Random Thoughts Thursday 9

Random Thoughts Thursday

Happy Thursday!  Hard to believe it is already March.  Time is going by too fast.  I am looking forward to Spring and the warmer weather.  Seriously, I am tired of this cold weather and the changes brought on by Mother Nature.  Now let me tell you about my random thoughts.

• I remember when the duck face pictures were popular.  Are they still popular?  Do people still do those?  Lately I am seeing a lot of photos of people with their mouth open.  One, two, and maybe three is OK.  But when almost all of your photos are of you with your mouth open.  Just no.  I find them annoying.  Thoughts?

I did a few Disney races back in 2014.  First I did Goofy Challenge because a few of my friends convinced me to do it.  Then I did a couple more races that year.  I did them more for more.  I remember during Goofy people were upset because there weren’t enough characters on the course for pictures.  I took a few pictures but to me it wasn’t that important.  I know Disney races are more for fun but should people get upset or care about how much time they have to take pictures with characters?  Should they really care how many characters are on the course too?

• I’ve been house hunting since November.  Still no house.  I’ve seen quite a few of them and came close to buying one.  Sigh.  Now I am getting desperate but at the same time still need to be patient.  There was one that I liked and was ready to put in an offer but then found out that someone else had paid cash for it.  Man, I need that kind of money!  

• I am late to the party here but finally saw the movie “Moana”.  I have NO idea why I waited so long.  On Sunday I was at a family party and my niece was talking about how her son loves that movie.  They played the movie but I didn’t get the chance to see it again.  I knew it was available on Netflix so Wednesday evening I sat down to watch it.  Great movie!  My favorite song, of course, is the one by Dwayne Johnson.  I maybe have a secret crush on him.  🙂  Have you seen “Moana”?

• I went to the Laundromat on Sunday and it got me thinking about detergent.  I did used a little bit more than required but still nowhere near what the person next to me used.  Mine is the top one.  

Laundry-1

Laundry-2

What are some of your random thoughts today?

February was good for me!

I cannot believe tomorrow is the last day of February!  Two months done for the year.  If you have been following along my training for the Illinois Marathon, you know that this winter has sucked.  I’ve run in freezing weather and in the snow.  It hasn’t been easy and I had to talk myself into getting out there.  

To date I’ve run 81.90 miles.  I have a run today and Wednesday.  I still won’t make my goal of running 100 miles per month.  I know it is my fault because I did miss 2 workouts and didn’t complete another one that was 11 miles.  Oh well.  My marathon is in two months and I know there will be heavy mileage coming up and for sure will go over 100 miles each month.  As long as I have at least 1,200 miles for the year I will be happy.

100miles

2018 Goal

• Total time run is 16:11:13.  That is about the same amount of hours from the time I wake up in the morning to the time I am in bed at night and start all over.  Fascinating!

• I’ve run 16 days.  This training cycle has me running 5 days a week.  I’ve been doing pretty good even with this crappy weather.  I am proud of myself for getting out there.

February 2018 Calendar

• I’ve had some great quality session workouts.  Not only have they been great but they’ve been fun!  I’ve managed to hit the required paces and that has been a great confidence booster.  I remember how before I would do these workouts on the treadmill because it would help me stay on pace.  Now I can do these on my own with no help from it.

• I have not kept up with strength workouts.  I slacked off.  I had signed up to do a February Challenge (Supermans, Squats, and Russian Twists) with a few other bloggers and did good for the first few days and then stopped.  I got tired and lazy.  Hopefully there will be another challenge in March that I can participate.

February 2018 Report Card

So how did February go for you?

Linking up with MarciaPatti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

TuesdaysOnTheRun

Illinois Marathon Training Recap, Week 13

Illinois Marathon-2

Week #13, February 19-25

M Rest
T 3.76
W 2.51
TH 4.91
F Rest
S Ran 3.80
S Ran 11.38

Another great week of training for the Illinois Marathon!  I didn’t miss/skip any of my workouts.  Mother Nature cannot make up her mind about the weather.  It rains one day and then cold the next day.  Hopefully in March we’ll have decent weather.

Tuesday’s run was in the rain.  Well, maybe not exactly rain but more like a mist.  I was still cold but glad it was a 45 minute run.  Lola didn’t care that I was cold.  

It was cold again on Wednesday and honestly I did not want to run.  Sucked it up and did it anyway.

Illinois Marathon-130

I was looking forward to and excited about my run on Thursday (2 mile warmup, 5 minutes @10:45, 5 minutes @10:02, 3 minute rest, repeat and then 1 mile cool down). Pretty cool huh? Well, during the first 5 minute session I was curious to see my pace so instead of pressing the light button, I pressed the lap button.  No! I almost wanted to cry. I know, stupid.🤦🏻‍♀️ It was a long day plus we had a practice lockdown so you can imagine how emotional that was during school.  Anyway, I quickly snapped out of it and continued with my run and it was AWESOME!  Moral of the story: Trust the process and don’t mess with your Garmin.

After cuddling with Lola in the morning I went out for 45 minutes of running.  It was cloudy and not too cold.  I should have done my long run on Saturday instead of Sunday.

Saw these shoes on Running Warehouse and want to get them.

Illinois Marathon-133

I was NOT looking forward to my long run on Sunday.  Total time to run was 2 hours and 2 minutes.  It was cold and windy.  The sun did come out but also decided to hide.  I was very tired towards the end but pleased to get it done.

Total mileage for the week: 26.37
Total mileage for this training cycle: 247.18
Total mileage for the year: 168.37

Here’s how training has gone so far:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12

How was YOUR week?

Link back to the host and let’s support other bloggers linking up as they train for a marathon, half marathon, or any other event.

 

Friday Five 2.0-Top 5 reasons to run the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K

Disclaimer:  I am promoting the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K as part of being a BibRave Pro.  Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8K is next month and I am excited to run it again.  It is one of my favorite races in Chicago!  This race marks the start of the official running season in the city.  Are you signed up for it?  If yes, GREAT but if not then read on to find out why you MUST run this race.  I will even give you a discount code.  🙂

Shamrock Shuffle-1

1. Automatic PR and sweet medal.  Isn’t it beautiful?  An 8K is 4.97 miles so if you’ve never run this distance before then you automatically get a PR.  I’ve run this race 9 times and my PR is 48:38 in 2014.  I am having a great marathon training season and hopefully will get a PR this year.

Shamrock Shuffle-3

2. Beer!  Celebrate that new PR and/or show off that sweet medal at the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle Post-Race Party.  Each runner gets a ticket for one (1) Michelob ULTRA (must be 21 years or older to consume).  There will also be live music.  The party doesn’t stop there.  The celebration will continue at The Scout Waterhouse & Kitchen (1301 S. Wabash Ave.) from 2 p.m. to 1 a.m. Shamrock Shuffle participants who bring their race bib will receive a ticket that can be redeemed for one (1) Michelob ULTRA.

Shamrock Shuffle-7

3. You can dress up!  How fun is it to be all decked out in green and run in a beautiful city?  I’ve lived in Chicago for almost 40 years and never get tired of the view.  This race is also great to do with friends.  Each year I’ve been able to run with friends and have a fabulous time.

Shamrock Shuffle-6

4. It is a short but yet popular race.  An 8K is a unique distance and in Chicago there aren’t that many 8K races.  Over 30,000 runners run the Shamrock Shuffle.  It is so popular that on race morning NBC 5 Chicago provides live, streaming coverage of the race start and finish from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. where supporters can watch their favorite runner cross the line.

5. Save $10 off registration fee.  Make sure to use code “SHUFFLE” at the following link: http://haku.ly/dd2567 to save $10 on your race entry.

Shamrock Shuffle-2

So did I convince you?  Will I see you there?  Have you run this race before?

I’m linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 2.0.

fridayfive

Random Thoughts Thursday 8

Random Thoughts Thursday

Happy Thursday!  It was a short week and it felt wonderful.  Tomorrow all 2nd graders in my school are going on a field trip to the Museum of Science of Industry.  It should be fun and I am actually looking to it!  Read along for some of my random thoughts.

• Are you a pet owner and have an Instagram account for your pet?  I love my Lola very much and have an account for her.  You can follow her HERE.

I am excited about my new pair of Tieks by Gavrieli but have yet to wear them.  My new pair are in my room waiting to be worn.  I ordered them in Chestnut because I needed a neutral color that will go with many outfits (I already have a pair in black).  The problem now is that I don’t have that many outfits that go with that color.  Most of the pants that I wear to work are black or some other dark color and do not go well with brown.  I might exchange them for another color.  I do have a few skirts that will go very well with those shoes but for now the weather isn’t cooperating and I am not wearing any skirts.  Or I can go crazy and not exactly match my shoes with my pants!  🙂

Spring is around the corner and I got a great deal on sweaters!  I had a coupon for 30% off from Kohls and took advantage of it to go shopping.  I found a sweater on clearance for $10.80 and with the discount I ended up paying around $7.50.  Great deal, right?  I wanted more in different colors but couldn’t find them at the store.  Instead I went online and ordered 9 additional sweaters.  They were $14 but with the discount each one came out to about $10.  Love it when stores have big sales like this one.

• Lately I’ve noticed that I’ve been drooling while I sleep.  Of course I notice when I wake up (usually because I have to use the bathroom).  I know, kind of gross.  I don’t think that had ever happened to me before!  

• Today we had a practice lockdown.  My kids know exactly what to do.  It is hard to keep 24 kids quiet in a room.  Some talk and others giggle.  I had to remind them to be quiet and to sit as comfortable as possible because we had no idea how long we would be in that position (we sit on the floor in a corner with the door locked and all of the lights off).  A few minutes later I got very emotional.  They did not see me cry.  I know it was a practice drill but what if it was real?  I know I would do anything to protect them from harm but this whole thing about how teachers should be armed is RIDICULOUS.  Just now.

What are some of your random thoughts today?