I stepped leaped out of my comfort zone this weekend. Sarah Morgan Bonham, Caroline Madden, and I ran the Sweetwater 420 5K on Saturday morning…and survived! And, to my surprise, I learned a few lessons on the tree-lined streets of Candler Park.

1. Challenge Myself

All my life, I’ve had a terrible habit of only doing things I’m good at. I vividly recall promptly leaving basketball tryouts in 7^th Grade when I assessed that I wouldn’t be one of the top three players. And I can say with certainty that you’ll never see me Dancing For No Particular Reason. Running does not come easily to me, but with encouragement from some friends, I decided to take a risk. From the moment we crossed the finish line, I floated! I learned the magnitude of the pride one feels from accomplishing something they didn’t thing they could.

2. Pace Myself

I’ve heard that life is a marathon, not a sprint, but I’ve always been more of a sprinter. I start projects with enthusiasm and speed and often lose some of my gusto as time progresses. Though tempted to hurry across the starting line, we instead decided to pace ourselves in an attempt to run the entire course. To our delight, we found ourselves at the two-mile mark with energy in reserve. Without squelching my initial enthusiasm for projects, perhaps I can build in a reserve more often in other aspects of my life.

3. Beware Comparisons

I was so genuinely proud of myself and my partners at the end of the race. The clock told us that we had finished in under 35 minutes (something none of us expected!). We set a goal, persevered, and supported one another. I couldn’t wait to share my results with anyone who would listen until the “official” results came via e-mail later that day. I finished 96^th of 139 runners in my age group (how did I end up in the 35-39 year old age group, by the way?!?). I was deflated! I focused on the 95 people who finished in front of me, and for a moment, I felt like a failure. How often do we and our students lose confidence through unnecessary comparisons?

During my massage yesterday (Lesson #4: Reward Yourself Heartily), I thought about the experience. I resolved to take more risks, fail and succeed, and grow confidence from authentic experiences. I owe it to myself and to the two little boys who will follow my lead.

Learner, Thinker, Writer:  Marilyn Bauer serves the Trinity School community as Sixth Grade Language Arts teacher.