I know I'll have a "Perfect" Training Cycle - Chicago, 2011

Nice splits coming off vacation!! Right back into the swing of training, which is a good thing. Team KOA needs you to kick ass this fall

Tom H wrote:BTW, love your new avatar. Hmmmmm, could that have been the oyster/spicy Bloody Mary evening

Thanks! It was indeed a Bloody Mary evening! It was the night of the 5K and we were celebrating the great run and the 4th of July.

Julie wrote:That is cool you have so much running support in your husband! Mine is supportive but can't really give me that much specific advice. He does all the driving to our marathons, though.

Yeah, enduring through days we don't really feel like running or things are especially hard are probably for our advantage. When I was finishing up my 20 miler on Monday and was very hot and tired I ran a portion that I had "run" on my due date 2 years ago and I told myself if I ran it then I can run it now. Run is in quotes because it was very slow. Anyway, it was good for me, I guess. (And I'm only 1/3 awake now so forgive the rambling and not fully making sense).

That's sweet that your husband does the driving to marathons, that's really supportive! I'm am so impressed with the fact that you not only knocked out a 20 miler in very hot weather, but that you ran a portion of that route on your due date a couple of years ago! Holy cow! AND, you typed all of that at 20 to 5 in the morning! You go girl!!

Joel H wrote:See it only took you 2 runs to get back to normal...it took me 2 weeks after my vacation. You are in a much better place than I am right now.

Yeah, I'm getting there slowly but surely. I'm not at 100%, but it is getting easier. You're doing well too! It's just taking us some time to get readjusted. You'll be fine!

Peg Coover wrote:Love Bloody Mary's! Especially made with Peg's Tomato Juice and a Peg's Pickle!

Julie, can't believe you ran on your due date!

Bloody Mary's are the DEAL! Funny you mention the pickle juice. I talked to my mom the other day and she said that my dad makes the Bloody Mary's with pickle juice. I hadn't heard of that before. But...YUMMY! It's a combination of my two favorite things: Tomato juice and pickle juice (well, I actually like the pickles, not the juice..but still).

Nick Morris wrote:Nice splits coming off vacation!! Right back into the swing of training, which is a good thing. Team KOA needs you to kick ass this fall

Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

Peg Coover wrote:Love Bloody Mary's! Especially made with Peg's Tomato Juice and a Peg's Pickle!

Julie, can't believe you ran on your due date!

Haven't had the juice yet but HELL YEAH on the pickle! So freakin' good!!!

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

ChasMcG wrote:

Peg Coover wrote:Love Bloody Mary's! Especially made with Peg's Tomato Juice and a Peg's Pickle!

Julie, can't believe you ran on your due date!

Haven't had the juice yet but HELL YEAH on the pickle! So freakin' good!!!

I am going to have to try one of these famous pickles of Peg's! I remember people raving about them years ago and now I can't wait to try them!!!!

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

Oh...I thought that was a donkey.

That's one disturbing donkey show by the way.

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

Oh...I thought that was a donkey.

That's one disturbing donkey show by the way.

Haha! Maybe it is? Haha! I just thought it was a horse.

I'm posting some pics from our vacation....it was a lot of fun but it feels so good to be back and be back into our running routine.

Tonight Martin and I headed out for a 5 miler and the weather was so beautiful! The dew point and humidity were way down and the temp was so nice. We headed out and thanks to Aunt Flow my legs were a little toasty, but again, that's alright. I'm using these runs to my advantage in training.

We ran to the Lakefront and didn't realize that the Run For the Kids race was happening so we ended up running toward Northerly Island and when we got there, got diverted due to a concert. It turned out to be a cool run because we made our route up as we went. We got home, walked up to the store and came back home.

I have a nice, slow 4 miler tomorrow. As for my run tonight, I felt stronger than my last run and I'm super happy about it!

Here are my splits for 5 miles:
1 00:09:19
2 00:09:05
3 00:08:55
4 00:08:47
5 00:08:40

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

Oh...I thought that was a donkey.

That's one disturbing donkey show by the way.

Haha! Maybe it is? Haha! I just thought it was a horse.

Maybe. All I know is one of the yellow dudes is eating his face and the other is eating his......

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

Oh...I thought that was a donkey.

That's one disturbing donkey show by the way.

Haha! Maybe it is? Haha! I just thought it was a horse.

Maybe. All I know is one of the yellow dudes is eating his face and the other is eating his......

Ok, seriously, I did not even notice that any of them were eating anything on that thing! Hahaha! What the frick is that all about?!

