Dogs and Food (but not dog food)

I had big plans to write a post last night. But after dinner and two glasses of wine, I fell asleep flat on my face, on the floor, with the computer open. No joke. It was 7:30 on a Friday night. I live a life of excitement I tell you...

First things first: puppy has a name! He shall be called Roscoe! It sounds enough like Kujo, his original name that he half responded to, that I think he's going to learn it with no problem.

Doesn't he look so happy to be wearing a collar?

He's got the coloring of a Jack Russell, but I'm not sure he's got the brains of a Jack....


It's been a slow going process getting him acclimated to his crate. Some people have told me to just leave him in the crate and let him cry and howl, thinking that's the best way to crate train him. Anyone who has ever worked with an abused or neglected dog knows how bad this advice is. Not only will he hurt himself by trying to chew through the metal wire (like he did at his previous home), but he'll learn that the crate is a place of stress and anxiety instead of his place of refuge. With a puppy, you can leave them in a crate until they get use to it. With a dog that has negative associations with it, you're only throwing wood in the fire by forcing him to stay in.

Dog training rant over. Roscoe is doing very well being in the crate for a few hours at a time and hopefully within a few days, we can get him to spend the night there instead of our bed. Here's hoping!

Recently, a new Earth Fare has opened up in my neck of the woods. Most of the health grocery stores are in south Charlotte, so we really needed this! This week, they were doing a "Raid your pantry" special: if you brought in certain items that contained partially hydrogenated oil, high fructose corn syrup, or other unmentionables, they would trade them in for their healthy, non-processed foods. For free!

The offenders

The replacements

I picked up a few other items while I was at the store, including two pounds of chicken (for David, not me!) for $2, as opposed to its retail value of over $15! I got all this for just over $10. Amazing. I heart you, Earth Fare!


You'll notice those three beautiful green peppers... at less than $1 each, I had to grab them. My green pepper plant outside is pumping out the peppers like crazy, but none of them are ready quite yet. So I had big plans for these big boys: stuffed green peppers!


I used this recipe off allrecipes.com. I followed the recipes pretty closely, except I used fresh basil, added broccoli, and didn't add any salt (there is enough in the feta cheese). The result was splendid:


Please pardon my messy kitchen. I should really tidy up before a photo-shoot.

I did work in a recovery run yesterday of three miles before doing another NROLFW session. I have four more sessions to go until I finish phase one. I'm really wishing I took before pictures/measurements so I could compare myself to them, because I am definitely seeing results! I'll be eager to share them with you all in a few weeks when I finish this phase.

Hope all you East Coasters are staying flood-free and safe from Irene!

Do you have any crate training (or general training) advice to share? I consider myself pretty experienced training dogs, but I could always use more advice!

If running is a mental game, we're all insane

Puppy had his special surgery yesterday and was none to happy to be sent home wearing an e-collar. Since he's not crate trained yet, he only wants to spend the night on our bed. Combine his disdain for wearing a plastic cone on his head with the two incisions on his belly and you can imagine he probably slept less than us. So when my alarm went off at 5:00AM this morning to wake me for my long run, I was less than thrilled to hear that standard Verizon tune.

source

I turned it off, but I couldn't turn puppy off. When nature calls, dogs answer regardless of where they are. After a quick trip outside, I tried to convince him he wanted to sleep for at least another hour. He had other plans. Might as well get ready for those 14 miles, eh?

As I put my running shoes on, I wondered how far I would get on this long run- could I even get 4 miles, let alone the full 14? I felt like a zombie. I started out really slow, feeling like I was barely running let alone functioning correctly. I was so tired I forgot about my morning coffee (the horrors!).

It took 3 or 4 miles of fighting my legs, but I eventually settled into a groove. I wont say I was enjoying myself, but my suffrage level was decreasing. I popped a Clif Shot Blok around mile 5 and kept trucking on. I was actually keeping a pretty good pace for how crappy I felt.

At the half way point, I stopped debating in my head about whether or not I was actually going to finish this run. I had gotten this far, I couldn't go home a quitter. It got me to thinking about how much of this sport is physical and how much is mental. Of course you have to be physically fit to run that many miles, but at some point you have to shut your brain off and go with it.

To quote Mark Twain, "It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

As runners, we have to overcome our minds for nearly every run. Why else would we wake up before dawn on a Saturday morning to torture our bodies for 2+ hours? Or why would we apply copious amounts of Body Glide, pee in the woods (or other unmentionable acts), sweat buckets of water out while sucking down disgusting (let's be honest, they're gross) energy gels and eating cardboard energy bars?

Mind over matter. It's what allows us to pull running tights on and go out in the dead of winter, or put a tank top on and go out into sauna like conditions to get in those miles. No matter how torturous the run is, we're always eager to sign up for the next race or complete the next long run. In fact, we actually pay for this self-torture. And for what? A tee shirt and a medal?

No, we do it because we're gluttons for pain. We like pushing out bodies to its limits to see how far we can go and what we're capable of. It's not about the medal that gets put around our necks after we cross this finish line; it's about the journey we experience getting to the starting line. It's the black toenails and blisters, muscle cramps and stomach cramps, the countless amounts of Advil and Ibuprofen- these things tell us we're doing it right.

So be honest with yourself. If you're runner, you readily sign up for these maladies and embrace them with open arms. The only way to have the mental strength to overcome all this is to be a little insane to begin with.

But in the end, it's always worth it.

I'm happy to report I completed all 14 miles this morning. It was one of my toughest runs to date, but it did more for my confidence than even my longest run did. If I can finish 14 miles at my marathon goal pace feeling like I felt today, well then, I think I'm doing pretty well ;)

Garmin: Blessing or Curse?

I had a breakthrough during my run this morning. BUT FIRST, can we talk about this earthquake?!?!?!

Did you miss it? Here's one of the many articles that describes it. I've never felt an earthquake before, so when the couch, pictures, plants, lamps, and chandelier (or, fancy light fixture that hangs from the ceiling) started shaking, I felt the sudden urge to... well, go change my under-roos. Clearly, the dogs were not bothered.


So now I guess I can add "earthquake" to my list of natural 'disasters' I've experienced.

source

Now on to the running. I decided to run the same 7 mile route that I did last Sunday that made me question whether or not I was capable of a marathon. But this time, I didn't take the Garmin. I wanted to run based on how I felt and not worry about my time. I started out slow and listened to my breathing and my legs. I felt the power of my stride coming from my core, not from the flailing of my arms (anyone relate to me here? anyone?). As I heard my feet hit the ground, I felt like I was weightless. I felt awesome.

Maybe it was from the cooler weather, or maybe it was from 'naturally' pacing myself and not worrying about the pace my Garmin read, but I only stopped to walk once which I consider an accomplishment. While it felt like I was running slower than Sunday, I finished these 7 miles in 1:07:59, nearly four minutes faster than before! Maybe I should ditch the Garmin more often in order to listen to my body.

Yes Rose, you were right- you have to have bad runs to appreciate the good runs, and the good runs really give you encouragement that a marathon is within reach! (I realized I've opened the door for all sorts of diarrhea jokes here)


Did you feel the earthquake today?

Had any good runs lately, on the road or in the bathroom?

Canines... the best prescription for recovery

Seven miles... done.

It's the longest distance I've gone in over two weeks. While it felt good, it was also a little nerve racking. The first half felt great; the second half was a little bit of a struggle.

It got me to thinking: was this marathon a bit presumptuous of me? Do I really have what it takes to pull out an 18 or 20 mile training run, let alone a marathon?

I get this way when I've gone too long without a long run. I start doubting my abilities. Like a druggie that hasn't had a hit in too long, I start going a little bonkers.

I told myself I was going to finish these 7 miles even if I had to walk. It didn't come to that, but my splits definitely weren't consistent! I ended strong though, thanks to some lady who flew by me at mile 6.5. I couldn't let her just pass me like that; I had to keep up. So I ran my last half mile at an 8 minute pace. Amazing what we can pull out of ourselves when we think there's nothing left.

The legs were a little tired when I finished, but really, there's nothing better than lounging on the couch with the world's two cutest dogs to help in recovery =)


How was your weekend? Did you go to the HLS convention?

How do you dig down deep to finish strong?

I could...

Happy Saturday!

I hope everyone's weekends are off to a great start. Who is enjoying their last free weekend before school starts??

My return week to running went really well. I could talk about my three great runs, or my two awesome NROLFW workouts, or the fact that I feel SOOOO much better when I take care of my body (workout, eat right, sleep), oooooor I could talk about...


Our new puppy!!

Really, who wants to read about running when you can see cute puppy pictures?!


Let's rewind. Last December, we lost my kitty of 13 years. It may seem strange that Max, being a Jack Russell Terror, got along great with Queequeg, but they did. After we lost Queequeg, for the first time in his life, Max was an only child. While he adapted very well to getting 100% of our attention, we could tell he was a little bored.

