Morning Runner

From sun to snow

2012-01-30T06:49:00.001-05:00

Well all last week I was running in this...

And now I am back to this...

Brian and I went on a cruise last week and it was a much needed vacation. But now we are back to life and back to work. I defeintely got used to the warmer temperatures and coming back to the cold and snow was not exactly fun.

Last night we got pelted with about 2+ inches of snow which made this mornings run extra hard. Between dodging snow plows and trying to not slip and slide around, I made it 5 miles. My knee is actually feeling pretty good - I don't know how but the vacation really helped. I still ran 5 of the 7 days for a total of 32.5 miles and my knee didn't really complain at all.

Happy Monday!

Friday Favorites

2012-01-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!!

Just a few favorites from the week! Have a great weekend!

Favorite idea.

Favorite Post Run Refuel. I just love grilled cheese after a long run, but regular grilled cheese can get boring so I like to spice it up!

Favorite Boots.

Favorite Elevation Run Chart. From my run a few weeks ago - it was a snowy, slushy and hilly!

Favorite new dessert.

His and Her Shoes

2012-01-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

On the left we have my shoes and on the right we have Brian's shoes.

Brian is always complaining about how my shoes are in the way but I can't help it! I have a lot of shoes - shoes for work, shoes for working out, shoes for running.

Currently only one pair of those shoes is actually for running.

Happy Wednesday!

My week in Hours

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week was a very busy week and it got me thinking about what I actually do all week and where the time goes. It just seems like there is never enough time in the day to complete everything I want to do and some things just end up taking priority over others.

Total hours in a week: 168

Sleeping - 55 hours

Working - 48 hours

Making food/eating - 21 hours

Blogging/Reading blogs - 16 hours

Washing/folding clothes - 5 hours

Running - 4 hours

Cross training classes (yoga, spin, etc) - 4 hours

Total hours used: 153

Time leftover: 15 hours

After I complete all the things I need to and want to each week, I have 15 hours left over. Now some of that time is spent driving to and from work or the gym and running errands and grocery shopping. But on top of that I know that some of that time is spent watching tv.

I try to stretch and do my knee exercises while I watch tv, but I am still spending time watching tv instead of reading or doing something else productive. I think I need to try and give up tv and see what happens, but its tough because I really enjoy a few shows each week like Biggest Loser and Law & Order.

Back when we first got married, we didn't have tv for the first couple of weeks and even though I didn't like it at the time I kind of wish we hadn't signed up for cable. Its just so easy to sit on the couch and flip on the tv.

In a couple of weeks I think I would like to give up tv and see how I do!

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 3

2012-01-20T07:30:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness it is FRIDAY!! I am so happy that the weekend is almost hear because this week has been stressful and very tiring and I need a break. If you have been following along the past few Friday's you know that my best friend has been doing the Whole Living cleanse and this is her third and final week! To catch up, you can read week 1 and week 2. Enjoy and have a great weekend!!

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of the Whole Living Cleanse! The end is near and I am so excited to welcome back the array of off-limit foods I have been staying away from for the past three weeks! Some of you may remember from my first post that wholeliving.com includes a bonus week 4. When I started this cleanse, I had every intention of taking it to the end and doing all four weeks, but I am pretty much done with not eating bread or having coffee, and my willpower is starting to fade. While life is all about eating well, I think you also deserve to eat the foods you love!

Breakfasts this week involved an array of delights: a smoothie one morning, followed by oatmeal the next, and so on. Even though I had the option to have eggs for breakfast this week, I decided against it because I knew I would crave toast or hash browns and that was definitely not happening.

Lunches consisted of quite a bit of gluten free pasta drizzled with various sauces and veggies: broccoli almond pesto, butternut squash, avocadoes…

Dinners were excellent and most like what I cook on a normal basis. Quinoa, gluten free pasta, and the big excitement: veggie burgers (bunless, of course)! I do plan to make a few of the Whole Living week 3 soups this weekend (specifically the Kale, White Bean and Potato Soup and the Roasted Red Pepper Soup); I simply ran out of time to make them for dinners this week. Nearly all of the dinners I cooked this week are ones I will add to my arsenal of easy, wholesome weeknight recipes, which was really exciting. The veggie burgers are definitely coming back next week with yummy rolls and a bit of mayonnaise with the lettuce and tomato topping!

But, I do have a confession to make- I couldn't completely follow the cleanse diet this week, and had to break my routine for one meal on Monday. Due to a personal family matter, my husband and I had to travel out of town for an overnight trip, and it is obviously very difficult to make healthy choices while on the road. I had packed us lunch, a snack, and breakfast for the next morning so that we wouldn't have to eat at thruway stops, but I couldn't get dinner together and figured we would have to rely on our hosts. I was hoping there would be some meatless, wheat-less options and didn’t worry too much about it. Well, there weren't. I ended up starving myself through dinner with some wilted romaine lettuce and balsamic vinaigrette while everyone else noshed on yummy baked ziti oozing with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. The next day, still famished, I knew I couldn't put my body through a low cal lunch with a 6-hour car ride home. So, I ate 4 mini sandwich wraps off a party tray from Wegmans. They had wheat in them, probably a slice of cheese, and turkey. I hated breaking the cleanse, but I really didn't have a choice and luckily I am not gluten intolerant so I had to remind myself it was okay to eat wheat and I would be doing so again in six days after the cleanse ended. Nevertheless, it was disappointing, but sometimes that is life. Also, it gave me a bit of comfort to know that Lindsay, an editor at Whole Living and a fellow cleanser, also cheated this week; she had a cup of coffee.

While I don’t know of anyone who is allergic to gluten AND dairy, I certainly know people who have at least one food allergy. Among other things, this cleanse has given me a heightened sensitivity to the food allergies that people live with. It is very hard to eat at restaurants or at a friend’s house when certain ingredients are forbidden! I am thankful every day that I can freely enjoy wheat, dairy, nuts, and soy.

 Other than that, this week was good, and most like my normal diet. Having an egg on top of my dinner last night tasted like Christmas. Mostly the cleanse has helped me think about my relationship with food and how valuable colorful fruits and vegetables are to a healthy diet. However, buttermilk pancakes will be gleefully served at my house this Sunday morning.

Thank you so much for reading and following me on this journey!

The return of the Lunch Run

2012-01-18T20:33:00.002-05:00

Back before Christmas, my work group did a major move to a new building. Although moving is never really fun, I was super excited because the new building had SHOWERS!

In the past I have gone without showers after lunch runs, hoping that deodorant and body spray would keep me smelling decent for the remainder of the day. Now I can at least rinse off after a run before heading back to work.

Today was the first time I got to run at lunch and try out the work showers. I didn't want to run this morning because I knew I would still be pretty tired from my Tuesday night run and I didn't have time after work. So lunch time it was!

