Zenaida Arroyo

14
Jul
2023

Fit Five Friday: 5 favorite running resources

We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me for another Fit Five Friday link-up! This week’s topic is “5 favorite running /fitness resources”. Feel free to write about this or any fitness topic you’d like.

I’ve been running for over 10 years and have used many different running items. Some work, some don’t. Some I like, while some I don’t like. For this post, I will list 5 of my favorite running items I use.

✅ Garmin GPS Watch. I know there are other brands but Garmin is the one I’ve used since I began running. I’ve used several and am currently using the 265. Before that, I had the 235. I didn’t need another watch but a few months ago Garmin reached out to me to test one of their new watches. It was a fun experience and as a thank you, they sent me the watch. I like it a lot and there are a lot of features I haven’t used yet. What I like the most about it so far is that it has a walk option.

✅ Koala Clip. I’ve used several belts. I loved the one on the top because I could carry my water bottles. But then it just got bulky and then I discovered the Koala Clip. It is the best thing ever and I use it for every run.

✅ Energy Gels. There are so many options. I’ve tried a few and wrote a post about it. For now, I am using Tailwind Nutrition and Hüma Gel.

✅ Gear. I mainly run in the Brooks Launch and the Brooks Ghost running shoes. My tops are a combination of Oiselle and Brooks. I love the Oiselle Flyout tops for the Summer. They’re light and airy and they never stink. I wear the Oiselle long rogas and the pocket joggers. The pocket joggers are perfect to store my water bottles.

✅ Recovery tools. I have a few that include a calf/foot massager, foam roller, foot roller, and massage gun. The latter is my favorite.

The topic for next week: 5 favorite rest/recovery tips. We hope you’ll link up with us!

11
Jul
2023

Tuesday Topics: National Simplicity Day

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: Tomorrow is National Simplicity Day. How do you simplify your life? You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

I had no idea there was such a thing as National Simplicity Day. I remember someone mentioning that there is a day for just about anything.

“National Simplicity Day was born out of a need to be free from the complications of the world and to allow ourselves to just be simple. Celebrate life through simplicity by turning off your devices, getting rid of complicated things and just let life be about living for a day.”

“From every angle, modern life encourages us to do more, be more, achieve more, spend more. We end up trying to do ‘all the things’ and then wonder why we feel tired, stressed out or stuck on auto-pilot as one day drifts into the next.”

Here is a list of things I plan to do to simplify my life:

🛑 Declutter – I have a lot of stuff that I don’t want or need anymore. I did a big decluttering job a few years ago and it is time for another one. What worked for me is to tackle one room at a time.

🛑 Unplug from electronics – My computer and phone (social media) are very addicting. I do not have a TV in my room so I use my computer to watch shows on Netflix, Hulu, etc. I take a break from them and instead go to my room or outside in the balcony to read. I finally got a copy of Kara Goucher’s “The Long Race” and I am loving it.

🛑 Purge my closet – I have a good size closet which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I know that this past year I’ve worn pretty much the same tops for work. Now that I can wear jeans and a school shirt, I don’t need all of the tops that I have in my closet. I also have a bunch of Oiselle items that I don’t wear anymore and have listed them for sale in a group on Facebook. If they do not sell by next month, then I will just donate them.

🛑 Say no sometimes – That is never an issue for me. I am not one that always “has to be doing something.” I know one of the things I hoped to do this Summer is get together with family and friends. I have gotten together more with family than friends and I am OK with it.

🛑 Opt out of email lists – Sometimes I get emails from companies that I’ve never heard of or don’t remember signing up. I quickly click on that “Unsubscribe” link. I don’t get too many in my school email inbox but I still have to do it here and there.

The topic for next week: Yesterday was National Lottery Day. What would you do/buy if you won the lottery? Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

07
Jul
2023

Fit Five Friday and July 2023 Ultimate Coffee Date

categories: Fit Five Friday, Ultimate Coffee Date

Welcome to the July edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date hosted by Coco and Deborah. It’s also time for another edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by My First 5K and More, Running with Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me!

Now, grab a mug of your favorite beverage, and let’s chat briefly!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I almost took 4 books from the Free Library. I was walking back home and stopped to check out the books. There were many kids’ books that I liked. I picked 4 but then I remembered that I am supposed only to take one. And I am supposed to put one in there too. I took one book. The next day I took another one. I haven’t taken another one yet, but I am tempted.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that on Tuesday I ran my 5th race for the year. It was a great day for a fun race! I went out too fast and ended up with positive splits. Isn’t that the way to do it? Regardless, I enjoyed it. July 4th is special because we emigrated from Mexico to the US on July 4, 1978 – I was 5 years old. I will forever be grateful to my parents for making this decision.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that in May I switched insurance plans from HMO to PPO (effective July 1). Imagine my surprise when I checked the website and saw that it is still showing up as me having HMO. I reached out to BSBS and was told they hadn’t received the updated information from my employer. I don’t understand how or why. We had to make any changes (or confirm our current plan) by May 31st. That is plenty of time to submit the changes to BSBS. I am not the only one that this has happened. Someone dropped the ball and we are paying for the consequences.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I recently switched website host servers. What a stressful process! I switched from SiteGround to HostGator. They were using many words that I didn’t understand and sometimes I became frustrated. At times I regretted making the change. After spending hours with someone from HostGator, I got it transferred. So far I haven’t had any issues and hopefully it says like this because I paid for 3 years.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I do not understand why people don’t use their real name on Facebook. A few times I’ve logged in to see a random name. And I don’t mean just a name I didn’t recognize but it wasn’t even a name that made sense or it was a condensed version of their name. I get that some people want to keep their profile private but isn’t that what the privacy settings are for?

The topic for next week’s Fit Fit Friday – Your 5 favorite running/fitness resources. Feel free to write about this or any fitness topic you’d like. We hope you’ll link up with us!

04
Jul
2023

Tuesday Topics: My 2023 mid-year review

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: Your 2023 mid-year review. You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

In December I wrote my goals for this year. Since we are halfway through the year, let me update you on how it is going.

Complete 500 Peloton rides. I had to pause my membership because I wasn’t taking full advantage of it. However, I do know I have completed 360 rides.

Run 800 miles. I might have to adjust this goal. I am at 38% of my goal.

Run at least 5 races. Today’s race will be #5.

Do one Peloton activity each day. See above regarding 500 Peloton rides.

Read 12 books. Done.

So let’s review how 2023 is going so far.

January-February

✳️ Picked my word for 2023 – Balance.

✳️ Ran 59.66 miles in January.

✳️ Signed up for the Bank of American Shamrock Shuffle.

✳️ I got Covid. It was very mild with a lot of coughing.

✳️ Ran 18.78 miles in February.

March-April

✳️ Ran the NYC Half Marathon.

✳️ Ran the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k.

✳️ Ran 67.24 miles in March.

✳️ Ran the CARA Lakefront 10 Miler.

✳️ Ran 95.88 miles in April. It is the highest mileage to date.

May-June

✳️ Ran the CARA Spring Trail Chase 10k.

✳️ Ran 27.68 miles in May.

✳️ The 2022-2023 school year ended. I had 5 days off and began teaching Summer School.

✳️ Ran 46.21 miles in June.

✳️ Finished reading 12 books.

✳️ Summer School ended.

I just read all of this again and laughed a little. My life is not exciting. 🤣

The topic for next week: Tomorrow is National Simplicity Day. How do you simplify your life? Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

27
Jun
2023

Tuesday Topics: June 2023 Review

categories: Monthly Review, Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic is a FREE topic. Feel free to post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

How is it that we are almost halfway through 2023? Time goes by very fast. This week is my last week of Summer School. My students are so cute. They love coming to school and enjoy all of the things we do in class. I am very grateful for the program assistants that are with me in the classroom because incoming kindergarten students need a lot of help.

Let me tell you about how June went for me:

Mileage: This month was OK. As of yesterday, I’ve run 37.19 and walked 3.32 miles this month.

Current Book: I am currently reading “Win Me Something” and so far am enjoying it. For some reason, I enjoy reading books that take place in NY. I love it when they mention the various boroughs and different places in NY. I never had the desire to live in NY, but sometimes do wonder if I had the chance, would I have lived there?

Current Shoes: Finally running in my beautiful Brooks Launch. They’re a fun and bright color. Sometimes I also run in the Brooks Hyperion. Those are cushioned and feel light. They’re great for speed work!

2023 Running Goal: Total mileage to date is 306.44. It is 38 percent of my goal leaving me with 493.56 miles to go.

Injuries: Stretching and foam rolling helps but the discomfort with the hip comes and goes. It is the same with plantar fasciitis.

Races: No races in June.

School: Summer Break!

Health: Hot flashes and summer are torture! There is no A/C in my classroom and last week it was awful. This week the temperature will be a bit better.

I got my results from Inside Tracker. My A1C went down but there was a big increase in my triglycerides level. If it isn’t one thing it is something else, right?

I am not tied down to a scale but have noticed that my shorts and pants are a bit tighter. I got on the scale yesterday and I have gained 10 pounds since February. I think this is the heaviest I’ve ever been.

That is all for June. Not too much excitement. I have a month and a half left of Summer Break. I will continue to take it easy and relax. Before I know it, I will get an email from the Principal letting us know when we can go to school to set up our classroom.

The topic for next week: Your 2023 mid-year review. Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics