Teaching and Running Races

Amazing to me how similar my pre-race and pre-teaching anxiety levels and routines are.

With both I usually calm down a bit once I reach the site. I need to be early, sometimes ridiculously early when compared to normal people.

When teaching students about using the library databases I rely on technology to work. Rarely does it go off without a hitch. It's too easy for the system to be down, a computer needs to go through a rebuild process, the projection system is malfunctioning, the student computers are booting up forever. When I'm at a race it's generally my body that is malfunctioning. I need to use the bathroom, the lines are too long, I can't go once I'm in the port-a-john, I feel like I have to go again three minutes after exiting the loo.

I have taught thousands of lessons over the years. I'm not really good at it, definitely not one of those natural teachers who loves leading a class of students. The subject matter, while important, isn't exciting, really, how do you make learning MLA or APA citation styles into a fabulous lesson? I'm open to ideas. I've run hundreds of races since 1980, maybe more. I've had a few memorable races, but generally am doing well if I get in the top 20% of my age group. Similar to teaching, I'm in the middle if you are grading me.

On a really anxious day, like if I'm working with a professor I've never been with before, or they have a screwy lesson plan that even I don't understand, I can hyperventilate. Yes, I've read all the articles and books about presenting and relaxing, taken workshops on teaching, yada, yada... I still can get over the top with nerves. So I breathe deep, tell myself it's 50-90 minutes of my life, think about how far I've come from the kid who seldom raised a hand in class in case I got the answer wrong. Funny, usually once everyone is situated and I begin the class, things go fairly well. It's also strange how the chemistry of each class can be so different even with the same professor.

There have been a few races that I made super important in my mind. I need to reach a certain time goal, qualify for the Boston Marathon, qualify for the Snowshoe National Championships or maybe run in the championship. Similar to teaching, in these cases, my anxiety is ridiculous. I have blown races, particularly the Snowshoe Nationals, simply due to using too much energy worrying about the race before it even begins. I have a nickname, thanks to my kids, Psycho Dad. It's reserved for those times, pre-race, when a side of me comes out that isn't pretty.

For two years, unbelievably, I was the moderator/question reader for the National Geographic contest when I worked at the Byron-Bergen central school district. This was a big deal. I was Alex Trebek for the day and spent weeks learning to pronounce all the strange words. There were 500 people in the audience. Was I scared? Oh yeah. But I volunteered for it just to prove to myself I could do it.

One of my greatest races was the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in Washington DC. Not because of my finishing time, though it was decent, but for how I felt before and during the race. There were thousands of people in the race, but the starting area, in front of the Washington Monument, didn't feel crowded. We were seeded and somehow I was put into one of the front corrals. It was so cool. I was just a few feet away from the elite women, some of the fastest women in the world. I got to watch them warm-up. A sense of calm came over me while waiting for the starting gun (cannon?). It was a day made for running and I always like doing races in DC, not sure why. To top it off, I ran with Bill Rodgers, one of my heroes, for almost three miles during the race.

Since that race, which was about five years ago, I have been looking to capture the feeling of how lucky I was to be standing there, in good shape, feeling so relaxed. I think my anxiety levels will continue to be a work-in-progress, whether in the classroom or on the roads, but I promise to try and improve.

Racing Fears

Hammer Nutrition's September 2010 magazine has an interesting and well-written article called, "Embracing the fears of racing" by Shane Eversfield, a Total Immersion Master Coach. Here are some quotes from the article, along with my own comments;

"If we knew ahead of time exactly how the race will turn out, or how our lives will progress and end, we probably would not bother training-let alone get out of bed each day".

"...we are drawn to racing-at least in part-by the wonderful elements of mystery and uncertainty".

"on race day, a great asset for transforming fear into acceptance and peace is gratitude". Be grateful for ..."family, health, this day, arriving at the starting line safe after training for however long to complete this distance".

The other common fear in racing is pain. Through your training there is self-discovery that takes place in whether the pain felt during hard sessions is detrimental or a stressor that will make you stronger. You also learn how to deal with the pain that may develop during a race, hold the pace longer through some distress and carry on to the finish line. Pain can be an ally in a race, ..."remain calm physically and mentally in the presence of pain, without complicating it. It is a powerful asset for our most challenging races and our lives".

Let's see if I can remember some of this for the rest of my races this fall.

Cell Phones

Yes, I'm an admitted cell phone hater. Maybe it's because I work in a library and am surrounded by mindless cell phone users who think their scintillating conversations are worthy of everyone else hearing them.

Well, they aren't. Take the damn phone outside the library fool. Can't there be one quiet place for people to study? Let's see, you can't use the phone in class, not allowed in the computer lab connected to the library, but you think it's okay to talk so loudly that everyone within 50 feet can hear you in the library? Idiots.

Anyhow, I'm in the Race with Grace on Thanksgiving Day. Around 3.5 miles into the race I come up on some guy talking to himself, loudly. I begin to pass him and realize, he's not talking to himself, he's on his cell phone telling someone where he is in the race. I'm not sure if the person he was talking to was also in the race. We live in a sad society if you can't be without your cell phone for 45-50 minutes while you are in a race!

I know USATF rules state this is illegal. But even if they didn't, it's just stupid and sad.

At least it was hands-free and I beat him, by minutes. Maybe he had more conversations that slowed him down?