Today I was jealous of the snow shoe crew who got to spend the whole afternoon on a mountain in the snow. I had so much fun last time I went and to be honest... it sounded much more appealing than teaching 3 blocks of fitness.
But I can't be down and make excuses in front of group of students... especially when I had just asked for their best. So I decided the only way out of my lameness was to set a tough target and go for broke.
We were doing the extended beep test, a version where we all run to the world record by patterning in rest periods. I had previously pushed myself very hard on one of these, but I decided I needed to a different challenge and to be the example for every class not just one... so my goal for the day was to do all six of the extended beeps in a row.
To achieve this I had to take the intensity down a touch. I ran the first 10 levels normally and then dropped straight to a 1:1 run to rest ratio instead of my normal 2:1. This afforded me several minutes from level 10 to level 16 to recover my heart rate and I finished the test fairly comfortably.
As we were doing 2 session per block I had to line back up immediately and go again. This second one was much tougher. I found level 8-10 very draining and though I recovered during 10-16 as before the last 5 levels felt much harder.
During lunch i began to worry that perhaps 6 was going to be too many... but I stayed firm on my goal and headed into Period 3 ready for war with my legs.
Luckily, period 3 was low on numbers and we only had to do the beep once. The break over lunch had given new life to my limbs and knowing there was only one to do made my attitude climb as well. I stuck to my morning pattern and banged out #3 with a smile on my face.
"Things turn out best for those that make the best of how things turn out."
In period 4 my luck continued and I had another small group. So with only one last World Record to run to, I laced em up and hammered out the final pattern feeling almost as good as the first one of the day.
I was very impressed with the red faces and effort from the vast majority of the Sulli crew. Kids were working hard all over the gym and many tried their best to learn about their bodies and will power by sticking to their own patterns. My final run of the day brought extra motivation and pride as Omar (grade 10) had a go at the World Record doing 2 runs for every 1 rest. I had tried that before and only made 18.5... Mr. Vaughan got to 19.5... Omar finished the whole thing. The first person in Sulli history to make it at a 2:1 ratio.
Sometimes even NOT reaching a goal results in huge personal learning and awesome achievements. The key is to set the goal, make a specific plan for action, then ignore the excuses we all have and go after it. I didn't get 6 done today but I learned that 45 minutes recovery time was enough for me to be ready for another go, and that next time I can probably increase my workload a little... even if I am doing 4. :)
Much love Sulli for another great effort. Hope the mountain crew had as much success.
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