Grad Party, Pie and Mixed Up Runs

This weekend I switched some of my runs up partially because I was busy and partially because I was sore and lazy on Friday. Technically I was supposed to do 3 miles Friday, 6 miles Saturday and then rest Sunday. Instead I took Friday off, did 3 Saturday and 6 Sunday.

Saturday morning started early and after getting some work done and running my 3 (boring) miles, my brother picked me up to take me home for his grad party.

The party involved a lot of eating (naturally), drinking and bag playing and towards the end of the night we had a nice little visit from the local ice cream man. You are probably not surprised that my family has him on speed dial so my uncle gave Nick a call and a few minutes later he pulled up on the lawn.

Sunday morning I woke up kind of wishing I did not put off my 6 miles. By the time I got out there it was HOT and the Pride Parade had already started. In an attempt to avoid the crowds, I went South on Lincoln and kind of just kept running without paying attention to where I was going. I kept the pace slower (around 10:15 to 10:30) because of the heat and since it wasn’t one of my typical routes, I didn’t know when I would hit a water fountain. After running for about 2.5 – 3 miles I found myself at the entrance of the Lincoln Park zoo and decided to just run through. By this time it was about 85 degrees and it took everything in me not to dive in with this guy:

After I did a little tour around the zoo I headed back home down Lincoln. Since it was so nice out (okay, not nice for a long run) I thought about going to the beach. I showered, changed into my swimsuit and then as I walked toward the lake I hit a metal gate and roughly one billion half naked, drunk, rainbow people and turned back around. As I walked back a friend of mine called to see if I wanted to come lay out later on her rooftop deck. . .duh. So I went to Starbucks and hung out for about an hour and read my book club book (so good) before heading over there. Just a little tip for my single friends. . . apparently reading is super cool because the only times I’ve been hit on recently have been 1. at the library and 2. at Starbucks reading.

Later on, my roommate came home and we went to our favorite sushi place, Tanuki. I would have taken photos except we inhaled the rolls as soon as they hit the table. When we got back though, I tried my hand at making homemade pies. For anyone who has asked me what the occasion was, you may have noticed that I have defriended you and you should take note that there is no occasion necessary to eat pie.

Banana Cream

Apple

I followed my grandma’s recipe and made an apple pie and banana cream. Both were awesome, as we taste tested them immediately and the apple was exceptionally good straight out of the oven with vanilla ice cream. I do want to point out that at the bottom of the email where my grandma sent the recipe, she said this (what a weirdo):

We may or may not have spent the rest of Sunday night eating pie and then drinking beer with the neighbors as they finished packing to move out.

This week is pretty busy starting with a Bank of America Charity Marathon Reception after work at Millenium Park and Dodgeball intramurals tonight . . .stay tuned for updates!

P.S. I am only $70 away from passing my fundraising from last year!

New Running Buddy!

It’s official! This guy is my new running buddy! My sister adopted Max which means I get a pup to hang out and run with and zero responsibility!

Woo!

Team LUNGevity Bootcamp Fundraiser

Heads up: My arms are so sore that it’s taken me a few hours to actually complete this blog post. . . .

After my morning 5 mile run and a busy day at work, I have to admit that I wasn’t pumped for another workout at 6:30pm. I met up with Deni and Deanne before the boot camp and we complained a little bit as we posed for this photo before class:

Once we walked over to the park though and met up with Samantha, her mom and a few other girls doing the class, we perked up. Sam didn’t waste anytime and as soon as everyone got there she started us with a warm-up and then right into cardio. We lined up and all ran in place as the first person in line sprinted to the end of the park and back. We all continued to run in place and switch off sprinting until we went through the line twice. Halfway through she let us know she was timing us and that we’d have to beat our time at the end of the class!

We got through the cardio and moved right into circuits breaking into 3 groups. The first group did lunges with resistance bands (to bicep curl of course) that she demonstrated (below). The second group did an exercise that had us starting in a standing up position and then folding over, walking out to a push up and then walking back up to standing (ew). Then the third group did a bridge type of exercise where you rotated crunching up to touch the opposite hand and foot. We did each station for a minute and then repeated the sequence.

