My musings on nutrition. Keep it Simple. Some people focus on powders, supplements, energy this and energy that. I, by no means, have the answers and for those marathoners and ultimate elites, you need those. But for me, a waddling penguin runner, I do not need fancy things.
I've become a big fan of books from Marion Nestle (What to Eat); Barbara Kingsolver ("Animal, Vegetable, Miracle") and enjoy following the blog Fooducate (http://www.fooducate.com/blog/). These books and blog focus not on restrictive diets or fads, they focus on defining good food and enjoying what you eat. The website offers grades on common foods and even has apps for the iphone (hopefully android soon!) to help you make responsible choices. Not eating just for the sake of eating. That's a mantra I can get behind. So if you ever have the time or desire to these are great resources.
Breaking the addiction to soda and fast food are hard but in the end you realize what you're NOT missing.
And seriously... its time for that bath.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
I ran 7 miles
HOLY CRAP! I can't believe that just happened. We did a little walking after some pretty tough hills but the walking maybe added up to 5 minutes.
I honestly didn't think I had that in me. I hadn't been training for it. I hadn't run more than 4.3 since the 5 miler I did back in November. Due to lack of distance runs, I set some pretty low expectations -- 85 minutes which works out to be around a 12 minute mile. Normally I run at a 10-11 minute mile pace so I was definitely giving myself a large walking cushion.
All those hadn't-s and shouldn't-s were taking a tole on my psyche. Then that stupid snowfall and dip in temperatures this week were just insult to injury. So many things were stacking up to make this a potentially brutal run. Amber was also starting to feel ill so I knew that I stood a huge chance of not even attempting it this weekend.
Then this morning happened. Amber made it out to run, the sun was shining -- it was cold, but sunshine makes ALL the difference-- and the race was later in the morning so despite my midnight bed time, I managed to get plenty of sleep. We set off at a good pace. This is a serious running crowd so out of the gate we were at our aggressive 10 min mile pace which worried me. We chatted about times to walk and decided to assess at 20 and 25 minutes how we felt.
Around 25 minutes at the top of the hill we walked. I was feeling so good, I had to be told to walk. My obstinateness is both my friend and my enemy. I know for sure if I hadn't thrown in those walking jaunts I would have completely burned out, but when something is feeling good, I don't like stopping. My other rule: I do not stop in the middle of a hill. You know I'm in real trouble if I stop during a hill.
At about 5 miles, I started feeling the fact that I hadn't been in the routine of running over 4 miles. Theres a reason you're typically not supposed to increase your mileage each week by more than 10% when training for half marathons and marathons and I felt that.
We hit 6 miles and Amber and her friend Scott decided it was time to kick it into gear and catch the guy way ahead of us. I picked it up too despite not feeling ready to do so. We spent that last mile in near sprint mode and passed that guy way ahead of us. He later sprinted way in front of us, but for that brief moment, we were in the lead of him. It was on like donkey kong for Amber and I then. We really wanted to finish together though so we stayed evenly matched. My fellow carrot and I finished simultaneously at 73 minutes and some seconds... I'm not sure how many as I was focused on not collapsing.
85 minutes??? I really thought it was going to take that long???? Maybe if I had been running by myself. I should have known better! We totally beat that by almost 12 minutes! Unlike the Get Lucky, I had nothing left in me for more running. I knew I had pushed myself well.
Surprising moment though happened in the post race room.... I recovered really quickly. I did some stretching but for the most part that post run energy and endorphin high is still AMAZING! The sense of accomplishment along with the chemical effects in the body spur me on. I am leaving this race knowing that I can and will do that half marathon. Thank you Amber, Mike and Scott for keeping me running. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am.
And now I think its time to go soak in the bathtub.
I honestly didn't think I had that in me. I hadn't been training for it. I hadn't run more than 4.3 since the 5 miler I did back in November. Due to lack of distance runs, I set some pretty low expectations -- 85 minutes which works out to be around a 12 minute mile. Normally I run at a 10-11 minute mile pace so I was definitely giving myself a large walking cushion.
All those hadn't-s and shouldn't-s were taking a tole on my psyche. Then that stupid snowfall and dip in temperatures this week were just insult to injury. So many things were stacking up to make this a potentially brutal run. Amber was also starting to feel ill so I knew that I stood a huge chance of not even attempting it this weekend.
Then this morning happened. Amber made it out to run, the sun was shining -- it was cold, but sunshine makes ALL the difference-- and the race was later in the morning so despite my midnight bed time, I managed to get plenty of sleep. We set off at a good pace. This is a serious running crowd so out of the gate we were at our aggressive 10 min mile pace which worried me. We chatted about times to walk and decided to assess at 20 and 25 minutes how we felt.
Around 25 minutes at the top of the hill we walked. I was feeling so good, I had to be told to walk. My obstinateness is both my friend and my enemy. I know for sure if I hadn't thrown in those walking jaunts I would have completely burned out, but when something is feeling good, I don't like stopping. My other rule: I do not stop in the middle of a hill. You know I'm in real trouble if I stop during a hill.
At about 5 miles, I started feeling the fact that I hadn't been in the routine of running over 4 miles. Theres a reason you're typically not supposed to increase your mileage each week by more than 10% when training for half marathons and marathons and I felt that.
We hit 6 miles and Amber and her friend Scott decided it was time to kick it into gear and catch the guy way ahead of us. I picked it up too despite not feeling ready to do so. We spent that last mile in near sprint mode and passed that guy way ahead of us. He later sprinted way in front of us, but for that brief moment, we were in the lead of him. It was on like donkey kong for Amber and I then. We really wanted to finish together though so we stayed evenly matched. My fellow carrot and I finished simultaneously at 73 minutes and some seconds... I'm not sure how many as I was focused on not collapsing.
85 minutes??? I really thought it was going to take that long???? Maybe if I had been running by myself. I should have known better! We totally beat that by almost 12 minutes! Unlike the Get Lucky, I had nothing left in me for more running. I knew I had pushed myself well.
Surprising moment though happened in the post race room.... I recovered really quickly. I did some stretching but for the most part that post run energy and endorphin high is still AMAZING! The sense of accomplishment along with the chemical effects in the body spur me on. I am leaving this race knowing that I can and will do that half marathon. Thank you Amber, Mike and Scott for keeping me running. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am.
And now I think its time to go soak in the bathtub.
Friday, March 25, 2011
A Milestone
Tomorrow I will run 7 miles.
What a powerful sentence, huh? Yes, I'm basking in my own awesomeness here for a moment.
*AHHHH
I don't even care if I run the whole thing or if I have to walk in the center. I'm stubborn enough that I don't anticipate walking, but I haven't actually run 7 miles.... EVER. This is truly a test to see if I have what it takes to make that leap onward to 13.1.
What a powerful sentence, huh? Yes, I'm basking in my own awesomeness here for a moment.
*AHHHH
I don't even care if I run the whole thing or if I have to walk in the center. I'm stubborn enough that I don't anticipate walking, but I haven't actually run 7 miles.... EVER. This is truly a test to see if I have what it takes to make that leap onward to 13.1.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Get Lucky 7K, a recap
After that 10 day break from running, I knew I had to kick it up a bit or I wouldn't make it running across the finish line at the get lucky. So that's exactly what I did. I made it outside for a run 3 times between Thursday 3/10 and race day, including 2 back to back 3.3 mile runs. I concluded my prep with a Thursday 3/17 early morning run. We did about 3.3 miles again. I hadn't run over 4, so I was still nervous about the race.
Saturday morning, my friend came over and we left on our way to Minneapolis. I engaged in what is becoming my race day tradition: oatmeal and coffee from Caribou. We reached downtown with over an hour to spare. The air was extremely crisp.... 26 degrees outside.
Races in the spring, as with the fall, are difficult to dress for. The really cool mornings quickly burn off and before you know it the sun rises higher in the sky and the clothes that kept you comfortable at 26 have you yearning to drop your clothes off alongside the road just an hour later. March 19th was no exception to that. I had been forewarned and knew that as comfy as my super awesome Get Lucky sweatshirt was, I would not be needing it on the run, so I bundled it in my checked gear and thought warm thoughts as I stood there in my underlayer, t-shirt, shorts and purple tights waiting anxiously for the race to start.
We moved ourselves over to the middle of the 10min mile pace crowd and I felt like a caged animal. My body was just ready to run, to loosen up the crowd and find my stride. The sun was shining, the energy of 5100 of my fellow runners was in the air!
Finally the race started. I have to admit, I've never run a race that big and I found it difficult to figure out my pace. Running felt... dare I say... easy?!? More so than it had felt in a long time.Too easy that I wondered about if I'd fade out, not have enough steam to make it past 2 miles. About 1.5-2 miles (I think) we came across a long slow incline and I was getting warm. My friend decided to hang back so I took off up the hill on my own, continuing to get warmer. Amongst my fellow running friends, its our race day rule that if one person needs to stop and the other feels fine, its ok to split up. After all, each of us is paying to be there and owe it to ourselves to give it all we got.
