Zenaida Arroyo

15
Oct
2019

Tuesday Topics: My favorite running books

I love to read! It makes me sad to see my students struggle with reading. Many read very slow and then many times have no idea what they just read. We have independent reading time every single day and I hope this does not make them dislike reading.

This week’s Tuesday Topic: What are your favorite running books? You can write about this topic or feel free to post any running related blog post. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

Tuesday Topics-13.jpg

Here are a few great books I’ve read:

Born to Run: I loved reading about the Tarahumara Indians and their barefoot running. They’re amazing natural ultramarathoners! I remember learning about chia seeds. 🙂

Running Books-2.jpg

Run Less, Run Faster: If you “only” have time to run 3 days a week, then this book/plan is for you. I am pretty positive I used their plan for one of my races. There is also an app where you add the race distance, date, and calculated 5k and you will get your 3 runs and paces for each week leading up to the race.

Running Books-1.jpg

Hansons Marathon Method: I have the books for the marathon and half marathon. The plans are intense but doable. For the 2016 Chicago Marathon I trained using this method. I was aiming to finish under 5 hours, but I didn’t. I did get a PR so that counts, right? You can read what I wrote about it HERE.

HansonsTrainingPlan

Boston Bound: It is an easy to read book that details Elizabeth Clor’s struggles as she attempts to get a BQ. She tried for 7 years and finally qualified in October of 2014. She ran the Boston Marathon on April 18, 2016.

Running Books-3.jpg

Chicken Soup for the Soul – Running for Good: I read about this book in Wendy’s blog. Immediately I ordered it from Amazon. I could not put it down. The book is full of wonderful stories of runners talking about their struggles, goals, and accomplishments. I loved that each story began with a motivational quote.

Running Books-4.jpg

Living with a Seal: Another book from Wendy’s blog. This book is HILARIOUS! Jesse invites a Navy Seal to come live with him and to train him to get in shape. His only condition is that Jessie does everything he tells him to do. I don’t think I would last a day with him.

Living with a Seal-1

I am currently reading “Meb for Mortals. I bought this book last year before the Chicago Marathon. I know, I know, that was a year ago. I should have finished it by now.

Running Books-5.jpg

Any other good running books I should read?

13
Oct
2019

Weekly Run Down: Chicago Marathon weekend and a Model PLC School

categories: Chicago Marathon, Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Weekly Mileage-29

No, I did not run the Chicago Marathon and definitely did not feel like I was missing out. The last time I ran this race was 3 years ago. It was in the mid 50s. I ran the first half faster than the second half. However, I did manage to get a PR and bettered my time by 40 minutes from 10 years ago (my first marathon).

I did however felt left out when I saw everyone’s post from the expo. I usually go every year and love it. From the pictures I saw that Joan Samuelson, Paula Radcliffe, and Deena Kastor were there. I’ve only met Deena and have seen Joan on the running path.

I ran 3 days this week for a total of 11.65 miles. I missed my run on Wednesday and Saturday. I was out late at a concert on Friday and slept in. The rest of the day was just busy and then we went to a family dinner. No time to run.

Wednesday evening I went to a Board Meeting because my school was recognized as a Model PLC School. Earlier in the day during our after school meeting, the Superintendent and various Directors showed up to congratulate us. Everything we do we do it for the kids. It feels great to be recognized and I know we will continue to do great things.

Model PLC School.jpg

Early this morning I went to spectate the Chicago Marathon. It is so much fun to spectate! One of my best friends was running her first marathon. The tracking app was acting funky and I missed her a few times. In the end I did see her and ran with her for about 5 miles.

It was cold Sunday morning. The sun came out a few times and it did warm up but then it got cold again. I wore shorts with a singlet, a long sleeve underneath, and a light jacket on top. I also wore pants and took them off a bit before I started to run.

2019 Chicago Marathon-1

Another busy and hectic week. Next week is my half marathon. Am I ready? No. My goal is to have fun and enjoy it.

Have you spectated a marathon before? Have you run the Chicago Marathon?

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Weekly Run Down.jpg

10
Oct
2019

Random Thoughts Thursday 93

categories: Random Thoughts Thursday

Random Thoughts Thursday

• I had a weird dream the other night. I dreamt that I took a nap and when I woke up, my landlord had sort of evicted me and my sister. Sort of meaning that he removed the stove, refrigerator, and toilet. He also replaced the living room floor. I know I would like to move soon but that was pretty extreme. I am still looking for buy, just haven’t found the house i like. 🙂

• My students love to color. It makes me happy to see them color. My mother also likes to color and my sister got her a big box of crayons. Isn’t it cool?

• I have sharpened pencils in my room for my students to use. How is it that they write until the tip wears off? I just don’t understand it.

• On Monday I went to Walmart and saw these shoes in the parking lot. Did someone really forget them or simply left them on purpose after putting on the new shoes they bought? 🙂

• It’s been a rough few weeks at school but I am feeling the love from my students. It definitely made my day. I love it!

