Zenaida Arroyo

This week was another good week of running.  Today is day #79 of my run streak.  Remember how last week we had some warm weather?  Well, this week it felt like Winter.  Not happy about it but it is what it is.

Easy runs are always my favorite but I also enjoy some speed workouts.  Tuesday was again 6×2 minute intervals with 2 minute recovery.  It went well but I laughed at the end of the workout.  I might have walked for another minute to get past 4 miles.  I blame it on the last recovery because I walked for the whole 2 minutes.  I was really tired.

Friday was another 4 mile progressive run and that felt hard.  Not hard that I could not do it but hard that I had to stop a few times.  Nothing wrong with stopping but for the past progressive runs I’ve been able to run the whole thing without stopping.

I woke up this morning and saw that it was very windy outside.  I had to run 4.5 miles with the last mile at a faster pace.  Honestly, I didn’t want to do it.  It was in the mid 50s which was nice for November.  But that wind.  I made it to 2.51 miles.  I could not keep going.  The wind wore me out.

I did this 20 minute Beyoncé Run.  I am not a big fan of her and I thought it was OK. 

I guess this week I just felt blah.  I woke up Tuesday morning more tired than usual.  I had parent/teacher conferences that day and I wasn’t really looking forward to them.  After my run, I showered, changed, ate, and went to bed for a few minutes.  I thought I had a fever but I didn’t.  

Starting tomorrow we are under another stay-at-home order.  I get the reason.  What I don’t understand is why people are so selfish and don’t wear a mask.  

This made me laugh!

Any Grey’s Anatomy fans?  Derek!!!  I know he isn’t coming back, but it was good to see him.  

I mentioned that Tuesday was Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I have 27 students and was planning to have 26 conferences.  One of my students is new so no point in having a conference at all.  Out of 26 students,  22 parents scheduled a conference.  I sent them several reminders.  The Principal sent several reminders.  However, only 13 parents showed up.  A few mentioned that they got out of work late or had a prior commitment and got out late.  One parent contacted me asking the time of her child’s conference.  I told her that she never scheduled one.  She then said that she was waiting for me to schedule it.  The instructions clearly said to click on the link to schedule an appointment.  Seriously, I just can’t.  I do want to have a good relationship with parents because after all it is a tough time for them and their child, but I am getting tired of them being so irresponsible.

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

With only 3 working days, the week still went by too fast.  The weekends go by even faster. I am definitely not complaining.  It actually felt really good to teach for 3 days.  Though Monday’s Institute Day left me with a bitter taste in my mouth.  Yep, more work for us! I talk about it towards the end of this post.

This week felt like Spring.  We had a lot of sunny and warm days.  I was happy to run in shorts again!  It was beautiful with all of the leaves on the ground too.

Again, this week was easy runs along with some fun workouts.  Was I nervous?  A little.  Did I ace my workouts?  Absolutely!  Tuesday was 5 x 1:30 intervals with 1:30 recovery.  Target pace for each interval was 9:45.  The splits were 9:32, 9:27, 9:18, 9:25, and 9:28.  Friday was again 3 miles progressive run with half mile at the end for recovery.  I ran by feel and ran a little faster than last week’s 5k.  Splits for each mile were 11:48, 11:14, and 10:22.  And yes I ran those 3 miles without stopping.

I am finally in The Century Club!  Haha, better late than never, right?  

I am pleased to announce that I was accepted to be a part of the Koala Action Team.  I love my Koala Clip and for over a year have been using it on every single run.   I have a few discount codes for you.  Use code AT2020 to get 10% off storewide.  This discount is good through November 15.  Also, starting November 16, there will be a “once a year” sale.  That will be 15% off sitewide until November 23.  There are a lot of new products online now.  There are the ORIGINAL style Koala Clips up now and LUX is available for pre-order (they will ship by the end of the month).  All of the new Koala Clip colors are coming with a much-improved clip.  I just ordered 3 of the Lux Koala Clips.  🙂

Monday was an Institute Day and let’s just say it was not helpful at all.  We spent most of the morning talking about standards based grading.  Honestly I am not sure why we are even giving out grades this year.  It is a joke!  Not all of my students complete the assignments (which we do in class) and then those that do it on their own, I have no idea if anyone “helped” them.

