Monday, July 31, 2017

Week 8 Chicago Marathon Training

Another week of hateful heat and humidity.  Another week of random pictures, since I run in the dark.

Monday:  Rest day.
Lots of lego building lately and I love it!  He did this helicopter with minimal help from me!

Tuesday:  Speed work.  1 mile repeats x 3.  I honestly hoped that this work out would get canceled somehow.  When I woke up, the dew point was at 72, which I felt was too high for us to attempt any type of speed work.  Mel said, let's just warm up and then decide.  We started out and I felt okay, but we were warming up, so not going very fast.  Then the first mile hit and Mel said, eh, let's try it.  I was suppose to stay between 9:05 and 8:55 per mile,  and the first one was dead on at 8:58.  The second one was not quite as good 9:14, but then I was able to get it back at 9:01.  Let me tell you, my stomach was NOT happy.  Heat makes my tummy so mad, and it was raging at me.  I managed to sip water the entire time but man oh man, I got so sick when I got home.  The heat and I just don't get along, and I am okay with that.

These two crack me up.  Playing in the sprinkler with an umbrella

Wednesday:  Strength and Cross training.  Holy moly.  Coach Jenny sent me a killer work out and I LOVED it!  I was like jello post the work out, but it took only 30 minutes and was totally doable!!!!  I really feel like strength is helping me so much this time around, and I am actually enjoying it for once.
Found this gem and had to take a pic of it.  Tony's first big panel that he built 1998.

Thursday:  6 easy.  Woke up to rain and the rumble of thunder.  I HAD to get my run in no matter what as I had a PTO meeting that night and we meet at a bar so enough said.  I set my alarm for an hour later (I normally get up around 4-4:15) and when it went off, I simply turned it off and went back to sleep.  Bad me!  Post work, I snuck out a little early and ran around town in the heat of the day.  I didn't get the 6 miles I was suppose to, but got 4.5 and was good to go.  Went to the meeting drenched in sweat, but no one cared.  I kind of love this PTO!

Friday:  Cross and rehab or should I say pre hab.  I had to get back on the getting up early train and get up and ride my bike.  I have been having some insomnia issues again, and I hope by getting up super early every morning again, maybe I can circumvent those issues.   I really hate not being able to get to sleep.  I sent a message to Robin to meet me at 5:45 am,  so I had accountability.  The plan worked and we rode for over an hour and caught up on life.  What I had forgotten though?  The sun doesn't come up till later now, so we rode in complete dark for a bit. I sure do need a bike light!!!!


Saturday:  Long run day!  I guess I am going to have to go back to taking melatonin before bed. I could NOT go to sleep.  I remember looking at the clock around 11:30 and thinking this is going to hurt so bad in the morning.  The weather was suppose to be a little cooler in the morning, but I still wanted to get out and going by 5 am, so I could catch some meteors and possibly bring the dogs.  The run itself was pretty good, even though it was 100 percent humidity.  I was able to only take walk breaks for my fueling, which I did every hour (so times three), and at the half way point.  I did still HAVE to take two bathroom breaks in ditches, so still haven't figured out my new found tummy woes.  It has to be my night before meal of cheese pizza, but I have been doing that for years, so why is it suddenly not making my tummy happy?  I even tried just carrying water this time, no Nuun, to see if that is what is tearing up my stomach.

I did have something odd happen.  I decided to do an 8 mile loop with each dog, so brought enough water in my UD hard water bottle and the collapsible water bowl.  As Stella and I progressed, she was doing so well that I decided to keep her out with me more and do a few more miles.  I had stashed her bigger bottle a couple of times on the route, when I knew we were coming back through because it sloshes very loudly when it is in my pack and drives me nuts.  I did so again at around mile 9 as we were going to do another out and back.  When I got back, there was no bottle.  Hmmmmm....  Well, the volunteers that walk the dogs for the humane society were out, but they usually don't walk that far.  The only other runner I saw is a good friend, so I know she didn't grab it.  I didn't see anyone else out so I have NO clue who might have had gotten it.  I was pretty miffed and ended up having to take Stella home, but I got to switch out dogs then so there is that.  Still hoping that bottle shows back up!


