I need your advice.

Well another week down.  9 more to go.  And I don't know if I can do it.  For realz.  I'm getting really, really sick of running.  Mainly cause I don't think I've gotten any better at it since I started running more regularly 12 weeks ago.  I need some pointers.  What do you do when you feel as if you've hit a wall?  


Here's a look at my week:

Monday
Rest Day

After my long run the day before I took Monday off.  Mainly because I had Wiffle Ball again tonight and by the time I'm done with it, it's too dark to run.  BUT I did say "no" to burger night tonight and that was tough.  I figure I can't really afford to making it a habit but more of an every other week or every few weeks kinda deal.  On a good note though, we won our game!  Woo hoooo!  We even had another home run.  The Chickens beat those Ducks probably because we were feeding the other team mojitos out of a bucket...out of the back of the truck...Oh well, whatever works!

Tuesday
Easy Run
Outside 3.5 miles
36 mins, 454 cals

Tuesdays are shaping up to be my morning run days.  I've got a nice little route down and tend to even see some familiar faces walking and running at the same time as me.  And let me tell you, morning exercisers are the most polite people ever.  They wave, they smile, they say good morning- such a pleasant way to start your day.

Again, it felt great to get my workout in first thing in the morning.  But I was STARVING all morning long.  Also, got a bit tired in the afternoon.  Had to have a little more coffee than I normally do.  Which was a lifesaver cause I had a late night that evening!

That evening I went to see a Broadway Touring show, Billy Elliot, with these ladies.

Molly, Elly and I

The show was ah-maaazing!  I loved it.  Such a great story and such a talented cast.  Especially since the lead is a little boy who carries the show through his powerful dances.  I highly recommend seeing it if it's ever in your area.

Some fun at intermission:

Here's a more civilized pic of Elly and me:

Wednesday

Easy Run

Outside.  Pooring Rain.  3 miles

30 mins, 350 cals

I was pooped today.  Stayed up way too late for a School Night on Tuesday.  This meant lots more of coffee today than usual and even a little cat nap for me during my lunch break.  Due to my excessive amount of being tired I had zero ambition to run.  So I went home, made dinner, chillaxed for a bit and then finally at 8PM I put my workout clothes on and hit the streets.  Which may not have been the brightest idea.  I got outside and it was awfully dark out for 8 but I began my run.  It was a nice evening out- warm but not too hot and there was a nice breeze.  Probably because there was a wicked storm brewing.  I got about a mile and a half into my run when it started sprinkling on me but I told myself I could manage a little rain since I only had to get in 3 miles and the rain felt somewhat refreshing.  But then it suddenly started down pouring!  I was pretty much stuck at this point.  I had to head home.  The next mile was a bit brutal especially near the end when my shoes were sliding all over the place cause the ground was so slick.  And I kept watching the strikes of lightning light up the sky all while wondering if I'd get struck since I was still listening to my music.  When I finally managed to get home, I was relieved.  I wanted to get out of my shoes and clothes which were completely soaked and felt like they weighed an extra 10lbs or so.  

In the end, I'm glad I got my run in and the rain added some excitement to it so I wasn't constantly thinking about how much I didn't want to be running at this time of the night.  

Looking good.  That t-shirt was soaked.  An entire 5 shades darker than normal.  

And yes, that t-shirt is from one of my High School plays.  

Just can't get rid of it.  

Thursday

Easy Run

Outside.  In the rain.  Again.

Short 1 miler and then some running drills with the run clinic.

60 mins

For some reason I stayed up super late last night.  Not sure if it was because I went for a run so late or if it was because of the 3 pots of coffee I drank.  But needless to say, it was another slow morning for me.  This evening however, I had signed up to attend a running clinic at the local Lululemon store which I was pretty excited for.  I figure that if I'm spending so much of my time running I better make sure I'm doing it correctly and at this point in my training I'll take any pointers I can.  I was hoping something would spark my curiousity and get me excited to run again.  Well, it didn't, for the most part.  I did learn some great things regarding running form, pace, posture, breathing, etc.  And walked away with some great drills and things I knew I needed to work on during my upcoming runs.  I also got a short run in (another one in the rain!).  And most importantly I met other runners who struggle with it just as much as I do.  The clinic was lead by a guy who was super knowledgable and way enthusiastic about running.  I really liked him and he made the mistake of giving me his business card to send him emails/texts about anything I have running-related.  Little does he know, he's about to get bombarded with my 3 pages of running inquiries.  A few of the workers there told me about The Sea Wheeze half marathon they were doing and the App for your phone you can download to help with your training.  The training schedule sounds a lot better than what I'm currently doing and I'm tempted to switch my training up even more now!  Since it's a Lululemon sponsored event it really incorporates different types of yoga in with running.  Has anyone ever tried something like this?  Did you find it beneficial?  Should I stray from Hal and give team Lululemon a whirl?  Right now my biggest thing is that I don't want to run 4-5 days a week but I feel like I have to or I won't be able to run the half.  Is 3 days of running ample enough to train for a half when coupled up with yoga?  

