BEAUTY 

Every day before practice, I review our past lessons. On Monday we talked about beauty. Not beauty in the way your brain will automatically define it. We're talking real beauty. Inner beauty. Things like positive attitude, funny, self-disciplined, honest, creative, helpful. I asked the girls a bonus question. How does inner beauty relate to friends and friendship? My favorite answers:

• "All of our friends have their own and different beauty. They are beautiful for different reasons. Someone might be funny, another one might be kind, but they're all unique. And its good to have different friends or else it would be boring."
• "You shouldn't pick friends because they're pretty on the outside, but because they are pretty on the inside."
• "Yeah, like because they're beautiful on the inside, for their heart." 

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

To count laps on Monday, we wrote 'beauty is in the' on some girls arms and 'eye of the beholder' the others. It was definitely something for them to think over, and today they were eager to show they were understanding! I loved watching the girls try and articulate what they thought it meant.

"Ok, like me, I am the eye. I am the beholder. I am seeing. I see the beauty.... so its what I think is beautiful?" 

"It means everyone sees differently, so you might think something is beautiful but your friend might not."

BREAKTHROUGHS

We were shorthanded today. I have two girls on my team who seem to require the direct supervision of at least one person at all times. I pulled the girls aside while we walked down to our meeting place. I told them I was going to need their full attention and cooperation today. I also told them that it was my job as a Coach to make sure they had the best 5K experience ever, so I needed them to really focus during our run so they could be well prepared (aka: no climbing the fence, no finding giant branches to 'herd' people with, no 30 minute bathroom breaks, etc.).

They jogged the first three laps non-stop, obviously I fake fainted for them. In total one ran 11 (2.75 miles) laps and the other ran 8 laps (2 miles). The smiles!!!!! The excitement!!! Coach Corrie, feel my heartbeat!!! 

FRIENDSHIP BREAKTHROUGHS

One of the girls was a little sad to lose their running buddy, it hurt her feelings a little bit. The other girl knew her buddy was hurt, so she had a hard time reconciling reaching her goal while making her friend feel bad. I told her that friends should support you while you reach your goals, and it was ok to run different paces, sometimes you have to stay true to yourself. 

For the first time, they sat on opposite sides of the circle after practice.  I made it a point of discussion in closing, that we can still be friends even though we have different goals and paces. I nominated both girls for 'Sweat Queen', which is an award that goes to someone who exhibits Girl on the Run behavior, like encouraging their teammates, reaching goals, trying their hardest, etc. The girls earned it for their positive attitude, for learning about friendship, for reaching their goals, and for rocking their laps! I saw them working things out after practice, and I could not have been more proud. 

THE BEST

So many girls broke their records today!! They are feeling confident, they are reaching their goals, they are encouraging each other to go one more lap, they're having so much fun! 

This is THE BEST part of the season, aside from watching them cross the finish line. 

This is why I coach. This is why I wish Girls on the Run was at my elementary school. I am so glad that Girls on the Run of Middle Tennessee (formally Girls on the Run Nashville) exists! 

Phew. Breakthrough days. I LOVE BEING A COACH!