Big, Fat, Dissapointing 15 Miler

Saturday's Long Run:
When I set out to run my 17 miles yesterday morning (thank you for all the suggestions by the way, I agreed that 17 was probably the way to go!) I was feeling a bit nervous. I didn't sleep well, and my stomach was churning. I was worried that this would be my first bad long run of training season. Why? Well my legs were still kind of sore, I've been having problems with my shins, and I think I ate too much pasta Friday night :)

So I set out to run my 15 mile out and back, with an addition of 2 miles at the beginning. It was just horrible from start to finish. Up until about mile 10, I was okay, but not great. I had to keep taking walk breaks, which is something I rarely do.

Around mile 13 I had a mini meltdown when I started to doubt myself and my ability to actually complete this marathon. I started thinking about all of the people who know I'm training, and how stupid I would feel if at the last minute I wasn't able to do it. Or even worse, if I got to race day and had a run just like this one, where everything was just off. But what made me most upset, was how much I wanted this run (and this training in general) to go well, and how much I actually want to accomplish this marathon. I would be absolutely devastated if something happens and after all this training I still don't make it.

I kept going back and forth over whether I could continue on my route and finish up 17, walking where I had to, or if I should just cut it short and head home to make 15.

I decided that cutting it short was what I needed to do, and finally around the 14 mile mark, I had a little inspiration come my way.

Carolina Liar's "Show Me What I'm Looking For" came on my iPod, and the lyrics could not have been more perfect for what I needed to hear at that moment:

Save me, I’m lost
Oh lord, I’ve been waiting for you
I’ll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I’m looking for

Don’t let go
I’ve wanted this far too long
Mistakes become regrets
I’ve learned to love abuse
Please show me what I’m looking for...

I love Carolina Liar, and this song is one of my faves. It definitely gave me that extra push that I needed to finish up my run and made me realize that not every run will be perfect. For your viewing pleasure:

Carolina Liar - New Music - More Music Videos

After my craptastic run, I took an ice bath and then made some really great oatmeal! I used oats, 1/2 scoop soy vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, honey,milk & water, strawberries and a scoop of natural PB. This is my new favorite breakfast, I also had some this morning.


Today is my day off from running, and I have some serious studying to do tonight. I have been working on my weekend's to-do list, and got a lot accomplished on cleaning the apartment. We also went to the grocery store for this week's groceries, and spent a little bit more than last week, $84.77. But still not too bad considering we bought a few more things that were needed this week. Hopefully next week we can be back in the $60 range.

Thanks for everyone's support and input on my training, I need all the help I can get! It's getting closer and I hope that I can continue to improve and will feel 100% on race day. :) Hope everyone had a great weekend!

TGIF (and happy off day to me)

Well folks, it's been a tough running week. Monday I had a rough run over the bridge (shins are feeling much better today, thank you), Tuesday I was entirely too lazy to run (yet still managed to cook a fab dinner for the boo and I), and Wednesday evening I had a good run through the almost-dark almost-ghetto area of Chas, but managed to lose my left contact rendering me almost-blind for the runs entirety.

I was worried on Monday about my running this week because I had been out of town last Thursday-Sunday and had not done ANY exercising and had eaten way too much food (especially food that was not good for me). But now that it's Friday, I'm feeling pretty solid about my long run this weekend.

I did a short and sweet 4.5 miler last night on flat ground, and felt pretty good about it. Although lately I have been doing a great job of listening to my body and not starting out too fast, I was over-confident last night and started out thinking I could run the whole 4.5 at a 8:30 to 9 min pace--this was not to be.

After 1.5 miles I was like WHOA! slow down...which I did, and the rest of the run went smoothly. I don't have exact split times as my Garmin failed me yet again...or rather, I failed it by starting and then STOPPING it without realizing until about a mile in. But I'm going to assume I ran between 9:30 and 10:15 pace, not too bad.

On other fronts, the weekly budget of groceries has been going well! I only needed to stop by the Teet once to grab a few personal items, and I also picked up a cucumber (for Wednesday's night's salad, more below) and a package of fresh strawberries that were on sale (to add to my morning oatmeal). I also snagged a bunch of green bananas since I haven't been able to find an entire bunch of green ones in months! So all in all I would say that yes, we could survive on around $70 a week.

I haven't even eaten lunch out at all this week! It's amazing what you can do if you only prepare.

So although I am not going to post about everything I eat/make (it's just not my style, plus I am way to lazy to keep up with all that) I will share with you all a few things that I either managed to grab a pic of, or was particularly proud of.

Wednesday night was salad night (marinated portobello for me, marinated chicken breast for the BF) which I had prepared the night before, by prepare I mean I had started the toppers marinating in a balsamic/olive oil/garlic marinade. Boy was that worth it! They were delish.

I didn't get any pics of my salad but I did make enough portobello to use yesterday for a sandwich.

It was very good! I used:

• 2 slices of regular wheat bread, toasted
• 1 slice of provolone cheese
• A few slices of cucumber
• A few slices of tomato
• 2 marinated portobello mushroom caps, small ones
• Tribe roasted garlic hummus
• A small bit of low fat mayo
• A dash of sea salt

All in all a definite winner, I want to make these tasty fungi more often. :)

This weekend's running schedule:
I think I might switch it up and start running my long runs on Saturday's for a few reasons. 1) The actuaal marathon I am training for is on a Saturday, 2) This would make it much easier to go out Saurday night and not worry about drinking/coming in early and most importanly, 3) To get it OVER with!

So I am conflicted over what mileage I should run this weekend. My training schedule says 16 (my last long run was 15, two weekends ago), joyRuN's schedule that she so graciously shared for me says to do 11 this weekend and 17 next weekend, and I am thinking maybe I should try for at least 17? Input welcome! So I will be doing one of those distances, hopefully tomorrow morning.

Otherwise, I have a relatively simple weekend planned. Lots of running, lots of cleaning the apartment, and possibly a fun Charleston day with my boyfriend, complete with picinic! I have a few things on my list to (finally!) get done this weekend, now that we aren't traveling/hosting anyone from out of town:

1. Organize the area underneath our bathroom sink so more stuff stays there rather than on the counter.
   
2. Purchase and install two ceiling bike hooks so mine and the BF's bikes aren't taking up precious floor space anymore.
   
3. Finally buy some litter box liners. That thing smells rank.
4. Mop the kitchen floor!
5. Do laundry--wash all of my work pants. They seriously need it.
   
