Here We Go Again....

My coffee table on Friday night as I worked on school stuff.

If you have visited my house in the last several weeks, you have seen the piles of papers pretty much everywhere.  (I did manage to hide them for my daughter's birthday party last weekend...). For the first four weeks of school, I have been dragging a teacher wheely-cart back and forth to school. So much to do in terms of Fall Assessments, planning, getting things organized, etc.  Coming back to the classroom after being in the library for 4 years, sometimes it feels like I am starting from scratch.  So I feel like I have been working 24/7.  So this week, I didn't exercise once. I couldn't stand the piles or my TO DO list anymore so I worked nonstop in the evenings and all day Saturday to get things finished and put away.  I needed to get a handle on where kids were and on the units that are coming up. I needed to find books that would match what I was teaching. I needed to think about the routines that were in place and where to go next. I needed to get to the big picture of the year.  So I did  that.

The good news is that the tables in my house are clean. The papers are filed away at school. I still have lots to do but I feel like it is manageable if I do a bit every day.  And I feel like I can move forward.

The bad news is that it is time to get back into a routine again. And I know how un-fun it is when I've been not so good for a bit. I know the next few weeks are going to be hard.

I am signed up for 2 yoga classes at Harbor Yoga. I am also looking at some classes at our Rec Center. I know I need cardio but I also need to be consistent with the strength training.  I need to go back to where I was in the winter--5 days of exercise consistently.  3 cardio and 2-3 strength.

So the next two weeks are about being tough--just doing it even though I am really nervous about it. I am nervous about how hard it is going to be but I am mostly nervous about how tired I will be and how I will get everything else done in my life that needs to get done.  I am nervous about not being at my best for a few weeks until my body gets used to this again.

I have talked to so many teachers who have been inconsistent with their exercise in September. Maybe there is no way around it.  Maybe it is just how things are and we need to know that we pick back up in October. But I don't think so. Because I know other teachers who are somehow training for an October marathon and some who ran races this weekend.  I just haven't figured out how to do it all.

So, here we go again. It feels like I am starting from scratch. Again.

Revisiting My Questions--Did I have a balanced week?

So, I have a bad cold. I look like a toddler with a runny nose.  I feel yucky. Not terrible, just yucky.  This is typical for the beginning of the school year. I have been working hard, as we all have.  So much that needs to be done. I can't seem to let much of it go. I keep telling myself; Another week and then I can rest. Well, the cold is my first bit a proof that the idea of resting later isn't really a great idea. Time to get a little balance and slow down. For everyone's sake.  I realized this week that my kids learn more when I slow down ( I have learned this before but I seem to forget it every fall!)  The same goes for me.

In August, I posted these questions as a way to check in with myself about how I was doing in terms of balance:

Did I exercise 3-6 days per week? (ideally 3 days of running and 3 days of something else.)

Did I do really good work?

Did I have fun? Did I do some things for myself (read a good book, spend time with friends, etc.)

Did I get some non-work things accomplished (laundry, cook dinners, etc.)

Was I organized for the  week?

Did I spend time with my family?

Do I have energy? Did I have enough down time to remain positive?

And here are my answers:

-I did exercise 3-6 days per week. Not 6, but 4. I ran 3 times and walked once. My running was hard and I almost cried on the treadmill because I feel like I have really gone backwards.  I have gained a few pounds back and can't get back into the groove. But I did it. And I signed up for Monday night yoga so the week should get off to a good start.  

-I feel like I did really good work at school this week. Routines are in place. Kids are great. Learning is happening. I am not so ahead but I am not totally behind either.

-Fun? Hmm. I read a bit. I did dinner one night with friends.

-Work at home--not so much. My husband pretty much did 100% of house stuff this week.

-I was organized enough at school. Scrambling to iron clothes, etc. in the mornings.

-I spent a bit of time with family. Not a ton but everyone was busy. This weekend is my daughter's birthday so I'll have a weekend of family time so I will say yes to this one.

-Energy--this is the one I struggled with most this week. Trying to do it all but very tired a lot of the week.  A little drained of energy pretty much all week. This is the piece I'll be working on next. I am hoping with consistent exercise in semi-place, the energy will creep in. Getting 4 days of exercise in during a week when I had lots of meetings and after school things, daughter's birthday, etc. is a plus. I am hoping that becomes routine again.

A better list of questions than I realized. We'll see what next week brings. 

