Five on Friday

Happy Friday!  Although let's be real--now that school's out, every day feels like the weekend! :)  I was shopping yesterday, and one of the sales girls asked if I had the day off from work.  My reply: "Oh, I'm a teacher, so I have EVERY DAY OFF!!!" Gosh I love summer. :)  Okay, down to business..

ONE

Okay guys, this is a game changer.  If you like drinking iced coffee in summer, have you tried making coffee ice cubes yet?  If not, stop reading this post, go brew a pot of coffee, and fill an ice cube tray with it.  I've been freezing leftover coffee in ice cube trays for the past few weeks, then making my own delicious iced coffee beverages with the cubes, fresh coffee, almond milk, and stevia.  So. Delicious.  And no watered down coffee when the ice starts to melt!

Heart shaped ice tray not required, but it does make it more fun! :)

TWO

Yesterday afternoon I drove an hour up north to Pleasant Prairie, WI for an open water swim at the site of my next tri.  I know it probably seems a little crazy to drive so far, but they offered one group swim for free for tri participants, I needed another OWS practice, and I knew that swimming at the race site would calm my anxieties about the race itself.  

The swim went great, and I made it a mile with no panic attacks (yay!!), but my god that water was FREEZING.  Seriously, it may have been the coldest water I've ever swam in.  I was swimming without a wetsuit, and now I'm thinking I may want one for the tri...hmm...

Sandy feet!

THREE

One thing I love about summer (one of many things) is that some of my friends who are still in grad school come back to town.  It's always a special treat to see them!  My college roomie visited Wednesday, and we took a trip to Ikea.  In college we would go there together anytime we were home on a break, and we'd call them Ikea Dates. :)  

We were so excited to have an Ikea Date Wednesday--lunch at the "cafe," shopping, and sitting for at least a few minutes in every single living room set up.  Perfect.

FOUR

I started taking a sign language class at the community college this week!  Confession: I was actually super nervous before the first class.  Not about the sign language, but just about being back in school in a new setting.  That probably sounds dumb, but I was nervous about parking in the right lot, finding the right building, finding the classroom...so silly, but as a grad from a college of 2,200 students, navigating new campuses (even little community ones!) is intimidating!  Luckily I found where I needed to be.  PHEW! 

 While I already have a decent base in sign language from all my work this past school year, I am loving the class.  It's taught by a Deaf teacher, and I'm learning new things already!  It's also a great chance to continue practicing my signing all summer.

FIVE

Marathon training started this week, and tomorrow morning is our first long run.  While I'm not excited about the 5:30 am wakeup call (the run starts at 6:45, and I have a little bit of a drive), I'm excited to be running regularly with my group again!  I also kind of love the training routine...maybe it's just my old soul, but a quiet Friday night and a hard workout Saturday morning is the perfect start to the weekend IMHO!

What have been the highlights of your week so far?

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Celebrating Summer

Happy Summer!  Technically it's not truly summer yet, but I finished my last day of teaching Thursday, so it's summer time as far as I'm concerned!  Based on the last two days, I just know this summer is going to be awesome.

My packed up, ugly, empty classroom.  The good news is that this year I'm not moving rooms, no cabinets are being replaced, and the walls are NOT being painted.  I was able to leave up posters and just shove things in bags and cabinets--no boxes involved!  Hurray!

I kicked off Friday morning by meeting two co-workers for pedicures and shopping followed by lunch with one of my best friends.  In the afternoon, another friend and I headed into the city for some fun.

I have never seen a cocktail menu on which there were so many words I did not know...I tried to use context clues, but...

We enjoyed fancy cocktails and good eats on a beautiful patio, then headed over to a Beer and Film Clips festival sponsored by New Belgium brewery.  We tasted some different New Belgium beers, ate some yummy food from local food trucks, and hung out in the park watching different short films on a big screen.  Perfect!

Me and my high school bestie!  

Today, I met my running buddy Donna for the Esprit de She race expo and packet pickup.  This will be my third year doing this sprint tri, and I can't wait!  As usual, Esprit de She provided some awesome swag:

Again this year the race shirt is a Moxie cycling tank, and I also got a thin cotton tank for registering early!  Love it.  We shopped around the expo for awhile (obviously I bought three headbands in the process...) before meeting our other running buddy for lunch.

Starting the carb loading!  Those potatoes...oh my...

