Depressing, Obsessive or Neither

Today was the first day since Sunday that:

• I wore make-up (sort of)
• dressed in something other than pj's/shirt combo or workout clothes
• wore my wedding ring (if I wasn't getting dressed nor leaving the house no point in wearing jewelry!)
• left the house to go somewhere other than the gym or a run on the lakefront

Personally I think this all makes me sound like a very depressed person or someone obsessed with the gym/running. Reality is that this is what happens when you and your significant other have the same job that requires business travel, when you work from home, when you work from home and the significant other is traveling, and when all your other friends don't want to do anything during the week. I don't have too many full weeks like this and of course it flew by.

No Drama

There's not much going on in my life right now. But as I told my friend the other day being a little boring and drama free is good. Drama is draining. Really the biggest drama in my life right now... Well there's 2. I know they don't really qualify as drama but it's really the most exciting thing happening to me. When once you read about them you may be extremely bored with me :)

Drama #1 - I'm turning 30 in 10 freaking days. Okay no more talking about that.
Drama #2 - I have the nastiest blister on the inside of my left big toe. It started as this tiny little bugger on Monday and has been growing in size, pain, and annoyance ever since. I would post a picture a la other bloggers but I am too lazy to go get the camera go to the other computer to do all this. Plus I want to spare you the grossness that I'm sure you have all experienced before. It's not that I have never had a painful blister but never in this spot and never one that I haven't been able to pop on my own (ewwww I know).

Other than that I have been lazy with work and not many are noticing this week. Always a bonus. I've also stuck to the running schedule this week more or less. I complain about schedules but I like them otherwise I wouldn't get anything done. Monday's run needed to be cut by a mile thanks to some awesome shin pain that made my lower legs feel like iron casts. Yesterday's tempo was tough but that's why we do them and today was a nice recovery run.

Weekend in Review

What a weekend! It's tiring having a full house but I'm a little lonely now that everyone has gone home. In between the entertaining and eating I was able to get a 7 mile run done on Saturday morning before all the troops woke after their crazy night of debauchery. It wasn't super early seeing as I stayed up later to catch up on my DVR and then my intoxicated sister thought it would be fun to jump on us at 2:30 a.m. Friday night it snowed 3-4 inches and while the sidewalks were a slippery mess the lakefront trail had actually been plowed and was mostly clear. It was freezing and my shins started to ache a few miles into the run but it felt good to get it done.

Yesterday before everyone left we all went to Slumdog Millionaire. We got there late and had to sit unbelievably close to the screen but if you haven't seen this movie - go! It is an incredible story and uniquely shot.

The Week in Review

I'm tired. I don't know what it is but I feel so exhausted and I can't find a real reason for it. I have problems sleeping straight through the night but even still I seem to be getting enough of the shut eye. Work is light this week and I only had a local visit yesterday. On the training schedule is a recovery week of sorts. I had a great 6 mile run on Monday, probably a little faster pace than I should have been going, but I was feeling good and ready to push myself. Tuesday Jillian shredded me in a short 20 minutes. Still feeling the shred results yesterday I went for an easy 6 miles in the snow (oh I'm ready for winter to be done!). I may do some light cross-training or weights today if I clean my place in time. I can't say my husband and I love to clean or really ever do it very often. It is always a long drawn out process that only comes about because we are having a party or someone is visiting. The reason I'm cleaning? Visitors. My sister, her husband, and 3 of their friends are staying the weekend with us as they all have friends here and others are also flying in and staying elsewhere. This all equals a big hometown reunion in Chicago. So they will be staying where it's free :) It will be nice to see them but I really do hate cleaning. And when they come to visit I feel like such a mom. I make chex mix, taco dip, scotcharoo's, have all their favorite drinks, and the pantry/fridge are stocked. Alright off to get lunch and then clean the kitchen floor - good times :)

V-Day 14

Happy Valentines Day! To start my v-day off I ran a freezing 14 miles along the lakefront. It's the longest I have run in over a year! Last week I was warm in my shorts and long sleeve tee, this week I was in full winter running gear and there was a snow dusting on the ground from last night. The first 7 were good, the sun was sort of out, and I was comfortable in the 30 degrees. The 7 on the turnaround were a challenge. The wind coming off Lake Michigan made me want to stop, cry and call my husband to pick my sorry butt up. But I didn't - yay for small victories. I seriously thought I had lost my chin at one point there was no feeling. Once I reached the point of 3 miles remaining I was a bit further from the lake so the wind subsided slightly and I was able to pick my pace back up to where it should be. Although now everything hurts and even after a steaming hot shower and piling blankets on while sitting next to my space heater I'm still cold to the bone. Hopefully I warm up in time for dinner tonight :)

Not So Good

Yesterday I had one of those runs that made me mad and frustrated with the whole running game. On the schedule was a 5 mile tempo run. Not too bad...working on getting back into the "speed" workouts again. Literally not even a 1/4 mile into my warm-up I knew it wasn't going to be my night. After 1 1/2 miles into the tempo portion I had to stop and...walk! Oye! I couldn't find one reason to push through and walking felt so right ;) Now I know sometimes there are just these kind of days but yesterday it really annoyed me more than usual. Maybe I'm more tired than I realized from all this travel or possibly my not so healthy meals have finally caught up with me. Or a culmination of things - who knows?!?! I celebrated my crappy run with a glass of red wine. Probably not the best response but it took the edge off my annoyance :) Hopefully I can get some sleep and get back into it this weekend.

Today is my last day trip for February. Let's all say yay! It's a doozy though. Was up at 4:30 am to catch my 6:45 am flight and won't get back home until 9pm. Ugh. I just keep telling myself this is almost over then I can sleep. And work has taken to blocking all blogs and fun websites like facebook. This is a shocker for me as a homebased employee we are given more Internet leeway than the office based folks. So now to read/comment blogs and otherwise cyberstalk during the workday I know need to disconnect from the network. What a pain. But I guess it is a sacrifice that will need to be made :)

Freaky February

60 degrees...in February...Again! Luckily I don't travel until this evening to the ever fascinating Toledo, Ohio so I was to enjoy another beautiful February day. Since we all know these nice days are a freak occurrence in the north. It was great running in shorts and t-shirt outside. I actually enjoyed my short 4 miler more than usual. Who knows when I'll be able to go back outside without my running tights, hat, gloves, and coat in the next 1-2 months. After this I am ready for winter to be done unfortunately I think I saw snow showers on the extended forecast. Ugh.

This week is another crazy work travel week. A lot of long day trips to places like Queens, NY and Birmingham, AL. Yesterday felt like 7 days not 12 hours of travel. But this ridiculousness should be over soon and then I can plan a more normal travel schedule (normal travel - if that is even possible) and actually have time to run/workout rather than come home and collapse.

finally a break!

If only for a day we were blessed with a break from the freezing temps. Finally the iceberg known as Chicago started to melt on Saturday thanks to the 50 degree temps. I was like a little kid excited for Saturday morning cartoons when I woke up and looked up the temps on weather.com. I couldn't wait to get outside to run! Through the huge puddles and mud that formed all along the lake path I made it through my 12 mile run. Although I never really found my groove I didn't really mind the long run. My poor toes were little shriveled piggies only 3 miles in but that didn't even damper my mood. I only wish the amazing temps could stay right on through February but I know - no such luck.

A rant for today

Why do people stand on a moving walkway? It is one of my great annoyances. You find this rampant all over Vegas and in nearly every airport across the country. I especially love when people stand in the middle and block anyone from passing with all their luggage. Really? They aren not a ride! Are they really that tired that you can walk the oh 20 steps it would take to get across the walkway? Of course I always tend to get stuck behind these fine folks when I am in a super huge hurry and about to miss my flight ;) And that is my rant for today :)

2 better than 1?

Back sometime in December or January I thought it would be a fantastic idea to run 2 marathons this year with a couple of mini-motivational races throughout the year to help me stick with my training. I became more wary of this internal deal I made because I haven't run a single marathon in over a year (now I'm trying for 2!) and I have a problem committing to races. I go to the website, read through all the information, click the register button, stare, then close out of the browser without doing anything. The only reason I signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k at the end of March is because all my non-running friends decided this is the year to run and I couldn't be the one who didn't ;) Now I did just give the Bank of America Chicago Marathon $125 of my hard earned cash to confirm my entry on Oct 11th and that is a huge commitment so far away. But my reasons for this are 1) the race usually fills up by March/April and if I didn't sign up while I was thinking of the race, well, it would be too late (I forget things very easily) and 2) I have some things to settle with the Chicago Marathon after the debacle 2 years ago (hospital, not finishing, etc). Even though I have committed to Chicago in October I can not bring myself to sign up for Cleveland in May. I have even gone as far as print out my training schedule which I started last week to get a "feel" for it! Am I scared? Hell yea, and nervous. Is it the course? Probably a little bit. Being from the Cleveland area I know it's not that exciting or spectator friendly. But I would have my family support since they all live around there still. Other than the 1 man team my husband makes up I don't have the family support in Chicago. Plus, a free room at my dad's house for the weekend so it makes the travel a bit easier. Maybe I'll go another week in this training and see how I'm really feeling. If anything I could at least run the half! I really just need to find a way to get over my race commitment phobias. It would be a lot less stressful if I could find a way to do that!