The alarm went off at 5.55 AM! Now, that's a Surprise for a Saturday...
We had a fully packed morning ahead of us. At 7 AM, we had to be at the park where my son had to run 3 miles and complete a round of exercises to earn his fitness stripe in his quest for a Black Belt. Right after, we had to drive into center city Philadelphia for his choir practice that starts at 8.45 AM and would go on until 12 noon. It would have been a Surprise if we got lunch before 1 PM...
I have been running with my son on these fitness tests everytime he is about to graduate from one belt to another. In the beginning, it was A Mile Run and that was not a challenge. As my son grew older (he started Karate when he was about 7) and as he moved from the beginners to the intermediate to the advanced levels, the fitness requirement went up to 2 miles. For a man who's sitting 12 hours a day in a high-back chair working and the rest of the time awake on a plushy couch watching TV, it's a Surprise I managed to wake up one fine morning and run 2 miles along with him...
I knew it was going to be a stretch the moment I heard the number 3! But I like to run with him, just to show him that I'm there for him and to motivate him to cover the distance. And all of us knew the morning was going to be as stretch given one thing after another. So we stayed in Friday evening and called it a day early enough so we could all wake up fresh and strong. Every single detail had been planned, I would wake up at 6 AM and make the coffee and tea. My wife would be up right behind me and she would pack the towels, the change clothes and the snacks he would need for after the run, before choir. And junior would be woken up at 630 AM, giving him enough time to wash, drink his milk and get ready to run out. Knowing my wife, it would have been a Surprise if she didn't plan it to this level of detail...
Everything went to plan until 7 AM. We were there at the park, greeted by all the other children, the instructors, chaperones et al. The Principal called for all the boys to fall in line and went through his routine of asking each student what his / her age was, what belt they were testing for and hence confirming the distance they needed to run. "Tay Jus", he said, "how are you sir"? "I'm well sir", he said. "You're testing for Black and how old are you sir"? "I'm 10 sir", came the reply, "so that's 3 miles, right"? "Hmm, let's see, testing for Black, 10 years old, no that's actually 4 miles sir, YOU'VE GOT TO RUN 4 MILES", he said! Surprise...
There was no fuss! Not even a reaction. Only the definitive nod of the head to indicate "Yes Sir". And then he moved to join his Karate mates who were now forming a semicircle to start doing some stretching exercises. Only, someone else was reacting. ME! I was frantically looking for my wife, who had quietly stayed in the back rows, doing what she does best, greeting other parents and wishing other children the best for their runs. I spotted her in a minute and ran to her. "He needs to run 4 miles, not 3" and I repeated what the Principal had said a few minutes ago. "My son is running 3 and I will ask him to run the 4th along with yours", said another friendly neighbourhood parent. It was NO Surprise that my wife did not panic. She has always been a huge believer in my son's determination. She looked at me and I said, "I'll run with him". I had no idea what I had just signed up for...
The run began! My son and his friend shot off the blocks. I was mad at him because I felt he needed to pace himself. Somewhere about the 400 metre mark there was a U-turn in the path and the runners had to run around one of the instructors and back on the paved raod. This was comforting because even though I knew I was never going to catch up with him, I knew I would meet him at least 2 times during this run (going by my previous history of running 2 miles) when he would make the U-turn and return while I was still running towards the U. I met him soon and I expressed myself. "You've got to run 4 miles, so pace yourself". He nodded but kept running like the wind. I was Surprised I just didn't break my run, go over to him and give him a piece of my mind...
The first 2 miles went like routine. The toughest part of the trail was at the very begnning, where the path was not paved but was mostly sand and clay, with deep tire marks from trucks that had rolled through. I knew that if I surived that part I would be better off with the rest of the path. When I hit that part for the third time, I started praying. "God, take me past this path, please!" God was kind and I did cross the path and approached the U-turn. I met my son again as he was returning on the path but this time I met him much earlier which indicated that the distance between him and me was growing. I realised there was no point telling him to slow down so this time I only shouted words of encouragement for him. I slowly got to the U-turn. When I saw him way ahead of me I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and felt the need to catch up with him. After all, this was a big day for him and the only way to show him that I was there for him was to run alongside. I started taking longer strides. 5 seconds was all it took for me to realise my folly. One good thing the school does is assign a buddy for people who are running longer distances the first time and I noticed young TJ, who was much bigger and stronger than Tejas, running by his side. So I wisely gave up the need to catch up with him and fell back into my own pace...
