Fit Crafty English Teacher

Happy Thoughts

2012-02-02T16:53:00.001-08:00

It just hit me that I haven't posted in a while! I'll update you guys on what's going on.

I'm still running pretty regularly. Lately I have been on a 2 mile kick. I have some 5K races I want to do that will start up in March, so I'll start building back up again soon.

I'm still very excited about Girls on the Run, which starts next week.

Unfortunately, I am also experiencing some anxiety. I never really mentioned it on my blog before, but anxiety is part of my story!

I've had my ups and downs in the past, and I know that this is just a rough patch. Here are some thoughts I am trying to keep in mind, courtesy of pinterest.

Source: littlehouseofhappy.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

Source: welovetypography.com via megan on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via megan on Pinterest

Source: babaloud.com via megan on Pinterest

A Really Awesome Opportunity

2012-01-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

I have some super exciting news to bring to my blog. I have been knowing about this for awhile, but I wanted to wait until everything was official before I could share it.. You are reading the blog of a Girls on the Run coach!!

Many of my running bloggy buddies know what GOTR is. For those of you who do not know, I highly encourage you to watch this short video.

When I first heard about this organization, the feminist inside of me was just tickled pink. I look back to my own girlhood and teenage years, and I think about how negatively I viewed myself. I settled for dating guys I had nothing in common with just because I wanted to have a boyfriend.

This is not to say I didn't have any extra-curricular activities. I was a cheerleader and on dance team, and I took many years of dance lessons. However, all that brought me was more low-self esteem. I really didn't have much in common with those girls, and those atmospheres were very clique-ish.

As I grew up, I found myself. And just a short few years ago, I found running.

Running is a tool that I wish I had when I was younger. I could have turned to that when I needed an outlet. There are so many young girls out there (trust me.. I'm a teacher) who will do crazy things to fit in and/or receive attention from the opposite sex.

Girls on the Run is a program that is designed to prevent some of that behavior that can lead to drug/alcohol abuse, premature sexual activity, teen pregnancy, etc.

This program is amazing. So, you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I found out Girls on the Run was being piloted in my little 'ole town.. Houma, Louisiana!!

Let me just give you some perspective. Here is a map of the different GOTR councils in Louisiana. We had one in New Orleans (big city), and we had one in Baton Rouge (big city). How incredibly awesome is it that this program will be made available to our young girls?!

The pilot season was Fall 2011. Remember the Reindeer Run? That was their first race and fundraiser. For the pilot, there was only one site, and it hosted one Girls on the Run team(grades 3-5) and one Girls on Track (grades 6-8) team.

This semester, we will have six sites!! Many of the sites have multiple teams, too!

This weekend, I attended the coach training session. I learned more about Molly Barker, the founder, and about the philosophy of GOTR. I also learned about what my responsibilities will be.

I will have some co-coaches with me at all times, which makes me feel more comfortable easing into this role of "coach." Speaking of that... I would have never in a million years pictured myself being a coach!

Again, that goes back to the low self-esteem I had as a young girl. I thought, "I'm no good at sports. I can't do any of that." But now that I have grown as a woman, I am starting to realize I can do some things, gosh darnit!

Here is a picture of all the coaches at training. (I'm in the middle with the pink shirt.) I enjoyed meeting all of these beautiful, positive women, and I hope to foster many new friendships.

I also look forward to making a positive impact in the lives of young girls.

I will end this post with our motto, which we would do in a huddle...

"Girls on the Run is SO MUCH FUN!"

Bonus Point Auction Extravaganza!

2012-01-16T07:14:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I did a post about how I started using bonus points in my classroom. See post (here).

Remember, the students can only boost their grade up by one letter. And, they are not allowed to use their bonus points on the final exam.

So what happens to all of those leftover bonus points? Some of my students had as many points as 18 at the end of the semester.

I didn't want the points to be worthless. I wanted to be able to reward those students who ended up not needing them for all of their tests.

So, I organized a bonus point auction!

To keep things fair, and not give one class an advantage over the others, I held the auction at lunch recess. I made signs to advertise a few days before, and I asked the librarian to put a reminder on the Power Point announcements the kids see every day.

As the semester was progressing, I knew I wanted to host something like this. So, I started keeping my eye out for items on the sale racks and in places like Target's "One Spot." (You know.. that section where everything's a dollar)

I also looked around my house for items I didn't really want or need. For example, this summer, my family went to a casino, and three of us won some inexpensive mp3 players. They weren't iPod brand or anything, but they came with nice little cases and earphones. I used one of them for this auction, and I still have two for the next two events.

I also went to the principal, and I told her about the auction. She liked the idea, and she found some items she had for other PBIS events. She gave me some snacks and small items. She also gave me a t-shirt from one of our school's basketball tournaments.

I put each item on a different desk, and I put an envelope in front of each item, listing what the item was.

As the students walked in, I gave them a handful of bid slips. This auction functioned as a silent auction. I told the students to write their names on the slips and the highest amount they were willing to bid. I also monitored them, making sure no one peeked at the other slips in the envelopes.

Now, let me talk about the turnout.

I had 6 students show up.

This might not sound too impressive, but keep this in mind: I teach high school students. They really value their social time. I don't blame them. So, when you think about it that way, 6 teenagers is a pretty good turnout!

There were some that forgot about the auction. And they had lots of points. But the ones who showed up were the ones who got rewarded. Everyone left with something. In fact, the t-shirt went for only one bonus point!

The hottest item with the most bids was the mp3 player. It went for 17 points.

I looked at all the bids, and then labeled the items with the name of the winner. In class the next day, I issued the prizes.

I told the kid who won the mp3 player to see me after school so I could give him the prize right before he got on the bus. I didn't want other kids to find out and then try to take it from him.

Also, I checked with the principals to make sure it was okay to give the mp3 player as a prize, since, technically, the children are not allowed to have electronics at school. They gave me the okay, since it was positive reinforcement. Plus, they have end-of-the-year reward parties, where they offer items such as an iPod Touch.

Overall, I would say the auction was a success!

This semester, I would like to do the following things:

1. Speak with some local businesses early on. They may be able to donate gift cards or small prizes. I will try to do this starting in a few weeks. I don't want to wait until the last minute to get some good prizes.

2. Hype the auction up more in class. I want to build excitement and suspense about it earlier on.

3. Advertise more. I may put a few posters up in our hallway the week leading up to the auction, so the students don't forget.

Now, some questions for you teachers out there..

Do you have any advice for me about where to find prizes at a low cost or for free?

Have you ever done a bonus point auction in your class? What was different about it? Do you have any tips?

We Did It!!!

2012-01-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my grandpa and I accomplished a huge goal for ourselves. We completed a half marathon as a team!

Let's talk about why this was an accomplishment for us:

At this time last year, Burnelle, my grandpa, was unable to race because he was about to have heart surgery. We were all shocked that he even had a blockage because he is pretty much the most healthy, active person in our family. Since his surgery, he has remained active, walking every day. He started running a little bit more this summer, and since we registered for this race in November, he has been building up the distance even longer.

This is Burnelle. (Before he started the race.)

As for me... I've been dealing with a lot of shin splint issues. The last time I ran a 10K distance was in October. I was really nervous in the days leading up to the race. I knew there would be a huge straightaway (almost 3 miles.) I didn't know if I would have what it takes, mentally, to run this 6.5 distance.

When the race started, it was very nerve-wracking for me. It drove me CRAZY not being able to start with everyone! I had to walk to the halfway point, which wasn't that far from the starting line, and wait for my grandpa to reach that mark. The anticipation was killing everyone who was part of the second leg of their relay teams.

When Burnelle got to that point, I was ready to RUN! (and maybe walk a little. I decided long before that I was going to do 5:1 time intervals.) I was also really happy to see he made it to the halfway point all in one piece!

I'm not going to break down the run mile by mile. I just don't feel like it. But it really wasn't THAT bad! It's weird, though. Many people find it hardest to get through the beginning part of a run. For me, it's the last mile, or even half mile! I only get pumped up and speed up when the finish line is literally in sight.

Something to mention is that I got slower and slower with each mile, BUT I followed the time intervals exactly. I may have been scuffling along towards the end, but I was running when I was "supposed to" and walking when I was "supposed to." I like this type of structure. If I give myself walk breaks without any structure, they tend to go on longer than I want them to. That's what I love about setting intervals on my Garmin.

I was pleased that I did not come in last. There were still a few people behind me, and I really admire those people. They pushed themselves through the entire 13.1 miles.

But I also was proud of myself and my grandpa. Our final time was 2:32:01.

It took him about 1:18 to run his 6.3-ish miles, and it took me about 1:14 to run my 6.7-ish miles. (We found out the halfway point wasn't exactly halfway.)

So here we are! Grandfather and granddaughter! We definitely created some memories. And I will cherish these memories sweetly!

What I Did on My Christmas Break

2012-01-01T18:57:00.001-08:00

What did I do on my (almost) two week break from teaching?

I got a haircut and got my blonde peek-a-boo chunks back. (Unfortunately, not many of my pictures show the highlights very well.) I didn't do anything different with the cut, except get rid of split ends and refresh layers.

I hung out with my husband. He took off some days, and we were able to spend lots of time together.
I made lots of unhealthy holiday treats, like chocolate covered Oreos and marshmallows.

I read a book. I wish I would have read more than just one. I'm kind of sad that I didn't do that. But I really enjoyed this one. The main character was a complex one. I mostly found myself disgusted with him, but I also found him intriguing. Oh, and I rekindled my love for crossword puzzles.

My husband and I turned one of our spare bedrooms into a functioning space! We got rid of a bunch of things that were cluttering up this room. We still had some boxes of items we never unpacked from when we moved into this house LAST August! (As in, August of 2010.) We bought a cute little sofa/futon from Target and built it. I also moved my bookshelf to a different corner of the room. It is very plain right now, but we're going to fill it up with some popping, colorful accessories. End table? Area rug? Artwork?

We still don't really know what to call the room. A library? A hang-out room? Technically, it can be another guest bedroom, since the sofa turns into a bed.

We hosted a New Year's Eve party! (Here's a picture of the girls... Our guys were also invo It's somewhat of a tradition with our friends to buy a new board game and play it on New Year's Eve. Of course, none of these games should be played in the presence of a child or the faint-hearted.

Most of them involve answering questions, and the responses get pretty inappropriate. I might venture to say... depraved. This night we played "Loaded Questions--Adult."

I don't have a picture of this next one, but.. LESSON PLANS. I'm teaching two preps for the first time starting this semester. I'll be teaching two units of English I and one unit of Basic Composition. I already have all of the materials for English I, but I was creating all sorts of activities for Basic Composition. This semester will involve a LOT more work.

That's okay. Bring it on. I like a challenge. (That's what I am telling myself to get through all the extra paperwork.)

And lastly...

I ran a virtual 5k! I also did a decent amount of running. I'm building up the miles for next weekend's half marathon relay.

Thanks again, Daily Vitamin F, for hosting this holiday virtual 5K series! I am going to win one of these things ONE day, gosh-darnit!

I ran 2 miles by myself at the park, and then my friend, Paige, met me there. We walked one mile for me to recover and for her to warm up. Then, we did a 5K, using 5:1 intervals (Jeff Galloway method). We finished in 34:16.

Paige said.... "Wait... did I just finish in under 35 minutes?" I was so excited to tell her, "Yes!! You did!" This was a PR for her, and we did it using intervals! She had previously run slower 5Ks than this, running the entire time. This is why I am a huge proponent of intervals. I used to be so stubborn. I would refuse to walk any during my runs. But I have found that my times actually get better when I do this 5:1 method. It gives my legs the tiny break they need in order to boost off with more energy.

Don't get me wrong.. for 5K races, I will continue to run the entire time when/if I can. But for longer distances, this is the way to go for me! That's what I plan to do for the 6.5 miles I am running this weekend for the half-marathon relay.

Sorry if this post was all over the place, but that's kind of how my holiday was. I enjoyed the time off, and I am sad for it to end when we return to school on Tuesday. However, I think I'll be ready when the time comes. Gotta pay the bills, right?

How about some questions for you...

Did you have a holiday? If so, what did you do?

Have you ever read Ham on Rye? Did you enjoy it?

What colors do you think would look nice in the extra room? What should I even call this extra room?

Do you ever have game nights with friends?

Do you ever do the Jeff Galloway5:1 time interval method?

Oh.. and Happy New Year!

Sock Swag and the SECOND Headsweats Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-31T15:11:00.000-08:00

The first thing I want to share is the awesome stuff I got in the mail from the Holiday Sock Swap, hosted by Third Time's a Charm Runner.

The point was to fill up a pair of holiday socks with goodies and send it to your assigned partner. My partner had to secretly look at my blog to find out what type of stuff I would like. I must say, she did a really great job!

The cool thing about this swap is that it introduced me to a new bloggy friend to follow.

My partner was Karien at Running the Race.

Check out all the adorable, useful stuff she sent me!

I got some adorable teddy bear socks, stuffed with items such as candy, hammer bar, body glide, lotion, an instant ice pack, a huge teacher-themed paper clip, and ANOTHER pair of socks!

Those socks were packed tight!

Thanks so much, Karien!

And how about this? Remember my Headsweats giveaway post?

I announced a winner, and gave that person 48 hours to respond. I never got a response. But then I forgot about doing a re-draw!!

The new winner is.... ImtheMarigold from Knickers in a Twist!

Shoot me an e-mail with your shipping information and which hat you would like, please! (meganbethlandry@gmail.com) I will then forward it to Headsweats!

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve! Don't drink and drive!

The New Year is Around the Corner...

2011-12-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

I love the idea of New Year's Resolutions. I really do.

New Year's Resolutions rock for the following reasons:

1.The concept of creating a goal and taking steps to reach it is refreshing.

2.It allows the goal-setter to state out loud what types of changes need to be made.

I know that fitness centers love the new year. They love the new year for the same reason why New Year's resolutions suck. They know that many of the people who sign up for memberships won't even show up for the rest of the year.

(picture from http://www.snapfitness.com)

New Year's resolutions suck for the following reasons:

1. Many people make the grand resolution, but when they slip off track, they completely give up. They don't account for setbacks, and instead of getting back on the wagon, they just see the situation as a failure.

2. The idea of a New Year's resolution eliminates the possibility of making lifestyle changes at any stage of the year. "Why get started on my plan to do _____ now? I'll just wait until January 1st, to make it all official!"

So.. after considering the pros and cons of a New Year's resolution, I will just put a few thoughts out there.

Yes, I do want 2012 to be a positive year for me, in the areas of fitness, diet, career and organization.

But, I don't want to set myself up for failure by making an epic resolution.

How about I just try to continue doing what I am doing, fitness-wise, and try to add a little bit to that. For example, I can try to eat more fruits and vegetables.

(The salad I have been eating for supper lately, which I LOVE!)

(turkey, avocado, tiny bit of bacon, lettuce, tomato, light dressing on a wheat wrap)

I would rather do that than say "I'm starting the _____ diet." I know that the _____ diet will eventually piss me off because I'll be depriving myself. I'd rather eat only when I'm hungry and not over-do it to the point of fullness.

And that way, when I do eat something truly terrible for me (come on.. I know it's going to happen), I can just resolve to make tomorrow a better day.

The same can apply for fitness.

When I started losing weight in 2010, it was in August. It started off small. I didn't make a huge statement to everyone that I was going to lose weight and run a bunch of races. It started with me working towards running a mile. Then it built up from there.

So with these few thoughts (maybe they were more than just a few), I will start my New Year.

Here are some personal reminders that have already begun, and I want them to continue into 2012.

Take things one day at a time.

Don't obsess over injuries.

Celebrate the achievements.

Move on from the setbacks.

See each day as a gift!

Source: etsy.com via jammatun on Pinterest

Happy New Year, everyone!

Then and Now

2011-12-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

Do you recognize this person?

Read about how I have changed from that person to the person I am today, thanks to running.

Check out my post at Claim Your Journey about 2011, the year I ran!

Better Habits

2011-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Anyone who sees my Pinterest feed lately can tell that I really overdid it with the eating for the holidays. I have been pinning motivational fitness thoughts, recipes for salads and ab workouts.

While I do love to indulge from time to time, and I see nothing wrong with this, I have noticed that I have been OVER-indulging.

I exercise usually 4-5 days a week. If I would just eat better and add in some more weight training/floor exercises, I could really look and feel even better.

Don't get me wrong. I have a happy body image, for the most part. But lately I've been feeling this way:

Source: amylynnbuttchin.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

(I love Louis CK, by the way!)

There is no point to eat to the extent where you feel SICK from being so full. But I sure did that during the holidays.

So, here are a few things I have been pinning that will hopefully motivate me into developing some healthier habits:

Source: sizezeroismyhero.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

I have the running part down. Maybe I should do some of this other stuff every now and then.

Source: healthyequalshappy.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

Like a child, I need this plate. It would remind me not to keep getting up and refilling my plate over and over again.

Source: healthyisalwaysbetter.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

When I first started losing weight a little over a year ago, I was doing really good with the whole "don't eat unless you're actually hungry, and stop before you are full" thing. I had read a great book about it...

Source: amazon.com via megan on Pinterest

It's not about starving yourself or denying yourself. It's just about moderation. I need to find that book and read over it some more.

