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.  

do you know who your emergency responders are?

The highlight of my work week definitely happened this past Friday.  Our Loss Prevention Team held a Corn Roast over the lunch hour where we could meet our local emergency responders: firemen, police officers and EMTs.  These photos pretty much sum up the hour:

 Corn=Amaaazing.  We had the option to make Mexican Style Corn- mayo, butter, salt, parmesan cheese & a limey-red pepper like seasoning.  I had everything but the mayo and def would do this again!

Vanessa, Molly, 2 of our local Firemen and myself.

Ohh heyy V!  

Molly fully suited and ready to put out some fires!

My first time in the back of a Milwaukee Police Car.  And hopefully the last time!

I'm guessing people usually aren't this happy looking when "getting arrested."

Another first for me (and hopefully last!).  

Everyone we met were super friendly and definitely team players.  It takes a lot to distract us over the lunch hour and keep us from eating (thank goodness for that corn on the cob!).  I should also note that we talked with the Forensics Photographer.  It was pretty interesting considering they were visiting a photo studio.  He didn't seem to think it was that funny though when we asked him if he was looking for a stylist to work with...

Here are a few other pics from my Friday O'Fun!

Saud (an Art Director I work with) and I tend to (unintentionally) coordinate our outfits every now and then.  Here we are a few weeks ago:

Ketchup & Mustard

This past Fri in our bright blue pants!

Friday night kicked off HartFest so Katie, Elly, Bryan and I decided to pay a visit to King Solomon:

The rest of my week was filled with some of this from 9-5, M-F:

John, the videographer & Jen, the handbag model

This is what you actually see online if you opt to watch a product video of a handbag.  

Then post 5PM it was filled with this:

My Website! (still in progress)

My AWESOME brother is building my website for me and last week we made HUGE progress.  I should note that I've had my domain for over a year and a half so this is a big deal to actually have images and functioning galleries up.  Thanks for all your hard work Aar!  I really, really appreciate it.  And soon enough it'll be complete and I won't have to annoy talk to you on a daily basis :)  And if anyone needs a website, def get in touch with my brother!

And of course the rest of my time was spent workin' on my fitness.  I had a great week of work outs for the crappy mood I was in.  I did NOT want to work out at all last week but forced myself to do all my scheduled work outs.  

Monday:

Easy Run 2 miles

Treadmill, Elevation 1.0

20 mins, 220 calories

Walk Hills .6 miles

Treadmill, Elevation 1.0-8.0

10 mins, 60 calories

Stair Stepper .5 miles

16 mins, 117 calories

These 2 miles weren't so bad.  So much so that I decided to keep at it and walk some hills and climb some steps making for a pretty productive Monday night.  I think it wore me out cause after I got home and showered I passed out on the couch by 8 PM!  This was not good though since I had to start getting my images together for my website.  So needless to say once I woke up from my cat nap, it made for a pretty late night.  

Tuesday:

XT Bike 12 miles

Rolling Hills, Level 7

45 mins, 320 calories (3:45/mile pace)

Not going to lie, I was feeling super lazy (regarding working out) today and really did not want to go to the gym.  The only way I justified going to the gym was by telling myself I'll do a bike ride for my day of Cross Training since that meant I got to stay seated the entire time!  No joke.  It works every time I'm not feeling up for a work out.  Staying seated and all I still ended up having a pretty good, sweaty ride and was able to beat my goal of riding under 4 min/miles.

Wednesday:

Tempo Run

Treadmill, Elevation 1.0

5 miles, 53 minutes, 558 calories

I was dreading today's run more than my 2 previous work outs mainly because I didn't want to run but especially because I didn't want to run 5 miles.  And to be honest with you, I'm still not sure how I actually made it to the gym.  I even sat in my car, in the parking lot, hoping someone would call me that minute and have some major plans for me.  But that didn't happen so I checked out my i.TV app and saw that "A Cinderella Story" was playing, jolted out of my car, changed into my workout clothes, got on that treadmill and turned on ABC Family.  I proceeded to run 5 pretty consistent miles without many problems.  In fact, I didn't even stop to walk at all until after mile 3.  And that was just for a couple minutes to check my heart rate and then I was able to strongly finish my last mile.  Lesson of the night: when all else fails, ABC Family will prevail!

