yesterday's: 3.1
overall for the week: 27 miles (not for sure i've ever run that in a single week...)
on the iPod: "the fox" -- nickel creek
I won't sleep tonight. Not well, anyway. I'll stay up later than normal in an effort to tire myself out. I'll read an extra couple of chapters in the all-too-predictable suspense novel that's currently on my nightstand. I'll drink a glass of chocolate milk. I'll listen to Abe Lincoln move around on his pillow, maybe whimpering or twitching while he dreams in his slumber. And i'll definitely think about the runs i've gotten in this week, as they have been some of the best all summer. But I won't sleep. Much.
Our marathon training schedule was a bit odd this week, calling for a 10-miler on Thursday. I was excited to get in a big run in the middle of the week and had planned to meet Mrs. Murie at 6:30 a.m., only to be eschewed by nasty rain clouds and lightning. Big lightning. It's safe to say that the bucket completely dropped and, through a series of brief texts, Mrs. Murie and I both agreed to turn the alarm off and go back to bed. This meant a late afternoon run was in the cards. Going solo, I banged out the mileage on the trail system in about an hour and a half. Maybe even a little bit less. I was fully exhausted but incredibly happy about the pace. I couldn't have kept it up much longer, but for those 10 miles I was movin'. Swiftly.
Saturday morning was the 113th running of the Tontitown Grape Festival Run For the Grapes. Usually a complete a total steam bath (that's Uncle Steph's favorite phrase) of a run, the gods smiled down on those laced up this year and blessed us with temps in the lower 70's and the most gorgeous billowy clouds dotting the morning sky. Though this was only my third time to run Tontitown, i'm really beginning to dig on this race. There were tons of familiar faces, including Deanna, all ready to play in the morning bliss. And that's exactly what we did. I finished in 25:30, not my fastest 5K time, but still a great pace for a late summer run. We went for coffee afterwards, enjoying conversation and laughs and the burn in our legs. If I could bottle that feeling and drink it every morning, I think I would. It makes me feel alive.
Only going 3.1 miles in the race meant that an additional 10 miles would need to fit somewhere in the weekend. This afternoon was the only option. Right after church, where I stretched my quads while bowing during the Nicene Creed, I changed into running gear and headed out. Another outstanding running day, the tempo was fast from the beginning and I went with it. I bailed on the trails and opted for the streets of Fayetteville instead, even meeting my friend Don mid-way for a few miles with him.
Yes, tonight as I lay in bed, with silence engulfing my home and the black of night surrounding me, I won't sleep. I'll think about these runs as well as the big one coming up in early October. I'll play them over and over again in my head.
But i'll be thinking mostly about tomorrow. It's a day that I look forward to every year, usually starting in mid-July, with anticipation and nervousness becoming a factor a few days beforehand. I've worked hard and prepared as much as I can, but I know that what truly matters is out of my realm of control. I'm as much of an active participant in the process as they are, as opposed to being in charge of the outcome. It's a give and take between us all, and I want to do my very best for every single one of them. It's the first day of school.
There's not a single day that I wake up during the academic year and dread going to work. I simply love interacting with students and facilitating the process of them learning how to think. Beyond learning AP Psychology, I want to show them the amazing importance of taking life's experiences and making them their own. I want them to understand that their thoughts are unique and valid. And I want them to know they are welcome in my classroom with no exceptions. Every single one of them.
And, of course, i'll screw it up along the way. There are days when I'll be tired. Or cranky. Or, for whatever reason, not able to give 100%. I'm human. But at the end of the day I can only hope that they'll be better people when they leave my class in May of 2012. I can only hope that I will have impacted them in a positive, unforgetting, and compassionate way. I know they will have that affect on me. They always do. And maybe one of them will start running. I'd like that.
Tomorrow is the first day of school. I won't sleep much tonight.
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