Turning Heads

I'm a teacher, a field dominated by females. According to recent data, 74% of teachers in private schools, like me, are female. However, this data included high schools, which typically have many more male teachers. As a matter of fact, at my school (preK-8th grade), there is only 1 male teacher. Also, all but 4 of the teachers are roughly 40 years old or older. I'm the youngest. :)

Teachers get to know kids really well. I spend more time with some kids than their parents do during the day. I take the time to get to know them, and they, in turn, know me. My class knows that I run a lot, am a vegetarian, love the color purple, drink coffee every morning, and am from Iowa. They have also picked up on the fact that during the winter, I wear some variation of the same outfit. Typically, I wear black pants and a sweater with layers underneath. I'm always cold, so layering is the way to go.

However, today was atypical. Spring weather has finally hit (yes!!!) and I was getting tired of wearing the same things over and over again. So, I decided to wear something different, and what a difference it made. I dressed simply: tall black boots, khaki skirt, and a purple shirt with a necklace that had purple in it. The kids kept commenting on my outfit. One girl told me she liked it 5 times, along with telling me, "Miss ---, you are rocking that outfit!" at 7:30 in the morning. It is amazing what a little change can do.

Have you noticed that in your running? I've noticed that since I have incorporated more cross-training into my training this year I have been able to run much better. Changing things up is good every now and again. And, it always helps to get a compliment or two because of it.

Do you work in a field dominated by one gender or the other? What are your feelings on it?

Double Digit Success!

I woke up today thinking about the 10 miles I would conquer in the afternoon. I prepared myself mentally throughout the day, listened to my favorite "get ready to run" songs, and then got on the treadmill about pounded out 10 miles. I realize that these are not ideal miles since they were done on a treadmill, but I got them done. And, I was pretty happy with how they went. The first 5 were done at an easy 7:53/mile pace. The second 5 were done at a progressively faster pace each mile, finishing at 37:59, a 7:35 pace. It felt great to run that far. I also did other cardio (biking, walking, and stair climber) to round out my workout. Tomorrow will be my rest day for the week.

I was thinking about my upcoming half today while running. I realized that I put so much pressure on myself for running, among other things, in life. I used to be much more of a perfectionist than I am now, but I still have those tendencies. During my 5k on Saturday, I was so full of adrenaline and energy that my blood sugar skyrocketed. About 30 minutes before the race my blood sugar was 219, with active insulin on board. I didn't eat anything or take any bolus, as I wanted to be in the 100s for the race. After the race I tested at was a disgusting 418. I'm not sure about you, but when my blood sugar is that high, I feel like absolute crap. I came down eventually, but I think a lot of it all the pressure I put myself under for a race. When I ran the ORRRC half in Ohio 2 years ago, I went into it with no expectations. My blood sugars were better than I could have ever dreamed. Since then, it has all gone downhill.

Maybe I should just run the half on March 26th and not worry about time? Go out and have fun, enjoy the scenery, and the other people on the course. Life is about the journey, not the time it takes you to complete the journey, right?

Just Like a Baby

When I stop to analyze my life, I am like a baby in more ways than I wish to admit. Given that this weekend was daylight savings time (spring forward), meaning that I lost an hour of sleep, my routine was thrown off. I, like a baby, need 8+ hours of sleep a night to function well. This is especially true for me when I am in the midst of training, which is true for me right now. One would not think that an hour difference would be a huge deal, but my body clock has been out of sorts all day. Not only did I not get my 8 hours last night, my eating times were different than what I accustomed to. The good thing, though, is that in a week or so I'll be back to normal, just in time for my half. Speaking of the half, I need to get back into training for it.

I told myself that I must run 9 or 10 miles tomorrow or else.....my time will suffer. I did a lot of speed and tempo work leading up to my 5k, which is great, but my distance has not been where I want it. Tomorrow I will do a long run. I'm feeling like it is "now or never" time. Ah!

Today I just ran 5 miles at a 7:30 pace, but felt sluggish. Tomorrow I'll be doing my long run at 7:53/mile pace, which is much slower than usual, but I just want to get the miles in.

Do you need 8 or more hours of sleep to function well? There is a joke in my family that if the females are tired and hungry then we are not pleasant to be around. It is true!

Race Report and Pictures

The best part of the 5k I ran on Saturday was the fact that I did it with my friends. Yes, it is wonderful to PR, but seeing 9 of my friends cross the finish line was even better. I tried hard to document some of my pre-race routines in pictures.

I did not run on Friday after much contemplation. I decided that I wanted super fresh legs and would forego the small run I had originally planned. Instead, I made medals for all of my friends running the race. I got the idea from Adam.

