Hard Time Adjusting...

The beginning of school is always hard. I woke up this morning at 3:30 with my mind abuzz with ideas for my class. In some ways, that is a good thing. I did my video this morning. But by the time the afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted and had a headache.

This happens to me every September. We debated at my grade level meeting today whether it was lack of caffeine (no morning coffee, because I'm doing the videos), lack of sleep, dehydration, doesn't feel like that kind of headache, or allergies. Yeah, my grade level is really cool!

I'm looking at my schedule for the month and thinking, "How am I ever going to get my milage goal this month?" My weekends are packed with other stuff. Today I got home and slept for 90 minutes. So no outside ride today. Tomorrow I have an afterschool meeting...

Goals are supposed to be difficult to attain. I gotta work on my plan this month. :D



V.

Mate I dont know how you girls that work fulltime manage lots of things including riding. I help out at the kids school on Wednesdays 8-30 to 12-30 in the school library then 1pm to 2-45pm in my youngest boys class. I got home today feeling exhausted from the effort of keeping Kindy kids from gluing themselves to desks, books and each other. As you can probably guess no riding for me on Wednesdays. I have plenty to do the other days but as Im the boss I can arrange a few hours off for riding to keep the staff of one (ME) happy.:D

I hope you manage to find some time in your busy schedule to fit some riding in. As I mentioned above you working girls have my admiration for working a fulll day and still getting your rides in.:)

I hear ya - I have been SO tired this week and today was our first full day. By noon, I thought it must be almost home time... I didn't ride today or yesterday. Hoping maybe tomorrow. I need to come up with a realistic mileage plan for Sept / Oct.

V, don't get yourself run down due to lack of sleep and other stress. Sometimes biking has to take a back seat to other things in life, at least temporarily.

Hence the nap today!

Tomorrow I'll be bringing a Red bUll or two to get me through the afternoon meeting. It's Leadership. Someone from every grade level to discuss various schoolwide issues. Not nearly as efficient or on task as my grade level team. :(

V.

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Originally Posted by Veronica

The beginning of school is always hard. I woke up this morning at 3:30 with my mind abuzz with ideas for my class. In some ways, that is a good thing. I did my video this morning. But by the time the afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted and had a headache. V.

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Take it easy for a few weeks Veronica! I don't work in a school, haven't in many years, but I remember that the kids always brought home colds and such the first several weeks too. And what the heck is the deal: Kids hate to share, except for the icky stuff! They were always MORE than happy to share the crud with each other and us!

Karen in Boise

Hey fellow teachers!!!!

Every September I am so tired when school starts that I am convinced I have some horrible disease that has not yet been diagnosed by my doctor. We roll right in to the school year trying to keep up our summer training and racing schedule and forget how tiring the start of school can be.

Just standing in front of a class taking for 40 plus min five times a day wipes me out.

yep.....September disease.....and I have an offroad tri next Saturday.....

Ruth

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Originally Posted by Kano

I remember that the kids always brought home colds and such the first several weeks too. And what the heck is the deal: Kids hate to share, except for the icky stuff! They were always MORE than happy to share the crud with each other and us!

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And remember to wash those hands a lot! Kids don't do it nearly as much or as well as they should, so we have to be more diligent about it ourselves. I wash my hands several times a day, and especially after collecting papers, etc. from my students--don't want to "collect" any unhealthy microbes along with their papers.

I am right there with you. We started 21/2 weeks ago.

My goal is only to get another 170 miles in by freezeup and I don't know if I am going to make it. Between other activities starting again and funerals (They have all been elderly - 90+ - relatives of the BF) there isn't much time to spare.

I have to realize that some goals just may need to be modified and other priorities set.

Often I have a tension headache by the end of the day and the last thing I want to do is exercise when in reality it is the best thing I could do.

I bit the bullet last March and quit caffiene totally - Best decision I made - I feel so much better all day.
Water is the beverage of choice (except the odd adult libation on certain occasions like Wed night football picks and Friday night outings, and dinner parties, and Sunday football and . . . :D )

One of my main goals this school year is to get to bed at a decent time. So far I have been able to acheive it.

AND a long time ago I learned to say NO :mad: a fellow teacher said "we are not the workhorses for the district" (We were always getting calls for special projects from banners to programs that they would want us to work into our curriculum - like we don't already have meaningful work planned) The first question I ask now is "what would you be willing to pay?" Usually that ends the conversation :D

Good luck and stay healthy!

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Originally Posted by Trekhawk

..I got home today feeling exhausted from the effort of keeping Kindy kids from gluing themselves to desks, books and each other...

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Trek, dear, you've got it all backwards! Let the kids glue themselves into immobility then kick back and catch up on Thread Drift. You can use that solitary child that hates getting dirty and avoids the glue-fest to bring you tea and bickies. ;)

We just started back on Wednesday of this week and you all speak the truth, it IS exhausting. And as a special area teacher who sees her kids once a week, this basically means I have 5 first days!!!!:eek:

Well I'm happy to say I got out for a ride this afternoon. I was out less than an hour and only did 13 miles. But, it was so nice to be outside. Afternoons are still hot here - 85 degrees. So I'm happy I got myself out - especially AFTER a meeting.

V.

I'm not a teacher or even close, but I just wanted to pipe in a big thank you to all the teachers out there! You are actively making a difference for kids on a daily basis, and clearly sacrificing a lot more than most outsiders assume.