6. Buy som WIN! detergent for my stinky running clothes. I think everyone would appreciate that.
   

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

One contact + darkness = one pretty quick 5.75 miler?

Happy Thursday!!

Since I missed last weekend's long run, had a really crappy run on Monday, and was lazy on Tuesday, I was pretty worried that my run last night (Wednesday) wouldn't be easy. I have this theory that if I don't follow a training schedule exactly, then it's like I'm starting all over again. Which is a valid theory/worry.

So I set off last night with no goals, no certain mileage that I wanted to accomplish (after all, I said I was running 10 on Monday and ended up running 3...), no pace that I wanted to maintain or strides that I wanted to finish. All I knew is that I was NOT going to run over the bridge and back, because my shins have been bothering me and I didn't think I could handle all that downhill.

When I got home from work I set out for a run around the Peninsula (short loop is about 4.5, but I can extend it if I run in some not-so-friendly areas, which I try not to do when the sun is setting and the crazies are coming out to play) and at first I was worried that it was going to be a bad run.

My stomach was a bit too full for my liking, I had eaten a few spoonfulls too many of peanut butter around 3 PM at work, and my legs were feeling kind of heavy. But I was determined to make this a good run so I pushed on.

It was kind of windy along the waterfront (nothing unusual really) and as I was about to make the turn at the corner of the Battery something flew into my eye. As a wearer of contacts, I tried to not rub my eye and was just hoping it would slide it's way out...but it didn't. So I stopped, and was forced to remove my left contact. When I did, I immediately knew that I had corrected the problem, but now I had to put the contact back in, which rarely works the way it is supposed to outside of the bathroom.

As I was trying to gently re-insert said contact, the wind blew the tiny thing away from me to be lost forever in the ocean/on the street/somewhere NOT in my eye.

I thought, well f**k. Here it is getting darker by the second and when I looked ahead of me I could barely tell if that was a man walking his dog or a light post. But being the determined runner that I am, I kept going. This can't be too hard, right? One contact is better than none, right? Wrong, definitely wrong.

So anyways the run actually went pretty smoothly, I decided to venture off East Bay street to run closer along the water (hence, further from people and lit streets, don't tell my boyfriend he will yell) so that I could get some extra distance in, because all things considered, I was feeling pretty good.

I rounded out 4 miles and realized I was going at a pretty quick pace (I think I was racing the sunset, trying to get through the ghetto before it was too dark) but I would NOT look at my Garmin, I didn't want to ruin it.

I ended up running about 5.75 (would have been more had the crazy man on the bicycle not screamed at me forcing me to turn around and sprint in the opposite direction) in 56:18, which makes my average pace 9:47. Although that doesn't sound that quick, I spent probably about 2 minutes or so messing with my stupid contact. I even sprinted the last .75 and felt great!

Moral of the story: If you want better split times, either A) Run with one contact (why that makes one faster, no clue) or B) Run through the ghetto at night. Nothing will get you running faster than FEAR.

Here are my split times & totals:

1	00:09:53	1.00 mi	09:53 min/mi	--	--	121 C
2	00:11:05	1.00 mi	11:05 min/mi	--	--	112 C
3	00:09:59	1.00 mi	09:59 min/mi	--	--	114 C
4	00:09:34	1.00 mi	09:34 min/mi	--	--	111 C
5	00:09:23	1.00 mi	09:23 min/mi	--	--	112 C
6	00:06:21	0.75 mi	08:30min/mi	--	--	82 C

Total Time: 00:56:18

Avg Pace: 09:47 min/mi

Distance: 5.75 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,159 ft / 1,027 ft

Calories: 652 C

On a sidenote, joyRuN was kind enough to send me her training schedule (I liked the Excel layout and I really didn't want to re-invent the wheel) and since we're both running a marathon on the same weekend, I think I might change mine a bit to look more like hers. The more I was looking at mine the more convinced I was that it wasn't going to be good enough. So on the schedule for this weekend for her is 11, but I'm going to try to at least do 15 since I missed last week. Ideally I would like to do 17, but we will see how that goes.

Also, check out Julianne's exciting news at i heart running; help her spread the word to raise money for the Hope Runs 777 Challenge!

Tuesday Night's Dinner + My Laziness

Short and sweet tonight, didn't go on a run after work cause...well I just didn't feel like it! So I cleaned up a bit and cooked some dinner instead. Here is Tuesday's meal from this week's eating healthy on a budget.

Quinoa and Ground Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash with Goat Cheese

Yum! This was very simple, tasty and healthy. Here's the run down:

Preheat oven to 350. Ground some turkey in a skillet. Add some herbs (I used herbs de provence, some dill, some basil and s & p). While you're doing this, cook one cup of quinoa according to directions.
Cut your acorn squash in half and scrape out seeds, place in a baking dish with 1 inch of water, cut side down. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.


When quinoa is done, mix with turkey. Add in one can of no salt added diced tomatoes (liquid removed).


Let this warm through, and after squash has cooked for about 30 minutes, take it out and (scoop out a bit more of the pulp if necessary to fit in stuffing, you also might need to cut the point ip off so it will stand up straight) add in as much stuffing as will fit. There will be leftover stuffing...perfect for snacking while this is cooking :)

Return stuffed squash into baking dish (drain out water first) and bake for another 20-30 minutes. You may want to cover with aluminum foil so stuffing doesn't burn.

When it looks done (squash will be pulling away from the green outer skin) add on some goat cheese to the top, turn oven to BROIL and let the cheese get melty.


Then...enjoy!! Back tomorrow with hopefully a run report.

Weekend Wrap-Up + Monday's Run + Groceries for a Week!

Whew! long title. Well it was a great weekend away, although there was a lot of driving involved (20 hours total) there was also a lot of fun had. We spent all day Friday getting the reception hall ready for Saturday (did I mention we were in town for my boyfriend's sister's wedding in which I was a bridesmaid and he was a groomsman?), then getting ready ourselves for rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, then going to said events, then...in my case...passing out.

