getting over it...the treadmill that is

Two treadmill runs in 3 days?!? Working out everyday this week?!?! Sheer craziness happening over here! Apparently all I need to do is let you all know I hate the treadmill and have no motivation to get over it and just get it done. I was feeling a little out of shape/more self conscious today as there was a super-star gazelle runner 2 treadmills down from me (big sigh) One day I hope to run (and have legs) like her ;)

There is definitely something to be said about not traveling for work. I have been able to cook dinner and visit the gym every night this week. I feel so much more balanced. It makes me think about what could be when the day finally comes that I am not required to travel every week! Oh to dream!

Winter Wonderland

Today was one of those days I was extremely grateful I work from home. It was a 2+ hour commute on nearly every expressway/road home today with some being nearly 4 hours! It took me over 20 minutes to go about 2 miles to the gym. Today was also one of those days I wished I had a house with a home gym or at least some cardio equipment. There was no avoiding the treadmill. The first 20 minutes went by relatively quick then the dread started to set. I pushed through to 30 where I told myself I could stop but actually ended up with a nice 40 minute run. It would have been nice to go outside but with no traction on the shoes I wasn't taking any chances. Maybe some other day this week.

Monday Night

Running? Not so much...I don't do ice and haven't been feeling the dreadmill. I go to the gym with happy running thoughts in my head and then I see the machine...that's as far as I can go. At least I am staying active. Hopefully I can run outside tomorrow because I'm feeling a bit stir crazy.

Tonight was a girls get together like it used to be. Arrive in the comfy pants/sweats, order in the Domino's, drink some wine, and talk. And oh did we talk! Let's just say the conversation ran the gamut from dirty Illinois politics, to weddings, to a depressed vagina (not ours - someones boss!), to nipple cream. A fun night had by all :)

Early Arrival

The last work trip of 2008 is officially over! And I was able to leave early, catch the earlier flight (for a small fee), and be home while it is still light outside. Today was a good traveling day. They are few and far between so I'm happy the last one ended on a good note. Now to catch up on 3 months of administrative/office paper work in 5 days...should be a fun week next week.

Happy Weekend all! And good luck to D10 on her marathon this weekend !!!

Quick Catch Up

It's been awhile...again...I know. I have had absolutely no motivation to blog. Not much is happening other than me working and complaining about work. Oh yeah shopping and a little working out too ;) I've managed to motivate myself to run several times over past few weeks. The running gear I purchased helped motivate to get out in the dark and on the icy, snow covered path in a windchill of 10 degrees. Talking to my husband the other day I compared winter in Chicago to an ex. Once spring/summer comes to Chicago you can only remember the good of the weather and the city...then the first snow happens and you remember why you want to move and/or hibernate. So it is always a huge adjustment once the temperatures begin to drop as I am sure it is with everyone in every northern state/province. I hate the first few minutes of being frozen and the last couple miles of not being able to feel my chin but I try not to think of those things when I'm having an internal debate on whether or not to run outside. I do like feeling hardcore, the satisfaction once I'm finished, not slipping on ice, and the empty paths.

Alright I am off to pack for hopefully my final work trip of the year! Yeah!!! Actually I was done with my own sites last week but I have had to cover for others - boo.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Everything seems to hit at once doesn't it? The least of my problems is that I am up to my eyeballs and then some with work. And of course everything is due 10 minutes ago. Don't they know I have over 700 posts listed in my google reader waiting for me? Needless to say I haven't had time to blog or peruse your blogs :( Maybe over the Thanksgiving break I catch up with everyone! I have a crazy week and a lot of long car drives (2-4 hours each way) but have been found some time, even though I wanted to pass out from exhaustion, to workout and even run 4 miles. Yesterday's run was absolutely freezing but I saw some entertaining people and things along the short route. Always good to keep me going. In fact I think I found Big Foot, he lives here in Chicago...and wouldn't you know he is a winter runner ;) Alright I am off to eat then catch up on my 800 expense reports and 10 regular work reports.

This and That

No I didn't get kidnapped by a pack of wild hyenas (or something like that) I honestly have had nothing to say for the first time in a long time! Running has been sporadic thanks to the fantastic weather and awesome work travel schedule. I'm still trying to figure it all out. And yeah I have been supa lazy. Other than that I cleaned for 2 days straight last weekend to be able to have a small house party (my hallways is finally clear for the first time since January) and otherwise just staring at my wedding pictures that we finally got back from the photographer. Tomorrow we are going to Denver to visit our friends. We found amazingly inexpensive tickets a few weeks ago and I haven't been there to visit in over a year so it's about time. I am sure I'll have some good stories when I get back. In the meantime I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite wedding pics. Oh I am so in love with my photographer! Is that wrong?

Hot Chocolate 15K in a Shirt that Races

I could copy and paste the report in but I'm even too tired/lazy for that right now. wore the Shirt that Races in the Hot Chocolate 15K this morning and posted my race report on that blog. Check it out! I'll leave you with a post race picture to peak your interest.

This was a lot of fun and it is very cool to represent Chicago, Illinois in the shirt's quest to race around the country. Thank you Nikemom for starting this "project"! If you are interested in wearing the shirt and you're racing in a state that doesn't have a name listed next to it be sure to contact Nikemom. And for you men who don't typically wear a woman's medium shirt or pink just isn't your color there may be the start of men's shirt that races so let her know your interest.

Off to wash the shirt and get it ready to ship to Shoe Running for her California race on Nov 9th!

Upcoming 15k

On Sunday I will be wearing the Shirt that Races in the inaugural Hot Chocolate 15k/5k. I'm running the 15k and well a little nervous about the race. The weather should be excellent (in the 50's and sunny!) I get an extra hour of sleep (thanks daylight savings!) but I feel heavy and out of shape. I haven't had real quality runs and didn't have much time to train. I think this race will be more of a "Easy Run and Reward Oneself with Hot Chocolate and all the Hershey's Chocolate One Can Consume" kinda race. Which really isn't that bad of way to spend the morning. We will see though. Now I'm off to get my last easy run in before Sunday.

Such a Procrastinator

All weekend I procrastinated the 7 miler that was on my schedule. Not only out of sheer laziness but also as an adverse effect of all the alcohol I consumed. Friday we went out to dinner for my friend/old roomie birthday where we partook in several adult beverages. After dinner she wanted to stop by her sisters apartment for a college house party. Hahahaha. We walked in and everyone just stared at us! Doesn't help that they were all 8-12 years younger than our little group. Some partook in beer pong (I was not one of those lucky some) but did continue on with our adult beverages. We brought good beer b/c I'm a snob and try to avoid busch light/natty ice (or something along those lines) now that we are no longer a poor college student ;) At said party we were talking to one of the 20/21 y.o girls at the party about DePaul and how my friend's husband still wears his Blue Crew shirt circa 1999. She said and I quote "Oh how cute, it's vintage!" We are all still laughing that 1999 is vintage thus making us vintage! We didn't stay long at the party but late enough with too much sangria and beer throughout the night so a Saturday run was scratched. Saturday night we went out with other friends of ours who will soon be welcoming a baby but are trying to go out as much as possible before that day arrives. After dinner in Greektown we went to a local brewery that is closing before the end of the year. It was a late night... No the mama to be did not partake in any adult beverages - strictly water, she is such a trooper for hanging so late though. Today the hubby and I decided to go out for lunch at a local watering hole and the birthday girl and her husband joined us. We sat around drinking beer and watching football. An excellent way to spend a Sunday but not so much when one still needs to run. I spent the rest of the afternoon laying around the house then after the sun was long gone I finally ran those 7 miles.

Early Morning

Thank you everyone for your positive thoughts and prayers for my stepmom...It really means a lot! She's out of recovery and the rest of the surgery went as planned but she still has a long way to go.

I've been getting a lot of crap from family and non-family members for the fact that I did not go home and it's making me feel guilty/like a jerk, etc, etc. There are a lot of complicated reasons/circumstances as to why I'm not there physically but it doesn't mean I'm not "there" for my dad and step family. I really don't understand why people can't see that. It's not like my physical being could do anything else that everyone there already has covered. It's not like I haven't called, won't be sending flowers and food, etc. It is really frustrating...Alright, I'll stop complaining/venting and move on ;)

Right now I am sitting in O'hare on my way to Terre Haute, Indiana. Yeah, work travel is so very exotic. Another long day/late night in a string of long days/late nights this week. I hope to be walking back in my house by 9pm. Ugh, I really hate these kind of days. Yesterday was another long day as lovely Chicago traffic and construction allowed me to spend nearly 3 hours in my car for what should be under a 2 hour drive back home. Needless to say another day of not working out/no running. The week is nearly over and I can hopefully get back to my regularly scheduled program Friday.

Weds Update

Yesterday I had planned to go to the gym after work even though I would be getting home late. My exhaustion and laziness kicked in and I played guitar hero instead. Then I figured that probably wasn't the best cross-training and picked up the hand weights for about 20 minutes. Eh, it was something I guess. A run is on the schedule tonight but honestly after making the 2 1/2 hour drive home I'm not sure how it will feel. Maybe Friday will be a good day to run ;)

My stepmom is having her mastectomy/reconstruction surgery today. I just received a call from my sister saying the doctor came out to inform my dad that they tested the lymph nodes and the cancer has spread. My stepmom isn't aware yet as she still has another 9-10 hours left in surgery. After surgery she will need to start chemotherapy. Not really the news anyone wants to hear.

Night Running

Normally I don't run the day after a long run. My legs are tired and mentally it's not something I can handle nor want to handle. Today happened to be a rainy day in Chicago and I got lost in non-work related computer tasks so I didn't make it to the gym at a reasonable time. Finally the rain stopped as I was changing into my workout clothes. I decided it would be a heck of a lot easier to run from house than drive to the gym. The plan was an easy 3 without the garmy. I ended up running around 4 without garmy. My legs felt light and loose from the beginning. It felt great being out in the early evening on the lakefront. There is something about running at night in the city - I absolutely love it.

The rest of the week runs may be a bit tricky as I have 3 work visits in 3 days in 3 different cities. We will see how tired I end up being - maybe there is another night run in me yet this week.

Sunday Run

The hubby was missing his family so we headed back to central Illinois for family time this weekend. It's not the easiest trying to get a run in down here. 1) the MIL feeds me constantly and does not know what the phrase "No thank you I am full/don't like/don't want" means. 2) Country roads scare me after spending the last 11 years in the city. People drive like maniacs! Luckily there is a 6 mile path between East Peoria and Morton and if I ask nicely I can get someone to drive me there and pick me up later. The plan was for 8 miles on Saturday. Jacob decided his time would be better well spent washing and waxing the car than taking me so the run got pushed off until today. It is a beautiful day albeit a bit windy. The first 2 miles were horrible; my legs felt like 50lb sandbags. Then I found my groove and the next 6.3 miles flew by. The picture is from the first half of the trail. The last half...not as nice but at least there is somewhere to run.
Alright I should get off the computer and get back to hanging out with the in-laws. They already think I am anti-social I don't need to reinforce it anymore ;)

Speedwork Sucks

Probably my absolute worst feeling run in a very long time. Days like today are the reason I have a love/hate relationship with running. Speedwork was on the schedule yesterday; however I couldn't get to it yesterday because I had to drive up to Madison, WI and back in one day. Umm 7 hours in the car and 4 1/2 hours sitting at a desk really not what I call a good time. My hips and back were throbbing from all the sitting! Anyways, it was a nice cool day today so I thought it would be a great day to get back into speedwork. Let's just say it's been awhile and although I remember really hating this part of training I had blocked out how horrible it really was for me. I seriously thought I was going to puke up my orange I had just eaten for lunch. I ended up not being able to complete the 2nd 1600 and broke it down to a 2 x 800 with 2 x400 jogs (walks). Everything felt off. Legs, lungs, head, everything. I guess I shouldn't have expected much it being the first speedwork session in a very long time. At least I finished and met the times I was shooting for so that is definitely something!!! AND I feel better an hour or so post run. Maybe it wasn't all that bad...

Alright I am off to obsess over my new facebook account. Yet another thing to keep me from working (and cleaning the house).

Letter to Running Top Designers

Dear Workout/Running Shirt Designer and Manufacturer,

Please do not discriminate against those of us who have long torso's. I'm am tired of only being able to find fantastic, non-cotton, running tops that are meant for someone my height but half my torso length. It is really uncomfortable to have my mid-drift (aka muffin top) showing because no one will make a running top 2-3 inches longer. I'm not asking for much...maybe an extra dollar or so in fabric.

Sincerely,

A girl with the nickname of booger

P.S - I have not shrunk my tops or had a massive growth spurt ;) Women's running tops are notoriously made the same in every brand which ends up being just short enough on me to be uncomfortable.

P.P.S - If anyone else has this problem and has a fantastic (and longer) running top they know of please share!

Obsessed

My new obsession...guitar hero III. In 1 1/2 days I have beat every song but 1 on the easy level. I have tried to move up to medium level but honestly I hate getting booed off stage b/c my pinkie finger is lame and doesn't want to hit the blue key at the right time. My left hand is in some serious pain, I may have to ice and rest ;) I realized in time that it hurt enough so maybe I should stop and go do some physical activity before I lost all daylight. Seriously I am such a dork and apparently have the mentality of a 12 year old. I'm so going to give my step sister a run for her money next time I go home :)

Race Spectating Report

Just returned home from watching the Chicago marathon. I ended up driving to my friends house in the west loop to meet up with her to watch at mile 14 and between mile 16-17. I arrived before our designated meet up time with enough time to see part of the course before 45,000 people burst onto the scene. First impressions were it was set up better than last year. More aid stations, water sprayers and sponges more readily available and earlier on the course than last year, first hydrants opened and spraying. A few minutes passed and the lead car came through to indicate the first of the wheelchair division were about to arrive. So incredibly inspirational to see them. A group that receives too little recognition as far as I am concerned. There was nearly no crowd support as many spectators had not arrived at the later miles yet. Then the elites came through at a blistering pace. I became more than a little choked up when I saw a man who had lost his arms and had to be in a sort of half standing/seated wheelchair but was still able to use his legs running the race. Amazing. My friend came out to join me and we spent the next couple of hours cheering for the runners and calling out words of encouragement to those runners who wore their name on their shirt. I think I saw Tom from Runners Lounge pass and yelled loudly for him! It it was him he was looking great just past the halfway mark. I didn't see anyone else I knew but I'm sure I just missed them. My friends saw 2 of their co-workers and one of the guys we were with jumped in to run with his co-worker. He was in street clothe with a bunch of items in his pockets and had just finished drinking a bloody mary. He was only going to run a couple of miles with his friend who had not trained at all and ended up running 10 miles!!! With no water in this heat! What a friend but seriously not too smart. We heard a few sirens during the race and that made my heart a bit heavy as well as took me back to my experience last year (even though I don't remember the ambulance ride).

The whole time being a spectator all I kept thinking was I can't wait to run next year. Although I was itching to run I'm glad I saw a different side of the race and could support those who made it to the start line. I was glad I could be at a part of the course cheering where there were not a lot of spectators because it made it that much more special experience for me. But next year look out for the girl with "booger" on her shirt (barring any unforeseen circumstances of course) and be sure to yell it out loud :) I can't wait!

Congrats to all the Chicago Marathon finishers! You are all true inspiration and heroes to me!!!

Finding Garmy

Since I have this crazy 15k coming in 4 weeks I decided I should probably start running more than just at a easy, fun pace. Yesterday was my big return to the tempo run. As well as being garmy's big return. It took me awhile to actually locate him. Why they didn't put some kind of locate button on it like they do with some cordless phones...Probably b/c most people use theirs more than every 3 months or so. Of course I put him in a spot pre-wedding that I couldn't possibly forget post wedding. Yeah not so much. I stuck him in one of the bathroom drawers...why I thought that would be an awesome spot for my garmin for several months I have no idea. I guess I was delirious from actually cleaning or something. Then garmy had some trouble locating the satellites but after 10 minutes I was finally on my way. I had 5 miles with 3 miles at an 8:45. And I have to say for my first time back at this for how many months it went really well. I can't say that it wasn't harder this time around to maintain that tempo but at least I met my goal. It probably helped that I went out telling myself that it would be great to meet the goal but would settle for xxx time as it is like I am completely starting over. I know they all won't go this well but at least it's nice to be back on a good note!

Back home

Okay Cubbies I love you but seriously losing the first game in crap play and giving up 5 runs in the 2nd inning of the 2nd game...really??? It's hard to be a Cubs fan. It hurts..

