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winter weather = good run

Well, I think I've found the perfect running weather. I looked through my spreadsheet/training log and found the best runs were at 73Fish and 77% humidity (or thereabouts). Had a GREAT run today - 5.25 miles and I left the gadgets at home. Course, for me, that means watch and HR monitor. No Garmin here. :) I brought the pace down a couple times, just based on how good I was feeling and the "need" to push the pace, and ended the run ready for more. If the 10K this Sunday is in similar weather (I doubt it - this weather is solely due to a norte blowing through) I think I have a great run. Either way, I'll be happy to run in Merida again.

I'm looking at shoes again. The Nikes I picked up in the US to replace my Asics are just not working out and Dr. Google has diagnosed me with metatarsalgia. It really only rears its head after 4 miles or so, and I'm not sure what to do to "cure" it. The only real problem is the real possibility of stress fracture and I really don't want that - I've read enough running blogs to know how to avoid those with the 10% rule - but I am NOT going to stop running. So hmmm... At this point, I'm not sure a marathon is in the cards anymore, but I'm going to try either a Brooks or New Balance shoe and see what happens.

I hit 73.5 kilos this week but after eating 1/2 my weight in brownies (I baked them for the palaperos) I have a feeling that I'll be ballooning up overnight. I'm really happy with the weightloss so far - I took 15 kilos off the last 1/2 of 2007, kept it off last year (well, I ping-ponged with 5 kilos for a while) and am finally continuing to decrease.

I have 4 miles on Friday and the 10K on Sunday and then next week is supposed to be a "rest" week with 3 mile runs and a "long run" of (I think) 5 miles or something.

In homeschooling news, Jesse has jumped into a schedule and I'm really proud of him. He has quite a bit of catching up to do with his younger brother, but man, he is QUICK when he wants to be.

ugh. I'm such a wimp

Dayum. I headed to town today to meet up with some local runners who didn't show up. The loop I had planned to do is all concrete although I occassionally ran on pavers and some grass. The first loop (3.6m) wasn't bad - 42 minutes - I was trying to keep my HR under 150 and succeeded. It felt like a Really Long Loop though, but it could be I'm just used to having a turnaround every 1.25 miles.

I headed out for the 2nd loop and really only made it another 20 minutes before I had serious thoughts of stopping. I tried a Galloway and mentally chastised myself but only made it 8 min before wanting to stop for a walk break. My stomach was not good, but I did eat a banana and had 1/2 scoop cytomax before I left, so I'm not really sure what the problem is. I think next time I'm going to try Cytomax DuRING the run and see if that makes a difference. I just couldn't convince myself to power through and then got sick to my stomach. I KNOW I could have just sucked it up and worked through it but I'm just a wimp. Ugh. I'm so disappointed in myself.

first tempo except not

So, yesterday I attempted a tempo run. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see what exactly a tempo run was BEFORE I ran. After I got back I researched and found I did it all wrong. But anyway, I decided to go out hard and hold on. My HR was over 160 the last 2 miles and I was hurting pretty badly from mile 2.75 on and the entire 4th mile I was running from landmark to landmark. "Ok, just to the palm tree. Ok, now to the turnout. Ok, now just to the log..."

I made it home and had my highest average pace AND my fastest mile (9:30) but I was D.E.A.D. Strangely, about 15-30 minutes later I was feeling absolutely GREAT and looking forward to the next one. This was the first time I've pushed myself this hard in running and now the mental block is over. It was weird how good I felt the rest of the day - even my knees stopped aching!

Tomorrow I have a 7 mile run planned. I'm kind of nervous about it. I'm planning on running in town with a group and maybe that will make the miles go faster. If nothing else, I might find I need to get an MP3 player for the longer runs. It will be really nice not having to do umpteen (seriously, about 6 loops of the same old same old).

