It was one heck of a weather week here in the Twin Cities. High heat and humidity throughout the first 5 days of the week made for one challenging week of training. Combined with a lot of busy days of preparing for my upcoming trip to Nicaragua and this week was tough.
First, the details:
Monday - Easy 7 mile run
Tuesday - Easy 5 mile run
Wednesday AM - Easy 4 mile run
Wednesday PM - Torchlight 5K race in Minneapolis (17:42)
Thursday - Easy 9 mile run
Friday - Hill repeats
Saturday - 9 mile run over hills
Sunday - 17 mile long run (6:56 pace)
With even the mornings starting out hot and sticky, I tried to make my easy runs very relaxed so I didn't overheat. It worked until Thursday morning when I bonked on a recovery run. Running with a couple of my high school runners at Hyland Park in Bloomington that morning, I fell apart after about 7 miles. Most likely due to the heat and the fact that I was worn down from a hard, hot race the night before, it was a rough morning.
Back to the race on Wednesday night...the Torchlight 5K is quickly becoming a tradition in July in Minneapolis. It's part of the Aquatennial celebration in mid-July. It is run through the heart of downtown Minneapolis and makes its way to the Mississippi River and crosses it on the famous Stone Arch Bridge. Over 4,000 runners participated this year and it was a scorcher. I managed to run 17:42 which I was happy with considering the conditions. It was nowhere near my PR, but running a 5K in that heat and humidity in the midst of marathon training, I'm relativity pleased with this performance. Periodically pushing my legs at a faster pace like this is really beneficial because it allows my marathon pace to seem that much easier.
That brings me to today's workout. I went down to Lake Calhoun to run a portion of the Twin Cities course from mile 5 to 14. It totaled 17 miles when including the return route back to the lake. I ran with Jason and Paul, two training partners of mine. We were greeted by a steady rain that lasted for the first 10 miles of the run. We decided to keep a steady pace for this run, as opposed to pushing it real hard (we were all a little exhausted). In spite of that, the run was a solid pace, averaging 6:56 for the run. It felt really good overall and the rain kept the trails relatively clear for us the whole morning.
This coming week will be very different as I will be leaving for Nicaragua on Tuesday morning on a missions trip with my church, Eagle Brook Church. We will be there for a week and will return home late the following Tuesday. While we are down there, running will not be happening. The part of Nicaragua where we will be is very dangerous so I will not be running for 8 days. It's going to be difficult going without the training, but my safety is more important. It will be interesting to see how my body responds from a week off when I do return home. You never know, it could be a great little break to keep me from overtraining, something I failed at last year.
We'll see...
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
TCM Training - Week #2
Week 2's workouts are complete. Here are the details:
Monday - Easy 7 mile run
Tuesday - Threshold workout on track (10 minutes @ 5:47, 6 minutes @ 5:58, 8 minutes @ 5:56, 2 minutes recovery in between each)
Wednesday - Easy 8.5 mile run
Thursday - Up tempo 7.25 mile run (6:41 pace)
Friday - Hill repeats (6 x Providence Hill)
Saturday - Easy, slow 6 mile run
Sunday - Marathon pace workout (15 miles, 2nd half at MP)
Tuesday was a tough night of threshold work. I ran with the cross country team and we took the pace out a little too strong on the first 10 minute segment and it set us up for a difficult remainder of the workout. We eventually backed off the pace and the amount of time running at threshold pace (original goal was 3 x 10 minutes with 2 minutes in between). It was a warm evening which certainly affected it.
On Thursday, I led a run at Elm Creek Park for high school runners from around the west/north metro. The pace got faster as the run progressed and we ended up running 6:41 pace for a little over 7 miles. It felt pretty good, but I suppose that's what happens when you run with ambitious high schoolers!
Friday was a great hill workout. I progressively ran faster up the hill each time I went up it. I began at 1:59 for 0.35 miles and ended at 1:46. I felt really good the whole workout and I know hills are going to be key in my preparation for Twin Cities.
Saturday was downright sluggish and slow. Looking back at it, it was exactly what I needed. I was exhausted on Friday afternoon and evening (probably from doing a lot of yard work on Thursday and Friday!), but after Saturday's run, I suddenly felt very refreshed and had some renewed energy. It led me into a great workout this morning.
I ran an out & back route on the Rush Creek Trail all the way to the Coon Rapids Dam from home (7.5 miles one way). At the turn around, I shifted pace and the goal was to run 6:40 pace on the way back. I ran 7:07 pace on the way out and ended up running 6:31 pace on the way back! It stayed cloudy and cool throughout the run, which certainly helped. The Rush Creek Trail is a great trail to do workouts like this on. It's very flat and no stoplights to hinder the workout. There are only a couple of residential roads to cross so you can really get into a good rhythm.
It's been a good week of training and a somewhat trying week for just about everything else. Well, maybe not everything else, but it was a challenging week with some of the things going on with my summer job. I've had moments where I felt all the work I've been doing has gone completely ignored. I was e-mailed and asked to do a couple of tasks that I had already completed 2 months ago and had e-mailed those completed tasks to those in charge and they were literally ignored or forgotten. Just a little frustrating. It appears as though things have been cleared up but with a busy week coming up, we'll see how far things go. It has left me feeling very excited to get back to my full-time job of teaching and coaching in August. God constantly reveals to me more and more instances of why I am a teacher & coach and why I love it so much. Deep down, I'm hoping I may be able to go without a summer job next year and enjoy more of my summer break. It's a big prayer of mine and we'll see where God leads me down the road.
