Guess who turned 40?!

Last week marked a few occasions in this ongoing saga of the pandemic.  The first included a completed week of remote learning, not only as the teacher but as the parent.  It has been a learning curve for all of us as we have worked to figure out the remote learning process that works best and how to make all the pieces fall into place.  It wasn't perfect but nothing is ever going to be....not in life and not during the middle of a crisis.

Most students want to be engaged and are thrilled to have an opportunity to use Google Meets or any other video conferencing just to have an opportunity to talk to teachers and peers.  It has been enlightening to find out that students do miss the people who are a part of the school, as much as the staff does. As a teacher, I'll continue to worry about the ones I can't reach but I'll also continue to do what I can, that's all I can do.

On the parent side is incredibly grateful for my daughter's teacher and the staff in her district who have made this possible and keep her working towards the learning process. It wasn't easy and it was definitely a rocky start but overall I think she's enjoying it and if not, she's faking it well.
There was also a thing that happened last week...I turned 40 and I'm actually owning it.  I feel good about 40, seriously. 

My daughter was able to get me my own tiara and sash to celebrate 40 and decorate the house.  She's a great person and does her best to make sure the people in her life know they're loved and cared about.  As a parent that's all we can ask for, right?  But on top of that, there were a ton of people who reached out as well.  Was it the pandemic?  I don't know but I do know that it made a huge difference in the way I saw the world and turning 40.

It's strange but after I ran 13.1 miles on Saturday, on my own, in place of the Gazelle Girl Half Marathon that I was scheduled for this weekend, I realized that I'm in a better place mentally then I ever have been in my running.  And I have no idea why. I've always struggled with the mental part of the sport, it's been the part that gets me in trouble.  I have never been one who can go out and run 13 miles without overthinking it and wanting to just quit.  Training, those last few miles are always the worst part.  My internal voice is so much harder on myself than any other aspect but, now, now I'm ok.  My internal voice is positive and ready to show me what I can do.

So what to do next?  I've done a half marathon, I've done 25k and I'm currently signed up to run the NYC Marathon in November.  Will NYC happen?  I honestly don't know...it's a lot of money to raise and who knows if it'll even happen at this point. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming any race directors or anyone else who has to make these decisions but I have to a make a decision too.  I know, especially after watching Tri that I miss the crosstraining I was doing with the Al Ain Triathlon Club when we still lived in the Middle East.  Even with no pools open at the moment, it doesn't mean I can't start biking and running (of course, we have the running part covered.). To help with this, my daughter is looking at different triathlon distances that she can do too.  The Al Ain Triathlon Club meant the world to both of us and it's something that we'll continue to miss as we still work on adapting to life in the US.

But now I need new movies and suggestions for training plans.  This week's plan is to continue morning runs Monday, Wednesday, Thursday with core work at noon and evening bikes or run with the child.  Tuesday is circuit strength training, Friday is shorter run with a circuit strength training, Saturday is the glorious long run (although probably not as long as last week but you never know!) And finally, a stretch out run on Sunday.  So what am I missing? 

Would love to have training suggestions and uplifting movies to keep the momentum going on the training and the quarantine!