July Recap

Average Temp: 79F/26C - the average temp does not reflect the massive heat wave of 90+ degree temps we have had this past July!

Miles run: 126.3 mi - 5th month in a row of 100+ miles

Rest days taken: 10 - pretty standard for me since I usually run 5 days a week.

Highest mileage week: 35 miles (7/18-7/24)

Average pace: 8:19 min/mile

Races: No race July

Current Obsessions: Looking at other people's wedding photography!  Have you seen Page's post about her gorgeous wedding???  I just cannot get enough!

Current Blessings: Brian.  He is single-handedly keeping me sane while everything starts to get crazy as we get closer and closer to the wedding!

Current Excitement: Bridal shower and bachelorette party for me THIS weekend!  Woohooo!

Current Read: The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card.  Let me start by saying that I love Orson Scott Card.  We had to read Ender's Game in high school and I just started to reading more and more by him.  So when I saw he had a new book out at the Library I scooped it up.  And once again he did not disappoint.  This book is slightly similar in context to the movie Jumper.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Jelly Belly jelly beans. Seriously, my sugar intake needs to come way down.

I cannot believe it is AUGUST!

Three Things Thursday

1. My run this morning was horrible.  My stomach was upset the whole time and it only got worse when I stopped to take a break.  I managed to get through 3 of my 4, 1000m repeats before calling it quits and heading home.  It is so weird how my stomach is usually fine on morning runs but every once in a while it revolts!

2. Yesterday, Brian and I met with our priest to go over our wedding ceremony.  He asked us a few questions, one of which was "Are you an introvert or an extrovert?"  I had always thought I was an extrovert but apparently I have more introvert tendencies than I thought.
-I enjoy spending time by myself
-I am quiet around strangers
-I don't like being the center of attention
No wonder I enjoy my quiet morning runs so much - its my "recharge" time before I go into work and have to be social with everyone!

3. Check out my guest post today over at Linzi's blog (Beyond Destination 26.2) about having a fabulous summer while fitting in all your workouts!

Happy (almost) Friday!

Fake double

Last night's Tuesday running club workout went off with out a hitch and we had a relatively cool evening for a workout.  80F with a light wind compared to 90F++ temps last week - what a welcomed relief from the heat wave we were having.

I was excited for the workout - 3x1600m at tempo pace followed by 4x200m at race pace,  for the great company of my running buddy and for new running shoes/racing shoes!

A few weeks ago I stopped into a local running/tri store because I had a gift certificate from the race I won back in April.  I was excited to get new shoes but sad to hear that the store did not carry Brooks.  So I started trying on every pair they had in the store until I found these awesome red shoes!  Last night I ran in them for the first time and they made me feel like I was flying.  The adizero adios shoes by Adidas are super light and super comfortable.  I can't wait to race a 5k in them in the fall!

8 miles later we finished the warm up, workout and cool down.  My legs were pretty dead.
3x1600 - 7:06, 7:05, 7:01
4x200m - all at 41 secs, talk about consistent!

I headed home for a shower, dinner and to put my feet up.  I purposely did NOT shampoo my hair in hopes that it would serve as motivation to get out of bed the next morning for a recovery run.

Less than 12 hours later, I was back out on the road for a short 3 mile recovery run.  My legs were yelling at me for running again so close to my last run but this was the only time I could fit it in.  Plus by not shampooing my hair the night before, I felt like I had to get up and run in the morning and then shower/shampoo.  Otherwise it would be double showers for me and double shampoos if I ran after work which was something I did not want to do.  Sometimes you just have to find a little stupid thing to get you out of bed in the morning.

So instead of running in the morning and night with work separating the runs, I ran at night and in the morning with sleep separating the runs.  I think it still counts as a double of sorts - my legs definitely think so!

Happy Wednesday!

A little Q and A

Suzy over at Running on my time tagged me for a little Q and A. Since I have never done a post like this I thought I would give it a try!  So ask away!

I will post answers next week!  Hope your Tuesday is going well!

A perfect day

Saturday was the best day of my weekend.  It was perfect because I did everything that I love all in one day!

First thing, I was up at 5:30am to meet the running club at 6:30am for a tough hilly run!  It was brutally hot and I was soaked with sweat by the end but it was an awesome way to start the day!  I kept the pace pretty easy until the end when I was running with another guy who wanted to go fast, so I ran with him.  I was pretty sore the next day - opps.

