I ran the Aravaipa Whiskey Basin 31K today. It was a training run because I haven't run much since I fell at RUFA. And I haven’t been on trail at all. I know better than to race when I am stressed, but honestly I don't think I realized how stressed I am until I started running. From the get go it was a shit show. I felt like I was having an asthma attack, I’ve never had one but I imagine it would be like this. In reality and in retrospect, I was having a panic attack.
To back up a little bit, I had applied for two jobs in Colorado while I was there for Running Up for Air. We have been going to Colorado for the last 4 or 5 years for a month or so. Every time we stay a little longer. I would love to move there permanently, but I have always been really happy at work in Phoenix and didn't want to move and end up at a job that I hate.
If you have been following along you know that I am terribly unhappy at the elementary school. I already told them I am not returning next school year. But changing jobs isn't that easy. I have always taught at private schools and never needed a teaching certificate. Colorado has really strict policies and even if you are looking at private schools, pretty much everyone wants a teaching certificate. There also don't seem to be many openings, okay, any opening for a psychology professor. Yes, I could take a different type of position, but I love teaching and I know I am good at it.
I was recently one of three adjunct professors at my college to be awarded the adjunct faculty of the year award. I am passionate about teaching and curriculum development. I love it! I love planning new and exciting lessons. I love coming up with fun projects. I enjoy working with students where they are at and finding ways to fit the education to their needs and abilities. So, it’s a really bummer to think about leaving teaching.
To back up a little bit, I had applied for two jobs in Colorado while I was there for Running Up for Air. We have been going to Colorado for the last 4 or 5 years for a month or so. Every time we stay a little longer. I would love to move there permanently, but I have always been really happy at work in Phoenix and didn't want to move and end up at a job that I hate.
If you have been following along you know that I am terribly unhappy at the elementary school. I already told them I am not returning next school year. But changing jobs isn't that easy. I have always taught at private schools and never needed a teaching certificate. Colorado has really strict policies and even if you are looking at private schools, pretty much everyone wants a teaching certificate. There also don't seem to be many openings, okay, any opening for a psychology professor. Yes, I could take a different type of position, but I love teaching and I know I am good at it.
I was recently one of three adjunct professors at my college to be awarded the adjunct faculty of the year award. I am passionate about teaching and curriculum development. I love it! I love planning new and exciting lessons. I love coming up with fun projects. I enjoy working with students where they are at and finding ways to fit the education to their needs and abilities. So, it’s a really bummer to think about leaving teaching.
Congrats to Megan Windsor Celaya and Stacy Moreno who were also selected from GateWay Community College.
So, while I was sitting in bed unable to move around much with a bum knee I looked for jobs. I found two summer jobs. One in Telluride and one in Breckenridge. My two favorite places in Colorado. Working during the summer would kind of suck because I enjoy the time off just running and hanging out with my friends and family. But, if I can make some money this summer maybe I won't have to work two jobs next school year. Or maybe I can use these jobs as a way to make a permanent move to Colorado.
Driving home on Sunday night I received an email from the job in Breckenridge. They wanted to know if I could come for an interview on Thursday at 1pm. I was off for Pesach from the elementary school, but I would have to figure out what to do about my classes at the community college. Maybe if I could go for the interview on Friday that would work better. I needed time to think and I was too tired to write a response. On Monday morning before going to work I sent to a message asking if it would be possible to meet on Friday.
Driving to work I ran over something in the road. I kinda knew I had a flat tire, but tried to pretend it wasn’t true. Unfortunately that isn’t the kind of thing that you can pretend away. I told myself to pull over before I got on the highway, but I ignored myself. I found myself sitting on the side of the highway with a flat tire. I called Norm to tell him where I was so he could come help me out.
When I was done teaching I checked my phone messages and found out that the job in Telluride had called and wanted to interview me over the phone.
The next couple of days became a whirlwind of trying to figure out when I could get to Colorado that would work with the schedule of the people who needed to interview me. At the last minute I was getting an oil change and making hotel reservations. I decided to drive to Grand Junction on Wednesday and finish the drive to Breckenridge on Thursday. Of course I was taking Rhatsa with me. I had told the job in Telluride that I could come down and meet with them on Friday. They were meant to email me about a meeting, but I never heard anything so we decided to stay in the Breckenridge area until Saturday. Originally just Brandi was going to go with me, but at the last minute Enzo decided to go also.
We left on Wednesday morning. We stopped at Whole Foods in Flagstaff and bought stale sandwiches. Be warned, the sandwiches available at 9am are stale sandwiches from the day before. We also stopped at Sand Island so Rhatsa could walk around.
