Thinking Out Loud [Day Off Edition]

More alliteration, more fun!  Of course, thank you to the beautiful, amazing, insightful Amanda for hosting!

1.  In case you missed it:  I HAVE THE DAY OFF.  TODAY AND TOMORROW!  AND, today is a REST DAY!  MUAAAAHAHAHA!  Four-day-week-end!  *clap clap, clap-clap-clap*

2.  This meant that I got to sleep in and snuggle with Harry.  I woke up at one point (probably right around when I normally do [4:00am]) and thought to myself "I wonder how much longer I get to...HAH...nevermind!"  I hardly ever sleep in; I wake up early on the weekends to run.  So this is a pretty big deal for me.

A few more winks of sleep, and I got up so Harry and I could go on our coffee date.  I went in my PJs.

And oh, happy day!  Free coffee!

3.  We had an amazing group last night!  I ran yesterday morning, so I got to take pictures and chat with the group.:)  Fearless Leader Greg and Sole Mate Steph were out for this evening; we definitely missed them.  We did get to meet some new friends, though!

We hit up Bad Dog Tavern (which might as well become our headquarters) for some gourmet burgers and brews.  This might sound weird, but I think the tummy-portion of my memory is still enjoying the Bacon & Brie burger from last night.  So delicious.

And thanks to our friend Noah, I know what I'm doing for a good chunk of my day.  We got on the topic of old school gaming, and he sort of dropped a website mention where I could play a ton of old console games for free.  <333333

4.  Lunchtime is pretty much going to rock.

5.  Other than being lazy and eating today, I'm considering a walk to the local beer shop to pick up a bottle of "Super Bier" from Lake Effect Brewing.  This brew is a perfect pairing and a "HIYA!!" shout-out to a local hot dog joint that is one of my faves, Superdawg!  

Harry has been pretty stoked to get his hands on this beer.  You can read about today's launch here!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some lazy fiddle-fartin' resting to do!  <3  Have a beautiful Thursday!

...Pretty much.:)

Life Happenings [Mini Photo Dump]

Um.  I love Oprah.  A lot.  I also love coffee...a lot..., so Starbucks putting the two together (I haven't tried her Chai yet) makes me double-happy.

Back to work this week!  It has been C-R-A-Z-Y.  I see two kiddos at a time for thirty minutes for five hours straight.  It's more exhausting than I thought it would be!  I think by the time I get used it, it'll be the regular school year.  Hah:)  I don't really have any break during that span of time, so I am extra thankful for some of the teachers bringing me noms from their cooking group classes.

Track night with the /R/iver /R/unners Wednesday night!  We made a new friend, Eric @ This Hobbit Runs.(Go on, be jealous, fellow Chicago running bloggers!  :D)

The plan for the week was the same as the past two weeks.  While I'm a fan of diversity in my speedwork training, this was a great way for me to catch up with Stephanie (as she and Fearless Leader Greg had missed last week for vacation!).

It didn't look much different an hour later, but the thunder and lightning began just as we were finishing the run.  Talk about perfect timing!

Of course, we hit up Bad Dog Tavern for some $6.00 gourmet burgers and a couple of brews afterward.  Nom nom nom my Spicy Chihuahua Burger!

There was a ton of drama with my Momma coming up for a visit.  At first, we thought she was coming up on Friday.  She sent me this text on Wednesday.  Oh lol.  :)

Unfortunately, because of a ton of delays at the airport, she couldn't make it up until last night.  Booooooooooo!  But she made it, safe and sound, and enjoyed her first Chicago hot dog last night.  Pictures to come!

Yesterday was a super muggy, soupy, yucky run around the park.  I have never been so grateful that I was only running three miles in my life.  It's starting to get extra oogey in the mornings, but I am going to try reaaaaaaaally hard to not complain about it!

I was a server during college.  This is what I learned:  I can carry more of anything I ever thought possible.  When the Dunkin' Donuts folks ask if I need a cup holder, I giggle a little inside and shake my head.

I hit up a Yoga class for the first time since I've moved here.  It was really a great class, but I much prefer a more relaxing class than über instructional (if you know what I mean).  One way or the other, my muscles got a good stretchin'!

I love our neighborhood.

That's all I got for today, haha!  MommaG is in town, and we're beginning our fun adventures today!

Running With the Boys

My day started yesterday with something new for breaky!  I've never ever tried egg whites in my oatmeal, even when I was training for bodybuilding.  I'm not sure why; I ate way blander and less appetizing things during that period of my life.

I made it with:
1/2 cup oatmeal (I use old-fashioned)
1 cup water
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tsp natty peanut butter
1 medium banana

I mixed the oats and water in a bowl, and microwaved it for 90 seconds.  I added the egg whites to the oats and microwaved it again for another 60 seconds, then fluffed it with a fork.  I threw in the PB while the oats were still steaming so it would melt...mmmmm, melted PB...then sliced up and threw in the banana.

It wasn't bad at all!  I haven't eaten oatmeal in a pretty long time, but I used to eat it every single stinkin' day.  With PB, with honey, with steamed apples, with cinnamon...you name it, I topped oatmeal with it!

I'm off from work this week; it's our "summer break" from the year-round school where I teach.  So yeah, after blogging and relaxing all day, I FINALLY took a shower. :D  Have you ever noticed just how lazy you get when you don't have much to do?  Haha!  Harry got home from work and we got ready to go to the track!  Hooray, something to do...RUN!

Fearless Leader Greg and Stephanie are away on vacation this week, so they weren't present last night for the Wednesday night /R/iver /R/unners speedwork session.  I knew that I was going to run sans my Sole Mate, which made me a little anxious.  Would I be running by myself?  The boys are faster than me!  We started with a five minute warm-up, which was actually kinda speedy for me (~8:30 pace) for a warm-up!  We chatted a bit about some upcoming races and whatnot (I'm used to chatting!), then moved into our first five minute interval.  It was tough, and the conversation STOPPED.  Stephanie and I can usually carry on our conversation, unless we're going extra speedy and are getting extra tired.  I just focused on running in a circle on the track..."Just one more time around should do it...".  We then slowed down for a five minute recovery.  We did three more sets like this, increasing in speed on the harder paced intervals.

How I felt at some points, especially at a ~7:00-minute pace...

Those five minute recoveries felt sooooooooooooo goooooood!

I got ahead during one of the recovery intervals...

The last hard interval was like "Ohhhhmmmmyyyygoshhhhh my legs are gonna fall off!".  But I knew better and just kept pushing.

James and Harry were great sources of encouragement in the last minute of the interval, when I was cussing between labored breaths.  Harry indicated that there were ten seconds left (!!!!!!!!), and James and I hit the gas to sprint out the last of it.  We slowed wayyyyy down for a two-minute warmdown; I didn't try talking for a while, just trying to catch my breath.  After the warmdown and a stretch, we went out to Bad Dog Tavern for gourmet burgers and a beer...you know, the usual!  :)

5 miles at ~8:20 pace, and that beer tasted wonderful!

In other news, I have some reading to do.  Here's HRG's list; she has a marathon this weekend, for which she's been injured and pool running for the last few weeks of her training!  It'll be amazing to see how she rocks it out!  I'm always so encouraged and motivated by people gearing up and so close to their races, so I'll take anything she suggests reading as aces.

But really, I'll read anything she suggests at any 'ole time.

Also, today is the first day of FIFA World Cup!  Woot woot!  Who are you rootin' for?
I'm pretty sure that Harry has cleared out the DVR and has set recording times.

Here's Sophs playing my vuvuzela that my friend, Sonia, brought back for me from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.  Apparently, they've been banned in the tournament venues in Brasil, hehe!

I'm off to get some errands done, and hopefully jumping on the bike for a bit!

Peace out, y'all!

Stretch, Balance, Breathe

I drive about 45 minutes to the gym near where I work to swim and spin.  Why?  I beat traffic...CHICAGO traffic.  Also, there aren't any gyms nearby that have a pool.  I have to get there in time to rock out a semi-decent swim workout, and get ready for my day, so I leave my house around 5:00am.  

I arrived at the gym yesterday morning and found this.

I grumbled for a (very brief) moment, then started quickly thinking about what I could do instead of a swim workout.  I keep my cycling shoes and shorts in my Apera Performance Duffel bag (HUGE shoe pockets on the sides!), but knowing that Harry and I had speedwork with the Chicago /R/iver /R/unners crew later in the day, I put spinning out of my head.  I then thought about Yoga.  Yes...!  I need more Yoga in my life, and this was the BEST opportunity!  I changed out of my Speedo and into some comfy clothes, grabbed my headphones, phone, and ran into the dark, empty group exercise room.

I'm not the biggest fan of practicing Yoga in the mornings by myself.  I've taught early 6:00am classes, where I just wanted everyone to begin their day calmly with me.  I'd light a couple of candles for meditation, lower the lights and use calm voice and prompting techniques.  My patrons loved it!  However, I can't create that kind of ambiance or environment all on my lonesome.  I'm also afraid that I'll fall asleep in Corpse Pose.  :P  I was energized this morning, though!

I'm really lucky that I've taught Yoga for so long.  I began with Sun Salutations (about 15 times through), then moved into different poses with ease and flow, making up a routine as I went along.  Since I was practicing on a whim, I held poses for everything I could think of:  Stretching hammies, calves, hip-opening, chest-opening, back, spinal twists, and foot and hand balances.

I ended my 45-minute session with some Happy Baby pose.  I spared you a photo of that.  Hah.  :D

I had so much energy throughout the day.  What a relief!  My shoulders felt like they were "out of my ears".  I felt taller. I smiled more.  Was it just a good day, or did my AM Yoga have something to do with it?  I'm sure it could've been both.  I felt like my mood and spirit were lifted sky-high!

Later in the afternoon, Harry and I hit up the track for speedwork with the crew.  Fearless Leader Greg and my Sole Mate Steph were absent this evening (sad panda!), but Jeff showed up to run with us!  Greg also posted our workout for us, so for that, we are very thankful.  :)  Though the sky looked to be pretty dark with looming clouds, we didn't expect rain until after we were done with our session.

The three of us started with a quarter mile warm-up.  We stopped for some water, a short stretch, and to chat about what paces we were expecting to hit for the workout:  4 sets of 5 minutes on difficult pace, 5 minutes off with recovery.  Harry ran a 10K (and placed first in his age group!  Way to go, Kid!) this past Sunday, so he was keeping it pretty easy.  He and Jeff were on the same page in regards to effort.  I hadn't run since Saturday and wasn't sure where I would be in terms of pacing (as per usual).  We started off with a good, difficult effort for the first five minutes.  We think the nasty weather kept messing with our GPS devices.  Harry's watch was showing us going way slower than mine, and Jeff's was showing that we were going way faster.  I decided that I wouldn't really base anything off of a pace and just run for effort.

After a couple of sets, I was feeling pretty good.  With the guys aiming for easy paces, I moved ahead and was pretty much solo.  I missed talking to Steph, but realized that this was a good opportunity to listen to my breathing.  I wasn't really huffing and puffing at all; it was controlled and calm.  This might sound goofy, but my inhalations and exhalations sounded "smart".  I started thinking about my effort and how it felt a bit slower than my ideal 5K pace.  That's pretty much on par for a tempo run.  My last recovery was more of a warmdown, and I met the guys to stretch and converse about our efforts.

Jeff was down to join Harry and I for a beer at Bad Dog Tavern.  "$6 GOURMET BURGERS!"  Harry loves this place.  :)

Cheers to an awesome day of smart training decisions and taking advantage of fantastic opportunities for best efforts!

I Feel the Need...

Because "Throwback Thursday", y'all.

I work with some amazing people.  Here I am, cleaning up my diet early on (I have a racing goal weight, which cannot be taken care of during marathon training), with speedwork sessions at night on Wednesdays (so I like to keep my noms light throughout the day), and they bring in things like this during meetings.  I also swam before this meeting...can you say "AGONY"?

This was only the biggest bag of Ghirardelli chocolates I have ever seen in my life.  I passed the bag along several agonizing times, and every time I whimpered a little.

My co-workers give me a hard time about eating the way I do (does anyone else deal with this?), and passing up things like this, but I had to focus on my nutrition today so I could enjoy something unhealthy fattening rewarding after running.

I left the house to go swim before work, and all I could find in the fridge was what became a mash-up for lunch.  Sweet potato, brown rice and quinoa with garlic, and some shredded carrots.  It looks so bland, but it was actually very delish.

Work work work (more like workOUTS, huzzah for being a P.E. teacher!), got home and had an apple before Harry and I suited up and headed to the track to meet up with the speed crew.

After a brief (800m) warm-up and some dynamic stretching (I opted for butt-kicks, high knees, and side-to-side leg swings), we did 4 x 100 stride outs.  My right hamstring gave me some trouble here.  I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I'm hoping it's nothing major.  I felt like I could go on, so Stephanie and I buddy'd up again and ran after the guys.

Greg ("Fearless Leader") had posted the evening's speed workout on the boards earlier in the day.  Come to find out, it was Stephanie who was to blame for this torture:  5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (five minutes strong effort, five minutes recovery; four minutes strong effort, four minutes recovery, etc.).  It was a beast of a workout, and I'm not sure how I finished it (Stephanie apparently knew when to ask me a question or continue conversation just when I wanted to bail...we have the ESPN), but it got done.

Um, we were running pretty fast (we were around a 6:45 pace here).  I was seriously holding the camera as steady as I could.  Those recoveries felt SO GOOD!

Greg had also posted that we were going to do push-ups (25) after the speed to complete the workout.  I was the jerk who reminded everyone of it.

We stretched and got outta there, heading straight for Bad Dog Tavern for some gourmet burgers and recovery beer.  We weren't in THAT MUCH of a hurry (or at least our legs weren't).  We strolled for a bit and came across some pretty scenery.  River Park is a point for the running and biking trails.  We hope to get out on the trail for future organized tempo runs with the group.

We met everyone at the tavern and ordered up some amazing burgers!  I had a bacon n' brie (OMG BRIE!) burger, while Harry had a steakhouse burger.  Those fries were ABSOLUTELY fantastic, too!

Sweet potato tots!

Harry really liked his burger.  I wish he'd look at me that way.  *le swoon*

Once again, we couldn't stop talking about the meetup during the car ride home.  I was telling Harry last night how excited I was about keeping these speedwork sessions in my marathon training.  I didn't do speedwork either times I ran the 26.2, in fear of just wanting to complete the distances.  I should've known better as a Kines!  I know that this is good for us, and for our (or my [rather ambitious]) goals.  We also love how dynamic the workouts will be.  Everyone in the crew is very knowledgeable and has great ideas for future torture sessions.

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Do you keep regular speed workouts in your training?

What are some of your favorite speed workouts?

How beneficial do you find nutrition in training?  Are you pretty strict with it?