I'm Embarrassed to Brag

But I must. I ran my first race(let) today. I'm not calling it a real race because it was only a mile, but I went! I was so chicken, but luckily my friend Alyssa agreed to go with me. Never having done one of these events before, I just had no idea what to expect. The distance didn't phase me at all, but I was worried I would be totally outclassed with all the real runners.

It was a fabulous experience! There were people there of all shapes and sizes, and I immediately felt more comfortable. I only made one mistake before we started: I went to the bathroom. I know that seems like a very innocuous decision, buuuut I had my ID, credit card, and car key in the back waistband pocket of my pants. Well, as we left the bathroom, my car key was gone! Crap. We looked and looked and left a message with the person working at the desk at the Y. No luck. Well, the race started and about 0.1 miles in I felt something on my leg and then heard a click behind me. It was my key! Who knows how I didn't feel it, but I didn't. Anyway, it made the rest of the race much more enjoyable.

We were just chugging along, and I felt like I was moving but not totally killing myself. With this being the first time, I didn't want to be a total loser. We ran past a bunch of houses, and lots of the occupants were out on their lawns cheering us on. It was really nice. We did a little "leapfrogging" and would walk a little and run a little, but we really did run most of the way. I think it could have been even more if it wasn't so sticky. Ugh, the humidity was awful. Before I knew it, the finish line was in sight, and we pushed hard to finish strong. The visible timer said we finished in 12:30 or so, but we knew it had to be under that since we weren't at the front of the pack when they said go. Later the result were posted online, and we actually finished in 11:59! Wow! For my first race, after having had a stress fracture, and just not being a natural runner, I was honestly pleased. In fact, I had so much fun that I am seriously considering the 3k that is coming up in August. It's an evening run, so that would be interesting. Who knows, I may get to where I don't suck yet.

And now, for photographic proof that I made it to the finish. Please excuse the very frizzy hair.

Shortly after this was taken, we each procured our free bloody mary and walked our way back to the car. Thanks Macklind Mile. I expect I'll be back next year.

Over did it

I worked out Saturday, rode 3 horses on Sunday, and worked out with my trainer again last night. I can barely walk. I need one of Teresa's ice baths. Or a hot tub would be nice too. My calves are so sore, I feel like I'm stomping everywhere I go. Hopefully it gets better soon, but I really think I HAVE to take tonight off.

Week 1 So Far

I started my new school this week. Things are going pretty well so far, but I feel totally overwhelmed.

Monday we had new faculty meetings from 8:00-12:00. They served breakfast. Then from 12:00-1:00 we had lunch. From 1:00-3:30 we had various meeting with department heads and other business type folks. At 3:30, I then moved on to volleyball tryouts. Those lasted until 6:30. At that time, all coaches had a dinner meeting. So, if you're still with me, that means I ate all three meals on campus! Whew. Long day.

Tuesday I had time with my mentor. We thought we would be able to use the time to lesson plan (she teaches the same courses I do,) and work on various questions I had. Well, we met with the Head of the Upper School who gave us a HUGE list of people I needed to go see. There went that morning. So I worked on all that until 12:00, then had lunch. At 1:30 I had a meeting with the activities person, and at 2:00 the volleyball staff met to review the players from the day before. Day 2 of tryouts ran from 3:30-6:30 again.

Wednesday we had the first all faculty and staff meeting of the year. This was both embarrassing and hilarious. Embarrassing because I had to get up in front of the ENTIRE school to be introduced. Hilarious because of something the Head of School said. She was polling people on what they had done over the summer. As she mentioned activities, she had people stand. The activities included things like going to the beach, seeing friends and family, etc. Well, at one point she asked if people had had a baby or volunteered to help make a baby! The whole room fell apart. The Head turned about a million shades of red couldn't go on for a while. It certainly broke up the monotony. After that meeting, I got my textbooks for my classes and then had 30 minutes to work on my practice plan for the last day of volleyball tryouts. The afternoon was spent in CPR training, and we finished volleyball tryouts at 6:30.

Phew. That is a long few days. What I really want are some hours to work on lesson planning and finishing my room. I'm also pissed because my weight is up this morning. I'm sure that part of it is stress, but part of it is that I haven't been eating as well this week because I've been so busy. Damn. I'm off to work out with my trainer though, so hopefully I can get back on track.

I can finally share

Within the last year I took a break from teaching so that I could start my own business. It has been hard. Some parts have been amazing. I've enjoyed having time with my husband, spending lots of time with the horses, etc. I've been working hard, but let's be real, the economy sucks, and my business "partner" has not kept up her end of the bargain. DH and I want to start a family, and at this rate, we wouldn't be able to until we were 50! Where does all this lead? Well, I'm going back to the classroom. Yup, Mrs. Kingdom (not my real name) is back.

I'm excited. I want to get the debt in control, and within a year, we will start trying for a baby. I am going to be teaching at an amazing school where there are big plans for the science department. My salary is 20% higher than at my last school, and I am feeling positive about how things will play out. After getting through that stressful day earlier this week, I can finally focus on being positive about this new experience.

I got my new computer today. It is fun playing with it and learning some of the software. I have professional development scheduled over several days through June and July. Volleyball practices start the first week of August. Clearly I have some very busy weeks ahead of me. I am planning to keep the business open on the side. My wonderful husband is going to help me with it. The fact that I can finally share the news is the most exciting thing for me. I look at it as another life experience that I am looking forward to living!


PS I weighed in and took measurements with my trainer today. I lost 2 inches off my waist, half an inch from my thighs, and 1.3 inches from my calves! Pretty cool in my world. Now I have to keep it up.

I'm tired, and that shouldn't be my job!

I left my house at 8:30 Sunday night to go to the barn. Why? Because a horse was sick. How is it my responsibility? Because everyone else who knows anything about horses is out of town. I so did not sign up for that. I got there at 9:00. The horse was in the middle of a mild colic. That isn't a big problem in people because we can burp and/or puke. Horses can't let any air or anything out of their digestive tract though, so if a horse colics, it can eventually lead to death.

Anyway, the lady who is staying at the farm saw that he was acting a little funny so she called me. I drove the 25 miles to the farm and knew that it was good I went. We called the vet and the owner, but after treatment he needed to be checked at least one time in the middle of the night. The owner had school today, so I got to do the 2:00 am bed check. Sigh.

I love horses, and I always want to do my best to take care of them. I don't resent him for getting sick. But my boss/barn owner is so understaffed right now, that I have to drive across the county to do this stuff that the person who lives on the property should do.

This probably only made a tiny bit of sense. I have a personal training session this morning. I can barely stand I'm so tired. And I have a super long day at work. Wow. For the first time, I really feel like using FML in my internet writing.

Three!

I was so annoyed yesterday. I weighed myself at the gym and I was back to my starting weight. Grrrr. I worked out again today though. Actually I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then a high intensity aerobics class. Go me! I decided to weigh myself again, and my weight was down three pounds. Wha? To be fair, yesterday was the first day of AF and I had eaten enough salt for an army at the Super Bowl party the night before. Assuming I see similar numbers later this week, I'm going to blame that other number on water weight.

I beat myself up about my weight for quite a while last night, but I am glad that I went back to the gym to keep working hard. I can do this.






At least that's what I keep telling myself. Especially when my boss calls and bitches me out for being fat. Gah.