Saturday was a lot of fun that involved; 1) Me sleeping in and thus not running at 7 am like I had planned, 2) Indulging in a breakfast cooked by the boy's grandparents and thinking I would run afterwards, 3) Obviously eating too much anyways 4) Leaving breakfast to learn that it was raining, which leads to 5) not running on the only day I would have had time and/or somewhere to run while we were away.

After breakfast Saturday, we showered and left for the church to get ready there, curling my hair alone took about 2 hours! As soon as we were all ready and looking purdy, we reported to the chapel for pictures.
The bride and groom decided to do these first, which apparently is the new thing to do, so that they wouldn't have to worry about them afterwards. (I.E. we all get to boozin' quicker...solid plan.)

KB waiting around for pictures to be over...nervously awaiting the wedding!

Meet the BF!

My boo also waiting for pics to be done...

Then there was the reception, lots of wine, dancing...it starts to get fuzzy there. Basically, we had a great time and were sad to leave on Sunday. Of course his family loaded us down with a cooler full of leftovers that we then ate-continuously-throughout the 10 hour drive home.

I am glad I did not step on that scale this morning.

...and back to the present:

Today was a very productive day at work after a good night's sleep last night, and I was feeling pretty good when I set out for my run. I had decided to shoot for 6 miles (over the bridge and back) but knew that I might be sluggish since I hadn't run since last Wednesday...yikes.

The first mile I felt pretty good, I was moving at a solid pace and reached the top of the bridge pretty quickly. I started to notice that my left shin was kind of bothering me, but at first just chalked this up to a few days off running and my muscles easing back into it.

But as I started descending down the bridge, it started to throb, and I stopped a few times to stretch thinking this would help, but it didn't. Finally at about the 2 mile mark, I decided to turn around hoping that I could get back without making it worse.

So....I ended up walking quite a bit of the 3rd mile, and not only was my left shin killing, but my right arch was also bothering me (as it has since I got my new shoes). I am about to ice my shins before bed and stretch really well, hopefully that will help. I really don't want this to set me back!

I am also going to either ditch my new shoes and go back to my trusty Asics, or attempt to return them...not sure if that will work.

In Other News....
I was very inspired by Bobbi's recent post, Healthy Eating on the Cheap to start planning our weekly meals out on Sunday and then grocery shopping according to (ONLY) what you need to make these meals (+ snacks, etc).

So I did that today, and here is our line-up for this week's dinners:

Monday: Shrimp Stir-Fry with Brown Rice
Tuesday: Quinoa and Turkey Stuffed Acorn Squash
Wednesday: Salad night: KB to have marinated and grilled portobello mushrooms on hers, BF to have marinated and grilled chicken on his.
Thursday: Tilapia Puttanesca with Whole Wheat Angel Hair
Friday: Either more shrimp stir fry, or a risotto dish with sauteed shrimp

(**We have over 3 pounds of shrimp that we brought back from the wedding, we usually never buy shrimp)

We also used her tip to take along a calculator to add up our items as we added them to the cart. I thought the BF would think this was unecessary, but he really got into adding everything up and deciding what we really needed to throw in the buggy.

<--Sorry couldn't resist this one :) See the blushing bride in the background? So beautiful!

Some of the ingredients for our meals we already have on hand and didn't have to buy, like the pasta, Tilapia and all ingredients for that dish, shrimp, 2 bags of stir fry veggies, brown rice and risotto. We had to also buy some other things for snacks, breakfasts and lunch.

My breakfasts are usually either oatmeal or cereal, so I decided to go with oatmeal this week and bought some Quick Cooking Oats, as well as bananas that I can add in with cinnamon and Splenda. His breakfast is currenly nothing, but I am trying to move him in the direction of eating breakfast vs. not eating late night. He has a bag of Wal Mart brand Cheerio's he will eat for that.

My snacks are apples, hummus and celery, light popcorn and string cheese (which he also will eat). His snacks are Publix brand Oats and Honey granola bars and 100 Calorie Packs of Cheetos. He also sometimes eats apples and light yogurt (which we have some of those left from last week as well).

My lunches are kind of all over the place. I sometimes eat leftovers, bring a salad or some soup, or grab a salad from somewhere. I bought salad stuff for me this week, one Lean Cuisine (Butternut Squash Ravioli) and will probably end up making a natural PB and banana sandwich a few days. I was going to make a big pot of Lentil Soup like Bobbi suggested, but Publix only had this 15 bean soup that I have made before and it was nasty...so maybe next time once I have a recipe. His lunches will be PB and jelly sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, leftovers, or salads (he actually eats a lot of big salads).

So, we managed to get enough groceries for one week (hopefully) for a grand total of:

$68.54!!!

I couldn't believe that is all we spent. I think what helped, was planning by using things we already had. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but we usually just go buy a bunch of things regardless of (or without looking at) what we have at home. Which most of the time, ends up in wasted food, and nobody likes to waste food. :)

So hopefully, by this weekend we will still have food left and can say that we planned sufficiently. It was pretty fun to plan out all the dinners I will cook! This will also force me to actually cook them instead of being lazy after a hard run.

I'm going to try to run again after work tomorrow, for as long as I can, in hopes that I will feel back to my normal self. Fingers crossed!

And for your viewing pleasure, more pics from the wedding :)

<---The bridesmaids, pre-wedding

Me and the boy :)

Monday LOLz

Good morning all! I am back from Kentucky, and had a FAB time! More on that later....



Isn't this how most of us work on a daily basis?? Since I haven't run since last WEDNESDAY, I know I won't have to talk myself into it today, I actually am looking forward to it!

Going to try to do 10 miles tonight to make up for missing a long run this past weekend, but I guess it will depend on the darkness/how I'm feeling once I start running.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!

Holy Windstorm Batman!

For any of you in Charleston yesterday, you may have noticed that it was quite windy. It had been drizzling on and off all day, and I think overnight it actually finally rained. But prior to rainstorms, we down south and on the coast get SERIOUS windstorms.

So yesterday afternoon when I was debating via txt with my bf if I should run or not, he said, "Don't go. This wind will cut you in half." So I was weighing my options, and thinking about how we are going out of town tonight for a wedding and I most likely will not be able to run again until Monday, and came to the conclusion that I had to go.

