Gosh, how I love to watch my boys run at the track meets. Who knew that I would become such a fan, but I love every minute of it. I understand track. It's easier than soccer. Participants run until they cross the finish line. There is no one to thwart your efforts like there is in soccer. It's just the runner and his determination to run. I regularly get "misty" watching a meet; it typifies the strength of the human spirit. I'm a cheering mom; that's my role. I jump up and down and yell for them to keep pushing every time they pass by. I celebrate with them when the race is over and encourage them even if they don't get first or don't get a better time than they did at the last meet. I learn who the other runners are on the team, and I cheer for them too. I love the determination that I see on their faces and the guts that they show as they press on in spite of the fact that every muscle in their bodies are crying out for them to stop. I never see my boys break their stride even though quitting would be easier. They push themselves to their physical limits and then push further, and it makes me so proud of them - so in awe of them.
This week has been a banner week for the Harp runners.
Josh ran his personal best 800-meters at today's relay meet. He ran the 800-meter leg of the 1600-meter medley relay. He had a strategy for how to beat BJ (a runner from a neighboring town that he's been running against for years), and he went out there and did it. He ran his persoanl best time at 2:05 and beat BJ by one second. Oh, how fun it was to see that unfold - to watch him push himself beyond what he thought he was capable of - and succeed. He hugged me; I hugged him and kissed him on the forehead and told him how proud I was of him.
On Thursday, Jesse ran his personal best in both the 1600-meter (5:28) and 800-meter (2:31) runs. He was hoping to skip the 1600-meter run at this meet so that he could see what kind of time he'd get in the 800-meter run if he was fresh (the 1600-meter run always comes before the 800-meter run). But, his coach wanted him to run both anyway, and even though he was disappointed, he pushed through the disappointment and ran both. He ended up running his best times yet in both races. I hugged him and kissed him on the forehead and told him how proud I was of him.
1 comment:
Jesse learned to run fast when he was little, just trying to keep up with the bigger boys when they were on their bikes!!
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