IronMatron

OH dear oh dear.
It's been a very long time since I last posted.

And here I was --fast becoming the next Dear Abby, or Dear Sugar, or Dear Mary.
But it was not to be.

Here's why: I took two courses in January--one in creative writing and one on the American Short Story.

Why would I do such a thing?
Let me explain. I may be Mary IronMatron coach/triathlete Wonder Woman right now (cough cough) but I haven't always been. Before I became the IronMatron--actually even while I became the IronMatron--I was a teacher. To sixth graders.

To teach in public schools in Massachusetts you have to re-certify every five years. My professional teaching license is due to expire in September of 2013. I had contemplated letting it lapse. I don't plan to return to teaching any time soon. But some time in December I had this moment of total clarity and insight: it would be really stupid to let that license lapse. Plus, there is this little part of me that really really wants to teach high school English... and....

It didn't take me long to get certified as a run coach (one weekend), a tri coach (one weekend) or a swim coach (a few weeks). But It took me 18 months to earn my Masters in teaching, and a good chunk of change as well. And although I wouldn't have to return to school to get another Masters in order to re-certify, it would be a massive. pain. in. the. ass. to re-certify if I let the license lapse. And you never know what's coming down the pike, right? Life is just rosy right now. But what happens if I need the salary that teaching provides? You just don't know what will happen, and it occurred to me that it would be asinine not to re-certify before September.

So.
I signed up for two January courses. They were sixteen week courses crammed into four weeks. And I took two at once. And I am out of course-taking shape.
That is where I have been. I have been in crazy student land!
I just started another course, but this one is a semester long course, and so shouldn't be quite as intense. So maybe I'll still blog. Let's hope. Thank you to all of those people who have emailed me in the last few weeks and said, WTF! After I complete this course (sometime in May) I will be all ready to apply for my re-certification. Voila! And all it took was a measly 150 professional development points--or the equivalent of 10 graduate credit hours. Piece of cake... especially when you decide to do all that learning in just 20 weeks instead of over five years. Go me! They don't call me the Dumb Ass... I mean the IronMatron for nothing...

Okay, so what else is new?
Ummmm. Nothing.
I'm not in shape. I had to study and write papers and read 24/7 for the last month, so there wasn't a lot of training going on. I read, wrote, and took care of my people and dogs. (The dogs would take issue with me saying that. But hey, I did feed them....) The fact that I have been training -- ummmm- not at all... this is not good--. I have Oceanside in 10 measly weeks. Yowsa!

In my courses I wrote lots and lots and lots.
I even wrote a few stories and poems that I actually like!
And I would post them here, but the truth is I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet. I might try to actually get one or two published. That likely won't work--let's be real here--so if it doesn't I may eventually post them here. We'll see.

I did do *one* athletic event in the last month. I ran a 5k on New Year's Day. I got the same time I always get: a 20:45. Actually, it was a 20:47. But it is rather stunning to me how I always run between like 20:45-21:05 or so. The highlight of that race was that my baby (my 11 year-old-baby) Jordan ran, too. She ran it under 25 minutes, which is pretty awesome considering she literally had not run a step since late October before running the race. She was 2nd in 0-19, and there were actually a bunch of people in her age group, including a bunch of high schoolers! I was a very proud mama. I won my AG, but I was only sixth overall for women. I wasn't disappointed really. The race is quite large for a local 5k (around 500 people or so) and so being in the top 10 women is an accomplishment for me. A few of my good friends ran the race, too. Really the only reason I ran decently in this race, despite my sub par shape, is because I knew my friend Melissa was breathing down my neck and would beat me if I let up. So I didn't let up. I nearly barfed and peed my pants, but I didn't let up. I crossed the line like 2 seconds ahead of her. Hey! It counts!

But truth be told, I'd best start doing even *a little* training if I expect to continue to hold off the Melissas. (I have many friends named Melissa. The two I have in my mind will kick my ass this season if I don't' get moving-and maybe even if I do get moving....) My friends have been training! So have my athletes! Time for me to get on the wagon as well.