8 days and counting...

My sister and her husband came into town last night. I didn't actually see her until 2:30 am when they came home. Which is fine but I wanted to be up at 7 am for a run. Oh and their drunk friend called at 3 am...Yeah, I hit the snooze button...

Even though I had a rough night of sleep (meaning I couldn't sleep) I dragged my butt out of bed at 8am and was out the door 30 minutes later - everybody but the cat sound asleep. I had 8 miles on the ole schedule today. I thought I would be draggin after drinking a couple brewskies last night (GO CUBS!) and the lack of sleep. Instead I had a good run. I decided to go a little beyond just the 8 miles, probably closer to 9 and I actually had to tell myself to slow down and the second half. Don't want to use up all the reserves before next weekend! The legs and I did our morning jaunt of my legs saying "no, I don't want to you can't make me!" and me replying "but you have to - I don't have time to do this later and I'm already up so let's get it done". Finally (and luckily) shortly into the run they agreed to stop protesting and do their thing. The run lasted around 1 hour 20 min but I am not sure on the exact mileage. I was happy with it and I probably could have kept going. Now I hope that happens next Sunday.

Good luck to everyone who has races this weekend! I am looking forward to reading everyone's race reports Sunday/Monday!

Rabies Awareness 5K Fun Run

Did anyone see the season premiere of The Office last night?!? LMAO! First of all if you didn't see it Michael decided to raise money for rabies awareness after he hit Meredith with his car and she ended up in the hospital for a broken pelvis where she need to get a rabies shot. So Michael becomes obsessed with rabies and has the great idea of making everyone run the 5K (which he thinks is 5,000 miles) to raise money. At one point Dwight tells Michael that he spiked Toby's coffee with Imodium (yeah he meant to use ex-lax) and cut to Toby saying "This is my best run ever, usually I need to use the bathroom at this point". Michael tries carbo loading and someone else discusses chafing. The episode is hilarious and all you runners will greatly appreciate it! I suggest if you didn't see it to check it out on nbc.com. It is free to watch there for a week. Enjoy!

And on to my running. I'm back! I had a great run this morning, everything felt good, the weather was cooler. I kept to my 9:30 minute miles on this run - it is taper week 1 and I have an 8 mile run tomorrow. Now after such a great run I am motivated to get this condo clean.

I Need to Hire a Maid

I got in a short 3 mile run on the treadmill yesterday after work. I struggled through it. This time I am going to blame in on the bad tv show and the fact I couldn't find the remote to change the channel. I would have manually changed it (for all you who think I am so lazy I need the remote) but it was a wall mounted tv and I am too short to reach the channel buttons, I was only able to reach the volume. Sucks being average height sometimes!

The schedule called for a 4 mile run today and I may still get it done if the plane shows up and leaves on time. If not I'll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow (Friday already?!?) I need to find some time in the middle of trip report writing, teleconferences, cleaning the house, and grocery shopping to get the run done. Probably on my lunch break. My sister, her husband, and their friend are visiting this weekend. Which would normally be fun but they 1) aren't really coming to visit me. They'll hang with me in between seeing all their friends and my condo will be like their own hotel 2) I haven't been home in 2 weeks except for a day or two. My condo isn't the cleanest (more like a couple of frat boys live there) and I haven't been able to shop for groceries in awhile (we eat out every weekend) . So another busy, busy day Friday. Luckily they won't be getting into town until 6 or 7pm ish so that buys me some time.

Plus side, the house will be clean for the most part for next weekend (RACE WEEKEND). That's when both sets of parents come to town to meet for the first time and stay with us. In hindsight, having mine and Jacob's p's meet for the first time (mind you we have been together for 5 1/2 years) the weekend of my first marathon probably wasn't the best idea I have ever executed. Oh well. I've warned all I am not walking all over Chicago to show them the sites or go shopping. And for me to say I'm not shopping downtown takes a lot! They say the understand now, hopefully that's the case next Saturday. Maybe they'll get along splendidly they won't even realize I have disappeared out the side door to go home and watch tv :)

Back Running

Today was my first run since Friday. I ran without a watch because halfway through my warmup I realized I didn't have it on and wasn't about to turn around to go get it. Running has been a struggle for me lately. I have been really tired and feeling weak. I'm not too sure if it is because of the running schedule or because I have been so busy with work and everything else. Probably a combination. Plus the weather here is still humid and gross. I usually don't pray for cooler temperatures as I love the summer and want it to extend as long as possible but not this year. I need some 60's!!!

