Week #1 of Mini Marathon Training and a TPT 20% off Sale

Good morning blogger friends!  I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since my last post.  I wish I could say I had a good reason, but I've just been busy, busy, busy!  I think it's that time of year where everyone gets bogged down with cold weather, still a while until Spring Break, and our state testing is right around the corner (wah, wah!).

This week was my first official week or mini marathon training.  As a kickoff to the Indy 500, there is a HUGE (30,000+ runners) Mini Marathon in Indianapolis at the start of May.  Part of the course takes us on the track of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is a portion of the luster of this race.  I think I have run the Mini Marathon 6 times, each time with decent scores, but I haven't run it since my marathon.

As week #1 started for me on Monday, my goal for this half marathon is speed.  I know I can finish it, but I'm trying to build speed work into my workouts.  If you've never trained for a race, start now!  There are so many spring races of various distances everywhere these days!  It doesn't matter what you look like, how much you weigh, if you have a matching Lululemon workout look, JUST DO IT!  (By the way, I own zero, zilch, nada Lululemon items...$60 for a racerback tank I can get at Kohl's for $15...no thanks!  Well, don't get me wrong, their stuff is cute, just too expensive for me!)

I am a pretty faithful Hal Higdon fan for training and always follow his training programs.  He has a variety of option for the half marathon, and because of my speed goal, I decided to challenge myself with his advanced training program.  I am scaling back the weekend 90 minute run, though, because I'm not quite there yet, but I'm hopeful!

Week #1 was underway and going well this week!  Except for Friday...some friends from my old school asked if I wanted to grab a drink after school!  This was a no brainer!  :)  I'm off to the gym here in a bit to finish off my Sunday workout and begin Week #2 tomorrow.

Anyone out there training for anything this Spring?  I'd love to hear about it!

Also, I'm throwing a President's Sale 20% off sale! I'm featured today on the math page of TPT for my St. Patty's Day Palooza Unit!  Enjoy the discount today and tomorrow!

Gotta run for now, but stay tuned for my Do's and Don'ts at the Gym List (unfortunately, I will tell you Don't walk out of the gym in only your shower towel). 

Music for the classroom, music for the treadmill, and February Currently!

Music for the Classroom
I recently went to a workshop where the presenter used a music group called The Vitamin String Quartet on Pandora.  It. Is. Awesome!  The quartet plays pop songs with strings instruments, so there are no words.  I love having music in my classroom, and this eliminates any words that might not be appropriate while letting them hear familiar songs.  I really like that it gives orchestra and music a fun spin.  The station on Pandora rotates through other musical groups, but the songs are really fun!  Try it out next week and let me know what you think!

Music for the Treadmill
As many of you know, my winter is filled with a lot of treadmill runs, so I need music.  What you might not know, is that I am extremely cheap.  I refuse to buy songs on iTunes that I can hear on the radio, so Pandora is my go-to.  I came across a station on Pandora called Pop and Hip Hop Power Workout.  What I love about this station is that the music changes so I don't get into a rut, but it's all pretty upbeat.  I need high intensity songs and the factor of the unknown is a great surprise when in the middle of a run!

February Currently
And last, but certainly not least is Farley's February Currently!  Woohoo!  Can you believe it's already February?  We're getting ready to send home Quarter 3 mid-terms!  What happened to this school year!?

Stop by and visit Farley, meet some other bloggers, and learn something along the way!

Super Sunday Sale
My store is already 20% off, but wait until Sunday and you'll get even more!  I borrowed this image from Farley's blog, but get ready to stock up!  From reading activities, poetry, St. Patty's Day, and Student Led Conferences, you won't go wrong! :)

Gotta run...it's Friday night (and yes, I know I blogged twice today...don't tell anyone!)

Free Game and a Super Sale!

My kids have always loved I have...Who has? games, so I've created several variations of the game with math facts.  One of my favorites, though, is the nonfictions conventions game.  I had a teacher who had asked to add more conventions for her upper grade students, so I created an Advanced Version!  Both the primary and advanced versions are free for you here! :)

 Also, I've linked up with TBA's Freebie Friday again!  Check out all of the other great freebies this week!

Super Sale!!

I'm also teaming up with Teachers Pay Teachers for their Super Bowl Sale on Sunday to help all of you super teachers catch some good deals and score some great products (okay, did I go too far on the football wording?).  My store is all 20% off and TpT is throwing in an additional 10% with the code SUPER.

Check out some of my best selling units and ones that might be useful in the near future!  

*Originally $5.00.  With my sale it's $4.00.  With TPT it's just $3.60! 

*Originally $4.00.  With my sale it's $3.20.  With TPT it's just $2.88!

*Originally $4.00.  With my sale it's $3.20.  With TPT it's just $2.88!

 *Originally $1.50.  With my sale it's $1.20.  With TPT it's just $1.08!

*Originally $1.50.  With my sale it's $1.20.  With TPT it's just $1.08!

You get the point...it's one of TPTs best sales and it's always worth throwing those wish list items into the cart!  I can't wait to finally get some of the things in my cart on Super Bowl Sunday!  

Have a wonderful Friday.  It's my bosses 40th today, so I need to go get all of my black clothes on! :)

Gotta run!