Next week I am hosting a three-day party for oh...800 some people. It's actually a conference - the 4th Annual Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech. Pedagogy is the art and science of teaching, but when you learn the secret faculty handshake, you also promise to use the word "pedagogy" in everyday conversation.The last time I hosted an actual party at my house was maybe four years ago (pre-triathlon...coincidence? I think not!). I'd agonize about whether there were enough places for people to sit and enough food for people to eat.
Little did I know that was only the 5K of party planning and that stressed me out plenty. Now, ironically, I do the marathon of party planning - three days, people from 34 states and 28 countries, 100+ sessions, 120+ posters, three lunches, session schedules, publishing guides and proceedings, organizing shuttles, working with sponsors, and fulfilling a multitude of special requests.
The worry remains the same -- whether there will be enough places for people to sit and enough food for people to eat. I have joked (or not) that we should include deodorant in everyone's participant packets because it could get cozy.
This morning, from 4 am - 5 am I was half-awake in bed obsessing over needing to get a few rolls of masking tape, among a hundred other details. Then at my morning swim, the only thing swimming fast was my brain, certainly not the rest of me. Ugh, I was slow and unmotivated!
 |
| The gang stuffing packets! |
I'm keeping up with all my workouts and thankfully started the week with a killer swim and killer run that left me very happy so I'm just doing my best and not sweating the workout details right now.
I'm in that final 10K of the conference marathon...anything can happen. A week from now the finish line will be visible. Cheer me on, please. And have the massage table ready!
