Zenaida Arroyo

24
Jan
2023

Tuesday Topics: Things I am looking forward to in 2023

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

15
Jan
2023

Weekly Run Down: January 9-15, 2023

categories: Running, Weekly Recap, Weekly Run Down

Happy Sunday everyone! It was rough going back to work this week. I couldn’t get up on Monday morning, my runs were OK, and I missed one day of running.

I was behind (about one week) on reading and responding to blog comments. Yesterday I finished reading and this morning I responded to the comments. I may be late but I try very hard to read all posts and respond to the comments.

Here is how my week went:

January 9-15

Monday: Rest day. I didn’t sleep well Sunday night and was up for about 3 hours after I thought I was tired and went to bed. I could barely get up in the morning. I also struggled at work and could barely wait to get home. Once home I was too tired to even nap. How is that possible? I even did a Peloton Meditation class and while it helped me relax, I couldn’t sleep.

Lola was not happy I went back to work. She missed me.

Tuesday: Ran 3.23 miles. A good run. I am not going to compare myself to other people – only to myself. I like to see improvements. That is what happened on Tuesday. I did the same workout as the week before and ended up with one minute faster average pace. I am still doing 5:1 run/walk and my fastest interval was 11:14 and the slowest 12:04.

I earned this badge.

Wednesday: Ran 3.49 miles. A semi-good run. I had to run 4 miles but ended up less than that. I felt tired and didn’t have it in me to finish 4 miles. I also got positive splits so there’s that. Oh well.

Remember how last school year I had a student that would give me lots of trouble with his behavior? One of my students this year is beginning to act up as well. He doesn’t want to do the work I give him and starts to whine when he doesn’t get his way. He didn’t want to leave the classroom to go to lunch and I had to call the office for help. Then later in the day, it was like nothing had happened.

Thursday: Did not run. I rarely have stomach problems, but this morning I went to the bathroom plenty of times because something felt off.

In school, we had to give the ACCESS test (it measures student proficiency in the four domains of English language development: speaking, listening, reading, and writing) to our students. Unfortunately, we had many Internet problems so we had to postpone it to the next day. It was an eye-opener because we rely so much on technology. I was running out of things to do because a lot of my stuff is online.

Friday: Rest day. I was cold and tired. I didn’t have it in me to go outside for a walk.

Saturday: Ran 6.02 miles. A good run. Not too cold or windy. These three classes were fun. I like Jess and Robin a lot and I love 80s music. One of the songs in Jess’s class was “The Sign”. She made me laugh when she said “I saw the sign. It said ‘MOVE!'” Too funny!

Sunday: Rest day. It is almost 1 pm as I am typing this post and I am still in pajamas. Nothing wrong with it, right? I was invited to a Pampered Chef party but decided not to go. Sometimes I don’t want to leave the house. I may take a walk or bike class in the afternoon. Or maybe both. Or stay in pajamas.

I wish I could say it was another good week of walking and running, but I know not all weeks will be great weeks. I am keeping up with my goal of taking a Peloton class every day. On the days I don’t do a walking or running class, I do a meditation class with Cody. I do like them! The classes still count toward my goal. 😀

TOTAL:
Running: 12.74
Walking: 0
Cycling: 0

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