Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving Plans

I ran the Nicholasville Turkey Trot 5k this weekend. It was a really great course - a lot of downhill stretches, a water stop about the 2.5 mile mark, and everything was clearly marked. I ran the first mile in 7:34 - I didn't know my legs could move that fast! I finished in 26:06 - a 5k PR for me.

Chad and I will leave for Sevierville, Tennessee in the morning. We are meeting Chad's family there for a relaxing Thanksgiving in the Smoky Mountains. I've never been to this part of the country, but I've heard it is beautiful. I'm excited about it all - a break from work, a chance to relax, spending time with Chad and his family, hot tubs and fireplaces, trail runs, outlet malls, and FOOD!

Since we will be "off grid" I probably won't be posting until after the weekend. Here's to a happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful time with friends and family!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Marathon Plans 2008

Woo hoo! My twin sister Megan just agreed to run a Spring 08 marathon with me! We are probably going to do either the Kentucky Derby Festival marathon on the last Saturday in April, or the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati during the first weekend in May.

Megan is an amazing athlete and can pretty much whip my tail at anything, so it will be fun to train in anticipation of running with her. I know she will push me much harder than I pushed myself during my 1st marathon. She is a personal trainer, cyclist, triathlete, marathoner, and is training for a body-building competition. That might come in handy next Spring if I hit the wall - she could just throw me over her shoulder and carry me to the finish!














Megan, left, and me before our cousin's wedding this past August.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Updates

Things have been really busy at work, and will only continue to get busier until the end of the year. So, I will attempt to post over the next few months, but it might just be short and sweet updates. For example:

Wednesday 11/7/07
1. I did my civic duty last night and voted in my first election. Elections were being held for Kentucky's Governor, Attorney General, Commissioner, Secretary of State and some other offices. This is the first time in my adult life that I've been living in the state where I was registered to vote when an election took place.

2. I got to work really early this morning to put some final touches on a project I'm working on. I have had 2 Starbucks Doubleshots and a lime Tootsie Roll for breakfast. My heart racing, my hands are shaking and wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee I'm typing this post really fast.

3. I am training for a 5k. It seems weird to be "training" for a 3.1 mile race, but I am hoping for a PR of under 25 minutes and an age group win. It is a "Turkey Trot 5k" - I remember during our first year of college, my sister and I signed up for a Turkey Trot 5k in Nacogdoches, TX. We went to the start, picked up our t-shirts, decided we didn't feel like running and went to the cafeteria to eat donuts instead. When we were walking back to our dorm rooms we saw a person in a very large turkey costume running through the street, with a pack of people chasing him.

Friday, November 2, 2007

Marathon Pictures





I'm a marathoner!







Spotting Chad, Dru, and Amberly at mile 25.5








A strange smile/grimace look at 25.5








With Dru and Amberly at the finish (...I'm not exactly sure why that area of my shirt was wet)







With my supportive hubby, Chad








Post-race fare at Joe's Crab Shack









Post-burger

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Fast Food Nation

This past Sunday evening I promised myself that I wouldn't eat any fast food this week. I classify "fast food" as any establishment with a drive-thru. My biggest vices? Starbucks, Taco Bell and McDonald's. It is Thursday morning, and so far this week I have had pizza from Little Ceaser's, a double cheeseburger Mighty Kid's Meal from McDonald's, and a triple grande non-fat Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks. So much for no fast food this week!

However, I think the reason I craved these things so badly this particular week is because of the simple fact that I told myself I couldn't have them. As you can see, I fold pretty easily.

In his best-selling book "Fast Food Nation," author Erich Schlosser writes that “the whole experience of buying fast food,” he writes, “has become so routine, so thoroughly unexceptional and mundane, that it is now taken for granted, like brushing your teeth or stopping for a red light.” This is where the danger lies for me and Chad. It is so...easy. It is mindless. After being at work all day, neither of us want to make any more decisions. We just want to eat. We've gotten a lot better about making more attempts to cook throughout the week - but it is just so much easier (and surprisingly less expensive for us) for us to pick up sandwiches from Subway or order Chinese food.

I feel like a key part of my upcoming half-marathon and marathon training will lie in modifying my diet. I've always tried to eat a balanced diet with fruit and vegetables, grains and proteins. But I don't think I consume enough of the "right" grains and proteins, etc. I am going to attempt to keep a food log - not so much so that I can be a strict calorie counter, but so that I might be able to give myself a wake-up call and realize what kind of foods, and how much food, I am taking in each day, and how Chad and I can both add more "superfoods" into our diet.