Although it was Wednesday, and usually my track workout day, I wanted to skip ahead to Thursday's workout which is an 80 minute run with 6-8 mins of uphill running. I always do my hill runs over the Ravenel Bridge, since its more like 30 minutes total uphill running, and since it's right here near my work. Plus, it's a nice view.

So I geared up and set out at about 5:40 PM, the weather was actually kind of sunny and warmish, and it didn't seem to be all that windy initially.

But once I actually started up the bridge, I realized that this was going to be quite a challenge. The bridge was considerably empty for the time of day, and I quickly realized why. As soon as I started climbing, the wind started whipping my ponytail around and basically pushing any way against me that would make the run harder. I passed another female runner who was coming down the bridge just as that nasty wind decided to blow my shirt almost over my head...I just smiled and laughed at her hoping she wouldn't be thinking how gross my abs looked in motion (actually, they probably don't look that bad, but nothing in motion is ever good). Definitely tucked the shirt in after that.


So to make a long and boring story short, it was basically a walk/run up the hill both times, and I cut it short quite a bit. My legs were killing me and I just wanted to get out of the wind and get home. It was even impossible to keep my ear buds in my ears, so eventually just shoved all of that into my sports bra and gave up on music. I couldn't really hear it anyway over the scream of the wind.

All in all it was a decent 5 mile run, with about an avg pace of 10:20 I think, don't have my split times right here. I do know I picked it up for the last mile and ran at about 9:30. Is it me or is this marathon training making me considerably slower??

I also think that it takes me longer than a day to recover from my long runs on Sunday. Maybe I should start doing those on Saturday so I have longer to recover? Both runs so far this week since the 15 haven't been great, my legs have just been so sore and heavy as soon as I set out.

So I have a few days to recover my legs as I travel to the great state of Kentucky for my bf's sister's wedding on Saturday, in which I am a bridesmaid (with a really horribly fitting dress). I am hoping to possibly get one run in while I'm there, but I'm not counting on anything.

This weekend's long run should be another 15 to catch up for being behind, so hopefully I can get that in Monday after work....eeek.

I really need a gym membership.

On another note, I tried out the Clif Kid Z Bar in Blueberry yesterday, it was pretty good but too sweet for my taste. I don't really understand why everyone is so gung-ho about all these bars, I mean yeah they're good, but I would much rather eat a piece of fresh fruit as a snack vs. something processed and pacakged. I have a thing about eating too much packaged foods. Maybe I will get into this further on another day...but the bar was decent, and I have another one with me today to try out later while we're on the road.


So I probably won't be posting anything until Monday (unless I get bored on the 10 hour drive...which is likely) but I will be Twittering!! All hail the iPhone.

Have a great weekend y'all!

This week's tempo run + soup review

Before I get into last night's run, I wanted to "review" the soup I had for lunch yesterday. A few weeks ago I was browsing the soup aisle and noticed that this brand was on sale. It usually takes me forever to pick out soups because I am analyzing the sodium content vs. the caloric content vs. if there are any natural ingredients at all.

Health Valley soups are not only Organic, but they also have a line that is "No Salt Added." This is completely healthier than "Lower Sodium" as there are hardly any mg of salt in the former. I have looked at many "healthy" soups that may be low in calories, but are loaded with salt. I try to avoid these, so it's been very hard for me to keep soups stocked in my cabinets. Previously I have tried Health Valley's Potato Leek No Salt Added soup and it was fantastic! So I picked up some Minestrone at Whole Foods the other day and tried it for lunch yesterday.

It was very good! Although I did add some salt to it, at least I can control how much salt there actually is in the soup! (At work we have some Morton's Light Salt, which is half the sodium of table salt! Who knew?) So I enjoyed this version, and will definitely continue buying this brand. It is the ONLY brand I have found that has No Salt Added....please comment if you know of any other brands that offer this.

I also did pack a spinach salad with feta, green olives and almonds that I enjoyed with my soup. I had some of that Wishbone Spritzer dressing in Caesar that I used. That stuff is great! I usually use that at work, while at home I always go with olive oil and either apple cider vinegar or balsamic, depending on the salad. Now onto the running!

I set out last night for my tempo run, not really wanting to run, and not really feeling all that great. But I am leaving to go out of town Thursday evening so I knew I couldn't skimp on my Tuesday and Wednesday runs.

It was scheduled to be 2 mi marathon goal pace (which I have determined for this marathon is going to be between 10:00 and 10:30, if I do better than that, well hell yeah!) then 2x2 miles Tempo and then 3 more miles MGP.

I was going to make two loops around the Peninsula, one loop is about 4.5, but only made it around once with some walking at the end...Here are the sad split times:

1	00:10:54	1.00 mi	10:54 min/mi	--	--	111 C
2	00:10:12	1.00 mi	10:12 min/mi	--	--	114 C
3	00:09:10	1.00 mi	09:10 min/mi	--	--	112 C
4	00:10:18	1.00 mi	10:18 min/mi	--	--	114 C
5	00:01:11	0.12 mi	09:46 min/mi	--	--	12 C

Total Time: 00:41:46

Distance: 4.12 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 580 ft / 645 ft

Calories: 463 C
Avg Pace: 10:08 min/mi

Max Pace: 04:10 min/mi

The entire run felt like I was running uphill, even though it was flat. My legs were tight and my right arch has been bothering me with my new shoes...I might have to go back to the 'ole Asics. But at least I managed something, see my "sprint" during mile 3?? That was the 'Tempo" portion of last evening's run, please hold your applause.

Tonight I will be running over the bridge for a total of an 80 minute run. Then out of town tomorrow afternoon!

Healthy Food Item of the Week

I am obsessed with eating healthy and finding new ways to incorporate fresh and natural foods into my (and the BF's) daily diet. So I thought that every week I could shine the spotlight on one healthy food item that I have recently been crazy about.

A few months ago, I read an article about a supremely healthy dried fruit that often gets a really bad rap:

Dried Plums AKA PRUNES

Yep, you heard it first right here, I eat and LOVE prunes. When I first read the article in Women's Health (my all time favorite magazine), I was thinking, "Hmm, I have never tried a prune. I thought only old people ate those/they were really gross??" But then I got over it and bought some Sunsweet Individuallly Wrapped Prunes (the ones they have been advertising on TV a lot lately) and fell in love!!
Not only are these babies sweet and tender, they are a perfect mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. Four prunes contains a measly 100 calories, 3 grams of fiber and 290 mg of potassium. Of course, their fiber amount is what really has made their reputation (whether good or bad) because they do wonders for....regulating your system. :) Which we all know makes everyone happy!

Women's Health named them as a Superfood for your gut, and this is what they had to say:

These high-fiber fruits help keep your gastric system working like a finely tuned machine. They may shrink your stomach, too. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that among 74,000 women surveyed, those who got more fiber were 49 percent less likely to suffer weight gain. Make your own trail mix with a handful of chopped pitted prunes plus walnuts, pumpkin seeds, dried blueberries, and hemp seeds.

I have been buying one package a week and just keeping them in my desk at work, they're perfect for snacking on. I haven't tried any other brands, but I do like that these are indiviudally wrapped because I think it helps to keep the fruits moist, which is the best part!

A little bit more about the prune:

• They have been named one of the world's healthiest foods.

• Prunes have a high content of antioxidants as well as beta-carotene
  
• Prunes are a good source of potassium, providing 9.0% of the daily value for this mineral in a quarter-cup
• Prunes' soluble fiber helps normalize blood sugar levels by slowing the rate at which food leaves the stomach and by delaying the absorption of glucose (the form in which sugar is transported in the blood) following a meal
• Prunes are well known for their ability to prevent constipation. In addition to providing bulk and decreasing the transit time of fecal matter, thus decreasing the risk of colon cancer and hemorrhoids, prunes' insoluble fiber also provides food for the "friendly" bacteria in the large intestine.
• In addition, prunes' soluble fibers help to lower cholesterol by binding to bile acids and removing them from the body via the feces.
• The insoluble fiber provided by prunes feed friendly bacteria in the digestive tract, which helps to maintain larger populations of friendly bacteria. In addition to producing the helpful short-chain fatty acids described above, friendly bacteria play an important protective role by crowding out pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria and preventing them from surviving in the intestinal tract.
• Results of a prospective study involving 51,823 postmenopausal women for an average of 8.3 years showed a 34% reduction in breast cancer risk for those consuming the most fruit fiber compared to those consuming the least. In addition, in the subgroup of women who had ever used hormone replacement, those consuming the most fiber, especially cereal fiber, had a 50% reduction in their risk of breast cancer compared to those consuming the least. Int J Cancer. 2008 Jan 15;122(2):403-12. Fruits richest in fiber include apples, dates, figs, pears and prunes.
• The ability of plum and prune to increase absorption of iron into the body has also been documented in published research.

Whew! That was a lot of facts about prunes. To read more about why YOU should be eating prunes, check out this article.

**Lastly, don't forget to enter to win some WIN from Bobbi, at NHerShoes.

Monday LOLz

I try not to broadcast how many miles I run to non-running friends, lest I get a response just like this:
Happy Monday!

15 MILES....Easy like Sunday mornin'

Good morning and happy Monday!!

I had a great weekend, although I am pretty exhausted this morning. We had company in from Maine Friday through Sunday so I didn't make it out to run Saturday, instead I got up and cooked a big breakfast for everyone of omelets, turkey bacon and toast! Simple, but it was very good.

Then we did the tourist thing Saturday and then the girls did some shopping for last minute VDay presents and cards. I just got the bf a nice chocolate bar and some Harry and David Chocolate Covered Bing Cherries (which if you have not tried, you simply MUST) and a fancy Papyrus card (LOVE Papyrus). We don't really do much for each other on VDay, he usually just gets me flowers and a card and we go out to dinner.

Saturday night we all got gussied up and went downtown for a double Valentine's date at the best Thai restaurant around, Basil. We knew the crowds would be hairy so we tried to get there as early as possible, and there was still a 2.5 hour wait!!

So we hopped back in the truck, went back home and had some drinks and chips and dip to tide us over! Then just hopped a cab so we wouldn't have to worry about parking again. Was way better than sitting at a bar waiting on our table.

The real event of the weekend was my 15 miler yesterday afternoon that I had been kind of worried about all week....and it went so well! I decided before I left that I would keep my pace around 10:30, even if I felt I could go faster, because I knew it would payoff in the end. It definitely did, as I even had some gas leftover to sprint a bit the last mile (nothing fancy, but at least I wasn't dying at the end). The weather was overcast, windy and cool at around 50 degrees F. I was actually a little chilly in shorts and a tank.

So here are the split times and totals:

Total Time: 02:38:03

Distance: 15.00 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,454 ft / 1,463 ft

Calories: 1,707 C

Avg Pace: 10:32 min/mi

Max Pace: 07:30 min/mi

1	00:10:58	1.00 mi	10:58 min/mi	--	--	111 C
2	00:10:25	1.00 mi	10:25 min/mi	--	--	114 C
3	00:10:24	1.00 mi	10:24 min/mi	--	--	114 C
4	00:10:32	1.00 mi	10:32 min/mi	--	--	115 C
5	00:10:43	1.00 mi	10:43 min/mi	--	--	114 C
6	00:10:44	1.00 mi	10:44 min/mi	--	--	115 C
7	00:10:27	1.00 mi	10:27 min/mi	--	--	114 C
8	00:11:02	1.00 mi	11:02 min/mi	--	--	114 C
9	00:11:11	1.00 mi	11:11 min/mi	--	--	114 C
10	00:10:10	1.00 mi	10:10 min/mi	--	--	114 C
11	00:10:27	1.00 mi	10:27 min/mi	--	--	114 C
12	00:10:27	1.00 mi	10:27 min/mi	--	--	114 C
13	00:10:25	1.00 mi	10:25 min/mi	--	--	114 C
14	00:10:16	1.00 mi	10:16 min/mi	--	--	114 C
15	00:09:47	1.00 mi	09:46 min/mi	--	--	112 C

I got new sneakers on Friday, so I was super pumped about wearing those! I actually made the switch from Asics to Adidas, and I was kind of wondering how they would feel. At first they felt a lot better, with more support (of course any new shoe would feel better compared to my old ones) but as I kept running my arches were bothering me a bit, so I don't know how they're going to work out.

