Month in Review

First and foremost, the bachelorette party in the cities was fun! We all met up in downtown MSP and spent the evening at Matty B's... I highly recommend it. It was ladies night and after 10, drinks were only $2.25, which is cheap, for the cities. I had one expensive martini and then stuck with vodka cranberrie's the rest of the evening. Ahhh ... except for one large shot of tequila! My cousin - the bachelorette - was given the shot of Tequila by the DJ, but couldn't take it, so I offered to take it for her so it didn't go to waste... I am so nice ... . .. looking out for the best interest of others ... taking one for the team!

I know that I won't be getting a chance to run today, as it is my last monday night of class...from 4-9. So, it is okay for me to post my April stats before April is over. Go with me on this one, people.

April Stats:

• 36.37 miles running ... .... .. not as nice as my March stats (47.14), but still better than February's (26.775 mi). But, this is all completely legit, as I was struggling to finish big projects for school, apply for jobs, and move out of my apartment. I must say, that I was quite happy with a couple longer runs in there.
• 35.10 miles of spinning ... . . ... still not as nice as the months before and won't be very pretty the month of may. There is only 2 weeks left of spin classes, and as the weather is getting nicer, I have absolutely-no-drive to go to the gym when I can be outside.

When I look back on my March Stats, I was hoping to get some longer runs in, as I did. I hope to keep that up the month of May, with some more shorter runs during the week. I might have to pull my bike out of my storage unit and use it. I am so pumped ... ... I only have 12 days until graduation! 12 days people!

Tomorrow marks my 1 year Blog-iversary! How exciting. It's amazing to look back and see how far I have come, what I have accomplished. One year ago today, I started blogging to document my running, hoping to help myself stay on top of it and persevere. I was running before, but not as much or as often. I still haven't done a Half Marathon, but hope to this summer or early fall if all works out! I think I could be ready for one in June, but the weekends are just jam-packed up through the 16th of June.

Happy running, y'all! Get out there and run a few for me today!

Hello Spring

Taking a break from a few reflective and thought provoking posts (as well as emotional), I am happy to be posting about running again. I ran last wednesday in the beautiful 60 degree weather with my sister, and then ran last saturday morning in a cool crisp 55 degrees, alone....pounding the pavement.

Last night was the first time since saturday that I was able to get out and get my run on! Besides packing, cleaning, lifting, and moving, I haven't done much running. I got home after school, changed, grabbed Mr. Garmin and my HR monitor and hit the road. Forgot my Nano but that was probably good .... it gave me the opportunity to pay more attention to my breathing and my surroundings.

It's definitely spring. My senses were in overload as I was running. Living at my aunt's, I was able to run on new territory and take it all in. There aren't many parks or sites to run through, like many of you bloggers write about, but I was able to enjoy the new scenery. The grass is already turning green, the trees are starting to bud, the birds are chirping, kids playing in their yards; and people walking, running, and biking all over the place. The sun was shining through the clouds. When I got home from my run at 6, it was 78 degrees! It just seems incredibly warm for North Dakota in April. Hopefully we can keep it around for a while!

After showering and doing some much needed errands, I got a call wondering if I wanted to play some basketball. Sure, why not. It was gorgeous outside. So, I met up with a couple of my good guy friends to shoot hoops. Nothing like playing some street ball with a high school basketball coach and a big guy. With a flat ball. When pumping the ball with air, N got the needle stuck in the ball. So, no dribbling I guess. Just shooting hoops and a lot of traveling. I think they thought I was one of the guys, giving me crap left and right... man-handling me. I am sore today, darnit. They called me Team Defense, because my defensive skills stunk and they were trying to "educate" me on how to position myself ... defensively. I was getting ridiculed for throwing my elbows out there, but I couldn't help it. When I had a 250 pound guy coming after me, I certainly wasn't going to be able to "box him out"! It was still fun though. Lots of laughs.

Once the sun went down, we opted for a cool beverage on the patio of one of the restaurants along the river. How nice it was... and relaxing. Suprisingly, it was still warm after the sun went down, which is odd for April.

Well, this is Team Defense signing off! I will be heading to the cities for a bachelorette party tomorrow! Have a great weekend, y'all!

Loving Every Moment

I haven't written much in regards to my teaching experiences this past school year. Mostly due to confidentiality with special education and not know what exactly it is I would like to comment on.

But, that has changed. As the year comes to an end, I have been doing some reflecting. Since I have began my journey with special education, whenever that began, I have always had a passion for working with kids. It is not my goal to "fix" things, but rather give a child a safe learning environment in which they feel comfortable to take risks and learn.

I think about how much my views have changed throughout this school year, especially in the past few months. Many of my students struggle with difficulties at home, and I have realized that although I can not fix their homelife, I can help make things more enjoyable at school.

The reason why I am posting about this is because a little message I received yesterday got me thinking. Before I comment on the message I received, I must give a little background. I have worked with a student all year long. To make a long story short, this particular child has struggled with anxiety immensely and it has affected his academics. With that, excessive bouts of lying has been a result. Up until a month ago, I felt this child consumed every thought of mine and also crept into my dreams. I wanted to help him enjoy school and push himself, as he is very capable to work at the same level as his peers.

Then things all of a sudden started to change. I can not put a finger on exactly what it is that I started to do differently, but this child changed. I know that with the lying, instead of making a big deal of it as we did in the past, I would acknowledge it and move on. He started walking with his shoulders back and a smile on his face. He started complimenting other classmates. His grades began to go up, working his way to the B Honor Roll. His confidence increased. His sense of humor came back and we have enjoyed throwing sarcastic remarks back and forth at each other.

Prior to this change, there were repeated phone calls to mom stating each and every episode of lies and unfinished homework. I had a hard time making each and every call, as they were always negative. I hate making repeated calls like that. Then, like I said, things started to change, for whatever reason. He has even made the effort of "dropping in" to just say hello on his way to the bathroom or between classes. When passing in the hallway, he would throw a smile and sometimes make a joke. And last week, he had given me a hug and said "thanks" for everything.

Then, the message came. Mom had made a comment to the guidance counselor in regards to her son and all the positive things he has said about me. How he enjoys working with me and hates the idea of me leaving this year. How I have constantly told him he is capable and how I have set expectations for him.

This made me melt. At the same time, it made me sad. Sad to leave. Sometimes we get caught up in our job. Working with all these children, we forget how much of an impact we can have on one child. And that is my goal. If I can reach at least one child, each and every school year, I will be happy. Happy that I am successfully doing my job, and loving every moment of it.

Thanks, friends and fellow bloggers

Moving, moving, moving. Not much to say besides that it is a lot of work. And I still have so much more to do. I was hoping to pack until late last night, but by the time 10pm rolled around, I was getting sore. I went to bed early and got up early to do some more packin'. I just needed to take a break.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time reflecting. Reflecting on the past year. All of the changes. How much I have learned. What I have gained. What I have lost. Reflecting on how comfortable I have become with my running. How much I rely on it for my sanity and well-being. How, no matter how tired I am, once I get out there, it lifts so much from my shoulders.

I spent time thinking. Thinking about where my next step will take me. Thinking about whether it is going to be one small step or one giant leap. Thinking about where I will be going. Thinking about what friends have said, what people have commented in regards to my last post. Thinking about what my family has said. A lot of "what ifs" running circles in my head. Wes made this comment on my last post and I thought about it during my entire run yesterday:

"You are young. You have a long career ahead of you. If you make a mistake or two on your first two job choices, it will not matter a bit. As a matter of fact, it will probably provide you with clarity about exactly what your goals really are and where you want to be. Don't fret over this first decision. If you want to go someplace comfortable. Go. If you want to take a chance. Go there. As long as you strive to be the best, opportunities will always present themselves."