Friday

Rest day

We had another Sounds of Summer lunch event at work today.  Ryan McIntyre, a local Milwaukee musician, played and sang some great acoustic music for us.  

Ryan McIntyre

And to top off the festivities it was catered by Sazs. 

Their infamous delicious BBQ Pork.

and they even had a deep fryer on site to make their famous 

sour cream and chive fries!

Best.  Rest.  Day.  Ever.

Saturday

The day I've been dreading all week...long run day.  I knew I just had to get it done so I could go on with the rest of my weekend.  So after a trip to the local Farmer's Market I set out on my 8 miler.  And one way to excite myself about running was to split it up.  I ran 2.5 miles to the gym, 4 miles at the gym while I watched one of the greatest movies ever (StepUp) and then ran 1.5 miles home.  And this didn't feel all that bad.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't really enjoy it but I didn't want to die.  It probably helped that I haven't been to the gym in almost 2 weeks since I've been trying to do all my runs outside.  But it felt good to run on the treadmill with a fan blowing at me.  Plus my ankles and shins have been starting to ache a bit (which is a first for me- I haven't had any sort of running issues with my joints, etc.).  I did keep myself busy trying to work on the things I learned at Thursday night's clinic and instantly I noticed a few differences.  I'd frequently catch myself working on one area then noticing I was slacking on another area so it was nice to have 8 whole miles to try and remember everything that was said at the Clinic.  

Long Run

Inside 4 miles/Outside 4 miles

920 cals, 87 mins

busy bee.

Where did the week go!  Here I am one week later and I can barely remember what I ran last week...so bare with me here...I know I said I was going to get back on schedule...did I?  Yes.  Well, kinda.

Monday
Ended up being a sorta rest day...had all intentions of running but then realized my Wiffle Ball league started tonight!!  And well, that's a full evening commitment. This is our team's, Wisco's Chicken Guns & Rubbers, second year playing.  We had to meet at 5:30 to get our shirts (pics to come) and "practice" (aka get the mobile bar set up) before our 6 o'clock game.  Then we play 3 innings, "break" for 6, play another 3, and then go to Leffs for Burger night.  So in that time I managed to fit in some minor physical activity...I ran to first base twice and rode my bike to and from the game.

Tuesday
Started the day off on a much better note!  Got up and ran 3 miles at 6am!  Woo Hoooo!

Easy Run
Outside 3 miles
394 calories, 32 mins

It was hard to get up but it felt soooo good to have my run done before work.  I didn't have to stress about it all day long like usual.  The only negative thing about running in the AM was that I was STARVING all morning long.  Like more than usual.  Which is pretty bad.  Does this ever happen to you?  How do you compensate for the extra hunger pains??

Wednesday
Tried something new today.  And was pretty excited about it.  I needed a little switch up in my routine. I visited the local track for my first real speed work out of the season.  I decided to give my training schedule a little "make-over" and I adapted parts of Hal Higdon's Novice 2 and Intermediate training programs.  I mainly changed my Wednesday workouts to the Intermediate Speed/Tempo Runs rather than my past Tempo Run Schedule and altered the distances I'd be running on my long runs to those of Hal's recommendations.  Mainly because I'm getting burnt out.  And running 13 miles 3+ times before my actual half is unnecessary.  I'd rather go into the run excited to conquer that distance, refreshed and not completely sick of running.  I also added one more day of running a week to my current schedule.  So now, instead of 4 runs a week I'm going to attempt to do 5.  If I'm hurting, tired or mentally done with running for the week then I'm going to allow myself to do some cross training on that 5th day.  But I'm really, really going to try to get 5 days of exercise in each week.

the remainder of my training schedule.

Speed Workout
5x400s (2:06, 2:18, 2:19, 2:18, 2:09)
1 mi warm up & cool down

On a fun note, we had an Ace of Base/Mexican themed baby shower for one of our fellow stylists today.  Here's a snapshot from the luncheon:

Lea, the mom-to-be!

Thursday
Today I had another unexpected Rest day.  So much for what I talked about up above :/  BUT I do have another good reason for missing my work out.  I BOUGHT A NEW CAR!  Bye bye Civic, Helloooo Jetta :)  And if you've ever bought a car before, you know that it's a total time sucker.  I was there from right after work til after 10 o'clock that evening.  Without dinner.  Super lame.  You'd think car dealers would have food courts in them these days or at least offer to buy you some dinner since you are buying a car and all from them.  But in the end, I was super happy with my purchase.  And it wasn't a total impulse buy.  I had been looking and test driving and researching the car I bought well in advance.  It was just surprising leaving with it that night.

Byeee!

My new grown-up ride!

Sidenote: I was sore today from my speed workout and it felt good!  I could feel it in my core especially.  This is a good thing right?!

Friday
Aaand another Rest day it is!  I had all intentions of running Friday night but my plans quickly changed when Brad and Max wanted to go out for sushi.  Sorry but sushi will forever trump running in my book.

Saturday
Easy Run (while Max rode his bike)
Outside 3 miles
35 mins, 384 calories

Def had a leisure run with Max today.  We had to stop a few times for cars, to look at bugs and see if there were any ducks in the river but overall it was a nice, slow run.  Not to mention it was HOT again.    My other runs this week were in much better weather.  Tues morning it was only in the 60s which was AWESOME and then Wednesday evening it was warm but no 90 degree weather.  Our run ended at the Farmer's Market where I bought some more beets, arugula, tomatoes and ice cold apple cider.

Max's new friend.

Sunday
The day I had been dreading all week...long run day.

Long Run
Outside 6.5 miles
731 calories, too many minutes

This.  Was.  Brutal.  It was H-O-T.  As in upper 80s when I began running at 8:30AM.  I made some impromptu changes in my route on the go trying to find more shaded streets/sidewalks to run on.  I wanted to go for 7 miles but I was having such a crappy run that I headed home a half mile sooner.  I started off strong and then after mile 2, fell to pieces.  I was having to walk after that roughly every 8 mins or so.  By the midpoint of this run I wanted to give up running forever.  I wasn't enjoying it one bit.  And the distance wasn't bothering me, everything else was.  I felt heavy and it felt like I had to put so much extra energy into every step I was running because of this heavy feeling.  I couldn't catch my breath, I was thirsty, I was non stop sweating- it was just all around a bad run.  Yes, when I got home it felt good to have done something but I didn't feel one bit good about the running I had just done.  Seeing me you never would've guessed I've been training for a half marathon for about 10 weeks already.

These feelings were really making me second guess my beginning my training so early.  I'm really hoping that I'm just having a bad run week cause now my training matters.  And I have a long road ahead of me if I'm going to do this properly.

On a happy note: I've ran 145 miles to date since the beginning of my training period!

Once I got over my run, we headed to Ava's (my adorable niece) 6th birthday party for a day in the sun, some BBQ and quality family time.  A perfect little Sunday.  Check out this amazing dessert I brought: Funfetti Cake Dip from 'Eat Yourself Skinny.'  It was a huge hit!  And so easy to make.  All while being somewhat low cal for a dessert.

Only has 3 ingredients too!

My stud of a nephew, Owen.

And the birthday girl, Ava :)

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Here's a quote I enjoyed from my bottle of iced tea:

worthless.

That's how I felt the entire past week.  I ended my previous week awesome-ly- completed my first 8 miler of the season!!  Completed: yes.  Difficult: yes.  Walked: yes.  Took me a million years to finish: yes.  But it's done.  Here are the stats:

Sunday (7/1):
Long Run
Outside 8.2miles (85 degrees!)
80 mins, 967 calories

This heat is really taking a toll on me- mentally and physically!  Over the past week I grew a major hatred towards running because it was extremely difficult for me to do with temps in the mid to upper 90s plus the high humidity.  It'd be almost 90 as early as 8AM really cramping my runs.  And since I was on vacation most of the week I refused to get up any earlier just to run.  One good thing about my week was that according to my schedule it was sort of a "rest week"- I only had to run 3 and 4 milers all week.  But this still proved difficult to do.  I'd set out for a run and just start sweating bullets within minutes.  And the air would just take your breath away cause it was so frickin hot.  This resulted in some slow 3 and 4 milers AND walking breaks.  My week in workouts or I should say lack of workouts:

Monday (7/2):
Easy Run
Treadmill, elevation 1.0
3 miles, 31 mins, 339 calories

Tuesday (7/3):
Rest Day

Wednesday (7/4):
Easy Run
Outside 3 miles (93 degrees!)
38 mins, 328 calories

Thursday (7/5):
Rest Day

Friday (7/6):
Easy Run
Treadmill, elevation 1.0 (cause it was already mid-90s at 8:30 AM!)
4 miles, 43 mins, 430 calories

Saturday (7/7):
Rest Day

Sunday (7/8):
Rest Day

Only ran 10 miles this week.  Not the greatest but I'm lucky I even got this many in.  It was really tough and there were times I wanted to throw the towel in and never have to think about running again.  But I also had to play it safe and not try and overdo it in the extreme temps.  Last thing I need is to hurt myself at this point in my training.  So safe card was played and prob maxed out but this next week should be better with temps looking to only be in the 80s (I can't believe I just said that...1 month ago running in 80 degrees would've been insane to me!).

