Saturday, March 30, 2013

19 mile ZOMBIE run!

And I'm the zombie!
I think during this day as recovery, my body is eating my brain!! I have felt kind of foggy and like I cant focus. Forgetting the names of things, forgetting what I'm doing, where I'm going, what I'm doing next...So weird! (Took my girls to get their hair cut today and I wore my slippers! SLIPPERS!) I feel like I fueled well during the run.... *shrug* 
Anyway! Here's the run down (of the awful but awesome 19 miler....)

March 30: 19 mile run (Distance PR), 10:53 avg pace (I think it was around 3 hours 27 minutes)


Ready to head out!  Yep. Nice enough to wear capris (and by the end of the run, I could have been running in my skivvies and I would have been too warm!!)

I almost missed this early morning run. I was going to go later in the day as it was supposed to rain this morning for a few hours. It was raining when I got up at 6 but I checked again 15min later and it was done! So I took a chance and decided to head out. 
SOOOO glad I did as the temps were awesome (high 40s) and about 30 minutes later the sky looked like this!


When I got over to The Lake, there was a race going on. I was envious of all those healthy, fresh legs and feet (I had run about 17.5 miles by this point and I was HOT and thirsty ((didn't bring enough water)).



More pretty pictures at The Lake



This run was short on pictures.
LET ME TELL YOU WHY(in bullet points, just cuz I feel like it)


  • My tummy felt off when I started off on this run.
  • Mile 3 I was already stripping layers and tying them around my waist
  • Mile 5 I got a weird pain in my right knee that I actually had to walk thru for a few minutes (this has only happened to me ONCE)-first 1/2 pk of Gu
  • Mile 7 my right foot bone (the cheeky one we've been talking way too much about on this blog) started to bug me
  • Mile 8 its REALLY bugging me
  • Mile 9 I've already stopped 2 or 3 times to try to adjust the callus protector to see if something will help. It's not.
  • Mile 10 I debate on just going home. The pain is bothersome and almost more than I feel safe running on. I get to The Lake at this point and start running in the grass on the side of the actual cement trail and this seems to help. second 1/2 pk of Gu
  • Mile 10-15 stopped SOOO many times to try to do different things with my shoe to stop the pain (the pace continued to get slower and slower during the last 9 miles). FINALLY right before mile 15, I stop and rip the callus protector off and realize the reason that the pain is so bad is that the spot that NORMALLY needs the protection of the callus protector has moved. Instead of it being the side bone by my big toe, its the TOP bone. It's red. And it's hurts.  I put the callus protector on the spot and it helps but only a little. By this point its so beat up I don't think much will help it. another 1/2 pk of Gu
  • Mile 15-19, the foot feels increasingly better the last few miles. But I am so hot and my legs are sore and I was THIRSTY. I normally only drink a few oz of water each time I take the Gu and that's all I need, but I didn't account for the warmth today. I really could have used another 8-12 of water (though I have no clue how I would carry it!)
       DONE!
       So I get home after almost 3.5 hours of running and I am SPENT. Thirsty, still hot, my legs are itchy and yucky (it rained last night so the off-road running left my legs all nasty with trail goo.)  I stretch and drink a little water but I just DONT. FEEL. WELL. This is how I felt after both of my half marathons. I nibbled a little here and there for the next couple hours but nothing sounded good.
Then, my daughter says 'Can I have some milky cereal?'  DING DING DING DING! It was like the Cookie Monster switch went off in my head and I could not GET to that cereal and milk fast enough (you'll have to wait kiddo, the-mom-who-just-ran-19-miles needs her cereal!!)
So after that I felt much better and was able to eat more normally the rest of the day (well, normal for me.)  =)
I've been SO busy and on my feet all day! I've had to walk slow as my feet are sore as well as my legs. That weird blister spot is back on my left big toe and my bone on my right foot is still sore and red. I hope it heals up QUICKLY!

What was the highlight of your weekend so far?



