Tag: running

Half marathon training plan and FROYO (is bad for you)

SweetHanrahan4 Comments

Is it REALLY only Wednesday?  

The weather in Chicago is finally shaping up and I am stuck in the office (good weather = not good motivation to get actual work done).

Because of said weather, the rooftop opened up and I have been spending some time up there drinking vino and enjoying the weather.  Here is a terrible shot of the city from my little perch:

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Anyway, if you guys know me IRL, you know that I have been bitching and moaning a little upset about my ankle pain.  I have had my eye on the Zooma Chicago Half Marathon for quite some time.  I mean HELLO, I even developed my own training plan (based on various plans I’ve seen on the internet).  However, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it because of this pesky ankle pain.  I had ORIF ankle surgery a few years ago and my ankle has never been the same.  Of course, I took to Google to find out what my options are.  As it turns out, the term is referred to as “hardware-related pain” and many people opt to have the hardware removed (which can lead to 100% pain improvement).  If my ankle is not feeling any better by the end of this week, I am going to see an orthopedic surgeon to get his/her thoughts.  Stay tuned…

In the meantime, I thought I would share my training plan for those of you who might be interested in running a half marathon this summer.

ImageI think cross training should include a combination of spinning, swimming, weightlifting, and anything else that your little heart desires.

The other day, I was spending some time on Women’s Health Mag’s website and came across this little visual about the calorie content for various froyo toppings:

ImageApparently, froyo is not very good for you after all (assuming you go nuts with the toppings which, let’s be honest, who doesn’t?)!

And just for fun, I thought I would share this photo that one of my besties sent me:

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I am thankful for all my wonderful girlfriends.  I just wish ALL of them lived closer to me!

Do your besties live nearby or are they scattered around the world?  

-I’ve got most of my besties living far away from me: New York, PARIS! and Fort Lauderdale

 

 

 

I run for the champagne

SweetHanrahan4 Comments

Ahhhh, Monday, how I loathe thee.

This Monday was especially painful because of how tired I was from this crazy weekend.  I swear, I feel like I hardly took a break at all the last 2 days.  So, here is a little recap…

Friday night I just went out to dinner with the hubby because I knew the rest of the weekend was going to be jam-packed.

Saturday morning started off with a trip to the gym.  Since I was going to be running an 8k on Sunday, I took it somewhat easy: 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes stair-stepper followed by back/abs strength session.  After the gym, I headed over to Michael’s for this little DIY project that was inspired by my friend, Leslie.

ImageI tend to kill plants so cacti are perfect for me.

After Michael’s I picked up my race packet and got my teeth whitened, sexy right?

My husband and I got so tired that this had to happen:

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Note the straw.  Apparently, according to the teeth whitening people (what else would you have me call them?), we had to avoid pretty much all alcoholic drinks for 3 days but that using a straw makes it okay (thank GOODNESS!!!).

Race day gear ready to go…

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Sunday started off like-so:

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Soooo many people, holy moly.  I thought it was really cool that the winner of The Biggest Loser 2013 was there.

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The actual race could have been better.  I had an unpleasant bout of diarrhea right before the race (too much?) so I was really dehydrated and felt like crap for most of the time.

ImageOverall, for me I did a-okay.

After the race was over, I had a nice little brunch with my friend, Indira (she ran too!) then met up with my husband for some bike riding on the lakefront.  Aaaand then, THIS happened!

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What can I say, I run for the champagne!

Money shot:

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Random question: If you saw a meetup group in your city named Bitches, Booze and Books, would you consider joining?

 

 

 

Gym pet peeves, a new book and I’m screwed

SweetHanrahan6 Comments

Happy hump day everybody!

My week has been flying by, I hope yours has too 🙂

Workouts:

Monday: 30 minutes on the elliptical + upper body strength

Tuesday: 4 miles on dreadmill

Wednesday: 20 minutes on the elliptical + 1/2 of Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred (level 2)

While I was running on the dreadmill on Tuesday, I got to thinking about all the irksome little things that people do at the gym (what can I say, that thing is BORING). 

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Here are my 3 top gym pet peeves:

1) People not wiping down the machines once they are finished, GROSS

2) When I am waiting for a machine, and there is someone who is barely using it (talking on their phone, walking at a turtle pace, zero resistance, etc.)

3) Those girls who basically wear a bikini (you have a hot bod, we get it) to work out

Any pet peeves that drive you crazy?

