Wing Thing 5K

It's been gorgeous all week, and today...LAKE EFFECT SNOW! I hadn't signed up for this race, but my WRF (Work Running Friend) had asked if I wanted to do it, and although I did that virtual 5k on the treadmill, I definitely enjoy a real run instead for my November race.

Check out that snow!

We drove through a complete white-out to get to the registration, but by the time we started running it was much better out.

I was really nervous about slipping and sliding, but once I found my rythym I had a blast!  I stuck with my friend the whole race, and there were a lot of walkers, so we're pretty sure we placed, but we had to leave before awards.  Oh well!



Ahahha, I took this while running.  With my gloves on.  So goofy!

 So, I got an official race in for November and I got over my fear of running on actual snow.  (Last winter I would only run if the roads were clear..we may get 5-foot snow banks, but they do a pretty good job of clearing it!

There's another 5K next weekend, and it's supposed to be a holiday run  and will take care of my December race.  I really want to dress up, but I have nothing to make myself Christmas-y in running clothes.  I will probably have to settle for a santa hat or something.  Any ideas?

Here's how I looked at the end of today's run:

This kind of sums up my day...but it would have been much worse if I hadn't gotten that run in.  The students are WILD since we only have a two day week.  So today was the unorganized mess that Monday usually is, combined with the Thursday crazies.  I needed my after work run. 

Then we had our staff meeting...which ran over.  So I turned to my WRF and sadly told her I just didn't have time to change and go.  Not totally true.  I could have changed, but then the only running I would have time for was to my car.  Which was pretty far, since I was running late this morning and had to park at the parking lot at the bottom of the hill.  Which made me late for homerooom...etc, etc.

I picked up the kidlets, where T promptly burst into tears because I gave him the wrong lunch pail.  (No, not the wrong lunch...just the wrong lunch pail)  We got new ones from a zulily deal, those ones with the ice packs built in.  They're pretty nifty, and I wish I had gotten on for me and the husband as well, but I just got one for each of the boys.  Well, I was in a hurry, and I grabbed the wrong one for his lunch (A bought his lunch). 

The Offending Pack It

 

Obviously T was over tired from a long crazy day at school, because he's usually pretty easy going.  But we have been having tantrum problems lately (both him and me...so...the apple doesn't fall far and all....) so I hugged it out with him and then he rested on the couch.  I was so annoyed at that point I knew I NEEDED to run, so I changed and headed to the basement to do the virtual 5K I signed up for last week.  Ugh.  33:3 for my time.  (hence the lovely face in the first picture).  In my defense I have not run in the basement for quite some time.  And it was in the dark. 

My awesome treadmill view.  You're jealous. 

 



And between the husband calling me in the middle of it to see if I still wanted him to stop at the store on the way home, and A running down stairs every 3 minutes to watch me (in a "I'm sneaking up on you-stalker kind of way that made me practically scream and fly off the treadmill every time so I had to threaten to ground him if he did it again) and I was messing with my audio the whole time (stitcher app was not working, so I tried NPR, and finally resorted to the radio) I guess it wasn't so bad...and I didn't run at all last week after my euphoric Monday run (what gives?).

 

Oh well.  Not the greatest finish ever, but I was relatively tired and numb to the whining of the kids when I finished, and I rolled with it when the husband came home and said that after dinner we had to drive into town to drop off his car to be repaired (he hit a deer a month ago, and finally made the appointment).  So in that regard, the run was successful to keeping Mama from losing her cool.  And all thoughts of stuffing my face with chocolate or opening the bottle of wine that's for Thanksgiving dinner. 

 

 

Totally getting in an outdoor run today!  I MUST!  I told WRF I would change before the after school session so I could tutor 10th period in my running clothes and then just GO when the bell rings!  We'll see how that works out for me!

 

Also, committed to run a 5K this weekend, and am going to do that Christmasy 5K the first weekend in December, so I'm feeling back on track!

Never let a Monday go by where you skip a work out

Especially not a gorgeous 60 degree Monday!  I was stuck inside all Sunday, so was super sad to find the weather had been warm, and I totally missed a run.  Also, I had not been out running since Tuesday...and the leg twitchiness I get that makes me want to run had gone from bad to not so bad....which is awful!  Because once that gotta get out the door feeling is gone-it means hibernation mode is kicking in and I'm DONE FOR!

