October 17, 2013

Three Things Thursday: Race Pics, Work Days, and My Tired Eyes

ONE
I know my friends and family are probably sick of hearing about the Chicago Marathon (probably because I've been talking about it since February...), but I have to say I am still riding that post-marathon high.
You better believe I had this baby on my car Monday!

 Lauren @ Forward is a Pace shared this link about post-marathon depression, but I have to say, all I feel post-marathon is excitement about what I did and the desire to run more races!  (Maybe not another marathon...at least not yet... :)  But seriously, the support I received from friends and family even post-race into this week has been unbelievable.  Texts, emails...the love never ends.  Tuesday afternoon I couldn't believe it when the custodian brought a BEAUTIFUL vase of flowers up to my room that my team had ordered for me as a congratulations gift!  I was speechless.
I took this picture like 10 times, in different lightings, and it kept coming out like this.  
Weird, but you get the idea. :)

 I was also so excited to find a hand-made congratulations card in my mail Tuesday that an old friend had mailed me, sharing that she wished she could have seen me cross the finish line.  So many others have shared that they tracked me online and cheered when they saw I'd finished.  The love--just overwhelming.  I had to share a few of the race pics that came in too...

Check out that "this is freakin hard" face...
Getting ready to cross the finish line!
I'M A MARATHONER!
 Gosh, I can't imagine looking back at these pictures will ever get old. :)

 TWO
My team requested "planning subs" yesterday so that we could spend the day creating literacy common assessments.  Our district is hugely into PLCs, so if we ask for subs for this kind of thing once or twice a year, they will usually give them to us.  These days are long an exhausting (not to mention the hours that go into sub preparation the night before!), but they are usually really productive!
Yesterday we had a marathon-day of common assessment writing--and also a marathon day of eating.  Dunkin Donuts Munchkins, grapes, pretzels, caramel rice cakes...I don't think I stopped eating all day.   Note to self: Must remember that I will not be running a marathon again next weekend and stop eating like I am... We ended up getting 5 common assessments (chock full of common core style questions!) written.  Woohoo!  By the end of the day, though, we were getting very distracted, punchy, and our brains were pretty much mush.  All I wanted to do was come home and lay in bed with a book for a few hours.  It was a long day, but there is something to be said for getting to spend a day with you team!  Yes, we were working, but the bonding part is also nice.

THREE
My contacts have been the bane of my existence for the past couple of years.  I wore them as much as 18-20 hours in a row back in my college days without problems, but from my senior year in college on, I've been able to wear them less and less.  This is mostly because of my terrible allergies that some days make my contacts feel like they are literally scraping my eye balls.  TERRIBLE!  I don't mind my glasses most of the time, but when you're running, doing yoga, swimming, etc. as much as I am, glasses become a gigantic pain.  This summer I reached new heights of fed-up-ness when I ended up in my glasses at the beach due to contact issues, squinting in the sun, and worrying about losing them in the ocean if I went out into the water.  Ain't nobody got time for this.  I decided that enough was enough and started pinching pennies to save up some money for Lasik.  I'd thought about it for years, but finally decided this summer that I was DOING IT!
Tuesday I went into LasikPlus for a free consult and exam, thinking that if all went well maybe I'd schedule to have the procedure done around Christmas.  When they told me I was a perfect Lasik candidate and that they had appointments available next week, I figured, why wait any longer?  I've waited years!  So now I'm having Lasik next Friday!  While I'm sure I'll get a little nervous the day before, right now I feel like a little kid looking forward to Christmas!!!  I have been waiting for this since I was 14... Anyone have Lasik before??  Would love to hear your (positive) stories! :)

Highlights of your week?

8 comments:

  1. Great marathon pictures! I love the first and last ones especially, you look so happy! The blurred flowers photo looks very 80s haha!

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  2. My sister had Lasik and loved it! She just didn't follow the directions for the few hours right after the procedure and then had some pain, so I would suggest following the doctor's directions! Ha!

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  3. Man, if I ever ran a marathon, I would never stop telling people! That's awesome that everyone has been so supportive. I always worry about the post-race blues too, but for me, it's because I stop running for a few weeks for no reason. I'm sure that doesn't help. Love your race pictures! Wish mine would come out that nice :)

    How do you know if someone ran a marathon? Don't worry, they'll tell you! ;)

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  4. I don't think people realize what an isolated job teaching is. Yes, you're in a room full of children all day, but that's such a different human interaction than working with colleagues on a daily basis.
    Right now I can't wear contacts due to scratches on my eyes. Glasses are driving me crazy, although it's nice not to have to take contacts out as soon as I get home from work. Lasik kind of scares me....I'll look forward to seeing how it works out for you!

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  5. Congratulations once again! You look so happy in your pictures, and did such a wonderful job at raising awareness of Autism and ASD. Thank you!! <3 SarahJeanne

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  6. I made a scrapbook of my first marathon - cards, articles, emails. Whatever I had.

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  7. I haven't ran a marathon, but before my first half marathon I was "never" running another one, one the ride home from the first half marathon I was planning my next one. Congrats!!

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  8. My sister had lasik last year and said it was really simple! She had been wearing glasses since age 7 and contacts since 9. She's really active, runs and rock climbs, and was interviewing for the Peace Corps after college graduation. I'm not sure if they won't accept people with glasses/contacts or just discourage it, but that's what made her decide to do the surgery. She also said there was a big bowl of glasses in the office, because people just leave them there after the surgery to donate, they'll never need them again... I thought that was funny...

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