Next up: back to cardio! We got in a line again but this time we all did jumping jacks and rotated down the line doing a ‘burpee wave’ (that sounds way more fun than it was). The first minute of it was easy and then my calves were on fire! We went through the line twice which felt like roughly 2 years.

Then back to circuits! This time the first group did squats while also doing something crazy with our arm resistance bands that I’d like to never duplicate. The second group did push-ups with shoulder taps and the third group did side lunges. Let me tell you something. . . a minute of push ups feels A LOT longer than it sounds. There is no photographic evidence of this circuit which is for the best because I’d assume it would look pretty pathetic. We also did these cardio side things (below) at some point in the workout but my mind must have blocked them out because I don’t remember.

Then she made us do bear crawls and crab walks and as far as I’m concerned her only reason was to make us look like idiots (it worked):

And again:

And last up we went through the cardio line from the beginning of the class. The time to beat was 3 minutes and 27 seconds and we pounded it out in 3:12!

All in all it was a great workout class. Thank you to Samantha who took the time to come teach us and to everyone who came out, sweated and donated! We plan to have another class in September around my birthday (so I can easily guilt more people into coming) so start preparing mentally and physically now.

Pretty much immediately after I hobbled home I ate this (because why else would anyone workout twice in one day)?

ALSO, courtesy of my sister (Cosi), Tom and Beverly, we had these things at the office this morning. . . No, we don’t just eat here. . .we do work sometimes too!

I am happy to say that this weekend’s long run is only 6 miles and that I have today off from working out. Which is good because the only thing I want to do later is sit on the couch and watch movies, woot!

 

Waking Up Is Hard To Do

MOST of the time, I’m a morning person. . . this morning however was not one of those times. When my alarm went off at 5:30 for my 5 mile run it took everything in me to get out of the bed. I’m not sure when this started happening but now when I’m sore from a workout (yes, intramural basketball is a workout) the soreness lasts for days! Every muscle in my body hurts and it took a 10 minute self pep-talk (out loud of course) to get out of bed. If this happens at 26 I’m not sure I want to see what 36 is like. .  ugh. Anyways I did it. . .very reluctantly.

Usually by the time I stand up, get dressed and head out the door I feel almost completely awake and ready to run. Today though, I felt like this:

To distract me from how tired I was I engaged in one of my favorite activities: people watching. Unfortunately at 6am the only people out to watch are other runners (who were passing me) which reminds me of this hilarious photo:

When I run with my roommate Meghan, I always break up longer runs for us in half and then tell her once we get halfway there, we just have to get home. For some reason it seems easier that way and she falls for it every time. It’s a little harder when you’re running alone to trick yourself. I kept going though and when I turned around at the 2.5 mile mark to head back I was actually feeling better and more awake (probably because I knew I was closer to coffee).

At the 4 mile mark I saw a guy doing something that I will never understand: running in place at a stoplight. Everyone knows that stoplights are for resting! Am I the only one that hopes that light turns red as I’m approaching? I gave that guy the stink eye and finished up the rest of my 5 miles. Slowly, but I did it!

 

Some days, like today, I wonder why I signed up to do this marathon thing (again). But then I remember how awesome it is to cross the finish line AND raise money for a great cause. Right now though, I wish this was me:

P.S. I’m so sore that I would consider not even moving to eat today. I’m nervous for what Samantha has in store for us tonight.

Basketball, Movies and Early Morning Run

Cross training this week was basketball so it meant that there was actually some cardio going on.

Go Team Manny’s!

