Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

This is how I feel right now..

Monday, September 26, 2011

Monday Blues

I've got the monday blues after the weekend I had.  I am not ready for the week to start.

Besides falling up the stairs, this was one of the worst weekends I had in a while.

Because of that, I am thankful for the family and friends who are there for me.

For the family members that will drop what they are doing to make sure they can drive for 3 days to join me in Savannah, GA without even hesitating.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Marathon Training: Long Run: 15 miles

This week came and gone very quickly and before I knew it, it was Saturday...

Friday after work we found out about schedule changes for teachers.  I went to Grillsmith for a quick dinner of breadsticks, water, pasta and grilled chicken.  Came home, got ready for Saturday's run and went to bed.

Saturday we met at Flatwoods park for Jessica's 20 miler.  I had no clue what I was running.  I had every intention of running 16-18 miles, but was told I was only doing 14.  It's funny that I use the word only, and that I asked for more miles.  What have I become?  A running machine? I think not.

We got started around 5:30 for out outside the park run of 6 miles.  Boy was it muddy.  I was slipping and sliding all over the place, and not to mention how dark it was.  I was not a fan of the outside park for 6 miles.  3 is O.K.  Jessica and I used Home Depot as a bathroom break talked about my fears for race day then made our way to the park.

Once inside the park, I was on to tackle 8 more miles.  I started talking to PJ and Jim who are training for the Disneyworld Marathon.  They were nice enough to run with me, but once we got to the bridge it was ALL down stream from there.  The bridge it flooded very often and we have to take the bridge over, but this time it was beyond flooded.  We had to take our shoes and socks off to cross.  I am not a fan of this one bit.  I am weird.  I will not go to a water park without water shoes (hence me not ever going).  I have no problem walking outside barefoot, but too many peoples feet are yucky.  We had to do the same thing on the way back.  It felt nice and cool, it was a lot of fun to see everyone else do it.
The flooding was much worse than this, as it filled up the bridge.  We had to derobe to get over.

Miles 8-12 flew by talking to new people.  Mile 13-14 was great talking to Lyle and Cindy about teaching, Savannah, etc.  It made the miles fly by.  I as feeling well that I went back to look for Jessica and Teresa.  Jessica was still flying at mile 19.5 when I ran her in for her last half, being her personal assistant with her gadgets,( thats where I got my extra mile in) then Teresa came in and we were off to Panera Bread.

I am not going to lie, after Panera I went to Michaels then had to drive through Dunkin Donuts for a Pumpkin Muffin...Delish

Saturday Morning was great:)

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Three Things Thursday: A thankful weekend

This week I am thankful for:

1. As a University of South Florida Alumni..GO BULLS!! Football is back!!  That means friends, beer and always a good time


2. With the above, I am thankful for Girls Nights!! This weekend, after 15 miles a bunch of us got together at the local drinking establishment for some football.  It was great to make time to see those who I do not have the opportunity to see very often.  This is an old picture as I forgot to take pictures this weekend.

Yet, only three of the girls pictured above I went out with, those girls, we always have each other's back.  
3.  Lastly, I am thankful for adult beverages.  That stands alone:) and usually without saying.  

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

T.V Tuesday

Ahh, Fall T.V has begun!

Not that I watch T.V anyway.  If I do, it is on the weekends watching the food channel, or watching Jersey Shore DVRed while I lesson plan or grade papers.  But now it's time for my favorite shows to be back on.  I am not sure when I am going to have the chance to watch T.V because as I am writing this post all I am thinking about is going to bed, but knowing The biggest loser and Glee will be on tonight, and which one do I watch?  Yup..while I have 146 "letter's to hero's" to proof read and edit, they sit in my bag that I brought upstairs even though I did not get home till 7:30ish.  And this is only Tuesday night.  Luckily I do not even know what is on T.V except for Thursday Grey's, Private Practice and Jersey shore!


What T.V shows are on your must watch list?

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Marathon Training: Long Run: 15 miles

This weekend was a 14 mile run at flatwoods park.  With that being said, Friday was a crazy day to say the least.  I did not leave work till 6:30 and still can't even imagine how many additional hours I will spend grading this week.  When I got home I made dinner, packed my bag for Saturday morning, made my bread and peanut butter for breakfast, made my smoothie and stuck it in the Freezer, picked out my clothes and was ready for bed!  Yes, I am lame, and I know it!  Friday one of my friends, Heather, came into town so I stayed up late to say hello when her and my roommate came back from dinner.  By late I mean I said hello, chatted for a few minutes and was back in bed by 8:40ish.

Saturday mornings alway come too quickly, it was 5:05 before I knew it.  It was up to the bathroom to get washed, dressed, hair pinned back, glided up, get my smoothie and into the car I was.  In the car came my breakfast of sandwich thins and peanut butter, water, and a Cliff GU- Strawberry flavored with caffeine.  I am not a fan of the GU's or anything that I need to run long distances, but I know I have to start trying them, and therefore I did.

Flatwoods Sunrise
It was 6:22 before we started running, and right before we got started, my Garmin beeped telling me low battery.  GREAT! and I have Polar in my gym bag for the gym which I went to get, then remembered I brought my gym bag upstairs the night before.

Deer at mile 4..First mile inside the park
We were off, 3 miles outside the park then 11 inside..Yes that equals 14 miles, you are correct, but the title of this post is 15..hmm.. I will get to that part shortly..Keep reading.

I enjoy running flatwoods a lot, for me, knowing there are water stations every 2 miles, gives me the motivation to keep going because I can stop shortly for a mini break.  The people there are so friendly, and stop and talk to you, and tell you to "keep going" or "you're looking good", and the scenery is beautiful, especially watching the sunrise.  I always see a familiar face.  This week was Andrea, who I trained with last year with TNT, and this year she is training for Chicago.

And then the bad part happened. (And NO, it is not this picture which was bad)
Hot air balloons welcoming us to a fabulous 15 mile run.

If you are grossed out easily, please stop reading.  

My stomach decided it should start cramping up around mile 7.75 and hurt so bad I had to stop and walk.  I knew I had to go potty.  I knew I was approaching the back entrance shortly and someone told me it was about .5 miles away from the water, it was .6, but I made it there quickly.  I didn't know if I should run or walk, and I made it just in time.  I was scared I was going to have to call my coach and have her pick me up at the back entrance.  I didn't think I could move, crouched over in pain.  But when I was done, I was a few pounds lighter, and there was nothing left in me:)  I was back to hydrating and on my way, or so I thought.  I ran about a mile or so, and started cramping again.  I was just painful.  I was upset because as much as I wanted to run, my tummy did not want me to:(

That whole scenario added another mile to my run.

At mile 11, Teresa and Grace were waiting for me.  And unfortunately for all of us, it took us much longer than I wanted it to, we had to walk about 3.5 of the 4 miles because of my stupid tum tum.

Anyway, I felt good afterwards, it still took me under 4 hours, my Garmin did not die until mile 13ish, and we had Panera for breakfast.

I still am unsure what caused the tummy issues, I have always had stomach problems, I do not know if everything just wanted to come out then, eating breakfast or eating a GU?

Thoughts?  Ideas?

Anyway, that was my run, I had a great day seeing friends

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

It's the climb

Thank you, Miley Cyrus for this post.

For all of you who do not know me, I am such a teeny bopper.  And yes, I have Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus on my Ipod.

Today, I managed to actually get up at 5am for a 5 mile run on the treadmill.  I have never been to my "new" gym, L.A. fitness in the mornings yet, and wanted to give that a try.  I also knew I had to work late today and who knew if I was going to make it to a run this afternoon, so 5am it was.

As I was running along, The Climb by Miley Cyrus came on! And this song is one of my favorites.  You can here the song here.  But the lyrics really got me thinking about this whole Marathon craziness and this explains it perfectly.
"Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb"

It doesn't matter how long it takes me to finish.  If it takes me 4 hours (I wish) or 6 hours, you know what?  I am going to cross that finish line, even if I need to crawl.
It's not what waiting on the other side (well sort of..)  Who cares about a medal?  OK yes we do!!  But it's the journey that got me to that finish line.  The fundraising, the training, the long hours, the friends I have made, the people I have inspired, the people who inspire me.  It's the ups and downs through the whole process.  It's what's getting me to the finish line.  

I say you finish reading the song.  Whether you like it or not, I always find it inpirational and go the extra mile:)
How does it describe something you do?  I can keep on going for every line, but I am sure you won't read it, so here is the lyrics

The Climb lyrics
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing
Keep the faith, baby
It's all about, it's all about the climb
Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/miley-cyrus-lyrics/the-climb-lyrics.html ]

Monday, September 12, 2011

Marathon Training: Long Run: 17 miles: Getting your head in the game

Getting your head into the game I found to be the most important part of training for a marathon, or anything for that matter.

I am currently training for my first full marathon.  I will be headed to Savannah, GA for the Rock N Roll Series with Team in Training.

My goal: Completion.  I have no time goal set, even though I would like to finish in under 6 hours.  I laugh thinking about how many hours I will be running and how many meals I would normally eat in that time period.. Yup, I like to eat:)

After last week's (AMAZING) 14 miler I was so scared and dreading 18 miles.  But I got up at 4am and headed towards Bayshore Blvfd. for a 5:30am start.  For all you non Floridians, it's hot down here.

My biggest mistake this week was talking myself out of it!  I did not want to be there for the run, I was hoping the weather would cancel the run.  It I would have talked myself into running, I believe it would have made life a lot easier.  Getting your head into the game is something I have to learn to do, think positively.  That is my goal:)

On Friday night I packed my bags, even made breakfast (I managed to eat half of it, as I am not a morning eater but apparently I need to learn to fuel 'cause I will hit the wall early).  I walked out the door and saw it was raining, boy was I annoyed.  I passed some lightening on my drive, hydrated as well.  When I got to Bayshore it was NOT raining.