Then I came home and read another fellow bloggers post, Akshaye, and his words consumed my mind.

"The feeling of revisiting the past and wondering how things would have been had you not moved on. The ability to seamlessly slip back into your 'first' life leaving your 'second' as a reality that is an almost forgotten dream. I guess there always exists a certain romance and bond with the city you grew up in, that like a first love, always beckons you into falling in love with her all over again."

Some words of wisdom from Randy....

"but above all just be happy with yourself and where you are."

And last but not least... from Neese, who has always been a great inspiration for me.

"you are so young and the world is yours and it is OK to test the waters, you may find that you live in several places before you call a place home... who knows where the roads will lead and not to mention who you may meet which will take your life in directions you had not even planned!! Advance confidently and take that long deep breath, you have arrived baby! world watch out!"

I hope these guys don't mind me sharing their words. Words of wisdom. I have to thank everyone for their kind words and thoughts. It all means a lot to me. Bloggerland is another way of getting rid of the stress, right along with running.

In regards to figuring out where I am going next in my career, or in life for that matter, I know that I am not settling. I am not going to take a job just because I am afraid another one won't come along. I am not going to settle for a position where I am at right now, just because I don't know if I am ready to leave my comfort zone. In the words of Sugarland, I ain't Settlin'.

I ain't settling for just getting by
I've had enough so so for the rest of my life
Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high
Just enough ain't enough this time
I ain't settling for anything less than everything

_____________________________________________
Tuesday: lifted arms, 9.5 mi. spin
Wednesday: run 3.67 mi. outdoors (with Sis). Beautiful weather. Felt great!
Saturday: 3.8 mi. run outdoors. 57 and humid/moist. But that's okay. I might have to get used to that.

Overwhelmed with Stress

I never realized how stressful this year has been until today. Last night I had an emotional breakdown while on the phone with Mom. An emotional breakdown over nothing, really. My sister had left yesterday with most of her stuff to move home to the Bis. Last night I was frantically trying to figure out what to wear to the Educators Job Fair today, which I decided to go to last minute; on top of trying to get ready for my final project review today at 4pm. There is just too much going on right now.

I was up at 530 this morning, on campus before 7am to register for the Job Fair, since I didn't pre-register. Sat around for a while and then was given the opportunity to sell myself to recruiters for the two hours to follow. Landed me some job interviews, interviewed throughout the afternoon, and then presented my final project, the one I had to present in order to graduate. In the midst of our presentations, we were asked to share how we have grown in the process of the completing our residency. Let's just say there were about 12 of us and about 5 were in tears. I have finally come to the conclusion that I am not the only one who has been stressed out of my mind for a while, along with being mentally and emotionally drained. I was able to hold my composure, but while listening to others, I found it hard to hold back the tears.

I have applied to quite a few school districts, in state and out of state, had many interviews, been offered 1 job on the spot and told multiple times today that I could get a job easily with "their" district. Actually, while waiting to interview with one location, I had a recruiter from AZ asking me tons of questions. Telling me that I probably had sooo many people asking me to come for interviews when just walking by their booth. Which was true. I felt that they were staring me down, and once they would completely read my nametag their eyes would become huge! I don't know if that was because of my all-american name, or my titles to follow -- B.S. Elementary Education / M.S. Special Education Strategist. He was great to talk to, grabbed my resume, and said I might be getting a phone call from a county that his friend works for. okay. Not really sure if AZ is for me..

And now, I have some decisions to make. I will possibly be getting calls to come back for more interviews, I am still waiting for closing dates of april 30 to see if I will get an interview from some other schools I applied to a while ago, and now I just have to wait. wait for what? I need to really think. Where do I want to teach? Not just where do I want to live, but where do I want to teach? Which of these schools really has what I want?

I am going to bed. I am so drained from this week, it is crazy. How come I am able to crash by 930 on a friday night, but not until after 1130 on weeknights? This doesn't make sense. Tomorrow, I have to start packing. Our plan is to be completely out by this coming wednesday. Eeks. Plus, I have to work on a couple final projects for classes. Two weeks of class left. And you have no idea how excited I am!

