Back In the Ring & RUNNERBOX Winner

Rosie & Grace at the top of Cannon.  Last run of the day.

As I mentioned last Friday, my younger daughter couldn't quite muster up enough courage to go in to her ballet class after the holiday break.  Please note, I do realize this has little to do with running and not much to do with music, but it relates to so many of us in life (right??), that I've just got to lay it out there again.  So, after much discussion (yes, with my five year old) and to my dismay, she decided to quit ballet all together.  Turns out, not only could she not make it in last Friday, but she just couldn't make it in at all.  Anymore.  Period.  As a parent, I struggled with her decision.  On the one hand, I don't like the idea of quitting.  But on the other hand, she's five, she goes to school every day until 3:15 and then she goes to ski school both days of the week-end.  So, when you look at it this way, she doesn't get much of a break.  In this case, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.  Without saying it, what I think she was trying to explain to me was that beyond school, which she has to attend, she only wanted to do one thing and once she could focus on that one thing, she would do it really well.  Similar to ballet, and most other activities, she would often drag her feet on Saturday mornings and resist going to ski school.  Some days, the instructors would have to chase her as she tried to ski after me when I left her.  Tears were often involved.  And, yes, so were bribes.  But, this week-end, (post ballet quitting episode) everything was different.  She went off to ski school with a quick "see ya" and a high-five.  Huh? She skied all day until the lifts closed and then she asked us if she could night ski, which you can do at Cannon on Saturdays.  She was one of the last kids off the mountain at 6:30 PM.  And she was smiling the whole time.  The girl skied for a total of about 10 hours on Saturday.  My husband and I were floored.  And we were thrilled.  In truth, did she truly think it through and make this wise decision to focus on one thing and do it well?  Probably not.  But, I'm going to go with it.  As a runner, I will continue to follow her lead.  I can't garden for my life, I'm not great at cooking and I can't play an instrument.  Would I like to be better at these things.  Sure.  But I'm a decent runner, I choose to focus on it, I truly love it, and it makes me a better person.  So, I'll continue to stick with that.  Thanks for the lesson, Grace.  Way to get back in the ring!

Listen to this:

Tessellate - Alt-J  

AND

The winner of the RUNNERBOX Giveaway, chosen via random.org, is Karissa:

--> KarissaJanuary 8, 2013 at 1:57 PM

  1) I LOVE Imagine Dragons. Heck yes.
  2) I already follow you on Twitter.
  3) You're an Oiselle bird like me! Yay!

Congrats, Karissa!  Please email me at rebecca.trachsel@yahoo.com and I will get you in touch with the good people at RunnerBox.  Thanks to all of you for entering.