It's race day, again!

Today was my April race, towards my 2012 goal of a race a month. So far, it is definitely helping me to stay motivated and keep running....even when I don't feel like it. I always have the next race that I need to train for. Sweet hubby took this picture of me while he was half asleep this morning -- it is definitely hard to get up so early sometimes on Saturday mornings, just to go for a run!

Today was the Girls on the Run race. So I didn't have a fast time, because I was more concerned with making sure that my running buddy, a fifth grade student, was having a good time. My running buddy needed to walk several times and ran/walked at least a mile with a serious stitch in her side....but when she saw that finish line, she SPRINTED it in. I mean, I didn't know I could go that fast -- but I told her it was my job to keep up with her. This spring has been my first experience coaching Girls on the Run. It is really a very interesting program, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It has given me the opportunity to get to know some girls at my school that I don't teach and that I can't talk to throughout the school day (since they aren't in the Spanish immersion program and don't speak Spanish). I shared my coaching position with another teacher, so we split the after school responsibility. I coached one afternoon a week, and the other teacher had the other day. While this made the time commitment easier for me to handle, I do think that I would have had an even better experience with the program if I had coached both afternoons. I think that the girls liked it enough and that the coaches enjoyed it enough for us to have another team in the fall -- so maybe I'll be a two-days-a-week coach then. I do, however, recognize that my time was spread pretty thin between Girls on the Run, school, and having a student teacher this year, all on top of the normal crazy schedule stuff. It has been a busy spring so far! 5 weeks and 1 day of school left to go before the summer crazies begin!