NYC Half Marathon training week 2

Slow down! Slow down! TIME

I swear, I can’t catch my breath!  It’s already the last week of the semester and the stress of students testing is ridiculous.   I want them to do amazing (Why don't some students care if they do well?)- I need AP students :)

Just wanted to show my pinterest fail 

We are already in the second week of the new year and I just completed my second week of half marathon training.  Wasn't yesterday just Thanksgiving?

This week of NYC Half Marathon training went surprisingly well.

Many days this week the weather was nice.  I was also put on steroids last week and I was told I may have kick ass workouts while I was on them, yea, I believe that to be true!  

I didn’t know how this week would go with being back to work and staying up way to long creating review games, etc. for my students.  By Wednesday, I was in bed with the lights out at 7:45.  Unfortunately I was not sleep till 9 but hey, I will take it!

To keep it short, here is how this week went

Monday: 4 miles, two at tempo.  9:42, 9:29- I am hoping this isn’t JUST because of the roids

Wednesday: 3 mile recovery

Thursday:  7 mile long run @ 11:20 pace - I am so tired I was so surprised by this.  (Shark week also came the next day, TMI- which could be why this was a faster paced run for me)

Saturday: 3 mile recovery with Behn

Sunday: 2.7  I was surprised I made it that far.  It was miserable!  This Florida humidity is truly killing me slowly!

Thats how my week went, how was your week?

This week my students test and we start getting ready for 150 new students in my classes! WooHoo!

This week I also hope to start making plans to go to NY to run this race.  Anyone else plan on being there?

Oh, and happy half birthday to me!

Welcome Toby!

Just three weeks ago we welcomed this handsome child into our lives~

Hi, I am Toby!

If you don't follow me on social media (you should) you would see that I am the crazy cat lady!

One day while changing the name on my drivers license after work I decided it was smart for me to wonder down the block into the local animal shelter.  That was either a stupid or a smart decision.  I wouldn't call myself an animal lover but I would call myself a little crazy.

At the Vet, i am such a good boy.

I am not sure what made me decide to go there, maybe it was the fact that I believed Joey needed a friend, but I went in and looked at the kitties and puppies.  Yup, worst idea EVER!  I want them all and knew that wasn't possible.  I played with one cat that I fell in love with, it actually wasn't Toby.

I love belly rubs

This cat was just brought to the shelter that morning to be released back out because he was feral.  This cat was so loving!  I made Behn meet me at the Shelter on Wednesday incase he was going to be released Thursday, unfortunately when the cat looked at another cat he would hiss.  We didn't know if this was due to stress being in the small cages with so much other activity or because that was him.  We knew we couldn't take the chance with Joey, Behn found a similar (very handsome cat) that we took out and loved on.  This cat's name was Toby.  

When I was thinking about getting another cat I knew I wanted to name it either Toby or Boe because I think it goes with Joey.  Once I was his name I knew we had to get it, and yup he is the newest member of the family.

Joey wasn't immediately a fan of Toby but now they

I may have hip dysphasia but I can get up here! Hi Foot

yea, mom and I are bestie now

are best buddies!!! I know I will blog more about these cuties soon but our family is complete, for now, until I make another trip to the animal rescue.

Clearly up to no good

I've also filled out the paperwork to volunteer but I haven't heard back yet.

Also,

Adopt don't shop.  I promise you I will judge you if you shop, I just won't say anything to your face!

Have you ever adopted a pet?  Have you ever volunteered at a pet rescue?

Why I hired a Run Coach

Hi there!  How was everyones weekend, mine was too short of course and it was depressing knowing it was time to go back to work :(

On Saturday I posted how I was accepted and and mow training for the NYC half Marathon and hired a run coach.

At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to apply for this, if I was chosen that would mean an added expense this year of flying up, possibly getting a hotel room (I love love love staying with my family but this time I would be with a friend), the endless shopping and eating in New York.  It also meant training again for a half marathon.  

Ever since February I really haven’t enjoyed running.  It began to be a task, the weather was getting warm, and I was burnt out.  Instead I joined orange theory fitness because I liked the way it made me feel, it pushed me outside my comfort zone and I wanted to tone up for the wedding and the cruise.  I lived for going to classes, seeing if I can get my heart rate into the orange zone, how high can I get my calories?.  

I decided to give it a go and once my friend Diana and I were notified we had gotten into the race she contacted our old team in training coach for a plan, she sent that to me and we were ready to go because she is also training for New Orleans half marathon (GO DIANA!)  I know myself and I know I am not accountable. If someone isn’t checking up on me, if I don’t have specific workouts, and paces to hit; it isn’t going to get done and I slack of.  I need specifics, its just me and it's how I work.

I have been reading Abby’s blog for a long time now and followed her running journey, her ups and her downs and it resonated with me.  Abby is very relatable, at least from reading her blog.  I knew she was getting certified to be a run coach and knew she would be the perfect fit for me.  

I was also too scared to ask Coach Steve to make me a plan and coach me again, I feel like I have let him down by not following a plan he made for me when I was supposed to run a race in October.  I didn’t have to heart to run it, I wasn’t prepared, and I knew it wouldn’t make me happy.  I also need some coddling right now.  And, I didn’t want to disappoint him. I also didn’t want to feel obligated to run with a specific group for long runs or speed work.

Abby and I spoke, I sent her my info and the next day she had a plan for me!  I am super excited to start and in my opinion, I rocked the first week!  I love how quickly everything went.  

This is me "stretching" at Disney

Side note, this is why I can't play those games on your phone that need another partner, I can't wait!  

I can’t remember the last time I trained for a stand alone half marathon so running less than 20 miles a week is so weird!  I don’t plan to PR this half marathon because I am not in PR shape, but if I do, hey!!! I definitely plan to use this race to see where I am physically. I want to do Dopey in 2017 (It has been a goal since it was announced)  and after Dopey I hope I can PR having all those extra miles on my legs. - I guess I should start saving.

Here’s to 2016!!!

One Joey picture for good measure!

I will certainly keep you all updated with my training, I am the worst at remembering to take pictures so they may be sparse and hopefully I won’t be too boring!

NYC Half Marathon training week 1 + a trip to the clinic

Well, this Sunday didn’t start off the way it was supposed to.  First, it’s the day before we have to go back to work :( and I was supposed to meet my cousin for lunch over in Orlando.

On Friday my ear and jaw started hurting, I thought maybe allergies but the pain hasn’t subsided yet so I knew this morning I had to make my way to the walk in clinic knowing I had to go back to work tomorrow.  It hurts to open my mouth, to chew, drink, sleep, talk.. I love to talk and well, tomorrow we begin reviewing for finals.  I hate going to a doctor I am not familiar with, especially a walk in clinic.  When I walked in I thought I was going to leave with more than I came in with.  Oh Well!

I started my morning with my 2 mile recovery run and it was drizzling, windy, and a but chilly but I warmed up by mile 1.5 and then I was done, showered and off to the clinic.  

They prescribed me the same medicine my cat is on, we are twinzies!  While I was waiting I bought some potato chips and when the meds were still not done, I decided it was after noon and I needed a snack!

Keeping it classy!

Today completed my first week of NYC Half Marathon training and here is how it went:

Monday: 4 miles - 1 warm up, 1 cool down, 2 at tempo  (We don’t have a tempo pace yet because I have no idea where my fitness was

Tuesday: Rest - DONE, like a BOSS!

Wednesday: 3 Recovery

Thursday: Orange Theory Fitness, I almost died

Friday: I recovered and rested like a boss, again!

Saturday: Long Run 6 miles in the wind, and rain.  11:41 pace which was almost 50 seconds faster that last weeks long run (Last week was miserable)

Sunday: 2 mile recover

Overall: This week was a nice training week, especially with being off from work.  I managed 17.3 miles (Which include my miles at OTF)

How did your weekend go?

Any great plans during the week? - I just have a few doctors appointments and getting acclimated to work again.

happy new year!

Happy New Year!  

Are you tired of hearing that yet?  We are constantly being reminded on all our social media sites, Facebook, twitter, instagram, but I guarantee I will be writing 2015 for a few months.

How was your 2015?  How was your New Years?  

I have to say my 2015 was pretty spectacular.  My students are wonderful, we adopted 2 beautiful kitties, I got married, and during the last week of 2015 I finally found my running mojo.

It has been so long since I've been here, to be exact it was October so I should catch everyone up on things that went on.

August I had my bachelorette party that my best bridesmaids planned and threw and it was so much fun!  It was great to get to see some friends I don’t get to see too often and wear tutus and party :)

The girls relaxing poolside with a selfie stick

My amazing sorority sisters

In October, I went up to New York and my aunt threw me a fabulous bridal shower!  it was great to get to see family since many did not come to the wedding.

Not the best but sister, mom, me, and aunt in NY

No caption needed

November,  My mom, sister, and a few bridesmaids threw me my bridal shower and the day was absolutely perfect!  We are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives. 

Bridesmaids

Behn and I got married and it was perfect!  Well marrying him was perfect but the actual day was a HOT MESS!  We are still talking to Carnival Cruise lines about so many of the wrongs and all I want is for them to take some responsibility.  Yea, I would not recommend going that route for a wedding but it did come highly recommended to us.    With that we also went on a cruise, it was a blast.

Surprise cake for hubby

Welcome dinner...

In December, I was accepted to run the NYC Half marathon again and I am so excited about that.  I lost my running mojo back in February after running the Gasprilla challenge and getting into this race was just what I needed to get my up and going.  I hired Abby as my coach and I am looking forward to working with her.  (I'll talk more about that decision on 

another post)

We also celebrated Joey's birthday and tomorrow we will have had him for exactly 1 year

We also adopted our Toby to make us a family of four.

Just chillaxin at the vets

That purse is mine?

I really cannot wait to see what 2016 holds for my little family!

I will certainly go into many more details about all that is gong on but wanted to give you a quick recap of the last few months.

What resolutions or goals have you made this year?  

Mine is to be happy and healthy

How was your 2015?