I've also revamped my training schedule and picked NONE. :) I meshed together a few programs and this is the week to come:

Monday (I'm going to make my back-to-back days a long run and recovery run) 2 miles recovery

Tuesday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga (eventually I'm going to xtrain with swimming)

Wednesday: 5 miles tempo - 5x3 min tempo pace with 60s jog between

Thursday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga

Friday: 4.5 with 11 min/mile pace (10:45-11:15)

Saturday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga (this might be my first swim day)

Sunday: 10K in Merida. This time I'm going to time myself. :)

training program, CHECK

I think I've finally made a decision. I'm not going to try to do the Ironman cozumel even though it really intrigues me because I'm just not sure my body can do a marathon. The entry fee is GIGANTIC, at $525USD so it isn't anything you can do on a whim. I will DEFINITELY volunteer though and maybe, in 2011...

So, that decision made, I figure that with cross training I should be able to do the Cancun 1/2 Ironman pretty easily (though in September it is going to be scorching) so I might do that on a whim but I will definitely just make my main training marathon-related. As such, I settled on a training program. I was really leaning towards Hal Higedon and while I'm doing base miles I just might waffle around, but starting next week, I'm going with Santa Clarita and next week will move from 4 days/week of running to 5, but lower mileage each day. My lower back is starting to complain about back-to-back Tues and Wed, so I'm not sure that is such a good idea, but I do need to figure out if I can do 5 days/week or not. Argh. Maybe once I lose another 5 kilos my body will be able to handle the frequency. If not, I'll go with Hal and do longer days with less frequency.

Week 6 probably

I had a somewhat horrific run on Sunday. Since I had run the 10K in Merida last sunday I figured I was up for another 10K. It was warm (77F with 89% humidity IIRC) and I wore short sleeves for the first time this year. We've been hammered with one norte after another lately and I've been in shorts and long sleeves so it was nice to finally strip down a little. I had a good 5.5 miles and then I just wanted to stop. I was super nauseous and D.O.N.E. so I kept going for another 1/2 mile to get my six in and threw up. Jamie says I need nutrition before I run - I can't run on an empty stomach and 1/2 a scoop of Cytomax. So, I'll try more Cytomax and/or a banana on Tuesday.

I had an awful first 3 miles today - my legs felt like lead and it was 82F/77% humidity but felt cooler for the first 2 miles than Sunday. Somehow I was able to suck it up for the 4th mile and hammered out an average 10:45 pace. That last mile hurt like hell but I was really glad I hammered it out. Got up to 168HR too!

I've been finding some local runs - a 10K on the 31st in Merida and another on Feb 7th. I'm also close to picking my marathon to shoot for and thus, arrange my training. I had some dreams of an Ironman or even 1/2 (I think I could probably phone in the swim and bike but the run would kill me) but I think I'm just going to focus on the marathon this year and maybe do the 1/2 Ironman in Cancun. I'd much rather do Cozumel (prettier and better spectators) but I really don't know if I'd be able to do a full Ironman AND it has a $525USD entry fee!!!!

I also really need to pick a training program - I know what I'm doing this week (same as last week, probably; 4 on Tuesday, 2 on Wed, 4 on Fri and 6 on Sun) but I really need to get that in gear also.

Dusting off the old blogger

I'm starting to wonder why I've separated the blogs (hopalog and this one) and can only figure that I don't want to clutter the blog with running stuff. Because that's pretty much all this will be about is running.

I recently decided to train for a marathon. Well, first I decided a 1/2 marathon would be good. Then I figured, what the hell, why not go for broke? I'm only at 4mile runs anyway, so it's not a big deal yet. No pain yet. We'll see if I can stay injury free and then whether or not I actually go through with it. I once did a 1/2 Ironman length triathlon but that was some 25 years ago. I started running as an exercise I realized I enjoyed, that would help me lose weight. I lost about 15kg by December 2008 and kept it off last year (through running and watching what I eat). I probably have 5-10kg more to take off but now I'm just maintaining. I really thought I could just keep running as exercise, but found I enjoyed the challenge of adding more mileage. I then ran a 10K as a spur of the moment thing (Jan 10th) and had such a fun time that I decided I wanted to do more.