I had already stashed my gloves and found myself wondering how to best go about shedding my underlayer. Should I just say "screw it" and take off both shirts then put one back on? I'm not in great shape, but maybe for a moment I could get away with it??? I decided against subjecting anyone to the blinding glare of sunlight reflecting off my white flabby belly I believe, blinding your fellow runners and causing a domino effect of an accident is looked upon as poor racing ettiquette.... . Instead I opted, successfully -- now this took talent-- to take my underlayer off while still leaving on my t-shirt (not a very baggy one either) all whilst running up this cobblestone-esque hill. I was stuck hanging onto my underlayer then for the whole run, but I was happy for the freedom of just a t-shirt.
3K came and passed quickly and I still felt good. I was passing quite a few people. We turned and I saw the hill as we went over a bridge. Its a good thing I love hills and I felt my posture change as I pushed myself up it. Next up the 6K marker. Still feeling strong. I talked to a couple guys for a bit about how good that free beer was going to taste. I could hear the finish line crowd and I started picking up the pace. Enough to cross somewhere between a sprint and run. Then something weird: I kind of wanted to keep going.
Running has become addictive to me because I love the post run high. Especially after a race. This one was no exception. I felt like I could just keep running. This indicates to me that I probably could have run faster. I've missed running 4+ miles. Missed it more than I realize and this exhilarates me for future races and the half marathon I will do this year. I went to work today with the "post race swagger". That little extra confidence of finishing the race, beating my goal and feeling great in the process.
oh yeah... my time! It wound up being 44:41! My goal had been 46:15. All in all, I'm pretty happy with this race. Team Ortho is well organized and they make the races worth the high entry fees. I'll carry that swagger with me all week!
Saturday morning, my friend came over and we left on our way to Minneapolis. I engaged in what is becoming my race day tradition: oatmeal and coffee from Caribou. We reached downtown with over an hour to spare. The air was extremely crisp.... 26 degrees outside.
Races in the spring, as with the fall, are difficult to dress for. The really cool mornings quickly burn off and before you know it the sun rises higher in the sky and the clothes that kept you comfortable at 26 have you yearning to drop your clothes off alongside the road just an hour later. March 19th was no exception to that. I had been forewarned and knew that as comfy as my super awesome Get Lucky sweatshirt was, I would not be needing it on the run, so I bundled it in my checked gear and thought warm thoughts as I stood there in my underlayer, t-shirt, shorts and purple tights waiting anxiously for the race to start.
We moved ourselves over to the middle of the 10min mile pace crowd and I felt like a caged animal. My body was just ready to run, to loosen up the crowd and find my stride. The sun was shining, the energy of 5100 of my fellow runners was in the air!
Finally the race started. I have to admit, I've never run a race that big and I found it difficult to figure out my pace. Running felt... dare I say... easy?!? More so than it had felt in a long time.Too easy that I wondered about if I'd fade out, not have enough steam to make it past 2 miles. About 1.5-2 miles (I think) we came across a long slow incline and I was getting warm. My friend decided to hang back so I took off up the hill on my own, continuing to get warmer. Amongst my fellow running friends, its our race day rule that if one person needs to stop and the other feels fine, its ok to split up. After all, each of us is paying to be there and owe it to ourselves to give it all we got.
I had already stashed my gloves and found myself wondering how to best go about shedding my underlayer. Should I just say "screw it" and take off both shirts then put one back on? I'm not in great shape, but maybe for a moment I could get away with it??? I decided against subjecting anyone to the blinding glare of sunlight reflecting off my white flabby belly I believe, blinding your fellow runners and causing a domino effect of an accident is looked upon as poor racing ettiquette.... . Instead I opted, successfully -- now this took talent-- to take my underlayer off while still leaving on my t-shirt (not a very baggy one either) all whilst running up this cobblestone-esque hill. I was stuck hanging onto my underlayer then for the whole run, but I was happy for the freedom of just a t-shirt.
3K came and passed quickly and I still felt good. I was passing quite a few people. We turned and I saw the hill as we went over a bridge. Its a good thing I love hills and I felt my posture change as I pushed myself up it. Next up the 6K marker. Still feeling strong. I talked to a couple guys for a bit about how good that free beer was going to taste. I could hear the finish line crowd and I started picking up the pace. Enough to cross somewhere between a sprint and run. Then something weird: I kind of wanted to keep going.
Running has become addictive to me because I love the post run high. Especially after a race. This one was no exception. I felt like I could just keep running. This indicates to me that I probably could have run faster. I've missed running 4+ miles. Missed it more than I realize and this exhilarates me for future races and the half marathon I will do this year. I went to work today with the "post race swagger". That little extra confidence of finishing the race, beating my goal and feeling great in the process.
oh yeah... my time! It wound up being 44:41! My goal had been 46:15. All in all, I'm pretty happy with this race. Team Ortho is well organized and they make the races worth the high entry fees. I'll carry that swagger with me all week!
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