Zenaida Arroyo

06
Jan
2023

Fit Five Friday and January 2023 Ultimate Coffee Date

categories: Fit Five Friday, Ultimate Coffee Date

Yay for 2023 and for the first edition of the Ultimate Coffee Date hosted by Coco and Deborah. It’s also time for another edition of Fit Five Friday hosted by My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and me! Let’s get started, shall we?

I am excited about this year. I have a new word for 2023. I will be traveling to NYC and Washington, DC for two races. Once I have more information about another summer school program, I will make plans to travel to Mexico. Finally, a project that I listed in DonorsChoose got funded at the end of December.

There is more to tell. So grab a mug of your favorite beverage and let’s chat for a bit!

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I am a bit sad that today is my last day of Winter Break. I enjoyed it. I wrote a post of things I was looking forward to and I did all but 1 (to write a few blog posts). However, Kim and I finalized our topics for Tuesday Topics and the Fit Five Friday team also put together a list of topics.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that even though I just mentioned I am sad about Winter Break being over, I am looking forward to getting back to my school routine. A teeny tiny part of me also missed my 2nd graders. We have a bunch of assessments to do in January so it will be a busy month for us. I will have snacks and words of support and encouragement for them. It is all about the food. 🤣

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I signed up for my third race this year – the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle 8k. You know it is one of my favorite races. I took it as a sign to finally sign up when I received an email encouraging me to sign up for $45. It was $5 less than the regular price but still that was my sign.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that my mom turns 80 this year and we are planning a BIG celebration for her in September. She has a big family so it will be fun to have many family members together and celebrate. It won’t be a surprise party since she was at the kitchen table when a few of us were talking about it.

If we were having coffee…
I’d tell you that I finished reading “Landslide” and “Come Fly the World”. I liked the latter much more than the first one. My next book is “Crying in H Mart”. I love to read. Like running, reading is my alone and me time. It saddens me to see that many kids do not know how to read or don’t like to read.

Topic for next week’s Fit Fit Friday – 5 things that motivate you. Feel free to write about this topic or any fitness topic you’d like. We hope you’ll link up with us!

03
Jan
2023

Tuesday Topics: My word for 2023

categories: Tuesday Topics

Welcome to the first edition of Tuesday Topics for 2023! Kim and I have more fun topics for this year and are excited for you to join us every week. We will continue to have the last Tuesday of every month to be a FREE Topic.

This week’s Tuesday Topic: Your word for 2023. 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!

Below are the words I’ve had in the past. I thought I had more than two, but I must and never wrote about them.

2022-Patience

2021-Joy

Last year my word was “Patience”. It wasn’t easy but I did well last year. I am working on a post about it and will have it ready by the end of January.

For 2023 I decided my word to be “Balance”. It was hard to pick a word. I thought about happy, smile, and enjoy. I want to be happier. I want to smile more. I want to enjoy more things in life. Then I realized that I could be happier, smile more, and enjoy more things in life if I can find a balance in my life.

Something that I definitely need to do is to stop spending so much time working. It leaves me exhausted and frustrated. I care about my students but no matter how much I do, it will never be enough. I can only do so much.

There have been times when I wouldn’t go for a run in the morning because I was doing stuff for school. I need to do more fun stuff (travel, meet with friends, go to the movies, etc.). While I know work is important, it shouldn’t consume my life.

I found these suggestions to help me find and keep my balance:

Build healthy self-esteem
Receive as well as receive
Create positive parenting and family relationships
Make friends who count
Figure out your priorities
Get involved
Learn to manage stress effectively
Cope with changes that affect you
Deal with your emotions
Have a spirituality to call your own

Here’s to 2023 and to find a balance!

Topic for next week – What are your Winter running plans and/or race schedule? Feel free to write about this topic or any running related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

01
Jan
2023

Weekly Run Down: Happy New Year and I am back!

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Hello there! Remember me? I haven’t posted in here for over a year. I hope that I will continue to post weekly and read about all of your fun weekly activities.

This past week was my first week of training for the NYC Half Marathon in March. I ran 4 days, had 2 rest days, and had 1 day of cross training. My first two runs felt hard, but I stuck with it and then had two great days of running.

December 26-January 1

Monday: Rest day. I have no pictures from that day but I know I was home (Winter Break) with my cats.

Tuesday: Ran 3.07 miles. I used a run/walk method and it was hard. I did a lot of walking. My last run was 5 miles on November 20th. It was cold and windy too. The snow made it tough too.

Then I cuddled with my cats. In the evening I made it out to Oak Brook for dinner with the BFF.