13 miles in 1:50:26/8:26 pace

Then I met up with a very good friend for some wedding shopping!  We were able to gather all the supplies for the rest of my little DIY projects! Can't wait to show you all when they are finished!!

Next I was in the kitchen preparing a scrumptious dessert!  A berry trifle!  The perfect treat for a backyard BBQ!  We had a nice little house warming party and invited over a bunch of friends to show them our new home that finally looks like we live there! Nothing like a party to get us to clean the place up!

The recipe for this trifle is from the food network website - Patriotic Berry Trifle.  It was so easy to make!  I ran out of time so I didn't make the cream - I just used store bought whipped cream. 

Hope you had a perfect weekend too!!   Happy Monday - back to work :(

I'll take hot and sweaty

Last night it was hot and sticky outside but instead of staying in the AC, I went downtown to a professional women's soccer game.  Thankfully the seats were in the shade, otherwise I would have died.  I don't really follow women's soccer except during the world cup and the Olympics but I do keep track of one player who is from my area -

Abby Wambach.

I have seen her play a few times and she actually made an appearance at my soccer game when I was in high school.  Although she didn't play in the game last night, it was still pretty impressive to see some women's soccer. I just think its awesome to see women accomplishing so much in sports!

After the game I headed home - I was feeling pretty dehydrated but since today was supposed to be even HOTTER, I knew I had to get up before work to run.  Being the crazy runner that I am, I chugged two glasses of water and went to bed.

The alarm came too quickly at 5am and I headed out the door in 8 minutes flat.  The temperature was already a steam 74F and I pounded out 6 miles -

1 mi warmup
2 mi at HMP (~7:30, actual 7:31 pace) I had some garmin problems in the beginning of this portion; my garmin kept telling me I was running 10 min/miles when I clearly knew I was not.
0.5 mi recovery jog
1 mi at HMP (~7:30, actual 7:30 pace)
Easy jog home

Due to my garmin being all wonky at the start of my tempo, I had to estimate my mileage using gmaps pedometer.  It sure has been a long time since I have used that.  Over all it was a good workout but hitting the paces was hard since I was tired, hot and sweaty.  But it was done...glad I got it done in the morning because now it is unbearable outside.

Hope everyone is staying cool! Happy Thursday!

Rising temperatures

When the weather forecast looks like this for the next five days, hydration becomes a necessity -

Tonight's running club track workout is going to be hot hot hot!!  I am not sure about the workout but possibilities include:

2x 4km at tempo pace OR
2x 1mi at 5 mi pace w/ 6x200m at race pace

Good thing I have the perfect way to hydrate while at work!

How do you make sure you are hydrated?? Happy Tuesday!

Back from a long weekend

Well I disappeared for a few days and the weekend - Brian and I went to visit my aunt and uncle who were renting a condo on a lake up north.  We were without cell phone service and limited internet - it felt great to be disconnected from the world.

As with most vacations there was little running and lots of eating.  We were able to enjoy a few gorgeous sunsets!

We did manage to climb another mountain (we climbed a few last summer too!).  In fact we climbed a mountain that has a very similar name to mine!

Starting tomorrow, I am getting back on the good eating train because I totally feel off that this weekend!  Vacations can be tough, but somebody has to do it!!

Brian taking a much needed nap!

Track (Ladder) Tuesday

There is nothing better than coming home from a tough track workout and having a delicious BLT sandwich and a huge side of watermelon. It may be hot out but nothing beats some good summer eats!

Last night it was hot and humid but I still braved the track for my run clubs workout.  Running in the summer heat is so different that the winter or spring.  My stomach always gets kind of funny feeling when I run in the heat, but thankfully it didn't cause any real problems last night and I was able to finish the workout.

The Ladder:
2x1600m at threshold pace
2x800m at interval pace
2x400m at race pace

I have done many different ladder workouts, but this was the first one where the paces got faster with each set.  Here's how it went:

1600s - 7:07, 7:10
800s - 3:14, 3:17
400s - 1:29, 1:25

By the end I was soaking in sweat - a shower never felt so good and the watermelon just hit the spot!  What a difference in post run foods - I remember when I was chowing down on hot tomato soup and grilled cheese back in March!

Does your favorite post run foods change with the seasons?  I am loving the watermelon this summer! I just can't get enough!

Have a great day!

Fitting it all in and No race July

Last week was a marathon of all things wedding, but somehow with a little planning I was able to fit all my runs in.  Taking time for a run sometimes seems impossible but here are a few tips:

1. Schedule your run - I always put my run time on the calender.  That way I block out time in the day to get out and run before all the fun.

