Good Friday Fun

Today I had the biggest reminder of why I run.  Before I decided to get active again my joints were achy and I felt tired all the time.  And I could hardly keep up with my kids.  This was when they were much younger and didn't move as fast as they do now. But my girls were my original motivation to start moving again.

We are all having a quiet day and restful day at home.  The girls have been outside playing for most of the day. My youngest daughter had been asking all morning to go for a bike ride. Her bike still has training wheels and my oldest daughter's doesn't. My daughter whose bike does not have training wheels still hasn't mastered riding on her own.  What this means is either my husband or I have to go out with her - and run along.

My husband took my daughter's training wheels of about a month ago, but the weather has been pretty terrible for outside activities until today.  I said I would go out with the girls and the hubs could stay inside and work.

Now I've been riding my bike for years... decades even so I don't remember much about learning how to ride a bike.  But what I discovered is its pretty much like everything else I've had to teach my kids... easier for me to do myself than to explain to them how to do it.  Thankfully my daughter learns quickly.

After about an hour of me running next to her hunched over she figured out how to balance on her own.  Half an hour after that she was able to get the bike going on her own and pedal the length of our street.  The entire time I was running easily beside her. 

That's when it hit me - this is the whole reason why I started running.  The big races, training schedules and social events are fun and keep me motivated.  But the whole reason why I started running in the first place was because of my kids.  I wanted to be able to keep up with them. I felt so proud of my big girl as I listened to the triumph in her voice as she said "I'm doing it! I am really riding a two wheeler by myself!"  Way to go sweetie!