You Gotta Do What You Can

Dear Diary...

I'm feeling pretty good this morning.  My mind is a whirlwind of things I want to do today, and that makes me happy.  I also realize that no matter how much I want to get away from planning out my entire life, I can't help but wake up each morning with a to-do list.  Rather than to talk about my to-do list, and then having to recant if there's something on it I didn't get to, I'm going to try and do stuff and then post about it the next day.  That way, I don't have to look at what I didn't get done.  Did any of that make sense?  Moving on.

I've been trying to come up with ways that I can get in a little exercise while I'm at work.  Trying to find a way to exercise at work is almost impossible.  Almost.  I walk up and down hallways many times a day, but I can't call that exercise.  It's what my body is used to because I've been doing it for almost 6 months now.  It's not exercise, it's daily life.  But there are the occasional times where the opportunity arises for me to do a little extra.

Thursday was my day for recess duty.  Recess duty usually consists of me standing in a spot watching the playground, watching the soccer field, and watching the walking track.  I stand there and watch, doing nothing but talking to my kiddos.  Thursday, I decided that I had the perfect opportunity to get some exercise in.  Now, I was in a dress, leggings, and boots.  Hardly the attire to walk around the track.  But play soccer?  Apparently so.  There are a bunch of 3rd grade boys that like to play soccer.  No, they LOVE to play soccer.  Before Christmas, as a treat, I had a game of soccer with them.  All this week, they'd been trying to get me to do it again.  So, Thursday, I figured why not?

I love soccer.  I played it when I was a kid, and watched it growing up.  It's a British tradition, I suppose.  It is also very big among the Hispanic population.  So, being in a highly Hispanic population at school, I can join in with a game that was a part of my childhood.  Despite being in a dress, I still got out on the field and played soccer.  However, I decided to be the goal keeper.... not really much exercise to be had there.

Yesterday, I decided to up the ante just a little.  While Fridays are not my recess duty days, I asked my counterpart if he'd like me to cover his recess duty.  He didn't mind.  So, I took another opportunity to get out with the kids and play.  This time, however, I was NOT playing goal keeper.  I got out there and I ran with those boys.  By the time the 25 minute recess was over, I was pretty sweaty.  Not exactly professional, but it was Friday...I was in jeans and tennis shoes.... the kids would be OK with meeting with a sweaty teacher, right?  Not only did I get that 25 minutes to play soccer, but I got an additional 20 minutes an hour later.  One of my classes earned an extra recess, so back out there I was running up and down the field.  That time, I was even more sweaty because I pushed myself much harder knowing that the day was almost over and not many people would have to see me dripping sweat.

The principle caught me out there.  I was a little nervous at first, but she thought it was great that the kids had earned such a great reward.  It's those kinds of situations that makes me want to stay at my school forever. I took a chance getting out there and playing with the kids, but it seemed to get the OK from the principle - so that I'm very happy about.  The kids get such a big kick out of their teachers joining in with stuff like that, and I get just as much of a kick seeing them so happy that their teacher is willing to run around with them.

I was very surprised at how well I did.  Stamina wise, I mean.  I was able to run up one length of the field, and there were several situations where I sprinted for the ball.  I was completely winded by those sprints, but I was still able to do them.  Running the length of a soccer field is no comparison to the almost 3 miles I was able to run a year ago - but at least I know I can still run a little.  A little is better than none.  I won't have to start completely over building up my stamina from a fast walk to a slow jog to a faster jog.  I should be able to start right at slow jogging... but I'm getting a head of myself....I'll just have to see what I'm capable of once I get out there.

OK, I need to start working on the stuff I have planned for the day.  I'll share it with ya tomorrow.  I know you can't wait.  HA!  I'm going to enjoy my Saturday, and see what happens.

Till next time.  ;)