Minneapolis-Star-Tribune-runningkellometers

This week I decided to try and start speed work again in preparation of a 5k and half marathon I have coming up in October. After working out with Kate on Sunday, my arms were sore for most of the week. The soreness finally subsided yesterday, but I was worried how it would effect my running on Tuesday. Thankfully, it didn't. I wanted to kick things off with a tempo. I met up with the FNRC for the 2nd week in a row on a Tuesday. There are a few folks in the group who are around my pace and they were on board for the temp run attempt. However, I was a little rusty on how to properly adjust my Garmin. I had it set to the "average pace" function instead of the "lap pace" function so things didn't exactly go as planned.

The warm-up was a bit too fast at an 8:27 pace. The next two mile splits were exactly the same (including the turnaround) at 8:14. We picked it up for the last tempo mile and it was more 5k pace than tempo pace (7:21). The last mile I slowed things down for a legit cool-down (10:07). My legs felt great and I enjoyed pushing them, but I know this wasn't the best executed workout. However, I'm okay with it and this workout gave me a little bit of my confidence back. Next week I'll try something different for my speed work and I know it can only get better!

I don't really like to cook and when I make dinner, I look for the EASIEST recipes that include ingredients that we have on-hand. Thanks Pinterest for existing! Last night my husband and I wanted something lighter for dinner since neither of us were super hungry. I found an easy Pinterest recipe (found here) for a corn/tomato salad. I modified it slightly and left out some of the ingredients (on accident). My salad included:

All it needed was a quick toss and voila! I used the flash so things are kind of bright, but it was light, delicious, and totally hit the spot. I bought mozzarella cheese and croutons to use but totally forgot it. It still tasted good without it too! I made another one to bring to work today with the leftover corn and tomatoes.

After this delicious salad, I laid down to do my PT exercises. Pepper just wouldn't let me lay still so I did some strength training too. :)

Ropey is her 2nd favorite toy (after the tennis ball)

I like to lift weights. I didn't really do much lifting last marathon cycle but I've been getting more into it this year. I don't read fitness or weight lifting magazines or books so I never really know what to do in the weight room. An important part of weight lifting is your form and I never know if I'm doing it right. I'm overly flexible in my joints so things never go they way they "should." Once I know the right way, I can control the movements to make sure I'm getting the most out of my workout. Thankfully my friend Kate S. knows what's up. She has been lifting weights for a few years now and knows her way around. She has helped push me beyond the realm of baby colored weights, into believing in myself and what I can lift. Whenever I workout with her, she helps push me outside my normal range, and it is never the same routine. I always learn something new which I then try to incorporate on my own. We lifted on Sunday afternoon and I'm still not fully recovered. My arms are mega sore, but in a good "they are getting stronger" kind of way. I know if I lifted weights more often, they wouldn't be this sore. However, with all the time I need to spend studying and everything else, I'm lucky if I get a chance to go to lift weights once a month!

I have some questions for all of you!

How often do you lift weights (if at all)? 

How do you look up a weight lifting routine? What resources do you use (working with a trainer, fitness magazine, YouTube videos)?

Would you be interested in finding out more about a suggested weight lifting routine?

And because every post needs a photo, here are a few quick shots of me trying to flex in the mirror of my office building locker room.

The last one is my favorite, but someone was coming in so I had to pretend like I was being a creep. Therefore, it ended up being blurry. Oh well. And I apologize for the late post. My building doesn't get good cell reception so the photos wouldn't send from my phone to my email. Technology fail.

In case you don't yet already know, I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. This means that I cheer for certain sports teams on a regular basis. I'm not here to talk about baseball though. It is time for my favorite time of year... Football season! I'm a Bears fan and have been since the beginning of time.

At the Bears game with my friend Steph in December 2011

When watching the game yesterday with my husband, I got a little overly excited when Shea McClellin would make any tackle or play. Why? Because I know him! I met him and he was really nice. I met him over the summer when the folks at the Chicago Half Marathon were doing a promotional event with some Chicago area bloggers. We got to meet and have an open discussion with Chicago's very own first round draft pick! It was a pretty exciting day and I have a feeling the excitement will continue throughout the season!

Maggie and I with Shea

Shea was really nice, humble and down to earth. I think it was really great that he took the time to come out and talk with us Chicago running bloggers. He talked about his family, football (and how much running he does in practice), and the big move from a small town in Idaho to Chicago. He's really excited to play with some of the great defensive players we have here in Chicago and I'm looking to see him develop as an asset to the team in the season to come!

And a big congratulations to everyone that completed the Chicago Half Marathon over the weekend! I was sad I didn't get the chance to run it as we had a big family wedding the night before (yes, we've had 3 big family weddings this year). If I didn't have a wedding the night before, this might have been my chance at a redemption race. Oh well, there are other half marathons for that. :) Hopefully next year my schedule will allow me to run this race. If you did run this race, what were your thoughts? Feel free to link up to your race recaps! :)

I'm a little upset. I had this great post all typed out and then my phone froze up. I saw it was saved as a "local draft" but didn't think anything of it. When I had to turn off and turn back on my phone, this "local draft" was gone. FWP for sure.

ANYWAYS... Last night I met up with my favorite group of Thursday night runners. My legs were a little tight from Tuesday's double header so I took it easy and slow. I also only did 3 miles which was also nice.

