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!
Monday, February 21, 2011
blizzards, beer and running
Mother nature gave us a glimmer of hope last week. We had 50 degree temps in february. Things started melting. One could even see brown grass exposed on hillsides and from the window at work. I went for a glorious 3.1 mile run in a t-shirt. Everyone in Minnesota was walking with a little more spring in their step; a sparkle in their eyes. But alas, it was a ruse. Mother Nature was just giving us hug before she smacked us across the face with a snowstorm. We got 19" of new snow here in my 'burb. Our temps are plunging back down below 20 degrees. Just a reminder that winter truly is still going and that we aren't ever out of the woods until May.
Along with this snow, my motivation slowed a bit. I was all pumped to start my strength training and up my number of running times up to 2-3. Well, its been since Friday that I've run. :( I got down to the hamster wheel and redeemed myself a little. But I have yet to continue my plank and strength training challenge. Probably because I hate strength and flexibility training more than I hate running on the treadmill. No matter how many times I hear on the news that strength training regularly throughout life helps decrease the risks of osteoporosis, it still is like pulling teeth to get me to do it. Maybe this spring will be different.... maybe.
Upcoming races:
-- Get Lucky 7K March 19th : This one should be fun! I know many people doing it including my co-worker. I get a medal and a hoodie for participating. There's free beer tickets too!
-- MDRA 7miler on March 26th: I get this one for free as a member of the Minnesota Distance Running Association -- $25 got me 3 free races, a calendar, invites to parties and a monthly magazine, a pretty good deal to me! -- Even if I can't actually run the whole thing it would be foolish not to go and try.
-- Autism 5K on May 14th: knowing several people raising kids with autism, this is a favorite race for me. Maybe this year I can do it in less than 30 minutes. Last year I ran it in about 40...
-- Go Commando 5K adventure race on June 25th-- Its a bootcamp style 5K with mud, water, obstacles. More beer abounds and you get to get all dirty with friends!
Along with this snow, my motivation slowed a bit. I was all pumped to start my strength training and up my number of running times up to 2-3. Well, its been since Friday that I've run. :( I got down to the hamster wheel and redeemed myself a little. But I have yet to continue my plank and strength training challenge. Probably because I hate strength and flexibility training more than I hate running on the treadmill. No matter how many times I hear on the news that strength training regularly throughout life helps decrease the risks of osteoporosis, it still is like pulling teeth to get me to do it. Maybe this spring will be different.... maybe.
Upcoming races:
-- Get Lucky 7K March 19th : This one should be fun! I know many people doing it including my co-worker. I get a medal and a hoodie for participating. There's free beer tickets too!
-- MDRA 7miler on March 26th: I get this one for free as a member of the Minnesota Distance Running Association -- $25 got me 3 free races, a calendar, invites to parties and a monthly magazine, a pretty good deal to me! -- Even if I can't actually run the whole thing it would be foolish not to go and try.
-- Autism 5K on May 14th: knowing several people raising kids with autism, this is a favorite race for me. Maybe this year I can do it in less than 30 minutes. Last year I ran it in about 40...
-- Go Commando 5K adventure race on June 25th-- Its a bootcamp style 5K with mud, water, obstacles. More beer abounds and you get to get all dirty with friends!
Where have I been?
Busy busy busy. Lets see, since Jan 1, I've run a 5K in almost 0 temps, worked 48-55 hrs/week, planned and attended a convention for 220 some women from around the state, had a further excision of a suspicious mole -- which gave me the 1 and only week I didn't make it outside for a run.
I've been adjusting to the new job. They really like me and feel I'm catching on quickly. In fact, I'm picking up more hours here and there which is awesome! Extra hours there = a lot more money than I made at the coffeeshop!
Oh yeah, I'm still working there. In fact, the next 3 weeks of my life involve working every single day at one or both jobs. As of February 13th, My next day off is March 12! I'm kind of nervous about working that many days in a row. The only thing that's saving me is that most days I don't work til afternoon and because he's got me on full weekends, I'm working less 5am shifts during the week at the shop.
The other things in my life are still hapening so during that time I'll be ramping up the wedding planning, continuing to train for the Get Lucky 7K and the MDRA 7 miler on March 19 and March 26th respectively. Oh yeah and my women's group stuff. So when I say I'm busy, I'm not kidding!
