22.5 miles to go to beat March Goal

On my way to my goal, Lambeau made a friend with French Bulldog Ca$h, the new BFF of my little Yorkie...he's a late night guy, I had to force him to call it a playdate-night at 9:45...mommy's got to get her rest!

This morning (at 5am...yes, I have to do it this way because I know that my pm workouts just aren't, well, working out...) I went to the gym in shorts and a sweatshirt, as I have for the past two weeks. OOPS. It was snowing. Say Whaaaaaat?! Yup. Snowing. I was soaked after two blocks. Fooey.Blisters. I have suffered with them, got socks to help, and now they're not helping again. Looks like I have to roll out the big bucks to get some fancy "moisture wicking" socks, because I'm bound to wrapping them. The 3 mile run was painful this morning; however, the bagel I ate as a "recovery meal" was delicious (I was out of eggs, don't judge...).

On a more serious note...I don't know how many of you TRULY read this, but I'm running a half marathon in, oh, 10 days. I've decided to do this for a cause. I have been inspired to raise money to build a deep water well in a village in Africa with NO CLEAN DRINKING WATER. I drink, on average, over 100 oz of water a day. I'm so thankful for this God given gift, and I need support in order to give it to others. If you would like to support me financially, please donate by following the link below:

http://support.worldvision.org/site/TR/TeamWorldVision/General?px=1150952&pg=personal&fr_id=1380

I'm $125 away from reaching my goal. Thank you for any support!!!

13.1, I'm gunnin' for ya...

Mega Moon Weekend

Went on a boat cruise with 8 awesome friends this weekend...if only the mega moon could have provided another 70+ degree day....alas we were on the water at a balmy 40 degrees!

Babay....babay...ohhhhhhh...Lambeau Bieber. Needs a cut. Uncle Shaun, HELP!

This past week turned out to be ok for training. I started out strong, mid week was AWFUL, and I ended with positive mileage. Parent Teacher conferences on Tuesday really wrecked my workout flow, so I needed a day or two to recover! (I worked 8:10am-12pm teaching, 1-3pm interpreting in Spanish, lunch 3-5pm, 5-7:30pm yet again interpreting in Spanish. It. Was. Exhausting. Now I know how my students feel when they're learning English.) Oh, and my bold prediction about a 5am workout and possible two a day on 3/17...how did I forget that it was SAINT PATRICK'S DAY! Yea right. I had things to do. Like make a Guinness Roast and drink a McSorley's ale! ;-)

Week of March 13-19:

Sunday: Rest Day.

Monday: 9 miles (LONG RUN DOMINANCE!)

Tuesday: 15 minutes elliptical, weight training (5am)

Wednesday: Rest Day. No running.

Thursday: St. Patty's day. No running.

Friday: 4.12 miles (Running home from work)

Saturday: 3.11 miles (6am)

Total Miles: 16.2

Total Miles for the Month of March: 34.5 miles

Goal for the Month of March: 70 miles (HALFWAY THERE!)

Funny stories of the week:

- I almost died on Friday; literally, died. running in direct sunlight at a temp of 75 degrees was. not. ok. I got dehydrated at about mile 2, despite drinking lots of water all day AND on the run (I'm a fueling NUT). Thankfully I survived, and we're talking over 10 minute miles. Gross.

-On Saturday, I almost didn't run. I got myself out of bed at 6am, which was a pretty big deal (I work Saturday mornings 9am-12pm, so my mind knows what's coming and wants to sleep every last minute it can...). So when I got to the gym around 6:20am, the doors were locked, and the girl shook her head symbolizing "Not open" and mouthing "7"...say whaaaaaat? I'm such a nonearlymorningsaturdayrunner that I didn't even know my gym's hours...btw my gym is 24/7 usually. Apparently the weekend is different so it's 24/5. So I had a decision to make: ditch the iPhone, get the Garmin, and head back out....or crawl back into bed and have nice Saturday morning snuggles for an hour. Running won. Got the Garmin, ditched the iPhone (It was still dark, no running with music in the dark thanks!) and off I ran a decent, easy, satisfying, 3 miles.

I kind of liked it...Uh oh...Saturday morning snuggles, you may be dying a slow death...

iPhone perks

Astoria Park Hellgate Bridge
Astoria Park Triboro Bridge, renamed RFK Bridge last year....still the Triboro to me.

Took these pictures on my long run on Monday...be proud photo fanatics! Really, instagram on the iPhone is excellent. I finally found my iPod/iPhone arm band (conveniently placed in my running drawer, so smart of me...if only I had remembered that I did that I wouldn't have been searching for it all month...) and I decided to take some pictures on my run. I think they turned out well, then I doctored them up with a cool app.

Hello music. Chris Brown radio is my new fav, but since I don't like Lil' Wayne (Though I respect his work ethic) I entered Chris Brown's song "Kiss Kiss" on Pandora and BAM even better station! I listened to it for my 9 mile run and it had EXCELLENT song selection for running!!! Loved it. LOVED. IT.

Oh shoot, it's Wednesday and it's time for LAST WEEK'S week in review! ;-D

Week of March 6-12:

Sunday: Rest day. Bridal shower.

Monday: 8.25 miles (Long run...kind of proud of my 9:51/mile average for the long run since I forgot to pause the Garmin at SEVERAL crosswalks...I ran home from work!)

Tuesday: 15 minutes elliptical and weight training

Wednesday: 4 miles (Tempo)

Thursday: 3 miles (Hills)

Friday: 15 minutes biking and weight training

Saturday: Rest day

Total Miles: 15.3

Total Miles for the month of March: 19.3*

Goal for the month: 70 miles

*My long run last week was on the last day in February. I don't like how this makes my miles for the month look!!!