I wasn't really all that impressed with the guy who fitted me at On the Run when I bought them, it was my first time shopping there and I don't think I will be heading back. I like to chit chat with the sales people when I go get new shoes, talk about races, what I'm training for, etc. and he just didn't really seem interested. He also didn't really help too much with picking out the right shoe for me. But who knows, maybe he was having a bad day. :) I guess I can give it one more try.

So then last night, my Nana drove down from Virginia, on her way to visit friends in Georgia, so her, me and the bf went out for a nice dinner at Vickery's on Shem Creek. The food was great, but the service was really slow...if we hadn't been so busy talking and catching up I would have been pretty upset. I got a cuban sandwhich and french fries, which was ok. We also shared artichoke dip with pitas and a fried green tomato tower for apps, both were delish!

So we had a late night of chatting and catching up, then some good coffee talk this morning.

I love my family! I don't see them enough. But I didn't sleep very well last night, as my legs were so sore and I couldn't seem to get comfortable! I am looking forward to having today off from running!

I think I am going to try an ice bath after next week's run, hopefully that will help.

Time to get to work! Hope everyone has a great start to their week.

Don't forget to enter to win some WIN sports detergent from Bobbi at NHerShoes!

Happy VDay Y'all

Split times from Friday's run:

1	00:10:31	1.00 mi	10:31 min/mi	--	--	112 C
2	00:10:32	1.00 mi	10:32 min/mi	--	--	114 C
3	00:09:57	1.00 mi	09:57 min/mi	--	--	115 C
4	00:08:31	0.85 mi	10:03 min/mi	--	--	88 C

Totals:

Activity Type: Street Running

Event Type: Training

Total Time: 00:39:32

Distance: 3.85 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 771 ft / 866 ft

Calories: 429 C

Avg Pace: 10:16 min/mi

Max Pace: 04:36 min/mi

Another slow run, but I did do some good sprints at the end. I promise I'm not normally that slow! But posting all of my split times on here is only more incentive to get faster :)

On another note, got a dozen white roses last night for Valentine's Day early!

And this was what was waiting for me this morning on my desk at work:

The owner of our firm gave all of the ladies a single red rose, and when I thanked him for it, he said, "Just a small token to remind you all of how much we love and appreciate you." I love my job!

Today has been good, we have company in this weekend and went out for a casual dinner tonight, now are just chilling around the apartment. So quick post for me!!

5 miles on the schedule for tomorrow, and of course, the dreaded 15 on Sunday!! Hope everyone has a great weekend and a not-so-sappy Valentines! (Or sappy if that's your thing :) )

Happy Friday!

Split times from Thursday's 70 minute run:

1	00:10:18	1.00 mi	10:18 min/mi	--	--	112 C
2	00:10:17	1.00 mi	10:17 min/mi	--	--	113 C
3	00:10:26	1.00 mi	10:26 min/mi	--	--	115 C
4	00:10:24	1.00 mi	10:24 min/mi	--	--	114 C
5	00:10:28	1.00 mi	10:28 min/mi	--	--	113 C
6	00:10:25	1.00 mi	10:25 min/mi	--	--	113 C
7	00:07:44	0.87 mi	08:51 min/mi	--	--	98 C

Told you I was taking my time! Here are the totals:

Activity Type: Street Running

Event Type: Training

Total Time: 01:10:04

Distance: 6.87 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1,198 ft / 1,187 ft

Calories: 778 C

Avg Pace: 10:11 min/mi

Max Pace: 06:22 min/mi

Although this was a slow run, it was just what I needed to get back into the week.

Had a nice lunch yesterday with the boo at Red's Icehouse on Shem Creek. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delish, and the view was amazing. We even saw some dolphins swimming along! This picture doesn't really do it justice, as the plastic shield kind of gets in the way. We ate outside at the bar area, which has plastic "windows" for when it's not as warm.


I had a meeting after work last night that ran over, so we had a quick dinner when I got home. Baked flounder with Herbs de Provence, and a stir fry veggie medley for me (basically all of the veggies I had in the fridge that were extremely close to going bad). Sauteed some snow peas and shitake mushrooms in olive oil and minced garlic, then threw in some slivered almonds and salt. Yum!

I usually always bake my fish in an aluminum foil "basket" to lock in the juices and keep the fish moist and tasty. The bf's fish was perfect, but I think mine cooked a bit too long as I only had one filet and he had two. But, it was still a good dinner.

Then I got surprised with a dozen white roses for an early VDay! Will share the pictures tonight when I post about this morning's run...

Our night was very chill, cleaned up the apartment in preparation for our company this weekend, the bf's Army buddy and his gf from Maine! They should be arriving this afternoon and will be staying until Sunday. Then my Nana from Virginia will be stopping by Sunday evening on her way to GA. Busy weekend ahead!

Not to mention the 5 miles tomorrow and the 15 miles I have to do Sunday. The longest I have ever run was 18 miles and I think it was actually on my birthday last year. But I don't really count it because I walked a significant amount of it. Probably one of my worst "runs"ever! So if all goes well on Sunday, I will be feeling pretty good with myself. Fingers crossed!

Happy Friday everyone! More tonight with split times from this morning's 3 miler with 5x100m sprints.

P.S. Don't forget to enter to win a free sample of WIN Detergent from NHerShoes!

Listen to your body, not necessarily your mind...

I am not always the most motivated of runners. My number one bad habit is skipping a few days of running, and then paying for it dearly once I start back up again. My friend M who is running the marathon with me in May, likes to keep a day or so in between runs because she feels that her legs are fresher and she gets more out of each run that way. As for me, I would love to be able to do that, but taking even one day off is just such a slippery slope for me.

On Sunday, I ran my 12 miles and was feeling fabulous about it. I finally felt like I was getting into the habit of being the runner that I want to be in 2009 -consistent. So Monday came and I was scheduled for a rest day, that I had no problem taking, then Tuesday came which was my birthday!

Tuesday - Happy Birthday!
I had a good solo evening planning for myself on Tuesday, my bf had a night class and I was just going to do an 8 mile tempo run and then come home to study for my life insurance exam (that is getting closer and closer....) and basically just have a chill evening alone for the most part. I was kind of upset that I would be spending my birthday alone, but it was a Tuesday night and just another day.