Since I didn't spend much time running here's a quick recap of some fun things I did do (in combo with sweating to death every day for a week straight):

Got some pretty eggs from Liz, a fellow stylist of mine.  Check out her blog MauledByDesign on the awesome DIY projects her and her husband do!

Painted my nails festive for the 4th.

Was not happy with the results of my morning run.

Happy 4th of July!

Aubs and I sweating it out at the Brewers Game.

Awesome game seats AKA Ryan Braun Butt Seats.

Brad and I cooling off inside the stadium.

Later that evening chilling with his new friends.

Donnie still being naughty.

Spent a lot of time out here Thursday night because...

it was this hot INSIDE...ugh.  

Had a lovely night out with Elly & Ashley...

and Emi at The Yard.

Run in with Saud (an AD we work with).

Then Saturday met up with them again aboard the Pontikki!  

View from the boat.

The Lighthouse.

Oh heyyy flabongo!  What are you doing here?!

Ashley, Emi & I

Being threatened by a Pirate to take a flabongo!

Then Sunday enjoyed a lot of R&R, like this cat.

Hope everyone had a great Holiday week and survived the heat wave!  Next week I'm setting my expectations high and getting back in the running game.  Stay tuned for updates!

beat that heat. or not.

So after my slacker ways last week I was determined to be a better worker-outer this week.  But I def eased into it and made sure I didn't overdo it on Monday :)  I also was determined to run outside more.  Despite the 90 degree temps with high humidity...thanks Uncle Ger for making me feel bad about my treadmill running :/  Just kidding.  I needed to hear that.

Monday
Easy run
Outside 2.4 miles
25 mins, 312 calories

It was gorgeous out today.  Perfect weather to ease into the running outside.  Glad I only had to do 2 miles though cause I had a big Wiffle Ball meeting to get to at 6:30!  Chicken, Guns & Rubbers are looking to rally this year!  Need to make up for the lack of runs scored last year :)

Tuesday
XT Elliptical
Rolling hills, Level 7
30 mins, 2.7 miles, 271 cals

For some reason today's workout was tough!  Maybe cause it was a billion degrees outside and it felt like a billion and one degrees in the gym.  I had another busy evening so I made sure I at least got 30 good mins of Cardio in.  Post workout I met these folks for dinner and to cheer on Kara at her Hockey game:

Me, Molly and Andy 

(my freelance stylist and photographer friends)

"Oh hey Andy, it's gonna be cold in there might wanna bring an extra layer."

Should have specified long sleeves would be good...

Kara tearing it up in the orange!

Wednesday
Easy run
Outside 5.0 miles
60 mins, 626 cals

Today was supposed to be a Tempo Run day but I decided to run outside in the 90 degree temps and take it easy.  I don't think I could've ran the times I needed to in this heat.  Not yet at least.  Maybe after some more training.  And I don't have a good watch to use to do this.  So instead of taking my workout to the gym and doing it on a Treadmill I ran 5 miles outside and sweated to death.  Literally.  Look at me.

gross.  I know.  

But at least I found this!

I wasn't going to pick it up cause I thought it might make some kid happy to find it then I realized I might die if I didn't get some water so I picked it up in case I needed to make an emergency pit stop at the gas station.  

I was pretty spent after my run.  The rest of my evening consisted on grilling a steak with some asparagus and websiting with my bro.

Thursday & Friday
Rest Days

Thursday was our hottest day of the year yet.  It was bad.  You were covered in a film of sweat just by stepping outside.  So since there were so many warnings to not be outside I decided to post pone my 2 miler for today and go have a Bloody Mary at Cafe Hollander instead.  And then I followed that up with dinner:

What else do you have when it's 100 degrees out?!

And Friday I went and saw Ted with some friends.  Hil-arious.  For realz.  If you like dumb-funny movies then this is a must.  

