There is no crying in Coaching

   You never know how you will effect someone's life. How the decisions you make will impact someone else. When you run a Marathon, others take note, reflect on their own abilities and sometimes decide to do what they think of as "the impossible". That has happened.

   A woman, a bit older than me, who has never been a runner, has decided to train for a 5K. This might not seem like a huge distance, but to someone that has never run and is facing the problems of a post menopausal body, this IS a Marathon!

   When I heard she was going to do this, I immediately put my coaches cap on and instructed her of sites to reference, goals to put in place and the most important decision...what to wear. Perhaps it is only women, but the idea of a new pair of shorts or running top will get me to hit the road at least 3 times simply by the I-look-cute factor. Men may not feel the same way, but Jesse figured out fast that this was a powerful motivator for me and has approached every sport with "well if you think you might like X sport (sub in skiing, biking, rafting, running...for X) then we will need to get you outfitted." Men reading this, the term "outfitted" may mean the actual bike for biking or the actual skis for skiing to you, but believe me, Jesse knows this is much more and that is how he lures me in. I can't tell you how many trails I have found myself crying on where he says "well at least you look cute" it works every time to give the situation some perspective and a good laugh.

   Just to clear something up, I have referenced crying on several blogs and just did again. Don't get me wrong, tears may be a part of my experience time to time, but I am a bad ass...even when I am crying.

   Anyway, back to coaching. My new found role has inspired me to think of various races at different distances I want to do, places I want to experience running in. I am also able to connect the dots in a way I couldn't when I was in the throws of my races. Coaching is incredible for my running!

   I think of just how great coaching is for my running while I talk to my athlete about her new victory. I refer to her as my "athlete" because Jesse used it with me and I found it very empowering, much better to hear "you are doing great athlete!" while crying at mile 22 than "you are doing great baby!"...even though at home we do call each other baby, it sounds different on the road. Shit, I mentioned crying again.

   Needless to say, I am settling into coaching my athlete. I can hear her beaming with pride about finding a better stride, through the phone, I say a few more words of encouragement and hang up. I lick the Doritos cheese off my fingers, open another bottle of wine (the dry Vivác Rosé of Dolcetto is awesome with Doritos), reposition myself on the sofa and turn my movie back on. Yes, yes, coaching is doing wonders for my running.

-Cheers from the Vivác Winery Family!

www.VivacWinery.com