L to R: Me, Maggie, Joe, Kathy, Becky, Julie, Jill, Amanda, Kim, Becky

It is now September. We get it Mother Nature. Fall hasn't officially started yet. You keep reminding us with your ridiculously humid and hot days and evenings. Evenings are not supposed to be in the 80s. Seriously. Thankfully the temps are supposed to cool down soon. But I have a feeling they'll be right back up there before September is over. We have seen temperatures in the high 70s in October (ahem, Chicago Marathon 2011)...

A few weeks ago I created a "90s Alternative" station on Pandora. I haven't liked a single song or added to the station. It continues to play music from my youth and teenage years and I absolutely LOVE IT. Here are a few gems that came on recently.

Gems I tell ya! After much thought and deliberation, I've decided on a nice little 5k to run the day before the Chicago Marathon. Since I'm not running it this year, I figure I should have some fun the day before! That means I should probably get back to my speedwork since I have taken a little break from it. I hope to start incorporating some speedwork next week. Maybe even a ladder at the track!? :)

Although I'm not running the Chicago Marathon this year, I plan on heading downtown and running with my various friends along the route. I will probably try to be at a few different places. Once everyone else has their plan figured out, I'll probably adjust my plans to fit theirs. Are you running the Chicago Marathon? I plan on wearing something bright so I can stick out when people are looking for me! I'm looking forward to helping out :)

Now that fall is quickly approaching, I'm having some trouble deciding what races to do! It is nice that there are so many great options! I'm already signed up for a few races including the Zooma Women's Half Marathon (with many other Chicago area bloggers) and the Hot Chocolate 15k (I ran the 5k last year).

There are lots of races on and around Thanksgiving. Given the fact that I like to eat, a lot, I'm looking forward to doing a race celebrating one of my favorite holidays. Now the big question is, what race? Here are my options.

1) Palos Turkey Trot (4 miles) - This race takes place on Thanksgiving morning. I ran it last year and had a lot of fun. They increased the price last year with increased swag of gender-specific jackets. The jackets weren't gender-specific, aside from the color (photo evidence here). I was really disappointed and I think lots of other folks were too. This year they are offering half-zip pullovers and the price has increased again. There was no explanation of why the price increased; it just did. I love the store that puts on this race and I'd like to support them, but I just don't know if I can justify paying $55 for a 4 mile race.

Palos Turkey Trot November 2011

2) Poultry Predicter (4 miles) - This race also takes place on Thanksgiving morning. Last year the cost was $8 if you re-registered and $10 for race-day registration. You are not allowed to run with a timing device, but you have to try and guess your finish time. Awards are given for age groups and to those closest to their predicted time. This sounds like a fun one and I don't think that price can be beat.

3) Beverly Turkey Trot (5k) - There was a Schwaggle deal for this but it expired yesterday. Quite a few of my friends are doing it and it is $30 (without the schwaggle deal). The race takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Considering I went to high school in the Beverly area, I have a feeling I may run into some folks from high school if I do this race. That could either be a good or bad thing. Lol.

4) Schaumburg Turkey Trot (Half Marathon) - This race also takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I have a weakness for half marathons and medals. I know a few other folks running this race and I would have time to do some speed work to try to aim towards a PR again.

I can't decide if I want do to 1 or 2 of these races! Because of the time I should be spending studying and reviewing by the time November rolls around (the exam is December 1), running will probably continue to take more of a backseat like it has been the last few months. Decisions, decisions!

What are your thoughts? Are you running any of these races?

Ah Labor Day. It was the last weekend of the summer, and mother nature wanted to remind us. It was a hot one and my previous post about marathon regret seemed far, far from my mind. I ran a leisurely 3 miles on Saturday morning in the hot and humid sun instead of 18 or 19 miles. My weekly schedule has been off because of my work and study schedule. I planned to do my long run on Sunday and then Monday but neither one of those ended up happening. I chose to study and drink margaritas instead of running. I regret nothing.

Although running didn't fit into the schedule, we did go out on kayaks for about an hour. We went a mile out down a small creek to get to a mini retention dam. We took lots of photos but they are still on a camera (and not my camera). On the way back, my husband's little cousin wanted to join me on my kayak. I accepted and moved that little extra 60 lbs back home without any problems. I thought my arms would feel like jello afterwards, but they didn't. I guess that means I wasn't paddling hard enough. Haha.

Yesterday I had a vacation day where I planned on sleeping in and having a productive day. Well, sometimes the best laid plans don't always come to fruition. I was feeling some guilt for having not run all weekend so I got up super duper early to run 6 miles with some of my FN Runner friends. After I got home, I stretched and then went back to sleep for a few hours. I felt much better the 2nd time around and was able to get some studying done. Unfortunately, the laptop I was using completely died so I wasn't able to do all the review problems that I wanted to. So I watched an episode of Rizzoli and Isles instead. And since I was off work, I got a chance to run with the Tuesday night FN Runner group that I never get to run with. Even though I ran in the morning, I decided to also run at night too. I mean, I am running Ragnar 2013. Why not start prepping now, right? :)

Evening run outfit. My lavender Oiselle Lori Shorts matched my socks and shoes perfectly.

In other news, my dog got groomed and she HATED it. She has been slightly traumatized since her new haircut but is slowly returning to her old self. I think her face in this photo says it all.

The winner of my original Zipfizz giveaway never contacted me so I had to draw another winner. The new winner is: