Up Next: Breaking 5:00

I parked my car around the corner from the park where a large group of teens was gathered and pulled out my cell phone.

"I'm parked around the corner," I texted my son.

When I had driven past, it had looked like their run had concluded and they were in the midst of a team meeting. Knowing it could still be awhile, I opened up my Facebook app. I was happy to discover a new post by my son's distance running team. I was even happier when I saw that it included a picture of a part of the team and my son was in it. And he was smiling. A real, genuine smile. This is a rarity in pictures, so I actually zoomed in to verify, but there he was with the arm of a teammate draped around his shoulder and a big smile on his face.

I'm sure I had a smile on my face as well. A few years ago when my husband had started considering changing jobs, one of the things we both agreed on was the importance of staying local until our son graduated. High school can be hard enough without changing midstream and having to reestablish yourself with a new group of people. Seeing his smile as he posed with his teammates confirmed that we had made the right decision.

When my son got to the car, he had two pieces of paper, a box, and a t-shirt in his hands.

"Can you take these, please?" he asked.

"What are they?" I responded, taking hold of them as he eased his way into the car.

"Remember that awards banquet we didn't go to?" 

By now, I was able to see that the pieces of paper were indeed awards for his participation in cross country. Opening the box, I discovered a plaque recognizing my son for being Most Improved.

"I got my miler t-shirt," he added.

"Miler t-shirt?"

"Yeah, for running fast," he explained. He held it up so I could inspect the back. Listed were a bunch of times to "break." He pointed to the "Break 5:10," which he had done at the track meet last Friday.

I pointed to the "Break 5:00." 

"That's next," I said.

"Yeah," he answered. "It'll be easy."

It won't be easy, but I am confident he'll make it happen, probably sooner than later. And you can bet I'll be there at the finish line, cheering my heart out, when he does.