Running faster than I thought

After years (read: decades) of doing just about any exercise that didn't involve lots of impact for my knees and ankles, I have discovered that I love running. Not only do I love running, but running has made all those old knee and ankle quirks and pains go away, at least for the most part.

But my relatively short runs of 2-3 miles done 4-5 times a week was getting to be boring. So I signed up to train for a 10k road race. Yesterday was the first meeting of this training group, and, while there was very little actual running involved, I found it inspiring. Mostly, our couch just went through the basics of our training schedule and her expectations. (I tend to think of these things as the "reviewing the syllabus" kinds of lectures.) Then we each had to run a mile while she timed us. And I ran an 8 minute mile! I'm ridiculously pleased with myself. I wasn't even running flat out. Frankly, I could have done better.

I usually think of myself as a 10-12 minute/mile runner, but I'm usually figuring out how long it took me to run 3 miles of somewhat hilly terrain. This was just our time going around a relatively even track. Still, for me, it's inspiring. I was wondering how I was going to manage doing this program, and now my confidence level is just fine, thank you very much. If only I can manage to get through my cross-training day tomorrow. I'd really rather go for a run....

September is the REAL start of the year

I accepted a full-time job today -- my first full-time job in more than 15 years. I've done my time in grad school (didn't finish) and I've been a reluctant stay-at-home mom (connected to the not finishing grad school). In the last few years, I've worked part-time, but this will be a whole new adventure. I'll be teaching middle school math full-time for two and half months. I think I only took the job because of the nifty end date. It's my own little experiment. Will my family pitch in and make this possible? Can I be organized enough to keep everyone fed and in clean clothes while still teaching 5 classes?

The best part of the deal is that this doesn't start until October, so I have some time to prepare everyone. I also have time to work on my running before I start a serious training program. But here's the thing: everything at my house really starts in September. My husband doesn't work for the government, but his job in DC really ratchets up in September when Congress comes back into session. My kids head off to school next week, and my volunteer work will all start up again. And don't even get me started on sports and other after-school activities.

So put me down as someone who doesn't care about January 1. Now, September 1 -- there's a date that matters. If only I had some resolutions....