Saturday
Easy run
Outside
ran 2 miles, walked 2 miles
413 cals

I wanted to try and get up early and run but that didn't happen.  Instead I slept in, got some brunch, hit up the Farmer's Market, took a siesta and then attempted to run.  In prime afternoon sun.  Not smart.  Once I started I knew there was no way I'd last 8 miles.  So I decided to make today my make up run from Thurs and only ran 2.  And then continued to walk another 2.  It was about 91 degrees out and sunny.  I was instantly sweaty.  And I hate having eyelid sweat.  And I did not properly hydrate for these running temps.  Again, not smart on my end, I know.  Luckily at mile 2 I spotted a Bruegger's Bagels and stopped in there for a cold cup of ice water, on the house.  Big timer.  I know.  So now I have my long run still looming over me.  I really need to do it.  If I can't get to 8 then I at least want to attempt 7 again.  Forecast isn't looking good for me though.  Another 90+ degree day tomorrow.  So let's hope I can make this happen!

Sidenote:

An excellent healthy snack!  Look for it at World Market.  

Thanks for introducing me Kara :)

better late than never!

Worst.  Blogger.  Ever.  I don't know how I'm ever going to get rich in the blogging world if I only have 7 followers and can't even keep up with posting once a week.  Must work on this.  Anywho, I not only took a little break from blogging a week ago but I also took a break from working out for a few days.  I was having a busy week, had some fam in town as well as a friend's bday so had to change up my priorities a bit and have some fun with them!  And it was a great 5 day break!  So to quickly recap, beginning with 2 weeks ago:

Monday (6/18):
Easy Run 2 miles
Treadmill, Elevation 1.0
2.1 miles, 21 mins, 231 calories

Tuesday (6/19):
XT, Kinetics 235 workout class
35 mins
High repetitions of strength training with burst of cardio

I took this new class at the gym and it was AMAZING!  I was super happy with it and my body hurt for the next 3 days (part of why I decided to take some time off from workin out).  They have an abbreviated 20 min class and an extended 50 min class that I'm also hoping to try out but for now the 35 mins was perfect.  I struggled to even finish the last 7 or so minutes of the class.  I'd compare this workout to Sean T's Insanity mashed up with CrossFit, both excellent ways to burn max calories for time spent working out.

And that was it for the week!  I had intentions to at least work out on Wednesday but then a better offer came along...girl time with Molly.  So I passed.  Plus I could barely walk normal from the excessive amount of lunges I had done the night before so attempting to run hurt just thinking about it.  I really don't remember what I did on Thursday besides make some "baked potato dip" for our 'chips n dip' luncheon on Friday...I think I did nothing.  I was having one of those days.  Plus I was really suffering from the effects of that special time of the month (another reason I didn't want to run/workout).  Oh!  I did watch J Wow and Snooki's new show...so dumb.  30 mins down the drain.

Friday was a busy day.  As I mentioned above it was "chips n dip" day at work.  It was also the first Sounds of Summer at the Studio and Sam Llanas from the Bodeans performed.

Staying active during lunch.  

Yard Games.

Homemade Photo-themed Washers.

Gorgeous day out for some lunch time fun.

Sam Llanas from the Bodeans.

Recycling R&R signage.  

They also used these to try and throw footballs through.  

Friday evening my bro, Aaron, and his rad gf, Catie, were in town so we enjoyed a little family dinner at Tazinos.  My dad had a Groupon so it made it somewhat affordable for the 11 of us to eat.  They've got quite the salad bar, pasta bar, pizza buffet and best brownies around.  For realz.  It's worth going there just for the brownies.

After dinner Aaron, Catie and I went glow golfing.  And surprisingly it was a lot of fun! (minus Catie getting hit in the head with a golfball)

Kara giving Aaron some golf tips.

Catie and I.  This is what the course looked like.  

Who'd have thought golfing in the dark with glow accessories would've been so fun!

Catie and I with the flash on.

Kristi, the beer cart girl.

Then Saturday day we hit up Strawberry Fest in Cedarburg to show our love and support for Elly, who had the best photo booth in town.  

Again, raddest booth in town :)  Click here to purchase her beautiful photos!

the Kohls Klan visiting Elly's booth

And that evening the glow festivities continued for Emi's Birthday!  She booked the Pedal Tavern for her bday and it was a blast.  Picture 16 people, pedaling their way around town on a portable wooden bar.  

The Crew.  

Needless to say, after the weekend I had Sunday was filled with a lot of R&R.  Definitely no working out allowed.  But hey, at least I rode a bike around town for 2 hours the night before!

Game on this week though.  Since I did a bad job at staying on schedule this week I'm going to redo this week on my training schedule.  So it should look something like this:

2- 2 mile runs

1- 5 min tempo run

1- XT day

1- 8 mile long run

2 rest days

Ok.  Recap from how I actually did this week coming tomorrow.  Hopefully.