Running and parenting have more overlap than most people probably think. Although it’s a sport many get into prior to having kids, it has the power to become one of your strongest parenting tools.
It’s no secret that running makes a great healthy option for those much-desired sanity breaks and necessary patience rebuilding sessions parents frequently seek. However, it also has a much larger — albeit very stealthy – affect on the runner’s children, influencing them through example and laying precious little seeds in their subconscious that, if encouraged and supported over the years, have a very good chance of blossoming into beautiful behavior and personality traits that any parent – runner or not — would be proud to see their children display.
Dedication
If the old adage is true (spoiler: it is!), your children will learn far more from your behavior than they ever will from your words. Running is a great way to demonstrate what dedication looks like in action, as it’s not a sport that can successfully be half-assed. You get out of running what you put in, as most runners realize rather quickly. Years of seeing their parent lace up and head out into the elements regardless of weather and life challenges and return sweaty, smiling, and rejuvenated every time is bound to make an impression on your child.
Balance
With each year, life tends to throw more at you without regard of whether you feel ‘ready’ to handle it. Part of growing up in our culture is learning how to balance the many different activities we must be a part of with those that we simply want to be involved with. Runners rarely have an easier schedule than the next guy, but they take that extra step to find, or create, pockets in their daily schedules for running.
Endurance
Endurance isn’t simply continuing to move when you’re completely spent – that’s poor time management. Endurance is learning how to manage a goal and pace yourself appropriately in order to reach it. The art of running requires this in training for every race and on each daily run. If your children can glean this skill from observing your life as a runner, they will have a much easier time in life setting and obtaining goals, whether they are sports related, career, or personal goals.
Self Care
Sometimes the hardest thing as a parent to do is to realize the importance of taking care of yourself too. So much focus, understandably, goes into caring for your children and keeping them afloat in this world that parents often neglect their own physical and mental health because they are simply too worn out after they’ve given their all to their children. While children certainly should be at the forefront of a parent’s thought in everything they do, it should also then be considered what sort of example a parent is setting for them. Running parents who consistently find or create time to run not only experience the immediate positive results of improved health and refreshed attitude and patience, but they are also setting a standard for their children that it’s okay to do something healthy for yourself. A healthy and balanced individual not only leads a happier life, but is able to give more to those around them.
Passion
Finding a runner who isn’t passionate about the sport is a bit like searching your body for ingrown hairs; you’ll find them if you look hard enough, but it’s not a big deal — they never last long anyway. Just keep doing what you do, run because you love it and believe that your passion shines through to your children who are watching. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a parent who doesn’t want their kid to find a passion in life, as passion brings us happiness, hope, and the moxie to really live life the way you want to.
