Next Focus

I tend to have a lot to say after running a half marathon.

Race recap. Post Race indulgences.

Etc. Etc.

Now what?

Well. I’m not in the clear just yet- when it comes to training, anyway.

There’s still ZOOMA going down next month in Lake Geneva.

(Click HERE to sign up and use the promo “GLAMB1” for a discount on registration!)

No lie- I hesitated when first approached with the opportunity to be an ambassador. Mostly because I have a tendency to suffer serious burnout.

However, I currently feel awesome and am still pretty excited about a mini-destination race. And yes- crossing state borders makes this a “destination”. I don’t travel much.

My only real concern is the course itself.

Us Chicago kids are completely spoiled and I’ll be the first to admit it.

Our courses are flat. Flat. And, dependent on where the race is, even more flat.

Hence my nonexcitement after the Go! St. Louis Half in 2011. Even long gradual inclines give me something to whine about.

So….

The rest of this week is still me doing what I want- which may include a half-assed workout here or there. I only took one official day of rest, and my first run post race was Tuesday night. Nothing exciting or crazy. It was approximately two very slow miles.

Next week? That’s when we get back into the swing of things. And take on a new challenge in training.

Remember how I’m not a big fan of speed intervals? I have a feeling they’ll be a cake walk compared to the hill workouts coming my way. They’ll have to be created on the treadmill due to lack of resources in Chicago (did I not mention how flat this city is?), which makes it worse for my attention span.

But how are we supposed to grow as human beings without a little challenge here and there?

Right?
Right.

But that can wait until next week. I earned my lazy workouts this week and shall enjoy them accordingly.

Happy Thursday!

Chicago Half Marathon Surprise

Everything that could go well did.

That’s what happened.

Well. Except for the wrong turn made on the way. And the wrong turn or two or three on the way back. Considering the race started in south Chicago, this wasn’t the most ideal of situations.

Thank goodness my aunt owns a Prius and gets about 50 miles to the gallon. Or we surely would have been screwed.

But nevermind that. When it comes to the race, everything was peachy.

My morning started with the usual.

Peanut butter toast. One piece already demolished. Also, did you know Friends is on at 4:30 in the morning? I watched Phoebe get married as part of my prerace routine.

I never ever ever stray from this routine. Like ever.

We got down to the race site about an hour early. Considering the wrong turn, this was surprising. My two cousins and I gave my aunt (from out-of-town) the lay of the land to give ourselves some peace of mind and so she wouldn’t be lost and frantic after the race was over.

And then we were off. To our respective corrals. I started in “F”, which was at about the 1:55 group. This was a comfortable spot for me. Going into my “training season” for Chicago Half and ZOOMA (in October), my secret goals was to PR in at least one of the two. However, because I never quite made it over 10 miles for my long runs, my new goal was to finish under 2 hours and face plant into some pancakes afterwards.

Simple enough.

The race started exactly on time (woah) and I was thrown into a first mile of dodging and ducking others. The first mile or two is always the worst for this and makes me a bit stabby.

The stabbiness subsided, however, after about the 5k mark when I saw the clock and realized my pace was sub-8:30.

“Hmm. I should chill out a bit before I crash and burn.”

So I zone out a bit, and casually observe my surroundings to keep my mind off of all the running.

Word to the wise- if you must wear running tights that are semi-see through, do not wear neon yellow undies that say “I can do anything!” underneath. Unless, of course, you wanted 10,000 runners to see them. Then it’s ok.

Made it to mile 7 under the hour mark.

“OMG I NEED TO START PAYING ATTENTION.”

Because there was still a wee bit of time to think about things, I started breaking down the math. 8:20 pace. Shit.

That’s when I made the executive decision. Which was “Screw it. Balls to the wall. Let’s just see what happens.”

And 8:20 was the pace I kept almost exactly for the next 4 miles. How? Magic, I suppose.

Then came mile 11. Mental breakdown. A bit past the marker, there was a water station. I took a cup and started a walk. I needed this.

“Come on Amy, don’t stop now.”
“What are you doing, Amy? No walking! Keep going!”

The kids at the water station were yelling at me (our names were on our bibs).

Seriously?

Well fine. If I’m gonna get yelled at. Geez…

At this point, the math in my head (as mediocre as my capabilities are), informed me that I was going to beat my old PR unless slowing down to 10-minute miles happened.

That was a really good feeling.

And so was hitting mile 13. The end was near and I was so spent. However, I like to think that the sweet new laces my friend Laura gave me:

and the recent download of tunes from the Project X soundtrack (thanks to Mary for suggesting that movie last weekend) were my good luck charms that did it.

1:50:21. 155/1583 in my division. 2117/12105 overall.

Killed my old PR by almost 4 minutes.

This took me by complete surprise. My long runs were fine, but nothing seemingly stellar. My pace for all of my mid-week 4-milers and such weren’t anything out of the ordinary.

But I’ll take it.

And since I accomplished my original goal of a new PR, this takes a little less stress off of the ZOOMA Women’s Race next month. A good thing- because I hear the hills on that course are challenging to say the least.

However, I did not accomplish the second part of my goal.

We hit one of my new favorite breakfast spots in the city- The Breakfast Club.

And by the time we were seated and ready to order, I went a non-pancake route.

They had me at chorizo.

But now I kinda want pancakes.

Sigh.

Guess you just can’t win them all…

Anyway, thanks to everyone for all the awesome comments and tweets this last week. You have no idea how motivating you can be- it is very much appreciated.

Much love on this Monday morning,

Amy B

Done

About now is probably the time to look back on the latest training cycle and discuss how ready I am for the half marathon this weekend.

Well. I’m not.

My summer was busy and time slipped away. This probably explains my decision to not train for a half last fall. Can’t believe I forgot how hard it is to fit in a long run when all I really want to do it sit on a patio with some Lagunitas.

However, it wasn’t all so bad. My running was pretty consistent. I managed to fake an interest in free weights once or twice a week. And I even accomplished a few long runs during the week- versus skipping them entirely.

Sure, I’ll finish and do fine. Physically I’m up for it. Mentally, I’m not quite ready. But that’s why I employ my ipod to distract such negative thoughts. Will I PR like I hoped at the beginning of training? That’s up for debate.

Conditions are forecasted to be perfect. It’s supposed to be a beautiful day for it on Sunday. A couple of my cousins are running it, too. And there are big plans for breakfast with the family and a dinner out with this girl.

Good things are going down on Sunday. I can’t complain. Even if it’s not my fastest.

But anyway, yesterday was my last run and I made it an early morning 4-miler.

Felt fabulous the entire time. Really, there’s no other way to put it. I mean… I guess there could be complaining done about the music video stations at the gym and how they should never ever include slow songs. But that seems to be a first world problem. So I won’t go there right now.

It was a great way to officially end this round of training.

Hopefully on Sunday, the next 9 will go just as easily.

In the meantime?

Loading up on protein and carbs.

Chicken sausage and peppers sautéed with a little soy sauce. My addiction of the week.

Putting up my feet the next two days.

Maybe enjoying a movie or two.

This is the easy part of training. Holla’.

Happy weekend, ya’ll.

In ZOOMA news…

There’s a new giveaway on the ZOOMA blog! Go check it out!

A Different Approach

My friend Laura is coming to visit this weekend.

This means a few things are going on.

1. A few days this week, I went to bed smelling of various cleaning products. The windex and laundry detergent scents were fine. But the one night of reeking of clorox was troublesome to my REM sleep.

I also may have had nightmares from what was collected in the dustpan after we moved the sectional couch.

On the flip side, I was super psyched to find 2 missing jenga pieces. My life is once again in balance.

2. The Trader Joe’s workers are sure to know my name as I’ve been there 3 times over the last week to pick up food for our weekend. And wine. Obviously.

However, I’m still going to drag Laura there again at some point because I thought more was on reserve. One bottle of wine will just not cut it.

3. My half marathon training long run was last night.

Yeah. On a Thursday.

Now I’m sure I could have snuck out tomorrow morning before Laura wakes up. Throw down a 10-miler, get home, shower, and have breakfast ready by the time she sits up and stretches and comments on how glorious the morning is.

But that would have been awful. An outting full of dance party shenanigans is planned for tonight and maybe even a trip to a favorited late night mexican spot. The combo of lack of sleep and 90 minutes of fitness would have made me a zombie for the rest of my Saturday.

Given the choice of that scenario or sucking it up and doing the long run on a Thursday?

I’ll pick Thursday.

And it worked out alright. Woulda been better if the trains weren’t delayed and I didn’t get home later than usual. But we don’t have to dwell on that.

We’ll just talk about the run.

After a long day of sitting in an office, it was rough getting into it. Yeah, I’ve run a little here and there after work, but that was knowingly attempting a mile or two. Not 10.

The brain takes a while to comprehend something like this. So the first 2 miles sucked a bit.

The next few were when I hit the lakefront trail. So I was busy trying to not get ran over by all the cyclists. That got me through a few more.

My best miles? The last 2.

10 miles were in the plan, but a range of 7-10 was going to be considered acceptable. We’ll be 100% honest on that one. I didn’t think I’d get the entire way through it.

However, after leaving the lakefront, I was in the zone and shufflin’, shufflin’.

This was the first time I felt really positive about this half marathon coming up in a few weeks. The last 2 miles were calm, steady, and decently strong. I can do this.

9.6 miles total.

With the crazy schedule I have, the after-work long run is a choice to be made more than once. At least it will work when it has to.

And now? I don’t have a thing to worry about come Saturday morning.

Well. Maybe one thing I’ll have to apologize to Laura about…

PARTY TIMMMMEEEEEEE!

I Can Do Anything Good

When switching cable providers a few weeks ago, we realized all the joys that Tivo has to offer. One of them being the ability to play YouTube videos. And after an older rerun of Tosh.0, we giggled over things like wanting to go do hoodrat stuff with our friends.

And the morning routine of Jessica.

Sure. I watched it maybe 5 or 20 times when it first came out. But haven’t revisited it since.

No idea why not.

Because, with the risk of sounding “like omg, so totally cheesy”, this girl was wise beyond her years.

Ok, maybe she was just being silly and had no clue. But there’s still a takeaway.

I can do anything good. Damnit.

Well, she shouldn’t have said that last part. She was six. I only added it for emphasis.

My supposed half marathon training is truthfully nonexistent. According to my running journal (yes, I have one of those and love it), 7 or 8 miles should have happened last weekend.

I can’t remember the last time my total was over 5. Uh oh.

And yes, I’m aware this summer has been crazy busy. And crazy hot. And just crazy.

But something needs to fall into place. The Chicago Half Marathon and ZOOMA Great Lakes Half Marathon Series are staring me down.

Sure. My 5k results haven’t been too shabby. Good, even. Look at me go fast! Look at me go! Weeeeeeee!

But that only accounts for 3.1 miles. What about the other 10?

I want to do well. I want to be prepared. And I hear there are hills on the Great Lakes race.

So I need to get it together. Long runs mid-week? The thought is daunting. But my options may be limited.

Because my weekends are packed. And there ain’t no rest for the wicked.

This morning was my first “oh hey, let’s focus on the future goal” attempt. After a speed run Tuesday, and some early morning elliptical/stairmill on Wednesday, it was a test to see how much my legs would put up with.

It was sluggish. For a while at least. Mostly the first half mile and the last half mile. The inbetween wasn’t much to complain about. And I only saw one rat. So there’s that…

Not a horrible 4.8 miles. And I may be able to fit in a few (just a few- let’s not get stupid) longer runs in the week. Maybe wake up an extra 5-10 minutes on occasion to make sure to get into the 5 or 6-mile range.

Because I can do anything good. Heck yes I can.

If anyone gets the Cage the Elephant reference, I love you.

Lucky Number Four

With the anticipation of all the summer celebrations, which inevitably involve beer and brats at Wrigley, drinking on patios, eating ice cream, and lounging by the pool instead of swimming in it, I was sure to buckle at some point.

Goals. I need them.

And with my race calendar looking relatively empty, other than a few 5k’s sprinkled here and there, It was decided to just go ahead and jump in the deep end.

Go big or go home, right?

I signed up for my 4th half-marathon! Two of my cousins were toying with the idea of training for their first half, and all they had to do was mention it for me to join in on the fun.

Yes, I called it fun. That’s not a typo. Remind me of this when we hit month three of training. Please and thank you.

Training doesn’t start until mid-June and doesn’t get stressful until mid-July, so I’ve got plenty of time to recklessly enjoy Goose Islands and lounge on the lakefront.

Don’t worry. Because I know you were going to.

So until that crazy business starts, it’s all fun runs up in here.

Yes, I used that word “fun” again. And no, I haven’t hit my head recently. I meant what I said.

Or whatever exercise I consider “fun” at the moment. Currently, it’s a combination of stairmill (20ish minutes) and running (2-3 miles) and maybe two or three sets of weights of any kind. I pretend that’s considered well-rounded.

This also takes care of one of my silly little New Years Resolutions. And since we’re in month 5 of 2012, maybe I should really start getting serious about that whole “finding a prince to marry” thing, huh?

I wonder if royalty browses Craigslist?

Just figuring out my gameplan…

Happy weekend!