On to other news. I am in Ohio visiting the family - Fred (my dad) is having a clambake. It was supposed to be for my new husband and I but now that my stepmother has been diagnosed with breast cancer and has chosen to have a mastectomy (due to family history) later this month it is more a party for them. Regardless, it will be fun but none of my friends could make it so it should be interesting! I'll have pictures and plenty of stories by Sunday :) Always good drunk Fred stories :) Hopefully I will get a run or two in this weekend but we will see.

It being breast cancer awareness month - Ladies my step mom had countless mammograms due to the family history but found it in a self exam. Be sure to do you self exams and go for regular check ups. Hopefully MRIs will be covered by insurance soon! I can say my race schedule will include more races for breast cancer awareness for sure. And my stepmom is passionate about getting insurance companies to recognize that mammograms are not enough.

Returning to the Smelly Gym

Since it turned out to be a rainy and cool day I decided I needed to get my butt to the gym and actually put the membership fees to some use. It has been months since I have been there; once summer hits I never want to be cooped up in a sweaty/smelly place and I have a some small weights at home. Can't say much has changed...it still smells. It being first time I have touched weights in months I took it easier. Definitely not in the shape/weight when I stopped going but surprisingly not too bad. I'm actually looking forward to making a habit out of this again :) Although I may not be saying that once the weather takes a real turn for the worse and there's *gasp* snow on the ground!

In other running related news - I signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15k. Really how could I not? There is no real training plan in effect just yet (I might want to get on that) but honestly mr. garmin hasn't come out of his sanctuary just yet so until I have enough courage to ask him out again there probably won't be a plan. I'm hoping to work up the courage next week once I get back from visiting my family in Ohio.

For all you Cub Fans

A New Race

So I just found ou there is the one and only 15k course in Chicago - Nov 2nd. The hot chocolate run. Since it is the only 15k I may have to excuse the Halloween run for that day... just for the chocolate. Well and the fact the start race is less than a mile from my house even though the start is 7am on a November morning. If I sign up now I get a free fleece and hat!!! Tell me why I should OR should not run. The first item I could give you all - I'm not in shape AT ALL!!!

Attempt 2

Thanks to the fantastic weather we are having and the fact I left work a bit early I was able to run last night. Not far mind you but at least I got out there. My hammies were still hurting from my first attempt last Friday which almost made me stop after the first 1/4 mile. I noticed the extra weight a bit more and the legs were still sore but overall a better run. I know it will get easier it just really sucks right now knowing where I was at before I took an extended break. I'm kicking around the idea of a 10k next month but we will have to see how crazy my upcoming work travel becomes and if I can get back to my former conditioning level!

Random thing I saw on my run yesterday - a 80 year old man on a cool new skateboard with the sunglasses that all older people wear b/c they cover the entire face; however these glasses were the mirrored kind so they added a bit of "coolness" to the overall look. I love Chicago sites :)

Otherwise I have no news! Very, very bored now that I don't have a wedding to plan and general life craziness to freak out about anymore!

Post wedding run round 1

Tonight was my first night back...to running. OMG. It hurt so bad. I think of everything now as pre-wedding and post-wedding. 5 weeks pre-wedding I didn't run . I didn't do anything; however, I was so stressed I could eat whatever I wanted and lose weight. It was fantastic. I want to plan weddings forever now :) Now post wedding I continue to eat whatever I want but now I have a "bit" of a belly. It hangs over the jeans - yuck. Not so good. Plus, I have just been craving a run. I wanted it so bad and I finally managed to come out of my post wedding funk and change into running clothes and run. It wasn't pretty and it didn't last long ;) but I ran and well it didn't feel good. My knees hurt, everything jiggled but I am motivated to keep with it and get back to where I was pre-wedding. Next is to find my next race because I need some motivation.

Bula (hello in Fiji)

Bula!!! Hey all! I'm back from Fiji. Well I was back a couple days ago but I am still not acclimated to the time change! So exhausted during the days and wide awake at midnight! 17 hour time change can be a mess! Such long travel days there and back and next time I will so get a flight straight from LA to Fiji but Oh my goodness I wish I could have had 2 more days or maybe just never have returned. It was AMAZING. So incredibly relaxing. We didn't see a ton of regular Fiji unfortunately it was a lot of touristy Fiji. Honestly, I don't care. My whole point was to relax and be chill for this first time in nearly 2 years. And I have to say mission accomplished. I loved Fiji!!! I have to say their mixed drinks sucked so I have total beer bloat. We drank a lot of Fijian beer (I love Fiji Gold) and Australian/New Zealand red wine. There were nearly no Americans and I saw 3 of the 330 Fijian islands but my goal is to return in the next 5-10 years. I am not a morning person but was up by 7am everyday and in bed before 10pm. Hahaha. It was great! I am so sad work starts again on Monday. I am thinking of going rogue and returning to be an island bum. oh the life! We has some delicious curry and who knew I even loved curry - It was fabulous! I just can't say enough, the people are wonderful and it is so beautiful. Go if you have the change and don't question the cost! It is so worth it :)

Instead of attaching all the incredible pics I'll take you to the link. We took over 100 pics if you want to check them out ;) It's the same link as some of my wedding pics (still no professional pictures) but just go to the Fiji set.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamieandjacob

Back to Reality

Today was my first day back to working out. My poor running shoes haven't been laced up for several weeks. They were laced up today but only to get on the elliptical...baby steps. That machine kicked my butt after 20 minutes. Then again I can't expect much since I lost nearly 7 pounds in 5 days just from stress and late nights. I am still so exhausted from the whole wedding, emotionally and physically so even 5 minutes is exhausting. I can't wait to get back to my physical level pre-wedding stress. Although it would be nice to keep the weight off :)

I don't have professional pictures yet but some friends pictures have been uploaded to flickr - yay! I love pictures.

my beautiful bridal party!

Dad and I sharing a laugh

my "adopted" family since the 8th grade

If you want to check out more - www.flickr.com/photos/jamieandjacob Hopefully more will be added soon!

MARRIED!

I wasn't able to have my outdoor wedding as planned thanks to the thunderstorm that started as I stepped off the trolley but everything else turned out great! There were a couple bumps that no one noticed but me. Overall a beautiful, fun day that went be all too fast. Now I'm sporting some new hardware on the left hand and can now go back to my regularly scheduled life. Honestly as crazy as planning a wedding was I loved it! I can't wait to share pictures (once I get some!) Next stop FIJI!

MIA

Where have I been for the last 22 days since the last post?

A) I had the craziest bachelorette party known and as a result I just returned from my drunken partying haze.
B) The wedding and work stress have resoluted in me losing my mind and forgetting everything about my former life, including my name and blog address.
C) I haven't been running so I feel a bit like a fraud posting a running site.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above
F) A and C
G) B and C

Seriously didn't you hate when your teacher would do that to you on multiple choice. Yeah, one of my friends turned into THAT teacher too. Anyways, sorry I have been MIA. Not sure how many actually may have missed me :) But just checking in to say that my job sucks, planning a wedding on your own while traveling is hard, and I had the most kickass bachelorette party. My girls rock! Maybe this weekend I can actually post some of the tame pictures from the party 3 weeks ago. Then again I may be up to my eyeballs in wedding projects since the boy is out of town. Things are absolutely crazy. I am currently interviewing for a new job while doing all this too. The stress may send me to a white padded room soon. 24 days and the wedding is here and in 31 days I'll be laying my ass on a beach in Fiji. I. can't. wait. Until then my postings will be sparse. As I have not run and it doesn't seem fair to continue to post about wedding crap on a running blog ;) But I'll continue to keep up with all of you even if I can't seem to find a moment to actually comment. Alright off to send e-mails to the 50 people who chose to ignore the "FAVOR of REPLY is REQUESTED" note on my RSVPs. What a waste of stamps I tell you.

Waiting for My Jet Plane

I've been MIA I know. Probably because I don't have much to discuss or find myself with much time to blog. But I have time now as I am stranded in the exciting and bustling Birmingham, AL airport. What started as a 10 minute delay has turned into a 3 1/2 hour delay. I just want to leave and at this point not really caring what time as long as I don't end up stranded here (which is looking more likely as each hour passes). Now I should be writing a report as it is due tomorrow and I have yet another day trip scheduled but I thought I would procrastinate a bit longer.

