Feels good to get a quickie in...

I hit up the gym this morning before work for a quickie 30 minute 'tempo' run and some weight lifting. Even though a got a few trail miles under my feet from Crowders yesterday, I still felt a little off having taken three (gasp!) whole days off from running.

Running entertainment included listening to MJ's Thriller while watching Reba with no sound or close captioning. Which is really ok- everyone on that show so dramatically enunciates even a non-lip reader like myself can understand what's going on.

The run went well- I kicked it up to some 8:00-8:30 pace for the last 10-13 minutes. I was definitely huffing and puffing when I finished- and it felt good! Then I headed to man-land (where the arm machines and free weights are) and got to work on the limited moves I know. I finished it all up with some crunches on that wonderful inclined torture device.

I'm coming to embrace weight lifting, mostly because I've started to see results both in the mirror and in my running. I'm really interested to get more into it, but with my limited knowledge (and frugality in not wanting to pay lots of $$$$ for a personal trainer) and lack of focus, I know I'll never stay with it unless I have a plan.

<--- this book seems to be gaining in popularity among the blogs I frequent. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe I should get on the band wagon too. I've never bought a book on how to weight lift, and I've only had one session with a trainer (the complimentary one offered with my gym membership!) so I'm completely green when it comes to this stuff!!

I'm really interested in something that can buff up the guns and strengthen my legs and core to help me run better.

If anyone has read this book or uses it, how conducive is it to incorporating into a running routine? I feel like by the time I get my runs in every week, I have so little strength left to weight lift! Should I suck it up and stop making excuses for myself? Run a little less and strengthen more? After this HM, my running is going to drastically change!!! (ooooooh suspense!!!)

Crowders Mountain Fail

To celebrate Memorial Day and our extra day off, David and I decided to pack a lunch and hit the road to spend the morning at Crowders (my new favorite place).

The plan was to explore a new trail and go up to Kings Pinnacle (instead of our usual overlook on the top of Crowders). Since I'm officially in my taper week, I offered to walk Little Paws while David went on ahead to run and try out his new camelbak.

On a side note, I might steal the camelbak. The coolness factor is way higher than fanny pack hydration belts. Except he has a 100 ounce bladder (both in his body and in his camelbak) so it's a big honkin' backpack. So maybe I'll buy one of my own?

David set off and Max and I took a leisurely pace through the rocks, roots, uphill and downhill Pinnacle Trail. The first half was really rocky (although the incline wasn't as bad as the Rocktop Trail) so we just took our time and enjoyed the woods. Unlike most dogs, who like to walk ahead on a leash, Max likes to follow us because he'll follow our footsteps to see where to go. So I just hooked his leash onto my (super cool) fanny pack and trekked onward.


After the initial rockiness, the trail smoothed out to a nice, rolling dirt path with minimal tripping hazards. We met a few other doggies (and their people), drank water often (I flavor it with Gatorade when he doesn't want to drink... works like a charm!), and smelled lots of trees/bushes/dirt/leaves/rocks/sticks/etc.



We were having a very enjoyable morning until.... they started appearing. Apparently, Memorial Day is officially "Middle School Field Trip" day. There were hundreds of screaming children coming up behind us. Completely wild, yelling and throwing things, tripping each other and pushing people off the single track trail.

When I say hundreds, I literally mean, hundreds.

I'm all about getting kids outside to appreciate nature and get some exercise in. Taking a field trip to Crowders Mountain State Park is a great idea... in smaller numbers. These kids had absolutely no regard for the other people on the trail.

Even worse, Max was a little freaked out too- between trying to navigate through the rocks and incline and then seeing these kids run by him. After a while, we (David had come back) just pulled off to the side, sat down on a rock and waited the storm out.


After the pack of wild animals passed through, we continued up the Pinnacle, only to get to the (almost) top and see ALL of the kids waiting to climb the rocks to the Pinnacle view. All the non-prepubescent folk tried to veer away from the craziness by skirting around the Pinnacle to a little tucked away spot where we could enjoy some peace and quiet.

