January 2023 – Zenaida Arroyo

Month: January 2023

31
Jan
2023

Tuesday Topics: January 2023 Review

categories: Monthly Review, Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic is a FREE topic. Feel free to post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

Yay January is over! It has been a mild Winter but yesterday and today we got some very cold weather. I guess I shouldn’t really complain. Well, maybe just a little.

In late December, I began training for the NYC Half Marathon. I am following one of Hal Higdon’s plans and so far have had some good workouts.

Let me tell you about how January went for me:

Mileage: I finished the month with 59.66 running miles and 13.59 walking miles. I am impressed with the walking miles because I am not much of a walker. I missed a few days of running but am not too worried about it. My goal for the half marathon is to finish and have fun.

Current Book: I read two books and now am reading “The Plot”.

Current Shoes: Running in the Brooks Ghost. These are perfect because they’re NYC-themed!

2023 Running Goal: My goal this year is to run 800 miles. It is about 67 miles per month. I ran less this month but know I can make it up in the upcoming months. As long as I stay healthy and injury free, I am confident I will reach my goal.

Injuries: A few months ago I was dealing with hip pain and plantar fasciitis. The hip pain isn’t too much nor is the plantar fasciitis. I’ve been stretching more and have been using these inserts all of the time.

Blog: I want to be consistent and blog 3 days a week (Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday). I was doing OK posting on Sunday but missed it this Sunday because I am always falling behind on reading and commenting. I need to figure out a system to balance it out. Any ideas?

School: I have my good days and my bad days like everyone else. My students sometimes amaze me. We are working on adding 3-digit numbers and almost everyone in the classroom understands the strategy I am teaching them. Thanks to Common Core, I cannot teach them the way we learned it (algorithm). They need to break it down into hundreds, tens, and ones. I understand why but it takes so long.

Health: I have no complaints about my health. I still have my days when I sleep OK and others when I do not sleep OK. I was taking a sleeping pill prescribed by my doctor but that didn’t really help. Instead, if needed, I take melatonin.

Overall, January was a good month. Let’s see how February goes.

Topic for next week – Things you saw on your last run. Feel free to write about this or any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

24
Jan
2023

Tuesday Topics: Things I am looking forward to in 2023

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: What are you looking forward to this year? You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

A new year and a new word. I am definitely looking forward to this year. These past couple of years have been interesting; hopefully, things will pick up and become more exciting.

Here are a few things I am looking forward to this year:

❇️ Travel. My last trip was in February 2020 to run the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon. This year I am planning a trip to NYC and Washington, DC. I am hoping too to travel to Mexico with my mom. Once I get more information about a Summer program I did last year, then I will book our flights. The plan is to stay there for 2-3 weeks.

❇️ Read more books. Not because of my goal, but because I like to read.

❇️ Running more races. Thinking about it makes me more excited. I would like to run a race in all distances except the marathon. Hopefully, when I finish my race in Washington, DC, I can start working again with a coach. I would love to PR in one or two race distances.

❇️ Doing more fun things. It is all about balance. I’ve been staying in touch with friends via text every day. I know ideally, it will be best to meet in person but it isn’t always possible. At least we are having some good conversations and laughs. Anyway, going back to doing more fun things, I love musicals and would like to see 1 or 2 this year. Chicago is a great city with many things to see and do. This Summer I would like to drive downtown or take the train to sightsee or just hang out.

❇️ The end of the school year. Is it too early to think about it? I do like my job. Teaching is fun. I enjoy my students, but everything else makes it so hard. We give so many assessments and it is just ridiculous. Our students are still behind (we do not need an assessment to tell us that) and that time could be better used for teaching.

Next week is a FREE topic. Feel free to write about any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics

22
Jan
2023

Weekly Run Down: January 16-22, 2023

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Happy Sunday everyone! With two work days this week for me, it sure went by fast. This is week 4 of my training plan and it was awesome.

I am so mad at myself! I messed up and missed taking a Peloton class on Monday. It was a rest day for me and on a day like that I either walk or take a meditation class. I did neither. I woke up in the middle of the night and realized that I had missed a class.

Here is how my week went:

January 16-22

Monday: Rest day. I was off for Martin Luther King’s Birthday. I also took my mom to the doctor for some bloodwork. She goes every 3 months and for the most part, her results have been positive. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before, but I finally switched her to a Spanish-speaking doctor. I can translate what the doctor says but why not have one that speaks in the language she understands?

Tuesday: Ran 3.15 miles. A great run! I ran faster than I should have. I felt good and was pleased with how I did. It was almost all negative splits.

Wednesday: Ran 4.08 miles. Another great run. Felt really good again. The run portion was 3.68 miles @11:40 average pace. I thought the weather was perfect with low 30s and hardly any wind.

