Random Thursday Thoughts

Hola! I am actually typing this blog post on Tuesday, but if I titled it "Random Tuesday Thoughts" you would be thoroughly confused, right!?

Okay let's just do list format today because I just had a glass of sangria with a shot of vodka in it and I'm feeling "list-y"...

1. It's teacher appreciation week! I got this epic, unsigned card from a student. I love it. Is that me? Is that what I look like? I don't care. I love the simplicity of it. "Ms. Michael I like you". Straight and to the point!

2. Instead of a Secret Santa, our faculty does "Covert Coworkers", where you get a bunch of small gifts for a colleague throughout the year with the big reveal right before summer break. I have to tell you, my Covert Coworker has been hooking me up. But I was so touched by the letters I was given this morning. Someone loves me. I'm someone's friend. I freaking needed that. Oh, and I needed a quiche cookbook, too!

3. I'm trying to enjoy the nice weather as much as possible. Whenever I can, I sit out on my back porch. In fact, I'm on my back porch right now typing up this blog post. I think I will eat dinner out here, too! Too bad my porch is not screened in. Then the cats could join me.

4. Here's a pic from Hyner that I just found. It's one of the many screen crossing. Damn, there were good photographers at this race! The race is already sold out for 2020. My brother is running the 50k and my dad and I are doing the 25k. It will be a family affair again!

5. Thanks to everyone who is sticking by me and has continued to read Meg Go Run even though I don't post every day. I'm so glad I didn't quit my blog. That would seem so final. I think simply wrapping my head around not being beholden to posting every day has helped me. I can write when I feel like it and ignore it when I need to. It's working for now. That being said, I have enjoyed posting every day this week. So as always, thanks for reading!

A Day In My Life

Despite technically being able to sleep until 11am, I woke up at 4am... and never fell back asleep!!!! Whatever, Monday. I'm coming for you!

I spent the morning giving the kitties some attention, drinking coffee, and actually BLOGGING! I'm trying to blog every day this week, so come back and see what's going on!

Chrissy got his teeth brushed!

Jelly, wake up!

I love opening the front door in the morning and letting the sunshine in!

As I fiddle faddled on my computer, I made two quiche. (Spinach, feta, and italian sausage.) I ate some of it before I remembered to take a picture!

I had quite the long to do list which covered everything from taking out the trash to cleaning the microwave. I tackled a few things including running a load of laundry. Guys, I LOVE folding laundry! (For real!!!)

Then I headed to Trindle Road for a trail run. It was absolutely gorgeous- green and luscious! There were all sorts of beautiful spring smells as well. Luckily, despite a lot of tall grass, I didn't see any snakes. I did see 6 deer, 1 bunny, and 1 cat. It was a big 'ol Maine Coon! I hoped it wasn't too far from home.

I ran 3.5 miles out on the trail... all the way to this ridiculous sign. 

Around mile 3 is my FAVORITE part on the AT. These skinny trees are just so cool. I love this section.

I wanted to run farther but I had therapy at noon so I needed to get my ass home and cleaned up. It's not a successful trail run unless there's a little blood and a little mud!

Therapy was absolutely wonderful. I love my therapist! If you live in the area and need a rec, let me know and I can hook you up!

After therapy I went grocery shopping. I only needed a few things. Since I'm only shopping for one right now, I am learning just how much of certain items to get. For instance, last week I got 3 bananas and that proved to be too many as one went bad. This week I played it safe and only got 2 bananas.

I got all this at Aldi for just $23!

Then I headed to Big Lots. I like to get Drunk Girl Salad toppings there.

I also needed some K-cups. This pack of 80 was originally $24 but since the box had been opened and taped back shut, it was only $19! Score! That's only 23 cents per K-cup!

My back yard needed mowed so badly and the grass was finally dry enough that I could do it. I ended up doing the front yard as well, weeding, and just making the outside of my house in general look nice. It was an absolutely gorgeous day so I was happy to have outdoor work to do.

Look at my cute little house!

I painted my nails. Prettttttty! I'm so glad I stopped biting them. Painting them is fun!

One thing I like to do at the beginning of the week is lay out all of my workout clothes and my work out clothes. It saves me time in the morning. It makes me feel relaxed. It feels like I can handle the week. Outer order, inner calm, right? Plus, it's fun to pick out outfits and jewelry!

That night I watched vlogs and ate dinner!

It was a fun and productive day!

Tell me something weird about you!

We live every day.

I saw this meme on Facebook and I simply had to share it with you all! I'm not so much into Peanuts but the message of this cartoon.

For the past several years, I've been stuck in a rut. My days were predictable. I would go to bed early... too early. I was always wishing for the weekend. I was literally wishing my days away every week!

Lately, I've had a lot more time on my hands. It is easy to get bored and sad, but whenever I feel myself slip into that dark place (usually first thing in the morning and in the evening if I don't have plans), I remind myself that I need to do something to LIVE each and every day. Whether it's a walk around the block, weeding the garden, checking out a new trail, or simply taking a new route home from work.

Sure, we've only got one life, and we should cherish it, but we also have to make sure we LIVE it!

Do you LIVE each day?

Let's try something crazy!!!!

I'm going to try something crazy this week! I'm going to post EVERY DAY... Monday-Friday. Hell, maybe I'll even log my workouts and put up a Saturday post!?

Why so chipper, you ask? Well I have a personal day today. Yes, on this rainy Monday, I have OFF! But you probably already know this because I may have mentioned my upcoming personal day to every single person I know for the past month.

Even though it's dreary now, the sun is going to come out later. I'm trying to decide if I want to do my trail run now or wait until the sun comes out. Hmmm... it's so nice not to have a set agenda!

