I apologize for the lack of posting on here lately. I've had several days at work recently where I simultaneously wanted to pull my hair out and/or bang my head on my desk. But things seem to be looking up! Training has been going really well. I did a 14 miler on Sunday morning that felt good. It was about 50 degrees and breezy - perfect running weather.
I did get a chance try out some new Clif Shot Blok flavors on my Saturday and Sunday morning runs. On Saturday I strayed from my normal Lemon-Lime blok and tried a Margarita flavored blok. Now I generally love most Clif products, but these Margarita flavored bloks are just nasty! I have renamed them Snot Bloks, because that's about what they taste like They are so salty. However, on Sunday morning I struck gold with the Cran Razz flavor - these are great!
I would like to pose a question to any and all runners, nutrition-minded people, or people with good sense that read the blog (that basically means everyone!) Throughout this training regimen, I have been craving sugar like nobody's business. It's all I want, all the time. For the love of my midsection and teeth, I try to keep these cravings at bay with graham crackers and peanut butter, apples, or yogurt - but sometimes they don't do the trick and I go for the fun-pack bag of Skittles (at least I try to keep my portion size small!) or Cookies and Cream ice cream or dark chocolate. I've significantly cut back on my Gatorade intake this training season. During last spring and summer I consumed a lot of sports drinks while training - for one because it was so hot and I was losing so many electrolytes on runs. But during this snowy, icy season - I just can't really stomach the stuff. Is my body trying to tell me something? Or maybe I'm just an emotional eater and it has more to do with the desire to bang my head on my desk while at work...
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Update on Emma
I'm pleased to report that Emma is doing fine - she is back to her peppy little self and shows no sign of distress.
We had a big snow/ice/freezing rain storm move through Kentucky last night. I was able to make it to the gym this morning (after about 15 minutes of trying to get the ice off of my car!) and I was the only one there. It was very eerie. I wasn't able to get a really good workout in because the power kept going out...which can be very tricky when running on a treadmill. But I was able to get 2 miles in at an 8:30 pace, so at least I got a good sweat going.
Here's wishing for an early spring!
We had a big snow/ice/freezing rain storm move through Kentucky last night. I was able to make it to the gym this morning (after about 15 minutes of trying to get the ice off of my car!) and I was the only one there. It was very eerie. I wasn't able to get a really good workout in because the power kept going out...which can be very tricky when running on a treadmill. But I was able to get 2 miles in at an 8:30 pace, so at least I got a good sweat going.
Here's wishing for an early spring!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
To borrow from my little friend, Alexander, today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. We found out that instead of getting a large tax refund like we did last year, we actually owe the government money. Then I found out that one of my favorite weekly running podcasts, Phedipiddations, is going to be scaling way back and cutting back on the number of shows produced. This is actually quite understandable - I know that the host, Steve, puts in a lot of time and effort into the show each week.
But the worst thing that happened today...our precious miniature dachshund fell down a flight of stairs! She's fine, but it was SO scary. We were upstairs working on a shelving system that Chad built, and we saw Emma heading for the stairs. Our upstairs is basically a finished attic, and the staircase is really steep and narrow. Emma never goes up there by herself, and when we do take her up there with us, she always lets us carry her down. But this afternoon Chad was screwing some shelves together and she got scared and started to go down the stairs. By the time we got to the staircase she had already made it to the bottom. I just knew she would be laying there with her little legs broken and her spleen or another internal organ laying beside her. But she was fine - she was walking around and jumped onto the couch like nothing happened. I was sobbing - I saw her little life flash before my eyes as I heard her body tumble down the stairs. I'm always worried about her slipping a disk in her back, and I just knew that this was going to be the end of her. But now she's resting peacefully on my lap as I type this. We'll take it easy the rest of the day and see how she is, but if she shows any sign of distress I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow.
Emma in recovery mode.
But the worst thing that happened today...our precious miniature dachshund fell down a flight of stairs! She's fine, but it was SO scary. We were upstairs working on a shelving system that Chad built, and we saw Emma heading for the stairs. Our upstairs is basically a finished attic, and the staircase is really steep and narrow. Emma never goes up there by herself, and when we do take her up there with us, she always lets us carry her down. But this afternoon Chad was screwing some shelves together and she got scared and started to go down the stairs. By the time we got to the staircase she had already made it to the bottom. I just knew she would be laying there with her little legs broken and her spleen or another internal organ laying beside her. But she was fine - she was walking around and jumped onto the couch like nothing happened. I was sobbing - I saw her little life flash before my eyes as I heard her body tumble down the stairs. I'm always worried about her slipping a disk in her back, and I just knew that this was going to be the end of her. But now she's resting peacefully on my lap as I type this. We'll take it easy the rest of the day and see how she is, but if she shows any sign of distress I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow.
