Hi! Remember me? The girl that made the commitment to keep writing? Well I did take some time off from writing, but I did NOT take all this time off from running. (I took some off from running though). I’ve been doing a hybrid of gym running and outdoor running. In case you forgot, I’m in Arizona and it’s that time of year weather wise. It’s not quite as hot as Satan’s butthole yet, but it’s getting there. I’ve just had a lot going on that made it difficult for me to run for a little while. This past year has been…eventful to say the least.
I joined EOS Fitness because a few of the girls from school workout there, and so do a bunch of people from job 2. There are also MULTIPLE locations of said gym so I have no excuse not to go. The plan was/is to go with them before school some days. You know what they say though, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plan”.
Now that it’s summer and I’m off from school (not job 2), I haven’t seen many of my school friends. Granted it’s only 3 weeks into summer and I was in Vegas for the first week. We have texted and made plans to hang out, go to lunch, workout, whatever, but so far I think we’ve all just kind of been recovering from the school year.
Sadly, my other friend group that I had from my old school…imploded (for lack of a better word) and I’m not hanging with them anymore. (It’s a long story that I’m not going to go into). So the friend that I used to work out with the most constantly, is no longer in my life. I do have another friend who happens to go to my same gym, but we can’t get our schedules lined up to get a workout in together. When I do go there, I usually just use the treadmill and leave. It’s generally too crowded and to be honest, and more than a little intimidating. I am not super comfortable there alone.
But I digress. I have been running steadily for the last few weeks. I even went and bought new shoes because my other new shoes (that I got in January) seem to be giving me shin splints. I was getting very frustrated with all of the rest days I was having to take. I was worried that maybe I was going to be stuck running one day a week, taking a week off to recover and then running when my legs felt better; but I’ve been able to run for the last two weeks with the new shoes and have not had issues! I went to my favorite local running store (Sole Sports in Tempe Arizona!) and I ended up going from the Brooks Ghost, to the Brooks Adrenaline for a little added extra support. That must’ve been what I needed!
So the last two weeks I’ve been running pretty steadily. It helps that we are doing a healthy, “activity” challenge at my second job. It’s company-wide (so basically globally there are thousands of people employed). We are in teams of 4 and we push each other to complete several goals for calories burned, time in said healthy activity, and a stand goal. My goal is moving enough to burn 370 calories, exercising for 30 minutes, and standing once an hour for 12 hours (the goals are set by the app we use based on our individual biometrics). I still use my Garmin Forerunner 745 when I run, but I also put my Apple Watch on my other wrist to help monitor and to see how similar the information is from both devices.
Sidebar….I mean, I like my Garmin, but I’m not super into all the stats and everything that I can get from the Garmin and I know for a fact I don’t know half of what it’s capable of because I don’t utilize it. I don’t even know what half of the information I can get from my run even means. When I got my first Apple Watch back when I was running all the time, (I think it was the first generation watch). I didn’t love it because it didn’t have the data that I want and it ended up dying about 3/4 of the way through a marathon I ran with my friend Chris. There have been SO many improvements on the Apple Watch since the first iteration I’m hoping I can ditch the Garmin eventually and just use my Apple Watch!
Okay back to the original post…. So for the month of June we are competing to meet those healthy activity goals. Honestly there isn’t a huge prize and there are so many people competing I don’t expect to end up in the top 30% much less the top 5. For me it’s more about the motivation and the camaraderie of encouraging a teammate to get their ass in gear.
It’s definitely encouraged me to be more active this summer. Even on the days where I am still just utterly exhausted and feel like I just need a rest day, I try to get at least some activity in to make my goals. I may not exceed my goals on those days (like I do on run days) but at least I’m getting moving. I also started lifting weights again and found that my apartment gym has a nice selection of free weights as well as a lot of other equipment (yes-I moved! This will be part of my next post so stay tuned!)
Just as a side note I have to keep going back and editing this post to remove specific details about workouts/runs as it’s been a couple of days working on it. I go back to read it and find I’ve written, “Today I ran x amount of miles” when it’s not actually today anymore. I’m actually writing this post and another one simultaneously because it’s been so long since I’ve written and I have so much going on in my head that’s demanding to come out-haha.
On that note I think I’ll sign off for now because the next post will be jam-packed and I want to focus on that! Catch you on the flip-side!
School is out for the summer! Thus ends my first year teaching junior high. After 14 in elementary my year was, for sure different! I loved it though. It reignited my spark and I was happy to go to school again. I had last week off and then went back this week for planning and professional development throughout most of the moth of June. I may have 2 weeks or so in July where I don’t have anything going on, and then I go back to begin getting ready for the 2022-2023 school year. Whoever says teachers have 3 months off is full of crap.
First of all, there are only two months out of the year when we don’t have students-June and July. The kids in our district come back to school August 3rd this year. That means our teacher contracts begin in July. There are some (a very small minority) who take the full two months off and refuse to do anything school related. Sometimes I envy those people, but they are the ones scrambling when school starts back up in the “fall” (August is still summer to me). Most of us spend the month of June planning curriculum for the next year and working on professional development courses to earn recertification hours so we can keep our certificates up to date.
Then there are those single people like me who have to carry a second job to make ends meet during the summer when we aren’t getting paid. During the summer months I open up my availability at job 2 completely. I figure they are so great about working with me during the school year with my limited availability, that I can return the favor by not having any restrictions on my schedule for the 2 months that I’m ”off”. Of course I have to finagle my schedule for my planning hours and work around my PD classes, but I still make it work so it’s satisfactory for them and me.
I joined the gym two weeks ago. I’m hoping that will keep me running this summer so I won’t lose any of my (slow) progress that I’ve made so far. Of course I will have to figure out when I can get there between work, planning hours and PD classes. Maybe I can just get up early and go before I have to be anywhere. It wouldn’t be any different than me having to get up and go for a run early in the morning before it gets too hot I suppose. Hopefully this won’t be just another gym membership that I pay for but don’t actually use haha.
I went to the chiropractor the last Friday of school to address the weird issue with my shoulder blade. He was more concerned with the fact that I get headaches 2-3 times a week, but he did tell me that I have 3 ribs out and my body moves like it’s encased in concrete on my right side. Yay me!
I told him I was nervous about getting my neck adjusted because I went to a chiropractor a few years ago and he adjusted my neck. By the time I made it out to the parking lot I had a raging headache that lasted for about a week and I was sick to my stomach for 3 days. Normally people would be a little gun-shy and say chiropractic care is not for them because that happened, but I’ve done it on and off for years, and I fully believe in it.
He was very gentle with me and told me my neck needed to be worked on, but he was going to take it slow. I don’t know if it was coincidence or not, but I woke up the next morning feeling like garbage. It was my first weekend to kick off my summer break and I had requested the whole weekend off from my second job. Luckily, I was off because I ended up spending the whole weekend in bed. I was miserable. I had body aches, by Saturday night I had a fever of almost 102. I couldn’t get comfortable and my head was just pounding so badly.
I took two covid rapid tests just to be sure because I felt like it came out of nowhere. They were both negative thankfully. I ended up calling in sick that following Monday night to my second job and I probably should have called in sick on Tuesday because I still didn’t feel that great. I didn’t have a fever anymore but I still didn’t have an appetite and my stomach was just blah. A week later I still didn’t feel 100”% when I went back for the second appointment.
I like this chiropractor because instead of just throwing me down on the table and adjusting me, he actually sits and talks to me to find out how I’m feeling, where I’m having issues, how I’m sleeping, etc. He took time to talk with me and then adjusted me. He told me I was really tight again. I tried to relax while he was doing it, but I knew when he got to my ribs there was going to be a lot of pressure. He also set me up with some physical therapy afterward. It’s basically a bunch of stretches and then I get hooked up to the tens unit (stick pads with electrodes on them that are attached to a machine that sends current into your body).
The tens unit makes my muscles contract and is supposed to be therapeutic. It’s not supposed to hurt, but if they turn it up too high it can sting a bit. They have a massage roller on the table that moves under me while I’m hooked up to the tens unit. It’s a nice little break from my day. The first time I went I was so tired I almost fell asleep.
So I did what I said I wasn’t going to do. I stopped running. I would like to fully blame it on my shoulder pain, or getting sick right after break. Here it is three weeks later though and I just haven’t been able to get my butt to the gym. One thing after another seems to happen and with how weird my schedule has been, I just keep making excuses not to go.