Thursday, March 28, 2013

Highest mileage month yet! and an AWESOME blog

March 26 Tues: 10 min elliptical, upper/lower body weights, 3 sets of planks (2:00, 1:50, 1:40)

March 27 Wed:  9 mi run 1:28:25 (9:49 pace) 25*...no push ups after this run. I was a bit tired when I got done so I didnt want to push it =)

March 28 Thurs: 5 mi run 52:16 (10:28 pace) 27* and 4 sets of push ups (25-20-20-20)

Ran both of my run outside yesterday and today. Usually I do an outdoor run on Wednesday and then a treadmill run on Thursday, but the light bulb that is above  my treadmill broke yesterday so we need to do some cleaning up down there before I can 'mill it again.

Also, March will be my highest month of overall running mileage yet! After Saturdays run, I'll be just over 140 miles for the month! I really dont even know if I've had a month that's been over 100 miles (I'll need to go back and check lasts month mileage), so this is quite a feat for me!

Remember how we were talking about push ups and upper body strength (or lack there of) a few days ago?  Well my awesome friend Megan (aka Terminator Mom) did a blog post this week with some great upper body workout suggestions. Megan's in killer shape (after having 3 kiddos)!
Do you have a friend that is a fitness inspiration to you?  That's my Megan =)

TERMINATOR MOM'S UPPER BODY WORKOUTS

Do you have a favorite upper body workout?
Probably bicep curls
Is there a part of your upper body that you really want to work on?
Shoulders!





Monday, March 25, 2013

Motivation! and a helpful website



March 25 workout: 4mi on the treadmill 1% incline 40:30 (10:07 avg pace)
Followed up with 4 sets of 25 push ups!

I dont know about anyone else but running on the 'mill feels MUCH harder than running on the roads.  BUT its not quite so loathsome if I have something to watch that is motivating (or mindless-Kate plus 8 got me thru a lot of treadmill runs this winter!)

I've discovered this past month that watching past episodes of THE BIGGEST LOSER is really motivating while I'm running!





Also, is anyone else an upper body weakling like me? Seriously. A 2 yr old could probably out arm wrestle me. 
Well given this embarrassing knowledge a couple years ago, I decided to do something about it!
I found this website:
HUNDRED PUSH UPS CHALLENGE




When I started, I could not do even ONE 'real' push up and only 6 on-my-knees push ups (and that last one was SHAKY). The max number I've done now? 40. FORTY!!!!!  Typically I do 4 sets of 25 but there have been a couple times I've managed to do 40 at one time.  Forty REAL push ups!!

I didnt start the program to ever REALLY be able to do 100 push ups at one time but I did want to increase my upper body strength (which I feel is important as a runner) and I really feel like I've achieved that.
This same website also offers a '100 sit ups' and '100 squats'. And the best thing?
ITS ALL FREE! And its super easy to stick with.

Hope you're all having a great start to your Monday.

If you do treadmill runs, what is your favorite thing to watch, or listen to?

How many push ups can you do?





Sunday, March 24, 2013

WHAT'S ON TAP March 25-March 30

Here is what I will, Lord willing, knock out this week!

Monday: 4mi run, push ups

Tuesday: elliptical, upper/lower weights, planks

Wednesday: 9 mi run (!!), push ups

Thursday: 5 mi run, planks

Friday: elliptical, upper/lower weights, push ups

Saturday: 19 mile run (yes, I meant to keep that bold!!)

I may not do any push ups on Wednesday depending on how I feel after that run. If that's the case, my push up/plank routine will look like this:
Monday: push ups
Tuesday: planks
Thursday: push ups
Friday: planks

I hope everyone has a great start to the week tomorrow. BELOW-AVERAGE-TEMPS, you will NOT steal my joy!!  =)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Holy Speed Rockets, Batman!

Before we get to the run, I'd just like to say one thing...
IS IT SPRING YET??!!
The snow and rain and cold and general yuckiness is SO last month.
Uh, God? I'd like an order of sunshine, please? With a side of warmth. Thankyouverymuch.

