Have I gone distance crazy??

I took a peak at my upcoming race schedule, and it doesn't look very easy. I'm not sure why I decided to do all of this, well yes I do. I enjoy pushing myself to see how much I can pack into a day and I apparently have taking a liking to distance races. Here is what is on tap, starting with the first race tomorrow.....TOMORROW, GULP!

9/1/12  Justiceworks Just Run Half Marathon
9/23/12  Fox Cities Half Marathon
10/13/12 Whistlestop Marathon (My First Marathon!)
11/3/12 Tyranena Beer Run Half Marathon (aka 1/2 Barrel Run)

All i can say is that I can thank Sarah for deciding we should do the Half Marathon merely 3 weeks after running our first Marathon. I'm only partially crazy for going along with her brilliant idea!

I have only run one 1/2 marathon and that was in May of 2011(Green Bay Half Marathon in only 45 mph winds) and I now have 3 on my schedule over the next 2 months and 1 marathon. I am a little nervous of making it through all of these races since it's been so long since I have done a distance race thanks to my injury at the beginning of this year. I do feel like I am a much stronger runner and more mentally prepared than I ever have been.

I am hoping to be able to beat my 1/2 marathon PR in the race tomorrow since the Fox Cities will be only 1 week after my 20 mile long run for the marathon and I'm expecting to have tired, dead legs. I am going into this as a training run but I would like to be able to keep a decent pace and try to push myself some. It was a step back week on my training plan so 13 was on my schedule and just officially signed up for this race yesterday. Wasn't sure if I would feel like doing it but feeling a little lack of motivation so a race should help with that.

So here is to enjoying my last day of vacation from work post-wedding with some errands and getting in some rest. The wakeup alarm at 4am tomorrow is not going to be my friend!! Have I mentioned I am not a morning person at all and sleeping in on vacation this week will surely not help my cause.

Officially MARRIED!!

It has taken me a few days to gather my thoughts about the big deal, and honestly everything worked out. I stayed at my mother-in-laws house the night before with 2 bridesmaids and Chris stayed back at our house with the mutt monster. Yes, we had a few hiccups but they were all eventually fixed.

• I forgot to repierce my ears, realized it when I went to put them on & had to run back home to get my earring from my original piercing to do it. Really wish I wore them more often so I wouldn't have to do this at least once every few months.
• The power outlet did not work at the ceremony so there was going to be no music, thanks to my awesome man he rigged up some system with batteries to get the laptop and speakers to work.
• Chris ran out of room in his car so my uncle had to go and pick up our dog who would be the ring bearer.
• Forgot the rings at home so my aunt had to go run back and get them.

Other than those things the day went surprisingly well. I woke up around 7am to get in a quick 3 mile run with my cousin, one of my bridesmaids. It felt great to stretch out my legs since my legs were really tight and I did not pack my foam roller to work out the muscles. A quick shower and the hair/makeup ladies arrived to get started. I was really relaxed during this time and ate a fabulous breakfast of a little cinammon roll and quiche, I know it was a lovely combination. Once I got dressed I was excited to see it all pulled together. I was definitely blinging!

Once we got to the park, things got hectic and we ran into the bulk of our issues. So I was stressing a little bit and hoping things would work. The weather ended up being perfect being mostly sunny with some clouds, had a few rain showers mid-afternoon but cleared up before the ceremony.

We decided to do a "first look" so we could see each other before the ceremony and get rid of any jitters we had. I almost cried at that point but held it back cause I didn't want to screw up the makeup. I shocked my man with my beauty since he usually sees me in my running gear with my hair in a ponytail and no makeup on. One of the benefits of working at home.

I did manage to make it through the whole day without crying and was just happy for the day to finally be here.

I got a little cranky at one point as I was over taking pictures and wanted to drink a beer and get some food. Who can blame me for that? The hall screwed up and served us the wrong beer for about an hour until I went up to get one and figured out they had Miller Lite instead of Miller High Life on tap so we got some free beer at least. The food and cake was delicious!! I had a blast dancing and enjoying the reception. We made our way over to the bar connected to the hall at midnight since it was the Best Man's birthday at that point and proceeded to close down the bar. It was a long day but I enjoyed almost every minute of it!

