Fitness Friday: “I Really Want to Be a Hockey Player” and Other Bedtime Stories

My five year-old has a dream. He wants to be a professional hockey player. Never mind that he has never played organized hockey, he wants to play in the NHL. Last week, the last thing he said to me as he put his head down on the pillow was “I really want to be a professional hockey player”.

Then, a few days later, as I was pulling him and his brother on the sled, he said, “mom, I’m pretending to be riding the bus with the other players (I was glad he didn’t say sitting in a chartered plane).

When I told Derek about this, the first thing he said was “Don’t ever tell him that he can’t”.

And he’s right. Who are we to decide what he can and can’t do?  We need to help him develop the tools he needs to reach his potential in whatever he decides to pursue. And of course, to help him develop transferable skills and alternative plans. We need to make him understand the reality of a dream without crushing it.

Our son understands numbers, fractions, and is starting to grasp probability. So I have explained to him the numbers of recreational players versus the number of players in the NHL. He gets it. But he still wants it (today anyway- last year it was a ski racer).

So, what do we do to support him? Here are a few things I’ve come up with so far:

1) We make sure we really believe this is a healthy pursuit: Of course it is! Student athletes, in addition to being healthy and active, can develop greater organizational skills, leadership and discipline than the average student.

2) We understand that his dream will evolve over time. Today it might be hockey, but in the summer it might be soccer. Eventually, if Derek has his way, it might be basketball.

3) We give him every opportunity within our resources to excel. Have you seen this future school that focuses on athletics? Derek and I both did well at public school but hated it since we never felt motivated or interested. Perhaps, if he has really begun to develop an interest in a particular sport, this might be an option. Note: We are both strongly in favour of public schools; we just wish they could find some way to meet individual student needs.

4) We read about parenting young athletes. I just read this summary of a book written by Cal Ripken Jr.

5) Realize that while this is what is most important to him (right now), there are many other aspects of his development which we need to pay attention to in order to give him as many opportunities as possible.

What else? Help me out here. I need advice from student athletes. What did parents do to support you?

And for all of you who know Derek and I, and are chuckling because you think Lil D hasn’t been given the genes to become a professional athlete, laugh away. We are too. But we can never say never to our son.

So, now back to the all important me and this week’s workouts:

Running Rundown

Everything is posted in km. For those of you who only do miles, 1 km = .625 mile OR 1 mile = 1.6 km

Saturday – 13 km on the treadmill –  5:45 per km pace. Weather was nasty and didn’t feel like getting cold and wet outdoors.

Monday – 12 km tempo run on the treadmill. 1o minute warm-up at 5:40/ km.  2min/3min/4min/5min/4min/3min/2min intervals all @ 5:00 min/km pace with a 2 minute rest between each interval. Finish the 12 km at 5:40/km pace.

Wednesday – 8 km speed run on the treadmill 10 min warm-up at 5:40/km pace; 8 repeats of 1 minute at 4:20 per km pace followed by 2 minutes rest at 5:45 per km; finish 8 km at 5:40 per km pace. I’m not gonna lie, I was glad when each of those faster minutes came to an end.

Strength Training Stats

Lazy week for me. Fighting a bit of a cough so this is the area that suffered.

Thursday: Greco Lean and Fit class.

That is all. Have a great weekend! I plan to, and I’ve got the 10 km St. Patrick’s Day Run on Saturday morning to look forward to…