The Timeless Message of Girls on the Run

I am so thankful to be part of Girls on the Run-as a girl, as a mom, and as a runner. I'm blessed to be able to experience the positive effects in the individual girl's lives and to observe that extend to their family and community.

A new season is starting and I will miss the girls who have 'graduated' and moved onto 6th grade. I'm hoping the Puget Sound area will grow enough to be able to offer Girls on Track for middle school and junior high when girls are really trying to figure out who they are uniquely and also trying to fit in- whatever that means.

At the beginning of every new session, I ask the return girls what they like most about being a Girl on the Run. Usually, they say the games and snack time and hanging out with their friends; and I think-isn't that what I love about being a Girl on the Run? Playing outside, 'fueling up' after a great run and being with my friends.

Next, I ask them to share a little about their favorite lesson with the new team members and it is during this time when I know that while running may not always stay with them, the message of making choices and transforming those into the best actions and outcomes will ring true.

At different points in my life, I have come back to: plugging into positive messages through visualization or meditation; reminded myself to own the choices I have made; sorting out emotions and understanding that all emotions are part of the human experience and it's healthy to feel them all; celebrating gratitude and catching myself if I start to take things for granted; putting negative self talk in the trash; fueling for health and "running my own pace" as that applies to the broad scope of life; standing up for myself and being assertive in a constructive, respectful way; and giving back to my community.

Empowerment- that's what I want for all girls.

Girls on the Run 5K

Yep, I couldn't sleep the night before. I packed and re-packed my bag, added a few extra shirts and jackets in case any of the girls forgot, fretted a little over the running buddy list (long story but in short, we were short a few buddies. I ended up recruiting my girls and friends at the last minute. Luckily it all worked out!) and prayed that it wouldn't rain too much.
Wow, it was cold. I met my running friends at the Y and carpooled to Seward Park. We checked in with the race director and picked up the materials for our team. I was thankful for the hand warmers. Amberle and I ran around a little to warm up and by the time I got back the girls had started to arrive. We pinned race bibs(everyone had a #1 on their bib), took photos and made sure everyone had enough layers. Our team was the first to line up. I have never been at the front of a start line, so I stood on a big rock and turned to look behind me. There was a sea of girls with melon colored shirts, smiling and talking and getting ready to run. And it was one of those moments, I wish I could freeze in time, or book mark somehow and come back to it...where the past, present and future merge for an instant and I feel like this is where I'm meant to be, where I belong, and where I want to go. And off I ran, with my running buddy Luna, feeling like it doesn't get any better than this.

Community

"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members."-Coretta Scott King



This week we talked to the girls about community. I was impressed to learn how many of them had given time and resources to shelters and to the Children's hospital.
For our community project, we made photo frames, cookies, and holiday cards for a senior living center and retirement home.



The girls had a fun time, I just wish they could have gone to the center and spent time with the people there.



Tomorrow is the big 5K event for the girls. I'm so excited, I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Running Through the Halls

It's been a busy week with Girls on the Run. Tuesday we had our practice 5K. The curriculum suggested bringing music for the girls to dance around to before beginning the run. I checked with the other coach asking her if we should do music because there is a teacher next door to the classroom we meet in who has made it clear she doesn't approve of the noise level and she doesn't approve of us being there. We decided to skip the music, because we don't want this teacher to complain to the school and have the program denied in the Spring. On my way over, Caitlin sent me a message that said 'so, teacher next door is currently blasting WE R FAMILY and I can hear her students singing along.' I was laughing so hard I almost had to pull over. Imagine your grumpiest teacher rocking out to Sister Sledge.

The girls met their running buddies. These are women from the community who volunteer to run the event with one of our girls. We brought snacks and balloons and sidewalk chalk to decorate and write fun, motivational words on the path they were running. The girls had a blast. And it was encouraging to see some of the girls, who sort of walk during practices, picking up the pace and I really think, surprising themselves at what they have. Even though we are emphasizing the effort, it's hard not to proud of the girls who finished in like 20 minutes.

Yesterday it was cold out. The kind of cold that hurts your throat when you breath in too quickly. So we stayed inside. Although, the school has given us permission to run in the halls in case of crummy weather, it felt so rebellious. We did intervals from one end of the school to the other. I so wanted to ask teacher next door if she could pump up the volume.

Girls on the Run-the Progress Report

We have a new girl on the team and I wondered how she would feel and fit in as we are three weeks into the fall session and the girls have started bonding and forming friendships.
We asked the girls to introduce each other and take turns telling her about what we do and what it means to be a Girl on the Run.

We have covered some great material. We discussed replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk. This lesson included a fun, symbolic activity where the girls wrote on index cards all the bad stuff that they sometimes think
inside and they would run around the track and put it into a big 'Negative' trash bin, hopefully throwing it away for good. Then we replaced those cards with positive expressions and the girls would run around and share those with anyone they passed while running. I was alarmed to see how many girls wrote 'I am fat.' These are 3rd, 4th and 5th grade girls. And I realize how much Girls on the Run
is needed to combat all the artificial programming of what is considered beautiful. It was inspiring to see the difference in the girls
as they started running on positive...a lesson I know I need to remember.

One of the main messages of Girls on the Run is choice. As we talked about nutrition and fueling a healthy pace, our physical and emotional health, the application is, we have the freedom to choose. There was a particular statement in the emotional health lesson that I highlighted in bright pink:
"there are no good or bad emotions...it's how we respond to the emotions we are feeling that is good or bad."
It's a statement that is logical, but I know I am guilty of thinking things like..."I shouldn't feel like this" or "It's terrible to be upset, mad, angry, hurt" or the big societal taboo "that feeling is politically incorrect." We encouraged the girls to write in a journal when they feel down or sad or to talk to someone they trust, both choices that recognize and define the emotion.

Yesterday we talked about beauty. We traced the girls on large sheets of paper and helped them write inside their silhouettes all the things that make them beautiful. I looked over at Lennon (the new girl) and she had written, "I'm supernaturally weird."
I think she is going to fit in perfectly.
I hope this imprint will stay with them long after they graduate from Girls on the Run.

Girls on the Run

This is my first season coaching for Girls on the Run.
It's a beautiful thing-the laughter, the energy, the friendships; I love that this program teaches girls to live life and to be who they really are instead of morphing into what they perceive others want them to be.