We were able to sit down for a few minutes until kids started appearing around the corner. After deciding it would be better to start the hike down before the kids started their journey down, we packed it up and high tailed it down. We'll have to go back another day to actually see the Pinnacle.

So this trip to Crowders Mountain was an utter failure. David didn't even get to run down the trail because it was too polluted with Teen Spirit.

Even though our morning sucked the big one, we were determined to make the best out of our day. We went home to grill!! It's hard to be mad when you've got a cold one and some corn roasting over coals.


How was your Memorial Day?

Did you get any good runs in? Races in?

Do you sport the camelbak or fanny pack?

Realistic Goals

"When good, consistent training has produced a high level of fitness and race conditions are ideal, a PR is more likely. What often follows a personal best performance is that the runner then considers that PR to be the standard by which to measure subsequent performances. Those performances that produce PRs need to be appreciated and enjoyed with an understanding that a confluence of many factors contributed to that achievement. It is not fair or reasonable to expect subsequent performances to equal or exceed that PR under less than ideal conditions." -Run Less, Run Faster

I've realized I have two issues to deal with. The first is that I'm so new to running that almost every race I enter is a personal best. I've gotten use to that, so I feel like anything less than beating my best is well, not good enough. The other issue I'm dealing with is impatience. I'm use to getting what I want after working hard to get it. I was ok busting my butt the past 14 weeks because I had the notion of a 2 hour HM hovering over my head.

What I (naively) didn't consider was the fact that shaving off 13 minutes from 13.1 miles is going to take longer than 14 weeks. My bad. SOOOO I've reconsidered what I want out of this next half marathon. What do you think?

Time Goals:

• I'd be happy with: 2:10 (about a 9:50 pace, 20 seconds per mile faster than my last half)

• I'd be thrilled with: 2:08

• I'd do the happy dance for: 2:05 (9:30/mile)

I must admit: seeing 2 hours 10 minutes (instead of 2 flat) puts me more at ease with myself. It will be difficult to cross the line at that time, especially with all them dang hills, but I know I've got it in me. If it turns out it's too hot/hilly or I'm freakishly tired, then I'll just do the best I can do for that day.

Other goals for this half include:

• Use every single down hill to gain speed

• Hydrate like CrAzY the night before so I can keep on sweating (I've noticed when it's warm, I just stop sweating half way through... sure sign of dehydration?)

• Make at least one new friend =D (I always keep to myself during runs)

• Enjoy the course, the running, and my good health.

• Be smart about refueling AFTER the race so I can enjoy hiking the next day in Asheville.
  

• Use this race to gain experience and build endurance to run my sub-2 hour half.

Ok, I promise, that's the last bit of whining from me about time goals!!!!

-----------------------

In other news, I got out (before the heat!) for an interval run this morning: 8 x 800's! Uuuuuughhhhh they were hard - but I DID them!! My times for each half mile interval averaged about 8:45, and I covered about 6 miles in 58 minutes.

I'd also like to share with you, my devoted readers, two giveaways going on. The first is with the fabulous Meg at Watch MeGo Run who is giving away an Allied Medal Display. The second is by the awesome Katie at Training Like a Girl where a (my all time favorite brand) Brooks vest is up for grabs. Check them out!

Wisdom from Neil Young

Hello and welcome to my blog of bi-polar running!

For as down as I was yesterday, I feel great today (and I had a good run, too). Thanks for the encouragement you left me on my last post. While I was waiting for David's car to get its oil changed (working on good wife points here) I started reading Run Less, Run Faster again, since the last time I just skimmed it. Ironically, the first chapter I read was: Realistic Goals.

I'm still mulling things over, but wanted to let ya'll know that I'm making some positive mental changes! More to come.

I'll leave you with this video by Neil Young. If you were ever wondering how I came up with the title for my blog, well, this is it. Young wrote this song about his car, but I think it can be applied to running as well. Just try not to be frightened by what years of drugs have done to poor Neil (and go easy on him, I'm pretty sure he was stoned during this performance too).

Goals- revisited and realigned

Yesterday morning I decided to go out for a long run where I had no goals. No time or pace, no negative splits or hills, nothing. I had no agenda in mind, I just wanted to get out there and put 13 miles under my feet.

Let me rewind. The last run I did that was HM distance or more was nearly six weeks ago. With the Hickory Chase HM coming up in less than two weeks, I've been getting super antsy. I've been so focused on speed work (tempo runs and intervals), 10 mile pace runs (which kick my butt everytime), and long hilly runs that I haven't had one single run at the Half distance.

So I made my typical long run breakfast (2 scrambled eggs, fruit and a toasted half bagel with PB), filled up my water bottles and headed out. It was a little warmer than I was expecting and I guzzled through my one water bottle pretty quickly. Luckily, the water fountains at mile 8 were actually working, so I was able to douse my head and face, and then fill up my bottle for the 5 return miles.

I did wear my Garmin, but I tried not to be controlled by it. I went out knowing that I would probably run at a slower pace, and I kept telling myself that was ok. I've been working so hard on trying to get faster that I've become so obsessed with time. I finished 13.1 miles in just over 2:20.

Now comes the time before a race that I start freaking out. Did I prepare enough? Have I improved since my last race? Will I make my desired PR?

The answers are: yes, yes, and no. While I've made tremendous improvement with my time and have been training hard, I'm pretty certain I'm not going to finish this half sub-2 hours. My last half marathon time in February was 2:14, which is a 10:10/mile pace. The Hickory Chase is much hillier. My goal is to finish it in under 2:10, which would require sub 10 minute miles. I think with adequate tapering, rest, and race day preparation, this is doable.

Am I setting the bar too low for myself? I really don't know. I might surprise myself and have a really good day on June 4, but the realistic side of me doesn't want to set myself up for disappointment. How do you balance the goal you want and the goal you know your capable of achieving?

A little bit about preparation

Since today was a rest day, I obviously have no run to talk about (or ice baths or frozen butt cheeks, sorry). I thought I'd talk a little bit about what I've learned as a performer and how I've used that knowledge to help me with my running. I think a lot of these things are pretty basic, so I'm not sure how useful this post will be. But for what it's worth.....

Being a musician for the majority of my life, I'm no stranger to the stress and anxiety of giving recitals, auditions, and solo performances. Over the years I've learned different strategies to having a successful audition or performance.

And I think we, as runners participating in races, can benefit a lot from these strategies.

• Take care of your body: it's important to take note of how sleep, food, stress levels, etc effect your performance. The day before I give a recital, I don't practice for hours on end- I give my lips a rest. I drink lots of water (dehydration makes the lips dry, which changes your sound) and make sure I go to bed early. I plan out my meals to make sure I don't eat anything that could later be intrusive (like carbonation, garlic, onions, etc).

For runners, I guess this is a no-brainer. Taking extra care with our caloric intake and hydration immediately preceding a race is pivotal to our success (or failure). The long run is our dress rehearsal for our race. If you can eat fast food the night before and dairy the morning of your long runs, then by all means- do that at race time if you feel so inclined. Just know what works for you and what doesn't, and for goodness sake- don't change anything on race day morning!

• Mind over matter: a good performance is half talent and half mental preparation. I can spend all the time I want in the practice room, but if I'm a nervous wreck on stage, all that preparation goes out the window. An exercise I find particularly useful for calming performance anxiety is closing my eyes and putting myself into performance mode: I imagine the room I'll be playing in, the people that will be listening or watching, the nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. Then I try to simulate that scenario when I open my eyes and play through my music. I'll do this a dozen times before a performance or audition.

