Teacher, teacher

Those who can't do, teach.  Or so the saying goes.  I do hope that is false, as I have decided to take on the responsibility of shaping the minds, hearts, legs and souls of a hardy group of runners.  Okay, nothing quite that dramatic, but I am teaching the 5km clinic at my local Running Room.

So far I have 8 people signed up, but we'll see what this week (January Joiners, after all) brings.  I think it's going to be helpful that it's currently +8C at 10:42pm in January in Calgary!!  Hope that means some more will sign up before our winter actually wallops us good.

Monday was the first night, but since it was still a holiday, only 3 showed up.  We introduced ourselves, and discussed running etiquette, safety and the like before heading out for a 25 minute run.  This is where I'm going to have trouble...5:1's x 4, plus 1 minute cool down for 25 minutes.  No distance...no tempos...no steady runs.  I will be wondering what to do with myself when we're done for the day and everyone else I know is out running still!  But it's not about me, and after tonight's run club (same 25 minutes) I solved my own dilemma...I simply said good run and good night to everyone, and then ran back outside and did the same loop, at a tempo pace.  First run had us complete 2.97km in 25 minutes (8:26 pace) while the 2nd run had me complete 3.01km in 19 minutes (6:33 pace).  Justified the Guinness!!! 

This will be a year of firsts for me. 
 - First time teaching...anything.
 - First Ultra
 - First Trail race
 - depending on the changes announced next week for Calgary, it may also be my first time running two marathons in one month
 - and, last (so far), first time in a helicopter.

I may have forgotten to mention that I won a little prize on New Year's Eve, at the annual Resolution Run.  It is for a ride-along with Calgary's Finest in HAWCS.  For an idea of what I might be in store for, watch the following Rick Mercer report.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QdoN42fDVy8 
I promise to not steal the uniform afterwards!

I still have to set a day, and pass a criminal background check, but I am really looking forward to this.  Should be outstanding!

Home after the usual Wednesday night beer and salmon (back at our normal haunt, now that the Christmas season rush is over), and really should be thinking about bed.  I need to be much better about my sleep habits, as in getting to bed at a decent hour so that I get more than 6 hours in a night.  To help with this, I did order the Fitbit which shows how efficient I am when sleeping...surprising how many times I wake up during the night. 

Okay...shutting down for real this time!

Later,