Long Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend in Ohio. More like a weekend plus a couple of days seeing as we left on Wednesday. Dad is staying strong and kicking the cancer's ass. He is tired from the chemo along with some other not so fun side effects but considering he had his 2nd treatment on Thursday he is doing pretty dang well. We made/ate a lot of food, drank a lot of beer, did some shopping and some boating, and I was able to run nearly my weekly goal. I did not however use much of the computer so now I'm behind on both work and your blogs!

Thursday I ran around Medina and did 10x100 repeats on the local jr. high track. I was close to my best friends parents home so I decided to run by to visit with my 2nd mom. After catching up with Mrs. D I finished the remainder of my 7 miles and headed home to a very annoyed husband and brother in law. Both were starving and waiting for me for a long time to go get lunch then to visit with Fred at the clinic. While running I passed only 1 other runner. It was strange running around the neighborhoods and not seeing all the active people like you do on the lakefront. Although everyone I passed (not working out) waved/said hello which was a nice change from Chicago where we pretty much all ignore one another on the path.

Saturday I had an early morning wake up call in casa de Bougher and drove 25 minutes to Peninsula, OH to run the tow path for my 16 miles - 10 at race pace before the house came alive. The path was hopping with running and cycling groups - it was awesome! I started to get giddy as I parked (for free!) in the overflow lot and headed over to discover a path new to me. I ended up falling in love with the new-to-me route! The day was cool and overcast with a threat of rain that only occurred as soon as I finished. The path itself was along a river and old train tracks, through woods, and different stations every few miles. There were paths branching off the main path but I stuck with the out and back to ensure I would not get lost :) Everyone I passed, which was a lot of people, waved/nodded/said hello. It got a lot tiring after the 1st mile as I found it difficult to find my happy running pace. Eventually I was able to focus and had an enjoyable 16 miles. Miles 7-10 were more of a struggle and I had some bargaining to do with myself to get through those miles but I rebounded and finished strong.

The weekly total ended up around 39 miles instead of the 43 planned. Although it's really bugging me I didn't hit my weekly total, tomorrow starts a new week! Plus missing 4 recovery miles will not be the end of me ;)

That's the weekend in a nutshell! I'm happy to be back in my own bed for the night. It was a long drive home after a tiring weekend. I'm really behind on work and this week I'm leaving for a 3 day trip to New Jersey then Hotlanta. I have a few more late nights ahead of me!

sleep does a body good

Due to my early morning wake up call Monday morning and no sleep despite my best efforts I ended up reverting to my 3 year old self. This included getting annoyed at everyone and everything around me, losing my train of thought easily, crankiness, and nearly crying. The crying happened when I couldn't open my bottle of diet pepsi. The cap was glued to the bottle and even scissors wasn't getting that sucker off! I have a nice slice and open sore on my thumb from my nearly 30 minute attempt at opening the dang bottle. Oh how I needed the caffeine; it just wasn't meant to be :) Later while sitting on the tarmac in Chicago because there was no gate available Jacob called me. He was making fun of me because I was acting all over dramatic about a regular occurrence. I snapped at him "Every little thing becomes a major catastrophe on only 2 1/2 hours of sleep" He just laughed at me - that didn't help ;) So after all that no workout Monday ;) Early to bed on Monday night and after 9 1/2 hours of sleep I was ready to go today! It felt amazing to sleep well and long. My body desperately needed it.

Thanks to all that sleep I had a pretty incredible 11 miles this evening. I maintained a 9:30 min/mile pace which is excellent for me! I felt incredibly strong and I can only hope this feeling follows me for the remaining of my training. We will see...

On the run today I decided to take some GU along for fuel as well as my new favorite drink - Zym. GU just doesn't do it for me anymore. It does in a pinch and does provide needed energy but I get so hungry on mid-long runs that it starts to hurt the last few miles. I feel as though shot bloks and GU chomps "fill" me up more or at least satiate my groaning pterodactyl stomach.

