YES.
YESYESYES.
This and my other tune of choice got me through 20 minutes at 7:40 pace at the end of my long run yesterday morning.
Raise those hands, this is our party
We came here to live life like nobody was watching
I got my city right behind me
If I fall, they got me. Learn from that failure gain humility and then we keep marching ourselves
Here we go back, this is the moment
Tonight is the night, we’ll fight 'til it’s over
So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us
Like the ceiling can’t hold us
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
I Think it's Time to Admit Something
So I've always sort of believed that Boston was on the high end of what I could accomplish and that it would take me a minor miracle to get there. Or, more time than I'm willing to give at the moment.
But then, this happened:
Now that's not all of my runs, but it's probably a good 60-70% of my miles since early in the season. So when I took a good look at it the other day and realized what the average pace was that I held for the past 53 runs with my phone, I had a bit of an epiphany.
I can absolutely, without a doubt run a 3:40 marathon. It's not even a question anymore. If I do not run a 3:40 marathon, it will be because of one of two things: my head, or an injury.
So I need to work on those things. Because that limit I thought was impossible?
It just isn't anymore.
Way back in the day, like 10 years ago, my buddy Coach Kara told me that I "haven't even come close to hitting the times I'm capable of." She's kind of an exercise-phys genius and stuff and I really should have listened, but I really didn't think she had that right.
Now I'm staring down the barrel of Age 36 with two kids, and holy crap, I'm the leanest and fastest I've ever been in my life. Ever.
I certainly would NOT have called that 10 years ago.
So Operation Get My Head Out of the Way and Don't Get Injured Too is in full-effect. Along the way, I hope to kick some ass in a few tris, too, but my eyes are looking toward October with great anticipation.
It's time to do what it's pretty obvious to me (finally) I can do.
But then, this happened:
Now that's not all of my runs, but it's probably a good 60-70% of my miles since early in the season. So when I took a good look at it the other day and realized what the average pace was that I held for the past 53 runs with my phone, I had a bit of an epiphany.
I can absolutely, without a doubt run a 3:40 marathon. It's not even a question anymore. If I do not run a 3:40 marathon, it will be because of one of two things: my head, or an injury.
So I need to work on those things. Because that limit I thought was impossible?
It just isn't anymore.
Way back in the day, like 10 years ago, my buddy Coach Kara told me that I "haven't even come close to hitting the times I'm capable of." She's kind of an exercise-phys genius and stuff and I really should have listened, but I really didn't think she had that right.
Now I'm staring down the barrel of Age 36 with two kids, and holy crap, I'm the leanest and fastest I've ever been in my life. Ever.
I certainly would NOT have called that 10 years ago.
So Operation Get My Head Out of the Way and Don't Get Injured Too is in full-effect. Along the way, I hope to kick some ass in a few tris, too, but my eyes are looking toward October with great anticipation.
It's time to do what it's pretty obvious to me (finally) I can do.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Now if I were only allowed to SWIM...
Ugh. This 10-14 days of no swimming is KEEEEEELING me.
I am finally done with these ridiculous painkillers and the complete fog of passed-out-ness they put me in. It's the last week of classes and I have about 1,356,894 projects coming in, so I need to be able to function!
Aside from Jumper's explanation of "the dickens" (Thanks, Jumper! :) and Kathy's suggestion of my elbow issue (thanks, too!) it was awfully quiet on that last post. I'd like to pretend it's because I'm just that awesome and there's nothing to say, but I think it may be more that no one had time to read or comment. And hey, I feel you! But luckily for me, Coach Emily DID have time to tell me what I need to work on, and in case you don't know, she's kind of a big deal. Like, swam at the University of Michigan big deal. (This is where Matt would say, "Go Blue!" and I would reply, "Go Bucks!") Or Olympic-Trials big deal. And of course, pro-triathlete big deal. So I take her comments VERY seriously.
Here's what I already knew: I am only finishing half my stroke--especially at race pace. I get tired/lazy and just figure "eh, halfway's good enough" and take my arm out without pulling all the way back. I've been practicing following through the entire stroke and already can tell a BIG difference in my efficiency.
On top of that, Emily told me that I am entering the water at 12:00 and really that should be 11:00 and 1:00. Because if you notice on my video, once in the water my hands move there anyway. Wasted movement = inefficient stroke. The other thing is that my elbow does, in fact, suck. She pointed me to this video which does a pretty awesome job of explaining my problem:
And then these two that are of some *kind of* good swimmers showing what I'm really going for. Oh, and my kick stinks, too, but I knew that. These guys show how to keep that kid where it should be. Sigh. What I really want to do is go back in time to 1983 and tell the people teaching me how to swim that THE STUPID "S" STROKE IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT so please STOP TELLING THE SIX YEAR OLD TO DO THAT. Totally not efficient at all. Do you see Phelps or Thorpe making an S? No? But I am, right? So clearly I am setting the right model...NOT.
Anyway, this is all fabulous stuff. I really want to get in the pool and try it! I've been trying it a lot in my kitchen but all that really does is get me really weird looks from Matt and the dog.
I told Emily that it's funny--I've been swimming almost as long as I've been walking, but I feel like I have the most to learn here! It's truly a technique-driven sport. I'm excited to at least get back in the pool and tinker with my stroke a bit.
I am finally done with these ridiculous painkillers and the complete fog of passed-out-ness they put me in. It's the last week of classes and I have about 1,356,894 projects coming in, so I need to be able to function!
Aside from Jumper's explanation of "the dickens" (Thanks, Jumper! :) and Kathy's suggestion of my elbow issue (thanks, too!) it was awfully quiet on that last post. I'd like to pretend it's because I'm just that awesome and there's nothing to say, but I think it may be more that no one had time to read or comment. And hey, I feel you! But luckily for me, Coach Emily DID have time to tell me what I need to work on, and in case you don't know, she's kind of a big deal. Like, swam at the University of Michigan big deal. (This is where Matt would say, "Go Blue!" and I would reply, "Go Bucks!") Or Olympic-Trials big deal. And of course, pro-triathlete big deal. So I take her comments VERY seriously.
Here's what I already knew: I am only finishing half my stroke--especially at race pace. I get tired/lazy and just figure "eh, halfway's good enough" and take my arm out without pulling all the way back. I've been practicing following through the entire stroke and already can tell a BIG difference in my efficiency.
On top of that, Emily told me that I am entering the water at 12:00 and really that should be 11:00 and 1:00. Because if you notice on my video, once in the water my hands move there anyway. Wasted movement = inefficient stroke. The other thing is that my elbow does, in fact, suck. She pointed me to this video which does a pretty awesome job of explaining my problem:
And then these two that are of some *kind of* good swimmers showing what I'm really going for. Oh, and my kick stinks, too, but I knew that. These guys show how to keep that kid where it should be. Sigh. What I really want to do is go back in time to 1983 and tell the people teaching me how to swim that THE STUPID "S" STROKE IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT so please STOP TELLING THE SIX YEAR OLD TO DO THAT. Totally not efficient at all. Do you see Phelps or Thorpe making an S? No? But I am, right? So clearly I am setting the right model...NOT.
Anyway, this is all fabulous stuff. I really want to get in the pool and try it! I've been trying it a lot in my kitchen but all that really does is get me really weird looks from Matt and the dog.
I told Emily that it's funny--I've been swimming almost as long as I've been walking, but I feel like I have the most to learn here! It's truly a technique-driven sport. I'm excited to at least get back in the pool and tinker with my stroke a bit.
Friday, May 24, 2013
I Be Strokin'
So currently I'm a) on a Z-pac for bronchitis, b) sitting here with a head (kinda) full of bright blue stitches and crunchy neosporin hair c) all of the above.
If you picked C, you're the WINNER! Of my most anti-climatic post-race letdown week in HISTORY!
Okay, that's a *bit* dramatic. But seriously...had a little surgery on the head today that involved removing two non-threatening-but-very-annoying cysts that were in my scalp. Had this done 4 years ago for 5 of the lumps. It's a nuisance and it hurts like the dickens.
GIFSoup
(Did I just say "like the dickens?" What does that even mean? And, am I 80?)
Anyway, since I am not allowed to swim for (gulp) at least 10 days AND can't do any physical activity until TUESDAY (let that sink in for a moment...and think about how NOT fun to be around I'm going to be), I figured I might as well ask the interwebz for some swimming advice.
My teammie RobbyB had this badass underwater camera thingy in Chattanooga and got all kinds of cool shots while we were running (in the rain, too!) and swimming. I asked him to send me some so I could send them to Coach Emily. He did more than that--he made me the star of my very own "Mediocre-Triathlete-Swimmer" video! Yippeeeeee!
Seriously, though--so "real" swimmers, I know my stroke could probably use some tweaking. I already asked a few of my "real swimmer" students and they gave me some advice. I won't say it yet because I want to see if you out there give me the same advice, too! I will say that I am aware that I don't completely follow through in my stroke and push all the way down towards my legs--I kinda cut it off halfway.
And that butterfly? There are no words. I actually feel WAY worse than it looks--it doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would, but I do have a weird little hesitation in there and I'm not sure what's up with that.
If you ever have the chance to have your stroke taped like this, DO IT DO IT DO IT. There's so many little things you can catch with a camera that you just don't really know you're doing. I've already been practicing pushing my stroke all the way through and notice a huge difference.
So I'm throwing it out there to you, internet! Give me some more advice. What else should I tweak in my stroke?
If you picked C, you're the WINNER! Of my most anti-climatic post-race letdown week in HISTORY!
Okay, that's a *bit* dramatic. But seriously...had a little surgery on the head today that involved removing two non-threatening-but-very-annoying cysts that were in my scalp. Had this done 4 years ago for 5 of the lumps. It's a nuisance and it hurts like the dickens.
GIFSoup
(Did I just say "like the dickens?" What does that even mean? And, am I 80?)
Anyway, since I am not allowed to swim for (gulp) at least 10 days AND can't do any physical activity until TUESDAY (let that sink in for a moment...and think about how NOT fun to be around I'm going to be), I figured I might as well ask the interwebz for some swimming advice.