Wednesday: Ran 3 miles. Another tough run. Did a lot of walking again and I am OK with it. My goal for the half marathon is to have fun and finish it. There was still a lot of snow on the ground and I had to be careful because I didn’t want to fall.

Thursday: Ran 3.04 miles. Even with the wind this run went much better. I stuck to the ran/walk intervals and ran/walked when I was supposed to. Nothing wrong with walking more if needed. I ran in my new Brooks running shoes. I told myself no more shoes but couldn’t help buying a new pair of the Launch 9.

Friday: Rest day. I did a few errands and began reading a new book. So far it is good.

Saturday: Ran 4.11 miles. I did my last run of the year and it was a great run! I felt good and my average pace was faster than my last 3 runs. It was still “slow” but I was pleased to see an improvement. I finished the year with 494.92 miles.

Sunday: Walked 3.39 miles. It was a cross training day and I decided to walk. It was in the 40s with no wind. For those that know me, know that I rarely go out for a walk. As much as I have tried and wanted, it just doesn’t happen.

So that was my week. It feels good to be running again. I am liking these 4 days of running instead of 6 like I used to.

I am looking forward to this year! I am signed up for 3 races and hope to add a few more to my race calendar. Last year was not my year of running so I hope this year is better.

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

27
Dec
2022

Tuesday Topics: My goals for 2023

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: What are your goals for 2023? 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!

I can’t believe 2022 is almost over. And what a year it has been! I know I said this before.

Time to start thinking about next year. Last year I wrote my goals for 2022. I will update you on how I did and then talk about my goals for next year.

❇️ Stay injury free. I was doing good until plantar fasciitis decided to visit. As if that wasn’t enough, hip pain came too. They’ve both overextended their stay and they need to leave.

❇️ Buy a house. I came really close by making an offer but then decided not to move forward.

❇️ Travel. Does it count that I traveled downtown for a race and to the suburbs for another race?

❇️ Continue to be patient at home and at work. I did good here. It wasn’t easy. It also helped that I picked my battles.

❇️ PR in my 50k. I tried twice to run a 50k but it didn’t happen. I guess it never will and I am OK with it.

❇️ Run 1,200 miles. This was not my year of running. I ended up with 481.71 running miles and 7.37 walking miles.

❇️ Complete 300 Peloton rides. Done! I am currently at 359 rides. Is it cheating if I am counting my warmup and cooldown rides? The Peloton instructors tell me I need to take them so I am listening to them.

2023 Goals:

➡️ Complete 500 Peloton rides.

➡️ Run 800 miles.

➡️ Run at least 5 races.

➡️ Do one Peloton activity each day.

➡️ Read 12 books.

And that is our last Tuesday Topics of 2022. A HUGE thank you for joining me and Kim each Tuesday to talk about running and other things not related to running. I love this group of bloggers!

Wishing you an (early) Happy New Year!

Topic for next week – Your word for 2023. Feel free to write about this topic or any running related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

23
Dec
2022

Fit Five Friday: 5 things I am looking forward to during Winter Break

categories: Fit Five Friday

Today is my first day of Winter Break. And it is cold outside. I go back on the 9th and am happy with the extra day we get for our break.

This week was full of fun activities with the students. Last week they took 4 MAP tests (state required) so the fun stuff was well deserved.

I am very excited about about my time off. Let me tell you what I am looking forward to during that time which is very similar to what I wrote last year.

☃️ Not be out running in the dark. I need to start training for my half marathon in March. I know I will wake up early anyway, but I will not be out running that early. I do wish I had a treadmill for when we have bad weather (like today).

☃️ Not drive to school or anywhere else. I plan to leave my house just for running, to get groceries, and go to my brother’s house to feed the cat. We do have enough food in the house to last us for a few weeks. Nothing fancy. We have the basics such as beans, tortillas, spaghetti, eggs, and green tomatoes to make salsa.

☃️ Watch TV. I am still watching “Golden Girls” and hopefully will finish it during break. I am debating on whether to watch the new season of “Grey’s Anatomy”. Sometimes I get tired of it but cannot stop watching it. I do hope soon the show will end.

☃️ Read. I know I enjoy watching TV but I also like to read. Currently I am reading “Landslide”. I started reading it in the Summer but had to return it. I have also requested 4 more books from the library.

☃️ Write a few blog posts. Now is the perfect time to do this. I hate having to wait till the last minute and then rush to get it done.

Thanks for linking up with us again this week! We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts, and we are ready to link up every Friday to share YOUR weekly fitness favorites! Join hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Please add your link below.