My dad had some serious basketball skills back in the day (and street cred) and I played on our Catholic girls middle school team (not to brag or anything) but as an adult, I suck. I pretty much have the worst combination of qualities that you would want for this sport. I’m impatient, I’m slow, I am aggressive and competitive but also really, really clumsy. Growing up my dad was my coach (naturally) and I remember him telling me two things: never shoot (for good reason) and when in doubt kick it out. I was however, an amazing rebounder (not that I could shoot the ball after I grabbed it). I definitely could have used some of this:

Because I ended up with these:

In the end it was all okay because I brought homemade chocolate chip cookies. Food solves everything right? Speaking of food. . . last night I went to Movie’s in the Park to see Ghostbusters and ended up with this spread:

Word to the wise: do not go grocery shopping when you’re hungry or you’ll end up with things like blueberry goat cheese, salami and Gummy Tummy penguins. . . Pretty much right after we sat down and started eating the rain came down. We held out for a little while (well really until we finished the wine) and then high tailed it out of there. So in other words, I still have not seen Ghostbusters. Of course it stopped raining right after we got back and it looked like this outside:

This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and ran 5 miles. In case you have never experienced running that early, it looks like this:

And if you’re still confused, you can refer to the beginning of pretty much any Law and Order SVU episode. Also, if you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing me, running, early, you can take a look at this mug (it’s not pretty):

Side note: This shirt is Steve’s and I’m only wearing it to show him that it is not an everyday shirt like he thinks and that it is meant for all of the things I used it for this morning. . . like aerobics when few people are around to see, sweating profusely and blowing my nose in (I hope you’re reading this 😉

Today is, I think, the 2nd or 3rd day of summer and apparently what that means in Chicago is a foggy, wet (but not raining) medium temperature that I do not think has been classified yet. You’re a little cold and you’re also drenched but nothing is coming down from the sky? It’s weird. . . I’d like to file a formal complaint with whoever handles the weather here but I’m guessing there’s a long line. I am happy though that I can wear a t-shirt and shorts instead of 12 pairs of socks like in the winter so I’ll stop complaining now. Here is a picture of the weather and it looks exactly how I described it right?

So my 5 miles for today are done and for anyone who would like to experience what it’s like to be behind the person wearing that shirt, here you go, you’re welcome:

Also, a shameless Team LUNGevity plug: If you are free on Thursday night (tomorrow) at 6:30pm, join us for a donation workout class!

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2014
Time: 6:30pm
Location: Northeast corner of Michigan and Roosevelt
Cost: Suggested $10 donation Get ready to sweat in a full body workout that will hit every muscle while incorporating bursts of cardio to keep your heart rate up! Using your own body weight you’ll sculpt your way through an hour long boot camp style class and leave feeling wonderfully exhausted!
Learn more about LUNGevity and where your donation goes HERE

A Little Running and A Lot of Eating

This is going to be a quick blog post so here goes:

Last week Anna and I tried to use a mailbox and it was full. They don’t teach you this stuff in college, we had to rely solely on street smarts. . .

Flaco’s Tacos, near Chicago Red Line is awesome. . .

I ran 9 miles but it was so uneventful, aside from about 3 minutes of rain, that I won’t even say anything about it. . .

Except my Nike App played a nice little joke on me. . .

And then I ate a lot of things like this bruschetta from Frasca. . .

And these roasted brussel sprouts with cauliflower, bacon, onions and parm. . .

Oh and then pizza. . .

And also I made these. . .

And then these for intramurals. . .

And that about sums it up!

Fartleking. . . Yup, You Read that Right

Yesterday I got home from work and had to run a few errands before heading out on my run. . . and wait out the heat like a baby. So after going to the grocery store, picking up my contacts and dropping a dress off at the dry cleaner I got this alert from my Nike Plus app:

Ummmm, no? I’m ready to do 3 miles though? I literally have no clue what Nike was talking about but it was enough to get my butt out the door. Since I suck at speed I decided I’m going to ease my way in by doing a Fartlek workout (and because the name is fun). Fartlek is Swedish for speed play and basically means you alternate between moderate and hard but in an unstructured way. So as I was running my 3 miles, I would randomly spot something a block or so ahead and sprint to that object and then jog at a moderate pace to recover. The first half of my run was fun and went quickly. During the second half I found myself picking out people walking towards me as the end mark for my sprint. . .clever right? Overall though I think having to choose random things to run to made the workout fun and go by MUCH more quickly than my treadmill workout last week. I ended up with an average pace of 8:12 which is good for me!