We picked up dinner before heading to the hotel in Grand Junction. I was looking forward to a good nights sleep. Too bad that isn't what happened. I slept funny on my neck and woke up with the worst neck pain going down into my shoulder blade. It was like hot daggers going down my back. Plus, I could barely turn my neck. This wasn’t great for an interview. I went to Starbucks to get coffee and came back to shower and get ready for my interview. When we left the hotel we stopped at the grocery store to get some food for the kids and a lint roller for my clothes because Rhasta was shedding everywhere. This is one of her very few undesirable qualities.
We drive the 3 hours to Breckenridge, locate the museum, but struggle to find the parking lots suggested to me. I ended up going to the rec center to park only to discover that I can't take Rhatsa out of the car there. I ate a little food and had the kids take me back to the museum and drop me off. They went to find free parking and walk Rhatsa around for a bit.
The interview seemed to go really well. But I was also a little confused. It seemed like I had the job, but no one actually said, “you’re hired” or “do you want the job?” I called my mom and asked her what she made of the conversation. I called Norm and asked him what he made of the conversation. I called the kids to find out where they were at and made my way to meet them at them. They had they let Rhatsa play around in a field and she loved the snow. We went to get coffee, at Starbucks of course and headed to the hotel to see if we could check in early. Later we went to get groceries for the hotel room. Enzo and I are trying to eat healthy because we are both on diets. I sent a thank you note to see if I could figure out if I was hired our not.
It had started snowing on Thursday night and when I woke up on Friday it was a beautiful blanket of snow. We had breakfast, took the dog for a walk and realized we still had a really long day ahead of us. Enzo and I went to the hotel gym to work out. At first I was just walking on a steep incline, but decided to try some running. It felt okay. I went back to walking. I was listening to music on my phone when a lady came in with her kid. My music was decidedly not kid friendly and there is no headphone jack on the iPhone X so I ran the last part pretty fast just to be finished.
Late in the afternoon I received a text message from someone from the job I had applied for in Telluride. They wanted to know if I was available to meet. I had never heard back and so we did not go to Telluride, we were still in Frisco. I explained that maybe there was a miscommunication, but I wasn’t in Telluride. I never really heard anything back and assumed they were annoyed and no longer interested. Later I would learn that I had accidentally been left off of the email that discussed meeting with me.
I don't know what we did with the rest of the day. We watched TV, we played yahtzee, we checked the weather over and over again hopeful that the snow would stop and we would get a window for leaving that didn't involve snow chains.
Driving home on Sunday night I received an email from the job in Breckenridge. They wanted to know if I could come for an interview on Thursday at 1pm. I was off for Pesach from the elementary school, but I would have to figure out what to do about my classes at the community college. Maybe if I could go for the interview on Friday that would work better. I needed time to think and I was too tired to write a response. On Monday morning before going to work I sent to a message asking if it would be possible to meet on Friday.
Driving to work I ran over something in the road. I kinda knew I had a flat tire, but tried to pretend it wasn’t true. Unfortunately that isn’t the kind of thing that you can pretend away. I told myself to pull over before I got on the highway, but I ignored myself. I found myself sitting on the side of the highway with a flat tire. I called Norm to tell him where I was so he could come help me out.
When I was done teaching I checked my phone messages and found out that the job in Telluride had called and wanted to interview me over the phone.
The next couple of days became a whirlwind of trying to figure out when I could get to Colorado that would work with the schedule of the people who needed to interview me. At the last minute I was getting an oil change and making hotel reservations. I decided to drive to Grand Junction on Wednesday and finish the drive to Breckenridge on Thursday. Of course I was taking Rhatsa with me. I had told the job in Telluride that I could come down and meet with them on Friday. They were meant to email me about a meeting, but I never heard anything so we decided to stay in the Breckenridge area until Saturday. Originally just Brandi was going to go with me, but at the last minute Enzo decided to go also.
We left on Wednesday morning. We stopped at Whole Foods in Flagstaff and bought stale sandwiches. Be warned, the sandwiches available at 9am are stale sandwiches from the day before. We also stopped at Sand Island so Rhatsa could walk around.
We picked up dinner before heading to the hotel in Grand Junction. I was looking forward to a good nights sleep. Too bad that isn't what happened. I slept funny on my neck and woke up with the worst neck pain going down into my shoulder blade. It was like hot daggers going down my back. Plus, I could barely turn my neck. This wasn’t great for an interview. I went to Starbucks to get coffee and came back to shower and get ready for my interview. When we left the hotel we stopped at the grocery store to get some food for the kids and a lint roller for my clothes because Rhasta was shedding everywhere. This is one of her very few undesirable qualities.