So these are some good ideas to pull me out of my post-holiday slump, right?

It all comes down to this, though:

Source: lindawagner.net via megan on Pinterest

Christmas Virtual 5K: Bicycle Edition

2011-12-24T12:35:00.001-08:00

Thanks Daily Vitamin F for hosting the Christmas Virtual 5K! I decided to give my shin splints another day of rest, so I rode my bicycle instead! I rode 6 miles overall, but I did the 5K portion in about 16 minutes. It took me 30:31 to do 6 miles. I can usually ride 7 miles in under 30 minutes. The wind was almost unbearable at some points. There were moments when I was going under 10 mph, trying my hardest.

I'm posing with the bib on our tablet because my printer is out of ink.

I'd love to be able to say I ran the 5K at a speedy pace, but I'm adapting. Hey, I'm pretty sure this is one of the only times I have gotten any physical activity on Christmas Eve whatsoever. So, there ya go.

After I ate lunch, I then walked the dog a mile and did some circuits of Jillian Michaels' "No More Trouble Zones."

Tonight will be spent with family, and I am looking forward to it!

Have a fantastic holiday, everyone!

And Don't forget the New Years Virtual 5k!

Christmas Virtual 5K and a Reflection on the Year in Running

2011-12-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

First things first.. Don't forget Daily Vitamin F's Virtual Christmas 5K! She has awesome prizes up for grabs! The absolute truth is.. if it weren't for this blogger, I probably would not have worked up the motivation to run this past Halloween OR Thanksgiving! So, click on her link and join the fun! (It MUST be done on Christmas eve or Christmas day)

I am planning to rest up my pain-in-the-ass, worthless shins one more day so I can participate. (Sorry.. can you sense some frustration on my end?) I plan to do 4 miles so I can build up to the half-marathon relay, which I will touch on later.

I finally broke down and ordered some CEP compression sleeves. Everyone recommends them to me when I tell them I get terrible shin splints. I hope they are worth it!

As much as I wanted to order the lime green or pink, I kept it conservative by ordering black. I am sort of regretting that decision already!

Source: sportscompression.com via megan on Pinterest

Wanna see something that is awesome/sad (for me) at the same time?

These are the stats from a run I did in April this year.

It's awesome because I ran 8 miles without stopping at all. And would you look at the splits? I am in awe that these stats are mine.

It's sad because, at this point, they might as well not be my stats. I try to picture myself doing those splits even on a 5K race, and I just cannot picture it.

It is bittersweet because I am so proud of what I have accomplished this year. (Things like that combined with my first 10K race, the Warrior Dash, achieving a 5K PR....)

While I am proud, I am also down in the dumps because I have only gone downhill from there. I think it all started when I threw in the towel for the half-marathon training. It just seems like every time I get close to making a comeback, I get cockblocked by injuries (mostly shin splints).
Every run I go on is cautious. I'll rest a few weeks, come back, and then two days later I'm back to where I started, resting again.

My hope for 2012 is that I can overcome these injuries and continue to meet my goals. It's not for a lack of motivation that I have gotten to the point I am at, barely able to run a 5K without stopping. My motivation is off the charts, but my body is stunting it.

Maybe in 2012 I will not be able to run 8 miles straight, without pain, in such an amazing (for me) time. Or maybe I will? But if it is up to me, I'm not stopping. I am going to continue to do whatever is in my power to ensure that I can keep up an active lifestyle, whether it be running, walking, cycling or even some classes.

The beginning of January will bring on an event that I hope sets a positive tone for the year: the half marathon relay with my grandpa. I will most probably run the 6.5 miles doing 5:1 time intervals. If I can complete this without hurting myself, I will consider it a success. It is something that will bring me such joy to do this with someone I love so much.

And I'll just take things from there. That's all I can do!

Trying to Stay "On Track"

2011-12-18T16:01:00.000-08:00

Those of you runners who follow my blog must be ready to click the "unsubscribe" button. I haven't been talking much about running on here lately. It's been a bunch of posts about Pinterest and holiday stuff.

Believe it or not, I actually have been running, though. For the past few weeks, I've run 2-3 times at least. On the days that the weather decides it wants to be warmer, I've been riding my bike.

One thing I have started to do at the recommendation of our school's cross country coach (to avoid shin splints) is running on the grass or on a track. I work at a high school, so I have access to a track. I've been bringing my clothing, shoes, etc. and running after school. Sure, it might get a little monotonous, but I have noticed the difference in how it makes my legs feel.

I ran on cement this afternoon, and I realized I am starting to get spoiled for the track.

This is all I've been seeing when I look at my Garmin stats.

School will be out for the next 2 weeks. I guess I'll go back to running the streets. There is grass I can run on, but it's not very even. I am afraid I will land in a hole and twist an ankle.

What about you guys? Do any of you have grass readily available to run on? Do you have access to a track?

Pin There, Done That: Oreo Suckers.. NAILED IT!

2011-12-18T09:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome to today's installment of "Pin There, Done That!"

I don't think today's project deserves the part of the title that says, "Done That."

Original pin:

Source: howdoesshe.com via megan on Pinterest

Easy enough, right? Put a sucker stick in between an oreo cookie, and dip it into chocolate.

Right?

WRONG.

Since posting to facebook, I have learned what I did wrong. I plan to try it again later this afternoon.

I hope my failed domestic project could bring a smile to your face. I mean.. come on. It's pretty funny how terrible they came out.

Pin There, Done That! Teacher Gift

2011-12-16T04:03:00.000-08:00

This is a cute idea for a teacher. Note the cute messages on the tags. The site actually has those templates available to print. You can fill the cup up with whatever you'd like, but I liked the idea of the lemondade paired with "Thank you for being a great 'ade' to our class."

Source: lisastorms.typepad.com via megan on Pinterest

Here's my version. I bought the cup from a local business that personalizes cups, and I filled it with Crystal Light lemonade. I wanted to get a gift for one of our instructional coaches, who has been a HUGE help to me this year.

Apparently, I was lacking a blade to cut a straight line onto the cardstock. Look how fonky it looks where I tried to cut it!

"Pin" There, Done That! Baked Potato Soup and AMAZING broccoli

2011-12-11T17:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first installment of:

I've taken my relationship with Pinterest to the next level.

I'm starting to attempt to try out some of the recipes, projects, etc. I've been pinning for so long.

So from now on, when I create something that is Pinterest-inspired, I'll file it under "Pin there, Done That!"

I know, I know. I am a complete genius for coming up with that title. And I'm also, obviously, a PRO at making logos. If you want to use my amazing logo for your pinterest posts, go ahead and save it! I know you'll want to because it looks so professional.

Now let's get this party started!

Original pin: Baked Potato Soup

Source: pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com via megan on Pinterest

I'm so thankful I have also found a new blog to follow!

I followed the recipe exactly as on the blog. However, I microwaved the cream cheese before adding it to the crock pot because I saw people complaining that it didn't melt very well. This recipe is so easy. It's perfect for lazy asses like me.

Now here's my version:

As for the side dish, I went ahead and decided to make my broccoli super-unhealthy!

Original pin:

Source: amateurgourmet.com via megan on Pinterest

This recipe basically involves drizzling olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic over a few bunches of broccoli. Stick it in the oven, and when it's done, add parmesan cheese and squirt lemon on it.

The original post bragged that this was the best broccoli ever. And it was correct. Because it was.

My version:

Don't worry.. I didn't just stuff my face all day.. I walked a 5K in the neighborhood this afternoon. I plan to run at least 2 miles after school tomorrow, but I like to walk or ride my bike in between running days lately.

I did the 5k in 43:52. I think that's the fastest I have ever walked that distance. My previous fastest 5k walk was 44:26. Look, bitches. I'll take a PR however I can get one these days!

This Holiday Weekend and Headsweats Giveaway Winner

2011-12-11T08:28:00.001-08:00

This weekend was supposed to be super-busy. We had pre-registered to run a 2 mile race in City Park in New Orleans at a light festival called Celebration in the Oaks.

However, Jacob's company Christmas party fell on the same night, and we would have had to do too much rushing around to do both. So, we took a loss with the registration fee. Shirts are not guaranteed to no-shows, and it would be really inconvenient to drive all the way to New Orleans this week to pick them up. Whatev. No badass, long-sleeved, glow in the dark shirt for Megan.

I had taken a sick day on Friday because I got slammed with a cold from this constantly-changing weather. It put me even more behind with finishing Romeo and Juliet, but I was miserable.

I did squeeze in a two-mile run on Saturday because I needed to relieve some stress. 2 miles in 20:45. I sure am getting rusty. But at least I had no pain. I am planning to add one mile to each weekend until the half-marathon relay in January.

The Christmas party was at a hotel, where we rented a room. The band was great, and we had a really nice time. I would have preferred to not have this cold, but I made the best of it.

Here are a few pictures that I edited.

Unfortunately, I don't have any shots to prove that I wore these boys:

Source: dillards.com via megan on Pinterest

But I did! I swear! Can you believe it? Sure, I might not have looked too graceful walking around, but I managed to keep them on all night!

As for today, I put a bunch of ingredients in the slow-cooker, which I will post about later because it's a recipe from Pinterest. I am thinking of doing a series of posts in which I show the results of things I've tried from Pinterest.

And in very tragic news, I found out one of my former students was killed in a car accident. Her boyfriend was driving drunk. She was a really sweet kid. It makes my heart hurt. I've only been teaching 3 years, and this is already the second kid I've taught that has died in an accident.

When I think about her family and friends, it really puts things in perspective for me. I was all bummed out because I couldn't run a race and I had a cold. These people have to bury their daughter.

So, things learned from that situation are:
1. Don't drink and drive! No matter how old you are!
2. Look on the positive side. Someone else always has it worse than you!

On a less depressing note...

Random.org has selected a winner!

The winner of the Headsweats hat is.... The Name's Kara!

Kara, please e-mail me your shipping information and choice of hat so I can forward it to Headsweats!

If the winner does not respond within 2 days by 5 pm, I will select another winner.

Oh How Pinteresting! (Cool Concepts)

2011-12-07T16:02:00.001-08:00

It's that time again!

Today I am linking up some ideas/concepts I stumbled upon via pinterest.

Source: mybodygallery.com via megan on Pinterest

This is really a cool website. Do you ever try to get an idea of what someone looks like that is your same height and weight? It's hard to have an objective view of your own body. I like this site because I plug in the weight and height and look at the women my size. I see how good they look, and I don't judge them. That helps me put my body image into proportion.

Source: fumaga.com via megan on Pinterest

Re-taking childhood photos YEARS later. I think my brother and I could really have fun with this idea.

Source: nothingbutbonfires.com via megan on Pinterest

This is an amazing project for someone who has reached a milestone birthday. Click on the link to find out more details, but it's basically getting a certain number of people (60 if it's the person's 60th birthday) to write down a memory of that person. Put them in that many separate envelopes. I can see this as being a hilarious, touching, meaningful gift.

Source: ucreateparties.com via megan on Pinterest

This idea (click for more info) is a "Favorite Things" party. Suppose you have 5 people coming. Each person brings 4 bags with their favorite thing in it, whether it be their favorite lotion, snack, etc. (Something you SWEAR by and cannot live without) Each person will leave with a bunch of cool, useful things! This would be really neat for those upcoming Christmas gatherings with the girls...

So what are you pinning?

Reindeer Run, New Shoes, Half Marathon Relay Team

2011-12-05T18:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from first Reindeer Run, put on by Girls on the Run. It was the pilot season of our town's new chapter of Girls on the Run , and the race was a huge success! There were tons of girls, boys, families, etc of all levels participating.

My friend Alicia and I really had a lot of fun picking out our outfits; can you tell?

This was Alicia's first 5K race.

I was so excited for her. Isn't she adorable? She's my friend/co-worker who all the students think is my sister. We had been doing run/walk intervals together a few times before the race, and I hope to continue to run with her.

This was my first race and first time running a full 5k without any walking since October 23. I had been having lots of shin splint issues. However, the only discomfort I felt at this race was due to being a tad bit out of running shape.

The lack of shin pain may be due to my new pair of running shoes:
Mizuno Wave Inspire 7

It took me longer to finish this race than any other race. I was not in any way disappointed, though, because I was just happy to be running without pain. Plus, we all got really cute finisher medals.

There were a bunch of post-race activities such as a "crazy hair" booth and a hot chocolate station. I even saw some jambalaya and red beans, which I LOVE.. but I just can't eat anything heavy after a race.

And did I mention my Paw Paw Burnie did this race, too? He hadn't run a race since September. He ran the entire time, too. He was happy about that because he'd been mainly walking lately.
(They even had pictures with Santa!)

And how cool is this?

We are going to run our town's only half-marathon in January as a relay team!! We joked that we will be the slowest team with the largest age gap. I'm 25... he's 74! I am so excited to be doing this with him. He is my inspiration!

Headsweats Product Review (and Giveaway!)

2011-12-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

When it comes to a Louisiana winter, the weather is somewhat finicky. Some Christmases, you'll see pictures of me wearing shorts. Other times, I'll be bundled up in season-appropriate clothing.

However, when it is cold, I'm pretty much a wimp! I need to be warm! (This is how most Louisianians are. We aren't accustomed to that stuff you call snow.) And when I'm running outside in the cold, I'm going to need a hat!

I was really excited to have a chance to try out a beanie from Headsweats to bring to you this product review!

Headsweats offers many different types of hats.

They have the "Go Hat", which comes in many colors, but I like the purple.

Source: headsweats.com via megan on Pinterest

They have the "SuperVisor", which also comes in different colors.

Source: headsweats.com via megan on Pinterest

They also have headbands like this one, the UltraTech headband

Source: headsweats.com via megan on Pinterest

However, I was interested in the Snowflake performance beanie for the reasons mentioned above.

Source: headsweats.com via megan on Pinterest

The only thing is, I've got this long hippie hair these days, and wearing a beanie is not really practical because
1. There is a huge lump that looks ridiculous if you try to put a beanie over a ponytail.
and
2. I am NOT running with this hair DOWN.

Well, look at this simple solution: It retails at $22.

It's a slot for your ponytail! I was unaware of hats like this! How cool!

I put my hat on and headed out for a run on one of those miserably cold days last week. (My readers up north probably run in shorts for that kind of weather.)

I was really happy to have this cute little beanie.
(Full disclosure: This was not the day I wore it to run. I didn't have my camera that day.)
See? All that unruly hair was not forced to be shoved into the beanie. I really should be ashamed at how long it's been since I've gotten a haircut. My stylist moved to another state, and I just don't like going to other people. Don't judge me, Adrian!

The hat stayed on my head the entire time, and it kept my ears warm. It even held my earbuds in place. I will continue to wear it on those cold Louisiana days, sporadic as they may be.

Would you like a chance to win this hat, or a different hat from Headsweats?

Here are the ways you can enter. Feel free to do as few or as many as you want. (Just leave a comment for each task.) The more entries, the better your chances!

1. Be a follower of my blog.

2. Go to Headsweats and tell me which hat you like the best and why.

3. Sign up at Headsweats.com to receive their e-mail newsletter. They send out promo codes and advertise special sales. You just click "Sign up" at the top right corner of their website.

4. "Like" Headsweats on Facebook here. Tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent ya!

5. Follow Headsweats on Twitter here.

6. Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, etc. Leave a comment for each method.

So there you have it: at least 8 possible entries. What are you waiting for?

**EDIT**
This giveaway will end one week from today (12/11/11).

Pinterest Humor and Hyland's Winner

2011-11-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

Today I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple for "Oh How Pinteresting!" Wednesday.

This week's theme is: just plain old cute. Sometimes I just browse "Humor." I find adorable things like this:

Source: juliasegal.tumblr.com via megan on Pinterest

Source: imgfave.com via megan on Pinterest

And also, the winners of the Hyland's Homeopathy giveaway are:

Jill

Elle

and

Jen

Congrats! Please e-mail me at meganbethlandry@gmail.com so I can get your shipping information to send to Hyland's.

Thanks for entering and being a follower!

Thanksgiving 2011 and a Virtual 5K!

2011-11-24T18:13:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. We went to my side of the family for lunch and Jacob's side for supper.

(Us at my grandma's)

I ate lots of tasty food, and I was full, but I could have done a lot worse. I wasn't full to the point where I was hurting.

We went home, and I read my book (which I'm 95% done with!). I then took a nap for about 45 minutes. But I knew I couldn't just be lazy for the rest of the day. I had Daily Vitamin F's Thanksgiving Virtual 5k to do!

(Thanks, girl! If it weren't for this contest, I probably wouldn't have held myself accountable for doing anything physical!) I had the most awesome compliment when I was on my run. (Well, I did 5:1 run/walk intervals)

This man was getting in his truck, and he says, "Have you always been this dedicated? I see you out here every day!"

When this random neighbor told me that, I felt really proud of myself. I told him I hadn't always been this dedicated.. I wasn't when I was about 10 lbs heavier. I do always make it a point to do something physical at least 5 days out of the week, even if it is walking the dog for a half a mile to a mile. I was just tickled, hearing that.

Here I am posing with my bib. It was a great run. I feel like I am on my way back to running my straight 5Ks. I just want to take things slow, hence the intervals.

My time was 32:56. Not too shabby, considering I walked one minute for every five minutes. I still say I've gotten a lot slower since I'm not running with Jessica, but that's just my own fault.

After my run, we played around with the dog in the backyard. Jacob seems to love making maniacal faces.

We ate supper at Jacob's parents' house, and I brought our cat over. My mother-in-law's cat, Goldie, is notoriously bitchy around other cats. She is just the queen of the house.

When Gandalf came over, she was growling like a she-devil. Don't get me wrong.. I love Goldie. She just doesn't like other cats. Gandalf was just worried about sniffing around the house and trying to get into things. We got a picture of us with the cats. This is as close as they could be to each other.

Overall, it was a great day. I am thankful for many things, especially:
-family and friends
-having a stable income/jobs
-being in good health

I plan on enjoying the rest of my break being lazy around the house. I hope to finish my book tonight, and start another one. I hope to stay as far away from the Black Friday madness as possible. Maybe we'll even pull out the Christmas decorations tomorrow.

Oh How Pinteresting! (fashion edition)

2011-11-23T06:55:00.000-08:00

Since I waste so much time on Pinterest lately, I might as well link up to The Vintage Apple's "Oh How Pinteresting" page!

These are some of my favorite pins from the past few days...

Source: express.com via megan on Pinterest

If I felt like spending that kind of money, that would SO by my Christmas party dress!

Source: beyondbeyond.co.uk via megan on Pinterest

Or any of these!

I saw a pinboard titled "What I wish I wore." That is SO me.

Source: modcloth.com via megan on Pinterest

I could go full on teacher stereotype and carry an apple when wearing this dress. Love!

And of course, I would wear it with these shoes!

Source: store.delias.com via megan on Pinterest

In reality, many of my teaching outfits resemble this one, but less stylish.

Source: stylebible.ph via megan on Pinterest

I am drawn to anything gray or black. I didn't even realize how much gray and black I wore until my students pointed it out. Of course, they didn't do it in a tactful way. They just asked why I looked like I was always going to a funeral. So, yeah.

What are you pinning lately? Why don't you link up, too?

Holiday Templates (courtesy of Pinterest and its embed button)

2011-11-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

I'll keep these related to fall/Thanksgiving.. because I only like to take it one holiday at a time.

Source: flickr.com via megan on Pinterest

Source: urbanthreads.com via megan on Pinterest

And as for this one...

Source: wildolive.blogspot.com via megan on Pinterest

It's not holiday-themed, but it's just really adorable.

"I'm Running Again!" (Kinda)

2011-11-20T17:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I nervously tied up my (busted up) running shoes and got ready to try to run again. Sure, it had only been two weeks off, but it felt like much longer than that.

I seriously was just afraid to start running because I didn't know what to expect. I decided I wanted to ease back into things, so I set my Garmin to some 3:2 time intervals.

When I took my first few steps, I felt a surge of happiness. Nothing hurt. No ankle pain, no calf pain, no foot pain.

I wanted to shout to everyone in the street, "I'm running again!" (Please forgive the overdramatic nature of this post. I just had been a little down in the dumps that I had to take a rest from running.)

Don't forget, I was taking 2 minute walk breaks after each 3 minutes of running. But I did 2 miles of that, and I didn't even care about how fast or slow I was going. I am not even worrying or getting myself upset about my pace. That will come back. In fact, it's perfect that the next race I am doing is a Girls on the Run 5k, which will not be timed. It'll be my perfect comeback race!

Today, I was tempted to run some more, but I decided to ride my bike instead. I rode 8 miles, and walked the dog 1 mile. During my two weeks off, I feel like I did a good job staying consistent with the exercise. I really enjoy riding my bike, and I started to enjoy walking at a fast pace. I am thankful that I am physically able to do these activities when I am unable to run.
Doing something physical in the evening is my "me" time. I look forward to it, and it has become a pleasant routine in my life. Sure, I've had some setbacks, and I am slower than I used to be. I don't run many long distances these days, but I am enjoying just being active.

And I'm also enjoying being crafty! My Thanksgiving holiday has officially begun, and I have pulled out the embroidery supplies.

I embroidered this gnome onesie for my friend Amanda's baby, Jack. I was so glad she liked it. I'm just realizing how poor of a quality this picture is.

But I'm not done with the needles and thread! I am going to do lots more this week, especially for baby Jessa! If you don't know, that's CajunRunnerJess's baby girl! They found out the gender this week. So if you haven't already told her... send some congrats her way!

I also want to sew this vintage pattern on a tea towel so I can have a new Christmas decoration.

I'm thinking that I will try to run again tomorrow, but I will try some 5:1 time intervals.

Oh! And don't forget my giveaway!

Look Ma! I'm Not Flat-Footed!

2011-11-15T18:13:00.001-08:00

I have stumbled upon some life-changing information, all thanks to actually trying out the method described this article and other similar articles. I copied and pasted a tidbit below.

It's basically a test you take to determine what type of arch you have. All my life I believed I had flat feet. Like, completely flat. As flat as they get. My mom always told me I inherited her flat feet.

But it turns out... maybe I don't have flat feet... at least they aren't as flat as I thought they were.

I don't know about you guys... but I think my feet resemble the top picture, which would mean they are normal arches. What do you think?

Okay, so what are the implications of this discovery?

Does this mean that I need to re-think the type of shoe I have been buying?

I have been buying stability shoes based on the idea that my feet are flat. However, now that I am armed with the knowledge that my feet might just be more normal than I thought they were, does that open up a new range of shoe options?

Because this ain't working out:
This is just absolutely ridiculous how I have been destroying the past few pairs of shoes I've bought. I posted a similar picture on dailymile a few months back of my old shoes, and these relatively new ones have already achieved the same look. Always on my right foot at the top.

A guy on dailymile said it looked like I was a supinator. That's someone who usually has high arches, which I don't have. All of this information still leaves me totally clueless. My shoes are not getting anywhere near the estimated mileage.

The next thing that is going to happen with this pair is that a hole will develop on the white, worn down part. And I'd even been alternating these with my old ones, to slow down the wearing, until the old ones developed a hole. Now those expensive-ass Asics are in the garage to be used only for garden work.

Any advice or observations would be appreciated!

What about you guys?

What type of arch do you have?

What is your running gait?

Have you ever tried the wet foot test? If not, I encourage you do it. You might be surprised!

Product Review and Giveaway: Hyland's Homeopathy

2011-11-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

In the midst of my non-running due to injury, it was quite coincidental that I was contacted to try out a pain relief product from Hyland's Homeopathy.

First of all, I'll tell you a little bit about the company that I learned from researching it. It's been around since the early 1900s, and it started out as a pharmacy. At that point in history, prescription drugs were hard to come by, and it took them awhile to be shipped. So that's where homeopathic pharmacies came into the picture. These pharmacies used homeopathic methods, which worked by stimulating the body's own defenses to fight pain.

George Hyland was the first pharmacist hired at their Los Angeles location, which leads us to why the company is called Hyland's.

Hyland's offers an array of pain relief products, ranging from baby teething products to acne treatment. (And a lot of other stuff)

I was sent items that appeal to me as a runner:

Muscle Therapy Gel with Arnica
Arnica, by the way, is the first natural remedy for swelling and bruising. It also has a pleasant smell. I'll take anything that "speeds recovery", as advertised on the box!

Bioplasma Sport

It's a recovery powder that you can add to water OR dissolve on your tongue. It contains electrolytes, but it also addresses inflammation, pain and fatigue.

This reminds me of the little pouches of Crystal Light that you can put in your water bottle. But it can also be dissolved on the tongue. I wasn't brave enough to try that, so I put it in my water bottle. It had a slight citrus taste. After my first run in two weeks today, I felt confident that I was doing all I could to keep recovering. I will continue to use this after my runs.

Would you like a chance to receive free samples of these Hyland's products?
Here's what you can do for entries: (Come back and leave a separate comment, letting me know you did the following things)

- Be a follower of my blog.

-Visit Hyland's Fit Talk facebook page and "like" it. Tell them FitCraftyEnglishTeacher sent you.

-Follow Hyland's Fit Talk on Twitter.

-"Like" Fit Crafty English Teacher on facebook (here)

-Follow Fit Crafty English Teacher on twitter (here)

I will choose three winners next Saturday (Dec. 3) Good luck!

What are YOU doing on Thanksgiving Day?

2011-11-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

Remember my recap of the Virtual Halloween 5K?

Well, there's another virtual race coming up, and it is the Thanksgiving Virtual 5K. It is put on by the same blogger, Daily Vitamin F.

For more information about it, click on the photo below.

The 5k can be done in many ways, not just running. I plan to either ride my bike, run, walk or run/walk it (depending on the status of my ankle).

The one requirement is that the virtual race is done ON Thanksgiving day. Her whole holiday series is designed to encourage people to stay active, even on the holidays. It's not like you have to leave your family early to go do a 5k.. you can encourage others in your family to join you!

This is bringing back a memory of last Thanksgiving, when Jacob and I rode our bikes we'd just bought... and he flew off.. into a ditch.. (It was QUITE hilarious, once I knew he was okay, of course).. but I am getting off topic here..

So, go ahead and sign up for the Thanksgiving Virtual 5k! There are prizes involved! Do it!

Week 1 of No Running

2011-11-12T06:27:00.000-08:00

Week one of completely no running went well. On Wednesday I ended up taking a break because I have been so busy at work, putting our common core standards module into place for the first time.

On Thursday I walked a fast-paced 5K. I don't know what is a good time for walking, but I did that 3.1 in 44 minutes! It took me a while to get into a good walking rhythm.

Yesterday I didn't do anything because I decided to stop and visit with some friends from my old school.

Today I won't be officially exercising, but Jacob and I are going back to our alma mater for a football game.
The Tigers are playing Western Kentucky. It's expected to be a huge blowout, considering it's the Homecoming game. But we got free tickets, and we haven't been on campus together since I graduated in December 2008.

We're looking forward to just walking around, seeing what's new, and maybe buying some LSU swag in the bookstore.Everyone, have a great weekend! Geaux Tigers!

Poor Pitiful Me :( OR It's Not the End of the World! :D

2011-11-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

I can take one of two directions for this blog post:

1. How I feel so bummed out because I haven't been truly injury free since mid-September.

OR

2. How I may have a small setback, but I'm going to put a positive spin on the ankle injury and do other forms of exercise I enjoy.

I am pretty sure you guys don't want to read that negative, whiny post #1. Sure, I may have teared up a little bit on my 2 mile walk on Monday. But I'm done with that. It could be a hell of a lot worse.

I plan to ride my bike and/or walk in the evenings instead of run for the next few weeks. And there will be no cheating on my part! No running!

See, the reason I struggle with taking rest breaks is because I have this irrational fear that no matter what else I do for exercise, if I don't run, I'll gain back the 10 pounds or so I lost when I got active. But I am telling myself that if I still do something active for at least 30 minutes almost every day, I'll be okay. Sure, I might have to build my endurance back when I can run again, but it's better than seriously hurting myself and being out of commission for longer.

So, I will try to keep a log of what I do for exercise, even if it's not running.

So far this week:

Sunday: Walked the dog a little over a mile and rode my bike 5 miles (around a 13 mph pace)

Monday: Walked (at a brisk pace) for 2 miles (about 15 min pace--hey! That's brisk for me!)

Tuesday (today): Walked the dog about a half a mile and rode my bike 10 miles. (around a 14 mph pace)

So far, so good.. right?

Now, if this post is a bit too positive for you, let me just share a shitty little anecdote to balance things out:

Today I dropped my Garmin on the ground. The "Start" button got STUCK pressed down. Don't worry, I had the brilliant idea to try to get it "un-stuck" with my teeth. I may or may not have chipped my front tooth a tiny bit. Did it get the button unstuck? No. But don't worry, my smile is still pretty much awesome. The only way I can tell it is chipped is because I feel a teeny tiny rough spot. It's not noticeable.

And the Garmin button? It still works (for now).

So, now I have some questions for you. I really want you to answer them!

-What is the longest time you have taken a break from running? How hard was it coming back?

-Do you ever have irrational fears and anxieties related to exercise?

-Can you share a story of something really stupid you did to make me feel better about my ridiculous incident involving my Garmin and my front tooth?

Dusting off the Embroidery Supplies...

2011-11-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

With so many of my friends having little ones, it looks like I have a reason to embroider stuff!

My friend Kate is having a little boy, so I used a transfer pen on some templates I found via pinterest to embroider these two onesies!

Robot Man

Baby Dino

I gave them to her at her shower today, and she loved them. I love embroidering, but I just don't really know what to do with the stuff after I'm done since I don't really want to hang it anywhere. That's why baby onesies are perfect.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a healthy living blog.

2011-11-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Let me start off this post by bragging: I bet YOU don't own a cookbook with the picture of a nuclear plant on the cover!

My husband brought me home this cookbook that his company compiled as a way to raise money for United Way. Maybe he was trying to give me hints that I need to learn how to cook?

I looked for some recipes that I could handle. I don't cook very often, okay?

I found one called "breakfast casserole."

Oh. My. God. This is the best casserole EVER. I have been heating up this stuff all week. Not only for breakfast, but also for dinner.

I said it already, and I'll say it again: This is not a healthy living blog. The ingredients in this casserole will force you to run miles and miles and miles just to burn off the fat and calories. (Eggs? Cheese? Sausage? Milk? Croissants?) If I post a blog about how I've gained weight over the past week, it will be because of this casserole.

Let me know if you are interested in the recipe in a comment, and I will e-mail it to you.

What I Did on Halloween

2011-11-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

Halloween was pretty much a typical day for me. Jacob and I didn't go to any parties or buy costumes. It's okay... we spent enough money last year on our outfits.

I knew I needed to either run, walk or bike at least 3.1 miles to qualify for Daily Vitamin F's Halloween Virtual 5K.

I knew there would be a ton of trick-or-treaters on the road, which don't bother me. I could have run with them in the streets. It's the tractor trailers and golf carts that bug me.

(Just one of the tractor trailers carting kids)
I mean, seriously? Is there anything wrong with taking your kids for a nice stroll down the street to go trick-or-treating? Especially since everyone's going to go into a sugar coma as it is from the candy. Our neighborhood is two miles if you loop the ENTIRE thing. I can remember walking blocks and blocks to get candy as a child. Sorry if I offend anyone with this opinion. I know not everyone in the world is mobile, but if you're able-bodied, why not walk? I even saw a vehicle driving down the street and stopping so the kid can get out. Has anyone ever witnessed this act of extreme laziness?

Okay, now that that's out of the way....

I ran/walked the virtual 5K in a little over 33 minutes. I used the 5:1 time interval method because I am coming off some ankle pain. I want to take it easy until it feels 100% normal.

After running, I got my candy together and sat outside with my mother-in-law handing out candy. We saw some really cute kiddos. My favorite outfit was my friend's kid who was dressed as a garden gnome.

Then the mosquitos got so bad we had to go inside. We just left our entire bowl outside on a chair "first come, first serve" style and came inside to eat the barbeque my husband and father-in-law had cooked.

I went to sleep before 9 pm, and it was great.

Now some questions for YOU:

Am I overreacting about the people clogging up the streets with golf carts and trailers? ( I probably am.)

Did you participate in the Halloween Virtual 5k?

What did you do for Halloween?

Halloween Virtual 5K

2011-10-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Daily Vitamin F is a blog I enjoy reading, and she has come up with a great idea: her own series of virtual 5Ks on the holidays!

The idea is to keep people from slipping into inactivity because of the holidays. She's planning to do virtual races for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, etc. And she has the cutest race bibs created!

I've decided to participate in the Halloween 5K. The gist is to run, walk, bike, (etc.?) on Halloween day.
I'm doing it because I want to give myself some motivation to do something tomorrow OTHER than stuff my face with Halloween candy that is meant for the neighborhood children.

Click on the picture above to find out more details about the race.

You Can Read About My Bridge Run Adventure...

2011-10-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

HERE!

(At Claim Your Journey)

Teaching and Office Supplies: A Love Affair

2011-10-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

I have a question for all of the teachers that read my blog: Do you love office supplies? If not, I think it's time you re-evaluate your life because I have stumbled upon an absolute when it comes to teaching. All teachers love office supplies. I have yet to meet one that doesn't.

Every time I enter a supply store, it's very hard for me not to just grab ink pens, post-its, cute notebooks, etc. Imagine my happiness when I found out I could get $75 in office supplies (at a 48% discount) from our local office supply store as compensation for working three hours of Saturday school.

Last weekend I went to school from 8:00 to 11:00 AM. There were about 15 students in attendance. They worked quietly the entire time while I got tons of grading and organization done, interruption free.

And then, I got ALL this stuff in return. (Well, not yet. I put in the order, and when I receive it I will be one giddy, little girl.) These are all the actual items I am getting.

Expandable file carrier. I divide up my graded and ungraded papers and bring them home in these types of things.
A shiny, brand new mousepad/wrist rest. Oh so necessary, I know.
Two packs of my favorite grading pens

A Post-it brand weekly planner
Two packs of post-it notes. I use the hell out of these things. I know I'm not the only one.

And I saved the best for last.....
This is the X-ACTO Teacher Pro electric sharpener.

Everyone just take a moment of silence to admire it.

