today's recovery run: 3 miles
on the iPod: "Take A Picture" -- Filter
Winter 2012 continues to beg runners to get outdoors. Sundays are supposed to be for resting, but for the second time in as many weeks i've walked out of St. Paul's into an afternoon bathed in gorgeousness and have immediately known that it's time to run. To hell with the planned day of rest, I'll choose running. Thanks.
Recovery runs aren't all that bad. In some ways they are like stretching to relieve sore muscles, particularly quads. And after yesterday's 17 miler, my quads were definitely in need of some attention. To get the additional distance, we added 3 miles around the university campus. That's a blessing and a curse.
It always makes me happy to be on campus. The energy up there is a mix of nostalgia, pride, excitement, and liberation. I always feel good, whether i'm around Old Main Lawn, the student union, Maple Street, the Greek Theater, or Razorback Stadium. Campus just has that cool vibe and I love it immensely. That's the "blessing" portion.
There's also the "curse". And the curse, in this particular instance, are hills. Sizeable hills. Long hills. Steep hills. Every kind of hill a runner could imagine, the University has them. I told Mrs. Murie that I was excited to run Razorback Road, with it's gradual and fairly steep incline going south to north. When we reached the top and walked through the Broyles Lot overlooking the stadium, I was rethinking my excitement between heavy gasps for air. But we've heard there are some tricky hills on the Nashville course and are hoping this work will pay off. Regardless, running 17 miles with a few hills mixed in is better than just about anything else I can think of doing on a Saturday morning, so more than likely I'll be back at it again in the near future. Hopefully someone who cares about my well-being will volunteer to meet me at the top of Razorback Road with an oxygen tank. I'm currently taking applications.
Not only do I need someone to meet me on long runs up hills with oxygen, i'm also currently looking for a trained monkey capable of grading AP Psychology papers. As much as I love teaching high school with complete absolution, I am not a fan of grading. I find it to be a tedious and dull process that sucks the life out of my soul. Assignment after assignment, pile after pile, the grading never seems to go away. Oh, I suppose i'm being mildly dramatic about it all, as the truth is that I simply find excellent reasons to put grading off until the last possible minute. A lot of the times, my excuses involve running. Go figure.
Other than the grading, I love my job. Love. It.
So when one of my students deliberately mentioned that he'd be competing in the state indoor track and field championships over the weekend, I knew how i'd be spending my day after the long run. Students at Bentonville High School are particularly amazing young people. They are friendly, passionate, intelligent, and well-mannered. On occasion they pull boneheaded moves, but overall they are good eggs. Really. They make teaching fun and exciting and rewarding.
To that end, I try to support their endeavors outside the classroom by going to see whatever it is they do. So far this year i've done football games, choir concerts, band performances, lock-ins, debate tournaments, AP tutorials, quiz bowl matches, and homecoming coronations. This Spring i'll do baseball, softball, soccer, and prom. But, of course, the track students are especially important to me. I want them to know that I share their passion for lacing up and going hard when the gun fires. Their dedication and perseverance paid off, with the Tiger Boys winning the state championship and the Tiger Girls taking second.
I'm incredibly proud of both teams, but i've got to give a shout-out to my students who work so hard inside and out of the classroom. Dalton Healey competed in triple jump and pole vault. He's a really intelligent student who is also extremely witty, and I have to keep myself from not getting too off task when he starts in. Michael Haney ran in multiple relays, including the 1,600. He's a good student in his own right, always respectful and friendly. Connor Brady competed in high jump. He's a quiet student who lets his exemplary writing do his speaking for him. And he wears really cool hipster socks. Kelsey Wheelhouse placed second overall in the mile and also ran multiple relays. She works incredibly hard in class and her grade proves it. I know she's headed toward big things in life and she's going to be successful no matter what she chooses to do. Courtney Williamson competed in pole vault. I'm not for sure if i've ever seen Courtney not smiling. She is a kind and generous person.
I can't imagine my life not being in education of some sort, which I think is also part of the reason that I love running on campus. But at the end of the day, i'm honored to interact and teach such amazing young people. They are the reason that I do what I do. Some of them are a challenge for sure, but I love every single one of them and want nothing but the best of the best for their lives. I hope that their time in AP Psychology is more that just Sigmund Freud and Stanley Milgram. I hope they learn kindness. I hope they learn passion. I hope they learn to live life to the fullest, embracing what makes them unique and inherently good.
On a completely unrelated note, I bought a jar of Nutella on Tuesday night and it was empty three days later. I'm not even kidding. I put it on bread, cookies, tortillas, left-over biscuits, and apple slices. But mostly I just ate it straight out of the jar.
I've decided that Nutella is spreadable proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Go get a jar. I'm making it a homework assignment. And run some, too. Or better yet, run to the grocery story to buy Nutella! Or do whatever makes you happy. Just do...
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