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!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Spirit of the Marathon
Deena Kastor is officially my hero. Chad and I just got back from watching The Spirit of the Marathon - the first feature length film about the marathon. The film followed six different people as they trained for and competed in the 2005 Chicago Marathon. It was done exceptionally well - I highly recommend that if you weren't able to catch the showing tonight, that you catch the encore on February 21st. It was really pretty neat because this was a one night event - and the theater was packed with runners. It will be re-airing on February 21st at a select group of theaters across the country, and then I hope that there will be a DVD released.
My husband really enjoyed the film as well - and I think that it shed some light on him as to why I'm so into this thing called the marathon. He said he would like to make a guest post on my blog about his experience at the movie, so when he gets me that text I will post it.
Even after the 2007 heat wave/disaster, I still would love to run the Chicago Marathon someday. While we are living up here in the Midwest, I am going to make a sincere effort to run it. I'm thinking October 2009.
My husband really enjoyed the film as well - and I think that it shed some light on him as to why I'm so into this thing called the marathon. He said he would like to make a guest post on my blog about his experience at the movie, so when he gets me that text I will post it.Even after the 2007 heat wave/disaster, I still would love to run the Chicago Marathon someday. While we are living up here in the Midwest, I am going to make a sincere effort to run it. I'm thinking October 2009.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Training Updates
I apologize for the lack of posting around here - things have been very hectic lately. Work has been crazy, I've had small bouts with a stomach bug, and we had an unexpected death in my family. But...marathon training has been going really well - if only it would warm up a little bit! I ran an 8 miler yesterday with the local weatherman reporting a 4 degree wind chill...it was so cold! I cannot wait for the warm sunny days of April, May and beyond. Call me crazy, but I would much rather run in extreme heat over extreme cold.
In a recent episode of my favorite running podcast (Steve Runner's Phedippidations) - Steve encouraged his fellow runners to introduce at least one person to the sport of running in 2008. I talked to one of my friends about possibly running a half-marathon in the spring with me, and she said that she would. Then, I asked another friend if she would like to join us, and she did. And then she asked two friends if they would like to join us - and they did, and now we have a group of 5! It is so great to run with these girls and watch their confidence grow with each mile. Before beginning training for the half- marathon, I think the furthest any of them had run was about 3 miles. We do our long runs together on Saturdays and it is so much fun. I remember how much having a group to train with last Spring helped me out - and I am so happy that these girls have that as well. I'm convinced that it makes all the difference in new runners.
The half-marathon that we are all training for is one week before the full marathon (Cincinnati Flying Pig) that I am going to run with my sister. I do the half-marathon long runs on Saturday mornings with the group, and then my marathon long runs on Sunday mornings. This has actually worked out really well - I've been able to add some mileage to my weekly totals and the Saturday runs help me get stretched out and loosened up for my Sunday morning runs.
As for my diet - things have been going ok. I've been really trying to watch what I eat, but I totally fall off the wagon on the weekends. Hopefully I'll be able to keep a more consistent, disciplined approach with my eating habits. I am pretty sure that I am an emotional eater - so maybe that's why I've been eating everything in sight lately. Chad and I went to see Cloverfield (which I highly recommend!) this weekend with some friends and I found myself absolutely stuffing my face with popcorn. It is very suspenseful, terrifying, stressful, etc - and I pretty much ate everything within a 5 foot radius of me during the movie. I also discovered that Miller Chill can be both my best friend and my worst enemy...it is so good! Almost too good. I rarely ever drink, but this beer is amazing and tastes like Sprite. I drank half of one last week with some amazing steak tacos and was practically three sheets to the wind.
In a recent episode of my favorite running podcast (Steve Runner's Phedippidations) - Steve encouraged his fellow runners to introduce at least one person to the sport of running in 2008. I talked to one of my friends about possibly running a half-marathon in the spring with me, and she said that she would. Then, I asked another friend if she would like to join us, and she did. And then she asked two friends if they would like to join us - and they did, and now we have a group of 5! It is so great to run with these girls and watch their confidence grow with each mile. Before beginning training for the half- marathon, I think the furthest any of them had run was about 3 miles. We do our long runs together on Saturdays and it is so much fun. I remember how much having a group to train with last Spring helped me out - and I am so happy that these girls have that as well. I'm convinced that it makes all the difference in new runners.
The half-marathon that we are all training for is one week before the full marathon (Cincinnati Flying Pig) that I am going to run with my sister. I do the half-marathon long runs on Saturday mornings with the group, and then my marathon long runs on Sunday mornings. This has actually worked out really well - I've been able to add some mileage to my weekly totals and the Saturday runs help me get stretched out and loosened up for my Sunday morning runs.
As for my diet - things have been going ok. I've been really trying to watch what I eat, but I totally fall off the wagon on the weekends. Hopefully I'll be able to keep a more consistent, disciplined approach with my eating habits. I am pretty sure that I am an emotional eater - so maybe that's why I've been eating everything in sight lately. Chad and I went to see Cloverfield (which I highly recommend!) this weekend with some friends and I found myself absolutely stuffing my face with popcorn. It is very suspenseful, terrifying, stressful, etc - and I pretty much ate everything within a 5 foot radius of me during the movie. I also discovered that Miller Chill can be both my best friend and my worst enemy...it is so good! Almost too good. I rarely ever drink, but this beer is amazing and tastes like Sprite. I drank half of one last week with some amazing steak tacos and was practically three sheets to the wind.
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