Anyway, today I got very excited because my new book finally came in…

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Have you guys heard of it?  The basic premise is that modern-day wheat is genetically altered to create manufacturers with the greatest yield at the lowest cost.  This modern-day wheat is what’s making America fat.

I am not saying that I am going to go nuts and dive off into this wheat-free diet but I am interested in what Dr. Davis has to say.  So we’ll see.

In other news, as I mentioned earlier, I ran 4 miles yesterday and you know what?  It killed me.  My hips and hamstrings are completely sore.  I used to run 6 miles no problem, what happened?  Winter.  Winter is what happened.  Anyway,I just realized that the Shamrock Shuffle 8K is this weekend.  For some reason, I thought I had like 4 weeks until this sucker.  Considering the fact that 4 miles completely put me on my ass, I would say I’m screwed!  

Anyone else running a race this weekend?  If so, I hope that it will be warmer for you than it will be for me (48 degrees, FUN!).

 

 

Killer circuit and this weekends’ activities

SweetHanrahan1 Comment

WARNING: YOU WILL NEVER GET THE FIVE MINUTES THAT IT TAKES TO READ THIS POST BACK

You’ve been warned.

Hola amigos, how has your weekend been going?

Mine hasn’t been so bad.  Although, I must admit, I’ve been pretty sore from the past weeks’ workouts, the hardest one being….

Started off with a quick mile on the dreadmill followed by this:

ImageThis killed me.  End of story.

Moving on to the more fun stuff 🙂

Saturday, I decided to betty crocker it up and make this delicious breakfast:

ImageEgg whites with tomato, spinach, avocado and jalepeno.  Served with a side of turkey sausage, wheat bread + cream cheese & sugar free jelly and a spinach/pineapple/banana smoothie.  YUM!

After breakfast, I had to head to the west loop to feed my friends’ cats (friends are in China) which was about 3 miles round trip.  Their cats are BIG.  

Heeeeyyyy Gar-Bear [his name is Gary]…

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On the way back I forced my husband to take a pic, he’s clearly thrilled.

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Anyway, after running back, we spent some time riding bikes because the weather here in Chi-town is finally starting to look like spring (even though it took 800 million years).

Today we ran a few errands then went to watch the Gators lose.  For some reason I thought it would be appropriate to record my outfit into the history books.  

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Clearly, I like the color blue.

See, I told you.  You’ll never get that 5 minutes back.

Hope you all had an amazing Easter!!!!

 

 

 

 

Chicago’s Perfect 10(k)

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So I ran my first 10k!!! Woooo…sort of.  Let’s start from the beginning.

Pre-race, I made sure I laid out all my gear and had coffee ready.  This blend rocks!!

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I got there about 30 minutes early so I could be sure I had enough time to check my gear.  The weather was PERFECT (about 55 degrees) so it got started off right.  Well, then they announced that the race was going to be 30 minutes late because of Chicago parking issues…Duh! Of COURSE there is going to be issues, this is Chicago, GET HERE EARLY!  Anyway, I digress…

As you can see below, there was a good amount of people running the race but apparently, a lot of them didn’t get the memo to line up in your pace corral.  This made it SO hard to pass people (and I’m SLOW)!!!

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I started off ok and was feeling good, until my knee started to bother (around mile 2.5).  My knee hurt the whole time (I sprained it about 2 months ago and it hasn’t really been right since) so I spent most of the time thinking about that.  But I was not going to be deterred into stopping!  So, I did end up running the whole thing with a pace that is great for me (about 9:55) so all-in-all, it was a success.

I look soooo miserable happy!  (Side Note: My eyes LOOK closed but they are so small that believe it or not, they are actually open)

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My knee has been bugging me since the race so I am going to take about 2-3 weeks off from running (waaah!) so that it can heal.  I bought this ice pack for $4.35…bam!

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Even though I’m not running, I am still working out.  Today I did 5 sets of the following:

7 minutes on the elliptical (various levels)

10 push-ups

10 squats

10 jump squats

20 sit-ups.

It was a good one!!!

Injury and Races

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Workouts this week:

Saturday: 5.6 miles outside (it felt good)

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 3 miles on the treadmill

Tuesday: .6 miles on the treadmill + half of a step class

Today: 45 minutes on the bike + arms & core

 

Yesterday during the step class my ankle started KILLING me (I broke it a few years ago and it hasn’t been the same since).  Normally, I would just reduce the intensity and power through the workout but, with me running a 10k on Saturday, I didn’t want to risk it.  This is how I felt walking out of the class before it was over:

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Because of said ankle pain, I chose to keep my workout to a minimum for today.  I am going to figure out the rest of the week depending on how my ankle feels.