Tomorrow... I will go for a much needed run... as far as my heart desires!

10 Years Ago...

The winter of 1996-1997 proved to be one of the most severe winters in recorded history in the city of Grand Forks and the surrounding area. The winter brought no fewer than eight blizzards to the area besides other days of snowfall. The Grand Forks area recorded nearly 100 inches of snowfall for the winter more than doubling our average snowfall for the season. The photo featured here was taken at the height of the winter along the road from inside of a car at eye level. The winter's worst fury came in the beginning of April with an ice storm and blizzard, nicknamed Hard-handed Hannah, struck the area. The storm struck with such ferocity it destroyed power lines by covering them with a thick coat of ice and hitting the area with a strong blizzard with 50 mph winds.

It was soon after this when the snow started to melt and the river began to rise rapidly. The fight to save the city was punctuated by community spirit and sweat by people of all ages and background.
By April 17, the river passed the predicted crest of 49 feet as set by the National Weather Service and was still rising rapidly. On April 18, Friday, the river reached 51 feet and the dike broke in the Lincoln Park area at 8:00 am forcing the evacuations of the residents of that area. Conditions continued to worsen as dikes started to weaken and as water started to top the dikes in the Central Park area of Grand Forks and Riverside.

On the left, citizens sandbagging a residential area, trying to prevent the rising river water from further reaching any homes. This picture is actually taken in a neighborhood just a few blocks southwest from my apartment.

Below is a picture of a select area of UND campus. On the left side of the picture is Smith Hall, which was attached to the hall that I lived in for the first 2 years of my college life. When I moved to campus, two years after the flood, they were still doing a lot of remodeling and fixing up of the dorms and the basement levels. The flooding water here is from the coulie that ran through campus. I remember when living in these dorms, everyonce and a while during the spring the water would rise real quickly, sometimes overflowing, in a freakish way. Nothing like this though.

Sorlie Bridge, (across the Red River between North Dakota and Minnesota) at high flow.

The sandbags didn't hold back the raging Red River.

Non-essentail businesses were requested to close to aid in the flood fight but the water was stronger than the human spirit. By the afternoon of Saturday, April 19, all of the downtown area of Grand Forks was inundated by floodwaters. The nastiest blow of this day was the fire in the Security building in the downtown area and the subsequent destruction of 11 buildings. By this time, 75% of Grand Forks was flooded and 90% of its sister city, East Grand Forks, MN.

Most of the information on the post was found online, as I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight. I wasn't living in Grand Forks when the flood happened, but I do remember my two cousin's from Grand Forks who came to Bismarck and attended school there for a while. The house that they lived in at the time was in the area of where the dike broke first. There were a quite a few homes in that area that were totally demolished and a new dike was built in the place of the homes. I could only imagine how devastating it was for everyone.

*Photos found on Google Images.

Posted below is a video from the Flood...

Grand Forks The Flood of 1997

Heavy Heart

In the midst of this tragedy that has touched many lives, I sit here with a heavy heart and mourn for the victims as well as the family and friends of those who have lost their life on the campus of Virginia Tech.

*Picture found on Google images.

Fair trade

The weather has finally reached above freezing for a good 5 days and I think the cold is finally gone. Even with the clear blue skies and above 40 temps, I chose to take a couple days rest and enjoy the presence of one of my greatest friends, B ... I thought it was quite the fair trade.

Friday:

With the gorgeous weather, we opted to grill marinated chicken breasts and potatoes. From there we watched some of the Twins game, started playing drinking games, and I became re-aquainted with JD. Jack Daniels that is. This all lead to the imfamous Jag Bombs!

After dinner and some games, we went to a bar that does not usually attract our age group, but they had a live band and we were ready to dance! We ended up closing down the bar and headed to the truck stop for breakfast! Mmm..


