Running and Teaching

Long distance running is my hobby outside of work. I run more than most, which is to say that I put in 70+ miles a week. I run even more during the summer, largely because of the time on hand but also because it is time to build up for a marathon. The parallels between my hobby and my career are uncanny.

The most obvious is the amount of time needed to be successful. Long distance running is built on one's aerobic capacity, your ability to process oxygen. How do you improve that? You do it by running, and running lots of miles. Teaching is the same, both in preparation and in actual work. You really can't be effective without doing your reading, getting to know your kids, assessing to find their strengths/weaknesses, and learning new practices (amongst many other items). Shortcuts rarely work out in either of these, leaving you underprepared for a race or underserving those you are teaching.

Both of these activities require patience. A few weeks back I was struggling with a hamstring issue that was causing my hip and IT band to rock out of alignment. The frustration was consuming, if for no other reason than the fact that no one wants to run in pain. Instead of throwing in the towel I needed to continue with exercises to strengthen my quads and hamstrings as well as using a foam roller every night to roll out the knots in the muscle. Similarly, teaching requires patience in spades. Your instruction may not work out the first time. You'll need to reflect on what is going on, what isn't working (and why), and make alterations. Teaching rarely is an instant gratification career, leaving you waiting for the big leap forward.

Planning is integral to the success of both activities. If you aren't clear what you are teaching, when you plan to teach it, and how you'll know if they got it then you're in trouble. Does that mean you won't change that plan? Absolutely not. Changes happen because of student interest, success of lessons, district initiatives, and countless other issues. But it is difficult to succeed without knowing where you want to go and how you plan to get there. My preparation for Chicago (and every marathoners preparation) is similar. I can't just go out and run hard everyday, or run a bazillion (that's a lot!) miles each week. I need to know what I want to hit on race day, and where I've already been. From there I can start to tailor a plan to hopefully get me to the race, and ultimately the finish line, where I want to be.

Lastly, neither activity allows for you to rest on your laurels. Any achievement you get is fantastic, but has little bearing on your future trajectory. Why? Stopping running (injury and rest aside) brings about an almost immediate loss on fitness. Others continue to train as well, bring about new challenges to where you've been. Even trying to simply maintain where you are is difficult. In teaching you'll find that new kids will always walk through the doors with new personalities, challenges, weaknesses, and strengths. New initiatives and practices will come up that you'll need to develop fluency with. The second you stop working and learning is the second you begin to slip backwards. Just because you were a distinguished teacher in the past doesn't mean you'll continue to be that way forever. You need to keep working.