For a few months, we've been talking about getting another dog, specifically another Jack Russell (we're brave like that). When my friend told me someone in her family was needing to find a home for a two year old Jack Russell and was going to be in town this weekend, we knew it was fate. Dogs always have a way of finding us.

We all met this little puppy yesterday, who did great with Max (and vv.). So we decided to take him overnight. He did great. Today, he and Max are inseparable.


The biggest problem with puppy is he didn't get a lot of attention from his previous home. He's a good dog and I think after a little time and we gain his trust, he's going to be a wonderful addition to our family.

We were told he had some issues with crate training. I think his previous owners just threw him in a crate when they didn't want to deal with him and as a result, he went crazy. Well, I'm a huge advocate of crate training, so it was the first item we purchased this morning. Throw in some old towels, some bribery (doggy treats) and some patience, and you get this...

It's nap time!

Max gets the bigger bed so he knows he still more important ;) But really, Max has been filling the big brother shoes very well and has already started teaching puppy how to do things (hopefully he'll only teach puppy the GOOD things!).

So now, I need your help. Puppy's name is Kujo, but we can't decide if we like that name or not. He hasn't quite learned his name yet (did I mention his previous owners didn't spend that much time with him?) so I think we'd be safe to change it. What are your doggy name suggestions??

Now I'm crossing my fingers that he's a good running dog!

Hiatus Complete!

I'm back! Alive and smiling =)


The last six days have been an amazing, exhausting, exhilarating, wonderful adventure for me. I spent 5 days with 2,500+ great people in the flute community, played for top notch flutists, organized and executed a wildly successful fundraiser dinner for my nonprofit, and helped people from all over the world (literally!) to experience and enjoy the music world here in the Queen City. I feel so blessed to have had this amazing opportunity (so young in my career) to work right alongside the 'big names' in my world.

Here are a few pictures...

I spent many, many hours in here!

A 300+ member choir performed right in the middle of downtown for everyone to hear.

We even made the front page of the paper ;)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get in any running. The one morning that I woke up early enough to actually put my running shoes on, it was still very dark and I didn't feel comfortable running by myself. I suppose I could have used the hotel's fitness room, but between early morning starts, days full of "putting out fires," evening gala recitals and post-recital cocktail hours, I just couldn't find the energy to do anything but fall into bed at the end of the night.

While I feel pretty guilty about missing a full week's worth of training, I'm trying to be flexible and move on. There's nothing I could have done to get any runs in, and there's nothing I can do now to change the past. Instead, I'm working on rearranging my schedule for the next two weeks to compensate for this "rest" week. I had originally planned to run 20 miles this week, but that's definitely not going to happen. I'm ok with that, since I purposefully added more 20 mile training runs than most schedules call for in anticipation of at least one of them not working out.

I'll probably fill this week with 'easy' 5-6 mile runs and then hop back on my schedule next Sunday. Though the Type A in me wants to make up for all my lost miles, I need to keep reminding myself that I'm still 11 weeks out from Savannah and I'll be ok.


Yesterday I put in a very long day at work (balancing 'the books' from the near $40,000 worth of music that was sold at convention) and had zero juice left to run. So this morning I decided, sink or swim, I had to get out there. I pulled out 3 GREAT miles on the treadmill before another NROLFW session. It's easy to forget how great it feels to work up a sweat!

And remember how a few weeks ago I became a member of the Black Toenail Runners R Us club? I'm proud to report that my membership has advanced one level to the Lost A Toenail Runners R Us club!

Can you spot which one? =)

My little piggy shed its blackened nail a few nights ago. I said a few words before chucking it in the trash. I must say- I'm glad that's over with! The anticipation of losing that nail was killing me!

Now I begin the arduous journey of catching up on blogs. What's been going on in your world lately? Any tips to share on missing a week's worth of training?

Thanks for being patient with me during my one week blogging/running hiatus =)

Savannah Marathon Training Week 9

First things first: Max would like to wish everyone a happy Monday!


Alright, now for the recap...

Sunday: Great 10k Dance Party followed by NROLFW
Monday: 4 mile run around my neighborhood, followed by a 1 mile walk with Little Paws
Tuesday: 3.75 mile FAILed run... the stress is catching up with me! :o I did get in another NROLFW session though, so it wasn't a complete waste
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 15 LSD complete with 2 tree-hugging pit stops
Friday: rest
Saturday: Ballin' 5k on the treadmill before busting out the guns for another session of NROLFW

Total Miles: 32
Total days lifting: 3 (w00t!!)
Total Days cross training: 0 (cue: sad trombone)

Long run: success!