My teammie RobbyB had this badass underwater camera thingy in Chattanooga and got all kinds of cool shots while we were running (in the rain, too!) and swimming. I asked him to send me some so I could send them to Coach Emily. He did more than that--he made me the star of my very own "Mediocre-Triathlete-Swimmer" video! Yippeeeeee!
Seriously, though--so "real" swimmers, I know my stroke could probably use some tweaking. I already asked a few of my "real swimmer" students and they gave me some advice. I won't say it yet because I want to see if you out there give me the same advice, too! I will say that I am aware that I don't completely follow through in my stroke and push all the way down towards my legs--I kinda cut it off halfway.
And that butterfly? There are no words. I actually feel WAY worse than it looks--it doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would, but I do have a weird little hesitation in there and I'm not sure what's up with that.
If you ever have the chance to have your stroke taped like this, DO IT DO IT DO IT. There's so many little things you can catch with a camera that you just don't really know you're doing. I've already been practicing pushing my stroke all the way through and notice a huge difference.
So I'm throwing it out there to you, internet! Give me some more advice. What else should I tweak in my stroke?
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
A "Pace" Report: Cleveland Half Marathon, 2013
On Sunday, I paced the sub-2 hour group for the half marathon in Cleveland! It was as much fun as you can possibly have with 20,000 or so of your closest friends while being a sweaty, hot mess. I loved every second of it, and hope to do it again sometime!
The short version: I made it in right on time at 1:59.49, and so did a lot of my crew!
The long version: here you go!
I wanted to pace Cleveland for a few reasons. A while back, I paced the 4:45 marathon group and LOVED it. It was a lot of first-time 'thoners, and even though I only did the first half I really enjoyed helping them reach their goal. In my quest tonot be so stupid set realistic goals in the spring when life is really really crazy, I knew I wanted to have a race-day and that atmosphere minus the injury that has plagued me the past two Mays. My good buddy Sarah wanted to break 2 hours in the half marathon while raising money for our friend Stacy's charity to fight pediatric cancer, and I thought it was a perfect fit for me! I emailed Coach Kara (who is in charge of the pace teams every year) and she thought it was a great idea since so many people have that goal and the "4 Hour" Marathon pace team is so huge and full of half marathoners. She even had a special sign made for me to carry, which I did the entire race: "1:59.59."
The thing about carrying said sign? Um, you'd better do it. Because LOTS of people are counting on you. And nothing is worse than putting your faith in a pacer who blows it, right?
This is why I was a little nervous on Saturday morning. My allergies were HORRID last week, but I still thought everything was "just allergies." I had no voice when I woke up Thursday or Friday, but Saturday was exceptionally bad. My energy level was fine and I felt fine otherwise, so I knew it had something to do with these massive amounts of green pollen-filled nastiness that are falling from our trees and literally need to be shoveled/leaf-blown away daily. I diligently took my Claritin and hoped for the best.
Race morning: still no voice. WHAT?! Who paces a Pace Team with no voice?! I drank a ton of water and a bit of coffee and hit the car at 4:55am, hoping for the best. I figured in an hour or two, I'd have my nice loud obnoxious voice (you know, kinda my trademark) back, just in time for the Pace Team.
I met all the Pacers and Coach Kara (who no longer is in town--sniff, sniff) and made some new friends, too, including 4 hour pacers Michele and Angel and another half-pacer Denine. I sported my ridiculous sparkly skirt and carried my sign to the start line!
And then we were off!
Right away, I knew it was HOT. It was hot at 5am when I first got in my car, and all I could think about was, "Man, am I really glad I'm not running this full--or pushing this half too hard." Of course, I didn't say that to my pace team, because they WERE pushing hard. So I did focus on reminding them to DRINK LOTS. I sort of yelled at them to drink like every 5-10 minutes. They probably got a little annoyed at me, but it was HOT and I know what heat and humidity can do! I also told them to keep those arms low and "don't run like a T-Rex!" I figured the more reminders I could give them to stay hydrated and relaxed, the better.
Around mile 6 or so, it started getting pretty tough. My group was getting smaller; the sun was shining, and it was hot hot HOT. I kept telling them that it was going to start getting hard now, and to remember to trust their training and stay in the moment. That they could do this. The crowd support was great this year, and the crew in Tremont was nice and loud. I did my best efforts to keep the crowds yelling for our "Sub-2 Crew!"
At mile 10, I told them there was "just a 5K left!" and that if they felt good, to take off and leave me. No one took me up on it yet, even though there were a few who I thought looked really strong and wanted them to go ahead. I said if you're NOT feeling good, just hang on, count your steps, and zone out--I'd get them there. At this point, I could feel the crunchy nastiness of my sweat all over my face and even my arms. The humidity was what was really killer; it was arguably our hottest day to date in Cleveland. Even though I was running one of my slowest half-marathons to date, it felt really tough. I knew for my pace team who was attempting a PR, this was a very difficult day to do it. I tried to keep them as positive as I could and remind them that at this point, it was all up to their mind. Around mile 11-12 I said, "Okay, who's gonna win today: the body or the mind?" One guy who had looked strong all day finally took me up on my suggestion to take off and leave me, and he looked great! That was good to see. We ran on, and finally it was time to head to E. 9th street. We passed Jacobs Field okay fine whatever Progressive Field, home of my first-place Cleveland Indians (#RollTribe) and the crowds here were fantastic! I knew on my watch we were cutting it close, but that was my job: to get as close to 1:59.59 as I could.
And as we turned the corner to the finish, I picked it up just to be extra safe: 1:59.49!
I turned around and gave a BIG holla to all the crew that was still with me! They looked exhausted but had that happy look in their eyes--the one where you're too tired to say anything and are panting like a dog, but KNOW you just did it. And you're so happy.
Sarah had finished about 30 seconds ahead of the pace team, so I was super happy for her! She went on to fulfill the Cross-Fit part of her fundraising: for every $5 she raised over her asking donation of $13.10, she did a burpee. She went and finished 168 burpees, and Stacy and I cheered her on! Overall, she raised over $1,400 for Roc4NB which goes directly to families in the area who have children fighting neuroblastoma. I am so proud of Sarah--she worked so hard!
Afterwards, I headed home to attempt to recover--as well as you can with a 3 and 5 year old. So I turned on the sprinkler and headed to the park and got some ice-cream, and called it "recovery."
Super proud of Sarah, my neighbor Krystal who finished her very first half in 2:30 and is HOOKED (yay!), my other buddy Joanne who ran a 1:38 in that heat and set a massive PR, and my new running friend Katie who ran a 3:38 in her VERY FIRST marathon EVER. How anyone can do that in that heat is beyond me. Every single finisher earned that finish big time!
All in all, I got that finish line magic feeling without getting myself injured, which is a win-win in my book.
I do, however, have bronchitis. Oops. I guess my allergies morphed into bronchitis, and I finally did something about it yesterday. So I guess I ran a half marathon with bronchitis...? Who does that? Oopsies. Oh well!
Can't wait to shift into tri-gear for summer and continue to build upon my running fitness to hit Columbus ready for a 3:39! Happy running, everyone!
The short version: I made it in right on time at 1:59.49, and so did a lot of my crew!
The long version: here you go!
I wanted to pace Cleveland for a few reasons. A while back, I paced the 4:45 marathon group and LOVED it. It was a lot of first-time 'thoners, and even though I only did the first half I really enjoyed helping them reach their goal. In my quest to
The thing about carrying said sign? Um, you'd better do it. Because LOTS of people are counting on you. And nothing is worse than putting your faith in a pacer who blows it, right?
This is why I was a little nervous on Saturday morning. My allergies were HORRID last week, but I still thought everything was "just allergies." I had no voice when I woke up Thursday or Friday, but Saturday was exceptionally bad. My energy level was fine and I felt fine otherwise, so I knew it had something to do with these massive amounts of green pollen-filled nastiness that are falling from our trees and literally need to be shoveled/leaf-blown away daily. I diligently took my Claritin and hoped for the best.
Race morning: still no voice. WHAT?! Who paces a Pace Team with no voice?! I drank a ton of water and a bit of coffee and hit the car at 4:55am, hoping for the best. I figured in an hour or two, I'd have my nice loud obnoxious voice (you know, kinda my trademark) back, just in time for the Pace Team.
 |
| Me and super awesome buddy, LJ! |
 |
| Me with Debra, in from Chicago and trying a sub-2! Former BHS Rockets :) |
 |
| The 2013 Pace Team |
 |
| Carrying my sign |
 |
| Heading to the start with Angel, who smiled the whole race! |
And then we were off!
 |
| Go-time! |
Around mile 6 or so, it started getting pretty tough. My group was getting smaller; the sun was shining, and it was hot hot HOT. I kept telling them that it was going to start getting hard now, and to remember to trust their training and stay in the moment. That they could do this. The crowd support was great this year, and the crew in Tremont was nice and loud. I did my best efforts to keep the crowds yelling for our "Sub-2 Crew!"
 |
| Me and the sub-2 crew, hamming it up |
And as we turned the corner to the finish, I picked it up just to be extra safe: 1:59.49!
 |
| FINISHED! And hot. |
Sarah had finished about 30 seconds ahead of the pace team, so I was super happy for her! She went on to fulfill the Cross-Fit part of her fundraising: for every $5 she raised over her asking donation of $13.10, she did a burpee. She went and finished 168 burpees, and Stacy and I cheered her on! Overall, she raised over $1,400 for Roc4NB which goes directly to families in the area who have children fighting neuroblastoma. I am so proud of Sarah--she worked so hard!
 |
| Sarah and her hubby, Rob, who both had great days! |
 |
| True to her word: doing her burpees |
 |
 |
| Spiderman Sprinkler |
All in all, I got that finish line magic feeling without getting myself injured, which is a win-win in my book.
I do, however, have bronchitis. Oops. I guess my allergies morphed into bronchitis, and I finally did something about it yesterday. So I guess I ran a half marathon with bronchitis...? Who does that? Oopsies. Oh well!
