To most third graders this might come across as a surprise, but teachers have lives outside of school. Lisa Alessandri, who teaches third grade at Protsman Elementary School, has found her niche in running.
On Saturday, Oct. 8, she reached her goal by completing the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
“The whole marathon was the most exhilarating experience. I never once thought about the fact that I was running 26.2 miles,” Alessandri said. “I was taking in all the scenery, reading all the supportive posters people made, was looking for my family and friends in the crowd, and taking in the moment.”
Although Alessandri started by running short distance races such as 5 k’s, she soon started to lengthen her runs and after training herself she was able to run a half marathon.
“I lost 35 pounds from healthy eating, working out, and running. The running has helped in a lot of aspects in my life. It has given me more energy and endurance, has helped me to feel much healthier, and I've been able to network with other people,” Alessandri said.
The last 5 months Alessandri has been involved in intense training. From doing Zumba, biking and swimming, Alessandri has been preparing herself to reach her ultimate goal: finishing the Chicago Marathon.
“My group meets at Fleet Feet every Saturday morning. The most I have trained up to has been 20 miles and my coach has repeatedly said that the last 6 miles of the marathon are mental. Throughout this training program, we have done hill training twice a month, where we have run between 3-7 miles up and down hills in Lake Hills subdivision in St. John. We have also done speed work twice a month at Campagna Academy on the track.”
The distance of a marathon is equal to the distance between Chicago, IL, to Gary, IN. A walk of that distance would take nearly 9 hours. Running such a long distance can drain any human’s body, and cause major injuries.
“It went pretty well until about mile 21. At mile 16, I started to feel nauseous but refueled myself with a snickers bar to settle my stomach. At mile 21, my left leg was cramping so bad that I had to walk/slow run the rest of the marathon. I finished the race in 5 hours and 35 minutes,” Alessandri said.
Despite a limited amount of free time with her students, Alessandri always makes an attempt to inspire her students and to let them know that her accomplishments are something worth looking up to.
“My students know that running is something that is a big part of my life. I encourage the girls in my class to sign up for the after school club "Girls on the Run,” Alessandri said. “This is not something that's really brought up a lot in the classroom because of the many standards that need to be covered during the year, but I make an effort to tell my students that they can accomplish any goals they want to with hard work and having a ‘not giving up’ mentality.”