Livin' the Dream in Lima

Mile repeats are goin' down, that is. Mile repeats are hard for me... I've had 4x1600m on the schedule every other week this whole training cycle. And I haven't completed it once. Usually I stop after 3 intervals, and one time I even did 800s instead of 1600s. But not today! I headed out to my school's track so I could have as much consistency as possible. And I nailed it! 4x1600m with 800m jog with a goal pace of 6:20-6:24. I ran my 1600s at 6:17, 6:19, 6:17, and 6:15 with two laps of easy jogging in between each. And I felt awesome. Happy after a great interval workout. There was a pretty bad headwind on the homestretch, so finishing strong was definitely a challenge. The last repeat was tough, but not unbearable. Probably exactly how the last rep of an interval workout should feel. (Like I could  squeak out one more if I really wanted to, but really glad that I don't have to.) And now comes the funny part of the story. Like I said, I was running a...

Can I get an amen for a quiet weekend at home? The last three weekends have been go-go-go , and while it was all a blast and totally worth it, it is so nice to know that I have nowhere to be and nothing to do. Except run, ya know. Can't have a weekend without that. This morning started out with a run, a 20-miler to be exact. This is the second 20-miler of my training cycle, and it went swimmingly well. I headed out with some running buddies around 6:15am. (I know, crazy for a Saturday. But they had some commitments at 9:30, and I'd rather run with my friends!) I woke myself up around 5:30am so I could get a little coffee in my system and have a clif bar. We ended up doing a huge  loop of the Bean Town, running through several areas that I've never been through. Loops through the college in the middle of town, past the grain elevator, past the Ford engine plant, and through a quarry. Pretty neat. At one point, we were getting close to a set of train tracks, and the trai...

Did you celebrate Pi Day today? We most definitely did in my classroom! We played a few games, had a contest to see who could memorize the most digits of pi, and of course we ate pi(e). In my last period class, we took the celebration outside and actually drew the first 100 or so digits of pi on the sidewalk with chalk right outside the school. For the next few days, anyone who walks in the building will have to walk right on top of pi. Who says math class can't be fun?! Hard to read from the sun... but it's the start! 3.14159... Some rather creatively decorated digits of pi - polka dots & checkerboard. Love it! --- So... how about a pi(e) recipe for Pi Day? Pin It I've got another recipe featuring Girl Scout cookies - a delectable no-bake  Thin Mint Pie . Crispy cool minty crust, with a cheesecake filling loaded  with chopped Thin Mint cookies.  To check out the recipe, click on over to the Rays Market  blog!  I am excited t...