Category: Weekly Run Down

Weekly Run Down: Race week and some fun art projects

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It is race week!  By the time you read this post I would have run the Missoula Half Marathon and will be on my way back home.  I am excited to have run in another state and to be so much closer to completing my goal.  

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Well, let’s recap this week leading up to the race.  I plan to have a race recap on Tuesday.

Monday was 4 miles to start off the week.  It was humid and I thought it was going to rain.  It did but later in the day.

I was very tired Tuesday morning and instead of running I slept in and did my quality workout on Wednesday.  It was a fun one!  I did 2 miles warm up, 4×30 seconds with 1 minute walking recovery, run 15 minutes at marathon pace, 4×30 seconds with 1 minute walking recovery, and 1 mile cool down.  I loved the 30 second intervals!  I even got negative splits on the last set of intervals.

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Thursday was 5 miles and it was another hot one too.  Even Lola was proud of me!  🙂

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I made colored pasta for my students and they loved it.  They also made a lion and a giraffe (forgot to take a picture of the giraffe) with paint and paper plates.  They had a blast!  We have open house on Monday so I wanted to have all of their projects done for parents to see .

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On Saturday I was supposed to do a 20 minute run in Missoula.  I didn’t.  I went to the expo to get my bib and then met some friends for some drinks and an early dinner.  By the time I got back to my hotel I was tired and just wanted to relax.  

The race has a 6am start time so I have to be up at 4am to get ready.  Another Oiselle friend that was also running offered to pick me up at the hotel and take me to the shuttle pick up area.  Then it is about a 20 minute bus ride to the start line.  MT is one hour behind Chicago so you bet by 8pm I was ready to go to sleep.  🙂

I finished the month of June with 106.52 miles.  I am pleased with that number and it is so far my highest this year.

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Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: A fall and some bruises

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I had a great week and, yes, I fell again on one of my runs.  Monday was again 3 miles.  I like the short run to start off the week.  Saw some pretty colors which is not unusual considering all of the rain we’ve been having here.

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I took Tuesday off from work to take my sister to the airport.  First a run, of course.  I had to run 5 miles and it was right before the turnaround that I tripped and fell.  I couldn’t believe it!  I was on the ground for a few seconds before I got up.  I checked for blood and saw none so I knew it wasn’t that bad.  I scraped a little my knees and my chin.  I was happy I did not hit my head.  I thought about calling an Uber to get back home but decided to just keep running and maybe walk too if needed.

I was very sore the next day.  I could barely walk.  I took ibuprofen during the day to feel better.  And I did!  🙂

The photos below are from Saturday.  Still a little purple but definitely no longer sore.

Thursday’s run was fun!  I had to do 2 miles warmup, 5×2 minutes with 2 minutes recovery, 5×1 minute with 1 minute recovery, and 2 miles warmup.  It was a humid morning too!  I was extra careful and looked down a lot because I was afraid of falling again.

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I nailed each interval except the last one.  Guess I was tired.  🙂

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Saturday’s run was at The Arboretum.  I haven’t been sleeping well and then sometimes wake up at 3 or 4 and cannot go back to sleep.  I didn’t sleep well Friday night and I struggled to get up the next morning for my run.

It was a gorgeous day for a run!  It did get sunny and warm later on in the morning.  I had to run 9 miles (my last run before my half marathon) with 3 miles at marathon pace (10:43).  It took me about 3 miles to actually feel good to run.  I did want to quit halfway but knew I would probably regret it later.  Plus I have my 3 half marathons in August and quitting is not going to get me there.

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Today’s run was at Lake Katherine.  I was also there on Tuesday with my mom.  We talked and enjoyed some quiet moments looking at the ducks.  

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: Summer school and some flooding along the lakefront

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What a week!  It was my first week of summer school and it went by fast.  I like the schedule.  I start at 8am and get off at 12:15pm.  My last day is Wednesday, July 3rd.  Not bad huh?  Currently I have 12 students and hope I don’t get more.  I have 3 that are so well behaved and pleasant.  However, I have 6 that cannot read.  How is that possible?  Very sad and depressing.  My students will be going to 2nd grade in August.

Monday was 3 miles in the morning.  Great but sweaty run!  After school I did laundry and then and took a nap with Lola.  🙂

Tuesday was 5 miles and it was also a sweaty one.  Great weather for a run!  My sister and nephew flew in from San Antonio and they will be here for a week.  They’re both here to see my mom and other family members and to celebrate his HS graduation.

I was supposed to do a speed workout on Thursday but could not get up in the morning.  I was so tired.  Then I thought maybe I could do it Friday morning.  Nope.  After school on Friday I met a friend for lunch and then came home and took a nap.

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Again with the crazy weather.  While it has been warm in the afternoon, it is a little chilly in the morning and evening.  During the winter I use a blanket to sleep and during the summer a sheet.  Now I get cold at night and need a blanket.  All day Thursday I felt cold and like I was getting sick.  I emailed my coach about missing my Thursday workout and not being up for running 13 miles on Saturday.  She told me to do my best, rest up, and get better.  I felt better on Friday and went to bed that night with the intention of running 13 miles (being positive).