In other running related news I signed up for the Oak brook half-marathon on Labor Day. This will be my first half in nearly 2 years! Incredible... I've been meaning to run them over the past 2 years but some how I procrastinated in signing up, didn't ever get to training, or it just didn't work with my schedule at the time. I will have to do a bit of maneuvering of the schedule this time around to make it work that week. Pftiz calls for a 10K - 15K warm-up race on the Saturday of race week and there is a race on Sunday which would work better. However, I have a ticket to the BMW golf championship in Cog Hill that day. And I'm sorry but my boyfriend Tiger Woods takes priority on Sunday :) I'm also looking into another 8K race 2 weeks later. More on that later.

Alright off to pack for Ohio! I'm excited to see the family (even if not under the best circumstances). And I am super stoked to run a local trail. It will be a nice change of scenery even if it takes 45 minutes to drive in the morning.

No Humidity?

The calendar tells me it is August but you couldn't tell by the weather. For the first time I can remember August has started out with 2 days of absolutely no humidity! August 1st was even in the 60's (and nasty rainy)! Now that's a bit too cool for the girl who loves summer but I'm am definitely loving the no humidity during the running.

Saturday I was able to sleep in and go for my 15 mile long slow run around 8:30 am. That would not have been possible the last couple of summers. The run felt incredible despite some minor GI issues towards the last few miles. The only real problem I had was keeping it as slow as I needed because the weather was so incredibly ideal. Today I had a 5 mile recovery run. It was not only a recovery from my long run but from my friend's party as well. We crazy kids kept it tame on Saturday. I nursed the Coors Light but man did I consume every cookie, cupcake, scotcharoo, and cake I could find. You had to roll me out of there last night :) Of course I grabbed a couple more sweets for the long car ride home! Despite my poor fueling the recovery run went well. Again, the only problem I had on the 5 miles this afternoon was keeping it slow. Every time I looked at garmy he showed me at a slightly faster pace than I thought I was keeping. I decided to give up the good fight and let my legs do their thing.

I would have to say this is an excellent end to week 2 of training! I logged 39 miles this week - woo hoo! Week 3 and the 42 miles I need is going to be a big challenge for me. I have a day trip Monday (6 am flight - boo!) to Queens. So Monday will be a rest day unless I am super motivated and awake when I get back home around 7 pm. Based on history it's going to be a rest day from running ;) Wednesday Jacob and I will be driving back to Ohio to help out Dad who will be undergoing his 2nd chemo treatment on Thursday. I am not the best about running when I'm visiting the family and there aren't a plethora of trails/places to run. I am bound and determined to make it happen though! At least to do my best!

Yea for a good Thursday!

This morning came early... well not that early but it sure felt early. Traveling and training really kicked my butt the first half of the week and it all caught up to me last night/this morning. I woke up and immediately had to rush to make it to my annual eye exam on time (made it!). Not a lot of change over the past 10 years - I'm still nearly blind. They don't even make certain contacts in the prescription I need... sad. For the first time ever the optometrist is younger than me; what a strange feeling! But the most thorough I have had in a long time. She fitted me for new contacts and my oh my they feel so much better than whatever I've been wearing for the last year. Yea for good doctors!

I returned home did a little work then headed out for LT run, 8 miles with 4 miles @ 15K pace. This all translates into an 8:20 - 8:42 min/mile for me. I'm happy to report I did not fail! I had some trepidation heading into the run but once I got over my warm-up I was rearing to go.

LT mile 1: 8:38

LT mile 2: 8:27

LT mile 3: 8:22

LT mile 4: 8:20

Yea for good runs that boost the confidence! Next up... 15 miles on Saturday.

And one final item. I want to give a big birthday (3-0) shout out to my girl Jami! Yes, we have the same name but she spells it all wrong ;) Jami I know you stalk my blog to catch up on my life instead of calling. I would too b/c I know I talk way too much. I'm looking forward to celebrating with you on Saturday!!! I'm know it will be a great time just like it is every time we get together. And I'll try not to get you into trouble (drinking wise) but you know it is inevitable when we get together :)

This is a day early but welcome to your 30's girl!

training, farmer tans, and food cravings...oh my!

Immediately following my run today I had a decent blog post written in my head. The only problem was I had a teleconference, shower, then leave for a flight. So no real time to sit down and write the dang post. Maybe it will come back to me later this week :) In the meantime here is the mish mash happening in my head while procrastinating writing my trip report in a seriously nasty hampton inn.

