Fitting in the workouts when you’re busy

What an incredibly beautiful morning.  I got home from work around 9 am and set out for a run.  It’s my second day in a row putting in 10-11 miles after my nightshift, and they have surprisingly been really good runs.  I think the trick to working out when you have a busy schedule is taking your mind out of it.  Don’t over think.  Don’t over analyze.  Don’t worry about how you’re going to run being so tired….Just get out the door an run.  Make it happen and accept the run however it is….good or bad.

We all want perfect circumstances for our runs:  good pre-run meal/snack, well-rested, preferred time of day, feeling energized, etc. etc. etc.  But, if you always aim for making your circumstances perfect, then you constantly worry excessively about controlling everything, and worry about what happens if, heaven forbid, something’s not the ideal circumstance for your run. Take your mind out of it and train your body to go in auto mode.  You might surprise yourself as to what your body is capable of!  And heck, if it ends up being a crappy workout, at least you still fit it in!  A crappy workout is better than no workout.

First time sporting the running skirt this season.

Beautiful spring morning. So refreshing to be outside after being locked up in the reading room at the hospital all night

A picture I sent Dean to prove that I was still alive : )  (since I hadn’t really seen him since 8 pm the night before.)

Today was the first day this year I wore a skirt running …. this past week it has finally been feeling like spring!  Question:  Running skirts:  love them or hate them?  My favorite thing to run in are my Nike shorts, but wearing skirts has grown on me.  I used to be totally against them….I guess I thought I was too cool to wear one or something….like I felt like I wasn’t a serious runner if I was wearing a skirt.  But times have changed, I became less judgmental about the skirts, and have even grown to like them.

 

What Dean and I depend on each other for

My last 48 hours:

Tuesday: run ten miles. shop and run errands all day (found possible jewelry for my wedding!), cumulatively walk at least another 3-4 miles, work at the hospital from 8pm – 9 am, walk back to my apartment and get back around 9:45ish, try to sleep, but construction/drilling/hammering being done right outside my window prevents that, after intermittently sleeping for a total cumulative ~2-2.5 hours, get up to attempt to make my cake tasting appointment, which is an hour out of the city, Dean and I get stuck in traffic and end up canceling the appointment (but we still end up wasting an hour in the car), we head back to the apartment, but I can’t sleep, so I write some thank you cards and drink part of a beer, sleep for an hour, wake up, pack food, and head back to the hospital for another 12 hour shift, drink copious amounts of caffeine, and down advil to stop the pounding tension headache…oh the joys of switching over to nightfloat. It’s all good, though. I mean, if I were a new mom, functioning on this amount of sleep would probably be the norm, so I guess this is good practice ; ) (that won’t be put into affect any time in the immediate future!). Plus, working like this now will make Dean and my week in Cancun next month seem all the more relaxing : )

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So I’m just curious, for those in relationships, who is the person that is better at keeping track of to do lists and important dates? I guess that’s probably more a girl thing, right? Now, Dean is great at remembering his appointments for his job and remembering important dates in our relationship, but it’s another story when it comes to other things….. Several weeks ago, I was describing to Dean all I had planned on this one Saturday. He was like, “what? But aren’t we going to do something?” Me: “No hun, that’s your Bachelor party weekend.” Dean: “Oh yeah.”

I had to remind him at least two other times that his Bachelor party was on that particular Saturday.

A similar incidence happened this past weekend regarding plans. So….I’ve decided that I’m going to start putting HIS social plans into my calendar as well:

NF stands for “night float” btw. You’ll notice that when I’m on NF, not much else happens in my life

Dean, you are going out with your friends tonight. Don’t forget : )

The funny thing is, while Dean may be absent minded when it comes to our/his social calendar, I am the one who is completely absent minded about where I place things. I’m always like, “Dean….you know where my glasses are?” Dean: “Yup, on the table on the left.” Me: “Dean…where are my keys”? Dean: “By your purse next to the desk.” “Dean, where is my phone?” “You left it on the kitchen counter.”

This happens at least twice a day. I would most definitely lose my mind without him.

