Random Thoughts Thursday 36

Random Thoughts Thursday

• This made me laugh!  Can you tell I LOVE cats?  🙂

Ways to gain my friendship.jpg

• My drivers licence expires in November.  I received a letter from the Secretary of State that due to my good driving record, I can renew my license and get a new one by mail, phone, or online.  Made me smile.

Drivers License Renewal-1

• On Monday I start my reading and writing lessons with my students.  The first book we will read is about a family of mice that moves in a new neighborhood and are afraid of the cat.  The cat, of course, wants to eat them and is planning his dinner that evening with another cat friend.  Cute story.  However, why publish a book FOR KIDS with no page numbers?  I spent a good amount of time adding page numbers to the pages.

• Got a new credit card!  Check out the credit line.  I hope I never have to have a need for it and use it.

Credit Access Line-1

Goodbye August and Hello September!

Hello September

• August flew by!  My mom and I went on a short trip to San Antonio followed by a few days off and then back to work.  I have 21 students with a few well behaved students and a few not so well behaved.  They talk too much.  🙂  Honestly, I like kids that talk because they know how to communicate and I can have an actual conversation with them.  However, there are times in which they need to be quiet but a few keep going on and on.  A mom already complained that I am mean and that I yell too much.  🙁

• I have a new running coach.  I am currently working with Mary and have had some great workouts.  I love it!  My favorite have been 6×1 minute and 8×1 minute intervals.

• Bought new shoes.  I am a HUGE Brooks fan.  I took advantage of the sale on the Brooks site and purchased a few pairs of the Launch 5.  However, some styles didn’t work out for me (too stiff) and I sent them back (they have a GREAT return policy!).  I also ended up buying the Levitate.  These two and another pair of the Launch are in my shoe rotation.  

I am eyeing their new shoes that came out early this month – the Bedlam.  Love the color but do I need another pair?

• Ran 82.10 miles.  I did not meet my goal this month.  I am now 63% done of my yearly goal.  There are 119 days left in 2018 and I still need to run 442 miles to achieve my goal.

Total August 2018

2018 Goal

• Total time running was 17:06:52.

• 19 days of running.  With Mary I have been running 5 days a week.  Sometimes I have 1 or 2 quality sessions (hard and fast workouts) and the rest are easy runs (3-6 miles).  

August 2018 Calendar.jpg

• I didn’t have any races in August.  I am excited about 2 races in September – Run Mag Mile and ZOOMA Great Lakes.

• Final Thoughts: Even though August was “low” in mileage, I am happy with how it went.  I am enjoying my runs and am happy to be working again with Mary.

August 2018 Report Card

So how did August go for you?

Linking up with MarciaPatti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

TuesdaysOnTheRun

Random Thoughts Thursday 35

Random Thoughts Thursday

• Recently there was a festival close to my house.  It was a hot day but my mom and I checked it out.  We had some tacos and funnel cake.  I also saw the cutest bag.  I almost bought it but it was $50.  I know, I know.  If I can spend hundreds of dollars on Tieks shoes and Brooks running shoes, then I can spend $50 on a bag.

Skull Bag

• I received my new CTA (Ventra card).  Check out the expiration date.  It must be a mistake, right?

Ventra Card-1.jpg

• My 2nd day with the kids went well.  I have 21 students with a few that are very well behaved and also a few that will make this year a challenging one.

Teaching Quote-1.jpg

• Give me all of the Ticonderoga pencils.  They’re my favorite and that is what I only use in my classroom.  I tried to add that specific brand to this year’s supply list but that didn’t happen.

Ticonderoga Pencils-2.jpg

• I did a Labor Day activity with my students and they had to write what they want to be when they grow up.  One of them said that he wants to be a police officer so he can eat donuts.  🙂

Labor Day Activity-1

Random Thoughts Thursday 34

Random Thoughts Thursday

• I love potato chips!  Add some hot sauce (Louisiana or Cholula) and that is my snack.  However, these new chips from Lay’s don’t look tasty.  Have you tried them?  

Lay's Potato Chips-1

• I don’t drink Gatorade like I used to but this one cracked me up. 

Gatorade-1

• This one too.  Gotta love Facebook for learning about these things.  🙂

Jabon Zote-1

• I took my car to National Tire and Battery for tire rotation/alignment and an oil change.  The mechanic told me that they couldn’t do the rotation/alignment because my car needs new tires.  I replaced them about 5-6 years ago.  The decision I need to make now is if I want to keep my car (get new tires) or sell it (don’t get new tires).  I love my car.  I bought it in 2006.  While a new one would be nice, the thought of making a car payment doesn’t sound appealing.

• I have a love/hate relationship with Strava.  Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is with it.  I guess I feel this way because I have a Garmin and see my stats on the app or online.  That gives me all of the information I need.  I remember signing up for Strava because many people were signing up too.  😉  Am I missing something here?

A new coach, San Antonio, and back to work!

I am excited to share that I have a running coach.  After a few weeks of using the Hansons Half Marathon Method, I started working again with Mary.   I worked with her and Rochelle while training for the Illinois Marathon.  While the marathon didn’t go as I wanted it to, I enjoyed many of my workouts (even in the cold days of winter) and had a great time training with the both of them.

She sent me my schedule for August 12-26 and I got really excited when I saw it.  Most of my runs are easy runs (4-6 miles) but I also have a few quality sessions (warm up and cool down with 6 x 30 second intervals, 8 x 30 second intervals, and 8 x 1 minute intervals).  >> I already did the 1st two quality sessions and did very well in them.

My sister and nephew live in San Antonio so my mother and I went to visit them.  It went by fast!  We arrived on Thursday and came back on Tuesday (last week).  Our original return date was Monday but the flight was delayed from 6:30pm to 9:30pm.  We would have been getting in at midnight so we decided to stay another day.

The last time I went in the summer, I remember it being very hot.  This time it wasn’t too bad.  I was able to do 2 easy runs, one in the morning and one in the evening.  

San Antonio Weather

We spent the days at home relaxing and also visiting my aunt and cousins.  My aunt made mole and I helped my mother make tamales.  They’re delicious but so much work.  We had a great time but I was looking forward to coming back home.  I missed Lola and I think she missed me too!  🙂

Summer break is over!  I went back to work on Monday.  I worked on my room prior to my San Antonio trip but didn’t finish everything.  I went again on Friday.  I stayed late on Monday and I’m still not done but pleased with how it is.

Classroom-7

Here is what my first week with Mary looked like for me!

Sunday:  5 miles easy on a humid day in San Antonio.

Monday:  4 miles easy also in San Antonio.  I did this in the evening so it wasn’t as humid.

Tuesday:  OFF

Wednesday: 4.85 miles which consisted of 2 warmup, 6×30 seconds w/1 minute recovery, and 2 cooldown.

Thursday: 4 miles easy

Friday: 5.23 miles which consisted of 2 warmup, 8×30 seconds w/1 minute recovery, and 2 cooldown.

Saturday:  6 miles easy

Sunday:  OFF!

Monday:  4 miles easy

Total: 33.08 miles

Linking up with Marcia, Patti, and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

TuesdaysOnTheRun