I know I'll have a "Perfect" Training Cycle - Chicago, 2011

Where's my boo?

Oh she's having fun right now! Gee Dangit!

I hope you are enjoying Florida and I hope you aren't getting wallopped (sp?) by that tropical mess that was forming yesterday. Stay dry and stay safe! I can't wait to read about your vacation.

Hey everyone! We're back and I have lots of blogs to pop into and catch up on!!!! I appreciate everyone's comments!

We got back last night and I went to work today...that was tough! Even tougher? My first run back tonight. I have to admit, while being lazy on vacation and drinking a copious amount of beer and extra spicy Bloody Mary's was realllllllllly fun, it's back to work with my training.

Martin was a sweetheart and went for my run with me when I got home. I got frustrated that I was running so slow, but I reminded myself that the extra bloated, slow, quads hurting feeling will go away in a few runs. Martin was a big key in the reminding. Monday's are normally my day off, but I had enough of those last week so we decided I'd run. He said 4 and my mind was saying none, but we started out running. I told him as we were crossing Michigan Avenue that I was running 3. He said he'd take off and get his run in, because he was running longer, so I told him, 'cool, have a great run'. I got to Roosevelt and Michigan Avenue and started walking up the hill. I was feeling the partying ways of last week today on this run. I'm thinking to myself that the walk felt nice...I got to catch my breath and cool down.....when who do I see running down the hill towards me? No other than my hubby....I was busted! He meets back up with me and said, "come on, let's go!" and we ran. 4 miles. As you can see, I'm still really struggling with the mental thing. Oh well, I'm sure it will shake out in time.

Anyway, we got home and he got dinner going and now we're about to eat.

Martin, I love you so much. I love you for your patience, for your knowledge, for everything you are. I really thank you for coming back to get me, I needed it and you showed up.

Good job! I need a Martin to help with my mental toughness!!

Hope you guys had a great vacation.
You'll get that pre-vacation speed back in no time!

Your vacation sounds really fun! Give it a couple of days to get back in the regular routine and you'll be as speedy as ever!

Sounds like someone had a great time and Martin I love you so much also! So cute you two!

Hey don't worry about the speed for now...it will come back, try doing what I did and go from perfect weather to sucky weather...your weather has to be cooler than Florida. Based on what I saw on Facebook it sounds like you guys had a blast on your trip, I can't wait to hear more about it.

Sounds like you had an absolutely fantastic time in Florida. I love your FB posting on on the Oyster Extravaganza - I think you have an oyster eating contest in your future! And to echo the other sentiments, heavy legs after a layoff are to be expected and it'll be back to normal in a run or too. You might want to try a put a little pep in the end of your next one to show the legs you mean business and they better get back with the program!

Peg Coover wrote:Good job! I need a Martin to help with my mental toughness!!

Thanks! Yeah, having Martin around is awesome in general, and then you throw in the fact I have him to run with and it's even better!

Seth Harrison wrote:Hope you guys had a great vacation.
You'll get that pre-vacation speed back in no time!

Thanks Seth, I'm looking forward to it. In fact, as I was running yesterday, I told myself to remember how it felt - the whole heavy legs, heavy breathing, blobby/out of shape feeling. Like Martin said, I was paying the Piper.

Julie wrote:Your vacation sounds really fun! Give it a couple of days to get back in the regular routine and you'll be as speedy as ever!

Thanks Julie! It was a really fun vacation, and as always, went way too fast. It feels good to be back home though and back into a routine. I'm looking forward to getting the speedy back.

Kenny B. wrote:Sounds like someone had a great time and Martin I love you so much also! So cute you two!

Haha! We did have a great time! He's so easy to love!

Joel H wrote:Hey don't worry about the speed for now...it will come back, try doing what I did and go from perfect weather to sucky weather...your weather has to be cooler than Florida. Based on what I saw on Facebook it sounds like you guys had a blast on your trip, I can't wait to hear more about it.

We had a blast! I even got to do Karaoke!! I'll post about my 9 mile run at some point too. Our weather is cooler than Florida, but only in the humidity. In Florida, you'd walk out the door and it was hard to breathe! Haha! Here, you walk out the door and you start sweating, but you can breathe. I have my run tonight and I'm hoping it's not too hot. Then again, I'll take the heat over snow and ice ANY DAY!

Tom H wrote:Sounds like you had an absolutely fantastic time in Florida. I love your FB posting on on the Oyster Extravaganza - I think you have an oyster eating contest in your future! And to echo the other sentiments, heavy legs after a layoff are to be expected and it'll be back to normal in a run or too. You might want to try a put a little pep in the end of your next one to show the legs you mean business and they better get back with the program!

Ahhh....yes, the Oyster Extravaganza!!! How yummy it was!!! You can't beat .25 oysters! That meant I put down 5 dozen! Martin had 4 dozen...then I had 2 pounds of crab legs! Hahaha! Hmmm...come to think of it, no wonder I feel like a fat ass....well, the super yummy extra spicy Bloody Mary's were a nice addition. I like your idea of putting a little pep in the end of my next run. It's almost like telling my legs to 'snap out of it'!

