Back to Basics

I spent all day with a group of 8th graders at City Hall learning about local government. Field trips are great, but they wear me out. It doesn't matter how close or far we travel from school, I just get a bit nervous being out and about with other people's children.

It was a really neat day complete with a talk from the mayor, county supervisor, a CHP officer, council members and breakout sessions...one of which I had to teach! It wasn't a physically tiring day, but it drained me mentally. Luckily I teach at a GREAT school and my kids were super well behaved. They didn't give me any trouble.

By the time we got back to school at 4 p.m. and I'd picked up my eldest from after school care, I was ready to drop onto the couch and not move for several hours. However, I had to get the smallest child, think about dinner, and do the bedtime routine. The last thing I wanted to do was run.

But I did it!

It was on my mind all day, especially since my legs were terribly sore from yesterday's jog-a-thon. I want to get back into running, but I have to get over the mental hurdles that convince me I am too tired, too sore, too deserving of a break.

The kids went to bed after 8, and I made myself lace up the shoes. I am wearing my new running shirt for the first time that I got for my birthday IN FEBRUARY! I can't keep up with my old routines without falling off the treadmill in a heap, so I've decided to start over with the Couch to 5K program.

It'll be a good way to build my strength and endurance back up to where it was. The one difference is I am making myself run at a 6.0 mph pace. I am hoping if I begin at that pace and get used to the tempo, I can maintain that out on the road.

Windy post. Sorry. I'm just happy that I moved my body two days in a row, despite the fact that I was tired and just wanted to get in bed. Now I need to get my stinky body into the bathtub and head to bed.

Jog-a-Thon

Running Log: 1 mile

Today was the jog-a-thon for my school. I haven't run in several weeks, so I thought I'd get out there today and let this be my motivation back into the jogging world. I forgot to take my Garmin, so I don't know precisely how far I ran, but I'm going to log a mile since I was jogging around a high school track.


My 5-year-old son Evan ran two miles! He's fast! I let him get going and then jumped in with him for the last few laps. (It's not the greatest of photos. You can barely see him. I am still getting the hang of using my iPhone for taking photos and uploading them to Facebook.)

I need to run because I feel so much better about the world in general when I run. My attitude is happier, I like my body better, I have more patience, I sleep better, I don't ache as much, I eat better, and on and on.

Now that daylight savings is here, there is hope that I can run outside in the evenings.

Oh, and to add to the bad feelings I already have for slacking in the running department, I also fell off the no soda/no caffeine band wagon. Sigh. I don't even remember what excuse I gave myself for drinking a Pepsi. I'm sure it was a great reason at the time for "needing" that jolt of sugar, caffeine, and carbonation. Now I just feel sad.

However, let the happy endorphins commence.