I had so many people compliment me on the dress that it fit me just perfectly and that they didn't even recognize me. One of my friends from work who I hadn't seen in awhile almost walked out as they thought they were at the wrong wedding until they saw Chris and recognized him, whom they only met once!!

I am loving married life as I am so relaxed and just enjoying our relationship again. It honestly feels like when we first started dating. We are getting along so well and I'm looking forward to sharing our lives forever. Here are some of my favorite pics from the day.



First Kiss



Chris & Marissa (my mini me)



Our wedding party, minus the flower girl



The girls - Marissa was a ham the minute they told her to start posing, which is why we are all laughing







The guys



Entrance to the Hall



First Dance



Father - Daughter Dance









Marathon Training Recap - Weeks 4, 5 & 6

Alright, so I will make this short since I am catching up with the last 3 weeks of my life. It has flown by without much time for me to do anything outside of working, wedding planning and running. Sleep has been a problem and I actually fell asleep one night while working on my laptop. Thanks to my hunny for taking it off of me so I didn't break it!!

I finally got MARRIED on Friday the 24th and just recently got back from our mini-honeymoon. I had a blast and I'm glad the day is over with. It was very stressful and I have been enjoying the last 2.5 days of relaxation we had at my cottage. Nothing like sitting in a floaty chair drinking a beer on a beautiful day.

I really tried to get in as many workouts and runs as possible during these last few weeks but it was very difficult to motivate and get myself out of bed some mornings due to complete exhaustion. Anything in green I completed as scheduled, and anything in red was not 100% according to schedule. Yes, there is a heck of a lot of red here but I'm happy with what I got in. Alot of runs were just shorter than scheduled due to time constraints.

4	8/6/2012	6.5m bike	3.1	0	0	6.2	2 speedwork	0
5	8/13/2012	Strength	3.2	0	6	Rest	15	Baking
6	8/20/2012		0	Rest	16.25	3	0	0

I ended up skipping a long run in week 4 thanks to being in the ER that day. Basically, went in that Sunday as I was having major pains on my right side, worried it was my Appendix. They ordered a CAT scan, I ended up having an allergic reaction to the contrast while in the scan and got shot up with a bunch of stuff. I was released at about 6pm with abdominal pain since they couldn't find anything wrong with me. Thought it was probably not the best idea to try and run 13 miles after that.

So in a nutshell, things have been ridiculously crazy and I'm looking forward to having some of my life back. I get to spend the rest of this week off of work and organizing my house. It desperately needs the attention as I currently can't walk into any room without seeing a mess and stuff from our wedding.

I will post some pictures soon!

Wedding Weariness

Time has become a VERY precious commodity these days. I have 9 days left until  THE BIG DAY is finally here.

I have created a list of final to-do's and I'm hoping that I can manage to get them all done by Sunday so I can maybe enjoy the last few days leading up to the wedding with excitement instead of insane chaos. There are lots of little loose ends to tie up and I really cannot wait for the planning to be over. I really just want the day to get here so I can enjoy every minute of it!

I am also filling in for my assistant who is out on a 5 week medical leave right now, which really could not come at a worse time. I not only get to train people on how to do my job while i'm out for 7 workdays but also how to do her job to cover for those same days. Oh yeah, and it is the busiest week of the month right now at my job to top all of it off.

I am not letting it get me down on my marathon training. I have been getting up in the mornings to fit in my runs so I have the evenings to get in some last minute planning or dinner's out with friends.

I think I am going to enjoy having nothing to do but enjoy myself and run after the wedding is over. My man has to go back to work the Tuesday after our wedding so we are going to have a short honeymoon at my cottage for 2 nights relaxing. Then I get to spend the rest of that week taking care of the house. Let's just say that job has fallen to the bottom of the list these last couple weeks!

Does anyone have any great hair up-do ideas? I'm need of an elegant look and beginning my searches to find the right style.

Marathon Training Recap - Week 2 & 3

So I skipped out on everyone last week, I was too busy relaxing on vacation. Yes, it is extremely hard work!

