You can't imagine how terrible I felt at that time. A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

    I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was "not athletic".

    The idea that I was "not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

    The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

    Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

    At mile 3, I passed a sign: "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!"

    By mile17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

    By mile 21, I was starving!

    As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

    I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

    Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a "marathon winner".

    Traveling can be a fun way to gain life experiences, especially during Spring Break-a week-long school vacation in the United States. But what if you're a student and don't have enough money for a trip？Don't worry. Here are some useful suggestions.

    Save：This probably is the most important preparation for traveling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you'll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.

    Plan ahead：Don't wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security and savings.

    Do your homework：No matter where you go, research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.

    Plan sensibly：Write down how much you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.

    Travel in groups：Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences.

    Work as you go：Need more money to support your trip？Look for work in the places you visit.

    Go off the beaten path：Tourist sites may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a less﹣known area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.

    Pack necessary things：The most important things to take are not always clothes.

Remember medicine in case you get sick, and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant.

    Use the Internet：The net can help to save money. Some useful websites include www.travelcity.corn, www.bargainslowestfare.corn and www.economictravelcity.com.

    By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime.

    Despite what so many people would love to believe，NASA hasn't discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover  (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet's surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.

    The thin fragment (碎片)was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA's Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover's handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself，suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully，those concerns seem to have been unfound.

    In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it's actually just a very thin piece of rock.

    NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan's Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris”(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!

    How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn't falling apart.

    How far would you go for your kids education? That's a question many parents are asking in the wake of the college cheating scandal(丑闻)involving 38 wealthy parents around the country, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman. Here's how far I went. In the fall of 2017 my husband and I lost our jobs. We had to tell our daughter, Casey, that we couldn't afford to send her back to school for her junior year at Fordham University. We decided the best choice for our family would be for Casey to sit out a year. We promised that we would get her back the following year. Casey decided to spend the year volunteering in South Africa On Sept 30, 2017, we put our oldest child on a plane halfway around the world. Casey worked as a tutor teaching kids math, English and music in Johannesburg. We did get Casey back in school in time. When she returned to the campus, she studied harder. She isn't what she used to be. Each day is marked by gratitude because she knows what it is like not to be able to get an education.

    I wonder why the college cheating scandal happened and I think it boils down to this: Parents want to create a comfort zone for their kids. Of course, we want the best for our kids but sometimes we forget that real growth doesn't happen in times of comfort; those valuable lessons come when we are forced to think in ways we otherwise wouldn't have.

    While I did less for my child than these wealthy parents did in terms of means, in other ways I did more. I taught her that disappointment is a part of life and we should face it bravely rather than avoid it. My husband and I showed Casey that her strength is in her struggle. That's how far I went for my kid s education. And I dare say she is wiser and better off for it.

    Have you ever spent an afternoon in the backyard, maybe grilling or enjoying a basketball game, when suddenly you notice that everything goes quiet? There is an old phrase "calm before the storm", often used in a situation—a quiet period just before a great activity or excitement. According to our own experience, we know there is actually calm before the storm. But what causes this calm? And is it always calm before the storm? Let's hear what scientists have to say.

    A period of calm happens in a particular kind of storm, the simplest kind of storm—a single-cell thunderstorm. In this type of thunderstorm, there is usually only one main updraft, which is warm, damp air and drawn from places near the ground. Storms need warm and damp air as fuel, so they typically draw that air in from surrounding environment. Storms can draw in the air that fit their need from all directions—even from the direction in which the storm is traveling.

    As the warm, damp air is pulled into a storm system, it leaves a low-pressure vacuum (真空) coming after. The rising air meets the cold dry air that has already existed in the storm clouds, thus the temperature of the warm, damp air drops, and the water vapour (水蒸汽) in it changes into tiny drops that are a precondition of rain. These drops accumulate and build on larger particles like dust, until they grow large enough to form raindrops.

    This warm, damp air keeps moving upwards, but it becomes cooler and drier during its trip through cloud. When it reaches the top of the cloud, the air gets spit out (被挤出) at the top. This air is sent rolling out over the big thunderclouds. From there, the air goes down. Warm and dry air is relatively stable, and once it covers a region, that air, in turn, causes the calm before a storm.

    Most thunderstorms, though, don't start with calm. That's because most are actually groups of storms with complex wind patterns. There's so much air moving up and down storm groups that the calm before the storm never happens. Instead, before the storm,让 might be really windy!

SuperCamps

    We are a leading provider of childcare in the UK, offering OFSTED registered holiday camps to children aged 4 to 14 throughout the school holidays. Operating at 60＋ locations, we have holiday camps available in London and the South East, as far south as Cornwall and all the way up to North Yorkshire. Whether you are looking for fun holiday clubs and kid activities, a five-day specialist holiday camp for older children or a combination of the two to keep your children entertained throughout the school holidays, we have your childcare covered!

    Our multi-activity holiday camps offer an abundance of fun, age-oriented(导向的)activities(4-5-year-olds, 6-9-year-olds and 10-12-year-olds), from swimming and go-karting to arts and crafts and LEGO workshops. These day camps are a great choice for parents looking for regular childcare service, available as individual days or a week at a time.

    For children looking for a school holiday experience, our specialist holiday camps are the ideal choice. Our Cookery: International Cuisine, a 5-day specialist course is a cookery camp with a difference, where children can really master their cooking skills!

    Bushcraft: Rainforest Adventure is the perfect outdoor adventure camp for children with a passion for bush craft and survival skills, with activities like Laser Tag and making campfires to inspire the interest of young adventurers!

    Meanwhile, our LEGO Play course is a holiday camp focusing on the art of building amazing creations with LEGO bricks. This camp really motivates the imagination of children in a way that only uses LEGO bricks!

    All new for 2019, our Chelsea Foundation FC Camps invite all football fans to take a shot at our Multi-Dimensional soccer camps! Children will receive hours of on-pitch training and competition with Chelsea FC approved coaches, as well as hours of off-pitch sessions around nutrition, recovery and lifestyle!

    To find your nearest holiday camp, simply enter your postcode or town in the box above or choose your camp by county here and BOOK ONLINE TODAY!