Thursday:

Easy Run 2 miles

Treadmill, Elevation 1.0

2.3 miles, 23 minutes, 239 calories

Surprise, surprise I didn't want to work out again today!  And I was feeling pretty sore from going at it pretty intensely the past 3 days so today I told myself all I had to do was get in there, run 2 quick miles and then I could leave.  And that's exactly what I did.  Then I burned a few extra calories power shopping at Kohl's with my Friends & Family extra 20% off!  I guess I wouldn't really call it "power shopping" since all I got was a pair of clearance JLo Sunglasses for $6, a new beach towel for $5 and a hat for $10.  But I was proud of my finds and in Kohl's terms I saved like $178!  Ha.  

Friday:

REST DAY

Saturday:

REST DAY

Decided to sleep in a little today and by the time I woke up I didn't have it in me to try and hammer out 7 miles in the 80 degree+ humidity, so I didn't.  Instead I had a lovely day seeing Madagascar 3, eating at Cafe Hollander and had a few Summer Shandys with some very recently engaged friends! 

Sunday:

Long Run

3 miles outside, 33 mins, 371 cals

4 miles treadmill, elevation 1.0, 44 mins, 459 cals

TOTAL: 7 miles! 77 mins, 830 calories

I can't believe I actually ran today.  I honestly didn't think it was going to happen and then I'd have to come on here with some elaborate excuse as to why it's ok that I didn't do my weekly long run.  BUT I did it.  Probably because I was regretting eating that chocolate brownie and cupcake at our Father's Day celebration...but whatever it was, as soon as I got home from spending the afternoon with the fam, I got my running clothes on hit the road...and the gym.  You guys are going to think I'm a huge dork (but I'm sure you've already thought that) but I knew tonight was Oprah's special with the Kardashians which I could not miss.  So I quickly got 3 miles in outside and then I hit the treadmill for the last 4 since while I watched Oprah grill the Kardashians.  And overall, my run went really well.  AND, I hit the half way hump!  It's all downhill from here right?!  I hope so...cause to be honest with you my last 3 miles felt better than my first 3 and I probably could've kept going if I had to tonight.  It 100% made a difference that I ran later in the night than early in the morning.  I've been saying all along that I'm a much better evening runner than a morning runner and that was proved true again tonight.  But the biggest thing was that there was a nice evening breeze and not just early morning sunshine and humidity.  How I'm going to ever overcome this, I do not know.  But it was so much more enjoyable to run in comfortable weather rather than in the humidity where sweat constantly is running into my eyes.  So keep the pointers coming if you guys have any!  How do I stay comfy during runs in hot temps?  Do you carry water with you while you run?  If so, how much do you drink?  

This week my work out sched looks very similar to this past week's with a mile add on to my long run. Yayyy....

Ok, well Happy Father's Day to all you amazing dads out there!  I hope everyone had a great weekend and an even better upcoming week!

fun in the sun!

I can't believe it's been a week since I've blogged last!  It was a busy but good week.  Work was good.  I worked on a shoe mailer all week which made the days fly by.  Here are a few behind the scene photos:

 Carolyn mastering the painting in white.

We had 6 systems going in a pretty tiny area.  Look at all those stands!

 Carolyn doing it again a few days later!

The fun part about shooting cupcakes is that you get to eat them at the end!

In addition to my busy work week, I did awesome at keeping up with my workouts for the week!  In fact I did each one I was planning on so my goal was met and even exceeded a few times.  Here's a more thorough look at my week of working out:

Monday: (w/Molly)

Easy Run: 2.3miles

Outside, 25 mins, 411 calories (total: run/walk)

Walk: 1.5miles

Outside, 20 mins

I enjoyed breaking my non-workout slump with an easy run and with a friend.  Having her there definitely forced me to do a run that I was not looking forward to.  And actually once we got going, we were so caught up in conversations that our 2 miles was up in no time!  And it was such a nice evening out we decided to keep walking for a bit and burned some extra calories.

Tuesday:

XT: Elliptical

30 mins, 3.3miles, 273 calories, Level 7

Bike

31 mins, 7.8miles, 183 calories, Level 7

Today was a big day.  One of my fav shows, Pretty Little Liars (yes, it's on ABC Family and I LOVE it!) had it's Summer Premiere.  Oh yeah, and it was Election Day.  So after I went and voted I hit up the gym, turned on ABC Family and sweated it out for an hour.  It felt good to do something besides run.  And the time flew since I was so into what I was watching!  

