Amy the Athlete

Don't you love days that start out ho-hum but finish with a smile on your face?  That was my day today.

After 2 14 hour days on Monday and Tuesday, I started my (work)day on Wednesday at 3AM, and finished at 10pm.  That's a 19 hour day, people.  Needless to say, I was zonked, but ambitiously set my alarm for 7am in hopes that I could get a run in before going to the office.  I pressed snooze every 5 minutes for an hour.  Bah! 

I hate that sort of thing because it is such a waste of an hour - you're not getting a good quality sleep in 5 minute intervals, and you're not up and running either.  Total waste of time.  So, I got up and was in a bit of a bad mood and mad at myself, and headed to work for some training in the morning and a meeting with my boss in the afternoon for my performance review.  Dun, dun, DUNNNNN!

The review went well, and I had absolutely nothing to be worried about, but that's not what gave me my smile.  I was given 22 feedback forms filled in by the youth that I work with.  Their comments were almost all positive, and even the ones that were constructive, were nice.  "I wish Amy visited us more often,"  or, "I wish Amy had more time to do activities with us,"  But that still wasn't the best part.  "J'ai apprecie quand Amy a couru avec moi et on a une bonne discussion," (I appreciated when Amy ran with me and we had a good discussion).  And, on another, "Amy is an athlete and inspiration,"  And on another, under strengths "Athletic."  I'm not too sure how "athletic" is a quality that makes me better at my job, but I'll take it.

I was a straight A student except for gym class.  I try to remind myself when I run that running makes me an athlete, but it's a mental challenge.  I still feel like the awkward kid in grade 9 who hid at the back of the volleyball court, couldn't do a lay up to save my life, and got comments like, "Amy has a positive attitude in gym class," but (kindly) never anything about my athletic ability.  There is a sense of strength that comes from the word athlete, that even after running a marathon, I have a hard time convincing myself that I possess.

I left the office, changed into my running gear and ran 10K turning those comments over in my mind.  I felt like an athlete.  And I smiled the whole time.