Half Marathon # 2

Last Saturday I ran my second half marathon.  It was not nearly as rewarding as the first for a couple of different reasons.  The big ones are:

#1 It was 60 degrees and 94% humidity when I woke up. UGH! We trained all winter in the 30's-40's.  I like running in the winter. It's cold. I wear tank tops to run if it's anything above 40.  It was too HOT.

#2 I've been eating Whole30 and Paleo this training cycle. Training pace has been slower as a result.

#3 I waited too long to eat.  We usually eat at the 6.5  mile mark, but for some stupid reason I thought I could go a little further and eat at mile 8.  That was just dumb, especially considering the heat. Lesson learned.

Favorite Things Linky Party: Running Gear

I'm linking up with the Teaching Trio for another month of favorite things.  This month I decided to go with my favorite running gear. I have running on the brain as I will be running in my 2nd half marathon later this month.  Running is what keeps me sane. I don't run to go fast or win, I just need to move and get my endorphins pumping or else I am really no fun to be around.   If you are a runner or would like to become one here are a few things I really can't run without.

#1 Brooks Running Shoes

These are a MUST have for me.  I have HUGE feet and need a really wide toe box.  Brooks is hands down the best for those that need a wide toe box.  I have worn several different models of Brooks.  These hot pink beauties are Ravenna 6's and I plan to wear them for the half this month.  

#2 Arm Warmers

I will confess that when I first started seeing folks wearing arm warmers I thought it a little goofy.  I have 100% changed my opinion.  I LOVE these.  I happen to be one of those who runs hot all the time. So inevitably I am having to take off my jacket and tie it around my waist.  Ugh.  It's even more annoying since I wear and arm band with my iPhone and to take my jacket off I have to take off the arm band first.  Enter these little beauties!  Slide them on when the temps require a jacket and slide them off part way into my run when I have warmed up so much that it feels like summer even though it's only 45 degrees out!  One More Mile carries arm warmers and other gear with all sorts of fun slogans if you feel like making people smile while you run.  

#3 Runkeeper App

I first started using Runkeeper as a walker way back in June of 2010.  I wanted a GPS tracker to keep track of my miles and calories burned.  Since then I have progressed from walking to running and I have logged almost 1,500 miles with it over the years (including 2011 when I seemingly didn't move much at all according to my stats).   Did I mention it's FREE too?  I highly recommend Runkeeper for walkers and runners of all abilities. It has tons of handy features too. Maybe I'll do a post separate post on how it's helped me train.

Be sure to check out my Just Run. Pinterest Board for more of my favorite running gear.

Follow Mom2punkerdoo's board Just Run. on Pinterest.

Don't forget my blog reveal celebration is going for a few more days! Enter the giveaway today!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Deep in the Heart of Texas Blog Hop

Welcome to the "Deep in the Heart of Texas" blog hop!  Over 40 Texas teacher bloggers have joined together to share what we love about our state as well as ideas and freebies that we love.  You will also have the opportunity to enter to win TpT products and TpT gift certificates by entering using the rafflecopters included in each post.  Down at the bottom, you will see all of the blogs participating in the hop.  Just click and you will be taken to their posts.  We hope you love what you find.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Howdy! I am Mom2punkerdoo, but my friends all call me Kim.  I am a 40-something wife, mother, native Californian turned Texan, wannabe photographer, occasional scrapbooker, teacher turned homeschool parent, Facebook addict, Disney fan, pet lover, TPT seller and an aspiring runner who loves to throw a good party! Almost 8 years ago we made our way to McKinney, Texas and we haven't looked back!  

I will start by saying that the friends I have found since moving to Texas have made living here a true blessing above and beyond all the other things I love about McKinney, Texas,  It was truly hard to pick just a few things to share with y'all, but I managed to narrow it down to two for now.

#1 Singer/Songwriter Night at Cadillac Pizza Pub 

There is a lot to love about downtown McKinney, but Tuesday nights at Cadillac Pizza Pub is definitely a highlight.  The food and drinks are great.  I am a fan of  the Tony's Ranch House Salad and my boys love sharing a Smoky Pie, but what we really love is the live music.  We are partial to the singer/songwriter that performs on the first Tuesday of the month, Zane Williams.