We had a little bit of excitement that day. There was a water main break in the community which left the school with no water. By noon we were bussed to the junior high school a few blocks away. We were there until almost 2 pm and by then there was water again in the building.

Thursday: Ran 3.14 miles. Can you guess how this run went? Yep, good again. The run portion was 3.66 miles @11:49 average pace.

Friday: Rest day. I was exhausted. Running or no running, I am exhausted by Friday. Thursday night I finished book #2 and began reading “The Plot”.

Saturday: Ran 6.70 miles. A good run. Not too cold or windy. I did two fun classes which kept me going. Somehow I messed up when programming my workout because there were enough run/walk intervals for 6 miles instead of 7. Not a problem since I could just run another mile without my watch telling me when to run and when to walk. It all worked out because my legs felt tired. I did more walking than running and did just enough to get home. I guess I could have kept going an extra .30 to make it to 7.

Sunday: Walked 2.54 miles. There was a bit of snow on the ground. It was actually pleasant and I had so many random thoughts in my head during those 45 minutes of walking.

It was a great week of running. The weather was pleasant, though some sun would have helped. It has been cloudy and gloomy all week. It looks like it will be sunny tomorrow and then cloudy the rest of the week.

TOTAL:
Running: 17.07
Walking: 2.54
Cycling: 0

Linking up with Kim and Deborah for the Weekly Run Down.

20
Jan
2023

Fit Five Friday: 5 struggles I face in reaching my fitness goals

categories: Fit Five Friday

This week’s Fit Five Friday topic: 5 struggles you face to reaching your fitness goals. You can write about this topic or any fitness-related post. We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida so be sure to link up with us.

Last week I wrote about the things that motivate me. Now, we know that not everything is perfect and there are times when I am not motivated or something holds me back from doing a workout or a run. Then this in turn will cause me to struggle to reach my goals.

Let me tell you about some of the struggles:

🌟 Excuses. Sometimes I have many of them – it is too cold or too hot, I am too tired, or I don’t feel like running today.

🌟 Procrastination. Because of the excuses listed above, there have been times when I say that I would do my run after work. Then something happens and I don’t end up doing it. That is one reason why I’d instead like to get it done in the morning.

🌟 Unrealistic goals. Can I really PR by 1 hour in this race? Instead, should I make it my goal to PR by 5 or 10 minutes?

🌟 An injury. Like many runners, I’ve had a few injuries – ITBS, runner’s knee, calf strain, and plantar fasciitis. They’ve left me out of the running game for a few months. One year I wanted to do one of those running series to run 3 half marathons in the Summer (for my 50 states goal) but was in the beginning stages of plantar fasciitis. I knew I should take time off from running and rest up.

🌟 Feeling burned out. I have experienced this a few times. Once it was during marathon training. I finished my long run, called my coach, and started crying. I told her I didn’t want to run anymore. I wasn’t feeling the excitement of running or the marathon anymore. She listened to me. I can’t remember what she told me but that year I ended up not running the marathon. I looked up my races for that year and saw that I ran 18 races (one being a 50k) that year and 24 the year before.

The topic for next week – It is Runfessions with Marcia! We hope you will link up.

17
Jan
2023

Tuesday Topics: My plan to achieve my 2023 goals

categories: Tuesday Topics

This week’s Tuesday Topic: What’s your plan to achieve your 2023 goals? You can write about this topic or post any running-related blog post. Remember to link up with Kim and Zenaida! Visit at least two of the other linked posts – the more the merrier! Remember to come back for later linkers!

In December I wrote about my 2023 goals. Let me tell you how I plan to achieve these goals.

Complete 500 Peloton rides. To date, I’ve done 359 classes. I need 141 additional classes which is about 12 classes per month. It can be done.

Run 800 miles. It was tempting to make this number again 1,200 or 1,000, but who am I kidding? I want to be a bit more realistic. 800 miles is about 67 per month. I am starting slowly and hopefully can soon ramp up the mileage. I know someone that has a goal of 2,023 miles, but it includes running and walking. That is tempting too!

Run at least 5 races. I am signed up for two but have been eyeing a couple more: 4 on the 4th of July, Lakefront 10 Miler, and Soldier Field 10 Mile. I also need to start looking into my goal of running a half marathon in each state. I have 8 more to go: South Carolina, Kansas, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho, New Mexico, and Hawaii.

Do one Peloton activity each day. Many of you know this but there are many Peloton classes. On the days I don’t run, I take either a walking or meditation class. I know I can do more. Once I figure out a schedule, I will add cycling, strength training, and stretching classes.

Read 12 books. One book a month. I am on book 2 and we are halfway through the month. If you need book suggestions, definitely check out Wendy’s book reviews. I’ve loved all of the ones I’ve read, some more than others.

Topic for next week – What are you looking forward to this year? Feel free to write about this topic or any running-related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!

Tuesday Topics