Megabusted

I wrote this yesterday, but I'm too lazy to change it...

I’m currently sitting at the Dixie off I-55 just south of Bloomington.   We stopped for our 30 minute break 3 hours and 10 minutes ago.  On the way down, we pulled over once because the air conditioning wasn’t fully functional.  Unfortunately it completely stopped working on our way to our break and we have been waiting for a new bus since then.  The claim is that it will be here in about an hour and a half.  It’s 6pm and our bus was supposed to be pulling into Union Station St. Louis 15 minutes ago.  After attempting to convince various members of my family to make the drive to pick me up, we determined that the bus would probably beat any of them here. 

Once I became resigned to the fact that I was at least 6 hours from being home, it’s turned into a decent experience.  I’m not stranger to travel delays and I’m attempting to “roll with it” a little more.  I had no choice but to come into the Dixie to charge my phone (first world problems).  I was reluctant to take up a table because I originally did not plan to buy any food.  When I expressed this to another stranded passenger, she told me that she was planning to eat and I was welcome to share her booth.  I kindly accepted.

We chatted for awhile and I decided to order some food (and left our waitress a nice tip for us taking up her table…I will be getting a refund on my $10 ticket).  She’s a PhD student and SLU and just got back from the UK and it was quite entertaining to listen to her some of her stories.

Despite my frustration and my desire to get home, this hasn’t been so bad.  At least I’m not stuck on the side of the road on a hot, sticky bus, but in a breezy diner with food in my tummy and an interesting companion.  Things could be worse.

Come and Gone

The marathon relay has come and gone.  The weekend was incredibly fun and I'm really looking forward to doing it again next year.  The night before the relay, Julie, Christy, Alicia and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner and then some shopping.  We all bought new swimsuits so we could take advantage of the hot tub at the hotel.  We didn't plan to stay the whole weekend so we weren't prepared for this opportunity. (Note, buying a swimsuit and wearing it immediately is normally against my personal hygiene rules, but a few of those were broken in that spur of the moment decision to stay.)  Of our four, I cared the most about my time.  Prior to race day I was able to knock out 2 miles in 16:52.  Still my fastest 2 mile run.  The bets were 63, 65, 66 and 67 minutes for my 6.9 leg (YES! I did one of the longest!).

I ended up finishing my portion in 1:07:13.  Julie was the winner of the bet and was the only one who did not have to take a shot that night, but we all attempted (and failed) to take down 2 jumbo margaritas between the 4 of us.  Prior to the race I was starting to consider running a half marathon.  During the race I thought, "Why would I EVER want to run that far?"  Now I'm back to thinking I could probably do a half.  Running was a complete blast because the residents of Champaign get pretty involved and are very supportive.  They make signs that say "Your feet hurt because you're kicking so much butt" and a little girl's "Why doesn't this parade have candy?"  In addition to their cheers being really motivational, people being along the whole route was great because I have a firm rule about not walking when spectators can see you.  The only exception is during water stops.  I tried to run through my first water stop and got more water in my eye than in my mouth.  So I walked through those to hydrate and then get right back to running.

My leg finished at 13.6 miles.  It was nice to see the mile markers and think "only 4.6/2.6/.6!"  Unfortunately the exchange zone was hard to see and I was on it before I knew what was happening.  I saw Julie and sprinted until I found Christy to give her our belt.  As soon as I completed the hand off I burst into tears.  Julie and Alicia were fairly shocked at this, but I was just so happy to have accomplished that goal....and to be done running for the day!

Here we all are at the starting line waiting for Alicia to start.

And on the U of I football field with our medals.  We had an overall time of 4:35:and some change (I forgot the seconds).

New Adventures

Things have been a little hectic lately because I've begun a new adventure.  My plan to blog more often hit a small speed bump when I had to pick up and move!

April 1^st I went on an interview to cover a maternity leave at a high school in the northern Chicago burbs.  I got the job and shadowed for a day last week.  The teacher is fantastic and the students are just as awesome!  I packed, moved and started lesson planning all within a week.

I have 3 sections of Spanish 1 and 2 sections of Spanish 3 honors.  My first week consisted of 3 days at the end of this week.  It’s great to be back in my own classroom and I’ve really missed working with the same group of students every day!  I’ve even enjoyed writing my own lesson plans again.  I’m surprisingly excited about teaching the subjunctive to my Spanish 3 kids.  This is normally a difficult concept because we don’t really have anything like this in English, but I’ve done a lot of research and have been able to come up with some cool activities.

I’m currently living with a friend and it’s been nice to settle into a new place.  There are a few things I miss like cable, DVR and wireless internet, but I love sharing her Netflix account!  I’m diving into Parks and Recreation right now.  It’s been the great way to end my super relaxing day of doing nothing!  It’s been a nice change from working every weekend at BBW and then packing like mad.

Tomorrow is my 6 ½ mile run, which will be the longest I’ve done so far.  We’ll see how it goes.  2 weeks until race day!

On the Run

As I said, a lot has happened while I've been neglecting my blog.  One of the things that has been consuming a lot of my time is running!

Awhile back Julie Jedi mind tricked me by mentioning the marathon relay in Champaign.  Usually she runs the half marathon, but she suggested we do the relay this year.  A team of 4 people complete a marathon (26.2 miles) in a relay fashion.  The legs are 6.7, 6.9, 6.9, and 5.7.  Prior to training the farthest I had ever run was 3.1.  I felt like I needed to set an attainable goal and something to devote my time to, so I decided we would do it.  Julie snagged 2 of her friends and we have a team!

Because I've only run half the distance of any of those, you're probably assuming that I'm hoping for the last leg.  Actually, I'm not.  I've been training for nearly 2 months (running 3 days a week, cross training 1, resting 3) and I'm pushing myself to do be able to do any leg but the last one.  I've even expressed to others that I don't want to "get stuck with" or "settle for" the last leg.  In response I get, "who are you?"  Recently I've been realizing that I set a lot of goals, most of them small and daily.  Some on a bigger scale, like my page goal each year -- which I have yet to meet.  And most of those goals, like the page goal, are never achieved.  So I'm striving for the 6.9, and I guess I'll take the 6.7 if necessary.

I'm confident that this won't be an issue because I've been fairly dedicated.  In my 2 months of training (34 actual workout days), I've missed one.  It was the day before the 8K.  I didn't manage my time adequately and I would have had to bike with only 12 hours to rest my legs.  I'm willing to cut myself that slack...but that's the last time!  Here is the progress I've made so far.

Prior to training here are some official race times.

Fat Ass 5K Springfield, IL May 11 36:30

Gingerbread Run (5K) Belleville, IL Dec 1 37:44

Official race times since beginning training.

Top of the Morning Run (5K) Shiloh, IL March 10 29:50

St. Paddy's Day Run (8K) Chicago, IL March 16 50:13

Ramble into Spring (10K) Lebanon, IL March 23 1:03:00

Although these aren't record speeds, I'm happy with them.  Especially when taking into account all of the elements I've encountered in these various races.  Wind, frigid temps, snow and hills!  I'm much prouder of my treadmill times where I can boast 2 miles in 18:20 or 2.5 in 23:13.  We'll see how this last month of training goes before I set my goal time for the big day!

Back to Blogging

After over a year, I'm finally getting back into blogging.  A lot has happened in the last 13 months since I've posted, so I've got quite a bit to share.  But tonight's not the time for that.  This is just a little teaser and a reminder to stay tuned.

Time to hydrate and sleep well!  I've got 6.2 miles to run in less than 12 hours (clearly no time for a REAL blog post)!

Ciao!