With no races for the rest of the year, my coach approached me with the idea of preparing to run a fast 10k.  Yes, but I suggested that instead we go with a 5k.  I like my runs and I’ve been working with my coach for 4 months and I need something fun and exciting to train for.  I doubt there will be real races when I finish my training so I plan to race this on my own.

Last week I mentioned how I made time for myself.  I stopped working after 3pm and went to the balcony to ready a book while drinking some wine.  It was great.  This week was a bit different because I went to my classroom to unpack and set it up.  It was exhausting.  I arrived Monday morning and was so overwhelmed with so many boxes and I had no idea where to start. 

At the time the information I knew was that the District would revisit the current remote learning plan at the end of Quarter 1 (October 30).  There would be a possibility that teachers and students would return to the classroom after October 30th.  However, that week I found out that teachers would return to the classroom on October 13th.  Then they added that students would return to the classroom on November 4th.  Nothing is official yet since we have not received an email from the District.  I have 27 students.  My classroom has 20 desks but only 10 of them would be used.  I am not sure whether I want to go back to teach or take time off.

Before I talk about my training let me show you some pictures of my room.

The first thing I did was set up my desk and then unpacked the boxes. I threw away a lot of stuff and also organized it in the lockers, bookcases, and cabinet. I am planning to go again this week and hopefully will be done.

Monday and Tuesday were an easy 3 miles. There was an incident at school on Monday and I was still upset and angry on Tuesday morning. My heart rate was high that not even walking brought it down. Then I started thinking about quitting or taking FMLA and it went down. So weird and understandable. Let me tell you what happened. One of the administrators told me that a parent had called to complain about me. Apparently I yell all day to the students. This parent also said that her daughter is afraid to log in and ask me questions because she is afraid of me. I was FUMING. I was so angry that I cried. And then I was angry for letting it get to me. We just finished week #5 of remote learning and not one thank you from parents.

I finished September with 86.06 miles. So close to 100 miles.

Thursday morning I was so tired and did not want to get up. I had a workout that I was excited to do but no energy. I finally got up to run because I did not want to break my run streak (day 34) and also because it was a new month and I had new shoes to wear. I bought them last year and am finally wearing them now.

I felt so much better on Friday and did Thursday’s workout. I ran 5 miles with a few 1/4 mile tempo repeats. The required pace for each repeat was 11:10/mile. I was actually surprised when I saw my splits.

On Saturday I had to run 4 miles with the last mile being at HMP (11:30-11:45). I guess I had more energy than I thought.

Overall I am pleased with this week. I ran again 7 days and have been feeling good. Well, except for Thursday when I was very tired. I have not given it more thought to Monday’s incident but have spoken to a few parents whose child has been a bit “difficult”. I have a few students that have done zero work and others that like to goof off and distract and think it is fun to do so. Umm, absolutely NOT.

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

This week was MUCH, MUCH better.  A big part of it was that I didn’t put in any extra hours after my work hours.  Friday I did because I did my lesson plans for the week.  If I didn’t then I would have had to do them over the weekend and I did not want to do that.  During the regular school year I would also stay late on Friday to work on them.  Now they require more work because everything is online and I need to find and link the lesson (sometimes create the lessons because there are not that many resources for TR students) to my plans.

Monday morning I was not feeling well during my run. My heart rate was high and I was walking more than I wanted to. Also, I went out later than I wanted to and was hurrying up to finish my run to get back home. It was “only” two miles but I had to shower, get ready, and eat. I was running and saw a random guy. He looked at me, smiled, and said “You look beautiful”. I stopped and looked at him. I told him “Thank you” and kept running. Later I stopped again to think about what he said to me. Of all of my years running, I’ve never had a guy say something nice or positive to me. I’ve been followed, stared at, catcalled, etc, you name it. I felt good. It made me feel better. Now, I am NOT saying that being told beautiful makes me feel better, but the fact that a guy said something positive/nice to me.

Wednesday evening Jessie and I were messaging each other about wearing matching outfits for our run on Thursday. We are both Oiselle team members and have a lot of similar clothes. It was fun and we plan on doing it again!

Saturday morning was perfect for running! I was feeling good. On the schedule was 5 miles with miles 3 and 4 to be done at a faster pace. I wasn’t sure if I “could” do it but I had nothing to lose. I just wanted to run. Miles 1 and 2 were 12:30 and 12:39 and miles 3 and 4 were 11:06 and 10:27. I was shocked when I saw those numbers. Honestly, I couldn’t even believe it. I kept my heart rate under control too – average was 124 and the highest was 166 bpm. I ended up running a bit longer too. I love running in the Fall.

I am very pleased with this week. I did all of my runs. I felt good and took it easy. Last week I wrote about relaxing, taking it easy, and making time for me. I did that this week. I logged off work at 3 (Wednesday was 1/2 but we had meetings till 4pm), did not respond to email after work hours, and went to my balcony to drink wine, spend time with my cats, and to read a book. It was GREAT!

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

Another week of running 7 days.  I am on day 22 of a running streak.  I actually like it.  Running in the morning gets me ready for the day. On the days I don’t have a workout from my coach, I run for 20 minutes – slow and easy.  Although on Thursday my heart rate went up a lot.  

My workouts on Tuesday and Saturday sucked.  Tuesday was a 45-minute fartlek.  I did the intervals (5 sets of 1 minute fast and 1 minute recovery) and when I was done, well, I was done.  On Saturday I had to run 7 miles.  I made myself go in the evening and that did not go well.  I ran 2.04 miles and went home.  Well, I guess they did not suck but they did not go as I had expected.  It happens.  I did notice that both runs were done in the evening.  

I am loving this Fall weather.  I love running in shorts and a long sleeve top.  

This week my kids took their MAP tests.  It is the worst test to administer to my students.  I have transitional students (80%-90% of the classes are in Spanish and the rest in English).  Why would they take a test in English?  Long story short, my kids took 4 tests (Reading and Math in English and in Spanish).  We had so many technical issues and not everyone signed in for the test.  By Thursday we had enough and I decided that on Friday they would relax and take a break.  We will continue with tests this week.

My birthday is in two months myself a new computer.  I am using it now and am loving it.  I love the big screen too.

This makes me laugh.  It is me every single day.  

Not running or school related but still wanted to share.  An amazing and beautiful person!

This past week was not my week.  I know it is all work related and I am tired of being tired and stressed out.  I know everyone has stress but I need to manage it better.  I’ve been spending so many hours doing work related stuff (after work hours) and I don’t like it.  I know I shouldn’t do it (the work will always be there) and I need to find more time to relax and have fun.  Right?

Thank you for reading about all of my school issues/complaints.  You’ve all been very encouraging and supportive.  Hugs to all of you.  I want things to get better and I am working on it.  

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

Done with another week of school.  Was it easier?  A little.  But it is still challenging and lots of work.  Our District got the bright idea to have the students take the MAP test.  Umm, it is difficult to administer it when in the classroom so can you imagine how it will be now?  

I knew it would get easier once I had a routine set up for them.  I spent all day on Monday working on my lesson plans to post in Classroom.  Every morning I showed it to them and also referenced it so they would get into the habit of doing that instead of asking “What do we do now?”  

I did not lose power so that is a win.  However, a few of my students said they lost their Internet connection.  I’m not sure how since they all have a Hotspot.  Do all 27 students log in?  Not all at once but total throughout the day they do.  They come and go as they please and I don’t like it because I teach a lesson and then they log in and have no idea what we just did.  

My complaints with remote learning is the number of students I have and the fact that they’re online for 6 hours.  It is a long day for me and for them. I do give them breaks and independent work but that is also online. Oh and there are so many technology issues. I can only help them so much but it takes up so much class time.

In some exciting news I received a keeper for my watch.  Mine broke and I had to use a hair rubber band to hold the band in place.  

Even Mateo missed her!

It was my mother’s birthday on Wednesday. My younger sister came over with a cake.

I live 2 blocks from a fire station and as I was heading back home during my run, I saw a couple of firefighters and fire trucks outside. I stopped for a few months. It was an emotional moment. I cannot believe it’s been 19 years.

WordPress Update: I think I have figured out this new format. It isn’t that bad. I still like the other format better. However, what I have not figured out how to do is copy an old post. Anyone know how to do that?

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

Running went well this week but going back to work left me tired and exhausted.  And like the title of this post, I do feel like quitting.

Our first day was on Monday.  I was up late Saturday and Sunday preparing and I though I was ready.  I mean I was ready in that I had lessons/activities ready to go but not ready to do online teaching to 27 students.  The most I’ve had in a room was 29 but that was in the classroom and not all 29 were in my room since the beginning of the year.

On Monday I ran 3 miles.  I came home and wrote a few messages on the sidewalk with chalk.  That was fun!

I was doing OK till about 11:10am and then my power went out.  Yep.  I could not believe it.  I used my phone to check ComEd’s website and sure enough there was an outage that would not get resolved till 6pm.  There was nothing else for me to do so I went to Wendy’s to get lunch and then went to Target to some some blue light filtering glasses.  I’ve heard pros and cons about wearing blue filtering glasses so who knows.

Tuesday went much better in that the power did not go off but it was very chaotic.  So many students.  I think that it when I got a new student.  Total 28 now.  I was furious!  Why in the world would I have 28 students in my classroom…especially during this time?!?!?!?  My sister went to the store and I asked her to get me wine.  I didn’t care which one but just to get me wine.  I made some instant mashed potatoes and had that with wine.  Not the best meal, I know.

On Wednesday I was in a bad mood.  I was so tired and exhausted.  Maybe the wine had something to do with it.  I was mentally exhausted.  I did not think I could keep doing this.  I honestly did feel like quitting.  It is harder and more work than I anticipated and I don’t think the District really cares.  I cried.  I posted the quote on the left on Facebook and many people replied to “hang in there” and that “it will get better”.  A friend posted the one on the right and it made me cry.

By Thursday morning I was very tired and did not want to run.  I told myself to do the workout but not do it exactly as I was supposed to (2 sets of 3:15/80).  I like doing this workout but did not want to do 2 sets.  I did the best I could.  I was very shocked with how I did.  It wan’t “fast” but better than I thought it was going to be.

Oh how I love Fridays!  My favorite day of the week.  It was payday too.  I ran 2 miles with a great 80s playlist.  I sang and smiled.  Isn’t it an awesome playlist?  Oh and the school day went so much better.  🙂  That evening my sister and I watched “A Madea Family Funeral”.  I laughed so much and felt better.

You know what I am going to say about Saturday, right?  Yep.  Woke up even more tired.  I had to run 6 miles but I did not want to do it.  I stayed in pajamas and watched TV.  I needed to laugh some more and watched 2 more Madea movies/plays.  They were different but still funny.  That evening I ran 2 miles (Sunday’s workout) and then did laundry.

Today I ran 6.20 miles and completed the California Coast 500 Virtual Challenge.  Ran 250 miles in 3 months.  Yay!

Well that was my fun and interesting week.  Thank you for reading.  Running went well but work did not.  I am tired of working so many hours and having all of the technology issues.  One of my students transferred to GE (English classroom) so now I have 27.  Not all of the students log on or log on on time.  I find myself always repeating instructions which is distracting to the rest of the students.  Some parents don’t let the students do the work.  A sibling was doing it for him and I told her to stop and let him do it.  (I also wondered why wasn’t she in class?)  I am so happy we are off tomorrow.  I know I will spend most of the day working but at least I can concentrate and will not be logging in with the students.

I am glad the cameras are on for the students.  I can see what they are doing.  I’ve had conversations with a few parents to let them know what their child is doing (they’re not doing what they are supposed to).  Hopefully I can get their permission to take pictures so I can send it to them.  

Anyone wear blue filtering glasses?  Do they work?

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