"...just another manic Monday..."

Phew...today was quite a day. Perhaps yoga should have been a sign. A good number of us were still nursing tight muscles from this weekend's workouts so we were glad to be there to stretch them out but I think we were a little uncertain of how intensely we'd be able to hit the yoga poses. Marco is always really patient with us and he lets us say, "We're sore...please go easy on us." He never really does but he will sometimes add in some extra stretches. Well, today he had us doing something that he must have thought would help us but it almost sent some of us toppling over so in the middle of it he said, "Okay, bad idea." That sent about five of us into a small fit of laughter. Which almost sent me toppling over again. Maybe his words were wise...some things are just bad ideas!
School was crazy today...reassuring students, working with a colleague on water relays, double checking AP exam orders, tending to weekend emails, setting up meetings with juniors and their parents, working with seniors during this last week of classes, trying to help prepare for Academic Awards on Wednesday, attempting to get a database updated, producing transcripts...this is just a snippet of the day. It's good stuff...it all makes me happy (or at least not cross)...but it was non-stop and suddenly it was 4:00 p.m. and I was headed out the door to meet Amy at Wilke for our run workout.
Amy had agreed to meet me early (so she could get home early...yeah!) since I had to be back at SAS at 7:00 p.m. for a Prospective Parents Gathering. So from about 4:30-6:00 I did a warm-up run from the baseball fields on Robert E. Lee up to Wilke, completed 10 Wilke repeats on a 5 minute interval, added 3 repeats going about 1/2way up the hill backwards and back down frontwards, and finished off the set with 2 "all out sprints" about 1/4way up Wilke. (I can't believe I just wrote "all out sprints" because it really is all relative...these were my "all out" for today...after our weekend's workouts they were just not very fast.) I think I said this last time, but Wilke repeats are tough. Really tough. The hill doesn't seem so bad for about the first 1/4 and then all of the sudden you're in the middle of it wondering if you'll ever reach the (shady...today!) top. But you do. And on the way down you think, "This isn't so bad"...until you're snapped back to reality when you start up again.
Amy was a rockstar today and so I just tried to chase her up the hill. She won...every time. Yeah! This is awesome b/c the last time we did these she had to stop and walk at the top the last two repeats for her. This time...no stopping Amy! And she even added in a couple of extra to keep me company. She's getting stronger and stronger and is going to rock Vineman...and hopefully have a blast doing so!
Anyway, I always feel like I've really done something when I finish this workout. The pluses today were that I did the repeats on the same interval as last time. I realize that could be a negative - wishing I were getting faster - but the reality is that at this point in our training with my tired legs, I was happy to complete the set and not be any slower than last time! I'm also glad that my heart rate could recover fairly quickly. Makes me feel like I'm in decent cardio shape even if my muscles hurt.
Finished it all off with a jog back to my car...a soak in Barton Springs...speaking some French to a little girl up in the changing rooms (yeah, this was random)....quick clean-up...and then back to school until about 8:30 p.m. for an Information Night. Yes...this sort of schedule is why my life feels a little manic at times. But good things are making it manic.
And two things sweetened the evening at the end - a parent publicly thanking me for my work (truly, I don't live for that sort of thing at all...but you know, every once in a while, especially when so much of what we hear is what we're not doing well, it's nice to hear someone say 'thank you'!) AND driving home with my windows down and pulling up beside a car with its windows down too and a big old dog with its head hanging out of the back window looking happy as could be. I think it was smiling. So I smiled back.
On to Tuesday...