Sunday, December 30, 2007

Resolutioning...

So here are my resolutions/goals for 2008. There are a lot, so I have decided to break them down into categories.

Fitness and Health Goals:
1. Run 1000 miles. (this is very doable as long as I stick to a base of 20 miles a week)
2. Run a true 12 minute/mile half marathon.
3. Eat oatmeal (gross) for breakfast at least 4 mornings a week, and cut back my beloved cheese and carbs. I have to keep remembering that I don’t really need to “carbo load” for a regular day at the office…
4. Lose the 20 pounds I have been making resolutions about for the past four years… for real.

Financial Goals:
1. Cut back my almost daily Starbucks habit to 2 times a week. The coffee at work may be disgusting… but it will have to do.
2. Bring my lunch to work at least 2 times a week.
3. Save enough to move out.

Life Goals:
1. Find the cheese to my macaroni (yes I took that line from Juno… But I love cheese)
2. Be nicer to the people around me and find more productive outlets for my frustrations instead of those nearest to me who currently might have to deal with the wrath of Jaime.
3. Remember that I am only 23 and that I still have my whole life ahead of me so I will take every day, one day at a time, and not obsess over the things that have not happened yet.

Goodbye 2007 and may 2008 be full of excitement and new adventures.

$2 You Call Its

Scheduled: 5 miles
Actual: 5.25 miles
Time: 60 minutes
Pace: slightly faster than 11:30 minute miles

Nothing too special about this run. It was at the gym, on the treadmill, to the tunes of Blessid Union of Souls. I decided to just run for 60 minutes. I still got some (get ready for TMI) gastro problems though. Hopefully this is just a phase and it will stop VERY soon. Otherwise its really going to suck come January 27th when I am running in Miami. Speaking of Miami, there is officially less than a month until the half marathon. I am feeling fine about the distance, but from the looks of it, it is going to be HOT. Not the hottest I have ever run in, but way hotter than what I have been training in. But it is going to be fine. If I have to walk, I have to walk… its not like it hasn’t happened before.

Also, since that was my last run for the year my official mileage for 2007 was (drum roll please) 627.25 miles. Not bad considering I ran a total of 5 miles in January and February combined, but also sort of lame considering I trained for a half marathon and a full marathon last year.

Saturday night Fish, Alex and I decided to get our drink on. My brother, who is still underage and makes a great DD, dropped us off at Dick’s and we ended the night at Rocky Vander’s. Neither bar brings in the most amazing caliber of people (myself and friends excluded of course) but both are cheap and almost always a really fun time. Alex, who recently became a lesbian, was telling me her mom is going to pay her $1000, IN CASH, to lose 25 pounds over the course of the next 5 months. She thinks that if Alex is skinnier then she will be happier, and if she is happier then she won’t need to be a lesbian anymore. Interesting thinking. After the bars Fish and I spent the rest of the early morning quoting Grandma’s Boy, dressing up as Harry Potter and drunkenly talking shit about our Ex’s. When I woke up this morning I was still drunk, so all in all I think the night was a huge success.

Friday, December 28, 2007

"That"

So here I am sitting at my desk trying to get some work done... and I had a thought.

You know the Meatloaf song (don't judge) that goes "I would do anything for love, but I won't do that. OOO OOO NO I won't do that."

What is "that"??

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Please do not...

Please do not apologize for keeping me up half the night and then in the SAME breath say you understand because you were up half the night too. Except the difference is that I have work and YOU are on vacation for TWO weeks. Hence your apology only makes me more aggravated and pissed off than I was before you made it.

Also complaining about someone sleeping all day long and staying up all night long is fine, except when the very next day the person is still sleeping at 12:15 in the afternoon. In my eyes if you are going to continue to let it keep happening then SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT IT.

ok vent over... for now.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Saturday + Wednesday = Satnesday?

Saturday’s Run
Scheduled: 8 miles
Actual: 8 miles + .25 mile cool down
Time: 1:37:something
Pace: 12:12 minutes/mile

Finally it was nice enough to take an eight-mile stroll around my neighborhood. Although there were some areas that seemed more like ice-skating rinks instead of sidewalks, I was able to turn my normal 3 mile look into a 7 mile loop by hitting every cul-de-sac and dead end I could find. All in all it felt great to get some fresh air and look at something other than a foggy window.

************************************************************************

Wednesday’s Run
Scheduled: 5 miles
Actual: 5.03 miles + .25 mile cool down
Time: 54:56 minutes
Pace: UNDER 11 minute miles!!!

So every once in a while a runner has an amazing run. They feel like the wind is at their backs and they could easily do 100 miles. My run today… was NOT one of those runs. In fact it was the exact opposite of one of those amazing, I can run forever, runs. It was the anti good run, almost so anti that I want to throw my running shoes away and pick up tap dancing. ALMOST. Then how come my pace was way faster than normal for a run of this length? Because I was willing to kick my ass just to get it over with. DUH. Maybe I should have shitty runs more often?

Head Achin'

I would like to inform you (yes YOU) of all my ailments for today. In no way is this me whining or complaining or being a hypochondriac. This is just to let you know what is wrong with me… and to give you an open invitation to express your sympathy for me. Here it is in list form:

1. I have a headache.
2. My damn left eye has been twitching on and off all day… AGAIN.
3. I have this gross thing under my eye. (Stacy claims it is a blemish, but I am pretty sure that it is something way worse that is going to continue to grow until it has taken over my entire face)
4. I am tired.

Sob.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Run Away, Run Awayyyy

Scheduled: 6 miles
Actual: 6.25 miles
Time: 58:23 minutes for 5.25 miles and 13:30 for the mile warm-up
Pace: 11ish minute miles for 5.25 miles and 13:30 min/mile for warm-up

I did it. I dragged my lazy butt out of bed and went to the gym at 6 in the morning and ran my weekday long run. And my pace was smokin’ fast if you ask me. Tomorrow is supposed to get warm enough to melt some of the snow and hopefully I will be able to do my 8 miler outside. Fingers crossed.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Eight is Great

Scheduled: 8 miles
Actual: 8.2 miles (including cool down)
Time: 1:35: and some change for 8 miles
Pace: Just under 12 minute miles

For this weekend’s long run I decided to use the treadmill at Club Cuz, since they have a treadmill in their basement, a nice TV/DVD player and an excellent sound system. So off I ran to the wondrous movie “Shrek the Third.” Good movie, however, awfully short (seeing I still had 12 minutes left after it was over). All in all though it was a good choice over going to the gym and running 8 miles in front of the fogged up window. The towel service could have been better though…

Saturday night I managed to drive S and I downtown in the snow to go to a friend of Ash’s holiday party, thinking this would be a good place to network ourselves to future husbands. Little did we know that in the cab ride over Ash would inform us that this party probably would be mostly women, with the exception of boyfriends and fiancés of women guests which, in my eyes, are basically women.

The party started off REALLY slow. I mean so slow I was staring at the clock watching the minutes tick by. And the dynamics of the party were very strange. Ash’s friend has two other roommates who had the majority of the guests and they were in the living room area, sitting in all of the seats, drinking most of the liquor, and basically at some real fun party that we, those left standing around in the kitchen, were not invited to.

Finally Adj and her friend Jay showed up and the rest of the party seemed to disperse. Adj, S, Ash, Jay, Megan (the host) and I piled in a cab and drove down a few blocks to a bar that Green Hat Boy works at. Since Green Hat Boy is still in love with S, he was all about giving us free drinks and making sure we knew how cool he was. At the bar we also met the National Yo-Yoing Champion from 2 years ago. Of course he busted out the Yo-Yo and showed us some tricks, all the while trying to hit on us. But guess who hit on me? Yo-Yo Man’s Wingman. Do you see the type of men I am currently attracting??? Are you kidding me???

After the bar closed we decided to walk home. Smartest idea ever, seeing that it was a blizzard and I was not wearing boots. But we kept on trekking’ and Ash even met a possible suitor. And his name was… Wait for it… Frodo. Like from Lord of the Rings… (Please see previous comment about the types of guys that we are attracting)

All in all, the night went from a loser to a winner… and I still have all ten toes, which is always a plus.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Boggle

Even though i MAY not have won boggle tonight I want to make it clear that I am a GREAT boggle player.

And i think it goes: First is the Worst and Second is the BEST...

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Mile Intervals

Scheduled: 7 miles
Actual: 7 miles
Time: 1:22:02
Pace: around 11:45 minutes/mile

Wednesday I covered Jack’s Shift at the gym, which was great because I had no excuse to not get in my long weekday run. I wrote out my intervals on an index card, and jumped on the treadmill. Here’s the workout:

1 mile warm up – 13:30 minutes
Cleared the treadmill and started the core workout

Miles 0-.5 @ 5.0 mph
Miles .5-1.5 @ 5.3 mph
Miles 1.5-2 @ 5.0 mph
Miles 2-3 @ 5.4 mph
Miles 3-3.5 @ 5.0 mph
Miles 3.5-4.5 @ 5.5-6.0 mph
Miles 4.5-5 @ 5.0… All of which came to 5 miles in 57:03 minutes (which is less than 11.5 minute miles)

1 mile cool down – 12:32 minutes

Over all not a bad run at all. The treadmill did NOT defeat me this time and as a bonus I listened to the ENTIRE Legally Blond soundtrack (which I LOVE).

