Weekend Wrap Up! (Supersized!!!!!!!)

I hope you all had a long, relaxing weekend!

Here's what we were up to...

I ran 7 miles before 7am and I was really tired. I just didn't really feel like running. It was extremely hot and humid. It was one of those runs that when you're done, you weigh 10lbs more than when you started due to being sopping wet with sweat!

Work was difficult. It just seemed like everyone is done- teachers AND students. 3.5 days left, then 1.5 in-service days. Do you think it's annoying when teachers count down to the end? 

I say this like 50 times a day!!!

After work I stopped by the library and grabbed this:

Then I stopped by the state store and grabbed this:

When I got home, I got right into workout clothes (before I could change my mind!) and lifted. I wanted to get in a full upper body workout but not lift super heavy. I ended up feeling horrible. First of all, it was 85 degrees in our house. Second, halfway through my first set of exercises, I got dizzy from hunger. So I ate half a turkey sandwich with cheese. Well, eating even half of a sandwich with that cheese on it made my stomach feel disgusting while I was doing my core work. I forced myself to get somewhat of a lifting workout in, but cut it shorter than normal.

Then we finally turned on the a/c. I realized that we'd be gone all day on Saturday and it would be 95 degrees. There's no way we could leave the cats home in that.

"I'm HOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

Later on that evening, Bob and Rachel came over for fire pit fun. For dinner I had: wine, veggie straws, chips, cheese, caramel corn, and a cinnamon bun. Bad, bad choices! Due to my bad choices, I woke up in the middle of the night with a tummy ache. I was worried I'd be sick the next day and my weekend would be ruined...

Luckily I woke up feeling like a champ. But someone else felt cruddy... Christmas. Don't worry, we took him to the vet and it ended up being nothing. However, it was a horrible day and I plan to write more about this tomorrow because I have so many thoughts and feels!

Even though I didn't feel like running (due to being worried about Christmas) had to get in my 6 miles. It was extremely hot out, but physically I felt strong and was able to run at a pace that enabled me to finish without getting overheated. I think part of the fact that I felt so good physically was that I felt horrible emotionally. Running in the heat- easy. Dealing with Chrissy not feeling 100%- crushing.

We were supposed to go to a picnic all day but obviously we weren't about to leave Chrissy all by himself. I read my Meb book and watched some TV but that's about it. It was a sucky day but by the time we went to bed, Chrissy was almost back to normal- whew!

Like I said, more on the Chrissy saga tomorrow.

Sunday is long run day (for the next 15 weeks anyway!) I did my 10 miler and it went well. It was really hot again, so I tried to start relatively early. It was still hot!

My new favorite post run meal!

I was quite productive that afternoon. I cleaned the shower and the fridge.

Then I want to Holiday Hair at the mall and got my hair cut. I was so embarrassed because I left my wallet at home and didn't realize it until it was time to pay! I promised to come back but I could tell the girl was skeptical. I left my phone to prove I would come back. By the way she looked at my flip phone, I was sure she thought it was a ruse! I flew home and flew back and paid for my haircut. How humiliating!

On my way home, I stopped at my friend Bree's house to check in on all her fur babies since she was away for the weekend. I didn't take any pictures, but here's a throwback of me and Sprouter-Sprout!

That evening, Paul and I watched The 40 Year Old Virgin (what can I say, we were bored) while I colored! Yes, I color now. Bob and Rachel got me a coloring book and some pencils. It was very relaxing. However, I realized I need a pencil sharpener!

MONDAY!

Due to the holiday, we had off work on Monday. Most of the morning was spent running and  lifting.

Paul went hiking with a buddy, so I decided to be super productive. I house cleaned half the sun room (It's too big to do all at once!), did the wash, and made some food for the week.

Having the extra long weekend really motivated me to get a lot done. Since we didn't have plans (besides the picnic we missed) there was still plenty of time to relax!

Did you ever forget your wallet like I did?
Do you color?
Tell me something fun you did this long holiday weekend!

Via Marathon Training: Week 3

Due to the long weekend, my Weekend Wrap Up will be posted tomorrow! Today you get a training update...

Things I Like About Hansons So Far:

Having my workout/pace handed to me on a silver platter. No guesswork.