I changed in the handicap bathroom because there was more room. Sadly that shower seems to be filled with bathroom supplies. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and I headed out for 4 easy miles. The only bad part was the 20mph winds that I ran into for the first part of the run. With the wind I was freezing, with the sun I was sweating!

When I got back, I quickly ducked into the women's bathroom - I don't like too many of my co-workers to see me in my running clothes! I went into the first shower stall, got my stuff situated and turned on the water. I waited and waited and waited for the water to get warm but it barely got luke warm.

I jumped in quick and started going through the showering process as fast as possible. Suddenly I could hear through the wall that someone in the men's room next door had flushed the toilet and I was then blasted with cold water. Then I could hear them turn on the facet and I was blasted again with cold water. Being able to shower after a cold run didn't necessarily mean I was going to be able to warm up.

I jumped out of the shower as soon as my hair was rinsed and tried to warm up quickly. Even with all my clothes on I was still chilled to the core. When I got back to my desk I put on my scarf and extra fleece jacket but it did nothing to help warm me up.

My friends at work thought I was crazy for running during lunch. Back when we didn't have showers, my friends at work all thought it was gross that I didn't shower after my lunch runs. Now they think it is gross that I shower in the work showers. Guess I can't win.

Lunch runs?? Shower or no?

Some days you just need a run

2012-01-17T21:55:00.003-05:00

This week has been tough and its only Tuesday.

Yesterday I walked into work and found out that my very good friend, co-worker and mentor was leaving the company and his last day would be this Friday.

I was shocked and confused. I knew that the work situation would not be the same forever but I never thought that he would be leaving this soon.

Last night I came home and ate three giant handfuls of peanut M&Ms and then pulled out the frosting from the fridge. I definitely tend to eat when I am upset.

Today was not much better...I have been scrambling to collect all the information I can so that I will be ready to handle any problems that may arise after my co-worker leaves. Its been scary to think what it will be like without my mentor and friend.

Tonight I just needed to run. And it wasn't the best run, but I managed to pound out a few miles at tempo pace which felt great. Focusing on keeping my pace fast helped to not think about the work situation.

I think turning to running was a much better choice than turning to food. And I feel a lot better after pounded out a few miles compared to after stuffing my face with frosting and candy.

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 2

2012-01-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday!! I am so glad it is almost the weekend - I have a perfect day planned tomorrow, but first we are back with the second week of the Whole Living Cleanse brought to you by my best friend Kaylie! Enjoy!
(If you missed the first week, you can check it out here.)

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 2

With the hardest part behind me, Itook on this week with a clear mind and a clean body. This week, I got to addback in seafood and beans, while still eating all of the foods from week one. Ihaven’t been able to find any wild-caught salmon and my husband and I won’t eatfarm-raised fish, so we’ve mostly been eating beans with dinner, which is okaywith me (although I would love to reap the benefits from eating a beautifulpiece of salmon!).

One thing I tried to really focus onthis week was chewing slowly and eating with purpose. It was good in theory,but mostly didn’t work. I tend to go 3+ hours between meals during the workdayand so by the time I get to lunch I usually wolf it down in 10 minutes. Butanyway, here’s my week in photos:

Breakfast:

Carrot Mango Mint Smoothie

Strawberry orange banana Smoothie

Pomogranate Blueberry Strawberry Smoothie

I figured I wouldn’t ruin a goodthing and decided to stick with the smoothies for breakfast each day. That isespecially hard to do on weekends when I would typically cook eggs and toast orpancakes, but I survived. Also daunting: sitting at the breakfast table at 6:30AM in dressy work clothes, shivering as I slurp down an ice cold fruit-filleddrink. I am craving a warm, comforting meal to start my mornings with. Oatmealis definitely coming back next week!

Lunch:

Red Lentils Soup

Vegetable Soup

Again, I took whatever I cooked fordinner the night before as my lunch the next day. I also made two snacks fromthe Whole Living approved-snackslist: a minty pea dipand driedfruit and nut bites.

Dinner:

Roasted Vegetables and cannellini beans

Field Greens salad with black beans and red cabbage apple onion slaw

See below for recipe!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Almond topping

Did you think I cheated and madeeggs for dinner? It’s a fake-out! One of the breakfast recipes this week wasthe Tofuand Greens Scramble, but I couldn’t fathom eating tofu in the morning, letalone standing at the stove before work. So I made this dish for dinner and ittasted just like eggs (or maybe it was my eyes playing tricks on my brain). Thesecret ingredient? Tumeric! I will definitely be making this for brunchtomorrow morning!

Overall, any detox symptoms Iexperienced in the first week have completely disappeared. I’ve lost about 3pounds, which of course makes me feel great. I still look longingly at thecheese drawer in my refrigerator, and I am mostly missing eggs, artisan breadfrom the local market we always buy from, and of course chocolate. I will saythough that when you feel this good inside and out, the thought of “cheating”doesn’t even pass through your mind! Week 3 looks tantalizinglytasty and easy; I cannot wait to bring back quinoa and eggs!

Thanks forreading! Is anyone else doing a cleanse? How are you progressing?

Going Old School

2012-01-10T21:56:00.001-05:00

January and February are the months when my running club heads indoors to a local track for workouts. I like running with a group and I hope I can attend a few workouts before we head back outdoors.

Tonight was my first night back with the group in a very long time and it was good to be back. Since we were indoors, I had to dig out my OLD watch instead of my garmin!

Good old trusty Timex watch with no paces, no distance measured, just the time, stopwatch and a lap button.

I had no idea what was planned for a workout and of course I was a bit nervous. Thankfully not only was my run club coach there when I arrived, but I just happened to run into my old college track coach. I spent time catching up with both coaches and they really helped me to relax not only about the workout but also about my future running and racing with my current knee problems.

After a quick, although boring workout due to the track being only 200m, it was time to start the workout.

4x800m at Tempo pace (7:00 pace)
3:35 - First one done! That wasn't so bad.
3:31 - Legs are feeling good, but that was not easy.
3:30 - Hold on, Just hold on!
3:25 - Too fast. But I am done!

Running with my old watch actually wasn't that bad. Relying on my body to know and hold the pace was a fun change. I have gotten used to the lap button on my garmin so I had a little trouble reverting back to my old watch but it still worked.

It felt so good to run on a track, instead of a treadmill or outside in the dark. And it was nice to have some company for the workout. Overall, I think this is a great start - still trying to figure out what to train for though.

And now time to stretch and ice! (My old college coach really re-enforced the fact that I need to do that tonight and he is usually right)

Do you run with a garmin all the time? Or do you have an older, not so technical watch?

A pre/post Run routine

2012-01-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

I know that when I am feeling good and my running is going well, I seem to neglect some important steps before and after the run.

For example, when I am feeling good...

I stop stretching.

I stop icing.

I stop cross training.

Last week, I took a few days off from running because my knee was extra achy for some reason. While I was feeling sorry for myself on the couch, I started to think that maybe I needed get off my butt and try to help my knee fell better.

So I started icing.

I started doing some quad and hamstring exercises and stretches.

And you know what...surprise, surprise...my knee actually feels better! Now I am not 100% yet but I feel better than I did last week, so that is a start.

I planned a morning run for Monday morning and before the run, I did a few hip and hamstring stretches. And then I ran under a beautiful full moon. The knee wasn't perfect, but it was amazing to be outside running in the early hours under the moon.

And afterward, I made sure to stretch more and then ice while I ate my breakfast! So here is hoping that this is the start of many more good runs and lots of preventative maintenance/icing/stretching!

Do you have a pre/post run routine that you do to make sure you stay injury free??

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 1

2012-01-06T08:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday! Today I have a very special treat - a wonderful guest post from one of my dearest and best friends!

Now that the holidays are over, I know a lot of us have been feeling less than our best due to all the indulgences we consumed in the last month. I have been taking a very careful look at what I have been eating and trying to get back into a good routine. My friend Kaylie has also been taking a look at her eating habits and is currently on the Whole Living Cleanse for 4 weeks. I asked her to share with all of you her experiences with this and so here is her experiences with week 1!

The Whole LivingAction Plan 2012: A Mind-Body Cleanse

Hi everyone! First of all, I am so excited to be guestposting on J’s blog, and very thankful that she let me do this today! J and Iare best friends, were each other’s maid of honor at each of our recentweddings, and we are both passionate about health and fitness.

Except, of course, when the holidays bulldoze any hopes ofeating healthy, and scrumptious snacks, decadent desserts, and anover-abundance of wine and spirits seem to be present everywhere. For me, thisyear was no exception, and after four weeks of mindless, unhealthy eating, Iwas feeling sluggish, inert, and out of control. When the January issue of Whole Living magazine landed in mymailbox just days before the start of the new year, I was immediately enamoredby the beautiful, refreshing glass of juice on the cover. The writers promiseda 21-day cleanse to detoxify the mind and body, and as soon as I read thechallenge plan, I was ready to make the change back to healthy eating. I beganon January 1, and tomorrow I will wrap up week one of the three-week cleanse.I’m here today because I’d love to share the plan itself and my experiences andresults with you so far.

The 21-day cleanse:what is it?

For those who are wondering, a cleanse is not a fad diet.Cleansing is a way to detoxify yourself and clear out the poisons from yoursystem, such as caffeine, pesticides, and alcohol. Cleansing allows you to getin tune with your body and forces you to truly think about your relationship withthe foods you consume. Cleansing also enables you to break your bad eatinghabits and start fresh again from the beginning. All cleanses are different,but the reason why I like the WL cleanse is because it gives you many optionsfor each meal, which is crucial to good cleansing when your food choices arelimited.

How does the WLcleanse work?

During week 1,you eat a basic but very colorful palette of fruits, vegetables, andplant-based fats, including nuts, seeds, and oils

During week 2, you add back in seafood,beans and lentils, and organic soy

During week 3, youadd gluten-free grains and eggs

The WL website, but not the magazine, has also included abonus week 4 to help you transition back into “real world” eating withpractical, sensible meal options.

What’s off limitsduring my cleanse?

WL advises “six to skip” for the duration of this cleanse:caffeine, processed foods and beverages, anything with added sugar, dairy,gluten, and alcohol. All of these can tax the digestive system and causesymptoms such as inflammation and bloating.

And now… here we go:my week in pictures! Here is a sample of what I ate:

Breakfast:

Antioxidant Smoothie

Coconut Water and mango Smoothie

The Kicker - Green Smoothie with kale and apples

Strawberry banana Orange Smoothie

Lunch: I have no pictures from lunch, but basically mydinner from the night before was my lunch the next day.

Dinner:

Field Greens salad with Broccoli and Butternut Squash

Spiced butternut Squash soup with apples

Roasted cauliflower and mushrooms

Avocado with bell pepper and tomatoes

Roasted broccoli and butternut squash with garlic

I also did not take photos of the homemade snacks I ate, butI simply chose a few from week one of the WL website, and then supplementedwith raw nuts or veggies.

My thoughts so far:

This week was TOUGH for me, but I knew I needed to getthrough it and I did not cheat at all! Although I knew that giving up mybeloved cheese and treasured bread would be the hardest, headaches fromcaffeine withdrawal and low calorie intake plagued me for at least three daysout of the seven. And some of the meals I felt a bit discouraged with; forexample, try as I might, I cannot love peppers. One night I talked myself intomaking the Avocadowith Bell Pepper and Tomatoes for dinner, and I just could not get past thepeppers. I would have had a much more successful meal if I had substituted adifferent veggie and not tried to force myself into eating something I know Idon’t like.

You know how Wegmans (our local grocery store) advises us to“eat a rainbow”? Well this week, I truly have. This is an amazing concept tome—both the fact that I did it, and that people tell us to do it everyday— andI think it is certainly more difficult to accomplish with so many otherdistractions (eggs, cheese, bread… can you tell the things I’m missing?) aroundus at the grocery store and in our kitchens.

When you eat like an herbivore, there is so little waste.The majority of my garbage bin this week are apple cores and banana peels. Callme crazy, but I feel like I’m lowering my carbon footprint as I eat!

I haven’t lost any weight, but that isn’t the goal of mycleanse. My goal is to feel better and in control of my body and my choices,and I have re-gained both of those things. A cleanse is certainly not right foreveryone, and you should definitely make sure you are well-educated on thesubject before you begin one. But giving up processed foods, caffeine andalcohol is a good thing to do every once in a while. All in all, I am feelingprecisely like the magazine promised I would by the end of week one: “light,energized, clearheaded, and motivated to conquer week 2”! I hope to check backin with you next week to give you my latest progress report!

Is anyone else doing some form of a cleanse as we begin theNew Year?

To read more about the Whole Living 21-day cleanse,click here: http://www.wholeliving.com/152870/2012-whole-living-action-plan

Stay tuned next week for Week 2 from Kaylie!!

And we have snow

2012-01-03T20:42:00.001-05:00

On the first day of 2012, my in-laws came to visit me and brought loads of cookies and bread - talk about carb overload. This is all that is left after I ate more than my share of cookies and took even more into work with me.

One the second day of 2012, I had to go back to work when most people still had off - I enjoyed the less crowded roads as I drove home.

One the third day of 2012, it snowed! And the temperatures dropped to freezing levels so I went to the gym and battled for a treadmill to run a few tempo miles. I really hope I can limit my time on the treadmill this winter because today was just not fun.

BRRRR!!