Then we had some discussion about being there for our kids, understanding that they are going through a rough time, finding ways to get them to open up and talk to us, etc, etc.  I know all of it and I agree with it.  However, NOT ONCE was there any discussion about the teachers.  We are also going through a rough time.  We are also struggling.  So basically who cares about us.  And then to add insult to it, we were given more work to do.  My students use Imagine Math, Imagine Español, and Imagine Literacy during class.  I give them time to use log in those program.  Now I am supposed to set up a weekly class goal and my students are supposed to have a weekly goal as well.  Then I need to check if the class and the students met those goals.  Finally, I need to have weekly conferences with them about their goal.  So yeah I need to do all that plus teach them the curriculum, follow the pacing guide, assess/grade them, and be there for them as well.  I was fuming!  I cried because I did not know what else to do.

This week was interesting.  Lots of things happened.  Tuesday are Parent/Teacher Conferences.  I am definitely not looking forward to them but I know that it needs to be done.

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

A new month!  A birthday month!  How exciting is it?  I am looking forward to this month mainly because of the time off I will have.  Tomorrow is an Institute Day, Tuesday is a holiday for Election Day (first time ever), and the following Tuesday are parent/teacher conferences.  I know two of those days are working days but at least I don’t have to prepare lessons or teach.

I finished October with my highest month this year.  I had a feeling but wasn’t sure if it was going to happen.  On Friday I talked to my coach about it and went for it.  I also donated a little bit more than that to the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation in honor of my sister and of course everyone that has been affected by breast cancer.    

My two great runs were on Tuesday and Thursday.  Tuesday’s workout was 4×2:00 intervals at 10:00 pace with 90 seconds easy/recovery.  Nailed it!

I was more nervous for Thursday’s workout because I had never done that one before.  It was a progressive run of 3 miles (target paces were 12:15/11:30/10:45).  I had never run 3 miles without stopping.  Honestly, I did not think I could do it and was prepared to make a few stops along the way.  I didn’t.  Remember, I am not fast at all but seeing these numbers made me very happy.  I was shocked too!

My coach has already uploaded my workouts for this week and yes I am excited about them.  I will be doing some easy runs and the two workouts mentioned above but with some slight modifications (another interval and a half mile cool down). 

Remember how last week I mentioned that I tried to sign up for Target’s Shipt program for $49?  Well, after waiting and chatting with various people, I did manage to sign up.  Right now I have the 4 week free trial and at the end of the 4 weeks I will be charged $99.  I was told to contact Target at the end of the trial period and after agreeing to pay the $99 annual fee, I will be given a refund.  Surely the easiest thing would have been to just let me sign up now for $49, but I am not going to make a big deal about it.  

I am reading this book and am liking it.  Has anyone else read it?

I remember as I child my mother would make an altar, but I didn’t really understand the reason.  I confess that everything made sense after seeing the movie “Coco”.  After my father died in 1991 and her parents in 1992, my mother would spend the Winter in Mexico.  She would leave mid October and return in the Spring.  She did not go to Mexico last year because she can’t travel alone after her stroke.  This year she couldn’t go anyway.  She made an altar at home and is happy about it.  I am happy she is happy.

By the way, I have seen people post on Facebook “Feliz Día de los Muertos” (Happy Day of the Dead).  Umm, not sure how I feel about that.  I guess in English is does sound weird.  Oh well, I should just ignore it, right?  There are definitely bigger problems out there.

Another great week for running.  Pleased with my runs and it makes me excited for when I can run a real race and see how I do.

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