This coming week is my final full week of training before I leave for Nicaragua. While I'm in Nicaragua, I will not be running because of safety concerns with where I will be. This will be a big week. I'm aiming for about 70 miles and it will include a 5K race on Wednesday night (Torchlight 5K) and a 17 miler on Sunday which will primarily be a marathon pace workout.
Monday - Easy 7 mile run
Tuesday - Threshold workout on track (10 minutes @ 5:47, 6 minutes @ 5:58, 8 minutes @ 5:56, 2 minutes recovery in between each)
Wednesday - Easy 8.5 mile run
Thursday - Up tempo 7.25 mile run (6:41 pace)
Friday - Hill repeats (6 x Providence Hill)
Saturday - Easy, slow 6 mile run
Sunday - Marathon pace workout (15 miles, 2nd half at MP)
Tuesday was a tough night of threshold work. I ran with the cross country team and we took the pace out a little too strong on the first 10 minute segment and it set us up for a difficult remainder of the workout. We eventually backed off the pace and the amount of time running at threshold pace (original goal was 3 x 10 minutes with 2 minutes in between). It was a warm evening which certainly affected it.
On Thursday, I led a run at Elm Creek Park for high school runners from around the west/north metro. The pace got faster as the run progressed and we ended up running 6:41 pace for a little over 7 miles. It felt pretty good, but I suppose that's what happens when you run with ambitious high schoolers!
Friday was a great hill workout. I progressively ran faster up the hill each time I went up it. I began at 1:59 for 0.35 miles and ended at 1:46. I felt really good the whole workout and I know hills are going to be key in my preparation for Twin Cities.
Saturday was downright sluggish and slow. Looking back at it, it was exactly what I needed. I was exhausted on Friday afternoon and evening (probably from doing a lot of yard work on Thursday and Friday!), but after Saturday's run, I suddenly felt very refreshed and had some renewed energy. It led me into a great workout this morning.
I ran an out & back route on the Rush Creek Trail all the way to the Coon Rapids Dam from home (7.5 miles one way). At the turn around, I shifted pace and the goal was to run 6:40 pace on the way back. I ran 7:07 pace on the way out and ended up running 6:31 pace on the way back! It stayed cloudy and cool throughout the run, which certainly helped. The Rush Creek Trail is a great trail to do workouts like this on. It's very flat and no stoplights to hinder the workout. There are only a couple of residential roads to cross so you can really get into a good rhythm.
It's been a good week of training and a somewhat trying week for just about everything else. Well, maybe not everything else, but it was a challenging week with some of the things going on with my summer job. I've had moments where I felt all the work I've been doing has gone completely ignored. I was e-mailed and asked to do a couple of tasks that I had already completed 2 months ago and had e-mailed those completed tasks to those in charge and they were literally ignored or forgotten. Just a little frustrating. It appears as though things have been cleared up but with a busy week coming up, we'll see how far things go. It has left me feeling very excited to get back to my full-time job of teaching and coaching in August. God constantly reveals to me more and more instances of why I am a teacher & coach and why I love it so much. Deep down, I'm hoping I may be able to go without a summer job next year and enjoy more of my summer break. It's a big prayer of mine and we'll see where God leads me down the road.
This coming week is my final full week of training before I leave for Nicaragua. While I'm in Nicaragua, I will not be running because of safety concerns with where I will be. This will be a big week. I'm aiming for about 70 miles and it will include a 5K race on Wednesday night (Torchlight 5K) and a 17 miler on Sunday which will primarily be a marathon pace workout.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
TCM Training - Week #1
The first week of official marathon training is in the books and it was a great week. First, here are the workouts:
Monday - Easy 8.5 mile run
Tuesday - Threshold workout: 2 x 2 miles w/3 minutes recovery in between
Wednesday - Easy 7.3 mile run
Thursday - Interval workout: 8 x 3 minutes @ 5:30 pace w/4 minutes jog recovery on TCM course
Friday - Easy 7.2 mile run
Saturday - Easy 9.5 mile run on hilly trails at Afton State Park
Sunday - Long run (16 miles @ 7:07 pace)
The total for the week was 67 miles, my highest of 2013. Tuesday was my first Threshold workout of the training. These workouts are the key to just about everything I do in my marathon training. Nearly every week will include one of these workouts. Typically the segments are 1-3 miles in length with a short recovery time in between. The pace for the segments is at Threshold, which is the point where the body begins to struggle processing oxygen through the bloodstream. For a majority of people, this would be around your 10K race pace. On Tuesday, I ran 11:45 and 11:53 respectively for the 2 mile segments. The pace was right where it should be (5:52 - 5:56).
Thursday was another day involving a workout I plan to do regularly...training on the TCM course. For this workout, I covered the course from 14.5 to 21.5 (Minnehaha Parkway to St. Thomas hill). Getting familiar with the course will be vital to having a good race plan in October. My goal is to get on the course somewhere once each week.
Finally, today's long run was a great workout. I ran around Elm Creek Park Reserve on the paved trails early in the morning. Despite that, it was still hot and humid, so running at the pace I did made me feel very good about where I'm at right now.
