For a while, Joe has been asking to go for a run with me. Looking back, I think it was around this time for JP - age 10 or 11 - when he first expressed an interest in going for an actual run with me.
I think, with Joe, he's seen me running for years, JP running with me the last couple of year, and JP having such success with cross country that it's sparked a real interest in him to run. I, of course, am more than fine with Joe starting to run. It's important to me, though, just as it was with JP, for Joe to come to running on his own and for me not to try to take running to him. That has been my approach with JP and it's worked to date.
Two or three weeks ago, I took Joe with me to Team Nashville, the running store where I've been buying running shoes for almost three decades. The owner, Terry Coker, is a longtime friend of mine and a big supporter of JP's, which is cool. Terry ran track at Belmont U. back in the day, as they say. He was really excited when I brought Joe in to get fitted for his first pair of running shoes. Joe ended up with a pair of gray Brooks running shoes.
Joe has been so busy with sports the last few weekends that we haven't able to find a time to squeeze in a run. Until yesterday, that is.
At club soccer practice on Mondays and Wednesdays, Coach Caleb has had the boys running on the track quite a bit. As a result, Joe's fitness level is an an all-time high. He's slimmer than he's been, not that he's ever been heavy. He seems to be growing into his body, though, a young man's body and losing some of the softness of a child's body.
At any rate, he asked me on Saturday about running with me on Sunday and after I thought about it, I realized it was the perfect day to begin Joe's journey as a recreational runner, hopefully one that will last a lifetime. No baseball practice Sunday evening and beautiful weather all weekend long.
And that's the thing, really. JP's success as a runner - a competitive runner - kind of caught me off guard. I don't know where running can take him. I really don't, although I'm looking forward to finding out. To success as a high school runner? To a state championship? To college. Who knows? What I do know and what I want, actually, is for JP to run, recreationally, for years to come as a way to maintain fitness, to give him confidence, and as an outlet when times are tough.
I want the same thing for Joe, too. In other words, if can pass along one thing to my boys, I hope it's a love of running that lasts throughout their lives. I think, and I hope, it's something that brings us closer together and keeps us there, as they grow older and I grow older. Running together and talking about how they're running in general. That's my hope, anyway.
Yesterday, as I used to do with JP, I left mid-afternoon and ran four miles in the neighborhood. I chose one of my oldest routes by design because it holds a lot of memories for me and I knew I was about to make a memory with Joe that would last.
The October weather was perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Clear, deep blue sky with the temperature in the mid-60's. When I left, I told Joe to be waiting out front of the house 30 minutes after I left, knowing I'd be running around 8 minute miles. Sure enough, as I ran up Belmont Boulevard, toward Belmont U., and turned right onto our street, Linden Avenue, there he was, in the front yard, waiting on me.
Joe was smiling that toothy smile of his, the kind of smile that fills my heart with joy and love and makes me feel happy to be alive and to be his dad. All of those things at once. That may be Joe's gift - to make others happy by smiling and shining his light - the one that burns so brightly - on them.
I picked him up at the house and we reversed course, running back down Linden Avenue, then left on Belmont Boulevard, the same direction from which I had come. We ran at a conversational pace, talking quietly as we ran. I checked in with him from time to time, asking about the pace and how he was feeling. All good.
We turned left on to Cedar and ran down the sidewalk toward 12th Avenue. I slowed the pace a bit after Joe told me he had a stitch in his side.
"Breathe in your nose and out your mouth," I said. "Okay," he replied, and we ran along in a comfortable silence for a bit. "Gone? I asked. "Yes," he said. And on we ran, turning left onto 12th Avenue.
As we ran by Sevier Park and approached Burger UP - an urban, neighborhood run, to be sure - I told him we had .2 of a mile or so to go. We hit the one mile mark, as planned, in front of Edley's BBQ, where we slowed to a walk and began our cool down. Joe and I walked around the block and into Portland Brew from the back parking lot. The reward for our run was a cup of coffee for me and a hot chocolate for Joe.
We walked up 12th Avenue, toward home, drinks in hand. We stopped beside Locust (restaurant) and sat down in the two chairs in the yard next door, as I often do after I run in the neighborhood. We sipped our drinks and talked, about the run, about life. Joe smiled the whole time.
I could tell he was proud of himself, as he should have been. I also could tell he knew I was proud of him. It was a snapshot moment, for him and for me. Our first run together and one of what I hope will many more to come in the future.
At that moment - as we watched the world go by from our perch on 12th Avenue - I felt blessed to have the sons I have, the wife I have, and the life I have. Truly blessed.
Blessed to be a father and to be a runner. And blessed for those two things to intersect on an exquisite Sunday afternoon in my neighborhood.
Joe and me, after our first official run together. Here's hoping there are many more to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment