Tuesday > Monday

In general, I don’t have a favorite day of the week.  I like different times of different days.  Like, Sunday mornings are my favorite ever.  Lately I have taken a liking to Friday afternoons because not only do I have the weekend to look forward to but I also have been spending them with my 3 best friends

super old picture!

This morning I decided I like Tuesday better than Mondays.  Mondays are just tough in general, I have a weekend hangover…too much fun and too little downtime usually.   Tuesday you are heading into the week aaaaand one step closer to Friday.  Another reason Tuesdays > Mondays?

My favorite athletic clothing store updates their “we made too much” and “what’s new” pages.  You know I am all over that!  Currently I am drooling over this.  Heathered white please! Wanna get it for me?

Today, Tuesday was better than Monday because of….SPEED WORK!  I mean, I tend to dread speedwork but it’s also something I am learning to like.

After driving around looking for a track I finally begged a groundsmen at a local school to unlock the gate for me.  Even if he did make an inappropriate joke about me being his girlfriend I still really appreciated it!  Thanks Pat!

I did a decent warm up, a few progressions to get my legs moving then 4 x 1mile repeats at 7:15-7:25 pace.  I kept right between the mark for each mile except the last one, I ran 7:26.  Let me tell you…that makes me SO mad.  It won’t happen again!

more proof I can’t take a photo with my mouth closed

Apparently the workout killed me because I am a complete zombie now!  I am not even going to pretend like I am staying up late tonight!  As soon as I publish this bad boy, it’s lights out for me!

What’s your favorite day of the week?

gm

After you run

Today I brought back a breakfast that I forgot all about!  Overnight oats for the win!

I can’t get enough nut butter lately.  Between Justin’s almond butter and cinnamon raisin from Peanut Butter & Co I eat these like champs!  For my “dessert” last night I had 1.5 graham crackers with a normal amount of cinnamon raisin pb.  It is so easy to go overboard with the pb.  I am trying to be normal about my eating, remember?

This morning on runnersworld.com (one of my go-to morning websites) there was an article on run recovery.   This got me to thinking about what I do after a tough run or race.

Especially now that my runs are starting to get longer and longer I am trying to be more conscious about what I do after my run.  I know from experience that after a particularly long and hard race or run, if I sit and don’t do anything I am doomed.  It is always best for me to move throughout the day.  If I sit and relax and don’t move much I am the sorest person alive the next day.

In addition to making sure I move throughout the day there are a few other things I try to keep on top of after a run.

• Fueling right away.  Ideally you want to eat within 30 minutes of working out.  A balance of protein and carbs is ideal so I usually go for peanut butter and toast or waffles
• Compression gear.  If I am doing an especially long run I will wear my compression pants while I run but I always wear compression socks or calf sleeves after a run.

• Drink.  and I am not talking about just anything (or booze like this chick), I am talking good old H2O.  Even throw in some Nuun while you’re at it.
• Recovery running.  This is something I am just starting to learn.  In addition to moving the day of a run or race, try to go out for a very easy recovery run the day after.  Even move a little on an elliptical!  Moving will help loosen your muscles and help with the tightness and soreness!

I know a lot of people who also swear by ice baths.  I attempted that once. Let’s just say the most I got in was my pinky toe then I said screw it!

Tonight I have a tough speed workout planned- mile repeats!  I am super nervous about this one! Hopefully I will report back later with only happy running things 🙂

Any other run recovery tips I should know about?!

gm

Remembering HOW

This afternoon I ran to and from CrossFit.   That is one of my favorite workouts!  I love CrossFit to begin with and clearly I love running.  But when I run to and from the gym it totally takes the pressure off my run…I can just run.  I live at the top of a hill and run through a valley up another hill to the gym.  Since it is uphill both ways I go nice and easy for a little over 7 miles.

The workout today was one of my favorites I think! Total butt kicker but simple:

15 minutes as many reps as possible

10 pulls ups

10 burpees

10 push press

I am getting goooood at pull ups!  Not to toot my own horn but toot toot I am hoping sooner rather than later I will be doing pull ups without a band!  Kipping pull ups that is!

I got home and ate my leftover quinoa concoction.

finally remembered to take a picture

I made sure to run any errands on my way home from work that way when I got home from running and CrossFit I could just hang at home.  These guys thought I made a good decision

And now?  Studying

yea, you read that right! I am studying and freaking the F out.

I think I waited to long. Maybe not.  I have my CrossFit certification in 3 short weeks.  I have been going to the gym enough and learned a lot but I don’t know what to expect for the exam.