Sunday:  Recovery run 6 miles.  Andrew had his first sleep over in Topeka with his friends Anderson and Brooks, so running first thing in the morning was not a choice.  We had some mommy time as well , which included a few beers (and about 15 minutes of La La Land before we had to go separate the boys for being naughty when they should be sleeping).  Sherry was a grad student in the lab I work in back when I first started in biology, and she had moved away for a few years as her hubby had some amazing job opportunities.  As they added kiddos and wanted to put down roots, they felt the need to come back to Kansas to be closer to family, so they settled back in Topeka.  We are SO glad they are SO close and can't wait to do many more sleep overs.  Their son Anderson LOVES board games, which is also a love of mine, so got introduced to many board games over the night and morning.  Anyway, the weather was conducive for an afternoon run so I took advantage of it and ran later in the day.  It was feels like 85 but hardly any humidity.  Funny, I took just a plain plastic water bottle and stashed it on my out and back and no one took it.

Total mileage for the week:  32.42

I am REALLY looking forward to a cooler week, and by cooler, I mean highs in the upper 80s.  This also marks the beginning of some very busy weeks after work and school so I have to start getting up and getting everything done in the morning and not sleeping in and putting it off till after work.  I also have a race this weekend (10K)  and an 18 miler.  YIKES!

Have a great week!

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Week 7 Chicago Marathon Training AKA HEAT WAVE

Another week and another heat wave.  Welcome to me bitching about running in Kansas in the summer.  Yet, I still sign up for fall marathons or ultras every.single.year.  I think it's kind of like child birth, you forgot post doing it.

Monday:  Rest day.  Andrew had an appointment to have these weird bumps looked at by a dermatologist.  He had had the original one for years. but just recently had gotten more, which worried me.  I had done research on what our regular Dr. thought they were and was kind of worried because they could be contagious, although tony and i didn't have any.  Anyway, post a little acid treatment that didn't even hurt at all, we did some work at my work and then headed home for a bath.  The little bumps blistered up like crazy, but still no pain.



Tuesday:  Ladder speed work.  I had every intention of getting up and doing this work out on the mill, as we have extreme heat right now and Mel just had a race so was not up to that kind of speed work or mileage.  My alarm went off, I fed the dogs, and quickly went back to bed.  Sigh.  I was laying there thinking what a mess I was going to have when I had to come home from work and do this work out and still went back to sleep.  I worked all day and got home and jumped on the mill.  While I can't do just flat out mileage for that long, I can for sure do intervals.  Little tiny intervals are fun to do and be done with.  I was suppose to do a ladder of 400 then 800 then 1200 then 1600 and then back down.  I managed to get up to 7 mph during my 1600, and then tried to work up to it on each interval back down the ladder.  In some ways my wish to be done outweighed my fear of going fast :).  I was suppose to do a full mile cool down, but Andrew decided he had had enough of me running on the mill and so had I.

Wednesday:  Cross and Strength.  The thought of getting on my bike post work in feels like 110 just didn't appeal to me.  We ended up eating hot dogs for national hot dog day and watching a movie.  I got my strength and MYRTL done, so I call it a good day.


Thursday:  6 miles easy.  Feels like 84 at 4 am.  Sigh.  At least the humidity was only 74 % and there was a cool breeze blowing.  We still walked almost every mile due to my stomach not being happy (thanks hot dogs).

Friday:  Cross training.  I feel like a broken record, but here lately, getting up at the ass crack of dawn just doesn't sound like fun.  I decided to ride post work, even though it would be in the 100s by then.  As I was getting ready to pack up, I got a text saying a former post doc was in town and wanted to drop by.  We ended up rounding up a bunch of people and having a dinner at a local restaurant, so no bike ride.  I love the pics he got of andrew and my boss:)  She was such a trooper playing all of andrew's apps on his ipad and drawing pictures on scraps of paper with him.  We had some amazing food and some amazing brews.  I had already decided since the heat wave was suppose to break Saturday night, that i would move my long run to Sunday anyway and possibly have to deal with predicted storms versus heat.


