Dissertation, work & poop!

Pongo, B.Emmett's faithful pal, waiting at the end of the run

The only way to describe the weather this morning is it was perfect. It was not too hot and not too cold. It was the first time in a few weeks that I was able to run in shorts and B's teeth did not chatter before he got warmed up.

The first part of the run was spent thinking about my dissertation work. It seems that as I run I always have to best ideas for organizing my writing. It must be something about the flow of energy throughout my body that eventual allows my brain to flow a little more clearly. Today I thought about how to move the section about PBL from talking about general PBL work to more specific types to the type that I am working on this year. Sprinkled in this section will be the research on all of these things. It always seems so simple when I run but I know that when I try to translate it coherently to paper it will be a beastly task.

The next part of the run after passing Camp Creek I thought of work. After the run I was heading into a meeting about test prep for the college entrance exams (PSAT,SAT, and ACT). These tests are not something that we focus on at our school but they are also a necessary evil when it comes to getting in to college. It becomes a dance for us to continue to push forward with work that we know is meaningful and relevant to the students while playing the "game" that the system requires of us to get them into college.

Finally, my thoughts were of poop. I have reframed my thinking about finding dog poop in the middle of the running path along 30A . Instead of being sad that someone did not clean up after their dog which causes the next person to potentially get poop all over their shoe I now think, "Oh that poor person ran out of bags or a way to pick up their dog's poop." Now as I scoop some other dog's poop I send out peaceful thoughts to the dog's companion thinking things like, "I am so glad that I could help you out today." It makes poop a lot happier experience for me-ha.

B was good today he slowed down a bit at the end of our run to allow us to run side by side. I love my dog!