It's personal

As I look back at this last year I know that 2012 must come to an end. I have had so much success with my running which I feel amazing about. I ran 7 races which included 2 half marathons and a full marathon. I ran a total of 1322 miles! I overdid the training just a bit but was able to recover and rest and was not injured. I have learned an awful lot this year about running, taking care of myself and training for a marathon. I am really glad for the support of my husband. He has rode his bike beside me on my long runs and just in general been concerned about my well being.
Teaching has gone well this year. I have felt like I have been supporting the classroom teacher in the curriculum that the school district has adopted. I have had a reasonable schedule, and for the first time starting this past September I am spending 4 days in one school and just one day at the other school. It makes for a much easier work week. I don't know whether next year that will stay the same or not since 2 classes will be moving to the larger building. I won't worry about it seeing as it is out of my control. Once the summer was over, I had a hard time adjusting to the work schedule again. I felt like teaching got in the way of my running which was strange. It took some time to adjust to running after school and dinner again.
My husband and I took an incredible trip this past summer to Guatemala for 10 days. It was a tour trip through Caravan.com I would highly recommend this tour company and specifically the two trips that I have done through them- Costa Rica was fabulous! I am going again this summer with my husband.
I had some setbacks this year but nothing that I could not move forward from. I have lots more things to learn and hope to continue this next year in gaining physical strength and endurance. Running makes me feel strong physically and mentally so of course I will keep it up. I have already signed up for a few races. My second marathon is in 3 weeks and I will run in the Point Bock race. My daughter and I are going to do the Color Run together in July. My journey to health is continuing. I want to keep discovering new things. I will find new books and blogs to read. I have not been particularly crafty this year but I really like creating things. I miss it. Perhaps I will learn how to knit this this year. I take great pride in having and keeping a nice home. The flower and vegetable gardens will continue to thrive with the care and attention that I will give them.
To all of us this year... Peace, health, happiness and to making dreams into reality!

new title, different focus

This past year has been one of change for me. I am focused on my physical heath in a very positive way. I have become a runner. I run for lots of reasons but mostly because it makes me feel good. I like that my body is strong and that my endurance is unimaginable compared to my younger days. To say that I am obsessed with running might be too strong of a word but I am certainly thinking about running a lot! The year started out with a bit of a disappointment. I had trained for my first marathon race in La Crosse, WI and it was unfortunately canceled due to thunderstorms in the area. I was able to participate in the half marathon since the roads were able to stay open with the delay of the start for the shorter distance. I am glad that I had signed up for a second marathon so that I had a full marathon race to look forward to.
I ran in one other half marathon race over the summer. I had surgery in June, rested and healed and started running again. This past October I completed my first marathon - the Medtronic's Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) Marathon. What a fantastic experience that was! I started looking for another marathon to do almost right away. I figured I was trained distance wise to run a race again and rather than starting from zero, why not run another marathon before spring? I am traveling to Arizona for the Rock n' Roll marathon mid January. I leave on a Friday and return on that Sunday so I will have the chance to visit with my dad who lives in the Scottsdale area for a bit.
I'm in the final weeks of training - just a month to go and we have WINTER in central Wisconsin! I am not a fan. Put me on a tropical island with the heat and humidity any day!! I have joined Snap Fitness center so that I can continue to run indoors on a treadmill. While the treadmill for many people is a boring piece of gym equipment, I embrace it. I like that I can set the speed, inline and time to run. I can be relatively comfortable and safe while getting in the mileage that I need for training.

Long run

I am rested and ready for a long run that I am motivated to go and do in just an hour or so. I have slept in, rested and fueled. How far you might ask? I am running 15 miles this morning. I had a half marathon (13.1 miles) on July 28th and ran that in 2 hours 13 minutes. I expect to be gone for awhile (at least 2 1/2 hours). Today I am running by myself. In the past my husband has rode his bike in front or behind me as I run. He works this morning. I got started running by myself and got hooked after my first race which was a social experience and one in which I felt support from a running community. Depending on the race you decide to run in, it can be a crowd or just a few people that are around you. I read blogs and am an active participant in social networking sites that support physical health and running.


Running has for me become a way in which I feel strong and healthy. If you are happy, sad, angry, frustrated, worried...running is a great way to think on things. Oh, and equally important- running burns enough calories so I can enjoy chocolate without any guilt whatsoever!

Updates...

It has been a great summer. I had a great vacation with my husband. I did a lot of running including a second half marathon and stayed healthy and uninjured. I helped each of my sons move to new places and had the chance to dog sit for my daughter's new pug Rosie! Just this week I started thinking about getting back to the classroom/computer lab. I had a meeting and my schedule got worked out. I have 28 classes, seeing each class 30 minutes a week and I will be in one school for 4 consecutive days and the other school for 1 day a week. We have 2 weeks of classes and then 3 weeks of MAP testing in which I proctor the tests and do not have my normal routine. Once the school year gets going, during RTI intervention time, I will be working with a small group on what the classroom teacher has planned for us. I look forward to the new school year. 

Been Gone A Long Time

It is not because I have not had any thoughts that were worthy of a blog post that I have been gone so long. I have been content and feeling good in my professional and personal life. Since January I have had the pleasure of traveling with my husband to Guatemala for 10 days. I have continued running and training for a marathon. The 2011/2012 school year was over at the end of May and changes for next year (September 2012) are going to be big! One of my principals retired and the school board has decided to move the 5th grade over to the middle school and move two of the 1st grade classes from a neighborhood school into the main elementary school in anticipation of closing that school in two years. Right now things are in flux and we are waiting to hear how the scheduling will work for those of us that are traveling teachers. Whatever happens will happen and I have no problem with how it gets done so long as the students are not short changed of their time.