I think it's become a habit

I'm about to complete my 3rd full week of running, with 4 runs each week. I think I can say it is now a habit. What do they say, it takes 21 days to break or start a habit? I try hard not to think about my times too much or expect high school cross country paces...yet. I am almost down to consistent 8 minute miles for my short 2.68 runs and managed under 9.5 min/mi for a 5.4 mile run, but I really would like to debut in a 5k in under 20 minutes with the ultimate goal of breaking 18 minutes, which I missed by 3 seconds in my last high school race over 14 years ago. There's a 7 mile trail run coming up that I think I'll enter, but then I'll be competing against one of my students who told me she just ran a 4.5 mile race in 23:44. That's a pace under 5.5 minutes per mile. That's faster than I ever ran a 5k before. But, I have to jump in somewhere, and a tough trail run may be just the race to get me started.

We had another snow day yesterday, so we start chipping away at spring break. It is now down to Friday through Tuesday. Tuesday is next on the chopping block. Next Friday is an inservice day and then we do not have a day off until April 10. During that stretch we have the state tests. Should be a blast.

Thoughts from the midpoint of the year

Well, the 1st semester has ended. We know who the players, slackers, grade-monkeys, followers, and leaders are. Too many of the first four, not enough of the last. This is not to say that we don't have a great group of kids, but I'm not seeing a lot of initiative or individual thought out of this group. Hopefully, some more will surprise me heading into the second half of the year. This week may be my first 5-day week since before winter break. No snow days, vacation days, or sick-child days (I hope). I think I'd be all in favor of a four-day week.

I've been running consistently for two weeks now. I even managed two runs of 4 miles this past week. I feel better running in this attempt to return to running form than I have, probably since I did the marathon in college. In fact, I think that I want to set the goal of running Grandma's marathon in 2010 so that I may avenge myself and not half to say that I've finished a marathon, but had to walk to last nine miles pulling a leg with two pulled muscles. I was on pace for a 3.5 hour finish. Granted, I have consistently said that I had no desire to ever do that again, but it's been nagging at me that last few years now. This summer is out. Having a sub-one-year-old in the house and a 3.5 year-old is not conducive to real training. But I think that it's doable for next year. Anyone want to volunteer to watch the kids for a long weekend?

More Than Meets the Eye

On a rare day off when the kids have daycare and neither one of them is sick, I got a chance to actually watch a movie with the volume up a bit. As I graded papers, I decided to watch the Transformers movie (live action, not animated, have both). Watching the beginning when we are first treated to the Autobot symbol on Bumblebee's steering wheel, I remembered the chills I felt when I first saw the preview and didn't know what it was until that symbol appeared. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I got chills. I get that same feeling throughout the movie. Why is this? I will admit that it's not the best movie and it has it's fair amount of cheese (Optimus saying, "My bad," comes to mind), but it captures something that this current generation of kids may not get to experience. Sure, the show was made to sell the toys, but it was still really cool. It was also never made into a movie, and I'm glad it wasn't until recently. Every franchise now is turned into a movie almost immediately. It might be straight to DVD, but it gets the movie treatment right away. It wasn't so with Transformers. There were plenty of series, but never a full movie (other than the animated). When the movie opens up and the Decepticon transforms from a helicopter, I think they nailed the coolness factor. That robot, was unstoppable (until they stopped it). The amount of effortless carnage, mobility, speed, and agility it embodied was awesome. That is a big giant robot to be proud of. With the sequel coming out this summer, I'm really excited and I'm seeing this one in the theater. The first movie was a lot of set up and not enough robots. I hope this will be remedied in the second. Time for a run.

Ok, that was cold...

I went for a run 4 days this week, and one day was not Wednesday or any day on the weekend. That means that I went for a run on Friday. Anyone who's been paying attention to the weather recently will realized that most of the country was experiencing rather cold weather (possibly relative to wherever that part of the country is, but cold nonetheless). I checked the temp before I left school (11.5 degrees), and I figured I'd be ok for a little while. The fact that my nostrils only got a weak, partial freeze in the morning only solidified my confidence. It was about 10 degrees when I started the run and I have to admit, I almost quit after the first five minutes. Given that this is my first week back running, I know that I need to keep things consistent, or it becomes too easy for me to not run. So, I ran the entire route and for the first time in a long time I began to think that it was actually cold outside. To be honest, I did forget my jacket at home, but the only parts of me that were actually cold were my eyebrows (or the ridge of bone behind them) and my hands. Apparently, the gloves given out at the December of 1994 Jingle Bells run in Madison, WI are not all that warm. By the time I realized how cold they actually were, I was at the point of no return. Happy ending though. I finished the run 1.5 minutes faster than I had managed the entire week. I guess you could say I was somewhat motivated to get back in car sooner rather than later.

