This post begins with speed work and ends with rainbows and awesomeness.

This morning's speed work was WAY better than last week's joke of a speed workout. I had a weird little ladder workout on the schedule - a 1000m, a 2000m, then 2 more 1000m repeats.  Not really a ladder; more of a speed bump, if you think about it...and if you even think about those sorts of things.

I also think about purple running shorts.  A lot.

Anyway, the workout was better because, even though my nose still kept running every 400 meters or so, I remembered I had this little cloth wipe-thingie that attaches to your thumb so you could wipe and blow your nose while you run.  If it wasn't totally gross right now I'd take a picture and show you what it looks like.

The other reason this speed workout was better was because I trucked through that 2000m repeat like a champ.  This is mainly because I divided it up into smaller 400m chunks in my mind and blasted some of my fave songs the entire time.  But I didn't go into the workout thinking I was going to make it; after all, I struggled my way through some measly 1200m repeats the week before until the struggle bus pretty much ran over me.  You see, I have this nasty habit of thinking I can't do things, and then I just go out and freaking do them, surprising myself.  And then go back to thinking I can't do those things.

What can I say; it's a gift.

So what "things" am I talking about?  Well, besides the 2000m repeat from this morning, here are some other things I never thought I could do but then busted out, both running and non-running related:

• Stand up and present in front of others.  I used to take Fs for presentations in high school rather than get up and look like a fool in front of a class.  Little did I know that would be my primary job for 17 years in my own classroom - and that I would even make presentations in front of entire school districts.
• Run 3 miles at once.  Before my first 5k, I had never run three miles straight.
• Run a full marathon.  Believe it or not, I never thought I could run a full marathon, and didn't even think I could do it at the starting line of that first 26.2 since I had never run that far in training.
• Own cats.  I was seriously NOT a cat person at all until these two little ferals showed up on my porch befriending large dog and then asking to come in the house because they might freeze to death during the winter and they were just too cute to become kitten-cicles.

Resistance was futile.

• Run a 4:10 marathon.  That's my marathon PR, and I didn't think I was going to make it after I completely broke down for a few minutes at mile 23.  But I gathered myself and managed to get to the finish line just in time.
• Complete a triathlon--specifically that whole "swim" part of a triathlon.  I don't know if you call what I did "swimming," but I got the job done and didn't drown.  Win-win.
• Get married.  I never pictured me hitched to a guy, but boy is the hubbs thankful I relented on that one.  Well, he is on the days I'm not yelling at him to stop talking to me while I'm on the treadmill.
• Run marathons just for fun.  Some may consider that sick and wrong, but it's what I do these days.
• And finally...I never thought I could obtain my own run recovery cat who demands recovery rubs when I finish my treadmill sessions.

Gimme da rubs hyooman...only way you can
recover properly I swears.

And there you have it--the short list of my "didn't think I could dos but went and did thems." You just never know what you can do until you try, which I guess is the main learning of this post.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go cue a rainbow.


And while I'm doing that, here are some lesser learnings:

• How awesome are those purple running shorts?
• Super awesome, that's how awesome.
• Those cats were awesomely cute as kittens, you have to admit.
• Looking back on that list, I've done some pretty awesome things.
• Now it would be awesome if I could remember that I did them the next time I think I can't do something.
• It would also be awesome to end this post with a pic of the dogs:

Enough facetious blogging garbage - it's play time.

Tomorrow's workout:  Cathe's PHA workout.  Good times.

Some ranting about GPS watches and gratuitous animal pictures.

I felt pretty good this morning after my 15 miler yesterday, better than I've felt after running that type of distance in a long time.  This resulted in less mental whining than normally happens when I clean the house on Sunday and I was a little more motivated to do my upper body weight workout than I normally am.  It also helped that I had on my awesome tie-dye head scarfy thing and that large dog saw fit to horn in on my post-workout selfie.

It's not love for me.  It's love for my sweat.

And then small dog got in on the act.

Kids.  They never stay still for pictures.

Anyway, I did a three-fer today for a workout: Cathe's Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders and her Back, Biceps, and Shoulders workouts from her Ripped with HiiT series.  This was so I could get a complete upper-body workout and to generally torture my upper body since I tortured my lower body yesterday.  These days I record my strength workouts (along with every other type of workout I do) on my Garmin Vivoactive HR because, you know, if you don't record it you can't blog about it because it never really happened.  But I remember way back when I started working out, there were no watches that could do that.  I had to, like, do math and stuff to figure out how many calories I burned.

And we all know doing math when you don't have to is a big fat no-no.  At least it is in my world.