So I'm looking at training programs and trying to pick a marathon that I might like. I'm leaning towards Mazatlan, DF and now see that Acapulco has one (but so far, little info). I'm doing a base buildup (basically training for a 1/2) of 16 weeks or so and am currently on week 5. Well, it is a bastardized training program as I'm jumping in at week 5 or so. I also haven't picked one training program and I know everyone says to just PICK ONE and stick with it, but I haven't yet.

Yesterday was my first foray into running 2 days in a row. Seriously, I've never run consecutive days. I know most runners do 5 days a week but I'm not sure I'd be injury-free if I did that. I'm not really into Galloway either; I don't like the idea of walking while I run but more importantly, I HATE how I feel when I walk/run. I've done it when doing the C25K program and it really messes up my stride, flow and head. Course, if I ever get to mile 20 of a marathon, I might be feeling differently.

I know I should be doing some core today but it was just too cold at 70-75F. Yikes! I also need to figure out WHAT to do for core exercises. :)

Girls' schedule

Daily (M-F) : Math (Singapore), Sissy reads from a book and alternate days does ETC, Ellen does Reading Game and/or ETC, copywork, read one Chapter from "Summer Moon"
Monday, Wed, Friday: FLL (we ended on lesson 5), read from "Tales of Ancient Egypt".
Wednesday: Chemistry Pre Level 1 (we've done chapters 1 and 2), read TM and get lab ready, world culture (India)
Tuesday, Thursday: SOTW/History (see link), read from Gilgamesh epic (3 books)
Saturday: Art (Artistic Pursuits - we have already done Units 1-3), world culture (India), geography

Updated Pikey daily flow

• He will start on his own with Teaching Textbooks. He generally does at least a page of work; I shoot for 30-45 minutes of dedicated work. If he is not using the computer, but the workbook, remind him to check his answers.
  
• He will journal (you need to remind him) nightly. This is a private journal.
  
• He or I will read the daily Writer's Almanac. Pike then does dictation or copywork from WA. I use either the "I Have a Dream" speech or a piece of history from the WA or a poem he particularly enjoyed. After dictation discuss the punctuation and any new grammar you might have come across and introduce any new punctuation and/or grammar ideas which come about from the dictation.
  
• I read a chapter from a living history book relevant to (right now, "The Cat of Bubastes") the period of history we are reading about.
  
• Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we are using the Susan Bauer book as the history spine. As I read I frequently summarize and ask him questions to see if he is understanding and getting it. When something piques my interest (or his) we'll also discuss that too. After each 5 chapters of Bauer's book do a written timeline and character summary - who was in power where and when charted and who begat whom so the history is easier to follow.
  
• For Spanish I speak Spanish all day MWF and we are doing as much from "So You REally Want To Learn Spanish" (SYRWTLS) as he is up for. I supplement SYRWTLS with Sr. Jordan. You need to prepare daily the day before.
• He will read from a book he chooses daily that is usually relevant to either current world culture or history (right now "Golden Goblet").
  
• Sunday he adds critical thinking to the mix. We are working through "The Art of Argument". He also does Art (choose a project from the Artistic Pursuits book) and world culture. We are currently working on China.
  
• Monday he does no daily work but does an art project of his choosing.
  
• Tuesdays he does Geography. Right now he is working on Asia. He picks an area of Asia and reads the information about each country and then plays the game to identify each country. Each couple weeks I have him go back a week and see if he still recognizes where that week's countries are. We also work on the "Geography Through Art" book. You should prepare for this the day before. We also work on a writing assignment this day (from Bravewriter) and history spine.
  
• Wednesday we work on Chemistry (Real Science for Kids Chemistry 1) and he picks a science experiment (if he wants to, in addition to the experiment from the RS4K Chemistry 1) and we read and discuss Sociology. He picks from the World Religion book, the "Teens with a Courage to Give" book or the "Save the Children" book. Today is also a World culture day.
  
• Thursday we do Sociology (see Wednesday), History Spine and world culture.
  