The Honeymoon is Over

I should have known yesterday's run felt too good to be true. I made sure I went out two days in a row, because one of anything a pattern does not make. I headed out today and had forgotten what sore shins feel like. It still felt great though! I even got to finish with a bit of snow falling around. It's going to be a whole new Mr. Johnson at field day this year!

Crunch time with BSG. Due to shipping errors and delays, we now have the final two discs we need before new episodes start on Friday.

24 has started in earnest, but I'm not sold on it yet. I'm not sure I like how hard they are pushing the picture of Jack as an out of control maniac who can be relied on to be brutal. I will not stand for this smear campaign against Jack Bauer!

Nostril Freezing Cold

Would you believe me if I said that were something that I miss? Weird, but I do. Those of you who have experienced taking a deep breath and having your nostrils briefly freeze shut know what I'm talking about. I have not experienced it here yet. We are supposed to have a high of six degrees on Friday. Maybe it will happen then.

I finally got back running today. Enough excuses. I'm just getting out there and running. I get changed at school, head over to a course and take a run. This was my first run since September, and it felt great. Maybe it was just running that felt good. Maybe it was the 20 pounds lighter I currently am. Maybe it was the relatively flat course compared to the .7 mile rollercoaster loop I was running before. Whatever it was, it was worth it. It was the best run I've had, probably since I moved to PA and the first winter run since 2005.

I consider myself a running purist, but I did something for the first time that I didn't think I'd do. I ran with an iPod and it was great. So for all of you running purists who think that it spoils the experience, you need to lighten up. Does this mean I will never again take a run through the woods and listen to nature? Not in the slightest. It is a nice distraction from the mundane thoughts of whether or not I should keep going, if I'm going fast enough, if my strides are the right length, and so on... I quite enjoyed my run today. It may only have been 2.43 miles, but it was one of the best times I've had in a while.

The Running Me is Back!

A quick "Thank You"

I recently re-implemented the last 10 visitors code because it hadn't changed for a couple months and I was extremely surprised at my vast international audience. I just wanted to thank everyone who's been checking out my blog. Let me know what you prefer: more corporate rants, or more school stories, or anything else.

I watched the first two episodes of Season Four from Battlestar Galactica. I am on track to have the first half of the season finished before next Friday when the second half premiers on SciFi. I've even converted my wife to the point that she's putting The Wire on hold until we finish these discs. She's sharing her Netflix queue to make it happen. Now that's love and commitment!!

400 lashes and don't be gentle!

I can't believe what happened today. I'm experimenting with puni...I mean deterrents of a different sort these days. To be specific, I'm trying not to use up all of my free time after school and I refuse to give up my lunch for detentions. I'm trying writing assignments in which the students are reminded of the silliness of their behavior while enduring some mindless tedium - writing sentences. I gave some to a student because he would not stop talking. I had to have given at least 10 warnings until I assigned 20 sentences. He didn't stop. I changed it to 25. He didn't stop. I changed it to 30. He just didn't get it and the next thing I know, he's up to 400. That is not a typo. I actually assigned 400 sentences. It's worse though, I gave him about three sentences that have to be written 400 times. I am absolutely in shock. 400 sentences...unbelievable.

1st Day Back

Well, we started back at school today. The Vikings lost last night, so the many Eagles fans thought it their duty to remind me of that constantly. They were not, however, very clever or original. What follows is a rather faithful reproduction of a conversation I had many times today:

Student: How about them Vikings?
Me: They lost
Student: They lost
Me: I know. I just said that.
Student: Yeah, they lost.

Sometimes this continued a few more times.
A more amusing conversation went like this:

Student: How about them Vikings?
Me: They lost. How did the Colts do?
Student: They've won nine in a row.
Me: Yeah, but they lost on Saturday.
Student: They did? At least they are in the playoffs.
Me: So were the Vikings, but they lost and now neither team is in the playoffs anymore.
Student: But they won nine in a row.
Me: Once you lose in the playoffs, you're out.
Student: The playoffs were this weekend? I thought it was the end of the regular season. Well, I didn't see it, so it doesn't count.

8th graders are interesting.

Go Red Wings!

The final season cometh

The first half of the fourth (and last) season of Battlestar Galactica is released on DVD on Tuesday. I have one disc to go to finish season three and the second half of season four starts January 16. We can do this, but it means 5 discs of BSG in 12 days (the last disc of Season three won't arrive until Tuesday). I have to admit, I am saddened by the end of this show. I can honestly say that it has been the best show I've watched on TV, better than 24. I'm not sure that the prequel series, Caprica, will be able to take its place. The one question remaining is if I'll be able to get caught up in time to watch the rest of the series as it airs.

Tomorrow the Vikings are the top seed playing in the playoffs. I did not see that coming two months ago. They are playing the Eagles. Either I will be upset going back to school on Monday, or most of my students and fellow staff will be. I hope its not me. I really don't need that to put up with from 8th graders the first day back from vacation!