Saturday:  Recovery run.  Slept in again and decided to hit the mill later on.  Got my strength training done before we headed out for some fun at Widgets, our local kid's fun place.    That place is the bomb for days when the temperature means we can't do anything else.  



Somehow Daddy's playing of the games got us enough tickets for a plush bomb bird, as well as a new train set.  If you get lucky with the claw game and the tickets, you can hit the jackpot! Post Widgets, I pulled myself onto the treadmill and gutted out 5 miles.  I kid, it wasn't horrible, I got some HBO documentary watching done and for good measure and mental health, I walked every mile for a tenth.  I really really wish I had a screen up higher because looking down at a screen kind of makes me dizzy.


Sunday:  Long run day! I had decided i HAD to get up at 4 am, and I HAD to get out of the door by 5 am if not a little earlier.  Of course I was wide awake till late, but I didn't freak out about it.  Got up and just never let myself sit for long, so by a few minutes before 5, I was dressed, loaded up, and ready to hit the road.  I will have to say this run wasn't the best ever, but it wasn't the worst.  Got to see some lightening in the far off distance, got to see the sun rise, got blessed with some cooler temperatures, and got to get some silent reflection time.  I also battled with my head lamp dying about 5 minutes after I started, my watch deciding it might die at any minute, and the humidity slowing my pace at times 1 to 2 minutes slower than my normal slow easy pace.   All in all, I felt strong and was glad to be done even if my tummy and the humidity totally tried to derail the whole run.  I seriously need to think about re vamping my night before meal and the day off as well as fuel.  Yucky tummy seems to be the new thing and I will never be able to go on group runs ever again if I am constantly getting the runs on the run :)

I made it through yet another week of horrible heat.  While it is affecting my tummy and my pace, I got through it and made it to the other side, plus it made me step outside of my comfort zone and hit the mill for some serious speedwork.  Kudos to all of my friends that finished the 50K this weekend in KC!!!!  You are all rock stars!  I admire each and every one of y'all because there is no way I could have run that race in that heat, even for 10 miles!  Congrats!!!!

Total miles for the week: 34 miles

Have a great week and stay cool!!!!!






Monday, July 17, 2017

2017 posts about Stella and IMPA

Just collecting links for the time line of Stella's IMPA.  Here are the 2017 updates.

http://runningwithreds.blogspot.com/2017/02/stella-update-february-edition.html

http://runningwithreds.blogspot.com/2017/03/stella-update-march-addition.html

http://runningwithreds.blogspot.com/2017/04/stella-update-april-edition.html

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Week 6 Chicago Training

Week 6, just in time for a major heat wave.  Yeah Kansas Summer!!!


Monday:  Rest day.  Home run derby and pasta:)

and time for finding massive worms in our yard!  Look at the dirt in it's digestive tract!

Tuesday:  6 miles.  HOLY MOLY Kansas.  Thanks for the heat and humidity.  77 degrees and 86% humidity at 4:20 am.  I had already alerted my coach that speed work would not be happening.  We had to walk several times just to make it through the mileage we did.

Wednesday:  Cross training and strength.  Post work of course, because I just didn't get up early enough.  I am really enjoying the sets that my coach has been giving me lately.  Short and sweet and to the point.  30 minutes or less and I feel good but not depleted.  I feel like the parts of me that need this are getting super happy.

