Randomness... at it's best..

Where to start?

I went out for an easy/slow run this morning. Easy and slow because I didn't want to push it, and I knew that I would be switching my long run from sunday to tomorrow to run with the 'rents. I took a few walk breaks, due to feeling hot, thirsty, and a bit queezy in the last half mile or so. Here are the stats.

Time: 10:00am
Temp: 74 degrees
Humidity: 57%
Wind: SE at 17mph
Distance: 3.42 miles
Duration: 42:27
Avg Pace: 12:24
Avg HR: 162
Max HR: 178

Tomorrow, I think we plan to do at least 5 miles. Hopefully I can get the 'rents out of bed before it gets too warm..It will be in the 70's by 9am..

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Sports Commentary:
So there we were. Me. My Mom. My Dad. Sitting at Buffalo Wild Wings last night enjoying our wings and somewhat paying attention to the NBA Draft. It was pure craziness. I don't know how anyone can keep their head straight while watching that. I am not a bandwagon fan for the most part, I have a few of my favorite players and teams that I like to really watch.... KG & the Timberwolves, Steve Nash & the Suns, Kirk Hinrick & the Bulls, Shaq & the Heat, and I do like the Lakers but Kobe Bryant bugs me.

So anyway. There we were. Watching it. I was making a comment on how much I really enjoyed watching the Bulls last season and how far they have come. Then I made a comment on how that should be "MY" team... just like it was when I was 12, 13, 14 years old. When Michael Jordan and cry-baby Scottie Pippen played. Then, all of a sudden they were talking about Noah. You know, the guy who played for Florida?! The annoying one? The one who is good, but really annoying. You either love him ... or you hate him. I seriously dislike him. And... before I knew it, they drafted him. THEY picked NOAH! THEY as in THE BULLS picked NOAH! I hope the Bulls will teach him a few things... maybe Ben Wallace will walk all over him...and give him a few pointers in the process!!

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Time for a little reflecting:
I spent the last 8 years in a city that I didn't really care for from the beginning of my college career. It was wonderful for college and meeting new people. But, it was not somewhere that I wanted to start my career, and it was definitely not somewhere friendly for runners... bikers... or swimmers.

During this past school year, while I was completing my masters and my internship at school, I thought a lot about where I was going to apply for jobs. A LOT. Those of you who have been following my blog on a regular basis could agree. I was ready to get out of the state. Or so I thought. I knew I needed a fresh start, and I thought that leaving the state, even if it was for just one year, I would be pleased.

In the process of applying for jobs, mostly out of state, I learned a lot. Each state is so different. Different calendars, different ways of doing paperpwork, different terminology for the different positions. It's very hard to apply for jobs when you have little idea of what you are getting yourself into.

In april, I was offered a position in NC, my dream state. I don't know what it is about that state that draws me to it, but it was someplace that I had dreamed of moving to for a long time. As anxious and excited I was about the offer, I was scared at the same time. Not to move away, but the thought that I was offered a position without even having to interview. I know I would have been up for the challenge, but I was not ready to spend my first year as a teacher working in a school district that is low on qualified staff... 1500 miles away from home.

Then, once the school year was over, I had more time to apply for jobs. I started to apply for jobs left and right in CO. As well as in MN .... mostly in the area of the Twin Cities and Rochester. I had two interviews with CO, the same district. They were both phone interviews and both less than 10 minutes long. Not a great sign. Then I had an interview in Rochester, which required me to drive and put 1000 miles on my car within two days. I thought that interview went really well, but I was somewhat worried that if I was offered the position, I would not have the resources I would have liked. I would have been on my own with 15-20 students and no paraprofessional. If anyone has a background in special education, you know that this is near impossible.

I had also received a couple calls asking me to apply for a position within their school district. They had gotten my name from the education department on campus. I think I was the only RT left that hadn't gotten a job yet. I was flattered, but I was not ready to move back to GF. Like I said, GF is not a place for me!

Then I went a week and a half without hearing from any other schools, until I got a call this past sunday. I was invited for an interview right here in ND. So I drove to the location wednesday night and had my interview yesterday. It went really well, and I felt really comfortable with it. They told me they would notify me by monday or tuesday of next week. My phone rang at 9 this morning... and sure enough, it was the principal calling to offer me the job. I took it. This is one happy Teacherwoman.

So, as much as I was ready to leave the state, is seems as if this North Dakotan girl is staying put. And I am perfectly fine with that. I look forward to doing some traveling. I hope to use races as an excuse to get me out of state on a regular basis. I hope to get to England next spring/summer to visit my cousin and her boyfriend...

If you look over at my sidebar, I have made a couple changes. I have a countdown to when I start work...and a countdown to the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon. (Thanks Leana for letting me know about this!) I wanted to do that race so bad, in San Francisco, but new I wouldn't be able to travel that weekend. So, with my Nike+ that my sister bought me as a gift for participating in her wedding, I will be running the 13.1 miles her in ND and logging it online before midnight. I will then recieve my Tifanny's necklace and t-shirt in the mail. It won't be the same as being there...but I thought it would still be fun! Anyone else want to join?!?!