Back to the Running Routine....

From Team Sparkle-one of my running motivators!  http://www.team-sparkle.com/2012/05/just-run/

Were you worried that I had completely quit running? That I had ignored this blog and running for so long that I'd given up?  Well, I was worried about that too! Once August hit and the busy/crazy fall life of a teacher began, the days I skipped runs turned into weeks and the weeks kept on going.  I know this cycle well. I get myself in decent enough shape to not hate exercise then I become consumed with work and I quit.  Only to go back to exercise months or years later in worse shape than ever.

Believe me, none of us WANT this cycle of exercise/no exercise to continue, but it is so hard to fit exercise into the beginning of the school year--not so much when it is part of who you are, but when it is new or fairly new, it is both physically and emotionally hard.

And for me, going back to the classroom took more time and energy than I imagined.  Not only did I start lots from scratch, but I forgot how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the work of the classroom, I would much rather score DRAs or read student reading logs or think about comments during problem solving than run. No question.  And at the beginning of the year, when we are starting from scratch with a new group of students, this work is critical.

Last weekend, I worked nonstop from Friday at 4 until Monday at noon. It was crazy but I knew I had to catch up on paperwork and thinking now that I knew my kids. I was happy working but I couldn't really catch my breath.  Then this week was busy with lots of evening meetings.  But yesterday morning, I woke up and I felt like the heaviness of fall was over--the first few weeks of the school year were behind me. I loved my class. I had met the families and our routines were pretty well set.  I could take some time to not work and I felt okay about it. I am ready for next week and it was time to pull myself and the house back together.

Yes, the house is a mess but today, my plan was to run.  I have walked a few times in the last few weeks thanks to a good friend who keeps me exercising just a bit. But in the last 4-6 weeks, I have run very little if any. But I have been getting clues that it was time to get back into it.

Last week, I was at a local arts festival and the band was playing a song from my running playlist.  A little guilt kicked in along with a little feeling that I was actually missing running.

Friday night, I had a dream that I was running. (I guess now that the first day of school nightmares are over, this can be expected. ..) And I was running happily.  I woke up actually really it.

Earlier this week, I got an email from my friend Jen Allen. She always seems to say just the right thing to me. This week she said, "Hey... Don't let the school year get you off balance so that you give up your runs.  You have worked too hard..."  This line stuck with me all week.

And yesterday I received this tweet from a Twitter friend who started running recently, "Thanks for helping me get started and get back on track. Those first few weeks of school were too tough to run. Glad to be back into it now."

And my stress level was up. I could actually feel it in a way that I haven't felt it since January. 

Finally, when I was reading Every Day by David Levithan in bed before falling asleep last night, I read this line, "I run. I am made for running.  Because when you run, you could be anyone." I figured at this point that I was getting far too many signs that I needed to run, to just not.

So I went to the rec center today. I was terrified. It is actually a beautiful day for running. A day I should run outside. But I was too terrified of what this run would be like so I went for safe. I decided to go 30 minutes and try for the run 7 minutes, walk 1 minute. But I didn't think I'd actually be able to do 7 full minutes.

I got on the treadmill next to the girl who was running a 7 minute mile. She wasn't even out of breath.  And I started to run.  At two minutes, I got tired.  Much quicker than usual but I got through the 7 minutes. I was shocked.  I completed what I had hoped to complete but had to drop my speed just a bit. (I know you are wondering how someone as slow as I am can possibly drop my speed, but I can:-). And I was actually happy to be running again.  I feel like in 2 weeks, I can be back to where I was 6 weeks ago.  I feel like I can do this and the little blip in the running did not take me back to square one.

My heel hurts as I have been lazy about my plantar faciitis.  I will be better about that. I need to eat better and drink more water. But I feel like today's run is over. And the terrified feeling I have going into it is over. And I know I can do this and that taking 4 weeks off doesn't mean I can't do this.

If you are a teacher who has fallen off the exercise wagon, it's okay to give yourself a week or two to get back into the school routine I think. Don't beat yourself up if you have. Our life is just like that. Taking a few weeks off doesn't mean we've quit. I am actually going to use this as a reading minilesson this week--the whole idea of kids who didn't read this summer and building that stamina again.  Just because they didn't read over the summer, doesn't mean they aren't readers.  

I did work too hard from January to July to let this go and not get back to it.  So, I did.