Practice Makes Perfect-Or at least Close!

Thursday is national take your child to work day, so schools are closed meaning, no practice.  Crud.  The girls have already missed a bunch because of spring break, Easter holiday, and now this...nope, not gonna let this stand.  After a mass consensus from the parents that they can all bring their girls to practice on Wednesday we realize that it will be the closest I can get to a full team attendance in a while.  So I take advantage and schedule their practice 5k for this day.

The school is really supportive of Girls on the Run so they had no issue with me holding a practice outside my normal schedule.  They even helped make announcements at the end of the school day to remind the girls to go directly to the field for practice. 

I was super excited and nervous.  I always am, because I am sure I am going to forget something important on the race day.  Seriously, I am like a panicked mother over these kids.  I got off work early, and rush to the school and I am sure I look crazy hauling food, posters, materials, etc....up to the field.  The teachers just sort of smile and let me be. 

So after all is said and done, parents start trickling in as the girls come to practice. The parents are great at cheering kids on and it really is amazing how the girls will try a little harder. 

So you all know that part of us that is embarrassed to do anything overly silly in front of our peers?  We all suffer from being afraid of just letting go and being a kid at heart.  I find this more difficult that people will believe but I try not to let the girls see it.  And I tell them all that I have a new Energy award for them to try out.  They have been wanting new ones and so I spent some time looking for one for them.  I ran across this gem

http://lavieenorange.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/a-year-of-going-bananas/

and I started smiling and giggling at my seat when I watched it on my lunch break.  I thought this was a perfect energy award for kids.  So I set the girls in a circle and we warm up and stretch.  To get them excited and smling I get into the middle of the circle and start the cheer and to my surpise all the girls do it with me with smiling faces.  I kind of hope they know I wish I could thank them because my peers are their parents and I must admit that I was feeling a little bashful about doing this in front of them. 

So warm up, stretch, cheer -all check.  And we set the girls off running.  I actually plant myself at the other end of the field so that they have my silly self there cheering them on.  I always run faster with an audience and I feel like they do the same.  Everything goes according to plan.  The girls run, I dance and make signs for them and cheer for them as they run by, parents keep coming to watch and cheer the girls on, and we have a pretty successful 5k.  I think more than half the girls get all the laps they need for a 5k.  And everyone else gets very close.  Considering they really only get 40 minutes of practice to accomplish this, it's very impressive.

And in true fashion they all have race bibs, there is a water table with volunteers helping, there is bagels, bananas, and other snacks, including cupcakes for the girls as a little post event celebration, and the girls do an amazing job. 

I think my favorite part was during the cool down stretch how the girls were able to do a lot of it on their own as a team.  Counting for the stretch together, suggesting extra stretches to add, and just being super well behaved and cheerful.  I like seeing how proud they are about running. 

It wasn't till I got home and I had a little bit of sadness come over me.  5 of my girls are going to middle school next year and this was the last time I will get to be their coach for a 5k.  Holy cow, I only have a couple more weeks before they move up.  And I realize this has been the best year of my life  and I owe a large part of it to coaching these kids over the past year. 

But I am excited to watch these kids grow up and see the amazing things they do with their lives.  I mean, shoot, there are adults who wont even try to accomplish something as difficult as a 5k and these girls are well on their way or have already accomplished it more than once.

I am so happy that this program exists.

Gossip Mongers

"The most destructive force in the universe is gossip" ~Peter Hwang

Monday's lesson was gossip.  Something we are all guilty of at least once in our life.  I particularly like the set of lessons we are on because I learn myself even as an adult to pay more attention to my actions and words.  I think my friend's quote is perfect for this, because gossip is destructive to everyone involved.  My team struggles to focus on negatives during the lessons.  They really dislike it and would rather focus on the positive things they can do instead.  I kind of wonder if its that hopeful optimism that we all wish we had that all the kids at this age have.  I notice the 5th graders are starting to get these lessons a little differently as they are starting to transition in just a few more weeks from elementary school to middle school.  I almost feel badly for them as I know and remember the gossip mongers of middle school.  Middle school is mildly full of nightmarish memories for so many of us, including me.

I am glad that the girls try hard to talk about how there can be good gossip but I tell them our focus today is the negative gossip and its effects and how we can control it ourselves using methods that we have.  

So we had our first 'rain' day.  If you read my blog from last season you can tell that I had to learn to accommodate weeks of indoor training.  It was hard on the girls and myself missing being outdoors.  I am not a wimp, I can run in cold or rain myself but not both.  And I didn't want to risk getting these kids sick so I made sure to be protective when it was raining.

I started training at a new gym called Crazy88's.  I fell in love with the Brazilian JuJitsu classes and boot camp courses.  And what I really loved is that it has given me ideas of cardio and muscle building exercises that can be done indoors without weights.  I hate to say I have been stealing my workout ideas for my team from a gym that teaches MMA.  Almost seems like it might be too intense but the girls love it.  I do simple exercises like running in place, jumps, squats, planks, etc...  I also make sure to give them alternate ways to do something if they are unable to do a specific move.  I have one girl who has been trying so hard but she is physically not able to do certain moves and so I usually try to put her next to me so that I can give her the alternate and encourage her for the effort she is putting forward.  I am also super aware of the girls' form so I will correct it when I can because the last thing I want is an injury.

So after wearing the girls out for 25 minutes we did our lesson of gossip.  I like this, as I already stated, but it bears repeating.  I think it is human nature in a way to spread gossip.  We are not intentionally trying to hurt anyone but we are just social beings that like to talk and be heard and gossip is the best way to garner someone's full attention.

Funny thing is a had a really bad bruise on my arm from working out.  The girls were kind of worried about me and I had to go through the whole story about it with them.  I used this to my advantage and said the following, "What if after this story one of you decided to tell an adult like your teacher or parent that Coach Jillianne got beat up by a boy and her arms are covered in bruises, but you left off the part that it was during her training in a controlled setting where an instructor was watching over and its just the nature of a full contact sport". The girls said,  it wouldn't be too bad.  I went through a series of gossip chain stringing from this initial line said to an adult:

Person 1-Coach Jillianne is covered in bruises from being beat up by a boy
Person 2-I heard Coach Jillianne is getting beat up and is covered in bruises
Person 3-I heard Coach Jillianne is talking to the girls about being abused by a guy because they saw her bruises
Person 4-I heard Coach Jillianne is in danger because one of her girls on the team saw her covered in bruises and she heard it was some guy that hit her
Person 5-I heard Coach Jillianne is getting beat up by her boyfriend and she is just playing it off to the girls that she coaches
Person 6-I heard Coach Jillianne and her daughters are in an abusive situation....

Now the gossip has grown dangerous because now Coach Jillianne and her daughters seem to be in danger and a person who is not aware of the truth might try to step in and protect her daughters from what looks to be an abusive situation and Jillianne has the bruises to prove it.

I think the girls really understood at this point the dangers of Gossip.  We did other activities that showed them why it can be such a negative behavior but the thing that really stuck with them was that the effects of their gossip could hurt people.

So in closing, for this days activities I leave you all with this thought.  You can be the source for gossip or you can be the solution.

Time to Stand Up and Be Proud

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."  ~Dr. Seuss

I liked this quote for what our lessons were this week of standing up to peer pressure and standing up for yourself as a girl on the run.

The girls are amazing.  I think it's time to say it, I have the best team ever. I know that is so biased but really, I do have the best group of girls both former team mates and current ones.

Monday we changed up our workout routine.  So many of the girls, more than half of them had run the 5k race for their school fundraiser on Sunday.  I had so much empathy for them because my own legs were in searing pain.  It hurt to walk.  It's a sad day though when it makes you feel better to hear a bunch of 8-10 year olds say how sore they are too.  Just so that I knew it wasn't just me!

So out into the 90 degree day....wait, what?  90 DEGREES!!!!  Hi, its only April and it was just 50 degrees a couple of days ago.  ::Sigh::  Mother nature, well played.  Of course the day you give us a searing hot day the girls don't have water with them it seems like.  SUPER FAIL!

Its ok, I already have a back up plan, we will just run anyways!  *Evil laughter ensues....oh, wait, these are kids, right...ok, rethink lesson.

