The week leading up to spring break was a busy one in my world. Coming off the high of the state swim meet, I jumped right into training for the Ironman 70.3 in Racine, Wisconsin. The race will take place on July 20th, which is almost exactly 16 weeks from last Saturday. This will be my second go-round with the 70.3 distance and I'm genuinely excited to learn and grow from the experience of doing it again. I am also hopeful that this will prepare me to take the giant leap into the 140.6 Ironman in 2015. Eek!
While I'm very excited to be starting training (I go a little nutty when I don't have a goal), the first week hit me like a slap in the face. Well, mostly the biking portion of the first week was what hit me hard. I love swimming and running and over the winter months I held onto my training in both sports. I had a lot of thoughts and goals of going to spin class over the winter, but well, that didn't happen. This week, there were a few minutes when I could have sworn I heard my bike laughing at me...and if you've ever suddenly stared biking, there is a very specific pain that you feel in your lower half. Yep, definitely felt a lot of that this week...
But, you know what? I made it through week one just fine. I'm thankful for the strong swimming and running base that I have and the biking will come. As always, I'm thankful for my dear friends who make running, swimming, and biking a blast. There is something really special about endurance athletes. I love them to pieces, as my grandmother used to say.
And so, today I walked my sore legs into school and got ready for our last day before the magical spring break. I think most teachers will tell you that any day before a break is pretty much a wash. Yes, we try to keep things calm and normal, but by about 10am, all hope is lost. As a middle school teacher, there was an additional exciting event today. A dance!
I love the tradition at my school of daytime dances. At 1pm, all the middle schoolers and their teachers head to the gym and rock out for about an hour. The kids love it and it is incredibly entertaining to observe. Many of my students run as fast as they can around the gym, others hide behind their friends, but most will join in the dancing when the Cupid Shuffle comes on. They dance their little hearts out, with and without a sense of rhythm, and I love every second of it.
It was an afternoon of pure joy and my students and I practically skipped out of the building at the end of the day. It is spring break!
I hope the beautiful sun is shining wherever you are and even if you aren't going on spring break, I recommend you dance for a few minutes. Not sure how? My kids will show you.
Happy Spring Break! I'm off to Mexico in the morning... :)
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