I looked for the most badass, expensive sharpener in that catalog because the manual sharpener we are using right now is pure SHIT. It takes a brand new pencil and eats it down to the core, ruining everything that is put into it.

I am hoping this thing will really make a difference in my classroom. It even shines a blue LED light when the pencil is fully sharpened. I mean, come on! It says "Teacher" in its name! It's gotta be good!

Yes, I spent my own time putting together all the images of my office supplies to blog about them. Yes, I spent almost my whole planning period picking out all of these goodies.

And yes, I do plan on working Saturday school in the future!

Grumble

2011-10-19T16:02:00.001-07:00

I am going to take some time off from positive experiences and smiling pictures to deliver this announcement:

I went for what was supposed to be a run, and I ended up limping my way back home. My ankle is just giving me pain. But it's the whole area, including the foot and the shin, even. It hurts, I rest up, get out of running shape, run on it again for a few times, then it's hurt again.

I probably should go to a doctor, but everytime I do that, I end up fighting LabCorp or one of the TWO insurance companies I have because they don't want to pay for whatever procedure is done.

So, I guess I will just be Resting, Icing, Compressing and Elevating until the bridge run this weekend.

GRRrrr......

Let's hope the next post is a little more positive and less gripey.

A Garmin tip and Probar Winner!

2011-10-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

For the Garmin users out there, did you ever notice the "compare" button when you upload your stats to the Garmin data website? It pulls up similar distances that you've logged in the past. This is what happened when I compared Saturday's 10k to others. Click picture.

Kinda random, but I thought it was cool to share because I just noticed it.

Now, for the winner of the Probars! Comment #1!
It was from "Sweet and Savory by Sarah"... come on down, Sarah!

And by come on down, I mean, e-mail me your shipping information at meganbethlandry@gmail.com

Product Review: My Medal Display

2011-10-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to try out and review a medal display from

My Medal Display (http://www.mymedaldisplay.com)

All of the medal racks are made from plasma cut steel, and they have a black, textured finish.

They offer a variety of sports-themed displays, including running and triathlons.

There are three sizes of displays to choose from

Small, which has 6 hooks and measures 13" wide ($30)

Medium, which has 10 hooks and measures 17" wide ($40) and

Large, which has 15 hooks and measures 24" wide ($50).

All displays are personalized with whatever words you would like.

Jacob and I had been receiving lots of medals lately, (probably due to lack of competition, for me anyway, but HEY! So what!) so we knew we had to have a display to show them off.

We chose the Running-couple display. It is also available in a male runner or a female runner. We chose the word "winning" because we didn't want to put just "Jacob" or "Megan" because both of our medals are displayed. Plus, we're losers and we often say the catchphrase "winning" in the evil-crazy Charlie Sheen voice.

Notice our rack is the medium size with 10 hooks. However, more than one medal can fit on each hook.

Also, notice how there are two holes where screws are supposed to be. The company sends the screws, but we recently have started using the 3M picture hanging strips to avoid putting holes in the wall. That would be a cool option if you aren't sure if you want your medal rack to be in the same spot forever.
Now our medals are displayed proudly in our home office. (They were formerly shoved in random places around the house). My hope is to keep up the "winning" so we can continue to put medals on our beautiful new display!

*I was provided a medal display rack from MyMedalDisplay, but was not compensated to give a particular opinion.

VOW Fest 5K/10K and something I SHOULD be ashamed about..

2011-10-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

This weekend we participated in the third annual Voice of the Wetlands race. If you are interested in the Voice of the Wetlands festival, check out Jessica's blog post about it. No use re-inventing the wheel, right? It was a RoadRunners of America Regional Championship. It brought out people from all over Louisiana.

I hadn't run since last weekend's adventure in Audubon Park.

And the last time I ran before that was a week before at the Panda Meander.

I was not running because my lower left calf and my left ankle were really hurting me. It hurt just to walk on it. It started feeling better on Wednesday of this week, but I decided to just wait until Saturday to really give it some rest. I did ride my bike and walk, though.

Apparently that was not the same as running because... wow. I felt OUT OF SHAPE for this 10k race! My dad and I decided to do this race together using the 5:1 intervals. He'd never run anything longer than a 5k, and I hadn't run much more than 3 miles at a time in the past few months.

Me and Dad before the race (He's lost 10 lbs over the past few months!

I barely survived that race.
Excuses, er, I mean, Reasons why:
1. I ate about 5 pieces of pizza for lunch. (That was so smart, right?)
2. We were running against 15 mph winds pretty much the whole route.
3. I hadn't been running two weeks before the race.

But I am SO glad we did this together. It was a great thing to experience with my dad. He is so awesome! Despite the fact that he just got into running about a month ago, he was at a faster pace than me. But instead of going really far ahead of me, he'd run BACK so we could be together. He's the BEST!

Our time was 1:08:59. A race PR! (My only other 10k race was 1:12:05) So, it goes to show that run/walk intervals don't exactly slow you down! It was a good idea to do these intervals considering the 10k shape (or lack of) we were in. However, I don't really enjoy walking during a race that much. I find myself only thinking about when I can start walking instead of enjoying the run. But sometimes the intervals are the best way to go.

Jacob has this policy of not running anything longer than a 5K, so he did the 5K portion of the race.

He was not happy with his time because of the wind, but he still scored third overall and first in the 20-29 age group.

The following picture is of us after the race.
Now I want you to scroll back up and look at the "before" picture of me and my dad.

Do you notice something different about me?

Maybe about my clothes?

Maybe it's related to undergarments.

Yeah, you got it, bitches. I don't have a sports bra on in the "after" picture because I TOOK IT OFF! During the race! I should have gotten a medal for the most shameless runner.

Now before you get all grossed out... Most of you are ladies. We know how to maneuver our stuff without showing anybody our... stuff. My dad was at that point where he was way ahead of me, and I just got SO hot and I was SO suffocated that I just took off that ridiculously tight bra. I don't even know why I wore it in the first place because my top already had a built in bra.

I really hope that someone took a picture of me at the finish line with my sports bra in my hand.

Now I have some questions for you...

-Have you ever made a terrible food choice before a race? (At one point, my dad said, "Did you smell my pizza burp back there?")

-Have you ever felt like you were being suffocated from a tight piece of fitness clothing? Tell me about your wardrobe issues.

-Are you going to un-follow me because I'm so trashy?

There He Goes Again...

2011-10-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

Remember my post here about how my husband Jacob made the online photo album of our local newspaper The Houma Courier ? Well, a friend of mine pointed out to me that he's at it again! He was caught in three separate pictures at this weekend's Voice of the Wetlands 5k/10k.

That's him in the bright yellow shirt.

Photo credits: Kim Smith/correspondent

He also placed 3rd male overall in the 5K portion of the race. He was giving himself a hard time about his time, but we were running against 15 mph winds.

Probar Giveaway

2011-10-05T15:38:00.001-07:00

Remember my Probar review here?

Would you like a chance to win some of your own?

What I am giving away is a sampling of Halo Bars (You'll get one of each flavor)

and one Art's Original Blend bar.

All of these bars are tasty. I like to eat the Halo kind after school because those are a snack bar. The Art's Original bars are meant to replace meals. What I do is cut them in half and eat one half for breakfast and the other half later on if I get hungry.

So how do you get a chance to win?

You will get an entry for each of these tasks you come back and comment saying you did:

1. Go to Probar's website (here) and tell me which flavor looks the best to you.

2. "Like" Probar on Facebook (here) and tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent you.

3. Follow Fit Crafty English Teacher on facebook (here).

The contest will end one week from today, Wednesday, October 12 at midnight.

Good Luck!

Teacher Stuff

2011-10-04T17:35:00.001-07:00

So apparently Louisiana adopted the Common Core Standards?

How did I not find out about this? I was asked to attend a meeting today about a "Literacy Design Collaborative Pilot." I didn't really read much of the information except for the time and location of this meeting.

When I got there, I found out some really important information! I did not know that LA was getting rid of our comprehensive curriculum and adopting the common core standards, which have been adopted by 41 other states.

So five parishes in our state were chosen to be part of the pilot. Our parish is one of those. Two schools in our parish were invited. My school is one of those. And two 9th grade ELA teachers were asked to participate. I am one of those.

So it looks like I'll be learning lots about this common core curriculum stuff!

After doing some online research, I learned that the states were given federal grants to develop these standards as part of the "Race to the Top" grant. (source here)

To my fellow teachers, have you heard of the common core standards?

Is your state participating? If you're not sure, you can look at a map on the website to find out if your state is involved or planning to be involved.

Do you have an opinion on any of this?

New Orleans Mini Weekend

2011-10-02T08:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend I went to New Orleans with my parents and my mom's friend from Germany.
On Friday night, we ate at a delicious Italian restaurant called Maximo's in the French Quarter. We walked around, enjoying the beautiful windy weather.

Us in Jackson Square, in front of the St. Louis Cathederal.

And I was very well behaved that night. I went to sleep the earliest I've EVER gone to sleep in the city because my dad and I had an adventure planned for Saturday morning!

At around 8:00 AM, we hopped on our bikes and rode from their condo on Tchopitoulas to Audubon Park. My dad had come up with this whole idea, including making a stop at my favorite place.... Pj's!! Note my iced coffee. I figured I would fuel up for the bike ride by eating a pumpernickel bagel. Eh. Bad idea. Hindsight.

After Pj's, we rode our bikes around 4 miles up St. Charles Ave. It is famous for its beautiful homes, or as I like to call them, mansions.

Here are some pictures of houses on St. Charles Ave. (Source)

Then we got to Audubon Park (photo source).
Audubon Park is a beautiful area close to the zoo, and I remember going have picnics there for my childhood field trips to New Orleans.

When we got there, we noticed there was a 5K run/walk ending. We chained up our bikes and took a few pictures.

The park is paved for runners, walkers, etc. and there is a bicycle lane as well.

We decided to go for a run, but we didn't know how long we'd go. If you can recall my previous post, I rested all of last week because of some lower calf/ankle pain.

Gee! A week off + a change in weather (body not used to running in cool) + big ass bagel for breakfast = a very winded chick!

We ran a mile and then took a walk/ bathroom break. I took some more pictures with my phone.

Then, we ran another mile. We walked some more after. And we did one more mile after that and walked as a cooldown. The paved loop is 1.8 miles, so with all the walking and running we looped the park 3 times.

It truly was a beautiful morning. This was the first weekend of fall weather for us (next weekend will probably be hot again), and it was the perfect way to start the day.

We got back on our bikes and met Mom and Karin at Mena's for lunch. I ate a tasty fried shrimp po-boy. (I try to be healthy, you know?)

We took a quick detour to snap some pics in front of this awesome mural.

This whole morning was my dad's idea, and I am so glad I took him up on it. Yay for family and fitness!

What about you guys?

What did you do this weekend?

To my local people, have you ever been to Maximo's or Mena's?

Waddling Around the Neighborhood

2011-09-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, I ran a 5K when I should have rested.

I have some sort of pulled muscle in my lower calf, and something feels stiff with my ankle.

Instead of being stubborn and running anyway, I decided to rest up this past week. I usually would ride my bike, but it was stuck at a friend's house since I don't have a truck or a way to transport it.

So, I did some waddling around the neighborhood (aka speedwalking). Boy did I feel silly. Okay, so maybe my tush wasn't gliding back and forth in the genuine speed-walking form, but I was going as fast as I could.

You see, I have this fear that if I rest even for just a few days in a row, I will lose my endurance when it comes to breathing.

So yesterday I walked the dog first:
1 mile in 15:46

Then, I dropped her off and walked two more miles. Well, technically, I did intervals. I walked five minutes, then ran one minute.
2 miles in 27:51

The day before, Jessica participated in Walk and Talk Tuesday, the event that allows us to catch up and fill in the void created when her doctor told her not to run. We walked 3.1 miles, but I don't know how long it took us. I think it was about an hour.

When am I going to go for a run? Well, I'm going to do that when my calf feels better. Hopefully it will be within the next few days.

Now, for your educational purposes, I present to you a random chart that I found in Google images.

source

You're welcome.

September 8: Katy Perry Concert

2011-09-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

It looks like I crossed off something else on my "30 Before 30" list! (Go to a concert. The last c oncert I'd been to was "No Doubt" in 8th grade.)

Oh, you didn't know?

I went to the Katy Perry concert!! Yes, I am such a dweeb! Jacob is too because he took me there!

There were so many teenyboppers there. But that's kinda what you'd expect from a Katy Perry concert, right? There were some teenagers and little girls with the cutest little Katy outfits, blue wig included.

This is the outfit she came out in. Check out the boobies. They are rotating peppermints. Yes, they spun around. How awesome is that?
Do not let the picture fool you. We were very far away, just zoomed in.

Here is a picture of the big screen.
Can you guess which song this was for? (Peacock) Those are her dancers behind her. Those dancers were AMAZING! I'll tell you what, this concert was entertaining with all the stuff going on in the background and the costume changes.

She sang one song in this Cher-looking outfit on a platform that rose up.
And then, she hopped on a pink cloud that floated across the arena while she played a rhinestone encrusted guitar.

Yeah, yeah. I am sure so many of you are groaning because Katy Perry is so mainstream and pop. WhatEV. I had a blast, and I love her songs because they are so peppy and fun. (with the exception of UR So Gay.. I think that song is lame.)

So, there we have it! I've crossed something off my list!

Do you have a guilty Katy Perry pleasure like me?

What was the last concert you went to?

Race Report: Panda Meander 5K 2011

2011-09-25T07:42:00.001-07:00

It's 5K season! Well, at least in our relatively small town. You can count on there being a 5K race every weekend until Christmas, practically. Yesterday, a few of us decided to try out the Panda Meander 5K, a race that is in its 16th year. It benefits a local school whose mascot is the panda.

Check out the adorable tee shirt!

The course had us starting off right outside the school, which is located in a subdivision, wrapping around outside of the neighborhood, and coming back up the street the school is on. There was a very long 1 mile stretch that was particularly daunting, mentally.

When I start a race, I try to just "go." And by that I mean, I try to just do what feels natural, and it is often way above my normal pace. I usually hold that for the first half mile or so.

Then, gradually, people start to pass me up. Sometimes I have the "umph" in me to prevent them from passing, but sometimes I just let them go. It's a struggle between being competitive and listening to my body.

These two girls pass me up around the one mile mark, and I try to keep up, but it just isn't happening. I figure, "Whatever.They are faster than me. I need to listen to my body."

Around the two mile mark, I see the girls walking. I tell myself, "Aha. They don't know how to pace themselves," and I proceed to pass them up.

Well, whaddya know? Who comes up behind me in the the last half mile? Yep, those ~~bitches~~ lovely ladies.

Now here comes the part that is a total FAIL. They pass me up, and I let them for a little while. Then, I PUSH myself to pass them up again. It would have been so badass to just keep running ahead of them, but I do NOT. They pass me RIGHT back up again and finish before me.

I end up checking their time at the results area, and it was 29:09. My time was 29:47.

Now you've got to understand something. I have nothing against people passing me up. It happens ALL the time. But usually it's by some random guy who is older than me or by an older woman. These people are never in my age group.

In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret of why I end up with medals and trophies: there are not many women in my age group who participate in our local 5Ks. What is the reason? I'm not really sure. I have a few speculations, though.

1. Women my age (in my town, at least) are not really interested in running. Lots of them are having babies at this point, and they are involved in their kids' activities.

2. Women my age are not aware of the smaller races. Maybe they are not as lame as me, and they don't ~~stalk~~ follow the local running club's race schedule? This would explain why I get owned at the more prominent races such as Race for the Cure.

3. They haven't entered midlife crisis mode. Please, middle aged runners, do not take this as an insult. I just don't know how else to word it. Lots of people, when they hit their 40s or 50s, have more time on their hands. They maybe have some weight they would like to lose. They want to challenge themselves and achieve some goals they maybe never had a chance at attempting. Maybe they want to make lifestyle changes. Whatever the reason is, there are LOTS of badass women runners in the 40-50 age group.

Any speculations? Is this the same in your town with the 20-29 female age group? If not, would you like to move to my town so you can get a bunch of medals?

Well, anyway, it turns out the two girls were not even in my age group!! One was 19 years old, and the other was 21. In this race, the groups were in 5 year increments, putting me in the 25-29 age group.

So, there I go again, snagging a sweet first place medal for a very *mediocre 5K time! (Full disclosure-- the woman who placed first overall was in my age group. She finished in around 20 minutes. But she got a separate award.

Oh! And speaking of winning medals.. Check out this machine. Yep, that's my husband. Mr. Jacob got first in his age category! His time? 22:14. His last 5K time was 24:40. He has mostly been training for the local 2 mile races, but I have no doubt that he will shave even more time off of this 5K distance, once he starts training for it more.

I love seeing him way ahead of me in the races. It gets me pumped that he is doing such a great job. It's another thing to look forward to at the races--seeing how well he performs.

* Please don't think that I am insulting myself when I say I am mediocre. I am very proud of how far I have come, and just finishing a 5K race is an amazing accomplishment, not only for me, but for anyone who does it. I'm just being honest. Lots of women (many of the running bloggers I follow) bust out some amazing times for these races, and I don't want to sit here and pat myself on the back for my time.

Sorry if the post was a bit long. Now, some questions for you:

Did you run a race this weekend?
Have you ever felt the same way as me in feeling like someone else deserves your medal?
What is the age group that produces the fewest participants in your area?

Jacob Made the Paper! (Sort of)

2011-09-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

My husband Jacob was the running part of a relay team for this weekend's duathlon. He was caught on camera by our local newspaper's photographer, and he was included in the online gallery!

Photo Credit: Michael Conti/Staff, Houma Courier

Product Review: Pearl Izumi Tri Shorts

2011-09-18T08:59:00.001-07:00

I was looking for a pair of tri shorts to wear for the Tarpon Triathlon, which ended up being canceled due to Tropical Storm Lee. I needed something that I could wear for all three events without changing.

However, the shorts were also a necessity for the duathlon I'd been planning to do. See, for the duathlon, I couldn't be wearing by big bulky cycling shorts with the padded butt because I wouldn't have been able to run in them! (Can you imagine yourself running around in a pair of Depends? 'Cause that's what it would have felt like.)

I was given some advice by a friend who does triathlons to get a pair of tri shorts because they are slightly padded but not enough to hinder movement when running.

I was very pleased to be able to review and wear this adorable pair of tri shorts from Pearl Izumi.

No, I'm not trying to show off my bum (okay, maybe I kinda am). I'm just pointing out the back "envelope"pocket that is perfect for holding small items such as keys, money, ID, etc.

For the race I put my car key in there.

The pair I tried out was the Pearl Izumi Select short.

There are three categories of the apparel: Select, Elite and P.R.O.

The Select series would be the most basic tier. The great thing about this tier is that the price it is the most affordable. It's perfect for people like me who aren't all hardcore but need some reliable clothing.

The shorts fit very snugly, as they are compression shorts. They felt really good on my legs during the runs and the bike ride. Sometimes when I wear shorts to ride my bike, the wind blows up the legs and gets on my nerves.

I didn't have to worry about that issue with these shorts. They have gripper bands at the bottom which hold the shorts in place. (This is ideally for the swim.)

My one complaint is that if you look really close at my thighs, they look a tad bit like sausages. However, I have been told by my friend who does triathlons that the gripper bands work best and that tri shorts aren't very flattering on anyone unless they have tiny legs. Hey, they passed the test from Jacob, who mercilessly teases me if I wear anything goofy-looking. He said I looked great in them! (Whoa, now!)

Another neat feature about the shorts is that there are two big reflective logos on each leg for safety.

If you are in the market for a pair of tri shorts, I definitely recommend these. They sell for $55 on Pearl Izumi's website here.

Also, if you're interested, their facebook page is here.

*I was provided a pair of Pearl Izumi shorts to review, but I was not compensated to give a particular opinion.*

A Few Things

2011-09-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

Please check out my post on this morning's duathlon at Claim Your Journey here.

Yup, you read that right! I did a duathlon! You know what that means? I can cross another thing off my "30 Before 30" list!

Speaking of my "30 Before 30" list.. I hadn't looked at it in a while. It turns out I actually was able to scratch out two other items on the list! I guess I'd better blog about those things, huh?

On another note, check out my friend Meg O's Larabar giveaway here.

ProBar: Sneak Peek and a Promo Code

2011-09-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peek of my next product review/ giveaway.

Introducing... ProBar!
Check out the different categories.

Type: Art's Original Collection (meal replacement bars.)
Most enticing flavor (to me): Old School PB&J
Type: Sweet and Savory
Most Enticing Flavor: Cherry Pretzel
Type: Fruition (low in fat and calories.)
Most enticing flavor: Lemon
Type: Halo
Most enticing flavor: Rocky Road
If you would like to get a 40% off discount on your entire order, head on over to ProBar's shop here.

Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming review and giveaway!

Everyday Endurance 100$ Gift Card WINNER!

2011-09-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! Thanks everyone for participating in my Everyday Endurance giveaway! It looks like my winner got very lucky by entering on the last day! I had 89 comments. Comment number 84 was chosen!
And that comment was....
Congrats, Carrie! Thanks for following the blog and the facebook, etc. It looks like I found a new blog to follow, as well!!

E-mail me, and then I will give your email address to Jospeh at Everyday Endurance. He will send you the electronic gift card!

my email: meganbethlandry@gmail.com

As for you other giveaway fiends... be on the lookout.. the next one up is from RelaxReflect again, but this time it's for the kiddos!

Friday Night Football... and Other Teaching Stuff

2011-09-11T07:02:00.000-07:00

I went to my first high school football game since 2004. Yes, 2004 was the year I graduated from high school.

However, now that I'm teaching at a high school, I figured it was time for me to head out on a Friday night to one of the football games!

Jacob and me

Something that I read in our local newspaper about our school's team: They have not won a football game since George W. Bush was president. :-/

Needless to say, I had some pretty low expectations. However, the game was very close!! Our team didn't win, but they were in the lead a good portion of the second half. The final score was 25-21. Not bad! The weird part was that my school's team played against my high school alumni. It was strange sitting on the "visitor's" side and cheering for the other team! (Remember, I hadn't gone to a game since high school!)

I was excited to have the company of my good friend and co-worker, Alicia and her family. Do you see any resemblance between us? I can't tell you how many times we have both already been asked by students if we are sisters.

The question is usually formed like this: "Do you have a sister that teaches here, too?" Hahaha.. Hey! I'm flattered! I'll take that as a compliment!

Me and Alicia

In other school news.....

-I am a co-sponsor of the Beta Club! Right now we are planning to set up some tutoring time during the lunches to have Beta students earn service hours tutoring their peers. We're going to start working on invitations soon.

-I have a TON of essays to grade, still! I should NOT be sitting in front of the computer blogging because I have so much to do! When Jacob is watching his football games today, I'll probably set up shop on the sofa and take care of some of that.

-The first grading period is already over! We have been in school 5 weeks already! It seems like it just started.

Now some questions for you:

Are any of you teachers sponsors of a club?

When was the last time you went to a high school football game?

Do you think Alicia and I look alike?

The Post I've Been Dreading...

2011-09-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

This is the post in which I announce to my readers that I am not participating in the Jazz Half Marathon.....you know the one I have been training for the past 11 weeks?

Yeah, that one. My first half marathon. I have decided that I am postponing my first half marathon to a later date. I'm not saying I never plan to train for one.

I've been experiencing what we learn about in English called "internal conflict." For the past few weeks I've gone back and forth in my mind about whether or not I would run this race. I almost threw in the towel a few weeks ago, but I decided to modify my plan by using the 5:1 interval plan.

The half marathon is not something that is mentally uplifting for me right now.

Let me just give you a back story.

A year ago, I started running consistently with Jessica. We started off running about 1 mile. Then we graduated to two. And finally we started doing 5Ks. We have done so much in a year. We have done a brutal obstacle race (Warrior Dash) and our first 10K race, the Crescent City Classic. We also achieved some pretty amazing runs, pushing ourselves further than we ever imagined. (If you would have told me a year ago that I could squeeze out some 8 mile runs without stopping, I would NOT have believed you.)

Jessica and I have always had friendly competition, and we hold each other accountable.

Well, Jessica is pregnant, and her doctor has her under orders not to run. The plan for me was to still run the Jazz Half, even if Jessica couldn't.

But this training was killing me. I would do fine on the 3 runs during the week where I'd do about 3 miles each time. However, the long run was a thing to dread. It started to make me feel like a failure when I would break down and stop after around 5 miles.

This is where it started to hurt me mentally. I found myself saying, "I only ran 5 miles. I didn't complete my run."

HOLD ON A SECOND. Let me just say this again. I ONLY ran 5 miles? Jeeesus! Running 5 miles is not something to put "only" before. That is an awesome accomplishment.

Another reason is that my schedule has been severely structured. I found myself not being able to do things with friends and family because I was having to base my whole life around this schedule.

Wanna ride bikes with Paw Paw on Saturday? Nope, I can't do that because I have a training schedule to follow.

Wanna do a 2 mile race? Sure, but I have to find a way to squeeze in 6 other miles.

Wanna walk with Jessica because she could use some support and good conversation? Yeah, but it can only be on Tuesday or Friday.

I'm tired of basing my life around this training schedule. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I won't ever do a half marathon, but running was becoming something I did not enjoy. And when it's not fun anymore, what's the point?

To be honest, for the past 3 weeks at least, I only continued to train because I didn't want to have to own up on my blog that I didn't want to do it anymore. The ONLY real reason I was continuing to do this was so that I wouldn't be seen as a quitter.

Stubborn, much?

So what else is going on besides not doing the Jazz?

The weather is cooling down, fall is on its way, and so is 5K season! I can't wait to do some of our fun local races with friends and partying after.

I also am racing in my first duathlon this upcoming weekend! It's a 2 mile run, a 10 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run again. Jacob is running as part of a relay team. I cannot wait!!

The next weekend is a 5K that I plan on running with my girl, Paige. Excited about that!

Also, I am hoping to start riding bikes more on Saturday mornings with my grandpa and going on runs with my dad!

I've made my decision, and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I'm ready to start running for myself and having more freedom. Who knows? After Jessica has that little bebe, I may be singing a different tune!

Virtual 5K Recap

2011-09-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today's run wasn't too bad. I was "supposed" to do 8 miles according to my training schedule, since I have been switching my long runs to Mondays to accommodate my weekend plans.

Sticking to the plan this week was all sorts of failure, so I'm not going to focus on that.

Let's focus on what I DID do today.

My dad came over, and we ran/walked 3 miles, plus some cooldown walking. When we got to three miles, we stopped running (me, forgetting that I was supposed to do a virtual 5K-- Thanks for hosting, Running Through Life!! ). When we finished at 3 miles, we were at 30:43.. not bad considering we walked one minute for every five minutes and it was SUPER DUPER windy!

Tropical Storm Lee left us some remnants with that wind! It was a mixed blessing. It felt GREAT outside for once, but it was tough running against the wind!

My dad just keeps surprising me. He was a few steps ahead of me the whole time!

So, after he left, I decided I would do what I could, even if it didn't all equal 8 miles.

I ended up running two more miles. I figured it would be smart to stop when my ankle and knee started nagging at me.

So, official 5K time? 32:31

Gator Dash: Girl Power!

2011-09-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

Remember how I briefly touched on the Gator Dash in my post dedicated to the running men in my life? Well, I never got a chance to talk about all the girl power that was going on at that event just yet.

And I also didn't get to really mention how super pumped I was to drag some of my family out there! It was so awesome being at a race with my parents!! This is us before the race.

I thought my mom was going to just walk the event. But she decided to walk AND run. Check her out finishing strong at the end!!! (right)

I ~~harassed~~ encouraged my friends Alicia (left) and Paige (right) to join me at the Gator Dash. Both were a little concerned since they hadn't run a race in a while. They found out that they are around the same pace as each other, and they ran it together!

This is our tough girl picture. I didn't get the memo that I had to make an intimidating face.

Funny story: Paige and I both placed in our age groups! Paige got 2nd in the 20-24 range, and I got first in the 25-29 range. Go us!! My plaque is already hanging in my classroom.

My time was 18:25. The last few (two mile) races I did, I was under 18 minutes, and I did not place. Yay for low turnout in my age group? Not really yay. I wish Jessica could have been there because running without her is just not the same! She totally would have snagged that first place plaque if she had been there, pregnant and all.

But she's being a healthy mommy, and she and her munchkin are going to be the fastest mommy-baby duo on the town. Jessica is totally going to be that person with a jogging stroller passing your ass up!

Love ya, Jess! And thanks, parents, Paige and Alicia, for joining me at the Gator Dash!

Boring Teacher Stuff

2011-09-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail forwarded from the state department about an online class teachers can take to receive CLU's. It's free, and it is held through a site called "Louisiana Virtual School."

The name of the class is Intel Elements: Collaboration in the Digital Classroom. Apparently it is put on by the company, Intel. It runs 6 weeks long, and if I complete the course, I receive 32 CLU's.

The lovely thing about Louisiana is that they cut the funding for the program for new teachers called LATAAP (Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program). This is what I was supposed to go through for my first few years of teaching. I would have been observed, and I would have had to complete a portfolio.

Finishing LATAAP would have allowed me to move from a Level 1 teaching certificate to a Level 2. Well guess what? Since Bobby Jindal doesn't value public education and continues to cut our funding, I may be stuck in what I like to call "LATAAP Limbo" for awhile. How will I ever advance?

According to a woman at the school board, when the program resumes, I may be allowed to advance to the next level if I have been keeping track of my CLUs. (You see, technically, right now I don't even need to be getting CLUs because I'm still in level one. But I'm thinking ahead. Someone is going to want me to have those.)

So that leads me to the online professional development course. It's broken down into modules. There are 5 modules. I completed my first one last night in about an hour. It requires you to keep a computer log where you write down notes and plans. I am also required to post in the class's discussion forum three times per week.

Have any of you teachers ever taken an online course like this?

How do you get your CLUs?

Everyday Endurance Product Review and Giveaway

2011-09-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

Hey! Ya like my shirt? I do. It's an Everyday Endurance casual tee. (Thanks, Jess, for being my photographer with my phone.) If you look close on top of the dog, it says, "It's a Lifestyle Thing." That's Everyday Endurance's motto. They offer a lot of really cool looking graphic tees that have themes of running, biking, swimming, triathlons, yoga, climbing, etc.

Go check it out for yourself! (here)

Here are some of my favorite shirts (besides the one I'm wearing--that one is my fave) from the site. There are lots of different color combinations.
(This one is called "Others Sleep". There is a version for men, too, with a male runner.

This one is called "The Chase." There is also a men's one, sans ponytail.
This shirt ("Asansas") is beautiful!! I wish I did yoga, just so I could wear this! ( I mean, nothing's stopping me from wearing it, but then I might get asked about what type of yoga I do, etc.)

I asked my husband which ones he likes for the guys.

He liked these:

I don't usually wear cotton tees to run in, so I wear this shirt just with some jeans to go eat or hang out. I have also dressed it up with a seersucker skirt and some Sperry's.

Would you like a chance to win a $100 Everyday Endurance gift card?

(I think I know the answer to that question.)

Here's what you can do to get entries. For each of these steps, you must come back and leave me a comment saying you did it.

+1 Visit Everyday Endurance's website here and tell me which shirt is your favorite.

+1 "Like" Everyday Endurance's facebook page here and tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent you.

+1 "Like" Fit Crafty English Teacher on facebook here.

+1 Follow me on twitter (username FitCraftyTeach). I have a link on my blog to get to my twitter page.

+? Share this giveaway via twitter, facebook, your blog, etc. and leave me a comment for each.

The giveaway will last one week. It will end at midnight on Saturday, September 10th.

I will choose the winner using random.org.

Good luck!

My First Triathlon: Canceled

2011-09-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well, if you read my last post, you saw that I was concerned about the weather for the upcoming weekend. We're expecting to feel the effects of Tropical Storm Lee.

(Cue the song by Tenacious D called "Lee.")

The way I feel is that sh*t happens. There's nothing I can really do about it. At least I didn't pay for NOTHING. I still got the shirt, water bottle, and tee.

Side note: I have been noticing a trend of getting technical tees instead of cotton tees at races. Is this the same thing going on in other places? I love the softness of it, but sometimes when you put a logo on a shirt like that, it smells odd. The shirt itself, even after being washed, smells like B.O.

I don't even know if I want to wear the shirt because I feel like I didn't earn it. Whatev. I don't wear these shirts to run anyway because I only like sleeveless shirts. (I sweat too much, okay?)

They make for SUPER comfy pajama shirts, though.

So what's plan B? Staying home with my man, relaxing. I will probably catch up on some reading, grading, and even crafting!

And I will also (*If we don't lose power) post my GIVEAWAY for a $100 Everyday Endurance gift card!!!

Will it Happen?

2011-09-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

My first triathlon is scheduled for this Saturday. Unfortunately, we are getting hit by some pretty severe weather.

I don't know if this tri will happen or not. As of now, it's still on. I went pick up my packet with the tee shirt, bag, water bottle, number, etc.

At least if it is cancelled, I've got my swag. But I won't want to even sport it unless I complete the triathlon!

Hmph.

Product Review: Amorphia Apparel

2011-08-31T14:03:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't like witty tee shirts?

I love wearing cute shirts that will make my students ask questions or make a connection.

Enter: Amorphia Apparel.

This tee shirt company is run by Jeremy Kalgreen, former art student. He created this website so hopefully one day he'll run into a stranger wearing his design on a tee shirt.

A lot of my co-workers buy nerdy tee shirts in their subject areas and wear them to school. (We're secondary geeks.) This is why I wanted to do a review of this company. As you can see from the logo above, he's got a lot of different categories.

I have included pictures of my favorite ones from some of the categories.

From the "Science" category:

From the "Teach the Controversy" category. (Science teachers who teach evolution will appreciate these shirts." Get it? Teach the Controversy that the planets and suns revolve around the earth. (Sarcasm, anyone?) There are several other funny shirts in this category.

From the general "Amorphia" category:
Check it out English teachers, a "Quoth the Raven" shirt! LOVE IT!

From the Hirsute History category:

Hirsute History is my favorite category. There are writers, philosophers, scientists, and even 80's Wrestlers all identified by their hair.

