I am officially a "coach" now

I still put the word in quotes, since my past as a non-athlete with very little team sports experience (little league and ayso soccer) still convinces me that such terms are outside my reality.

But I can now embrace the word as part of something I do. I began a season last week, as a co-coach with Girls on the Run. In the spring, I pledged to get a chapter started in my daughter's elemenary school. Our district consolidated schools, and we have a huge team in the new school. All of us are first time coaches with the program, but two are experienced teachers. I led my first session today. My old days as a summer camp counselor came back to me, and I was comfortable leading the program which is more about values, choices, and self-esteem.

My daughter is in the program, as well as a couple of her best friends. We have over 20 girls now, which is a large team, requiring more coaches. It's a good problem to have. In November, we will have the 5k, which will be my daughter's first. The race will have 160 girls, and their running buddies. That's 320 people, before public signups. That's a huge race for this area. My wife will run, but Olivia chose her aunt, my sister, to be her running buddy, since she just started running this year too.

if you had told me five years ago that I would have been a coach for a program that involved running, I would have laughed. Now, much better than the whole triathlon pursuit, I have found myself in a position to do this with my daughter, and I am thrilled.