Remember how I announced that I was doing another bikini competition in October? Well, I changed my mind. In case you’re curious about reasons, here’s why:
- I’m super busy. I’ve been in the process of making a big-little move this summer, and it turns out it’s hard to think about what you’re eating and a workout schedule when this is going on.
- It’s hard, I want to eat snacks.
- I’m pretty happy with my body right now, not feeling the need to make it any leaner.
How can I do contest prep when I’m at Pier 1 having anxiety attacks about how many retro clocks and hour glasses to buy for my new place? Note: there’s a reason I keep a running blog and not a home decorating blog
That’s pretty much it. But let’s focus on #1 again – super busy. Moving isn’t all I’m doing, I’ve also found my way back into the prestigious position of Assistant Coach of a middle-school cross-country team. The Unofficial Assistant Coach (there’s an official one, and it’s not me). But with 40+ kids on the team, having an extra Assistant Coach won’t be a problem.
I’m insanely excited about this – it’s been so long since I’ve been able to run, and I’m so happy to be involved with it again on any level. My leg is feeling pretty good these days, so my plan is to run with the kids who are just getting into shape. If doing this makes my leg hurt too bad, then I’m going to give up and throw all of my money at a doctor and demand that they cure it instantly – if it works for AIDS, it’s gotta work for shin splints, right?
Yesterday was the second practice, and I’m stoked because some of the kids are fast, and ALL of them are willing to run. This might sound like a given, but my experience tells me no. Not every 10-14 year old kid that finds themselves on a cross-country team got there due to their own choosing, and some of them think it’ll be great and then find out that running is kinda hard when you’ve never done it before. These kids all start out running, and respond well to encouragement when they take walking breaks. When I told one group of girls that they needed to speed walk if they were going to walk, one girl responded that when she was doing Girls On the Run, they told her to “walk with a purpose!” I don’t know a lot about Girls on the Run, but I was super pumped to hear that a) these 6th grade girls actually had running experience already, and b) they sounded super positive about it.
The weird part is that we get to coach these kids for two months. I think about my training in terms of at least 3-4 months, if not a year at the time. It takes about one month for the kids to get into decent shape, leaving one month to really improve, with the exception of the few who come into it in great running shape. I guess the goals here are more related to helping kids build positive associations with running, and start to realize their potential. But it would be really cool to see some of them run super fast and win some races. I mean, if I can’t run fast right now, hopefully at least I can get other people to.
Trading the gym for this place for a couple days a week for the next two months
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