Another short one

Jogged about a mile this morning. I woke up a little later this morning than yesterday morning but it was still dark outside. The air is starting to get cooler which means winter is on its way! Boo! I hate running in the cold...even though Louisiana doesn't really have COLD weather. Well, off to work!

I'm Back

It is 7:00 in the a.m. and I can't explain all the interesting details, but I am back! YAY! I ran about a mile this morning and Monday I ran/walked about 2 miles. My legs are a little sore, but it is a good and comforting feeling.

It feels good to be back into it! I missed running!

Two More

I didn't take a day off yesterday, I just didn't have internet to create a post for my run--ah the difficulties of rural life!

Yesterday, I ran with Roux about 1.5 miles. I know that's pitiful, but it was Mother's Day, and I had a lot to eat, and it was Sunday and it's always hard to run on the weekend....sooooo I'm just happy that I got out of the house. I met a nice old man on my way home who lives in the neighborhood I was running through. He has a poodle named Satchmo Armstrong, and I stopped to talk to them for while. I don't particularly like small dogs, but it's funny how these small dogs will run after my Roux (who is on the heavy side at the moment but we are working on that) like they are the same size if not bigger than her. Luckily Roux played it cool and didn't take much interested in Mr. Armstrong.

This morning I ran 3 miles with Roux through town. I felt pretty good although I did stop and walk a ways because I thought Roux looked a little pooped. Of course as soon as we got home she went straight for the pond and just sat there cooling off. Oh did I mention how warm it has gotten...yeah it's hot and humid, but i know it will only get worse as the summer progresses. We don't have spring here in Louisiana just a mild winter and then...bam...it's hot as hell! I wish I could just jump in the pond; what a nice end to a run that would be!

Back in BR

Woke up fairly early this morning--6:20--and decided to watch some television before I headed out for my run. Usually this is an excuse to skip my run, but after the show ended, I jumped up, put on some jogging gear, and headed out.

I jogged down Nicholson Drive which is a high traffic area during the week, but this being Saturday there weren't as many cars out hence I was not breathing in massive amounts of noxious fumes. I did however come across some lovely ladies who had community service duty and were picking up the trash on the side of the road. I saw them in the distance, and the whole time I was approaching them, I tried to think what I should do when I crossed by them. Of course I thought about just ignoring them, but that seemed rude--because if I had done something to break the law and thus had to do trash cleanup, I wouldn't want some snooty college coed turning her nose up at me. So then I thought I should smile and wave, but then I thought that could be misinterpreted as "haha you have to clean road scum while I am out exercising my body on this glorious day." So by this time I was very close to passing them; I decided to look away, but then I just had to smile and wave...it's in my nature. All the ladies just kind of squinted at me and said something I didn't understand. Oh well...at least I didn't stop and take a picture of them to show to all my blogging friends :) I really did want to!

So after my encounter with the trash trolls I ended up jogging/walking about three miles...pretty lame I know, but I am getting stronger and soon I will be doing 26 miles LOL! No I don't know if I could do that but here is for wishful thinking! Cheers!

A Run With Roux

Now that I am out of school and I have nothing important to do (besides find a job), I went to my parents' house. Yesterday I didn't get to run because I was recovering from end-of-school festivities and I wanted to spend some quality time with my folks. But today I woke up at 6:00 put on some dirty, sweaty running clothes and took roux, the dog, for a jog around the big city of Amite.

Now keep in mind that I have never tried to run with Roux before so I wasn't completely sure how she was going to do running on the leash. Except for the occasional "hold up mom I have to pee" stops, she was great. I could tell that she wanted to run faster, so I sprinted the last 800 meters of my run. After we got back to the house, she took a dip in the pond (I envied her at that point being that it is so freaking hot down here).

I forgot to bring my Nike+ receiver so I don't know how long or how far I went, but I think it was somewhere around 2.5 miles in about 30 minutes. I can feel the subtle change in my body as it is getting used to my running again. Pretty soon I'll be entering some 5K races.

