thunder thighs :/

What an awful title for a post right?!  I had to do it.  Cause that's how I'm feeling right about now.  I actually had a pleasant run- minus my thigh issue.

Workout: Easy Run
Outside 46 mins
4.0 miles 519 calories

I don't know why, maybe because I went into this run with a better attitude, but it felt 10x better and "easier" (used loosely cause running never seems easy to me) today than it did on Friday.  The temperature was awesome- 70 degrees.  The sun was still shining and Pandora was blasting the LMFAO station (laugh all you want but it seemed to have kept my spirits up!).  RunnersWorld recommended my Easy Run to be ran at a 12:30 min/mile but that seemed rather slow so I knocked a minute off of there and ran 4 very comfortable 11:30 min/miles.

Onto my issue at hand: thunder thighs.  I ran in shorts for the second time this year (rather than my usual GapFit capris) and by mile 3 my thighs were aching!  I know the technical term for this is "chaffing" but I really hate that word.  I don't know why but something about it grosses me out.  Maybe cause the thought of my thighs rubbing together also grosses me out.  I don't really ever remember having this issue before which makes me feel like my thighs have gotten even bigger (I didn't think this was possible!) forcing them to rub up on one another!!  Ewww.  So I need help.  WHAT DO I DO TO STOP THIS AWFUL FEELING?!  I don't see any "burn" marks as of now so I guess that's good but I really do not like this.  Have you had chaffing issues before?  What did you do to prevent it??  If anything I think this means I need to get back to the trainer at the gym and have him give me some workouts to get these puppies toned up.

Because I was feeling semi-good when I got home (the thigh thing really has me in a tizzy) I decided to do "The All New Muffin-Top Workout" from my Glamour Magazine.  Here's what it entailed:

A couple of the moves felt a bit awkward but overall I didn't mind it and it was pretty quick.  If I feel anything tomorrow I think I'll start trying to do this a few times a week.  I'd hate to have a muffin top to compliment my thunder thighs.

That's really all I got for you tonight.  I've got to heads to my first official High School Reunion Planning Committee Meeting...fingers crossed all goes well!

broken rules.

Over the last few days I broke many of my personal rules.  Beginning with Friday.  My ultimate rule of "no working out on Fridays" was shattered around the 1 o'clock hour.  But for good reasons.  I was going to be out of town the rest of the weekend and wanted to be sure I got my long run for the week done.  So I took a half day and as soon as I got home logged my first 5 mile run in a loooooong time.  And not going to lie, it was tough.  Felt like I was out there for a lot longer than 5 miles.  And because of this the thought of 13 miles sounds quite terrifying.  Here's a quick summary:

Workout: Long Run
Outside 58 mins
5.2 miles 657 calories (according to my RunKeeper App)

Part of the reason I think it was a crappy run was because mentally I wasn't into it.  I was trying to get it done because I knew I needed to get home, pack, shower, get ready, call friends, eat, get on the road, etc.  And it was warm out.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the warm weather but I'm not fully adapted to running in it.  This is something I hope to quickly adapt to since the majority of my training is going to be done over the Summer months.  Luckily it looks like the warm weather will be sticking around this week so let the adapting begin!!

Broken rule #2:  I did an awful job at eating on Friday...I had 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast and then didn't eat again til almost 8 o'clock that evening.  I was so rushed earlier on that I just didn't get a chance to do it!  And after a 5 miler I was running on empty.  But on the bright side, when I did eat it was delicious.  And it was spent with good company, my friends Katie and Kristy, at a BYOB Italian Restaurant in Chicago.

Broken Rule #3: Saturday was filled with lots of fun festivities.  We were in town for a Wedding Reception (we went to Cabo for their wedding this past Fall) that had an open bar and lots of yummy hors d'oeuvres.  But long story short, we definitely did not eat enough and ended up getting some late night McDonalds...but at least it was the Rock'n'Roll McDonalds...another Chicago first for me :)

Broken Rules #4&5: Sunday.  The Aftermath.  After a great weekend with great friends we began our trip home which began with ANOTHER stop at McDonald's for some egg mcmuffins and a Diet Coke.  Once we got home, we napped and then went to Red Robbins for bottomless baskets of fries and burgers.  Then we napped again and ORDERED PIZZA for dinner!!  For real.  No joking here.  And to be honest with you all, I didn't regret it that much.  Today I'm feeling it a little bit but it all tasted sooo good and I promise you I don't eat like that often.  Depending on your interpretation of the word "often"...

So that's it in a nutshell.  I'm getting back on the wagon today.  Starting now with a variation of my green juice:
6 kale leaves
1/2 cucumber
2 pears
1/2 lemon
4 celery sticks

AND even with all that crappy eating I did still manage to get all my workouts in for the week and logged 12 miles total.  Plus, I had tons of fun.  And that's what really matters right?!

sweat it out!

Workout: Speedwork
Treadmill 43 mins
Elevation 1.0
4.13 miles, 456 calories

Much like yesterday, today kinda sucked.  And to top it off, I knew I had a 4 miler waiting for me as soon as I got off work.  Which surprisingly ended up being a blessing in disguise.  I realized I had some major steam I needed to blow off and what better way to do it than by running!  Much like my plan suggested, I did a 1 mile warm up, followed by 2 miles @ 10:29 pace and then a mile cool down.  One major accomplishment of mine during this run was that I did it, nonstop, for real.  I tend to get bored running after a mile or so just cause my legs feel tired and heavy so I let myself walk for a few minutes and don't think much of it but then I realized that I can't do that with a Half Marathon.  It would take me all day to finish the run if that were the case!  So I'm starting off with little incriments- the other week I made myself do 2 miles with no stopping, last week I did 3 and this week I was able to do 4.  "You go gurl"- I know that's what you all are thinking.  It's a little accomplishment but I feel really good about it.  Probably the highlight of my day!  For the most part my run was alright, borderline enjoyable.  Mainly cause I knew that as soon as it was done I had more work awaiting me at home.  So in some way, I savored every minute of it.  One of the things I need to start getting better at though is keeping hydrated every day.  I learned on laurenconrad.com (yes, I read her blog daily but only because we are bffs, duh) that you should drink at least an ounce of water for every pound you weigh.  So needless to say, I should be drinking water from sun up til sun down!  Kidding, kinda.

One of the reasons this week has been so chaotic for me is because I'm in the midst of planning my 10 Year High School Reunion.  And well, you'd think that this should be a fun event and somewhat enjoyable but guess what, it's not.  And because of facebook I think it's even worse than it needs to be.  Has anyone ever planned one of these things???  Got any advice for me??  And if you haven't, I now know why.  Do people even go to these things??  I guess after all this work I hope they do.  And I hope they have one heck of a time!  BUT on a positive note, things are starting to turn around as of this evening.  Thank you Jordan, Lisa and Marie for making me feel a bit more at ease and for taking some of the weight off of my shoulders.  It means a TON!

On another note, my Uncle tried to comment on my blog but it wouldn't post for some reason (which sucks cause I love posts and that means people are actually reading what I have to say!) so he relayed his post to me in a text.  Here's what he had to say in a nutshell:
-that I should increase the amount of juice I intake but keep in mind my calories in case I'm trying to stay within a limit (which I do try to do- I'll save that post for another time)
-that I should prepare mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks to keep me going (and I'm guessing he meant something healthy and not cookies)
-last he shared that he's able to work out in the morning since he has to take Emma (his dog) for a 10-15min walk and then runs a 5k after that

So I guess this means I need to get a dog.  And the ironic thing about this is that I've been researching dogs whenever I'm not styling, running, blogging and reunion planning because I've been seriously considering getting one.  However, I am going to be a bit picky about this.  I want a loving, cute, cuddly dog that likes to go on short runs with me, who is not overly hyper (puppy phase- fine, but for life- no thank you) and that does not shed a lot.  Anyone have any suggestions??  Dogs that I should look into or stay away from?  I've grown up with Golden Retrievers and love them but I don't like the massive hair balls that they leave, everywhere, and I cannot imagine Bella making it through a 1 mile let alone 3 mile run with me.

