Chile

So...my super-cool niece Annie is spending her fall semester in Chile. She is already there - and has a most awesome blog. I'm fairly certain that the comics are even created by her - she has been wildly imaginative since she was just a tiny person (she's still pretty tiny). Enjoy!http://bylandbyseatravels.tumblr.com/

Priorities

I used to be such a devoted blogger. How times have changed!
I am enjoying my first summer off....ever. I know that most people think teachers lead the life of leisure in the summer (and some do). But, until this (blessedly peaceful) summer, I either taught, worked in a summer camp or took grad school classes. To stay out of trouble, I will do a little teaching at the end of July. I'm working with teachers brand-spankin' new to the culture of independent schools. This should be interesting as we have to stay in dorm rooms - not really looking forward to that whole scene. Oh well - it's not forever, just 5 nights. I'm also (with a colleague) revamping my entire writing curriculum. My teaching buddy and I meet every other week to discuss and plan how to improve our approach to teaching the little ones writing skills. I will admit to being ambivalent to recent trends like No Child Left Behind (not sure that did one thing to help schools) but I am huge believer in teaching children how to read, write, and think critically (and I guess math skills are important, too). Our schools spend far too much time and money on testing kids - it makes me crazy.
Anyway....
I traveled with Rick (and half of the Richmond triathlon community) to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to cheer him on in his 9th Ironman race (and his second go-round @ that particular race). While he didn't have a great day (he was more than 2 hours slower than the last time he did CDA), he did finish the darn race. The weather was perfect for biking and running, but not so kind for swimming (way too cold!). We did stay in a completely fantastic house (with a large contingent of friends) that sat right on the lake and the run course. We could stroll into the quaint town of CDA from our house.  While it was kind of fun to have so many familiar faces doing the big race, it was also kind of strange. I had heard there were 50+ athletes in the race from Richmond. I'm not sure what unusual forces conspired to make CDA "the" race for Richmonders, but it was. Sometimes it felt like too many people were worrying about how they did compared to this person or that person. Whatever.  I'm all about the effort at doing something big/scary/difficult, the training sacrifices and breakthroughs - at simply trying. Just attempting (and hopefully finishing) an Ironman is huge. Sometimes people forget that. And for Pete's sake,
don't take yourselves too seriously, folks. That is almost as annoying as No Child Left Behind.
As for triathlons and me - I have a few short races on the calendar this summer. I'm really looking forward to traveling to NH at the end of August to do the Timberman sprint with Rick and my brother Matt. We'll be able to cheer on the cool chicks from Richmond doing the half IM the next day. Now that should be a fun weekend. Please note how we opted for the Saturday race so we can eat, drink and be merry on Saturday night. I think I have my priorities straight.

(re)focused

I have been a distracted spazz this winter/spring. I couldn't seem to figure out exactly what in the world I wanted to do re: triathlons. Aquabikes? Sprints?  Leisurely rides around Hanover County?

First, please know that when I write that I will never run again, I am lying (like a rug). What that really means is that I am beyond frustrated with some random injury. Happily, I did start running again (just a little) about a month ago. My promise to myself is to keep my runs short and shorter. I managed to do a whole bunch of sprint triathlons last spring without getting injured. And then I deviated from my plan and tried to run too much. Big mistake - and it forced me to stop running for 6 months.

Second, I still don't like open water swims - especially ones that are very cold, quite choppy and too long. In other words, this year's "Rumpus in Bumpass." Let's just say that my friends who opted out of that swim are far wiser than me. That freezing, choppy swim set me back in terms of swimming confidence BIG time.  My hands were so numb that I actually could not take off my wetsuit. Crazy.  I realized that 750 meters is about as long as I like to be in open water. And with this regained knowledge, I suddenly discovered what I wanted to do this year (the ol' silver lining...)

Yes indeed - I like the sweet little sprint triathlons.

Well...they aren't exactly sweet since they take anywhere from 1:00-1:30 hours (on average) at a very, very high intensity.

But, the training time is far more reasonable for those of us who like to spend our weekends doing things besides training for 6 hours a day (no offense intended to all my wacko friends and my husband who enjoy this kind of thing - rock on with yo' bad selves...)

So, I am happy about this new/old plan. I'll do some fun, local races this summer AND have a life.

Lovely

Yesterday was a lovely day for a bike ride - even if you are like me and you haven't ridden your bike outside for months and months and months. I'm pretty certain that I haven't ridden outside since last July - kind of skipped the whole fall riding thing.  Oh that's right...last fall I was under my own delusional plan to do "lots of road races." That really didn't go as I'd planned...live and learn.

Despite the constant headwind (at least it felt that way), the ride was gorgeous. We enjoyed a jaunt through Goochland, Henrico and Hanover (I think). I love riding out there - the scenery is pretty and the traffic is low...my kind of riding. Is it my imagination or has West Creek turned into some kind of crazy traffic zone? I felt safer out on the country roads than trying to deal with hostile soccer families. I never have considered soccer families as hostile...until witnessing how they drive in West Creek. I guess they don't believe in sharing the road?

