Girls on a Run is a program that holds a very special place in my heart. I first learned about GOTR of the Triangle in December 2010 when I ran the Reindeer Romp 5K with Sarah. After the race, I thought about contacting GOTR about volunteering/coaching but kept telling myself I didn't fit the "image" they were seeking in a coach.
Girls on the Run - Spring 2012
In January 2012, the opportunity to coach presented itself. A friend posted on her Facebook that her site needed at least one more coach, and the rest is history... The first season with the girls was wonderful. We had a great bunch of girls and they seemed to really gel by the end of the season.
I coached at the same site this fall. Again, we were lucky enough to have an awesome group of girls. I can't think of any better gift that being able to instill important lessons and have fun at the same time! YAY!
This fall, GOTR of the Triangle started something new with the assistance of a grant... STAR Coaches (Support, Train, Appreciate, Retain)! The gist of it is that STAR Coaches are there to provide peer support to the site coaches. STAR Coaches focus on building relationships with coaches in hopes that GOTR of the Triangle can have more coach retention and even better experiences for all involved.
After the fall season, an email went out recruiting additional STAR Coaches for the fall season. I was honored to be selected as a STAR Coach. While I will definitely miss being at my normal site with my group of girls, being a STAR Coach will allow me the opportunity to encourage others to be a part of GOTR and get to know fabulous young girls at several sites.
In late January,
a friend posted on her Facebook that her Girls
on the Run site was in need of at least one additional coach. There was only one coach (her) and each site
ideally has three. I had been hemming
and hawing about coaching Girls on the Run and after telling my friend, she
encouraged me to sign up to coach. She
said that I would be a strong role model for the girls because the focus is
being a strong woman with a healthy mind and body. So, after thinking it over for a bit I said, “Why not!" I immediately filled out the volunteer
application and was on my way to volunteering!
Girls on theRun is a 12-week program for 8 to 12-year old girls (mostly 3rd to 6th
graders). During the program, the girls learn important life
lessons and skills. They learn about
choosing healthy foods, how to stand up to bullies, how to express emotions,
and much more – all while they train to run a 5K. Each lesson helps the girls learn more about
themselves, their potential, and the idea of “being me”. At the end of the season the girls
participate in a community race with all the other Girls on the Run teams in
the area, friends, family, volunteers, etc.
When Jenelle
mentioned the need for a coach, I thought the program sounded fun. At the
same time, I had absolutely no clue
what I was getting into. I mean, I have
baby-sat, been a Y counselor, etc.
Unfortunately, this didn’t really prepare me as well as I had hoped for
staring into the eyes of 15 young girls that were expecting me to lead them through a lesson and workout. Oh my…I
was so nervous those first couple weeks!!
As freaked
out as I was, there was no need! It went
great! GOTR quickly became my favorite part of the week. Most weeks, Tuesday
and Thursday afternoons could not get here fast enough. I enjoyed coaching so much, even with a few
bumps in the road, that I am coaching again in the fall!
I learned
that each girl hears things different. I learned that each girl is motivated differently. I
learned that strips of paper to count laps can make an awesome paper chain that
the girls want to see finished! I
learned all kinds of awesome lessons from these girls. I also
learned that if you enjoy something and are passionate about it, it isn’t
work. This experience transformed my view of myself, helped me understand communication with others, and so many more things.
I am not
gonna sugar-coat it… Sometimes, I
dreaded going to GOTR. Sometimes I wasn’t
in the mood to do a particular lesson.
Sometimes I was tired and just wanted to go home. But, once I got there – it was great! I always left with a smile on my face and a
desire to tell more people about my experiences.
While I will
miss our girls, I am looking forward to meeting another 15 spunky little girls
in September!
The past week or so, I have been thinking a lot about the many opportunities that have come my way because of running. Thinking about these things actually makes me kinda emotional because I can't imagine my life without them:
NCRC Women's Beginner Running Group: I joined the NCRC Women's Beginner Running Group in July 2010 after a friend convinced me I could do it. I will be forever indebted to Alison for this push. I have gained so much through this program with the "least" of it being a love of running. I have met so many wonderful people (Hi Sarah! Brandy! Debbie! Mary! Suzanne! and everyone else that I won't name off. Seriously - you don't want me to...that would be like a bazillion hundred awesome women!) through this program. These women have been supporters and are now life-long friends. It is through the support of this program that I have been able to complete three half marathons since May 2011. This program has done nothing short of help me do a 180 and get my ass off my shoulders rear in gear. This summer, I will be coordinating this program. I am working on the training calendar, lining up speakers, and trying to drum up "swag" from running companies. While I am excited about this opportunity, I do have a little small fear that I won't be as good as the previous coordinators. However, I know that with all my NCRCWBRG buddies, I will be fine!