Things I Don't Like About Hansons So Far:

No time to LIFT!!! However I don't think this is Hansons fault. I think it's the fault of my crazy schedule. Once summer is here I can squeeze lifting in on Mondays and Fridays.

PIMA Update:

IT'S GONE!!!

Monday- 6 easy miles. This was my sixth day of running in a row... something I don't ever do, but will be doing for 15 more weeks! I ran very easy and had zero butt pain. Woohoo! Feeling a bit better about the pain in my ass. I woke up with a minor sore throat and a bit of a headache that continued throughout the day. I hoped to feel better the next day for speed work.

I wanted to lift after work but I really didn't feel good. I was so lethargic and my head still hurt. Unfortunately, lifting would have to wait until Friday.

Tuesday- Speed work: 8x600. 5:00 am came fast and hard. My head hurt, my throat hurt, and I will still tired. I was hungry but I didn't eat anything. Genius, right? I decided to warm up with two miles instead of just one and a half. I evened things out by cooling down with only one mile. The reason I wanted the extra distance on my warm up because my body had literally just gotten out of bed about 25 minutes before I hit the streets.

I kept all the 600s between 6:50-7:00, which is on the faster end of the prescribed pace. It was hard. I felt like a zombie. But I had a good podcast to listen to and I did it. At least there were only eight intervals. I was really losing steam. This was definitely the worst I have ever felt for speed work. I stretched and foam rolled my glutes and I felt pretty good the rest of the day. No niggles.

Wednesday- REST!!!! Tuesdays are my crazy days where I teach piano lessons until 7:30, so it is nice to stay up a little later than normal on Tuesdays and sleep in a bit on Wednesdays. (Sleeping in on a work day is 7:15.) Sleeping in is wonderful on two levels. First, who doesn't like extra sleep? Second, it is nice to lay in bed in the morning with Paul and the cats. Jelly is usually at my feet and Chrissy is curled up right in my neck with his nose on my face. BLISS!

Thursday- 6 miles @ MP. My very first MP run of training! The goal was =-[6 miles @ 7:49 pace w/ 1.5 mile w/u and c/d. I decided to do a 2 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down. When it is the butt crack of dawn, I feel like my body needs more than 1.5 miles to be ready to push the pace. 

Even though my overall pace ended up being 7:48, my splits were not even at all. It was really hard for me to find 7:49. I was either 20 seconds too fast or 20 seconds too slow. I don't think I have ever purposefully tried to hit that particular pace so I think it is going to take several MP runs to get the hang of it. 

I was pretty darn hungry before this run. I have been eating less at night so I am actually waking up hungry. This is sort of a bad thing because it means if I have to eat before I run I am going to have to get up even earlier. Call me lazy, but I refuse to set my alarm (on a daily basis) to anything with a "4" in front of the time!

Fun Fact: I saw 4 kitty cats on my run!! I yelled, "Hi buddy!" in a really high pitched voice to each one of them.

Friday- 7 easy miles. I was very tired for this run. It did not feel good. At mile 2.5 all I wanted to do was be done!

After work I lifted upper body at home. It had been a whole week since I lifted and I missed it. However, my lifting session was not great at all. First of all, my house was 85 degrees because we hadn't turned on the a/c yet. Second, I was so hot/hungry that I got dizzy, so I ate half a turkey sandwich and some cheese. Well, that did not agree with my stomach. I lifted light and threw in the towel earlier than normal. It just wasn't my afternoon.

Chair Asst. Pull Ups- 5x15
Chest Press- 5x10x20lb
Push Ups- 5x10
Shoulder Press- 5x10x20lb
Bicycle Crunches- 5x40
Sit Ups on Stability Ball- 5x15x15lb
Band Asst. Neutral Grip Pull Ups- 5x6
Bicep Curls- 3x10x10lb
Tricep Dips- 3x15

Saturday- 6 easy miles. It was extremely hot outside. I don't think I would have run 6 miles in that heat if my plan hadn't said so! I averaged 8:44 per mile, which is just a tad faster than presribed. I did not look down at my Garmin until the end. With the weather being what it was, I wanted to run on effort. My body felt physically strong and I was proud I could perform in the heat even though I haven't had to time acclimate to it yet.