So when GPS sports watches started to be able to record things that weren't outdoor running, cycling, or swimming, I was all in.  Heck, I was all in from the whole "GPS" thing so I didn't have to manually map out a route before every run.  However, I've come to see that while these sports watches have a lot going for them, there are some drawbacks:

1) Sometimes I look at my GPS watch to check my pace during a run more than I actually look at the road.
2) Waiting for satellite signal.....complete bummer.
3) The time it takes to find that "just right" watch face to express my individuality and uniqueness.
4) When you finally get a satellite signal, hear the beep, and then take off on your run--completely forgetting to actually start the run on your watch.
5) The fact that nothing else contains nickel in the watch except for the watch band clasp, making it nearly impossible for me to actually wear a watch without huge red blisters on my wrists because, you know nickel allergy.

I'll spare you pictures of that last one, but it's the one that ticks me off the most about these fitness watches.  I pay all that money for this awesome little piece of technology that I pay more attention to than my loved ones at times, and, like some of my less-loved ones, it returns that attention with a big oozing red rash. 

Buh.  I'm about 3 seconds away from just super-gluing the actual device to my wrist and dispensing of wrist-bands altogether.  And small dog is 1 second away from telling me to suck it up, buttercup, and end this post:

Please make this post stop.

Bummed out wrist-rash learning time:

• Cathe's upper-body workouts from her Ripped with HiiT series are fast becoming my faves again.  All my muscles are feeling that workout right now.
• If you're ever running in downtown Chicago by the mag mile and all it's tall, tall buildings, your GPS watch is also completely useless.
• These nickel-induced wrist rashes suck, and must stop.
• Female cat is too busy being crazy to care about this post at all.

Too busy with crazy to care.

Tomorrow's workout:  Speed is here!  A nice weird little ladder is on tap.

Lessons from the long run: So much purple. And sweat.

I did blog yesterday, and I even posted it.  But then I promptly passed out from exhaustion, and never put it out anywhere on social media so I just want to thank the two people that read it according to my stats.  So, thanks to you two random strangers for reading the product of a very long and tiring week.

Speaking of long and tiring, today I long-ran it, doing 15 miles in the almost-spring weather we're having.  The first 8 were with large dog attached to me.

If you consider temps in the 30s "almost spring."

For once, I don't have much to whine about--it was a pretty decent run.  But, as usual, it taught me lessons that I will probably forget by next weekend:

Lesson #1: Large dog will never, ever give you a good mid-run picture.

"Is the camera behind us?"

Lesson #2: If I run after lunch, I will have to make a pit-stop at home by mile 4.  This is because I am stupid and always run after lunch even though I know better.

Lesson #3: Elbow sweat-pits.  WTF.

SEXY

Lesson #4: Purple running capris with side-pockets make the run better.  Especially since you can stuff all your gels in those pockets and not have to wear another belt just to hold them.

Small dog is entranced by all the purple.

Lesson #5: Who didn't think she could run a 9:45 pace for 15 miles but then went out and busted that sucker out?  This crazy runner in them crazy purple capris, that's who.

This moron!

No more lessons; what have we learned?  We have learned:

• I like to take pictures in my living room about runs rather than taking out my phone during a run because, you know, I'm too busy RUNNING during a run to take a ton of pics.
• I am a moron because I am shooting for a 9:20 pace for my marathon so thinking that I can't run a 9:45 for 15 miles is completely stupid.
• Elbow pits.  Buh.
• "Buh" is exactly what large dog is thinking about this post.

End it already, Mom.

Tomorrow's workout: Upper body goodness!

It's "here are the facts" Friday, kids!

Here are the Friday facts:


Fact #1:

Large and small dog are totally horning in on this post.

Fact #2:

I didn't work out yesterday because I overslept - but not to worry; I had plenty of time to get into a car accident on the way to work.

Booooo car accidents.

Needless to say, I was late getting my usual morning Starbucks fix.


Fact #3:

I didn't blog last night because I was too busy going to Milwaukee to hear scary stories read to me by real people in person standing on a stage rather than listening to them on my phone.

Could my chin be any bigger?  I'm a freak.

It was super awesome and the No Sleep Podcast kind of rules.

Fact #4:

After doing Cathe's total body express workout on her Total Body Trisets DVD this morning, my glutes are currently begging me not to do my long run tomorrow because they just aren't working right now. Even make cat can hear them crying.

Hyooman.  Glutes need to use their inside voice.

No more facts; time for bed.

A fast post about my too-fast tempo this morning.

This morning I was supposed to head out and do a 10 mile tempo at marathon pace.  Here's how it ended up:

As you can see, I did not get to 10 miles this morning because I farted around finishing my coffee instead of going upstairs to get ready when I should have.  But, 8 miles is better than no miles, people, especially since I didn't want to do the run at all because it was cold, windy, and snowing at 4:52 AM.  Since misery loves company, I dragged large dog outside with me and I begrudgingly ran this tempo way too fast as usual, as my target marathon pace is a 9:20.

Keeping the "running tempos too fast" streak alive, one cold dark morning run at a time.  Mother Nature called three times during this run because she's freaking needy like that, so that made the run begrudging AND frustrating:

The headlamp really completes the outfit and accentuates the frustration.