This year has started off pretty well and I hope it continues. I didn't make any resolutions last year - I just wanted to train smart and stay injury free. Well that almost worked and so for 2012 I am going to try again.

I want to stay injury free for 2012.

And I hope I am on the right track because I am feeling better and stronger thanks to ART and my cross training at the gym. I can now do lunges properly and I can ever run 10 miles again. It seems like everything is coming together for another great year!

Now all I have to do is plan out my race schedule for the year...I think I'll focus on spring first and then work from there.

One final Long run of 2011

2011-12-31T15:59:00.001-05:00

I am finding it hard to recap my whole year in one post. It sure was a busy but wonderful year. When I look back there are a few things that stand out....

Running my 3rd Half Marathon with my best running buddy

Buying our first house

Getting Married!

And lots of great runs! I finished the year with 1315 miles, my first ever year over 1000 miles.

It was a great year and I ended it on a great note with 10 miles this morning - the first run with my running buddy in a long time and my longest run in a long time. We took a very hilly route and my hip flexors were quite sore by the end but my knee really didn't bother me which was great!

Obviously not from the New Years' Eve morning run - we were bundled up for the cold morning!

Here's hoping 2012 will be ever better!

A perfect Christmas Break

2011-12-29T14:24:00.001-05:00

After a busy and slightly stressful Christmas (I hosted Christmas Day for the first time EVER!), things are finally back to normal and I am grateful to have this week between Christmas and New Years' off.

But I haven't been as productive as I wanted to be. I have been slightly lazy in some ways. I seem to have enough energy to get up at 5am and get to the gym for my weekly Total Body class but after that I am unable to move from the couch all day.

Let's take today for example...

4:48am - Alarm goes off, turn on light and drag myself out of bed to get ready for the gym.

5:13am - Arrive at gym and head to the treadmill. Soon my running buddy joins me on the treadmill next to me and we talk as we run.

6:00am - Total Body class starts, I still stink at the aerobics warm up although I am getting a little bit better. I am still sore from class Tuesday, which makes all the lunges, squats and pushups even harder.

7:05am - Once class is finished, I head back to the treadmill because I didn't get in as much mileage before class as I wanted. After a mile, I stop and head home.

7:50am - Home and showered and making breakfast. I settle in on the couch with my book and don't move until lunch. One book down and four to go!

12:00pm - Make lunch for Brian, who is not lazy like me and is actually doing work around the house. We eat together and then I return to the couch and Brian goes back to work.

1:37pm - I sneak into my Christmas stocking and take out some candy for a snack.

1:40pm - Return to stocking for more Christmas candy. Must. stop. eating. candy!

And that's where I am at for today. Still time for me to turn this day around and be semi-productive!

Do you have this week off from work? How are you spending this week??

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T15:16:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Eve!

I was up early to get in my run before a day filled with shopping, wrapping, cleaning, baking and lots of eating! There was a dusting of snow on the ground when I headed out for my run but it quickly melted when the sun came out. With no snow in the forecast, it looks like we wont be having a white Christmas :(

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! We are off to spend the evening with my family and have our traditional Polish Christmas Eve Dinner.

WIAW

2011-12-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

This week I am totally messed up on which day it is! I keep thinking I am a day ahead - this morning I thought it was Thursday. I can't wait for this week to be over because next week I have off! Since this weekend is Christmas and I know I will be eating a ton of delicious but rich foods, I have been trying to eat healthy this week. Here are my eats from Tuesday!

Breakfast: Quaker Instant Cinnamon Oatmeal with a banana + coffee at work

Morning Snack: Deviled eggs and an apple

Lunch: Turkey burger, carrots, goldfish and cutout cookies

Pre-Run/Afternoon Snack: Clementine

Dinner: Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole (So easy and so good!)

Evening Snack: 3 Chocolate Chip cookies

I think yesterday was a pretty good day, especially with all the extra holiday food hanging around work. I stopped myself at three cookies after dinner even though I wanted more. It is so tough to not eat them when they are right there!

Happy Wednesday!

This is what December running is supposed to look like

2011-12-19T14:12:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I woke up to dusting of SNOW and freezing temperatures. Now this is what I expect for a run in December.

I ate a quick meal of oatmeal and coffee and then bundled up to head out into the cold. I wore my neck warmer for the first time - definitely a must once the temperatures start to drop before 25F.

For the run, I had planned a 6+ mile loop and since this was my longest run in a while, I made sure to bring my cell phone in case I needed to call Brian for a ride if I didn't make it. One reason I love winter running - more clothes means more pockets to hold things like cell phones and other running necessties.

I think the coffee went right to my legs because I was feeling good right from the start. I wont lie and say my knee felt amazing from the start, it was a little uncomfortable but after a mile it calmed down and settled into the run. I have run this route before and I just love it because it is mainly country roads filled with rolling fields and little to no traffic!

Thankfully I made it through the run and back home and even added on a little mileage to make this run an even 7 miles!

What do your December runs usually look like?

Holiday Baking and Tree Decorating

2011-12-16T08:10:00.000-05:00

It isn't Christmas until you have the tree decorated and you make some cut out cookies!

Last weekend, I was able to complete both! On Friday I hosted my first Christmas cookie exchange party. All my best girl friends made their favorite Christmas cookies and brought them to my house. We had fun evening of just the girls and then we gathered around the dining room table to eat and exchange cookies!

All those delicious cookies! So many different varieties! I made the classic cutout cookies to share with my friends. I love this recipe (from my mom) because you don't have to refrigerate the dough before rolling it out like many other cutout recipes require.

Christmas Cutout Cookies

4 cups Flour
1 cup shortening
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice

Mix first four dry ingredients, as if making a pie crust so that all crisco is mixed into flour. In another bowl combine all the wet ingredients and mix together. Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together to form dough. Refrigerate if desired, otherwise roll out dough and use cookie cutters to make cookies. Preheat oven to 350F and place cookies in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Once cooled then frost with your favorite frosting and decorate with sprinkles!

Saturday, Brian and I decorated our first Christmas tree together. Between last Christmas and our wedding we have been given many ornaments to decorate our tree. I just do not like the LED lights - I miss the old colored ones but they are hard to find.

Now all that is left is to get on that Christmas gift shopping! I have yet to pick up a single gift for anyone. Looks like I will be quite busy this weekend.

Also, you may remember the Lamp Post that appeared in my foyer a few weeks ago. It is still there and a Santa statue (a gift from my mother in law) has now appeared beside it. I guess this is something I am going to just have to live with.

Happy Friday!

Tempo Thursday

2011-12-15T15:04:00.002-05:00

I know, I know - last week I said I was going to take a break from running. And I did. When I wrote that post I had every intention of not running until I was completely pain free. The little break did make my knee feel a lot better. And so I decided to try a run again on Monday and it went really well. I guess I can be kind of dramatic sometimes.

