First Week--- Done!

Week one out of 16 for the semester is officially over. And it's a 3-day weekend, so that's icing on the cake.

I learned this week that I do, in fact, love working out early in the morning. I may already be in my pjs at 8pm on a Friday, but that's what's to be expected from an 89-year-old woman trapped in a 25-year-old body. Who needs alcohol and booty shaking when I have a bed, pjs, and Netflix? 

Thursday I was at the gym by 5:10. I did my usual warm up run.

Then I did legs. I was worried about doing leg day in the morning because I can't usually walk very well after all the squats and deadlifts and lunges, but I managed just fine.

I was rewarded for working out early with the most beautiful sunrise. I don't see the sunrise very often, so this was a special treat. I'm sure it will be happening much more often in the future.

It has been downright hot lately. Okay, I'm a baby about weather since it is generally a good 56 degrees year-round. When I walked out of the gym, I felt sticky and gross (no, not from working out, I had just showered), so I checked the temperature in my car. Keep in mind, this was 6:30 in the morning.

And humidity was 80%, so it felt like it was approximately 9000 degrees. I promise I don't exaggerate. I have the utmost respect for people who survive and RUN in this weather all summer! The rest of my day consisted of student teaching and this.

I'm a tad but obsessed with cottage cheese and blueberries at the moment. I am also the weird girl in class who takes pictures of her food. They don't know I have a blog yet, so I give them credit for thinking I'm strange. This was my lunch today.

See? Obsessed. Fridays are class days. We have Foundations of Teaching and our Applied Behavior Analysis class back to back. I decided to get up early again to run and lift. Best decision I've made all week.

Happy Friday! What are you currently obsessed with?

Running Has Been Hard Lately

I am just going to admit it.  Running has been super hard.  It is 100% mental.  I began running as a way to get an A in a class and it progressed into my form of therapy.  I run when I'm happy, I run when I'm sad, I run when I'm mad, I run to clear my head, but mostly, I run for me.

Lately, running has been less for me and more to prove something.  To prove I can go faster than the day before.  To prove I run a lot.  To prove I have the mental capabilities to run 6 days a week and not give up.  And this is not good.  So today, when I strapped on my running shoes, I decided to get back to the basics and run for me.  I blared my music and ran.  I listened to my body and slowed down when I felt like I needed to.  I sped up when I felt like I needed to.  And despite the fact that it was 70 degrees outside (a heatwave again!) and about 9000% humidity, I enjoyed my run.  

I really enjoyed listening to my breathing, the pounding of my feet on the pavement, waving at the walkers who were out walking their dogs.  I enjoyed having an easy run and not caring about my pace, if I was going fast or slow.  I fell back in love with running and remembered why I run.  I was tired, I was hot, I spent far too much time (and money) at Target avoiding this run.  But once I got out there and did it for me, everything felt right again.  

It was the best run I've had in a long time.  It wasn't far.  It wasn't fast.  But it was what I needed.  I think we need to remember why we run sometimes because it's so easy to get caught up in going further, faster, farther that we totally forget the reason that we started running in the first place.  And that's when we lose motivation.  

After my run, a couple of HIIT routines, and a lot of sitting around avoiding homework later, dinner was ready.  It was delicious, cheese covered chicken.  But that's not why I'm mentioning dinner.  I had to compare my plate with my brother's plate because it shows how obsessed I am with vegetables.

I think I might have a problem.  I might need to look into vegetable therapy.  

I leave you with a photo of the boyfriend and me, because I really am missing him and he still has two more days of work.

Why do you run?

Am I One Of Those Morning People Now?

I was up at 4:50 this morning and at the gym by 5:15. I was back at home to eat breakfast by 6:45. I ran 3.2 miles,

did my complete chest and tricep routine

and even showered all before most people wake up. And you know what? I didn't hate it! When 7:30pm finally rolled around and student teaching and all of my classes for the day were finally complete, I got to go home and eat and lay down. I felt so fantastic and energetic all day as well. Let's see if that happens on Thursday when I do it again! 

Until then, I am going to sleep a nice, deep sleep tonight and look like this little one.

