Euphoric, Overwhelmed, and Exhausted

Euphoric: Coaching track is beyond awesome. I'll tell a few short (more like long) things about my first week. I arrived at the high school (half a mile from my school) before school dismissed Tuesday. I went inside to find Coach D. It was a madhouse in there. Teens EVERYWHERE running into me, shouting, laughing. It was crazy. For a brief moment I thought, these teens are going to eat me for lunch. I was scared. When you work with 8/9 year olds, 16 year olds seem massive! Man, when did high schoolers get so big? So, I found Coach D at the track and we gathered the athletes. Not to stereotype, but from K's experiences, most of these teens have a lot of difficulty trusting/respecting adults. I hold them responsible, but in their defense, many of them have much less than stellar home circumstances. After talking with K about a way to earn their respect, he thought it would be wise to do a "brisk warm up" with them at the start of practice. So, after introducing myself, that's what we did- 2 laps, very slow. The sad thing is that most of them couldn't even run the whole way. It's going to be a looooonnnnng road. This week we timed kids, did stretching, conditioning things, etc. More importantly, I feel like after only 4 days they respect me. After that first day, the coaching part actually feels very natural. We have all the usual characters, too, the teen gal that has trouble finding a real niche of friends, the arrogant boys that I could blow out in the 800, the huge thrower that are really teddy bears, and modest/humble distance runner, willing to anything you ask and then some. The most important thing is that I feel like I'm making a difference in someone's life, maybe even more than one. As of now, we are horrible, but it's all about baby steps, right? 30 years from now, those kids aren't going to remember their high school times, but they will remember life lessons and friends they made from their high school track team. Base building is character building, too. Physical strength goes hand-in-hand with mental strength.

Overwhelmed: I've got a lot, lot, lot of things on my plate right now. It seems never ending. Of course, the school responsibilities don't quit, so I'm having to bring lots of work home, work that I would usually do after school. I've got the National Board thing hanging over me and feeling sort of lost with that. I've been put in charge of our Relay for Life team and, bless her heart, the woman in charge of it needs another hobby. Her emails are now my nightly reading. I'm also a bit disappointed in myself this week. My runs have been slow, but my legs don't feel fresh. I am also not going to hit my mileage goal for the week. It will be in the mid 70s instead of mid 80s, like I wanted.

Exhausted: I'll use yesterday as a sample of my usual schedule.
3:00 Wake up and get TO my running starting point by 3:45 (I have to drive there.)
6:25 Leave for school
7:25 Kids come
8:00-8:30 my only break for the day
Work all day with the kids until 2:45
2:45-3:00 change and try not to run over any children as I'm zooming out of the parking lot
3:15-5:00 track practice
The rest of the night is grading, cooking, maybe running again, laundry, etc.

Then add into the mix- Bunco one night a month, bridge two nights a month, Habitat Meetings, Relay for Life meetings, ADK meetings, and aaaaaahhhhhhh!!! See what I mean?

I feel tired, and put my own running on the back burner this week. I'm glad, though, it's for a good cause. Sunday is going to be the Popsicle Contest, I mean First Light Half Marathon. I'm not looking to PR, maybe 1:28-1:30? I have no idea what my fitness level is right now. It's a slow road back, I know that much. A little frustrating actually. Baby steps, though, baby steps.

Run strong, friends!