June 3, 2008

  Bob on Fathers Day
    By Bob Francis, Owner
    soundRUNNER




In a bit of a role reversal, I’m dedicating the Fathers Day edition of Bob’s Lane to my daughter Kimberly. Through her, I experienced a thrill in running greater than any merely personal achievement in the sport. In January we ran the Disney Marathon together. It was her first marathon and my 30th, run just before her 30th birthday. Disney had also been my first marathon. There were other coincidences: this is the year I turn 60 and my mother turned 90. Julie just turned 50, and this will be our 10th anniversary. So there were lots of multiples of 10 and 30 going around.

Kim had called me last fall to proclaim that she wanted to do this. To put the pressure on herself, she registered early. Kim is a life-long overachiever who until this point was an occasional runner with a few local races and a half-marathon on her resume. Taking on the marathon was a big step. She asked her Dad to run it with her. I was elated. She bought a training book by a highly-regarded author, began to follow the method, and soon called me for advice about the aches and pains she was developing, her growing uncertainty about whether the method was right for her, and those voices—the voices of others, whose uninformed questions plant seeds of doubt; her inner voice, speaking to the enormity of the undertaking compared with the frailty of the contestant; and the voices of countless runners before her who had accepted the challenge and measured themselves against the distance.

What did we do? First we changed the method, partly because I believed it was not adequate for her needs, but mostly to put myself in the position of taking care of my daughter. No one can do that for a kid quite like mom or dad. Second, we dealt with the aches and pains, the physical side of the problem, by applying the training principles: progressive stress, adaptation to progressive stress, and event-specific training. Then we dealt with the voices: the voice of my dad telling me always to compete against the very best and see how well you can do; that no matter how good others may be, a determined person can compete. The voices of the ignorami, most of whom I cursed in the same way Harry Truman cursed the critics’ opinions of his daughter’s piano playing. And the voices of countless runners, saying you will forever be a different person once you cross that finish line and get some hardware around you neck. I can’t tell you how or explain to you why, but different you will be.

Kim was very self-contained as we worked through the circus-like atmosphere of the walk-out, line-up, and start of a big race. The early miles were easy, as we stuck to our race plan. But as often happens in Florida, the mid-morning sun burned through the overcast, and suddenly, at mile 21, the day turned hot and dehydration became a serious threat. I had my chance to be Kim’s dad as opposed to her running partner. I have a great deal of first-hand knowledge about the physical aspects of dehydration, so we applied it: we slowed down, took in additional fluid, took walking breaks to allow absorption. I got to be the voice: of reassurance, of trust, of care—just do these things, and you will be fine.

And fine she was. We resumed continuous running again at mile 24. At the 25 mile mark, running along the lake at Epcot, I told her to enjoy the next mile, because it would be the last mile she would ever run before finishing a marathon. A gospel choir was in full throat at mile 26, so I did a Bo Diddley dance to somewhat less than thunderous applause. Then she crossed the line. Kim has asked to me come to Minneapolis this fall to run Twin Cities with her. It promises to be a terrific time. But for this Fathers Day and all to come, I will cherish the memory of Disney 2008 along with the very, very special moments in life.

Archive of Bob’s Lane

Issue 1: May 1, 2007: Bob on the Bash
Issue 2: May 10, 2007: Bob on Dave Parcells
Issue 3: May 24, 2007: Bob on the Branford Road Race
Issue 4: June 1, 2007: Bob on Being Green
Issue 5: June 15, 2007: Bob from the Left Coast
Issue 6: June 23, 2007: When Pain is Leisure
Issue 7: July 6, 2007: At Seventeen
Issue 8: July 13, 2007: Bob on Cities
Issue 9: July 30, 2007: Bob on Mike
Issue 10: August 8, 2007: Bob on Nature: Nature on Endurance Running
Issue 11: August 17, 2007: Bob on What I Like
Issue 12: August 24, 2007: Bob on Running Older
Issue 13: August 31, 2007: Bob on Runners in the Raw
Issue 14: September 9, 2007: Bob on Exercise and Adult Neurogenesis—Say What?
Issue 15: February 12, 2008: Bob on the Times