day 34.

abs class and body pump tonight. total of 1.5 hours. same teacher, same room.

abs class: went pretty well.

body pump: went well. felt pretty strong. i increased my weight a little bit for squats and lunges and for part of back. legs were jiggly by the end but not terribly. i think i'll increase some weight for next class too by just a bit. triceps are still the hardest for me. biceps got a little easier - i'll add a little more weight next time.

day 34.

sunday. official rest day. only i did a lot of walking. in sandals. wasn't planning on doing so much walking. it just kinda happened.

first, i went to brunch with nicole, alice, and kyle. from my house, n & a and i walked over to southport for brunch at sopo which is maybe 3/4 mile? we were planning on staying more around my house but b/c of the pride parade it was a madhouse. from southport, we walked to waveland and halsted to watch the parade. another walk. maybe another half mile? 3/4 mile? more? it's so hard to tell how far it is when you are just walking around the streets. from there, kyle and i walked back to my house down halsted so we could see all the crazies and their dress up outfits. you'll have to refer to my other blog to see those pics! and so from waveland & halsted to clark and halsted, it's probably a little more than half a mile. then a quick couple blocks to my house.

at my house, kyle and i got some water, went to the potty, then decided to take the bus to north ave beach. yeah, the buses were not running down clark, so we decided to take the 156 bus over on sheridan and walked over there towards the lake. only that bus wasn't running either. great. so we walked. and walked to north ave. it is 1.5 miles if walked straight there. but we had to meander around to get there. excellent. probably made it more like 1.75 miles or so. finally at castaways, we ate chicken fingers and fries and therefore negated anything good we'd done with our walk. when it was time to go home, kyle went to the brown line and i decided on the clark bus since the end drop off spot was closer than the long block from the el stop. plus the el was a further walk to get there than the bus to begin with. however, i made the wrong decision. even though the parade had been over for hours, they were still changing the route. boo. first they said we had to get off at fullerton (or go all the way to irving park, um no!) which would have been a mile walk. then they said they were not doing the alternate route but that at the diversey/broadway intersection, instead of staying on clark, they were taking broadway. awesome. so i got off at diversey and had another 1/2 mile walk home. i was exhausted. finished. done. and fell asleep on the couch prob around 8ish and then got in bed by 10.

day 33.

my first official sat 6am training run. i hadn't been able to make it to any of the others for various reasons, but i made it to this one! 9 miles. whew! awesome. ok. well first things first i needed to figure out who my group was and who the pace leader was. turns out the 3/2 12-12:30min pace group is very very small. we had 5 people total. and some of those are apparently floaters. but everyone was super nice and my pace leader was fun to talk with. her name is raquel and she had broken her watch over the week and not replaced it so she was using her cell phone and asked me to help her out. no prob, but i knew i'd probably fall back at some point and let her know that. we chatted for a good bit of the run which was nice as it passed the time and made it feel easier. we started our run at the north ave bridge base and then went south to randolph. that was 3 miles. then we turned around and headed back to the bridge which was another 3 miles (duh). i was doing fine with the intervals though i was getting heavier legs. by this point at the 6 mile mark i was definitely working hard to keep the intervals going. it was hot, but not horrifically so and there was a nice breeze. we then headed north to diversey which is 1.5 miles north and i started to fall back in the group. not too far as to not be able to catch up but definitely slower than i'd been going. still doing the intervals though. then on the return 1.5, i started to lose the intervals. but, it's ok. the coaches all say to give yourself permission to do that if needed. i still finished fairly strong and i think i was on about a 12:30 pace. right around there at least. after the run, alice and i headed over to the farmer's market. i got some pretty flowers and delicious blueberries.

day 32.

pilates with chris. she does a great class. i worked hard and was tired by the end and sore. great workout. i love that feeling.

day 31.

couldn't go to regular pilates class b/c i was having dinner with my aunt and uncle at 6 so instead, i went to do a run in the middle of the day on the treadmill. 36 mins. it went ok. just hot. hot hot hot. still getting used to the heat. they say it takes 2 weeks or so to acclimate. great!

day 30.

ces group workout day. i don't usually go to these b/c i prefer to go to body pump. but, i went this wed evening b/c dev and i signed up for a free wine tasting event afterwards. apparently wine is a fine motivator. i was worried all day b/c there was a good amount of thunder going on. no rain, just thunder. but, by the time practice came around it was sunny and hot hot hot. so i headed over there and instead of doing hills, they changed it to a 30 min run due to the heat. my old pace leaer has moved up to doing 5/1s and so i decided to join her group. i did just fine until about 20 mins in when i fell off the pace as i was getting light headed and overheated. it was a miserable evening. i must admit when i was done the last thing i wanted was wine and i was ready to just go home. but, i stuck it out and went wine tasting with devon and a girl from her group, kate. and i ended up having a great time so i'm glad i went. i definitely got my sweat on!

day 23 - 29.

i've been bad. very very bad. i don't remember wed (day 23), though i do believe i went to body pump. day 24 - i went to a cubs game and then had high school culver friends in town so i know i didn't get in any workout. friday i flew to houston and again did nothing. sat i was lazy and sunday i was lazy. way to go me. on monday, i went to the gym with my mom and got in about 50 mins of elliptical. the gym was hot. outside was hot. and by hot i mean 100 and humid. gross. not optimal workout weather. there. that's my excuse. then tues i flew home and i know i was lazy that day and didn't work out. and that was my day 23-29 workout regime. not a heckuva lot...

day 22.

tuesday - pilates with linda. i had a heck of a time in here today too. i dont know why but i've just been so tired all week. i really should have stayed in bed and taken the day off as i managed to pretty much whack off my right mirror on the car on the way over to the class. great.

day 21.

30 mins treadmill (crappy running day), 30 mins abs class which was terrible as my stomach hurt the whole time, but i didn't want to leave in the middle of class so i waited til it was over and ran to the potty, then back to body pump where i just felt super weak today. it was just harder than usual. i was using the same weights and it was the same routine as the last couple weeks (it changes every so often) but for some reason i just had no energy. i schlepped it home after that.

day 19 & 20

nothing. nada. not a dang gone thing. whoops.

day 18.

pilates. all i had time for. exciting post i know.

day 17.

pilates with mark at 530... we worked with the ball. i hate the ball. i just feel like it doesn't work you as hard. i don't know....i'm sure it does. but, i followed that up with 46 mins on the elliptical - full strength and high intensity.

day 16.

36 mins elliptical - my left shin was bothering me so i didn't run, but i did work hard on the elliptical! high intensity levels 8, 10, 11 and did about 3.38 miles on it. then headed to body pump with nicole (richman). the hour long class kicked our butts. it felt great. then we went to potbelly across the street. yum. and then i headed home and was the bottomless pit for food. and i mean bottomless. grrrr. whatever.

day 15.

pilates class today. i should have done some running after, but i met a friend (yena) for lunch instead.

day 14.

rest day. i earned it for doing the half yesterday!

day 13.

half marathon!

it was the 13.1 chicago half marathon - an inaugural race here in the city with the starting line at the south shore cultural center. you'll have to read my other blog to get the full details of the event.

my time:

2:49:40

at the half: 1:26:06
pace 12:58

needless to say, i was NOT happy with those results. i felt crappy the whole race and just knew from the beginning it was not going to be my best. grrrr.

day 12

too busy sleeping, brunching, resting for tomorrow

day 11

kelley was here, so no gym and no run, but it was a gorgeous day so we put on workout clothes and running shoes to go for a long walk around the neighborhood/lake/downtown. we ended up walking from my house to the lake down to michigan ave for some shopping and lunch and then walking all the way home from mich ave back to my house. i'm guessing we probably walked 9/10ish miles?! maybe more... not really sure.

day 10

went to the 9am pilates with chris. she's great. i normally go to her friday class, but i knew kelley would be here and i wouldn't make it. i also usually go to mark's class on thurs nights, but again, i was picking kelley up today at mdw so i knew i wouldn't make his class. chris worked us hard and i felt great leaving her class. i would have done some cardio or running, but i had to hurry home to finish last minute cleaning, showering, and running to the doctor, followed by a drive out to the airport.

day 9

i did body pump. love body pump. i leave there feeling stronger. and it isn't boring. the hour goes by pretty quickly. i was planning on running after class, however after class my stomach was hurting really really badly and so i went home where i was doubled over in pain the rest of the night. it was so bad i had to force myself to eat something b/c i was hoping food might help things. it didn't. not to be gross, but i think i just had some really big bad mean gas bubbles going on. not fun!

day 8.

pilates class is on tuesday at 11 with linda. linda is VERY happy and perky. ALL the time. She's super sweet and sometimes funny, but i can't believe how perky she is! she always mixes up the class which keeps it interesting. today we used the 2 pound ball and the ring. it was a pretty tough class today! sometimes her work outs aren't that hard.

day 7.

i think i just have to label by days as i keep forgetting what number is what. no running today, but i went to the gym for 30 mins of abs followed by an hour of body pump.

day 6.

4 miles. and not good ones either. i don't know what the problem was, but my chest was feeling tight. it's a beautiful day so i went down belmont to the lakefront path and did a little more than 2 miles on that. it's just about 3/4 mile to the lake and 3/4 back to my house. my intervals sucked. guess i need to run more... and i can't find my stupid ipod charger. i am so not happy about this! i don't usually listen to music, but i got the nike + thingamabob and it tells me distance, pace, and time. i love that. and it records all my workouts! it's awesome. but my ipod is almost out of juice.

day 5.

way toooooo hungover to attempt anything. dragged myself out later to go to sonny's bbq

day 4.

i was lazy and took the day off. i would normally go to pilates, but i had a 1pm haircut and pilates starts at 1230. plus you can't work out after you get your hair done! and i ran out of time before that. i know, excuses. it might have been raining that day too :)

day 3.

no running again. dangit! but, i did go to my favorite pilates class. the instructor is mark and he is awesome. he's gotta be gay and i love him. he's loud and he makes class hard and yet fun and funny. he cracks me up. his class is definitely the hardest of the 3 i do each week. i thought about running after his class, but i was starving and exhausted and so yet again made an excuse. boy, this is not going so well on the running part right now!! but, i am working out and cross training so i'm not being totally lazy.

day 2.

tuesday's class is body pump. it's at 5:30 in the evening and i love it. for those of you who have not done it, it is an hour of weights focusing on each part of the body for 5 mins of reps. we use weights, a bar, a step and it makes me do the hated squats and lunges. it is definitely making me stronger and i credit this class with helping me shave time off of my running. i was going to do cardio after, but i was exhausted before class and even more so after. so i didn't.

day 1.

following sarah's numbering....

i have certain classes i do during the week. tuesday is pilates at 11am. after pilates i did an hour on the elliptical. not a normal elliptical, my gym has a fantastic one that lets you change your stride for more like stair climbing, jogging, and running. i do a mixture and i generally keep the intensity at a 4-9 range.

getting started.

i totally admired and liked sarah's running blog and thus have decided to start my own. i'm not sure what format i'll use yet, but i'm sure i'll work that out along the way. i have a variety of big races that i have committed to this year already: june 7th in chicago - a half marathon, august in chicago - a half marathon, october in chicago - the full 26.2, and in november in san antonio - a half. along with a few 5ks thrown in for fun. i have already done the disney princess half in march, the indy mini marathon in may, the race to wrigley in april, and probably a couple others. in any case, i'll document those numbers/times and the upcoming races as well so that i can track my progress. the first marathon i did wasn't pretty, but i did it! this year, i need improvement. and lots of it! i am hoping this blog will hold me accountable for everything i need to do in order to meet those goals!