Friday, March 30, 2012

8 miles


My body is so tired. I really should start counting snowboarding as an exercise because I am always so sore afterwards. Yesterday we boarded and today was an 8 miler. The only goal I had was to do it without worrying about my time. I finally programmed my splits so I didn’t have to hit the lap key. This was nice because I didn’t have to keep checking my watch but bad because I didn’t know my splits. My overall time was good (nice and slow) but my splits were all over the place. I was stiff and sore the entire run, I never really got into it, though it didn’t hurt.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1- 11:06
Mile 2- 11:33
Mile 3- 11:57
Mile 4- 11:41
Mile 5- 12:07
Mile 6- 11:41
Mile 7-12:49
Mile 8- 12:35

That last mile was SO hard, my legs were done. I should mention that it rained the entire run. Here is what I looked like after running 1:35:30 minutes:

Awkward hands

I found an easier way to take an ice bath:

Mountain girl ice bath


Okay not really, it is for a virtual race photo contest I participated in. You had to be holding spatulas, wish me luck!

Honestly I thought about all of the amazing things I could do if I won the jackpot. The people you could help with 500 million dollars. I tend to think about whatever I see before I run. AND the jackpot was all over the news today. This probably kept me going for at least four miles. After that I wondered if it would be rude to drink water out of someone’s hose. I was really regretting the no water thing by mile 6 (ironic since it was raining).  My millage is going to continue to increase so I will probably have to figure something out soon. I ate dried apricots at mile 4, they worked alright. 

Random- I knew about where I was going to run but just went for it. When I got to the end of my street I hit 8 miles in the exact spot I started my watch...

In other news….. we bought a juicer. This is something that I have been wanting for a while. After watching Hungry For Change, D.H. and I both knew we had to make some changes. This is something we have been working towards for awhile. We have been working on cutting out many things and eating things close to natural forms. This is working for us, but to each his own. It isn’t for everyone. We aren’t cutting it all out, just trying to eat clean most of the time. Before watching this documentary we really didn’t include the kids. Now I think that this might be more important for them.
Here is M and J drinking the fruit and veggie juice they made:

cheers!


Hope you all have a great weekend. 

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

When your best isn’t good enough



So yesterday was a pretty busy day. I ran a virtual race, cleaned the house and FINALLY saw The Hunger Games!!! I read this book (the series) around Christmas and loved it. I pretty much told everyone I know that they had to read it. Needless to say, I have been very excited to see the movie. On to my “race”……

The plan was to run 5 miles at race pace per my training plan. About four miles in I remembered I still needed to do my race and didn’t think I could do another “fast” run this week. So I turned my 5 into 6.2.

My only goal for the first five miles was to run each mile in under ten minutes. Epic fail! (Below you will see my splits) So when I saw my fourth mile split, I might have lost my cool, started crying and kicked a tree. I swear I can’t run without crying, what is wrong with me? I was SO pissed that I couldn’t even accomplish one goal. I have been working my ass off to no avail. So after a quick pity party, I picked myself up and finished the fifth mile strong (while still crying). I used the sixth mile as a cool down of an 11 minute mile.  

My final 10k time was 1:02:45, I really don’t think I could have gone any faster so I guess I will have to be happy with it. My final 5 mile training time was 49:24. Overall it was under a ten minute mile, but not the point. I wanted each mile under ten. Luckily I do not have another pace run until next week. Maybe I will wake up fast next week, we’ll see.

10k Splits
Mile 1- 9:51
Mile 2- 9:49
Mile 3- 9:50
Mile 4- 10:14
Mile 5- 9:38
Mile 6- 11:03
Mile 6.2- 2:20


I finally bought this:
Chia Seeds

I have wanted to try them for some time. The bag was kind of pricey, so I was a little nervous to try them. D.H said if I didn’t like them he could put them in his shakes, good man. Honestly they do not have much taste, I added them to my salad and I can see adding them to a lot of things. Score!

Oh and I woke up to this:
Maybe a treadmill run today????