Saturday:

After sleeping in and spending the afternoon at the library, I headed over to the house and we started all over again. We grilled again, this time we had a variety of meat, steaks, chicken, brats, and then potatoes again. We changed up the drinking mode and made some "strip-and-go-nakeds". Yummy. The boys drug the beer pong table out of the garage and the good times began. That is one of the funnest games ever and if you stink at it, you drink more. Where do you think I fall?

After a late dinner, we decided to hit up the VFW for some karaoke! Now that was fun! Ironically, there were two girls there, that were sisters, and their names were Stacy and Steph, just like me and my sister. So, the four of us ended up singing "I want you to want me". That was fun!

After many shots, and some beer, we headed back to the house to play some beer pong and have a little campfire!

All and all it was a fun weekend. It was great to spend some fun time with B and everyone else!


Today:

Sis and I went for a nice short run (2.5 mi) outside. It was a gorgeous 50 degrees with a cool breeze! Nice! Back to the grind... homework that is. And hydrating myself!

Another one bites the dust

You ever have those moments where you have all these ideas for posting, and then when you start, it's just a bunch of garbage? I have done that. Multiple times tonight. What does Stacy really want to talk about tonight? What do fellow bloggers really want to read about? Work? School? My job-searching adventure? Life? Running? Spin? I just can't get my creative groove movin'. I know I have lost all motivation for school, but I didn't realize I was struggling with ideas for my posts!

Anyway. I am recovering wonderfully from my 8 miles yesterday. I forgot to mention that during the last couple miles, I began to feel sore on the ball of my right foot and the pinky toe of my left. The soreness/pain has subsided today. But I didn't like it. I was afraid it was going to lead to blisters, which I have only had once after a 5 mile run last summer. I instantly blamed it on my socks and will not wears those ever again for a "longer" run. I know I am not the only runner out there that has specific socks, shorts, shirts, for short runs, long runs, biking, etc. Right?

Tonight I was to the gym about 20 minutes before spin and did some weights for the arms. I then went to Spin with all intentions of working my butt of so I can take tomorrow off. Yeah, either the tension on my bike was really touchy, or my semi-sore thigh, hip, and butt muscles where more sore than I realized. My sister didn't go with because she didn't want to go to the same instructor two times this week when she knew what we were going to do. Little did we know, our instructor was going to change things up a bit. And that is what she did. Tonights warm-up, which usually takes 10 minutes, was quite a bit of freezing in a hovering position. We did quite a few reps of 30 secs with some light jogging on the bike between. Oh boy. I felt that in my thunder thighs.. Ouch! We also did a lot of sprinting throughout the session and I liked that. Something different. I conquered 10.2 miles tonight.

The rest of my evening, which there isn't much left (approximately 1 hour), will consist of job searching and reading some fellow blogs! I might get talked into going out for apps with a friend.

On a side note, I am pumped. A friend from college is coming back to GF for the weekend! He already informed me to get my drinking hat on. Whatever that means. I will be ready though. Ahh!!

Y'all have a wonderful friday!

The "Longer" Run

That sounds like a beginning of a book. Hmm. I might have to jot that down, on my list of books to write. Well, it's official. I accomplished what I wanted to this evening. And I don't even care if you call me Bizarro Teacherwoman, Joe! But, I must first add that I was not expecting it to go as well as it did. For one reason only. A massive headach. I went to bed with a slight headache. I woke up with a headache. You know, one of those that throbs when you get up or move to fast? Well, I dealt with it all morning. It left me feeling nauseous. Yuck. So I ate some food, thinking I didn't eat enough after my heavy workout last night. Didn't help. I didn't want to take more Ibuprofen, since I did last night during class when it started. I just don't like to take drugs. With lunch I drank a soda, hoping that maybe it was a bad caffiene headache. Didn't really work. Most of the afternoon I spent my free time drinking water. And lots of it. Maybe I was dehydrated. Part of me thinks it was a cross between an allergy headache and a migraine. I don't know. I usually get affected by allergies this time of year... Moving on... I ran my "longer" run. I call it this becuase I have a hard time calling it a long run. So, "longer" it will be. And it was successful, despite the fact that my tummy was saying "feed me" as I was pulling into the gym parking lot. Dangit! I ate plenty today. So, I ran my "longer" run. 8 miles to be exact. 1:29:23. Average pace of 11:10min/mi. I am okay with that! Last week I averaged 11:06min/mi. But, I can tell I will be a little sore. The moment I got off the thrillmill, my thunder thighs were like jello! I stretched. And stretched. Then headed home to make a nice meal of pasta, chicken, and green beans. Yummy.

