Beautiful weather

This week....has been AWESOME, weather-wise!
I took full advantage and did 5 mi after work Monday, 6 mi after work Tuesday, and 7 mi after work today. The rest of the week I plan on taking it somewhat "easy" (and hopefully getting in the pool for a workout tomorrow night...ugh) because I decided today to sign up for the Lincoln Half Marathon in Springfield this coming Saturday! I was getting antsy....it's been almost five months since I've done a race! It's time :). I'm super pumped! :)

Slacker....not really...but kinda

So I have had a reallyreally busy past 5 days....Wednesday I left around 1 after a busy morning at work and set out for the Quad Cities. I didn't return home until approximately 6pm tonight (Sunday). The hours in between were spent in almost constant motion...not of the mile-running sort, but of the wedding-errand-running sort :). It was an amazing, amazing time spent with many family and friends. I have many new memories that I will treasure for a lifetime...and I have a new brother (in-law!) :). Now there are TWO Daniel's in the Matyasse family :). Dan Matyasse (my younger brother!) and Danny Hankner, Megan's new husband! :)

As I posted previously, I ran a quick 3.5 miles outside with my friend Jamie on Monday (which seems like an eternity ago!), followed by 45 minutes on the elliptical at the gym. On Tuesday I ran 5 miles outside right after work. However, the rest of the week wasn't very notable as far as working out goes :). I know I should cut myself some slack due to the wedding events...but I still feel somewhat guilty (and gross, as I always do when I don't get much time to work out...which, thankfully, is seldom...but this is real life and it does happen at times!). Wednesday I didn't work out, but Thursday morning I did wake up early to run 4 mile with my sister along a canal not far from my parents' home. It felt great!! :) That was my last run with my sister as a Matyasse! :) We had a great chat and it was nice to spend some 1-on-1 time, pre-wedding.

The rest of Thursday was spent getting ready for her bachelorette party, which began at 4pm that afternoon. Friday was a whirlwind of last-minute wedding errands, mani/pedi's from approximately 1pm-3pm, rushing back to our hotel to get ready for the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner, the rehearsal at 5, and the rehearsal dinner at 6. After that, Jeremy spent a bit of 1-on-1 time together (really our only all weekend!) and went out to get ice cream (Country Style, a Quad City original! :) ). Saturday....it was WEDDING MODE all day :).

Today...we slept in at my parents' house and met Meg and Danny for lunch in Davenport. After that we did the present-opening thing for a bit over at their house and then I headed home...I got home about 6 and have been tackling laundry ever since.

I MUST get back to it (mucho running!) tomorrow, though! :) :) I will, I will! :)

If only I didn't feel quite so guilty!!

More workout updates

So I am trying to blog quickly about each and every workout...
So here's a continuation after where the last post left off! :)
I ended up taking both Friday and Saturday off due to total busy-ness. Typically I hatehateHATE that excuse ("I am just too busy to workout", etc.) because I am totally of the field of thought that one must MAKE exercise/working out a PRIORITY...and I usually do! however, I say with confidence....I really did everything I could Friday/Saturday....but working out just didn't happen. And I will be ok with that and let it go.
Sunday (March 21) I ran 12 miles outside and I can also say with confidence that it sucked hard core. I have not been doing very well at eating regularly (skipping lunch, eating minimally throughout the day and then having a big dinner, etc.) and have also been skimping on the amount of water I drink (mostly due to laziness probably...which, I know is pathetic). The last 2 miles of those 12 miles Sunday truly were miserable. It actually went through my head to give up....which is something I don't do. I just don't give up. UGH! I was so thankful to be DONE after those 12 were completed!
Monday (last night, March 22) I ran 3.5 outside with my friend Jamie, taking advantage of every last drop of sunlight. It felt great! After that I did 45 minutes on an eliptical cross training machine at the gym. It was a great workout, really :).
Tonight I am pumped...I get off at 5 for once (hopefully!!) :) :). I brought running clothes with me and hope to get outside for a few miles at least. I have a lot to get done tonight....my sister's wedding is ON SATURDAY (whoaaaaaaa!!)....but I will definitely be getting some sort of run in, since after tonight I am not sure how much running I will be getting in over the next few days! I will obviously be making grand efforts to run/work out, but I won't kill myself if I don't get much in due to other priorities over the next few days :) :).
Have a wonderful day, all! Happy training! :)

This week....so far

Monday....6 mi outside solo

Tuesday....5 mi on treadmill

Wednesday....6 mi outside with my friend Jami

Thursday....30 min on treadmill, followed by 35 min on eliptical/arc trainer machine

Friday....off

Tomorrow.....weeeellll, we will see what tomorrow brings! I need to find time for a 12 mi run tomorrow or Sunday! There's just so much to do right now, it stinks! The biggest obstacle so far has been TIME....and it will only get harder...but i lovelovelove the training. There's joy in the "pain"; really :)

This past week....

Sat: 10 mi (outside, 9 of them with Jamie, 1 by myself first)

Sun/Mon/Tues: cardio stuff @ the gym

Wed: 5 mi (outside)

Thurs: cardio @ gym

Fri: off

Sat: 65 minutes on eliptical w/arms at the gym

Sun.....woke up too late to run 7 like I was planning (It's a taper-down week on Mr. Hal's plan)....I have to leave for the Quad Cities in a few to help my sis with wedding stuff....but I hope to do something tonight. We'll see.....

Things I need to change:

Incorporate more strength training (Ugh)

Incorporate more cross training (swimming SO saved me and my knees last summer/fall!)

Quest for 3:40:59

So I registered for marathon #2....Minneapolis...June 6, 2010...85 days from now. I am in week 6 of my 18-week training program (I am doing Hal Higdon's Novice plan again; the same thing I did last summer to prep for Chicago). So far, so good. I feel great and can't wait to run another marathon!

However...naturally I have a goal in mind ;). In order to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I need to get a qualifying time of 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds (or better!). My goal is to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon at the Chicago Marathon this fall. In order to (hopefully) better my chances of successfully qualifying, I thought I should get in one more marathon before Chicago this fall. Therefore...Minneapolis, here I come! I am going to be staying with my good friends, Rosalee and Bobby, who live in Bloomington, MN. I am super-excited to see them! :)

I may be crazy....not sure if 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds by October is a realistic goal...but I am going to try my darndest!! :) I ran last October in 4 hours, 1 minute, 4 seconds....which means I need to shave about 21 minutes off of my time. That's almost a whole minute/mile faster. Ugh. I think I can, I think I can! :)

Really, I want to accomplish the Boston Marathon before pregnancy :). We are absolutely not ready for a little Brunner any time soon...but that time will be here before we know it! I will be 28 in October and want to have my 1st baby before 30. In my mind (and we all know it isn't up to us!! ;)), running 2 marathons this year, qualifying for and running Boston in April 2011 (Monday the 18th!)...and then thinking about a little one! ;)

Again...there's a ton that has to happen for my little plan to really come to fruition ;)....but, hey, it's my blog and my life and my dreams....and that's what I've been thinking about for the past couple of months!!! :)

Bring on Minneapolis! :) :)

Lovely weather

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful!  My friend and often~running~buddy, Jamie, and I made plans to go on a running date yesterday morning.  Jamie is training for her first half marathon (which will be at the Illinois Marathon event on May 1; I am running it with her!), and i am training for my 2nd marathon (in MN in June).  In these earlier weeks our training plans overlap quite a bit.  Yesterday I needed to run 10 miles and she needed to run 9....so we made plans for her to meet me over at my house.  As she was driving over....I ran my 1st mile and then we ran 9 miles together....it was wonderful! The weather was great....in the 40s...and we had some awesome conversations.  Jamie is a really wonderful friend and I am so thankful she and her husband Steve are here in Bloomington.  Jamie is a wonderful person....the kind of person who spurs me on to be a better person simply by being her sweet self!  I love running for so many reasons....but it is even sweeter when it allows time for some great conversations and deep soul~searching with a great friend! :)  i look forward to many more wonderful runs and chats with Jamie!

Finally

Fiiiiiinallly starting to stay light out a bit later.  I hurried home around 5:30 tonight, quickly changed into my under armour and favorite green vest, and set out on a 4 mile run.  It was delightfully delicious.  I made the mistake of not wearing gloves (yeah...my hands basically froze) nor anything on my head/ears (they didn't seem to suffer like my poor hands though!).  Still, though, it was wonderful.  I felt so wonderful through entire run.  I would've of course liked to go for even longer....but as it was....i was already running late for knitting group (i had made plans to go with Jillian)....and it was pretty dark by 6:30 when i was done. Oh well!  I'll definitely take it! :)  i am so thankful! :)  i can't explain it fully....but  I am truly a better person when I'm running :).

I also was able to run outside Sunday afternoon...9 miles!  It did have a bit of drama....3.3 miles in, 8 totally bit it! I tripped over some uneven sidewalk and fell to both knees....and ripped both knees of my lovely running tights.  Ugh!

But......

I <3 running......