Midterms

I looked at my widget on my blog and noticed that I'm less than 2 months away from my marathon.* My first thought? Holy s**t! Except I didn't speak asterisk. It was a little over a month ago that I got the wild hair to do this. So, I think it's only appropriate that I grade myself half way through training. I'm a teacher, that's what I do.

RazZDoodle's Midterm Running Report

(teacher comments in italics)**

Physically - B - "He's doing well, but I'd like to see a little more effort out of him."

My knees ache on really cold mornings (like yesterday) but, overall, I think I'm doing OK. I don't want to talk about injuries because I don't want to jinx myself. Runs feel good although they're getting slower. I'm blaming the colder weather and not the fact that I may be getting a bit fatigued. This was addressed yesterday.

Dedication - B+ - "I'm very proud of RazZdoodle. He's really stepped it up the past few months."

I would've given myself an A for this, but I have missed the occasional short run. Come to think of it, running more than 3 miles on a treadmill should give me an automatic A+.

Nutrition - C+ -"RazZ needs improvement. He knows the material he just chooses to 'forget it'"***

Really haven't done well in this category. "Guarding" my daughter's Halloween candy didn't help, nor did hotel food for 4 days ($14 for a friggin' omelette???). Also not helping was a conversation I had last night about bacon. The question asked: Is anything NOT better with bacon? I. Think. Not

Excitement Level - A+ - "I'm very proud of RazZDoodle although I'm concerned that he's not focusing on the reality of the assignment."

Still pretty excited about the whole concept although thoughts of "The Wall" and bonking have crept in. People that have run a marathon have told me about the last 6 miles. I appreciate their honesty.....sort of.

Intensity/Focus - B+ - "He's doing well, but I see a little wiggle room to be even better."

This grade is solely based on my long runs. I really try to go out slow and steady. I find myself, however, creeping into my mid-week pace. I really need to work on maintaining. I've entertained negative splits, but that seems like more focus than I'm accustomed to. I get distracted by shiny things, you know.

*Yeah, I read my own blog. What of it? I need to get my numbers up.

**Apparently, I missed the class in teacher school about tailoring your comments towards the individual. These quotes are usually in my bag of tricks. They can apply to most of my students.

***Yes, I have used air quotes in front of a parent.