Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Quality Time

Last night for the first time in a very very long time it was just me and my daughter (Pip). My son was at a friend's house for the day and my wife had a doctor's appointment.

We stopped in at Olive Garden for dinner. As we walked to our table people turned to look and smile as Pip and I walked hand in hand to our table. She has the affect on people sometimes. Complete strangers often call her "sunshine". The nickname fits as even at five she lights up a room when she enters. Lord help me...

After ordering food we started talking. One of those "stream of consciousness" type conversations. From puppies to best friends at school to whether or not it would rain. After a while she suddenly looked up and tilted her head. "We're talking a lot, aren't we?" she paused briefly and then she was off again, chattering away about spiders.

As I thought about it I realized how completely understated her comment was. It's been a long time since we talked for more than a couple of minutes at a stretch aside from the usual "how was your day dear?" conversations during dinner. Normally my son maintains a monopoly on my time and attention. Hockey, homework, playing catch, watching football, he is my constant shadow. Pip never complains about the lack of attention. I don't think she even realizes it. It's a pattern that has slowly developed over years so it wasn't noticeable. I've noticed it now though.

In my training I try to focus a lot on doing high quality workouts. My available time for training is very limited and must be spent and balanced very wisely. If I need to spend more time in one area I have to cut back on another. If I don't focus on getting good quality out or the workout then the time is wasted.

It occurred to me that I definitely need to apply this same thinking to my daughter. She never complains that she doesn't get as much attention, but I know that if I don't do it I will be the one who regrets. it. If I don't spend that time now I'll never get it back. And it has to be quality time. One-on-one and fully engaged - not the distracted half-here half-there time. My son won't like the time taken away - but he too must learn balance.

Time spent foolishly now sows the seeds of future regret and failure. Spend the time well.


Workout Summary
  • 1440yd swim - skills and drills
  • 45 minute spin class - hills
  • 6 mile run - Z2/Z3

    Trip report from the Hilly Hundred this past weekend is coming - haven't had time yet to write things up.

    I tweaked a muscle in my upper back last night so I swapped my planned LSD swim for an S&D session instead. Felt pretty flat on the spin bike so I wasn't looking forward to the run. Biking legs are still recovering from the Hilly I think. Surprisingly though, once I started running I slid very quickly into a good rhythm and felt smooth and light. I ended up taking in another 1/2 mile loop - feeling a bit guilty about not running for a week.
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