Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Last night in the gene "Pool"

My son is definitely my son. Having just turned 15, he and I are best buddies and we love doing stuff together. As far as athletics, the main thing we have in common is that neither of us are necessarily fast, but we have what seems to be unlimited endurance. He knows that I recently started swimming, so now he wants to start swimming. Two nights ago, he goes with me and while I am swimming 100 laps (2500m), he swims only 7 laps and was very discouraged. When I asked him on the drive home what he did, he basically told me he had done some all out freestyle laps, which obviously is what exhausted him so quickly. I explained to him that I am alternating laps between breaststroke and freestyle until my endurance is built up. So last night, what does he do?! He goes with me again and this time swims 64 laps (1600m or 1 mile) without stopping! Good grief! I was swimming 2000m during this time, and kept looking over in the lane next to me wondering how in the world he was doing it. He was so proud of himself when he got out of the water, and I gave him 2 big thumbs-up and a big hug. Now he is talking about cycling and wants me to look up some local sprint distance triathlons. It is so awesome to have a son and daughter with such diverse personalities, yet they are so into what they are doing. The biggest tip I could ever give a parent is to let your child find his/her passion, even if it is far away from whatever you are passionate about or what you wanted them to do, and then give them the love and support they need to fulfill their dreams. After all, isn't that what each of us wants in our own lives as adults?

9 comments:

momo said...

i actually teared up reading this! all i could think of was how proud you must have been to see his determination and what he can accomplish when he puts his mind to it. sounds like you're a really great influence, dad.

warriorwoman said...

Oh thats great - what a supportive dad, I feel touched.

The Stretch Doc said...

Now that is totally awesome!!!
Way to go dad!

I love seeing kids take off and start living, loving, and becoming excited about something They want!

rockon`

Jess said...

Wow, that must have been so awesome for your son. I loved being able to keep up with (at least partially) with my mom when she was out running. It's great that you can spend time together like that.

Re: ACC soccer. They do in fact use soccer balls and not basketballs. And no surprise just like basketball, the soccer rivals are intense. ACC soccer games are great to watch if you ever get the chance.

christine said...

you hit the nail on the head..it is the BEST feeling to see your child grow in confidence and enthusiasm for a new skill...thanks for stopping by my blog and for the positive vibes.....i'll need 'em for sure!

Caleb said...

Neat Post! That is so true..it's great to have the support of others, especially in these endurance ventures. So much of how we train and the confidence we get from definitely carries over into everyday life. I wish more people could experience how lucky we are. My motto is: "Believe in Yourself!!!!!"


Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Mendy said...

What a cool post! We have a 2 yr old, and are already wondering what her athletic passion is going to be. We definitely want her in sports. Daddy wants her doing triathlons as a teen. :-) Like you said, we'll see what she is passionate about.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I linked my blog from your site and am enjoying reading the stories already. Nice and supportive site!

Janice said...

Thanks for the post. It comes at a time when I'm debating whether I should make my kids take piano lessons when they don't want to. And you're right. I need to listen to what they want to do. My oldest keeps telling me she wants to ride horses -- something that scares me to death. However, I've decided to let her try this summer. We'll see how it goes:)

mrjwhit~ said...

Your son sounds like a neat kid. Great job encouraging him, too. I hope he does a Sprint and then some I am sure there's an Ironman out there with his name on it.