I am so sore today, I guess this is the biggest difference between training runs. When I do speed, I hurt. My back is really sore, I figure this has to do with the weight I am carrying. I am really trying to work on this. I am still 5 lbs heavier than when we moved nearly a year ago. So in 5 lbs. I will be back to square one, how many times am I going to be here?

 I have at least found a super yummy breakfast that is about 225 calories:

Yum, right?

Any low cal tasty recipes for me to try? Help a girl out.....


Sunday, March 25, 2012

Finding my way..............

I would like to start by saying Congratulations to  my sister Stacey for running her first race today. I am so proud of you. She race an 8k, she is a rockstar!
 
 
 Today is a rest day, which is a good thing because we are getting quite a bit of snow right now. We went away for the night Friday and I have to say that I am MIGHTY proud of myself. Not only did I eat well, (even eating out) I ran too. Anytime we go out I usually blow it, big time. French fries are one of my best friends, so I made sure to eat places that didn’t serve them. Problem solved!

Usually I will throw some sort of workout wear in my bag “just in case” and then don’t use them. Yesterday morning D.H. and I got up had breakfast and went for a run. I had a 3 mile recovery on the plan but we decided to go for 4.5 because we were on this really cool path.  I kind of wish it would have been a long run day. 


Three weeks till the 10k with my SIL. I had so much fun at the Lucky 7 I can’t wait to run with her again.  After that I will have 6 weeks till the big 13.

It is SB for the kids but I plan on sticking to my workout schedule as much as possible. Here is what this week looks like:


             Monday- 5 miles @ race pace (9:59 for now)
             Tuesday- 3 miles @ recovery pace
             Wednesday- Rest day/20 minute shred
             Thursday- Long run, 8 miles
             Friday- cross-train/ shred
             Saturday- Rest
             Sunday- 3 miles @ recovery pace/Shred

Saturday and Sundays are interchangeable, I just need to make sure one of them is a non-running day.  We will probably spend some time up at the mountain snowboarding this week too. I also plan on dropping my calories a little more this week. I was too hungry last week to get them as low as I want (12-1300).


 ***Sorry no pictures today, I made the words purple so it wouldn't be so boring.




Thursday, March 22, 2012

Not so easy........

So I had a not so easy, easy 7 mile run this morning. Easy as in easy pace, not easy mileage. Long runs make me crazy nervous. I had a hard time sleeping last night, and an upset tummy this morning anticipating my run. Not sure why, just ran 7 last week and today I was going to keep it between an 11:30 and 12:00 minute mile. 


I decided to carry water, though I didn't really need it. Because my long runs generally take me FOREVER I usually pack a little fuel. I forgot today and this freaked me out a little. Though I ran under 90 minutes so my body didn't need it.  Back to mile one- way too fast, (I'll show my splits at the end) like 2 minute mile too fast. So I slowed it down on mile 2, here I was still feeling pretty good. My legs were feeling my mistake by mile 3. 


Into mile 4 I was still feeling strong, thinking I got this. Unfortunately I didn't factor in the overpass that was coming. It kind of took the sails out of me, but I recovered before mile 5. Mile 5 was basically up hill the entire mile. It was pretty gradual, but I felt no reprieve. When I hit mile 6 I might have panicked a little, might have shed a tear or two. I actually considered walking the rest of the way home here.


Finally, I pulled up my big girl panties and went for it. This was maybe the hardest mile I have ran in my life. I was really struggling internally if I could do it or not. Things got better when I reached 6.7 miles and realized that I miss calculated and I was going to have to run by my cul-de-sac (this is another place I almost said screw it). The last .3 seemed nearly impossible, but it gets even better. In my panicked mind I was not able to properly do math so when I turned around, I realized I was going to have to pass my house AGAIN! Needless to say I made it, and I have never been so happy for a run to be over. Oddly enough my average pace was 11:28.


My splits
mile 1- 10:21   <-- way too fast
mile 2- 10:25    <-- still too fast
mile 3- 11:55
mile 4- 11:57   
mile 5- 12:11  <-- overpass
mile 6- 12:50  <-- 8% incline
mile 7- 11:35
                ^   Most rewarding mile EVER 

Every time I think I have an handle on this whole running thing I realize that I still have SO much to learn.