I'm also keeping the "I get up at 3 AM on Thursdays so I can be at work pretty freaking early" streak alive, so I will have to end this post rather abruptly with a picture of some of my animals doing exactly what I am about to do, only in a bed and not on the floor:

Make no mistake - the dog is dreaming of
eating the cat's head.

Some abrupt post learnings:

• I stuck to my snack cut-back that I talked about yesterday.  Day #1 - mission accomplished.
• Looks like the cat could cut back on some snacks as well.
• Running in the dark + snow + large dog yanking me into ditches + annoying calls from Mother Nature = Why do I run, exactly?
• No more learnings for tonight; time for snoozing.

Tomorrow's workout: 30 minutes on my beloved new exercise bike.

Surprise! I eat too much.

This morning was a nice round of boot camp with Cathe, who coincidentally has a DVD named Boot Camp that I have done many, many times from her Strong and Sweaty Series.

5 DVDs of weight-lifting & cardio GOODNESS

This morning was also the morning that I took a long, hard, sideways-suspicious-eye glance at my MyFitnessPal food diary stats.

I see you hiding over there, you huge list of food I've eaten over the past few weeks.

And, after carefully analyzing all of the trends, extrapolating, interpolating, interpreting, and statisticsizing, I can only come to one conclusion:

I eat way too much.  Surprise!  Didn't see that one coming!

Not really.  But I have a few options now that I have come to that blindingly obvious conclusion, which I shall phrase in the form of a multiple choice question as an homage to my teaching past:

A. Ignore it and just keep on eating like a champion.  MyFitnessPal is obviously lying about how many calories everything is.
B. Recognize that I eat too much and keep droning on and on about it, admiring the problem in all of its shiny overeating goodness.  And just keep on eating like a champion.
C. Actually do something about the problem...like eat less.

While Choice B reflects more of my every day reality, I do realize that Choice C is the better choice.  So, how's a fitness-crazy girl who loves to eat going to eat less, especially when she sits at a desk most of the day and likes to snack while she works?

Cut out a few snacks a day, that's what.  Just like when i started losing weight, it's all about making little changes that add up to big changes.  Having the data from MyFitnessPal helped me recognize that my issues wasn't really my meals--it was all the little snacks I threw down during the day that were making the calories pile up.  So I decided that I wouldn't die of starvation if I have up one of my (too many) morning snacks and one of my evening snacks.  I also decided that I would slowly transition my snacks into more natural food rather than processed stuff pressed into a rectangular bar. 

Now here's to hoping this works because, disturbingly enough, I found myself taking those "cool sculpting" fat-freezing commercials somewhat seriously the other day.

You know what you should always take seriously?  This cat...

HYOOMAN END THE POST ALREADY

...and these learnings:

• As a former science teacher, I can tell you data solves everything.
• Well, after you analyze it and figure out what it's trying to tell you, it does.
• And then it annoyingly and jerkily tells you to stop stuffing your face mindlessly while you sit in front of a computer all day.
• But wearing that cool little Ragnar do-rag makes you feel all better.

Tomorrow's workout: 10 miles tempo in strong cold winds and 20 degree temps.  Yay spring!

This morning's workout review: BUH

There's only one word to describe this morning's so-called "speed" workout:

BUH.

Didn't stop me from taking stupid pics whilst I was on the treadmill, though.

So much stupid in one picture - AMAZING

I got up 45 minutes late today to the hubbs asking me, "Hey-are you getting up or what?!?"  While I would have loved to say "or what" and slammed my head back into the pillow and allowed the male cat to continue to sleep on the back of my knees, I like having money to pay the bills so I got up.  And, for some reason, I was utterly exhausted and it was all I could do to get dressed and drag my tired legs over to the treadmill.

But I decided to see how many of those four 1200 m repeats I could do, so I started slogging away at those repeats.  And here's what happened:

• Approximately 3,000 stops to blow my nose
• One husband sneaking up on me so that all of a sudden a giant husband head appeared to the right of my head while I was deep into my 1200m repeat "can't hear anything with my headphones on" groove 
• Two loud screams at being startled by the giant husband head
• 1 male cat that kept trying to get on the treadmill with me and...
• 2.5 trips to the bathroom

Like I said...the run was total BUH.  But better to have run and BUH-ed than never to have run at all, I guess. 

But maybe I should have just stayed in bed.  The cat, apparently, is much smarter than me.

I'm not that smart, but here are some learnings:

• Seriously, I'm glad I didn't run at all.  The pace wasn't hard, but apparently the rest of my body wasn't having any of this "running" nonsense this morning.
• Stupid fitness photos are my specialty, in case this is the first time you've ever read this blog.
• Sleeping is also my specialty, one I didn't get to practice much last night.
• You think female cat is mocking me by napping like that while I was on the treadmill?  Yeah, I think so too.

Tomorrow's workout:  Boot Camp with Cathe!