So all day my mom was texting me happy bday messages, and kept insisting that I call her before I left work, which I thought strange. I kept telling her that I would be fine, after all I have been making it home on my own from work for a pretty long time now (I'm all growed up!). I thought maybe she was going to send me flowers, and she wanted to hear how they looked after they got here, even though I would obviously call her if I did get flowers, without her having to tell me too....so anyways, it was sketch.

Finally, it was closing time and she had sent me yet another text saying to "call me asap." Now, she had me worried. My mom is recently divorced and lives on her own, and has also just started going to the gym on her own after work, so there is no telling what could have gone wrong. Let me also add that she lives three hours away from me. So I call her.

Me: "What's going on?!"
Mom: "Oh nothing, just wanted to find out where I should take my baby out to dinner for her birthday in Charleston!"
Me: "You're not in Charleson."
Mom: Sqeals of happy laughter.
Me, thinking: This is going to mess up my training schedule! (But I don't really want to run anyways....) But this is awesome! My moms the best! FREE FOOD!

So she had surprised me, and they all (all being her and the bf) had lied to me all week, making me think I was going to be all alone on my birthday. It worked!

Basically, my mom is the best and drove all the way down here to surprise me for my birthday and take me out to dinner, which was fantastic! But of course, I missed my run Tuesday night.

Wednesday - Get Your Coach Potato On/Your Remote Ready
Enter Wednesday. I am sluggish from eating (way) too much Yo Burrito and Dos Equis at my bday dinner the night before, and I cannot concentrate on work. Plus I didn't get enough sleep because the old people in our building who centrally-control when the A/C is turned on, didn't have the A/C on so I sweat like a pig all night and kept tossing and turning (yay South Carolina sunshine!). Add on to all of this, that when I get home last night I know that the bf will be at another night class and I have the apartment ALL to myself, with a partially eaten bag of Cheddar Sun Chips...and you guessed it, I sat in front of the TV on my couch eating Sun Chips instead of running...and I enjoyed ever minute of it.

But I was pretty miserable come bed time and I had eaten, let's just say, way too much food that will go unmentioned lest you all think I am a fat pig. (I really like food, and that's probably why I like running so much because it enables me to eat food. A lot of food.)

Thursday - Sunshine and Butterflies!
Because I didn't run Monday, Tuesday OR Wednesday, I knew I had to get up and run this morning. I knew if I didn't get up this morning and go, I might not do it tonight as I have a meeting right after work.

So I got my happy self up at 6 AM and ran for 70 minutes at a very slow pace, because of course, I felt entirely crappy from having three glutton filled days off from running. While I was running, I was thinking about my training so far and what I had learned from it, and one central theme was running through my mind:

"I have learned to listen to my body, and not always my mind."

But what is that you say? Distance running is all about the mind? Well, not necessarily. Like I said before, when I miss a few days of running it is harder and harder for me to get back into it. If I listen to my mind, I can find one million excuses to not go out on a run. But then I think about how my body feels, and I realize that I just have to go out running to feel better. When I don't run my energy levels are low, low and lower, I feel fatter than I really am, my mind is not as sharp, I cannot concentrate at work and don't get as much done, and I'm generally just a more angry and annoying person to be around.

Another aspect of this realization is put in place after I have set out on a run. I used to always start out each run a little faster than I should, because it felt okay, and I wanted to hurry up and get it done with. Most of the time I would just crash and burn mid-run and end up either taking walk breaks, or cutting the run short altogether.

Recently, I have purposefully started out each run slower than I wanted to/could and in the last few miles I was easily able to turn up the pace considerably. My mind has been WRECKING my runs in the past, with all of these thoughts rolling around in there about how much this sucked, or how I had things to do other than running, how my legs hurt, how I just wanted to be anywhere but here....and I ended up running too fast and burning out too soon. I don't think I have realized that until now.

So I have learned to surrender to my body, and I listen to what it tells me now. It tells me to take it easy on myself when I haven't run, to let my body warm up and cool down, and to just chill out and enjoy it.

My run this morning was no where near quick. I think my average pace was even over a 10 minute mile, which is never somthing I let myself do. But if I had stuck to my plan of doing an 8 mile tempo run, I would have burnt out somewhere around mile three and limped home with my tail between my legs. (Or even worse, had a repeat of last week's puke session.) But instead I enjoyed the early morning air, relished the sunrise over the harbor, and didn't constantly check my pace on the Garmin. I just let myself run.

I think this is what has hindered me from being consistent in the past, and if I can stick to one thing in 2009 I hope this is it. I keep wondering what my marathon time will be, if I will be able to keep up with M, or if she will just smoke me. Now I know that I am not going to let msyelf worry about that. If I can just remain consistent, that is all I ask for. I know that everything past that will then fall into place.

Please Excuse the Construction

As I am trying to figure out HTML code...and not having too much luck. :)

Sunday's 12 Miler + Happy Bday to Me!

So let me just say that, today is MY BIRTHDAY! I am 24 years young today, and in celebration, I wanted to share this cute little picture with you that was sent to me by my Alma Mater today:

So adorable! Go Tar Heels!! Anyways, I probably won't be doing anything fun today for my bday, the BF has a night class and I have to work and then do a tempo run, but I'm hoping I will at least get some presents... :)

And on to other running related news, I wanted to post an update on this past weekend's long run yesterday, but Garmin Connect was just not working for me. I tried uploading my data to MapMyRun this morning (which I used to use all the time before I got my Garmin) but that wouldn't work either. So anyways, here were my split times:

1	00:09:27	1.00 mi	09:27 min/mi	--	--	126 C
2	00:09:28	1.00 mi	09:28 min/mi	--	--	110 C
3	00:10:24	1.00 mi	10:24 min/mi	--	--	114 C
4	00:09:37	1.00 mi	09:37 min/mi	--	--	112 C
5	00:09:27	1.00 mi	09:27 min/mi	--	--	112 C
6	00:10:07	1.00 mi	10:07 min/mi	--	--	113 C
7	00:10:01	1.00 mi	10:01 min/mi	--	--	114 C
8	00:10:06	1.00 mi	10:06 min/mi	--	--	112 C
9	00:10:04	1.00 mi	10:04 min/mi	--	--	113 C
10	00:10:23	1.00 mi	10:23 min/mi	--	--	112 C
11	00:09:54	1.00 mi	09:54 min/mi	--	--	113 C
12	00:09:51	1.00 mi	09:52 min/mi

Total Time: 01:58:56

Distance: 12.00 mi

Elevation Gain/Loss: 2,012 ft / 1,965 ft

Calories: 1,363 C

It was actually a great run, I felt fabulous pretty much the entire time. The weather was perfect, sunny with a slight breeze and in the 70s. There were tons of people out on the bridge and lounging at the Waterfront Park. All in all probably the best run (long or short) I have had in months!