In terms of my preparation mentally and spiritually, the two videos below will be helpful in understanding where I am at and what I am aspiring to do this summer and fall. The first is a video of Ryan Hall completing a workout leading up to his run at Boston in 2009. His explanation at the beginning of the video of the chant of "Ole!" and its significance of when it was used is phenomenal. The second video is of a performance by Hillsong United of a song called, "Go!" in which they use that same chant of "Ole!" in parts of the song. Much like Ryan Hall's prayer in leading up to Boston in 2009, my prayer is that my running of the marathon and the training leading up to it would be glorifying to God and that my running may be a way that people would see God working in the gift he has blessed me with. I know I won't be running anywhere near as fast as Ryan, but I know that if I can be running at my best, God will be glorified.
Monday - Easy 8.5 mile run
Tuesday - Threshold workout: 2 x 2 miles w/3 minutes recovery in between
Wednesday - Easy 7.3 mile run
Thursday - Interval workout: 8 x 3 minutes @ 5:30 pace w/4 minutes jog recovery on TCM course
Friday - Easy 7.2 mile run
Saturday - Easy 9.5 mile run on hilly trails at Afton State Park
Sunday - Long run (16 miles @ 7:07 pace)
The total for the week was 67 miles, my highest of 2013. Tuesday was my first Threshold workout of the training. These workouts are the key to just about everything I do in my marathon training. Nearly every week will include one of these workouts. Typically the segments are 1-3 miles in length with a short recovery time in between. The pace for the segments is at Threshold, which is the point where the body begins to struggle processing oxygen through the bloodstream. For a majority of people, this would be around your 10K race pace. On Tuesday, I ran 11:45 and 11:53 respectively for the 2 mile segments. The pace was right where it should be (5:52 - 5:56).
Thursday was another day involving a workout I plan to do regularly...training on the TCM course. For this workout, I covered the course from 14.5 to 21.5 (Minnehaha Parkway to St. Thomas hill). Getting familiar with the course will be vital to having a good race plan in October. My goal is to get on the course somewhere once each week.
Finally, today's long run was a great workout. I ran around Elm Creek Park Reserve on the paved trails early in the morning. Despite that, it was still hot and humid, so running at the pace I did made me feel very good about where I'm at right now.
In terms of my preparation mentally and spiritually, the two videos below will be helpful in understanding where I am at and what I am aspiring to do this summer and fall. The first is a video of Ryan Hall completing a workout leading up to his run at Boston in 2009. His explanation at the beginning of the video of the chant of "Ole!" and its significance of when it was used is phenomenal. The second video is of a performance by Hillsong United of a song called, "Go!" in which they use that same chant of "Ole!" in parts of the song. Much like Ryan Hall's prayer in leading up to Boston in 2009, my prayer is that my running of the marathon and the training leading up to it would be glorifying to God and that my running may be a way that people would see God working in the gift he has blessed me with. I know I won't be running anywhere near as fast as Ryan, but I know that if I can be running at my best, God will be glorified.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Journey #14 Begins...
Beginning this week, I embark on my 14th journey of training to prep for a 26.2 race. It was a decision that wasn't made until just 2 days ago. It had been in my mind for quite some time but finally made the commitment on Sunday. I registered for the Twin Cities Marathon, which will take place on October 6, 2013. A lot went into this decision.
After a successful but taxing journey to Chicago last summer, I spent nearly 6 months recovering and rehabbing my injured foot. This initially made my decision to take 2013 off of marathoning easy. However, as I've come back strong from the injury, the marathon bug was starting to bite at me. I also was beginning to struggle with the training I had been trying to put myself through. Training for shorter, faster races led me to quickly realize that many years of marathon training left me unable to get the necessary leg turnover to be competitive in these races like I thought I could be...needless to say, my body thrives on running long distances at a steady pace!
The biggest reason that led me to this decision was the fact that I was struggling to keep myself motivated to get out the door each morning without a race or goal to completely focus on. Having a marathon to prepare for keeps me focused, gets me excited, and especially doing my "home" marathon for the first time in 3 years is really motivating me.
Only a few days in to the training and things are off to a great start. Today, I ran a Threshold workout of 2 x 2 miles at a goal of 6:00 per mile pace with 3 minutes recovery in between. I ended up running 11:45 and 11:53. The pace felt good, right about where my Threshold pace should be.
As my marathon training progresses throughout the summer, I will share different workouts that I am doing, many of which I have experience with and have worked extremely well for me, but I also intend to try a few things differently this summer as well.
After a successful but taxing journey to Chicago last summer, I spent nearly 6 months recovering and rehabbing my injured foot. This initially made my decision to take 2013 off of marathoning easy. However, as I've come back strong from the injury, the marathon bug was starting to bite at me. I also was beginning to struggle with the training I had been trying to put myself through. Training for shorter, faster races led me to quickly realize that many years of marathon training left me unable to get the necessary leg turnover to be competitive in these races like I thought I could be...needless to say, my body thrives on running long distances at a steady pace!
The biggest reason that led me to this decision was the fact that I was struggling to keep myself motivated to get out the door each morning without a race or goal to completely focus on. Having a marathon to prepare for keeps me focused, gets me excited, and especially doing my "home" marathon for the first time in 3 years is really motivating me.