Are you a morning person?

The First Day of School

It felt just like I never left, as I expected. The day actually zoomed by and the kids were awesome. I think most of them were just happy to be back at school in their routine. I like being back in my routine too, stopping by the gym after work.

Today's run was much easier than yesterday's. I am feeling so much better and I had energy even after the long day of work. The 3rd cup of coffee in the afternoon probably helped.

Dinner was at my dad's house today since we had to postpone Sunday dinner due to scheduling conflicts. So I got to hold my niece after 6 long days.

Tomorrow is my long day of school. I'm going to try something new and head to the gym in the morning, like really early, so that I don't have to convince myself to go at 8pm.

Did anyone else have a first day of school today? How was it?

A Runner With No Appetite???

I've been having stomach issues since Friday. I don't know what's going on, but it hurts. I've also been asleep before 9 each night and it's only 7:15 right now and I am ready for bed.

I woke up this morning trying to convince myself to get my long run out of the way. It did not work. I sat around, doing homework, catching up in TV shows, basically anything to get me out of running. 

Then it was noon all of a sudden and we had to go to boyfriend's company picnic. His ambulance company is also a taxi company, so along with paramedics and EMTs, there were taxi drivers. It was an incredibly random mix of people. There was also tri tip, which I LOVE, but since I have no appetite, I only had a bite.

Boyfriend and I went to Costco to stock up for the week and I was about ready to just call walking around Costco enough cardio for the day. Well, eventually I made it into workout clothes for my run and I did 8.2 very painful miles.

When I was done, I laid on the floor in the stretching area of the gym for longer than was socially appropriate. I also did some ab work to make it look like I was doing something other than dying on the floor. When I got home, dinner was ready, which is always a plus.

It was delicious. But let's talk about how I just ran 8 miles. Usually I am starving and want to nosh on anything I can find that's edible. Tonight, this is how far I got.

Me? Leave vegetables on my plate?!? That's unheard of. Maybe I should have listened to my body and not ran today. I would have been even more upset if I had done that though, so it's a lose-lose situation. 

Tomorrow is the first day students are back at school and I am so excited about seeing my old students. I'm just hoping my stomach issues clear up for this busy week.

What do you do when you have stomach issues?

What Day Is This?

My day started off bright and early with school. It was a classroom management class, which is terribly important, but having class on a Saturday totally threw me off as to what day it is.

Luckily the class went by really quickly. It's amazing how that happens when you are really into the subject of what's being taught. I remember sitting in some of my general education undergrad classes and I could have sworn the clock was moving backward. I also got to meet my mom for lunch and continue talking about classroom management and what she does in her classroom.

I was so ready for exercise when I got home after sitting for 6 hours. I immediately put on a HIIT video from Fitnessblender.

This time it involved weights. Unfortunately, my stomach began acting up about an hour into the 88 minute log video, so I had to quit early.

I was pretty proud of myself for listening to my body once again. My stomach is still acting funky. Hopefully it goes away for tomorrow's run. I hope everyone's Saturday felt more like a Saturday than mine.

I really need new running shoes. What do you suggest?

It Always Feels Better

Fridays are always hard when school is back in session. I am exhausted and the last thing I want to do is exercise at the end of my day.

Going home to workout is even worse, but I had begged boyfriend to run with me yesterday, so I had to go home. I slowly put on my exercise clothes while trying so hard to just not collapse in my bed.

I turned on my Garmin and tried not to sit down. Finally, boyfriend was ready and off we went. The first mile was painful. The second mile was okay and by the third mile all of my energy had returned.

I am almost certain that my splits were positive. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I actually got my butt outside and ran when I really, really didn't want to. It helped that I was much faster than boyfriend.

After our run, I had the energy to do my shoulder routine and even some ab work. It's amazing how, once you get started, your energy comes back. The hardest part of a workout is getting into your workout clothes and out the door. Once you do that, you're golden.

Now I am going to crawl into bed at 7pm because my energy is gone again. And I have school bright and early. On a Saturday. I hope everyone's Friday was awesome!