This morning’s run was pretty much the opposite. Meghan and I made a plan to do our 5 miles together before work so we set our alarms for 5:20am and when it went off this morning, neither of us looked happy about it. But we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed out the door anyways. Thankfully the rain held out and while we both felt tired and sore, we finished the 5 mile run. . .slowly. . .but we finished. One thing that I’ve learned through marathon training is that sometimes it’s okay to just be happy that you woke up, got out of bed and completed your run. A couple years ago I would have taken a slow run as a failure and just given up the whole thing. Now I can realize that deciding to get up and run the 5 miles is a success.

The good part of running in the morning is that it’s done! We got back to the apartment before 6:30am and had already accomplished something! Tonight though, after book club, it will be stretch and foam rolling time because I am SO sore. Also. . . this is how I feel today (okay, most days). . .

 

LUNGevity Outing, Long Run and A Lot of Food

As far as I’m concerned, a weekend full of food is considered a success! This weekend kicked off with a LUNGevity outing to the Sox game (we won’t talk about who won). Thankfully I had fit my 3 mile run in before work with Meghan because we started downstairs on the patio where I consumed all of this:

And then we went upstairs and Deanne had to pull my leg (not) to eat this:

Despite the loss, we had a great time and ended the night with fireworks. I also got to meet and hang out with one of the survivors that attended Hope Summit and happens to be awesome!

Then Saturday was my first long training run for the marathon!! Yes, there will be a point where I say that and whine but for right now it’s still a ‘short’ long run and it’s still really exciting. So Meghan, my roommate that happens to have the same running schedule, and I woke up on Saturday, putzed around for a little and then went out for 8 miles! We headed down Wellington East towards the lake and then once we hit the lake path we went North until we hit the 4 mile point. We took a little selfie (naturally) and grabbed water. . .

. . . and then we headed back south on the lake path and turned down Addison towards home. The first 5-6 miles felt pretty easy and since our end goal is to run a 9:09 minute mile, we aimed for around a 10 min/mile for the long run (for anyone who doesn’t know your long runs are supposed to be done slower than race pace). The last 1-2 miles were a little bit of a challenge but with Great American Bagel in our near future, we hung in there until the end! Side note: the employees at Great American Bagel now look afraid when I walk in wearing running clothes after I passed out last year!

One great thing about training for a marathon is that you get your long weekend runs in usually before anyone else is even awake. This makes you feel super productive and proud, that is until the tired hits and you spend the afternoon snoozin. Once we got back we laid on the couches (yep, gross) and watched TV and dozed off until we finally got up to shower and then napped again. You go from productive to basically useless in a matter of hours. BUT by 2pm or so we got a second wind and ended up at Blues Fest with some fwends where this happened:

Then we headed over to Zapatista and continued to eat (guac and chips) and drink Sangria. Which by the way, I happen to consider part of the fruit group since it’s basically just fruit soaked in wine. . with a lot more wine added.

Sunday, I woke up bright and early to drive Rejane to the airport : ( and then went home to celebrate Father’s Day with my fam (what a great looking group of kids right?).

We went to my grandma’s where we met up with the rest of our family and grilled out. It obviously consisted of a lot of food and one of my favorites. . . banana cream pie made by this old lady (it’s her birthday Friday woo!):

(I definitely would have taken a picture of all of the food but I was way too busy eating it)

Monday was a cross training day and typically I would have been at intramurals but I took my brother to Champaign for registration. Since we spent the whole day walking around U of I, I consider that to be my training. Also, luckily (for me), our game was cancelled because of the rain so I didn’t miss out! Tonight is a 3 mile speed workout and I am going into it prepared (and also with super light clothing because it is HOT out). Stay tuned to see how it went!

Also, the official results from the 5K last week were posted online today and I actually ran a little faster than I had thought!

PR and The Best Dad Ever

Yesterday I joined my sister and the Cosi team for the Jim Gibbons 5K at Diversey Harbor. My training called for 5 miles but I figured this would be the perfect chance to do a 5K at race pace and then jog the other 2 miles as a cool down.

