Inspiration up close
Have I mentioned that I'm going to walk the Victoria Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Sunday? This race will be a first for me because several members of my immediate family will be walking it as well.
This is beyond huge. The ease of coaching/inspiring a person is inversely and exponentially proportional to how closely related that person is by blood or marriage! According to this inverse exponential relationship, a husband/wife, sister/brother, father/mother is at least 1000 times more difficult to coach than someone ahead of you in the grocery line. A cousin who drops by for the holidays is probably 100 times more difficult than your neighbor two blocks over who you see every second week out walking the dog, but still 100 times easier than your daughter.
I'll report back in a week and a half how my adventure fares, but I can tell you that my personal time is irrelevant...the success of this race will be judged by seeing my husband, sister, sister-in-law, and father cross that finish line with smiles on their faces!
If you have any coaching tips, I'm all ears.
Labels: Stories of Inspiration
posted by Wow Power Walking Founder @ 9:23 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Lee
Having given this situation considerable thought I think your best strategy is to immediately remove your coach's hat and revert to being simply a wife,daughter and sister.Expert coaching advice should only be doled out upon request! I truly feel this will lead to a more harmonious family race and reduce any potential stress for you!Some thought might be given to the order in which certain family members cross the finish line!!!!Have fun!
This is not really a story of inspiration but on the topic of walking(or running) with family I read somewhere that it acts as a cataliyst for disclosure. Dont know if its the endorphins that flood your system or the hypnotic rhythm of your feet landing on the ground in perfect sync with your breathing, but walking works like a truth serum. That when you are working out with family that we 'outwalk' our confining roles as 'mother/wife/husband/dad' etc. and emerge as equals, confidantes, and friends. So it is worth the hard work to make it happen, even if for a 5km.
I agree with Lani. I have been walking with WoW for 5 years now, and this year my husband has started walking seriously as well. In the words of another walker, "he's got the religion!". Along the way I approached my husbands questions in the same way i approached the questions my kids used to ask me about "the birds and the bees". I took a few moments to consider what was really being asked and only gave a little information. If the answer was not satisfactory and more explanation was necessary, another question was asked. Gradually the questions got more serious and more specific and the answers become more involved. This year my husband was definitely ready for the long answers. He asked and he got what he asked for. And now he can't get enough of it....walking that is!
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