An American Idol Note:

• Glad to see Haley go. It was her time. Next, I would love to predict Sanjaya to go, but I don't think it will happen just yet. I am afraid to predict that Phil Stacey will be going next. But, I guess I have to see their performances first. Country next week! Yee-haa!

Sports Commentary:

• Baseball season officially started last week. My Twins were off to a great start! Monday night they got robbed by the Yankees. Plus, I was reminded how much of a Yankee fan I wasn't when Nick Punto was ran into when a Yankee was diving into third base, making Punto land hard on his own head. They lost last night as well. Joe Nathan is an awesome closing pitcher! Twins 5. Yankees 1. We win!

Happy running, y'all!

Q and A's

My workout yesterday was quite successful and I felt great afterwards. I left school a little early to pick up some transcripts and was able to head the the gym earlier than I usually do. I hopped on the thrillmill, only planning on doing a couple warm-up miles. Before I was finished, my sister showed up and we ran the track for a while. Between the thrillmill and track, I was able to log 2.5 miles. We hit up a few weights and then headed to spin. It was a wonderful spin session and I was able to spin 9.2 miles. The worst of the evening was heading to a three hour class. Only three more weeks...and I am done!

I feel as if there have been a few questions lately that I haven't been able to respond to, so I am going to try and do that now.

From Joe: A Wednesday long run? Did someone kidnap Teacherwoman and replace her with Bizarro Teacherwoman? --> Yep, a wednesday long run. I seem to be more motivated during the week, and it works out perfectly because I don't have night class. I can go home, stretch, ice, and relax the rest of the evening. Plus, there are usually things going on over the weekend that I don't get those long runs in as planned. This way, if I am feeling up to it, I can do a nice 3 or 4 miles saturday and sunday...outdoors!

From Jess: So, any plans for the future after grad school? --> If all goes as I would like, I hope to have a job lined up before the end of May, in the area of Special Education (at the Elementary level). I don't know where, but I am applying in multiple places.

From Aggie Jogger '77: Ok, I've just got to ask, and I keep telling myself my wife is from North Dakota and I've never heard her mention "funeral potatoes" before. What are they? --> I knew someone was going to catch that and ask about it! It is what our family and a lot of other germans in the area call funeral potatoes. Basically it is hashed browns, baked in a 9x13 pan with cheese and then corn flakes sprinkled on top. I think they are called funeral potatoes becuase they are easy to make and show up at funerals... a lot.

From Joe: Was there lots of eye candy at the gym? --> This is in response to my 7 miles on the thrillmill. And Yes, there were lots of eye candy at the gym. Especially when you are on a thrillmill looking over the weight room! But, that is not why I was there, Joe!

I kinda like this Q&A's thing. Keep 'em coming! Now, like I said before, I am planning on doing my long run tonight, eat a nice hearty pasta and veggies dinner, watch Friday Night Lights and the results to American Idol, and hit the hay!

"Well Needed Break" Recap

This weekend was longer than usual with having friday and monday off, but that didn't necessarily mean that it was full of relaxing! We kept quite busy.

Thursday --> Left school early and got home in time to watch the Sioux/Boston College hockey game. The Sioux got robbed with a few bad calls and Boston won. We were a little disappointed.

