“Run in places you love with people you like. Enjoying your surroundings and training partners will strengthen your commitment to running and bring out the best in you.”
~Deena Kastor
At the end of a long run this summer my running partner looked at me, with hands on her knees, and said, “There is no way I could have done that without you.”
“Right back at you,” I said with a smile and a wink. Those who have run 17+ miles with me know the deep, dark secrets start to come out to carry us through those last couple miles. Sometimes making yourself vulnerable physically and emotionally are exactly what you need to do to form bonds, and it’s amazing what you can accomplish with strong connects to others.
It is this belief in strong community that lead me to find a school for #2. I no longer wanted to be the principal, janitor, lunch lady, classroom teacher, curriculum design, social worker, special ed. teacher, case manager, behavior intervention specialist AND parent. Well, forget janitor, I had given up on that one almost immediately. I did, however, know that #2s case was complicated enough that I could no longer educate him and prepare him for “real life” by myself. He really struggles with self-advocacy, and its difficult to work on this skill when your mother is continually by your side. He struggles with knowing how to handle social situations, another tricky thing to work on from your dining room table. By the end of May he was through the first 6 levels of the Wilson Reading System. I knew he was reading above grade level and his math was above grade level. It was time for him to work on some other parts of life.
I had heard bits and pieces about Cyber Village Academy from some acquaintances, but when a friend who has a child that struggles in traditional school told me she had enrolled her child, I decided to get serious. I did a tour and turned in the paperwork, crossing my fingers the entire time.
Two weeks ago I had #2s first IEP meeting. I felt slightly queezy going in. I had flashbacks to the disastrous IEP meetings at his previous school. Those meetings were combative and infuriating. I cried during or after each and every meeting. All I wanted was for my child to receive an education and I was treated like I was asking for some incredibly impossible prize at the end of a fanciful rainbow.
This time, however, it was different. I was listened to. They asked questions. They worked with me…and in turn, I worked with them. I immediately felt part of a team. I shared with them some successes of homeschooling, and let them know some failures. I trusted them enough to be vulnerable and let them know I don’t have all the answers. I told them that this is a very difficult child to educate and this is why I need help. We laughed at some of my descriptions of trials and tribulations in homeschooling…and I did not cry! I left the meeting feeling empowered, supported and encouraged to go home and help make this educational setting a success.
And it is that sense of community that will help carry me through 26.2 on Sunday. Yes, it’s my legs that will need to continually turn over, just as it’s #2 who needs to read, write, listen, etc. But, a marathon is truly a team effort. I will have friends and family throughout the coarse cheering, encouraging, taking my clothing layers and handing me gels. Yesterday, a running friend brought me this for carboloading:
really good beer.
And my dear running partner, who has brought me this far, taught me so much, and trained with me for 3 summers in a row brought me this:
an iPod with an individualized playlist for my pace. All I need to do is keep the beat. Because of injury she has decided not to run this year, but she will be with me every step of the way, encouraging me to keep going with the beauty of music (and maybe there will be some deep secrets hidden in the music I encounter at mile 24).
It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we do things together.
Running With Flashcards 