Mother Running Rampant

My own running aside, I wouldn’t say I have a very sportastic household, at least not in the typical sense for an 8-year-old American boy. Yesterday, I found myself taking on the absurd position of trying to convince my son of the merits of watching televised football. It was totally stupid. He doesn’t get football, and he’s not into any TV with commercials, so there I was–the mom–imploring my kid to please just try watching the violence, machismo, and superficial spectacle that is the Superbowl Experience.

“Henry, please watch the football with me… All the other kids are doing it.” He could have cared less.

He probably would have gone for the Puppy Bowl, but instead we compromised by renting Goonies on iTunes for him so I could watch the game. He loved the movie and didn’t even take a break for Beyonce. It’s okay. There are worse things than a son who could care less about football and sexy women on TV.

Here’s what I took from the Superbowl: If these guys can run while getting smashed from all sides, maybe catch a ball in the process, and after being knocked in the head, still get up and run again, I can run without getting smashed from all sides and still get up to run again.

My milestone of late: I ran four days in a row, logging 35 miles over those runs. That’s a big deal for my current fitness; I started building this base from zero mileage in early December.

This weekend, I ran 16 miles on a windy Saturday afternoon, not particularly elated by my pace but relieved that I can put in a 16-miler and still get up and run on Sunday and Monday. My foot continues to hold up, though I wouldn’t mind a back-up foot or two, just in case something goes wrong. I still feel like I’m on the edge of a problem, so I’m running gingerly along that edge and not yet booking my flight to Big Sur. I have no idea when I’ll feel confident enough to book that flight, probably when rainbows come out of my shoes, which means I should just  go ahead and buy the ticket.

In the meantime, I plod forward in building mileage and am all set to start my campaign to convince Henry to watch the Bruins by building his base with a combination he can appreciate: my mad pancake skillz and a viewing of The Mighty Ducks.