Mile 3 ended and Mile 4 began! It was a Surprise I was still running. I got to the dirt track and prayed again. I got past the dirt track and on to the paved road and I barely crossed him on his return from the U. He was way ahead of me. "You can do it buddy", I shouted. I don't know if he even heard me. I could hear him grunting but I didn't see him stopping. My wife's assessment of his determination was spot on. At my own pace I made the U-turn and got back on what was the single longest straight stretch on the trail. When I hit that part of the trail, I realised I was alone. I kept chugging along. I looked for him. He was gone. I couldn't see him anymore. "Oh my God! Did he give up? Did he just stop and walk away towards the start line? No! That would mean he would need to come back next month and start all over! God, please no!". And then I saw him come around the curve. Past the straight stretch, we had to run around a lake and then came the home stretch on a grass path between a hill and the parking lot. A few morning walkers had hid him from my view for a brief while and I was so relieved to see him and his buddy come around the lake. I was not Surprised anymore...
I passed 2 ladies who were walking. "Your shoelaces are untied", shouted one to me. "I know, but I can't stop!", I said. "Be careful", she said. "I will", I said and kept moving. I wasn't really running, I was just moving. The next few steps seemed like eternity. My eyes never left him as I watched him run the loop around the lake. And I was praying. For him. He was more than a quarter of a mile ahead of me. And then it happened. Even as I hit the start of the loop around the lake, I saw him disappear behind the hill at the end of the loop. I knew he had done it! He was but a few paces away from the finish line. And I knew that if it was not for him, I would have left this race long ago. A little over a quarter of a mile left to conquer, I looked up into the sky. I thanked God for giving me Tejas. And I wasn't Surprised, when I heard myself saying. "God, let me finish this race"...
Tejas L Kaushik, albeit taken by Surprise, completed his 4 mile run in 45 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by 100 jumping jacks and 30 frog leaps, went on to a 3 hour session of choir practice and has carried on his day with elan and is just now having his dinner at 730 PM, after which he plans to work on a 499 piece Lego Model of a fighter plane. It's no surprise that my wife thinks he must retire early so he can wake up at 7 AM again to go to a Math Bee contest Sunday morning.
Oh! I measured his height after my 3 hour afternoon nap and I wasn't Surprised. He was Ten Feet Tall...
We had a fully packed morning ahead of us. At 7 AM, we had to be at the park where my son had to run 3 miles and complete a round of exercises to earn his fitness stripe in his quest for a Black Belt. Right after, we had to drive into center city Philadelphia for his choir practice that starts at 8.45 AM and would go on until 12 noon. It would have been a Surprise if we got lunch before 1 PM...
I have been running with my son on these fitness tests everytime he is about to graduate from one belt to another. In the beginning, it was A Mile Run and that was not a challenge. As my son grew older (he started Karate when he was about 7) and as he moved from the beginners to the intermediate to the advanced levels, the fitness requirement went up to 2 miles. For a man who's sitting 12 hours a day in a high-back chair working and the rest of the time awake on a plushy couch watching TV, it's a Surprise I managed to wake up one fine morning and run 2 miles along with him...
I knew it was going to be a stretch the moment I heard the number 3! But I like to run with him, just to show him that I'm there for him and to motivate him to cover the distance. And all of us knew the morning was going to be as stretch given one thing after another. So we stayed in Friday evening and called it a day early enough so we could all wake up fresh and strong. Every single detail had been planned, I would wake up at 6 AM and make the coffee and tea. My wife would be up right behind me and she would pack the towels, the change clothes and the snacks he would need for after the run, before choir. And junior would be woken up at 630 AM, giving him enough time to wash, drink his milk and get ready to run out. Knowing my wife, it would have been a Surprise if she didn't plan it to this level of detail...
Everything went to plan until 7 AM. We were there at the park, greeted by all the other children, the instructors, chaperones et al. The Principal called for all the boys to fall in line and went through his routine of asking each student what his / her age was, what belt they were testing for and hence confirming the distance they needed to run. "Tay Jus", he said, "how are you sir"? "I'm well sir", he said. "You're testing for Black and how old are you sir"? "I'm 10 sir", came the reply, "so that's 3 miles, right"? "Hmm, let's see, testing for Black, 10 years old, no that's actually 4 miles sir, YOU'VE GOT TO RUN 4 MILES", he said! Surprise...