At my ART appointment on Tuesday, I brought up the subject of running back to back days. Last time I tried it at Thanksgiving I could barely walk down the stairs but I thought I might be ready for it and my ART guy cautiously agreed. So I ran Wednesday morning - just an easy run and then planned to try another run Thursday morning on the treadmill at the gym.

Despite my grumpy face, I was excited to run. Just not quite fully awake yet.

Of course I was a bit nervous how my knee would feel and as I started running my knee was stiff but as I kept going it slowly eased away and I decided I was ready for a tiny tempo to see where I was at.

My biggest worry with this injury break was how much fitness I would lose. I had been in a really good place fitness wise and I have been trying not to think about how much endurance and speed I have lost. This morning I tried 4x1000m at tempo pace to test out where I was at.

And it went really well. I did 2 of the 1000s at 7:19 pace on the treadmill and then 2 more 1000s at 7:14 pace. This is a good place to start building my running back up. Now to just find a race to train for....

Also this week at my ART appointment we did a little assessment of how far I have come since my first visit back before Thanksgiving. Besides having better hip extension and flexibility now, I can also finally do a lunge without pain which I think is a huge step. Since the major problem (my hip) has been worked on, we moved on to other areas of my right leg.

I have had arch cramping and slight pain since I stopped running college track back in 2009. I remember when it first started and I really had no idea why. It has bothered me on and off since then but never enough for me to stop running. I always thought that my arch was cramping because I didn't have enough potassium, but I could never figure out why it was ONLY my right arch.

On Tuesday, my ART guy worked on my right shin muscles and I could feel a weird sensation down in my arch. Seems like the tightness in my shin was causing the arch discomfort. How crazy is that? It always amazes me how every part of the body is connected.

He also worked on my quad. At every appointment he always warns me that I "might" bruise but I never do until this week! It seems he may have finally pressed hard enough to cause a tiny little bruise. Please check out my lovely captioned picture for more information!

So it seems I am making a slow comeback to running. Things are feeling good and I although I am not 100% pain free, I can run and I know that I am getting better. Still have that weird bump on the top of me knee/patella though.

Happy Almost Friday!

***Just don't let me stop cross training a few months down the road.

Conquer the Morning

2011-12-14T13:44:00.001-05:00

This was me at about 5:50am this morning after my 3.75 mile run.

And I look pretty happy for someone who ran mostly pain free. It usually is so hard for me to smile in the morning. It's like my facial muscles will not work until I have a shower, coffee and/or breakfast.

I think one of the reasons I am able to get up and run in the mornings is because my alarm really is not going off that much earlier than my normal waking time for work if I don't work out.

Morning workout day - Alarm set for 4:45 or 5am depending on length of run

Non-morning workout day - Alarm set for 5:45 or 6am

It really is just an extra 45 minutes to an hour of sleep that I am missing out on. I think waking up in the morning for a workout gets tricky when you try and wake up so much earlier than you are used to.

Plus easing into a morning workout routine helps make it easier and with all new things, the first week is always the hardest and most taxing on your body.


Finally a decent picture of the moon

What time do you wake up for a workout compared to a non workout day?

A little peer pressure

2011-12-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

My running buddy has been an avid cross trainer for years. Every week, unless scheduling conflicts arise, you can find her at several cross training classes at the gym ranging from spinning class to Pilates. Every since we started running together, she has been trying to get me to come to those classes with her.

In the past I had refused, partly because I lived on the other side of town and it wasn't convient to attend the same classes as her. And I was afraid to go to the class at my own gym by myself.

So I continued on for months and months without much cross training. Then with the wedding, I moved across town and became closer to the gym that my buddy attends but I still resisted attending the classes. She did not give up on me and continued to pressure me to come to the classes.

And then I was struck with this nagging knee pain and my weekly running was cut down and I wanted a way to stay in shape. I decided that maybe my running buddy was on to something and I should try out some of the cross training classes.

The first class I attended with her was Total Body Conditioning (TBC) and it was awesome. Except for the next morning when I was sore EVERYWHERE, but other than that it was so much fun!

Now I am addicted and plan my weeks around these classes. On Monday there is yoga, Wednesday there is spinning class, Thursday is TBC and Saturday is Pilates. A very full week but after just a few weeks of attending these classes I can already tell a difference. I am understanding how important these classes are to my running ability.

Looking back, I wish I hadn't been afraid to attend the classes alone. Sometimes I am just so afraid to do new things alone. Thank goodness my running buddy kept on me and finally persuaded me to go. Having a buddy to go to class with will definitely help me to stay with it even when the running mileage goes up!

Are you afraid to try new things alone? How much do you cross train a week?

Mini Streak

2011-12-09T07:23:00.000-05:00

I have been on a mini streak for exercising consecutive days and it has felt good. Getting up every morning from Monday to Friday is tiring but its great to get that workout in before the day starts.

Last week I was able to get up every single morning and make it to the gym for a workout. This week, I made it four mornings before I called off my streak. As you can see, my smile definitely was not there yesterday morning. I was tired and grumpy but I wanted to run so I got up.

This morning when my alarm went off at 4:45am, I decided that 11 days in a row of getting up to exercise was enough so I reset my alarm and went back to sleep.

The other reason I decided to call off my streak is my knee. ART has definitely been helping me to feel better and I am pretty sure the original pain I felt back in November is gone. The Doc really worked on my hip these past few weeks to get all the scar tissue out that I had from my college injury. In turn, I now have better extension through my hip which is a good thing. The bad thing is that in my attempt to cross train instead of run, I may have caused another problem.

I have this very small fluid capsule on the patella of my knee. At first it really bothered me and going down stairs was tough but over the last few weeks it has gotten better. I am even able to run a few miles before I feel mild discomfort from it. With all my internet research I cannot find anything about this, so I have no idea what it really is but some days it does cause pain especially when I lunge. The lunge only hurts when my painful knee is the rear leg - when I lunge with my painful knee I am fine. But yoga (And of course ART) makes it feel better.

So there is still a lot of mystery left with my knee and it honestly is discouraging. Anyone who has had an injury knows that you just want to run pain free and there are days when you think you never will get to that point. I hate to see 2011 end this way so I know that I need to take a break. For me not doing ANY exercise is the hardest thing. I get grumpy and angry and not very pleasant. But in an attempt for a bright future filled with running, it may be that I need to not exercise and find a way to be ok with that.

And so that is my plan. Rest and then taking it one day at a time. And also not doing any crazy new cross training that maybe my body is not ready for. This is going to be tough. But I am already one day into my rest streak.

What I Ate Wednesday

2011-12-07T09:56:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday! And time for another What I ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons!

It seems like my meals are a lot more interesting on the weekends, so here is my eats from Sunday!

