Testing. Testing. 1-2-3-4

What do running and EOGs (end-of-grade tests) have in common?

It turns out, quite a lot.

Today, we received the EOG test scores for our 9 year old son.  This is an huge high stakes test that is required in our great state, for all students in grades 3+. 

We are blessed enough to attend a school that does not put year-round emphasis on the test.  Instead, we follow the Common Core, but teach organically, and differentiate.  Learning, at our school, is honestly fun (according to the students, not just me!).  We do not teach to the test.

Last school year, my 9 year old was in 3rd grade, so it was his first year with the EOG test.  I have to be honest here - I have been worried about my son taking this test for the past three years.  He is very smart, but behaviorally challenging. 

In an attempt to not ramble on too much - I will cut to the chase.

My son took the test this past Spring.  We received the results today.  It has been forewarned, in ever increasing email posts and newspaper articles that the scores have plummeted across the state - due to a new test, new standards, new guidelines for passing.

According to the results my son would have "failed". 

Is it ridiculous that I was so happy when I saw his results, I was almost giddy?  No, I do not want my child to "fail", or as the state so kindly put it at his level he only has, "partial command" of the material.

In struggling with my reaction to my son's results - I found myself thinking about my most recent Half Marathon from this past weekend (see previous post).  I managed to pull off a Sub-2 time for the 13.1 mile race.  This is an huge achievement, and has been a goal of mine, since I started running half marathons over a year ago.

OVER A YEAR AGO.

When I ran my first half marathon, in March of 2012 - my goal was to just finish the race.  Seriously.  I had never run a half marathon.  It was a new experience, and while I can read all about it, and do my practice run, I still wasn't sure what to expect, and I didn't want to be unrealistic.  It was the NC Half Marathon at the Motor Speedway (where Nascar races).  I completed the race in 2 hours and 18 minutes, and I was thrilled.  I did it! 

This was my goal for my 9 year old son.  Leading up to the EOGs, all I hoped was that he would even sit and complete the test.  As I've posted before, he has "issues" - mainly behavioral.  I truly wasn't sure that he would sit for the 2+ hours to complete one test.  When he gets upset or frustrated, it can often snowball into a meltdown.  What if he got one reading passage into the test, and got anxious or upset, or frustrated or discouraged, or even just bored?  What if he just dug in his heels about not wanting to take the test, and just would not read or solve problems?  What if he spelled out inappropriate words with the bubble dots?  - It was a possibility. 

So, heading into the EOGs, we decided that we really just wanted him to, 1)  read carefully, 2) complete the test, and 3) use at least 2-3 strategies taught by his teachers.  Really, those were our goals - and afterwards, I learned that he did all three.  We celebrated.

Now, six months later, we were notified the test results were in the mail.

As I mentioned earlier, my son did not pass the EOGs. 
Still, I am thrilled.

He achieved his goals.  He finished the race.

I've since run six more half marathons.  My second one was my worst time, 2 hours and 20 minutes.  But I've continued to work on my running, nutrition, gear, and most recently mental attitude.  It also takes a "team" to succeed.  I've got a great running support group, amazing running friends, a Fitness Guru, and a Bootcamp Instructor Extraordinaire. 

I've got a supportive and positive husband and understanding children.

During races, there are amazing volunteers, water stops, cheerleaders, event staff, and community support.

My Sub-2 was not achieved without all of the above.

My son will have to take this test again. . .and again. . .and again.  There will be ones where his score is worse than the previous one, and hopefully, more often than not, steady gains.  While my 2nd half marathon was my longest time, all the following times have decreased.  For my 3rd half marathon (Run the Green - 2 hours 15 minutes.  My 4th half marathon was Ramblin Rose at 2 hours 13 minutes.  The 5th half marathon was Rock N Roll DC at 2 hours 10 minutes.  And, this past June, my 6th half marathon was the Charity Chase at 2 hours 6 minutes. 

We are so lucky that our boys have an amazing "team" to help them.  The teachers, administrators, EC support, amazing classmates - parents, grandparents, brother. . .They are both surrounded by support to help them not just finish the race, but succeed in the race.

And like running, it might not be the first race (clearly), and it might not be the second race - but I know, with such a great team, and proper training, they will be fine.   Because none of us is defined by the numbers in our lives.  I am not a Sub-2, and my son is not a "failure". 

