So I will be going on a bit of a writing hiatus while I wait for the Spring season to start up. I might return to writing on my personal blog about my training experiences since I am taking up some new projects next year. I can hear a few of my friends exasperated sighs as they keep telling me to cut back on my activities...I JUST CANT! Its not in my nature.
So I should start this blog from Friday night.
My 6 year old daughter decided she wanted to run the 5k with my team on December 3rd. I was needless to say, Thrilled! So Friday night I followed my own advice that I gave to parents. I started our own traditions for running together. We went out and had dinner-pasta and pizza to give us energy. Then we went and saw a movie together just the two of us and ate a little candy. I know, I am a bad mom/coach giving a kid candy but it was a movie and she never eats candy.
When we got home I showed her how we have to get all our stuff ready for the next day. She said she was really tired so we got her clothes set out and she crawled under my big huge comforter and promptly passed out. I was a bit jealous of her slumber as I stayed up for the next two hours getting packages together, signs, my own clothes, hair supplies, breakfast snacks and drinks, and anything else that I could think of that I would need including...my tutu.
I promised my girls that if everyone showed up to the race I would run in a big huge tutu. So Saturday morning with the brisk cool air of the upper 30's we gathered our things and got into the car. My daughter is not a big breakfast kid so a granola bar and some juice go a long way for her. We head to the race and already I am getting phone calls from parents and coaches. We arrive and find out that we were about the last people from our team to arrive!
And madness ensues. Handing out race numbers to kids and adults, running around trying to gather them with their buddy runners, trying to find friends that came out to help either run or volunteer on the course. It was a mad house. And all I kept hearing was little girls asking-"Where's the tutu coach Jillianne?".
Those kids are hilarious if not smart at remembering details. So I get my back pack and pull out my balled up tutu. I never heard so many gasps at once. My daughter was giggling the whole time because, well, I am a silly mom and I have worn this out in public with her on many occasions.
I gear up, tutu on, mismatch knee high socks (check), sparkles and pigtails (check), unicorn mascot (check), and hand held speakers hooked up to my custom created playlist (check).
I scoop up my daughter and guide any last minute runners onto the starting line. We take a few pictures and then, We're off!
I can't tell you how amazing it is seeing your own daughter and her friend run with you in such an amazing event. Watching ten weeks of work with these kids right before your eyes. I loved seeing all the parents, teachers, families, and friends running with these kids. They were all dressed up, cheering the girls on and all in all having a good time. And I loved having my music with me for the kids.
You know what made me really happy while running was seeing friends of mine that came out to volunteer on the course and run with the girls. So I want to give a mini shout out to my friends from the US Navy-Nia , to Elevi-Phil, PJ and associates, and to my two friends who I know came out to run with the girls-Reci and Whitney and everyone that you guys brought along with you. Your support is what helps keep me motivated to coach.
So I wont lie, I wont say I had doubts so much as I was worried about one of my runners finishing. It was a really big deal that all my runners finished the entire 5k. I knew each of them was completely capable of doing this but I worried because as hard as I tried, I can't ease all self doubt a girl might have about herself. To me it was most important that the girls that had doubt understood that if they could run a 5k against all odds, that they could do anything in the world that they could dream. So when I came across the finish line with my daughter and my other mini running partner, I dropped them off with the correct people and turned around and went back onto the course to find my last runner and make sure she came across.
And wouldn't you know to my surprise as I only got about 30 feet from the finish line and she was right there pushing on through! And for as proud of my daughter as I am for finishing a 5k and honoring me by running her first ever 5k with me as I did with my father, I can't tell anyone how amazing it felt as a coach to watch and realize that every single one of my girls had completed the event successfully. I truly can't explain how overjoyed I felt.
So you want to know what I gained from that experience? That these kids will never cease to amaze me! And walking through the crowd afterwards and my girls tackling me with hugs and smiles as we took photos, talked about their run and how well they did, and they just gushed about how much fun they had and couldn't wait to do it again.