If you are a fan of Texas country music or just good music that tells a great story then you really need to listen to Zane.  We found him a few years ago on a Tuesday night playing at Cadillac and fell in love with his music.  We were homeschooling back then so going out on Tuesday nights was doable and his show is family friendly, as are almost all of his songs.  As a matter of fact, many of his songs contain messages, values and morals I want my son to listen to...can't say that about a lot of today's artists. Needless to say we have been huge fans every since.  

So if you are making plans for a trip to downtown McKinney I highly recommend a stop by Cadillac Pizza Pub and if you can make on the first Tuesday of the month you will be in for a real treat.  Just be sure to get there early as it fills up fast!

#2 Our Trails

A few years ago McKinney started expanding their trails throughout town.  About that same time I started putting more time and effort back into running.  The timing was perfect.  You can now find me here at least once a week. I often meet with my running partners in one the school parking lots nearby and we do our long runs on these trails, away from cars and noise surrounded by a bit of nature. There is a small creek we cross over a few times, we loop around near a new city dog park , and we have occasionally seen an armadillo or two. You will find runners, walkers, and bikers on these trails and they are plenty wide enough for all of us.  If you find yourself in McKinney and it's not July or August you might want to make your way to Bonnie Wenk Park and from their you can check out our fabulous trails for yourself. 

Much like picking one thing I love about my town was hard, this also took some time to narrow down. It being Valentine's Day and all I decided to go with my favorite book about love, The Veleveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.  Can you believe I never recall having read this book as a child?  I do recall the first time I read it though. My now husband gave it to me as a gift when we were dating many year ago. Pretty sweet for a college boy isn't it?  

This is the version my now husband gave me many years ago.

A few years later, when I landed my first teaching job The Velveteen Rabbit happened to be one of the 3rd grade literature units I need to teach.  Luckily, I had the two very best teaching partners on the planet. They shared ideas, plans, projects, and most important of all what remains my all time favorite culminating activity ever....The Velveteen Rabbit Tea Party (click to read more).

Needless to say I fell in love with the book, the message is shares, and the fun I have had making it come to life.  Did you know you can get this book for FREE?  It is in the public domain as it was written 1922.  This makes it perfect for using in the classroom without having to purchase a lot of books.  You can find it online several places, but this link also includes the original illustrations too!

Freebie Time! This is one of the first freebies I made for TPT, but I updated it this month to share the new and improved version with you today!

It includes simple editing and revising checklists to help your students self and peer edit their writing. These checklists remind students to check for proper punctuation, use of adjectives, word variation and staying on topic. There are two different styles of checklists included.

With the update I  added a 6 point writing rubric and time order/transitional words reference chart for your growing writers! 

Click to Download!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my hometown and some of the things I love!  Now keep scrolling to get to the giveaways!

Check it out y'all!  Lots of great giveaways with the hop around Texas! Be sure to enter and then hop on over to read more about what we love about our hometowns in Texas. Who knows, you might find yourself inspired to plan a trip through the Lone Star State!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click on the buttons below to visit some other awesome Texas bloggers!

An InLinkz Link-up

Runkeeper Stats 2014 : 500 Miles

Hey now, look at that!  500 miles logged in 2014.  I couldn't have planned that if I tried.

I love the Runkeeper App.  I've used it for about 4 years to track both walking and running. Nowadays, I only track my running and I just started tracking my walks again using Wooftrax.  

I rarely log in online to check stats, but since it's the start of a new year AND I knew that 2014 was my best year since...oh 1985...I was curious to see how many miles I had logged.  Imagine my surprise to have logged an even 500 miles for 2014.  I do like to stop my runs as close to an even mile mark as I can, but considering most of my runs look like this:

I do find it fantastically awesome that I somehow managed to hit 500 EXACTLY without even trying!  I love that kind of coincidence.

Well, on  to 2015.  I've officially logged a whopping 5 miles so far.  I hate to set goals with specific numbers just to avoid disappointment if I fail.  So I won't.  I do have plans to train and run at least as much as I did in 2014. So, with any luck I will be pleasantly surprised when I check my stats again this time next year!

Do any of you use Runkeeper or something else to track stats?  I am not super  hard core about my pace or tracking my data, but I do find it fun to have the info.  I mostly run for my mental health, but I do enjoy seeing improvement and progress!

Believe 2014!