So anyway, this run. ROCKED MY SOCKS OFF.  It would have been a top 10 run ANYWAY, just cuz I got to do it with the most awesome person alive, BUT the sweetness had a generous dollop of rockin' pace on top which just took it to whole 'nother adjective. (Awesomesauce? Bomb.com?  You pick.)


Hubs and I starting out at 8am
Incase you've not been here for long (and probably only 3 of you have), my starting off pics are pretty much always in the dark. I truly am a get-up-get-dressed-and-go type runner.  But hubs needed his morning coffee and my parents were coming up to be watched by our minions, I mean to watch our minions, and I didnt want to give them a dark 0' thirty time in which to be here.
So I got up at 7, ate a 1/2 a banana with some PB around 7:40 and we were on the street a little after 8.

We started off in our neighborhood and took that over to Lake Z stopping 2 or 9 times on the way over so I could blow my shnoz. Does anyone else have this issue? I always end up taking embarrassing amounts of tissue along.
I joked with hubby that I needed one of these:



It really would save a lot of time digging one out of my many pockets.

Took 1/2 a PowerBar Gel a bit before 5 miles (and again about mile 10)

I think the guy coming up behind us at this point thought it was weird that I was taking a picture of a gel. On my wrist.  *Sigh*...the things I do for you guys. 

We passed these GORGEOUS balls of fluff TWICE on our run
I oo'd and ah'd and gasped (isn't that a weird word to say out loud?), and squealed...I mean come ON. That baby was the cutest thing EVER.

This is about mile 11. Feeling pretty awesome from my second 'hit' of the gel!

WHAT??

To fully appreciate the awesomeness of this pace you can read about my first two 'real' 1/2 marathons HERE.  I ran my 1/2 last Spring (on a hilly course-I will give it that-today's was fairly flat for most of the route), at an avg pace of 9:03. So to be able to pull ^THIS^ off on a training run? Was pretty stinkin' awesome (only burmmer is that I think that blister thing a ma bobber is coming back-bleh). Pace for the last .1 miles? 7:29.  BOOOOO  YYYYAAAAAA!!

So in celebration, I went out and bought all of these:

Just kidding.
I ate 4 BIG cookies.
=)

Dont ya love when a training run is just purified AWESOMENESS the whole time??


Friday, March 22, 2013

My fav sites Part 2, FITNESS!

My Favorite 'Fitness' websites!

How to Get a 6-pack
>>Some great information here about dieting and workouts

20 Exercises you can do at Home
>>20 easy exercise you can do right at home, some with video demonstration

How to lose belly fat and get a flat stomach
>>HUGE amount of information on this page. Make sure you have time to sit down with this one!

Lose weight but not muscle
>>I was orginally looking for this site last year as I was trying to lose fat but not muscle. I stumbled upon this gem. Its from a mens body-building site I believe, but has SO much great info including nutrition, what type of workouts to be doing, and at what 'levels' to be doing them at

Hierarchy of Fat Loss
>>Lots of great info here. I think this is a body building site as well but has lots of great information on different workout intensities and what they do for your body

Upper and Lower back exercises
>>Lots of examples

What are some of your favorite fitness related websites?




Thursday, March 21, 2013

Fix it before it gets worse!

**CHECK OUT MY NEW BLOG POST AT: http://passionatemotherhood.blogspot.com/ **

March 20 Wed: 8 miles 1:18:44 (9:50 avg pace) 2* windchill!
March 21 Thurs: 4.5 miles 46:06 (10:14 avg pace) on the treadmill 1% incline. Followed it up with
     4 sets of 25 push ups.