And later that night, while doing some reading outside look what I caught Donnie doing:

Naughty Donnie.

Wednesday:

Speedwork: 4.03miles

Treadmill, 42mins, 457 calories, Elevation 1.0

(10 min/mile x2; 1 mi warm up & 1 mi cool down at 11min/mile)

I was a bit nervous for today's run since I hadn't tackled a 4 miler in a week and I hadn't had any real great runs in awhile.  BUT for some reason, I felt mentally prepared for it, excited to do it and even more excited to get it done.  So I just went for it and it felt like it was done in no time!  And it actually felt good.  I didn't feel like death and I didn't even feel the need to really stop to walk at all.  Thank goodness for this run because I was almost ready to throw the towel in regarding this whole run-long-distance-thing.  And as a bonus, it just so happened to be National Running Day so what a perfect day to have a great run!

Thursday: (w/Molly-in the AM!)

Easy Run: 2.5miles

Outside, 27 mins, 320 calories

I did it!  I didn't get two morning workouts in this week (mainly because I knew I was going to have lots of available time in the evenings this week) but I did get one in.  And not going to lie, coming off a great 4 mile run the night before did not necessarily mean I was guaranteed to have another great run so shortly after.  I think it's the whole adjusting to the morning thing but it felt a lot harder to do 2 miles at 6AM than it felt to do 4 miles at 6PM.  And Molly and I were still both in the process of waking up that we barely could chat throughout our run (note: we also had a hard time chatting cause we were too busy panting!).  No bueno.  BUT, on a positive note, we knocked a whole minute off of our miles from our Monday evening run.  So maybe that's another reason it felt a bit more difficult??

Thursday was the one night I had some bigger plans.  We (another bridesmaid and myself) were going Wedding Dress/Bridesmaid Dress shopping with Katie!  She had made an appointment for us at Miss Ruby's Boutique, a super cute shop in the Third Ward.  And we had such a good time!  And not to mention some great luck!  Both the first dress Katie tried on and the first dress I tried on we all absolutely loved!  Here's a sneak peak at our bridesmaid's dresses (but won't be in the color shown):

I look like I'm drowning in the dress.  Thank goodness for tailors!  But I really like it.  And I think it has special super hero powers...we just might be able to fly in these dresses ;)  None of you get that now but just wait til Katie and Ryan's wedding!!  And Katie looked GORGEOUS in the dress she tried.  And I have some pics.  But I will not post them cause that's some confidential information! And she actually is in the process of making a pretty tough decision.  She loved this dress but also fell in love with one of the first dresses she tried on back home with her mom.  And in all honestly, no matter what decision she makes, she's going to look AHHH-MAZING!  Both dresses are incredible and there's no wrong decision to be made.  

To celebrate our successful night of dress shopping, we went across the street to Cafe Benelux and enjoyed one of these:

I forget what this is called.  But it was a Raspberry Beer.  And it wasn't too sweet.  I liked it.

Friday:

Rest Day

I actually was a little tempted to get up and work out before work but then I remembered one of my Golden Rules: no working out on Fridays.  So I didn't.  

Since I wasn't working out today I felt like I needed to eat relatively healthy (for lunch at least).  Plus I had that beer the night before that had me feeling a little bloated.  So for lunch we went to Sendiks and look what we stumbled upon:

June is National Dairy Month here in the good 'ol state of Wisconsin.  So Kara got to milk a cow.  For realz.  And then we got stickers, cow pencils with milk jug eraser toppers and free fat free chocolate milk.  And let me tell you, chocolate milk is delicious!  I forgot how good that stuff is.  And to go along with it (although I'm not sure I'd normally pair these two items together) I had the brown rice spicy tuna sushi roll.  

Another reason I wanted to eat semi-healthy for lunch was because I knew I'd be doing a little splurging at dinner.  Friday night we went out for Elly's birthday.

The Birthday Girl.

Megra.

We hit up La Perla's rooftop and had some Strawberry Margaritas on the Rocks.  None of us had ever been here before but loved the rooftop.  It was super cute, very colorful and for a minute I felt like I was back in Mexico (until I looked over the railings and got a nice glimpse of National Ave).  And since I wasn't starving I just ordered an A la Carte item for $3 and felt completely satisfied.  Which was great.  I didn't overeat or overindulge as much as I was planning on.  Go me!  Ha.  But for real, it's hard to have that kind of self control sometimes.  Especially with all of that delicious cheesy food right at your fingertips.