Can't wait to shift into tri-gear for summer and continue to build upon my running fitness to hit Columbus ready for a 3:39! Happy running, everyone!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Almost Pacing Time!
I am so so SO excited to be a Pace Team Leader for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon this Sunday!
I figured I keep getting myself injured with early season races (I'm looking at you, past two years) so I needed to mix it up. Pacing is not only a super awesome way to give back to the running community, but it allows me to enjoy the race without setting a ridiculous goal that gets me injured while attempting to get my students to the AP test and raise my kids and actually see Matt and not lose my marbles. When it comes down to it, April and May are just not the times for me to attempt A races.
(this only took me 11 years to really accept)
Plus, my buddy Sarah is attempting a sub-2 hour half and I get to be her Pace Bunny! I am so excited for her. She has raised lots of money for my other buddy Stacy's charity that she started in honor of her daughter who is a strong, healthy survivor of pediatric cancer. You can learn more about it here. It's a fabulous cause and Sarah even threw in a CrossFit twist--for every $5 she gets over her $13.10 asking donation, she will do a burpee at the finish line! She's up to, like, 100 burpees!
And I will cheer her on! And NOT do burpees!
Because CrossFit scares me.
But seriously, she is awesome. So I'm excited to help her out and get her there in 1:59.59.
I'll bring my phone with me to tweet updates and crazy pictures! Oh, I think I'm somewhat figuring out twitter, so if you are a twitter person, feel free to follow along @trisaratops2198 or follow me for realz this Sunday if you want to break 2 hours! I'll be wearing my pacer shirt, a ridiculous yellow sparkly skirt, and holding a sign that says "1:59" for the entire race. Yippeeeeeeeeeee!
Best of luck to all the racers in Cleveland this weekend and at IM TX, too!
I figured I keep getting myself injured with early season races (I'm looking at you, past two years) so I needed to mix it up. Pacing is not only a super awesome way to give back to the running community, but it allows me to enjoy the race without setting a ridiculous goal that gets me injured while attempting to get my students to the AP test and raise my kids and actually see Matt and not lose my marbles. When it comes down to it, April and May are just not the times for me to attempt A races.
(this only took me 11 years to really accept)
Plus, my buddy Sarah is attempting a sub-2 hour half and I get to be her Pace Bunny! I am so excited for her. She has raised lots of money for my other buddy Stacy's charity that she started in honor of her daughter who is a strong, healthy survivor of pediatric cancer. You can learn more about it here. It's a fabulous cause and Sarah even threw in a CrossFit twist--for every $5 she gets over her $13.10 asking donation, she will do a burpee at the finish line! She's up to, like, 100 burpees!
And I will cheer her on! And NOT do burpees!
Because CrossFit scares me.
But seriously, she is awesome. So I'm excited to help her out and get her there in 1:59.59.
I'll bring my phone with me to tweet updates and crazy pictures! Oh, I think I'm somewhat figuring out twitter, so if you are a twitter person, feel free to follow along @trisaratops2198 or follow me for realz this Sunday if you want to break 2 hours! I'll be wearing my pacer shirt, a ridiculous yellow sparkly skirt, and holding a sign that says "1:59" for the entire race. Yippeeeeeeeeeee!
Best of luck to all the racers in Cleveland this weekend and at IM TX, too!
Monday, May 13, 2013
On the Playlist
Awesome 5 miles tonight. I headed out cranky, tired, and generally unpleasant. I came home still tired, but not cranky. Very smiley and ready to tackle the laundry/dishwasher/papergrading/chasegigglingkidsaroundintheirbigplastictruck/bathtime/bedtime/march to when I finally get to rest. Which is, like now. But before I go, here's a Cleveland boy who has definitely gotten a lot of rotation on my playlist lately. Definitely diggin' this song.
Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) Ft. Ester Dean // "Invincible" (Dir. Isaac Rentz) from More Media on Vimeo.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
A New Spark
Oh, hey!
It's been (almost) two months. My lack of posting has never gotten quite this bad, but I am really hoping to update here more frequently if at all possible. For that, I'm going to have to make some new rules:
1. Quick posts are better than no posts
2. Lack of proper formatting is now okay
3. Keep it real, yo
I have been occasionally throwing up stuff on twitter and facebook, but I think this ol' blog is still good for something.
I have some exciting new goals and news and I think it will be more important to just get stuff down and worry about the "pretty" stuff later. So here goes unfiltered TST! Hold onto your hats, kids!
First off: Mother's Day is pretty much awesome. Woke up to breakfast in bed with my two kiddies and their awesome daddy that involved many different combinations of chocolate chip pancakes and lots of coffee. I'm off to a Mother's Day spin class at Psycle (my fave indoor studio) soon.
What have I been doing lately? In no particular order:
1. Being Mommy and Wife as best as I can
2. Being friend as much as possible
3. Teaching my butt off
The APUSH test is Wednesday. I will be very, very happy when it's over. Possibly even happier than them. They don't believe me, but I swear I worry about it more than they do!
What else have I been doing? Here is a sample:
We are also in two weddings coming up soon: my brother and my brother-in-law in June and July and Ohio and Mexico, respectably. It will be ridiculously fun!
So things have been busy, but mostly good busy. A few challenges thrown in for good measure, of course. I've made a few decisions on racing that are still of course subject to change based on the way the wind blows, but right now, here's what I'm looking at.
Next weekend, I'll be leading the Pace Team for the sub-2 Half-Marathon group at the Cleveland Marathon! I am super excited about this. I love pacing and it's been a few years since I've done it.
I also am in the process of getting my Evotri Mommy Tris Too group going again. I'm in the recruitment process right now so stay tuned on that!
Finally, I know I mentioned I lost a pretty big chunk of weight. With that has come faster running times with the same effort. I've been looking back through my log and its pretty remarkable and exciting, too. Who knew, right? This old dog might have a few new tricks up her sleeve. So aside from racing a few local tris and attempting not to embarrass myself at Nationals this summer, I have officially changed my mind on Rev3. I just, quite simply, do not have the money to race a 70.3 this year. It is absolutely not possible. So what's cheaper than a 70.3 but still a challenge within reach?
Here is is: you heard it here first, folks: I will be racing the Columbus Marathon in October. And I bet you can guess what my goal is.
I'm feeling really confident on my run lately and have been shocking the heck out of myself. For example, last Tuesday, after Bug's soccer practice, I did a tempo run and beat a 5-mile PR I set at Malachi probably 7 years ago. On a Tuesday night. After dinner. And soccer practice.
My long runs shock me almost weekly. Yesterday I ran 12 miles with 4 of them at sub-8.
So the fire has been lit again for one more go at it. The time is the same for me now that I'm in the 35-year range--back at 3:40--kind of wishing it was 3:45 like it used to be, but whatever. Bring it.
It's good to be back, and I hope some of you want to come along for the ride. Giddyup!
It's been (almost) two months. My lack of posting has never gotten quite this bad, but I am really hoping to update here more frequently if at all possible. For that, I'm going to have to make some new rules:
1. Quick posts are better than no posts
2. Lack of proper formatting is now okay
3. Keep it real, yo
I have been occasionally throwing up stuff on twitter and facebook, but I think this ol' blog is still good for something.
I have some exciting new goals and news and I think it will be more important to just get stuff down and worry about the "pretty" stuff later. So here goes unfiltered TST! Hold onto your hats, kids!
First off: Mother's Day is pretty much awesome. Woke up to breakfast in bed with my two kiddies and their awesome daddy that involved many different combinations of chocolate chip pancakes and lots of coffee. I'm off to a Mother's Day spin class at Psycle (my fave indoor studio) soon.
What have I been doing lately? In no particular order:
1. Being Mommy and Wife as best as I can
2. Being friend as much as possible
3. Teaching my butt off
The APUSH test is Wednesday. I will be very, very happy when it's over. Possibly even happier than them. They don't believe me, but I swear I worry about it more than they do!
What else have I been doing? Here is a sample:
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| Mr. "Doc" Unger, a WWII-Veteran and former P.O.W., speaks to my students about his experiences |
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| We heart play-doh |
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| Bug and his little buddy Norah race for the ball |
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| Hambone |
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| Mom's Day |
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| Easter Morning |
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| Bean on her balance bike |
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| Sunny girl |
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| My homies in the 'Noog |
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| Lots of fun training at CAMP this year! |
So things have been busy, but mostly good busy. A few challenges thrown in for good measure, of course. I've made a few decisions on racing that are still of course subject to change based on the way the wind blows, but right now, here's what I'm looking at.
Next weekend, I'll be leading the Pace Team for the sub-2 Half-Marathon group at the Cleveland Marathon! I am super excited about this. I love pacing and it's been a few years since I've done it.
I also am in the process of getting my Evotri Mommy Tris Too group going again. I'm in the recruitment process right now so stay tuned on that!
Finally, I know I mentioned I lost a pretty big chunk of weight. With that has come faster running times with the same effort. I've been looking back through my log and its pretty remarkable and exciting, too. Who knew, right? This old dog might have a few new tricks up her sleeve. So aside from racing a few local tris and attempting not to embarrass myself at Nationals this summer, I have officially changed my mind on Rev3. I just, quite simply, do not have the money to race a 70.3 this year. It is absolutely not possible. So what's cheaper than a 70.3 but still a challenge within reach?
Here is is: you heard it here first, folks: I will be racing the Columbus Marathon in October. And I bet you can guess what my goal is.
I'm feeling really confident on my run lately and have been shocking the heck out of myself. For example, last Tuesday, after Bug's soccer practice, I did a tempo run and beat a 5-mile PR I set at Malachi probably 7 years ago. On a Tuesday night. After dinner. And soccer practice.
My long runs shock me almost weekly. Yesterday I ran 12 miles with 4 of them at sub-8.
So the fire has been lit again for one more go at it. The time is the same for me now that I'm in the 35-year range--back at 3:40--kind of wishing it was 3:45 like it used to be, but whatever. Bring it.
It's good to be back, and I hope some of you want to come along for the ride. Giddyup!
Friday, March 08, 2013
Green Beer Day, 35 Year Old Style
Ack--it's been a LONG time! Sorry about that!
