Name: Laurie Jodice
Years around the sport: Six years as a parent of one child who ran cross country and track (Also, I was on a Division 1 cross country ski team in college and many of my college friends ran cross country. My husband ran track in high school)
Photo provided
Athlete's name and school: Noah Jodice, D.W. Daniel High School (He is now a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis)
When your son first started as a runner, what were your thoughts?
Our son enjoyed club soccer but it was not the best sport for him given his skills and the competition at the higher levels. We wanted him to have an opportunity to be part of a team and stay fit. So we encouraged him to run cross country. However, it was really our neighbor’s son, who was a few years older and was running on the team (and enjoying it), and a close friend of his since second grade, Matt Geer, who got him involved in cross country in seventh grade. At first we focused on encouraging him just to enjoy practice and stay committed. It was also nice for our work schedule to have an after school activity (so we didn’t have to pick him up from school at 3:30) and to have an athletic activity that we could watch. The first year is a hard step, especially for a young runner, getting used to longer distances and being exposed to racing. The big races like Eye Opener can be overwhelming at first. We hoped he would stick with it and have a positive experience, including developing good relationships with teammates.
What expectations do you feel you need to have of your child as a parent to an athlete?
This is a hard question, especially with running, because performance is so individual and can be affected by several variables in addition to training – proper coaching, getting to sleep on time each night, eating well, attitude and commitment. Cross country and track really require a balance between athletics, academics, and lifestyle (including time with friends). Our baseline expectation was that he learned about commitment to a team and to himself as an athlete, to focus on a goal and learn how to meet the challenges necessary to meet that goal.
How do you address supporting your child and giving advice or input and find a balance? Please explain.
As a parent, you want to see your child be successful on their own, but it’s hard not to feel like if they had a bad race, you failed. You want them to feel the emotional high from achieving success after so much hard work. When they have a good race, a new PR, it can be exciting and emotionally satisfying. When they have a bad race, it can also be very emotional and frustrating. It was easy to get caught up in over analyzing the race, what went wrong, what could be done better next time. But it was also easy to spend so much time on these issues after a bad race that it turned into an even more negative experience. We learned over time, partly through our relationships with other parents of runners (and who had run competitively themselves) the importance of shaking off a bad race and moving forward. Relatively quickly we also learned to let him take the lead in analyzing the outcome and deciding when he was done talking about it. Fortunately, he had some excellent teammates who were really good friends and they had a great ability to joke around and be positive, even on the bad days. His teammates were good at congratulating the guys who had done well, but also giving a runner some space and support after a bad race. We also struggled with the issues of getting him to go sleep on time at night; finding a balance between encouraging better habits and letting him find out for himself the impacts of being tired from lack of sleep. Being a competitive cross country runner can sometimes mean forgoing social activities, especially when you have to get up early the next morning to leave for a race. We struggled with this issue, at what point to suggest staying home versus letting him decide. Our son was involved in community theater in middle school and in high school, he had his own band which played shows at the local coffee house. So we often discussed balance between these different extracurricular activities and academics.
How did your life change?
We became really close friends with the other families who had runners that were Noah’s age and his teammates. We also became involved in helping with races. For local cross country races, I often helped in the finish chute and my husband rode his mountain bike out on the course to help out in case any runners had problems. More recently, since Daniel finally has a their own track, we have assisted Coach Fruster with timing at home meets. We enjoyed going to races so much, and it was really a highlight of the week. Even now that Noah has been away at his freshman year in college, we still go to meets when we can, to see our friend’s kids run. The highlight last year when Noah was a senior was seeing the Daniel boys win the state cross country and track meets. We knew all of the hard work and hardship that went into achieving that, and it was great to be a part of that experience. We also went to the state meet this year, and it was wonderful to see Noah’s former teammates do so well.
Runners are known to sometimes encounter mud on a course, what was your first reaction when your child came back from a run or race covered in mud?
We thought it was awesome, he was getting dirty and enjoying his run. Getting him to remember to put newspaper in his shoes (to dry them) after a run in the rain was challenging. Also, during the offseason, because our house is very close to school, some of Noah’s teammates would change at our house, so it was not uncommon for us to have lots of loose dirt in our guest bathroom.
Looking back, is there anything different you would do?
My husband and I have asked ourselves this question multiple times. I don’t think so. We made good friends and watched our son grow, develop strong friendships, and learn many positive lessons. We also learned a lot as parents, particularly about mentoring our son, though we are still likely far from perfect. There were some difficult challenges, frustrations, and decisions along the way, but I don’t think we would approach any of those differently.
What will you never forget from your experience?
Things I will never forget include, hugging Noah after a race when he was soaked in sweat, watching Noah and his teammates grow as runners and into fine young men and women, listening to the banter between Noah and his teammates, and sharing the ups and downs with the other parents. I get incredibly emotional when I see a runner I know well have a great race. When you know how hard a young runner has worked and then see them achieve, it is wonderful. Also, watching all the kids struggle through a challenging race and push themselves so hard is for me a real symbol of hope for their future.
What challenges have you encountered as a parent of an athlete?
Most recently the challenge for us as parents of an athlete has been the empty house now that Noah is away college. After six years of going to cross country and track meets, it became a part of our weekend culture, so we miss that. When he started his freshman year, Noah explored joining the cross country team and then rowing, but then decided to focus more on other passions (such as art and music) which is going very well. He still runs for fitness, and when he came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas break, he was able to run with some of his former teammates who were also home on break.
What do you recommend to other parents involved with the sport?
Go watch your kid race whenever you can. Wear running shoes to the race and be prepared to jog around so that you can watch and encourage them at different parts of the course. It can be really fun, and good exercise too.
Pay attention to huge dips in performance because this can be a good indicator of your child’s emotional or physical health. In his senior year, Noah had a mid-season PR of 17:06, and he looked really strong. But, the next two races were horrible, he added one to two minutes to his time, felt lousy and sluggish and even threw up at the finish line (which he had never done). We decided to get his blood tested. It turned out that he was anemic and his Ferritin levels were very low. This is not usually something that coaches expect for boys and there is almost no data on this for high school male runners. Runners need to have a Ferritin level of at least 30 to perform decently, though 50 is preferable. This is your storage of iron, so when it is low, many runners feel like their muscles are extremely sluggish. The result for Noah was that he lost his spot in the top seven and ended up as an alternate at the state cross country meet. This was difficult and somewhat heartbreaking to us as parents because it was his senior year. Since he knew the state course so well, he knew the best spots to cheer his teammates. So during the race he ran to these spots and gave them splits. That was last year when Daniel won the Class AAA state meet.) What we learned from talking to a doctor who works with high school and college runners is that it is important to have Ferritin tested at the beginning of a season and the end, so that you can see where the levels are and determine the need for iron supplements. If your runner is becoming more competitive and training harder, this is a good time to start monitoring his (or her) iron levels. Taking iron without knowing whether you really need it is not a good idea. Some runners become anemic simply from foot strike anemia, so running on softer surfaces like grass is important when training. We also learned that good nutrition (including more calories) and hydration helps to support good Ferritin levels. Don’t assume (and don’t let their coach assume) that your child’s sudden drop in performance is simply lack of motivation. It may be, but there are certainly other typical physical reasons that need to be considered.
Parents, grandparents and relatives: Want to be part of this series? Contact John at jolson@milesplit.us.