• Friday he takes the day off daily subjects. He and Jesse watch a lecture from the "Ancient Cultures" DVD and do Friday Freewrite (Bravewriter)
  
• Saturday he does critical thinking and History spine.
  

getting back into the swing

After Jamie leaving in February (to be with his dying mother), visit from my folks, sisters and their families, we're getting back into the swing. thankfully I have this blog to see what we're supposed to be doing. :) The last family left yesterday and Jesse and Pike (and maybe a girl, not sure) said they wanted to start back to school today. This morning Pike says it feels "good" to be back at his math, so I'm seeing that as a good sign. Jesse wants to start TT7 from the beginning and we'll see what he's going to do.

Science

I have quite a few materials for science and this is what we're trying out. So far, no clear-cut winners but I just started with the girls today and Pike has his pick of books but seems to simply gravitate towards a simple experiment.

I've looked at Noeo and RS4K and simply reading books and think we'll try a mixture and see what works best. We'll start first with chemistry and then biology and then physics (depending on how chemistry works out).

For the girls, we're going to try Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Level I Chemistry. We've done Chapters 1 and 2 and will do lab 2 this week. I wasn't really impressed with lab 1. I also have two volumes of the "moon" books on order, Winter Moon and Summer Moon, and hope the girls enjoy them.

I'm going to try RS4K Level I Chemistry with Pike in addition to his pick of a science experiment. We have the Earth Science VanCleave book which I'm not all that impressed with. Pike likes it for experiments but I'm not sure he's actually seeing anything from it. Google Books has some of the engineering book and we much preferred it so we'll see about that too. We also have the following (that he hasn't really looked at) Science Experiments You Can Eat; Chemical Chaos; Blood, Bones and Body Bits, as well as 2 TOPS books and one more Sonlight science experiment book. None of these have really resonated with Pike though. I'm hoping the RS4K, Tiner's History of Medicine and a Usborne book I have on order will flesh things out.

Boys Africa

African culture to come

Boys Japan

Read "Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun"
Read "Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes"
Consider "The Rape of Nanking" but not for Pike
Read "Japan: The Culture"
Read "Japan: The People"
National Geographic overview
National Geographic videos
Japan music

hmmm...need to find more resources

Boys China

(after India - China)
read PRC book (ordered 1-Feb)
Read China History from Usborne World History
Read The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen
National Geographic overview
National Geographic videos
China music
Explore constructing rice paddies
Photos of the Forbidden City
Sightsee in China
Read about Chinese New Year
Explore Mr. Donn's Ancient China site
China map project (maybe)
Read China History or this site and this site
Explore China site
Explore The Great Wall or Great Wall
Read Homesick My Own Story (China)
Read Yung Fu of the Upper Yangtze (China)
Watch The Last Emperor (ordered 2-Feb)

Materials I STILL need to purchase

1. decide between PLL and FLL for Sissy.
   
2. ETC 1 for Sissy
3. GRFTC A, B, C for Ellen
4. Singapore 1B WB for both girls
5. some Spanish curriculum for the girls (First fun with Spanish DVD, stuff here, stuff here, Puertas Abiertas $135, Clase Divertida $70 @ HC)
   
6. SYRWTLS and Latin for boys
7. Spanish for Children? for Pike
8. LOF for Pike?
9. Ghandi (DVD) for boys 11.99 Amazon
   
10. A Passage to India (DVD) for boys.
11. China DVD for boys (The Last Emperor? $19 Amazon)
12. Gilgamesh The Hero for Pike 6.74 Amazon
    

Daily flow with Pike (for Jamie)

• He will start on his own with Teaching Textbooks. He generally does at least a page of work; I shoot for 30-45 minutes of dedicated work. If he is not using the computer, but the workbook, remind him to check his answers. I am watching to see how he does with fractions and decimals to see if we're going to need the "Life of Fred" books.
  
• I then encourage him to get something to eat. He generally refuses. :)
• I then read the daily Writer's Almanac. Jesse usually likes to participate in this. If something piques my or the kids' interest, we'll investigate it further. Pike then does dictation. I use either the "I Have a Dream" speech or a piece of history from the WA or a poem he particularly enjoyed (right now, "The Raven") After dictation discuss the punctuation and any new grammar you might have come across and introduce any new punctuation and/or grammar ideas which come about from the dictation.
  