With all my day trips and general wedding stuff I don't find myself running much (or having time to read about all you running!) The lack of running is increasing my stress levels as I have no outlet now. I really want to get out there. I have often found myself wishing I had the schedule I had last summer filled with humid long runs and new speed workouts but that just is not the case. Luckily I was able to run (in addition to consuming copious amounts of beer and bomb pop martinis) over the long weekend. Also was able to squeeze in a short run in the drizzle with no garmy before catching my flight yesterday.

On the wedding front - 47 days and counting with 98876554234 items on my list to complete. There are good things to do though - a tasting this Thursday, bachelorette party this weekend (the girls are surprising me so this should be fun!), and I think I found a fantastic new and reasonable affordable florist. The last one found it inconvenient to return calls/emails or find any time to meet with me.

Now send your positive thoughts that I get home tonight and am able to spend a few hours of much needed sleep in my bed before heading out for another day visit!

Shower Success!

So Saturday was a success! I am still so tired. It was a long weekend and I drove to work in Toledo two hours there yesterday then 4 1/2 hours back home = long day. My sister and friends put on a fabulous and fun shower. There were lots of laughs and of course a few margaritas and corona's to be had. Definitely had a few too many. I can't believe it is over and July 1st. August 23rd is going to be here before I know it or am ready for it to be! Here's a few pics from Saturday.

My sister decked out one table with a fiesta cake, margarita shaped cookies for the favors, and margarita framed pictures. Yeah and she hand punched all the confetti she put all over the tables. It looked awesome!

My sister made this awesome floral arrangement with 2 1/2 bags of limes!


me with my first margarita of the day :)

me with my beautiful bridesmaids

me and the party planning sister!

Margarita on the rocks no salt please

I'm leaving today for good old Medina, OH. My sister is graciously hosting a bridal shower in my honor - a Mexican Margarita Fiesta! Oh my family and friends know me so well. Provide a regular margarita on the rocks no salt with some chips and guacamole and she is one happy girl ;) It should be fun. Two of my bridesmaids are even flying in tomorrow to help celebrate with me. Yay!

In saying all that I haven't had much time for running or any kind of exercise yesterday and today. I was in the car driving to and from Wisconsin for over 7 hours yesterday and just so exhausted after getting home late that I hit snooze instead of going for a run today. Now it's in the 80's and ridiculously humid. Hopefully I can get 1 or 2 good runs in this weekend. I'll aim for 1 and 2 will be a bonus :) Alright - off to finish packing up the car! Happy weekend.

4 is the new 3

Recently I have had it in my head that 3 miles is just not enough. 4 mile runs have become my new 3. It's probably for the best. I need to squeeze in all the miles I can when I have time :) I did just get back from a nice 4 mile run. The humidity has gone away for now and it was unseasonably cool. A beautiful day for a run. My last run was on Saturday and I actually went farther than 4 :) But it was hot and humid and the nearly 6 mile run at 4pm was slow going. But at least I got it done and I felt better that I did run.

Tonight my big plan is dinner with the girls! It took us nearly a month to find a day for all of us to meet thanks to all of our crazy schedules but we are finally making it work. I am in desperate need of some girl time even if it is for only a couple hours.

dude this is me from nearly 3 years ago. Look at my awesome quad muscle. I want that back. At least that aweful shirt still fits me :) honestly how do I get that back. I know I was 26 when that was taken - but seriously that's awesome!

New Shoes

Nothing better than some new shoes! I let myself splurge and get a new pair of my beloved Asics at full price because I was long overdue for some kicks. I may have had a crappy run today but my feet felt fantastic. Crappy run happened because I ate a fabulous tasting lunch but not so fabulous for a run and just being exhausted from this weeks travels. Now I need to take the old pairs to the local running store and put in the donation/recycle bin.

In wedding world we have received 2 response cards - wahoo only 86 left to track :) 1 yes and 1 no. If this keeps up I'm going to have an even smaller wedding than expected ;) ;) Alright I'm off to make some thank you cards I have not found time to write since my shower in the beginning of June. Yes I know...bad.

Sometimes I'm...

Really forgetful and flighty. Sometimes I think it is a result of me losing consciousness on more than 1 occasion then I realize I have always been like this and it's not any worse. For example, today I had a 7am flight to St. Louis. Joy of joys I love waking at 5am and rushing to the airport. Anyways while on the way to the airport I realized I packed my running shoes but no shorts, t-shirt or sports bra. And peeps, this isn't the first time this has happened. Where I'm staying for this trip is an area where there's not a whole lot on the shopping front (or much of anything front) available. I think there is a Target maybe 10 miles away. I may have to head over there after work and pick up some items...I may just scratch it altogether.

Yesterday I had a great 4 mile run. And for the first time in weeks I consistently ran under a 9 minute mile AND negative splits. Two good runs in 3 days puts me in a very happy mood. My love affair with running has returned for now :)

Over already?

I can't believe yet another weekend is over already! First, Happy Father's day to all who are fathers. Second, I know this is primarily a running blog but as of late it has become primarily a wedding and general life blog. So if you can't stand all this wedding talk it will all be over in 70 days.

This weekend was sort of productive on both the wedding and running fronts. Friday I was way too tired to do much of anything but I managed a nice home weight session before heading out for dinner. I tried a new circuit from one of my gazillion magazines I subscribe to and it kicked my butt literally. My booty is still sore. After dinner I came home to finish our wedding invitations as I had made myself a deadline of Saturday to get them in the mail. Even though at 1am I realized I was missing 6 peoples invitations (ugh) I am happy to report those suckers made it in the box by the required date :) Yay! I was so nervous putting them in the box (yes I know that wedding etiquette states I should request those time sucking pieces of paper to be hand stamped but seriously?!? I am not asking my post office to do that. They would just laugh me into the next neighborhood). It's so real and now begins the competition with who will return their RSVP first then who won't at all...The remainder of Saturday was spent searching high and low for an affordable sectional that is also comfortable (read can't get out of when you stand up but don't feel like you are laying on cement) we came home with no sofa and very frustrated. I was also on a wedding low as I didn't know what my next project would be and so not feeling a run in me. However, as I sat to watch Terminator 3 (I'm a sucker for sci-fi movies with good action on HD) and watch the minutes tick by I thought I would put the running clothes on at least and see if that would motivate me. And it did! I was only going for 3 1/2 and it turned into 5 because I was feeling so good. I probably would have gone more if we weren't meeting friends for dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. Dinner was fabulous as always and the company even better! I slept in on Sunday and ran errands when Jacob decided he wanted to golf before settling in to watch the US Open. The new project of the day after a requisite trip to Target was that I was going to attempt to make our wedding guestbook. And you know what I did and if I don't say so myself it is pretty freaking fantastic. It took me about 4 1/2 hours and some swearing at the very confusing instructions with blurred pictures but I figured it out. Of course there are a couple things wrong but nothing blatantly obvious and I saved myself a good $30 making it myself. That's a dinner out one night :) And after this little project I decided I wanted my new job to be making wedding albums :) It would be so much more less stressful than my current position while still being able to work from home ;) Jacob thinks I'm crazy. I say there is money to be made!

Bad Mojo

What a freaking day. Long day at work and my manager wants me to somehow squeeze in another 2 day visit when I only have 1 day free the remainder of this month. It is what midnight ??? and I just walked in the door. And since the last time I ate was 6pm I was starving so I just inhaled 2 pieces of hawaiian pizza. Yeah, Jake so not helping my diet right now. So I was delayed, blah, blah, blah. I seem to start a lot of my sentences with those 4 words. The other word of the night was f*&%! I used that word A LOT on the way home. Stupid fender bender (of course a chicago cab was involved) before even leaving the airport. Stuck in traffic for 20 minutes there (it should take less than 5) then hit the Kennedy for the whole 4 miles I have to take the expressway and whadya know - traffic. At 10:50pm. 1) why are there so many people on the road at nearly 11pm and 2) what the hell are you all doing/where are you going? So what should take another 15 minutes takes oh 35. Then I finally get to my exit and hit nearly every red light. I had some bad mojo this evening.

If the storms hold off I hope to get a run in tomorrow if not I'm off to the gym. Either way a workout will do me some good!