Breakfast

Coffee and two homemade waffles

Lunch

Grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with chips and oreos

Dinner

Giada's Macaroni and Cheese and salad and brownies

I have been trying out a lot of Giada's recipes lately and some of them have turned out really well, like this macaroni and cheese. It was the perfect Sunday night meal!

I am surprised that I made it through the day without a snack - I suppose that is what happens when you sleep in and have two big waffles!

Are your meals different on the weekends compared to the weekdays?

Someone reminded me this morning - 70 years ago today was the attack on Pearl Harbor. Definitely a day to be thankful for the sacrifices our soldiers in the past and present have made for our freedom.

Our first Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

When you live with a crazy Christmas addict, finding the perfect tree can literally take forever. Ok I exaggerate a little bit, but we definitely spent over half an hour roaming the rows and rows of trees at our local nursery trying to find the "perfect" one!

Christmas is by far Brian's favorite holiday so we had to look at every tree available until we found the best tree. We walked up and down the roads over and over again inspecting every tree. I actually thought we found the one we would take home and I took a picture.

But then we walked away and couldn't find it again! Further down the rows and rows we finally found the one - the one that would fit in my car and in our house!

The man working at the nursery kindly loaded it into my car and tied down the trunk and we headed home. Once home, we quickly cleaned up the living room to make room for our first Christmas tree!

And that is as far as we got! We don't even have any lights yet to put on the tree. When we went to Target later that night, they were OUT of colored Christmas lights! So we are just going to have to wait until another shipment comes in.

Don't worry little tree - we promise to decorate you very soon!

My family has had a fake tree for years, so this was a change to have a real one in the house. I am kind of excited about it but I am not excited about all the pine needles falling on the ground.

If you celebrate Christmas, which do you have? Fake or Real??

Happy Monday!

Blackjack (21 things)

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Marlene tagged me to play along and share 21 random facts that you might not know about me!

So here goes...

1. I didn't really want to change my name after I got married but I did it anyway - I really liked my old name but I know that Brian and I are now a new family and having the same name meant a lot to him so that is why I changed it.

2. I am scared to death of having to have a C-section when I have kids. I do not want that and hope that I can give birth naturally.

3. My first official road race was my freshman year of college. My basketball coach made us run the 5k after our two hour morning practice. I don't remember my official time, maybe 23:30 or so but I do remember my legs were so dead from the double workout.

4. I went to high school, college and now live and work all within a 20 mile radius. In fact, I currently work about a mile from where I went to high school. I sometimes wish I had gone out of state for college or even for my first job but I love where I live and don't know if I will ever leave.

5. My favorite food is pizza - I could eat it all the time and I often crave it. My favorite is homemade pizza crust with pasta sauce, mozzarella and tomato!

6. I have met some of my best friends through running. My running buddy and I originally met on DailyMile and I managed to convince her to join my running club. Whenever someone asks us how we met, I always feel weird because we met online and usually you don't meet girls and/or running friends online!

7. I love to cook but I had never made homemade sauce until a few weeks ago! It seems there are a bunch of things I have never made and I am making my way through the recipes.

8. My favorite time of the month to run is when there is a full moon on a clear morning. I just love the brightness the moon provides so I feel like I don't really need a headlamp. I always try to take pictures of the moon but they never come out!

9. I am currently an aunt to three beautiful little boys and soon to be aunt to another BOY! Seems like this family is just full of boys. Brian and I may be the last chance to have a girl!

10. Coffee really has no effect on me. I drink it every morning but it never really seems to wake up me. I enjoy having a hot beverage to sip on at my desk.

11. I am obsessed with cake platters. I have three already and have had to stop myself from buying more because I know I wont use them.

12. Last week I wore a sweater dress to work for the first time. Being the only girl in my group, I often get comments when I wear more fashionable outfits but this time I actually got some compliments!

13. When I was in high school I applied to West Point and Annapolis but I was wait-listed. I am not sure I would have gone if I had got in and if I had gone, I am not sure it would have been the right choice. I am pretty happy with the college choice I did make and how my life has turned out.

14. Every Christmas Eve, my aunt makes a full polish Christmas meal. It is delicious and I just hope that she will teach me the recipes that she learned from my Grandma.

15. I hate tight fitting clothes - I would much rather be in loose fitting clothing because it is more comfortable. I live in sweatpants at home.

16. If you were able to look at my iPhoto on my computer you would find more sunset and sunrise photos than anything else. I am kind of obsessed with them too.

17. I am 5 foot 9 inches (barely) and I played the forward/post position in basketball.

18. I have always wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride. Hopefully Brian will take me someday!

19. I am trying to sell my wedding dress - I would rather have someone else get use of the dress instead of having it just sit in a closet for the next 25+ years.

20. I hardly ever drink alcohol and I do not like the taste of beer but in the past few years I have begun to enjoy the taste of wine.

21. I have this strange, although slight, urge to run a marathon. The distance still scares me A LOT.

I am tagging people who commented on this weeks posts:

Jessica @ Running to be Skinny
Christine @ Dream Big Runner
Amanda @ RunToTheFinish
Rena @ Miles To go Before I sleep
Chelsea @ Theology and Geometry
Kim @ IlaxStudio
Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner
Amber @ Girl with The Red Hair
Molly @ I'm a Sleeper Baker
Miss Zippy
Elizabeth @ Racing Stripes

Happy Friday!!

WIAW

2011-11-30T10:55:00.000-05:00

I am following Marlene and posting What I ate Wednesday, hosted by Peas and Crayons! This is actually what I ate yesterday (Tuesday).

An early morning wake up call to hit the gym required presetting the coffee making to be all ready to go when I got down stairs!

Post gym workout breakfast at my desk

Lunch Time!

and then Dinner!

Breakfast: 2 cups of coffee with creamer, Quaker instant oatmeal cinnamon and spice with banana and apple

Lunch: Leftovers - BBQ chicken with stuffing and potato followed by Oreos, carrots and another apple

Dinner: Turkey and artichoke stuffed shells from a recipe by Giada - I made these ahead and froze them - (You have to make them), along with a salad and then more Oreos for dessert

This was a rare day for me since I didn't have a snack at work before or after lunch. Due to changes at work, I can't really have a snack currently which stinks (and I can't have a water bottle either). Hopefully this current work will be done soon.

I was trying to hit 7 fruits and veggies also but it is proving to be harder than I thought. Well there is always tomorrow!

Happy Wednesday!

Catching the Christmas Spirit

2011-11-29T20:31:00.001-05:00

Starting Monday morning off with a workout is the best way to start off a new week. I especially knew I wanted to get a good sweat fest in this past Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday and all the extra food I have consumed.

After a warm up on the elliptical, I hoped on the treadmill in hopes of getting in a good run but sadly my knee started to hurt. And it continued to bother me as I went to work and walked around all morning.

