Lack of Sleep Makes Me Grumpy

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Mama Cormier

Didn’t get to bed till after midnight. Had to stay up and watch Survivor. Not a good idea in hind sight. Up at 6:30 and out the door at 7:10 to get to school in time for soccer try outs. Met with the book club during my lunch hour and then took 2 grade one classes, back to back, to the computer lab.

I love the little ones but they’re not very patient at the best of times and today was no exception. Unfortunately the computers in the lab decided not to cooperate today. The internet worked for some students and not for others. There was a lot of whining and sad faces as they struggled to complete their cartoon strips.

I held it together for the most part but I could feel how weary my body and mind felt. By recess when I realized that I was also on duty today I was ready to cry. My friend L came out with me and let me vent for a few minutes and I felt somewhat better. I tend to internalize my stress so it’s always good when I can talk about it.

After recess my patience had worn thin and my next class had to suffer my grumpiness. I try not to let my emotions show or I will warn students ahead of time when I’m not in the best of moods. Most of the students are good but today I just couldn’t abide a couple of the boys who always use my library likes it’s the gymnasium. Time to call the parents!

Three o’clock finally arrived but now I had to get ready for day 4 of Girls on the Run.

Girls on the Run – Week 2 Day 4

Despite my exhaustion I managed to complete all the tasks today with the girls and walk/run 1.2 km. I’m running a little bit further each time I get out for long walks or ‘run’ with the girls. I have to confess that I feel like a bowl of jello. I haven’t run in over 30 years. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it much more now but as long as I can stay injury free I think I might start enjoying it and hopefully reaping some benefits from it. A few years ago I ran on pavement for a very short distance with some students who wanted race me and I paid for it all summer with a painful injury to my foot.

The other exercise that I did today with the girls was jumping jacks. Every time the other team answered a question correctly my team had to do 10 jumping jacks and the same held true for Coach C’s team when we answered a question correctly. I think in total I did about 80 jumps. Not a pretty sight! We also did a lot of running on the spot.

After an hour and a half with the girls I went back to my classrooms (my home room and library) and tried to prepare for tomorrow. I finally left school at about 6:15.

NEW GOAL: In bed by 11:00

Girls on the Run – Week Two

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Mama Cormier

The phone rang at 6:30 this morning. It was my friend L reminding me that I had to be at school by 7:30 for soccer tryouts. It’s never good when the coach is late. After a quick shower, I grabbed a protein bar and hurried out of the house by 7:15.

I pulled into the parking lot by 7:29 and could see that about 20 of the girls and two of the assistant coaches were already waiting on the soccer field. I grabbed my 3 bags from the car and dragged myself into the building to drop off my stuff and fetch the bag of soccer balls from the gym. When I finally got back outside we discovered that most of the balls needed to be inflated. Luckily many of the girls brought their own balls so the drills were already underway.

I never did find time to eat my protein bar. My first meal of the day happened at lunch. I thought that I could find a minute to read over the activity sheet for tonight’s Girls on the Run meeting but I made the mistake of trying to read it in the staff room. What I did read looked rather straight forward and the story attached to it inspired me to share it with my library classes in the afternoon.

When 3:00 came around I looked over the activity sheet again and went into panic mode because I was suppose to make a special box for one of the activities. Luckily Coach C had it under control and she decided that both teams could use the same box and do that particular activity together. Thank Goodness!

The day was colder than it had been the day before but not nearly as bad as the week before. We worked on negative traits that we wanted to change and focused on the positive things that we do and want to continue. It tied nicely into the story whose message was not to listen to negative or pessimistic comments when trying to pursue a goal or dream.

I think Coach P and I make a good team. During the run we encourage the girls and I even ran/walked a loop of the track today. After the girls left for the day the four coaches sat around and discussed the activities and how well the girls participated. I feel good about the program but I’m not sure it’s getting me ready for that 5 km walk/run.

It was a long day today. After Girls on the Run, Coach P and I had a parent council meeting and I didn’t get home till 9:00. At around 6:00 I finally ate that protein bar and I made supper when I got home. Way too late to eat but I knew that if I didn’t eat something I would graze for the rest of the night. It will be interesting to see if the scale has me up again, at the same weight or down somewhat. When I eat irregularly, like I did today, my body goes into starvation mode and I usually gain weight.

Walking again.

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Mama Cormier

I finally got back on the horse so to speak. After days of inactivity I got out for two long walks today. My husband and I got out early for a morning walk with the dog. We were hoping to miss the rain but just at the half way mark it started to spit and then it came down pretty steadily when we were still 500m from home. Oh well, I can hear my mother or somebody’s mother saying how I’m not made out of sugar and how a little rain won’t hurt you. After drying off the dog and changing my shirt I wrote another post this morning and my significant other calculated how far we had actually walked.

1.8 miles or 2.9 km

I was a little worried when I started out because my right knee hurt and I had a pain in my upper left thigh. It would have been so easy to use those aches and pains as excuses for not going. I feel pretty good about that. About a quarter of the way into the walk the pains went away and at the half way point I did something I haven’t done in over 10 years. I ran about 50 metres without stopping.

NEW GOAL – Run a little further every day!

This afternoon I thought we were getting in the car to go shopping but Kevin convinced me that everything we needed was just up the street. So we walked some more. This time we walked about

1 mile or 1.6 km

Grand total for the day – 2.8 miles or 4.5 km

It feels great to move again.

My Fitness Journey

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Mama Cormier

Over the long weekend I went out walking everyday with my husband and our dog. We would be out for at least 45 minutes each morning. Sometimes I would take the dog out for a second walk later in the day. On the first day back to school I woke up extra early (5:50) so that I could join my husband and our dog for an early morning walk. It was still dark when I woke up and the sun was just coming up and the moon was still in the sky when we headed out the door. It felt great but later in the day I kept yawning and I still had to do Girls on the Run.

The next day my husband let me sleep and I didn’t get up early enough to go for a walk. That evening a group of us from school went downtown for a clothing sale and then dinner. It was dark when I got home. I didn’t get out for my walk. I have to get to bed earlier.

Thursday I slept in again. We did have Girls on the Run after school but most of the activities didn’t allow me to run with the girls. I did make a pledge to the group that I would walk at least 20 minutes every day. When I got home I did take the dog for a 20 minute walk before dinner. I think I will invest again in a pedometer and aim for 10 000 steps a day. Can anyone recommend a pedometer that won’t break everytime it falls to the floor or one that will stay securely attached to my pants? I’ve broken more pedometers……..!!!

I haven’t got up early since Tuesday to do my walk. Friday was the worst day yet. The dog didn’t want to go any further than the park at the bottom of our street. Oh well, Saturday is a new day.