Category: Motivation

Chronicling A Comeback (Vol. 3)

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Well, I am falling onto a nice pattern, running every other day, just like when I first became a marathoner about 18 years ago.  Back then I strictly followed the marathon plan in the great book The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer.  That plan called for three or four runs a week – basically every other day.  In the years since then I became a sometimes every day runner and other times a five-day-a-week runner.  In my prime, when I set my marathon PR in Chicago (2006) (boy, that was a long time ago…) I was peaking at 50+ mile weeks.

But, for now, I am an every other day runner and my distances don’t compare.

It’s all part of the process.

It’s a good process.

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Chronicling A Comeback

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Today was Day #2 of my running comeback.  

My goal was to run a half mile without stopping.  I measure all my runs in distance, not time, but my physical therapist wants me to run just in time increments.  Her recommendation was for me to run for five minutes. 

My goal was a half mile.

In the end, it was basically the same thing.  

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The Road Back To 26.2 Began Today…

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Twelve weeks ago I arrived at the surgery center, walking in, knowing that I wouldn’t be walking out, and, in fact, that I wouldn’t be walking at all for quite some time.  

When I checked into the surgery center, I told the receptionist that I was there to begin my training for the 2020 New York City Marathon.  She smiled and said, “You must be Mr. Semendinger.”

Indeed I am.  

I hobbled out of the surgery center on crutches my foot wrapped and in a heavy boot.  The surgery was a success.  

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The Humans of Teaching Podcast!

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The newest episode of the Humans of Teaching podcast has been released!

This episode, #013 A Principal’s Principles, features Dr. Paul Semendinger who shares his great insights, philosophies, and more!

You can listen to this podcast through any of the following links:

 

Learning To Walk Again

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It’s a strange feeling, learning to walk again.  Because of the surgery to repair my right Achilles tendon, I went about seven weeks without walking. 

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My 2020 NYC Marathon Training Began Yesterday (but not how you might think…)

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I woke up yesterday and enjoyed walking around my house doing tasks that I knew I wouldn’t get to do again for a number of weeks.

These tasks including exciting things like walking up and down the stairs, opening the refrigerator and grabbing items, standing at my computer, and taking a shower… things like that.  Simple things.  Things we often take for granted.

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Hey, It’s About YOU!

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The Beatles song Hey Jude was in my head as I prepared to write my Weekly Memo to the teachers at the school where I serve as the principal. 

As I started humming the melody and quietly singing that song to myself, I quickly realized that there is a great deal within the lyrics that delivers an important message.  I quickly scrapped the original idea I had for the memo and began writing about this epic Beatles tune…

Let’s take a quick look at the messages that I took from one of the Beatles’ most famous songs:

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad, take a sad song and make it better…

If that’s not one of the biggest lessons in life, I don’t know what is. 

The message here is simple – Don’t make it bad.  Just don’t.  The world, life itself, is often filled with bad things, hurtful things, sad things…  Each day (and sometimes it really is each day) we’re faced with things that upset us, things that hurt us, things that frustrate and annoy us.  That’s life.  It is what it is. Continue reading “Hey, It’s About YOU!” →

Kintsugi

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This essay can be found in the book Impossible is an Illusion published by Wipf and Stock and available here.

***

My son came home from college, and in a discussion with me brought up a Japanese word, Kintsugi, that immediately opened up my mind to many thoughts.

It’s wonderful to find new words, new ideas, and new ways of thinking.

And, just for the record, kintsugi is now my new favorite word.

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The End of My 2019 Marathon Dream

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…and with that long run, my 2019 marathon dream is over.

Today was supposed to be my last long run, a final effort, to prove to myself that I could actually do the marathon.  The truth, the reality I must face, is that I can’t.  Not this year.

I gave it everything I had.

And then some.

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12 Miles Closer…

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Today I bit off way more than I could chew.

I was fortunate, all three of my sons were home to celebrate a birthday, and two of them, Ryan and Ethan, are training for some upcoming long races.  Because of that, they were both willing to slog along on a twelve mile “run” with me.

Our goal was to complete the entire Saddle River Bike Path, from Ridgewood to Rochelle Park, and then back again…a twelve mile jaunt.

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