One Year of Running

The last time I updated you all on my running progress was February 2013 when TJ and I made a pinky swear to run one race together for a year.  This is how it turned out.

March 

March 9th 2013 

Run For The Shamrock
10 K
I ran it in 53:30 at a 8:37 pace.

Eric was there too. We didn't get pictures. WHAT WAS I THINKING! Funny story: Eric beat me. He seems to think that had to do with me running 12 miles the day before. I agree with him. OKEY. It turns out that wasn't much of a funny story.

April

April 14th 2013
Corvallis Half Marathon
13.1 Miles

I ran it in 1:54:35 at a 8:45 minute pace.

Fun fact: I was first place tutu!

April 21th 2013

Mr. Spartan Run
5K

Ran it in 26:09.00

I did this all by myself just for fun.

May 

May 4th 2013 

Salmon Run
10K

I ran it in 53:07.1.
Eric ran it too, and the three of us dressed as The Flash. We all got sapling fir trees at the finish line!

Not so fun fact: TJ almost died because he had an extreme asthma attack due to the dirt trail and plant pollen. Although the race people helped him out along the way a bit, they made him walk back to the start the long way, and wouldn't let him take the short way back (fearing that he might cheat I guess).

June 

1st
Girls on the Run 5K - I was a running buddy. I got to meet one of the girls the morning of the run, and ran with her through the whole race. It was really fun! I would love to do this again next year. There are pictures of this somewhere but I can't find them.

2nd Run For The Hills

I ran this is 49:22. The name was accurate... HILLS! OMG! We had a group for this one. Heather and Tylor are avid runners. Taylor missed a turn and ran a few extra miles, and still finished way before me.

July
The Dirty Dash
Fun run with Eric and TJ. We wore prom dresses. Probably the funnest part of this was taking the guys prom dress shopping...

Eric and I even got a dirty prom photo. 

August
Albany Half Marathon
By this time of the year I was kind of slacking on training. I hadn't really been training for months and it showed! I ran the half in 2:21:11 a pace of 10:47 minutes per mile.

September
Prefontaine Run
10K
This is my all time favorite run. It was the first race I ever did, and I plan on doing it for many years in the future. The year was my fourth run, and although I hadn't been training, it was close to my PR for the race so I didn't feel bad about it. I ran it in 56:28 at a 9:06 pace.

We all dressed as Steve Prefontaine: that is the explanation of the mustaches, glasses, and sweat bands.

October
Run Away Pumpkin Half Marathon
Ran it in 2:24:13 at a pace of 11:01.
TJ and I dressed up as Ninja turtles! Neither of us had been training much.











November
Eola Hills (no hills) Wine Run 
10K
We were angry birds! I cant find my time, and don't remember caring much. Sometime between July and November I had gained about 20 lbs. I was just out to have fun and run a little.

Bonus Run!
Thanksgiving 15K

Ran it with Eric (they had lost TJ's registration, and so he decided to skip). Not many people did the 15 K and Eric and I tied for second to last (one guy came in about 3 minutes after us). Still, running some miles before the Thanksgiving meal makes you feel pretty good about yourself.

December
Jingle Bells Run
12K
Ran the whole thing with TJ. We came in last. Some one has to do it. At least they still had Pizza!

January
Last run of the year! We signed up for a 10k in Hillsboro (I can't find the site for it anymore). I ran the 10K but TJ had been sick and dropped down to the 5K. This is the first race where he was waiting at the finish line to cheer me on! I did the race in exactly one hour! Not too bad for someone that hasn't been training enough.

Mission accomplished! One race a month with my bestie!
For 2014 we are already signed up for the Corvallis Half Marathon and I have started training again as I want a semi respectable time. We have made a new goal for this year, we still plan on doing the once a month get-together for fitness, but have decided to substitute a nice long hike for a run on months when runs seem to be hard to come by or schedules are limited.

Cheers!

Participation Grades

There is a small discussion going on in my e-mail this morning about the article The Power of Interim Participation Grades. It was e-mailed to everyone in the department by the department head. The responses to the original e-mail consist of professors talking about their experiences in awarding participation points, some consisting of 20% of a class grade.

The responses seem to draw a distinction between students that speak up in class as being intelligent, engaged, and prepared with the students that don't speak up in class as not participating, lazy, dozers, who probably didn't do the assigned reading.

Some exerts for the discussion: 

"My entire career I have waited for answers and the same 10-15% of the really engaged students answer questions while 85% sit there looking like guppies (apologies to my fish colleagues). "

"I try to draw on their inner sense of well being by talking about how much better they will feel if they know they have made that mark during each class period."

"For me this serves multiple purposes-- it forces everyone to be ready to participate (i.e., read the material)"

"However, I must admit at being somewhat shocked at class participation being an issue in grad classes....? I would assume the grad students would represent the 10% of the undergrads that regularly talk in class. Interesting"

"Kids these days!"

I have a huge problem with these distinction because it perpetuates the stereotype that quiet people are unintelligent, and have nothing to contribute.  As an extremely introverted person I have never liked to speak up in classes, big or small, it didn't really matter, and this concept of participation points has hunted me through community college, undergraduate, and graduate school.

I prefer to sit in the back of classes, take meticulous notes, and avoid eye contact with teachers who showed a propensity for calling on students randomly. To these professors, I was not participating or contributing to the class. But I would like to point out what I was doing. In large classes I was often forming study groups, as a former tutor I was good at explaining concepts in ways that helped students with questions understand the material better. I was often approached by people in class who had questions, needed copies of notes, or clarification on directions or concepts given by the professor. I was going to every classes, I was earning A's on assignments , midterms and finals, and doing assigned reading (yes even from the book) and I was earning I extremely low participation grades.

I actually find forced class participation to be a hindrance to my learning. When I take discussion based classes (which I feel have the right to grade on participation) I made it my goal to give one meaningful comment each class period. Each day I would come into class, be supper nervous while I waited for my chance to contribute and then once I finally said something I could relax and begin taking in information.  

Verboseness does not equate intelligence; ask anyone who has had to sit in class with "that one guy/girl" who asks a billion questions that everyone in the class except him knows the answer to.

I stopped receiving 0's for participation grades after I had one poetry teach who was laying out grading rules on the first day, and after covering his rules for participation (everyone speaks up in class, every class) said: "If anyone has a problem with they come see me and we can work something out." The concept that there might be an alternative was so shocking to me! I went and spoke with him, and we came to an alternative arrangement. Instead of impromptu contributions to class, which I never felt prepared for, I would occasionally read my poetry at a predetermined time and receive feed back on it. Additionally, I would attempt to give feed back to other students in class before, or after class, or doing breaks. It worked perfectly!

Since then, I have always went and talked to professors who require participation points, to determine what kind of activities will count as participation, and find alternatives for spontaneously speaking up in large classes (which is just impossible for me). This has only failed me once. I had a professor in an large anthropology class (30 + students) that insisted the only way I could receive that 20% of the grade was to offer comments in every class. I dropped his class, and felt much better about my self.

I just wanted to get that off my chest! The e-mail exchange was making me feel very self conscious.