After I finally made it back home, I spent the afternoon packing my triathlon bag and meticulously checking over my packing list.  I think I actually have everything organized and ready to go!  I've been training hard for this race, and I think it should be an awesome day.  Can't wait to share a race recap with you for tri #4!

Hope you're having a beautiful weekend!

What has made your weekend beautiful?

Three Things Thursday

ONE

So I made a huge discovery last night--I have been making smoothies wrong my WHOLE LIFE.  Seriously folks, gather round.  This is huge.  So every time I make a smoothie, it always drives me crazy that I have to stop the blender several times and stir the ingredients up.  But then this week, I read somewhere (and I literally have no clue where) that you should put your liquid in the bottom of the blender, then your greens, and finally chunks of fruit and ice on top.  I have always done exactly the opposite--layer the fruit and greens, then pour almond milk over it all.  I tried the liquid first method and oh em gee, it was perfect!  

 So tell me--am I the only one who didn't know that this was the correct way to make smoothies?  Am I smoothie-inept?  Is this common sense to anyone else?  It honestly never occured to me--I've been blaming my blender for years!

TWO

Today was our LAST DAY of ISAT testing!!  Woohoo!!  More than anything, I am relieved to be back to our normal schedule--for everyone's sake!!!  My pre-testing "pep talks" have gotten shorter every day, and yesterday morning I had to swap my heels for a pair of crocs midway through our test.  I am so over testing!!

THREE

My grade level team has been saying this year that we needed a "team building" activity to socialize together outside of school.  Back in December, we bought Groupons for one of those step-by-step painting classes.  None of us are artists, but there was the promise of conversation and wine.  We ended up having a great time!

(That wine has been refilled by this point...)

The finished product!  I'm not going to be changing careers anytime soon, let's just say!

Tell me about your week!

Running Buddies + a Race Recap: Elvis is Alive 5K

This just in: I am running 15 miles tomorrow. Yikes! When did that happen? Seems like yesterday we were just starting our training with an easy 6...those days are long gone!  This has been a great running week so far.  I had an awesome seven miler Wednesday with one of my very best friends who was visiting from our of town.  Scott's a super speedy marathoner, but like the awesome running buddy and friend he is, he slows down his pace and drags me through training runs when he is in town.  Nothing like a fast friend to get you moving!

Us after that rough duathlon in July...well rough for me.  Scott killed it in the tri...Typical. :)

Thursday was extra fun.  I had the pleasure of running the Elvis is Alive 5k in Chicago with my friend Lauren!  It's been forever since Lauren and I have run together, so I was pumped to get a race in the calendar for us this summer.  Especially a themed race...you know I love a good theme!  Lauren was itching for a new 5k PR, and I was super pumped to help her get it.  We decided sparkle skirts were a necessity...

Lauren and I started out strong at a 9:30 pace, and we held it for the first mile and half.  After that, Lauren started really feeling it, so we slowed down a little and took a couple of walk breaks.  When we started back up again, I hated to have to break the news to her that to get that PR, we needed to pick up the pace!  (I also made her promise to tell me if she was going to die and needed to slow down, but otherwise I was getting her that PR!) 

We crossed the finish line in 31:22, a full minute faster that her previous pr. Lauren promises she only wished ill upon me and cursed my name in her head for that last stretch, but if it got her to her goal, I'll take it!

After the race we soaked up some refreshments, including a free 312 (my favorite beer) and tacos from a food truck.

Note the Elvis costumes... :)

Post-Race Elvis Tribute Band

Oh, and we just HAD to stop for cake pops at Starbucks on the way to the train...

Yum.

It was awesome racing with Lauren again, but the best part was that I got to share her pr joy with her! Only a runner can truly understand how amazing that PR feeling is.  Loved getting to help pace Lauren to the finish!  We agreed that next race, she's shooting fir a sub-30. You got this, Lauren!

Have you ever helped pace a friend to a PR?

Tell me about your favorite running buddies!

Three Things Thursday

ONE
This time next week I will be heading off to Boston, one of my absolute favorite cities, to visit my wonderful friend and fellow runner Michelle:

Us after the 2012 Kentucky Derby Half Marathon

Among other things, we will be running the Triple Threat Half Marathon in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. This course is going to be beautiful!  I have always wanted to race near the ocean!

I am super excited about this race, but after looking at the elevation...

