Zenaida Arroyo

27
Dec
2020

Weekly Run Down: Week #3 of training for a 10k and Winter Break Week #1

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Hey there! How is everyone doing? Did you all have a nice Christmas? It was low key here again. I made mole with my mother and it turned out good. It needed a bit more chicken flavor so we spiced it up the next day and now it is even better. Mole always tastes better the next day.

It was nice to be off this week. I did relax and finished watching The West Wing. I wasn’t too crazy about Season 7 but overall enjoyed the show. It was so sad about Leo but it made me happy to see a Latino president. One day. One day. 🙂

I ate leftover pozole from my cousin.

Relaxed with the cats.

Wednesday morning was a “fun” run. I had to do 5 set of intervals (5 minutes/6 minutes) at different paces. It was windy that morning and didn’t think I would complete the workout. Once I was out there I realized it wan’t that bad. I did better than expected. My coach likes to remind me that I am tougher than I think and that I can do more than I think I can. 🙂

Thursday and Friday was COLD. I had to run 3 miles on Thursday but instead ran 20 minutes. Since I didn’t run the 3 miles on Thursday, I knew I had to do it on Friday. Ha, had to? No way. I talked myself into doing only 1 mile to continue with the streak. Today is day #121. I was this close to ending my running streak because of how cold it was.

Saturday’s run was 7 miles. I woke up very early and was out the door at 6am. It was 19 degrees but I had two tops, two pants, and gloves and felt comfortable. I felt tired but also good after my run. Such a weird combination.

Tuesday morning my coworker and I delivered presents for our students. It took us almost 3 hours to deliver 44 presents. I met a few of my students and almost cried because I was so happy to see them. I gave them a notebook, pencils, markers/color pencils, crayons, and highlighters. Students are supposed to go back to the classroom on January 25th but I don’t know at the moment how many of those will be my students.

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

22
Dec
2020

Tuesday Topics: My goals for 2021

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic is: What are you goals for 2021? 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!

Well, this is an interesting post. Last year I wrote my goals for 2020 and well we know how this year went. I added a few of them again in today’s post and crossing my fingers I accomplish my goals.

✅ Stay injury free. The last injury I had was plantar fasciitis. It was painful and one of the worst injuries I’ve ever had.

✅ Buy a house. Yep, still on my list.

✅ Travel to Mexico. I bought tickets for me and my mother to go during Spring Break. Hopefully we can make it next year.

✅ Be more patience at work and at home. With everything that happened this year, I think I did OK here. It wasn’t easy but many things weren’t easy this year.

✅ Just in case there are more live races, my goal is to PR in the following distances: 5k, 4 miles, 8k, 10k, 10 miles, and 13.1. OK, so maybe not all but at least 1 of them?

20
Dec
2020

Weekly Run Down: Week #2 of training for a 10k and being rejected

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Hello there! I am finally on Winter Break! How is it that I made it through almost 4 months of teaching online (again)? I’ve had some great but also horrible moments. We’re supposed to head back on January 11th so we’ll see how it will be like with a hybrid schedule.

This week was a blur because the days went by fast. My goal was to make it to Friday. 🙂

I went to school on Monday morning so I had to get out earlier than usual. It was dark but not too bad. The next day I went out again while it was dark and didn’t like what I saw. Ice! Dang, it freaked me out because I am always afraid of falling. I did see a pretty sunrise!

Thursday morning I slept in again and just had time to run 20 minutes instead of 3 miles. It’s weird how sometimes I have no problem waking up at 5am but then struggle to get up at 7am.

Saturday was 6 miles with the last 2 at a faster pace (11:00-11:15). Mile splits were 11:11 and 11:08. It made me happy that I ran the last two miles without stopping but just quickly slowed down a little bit to cross the street. I was surprised at how warm it felt – almost 40 degrees. Well, to me that feels warm for December. 🙂

This week we had different themes to get into the holiday spirit. I don’t have pictures for all of them but just the “fun” ones. It was fun to see the students get into the spirit too. You can tell that in the last photo (Thursday) I look very TIRED. Or is it the camera?

I applied again to be on the Brooks Team and was rejected again. I also applied to be a Oiselle Volée Leader and was not accepted. I am bummed about it but am happy with the two ambassadorships I did receive (Koala Clip and PickyBars). Hopefully I will get good news about Nuun.

Any fans of “The West Wing”? I am on season 7 and really like the show. I still cannot believe I never watched it when it was on regular TV. There were a few episodes that were boring and/or I was lost because I had no idea what they were talking about – politics is UGLY. The best part is seeing a Latino candidate for the presidency and winning. Yes, I did read about it. Next show to watch is “Selena” though I’ve been hearing positive and negative reviews.

