oh happy (and a little sore) day!

Today is a good day!  A scheduled work trip had to be canceled thanks to the stormy weather.  AND it was canceled far in advance so I didn't have to do the whole, drive to the airport, find out I'm delayed when I get there, wait around for hours, then get canceled.  Even better, I don't have to make the trip up/try to smash it into my schedule because I was only helping out since the other team members couldn't cover it tomorrow.  This trip was hanging over my head this week so it's nice to have that cloud lifted.

Now that I'm no longer"in-training" and figuring out what's next I'm trying to incorporate more of a mixture in my workouts.  When I was hurt earlier this year I picked up a kettlebell at Target which included a 20 minute video with Bob from The BL.  Later I ended up purchasing his 50 minute DVD from Amazon.  These were dvds great while I was injured because I could still do most of the moves while in my boot and work up a serious sweat.  While training for the marathon I didn't make time for the kettlebell.  1) because I'm sort of lazy and 2) because I tried one week to incorporate the video after an easy run and then I was so sore I couldn't complete my remaining speed workout and had to push back my long run later in the week.  Kettlebells seriously kick my butt and last night was no exception.

My husband took my car to the airport and I no desire to go find his that was parked on the street somewhere and drive to the gym.  Instead I popped in the 50 min dvd.  Yeah... today I feel like I ran at least a half marathon.  Legs and back are so sore in such a good way.  If you want your butt kicked in the comfort of your living room pick up one of Bob's kettlebell workout dvd's.  I had the ceiling fan going and the windows open to let the cool 50 degree air in and I still was drenched (and swearing at the TV) within 10 minutes into the workout.

I get bored with workout dvds easily but this is one I will definitely be incorporating more often.

Being Good

In Denver on Tuesday I decided to make the effort/take advantage of the 1 hour time change to workout. Since I ran Monday I really only wanted to use the bike or elliptical machine and if time weights. Of course I stayed up way to late pretending to work Monday night and when 6:45 am rolled around I was too comfortable and exhausted to move. Finally, I pulled myself out of the bed shortly after 7 am and headed down for a short elliptical session. Of course no one was using the dreadmills, only the elliptical machines and stationary bike! So I hit up some hand weights in my very annoyed state. Luck would have it some guy decided to be kind and jump off the elliptical after his 25 minutes so I could use the machine. Must be because I'm so cute in the morning ;) Unfortunately the guy who gave me the machine wasn't the one with really horribly b.o that made me dry heave. Now I know it wasn't my cuteness that had him cutting his workout short!

As usual, I stayed at a not so classy Embassy Suites. Seriously, it has seen better days but it's so close to the site and I'm all for convenience/a short commute. After my 35 minute workout I headed to the free breakfast but was so not feeling the egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms - my go to Embassy Suite breakfast. So I hit up the oatmeal. I lifted the metal lid to set it against the back of the pot to dig in and wadyaknow it crashes to the ground! Bang! The whole breakfast area stopped and stared. And I? I just turned and waved! Of course I would be the awkward girl making things crash to the ground. The waitstaff was annoyed but at least nothing was broken. I ate my oats (with some delicious cherry preserves) and headed on my way.

Anyway, this morning I had 3 people comment about how good I was for waking up and getting a workout done. I found it humorous because here I was feeling bad I slept in and only did a 30 minute workout! Thank goodness for others to change my perspective. It may not have been much but it was more than nothing!

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Happy to report Monday I found time for another pre-flight run. It was another great day in Chicago (in the 60's)! I had plans to run 10 then left late due to work and bumped it down to 9. Well... then my sister called mid-run, I realized what time it really was and decided only 8 miles was doable. A nice 8 for a 9:43 average min/mile.

I don't know what it is about not being in "training mode" but I get stupid about running. I wear socks I normally wouldn't, I don't use body glide, I'm not as focused/religious about my pre-run rituals. It is good in a sense that I try new things I normally wouldn't and can find out what works. It's bad in other ways though. After my 8 miles then flight to Denver I was hurting! Lack of body glide on a warmish day, bad socks, poor cool down, no stretching, then a 3 hour flight = bad news! The good news I did hydrate as Denver makes me thirsty! I'm sure I'll repeat in a day or two :) It takes awhile for me to learn my lesson.