Today should have been a running day; however, I was not feeling well. Exhausted is more like it. Parent Teacher conferences were yesterday and I worked out at 5am, so 5am workout + working and speaking in Spanish until 7:30pm = NOT ideal for rest. :-( No bueno. Working on a 5am run tomorrow. Possibly a two a day. We'll see if this warm weather inspires me!!!

Morning face

This morning, after a day and night full of rain, this was Lambeau's "I don't want to wake up and go outside!!!" Face!

This is how I feel at 5am. Beep. Beep. BEEP.

Blog world, I have to tell you, 5am is the new 4pm! I did my 8 mile long run after work Monday (Which worked out well), and 5am wake up/5:15am workout TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND FRIDAY! It's a miracle!!! AND I got my gym/running buddy Sarah in on it...and she seems to be hooked as well!

Fridays are now weigh in day. Bri guy was against scales (Said I would obsess...but then I obsess after every doctor's appointment...who, me, obsess?!); however, he bought me a BEAUTIFUL Brookstone scale because he loves me too much. So, the agreement is one day a week. Fridays (Weekends tend to be off the wall...) is my most logical weigh in day. I'm looking at losing 3-5lbs. I've been trying to since January (Uh, cookies? Remember me? We had a daily bake and eat thing going for all of December....and some of January...), but I feel like I've finally gotten into a groove of working out consistently. I've even added cross training/weight training!

The best part about morning workouts?! Lambeau Loo gets an extra long afternoon walk ;-)

Odes to my new gym hero

Like Lambeau, I am always watching.

Story behind the above photo: I wrapped him in the blanket because he was being a naughty boy. Left him and did some cleaning. Then we couldn't find him. Guess what? Still in the blanket, but he had ducked his head under as well. *I* moved it to take the photo. Crazy puppy.

I have a new gym hero. This letter is a must read, because he's pretty darn impressive.

Dear Gym Hero,

I've noticed you for a few weeks. You run like a GAZELLE. At the same time, you look effortless...but I know you're fast. Really fast. You always show up in a new (I'm assuming completed) marathon tshirt. Boston. New York. Chicago. Good job using race t's. I finally did some spying on you. I was SHOCKED. REALLY?! Really. When I stepped on the treadmill to do my tempo run (7.0 and beyond, I'm a slow 5'2" gal after all...), I finally got to observe your workout in front of me:

5:15am: You have already been running for 30 minutes. You're running at a 10.5. Really?! Really.

5:25am: Running at an 11.5. Really?! Really.

5:35am: Running at a *12.5* (Is this humanly possible?!) Really?! Really.

So, in reality, you could run a 2:20/2:30 marathon if you're trained. WOW. I can't hold a candle, let alone a lighter, to your mad skills.

Sincerely,

Tempo Run Stalker Chugging Water at 5:15am

They keep comin from wall to wall

New favorite pandora station: Chris Brown. Don't hate. It's a lot of good music! Gets me cleaning at home!!!

Last week was alright. I won the battle of the monthly exhaustion, but monthly exhaustion won the war :-( I only worked out one day during my tired streak, and it was an ugly treadmill workout nonetheless. But today, I conquered another Monday long run...

...is Monday the new Saturday? Maybe.

I ran home from work. Yes. I live about 3.5 miles from home, so I gave my car pool partner /work wife my things and skeedaddled my way home. The above picture was sent to my husband by said work wife stating, "Your wife is a dork, she's running home". Mind you, work wife's dad is a multi-marathon runner. I need to meet him STAT.

Thus, without further ado, a mediocre week in review:

Week of February 27-March 5

Sunday: No running, long walk and family day

Monday: 8 miles (Long run)

Tuesday: 5am workout: 15 minutes elliptical at 3-4, weights

Wednesday: I feel like I ran Wednesday but I didn't log it. SHOOT.

Thursday: 3 miles (HUGE exhaustion struggle)

Friday: Was supposed to run at work, my schedule changed so no prep+lunch block periods, aka not enough to run and cool down/stop sweating

Saturday: No running. Saturday school, nap, house party in Manhattan.

Total Miles run: 11 Miles

SHEESH! I have excuses!!! I'm already on my way this week with an 8.25 mile run today. My goal this week, even if it's 2 miles (EEK I have a 3 mile minimum!) Is to run/elliptical everyday. Today I felt AMAZING. 9:51/mile average, which is great for me because I get stopped at crosswalks, awkward angle sidewalk walkers etc, meaning I have an obstacle course to run over!!! I was really proud of my time. Focus on the positives.

3 weeks and 5 days until my half marathon. YEA!

February in Review

Loving my iPhone and the photo adjusting it allows me to do with minimal effort. This, my friends, is my gym view at 5am, Planet Fitness style. Staring at a nasty KFC really makes weight training so much more effective ;-) Trying to do a 5am workout AT LEAST twice a week. This week I was hit by the exhaust-o-monster, but I'm fighting it...unlike last month. This month, I will conquer my annual FATIGUE! One 5am workout this week down, one more to go...last day tomorrow ;-)

Dear February,

You kicked my butt, you short month you. Are you really that short? That's what they say. However, despite the Ground Hog day predictions, you made me desire hibernation more than any other month yet. Sneaky. Devious. Cold. Warm. Cold. I can't keep up with you. You're like Charlie Sheen on a minute by minute basis. Alas, you beat me and I did not achieve my goal. There's always March, my trust Irish celebrating friend.

Sincerely,

Goal: 70 Miles

Actually ran: 57.8 miles

March Goal: 70 miles. I will beat you. And even exceed you.