Checked off the List…

Was running a half-marathon yesterday. I had dreamed and dreamed for years of completing a half-marathon and specifically doing the P.F. Chang’s Half-Marathon. It always seemed like fun and something great to accomplish as a person who loves to exercise. I had pondered about completing it during my undergrad but always pushed it aside. I used to lie to myself when I would go out for runs on a Tuesday afternoon in chilly Flagstaff, “When I’m in grad school I’ll have time to train for a half-marathon.” Lies. Utter lies. But when the date passed me (AGAIN) last year I told myself, “No. You’re going to do it next year. GOING TO.”

So I signed up and was encouraged by some friends who wanted to complete it as well and loved having the idea of a running buddy. Someone to encourage me and see how we were doing in our training. It was a lot of fun to go to class and chat with Katie about running and our excitement to accomplish this race. It was nice to have a confidant in a goal I have been striving for a couple of years. It is one of the things that got me through student teaching honestly. I focused on running to complete my goals and it became nice at the end of the day to say, “Alright, I have to do this many miles tonight in order to become better.” It was a way to refocus and run off steam. To not stress out about everything have something different in my life at the end of the day. I loved it.

So with growing excitement I waited for yesterday. I couldn’t believe it was coming so quickly and I really was going to do it. Run a race. Me? Are you sure? Suddenly visions from TV shows where one of the characters has to be carried across the finish line popped into my head. Would I become lame during the race and have to be dragged across the finish line like Danny in The Mindy Project? Or would I simply collapse into the street and not move like JD until my friends rallied around me and piggy backed me to the finish line at midnight like in Scrubs? Small worries, but worries nonetheless. Thankfully Katie’s wonderful husband, Matt, simple stated, “We’ll carry you across the finish line if you need it.” Yay! Awesome friends in the bag.

With that worry resolved and taken care of I focused on other things. Like showing up on time. Here’s the deal with marathons. You’re put into specific corrals (Sounds like something that might happen at a rodeo? Totally.) depending on when you say you can finish the race. They let the fastest runners go first and give some time in-between before allowing other runners to go. So when the race time says 7:50 if you’re in corral 13 (like I was) you don’t really start running until 8:30 or so. So I wasn’t too worried when I showed up at 8:00 (After dodging this and that road closure…Be sure to look those up before a race) until I saw people actually running already. Guess who got a mini-warm-up on her way to the corrals? This girl. However I got there in time and was able to find Matt and Katie before embarking on our adventure.

Now to actually run 13.1 miles. And run and run. I have to say though it was a lot of fun having friends to run with during a marathon. Why? What better way to beat the mental hurtle of running for over 2 hours than chatting about movies, TV shows, weddings, the Caribbean, school, and how amazing Gatorade tastes? Gatorade is the most wonderful thing ever during a marathon by the way. EVER.

What else is amazing? GU. GU is a energy gel that we ate around mile 9 to help us push though the last bit of the race. It’s exactly as it sounds. It’s gooey and has a thick texture. There is a mixture of carbohydrates, amino acids, electrolytes, and caffeine to help you push through the pain. It wasn’t terrible tasting and I actually would have loved to have eaten more if I had the chance. I had the Strawberry Banana with some water and then continued on my merry little way.

Every once in a while we would pull a Phoebe and run with our arms to the side, flailing around. Your arms get really tired during a race. Like really tired. Think about it, you’re running around with raptor arms for over two hours. Your arms are bound to get tired. So we would embarrass ourselves every once in a while and flail our arms around to give them a break. Luckily I have really good friends who still love me even when I run around looking like Phoebe from an episode of friends. Unluckily there are professional photographers staged at different parts of the race (Yeah because I want a professional picture of me looking winded and red-in-the-face to hang in my house. Sure.) snapping pictures to sell to you afterwards. Which means there is probably hardcore evidence of me flailing my arms around yesterday. Great.

What’s really cool at the end of a marathon is someone gives you chocolate milk to chug. What’s not cool is this chocolate milk is sealed with an impossible tab to open which your tired raptor arms can’t possibly do. So you use your teeth to open this impossible chocolate milk (or get your friends awesome husband to open it). After you accomplish this hurtle, they hand you a water, another Gatorade, Powerbar, and pretzels if you can handle it. So suddenly your poor tired raptor arms who haven’t held anything for hours in order to not fatigue are full of delicious snacks and beverages. But you can’t open or have any of them. But you chug chocolate milk, water, and Gatorade as fast as you can before stuffing your face like you never have before and probably will ever again. Until next year.

So yesterday was a wonderful experience that I can’t believe I accomplished and I thoroughly enjoyed. Tired raptor arms and all. Am I sore today? You have no idea. Am I going to do it next year? You bet.

Photo Source: Arizona Rock’n’Roll Marathon

Photo Source: xtri.com

Lauren Walker recently finished her first half-marathon with her awesome friend Katie Hamilton and her wonderful husband Matt Hamilton. She had a great time and can’t to have her next adventures with these wonderful friends. And to run her next marathon.

Completing the First Week

 

It’s a mixture of feelings really. The realization I had completed (and survived) my first week of being in the classroom by myself. I took what I planned and built knowledge throughout the week. I adjusted for what I saw fit for students and through a flourish of papers and information completed a successful week.

Now that scary part. I have to do it all over again?! But what if something wrong happens this time? What if a student doesn’t partake in an activity? What if I accidentally don’t make enough copies?! What IF I forget to copy something? WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF STUFF TO DO?!

I’m learning (even more) that teaching can be a bunch of what-ifs. What if we don’t do well on a concert. What if we don’t get to that concept this week. What if I can’t reach that one student who doesn’t get it? What if I forget my snack for mid-morning. What if I don’t get this graded? What if I’m late to duty? What if there are no notebooks for my students? What if we run out of index cards and pencils?

The key is to go with it. To readjust if the day calls for it. To suck it up if I forget my mid-morning snack. To trust in myself that I know what I’m doing and I can bestow knowledge upon my students. To think everyday as a new day and be positive. I learned a lot this as did my students. We worked a schedule in together and learned each others quirks. We both pushed each other to be our best. I know and understand that they will still teach me and make me better as  I will teach them and make them better.

 

I struggled with, “Is this always going to be like this?” Throughout the week I didn’t have enough time to complete all of my grading, stayed later than I have normally, and wondered when I would possibly get all of my work completed. I am lucky enough to still be on the same campus as my mentor teacher and I still sought his understanding and wisdom this week. I know that is going to be a huge blessing for me this semester to be able to still use him as a resource and kind ear to listen to me. I also know this will help me stand on my own two feet and become stronger as I gain more confidence and find my bearings.

Before graduation our cohort was out for Sunday brunch one of my friends, Cindy, commented, “You get to change the name of your blog now! You’re no longer a future teacher!”

Now while this is true based on my now career path (and job) I still feel as though I am still a teacher in the works. I always will be. I will always be striving to be better at my job and learn something new along the way. So the tone is changing. No longer am I a student learning to become a teacher. I am now a teacher learning to become a better teacher for the future. What could be a better?

Lauren Walker recently graduated from Arizona State University. She also has recently read an amazing book by Mindy Kaling and fallen in love with the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. She is currently training for her first half marathon next weekend and practicing when she can. Oh yes and she successfully completed her first week of REAL teaching. Her teaching posts and KBAQ recommendations can be followed on twitter @lw236.

Picture Source: wisegeek.com