Before I ran this made my morning.......

 Josh (my 8 y.o.)- “Are you going to run today?” 
 Me- “Yes I am, today is my long run.” 
At this point he just stares at me. 
Me- “That is so sweet of you to ask, thanks.” 
Josh- “I didn’t, I asked you if it is going to rain today.”   
Oops, I might have a little too much running on the brain.You mean everyone in the family doesn't think about running as much as I do???


Good look, no?

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Happy Girl

It’s official, I am running the Happy Girl ½ Marathon May 27th. Hotel is even booked, it is going to be a girls weekend. Myself, my mom (who has never been to a race) and miss thing are going for the weekend. I am sure I will be tons of fun on this trip! Super excited though. I would love to have a sub 2:00 but I am pretty sure it will not happen. I would have to knock 1:30 per mile on 13 miles between now and then. I am not going to lie, I am going to train my butt off, I am pretty sure it will be nothing but I pipe dream. 

https://www.facebook.com/happygirlshalf

Not sure if miss thing will run, 11 and up have to run the 5k. She will turn 11 the middle of April. The longest xc race she ran was 1.5, 3 miles seem like a ton. Plus it happens while I am still running and she would have to do it herself. Needless to say, if I was able to run with her I couldn’t keep up. The girl runs under an 8 minute mile. Something to think about……



Had another great run today. Wasn’t a fast one, but I did four miles AFTER taking a brutal spin class. Let’s just say that my legs feel awesome, in that really bad way. It was cold and raining. Not sure why but I enjoy running in the rain/snow. I thought a lot about how I seem to think that I have all of this time so nothing ever gets done. I really need to set a schedule and stick to it. I also tried to not obsess over my time, I know that I am a work in progress……….

I REALLY (in my head) want to workout this evening, I’ll let you know if I make it. I really want to run my long runs on Thursdays. That way they will be out of the way and I won’t have to take up family time. I might attempt it tomorrow, but I have already ran two days in a row. I should have planned earlier for this. I also want to do spin twice a week and that is Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I really need to work on scheduling.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Best.Run.Ever

If you are my facebook friend (for-real, friend me) you already know that I had my best run ever today. Heck yeah, I ran 3 miles in under 30 minutes (barely), finally!!! I wasn’t even planning on going fast, I was really going to just stretch my legs after taking two days off. I took a new route today, left the house and just went for it. I didn’t have music because my ipod was dead. Usually I would stay home and wait for it to charge but I was meeting a friend for coffee and needed to get going. I swear I LOVE listening to music, I am excited for it.  Results show that I actually run faster without it. I am going to have to make some changes. Maybe just use music on my long runs from now on?

Back to my fabulous run. I hit the first mile and when I went to press lap on my Garmin I realized that it only took me 10:38, which if you EVER read this blog you know my first mile is ALWAYS over 12. It felt good too, I didn’t feel like I was really pushing hard. So I picked it up of the second mile, and can you believe it I ran a 9:53. I was over the moon, but figured I didn’t have much more so I would slow down on the last mile. After about .10 in I realized that I could do it and decided to push as hard as I could. I was breathing super hard and probably couldn’t have said more than three words, but I ran the third mile in 9:22. Crazy, right? Needless to say this might have been my best run ever.

It probably went like this because I was music-less, and it probably helped that the race was finished. I have been so worried about running the 7 miles it was consuming me. I wasn’t sure I couldn’t do it without walk, and that I would let my SIL down (I hope I didn’t). It might also have something to do with the fact that I signed up for a half marathon the end of May. I would love to sub 2:00 (years ago I ran 2:06 (and hurt myself)) though I do not think it is possible by May. I have not had to best races, I will get into that another day.

I have also started to do something I never really do, or stick to if I do. Counting my calories, I don’t enjoy this but I have to do SOMETHING about my eating. The worst part is realizing how many calories I actually consume daily. I like to live in denial and counting my calories makes it really hard to do that. Wish me luck…… 

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