Tips to Navigate the Ultramarathon of the School Year

I'm Brian Martin, a second grade teacher who find so much joy and fulfillment in what I do. Being in the classroom for almost 20 years, I know all about the time, effort and energy that you are continuously pouring into those you serve. That's why each week, I'm going to bring you an inspiring message to give you a little joy, and help fill your cup back up. Thank you for being here. And welcome to the teaching champions podcast. What's going on everybody, I hope this finds you striving and thriving and doing absolutely amazing. That time of year is here, my friends, every time I get on social media, I'm seeing classrooms being set up, I'm seeing those first day of the year pictures, those pictures of those amazing students. And I'm not gonna lie, it gets me a little excited to get back into the classroom. I will say though, I don't know if you can relate to this or not. But at the beginning of the summer, I made out a list of everything that I was going to get accomplished. And I revisited that list. And let me tell you, there are a lot more items left on it than are crossed off. So these last two weeks, I'm scrambling to try and get as much cross off that list as I can. But like I said, though, those pictures that everyone is posting fires me up. There's two things that I can't wait for. You know, last year I was 100% remote, it had a completely different feeling to it. And I can't wait for that first day, when that bell rings, I'm standing outside my classroom door, the music starts playing. And I see those students walking towards me. That gets me excited. And we all have that one thing that we really, really enjoyed teaching, and for me is doing classroom read alouds. I absolutely love it. I go all in, I read those books, like it's an audition for Broadway. But honestly, there's nothing more precious than having the class sitting at the carpet. And you're reading a great book, and you look up from that book. And those students are hanging on every word. And they're begging for you to keep reading, because they can't wait to see what happens to see them locked in engaged, and feel that energy of being in person. It's going to be so special. It gives me goosebumps just talking about it. And I know, I'm not the only one feeling that excitement, though, there's no doubt that so many of you are feeling that same energy as you gear up or have already gone mad with your students. But there's something you need to remember. And it's important. Often when we start something, our energy is high, you're focused, you're locked in, you're ready to give it your all. And as you start on that journey, you put so much of yourself into it right from the jump, that before long, you're burnout, because you poured so much out of your cup from the get go, that when you look at how far you still have to go, it becomes overwhelming. And it's deflating. And it robs you of your motivation. And if you're not careful, this school year can be the same way. It's important that you remember my friends. It's a marathon, a school years, 180 days. And if you're a veteran teacher, you understand the importance of pacing yourself. There's going to be good days, and there's going to be a few tough moments. There's going to be moments where everything clicks and our lessons knock it out of the park. And there's going to be times when those lessons fall short of our expectations. There's going to be moments when we are filled with motivation and more so fired up to be there. And there's going to be times when we struggle and we don't have it for that day. So Today, I want to share a few secrets on how to pace ourselves and navigate the school year. Now, I love the look outside the teaching world for inspiration. Sometimes we can become so stuck in just focusing on the leaders from our own sphere, that we miss out on some amazing people that can teach us so much. Today, I want you to be open minded, and really listen to the lessons that we can take from this person. Listen to the tricks that this woman uses. And think of how you can apply it to your own life. And this just doesn't have to be in the teaching round. The tips that this woman offers can be used in our own personal life, as well. And this woman's name is Courtney do Walter. She's actually a former teacher. But now she's a full time ultra marathon runner. She's one of the best in the world. Now, if you're unfamiliar with racing, then let me break it down for you. there's typically a 5k, a half marathon and the marathon. The 5k is a 3.1 mile race, the half marathon is 13.1 miles in the marathon is 26.2. Well, if you compete in the world of ultra marathons, you take it a step further. Those races can be distances of 50 miles, 100 miles, 200 miles, and up. Courtney has won several of these, including one where she ran 238 miles through deserts, canyons and mountains in a time, that was just under 58 hours. And during that time, she's only slept for 21 minutes. That's absolutely amazing. Now I fully understand that there's a good chance that none of us are going to run 238 miles. To be honest, it might legitimately take me a couple months to run that distance. And it's hard to even wrap our heads around that. But that's even more of a reason why we should listen to what she has to share. Because it is unreal. And I was listening to the interview that she did the other day on the rich roll podcast. And there were so many gems that we can use. She talked about her mindset, and how she approached the 200 mile races that she's run, how she was able to keep going even when she was hallucinating even when she was getting sick when she was hurting from head to toe. But she kept going and she kept pushing herself. And the tips she shared are things that we can use in our own journey throughout the school year. Because in a way, this school year, it's an ultramarathon. Now, before I get into this, I just want to say check out Courtney on the ritual podcast in your mind, you hear what she has to endure and go through. And you may think that she's tough and rugged. But honestly, she comes across as an absolute sweetheart, and her energy is infectious. And that being said, Here are five things that Courtney uses to get through those altars that we can use to get through the school year. The first is she talks about creating a file cabinet. She talks about how you never know about what obstacles or situations that you will come across when you do those archers. And what she does is in her mind, she makes a file of how she handles everything that comes up along the course. Then when she is faced with the next challenge, she'll go back in our mind and she'll reference similar situations and how to handle that. Well, we should do the same thing. Think of all the situations that you have faced throughout your career, whether it's been behaviors, academic challenges, technology, dealing with parents, we collect experience after experience. And a lot of times, we don't realize how much we've been through and how much we've learned. So take time before the school year starts and make some files in