Only a few days in to the training and things are off to a great start. Today, I ran a Threshold workout of 2 x 2 miles at a goal of 6:00 per mile pace with 3 minutes recovery in between. I ended up running 11:45 and 11:53. The pace felt good, right about where my Threshold pace should be.
As my marathon training progresses throughout the summer, I will share different workouts that I am doing, many of which I have experience with and have worked extremely well for me, but I also intend to try a few things differently this summer as well.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Why Do I Run?
It seems like I go in blogging spurts. There are times when I love blogging and make time to do it regularly and then there are times when there isn't enough time in the day to do all the other things I need to get done.
In light of what has happened in the last couple of days, and with all that has happened in my life since the last time I blogged (now over a year ago!), it was time to get back to it.
A quick rundown of the major events of the last year (both good & bad): lots of running, moved into a new house next to my favorite park in the world (Elm Creek Park Reserve), ran a personal best of 2:54:51 at the 2012 Chicago Marathon, injured my foot as a result of that race, tragic loss of my niece (more on that shortly), got tenured at Wayzata High School and becoming a full-time physics/astronomy teacher next year, got healthy from foot injury, lots of involvement at Eagle Brook Church, prepping for Nicaragua missions trip with my wife in July, and the list could go on.
Why am I blogging today? One word...Boston. I wouldn't say I've been an emotional wreck the last couple of days since the horrific events at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, but I've been close to that. First of all, I was not there this year, and I will not pretend like I was and I know how everyone who was there is feeling, but each year on Patriot's Day, my heart is in Boston, even if I am physically not there.
I have run Boston twice before, in 2005 and 2011. Both were incredible experiences, ones I will never forget. I've had the great fortune to share those days with my dad (in 2005) and with my wife and her parents (in 2011). Marathons are not just for the runners, it's for their support team as well...something if the general public didn't understand before, they unfortunately know now.
Each year on Patriot's Day, I take time at the beginning of each of my classes to share a little bit about the uniqueness of the Boston Marathon and to show a little bit of the race that day. It is one of my favorite days of teaching each year. The best part is sharing the story of Dick & Rick Hoyt (father-son team that competes each year). Even if you're not a runner, you are inspired by them. My students love it and so do I. That's why what happened this year was so difficult. Only 2 hours after I finished telling my last class of the day about Team Hoyt and seeing the excitement of the elites crossing the finish line, I was rocked by the news of the explosions at the finish line.
I returned home that evening to find my wife having an equally hard time dealing with this tragedy. Only 2 years earlier, she had been cheering for me no more than 100 yards away from where the first bomb exploded. It was way too real. I checked on friends who were there to make sure they were okay, and likewise many of my friends were texting and calling me, not knowing if I was running there this year. I had Facebook posts from people I rarely talk to who said I was the first person that came to mind when the heard the news (thank you to all of you for making sure I was okay and home!).
In the time since the events in Boston, I have dealt with feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, helplessness, but also hope. The first feelings are obvious to anyone who has run a marathon before. We feel like this was an attack on our friends, on our brotherhood or sisterhood of fellow runners. We may not know a single person directly affected by the bombings, but we were all affected because it felt like an attack on us. However, the feeling of hope is one many are not feeling right now, and this brings me back to the title of my blog post today.
Why do I run? Every runner has been asked that question and have certainly asked themselves that question at some point in the running life. My answer hasn't always been the same. At points it was simply to get faster, to be good at something, to de-stress myself, and so on. My answer now simply is HOPE. That word has taken on new meaning in recent months for me. Some of you know that I lost my niece tragically on October 22, 2012 after only 82 days of life. Gracia Lorraine was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a condition where she essentially only had half of her heart when she was born. There are surgeries to make life very normal, but Gracie had too many complications and she went home to heaven after 82 days. Those 82 days with her were some I will never forget. Her room was a place filled with joy, laughter, tears, time with family, and a place where God was truly present. We may never know why this happened to her or why it happens to anyone, but what we were blessed with while she was here and what she has already given to us since she has left, we will carry with us forever. My faith and trust in Jesus has never been stronger and I have Gracie and the rest of my family to thank for that. I have an unshakeable HOPE that I will someday see Gracie again in heaven and she will always have a small piece of my heart.
Since I have resumed running, I have decided to run in honor of Gracie. All of my running shoes bear her name, and I will be running a 5 mile race this weekend in her honor. It is a race in Blaine to raise money for an organization called Hope in Grace (another Grace who was lost to a similar heart condition). My entire family and some of our church family will be joining us to honor Gracie and to celebrate and remember. For the first time, probably ever, I will be wearing pink! Only Gracie would get me to wear pink, and my goal on Saturday is to win that race for her.
Lastly, back to Boston. Runners are a tough, resilient group. We don't back down. We are not shaken. We carry on. We push forward. We fight through the pain, both mentally and physically. What I saw on Monday after the explosions happened were countless runners forgetting about their race (even as big an accomplishment as finishing Boston is) and coming to the aid of their fellow humans. Runners understand that running is simply something we do. It does shape who we are as well, though, and that's a good thing. The sport of running teaches you some of the greatest values in life that many other things don't. An event like a marathon shows us those great aspects. Courage, toughness, not giving up, accomplishing a difficult task and taking joy in putting forth that effort. Boston 2013 also showed us that runners (and all humans) have the capacity to provide HOPE to a broken, dark world. Selflessness, sacrifice, bravery. There is HOPE in this world because the good truly outweighs the bad. My prayer is that more good from this tragedy would be shown on TV and through social media. That's what our world needs to hear about. I have a HOPE in things not of this world because of what my savior, Jesus Christ, has already done. It gives me HOPE in this world in knowing that it will not always be this way, and there are millions of us around the world who feeling the same way.
So, why do I run? I run for HOPE. I run because I have HOPE in something beyond this world. I run because God has blessed me with a passion and a joy to run, and through running I can provide HOPE to others who may not have it. I will be in Boston again to compete in the next few years because I have HOPE in the people of Boston and those Boston Marathoners. We will not be shaken. We will not be scared away. We will push on. WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE HOPE.
In light of what has happened in the last couple of days, and with all that has happened in my life since the last time I blogged (now over a year ago!), it was time to get back to it.
A quick rundown of the major events of the last year (both good & bad): lots of running, moved into a new house next to my favorite park in the world (Elm Creek Park Reserve), ran a personal best of 2:54:51 at the 2012 Chicago Marathon, injured my foot as a result of that race, tragic loss of my niece (more on that shortly), got tenured at Wayzata High School and becoming a full-time physics/astronomy teacher next year, got healthy from foot injury, lots of involvement at Eagle Brook Church, prepping for Nicaragua missions trip with my wife in July, and the list could go on.
Why am I blogging today? One word...Boston. I wouldn't say I've been an emotional wreck the last couple of days since the horrific events at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, but I've been close to that. First of all, I was not there this year, and I will not pretend like I was and I know how everyone who was there is feeling, but each year on Patriot's Day, my heart is in Boston, even if I am physically not there.
I have run Boston twice before, in 2005 and 2011. Both were incredible experiences, ones I will never forget. I've had the great fortune to share those days with my dad (in 2005) and with my wife and her parents (in 2011). Marathons are not just for the runners, it's for their support team as well...something if the general public didn't understand before, they unfortunately know now.
Each year on Patriot's Day, I take time at the beginning of each of my classes to share a little bit about the uniqueness of the Boston Marathon and to show a little bit of the race that day. It is one of my favorite days of teaching each year. The best part is sharing the story of Dick & Rick Hoyt (father-son team that competes each year). Even if you're not a runner, you are inspired by them. My students love it and so do I. That's why what happened this year was so difficult. Only 2 hours after I finished telling my last class of the day about Team Hoyt and seeing the excitement of the elites crossing the finish line, I was rocked by the news of the explosions at the finish line.
I returned home that evening to find my wife having an equally hard time dealing with this tragedy. Only 2 years earlier, she had been cheering for me no more than 100 yards away from where the first bomb exploded. It was way too real. I checked on friends who were there to make sure they were okay, and likewise many of my friends were texting and calling me, not knowing if I was running there this year. I had Facebook posts from people I rarely talk to who said I was the first person that came to mind when the heard the news (thank you to all of you for making sure I was okay and home!).
In the time since the events in Boston, I have dealt with feelings of anger, frustration, sadness, helplessness, but also hope. The first feelings are obvious to anyone who has run a marathon before. We feel like this was an attack on our friends, on our brotherhood or sisterhood of fellow runners. We may not know a single person directly affected by the bombings, but we were all affected because it felt like an attack on us. However, the feeling of hope is one many are not feeling right now, and this brings me back to the title of my blog post today.
Why do I run? Every runner has been asked that question and have certainly asked themselves that question at some point in the running life. My answer hasn't always been the same. At points it was simply to get faster, to be good at something, to de-stress myself, and so on. My answer now simply is HOPE. That word has taken on new meaning in recent months for me. Some of you know that I lost my niece tragically on October 22, 2012 after only 82 days of life. Gracia Lorraine was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a condition where she essentially only had half of her heart when she was born. There are surgeries to make life very normal, but Gracie had too many complications and she went home to heaven after 82 days. Those 82 days with her were some I will never forget. Her room was a place filled with joy, laughter, tears, time with family, and a place where God was truly present. We may never know why this happened to her or why it happens to anyone, but what we were blessed with while she was here and what she has already given to us since she has left, we will carry with us forever. My faith and trust in Jesus has never been stronger and I have Gracie and the rest of my family to thank for that. I have an unshakeable HOPE that I will someday see Gracie again in heaven and she will always have a small piece of my heart.
Since I have resumed running, I have decided to run in honor of Gracie. All of my running shoes bear her name, and I will be running a 5 mile race this weekend in her honor. It is a race in Blaine to raise money for an organization called Hope in Grace (another Grace who was lost to a similar heart condition). My entire family and some of our church family will be joining us to honor Gracie and to celebrate and remember. For the first time, probably ever, I will be wearing pink! Only Gracie would get me to wear pink, and my goal on Saturday is to win that race for her.
Lastly, back to Boston. Runners are a tough, resilient group. We don't back down. We are not shaken. We carry on. We push forward. We fight through the pain, both mentally and physically. What I saw on Monday after the explosions happened were countless runners forgetting about their race (even as big an accomplishment as finishing Boston is) and coming to the aid of their fellow humans. Runners understand that running is simply something we do. It does shape who we are as well, though, and that's a good thing. The sport of running teaches you some of the greatest values in life that many other things don't. An event like a marathon shows us those great aspects. Courage, toughness, not giving up, accomplishing a difficult task and taking joy in putting forth that effort. Boston 2013 also showed us that runners (and all humans) have the capacity to provide HOPE to a broken, dark world. Selflessness, sacrifice, bravery. There is HOPE in this world because the good truly outweighs the bad. My prayer is that more good from this tragedy would be shown on TV and through social media. That's what our world needs to hear about. I have a HOPE in things not of this world because of what my savior, Jesus Christ, has already done. It gives me HOPE in this world in knowing that it will not always be this way, and there are millions of us around the world who feeling the same way.
So, why do I run? I run for HOPE. I run because I have HOPE in something beyond this world. I run because God has blessed me with a passion and a joy to run, and through running I can provide HOPE to others who may not have it. I will be in Boston again to compete in the next few years because I have HOPE in the people of Boston and those Boston Marathoners. We will not be shaken. We will not be scared away. We will push on. WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE HOPE.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Teaching in Minnesota...My Perspective
With this post, I'm taking a different direction from my normal running and faith-related posts. I just read an article from the Star Tribune regarding public school teachers and their pressures and expectations in the state of Minnesota. As a public school teacher, the article intrigued me but also got me a little fired up about how I feel about all the things that are being put on public school teachers today, both good and bad. I felt I should share my perspective, especially since my perspective is one that isn't being heard from in this state concerning all of this in Minnesota right now.
First, some background on where I am coming from as a teacher: I grew up attending school in the state's largest school district, Anoka-Hennepin. I graduated in 2003 from Coon Rapids High School. When I went through my student-teaching, I worked in the Mounds View School District at Mounds View High School and Chippewa Middle School. I then spent my first 2 years teaching at Watertown-Mayer High School, a school of 500+ students about 30 minutes west of the Twin Cities. Since 2010, I have been teaching at Wayzata High School, a school of 3300 students (the largest high school in Minnesota). In total, I have taught professionally for 4 years in two school districts and have experience as a teacher or student in 3 or the largest high schools in the state.
As I go through this post I will preface everything by saying I am not an expert on any of this, but being a teacher now for 4 years, I have a lot of first-hand knowledge and experience of how all of these changes are affecting teachers, schools, parents, and most importantly, students.
I am a person who is self-motivated and have found a great passion for teaching and coaching. There is not another job in the world I would want to have. Most of the teachers I work with would say the same thing. With every job, there are stresses unique to the job, and they can make you question at times why you are doing what you are doing. It happens quite often for me in the classroom, but it rarely has anything to do with the students that I teach.
I became a teacher in part because of the amazing teachers that I had growing up. As I mentioned, I grew up in the Anoka-Hennepin school district. This district has been receiving some incredibly negative national publicity over the past months for a number of policies that had put teachers under difficult situations where their hands were tied with what they could and could not say. When I graduated in 2003, this district was widely considered one of the best in the entire state. Not because of their policies, but because of the amazing teachers that educated the students that entered those buildings. Those that look down on this district today, don't look down on those teachers working so hard in those buildings. Many of my teachers that influenced me are still there today and there are not mediocre or poor teachers. They are teachers who care, who work hard to get better and try to leave an impact on their students. Just to name a few that I know are still around, thank you to Ms. Zimba at Northdale MS, Mr. Gallagher at Andover ES (formerly at Sorteberg ES), Mr. Timm (now retired), Ms. Carlson, Mr. Dejoy, Mr. Scott, and Mr. McLean at Coon Rapids HS. These are just a handful of the people I am grateful of for leading me to where I am today.
Now on to some of what the article brought up. The state has passed some controversial policies in recent years regarding teachers and school districts. The most recent is doing away with tenure and requiring all teachers to be evaluated regularly and that experience would not be the sole reason for a teacher losing their job but also their ability as a teacher. I want to say that this is a phenomenal policy. Most teachers would disagree with me on this one. Teachers do need to be held accountable for their performance in the classroom. Many would respond to me by saying, "You're a probationary teacher. Of course, you want this policy to go into place. It helps you keep your job." While this is true, I have seen enough poor teachers who are protected by seniority who simply go about their business each day, doing the minimal requirements to keep their jobs (I took over the teaching responsibilities of one these such teachers this year). As I mentioned before, I am a self-motivated person. I don't like to do the bare minimum. I want to do the best that I possibly can at everything I do. I want to continually improve. I don't want to just do a half-a**ed job of educating my students. The one problem I find with this policy is how the teachers will be evaluated. Each teacher is now going to be evaluated once a year starting in 2014. That's a great start but one evaluation a year is not going to show you just how good of a teacher someone is. Using student test scores also won't cut it, at least not as a stand alone form of evaluation (which is what No Child Left Behind has been using). I don't have the answer, but I know the evaluations I go through as a probationary teacher at Wayzata are very thorough and give me as a teacher a lot of feedback into how I am doing and what I can improve on.