Wear Sunscreen

Does anyone else remember that song? I guess it wasn't really a song more of a commencement speech turned spoken song. If you don't check it out here. That's what I didn't do on this mornings run and the speech kept going through my head once I realized I forgot. I definitely need to be better about putting it on and not just because of vanity reasons (I don't need to look like I am still wearing a running tank while walking down the aisle in my strapless wedding dress!) And yes I said I ran! That hasn't happened in oh....5 days. I just have not made time for myself. Of course I have all kinds of excuses like I was out of town for the weekend and it was 90 something. But I came back and made time to go to the Ribfest so that excuse won't fly. Or that work is killing me right now. But honestly I had plenty of time to go Monday but chose to work on addressing my wedding invitations instead. Ah priorities lately :) But seriously check out that song if you have no idea what I am talking about. It has tons of insight besides wear sunscreen like STRETCH, SING, FLOSS, TRAVEL, and on that really hits home for me now that it has been nearly 6 years since I lost my mom "Get to know your parents, you'll never know when they'll be gone for good".

Alright I am off to pack and travel to Birmingham, AL. This job has me gone nearly 3 work weeks every month. I am exhausted and tired with all the travel. 6 1/2 years ago it was glamorous and fun and I loved the perks now I'm old and sick of it every week. Hopefully this will change soon.

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

It's hot. And my fingers are swollen like little sausages. Side effect of running in the heat. Tuesday it was in the 50's and raining and today 80 degrees by 7 a.m. Just once I would like to ease into this weather not just one day - Hello! Anyways I had intentions to go on a nice 8 mile run before heading out to the suburbs to go meet with one of my local sites. It was going to act as my long run this week as we are going to central IL tonight because my first bridal shower is tomorrow. It is difficult to find time and a place to run there. So I thought I would be good get it done in the morning before it got too humid and gross. Boy was I wrong. I hadn't even started running yet and I was already sweating. So my 8 mile turned into a slow 5.5 mile run. I need to ease into this heat...On the run I realized this is my first hot run since the infamous marathon last year. After that race I took 2 weeks to ensure I was healed (rhabdomylosis = doctor's worried this girl was going to have a heart attack at age 28. The questionable EKG's and high CK levels didn't ease their concern much either) and recover from my general disdain of running. By the time I returned no more warm weather. I have to say it makes me nervous to run in this weather this year. I trained for a marathon in this heat last year with few issues but it all just seems so different now. I know it is all mental and I'll get a few more warm weather runs under my belt and gain some confidence but right now I'm hesitant. At least it has me focusing more on my body and running itself versus trying to be tough girl. Maybe I should sign up for that August half mary just to prove last year was a fluke and I'm not that girl that passes out in warm races ;)

I've been Tagged

Tonight's run started as an angry run. I was fuming thanks to many issues and frustrating people in my life. I was so mad I left garmy at home but thankfully remembered my keys. Luckily by mile 3 I calmed down enough to think clearly but not necessarily relax. I wish I would have remembered garmy as it would have been interesting to see my pace those first 3 miles. Thank goodness the rain held off long enough to allow me to run or I really don't know what I would have done.

In other news I was tagged by Derek. This one is a fun running related tag!

Here are the rules and my reply is just below.Tagging is easy. Just copy the following onto your post.The rules of the game are posted at the start of your blog post.In this case, I'm asking you 5 questions about running.Each player answers the 5 questions on their own blog.At the end of your post you tag 5 other people and post their names.Go to their blogs and leave a comment on their blogs telling them they've been tagged and to look at your blog for details.When they've answered the questions on their own blog, they come back to yours to tell you. Got that?Here goes.
1. How would you describe your running 10 years ago?
Hahahaha - This girl was so not running 10 years ago! I was at or right around my heaviest weight ever. After breaking my toe and requiring surgery to remove bones I basically became the laziest person ever. The most exercise I got was walking up the steps to the 2nd floor of my dorm only because there was no elevator (you know I would have used it to if there had been one). I may have overslept and had to "run" to an early morning bio class or something ;)
2. What is your best and worst run/race experience?

Let's start with the worst - Hands down Chicago Marathon 2007. Nothing will ever trump passing out and waking up in the ER with a bright light shining on my face, a random but nice woman standing over me, and not knowing who I was, how I got there, or the name of the place I was located. Then to make matters worse the hospital staff didn't know to look at my emergency information actually written in the back of my bib for over 4 hours. In the meantime my family and now fiance had no idea where I was as I sat in the hallway of the ER only known to passerby's as Jane Doe. Then random people would come up to me (usually scaring me to near death) to bombard me with questions in attempt to have me remember more than the area code of my phone number. Yeah that sucked. Then coming home 2 days later and seeing a DNF on my race results. No fun.

Best race experience - Finishing the 2007 Dallas White Rock Marathon 2 short months after my first horrible experience with the distance. Nothing will trump seeing the finish line and hearing "Somewhere over a Rainbow" come on my ipod. All the pain I was feeling melted away and I realized why I set out to achieve this goal in the first place.

3. Why do you run?

I run for my sanity and because I love a good challenge. I started running for vanity reasons and there still is that plus side. Running is something I am never going to be great at but I love to see how I improve, or where I need to improve. I love race weekend too - going to the expo, seeing all these other crazy people who woke up early to run, enjoying a good course and the people around me.

4. What is the best or worst piece of advice you've been given about running?

Worst - Why even run/race if you're never going to win?

Best - There's so much thanks to all you bloggers and especially on the Runners Lounge!

5. Tell us something surprising about yourself that not many people would know.

I once was arrested in Mexico. So not my fault - all because a store owner accused my sister of taking something when she wouldn't buy whatever it was he was trying to sell her. Guilty by association I guess. Thank goodness someone from the US embassy was downtown and saw the whole thing go down or I may not be writing this blog today ;) Seriously it makes for a great story over drinks wasn't so funny when it happened and there's gun in your face but it's funny now.

Okay so I'll tag: Laura, Marcy, Lam, Jess, and Bill

Another too short weekend

As usual the weekend just wasn't long enough. Although I did enjoy the time to myself. I was able to get a 6 mile run done yesterday around a 9min/mile pace. The weather was perfect! My Wii Fit came in the mail on Saturday so I also played on that all weekend. My obliques freakin hurt from all my hula hooping action. I love the hula hoop game! A lot of the weekend was spent running errands and putting together the wedding invitations. I probably only made it 1/3 of the way through despite staying up to midnight both Saturday and Sunday night. I am not 100% happy with how the colors turned out (the two blue's I used don't look fantastic together) but honestly who cares people are just going to throw them out anyways. I got my haircut after 4 months (shorter than I wanted but luckily it grows fast!), met my friend who just got back from her honeymoon for lunch then we went to my venue to take pictures for my florist. Once I get the new camera installed on the computer I will post pictures of my venue. I love it so much probably even more now that it's not January and barren like when we booked it - who cares that we are paying a ridiculous amount of money for an empty room and garden! It is like this beautiful sanctuary in the middle of downtown Chicago. I picked up a thank you gift for my future mother in law as my first bridal shower is next weekend and so on and so forth. And how can I forget seeing Sex and The City on Friday night with the girls! I'm happy to have seen it openinng night and enjoyed it for the most part but wasn't so happy about sitting 3rd row. My neck still hurts. This will be another crazy week for work travel wise but I hope to squeeze in a couple short-medium length runs. I have been kicking around the idea of running a 1/2 marathon 2 weeks before the wedding even though it will be hot just to wear a shirt that say last race as a single girl or something lame like that ;) Also to motivate me to stay in shape before the big day! Anyone care to join me?

4 Unexpected Rest Days

Today was my first day back to running. I haven't run since the 10 miler on Saturday. Sad I know but I could not find/make the time. Crazy job has got me stressed and not allowing me much "me" time. Today's run, nothing spectacular - 4.5 miles and not very fast. It was a struggle to maintain a 9 minute mile pace today. Just one of those days. But the weekend is coming (yay!) and Jacob is going out of town. This all means, no eating poorly, and a lot of time on my hands to 1) work out and 2) get my freaking wedding invitations made. Seriously there is like 86 days or something until my wedding, less than 12 weeks, less than 3 months. That is just nuts, plain nuts. Again I will ask - Where does my time go? So yeah, this weekend I will be up to eyeballs in assembling my lovely invitations and attempting to use my best penmanship to hand address all the envelopes. This should be interesting...Good thing I will have some time to run I'm going to need some breaks.