Sunrise Along Bayshore
It was time to begin my longest run to date.  It was a rough morning.  I think I talked myself out of it all week, that I wasn't going to be able to finish and how much it would hurt.  Well it did hurt, and I did finish (well, 17.1 miles) .  By mile 8.5 I was done for, I wanted to stop, I didn't want to keep going.  Luckily, it was out and back so I had no choice.  At mile 11.5 I ran into Jessica again and she got me through the next mile, and actually pretty quickly.  We ran over a bridge and on the way back the operator told us they were opening, it would be a while before we can get back over.  It was perfect as we were just headed back.  After mile 14 I walked and jogged and walked and jogged.  At mile 15 my coach Teresa found me and we jogged and walked back. 4 hours later we were finally done.

Getting ready for a weekend of Rememberence
I was so happy to be done!! Not because I accomplished my longest run, but because my body didn't want to go any further.  When it was nap time later that day, I kept waking up because my toes hurt so bad and to be touched by the sheet.

Here are some pictures snapped by other teammates that I "borrowed".



Steel beams from the World Trace Center


Happy Running.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembering today

Today is 9.11.11.  Ten years ago there was a terrorist attack on the United States.  An attack the country affected by all.  Today we remember what happened. I remember at how lucky I am and we are as a country.

Here is part of my story.



I was born and raised in New York, I was in Staten Island at the time. I was in Chemistry class and Dr. Goldberg quickly walked outside the classroom to talk to another teacher. He walked back in and told us one of the World Trade Center Buildings was hit by a plane.  We continued our lesson, I thought nothing of this.  I actually thought it was a joke.  During lunch, I heard someone talk about this and in my head I thought she was crazy for believing this.  Luckily I didn't open my big mouth and set her straight.  In 7th period, my music teacher, Mrs. Currie, told us there was a terrorist attack on the city and the Twin Towers.  She began to cry, the class began to cry.  There was no judging, we were all vulnerable.  My next biggest concern was getting home.  I took the bus home and was scared that during my mile walk home, I would somehow be attached.  I didn't know what to think. Once I got home I turned the TV on, there were no shows on because towers were down, the only thing playing was Live footage of what was happening in NYC.  Cell phone lines were down, people were not able to get in touch with their family.  My dad was supposed to be at a job site that morning at the World Trace Center, he luckily had to go for a blood test and missed it.  A business partner went in his place.  Since phones were down, no one knew if he survived or not for over 24 hours.  He did, he was able to get in there early and finish right before the first plane struck.  I had a good friend at the time, Brittany whose cousin was a firefighter.  He never made it home.  Friends and neighbors were firefighters and rushed to the scene.  It did not matter if they were sick or injured.  There was no question, one was not asked to go, it was all on for weeks.  The city and state and country was in a state of turmoil.  That is my story.

This is a picture from my run this Saturday.  Preparing for a Walk for Freedom.

I am lucky enough to had the opportunity to teach my students, on Friday, about the hero's of 9/11.  I didn't want to dwell on the "bad" but the every day heros who happened to be there and were able to help strangers.

40% of families never got to say goodbye, because 40% of the people were never found.  That is what the news just told me as I am watching the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremonies.

I am not a crier, I am not an emotional person, but this is one of the only times I get emotional, whether hearing or seeing the events.  I am surprised I made it through class, although I did not make it through homeroom and the TV production show.
(Future)Memorial Freedom Tower


What are you doing to remember September 11, 2001?

On a happier note, Happy Birthday to my kitty cats, Amos and Andy!!! The big 1-4!!!

Friday, September 9, 2011

My first post :)

How original am I, I name my first post, "My first post"!  Yup, that is me..Real Original.

Well, as the title states, this is my first and I do not really know how to begin it.  My friends call me G-Money, my family calls me Goosey, and my students call me Ms. H.  This is not my first blog, I started one a little over a year ago to document my training for my first half marathon.  You can find that here.  That was too complicated to keep up, so I hope to keep this one going.
I am currently a first year teacher as well as a first time marathoner.  I am training with Team In Training to complete Rock N Roll Savannah on November 5, 2011.  I was never a runner but one year my New Years Resolution was to run a 5k, I did that and figured, what was next.  Next came the half marathon and I completed 3 Halves and figured, mine as well go for a full.  And that is where I am now, training for my first FULL MARATHON.. Let me remind you, I was NEVER a runner!

I start this blog the night before I am supposed will run 18 miles.  This will be my longest run EVER.  I am nervous as I am busy hydrating and carbo loading!.  I have to mentally be ready, and that is the hardest part.  So many blogs have inspired me to start a blog and keep going.  I hope to inspire someone, whether is be to run a little longer, further are start journaling their runs!

Happy running and I can't wait to hear all of your feedback:)