Today is Monday. I had honestly good intentions of getting up and going before my chiropractor’s appointment this morning. I didn’t sleep well again last night though and I was SO tired when I woke up. I thought maybe I’d go to the gym and at least run on the treadmill after the chiropractor. I even put my workout clothes on. That counts right?
After the chiropractor I had a little bit of a woozy head and wanted to wait a few minutes to see if it went away. I ended up At Target to pick a few things up and then I took myself to lunch before I went to school for more planning time. Oops. I guess I won’t be working out today after all.
One of the neighbors scared the crap out of me on my run the Sunday before last. I started out on my normal route because I really missed what I affectionately refer to as my ”stretching post”. Really it’s a stop sign on the corner that’s close enough to the curb that I can hold onto it and do calf raises and leg stretches before I set off on the first part of my run.
I almost had a heart attack when I saw a shadow moving in my peripheral vision. I looked all around me quickly and I stumbled a little (no coordination+being startled does not equal a balanced Jamie), not seeing anyone. I had images (hello too much Criminal Minds) of someone sneaking up behind me bent on throwing me in a shady white van or worse. (I’m not overly-dramatic or anything).
Not seeing anyone I finally looked up and realized one of the neighbors was on top of her motorhome, cleaning it. That’s where the shadow came from. I think I scared her as much as she scared me. She was grasping her chest with a rag in her hand like I startled her. I mean, granted I had just started running, but I am not a quiet runner. My lungs like to make it known how much they struggle, so they wheeze and whistle sometimes in addition to the huffing and puffing, plus I know my footfalls are not quiet. The one time I ran without music I felt like I sounded like a buffalo plodding down the street. Plus from her vantage point, she had a birds eye view of the whole street.
Hoping she hadn’t seen me frantically looking around for a serial killer and tripping over my own feet, I sheepishly waved at her, said ”Good morning!” and ran off. I’m pretty sure she waved back but I was too busy watching where I was going to know for sure.
It really is getting too hot to run outside anymore. Either I need to start running on the dreadmill at the gym, or I need to start getting up at the butt crack of dawn to run. My weather app said it was only 72 degrees when I got out of bed, but it felt way hotter than that as I ran into the blazing sun.
That run was much better than the one prior. It was still a slow run because it felt like the heat was pressing down on me, trying to keep me from going too fast. Instead of trying to beat my time, and based on how much I struggled with the decision to actually run, I decided to just do 1:30sec intervals with 1:00 walking between. I felt accomplished just putting my running clothes on.
I had kind of been feeling like crap all week. I don’t know if I was just feeling run down because it’s the end of the school year, or maybe I was trying to catch the stomach bug that seemed to be going around, or if my stomach didn’t like the reintroduction of one of my favorite Starbucks drinks. I felt slightly nauseated almost every day last week and my stomach was just really bloated. Like I looked about 7 months pregnant bloated. I hate that feeling. Both the nausea and the bloating actually, but I hate feeling bloated more than anything. I always want to take a pin and stick it in my stomach to see if it will pop.
My favorite Starbucks drink during the hotter months is the Strawberry Açaí Refresher, sans the strawberries. I’m not a fan of freeze dried fruit to begin with, but there is something about those red chunks floating around and possibly getting sucked up into a straw that just absolutely grosses me out. So I always order it without the fruit. There is something about it that just seems so refreshing to me and it was a nice change of pace from my normal unsweet black tea that I normally get in the morning before school.
Starbucks Strawberry Açaí refresher sans strawberries
I don’t know if there is something in there that my stomach doesn’t like or if it’s a coincidence, and my stomach is just a jerk. I stopped drinking them last summer because I felt like my stomach was worse when I drank them, but again I have to think, is it my stomach or the drink itself? I’m not going to drink any for a week or so to see how I do and then on a ”good” stomach day I will drink one and see what happens. My family gives me grief about all of my weird food ”experiments” but it’s the only way for me to figure out what to avoid without cutting everything out completely. Of course if I could get an actual stomach diagnosis, that would be great.
One of the best movies!
Sorry…I got a little off track with all the stomach talk. I think the overall feeling of crapiness (that consequently led to me not eating great) contributed to my slowness. I have not been kind to my body the last two weeks. Between not sleeping, not eating well and the overall ickiness I’ve been living with, I think my body is finally starting to get pissed off at me. I know it’s so important to sleep and fuel correctly when running, but I’m just doing everything I can to survive the end of the school year right now so it is what it is. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop running-I kind of need that for my sanity right now.
As I ran I thought about school. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. We have a little less than a week left and I wonder what other interesting things we have in store for us. I have discovered in recent weeks that junior high kids get a little restless towards the end of the year. I love my school, I am honestly so glad I moved to middle school, I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be, but to be honest some days it’s a veritable shit show. I really need to start writing all the things down that kids say and write a book. I have some great ones from when I taught elementary school, but junior high kids are a lot more inventive and colorful with their language.
As I continued to run with the sun beating down on me, I tried to distract myself from the fact that I was sweating so profusely it was running down my face and into my eyes, making them sting. I’m honestly shocked that I didn’t cause myself bodily harm (based on how graceful I am…not) by falling down or running into something because I felt half blind for most of my run. I focused on the music and tried to ignore the fact that I was drenched and probably losing most of my body hydration.
It was so hot (have I mentioned that it was a little hot?) and there were no sprinklers, hoses, or yards with irrigation in sight. I would happily have taken my shoes off and splashed through some irrigation water had it been available. I would have even taken someone just throwing a bottle of water on me at that rate. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been that hot while running. I felt like my face was melting off and my feet were getting stuck in the melting asphalt. I am 100% overdramatizing of course, but it was really hot.
I have come to the conclusion that 4 miles is now my long run. I ran it by ”accident” a few weeks ago, and now I feel like anything less is just dumb when I know I can do 4 miles. I mentally played tug-o-war between just cutting it off at 3 miles because it was so hot, or continuing on, but the side of me won that said, ”That’s dumb it’s only one more mile.” So I pushed on despite the headache that I could feel forming and the fact that I could feel my pulse was pounding both in my head and behind my eyes.
The last few weeks I had been pushing myself a little past the 4 miles. I keep thinking I have to set records every week with my Garmin. Today was not the day for that. As I got closer to my house, I saw that I was only 2 tenths of a mile from the 4 mile mark and realized for the sake of my health (and melting brain), I probably should call it quits. I proceeded to run halfway up my block and back (I tried to sprint but the heat just sapped out any extra energy I had). When I hit that magic mile marker and my Garmin recognized it by vibrating it on my wrist I stopped. I just stopped. A dead stop. Normally I jog to slow down and walk around a little to cool off. There was none of that. I stopped still and just stood in the middle of the road and briefly felt like I was going to vomit. I took some deep breaths, used my shirt to try and wipe the sweat that was still dripping into my eyes, and slowly headed home. Luckily I was only like 15 feet from the front door when I stopped.
When I first walked in the door I thought about just going up to my room and sitting in front of the fan, but I knew I needed to go stretch. As I trudged out back I realized how spent I felt. I basically collapsed in the spot where I usually stretch, even with the sun beating down on me. I probably laid there for about 10 minutes before I did anything.
Not a cute picture, but you can see how hot I was!
I did my post-run stretches grudgingly, but I knew if I didn’t, I’d be miserable later. Then I dragged myself upstairs, turned on my fan and chugged a whole bottle of water. I laid down on my bed and my cat came to join me. She either liked how warm I was, or she was telling me she was proud of me for getting out there. I can never tell with her, she doesn’t say much.
Sammy wanted to give me cuddles while I was trying to cool off.
When I finally cooled off enough to function, I checked my Garmin app to see how I did. I obviously didn’t hit any speed or distance goals, but I did hit my personal goal of knocking down mile three to get my negative splits! I was so excited!
Negative splits!
I was ecstatic that I had accomplished my personal goal. I’d been trying to work on that for a few weeks now, but mile 3 kept beating me. I was over the moon that I was able to achieve this goal, even though it wasn’t one of my better runs.
I had planned to see if I could do that again on my next run, just to see if it was a fluke or not. I woke up early this last Sunday morning. 6am. On my one day to sleep in. That’s how determined I was to run this week. My goal in getting up that early was to beat the heat. I figured I could do my normal Sunday routine, groceries for school, pick up grandma’s groceries, sort out her medicine, do laundry, run errands, etc. and then take a nap mid-day. I don’t like taking naps on school days because I know I’ll be up all night and I won’t get enough sleep for school. If I did happen to nap, I figured it would be worth it in this case if I was able to go for a run.