Coming up for air now--it's APUSH season, people, and that means every second I have that is not spent with my kids and Matt is usually grading or planning or copying or teaching my APUSH kids. And the World ones, too--no disrespect to my World kids....they just don't have a massive test this year to worry about.
The OGT (Ohio Graduation Tests) are next week, and T-2 months until the APUSH test. I need to take them from about 1940-2001 in 2 months. Hang on for the ride, kids, cuz it's about to get all crazy Cold War-ish up in herrrreeeee! Mind you my sophomores were born 4 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, which is both hilarious and quite scary to me all at the same time.
So my alma mater, Miami University, has this tradition called Green Beer Day. It's the Thursday before Spring Break. Basically, the bars open really early--like, 5:30am--and the beers go up by 10 cents an hour. I was only 21 for ONE Green Beer Day at Miami (the downfall of being so youthful, says old me now) and I was NOT GOING TO MISS IT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Except that I had not one, but two exams that day. One at 8, and one at 9:30. And that's just mean.
So here's what I did: met my friends out at 5:30, celebrated until approximately 7:20, stopped at Bagel and Deli for a bagel (might as well follow up liquid carbs with more carbs, says chubby college me!) grabbed a coffee, studied for 15 minutes, took Political Science Exam #1 (something on the EU, methinks) and then Political Science Exam #2 (I think this was comparative systems or some other such nonsense) at 9:30. Came home, slept until noon, and then woke up to my best friend Sammy jumping on my bed telling me it was time to go out again.
College. Sigh.
And I got an A on the first one and a B on the second!
So today, I did the 35 year old version of that. Taught all week, which means Friday I'm usually a zombie. Went to dinner with Matt and the kids, which is a three-ring circus in and of itself. Drank a delicious Hoegarden. One Hoegarden now equals about 5 green beers in plastic cups from 14 years ago, or something like that. Got home, layed down and watched 5 minutes of Backyardigans (gag) and then realized if I didn't run now it wasn't going to happen. Changed. Sleptwalked to treadmill.
Started at an 8:49 pace and dropped it down every 5 minutes so the last two miles were at tempo (just about 7:41).
NAILED IT.
Then did bedtime, and now am in mismatched pajamas and drinking some tea. Blogging. On a Friday night.
BECAUSE I'M THAT KIND OF ROCKSTAR.
Somewhere, 21 year old me is staring, jaw to the floor, plastic cup of green Natty Light in hand going, "Seriously? That's what growing up is?"
And as I kissed both kiddies in bed tonight, still smelly from my workout and burping up a little Hoegarden, I smiled and answered (Phineas-and-Ferb-Style), "Yes. Yes it is."
Coming up for air now--it's APUSH season, people, and that means every second I have that is not spent with my kids and Matt is usually grading or planning or copying or teaching my APUSH kids. And the World ones, too--no disrespect to my World kids....they just don't have a massive test this year to worry about.
The OGT (Ohio Graduation Tests) are next week, and T-2 months until the APUSH test. I need to take them from about 1940-2001 in 2 months. Hang on for the ride, kids, cuz it's about to get all crazy Cold War-ish up in herrrreeeee! Mind you my sophomores were born 4 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, which is both hilarious and quite scary to me all at the same time.
So my alma mater, Miami University, has this tradition called Green Beer Day. It's the Thursday before Spring Break. Basically, the bars open really early--like, 5:30am--and the beers go up by 10 cents an hour. I was only 21 for ONE Green Beer Day at Miami (the downfall of being so youthful, says old me now) and I was NOT GOING TO MISS IT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
Except that I had not one, but two exams that day. One at 8, and one at 9:30. And that's just mean.
So here's what I did: met my friends out at 5:30, celebrated until approximately 7:20, stopped at Bagel and Deli for a bagel (might as well follow up liquid carbs with more carbs, says chubby college me!) grabbed a coffee, studied for 15 minutes, took Political Science Exam #1 (something on the EU, methinks) and then Political Science Exam #2 (I think this was comparative systems or some other such nonsense) at 9:30. Came home, slept until noon, and then woke up to my best friend Sammy jumping on my bed telling me it was time to go out again.
College. Sigh.
And I got an A on the first one and a B on the second!
So today, I did the 35 year old version of that. Taught all week, which means Friday I'm usually a zombie. Went to dinner with Matt and the kids, which is a three-ring circus in and of itself. Drank a delicious Hoegarden. One Hoegarden now equals about 5 green beers in plastic cups from 14 years ago, or something like that. Got home, layed down and watched 5 minutes of Backyardigans (gag) and then realized if I didn't run now it wasn't going to happen. Changed. Sleptwalked to treadmill.
Started at an 8:49 pace and dropped it down every 5 minutes so the last two miles were at tempo (just about 7:41).
NAILED IT.
Then did bedtime, and now am in mismatched pajamas and drinking some tea. Blogging. On a Friday night.
BECAUSE I'M THAT KIND OF ROCKSTAR.
Somewhere, 21 year old me is staring, jaw to the floor, plastic cup of green Natty Light in hand going, "Seriously? That's what growing up is?"
And as I kissed both kiddies in bed tonight, still smelly from my workout and burping up a little Hoegarden, I smiled and answered (Phineas-and-Ferb-Style), "Yes. Yes it is."
Friday, February 01, 2013
Run for Regis Trail Half Marathon Race Report
ACK!
Hi, I'm the worst blogger ever! Almost a month went by?! How did I let that happen?
Oh yeah--it's called LIFE.
Anyway, sorry for the delay here. How about a race report that's been sitting in my post list for 2 1/2 weeks? Because I couldn't find the time to add the pictures? But I just did?
Cuz that's what you're going to get! Happy Groundhog Day to YOU! It's a present.
Anyway, life is awesome but busy as usual so I'll keep the rest of this short and post more later. After all, it's a BIG year--I just registered today for the Age Group National Championship, so it's ON! Yahoo! And today was a snow day, which was amazing.
Anyway, here's the report!
__________________________________
Oh, hey!
I ran a trail half marathon this weekend. That I found out I got into about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Without running on a single trail since, maybe early November. And not running more than 8.2 miles at once.
And somehow? I had an awesome day!
I definitely have some little weirdness in my left foot which I'm ON IT LIKE WHITE ON RICE that I am 110% sure is related to running on trails in trail shoes for 13.1 miles straight. But other than that? I felt pretty freaking amazingly awesome the entire time, and even ended up kind of negative-splitting it. I also set a course PR for me--the first time I ran this the snow was so bad I bailed at mile 8, and then last year was super cold and I finished somewhere in the 2:47 range. This year, my run time was 2:28.50 and my total time was 2:35 with my potty stops.
I am extremely happy with this, especially given my completely comical utter lack of preparation!
A little background: this is one of my favorite races as the time of year always ensures it will be challenging, both to stay motivated and to finish the run. The trails are in the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park which guarantees lots of hills, rocks, roots, and steep grades. But the trail race scene is pretty sweet--SO much more laid back than any road race, as all you trail peeps know. The RD, Tanya, gives a hilarious pre-race speech where she reiterates that ALL distances count. There are two loops of the course: one is a little over 8 mile and one is a bit over 4 miles. So, you can do any combination of the loops. On the finisher's list there were people who only did the 4.8 all the way up to the 50K'ers like my girl DaisyDuc who is a complete and total trail badass and my hero.
This year, we had a warm spell the week before so not only were the trails a TOTAL mud and muck-fest pretty much the entire way, but we all were running in shorts and tank tops! Yay for global warming! Not really...I keed. But I'm not going to lie...it was nice to wear short sleeves and tights.
TIGHTS? Why did I wear tights when it's 62 degrees?
See, people, I have a bad track record of trail races and falling. As in, I DO EVERY TIME. And with the mud being as bad as it was, I really didn't want to be a bloody mess like I was at Dances With Dirt. I knew if I wore tights, I wouldn't fall, but if I didn't, I would fall instantly.
For the first few miles, I ran nice and easy. I chatted it up with a girl named Hannah who was home from college doing her first trail race. Then I caught up to TriEric's wife Aimee and ran with her for a bit.
I saw ESpeed, Allenjel, Super Trail Girl Mel, and a few other cool people there, too! The volunteers were awesome. I spent a good 3 minutes or so in the potty (too much coffee! ha) and grabbed some HEED, an endurolyte (hilarious that I wanted this in January, but I'm quite the sweaty hot mess) and a handful of M&M's because YES.
Then we were off again!
Aimee told me she was only feeling one loop and urged me to take off, so I did. I felt really strong and picked up the pace a bit. I came in to get my tag marked at the end of the first loop and took off for the 2nd. It was pretty solitary out there but I loved every second of it! Mile 10 was my quickest mile at a sub-10, which given the mud conditions I was way happy with. I loved seeing signs that said "Steep Grade Ahead" as I knew I was in for some fun. I splashed through the muck and mud quagmires throughout most of the 2nd loop and totally gave up any hope of not getting my shoes completely covered and filled with mud. In fact, Sunday evening I was still trying to get mud out of my toenails despite socks, shoes, TWO showers, and an afternoon taking my kids to the pool. Yeah, it was that muddy.
SERIOUSLY. Look at that picture, and how NOT a trail runner I am. Do you see the dainty fingers? WTF is that all about? I was so afraid of falling that I think that is probably how I ran most of the race. HA!
Anyway, I smiled as much as I could, said hi to everyone I ran by, thanked all the volunteers, and in general just had a blast. My finishing time had me just about in the top 1/3 of all half marathon finishers (male and female) which is HILARIOUS. But I am way happy with that! I think I have some great fitness on the run right now and it's nice to see it pay off. Now I just need to keep it and NOT get injured like I have the past two springs.
It was SO fun to see all my trail buds and some of my tri buds, too. Everyone seemed to have a ton of fun and great days. And of course, the weather helped!
I definitely felt like I could keep going and going and just had a great day. I think some of this may have to do with the fact that I'm down almost 14 pounds now since September. I feel like that is something that definitely helps me on hills and hopefully that will help me on the bike, too.