Here's the world's shortest recap of my long run this week. Enjoy =)

Wake Up call: 5:00 AM
Cups of coffee: 2
Ounces 0f fluids consumed during run: 70+
Number of pit-stops in the woods: 2 (Dad, aren't you proud of me?)
Total Miles: 15
Number of Happy Runners: 1

I was a little on-edge about my long run this week since my run from Tuesday didn't go so well. Like I said in my previous post, things are a little hectic for me at the moment. Instead of using my runs to destress, I've been using my runs to constantly think about all the things on my to-do list and perpetually turn over in my mind the things I'm worrying about. I wanted to get 8 miles in on Tuesday, but could only squeeze out 4. My heart just wasn't in it. The entire time I was running, all I could think about were the things I needed to be doing that day and how I didn't have time to run.

So yesterday I made sure to get up super early and get my long run finished by 9 so I could use the entire day to be productive. You know what? It worked!




So what about you?
Are you a city, suburban, or nature-trail runner?

Alright ladies, how do you deal with peeing in the woods?

Ever been derailed on a run because of your to-do list? How do you combat that?

Week Eight... and The Questions

I shall now unveil all my deepest, darkest secrets to answer your questions. BUT FIRST, here's a recap of Marathon Training Week Eight.

Sunday: rest
Monday: 4 awesome miles on the treadmill followed by a killer NROLFW session
Tuesday: 7 miles hilly
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 14 LSD
Friday: 2 miles walking on 10% include; 10 minutes on the stair stepper and another NROLFW session
Saturday: rest

Total Miles: 27
Total days lifting: 2
Total cross training: 1

I'm pretty happy with my week, but I'm still wanting to up my mileage a little more. I know I shouldn't do this in haste, so I'll be a little more patient with myself ;)


Now on to zeh questions:

Mihkel and Melissa from 72runs wants to know:

• What is a flute retreat?? Like band camp for grown ups or am I missing something? Simply put, a flute retreat is like continuing education for my job. I teach private flute lessons, so these 'retreats' are essentially a time where I go observe other lessons, coach other younger flutists, perform in masterclasses myself (masterclass= lesson with a teacher that is open to the public), and attend pedagogy seminars and demonstrations.

• What's your 'must do' race? My one definite must do race is the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. You can read why here =)
  

Ashley from redonkulous runner asks:

• What's your fave sweet snack? Is it something you bake yourself? (question inspired by fact that i'm eating a fudge pop right now haha) Oooh, fudge pop yum =) My favorite sweet snack would definitely be Publix chocolate chip cookies. I love them so much, every time we go down to Florida, we buy 3-4 dozen to bring back to Charlotte with us (we freeze most of them). For our wedding, we gave Publix chocolate chip cookies as our favors. Hands down, Publix makes THE BEST chocolate chip cookies in THE WORLD. You must go try them.
  

• Do you prefer big or small races and why? I haven't raced a whole lot, but I think I prefer big races. I'm definitely a person that feeds off the energy of others, and when the environment around me is pumped up, I'm excited! When there aren't a lot of people running next to me, I'm more tempted to walk (or not push myself as hard). The downside of big races is the higher level of stupidity. IQ levels tends to fall as the size of the group rises =)
  

And Meg from Watch MeGo Run posed:

• If you could run ANY race anywhere in the world (regardless of price, what it takes to get in, etc) what would it be and why? Well, like I said above, the Marine Corp Marathon ranks pretty high up there. But if I could chose anywhere in the world, I think it'd be pretty cool to run the Athens Marathon in Greece.

• How did you and hubs meet? I don't think you've talked about it before and if you have, I'm sorry! I don't talk about the hubs too much on here, so you're forgiven =) We met in college as freshmen. We both attended the same church and were both in the band program (for the first year, then I, being the more musically gifted one, advanced into the highest level of performing groups ;) ). Anyway, it took him three years to ask me out. That's right, our senior year of college when I had sworn him off (I might have had a secret crush on him for three years too) he asked me out to coffee. The rest is history =)

• Random, but what's your favorite movie of all time? What about book? Let's see, favorite movie... probably a toss up between 10 Things I hate About You and the really obscure movie, Playing By Heart. As for a favorite book, I like too many! I'm really not a hard reader to please. But I did have a favorite book growing up- Where the Red Fern Grows. We read it in grade school (3rd grade? Can't remember!) and I loved it so much, my teacher bought me a copy and inscribed the front page. I still have it sitting on my bookshelf!

Hope everyone had an awesome Monday!