HALLOWEEN=MARATHON

Earlier this week I asked my daughter, Grace, if she might like to do a guest post for me.  What would I write about? she asked.  Well, I said, maybe you could write about your experiences as a soccer player and relate them to those of us who are runners.  She gave it some thought for a few minutes and then said, I know!!  I can write about Halloween.  Insert pause.  Ummm, yeah, I can see how that would be fun to write about, I told her, but I'm not sure how it relates to running.  It's a bit random, you know?  Without missing a beat she said, Not really.  I bet I feel the same way about Halloween as you do about your race day.  What do you mean? I asked.  So she explained.  And as her comparison unfolded, I realized she was right.  She feels almost exactly the same about Halloween as I do about the marathon.  Excited?  Yep.  Nervous?  Totally.  Impatient.  Definitely.  Then, on top of that, the planning that goes into the costume, all the work, including the ups and downs, the worries, the laughs, the crazies and then the final build up to the day itself, even the aftermath; it's all right on par with how it plays out for me.  Below is my attempt to break down her theory for you.  I turned on my phone microphone as we talked and have done my best to transcribe it word for word, though some of it was lost in translation.  I would have rather she written it herself, but she's 11 and she had much better things to do.  I get it.  It was a long shot.  Still, it's a comparison worth sharing.  If only to get a kick out of how much Grace truly loves this holiday.

Caroline & Grace

In her words...

Right when school starts in September, Caroline and I start thinking about Halloween, mostly what we're going to dress up as, but also just about the day itself.  It's definitely our favorite holiday.  As soon as we pick a costume, we start planning right away because it takes us months to put together a costume that's good.  And we want it to be really, really good, so we work really hard on it.  Our planning is just like your training.  We do a little bit of work every day.

List of items needed

(good that they included themselves on it)

We make lists.  We do research.  We draw diagrams.  We try lots of different things.  We do test runs.  We get frustrated and annoyed when it doesn't work out the way we want it to.  And then we try it again or come up with something new that does work.  So, yeah.  We prepare and practice like you do.  As we get closer to Halloween, even though we're pretty much done with our costumes, we add all the finishing touches; little tweaks to make sure everything feels good.  Just like when you start tapering, right?  You're pretty much done, but you just do a little running to make sure your legs are ready.  Then week before the "big day", Halloween for us and marathon day for you, we are always stressed, excited and nervous.  You always tell me that's how you feel before your race.  It's no different for us.  We go through all the pros and cons of our costume, overanalyzing things because we have too much time on our hands.

Potential Ups and Downs of the Jellyfish costume

(might, very rarely, look bad)

But, really, we know we're done and there's not much else we can do.  That's when we start counting down the days, hours and minutes until Halloween.  We get a little obsessed.  And the waiting is torture.  Sound familiar?

Written during a window of boredom

The night before, we lay everything out (I know you do this, Mom) and plan out our night to make sure everything goes the way we want it to.  Of course, you never know.  There are always going to be things that we can't control.  It might be raining, our lights might break, one of us might get sick.  But, we do the best with what we've got when the day comes.  And, finally, on Halloween night, we get dressed and head out for the biggest and best night of the year.

The 'Trick or Treating' for us is like running the race for you.  We get to show everyone our costumes and the neighbors are sort of like our fans cheering for us along the way.  We eat sugar all night...you know...to keep our energy up (wink, wink).  And it's just the best feeling ever.  That is, assuming it's all working the way we want it to.  Trust me, we've had some bad ones.  Those are never fun.  And then it's over.  And we're kind of sad.  Because we know we have to wait a whole year for the next Halloween.  Well, it's sad and it's happy.  Because...you know...candy.

WINNING

Bottom line here.  Find something that you love.  Commit to it fully.  Ride the ups and downs.  And on game day, go out there an execute.  And, most importantly, if you love it that much?  Never stop doing it.  I get it Grace.

Listen to this:
Mountains - Sia