I met Shelby before the race and we picked up our packets and then headed over to the start line. Since the beginning was being taped live by ABC 7, I thought it would be the perfect chance to represent in my Team LUNGevity t-shirt (hope everyone DVR’d the news last night)! So I made my sister inch to the front of the pack and hastily promised her we wouldn’t be trampled like Walmart shoppers on Black Friday.

Cheesin at the start line.

The alarm sounded to begin the race and as we passed the start line I waved frantically to draw attention to my shirt. On the news clip later I saw myself flailing and my sister giving me the stink eye. We stuck together for the first block or so and then I took off. We headed north out of Diversey Harbor on the path and the first mile was quick for me. As I passed the mile marker and saw 8:37, I picked up the pace for mile 2. Towards the end of the second mile the hills kicked in and I think I finally understood what it felt like for my dad to walk to school barefoot up hill both ways. My legs were burning and I was starting to breathe harder. Just as I was about to slow down though I passed the second mile marker and saw my time was 16:43. I did a little mental motivation and with one mile to go I decided to just give it my all and get to the end as quickly as I could. So I kept up the pace and crossed the finish line of the 5K with my best time ever 26:39! Finish photo cred goes to Sondra who shamelessly held my fanny pack as I ran.

Once I crossed the line, Sondra and I cheered my sister on as she finished (so proud of her) and then we headed over to the Cosi tent to stuff our faces.

We filled up on cookies, fruit, salad, chips and the best sandwiches ever. I started taking photos as I was in line for the food but then got distracted by how many sandwich choices there were and ended up not actually taking photos of them. . .

Father’s Day is a pretty special holiday in our house but to be honest, there really isn’t a single day that goes by that I don’t think about how thankful I am to have my dad. When they ask you to fill out those random security questions for websites like ‘what was your first car make and model’ or ‘what was your best friends name growing up’, I always choose ‘who was your childhood hero’ and the answer is my dad (although it’s really his full name because it needs to be 7 letters. . .but don’t steal my identity). My dad is the hardest worker, the best mom and dad, and the coolest guy I know. He taught us to be a leader (even when it’s not cool) and more importantly, he taught us how to take care of ourselves but that it’s okay to call him for help. Clearly he did a great job raising us (coughcough. . I’m awesome) but I think the fact that we are already fighting over who gets to take him when he’s old means that he must have done something right.

So Happy Father’s Day to this guy!

 

 

 

Goodbyes and Hellos

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to another one of my work fwends, Rejane. While I will miss her (and having an eating buddy here), I am excited for her new adventure in Sunny LA. Since it was her last day, we celebrated the only way we knew how. . .with food. We started with lunch at Pazzo’s where I got the Caprese Salad and she got the Chopped. Then the office closed at 4 and we grabbed an assortment of desserts at Toni’s and ate like tourists next to the bean.

After our goodbye part 1 for Rejane (we are going to the Sox game and patio party tomorrow), I hightailed home to change quickly for Chicks Night at Fleet Feet with my roommate. While I’ve frequented the Old Town and South Loop  fun runs, I had never been to the Lincoln Square location before. We took the brown line to Western and got there just in time to introduce ourselves and head out. As I train for the Chicago Marathon, Meghan trains for the Women’s Half on Labor Day weekend so our running schedules have been syncing up making yesterday a 5 mile run for both of us! We followed with the group as we headed out towards the river for the first 2.5 and then turned around and did the second half just the two of us. While I love running on the lake path and in Lincoln Park/Lakeview, it was nice to get out and get a change of scenery and meet some new people.

Once we got back to Fleet Feet we stretched out a little bit, I started a new tracking sheet and we said our goodbyes before heading home. Just a quick shameless plug for Fleet Feet: if you haven’t been to a Chicks Night before, it’s definitely something worth trying at least once. Everyone there is genuinely excited about running and supportive of your training. You meet people with similar goals as you and you are able to motivate one another as you get your workout in!

Tonight after work I will be running the Jim Gibbons 5K that starts at Diversey Harbor and then continuing for the 2 miles home to get in my 5. For anyone interested in benefiting the Leukemia Research Foundation you can still register at the event starting at 4:30pm today! I’ll see you there (I’ll be the one wearing the Team LUNGevity shirt)!