Monday I did some weights and cross-training at the gym. It's always tough to be instead when it is so nice out but my body enjoyed the light day and no running. Tuesday morning there were plans to wake up when my hubs left for work. Instead I slept another hour, replied to some e-mails, then made it out the door around 9:45 am. The day greeted me with little shade, no breeze, and high humidity. I made it through the 11 miles just under a 10 min/mile. Not very fast but that's summer running for me! I think today was the longest mid-week run I've done that wasn't considered my weekly long run. It felt good and I'm off to great start to week 2 of training.

Today I noticed I've got a sweet farmer tan without even trying. Between the watch, tank top, short, and sock lines I'm looking hot ;) I use sunscreen spf 45 but after several hours outside and not being able to reapply that's what happens!

I've also been having serious food cravings since I started upping the mileage. It's bad enough I'm hungry every 90 minutes but now all I want, besides cookies or cake, is bacon or avocados. And it's even better if I incorporate those 2 together. Like today for lunch I had a BLA (bacon, lettuce, avocado) sandwich. Normally it would have been a BLAT but no edible tomato in the house to be found. Last week I think I had bacon in at least 1 meal every day. So... not... healthy... I need to try to limit the bacon to say 2 times a week :)

Attitude Adjustment

Week 12 round 2 went better than expected. Thursday I did wake early to hit up the treadmill but not early enough. Added to the unexpected stop 2 miles in to race up to the 3rd floor room I had to cut the room. Plus my zoning out treadmill skills were not working. The break helped, just not enough to motivate me through to the full 8. 6.25 miles instead. Eh it was something right?!?

This weekend ended up being an excellent running weekend despite my attitude. I've been in a serious need of an attitude adjustment especially related to my want and desire to train. The thought of taking one step started to annoy me. The work travel and being burned out with that has played a significant role in this attitude. Don't you just love when unhappy work thoughts seep into the rest of your life???

Saturday morning I had 14 miles planned. I woke up feeling exhausted and went back to sleep for a few more hours. By the time I rolled out of bed the thought of running repulsed me. I dug deep and convinced myself to run the 5 easy miles the schedule originally stated. 2 miles into the run out of nowhere I felt the shitty mood lift (literally!) and I started immensely enjoying my slow, easy speed on a gorgeous Saturday morning (nearly afternoon). I returned home a new woman :) Sunday morning found me having a repeat of Saturday morning. Around 9:15 am I pulled myself out of my comfy bed and started haphazardly preparing for the long run. I was concerned about going out so late but luckily not too much heat and humidity today! While warm it wasn't uncomfortable. Yea for cooperative summer weather! The first 3 miles I was very whatever about the whole run. After mile 3 someone hit the switch and I had a very enjoyable remaining 11 miles. Even the frustrating tourists around Navy Pier who walked 4 across not allowing anyone to pass easily couldn't make me upset for too long.

The first official week ended up well! 35 scheduled and I managed 34.25 miles. I hope they all can work out in my favor but am realistic that with my travel packed (for work and going back to Ohio for my dad) August they may not. I just need to continue to be flexible and do what I can!

Math

Sooooooo... last week around this time I may have mentioned I had 12 weeks left until Chicago. Well, I have never claimed to be very good at math :) This week happens to be the 12 week mark! I probably wouldn't even have noticed for some time had aron never left a comment asking if I started a week early. Thanks aron!!! I would still be trucking along and goodness knows when I would have noticed I miscounted the weeks. It works a little better this way since I didn't get the miles in last week I needed. So I had an extra week of base building and I try week 12 over again!

I started out Tuesday with a 9 miler at a 9:43 min/mile avg. I tried to focus on taking it nice and easy since I hadn't run in 4 days! I had plans to run 8 miles with 10x100 this afternoon when I reached my 2nd hotel for the week. However I changed to cross-training/weights after staying up late to finish past due trip reports. The new plan is to wake early Thursday and hit up the treadmill before work. Unfortunately I stay in a medical district surrounded by expressways and no sidewalks to run; the treadmill it is for 8!