For my job, I have been playing with easy to edit photo tools and created a “banner” for RST. Today I used a combination of picmonkey, publisher, and paint to create the perfect jpeg. (I could have skipped the publisher step) After consultation with one of my tech wonk friends, I realized I could use dropbox to link the picture without learning to code! All this because I’m too lazy and cheap to buy my own domain and move to a different wordpress platform (.org instead of .com). But either way, I got some research done for my job (Verdict: Kids will LOOOOVE picmonkey) and simultaneously created a new look for RST. Oh, and switched themes….Enjoy the new look!
Who does your layout? Do you manage your own domain? Do you use a wordpress platform or some other object?
My diet is a disaster. I love sugar. I love processed things. I love fat, the good yummy trans/saturated kind. It is pretty gross. My poor diet, along with lack of exercise while I’ve been off running, have led to some super tight fitting pants and continued exacerbation of my crazy tummy. Intellectually, I am aware of the damage I do to my body when I consume a soda or when I drink my beloved milk or eat ice cream. But I have yet to remove the emotional element from my eating and focus on nutrition. I also have the self control of Winnie the Pooh at the honeybee hive.
I don’t really eat a lot of meat products anyway, so this isn’t a large hurdle. However, to make the conscious effort to focus on plants and move away from animals is something that has great value. I look forward to the delicious challenge. I’m going to focus on what goes in and monitor how it effects my body. I’m also going to try this week to eliminate processed foods as much as possible, focusing on whole foods.
Whoa, thank goodness it is finally Friday! Did we all make it? Was this week crazy or what?
Started with a fascinating lecture on Monday night at The Madeira School by Dr. Leonard Sax on the role social media plays in the development of girls. Some scary stats but much of it combated by structured, loving, engaged parenting.
Tuesday was a lovely night with my sister and nieces as we shared a girls night including delicious Lilly Magilly’s. We had a great time doing girly things and laughing.
Tonight is the celebration of my Dad’s birthday with some Akbar and a concert at the Baltimore Symphony. I’m very excited to see my Dad and spend time with my sisters. Oh and a few veggie samosas don’t hurt!
What a crazy week huh? I am not so good at anything when I don’t get to bed by 9:30. I did not swim this week which was really based on a desire to sleep more in the mornings. I ran a few steps with the track team but I know I need more hard core cardio so that I can in turn have more quality sleep. I make a lot of excuses for missing bits of exercise and I don’t want to do that in this upcoming week. Bloggy friends can you help me to be accountable??
As for tomorrow, I want to let my body dictate the day with regard to rest and activity. Hopefully I can get a bike ride before the torrential rain pounds the East Coast. Sunday it is off to NYC see the world’s best choir director/mentor in the world conduct his very final choral conducting appearance capping off 50 years of a conducting career. I’m so blessed that I will be in the audience for Dr. Weymuth’s farewell.
Are you totally wiped out this week? Have you ever played Bocce? Have you ever had an amazing mentor?
Today is the third Monday in April which means that in about an hour several thousand fast runners (and charity slot runners) will be toeing the line at the Boston Marathon. I have many awesome friends and bloggerites who are off to run today. It is going to be a hot one, to the point that the BAA offered a weather advisory and deferments to 2013 for those unwilling to take on the 80+ degree challenge. There is a lot of controversy and conversation popping up on facebook and twitter about the deferment option, but I’m not even going to go there. People have to consider their needs, health, and desire and reconcile their decisions based on that….(ok, now I’m not going to go there.)
I have never qualified for Boston. The closest I’ve ever come at the marathon distance was a 3:57 in Chicago in 2008 (in 80+ degree weather, hem…) That was just a stars aligned day and I ran really well. Unfortunately, I have not run that well since and even then I was 17 minutes off the required finish time to BQ. I reconciled myself to not qualifying any time soon and did an Ironman instead.
The thought of running 8:20 pace for 26.2 miles is so far from my ability as I sit here on injured reserve. But the lure of the hills of Beantown still lays upon my heart. All the will in the world cannot make my legs fast. Will can lead to good training but it can’t make me something I’m not. I don’t know if I will ever make it to Hopkinton or see the Citgo sign as a participant, but the wistful feeling in my heart does surge on this day every year.
My heart, prayers, and thoughts are with my friends and acquaintances at the start line today. I wish them all health, enjoyment, hydration, and strength as they traverse those wicked good hills. As for me, perhaps, some day but for now I will remain wistfully blissful.