Hot and Steamy

Went for an early run this morning (6:20 a.m.), but it feels late considering that I've been getting up at 4:45 every morning to teach. Ahhh feels nice to sleep in! I did a slow 2.11 miles in the hot and humid Louisiana morning air, but thankfully the air quality was back done to "moderately safe"...I'm still kind of waiting until my body--legs especially--get back into shape before I start doing anything challenging or rigorous. Plus I know I'll get turned off to running if I start torturing myself and trying to make myself run harder. I want to get back to where running is fun and then I'll start pushing myself.

I have a long seminar today at the university then I'll do all the paperwork so I can finally be done with this student teaching mess. I miss my students so much, and I have been going over their notes...I don't think there was one kid that I did not like--even the ones that misbehaved had great personalities, and they genuinely wanted to do well. I hope the classes that I teach in the future can be as good as the ones I've taught this semester.

Last Day of Student Teaching

Yes! Today was the last day I had to be at school, and my kids all wrote little notes for me as a kind of going away present. I was so happy, and I had a great time reading what the kids had to say (for example: "I love the way you always dress nice") LOL I love it! I will miss those little boogers.

What better way to kind of wrap up things than to go for a short run after school....well, first I went to get drinks with some of the other student teachers but I did go after the drinks settle in my tummy. I did a 2 mile loop that I ran at a very slow pace, but finished nonetheless. I think now that student teaching is finished I can get back into my running groove.

I have one more day tommorrow at the university, but after that I am a free girl that will be stressing out about where I will work this summer. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Slowly

I am coming back slowly. I ran this morning slowly and my knee still gave my problems. I guesss it is not ready to get back into the swing of things. As you may have guessed, I have gained weight during my hiatus, and I am on a mission to lose it. However, I am a sucker for sugary and fruity candy...damn you Willy Wonka and you darn chocolate factory!

So I did about 3 miles jogging and walking in the hot and humid outdoors. The road I was jogging on is flanked by a golf course so I started counting the stray golf balls as I was running. It seemed to help pass the arduous time I was having. I also thought about my life as it stands right now--stuck between going to London to teach for a while or staying in Louisiana and building up my retirement. I know, I know I am young I shouldn't being thinking about my retirement so early but I can't help it. Plus, if I go to London I have to wait at least six months to get my passport and visa together. It would be scary not having a "real" job for six months, but I am young so it's ok not having a "real" job, right? So you see I had plenty to think about...plus I was also trying to decide what I should buy the teacher I have been working under these past few months. Ah! Such is life.

On a brighter, less stressful note, I bought a Smashing Pumpkins CD that I have wanted since around 1995--Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Such a wonderful compilation of great music! I am trying to put it on my iPod, but seeing that I bought a new laptop I am having a hard time trying to sync my iPod with my new computer. I love running to angry music, and some of the SP's songs are perfect for my running/listening pleasure.

Slow and Steady

Well, I went for a short run after a LOOOOONG break this morning.................it was hell! I did one mile at ten minutes/mile; I wanted to make sure I took my time so I wouldn't burn myself out on my first day back. Too bad I was still huffing and puffing afterwards. Even though I felt worn out after ONLY running a mile, I did four alternating laps of sprinting and walking just to get my heart rate up. I am commited to keeping this up....I just spent too much time being lazy!

Student teaching is going great, and it's even better that it's almost over. I just can't wait to graduate! I did some interviews with schools from around Southern Louisiana, but I'm still unsure if I want to stay here. I just got an email from a recruiter in London, and it would be my dream to teach in London. Just don't know what the schools are like and if I can survive being that far away from my home.

Party Girl

I had a blast last night. My parents' anniversary was yesterday, so we had a party at the house with crawfish and beer. Unfortunately I drank too much beer and didn't eat enough crawfish. Needless to say I didn't get to run at all yesterday, and I am in recovery mode today.

I hope I'll feel better by this afternoon or tonight.

Right now I am in class at LSU (not student teaching) suffering from drowsiness and a headache. We have a guest speaker who is probably psychologically insane, and he is droning on about some poet who is as crazy as he is. I am ready to go home!

After school special

Went for a quick run after school today...hopefully this will be the start of a routine, but one never knows. I had to change clothes in a crappy bathroom that had water--I hope it was water--all over the floor. I felt awkward walking out of the building in shorts and a tshirt with some of my students standing around outside. I am usually in dress clothes so I felt almost naked. I ran a loop around my school twice which ended up being about 2.7 miles in about 27 minutes...so that would mean I was running a 1o min/mile pace. I can't believe that my pace has slowed down so much. When I was running, I felt like I was running my normal pace, but I guess I wasn't.

I am going to try to do speed work after school as well. There is a football field nearby, so I will try to use that to train.

I am having some problems with my ipod. I got a new laptop computer and I tried to transfer all my music on to the new computer, but for some reason it won't work, and all my extra stuff got erased from my ipod. If anyone knows how to make the ipod work on a new computer PLEASE let me know because I'm killing myself trying to figure it out. Thanks!

no run today

had a special visitor this afternoon and we ate lots of junk food!!! i'll try harder tomorrow and try not to run into anyone

thanks David for the welcome back! sure makes running easier when you have someone backing you up! you're a great bunch!

I'm Back!

At least I hope so!

On the running front: After making up excuse after excuse for not running, I finally decided to just do it. I wanted to run this morning, but of course that means I would have had to get up at four, and I just couldn't do it. So after school I threw on my gear and went out for a looooonnngggg three miler.

On the teaching front: My kids are still wonderful and amaze me everyday. I have been teaching my classes poetry, so it is amazing to see what cool poems and thoughts my sixth graders have. Also, I love working with these inner city kids! They all have stories and they all have such great personalities. The schools are taking the state exams this week, so I am going to be separated from my students all week....BORING!

I know I usually post my stats here, but my ipod is not working properly. Anyway, I ran about three miles in about 40 minutes--slower than normal...but Lance Armstrong told me I set a new PR for the mile...I think he was smoking crack...or taking too many steroids

Mardi Gras Marathon 5K

I know it has been a while--two weeks I think--but i'm still trying to get in the groove of teaching. Every morning I wake up with every intention of running in the afternoon, but between being exhausted and having random meetings, I just can't find the time. What a lame excuse!!

However, I did get my tired, lazy butt up this morning to run the Mardi Gras Marathon 5K in New Orleans (Thanks David for the suggestion!). Last night I wasn't sure if I was going to run it even though I paid the registration fee because there was supposed to be some bad weather headed this way. Fortunately, the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area didn't get hit too bad...well from what I could see.

So here is the breakdown of my first running/race day in two weeks:
Woke up at 5:00 am took my meds and vitamins (I'm trying Centrum Endurance for the first time). Left Baton Rouge around 5:15 and arrived in NOLA around 6:40. Parked in the Superdome parking garage--thank god for free parking--picked up my bib, chip, and tshirt and finally sat down on a curb and watched the marathoners and halfers take off. Took a short nap on same curb then took my spot amongst the small mass of 5Kers. I started the race at a slow and steady pace then decided that I would bust a gut for this race. Got about a little more than half way done and thought I was almost at the end so silly me took off sprinting only to find out I had about another 1.4 miles to run. When I finished I had that post run nausea you get when you try to run really fast when you haven't run in two weeks :-/ Managed to keep last night's dinner in its proper place while I returned my chip and sulked over my 30:00 finish time--man I thought I was flying...I demand a recount! Finally, I jumped in my car and was home around 9:30 with a cool race medal to show off to my friends...YAY!

Distance: 3.1 miles/5K
Time: 30:24
Pace: ???? freaking ipod didn't even save my info!
Calories: probably not enough
Tunes: Some Regina Spektor and a little bit of great 80's as always :)

Best Loop in Baton Rouge

The loop around the LSU lakes is probably the most scenic loop in Baton Rouge...that I know of at least. It was beautiful this morning and there were quite a few walkers/runners out. I brought my camera along to capture the scenery, but my pictures never seem to come out as good as they are in real life.

