Running with Teenagers

I'm thankful to have some teenagers in my life.  They're wonderful.  Passionate, opinionated, energetic, sweet, hopeful, and often bothersome.  Recently, two of these teenagers, a 15 & 17 year-old girl, have begun running earnestly.  Today the three of us did a 5 mile loop through West Philly.  This was my second run with them.

They are so strong.

They are so capable.

I love it!  I love running with young women, as they grow into their bodies with full awareness of their strength.  As we looped away from the Spring Garden bridge and headed south through Drexel's campus I remembered my own relationship with my body at their age.  I guess a more apt characterization would be lack of relationship.  My body felt foreign, misrepresentative, uncooperative, & challenging.  I can't speculate what either of these young women feels, but I know what I see.  They're running with increased confidence and consistency.  They support each other and themselves.  They walk tall.  They're building respect-- for themselves, one another, the land they run on.

Sometimes I wonder if running, yoga, swimming, all of it is indulgent.  It certainly can be.  It's easy to get lost in your own time and mileage and forget about the wider world.  But if tread with balance all physical work can be utterly transformative.  I'm so impressed by these young women and invigorated by the way they're walking through the world.  Advocacy for animals is crucial.  Challenging the prison industrial complex is essential.  Running with teenage girls, supporting and loving young people, is just as imperative.  I'm so thankful to watch them grow.

My god-daughter, her cousin, one of my teenage running partners, & me

Finishing the Hanneman 8K with the Humane League's Team Vegan in 2011