Friday --> prepared for bridal showers with shopping and baking cheesecakes. Fun times! We ended up joining some aunts and cousins for dinner and were surprised to see our cousin, Britt, home for the weekend. She surprised her sister and flew home from England for her bridal shower! We miss Britt so much!

Saturday --> Two bridal showers. My cousin's and my sister's! They were both fun and exhausting. Both showers were fun and different! Very nice...very nice!

(P.S. It was nice to see Michigan beat Boston college in the last 18 seconds of the game!)

Sunday --> Easter! After church we headed to my aunt and uncle's for a nice family dinner. All I have to say is mmmm! Ham meatballs, funeral potatoes, salmon, carrot cake....mmmm mmmm good! Fun times as well! After we got home from dinner, we decided to take advantage of the above freezing temps. I wanted to go for a run since the last time I ran was wednesday. Mom decided to ditch the walkers and joined me. It was a nice run through the neighborhood...approximately 2.25 miles. No walk breaks, we ran straight through. That is what running partners do for me... keep me going!

Today--> nothing but traveling back to GF, unpacking and now some homework. Yeah. Only four weeks of class left and I will... be...done! Wahoo!

Looking at my week and what is going on, I hope to accomplish this:
Tuesday: Spin and weights
Wednesday: long run
Thursday: Spin, possible short run before spin
Friday: Rest
Saturday: easy run
Sunday: easy run

Have a great week, y'all!

Well needed break

I went to the gym tonight to run a few miles. I was hoping for 4, but the list of things I wanted to get done (before American Idol) seemed to be growing during my run, and I called it quits after 3.1 miles. I was still quite sore from my 7 miles monday night. It's amazing how that soreness can take a while to come around. I don't think I was truly sore until 24 hours later. I am sore/stiff from my butt down to my knees...

Tomorrow, I plan to leave school early to head home for my Easter break. I figured since I don't work with any kids on thursday's after 2pm, I could just take off. That way, we will get home before the big game starts! You know, the semifinals of the Final Four! Hockey! Our Fighting Sioux will be taking on Boston at 7pm... if anyone is interested in watching! If we can beat Boston, I am almost positive we will be playing Maine for the Championship!

Now, I just have to wish for a warmer weekend. Last year it was nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun, while watching the kids run around the yard. This year, there are predictions of snow. Eeek. I hope not.

Only 37 days left until graduation! Wahoo!

Happy running, y'all!

Who Done it?

My Edy's is almost gone... . . .


... ... who done it??


Unfortunately, I can't blame my sister (the ice cream freak!) ... . ..

.. .. .she gave up ice cream for lent.


It must have been ....



ME... Oops!!

physical fitness productivity

Since my 4-7 class was canceled, she advised us to use the time to work on our two upcoming projects. Sure. I could have been productive with my academics, but did I? Nope. Instead, I chose to be productive with my physical fitness, which in return, affects my overall academic performance! It's true!

I went to the gym with all intentions of running. Not just a few miles, but 7. Well, if anyone know's how wonderful it is to run on a thrillmill, you know that you cannot run 7 miles without having to restart it.... I can't. I am not that fast. The thrillmills at the Wellness Center have 40 minute cycles. So, when I finished my 40 minutes, I started over and decided to go another full 40 minutes. I was able to do 3.56 in the first 40 and was thinking that I had to keep up that pace in order to do 7 miles total with an additional 40 minutes. And that is what I did. I guess I must have either ran faster or took less walk breaks (or both) in the second 40 minute session .... since..... I was able to accomplish ... 7.2 miles! That's an average pace of 11:06/mile! Crazy! I need to slow my butt down a bit for these longer runs... maybe?!?!

I will be honest, the first couple miles weren't that great. I felt like I had my groove on during my 3rd, 4th, and 5th miles, and the 6th and 7th were a little bit more tiring. My right groin muscle was beginning to get a little sore the last couple miles. I haven't felt that since my 9 mile runs this past summer. I can't believe that it has been about 7 months since I have run that far of a distance. Nasty.