I wish I had more zoom on my camera--this picture would have been really neat if I had one of those mega cameras with 200x zoom. For all of you who are wondering what in the world those tiny specks of black are...they are birds on a log...wait isn't that some type of culinary dish?

And this is the Baton Rouge Beach...LOL! Yeah, for the longest time I always thought the BR Beach was some huge beach area near the river, but here it is. It is mostly used as a dumping ground for used condom wrappers, needles, cigarette butts, and other miscellaneous trash. Note the construction in the background...since Katrina Baton Rouge has had a major real estate boom...great for Baton Rouge, not so great for me--rent increases :(
And this folks is a pelican...our state bird. As you can guess, the LSU Lakes are filled with a variety of species of bird. Again, this would have been a much better picture if I had more zoom, but I can't fret over the small stuff...ehh.

There are more pictures from my run today, but posting pictures is tedious (this is an excuse of a LAZY person). If you want to check them out go to my Flickr account.

I did a slow 5.5 miles and made frequent stops to take some pics so this run was extremely easy. However, my legs are a little sore, and my knees felt a little stiff after the run. I guess my legs are in shock from not running all week. There was an article in Runner's World this month that discusses the complexity of the knee and how much stress runner's can put on their knees. Well, I don't put as much stress on them as some, but I'm always weary of minor knee pain. I would hate to have a knee injury and then have to do swimming or bicycling or some other cross training sport that is not as wonderful as running...blah!

Distance: 5.73 miles

Time: 1:03

Pace: 10:58 min/mi

Calories: 597

Tunes:

Reason is Treason-Kasabian

Hurts so Good-John Cougar Mellencamp

Mercedes Benz-Janis Joplin

Move Over-Janis Joplin

Piece of My Heart-Janis Joplin

Down on Me-Janis Joplin

Trouble in Mind-Janis Joplin

Centerfold-J. Geils Band

The Power of Love-Huey Lewis and the Newsboys

Samson-Regina Spektor

Fidelity-Regina Spektor

Weekend Warrior

The warrior part may not be accurate, but it appears that the weekends are the only days when I have time or even feel like running these days. I did a slow loop around the lake and somewhat in College Town. It was chilly (around the low forties) and windy, but that didn't stop me. Well, I did walk for a while, but only to enjoy the scenery--it was a perfectly sunny winter day in Louisiana.

Student teaching is going great so far. I had a tough week last week, and I came home exhausted every afternoon--Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night I went to bed around 8:00 (sad, I know). I love all my classes, and I am looking forward to Monday when my students present their powerpoints they have been working on. Oprah was right, when given an opportunity, kids will never disappoint you. Most people might not have very high expectations for my students who mostly come from low income, single parent families. But so far they have proven that they have so much more potential than I originally thought. Oh enough of my cheesy teacher talk...here are my stats for today (sorry no pictures):

Distance: 5.31 miles
Time: 59:37
Pace: 11:13 min/mi
Calories: 553
Tunes:
Good for You-Third Eye Blind
I Need a Hero-Bonnie Tyler
We Built this City on Rock and Roll-Jefferson Starship
Me and Bobby McGee-Janis Joplin
Jumper-Third Eye Blind
All I Really Want-Alanis Morissette
Wasteland-Augustana
Call Me the Breeze-Lynard Skynard
Molly's Chambers-Kings of Leon
Welcome to Chicago-Kill Hannah
Highway to the Danger Zone-Kenny Loggins

5K Update

Just got the official results in....*cue drumroll*


I placed 35th out of 119 or so.

But don't get too excited because I was also informed that the course was actually 3/8 of a mile short. I knew something didn't feel right about that race. I was very shocked to say the least when I finished right at 30:00 when I even stopped to take pictures. Oh well, I'm still going to act like a did a terrific job...I need all the motivation I can get!