If you get serious jitters before a race, then try this technique. For all your runs a week or so before your race, imagine yourself at the start line, standing next to other runners, hearing the announcer telling you to start... open your eyes and pretend your running your race during that training run (staying at whatever your goal pace for that particular run is, obviously).

• Practice makes perfect: no, not the notes. Practicing what you're going to eat and wear the day of. My college professor made all the girls wear the shoes we were going to perform in when we did our dress rehearsal. Believe it or not, stilettos and flats produce widely varying results on flute playing!

Don't try anything new the night before or day of the race! If your racing in a different city, bring your own breakfast or make sure you know you can get a hold of whatever you've been eating before your long runs (for example, I won't have my own kitchen available to me for my next HM, so I've been practicing eating an untoasted bagel with almond butter and a piece of fruit, because that's what I'll have available to me when I race) . Race day is NOT the time to try new shoes, hand straps, gu's/gels, or foods. Practice eating and drinking during all long runs, that way when you get to your race, you'll know when you need to eat and how you'll react to what you've just eaten.

• Reduce stress: This varies by person, but I've found the number one thing that makes me stress out beyond belief before I perform or audition is experiencing something outside of my control, ie: not enough time to warm up, too cold/hot, dry mouth with no water, etc. To make sure everything is just right, I always give myself plenty of time to get to my venue and warm up. I bring a jacket in case it's cold. I wear a sleeveless top if it's warm. I bring my own water. In short, I do everything I can to make sure my hour/evening/day is under MY control.

This is a pretty obvious cross over to running: arrive early and be prepared for anything. If you know you're going to need to hit the porta potty 5 times before the gun goes off (guilty) then get there early enough to take care of business (pun intended). If you think you might need it, bring it: extra fluid, clothing, batteries for your MP3 player or camera, etc. Rarely will you think "darn I wish I hadn't brought that." If the morning is under your control to begin with, then things aren't going to be hectic when the gun goes off.



What do you do to get ready for a race?

Butt freeze and peanut butter chocolate protein

The weather did indeed hold up for my 12 mile run this morning. Except one glance at my daily mile widget will tell you that I didn't hold out for my 12 mile run this morning! I won't go into detail because really, I don't want to be that whiny blog. It just comes down to: my legs were still tired from Tuesday, I didn't download the podcasts onto my iPod I wanted to listen to correctly, and I didn't eat right last night (note to self: salad, popcorn and beer aren't good enough the night before a long run. stupid stupid stupid!).

Instead of whining about my run, I thought I'd share two recovery strategies I did today: (new) protein powder and (my first EVER) ice bath! Weeeeee!

Let's start with the fun one first. I've just started delving into the world of protein powder. I'm looking for something that is 'clean' and relatively animal friendly. My first discovery was Jay Robb's protein powder. It's delicious, natural, and has a LOT of protein in it, but it's very pricey. As in, almost $2 per ounce.

While at the health food store yesterday, I picked up a sample of this stuff, Isoflex. The guy said it was on the cleaner side (aka- little chemicals and processing). It's also cheaper than Jay Robb. So I thought I'd give it a try after my run this morning. I put two tablespoons (about half a serving) into my chocolate soymilk and shook away. Holy peanut butter chocolatey yumminess!

Protein content is roughly equal to the other stuff, it's a little cheaper, but it has more 'ingredients.' And I put that in quotation marks because I believe if you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't eat it.

So I'll have to do a little more research on this stuff to see what's really in it (yeah maybe I should have done that BEFORE I put in my body, I know).


And now I'm about to say something I never thought I would ever say: I took an ice bath. I've never thought these really did much other than torture your body and make you curse (ice baths will indeed do both of these things really well, by the way). My ankles, feet, hamstrings and glutes have been a little achy lately. In addition to my leg weariness this morning, I thought this would be the perfect time to experiment with the dreaded ice bath. So I stopped by the gas station on my way home this morning to pick up a bag of torture cubes to combine with those in my freezer.

