It’s now November aka ‘Movember’. A month where I’m not allowed to hate folk who can grow moustaches that I can’t do due to crap facial hair genes, as it’s for a good cause and all. That’s ok by me though. It is definitely for a good cause and I’ve got 11 other months to swim in envy.

November is also the start of the third month of my ITT (Initial Teacher Training) program. Half term has been and gone. Next stop…Christmas.

There’s been ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ for sure, but I have to say (against everything I was told/led to believe) it’s not been all that bad. The workload has increased for sure, but then I was doing the square root of nada from Easter until September work-wise, so I guess that was bound to happen! I’m in a great school with, touch wood (EVERY bit of wood going please!), only really what you might term as ‘low-level’ behavioural issues (shirts untucked in corridors, potty-mouths, bit of attitude from kids going through that whole “growing-up” stage of life), stuff that I used to do, stuff that you used to do.

The main source of anguish has been down to me, and what I’ve been doing wrong. I can sometimes be my own worst enemy for sure, not in that false-humility-but-great-answer-to-a-‘strengths-and-weaknesses’-interview-question kind of way, where someone asks you what you would change about yourself and you reply with that cringey “oh, that’s easy I’m just too honest with myself” whilst fluttering your eye-lashes. It hurts just writing that. Asda can do without you love.

I’ve gone into teaching off the back of a career as an Army officer. To my mind then, it’s a case of ‘how hard can it be’? Turns out all the ‘lessons’ I ever gave to the lads at my old work must have bored them to tears! I’ve been ‘teaching’ long enough now to have identified my ‘style’ or comfort zone, namely the stand-and-deliver method. I plant myself at the front of a class, bang the PowerPoint presentation on behind me and rattle off information in content-heavy drivel to the poor little tykes begging me with their eyes to give them something meaningful to do, but far too polite to say. Dudes, I get it now! I get it, don’t worry. Times will change. I’m sorry. I’m going to take a whopper step out of my comfort zone and get things sorted. Dweck would be proud, right?

I never would have realised that this was my comfort zone if it hadn’t been for the role that my support network of subject and school mentor’s play in my training. The ones I have are honestly, excellent. I’m not surprised by this on the face of it, yet it’s still a bit of a shock. I’ll try to explain.

In my last 2.5-3yrs in the Army I’d gotten used to having to work through everything myself. There was no guidance from anyone above me, supporting me through my career to help me become a better officer, which, looking back now, I needed. Everyone needs it, especially if you care about your job and your people. The school does that, and does it really, really well. They ‘get it’. As a parent reading this, I would feel pretty comforted by that fact.

I’m certain that this school is not the exception. For all of the funding shortfalls and ‘workload’ issues, the teacher’s, helping your children really do care. It’s humbling.

From a running point of view it’s become much more manageable. I know my timetable now, I know what I can fit in and when, and what I can’t fit in and when. It’s busy for sure but nothing worth doing is worth doing half-hearted.

It’s the XC and road season (for me anyway) over winter. The name of this game is speed work. It’s pretty horrible when you’re not used to it! At the same time though it’s a big feeling of satisfaction when you nail a good session and you feel like you’re giving your maximum each time, if even you’re clawing at the air in front of you like a drowning man over the last few metres of an 800m interval.

I raced once that month. The Cumbria XC league race at Penrith. Beautiful day. Tough 8km course (203m ascent according to Strava?!) and some good competition. Carl Bell stormed it….not bad for someone with “no speed in me legs”. I came in 9th in the end, outsprinted on the line by someone equally as knackered as me, in some kind of weird Greek-comedy parody of what ‘running’ should look like.

Cumbria XC

Photos above taken, again, by the awesome Steve Wilson at www.granddayoutphotography.co.uk 

October – 543.8km with 10,467m ascent over a period of 46hrs and 30mins.