Emma in recovery mode.
Monday, February 4, 2008
10 Miler
I completed the first 10 mile run of my training plan yesterday in 1:23:26. I was really happy with this time - I was hoping to finish in 1:30:00 or less. I was really surprised to see my split times, considering that I stopped to pet a three-legged collie twice along the route.
Megan...I'm not sure if you've seen this, but hopefully it will help get you motivated in your training!
Megan...I'm not sure if you've seen this, but hopefully it will help get you motivated in your training!
Friday, February 1, 2008
A New Love
I'm in love with Lemon-Lime Clif Shot Blocks. I had a brief flirtation in the past with them, but the timing wasn't right. After hearing a tip from a fellow runner on the podcast, Phedippidations, I decided to give them another shot...no pun intended.
The tip was to put a shot block over in the side of your mouth and just leave it there. You don't have to worry about chewing it or swallowing it whole (my mistake in the past) - you just let it do its thing. (Adam...no "that's what she said" jokes please!!) So if over the course of 26.2 miles I want to consume 8 shot blocks, I will pop one in every 3 miles. I tested this out on an 8 mile run last Sunday and it was great-my stomach handled them well, and I found that I wasn't as thirsty as I usually get on runs when I use GU. I am going to continue training with the shot blocks and see how things turn out. Plus, wrapped in saran wrap, the blocks are pretty easy to carry on runs.
On another exciting note, I was able to keep a consistent 9:30 pace for the entire 8 mile run. In the past, I've been able to keep this pace for a little while on the treadmill, but as the miles would add up, my pace would climb up to around 9:45 or 9:50. Then, when I would get out on the roads on the weekends I could not manage to get past a 10:00/mile pace. I recently scrapped my original Flying Pig training plan (sorry Dean!) altogether because it just wasn't working. I finally gave in to using the Runner's World Smart Coach training plan calculator, and it has changed my life. I credit my 8 miler at a 9:30 pace completely to the speed work that the Smart Coach plan has me doing. I've always wanted to incorporate speed work into my training, but I just never did. But now I am, and it makes an incredible difference. I feel confident that this is going to help me keep up with my sister and get me to a 4:30 finish at the Flying Pig in May. I'm also hoping that during the upcoming spring 5k season I will be able to complete a 5k in 24:00 minutes. In the past four 5ks that I've run I've come in 2nd in my age group - I'm thirsty for a first place finish!
The tip was to put a shot block over in the side of your mouth and just leave it there. You don't have to worry about chewing it or swallowing it whole (my mistake in the past) - you just let it do its thing. (Adam...no "that's what she said" jokes please!!) So if over the course of 26.2 miles I want to consume 8 shot blocks, I will pop one in every 3 miles. I tested this out on an 8 mile run last Sunday and it was great-my stomach handled them well, and I found that I wasn't as thirsty as I usually get on runs when I use GU. I am going to continue training with the shot blocks and see how things turn out. Plus, wrapped in saran wrap, the blocks are pretty easy to carry on runs.
On another exciting note, I was able to keep a consistent 9:30 pace for the entire 8 mile run. In the past, I've been able to keep this pace for a little while on the treadmill, but as the miles would add up, my pace would climb up to around 9:45 or 9:50. Then, when I would get out on the roads on the weekends I could not manage to get past a 10:00/mile pace. I recently scrapped my original Flying Pig training plan (sorry Dean!) altogether because it just wasn't working. I finally gave in to using the Runner's World Smart Coach training plan calculator, and it has changed my life. I credit my 8 miler at a 9:30 pace completely to the speed work that the Smart Coach plan has me doing. I've always wanted to incorporate speed work into my training, but I just never did. But now I am, and it makes an incredible difference. I feel confident that this is going to help me keep up with my sister and get me to a 4:30 finish at the Flying Pig in May. I'm also hoping that during the upcoming spring 5k season I will be able to complete a 5k in 24:00 minutes. In the past four 5ks that I've run I've come in 2nd in my age group - I'm thirsty for a first place finish!
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