Sunday- 10 miles. My first official "long" run of training! According to Hansons, I my long runs should be at about an 8:29 pace. 10 miles at that pace didn't sound too bad. Since it was going to be almost as hot as Saturday, I decided I should get up relatively early so I didn't have to run in the sweltering heat. I designed a route that took me outside my hood (What!?) and even had some hills! I was glad I started early because by the time I was done, it was freaking hot out! I averaged 8:36 pace, but it wasn't consistent at all. It went anywhere between 9:12 and 8:16, depending on the hills.

One thing I definitely gathered from my hot/sunny weekend running is that I need to wear my visor! I got a little red in the face!

Look at my red face!!!

Here is how I would grade myself on my training goals this week...

Training Goals:

1. Rest days = complete rest! A
2. Walk 1 min per mile run. A
3. Stretch after each run. A
4. Foam roll when needed. A
5. Glute/hip exercises 5 days per week. A
6. Stick to the prescribed paces. A
7. Practice proper hydration and fueling. Read as much as I can on the topic. C- I read Meb For Mortals and I actualy hydrated properly on my long run! I started drinking Nuun too!

8. Alter training if I feel potential for injury. N/A

How were your workouts this week?

It's a twister!

This is a long post that has absolutely nothing to do with running or fitness. However, I wanted to write this story out for a while and now I finally did it. If you read the whole thing, you are to be commended!

One of my jobs as the music teacher at my elementary school is to put on an “All-School Show” every other year. When I initially took the job, the previous music teacher simply had each grade level (1^st-4^th) sing one song separately and then everyone would come together at the end to sing a song together. Hence the moniker “All School Show.”

For the first year I presented the show, I had the help of two other music teachers and we kept the show in the original format. The second time I presented the show, I had the help of one other music teacher. At this time we were realizing that it was getting harder and harder to fit all of the students on/near the stage in our gymnacafetorium. (That’s one room that is the gym, the cafeteria, and our auditorium haha! It’s basically a gym with a stage on one end and a cafeteria on the other end. A moveable dividing wall can split it into two large areas.) Also, it was extremely hard to fit all the parents, aunts, uncles, mee-maws, paw-paws, etc. into the gymnacafetorium to watch the show. It was also a lot of herding kids on and off the stage only to present one song. All that rigamaro for parents to basically see their kids perform for less than five minutes.

The third time I had to present the All-School Show, I was the only music teacher left in the building and I decided that for all the reasons listed above, I would instead do two shows. I would do one show with K-2^nd grade and one show with 3^rd and 4^th grade. The shows would be on two different nights. Each grade level would sing three songs (more stage time!), there would be less students to squeeze on the stage and less parents to fit in the gymnacafetorium.

But it would be more work- for ME.

That was okay though. I was young, spry, and enthusiastic. Musical theater was my JAM. Teaching the students songs and fun, flashy movements was my thing and I enjoyed doing it. It was a lot of work organizing on two totally separate shows and not getting the two mixed up, but somehow I did it.

But soon, the work started to catch up with me. I was so stressed during show week. I think I lost about 5lbs. I couldn’t eat and all I did was run around like a mad woman. The 3^rd and 4^th Grade show went off pretty well on Tuesday night. It was a relief to have that over with. There was one more show to focus on- the K-2^nd grade show on Thursday evening.

This is when everything started to go wrong.

On Thursday afternoon, the K-2^nd graders were going to present their show for the 3^rd and 4^th graders. Families were also invited to attend this school day performance. (This was back in 2011 when security at our school was a lot less strict. We no longer invite families to school day musical performances due to security reasons. They can only come to the evening shows. Oh how times have changed.) Now, remember how I said there was a huge dividing wall in the gym that blocked off the stage side from the cafeteria side? Well this wall obviously had to be opened for our afternoon performance… but it WOULDN’T OPEN! Something was wrong with the motor! There was going to be no way to fit the 3^rd and 4^th grader and parents with only half of the gymnacafetorium available for seating!