Apparently that was not in the cards for me though. My back has been doing weird things all week. Not my back per-se, but my right shoulder blade. I don’t know how to quite describe it. There wasn’t really any one thing that set it off, I don’t remember twisting funny, picking something up that was too heavy, or getting into any accidents without my knowledge.
It started last Monday. It almost feels like when you get pins and needles in your feet or hands, but in my shoulder blade. Or like if you’ve ever been to a chiropractor and they’ve used a tens unit on you and maybe turned it up too high…like that. Occasionally it will feel like someone is digging their finger into my shoulder blade, and every once in a while it’s like someone is snapping a rubber-band onto my back. Sometimes it’s burning, sometimes it feels like someone squirted me with cold water and I get a weird sensation of something cold flowing down my back. It’s going up into my neck too.
Also the fingers on my right hand keep going numb. Actually I’m pretty sure the whole hand is going numb. It went so numb, that on Thursday morning I was trying to straighten my hair before school and I dropped my straightener. I had gone to bed with semi-wet hair the night before and it was a hot mess in the morning. I have natural waves that some people think are ”beachy”, I just think it looks like I didn’t do anything with my hair. I generally straighten it every day, unless there is a special occasion and then I curl it.
True story
When I picked up my straightener it was working perfectly fine. For like a minute. Then it made this sad electronic noise and turned itself off. I was already running behind schedule and was not in the mood to deal with electrical issues. I tried everything, turning it on and off, unplugging it and plugging it back in, flipping the reset button off and on, waiting for 10 minutes and then trying everything I had already tried once-again. Like giving it a break was going to give it enough energy to start up again or something. It would power on for a few seconds and make this sad little noise like when you lose a life in an old-school video game like Donkey Kong or Mario Bros. and then it would turn off. I finally gave up and had to curl my hair.
As bad as my morning started I had more compliments from students that day. One boy who barely speaks up in class said, ”Wow Miss (that’s what they call me), you look really pretty today and your clothes are nice too.”. I must look like a big scrub every other day of the week judging by the other positive comments I received on my appearance.
Anyway, back to the matter at (numb) hand. In the mornings it isn’t too terrible, but by the end of the evening I can hardly stand it. By nightfall it feels as though someone is poking me with an icepick or something equally uncomfortable. I have to try to contort myself into weird shapes to try to find a comfortable position that doesn’t hurt. Based on everything I’ve said, the majority of the people I’ve talked to this week (of course none have an MD after their names) have told me it sounds like I have a pinched nerve.
Looks like the chiropractor and perhaps a few massages are in my future. I don’t mind the thought of regular massages, but the last time I went to a chiropractor (over two years ago), he adjusted me and I got an immediate migraine that lasted for days and was nauseated for like a week afterwards. I really don’t want to experience a repeat of that. I’ll have to call tomorrow and try to make an appointment for Friday maybe. Thursday is our last day of school with kids and Friday is a teacher work day. If my stuff is done and my classroom is relatively put away, I’m pretty sure I can leave a little earlier than normal to get to my appointment if I can get one. Considering this post is so late and has sat in my drafts box, I already went to the chiropractor, but that’s a story for another post!
I knew when my alarm went off that morning that I probably shouldn’t go for a run. My back was immediately doing the pins and needles thing and I had to roll over to get out of bed rather than just sitting up like a normal person. But my brain was screaming at me to GO RUN! So I got up and started getting ready. It didn’t bother me getting dressed. Not even when I had to wrestle myself into my sports bra. I thought for sure that would make it flare up or set it off or whatever, but I was good to go. By 6:25 I was out the door, stretching and getting ready to set off.
As I walked to my normal stretching corner, my back started bothering me again. I kept telling myself it was fine though and I’d be able to run no problem (runner denial). I stopped and stretched as per my usual and then set off at a slow pace. I seemed to do okay while running. When my interval timer went off and I slowed down to a walk, my shoulder started acting up even more. I tried to keep a slow pace in hopes my shoulder would loosen up and I’d be okay, but every time I stopped to walk, it hurt worse. It started feeling like something was torn in my shoulder. I know that’s not the case because I’d be in a lot more pain, but it’s hard to put into words exactly how it felt.
I decided to call it a day after a mile. I probably could have kept running. It hurt, but I didn’t feel like I was dying. I’m still trying to be responsible and listen to my body. There is no sense in making it worse by pushing myself, especially without knowing exactly what’s going on with it. As aggravated as I was about stopping early, I didn’t think of it as quitting so much as future-proofing my running. Ensuring that I won’t have to stop running semi-long term to deal with some dumb injury. I’m definitely calling and making an appointment with a chiropractor tomorrow. I’m sure they will tell me if I need a regular doctor or if they can help with whatever is going on.
It’s sad how small this block of time is. (And how slow) My goal is to get my ish together in the next few weeks. I want to get the all clear that running is not going to make my back worse, then I will start running on the dreadmill during the week for my ”short” runs and continue to get up early for my long runs on the weekend if my schedule allows. Since my second job is so accommodating to my school schedule during the summer months I open up my availability completely so they can work me as needed. It’s hard to get a regular routine that way, but I’m not complaining. I love working there, or I wouldn’t still be there almost 5 years later.
And since I didn’t take the obligatory running pictures today (did it even happen if there is no photographic proof??) I will leave you with this:
I wish my body would come together and stop making it hard for me to do what I want running wise!
PS As I left to go pick up dinner that night the sprinklers came on. I decided what the hell, they’ve been elusive on my runs of late, so I took full advantage and ran through them! I’m sure the neighbors thought I was nuts-but it was fun!
Last Sunday’s run was brought to you by blood, sweat and tears.
I planned on getting up earlier than I did. As it was I still got up at 7. I have just been so tired and stressed out lately. I can’t tell if I need to go to the doctor, sleep for a week, or have several drinks (maybe all of the above). As it was, when I finally dragged myself out of bed (looking like something my cat coughed up) and got dressed. it was already 85 degrees. I knew if I didn’t go though I would regret it.
I didn’t realize how hot it was until I got outside. I didn’t sleep well last night and I could feel the oppressive weight of the heat and my exhaustion as I trudged out of the front door. I decided spur of the moment to go a different route than the norm. I was crabby and the thought of running the same route I normally run just pissed me off, so I changed it up.
I started off with my normal warm up routine. As I stood in the driveway, I glared at the sun. I was already starting to sweat and I was pissed off because I hadn’t even done anything yet. I then went into my 5 minute warm up walk. When I follow my normal route, towards the end of the walk there is a stop sign right near the curb that I hold on to so I can do some calf raises. I’m not talented enough to be able to do them without falling unless I hold onto something. I didn’t have this luxury on the route I took this morning so I just stepped into the street and tried to do some stretches that way and promptly slid off the curb and scraped my shin. Lovely. I wanted to go back home, jump back into bed and pull the covers up over my head.
Against my better judgement, I didn’t call it quits and set off on a slow pace. I could almost immediately tell it was going to be a hard run. I had wanted to experiment and see if I could get that third mile down as far as negative splits, but I was sure that was not going to happen. I contemplated (again) just turning around and going home but I told myself that was not an option and I needed to just move, no matter how slowly it was going to be.
The new route was a nice change of pace, but it was so boring. There wasn’t anything fun to stop and take pictures of. Or maybe I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to look for the beauty around me.
I ran by a fire house (no cute firefighters hanging around outside-darn) and right after the fire house there is an incline that leads to the freeway overpass. That sucker looked pretty daunting to me, so I chose to cross the street right before the incline and then double back. I was barely getting through my run so I figured running up that incline would end in disaster. By then I almost had my first mile under my belt so I thought I’d run my normal route (partially) in reverse.
I couldn’t believe how tired I felt while running. For goodness sake I yawned while I was in mile two. That was 100% not okay. I know it was a combination of not sleeping well the night before and the heat, but I was getting pissed off at how tired I was. After every interval I was ready to throw in the towel but I’d tell myself again that was not an option and force myself to keep going.