But first I had to clean my shower/tub. Oops. Let's just say it's been a while since I've taken a close look at the surfaces of my bathroom. Stop judging me.

After that was taken care of, I got my entertainment:


Then my heat sources:



And prepared to enter my icy doom:



I was going to snap a picture of my frostbitten legs once in, but realized I left the camera on the sink. Was I going to get up out of this mess only to have to readjust to the freezing water again? Haaaayell no! Sorry, maybe next time =)

It's a good thing my neighbors weren't home at the time, because I'm pretty sure they would have called the police for fear that my screams and yells were from David beating me. After 5 minutes of sheer agony, my legs (and butt) went numb. I put my iPod on and started listening to a podcast, but never could relax enough to open up the Runners World issue. Guess I'll have to wait a little longer to learn about trail running.

So there you have it: new protein powder and ice baths. We'll see if I feel any benefits from these tomorrow. Shoot, my legs better feel good enough to do freaking cartwheels to make that arctic torture worth it!



Any ice-bathers out there? If so, do you have any tips for dealing with butt freeze (and ehmm other body parts)?

Being flexible is key

I woke up this morning to dreary skies and threatening clouds. This really wasn't a huge surprise to me since I tend to stalk weather.com the night before I run. I know it doesn't look too menacing (especially to a seasoned Floridian), but this was the radar about 45 minutes before I headed out. Oh yeah, and it was 50 freaking degrees outside. And wet. And waah wah wah!

All that stuff was heading west, btw.

So I put my 12 mile hilly run on the back-burner and headed to the gym instead. Being able to juggle your running schedule with the weather (and life) requires flexibility! I ended up doing 6 miles on the treadmill. The good news is I got to watch a straight hour of Reba! (I heart Reba!) After the treadmill kicked me off, I headed to the stairmaster. Not the stairstepper, the stairMASTER. I chugged out 30 minutes and lost 1/3 of my body weight in sweat alone.

My goal was to get in a workout comparable to a hilly run. Well... mission accomplished! I left the gym feeling beat!

Hopefully the weather will hold out for Thursday's run.


Tell me you guys have gotten in good runs and had sunny weather?!

Is the stairmaster your BFF?

What's your favorite thing to watch/read while running the dreadmill?

Oldie but goodie....

Howdy friends!

Wow, this weekend flew by!

Yesterday, the entire family got a run in. David ran 8+ miles (wow!!), Max ran just under 2, and I ran 12 quarter mile repeats! I always stick David with Max and take off running. This time, I thought we'd switch. While David started his long run of the week, I took Little Paws for a walk around the hill loop (1.7 miles). We did some walk/runs for the last .7 miles. My little man can run! Of course, when your legs are 8 inches long, you have to work a little harder. But he did great.

After we looped once, I tucked him in the car with his blankie (after watering and feeding him of course, and I cracked the windows and it was overcast and cool outside, so don't stick PETA on me). I set Le Garmin to torture me 12 times for 400 meters, with a 60 second recovery between each delightful interval.

4.2 miles in 39 minutes! Woohoo!!

Even though I was running around a lake on a .5 mile loop, I managed to stay pretty focused and entertained by the killer geese I had to scare away every loop (seriously, you'd think they'd get out of the way after the first 5 times!).


Then it was time for some delicious spaghetti making. I know this recipe is as old as dirt, but it tastes SO.GOOD that I have to share it with you all!

It all starts with a little inspiration from my two little friends: the Basil and the Oregano plants.


All you need for the recipe is a crockpot, and the following:


1 cup chopped basil
1/4 cup chopped oregano
half chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
8 oz tomato paste
2 13 oz cans diced tomatoes
garlic
Morningstar crumbles

Cook up the onions, garlic and green pepper in a big fry pan, then add the crumbles until everything is heated thoroughly. Put everything in a big crockpot. Add a cup of water. Cook on low for 4 ish hours. Serve over spaghetti and serve with wine. Delicious!

