2 MONTHS TO GO!--um, yesterday

I had a grand plan to post a motivational "2 months to go!" message but then looked at the calendar and realized that the day came and passed yesterday. So. 2 months. Move it!

Still sore from kickboxing, I took 2 Advil and a banana before my run this morning. I intended to run 4 miles, but then songs kept coming on the radio that I wanted to hear ("Tic Toc" and "Telephone"!) so then I ran up and down the sidewalk in front of our apartment building. Beyonce ripped my heart out with "Halo" and I almost started to cry but then recovered when Young Money's "Bedrock" (grossest song ever?) followed. Ah, Mr. Flintstone... All told, 5.73 more miles under my belt.

I'm off to get Dunkin' Donuts.

Did you say FREE???

yes you heard me right... i got a free family membership to elite fitness thru the Wave! It is an awesome fitness club with many classes to choose from! i am sooooo excited to get started! i dont know what i will do first, a yoga class during lunch? palites for runners? TRX Suspension Group training (this one looks awesome)! of course i have to go thru my evaluation and orientation before starting, but so looking forward to it. only one thing lacking.... my coffee wont be waiting for me when i get home...
lisa

Cardio Kickboxing+Tracy=Disaster

I thought it would be a good idea to try a cardio kickboxing class at my gym this morning. I was wrong. So wrong. I am so very uncoordinated, so very clumsy. It was a good, high impact workout but man alive, did I look like a fool. Will I go back? Of course, if only because when I came home the coffee had been made and was waiting for me.

A terrible, terrible mistake has been made.

Look, I'm not perfect. I made a mistake. A terrible mistake that warrants expletives. Today I figured out how to use the radio tuner on my iPod while the Nike+ is recording distance. Pretty awesome, huh? So I was running along to boring interviews on Saturday NPR (Does no news happen on the weekends? This is what NPR leads me to believe.) and then, bam, I'm listening to this and CANNOT CHANGE THE STATION MID-WORKOUT.

You cannot imagine how horrible running the final 2.5 miles (of 7.3 miles! Woot! Woot!) listening to Garrison Keillor sing a song about Seattle is. Please, don't imagine it. Save yourself.

But HERE is a video that has nothing to do with running and everything to do with cutest kid ever:


t.

Elliptical (50 minutes while watching MTV's MADE) due to knee pain and then coffee in the bath. Aaaah.

100K!

I have a confession. Truly. Are you ready? I'm awesome. There. Now the world knows. And you, too.

Today my total distance accumulated passed 100K, thanks to a 5 mile run (south to the Point and The Museum of Science and Industry--which we will be visiting later after the sleepy heads in the next rooms wake up!) in drizzle. I hit my alarm multiple (ahem, 5) times before getting out of bed to run but now feel great. Returned home with coffee and drank it in the bath while reading. Fantastic morning.

t.

I had to run this afternoon, if only because my lunch consisted of a milkshake and onion rings. 6K in the sun! Lots of bikers along the trail. Lesson: I need to buy new running bottoms to fit my non-existant ass.

t.

sick and tired of being sick and tired!

thought we were done with strep throat, boys both had it, finished their meds last week. what do i get saturday morning?? a little sore thoat that turns into the ugliest, nastiest sight by evening... yep mom got strep! Suck!
back to work today, still feeling crapy, but have to feed the germ factories... if they turn on me i am doomed!
hope to resume training soon, havent ran since thursday! yikes.

4 miles in wind and 38 degrees. Have I mentioned how I loathe Chicago wind?

Prairie Dog X-ING!

Only to outdo Lisa, I encountered beasts in the wild during my last run (5K along paths in a huge park adjacent to Jen's Denver home): prairie dogs. Say wha'?! See, there was this man standing and staring at two prairie dogs in the grass. I thought "He must be taking his very tame pets for a walk" but then he walked away from them and I saw a whole field of prairie dogs peeking out of holes. I paused my workout, shot a short video with my iPod (lest Mr. Leonard doubt my sighting), and ran on.



I was able to run in shorts and a t-shirt and it felt great. Jen and I went to yoga before hitting Sonic for milkshake happy hour.

Home safe and sound and ready to get back into training!

Mile High!

Here's my FML story: got dressed in the dark (gym clothes always out and waiting for me), put on shoes, and left the house. Wondered why my left pant leg felt wet in the back. Oh. Because it was covered in cat barf. FML.

Hit the gym for elliptical (45 minutes) and machines this morning.

I've packed running shoes and apparel for the next few days in Denver. Will the oxygen deprivation get to me? Surely.

t.

63! 63! 63!

i am really liking my new shoes. i have ran outside twice now about 3-4 miles on each run and my body didnt hurt like it did in the past. today is suppposed to get up to 63 miles so i am planning on going out for a nice LONG run... maybe 6 miles?!

turkey x-ing!!!

need to keep my ipod on a lower volume in the future. as i ran yesterday and the sun warmed my face i fell into a peaceful stride....UNTIL a dozen turkeys came clucking across the road right in front of me! i had nowhere to go so i had to wait until these stupid UGLY birds crossed the road, which is a harder task than one would think... they dont have a leader so i think they take turns follwing one another. unbelieveable. i will have to start running with my phone so i can document such encounters.
happy training team.

4.0 in 42 on treadmill whilst watching MTV. Thank you, Rhianna and Lady Gaga. Anyone else grossed out by "Say Aah"?

t.

slacker

so i didnt run at all this weekend! i did get new shoes, this should have inspired me to get out there. but no. i had willing volenteers to paint my kitchen so that is what got done on saturday. sunday my excuse is having to put the house back together and going to the wave game... they needed me there to cheer them on. clinched 1st place and on to the playoffs. so i had some work and some play but no run.
planning a 3-4 mile after work, pray for no rain and for the wind to die down (that is a killer for me!)
rock on team!

2 miles. Cry. Continue.

Daylight Savings, how I love thee. I went out at 6:00 and walked a block, looked towards the very dark lake, and turned back towards home; it was too spooky. I set out again an hour--and sunrise--later for my long run of the week. The wind was brutal against my legs--it felt as though every step forward resulted in two steps back; like running in, what I can only imagine, a Dyson vacuum feels like. At mile 2, I paused my workout, sat on a bench, looked towards storm clouds over downtown Chicago, and cried. Everything was too hard: running against wind, waking up too early, being without Lauryn. Too damn hard. Everything.

I took a few breaths, wiped my tears with Lauryn's mitten, and set off again. Puddles and mud and wind. After another 1.5 miles, I turned around. With the wind behind me, I visualized I was being pushed towards my goal. My pace picked up (despite skipping Gloria Estefan; really dude?!) and I ran beyond my start point, down to Promontory Point, and then back again.

8.0 in 1 hour 13 minutes.

5K in rain

I intended to have my long run this morning, but as I stepped outside into the rain and fog, decided to opt for a 5K run instead. I saw very few people on the trail, which affirmed my suspicion that I was either stupid or awesome. Feel free to weigh in on the matter.

t.

you are my sunshine

after the heavy fog, and down pouring rain the sun decided to peek out just as i was leaving work. i think it was a sign that i should go out for a run, so i did. my first 3 mile, non-stop, outdoor run... yeah me! now back to the marathon of life... dinner, homework, showers, laundry, oh yeah cant forget Survivor tonight! better get my cape on. see you at the top!

Mittenless!

Today was my first run sans hat and mittens. When I stepped outside I thought I'd made a mistake--the wind was whipping through my clothes. After warming up, I ran 7 miles but it took a loooooong time. Tomorrow I'll try strength training in the morning at the gym rather than any cardio work.

t.

Oh, maybe this is how to do it...

So after the last month of struggling on the Pettit Center track, I hurried home to try a long (for me) outdoor run. I wanted to shoot for 6 miles, since my longest has been 5.5. My headphones weren't charged so I did it without music, and...well, I don't know EXACTLY how long it was, but it was about 6 miles, maybe longer, maybe shorter. It's mostly a running path, so I had to estimate the route with the car. I did it, and it was the most fabulous and frightening run ever. There is a thick fog here, and it was dark. I navigated deep puddles that were bigger than my backyard, didn't get abducted as I ran along the woods (which border train tracks--creepy, right?), and made it up the big hills around the Wauwatosa Highlands. Like Tracy, I sweat. A lot. So, I was drenched. I rang my hair out. Yuck. BUT, I did it and it took me less than 50 minutes. So, I need some combination of fog, outdoors, no music, fear, and darkness to be successful, but I have finally left behind my weak runs with lots of little stops and slooooooowwwww miles. I'm on my way!

Is it raining?*

[Mike to Tracy upon seeing her return from the gym]: "Is it raining?"

I sweat. A lot.

Today I ran a solid 5 miles on the treadmill and realized that I personally find it more difficult than running outside. And so I sweat. My refrain was "I never quit on a run" even when Gloria Estefan (really dude?!) came on my iPod. Who else ran today?!

*Alternate titles for this post include:
Sweat Monster Attack!
Are you wearing a bib?
Did you jump into a pool?
Wow. You look totally gross.

Easing into the weeeeek

I ran 4.78 in about 35 minutes today--a male voice came on my iPod after my run and told me it was my fastest mile yet! I ran south along the lake and it smelled fishy. Now my house smells like cinnamon rolls (take THAT, Lisa!), which is so much better.

Let's have a good week of running!

t.

Are the Wosinskis--Steve and Eric ("Jimmy")--joining our team?! Reports indicate yes! A big welcome to them!

I think that early morning training caught up to me last night when I fell asleep at 9:00 on top of the bed and, ahem, whined when Mike told me to at least get under the sheet. Hope to be well rested for tomorrow morning!

t.

first "outing"

gearing up for my first outside run today... i dont have all the bells and whistles that will tell me what i did and how long i did it for (maybe i will drive my car around my route and get the distance :P )
hoping to get to a shoe store today, i try to cram everything into the short time my childrens are away.
will let y'all know how i do.

View From Here

7.25 in 53 minutes (pace of 7.24 per mile?) in 25 degrees along the lake. I ate a banana before I left for fuel. I need headphones that don't fall out of my tiny ears. Here's a pic from my phone that I took of the sunrise while running.

7.0 miles in 57 minutes along Lakefront Trail as the sun rose. Stunning, despite big sheets of ice that I had to shimmy across.

3 months

It's the 3rd. The 3rd day of the 3rd month of the year. 3 months without Lauryn. I began to feel anxious about the impending date last night, knowing the sadness the 3rd entails. I tried to make cupcakes at 9:00, but remembered I used all the eggs. So I knit and looked at a photo of Lauryn and missed her and sighed big sighs.

I couldn't open my eyes this morning at 5:31, when my phone chirped me awake. I dressed, grabbed my water, and stumbled outside. I set the elliptical timer for 45 minutes at the gym and plugged away whilst watching CNN anchors discuss C-sections and the financial implications of said procedure on the ENTIRE MEDICAL SYSTEM (wow. no guilt there, jerks.). 3.49 miles at a resistance of 3. I did some weight machines but, you know, only kinda. Tonight I hope to go to hatha yoga after dinner (where, it must be said, I will meet a 2 week old!) in order to relax my mind during the really difficult spot in the evening.

Bought eggs on the way home. Cupcakes are in the oven. Lil' H turns 2.5 tomorrow.

fatty boom-balatty

must run tonight! my wonderful boss brought in a Kopps burger with the works... fries and a strawberry shake. yes i ate it all.
looking forward to getting outside this weekend. yipee 40 degrees!!!!! melt some of this dirty white crap.

4

4 miles in 45 minutes on the treadmill left me loads sweatier, thirstier, and cherry cheeked than Sunday's long run. I want to try going outside in the mornings (big warm front coming this weekend!, but have to plan according to sunrise.


xoxoxo,
t.