All in all, two enthusiastic thumbs up and a great day! Can't wait to do it again next year. Now, if only I can actually train on trails...sigh. :)
Hi, I'm the worst blogger ever! Almost a month went by?! How did I let that happen?
Oh yeah--it's called LIFE.
Anyway, sorry for the delay here. How about a race report that's been sitting in my post list for 2 1/2 weeks? Because I couldn't find the time to add the pictures? But I just did?
Cuz that's what you're going to get! Happy Groundhog Day to YOU! It's a present.
Anyway, life is awesome but busy as usual so I'll keep the rest of this short and post more later. After all, it's a BIG year--I just registered today for the Age Group National Championship, so it's ON! Yahoo! And today was a snow day, which was amazing.
Anyway, here's the report!
__________________________________
Oh, hey!
I ran a trail half marathon this weekend. That I found out I got into about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Without running on a single trail since, maybe early November. And not running more than 8.2 miles at once.
And somehow? I had an awesome day!
I definitely have some little weirdness in my left foot which I'm ON IT LIKE WHITE ON RICE that I am 110% sure is related to running on trails in trail shoes for 13.1 miles straight. But other than that? I felt pretty freaking amazingly awesome the entire time, and even ended up kind of negative-splitting it. I also set a course PR for me--the first time I ran this the snow was so bad I bailed at mile 8, and then last year was super cold and I finished somewhere in the 2:47 range. This year, my run time was 2:28.50 and my total time was 2:35 with my potty stops.
I am extremely happy with this, especially given my completely comical utter lack of preparation!
A little background: this is one of my favorite races as the time of year always ensures it will be challenging, both to stay motivated and to finish the run. The trails are in the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park which guarantees lots of hills, rocks, roots, and steep grades. But the trail race scene is pretty sweet--SO much more laid back than any road race, as all you trail peeps know. The RD, Tanya, gives a hilarious pre-race speech where she reiterates that ALL distances count. There are two loops of the course: one is a little over 8 mile and one is a bit over 4 miles. So, you can do any combination of the loops. On the finisher's list there were people who only did the 4.8 all the way up to the 50K'ers like my girl DaisyDuc who is a complete and total trail badass and my hero.
This year, we had a warm spell the week before so not only were the trails a TOTAL mud and muck-fest pretty much the entire way, but we all were running in shorts and tank tops! Yay for global warming! Not really...I keed. But I'm not going to lie...it was nice to wear short sleeves and tights.
TIGHTS? Why did I wear tights when it's 62 degrees?
See, people, I have a bad track record of trail races and falling. As in, I DO EVERY TIME. And with the mud being as bad as it was, I really didn't want to be a bloody mess like I was at Dances With Dirt. I knew if I wore tights, I wouldn't fall, but if I didn't, I would fall instantly.
For the first few miles, I ran nice and easy. I chatted it up with a girl named Hannah who was home from college doing her first trail race. Then I caught up to TriEric's wife Aimee and ran with her for a bit.
I saw ESpeed, Allenjel, Super Trail Girl Mel, and a few other cool people there, too! The volunteers were awesome. I spent a good 3 minutes or so in the potty (too much coffee! ha) and grabbed some HEED, an endurolyte (hilarious that I wanted this in January, but I'm quite the sweaty hot mess) and a handful of M&M's because YES.
Then we were off again!
Aimee told me she was only feeling one loop and urged me to take off, so I did. I felt really strong and picked up the pace a bit. I came in to get my tag marked at the end of the first loop and took off for the 2nd. It was pretty solitary out there but I loved every second of it! Mile 10 was my quickest mile at a sub-10, which given the mud conditions I was way happy with. I loved seeing signs that said "Steep Grade Ahead" as I knew I was in for some fun. I splashed through the muck and mud quagmires throughout most of the 2nd loop and totally gave up any hope of not getting my shoes completely covered and filled with mud. In fact, Sunday evening I was still trying to get mud out of my toenails despite socks, shoes, TWO showers, and an afternoon taking my kids to the pool. Yeah, it was that muddy.
 |
| Not resembling anything remotely close to a trail runner |
 |
| Why do I look like I smell something funny here? Oh yeah, it might be ME. |
It was SO fun to see all my trail buds and some of my tri buds, too. Everyone seemed to have a ton of fun and great days. And of course, the weather helped!
I definitely felt like I could keep going and going and just had a great day. I think some of this may have to do with the fact that I'm down almost 14 pounds now since September. I feel like that is something that definitely helps me on hills and hopefully that will help me on the bike, too.
 |
| But the trails sho' are fun |
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Happy 2013!
Well, here we are...2013!
Otherwise known as the year in which I will have been writing on this blog for 8 years. EIGHT YEARS. Yeah, I can't believe it, either. Is anyone still out there that's been with me since the beginning? Can I hear it from my O.G.s in da HIZZOUSE?
Anyway, a lot's happened in 8 years.
But one thing remains the same: on New Year's Day, I shall taketh the ridiculous Polar Plunge into Lake Erie.
I mean, it's seriously less than a mile from my house. How can I pass this up?
Although I have to admit that this year, I thought about it. The air temp was 25F with a wind chill of 11, and the water temp was 38. Not to mention the copious amounts of snow we had on the ground.
But man up, I did! And although this was probably the coldest/most miserable Polar Plunge I've done (I think it ties the other really cold one) it was still fun.
I'm pretty excited about what 2013 will bring. First off, remember that whole thing where I was trying to drop a few pounds?
I'm down 12. TWELVE POUNDS! Yippee! I feel great and my clothes feel much better. I am almost to the point where I may need some new pants. Mostly it's just good to be a little leaner. I am at a weight that I don't think I've been at since maybe 10th grade or so. Hopefully now I can work on adding a little muscle.
Mostly I'm just so darn happy NOT to have a huge running race on the horizon. After two rough injury-laden springs where I've pretended I'm a runner, I decided to stick with what I do best. Training has been fun and I've really been looking forward to workouts. I am definitely a triathlete at heart. I hope to hit June raring to go this year instead of hobbling around and swearing a lot and saying "has anyone seen a pool lately? cuz I haven't" and just in general kicking lots of triathlon ass this year.
Happy 2013, everyone!
Otherwise known as the year in which I will have been writing on this blog for 8 years. EIGHT YEARS. Yeah, I can't believe it, either. Is anyone still out there that's been with me since the beginning? Can I hear it from my O.G.s in da HIZZOUSE?
Anyway, a lot's happened in 8 years.
But one thing remains the same: on New Year's Day, I shall taketh the ridiculous Polar Plunge into Lake Erie.
I mean, it's seriously less than a mile from my house. How can I pass this up?
Although I have to admit that this year, I thought about it. The air temp was 25F with a wind chill of 11, and the water temp was 38. Not to mention the copious amounts of snow we had on the ground.
But man up, I did! And although this was probably the coldest/most miserable Polar Plunge I've done (I think it ties the other really cold one) it was still fun.
 |
| Me and some of my other equally bat-$@#t crazy friends |
I'm pretty excited about what 2013 will bring. First off, remember that whole thing where I was trying to drop a few pounds?
I'm down 12. TWELVE POUNDS! Yippee! I feel great and my clothes feel much better. I am almost to the point where I may need some new pants. Mostly it's just good to be a little leaner. I am at a weight that I don't think I've been at since maybe 10th grade or so. Hopefully now I can work on adding a little muscle.
 |
| Someone needs to PUMP ME UP |
Happy 2013, everyone!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Major Award
I got a MAJOR AWARD in my email inbox today!
No, not that kind of award. It's not FRAGEEEEELAYYY.
I got IN to the Run for Regis Trail Half Marathon that I was previously waitlisted for! Me so happy! Me so happy!
Now, um, here's the problem though...I haven't run on trails since my pancake trail run with my buddies, like, 2 months ago, and I haven't gone more than 8 miles in forevah. Um, I guess I'd better get on that!
Yippee yahoo--it's a Christmas miracle :) Can't wait to run with all my friends on the beautiful course!
No, not that kind of award. It's not FRAGEEEEELAYYY.
I got IN to the Run for Regis Trail Half Marathon that I was previously waitlisted for! Me so happy! Me so happy!
Now, um, here's the problem though...I haven't run on trails since my pancake trail run with my buddies, like, 2 months ago, and I haven't gone more than 8 miles in forevah. Um, I guess I'd better get on that!
Yippee yahoo--it's a Christmas miracle :) Can't wait to run with all my friends on the beautiful course!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
This sums it all up
I always enjoy Christmas, of course, but there's something pretty amazing about celebrating Christmas with your 5-year-old and almost-3-year-old.
I think magical is the right word.
Merry Christmas, and I hope Santa was good to you!
I think magical is the right word.
Merry Christmas, and I hope Santa was good to you!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
What I've Gotten Myself Into
On April 20, 1999, I sat on our dilapidated plaid couch in the living room on 15 E. Vine Street. I was two weeks away from graduating with honors from Miami University with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education and a double-minor in History and Political Science.
I remember staring at the TV screen, slack-jawed, in disbelief. I had on a green backpack. It was a sunny day. I was getting ready to head out to one of my last classes as a student; the last before I was in the front of the room.
What is happening?
What have I signed up for?
I remember people saying things to me like, "Aren't you too smart to waste your career on teaching?" Some professors even tried to talk me out of it. I remember an Econ professor specifically trying to convince me to switch. "It's, of course, noble and all, but aren't you concerned...don't you worry about...wouldn't you like to do more?" That was always the theme.
I was going to waste it. My career, my brain, my time.
But it was noble and all, and don't get me wrong, they always said.
My first year teaching was both the most wonderful and most awful year of my life. I questioned what I had gotten myself into. I had 168 students in 6 classes. I was completely, utterly overwhelmed. I was far from home, and I was homesick. I was maybe, if I was lucky, 2 days ahead of the kids.
I started to get paperwork together for law school. I started to look into the LSAT.
But as the year went on, I figured out how to stay afloat. My mom would tell me advice and when I'd call, crying, saying "I have SO many papers I don't know what to do with all of them and how do I sleep and eat and how do I create more lessons when I'm buried under these papers?" I remember her saying "Stop giving them so many papers!"