• I then encourage him to get something to eat. By now, he might entertain the idea.
• We then move to history. Right now I include both Living History and the history spine. As I read I frequently summarize and ask him questions to see if he is understanding and getting it. When something piques my interest (or his) we'll also discuss that too. Read from "Gilgamesh The Hero" (I have this book on order) and then a chapter (or whatever works, depending on him) from Susan Bauer's "History of the Ancient World". At this time I also add some world culture - we're finishing up with India and then we'll move to China. For now, finish the book, "India: The Culture". You need to prepare for both items daily. After each 5 chapters of Bauer's book do a written timeline and character summary - who was in power where and when charted and who begat whom so the history is easier to follow.
  
• By now, he will probably definitely be ready to eat something. Also encourage him to take a little lap around to get his body moving and the blood flowing.
• We then move on to Spanish. I use a number of sources for this. If he feels like a video, we pick one from Sr. Jordan. We are also working on Chapter 2 of Spanish for Children. He seems to really like this book. I am going to order it for him. I have many other resources if this doesn't seem to work for him. I am thinking of also ordering Spanish from Galore Press. We do verb conjugation and are currently working on what infinitives are. You need to prepare daily the day before. I have decided to go with SYRWTLS instead of SFC and am having him go through a Sr. Jordan video (or two) a day. He is also using LingQ to go over vocabulary and words until SYRWTLS arrives.
  
• by now he definitely needs a break.
• He will read from a book he chooses daily (right now "Eragon") and also will read a chapter from a book I pick out for him (right now "Snow Treasure"). It is getting to the point that it is rare that he actually does this.
• In the evening I read from a Living History book, right now "Yung Fu from the Upper Yangtze".
• Sunday he adds critical thinking to the mix. He has links I've sent him along with the "Red Herring" book. I am hoping to eventually add "The Art of Argument".
• Monday he and Jesse watch a lecture from "The Joy of Thinking". He also does his art project (that we started on Thursday) on this day. He applies what we talked about on Thursday. He takes this day off his daily stuff so that is all he does on Monday. You need to prepare for this the day before.
  
• Tuesdays he does Geography. Right now he is working on Asia. He picks an area of Asia and reads the information about each country and then plays the game to identify each country. Each couple weeks I have him go back a week and see if he still recognizes where that week's countries are. When he is about 1/2 way through Asia, start with the "Geography Through Art" book. This should start next Tuesday. You should prepare for this the day before.
  
• Wednesday he adds a science experiment (I have at least 4-6 books for him to choose from) and we read and discuss Sociology. He picks from the World Religion book, the "Teens with a Courage to Give" book or the "Save the Children" book. We also read one chapter from VanCleave's engineering book and discuss. We will probably add another science day in the coming months using the Usborne Science book (on order).
  
• Thursday we do Sociology (see Wednesday) and discuss an art project. Right now we're disucssing Van Gogh and a self-portrait. Sources for art projects are here, here, and here. We also have the Artistic Pursuits book. You need to prepare this the day before and the week before.
  
• Friday he takes the day off. He and Jesse watch a lecture from the "Ancient Cultures" DVD.
• Saturday he does Friday FreeWrite. We are now discussing descriptive writing and following along with the Writer's Jungle (red binder in the trailer). He also does critical thinking this day. You need to prepare for this the day before. In the next 2 weeks I would like to add reading "How to Read a Book" outloud as well as another day during the week of creative or directed writing.

More stuff that works

We have been using Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech for copywork and I am really loving reading it over and over each day. It has been especially lovely for me, reading his words over and over daily.

Jesse has decided he very much wants to go to university. He has asked for help getting started on his multiplication tables.

The TLC lectures we picked out are really very much over the boys' heads. But we're going through with them; they're already picking some stuff out of them.

Singapore Math is an excellent fit for Ellen - she is very much a natural at manipulating numbers.