I planned on this being a really short post about my workout but one glass of Chianti later this has turned into quite the post.  So thank you for reading!  And write me comments.  I like to hear that people read this thing :)

Oh yeah!  I almost forgot!  This is another reason I liked going to the gym today :)

a case of the mondays...on tuesday.

Workout: XT
Elliptical 35 mins
Random Hills, Level 7
3.61 miles, 325 calories

Today was a long day.  Work was slow, I was hungry and I had a headache.  The last thing I wanted to do tonight was work out.  But like always, when I either go straight to head home or have to turn left to go to the gym, I automatically turned left.  That dang guilty conscience kicking in again...always puts a damper on things...like my relaxing evening of television awaiting me.   With my head not really in the game I decided if I could suck it up and sweat it out for at least 30 minutes then I could go home, enjoy a bowl of pasta and watch 90210 (yes, I still watch that show).  And that's basically what happened.  I had taken the day off yesterday and haven't felt sore in awhile but my first few mins on the Elliptical were a bit brutal.  My calves were extremely sore.  But after a bit they warmed up and felt fine.

Today I've also began mentally preparing myself for my 4 mile Tempo Run that awaits me tomorrow.  I was hoping to get up bright and early and run it at the track down the street.  Sounds like a good idea right?!  Too bad I've only gotten up and ran before work only about 5 times in my entire life.  So in reality, I'll be running it post work tomorrow and maybe at the gym.  Not gonna lie, the track and all those high schoolers after school intimidate me.  And I'm not ready to run with that crowd, yet.  Does anyone have any great ideas/motivators that help them get up early to work out??  I'd LOVE to be more of a morning person but I just don't think it's in my genes.

On a plus note, I had one of my favorite fresh juices this morning:
2 carrots
2 apples
1 inch of ginger

Regarding juicing, one dilemma I have been having is that this amount of juice does not fill me up from breakfast to lunch.  Some recipes I've followed produce twice as much juice as this, does anyone know what a healthy recommended amount of juice is for breakfast?  Or does anyone eat other things with their juice?  Since I had my one cup of juice this morning I was starving by lunch and hit up the salad bar, hard.  Made a bigger salad than I'm sure I needed to and then followed it up with 2 cookies.  Oops.  Another temptation I'm trying to have some more control over.

I'm hoping that by exposing some of my bad habits on here it'll help me kick them to the curb...or at least gain better control over them.  But I'm also posting them to be honest with you all and myself.  Yes, I work out a lot but that's because I like to eat, a lot.  And speaking of that, I think I'm going to go get ready for bed and brush my teeth.  That's one way to keep me from eating anymore this evening (cause I'm too lazy to brush twice in one night!).

Night y'all!

Brewers Mini-Marathon Training Program

Here's my tentative Training Program:
Brewers Mini-Marathon Training Program

I'm definitely going to try my hardest to stick as close to this as possible.  I may have to do minor tweaks like swap Sundays/Mondays etc.  BUT no matter what I'm going to make sure that I hit my weekly mileage totals.

It's funny because I was just rereading some of my past entries and here I am an entire year if not more later and I still feel the exact same way about running.  It's HARD.  Whether I'm indoors, outdoors running 2 miles or 4 miles, every time I do it, it's still such a challenge for me.  Yes, I may be able to run a 5K a minute or two faster than I could a year ago but I feel like after all of this work I should be able to shave 10 minutes off my time!  So this time around with my training I'm going to pay extra attention to my speed workouts/tempo runs/suggested mile times from RunnersWorld.  I'm also going to try and watch what I eat/drink a little better than before.  It's so easy to get caught up in the idea that, "hey I just ran 8 miles and burned 800+ calories so that means I can indulge in 800 calories worth of cake!" I got a juicer for my birthday this year so I'm hoping to learn how to replenish my body with fresh juices instead of sweets (well, most of the time).  My aunt and uncle are avid juicers and have shared some of their favorite recipes with me but if you have any PLEASE SHARE!  I'm always looking for something new to try.  And I'll post some of my hits and misses just in case someone might want to give it a shot (or not).

Ok, I wrote more than I planned on for this evening.  And just so you know (cause I already feel a tad bit guilty about it) I did not do my 3-miler today BUT I did do it yesterday (since I knew I had prior arrangements this evening).  And those arrangements involved going to Build Your Own Burger Night...delicious...but dangerous.  It was a friend's birthday so I had to!  And if there's one thing I've learned these past few years it's that indulgences are great, in moderation of course.

Alrighty, bye for now!

for realz.

Well ladies and gents, I'm baaaack!  It's been ONE WHOLE YEAR since I've blogged and I figured what a perfect time to start up again because I just signed up for my SECOND HALF MARATHON!!  Eeek!  I don't know what has gotten into me because to be honest with you, I haven't ran anything over 5 miles since I completed the Flying Pig Half last May.

I've been running pretty regularly but mostly only variations of 2,3 & 4 milers.  And mostly on a treadmill.  While I watch the Nightly News with Brian Williams.  I try to run/XT anywhere from 3-5 days/week.  But even after doing this pretty regularly for the past year and a half, running is still sooo hard for me!  And I'm still not fast.  However, I am able to find enjoyment in running (some times, def not always) like today for instance, wicked storms were a brewing and I thought it'd be fun to try and get a 3 miler in before the rain came.  And I don't know what it was- the dark skies, the gusty winds, cracks of thunder and flashes of lightening- I felt super motivated to run, hard and try and beat the storm.  Part of me was really excited to run in the rain but that didn't happen.  I beat it.  Just in time too cause I probably would have been washed away and never have made it home.

But back to my recent shenanigans of signing myself up and paying to run 13.1 miles.  I told myself last year that I'd like to do a Half every year.  But when the winter rolled around I was not excited one bit about signing up or training for a Half.  So I didn't.  And I kinda just thought that my one-year streak was simply just that.  THEN out of the blue I heard about the Brewers Mini Marathon and got a really unfamiliar feeling- I wanted to run.  13.1 miles.  Something about the course, it being an inaugural run and the tailgate afterwards made me pull the trigger.  And my fast-friend Katie (who ran my first 5K EVER with me, and who recently got engaged AND who asked me to be in her wedding next year!) will be doing it too, making it that much more enjoyable.  If anyone wants to join us, here's the link http://www.race-brewers.com/!  And it's 138 days away so there's still plenty of time to train!

Speaking of training, I know it's pretty far out (approximately 20 weeks away) but I've already began concocting a training schedule.  Once I have it more ironed out I'll post it on here so you can all hold me to it!  And seriously.  Yell at me if I don't stick to it!  Cause this run is going to be hard.  And I need to begin building up my endurance stat.

Alrighty.  I think I've blabbed enough for now.  We've got lots to catch up on since it's been an entire year and I'm sure I'll catch you up on more than you ever wanted to know before ya know it!

I Made It To The "FINISH SWINE!!"

I know, I know I'm sure a few of you had your doubts but I DID IT!!!  Sunday, May 1, 2011 at approximately 9:12 I crossed the "FINISH SWINE" completing my first Half Marathon, the Flying Pig, in Cincinnati, OH.

So here's a summary of the mornings' events:

Weather
It was raining :( Pretty hard at times too.  But other than that the temperature was right around 60 degrees which was pretty comfy running weather.  AND to be honest, the rain didn't really phase me once I was running since there were so many other things running through my mind like: all the spectators, don't run too fast at the beginning so I can make it to the finish, what song was going to pop up next on my playlist, admiring all the other runners, taking in the scenic view of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, etc.

Attire
I ran in my Nike Motos, dri fit no show socks, Nike dri fit running tights, the Asics technical tee that was part of our swag bag and my dri fit, light weight, white zip up Nike hoodie.  In addition to these things I wore a BIC band (did an awesome job at not slipping and holding all my hair back!) and a Green Bay Packer baseball hat (to keep the rain out of my face- thanks for the last minute advice Christopher!!).  I opted to not wear my arm band for my iPod and just kept it in my pocket since that's what I had done for all my previous races.  And in my other pocket I carried a pack of the Jelly Sport Beans in Berry flavor to have around the 7-8 mile mark.

Pre Race Food
Prior to the race, at 5AM!, I had 2 pieces of toasted whole wheat bread with peanut butter and bananas, a water bottle with emergen-C and a few Jelly Sport Beans.

Course
The course was tough!  Not gonna lie.  It started out and there was so much excitement/nerves/people/music that the first three miles somewhat flew by.  I was overwhelmed by all the supporters of the Pig especially at 6AM in the pouring rain!  It was such a cool experience though that I got goosebumps!  Twice!  At the beginning and then again at the end.  One kinda crappy thing about the beginning of the run is that you spend so much time just trying to get going and weaving around all the other people.  My brother, Catie and I were all running the Half but pretty much split up right at the beginning cause we all trained with different paces in mind for completing this run.  The first three miles of the run take you from Cincinnati, over the bridge to Kentucky, over another bridge in Newport and then over one last bridge bringing us back into Cincinnati.  I took my first water break right around the 4 mile mark and it was kinda gross.  The water tasted really chlorinated.  Eww.

Miles 4-6 also went pretty quickly.  Again, there were so many people cheering us on on 7th Street that I felt like I had an endless amount of energy and just wanted to keep running for all of them!  But then I hit a wall.  Ha.  Miles 6-9 had a steady continuous incline aka hilly.  This was tough.  I saw my mom near the beginning of the first big hill so I put a smile on for her and swiftly ran past her.  Then my pace seemed to be getting slower and slower and my legs began to feel heavier and heavier!  This hill was kicking my a$$.  I made it to mile 7 had some Gatorade this time (which also tasted like chlorine!) smiled at the old man acapella singing group and walked for about 2 minutes while I ate my Jelly Sport Beans.  I was hoping this would give me that little boost of energy I was looking for to complete these hills and the rest of the race!

Mile 8 was the first time during this run that I started having doubts about finishing.  My knees were aching, I was soaking wet and was still going uphill.  I wanted to stop so badly but knew I couldn't.  This is where being in the right state of mind mentally started to come into play.  I kept telling myself that I could do this, this is what I've been working so hard for, I'm more than halfway done, I can do it!  Then around mile 9 I started to see signs where the Half and Full Marathon split and I made sure about 100 times that I was in the right lane and I was NOT about to attempt to run 26 miles.  Mile 9 made me happy cause I knew we were on our way back toward the finish line.  Mile 10 also made me happy because I only had 3 more miles to go!  Mile 11 made me EXTREMELY happy because it was an entire mile of downhill running!!!  Mile 12 was still downhill a bit and I knew that the end was so close.  The entire 13th mile was awesome.  There were people everywhere you looked.  I can't believe I'm going to admit this but it kinda made me teary eyed!  Cameras were flashing left and right to make sure they were getting that monumental moment of us crossing the "Finish Swine."  I had a sudden burst of energy too so was able to run a bit faster the last few feet to the finish.  Then I did it!  And was able to slow down and walk!  I was ecstatic and overwhelmed with happiness.

One other cool thing to take note of is that I crossed the finish line around the same time as one of the marathon contestants!  So that was pretty cool.  He ran twice as far as me in the same time!  Ha.

Post Race
Aaron was already there waiting for me.  He finished a whole 40 minutes before me and even broke the 2 hour mark!!  I didn't quite finish it when I wanted to.  I was shooting for under 2:30 and I did it in 2:35 but I'll take it!  It was my first one and can only get better from there!  Then moments later Catie crossed and was able to beat the 3 hour mark!  Not bad for someone who had never ran more than 8 miles!!  So a BIG congrats to Aaron and Catie!  It was fun sharing in something so monumental with you guys!!

We were sure to stock up on post race goodies.  They had everything.  You name it, we got it.  Delicious.  Swiss Cake Rolls, Donuts, Chocolate Milk, Cheetos, Granola Bars, Apples, Bananas, Dried Fruit, Fruit Cups, and the list goes on and on and on.

The Aftermath
We were all sooo happy to be done and proud of our accomplishment but were all also extremely sore, wet and tired.  Needless to say, we had a very, very relaxing rest of the day that consisted of eating, drinking and sleeping.  It couldn't have been more perfect!

Alrighty, well that's it for now.  If I can think of anything else I'll be sure to write more later.  As for what's next??!  I'm not sure yet!  But I def want to keep running as I feel like I can officially call myself a runner :)

Until next time!