress on the local kids race as I did on Timberman... he can't yet read a calendar, and he certainly cannot be introspective enough to be passionate about running- but kids get it. They get it better, obviously, than some adults... that when you say you will do something, and you proceed to do it no matter how much it hurts (remember when he hit The Wall in Ottawa.... ouff...) that the accomplishment changes you for the better.
Just as I believe every single driver should be put out in traffic on a bike before handed their drivers licence, I think every small headed, emotionless adult should be forced to run a kids race. 1km. I bet you the majority couldn't do it as brilliantly as those kids do, and I bet you my next half marathon entry that they would cross the finish line crawling with a whole new respect for the amazing spirit that lives in all athletes, no matter how old or young.
We live in a society where a packaged fruit twist has replaced an apple, where video games and Diego are more entertaining than hide-n-seek. It seems horrifying to think that anything as simple as kicking a soccer ball through grass could ever replace the emotion-filled, high 5 spirit of the 'marathon'. If Dylan running his intervals up and down the driveway replaces 10 minutes of Disney Channel dullness I am celebrating that as a mothering victory. I take amazing pride in my boy's races, not because I want him to be the next Crowie, but because I want him to be somebody.
1km September 19th: race report to follow.
Train safe,