We drive the 3 hours to Breckenridge, locate the museum, but struggle to find the parking lots suggested to me. I ended up going to the rec center to park only to discover that I can't take Rhatsa out of the car there. I ate a little food and had the kids take me back to the museum and drop me off. They went to find free parking and walk Rhatsa around for a bit.
The interview seemed to go really well. But I was also a little confused. It seemed like I had the job, but no one actually said, “you’re hired” or “do you want the job?” I called my mom and asked her what she made of the conversation. I called Norm and asked him what he made of the conversation. I called the kids to find out where they were at and made my way to meet them at them. They had they let Rhatsa play around in a field and she loved the snow. We went to get coffee, at Starbucks of course and headed to the hotel to see if we could check in early. Later we went to get groceries for the hotel room. Enzo and I are trying to eat healthy because we are both on diets. I sent a thank you note to see if I could figure out if I was hired our not.
It had started snowing on Thursday night and when I woke up on Friday it was a beautiful blanket of snow. We had breakfast, took the dog for a walk and realized we still had a really long day ahead of us. Enzo and I went to the hotel gym to work out. At first I was just walking on a steep incline, but decided to try some running. It felt okay. I went back to walking. I was listening to music on my phone when a lady came in with her kid. My music was decidedly not kid friendly and there is no headphone jack on the iPhone X so I ran the last part pretty fast just to be finished.
Late in the afternoon I received a text message from someone from the job I had applied for in Telluride. They wanted to know if I was available to meet. I had never heard back and so we did not go to Telluride, we were still in Frisco. I explained that maybe there was a miscommunication, but I wasn’t in Telluride. I never really heard anything back and assumed they were annoyed and no longer interested. Later I would learn that I had accidentally been left off of the email that discussed meeting with me.
I don't know what we did with the rest of the day. We watched TV, we played yahtzee, we checked the weather over and over again hopeful that the snow would stop and we would get a window for leaving that didn't involve snow chains.
Road trip selfie!
Playing in the snow
Rhasta needs to work on her selfie face.
Saturday morning we watch the news, we check Colorado Department of Transportation on twitter and their website. It wasn’t looking good. We pack up. The news guy says that travel restrictions have been lifted, but the website doesn't confirm this. The kids go put the snow chains on the car. Thank G-d Brandi was paying attention because she was the only one who knew what to do. I would have been zero help. I had already forgotten everything that Norm had said.
The kids said that everyone who came out of the hotel was asking if they needed snow chains. No, we just like to drive really slowly on metal chains for no good reason! Of course as soon as we got down the high way a bit (with everyone speeding past us) the sign requiring chains was no longer flashing. We pulled over as soon as possible and took the chains off. And by we I mean Brandi.
Back home I started talking to Norm about moving to Summit County for the summer. From this point on, let me be clear that this is my recollection of what happened and Norm may not agree with my side of things. In the first conversations Norm was pretty clear that he would not go with me for the summer. I was trying to talk to him about looking for a summer job or even a permanent year round job, but he wasn’t interested. He was very supportive of me going and told me he thought it was a great opportunity for me. At some point I started to feel like my husband was trying to break up with me. It seemed like he was happy about the prospect of us not being together. When I tried to talk to him Norm just seemed to get angry with me. Again, from my perspective, when you tell someone that it seems like they don't want to be with you any more and they say things like “I don't know how to respond to that” followed by a long silence and seem to be angry it kinda feels like they don't want to be with you any more. It wouldn't surprise me. I am not that great of wife. I am selfish, constantly stressed, demanding, just a real joy to be with. I am constantly telling Norm I will try to be a better wife, but my efforts don't last long. At this point I should say that Norm is adamant that he is not trying to break up with me. I said okay. I think at this point we have made a truce, but neither of us actually believes the other person believes us.
So here we are. I am going to Breckenridge and Norm will stay here. Ava and Sinjin will go with me. Norm says he will come visit. It’s not that I can't go alone, but I would rather have him with me. And in the end, I hope that I am able to move up to Colorado permanently. I am not sure what would happen if that becomes the case.
You can probably see why I was stressed. I kept turning everything over in my head. If I take this job I will be basically working to pay my rent. I won’t be making any extra money. Which is fine, but also we have so many things we need to take care. Norm’s car is a shit show. It’s going to be a pain to deal with Sinjin and his braces from Breckenridge when the orthodontist is in Phoenix. You know, maybe the whole idea is stupid.
