Of Priorities

Happy Friday, y'all!

C and I were talking this morning about how this was a very short week made up of some very long days. Today is no exception.

My teaching schedule is such that I teach two groups of two back-to-back classes: 8:30 & 9:30, then 11:30 & 12:30. And, while teachers aren't supposed to play favorites or respond too emotionally to classes, or whatever, my days are often a roller coaster; some of my classes and students are amazing. Some, not so much.

I got to thinking about why I'm connecting with some classes better than others today. There are some obvious reasons: personality types, senses of humor, etc. But then there is that inexplicable X factor that determines whether a class and I hit it off. And that X factor, I realized today, stems from priorities--what my students value in a class versus what I do.

The same goes for running: My relationship with exercise has to boil down to priorities, both long and short term. What do I want out of a race? Out of an exercise? A week? A day? A lifetime?

For the Mardi Gras Mambo, my number one priority was to just finish. But as I trained and gained more confidence, my priorities shifted--soon I wanted to break an hour, then 58 minutes, then try to match my old PR. I had something to prove to myself, and that motivation affected my priorities.

Ultimately, I managed to run a new 10k PR on Saturday--turns out Louisiana is a great place if you like running fast and flat. And so now my priorities have shifted to the next race. The next challenge.

Along the way, I will need to practice balance. I've never been great at strength training when I'm running, because I'd rather just go all the time than stop and build strength. But my injuries have made me see a whole new perspective to strength training, and reevaluate what that word "strength" really means.

Strength isn't just about getting better at the things you already like or are good at. It means pushing yourself to do better overall. To grow strong by strengthening the weak parts.

In running, that means I will embrace cross and strength training.

And in teaching, that means that--God help me--I will keep trying to strengthen my relationships in *all* my classes.