Catching Up - February & Mardi Gras

Hello hello!  I am back in action for March after a fun, exhausting weekend in St. Louis!  We have so much to catch up on so let's get started...

Last Week's Running:

Tuesday - 4.25 miles OUTSIDE

Wednesday - 2 miles

Friday - 4.17 miles

Total - 10.42 miles

So the week wasn't very impressive, but I have to say that at least Tuesday and Friday's run were a good pace!

When I got to St. Louis on Friday, Angela and I went for a run at Queeny Park.  She told me it was a super hilly park and it was exactly that.  The loop we did was just over 4 miles and it was rough.  Most of the first mile was flat, except for one huge uphill.  Right when we got to the top, the Garmin buzzed that we did that first mile in 7:45.  We were both shocked because it felt very relaxed (except for when we had to power up the big hill).  The 2nd and 3rd miles were a combo of both up and down - 7:35 and 7:44.  Then the 4th mile was mostly flat, and we took it nice and relaxed at 8:01.  I was beat by this time and glad I didn't throw up my lunch because we ate only an hour before!

We were having some selfie-taking issues, but finally got a decent one and at least it shows off the success of my teeth whitening!  Also it was sooo warm!  We were wearing pants and long sleeves, but felt like I could've taken off the long sleeve top if I needed to (I had a short sleeve top underneath...it's not quite sports bra only weather yet.)

February Running Recap:

Total Miles - 92.77

Total Runs - 19

Average Miles per Run - 4.9 miles

All in all, I think the total mileage for the month was OK.  It's definitely not where I want to be, but when I compare to previous Februaries, it looks pretty strong.  Given the fact that the entire month was basically on the treadmill, I guess I really can't ask for much more.

Total mileage was significantly higher than January!  But average miles per run was lower (it was 5.5 in January).  But, 2 of the February days were two-a-days, so my average miles per day would be higher.  On another positive note, it looks like this was my highest February mileage:

I can't really guarantee that this is 100% accurate because I know I fell off logging my runs a few random periods at a time, but I would say this is probably accurate for February mileage.  I know for sure I logged my runs consistently in 2013 and that's the year I really want to compare to now!

 

But enough running talk for now, here's How I Rang in March:

Mardi Gras in St. Louis!  St. Louis has the 2nd biggest Mardi Gras celebration, behind New Orleans of course.  Liz and I started our morning with a trip to Starbucks and the grocery store for bagels (and to get cash back so we'd have money for the day).  Around 9:30am, the drinking games started and the rest of the day was probably the most fun I've had in a really long time!

We made it down to Soulard (the St. Louis neighborhood with the big Mardi Gras parties) in the late morning and met up with my brother, his girlfriend, and cousins Kevin and Katie.  It was quite the family affair :)

Sunday was a day of recovery and the weather in St. Louis was perfect for staying inside.  We did get out for lunch though at a cute little restaurant called Winslow's Home.
Next up on the social schedule is St. Patty's Day in Chicago!  I can only hope March will bring more warmth and more running miles (it's a direct relationship...I'm about finished with the treadmill.)

I'm also really hoping to have my new blog up and running this week so stay tuned for that!

Did you/are you celebrating Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday this weekend/today?

How was your February?

What Should I Do This Weekend?

Here's a quick summary of my workouts last week:

Monday - 6.3 miles tempo-ish run
Tuesday - 5.6 miles normal (included in the same post as Monday's run)
Wednesday - 19.25 miles !!
Thursday - REST
Friday - REST
Saturday - 4 miles normal w/ Angela and Olivia in northern Michigan - also, some paddleboarding = arm workout
Sunday - cross train - 12 miles biking, leisurely on a tandem bike

Even though I didn't get a run in on Friday as planned, I'm still really happy with the runs I did this past week and glad to have gotten my mileage up (both long run mileage and total weekly mileage which was about 35 miles).  I would still like to get that weekly mileage up a little more over the next 3-4 weeks before I taper.  But I say that every week.

I haven't decided yet what I want to do this weekend.  I might go to Madison, WI to watch the Ironman Wisconsin and in that case I would probably shoot for a 20 mile long run on Saturday.  But after all the driving this past weekend, a day trip to Michigan planned for the following weekend, and then UD Parents Weekend at the end of September, I think a weekend without traveling will be nice.  So if I stay here in Chicago this weekend, I can do a half marathon on Sunday or do a long run either day.  Here's my plan for Monday through Friday at least.  Obviously Monday already happened, so I just put in what I already did.

Monday - hill workout ~4.5 miles
Tuesday - 10-12 miles
Wednesday -6 miles
Thursday - Speed Workout - Mile Repeats
Friday - 5 miles

And now it's September!  As far as August running mileage, I ended up with 140 miles. If you've read some of my other posts, you know that I am comparing these couple months of marathon training to how I did during 2010 when I was training for the Columbus Marathon. In August of that year, I ran 145 miles, so I'm pretty much at exactly the same.  I was hoping to be significantly higher for the August mileage, but the beginning of the month was pretty low-mileage.

September should be a big increase over 2010 because I only had 98 miles that month. I want to shoot for close to 200 miles this September.

I decided I needed another picture and thought I'd include another one from the lake weekend, but then I thought - why not find a picture from last September?  My soul was sold away to the public accounting world for most of the month, but then I got to go to Nashville to celebrate Grace's Bachelorette party!!  Are you aware that according to whatever spell check system this blogging software uses, bachelorette is not a word?  It wants to correct it to bachelor.  That is weird.  And now I just typed it in Microsoft Word and it is a word there.  Google Blogger must not think that girls have fun too.

What are you planning to do this week?  Or this weekend?

Have you ever been to Nashville? 

Marathon Training Camp Weekend in MI

I just got back from northern Michigan a little while ago and obviously want to share some pictures and fun stories ASAP.  I've decided to call it our Chicago Marathon Training Camp Weekend since Angela, Olivia, and I are all running it and we got in some quality workouts and fun over the weekend.  So first, a picture of the lake/where I spent a few hours napping.  The nap also resulted in sunburn on only the left side of my body.

After the nap, the 3 of us went for a short 4 mile run - short, but hard.  I had done my long run on Wednesday night and then didn't run at all Thursday and Friday.  Angela and Olivia did their 18-mile long run Friday afternoon, so on Saturday afternoon we were all pretty sore/tight.

Wouldn't you want all of your runs to be on a road right a pretty lake?  I would.  Then I realized a lot of my runs ARE right next to Lake Michigan.  But this is way way different since there's not a million people also running the same path at the same time.

After a lot of chips and salsa, an amazing homemade dinner, and a few beachy cocktails at the cottage, us 3 girls headed to the local bars.  They close at 11pm.  A local we met asked us what we were up to for the rest of the night and I replied with "going home to sleep in bunk beds."  Their cottage was so cute and perfect for the northern-Michigan lake-cottage atmosphere.  Their family has been vacation here forever. The cottage actually reminded me a lot of the cabins my family used to stay in when we vacationed at Pennellwood.

Sunday morning we went to Mass, got lunch in town and brought it to the beach to eat, and then explored along the lakefront for awhile and walked to this lighthouse.  I wore this new hippie skirt that I am now in love with.  I practically got it for free from the LOFT since it was on sale and I had a $15 off coupon to spend during the month of my birthday.

We weren't really up for running, so instead Angela and I took out the tandem bike for what turned into a 12 mile ride.  I think we talked about the Chicago Marathon the entire time - what we'll wear, pacing, the course, etc.  I am even way more pumped up now!  6 weeks to go!

Sunday night we went to the beach for the sunset and rock collecting and then had another great dinner at the cottage.  We were all pretty wiped out and had decided we would do a hill workout Monday morning, so we turned in to the bunk beds early.

Monday morning was chilly, but perfect temperature for a hill workout.  And by hill, I mean mountain.  Angela BEASTED up it.  I had my phone in my little running fanny pack pouch thing, so I took it out (while still climbing up) and snapped her picture.

And then do you know what we did?  We ran down it and then back up again.  Each time was close to 5 minutes of straight up.  Angela was ready to do another, but Olivia and I were not as enthusiastic.  Here's the view from the top on the way down...around the curve, it kept going down.

In high school we used to joke that any of the "hills" in Chicago that we would use for a hill workout were actually just "bumps."  This hill was on the other end of the spectrum.  We talked Angela out of a third hill climb and ran straight into town on a few more rolling hills to join their parents for breakfast.  They even brought us clean t-shirts and sweatshirts so we wouldn't have to sit in the restaurant in our sweaty clothes.

Do you like doing hill workouts? - Chicago is extremely flat, so this is the most hill action I've done in a long time, probably since I visited Kristin in Cincinnati.  So this time I really enjoyed the hill workout since I haven't done one in so long.

Where is the most scenic place you have ran?

Cincinnati Cabrewing Weekend

I'm on my way home from Cincinnati right now and thought I'd recap all the adventures of the weekend. Luckily, I was able to get a ride with Belinda and her friend so I didn't have to worry about driving and can write this while I ride! We are listening to Celine Dion, so it's just a good atmosphere all around.

As soon as I got to Cincy Friday evening, Kristin and I went for a run. I was a bit nervous for this because the Ohio valley is mountainous and I had just done a hard workout on Thursday night. Even right when I got in the car with Kristin and started to laugh as we were talking, my core muscles felt extremely sore. But we started out on our route through Oakley and Hyde Park and chatted the whole way. It was a great normal run, but I am definitely not used to the hills! Sometimes I wish I had a little more terrain variety to run on but this felt like going from one extreme to the other. We did a solid 4.25 miles that went by super fast. Besides just the hill factor, it was a lot different that running in Chicago because of the peacefulness of it. We passed a few people and were running on some busier streets, but it is nowhere near the amount of people and stoplights I always have to fight through if I don't run at 5:30am before everyone else wakes up.

After the run we got ready for a night out! We went to Nada, a Mexican restaurant downtown. Everything about it was amazing. We shared chips and queso dip and were practically too full to eat our actual meals.

First round of drinks was a mojito for Kristin and a margarita for me. Second round was sparkling sangria for me and a coffee for her. No sleeping allowed!

We met up with Tim and his group that went to the DMB concert for a night in Mt. Adams. Besides the one time I came to Cincy for a night a few months ago and went to a bar near Tim's apartment for about a whole 10 minutes, this was the first time I had been out in Cincinnati. We did the Hofbrahaus one night in college too but I'm going to consider this the first real weekend I got to experience the city nightlife.

The real adventure of the weekend though was cabrewing on Saturday! After coffee and sandwiches, we met Tim, Dan, Eric, and Erin to drive to the river. We decided to tie our 3 canoes together to float down the river instead of really paddling. When we started, the canoe lady said the trip should take about 1.5 to 3 hours. We were in the river for 4.5 hours. We did make some necessary stops as we floated to (1) use the rope swing off the bank of the river to swing into the water, (2) climb up a tree that had wooden planks nailed to it to use as steps and then jump down into the water, (3) use the bathroom and (4) save a lady whose canoe had flipped at one of the more rapid parts of the lake. Jumping off the tree was definitely my favorite part but it was scary being up that high. The biggest regret of the trip was that none of us brought a phone or camera onto the water because we were scared to tip, but since we anchored all 3 canoes together, tipping wasn't even possible. But we did have the necessities - beer, water, chips, salsa, and Twizzlers.

After the river adventure, it was time for more coffee and getting all fancied up again. We met up with the cabrewing group (organization name: Terry's Fairies) and went to Yardhouse for an awesome dinner and then out to another bar downtown. My pictures from Saturday night are on my real camera, so I can't upload those just yet so here's another from before the canoe adventure.

The weekend was filled with a lot of activity, fun, and good food! Kristin and I even got brunch this morning before I headed out. I'm not sure if I'll be able to work up the energy for a short run when I get home, but maybe I should just to get above 30 miles for this week.

What was the best thing you did this weekend?

What is your favorite thing about running in a new area?