I was given the opportunity to review a shirt that reflected my nerdiness as an English teacher. I chose the "Edgar" shirt. My students just finished reading "The Cask of Amontillado", and I wanted to see if they would make the connection.I got so many comments on it! They were so proud of themselves that they knew who was on my shirt.

And of course it was a hit in the English hall!
The tee itself is an American Apparel shirt. I got the women's style tee because it was a little easier to dress up with a denim skirt and some red flats.

Another cool thing about Amorphia is that if you take a picture of yourself wearing one of their shirts and send it to their website or facebook page, you receive $5 off your next tee shirt purchase.

Readers in the U.S. , they are currently offering free shipping on purchases over $50. Just use the promo code SHIPFREEUS.

Note: I was provided a t-shirt to review, but was not compensated to give a particular opinion.

Running Men

2011-08-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Dad,

Yeah, you. (Why do you ALWAYS close your eyes?)
I see how you're stretching there before the Gator Dash, ya know, since you haven't run a race in like 20 years. You're trying to act all amateur. I see ya. Ya had us all fooled. Here I am thinking you're gonna mostly walk the two mile race.

I finally dragged you out here, and I'm just glad to have your company.

But then you go and do something that you don't even REALIZE the implications of.

You go and finish the race in 19:58, after not running... EVER (practically). AND your shoe came untied twice!

You know what this means, Dad? It means you WILL be getting harassed to run with me now.

And you guys.. way to go! (My handsome husband on the left, looking like a hi-liter marker, and our good buddy, Bill, on the right. )
Billy's a new dad, who's on a mission to stay healthy for himself and his family. He's lost around 15 lbs over the past few weeks by incorporating lots of fruits and vegetables in his diet. Thanks for agreeing to be dragged out to future races, Bill!

Jacob got himself a trophy! He shaved off over a minute from his last 2 mile race, finishing strong at 13:47. I'm so proud of you, my beautiful runner! (Seriously, several people commented on the gracefulness and beauty of Jacob's stride.)

We can't forget these guys in the 70 + category who go out there and kick ASS on the regular! (My Paw Paw Burnie, left, and his friend Carol, on the right.)
You are an inspiration to so many people!

So that was my tribute to the men in my life who were beasts this weekend at the Gator Dash.

There's a girly post coming up, I promise!

The Moment We Have All Been Waiting For....(giveaway winner)

2011-08-27T07:45:00.001-07:00

The post where I announce the winner of the RelaxReflect leggings!!!

I know, I know, the contest ended Wednesday night, but I am just getting around to announcing the winner.. who would be....

Comment number 6!
Julie, e-mail me at meganbethlandry@gmail.com for details. I will e-mail you a sizing chart, and you can choose whichever pattern and color you want!

Thanks again to Jean at RelaxReflect!

Facebook page here

Be on the lookout for another RelaxReflect giveaway, especially the mommies and daddies out there!

Here's a sneak preview...

How I Started Doing Bonus Points

2011-08-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

In the past, I have offered bonus points for my students for doing certain activities here and there or returning important paperwork, etc. I used to keep a log of who had how many bonus points using a table on my computer. I would then look to see if anyone had bonus points that could help boost up a test grade each time I put grades in the computer.

What was I thinking? That was WAY too much work on my part. This is what I started doing. All the other teachers are gonna be like, "Duh!"

I found these very generic looking "dollar" templates on Microsoft Office. [I don't have that cuteness gene that elementary teachers have.]

I printed copies of them on colorful paper. If you notice the little yellow tool, it is a hole punch in the shape of a flower. That way the kids can't duplicate them as easily. I also write the student's name in my handwriting.

The students are responsible for holding on to their bonus slips. If we review a test, and bonus points can make a difference in the grade, the students just staple the ticket(s) to their test, and I'll go back and edit the grade in the system.

Talk about a time saver!

*And YES, that IS an apple on my desk. I embrace the stereotype.*

Aborted Mission and Balancing Act Winner

2011-08-20T06:31:00.000-07:00

This morning I was set to do 8 miles according to my half training schedule. I stopped after 5 miles. I called Jessica, my awesome (currently preggers) running partner for some advice. I was ready to throw in the towel on this whole half marathon thing.

I told her how I just feel too mentally weak to do these 8-ish mile runs every Saturday. She pointed out to me that there are so many people who do halfs, and they don't obsess about time or walking a little.

I need to be one of these people.

In order to not feel like a failure, when in fact, I am doing some badass stuff, I need to modify my expectations.

To tell the truth, it's a lot harder doing these runs without knowing Jessica is doing them, too. But she hasn't given up the idea on doing the half. She's been told by her doc to not really run for a while. She's in her first trimester. She said to keep the option open for still doing the half, but walking some of it.

She encouraged me to do the other 3 miles at some point this weekend, just to have the mileage in.

The only thing I worry about is that I have all these upcoming events:

Aug. 27- 2 mile race
Sept. 3 sprint triathlon (150 meter swim, 10 mile bike ride, 3 mile run)
Sept.17 duathlon (2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 2 mile run)

They are all on Saturdays. I KNOW I'm not going to feel like adding extra mileage on to those events that day to reach my "long" run goals. Any advice for this dilemma?

Okay, now let me get to the fun part.. the winner of the Balancing Act Clothing giveaway!! The winner is....

Jen @ Running With the Girls!!

Come on down, Jen, to claim your prize!

(And by come on down, I mean: e-mail me with your shipping information, and which cotton tee you would like in what size! meganbethlandry@gmail.com)

Product Review: Tommie Copper Compression Sleeves

2011-08-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Tommie Copper is a company that offers products that cater to athletes and non-athletes alike.

They specialize in compression gear. Where does the Copper part come in? Well, they use a patented Therapeutic Copper Compression (TCC) technology, which is fabric that has copper yarn infused in it.

Thus us what makes it different from other compression products. You know how you see those copper bracelets that are meant to help with arthritis and pain? The idea is to put copper in the compression gear to speed up recovery.

They offer sleeves for calves, elbows, knees and ankles. They also sell men's and women's compression shirts.

I contacted them to review their product because I had been dealing with some shin splints. For the most part, I have been using the sleeves for recovery. I did, however, wear them on my run this week.
The only complaint about wearing them while running is that it was a little hotter, but I can't blame Tommie Copper for the South Louisiana heat and humidity.

I am wearing them right now as I type this. I sleep in them, and I just wear them around the house. I do find that my shin splints are not nearly as painful. As for whether or not it is related to the copper technology, I am not sure. The way I see it is that it can't hurt!

You can check out Tommie Copper on their website, facebook page, and twitter.

Check out their stuff!

Thanks for the opportunity, Tommie Copper!

RelaxReflect Review/ Leggings Giveaway!

2011-08-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

I am super pumped to do this product review/giveaway for a company called RelaxReflect. They specialize in combining safety gear with style. I first read about them in the Runner's World "fastinistas" issue. They sell workout gear, but also casual wear and children's clothing.

I am ready to throw out my ugly neon yellow running vest because I am going to be BLINDING some people with my gear! This clothing is perfect for running (or any other sport) at night or early in the morning. It's also great if you want to make yourself stand out at a race. Wouldn't this be awesome at that Las Vegas night race?

Check my cheesy self out, pretending to run! My poor husband has to put up with all these impromptu photo shoots.

Jean, at RelaxReflect, actually customized this outfit for me! And she can do this for you, too!

"Super Megan!!" I feel like a badass adorable super-hero.
Check out all of the reflective pieces. I've got stars across my chest and lines going down my chest. The stars and lines are also on the BACK of the shirt and skort, just in case you are running in front of a car.
I've got stars all down the adorably amazing skort, which I will talk about in a sec.

And I've got built in motivation with my 13.1 custom logo on the bottom of my top!! How awesome is that?! I also want to point out that the skort has a built in pocket for keys, phone, etc.

But the absolute BEST part about this skort is that the shorts underneath are not TOO short!
Have you ever bought a running skirt only to realize that the shorts underneath are not long enough, and then you have what I like to call "chub rub" ? (aka chafing.) I was a little worried that I would experience that when Jean told me she was sending me a skort. But I just want to point out how long the shorts are. Look!

But don't worry.. they don't show when you're running. (Can I just point out that I really like how my thigh muscle looks in this picture?)

I rocked this outfit last Saturday on my 7 mile run. I was so satisfied with how the skirt felt because I didn't have any chafing, but I also didn't have to worry about my running shorts riding up my legs, creating that lovely "diaper" look. I felt so cute!

Jean also sent me a badass pair of leggings, but in this Louisiana heat and humidity, I could not BEAR to put any type of legging on to try out. I will be rocking the hell out of those in the fall/winter, though.

The great news for my readers is that RelaxReflect is giving away a pair of these leggings for YOU!

How can you win a pair?
Multiple ways.

1. (Mandatory) Visit RelaxReflect's website here (I linked to the exercise clothing section, since that's what most of you runners want to check out; let's be honest.) Then come back and tell me which is your favorite pattern. (You won't believe how cute this stuff is.)

2. +1 Visit RelaxReflect's facebook page here , "like" them, and tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent you!!

3. Post this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter and come back and comment, letting me know each time you did it.

The deadline for this giveaway is a week from today, August 24th, at midnight.

**Also... to the mommies/daddies out there, keep reading over the next few weeks because I will also be doing a giveaway for a child's shirt.

My "Spiritual" Run

2011-08-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Remember this post about my awful, embarrassing 8 mile run last Saturday? Of course you do, because you probably were one of the many people who gave me awesome advice and/or encouragement.

Seriously, I keep telling myself bits of your comments to pump myself up. Thanks so much for the support, bloggy friends!

I am happy to say that I took advice from many people (especially my girl, Jessica) and ran early in the morning as opposed to my evening runs.

The reason I had not been waking up early to run was because I am so accustomed to running in the evening because of my job. If I truly want to feel prepared for the day, I have to be at school around 6:30 AM. Plus, I have to put on my "mask" (aka makeup) and do my hair, etc. etc.

So for the shorter runs, I'll stick with running in the evenings.

But this morning I finally bit the bullet and woke up early(ish) for a run. I set the alarm for 5:45, and I straight turned it off. Oops. Good thing I woke up again around 6:45. Still not too late.

Here are the stats:

As soon as I started running, I felt a little pain at my left ankle. I thought maybe I hadn't stretched enough. Hm. It wasn't bad enough to stop, so I ran through it, and it eventually didn't feel as noticeable. With these long runs, I always get pretty pumped up (with the exception of last weekend) when I reach the 5 mile point. After that, I mentally am not as intimidated. At around that point in the run, I started with the mantras.

I did not tell myself, "I am going to start saying motivating things." The thoughts just sort of came.

For the non-runners who are reading this, please don't think I'm crazy or that I believe myself to be some kind of spiritual guru. It's just that when you are pushing yourself so hard to do something that is really important to you, you do whatever you can to get through the run.

The first thought that came was "My legs are strong." At that point, I began focusing on running more with my thighs than my calves and ankles. I get lazy and just shuffle along, but this "My legs are strong" thought kept reminding me to lift my legs. I was just taking it slow, and I just felt good. I started looking at the trees around me and hearing the birds chirp. I felt connected.

Then, out of nowhere, the other mantra came:

*TOTAL CHEESEBALL MOMENT ALERT*

"I'm beautiful, I'm powerful, I'm strong." That was the mantra. It truly did get me through the rest of the run. I really did feel that way, too. I felt beautiful, powerful and strong, pushing my body to the limits.

It's so crazy because in the past I have tried to come up with things I could tell myself when I was running to motivate myself, but nothing ever worked. And these just came to me!!

I guess you could say it was a spiritual moment for me!

Have you ever had one of these "spiritual" running experiences?

Maybe I've been listening to too much U2.

I burned 769 calories before many people woke up!! This allowed me to then take a shower, take a mini nap, and go to a relative's baby shower! And I felt so much better about having gotten the run done. I don't mean to say that I "dread" runs, and I had to "get it over with", but it's a good feeling knowing you got it logged in, and you can relax and rest the rest of the weekend.

(Me all dressed up to go to a baby shower--NOT wearing running clothes!)

So I'm converted. I'm officially going to try to do ALL my long runs in the morning, especially in this Louisiana summer.

Balancing Act Clothing Review and Giveaway

2011-08-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to have the opportunity to bring my readers a Balancing Act Clothing review and giveaway!

What is Balancing Act?

It's a t-shirt company owned by Alissa Costello, a graphic designer and runner. Here's just a preview of some of the shirts she has:
She has performance wear and casual wear. They are all screen printed.

Check me out, modeling my casual tee that says "Run Like a Girl."
If my husband would have been awake this morning when I left for work, I would have had a cuter picture, looking all fresh! But this is me after a long day at work. I promise, the outfit looked less casual in person. I dressed up the shirt with a cute skirt and some flats. (Note I am also using my Garmin as a regular watch these days!)
Close up of the graphic.

I will definitely rock this shirt with jeans when I want to dress cute. It gets the conversation started about running, doesn't it? It is super soft and comfy. The shirts run true to size. I wear a women's size medium in women style shirts, and it's not too fitted to where I have to worry about it clinging too tightly.

Lots of the shirts can be customized in different colors.

So now you're wondering how you can get a chance to win one of these casual tees, right?
Here are the rules:

1. (mandatory) Check out the website here and come back and comment, telling me your favorite tee.

2. (mandatory) Check out Balancing Act's facebook page here, and "like" it. Also, tell them that FitCraftyEnglishTeacher sent you! (Then comment telling me you did.)

Bonus entries

+1 Follow FitCraftyEnglishTeacher on facebook here and "like" me.

+1 (each time) Share the giveaway link via Twitter, facebook, or your blog. Comment for each way you shared.

The giveaway ends a week from today, Friday August 19 at midnight.

Good Luck!

*I was provided a shirt from Balancing Act to review, but I was not compensated to give a particular opinion.*

8 Mile "Run" from Hell

2011-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

So, my blog has lots of happy posts of awesome achievements. This post is not a celebratory one.

Saturday, I feel like I failed miserably at doing my 8 mile "long" run. As many of you know, I am training for my first half marathon. I had previously run 8 miles before, but it was when the weather was cooler around March.

But the few weeks leading up to this Saturday I had been running 6 and 7 miles without stopping. So adding one mile to that wouldn't be hard, right?

Wrong. In fact, I had less than positive hopes from the beginning. I told myself that I would try a few Shot Bloks, run 4 miles, then come inside a little while and drink some water, then go back and run the other 4 miles.

I think this is where I went wrong, planning from the get-go to stop halfway. Because when I got to just the two mile part, I started feeling miserably hot. The temperature was around 92 degrees, and the sun was just shining in my face, despite it being around 6:30 pm. So after mile two, I bargained with myself into walking .10 of a mile for every mile I did, just so I could stick with the run.

Halfway through, I came inside and ate the rest of the Shot Bloks and drank the rest of my water. I then went back out there. Well, by the time I got to mile 6, I couldn't even lift my legs any more. I bargained with myself to walk a HALF a MILE!

You guys, it took me so long to finish the running that my husband got worried and started walking around the neighborhood looking for me, fearing I'd passed out.

I was in such a bad place, mentally and physically, that for the first time, I thought, "I don't think I can do this half marathon. I might just quit training for this."

I'm so upset with myself for letting the negative thinking get to me and cause me to not push myself.

I understand there are times when it is okay to walk, but I think my run was so bad BECAUSE I walked so much. I had talked myself out of succeeding on this run before I'd even started!

I want this 13.1 soooo badly. I've been analyzing that and other things that may have caused the bad run like this:

-I started too early in the evening. The heat and humidity was brutal that first half.

-I'd rested on Thursday due to a slight calf pain rather than run. I think I shouldn't have rested that day.

-I committed myself to stopping before I'd started.

-I allowed myself so many walk breaks that all I kept focusing on was when the next one was going to be.

-I drank too much water during the break, and it gave me cramps.

I ended up finishing in 1:33, but I paused the Garmin during my halfway break. I kept it running while walking. I averaged a 11:26 pace.

I got some great comments on dailymile, facebook and twitter that encouraged me. One friend on facebook said:

"You either ran today or you didn't, and you ran- it always counts!!!"

Another friend on twitter said:

"You'll be so much stronger in the fall."

These people said things that really spoke to me. I need to remember these things next time I am in the middle of Satan's butthole trying to run my way out.

Have you guys had runs like this? Any words of encouragement or mantras I can repeat? I CANNOT quit. I WILL NOT quit.

Ouch! and Classroom

2011-08-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

"I hurt my paw, mommy! I stick my big paws under the doors, and the wood cuts me up! I can't stop doing it!"

Seriously. The cat has done this three times now. It worries me. It always heals, but for a while he limps around a little. I don't know the exact location of the house where it's happening, and it makes me feel so bad for him.

My classroom is shaping up! Note the little touches:
1. The red white and blue stars come from Target post-Fourth of July sales. (Those are our school colors)
2. Check out the hamburger poster. It's practically infamous. It's so horribly drawn, but my kids love it.
3. My PBIS posters. Does your school have PBIS? It's where the school comes up with an acronym for how the students are expected to behave. Since we are the Patriots, ours is "Pride." P=practice responsibility, R=raise expectations... You get it. Then I have my classroom expectations underneath each letter that they fall under.
I'm loving my little desk nook. I will post some more pictures after I am truly done setting up tomorrow.

