Run Naked!

Not literally...but you'll see where I am going with this title:)

Although I hate to admit it , I am slightly competitive.  I also give 100% commitment and focus to whatever I am working toward at that time.  I began to realize this a little more in my physical training.  I have always enjoyed exercise, but in the last year or so, my focus has been on the next "big thing" rather than the sheer joy of a good run or bike ride.  When I was asked about my battle wounds from the Warrior Dash, I shared with passion and enthusiasm - that was the best race ever!  "What you training for next?"  I was asked.  Before I could even process, I said "I have a half marathon in November."

Wow, I went from the chick who loves to run because it clears her mind to the chick who lives and trains for the next race.  It is no longer about running until my legs can't move anymore; it is about distance and speed.  Even with an uncooperative left hamstring, I train diligently.  I only rest when my training calendar gives me permission.  Houston, I think we have a problem.

My brother and sister are very smart, driven, honest and balanced people.  We were talking over the past two weeks and my obsession with "the next race" came up.  "Jen, I say this with love," says my baby brother, "You've got to stop training and go back to running for the love of running."  I hate when my younger siblings are right!  But they were correct.  I had trouble seeing it because my love of running seemed no different.  But indeed it was.  I did not think of running without my iphone full of timing and distance apps.

So the next morning I ran naked (well I guess I should say gadget-free).  I ran with no music, no running app, and no goal.  I ran because I love to run.  I don't know how far I ran or what my pace was that morning.  It was the best run I have had in months.  I ran because I love to run not because I had to train.

As I sat on the porch in the hour following my run, I was thinking about my week at work and how difficult the last couple of weeks are for teachers and students.  This becomes the time of the year where we kick our "training program" into overdrive as EOGs and EOCs are administered.  All the work we have done all year comes down to this test.  Sometimes in our focus on the race, we loose our love of teaching and learning.  As we approach this big race called the end-of-school, I hope that we remember why we teach and our love of the sport.  If everything we do is "training" we may loose our true passion for teaching.

I realize that training is essential for athletes and for those of us who love races, triathlons, and have now fallen in love with mud runs.  But sometimes a naked run helps us to remember why we fell in love with the sport in the first place.