Volunteer Weeks 6 & 7 & 8 & 9
It’s been a crazy few weeks in my life. First, my husband fell and tore his quadricep tendon. We spent hours in the ER and he had surgery the next week. Suddenly, I was in charge of everything. For someone that is completely over-the-top type A, I don’t like to be in charge of households. I emailed my GOTR coaches to let them know I might be a little late … had to pick up the chica and get her home with Dad to babysit while I came to GOTR. My coaches, being as sweet and understanding as they are, told me not to worry about coming … I could stay home and take care of my husband. In my head though, I thought … I NEED GOTR!!!! I needed the girls to help lift my spirits and I needed the running practice to relieve stress.
Week 6
This week’s topic was on bullying. This is such an important topic for young girls. We reinforced the different type of bullying and the SBLR (Stop, Breathe, Listen to your inner voice, Respond) method for dealing with and responding to bullies. During the running portion, girls ran a lap and then answered a question, ran a lap, answered a question, etc. Examples of questions were: “Are there ever good reasons to bully someone? What are they?” AND “Imagine you are being bullied. Write down the names of two adults you would be able to talk to if you were ever being bullied.” At the end, we discussed the questions with the girls. We have a smart group of girls. GOTR is helping them to remain strong and healthy!
Week 7
I’ve been looking forward to week seven since the program began. Week 7 was the practice 5k. Unfortunately, we were running a course through mostly grass and my ankle was not strong enough to handle the uneven terrain. I tore the ligament in my left ankle almost four years ago and had surgery almost two years ago to put it back together (yes, back together … it was literally torn in half). I’m very careful with my ankle these days. That was a very painful surgery and recovery and I do not ever want to go through that again. I hated to leave my running buddy but she did a super job and kept going. I did walk the practice 5k, but walking was all I could do. Especially because I had my biggest race of the year last Saturday … I couldn’t take the chance of hurting my ankle.
What I was most proud of for week seven was the commitment the girls had for the practice 5k. It was VERY hot and even though several girls had to stop and get water and sit down, they didn’t stay down. They got back up and either finished the 5k course or walked around the track. However, we are all thankful the 5k race will be early in the morning and we won’t endure the heat during the actual race!
Week 8
We had a slim crew for week 8. It was the last day of school before Spring Break and several girls were out as family vacations began. We still had a good time with the girls. We discussed the lesson topic - media messages - and the girls were really in tune with ad messages. I think this is such an important topic. Girls need to understand the meanings behind media messages (ads). It’s important for them to feel confident in who they are so they choose products/services that are healthy.
After the lesson, we played a game on the field. The girls were divided into four groups and each worked as a team. This was a great group effort by the girls. Very proud of them. After we had time for a short run. Again the girls were very encouraging and even though it was a short run, they made ran/walked with a purpose!
Week 9
We did not meet this week because of Spring Break!
