“School’s…out…for the…summer!” I finished grading exams and essays on Friday. Today is the first day that really feels like summer vacation. Sure, I’ll do some reading for next year’s classes and probably even do a little work on new curriculum for next year, but mostly summer is a time to catch up on time with my family. I also have a chance to work on some areas of life that get neglected during the long weeks of the school year. Maybe the garage will finally get cleaned out, or I’ll do some work in the garden. I might even organize all my old race shirts and thin out my collection a little (nah). Hopefully, I will find some fun races to run. Oh yeah, I’ll head to the beach, too. As you can see, there are a lot of things I want to do during June, July, and August. I need to set some firm goals if I want to get anything that is important to me accomplished.
Goal number one is spend time with my family. My wife, Anne, is forced to fly solo while I am training or working, so part of this goal is to take Myles, our two-year old, on at least one recovery run every week. Thank you BabyJogger! I also told Anne that any day featuring two runs will also require one of those runs to be a Baby Jogger run. Today, we went to the gym as a family. Myles hung out at the Guppy Room (daycare at the gym), and Boston (our one-month old) went into the fitness room with Mom and Dad. Besides working out together, I’m really working on “being present” when I’m hanging out with the family. I’m trying to put the book or magazine down, play together, talk, and just hang out as a family. Goal number two is to incorporate more cross training into my life. I biked to school all last week, and I really enjoyed the early morning time on the bike. I’m trying to find a way to include at least one medium-length bike ride each week. Also, I haven’t been in the pool since January. I was just getting used to the water when I got a tattoo. After he finished the job, the tattoo artist warned me about how damaging the water would be to my design. He said no swimming for at least a month. Well, it’s been over a month. Swimming once a week should add to my cross-training routine. The challenge of these goals is to add the cross training to my running without overdoing. If I try to do too much, I’ll risk missing out on time with my family and risk an over-training injury.
My third goal also relates to cross training; I need to maintain a core routine. This is one of my weaknesses as a runner: I often cut my core workouts to save more time for running. When my core is really strong, I know I’m a much more efficient runner. I just need to dedicate time to building this area. I’ve got loads of planks, crunches, and dips to add variety. I just need to be more committed to making the time for them two to three times per week. I’m going to aim for core workouts every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday or Sunday. Josh Cox Core Workhout
Fourth, I want to experience new things. I’d like to take Anne to the Waldorff Pub in Hastings. I want to take Myles on a train ride to Chicago. I want to read books like Born to Run and My Life on the Run. We love to try new foods, new restaurants, and new activities. Everything takes time and everything (seems to) take money, so it is a delicate balance to live adventurously without overdoing it. This is a skill that I hope Myles learns early in his life. Leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a can’t-miss adventure my family should experience.
These are my four main goals. If I can stay focused on these four things, I will feel proud and refreshed at the end of the summer. Hopefully, I get some work done on the garage and the garden, too. I know there are limits to how much I can focus on accomplishing, though. A list too long leaves me grouchy and disappointed. None of my studens want me to come back to school feeling like that next year.
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