Girls on the Run: The easiest way to say this is to say that this spunky group of 15 makes every day better. While I only see the girls on Tuesday and Thursday, just thinking about seeing them for the next session makes me smile. I first learned about GOTR when I participated in a Reindeer Romp in December 2010. As I said before, I kept debating volunteering because I didn't think I fit the image of GOTR. Well, I am so glad that the opportunity came along because I can't imagine my week without the girls. They are wild, crazy, sweet, sassy, opinionated, and everything you want a confident 8 to 12 year old girl to be. I have said it before, and I will say it again - I wish this program was around when I was their age!
I am so very grateful for these opportunities. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would start running...and actually enjoy it. Now, I can't imaging my life without running, the friendships it has provided, and the "new" me.
First things first, my co-coaches and I have our work cut out for us! Our 15 girls are very spunky and excited to say the very least. It is awesome to see them go about life with such spunk, but sometimes it makes it hard to talk to them.
Tuesday afternoon was the start of the spring season of Girls on the Run (GOTR)! The second session was on Thursday. Each session begins with a "Getting on Board" and warm up. This part allows us to get the girls ready for the day. The workouts are great. They are activities that cause the girls to move, but they don't even realize they are working out/running. After the workout, we do a nice cool down and discuss our final thoughts on the day's activities.
The first two sessions were awesome! The girls have done well with participating in the talking-type activities. I love that the Girls on the Run curriculum is designed so that the girls don't really even know they are working out/running! It seems to make it a lot easier.
Several of our girls have done GOTR before. They were very excited to teach us a closing cheer that they learned from a previous coach. (What is it with girls and cheers? Love it!) Here's my sad attempt at remembering it:
Girls on the Run is so much fun Girls on the Run is tight like a bun Word The rain is drizzilin', our feet our sizzilin' But we aren't fizzilin' So, peace out (That's all I can remember. I may have gotten something wrong though, but that's the jist of it. So cute!)
If you have volunteered with GOTR, what were some of your cheers, etc.?
Yesterday, during my Girls on the Run orientation meeting, a video excerpt of Molly Barker (founder of GOTR) providing the "herstory" of GOTR was shown. I found myself getting caught up in memories and becoming a little emotional during the video. That video showed me even more that I was where I needed to be... Molly talked in the video about the girl box.
What is the girl box? "...The girl box is the place where many girls go around middle school when they begin to morph into what they think they should be instead of being who they really are. The messages of the girl box vary but the overarching theme comes from a culture rooted in the belief that girls and women must conform to a set of standards that are often unattainable and dangerous to our health and well-being..." (from http://www.girlsontherun.org/ourfounder.html)
When I heard Molly describe the girl box, my heart and mind were flooded with memories, both good and bad. I don't remember the exact moment that the girl box became an issue for me. I know that I had a difficult summer between 5th and 6th grade. I was dealing with some health issues, my PawPaw Pilcher passed away, I was moving up from the comforts of Beaufort Elementary to the unknowns of Beaufort Middle, I gained a bunch of weight, etc. I was hearing lots of "noise" and mixed messages all around me. I was starting to get stuck in the girl box...
Those thoughts of the girl box were not completely obvious. In fact, I would say they weren't obvious at all, at least to me. I was the average girl that was friends with everyone. I didn't have a place in the various cliques, but I was friends with them all. I didn't fit the mold of the cheerleaders, the athletes, or the band geeks. However, I did whatever I could do to fit in with those groups. I played this role very well for a very long time.
In my desire to conform with the standards, I ended up causing myself more pain and harm. I gained weight, I went from an average-sized kid to the fat kid, I was ridiculed at school for my clothing, I hid food under my bed and denied it when asked, I sassed my parents, I had very few really meaningful friendships, etc. Was this productive? Was this healthy? No. Not at all.
When I moved away from my small hometown in 1998, I was determined to come into my own. I did my best to remove myself from the girl box. I decided that I was going to "look out for #1" - me. I worked hard to maintain the one really meaningful childhood friendship I had - my friendship with Margaret. She was the one constant from diapers through high school, and never seemed to care that I didn't fit the mold that society pushed on girls. I worked to get involved at Meredith College, became a youth counselor at the Y, and started participating in a local church. These things helped me begin to get out of the girl box, but it was a long journey...