Materials that are working

• Singapore Math for both girls. We're doing 1A now, about 3 times a week.
• Explode the Code 1.5 for Sissy. She does about 1-2 pages about 3 times a week. I'm hoping to get ETC 1 for Sissy soon.
• I'm hoping to get Get Ready for the Code for Ellen. Right now she plays Boggle.
• Headsprout for both girls. They do one lecture about 3 times a week and sometimes more.
• Teaching Textbooks for Pike. He works on about 30-40 minutes per day for Math 7.
• The Learning Company's The Joy of Thinking for both boys. We watch one lecture weekly.
• Susan Bauer's The History of the Ancient World for both boys. We read a chapter a day.
• Sonlight's Core 5 historic fiction. I read from one of the books daily. Right now we're on Yung Fu of the Upper Yangtze. We'll be moving to Core 6 books soon.
• Sr. Jason's Spanish videos (he is actually Sr. Jordan but I keep calling him Sr. Jason :))
• Rocket Spanish lessons 1-4 (just the trial so far but Pike is enjoying it). I'm also looking into Spanish for Children, LosMas TV, Learning Spanish Like Crazy and others.
• Geography once a week with Pike. He's never had any geography exposure and enjoyed the Geospy game to learn the continents. We're starting with Sheppard Software to learn different countries along with a little country information. It's a little dry but he is so far ok with it. We'll supplement that with Geography Through Art. We're starting with Asia.
• Reading the Writer's Almanac daily and Pike does dictation from either the poem or the content of the Writer's Almanac. Jesse just listens.
• Both boys are really enjoying Critical Thinking with the Red Herring book. Link to come.
• The girls are enjoying SOTW 1 and CHOA (I'm reading it online) but get a little bored with Story of Mankind sometimes.
  

We're doing other stuff and stuff to come but these are just the things that are working well and they are enjoying.

January

Well, we now have a schedule to work on.

Sissy wants: (starting Tuesday)
Reading Game: 3-4 times a week. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
Math (Singapore 1A): 3-4 times a week. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Handwriting: 3 times a week. Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday
Art (Artistic Pursuits K-3 book 1): Wednesday, Sunday
SOTW1: on science day with boys
literature: daily
Spanish: daily
ETC: 3 days week.

Ellen wants: (starting tomorrow)
Spanish: daily
Reading Game: daily
Math: daily
Handwriting: Monday, Sunday, Tuesday
Art: Wednesday
literature: daily
ETC: daily

Pike wants: (started today)
Daily:
copywork or dictation
Math (TT7)
Writer's almanac
independent reading
I read History to them
I read an "Every Kid" book
Spanish (videos right now and then Destinos)

Sunday he'll add Art (Artistic Pursuits 4-6 book 2) and Critical Thinking (A Case For Red Herrings and maybe The Art of Argument after that or Mindbenders)
Monday he'll add watching one episode of the TTC Joy of Thinking DVD course
Tuesday he'll add Geography and Tuesday Tea Time
Wednesday he'll add Science Experiments and memorization
Thursday he'll add sociology (World Religion book, Teens Courage book) and memorization
Friday he'll add Friday Free Write and sociology
Saturday he'll add critical thinking

Jesse is still undecided but before Xmas said he wanted to do math and Spanish. I also got The Art of Argument and Calligraphy for him. We'll see.

Girls October and November

Read SOTW Intro and Chapter One.
Next to read A Child's History of Art chapter 1
Do painting project making paints from natural materials
Next to read the Archeology book we have (and have read ad nauseum),
The Dinosaurs Before Dark insipid book

Start a timelines project: Timeline of a year, timeline of our family
Talk about history - have girls define "history" and "archeology"
History
S: old times, story; your history, when I was growing up
E: making friends and other stuff, my life
Arch
E: people that find stuff that's been left behind by other species of people (missed and then she changed to nomads) that so they moved (she had something about wheat in here and agriculture then moved to Archeology) and then tall vines growed over then so that you can't see them and then people chopped down the vines and found the ruins that the people were (missng words on my part) eat and they find left behind toys and left bowls behind

Make a history of my family book and personal timeline to the extent they want to

Explore geography http://interactives.mped.org/puzzler383.aspx
Explore Africa through stories
Explore Asia, Europe, South America, Australia and Antarctica through stories

Play Geospy game
Pick out and view pictures from all continents