Work hard . . . Play hard

I know it's been an eternity since I've blogged. . . . . but life has been a whirlwind since I returned from Arizona.  I enjoyed an amazing 9 mile run in the woods with Angie the day after I got back.  We had a blast tromping through a park right in the same town we live in.  I can't believe I've never really gone into the park (besides on the one road that goes through) to explore more! 

We had a little difficulty finding our way through the park as it wasn't just a simple circle.  We managed to run for 9 miles and since we didn't have a planned route or time-frame, we just enjoyed the great outdoors.

This is what running around aimlessly for 9 miles looks like!

By the time we run our 50k in May, we should know this trail like the back of our hands since it's super convenient and enough grounds to get the miles in we will need, even if we are just going around and around in every direction.  We just have to keep running this wooded area to learn it.  We both realized there is actually something we aren't great it. . . . . . our sense of direction in the thick of the Forest! :)

After our fun trail running, I got ready and headed to Appleton WI for an annual ladies shopping trip with all of the women on my mom's side.  Naturally, my first stop was Fleet Feet, an awesome running store!  I dropped a few dollars on some trail shoes and Gu.  I also scoped out a few products to put on my Birthday and Christmas wish list and I sent my mom there over the weekend (at least I hope I sent my mom there. . . . . time will tell!)

I could have spent a LOT more money at this store -Cha-Ching!!

After an awesome 9 mile trail run and a little bit of shopping, I was exhausted by the time I got to our hotel.  We cracked a bottle of wine (or 9) and enjoyed some good food and some drinkey-poos!  We had to sit in the hotel lobby as they removed our normal gathering area to add more rooms on.  What a disappointment to a longstanding tradition of sitting around and eating and drinking.  We didn't let that get in the way of some good clean fun and some "Cards Against Humanity" playing.  If you've never heard of that game. . . BUY it! (if you aren't easily offended and afraid to use some foul language that is!).  We had an absolute blast and I swear I got a full ab workout in just from laughing.  I just ordered the game for myself today!  I'm not waiting for the Holidays for that gift!

This is my gorgeous sister Val and myself.  Aint she purdy?

We're the "young" crowd.  These are my cousins, sister and a family friend. . . . the girl on the far right is a runner and one of my biggest Blog fans!

Can you tell we had plenty to eat and a little bit to drink?  Fun times had by all!

I managed tough 3 miles on the treadmill on Saturday morning after a bottle of wine on Friday night.  I really wanted to run 5 but my legs were tired from trail running on Friday and I was slightly dehydrated.  I woke up at 5:30 and couldn't fall back asleep so I just figured I'd do something productive.  I'm glad I did something because my eating went downhill from there.  I enjoyed some delicious cuisine the rest of the day. . . and don't feel one bit guilty about it!

My BFF Devon & I at the hotel.

My sister Val and I having a blast at the dueling piano bar!

I know a dueling piano bar sounds like a nerd-o-la time, but it was actually really awesome.  I may or may not have gotten on stage to shake it for "Baby got Back."  I know a few of my friends who would be proud of that!  The entertainment that night was great, but our dancing was the BEST!

Despite my dedication to training and running, I like to have a good time once in a while.  I've been super busy at work and still sticking to a running regimen despite not actually training for a race right now, so I like to think I deserved a good weekend away with some family and friends to play hard!

How do you unwind and have fun after being so responsible and serious all the time with work and training?

Happy Running!
~Brooke~

Hot Damn . . . It's tough to run in the heat!

My work week has gone very well.  I've managed to keep up with the majority of my e-mails and as of this morning, I only have about 20 e-mails to follow up on.  . . which isn't bad for 4 full days out of the office.  I'm sure I'll get a few more that come in today while I'm traveling, but I'm pretty sure it will be manageable.  I am not looking forward to Monday morning however.  It's going to be cold and BUSY!  I guess it's the price I pay for a week of sunshine and Palm Trees.

 

I didn't have to drive this week, since my co-worker picked me up for travel.  It was marvelous!  All I had to do was wait at the Hotel Lobby for my curb-side service.  I'm not sure if the hotel staff thought I was a call girl though. . .  . I had 4 different males picking me up at different times.  Daytime travel and dinners!  It was nice to have some familiar faces to see throughout the week.

 

I would have liked to log a few more miles this week than I did, but I am happy that I at least got 16.5 miles in!  I NEVER stop at .5, so I'm kind of annoyed with that, but honestly, that was an outdoor run and I was freaking miserable.  The temps have been in the mid 80's this week which by AZ standard is "chilly."  I'm more accustomed to 40's & 50's right now, so 80's just feels HOT.

 

Everybody from AZ that I talked to this week thought I was a nut job when I said how hot it was.  One of my co-workers said that it was the funniest thing he's heard all week.  He actually laughed out loud!  But, when he comes to WI in May for work and he's FREEZING in 50-60 degree temps, I'll get the last laugh!

 

I ended up getting 2 outdoor runs in (3 & 3.5 miles) and I also did two 5 milers on the treadmill.  I am not one to hit up a treadmill when there is new terrain to encounter, but when I'm up before the ass crack of dawn because of the 2 hour time change and I can get a decent run in on a treadmill before the sun even comes up, I'm going to do that.  So, at least I got some running in and didn't just eat my way through the week.

 

The outdoor running was down right miserable.  Apparently I should have run with water.  I NEVER run with water for a quick/simple 3 miles but honestly, I felt awful after that.  It's amazing what the dry heat can do to a person.  Everybody I talked to here thinks I'm a wimp because I think this is hot!

 

I have to say also that I ate fairly well despite not having a home-cooked meal all week and having multiple temptations within a 5mile radius of my hotel.  Paradise bakery is my new love-hate relationship when I come here.  Amazing sugar cookies that give me gut rot!

 

I'm going to be heading out shortly.  Although I'm looking forward to some cool running temps and getting a long run in Saturday with Angie (Can you imagine how much we have to catch up on after being apart an ENTIRE week?), I'm going to miss the warm weather and constant sunshine!  I don't think I saw a cloud all week.



Hot Coffee (can you see the reflection?) and some beautiful Mountains. . . . . I'll take that for an office view!

A few more mountains .... . I don't get this on my morning commute, so I LOVE it!

Apparently Palm Trees aren't native to AZ, but they sure make me feel like I'm in Paradise.

King Size Bed, TV & Peanut M&M's. . . .my little vacation while away for work.





I'm missing Steve & Jackson, so I'm excited to get home.  Jackson is already anxious for the gift I bought him.  He tried everything he could last night while face-timing to get me to spill the beans on what it is.  He seriously thinks I got a huge Monster Truck!  I told him he better be good for Steve or he won't get it at all.  Pretty sure  he'll be just fine.

~Brooke~

Bull Riding, a "semi-long" run & some Good Ole Arizona Sunshine!

Last night the company I work for hosted a Fundraising event to raise money for a Palliative Care program in Sheboygan.  They hosted the same type of event last year to raise money for the Sheboygan County Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and hosted a Circus Theme Party.  This year, the theme was "Bucket List."  It was meant to promote making every moment in your life matter.  We had the opportunity to do some pretty neat things on Friday during work that some people never have the chance to do.

Acuity Insurance is certainly a "go big or go home" company, so they had tons for us to do.  We donated money to be able to do these things, so keep in mind it was just goofing off at the office for a few hours!  They had a rock climbing wall, a HUGE inflatable slide (which is terrifying by the way), Segways, a zip line, funky foods like alligator to try (which I skipped!), and this mechanical bull.  When I heard about a Bull Ride, I knew there was no way I was going to let the opportunity pass.  Now, I know what you're thinking. . .. most of the time people are shit-faced when they ride a bull in a bar down south.. . . . but I was stone cold sober.  We did have wine tasting, so I could have gotten tipsy, but I didn't need any alcohol to do a terrible job on my first mechanical bull ride.  I would have had wine before, but I had too much work to do since I'm out this entire week so I had to have a little fun and then be responsible and get back to work.

 

This is me. . . . thinking I can handle this Bull.



This is me. . . screaming very loud . . . . in front of MANY co-workers.

4 Seconds Later. . . . . . doesn't look like I'll be hitting the Rodeo anytime soon!



After a long day at work on Friday, I didn't feel like doing anything at home.  So, I took the opportunity to have some quality time with my little dude.  We watched some TV in bed and relaxed.  I think we were watching "The Little Couple" which is a show that he can watch and I can stand..  . and he said "Mom, I don't want to watch this. . . . . . I want to watch the Kardashians!" . . . . Music to my ears!  Of course, I'm caught up on that show on my DVR, so we settled for The Little Couple, which he liked just fine.