That was all back in the late 90s... As time passed, I continued to let myself go in and out of the girl box. I remember destructive behaviors and actions from the later years of college. I remember the awesome feeling I had when I got my first full-time job and bought my first car. I remember being hurt by friends that I thought would always be in my life because I wasn't quite what they thought I should be. I remember deciding that I was better than that...
I remember meeting my awesome husband. I remember Margaret encouraging me to take care of me and go with my heart. I remember the night that Jason proposed. I remember the joyous calls made that evening and the next few days. I look back with a full heart on the happiest day of my life and the celebration with family and friends... Those moments, good and bad, all led me to the ultimate, freeing moment...
I remember the day that I decided I was going to step out of the girl box for the very last time. First, I joined a new gym and got a personal trainer. I decided to start watching what I eat. Then, I started to run. That was it - the moment. I started running and it felt awesome. I can recall those terribly hot days during the summer of 2010 and how my coworkers would tell me I was crazy for going to my running program. I kept telling them that I had to go - it made me feel good. Running made me free. I was finally free of the girl box, some 18 years after it first came to me.
It is amazing what a bit of self-reflection will do for you... With the help of my husband, a couple of really awesome friends and my family, I can now say that I am out of the girl box. I am just doing my thing, conforming to no other person's expectation of how I should be.
That's why I am coaching girls on the run... I am grateful every day for the childhood I had, but I am so glad that this program is here for these girls because I could have used it when I was their age. I could have used the encouragement. I could have used the messages that Girls on the Run teaches.
The Core Values of GOTR are:
Recognize our power and responsibility to be intentional in our decision making
Embrace our differences and find strength in our connectedness
Express joy, optimism and gratitude through our words, thoughts and actions
Nurture our physical, emotional and spiritual health
Lead with an open heart and assume positive intent
Stand up for ourselves and others
Imagine how awesome life would be if we all taught and lived by these core values! I am going to do my best to help these girls understand and embrace these core values, so that they can stay away from the noise and hurt of the girl box.
Please allow me to apologize now... This post will be all over the place I am sure, but it is simply because I am so very excited!
Let's start with the back story... Most of y'all know that I started running in 2010. This started with the dream of running a Disney race, specifically the Disney Princess Half Marathon, as part of an overall transformation of myself. As I look back on my goal to transform myself, I have continued to look for opportunities to build up myself while also building up others. I think that I have finally found the ticket! Girls on the Run!
I first heard about Girls on the Run in December 2010. Sarah and I participated in the Reindeer Romp in Cary. Little did we know, but this was the season culmination race for the fall GOTR program. During the 5K, it was so awesome to see these young girls running with their buddies. There had to be thousands of young girls out there... Well, maybe not thousands, but there were several hundred. They were all so excited. They were happy and smiling. Some didn't have fun the entire run, but they all worked to encourage one another. So awesome! After the Reindeer Romp, I hemmed and hawed about whether or not I wanted to volunteer. I kept thinking that I wasn't the right volunteer - not healthy enough, not "cool enough", not a good enough runner, enough of this, enough of that... Needless to say, I let my feelings of self-doubt keep me from volunteering.
This summer I volunteered for the NCRC Beginner Women's Running Program. This program was the program that got me started with running. This program is where I met so many awesome friends. I knew that I wanted to give back to the group. As we began our runs, I settled in on my role as an encourager. I am not into being a front of the pack pacer/leader. I wanted to be able to be there for someone that needed the little extra push. That's just what I did. Every run usually ended with me telling some of the ladies "...Just a little further...Push on through... Y'all are so awesome... Think about how far you have come..." It was such a wonderful feeling to pass along the same encouraging messages that others have provided to me. Through this, I realized that I wanted to do more...
So, yet again, I let my feelings of not being good enough, etc. keep me from volunteering for the fall season. I continued to hem and haw until yesterday. Jenelle posted a message on Facebook about there being a big need for volunteers at one of the sites for the spring season. When I read her message, I realized that it was time for me to sh*t or get of the pot. Period. There was no better time than the present. GOTR had a need, I had a desire to help. What else could you ask for?
The past 36 hours have been a GOTR whirlwind... I have applied to be a volunteer, talked to the Program Manager, attended orientation and picked up my program manual, and started prepping for next Tuesday's first session (eek!!). I realized even more during the orientation meeting that this is where I need to be right now. It is the right time and the right thing for me - and I hope it will be the same for these girls.
So, this post is getting long.... I am going to write about my thoughts on Molly Barker's GOTR "herstory" tomorrow...
