We are mere days from my son’s graduation from high school.
This week’s Big Marketing Minute is all about the biggest lesson I learned through him, just by observing as he learned it himself.
I learned lots of things by being a boy mom… I finally learned about sports, I learned how to throw and catch, I learned that you can eat tacos every single day and not get tired of them. I learned to focus on fitness (my own and our dogs’ so they will stay healthy). But one thing I learned just by watching him learn it.
My almost-19-year-old son is a distance runner. It’s not all he is and it doesn’t define him. It’s not the first thing I think of when I think of him and it’s not how he introduces himself. His humility would get in the way of telling you not just what innate talent he has, but the dedication and commitment to this sport he has given for more than a decade.
When he was little… 4 or 5, he started running in the annual school “fun run” on the track. It was just one lap around but he won it six years in a row. Over the summers he’d have me drive out to school and time him running that thing. He could keep track in his head of the numbers he was reaching and learned to start to figure out when to pace himself and when to kick in.
As he got a little older and was on the middle school team, sometimes getting the opportunity to run up with the high schoolers, he wanted to do more. He would hound his coaches to let him run more miles, run faster, practice more days. He hated the rest days. He found them boring and unproductive. As a very young child, this was the kid who got kicked out of the preschool nap room because he found napping completely useless.
The coaches would tell him he needed to learn to hold back. A slower, consistent pace early in the season would pay off with a personal record by the end.
Over time, he got it. And I watched him get it. Sometimes I ask, “are you running today?” and he’ll explain to me why he’s not, or why he’s running 5 miles one day versus 14 miles another day. It’s all a process.
And what I’ve learned from this is how to manage my business and juggle my life. Sometimes I can sprint through everything that needs to get done, and sometimes it’s a marathon to get through that one arduous task. Sometimes I need to say no and protect my time and my mental health. Sometimes I just need a day of rest.
No one can run themselves ragged and still have the performance and outcome they want. Rest matters. Holding back matters. Patience matters.
So as we enter these final few meets and the end of his high school running career, it’s my privilege to watch him put all of these lessons learned into practice. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll remember to continue to do that for myself as well.
by 