In other news, my friend Indira has convinced me to run a 15k in the spring/summer and a half marathon next fall.  The farthest I’ve ever run is 6 miles so this is quite the goal for me.  I must say: I am excited!

Naturally, I started to peruse the internet for some good training plans.  I thought I would share this one (click link for more info)

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/half-marathon-training

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I am not wild about sticking to strict training plans so we shall see how it goes.  In the meantime, I am just going to work on bettering my pace and increasing my distance over time.

Any good/fun Chicago races I should look into?

Tequila and Running do NOT Mix

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Don’t get me wrong, last night was alotta fun…BUT, perhaps I had a tad too much tequila?  I had one shot but I think it was one shot too many.

So, as you can imagine, peeling myself out of bed to go running was not at the top of my list of things that I want to do today.  

Here is me wondering whether running is the best idea right now:

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It was a slow 4.5 miles partially because I was hungover and partially because it was WINDY.  Not just windy, but WINDY.  

Here are the boys before and after my run.

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Someday I will learn to stop taking blurry pictures with my iPhone, someday.

In other news, Halloween is upon us!  I don’t think I am going to dress up because I just can’t envision myself going out drinking AGAIN tonight (barf).  But I did do a little bit of decorating.  

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I tried to draw a toothy smile but my marker ran out of ink.  #firstworldproblems.

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Mini pumpkin!

I know what you are thinking and no, Martha Stewart did not do this for me.

Anyone else dressing up and going out on the town tonight?

One Productive Mama!

SweetHanrahanAside1 Comment

Yesterday was so PRODUCTIVE.

I started my morning off by cleaning the apartment…so much fun, right?

Then I ran 5 miles averaging about 10:30 per mile, which is pretty good for me.  Scooby wanted to come with me but I had to explain to him that his legs are too short for longish runs.  Sorry buddy.Image

Check out the view at mile 3…

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After my run I took a quick shower and went shopping! Yay!!  I got some pretty sweet deals, including this little number:Image

The Gators played the Gamecocks (and kicked their butts!) so before meeting up with the gang at Sully’s (Chicago’s gator bar), I made this awesome salad.  Artisan lettuce, walnuts, chopped up apple, chopped up figs, gorgonzola, drizzled honey and olive oil.  DELISH! Image

I contemplated getting these pillows for my couch but Bryan said it would be a bit much, but maybe I’ll convince him to buy them next time (once he is good and drunk).  It’s a terrible picture (after all, we were in a dark bar), but you get the point.Image

I thought it was ironic that there was this body shaping place across the street from the bar.  We all agreed that after drinking so many calories in beer, we should definitely hit up this place after.Image

Quote of the day “I always notice that you are losing weight because your boobs get smaller.”  Thanks honey but I was hoping something along the lines of “I always notice you are losing weight because your BUTT gets smaller.”  Ah, the joys of marriage!Image

Anyone else have a productive Saturday?

 

Run with a friend Saturday

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Work yesterday was SLOOOOOOW, which made my day completely drag by.  The upside? My boss let me go an hour early which was great because then I could fit in a quick little workout before dinner.  I walked home and I always find it funny how this guy sets up a bunch of chess and checkers boards for people to walk up and play…He does this every. single. (week) day.  We’ll see if he’s there in the winter!

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Before dinner, I just did a quick 40 minutes on the elliptical so that I could buy myself some of those extra calories that I was sure to consume during dinner.  

We ended up going to this BYOB Mexican place that I heard about on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.  There was an hour long wait so we just went to the bar next door first.

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Enjoying a much needed drink after a long week.

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Let me tell you what, that restaurant was AMAZING!! Everything was so delicious.  If you are in the Chicago area, I strongly suggest stopping by.  It is called Chilam Balam.  Awesome.

This morning started off right! 

My friend Leslie came over and we had planned on doing this kick-boxing class before going on a quick 20 minute run.  However, 15 minutes into the class, we left because it was not a good workout AT ALL!  Maybe it was the teacher but it stunk.

Instead, we went with my husband for a 3.5 mile run followed by sprints up this hill.  It was tough!  My legs are killing me as I write this 🙂

Not sure what the rest of the weekend holds but I am sure glad I got such a great workout so early.  I especially enjoyed having other people do it with me.