Life finds a way
I figured if those flowers could find a way to grow despite the concrete and asphalt, I could finish my run. I plugged on for another mile, but I never really felt that ”waking up” feeling that I usually get after my first mile. Every mile I ran today felt like the first one, and I just couldn’t shake my lethargy.
I just missed the sprinklers apparently
I told myself I’d quit after 3 miles. That’s basically how I got myself though mile 3, was promising myself I was almost finished, then I could go home and shower and relax. 3 miles has been my norm since I started running again. 3 miles was my magic number. When I hit three miles though, I was still pretty far from home, because with varying my route I wasn’t paying attention to where I was actually going. (Insert theatrical deep sigh here). I figured I could just walk the rest of the way home, but then I talked myself into running because my logic was that I would get there faster if I ran. As I neared the house, I was over 3.5 miles. With me ”accidentally” running 4 miles last week, I knew I had it in me so again (even as tired as I was) so I pushed myself for that last half mile. I reran part of my route which actually took me out a little farther than 4 miles. I need to start planning my routes better apparently because I always end up running more than I initially intend.
My legs were completely dead when I finished. I’m talking like cinderblocks strapped to the feet type of feeling (or what I imagine cinderblocks would feel like strapped to the bottom of your feet). But for the last tenth of a mile I made myself sprint. I pretended like the corner had a finish line and I needed to flip on my afterburners to zoom across and finish strong.
When I got home the air conditioner wrapped her fingers around my sweaty self and it felt like heaven. I just sat on my bed, staring off into space for like 10 minutes as the AC cooled me off. I managed to do some half-assed stretches before I jumped into the shower, which also felt like heaven.
I will conquer that third mile one of these days! I ran a lot slower than my norm (which is slow anyway) but I’m okay with it because at least I got out there and did it. I felt accomplished for that reason alone.
Also here is a picture of my cat stepping on my foot. She has always done this when I’m getting dressed and I think it’s the funniest thing. I will move my foot away and she always follows me and puts her back foot on top of mine. She especially likes to do it after I’ve taken off my running shoes. I think she likes my sweaty feet…
Some days when I leave school I just cant. I can’t even. I’m so tired I feel like I could fall asleep behind the wheel driving. I am so tired my eyes burn. I am like bone tired. I don’t know how else to describe how tired I am. Have you ever been that tired? Where you just cant? Like you just physically and mentally can’t do anything other than simply exist and even that feels like way too much effort?
I honestly don’t know what it is. I’m not getting any less sleep, I’m not working any different than I did two months ago or even 6 months ago. But now by the end of the school day I’m lucky if I can string words together to make a coherent sentence. I feel like all speech, coordination and critical thinking skills have just abandoned me by the end of the day. I’m lucky I get home in one piece some days.
I know it’s not a depression thing either. I honestly think it’s just approaching the end of a very long school year and I. Am. Tired. I’ve got a lot going on at home too, and I feel like I always need to be ”on”. I need a vacation for sure. Of course I don’t ever take one or go anywhere, but maybe I can try to make an effort to at least take a little mini weekend vacation this summer or something.
If it wasn’t so blasted hot, I’d try running after school and see if that resurrects my energy, but I don’t know if I could even drum up the energy to throw my running clothes on much less head out the door and push myself. I’m still only running once a week on the weekend. It’s my saving grace to be honest. I feel more ”me” when I’m able to run. I ran on Easter Sunday in the morning and it was gorgeous. It was supposed to be like 97 for the high so I got up at 6:30 to run.
There was literally no traffic on the road, it was eerie at first, but also so nice! I generally encounter a lot of people out walking in my hood as well, but I didn’t see anyone out and about. I don’t know if it was because of the holiday or the time of morning. Regardless it was a beautiful thing. It was just me and my Apple Music playlist and nothing else.
Literally no traffic down a busy road on a Sunday morning.
I had a great run. I decided to stop following my app 100% because I don’t like to be told what to do. because I needed to shake things up! I am still following the app, but kind of molding it into whatl I need right now for where am at with running. The app training schedule has a habit of pushing too hard too fast, and I knew based on how I felt after the last few runs I completed; that I needed something different. (See how I’m actually trying to listen to my body now?). I’m still using the app because I like the verbal ”run” “walk” that I get.
I know my Garmin will do intervals for me with a vibrate/tap on the wrist, but I get so in my head sometimes that I don’t always pay attention, so the dude that breaks through my music to yell at me keeps me focused. I really should try the Garmin intervals some time, but I’m pretty sure I can only program it to do a certain amount of time for the intervals and I don’t usually know what I want to do until get out there.
For instance, Easter Sunday I ran 1 minute: walked 1, ran 1:30: walked 1 and repeated for a 5k. That’s what I felt I needed at that time. I was tired and a little achy and I knew I’d need to walk more so I wanted to give myself more walk breaks (again listening to my body!). It worked just fine because I felt great the whole run and I was able to push myself to run a little faster than I normally do.
It sounds counterintuitive that I was tired and achy so I knew I needed walk breaks, but then I was running faster than my norm. I like to mix it up sometimes rather than running slow and steady. It keeps my body from getting too comfortable and it keeps me from getting too bored with my routine. Again, not a professional runner, just a girl out here trying to run and not fall flat on my face. I’m basically making it up as I go.
My first mile I’m always tired. I think to myself, ”This sucks. I suck as a runner. My pace sucks. My body sucks. I’m never going to get where I was”. Pretty much my first mile is me complaining about everything in my head my body and my mindset both warming up. My second mile is where it’s at. I feel great, my pace is good, I’m thinking more positive and I’m generally vibing with my music at that point and feeling my energy level starting to pick up.
For having gotten up at 6:30 to run Easter Sunday, it got pretty warm, pretty quickly. My elbows started sweating around the end of mile 2 and I started looking for a reprieve. I saw a neighbors yard with the sprinklers on, but I don’t know that neighbor and seeing how it was Easter Sunday and all, I didn’t think it was right to go dashing through their yard, so I ran as close as I could to the sprinklers in hopes of getting some backsplash or a little coolness.
So close, yet so far…
I went another mile and happened to see the LDS church on the corner where I turn to make my final loop. There was a guy walking his dog who actively went into the street to avoid the sprinklers so I took advantage of the empty sidewalk and dashed through with my arms up in the air. His dog barked at me and he looked at me like I was nuts, but I didn’t care. I was hot and the water was cold!
My saving grace
I felt revitalized after that and proceeded to finish out the last mile and a quarter a little wetter, but cooler. I actually didn’t do too bad that run, and ended up setting a new distance and time record. My spits were okay. I seem to have an issue where I’m negative my second mile, but my 3rd mile slows down a little. The third mile is still way faster than my 1st mile, but not as fast or faster than mile 2. I don’t know if it’s because mile 2 is my ”magic mile” where I start to feel all the feels or what, but I need to work on having negative splits for all the miles.
Still slowEaster Sunday run in the heat
I always get so red when I run. I feel like it’s unnatural, but when I cool off I always go back to normal. One time I had someone ask me if I was going to pass out. I’m like, ”Nope, this is just my face”. haha
Instead of waiting for Sunday this week, I opted to get up early and run before I needed to work at my second job. I didn’t have to be there until 11 am so I figured if I got up at 7 I’d be in good shape time-wise. Based on how tired I felt this week, I set an alarm for getting up to run, and one for getting up to go to work in case I woke up and didn’t feel energized enough to go and went back to sleep instead.
When my alarm went off at 7 I had an internal debate with myself about getting up or just sleeping in and running on Sunday morning instead. At that point, it was 15 minutes later and I was wide awake so I got up and got my gear on. I wasn’t sure how my run was going to look when I started on my warm up walk. I had an emotional week and I had been feeling drained and run down again. As I got near the corner where I usually take off running, I started getting excited about running before work.
I’m not going to lie, I feel like 11-8 is the worst shift ever. It kicks the crap out of your whole day. It’s really too early to be lazy all morning, and it’s too late to want to do anything when you get off of work. I figured by getting up extra early and running, I could at least say I accomplished something that day.
I started off with the thought in my head that I needed to work on my negative splits and try to get that third mile down lower than my first two. I didn’t really have a plan in mind other than that. I actually felt relatively rested and decided to push myself to see what I could do. I ended up running 3 minutes, walking 1:30 and just rotating that for the first two miles. It could have been longer than that but I honestly wasn’t paying that close of attention, I just knew I was running faster and farther than the norm.
