Races

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

I guess it has been decided

Tonight I went to the Second Wind Running Club's Training Program kickoff. I actually signed up for the 1/2 marathon training program with them. After receiving confirmation, I emailed back and INQUIRED about the possibility of switching to the full marathon. I was informed to talk to the person in charge when I got to the meeting. So, I did. However, they had already switched me to the full training program. I guess this means I'm doing it.

They had a great speaker who is a police officer and he talked about runner safety. He had a lot of great stories that he added a comical twist to and it really made me think about some things that I had never considered. For example, he worked undercover at a race to try and catch a group of robbers who sought out races. They found the "hidden" keys to runners' cars and would go into the wallets that are usually "hidden" in the glove compartment at races. Instead of taking the wallet, they snatch the 3rd credit card (one you don't use often and wouldn't notice if it was gone) and charge it up the wazoo. Runners don't typically notice anything until they get their credit card statement a month later...wow!

I am feeling a little apprehensive about jumping into this endeavor, but I am glad that it seems like the decision was sort of made for me. I had been toying with it for so long and looking for someone to just say, "Jill, do the race." I think I found my answer.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Who is Teach and Why "Run for Pride"?

I'm Teach, aka, Jill. When I first started blogging, I used the pseudonym because I didn't want my students finding my personal blog and I have never changed it. I will be keeping this blog public, but will continue to share about my personal life on my private blog.

I have been athletic my whole life and participated in most sports as a child, but chose to focus on volleyball throughout high school and even into college. My dad has always been a runner so I have been around the running scene since as early as I can remember. He was nice enough to coach both the cross country and track teams during my junior high years and that is where the title comes from.

My passion was truly volleyball, but I participated in running to stay in shape and to have something in common with my dad. During one of my cross country meets, I was not running well (which may have been because I always chose volleyball practice over cross country practice) and seemed to be cramping and probably was one of the last runners on the course. My dad always cheered for me and during this particular race, he motivated by yelling out, "Run for Pride," to which I responded, "SHUT UP!" Looking back I can not believe I was so rude to my own father who was clearly supporting me, but now as a 7th grade teacher I justify this with the fact that most teenagers seem to be this way.


For whatever reason, the concept of running for pride has always stuck. No matter how bad I might be feeling while I run (because as you will find, running is not my forte), I can always do it for my own personal pride. I am not quite sure where this quest to a marathon will take me, but I know that no matter what, I will be making myself proud.

Bucket List

When I was in 8th grade, one of our Language Arts assignments was to create a list of 50 things we wanted to do in our life. Our teacher tried to encourage us to be as specific as possible and to not just state that we wanted to, for example, run a marathon. Instead, we were supposed to try and quantify our goal and qualify it in some way (this is probably how most goals should actually be written). While I do not have the actual assignment, there are a few items that stand out and I recall what I am supposed to be doing.

One item on my list of things to do was to run a marathon by the time I was ____. I remember it as being 30, but I think in reality it was actually by the time I was 25. 25 has come and gone and 30 is just around the corner. I have finally decided to bite the bullet and instead of using my favorite excuse, "Well, I've run two half marathons and two halves equal a whole," I plan to run the Illinois Marathon on Saturday April 30th.


I hope this blog can be a motivation for me, hold me accountable, and provide a record of my attempt at accomplishing one of the most difficult things I have ever tried.