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.

Back to Reality

Okay so I came off a itsy teeny weeny bit whiny yesterday when overly complaining of my travel. I do apologize because I don't want to come across as this bitch who complains all the time. I have my days and all but not a total brat ;) It was a long 8 days with work people (some of who were extremely rude for no reason), little sleep, little exercise, boring meetings, and bad food that all just caught up with me. All was not horrible on Marco Island though. Jacob did come to visit over the weekend so I got a break from the work people for 1 1/2 days. We took in the sun and scenery and it was nice. The weather was gorgeous when I was able to get outside on breaks to enjoy it. And I got to run in the sand and expense fruity drinks to my company. So yeah there were good parts. But it is nice to be in my home office and getting back to my normal routine. My body is seriously out of whack! And now I can catch up on blogs and all my other stuff I haven't had a chance to get to over the last 8 days.

The 2 1/2 hour ride to Miami was interesting. The little old driver was super cute and very talkative. He kept pointing out alligators while flying down the road in this bus that has seen better days. Just to give you an idea on how broken this bus was the drivers side window fell apart and had to be taken down on the side of the road halfway through the ride. Crazy! Miami airport was chaotic as always. We were delayed but I made it home without too many further problems. Jacob picked me up and we got home and went for a short run. Left the garmin at home as I knew it wasn't going to be a great job on my part. And it wasn't. I am totally okay with it though and am happy to get the legs moving again.

Day 7 and ready to leave

What a freaking week. Way too long and I am so very ready to go home. Exhausted is the word of the day today. I was scheduled to go home Weds morning. You know what happens Tuesday afternoon? American puts a ground stop on nearly all their DC-80's. You know what plane I was scheduled for on Weds? Yeah, a DC-80. Rock on, I have the absolutely best travel luck. Well me and 500 other flights. Poor Jacob had to rent a car and drive home from St. Louis on the day trip today. I don't really have that option from Florida ;) Anyways. Now I need to be driven 2 hours to Miami (with the sponsor who despises my company, the same company they hired - whatev) to leave on a Spirit airlines flight much later in the day. At least I am getting out but it is much much later than I expected. I miss home. I miss normalcy and routine. Yes, I got some runs and long walks in on the beach which I absolutely loved but being here for so long and not eating, sleeping properly really wears on the system. So hopefully I get out of Miami tomorrow with few problems and get home. I seriously can not wait to sleep in my own bed! See the cat (yes I miss my little girl!) and eat like a normal human being. Anyone know of a good detox because after the last 8 days I seriously need it!

Florida Meetings Day 1

Well I made it to Florida and after nearly 30 hours of no Internet I have been able to connect! After day 1 of meetings (which is still not over) I realize this meeting is going to be worse than I expected. The sponsor team is RUDE and my company team is...interesting...At least the place is gorgeous and Jacob comes down tomorrow. Something to look forward to. Every break I am out the door to sit outside even if it is for only 5 minutes. Plus I was able to get a 3 mile run done on the beach! Wow! I forgot how difficult it is to run on sand. What a serious workout. Much slower pace (9:31 average) but felt like a great workout. Just happy to get outside and not run in pants, long sleeves, and gloves. I wish I could bottle the weather and take it back to Chicago.

For all of you wondering...I did get up early to go for a morning run before I left yesterday even after too much wine :) I may be a lush ;) (yes Bill I do talk about drinking too much wine a lot! Maybe I should work on that) And I am very happy that it got done with very few issues.

Alright I must go attempt prettify myself for the longest dinner EVER. I have 3 more of these dinners after tonight. Rock on. Please let my site coordinators be cool at least. And we have already received the "talk" about drinking too much wine so I will be on my best behavior in front of the client - no worries there folks ;)