Thanks for all the best wishes on my interviews and job hunting process! Now it is time to decide what kind of place I want to look for!

Happy running, y'all!

A Run in the Sun

I was complaining in my last post about the weather being icky this week. As of yesterday, it was still gorgeous. When I got home from school, I went out for my first run in a week and a half. The sun was very warm with the temperature being in the high 70's. The humidity was fairly high, as I could feel it weighing my hair down. There was a noticeable wind, but not like the cold wind we usually get. This wind was one that I felt pushing me on my way out and slightly cooling me off on my way back in. Overall, it was a very successful and enjoyable 2.5 miles.

I started with a nice walk for a few minutes to warm up the old muscles. Once I started running I was immediately paying attention to how I landed on my feet and what direction they were facing. I know that prior to this run, I would land on my heel a lot. For some reason, I thought that was the "right" way. Wrong. My feet were facing straight ahead, which is good. I noticed that landing on the middle of my foot felt better as I ran and was better on my knees! Great success! I did the run5/walk1 method with a longer walk break towards the end. It was hot. I had to.

After my run, I tested a new drink. New to me. I tried the EAS AdvantagEDGE Complete Nutrition Shake. I know I don't get nearly enough protein in a day, and I wanted to try this after my run. It was actually quite tasty. I enjoyed it.

After cooling off, I cleaned up and my cousins, aunt and I went out for dinner on the patio of a favorite GF restaurant of ours, located along the river. It was just perfect. Cold drinks, appetizer and a chicken salad. Yummy. Afterwards we went back to the house and relaxed. My cousin's boyfriend, made a pitcher of Mohito's and they were fabulous! I had two, and then asked what was in a Mohito. All I got out of what he said was, "A lot of alcohol". Needless to say, I slept like a baby.

On a side note, for those of you who asked about any bites on a job... still working on it. I am hoping to land a position in a certain district, but until I do so, I am not at liberty to say!

Happy running, y'all!

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!

Grounded

First of all, when I mentioned the girl wearing the speedo in the gym yesterday... the reason I thought it was kind of weird was becuase our Campus pool is in a separate building from the wellness center...now is it kinda weird? And about the couple, I think it is perfectly fine to show PDA's... it just seemed odd to see that at the gym... I guess there is really nothing wrong with it...just out of the ordinary...

Friday is here and there is nothing more that I would rather do than relax and have a few beers with some friends. But, I have officially grounded myself. Yah. I have plenty of paperwork to do from work and MUST get started on some of my projects for class, and finish up some paperwork for my final project for graduation. It is also a goal of mine this weekend to find 5 locations that I would like to apply for jobs. With that I need to update my resume and type up a beautiful cover letter. Grounded. Oh well. The weather is going to be icky and my sister has left me all alone this weekend. Sniff...sniff..

Now, I am going to do some laundry and get some reading out of the way. Maybe I will find a B-ball game on tv to half-listen to....

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

25 Best Running Cities in America

Well, I am attempting to get back to reality this evening. I got back into town this afternoon, unpacked, went to the bank, did a little workout, grocery shopped, and now I am just relaxing. Making a nice long post before the week begins and I get engulfed in paperwork! The next few weeks at work are going to be crazy, but I am so ready to get back into the swing of things! I can't beleive I only have 129 days left until I graduate! Wahoo!

I have been doing a lot of thinking about where I am going to be applying for jobs this spring. A big part of me wants to move out of state and do my own thing. A little part of me is having a hard time figuring out where I want to go and if I really want to be that far away from my comfort zone (home).

I was talking with my family a little bit about this and told them that at Christmas I was just going to have everyone one put a city down on a piece of paper and I would draw 10-15 from a bag and choose from one of those. But.... everytime I asked someone where they think I should move, it just brought me closer to home! .... . . . . So much for that idea.

Then my Dad was telling me of an article they had in Runner's World about the 25 Best Running Cities in America! So I checked it out and this is what they listed:

1. San Francisco
2. San Diego
3. New York City
4. Chicago
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Minneapolis/St. Paul
7. Boulder, CO.
8. Boston
9. Denver
10. Portland, OR
11. Austin, TX
12. Seattle
13. Philadelphia
14. Colorado Springs
15. Dalas
16. Anchorage
17. Raleigh, NC
18. Salt Lake City
19. Honolulu
20. Atlanta
21. Houston
22. Pheonix
23. Madison, WI
24. Monterey, CA
25. Fort Colins, CO

They all sound like great places to live, although there are a few on the list that I wouldn't consider moving to right now... . . Hmm. Any thoughts?


Today's Workout: Ran 1 mile (warmup), did my biking (2 nasty hills = 6.5 miles) tonight, since Spin doesn't start until next week. Overall 437 calories.
(Left leg still a little bothersome....feels like a pinched nerve behind my left knee.)