I am going to try and really make sure I sit down for at least 30 minutes every day and dedicate some time to studying.  Luckily my personal training recert isn’t until October so for the next few weeks it’s all CrossFit!

Now, if I can just remember how to study.  This is going to be interesting…

gm

Clean eating and Falling

Happy Monday 🙂

I woke up a complete bitch crank.  I started my day completely frazzled for some reason but as the hours passed I decided that I am going to forget about my hate for Monday and make it a great day regardless!

I have been practicing clean eating the past few days.  I say practice because I am still learning!  I am more of a girl who will eat what is convenient aka processed foods.  Don’t get me wrong, I do eat healthy but there is always room for improvement.  I am trying to incorporate more real food into what I eat everyday and less desserts.  Rather than having a dessert after every single meal, I am trying to take on the mind-set that it is a treat not a necessity.

After my farmers market trip on Friday I cooked up some quinoa that I have been stalling on making.  I decided to make a cold quinoa salad with some of my vegetable goodies that I got.   I suck and got no after pictures but it turned out pretty good!

It ended up being a mix of, well, everything!

Here is what went in:

3 cups quinoa

bunch of cherry tomatoes

cooked zucchini

diced red onion

cucumbers

1/2 package feta cheese

3 pieces of cut up grilled chicken

added some pepper, oregano and basil too.

I am no chef and a few people coughwigginscough thought it sounded like a nast combo but I think it came out pretty good!  Full of veggies and protein and it tastes good.  I win.

Along with more real food I have been trying to have at least 1 protein shake a day and tons of water.  The protein shakes are good for me because not only could I use the extra protein but they keep me full for a long time.

I was thinking about my run Saturday…and how I fell 😛  It wasn’t the first time!  In fact, I have a pretty good history of eating the ground.  My most memorable fall was when I tripped over a manhole at a busy intersection.  I fell, slid, rolled…all of it.  Bloody knees, elbows and hands. I was so embarrassed that I jumped right up and started running like nothing happened.  I had blood everyyyywhere.  The friend I was running with could not stop laughing.  We eventually made a pit stop at a McDonald’s so I could beg for a few band aids and clean up.  I guess tired legs and uneven sidewalks are to blame? That’s why I try and stick to the shoulder rather than a sidewalk!

Any of you have any really memorable falls?!

gm

I love Sunday

Remember last saturday when I didn’t even want to talk about my run?  This week was so different, thank the lawd!

Saturday morning I hit the road early to complete 1 hour and 50 minutes of running.  I broke my run into 3 parts: two 40 minutes and one 30 minute.  The goal was to have negative splits.  I accomplished the negative splits and the amount of time on my feet.  Funny story though…I fell.  Yep….hit the pavement. hard. A passerby even stopped to see if I was ok.  Don’t worry, my shoulder broke the fall and no knee damage was done.  I do think I turned weird though as I rolled (yes, there was rolling involved) and now my back is a little sore.  It’s never a dull moment 🙂

After my successful run I got home to these lazy guys.

I love my roommates!

Saturday night we met up with some friends for dinner and drinks.  Always a good time with BLB !

My Sunday was a rest day.  I took full advantage with quiet time in the morning and way too many cups of coffee.  I also caught up on what’s happening in the world. Sunday’s are the best.

The rest of my day was busier than I anticipated.  I ended up shopping with my BFF.  Oh, my mom and slull were there too 😛

Then Jbone and I had a wedding to go to.  I have never been to a Sunday wedding before but it wasn’t bad!  Short and low key.  We hung out, ate dinner, had a dance and hit the road.

Now I am relaxing before bed.  Monday and work tomorrow.  At least I have a run to and from CrossFit to look forward to!!

What did you do this weekend?

gm

Obsessing

Today was a good Friday for this girl!  I snuck out of work a little early and headed to a local farmers market that I had never been to before!

It was packed!!  I have only ever been to farmers markets that were dumb.  This one, not dumb.  I didn’t remember to snap a picture of my goodies but I got zucchini, peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, peaches and a bunch more veggies!  It was awesome!  Needless to say I will definitely be back!

Speaking of going back… I am reverting to my old ways.  A few years ago you would always find me rockin’ a nike sports watch and livestrong band regardless of how I was dressed.  Guess what I purchased with a birthday gift card?

Bringing back the sport watch.  Holler!

After my farmers market outing I had a 50 minute, easy aerobic run scheduled.  I recruited my old roommie aka bestie to come with me.  I was such a chatty Cathy on the run.  Sorry wigs.

It was a really good run.  The weather was perfect and it was so nice to have someone to talk to.

I realized that the next 12 weeks will be hell for everyone around me…possibly you too.  I can’t stop talking, thinking, breathing, analyzing, number crunching and marathon obsessing.  Over our 1 hour run I probably talked for 55 minutes of it and it was all about the marathon.  Good luck to my closest friends and family because this training is not only going to be a lot of work for me, but apparently for your ears and tolerance too 😛

Quiet night in tonight, my favorite kind of nights!  Long run tomorrow morning followed by lots of house work and hopefully a few beers!   Any weekend plans?

gm

Trust

*** Long winded post. Proceed at  your own risk

Meeting with a running coach was really nerve-wracking for me! I didn’t know what to expect and I definitely didn’t want to look like and idiot.

We sat and talked for a while.  We discussed my goals, whether they were realistic or not…because clearly I am already doubting myself.   We talked about my past with racing and training in general.  We even touched on the nitty-gritty such as proper hydration and fueling while running.

Once we were done chatting, it was time to run.  Unfortunately he hurt his ankle and couldn’t run with me so I was left to do a few warmup laps alone.  After about 1.5 miles at an easy pace I felt like I was warmed up.  Then he had me running a straight away so he could see my form running to him, away from him and from the side.  I did a bunch of back and forth’s, increasing my speed  each time and adding in a few progressions.  To finish the running assessment off  he had me run the same warm up but this time he counted my heel strikes and taped me a little bit.
This guy was awesome.  From the short time he watched me run he was able to teach me so much

• My stride rate is dead on.  Ideally, a good runner wants the stride rate  to be 88-92.  I was at 88.  Apparently the higher the number the better.  And no matter how fast or slow you are running, you always want a consistent stride. Even for the slowest jog, your aim should be 88-92.
    To determine your stride rate, count the number of times your right foot hits the ground in 30 seconds, then multiply by 2.
• I am…crooked?  My left side is a little wonkey.  You can even see in the bigger picture that’s as a header for my blog page, my left arm is a little strange.  Apparently I bend my left arm more than my right and I hold my left shoulder further away from my body than my left.  who knew!  Not sure where this is coming from, either tense neck/shoulders or possibly overcompensating for something wrong with my right leg?  I need to work on this
• CORE. CORE CORE CORE!  my core SUCKS.  I can dead lift 200 pounds.  I have overhead press 85 pounds. I consider myself pretty strong.  NOT.MY.CORE.   When you run, proper form is essentially bending forward from the ankles so your entire body is propelling forward in a straight line.  I bend at the waist and that is ultimately because I have poor core muscles.  I need to work on this one the most.  I will be doing run specific exercises to work on this one.

Now—-here comes a doozy.  I need to choose. I need to decide what I want more.  Do I want a BQ or do I want to continue excelling in CrossFit.  Unfortunately it isn’t realistic to do both.  If I want to just run a marathon, I will be able to go to CrossFit as many times as I want.  I don’t want to just run it, I want to qualify.  With that being said I am going to have to cut back.  This makes me the saddest ever because I love it so much. BUT, it isn’t forever.  I am going to be going consistently until the end of August (when I am getting certified) but then after that I may only be going 1 (hopefully 2) times a week.  Like I said, it isn’t for ever ( i am going to need reminding of that a lot lot lot).

The last thing my coach said to me when we were done with the running assessment?  “Trust me.”  WOAH.   That’s huge.  He told me I will most likely not be doing any runs over 3 hours, but I will be doing double runs.  He said the he will be calculating every step I take.  The time of day I run, the pace, the distance, the amount of rest between hard-working sets…all of it.  TRUST HIM.  So… I have just about 12 weeks left.  12 weeks of completely letting him make all the calls in my training.  Homeboy knows what he is talking about so, let’s see what happens!

gm

Patience

Sometimes, I hate “TIME.” Yes, time.  Oh, what’s that? You don’t know what I mean?  Let me explain….

• I want to be able to run 50 miles a week and CrossFit 3 times a week right.now.  NOT in 1 month and definitely not never.  “It just takes time”
• I want to be a personal trainer.  I want to be a Certified CrossFit Coach. I need to finish my certifications though ” It just takes time”
• I want a job that I love.  I want to take what I am passionate about and use it every.single.damn.day.  “It just takes time”
• I want to be able to cook, and cook good! Whether it be following a recipe or making up my own, I want to be Master Chef GM “It just takes time” (this one will take the most time because i am the worst here 😛

See what I mean?!  There is so much going on in my life that will take time.  I guess it is a good test of my patience.

Yesterday I had a different workout to do from my coach.  It was a 50-55 minute run but during the run I was doing progressions, repeats and easy jogs.  I was worried I wouldn’t remember….so it was the first time I took notes with me while I ran!  Running with notes?!  I am tots getting hardcore

I also got a new pair of running kicks that I am trying to break in.  I never run all my runs in new sneakers at first.  I will do a  few miles here and there, but it will be a couple of runs before these are my “go-to” sneaker.  I did decide to go back to DS Trainers rather than the Noosa’s I was running in.  Good choice by me.  The Noosa’s were comfortable but I am so much happier in the DS’s.

This afternoon I met with my coach.  Dude, talk about nervous!  I will post more on that later… Let’s just say that I learned I have a lot to learn!

gm

Favorites

I have had this blog a little over 6 months now.  It is still a teeny tiny baby with not too much content.  BUT, I still have a few posts that I like more than others so I thought it would be fun to share with you a few of my favorites!

Ohana

I love my family, and if you have read this blog for more than 2 seconds you should know that.

Love

I am pretty sure we have been to hell and back.  Starting out as just friends even though he was crazy in love with me the whole time and blossoming into roommates,  I still think he is kinda pretty awesome.

Running

I love it.  I want everyone else to love it too!  I wrote this in hopes of meeting new running buddies and maybe even inspiring some people who “hate running” to give it another shot.

Loss

I never really experienced the loss of a loved one in my adult life.  Losing a great friend really had a huge impact on me and put a lot into perspective.

New Memories

May 5th would have forever gone down in history as the worst day of my families lives.  By total coincidence, it ended up being one of the best days yet.  Out with the old, in with the new, a day that will forever be remembered for so many reasons.

PR

I went into this race on sore legs and with only the hopes of having a fun run.  Instead, I killed it.

Bachelorette

Naked men, Dirty dancing and one hell of a girls weekend!

Dad returns

It is totally normal for some people to take a break from their current routine, even exercise.  After a few months off I was more than pumped to hear my dad was making a comeback!

Princesses

This was the first family vacation in a while, and I got to dress up and run (two of my favorite things) with my two best friends!  Doesn’t hurt that Mickey and Minnie made appearances!

Do you have any favorite posts?

gm

Running Thoughts

First thing…. please go check out the comments on this post.  Basically, my idol (aka the girl who went from praying she could sub-4 hour marathon to killing it with a 3:37) commented on a post.  Hello!  That means she had to of read my blog. Yes, I have a huge head right now.

Ok, where were we?

Busy week in the books for me!  I finished the weekend with really heavy legs.  I am not sure what my deal was.  I am blaming the 2 weeks of house stuff where I didn’t do CrossFit and my runs kind of sucked.  After my horrible long run this weekend I was waiting for my “I love running, running is the shit” run, and it didn’t happen.  Instead on Sunday and Monday my legs felt like they were full.  And I was pissed.  My training had me running to and from CrossFit last night (yes, I already love this coach) and I felt good!  It was a slow run but given I did CrossFit in the middle of a 7mile run and didn’t want to chop my legs off, I was happy!
I have been rocking my new fav shirt from my roomster friend.  Think I can consider it business casual and wear it to work?

And in other boring news, I ate a banana and the sticker gave me instructions, so listen is what I did.

such a loser

Lately, a few of my friends have asked me what I think about when I am running.  I couldn’t really answer that right away because honestly, I didn’t know.  The past few days when I ran, I payed attention to where my mind wandered.  I pretty much had the same thoughts every run

• I would number crunch for miles.  What’s my pace? What’s the distance I am going to end up running after x amount of time? Should I speed up or slow down?
• Freaking out.  My mind would be racing thinking about the marathon. I am almost worried that I am too far behind on my training.  So, using my fingers and all, I would go over my long run schedule 73 times, over and over again.
• I’m hungry, what’s for dinner, what time am I eating, or something of the sort
• Having an “A-ha” moment when I realize “So thiiiis is what I think about when I run”

The number crunching and freaking out are the biggest things. I am weeks out and I am so so worried I won’t be ready.  I feel like I should be killing 15 mile runs by now but in my head, I am nowhere near close.  Maybe I am, but I haven’t tried so I don’t know for real.

I meet with my running coach tomorrow and I already have a list of things I want to ask him.  Talking face to face is way easier than email. I pray that after meeting with me and being asked 4billion questions he doesn’t quit on me.
Tonight he has me doing another speedy run and then tomorrow I get to run with him.  I might try and sneak in CrossFit again tonight too, even though it isn’t on my schedule! Total badass, I know.

What do you think about when you run/workout?

gm