Short But Sweet (in so many ways!)

I did a sweet run last night. No picture - and here's why.

I found a SWEET deal on a Garmin 305 on Amazon. SWEET deal. So, I bought it. I couldn't get the damn thing to go last night. I was having a crazy hard time setting it and the direction manual was NOT helping me. I went running with someone new last night and was rushing around - so didn't even get my Nike+ going.

BUT - my newest running partner is a speed demon! She would have slowed up for me no problem, but I went ahead and we just went. Since I don't have a time (BUMMER!) I can't confirm this. I didn't really even look at the clock before we left. HOWEVER, I know we went faster than usual. I felt AMAZING afterwards. But I'm SORE today!

Hmm could I CAPITALIZE anymore words?

My knees are also bothering me, but I iced them last night using the Walgreens ice packs - because The Biggest Loser told me too - and it worked really well. My left foot is also sore - I have a history of tendonitis in that foot, so I'll have to keep a watch on that!

But I still felt GREAT! Taking a day off tonight and running again tomorrow :)

Even though...

This morning was horrible. My kids are both sick again, it's near impossible for me to stay home with them, my husband had to teach today (he's a college professor), and I just feel horrible about that all the time.

I was in a complete tizzy this morning, ended up having a total meltdown, and was completely unprofessional at work (although nobody else seems to think that...)

I came home right after school and skipped a meeting I was supposed to present at because my sweet mom, who came over to watch the kids, needed to be somewhere at 4.

I was exhausted.

And moody.

And my head was throbbing.

I sat in the dining room for a little while by myself and thought about how sorry I feel for myself.

Then, my sweet hubby came home and started making suggestions of things I could do - one of them was run, which I didn't do yesterday for many of same aforementioned reasons.

So I just did it. I quickly got dressed and went for a run - and here it is:



I'm still not in a great mood - in fact, while I was running I was imagining taking a picture of myself flipping off the camera.

But I didn't.

And when I go to bed tonight, I will be grateful for a few things:

1) The support of people at work
2) The fact that even though my day sucked, the learning that occurred in my classroom was actually quite good
3) My husband who honestly puts up with a lot
4) The fact that I did it! I went for the run!

Dear....

Dear Steak-n-Shake,

Seriously, I think I am over you. Really really over you. Getting over you is all a part of my process.

Love,
Teachermama

Dear Students Who Challenge Me Everyday,

I love the challenge. Thank you.

Love,
Teachermama

Dear Half Mary Training Schedule,

I need to redo you so I have a day between running and weights. No More Trouble Zones you rule me. When I conquer you I will be tough and buff no doubt!

Love,
Teachermama

Dear Overnight Oats,

I am really really really looking forward to eating you tomorrow!

Love,
Teachermama

Dear Bad Day,

You are officially over.

GOOD NIGHT!

Love,
Teachermama

I'm still here!

My life, since I've gone back to school, is really unbelievable. Today on my run (see post below), I realized that since I've been off for my two week break, quite a few things happened:

1) I hosted our staff party. Not a huge deal, but makes your mind work hard for sure!
2) Our house got broken into - while we were home. (Horrible night. Everything is fine, nothing was taken but man was it scary! We now have a dog and alarm system)
3) We had to ask someone to resign at work. Asking teachers to resign in the middle of the year is a really hard decision to make. It simply wasn't working and if our school is going to work, we need teachers who are truly dedicated to it. This decision and the aftermath wore on my mind quite a bit over break.
4) Celebrated the holidays (thank God we didn't travel!)
5) It ended up being decided that I would take over the teacher's position until we found the best possible person. COMPLETE job switch in the middle of the school year! I've been teaching for 13 year and know what I'm doing, but still it took me quite a bit of time to adjust (like the past two weeks)
6) I am now writing progress reports for kids I taught for 2 weeks. That's next to impossible. I am seriously in progress report hell.

Last night I was exhausted. I barely remember going to bed. BUT, today was a great day. I went for a great run, ate great meals with my family, took a nap, and Ryan organized every single toy and book in the house. AWESOME! There are a few posts below. Enjoy!

First Official Training Run

So, I'm signed up to do the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in May. I can hardly wait! I created my final training schedule on Friday. I've decided to use Jeff Galloway's half training program. I like that he thinks about preventing injury, and my legs can become a wreck if I don't take it easy. So, that's the plan. I'm so excited!

On the docket for today was a 3 miler. And I did it! I went with a friend who hadn't run in awhile. We walked a bit more than I would have liked, but I still felt like I had a great workout. 3 miles at a 12:18 pace (too much walking).



We ran a three mile loop along the canal in downtown Indianapolis. This was our view during most of the run.



Even in the gloomy morning, the canal was awesome. You run past great houses, the Indiana State Museum, the NCAA headquarters and Hall of Champions::


Oh how I wish I would have taken NCAA softball more seriously. I was more into drinking my freshman year - annoying!

and at various points can come up from the canal and see the State House. This is a backside view of it at the end of our run!


I think the Indiana State House is a beautiful building. I don't always love what happens inside, but the building itself is just beautiful!

I felt great - and was cooooold on my ride home (I drove about 10 minutes to meet her there). Tomorrow we are going to meet again. I don't have an official run on my schedule, but would love to go again. I'll probably take Monday off and make sure I do an awesome STRETCH :)

Haven't Run in Forever...

We got a bunch of snow. Not anything like when we lived in Wisconsin, but enough that if sidewalks weren't shoveled, it was going to be impossible to run. Plus I swear Central Indiana shuts down when it snows half an inch! I could have gone to the Y - we put our membership on hold and I would have to pay...plus I really HATE running on the treadmill - it just wasn't happening. I LOVE snow - but when you need to be running, snow isn't such a great thing!

The best part about snow! THIS!




We took the kids sledding last weekend with my brother. They loved it but they got cooooooold! Look at Adelyn's sweet face!



However, in the end, sledding is quite the workout - especially on a pretty long, steep hill! I definitely felt like I had worked out at the end of that afternoon!

Six O'Clock Scramble

Ok, so we heard about this thing called The Six O'Clock Scramble. It's where you get a newsletter once a week that has 5 recipes listed and a shopping list to go with it. The shopping list is broken down into the categories of essentials (like flour, butter, salt, etc.), shelved items (like spices, pastas, etc.), produce, meat....and I think that's it. You can pick and choose what you want to print. For example, if a meal simply cannot be made vegetarian, I choose not to print it. Not only does the recipe not print, the shopping list doesn't include the ingredients from that meal! Plus, most of the meals are for 6-8 servings (some are for only 4) and we had LOTS leftover for lunches! IT IS AMAZING!

The biggest thing? The recipes are SUPER healthy! I mean, SUPER healthy. All of the nutritional information is included - for just the main dish and also for if you choose to use the sides she recommends. On this week's menu is Quinoa and Black Bean Burritos. Anyone who knows about quinoa gets an A+ in my book. I love the stuff!

We got a two year subscription for something like $65.00. We've only been using it for a week, but last week we spent $56.00 on groceries, only went to the store once, and I didn't have to do any thinking.

One of the downsides if lack of room of creativity. I LOVE looking through cookbooks and trying new recipes. However, this week, every recipe was new, and something I would have tried anyway if it was presented to me. So in the end, the convenience factor has definitely won out! Bottom line is, if I'm planning a special meal or something, I'll use my many cookbooks!

I printed off next week's shopping list today. I chose 3 recipes and my shopping tomorrow is going to be soooo easy!

I HIGHLY recommend checking it out. You can do just a 3 month subscription to give it a try. We went ahead and paid for the 2 years. Nothing wrong with just having it!