Headed off on another business trip today to lovely Pembroke Pines, FL. Looking forward to the time in my career when I won't have to live out of a suitcase because I am traveling every week.

10 years and still the same

Best friends since 8th grade

Sarah, Mindy, and me catching up

Back in Chicago after visiting my hometown Medina, OH for the weekend. So the 10 year reunion...I don't think I'm going to another reunion for a long time. 10 years apparently is not long enough to get beyond the high school mentality. I was in a class of over 350 students or so. Only about 75 people showed up and a quarter of those were dates! Not many have changed and nearly everyone stayed in their high school clicks all night. I was surprised that a lot more didn't show. Plus, all the people who didn't show were the ones I would have liked to have seen. Luckily I got to catch up with some good friends and that was a lot of fun. I had a little headache this morning :) My poor boyfriend was so bored! I owe him a nice night out after putting up with me and my friends and being our sober sister for the night...

No weekend workouts due to trying fit everything and everyone into the short schedule. I will get back into things tomorrow (hopefully).

Mental Struggle

What a horrible run this morning. Ugh. My legs felt like cinder blocks and my stomach was upset. Not good. Never, ever, ever will I eat Mexican food and drink a maragarita (or two) the night before a long ever, ever again as long as I live. And I really didn't eat that much but it was enough to make me feel like crap. Oh and the fact it was just an overall crappy run. But it's done. I went out slow, I came back slow but I finished.

I am starting to hate the taper but have realized one thing which makes me appreciate it a bit more. This is not just a time to let my body heal as much as it is time to continue the mental training. These short runs are seeming more difficult than any of my long runs (with maybe the exception of that one 17 miler I did and I thought I was going to die) physically and mentally. Today was a mental fight and test. I didn't want to be out there, I kept thinking "f***, I'm only at ___ mile" So I had to practice pushing those negative thoughts out and remind myself there are going to be times during the marathon my body is not going to want to continue but I KNOW I can do it. I proved that I could get over my mental hurdle this morning. I wanted to give up, start walking, and find a phone to call home collect for someone to pick me up but I didn't. I convinced myself I wanted to finish and I had to get to the next spot and it worked. I'm not saying the negative thoughts weren't there. They were and I allowed them to pop in once in awhile to say their piece but then I learned to send them back so I could keep going.

Confirmation Ticket and Reunion

It is official, I am running on 10/7/07. Well I guess it is official when I actually do the race but today I received my all important confirmation ticket in the mail that allows me to pick up my race packet at the expo. All of you who will be in the Chicago area or checking up on the progress of the Chicago Marathon my bib # is 43914. I barely made the cut...

So I have decided to alter my training schedule once again in lieu of this reunion weekend. I caught an earlier flight home by 3 hours today. Woo hoo! So I went for a "quick" 5 mile run before going to dinner with my man. By quick I mean I ran. My legs felt like 100 lb weights for the first 2 miles. Just getting acclimated to running outside after being a treadmill runner earlier this week but still not fun. So annoying but two runners ran into me without apologizing. I asked one where his manners were. When you pass on the right, come from behind, and hit someone the least you could do is mutter a sorry. Manners are underrated lately...

Instead of doing my long run Saturday in a new place around Akron, OH I am going to try to wake up early and do my long run Friday morning before work. Good thing I work from home and no one cares what time I start! Then off to Ohio. And now I'm nervous to go to this reunion. Basically b/c I want to make a good impression and of course have nothing to wear. I have lost weight since high school (about 25 pounds) and I need to look good without looking like I am trying to hard. Such dilemmas! I am resorting to high school mentality I know. It's hard not to when you grew up where I did. Alright off to pack!