Soldier Field 10 mile run Race Report

I wanted to title this post "It's so much smaller than I though it would be". Although this is something you guys never want to hear ;) ;) I am talking about Soldier Field. It is so huge from the outside then you go in and the field and seats are so small. Now I know why I can never get tickets to a Bears game...too few seats! But onto the race itself.

Before the race. I look like such a dork. I never know what to do with my hands.

The alarm went off at 5:30 am...ugh. Of course I couldn't fall to sleep until late and then woke up at 4:30am then every 20 minutes until the alarm sounded. So early! But we took off on time and after a few issues with finding our way to the parking lot we made it to the field just before 7 a.m. On the way to the field I ran into my friend Archie and his girlfriend. Didn't know they were running so that was a nice surprise. After one last bathroom break and almost forgetting to attach my chip I lined up between 8:30 and 9:00 min/mile at 7:15. Then stood around taking it all in. It was a beautiful day, a little too sunny said the girl with no sunglasses but in the 50's. The starting corral was tight so I was hoping the group would eventually thin out. I would come to find out later this would not happen. Shortly after Tim McGraw's cousin sang the national anthem (what no Tim? He's in town for a concert he wouldn't swing by for a 2 minute song???) we were off...sort of. Only took about 2 -3 minutes to finally get started.
mile 1: It was crowded and I was tripping over people. I got stuck behind yellow shirt guy. I would veer right to go around, he would veer right, then I tried left, you get the picture. This went on for a good 1/2 mile right until we went through a tunnel under McCormick Place. I hate that tunnel. Lucky for us it wasn't hot so it could have been worse but regardless I still hate running through tunnels in Chicago - they're gross! About this time I saw a 40 year old woman who probably weighed less than my 6 year old niece. Her legs were like the size of 3 of my fingers wide. Very disturbing. I wanted to feed her. The pace wasn't too fast and I was actually running right around my goal.

mile 2: Brought a slight uphill but nothing else sticks out. I think unfortunately this was my fastest mile which was not in the initial game plan. What are ya going to do?


mile 3: I ran by by Archie's girlfriend once the course took us onto Lakeshore Drive and hung with her for about a 1/2 mile. 8,000 people and I run by her such odds. They were starting to slow and we were coming up to a course that split weird and I took the left path and she went right so I was by myself again. Still keeping a good pace and was definitely wondering if I could maintain. Spoiler alert: The answer is no I could not.


mile 4: I look across to the inner lakefront path to see some of those fast runners actually contending for the $ spots across the way. Oh to run like them...I kept on and was trying to figure how much longer to our turnaround to head back to the field.


mile 5: The lovely turnaround. Over a curb and uphill on soft grass from actual Lakeshore Drive to inner lakefront path. This turnaround sucked but I don't imagine there was anyway else to have it on this out and back course. At this point I could feel myself struggling. I was just tired and honestly a little bored. I tried to push myself but my body was fighting me. My normal mental pick me ups were not working their mojo today. Also I was hoping the field would have thinned a bit by now. No such luck. I think out of the 8,000 runners half of them happened to be running between an 8 and 9 minute mile. So at mile 5 I still was bobbing and weaving more than I would have liked.


mile 6-8: Please just get through this. One foot in front of the other. You aren't breaking any records today sister girl...


mile 8.4: What was a nice breeze at mile 7 turned to a cold headwind here. It didn't last long once I made it to the other side of the McCormick Building. Legs were heavy and I was just tired. Really tired. In my mind I thought "wow you didn't even feel this bad at mile 23 of the marathon last December better training next time".


mile 9: One mile left. You can do one mile. Ugh, there's still one mile. Is this mile ever going to end. Why haven't I made it to the field yet. Oh yes there's the field. Oh man through a tunnel - oh wait cool this is the tunnel the actual players use to run out onto the field. Ooh this is fun. There's the field. Then I tried to sprint the last .25 mile. My sprint is laughable but at least I finished strong.
Made it to the finish! Yay!


I found Jacob quickly in the stands as spectators weren't allowed on the field and actually ran into Archie again who was waiting for his girl. Made my way through the tunnel, collected my awesome medal, stocked up on the free food because the race packet stunk and I believe it was my due to take a few extras. At least I'm not as bad as people who grab empty boxes and just start filling it with food. Now those peeps are just ridiculous. The food isn't that good...


Jacob and I. I'm very squinty


Final results aren't up yet but garmy said I ran 10.07 miles (too much weaving or I started the watch too soon) in 1:27 and change. Sorry I'm too lazy to get up and grab the guy to look at the actual time. I remember it worked out to an 8:43 average. Definitely not my goal but at least it was under 9 min/mile average today. My last 2 miles were a bit sad and garmy reflected my poor feeling. Room to grow. And hey no matter the outcome it's a PR! Gotta love your first race in a new distance.


And you know what else? Nothing beats a hard earned free beer at 9:30 in the morning! Cheers!

Who Needs Sleep?

Last night the only thing that kept running through my head was "Who Needs Sleep" by the Barenaked Ladies. A song about insomnia - great. I go through these periods where I just can't sleep and everything wakes me. I have only actually treated it once back in between high school and college as it usually doesn't last long. I have admit this is one of my worst bouts ever. I can't fall asleep, I can't stay asleep, and I wake up early morning with only an hour or 2 before I need to actually wake. There is no other way to describe it - this sucks! This to shall pass; I just hope it hurries itself along :) Discussing my lack of sleeping does have to do with running. The little 10 mile run I signed myself up for is tomorrow (EEK!) and yes it starts at an ungodly hour (for me) 7:30 am. Seriously? I am sure it's for traffic reasons but whatever that's just early. I haven't run that early in the morning since I was training for the marathon last summer. I have a half day at work today (wahoo!) so I will be chilling the rest of the day, maybe even sneak a nap in later ;) 3 1/2 glorious days off from work! Nothing sounds better right now and the long break can't start soon enough.

Have a fun and safe holiday weekend peeps! I'll have a race report for anyone who cares over the weekend sometime.

Wedding #2 Recap in Pictures

I didn't take too many pictures at my friends wedding this past weekend. Everyone else was so I figured I just make copies of theirs. One of our friends already has some awesome pics up on their website so I thought I share. It was the most fun at a wedding that I have ever experienced. Oh and this wedding happened to be on McDonald's campus in a suburb here so the bride and groom set up to have McDonald's cheeseburgers as a 10pm snack. Best snack ever at a wedding. Seriously I eat McDonald's twice a year at most and I inhaled the burger (no I was not drunk just starving from dancing!) me helping the bride with her Cubs garter. yes we are all Cubs fans ;)

The happy couple

All the girls

Me and the beautiful bride. Yes, I should have set my drink down...

not the best picture of us...

I hope to get some cross-training in today before going out to celebrate Jacobs 33rd birthday! We have been spending a lot of moola here lately so taking it easy plus he needs to be up early tomorrow. Probably catching a relaxed dinner and a movie he wants to see. Yesterday I was able to run 3 miles. It felt good to move after my Sunday slothness. The 10 mile race is this Saturday! Ah! I'm a bit nervous but really, really excited. I received notice of my bib number yesterday - 1095. Just need to head downtown to pick it up before the race. Probably will have a couple more short runs before Saturday just to keep them loose. I really can't believe it is already here.

I can finally relax

Another whirlwind of a weekend. May wedding#2 is in the books. No one wanted it to end especially the bride! My friend looked amazing and nearly everything was perfect. The rain once again held off until just as the last person in the recessional walked off. Unbelievable timing. I danced my booty off which is good because I drank a lot of corona's and had a lot of delicious, aka bad, food. Had two very late nights...let's just say I was one of the last few hanging on (and usually only girl) both Friday and Saturday night and I can't remember the last time I stayed up until 4am! I'm too old for this stuff ;) There were a lot of laughs and catching up with old friends and current friends so in my book that's a success. And even with all my late night partying on Friday I was up and at em early enough on Saturday to get in a workout. A friend and I went on a short trail run got a bit lost then ran back to the hotel and went to the gym for another 40 minutes. It felt great though and it was nice to actually have a friend to workout and run with this time. Then he is uber healthy boy so it was easy for me to eat a healthy breakfast even though I wasn't so good the rest of the day :) I am more exhausted now than I've been in awhile. This go, go, go state I have been in over the last 6 weeks finally caught up with me today. I felt as if I had been hit by a truck. So after we got home I took the day to catch up on Indiana Jones movies over on the Sci Fi channel then Grey's Anatomy episodes. It was great not to do anything!

Feeling Guilty

I ended up sleeping in this morning as I couldn't fall asleep until nearly 3 am last night. Therefore no workout today and I am feeling guilty. I had a great plan at 7:30 am to sleep some more and get to site then catch an earlier flight home to workout in Chicago and then run to the store for some healthy dinner food...Yeah, so no earlier flight. I really don't know why I thought there was a flight before mine??? Then my flight was delayed nearly an hour so I didn't walk in the door until after 8pm. At which time I was starving and inhaled the only edible items in the house - a lean cuisine then some carrots, hummus, dried cherries, and almonds. (random I know but I didn't want to leave the house again to pick up food to make a normal dinner). And this is yet another example of why I seriously can not wait for the day I don't have to travel on a regular basis for my job! Tomorrow is my long run so no missing that run!

This and That

20 minutes of weights is better than no minutes of weights - right? That's what I told myself today. I squeezed in a short but I think effective workout before heading off to the airport today. I did go on a easy 4 mile run yesterday with Jacob. He actually went all 4 miles with me! Yeah Jacob! My visit starts a little later tomorrow morning and even though it is a bit late I hope to wake up and do some sort of cardio. My schedule is all messed up this week and I think I may be doing my long run on Thursday instead of the weekend. At least it will get done this week :)

In other non-running related news - we received our first wedding gift!!! So fun receiving presents in the mail from people I don't know (relatives of Jacob's I have never met). And what is you might ask? Just the coolest 8 inch omlette pan you have ever seen ;) I'll be mixing some of the tastiest spinach, mushroom, cheese and 1 egg + egg white omlettes! I also was giving myself mad props last night for FINALLY figuring out my map and direction information to go in with the invitation. I'll have to put pictures up later. But if I don't say so myself my little booklet looks very professional. I surprise myself weekly with my newfound craftiness.

Week in Review 2

Wow, what a long weekend that went by so fast. Does that even make sense? I am exhausted but happy to finally be home. My friend's wedding went nearly perfect. Her now father in law drank in excess and called the 2 of us lezbo's because we were dancing together in order to avoid him. Nice. He most likely doesn't remember that part of the evening. Anyways, she looked beautiful and the rain held off until the day was nearly over. I've never seen her happier and at the end of the day that is all the matters. Oh and that the bridesmaid dresses for this wedding rocked! And see those pearls - they're real! One of the bride and grooms friend works in India and got a great deal. What a sweet bridesmaid gift! Not a great picture of the two of us but all that I have. Not really in the picture taking mood this weekend.
But before the fun could be had in central IL I carved out an hour of my morning to complete Nancy's 10k on the 9th er 10th! I felt like crap but powered through the crappy feeling. I ate too much for breakfast, went out to fast, had a blood blister pop at mile 2 (blood blister came from running through O'hare in heals not running), and finally just plain wanted to give up and walk starting at mile 3. Even with all that and the lack of crowd or course support (my own fault I suppose for not picking a better course) I finished. I couldn't imagine trying to come back and write about how I gave up because of my lack of motivation. Plus, knowing so many others were running and possibly going through the same thing helped get me through the hour. I think this run ended up being an excellent precursor to my 10 mile run in 2 weeks. So the stats

1 - 7:59
2 - 8:11 (pop goes the blister)
3 - 8:26
4 - 8:35
5 - 8:46 (just plain wanted to give up but then didn't want to write about walking in my blog)
6 - 8:31 (almost finished)
7 (.2 miles) - 8:04 (finally done!)

Average pace of 8:24 with a final time of 52:07 :) Thanks again Nancy! Looking forward to the next one for sure. And Happy Mothers Day to all you moms! Hope you had a wonderful day.

Eh..

Really I wanted to title this Worst Run Ever but I felt that may be a bit negative. I'm in southern IL and there are some severe storms moving through so I took the run indoors. I was scheduled to run 6 mile tempo run with 4 miles at 8:30. Yeah, not so much. I got through 4.5 miles with 3 at an 8:30 pace and that was a struggle. Not that I was out of breath but rather my limbs just didn't want to move or work in any sort of cohesive manner. The room was extremely warm as well and I'm not sure that helped. I probably could have made it to five if severe stomach cramping hadn't started. From what? Who knows...At least I was able to get a 10 minute cool down done on the bike. It's something I guess. Next struggle finding something healthy to eat. Not too much to choose from in these parts. There is a Mexican restaurant, Steak and Shake, or Ruby Tuesdays. I'm going to search some more. Maybe I can find some wonderful local restaurant :)

Lots to do and no time to get it done

Stressed that is the word of the week. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Except somehow I manage to blog about my stress...hmmm...can we say avoidance? I leave in a couple hours to head to a lovely suburb of St. Louis for 1 night, then up to southern IL, then back home on Thursday night. I am only supposed to work a 1/2 on Friday in order to have enough time to get out of the city to make it to my friends rehearsal dinner in time. Then wedding on Saturday and finally drive down in further central IL for mother's day with Jacob's mom then drive home so I can start my week over with wedding #2. In between that time I need to fit in some random runs, make it to the store b/c we are running low on such necessities as toilet paper and contact solution, get a manicure and pedicure because I was told to by the bride, need to return some items I bought that didn't work out before the return window expires, another store to pick up some champagne for the brides to be, and oh yeah and get some work done. I'm sure there is more to do but my head hurts. I really need to run today for my own sanity but I don't think that is going to happen either.

Ran an easy 5 miles yesterday. My body still feels heavy and dragging on my runs but at the end I am always glad I ran. Hopefully this feeling wears off by the time my 10 mile run comes around on the 24th.

Week in Review

Oh wedding season is in full force. And I'm not talking about my own. As I may have mentioned once or twice before I am standing up in two weddings back to back. #1 is this coming Saturday in central Illinois. Full Catholic mass = One long day. #2 is the following. Bachelorette party #2 was last night. For a girl who wasn't looking forward to last night the bride seemed to have fun. Mission accomplished. I can't wait until May 31st. That's the first weekend that is mine. All mine. Even the fiance is out of town that weekend. I probably won't know what to do with myself when that weekend arrives! Actually that's the weekend I have set aside to assemble and address my invitations. Anyone care to help? ;) Yes, I really do have to plan that far in advance for my wedding stuff. And no, I'm not a planner by nature. I procrastinate. Maybe it's good I have so much on my plate. Otherwise the invitations may never get done and I just spent $$$$ for a wedding no one will attend b/c I was too lazy to get invitations done and sent! So being busy with others weddings and wedding related activates as well as traveling all over the country for work is a good thing ;)

Onto running for the week. They were just okay. I was able to get 9 miles done yesterday morning before leaving for the day long party. Not a stellar pace (9 something) but I made it back before the ominous clouds broke loose. The speedwork session I had scheduled for Weds didn't go so well. It was supposed to be 3x1600 and I could only get through 2 1600's and 1 800. At least it was something. With the warm up, recovery jogs, and cool down it was around 6 miles. And my easy run on Thursday felt more hard than easy. I think my body is a little run down from everything going on right now. I just need some sleep. Today is my day off so hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Kinda Sucky

It was cold today again. I decided to go to the gym. It sucked. The End.

No really not a good workout day. Not a good day in general. Work, friends, fiance, wedding planning, weather - all some sort of really sucky craptastic issue happening. I hope tomorrow is better. I can't handle much more of this. I would love to go into all of and get your thoughts but that wouldn't be right of me. Well at least my cat is still cool. I like her. See I ended on a positive :) Things are looking up already ;)

OMG

This weekend was CRAZY!!! All I can say - Girls can par-tay ;) I am really surprised security did not knock on our door last night. Yea, I'm a year away from 30 but apparently thought I was 21 again.

I hope to get back to normal tomorrow but now I must go watch A&E and snooze on the couch. Oh ya and detox...wow.

Vegas Baby

No not me...Jacob. I dropped him off at the airport this afternoon so he could meet up with my college friend JK for a long weekend bachelor party inVegas for JK. Yeah something like 15 guys (cousins, dad, uncles, friends) = craziness. Am I worried? Nah. Want to know why? Because of a conversation I had with the boy yesterday at dinner.

Me: So a strip club on Saturday?
Him: Yeah, Chuck said it turns into an after hours club around 4 a.m
Me: That's cool so the titties go away at 4 am?
Him: Well its not like I'm going to up that late...I can't hang.