Here are my last 2 weeks of marathon training (which is official as I have signed up and the hotel is booked)

Week 2
M: Strength - Did about 20 mims of Jillian Michales NMTZ circuits

T: 4 m run - cut this down to 3 due to some tired legs and getting late

W: 7 m pace - skipped due to lightning and storms ( I don't have a treadmill or gym membership)

T: 4 m run - completed 7 m pace run instead from Wed & felt wonderful. This is the first run I truly felt like a RUNNER!!

F: Rest - If you consider packing and upacking rest, then that is what I did. Glad to be on vacation time :)

S: 12 m run - Woke up and Kim, Rachel & Matt were getting ready to head out for their 16 miles and I got in a hilly 12 miler. Took walk breaks at 1.5 miles and worked out great! Enjoyed the scenery and the views of the Chain O'Lakes in Waupaca

S: Cross - Fulfilled with some beer drinking and relaxing...LOL. Wanted to get in a bike ride but it just didn't happen.

Week 3
M: Strength - did a 900 meter swim with Kim most of the way across Rainbow Lake and back.

T: 4 m run - tried to do 1 mile warmup followed with 3 hard miles for practice for the 5K on Saturday. Tired legs and hills just didn't make that work.

W: 7 m pace - Another scenic hilly run in the morning, did the 1.5 mile walk breaks again to stay consistent with my marathon plan

T: 4 m run - Kim kicked my but doing a HIT workout with 2 miles of running involved, thank god for the lake to jump in after this sweatfest. Oh yeah, this was done after drinking a mimosa in the morning :)

F: Rest - Packing and unpacking again, not really all that much rest. Also went for a quick swim at my cottage since I couldn't resist the peaceful water.

S: Seymour Bun Run 5K - completed in 28:14, just shy of a PR and disappointed I had to stop and walk twice. For a full recap click here. (Also the "Sweat your Thorns Off" Virtual Race held by The Boring Runner). As advertised, I did run my buns off!!

S: Cross - Completed about 3 hours of spraying & pulling weeds and mowing the lawn, definitely needed after being gone the last week. Wanted to get a bike ride in but ran out of daylight :(

Going to do some foam rolling until It hurts so good!

Race Recap: Seymour Bun Run 5K

Seymour, WI is the home of the Hamburger (at least according to the WI government) so this weekend was Hamburger Days. Yesterday morning was the Bun Run 5K and I was able to run it with my dad.

Looking at the weather forecast there was a high of 92 for the day and it was looking to be mostly sunny, fitting for the Sweat your Thorns off 5K Virtual Race this would also fulfill. I had never run this race before so I was not familiar with what the course would be like and just took it on the fly. I have done some speedwork with my marathon training but it contained walking breaks so I really didn't know what to expect when attempting to do 3 fast miles.

It is a very small race as there were only 273 people registered for the race and it meant there was very little fighting through people and you were able to settle into a pace quickly. I pushed the pace somewhat but tried to settle into a comfortable fast pace. I was getting tired and my watch beeped for the mile point, I looked at my watch to see i just ran an 8:36 first mile....CRAP!!!

That was too fast as I should have been at 9 so I stopped to walk for 0.07 miles at that point to let myself recover a bit. I started to run again but I felt my pace was too fast and had to stop again around 1.7 miles for another quick recovery and walked for about 0.10 miles.

I tried to start running slower this time and we rounded the final bend around mile 2 for a long straightaway back to the finish. I didn't want to hold myself back and just tried to run by feel and was really starting to pass people. I just kept focusing on who was ahead of me and passing them. I stopped counting at one point because I got past 10 and couldn't think that fast while focusing on staying consistent.

I finished with a time of 28:14, just 9 seconds off my PR time from 3 months ago and I am happy with that since it was warmer for this race and just being consistent. I am disappointed I had to stop and walk and hopefully I can learn to pace myself a little better in the future.

My time was good for 5th in my age group (20-29) and it just makes me want to work on my speed more to mix in with Marathon training. Hopefully I get another opportunity to do another 5K this year and it should be a cooler race so maybe I can get that PR yet.

Div Overall

Place Place No. Name             Age    Time

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5     135   450 ALICIA KONS      29   28:14

For this race you had the option of choosing the standard cotton t-shirt or for $5 more you got technical shorts, here is what I chose:

What have you done to help rejuvenate your legs during marathon training?