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In my last post I wrote about how I really want to do Boston next year, in a large part because of what happened this year. This still holds true, but I’ve been thinking a lot about the whole Boston Marathon series of events from this year: Why has it gotten soooo much media coverage? Why were/are so many people, including myself, emotionally affected by what happened? Don’t get me wrong…what happened was absolutely horrible and senseless, but only 3 people died. Again, please don’t take this this wrong way. One person is too many. My heart and prayers go out to those affected by the bombings, and my gratitude to all those who aided in caring for people during this tragedy, but I guess what seems odd to me is why this has gotten so much attention while other awful things that are happening in the world around us every day, with far greater numbers of people affected and killed, get far less attention. I guess the issue is not why Boston has gotten so much attention, but why don’t other stories as well? Anyone follow me? I ask this not just of the media and our society, but of myself, too, because I readily admit that the Boston bombings really shook me up more than most news stories. Why don’t I care more about other atrocities?

Anyway, just food for thought.

Running goals for the year

Tuesday provided another beautiful day for a run.  Definitely feeling like spring.  In fact, it was a litte TOO hot for my liking today, but I’ll take it!

I think cumulatively I put in about ten miles.  The one annoying part was when I ran into Starbucks to take a bathroom break (that’s what happens when you down two cups of coffee right before running)….what should have been a 45 second stop ended up turning into what seemed like a 10 minute break.  I was the only person in line, but the person who was already in the bathroom was just taking their sweet time.  I just don’t get it.  How long does it take to go the bathroom??  Do people bring books into public bathrooms or something?   I mean, even going #2 doesn’t take that long.

To top it off, when I finally got in there, there was urine all over the seat.  So basically, the person in front of me took at least ten minutes to go to the bathroom and then didn’t bother to spend ten extra seconds cleaning up after themselves.  Ugh, people can be so pathetic.

Good thing I’m not running another marathon until at least next December and am just running for fun these days, or else I would have been even more annoyed about my unintended ten minute mid run break.

Speaking of which, what exactly is my running plan for the next year (as a resident, my “year” starts in July).

Well, I don’t have the specifics ironed out yet, but basically, here is the framework:

-no serious training until I am done with boards at the end of September/early October.

-CIM again this year in December:  I just love this race and the excuse to do a couple day excursion to wine country.  I don’t, though, plan on racing this one….I will use it as a training run.

-Boston in April:  I wanted to do it this year but didn’t get the day off.  Not so disappointed about this anymore, but in light of missing it this year and all that happened there, I really, really, really want to run Boston next year.  I predict it will be a really special, emotional event for our country and all involved, and I want to to be a part of it, in honor of our country, in defiance of those who tried to strike terror in us, and in remembrance of those killed and injured.

So which marathon am I going to “race”??  I haven’t decided yet, but it will probably be sometime in late February or early March, so that I will have a full four months of proper training.  I’m going to put it out there:  I REALLY want a new PR.  Specifically, my goal for this race would be to run it in 3:12-3:15.  It may be a little ambitious, but I think I am capable of that.  If I can do a 3:25 :00 with 7 weeks of running ~3 days/week, and a 3:19 during my intern year, then surely I am capable of a 3:15 with four months of dedicated training, right?  I just have to stay healthy, which is why I am building my base up now with regular running at a comfortable pace.

So that’s my basic plan!  I would love, love, love to achieve that PR goal, but the beauty of running is that even if you fail to achieve the time you desire,  you’ve still completed a marathon, and how can that be a bad thing? : )

Decisions

Let me tell you, I have the oddest dreams ever.  When I was a kid I was always jealous of people/tv characters who had the most lively, realistic dreams that you could follow like a story.  I guess I always wanted to have cool adventures and travel to cool places in my dreams.  Never happened.  haha.  If my dreams were made into a movie, one would surely think I was high.

Yesterday was one of the most beautiful Chicago mornings I had yet experienced this year:  Sunny, warm, but not too warm, and breezy.

 

 

Last night was my last free night until May 9th, so when I got done with work at 8, Dean picked me up and we headed over to the grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine.