On the second mile I knew I needed to kick it up a notch because I knew I was doing better than normal on my first (most difficult) mile. I was dreaming of those negatived splits. So I ended up running more and walking less. I tried not to look at my pace and just run by feel. It was hot, but not unbearably as we had wind all week that cooled it down a little. I also tried to vary my route a little bit because I was getting bored again. I ended up running past the point where I normally make my first turn, and ran on the other side of the busy street. This side was nice and shady and gave me a different outlook as I ran.
It’s always hard to take a picture while I’m running.
Of course I just missed the stoplight coming back so I hit the crosswalk button and ran past it about 50 feet. There was barely any traffic so I decided to just dash across the street. There was an SUV coming pretty quickly so I put on a burst of speed, and I feel like the SUV did too. When I looked back I had an OSM when I realized it was a police SUV. I thought for sure he was going to turn around and ticket me for jayrunning so I ran down a side street hoping he wouldn’t come after me. For a few seconds I felt like a fugitive haha.
I couldn’t find a meme for jayrunning
My elbows had started sweating during my first mile and it didn’t let up. It was a little warmer than it had been the previous weekend. I was desperately looking around for some sprinklers, but I think it was too early in the morning for anyone to have them on. I did come across the little park in our neighborhood that was flooded with irrigation and I was SO tempted to just jump in, but I didn’t want to get my shoes soaking wet or end up muddy so I sadly ran past it.
Temptation
By the time I looked at my watch I realized I was already over my usual 3 miles. All the detours had put me over my normal milage and I was still quite far from home so I didn’t really have any choice other than to keep going. My energy was certainly lagging by then but I kept trying to drive myself even harder because I felt really good on that run! With about a half mile to go, my playlist kicked into overdrive and started playing music with great beats that helped with my cadence immensely. Eminem is actually really fun to run to and he helped me finish strong!
Jamming to Eminem yesterday!
I was so proud of myself when I finished. I ran just over 4 miles. That’s the most milage I’ve gotten in since I started running again. 4 miles doesn’t seem like a lot, but to me, it’s a mountain that I was able to conquer! I looked at my splits hoping for a miracle because I felt like my 3rd mile was great (but it also had the detours in it that threw me off). I definitely ran faster than I have been running! I didn’t get the negative splits, but I’m proud of what I accomplished!
That third mile is my nemesis!
I was also able to set two new records on my Garmin! Farthest run and fastest run!
New PR for me!
I have this weird thing where I don’t really sneeze, wheeze or cough when I run. That all starts when I get home and do my post-run stretching. I swear I sneeze like 50 times when I’m trying to stretch and then come the wheezing and coughing. I love Arizona’s Palo Verde trees, but during the spring they drop these little yellow flowers that are 100% responsible for everyone’s allergies right now. It gets so bad sometimes it’s like running on a yellow carpet!
Pretty but will make you sneeze!
On the way home I passed by one of the neighbors who was out watering his lawn. I contemplated asking him to aim his hose up in the air and let me run through it, but I thought that would be weird. Plus when I said good morning he stepped into his lawn like he was trying to get out of my way. I swear I’m going to do it one of these days. Several years ago some random dude sprayed me down with his hose as I ran past. I’m going to ask-just you watch!
Although I loved my spring break, running-wise it did not end well for me. I had gone to the outlet mall with one of my friends last minute and I was excited about going. We generally go on holidays because most of the store do sales like 60% off plus an additional amount, but we decided last minute to run up there on the Friday of spring break. I ran that morning and had taken myself out to lunch so I was feeling pretty good and I thought a few hours of shopping with my friend would be the perfect topper for the day.
Shopping started off great! We went to our favorite purse outlet (Kate Spade!) and I found the cutest little backpack purse in a mint green color. I was in a spring frame of mind so it seemed perfect. I also found out that on top of the 60% and the additional 20% I could stack a teacher discount of 15% on top of that-so I feel like I scored in a major way!
We wandered around for a while and ended up going into the Gap Outlet. I usually never find anything there (I feel like their clothes fit me weird) but Anne wanted to grab some things so we went in. She was looking for something specific and I happened to spot what I thought she was looking for out of the corner of my eye. As I shifted my body, I felt my ankle catch and turn. I had a moment of, ”Oh crap” and in slow motion I felt myself falling. I wasn’t able to catch myself but twisted my body to the right and went down on my knee. My bad knee. The knee I had surgery on.
I perched that way for a minute, still on my right knee, my left leg out behind me at a weird angle, with my hands splayed out in front of me. My purse and my shopping bag were on the ground on either side of me, my purse had spilled out and I heard something rolling out. Anne immediately rushed over having heard me hit the ground. I was still stunned as I rolled over to sit on my butt. My knee was stinging and so were my eyes as I fought not to cry in the middle of the store. Amazingly the commotion was apparently not as loud as I thought because no one from the store came rushing over, even though there was a girl straightening clothes on a rack no too far from us. She never even looked over or acknowledged the fact that I was on the ground and Anne was bending over me to make sure I was okay. Anne asked me if I was okay and the first words out of my mouth were, ”If I can’t run on Sunday I’m going to be pissed.” She had to laugh at that.
I couldn’t figure out why I had fallen. I was wearing a pair of wedges that I love. They are super comfortable and give me about 2 extra inches. I’ve worn them dozens of times, but have never had and issue with my ankle twisting, tripping, or having any other problems with them. Then Anne pointed out the drain in the floor next to my foot. I must not have been paying attention and I didn’t see it in the floor. It actually had a little raised lip, and I must’ve hit it with my shoe as I turned and because it was so uneven, that’s what made me stumble and fall.
See how it sticks up on the left side a little?
I got up, gathered my dignity my things, spying my favorite lipstick about 5 feet away from my purse where it must’ve rolled out. I cautiously stood up and took a few steps. My knee stung really bad, but didn’t seem to be causing me any great pain, so I tried to shake it off. We debated back and forth if I should say something to someone just in case my knee had issues later. The girl hanging clothes on the rack, was still unaware, just doing her own thing, (the pessamistic part of me was thiking she was just avoiding the whole situation and very purposelfully NOT looking at us). We ended up leaving the store and not saying anything afterall.
As we continued walking around the mall, my knee started aching a little more and it certainly stung, but I couldn’t really see any blood or anything, so I figured it was fine. We spied a Dairy Queen as we were wandering and we both decided the whole situation called for ice cream! I ended up with a Mint Brownie Blizzard and it was so yummy!
My new favorite!
We sat inside the DQ while we ate our treat. By the time we got up to peruse the mall some more, my knee had tightened up a little. It didn’t look swollen or anything so I figured it was just sore and a little traumatized. We kept shopping and Anne found some cute shirts at the Adidas outlet. That was the last stop on our circut around the mall so we headed out to the parking lot and parted ways. Except for the embarassment of falling, it was overall a pretty great day.
Needless to say, I was really sore when I woke up the next morning. Not just my knee, but my whole body, especially my back. I think from bracing myself and twisting, I must’ve tightened up my muscles. My knee was still a little tender so I ended up not running on Sunday and I was indeed, pissed. I for sure did not want to tempt fate and run on it when it was even a little bit sore (see how I’m actually making good choices this time??)
Between going back to school after the break, and my knee still smarting, I ended up not running the whole week. I was very disappointed and mildly frustrated, but I knew it was for the best. The last thing I need is to reinjure that knee and wind up having the rest of my meniscus tear, or worse and not be able to run at all!
The week we went back to school was also a full moon. I swear I must be part werewolf or something. I don’t sleep well at all during the full-moon time. I have trouble falling asleep and then staying asleep. For the full 3 days of the full moon it was the same: take forever to fall asleep, feel myself tossing and turning all night, wake up before my alarm and be pissy all day.
The kids at school were out of sorts too. It’s the start of the 4th quarter and they know they’ve got state testing coming up, which is always a stressful time for them, the 8th graders are getting ready to leave for high school and the 7th graders are getting ready to be the big fishes. It’s a weird time for them. I think everyone gets anxious for the end of the school year. 4th quarter feels like it’s so close to the end of the year, yet so far…
The other day I was running through my hood and I swore I kept seeing the same white pickup truck driving by me. It was starting to creep me out a little and so I looked at the first letters of the license plate so I could verify if it was the same one, or if I was making up scenarios in my head. I also clutched the pepperspray (that I never leave home without) a little tighter and put my finger on the trigger. (Flashbacks from the pervert in the black car that follwed me a few years ago were making me paranoid).
