🎬 Leo was on the docket tonight and I will say I was a little skeptical… However, I thought it was a really good movie and for the kids that watched it I know they enjoyed it too.
I needed these two little wins tonight running even though I know they won’t last 😏. However, it is crazy these two pictures were taken less than 20 min apart. Crazy how fast it gets dark on the trails 😳.
Had to pickup the liner for the hockey rink today and it was by some trails I have run on once before. So I decided to use my time wisely and go exploring some more of the area. As you can see it was a nice stroll on some crushed rock paths and some narrow maybe paths winding around the terrain.
So proud of this girl for trying something new this year and actually finding success and fun in doing it.
It was a cold but peaceful morning out with frost covering the prairie grass. Didn’t see many people actually didn’t see anyone 😆. Might have still been a little sore from pounding all the stakes in last right but overall it wasn’t a bad run.
Well… Decisions were made and I got most of the structure in place for the backyard rink tonight. 🏒
Can’t believe how warm it got today and felt good to go for a run. I don’t think I have run on this little backyard trail all year so glad to get it in before the snow flys. This run wasn’t in the plan for today but it was good to take my mind off work and my son’s basketball for a while.
Knew this day would come... ⛹️♂️
I had worried about this day from the point my kids went to a bigger school 8x the size of the one that I did growing up. Yes from an education perspective where we live is a great place to be but, growing up for me I loved playing sports too. To be fair I just liked playing sports to hang out with friends but also because I just liked doing things. True some sports I was probably more “in it to win it” focused than others but overall I could do them all and that isn’t because I was a stellar athlete. Running sure, I worked hard after my Freshman and Sophomore years to make sure I was one of our top runners for cross country and found a niche for myself in track running 800s and 400s.
However, this isn’t just a story about my memories yet I should in my future right more of them down so when I am old I won’t forget. This is a story about my kids, but more specifically my oldest who found out tonight that he did not make a Freshman team 😔. I had a feeling this day would come as he was mostly always on the 3 team out of 4 for Travel basketball and once you hit Freshman year they only take 2 teams ~18-20 kids out of the 64 that tried out this year. Granted other years my son in theory was in the top 18-27 (as they took 9 to a team) so it wasn’t that there wasn’t a chance but he had a hill to climb as you also get new kids coming out or kids that moved into the district. So here we are today and the die has been cast unfortunately not in his favor.
It isn’t to say that the kid can’t still play basketball but it isn’t the same, I can still play basketball today but that is not like playing in High School. I was able to do that because I lived in a small school and I was not by any means a good basketball player. I only stopped playing voluntarily before my Senior year because I wanted to lift and run so I was ready for my last time on a track the following spring (I might have felt good about my running but I knew my career would be over in High School). The other thing that bothers me in today’s youth sports world and maybe it isn’t just at a big school but you have to specialize early on. They say they want multisport athletes but then there are camps year round that you have the “opportunity” to attend and you end up devoting yourself to that sport with never a guarantee that there is a spot for you down the road. Not saying it is right but if at HS age they then said hey you are on the team and now this is your only focus, maybe that would make more sense or I would feel better about such a thing even though I still don’t agree with that. However, it is still so hard for me to comprehend as it was never an issue for me and back when I was younger we played a sport a season not one sport for our youth career. That is something I have disliked during my kids time growing up it seems like kids do benefit from doing it year round but that still isn’t a guarantee that everyone will still thrive by doing it year round because you never know what kind of camps or coaches you get in the offseason to push you forward.
It is still crazy to me to think of all the kids that got cut today and I would say probably 10-15 of those kids if they were in a smaller school most likely would have had a shot to continue to play in High School in front of a crowd of people on a Friday night. However, now all of these kids have swag ball, which from what I can tell is like a pickup game of basketball on the weekend which kind of sounds like something I could be a candidate for today. Well, probably not as I am not that tall or still not very good (maybe worse).
Proud of all my son had one over all his years of basketball and I just hope he knows that it is not the end of playing as this is just a setback. I know it will take him some time to get excited about it again as I am sure it is tough as he needs to process all the feelings. However, there are other options just probably not the one he was hoping for and in the end, basketball is one of those things he can continue to do for quite a long time at his age.
With the warmer weather yesterday I shut off all the heaters in my shed office. It isn’t that cold today but a little more chilly than I would like seeing how I wore short sleeves this morning.
In other news, if it is going to happen I should start thinking about this backyard rink stuff. 🤔
Nervously waiting to hear how Basketball tryouts went for our oldest in high school now…😬
This run wasn’t the plan for a lot of different reasons but glad to add some more miles today as I feel like the night might be long. It was a real nice day out and got up to 60°F but not when I was out.
Had a dentist appointment this morning which was right next to these two lakes that has a nice trail around it so I took advantage. Probably should have tried to mix some more speed in this run but with the wind at my face this seemed like a good pace to just cruise and enjoy the beautiful day.
Just some Monday morning miles in what seemed to be warmer weather than I thought. I decided to run on the boardwalks again as I am not sure how much time I will have left before the snow flys.
Sometimes it is just nice to start the day with a cup of coffee and going through Reeder to catch up on things. Slow mornings are good.
Needed to get this one done early with kid activities today. Wasn’t sure how far I was going to run but happy with how it turned out and where I went. Last mile talked with my wife the whole time on the phone which was different but fun too.
A little windy when I turned to start to head home in this run today. Actually felt better than I thought I would as I haven’t had a rest day yet but I think tomorrow will be.
Well hello there… 👋🦌
Wasn’t sure I was going to run today or not so I decided to meander around the neighborhood to get some miles in. However, in what seemed like an overcast could have been cool day was actually not a bad 45°F out.
