This Little Piggie…

Finished the Flying Pig Half Marathon in 3:27!  If you haven’t checked your results…and why has it taken you this long?  Go here!

The Pig was awesome this year.  I feel like I say that every year, but it’s true every year.

First off, how can any day be bad when your morning looks like this?

A little blurry, but you get the jist.

Mom and I made our way to corral H, the blog isn’t called thelastcorral for nothing! We found a secret way to get to our corral.  Okay maybe not really a secret, but it took us 10 years to figure it out!

Corral H had some beautiful scenery as well.

The Pig officials were playing songs that were either by Boston or had to do with Boston.  The one that was stuck in my head all day was The Standells, “Dirty Water.”

Before the race started there was a moment of silence followed by “Amazing Grace” played on the bagpipes.  It was pretty touching.

Then before we started we saw not one, but two rainbows!

At 6:30 we were off…well corral’s A-F were off, we waited about 20 minutes to be off.  Once we got started it was pretty smooth sailing.  The one thing I know I need to work on are hills.  We just don’t have that many in Virginia Beach, funny huh?  I could definitely feel the hills in my thighs and hips, but that’s really my only complaint.

There was definitely a larger police presence this year, and that was okay.  There was a police officer or State Trooper at every intersection and water stop.  They were also peppered throughout busy/popular sections of town.  I know my mom and I felt safe.

Here’s the numbers:

15.34 – number of miles completed that day, according to my mom’s iPod

1- missed handoff of water leading to one glass of water being spilled down my leg

6 - “Awwws” from other racers upon reading my mom and I’s t-shirts

3 (at least) – times someone said that, “It’s all downhill from here” when it really wasn’t.

15? – water stops.  The volunteers (Grunt’s) are always awesome.  There wouldn’t be a race without all the volunteers at water stops, at the Expo and at the finish line.

Uncountable – number of creative signs along the course.  My favorites, “WTH! Why the Hills?”, “I’m a stranger, but I’m proud of you!”, “I like Pig Butts and I cannot lie.”, “If this were easy, I’d be doing it.”

2- Number of states we walked through

33,582 – number of participants for the entire weekend of events.

10 – number of years mom and I have walked this race.  Yup, we’re pretty spectacular.

We ended the day, the best way possible

UDF milkshake!  Oh UDF I miss you in Virginia!

Another great Pig!  Thanks to the race organizers, volunteers, spectators, and police.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

 

Last minute check in

Flying Pig in T minus 10 hours!

Start line- Paul Brown Stadium

Start time- 6:30 with 6 corrals A-H

Temperature at start-50′s

Things to know:

If you leave a bag by a tree, car, or what not…it will be taken.
There will be a larger police presence as well.

It was really cool to see all the Boston love at the Expo:

It’s hard to believe that mom and I have done this for 10 years!

Here’s to 10 more

Auto Correct

Today the kids had to take a test.  The test required them to think critically about information they had been presented with.  I had one student that I had to type in her answers to the computer.  When she was done I asked her to look back over what she had written.  She did and said she was done. 

Right before I started to type in her answers she asked me, “So if I spell a word wrong are you going to fix it for me?”  To which I replied no, I was in fact going to type exactly what she wrote on the paper.  She then asked me if I would fix something if it didn’t make sense.  I told her again that I was going to type exactly what she had written.

She took her paper back and looked at it again…

Flying Pig update

I’ve been keeping up with my mileage for the Pig.  Runkeeper and Gympact have been super helpful.  Again, I highly recommend either/both app.

Booyah!

That last 3.33 was awful!  It pretty much rained/sleeted/snowed on me the entire time.  Just getting prepared for the rain that seems to be happening at the Pig, right?

Apparently Mother Nature is not ready for Spring to start yet.  Although I really wish she’d make up her mind, I’m tired of this cold weather!

memegenerator.net

I Am 10K recap

I ran a foggy 10K this morning in Newport News.  The I Am 10K was at Newport News Park.  Even though it was foggy, it really was the perfect weather for a race, nice and cool.

This was the first year for the race, but I was impressed with how smoothly it went.  They had water stops (sometimes forgotten the first go around), and even some race encouragement on the course.  I had to little things that could have been better. The directions to the parking lot to park were a little confusing (if you were coming from the East the directions did not work) and the start times for the race seemed to keep changing.  Little things that I’m sure will be fixed next year. 

The I Am 10K is a trail race.  Trail races are my favorite for two reasons…a) the scenery is always changing thus I don’t get bored and b) I just like to play in the mud!

I Am Fitness put on the race and had a very positive vibe for the race throughout.  All the swag had a positive message and they even had positive notes on the mile markers.  My favorite…

Mainly because…I was tired.  I didn’t even read the Mile 6 sign because I knew that I only had .2 to go and I didn’t care anymore. 

This was a really fun race and I would definitely do it again.  I finished in 1:11, which is not to shabby for me!

The rest of the day calls for cupcake eating (which I already did and was delicious) and napping. 

Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Five Thing Friday

Friday, I am so glad to see you. I felt as though I was a real bitch today at work. Sorry for the cursing. Some of the things the kids were doing today were just driving me batty!

1) I still have not taken down my Christmas decorations. My house still pretty much looks like I should be celebrating the birth of Christ tomorrow…

2) Bond wished me a happy Friday this morning by coughing up hairballs in my bedroom. I live such a glamorous life.

Jerkface, party of one.

3)In order to assure my Friday would end amazingly, I used my Living Social deal for a local bakery Flour Child. I got four cupcakes for $12.   Ah.Mah.Zing.

