At a training all day but keeping up with my hydrating and fueling for tomorrow’s race! Eeeeeek! So excited!
Only problem is, its only 11:45 and I’ve already had to leave the conference room 3 times to use the restroom from all the liquids I’ve been pumping I’m my system, lol.
When preparing for any race, I train both physically AND mentally.
I try to catch myself when I start irrationally panicking about a pain in a joint or muscle (I seriously have a mini melt-down about some sort of imagined knee or hip pain the week before every race, lol), I try to encourage myself to push a little further and I try envision myself running powerfully….
Who care’s what I really look like!? In my mind I’m AMAZING!
Today, I treated myself to a little pampering by doing what what my mother likes to refer to as “the tune up.”
The “tune up” is a bizarre regimen that we women engage in to look presentable to others. Every woman’s regimen is different but it frequently includes some (if not all) of the following: waxing, tweezing, depilatory creams, facial masks, leave-in hair treatments, teeth whitening strips and nail polish. Luckily, it has not been too long since my last tune up so today’s task was not too arduous.
The colors I chose for the mani-pedi I gave myself, however, are a bit out of character for me. Oh well, its only in keeping with the theme of this weekend’s double races: CRAZINESS!
Do you know how many times this has happened to me!!?? Argh!! LOL
Today, throughout the state of Florida, students took the FCAT Writes exam. This is a standardized test that assesses the writing skills of all 4th and 8th graders attending public and charter schools. There’s a looooooot of pressure for them to perform well on this test because they’ve been preparing for it the entire school year. I was asked to proctor along with one of my school’s 4th grade teachers… and it was interesting.
20 minutes into the 60 minute test, one little boy places his hands over his face and begins to sob. I took him out into the hallway where he cried profusely and placed his fore arm over his brow. Then he said “I blew it! My mind’s blank! Its over!” Honestly, I understand the stress these kids are under so I really felt badly for this kid-o. I have to admit, though, that his melodramatic way of expressing himself kind of made me bite my lower lip to keep from laughing a little as I tried to soothe him.
He was able to calm down, drink some water and finish the test like a champ after some deep breathing and a little pep talk from yours truly… but, after that, I was feeling drained and in need of a pep talk and some deep breathing myself. So, I did the next best thing! I ate cheesy Italian food with my lovely friend Leslie for dinner.
We had a great time catching up on our latest adventures apart and did some scheming for future adventures together as well. Having fried zucchini, eggplant parmesan and mushroom ravioli was just the icing on the friendship cake 😉
(What?! I’m “carbo-loading” for this weekend’s races, remember??!!)
My crazy 1/2 marathon double-hitter weekend is quickly approaching, folks! This Saturday, I will be running the “Best Damn Race” followed by Sunday’s “Swap House 1/2 marathon” in Orlando!
Crazy?… yes…. Crazy Awesome! What better way can you think of to end an amazing running season?! I’ve had some amazing runs, some disappointments, hit some personal records and over-all feel that I have finally come into my own as a runner.
My sister and I are psyched but a little freaked out to say the least! We will be doing Saturday’s race for time but Sunday’s race for fun… The Swamp House race has a really fun after party we are looking forward to the entertainment, food and endless FREE BEER to celebrate our hard work! (We are also planning on celebrating Mardi Gras in one of Orlando’s many great hot spots so, the weekend will be a non-stop thread of manic running and shenanigans. Just the way we like it!)
Check out the Best Damn Race and Swamp House web sites!:
http://bestdamnrace.com/orlando/
http://www.swamphousehalfmarathon.com/
What amazing ways are you planning on ending your race seasons this year??! Please share!
As if the art festival wasn’t enough adventure for one day, I was treated to another amazing trip to a state park by my friend Casey who is in “the know.”
As per http://www.nature.com:
Rock formations at Blowing Rocks Preserve are the largest of their type on the Atlantic coast. Winter storms and extreme high tides offer the best opportunities to see the Conservancy’s Blowing Rocks live up to their name. In a scene more reminiscent of Hawaii than Florida, waves surging against the craggy limestone shore can force geysers of water as high as 50 feet into the air.
