School Daze
With a last-minute-end-of-summer job change and the start of school this month, my world has completely changed. What happened to all that time for running?? Being a teacher, the flip side of having summers off is that you have no life at all during the school year. Suddenly I am teaching high school English (I've only taught middle school in the past) and find myself drowing in prep and grading already. Drowning as in, I don't yet know exactly what I'm teaching today for a class that starts in 4 hours.
But here I am. Blogging.
I just realized that, while doing a good job is really important to me, taking time for some personal pursuits is necessary to my sanity. No one wants an insane teacher, afterall. Although some might argue we are insane to be in the profession at all.
Anyhow, mid-week running has been hard to find these days, and it mostly consists of short runs with the dogs. The bulk of my mileage comes on the weekend, and still, my weekly mileage is quite low. I still plan to run my upcoming 50K and 50 miler, counting on the magic of that weekly long run.
It's clear that fall has come to the mountains, as we have had a fire in the woodstove (our only heater) for 3 nights in a row. The willows have turned a hazy orange and the morning dog walk requires a warm hat and jacket. (But I'll continue to wear flip flops until the snow flies, my feet need to breathe!)
I've checked out some new (to me) sections of the Tahoe Rim Trail the last few weekends, and enjoyed some mid-run swims in high mountain lakes. The real goal of all of it is to enjoy the last days of summer while exercising vain attempts at tiring out my crazy border collie. I wonder if there are any 100 mile races that will allow you to have a dog as your pacer? I know he could go the distance. Perhaps I could rent him out to other runners.
I hope everyone out there is having some great running adventures. One of these days I am going to catch up on all your blogs! Meanwhile, here are some images from my long runs the last few weeks.
With a last-minute-end-of-summer job change and the start of school this month, my world has completely changed. What happened to all that time for running?? Being a teacher, the flip side of having summers off is that you have no life at all during the school year. Suddenly I am teaching high school English (I've only taught middle school in the past) and find myself drowing in prep and grading already. Drowning as in, I don't yet know exactly what I'm teaching today for a class that starts in 4 hours.
But here I am. Blogging.
I just realized that, while doing a good job is really important to me, taking time for some personal pursuits is necessary to my sanity. No one wants an insane teacher, afterall. Although some might argue we are insane to be in the profession at all.
Anyhow, mid-week running has been hard to find these days, and it mostly consists of short runs with the dogs. The bulk of my mileage comes on the weekend, and still, my weekly mileage is quite low. I still plan to run my upcoming 50K and 50 miler, counting on the magic of that weekly long run.
It's clear that fall has come to the mountains, as we have had a fire in the woodstove (our only heater) for 3 nights in a row. The willows have turned a hazy orange and the morning dog walk requires a warm hat and jacket. (But I'll continue to wear flip flops until the snow flies, my feet need to breathe!)
I've checked out some new (to me) sections of the Tahoe Rim Trail the last few weekends, and enjoyed some mid-run swims in high mountain lakes. The real goal of all of it is to enjoy the last days of summer while exercising vain attempts at tiring out my crazy border collie. I wonder if there are any 100 mile races that will allow you to have a dog as your pacer? I know he could go the distance. Perhaps I could rent him out to other runners.
I hope everyone out there is having some great running adventures. One of these days I am going to catch up on all your blogs! Meanwhile, here are some images from my long runs the last few weeks.
Lake Tahoe viewed from the TRT above Tahoe City
Lava rock trail on the TRT
A rare cool rainy day in Tahoe. Perfect running conditions!
My awesome training partner, Cap the crazy boder collie!
Castle Peak, viewed from Andesite Peak on "The hole in the ground Trail." That open slope above the treeline is one of my favorite backcountry ski destinations.
Smoke from several distant wildfires made for a hazy day.
Lola Montez lake makes for a great swimming hole for humans and dogs on the Hole in the Ground Trail.
The Indigo Girls rock the Power to the Peaceful concert in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I went for a beautiful urban run in the park that morning.
A run and a dip in a high mountain lake? That sounds idyllic! : )
ReplyDeleteI agree with sarah, and those pics? EPIC!
ReplyDeletebeautiful photots! Hope that the class is going well!! Seems like it'd be a big and stressful shift to go to high school, but hopefully you're enjoying it :). I'm definitely having difficulty imagining pre-work runs now that I'm student teaching most every day.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the turn to fall!
Wow, you are a busy girl! I've lost my running buddy Rob to his first year teaching 7th Grade Special Ed. The new job has absorbed every waking min. of his time. He ran with me today for his first run in about three weeks. He managed 12 miles but I'm sure he will be sore tomorrow. At least you are sneaking in some short runs during the week!
ReplyDeleteYou live in a beautiful area. We would move to your area in a heartbeat if we didn't have such a strong sense of community where we live now. We certainly enjoy or visits to Lake Donner. I hope to run the Tahoe Marathon next year. Biz Johnson is on my to-do list as well.
Hang in there! Having taught before I realize the first year is the hardest with the following years allowing time to adjust and perfect what you come up with this year.
Cheers!
Nice pictures of the TRT run! See you at Lake of the Sky in a few weeks.
ReplyDeletePete
Wow, nice photos-- really makes me want to cover the whole trail before I die (hopefully much sooner than that though).
ReplyDeleteToo bad you can't teach English and run at the same time, although I think I remember reading about a group of people who did one of those reading groups but they combined their discussion with jogging workouts. Good luck with the class and your next race.
Read about your talented "high wire bear" that one handed it to the arch under the bridge after being forced off the bridge by oncoming cars. That's one lucky 250lb bear.
ReplyDeleteWhere you live is beautiful! You're right, you are insane to be teaching, but you'll find your rhythm with the class prep and grading eventually and be able to make holes for running. Keep the photos coming, they give me a funny sensation of awe and jealousy in the pit of my stomach.
ReplyDelete