AND when I got home my monthly Birchbox had arrived!  If you like getting monthly gifts in the mail you should check this out www.birchbox.com.  And use me as a referral!  I first heard about Birchbox through my brother's gf, Catie, and have been getting it for about a year now.  It's $10 a month and each month you get a box filled with beauty samples (everything from lotions, cleansers, nail polish, perfume, mascara to bandaids, granola bars and fake eyelashes).  And if you like the samples you can buy the full sized items that month only online for a discounted price.  It's a pretty great way to try some incredible products that you normally would never just stumble upon.  Here's this month's box:

It included:

* Apothederm Stretch Mark Cream

*Clean Well Individual Hand Sanitizing Wipes

*Scalisi Skincare Anti-Again Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30

*The Balm Cosmetics Stainiac in Beauty Queen (2-in-1 lip/cheek stain)

*Band-Aid Cynthia Rowley Dress Up Band-Aids (20 of them!)

*Birchbox Man Cologne Sample (in honor of Father's Day)

I'm pretty pumped to try out the moisturizer and stretch mark cream.  Lately I've been a bit obsessed with the whole topic of "aging" and the products to "fight" it are so dang expensive that I'm glad I got some samples to try out!

Saturday:

Long Run: 6 miles

Outside, HOT, 72 mins, 727 calories

This morning's run was a bit brutal.  Mainly because it was SO HOT out.  I had every intention of getting up as early as I could so I could beat the heat but when morning role around I was just too comfy to get out of my bed.  So I didn't hit the streets until 9 AM.  And it was already in the 80s.  Boo. But Max rode his bike with me while I ran and we suffered through it.  We did stop a few times to walk his bike up a pretty killer hill and to take some water breaks when we passed the golf course (2 times).  Our motivation was to get this run/ride over with so we could hit up the Farmer's Market for some Fresh Apple Juice and then head over to the Tosa Pool cause what else do you do when it's going to be 90 degrees out!  I didn't overdo it during today's run but I definitely think I probably could have pushed myself a bit harder.  I just wasn't in the mood too.  And I was scared to overdo it and feel crappy the rest of the day.  So we moved at a very comfortable pace for the both of us.  

So even though I did not enjoy my run I felt really good when it was done.  I was also happy to be able to not have to think about working out for the rest of the weekend!  And we had a great Saturday at the Farmer's Market, pool, running some errands and grilling out.  Perfect Summer Day.  

Sunday:

Rest Day

Boating with the ladies: 

I copied your photo Elly :)

Chillin' on the back of the boat.  That's Kara, Elly and I in the mirror.  Thanks for the pic Eleanor!

Great day with some great company.  What a difference one year makes.  Last year we wanted to have a boat day for Elly's bday but it was barely 60 degrees out and today it was almost 90!  

It was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend.  And we were done early enough for me to do some grocery shopping and loads of laundry too!  So all in all a good day.  

This week my workout schedule looks awfully similar to last weeks' except that I get to add a mile onto my Wednesday and Saturday run...yay.... :/  And I'm really hoping to finally do another TRX workout this week (which my fav blogger ever wrote a post about last week!).  I ran out of time last week so I'm hoping to fit it in...as early as tomorrow, hopefully.  

Ok, well hope everyone had a great weekend and didn't get sunburned!  

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLY!!!!!

well this is embarrassing....

So it's about time for another weekly post for me and well I'm a bit embarrassed that I don't have too many workouts to talk about!  And by not too many I mean I only have done one other run since my last post...last Monday...ugh.  To quickly recap, I ran 5 miles last Monday and then I ran 4 miles last Wednesday.  And that was it.  I was super busy all week long that I struggled to fit in any other work outs.  However, my being busy included a lot of physical labor so even though I wasn't at the gym I still woke up feeling quite sore a few mornings.  And to be completely honest with you.  I definitely had the time to do my 6 miler this weekend but I was soooo exhausted that I just couldn't do it.  Just the thought of running wore me out.  In the end I still got 9 miles in this week which isn't awful.  But it is down 4 miles from the week before.  The way I justified it was that I just completed the first 5 weeks of my training program without missing a beat and it was time for a tiny break.  I've still got 16 weeks of training left so I don't want to overdo it too much too soon that I absolutely hate running by September 22nd.