Once the medal-making was complete, I went through the bag that I recieved for packet-pickup.

Then, I went to bed. I need a lot of sleep and was tired from the week. Plus, I was setting my alarm for 5 a.m. Sleep is critical to running well!

I woke up the next morning feeling ready to run, although my blood sugar was 219. I dispise high blood sugars, but even more so on race days. They throw everything off. I took a correct bolus, had breakfast at 6 a.m., got dressed and got everything ready to go. I wore green shorts to celebrate the holiday.

Everything that went into the bag that I checked pre-race. So much stuff!

A little visual reminder of what I want to accomplish. This was taken shortly before I left to go to the race.

The great thing about this race was that they made pace signs so people would know where to line up before the race. I was near the front, as I lined up with at the 7:00/mile sign. It was wonderful not having to pass slowers runners. This allowed me to run faster.

The course was pretty flat with a few inclines, but it was windy. Wind can be brutal while running. However, I had a positive mindset and knew what I wanted to accomplish. My mile splits, according to my Garmin, were:

Mile 1: 6:44

Mile 2: 7:01

Mile 3: 6:55

0.1: 7:00 <--into the wind!

However, the race had chip timing (awesome!) and these were my official results:

Time: 21:13

Overall Place: 51/1,784

Gender Place: 5/1,106

Age Group Place: 1/170

Plus, I got some additional hardware to add to my running board:

It was a pretty good day, to say the least.

Have you ever run in a 5k where there was chip timing? This was my first and I think it was great. I ran 7 seconds faster than I thought because of it.

Proud Member of the 21 Club

I accomplished my goal and ran a 21:13 for my 5k today. I'm pleased! I took some pictures before the race to post on the blog because that is something my posts typically lack. I hope to write a more detailed post later this weekend or Monday. Hope your weekend is going well so far!

Two Days and Counting...

Even though I have a cold and am sick, I will PR on Saturday. However, training while sick is not fun, no matter how much I love to run. My body is tired from fighting the cold and cannot run as fast or for as long. I'm hoping that to be better soon, though. The 5k is two days away and my first half is only a few weeks.

Are you able to get in quality runs while sick? What is your cure?

Preparing to PR

I'm a big believer in visualization. If I can imagine it, see it, think about it, put myself in that place and time, it can and will happen. I've run enough races to say that this method works for me.

A few years ago (two to be exact), I wanted to break into the 1:40s for a half marathon. I signed up for one and then visualized myself crossing the finish line with a 1:4-something on the clock. Sure enough, it happened. This fall, I wanted to break into the 22-minute mark for a 5k. I did the same, and sure enough, it became a reality. Therefore, I've been constantly thinking about 21 for the past week. I have created a mental image in my head of crossing that St. Paddy's Day finish line and PRing.

Although much of PRing is confidence and visualization for me, it also involves being a smart runner. Training for two races at the same time that are vastly different in distance (3.1 miles vs. 13.1 miles) is challenging for me. I ran a long-ish run yesterday - 9.5 miles at a slower pace than normal. I ran today, and will run Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but won't log many miles. Friday I am taking completely off because I want my legs to be full of energy on Saturday morning for the race. I'm going to run my first 2 miles in the 6's and I need fresh legs to do so.

I made my play list to listen to for the race as well. I always make them for much longer than the duration of my run for some reason. It is like even though I am much faster now than when I started, I have this 10-minute/mile notion in my head for play lists. But I would much rather have too much music than not enough.

This is the first race that I plan on actually warming up for beforehand. Usually I do some random stretches and then just run with the start of the gun. However, I have noticed that if I run for 0.5 mile or a mile beforehand I can run faster in the miles following. Therefore, I will be jogging to the start of the race, which is something totally new for me. It is about a mile from where I live, which is the perfect distance. I'll be wearing my Garmin so if it is farther I can always walk. But, I know I'll be nervous and excited and just ready for the race to begin in the morning. Even as I am listening to my play list now I am getting excited.

Because you're curious....below is my St. Paddy's Day 5k Play List.

1. Take Me As I Am <-- always my first song to listen to!
2. Light Up the Sky
3. Live Like We're Dying
4. Stuck Like Glue
5. Ridin' Solo
6. DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love
7. In My Head
8. Club Can't Handle Me
9. Break Your Heart
10. Dynamite
11. Just a Dream
12. Party All Night (Sleep all day)
13. Fire Burning
14. Yeah 3x
15. Ray Ban Vision
16. Replay
17. Only Girl (in the world)
18. Firework

I only plan on listening to songs 6-11 during my run. So Party All Night will be the song I am rejoicing to when I realized that my visualization techniques have paid off once again and I am now a 21-minute 5ker.

Do you believe in the power of visualization?