So when I am sitting there half way through the season next spring and I am stressed and trying to manage my time, I will look at the pictures from that day and know that at the end of ten weeks I have those smiles to look forward too again.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
How do I write without getting emotional
Yeah, this isn't the easiest blog to write this week. This is our last week as a team meeting. I ran into my dreaded moment as a coach-getting sick and having to debate whether or not I could make it to practice on Monday.
I go to school full time and so I didn't finish my midterm final till late in the evening as I emptied an entire box of tissues because I was struggling with a head cold. I woke up Monday morning after a few hours of sleep and felt like someone had just dropped a truck load of bricks on my head, thrown some fire into my throat, and shoved about 5 gallons of snot into my nose. I made it 9 weeks and didn't get sick and finally after a 1 week break from coaching my body decided to get back at me.
I made the decision to sleep all day, hating that I had to miss my day job and drag to practice. I was really looking forward to seeing the girls since it has been almost two weeks. And I thought they would be a barrel of monkeys with all sorts of bottled up energy. But they have come such a long way in such a short time. They recognized immediately that I didn't have my normal energy and that I could barely talk. Shoot, I was lucky I could remember their names.
They got right to work on their community service projects. They made work stations, gave each other ideas, and created a pile of cards to send to military service members for the holidays. It really touched my heart and well, lets be honest, was a huge relief. Hey, all you parents know what I mean. That day you are just so under the weather and you want to do your best for your kids and they turn the table on you and do their best for you. This was one of those days.
So with that I went home and crashed early and looked forward to seeing myself recover so that I could be 100% on my game to celebrate with the girls on Wednesday.
What an emotional roller coaster for me. I know they only saw happiness and smiles and normal Coach Jillianne but man, inside I was just a wreck.
So I started my practice with a circle. We started the season this way getting to know each other and I wanted to end the season this way, showing the girls how much they have learned about each other. I loved some of the things they had noticed that even I didn't realize. I didn't know one girl's favorite color was blue and that she had worn blue every practice, that totally caught me off guard. I didn't realize the girls had learned character traits about other girls and what they appreciated the most from their team mates. They definitely looked up to certain girls and had a lot of admiration for each other.
I actually tried to avoid letting them say anything about me. I was being selfish and mostly I was pretty sure that they could have told me I was horrible and I would still get choked up about it because this program has taught me so much and given me back more than I ever feel like I can repay.
But with their plea's I let the girl to my left say something about me, and let me tell you, the words meant so much that I debated not writing about it in this blog because it took every part of me to not cry when she said them and I am struggling even now to avoid crying in front of my computer.
"Coach Jillianne, I think you have a real talent for coaching. You are a really great coach and a lot of fun. Oh, and you're really pretty."
Silly really, simple words and shouldn't get to me that much. But if you are one of my friends or family reading this then you know how I reacted to the night/morning before I went to my first day of coaching. I was absolutely petrified. I was so unsure of myself, and scared that the kids wouldn't like me. And here we are, ten weeks later and they were telling me that I had done just fine. And shoot, they think I am pretty. Don't lie, all you women out there know you need to hear that once and a while.
And you know what it is that gets to me the most? I know I will coach for as long as I can over the future seasons. I love doing this and no matter my schedule or what people say, this is what I do for me and it brings me such happiness. But this team, this set of girls will hold a very dear place in my heart because they were the first team to join me on this journey. Teaching me as much as I hope I got to teach them. They inspired me to work harder at school, home, and in my own life and they have been my biggest source of inspiration to get back into running.
Cause that was what I had lost faith in the most over the years was my running. The thing that had always been my greatest joy I had basically all but quit over the past year. And I am running again with a sort of determination that I don't think I ever possessed. I am making the healthy choices I need in my life and its been amazing.
And as I watched the girls grab their treats of cupcakes, cookies, fruit and veggies and sit around the room chatting with girls they didn't know before they started this program, and their parents starting to filter in and join in with the girls, I was filled with so much joy and happiness. I would say its bittersweet knowing I may never see some of these girls again after our race this Saturday, but they will be in my heart and memories forever.
So I am glad for all that have read about my journey as a coach in my first season with Girls on the Run and I look forward to sharing many more stories of my adventures in the future. For now I will be gettin ready to prepare for what is probably the biggest 5k races I will ever run in my life. My first ever Girls on the Run 5k with my team the Purple Pickles.
I go to school full time and so I didn't finish my midterm final till late in the evening as I emptied an entire box of tissues because I was struggling with a head cold. I woke up Monday morning after a few hours of sleep and felt like someone had just dropped a truck load of bricks on my head, thrown some fire into my throat, and shoved about 5 gallons of snot into my nose. I made it 9 weeks and didn't get sick and finally after a 1 week break from coaching my body decided to get back at me.
I made the decision to sleep all day, hating that I had to miss my day job and drag to practice. I was really looking forward to seeing the girls since it has been almost two weeks. And I thought they would be a barrel of monkeys with all sorts of bottled up energy. But they have come such a long way in such a short time. They recognized immediately that I didn't have my normal energy and that I could barely talk. Shoot, I was lucky I could remember their names.
They got right to work on their community service projects. They made work stations, gave each other ideas, and created a pile of cards to send to military service members for the holidays. It really touched my heart and well, lets be honest, was a huge relief. Hey, all you parents know what I mean. That day you are just so under the weather and you want to do your best for your kids and they turn the table on you and do their best for you. This was one of those days.
So with that I went home and crashed early and looked forward to seeing myself recover so that I could be 100% on my game to celebrate with the girls on Wednesday.
What an emotional roller coaster for me. I know they only saw happiness and smiles and normal Coach Jillianne but man, inside I was just a wreck.
So I started my practice with a circle. We started the season this way getting to know each other and I wanted to end the season this way, showing the girls how much they have learned about each other. I loved some of the things they had noticed that even I didn't realize. I didn't know one girl's favorite color was blue and that she had worn blue every practice, that totally caught me off guard. I didn't realize the girls had learned character traits about other girls and what they appreciated the most from their team mates. They definitely looked up to certain girls and had a lot of admiration for each other.
I actually tried to avoid letting them say anything about me. I was being selfish and mostly I was pretty sure that they could have told me I was horrible and I would still get choked up about it because this program has taught me so much and given me back more than I ever feel like I can repay.
But with their plea's I let the girl to my left say something about me, and let me tell you, the words meant so much that I debated not writing about it in this blog because it took every part of me to not cry when she said them and I am struggling even now to avoid crying in front of my computer.
"Coach Jillianne, I think you have a real talent for coaching. You are a really great coach and a lot of fun. Oh, and you're really pretty."
Silly really, simple words and shouldn't get to me that much. But if you are one of my friends or family reading this then you know how I reacted to the night/morning before I went to my first day of coaching. I was absolutely petrified. I was so unsure of myself, and scared that the kids wouldn't like me. And here we are, ten weeks later and they were telling me that I had done just fine. And shoot, they think I am pretty. Don't lie, all you women out there know you need to hear that once and a while.
And you know what it is that gets to me the most? I know I will coach for as long as I can over the future seasons. I love doing this and no matter my schedule or what people say, this is what I do for me and it brings me such happiness. But this team, this set of girls will hold a very dear place in my heart because they were the first team to join me on this journey. Teaching me as much as I hope I got to teach them. They inspired me to work harder at school, home, and in my own life and they have been my biggest source of inspiration to get back into running.
Cause that was what I had lost faith in the most over the years was my running. The thing that had always been my greatest joy I had basically all but quit over the past year. And I am running again with a sort of determination that I don't think I ever possessed. I am making the healthy choices I need in my life and its been amazing.
And as I watched the girls grab their treats of cupcakes, cookies, fruit and veggies and sit around the room chatting with girls they didn't know before they started this program, and their parents starting to filter in and join in with the girls, I was filled with so much joy and happiness. I would say its bittersweet knowing I may never see some of these girls again after our race this Saturday, but they will be in my heart and memories forever.
So I am glad for all that have read about my journey as a coach in my first season with Girls on the Run and I look forward to sharing many more stories of my adventures in the future. For now I will be gettin ready to prepare for what is probably the biggest 5k races I will ever run in my life. My first ever Girls on the Run 5k with my team the Purple Pickles.
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