So today we changed things. I love the GotR curriculum but have found one major flaw.  The girls are hyper and crazy when they get out of class. They have less focus.  So today we went outside and drilled for about 30 minutes in the shade and then stretched.  Then headed indoors to work on our lesson.  The amount of focus that the girls had was amazing. I had 15 little girls that I split into 5 teams of 3 and they worked in their groups for the first time ever with little to no argument.  Actually the only argument that happened was one girl with me wanting to be in a particular group and I said no, she needed to get to know her other teammates better.  She accepted this as a great answer.

So the girls talked about peer pressure.  Last season this was a hard lesson for me because the examples they want us to use are smoking/drugs.  These are elementary school kids and very few of them have had exposure to that from their peers.  So this season after watching and listening to my daughter's own plights I was able to get them to focus on the pressures they face to act a certain way, to dress a certain way or like certain things and not let others know what they really like because they can be made fun of for it.  Excellent, the girls are amazing.

Did you know how much you can learn as an adult from kids!  I have on particular girl who over the seasons I think has struggled to feel like a part of the group and even more so to feel proud/confident in herself to be part of the team or trust the coaches.  After two seasons with me I have seen a huge difference in her attitude from being a bit sullen and loner to her trying to be a leader and she really opened up during this lesson.  And then watching another girl who is often so quiet during some practices and it took a lot for me to accept that she is ok, just needs her space some day (I find this happens with kids who have younger siblings) and she nominated someone for an energy award-herself.  I about fell over-she nominated herself for just being awesome.  I left this practice with one of the biggest smiles on my face I have had in a long time.  The girls have come so far.

And then Thursday...what would I come in to see other than...

The girls lined up outside the classroom waiting patiently for an adult to show up!  um, ok...wow.  First time there wasn't a teacher in the room, my personal savior some days Ms Loughry. (<i>Oh yes, I call her out by name because this woman has to be one of the girls' biggest fans and she has very often saved me when I have cut it close by getting the girls to be ready when I walk in the door-words cannot express just how much I appreciate the support of the parents and teachers at this school</i>)She wasn't there and the girls followed instructions, no one is to enter without an adult.  *Happy dance

And I can go on forever about how great the girls were today.  They followed suit with Monday's behavior even with so many special guests.  But I want to bring up why this day's lesson means so much to me.  We learned the phrases
I Feel__, When you __, Because __, I would like ___.

And one of my special guests is the little sister of a former teammate who has joined the newly formed team at her school. I couldn't believe of all the days they got to come and surprise me that it was this day!  The youngest of our little participants last season, as their mother was my go to parent who came so often to practices when a coach couldn't make it and I pretty much voluntold her to be a coach for her daughters' school, was the reason I realized I was actually making a difference in these children's lives.

Her story-She was at a party dressed as her favorite character, Elmo.  Another little girl was making fun of her saying that Elmo was for babies.  This really upset the little girl and she had just attended out lesson about standing up for herself. She approached her peer and said very respectfully, "I fell badly, when you make fun of me, Because it hurts my feelings, I would like for you to please not make fun of me."

I could have cared less what the outcome was at that point, even though it turns out the bullying girl actually apologized.  What brings me back as a coach, even when I think of all the stress, anxiety, or time this takes in my life, was knowing that at that moment I had changed one girl's life.  That she had found the words to stand up for herself and that those words, while part of the plan, were something I had been able to teach her.

So having her show up on the day where I got to teach this lesson again, my heart soared to have her share her story with the team.  And they definitely took it to heart that this could really be something that could help them.

My lesson to any readers out there, is never stop believing that your actions and lessons that you try to teach your children are being ignored.  Cause somewhere in all that madness and energy that makes up your children, they are absorbing so much.

A practice and a race

"Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win."
- Tom Fleming's Boston Marathon training sign on his wall

In honor of the Boston Marathon happening today, my blog will be about Racing.

A quick side-Last Thursday we had a great practice. I find the girls are getting better at listening to other coaches and there is just something alarmlingly focused in their drive to run hard during practice. Even my most questionable of girls that gets very down on herself or just wants to argue and not run but instead socialize -They all did amazing. And I admit that while not perfect the girls did an amazing job of creating a thunderstorm. At least I thought it was cool.