He is on his best day a light puller on the leash and on his worst day a rip your shoulder out of socket puller. We used a gentle leader for our first six months with him including when running. Now, with the help of our amazing trainer, we are just use a training collar for correction and most of the time he is walking a little easier (i.e.: less need for rotator cuff surgery).
(This shot was heck to get, hence the blur.)
Alas, he is a dog. A high energy, lab-pit mix, 55 pound, pounce and whine at you if he needs exercise dog. He needs to run. If he gets to start running, he is going to race. He wants to run like Kara Goucher training for the London Olympics. He is fast and pulls hard thereby choking himself on his training collar resulting in hacking like a 50 year smoker. I worry about the health of his neck and windpipe. I don’t love the gentle leader either when he runs because I feel he can’t pant as freely. Given his amazing speed and endurance, this pup needs to pant!
We have tried many a leash contraption.
I like this short leash with the two handles. I use a caribiner to hook the long handle to the short one around my waist. This gives him little to no room to roam and when attached to the neck, exacerbates the stress.
Ken likes this longer leash. He attaches a cargo belt to it and allows for more room for P to roam. I have not tried this method but I do know that Ken still uses the gentle leader in conjunction with this method.
In the winter, I tried the harness, but he hacked like an asthmatic on a treadmill in a botanical garden. It seemed like it was putting to much pressure on his chest.
Am I being a neurotic mom? Is it too much to hope that my dog will not choke to death while running? Lord knows this dog needs to run, a lot. We are talking a good hour would be best for the sanity of everyone in our house. Can anyone make suggestions as to the safest contraption for running with a dog on the leash? We run on sidewalks and at the trails. I would love to have him off-leash on the trails but he is not good at the “Parker Come!” command just yet and it has led to some scary, “he’s never coming back”, moments.
Ideas? Thoughts? Do you run with your dog? What do you use? Did you break your dog of pulling and fleeing?
I coach track. Stop laughing…I realize that running and fast and me don’t go in the same sentence but I was asked to coach track this spring so here I am. (Ok, in all honesty, I think they just needed a chick coach, but that’s ok too.)
I’ve been frustrated all spring that I can’t run the kids through workouts. I’ve sat on the sidelines or stood on the sidewalk and called out workouts. Argh. How can I be a good example without modeling? Who really responds to a fatty coach? Middle school kids are concrete and they are image driven; I need them to see that even a puffy faced gal can run strong too! Frustration!
Well, on Tuesday that had to change! We were down two coaches and we were doing what we call the “Behnke’s Run”; our run to the landscaping business and back (about 3 miles). I had all my gear including my super new Newton’s ready to go and thought, “I’ll just try it”. It was a gorgeous albeit windy day and perfect for a runner. So back of the pack I went, tentatively, easy peasy steps. No major raise in heart rate, just focus on form…ah sweet blissful relief of running. Keeping my eyes on the BOP of kids that were ahead of me. I was probably going 14 min/mi but it felt glorious. My forehead glistened and my body said YES! 16 minutes of running and 10 minutes of walking while counseling a student about injury and overextending oneself. YES! Joy of Joys!
Technically, I am not allowed to run until May 1 so right now a few steps at practice now and then will be just the ticket. And before my friends can worry, yes I’m being careful, and no I have no marathon plans until December!
Have you ever felt blissful release when returning from injury? Do you have a great story? Share!
I was just looking at the calendar and realized that four weeks from today, when I am officially allowed to try running again, I will be at the AIMS Tech Retreat in St. Michael’s, MD. I cannot think of a better place to be to allow my feet to pound the pavement once again. My entire body and mind change when I cannot go running. Yes, swimming is great but it doesn’t work my body in the same way. When I run, everything in life is better and I can handle life in a more relaxed, focused way. So I just keep saying, “soon”, when people ask when I can run again. Soon.
Where is the most beautiful place you have ever run? Do other forms of exercise effect you the way running does?
Wow, when did it get to be April? Students and teachers return to school tomorrow and the freight train that is the end of the year is about to take off. It is always quite remarkable how fast it can seem the school year passes. On this day it feels like this year is going to pass with a feeling of whiplash but there have been days where I have felt drowning in the quick sand of time.