So simple. It was an "aha" moment that year. I didn't have to do paper pushing. I could come up with meaningful assessments that were based on discussion, on analysis, and on higher-order thinking skills. You know--what I was trained to do.
So I did. And I loved it. And I realized that there was nothing--NOTHING--else in this entire world I wanted to do. I loved working with the kids, even if sometimes they drived me nuts and I drove them nuts. And although I relocated back to Cleveland at the end of that year I cried--really hard, actually--when I packed up that room at Oak Hills. Big fat tears rolled down my face when I read the cards the kids gave me and the scrapbook they made me. I still think about those kids often. Many of them have families of their own now; I know of at least one who is a history teacher himself. They will always be my first class. My first year that taught me so much.
I like to think I've gotten better over time, or at least I sure hope so. I refer to my students as "my kids" even though I was barely older than them when I started. I'm now 13 years into this career--1/3 of the way done, if I am lucky enough to keep doing this.
There is still nothing in this world I'd rather do. Despite the fact that I just read this article on the careers that give you the least return for your degree, and Education is #6.
Are you sure? I mean, it's noble and all, but....don't you think...wouldn't you rather...
No. Actually, no.
And from what I've seen, most of us here would answer that the same way. I was born a teacher. That's what I do. I know it may not "make sense" from a financial standpoint, but to do anything else would be a waste of my time.
I am here because I love it.
On October 2, 2007, I became a mother. I once heard that being a mother meant your heart forever walks around outside your body, and I think that's the closest I can come to describing it. In one instant, one moment, my entire framework changed. My wiring changed. My students were still "my kids," but Jackson became my heart and soul walking around, throwing temper tantrums, giving me hugs, digging mudpies, and spotting trucks. One moment, and my heart wasn't mine anymore.
Jackson is now five. He is sweet and strong-willed and determined and strong and funny and silly and inquisitive and five. Five. He is one year younger than most of the children killed in Connecticut. Had he been born a few days earlier, he would have been in kindergarten this year. But I got one more year to shield him from this world, this evil that I can't even talk about. One more year before I really have to let him know what he's getting into.
I purposely stayed away from the news the past five days. Yesterday, at lunch in the lunchroom, I politely excused myself when people began talking about it. Because I can't. I can type this and I'm only crying a little, but if I try to open my mouth and say these things either I will cry uncontrollably or go off on a vulgar, profanity-laced anti-assault weapons rant which I think we all know isn't necessarily the easy answer anyway.
I keep thinking of those parents who have gifts in their attic to wrap, like I do, that now don't matter. That still have crafts hanging on their fridge with little handprints on them. That, like me, probably got frustrated last week when their little girl or boy didn't want to wear THAT dress or put on THAT coat or eat that for dinner and NO! I'mnotgoingtobednow and suddently wish they could have that argument again, just once, just one more time.
The parents whose hearts that were walking outside of their body are now gone, and never coming back.
The brothers and sisters who are left behind.
I don't know how I'd feel if I didn't have a 5-year old right now. But having one made this feel like September 11 felt when I found out Kelly was on American Airlines Flight 11. All I can see is her face in that plaid seat on the plane, forever. And all I can see is my Jackson in a classroom. Terrified. Forever.
Some want to arm teachers like myself. I respectfully disagree. First off, I am trained as a teacher and as an educator; not as a marksman. Nor do I ever want to be.
The one story I did listen to, and really read, was of Vicki Soto. And it's given me nightmares lately (I haven't slept much since Friday) because I know I would do the exact same thing. If anyone were to threaten my kids in this classroom, I would snap into a fit of rage and I would do anything--ANYTHING--to stop them. And I think all of us would. Matt and I have even talked about getting some rope ladders for our rooms (both on the 2nd floor) to get our kids out safely, because like hell we're going to sit in here and passively wait to get shot. Simply locking the door and turning off the lights doesn't guarantee anything anymore. Not against this kind of illness and this kind of evil.
I would do what Vicki tried to do, and I wouldn't think twice about it. Because I know that when I send Jackson to kindergarten next year, his teachers would do it, too. We would all take a bullet for your kids. Our kids.
I don't know what the solution is here; there are so many failures and so many heartaches on so many levels. It is not an easy answer--that's for sure. I think we have to change our entire culture, which of course is pretty much the hardest thing to do in the universe. We have to change our attitude and our treatments toward mental health issues, we have to change our culture of consuming violence, we have to change our culture that says those who work with kids are wasting their time and those who can, do and those who can't, teach.
I know I'll be quite vocal in the coming weeks to my lawmakers on my thoughts of what to do to move forward. I won't share them here; that's not what I wanted to write here. I think I just needed to vent a bit on how it's been as a teacher and a mother of a five year old to watch these five days unfold. And wonder what we've gotten ourselves into.
And how, ultimately, we can all get out.
I remember staring at the TV screen, slack-jawed, in disbelief. I had on a green backpack. It was a sunny day. I was getting ready to head out to one of my last classes as a student; the last before I was in the front of the room.
What is happening?
What have I signed up for?
I remember people saying things to me like, "Aren't you too smart to waste your career on teaching?" Some professors even tried to talk me out of it. I remember an Econ professor specifically trying to convince me to switch. "It's, of course, noble and all, but aren't you concerned...don't you worry about...wouldn't you like to do more?" That was always the theme.
I was going to waste it. My career, my brain, my time.
But it was noble and all, and don't get me wrong, they always said.
My first year teaching was both the most wonderful and most awful year of my life. I questioned what I had gotten myself into. I had 168 students in 6 classes. I was completely, utterly overwhelmed. I was far from home, and I was homesick. I was maybe, if I was lucky, 2 days ahead of the kids.
I started to get paperwork together for law school. I started to look into the LSAT.
But as the year went on, I figured out how to stay afloat. My mom would tell me advice and when I'd call, crying, saying "I have SO many papers I don't know what to do with all of them and how do I sleep and eat and how do I create more lessons when I'm buried under these papers?" I remember her saying "Stop giving them so many papers!"
So simple. It was an "aha" moment that year. I didn't have to do paper pushing. I could come up with meaningful assessments that were based on discussion, on analysis, and on higher-order thinking skills. You know--what I was trained to do.
So I did. And I loved it. And I realized that there was nothing--NOTHING--else in this entire world I wanted to do. I loved working with the kids, even if sometimes they drived me nuts and I drove them nuts. And although I relocated back to Cleveland at the end of that year I cried--really hard, actually--when I packed up that room at Oak Hills. Big fat tears rolled down my face when I read the cards the kids gave me and the scrapbook they made me. I still think about those kids often. Many of them have families of their own now; I know of at least one who is a history teacher himself. They will always be my first class. My first year that taught me so much.
I like to think I've gotten better over time, or at least I sure hope so. I refer to my students as "my kids" even though I was barely older than them when I started. I'm now 13 years into this career--1/3 of the way done, if I am lucky enough to keep doing this.
There is still nothing in this world I'd rather do. Despite the fact that I just read this article on the careers that give you the least return for your degree, and Education is #6.
Are you sure? I mean, it's noble and all, but....don't you think...wouldn't you rather...
No. Actually, no.
And from what I've seen, most of us here would answer that the same way. I was born a teacher. That's what I do. I know it may not "make sense" from a financial standpoint, but to do anything else would be a waste of my time.
I am here because I love it.
On October 2, 2007, I became a mother. I once heard that being a mother meant your heart forever walks around outside your body, and I think that's the closest I can come to describing it. In one instant, one moment, my entire framework changed. My wiring changed. My students were still "my kids," but Jackson became my heart and soul walking around, throwing temper tantrums, giving me hugs, digging mudpies, and spotting trucks. One moment, and my heart wasn't mine anymore.
Jackson is now five. He is sweet and strong-willed and determined and strong and funny and silly and inquisitive and five. Five. He is one year younger than most of the children killed in Connecticut. Had he been born a few days earlier, he would have been in kindergarten this year. But I got one more year to shield him from this world, this evil that I can't even talk about. One more year before I really have to let him know what he's getting into.
I purposely stayed away from the news the past five days. Yesterday, at lunch in the lunchroom, I politely excused myself when people began talking about it. Because I can't. I can type this and I'm only crying a little, but if I try to open my mouth and say these things either I will cry uncontrollably or go off on a vulgar, profanity-laced anti-assault weapons rant which I think we all know isn't necessarily the easy answer anyway.
I keep thinking of those parents who have gifts in their attic to wrap, like I do, that now don't matter. That still have crafts hanging on their fridge with little handprints on them. That, like me, probably got frustrated last week when their little girl or boy didn't want to wear THAT dress or put on THAT coat or eat that for dinner and NO! I'mnotgoingtobednow and suddently wish they could have that argument again, just once, just one more time.
The parents whose hearts that were walking outside of their body are now gone, and never coming back.
The brothers and sisters who are left behind.
I don't know how I'd feel if I didn't have a 5-year old right now. But having one made this feel like September 11 felt when I found out Kelly was on American Airlines Flight 11. All I can see is her face in that plaid seat on the plane, forever. And all I can see is my Jackson in a classroom. Terrified. Forever.
Some want to arm teachers like myself. I respectfully disagree. First off, I am trained as a teacher and as an educator; not as a marksman. Nor do I ever want to be.
The one story I did listen to, and really read, was of Vicki Soto. And it's given me nightmares lately (I haven't slept much since Friday) because I know I would do the exact same thing. If anyone were to threaten my kids in this classroom, I would snap into a fit of rage and I would do anything--ANYTHING--to stop them. And I think all of us would. Matt and I have even talked about getting some rope ladders for our rooms (both on the 2nd floor) to get our kids out safely, because like hell we're going to sit in here and passively wait to get shot. Simply locking the door and turning off the lights doesn't guarantee anything anymore. Not against this kind of illness and this kind of evil.
I would do what Vicki tried to do, and I wouldn't think twice about it. Because I know that when I send Jackson to kindergarten next year, his teachers would do it, too. We would all take a bullet for your kids. Our kids.