BUT this week wasn't a complete wash.  Those of you lucky enough to be my facebook friends already are aware of this but my Wednesday workout was super momentous- I WORKED OUT BEFORE WORK!!  4 MILES AT 5:30AM!  I've only gotten up to run before work 2 other times that I can think of.  And that was just to run some 2 milers.  This whole getting up early and working out thing definitely was not easy.  And I don't think I was very prepared.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to run after work at all last week so if I wanted to run it had to be done in the morning.  I didn't eat anything pre-workout because to me that meant getting up even earlier to prepare food.  And I paid for that almost a mile into my workout.  I felt like I was running on empty cause I basically was.  Do any of you morning exercisers have any tips for me??  What do you eat?  How soon do you work out after you eat?  Do you plan your entire workout out the night before or do you just wing it?  I didn't care for getting up early to run very much but I did love going on with the rest of my day not having to worry about working out later on!  So because of this, I'm going to attempt to keep doing at least 2 workouts before work every week.  Plus I think this will help me get into the mindset of running at earlier hours of the morning since the Half Marathon starts pretty early.

Because I didn't spend much time working out this past week, here are some things I did enjoy:

My sweet niece, Ava, Graduated from Kindergarten!

Spotted this at a local Fire Department.  Totally had to do a double take at first glance.

Enjoyed a Sushi Dinner w/Mal and my mom where Mal informed me that she still carries around pictures of my friends in her purse (their Christmas Card!)...stalker like tendencies....watch out ladies!

;)

A nice Saturday morning stroll to the Tosa Farmer's Market.

Brunch at La Reve w/my mom and sister.

Food Truck spotted in Tosa.  Hmm.

Saw our friend at the pool!  Bottom pic is Summer 2011.  Top pic is NOW.  Yikes.

Took a post-pool nap with Donnie.

And no pics to share but I also had a lovely dinner w/my mom, Mal and Lolo and Lola at Texas Roadhouse on Saturday as well as another great dinner with Kara and Kristi tonight.  

So overall I had a great week.  Super busy but loved every minute of it.  

And I'm definitely planning on getting back on track with my workouts starting tomorrow.  Here's a quick glimpse at what I'm hoping my week will entail:

*2 mile easy run
*XT
*4 mile speed work
*2 mile easy run/Strength
*6-7 mile long run

How about you guys?  Any big plans/goals for the week?

my week in pictures

Well, it's been a full week since I've posted anything so I'm going to attempt to sum up my week with a few photos!


Last Sunday (5/20)
We went on a little bike ride to the park to play some frisbee and well long story short this happened when 2 bikes got too close:

one week later and it still looks just as bad.

Monday (5/21)

Workout: Easy Run 

Treadmill 44mins, Incline 1.0

4 miles 416 calories

This was one awful run.  I made some bad choices earlier on in the evening and severely paid for it during my run.  I will NEVER go to burger night and then try and do a run an hour later.  It was horrible.  I even had to get off the treadmill and puke about 2 miles in.  Greasy burgers and running do not mix well for me.  So from now on it's one or the other!  BUT I did still manage to complete my 4 miles.  Mainly because I knew I was already half way done so I wanted to get it done and over with and not have to make it up from square one another day!

Tuesday (5/22)

Rest Day.  After Monday night I was still feeling pretty crappy about my run so I decided to take today off and go test drive some cars.  We went to a VW dealership and I drove a few Jettas.  I really liked them.  Anyone ever own one??  Got any feedback for me??

And here's a look at what I worked on all week, tab shoes:

Wednesday (5/23)

Workout: Easy Run

Oustide 3.1 miles

32 mins 400 calories

I wore this:

A little keepsake from my Flying Pig Half Marathon.  You can't see it all that great but it has wings on the back and a little swirly pig tail.  So obviously I felt super fast running with wings on my back.  Not.

