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Wellbeing running man



I've been a member of SLT for almost 18 months now.  I've become aware of how decisions, however well meaning (and, in my experience, no leadership team sets out to bury its staff in meaningless stuff), can lead to unintended consequences.  But, I also believe that  teachers need to take positive action to manage their own well being.  It's far too easy to use the importance of our job as an excuse to either accept poor leadership decisions or to let your own life disappear in a haze of marking.  
Now, this next bit is about running, but actually, it's about teaching and having the headspace to do the job.  
I'm not talking here about having a good old moan. I'm talking about positive action.  One thing is running, it's not for everyone, but when I started out, I considered a marathon impossible.  Taking up running has improved my well-being; my professional life; my personal life and, well it's fun.  With the over zealousness of the converted, here are my running numbers.
#12 The number of nights I plan to sleep outside this year as part of theMicrochallenge adventure.
#1 the number I actually have so far.
#3 the number of stones lost since starting running on January 2nd 2012
#2 the number of miles I staggered around in 25 minutes with an average pace of 11 minutes per mile.
#7 the number of marathons I've run in two years.
#28.2 miles is the farthest I've run in a race.
#500,000 calories burned since January 2012, that's around 250 large Texas BBQ Dominos pizzas (I love the marathon training diet)
#3,237 miles run since January 2012 - mainly around and around and around my house. And the South Downs.
#4 the number of running shoes I have on the go (two road, two trail).
#1 ultra marathon run
#50 the number of miles I plan to run in one race in 2015.
#10 the Great South Run was my first race and its 10 miles was undertaken in October 2012 - I gave myself 10 months to get it sorted
Now, before you go accusing me of being a mad egotistical maniac (and you'd be right, just not for this....). I'm putting this here because so many people I speak to say it can't be done.
#1 I don't have the time.
#2 I can't run
#3 I don't want to fail
#4 add your own.
Well, you can.  Because I was a really fat Welsh bloke who got out of breath walking up the stairs.  Now I'm less fat, make fewer rash decisions ( I have time to think - this actually makes me more productive at work).  It don't have to be running, but put yourself first, take up a hobby and stop working so much.  I've been able to identify the things that really don't need doing.  It'll actually make you better at your job.
(And yes, I still have two chins. Bugger.)

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