Cross-Country Running
I'm helping to run our school's cross-country running team this year.
I'm co-running it with the Gr. 6 teacher, who has lots of experience with cross-country. Sports doesn't tend to be my specialty, so I'm pretty hopeless at coaching basketball or volleyball teams, but the number of students involved in cross-country means that helping out with organizing and corralling becomes as important as teaching running skills. I also enjoy being involved in cross-country because any enthusiastic student who attends the running practices becomes part of the team and can attend the final running meet, not just those with the greatest skill. It's a great experience for the kids and something I can share outside the classroom with my own classroom students beyond the arts that I usually do. Three-quarters of my Gr. 5 students have signed up for cross-country, the largest percentage of any class in the school.
Now, I don't have -nearly- enough running stamina to be able to actually run with kids at their practices each day (other teachers do that), but I organize the grades and send them off from the starting line and cheer them when they get back and corral them back into the school for lunch. And hopefully I'll be attending the final area cross-sountry meet with the kids, too, though I'm not quite sure of that yet.
It's also a thought that's been more and more on my mind as I contemplate the second leg of my Middle-earth challenge, setting out from Rivendell to Lothlorien. I'm thinking of trying out jogging. I have -never- tried a jogging or running program before, but I have been doing a bunch of Internet research on running for beginners and I'm thinking I might give it a try this fall.
So, a question for any of you runners out there:
Any advice for a novice runner? Any good resources you can recommend? I know I need to find some decent runners and a jogging bra (and the second is easier said than done, I'm discovering, though I may order one on-line). I've also found an encouraging web-chart called "Couch to 5K." which give very gentle instructions on how to build up your running stamina over a period of several weeks. It's inspiring that so many sites say rather than starting running cold you should move into a walking program first, 'cause, hey, I've got that covered.
I'm very apprehensive about this running thing, but too intrigued not to give it a try. It strikes me that this should be the best weather to attempt such a program, too. Maybe the mini-runners I'm working with each day with through October will give me inspiration.
I'm co-running it with the Gr. 6 teacher, who has lots of experience with cross-country. Sports doesn't tend to be my specialty, so I'm pretty hopeless at coaching basketball or volleyball teams, but the number of students involved in cross-country means that helping out with organizing and corralling becomes as important as teaching running skills. I also enjoy being involved in cross-country because any enthusiastic student who attends the running practices becomes part of the team and can attend the final running meet, not just those with the greatest skill. It's a great experience for the kids and something I can share outside the classroom with my own classroom students beyond the arts that I usually do. Three-quarters of my Gr. 5 students have signed up for cross-country, the largest percentage of any class in the school.
Now, I don't have -nearly- enough running stamina to be able to actually run with kids at their practices each day (other teachers do that), but I organize the grades and send them off from the starting line and cheer them when they get back and corral them back into the school for lunch. And hopefully I'll be attending the final area cross-sountry meet with the kids, too, though I'm not quite sure of that yet.
It's also a thought that's been more and more on my mind as I contemplate the second leg of my Middle-earth challenge, setting out from Rivendell to Lothlorien. I'm thinking of trying out jogging. I have -never- tried a jogging or running program before, but I have been doing a bunch of Internet research on running for beginners and I'm thinking I might give it a try this fall.
So, a question for any of you runners out there:
Any advice for a novice runner? Any good resources you can recommend? I know I need to find some decent runners and a jogging bra (and the second is easier said than done, I'm discovering, though I may order one on-line). I've also found an encouraging web-chart called "Couch to 5K." which give very gentle instructions on how to build up your running stamina over a period of several weeks. It's inspiring that so many sites say rather than starting running cold you should move into a walking program first, 'cause, hey, I've got that covered.
I'm very apprehensive about this running thing, but too intrigued not to give it a try. It strikes me that this should be the best weather to attempt such a program, too. Maybe the mini-runners I'm working with each day with through October will give me inspiration.