The Hard Times

Oh man.  The first year of teaching really played a number on my running base.  Andy, my wonderful Andy, was complaining last year because I made him run back to back half marathons.  I was pulling him through the Seattle course just a year ago.  And now, he is tugging me along.   My speed has dropped drastically and it appears that Andy has surpassed my pace.  He is nice to me on the way out and sticks to my tortoise speeds.  However, on the way back, he is always pushing me to go faster.  He wants to race all the time and I already feel like I'm racing.  I've been letting him run the last half back on his own because I don't want to hold him back.  I'm excited that he is taking an interest in running but not so excited I can't keep up!

My hopes are that at some point Andy's speed will level out and I can catch up.  Duke and I went for a run all alone this evening as Andy wasn't home.  We ran a little over 2 miles, which seems so silly because 2 miles used to seem like a worthless run to me.  I never did anything under 3 miles.  I keep telling myself that building a base is important and that I will get there again.  It is just disappointing the way it is right now.

I have a new mantra that has made its way into my head lately.  My physical therapist from way back when I injured my knee once told me, "Pinch your butt cheeks when you run."  He was trying to get me to activate my quads so that I wouldn't put some much pull on my knee from my calves.  My calves were screaming last week, thus I've been telling myself to pinch my butt cheeks a lot lately.  :-)

I ran a 5k that was sponsored by a service learning group at the school that I work at a few weeks ago.  That is when I really realized that I was really out of shape.  I won't even tell you my time because it was HORRIBLE!  However, it was very nice to have my students on the sidelines cheering me on.  These are the moments when you really love being a teacher.  I also received two lovely notes from students this week telling me how much they appreciate my teaching.  These positive moments really help to push me forward.

Anyways, this summer will be a busy summer.  I plan on getting in to shape as my wedding is less than a year away!  Twin Cities Marathon will also be here before we know it.

That's all for now...I have to plan for tomorrow's school day!