Folks, he was dead serious. I can tell when the boy is lying and there wasn't even an ounce of kidding. I then proceeded to tell him that was sad and disappointing for a bachelor party and I expected more out of him. I'm kidding though b/c I can't hang either. Not like I used to back in the day.

I leave for BK's bachelorette party tomorrow. No, no Vegas for us. They picked a happening town in...Michigan. Regardless I am sure too many drinks will be had :)

Today I ended up going to gym for some cross training. After dropping Jacob off at the airport I ran errands and by the time I made it home it was raining. So the gym it was. Tomorrow I hope to run 8-9 miles before we leave. This isn't exactly a running kind of crowd and someone else planned the weekend itinerary so not sure how much running time I'll have otherwise. Happy Weekend!

Pictures of Recent Fun

I have been lazy in downloading my pictures. I thought no better time would be at 11pm at night when I need to be up at 5 am for a flight the next morning ;) No one said I was a rational thinker. So enjoy the pics from my cold Race to Wrigley and warm and toasty Florida. Yes Marco Island was for work but luckily I had a day and a half to myself for some fun!

look how cute we are ;) I made him ask someone to take our picture. No I'm not a bald grey headed woman it was snowing right before we took this!

the beach - kind of a windy day but it was 80 so I didn't care too much.

taking our own picture on the balcony. Can you notice J's sweet burn on only half his face...nice...

tried for the sunset but at the last 1/2 hr of light the clouds moved into town. of course!

Alright off for some much needed sleep. I am sure I'll be swearing at myself tomorrow a.m for staying up late. I'll never learn.

Bits and Pieces

Seriously where does time go. I feel like I am in a time warp this year where all my precious hours, minutes, and seconds are just being sucked out. Not too many interesting things to note though. Work is busy, busy, busy. I am leaving in a couple hours for Oklahoma City for the night. I was nominated to go help someone who isn't trained enough to perform this visit. Then I come back and leave for Detroit on Weds. Out and back in a span of 12 hours. Plus, trying to fit all this wedding stuff in before the craziness of wedding season begins. I spent the majority of the weekend getting my invitations and response cards just so...I need to just be done with them take it to kinkos and assemble b/c I am running out of time!

Eating is still bad but I am trying to just eat less of what I normally order. It seems to be working for me. No need to stuff myself every night! I got some more running and biking done last week with a 7 miler yesterday. Just got back from a 4 miler today. Some guy stopped me on the way home to ask if I just got done jogging. Hmm...what gave it away? The workout clothes, no maybe the running shoes...that can't be it, how about the sweaty, beet-red face? I just smiled and said yes and moved on my way.

I need to cross train tomorrow and try to fit some tempo or speedwork in on Weds or Thursday. The first bachelorette party of the season kicks off this weekend in Michigan so I don't think I'll be exercising much up there unless you count the number of steps it takes to get from one winery to the next ;) All the more reason to fit in a good long run on Friday before I leave.

And over the weekend we saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. From the guy who produced both 40 year old Virgin and Knocked Up. Well it does not disappoint! Super funny! I need my friends to go see it b/c Jacob and I keep quoting one liners from it but no one knows what the heck we are talking about :)

And finally big congrats to Bill who rocked the Boston Marathon today! Way to go!!!

Finding Some Discipline

Since the 5k on Sunday I have been doing pretty good on the working out thing. Monday I went for a slow 4 mile run which was still chilly but glad to get that done before stepping on a plane. Yesterday after getting home it was 60 and sunny and my legs were a little tired but I had to get outside. You never know when this weather may leave. I pulled out the bike and thought I would take a nice easy ride along the lakefront. Too bad the wind had other plans. I almost got blown off my bike a couple of times. I was laughing at myself and I am sure others were too :)But man my quads were burning! It always takes a good cross training session for me to really appreciate no matter how much I run it is really beneficial for me to mix in other activities for my overall health and fitness. Today I hope to get a tempo run done. It is supposed to be near 70!!! Just worried about that wind again. Tomorrow I'll be off. Headed back to Ohio for work but thought I would swing by the fam's house to say hello and extend my day trip to a 2-day trip.

I may be doing well on the working out but my eating is out of control. I know what I need to eat I just don't. The healthy alternative doesn't sound fun. I have absolutely no discipline. I need to find that again and I really don't know where to look for it ;) Honestly, I know how hard it is to make the right decisions but I need to remind myself how much better I will feel. I've done it in the past I can do it again. It's just so difficult when traveling and never having food in the house (because we both travel a lot) which leads to eating out nearly every day (on the road and at home). If anybody has any suggestions on where to find my motivation or tricks to follow I would love to hear them!

**update - just returned from the 5 mile tempo run (3 miles were supposed to be at an 8:30 min/mile). The score is Wind = 2, Me = 0. The wind kicked my bootie! Here are the digits
lap 1 - 9:28
lap 2: 8:32
lap3: 8:27
lap4: 8:17
lap5: 9:35 (this is decent considering I walked!)

I am one tired girl and am looking forward to my day off of working out tomorrow and visiting with the family. Even if it means waking up at 5 am to catch my flight. At least I am not technically working a full day (shhh don't tell anyone that)...

Race to Wrigley 5k 2008

It was a cold, snowy morning for a run. We got a bit of a late start thanks to Jacob forgetting his bib number at home. But all went well. No official chip time just yet but according to the garmin I ran the Race to Wrigley 5k in 24:37!!! Under 8 minute mile the entire time - wahoo! Okay mile 2 average was a 7:59 but that is still under 8 ;) It hurt towards the end and I probably should have done more speed work leading up to the race but overall a nice result. I'll post official results once they go up.

Update - My trigger finger for the garmin was dead on my chip time. 24:37 for an average of 7:57 min/mile. I finished 29th in my female age division and 385/2009 overall. There were actually over 5000 signed up but the chip was an extra option. This 5k time is not a PR but my 5k PR is from 5 years ago. 5 years later I was only 13 seconds off so not too bad.

Sleep does a body good

Oh what 2 good nights of sleep and getting back on schedule will do for a body. I felt like a new woman on my 4 miler tonight. No crazy amazing times but with the rain and wind I think I did fairly well. Last weekend (although I missed the beautiful spring weather) it was in the 60's and sunny. This weekend snow showers are expected. Of course... I was running on sand 3 days ago and now I am in running tights, gloves, and a hat. You have to love Chicago weather. It's crazy. There will be a day of winter, a day of spring then all of the sudden 100 and humid.

Today I picked up the race packet for Run to Wrigley and of course it is in a completely new store this year. For the last 3 years it has been sponsored by 3 different running stores. They really need to figure this race out already. I was hoping for a new course but it's the same. Blah. Hairpin turn at the 2nd mile - no good. But you still end under the Cubs marquee - always a good photo op. Anyways. This year you could actually sign up for a chip (years past they did not have this option). I get home and start organizing mine and my friends race packets look inside the packets and realize - NO CHIP! Race back to the running store which is in my neighborhood (hence me picking up 5 race packets) and come to find out the race organizers do not believe we are responsible enough to have the chip for more than race day. They believe the majority of chip runners will lose the chip prior to race day. ARE YOU KIDDING? If you paid the extra $7 to actually have a chip this probably means you run more than 1 race a year and are responsible enough to have a chip. In 6 years of racing I have never lost a chip nor have I heard of anyone losing their chip. Race day I can pick up my chip. Which is weird but fine. Just wish they would have mentioned that when I picked up the packet.

Tomorrow I hope to get in some good strength/cross-training then Sunday the race. I don't think I'll be breaking any records. I lost a lot over the last 2 weeks. I am always amazed at how quickly it goes away. But I hope for good things nonetheless on Sunday. I'll let you know of course! Then on to the 10 miler.

In none running news Jacob bought tickets to a musical tonight (yea for him taking some initiative and buying tickets!) It is called the Drowsy Chaperone. It is a funny musical that is playing here in limited release but has been touring around the country. Seriously if this musical comes to a city near you you must go see. So funny and cute! Although the woman in front of me thought is much more humorous than I. She was laughing like a hysterical hyena and kept throwing her head back and hitting me. Finally I had to put the playbill up as a shield. She never did get the hint... At least she didn't detract too much from the show!

I hope to have pics and stories for you all on Sunday/Monday! Until then have a great weekend.