((That might not seem like much to some of you, but I'm a Prairie State girl, born and raised!  

Hills are not my friend...))

...And realizing that the race starts at 10:15am, meaning we'll be finishing right at the hottest part of the day, we quickly realized this will NOT be a PR or a speedy race for either of us.  Instead, we decided to have a little fun with it.  When Michelle sent me the link to the Team Sparkle website, I didn't hesitate before jumping on board the sparkle skirt bandwagon!  These skirts were EVERYWHERE at the Disney Princess Half this year, and I was obsessed with them.  My awesome skirt arrived yesterday!

It is so cute and so light; I can't wait to run in it!

TWO
I did it.  Visited the teacher's store, that is!  Back to school shopping has officially begun.  I am sticking with the same turquoise, black, and polka dot decor as last year, so I shouldn't have to buy too much (hopefully!), but of course I needed a few new things!  Between a stop there and a trip to Target, I have some of the basics covered.  Last year I spent a ton of money on new things for the classroom, so this year I am trying to restrain myself!

THREE
Remember the heat wave I talked about last week?  Well, I was SO pumped to wake up yesterday to some nice and cool weather!  In fact, I was able to have a super lazy morning and head out for my run after 11 thanks to the cooler temps!

67 degrees at 11:05???  AMAZING!

I drove a little ways to a gorgeous trail that I discovered during half-marathon training in May.  I hadn't run there since then because my midweek runs I usually just run in my neighborhood and since I've been running my long runs with my training group.  Today called for 5-6 miles though, and this trail has a beautiful 5.5 mi unpaved loop, so I figured it was perect.

Beautiful!!!  And wonderful to finish a run in the middle of the day and not be so hot I thought I would pass out!  LOVE!

Do you run close to home or do you ever drive to running spots? 

Have you bought anything awesome for your classroom yet?

Four on Friday, a day late!

1. You guys, it's freakin' hot out in Chicago these days.  Wednesday evening at 7pm, it was still 95 degrees out with a "feels like" temp of 101.  Yesterday's heat index had a projected high of 110--not sure if it actually got up there, but it was pretty darn hot.  Yikes.  I've had the best intentions of getting up to run before dawn this week, but needless to say my summer lazies have led me to shut that alarm right off each morning.  Consequently, I've been running here:

 Hate this thing.  I usually tough it out and only resort to the dreadmill if I'm running super late at night or the dead of winter, but the humidity has been just killer and the streets and paths have minimal shade around here.  I know February will be here before I know it and I should savor this, but some days...

2. I keep seeing pictures on blogs and pinterest of people's classrooms that are almost completely set up.  Each time I have a mild panic attack.  We start school August 19th and I'll be on vacation August 1st-6th, so I was hoping to get in my room these last weeks in July to start making a dent.  Since I moved classrooms this year, I have a TON of work to do!  However, when I emailed the custodian to ask when my room would be ready, he told me that there is a "hold" on cleaning my room--the person previously in my room is moving to a room downstairs, and that teacher is moving schools.  However, the other school is finishing some work and can't accept her boxes yet, so the things from my room's previous teacher can't be moved yet...you get the picture.  I already told my mom and a couple coworkers that I am going to need a SWAT team style task force to help me get unpacked and ready to go once I can finally get in there!!

All these boxes need to be unpacked!  Ahhhh!

3. I have been trying to find ways to beat the heat this week!  Yesterday my friend and I hit up the Six Flags water park, Hurricane Harbor.  I'd always balked at the steep price tag for this place, but I'm so glad we went--we had a blast and stayed cool the whole day!  I'd forgotten how much fun water slides are!  (Although we definitely BURNED the bottoms of our feet walking around on what can only be described as the scalding hot pavement all day!)  No pics to share unfortunately!

Thursday, I visited by high school bestie in Milwaukee yesterday.  To beat the heat, we went to the beach and literally SPRINTED down to the water because the sand was so burning hot!  Nothing like a little freezing Lake Michigan water to cool you off!!  This was one day I didn't mind that cold lake!  There was also food:

And pie:

At this point I figure that if I can't work in my classroom, I might as well enjoy the end of my summer!

4. Did you happen to see this cartoon on The Oatmeal this week?  I loved it!

Some highlights that ring true for me:

Seriously, I am one hungry runner these days!  I can't imagine how much I'll be eating once my training really steps it up...hope I can afford the grocery bill!!  (As I write this, I am gorging myself on chocolate almonds.  Not quite nutella through a straw, but I'm thinking it's a slippery slope...)

