Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of running with 6 totally awesome girls as well 2 of their youth leaders. These girls are from the Squamish Nation Youth Group (North Van) and I believe most of them are considered 'at risk'.
It's been a while since I have worked with a group of girls of this age group (age 14-17). The last time would have been 6 years ago when I coached a U16 girls soccer team.
Myself and the youth work leader decided that we were going to train these girls up for the Sun Run. I thought it would be great for them to experience because it's just such a great first time event and because of the 50,000 people who participate, it can be quite exciting!
Back to yesterday...
Running with groups can always be a bit of a challenge, especially when everyone runs/walks at different paces.
Many of the girls had pretty bad footwear, which meant a lot of sore feet. I don't even want to say 'bad' because I am sure the shoes are actually 'in style', however, not as great for running. Also, think back to when you were a kid, I don't think I even knew about pronation/supination and stability versus neutral shoes. I see teens walking around all over the city with stylish shoes, but their pronating to hell which is only going to further any knee or feet issues they have. That was the one curse about working in a running store for a bunch of years, you notice people pronating on the street and all you want to do is correct it!
I had a talk with one girl about how awesome she was doing. She confessed she was a bit lazy and gets out of participating in Physical Education by saying that she has stomach problems. I was so happy to have been out there with her today, even though she walked because she has asthma (no inhaler...yet!). We ran/walked and did a mini strength circuit in b/w all along the Sea wall in west van. It was such a beautiful day and a great way to spend an afternoon. We went back to the youth center for veggies!
I look forward to working with these awesome girls for the next 10 weeks or so, every wednesday and friday. We already decided on getting bright NEON green shirts for the race. Now it's just a matter of getting them all there, healthy, and still excited!
See you in the trails!
4 comments:
Sometimes people just need to be inspired don't they? It just takes the right person to motivate and inspire however. I hope you feel honoured to be that inspiring role model. Good Luck. I hope to see all your girls out Sun Running - from the sidelines with a coffee of course. As you know, I'm an official Sun Run spectator.
On an aside, hearing the passion in your writers voice I still think you shouldn't let go of the teacher dream. Just jump through the hoops of university and you can feel like this everyday.
Very honored in deed!
With teaching my problem comes in the form of what I want to inspire...
That form seems to come best when it's about health & fitness, as well as healthy eating. I am looking into becoming a Registered Holistic Nutritionist because nutrition really seems to be where my passion is (as well as fitness). So maybe...I am on the right track with my education, I just need to learn the pathways of reaching out...
Thanks for your comment!
Sounds like a great group. A fun level to work with and very rewarding. They are going to get so much out of it, and I'm sure you will just as much...or more. Enjoy!
And...can totally relate to the running store syndrome and looking at people's feet.
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