I only started sucking around the last half mile when I got a huge side stitch. But once I got to 12, I walked the rest of the way home and I think that helped me recover a bit better. I didn't wear my heart monitor (hence the big blank column up there) because that thing has started to bug me! I liked having that data recorded, but having that big strap around my chest just got really irritating.

I think another thing that helped me were the three water stops I had, since there are water fountains on either side of the bridge. I guess I need to start carrying a water bottle since the weather is warming up...ugh, I don't wanna!

I also just realized yesterday that I am a WEEK BEHIND on my training plan! So I should have been at 14 miles this past weekend instead of 12...so I was pretty depressed all day about that. Hopefully I can make up some of the mileage and just keep on trucking...We're doing that marathon come hell, high water, and broken bones!! (That's what my friend who's training with me -from North Carolina- told me last night via txt, she also is behind a bit on her plan.) I figure that this is my first marathon, and it probably won't be perfect, but I know that I can train enough to make it through and that's all I want.

So Happy Birthday to me! And happy Tuesday to everyone else...

Monday LOLz

If you're like me, with a little junk in the trunk, you might be able to appreciate this:Get out of the house and shake some booty! Happy Monday :)

8 Degrees with Snow and Ice

This past weekend was kind of a blur. We got in to Charleston from Chicago around 7 PM Saturday, and were basically just exhausted from the trip. Thursday through Saturday morning was slam packed with meetings, breakout sessions, networking, etc. We had a great time and I definitely learned a lot about my new field.

A few of the highlights of the trip were my two runs through the city. Friday morning I got up early to run down the lake path that borders Lake Michigan and the city skyline. It was about 8 degrees, the lake was frozen, and there were mounds of dirty snow along the sides of the road and ice creeping onto the walk paths. But it was so serene and the lake was just beautiful. I also meandered over to Michigan Avenue and did the only shopping of the trip, some window shopping as I ran by. Ran about 6 miles, which was a little shorter than I was hoping for, but I had to turn around a few miles in along the lake path as it was blocked with snow and ice. That's when I headed down Michigan a bit until my stomach was about to explode and I high tailed it back to the hotel (due to the insane amounts of food they were feeding us, can't say I was complaining though).

Saturday morning I got up early again and did 4 miles, down Michigan Ave. and under a tunnel back onto the lake path (further down than I went the day before) and the weather was considerably nicer in the 30s. I was actually a bit overdressed and ended up shedding my gloves. There were dozens of other runners out that morning, and it was beautiful to get to explore a bit more of the city and run the path that many Chicagoans do on a daily basis. Looked kind of like this, just add some snow and ice (Navy Pier is in the background, our hotel was about 6 blocks down from that).


The other highlight was our Friday night dinner stop at the Chopping Block. This place was great! It has a retail shop up front with tons of neat kitchen items, and then a cooking school in the back with a huge demonstration kitchen, a bar with tables for appetizers, and a huge kitchen with multiple stations where we all divided into groups and worked with a few chefs to cook a French-inspired meal. It was definitely a good time, and I ate way too much food that night!

The one thing I love about running, is that it is definitely the best way to explore a new city while traveling. If I hadn't went out running, I would hardly have seen any of Chicago! I have run while on vacation in Greece (Crete and Santorini), Australia (Melbourne and Perth), Indonesia (Bali), the Dominican Republic, and all over the US while traveling. If I could pick one thing I love most about running, it would definitely be the freedom that comes with traveling a new city on foot. You really get to know a new place that way.

See next post for updates on this weekend's long run.

I Have the Sickness....

I suppose that this ever-changing weather is the reason that I am sick, yet again, for the second time this winter. I was sick at the beginning of January (for my 1st day at new job) and now, here it is the beginning of the month of love (AND the month of my 24th birthday!) and I'm snot sniffling again. Ugh.


I had on my schedule last night to run 8 miles total, with the first two at marathon goal pace, then 4 miles tempo (with 1:00 of rest in between) then 2 more miles at marathon goal pace to finish it off. But my late-night run didn't go as planned...for a few reasons:

1. Yesterday I ate a semi-late lunch at about 2:30, which was a big Greek salad with some gyro meat. That doesn't sound like something that would mess up ones stomach and keep someone from having a good run almost FOUR HOURS later, now does it? Oh, but it did.

2. I'm SICK. Again.

So, when I got home from a busy and stressful day at work, a little later than usual, (I wasn't lucky enough as the LOLcat) and headed out on my run, I could tell that this was going to be a bad one. Not only was I exhausted but I felt run-down and my stomach was still full for some crazy reason.

My first two "slow" miles were, eh, okay. Then I set off to do my first tempo mile and I knew I was in for it when I...threw up in my mouth. And it was almost a full-blown, pull over and puke on the sidewalk type situation, but I managed to quell my stomach just in time. And I NEVER throw up, so, yeah it was bad.

Puke will definitely put a damper on a good sprint run.

So after I spit all that nastiness out as much as I could, I finished out the 3rd mile, and was into the 4th after consloing myself into cutting the run down to 6 miles. But once I was finishing up mile 4, I looped back by my apartment building (the problems of living on a 4.5 mile looped peninsula) and just said, screw it, and turned around and walked my sick tail home in great defeat (but feeling much better knowing I would soon be inside, sick, on my couch).

All in all a horrible run. I couldn't even enjoy the laziness of chilling on my couch post-shower, because I continued to feel like crap all night. I hardly ate dinner, my stomach was queasy, and of course my nose was running off my face and I was coughing and sneezing like crazy.

So today is a new day. I have my track workout scheduled for tonight and it's crazy cold here (for the south) so hopefully I can pull out one good workout tonight before I fly off to Chicago tomorrow.

I'll let ya know how that goes...