My class tomorrow night is canceled. She gave us three activities to work on instead. But, I am tempted to go lift and do spin, and then do my homework... hopefully.

Oh, and by the way, just as we thought the snow was gone. It's supposed to snow again tonight and tomorrow. Accumulating a few inches of snow, possibly. Hopefully it will just stay south of here. Yuck. I thought we were done with that white stuff!

Happy running, y'all!

Music Freak!!

If you haven't noticed, I am a music freak. I love music. All kinds. I could listen to music all day! ...punk, rock, country, rap, R&B, swing, 60's, 70's, sometimes 80's, 90's, jazz, blues, reggae, funk, etc. And it most definitely depends on my mood. Last week I burned a CD of O.A.R. music and love it. I have been playin' it in my car all week on my commute to and from work. Tonight, I was able to download music by James Morrison (in picture - right). He is a new artist from the UK that has a real talent. "The Times" say that "it's as though he's stolen the soul of an 80 year old black American blues singer...". And that is exactly how I would explain his music/voice. And the fact that he reminds me a lot of Johnny Lang, another favorite of mine from right here in ND! (pictured below) Boy Wonder is what they called him... as he had at the experienced/powerful voice of a musician at the age of 16!

On a workout note, I took yesterday off. I was so sore from lifting before and after my run Friday, just as I was hoping! Ahhh. Today, Sis and I hit up spin. We usually don't do that on Sunday's but she wanted to go since she was going to be gone this week. Okay with me! We were not impressed with the instructor, he was kind of a snobby cyclist who was not fun! He just shouted out orders: Okay, uh, get your cadence up to 110+, tension at 7, and we'll go for 4 minutes. Not cool. And the music was okay; Sis called it 80's Butt-rock... she's so funny! Plus, I was disgusted with my bike in the back row. It said I only did 6.2 miles when I know that I did more than that since we did a whole lot of sprinting. I usually average 8-10 miles each session when we don't do a lot of sprinting. I am sure I did more than 10. Oh well. It wasn't working well, as I watched my cadence go from 0 to 254 to 14 to 110 to 0 to 56, and so on.

Now tomorrow, I have been blessed with having one of my classes canceled... the 4-7 class. So, I am planning on doing a long run between school and my 7pm class. Since I didn't get my long run in last week, and who knows what I will accomplish Easter weekend, I figured I would attempt one tomorrow. How long? I don't know. My plan is 6-7 miles. We'll see how it goes.

And since I have the vision of doing a long run on the thrillmill, I knew that I needed to change my music on my nano. I had 300+ songs on there, but were just sick of listening to them! So I have downloaded a bunch from the 60's and 70's .... and then some random songs .... and made a nice play list for tomorrow... Here's what it looks like, if anyone is looking for different (but old-is-gold) music!

• Aerosmith - Come Together
• Alice Cooper - Schools Out for Summer
• Brownsville Station - Smokin' In the Boys' Room
• Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
• CCR - Bad Moon Rising
• CCR - Down on the Corner
• Dion & The Belmonts - The Wanderer
• Eric Clapton - After Midnight
• Foghat - Slow Ride
• Four Seasons - Stay
• Four Seasons - Walk Like A Man
• Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons - Oh What a Night
• Journey - Wheel In The Sky
• The Monkees - Dream Believer
• The Monkees - Hey Hey We're the Monkees
• Ram Jam - Black Betty
• Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson
• Steve Miller Band - The Joker
• Stevie Wonder - Superstition
• Wyclef Jean & Refugees - We Tryin' to Stay Alive (Remix)
• Time of the Season - Blake Lewis (American Idol version)
• Pride & Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn
• Everybody Needs Somebody To Love - Blues Brothers Band
  
• Jackson - Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon

With that, I am signing off... and wishing y'all a happy monday!

Happy running!