This school year has been pretty terrible for my running/fitness life. Broken bones notwithstanding, it has been hard to find the right place and time to run or work out. I feel like my routine since moving has not settled in. I have found some cool people with whom I can train and have a few routes but it just isn’t the same since leaving Howard County. When May 1st rolls around and these feet can tromp the pavement again, I really want to start to build a real routine. (My pants are currently on a “are you kidding me” revolt…so I better hurry!)
Have you ever had to “restart” your entire routine when moving to a new place? What worked best for you?
I have never written a Five for Friday before, so here I go….
This week has been “Spring Break” for our school. Our dept. doesn’t work the same schedule so we’ve had the school mostly to ourselves this week (maintenance, camp, and communications have been around too!). It has been a great chance for us to get a lot of work done but at the same time I’ve missed the sounds of kids all around. Kids make a school, otherwise, it’s just a really friendly looking office.
We had good success with Parker on Tuesday with training but as I write I am frustrated because he spilled my coffee and is being whiney…
I am starting to go batty about not running. I bought a pair of Newtons this past weekend and now have to wait for 5 more weeks to try them out. Swimming, Aqua Jogging and walking the dog are not running..
I did my taxes this week. I owe. I have nothing else to say about that…
I am really excited for Palm Sunday this weekend at church. It is one of my favorite services of the year.
What are you up to this weekend? Have you ever tried Newtons?
I got this idea from Clean Eating Chelsey and it reminded me of the fun spammy emails a few friends and I constantly sent around when we just got out of college. I still miss those stinkin’ faces terribly and so in honor of them, I present the a-to-z of RunSingTeach.
A is for age: 33. Eddie Murray people. Eddie Murray
B is for breakfast today:Chobani Apple Cinnamon Greek Yogurt. Oh so delicious and the perfect prepper for my new regime of supplements: D, B12, and Multi w/ iron! (Yea for the nutrient deficient!)
C is for currently craving: Cheese enchiladas, ice cream, cheerios with real milk. Basically all of my dairy no-no’s.
D is for dinner tonight: Not sure yet, either my homemade sweetgreen salad or maybe I can convince Kennyboy we need Chipotle….
E is for favorite type of exercise: Running. I love running, but as I am on hiatus. I am allowing myself to turn into part dolphin and hitting the chlorine at least 4x a week.
F is for an irrational fear: I can’t say that I have one. Perhaps never having kids? I’m not sure that is irrational as I have a lot of say in the matter.
G is for gross food: pickles. Pickles are gross.
H is for hometown: Hmmm, I am gonna go with the vague-DC Metro area, more Annapolis than Baltimore.
I is for something important: My bat-sh** crazy family. I love them, EVERY ONE, even when we fall, I love them more.
J is for current favorite jam: I spend a lot of time with my friends at NPR but if I’m gonna jam, I’m digging Matt Redman’s 10,000 reasons album.
K is for kids: Parker, my fabulous labby love son and Buddy, my jackalicious baby who lives in San Diego. I think they should have a play date.
L is for current location: I will refrain from giving the location from which I blog as to protect the innocent. 🙂
M is for the most recent way you spent money: Damn those Larabars and Kombucha.
N is for something you need: a sense of purpose. I want to feel used up at the end of each day.
O is for occupation: I am a teacher. You can give me a fancy pants title but I am a teacher all day every day. It was the job I was born to do.
P is for pet peeve: I hate active listening. (Yeah, Uh-huh…drives me crazy.) I also detest the sound of velcro, which is a challenge when you work with pre-tie shoe kids.
Q is for a quote: There are too many to list! I’m going to follow Chelsey’s example and send you on over here.
R is for random fact about you: Oh look, a bird…
S is for favorite healthy snack: Please see the M for money…
T is for favorite treat: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Breyers. Done.
U is for something that makes you unique: I have taught music and technology but not music technology….
W is for today’s workout: I hope a hike with Kenny and Parker and a late night swim. 🙂
X is for X-rays you’ve had: wrist, ankle, ankle, foot, knee….oh and always on the right side…
Y is for yesterday’s highlight: My one hour walk and talk weekly tech chat. We went outside and walked to chat instead of sitting in the office. YES!
Z is for your time zone: Eastern Standard Time.
And for your enjoyment….
**Please note that the clarinetist in the video is not ACTUALLY the clarinetist in the audio…that clarinetist would be this guy…, he’s pretty awesome.**
WHAT IS YOUR A-to-Z? Pick one or pick them all and share away!
RunSingTeach 