I've been running this race for 4 years now...though I could have sworn it was longer.  I actually went and counted my race shirts to be sure, but anyhow... A month or so ago I wasn't sure this year's race was even going to happen.  

You see in a normal year the publicity for this event starts in September with a big T-shirt logo reveal.  Then, the Facebook posts about early registration start showing up in your news feed. Followed by asking who wants to put a sign in their yard to help advertise. You get the idea. However, sometime in October it dawned on me that I hadn't seen any news about this year's race.  I knew something was up.  The old website? Gone.  Facebook page? Gone.  Local running calendar? Nothing on it.  

I was bummed. This is the race that got me motivated to start running again!  It's my Thanksgiving weekend tradition.  It couldn't just disappear!  I posted an inquiry on my Facebook page to see if any locals knew what was up.  I few responded that they had heard it might not happen, but one friend found a link to a registration page. No official race details, no event website, but I could register so I did. I crossed my fingers and hoped it was really happening and I kept my eyes glued for some sign of the usual publicity. Nothing. I did eventually get an e-mail about packet pick-up that included race details. Yeah! It was happening! I just hoped the usual crowd showed up.

Ok this story is getting too long and there is more to tell...like the fact that I was out late last night with friends, ate only a few appetizers for dinner along with my cocktail, and somehow still managed to run this race sub 30 minutes for the first time ever!  Did I mention the course is hilly?  Well, hilly by Texas standards that is!  But the story gets even better.  I get a text this afternoon asking if I placed in the race. Huh?  No, unlikely I say, but the results weren't posted yet and I didn't stay for awards. Apparently a mutual friend had mentioned that she thought I placed.  Well, all be darned...I did!  No kidding!  I somehow managed to get 3rd place in my age group with a finish time of 29:29 (age is a good thing in these circumstances).  I also think the lack of publicity this year decreased the volume of competition, but hey I'll take it!  

Believe?  Sure do! Can't wait for next year!


Here is last year's post about trying to hit sub 30.

Big Day Tomorrow

On July 22nd I made a choice that in the moment seemed like a good one. There have been a few moments since then that I wasn't so sure.  Particularly a few very early Saturday mornings, after away games on Friday night, when I found myself running on about 4 hours sleep!

However, I think my half crazy plan might not have been so insane after all.  Our adjustment to high school and marching band has been rough.  That is putting it nicely.  Anyone who knows me well realizes that exercise is what keeps me sane.  So while the early mornings and long runs seemed a bit nuts, I do think they kept me from going completely off the deep end.

The long runs have also been my only social outings this fall, unless you count football games and band competitions.  Much like I need endorphins, I also need my social time!  I'll get a good 13.1 miles of it tomorrow with a group of awesome women!  Let's just hope I make it across the finish line.

Double Digits!

Jeepers! I did it!  I must confess that the last 2 miles were a bit brutal and I am seriously wiped out!

Back in July when I decided it would be a good idea to train for my first half marathon, I did not take into consideration Football Season and having a freshman in the March Band!  Had I any clue what it would be like I hope would have been smart enough to know that early morning runs on Saturday were going to be PAINFUL and possibly simply insane.

Friday night games and picking up anywhere from 11:45-12:30AM does not allow much time for sleep when you plan to meet your friends between 6:00AM and 7:00AM to avoid the heat, and allow time to get home early enough to make it to our kiddos Saturday activities.

Thankfully the temps are starting to drop and that is making the long runs a tad easier...of course we've been adding mileage now so the two might just cancel each other out.  There is some consolation in the fact that there was no sleeping in for the Drumline kids this morning either....though I felt bad for them too, as they were heading to compete on the same 5 hours of sleep I had.

So I dropped the kiddo off and headed to meet my running partners. There is NO possible way that I could have completed this run if I was trying to do this alone.  This morning was my first time to run double digits.  Besides the exhaustion and jello like legs, I am feeling pretty darn happy about the accomplishment.   AND I was able to make it to the Drumline contest with time to spare.  Not a bad way to start the weekend even if I can barely walk or keep my eyes open.....  (-.-)zzZZ

Only Half Crazy

No turning back.  I hit the submit button.  Just registered for my first half marathon. At the moment I am feeling like I can do this...I am just praying that is in fact true!  It's not till November so I've got some time to train and thankfully the awful heat and humidity I ran in this morning will be long gone by then!