Thursday:  Woke up to Mel not feeling well and then heard rain coming down.  Sigh.  I hate the dreadmill, so went back to sleep hoping that in an hour it would be done.  When my alarm went off an hour later, I just turned it off.  I know sleep is a good thing, but running post work or doing anything post work really throws everyone in the house off.  I had hoped that post work I could get outside but NOPE.  Still stormy/rainy/yucky, so to the dreadmill I went.  I needed to do speed work but I am terrified of going fast on the mill.  I am very honest in that anything over 6 mph kind of scares me to the point of me wanting to hold on for dear life.  This usually results in a ton of sore muscles and a very sore hip.  The good is that you can set the pace and just let the belt do the work. Coach had given me 1200 meter repeats with 400 meter recoveries.  I decided to set my mill to 6.5 mph with a 1% incline which was suppose to be a 9.09 minute pace, which was within my pace range.  Luckily I was able to complete my warm up and my 4 repeats, but cut the cool down short due to my hip throbbing.  I quickly got off and did MYRTL,  and then got in an epsom salt bath to soak while sipping my tart cherry juice.  Getting old sucks.

Friday:  A quick bike ride for Cross training.  Just a little aside here.  My hubby and I had a discussion about my training.  He had commented that he felt like I ran too much, and that I trained too early for races.  I have always had a coach since I started doing distances greater than 5Ks.  I have run anywhere from 6 days a week, to the now 4 days a week with two of cross and one complete rest day.  I think for anyone to say you run too much is crazy, but I do want him to be honest with me because this really effects him greatly.  He was talking out of frustration. so I will let it pass this time, but dang it was hard not to get super mad.  I think you have to find what is right for you, whatever that might be.  For my body, the sweet spot is 4 days of running a week.  Mentally, I would love if it were at least 5, but physically, that just doesn't bode well for me.  Two days of cross and strength also seems to keep me on the road and injury free.  While I am not perfect, and occasionally miss a cross or strength, I have been doing one thousand times better this training cycle with getting my cross and strength in.  I really think that is why (knock on wood), I have been able to avoid the chiro and massage table thus far.  Kind of scared to type that, but my injury prone body seems to be very happy right now and I like it.  So i guess what I am trying to say is you do you.  Don't let anyone tell you what you should or shouldn't do, unless it is drugs or some sort of destructive behavior (does running fall into this catagory?), then listen to them:) #naturalhigh

oh weather app on my phone, how you lie

Saturday:  Long run day.  I woke up to 70s and 100% humidity.  Really mother N?  At 4:20 am, the dew point was at 73.  Sigh.  I had hoped to get out by 5:30 to avoid some of the sun with the heat and humidity, but didn't get out till 5:45.  I really am going to have to get out BY 5 am, as my mileage increases.  I tried to go two miles at a time before walking, but I ended up towards the end taking a walk break every mile.




The good?  I had a running scavenger hunt I needed to complete.  I needed to find something orange, a dandelion, and the number 11.  I found all things in rather quick succession, so that was a nice distraction for a little while.  The bad?  I had brought just some plain water as well as my Nuun grape water and was using it to dump on my head and the back of my neck.  Except, it was too humid, so the water was not evaporating off of me at all.  I was just one big wet and uncomfortable mess.  I decided I had to get out of my wet and hot clothes, so shucked my shirt and joined the #runbrasquad girls.


me not happy about the heat and the fact that I missed EVERY.SINGLE.IRRIGATION system being on



  This is my I am so over this stupid heat and humidity and it's only July face.  Looking at this picture, I am sure the guy that almost wrecked because he was oogling me thought I didn't have a bra on, since my pack kind of covers that area.  Serves him right for looking so damn hard.

Post run I felt horrible, everything made me super nauseous.  Thanks heat.  I was hungry but couldn't eat or drink. Kind of hard to do recovery when everything makes you feel like puking.  I had to feel better quickly, because we were heading to Topeka to see Pete the Cat at the Toy Store.



This place truly is magical. I find every excuse just to go here as much as I can.  I always find things I want as an adult and so does Tony:)


After standing in line and meeting Pete, we got to do Pete story time and Pete arts and crafts (which we skipped).  


Post Pete we hit On the Border.  I was STILL not feeling well, but that helps with portion control right?  I managed a few chips, and maybe half my lunch.  I did try Tony's watermelon margarita and it was SUPER good.  I need to figure out how to make those at home!



We also hit up the mall for some Old Navy and the carousel.  I never say no to horseback riding, even if it is in a circle.  Maybe some day  I will get my son addicted to horses like I was as a kid.  


I did managed to get my appetite back for this.  We met up with one of my co-workers, who is back from being away for years (previous grad student in my lab) and got to see their new house and let the boys play.  They have a son that is 1 year older and one that is 2 years younger than andrew.  They played non stop for hours and then we all piled in and went to this place called the Burger Stand. Holy moly.  This pictured above was the Smoke burger and had cheese, smoked bacon, and some sort of handmade special ketchup.  I also ordered the sweet potato fries, and they came with cinnamon and sugar on them.  Worth every single calorie, although I shared my fries.  

Sunday:  Recovery run 5 miles.  Slept in instead of getting up super early and running pre sun.  Kind of pointless getting up so early if it is still going to be in the 80s and 100% humidity.  Slept in and got up leisurely, did some stuff around the house, got my strength training in and decided what the heck, I was already sweaty, might as well hit the mill.  I can do the mill as long as I have very loud music motivating me, so listened to my Steve Aoki channel, and then upon request via Andrew, blasted the Trolls soundtrack (which by the way is really good to run to).  Felt good to get it done and start the day which included some grocery shopping, dog food shopping, and a trip to pick up some libations for Game of Thrones.  Yes, I am one of those people, I love GOT!!!!!  Here is to hoping this last season doesn't disappoint.  

We also celebrated National Ice Cream day!



While the heat and humidity has kind of made this week suck, glad to have a mill to hop on when things get too bad outside.  I think this week will be just as bad but it is what it is.  The dogs may go crazy without running and fetching so hoping these temps go down a little so they can join me or we can at least play in the yard.  

Total miles:  30.5

Have a great week!!!!!  Hoping you are surviving summer where ever you are!




Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Running with Dogs and Heat: My Take

If you google this topic, running + heat + dogs, you will get lots of great articles like this one and this one on active.com.  This is simply my take, and remember, I am not a vet, so consult your vet if you have any medical questions.  If I EVER question the heat, I usually err on the side of caution and leave the dogs at home.  IF I do decide to take them, I take ample amounts of water FOR THEM, my phone, and put my hubby on phone watch just in case I need him to come and pick the dogs up.  I also stay on routes that put me fairly close to the house so my hubby can be to us quickly if needed.


Everyone always asks me about how to know when too hot is too hot for the pups.  I have said before, for me, it is a combination of heat + humidity + availability to water (i.e. puddles deep enough to lay down in) + shade.  Sometimes if the heat is higher, BUT the humidity is lower, I will let them go with me.  It really seems like the combo of the two, heat and humidity is what kicks my ass, so I know it doubly kicks theirs, since they are wearing a fur coat.


I have heard that a good rule of thumb is to add the temperature to the humidity and IF the number is 150 or greater, then the run is a NO GO.  I also take into account if you are running on trail versus pavement.  We do have to run over a little bit of pavement to get to the rural roads that are on our route, so I will test the pavement with my bare feet or palms to see if it is cool enough for the dogs to run on.  I also try to head out very, very early in the morning, usually around 4:30 am to avoid the Kansas heat.  I am a wuss when it comes to running in the heat too, so that works for both me and the dogs.  If I am doing a long run and I know that at some point, we will be in the sun and the heat, I will plan to loop by the house around sunrise, so that I can drop the dogs off.


I also DO NOT run with headphones, so that I can hear my dog's foot fall and breathing patterns.  I try and stop every mile or two miles, depending on how they are handling the heat for water breaks.  I bring water for them and me and will bring their collapsible bowl for drinking.  I use the little silicone collapsible bowls that you can get at any pet store or amazon.  They come with carabiners or you can just fit them in your pockets.