Another 10 miles

Whoa Blogger... stop freaking out!!

On Thursday I ran a 10 mile pace run with (a few) negative splits. I was ready to tell you all about it only to see "Blogger is currently unavailable" 15 million times as I constantly refreshed the page, hour after hour. And then I guess I kind of lost my inspiration ;)

So lucky you, I'm going to give the abridged story of my pace run.

First of all, I was met with humidity SO thick you could see it! For a second, I felt like I was back in Florida. Then I remembered it was only 70 degrees and thanked the good Lord that it wasn't 90.

I started with a warm up mile. It's amazing all the different ups and downs you get in a warm up! (I feel awesome! I'm soooo tired! Why am I wheezing? Can I do this? Ok, there's my mojo... let's go!).

Mile 1: 9:50 - Warm up
Mile 2: 9:45 - no thoughts
Mile 3: 9:45 - Cue: I'm a rockstar! Look at this awesome steady pace I'm keeping!
Mile 4: 9:46 - still thinking I'm a rockstar
Mile 5: 10:00 - had to slow down so I didn't choke on a Gu
Mile 6: 9:42 - NEGATIVE split! wahoo!!
Mile 7: 9:32 - I'm so freaking awesome right now!!!!
Mile 8: 9:39 - This is getting a little harder (that's what she said!)
Mile 9: 10:00 - Can't...go...faster...
Mile 10: 10:12 - Oh screw it!

So the first 8 miles were fantastic! I ended up running the first .90 of the mile and then taking a walk break for the last tenth to give me the pace I wanted and to give myself a rest (so I could keep that pace). The last two miles went to hell in a handbasket. I don't know why I suddenly ran out of energy.

Oh well, I did 10 miles in 1:38 and I'm DARN proud of that!

And now, as promised, a picture the most delicious vegetarian delight:

BBQ Tempeh Sandwich (no, not the carrots)

Now don't go thinking I'm all healthy... there was an unpictured coke and some chips involved with this lunch.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Running any races? Recovering from any races?

BBQ returns to the vegetarian palate

Public Service Announcement:

plus

= the most amazing gift to a vegetarian!

A few weeks ago, I picked up a package of tempeh from TJ. I had no idea what to do with it but thought I'd enjoy the culinary challenge.

On our last trip to Sam's, a gargantuan size bottle of Sonny's Sweet and Sour BBQ sauce jumped into our cart (I seriously cannot stand Sonny's! [it's the food and overall health factor, it's not that I dislike barbeque or sauce] David knows he gets one Sonny's trip per year from me).

For lunch, I had the genius idea (genius to me) to combine the tempeh with the BBQ sauce to make a BBQ tempeh sandwich! No pictures, although next time I will document it. It was the most amazing thing I've tasted since going vegetarian!! Maybe the next time he drags me I have the pleasure of accompanying David to Sonny's, I'll bring my own tempeh ;)

Now on to running....

My morning running routine was interrupted by my semiannual trip to the dentist. I didn't really want to get up super early to get my run in before my appointment, so I packed my running gear and threw it in the car. The dentist's office is on the same hill route that I've come to "enjoy," but the thought of more hills made my poor little legs go on strike. So after my cleaning (cavity free!) I went on over to the gym for a 60 minute tempo run.

I felt like I was still recuperating from Crowders (and a bit of gym work yesterday) and this was the longest tempo run I've done to date. So I took it a little conservatively, even stopping half way through for a 2 minute walk/Gatorade break (because I'm pretty sure the gym wouldn't have appreciated me spilling red Fruit Punch Gatorade all over their treadmill).

Even though I didn't push the limits, I still feel like I got a good run in. And I've got a 10 mile pace run on tap for Thursday- must conserve energy!




I'd love to hear about your favorite tempeh recipes! That stuff packs a big protein punch (20 grams per serving!) and I definitely foresee eating more in the future!!