The next time around it was coming towards me so of course I couldn’t see the license plate, but I did see it was being driven by a guy and there was a woman in the front seat. She saw me and her eyes lit up and she started clapping and I could see her mouthing the word ”Yay!” I did not know those people, and I don’t even know what they heck she was doing, but I pretended that she was cheering for me because I was actually out there running. After that I thought I saw the truck a few more times off in the distance, but it was never down the bock in which I was running. It was probably my imagination running away with me, but it gave me a little motivation so I continued to try to run a little faster.
I did encounter my metal dinosaur friend when I was running. This time it was dressed up and ready for Easter. Somehow I don’t think kids would be as thrilled if a fanged giant was hiding Easter eggs and hip-hopping down the bunny trail.
Still cute nonetheless
This post has been FOUR weeks in the making. I promise I’m not slacking again. I’ve just been so busy with school and getting ready for state testing I barely have time to run, let alone write about it! Plus it’s been so blasted hot after school that I feel like I’m almost putting myself in danger by running in that heat. I tried it once when it was like 85 and I felt like I was going to pass out and throw up when I got home. It took forever to cool down and I had the worst headache afterward. I even made it a point to take water again (which you know I hate doing).
A sweaty, hot, red mess!
Honestly at this point in the school year, my goal is to get a blog post done once a week. Hopefully I can write more in the summer when I’m not trying to juggle two jobs, get ready for standardized testing and trying to also close out a school year. This is the time of year I should be running more to help relieve my stress, but I don’t have as much time, and it’s getting so blasted hot that it’s becoming borderline dangerous to run after school (life as a desert brat!)
Hopefully I can post again this week, I’m crossing my fingers!
When I woke up Tuesday morning it was 46 degrees outside. I was warm and toasty in my bed so I decided to wait a little while before getting up to go for my run. My milage was to bump up this week and I was a little nervous about it to be honest. I always get nervous when it’s time to kick it up a notch. I wasn’t sure how I’d do coming off of my cold/allergy thing and I debated redoing one of the ”days” on my app that I had previously done just to stretch it out.
I decided to stop whining about the temperature and the milage and get up and go run. I made up my mind that if I needed to walk, I would and I wouldn’t beat myself up about it. I also reminded myself that the temperature would not be this low for very much longer and I needed to take advantage of the cooler temps while I still could! I threw on a long sleeve shirt over my running tank just in case it remained too chilly and headed out.
It turned out that by the time I got to the end of the block, I didn’t need the long sleeve so I shucked it off and tied it (double knot so I wouldn’t lose it) around my waist. It was such a nice day out I couldn’t have asked for better weather for my first ”bump up day”. The only complaint that I had about my run was my app. There is a disembodied voice that usually tells me how far I’ve gone and when to run and when to walk. It kept messing up and it was annoying me so much I almost turned it off.
I’m sure there are other apps out there, but this one was recommended to me years ago and I’ve kind of stuck with it. The training is broken down into weeks and then subsequently broken down into days. The weeks generally consist of 3 days per week in which I run. It also allows for rest days in between runs. The runs are generally the same for the whole week and then they increase moderately the following week. This week was a bigger bump than normal, but I was ready.
The app is nice because I can set it to play with one of my playlists on Apple Music and it does most of the work for me. I don’t know the interval in which it tells me my milage, but every so often the cheerful male voice will come on and say something like, ”Ten minutes thirteen seconds. Point zero eight two miles. Average pace… One hundred thirteen calories burned” (I’m making up those numbers for the example). This day it was like my male announcer had some trouble speaking. He would start out, ”Ten minutes….” and just stop. Then 30 seconds later, ”Ten minutes thirteen…” and stop. All the while it would lower the music. I had to keep waiting for it as it started over, slowly progressed and then started over again until he could relay all the typical information. That happened at two different points during my run and it was irritating me so much I wanted to throw my phone. I wouldn’t really do that of course, I love my phone too much for that.
I definitely had to push myself during this run and I struggled mentally. I don’t think I struggled really with the run itself, I was just struggling with my confidence as a runner. I had that ”Oh crap” moment when I was running for a longer period of time than normal before a walk break. I had been thinking I was doing so great on my training thus far. At that point I was huffing and puffing and struggling to keep up my pace (I have it in my head that I need to stay below 11 min/mile while I’m running even though that is still a slow pace). I started bashing myself and thinking that I’m crazy to think I can start running again, that I shouldn’t have signed up for a marathon for next year and that I can’t even run 3 miles without walking so who am I kidding?
Then I remembered my goal to try to be kind to myself. Would I say things I was saying about myself to a friend? I also needed to remind myself that I was still getting over being sick, that I forgot to take a hit off of my inhaler to open up my lungs before I set out and I haven’t really run and FOUR years and that I needed to cut myself some slack because I’m retraining my body. I quickly shut myself down and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and focusing on the positive. I was doing it, I wasn’t quitting and saying I needed to walk before my ”run” time was up. I was pushing myself and doing it even though I was tiring and struggling to catch my breath towards the end of my running intervals.
By the time I got to the end of the run my Garmin read 2.78 miles. Last time I pushed myself farther than I should have to get to a well-rounded mile, I ended up benching myself for almost two weeks with sore knees. I struggled for my decision for only a nanosecond before I talked myself into rounding it out to an even 3 miles. I figured I’d been running more regularly and farther distances so that in itself would reduce my chances of injuring myself since I wasn’t going way overboard like I had done several months ago.
I was right in front of my house at this point so I just decided to run to the end of my block, turn around, run up past the neighbors house and back. I ended up doing this three times in order to get to my 3 miles. I’m sure the neighbors were wondering what the heck I was doing, if they had looked out the window during that time frame. I probably looked pretty ridiculous just running around in circles, but it got the job done!
Overall It was a good run. I was pleasantly exhausted and I was sweating. All signs of a good run. I had also noticed as I was running in circles that the neighbors had so thoughtfully left their sprinklers on for me. I looked around me to make sure no one was looking and then made a mad dash through the sprinklers-just once but it was enough to cool me off and make me a little giddy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind right? I mean I’d loan them a cup of sugar if they needed one-it’s the neighborly thing to do after all. What’s a little water between neighbors?
An oasis in the desert haha
The last song on my run was Eminem and it felt fitting
I love that my Garmin sends me cute little messages about me setting a new record. It keeps me motivated and I feel like someone is cheering me on:
And then when I got home I saw this message from a friend I hadn’t seen in a while and it made me happy:
I’m happy too that it’s spring break and I get to run! I always think of it as ”getting to run” versus ”having” to run. I think I see it more as a reward and others seem to see it as a punishment. Sometimes it does feel like I’m punishing my body, but somehow that doesn’t seem to be the right word. To me it’s more like “pushing” my body rather than a punishment. It’s making me better and stronger both physically and emotionally.
Spring break-woohoo! I started off my spring break with taking my car in for service. It was normal maintenance stuff so it wasn’t a big deal. When you’re a teacher, spring break is usually reserved for doing all the things you don’t have time to do during the school week. Or schedule is just long enough to kick the crap out of the whole day. I drive a Honda-nothing fancy- so I don’t get the luxury of a loaner car, so I hung out at the dealership for about an hour and a half which gave me the good excuse to read a non-school book for a change. I need some new reading material though. I’m just rereading a series I really loved about 13 years ago.
I briefly entertained the thought of wandering around and looking at the newer models of my CR-V, but I didn’t want to get tackled by a salesperson. I know they are offering big money for used cars right now. They even texted, emailed, and called me to say they’d over me 10k over what I paid for my car. I don’t know if it’s stupid of me or not to take advantage of that or not. I have a ton of equity in my car as it is. It would be nice to get one that has a dark interior. I ended up getting a really good deal on my current car, but it has light grey interior which I don’t love. I’m not a dirty person by any means, but shit happens. Like leaving a 12 pack of mini-sprite cans in the back of my car and a barely hot day-they ended up exploding and got sprite all over everything! Thank goodness it was Sprite and not Dr. Pepper or something dark. As it was, the heat and the sugar from the soda made it appear darker the longer it sat. I had to take it somewhere to have them steam clean everything. It looks great now, but I can tell where the spots are and it bugs me.