your mind. Think about what worked and what didn't, what you would do differently next time because this will help us face every single one of the challenges that are thrown at us this year. Second, she talks about talking to yourself And that listening to yourself. We've talked about this in the past. And it's so important. When Courtney has been up for over 24 hours, she's been running nonstop. And every muscle in your body is aching. I'm willing to bet that the thoughts that are running through her mind are not very positive. So she said she's learned how to talk to herself to speak words of strength, words of courage, words of resilience into herself. In the same way, we have to be very cognizant of what we're saying to ourselves during the school year, you have to pay attention to whether or not the words that you're speaking, are lifting you up, or are they dragging you down, make it a daily practice, to speak words of encouragement to yourself to speak words that remind you of the great things you do, to speak words that remind you of the difference that you make, to speak words that remind you of the impact that you have. Use your words, to empower yourself. Third, Courtney talks about embracing the pain cave, she said, for her the pain cave is that place she gets to when she is just physically and mentally exhausted. She said when she first started out, she did everything she could to avoid the pain cave. But now it's she's more experience, she's reframe that in her mind, instead of being a place that she wants to avoid getting to. Courtney has framed it as a place that she wants to get to. She says that she now enjoys being there and wants to be there because for her, that's where the work starts. Courtney says when she gets to the point in the race where she's physically and mentally drained, and she goes into what she calls the pain cave, she visualizes in her head herself with a chisel making that cave bigger, becoming stronger, becoming more equipped to handle what is thrown her way. And I absolutely love this. Now, do we want to go into the pain cave? Absolutely not. But what I envision is the growth cave, that place where we step out of that comfort zone, where we learn new skills, where we learn new technology, where we push ourselves past what we're comfortable with. Think about this past year and a half and how you've been stretched, how you've been pushed, and asked to do more than ever before. And that wasn't easy at times. It wasn't fun feeling like a beginning teacher all over again. But you push through all those obstacles, and you did it. Well, what if we frame stepping outside of our comfort zone as a place we want to get to? What if we look at the new challenges we face as opportunities to get better? What if we look at this new technology is something we get to use instead of something we have to use, how we frame situations in our mind, it matters. We can choose a mindset that tries to avoid going to discomfort at all costs. Or we can have a mindset where we look to embrace stepping outside our comfort zone and becoming a better version of ourselves. A fourth key concept that Courtney uses is how she approached her race strategy. She said when she's out there on the trail, she's always trying out new things, new approaches, looking for ways to improve. With that. She says she tests new things. She sees how it goes. And then she adjusts. And then she will test she will see how it goes and adjust again. And she does this on and on and on. I love this because our classrooms in the bigger picture, our lives should be a place where we are constantly testing things out, seeing how it goes and then adjusting. And we should always be doing that over and over and over again. Sometimes we can be so quick to want to give up on a new thing just after we implement it into our classroom. And unfortunately, that doesn't set ourselves up for success. We need to embrace that feedback loop where we try something we learn from it and we adjust. Imagine what we could do as educators. If we took that philosophy in use that every single day where we looked and it didn't matter If we were a first year teacher or a 30 year veteran, you just show up, and you're ready to crush it. Imagine what we could accomplish. And last, Courtney was asked where she sees herself in the future. And she replied, she doesn't look too far into the future. She said, she knows this chapter in her life won't last forever. And she just wants to cherish it as much as she can. And we should feel the same way. One of the most precious things that we have his time, and too often, we wish it away. I was looking forward to the weekend, wishing away time to the next break. But by doing so, we lose out on appreciating those moments that are right here in front of us. So embrace this moment. There's beauty right here, right now. There's beauty in those students faces, those learning moments, those moments where they grow academically, where our students grow, emotionally, find joy in the moment. And those are five things that Courtney does, to get through those ultra marathons. And they're things that we can incorporate into our lives, so that we can get through that ultra marathon that is known as the school year. So remember, create that file cabinet of everything that you've learned over the years. Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself. Embrace the growth cave, step out of that comfort zone, and get uncomfortable. Always be learning. test something new. See how it goes. And then just and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And last. Find the beauty that lies in the moment right here, right now. Thank you for being part of the teaching champions community, we support, we encourage we lift each other up. And thank you to everyone who's subscribed to the podcast, I truly appreciate it. I always love hearing how to make the podcast better. So if you have any suggestions or topics that you would like to hear, please reach out to me at be Martin real on Twitter, or at teaching champions podcast on Instagram. And always remember, it doesn't matter. If you're from rural America to urban America, to Canada to Spain to Bahrain. We're all on that same team. We're all on that same mesh. And we're always better together. My challenge for you this week is to take time and think about Courtney's words of wisdom. While doing research. For this week's episode, I found a video on YouTube and Courtney's husband was talking about it. And he said the one thing that impressed him the most about her is he says she's never afraid to try something because somebody thinks it's a dumb idea. And I love that. So think about what have you been holding yourself back? What is something that you thought was really cool, but you didn't do because you are worried about what others thought? Take time to think about that. And push yourself to try those things and stop worrying about what others think. Keep being amazing, my friends. And as we go out into this week, may you step into your strength may step into your shine, and let's build our champions up. Have a great week, everybody.