Somehow we squeezed everyone in but I am sure it violated every building code imaginable and parents were rightfully not happy for the uncomfortable conditions. With only half the room being available and all of the bodies squeezed in there, it got incredibly HOT. So not only were parents and grandparents mad about being squished, they were also mad that it was so hot. I understand it was extremely uncomfortable but I was getting really annoyed that they were complaining to me. It was not my fault the wall wouldn’t open and the maintenance department was trying to fix it. There was nothing else I could do. (They eventually got it open for the evening performance- whew!!!)

So the wall not opening was the first thing that went wrong. The second thing that went wrong was that my videographer forgot his camera at home! I had about one hundred families ordering DVDs of the performance that was going to be recorded that day, but the videographer discovered about an hour beforehand that he didn’t have his camera! It was 25 minutes away at his house. He raced home to get it and made it back in time (we held the show for him a bit), but it was extremely stressful. I wasn’t mad at the man. We all make mistakes!

After the craziness of that school day performance, I was literally counting down the hours until the evening performance would be over. I went home after school to do who knows what, then drove back to work and arrived around six o’clock. The show started at 7:00pm. Luckily, there was not much for me to do during this hour. The student performers weren’t arriving until about 6:30, and they were to go directly to their classroom teacher’s rooms. Their teacher would line them up for the show, and at about 6:55, I’d lead them up to the gymnacafetorium (that would be filled to the brim with audience members) for the show.

These moments before the show were pretty peaceful. I was alone in my basement classroom. The window shades were down because the gym teacher was using my classroom while I was hogging her gym for my show. She was doing Dance, Dance, Revolution with the students and it needed to be dark for that game. I didn’t bother to open the shades. I liked my little moments of hibernation! And in just one glorious hour, all the stress would be over! I COULD NOT FREAKING WAIT.

I am sure you can tell that something terrible was about to go wrong!

At 6:55 on the dot, I went upstairs for the show. I could hear a lot of noise coming from the gymnacafetorium. It was a full house! The lobby seemed to be buzzing with nervous energy. Some of the custodians and our principal were darting around and looking outside. I peeked outside. It was dark (even though it was May and only 7:00!) and the sky looked green.

“Mrs. Cooney, there’s a tornado watch!” one of the custodians told me.

I started laughing like a mad woman. “OF COURSE THERE IS!” I shrieked through my laughter. It dawned on me then that this whole stressful week was nowhere near over, and the most stressful situation of all was about to occur.

It looked BAD outside. I got really nervous. Extreme weather scares me. Were we really going to start the show? We were. My kindergarteners were lined up and ready to go. With the help of their teachers, I filed them onto the stage. The show began and they sang their first song- Little Red Caboose.

At the end of the song, the audience cheered. Can you think of anything cuter than one hundred five and six year olds singing, “Toot toot!” in unison? (Of course you can, but I imagine if it’s your kid up there it’s pretty darn cute.) Then my principal grabbed the microphone and made the announcement. There were tornadoes spotted in the area. We would all be going to the basement for safety until the danger was over. The principal dismissed the students to the basement first (the teachers accompanied them) and when the students were safely downstairs, the audience would go down too.

There are classrooms in the basement of our school. My classroom is down there. But we don’t call it the basement. These younger kids heard “basement” and got scared. Some of them were crying. We tried very hard to explain to them that the basement is the same place they go for music class and it wasn’t going to be scary. Then as we were going down the stairs the lights flickered. More screaming and crying. Oh boy.

The teachers made it down to the basement with their students and tried to keep everyone together. Now remember, this is K, 1^st, and 2^nd grade… which was about 300 students plus several teachers. Next, parents came downstairs. Wow. That’s a lot of people. It was extremely crowded and hot. You can imagine the chaos. Some parents wanted to leave with their kids and drive home. Some parents wanted to simply have their kiddos at their side. It was very confusing to know who went with who and all that stuff. We didn’t go into any classrooms because the classrooms had windows.

I was a little nervous about the tornadoes, but I realized that being in the basement of a huge brick building was probably the safest place in the world to be. However, some parents were opening up the doors to the outside to look out and see what was going on. That pissed me off! The whole point was to be safe from the tornadoes! I didn’t want a tornado to go by and suck some of us out the doors! By now it had been confirmed that several tornadoes had touched down in the area. Power lines were down and trees were uprooted all over the place. One of the tornadoes had touched down on Trindle Road. Oh my gosh, I lived right near Trindle!