I am not naked in this picture, I swear….you can see the strap of my dress on my right shoulder : )

 

We have some big decisions coming up, and in making those decisions, what we discussed was the importance of having goals for various aspects of your life, prioritizing to achieve those goals, and then making decisions based on those priorities.  Seems obvious and pretty common sense, but it can be a really hard thing to do when your emotions get involved and you worry about trying to please everyone.   As Bill Cosby said:  ”I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

Wedding planning: simplifying and staying sane

Morning sunshine, windows open, birds chirping, coffee in hand. #happiness

So at peace right now. I just treasure these quiet moments to myself, when I can hear God’s voice and process my thoughts.

The wedding is coming up SOON. There of course have been stressful moments, but I feel pretty good about things.

Here are few random thoughts about wedding planning and staying sane:

-My whole philosophy for wedding planning has been: don’t perseverate over decisions….if it’s GOOD, make a a decision and go with it….don’t try to make things perfect cause you will never be satisfied. Be realistic, and simplify when you can (which ties into the not trying to make everything perfect).

For example, I originally liked the idea of using one of wedding pictures in our “thank you” cards for our wedding gifts. However, when I thought about it, I didn’t like the idea of waiting for the pictures to come back, picking out one for a postcard/thank you letter, and then writing everyone’s thank you cards all at once. This summer and fall are super busy for me. If I was going to wait to do all my thank you cards after the wedding, then people may not get there’s til months later, and I would be really stressed worrying about trying to do them all at once. Sooooo, I bought some some cute, simple thank you cards and have decided I’m going to write thank you cards as I get gifts.

The envelope look weird, because I edited out the addresses.

It would have been nice to have a cute card with a wedding pic on it, but doing it this way is one less thing to worry about. I figure we can always use wedding pics on our Christmas cards.

- For our honeymoon, I don’t have a lot of time OR money to spend on shopping. I had a little time at Target the other day, so I bought a few inexpensive beach dresses for Cancun. If the dress was decent enough, I threw it in my “to buy” pile. Minimal perseverating. Done. One less thing to worry about.

When shopping, I literally have to take pictures of myself for both myself to review and “see” as someone else sees me and to send to my sister for approval, since I have no fashion sense ; ) Allie, this one I didn’t send to you, so I hope you approve! : )

- CALL before you go somewhere to purchase something and make sure they have it. Ikea supposedly had the candles we were looking for at a very cheap price, so I headed down there after my dress fitting appointment the other day (which was already a 60 minute drive out of the city), only to discover, after a ton of driving, that they didn’t have the candles I was looking for.

Now, Ikea is great and practical for people shopping on a budget, but let me tell you…I detest shopping around mega stores like Ikea. Ughhhhh. Too many people, too big, too stressful. I literally got disoriented and lost in the store when I was trying to find my way out. I also got in a shopping cart crash with other shoppers. Twice. It would have definitely been nice to avoid that place if I could!

Definitely would prefer to avoid this place at all costs.

- Don’t let the wedding planning consume you. Take time out of your day to do the things you enjoy and that help relax you. For me, that is #1 running and #2 blogging.

Lucky you get this beautiful close up shot of my sweaty, post run face. haha….Early last week I was running in my winter gear, including long pants, ski mittens, and a head band. By the end of the week, I was overheating in a sports bra and shorts. That’s Chicago for ya.

It was absolutely beautiful out whenI went running on Saturday. I had my camera with me, and the lighting was beautiful for pictures, but this pic from my iphone was the only pic I took….it was one of those days where I just felt like RUNNING, and nothing else.

~

QUESTIONS:

Ikea: love it or hate it?

Thank you cards: did you write them after your wedding or start writing them as you got gifts?

Any other tips for staying sane as the wedding approaches?

Running naked

Yesterday when I got up, in preparation for my run, the first thing I did (after making coffee : )  ) was check weather.com to see what the temperature was in Chicago:  It was in the 30s, and it was raining.  Yuck.  It’s one thing to be cold.  It’s another thing to be wet and cold, and it’s get another thing to be wet and cold when it’s almost May.  WTH Chicago.  Come on.  Show us some love and bring us some spring!

