Learning About Doing Hard Things
Dad, it really hurts!
Jesse had just finished a cross-country running race. Jesse is our oldest son. He is nine.
For context, I also ran cross-country...a lot. I ran four years of high school cross-country and track, and was privileged to be a very successful runner on a very successful team. Following high school, I competed at a high level in college as well for another five years.
Without even thinking, my response when Jesse told me this was...
It's running. Of course it hurts!
Interestingly, Jesse did not protest or complain. I am not sure if he simply was looking for the validation, but he just accepted this as an answer. He has not complained about running hurting since then, and enjoys going for runs.
That was in the fall. It is winter, now. Both the boys are participating in the Nordic skiing program at White Pass. The Nordic program is on Saturday mornings. This past weekend the boys skied Nordic with the club on Saturday morning. In the afternoon we switched up our kits, and skied downhill in the afternoon.
Sunday the boys wanted to do this ski combo again, and wanted to Nordic skate ski. If you are not familiar with Nordic skiing, skate skiing is similar to how you propel yourself on roller skates, ice skates or rollerblades. When you add in poles, it requires quite a bit of coordination, and can be incredibly exhausting...especially when climbing hills. Just like running, maybe even more so, it is easy to put yourself deep in the hurt locker.
By lunchtime, Jesse had covered six miles over decidedly not easy terrain. The White Pass Nordic center is has quite a bit of climbing. Jesse was skiing with Gina. Gina has been skiing Nordic for over 20 years. Gina was not waiting for Jesse. She did not need to. He was absolutely crushing it.
I was skiing with Wyatt, who is seven. Although we did not ski quite as far, we still easily got in four miles. He was demanding me to come with him to ski without poles...which is not easy.
This definitely is a proud dad moment. Distance running and Nordic skiing are not easy. These sports are hard. These sports hurt! The boys are gravitating toward these sports on their own accord, and this makes me proud. Hard sports, sports that hurt...having spent a large portion of my life pursuing sports like this, people who pursue these sports, by and large, tend to be people I like.
It may be people with character are attracted to these types of sports. It also may be the inherent nature of these sports develops character. It very well does not matter. Either way, as a parent who desperately wants our boys to develop into good human beings, seeing them lean into hard sports is encouraging.