The Way It Should Be

I am a firm believer that everything works out the way that it's supposed to. I was devastated back in May when I had to say goodbye to my classroom, my students, and my coworkers who felt more like family.

But, it opened up new doors. I got to experience other classrooms, adding more knowledge and to my new teacher repertoire. I even found a classroom that felt like a second home and I got toe student teach under her guidance this summer. I was planning on student teaching under her again at the beginning of the semester, but as I was waiting at the hospital for the baby to be born, I got a call from my administrator that the student had moved and I no longer had a job in that room.

I had a minor freak out about how I was supposed to make money and where I was supposed to do my first 12 weeks of student teaching. It didn't help when I showed up at school on Monday to see this:

Luckily, my administrator is amazing. She called me Tuesday to let me know that not only will I be able to student teach the first 12 weeks in my old classroom with my favorite coworkers and students, I also get to be paid as a sub.

I was ecstatic. I texted everyone in my family to let them know my good news. And today was my first day back in the classroom. And everything felt right.

My drive over the bridge felt like I had never stopped the drive. I saw the same cars commuting that I did for 5 years. And in the classroom, it was as if I never left. When I got to the gym at the hour I used to go, all of my gym best friends were there. The one girl who lifts weights that I try to smile at but she just glares at me. The man who wears inappropriate gym attire, but works his butt off. The old man who grunts really loudly and then wanders around for 20 minutes between sets. My world was right. And so was my run.

My lifts were even better. It was leg day, so deadlifts were a must.

As were squats. As you can tell, I got brave with the sweaty gym selfies. Probably because these people have seen me take months and months of selfies. I'm probably known as the weird girl who not-so-sneakily takes pictures of herself between sets.

I even got brave and finished a very intense lifting session with this:

My dinner routine even felt normal. I made an awesome chicken salad. I realized that I haven't cooked a meal since I've been home from the island.

It's funny how things fall into place and work out exactly how they should. If you're in a running slump, there's a reason for it. If you haven't found that perfect job, there's a reason for it. Just keep on reminding yourself of that when life feels so chaotic you can't breathe. That's what I have to do.

What has gone right in your world?

Tell me about a time you realized things happen for a reason. Do you believe that?

Listening To Your Body

I titled my post that because I feel as though the only productive thing I did today was get in workout clothes and move my body. That's not entirely true. I woke up bright and early (after a bedtime of 1am) to drive the hour out to my mom's school for a CPR certification class. But that feels like it happened days ago because I was definitely not awake enough to be sure if it was real life or a dream. I did capture this photo from the drive, so it must have happened.

I kept telling myself that after my nap (I don't nap, that's how tired I've been all day) that I would strap on my Garmin and take a jaunt around the neighborhood. I really was not feeling HIIT today. Well, when I woke up the weather had taken a turn for the worse and I chose my dad's treadmill instead, because I'm a baby.

I slowed myself down today because my body was telling me to take it easy. With this full, very busy year upon me, I need to start listening to my body so that I don't crash and burn and end up really sick or injured.

While in the room with my sister during her delivery, I was amazed at how well she knew and listened to her body. She was even making jokes between contractions because she was so in tune with when she was in pain and when she was able to take a break from the pain. It got me thinking that every woman (and man) should be that in tune with their bodies. 

Everyone should listen to the little things their body tells them. If your body needs to slow down, slow down for the day, you can go faster tomorrow. If you are sore and really want a rest day, take it, and you will be able to go harder tomorrow.

I am honestly the worst at this. I tell myself I will go slower because my body is tired, but then actually go harder because I can go slower tomorrow. I will tell myself I will lift lighter weights, but then go heavy anyway because I'm "not that tired."  Lately, I have realized that this is my only body and I need to show it love and respect otherwise, I may not be able to run and lift the way I want and need. So I'm getting better. But I did do a 30 minute HIIT video after my run.

Then I showered and ate this random meal.

So I had a much lighter day of exercise and activity, but I am not beating myself up about it. I am praising myself for actually listening to the cues that my body didn't want to go hard. And that's almost as good of a feeling as the runner's high after a PR.

Do you listen to your body well?