Zenaida Arroyo

04
Jan
2016

Day 3 of 5 Days of Zenaida’s Giveaways

categories: Giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by for the third day of my giveaway! None of these items are sponsored by the companies but instead is stuff I had at the house or purchased with my own money.

Make sure to stop back daily as I will be having a new giveaway every day for the next two days and would hate for you to miss out on any of them. Also, some of the entries are available daily (i.e. tweeting about the specific giveaway and commenting on an Instagram post), so if it is an item you really want to win, I’d recommend entering as many times as possible.

Day 3 – MudLOVE Bracelets

I love my bands. They’re cute and comfortable. You can adjust the elastic to fit your wrist. They’re made from clay that is 100% non-hazardous and the glazes they use are lead-free and non-toxic. Did I mention that for each one that is purchased, it provides one week of clean water to someone in need? It is definitely a win-win situation.

I am giving three readers the option to win one of the bands pictured below. To enter, click on the image below where you will be directed to Gleam and enter several different ways such as leaving a blog post comment, following me on Instagram, commenting on any of my Instagram posts, visiting the MudLOVE Facebook page, or tweeting about the giveaway. Happy New Year to you so I’ve included an extra entry for you.

As with all of these giveaways, they will run for seven days. The winner will be selected on the eighth day. This one will run through January 11th at 11:59pm. The giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Gleam account and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so please be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected.

Best of luck to everyone who enters!

03
Jan
2016

RnR NOLA Week 4

categories: Chicago Endurance Sports, Giveaway, Half Marathon Training, Rock 'n' Roll Race, Running, Weekly Recap

I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap.

Hoping everyone had a good week!

*Week #4, December 28-January 3

Monday:

PLAN – 6 miles all easy effort
ACTUAL – Skipped.

It was gross outside. No way was I going to run outside and risk falling. 🙂 I could have gone to the gym but still no. I did this workout on Tuesday.

Tuesday:

PLAN – Cycle Zone and Body Works Plus Abs
ACTUAL –Skipped both classes but did run 8 miles @10:37 average pace

I skipped my workouts to do the one from yesterday. I alternated 2 minutes/3 minutes @10:00; 10:21; and 10:43. Took a break after mile 5 to get more water and to move to another treadmill because these two women next to me were constantly talking and annoying. I gave them dirty looks but they must not have been dirty enough because they kept talking. Go figure that I ran into them later in the locker room. I ran 2 extra miles to finish the month with 80 miles. That’s what I get for skipping workouts.

Wednesday:

PLAN –2 miles warm up (10:00-10:45), 2 minutes around 8:30 with 3 minutes recovery and repeat until you get 2 miles, 1 mile cool down @ 9:00-9:30
ACTUAL – 5 miles @10:46 average pace

My last run of 2015. Miles 1 and 2 were done @10:43. 2 minutes were done at 8:27; 8:20; 8:20; 8:20; and 8:20 pace while recoveries were done walking @17:08 pace. Last mile I alternated 2 minutes/3 minutes @8:57; 9:05; and 9:14.

The 8:20 did not feel too hard. I could have gone faster to 8:13 but legs were tired from yesterday. Next time I’ll try it. I did stop to walk for a few seconds during the last mile.

Thursday:

PLAN- OFF
ACTUAL- OFF

Friday:

PLAN – OFF
ACTUAL- OFF

I went out for a walk. It wasn’t too cold. I stopped at Target and ended up buying about $40 worth of stuff. I actually get bored walking (would rather run) but I actually enjoyed this walk.

Saturday:

PLAN- 10 miles
ACTUAL- 9.02 @10:39 average pace

Another cold day but not too windy. Some ice on the path which made us take it a little slower. About 15 seconds slower than last week but felt much better today. Again, the last mile was tough but I pushed through to finish my run. Overall, still very pleased with this run. Splits are:
Mile 1-10:41
Mile 2-10:32
Mile 3-11:00
Mile 4-10:19
Mile 5-10:23
Mile 6-10:56
Mile 7-10:41
MIle 8-10:27
Mile 9-10:48

Later that evening I did some stretches and foam rolled. My coach reminded me that I need to do this every single day. 🙂 Lola loves to keep me accompany.

Sunday:

PLAN- Yoga
ACTUAL- Did not make to class.

Don’t forget to enter my two giveaways. Click on the pictures to go to the sites.

Back to work tomorrow. It’s been a fun and relaxing two weeks at home but I am looking forward to getting back to my routine. Today I made some meals for this week, oatmeal for breakfast and quinoa with corn and chickpeas for lunch. Now the countdown starts for Spring Break in April!

03
Jan
2016

Day 2 of 5 Days of Zenaida’s Giveaways

categories: Giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by for the second day of my giveaway! None of these items are sponsored by the companies but instead is stuff I had at the house or purchased with my own money.

Make sure to stop back daily as I will be having a new giveaway every day for the next three days and would hate for you to miss out on any of them. Also, some of the entries are available daily (i.e. tweeting about the specific giveaway and commenting on an Instagram post), so if it is an item you really want to win, I’d recommend entering as many times as possible.

Day 2 – Lock Laces

These are seriously the best! I have them in all of my shoes and love how I don’t have to stop and tie or tighten my laces during a run.

There will be two winners – each receiving a pair of LockLaces. The colors are purple and pink.

To enter, click on the image below where you will be directed to Gleam and enter several different ways such as leaving a blog post comment, following me on Instagram, commenting on any of my Instagram posts, visiting the Lock Laces Facebook page, or tweeting about the giveaway. Happy New Year to you so I’ve included an extra entry for you.

As with all of these giveaways, they will run for seven days. The winner will be selected on the eighth day. This one will run through January 10th at 11:59pm. The giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Gleam account and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so please be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected.

Best of luck to everyone who enters!

02
Jan
2016

Day 1 of 5 Days of Zenaida’s Giveaways

categories: Giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by for the first day of my giveaway! None of these items are sponsored by the companies but instead is stuff I had at the house or purchased with my own money.

Make sure to stop back daily as I will be having a new giveaway every day for the next four days and would hate for you to miss out on any of them. Also, some of the entries are available daily (i.e. tweeting about the specific giveaway and commenting on an Instagram post), so if it is an item you really want to win, I’d recommend entering as many times as possible.

Day 1 – Momentum Jewelry

I have seen so many photos on Instagram and enjoy reading all of the encouraging messages. I purchased several Oval Motivate Wraps and two Foot Notes. I love that these wraps will not rub, squeeze, slip or chafe. They’re so comfortable you will even forget to take it off. They’re hand-washable with a stretchy fabric material that goes around the wrist 4-6 times depending on the wrist size. The pendant is aluminum, lightweight, and will not tarnish.

If you win, you can pick either the wrap (stronger than yesterday) or foot notes (make it happen).

To enter, click on the image below where you will be directed to Gleam and enter several different ways such as leaving a blog post comment, following me on Instagram, commenting on any of my Instagram posts, visiting the Momentum Jewelry Facebook page, or tweeting about the giveaway. Happy New Year to you so I’ve included an extra entry for you.

This is my first time using Gleam so please bear with me and I apologize in advance if things don’t work properly.

As with all of these giveaways, they will run for seven days. The winner will be selected on the eighth day. This one will run through January 9th at 11:59pm. The giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Gleam account and will have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so please be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected.

Best of luck to everyone who enters!

01
Jan
2016

5 years for this blog and 5 giveaways!

categories: Giveaway, Running

My first post was on January 2, 2011. Oh boy. I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve changed the name (and domains). I started with WordPress then went to Blogger and finally again back to WordPress. I think I am just going to leave it the way it is for now. 🙂 Originally I wanted to purchase the domain www.zenaida.com but it was over $2000.

So just a few things to point out that happened in those 5 years:

Gained a few more years in teaching experience. Took math classes and received my math endorsement.
Moved up to 2nd grade after teaching 1st grade for 4 years.
Lost my beautiful cat, Princess in March 2011 but this summer adopted Lola.
Went on an AMAZING trip for 3 weeks to Mexico, Ecuador and Peru in July 2011.
Toured the Princeton University campus as part of my trip to run the Princeton Half Marathon. It is a gorgeous campus!
Went whale watching, to Salem, and Hartford in August 2012.
Did a Maine Lobstering Tour as part of my trip to run the Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon.
I turned 40!
Biked 25 miles in the Chicago L.A.T.E Ride.
Ran the Illinois Marathon Relay with 3 other women.
Completed my first Ragnar Chicago. Due to my school schedule I have yet to do another one.
Completed 14 Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathons in 2013! I took a break for 2 years and am registered for 3 next year.
Completed two ultra marathons, 2012 and 2014. For some weird reason I did not write a recap in 2012. I just noticed the pattern and it looks like I skip a year. Not sure if I will run this next year. But I guess you never know right?
Got several PRs: Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile, 5/26/15, 1:41:56; Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, 3/30/14, 48:38; Community Bank of Elmhurst 4 on the 4th, 7/4/14, 39:39; ING Hartford Half Marathon, 10/12/13, 2:17:01; Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon, 3/4/12, 5:16:53; Chicago Lakefront 50K, 3/31/12, 6:20:55; and Alivio y Salud Run for Health 5K, 5/21/11, 29:48. Many are OLD so I need to improve those.
Completed the RunDisney Goofy Challenge, which is a half marathon and full marathon in 2 days. What an experience! And then went on to complete a few more Disney races that year. I know, CRAZY.
Became an Ambassador for ZOOMA Chicago, Fort2Base, and Hammer Nutrition.

Some things I would like to accomplish next year are:

Get a sub 2 half marathon and “officially” PR at the Chicago Marathon. As for #3, I need 3:45 to qualify. In two years I will need 3:55.

PR in a 5K and 10K. It’s been years since I’ve run a race that distance and I am itching to know how I do.

Run in at least 5 different states. So far I am registered to run in MI, but am looking at KS and WV. Also, I am going back to run in LA, WA, and NV.

Post more often and get more involved in the running community. I’ve seen so many bloggers linking up with other bloggers to share posts. I enjoy reading them and am hoping I can do it as well. I don’t think it is something I can keep up with everyday but maybe 1 or 2 a week. A few I like are:
- Monday-Weekly Wrap
- Tuesday-Tuesdays on the Run
- Wednesday-Win it Wednesday or Wednesday Word
- Thursday-Thinking Out Loud
- Friday-Friday Five Link Up

Run 2,016 miles with the Run this Year group. I’ve teamed up with Elizabeth to accomplish this goal.

Stop comparing myself to other people.

Work on my nutrition and do more strength training.

Thank you for reading! Now for the best part. I have some awesome and brand new gear around the house to bring you 5 days of giveaways. Yes, that is correct, 5 days of giveaways. Don’t miss it!!

I am planning to post reminders on my Instagram and Twitter accounts about the giveaways, but they will all be held HERE, on Zenaida.Net, so if you don’t already have the webpage in your favorites, you better do it now!

What are some of your goals for 2016?