That’s when I got scared for the cats. They were home alone. Paul was at work in Harrisburg at a huge UPS warehouse. I knew he’d be fine. But the cats… Jelly is smart enough to go down to the basement, but that freaking Christmas of mine… I knew if there was a tornado outside he’d be sitting right on the bay window watching the show. He’s fearless. And stupid.

I couldn’t call or text Paul because my phone wasn’t getting reception. I snuck into my classroom and used my classroom phone to call him. He was safe and sound at UPS. I told him to let me know as soon as he got home that the cats were safe. He wasn’t going home until it was safe, but I had a feeling he’d be home before me.

I can’t remember how long we were in the basement. Our principal would give us updates over the intercom. Once it was finally safe to leave, everyone went home. I don’t know how the teachers made sure the students went home to the right person but somehow they did. The other teachers and I stayed at the school for quite a while after everyone was dismissed because the whole parking lot was a traffic jam. Finally around 9:30 I left to go home. It took a long time due to many roads being closed and what not. Paul got home before me and called to assure me the cats were safe. Whew.

As for the performance, there was only a couple more days left in the school year and there were school events (unrelated to me) going on every night. My principal told me there was no way to squeeze a performance in. That was fine with me. I had zero energy left. I was disappointed the students didn’t get to perform their show but I knew this would be a night they would never forget for their entire life! I knew I wasn’t going to forget it anytime soon!

Have you ever been involved in a tornado or other severe weather situation?

A Fun Little Game!

Last week I went to my cousin’s bridal shower. There was a list of questions that was asked of the groom about the bride. The bride had to guess what the groom would answer about her. If she got it wrong, she had to put a piece of bubble gum in her mouth. The bride actually got a lot wrong and had so much gum in her mouth by the end of the questions that she could barely talk!

Halfway through the game, I leaned over to my mom and said, “Paul and I would suck at this.”

Well, I wanted to see if we really would! Here is the exact list of questions that was asked of the bride. I emailed the questions to Paul so he could answer them. I wrote my answers out as well before reading his. I promise you, I didn’t cheat!

Remember, my answer is what I think Paul will say. It is not necessarily the correct answer. ;)

What can’t Megan live without?

Paul says: Her cats
Megan says: The kitties.

What is Megan’s prized possession?

Paul says: Her cats
Megan says: Lap top

What is Megan’s favorite candy?

Paul says: M&Ms
Megan says: Sour patch kids

How many piercings does Megan have?

Paul says: 4
Megan says: 4

Who is Megan’s ultimate Hollywood crush?

Paul says: Jeremy Collins from Survivor Season 29
Megan says: Samantha Bee

What was Megan’s first job?

Paul says: Baby-sitting. But first job not getting paid "under the table" was BG's.
Megan says: Baby-sitting

What is Megan’s biggest pet peeve?

Paul says: When someone else is chewing or making "general mouth noises". It drives her nuts!
Megan: Chewing/weird mouth noises

What is Megan’s favorite thing to spend money on?

Paul says: Clothes/Shoes. She loves buying clothing and shoes, but she is a serious bargain hunter. By seeing her outfits, you would think she spends a lot. Nope. She knows how/where to find good deals.
Megan says: Vacations

If Megan could have any car, what would it be?

Paul says: A decent SUV. She doesn’t care about cars at all. She does like SUV’s because she likes being higher up.
Megan says: I don't care about cars.

(I'm counting this as a match due to Paul saying verbatim what I said- I don't care about cars!!!)

What is Megan’s favorite cocktail?

Paul says: Martini (neat)
Megan says: Dirty Martini
(Also counting this because the "dirty" part is implied!)

What is Megan’s dream job?

Paul says: Full-time Blogger and Reality TV Podcast host.
Megan says: House wife

What year did Megan graduate high school?

Paul says: 2000
Megan says: 2000

If Megan could meet one famous person, who would it be?

Paul says: Madonna

Megan says: Obama

We didn't do that great, but I honestly thought we would do worse!!!

How do you think you and your partner would do at this game?

If you have a blog, feel free to take this idea and do your own post or even a different spin on it!