>>So. I think I'm getting a blister on the end of my big toe. Its small and you cant see it unless you look close but its slightly swollen. I've never had a blister before and I'm not sure what to do about it! Its a bit sore. I didnt know what it was til after my run today. I thought my sock was just bunched up. Looking back, it was bugging me yesterday during the day too (I wore shoes during the day yesterday which I normally dont do and I remember feeling it and wondering what it was but I never checked it). 
Any tips on what I should do about it?? I dont want it to interfer with my 13 miler on Saturday!<<

Anyway, lets talk more running shall we?
On Wed, I got up at 4:30 a.m. (aka Crazy o' clock), to meet up with my awesome running buddies at 5 for an 8 mile run. Wow. 4:30 a.m. comes PRETTY early in the morning.  Thankfully it didnt really put a damper on the rest of my day. I was a bit more tired for the first few hours after getting home, but after that, I was fine the rest of the day!
Last time I got up to meet them a little earlier than normal (we used to meet at 6 but one time I met up with them at 5:30) I got my first ever migraine a few hours later, so I was nervous that that would happen again. Thankfully-NOTHING! I did take some 'fuel' along to eat right after the run just incase:

A little tuna salad and some crackers (those baby food containers come in super handy!)  Totally hit the spot.  My water bottles in my hydration belt froze shut during the run so I had no water afterwards until they thawed out a bit (and my hands were thawed out enough to open them!)

My awesome running buds and myself before the run. I love how it looks like I photoshopped myself in here.  Classic.

Megs, myself and Jens.  Love love love these gals.  Anna forgot to turn her headlamp off.  Nerd.

Thaaaaaaat's better. I sometimes wonder how they put up with me.

It was SOOO cold yesterday morning. Thankfully I went Anna style (aka how-to-look-like-a-marshmallow-puff-ball) and was perfectly comfortable the whole run. I wore lined wind pants over my running tights (so these lovely ladies had to put up with the sound of my thighs rubbing together for an hour and eighteen minutes. Bless their ever lovin' hearts) and that really helped.
This is the speediest I've run since the Shoe Issue started. Felt AWESOME.

Today's run was great too. I watched a movie on Netflix for my kiddos (I like to preview alot of their movies before they watch them), called 'Hugo'. I think they're gonna like it.  We like to watch a little bit of a movie together during lunch (sometimes educational, sometimes 'fun movies', but our favorite thing to watch in the Duggars. We are HUGE fans).

Do you have any favorites on Netflix?
Whats the temp like where you are?
Have you ever had a blister? What did you do for it??

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

My favorite sites-Part 1. FOOD!

I'm sure none of you out there are as looney as I am but have OODLES of bookmarked sites on all things weight loss, dieting, clean eating, healthy eating, fitness and running. WHEW!  Out of all those sites, I wanted to share some that I thought were helpful. I hope they help you, too (I'll know if they do if you 'follow' my blog...hint hint)...

The first installment are sites on FOOD!



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES PORTION SIZE
>>>I think this site is helpful to see HOW big a portion of any given fruit or vegetable really is

249 FOODS YOU CAN EAT TO LOSE WEIGHT
>>>Lots of food here!

HIGH SATIETY FOODS
>>Explains satiety and lists some high satiety, but low calorie, options

WORLD'S HEALTHIEST FOODS
>>Lists the top 127 healthiest foods with links to each food item to explain its benefits

ZERO POINT WEIGHT WATCHERS FOODS
>>I've never done Weight Watchers but I like the idea of 'zero point' foods!

RECIPES UNDER 200 CALORIES
>>This site has SO many gorgeous recipes!!

If you have any to add, please tell me about them in the 'comments' section!

Monday, March 18, 2013

How long will this last?

**Don't forget to check out my new blog post at:   http://passionatemotherhood.blogspot.com/ **
 
 
MARCH 18 Monday: 2.5 mi run at 1% incline (25:38)
          1.5 mi run at 1% incline (14:57).......ALSO did 25 x 4 sets of push ups
 
 

'Gee, why did Anna break up her 'mill workout today instead of doing all 4 miles at one go?'  Well, I'll tell ya why ........
 

