Guns, Grass, & Glutes

It’s Monday.  My quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteal muscles are still screaming from a workout I did 3 days ago.  Was it P90x?  No.  Was it “Insanity?”  No.  Was it one of those Cross Fit Ranger SEAL Delta Operator workouts?  No, it wasn’t.

It was my 5-year old son and I playing in the yard for an hour. 

Let’s rewind a bit.  My boy LOVES running; he finds any excuse to run – racing our 12-year old dog across the yard (dog still wins), frightening wild turkeys, or tucking a NERF football and taking off.

Junior has already participated in a couple 5K runs/races with me.  He is especially fond of those events where you get pelted with pastel pouches of color bombs.  By the time you finish the race, it looks like you were trampled by a herd of My Little Ponies.

Recently I told him about a “Christmas Race” where you run at night through a course of Christmas lights.  He thought this was a smashing idea, so I signed us up for the event in November.  I then inform him that we need to do special “run training” to get ready for the race.  I snag a poster board and a marker and work up a training calendar.  Basically we try to get in 2 or 3 runs per week consisting of short races across the yard or jogging a couple miles through the neighborhood.

Let’s come back to the Friday that has hit me with DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).  Junior arrives home from school and it’s a nice Southern Fall day.  I suggested “run training” and he shrugs it off.  Then I say, “Let’s run with the football!”  What do I hear?  “YEAH DADDY!”  I grab a pencil, notepad, tape measure, and some cones.  I mark off 40 yards for our football field and we did fifteen 40-yard dashes.  We recorded our times for each heat.

I’m 38 years old – a “young” 38, but 38 nonetheless.  My average 40-yard dash was about 6.5 seconds (hey, it’s deceptive speed); Junior averaged 10.1 seconds, BUT his 15^th and final run was his quickest.  Ah, youth – how do I miss thee?  Let me count the ways…

After the sprints, we re-hydrated and pulled out a popgun and “Buzz Blaster” to play “soldiers.”  Here we are running around corners giving hand signals to each other, like “hold” or “move in.”  I’m sure anyone driving by and seeing this spectacle thought, “Oh, looks like the big one got a weekend pass again.”  Sometimes Junior pretends he's wounded, so I whip out the pretend-first aid kit, patch him up, and carry him back to “base” while he covers me with the Buzz Blaster.  Mission Accomplished!

Back to Monday...  I’m sitting here thinking about how much fun we had running across the grass with the football and working together on the “battlefield.”  I had a moment of genius by disguising exercise as playtime; more importantly, I was able to spend some much-needed time with my son.  

Our “training” that Friday helped me realize I can still push my physical envelope. It also helped Junior sprint from 2^nd base and score the game-winning run in his Fall baseball game the next day. 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

P.S.  Here are some additional links in relation to this blog post.

Reading this article made me feel a little bit better after averaging 6.5 seconds:

"You can't run a sub-5 second 40."

I found the hardest part of the dash is the first 5 yards; practice, positioning, and coordination can give you a better starting kick.

Active.Com's Tips On Running A Faster Forty.