I don't know what the solution is here; there are so many failures and so many heartaches on so many levels. It is not an easy answer--that's for sure. I think we have to change our entire culture, which of course is pretty much the hardest thing to do in the universe. We have to change our attitude and our treatments toward mental health issues, we have to change our culture of consuming violence, we have to change our culture that says those who work with kids are wasting their time and those who can, do and those who can't, teach.
I know I'll be quite vocal in the coming weeks to my lawmakers on my thoughts of what to do to move forward. I won't share them here; that's not what I wanted to write here. I think I just needed to vent a bit on how it's been as a teacher and a mother of a five year old to watch these five days unfold. And wonder what we've gotten ourselves into.
And how, ultimately, we can all get out.
Friday, December 14, 2012
An Early Christmas Gift!
Okay, so I am officially really really excited!
I found out that due to a rather lucky break, I qualified for the USAT Age Group Nationals next year!
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| Um, yeah, I didn't believe it at first, either |
How excited was I? So excited that I seriously thought it was a scam and asked Coach Emily if it was for realz.
Me? Really?
Turns out I qualified at Vermilion...and I had no idea that the race was even a qualifier! Shows you how clueless I am. Even though my age group was REALLY small, I won it, so I lucked out and got myself a spot! So, I understand that part of this is selling their race and all, but for someone like me who doesn't get out much and races mostly small and local, I think it sounds pretty fun. Now, operation "Don't Finish DFL" will be in full effect. Because, as long as I can get in on registration day, I am totally going! Driveable? How can I pass this up?
I never qualify for anything except free shipping!
What totally sealed the deal was that my teammate, the super awesome Rural Girl, will also be heading up, so it's going to be EPIC. Unfortunately, it's the same weekend as the Dells, so I won't be able to see my other Wisconsin Homies. But Michelle and I will still REPRESENT, yo.
I know it's a little silly, but I'm kind of ridiculously excited about this. Yippee!
Provided the world doesn't end next week, 2013 is gonna be pretty awesome.
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Ridiculously Grateful and Stuff
So I've been having one of those weekends (last weekend was like this, too) where I've been so lucky to be surrounded by good friends and family and lots of fun stuff. It's been really busy, but also really awesome. Work has been challenging and also insanely busy, yet really fulfilling. I know I am very lucky and blessed to have a job that both challenges me and one that I really do enjoy.
So I'm feeling a bit like a cheesy sap lately. Aw, shucks.
Last weekend, I had my super fun race followed by pancakes with friends, and then on Sunday I headed to a baby shower for a tri buddy and got lots of great time with some awesome girls.
I feel like now that life has settled in I've done a better job of getting out and being social. Last year I was sort of in survival mode and I think I sacrificed girl time quite a bit, and that's just no good. No good at all. I really am a fun person if I can get out! HA! So I've been really enjoying hanging out with some fabulous ladies and meeting some new ones, too.
This weekend, I had a date night with Matt on Friday where we went to Michael Symon's local place, B Spot, and I ate myself silly. I got a big fat cheeseburger, some amazing Lola fries (seasoned with rosemary....pure heaven) and a nice fat beer. It was delicious and worth every single calorie.
Then, we went to go see this, FINALLY:
So I'm feeling a bit like a cheesy sap lately. Aw, shucks.
Last weekend, I had my super fun race followed by pancakes with friends, and then on Sunday I headed to a baby shower for a tri buddy and got lots of great time with some awesome girls.
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| Some of the coolest--not to mention fastest!--chicks I know |
This weekend, I had a date night with Matt on Friday where we went to Michael Symon's local place, B Spot, and I ate myself silly. I got a big fat cheeseburger, some amazing Lola fries (seasoned with rosemary....pure heaven) and a nice fat beer. It was delicious and worth every single calorie.
Then, we went to go see this, FINALLY:
Not only do I not risk losing my APUSH Teacher Card after having two weeks go by before I see it, but it was AMAZING. If Daniel Day-Lewis does NOT get an Oscar for this, there's something seriously wrong with the universe.
Yesterday we had Breakfast with Santa, to which the five year old was still not *quite* sure about the big guy, but Little Bean LOVE!LOVE!LOVES! Santa:
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| No fear, whatsoever |
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| Bug isn't entirely sure, and Bean's Santa's BFF |
Then last night, we got to head to a friend's party where Santa made yet ANOTHER appearance! This time, Bug warmed up a little bit and actually (for the first time ever, I think) sat on Santa's lap:
Heading to the Cleveland Triathlon Club Winter Banquet tonight to see a few more cool tri peeps! So this will round out the weekend quite nicely. While Matt's at the Browns/Chief's game, I'm going to head to a friend's house to do a combined playdate/make a meal for our new Mommy friend Karen who just had baby #3--a little girl! Yay!
Somehow in there managed to squeeze in a good run with Ana, a good solid trainer session in the basement, and a swim in which I even busted out a few 100s with a halfway respectable time. Oh, yeah, and one more thing....
...I'm down 9.5 pounds.
:)
So I'm feeling pretty good and pretty excited for the tri season! This whole "train-like-a-triathlete" thing is making me pretty happy. I didn't realize that running less might be the key to having more fun with workouts. Further proof that I do, in fact, have "exercise-induced ADD" and that I am a triathlete at heart, fo' sho'.
Sunday, December 02, 2012
Race Report: Reindeer Run 5k
So, it wasn't a PR, or really what I know I can do.
But I am really still happy with this one.
I know! Doesn't really make sense, does it?
I shall explain....
I headed out to Lakewood Park to do what's become somewhat of an annual tradition with my running buddies: the Reindeer Run 5K followed by a gorging of pancakes at the Original House of Pancakes. I am not entirely sure they don't put crack in their pumpkin pancakes. I'm just sayin'.
Anyway, here I am with JenC three years ago running preggers:
Got up, rolled out, hit the bathroom nervously twice and then once more at a McDonald's on the way. (Nervous stomach much?)
Met up with some awesome people including my rockstar Mom, the ol' college roomie DaisyDuc, and my former partners-in-prenatal-crime JenC and Bridget who are BOTH preggers again! YAY! (Not me, though. Sorry. I love them and all, but not enough to have a third so we can time up our flip turns again.)
I tried to do everything just the way I did last year, when I PR'd by almost a minute over a time I never thought I'd ever be able to beat. NO COFFEE, nice long warmup of about 1.5 miles. Same old same old.
This time, though, I didn't have my super amazing pacer Nicole. She did all the work for me last year so I could just zone out and follow.
This time I was going to have to do it on my own.
I definitely got stuck back too far, which got me in the first mile a bit, but I hit the first mile in 7:12. Considering I was hoping for a 7:15 average, I was okay with that. It felt hard, but not too hard.
I kept going and definitely felt a bit like I was slowing down. Garmin showed me slowing down and I got pissed. I tried to HTFU and just focus and pick people off. Still, despite that, I definitely slowed down. Mile 2 was somewhere around 7:25 (I can't find my splits as my watch went MIA).
At this point, I tried to really remember what my student said about "the race starting at mile 3." I felt like I needed to pick it up so I really really tried. The thing is, I was still being kind of hesitant. I don't know if it's an endurance mentality thing I need to get over, but I never really felt like I put the hammer down and ran as hard as I could (until the last .1 mile when I was running well under 7 minute pace). Mile 3: somewhere around 7:40.
I turned the corner and had way too much left in the tank (I do remember Garmin said average pace was 6:42 for last 0.1, so that's too much in the tank fo' sho'). I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the clock time and hit my watch at 23:06. It wasn't my best, but it was only 14 seconds off my best ever. And I definitely haven't been doing much speedwork or pace work at all. Just a few fartleks here and there but that's it.
I was happy with this. Slightly disappointed I wasn't able to get 7:15s or run an even race again, yet reminding myself that to do that it's hard and requires specific training (tempo, speedwork, etc.) that I haven't been doing. All in all, to be 14 seconds off my best on December 1 is not too bad.
Afterward, my super fun (and fast) friend ESpeed was attempting to make me feel better about my time (I think she thought I was really sad, but I actually wasn't!) and told me that I shouldn't feel too badly as now I have the kids and stuff. Here's the thing though: I set the bar pretty high on this one, and I was just happy to be in the ballpark. 7:15 would have been very tough considering my best is 7:23. I still went 7:27. I do hate the "I-have-kids-now" excuse and try my hardest not to use it.
But I immediately caught her--and myself--and explained that this was actually a pretty awesome day for me. I know to fast people out there, 23 and change isn't anything to write home about, but bear with me here...truth be told, I've gone under 23:43 in a 5K exactly twice in my life and once was last year and once was today. And both times, I was significantly under 23:43. Age 34 and age 35, yo'.
What does that mean? A few things:
A) I must have totally been a slacker in my 20s (no surprises there) and
B) I can definitely go faster and
C) I need to give myself a big high five for doing this on my own this time. Progress is good.
If that's a "bad" day, I can't complain.
I was talking to Bridget over pancakes because she's had some CRAZY improvement in her 5K times and she told me that she finally realized how to run a 5K when she ran with speedy fast Salty as a pacer at last year's race. She told me that she was like, "Oh...so THIS is how it's supposed to feel." I don't think I really know that yet. I'm too conservative of a racer, which suits me well in longer distance but makes these short ones tough.
After she has a baby in less than a month (!) she and I made a pact to pick out a 5K and she'll help me figure that out. When it comes to this distance, I definitely get by with a little help from my friends.
Final standings had me placing 8/127, but over a minute back of the first 7 girls. Still, this tends to be a pretty stacked field and I am happy with that today!
If this is any indication of what's coming for next year, I think I am in good shape. Plus, seeing a bunch of my running friends is always awesome!
Got home, hung with the kiddos, and then last night even had time for my newest obsession:
But I am really still happy with this one.
I know! Doesn't really make sense, does it?
I shall explain....
I headed out to Lakewood Park to do what's become somewhat of an annual tradition with my running buddies: the Reindeer Run 5K followed by a gorging of pancakes at the Original House of Pancakes. I am not entirely sure they don't put crack in their pumpkin pancakes. I'm just sayin'.
