Girls on the Run - interview

Today I'm skipping a traditional blog post, and asking you to pop over to Examiner.com to read my article on the non-profit Girls on the Run.

Image source

I had the good fortune to interview the local council director about the program, which teaches young girls about self respect, healthy lifestyle, and fitness while preparing the girls to run (or walk) a 5k.
In her words...

"Girls on the Run is a program that uses running and training for a 5K to teach girls about self- image, respect, and community awareness. The program works to instill a power within girls to be themselves and to not worry about what others think. The creator of the program speaks of getting out of the “girl box” where a girl may feel like she is not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough, or not cool enough – and to be proud of who she already is by valuing herself just as she is..."

This message is doubly important given the shocking statistics on childhood obesity (rates have tripled in 30 years so now one in five children is obese) and photoshopped media messages that distort body image.

Oh, and GOTR is always looking for volunteers...

To see if there is a council in your community, or to get involved, visit the GOTR website.

Weekend wrap-up

It's taper weekend. Hubby and I ran a beautiful and sunny 7 miles this morning. I felt fantastic at the end of the run - like I could have easily kept going for another hour. If I'm not ready for next weekend's half marathon now, I never will be.

So, with a short run on the schedule, what did I do with my extra time today?

Well... since you asked...

I worked on updating my course content for the final weeks of the semester. Today's upbeat topic: sexuality and cultural influences on transmission rates for STDs. (April is STD awareness month!)

Previewing documentaries on the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is decidedly not the most pleasant way to spend a Sunday. In fact, it's a total downer.

So I also...

Started work on an article about a local chapter of Girls on the Run for Examiner.com. (That non-profit's work is a much happier story, but more on that later this week...)

Baked multi-grain pumpkin pecan muffins (recipe here).

Multi-grain pumpkin pecan muffins

I firmly believe in being realistic about the problems in the world, but dwelling on those problems won't solve them. So I put my energy into being a good teacher (including teaching the not-good-news topics). And then I bake/run/read/garden/write-about-other-stuff when the serious topics threaten to get overwhelming.

How do you balance bad news or unpleasant tasks?
What exciting adventures (or lazy days) did you have this weekend?