Cross Country Update - part 3!

Well, I'd like to come on here and tell you that it's been smooth sailing since my last Cross Country update. Sadly, I cannot. Brady has continued to have bad luck in Cross Country... to the point where last week we were very discouraged. Let me elaborate...

The week after he was stung repeatedly by yellow jackets, he went to practice. It was an average day and rather than sit in the hot car waiting for him to finish, I thought to myself, "Hey, I'll run some errands and come back and get him". This is the first time I've decided to do this. So, I pull up about 15 minutes from when practice is supposed to be over and I get out of the car. As I start to walk over to him, I'm stopped by another mother who says, "Brady had a pretty bad fall when he was running and hurt his leg. I had to dig a rock out of his knee". Are you kidding me? The only time I leave and he's injured? Now, don't get me wrong, he wasn't crippled or anything. I think it was more embarrassing than painful. But his self confidence here is really taking a beating! He pretty much limped around the rest of the night and complained. We gave him a pep talk about staying strong and continuing on. I feel partially responsible for his clumsiness. After all, I am his mother and if you can trip or fall or plummet, I've pretty much done it. I have a flair on my facebook page that says ....

So moving on, a couple of weeks ago, he had his first official meet at Ridgeferry Park. It was hot and muggy and he really struggled through this meet. These meets are held at 4:30 which to me is the hottest time of the day. I think he just got overheated because he said he felt dizzy. Scot called me during this meet (why am I always working when these are scheduled???) and was very concerned about him. Here he is at that meet...

He's hot, he's tired, he's in pain. Although, we were encouraged because he has the greatest team. They are supportive and encouraging and he actually finished and even beat his previous time. We will focus on small victories.

Yesterday, he had another meet. He had an easier time running. It was cooler and he hasn't had any injuries lately (woo hoo!). He beat his time, once again. He came home today very excited about the "Sub Club". I said, "what's that?". He replied, "The coaches bring us subs on the Friday after a meet if we beat our previous time". Wow! I guess it's the little things! He has great coaches. Here he is yesterday (yes, I know the picture is blurry....)

So, we will persevere. Brady is learning a valuable life lesson about how something worth having is worth working for. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers!