Zenaida Arroyo

30
Jun
2020

Tuesday Topics: Goodbye June and Hello July

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of 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!

I cannot believe today is the last day of June. Even more I cannot believe we are almost halfway through the year. In a way I am glad. This year has not been going well…at all. It does make me wonder how the rest of the year will go. I have not done a monthly review in a long time so here is one for June.

Miles Ran: 84.91. I did 22 runs this month for a total of 17 hours, 21 minutes, and 27 seconds. So far this has been my highest month and I hope the next few months I can get to at least 100 miles.

Highest Mileage Week: 23.33. I am slowly building up my mileage. I am really impressed with those that run 40-50 miles each week. I usually run 5 days a week but last week was the first time in a few months where I ran 6 days.

Shoes: I started the month running on the Brooks Levitate 1 that I purchased last year. This month I am wearing the Brooks Launch 5. They’re very comfortable and so far one of my favorites of the Launch. I don’t want to check and see how many new pairs I have in boxes. 🙂

Races Planned/Completed: 0/0. No races at all this year (at least I don’t think there will be races for the rest of the year). I remember at one point I was planning to go to Hawaii for the Kona Half Marathon which was supposed to take place on the 21st.

Current Challenge: I’ve been doing Deborah’s Run Bet Challenge and the California Virtual 500. The goal is to run 250 miles by Labor Day. So far I’ve run 61 miles. I am the last one. 🙂

Current Book: Right now I am reading two books. I started reading “Darling Rose Gold” which I heard about in Wendy’s blog post. Then a friend of mine hosted a Zoom book club gathering to read “Fruit of the Drunken Tree”. So far both are good.

Next Race(s): At this point I have no idea. My goal of running a half marathon in each state is on hold. The last half marathon I did was in GA and it was state #43. I am so close.

Current Excitement: I have two weeks left for summer school. I’ve mentioned before that it is going well. I am looking forward to Summer break and hopefully do something fun. I would like to travel but we’ll see how that goes.

I finished decluttering my closet. Next is the kitchen, my bedroom, the living room, and the office/cats’ room.

What am I looking forward to next month? Run more miles and finish reading my books. I am watching “Madam Secretary” on Netflix but will put that on hold to read. I’ve put in my application for a pre-approval to buy a house so hopefully next month I can start looking again and find something that I like.

Weekly Run Down: Making progress and Lakefront running

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

A great week! Ran 6 days for a total of 20.91 miles. The last time I ran 6 days was in March after the Atlanta Half Marathon. I did feel tired (need to go to sleep earlier) but luckily most of my runs were at an easy pace.

I tried a new product. The taste isn’t that great (I have lemonade). It is a combination of carbohydrates, electrolytes and BCAAs to help with rehydration and muscle building after long and/or intense workouts. Has anyone else tried it?

The highlights of my week was my workout on Thursday and my long run on the Lakefront. Last week one of my workouts was 2 sets of 3 minute intervals. The first set was positive splits but the second set was negative splits. I did the same workout on Thursday and all intervals were negative splits. I could not believe it when I saw my splits. I remember that I felt tired that morning and did not want to get up. 🙂

Saturday morning I got up at 4:45 am to get ready for my long run. I was excited because I was going to the lakefront. Ugh, it was so humid. I ran but also walked when needed. I stopped a few times to take pictures. I was just happy to be there. Average pace was 12:33 with 11:56 being my fastest mile. Overall I am pleased with how it went.

Does GU go bad? I took one yesterday and afterwards I realized that it didn’t taste good. I know it doesn’t taste that good anyway. I could not find an expiration date and honestly cannot remember how long I’ve had it.

GU-2

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

25
Jun
2020

Random Thoughts Thursday 130

categories: Random Thoughts Thursday

• Corn with mayonnaise, cheese, butter, chili, and lemon juice is just the best. My neighbors across the street sell it and it is so good. I don’t buy it all of the time. I know it isn’t healthy but sometimes I do crave it.

• Haha, not me. I know we are supposed to go back to school in the Fall but who knows exactly how that will look like. Masks and social distancing in the school and in a classroom is hardly realistic. We’ll see how it goes.

• I don’t remember the last time gas price was this low.

• How is is that next week it will already be July? We will be halfway through the way. And what a year it has been! Hopefully the rest of the year will go smoother. On Friday Illinois will be entering Phase 4. I am still not ready to get out there unless it is necessary. I will wait a bit longer.

• How great is this idea? Makes me want to do something similar for our school.

23
Jun
2020

Tuesday Topics: My summer bucket list

categories: Running, Tuesday Topics

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Topics!

This week’s Tuesday Topic: What’s on your Summer bucket list? You can write about this topic or 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!

This summer will definitely be different! We are entering Phase 4 on Friday but I don’t think I am ready yet to venture out. However, I am hoping to enjoy my Summer Break and check off a few things off my list.

→ California Coast 500. I signed up with this virtual race with a few other BibRave Pros. With this challenge I had the option of signing up to run 100, 250, 400 or 500 virtual miles this summer from LA’s Santa Monica Pier to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge along California’s idyllic Highway One. This challenge runs from June 8-September 7. I signed up to run 250 miles and as of this morning I’ve run 40.5 miles. I still need 205. 5 miles to go.

→ Declutter. I have accumulated many boxes to help with this project. Right now they’re in the back porch. I’ve cleaned out the pantry and part of the kitchen. The place I was planning to take my donations only accepts them on Friday. I need to call and double check so I can make a trip this Friday.

→ Move. I’ve been talking about this for how long? I really want to move this summer or sometime this year. I do like where I live but I need more space. I want a house with a small apartment for my sister so she can have her own kitchen and space. I know what I want but just haven’t found it. I am going to wait till June 30th which is the end of teacher contract year before I make a decision. <

→ Not get sick. I am doing the best I can to avoid contracting Covid. I go out to do a few errands but mostly have been staying home.

→ Continue talking to friends and family via Zoom. It isn’t really my favorite thing to do but I don’t have much of a choice. Would I like to get together with them? Of course. I know it isn’t the same but I am still enjoying these conversations. One of my friends lives in Texas and the rest of us are in Illinois so it is nice to see all of us together in one place.

Not a very exciting list. 🙂 It will be interesting when I go back to school in the Fall. For now I am not going to worry about it.

21
Jun
2020

Weekly Run Down: New shoes and hello Summer

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

A good week! Ran 5 days for a total of 20.91 miles. Pleased with how this week went.

Wednesday’s workout was 2 sets of 3×3 minutes with 90 seconds recovery. I did this later in the evening. I thought about doing it the following day but I realized that if I did, I would lose the RunBet Challenge. Talk about motivation! 🙂

My first set was all positive splits but the second one was all negative splits. I will confess that I did stop my watch to quickly catch my breath. Then I kept going. It still counts, right?

On Saturday I ran my longest run since the Atlanta Half Marathon in March. It was tough. It was the first day of summer and it was HOT. My overall pace was 12:36 and I thought that was pretty good since it was hot and an easy run. It was fun running around my neighborhood seeing all of the graduation signs.

I’ve mentioned that I have way too many pairs of shoes. I knew it was time to wear a new pair and could not decide between the Ghost 12 (NYC Marathon) or Launch 7 (Brave like Gabe). I checked out what other pairs I had and found the Launch 5 Tie Dye. Yes, Launch 5. I bought these in Denver when I ran the RnR Denver Half Marathon. I wore them 3 times and then put them aside since at that time I was running in a different pair.

I saw on Facebook that the lakefront will be open tomorrow. It’s been months since I’ve run there so I am excited to go there. I won’t be able to make it tomorrow but my plan is to go on Saturday for a long run. I did get annoyed that they mentioned joggers instead of runners. Isn’t it the same thing?

This week was my first week of Summer School. It is going well with my 16 kids. On a daily basis, about 13 or 14 log in my Google Meet session. I like them all a lot. They’re smart and excited to learn. I made a postcard for them and was ready to mail it yesterday but the envelopes I had ordered were the wrong size. I ordered more and should get them today.

Summer is not my favorite season for running. I prefer Fall. I will try not to complain too much about the weather. I do need to make sure to get out there before it gets too sunny and warm. 🙂

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