After I left the dealership (without looking at a new car) I took myself out to lunch at my favorite place. It was so nice out that I requested patio seating. It was one of those rare days in Arizona where it’s not too hot and there is a slight breeze. We had rain and a ”cold snap” (cold for AZ) this past weekend so the temperature was hovering around 65 degrees. There were actually two places I was thinking about going to for lunch, but I decided on Nandos because I really wanted to sit outside and enjoy the day.
Beans on the side because I hate it when they mix with the rice
It was a gorgeous day too! I sat in the sun (outside of the shaded areas) and just basked in it. It was such a beautiful day I sat out there far past how long it took me to actually finish my meal, just so I could sit in the warmth and enjoy myself. It was so quiet too. Most of the diners were inside so it was me and one other person outside and she was doing her own thing. We both had our iPads out and coincidentally ordered the same meal. However when they brought hers, she had ordered her enchilada without cheese. Is that even a thing? At that point isn’t it just a tortilla with Red sauce on it?
I thought about running today since the weather was so nice, but I actually ran yesterday. I am still on my mission to not overdo it, so today I gave myself a rest day and I’m planning on running tomorrow. It was a little chilly yesterday too! It was about 50 degrees when I set out, but I quickly warmed up of course. I ran my normal route which continues to bore me, but I let myself zone out and think as I ran. Zoning out is good, unless you are zoning out and not paying particualr attention to where you are going. I ran face first into a tree branch. I focused just as it was about to hit me, (or to be more accurate, I was going to hit it) but my momentum was too great that I couldn’t stop it from happening.
Should the neighbors trim their trees or should I watch where I’m going?
Luckily no one was around (that I know of) and saw me first hit, and then get tangled up in the branches. I had to back up and take a picture because it was typical klutzy Jamie. To be fair it was hanging out into the street. I generally run closer to the curb because I don’t want to risk a car sneaking up behind me. The branch was also so long hit hung down to about my knees.
The rest of my run passed uneventfully. It was just me, my thoughts, my music and the sunshine. Toward the end of my run this song came on and it made me laugh so hard I had to share:
It came on when I was running versus walking so I thought it was hilarious. I don’t even remember adding it to my running playlist
For some reason as I ran, I started thinking about my response when people comment on me running again, or if someone asks me how it’s going. Generally I downplay it-a lot. More than I should I think. I’m actually selling myself short. I’m always quick to say things like, ”I only ran two miles”, or ”I don’t run the whole time-I alternate walking” or ”I’m really slow”. It’s almost like I don’t want people to think I’m just out there running two to three miles and it’s all hunky-dory that I’ve got to tell them I’m not ”really” a runner. But is that true though?
I am getting out there and getting into the swing of it again. I am running. I’m definitely not anyone’s definition of a ”real” runner, if there is such a thing. I for sure don’t have the typical runners body. I’m shaped like a woman, I’m soft, I have curves, and I have a few extra pounds I’d love to lose forever. I’ve always been told ”If you run, you are a runner”. I just need to start listening to that more and start seeing myself as that girl who used to run full and half-marathons for fun. Just like my mileage, I’ll get there.
My students at school are super invested in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. I think it’s because this is really the only war they’ve been alive for. They ask a lot of questions which is awesome. They are too young to know anything about 9/11 and the conflicts that followed. We’ve also been studying World War I and are starting World War II so I think the concept of war is sinking in. I know this has nothing to do with running, but I saw this image the other day and I think it summed it up perfectly so I want to share it. M*A*S*H has always been a favorite show of mine and I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from it, even though it was billed as a comedy:
Be good to each other. Right now there is a lot of bad energy out in the world and the only way we are going to get through it, is together.
Apparently the allergies I thought I was battling was actually a cold. I’m guessing. I know it wasn’t COVID because I took many rapid tests and a regular PCR test just to be sure. I hate that we lives our lives wondering now, ”Is it a allergies, a cold, the flu, or COVID?” They all have the same dang symptoms so it’s a little like playing roulette.
Haha. ”Explain your sneeze”
All I know is that I had both a drippy and stuffed up nose, a slight sore throat (most likely just from drainage) and a major headache for like a week and a half. I was terrified it would go down into my chest because I swear every time I get sick, it turns into bronchitis. I know they say if it’s above the neck, it’s okay to run, but my head was pounding so bad for most of that week I decided not to chance it. So before school, after school and on the weekend, I stayed inside and watched old Castle reruns on Hulu Nathan Fillion really does it for me. He’s got that boyish charm. I forgot how good that show was!
I don’t know if it’s because we’ve had to wear masks for so long, but this is the first time I’ve had a cold/allergies/whatever in 2 years. Maybe the pollen is just that bad this year because of the spastic weather we’ve been having here in AZ. Who knows? What I do know, is that I didn’t get to run for a whole week and it sucked majorly. I missed my me time. I missed being out in the sun and pushing my body.
I finally ran for the first time in over a week on Wednesday after school. It wasn’t my “best” run, no records were set, but to me any run is a good run. The important thing was that I was outside moving my body and satisfying my soul. I know that sounds incredibly trite, but that’s how I feel. I just feel renewed when I run, even if I come back completely exhausted.
Our weather truly has been spastic. It was almost 90 degrees on Wednesday when I ran. It was so warm I actually took my water bottle with me. I hate running with water. I know they make running water bottles specifically to fit on our hands when we run, but I just always feel sloshy and lopsided. I always end up switching back and forth between hands too so I can be comfortable. Because it was so hot, I acquiesced and decided to take my water bottle filled with ice water when I set out. I squeezed water into my mouth a few times because it was so dang hot, but it just ended up tasking like plastic from the water bottle. I didn’t love it and ended up just dumping out it when I got home.
The sun was beating down on me, but it still felt so great to get out there after not being able to run for a week. I didn’t happen upon any sprinklers during this run, but I did find a canopy of trees that provided a brief respite from the glare of the sun for like a full minute as I ran under them.
You can see where the shade ends and the sun begins again
When I got home I was more tired than usual, sweaty and completely out of breath, but happy. Running after school is not my favorite since we get out so late in junior high. I don’t really like running in the evening at all anyway. I’m more of a morning runner. I think it’s one of those ”run before your body knows what’s actually happening” things. Not really. I’m just usually exhausted by the end of the day and running when I’m that tired is just harder.
I’m looking forward to more runs this week as I’m on spring break! Yay!
I know it was two weeks ago, but did anyone see the Super Bowl? Me either. But I DID watch the halftime show and it was epic! I am of course speaking as someone who spent my formative years listening to Snoop Dog, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50cent (still don’t know what the whole hanging upside down thing was about). The other two were okay too, but I’ve never been a huge fan. My cousins, their spouses, their kids and I were all at my aunt’s house for the game. As soon as halftime started, all the guys got up and went outside and all we womenfolk stayed inside to watch. My cousins and I got up and were dancing, even my grandma was grooving along to Snoop! I forgot how good that music was. I decided I needed more Snoop, Dre and Eminem in my life so I went through and added a bunch of songs from Apple Music.
Hahahahahah
Running would be so much easier for me if breathing weren’t a requirement. I’ve actually been thinking about this on my runs lately. No matter what I do, I always end up huffing and puffing. It sucks because it’s not like I’m a smoker or severely overweight, I just lost the gene lottery and ended up with crappy lungs. I don’t even think my lungs are that bad compared to some people. There are teachers at my school that have signs up in their classrooms prohibiting students from spraying perfume or cologne because it will trigger a reaction, or they can feel a bad pollution day coming based on their lungs.
I get bronchitis-a lot. Although (knock on wood) I haven’t had it since before ’Rona hit us (maybe because I had to wear a mask so much??? I still haven’t quite figured that one out). I have to use a rescue inhaler on occasion. It’s not like I have to use it because I’m having an asthma attack. My chest will occasionally get tight and I get wheezy. Generally it’s because I’m getting sick, sick, or my body is just really tired. One to two puffs off of that red rocket and I can breathe again. I have seasonal allergies that give me maybe 2 good months out of the year without a stuffy nose. So really there is no reason other than I just can’t seem to make my lungs work good enough to be a runner that doesn’t have to stop to catch her breath once in a while.
Pretty sure this is why my allergies are going crazy now-spring has sprung in AZ!
