I'm impressed with that scheduling, and your recognizing that this isn't forever!
My week? It was inspiring and fun, but since I don't run much, I'm a little bit sore and tired.
Sunday was the Girls on the Run 5k event for 650 girls in the San Diego region.
Our team is 4th and 5th graders from a school where 98% of the students are eligible for free breakfast, lunch, and food for weekends.
We've qualified as a funded program, so the kids only have to pay $10 for the program, and along with 16 sessions of coaching and lessons, are given running shoes, T shirts,snacks, water bottles, and exercise bras if needed. GOTR supplied us a bus to take the kids to the event, which was a 45 minute ride away, at Mission Bay, San Diego.
Demographically, this is group of girls whose families do not have the resources for extracurricular sports, so probably this is their first experience with "coaching, " from a mentor other than a teacher, family member, clergy, etc. Our kids have lots of real world issues... home and food insecurity, challenging home/social environments, and numerous other problems I know exist, but I've never personally experienced.
At our program school, we run laps; most of the girls completed their practice 5k two weeks prior with minimal issues, and were confident they could finish the distance. We encourage them to run, walk, job, skip, etc, just keep moving forward, which means that we do it with them.
My little partner and I jogged about half of the 5k, fast walked the rest. She got tired, especially in the middle, but gamely hung on and then took off 200 yards from the finish line. I'm reminded of Ironman, where the pain of the day is forgotten in the last 5 minutes, coming down the home stretch.
3 hours per week for 8 weeks with these girls has been a revelation, and has a proven positive impact at a crucial time in their development.
Girls On The Run impact...
Oh right, along with our two running practices, I managed 3 workout swims of between 2500-3000 yards each, with my masters swim group, and a 1 hour, very enjoyable bike ride along the coast.
Karen ST Concierge