Anyway, I haven't ridden that far (50 miles) since...um....2009. I will admit that I was pretty tired by the end. But it was that "good" kind of tired. The kind where you know you've really worked your muscles and cardiovascular system.

The day was capped off with a Richmond Spiders win (woohoo!!!) and dinner with some dear friends.

Yup....lovely

Hello blog!

It has been a long, long time since I last posted on my blog. What can I say? My return to the classroom comes with its share of sacrifices, including free time (what is that, anyway?) I have no regrets about leaving higher ed to return to the more intense grind of classroom teaching. While I really enjoyed my colleagues @ UR, I hardly ever saw them. We were like independent contractors sharing a hall. It was lonely for me. Yes, I like people. Now, I share a room with twenty first graders. There is nothing quiet or lonely about an elementary school - that is for sure. The energy, creativity and support at Collegiate are exceptional. It's quite a place - and I just love being there.

What about working out and triathlons? You may (or may not) be asking. Well, I fit my workouts in the only way that works. Usually, this means getting up very, very, very early....as in 4:30 a.m. It helps that Rick gets up at the same time. (We are obviously deranged, but we knew that already). Sadly, I am not running at all anymore. I have tried. In fact, I have tried just about everything from surgery to knee injections to stretching to lots of Aleve. If it's not my knees swelling like balloons, it's some secondary injury caused by running. Case in point: I developed a terrible case of plantar fasciitis last fall. It was so debilitating that I could barely stand on my feet to teach. Now that is just ridiculous. I need to be active and move around (a LOT) to keep up with seven-year old children.  After a lovely cortisone shot and some major anti-inflammatories, the pain settled down. But, I can only wear Dansko clogs or running shoes right now. I'm okay with that, but I would like to have the option to wear some sassy little shoes every now and then.

So...I have signed up for a few races - two are aquabikes and one is a Olympic distance triathlon. However, I probably won't do the run in the Olympic distance race. Yup - I'll DNF it. (Side note: if Set Up events would add the aquabike option to their Olympic distance events, I wouldn't have to DNF now would I? I don't know why they don't have that option).

In the grand scheme of life, giving up running isn't the end of the world. The truth is that it has lost its allure to me. After I run, I end up hobbling around. Isn't exercise supposed to make you feel better? I think so. So, I'll stick to things that make me happy without causing injury...like swimming...and biking....and teaching....and of course...wine drinking.

Back Home

Well...luckily, I do not have a torn meniscus (the good news). I just have really bad knees (otherwise known as old, bad and kinda boring news).

Let's not dwell on all that nonsense.

I am still so grateful that I added biking and swimming to my workout routine several years ago. They are keeping me sane - as is my return to the classroom.  Teaching first grade again is a unique combination of exhaustion  and energy - and even better than I remembered. Plain and simple, I love teaching again. Maybe it's because I'm older, but I am more conscious than ever that each of my students is a little bundle of potentiality in this world. My job is to (obviously) teach them the curriculum - but also instill in them the joy I feel in walking through our classroom doors. Pretty powerful stuff in my book.

I am finally at a point where I'm no longer sad about not being able to run as much as I'd like. It sure took awhile, but I'm (back) at a happy place. I may have underestimated how depressing two knee surgeries combined with a so-so prognosis can be. But I've worked though all that silliness.

This morning, I had flashbacks to training for Ironman Florida. (After all, IMFL is taking place right now). Sometimes, I wish I could go back in a time machine (a la "Lost") to experience certain moments of that day. There is nothing quite like your first Ironman race (or so they say - whoever "they" are). More importantly, today had flashbacks to how happy I felt training for that race.

In a sense, I'm home again.

Thank goodness.

Beware of dog

So...I went to see a sports doctor about my ongoing issues with plantar-however-you-spell-it-faciitis. While chatting with the doc, I mentioned that my knee was bothering me a little after my dog ran right into me (it's a good thing I love that dog as much as I do). Okay - maybe it was bothering me more than "a little." But, after two knee surgeries, I just didn't want to deal with the sharp knee pain I felt when trying to straighten my leg. I figured a little ice and Advil would take care of any issues, right?

Umm...maybe not.

I have what is known as a "meniscal cyst" - which, I have now learned, is commonly a symptom of a meniscus tear. We'll know more after next Tuesday's MRI.

It's possible I already had a small meniscus tear - and the force of my sweet, goofball dog's body slamming into my knee tore it a little more. Who knows. I have already had a conversation with Josie about her need to use more self-control around my tender knees. She wagged and licked me. I gave her a little pat and said it was okay.

And it really is okay.  I'm surprisingly okay with this possibility. My knee isn't hurting much at all, with the exception of when I try to run. So, I'm not running. A rather simple solution - but one that I'm not always very smart about doing. I can swim and bike as much as I like. So, that's what I'll do. I'm at a point in my life where I'm much more interested in being healthy and happy and pain-free.
I'm thinking I might do an aquabike event here and there next year as my friends and hubby gear up for their next big Ironman. We'll see.

And - I will be much more vigilant of my dog when she does her little "run around like a puppy" routine.