Um yeah...some of these early morning runs followed by busy days lead me to be more likely found collapsed on the living room floor than, you know, keeping my apartment livable...

Just YES.  Exactly.

Anyways, hope you are having a fabulous weekend!  I'm just relaxing today after a busy past couple days and my hot and sweaty long run this morning, but tomorrow I'm volunteering at the Rock and Roll Chicago half marathon.  Anyone running it?

What do you have planned for the weekend?

Weekend Wrap Up

Can I just take a moment to profess my love for summer?  I know some teachers love the idea of year round school, but I absolutely ADORE these two months (+ change) off every year.  Hello pool side reading!  (Which I sadly haven't been able to do yet because the weather in Chicago is super sucky right now.  Oh well, no complaining because no matter what the weather is like, I don't have to go into work tomorrow!!)

I spent my weekend doing a mix of celebrating the end of the school year and focusing on my training goals for summer.  Friday evening I hopped on a train to Chicago to visit a long-time friend.  We went to a vegetarian restaurant, biked through drizzling rain down the lake front path to a German street fest, enjoyed some craft beers on a patio post-street fest, got soaked biking home in the middle of the night, stopped for pizza on the way back, and passed out on the couch watching Arrested Development.  All in all, a perfect first night of summer.  (Although I would not particularly recommend riding a bike in skinny jeans, especially in the rain...Seriously, I don't know how the hipsters do it.)

Bikes!!!  Btw, the bike I was riding was at least a couple inches too big for me...Getting on and off at stop lights was...interesting...

Celebrating my German heritage!  I am such a pretend German though--I don't know when I have ever in my life eaten German food (besides pretzels), and being a vegetarian, I doubt I ever will!  The beer is good though. :) 

Locking our souvenir mugs to the bikes when we got to destination 2...Come on, you know those babies would have been stolen...Who WOULDN'T want a plastic mug with American, Chicago, and German flags on it??

Saturday morning I work up, took a bus and train to the opposite end of the city, and attended the Chicago Area Runner's Association summer marathon training kickoff clinic.  I got a free membership to CARA for summer training because I am fundraising for Autism Speaks.  I am totally a solo runner, so training with a group will be a completely new thing for me.  I'm excited, though.  When I'm logging lengthy double-digit runs, I think it will be awesome to have the group support.  

Swag

 The clinic was super informative--we were in sessions all day about things like basic marathon training, nutrition, injury prevention, running form, etc.  I was in the novice group obviously because this was my first marathon, and I was hoping to learn something new.  I definitely did and took pages of notes!  I left the clinic excited about training and with a head full of information.  Oh, and Hal Higdon was a speaker!  I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity!

They encouraged us to write down some goals for summer training.  In addition to sticking with the training plan and stay uninjured, here are mine:

I have been slacking on stretching and foam rolling lately, but I know it is super important for me, especially since I am starting marathon training with an injury (IT Band Syndrome).  Foam rolling and using the stick helps keep my ITBs happy and prevent all sorts of other issues.  I'm committing to rolling out after every run and before bed every night!  

Today was a slow-start day.  I woke up early (after falling asleep at, wait for it, 9pm...) and proceeded to lay in bed for hours reading and playing on the computer.  I had a brick workout, the last one before next Sunday's tri, on the calendar this morning, but the weather was not being my friend.  It was under 60 degrees all morning!  I am a little bit of a wimp, and biking around in damp clothes and with wet hair is not my favorite.  I figured I could be lazy all morning and attempt the brick at noontime when the temperatures were a little warmer.

I finally made it out there for that brick...and thought I was going to die.  It was about 55 degrees and windy.  My hair was wet and dripping down my shirt.  It basically sucked.  Plus, I got lost on the trail where I was biking, and became convinced I'd have to approach a random fisherman to borrow their phone and call my dad for a resuce...luckily I found my way and avoided that.  By the time I made it back to my car, though, I decided to say "screw it" to my run and head home to a hot shower.  I am still working on warming up!

Red, frozen fingers 

Now I'm off to lay under a blanket before watching the Blackhawks later tonight with my fam--hopefully another win!

Awesome Dad and I in matching Toews jerseys...I know, we are adorable...

What did you do this weekend?