It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, it's not Christmas.. It's summer vacation! The time when all teachers yell, "Hey, Parents! TAG!!! YOU'RE IT!!!!!" Ahh, the feeling of relief as the students board the buses and take off down the road. Nothing can match the feeling of knowing you did everything you could for those kids and your mind and body hit that wall. Oh yeah, and now you have to pack up your whole classroom! This is why teachers need two months off. We need to recover from all the BS we put up with for ten months. So now it's time to start working on my TO-DO list for the summer.
Ironman Raleigh 70.3
At the finish line! I <3 Ironman! Allow me to backtrack for a moment... June 2-4
Volunteering at this race is my favorite thing to do all year. I started by going to the Athlete Briefing before my volunteer shift so that I could answer all the questions athletes would be asking when they came by to pick up their packet. Yea, I'm THAT volunteer! Having done the race before, I know the stress that goes into that weekend and if I can help make someone's race experience one to remember, then I have done my job. The thing I enjoyed the most was talking athletes through the packet pickup line and then seeing them at the aid station on Sunday, and then some I even saw cross the finish line. After this experience, I thought about how cool it would be to work for Ironman. If I didn't have pets, I would seriously consider applying to work for Ironman. I sure could travel to some great places! Maybe one day I can be a professional volunteer.
Volunteering at this race is my favorite thing to do all year. I started by going to the Athlete Briefing before my volunteer shift so that I could answer all the questions athletes would be asking when they came by to pick up their packet. Yea, I'm THAT volunteer! Having done the race before, I know the stress that goes into that weekend and if I can help make someone's race experience one to remember, then I have done my job. The thing I enjoyed the most was talking athletes through the packet pickup line and then seeing them at the aid station on Sunday, and then some I even saw cross the finish line. After this experience, I thought about how cool it would be to work for Ironman. If I didn't have pets, I would seriously consider applying to work for Ironman. I sure could travel to some great places! Maybe one day I can be a professional volunteer.
Summer Ideas
1. Sign up for a marathon/50k for the summer. This will give my pre-training a purpose. Although, really, everything I'm doing even now is all pre-training for the 100k. Hard to believe the race is in 108 days! When I need motivation, I watch the video of myself crossing the finish line at Ironman Maryland and it brings tears to my eyes. I remind myself that I am worth it and that I am capable of the training that it takes.
2. Keep my blog updated. Good Grief, I have been a huge slacker in this area of life. I don't know why I keep forgetting to update things. The crazy thing is that my statistics for web traffic are still high even when I don't post for two months. This is motivation for exactly why I should be updating more often. You never know who's watching. My goal will be to update two days each week. Perhaps a little more frequently at first until I get everything caught up!
3. Become a morning person. Who am I kidding? I am a night runner. Mornings just are not for me. My friend Kristie and I are looking to plan some late night runs this summer in preparation for the 100k in October. This reminds me of our 4am bike rides in the middle of nowhere, being chased by barking dogs that we couldn't even see. I guess we may need to run with a phone in case something crazy happens. I can only imagine a driver seeing us running at 2am wondering what the hell is wrong with us.
4. Get a grip on nutrition. This is something I have been working on for the last two years. It started by eliminating meat from my diet. Then it turned to eliminating milk which I am proud to say that I have not drank a glass of milk in well over a year. I have trouble with saying no to whipped cream at Starbucks, but 90% of the time I tell them no thanks, which is always a miniature win in my head. The next step is turning down cream and flavored creamers in my coffee. I find this to be the most challenging thing right now. Also, cheese can be a challenge to turn down, especially since I love a good cheese quesadilla. Fortunately, my mentality is "solve your problem" so I pre-ordered Julie Piatt's book called This Cheese is Nuts which is a book on how to make vegan cheese. It arrived today and I am looking to start the cooking this week! I will be sure to post pictures of this process! Who knew you could make cheese with cashews as a base? (I did, but I'm just saying!!)
That seems like a good list to start with! As I mentioned before, my goal is to update twice a week for the summer. It's possible the first week or two will be three times a week until I am caught up with all my drafts. I can't wait to share what I have been doing, along with all the progress I have made as I crush this new set of goals!
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