Thanks for your comments everyone and the mental boost, I need it. Like I've said before, I file away what you say in my mental filing drawer and pull the words out when I need them on my run.

Ok, back to work for me How does this much work pile up in 10 days?!?!?!

Just stopping in to say hi and get caught up on your blog. Sounds like you had a sweet vacation! After another run or so, you'll feel back to normal, I'm sure. Best of luck with the Chicago training and here's hoping to a perfect race! Now I have to listen to that P!nk song.

Glad to have you back - now quit being a slacker!

Penelope wrote:Just stopping in to say hi and get caught up on your blog. Sounds like you had a sweet vacation! After another run or so, you'll feel back to normal, I'm sure. Best of luck with the Chicago training and here's hoping to a perfect race! Now I have to listen to that P!nk song.

Hey there, thanks for stopping by! Chicago training is going good and I'm looking forward to running it. You'll love that P!nk song!

John Kilpatrick wrote:Glad to have you back - now quit being a slacker!

John, see..THAT is exactly what my eyes needed to see. Thanks a lot for that, the slacking is over! I took Tom's advice and put it to good use tonight on my run. I ended up running my last 4 miles of my 6 miles faster each mile. It was a bit tough, but I did it. Thanks to all of you for putting a little kick in my ass. Like John said...I'm back!

My run tonight was tough but nice...it was easier than yesterday and that is a good thing. My quads were a bit tired, but I realized that it's due to that time of month. I looked back to June and it was around this same time, so I chalked it up to putting it to good use as in remembering what my hubby told me about it feeling like the late stages of a race. Martin ran with me and I LOVE it when he does! We ran north on the Lakefront Path, down the Riverwalk and back. The weather was soooo nice! It was 75 degrees and breezy. Overall a really nice run. We came home and Martin took care of putting our fruits and veggies in Green Bags and I got dinner going.

Following are my splits:
Mile 1 00:09:25
Mile 2 00:09:46
Mile 3 00:09:39
Mile 4 00:09:13
Mile 5 00:08:24
Mile 6 00:08:55

I want to run north on the lakefront....

Glad to have you back! Now can we resume our evening banter????

Nice run even feeling a little "girly" right now. Proud of you!

ChasMcG wrote:I want to run north on the lakefront....

Glad to have you back! Now can we resume our evening banter????

Nice run even feeling a little "girly" right now. Proud of you!

Evening banter and EMOTICONS!!!!!!

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

ChasMcG wrote:I want to run north on the lakefront....

Glad to have you back! Now can we resume our evening banter????

Nice run even feeling a little "girly" right now. Proud of you!

Evening banter and EMOTICONS!!!!!!

right right!

Awesome vacation = worth a couple days set-back on running. The speed will return, just hang in there. Glad you two had a good time

Mike MacLellan wrote:Awesome vacation = worth a couple days set-back on running. The speed will return, just hang in there. Glad you two had a good time

Thanks Mike, it was a great vacation and one that was really needed! Now, it's back to work...

I have a lot of catching up to do in blogs.

Also big pile of work to do is job security. They need you. Right?

Glad you got to run. Don't feminine problems just make running hard? I hate to complain but more than one of my runs have been pretty miserable for that reason.

Julie wrote:Also big pile of work to do is job security. They need you. Right?

Glad you got to run. Don't feminine problems just make running hard? I hate to complain but more than one of my runs have been pretty miserable for that reason.

Funny you mention the work and job security thing. I tell myself that a lot....being busy and needed is good job security! I'm glad I got to run as well. YES, the feminine problems make running hard. For me in the time leading up to that day, my quads (for about 4 days) just go numb. I can't describe it. It's not a "heavy leg" type feeling, it's a "I'll fall forward if I lean forward", numb feeling. Hmm. But, like Martin says, "use this to your advantage. You're getting a good feeling during any distance of your runs during this time of what pushing hard in a marathon and being in the late stages is like". So, when I look at it that way, it makes it easier.

Glad to be back!

BTW, love your new avatar. Hmmmmm, could that have been the oyster/spicy Bloody Mary evening

That is cool you have so much running support in your husband! Mine is supportive but can't really give me that much specific advice. He does all the driving to our marathons, though.

Yeah, enduring through days we don't really feel like running or things are especially hard are probably for our advantage. When I was finishing up my 20 miler on Monday and was very hot and tired I ran a portion that I had "run" on my due date 2 years ago and I told myself if I ran it then I can run it now. Run is in quotes because it was very slow. Anyway, it was good for me, I guess. (And I'm only 1/3 awake now so forgive the rambling and not fully making sense).

See it only took you 2 runs to get back to normal...it took me 2 weeks after my vacation. You are in a much better place than I am right now.

Love Bloody Mary's! Especially made with Peg's Tomato Juice and a Peg's Pickle!

Julie, can't believe you ran on your due date!

Peg Coover wrote:Love Bloody Mary's! Especially made with Peg's Tomato Juice and a Peg's Pickle!

Julie, can't believe you ran on your due date!

I was put on bedrest later that day and then had her 8 days later. It all worked out. The nurses teased me for walking laps on the recovery floor because I had a marathon t-shirt on and said I was running my own marathon.