Cinco de Fieldtrip...and I can breathe!

Today I took my students on a much anticipated field trip to a living history museum Civil War expo. They had so much fun! It was such a great way to close out our Civil War unit. We talked about CW era baseball, what blacksmiths did, what soldiers wrote home about, the dancing, what soldiers carried in their knapsacks, how they fired their weapons, what children played with at school, CW ear medicine, and ladies fashion. They needed a volunteer and of course I couldn't resist...
They boys found it funny when I had to take the dress off. The hostess had just slipped it on over my regular clothes, but they boys still looked away when she went to take it off of me. Ha! The girls couldn't believe how many layers of underwear they would have had to wear.

Pretty sure I'm buying a dress like that to teach the unit next year :)

Yesterday I did my first run after taking my inhaler. I didn't feel any different after I used it. No tingling, funny taste, angels singing...nothing. So I wasn't sure. I waited the 10 minutes my doctor told me to wait by stretching and adjusting my shoes. As I set out I couldn't believe how I felt. From the first step I noticed a difference. When I ran before, I felt like I had to cough and my lungs were spastic. Now, I felt relaxed. I didn't have one single breathing issue. My airways were clear the whole time! I felt like I could run for days!!!! My legs didn't feel that way, but my lungs did.

I think I'm going to like this inhaler thing! My spirometry test is scheduled for next Tuesday, so I'll know more about things then. I still haven't heard any of the results of my blood test. Hopefully I'll get a call tomorrow.

I'll leave you with this photo...Happy Cinco de Mayo!




*Side Note.....Let's Go Blackhawks!!! Beat those Canucks!*

Cinco de Mayo 5K Race report

This was the strangest race I've ever been to. Being my second race and all, that's not saying much. But it was still strange.

Friday night we headed over to pick up our race packets and t-shirts. The address on our form said to head to 130 E. State st. When we typed it into the GPS the only options were for N. State and S. State. Weird. My husband remembered that his dentist is 140 E. State st, so we thought it must be close. As we drove down State st. we couldn't find the building we were looking for! We drove up and down that street 5 times! Finally my husband spotted a tiny 3'x2' lighted sign in a tiny window. In mismatched letters it said "5K sign up here." The "office" was about the size of our bedroom and was full of boxes of race packets. For such a small office, that race seemed to have a lot of participants.

After picking up the packet, we decided to find the park. Good thing! The park we thought it was totally wasn't! After driving up and down that road for 10 minutes we finally located the address. Wow.

On Saturday morning we headed over to the thing we thought was a park. As we pulled into the parking lot (30 minutes before race time, mind you) there was 1 other car there. Something wasn't right here. We grabbed the GPS, looked up the park, and sure enough, it was further down the road! Ugh! Only 1 tiny garage sale sign marked the entrance....on a dead-end road behind a cemetery.

Finally found it! There was such a great turn out! Oh wait....this is a trail race?! No one said anything about a trail race?!?! I'm not prepared for this!

As we were all standing around stretching, warming up, and talking someone (the race organizer) jumped up on the park pavilion table and shouted "OK! Get Ready!" She then held the starting pistol. The other organizer shouted for her to stop because he hadn't set up the time-clock! We then took that moment to pray....After the prayer the organizer attempted to fire the staring pistol, but it didn't work. This is where she then points it at her nose as tried to figure it out. Crazy! The time-clock guy set her straight and we started the race.

The trail part was hard. Sometimes we had to run across the grass. I feared for my ankles the whole time. But it wasn't bad. I enjoyed the scenery.

Because I had been sick over the past week, I wasn't sure how well I'd do. I concentrated on setting a decent pace for myself that didn't overwork my system. I felt like I didn't run as well as the last time. After mile 2 I needed to stop and walk. There was a couple in front of me the whole time and I wanted to pass them so bad! I couldn't catch up until the very end! As we were finishing the last tenth of a mile I found some energy left and kicked their butts!!!

Good thing I did. That extra burst of energy got me 2nd place in my age group! The girl in front of me took 3rd! Wow! I even beat my last time by 15 seconds! Ye Haw for a PR! Official time was 30:10. I received a maraca necklace for my efforts and a sombrero for finishing in the top 100!