I got off after 2.5 miles to take the callus protectors off my cheeky little metatarsals to see if I could run without them.

Nope.

So I had to pop them back on and finish up the run.  Bummer. 
I'm wondering how long this will last?
Will I have to run the marathon with these on? I guess I could. I dont SEE it being a problem but I dont enjoy running with them on. After a while they start to itch a bit.

HOWEVER, I am choosing to see the bright side of things. At least I can still run, right??

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Did I really just do that??

Guess what I did.  Just guess.
Give up?

I. RAN. SEVENTEEN. MILES!!!!!!!!


Oh yes I did.

Oh good grief was it windy yesterday. I think it was around 20mph at the start of my run with gusts over mach 9.
Ok. Slight exaggeration, but it FELT like mach 9.  It was coming out of the north and that's the direction I was running for the first 3 miles. I SERIOUSLY felt like I had someone pulling the back of my jacket those first few miles and the fact that MOST of those miles were up hill did NOT help.

The wind calmed down a WEE bit during my run but was still around 10-15mph for the duration.
I tried a new Gu flavor 'Mandarin Orange'. I was surprised that I kinda sorta liked it! Still doesn't come close to my love for the chocolate flavor though. That has my heart.

I was feeling a bit sluggish and 'heavy' as I consumed calories on Friday like it was my JOB (I literally consumed over two days worth of calories). And topped the day off with a large blizzard from Dairy Queen and ate the WHOLE thing. I normally only eat 1/2 and save the other 1/2 for the next night. So learn from my mistake: eating DOUBLE your daily amout of calories in a day, does not a good run make. Fact.

Still trying to wake up from the food hangover...

One of my favorite, but super short trails to run on. Any local peeps know where this is? Hint: it's near Lakeside!

You have to click on this picture to experience the full magnitude of just how curvy this sidewalk is!

Getting to Lake Z around mile 9 I think...

I love seeing these 'fueling' spots around the lake-water and gatorade!

Yep, we still have a METAL slide in our town! Anyone remember these? You only slid down ONCE in the middle of a hot summer afternoon before realizing that you never wanted to do that again!

This picture made me laugh when I looked at it. This is me leaving the lake after having run 15.5 miles. TIRED. SORE. COLD. READY TO BE DONE.

But I made it another 1.5 miles (had to. Had to get home!)  =)

2/5 of my children were there to greet my tired sore self when I got home. Always brightens my mood =)

This is a cutback week for me now, so I only have 13 to knock out this weekend. And hopefully, if the stars align right, the hubs will get to go with me (he's training for the marathon too, though he's not done any real 'long' runs yet). We've not run together for probably 2 years so I'm super excited (he really doesn't enjoy running-he's a soccer player-but he's doing this for me)  *swoon*

Do you run with other people? Do you prefer it or prefer to run alone?

Thursday, March 14, 2013

I've been nominated for the Liebster award!

The awesome Katie over at RUNNING A RAGNAR nominated me for the Liebster award!



What is the Liebster award?
Here is Katie's explanation:










1. This award is given to new or up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
2. The award is then passed along to other bloggers in the same category to help spread the word and support one another.
3. Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

4. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
5. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.

6. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.
7. No tag backs (aka, don’t nominate the person who nominated you).
HERE ARE KATIE'S QUESTIONS:


1. Cat or Dog person and why?
This is a tough one. I do love cats (we used to have a Manx/Abyssian mix and he was the BEST.) But Irish Wolfhounds have my heart
2. What was the most embarrassing AIM Screenname or Email address you every created ?