4) Going back to being a witch that starts with a b.  Tavi Gevinson, gives a good explanation on how my face must have looked through the whole ordeal.  The witchiness starts around 1:24

5) I have a difficult last name to try to pronounce.  This year the students are actually saying my whole name.  The years before it was just Miss G.  So far this week, I’ve had my name yelled at me in a very loud voice and pronounced with an e at the end (which never has happened before).  Mind you this is all by the same child…

Happy Friday people! 

Tomorrow I’m off to run in the I am 10K

Thursday

It’s Thursday.  Yep, that’s about it.  Had an interesting substitute teacher for my gen ed teacher today.  He observed me during my word study group.  He then tried to get my word study group off task by asking them how they came up with their name.  Not helping dude, not helping!

Three things I did today:

1)Got this deliciousness:

That would be broccoli, lettuce, baby bok choy, and kale.  Not pictured are some turnips.  I don’t exactly know what to do with the turnips, but I’ll figure something out.

2) Went for a four mile run.  I’m at 8 miles for the week.  This weekend I am going to run in the I Am 10K in Newport News.  It’s a trail race that goes through part of the hiking and biking trails in Newport News.  It’s the first year for the race, so we’ll see what happens. 

3) Showed up to school at 7:00 AM.  It was early, I would not suggest doing that everyday.  As a result of showing up that early, I had waaaay to much coffee.

500memes.com

Exactly

Tomorrow is Friday and that is very exciting!

Working on my fitness

Really?

Seriously Sony you think someone’s name is Pan?  No, really, Pan?  This could also be the case as to why this particular package still has not been delivered to the correct address. 

I went for a run for the first time in a very long time.  It wasn’t that bad.  I need to find another race to do and starting prepping for the Flying Pig Half Marathon.  I’m excited for the Pig and to start training for it.  Is that weird?

trothaar.wordpress.com

 So here are some potential races:

Frosty 5K: 1/12 Virginia Beach

I am 10K: 1/12 Newport News. 

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Race: 1/26 Virginia Beach - This one involves eating a dozen doughnuts and running 3 miles.  Could be potentially dangerous.

Virginia is for Lovers 14K : 2/9 Virginia Beach

Did your New Year resolution include becoming more healthy? 

I know mine did.  I ate way too many cookies and delicious things that are bad for you over break.  I’m hoping some of these races will get me back to where I was before!

Five Thing Friday

Thank God Friday is finally here!

It’s been a week of crazy children, crying children, and getting sick. Fun times indeed.

1: Children in first grade are truly innocent (for the most part). They were asked to write a letter to anyone in the classroom. After they wrote it they were going to be sharing the letter with the recipient. One student wrote this:

Of course A wrote the letter to C and C wrote a lovely letter inviting A to come over to her house and eat cereal….

2: Proof that I look like an idiot when I run

Oh and you can’t see from this picture, but I’m pretty much levitating in this picture.

3: When I was giving a spelling test today, I told them the word was “eighth.”  One student’s response was, “Oh God!”  See it’s really tough being a fourth grader.

4: Silver Linings Playbook is a good/funny/awkward movie with Bradley Cooper as an anxiety ridden/awkward/foul-mouthed ex mental patient.  All in all a good time!

imdb.com

And he wears a garbage bag when he runs.

5: My work is having a Christmas party and it’s a tacky sweater Christmas party.  I am sooooo excited!  Like there is no good reason for me to be this excited about wearing a tacky sweater.  Is this too much?

I hope y’all have a great weekend and start to December!!

Charlotte Turkey Trot recap

As you’ve seen, Andrew and I ran an 8K on Turkey Day.

I was very excited that Andrew agreed to run with me.  It’s so much better to run with someone else than alone.  We started towards the back since I knew that I don’t run that fast.  Andrew and I got our pace pretty quick and before we knew it were at mile 1.  High fives!

When I registered on the website it kept touting a new course.  Apparently that new course…included lots of lovely hills. Here in Virginia Beach, we don’t have to many of those raising inclines, unless they are man-made.  I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty proud of us because we ran up all the hills.   By the third hill I was cursing them, but hell, I did it!

Yeah, that’s not how I felt.

Around mile 2, running through a neighborhood, there were some people out in their front yard making cocktails.  They seemed to have the ingredients for mimosas and something with rum.  Andrew and I saw a guy go back and grab two drinks one for him and one for his friend. Good times.

A little ways after that (mile 3?) we overheard the following conversation: “Hey Mike, how are you doing?”  “Hey John, very poorly!”  It was hilarious at the time and Andrew and I referred to it constantly throughout the week. 

I’ve got to give major props to my brother.  He was an amazing cheerleader and coach. High fives after every mile, words of encouragement…awesome job bro!  I told him that I was going to walk for a little bit once we hit the traffic light (the hills killed my thighs) he told me I could, but as soon as mile four came up, I was running again.  See, good coaching right there!

I’m also proud of him because I know he was hurtin’ the last mile and half or so.  He pushed through it and we even sprinted to the finish. 

Now, I’ve definitely caught the racing bug!  If you’re interested in some upcoming Virginia Beach area races, check out these!

Jingle Bell Run/Walk December 1st – Norfolk

Christmas Town Dash 8K December 2nd – Williamsburg

Surf n Santa 10 miler December 8th - Virginia Beach

Santa Claus Shuffle 5K December 15th – Portsmouth

 

 

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful for my family and friends both near and far. I’m thankful my friend is starting a new journey, even though it takes her clear across the country.

This morning I was especially thankful my brother got up and did an 8k with me!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving with whoever you spend it with!