Here are a couple random things I hope to accomplish today:

1. Make an appointment for Jelly to get groomed. He has had some mattes in his fur for awhile now, and I am ashamed I haven't gotten it taken care of sooner. But he hates the groomer and it's very stressful for him to go.

2. Put some races on the calendar! Due to my recent speedy paces, I have determined that I may as well sign up for a shorter road race. I initially liked the idea of a 10k because 5ks are so intimidating... However, I went back and looked at the last 5k of the 10k workout I did the other day and it clocked in at 20:52! That's AFTER running 3 miles at the following paces: 7:32, 7:08, 6:50. That's with no tapering, 5 hours of sleep, and only a Hershey Bar in my belly.

I've only ever run two 5ks. The first one I ever ran clocked in at 19:51. The second one was a 20:56. I would be TICKLED if I would beat my PR but that would mean I'd have to run a 6:23 pace. I think I'm going to try. Omg I have to poop just thinking about it...

3. Organize my closets. My friend Molly showed me how she arranged the clothes in her son's closet by color and it looked beautiful! I love organizing... After all, my motto is "Outer order, inner calm"!

Of course I have a lot of other things I want to accomplish today, so I better go get started. I hope you all have a great start to your week!

Do you like to organize?
Do your pets like getting groomed?

Life is good.

Saturday was an awesome day. Picture this... waking up with Christmas cuddled under your chin and Jelly cuddled around your feet. Seriously, does it get any better than that!? Life is good.

Then I took my time waking up, relaxed, drank coffee, spent time with the cats, and wrote a blog post. It was just like old times. I love my house and I love being alone with my kitties. Life is good.

I drove to Detweiler Park in Dauphin and did a 6 mile trail run. It was so lush and green. There were so many great smells. I didn't listen to anything, I just enjoyed my own thoughts and the sound of nature. I saw 3 white tail deer, 1 turtles, zero people, and zero snakes. Life is good.

Then I drove to Millersburg and spent the day at the Cherry Blossom Festival with my mom, dad, brother, and nieces and nephew. Life is good.

I finally got to have my first Farm Show milkshake without having to actually go to the Farm Show. I win! Life is good.

Tell me something good about your life!

My Running Lately

Despite the rest of my life being in shambles, my running has been AMAZING! After a satisfying performance at Hyner, I took two days off. Then I just had to get back out there. I started off slow, but 5 days after Hyner, I saw major improvements...

5 Days Post Hyner:

There was nothing super special about this run, just a little speedier than normal for a La La La Run on the road. (A La La La Run is a run where I just run for fun and don't try to hit a certain pace.)

The Next Day

Another La La La Run. I am excited that the paces you see below was an easy run for me. My legs were feeling fresh after being sore for several days after Hyner.

Why Is This So Easy?

Seriously, why were these paces so easy today? I mean, I just shoot out of my house, hit the street, and I'm already hitting 7:30 paces without a warm up!

Okay, I Tried This

I admit that I purposefully pushed the pace a little on this run. My legs felt good, so why not!?

I Run 8 Miles When I Feel Fat

If I run 8 miles during the week, it's usually because I feel fat. It's not the most healthy reason to run, but there ya go. (Note: Feeling fat is different from actually thinking I am fat.) 

I hate using the word fat because it's an ugly word, but I have ugly thoughts sometimes and I'm here to share them all with you! 

Anyway, the day before this run I lifted, so my legs felt super fresh. I purposefully pushed the pace a bit on the last 3 miles! I was super, DUPER pleased and basically felt like THE SHIT for the rest of the day!

The Trend Continues...

A La La La run. SHOULD I BE SIGNING UP FOR A 10K??

Okay, CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

This is the run that makes me the most proud. First of all, I didn't really feel like running to begin with. My legs were tired and all I ate that morning was a Hershey bar. So I decided to run a 1 mile loop and then just stop whenever I couldn't take it anymore... whether that was after 1 mile or 6 miles.

Once I got started, my legs felt really good, so I tried to improve my pace on each mile. This run was NOT effortless. In fact, I felt like I was racing for the last 4 miles. My head was pounding and my heart rate was in Zone 4.8! I wondered why in the world suddenly decided to basically race a 10k. I was super proud of this run.

I only ever raced one 10k and it was back in 2014. I actually WON the race! Not just first female, but first overall! It was a magical day and I trained hard, tapered, and prepared for the race. I ran that race in 41:18 but the course only clocked in at 5.9 miles. So my pace above is nearly identical to what I did 5 years ago when I actually trained and prepared for a race!

This is one of my favorite pictures! It's right after I won the 10k in 2014. You can see I was super happy and Paul was right there to support me and bask in my happiness!

So, inquiring minds want to know... Should I sign up for a race and actually race it!?

Long time, no blog post!

Hey all! Long time, no blog post! I just wanted to check in and say, "Hi!"

I do have a post about how my running has been going, so look for that in the next couple days.

Onward!

I'll get the debby downer stuff out of the way first...

These past two weeks have been tough. There are some emotional things going on in my personal life and I am not dealing with them very well. I just let bad thoughts consume me. All of those bad thoughts make it a huge challenge to go to work each day and be a chipper music teacher for my students. (Spoiler Alert: I have NOT been a chipper music teacher!!!) In fact, some afternoons I feel so trapped in my classroom that I start crying in front of my students. The school year cannot be over soon enough.

Well dang it, I thought I had something positive to say! Maybe I don't? Oh yeah, I have a personal day on Monday so it's a three day weekend for me! I have no plans other than NOT setting my alarm and at least getting in one to two trail runs! Also, kitty cuddles and mowing the lawn.

How have you been!?