Good Friday

Even though this day is titled for a religious holiday, it just fits so perfectly.  I'm not sure what it was about the past few weeks at work; partly MCAS messing up schedules and partly snow days but by today I really need tomorrow off.  I realized this today when I was walking the dogs and some middle schoolers started yelling things at the dogs.  You know how middle schoolers are, they're tougher than the world, so of course they thought it was hilarious.  It was the moment when I was getting really irritated that I realized it was definitely time for a break.  One of the first rules of teaching is to NEVER let what the students say get to you.  These kids weren't even my students and I was letting it get to me.  If you're not a teacher, you can't possibly understand this, and may even be sitting there thinking how lucky I am to have days off like this, stop complaining....I know, I've heard it all, and I'm not up for defending my job to anyone at the moment.  So if you haven't done it or can't understand it, just move on.  

Alright, now that I've gotten that out of my system, let's carry on, shall we?  Last night I went for a nice 5/6 mile run with some friends.  There were four of us and it worked out nicely as two were super speedy and myself and the other girl managed to keep pace with each other.  All of our timers and speed calculators had different times, paces, and mileage, which, considering we all started at the same time and ran the same route, made no sense.  That's why I'm calling it 5/6.  I know it was somewhere between the two.  Definitely more than 5, maybe exactly 6, maybe a little less.  I don't know for sure though.  I didn't feel too bad though, which I was happy with.  I think I've figured out the key to successful running.  Coffee and BelVita a half-hour or so before the run.  The BelVita gives me the exact amount of energy I need to start off, without feeling like I'm loaded up on food or going to puke.  Basically, everything you could ask for.  The run was a nice course through Beverly, not totally flat, but not too hilly.  Plus the weather was lovely.  I think I'll be running that one more often.  Here's a Charity Miles shot, but I forgot to start this at the same time as the other running app, so there's a bit of a gap from where I started running to where I started recording. 

Tonight I purchased a new pair of running shoes from Bobs.  I had a gift card, so they ended up only costing me $13.  Sweet deal.  I'm hoping that I like them as much as I like the ClimaWarms. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I realized that my knee problem was coming from wearing my super light climacool shoes, so I had to give them up for running.  I've been looking for a pair of shoes with some more support, but without the huge price tag.  So these new shoes are Adidas, but they're the Clima Aerate, which is what my ClimaWarms are, so they have a little bit more cushioning on the sole.  Did I mention they were only $13? I think these will be good, though I may consider some running insoles as well.  I saw a pair while I was shoe shopping, but I decided to give the shoes a try on their own first.  We'll see where that takes me.  I also found a great pair of running capris, but they were bright pink and slightly see-through, so I passed over them as well. At home I tried to find them online in a different color, but of course, because I really wanted them, they don't exist in my size.  LAME!  

Here are the shoes (or very close to the shoes) that I bought.

To wrap it all up, I just had a conversation about running a half in May.  The plan is to sign up next week, so it looks like that might actually be happening.  All I have to say to that is, ULP.  This always seems like a good idea until the time comes to do it.  Then, it never seems like a good idea.