Me, Martin and Martin's mom and grandma:

Me, Martin and cousin Riley:

Me and Riley:

Martin and Me at the Nauti Mermaid:

Martin's Stingray that he caught:

Martin, Martin's dad and me at the finish line of the 5K:

Me and Martin on the boat fishing:

These are just a few. We took a lot!

Like I said earlier, it was fun but it's nice to be back!

Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for posting the photos.

Looks like you had a lot of fun. Now I want to go somewhere on vacation.

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

ChasMcG wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:

Mrs. Schuey wrote:Thanks Nick! I am getting back into the swing of things and my frustration levels are dropping, which is good. Team KOA is on my mind when I'm out there running. I plan on kicking ass this fall!

Atta girl!!

TEAM KOA! TEAM KOA!! (the horse is that other team)

Oh...I thought that was a donkey.

That's one disturbing donkey show by the way.

Haha! Maybe it is? Haha! I just thought it was a horse.

Maybe. All I know is one of the yellow dudes is eating his face and the other is eating his......

Ok, seriously, I did not even notice that any of them were eating anything on that thing! Hahaha! What the frick is that all about?!

I think that it is supposed to symbolize beating a dead horse, but the biting is kind of weird...

Looks like you guys had an awesome trip!!!

Looks like a fun vacation, well worth missing a few runs! You look awesome, btw, I know you have a wt loss goal but you're already looking great so I hope you are at least basically happy with where you are now.

Julie wrote:Looks like a fun vacation, well worth missing a few runs! You look awesome, btw, I know you have a wt loss goal but you're already looking great so I hope you are at least basically happy with where you are now.

I totally agree with Julie on all points!

The running is looking really nice Lisa. I think I could run in the evenings if I had someone to run with. It's always a dilemma between making dinner, eating, running, and weather!

The vacation pictures are great!

Peg Coover wrote:

Julie wrote:Looks like a fun vacation, well worth missing a few runs! You look awesome, btw, I know you have a wt loss goal but you're already looking great so I hope you are at least basically happy with where you are now.

I totally agree with Julie on all points!

Ditto. Time to unwind is always a plus!

Great pics. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. I love the ocean.

Ok my son would be going nuts over that stingray you guys caught, he is totally into sharks, rays, whales, etc. Looks like an awesome trip! Glad you guys had a great time and things are starting to come back for you.

Very nice splits for the 5 miles yesterday! You are getting faster. We are on for Yolk Sunday, if you and Martin can make it. Great pictures!

Love the vacation pictures lots of smiles which is always a good sign.

Mark B wrote:Looks like a fun trip! Thanks for posting the photos.

Mark, Matt, Nick, Alex, Joel and Kenny- it was a really fun vacation and we really, really had a nice time. I did run a 9 miler on vacation...actually, it wasn't planned. We woke up and Martin started changing into his clothes. I figured I'd do the same. He asked what I was doing and I told him that I was going for a run. I told him that it was going to be 2 miles. We headed out the door and he took off on his run and I took off on mine. I have to admit that when I left out the door, that I wanted to run to this one cool trail we passed on our way to the Nauti Mermaid. I didn't know how far it was, but I was running there. I ended up at the entrance of the trail 3.5 miles into the run. I didn't go run it for a couple of reasons: 1) I am a female without a phone, pepper spray and I don't know the area and 2) my husband and family wouldn't know I was in there. So, I decided to run alongside the trail, which was pretty cool. It smelled swampy and the road was lined with mangrove trees. I actually ended up running the Nauti Mermaid and asked to use their phone to call Martin and let him know where I was. I was now 4.5 miles out and had 4.5 miles back home. So much for 2 miles! Haha! Anyway, it was a nice run and I enjoyed it.

Julie, Peg and Michele - thank you I appreciate your kind words and trust me, I'm going to remember them when the negative self talk starts to kick in. Yeah, I have a weight loss goal of 130 and right now I'm at 153. The running is coming along and it will be even faster when the weight is gone. Again, thank you for your kind words, you're too sweet. (((((HUGS))))).

Natalie Wolf wrote:The running is looking really nice Lisa. I think I could run in the evenings if I had someone to run with. It's always a dilemma between making dinner, eating, running, and weather!

The vacation pictures are great!

Natalie - It's nice having Martin to run with after work. It makes it easier to get out the door and get the run done. Plus, having him there running with me makes me feel safe. Thanks for the compliment on the pictures! It was such a nice time!

Jim Lentz wrote:Very nice splits for the 5 miles yesterday! You are getting faster. We are on for Yolk Sunday, if you and Martin can make it. Great pictures!

Thanks Jim!! I'm getting there...slowly but surely! It's nice to see the training pay off. We are definitely on for the Yolk...same time as last? I think it was 11:45?