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.

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.

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!!!

This week's wrap-up

Brrr....it is freakin freezing!!! The little temp gauge says 7 degrees but I just heard the wind chill is around -14. I had plans to not leave the house but of course we have a friends stock the bar party. So not only do I have to leave the house but I had to run errands for said party and then eventually dress up and get all cute to walk outside in the freezing cold. Seriously the tips of my fingers started to get numb just walking to the end of the block. And of course I saw some dude running. I just can't in this weather but props to you man in the yellow jacket and face mask.

The whole working out bit went a bit smoother this week (yeah!) I still hate the treadmill even though I got the iTouch for Christmas so I could download movies and tv shows to help motivate me to stick through it on the mill. No such luck. It's still boring no matter what I watch. I did run twice but I took the week to focus on cross training and weights. My triceps are still sore from two days ago. And I don't even want to talk about how sore my butt was after I did 3 sets of lunges then squats. Oh mama!!! Luckily the pain is motivating me to keep with it because it makes me realize how much I've lost over the last month. So hopefully I'll have some rockin arms come the wedding ;)

Wedding plans are moving right along. I am still a bit nervous that I have booked the place, found a photographer and a dj but still no caterer. Hopefully by the end of the month. I've succumbed to this costing much more than I planned. We can afford it but it just seems ridiculous! As soon as you say "wedding" the vendors eyes get all big like ooh another one to sell more to than she can afford....Oh well, this only happens once (well you hope it only happens once). I think I found my dress but of course the stupid bridal shop girl had me try on a dress I said was out of my price range and of course I like it. She knocked $900 off (overpriced to begin with what) then I found it online through a site my sister used for a little less. It's still more than I wanted to pay. So I'll keep looking then I may just breakdown and spend too much on a pretty dress I'll only wear once. Because I'm no Britney. I won't wear my wedding dress from my 2nd wedding while hanging out with my new paparazzo boyfriend at the local grocery store :)

Just the Dehydration Talking

I was able to workout yesterday! Yeah! Even after a full day of work. Nothing crazy just the stationary bike and stair stepper but girl worked up a sweat. And it felt good. I needed it after the stressful day of work. Hopeful wishing but the site although better (only because they got in serious trouble with an auditor) was still a pain in the butt. Maybe I have too high of expectations but it is partially that I don't like doing others work or waiting on others so I can get mine done. Alright enough bitching about work.

So I know I said a week ago I probably wasn't going to run another marathon. That was the dehydration talking. I am now officially obsessed with crossing the finish line. There is this picture burned in my brain of finally crossing after 4 some odd hours of running and throwing my arms up in the air b/c I am so happy to have finally finished. I need this picture to become a reality. I need to say I finished a marathon.

I have been searching endlessly for marathons happening in the upcoming months. Because of the hospital stay and I haven't been totally cleared by the doctor (last round of lab work is tomorrow) I couldn't exactly do one this month. So I was looking at Nov - then realized I just can't between work and not enough time to get back in the training game. So I came upon early December. Because it will be cold training in Chicago but not so cold that I can't go outside most of the time for runs. Not like it might be in January or February here. I did the Vegas HM last year and although nice they have some kinks to work out (lack of food at the finish, mile markers misplaced, starting line ridiculousness, etc). Plus my friend ran her first marathon there last year and although the downtown strip is awesome there isn't much else to see in the outskirts of Vegas where the course takes you. So I came upon the Dallas Marathon Dec 9th. The temps on average are low of 40's high of 60's. Jacob has family there we could visit. It gives me 7 weeks from this Sunday to train. I think it would be good for me. Anybody run or heard anything about this marathon? Do you all think I am crazy to try it again so soon? I haven't signed up yet; I figured I would make that decision at the end of the week after I have gone to the website 50 million times...