Back to the race. At about mile 3 some girl passed me. Now I just start beating myself up. I start reminding myself of all the bad choices I have made and telling myself that I don't deserve good things. That’s why I won't win this race. That’s why I am not as good of a runner as I would like to be. This is why I can't move to Colorado. I am still struggling to run. I keep praying for an aid station so I can drop. Or maybe Albert would catch up to me and I could run with him and chat. I couldn't be alone with my head anymore. But the only aid station was at mile 9.5 (ish) and it wasn’t an aid station you could drop at and get out any time soon. At about mile 10 I come up on the girl who had passed me kneeling on the ground. She has taken a nasty fall. I stopped and asked if she was oaky and if I could help. She said she was okay and was maybe going to walk a bit. I took off running for my life. Maybe I could still win. Maybe I could still break the course record. Earlier the girl had told me she wasn’t a good down hill runner so I ran those down hills as fast as I possibly could to put some distance. I felt terrible that she had fallen, but I had take advantage of the moment. I really don't think I would have caught her if she hadn't fallen. I missed the CR by about a minute and a half. I ran 2:44:16. I won a huge bottle of whiskey.
The kids said that everyone who came out of the hotel was asking if they needed snow chains. No, we just like to drive really slowly on metal chains for no good reason! Of course as soon as we got down the high way a bit (with everyone speeding past us) the sign requiring chains was no longer flashing. We pulled over as soon as possible and took the chains off. And by we I mean Brandi.
Back home I started talking to Norm about moving to Summit County for the summer. From this point on, let me be clear that this is my recollection of what happened and Norm may not agree with my side of things. In the first conversations Norm was pretty clear that he would not go with me for the summer. I was trying to talk to him about looking for a summer job or even a permanent year round job, but he wasn’t interested. He was very supportive of me going and told me he thought it was a great opportunity for me. At some point I started to feel like my husband was trying to break up with me. It seemed like he was happy about the prospect of us not being together. When I tried to talk to him Norm just seemed to get angry with me. Again, from my perspective, when you tell someone that it seems like they don't want to be with you any more and they say things like “I don't know how to respond to that” followed by a long silence and seem to be angry it kinda feels like they don't want to be with you any more. It wouldn't surprise me. I am not that great of wife. I am selfish, constantly stressed, demanding, just a real joy to be with. I am constantly telling Norm I will try to be a better wife, but my efforts don't last long. At this point I should say that Norm is adamant that he is not trying to break up with me. I said okay. I think at this point we have made a truce, but neither of us actually believes the other person believes us.
So here we are. I am going to Breckenridge and Norm will stay here. Ava and Sinjin will go with me. Norm says he will come visit. It’s not that I can't go alone, but I would rather have him with me. And in the end, I hope that I am able to move up to Colorado permanently. I am not sure what would happen if that becomes the case.
You can probably see why I was stressed. I kept turning everything over in my head. If I take this job I will be basically working to pay my rent. I won’t be making any extra money. Which is fine, but also we have so many things we need to take care. Norm’s car is a shit show. It’s going to be a pain to deal with Sinjin and his braces from Breckenridge when the orthodontist is in Phoenix. You know, maybe the whole idea is stupid.
Back to the race. At about mile 3 some girl passed me. Now I just start beating myself up. I start reminding myself of all the bad choices I have made and telling myself that I don't deserve good things. That’s why I won't win this race. That’s why I am not as good of a runner as I would like to be. This is why I can't move to Colorado. I am still struggling to run. I keep praying for an aid station so I can drop. Or maybe Albert would catch up to me and I could run with him and chat. I couldn't be alone with my head anymore. But the only aid station was at mile 9.5 (ish) and it wasn’t an aid station you could drop at and get out any time soon. At about mile 10 I come up on the girl who had passed me kneeling on the ground. She has taken a nasty fall. I stopped and asked if she was oaky and if I could help. She said she was okay and was maybe going to walk a bit. I took off running for my life. Maybe I could still win. Maybe I could still break the course record. Earlier the girl had told me she wasn’t a good down hill runner so I ran those down hills as fast as I possibly could to put some distance. I felt terrible that she had fallen, but I had take advantage of the moment. I really don't think I would have caught her if she hadn't fallen. I missed the CR by about a minute and a half. I ran 2:44:16. I won a huge bottle of whiskey.
Best part of my day - I met Stina Sieg from KJZZ the local NPR station!
Maryjane Morse 3rd and Haley Ney 2nd (AKA the girl who passed me and later fell down.) And of course, Rhasta.