I brought my bike shoes and a jersey to school today for show and tell. Now they want me to come to school in full riding gear and show them what I look like riding. :)


barb

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Originally Posted by kelownagirl

I brought my bike shoes and a jersey to school today for show and tell. Now they want me to come to school in full riding gear and show them what I look like riding. :)
barb

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I love it. You are right up there for "coolest teacher award", along with V. V, have you worn your Triple Crown jacket to school yet? :D

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Originally Posted by Lise

I love it. V, have you worn your Triple Crown jacket to school yet? :D

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Every morning!

V.

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Originally Posted by eclectic

exercise ...
and quit caffiene totally...
get to bed at a decent time
learned to say NO :mad:
Good luck and stay healthy!

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Wow, eclectic--now that's a recipe for success! And one I need to follow. Since school began, I'm still getting plenty of miles in on the bike, but I'm also ingesting (inhaling? :rolleyes: ) far too much caffeine, almost never getting enough sleep, and have taken on the responsibility for two programs that I probably should've left to someone else (though I am getting a small additional stipend for each one).

Two weeks into the semester, I'm still feeling OK, but I really do need to cut back on the caff and get more shut-eye. Was it tough to ditch the caffeine totally? Any tricks you used?

It's good to know I am not alone. I've ridden more this summer than any year before and I am definitely having withdrawl. Usually, I get sick in Oct./Nov. but it already started. Yesterday I had a chest x ray, blood work, but it is all allergy based...maybe an allergy to work! I just feel worn down from all of the riding (I know it's nothing compared to you, Veronica), getting up at 5 every day and grading papers at night. I usually ride 1-2 times a week after school until it gets too dark to do that. Then I walk, hike, or go to the gym. I have yet to get back on my weight lifting schedule. Plus, I have a pretty challenging ride to lead on the 17th and my first century on the 24th.
One of our math units has to do with planning a bike tour! The math teacher asked me to do a lesson with the kids in Lang. Arts on my bike trip, etc. So, I will bring in my new bike (they haven't seen it yet) and pictures from my tour. I haven't commuted to school because it's too dark in the AM already for me to get here at an hour that will give me some breathing room before the kids come in.

Honestly, I am looking forward to this being my last year. I am not burned out and definitely don't want to turn into one of those teachers that doesn't care, but I feel more stressed out than when I had 2 little kids, was working, and doing volunteer work.

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Every morning!
V.

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Exxxellent! :D

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Originally Posted by Robyn Maislin

I just feel worn down from all of the riding (I know it's nothing compared to you, Veronica), getting up at 5 every day and grading papers at night.

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Oh man... don't remind me of papers to grade. I've got math Diagnostic Tests to look at and yesterday I had the kids write out their goals, and they definitely need to be edited for spelling!

Be glad you're not crazy like me Robyn. I really want to do Paris - Brest - Paris next year... Life really is easier when you're not trying to fit insanely long rides into it. :)

V.

Two weeks into the semester, I'm still feeling OK, but I really do need to cut back on the caff and get more shut-eye. Was it tough to ditch the caffeine totally? Any tricks you used?[/QUOTE]

No great tips just my experience
Diet Mountain Dew was my fix of choice 24 oz per day, I didn't think it was impacting me that much(used to be coffee but too much of a pain to make)

If you go cold turkey be ready for the headache that NO medicine can get rid of

I did a bunch of research on caffiene amts in different things and how to quit AFTER I quit :p coffee is worse than mountain dew believe it or not.
It is better to gradually cut back over a period of weeks,mix it with decaf or drink less, unless you have about 2-3 days that you can live with a headache

I quit for Lent (even though I am not Catholic, I still usually do something for Lent) because of that commitment it was much easier, when I was suffering I just thought of how Christ suffered way worse (could substitute thinking of something different such as our soldiers in the trenches suffering in Iraq - if they can do it I can do this little thing)

Once I was off it for a couple of months I felt so good I had no desire to start drinking anything with it again. As I cut out the MT Dew it also cut out the aspartame which I am still avoiding where ever possible

Good luck on the sleep part NOW that for me is way harder to do (I am a night person and my first class is at 7:45A but luckily all the HS students are asleep to:D )

All in all it is WAY worth it I am more alert with way more energy and less stress!

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Be glad you're not crazy like me Robyn. I really want to do Paris - Brest - Paris next year... Life really is easier when you're not trying to fit insanely long rides into it. :)

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Hey, V., here's an interesting thread from the Long Distance forum on Bike Journal, on how to train for rides longer than 300 K.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=221475

Basically, what they're saying is that once you have the base miles in, and the good fitness level, increasing your speed via short intense rides (intervals & what have you) is more effective than going out on progressively longer rides.

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It may sound counterintuitive, but I think one way to train for the longer brevets is actually to train yourself to ride faster, which means doing shorter rides

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Anyhoo, you most likely knew this already, but I thought it was really interesting.

I think it's so neat that you're wearing the jacket to school ! :)

Thanks for the link Jo.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I have been doing, short intense stuff, either on the trainer or outside. But I have it in my head that I need to do one long ride a month.

I SHOULD have done a long ride over Labor Day weekend - but I was lazy and didn't ride at all. :rolleyes: Actually, it was kind of relaxing.

V.

Yeah, well, when we have a nice relaxing day (i.e. no riding or a short ride or walk) we say we are being "regular" or "normal" people.

Denise G. can vouch for this.

Robyn