Thursday (5/24)

Workout: XT (well was supposed to XT but I still ran 2 miles...on the treadmill, in 20 mins, burning 219 calories)

Strength

45 mins with Damian (trainer)

We went over so much during this time!  Lots of simple moves that I can double up on and work arms and legs at the same time.  Then the second half of my workout was spent on the TRX Suspension Training Equipment.  One word to sum it up: intense.  Read more about it here.  Basically we did all these moves: rows, squats, lunges, pikes, mountain climbers, pushups, etc while being suspended in the air.  Makes you work that much harder.  And let me tell you I was SOOOOO sore afterwards!  I could barely walk to my car.  And even more sore the entire next day.  I hurt places that I didn't know were able to hurt!  So overall, I felt like a complete spaz trying out some of the moves but I think it's totally worth it to feel the way I felt afterwards.  I mean something must've been working right and maybe this is what I need to build up more strength.  So hopefully I'll be able to incorporate this into my workouts at least once a week for now.  That is if I can muster up the balls to go to the gym and try it on my own :/

Then to celebrate my awesome night of working out we headed over to Cafe Hollander and sipped on one of these:

Strawberry Ginger Crush   8.25

Three Olives vanilla vodka, fresh strawberries, ginger beer, and lime

It was pretty good.  Very sweet so I can't imagine having more than one.  But perfect summery drink to sip on while sitting outside on their patio.

Friday (5/25)

Rest Day.  So sore.  Could barely walk normal.  No exercise for me.  But I did manage to enjoy a little of this:

Non-Fat Island Banana swirled with Dutch Chocolate Fro Yo

with fresh Strawberries and a few Choco Chips

DELICIOUS.  If you haven't been to Yo Mamas yet go right now.  I'm so glad it's warm out and Yo Mamas is right down the street :)

Saturday (5/26)

Workout: Easy Run

Treadmill 45 mins, Incline 0

416 calories 4.16 miles

I was still hurting from Thursday and not looking forward to this run.  I was not looking forward to it even more when I woke up and it was pouring out cause I knew that I'd have to run it inside.  But I did it.  And it was tough.  I didn't even add any incline cause my legs felt so heavy as is.  Really beginning to question this whole run-13-miles thing...

Sunday (5/27)

Rest Day.  Pool Day.  Sister Sleepover Day.

Here's what Mal and I made for dinner:

Grilled Corn Orzo Salad with Chili Lime Vinaigrette

I got the recipe from Iowa Girl Eats a really cool blog with some great nutritional recipes.  Check it out!

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 cup orzo, uncooked
• 2 ears sweet corn
• 1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1/4 small red onion, minced
• 2 Tablespoons chopped basil

For the Chili Lime Vinaigrette:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• Salt & pepper

Instructions

• Cook orzo in a large pot of salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
• Shuck corn then grill for 5-6 minutes, rotating every minute or so to evenly char on all sides. Let cool slightly, then cut kernels off the cob.
• Combine cooked orzo and corn kernels with tomatoes, avocado, red onion, and basil in a large bowl and stir to combine.
• For the Chili Lime Vinaigrette: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, and whisk to combine. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve chilled, or at room temperature.

And after dinner we watched The Vow.  Total chick flick.  Kinda wished it would've ended a bit differently though.


Monday (5/28) HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!
Workout: "Easy" Run
Outside 5.2 miles
60 mins 519 calories


This was everything BUT easy.  I was dy-ing.  It was already 81 degrees out at 8AM this morning so I knew it was going to be a bit brutal.  But that was an understatement.  It was pretty horrific.  I thought I was going to die of heatstroke and have to call my sister to come scrape me up off the sidewalk.  I ended up stopping 4 times to walk!  Every time I completed a mile, I'd stop and walk for about 2 minutes which felt very necessary.  I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life.  Sweat even more than I do after a 90 min Bikram Yoga session!  I took a pic after my run was complete but I'm not going to post it.  It's so nasty and I don't want to succumb you guys to that.  So now I'm definitely having second thoughts about this half marathon.  I mean I think I can do it but I think it's gonna take me FOREVER!  I don't feel fast at all.  Especially not in these hot temps.  It's crazy how my training now is so night and day from what it was before.  Before I was running in Feb-Mar-April which has pretty ideal running temps and now for the first time ever I'm running in 80+ degree temps.  Not a very easy thing to do.  So lets hope that I become a morning runner sooner than later cause I think that's going to be key at keeping up with my training.  There's no way I'll be able to do mid-morning/afternoon runs for much longer.  Anyone have any tips for working out in these hot temps??  Do you run with water??  Take walk breaks??  Find yourself running slower than you thought was possible??  I need some advice.  Bad.  


