Week 11 Complete!

Cha-ching. Well I made it back from my crazy week in Vegas with the infamous Ma Barker. We had a great time. The slots were pretty loose for us so that made it even better. We stayed at the Wynn this year and it was top notch. One of the highlights was the Cher concert on Wednesday - Barker's 60th birthday. Cher was fabulous and her display of fashion was very cool. We both thought she would've been taller though... I did do some actual running while in Vegas. On Tuesday, I put in my 4 miles after a visit to the breakfast buffet, which was not a great idea. Wednesday I got up at 6 a.m. to run first so I could pig out at the buffet afterward. Good plan, eh? :-O

We returned to Chicago Friday night and I made it to the long run on Saturday. While in Vegas, I ran at the fitness center on a treadmill because it was way too hot to run outside. The irony - I get home and run Saturday morning in Chicago in high 80s with high humidity. I had a complete meltdown. If my sister Jenny wasn't with me I would've gotten a ride back to the start but she encouraged me on. I have literally never sweat so much in my entire life. My skirt was soaking wet like I had just gotten out of a swimming pool. The sweat was just pouring off of me. I started to fall back from the pace group around mile 6 and I knew I was in trouble - 10 more miles to go. Around mile 8 I had to keep the puke down. Around mile 10 I started getting goosebumps on my arms. Took me a few miles to realize that wasn't normal considering it was a million degrees outside. I had to stop and walk several times but didn't feel so bad when I saw 2 guys from a faster pace group also walking. Jenny and I ended up finishing in 3 hours, 5 minutes. Not too horrible considering the conditions. I somehow made it home and in the shower (couldn't even stretch like I normally do) then passed out in bed for 4 hours. I watched the men's Olympic marathon later that night and picked up some tips. They too ran in very hot conditions in Beijing. I learned that I needed to wash the sweat off my skin with water because the humidity was preventing the sweat from evaporating from my skin. This in turn made me unable to properly sweat and my body started overheating. Lovely, huh??!! What the hell did I sign up for? Hey - I'm doing it for the homeless dogs!!

A recap of a wild Week 11:

• Monday - rest day (gambling! woo-hoo!!)
• Tuesday - 4 miles (on a very heavy stomach from too much food)
• Wednesday - 7 miles (realized when I returned home and looked at the schedule I was only supposed to do 6 miles - argh)
• Thursday - 4 miles (running on a treadmill stinks!)
• Friday - "rest day" (chugging through 2 airports and a 4-hour flight does not equal rest)
• Saturday - 16 miles (what doesn't kill us makes us stronger!!!!!!)
• Sunday - cross training (hoofing Ma Barker through Midway)

I'm kind of bummed the Olympics has ended. It was incredibly inspiring and I even learned a few things... You'll see me along the lakefront this week with a watering can drowning myself in fresh water. :-))