Accomplishment

I obviously coach, that was the start of this blog was to document the journey of a new coach from the beginning of her adventures of starting with Girls on the Run.  There are bits and peices that people can learn about me through out the different blogs.  Some days I am stressed, you can see it in some of my writings, and some days I am overjoyed.  Being a coach hasn't always been easy.  I appreciate what teachers do so much more, and truly believe they are underpaid. 

I have found so much joy being there and getting to learn so much about myself and these children.  I like sometimes looking back at a blog and thinking, wow, that was a rough day, but shoot, we made it through that, I can make it through anything. 

This season has proven interesting with new challenges.  Strange parents, yep, totally calling it as I see it, but there are some strange people out there that I have to sometimes communicate with.  I have actually had some injuries this year, not usually caused at practice but still, things I have had to work around.  My own insane schedule, I may have taken on too much/overloaded myself a bit and it is being remedied.

So for the first time I have finally let help come to me.  It is scary, to let go and let someone help me and let them have a little control, but I needed to let this happen because my functioning as a person has been dwindling. 

In all this time, I had to step back a little from training myself to focus on one thing, the most important event personally for me in a long time.  The Army Ten Miler (ATM). 

So why is the ATM and GotR connected?  I wanted to teach the girls just what you can do when you push yourself and keep moving forward towards your goal.  I also wanted them to feel somehow connected to my own race. 

Two weeks ago I ran the Baltimore half marathon with two of my training coaches (ie-these women push me to be better and stronger).  They were awesome considering that they came out in 40 degree weather to run 13.1 miles and they even smiled a bit at the end.  It is still very strange to be to run in a race and have friends in the same race.

I realized though that I didn't represent GotR this entire year in any of my races.  Seriously, I even did the Iron Girl Triathlon and I didn't wear a GotR shirt, hat, nothing....seriously?!?!

These girls and this program are the reason I changed my life and started working so hard. What was wrong with me. And now as I head into my last big race of the year, I realize, this is my last chance. 

I had a race shirt that I got from Solemates that has a big huge GotR logo on the front and on the back it says "Go to your Happy Pace!".  It is white, it fits some what awkardly, but it would have to work.  On Wednesday of last week I encouraged the girls to run hard and they could help me decorate the shirt with color and sayings to motivate anyone who could read it. 

The shirt was beautiful.  Honestly, they did a great job, they came up with some really whacky and funny things, and I loved it. 

So last week I got dressed in my newly decorated shirt, put on my Garmin watch (given to me by GotR for my contribution to fundraising this past summer), and I ditched the ipod instead to sing a tune in my own head and repeat the things these girls and my own daughters had said to me to inspire me, including, Coach Jillianne, just run really fast!.

My goal that I set at the beginning of the year was 8 min miles for this entire race. I had never run faster than 10 min. miles for this race so this was a lofty goal.  And now I was ditching the music that I had come to love. 

Funny thing though, I didn't miss the music.  I quite enjoyed running without it.  I felt like I was racing again.  I felt driven and strong.  I was with my thoughts, words, and own songs of choice.  I could hear the cheering of people calling out to their family and friends in the race and have pleasant conversations with people who were willing to communicate. 

I remembered why I loved running so much.  That absolute inner peace and perfect runner's high, you get no where else than on the road. 

And my favorite part was all the people who ran to catch up to me just to tell me how much they loved my shirt, and how it had helped them to run and finish.  How many people when they saw the front asked me about Girls on the Run and I got to encourage more people to look it up. People from all over the USA were are this race.

So you ask yourself, did this crazy coach actually acheive her goal?  Technically no. I ran the race in 1:21.  basically I ran the race in 8:06 / mile pace.  But I was darn close!  Close enough to say it counts.

As I coached this week, I was full of joy.  I looked down on the faces that have helped to inspire my own journey to become a runner again and that has inspired my friends, family and even my own daughter to take up running or fitness in general.  I