The Fall

today was field day. a day i look forward to spending with my class every year. it's a day when you get to loosen up a little with your students. a day when you don't mind them being noisy in a hallway. a day when you don't mind them breaking out into the Floss dance all over the school. it's a day when you finally get the opportunity to see your class come together more as a little family and we take a break from the daily routine in the classroom. it is an exhausting day, but always a memorable one. and today's field day had an ending that i will never forget.

let me start by sharing that every year our school does a teacher 4x100 meter relay at the end of field day. all of the students, teachers, and parents gather on the bleachers to cheer on runners. teachers are responsible for finding their teammates and forming the relay team. this year i struggled getting a team together. i was able to coax a couple teacher friends in joining my relay and i volunteered to run 200 meters and the rest of the crew run 100 meters. this was the plan until the last minute when a teacher decided to join our team from the stands and be our anchor leg! i was so excited to have a complete team!

i was the lead off runner and got in position in the 6th lane, which in my opinion is the worst lane... but today was life saving. the whistle blew and i took off. i felt like i was in high school/college again running on the track. i pumped both my arms (thank goodness i was sweating and my pants stayed up) and ran the fastest my legs could carry me. my mind was in college again... however, i quickly realized my team was not. i ran full speed up until the second leg. she looked at me ready to go, but i couldn't slow myself down enough to pass off the baton... and before i knew it i ran into her. it was a scene. i somehow ended up in the grass (see... lane 6 was live saving) with my feet up in the air against the fence. and my second leg friend...wiped out on the track and got some track burn! she quickly got up and ran her leg as fast as she could. i also quickly got up and looked over at the bleachers with up to 500 people looking at my direction. i decided to check on my second leg friend before i headed back for what i like to call "the walk of shame." luckily she was fine and we both laughed hysterically at the whole wipe out.

we went together back towards the bleachers laughing hoping this would make people realize we were fine and hopefully move on from the whole incident. however, we were checked on. by teachers. by parents. and of course students. it was probably one of the most embarrassing moments i have ever been through, yet i can't stop chuckling about it every time i think about it!

now... if only i knew how the whole race ended... someone must have it on camera somewhere...  🙈

The Clothes Dilema

clothes. i have a really tough time with clothes. i hate clothes shopping. i hate trying on clothes. i am terrible with style. i prefer comfort. my go to style is black leggings, dress/long top, and brown boots. tim calls this look "the Theresa" and i chuckle, but totally agree with him.

i have a hard time buying clothes for myself that fit right. i don't like tight things. however, i've been having problems with clothing that is too big for me... especially the bottoms. and especially my workout clothes.

i have plenty of extra large and large sizes of shorts. however, within the last month or so, i have been having some trouble keeping my shorts up on my runs. i have to run with one hand holding my shorts up until i get sweaty enough for them to stick and stay up on their own... gross. i know. this happened during my 10 miles on Broad Street...it took 3 miles for me to sweat enough for my shorts to stay up!

i told tim i needed to buy new exercise shorts, but didn't know if i should buy the medium. it would be tight. i don't like tight. but i also am getting annoyed running with one hand holding my shorts up. so on sunday, i went shopping and tried on two pairs of Nike exercise shorts.  i tried the medium on first. they felt tight. i tried on the large Nike exercise shorts. they felt comfortable, but i knew deep down, i would be holding them up when i went running. i got over my fear of tighter feeling shorts and bought the mediums.

i went for my first run sunday night for six miles in my medium shorts. and for the first time, i ran with both hands swinging at my sides from the beginning of my run to the end of my run. those shorts are definitely tight... and i'm sure it is a sight to see... which is why i am thankful that i have my treadmill in my basement. 😁

Broad Street Then and Now

Broad Street is officially over... i've had some time to reflect on the race over the past few days and thought i would share some things i experienced before, during and after the 10 mile race.

racing has changed over the past 12 years. i was an avid runner and racer up until 2006. i trained for many different distances... fast, slow, short or long. the following things really stuck out to me running Broad Street in 2018 compared to 2006. and the first thing is the SIZE.

Broad Street was much smaller. there were not as many people cheering and screaming on the side of the road. on saturday, there were people everywhere along the 10 mile stretch cheering, holding signs, singing songs, dancing, and playing musical instruments. it was amazing! i found it so amusing... i even laughed at a few points at some signs and silly cheers!

which brings me to the second difference in 12 years... head phones. everyone around me had ear buds in their ears. i looked over to a girl next to me running at mile 2 and wanted to make some quick small talk and realized she couldn't hear me. in fact, MANY people couldn't hear me. even though the people in the streets were noisy, the runners were quiet... quietly listening to their music. they weren't able to hear all the fun going on around them!

which brings me to the last big change in the Broad Street run. SELFIES. Holy moly. i can't even tell you how many selfies i must be photo bombing. before the race even started, i think i was in at least 20! i tried to smile in the background of some of the strangers. and then i pretended to stretch in the background. some i even waved in! and when the race started... people would stop in the middle of the run... and take a selfie! when i was coming through city hall, people would stop, TURN AROUND, and take a selfie with hundreds of people running by!

( I got in on a Selfie with my cousin Dave!!)

so as i finish this post and finish reflecting... i realized times have changed. i am getting old. which explains the hip pain and the MASSIVE amount of gray hair i have.

Approaching Race Day

It feels like just yesterday when i heard i was picked to run the Broad Street 10 miler. i thought the chances were slim for me to be chosen in the lottery. i was laying in bed on that cold day in February when i got the news. i remember thinking to myself, "how the heck was i going to find time to run? how am i going to train for this race? what have i gotten myself into?"

i had to come up with a plan... a training plan to help me get to the finish line on May 6th. luckily the Philly News had a ten week training program for newbies. beginners. and a beginner i was. i tried to run over the summer using the Couch to 5K app... but i failed with the heat and a hurt hip. and the last time i ran a race... was in 2006. when i crossed the finish line with a time of 3:48ish at the Philadelphia Marathon.  Twelve years ago!

 i had to accept that i would not run broad street fast. my goal was just to finish the ten miles without stopping.  so on a cold, dark february night...week 1 of the program...i did my first run... really slow... 2.5 miles...15 minutes a mile pace and i almost died. i had no idea how i was going to get 10 miles completed! i continued increasing my speed and miles as the weeks went on. i got hit hard with the flu for a couple weeks in march which was challenging to recover from, but i was able to keep focused on my goal... finishing Broad Street.

now the race is only a few days away. i am getting excited. i am excited to be with a group of runners. i am excited to race again. i'm excited that i am a "runner" again. here's hoping i meet my goal... and also hoping i fall back in love with one of my first loves... running.