The Granddaddy of All Pumpkin Hunters

The Prized Pumpkin

Last week our family went to the pumpkin patch for our annual romp through the massive green fields dotted with orange.  We all enjoy the memory making event.  My husband has a strategy.  He likes to get the wheelbarrow and bump it along with the kids inside to the far stretches of the field.  I’m convinced it’s more about the hunt for him than simply picking out the first reasonably good looking pumpkin.  Additionally, he scans for the biggest, heaviest pumpkin on the lot.  The mission is a lofty one for our little ones, but they are eager and persistent.

I trail behind with the camera as they all stop at first one pumpkin and then another.  They thump it, pat it and walk around it only to eventually move on and repeat the process two dozen or more times.  The exchange between them usually goes like this:

“Oh! How about this one, Papi!”

“Let me see, dear,” as he runs his hands across the broad ridges.

“Nope.  That has too many scars.  Let’s keep going.”

“Papi,” says our daughter running and tripping over vines, “Look at this big one!”

“Let me take a look here.”  He lowers himself to check the symmetry of the pumpkin.  “Not this one.  It’s a bit lopsided,” he says as he quickly navigates the wheelbarrow down the row to avoid any rebuttal. 

Eventually the grandest pumpkin is selected by way of my husband’s coaching.  This year they hit the jackpot with an 84 pounder. There was a lot of sweat going on to land it into the wheelbarrow, but it was certainly worth all the effort. The kids were satisfied and beamed like they had joined ranks with the ”Granddaddy of all pumpkin hunters.” Goal met.  Everyone wins. High fives all around.

I find this scenario translating easily into my physical fitness coaching business.  I’m like my husband, in that I have the fitness knowledge and experience to coach a client toward the agreed upon goal. My fitness clients are the novice pumpkin hunters when they first start training.   Along the way, their enthusiasm, trust in the systems and relentless pursuit are remarkable.  When the dedicated ones win their fitness goals they can understand what it must be like to achieve status as ”Granddaddy of All Pumpkin Hunters.”