Anyway, here I am with JenC three years ago running preggers:
And here's some pics from last year on my way to my current PR of 22:52!
Met up with some awesome people including my rockstar Mom, the ol' college roomie DaisyDuc, and my former partners-in-prenatal-crime JenC and Bridget who are BOTH preggers again! YAY! (Not me, though. Sorry. I love them and all, but not enough to have a third so we can time up our flip turns again.)
I tried to do everything just the way I did last year, when I PR'd by almost a minute over a time I never thought I'd ever be able to beat. NO COFFEE, nice long warmup of about 1.5 miles. Same old same old.
This time, though, I didn't have my super amazing pacer Nicole. She did all the work for me last year so I could just zone out and follow.
This time I was going to have to do it on my own.
I definitely got stuck back too far, which got me in the first mile a bit, but I hit the first mile in 7:12. Considering I was hoping for a 7:15 average, I was okay with that. It felt hard, but not too hard.
I kept going and definitely felt a bit like I was slowing down. Garmin showed me slowing down and I got pissed. I tried to HTFU and just focus and pick people off. Still, despite that, I definitely slowed down. Mile 2 was somewhere around 7:25 (I can't find my splits as my watch went MIA).
At this point, I tried to really remember what my student said about "the race starting at mile 3." I felt like I needed to pick it up so I really really tried. The thing is, I was still being kind of hesitant. I don't know if it's an endurance mentality thing I need to get over, but I never really felt like I put the hammer down and ran as hard as I could (until the last .1 mile when I was running well under 7 minute pace). Mile 3: somewhere around 7:40.
I turned the corner and had way too much left in the tank (I do remember Garmin said average pace was 6:42 for last 0.1, so that's too much in the tank fo' sho'). I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the clock time and hit my watch at 23:06. It wasn't my best, but it was only 14 seconds off my best ever. And I definitely haven't been doing much speedwork or pace work at all. Just a few fartleks here and there but that's it.
I was happy with this. Slightly disappointed I wasn't able to get 7:15s or run an even race again, yet reminding myself that to do that it's hard and requires specific training (tempo, speedwork, etc.) that I haven't been doing. All in all, to be 14 seconds off my best on December 1 is not too bad.
Afterward, my super fun (and fast) friend ESpeed was attempting to make me feel better about my time (I think she thought I was really sad, but I actually wasn't!) and told me that I shouldn't feel too badly as now I have the kids and stuff. Here's the thing though: I set the bar pretty high on this one, and I was just happy to be in the ballpark. 7:15 would have been very tough considering my best is 7:23. I still went 7:27. I do hate the "I-have-kids-now" excuse and try my hardest not to use it.
But I immediately caught her--and myself--and explained that this was actually a pretty awesome day for me. I know to fast people out there, 23 and change isn't anything to write home about, but bear with me here...truth be told, I've gone under 23:43 in a 5K exactly twice in my life and once was last year and once was today. And both times, I was significantly under 23:43. Age 34 and age 35, yo'.
What does that mean? A few things:
A) I must have totally been a slacker in my 20s (no surprises there) and
B) I can definitely go faster and
C) I need to give myself a big high five for doing this on my own this time. Progress is good.
If that's a "bad" day, I can't complain.
I was talking to Bridget over pancakes because she's had some CRAZY improvement in her 5K times and she told me that she finally realized how to run a 5K when she ran with speedy fast Salty as a pacer at last year's race. She told me that she was like, "Oh...so THIS is how it's supposed to feel." I don't think I really know that yet. I'm too conservative of a racer, which suits me well in longer distance but makes these short ones tough.
After she has a baby in less than a month (!) she and I made a pact to pick out a 5K and she'll help me figure that out. When it comes to this distance, I definitely get by with a little help from my friends.
Final standings had me placing 8/127, but over a minute back of the first 7 girls. Still, this tends to be a pretty stacked field and I am happy with that today!
If this is any indication of what's coming for next year, I think I am in good shape. Plus, seeing a bunch of my running friends is always awesome!
Got home, hung with the kiddos, and then last night even had time for my newest obsession:
This *might* make my previous addiction to 24 seem like NUTHIN. Sure makes for good watching on the trainer, though!
Happy first-week-of-December to all--get out there and do some training!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Operation Eat Like an Athlete, Volume 3
A couple of weeks ago I went to my super-cool friend Lori's birthday party at the Greenhouse Tavern (love!) and met her boyfriend Mehul. I'm not sure how we hadn't met before, because he rocks. He's a cyclist who loves his Vitamix and enjoys talking history. My kinda guy!
Anyway, last week Mehul facebooked me with a link to a Vitamix soup he and Lori made. Do you not have a Vitamix? You have some other blender? THROW IT AWAY AND GET ONE NOW.
Seriously--I loved my Vitamix before but now I love it even MORE MORE MORE because I can make soup in it. Like, start to finish. One blender. It even HEATS it for crying out loud! I didn't believe it either until I saw it myself.
My thing is to make a big vat of soup or stew in the winter on a weekend and then eat it all week for lunch. Nothing better than a big mug of soup, a piece of fruit or a salad, and a crusty roll. I can even eat that at my desk while I grade.
(Yes, I know you're not supposed to eat and grade and stuff, but there's only so many hours in the day...so don't do that. Relax and stuff. TST = Bad Example. Yeah.)
So when I saw the nutritional value on this soup: 110 calories, low-fat and high protein...I jumped. Plus, I heart all things black bean.
A few things: I didn't have a jalapeno, so I added a palmful of chili powder and a few drops of Tabasco. I also, at Mehul's suggestion, added more garlic and more veggie stock.
The result? Steamy, hot, tasty goodness in my Vitamix. And then in my tummy.
The best part is it tastes really creamy and full of fat, but it totally is not! I love tricking myself.
This will be a keeper during the winter and spring months for sure, and will make a tasty post-run lunch!
Anyway, last week Mehul facebooked me with a link to a Vitamix soup he and Lori made. Do you not have a Vitamix? You have some other blender? THROW IT AWAY AND GET ONE NOW.
Seriously--I loved my Vitamix before but now I love it even MORE MORE MORE because I can make soup in it. Like, start to finish. One blender. It even HEATS it for crying out loud! I didn't believe it either until I saw it myself.
My thing is to make a big vat of soup or stew in the winter on a weekend and then eat it all week for lunch. Nothing better than a big mug of soup, a piece of fruit or a salad, and a crusty roll. I can even eat that at my desk while I grade.
(Yes, I know you're not supposed to eat and grade and stuff, but there's only so many hours in the day...so don't do that. Relax and stuff. TST = Bad Example. Yeah.)
So when I saw the nutritional value on this soup: 110 calories, low-fat and high protein...I jumped. Plus, I heart all things black bean.
A few things: I didn't have a jalapeno, so I added a palmful of chili powder and a few drops of Tabasco. I also, at Mehul's suggestion, added more garlic and more veggie stock.
The result? Steamy, hot, tasty goodness in my Vitamix. And then in my tummy.
The best part is it tastes really creamy and full of fat, but it totally is not! I love tricking myself.
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| Not the greatest picture, but trust me on this one: TASTEEEEEEE. |
Friday, November 23, 2012
A Pace Report: The Turkey Dash 5K
Yes. I cheated on Great Lakes Christmas Ale. I'm sorry, GL. It was tasty. You're still my #1.
Anyway, I headed out with Best Friend and my parents because my mom was running too, of course. I wore my sparkly yellow skirt just because. There was a guy in complete Native American chief garb including a well-stocked supply of bows and arrows at the start. Some people were definitely more creative than I was...
Pappy wanted to go for about 9 minute pace, but I told him I wanted to sneak him in under 9s. :) BF wanted to run 10 minute miles since it "was cold." I told her it wasn't cold and she should run with us, but she was insistent. I told her we'd start slow and maybe get faster after that, so hopefully she could just hang with us. She's a former soccer player so I know she's a tough chick.
Anyway, we went off and it was a total cluster for the first 1/2 mile or so. I tried not to go to fast (always a challenge for me) because I knew Pappy was depending on me not to screw up. BF wanted to slow down a bit so I ran with her but she instructed me to go on ahead. So, I ran up to Pappy with the goal of getting him in under 9s.
The first mile he ran an 8:54! Yay, Pappy! He didn't even seem winded. He could still answer my questions and talk a bit, so I decided to pick it up just a *teensy* bit.
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| Action shot mid-race! Go Pappy Go! |
Our second mile was an 8:43! He was still doing fabulous. I asked him if he wanted to know his pace and he said no, which was probably good because I didn't want to freak him out.
I tried to just keep talking and tell him how much he was kicking butt and how he was definitely going to PR, it was just a matter of how much (his previous PR was a 29:09). We turned the corner and hit mile 3 in 8:32! Then I told him to kick it up with whatever he had left. He crossed the line in 27:17! YAHOOOOOOOO! I was very proud of him. :)
I turned around and headed out to find BF and she was like 20 seconds behind us! She did awesome and if I had known she was that close I would have gotten her before. She really ran a fabulous race and I think I might have even talked her into the Reindeer Run. Yay!
Went out to find my Mom and found her earlier than I thought and looking really strong! We ran in together and I believe she had a PR--unofficially I think she snuck in under 34 minutes! YAY Mom!
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| My Mom (or is it my sister?!) and I with BF at the finish |
All in all, we had a great time and I enjoyed helping everyone else reach their goals! Now, hopefully I can reach mine next weekend. :)
It was 61 degrees and sunny so after I had the Turkey prepped and ready to go, I simply HAD TO SNEAK OUT FOR A RIDE. There was really no question about it. I jumped on the QR CD0.1 and did a quick 17 miles along the lake where I was very irresponsible and took a few pictures:
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| ARE YOU SERIOUS, THANKSGIVING?! I get to ride in this? This is a HAPPY face |
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| About as daring as I got while I rode. Look at that sky! Me likey |
Now it's sunny but a little cold, and tomorrow we're supposed to have some snow, but I don't care. I got to get out not once but TWICE on Thanksgiving and I definitely earned my fair share of pie!
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