Getting ready to run, wearing full length running pants, ski mittens and an ear/head band at the end of April.

Although I was cursing at myself and Chicago when I first stepped outside and felt wind and rain blowing onto my face and through my shirt, I actually had a quite an enjoyable, awesome run.  By the time I got to the lakefront, the rain had stopped, and it was just sorta a peaceful, overcast, breezy morning.  So peaceful that I ran half the run technologically naked (You didn’t really think I meant running naked literally??  If I get more views of this post than normal, I am going to be insulted ; )….. no Garmin, which I have not been running with and see no point in using until I start really training again next fall, and no music for a good half of my run. Sometimes I need music to distract me and get me through my run, but on other days, like yesterday, when I am at peace, (subjectively) running well, and am in “the zone”, I find music distracting…it ruins the ambiance…ruins that sacred, peaceful time to myself, in which all I want to do is experience the moment and soak in the serenity around me.

I ended up running for a good hour and forty minutes.  Felt so good and didn’t want to stop, but I knew I had to because a ) I had a schedule I had to stick to and b) the times I tend to get injured is when I feel good and push myself more than my body is ready for.

Today it looks beautiful out, but I am going to stick with my elliptical and strength training as planned.   Still not ready to run every day, and quite honestly, I am just loving the strength training routine I have gotten into.

~

If you are a Parks and Rec fan, my sister has a small role in the episode tonight!

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QUESTIONS

1.  Ever run (technologically) naked?

2.  How many of you do strength training as a regular part of your workout routine?

Successful shopping!

Thank you all so much for your comments on my post yesterday.  In regards to the name change, it was just something that hit me last week when I RSVPd for my first event after our wedding and signed my name with a different last name.  It was really exciting because of what it symbolized:  my unity with the man I love to death and the beginning of our life together, starting a family, and experiencing life together.   On the other hand, there was a twinge of sadness, as the emotional attachment I had to my name suddenly became real when I realized I would by losing it.

It was really helpful to read your comments and to know other women experienced similar feelings.

In regards to the rehearsal dinner dress, I really wanted to find a white dress, so I went to Black and White Market.  I tried on several white dresses.  Ironically, though, the dress I absolutely fell in love with from Black and White Market was NOT white…..it was a light/pastel teal, which is one of my favorite colors to wear.  I put it on hold and walked and shopped around some more:  I’m a big believer that you should never make a big purchase when you first see something you like….that you should sleep on it or at least give it a few hours to still see if you still love it as much.  I did that, still couldn’t find a white dress that I liked, and was still obsessed with the dress.   As some of you said, the most important thing for your rehearsal dinner dress is feeling beautiful, and since it can be hard to find any dress that does that, let alone a white dress, I went back and bought the pastel teal dress (Amy, thought of your advice when I went back and bought the dress!).

Not sure if it’s ok to give a preview of your wedding rehearsal dress or not, but since it’s not the actual wedding dress, then I don’t really care if people see it ahead of time or not, so here’s a preview:

~

Yesterday morning I finally made it for a run outside.  There is something just so magical about running at sunrise.  Below are a couple of pictures from yesterday’s run, as well as several from a 1-1.5 weeks ago when I went running in Connecticut and NYC:

Lake Michican.

Overlooking Navy PIer.

Running in Central Park a week and a half ago.  It was a crappy day, so I didn’t take many pictures.  However, because I didn’t stop to take many pictures, it ended up being a really great run.  Pretty much ran for an hour an half with hardly any stops.

Central Park

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut

 

What are some of your favorite locations to run?

I honestly can’t come up with one spot, because I love running in different places for different reasons.  I obviously enjoy Chicago, although I’ve ran just about everywhere I possibly can in this city!

I love running in Central Park…something about New York just always excites me.  I also love the rolling hills in Central Park, something I’m not used to here in Chicago!

Any unique/new place I love running in, because I love exploring new areas.  I thus loved my runs in DC as well as my runs when I was abroad in Europe.  I mean, it’s not every day you get to run through French vineyards!

And….I’m sure if I lived near mountains or trails, I would absolutely love running those.   Basically, I guess I just love running everywhere : ).