Tickle Me Tuesday

2011-08-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

For those unfamiliar with Tickle Me Tuesday, it's a linkup from Yes, Teacher! where you post 1-5 items that are currently tickling your fancy.

My "Find Your Happy Pace" shirt from One More Mile

Embroidery kit from Dimensions

Embroidered ornament kit from Dimensions

When I went to Michael's today, I was surprised to see the cute little embroidery kits they were selling. Martha Stewart even makes them. Screw her. She doesn't let you use the 40% off coupon on her stuff. Plus, the patterns were so simplified that I could make them myself.

What's tickling your fancy?

I'm a DORK

2011-08-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

Everytime we go to Home Depot or Lowe's to look at plants, I always look at the cacti. On Saturday, Jacob said, "Just buy one if you want one."

You know I did!

Then I got this ridiculous idea that I would keep him in my classroom and name him.

The first name that came to mind for him was "Prick."

But that wasn't very g-rated or school appropriate.... so I settled on "Spike."

I actually took the time to paint the flower pot. I am SUCH a dork.

What do you guys think? Should I get another one and name him Thorn? I always wanted to pay tribute to the amazing actor who plays Thorn on The Bold and the Beautiful.. here's my chance!

Week in Review 7/25 to 7/31

2011-07-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

Monday
Ran 3.10 miles in exactly 30 minutes

Tuesday
Rest day

Wednesday
Speedwork at the track, 4 miles total
1 mile warmup
4 x 800 m
1 mile cooldown

Thursday
attempted to do the scheduled 3 miles, but could only do .25 of a mile because I was having terrible shin splints. Decided to rest and ice the shins.

Friday
Resting and icing the shins

Saturday
6 mile "long" run as scheduled. The run was grueling, humid and miserable. As each mile would pass, I'd be slower and slower. But.. I gotta hand it to myself. I never stopped, and I finished the whole 6 miles. The resting must have paid off. I didn't have any shin pain.

Sunday
Rest day

This was the sixth week of half marathon training, and I have been pretty good about staying on schedule. I am noticing as I get further and further into the training, I am cherishing my rest days. I have no desire to ride my bike or do anything else. I guess that's okay. As the triathlon and duathlon get closer, I plan to incorporate some more biking and swimming. As for the pump classes, the free gym month expired, so I won't be doing that as often.

This upcoming week is my last week off before school starts. I stay pretty consistent when school is in, so I don't anticipate any missed training. I will make it a goal to try to do a pump class on Saturday mornings sometimes when school is in. (I can pay $5 a class.)

How was your week? What are you training for?

TARC and its Awesomeness

2011-07-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, I had a super happy day because my mom, my grandma and I went on a lunch date together.

We went to a local jewel called TARC. I am so happy my new school is near this place, and I plan to frequent it OFTEN. TARC is 20 acres of area devoted to helping people with developmental and mental disabilities do jobs that enrich the community.

The food was awesome. I ate a turkey BLT wrap with sweet potato fries.

The clients run several businesses. Here are some that I think are the coolest:

Cajun Confections
They sell awesome sweets like pralines and sugar coated pecans!

Bon Terre Enterprises
This is the branch that sells the tasty stuff like salsas, pepper jellies, etc.

Houma Grown
(Houma is the name of our town.) This is their farmer's market. Lots of fresh veggies are sold here.

The Hen House
They sell yard eggs that the hens lay!

Bayouland Yard Krewe
These guys have several contracts in the community for lawncare. You can call them over to cut your grass and do the outdoor stuff.

The Cedar Chest
Y'all.. I am biased for this one. Why?
1. I LOVE thrift stores. I can go there and buy all kinds of stuff and know the money goes to an amazing cause.
2. Duh! My cousin, Shelly works there!! She loves her job sorting and hanging clothes to be sent to The Cedar Chest.

So when we went on our lunch date to TARC, we had to make a special visit to Shelly's job because it was her 30th birthday! We surprised her and sang happy birthday while she was working.

(Me and Maw Maw Tillie with our visitor's passes.)

I couldn't leave the gift shop without a few purchases.

I got some cinnamon pecans and some adorable notecards. See, it's a pot full of boiled seafood!

If anybody is interested in checking out the TARC gift shop, the link is here.

I Won!

2011-07-30T07:34:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday, I found out that I won a slogan contest for One More Mile. I "like" their facebook page, and from time to time, they will host these mini contests. They were looking for t-shirt slogans in categories such as kids, spectators and pregnant runners.

I e-mailed them a few ideas, and my idea for a spectator tee was chosen. My slogan?
Designated "Stuff" Holder

I just think about the poor person who accompanies the runners who has to hold everything. Do you know someone like that?

So I got to choose any t-shirt I wanted from their site, and I picked this one.

Cute, huh? I like it because when I'm running, that's what I try to do. I may be accused by some as not pushing myself hard enough, but I really just like to find my happy pace, the pace where I feel good.

So that was neat.

Have you won any contests lately?

Scenes from My New Classroom

2011-07-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

I finally got the chance to start working in my new classroom at my new school! I had to share this moment. I was looking at the bulletin boards, and I decided that the yellow paper that was already up was a little ratty looking, so I started pulling it up. I thought I would find the bare board underneath. Boy, was I in for a surprise. This is what I found!

Dragons, eh? I laughed out loud all by myself. It looks pretty great if you are into K-Mart fashion, circa 1998. Someone obviously put hard work into putting up the cloth, so I am not making fun of that particular person, but.. that pattern... hmmm... makes me wonder.

So, then I move on to the next board. I decided the black paper was a bit dark for my taste, so I pulled it up and found this fiery mess. Yes, you are seeing that correctly. It is fabric with flames and tribal symbols. And green lettering?

This room is just dying for some TLC. I am about halfway done with the boards, but when I am finished with them I will post the "after" pics.

I don't know how you elementary teachers do it. I struggle putting up that paper! I somehow managed to make it look decent, but it is shabby compared to some of the beautiful boards I have seen in elementary schools.

Hopefully this gave you guys a laugh like it did for me!

Disgusting Goodwill Update/ Shopping with Mom

2011-07-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Remember the sign at Goodwill from this post where we all grossed out, and Megan felt ashamed for continuing to shop there?

Well... there have been some new (disgusting) developments.

I went there again today. You'd think something like that incident would be enough to turn me off completely from going there.

Buy you guys just don't understand. It's the only local Goodwill. And they have so much great stuff.

So anyways, I finally worked up the nerve to ask the worker what that sign was all about.

She replied, "Y'all smelled it?"

My mom goes, "Yeah! I did smell it!" (I thought I smelled a slight "cover up" smell, but I wasn't sure.)

The girl goes on to say, "Yeah.. there are some sick people in this world. You know they used the bathroom (#1) in not just one of the dressing rooms-- all three."

WHAT?!
That is just out. of. control.

How could someone defile the dressing rooms at my favorite place? Not just one! But ALL of them!

Needless to say, that was upsetting. Will I still go back?

As much as I hate to say it, yes I will! But I did not try anything on. And I don't plan to. Ever again. Is there a HGTV show that can help out our Goodwill? Some type of shampooing company that can clean up the human piss at my shopping sanctuary?

*Sigh.*

Funny stuff, though... we also went to Burke's Outlet. This place is pretty junky. But there were some hilarious finds there that I could not resist photographing.

Not sure where this sign would appropriately hang? I sent this picture to my husband because I tell him that all the time, especially when I'm driving.

Can I just ask.. Who is the target demographic for this "cologne"? We all know that while it may say "men" on the box, we do not know a man who would wear this. It's obviously playing on the whole Twilight craze. (Is that still a craze?) Maybe it's for little girls who want to spray their Team Edward or Team Jacob body pillows with it.

I must say, it would be a terrific gag gift.

Week in Review: 7-18 to 7-24 and other stuff

2011-07-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Monday
Rode my bike 10 miles
Ran 3 miles with Paige at a school track. (Mentally tedious knowing you have to circle the track 15 times.) But yay for companionship!

Tuesday
Rest day. Ya damn right I'm taking these rest days.

Wednesday
Ran about 3 miles at the track doing 300 meter repeats.

Thursday
Ran 2 miles with Jessica and Paige, then opted to do the third mile at a cooler point. It was dangerously hot, if you ask me.

I tried to run as fast as I could for Running Ricig's "Proof I Didn't Peak in High School" mile challenge.

Sweaty pic in 5..4..3..2...
Oh, and if you're wondering.. I did not set a one mile PR, but it beats the hell out of ANY RUNNING I could do in high school!

Friday
Rest day! Saw Horrible Bosses with some friends.
My movie outfit (top and skirt) came from thrift stores!
I swear, I should call the blog "Fit Thrifty English Teacher" these days..

Saturday
Ran my "long run" of 7 miles!!
Now, it's not fast by any means, but damn... I am proud of myself. The past few long runs had been either broken up or skipped. No more of that. I have three straight weekends of 8 mile runs. I got this! (right?)

Sunday
Rest day. But I did do something cool. Something I've never done before. Something (kinda) scary.

I registered for my very first triathlon! I am not AS scared as I should be because the swimming portion is in a pool. The Tarpon Triathlon benefits a local swimming team, and it is a family friendly event. Nothing super hardcore/serious. This is why I'm doing it. I am not fretting myself over times and transitions. I'm not trying to make this a stressful event for myself. I seeded myself at 8 minutes to do the 150 meter swimming part. I don't want any pressure to be on me by people passing me up.

I estimated that I would be finished in 2 hours. Hopefully, I finish faster than that. If not, then great! I just plan to finish!

Any comments, questions, suggestions?

What are YOUR latest thrifting finds?

Have you ever done a sprint triathlon? Was it in a body of water or a pool?

Did you do Running Ricig's challenge?

Have a great week, everyone!

Wanna see my new shoes?

2011-07-24T12:19:00.001-07:00

Check out my post at Claim Your Journey here.

Razzy Roo Headband winners!

2011-07-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

Comment number 16 was from Karen K!

Comment number 9 was from KT8O at Training Like a Girl.

What I need is for each of you to go to Razzy Roo Headbands, choose one headband that you want, e-mail me with the name of that headband and your shipping information.

I will then e-mail Cheryl, the awesome lady who is giving them away, with your info, and she will put them in the mail for you!

7 Random Things

2011-07-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Jessica at From the Bayou to the Swamp to do the 7 Random Things About Me post!

My stuff might be kind of weird. I will try to think of things I have not mentioned on my blog before.

1. When I was a kid, I used to be obsessed with mannequins.

We would pass this wedding shop on the way to day care every morning, and I would stare at the mannequins and see what new outfits they had on. My mom told me that when I was about 4 or 5, I asked her, "Do mannequins' hair blow in the wind?" and "Can mannequins breathe?" See, you could already tell that I was going to be an awesome person from those questions!

One day my mommy pulled in at the wedding store and let me get out and look at them. Unfortunately, I remember being disappointed because all they had were men mannequins that day showing off the suits, rather than the ladies in pretty dresses.

2. I have a very foul mouth and sense of humor.
While you will find me being the most professional person in my job around my students, I am a completely different person in my personal life. I refuse to watch a comedy unless it is R-rated. I love shows like The Hangover, and I really enjoy live comedy. Some of my favorite people would be: George Carlin (RIP), Bill Maher, Daniel Tosh, Wanda Sykes, Kathy Griffin. Oh yeah, and I also listen to the Howard Stern show every day.
When someone curses around me or tells me a dirty joke, I feel like I am in good company. Especially my aunts and other family members.

3. I was a bank teller for about 4 months.
And I hated it! I was at the busiest Chase branch in Baton Rouge when I was in college (GEAUX LSU!), the Highland Road location. I never even signed one single person up for an account. I hate hate hate the feeling that I have to sell something to someone. Some people are natural salespeople, but I just cannot do it. Dealing with money and numbers is not the job that is meant for me.

4. I went to 12 formal dances in my three years of high school. (9th grade was at a junior high school.) Yes, I counted! Almost all the dances were with people who needed a date or who were just friends. My friends, their sisters, and I would loan each other dresses. I have several pictures of friends wearing my dresses, too.

My date for Junior prom, Todd, found this big whale, and we brought it as a prop to take pictures with at the studio where everyone went take pictures that night. You should have seen the looks people were giving us! I still need to find the actual one of me and him on it.

For my senior prom, all my senior friends wore white dresses. It is a tradition where I live. But when I saw the one I am wearing, I had to have it! I even wore pink ballerina slippers with it. That was the first formal date with my now husband, Jacob! We started dating about two months before our senior year ended in high school.

5. I am a chronic fidgeter.
I play with my hair, I bite my nails/cuticles, pick my face, etc. Issues? Speaking of issues....

6. I am completely and irrationally grossed out by loose, wet hairs.

(It killed me just to even google this picture.) It makes me cringe, kind of like the experience people get when they hear nails on a chalkboard.

7. I might be the only woman on earth who doesn't enjoy massages, manicures or pedicures.

I just can't justify spending the money on it. Even if someone gets it for me as a gift, I just can't help but think of the other stuff I could buy with the money.

When I leave the massage place, I feel worse. Manicures are a waste of time because the paint always chips, and instead of leaving it as is, I peel all the polish off. (See the chronic fidgeter part.) As for pedicures, they tickle too much and make me uncomfortable.

So, there you have it. 7 very random things about me. I tag anyone who feels like participating.

Our Complex Sense of Humor

2011-07-21T21:42:00.001-07:00

We may or may not have purposely asked the photographer to purposely cut off the sign....

This is what the sign really said. It is our local running club. (Bayou Runners Assoc.)

Product Review: SPI Belt

2011-07-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

I recently got a chance to try out a SPIbelt. At first I didn't get why it was called that. But SPI stands for "Small Personal Item." The purpose of this product is to be able to carry your small personal items such as keys, cell phone, camera, etc. with you while you are doing physical activity.

I always would hesitate to take my phone with me on runs because it's so big and bulky. I don't like holding it in my hand, which is why I use the iPod Nano that clips on your clothes. But at the same time, I really should keep it on my for safety and convenience reasons.

I was pretty skeptical about this product being able to stay on me without rising up or getting in the way.

It did fine on the bike, but I expected that. There isn't much bouncing around involved in riding the bike.

Last night was the real test. I took it out to the track for speedwork. I kept my phone and my car key in it.

Honestly, I forgot I was even wearing it. It actually worked!

I definitely see myself using this for races. I always get picture happy before and after the race, but I can never find anyone to hold my camera while I'm running, and I end up leaving it in the car. I plan to put the following items in it for my next race:

1. Camera
2. Car Key
3. Money
4. ID (Hey! There may be free margaritas involved!)

I think it would get a little crowded if I tried to put my camera AND my phone in there, but that's why it's for small personal items. It's not like a magical Mary Poppins belt that holds EVERYTHING.

They have a lot of different color and style options. One that really looked useful was the reflecting one for at night time.

Yay for not having to tie my key in my shoelaces anymore!

Check out what they have to offer:
http://www.spibelt.com/

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SPIbelt

(Note: I was provided a product to review. I was not compensated to give a particular opinion.)

Let's Try This Again....BIC band second chance

2011-07-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Since one of my winners did not claim the BIC band by yesterday's deadline, I did another random number:
The winning comment was from Running on Words: "I really like the thin brown dots."

So, shoot me an email with your name and shipping information, and you will be the proud owner of the aqua green BIC band!

My Newest Teacher Accessory

2011-07-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

I always try to keep a container for water at school. At my old school, I'd often send a (trustworthy) student to the teacher's lounge to fill up some water for me.

I found this local girl on facebook who makes these acrylic tumblers. Her business is called Alicia's Cute Creations. She does custom orders, and they are only $7.

I asked her if she could make me one with a runner girl and purples and greens. I love those colors together!

The dilemma with teaching and staying hydrated, though, is the lack of bathroom breaks. When I'm talking all day, I get thirsty, but it's not like I can just stop what I'm doing and use the restroom. Technically, the administrators say to go when you have to, but that involves getting someone to watch your class, etc.

And don't even get me started on how my coffee drinking correlates with my bathroom habits.

I know I have some teacher followers. How do you balance staying hydrated with the lack of potty breaks?

What about those in the corporate world or in other fields? Do you have a similar dilemma?

What I Did Today

2011-07-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Grr.. This morning I was supposed to wake up and take advantage of my second to last Body Pump class before the free gym membership month expired.

Sigh.

That didn't happen. It was storming horribly, and sleeping with the cat was a higher priority. I'll tell ya.. that's why I have to be an evening runner/athlete.

If it's between sleep and exercise.. sleep almost always wins! Plus, being a teacher where school starts at 7:15 AM, it makes it hard for me to wake up early and have time to make myself look presentable.

I made a promise to myself that since I skipped Body Pump, I would at least pay Jillian Michaels a visit and do my arm workout.

Sigh.

That didn't happen. Promise broken.

But, I did ride 10 miles on my bike with the intention of pottying and then going immediately outside to run my 3 miles.

(Stats from the bike ride.)

Well, I had a voicemail from my pal, Paige seeing if I wanted to run or bike.

Duh! Of course I wanted to!

