The Newest Runner

Justice and his Dad have a lot of interests in common.  Pretty much everything, actually.  Jack on the other hand couldn't care less about anything that his Dad and Justice are doing.  The Coach works hard to make sure that Jack doesn't feel left out, and plans special things for the two of them to do together.  Still, Jack wants no part of it.  He doesn't FEEL left out.  And that's a great thing.  He does his own thing and he's happy doing it. 

Recently, we've noticed a change in Jack.  Right after the first 5K that Justice and The Coach ran together, Jack sort of showed a teensy bit of interest in running.  He started to ask questions about running.  He wondered aloud if any of his shoes were good enough for running.  The Coach gleefully (and sort of woefully) watched this little transformation of Jack. 

Now, I say a little woefully because The Coach is in running hell with Justice.  Justice always wants to run, talks about it, plans on it, and then 100% of the time they are running he complains about every single thing.  He's going to die, his heart might explode, he has to poop, he's hungry, thirsty, he's going to puke, laments about the milk (or whatever, insert anything bad he ate without thinking) he drank right before they ran out the door, and he cries for probably 4 out of 6 miles.  So when they get back, The Coach looks like he's about to cry.  Justice usually is crying and they both remain gloomy until they cool off from the run.  I personally do not see the fun in it, and Justice swears that he will never run again when he walks back in the house in tears.  But then he cools off and immediately wants to know, excitedly, when they are going to go the next time.  The Coach just stares at him, jaw agape and then tells him when they will go out and repeat the misery.  And this has been their running routine for five straight years.  And no, nobody is forcing Justice to run.  He has a love/hate relationship with running and I'm not getting involved.  That's between him and the little voices inside his head.  

Why Jack wants to be a part of that mess is beyond me.  

But last night, he asked to go with them.  He put on his running shoes, some sweats and left with Justice and The Coach.  Before they left, I asked him if he was sure he wanted to go, and told him he couldn't act like a fool while they were out there.  He read my mind, and said:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to act like Bubbie out there.  Bubbie is a little bit ridiculous."

Ha! 

And off they went.  The Coach says he shot out of the driveway like a bullet and kept up that speed the entire way there and back.  He only took him 1/2 mile, but Jack was happy.  And he said it was a whole lot of fun.  The Coach was happy.  Well, he was happy for a second till the cloud of realization washed over him that he was going to have to go back out again and finish his run with Justice.  

Jack asked me to take a picture when they got back.  He expects me to blog about his first run, he said.  

Jack:  "Everybody hold up the number 1 sign for the picture!  We're number 1 runners!"

Stretching afterwards.  And still smiling.  

I hope that maybe (just maybe!) Jack has found something in common with his Dad that they can share together.  Eventually Justice will be faster than The Coach and will run on his own.  Although Justice has been a "royal pain" as The Coach would say, they have run more miles together over the years than I can count.  And even though The Coach dreads each run, it's still going to be tough when the day comes that they no longer run together as often.

It will be nice for Jack to step up and not only fill in that gap on the sidewalk next to his Dad, but also the little hole in his heart.

Jack:  "Just don't talk to me when I run.  I don't like to to talk when I'm running."

And a new and much different generation of runner is born at the Mack house.