The other one that I want to touch on is one I do not agree with at all. It was passed by Governor Mark Dayton last year and it dealt with people getting into the educational field coming from a particular career field straight into the classroom. First, I think the initial idea of getting professionals with a strong background in a particular subject (ex. chemists, engineers teaching science & engineering courses) to teach those classes is a great idea. The way the state has allowed them to go about letting them get into schools is completely wrong. Those of us who chose the path of becoming an educator went through 4-5+ years of specific schooling to be an educator, extensive time spent observing professional teachers and being given the chance to teach in those rooms with the help of those teachers before being given a degree and a license to teach. The professionals who are stepping in are required a small number of classroom hours (in comparison) and can step right in to teach the same classes we've been teaching. The state has now discovered a problem with this and has now passed another new policy, requiring all potential Minnesota teachers to pass a basic skills test before they can teach in the state. Ummmm...last I checked all teachers had to do this to get into college to ultimately become a teacher in the first place. Do other professionals need to take an additional basic skills test before they step into their field? NO.
Teachers already have more hoops to jump through just to get into their first classroom. Adding more of this is going to continue to turn people away from wanting to be teachers. When that happens, good teachers will become much harder to find, class sizes will most likely increase and the quality of the students' education will decrease significantly, the exact opposite of what everyone wants to see.
As a teacher, I love what I do and wouldn't want to trade my job for anything else. Most teachers feel the same way. I am inspired each day by the students I am fortunate enough to work with. I hope 30 years from now I will still be impacting students the way I am today. I think all of us would agree we want the best for our siblings, children and eventually grandchildren when it comes to their education. I know for myself I will do everything in my power to keep positively impacting and educating my students but not every teacher's motivational scale may be the same as mine. The state of Minnesota is trying to do their best to improve the state's educational system. Some of what they are doing is on the right track. A lot of what they are doing is not. My hope is that the perspectives of other teachers can be heard by the state so that things can be done right and that our students in Minnesota can have the best education in the country, but we've got a very long way to go.
First, some background on where I am coming from as a teacher: I grew up attending school in the state's largest school district, Anoka-Hennepin. I graduated in 2003 from Coon Rapids High School. When I went through my student-teaching, I worked in the Mounds View School District at Mounds View High School and Chippewa Middle School. I then spent my first 2 years teaching at Watertown-Mayer High School, a school of 500+ students about 30 minutes west of the Twin Cities. Since 2010, I have been teaching at Wayzata High School, a school of 3300 students (the largest high school in Minnesota). In total, I have taught professionally for 4 years in two school districts and have experience as a teacher or student in 3 or the largest high schools in the state.
As I go through this post I will preface everything by saying I am not an expert on any of this, but being a teacher now for 4 years, I have a lot of first-hand knowledge and experience of how all of these changes are affecting teachers, schools, parents, and most importantly, students.
I am a person who is self-motivated and have found a great passion for teaching and coaching. There is not another job in the world I would want to have. Most of the teachers I work with would say the same thing. With every job, there are stresses unique to the job, and they can make you question at times why you are doing what you are doing. It happens quite often for me in the classroom, but it rarely has anything to do with the students that I teach.
I became a teacher in part because of the amazing teachers that I had growing up. As I mentioned, I grew up in the Anoka-Hennepin school district. This district has been receiving some incredibly negative national publicity over the past months for a number of policies that had put teachers under difficult situations where their hands were tied with what they could and could not say. When I graduated in 2003, this district was widely considered one of the best in the entire state. Not because of their policies, but because of the amazing teachers that educated the students that entered those buildings. Those that look down on this district today, don't look down on those teachers working so hard in those buildings. Many of my teachers that influenced me are still there today and there are not mediocre or poor teachers. They are teachers who care, who work hard to get better and try to leave an impact on their students. Just to name a few that I know are still around, thank you to Ms. Zimba at Northdale MS, Mr. Gallagher at Andover ES (formerly at Sorteberg ES), Mr. Timm (now retired), Ms. Carlson, Mr. Dejoy, Mr. Scott, and Mr. McLean at Coon Rapids HS. These are just a handful of the people I am grateful of for leading me to where I am today.
Now on to some of what the article brought up. The state has passed some controversial policies in recent years regarding teachers and school districts. The most recent is doing away with tenure and requiring all teachers to be evaluated regularly and that experience would not be the sole reason for a teacher losing their job but also their ability as a teacher. I want to say that this is a phenomenal policy. Most teachers would disagree with me on this one. Teachers do need to be held accountable for their performance in the classroom. Many would respond to me by saying, "You're a probationary teacher. Of course, you want this policy to go into place. It helps you keep your job." While this is true, I have seen enough poor teachers who are protected by seniority who simply go about their business each day, doing the minimal requirements to keep their jobs (I took over the teaching responsibilities of one these such teachers this year). As I mentioned before, I am a self-motivated person. I don't like to do the bare minimum. I want to do the best that I possibly can at everything I do. I want to continually improve. I don't want to just do a half-a**ed job of educating my students. The one problem I find with this policy is how the teachers will be evaluated. Each teacher is now going to be evaluated once a year starting in 2014. That's a great start but one evaluation a year is not going to show you just how good of a teacher someone is. Using student test scores also won't cut it, at least not as a stand alone form of evaluation (which is what No Child Left Behind has been using). I don't have the answer, but I know the evaluations I go through as a probationary teacher at Wayzata are very thorough and give me as a teacher a lot of feedback into how I am doing and what I can improve on.
