Eat Teach Blog

Yes, I realize that it’s not Monday anymore. I also realize that I’m not going to hit my goal of 31 posts in the month of July. But, life’s been hectic driving up and down the state of California. Speaking of which, I’ve signed my lease and am going to be a resident of Campbell, CA starting August 4th!

Just a quick update on the half-marathon training. Last Saturday, I had a 5-miler to run. I was a little nervous about it all week because I haven’t run 5 miles since 2009. It also didn’t help that we were out late at a Brad Paisley concert the night before. And laser tag. And buying 30 people food from Taco Bell.

Pre-Concert Tractor Picture. Fitting, right?

Let’s not get too detailed about how this bike was acquired…

Pink Drink. TaylrSwift. Rad. And Rocketeer. We failed.

So, after an adventurous night, I wasn’t too sure I was going to complete the daunting task of 5 miles. Yet, I still managed to get myself out of bed and to the Creek Trail to attempt it. The Los Gatos Creek Trail seems to be quite the hot spot for Saturday morning training runs. Teams in Training was there. The San Jose Running Team was there. Some group called the Red Divas (I think?) was there. People passed me. People ran FAST. I just had to keep reminding myself to focus on me. And just me.

It wasn’t easy…..I started off slow…..but I was able to complete it!!!  Without walking. Without stopping. Aside from the 15 seconds I pulled over at the water fountain (<—-People go on and on about how hydration is so KEY. But I don’t think I’ve ever been on a run long enough to really realize it. I’m going to need to start running with my CamelBak!) 

5 miles in 58 minutes.

I’m doing it…

I’m back! And boy was it amazing……

But before I share a recap of my week up at camp, I just want to share the last two days of running. I’m still kind of exhausted/sore/not quite adjusted to life back here. But I wanted to make sure I started back up with my training program. I’m going to be repeating week 1 (probably the remainder of this week and then next week) and I will be in line with the schedule counting down until the day of the race! =)

Yesterday was a little tougher than I expected. I was pretty active up at camp – I, along with my 3 co-advisors, were responsible for the high school kids and we spent a good chunk of the week doing service learning projects. There were very few moments where I was sitting down….we were always moving around (which ended up paying off in the weight department. Came home 4 pounds lighter, but more on that later…).

But yesterday, when I got myself back onto the treadmill, I felt as though I was starting from scratch. I ran a mile before I had to stop and start walking to regain my breath and strength to continue. I was able to complete two miles in 22:46. Hard to swallow…I used to be such a good runner and now I run a mile and want to call it quits.

Today, on the drive to the gym, I kept thinking about all the posts I’ve read and all of the advice I’ve gotten from runners. It’s my first half marathon. I shouldn’t be pushing myself to increase my speed and PR with each run I have. My goal is to start and finish. To do something I’ve never done before. If I want to challenge myself with PR’ing in my second half marathon, that’s fine. But right now, completing this is enough of a challenge.

Today on the schedule was a 3-mile run. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve run 3 miles straight for quite some time…..I decided to decrease my speed to between 5.8 and 6.2 on the treadmill today. And that made all the difference. I was able to run without stopping. Run without walking. Run without feeling pain. Run with ease. And run….while remembering that I’m still a runner. 

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What do you think about when you run? What’s the mantra you play over and over in your head to keep you going? 

This guest blogger shares with us her journey in becoming a runner. She has motivated me to push harder, continuously challenge myself, and be 110% dedicated to my training. Please welcome Leticia from Running around Hungry:

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Hello everyone!  My name is Leticia and I have the privilege of being Divya’s guest blogger for today!  When I found out I was going to be guest blogging, I must admit I was quite nervous.  It is, after all, my first time doing this.  Actually, I am new to the blogging world altogether; I only just recently started my own blog after years of following and reading others daily running/eating/cooking/fitness adventures.

Lucky for me, Divya posed a rather intriguing question.  She asked me what it was that inspired me to take the plunge and decide to run a half marathon, and if running had ever been a difficult thing for me.  It was then that I knew what I had to write about.  The truth is, up until about a year and a half ago, running had always been a difficult thing for me! 

You see growing up I was a basketball player.  And pretty much since I started playing at the age of nine, running was used as a form of punishment for us.  We ran when we missed a free throw, we ran when we made a bad pass, we ran when we lost a game.  We ran to get into shape, we ran to stay in shape, and we ran because we weren’t in good enough shape.  I didn’t care, though, because I ate, slept, and breathed basketball and I would have done anything to be able to play.  Actually, I did do a lot to be able to play, like having three knee surgeries, two of them being major ACL reconstructive surgeries.  All of this for the love of the game!

What I did not love, however, was running.  I hated it, actually.  I’ll never forget the first time I ran three miles.  It was in the middle of volleyball season my junior year in high school and my volleyball/basketball coach decided to have us run in a Cross-country meet.  Being that I was from a very small town (we’re talking one stoplight, here!) there wasn’t exactly a plethora of athletes to choose from.  So what she did was take her volleyball team, suit us up and made us run in the meet.  The meet was on Saturday and so the Wednesday before that she took us out on a “practice run”.  She loaded all nine of us into the back of her truck, drove us three miles out into the back roads in the middle of the surrounding fields, and dropped us off.  We knew it was either run back or be stuck out there in the middle of no where!  Despite the fact that I had NEVER run three miles before, and neither had most of my teammates, I managed to finally make my way all the way back at the school.  When I got there she handed me my uniform for the upcoming meet.

That Saturday we ran in the Cross Country meet and, having just recuperated from my second ACL surgery, I was forced to wear both of my giant knee braces.  The entire time I was running, my knee braces rubbed together where the joints hinged and occasionally caught and got stuck together.  Somehow I managed not to trip and fall and finished the race anyway.  The whole time I was running I could hear the on-lookers.  Most of them were cheering me on, but some were teasing me, calling me names like “Bionic Woman” because of the metal around ¾ of my legs.

This was nothing new; I was used to nicknames like this and didn’t let it bother me.  I just kept running and concentrated on finishing the race.  Eventually I did, and I came in – are you ready for this – last.  Dead. Last. I was embarrassed (humiliated, really, because I was really good in basketball but horrible at this) and exhausted.  Nevertheless, I was relieved to have that horrible experience over with.

As you can probably tell, that memory has stayed with me all these years.  That happened almost 20 years ago.  Yet I can recall it with such vividness that I can describe it as if it happened yesterday.  I guess you could almost say I was a little traumatized.  Why is it that in life it’s the painful things that stick with us the longest?

This is WHY I RUN.  I run because I can.

I run because I don’t have to wear two giant knee braces and my legs are better than ever.  I run to forget all those nicknames that people used to call me.  I run to show myself that I can keep going…for 13.1 miles, even…and not quit, no matter what, just like I didn’t that day.  I run because I remember the days when I hated it…and bask in the knowledge that I ACTUALLY ENJOY IT NOW!  I run to remind myself that it is a PRIVILEGE to get to run, because there are so many people in this world who couldn’t, even if they wanted to.  And most importantly, I run…every single day…to prove to myself that although I may not be the fastest runner in the world, I am steady and have stamina and I WILL FINISH, and I WILL NOT come in dead last. Ever. Again.

This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, “I run because I can,” doesn’t it?

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Why do you run? =) 

My birthday’s coming up – this Sunday (the 24th), to be exact. And for my birthday, I’m giving myself a gift. A gift of a better, happier, healthier life. I know that sounds completely cheesy, but it’s true. My life’s not perfect right now – nor do I really want it to be. But it can stand for some minor adjustments that would probably be beneficial. So here are some birthday goals that will (hopefully!) help improve the quality of my life – and allow me to appreciate it even more! =)

1) Set the timer: 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When I first started blogging and tweeting last month, I was overwhelmed by the amount of support and networking the online community offered. I was reading health and education blogs, writing my own health/education blog, becoming “friends” and “followers” to fellow bloggers and Tweeters. I registered for weight-loss and healthy-life challenges and groups – there was always something to read, write, comment on – some sort of “online chat” to be a part of. For the last two weeks, I’ve been so overly involved in this online community in fear that I would miss some pivotal or monumental news (I know, how ridiculous). I was nervous that I’d miss a comment or retweet (yes, I speak the Tweet language now). But being so excited about getting healthy and fit and active actually resulted in a lot more sitting and being attached to my computer. Thus, the “set the timer” rule is now going to be implemented. Until I start work, I will limit myself to 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening to read blogs, write my own posts, check e-mails, play on Pinterest, etc. Once work starts, I’ll probably decrease that even more to just 1 hour in the evening. The problem with getting overly involved in this online world is that, for such an extremely attached person like myself, I want to be involved – like 125%, overly-committed kind of involved (that’s going to be a problem for my husband muahahhahaha). And that’s pretty shitty because then I’m just “talking about” living life – not actually living life.

So there it is – I will actually be setting a timer (alarm and everything) to make sure that I stick to this structured routine.

English: Montage of Southern California images on WikiMedia Commons (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2) Make my own adventures and discover my city: 

I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life (I was born and raised in Orange County. I went on to UCLA to complete my bachelors in Sociology and then got my teaching credential and Masters in Education at LMU). But despite living here for 26 years, I feel like there is still so much to explore. I’m a creature of habit – if I love something, I continue going there – be it bars, restaurants, running trails, etc. Why do you think my “go-to lunch” is a Subway sandwich?

This year, I’m going to make a conscious effort to try new things, discover new places, and fall in love with this place I call home. Should be easy with all this free time I’ll have since I’ll be setting my timer, right?

3) Follow through with things I start: 

I am terrible at this. I have a scrapbook from my first year of college that has yet to be completed (that was 8 years ago, people). I bought an external hard drive pre-LMU to organize my documents, pictures, and music. It’s still sitting in my backpack. I don’t know what it is about me, but I just take on so many different things and never fulfill them because of other obligations or other huge tasks I start working on. I’m giving myself a month from my birthday to pull out all the football tickets, pictures, and notes I’ve collected over the last 8 years and put it in a scrapbook. I have boxes of things and stacks of pictures all over my desk organized by date – it’s just a matter of sitting down and doing it.

4) Lose A Marathon Challenge: 

I am participating in the lose a marathon/half-marathon challenge!  I’m about 30 pounds heavier than I was in 2009 – that’s NOT okay. Not because I care about the numbers or because I have an “ultimate weight goal” in mind or because my cheekbones have disappeared when I take pictures (okay that’s partially it) – it’s because I can feel it. I can feel the difference when I run, when I hike, when I play sports. And I hate it. Because I love being active. And there’s an athlete inside of me – it’s just covered by 30 pounds of fat. So I’m committed to this challenge and I’ll have Weight Watchers and my half-marathon training (not to mention the wonderful online community I’ll have access to for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening! ) to keep me on top of it.

5) Half Marathon Training:

Even in 2009, when I love love LOVED running and did it all the time, I had never committed to a race. Maybe I was afraid of failure or maybe I didn’t want it to be a competitive thing because I loved it so much – not really sure what it was specifically, but I never signed up for a race…not even a 5K. This year, I’ve officially signed up for the Long Beach Half Marathon. It’s scheduled for October 7th! I’m following a training schedule I found online and developed my own, simple, idiot-proof training log to write down my time, pace, and all comments like: “Ugh, my feet were killing,” or “Damn, that was a lot of duck sh*t I had to avoid while running.”  I’m committed and excited to see this goal through!

6) DO Pinterest Goals: 

No, this doesn’t mean find a bunch of goals people have pinned and steal them to call my own. It also doesn’t mean go look for fun things to do on Pinterest. I have already spent a ridiculous number of hours browsing that wonderful time-consuming website and have only made a handful of those recipes and done 0 of the DIY projects. My goal is to make at least one of the recipes and do at least one of the DIY projects on my boards each week. Obviously that’s easy for me to say now when I’m not working full-time, so maybe this will have to be slightly altered once work starts, but for now, that’s what it is. I gotta stop looking and pinning and start doing and making.

7) Turning Off Technology: 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve already set limits on my computer for two hours total each day, but I also want to detach myself from my cell phone. I’ve become ridiculously reliant on Dot (my iPhone’s name. Sister’s is called Polka. Don’t judge us). So for an hour each day, I will not only turn off the computer, but leave my phone at home and go outside – completely unattached. If not outside, then at least away from my phone. I used to love reading (still do), but I just feel constantly interrupted and don’t feel like I enjoy reading in the same way because of it. I gotta change that – I want to crave reading like I used to. I want to curl up in a corner, without interruptions and just read and read and read.

8) Finding Joy in Each Day 

I love my life. I am so grateful for the family and friends that I get to call my own. I’ve been so fortunate with all I’ve been given. But, I occasionally fall into a trap of taking things for granted. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world – and I often times don’t take the time to really enjoy it. I have a family that will bend over backwards, forwards, and sideways to do anything and everything for me – but I will, more often than not, forget to acknowledge them for their selflessness. And at night when I’m in bed and reflecting back on the day’s events, I think about what went wrong or what could have been better. From today onward, that’ll change. I am challenging myself to think of 2 things each day – just 2 things! – that brought me joy. Could be my lunch, an unexpected visit or perhaps a new discovery (since I’ll be going on so many adventures now!) – whatever it is, there’s beauty in each day. And I need to acknowledge it and fully embrace it.

Why am I doing this? No, I’m not going through a quarter-life crisis where I realize my life is terrible and I gotta fix it ASAP. It’s because my life’s not terrible. It’s because I’m not really making the most of what I’ve been given. It’s because I don’t want to watch life pass me by without jumping in and playing around a bit. That’s what the goals are for. So I can jump and play and live, love, and embrace my life.

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What are your weekly/monthly/yearly goals? What steps are you going to take to ensure you follow through with them?