A midweek check in

Today I had to run seven miles. On a Tuesday. During the work week. This was less than ideal. 

See, my typical day starts around 6:15 (or 5:15 for those of you on Central Time!). The alarm sounds, I ignore it trying to squeeze every last second out of my slumber. Eventually, I drag myself out of bed, turn on the news, start the coffee, get ready for work, and jet out the door by 7:15. 

Once at work, I'm on. See, I love my job. I LOVE my job. But there is no "off day" in teaching. You didn't sleep? Too bad. The kids still need you to teach them things. You thought you were coming in early to get some stuff done? Nope. You're fixing computer issues so the newspaper can go to press. You're thinking about something in your personal life? Uh-unh. It's time to discuss research papers. 

So, around 8:15, my kiddles start to trickle in. They tell me stories about their evenings, ask for help on homework, look for advice about taking the SAT's, question me about whether their outfit is cute or not, and eventually at 8:36, the first bell rings and the REAL fun begins. 

Today in my honors classes, I taught kids about note cards and citations. There are very few ways to make note cards and citations fun. But I perform. I acted like this was the most important information my kids will ever need. When they looked tired halfway through taking notes, I made them stand up, form two lines, and then high five each other around the room before heading back to their seats. Think it sounds lame? They were all more interactive after they did that. They even laughed. AND WE WERE LEARNING ABOUT RESEARCH! 

Anyway, teaching all day is like performing all day. And today's performance ended with a seven-mile run at an outdoor track in La Porte. I know, I know, I should feel lucky that it's January 10 and the sun is shining and I'm running outside in 50 degree weather. And I do. But it was still a run. A run that I had to do after a long, long day of teaching and performing. 

To those of you doing long runs during the week, I commend you. It is TOUGH to rally the energy to put in a bunch of miles when you're so tired you don't know if you can muster the energy. 

Miraculously, and honestly I'm wondering about this, I ran my fastest seven miles ever. Really and truly, secretly I wonder if the path at Kesling is actually a mile. But if it is, I must have been running through some serious demons today. I NEEDED that boost though, especially after some weirdness as of late. 

Oh wait... the day didn't stop there though. Tonight's awesomeness also included two hours of Poms dance practice. Seriously, new found respect for dancers. The routine is about a minute and a half long. And kind of tough! 

So, it's 9:08 p.m., and now I get to work on my freelance article. :)