ABC's of Queenie

I was going to do a different post tonight, but I'm too tired to put my thoughts down in a coherent fashion. Therefore, it can go up a different day. In the meantime, here are my ABC's.

Age: 26.

Bed size: Queen..nothing else would suffice.

Chore you hate: Making my bed and cleaning the bathroom. The only chore I like is unloading the dishwasher, which is a chore most people hate.

Dogs: I hate all animals, especially dogs. People have to put them in a different room when I am over because I'm so terrified of them.

Essential start your day item: Flavored coffee and breakfast. I eat the same breakfast every day - yogurt, fruit, and cream of wheat.

Favorite color: I love anything purple.

Gold or silver: Silver all the way. I only own 2 pieces of gold jewelry and rarely wear them.

Height: 6'0. I know I'm an out layer according to the data as a friend of mine recently referred to my height. But, I'm the shortest child in my family.

Instruments you play: None. I have no musical ability, but wish I could play the guitar.

Job title: 5th grade teacher. I teach math, science, English, spelling, and a literature class.

Kids: 32 in my homeroom that I see everyday at 7:30 a.m.

Live: Right now in the Chicago suburbs, but I have lived in Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Mom's name: Paula.

Nicknames: Queenie, which was given to me by my parents, as well as some variation of my first name, and C, which is what my dad calls me.

Overnight hospital stays: Yes, when I got diagnosed with diabetes I was in the hospital for 1 week at UIHC.

Pet Peeve(s): When people assume that tall people can run faster than short people because they don't take as many steps, knuckle-crackers, drivers who don't stop for runners.

Quote from a movie: I don't watch movies. As a matter of fact, if you were to ask me if I have seen a certain movie, there is a 99.9% chance that my answer will be no. But my favorite quote is from Finding Forrester: "Not exactly a soup question, is it?"

Right or Left-handed: Right, although I write pretty well with my left.

Siblings: My sister is 3 years older than me and my brother is 1.5 years older than me. We are all incredibly different.

Time you wake up: On school days, my alarm goes off at 5:00, but I don't get out of bed until 5:40 or so. On weekends, I don't set alarms. I need to get my beauty rest.

Underwear: Yes, I wear it.

Vegetable you dislike: Cooked squash. My mom makes it every Thanksgiving and I'm not a huge fan of it. I like most veggies.

What makes you late: Anything. The only thing I'm on time for is my job. I'm always late due to getting ready slowly, not managing my time correctly, and other stuff.

X-Rays you've had done: Teeth, left foot (I have a tarsal coalition), and right leg (stress fractures).

Yummy food you make: I don't cook, unless you count using the microwave cooking. I eat the same thing everyday, unless I go out to eat or I'm at my parents house. I like consistency in my life.

Zoo animal favorite: None, I hate all animals. Although when I was younger I liked flamingos and monkeys.

Three Things Thursday, Handwriting Edition

Welcome to the Three Things Thursday: Handwriting Edition. I recently saw on some blogs a handwriting meme going around and thought it would be interesting to share.

1. Everyone thinks teachers should have really good handwriting. Now I feel that is not so much the case because this wonderful invention called a computer or better yet - Smartboard! - has been implemented in schools. Now all of the notes my students take in class are typed because I can do that much faster than write.

2. I like to print much more than I like cursive. I think my printing is neat. I've been told it looks like "teacher handwriting." Do you agree?

3. Is there a point to cursive anymore? I suppose for a signature, but then all that really has to be in scribbles. I do not make my students write in cursive, as I don't enjoy it. Below is my cursive for you to see.

In case you are wondering, these are the 7 things on the meme:

1. What's your name/blogger name?

2. What's your blog URL?

3. Write "The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog."

4. Favorite quote?

5. Your favorite song?

6. Your favorite band/singers?

7. Anything else you want to say?

8. Tag 3-5 other people.

Stress

Today was a rest day for me. I've been working hard to take 1 day off per week and not do any form of exercise that day to give my legs a complete rest. I want to stay healthy, and this will help me achieve that goal. Instead of going running this afternoon, I got to visit my eye doctor for my yearly...or 18-monthly...eye exam. Isn't it nice seeing the world through dilated pupils?

Is anyone else really stressed lately? My stress level at the school I teach at has been an 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. I'm going to bitch for a moment and say that it stinks working with weak teachers. It is hard to carry the weight of the grade while teaching the more challenging subjects, while my partner teacher does not give homework, tests, and lacks classroom management. At least I feel a little better now that I have vented for a minute. To sum up my crappy, complaining post, I will leave you with a nice poem about stress.

I hate stress
undesirable and tense
causes high blood sugars and weigh gain
Nothing is more unwanted than stress!!!