Last Friday's schedule - July 8th, 2011

2. Try to run in the morning - now with the temperatures soaring, running in the morning not only is cooler than in the afternoon, it also allows you to see great sunrises and get your run done first thing!

Morning run sunrise!

3. Lay out your clothes the night before - whether you are getting up in the morning to run or going to run club after work, laying out clothes is helpful.  That way if you are running in the morning, your clothes are all ready to go when you wake up.  And if you are running at night, all your clothes are packed so you wont forget something important (like socks or a sports bra) as you are rushing out the door!

Clothes laid out and ready to go!

No Race July

After my 10k race in June and not gaining entry into the Boilermaker 15k, I decided to make July a month of no racing.  I am trying to learn from my training mistakes of the past and thought this would be a good idea because:

• Previous July's have been jammed packed with races leading to burn out and injury.
• The heat does not agree with my stomach and after racing in the high temps I often feel sick for days.
• July is a hot and humid month - enough said.
• Focusing on workouts and enjoying the run may help to inspire me as to what I should train for next!

Any suggestions as to what I should train for next??  Have a great Monday!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Friday dawned cool and sunny - a perfect day for my best friend to get married!  I woke up early partly because I was so excited and partly because I wanted to get out for a nice quiet run before all the festivities started.

3 easy miles later, I returned home to shower and get ready to head over to my best friends house.  At 10am the excitement started with hair and makeup!  After 3.5 hours we were finally all ready to go!

We went back to my best friends house to get ready to go and start taking pictures!

 

From there it was a whirlwind and the day went by so much faster than I wanted it to!  I had hoped to make it through my Maid of Honor speech without crying but I just could not hold it together.  Then we enjoyed a great dinner, some awesome carrot cake and then danced the night away!

 

It could not have been a better day and I am so happy for my friend!  I can't wait until her professional pictures come back! I am sure they are awesome!

Wedding Talk: Invitations!

I have been waiting and waiting to share these with you! Since the invitations were sent out Friday and most have been received I thought it was time to share!  I ordered my wedding invitations almost a month ago from Wedding Paper Divas and they came out better than I expected.

The process was simple and I would definitely recommend ordering from them for not only wedding invitations but for any type of invitation or cards - WPD is under Tiny Prints which sells cards.  When I received my shipment of invitations, I noticed that my outer envelopes were damaged by water.  I called up the WPD customer service and they were understanding and immediately shipped out replacements.  That definitely helped to make me feel better.

I worked all last week to hand address the envelopes and then Brian and I stuffed each envelope, sealed them and had them all ready to head out in the mail on Friday!

All the cards ready to be stuffed with invitations!

Sealed and ready to go!

I picked up these cute stamps just for our invitations!  I love the wedding cake!

I did the calligraphy/cursive addressing myself which was a lot of work but it was well worth it and they came out great.  Wish I could show you more but I have to protect people's privacy and I didn't make up a mock one because I was just ready to be done when I finished.

Our invitations!

Friday during lunch, Brian and I headed to the post office to send out all the invitations.  It was just another moment where all this felt real and it felt like this whole production was going to happen!  Brian took all these pictures of me mailing out the invites!

Walking up to the outgoing  mailboxes...

Here they go!!

And I am all done!

See - they are all mailed out!

It was a fun experience - definitely a little bit more stressful than I wanted but that is life!  And now just to wait for all the response cards to come back to see who is going to attend our wedding!

Happy Wednesday!

Enjoying the long weekend

In order to get ready for the marathon wedding week in which my best friend gets married, I took the entire 4th of July weekend off from all things wedding and stress.  Instead, I ran a lot and sunbathed even more.

Saturday = 8 miles @ 8:42 pace
Sunday = 6 miles @ 8:26 pace
Monday = 4 miles @ 8:18 pace

Friday, I stopped at the post office and mailed all 80 of my wedding invitations.  Then Brian and I headed home to his parents house for a weekend of fun and sun.  Every morning I woke up early and headed out to explore the roads and then returned to change into my bathing suit and sit by the pool.

It was so hot out that Brian choose to stay in the pool most of the day...

while I hardly moved from this chair except for the occasional dip in the pool.  My tan is coming along nicely and still no running tan lines!

It was a delightfully relaxing weekend and exactly what I needed - I feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle this week of wedding fun!  Now all I have left to do is get a pedicure and write my maid of honor speech for the reception....I better get going!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July and/or Canada Day weekend!