On Saturday I went to the lake instead of The Arboretum.  My sister was having a graduation party for my nephew and she wanted me to be home as early as possible.  Well, I wanted to be home early too for a nap.  🙂

I drank Generation UCAN in the morning and also made my own gel to use on my run.  Elizabeth uses UCAN on her runs and gave me the idea to make a gel.  I used a reusable food pouch to store the gel.  While I like the cranberry raspberry in the liquid format, I was not a big fan of it in the gel format.  It tasted funny.  I also have chocolate and will try that next in a gel (I like it mixed with water).

The weather was perfect!  Marathon training has begun and there were so many people out there.  The last time I ran on the lakefront was 3 weeks ago.  I was surprised to see some parts of the path flooded.  The ducks were enjoying it!

I don’t think I’ve ever run 13 miles while training for a half marathon.  I felt good at the beginning and then slowly got tired.  I was supposed to run 7 miles as a warmup, 4 at marathon pace (10:43) and 2 as a cooldown.  I did not hit the marathon pace.  I tried.  However, I am proud for running 13 miles and felt better at the end than when I ran 10 miles last week.  I had some UCAN gel at 6.5 miles and then again 3 miles later.  The food pouch was so easy to use and I am planning to use it again for future long runs.

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I wore a new Oiselle tank and goodness sake but that thing chafed the heck out of me.  It was painful and so uncomfortable.  There was even some blood on the tank.  I love the look of it and the material but definitely not made for a long and sweaty run.

There was a Color Run Race going on and for some reason I have never been interested in them.  You?  They do look fun though!

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: Hot days and committee work

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With school being out last Friday you would think that I would actually be on break this week, right?  Nope.  It was all work.  Well, Monday I went to my uncle’s funeral with my mom.  It was actually a nice day (not cold and no rain).  The rest of the week was spent in school working on our reading, writing, and social studies curriculum.  We had to update pacing guides, curriculum maps, and PBA (performance based assessments).  It was a lot of work and there were many times where I was frustrated.  We did not finish our work and will possibly be meeting July 31 and August 1.

After I complained so much about the cold and long winter, we had some HOT days this week.  Humid days too and then some rainy days.  Definitely not consistent here.

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I was supposed to run 3 miles on Monday but when I was getting ready in the morning at my mom’s, I realized that I had two sets of running clothes but no shoes.  🙁  So I did 3 easy miles on Tuesday.  Later on in the day I went to see my mother and had pozole for dinner.  Yummy!

Did you run on Wednesday for Global Running Day?  I did!  I wasn’t planning on but ended up running 5.34 miles.  It had been raining and it was HUMID.  I almost skipped the run because of the rain but eventually it did stop.  Despite the weather, it was a fun run!  Aren’t my shoes cute?

Thursday was 1.5 mile warmup, 2×5 minutes and 3×2 minutes, and 2 miles cool down.  It was a tough workout!  I did better than I expected and proud of it.

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Friday morning I woke up a little dizzy and nauseous and was uncomfortable the rest of the day.  I did a few errands after school and then went home to bed.  Saturday’s run was tough.  I don’t know if I was still tired from Thursday’s workout or I was just simply tired.  I am still trying to figure out this fueling thing.  You would think that by now I would have figured it out?  Nope.  Still working on it.  I drank one serving on the way to the Arboretum.  I also had two gels with me just in case but did not use them.  Maybe I need more fuel?

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The beginning of the run was tough but then somehow I felt better in the middle of it.  But by the end I was struggling again.  The last 2 miles were not my slowest but they were my toughest ones.  Check out the butterfly made with legos.  It has almost 40,000 pieces of legos!

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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Weekly Run Down: Banned from Brooksrunning and summer break

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Thank you for your comments in my post last week about my mother’s stroke and recovery.  Now that school is over, I hope it isn’t as hectic and I won’t feel so stressed out.  I am still planning on helping out whenever I can, but at least now I won’t have to deal with the work and stress from school.

This week was a slow week in my running.  I felt tired and didn’t feel like running.  I finally made it out on Friday.  Maybe I felt good because it was the last day of school?  Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do.  I do enjoy teaching.  This year was rough with some of my students.  Plus, add in everything else that has to be done (like testing and more testing) and it takes out some of the joy of teaching.  My ideal job is for one day to be a math interventionist.  I already have my math endorsement but just waiting for a position to open up in my school.  I hope soon.

I ran 2 miles on Friday and it felt great. 

 

Saturday I went back to The Arboretum to run 10 miles.  It was a perfect day for running but I struggled on my run.  Managed to do 7.72 miles.  I saw a turtle about one mile in and it freaked me out.  Well, not really the turtle (how scary can it be?) but I guess seeing an animal kind of surprised me since I’ve never seen one there.

On Friday I had my students make Father’s Day cards.  I know it is a bit early but at least they will have one for that day.

My classroom at the end of the day.   A little sad to leave (I will miss my students) but happy to get a break.

Earlier that day I received a email from Brooks Running that really pissed me off.  What the heck!  I like their shoes and have used them for a number of years and plan to continue running in them.  But, yes, I am annoyed.  

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This is their True Blue Guarantee.  Some shoes I have used and returned because, well, I did not like them.  Others I returned new because I ordered too many (they were on sale) and then did not need them anymore.  I feel like I’ve been personally attacked.

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I know, I know, I need to stop worrying about it so much since there are other things I should worry about instead of an email from Brooks Running.  At least I can still buy shoes at Running Warehouse. 🙂  Speaking of shoes, anyone see these?  So pretty, right?

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Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

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