Thankfully I've never created an embarrassing one!
3. What is your favorite Billy Joel song?
Uptown girl!
4. Where was your first kiss?
Is it sad that I really dont remember this? I think it was in my backyard behind my garage but I dont remember!
5. If you could make a FROYO flavor what would it be?
Reese's PB cup!
6. What was your favorite job, or what would your dream job be?
Favorite job: nanny.....Dream job: mom.  =)
7. Siracha, Chicken and Waffles, or Cheesy Garlic Bread potato chips?
Cheesy Garlic bread for 'sho!
8. Favorite Quote or song lyrics?
'Live your life in such a way that those who dont know God, will come to know God, because of you.'
9. What was the name of your first pet?
We had 2 cats when I was little named Tigger and Cocoa. But I think MY first pet was a hamster named Mimi or my poodle named Princess. Cant remember which I got first
10. Were you a tomboy or a glitzy girl?
Total girly-girl
11. What was your biggest baking or cooking fail?
Boy, I fail all the time, which is why I dont bake/cook very much!  Maybe the big batch of chocolate chip cookies I made for Christmas for one year and forgot to put in the baking soda (or powder), see I cant even remember which one it uses!

11 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:
 
1. I was born in Korea, my mom is full Korean but I only know, like THREE words in Korean. I wish I had taken the time to learn more.
2. I have 5 kids (4 girls ages 12, 11, 9 and 7 and a tornado, I mean BOY, who is 5). When I was  young I used to want an orphanage of 100 children but they would all be mine to keep. I wouldnt adopt any of them out.
3. I homeschool my kiddos and have since my oldest (who is 12) was 5 and I LOVE it
4.I have never broken a bone
5. I grew up in a town of about 6,000 and had a Dairy Queen practically in my backyard (I could see it from our window at the back of our house and it was about a 5 minute walk away). My love for the Blizzard has NEVER wavered. (side note: my dad grew up in a SUPER small town that is now not even called a town-its technically a village!)
6. I met my husband in highschool. I was a lowly freshman and he was a super hot, super popular, SUPER athletic senior who was WAAAAY out of my league. We didn't start dating til the end of my senior year.
7. I have 2 older brothers who are both preachers.
8. Other than being born in Korea, I've never traveled outside of the U.S. (well, I take that back, on a band trip in high school we went to Arizona and while there, we took a short 1 day trip down to Nogales, Mexico.) I would love to visit Hawaii someday!
9. I used to play the saxophone and clarinet and can still tinker around a bit on the piano.
10. I STILL love to read the Little House on the Prairie books as much now, as I did when I was a kid. My girls used to be OBSESSED with them and would refer to themselves as 'Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace' SO much that we had to remind them to call each other by their given names!
11. I once rode an elephant. (how's THAT for random?)  =)

MY QUESTIONS!
1. Have you ever been overseas?
2. If you could own ANY animal as a pet what would it be?
3. How many, if any, siblings do you have?
4. When you were a kid, what did you wish to be when you grew up?
5. What is your preferred way to stay in touch with people (text, email, social media etc)
6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
7. Do you feel you have a God-given 'gift/talent/ability'? If so, what is it?
8. Top 3 favorite websites
9. Top 3 favorite blogs
10. Top 10 favorite 'things' (running gear, foods, stores, music etc)
11. If you could pick any super human power, what would it be?
 
MY NOMINEES!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

8 mile and 4 miles runs. PURE awesomeness

MAR 13: 8.1 mi run 1:28:42 (10:57 avg pace)....*also did 4 sets of push ups 25-20-20-20


I was super excited for this run. I've never run 8 miles mid-week.  I was wondering if my new shoes were up for it....

Me, and a snowy backdrop. Thankfully MOST people had shovled their sidewalks but I still had quite a few places that I had to tip toe thru and the street crossings were awful for the most part. If there weren't small mountains of snow to tromp thru, I was busy slithering thru at a snails pace on sheets of ice.

All in all though, the run felt AWESOME.  It was cold (and dark.  Curse you daylight savings time!) but I was still THRILLED to be running EIGHT miles =)

Wonderful pink sunrise at the end of my run...



My post run treat. I usually eat some peanut M&M's post-run for any double digit distance but SOMETIMES I'll allow it for less.
This was one of those time.