08
Oct
2019

Tuesday Topics: Themed races – Yay or nah? Favorite themed races?

categories: Rock 'n' Roll Race, RunDisney, Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: Themed races – yay or nah? Favorite themed races? You can write about this topic or feel free to post any running related blog post. Remember to Link-up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

Tuesday Topics-12.jpg

Rock ‘n’ Roll

I’ve done quite a few themed races. The bulk were Disney and Rock ‘n’ Roll Races. Sometime in late 2013 I purchased a TourPass. With this pass I was able to run unlimited RnR races in the U.S. This pass was only $399. Awesome deal and I took advantage of it. In 2013 I ran 14 Rock ‘n’ Roll races. I am glad I was able to visit so many different places – some I had never been to before! Some of my favorite cities were Washington DC and Las Vegas. I ran my 100th race at RnR Chicago which I was happy about. The worst one was Nashville because it was hilly and it rained throughout the whole race. I feel like I need to go back and do it again. When I was done with Las Vegas, I ended up with 22 medals.

It’s been fun to read again some of these posts. There are so many things I would do different but still I am glad I experienced these races.

RunDisney

I ran 8 races in 2014. It all started with the Goofy Challenge (half marathon on Saturday and marathon on Sunday) in Florida and ended with Wine and Dine in Florida too. I remember some friends talking about the Goofy Challenge and how they wanted to do it again. They asked me if I was interested. I replied “sure” not really knowing what I was getting myself into. They ended up doing Dopey Challenge which was a 5k on Thursday, 10k on Friday, half marathon on Saturday, and a marathon on Sunday. DOPEY FOR SURE!

Goofy Challenge was definitely hard but I finished. Training for it was even worse. The race was in January and I had to train in the Winter and that was not fun at all.

Then I went on to run Tinker Bell Half Marathon, Enchanted 10k, Princess Half Marathon (those two were The Glass Slipper Challenge), Disneyland 10k, Disneyland Half Marathon (those two were the Dumbo Dare Challenge, and Wine and Dine Half Marathon. I had forgotten that Wine and Dine was a night race (so RnR Las Vegas is not the only night race I’ve done). It also rained most of the course and my finish time is my worst finish time. After this race I had 14 Disney medals.

RunDisney6

Also, it’s been fun reading some of my posts again. When I first started my blog, I used Blogger. Then I used WordPress, back to Blogger, and back again to WordPress. Cannot remember why I did this but with all of this back and forth, some of my photos aren’t showing up on the posts or are upside down. I want to fix them but I don’t know how. Or should I even bother and just leave it the way it is?

I enjoyed both the RnR and RunDisney races. However, what I did not like about the Disney races was the price. They’re very expensive! I think I paid close to $400 for the Goofy Challenge. Would I do them again? Only Glass Slipper Challenge. I like the theme and I’d rather go to FL than CA because it is closer and cheaper to get there.

As for RnR races, I will not do those again except maybe Chicago. And that is a big maybe. That race is in July and July is not a good month for a half marathon in Chicago. I would like to run in Washington DC because I love going there.

100th race.jpg

06
Oct
2019

Weekly Run Down: Low month and still wearing shorts

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Weekly Mileage-28.jpg

I love that I was able to do all of my workouts this week. So many different weather changes this week. I was hot on Tuesday and then cold by Saturday.

September 2019 Mileage

I ended the month with 29.46 miles. It was my second lowest after February which was 21.52 miles.

I had a committee meeting on Tuesday and didn’t have to be at work till 8:30. I got up to run since I thought I had a longer workout but then realized I had to run 3 miles. I kept putting it off thinking I had time, since it was “only” 3 miles, but then lost track of time and did not run. I did run later in the evening but it was 90 degrees. Man it was tough!

I actually enjoyed my workout on Wednesday (2 mile warmup, 1×8 minute intervals with 2 minutes recovery, and 1 mile warmup). I was out by 5am and it was nice to be out in the dark and quiet. I have been struggling to be out there running in the morning but once I am there, it is kind of relaxing. I feel like I am in my own world with no worries.

I was cold Friday morning to run 3 miles. But I still wore shorts. 🙂 During my run I thought about my kids. I have 16 total but only 3 are reading at grade level. A few are close to grade level and the rest are reading at the beginning of 1st grade level. Every year it is worse and we don’t understand why these kids aren’t reading at grade level. Is it a language issue or a learning disability? I have an interventionist coming in to work with these kids but only 1 (maybe 2, still need to get confirmation) will be pulled out for additional support. Why aren’t the other students receiving more support? Who knows? But I do know that some interventionists are also working with some 5th graders. Huh?

I procrastinated on Saturday for my long run. I don’t like doing that because then things happen and then I don’t end up doing what I intended to do. I went out at 11am to run 6 miles. It was sunny but not too cold. I wore shorts again. It is beginning to look like Fall!

I am glad I did all of my runs this week. My plantar fasciitis is definitely much better and I am happy about it. Two weeks to go till the Detroit Free Press/TCF Half Marathon!

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

Weekly Run Down.jpg