I've neglected this blog over the last few weeks. When I eventually returned to work, on crutches which is such a good way to try and get around a classroom, I got caught up in the manic activity that accompanies the end of a school year. We said goodbye to colleagues who were retiring or moving on to new schools. We stripped our classroom walls so that the builders can come in over the summer and remove all the asbestos. We made sure we hadn't left anything to personal or too valuable in our desk drawers and had a bit of a tidy up. We helped out at sports days, voted for 'colleague of the half term' and drank more tea than is probably good for us.
In addition to this (and teaching the few remaining classes of the year) I cobbled together a folder of evidence to prove that I had 'passed' my induction year and went, with trepidation, to get it all signed off by the head. There is still the small matter of an outstanding lesson observation that couldn't go ahead because I was off sick, but that will take place early in the new school year. The good news is that I am no longer an NQT (newly qualified teacher), the bad news is that my timetable looks even more busy next year than it did this year!
The first week of the holidays has whizzed by in a bit of a blur. I've been slowly getting back into running. The hot weather saw me out of bed before 7am so that I could run without melting. I achieved my 50th parkrun - with a hobble rather than a sprint - only 50 more runs now until the next parkrun milestone.
My foot is still achey but running, on the whole, doesn't seem to make it worse. What has happened is that I appear to have lost my confidence. I don't worry that I am going to fall over again though. I just worry that I won't be able to run the distance I have set myself that day. And I know I am a lot slower than I was before I hurt myself. I guess the 3+ weeks of no running has really set me back a bit.
I have started training for the Abingdon marathon, and while I am able to complete all the runs so far in the training programme, I have real doubts as to whether I will be up to the 26.2 miles on the day - both physically and mentally. I was hoping for a time of 'around 4 hours' before I injured my foot, but am now of the opinion that finishing will be enough of an achievement for my first marathon. I was also hoping that marathon training might lead to weight loss, but 30+ miles a week just makes me hungry!
Today is supposed to be a rest day, but the Trailblazers are running locally tonight. I've run the route we are taking tonight with them before, it is great but my attempts to follow the route on my own meant I got hopelessly lost, so I am hoping that another guided run will mean I remember the path!