I set my alarm for 5 am on Saturday because I wanted to get a decent "semi-long" run in before my travels today!  I didn't actually want to start running that early because I was heading out further than my normal 3, 4 or 5 mile loop, so I wanted to wait until it was light out.  I didn't realize until I got up that the sun doesn't rise until about 7 am.  I got a little laundry started and played around on Facebook for a while.

I hardly think 10 miles is a long run. . . . especially when Angie and I have been running 15, 17, 18 & 20 milers on Saturdays.  I know my body needs a taper though because my Achilles is still a little tight and tender.  I will say though that it is markedly better, so I'm excited to be recovered from the marathon.

My 10 went pretty good until the end.  I haven't been foam rolling (lazy!) and so my legs were tight.  My hamstrings were burning at the end and I felt like I did the last 6 miles of my most recent marathon.  Lesson learned. . . just foam roll!

This morning I set my alarm for 3 am.  Not to run. . . but to catch a flight to Sunny (aka: Hot As Hell) Arizona.  Although it was early and I'm tired now, it was so worth the early morning.  There was NO traffic my entire drive to Milwaukee, the lines weren't terrible to check in and when I got here and off the plane, it was still only 9:15. . .. love that 2 hour time difference (in my favor today!).

Lucky for me, my co-worker picked me up at the airport!  Talk about easy transition!  I got an early check-in at my hotel, unpacked and then went to the Chandler Fashion Mall for some lunch & browsing around. 

Worth the trip to AZ. . . . Sugar Cookies from Paradise Bakery!

 

Despite my Panda Express Lunch, an amazing Sugar Cookie, an hour of laying in the sun and not a lot of water intake, I decided to head out for a little run.  I actually wanted to see what the hype was about running in a "dry heat."  It's total bullshit!  Don't believe a word anybody from the South says.  Hot is Hot!  I don't care!  This is my 4th time coming to AZ in the past 2 years and I've never run outside.  A few of the times I was just too lazy, the other times, I did treadmill running, which is ridiculous when you have something new to look at.  I only planned on running 3 miles today since I ate like crap, was in the sun some already and was not hydrated in the least. 

 

My freaking Garmin died about 1.7 miles in.. . . so I think I did about 3 miles.  I was running under a 9 minute mile while I could track it and I felt like I kept that pace, but who knows.  It felt so terribly difficult to run.  Maybe tomorrow I'll eat and hydrate better and see if the heat is easier under more responsible circumstances.  I'll have to run on Tuesday morning because I don't think I'll have time tomorrow.  It's always nice to have some new scenery, but it's kind of boring where I am.  I'm by an industrial area and the residential area has some gated communities, so in order to run without getting lost, I stuck to a few main roads!





 





 



I'll do better than this. . . . but I have Palm Tree Running all week!

 

Ahhhh.  . . I miss this little guy so much already!

 

 

Tomorrow I have a busy day.  My co-worker is picking me up at 7 am and we are heading to Tucson!  I've never been to Tucson yet, so I'm excited to see it.  We have a little down time between appointments, so I'm bringing my tennis shoes along and hoping we can maybe do a little sight seeing.  He didn't seem to interested when I mentioned hiking.....but maybe I can convince him!

 

Big Shout out to my BRB Angie & Her Dad Roger.. . . he finished his FIRST 1/2 marathon this weekend!  How exciting for Angie to be able to share that awesome running experience with her dad!  I'm jealous!  (My dad has 2 fake knees and my mom has a fake hip ---so this is out of the question for my parents!).  Congrats Angie & Roger! :)

 

 

Do you make sure to exercise when you travel?  Or is it your vacation? I have certainly had my times of making vacation/travel an excuse to take a break, but now that I'm in the routine of working out, I think about the extra calories I can enjoy guilt free if I work out!

 

~Brooke~



 



Falling in Love with Fall Running all over again.

Running isn't about meeting your goal & then stopping. I ran my marathon, beat my goal by 9 minutes, suffered through stiff muscles for a few days and then got right back into the running routine again. It's not hard to go back to something that is a lot of work when you love it so much and when you're BRB is continuing to run also.

The week off was torture. I was aggitated, tired, not sleeping well, I ate pretty poorly, my body was in a lot of pain and I was just all around crabby. Recovery week (which was only 5 days off) reminded me of my need for exercise. I need that endorphin release. Looking back on that week, I realize that I had a terrible week of parenting, work was stressful and my house was in shambles.