Conquering Crowders Mountain

I've become obsessed with all things hills!

This morning we headed out to Crowders Mountain. Max has been doing much better, I needed the practice for next month, and in general, who couldn't use some good hill mountain work?

So I strapped on my REI water bottle pack and headed out. (David stayed behind, walking Max. Once I got to the top, I'd come back down to meet him, take Max, and then he'd run the rest of the way to the top). It was a beautiful day, and the trail was breath taking.


I really wasn't concerned with my time. If there's one thing I've learned about trail running it's that pace doesn't convert from the road to the trail.


I followed Crowders Trail, a 2.5 mile trail that slowly climbs up the mountain. There was plenty of smooth, rocky, and rooty terrain to keep me on my toes (but never on my face!). Then I took the Backside Trail up to the overlook. It was .3 miles of climbing. It reminded me of that insanely difficult Southclif Black and Blue trail run I did last October. Even now, I shudder at the thought of that beastly run!!!

And when I thought my legs and lungs could take no more, the trail ended and I was confront with steps.


Lots and lots of freaking steps.


I'm pretty sure my huffing and puffing scared all the wildlife away for miles. But I eventually made it to the top, 2.8 grueling miles later.


I swooshed some water down and then turned around to go back and meet David. After descending 13000 miles, I ran into them. I took Max so David could run up to the top (although, who am I kidding, there really wasn't a whole lot of running with that incline).

Double fisting it with my super cool fanny pack. Water or Gatorade?

Max and I took it easy and eventually I made my re-entrance to the overlook.


The rocks were a little too much for Max's poor little paws, so I got in a little arm work on the way down.


From there on out, we took turns walking Max-O while the other ran ahead for a half mile or so and then came back. In total, I covered 7.7 miles in 2:28. A few of those miles I walked with Little Paws, and two of those miles were basic up-the-mountain climbs.

Look - I'm a trail runner!! =)

When we got back to the car, we inhaled our packed lunches and then started the 45 minute drive home. Max promptly passed out in the back seat.


Wants some elevation stats?
Lowest Point: 800 feet
Highest Point: 1600 feet
Total Descent: 3405 feet
Total Ascent: 3420 feet

Time to talk strategery

First of all, I now have followers numbering in the double digits!!!!! Woooohooooo!!!! You guys ROCK! I'm so happy =)




So here's the elevation chart for the half marathon I'm running in one month. This is the marathon I wanted to finish in 2 hours.

I don't want to chicken out, but something tells me I'm not going to be pulling 9:10 minute miles for this one.

See miles 8-13? It looks like they're going to blow super huge big chunks. I'm wondering if I should A) run hard for the first 8 miles knowing that my pace is going to slow down in the last 5 miles (and to take advantage of the downhill) or B) conserve energy for the first 8 miles so I can have more gas in the tank heading into the hills.

Suggestions? Anyone?




Now this is the elevation chart for my run this morning (I found the hilliest neighborhood I could and have decided to run 12 miles in it every other week until the half). Not sure what the blip is about at minute 20 (bad Garmin!) but as you can see (or not see, it's kind of small) the lowest part is around 600 feet and the highest is 800 feet. That's respectable, right?

So here's the good news: my pace was almost 30 seconds faster per mile this time around than it was the last time I ran this route two weeks ago.

But here's the bad news: my legs have never felt this tired and sore! Maybe I could hook up a protein IV right into my legs? =)

With about 4 weeks left for training (minus the 1 week of taper) I'm wondering if I should do more hill repeats and less interval repeats? Thoughts to ponder I suppose....

Hubby and I are off to a Cinco de Mayo celebration with $2 drafts... best.restaurant.ever!



Are you partying it up for Cinco de Mayo?

Do you ever think, "Man, if I could just give up beer I could run faster!"?

Protein Powder, Anyone?

Protein powder: beneficial or scam?