There was no fuss! Not even a reaction. Only the definitive nod of the head to indicate "Yes Sir". And then he moved to join his Karate mates who were now forming a semicircle to start doing some stretching exercises. Only, someone else was reacting. ME! I was frantically looking for my wife, who had quietly stayed in the back rows, doing what she does best, greeting other parents and wishing other children the best for their runs. I spotted her in a minute and ran to her. "He needs to run 4 miles, not 3" and I repeated what the Principal had said a few minutes ago. "My son is running 3 and I will ask him to run the 4th along with yours", said another friendly neighbourhood parent. It was NO Surprise that my wife did not panic. She has always been a huge believer in my son's determination. She looked at me and I said, "I'll run with him". I had no idea what I had just signed up for...
The run began! My son and his friend shot off the blocks. I was mad at him because I felt he needed to pace himself. Somewhere about the 400 metre mark there was a U-turn in the path and the runners had to run around one of the instructors and back on the paved raod. This was comforting because even though I knew I was never going to catch up with him, I knew I would meet him at least 2 times during this run (going by my previous history of running 2 miles) when he would make the U-turn and return while I was still running towards the U. I met him soon and I expressed myself. "You've got to run 4 miles, so pace yourself". He nodded but kept running like the wind. I was Surprised I just didn't break my run, go over to him and give him a piece of my mind...
The first 2 miles went like routine. The toughest part of the trail was at the very begnning, where the path was not paved but was mostly sand and clay, with deep tire marks from trucks that had rolled through. I knew that if I surived that part I would be better off with the rest of the path. When I hit that part for the third time, I started praying. "God, take me past this path, please!" God was kind and I did cross the path and approached the U-turn. I met my son again as he was returning on the path but this time I met him much earlier which indicated that the distance between him and me was growing. I realised there was no point telling him to slow down so this time I only shouted words of encouragement for him. I slowly got to the U-turn. When I saw him way ahead of me I felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and felt the need to catch up with him. After all, this was a big day for him and the only way to show him that I was there for him was to run alongside. I started taking longer strides. 5 seconds was all it took for me to realise my folly. One good thing the school does is assign a buddy for people who are running longer distances the first time and I noticed young TJ, who was much bigger and stronger than Tejas, running by his side. So I wisely gave up the need to catch up with him and fell back into my own pace...
Mile 3 ended and Mile 4 began! It was a Surprise I was still running. I got to the dirt track and prayed again. I got past the dirt track and on to the paved road and I barely crossed him on his return from the U. He was way ahead of me. "You can do it buddy", I shouted. I don't know if he even heard me. I could hear him grunting but I didn't see him stopping. My wife's assessment of his determination was spot on. At my own pace I made the U-turn and got back on what was the single longest straight stretch on the trail. When I hit that part of the trail, I realised I was alone. I kept chugging along. I looked for him. He was gone. I couldn't see him anymore. "Oh my God! Did he give up? Did he just stop and walk away towards the start line? No! That would mean he would need to come back next month and start all over! God, please no!". And then I saw him come around the curve. Past the straight stretch, we had to run around a lake and then came the home stretch on a grass path between a hill and the parking lot. A few morning walkers had hid him from my view for a brief while and I was so relieved to see him and his buddy come around the lake. I was not Surprised anymore...
I passed 2 ladies who were walking. "Your shoelaces are untied", shouted one to me. "I know, but I can't stop!", I said. "Be careful", she said. "I will", I said and kept moving. I wasn't really running, I was just moving. The next few steps seemed like eternity. My eyes never left him as I watched him run the loop around the lake. And I was praying. For him. He was more than a quarter of a mile ahead of me. And then it happened. Even as I hit the start of the loop around the lake, I saw him disappear behind the hill at the end of the loop. I knew he had done it! He was but a few paces away from the finish line. And I knew that if it was not for him, I would have left this race long ago. A little over a quarter of a mile left to conquer, I looked up into the sky. I thanked God for giving me Tejas. And I wasn't Surprised, when I heard myself saying. "God, let me finish this race"...
Tejas L Kaushik, albeit taken by Surprise, completed his 4 mile run in 45 minutes and 4 seconds, followed by 100 jumping jacks and 30 frog leaps, went on to a 3 hour session of choir practice and has carried on his day with elan and is just now having his dinner at 730 PM, after which he plans to work on a 499 piece Lego Model of a fighter plane. It's no surprise that my wife thinks he must retire early so he can wake up at 7 AM again to go to a Math Bee contest Sunday morning.
Oh! I measured his height after my 3 hour afternoon nap and I wasn't Surprised. He was Ten Feet Tall...
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