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Bar Crawlin'

This past weekend the dinner group and I participated in the 12 Bar of Christmas Bar Crawl. The day was spent drinking beer, people watching, drinking beer, having fun, drinking beer… And it was a lot of fun. Adj, S, Megan and I dressed up as reindeer and Ash was Santa complete with Santa gloves. It was fantastic. Fantastic until we were in some Mexican Bar, I don’t remember the name of it, it smelled, and the people who worked there didn’t even check ids because (and I quote) We’re Mexican… We don’t care.

Anyways, we walk into the bar and I see Army Boy, a friend of the Ex’s who I was also pretty friendly with. He has been training to go over and fight in Iraq since the end of the summer and must have had the weekend off to ruin my bar crawl. Army Boy sees me, gives me a huge hug and without letting go starts asking

“Where is the EX? (of course he used his name but that name will not ruin my blog) Where is Ex?”

“We broke up”

“NO WAY, Jaime he always comes back, He always tells me you are the love of his life, how he wants to marry you… BLAH BLAH STAB STAB RIGHT IN THE HEART”

“No Army Boy we are done he has a new girlfriend. Its ok, I’m fine…”

Needless to say he didn’t get the idea, and continued to remind me of how the Ex are supposed to be together. Thankfully the smell of the bar helped the lunch group to opt for a different bar and we parted ways. It stuck with me though. I was not prepared for that run-in, and I felt really exposed. It sucks when you are so sure that you have everything under control and then its like BAM! What? You thought you were doing good, HA.

But it is ok. I am strong. And at the next bar we took a shot, although temporary, it worked like a charm.

Monday Funday

Scheduled: 2 miles
Actual: 3.1 miles
Time: 36:25 minutes
Pace: slightly less than 12 minutes/mile

This run went fine. I opened the gym and hopped on the treadmill and ran my miles. I need to get back into the training mindset since I only ran 3 point something miles last week, and my half marathon is LESS than 2 months away. And we are for sure going. The tickets were bought last night and there is no turning back. What in the world was I thinking?? Okay, okay, I KNOW what I was thinking… I was thinking about how I was getting a cold and didn’t want to get too sick to go on my bar crawl last weekend. But that is over, and I am back on the wagon. Good running thoughts. Good running thoughts.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Again???

Scheduled: 2 miles
Actual: 3.6 miles
Time: I can’t remember because I waited too long to write it down… GRRRRR
Pace: see above comment

This was an average Monday run. Nothing bad about it, nothing particularly good to say about it. It was just a Monday morning run.

Winter + Running = No Fun

Scheduled: 4 miles
Actual: 7.0 miles
Time: 1:35:20ish?
Pace: just under 12 minute miles

So because it was rainy and cold and gross, it was the unanimous decision to bring my workout to the gym. I was scared… the most I have ever stomached on the treadmill at one time has been 1 hour or around 5 miles. But I needed to switch this weeks run of 4 miles with next weeks of 7 because I will be going with the dinner group to an all day all night bar crawl!!! (be proud momma and pappa) Stepping into the gym and climbing onto the treadmill I said to myself, “Self, look this treadmill in the face and crush it.”

It was a good pep talk but it didn’t work, Every single moment on that stupid treadmill sucked. About 10 minutes into the run I wanted to quit, but I didn’t. I got a second wind and was feeling good. Then about 2 minutes later I wanted to quit again. THEN I accidentally hit the safety cord and the treadmill came to a screeching halt. Crap. Only 2 miles down. Starting it up again I decided to run faster to get done faster. But after another 2 miles I had to stop and take a leak. I must say that the one upside of running indoors is if you have to go to the bathroom you can, and on a toilet to boot.

So after my quick break I stepped back on. By this time the windows in front of me, the ones that I was using to count the cars that passed by (did I mention I hate the treadmill?) had fogged up and all there was to stare at was the treadmill screen. Suffice to say, my last 3 miles were a mixture of sprints and walks and jogs, and curse words, and me swearing that I will never run on the treadmill ever again. But I did it and it was FINALLY over. Break it down:

Miles 1-2: 23:45 minutes
Miles 3-4: 23:13 minutes
Miles 5-7: 36:47 minutes
Overall time: 83 minutes and change

As my mom would say “Remind me again why we live in Chicago??”
 
Designed by Lena