Sunday the school was having a 5k fun run type of fund raiser. I have really become quite fond of the school and its staff and the families. I promised the girls I would run in it and then realized it is also my daughter's 7th birthday! I was at ends trying to figure out how to deal with this because I didn't want to miss any part of her birthday for this event but I also didn't want to miss the event. So the compromise is that my daughter ran with her father for the 5k. She talked about it for weeks, how it would be so neat to run in the race at the school.

Let me tell you how I know my daughter is part me! Saturday I had to take her to see a Dr in emergency like fashion because she had an abscess on the back of her calf that looked really infected and was causing her a bit of pain (plus it sort of exploded goo at me which made me freak!). The first thing she asked the Dr after he cleaned it all up and gave her meds was, "Can I still run in the race tomorrow?". I love that my kid's priorities are to run!

So Sunday morning a large part of my team actually came to the event. I don't know how many would have come normally but I think the promise of Coach Jillianne to come out there and run as fast as she could got them all excited. And let me tell you, I ran as hard as I could for those kids. And I haven't run in a 5k race in almost 10 years...10 YEARS!!!!! I mean I guess I have run in 5k's in the past 10 years but I always was more social, never really running as fast as I could, never caring about my time or my performance.

And I remind you of the power of a child! Those kids infected me with so much excited, including seeing my own little mini-me coming out to run that I was off like lightening. I honestly didn't care about where I placed but that I wanted to show these kids what hard work can get you.

But the other promise-I wanted to cheer each and every one of them across the finish line. I almost missed my first girl because she was literally 3 minutes behind me! Seriously, that kids was crazy fast.

And I got to cheer on every single girl as she came dashing across the line and the huge smile on their faces said it all, how proud they were to show off. Girls on the Run 5k is not a race, its an event to celebrate the accomplishment that these girls have in working hard to acheive their goal. Its a community effort to get the kids together and celebrated with hundreds of others what is possible when you work hard.

But yesterday was a race and let me tell you, those kids did amazing.

And my doubts for any of the kids to not be able to finish the 5k this spring were wiped away. I have had a few both seasons I coached that I was afraid wouldn't finish the race. It is a horrible feeling that you have to hide that you don't want to cause fear in kids.

And obviously I can't always talk about all the details but in the past two weeks some of my greatest fears have subsided for my current team as I have seen pretty much every single person on my team now complete a 5k.

And my favorite moment was when my daughter and all the girls from the team came to the finish line to cheer on the last team mate to complete the race. I am a big sappy coach that had tears in my eyes as I watched these kids screaming their team mate's name and cheering her on to the finish. Better yet, was that the crowd behind us realized what was happening and everything stopped for a minute while everyone cheered this one little girl on to the finish. I don't know what was better, being that one little girl that had the largest cheering squad known to man to watch her come across the finish line-or being one of the parents of those girls that came out to cheer on a team mate. From either side, it was an amazing thing.

It was a perfect moment as a coach, parent, and runner that I could ask for. No win in my entire life has ever made me feel as good as this moment. This is why I love coaching these kids. I hate sometimes that for the children's privacy I can't write up names or certain things. I agree with this practice. However, to each and every one of those girls that came out and cheered each other on, ran their hearts out, and completed that 5k, you made me so proud. And I love that you all put your differences to the side and really showed what a team like Girls on the Run is all about and the power that you all have to make a difference.

#powerofachild

I twitter...tweet...sigh, I don't know what to call it honestly. I boast about my girls and try to put positive comments about running and exercise and my own training up on twitter. And I recently started hash tagging (that title is considered a hashtag of sorts) the key phrase "power of a child".

I just have found that the kids have really inspired me to work hard. It's almost as if over the past year I have been recharged because of their hard work and dedication to being better girls in this program.

It occurred to me how much their power is contagious when I met with two groups of them on their saturday break (the day before Easter) when they took time out of their schedule to come out and run a 5k loop around a local park with me. (disclaimer-this was not an activity with girls on the run but as a volunteer to these kids and in both groups I had another adult that joined me and I ran with a cell phone so that things are always safe. I mention this for any coach thinking of having off practice meet ups, please always put the safety of those children first and remember that outside of girls on the run, that your local chapter isn't responsible and you should make sure parents are always aware of this).

It was amazing as I finished 6 miles of running with these girls and felt so empowered that when the last one was with her parents I threw on my ipod and went for one more loop bringing my total up to 9.3 miles for the day! This was huge for me because this was the first time in years that I had run more than 3 miles. I felt like the kids had been contagious. They got to my brain and I wanted to do better myself. I even went running again on Sunday night for another few miles.

And let me tell you why this mattered-I quit once as a runner. I gave up on it and never thought I would run again. And I rediscovered it but have still felt shaky about my abilities as a runner to ever be able to compete again. These girls somehow infected me with the idea that not only should I be running again, but that I might actually be able to run well. They, like my own daughters, make me want to be the role model that they see that I don't think I always believed in myself.

So now, when I am about to run, I think of that key phrase, Power of a child, because let me tell you, when you think about it, if you had the same ability to dream the way these kids do, and to learn to see yourself the way they see you, you might be able to achieve more than you ever thought possible.

It's Spring BREAK!!!

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham

So, we are on Spring break now. Last week was out last week of practice for almost two weeks due to holiday schedules. I mentioned how the week before we were having team troubles and one of the girls suggested that we shorten the talking/lessons and spend more time warming up and actually running. That she really missed running more. Funny thing, I agreed with her. The lessons are great but this season they felt a bit more time consuming and I felt like the girls weren't getting their full allotted time to run. So that being said-I ended up giving the girls almost 45 minutes to run. I told them the goal Monday was to run 40 miles as a team. That's a huge task for 15 little girls to do because many of them are still struggling in that first mile!

But you know what, I had no doubts that given an objective that the girls could achieve it. It meant they needed to do 240 laps around my makeshift track. And the sad thing-they got 239 laps! I mean, seriously, these are the girls who I thought would never get focused or on board. I was "hard core" that day. I couldn't run with them myself because I had injured my arm the day prior. As a matter of fact I didn't even get to go to work that morning and I had to have a friend come to practice with me because I always think of the girls' safety first and I knew that if someone got injured I wouldn't have been able to pick her up if I needed to. I am so thankful I have friends that are willing to take a little time out of their busy schedule to bring me an extra set of hands.

While sitting there handing out beads, I got so proud of these kids and realized that in just a few weeks they have already grown so much. They have really taken it upon themselves to work better as a team and to really focus on their running and the lessons. We have switched up the format a little bit because we are learning the girls are in crazy mode when they are coming out of class and its better if we do a quick warm up/stretch and let them Run and then take them inside to let them drink water and go over their lesson for the day. They seem to like the newer format too. I switch it depending on the lesson but we are finding for my little team that they are more focused after they have run.

So I plan something special for Thursday's lesson. The girls have worked hard for weeks, really tried to get better at running...Just overall I have been impressed.

So Thursday I get out of work a little early, pick up my daughter from school and we head to the sporting store and pick up a kick ball, soccer ball, and then head to the store to get cupcakes, juice, snacks, and head to practice. Today I am determined to have a fun filled day of exercise. Funny that our lesson was about Centering yourself. Because I pretty much went in the opposite direction. It has nothing to do with me not liking the lesson, we did go over it but the girls each showed me how they like to get centered/calm and then instead of doing the meditation sequence we went outside and worked on team building exercises. We did two teams of the human knot and let the girls work together. Now, the objective is to untangle themselves as a team and get into a circle. This has gone very wrong in prior seasons where kids cry, get hurt, or start yelling. One team achieved un-knotting themselves very quickly and they helped set up the cupcake picnic. The other team was unable to achieve the un-knot process-HOWEVER, they worked together with little to no problems. Seriously, that is impressive if you know what these girls have been like. So they all happily ate their cupcakes as they were given their options for activities. We ended up doing a round of kickball AND then we did a round of freeze tag.

So in the end I got all the girls running and exercising, just that they have a really fun time at it. Its one of the things I tell people all the time, running can be fun, its just about your approach.

And we bid our farewells as we headed into the spring holiday break and I smiled the whole way home with my daughter thinking about what a great idea it was to give those kids a bit of a mental break.