Monday, August 22, 2016

Upcoming Racing Schedule

Now that things are starting to return to normal, let's see what my current racing schedule is like...



I'm running but have no scheduled races. Ok, that's not necessarily true. I signed up for the Jingle Bell 5k in Kankakee in December. It's actually my current PR. As much as I don't expect to PR this race, it's a fun one that several of my friends are also doing so why not!

I might do a 5k in September and put some of the speedwork I've been doing to the test. As much as I don't expect to PR that one either, I should be able to do better than the 30 min 5k's I've been doing as of late! For the record, my PR 5k is 26:22. I'd love to be able to run my 5k in 28 minutes right now.  TBD...

I'm just generally enjoying my time "not racing" and not running any half marathons or full marathons.  I don't have to run on the weekends. I can bike or walk instead. I do run at least 2 times a week though because I don't want to completely lose it! I'm just running free and happy.

I do get a little envious over my friends that are training for marathons right now. I see their posts, their triumphs and their struggles. I do kind of miss that sometimes. But I know a break is necessary for me right now.

I am also toying with doing the Hot Chocolate 15k in October again. I only did it once in 2010. I'm just not sure yet. I know that the distance wouldn't be a problem. It's the logistics of ... getting up early and heading downtown. I'm tired of doing that! lol.

Anyone else doing the Hot Chocolate?

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Married!

I tried to think of a clever title for this blog post but this was as clever as I could manage!!

Guess who got married! This girl! Everything went wonderful. I'm so very happy. I can't wait to get the photographs from the photographer but here is one of my favorites from her so far!


I just LOVE this! I will post more about my wedding (or what I actually noticed since I was so overwhelmed by the day) another time. Just wanted to say thank you for all the good wishes!

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The biggest race of my life...

Where have I been? Oh yeah...I've been losing my mind. No big deal.

Actually things are well.  I did ride that century in July in Princeton Illinois. It's called the Z-Tour and the hills are NO JOKE! OMG! I thought I would die trying to get up them and I thought I would die riding down them! And they just wouldn't stop. For 100 miles. It was exhausting! It took us 7.5 hours of riding, which was definitely longer than the "under 7" I anticipated it would take us! Weather was good but it did get warm by the second half. 

Actually, many times someone would say to me "This is the last hill" or "This is the last major hill" or "This should be the last of the hills, the rest is relatively flat"... It was all a lie. There were still plenty more hills. Plenty. It was like some sick joke they play on the newbies. Hahaha...it's the last hill...hahahaha! Sucker! lol

I'm proud of us though. We toughed it out and made it through. Granted the last 10 miles were just about all single digit pace. lol.  We didn't fight (meaning, I didn't get angry and mile 50 like usual and yell at him). In fact, we said we would kiss at mile 50 just to make sure we wouldn't fight. And we did. That was fun. lol.  Anywho, the scenery was beautiful since you are riding all those hills. You get some great views.  

After the ride. I think I was leaning on my bike because I didn't want to stand. Probably.

This about sums up my ride

And the big day is finally almost here! We have had showers a-plenty. I should write more about them because my friends are amazing!  We had the main one from my family. My run group threw me a surprise one after my Thursday night run (they are awesome people!), and my coworkers threw me a surprise one too (they are also awesome people!). 


With the wedding hashtag #TaylorMade2016 (lol)

Run group wedding shower - I love them!
Work shower

Derek was in on it and showed up to surprise me *love*

Sunday is the big day! Eeeekkkk!!  Thank goodness. Because I'm tired. Work is busy and my mind is packed with wedding info. I just can't think anymore. lol. But as long as we show up, we will be getting married!!  Wish me luck. As one of my run friends said to me..."This is the biggest race of my life, but I CAN DO IT!"  (Awesome!)