LRCE Big Apple 5K

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was ridiculously cold this morning when I got out...the water for my windshield wipers froze up so I had to wait for the fog to clear from my windshield before I could even leave. I hate when it is cold because I never know what to wear...I know I have to wear a sweater before I run because it is cold, but I know I'll warm up during the run, but then there is that few minutes before the run and during the first few minutes when I'm dying because I'm freezing if I don't have a sweater, but I know that I can't stand to have to take off a sweater mid-run and carry it the rest of the way...so you can see the delimma. I just wish it would be either really cold or hot that way I would just know what to wear.


So now that I'm past the whole clothing issue, I guess I'll move on to the race. It was your typical 5K fundraiser with the mix group of people--the serious runners who wear shorts and a t-shirt and never do the group warm up thing, and the fun runners who sometimes wear jeans or five layers of clothing and always get into the group warm up thing (these are the people who hurt themselves before the race even starts by jumping around like a lunatic to "Sweet Home Alabama"). Me, I am the in between runner. I never do the group warm up thing because I can never take it seriously and....well I'm just not to the point where I can consider myself one of those serious runner types.

I started off at a great pace, probably around 9:30. But that soon turned into 10:00 as I was approaching the half way point. I stopped a few times to take pictures of the sights along the way (see below), and I came in right at 30:00. I could have finished in under 30 minutes, but I stopped right before the finish line to take a picture of the finish line. I wasn't too worried about the time seeing that it was my first time running in almost a month. I knew I wasn't going to achieve a PR. All in all I had a great time. I love running races. For some reason, and this may sound crazy, but I would have no problem being consistent if all my runs were races. I just like the atmosphere and the people. I hope I'm not the only one out there who feels this way...that would be lonely. And right now I'm already lonely...I don't need more lonliness in my life. LOL

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 30:06
Pace: 10:47 min/mi
Calories: 306
Tunes:
Wasteland-Augustana
All I Really Want-Alanis Morissette
Jumper-Third Eye Blind
Me and Bobby Magee-Janis Joplin
We Built This City on Rock and Roll-Jefferson Starship
I Need a Hero-Bonnie Tyler
Good For You-Third Eye Blind



People waiting for the race to begin at the starting line--I was freezing behind the camera

This picture was taken a little after the halfway point turn around.

The state capitol building...taken mid-race

The finish line...see I documented my "time"--I could have made it ;)

First run of February

And it's going to be a 5k race :)

I haven't run in what seems like a month, but this morning I am signed up to do a 5K race, and seeing that I already payed for it, I couldn't skip out.

So hopefully this will jumpstart my running; I have high hopes!

It is almost seven o'clock in the morning, and I have my new tights and my new nike bra (haven't worn either one of them since I got them two months ago). I think I've figured out what I will do now...because school starts at the ungodly hour of 6:50, I will change into my running clothes right after school and run around the football field or the block around the school. However, there are a few catches--every other Monday I have a meeting right after school and every Friday I have to go back to LSU for classes. Hmmmm...well I'll see how it goes and run as much as I can.

Wish me luck! I'm going to bring my camera today, so I'll have some pictures to post of the race. I hope I don't die within the first mile...I would prefer to die at least around the two mile mark.

Being Lazy

I thought that because I had nothing to post about my running life (because it is nonexistent right now), I would post some pictures. I found my grandfather's old camera, loaded it with black and white film, and rode down to New Orleans to take some shots of the French Quarter. I love New Orleans on an early Saturday or Sunday morning after all the late night revelers have gone home...there is something so unique and mysterious about that city. I wish I had more time to spend down in New Orleans, but sadly I always find excuses not to go. Ah well, who knows I may end up teaching Angelina Jolie's son, Maddox, down there one day...LOL!

I saw some runners while I was in the French Quarter (was that you Ashley?), and I wanted to take some shots of them, but I figured they would think I was crazy so I saved my film for inanimate objects. And of course I had to take some photos of my pup, Roux Baby. She's very photogenic!