For as weird as it was, it was a ton of fun!

Now I have to wait until June 12th for the next race :)

"long" run

Ok....so 4 miles is my version of a long run. Ha! One of these days it'll be a real "long" run. But for now, 4 is cool.

I combined two of the new routes I've run in the past week or so. These routes are pretty. They're older, more established neighborhoods with beautiful landscaping. One backs up to a golf course! I'm mentally logging all these things husband and I need to do to our house. In order to get to both of them though, I need to run through an under-construction neighborhood. The streets aren't paved yet, just gravel. My ankles and knees aren't too thrilled with it.

Ok....I started this post 20 minutes ago. I can't think of what else to say. Good run. Want to do it again on Thursday.

Scary Run

I finally made it out to run this week. It was tough! Recently I have developed allergies. I've never had them before, but for the past two years, at about this time, my nose decides to run backwards and won't stop. This causes frequent nose-blows, sore throats, stomach aches, and spitty-cough. Not that you needed to know this, but I wanted to share. Since Monday I have woken up every night unable to breathe properly.

My mother suggested Claritin last year and I've been taking it since March of this year when I sensed this might start happening. Not working. I'm pretty sure my symptoms call for the big D versions of allergy medicines...and the background checks that come with it :) But sadly, I'm still taking blood pressure meds and can't take the big D. So I suffer on.

I thought that this wouldn't effect me too much on my run today. I was wrong. My usual lung issues were made 10 times worse because they were battling with excess mucus. Yuck! Around mile 3 my airway actually started to close up! I started wheezing and had to stop. I could feel my body going in to panic mode, so I sat down in the middle of the trail! I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. It was very zen-master-esque. Luckily Ryan was with me and that made me feel a lot better.

I was able to pull myself together enough to trot the last quarter mile.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible run. It was not what I wanted, but it's better that bonding with the couch. Plus, I have to work off the ounces because Saturday we're celebrating my 25th at a great restaurant! I'm planning on having a good time :)

Let's hope I can get out there again on Saturday morning and live through it.

PS....Check out Katye's giveaway for Ryders sunglasses. They're pretty awesome!

Back to Normal

Yesterday was a bad day. Today was much better!!!!!

School was more successful and the weather was gorgeous!

Husband and I even made it out for a run on the trail. I love how green things are starting to become! We decided we would do about 2 miles because we hadn't run since the 5K on the 3rd. My legs really didn't want to run but my mind did. It felt great to get out there again. The best thing was that when we made it back to the car, 2.23 miles didn't even seem all that far! Now I feel like a real runner :) 2.23 miles isn't that far! Ha!

I'm hoping to get in 2 more runs this week. One on Thursday and another on Friday. That might be switched to Friday and Saturday because it might rain on Thursday.

To prove that it was a really great day......I mailed in my registration for the Cinco de Mayo 5K on May 1st :)

Boy am I hungry....too bad I'm not making anything interesting enough to do a Tasty Tuesday about :( But maybe everyone needs another boring recipe to add to their files.

Arny Johnson Race Report

I can't believe the title of this post. About 1 year ago I told my husband that he was nuts for training for a half-marathon. And now I have completed my first 5K race and am planing on training for that same half-marathon I called "crazy" last year. Wow.

Ok....now for the good stuff.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this race....especially because it was raining when we woke up. We got up around 6:30 and left our home around 7:15. We had forgotten to pick up our race packet the night before and wanted to make sure we got there in time. Well...we did. It was a long hour before we had to even begin getting ready to run.

It was a very small race and the high school gym we were in was only 1/4 of the way occupied....but we were very early. I checked the race information poster board and noticed that the race would follow a bike path that I had ridden last summer. It would be an out and back thing. After we picked up our numbers, we noticed that there was a lot of information about upcoming races on another table. I spent a lot of time looking through brochures and getting excited about running more races. My husband noticed that his principal was running the race and kept talking about how he had to beat him :) (That didn't happen. That guy is fast!)

As the time got closer, the gym and hallway started to fill up and we began to stretch. My legs were tight and my knee was bothering me. It was still raining. The 10 mile race began at 8:30. It was very inspiring to watch those people get ready. At 8:32 my husband and I got into our position for our race. We jumped around and stretched some more. As the corral filled up I realized that I probably didn't want to be at the front with him. There is no way I could have kept up with him and lasted the whole race....so I kissed him good luck and moved toward the back.

When that gun went off I felt a huge rush. I knew I needed to keep my pace in check and not run, run, run. Things felt pretty comfortable and I worked my way through the crowd and kept an eye on my husband waaaaay up ahead. My knee and my shin gave me absolutely no problems!!! I steadily worked my way past the other runners.

I checked my watch at mile 1 and it said 9:46. I was stoked! As I passed the water station the leaders were already working their way back to the finish. (The female course record is 17:44!!!) I high-fived my husband at about mile 1-1/4. At the turn around I was behind one of the kids that was running the race. I couldn't believe the amount of kids that ran this race! It was great to see. I followed him for about 1/2 a mile and then passed him. I wasn't going to "lose" to a kid in my first race :)

The run back was tough. I did slow to a trot about 3 times just to catch my breath because my lungs were acting up. I grabbed a cup at the water station and didn't realize that it was Gatorade until I splashed it all over my face and down my shirt...with a little bit dribbling into my mouth. How the heck are you supposed to drink from a cup while running?!?!? With about 1/2 mile to go I ended up behind a woman with bright pink shorts. I just couldn't get my pace up enough to pass her. As we rounded the corner and could see the finish line I was passed by another woman wearing wings. I thought....awww hell no! I hadn't been passed for the entire race and it wasn't going to happen now!

The finish line was at the end of the parking lot and it was a straight shot. I kicked it up and smoked them both! My husband was waiting for me just by the finish line and was cheering me on. I felt like I was flying! It was amazing! After I crossed the line we had to wait in a line and give a tag from our bib to the timer.

My official time was 30:25. Awesome! I was 6th in my age group and thought that was pretty great. My husband took 1st in his age group with a time of 26:50. (This is the part where I don't tell you that he was the only guy in his age group :)......) He also accomplished this with a sprained ankle. He rolled his ankle about 1/2 mile in and had to hobble. But he sucked it up and made it through. (He's been icing it since we got home though.)

Overall it was a great experience. I can't wait until the next race. I don't know if my time will improve, and I don't much mind right now if it doesn't.

Today....I love running!

~*~*~Update~*~*~
Husband is doing just fine.

And I forgot to add that the iPod gods were with me during the whole race. Heard my favorite Fort Minor-Remember the Name as we hit the 1/4 mile mark. As I was hitting the last leg I heard my new favorite running song: Guru Josh Project-Infinity. It totally made me feel like a hard core runner as I kicked butt across the finish line.

Awesome!

Brown Monsters and Knee Pain

I'm finally on Spring Break! Did I go to the beach? On a cruise?

Nope. I went to Charleston, Illinois to visit Eastern Illinois University and my sister. Yay! I graduated from here and it's nice to go back. Notice the complete lack of anything surrounding this tiny little town in the middle of no where! Ha!

Since I arrived yesterday, we've gone running twice. Yesterday was a nice 3.6 mile walk/run. We walked to the campus trail, ran the campus trail, and then walked back to her apartment. The campus trail is about 2 miles long. So, yay! After being totally lazy, it was nice to get out and run.

This morning we went for a run around 9:30 and did about 3 miles. It felt great! I still had lung issues, but the shin pain didn't bother me at all. What did bother me during both runs was the Brown Monster. (Code Name: #2)

I haven't had this problem in quite a while. Since I've been running mostly in the afternoon, I haven't felt the urge to "free the Brown Monster" during a run. It used to happen to me all the time around the 2 mile mark. Now it rarely happens. However, the moment I got down here, I can't seem to get rid of it! I had to walk 2 times yesterday and luckily the bathrooms at the football stadium were open or we would have had a problem. This morning though, we had to walk 3 times and cut the run short. Both times the Brown Monster was released in the proper location and not in the bushes, but this is starting to worry me. It could just be a 24- hour problem, but it's still annoying. Any advice?

