20 miles....

I am currently sitting on my couch, fresh out of my ice bath + shower, with my feet up watching The Sopranos. (Not my first choice, but I do like the show, and honestly I'm too lazy to change the channel.) We just finished 20 miles and although I was struggling the last two miles, it went pretty well!

I've found two lovely ladies that run around my same pace and we tend to stick together during the long runs. Today me, Katy and Kimi ran 1 mile intervals with a 1 minute or so walk at each mile marker. I LOVE breaking up the long runs like that, it makes the run go so much quicker!

I've been using Hammer gels, and Espresso is my fave. It tastes like mocha with a bonus jolt of caffeine! I took one around the hour mark and it really helped me pick up my pace. Then around the two hour mark I took a Hammer Apple Cinnamon gel. These taste like apple pie! Unfortunately since they are so sweet, I think the tend to give me cramps. It was hard to recover after that. In an effort to save the remainder of my run, I took about a 1/2 of another espresso gel around the 2:45 hour mark. It sort of helped.

The last two miles were the toughest for me, we had just had our last water break and were heading out for the last long stretch in full sunlight. It was getting hot out there and my legs were lead!

Our stats ended up being 20 miles in 3:24 with an average pace of 10:14. On our running portions we were keeping a steady pace of under a 9 minute mile!

Before my last marathon, my last long run of 21.5 miles that we run straight through (no walk breaks) our average pace was 10:54...considerably slower than running with short walk breaks! GALLOWAY SUCCESS.

I wore my new running clothes....

Sugoi Fizz Tank
Mizuno Women's Maverick Split

Love them! The shirt has a nice big pocket in the back where I can store my gels. The shorts I have are all black, very comfy.

I just inhaled a huge green smoothie with some added Amazing Grass (review to come whenever I finish the boatload of samples they sent me :) and now Matt and I are deciding if we want to go get food. I'm planning on lazing around for as long as possible today, I think I earned it!

What's everyone's fall racing schedule looking like? I have the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th, possibly the Raleigh 1/2 Marathon on November 1st, and then the Kiawah 1/2 Marathon on December 12th. I might also throw in a few 5ks if I can find the time. (Will be doing one on Thanksgiving Day in Greensboro, NC most likely).

Happy Sunday folks..

Artisana Raw Organic Nut Butters

A long way back I got a lovely package in the mail chock full of deliciously tasty Artisana raw & organic nut and coconut butters. Holy yum you might say, and all fo free! Just so I could share the good news with y'all :)

Since it's been a while, I will spare you all the deets. The kind people at Artisana sent me Walnut Butter, Tahini, Almond Butter, Macadamia Nut Butter, Coconut Butter, Coconut Oil, and some Cacao Bliss.

Here is the rundown folks: You can't really mess up nuts ground into butter. But you CAN make it better. The cacao bliss was by far my favorite nut butter, a smooth blend of chocolatey goodness. (I hear they won some award for this one too.) Plus I love that they are unheated (thus raw) because it just makes me feel better about eating it.

But the real find was the coconut butter...


Not just coconut oil. But coconut butter. The meat of the coconut plus the oil all ground together into one creamy, delicious, sweet concoction. Get thee to the web and order some of this!

I ate it straight out of the jar like I would PB. I also added it to sweet potatoes (baked and mashed), smoothies, oatmeal, toast, fish, you name it, I added it.

So here's the thing. If you would love some organic, raw nut butters and/or coconut products, I would definitely check out Artisana. Not only did everything taste delish, but the people there were so polite and happy to send me samples! So do yourself a favor and order some coconut butter and cacao bliss...you can thank me later for the fiesta in your mouth.

(Here is a list of online retailers!)

Ahh, life.

It has pulled me away from this space for almost a month. I've been busy, but I'm not gonna lie, I've also been a tad bit too lazy to spend my hard-earned weeknights tapping away on my laptop. But alas, I have missed you all so I wanted to drop a line to let you know I'm alive, and faring well.

Since we last spoke, I have been doing quite a bit of running, a ton of studying, passed my final financial exam (squeee!), formally been knighted a financial advisor, settled into our new home, got my ass back into yoga, eaten a crap ton of kettle chips, been super busy, hosted an inaugural supper club for eight lovely ladies...and have generally been loving life.

The Marine Corps Marathon is coming up in just a little over a month so mileage over this way has been pretty crazy, as I'm sure it has been with most of y'all! Marathon season is in full swing!

The team and I (have you donated yet? I'm aaalllmost to my goal!) will be setting out for our first 20 miler this Sunday, so I'm sure I will have plenty of time to prop my feet up and tap tap away on Sunday Funday so maybe I will get around to the product reviews or giveways I have been promising....

Two weeks ago we did an 18 miler and it went great. Last weekend's 13 miler, not so great. So I'm hoping this weekend is back up to grrreeeat.

Hope you all have a fab weekend and (hope to) see you back here soon :)

XOXO

ChasRunner