So this morning (thank you to my dear husband, and all other veterans) I used my extra weekend day and made myself get out there.

It was just 3.5 miles...and I walked a couple times (these sinuses are messing with me.  Another good reason to get out there...clean my breathing out before it turns into an actual sickness!) But I feel good and feel like I will be back on track.  Yeay!

You know that saying...

I'm not sure they are actual sayings, or just something that sticks in my head from all of my re-readings of Run Like a Mother or any of the other running books/blogs I read (both geared towards mother runners and women alike).

Don't Think, Just Go (That's definitely runlikeamother speak)

The only work out you regret is the one you didn't do. (not sure where that's from)

I'm sure there are more, but these are the two that  are haunting me this morning.  This week the only running goal I had in mind was to complete the virtual run4nyc.  I paid my donation to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief, and signed up for the half marathon, thinking that it was not sacrilege to run it in chunks if that's what I had time to do, instead of all at once, being that it was to honor/support a good cause and not truly a 'race' (not that I would be in contention for any sort of award anyway...so who does it hurt if I do it over the course of a few days?)

I started out well:  Sunday I did 5 miles. 

Monday I did 2.5 after work before my union meeting.  So sorry to the other building reps who were at my table...I was a sweaty stinky mess!

Tuesday I bailed because I had to come home and add wood to the fire before heading to my Spanish class.  (We have an outdoor wood boiler we use this time of year and the husband is working 10 hour days with an hour and a half commute...so the fire would be out by the time he got home with me headed to my class that night) And I had to leave time to vote of course!

Wednesday I had promised a former student I would be in my classroom because she wanted to come visit and high school students are not allowed to enter the building while the middle schoolers are there.  So I stayed like I promised and had a nice visit with her and made her feel good (sometimes that's more important)

Thursday I had parent-teacher conferences where I got to be the parent.  It was nice to hear such great things about my children.  And the only negatives were that my little one (Kindergartner) is kind of talkative.  (Gee, I wonder where he gets that from?!  LOL) and my older one (3rd grade) is sort of flighty and in his own world and perhaps some enrichment activities would help that?  (I'm all for enrichment and he is ready for some...but the kid's a dreamer, loves to make up stories and he tells them in his head to himself all day long....I don't think much will change that.  He totally gets that from my Mom I think!) 

Friday I decided to try and get report card grades done after work instead of a run so that I wouldn't have them hanging over my head the entire long weekend.  It almost worked....I have one class to go of six.  It's maybe half an hours worth of work ahead of me, no biggie.  Sort of glad I stayed, but.....

Today.  Today is Saturday.  My kids were going to go with he husband to hunt.  (no, not REALLY to hunt!  I know they're not old enough!!!)  Today is the day he goes down south and puts in his tree stand and he and his father and his friend and friend's dad all head down and make a big outing of it.  They tromp through the woods and have a 'hunter's lunch' (all kinds of venison processed meats...grody, but they love it....and cheese and crackers and stuff).  It's like a manly picnic or something.  A went, but T changed his mind and now he's home.  Fine.  I was GOING to go crank out 6 miles today after they left....and instead I'm here, going to finish those grades and going to clean the kitchen in the hopes that they will get home in daylight hours so I can still go outside to run.  Maybe if T takes a nap I will hop on the treadmill for a bit, but I love/hate that thing and when there's not ice or snowbanks I superdislike being on there.  sigh.

Long story short:   At the time the decisions were sound to not go running, but today all I see are missed opportunities.  Also, I have no idea when our 'times' are due for the virtual race...and I have only half of the half marathon complete...it's sad to get a DNF on a VIRTUAL race for crying out loud!!!

Totally don't have the hang of blogging from my phone!

I downloaded the blogger app on my phone last week, and totally thought I was posting quirky little mini-posts all week...but, nope!  All my thumb-text-typing was for naught, because it is nowhere to be found.  Oh well.  It wasn't that exciting of a week anyway.  I'll give it to you in an nut shell: (FYI: I usually have a really big nutshell...I have never been good at summarzing briefly.  Sorry!)

I talked to our new WRF, and she told me that we should in no way feel bad, she always walks a bit after each mile (and around the one mile mark was when she walked a little, now that I think about it) and she figured she would get left behind anyway, and she feels the same way about being looped back around for as I do.  (phew!)  She didn't join us this week, but the weather was pretty crappy (remnants of Sandy) and her schedule was full.  Hopefully soon!

I finished out last week by going solo on Friday afternoon, thinking I would do an easy 2.5 mile loop through town, but then I chose to run hills instead.  I don't know what possessed me, but I ran 6 hill repeats and managed to do my last two faster than my first.  I felt like a rock star! A sweaty mess of a rock star, but awesome nonetheless!

I ran not a single step last weekend, although I feel now like I should have, but I did 5 days in a row after work, and still am currently with out training plan, so it felt right at the time. 

Monday many schools in our area closed early (some deciding the day before even) due to Hurricane Sandy.  My school was a hold out until aorund 9:00, then we got word we were being dismissed at noon, thus allowing both bus runs (the elementary schools would dismiss at 1) to be done before the predicted high winds came through.  It was dark and creepy out all morning, with wind gusts beginning, but after I ate lunch once the kids were dismissed (I take a lunch duty during my lunch, and it's hard to eat while patrolling the cafeteria for misbehaviors so I usually eat during my planning period right before the end of the day, which was cancelled due to early dismissal) I thought I would hang in my classroom and get some paperwork done; it's the end of the marking period almost, and I am terrible about staying on top of the necessary paperwork.  I got it all set up, and immediately felt figity.  Our principal gave us all permission to go home once the busses were underway, and I could tell I was one of the only ones left in the building.  I heard "Don't think, just go" in my head and as soon as I changed into my running clothes I knew I made the right decision.  I had that "One Last Run" feeling coursing through me as I headed out the door.  No one knew how bad this storm was going to be and what if this was my one chance for the week to get out there? What if we lost power and I couldn't even use my treadmill?  What if power lines came down and it was too dangerous to go for a run?  So I went, and I loved every minute of it!  I did the big park loop, and the outer town loop and estimate I did about 5 miles before getting to my car.  I saw lots of people out walking their dogs and a couple other runners, all of whom called out greetings through the whipping wind along the lines of "How could you NOT be out here right now?" and "One last good run!" 

The big storm never really hit here....some winds and a little rain where I live.  Other parts of our community were not as lucky, with trees and power lines down and some localized flooding, but nothing like I was preparing for.  Also happy to report my brother in nyc, though without power for a number of days, and flooding just a block or two from his apartment, is fine.  This week I will be running the virtual race  which is raising money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, not just in NYC but in Jersey as well (throught the American Red Cross).  I want to do more than the 5K but I don't think I have time all at once, and since it's a virtual race, I think I'm not unjustified in breaking it into chunks.  I think I'm going to register for the half marathon and add a few runs together to make it.  I haven't been keeping my milage up, or I would do the marathon.  Although...maybe I can.  I'll tell you what I end up doing!

I only ran Friday of this past week after that one good run on Monday.  I had my stuff most days, but meetings and end of term paperwork got in my way.  I also stocked my running bag with indoor work out apparel, and a couple Jillian Michaels DVDs.  I used to work out with a friend at work, in our classrooms after the kids go home, and when the weather turns and it's darker earlier, sometimes it's more practical to get our sweat on without going anywhere.  I also know that once I get my kids, there's very little chance I'll actually get a work out in.  (That's also the reason I used to exercise in the morning after the husband left for work, but before the kids got up...somehow I got out of that habit...so that's going to have to become a priority).

My older son had a friend over for the weekened,and my younger son went to a friend's house, so I haven't gotten out.  I should have gone this morning, but stayed in bed because everyone was still asleep and the bed was warm....only to find out that the husband had made hunting plans for the day (from 10:00 on...) so unless I hit the treadmill....looks like no run for me today either.  Oh well.  With the virtual run, I will map out a good plan for the week and get going.