Just Plodding Along

Dear Snow, I am over it. The blowing, drifting, frozen ridiculousness. While my relationship with the treadmill is still going strong I would really like to explore other options. Outside options. Options that include pavement and trails and sunshine. So snow if you could just move it along and take the frozen temperatures and ice with you I would really appreciate it. In need of a run outside in sunshine, Bean Go AWAY

Since the first of the year the hubs and I have been eating mostly vegan. I say mostly because the occasional chocolate sneaks through / work event where every thing is covered in cheese happens. It is partly to force the eating of more fruits and veggies and partly me being horrified after a documentary I watched about the food industry. My husband is super supportive of me so he was game to change his eating habits too. We played Taps for the last package of bacon. That being said I am not preachy about it and if you invite me over for dinner I won't turn my nose up (and will bring wine). But I am going to talk about what I eat so if you are not into it skip this post and I promise the next one will be about running again. And of course the disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I am a big believer in everything in moderation including moderation. I do think having more of a plant based diet is better for you.I do not think eating meat is bad for you but I do think the...

Confession: I didn't do my workout yesterday. 7 miles of hills. It went a little something like get up super early, get dressed, obtain water bottle and Ipod. Start treadmill. Run a few steps. Hit stop. Chuck off shoes. Get back in bed. My body and my mind just said no. And that bothers me. I have a training schedule. It is giant and plastered to my wall. MUST RUN ALL RUNS. But I am tired. My legs ache. I just didn't want to run. Which doesn't happen often so I am trying to listen. There was a moment or several moments when I wanted to make up the mileage today which is my rest day. But I couldn't do it. I just didn't want to run. The not running part doesn't bother me so much. I know that the runs that really matter at this point are the long runs. The time on my feet. The mind numbing and joint punishing hours of moving forward that is distance running. What bothers me is that the schedule said I was supposed to run and I didn't. But sometimes not ru...

Today I was super productive and this happened So happy that I got registered So confused why the entire experience was super difficult and stressful and how the entire registration process is shut down with 15,000 slots left until further notice because active.com couldn't handle it Isn't this one of the largest marathons in the world in a world class city? I am confused. Where they just unprepared for the demand?  I may be new to this whole marathon scene but I am pretty sure this is one of the big ones. For those of you still waiting, I hope you can register soon! And since I have to get up progressively earlier to run my progressively longer runs for Wisconsin marathon training this is my life now:

Things got a little out of hand this weekend. I registered for It is the day after my last twenty miler in my marathon training, actually I think it is a twenty two miler. So I am not expecting any speedy awesomeness at this distance but I have never done an 8K before so that is exciting. It is a huge race and an awesome course so I can't wait! Plus packet pick-up is at Navy Pier which I have yet to visit so I am excited to head down there for the expo. I locked this one down. Also on the day of a twenty miler. Going to figure out a seven miler warm-up. On the bright side I will have to be there super early so hopefully that will mean awesome parking spot. And drum roll please, my final half marathon on my quest of thirty before thirty will be It is around Highland Park and looks really fun except for rumor of a giant hill towards the end. Now that is just cruel. I am so excited to have a plan to finish out my goal. I will also be registering for this half as num...

Only a few more days until I can register for I am so excited. Plan of attack: Go to work  Try to stay busy until registration opens Stay glued to computer with hand firmly on mouse ready to click Ignore everything until registration goes through Freak out if actually get in Start the hunt for the great white whale- a hotel room fairly close to the race Whose with me?

Thank you all for your very kind words. Losing a pet is always hard and thanks for being patient with me while I expressed my sadness on my blog. I would be lying if I said last week's training didn't suffer a bit. On Sunday I had 13 miles on the schedule and did around 5.6 and then called it a day. My heart was just not into it and I was feeling off so I called it done early and took it easy for the rest of the day. Thank you all for your very good advice about incorporating a half marathon into a long run. I will for sure be doing it for this half On the day of a twenty miler. This will be an early morning if I am going to get in seven miles before the start but I think I agree with you all. Keeping running after the race is over seems like a horrible idea. A much better idea is to finish the race, stop running and then stuff my face. This race is on the day of an 8 miler, but the day before a 15 miler so I think this will become a 15 miler and the day after wil...

This week we had to say goodbye to our dog Nellie. She has been with me for most of my adult life. It is strange to turn around and her not be there under my feet trying to trip me down the stairs.   She was not exactly a good dog. She was destructive and on a constant hunt to find gum or lip balm to steal out of your purse and chew up. She has peed on just about everything that we own.  She didn't like to be petted or cuddled unless it was on her terms. If you woke her up she would snap at you.  Her favorite thing to eat was poop. Her absolute favorite flavor of poop was goose. She was constantly burping and farting, snoring or making some sort of noise. She would also try an attack dogs three times her size.  She was my constant companion when I was alone in a strange place when my husband was deployed for a year and a half. She has seen me through college, marriage, moving and living in Colorado, Alaska, Arizona and Illinois. She would go...

Okay not really but I am so sore. Yesterday I felt really good when I started my 7 mile hill workout on the treadmill. So I pushed the pace and the hills. Not the brightest idea. I got a fantastic workout in but then all day felt off. Was kind of oddly sweaty for the single digit temps around here and my calf muscles are letting their displeasure be known. Looking back at the last few run I have pushed it on all of them. It is exciting to see myself getting a little bit faster but in doing this am ignoring the goal I had of keeping easy runs easy. Easy runs are just as important as any sort of strength or speed run and yet I ignore myself and the scientific advice of those way smarter than me when I ignore the 'easy runs stay easy' motto. So listen up self- Friday is a tempo run so feel free to bust your butt if you can move by tomorrow but Sat and Sunday, nothing faster than a 10 min/ mile pace. And because it is funny Mine really sob during treadmill runs Does ...

This weekend I decided to throw caution to the wind and push it to test my fitness. I feel like training has been going well. Even though most of it has been on the treadmill, so far so good. Saturday I started with a ten minute mile pace warm-up for half a mile.Then got to work running at an average 8:43 pace. A pace I hardly ever hit unless it is during a race. I was pretty spent after but felt good. Sunday when I got up my legs were tired but I thought hey this is happening Snow, snow, snow so let's see what we can do inside. I decided to do a ten mile progressive run that went a little something like this: Mile 1- 10:31- easy peasy Mile 2- 10:20- oh yeah I got this no problem Mile 3- 10:10- I am gonna rock these 10 miles on a treadmill- I am the treadmill queen Mile 4- 10:00- Comfortable at this pace, maybe too comfortable Mile 5- 9:50- kickin it up a notch oh yeah Mile 6- 9:40- huh this notch is kind of hard Mile 7- 9:30- what the heck bring on the pain ...

Half marathons run: 0 Races in general run:0 So sad. I miss racing. People residing in a warm state and running races are making me jealous. Somebody hand me a medal. Miles run this month: 114 I have been uping my mileage each week. Week one: 22 miles Week two: 25 miles Week three: 27 miles Week four: 30 miles So far so good with marathon training but it is only just beginning. I have done pretty good with yoga and strength training but I could do better. So this month I am going to focus on making sure I fit it in. I also want to up the speed a bit. Push it a little more. I spend a lot of time on the treadmill might as well put it to good use and use it as a tool to help bring on the speed a bit more. Other fun January stuff: Fun in the city with family These came and then these. Hello sales. Shoes for the next few months obtained. Goals were made. Love my Believe I Am journal. Tried new restaurant Firkin. Best part was the beer. Which I now appar...