The other one that I want to touch on is one I do not agree with at all. It was passed by Governor Mark Dayton last year and it dealt with people getting into the educational field coming from a particular career field straight into the classroom. First, I think the initial idea of getting professionals with a strong background in a particular subject (ex. chemists, engineers teaching science & engineering courses) to teach those classes is a great idea. The way the state has allowed them to go about letting them get into schools is completely wrong. Those of us who chose the path of becoming an educator went through 4-5+ years of specific schooling to be an educator, extensive time spent observing professional teachers and being given the chance to teach in those rooms with the help of those teachers before being given a degree and a license to teach. The professionals who are stepping in are required a small number of classroom hours (in comparison) and can step right in to teach the same classes we've been teaching. The state has now discovered a problem with this and has now passed another new policy, requiring all potential Minnesota teachers to pass a basic skills test before they can teach in the state. Ummmm...last I checked all teachers had to do this to get into college to ultimately become a teacher in the first place. Do other professionals need to take an additional basic skills test before they step into their field? NO.
Teachers already have more hoops to jump through just to get into their first classroom. Adding more of this is going to continue to turn people away from wanting to be teachers. When that happens, good teachers will become much harder to find, class sizes will most likely increase and the quality of the students' education will decrease significantly, the exact opposite of what everyone wants to see.
As a teacher, I love what I do and wouldn't want to trade my job for anything else. Most teachers feel the same way. I am inspired each day by the students I am fortunate enough to work with. I hope 30 years from now I will still be impacting students the way I am today. I think all of us would agree we want the best for our siblings, children and eventually grandchildren when it comes to their education. I know for myself I will do everything in my power to keep positively impacting and educating my students but not every teacher's motivational scale may be the same as mine. The state of Minnesota is trying to do their best to improve the state's educational system. Some of what they are doing is on the right track. A lot of what they are doing is not. My hope is that the perspectives of other teachers can be heard by the state so that things can be done right and that our students in Minnesota can have the best education in the country, but we've got a very long way to go.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Rough Running Week...Great Life Week!
This has been one crazy week to say the least. Jumping right to the exciting news...my wife and I have found a house and have signed off on an agreement to buy our first house! At the beginning of the week, we were just taking a second look at the house, by the end of that night we were putting an offer on it. We spent the next two days going back and forth with the sellers making counteroffers but we finally came to an agreement and we will close on the house in mid-May! Both of us are incredibly excited for this next step in our married life together. We will be moving to Maple Grove, only a couple blocks away from Elm Creek Park Reserve, one of my all-time favorite places to run! Needless to say, the next two months will be very busy with planning, buying things for the house and packing to move out of our apartment (not to mention it's the end of the school year and track season!).
My week of training was not nearly as good as my week of life as a whole, but with the busyness of getting a deal on a house, my running had to take a backseat. Since Sunday, I have only run 41 miles (well below my original plan). Part of that was due to some discomfort in my left hip. My run this morning with the track team left me feeling the best I have with my hip in over a week. I've determined it is simply tight and as I long as I loosen it up really well before I run, I don't even notice it during the workouts. Running fewer miles probably helped it as well, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it, just in case it gets worse.
Tomorrow is a big day. It is the first race of the 2012 USATF Minnesota Team Circuit, the Human Race 8K on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. I'm excited to be running for Gear West again this year and am certainly planning on a much stronger season than I had last year. Keeping healthy throughout the year is my number one goal so I can be at my best in October for the Chicago Marathon but there are a number of races in the meantime I am really looking forward to, the Human Race being the first of those. You can see the rest of my upcoming races listed below on the right hand side of the blog.
Gear West will have a solid group of runners competing: myself, Kyle Donovan, Ted Lillie, Tim Wucherer, Jason Quarford, and Brian McCollor (Speedy). I will post race results later on tomorrow afternoon. For those of you doing St. Patty's Day races this weekend, good luck and have fun!!
Also, the video posted below is the recap of the Treadmill 1 Mile World Championships from two weeks ago. Watch for me running and being interviewed by Carrie Tollefson about halfway through the video!
My week of training was not nearly as good as my week of life as a whole, but with the busyness of getting a deal on a house, my running had to take a backseat. Since Sunday, I have only run 41 miles (well below my original plan). Part of that was due to some discomfort in my left hip. My run this morning with the track team left me feeling the best I have with my hip in over a week. I've determined it is simply tight and as I long as I loosen it up really well before I run, I don't even notice it during the workouts. Running fewer miles probably helped it as well, but I'll certainly be keeping an eye on it, just in case it gets worse.
Tomorrow is a big day. It is the first race of the 2012 USATF Minnesota Team Circuit, the Human Race 8K on Summit Avenue in St. Paul. I'm excited to be running for Gear West again this year and am certainly planning on a much stronger season than I had last year. Keeping healthy throughout the year is my number one goal so I can be at my best in October for the Chicago Marathon but there are a number of races in the meantime I am really looking forward to, the Human Race being the first of those. You can see the rest of my upcoming races listed below on the right hand side of the blog.
Gear West will have a solid group of runners competing: myself, Kyle Donovan, Ted Lillie, Tim Wucherer, Jason Quarford, and Brian McCollor (Speedy). I will post race results later on tomorrow afternoon. For those of you doing St. Patty's Day races this weekend, good luck and have fun!!
Also, the video posted below is the recap of the Treadmill 1 Mile World Championships from two weeks ago. Watch for me running and being interviewed by Carrie Tollefson about halfway through the video!
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