Also, my sister is experiencing pain in the back of her left knee. I e-mailed my PT friend and am also going to throw this one out to you guys/girls. She is currently training for the Illinois Marathon on May 1st. She was able to get up to about 13 miles on her training plan before her knee really started to bother her. The pain is in the back of her left knee down both the tendons. (The picture is up at the top because I can't get it to move down here.) This pain sometimes moves toward the lower front of her knee. If she rests and ices it, it becomes stiff. It stays stiff for the first 3 miles of a run and then loosens up around mile 4. She said it feels fine after that but hasn't run more than 10 miles since. It bothered her so much today that she stopped when the Brown Monster made me stop. I know she probably needs to see a doctor, but insurance makes that difficult right now. Any advice?

Today's Run......

Another great running/chasing date with the husband. I'm loving this weather! Gorgeous outside! The current temp is 61!!! Too bad Saturday's forecast has a high of 34! Boo! Bring on the spring! I want to run again on Saturday, but that might not happen. Nice weather followed by crappy weather is a big motivation killer.

I also have my friend's bachelorette party on Saturday night. I'm pretty sure we'll end up in downtown Chicago. I've never been downtown at night before. It should be fun. I hope her sister has worked out all the details so that we don't end up having to have a DD....'cause you know I'll end up in that role. Damn responsible gene that won't go dormant even for one night!

I'm enjoying my sunshine and trying not to think about the crap that's piling up around me.

Oh yea! Tomorrow is Pink (Slip) Friday in Illinois. All teacher are encouraged to wear pink to school tomorrow to represent the thousands of pink slips (layoff notices) that have been handed out this week. If you know a teacher who has been affected by this horrible mistake, please show your support and wear pink. Also, contact your representatives and let them know that padding their pockets isn't going to help our future. Schools need help! The largest district in our area is currently owed $12 million by our state government. (I don't work in that one....it's a mess.)

In need

Bentley has temporarily lost his position as my running partner. Today's attempt at a run was a disaster! We normally run around our neighborhood and he's just fine. He'll run in front of me a bit, but he doesn't pull my arm off. Today, to shake things up, I decided we would go for a run at the park before going in to the dog park we're members of. Now, I don't know why I thought today would be any different than our other trips to the dog park, but we went for it any way. He started pulling as soon as he jumped from the car. We took the long loop that would pass us by the park area in the middle. He was doing alright until we got to the entrance of the park. That was when he lunged for the dog at the fence and I almost lost my arm. I managed to pull him back to the path and keep going. Around the corner we encountered another dog at the fence and he pulled so hard that I heard my shoulder pop and I almost went down. I yanked him back to the path, made him sit, and then continued with a walk to calm him down. He wasn't having any of that either! Pull, Pull, Pull!!!

I was on the verge of tears because he's never like this!

Long story short, I didn't end up completing week 2, workout 1 today. Maybe tomorrow....

He has been just fine until these past couple weeks. I need advice on puppy training that won't cost me $200 and another night away from home.

My babies...

Ok...time to post about something positive. My babies!!

Now, I'm not the mother of a human child yet. But I am the proud pet mommy of two wonderful animals, a weimaraner-lab mix puppy and a little black kitten. My puppy is about 8-months old and his name is Bentley. Doozer is the name of my kitten and we're not sure about her age. She was given to us by a friend because her parents had abandoned her under their front porch. They told us she was only 2-3 weeks old, but the vet told us she was about 2 months. I'm not sure who to believe. According to the vet, she'd be about 6-7 months old now.


They are really great friends...sometimes. They'll cuddle together when they're napping. But most of the time they chase each other around the house and chew on eachother's ears. I'm so thankful for both of them. They keep me company when my husband is gone to football games and wrestling meets.

Bentley is also my training partner. We're doing the Couch to 5K program together. He has so much energy that a mile walk and an hour at the dog park doesn't get it all out of him! So far, he loves running and forces me to keep up. Too bad it's getting colder outside and he won't be able to run with me for too much longer.

Does anyone have any advice on running with your dog in cold weather? It's probably not a good idea seeing as he's still a puppy.