On a plus note, after my run I spent a few relaxing hours on a boat:

Me & Elly.  On a boat.  In a parking lot.

That was definitely much more enjoyable than my morning "run."  

How did you guys spend your Memorial Day weekend?  

weekend wrap-up

Well, it's been a few days since I've written anything so here's a recap of my past few days!

Thursday (5/17) 

Workout: XT 

Elliptical 30 mins, Level 7 Rolling Hills

2.8 miles 270 calories

Strength Training

15-12-10 sets

20 mins, really sore quads

My work out was challenging.  The Elliptical kicked my butt!  I was dying.  Felt like I was running on empty and sweating profusely.  So after the longest 30 minutes of my life I decided to do a quick strength routine.  It had been awhile since I did anything of that nature so I was feeling it immediately after my workout.  Needless to say, Thursday was a rough work out day for me.  I couldn't wait to get home.

The rest of my night was fairly uneventful.  I made a family favorite TRE (tuna, rice (brown rice!) & egg, watched the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and sulked over it for the rest of the evening.  

Friday (5/18)

Much needed REST day!  And boy was my body aching.  It hurt to do anything!  Especially to sit down so good thing we are on our feet all day at work.  It was a gorgeous day out.  Hot.  I was really glad I didn't have to run in those temps!

Saturday (5/19)

Workout: Long Run

Outside 60 mins

5.0 miles 660 calories

Saturday was a busy but awesome day for me.  I got a lot accomplished.  In fact, I got up at 3 AM to do a sunrise shoot.  Definitely a first in my books.  But it was so much fun and it's amazing how much you can get done in the wee hours of the morning.  And best part about it is that after almost a full day's worth of work it was only 9 AM when I got home and I had a full day to enjoy a head of me.  Since I was on such a great roll I decided to do my long run immediately before I lost any sort of interest in doing it.  And it was supposed to be in the 80s all day so I wanted to run as early as I could to try and 'beat the heat.'  Max was over this weekend and wanted to ride his bike with me while I ran.  This made me a bit nervous since it was my long run of the week and I def cannot run as fast as someone on a bike.  But he did a great job at keeping me at a consistent pace as well as keeping my mind from thinking about running too much.  We talked about bugs, traffic lights, the Avengers, Hero Factories and before I knew it we were already looping around to head back home.  We had a few set backs in our workout: we hit an excessive amount of red lights that we were having to wait for, needed to stop to tie his shoe laces a couple times and were both dying of thirst.  It had hit 78 degrees while we were out there and we could definitely feel it.  But overall, it was an enjoyable run.  We even got to go through a series of sprinklers that felt awesome on our way home.  Running with Max got me thinking.  Maybe I should try and run with someone/people more often.  Maybe at least once a week?  We'll see.  Def something to think about cause like I said it was kind of nice to get lost in convos and not obsessively think about each minute of my run that has passed and each minute that still awaits me.  How about you, do you prefer to work out solo or in the company of others??

Once we got home I had about 5 minutes to change and head downtown for a meeting.  It was finally time to solidify Class Reunion Locations.  And let me tell you what a huge relief that is.  It's all slowly starting to come together and I hope it only gets better from here on out.  Now the biggest challenge is simply going to be getting people to RSVP and PAY!  Did any of you go to your class reunions??  What were the highlights/low points of the event??  I need to know what we def should be doing and what we could afford to possibly leave out.  

After our meeting we continued on with our day at Bel Air Cantina.  If you live in the Milwaukee area, I highly recommend it.  It has a fun vibe, great food and at a good price.  Here's a link to their menu: Bel Air Cantina/Food.  I had the house salad with grilled spicy shrimp:

House greens with sweet onion, tomato, avocado and tequila lime vinaigrette / 5.39

Sooo good.  And after lunch we did some bumming around at rummage sales and antique shops.  Then I was ready for a nap!  

Sat night I went out with my friend Katie (the one running the Half with me!) for her birthday.  Here's our night in a nutshell:

Yes.  That is Yovani Gallardo from the Brewers.  We were pretty much treated like we were ballers' all night long and it was great.  So much fun.  Aaaand Happy Birthday to Katie Kool!!

Today/Sunday (5/20)

Another much needed REST day.  And thank goodness cause it was 86 degrees out by 10 AM!  I had a really relaxing Sunday.  And that's my fav.  We went for a little bike ride, threw the frisbee around the park til we were all sweaty and tired, grilled out and napped.  Perfect way to end the weekend.  

Now I'm mentally preparing myself for my upcoming week's worth of workouts, which actually shouldn't be too bad.  No mileage increase this week.  Just maintaining what I've already reached.  This past week I logged 13 running miles (not including miles logged on Elliptical/Bike): 2- 4 mile runs and a 5 mile run.  This week I only have to do 2- 4 mile runs and a 3 mile run!  So I'm gonna enjoy it while I can because two weeks from now I'll be attempting my first 6 mile run in almost a YEAR!  AND it'll be a great week cause it's only a 4-day work week...wooo hooooo!!!  

Ok, hope you all had a great weekend.  

OH!  Almost forgot!!  Thank you to those of you who actually gave me some blog title suggestions!  My brother was gracious enough to let me know that "Meghanhastheruns" is still available and another fav that was suggested is "RuntilyouHURLey"...thank you Liz and Jesse for that one!  Very catchy and personable, I like it!  So keep the suggestions coming.  I love hearing what you guys have to say!

Now I'm done for real.  I'll leave you with one last photo.  This guy moved in this weekend:

Donnie Cat.

and so I ran...

Just so you all know, that's what I originally wanted to title my blog site instead of "an' here i go again" but it was already taken.  Boo.  In fact every title I was coming up with was already taken.  And the crappy thing is that they were taken and haven't been touched in almost 5 years.  So lame.  One of my favorite blog's (and it happens to be a running blog as well) is skinnyrunner.com.  What a clever name right?!  And this girl is hil-arious.  I love it.  She's got great advice, is funny, relatable, and of course a ridiculous runner. So I have a challenge for you all: create me a fun/catchy/not-too-wordy blog name!  Yeah?!  Sound fun?!  I really, really would appreciate some comments on this.  My brain hurts from trying to think of something.

But, there is some meaning behind "an' here i go again."  It's the lyrics to one of my favorite running songs, Whitesnake's Here I Go Again.  I don't know why but ever since I started running, 1 year and 8 months ago, I get pumped up when I hear that song.  And it makes me want to run faster!  Not sure if I actually do run faster during that song...but I feel like I do!  Do you guys have any songs that you love to run or work out to??  I'm always looking for new songs to add to my playlist or new Pandora stations.

Ok, now onto my workouts.

Yesterday, May 15th:
Workout:  XT
Elliptical 33 mins, Level 8 Random
3.15 miles 300 calories

Bike 12 mins, Level 7 Random
3.01 miles 81 calories

Today:
Workout: Tempo Run
Treadmill 44 mins, Elevation 1.0
4.1 miles 430 calories

No big revelations or outstanding questions came up during my last two work outs.  And overall, both work outs felt great.  I, like usual, didn't feel like working out but once I got to the gym it felt good to sweat for a bit.  And I've been sore every day this week.  Which I think is a good sign?  It makes me think that I'm doing my part by pushing myself daily- watch my times, try and be consistent, try not to stop to walk, add more hills, switch up my XT routines, etc.  I've also been trying to be aware of my food choices more this week.  More salads, less grease.  More fruit, less Nutella.  And one of my happy finds this week is the Iced Skinny Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks.  A grande is only 140 calories!  Not bad for an occasional sweet treat.  What are your favorite low fat/low cal treats??

Last, shout out to my Uncle for responding to my last post regarding the "ch***ing" issue.  He said:

Try body glide to prevent chaffing, lanacane anti-chaffing gel to heal, and maybe even compression shorts


So I will def take note of this.  And to answer your question, yes, another one of my fast friends, Kevin, signed up to do the Half.  Kevin is a crazy runner.  He already likes to run 13 milers on random days of the week for fun.  And he's super fast.  Hopefully he sticks around for another hour or so on Race Day to see me cross the Finish Line :)  But other than that I don't know anyone else doing it yet.  You want to sign up ?!  It's not too late!  Bring Auntie Linda!  And Connie too!  Now that she's graduated there'll be no school getting in her way of training!  Think about it ;)

Ok, I'm starting to smell myself.  Time to shower!  Laterrr!