Well it’s been an interesting start to March. I apologize for no blog last week. It was a stressful week for me and didn’t have anything positive to say so I knew that would be reflected in my blog. And that’s not how I want my blog to come across.
So let me recap what happened that first week of March. The week started out just fine until I decided to check on the status of my license renewal through DPI. Because I have 2 licenses; one as a teacher and one as a reading specialist, I had to renew both of them. Well my teaching license is fine and will most likely be approved and renewed based on my teaching experience and my PDP (professional development plan). My reading specialist license is another story. It is not being approved right now as I didn’t complete the correct PDP as DPI classifies reading specialist as an administrative license. I knew this, I just didn’t realize that my PDP would be any different. I guess it just never occurred to me that there would be different standards for an administrator. So there’s that. Also, my school district doesn’t classify my position as a Title 1 teacher as an administrative position so I have no way to verify that I have been using my reading specialist degree for the past 3 years. It’s very frustrating and defeating right now. I am waiting to hear back from DPI about what I need to do and then I have some other people I need to talk to to see if I can get this straightened out. I really just want my license. I don’t want more money or even a title change. I just what my license to be recognized and renewed. That way I feel like all my hard work and dedication over the past three years helping middle school students with their reading will not have been in vain. This happened on Thursday afternoon and carried over into the weekend. I have worried about it ever since. I worried about it and talked with God about it on my long runs last weekend. I talked with people this past week about it and I have a plan, but if my plan doesn’t work, for right now I will be ok with the fact that I am a reading specialist because I have earned that title from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; I just may not be an officially licensed one in the state of Wisconsin. That is where I am at right now. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.
Here’s what my workouts looked like that first week of March. It was great to be running outside a few times that week. Working out really helped with the stress of dealing with my licensing issue.
On to this week. The week started off great with 11 miles outside on Sunday and my first training run on Monday night. I’m using the Hal Higdon Intermediate half marathon training plan. It’s more days running and more specific types of runs. So Monday was my first 3 mile training run. It was a really nice distance to end my Monday, especially after sitting in a meeting all day! That night we received some very sad news. Our sweet neighbor, Colin, passed away after fighting Neuroblastoma cancer for 2 ½ years. Colin was the sweetest boy ever. He was always super polite when he would come over to play with the kids. He came to Maddie and EJ’s birthday parties. We went to his birthday party. My hubby even said that Colin was a boy that he would have let Maddie date when they got older. He was an amazing kiddo! His smile and laughter lit up the neighborhood. It’s going to be so quiet this summer without him running around in our backyard.
It was a rough night but I managed to get up and get my first hill training run in Tuesday morning. I ran up and down the hill next to our high school 6 times. I ran easy there and back as well. It was tough! I have not run hills like that in probably a year. I was definitely feeling it by afternoon. I sat in a conference all day so that didn’t help either. I ran 3 miles when I got home for my training plan since I wouldn’t be able to do it Wednesday night since I had conferences at school until 7:00. I am definitely not doing that again unless I absolutely have to. That was HARD!! My legs were so tired during that run!
Conference Wednesday and Thursday made it rough to get my steps in but I tried my best. Wednesday was strength day in the morning with chest, shoulders, and triceps. I didn’t make my step goal today but that was the only day this week. Thursday was better since it was another training run day. The plan called for a 40 minute tempo run so I did 6 miles and tried to keep the tempo up as best I could. It definitely helped me make it through the day. I could tell I was a little crabby Wednesday night when I got home from school. I couldn’t figure out why at first and then I realized I didn’t run that day! Duh! That’s why I was crabby!
Friday was my new leg day and that was a tough workout! I upped my weights for most of my moves and added in some extra moves at the end like usual, plus some since I had the day off. It was a really nice day and I even splurged for lunch! We brought McDonald's to Maddie at school today! It was so much fun! I even went for a 4 mile run just for fun! It was way too nice of a day to not get out and run!
Saturday and Sunday I went for my back to back long runs. I’m really not following my training plan on the weekends. I can’t only run 3 miles or for 90 minutes. Well 90 minutes wouldn’t be too bad but I am really enjoying the back to back double digit runs. Saturday morning was cold and I had to get out early so hubby could take one of our dogs to the vet but I was glad to get it done early and have the rest of the day with family. Saturday was hard. It was the memorial service for our neighbor Colin. Maddie came with me to the service. It was really nice. There were pictures of Colin all over, balloons, bubbles--a true celebration of Colin’s life. Maddie was such a brave girl the whole time. I was a complete mess. I hadn’t really cried since finding out except when we told the kids. I think going to the service made it very real that this sweet boy was truly gone from our lives. I’m still struggling to understand why, but I am doing my best to work that out with God. His plans are bigger than my understanding and He will help me work through my misunderstanding.
LOVE YOU COLIN!!
I can say for sure that my run Sunday morning in the rain was just what I needed to cleanse my soul and get a fresh start for the week. I love running in the rain! I often have my best runs when it’s raining.
Needless to say, the past 2 weeks have been stressful and tiring. But, I’m excited to be officially training again for all my races this year.
Oh! I almost forgot!! Sunday March 6 was our pug Mugsy’s 9th birthday! He is such a good boy!! Love you to pieces, Mugsy!!!
He’s such a cute puggy!!!
Thank you all for following me on my journey and reading through my blog! I hope in some way I inspire you to be the best you can be! You are worth it!
Until next time, my friends!
Run on!!!!
Laura
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