Anniversary, 30 Day Ab Challenge, first week of school, marathon/50k training, WHOA

Okay, so my title is what I am going to talk about, and I promise to not ramble like I usually do. I will make it brief!

1) Anniversary 

It's been 4 years of marriage for David & I! I am so thankful for him; he makes me the happiest person in the world. He's always so supportive of me and so caring, and I couldn't ask for a better husband, friend, and gentleman :) Who would have thought I would have married that silly, short 7th grader?! :-) We ate at Carrabba's for our anniversary, and the food was AMAZING and our server was polite and professional. It's nice to have yummy food & good service :)

2) 30 Day Ab Challenge 

Day 15 of 30 Day Ab Challenge

 

Day 1 of 30 Day Ab Challenge

 Of course, I don't have a six pack (wasn't planning on having one!), but I wanted to do something to hold me accountable for working on my core, which is HUGE when you are a runner (and great for anything else, really). No, I didn't go to the gym and crutch myself to death, I just found a free 30 Day Ab Challenge App on my phone so it could hold me accountable and I could keep track of my days. I did bicycle crutches, sit ups, leg lifts, and planks. I didn't live in a gym, I would just do my workout plan on my app for that day which only took about ten minutes. Shoot, we sit longer in a fast food drive thru for ten minutes, so you could make time to work on your core! I like how my sides got slimmer (no side rolls when I put on my running shorts!) and my tummy isn't as bloated! And I could tell a difference in my speed/strength while running, even with this summer heat!

3) First Week of School

Before

 

48 hours later

 My first week with my first graders was this past week, and it went WONDERFUL! I can't believe what an awesome week that I have had with them! They have so much self control and they are great listeners. When they make a mistake, they say they're sorry, calm down, and make it right. I have preached and taught character education 30 minutes or so each day since we don't have a counselor yet, and I feel like starting my year off with this along with constantly repeating/reviewing rules & procedures have helped so much! They are already finding out this week that when we make good choices/decisions, we have a great day! There are incentives of course, but I feel like they enjoy just the praise alone and just me talking to them (WAY different than my students from last year!). I have taught kindergarten for the past two years, but this move to 1st grade has been GREAT so far! I really like the team that I am working with too! Let the long work hours begin!

4) My 2nd Marathon/ My first 50k Training 

Training starts this Saturday. I will start with 10 miles this Saturday, no matter how hot and humid it will be! :-( I am sooooo ready for the cool, fall mornings! Rocket City Marathon is on December 13th (a Saturday), and the 50k (my first!) will be on December 31st (a Wednesday)! 18 Weeks until the Nike Rocket City Marathon and 20 weeks until the Recovery from the Holidays 50k! I feel like once I get my high mileage in for Rocket City, that the 31.06 miles for the 50k won't feel too bad. Hey, it's only a little over 5 miles more than a marathon, right? Wait, what did I just say? Oh no, I turned into one of these people...

I hope everyone has a GREAT week! :-)

-Holly