Sometimes they just won't drink and I will let them have some of my water that has flavor in it due to electrolyte supplements.  I have also heard you can add baby food to the water to encourage drinking. Also remember, dogs don't use fuel like we do and dogs don't have the same nutrition needs as we do as runners.  They use fat for fuel versus the carbs we need, so don't give them traditional running fuel. You can cause major GI distress in your dog by giving them high carb or high sugar fuel.


Most importantly know the signs of heat stroke.  Remember it can happen very quickly and it is VERY scary and you can loose your dog from it.  I found this info graphic to be very helpful, although in doing research for this blog, I have found many different suggestions as to what to do when your dog is showing signs of heat stroke.  I think the biggest take away for me is take them to the vet immediately if they show ANY signs of heat stroke.  Don't use the wait and see method.  

Summer is a huge question mark for me when running with dogs.  When in doubt,  I just leave them at home and save them from possible heat stroke and me from heart ache.  We have all fall and winter to train so train wisely with your four legged friends!  Our cardio is not worth their life!




Sunday, July 9, 2017

Week 5 training for the Chicago Marathon

I am super duper double fingers crossed hoping for a better week than last week.  Hoping to put behind me whatever bug I was harboring and fighting.


Monday:  Rest day and sort of day off.  Took Andrew and melly's kiddos to the movie theater.  Was delighted to find out that we were in the theater you eat in.  I had never partook in this type of fun and I was bowled over at how cool it was.  The seats recline back and are super comfortable, and the tray has a cup holder and the food is actually good.  Tony and I split some lunch, and I for once actually enjoyed a movie (those of you who know me know I hate sitting still for that long). Despicable Me 3 is very cute and 80s themed, and super short, so perfect for the littles.

Tuesday:  Suppose to be speed work.  We had decided to sleep in a little due to the neighborhoods trying to blow themselves up till all hours of the night.  We knew that would be risky with the heat and humidity, but it appeared even at our normal 4 am time that it would be icky, so why not get a few more hours of sleep.  We were so right, it was 75 and 95% humidity making it absolutely horrible out.  There was this though:


They were everywhere!!!!  We decided to just do 6 miles with several walk breaks.  The humidity just kicks my ass and in such a bad way!!!


The rest of the day was spent partying, parading, and fireworking (is that a word?).  Seriously, if you haven't come to Wamego for the 4th, you are missing out.  For a tiny town, we do it RIGHT!  I got to spend the day with family and my family of running friends new and old.  The only problem?  Late bed time.  

Wednesday:  Cross training and strength.  I knew getting up early was not an option after a long late night, thanks to everyone trying to blow up the hood.  I ended up working late and not getting anything done  at home, but instead I chose to spend time with family before they head back to Tennessee.  I don't regret blowing off my work out at all.  


Thursday:  Speed work 1000 meter repeats x 5 with 1 mile warm up and cool down!  Woke up to fog and 96% humidity with 0 wind.  Yikes.  Got er done only because Mel was there, and I was chasing her and catching her up on all of the gossip.  Apparently we have possibly started a neighborhood war.  We have many rental houses around us, which makes us sad as homeowners, but for the most part, we have had good neighbors.  Well, we recently had some very young, very loud, very irresponsible kids move in behind us and they like to party.  They thought it was a good idea to FILL our garbage can up with their trash, and let me tell you, we have a very big garbage can to fill.  They had already left us many presents of glass vodka bottles (luckily not broken) in our yard.  My hubby decided to track down whose trash it was via finding mail in said trash.  He very nicely knocked on their door, spoke to them about the fact that we pay to have our trash picked up and that we need our can empty for our own trash, and then returned their numerous bags.  Anyway, they were none to pleased and later we saw the cops over there (we did NOT call them), so I have a feeling they associated us with the cop call.  Sigh.  Just what we need in our quiet perfect little hood.  On top of that, someone has been breaking into cars and they got into my van via an unlocked door.  While they didn't take anything (i honestly don't have anything in there other than my car seat of value), I had to fill out a police report and have them dust the various items for prints.  Fun times in my tiny town.  I hope there is no correlation to the recent move ins and the increase in crime :(

Friday: Strength and cross train.  I was determined to get strength in even if I had to do it at work on my lunch break.  I managed to snag my boss's yoga mat and some heavy bottles for weights, and got it done.  Got an 11 mile bike ride in post work.  