We have succeeded in completing the races, and as long as we strive to improve - we are successful.

The Power of Positive Thinking.

A little unique quirk about myself is that I don't like to tell anyone anything until after I've done it.  I'm sure that others do this as well, but I notice it with sports more than any other area of my life.

In my mind, if I tell people, and then don't succeed, I have to face that over and over again - each person asking how the event went.  If I don't tell anyone, then no one asks about it, and I can just wallow on my own.

This past weekend, I ran the Tryon Half Marathon, in Tryon, NC.  I registered about a month ago, as way to guarantee a long run prior to the Huntersville Half, which I am planning on running next month.  I had not done a half marathon, or even a half training run, in over 5 months. 

For some reason, over the course of this past week, I got it in my head that I really, really wanted this race to be my Sub-2.  For the non-runners out there - there are certain goals some runners set for themselves as they race - a first 5k, a 10k, a half marathon, then a full marathon.  Runners also decide to achieve time goals - can I run a 5k faster than 20 minutes?  Can I finish a 10k in under an hour?
Sub-2 is a goal of completing a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Up until this weekend I had run 6 Half Marathons.  My slowest being my 2nd (The Scream) at 2 hours 20 minutes.  My fastest being the last one, in June, the Charity Chase in Hickory, at 2 hours 6 minutes.

As I completed my training runs this week, I wore my Garmin to gauge my pace and speed.  I practiced hill runs.  I practiced speed work.  I completed an endurance run (12.1 miles).  By my estimates, I would finish a half in 2 hours 10 minutes.  Then I found a nifty website where you can enter your last several 10k times, your age, etc, and it predicts the finish the time for your next half marathon. 

The prediction for me:  2 hours 1 minute and 57 seconds.

Unacceptable.  The challenge was on.  According to the website I needed to run a 9:09mm/pace to achieve a sub-2 time.

On the car ride to the mountains, I decided to share my goal with my husband.  "I want this," I told him, "but I don't know if I can do it."
We had a great discussion about the power of positive thinking; that a huge part of succeeding is thinking that you can succeed. 

Could I pull this off?  I didn't even know what the race would be like - the website was not very informative about the route, other than it would be a mix of packed gravel (90%) and paved roads (10%).  I didn't see an elevation chart until the morning of the race, it was posted next to check-in.  It would be hilly.   I texted my husband with a sad-face emoticon.  I was scared and anxious.  I wanted to sub-2, but didn't think I could pull it off on a hilly, gravelly course.  I was grateful that I had not told anyone else about my goal, because I didn't want to have to explain my failure. . .But I also wanted to feel the joy and pride of achieving this particular goal - and sharing it with others.

The race started a minute after 8am.  It was cool and drizzling, but not freezing.  I wore my Garmin, to try and keep myself on track.  The screen in the upper right hand corner showed my average pace.  My goal was to not let it go above 9:00minutes/mile. 

The bad:
It had rained the day before, so the gravel was a bit muddy in spots, and therefore, slippery.
At mile 4.5 as I was trying to get a GU out of my pocket, I dropped it, and had to turn back and pick it up - messed with my momentum.
Rolling hills - not too bad, but again, on gravel, I did not feel sure-footed at several points on the course.
Weird weather - so I did not feel dressed appropriately, and at two points debating on taking off my jacket and just leaving it.

The good:
I was prepared.  I had been practicing with nutrition too - and packed two GU gels.  I had one at mile 4.5 and another before mile 9.  In between those, I had sticks of gum to chew, which I think helps with thirst.
New music playlist I made.  Even though I listen on shuffle, several songs came up at perfect moments.  It was very motivating and inspiring.
Cooler weather made it easier to breathe, in my opinion.

The better:
I wanted to succeed.
I wanted to text/call my husband and be able to tell him that I finished in under 2 hours.
A few times I found myself thinking negative thoughts. . .I can't do this. . .I'm tired. . .This hill is too steep. . .I quickly changed gears to positive thinking, "I can do this!"
Every time I looked at my watch (way too often), and saw that I was keeping my pace at less than 9:00/mm, I kept thinking, "I've got this!"

The best:
I got my Sub 2.
According to the race site:  1:56:41
According to my Garmin    1:57:00

Average pace (upper right hand corner):  8:58/mm

I am riding a wave of happiness.  I want to wear a shirt that announces to the world that I ran a Sub 2.  Every now and then I will say out loud, "1:56"!  I'm a dork.

My lesson from this experience was that positive thinking really does matter.  This is another one of those situations where I KNOW that it's a good thing, but to actually do it?  A lot harder.

What would you try to achieve with positive thinking?

Running Is Cheaper Than Therapy?

When I first started running, I was able to validate my new hobby financially by rationalizing that it was a fairly inexpensive way for me to maintain sanity, and stay in shape. 

All I needed was a good pair of running shoes. 

 

Or, a few good pairs of running shoes.

Because as I discovered once I got a little more serious about running was that shoes can wear out quickly.  Also, if it was raining one day, it took a few days for those shoes to dry - so it helped to have an alternate pair.  Or two.  Or three.


Then, with the help of Fitness Guru, I learned that it was important to monitor my distance, pace, and heart rate.  Well, I needed a heart rate monitor (HRM) for that.  These range from basic to fancy.  I'm surprised there isn't an HRM yet that does the dishes, while one is out for a run.

Of course, there are purists out there - I am not one.  I like to run with music.  Now, I've had an iPod Nano for a long time, upgrading a couple years ago.  But my husband would make fun of me, as I got ready for runs - HRM strap, HRM watch on wrist, Phone in arm band on one arm, iPod on strap on other arm.  You can picture this, it really was quite funny.

After running my first couple races, I was hooked.  What could I do next?  A Half Marathon?  Check.  A Full Marathon?  Check.
As I ran longer and longer distances, I learned that there are all sorts of goodies one might need to survive, I mean, do her best.  My legs would be terribly sore after runs of 10+ miles.  So I invested in compression gear - calf sleeves (nice to wear after a long run), and compression tights (awesome for long runs).  Not cheap, but totally worth it for running recovery.

I also learned, the hard way, that I needed to take water with me on longer runs (longer than 6 miles), or anytime during the summer months.  So I needed a handheld water bottle.

If I have my handy dandy water bottle, with the cute little pouch in the front, I can carry my keys - and gels and beans, in the pouch.  BUT, if I am running without the water bottle (with said cute little pouch), I need an easy way to carry my keys and GUs and beans.
So, I bought a SPI-Belt.  Totally worth it.  This thing can hold my phone, keys, money, gels, beans, etc.  It doesn't bounce while I run, which was a big pre-purchase concerns.

Hold on. . .Wasn't this supposed to be affordable? 

Let's talk about race fees.
Due to budget issues, I have cut back on racing this year - but I still like to register for one race a month, to keep me honest in my training.  Most races will run at least $25 for a 5K up to $85+ for a Half.  I try to keep my races to a registration fee of $50.  Let's not forget that this fee includes an awesome medal and t-shirt! 

 

Then, there is all the other stuff. . .Stuff that you don't NEED to be a runner, but it is certainly nice to have if you run a lot. . .the reflective clothing, the various jackets to accommodate all kinds of weather, hats for summer, hats for winter, headbands with ponytail holes in the back, running gloves,

gels, GUs, sports beans, electrolyte tablets, electrolyte powders. . .

chafing sticks, muscle gels, ice packs and recovery bars. . .

And, while I have all this. . .Stuff. . .I have found recently that what I am really enjoying most about running, is running with a great friend.  I was able to run this past September with a very good friend, in beautiful Massachusetts (Cape Cod Zooma). 

While it was a wonderful "Girls Weekend", running with my friend for 6 miles was an added bonus.  Time to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and talk.

Now that school/work is back in session, I have regular weekday runs - One afternoon with a good co-worker friend.  We run at least one afternoon a week together, and have found that it throws off our whole week if we do not get this quality run time together.  We are currently training for a Half together this winter.  We talk about everything under the sun, and I always feel better after our runs.

I also have another co-worker friend with whom I try to run another afternoon a week, although our schedules don't always line up for success.  She is also a lot faster than I am - so it is a good challenge for me to run with her, but I have a lot more trouble carrying on a conversation when I run with her (perhaps that is planned on her part?!).


So really, I've found, what I am enjoying most about running lately is to NOT run with the HRM or the iPod, or my phone, or ten extra pounds of gear, but a really good friend,


and a really good pair of shoes.