Pleased with how my running went this week. Except for switching my workouts on Thursday and Friday, I did just what my coach asked me to do. So far the weather hasn’t been too bad and I am really hoping it stays like that a bit longer..or at least till Spring.

My sister sent this to me and it brought a HUGE smile to my face. So many emotions. The past couple of months have been rough. I have struggled but also know that I have done the best I can. No matter what, I know my kids like my class and care about me just like I care about them. Believe it or not, but I will miss them during break.

Thank you teacher! See you tomorrow!

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

15
Dec
2020

Tuesday Topics: My best running views

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic is: Share your best running views. 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!

Happy Tuesday! I am counting down the days till Winter Break. This morning I am in a training session for a new math program we plan to pilot for our students. The one we currently use isn’t really the best so I am excited to hopefully use a better math curriculum.

I love running in Chicago. Of course my favorite place to run is the lakefront. The views are amazing! I haven’t run there in months and truly miss it. I cannot make it there to run and then be ready to start work at 8:30am.

For the past couple of months I have been running by my house. It is so easy to just head out the door and run 5 or 6 miles and be back in time for work. I like it that it isn’t dark when I head out. However, that will change once I go back to school. I will need to be out there again at 6am. Oh well.

This is one of my routes. Not my best drawing but it works.

Sometimes I go a little further north because it is in the area that I am interested in buying a house. I get excited when I see a sign in the front yard, but it turns out it s a sign congratulating a graduate. I keep on looking for a house for sale. I almost bought one last year but someone beat me to it. Then earlier this year there was one that I wanted to check out but someone else beat me to it too.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my running views. They may not be as exciting as a lakefront view, but to me it is more than that.

This fire station is 2 blocks north from from my house. Whenever I see it I think about that day last year in March when my mother had a stroke. Thanks to the paramedics she was quickly rushed to the hospital where “luckily” it was a mild stroke.

This is heading out south. It is the train station (Orange Line) which takes you to Midway Airport and downtown. How I loved taking this train when I worked downtown. This train has taken me to the airport many times (I miss traveling) and to Grant Park for a race.

Running north on Pulaski is my favorite store. You see it, right? It is also close to the area I want to live in.

Pete’s Market is next to Target. Now you see why I want to live in this area? Target and Pete’s Market are the two places I shop to get pretty much everything I need.

I’ve run these streets and sidewalks a lot. I’ve laughed, smiled, and cried while out there. I’ve mentioned that running is my ME time. It is the time for me to think or not think and simply enjoy my music. It gets me ready for the day. More than even I am thankful for running.

13
Dec
2020

Weekly Run Down: Week #1 of training for a 10k and almost Winter Break!

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Well, here we go again. I finished training for a 5k and proudly met my goal. With no live races on my schedule, now I am going to train for a 10k and run my own race. The goal is somewhere between 1:05-1:06. Excited and looking forward to it!

This week went by fast and it was really a blur. The weather was pretty good for December. It wasn’t that cold which I am happy about.

Wednesday morning I slept in and it was 7 when I got up. By this time I am out running. I knew I didn’t have enough time to do my workout (1/2 mile repeats for a total of 4 miles) so I ran for 20 minutes. I made it home in time to shower and get ready, quickly do my hair for crazy hair day, and log in for my students.

Friday morning I was excited to see a sunrise and stopped to take a picture. However, I am not sure what exactly happened but I took out my phone from my Koala Clip and dropped it. I have a case and a screen protector but I can still see a crack. I was hoping it was the screen protector but it looks like it is the actual screen. Ugh, I hate to have to pay over $100 to fix it. I am not going to do it now since it isn’t that noticeable.

I don’t remember the last time I ran in the rain. It was raining yesterday in the mid 40s with barely any wind. I was supposed to run 5 miles with the last 2 miles at a faster pace. I told my coach that I wasn’t sure how many I would do. I ended up with 4 miles and the last mile was nowhere near my target pace. Honestly I didn’t care. I was glad to be home because by then I was very cold.

This past week was all MAP testing for my kids. Remember, my students take 4 tests in Reading and Math in both English and Spanish. It went a lot better than expected but towards the end they were all tired. One of them was in tears and I felt so bad for her. I hate that they have to take these tests during this time.

Also, we got an email that teachers are to return to the classroom on January 11th and students on the 25th. It will be interesting to see if that actually happens.

Just one more week!

Overall it was another good week of running. I decided to pause my Peloton membership because I have not been taking advantage of it. However, now I am wondering if I should just downgrade to the Digital Membership. I know I should be doing more than just running but haven’t been able to figure out how to schedule it and make it work.

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