Saturday:  14 miles.  Had intended on getting up at 4 am and leaving by 5 am to beat the heat.  When my alarm went off, I hit snooze till about 4:30, and then finally got my butt out of bed.  My garmin says I was on the road by 5:49.  While it was super cool, it was super humid.  I planned on doing an 8 or 9 mile out and back with both dogs and then drop at least deuce off at the house and head back for more.  We ended up doing 10 as one big family, looping by the house and dropping off Deuce, and heading back out for the remaining 4.  I wanted to try and keep at or below my 50K pace for the upcoming timed race.  This was totally my idea, not my coach's idea.  I was happy that even with walk breaks, my overall pace was very close to what I need to maintain to do my 50K in 6 hours.  Hopefully the humidity will be lower for the race and I won't have to take walk breaks every 3 or so miles!  


Post running we headed to manhattan to tool around.  Target, Mr. K's cafe, and Widgets was on the list.  Widgets is the new play place out on highway 24 that has arcade games (think dave and buster's), laser tag, a cafe and a HUGE play structure that has slides, tunnels, and slides.  Once andrew got brave and really got in the play structure, he was good to go and we could just sit and watch.  Next time I am brining a book and just letting him play his heart out!

Sunday: 4 miles recovery + strength and MYRTL.  I slept in, missing the little bit of nice cooler weather we might have had.  I hear the weather is going to be super hot all next week and I am dreading it.  Anyway, I felt like sleep was more important and a little bit of suffering was okay.  I did a walk break every mile and just took it easy.  Got back and got my mat out, and ground through my work out.  While coach wants me to do it post the harder runs i.e. speed work and long run, it still is super hard after any run for me.  

Total miles: 30.35  

A much better week, but lots of bad eating and bad choices, so looking forward to getting this train back on track and loosing some more weight.  We got a new cool scale that tells us BMI and body fat along with water and bone mass.  I know it can't be super duper accurate, but as a numbers geek, it's kind of fun to see all the measurements.  

Have a great week and stay cool if you are in the Heartland!



Monday, July 3, 2017

Officially week 4 of Chicago Marathon training

I think I have it right now.  Final surge says week 4 of 18, so we are going with it.  A confession to start out with.  Last week was a rough week with regards to diet.  I was at or over my calories almost every day last week.  I am vowing to do better this week, and not let myself plateau.  Another confession.  I have spent most of this week fighting off something with horrible fatigue, weird tummy issues, and headaches.  I chose to sleep in versus cross train and tried to get in bed super early every night I could.

Monday:  Rest day.

Tuesday:  800 meter repeats x 5 with 1 mile warm up and cool down.  Melly is back and her stories of working country stampede were hilarious!  From the idiots who tried to climb fences, to the people who literally waded through creeks of sewage to hang out in the camp grounds, I was laughing and running.  Alcohol makes people make some pretty bad decisions!  Afterwards, I tried to do my strength training as coach wants me to move them to my hard days.  While I got through almost three rounds, I felt very weak and honestly I didn't like it.  I could tell my body was super tired and not performing optimally.  I will try again after my long run, but I will be honest, I am not digging doing these work outs post hard run.

Wednesday:  Cross training and MYRTL.  Was woken up early by an Amber Alert going off on both of our phones.  Wind was whipping from the south around 20 mph.  Not really conducive to biking.  Was hoping that the winds would die down post work.  Nope.  Nada.  Still 15-18 mph with huge gusts.  I wasn't feeling very well (went to bed around 7:30 tuesday night and was out by 8:30) so I decided to make this a rest day and get to bed early again.