One More Mile has tons of fun slogans on their running gear.  I sport my "Will Run For Margaritas" tank fairly often.  Not only is it true, it makes me smile every time I put it on.  I am thinking that this one will be on my Christmas list for next year.

 

I know I will chuckle when I put this one on also, but it isn't quite as true...pretty sure I am more than half crazy! Ask anyone....no don't!

Anyone else out there half crazy too?  Are you registered for any races this fall?  

Believe 2013

Perfect day for a race.  Tried to get a sub 30 minute 5K.  Came close, but not quite.  30:06.  The uphill finish is tough!  Certainly the fastest I've run this course in the last 3 years.  There is always next year!

McKinney Mini

Longest I've ever run in a race.  My leg of the relay was 5.6 miles today. Ran my best pace for that distance.  Fun!

Christmas In July...in Texas

July in Texas feels nothing like Christmas.  It is just too dag-gum HOT to inspire any sort of Christmasy type feeling. So all the Christmas inflatables at the Stonebridge Methodist Church parking lot on Saturday morning sure did make for an odd sight.  However, if you ask me those inflatables are one of the WORST holiday decorations ever created...and I personally have created some pretty god awful Christmas decorations.  I am hoping people forget the 6-pack holder wreaths and the soda can angels! 

Anyhow, the attempt to create a Christmas feel in July was for a great cause.  A 5K race to support the McKinney Food Pantry and to help spread some of the Christmas cheer mid-year!  Even better it was close to home, a flat course and I needed a goal to keep me motivated to run in the heat of Texas summer.  Yeah, I know...I'm crazy.

I knew it would be much more fun to be crazy with friends. So I sent out an e-mail to some of my gal pals who like to do a bit of running.  Well, they don't ALL like to, but they are doing it anyway.  I wasn't sure if I would get any takers as the over night lows were heading toward 75 degrees...can you really call that a low?  Much to my delight, 5 of us all registered to run together! 

So Saturday morning we all met at 6:45 ready to go.  I wore my current favorite shirt that says, "Will Run for Margaritas."  HA! It's true and it makes me smile....I think it even made me go faster.  The last 5K I ran was this same course back in February.  I ran with a friend and stuck with her to cheer her to the finish line in her very first 5K.  It was awesome...and it was NOT HOT.  This time I decided that although I had four fabulous gal pals running also I was just going to do this one at whatever pace I felt comfortable.  So I took off..

I took off pretty fast too and there were people in my way.  Had to bob and weave a bit to get around a few.  Once I got some space I knew I was going fast, but I felt pretty good, so I decided not to worry about it.  I found my "Purple Lady" fairly quickly.  That's what I called her in my head anyway.  Usually I try to find someone ahead of me in a race that I think it going at pace I can keep up with or at least not lose sight of entirely!  For this race it was " Purple Lady."  I kept in her my sights and even passed her at one point, and then she passed me and so it went.  Actually, funny thing is I think I might have been ahead of her at the finish, but I was so worked up I lost track! 

See the finish was an interesting moment for me.  I knew I was booking...well, booking in the world of Kim at least.  My handy dandy RunKeeper lady had given me my pace at the 1 and 2 mile marks and I knew I had a shot at finishing this race under 30 minutes.  I had been secretly hoping that I could break 30 with this race...well not so secretly... as I can't keep any secrets from Joe, but I think he's the only one I told...I think.  Anyhow, I was closing in on the finish and my adrenaline kicked in and strangely I felt a little nauseous ...that's new for me.  And then "87 Chevy" by Zane Williams comes up as the song I am going to finish too.  I love that song. I love Zane. I am happy. I am thanking God for all my blessings and now instead of feeling like I am going to throw up... I am about to start crying...BIG TIME.  Then, I come around the corner and Joe and Joshua are there to cheer me to the finish.  So NOW I am trying to run as fast as I can without throwing up or starting to all out bawl....all the while having massive amounts of adrenaline rushing through me.  OMG!  It was the most bizarre thing and it really caught me off guard.  Needless to say my official chip time was 30:09.  ALMOST!  I think I could have done it if not for the wildly strange experience of the last half mile or so.  It was the best time I have had in my adult running career so I will take it!  And did I mention it was HOT!  Maybe next year they can arrange for some Christmas snow to fall in July.