Though the dark, jagged rocks do – at first glance – look like the remains of a misplaced lava flow, they are actually a specific type of sedimentary rock called Anastasia limestone.
Scientists disagree on exactly how far inland the limestone extends, exactly when it was formed (most likely around 120,000 years ago, in the Pleistocene Age) and whether it was formed by a single event or by multiple changes in sea level.
A few things scientists can agree on:
The exposed rock at the preserve is unusual, not because Anastasia limestone is particularly rare, but because it is commonly found either underground or underwater.
Also known as coquina, from the Spanish for cockleshell, Anastasia limestone is composed primarily of shell and coral fragments, fossils and sand. Small fossils are clearly visible in the rock faces, most commonly the shells of small clams and oysters or pieces of a large snail called Busycon.
Why is so much of the limestone above ground at Blowing Rocks? No one knows. The land here might have once been part of an exposed sand ridge or the top of a reef, or for some other reason higher than surrounding areas.
At their height in winter, the Blowing Rocks are worth a visit in every season. The wind- and wave-carved limestone forms chimneys and shelves, burrows, blow holes and rocky pools. These offer great opportunities for exploration and imagination, as well as a rare window into Florida’s natural history.
Click on this link for the original article and more information!!:
Check out the amazing photos we took on our visit:
Then this view from the lovely restaurant where we ate dinner afterwards:
ummm, it doesn’t get much better than that, folks! 😉
Streets filled with awesome artwork in the making!
Today, I attended an amazing street painting festival that I had never been to before. Talented artists painted with chalks and pastels on the pavement to create unbelievably realistic images. This year’s theme was the cinema so all of the artwork depicted famous movie scenes or movie posters.
http://www.streetpaintingfestivalinc.org/
I have to admit I was just floored by the talent of some of the artists. Check out this gallery of amazing images from this afternoon!
After this we headed over to another beautiful state park… more on that in the next article!
I had a session with one of my favorite little 8 y.o. munchkins this week. He continues to struggle with controlling his temper in the classroom so we were reviewing some of the techniques I had taught him on how to manage his anger. After some brainstorming, his very animated little face only winced and glanced up to the ceiling as he claimed that he could only remember “deep breathing.”
I was starting to breath deeply myself as I became more and more frustrated thinking about his continued crying spells and temper tantrums despite our weekly sessions. I decided to change the topic of discussion completely and asked him to share about his cub scouts pack as this is something he really seems to enjoy (I was digging for clues on things I could use to incentivize him.)
Well, this little munchkin had PLENTY to share about cub scouts. Namely that his pack leader had taught him a lot of really cool words in sign language and he preceded to show me: This is “more”, “water”, “thirsty”, “mom”, “sweet”, and “I love you.” As I praised him for how amazing he was for having learned so many words, he interrupted me…. “Ms. Cristina, (I love you in sign language).”
Well, at this I was completely floored and reciprocated the sign and told him I loved him too (with a huge cheesy grin on my face, I might add)…. Then he interrupted me again… “No but, Ms. Cristina (I love you more in sign language)”
Well, a little piece of me just about died. I completely forgot about his coughing and runny nose (he was just getting over a cold as children so frequently are) and I extended my arms for a hug only to have him give me the most heart-felt squeeze ever. How can you beat that?! (sigh) Made my school-year.
Today my lovely, and probably oldest friend came over for a casual and calorie-filled dinner at my place. We ate pizza and brownies and drank entirely too much red wine in our pjs but… it was worth every calorie and I love her dearly.
Isn’t it awesome how you can reconnect with an old friend and it feels as though you spoke just yesterday? How quickly you can feel comfortable being yourself? How much they remember about the important aspects of your life because they have a vested interest in you? How you can still crack up about everything and nothing at the same time? It does take a long time to grow old friends… but its worth every minute. xoxo Love you Cait!
Little Miss Sunshine State 