So, we went to the track by her house and ran. I ran two straight miles, walked a few laps, then ran another mile. And it was way less boring because I had a friend to catch up with!

This is a public service announcement from Paige and Megan:

Stay Hydrated!

Stats, Coffee and Road ID Winner

2011-07-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

I noticed that when Jessica at From the Bayou to the Swamp posts her week in review, she actually gives her times and everything. I haven't been doing that. (Probably because I'm not uber-proud of them..haha) I will try to be less lazy and do like I used to do, posting my stats.

Yesterday was a rest day for me, but I felt like riding my bike. I swear, the little kid in me comes out when I get on my bike. I could just ride it forever!

I didn't want to overdo anything, since I have three miles to run today. I usually will just try to stick to above 10 mph, but I tried to pedal a little harder yesterday and keep it closER to 15 mph. The wind was a beast, though!

Random sharing time:
I ran out of Community medium roast coffee, and went all fancy, buying "Cafe' Special", and I am pumped about it. When I used to work at my dad's hardware shop, that's the type of coffee they would serve there. According to their bag, it is sold in the finest restaurants in New Orleans, bitches!

Just ask Kristin from Skinny Jeans and a Chai Latte'.. she won a bag of it in my favorite things giveaway. It rocks.

Okay, enough about the coffee. I just got a little overexcited there. Maybe it's the caffeine running through my bloodstream.

Now to the part everybody REALLY is waiting for.. the winner of the RoadID!
Commenter #71, come on down! That was pretty cool because I didn't have to sit there and count over and over again who was a certain number. It was just the second to last comment!

Congrats, Rose, from Hacker Half Marathon!! You are the winner!! E-mail me at meganbethlandry@gmail.com for your product code. Then you'll be able to choose whichever RoadID you want. You have until Monday, July 25 to claim your prize!

You Know You Wanna....

2011-07-17T18:04:00.000-07:00

You know you want to read about my latest race!

Head on over to Claim Your Journey (subscribe to them, they've got some great bloggers!) and check out my re-cap!

HERE

Week in Review and some Razzy Roo (that rhymes.)

2011-07-17T07:16:00.001-07:00

Let's take a look at what I did this week. For the most part, I stuck to the half-marathon training schedule.

Monday:
Body Pump, (I used weights a little heavier, LOVE this class!)
Ran three miles in the neighborhood.
Tuesday:
Day-O-Rest!

Wednesday:
Planned on doing the weekly speed workout at the track, but Jacob didn't feel like going, so I ended up going to the gym and ran 3.10 miles on the treadmill. There was a chick running next to me, so I got excited that she could be my motivation, but she must have been doing some type of Couch to 5K on her iPhone because she would stop and walk. When she'd start running again, it was like.. yay! solidarity! pretend running partner!

Thursday:
Ran 3.10 miles in the neighborhood with Jessica and (sort of) with Jacob! (Jacob went a lot faster.) Remember that speedwork I mentioned? Jessica went to that workout and did 5 miles, so she was pretty tired the next day, which is why we were at the same pace.. hehe. Y'all... it rained.. and it felt soooo awesome. Except my iPod nano started really freaking out, and all of a sudden I'd hear a computer lady's voice repeating the song's title and the artist over and over again?

Friday:
Day-O-Rest!
Saturday:
-2 mile race # 2 of BRASS Summer Series. (will do a race review on Claim Your Journey since the site focuses on local running events)
-4 mile run in the neighborhood a few hours later to complete the half-marathon training's call for a 6 mile run on Saturday. This is why I said I followed the training plan for the most part. I know it was supposed to be 6 straight miles, but that didn't happen.

Sunday:
Day-O-Rest! My body will definitely appreciate it.

On another note, I am saddened that my free month membership to a local gym that has Les Mills classes runs out this week. But with school starting soon, it's not practical for me to join the gym because I just wouldn't get enough use out of it. I mainly would want to join for the classes and access to the treadmill if it's an ugly weather day.

However, I've found the next best option. Our local YMCA lets the public participate in any class for just $5. That's the cheapest I've seen. So, what I plan to do when school starts is to make a Body Pump Class every Saturday that I can. Also, I can pay a few bucks for access to the swimming pool since I need to practice for the Tarpon Tri coming up in September!! (More on that later.)

Next item on the agenda: My product review of Razzy Roo headbands. Cheryl, at Razzy Roo headbands, gave me the chance to try running in some of her gear. She sent me two types, the glitter band and the funky runner band. As you noticed in my week in review, this Saturday (yesterday) I did two runs.

For the first run I tried out the Funky Runner band. It's a thin stretchy material, but it covers a lot of your hair. However, if you don't want that much hair covered, you just fold the material a little to adjust to how you want it to look.
Check me out having a paparazzi session on myself in the car before the race. I chose the Run'n in Style pattern.

It is SO cute. I love wild, loud accessories for races. My running partner, Jessica, ran in the Swirls pattern.

Look at how matchy-matchy we get!!!

I can testify that this band stayed in place the entire race and hours after. (Nope, I didn't shower immediately.. gross!)

And there are a lot of headbands out there that hold your hair into place... but this 5$ funky runner band does more than that..... it ALSO does not leave a dent!!

Proof!

Now, for the second test of the day.. the sparkly headband. I ran 4 miles in it, and it stayed in place the whole time. I love the color. Again, it's flashy and fun to wear, especially to an event.

Sorry for the blurriness. The band held up, even through all that sweat! The one con about the sparkly band is that it will leave a dent. However, for many people that doesn't matter, since they shower right after exercise. This band is $12.

My favorite?
The funky runner band. It really makes a statement, and the price is incredible.

Now, aren't you readers lucky? Two of you will get to choose whatever headband you want from Razzy Roo!

Here's how you can win. You must perform the below tasks of your choosing and leave me a comment saying you did them.

Mandatory: Head on over to RazzyRoo's website here, and tell me which band is YOUR favorite!

+1 Entry: "Like" RazzyRoo on facebook here. Tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent ya!

+1 Entry: "Like" FitCraftyEnglishTeacher on facebook here. That way you'll know when I'm doing new posts or when other blogs are read-worthy.

+? Entry: Share this giveaway via facebook, twitter, or your own blog. Each share gets you another entry.

DEADLINE is Sunday, July 24. Remember, I'm choosing two separate winners. Good luck!

*Also, any other comment you leave on this post gets you an entry. So if you just have something to say about my week in review, go for it!*

Advice Please! (And a sneak peek of my classroom!)

2011-07-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you may know, I'm training for a half-marathon. I would like some advice/opinions.

This upcoming Saturday, there is a 2 mile race in the morning. We have already paid for it, and I'm looking forward to it.

However, I have 6 miles on the schedule for the half marathon plan.

What should I do?

A. Should I run the 2 in the morning and then the 4 later in the day? (I know it's supposed to be 6 consecutive miles.)

B. Run the two miles and then run 6 again that night.

C. Something else?

I understand that I could always do the race course three times, but I will feel like a d-bag doing that. So that's not an option.

OH!

I finally know what I am teaching, and I'm very happy about it. I'm teaching English I in the fall and basic composition in the spring. (For those that don't remember--I transferred from a junior high to a high school.)

Here is a sneak peek of my classroom. I love it! I have flat top desks!!! Remember the trash caves? That won't be a problem any more.

Another good thing is that my numbers look pretty low. I have 20-23 students in each class right now. (I am sure the numbers will go up as students are added, but still.)

I can at least start making changes to tests, planning lessons and projects, etc. until I can start moving things in.

Don't forget about my RoadID giveaway. Deadline is Monday, July 18.

BIC Band Winners!

2011-07-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Remember that sweet review/giveaway I did last week for BIC bands?

The winners have been selected! Comment #13 and #47 have won!
Comment # 13 was from Nikki at The Worth of My Sole.

Comment # 47 was from mom27g!

Winners, you have until 7/20/11 to email me (meganbethlandry@gmail.com) your name and address. I will randomly choose which headband you get.

Thanks everybody for playing!

And don't forget about my RoadID giveaway! You have until next Monday to enter!

Thrift Stores: The Pros and Cons

2011-07-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't buy that shirt. But I may or may not have thought about it?

I love thrift store shopping.

For the most part.

Well, let's look at the pros and cons of thrift stores.

Pros:
-Duh! Cheap stuff!
-Interesting, unique finds
-Profits go to a good cause (usually?)
-I can spend hours in them just exploring.

Cons:
-Weird hours (My mom and I went to a store yesterday that is only open on Tuesdays, only to find out it was only open from 9-12 AM.)
-Oftentimes they are cash only, which sucks for me because I always rely on my debit card.
-Signs like this:

Can I just ask... "What! The! Hell?!"

Seeing this sign posted in every dressing room in my favorite Goodwill, here are my thoughts:

1. "Wow, that's a very specific sign."

2. "Wow, someone pooed or peed in one of these dressing rooms."

3. "Which dressing room did it happen in?"

4. "Was it poo or pee?"

5. "What poor person had to walk in and find said poo or pee in the dressing room and/or clean it up?"

I mean, is it really necessary to make a sign like that? Does this occur so often that a sign is warranted? If so, do I really want to keep trying on clothes in here?

Sigh.

Like I said, I love thrift store shopping... for the most part.

Road ID Review/Giveaway

2011-07-11T14:30:00.001-07:00

Recently I was given the chance to review a product known as Road ID. The idea behind RoadID is to promote safety for athletes by having an easy way for people to access their contact and medical information should something happen to them while on the road. The company has several different styles to choose from, including ankle bands and IDs that attach to your shoes, but I chose the original model wristband to review. Here is an example of what you see when you begin to customize your ID:

I chose to list the phone numbers of my husband, my mom, and my dad. Think about this: A RoadID is helpful for running/biking/etc. alone, but also with a partner. I barely know my own relatives' phone numbers without looking into a cell phone, much less the contact information of my running partners' relatives. If I were to collapse while running with my running partner, Jessica, how would she know my husband's phone number? Sure, the information would probably become available eventually, but why prolong the process?

A common criticism of wearing a bracelet like this might be: "Oh, well I can just carry my information in my pocket." Sure, you can do that. But wouldn't it be easier if the information is right there, easily accessible to emergency personnel? I know it makes my mom feel better knowing I am running with a RoadID now. And check it out: The bracelet has reflective thread, which will make me more visible when running at night.

(Completely random, but isn't that workout top so cute? My mom bought it for me in NYC!)
Another purpose for a RoadID that I thought about is using it for someone who has Alzheimer's disease or a mental disability that may cause a person to become disoriented.

I recommend going to their website here to check out the different styles and also the other safety products they offer. Also, you might want to visit their website if you plan on taking part in the RoadID giveaway!

What's up for grabs? A code that will allow you to choose whichever RoadID you want.. for free!

How to win?

Mandatory:
Be a follower of this blog. Let me know in a comment.

Bonus entries: Leave me a comment for each of the following steps you took, letting me know you did them.

+1 Visit RoadID's website and tell me which style and color you would pick if you won.

+1 "Like" FitCraftyEnglishTeacher on facebook here.

+1 "Like" RoadID on facebook here and tell them Fit Crafty English Teacher sent you.

+1 Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, and/or twitter.

So there you go. You have lots of ways to win. Aren't you super pumped? I am.

On Monday 7-18, I am going to go to random.org and choose a number to pick the winning comment. Good luck!!

Week in Review and "Sweet" Medal

2011-07-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

For this week's fitness review, check out my post on Claim Your Journey! I also recommend you follow the site, especially if you want to know what's going on in the running community in Louisiana.

Oh! And one more thing: Check out the medal I got from participating in Running Through Life's "Beat the Heat" virtual 5K!! It is so meaningful that she took the time to make these for all of us!
When I get a fancy medal hanger one day, this little guy is going to proudly hang there!! Thanks again, Kayla, for organizing the virtual 5K!

Reading/Kindle Stuff and Aura Earphones Winner

2011-07-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

I received the above message this morning. Thank goodness I stayed up until 2:00 AM finishing Mockingjay! That is one amazing thing about the Kindle/ebooks. My friend Brittny, who lives in Florida, loaned me this trilogy. I had already read the first one, The Hunger Games. I actually recommended it to her. So she went and bought the trilogy. She reads super fast, so she zoomed through these. She then asked if I wanted to borrow the trilogy so I could read the second and third books. (Catching Fire and Mockingjay)
Have any of you read this series? If so, I'd love to have a discussion about it via facebook or somewhere we won't give away any spoilers.

Speaking of the Kindle.. I had a little issue with my lighted cover.
The Kindle latches into the cover, and there's a light that runs off the battery of the Kindle. Well, ever since I took the Kindle out of the cover the other day, it doesn't latch back in properly. The Kindle slides out of it, causing the light to turn off.

Anybody have this issue?

If it were a cheap case, I could understand, but this boy was $60. (Don't you just love how it's "apple green"? All my stuff is that lime green color.)

Well, I contacted Kindle customer service, and they are sending me a new case. I'll just send this one back. Hopefully, this next cover is not defective. I do have to say, though, that Kindle has good customer service. A few weeks ago, I accidentally bought this random book, and when I called them, they returned my money within a few minutes.

So now the question for me is... What to read next?

I could always read...

A Clash of Kings
The second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. (Loved the first book and the HBO series, too!)

Or maybe I could read....

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
It's been on my to-read list for a few years now.

Or perhaps I could even read this one:

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. This guy is an awesome historical fiction writer. I like historical fiction because I feel like I actually learn more from the book about the world around me.

I'll let you guys know what I choose.

Have you read any of the books I'm contemplating reading?

And now for the part many of you are waiting for.. the winner of the Auria earphones.

Congratulations, Jessica! For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you'll know that Jessica is my running partner. Which is why I practically pooed myself when I double counted to make sure the random number I chose was actually her! I swear to GOD, my dead relatives, etc. that I did NOT cheat in any way shape or form to hook my friend up! I can't help but be excited for her.

So, Jess, e-mail me which color you would like out of pink, blue or white, and give me your mailing address.

But for those of you who are sad you didn't win... don't be!

In the next few days I will reviewing/giving away a RoadID!

Sorry for the long post. I look forward to reading your answers to my questions.

Fit Crafty English Teacher

Happy Thoughts

A Really Awesome Opportunity

Bonus Point Auction Extravaganza!

We Did It!!!

What I Did on My Christmas Break

Sock Swag and the SECOND Headsweats Giveaway Winner!

The New Year is Around the Corner...

Then and Now

Better Habits

Christmas Virtual 5K: Bicycle Edition

Christmas Virtual 5K and a Reflection on the Year in Running

Trying to Stay "On Track"

Pin There, Done That: Oreo Suckers.. NAILED IT!

Pin There, Done That! Teacher Gift

"Pin" There, Done That! Baked Potato Soup and AMAZING broccoli

This Holiday Weekend and Headsweats Giveaway Winner

Oh How Pinteresting! (Cool Concepts)

Reindeer Run, New Shoes, Half Marathon Relay Team

Headsweats Product Review (and Giveaway!)

Pinterest Humor and Hyland's Winner

Thanksgiving 2011 and a Virtual 5K!

Oh How Pinteresting! (fashion edition)

Holiday Templates (courtesy of Pinterest and its embed button)

"I'm Running Again!" (Kinda)

Look Ma! I'm Not Flat-Footed!

Product Review and Giveaway: Hyland's Homeopathy

What are YOU doing on Thanksgiving Day?

Week 1 of No Running

Poor Pitiful Me :( OR It's Not the End of the World! :D

Dusting off the Embroidery Supplies...

Disclaimer: This is NOT a healthy living blog.

What I Did on Halloween

Halloween *Virtual * 5K

You Can Read About My Bridge Run Adventure...

Teaching and Office Supplies: A Love Affair

Grumble

A Garmin tip and Probar Winner!

Product Review: My Medal Display

VOW Fest 5K/10K and something I SHOULD be ashamed about..

There He Goes Again...

Probar Giveaway

Teacher Stuff

New Orleans Mini Weekend

Waddling Around the Neighborhood

September 8: Katy Perry Concert

Race Report: Panda Meander 5K 2011

Jacob Made the Paper! (Sort of)

Product Review: Pearl Izumi Tri Shorts

A Few Things

ProBar: Sneak Peek and a Promo Code

Everyday Endurance 100$ Gift Card WINNER!

Friday Night Football... and Other Teaching Stuff

The Post I've Been Dreading...

Virtual 5K Recap

Gator Dash: Girl Power!

Boring Teacher Stuff

Everyday Endurance Product Review and Giveaway

My First Triathlon: Canceled

Will it Happen?

Product Review: Amorphia Apparel

Running Men

The Moment We Have All Been Waiting For....(giveaway winner)

How I Started Doing Bonus Points

Aborted Mission and Balancing Act Winner

Product Review: Tommie Copper Compression Sleeves

RelaxReflect Review/ Leggings Giveaway!

My "Spiritual" Run

Balancing Act Clothing Review and Giveaway

8 Mile "Run" from Hell

Ouch! and Classroom

Tickle Me Tuesday

I'm a DORK

Week in Review 7/25 to 7/31

TARC and its Awesomeness

I Won!

Scenes from My New Classroom

Disgusting Goodwill Update/ Shopping with Mom

Week in Review: 7-18 to 7-24 and other stuff

Wanna see my new shoes?

Halloween Virtual 5K