I know they say, ”You control your breathing, don’t let it control you”. But I have tried believe me! I’ve tried the whole ”in for four out for four”, ”in through the nose, out with the mouth”, as well as other methods. Generally trying those just makes me dizzy or makes me feel like I’m hyperventilating and I have to stop and walk until I can get my lungs to calm down again.
It’s Arizona Wildflower time!
I am getting really bored of my usual route. Granted right now my milage for each run hasn’t increased a whole lot, but I feel like I’m losing interest in the scenery around me since I’ve seen it so often. I’m trying to find beauty or interesting things where I can, just to keep myself entertained. I snapped a picture of this cactus because it looked like someone made a happy face for it. If someone didn’t make it, then Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor.
It’s a happy little cactus
I am trying to not to be frustrated as my milage hasn’t been increasing as fast as I’d like. With me being so accident/injury prone it’s probably a good thing. I’m not really planning on running a real race until probably Turkey Trot time in November, but for sure December when the Hot Chocolate Race kicks in again. So I’m taking it slow. My Garmin has told me after my last 3 runs that I’ve set a new record. It’s like I have a personal cheering squad sitting on my wrist. My last run actually wasn’t that bad. I probably should start paying attention to the actual data that it gives me. After all, that’s why I opted to get the Garmin right??? My splits are all negative which is a good thing. I was worried on Saturday because I felt a little sluggish and I was worried it would be a crappy run, but my splits were great! I’m still slow. I probably always will be and I’m okay with that. I just want to be able to keep up the distance!
Yay for negative splits!
I was very sad for about an hour after my run. I have recently discovered leggings with pockets in them. That’s not what made me sad. (more to come) I know pockets are not a new thing, but I’ve never used leggings that had them before. I must have been living under a rock because honestly I don’t know how I ever lived without them! I usually use a magnetic pouch in my pants to hold my phone and any other necessities I may need. Saturday I decided to experiment and see if my phone really would fit in the pocket of the leggings I had on while I ran. I brought my Roo Sport pouch with me just in case so I had it tucked like normal into my leggings.
I’m going to go on a duck walk for a moment. Speaking of leggings, I was wearing my Lululemon leggings that I had to go down a size in. Apparently I should have gone down TWO sizes because they fall down when I run. Not like down around my ankles, but enough that I have to keep pulling them up when I run. I took a few tentative steps when I began running and the phone was not budging so I was really excited!
I didn’t give my phone another thought as I continued on my run. During every walk break I would have to stop and pull the waist of my leggings back up where they belong. I didn’t think anything of it, until I was almost all the way done with my run and I realized my Roo Sport pouch was gone! This is where the sadness comes in. That pouch had seen me through a few races, several rounds of lawn mowing (to hold my phone so can listen to music when I mow), and some hikes. I immediately had it in my head that I was going to have to order a new one when I got home. Not all of my leggings have pockets and I have never attempted to go on a run without my phone. I feel like I need it for safety.
I was super sad when I got home because I had no idea where I had dropped it. I figured as I was pulling up my pants while I ran, I probably pulled it out without realizing it. It was so light without my phone in it, that it probably just flew out as I adjusted my waistband. At that point I was tired, thirsty, hot and a little irritated about losing my pouch and was SO not in the mood to have to go back over my route. I was resigned to having lost it.
When I got home I did some stretches. I’m trying to make a conscious effort to stretch more after I run because I’m determined not to wreck my body again. After I was done stretching I realized I was hungry in addition to being thirsty. I had already slammed two bottles of water. I did the dance where I open the refrigerator door and stand staring at the food in the fridge for about 10 minutes before deciding there was nothing in there I wanted to eat. I decided to head to The Habit to get a grilled cheese sandwich (with bacon AND avocado!) and some fries. I know that’s not the healthiest thing to eat after I run, but that is was I was suddenly craving.
I jumped into my little CR-V and headed to go pick up my food. On the way there I cruised down one of the main roads that was part of my route. I looked in vain for my little black pouch hoping I’d see it just laying on the sidewalk, to no avail. I was still really sad as I waited for my food and resigned myself to looking at the RooSport website when I got home. I decided not to go back the way I came and took the longer way home just to see one more time if I could spy my pouch.
I was just about to give up when I saw something black laying on the sidewalk in front of this small church that I don’t even know if it’s still an actual church or not. I never see cars in the parking lot, but occasionally someone is out there taking care of the grounds. There was a groundskeeper type person there who looked up as I quickly took the corner, tires squealing and pulled into the church parking lot. I parked and hopped out quickly, leaving my door wide open and the engine running. (Luckily I put it in park-haha). I was just so excited about the possibility of finding my pouch! I discovered there was a weird almost small canal surrounding the parking lot, keeping it separated from the sidewalk in front of it. I thought that was odd and contemplated getting a running start and trying to jump over it. I looked to the left as I was backing up to start running and saw a little bridge someone had thoughtfully built over the mini-canal. I quickly scrambled across it, almost falling on my face as I hit some gravel on the sidewalk, and quickly retrieved what did turn out to be my pouch!
Oh I was so excited! I couldn’t believe I had actually found it. It looked a little worse for the wear and I wondered if maybe it hadn’t gotten tossed around in the wind from passing cars a little, but I didn’t care! I found it! I fully intended on buying a new one if it had been lost, but I really didn’t want to spend the money so I was relieved! This was seriously one of the best purchases I had ever made of running gear!
The magnet is below that fold and it just tucks into my leggings it also has 2 zipper areas
After my run and adventure afterward it was time to get ready to hand out with some friends. A bunch of teachers/gym friends (from back in my Orange Theory days) get together once a month to catch up. I was fortunate enough to get together with them last month at Postino and this month we had planned an outing to the Queen Creek Olive Mill. It’s a cute little ”farm” that has a restaurant and retail space. I was happy that I had gotten the day off as an approved request so I could join them.
I still felt great and had that post-run euphoria as I showered and got ready. I was excited to be able to spend even more time outside. I had never actually been to the Mill before, but several of my family members and friends had gone previously and loved it. We had made arrangements to carpool since it’s pretty far out from the areas in which we all live.
I ended up stopping at Quick Trip (gas station) to grab a bottle of water on my way. Sometimes my stomach acts up on long car rides (because apparently I’m 5) so I wanted the water with me just in case. I had actually made an effort with my appearance and had on makeup and did my hair. The girl that rang me out for the water at QT said as I was checking out, ”Wow, you’re like really pretty”. It made my day! It was such an out of the blue complement that I looked behind me to see if someone was standing behind me. It turns out she was talking to me! I told her she made my day and then set off to meet my friends.
I clean up nice sometimes! haha
The Olive Mill was super far out east and it took us probably about 45 minutes to an hour to get there, but it was so cute! It was Canada week. wW get an influx of ”snowbirds” from Canada, so they must’ve been celebrating them. (A snowbird is what we Arizonans affectionately refer to the old people who can’t drive and don’t pay taxes here retired folks who come from Canada and parts of the US that get pretty cold and snowy. They have ”winter homes” here and hang out until about April or so when it starts to get too hot and then they fly back east for the summer).
It was so crowded! We stood in line for probably about a half an hour to order our food and get drinks. The time passed quickly though because the six of us kept chatting and playing catch up as we waited. I couldn’t decide if I wanted a salad or a sandwich, but when I saw the desert case, I went for the salad in hopes of mitigating calories (especially after my grilled cheese and fries in the morning).
All the seating was outside and it was such a beautiful day for it! It was nice and cool but the sun shining didn’t make it feel chilly at all. There was plenty of seating too. We were able to find a long picnic table that accommodated the six of us. We didn’t have to wait very long for our food-which was delicious! I ordered the house salad with chicken. It has stuff in it that I normally don’t eat. I’m super picky about salads, but it was really good! All the veggies were fresh and the chicken in it wasn’t bad. The dressing was some kind of lemon vinaigrette and it was very refreshing!
Plenty of seating and shade!
It seemed like time flew as we chatted and laughed and caught up! We ventured back inside to get dessert and do a little shopping. I bought my aunt a large bottle of the lemon olive oil (I heard it was really good) and I bought myself a State Forty Eight shirt. I love the State Forty Eight shirts and was excited to see they sold them there, and that they had the women’s cut in the v-neck! I also ordered some chocolate chip cannoli and it was the absolute bomb!
I love this group of women!
All in all it was a fabulous day! I started with a great run, and ended it in the company of amazing friends! I can’t wait until our next adventure!
Runs Through Sprinklers 