Things I'm Loving Friday LIII

Happy Friday from Portland, Oregon! I arrived here late last night, and I am actually on my way out the door for a little day trip to Cannon Beach. It was recommended to me by multiple people, and it's on all of the "Portland To-Do Lists." So, how could I possibly resist?Though it is hard to believe that my spring break is already winding down, I am so incredibly grateful for this little getaway. I was craving an escape from the Houston chaos, and I have absolutely loved exploring this part of the country. 

But, before I go, I had to share a list of the Things I'm Loving lately. Enjoy!

How To Develop Mental Toughness

Mental toughness. This word is thrown around by many, and it's one that I've really been reflecting on as I tackle this marathon training plan I've embarked on. I've learned that it's not just about your ability. It's also about your mindset. And this doesn't just apply to athletics - it applies to anything. For me, running is where it's most applicable. I've got a clear vision: Boston. It's lofty, and I've got a tough road ahead of me if I want to make that a reality. But I've also accomplished more than I ever thought possible, and I can carry that with me going forward. And while every statement on this list resonates with me, the last one - particularly Coach Sommer's response - resonates with me the most. I've hit bumps in the road, and I've had my "this is too hard" moments. Only to be reminded that it's supposed to be hard. The hard is what makes it great. 

Teachers: The Only Mode They Have is Action

Okay, I am not one to talk about politics. I tend to keep quiet when people start discussing politics. I will share something about politics on social media every once in a blue moon, MAYBE. And while I have opinions, I tend to keep them to myself. And while I have opinions on Trump's Secretary of Education hire - Betsy DeVos - I think this response to DeVos' comment about how teachers are in 'receive mode', puts my thoughts into words pretty well. I suppose I'm biased, being a teacher myself, but I'm inspired every single day by the people I have around me. I see how hard they work for their students, and I see how much they give to their students. And it makes me want to do the same for mine. They're worth the money that I spend on school supplies each year. They're worth the few extra bucks it costs to get into a playoff game so that I can watch them do what they love to do. They're the reason I wake up in the morning, and while I certainly don't always (or ever) do my job perfectly, they're the reason I'm happy to be absolutely exhausted at the end of each day. Because they're worth it.

An Open Letters to Runners Who Think They're "Too Slow"

Open letters are all the rage these days, right? Well, I happened upon this one as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and I couldn't help but read what it had to say. And I loved every word of it. Because so often I have people say to me, "Man, I could never run like you do. I'm way too slow." As if that gives them an out. It's like they say, "Well, I can't run fast, so I may as well never do it at all." And I get it. I'm so guilty of scrolling through Instagram and seeing posts from women who run sub-7:00 miles for an ENTIRE marathon. And I'm working so hard to run 8:00 miles. But just because you think you're too slow doesn't mean you're not a runner. Whether you're running a 6:00-mile or a 10:00-mile, you're still reaping the benefits. You're still lapping everyone on the couch. You're still going to experience the runner's high (and the lows...), and you're going to feel so proud of yourself for getting out there and doing it. Whether it's one mile or 26, you are a runner. So lace up those shoes and get to running.

When I Play
March is Women's History Month. But I think every month should celebrate the incredible achievements made by women, and this video does just that. This short film, created by women, honors women who see their movement as a movement. It celebrates women who are proud of their athleticism, and who find freedom in the sport. It gave me goosebumps as I watched it over and over and over again because, as someone who has been an athlete her entire life, it's so important to me that girls remember why we play the game. It's really not for anyone else. It's for ourselves. It's pulling our hair back into a ponytail and not being afraid to sweat and be tough. Because we love the game and we love the adrenaline rush it brings. I used to be so afraid of not being seen as 'girly', but now I know that playing "like a girl" can very much mean "win the race".

8 Things Happy People do Every Day

Okay, call me a millennial (because that’s exactly what I am), but I love article lists like this one. They’re organized, they’re focused, and they’re relatable. Anyway, there are many different types of people in this world, but I think we can all agree that we know at least one person who just seems to find the negative in every situation. A woe is me, the world is against me kind of person who is exhausting to even be around. And then there are those people who are seemingly always in a good mood. While I definitely have my days, I like to think of myself as someone who falls under the latter category. And I can attribute it to every single item on this list, and then some. Drinking plenty of water? I have my 40 fl. oz. to thank for that. An adult bedtime? I try my best to be in bed by 9:30pm every night. Teacher life, am I right? I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have skipped breakfast in my 25 years of life, and the me-outside-music time comes in the form of running or walking my dog each day. I live and breathe by to-do lists (there’s just something satisfying about being able to physically cross something off of a list), and though I’ve fallen off the wagon a bit, I was at one point super consistent about writing down three things I was grateful for at the end of each day. I tend to wear people out with my high energy levels and mostly positive attitude, but I know for a fact that I can attribute my consistent good moods to these consistent habits. 

Catch you Goonies later!

Things I'm Loving Friday LI

Happy LAST Friday of 2016! I know it's said at the end of every calendar year, but how are we at the end of another year? We're finally getting some cooler temperatures here in Houston, and I am loving it. It's nice to be able to wear yoga pants and a Nike dri-fit while running errands, and it's nice to not have to turn on the air conditioner in December, and it's especially nice to be able to run outside and actually enjoy it. Even if I did nearly blow over in the 30mph winds. 

But, it is Friday, so I'm going to end this year on our normal Friday note. With some Things I'm Loving!

Books by Jennifer Mathieu
Okay, I might be a little biased because not only do I get to work with this fabulous woman, I actually get to share my room with her. And she's got a little routine down - she'll come into my room before school and write her objectives on a small part of my board, and I love that part of the routine because it means I get to chat with her if I'm in my room at that time. And she doesn't just teach. She writes, too. She's a young adult novelist, and our English 1 PLC contemplated changing up our summer reading novel, so we decided to check out her first novel, The Truth About Alice. I tore through it in a day. I told her how much I loved her writing, and the next morning, I had a signed copy of her second novel, Devoted, sitting on my desk. I had finished it by the next morning. Her characters are so real, and she captures their thoughts and personalities so well that it's easy to understand why I couldn't stop reading.

Under Armour "Rule Yourself" Campaign
We all know that I'm borderline obsessed with the Olympics. Okay, maybe not borderline, but it's fine. I love this video for a couple of reasons. One, it takes away the idea that females are not as dedicated or strong when it comes to athletics (is that even still an idea?), and two, it shows how much work goes into just a couple minutes of fame on the biggest stage in sports. All elite athletes put in so much work, and make so many sacrifices in order to be the very best they can be. They'll be the first to tell you that it's not all smiles and sparkles, but I have no doubt that it's worth it. After all, "it's what you do in the dark that puts you in the light."

Hydro Flask 40 oz. Water Bottle
This water bottle was the best $40 I ever spent. I purchased this water bottle in the summer of 2015, and it has been by my side ever since then. Seriously. If any one of my students or coworkers saw this water bottle around the school, I'm fairly certain they would know it belongs to me. First of all, it's 40 oz, so it lasts me through a couple of class periods. Second, it keeps cold beverages cold, and though I can't personally attest to this, it also keeps hot beverages hot. It's easy to clean, they come in tons of fun colors, and it never sweats nor leaks. My Hydro Flask is my right-hand man, and I wouldn't make it through the school day without it.

HelloGoodbye Doormat
It only took me eight months to get a doormat, but hey, I finally did it. Better late than never, right? I found this gem of a doormat at Target for only $10. It's cute, it's sturdy, and gets the mud off of my feet and Mack's paws before we step foot inside my apartment. We won't talk about how I went to Target with the goal of picking this up, told myself I would pick it up from Guest Services on my way out, and made it to my next destination before realizing that I did not pick up the doormat. Whoops.

Running as the Thinking Person's Sport
If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a runner. You may think I'm crazy, but I fell in love with the sport six years ago and have never looked back. It keeps me in crazy good shape, it gets me outside, it challenges, and it gives me time to think. So I wasn't too surprised when I saw this article from the New York Times claiming running requires more higher-level thinking than many people may have thought. Researchers at the University of Arizona acted on their suspicions and found that running seems to be a "mobile math puzzle." It's not to say that runners are smarter than any other human beings, rather, runners have to play a lot of mental mind games to get to that finish line. Many have scoffed at this article and study because of the small number of subjects, but ask any runner about the concentration and discipline running requires.

Have a fabulous Friday! And here's a PSA - it's Harry Potter Weekend on FreeForm (formerly ABC Family). You can thank me later.

A Letter To My Former Coaches

Should I have titled this post An Open Letter To My Former Coaches, as open letters seem to be all the rage these days? I've actually had this post in mind for a while now - it came to me in the middle of club volleyball season - but I'm just now getting around to putting pen to paper. Or fingers to keyboard. But the timing works out, as we are just days away from the start of the high school volleyball season. The months during which so many of my favorite high school memories were made. And I absolutely love having the opportunity to still be involved with the sport, this time, from the other side.

Coaching - even for as few years as I have done it - has given me such a feeling of appreciation for all the coaches I've had along the way. From soccer to teeball to swimming to basketball to track to a short stint with golf and gymnastics, and finally, volleyball, I've had some pretty incredible coaches along the way, so this one goes out to you guys.

Thank you for your time. This is the biggest one, in my opinion. You thought you gave a lot of time as a player, well, that's only a fraction of the time a coach gives. And I look at my head coach and I see even how much more time she dedicates to the sport and the development of her athletes. But not only does a coach have to give the time that is reserved for practice and games, but there's the time spent planning practice and workouts and thinking up lineups and maybe some team bonding activities. And BPal took the time to write us gameday notes ... every single gameday. And I still have almost all of them tucked away in a binder. And Coach A took the time to put together the most badass (sorry, this is really the only way to describe them) scouting reports, so we were more than ready to face our opponents. And while I obviously don't have a family to come home to and care for - though I would argue that taking care of a puppy is fairly similar - that doesn't mean I'm not still giving my time. I've missed out on trips with my best friends because of a Saturday tournament. I've missed out on things simply because I come home from practice or a game and pass out on my couch, and nothing in me wants to shower and attempt to look presentable or be social. I've had to readjust my running schedule - running nine or ten miles on a Saturday night because I was coaching a tournament all day in Alvin. And all of that is okay because I love being a coach. I've realized how much time and energy goes into being a coach, and I'm glad each one of you chose to give me that time.

Thank you for never letting me settle for less than my best. I can remember this practice so vividly, my senior year of playoffs, the practice just before the start of the regional tournament. I was worn down to the ground as I worked on blocking (a skill 5'5" me definitely needed to practice), and after what I thought was a particularly good round, I thought for sure I had earned a break. Maybe we could move onto something else. I turned back to my coach and all she said was, "Okay, again. This time, focus on doing it this way." Because she knew I could always be better than what I thought was my best.

Thank you for teaching me the value of sportsmanship. Whether it was to be a humble winner or a gracious loser (and trust me, this is not easy when you lose to Cinco Ranch - for the third time that year - in the regional finals), the expectations always remained the same. I was taught never to argue with the referees, as they truly have the hardest job of all. I will admit that I forget that sometimes. I was taught to shake the hands of the officials at the end of each match, a practice I take with me to this day, and one I try to pass along to my girls. Much like it is with the President of the United States, someone is always mad at the official. But we couldn't play the game without them.

Thank you for really showing me that hard work always beats talent. Maybe not always in the final score, but absolutely in the long run. When I could not do one more second of wall sits, and I thought about just staying on the ground during the next burpee, thanks for pushing me and teaching me the value of working hard and pushing through, even when it hurts. Maybe that was because we would start all over if someone quit, but hey, it worked all the same. You taught me that you could have the most talented group of players in the world, but if they chose to rest on that talent instead of work hard to get better, they'll never find success. Those who work hard find success.

Thank you for caring for me beyond just being another player to pass through the program. You were someone I could talk to - heck, many of you I still talk to - when I had a problem (aka almost getting a B in art class). You took the time to get to know my family and what else was important to me and you cared about my development, not only as a player, but as a person.

Thank you for continuing to make the sport FUN. So many athletes lose that along the way with the Friday night practices and the tournaments every weekend and the extra conditioning and the private lessons and so on and so forth. And while it was lots and lots and lots of hard work, I rarely lost sight of the little girl who fell in love with the game(s) and the thrill of competition and the adrenaline rush that comes with an intense, never-ending rally when the opposing team has match point. 

You taught me the value of timeliness, you wanted each and every one of your players to succeed, not just on the court, but off of it, as well. You taught me how to be driven and determined and how to be obedient and that it's okay to be a quiet leader. And each one of these "lessons" that I have learned are applicable in all aspects of my life. And as I reflect on the incredible coaches that I've had, I realize how much of an impact each one of them had on my life. And I hope I carry a little bit of each one of them within me as long as I hold the title of "Coach".