Born to Run?

I just finished a 30 minute walk.  That in itself may not seem amazing to you but it is the most intentional exercise I have had in...too long.  If you have been following my blog, you know that I have had a lot of emotional and career-related nonsense to deal with in the past 6 months.  Unrequited love, bullying, and panic attacks can take a lot out of a girl, and I am no exception.  I have focused more on leaving the past where it belongs and making a new beginning for myself.  Part of that new beginning has to do with returning to the kind of teaching that feeds my soul: working with primary students.  My second graders certainly have given me a workout of their own kind, but we are finally at a place where I feel like I can teach without putting out fires every 10 minutes.  

In the midst of the excitement, fear, and anxiety revolving around a job change, I have made some adjustments to how I care for my body.  I've been upping my water consumption and getting lots of sleep during the week.  With prodding from my ever wonderful yet hovering mother, I ordered Nutrisystem food because "You know, Maria Osmond looks beautiful and she eats that food".  With all due respect to "Maria" (What? You didn't know there were Italian Mormons? Well, there are...and they can sing their lungs out!), I don't think this system is going to help me in the long run...like when I go back to eating real food.  Anyway, no where in my health conscious decisions did I add any kind of exercise at all.  Until this weekend...

I received an email at work from one of my new colleagues which stated that she was going to do the Freihoffer's 5K Run for Women in Albany, and she was hoping to get a running group together from our school.  I have toyed with the idea of running in the past.  The "idea" of running was appealing to me, but the reality associated with it (i.e. you have to get up and do it) never clearly clicked with me. When I was in my 20s and 30s I would look at runners and wonder what mental illness they were suffering from and when there would finally be a cure for it.  Unless I was being chased by a wild dingo, I wouldn't ever even try to run.  It just seemed unnecessary and crazy to me.  But at the same time, I always admired the runner who was out there in the rain, cold, or snow.  They were dedicated to an activity that no weather could derail.  And most runners have an athletic form that I find very attractive: fit, not thin and not bulky.  

So, this email struck a chord with me. The 5K is not until the first weekend in June.  That gives me a good four months to get prepared for it.  I immediately emailed her back and said I was on board.  She was glad to hear it but wanted me to email back when I had actually signed up (perhaps she was used to people saying "yes" to an idea but "no" to the reality).  Well, I signed up on Friday night and sent that email. Now I have a goal: get myself ready to get myself ready for the 5K.  You see, I know all about the Couch to 5K programs out there and am signing up for one that begins in March.  But I don't think my body is even ready for THAT level of training.  I need to get this magnificent body of mine (speaking only positive words about my body...another change I'm trying to make) ready to be trained.  Which is where my walk today comes in.  

Last Monday I attended a professional development session that talked about a program called "because I said I would".  It basically is a way to build character in students by having them make one week promises to themselves about something they promised they would do in the coming week. Students might promise something school related like "I promise I will study my spelling words each night" or something personal like "I promise I will pick up my toys after playtime".  The gist of the program is that students are making these promises to themselves and feeling the accomplishment when they keep their promises (check out the website: www.because I said I would.com ).  The teachers who presented this program talked about how they were doing this weekly with their students and challenged us all to make a promise to ourselves.  They stressed that the promise shouldn't be anything huge or undoable because the point was to follow through on the promise within a week.  Some people chose cleaning out their cars (a future promise for me!) while others made a pledge to not keep their car-sharing spouses waiting in the morning because of their disorganization.  I made the promise to organize the pile of teaching books in my dining room that had accrued since I was offered the new teaching position.  I promised to sort out the books into intermediate (not needed at this time) and primary books.  It took me until the Sunday before the Monday deadline, but I did it. I felt so good after doing it that I decided that this was something I should incorporate into my life.  

And this week I am doing it.  For the week of 01/31/16 I promise I will walk at least 3x for 30 minutes.  I am one third of the way through to fulfilling my promise to myself.  I plan on using this blog as part of my accountability for keeping these promises so feel free to check in with me either here, in person, or on Facebook. These will by my first steps to running in a 5K.  "Born to Run", Bruce? Not so much.  More like "Getting Ready for Getting Ready to Run", and I will do it.