Everyone has their own form of busy though. Everyone has their stuff so I'm not complaining, I'm just explaining. When I start getting down about things or when I start feeling like I need to whine and be all "woe is me" I'm trying to remind myself that everyone has their own drama going on. Mine is by no means any more or less important than anyone elses.
The coolest thing with running is that my pace is holding at between 10 and 11 minute miles. This is pretty amazing to me. I may not be running 5 miles, but I'm doing 2.5-3 at a pretty good clip. I'm looking forward to taking that speed with me and increasing the mileage for those longer races and picking out my half marathon for sometimes between August and October.
Wedding planning: well.... it needs to happen. I'm hitting the 100 days mark. Yikes. So much to do, so little time! My ring is being resized so my finger is naked! I had to put on my class ring in order to not feel off.
I've been adjusting to the new job. They really like me and feel I'm catching on quickly. In fact, I'm picking up more hours here and there which is awesome! Extra hours there = a lot more money than I made at the coffeeshop!
Oh yeah, I'm still working there. In fact, the next 3 weeks of my life involve working every single day at one or both jobs. As of February 13th, My next day off is March 12! I'm kind of nervous about working that many days in a row. The only thing that's saving me is that most days I don't work til afternoon and because he's got me on full weekends, I'm working less 5am shifts during the week at the shop.
The other things in my life are still hapening so during that time I'll be ramping up the wedding planning, continuing to train for the Get Lucky 7K and the MDRA 7 miler on March 19 and March 26th respectively. Oh yeah and my women's group stuff. So when I say I'm busy, I'm not kidding!
Everyone has their own form of busy though. Everyone has their stuff so I'm not complaining, I'm just explaining. When I start getting down about things or when I start feeling like I need to whine and be all "woe is me" I'm trying to remind myself that everyone has their own drama going on. Mine is by no means any more or less important than anyone elses.
The coolest thing with running is that my pace is holding at between 10 and 11 minute miles. This is pretty amazing to me. I may not be running 5 miles, but I'm doing 2.5-3 at a pretty good clip. I'm looking forward to taking that speed with me and increasing the mileage for those longer races and picking out my half marathon for sometimes between August and October.
Wedding planning: well.... it needs to happen. I'm hitting the 100 days mark. Yikes. So much to do, so little time! My ring is being resized so my finger is naked! I had to put on my class ring in order to not feel off.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Happy 2011! -- a realization
2011 is off to a much better start, direction than 2010!
Today I realized that while I may not be doing what I set out to do, while I occasionally will feel like a failure for not having a masters or doctorate degree or some fancy title, I'm happier than I was doing lab work.
I am occasionally plagued by sleep issues, but since leaving the lab work, I am not plagued like I was before. I remember constantly fighting against the clock both in falling asleep and waking up. I remember the days when I couldn't sleep til 8am, even 10am and would oversleep for a 4pm shift. I remember dragging through every day barely able to do the minimum and feeling like a failure at the whole science thing and being mad at myself for how apathetic I was. While I still fight with waking up it has more to do with having to be into work by 5am than a general malaise I used to feel. I also remember feeling that I put more into my coffeeshop job that I ever did into my "fancy" jobs.
Right now I've come to terms with my loss of identity because I may have found a new one. It took only a year and a half and countless rejections and someone FINALLY being willing to take a chance on me!
Today I realized that while I may not be doing what I set out to do, while I occasionally will feel like a failure for not having a masters or doctorate degree or some fancy title, I'm happier than I was doing lab work.
I am occasionally plagued by sleep issues, but since leaving the lab work, I am not plagued like I was before. I remember constantly fighting against the clock both in falling asleep and waking up. I remember the days when I couldn't sleep til 8am, even 10am and would oversleep for a 4pm shift. I remember dragging through every day barely able to do the minimum and feeling like a failure at the whole science thing and being mad at myself for how apathetic I was. While I still fight with waking up it has more to do with having to be into work by 5am than a general malaise I used to feel. I also remember feeling that I put more into my coffeeshop job that I ever did into my "fancy" jobs.
Right now I've come to terms with my loss of identity because I may have found a new one. It took only a year and a half and countless rejections and someone FINALLY being willing to take a chance on me!
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