In celebration of these shoes taking on 8 miles and causing me NO trouble! (of course, I DID still have on the callus protectors which you can read more about HERE


MARCH 14: 4 mi run on the 'mill, 1% incline, (41:37- 10:24 avg pace)....followed it up with 3 sets of planks (1:50-1:40-1:30)
Started out at 5.2 mph and upped it one notch every 3 minutes. Once I got to 6.0mph, I held that until mile 3.5 and then upped it to 6.1 for the remainder of the run.

*The lovely callus protectors on my cheeky little metatarsals (they are metatarsals, right?).

'The Biggest Loser' is a great motivator while slodging thru miles on the 'mill =)

What does your weekend workout plan look like?
--16-17 miles for me! YEE HAW!

Monday, March 11, 2013

55 days and counting!!

***Don't forget to check out my new blog post at my other blog!
http://passionatemotherhood.blogspot.com/

MARCH 11th: 4 mi run on the 'mill (44:25)....*4 sets of push ups (30-25-25-25)
....'Twas a great run! I kept it nice and slow as my legs are still a bit sore from the 15 miles I ran on Saturday. I WAS able to run in my new 2009s using the callus protectors on my foot bone and it was awesome. Pain free the whole time!
Started at 5.0mph and upped the pace every 5 minutes then came down the last .3 miles. Did the first 2 miles at 2% incline and the last 2 miles at 1%. I am SO thankful that I have a treadmill here to run on when the weather isnt fitting for any outdoor run (at least not for a clutz like me!). We got 7-10" of snow on Sunday and Sunday night. The winds were CRAZY all day Sunday. Made me SUPER thankful I got my 15 miles in on Saturday!

I printed this chart out of my training plan when I first started. I enjoy crossing the days off as I complete them. I cant believe I'll be running 26.2 in just 55 days!!


Here's my personal calendar where I track all my workouts. I've been doing this since the beginning of 2011. These calendar 'notebooks' are just $1 in Target's Dollar Spot section!


Happy Monday, everyone!

Saturday, March 9, 2013

15 mile run! And Gu 'Strawberry banana review'

Mar 9: 15 mile run! (2:38:53-10:36 avg pace)...*old 2009 shoes*

Distance PR! 15 miles!! 

I know all 3 of you readers are DYING to know what I did as far as shoes =) I went to the store last night and got these:


I put one on my RIGHT bone (the one that just started bugging me this week) and it felt GREAT (did that before I even started out). My left bone, oddly enough, felt just fine at the beginning of the run (I was wearing my old 2009s).  BUT it started to feel like it was GOING to start bugging me around mile 3, so I stopped and put one of these on THAT bone too. After that, it was smooth sailing =) I really think as long as I wear these, I can PROBABLY wear my new shoes. I'll test that out next week =)

Getting ready to tackle the run!

Very few cars on the road at 6:30am!

Gu 'Strawberry banana' review!


Stopped around mile 5 to refuel. I did 1/2 the pack w/ 3oz of water (and did the other half at mile 10 with another 3 oz of water)
I didnt really care for this flavor. It tasted a lot like a Laffy Taffy and I'm not a fan of fruit candy. Still, it was palatable and if this was all I had in a race, I could gulp it down with no issues.  After thinking about it today, I think I'll probably just carry my OWN gels, that way I wont have to worry about them running out of my favorite flavor (Chocolate Outrage all the way, baby!)

To the lake!  I really dont like gloomy mornings, but nothing could put a damper on the excitement of knowing I was on my way to a distance PR this morning!

I bet I saw 7 or 8 deer out there this morning too! (click on the picture to see a larger image)

 
Pretty trail

Thank you Lake Z for some awesome miles!

I did it!!

Brought one of these along to refuel with after the run and really didnt care for it. I choked down about 1/2 of it before deciding that my NORMAL post-run reward of peanut M&Ms and pretzels is FAR superior. At least according to my picky palate.

Now it's time to prop the legs up and recover til next time!