Wrestling. Underestimated.

Check it out - that is James after his first wrestling tournament. Pretty cool, no?

Well, I will be the first to admit that I have never really gotten wrestling. It seems very aggressive without a clear point and kind of weird to watch.

Wow, did my perspective change after this weekend. As I may have mentioned before, my son LOVES playing football. LOVES it. Well, to get stronger, he wanted to wrestle in the off-season. So we signed him up. They have practiced a couple days a week for a few weeks and admittedly, I have taken to it with lukewarm interest. When I was told I had to spend the entire day Sunday at a wrestling tournament, even though I had a long run to log and a ton of work, I wasn't particularly enthused.

John and James headed out super early for weigh-in, and James and I joined them about 2 hours later (CrAzY)! When I got there, brackets still weren't up and I learned that they were going in waves, from youngest kids to oldest. Great. I am going to sit here all day. Then I started watching. It was amazing to me: (1) how good these kids were; (2) how much they were giving of themselves (super intense); and (3) how hard it was to lose, but how glorious to win. It is all you out there on the mat. No teammate to blame for failing to block you or missing a pass. Just like running - you are the accountable one.

James was up for his first round and he was nervous. The kid he was against was apparently well known and a 7th year wrestler (WTH - did he start at 4K?!). They got going and it was super intense. In the first round (one minute), James got pinned. He looked wrecked after it - like he was going to cry. I could tell he was giving it all and he got schooled. That sucks. I patted him on the back, told him he did great and reminded him of the words his coach provided: you will lose some, you will win some, it will all make you stronger. He wasn't impressed, but he listened.

As we walked around, I saw so many tearful kids. And angry kids. I always knew it was a personal 1/1 sport. But it was kind of shocking how much emotion I saw. Granted, the kids were 5-12 years old. But still, it was intense. I was also really taken by the sportsmanship. All the kids were so polite and encouraging to each other. It reminded me of a distinct characteristic I love about my sport.

James was up for round number 2 and again, he was all nerves. He quickly pinned his opponent this time and was proud, but a little shell-shocked. This is new. Then he watched who he knew would be his last opponent and got completely flipped out. Completely. He started freaking out and getting very negative. I took him aside and told him this was just like running. It is all him and he needs to blow up the negative thoughts - put them out. He rolled his eyes at me, but when his group started lining up, the kid that first pinned him was jumping around warming up with confidence. I asked him (in front of James) if he felt negative at all. He of course said no. And James got it. He started knocking out the negative and jumping around to warm up. He was going to do this and not disable himself mentally in the process.

Round 3 was intense. In wrestling, there are 3 periods (rounds?) of one minute. James held his own until the end when he was pinned. But he gave it his all. 100% and he had the right attitude. Just needs a little more experience and strength. I was so proud of him for conquering the mental obstacles for the day. The first of many I am sure.

But I walked away thinking it was an amazing sport. Sure, team sports are awesome and have their place. But nothing defines a person better than putting it all out there - just you. Love it. Hopefully I'll have more stories soon. :)

******

Back to running!

Last week was a cut-back week, but I did tempo intervals and a MP run. Awesome. I am running lower mileage and taking distinct cut-back weeks. And I am noticing a difference. In the last few seasons, I always felt like I was catching up. Trying to squeeze in more miles. This time, both cut-back weeks I felt sore. Yay! Maybe I am finally having some real adaptations to training. My easy pace is now in the 8:4x range at the heart rate I used to be at 9+. Nice. Confidence is building.

I have started 3 quality workouts a week (tempo; marathon pace; long run) and the miles are building. Excited to see what lies ahead. :)