I've been toying with the idea of taking protein powder for a long while. Do I need more protein in my diet? Do I want protein in the form of whey, rice, egg white, casein? Will I compromise putting more chemicals in my body in order to up my protein intake?

A few months ago I came across Mr. Jay Robb's protein propaganda. I was a little put off by the tacky advertising and packaging design. BUT it seemed to be the cleanest (least processed) powder I could find and one serving yields about 25 grams of protein.

So I bought two 1 serving size packets to try it out: one vanilla and one chocolate. The ingredients are: whey, protein isolate, natural flavor, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, (soy) lecithin, and stevia. And that's it. Have you read the ingredient list on some powders? I was more than impressed that this mix only had 7 ingredients. They also boast that their cows are treated right and not given growth hormones (rBGH).

So after my 7 mile hilly run this morning, I dumped a tablespoon (serving size is about 3 tablespoons) of the chocolate powder into my chocolate soymilk. It was deeeeeelicious! Of course, I could eat anything that is chocolate flavored and think it's wonderfully gastronomical.

I guess repetitive use and time will tell if this stuff really does anything for me, but my body seemed to tolerate it alright (if you get my drift).

The only downside to this stuff? It's ridiculously expensive! About $2 per ounce. Is the price worth the peace of mind knowing I'm not putting crazy chemicals into my body? I haven't decided yet, but I'm willing to give it a chance.


Do you have any protein powder suggestions?

Pumpkin out the wazoo!

Howdy everyone! Does it feel good to have Monday over? Warning: there was a bakefest yesterday and this post is largely a recap of those events.

My week got off to a great start- a tempo run at the gym! I kept a conservative pace since I would be going for 50 minutes. Since they recently changed all the treadmills to reset after 30 minutes, I had to take a brief walking break to reset the timer. My warm up/cool down consisted of walking (instead of slow running) so my pace is a little slower than my normal tempo run, but I finished 5 miles in 50 minutes.

Yesterday, I had every intention of going for a run. I even put my running clothes on after breakfast. I never set foot outdoors, but instead spent the entire day baking! Now my freezer is overflowing with pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip flax cookies, and buckwheat bake thingies.

What was that? You'd like the recipes for these delicious goodies? Well, okay =)

Chocolate Chip Flax Cookies

I found this recipe on A Healthy Slice of Life. I made a few alterations, but the general idea is:

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Milk Chocolate Chips
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, then combine the two. Drop tablespoon quantities on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 10 minutes.

The results are amazing, crunchy chocolate chip cookies! They're nothing compared to Publix Chocolate Chip Cookies, but if you don't have a Publix nearby, these'll do.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Are you seeing a trend in my baking? Everything involves chocolate =) So these muffins I actually found off allrecipes.com here. You can go to the website for the original recipe, but of course I had to doctor it up to at least attempt to make it healthy.

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
  
• 1/4 cup apple sauce (instead of vegetable oil)
  
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp flaxmeal
  

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, then combine the two. Spoon into greased cupcake sheet and bake at 400 for 20 minutes.

And last but not least:

Pumpkin Buckwheat Bake
(because somewhat bought the BIG can of pumpkin, we had lots of pumpkin to work with!)

Now this recipe I found on Kath Eats Real Food, but modified to use the rest of my pumpkin puree instead of bananas (the boy refuses to eat bananas). I also didn't have buckwheat groats, chia seeds, or walnuts, so I fudged on those too.

• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 tbsp flax seeds
  
• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds and chopped almonds
• 1 egg
  
• 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 2.5 tbsp warm water, set out for 5 minutes)
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
  
• 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
  
• 1 tbsp cheap store brand pancake syrup
  
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tbsp vanilla
  
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another, then combine the two. Pour into two ramekin bowls and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. You can eat one of these babies with almond/peanut butter, coconut shreds, yogurt, fruit, etc. Delicious! And gluten free... if that floats your boat.

I hope everyone has a nice Monday evening. Let's all take a lesson from Max on how to relax: