School's Out for Summer

Again, it's been way too long, but I now have tons of time to write! School is out and my first year of teaching is officially done. I had so many ups and downs throughout the school year. When it's all said and done it turns out I really do love teaching and know it's absolutely what I should be doing. I definitely would not have made it through the year without my running. It gave me time to clear my head- laugh and/or cry about what happened each day. I also was able to share my love of running with my students. I was lucky enough to be a coach for Girls on Track (middle school version of Girls on the Run.) If you don't know about this organization you should definitely check it out: http://www.girlsontherun.org/

My dear friend/coworker and I got to hang out with about ten 6th grade girls two days a week after school and complete a 5k with them in May. This group is about much more than running though. We discussed everything from self image to gossip to boys to decisions the girls will have to make as they grow older. We had a phenomenal group of young women and I can't wait to coach again in the fall! I also shared my stories of my first full marathon (in Atlanta) and marathon relay (with the family in Big Sur) with the students. They were really more interested than I thought they would be.  My favorite comment came from a student when I was showing them the marathon route in Atlanta. One student raised his hand and said, "So there's a track that big around the city of Atlanta?" I laughed, told the kids it was run on normal streets and explained how the police barricade the road. When I told them 26.2 miles is equivalent (throwing math vocabulary in there) to roughly 105 laps around the track they were really shocked. I think they were even proud of me :-)

This summer I'm going to try and write a lot about running, and swimming and biking too. I may even include some yummy summer recipes as I'll have plenty of time on my hands to cook. I promise to be around more often and look forward to sharing my stories with others and hearing all of your comments!

Runners World Quote this week I really like- I can't imagine living and not running. - Paula Radcliffe