Sprint King!

Eli and I had been preparing (mentally) for this day... his first ever school sport's day. At first, at least for me, the preparation was all about telling Eli that he had to run a race (60m) against some of the other kids in his grade. After that I focused on reminding him that all he had to do was try his best and, if he didn't win, he really shouldn't cry (he does tend to turn on the waterworks when he doesn't win things). 

I'd locked the date into my diary, so I could seem him race and offer him whatever support he might need before and after his race. Of course all of my good planning was for nothing, as the weather gods intervened and sport's day was postponed to the following week - and on the only day that I couldn't attend (work always gets in the way!). This change of plans required some more preparation for Eli (and I), but he seemed ok with the fact that I wouldn't be there cheering him on. I'd mentioned my disappointment about not being there to some of the other parents at school and fortunately, his friend's Mum offered to video his race for me. As you will hear from the audio, she also cheered Eli along - so it was great that he didn't run without some support on the day. 

As you can see in the video, Eli was fast and very focused (certainly compared to some of the other kids that were running all over the place). I'd been drilling Eli on the need to stay in his lane, partly because it would slow him down if he weaved his way to the finish line, but mostly because whenever he and I race each other he makes sure that he runs interference in front of me, in a bid to slow me down. After watching the video I was impressed with his effort - and I was also glad that there was no need for tears! Some of the other parents from school have since mentioned how focused he was, which is either a tribute to my coaching or a nod to his super-competitive personality. Either way, it turned it well and you can tell from the video that Eli was mightily impressed with his first ever sprint race and his first place ribbon.