The first marathon I ran resulted in a couple years of not running . . . how that happened, I don't really know. I guess it probably has to do with how I had trained. I ran 6 days a week (obviously I didn't have Angie in my life planning my training schedule) and my body hurt all the time. I suffered from agonizing shin splints and my race was hot and not very strong. I didn't LOVE running that day. I loved finishing, but I didn't love running. I've learned a LOT since then.

Last week I managed a 5, a 6 and a 7 mile run during the week. I think 7 was a bit steep as my left achilles tendon has been tight since my marathon. Despite the discomfort while running, I pushed through and completed my runs. Fortunately, or unfortuantely, when I get a number in my head, I just HAVE to complete it. I could have made my last run 5 miles, and I almost did because my Garmin beeped "low battery" about 2 miles in and I'd rather have a run saved than get all my miles in (not really, but it's a close call). I had it in my mind that I could do 7 because I had to take Jackson to school so I had time to run before I took him and then went to work. I ended up finishing fine, my pace was just fine, but my legs were still somewhat fatigued.

I finally got back to a Friday spin class as we had planned to do our long run on Sunday versus Saturday. It was a KILLER class. I don't recall ever working that hard through spin before. .. . and I'm no wimp to sweating through a tough workout. It felt amazing.

We finally had the chance to hit up the trails yesterday. I set my alarm for 5 am, but I woke up around 4:45 (thanks to my week day running schedule) and it was pouring off an on. . .more on than off. I obsessed over my weatherbug app and hoped it was right. It was supposed to be done raining by 8 o'clock. It was still raining when Angie picked me up at 6:15. Normally we would have 6 miles in by 6:15 but since we were doing trail running and it's dark until close to 7 am, we get to "sleep in" a little bit.

As soon as we got out of the car I said to Angie "this might not be the best way to start our trail running." Cold, wet, somewhat dark and dreary. Despite the wet somewhat muddy run, we LOVED it! The first 5 miles felt pretty long. I'm not sure if it was because we didn't know what to expect and we were concentrating so hard on the ground so we wouldn't trip on something, but by round 2 of the 5 mile loop, we were feeling better. I was still tired and my muscles were feeling the hard work, but it was fun.

Angie and I both agree that total fatigue after a long run is addicting. I have NEVER been so exhausted from a 9 mile run witha 1 mile recovery walk. The trail wasn't overly difficult, but had enough elevation gain and loss to make it challenging as well as some slippery conditions which required some steady work. It was more than I expected it to be from a workout perspective.

A little dirt never hurt anybody!

First Trail Run. . . . a whole new adventure.

After the run, we were dirty, wet and starting to feel the chill. I was thankful for heated seats and a blast of hot air inthe car. Angie packed a protein bar for durig the run which was awesome because I only brought a guu pack and honestly, I'm okay not having one of those suckers for a LONG time after downing 7 of them a few weeks ago for the marathon (barf!). I packed some bananas and 2 cute chocolate milks for us! Delish after a long hard run.

Neither of us really knew what to expect. I have done trail running with my sister-in-law by her house in Minnetonka MN, so I've done a little bit of it, but it's been a while. I have never been to the Kettles where Angie and I ran on Saturday. I think I have fallen in love with trail running. We will be able to get fewer miles in but have that fatigued feeling we both love. Being outside in nature without honking cars, traffic signals to wait for, creeps yelling "I love you!" out the window as they pass us.. . . . and other city issues makes trail running simply amazing. Now we just have to keep finding new and adventurous trails to keep things interesting.

Hosed Down and drying off!  --These babies have 280 miles on them!



Relaxing outside with my little Packer Backer the rest of the afternoon.


I'm enjoying the fall weather while it lasts. Soon I'll be forcing myself out of my warm bed on cold winter days to get my miles in. I love winter running once I'm out the door and warmed up, but it's that "getting out of bed" part that sucks!

What is your favorite time to run? Hot summer sweating your cajones off? Frigid cold temps with some snow & ice? Or right in the fall when the temps are cool but not bitter? My favorite is fall and early spring running.

Happy Fall Running & BEST WISHES to My BRB Angie on her 3rd 1/2 marathon of the year this weekend. She's running The Whistlestop 1/2 marathon in Ashland WI with her dad this weekend! YAY!

~Brooke~