This happened today though!  Our very own Corpse flower at KSU bloomed!!!  I had been watching the live feed like a hawk, but the sucker bloomed in the middle of the night! Lucky for me, I work right across the street from it, so I was able to get my experiments started and head over to check it out.  The smell was not as bad as I thought it would be, but the green house was pretty ventilated.  I watched the one in Denver bloom on the live feed, so it was really special to see a real corpse flower in my own town!

Thursday:  5 miles easy.


Uh oh.  Woke up to storms and lightning and hail oh my.  The problem?  It was suppose to get super hot and humid for the rest of the day and possibly more storms.  I hate the dreadmill so post work, I put on my big girl pants, filled up one of my big hand held water bottles, and headed out with walk breaks being a possibility.  Feels like 99 feels like horrible, but not humidity so doable.  


A lot of my roads were partially flooded and looked like they had been completely flooded overnight.  Some still were all the way and for once, I had fun tramping through the puddles.  The water felt cool and inviting :).  It really brought back memories of my 50K, minus the rushing water.  I took it easy taking walk breaks every mile for a tenth of a mile and made it through. I totally wish I could be a hot weather runner, but sadly I am not.  Got done, had to take a super cold shower to cool off, and didn't feel well the rest of the night.

Friday:  Cross Train.  Didn't happen.  We had a late night thursday night and I slept in.  Actually woke up with a really unhappy stomach and again a stupid headache.  We had eaten at Old Chicago the night before, and something I ate did NOT agree with me.  Even with Tums and Zantac on board, I felt miserable.  Post work and post a little bit happier tummy, we headed to our little local 4th of July fair.






Melly brought Conner so I didn't have to ride all the rides with Andrew, which was nice.  We did hit up the tea cups a couple of times together and of course the carousel.  Daddy did the Ferris wheel twice and I tried to watch and tried not to freak out.  Conner rode most of the rides with him, since they both had wrist bands. Conner convinced him to do the big slide.  Funny, or not so funny aside.  We have been driving by the fair as they have been setting up all week (its a block away from our house so hard to avoid).  Pre-fair, Tony and Andrew drove by and Andrew saw the big slide.  In his little 5 year old innocent voice, he proclaimed, "I won't be doing the slide.  It would scare the FUCK out of me".  WHAT????  It was kind of funny but really not, so we had a talk about how cute little kids don't say Fuck.  Sigh.  First Shit and now Fuck.  Let's hope he doesn't do that at school!!!!!  He conquered his fear and didn't get the fuck scared out of him and wanted to do the slide over and over and over.  

Saturday:  12 miles.  The weather gods blessed us again this weekend with a cool start to the morning, which meant I got to sleep in and not get up at the butt crack of dawn.  I decided to just take stella ella with me, which did not please deuce.  While the run was pretty good, I am still not 100 percent and i could tell.  




We made it through, splashed through many puddles, and saw many other runners out enjoying the beautiful weather.  I still walked every 2 miles and gave stella water on my walk breaks.  I totally forgot to take my new water bowl I got for her, but she was content drinking out of her bottle.  

Post running everything went smoothly.  Till it didn't.  My tummy issues from friday came back full force and I ended up staying in bed most of the afternoon and night.  I am really not sure what the heck this was.  I had pain, rolling, rumbling, and some vomiting, but I vomited just to make it feel better and it didn't work.  I ended up eating crackers for dinner with sprite, while everyone went out and had cheeseburgers.  I didn't get my strength training done for the day :(

Sunday:  4 miles.  After being sick the day before, I really didn't know what I could do.  Coach said no running and I didn't really fight her on that.  By the time I got up, it was super hot and humid and just not nice out.  I decided to hit my bike instead and see how it went.  I managed to make 13 miles happen and then later, after I had finally eaten some substantial food, did my strength training.  

Total miles for the week:  22.65 miles

Not an ideal week but I am hoping next week will be better.  Hoping for a more settled tummy and a happier body!  Have a great week and a great  and a safe fourth of July!