I had an ART appointment scheduled at 11:30am and was happy when it finally rolled around because my knee was really bothering me. My appointment started with some basic exercises that I preform every time I go to see my progress. I could barely do the lunges without pain and so the Dr. started to work on my hamstring and then my hip. Finally he worked on my quad and suddenly the pain was gone. It was amazing. I went about the rest of my day basically pain free.

Tuesday morning I woke up pain free again which was a great feeling. I really wanted to try and get in a run before my next ART appointment on Wednesday (plus the Dr. said he wanted me to). After a long day of work, I finally had a chance to get out for a run. I was so excited because my knee felt good and also because I wanted to check out all the Christmas lights in the neighborhood.

I really enjoy running in December because of all the decorations. It really gets me into the holiday spirit to see Christmas lights all around. Plus we have Christmas lights on our house too!

The run went well, only minor discomfort and tightness in my knee which is a huge step from Monday's run. I have another appointment tomorrow which I am excited to hear about. Now I just have to foam roll my quad and do my hamstring strengthening exercises! It is just so surprising how one muscle can cause so much discomfort. I really hope that we have found the answer and I will be able to return to running full time and start planning for 2012.

Happy Tuesday!

Post Thanksgiving update

2011-11-27T18:30:00.001-05:00

I had a great Thanksgiving and I hope everyone else did too! Things have been really hectic over here. Crazy problems at work have caused me to have to move from my regular work space to a new building where I am standing a lot. Even though last week was short week with the holiday, I still worked a ton of hours. Thank goodness this is only a temporary change and I will be able to go back to my regular work space soon!

In the past two weeks I have had three ART appointments and I think things are going good. My original medial (inner) knee pain has now pretty much disappeared thanks to the release of my psoas muscle and hip flexors but I now have lateral (outer) knee pain and pain in my knee cap. I have been able to run a little bit, but after being in a lot of pain Saturday I took a few days off to hopefully relieve the pain. Obviously I have a bit of pain when I run, but also when I go down stairs and when I try to do lunges (pain in rear leg). So its still a battle to be pain free but I am not giving up yet plus I have another ART appointment this week!

This was Brian and my first thanksgiving together as a married couple! We spent it with his family because we had spent the last two years with my family. It was nice to help Brian's mom prepare the meal and spend time together. I tried very hard not to over eat but I think that it is impossible with so much food around. Now that the holiday is behind me, I am ready to get back to a regular schedule and healthy eating.

Last weekend I also picked up a new pair of shoes, well actually I picked up two new pairs of shoes. I have been holding on to my old asics which really need to be thrown out. I just could not bring myself to get rid of them yet because I was using them as my cross training shoes and I had nothing to replace them with. I have been running in Brooks but I decided to try out Mizuno - I have never worn this brand so I am nervous but excited to try them out. I made sure to check to see what type of Mizuno was right for me since I need a neutral show. Seems I have been wearing mostly Asics for YEARS which are mostly stability shoes (I think...) but either way Asics haven't been working so its time for a change. And these shoes should work for cross training - not sure about running, but I am going to break them in first and then go from there.

My second pair is New Balance and I wore this brand when I played basketball in college. I got this pair to use for walking around and possibly casual Friday. Just needed a nice pair of sneakers that were not sweaty and gross and dirty.

So this is a bit of a rambling post since I haven't posted in a while and have had a lot of thoughts going through my head. I am hoping that this coming week will be a little less stressful and busy!

How was your weekend/Thanksgiving??

The battle of the lamp post

2011-11-21T14:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend may have been the last good weekend weather wise - perfect running weather with almost 60F temps and also perfect weather to put up the Christmas lights. Brian is beyond excited about Christmas partially because this is the first year in our house and also because he is just crazy about Christmas.

Saturday he spent most of the day hanging lights from every portion of our house and also from many of the bushes in the front yard. He then ran out of extention cords so he had to make a quick trip to the hardware store.

I waited and waited for him to come home, almost an hour later he finally returned with an extension cord and something else. At first he tried to hide the fact that he had made a purchase besides the cord but I was not to be fooled.

Soon there was another little addition to our yard...a Christmas lamp post. He had been begging me to let him buy this hideous thing for weeks and I firmly refused. I let him deck the house out with strands and strands of lights but I was not going to allow a silly, tacky lamp post to be placed in my front yard.

Now I am sorry to anyone who has this lamp post - its actually not that ugly - but I do not want that in my yard and so now its just principle. Saturday happened to be a windy day and before I knew it the lamp post had made its way inside and into the foyer. Apparently this lamp post was not sturdy enough to handle the winds and so it was going to makes its home inside.

Well I flatly refused! I told Brian to pack it back up and take it back to the store. It has not yet moved from its place inside.

I am not giving up yet....it may just disappear on of these days....

A day of firsts

2011-11-17T20:56:00.001-05:00

This week has been insanely hectic and busy. I started off thinking that this week was just going to be a normal low key week and in one day everything turned upside down and I was working long hours. On top of that I have tried to keep up with my cross training. It has not been easy and I can't wait until the weekend!

Even with the busy schedule, Thursday turned out to be a great day! It was a day of many firsts!

First, I joined my running buddy for Total Body Conditioning (TBC) class this morning at the gym. She has been trying to get me to go for months and I have always been too afraid, tired or busy running to go to the class. This week I finally went and it was intense! We started off easy with some basic warmup of aerobics which I failed miserably at. When everyone was stepping left, I stepped right. When everyone was jumping up, I was not. Just seemed like I was out of sync - guess I never would have survived in an 80s aerobics class. Eventually we got into the workout which was tough - a lot of lower body exerciese. I know I am going to be sore tomorrow.

Second, I went to my first ART (active release therapy) appointment today. A friend suggested I go today because of the knee pain I have been feeling. I was slightly skeptical because the doctor was a chiropractor but gave it a chance - what was the worst that could happen? The first part of the appointment was going over my history and explaining about my hip flexor strain in college and my knee pain last year. Then he worked on my quad, medial hamstring and psoras. Surprisingly I feel a lot better after the appointment and I am hoping to feel ever better tomorrow.

And Third, It snowed today! First real snowfall of the season! Guess this means I really have to get out all my cold weather running gear.

Happy (basically) Friday!!

Taking a break

2011-11-13T18:41:00.001-05:00

I hate taking breaks from running.

I hate that I had to admit to myself last week that taking a break would be the best thing.

I hate that even though I know rest is the best thing, I just want to be out running.

I hate that the weather has been perfect for running lately (60F and sunny).

I hate that my knee is bothering me.

I hate that I have been such a slacker on cross training since the spring.

I hate that my right quad is smaller than my left.

I hate that my hamstrings are so tight and I am so inflexible.

But...

I know that going to spin class each week is good for me.

I know that my legs love yoga on Mondays.

I know that taking a break from running now is better than taking a break in March or May or July.

I know that I need to cross train even after I am healed.

I know that I will not get "fat" because I took a break.

I know that my legs deserve a rest after a great year of running.

I know that I enjoyed sleeping in this weekend instead of getting up predawn for a run.

I know that I will be running again before I know it.

So its cross training for a few more days. Then maybe a test run. And definitely going to spin class this week. Other wise I'll be seeing a lot more of the elliptical. But I think I am ok with it. I have to get healthy for next year and that's what is important.

Don't be afraid of the dark

2011-11-10T09:01:00.001-05:00

After my post about 10 Reasons to become a Winter Morning Runner, Page from Twenty Six and Then Some asked a very good question -

"I must admit, my biggest fear and the reason I don't do it is because I'm afraid I'm going to get kidnapped or something!! What do you do to quell that fear?"

And as a woman and also a morning runner, I must admit that is one of my fears too. Even though I leave notes and let Brian know my routes each morning, if something were to happen, no one would really know. I could get hit by a car, become injured or be kidnapped and it would be a while before anyone would realize I was missing.

But these scary thoughts shouldn't deter us from running in the morning! Here are a few things that I do to quell that fear -

Run your routes in the daylight - Become very familiar with your normal routes while it is light out so that it will be easier in the early dark mornings. It is all about becoming comfortable and if you know that the second house on right has a flag that flaps or a dog that barks, you will be less likely to be scared because you will be familiar.

(If possible) Start your run in the dark and end it in the light - Certain times of year allow for this, usually not in the winter but with daylight savings time this will be possible at least for a few more weeks. Find out your local times for dawn and sunrise. For example, if dawn is at 6:26am and sunrise is at 6:56am, start your run around dawn or 6:30am and that way you will start in the dark but end your run when its light out. That way you slowly ease into running in the dark.

Wear a headlamp - This provides light for you to see as well as light for motorists to see you so it is twice as helpful. Being able to see the road ahead of you is vital to making a morning run easier and you are less likely to step in a pot hole or trip over a branch. It may look funny to wear one but no one is out there anyway to see you.

Run on well lit routes - Even with a headlamp, a dark street can look uninviting to a morning runner so I try to run routes that have street lights or neighborhoods with houses that leave their outside lights on. If you see a dark street and you feel uncomfortable with it then don't run that way. I have changed my route many times just because I have a funny feeling and don't think I should run down a certain street - always trust your gut feeling!

Becoming comfortable with running in the dark is a process and often takes time to get used to but is well worth it. In my 5+ years of morning running I have never been approached by anyone, no car has ever stopped to talk to me or ask directions and I have only scared myself with my own shadow a handful of times.

But while running in the daylight/afternoon, I have been stopped many times by motorists asking for directions and have cars scare me by honking at me. The dark mornings may seem scary but usually there are very few people outside and very few motorists on the road.

Happy Morning Running!

Final Race of 2011

2011-11-07T07:39:00.001-05:00

Despite a bit of knee pain last week, I still decided I would race on Saturday. This may not have been the smartest thing but a) I had already paid for the race and b) my knee didn't hurt when I woke up Saturday morning.

It was COLD Saturday morning - barely 30F when I woke up at 6:30am. I ate my oatmeal and drank my coffee and hoped that the temperature would warm up by the time the race started. I dragged a sleepy Brian out of bed and out into the cold morning for the race too. He wasn't racing but being the supportive husband that he is, wanted to come along.

We arrived with just over half an hour until the race start and I picked up my packet and met up with my running buddy. The sun was just coming up but the temperature was not getting any higher as we warmed up for the race. I didn't want to do too much before the race because I was afraid my knee would start to hurt and I wouldn't be able to make it through the race. Thankfully, I only felt a slight twinge in my knee which was more than manageable for the race.

The race was about to start and I quickly changed into my racing outfit! Racing singlet, capri tights, gloves and ARM WARMERS!! I was the most mismatched person ever for this race because of my maroon singlet and orange arm warmers but I felt good! Plus everyone else was wearing long sleeved shirts and pants - I honestly felt a little under dressed. Before I knew it, and before I really had time to get cold in my little amount of clothing, we were off!

As we started, I let everyone take off around me and allowed my pace to slowly dropped into the range I wanted for the first mile. I didn't want to go out too fast, I wanted to go a bit easy for the first mile and then speed up. After about half a mile the course got a bit twisty-turny with lots of turns which made running the tangents a bit hard. I tried my best to run the shortest distance but there is only so much multi-tasking I can do during a race. Maintaining the pace was my first priority.

Mile 1 - 6:39

Going into the second mile, I started picking up the pace. I was feeling really good and only felt a slight pain in my knee, nothing that was keeping me from hitting my pace. I wasn't sure if it was just the adrenalin or if my knee was actually feeling ok. I think all the turns actually made the race go more quickly because you could never see more than a quarter mile ahead so there was never a chance to psych yourself out with how much left there was to run.

Mile 2 - 6:36

I was still feeling good going into mile 3 which I was a bit surprised at. Continuing on, I picked up the pace even more and just pushed until the end. We finally turned onto the last straight away and I could see my breath in front of me as I started to breathe heavily. Less than a half mile, less than a quarter mile, just a tenth more...I counted down the remaining mileage and soon the finish line was in sight. I dug deep and pushed as hard as I could do the finish and saw that I had a new 5k PR!

Mile 3 - 6:24
Last 0.1 - 5:47 pace

At the finish, I felt pretty happy with this race. I had run the race exactly how I had wanted and felt great the whole time. Plus a new PR by 12 seconds was nice too. A great way to close out the 2011 running year.

Official Time: 20:30
Age group: 1/58
Female: 5th

Monday Knee Update: I woke up this morning (Monday morning) and just like Saturday, after a full day of rest, my knee feels fine. No pain, nothing. I planned to take off today already and wont run until Tuesday night which hopefully will be enough time for the pain to be completely gone. Still really have no idea why I was hurting - possibly runners knee or just IT band/butt muscle tightness. Last night I spent a lot of time sitting on a lacrosse ball (we don't have any tennis balls) and I worked out a few knots that I had which made my whole leg feel better.

Three Things Thursday

2011-11-03T10:49:00.001-04:00

1. Tuesday night I went to running club practice like usual. I wore my newest Brooks Ghost 3 shoes and felt fine although my overall pace for the 8 miles was a bit fast. Wednesday morning I was up at 5am for an easy run and wore my old Asics 2150s. And I had knee pain. UGGHH. There are a lot of reasons that I could be feeling pain, but I am hoping it is just the shoes. These babies have 603 miles on them and I have been using them on and off since July 2010. It is time for them to enter permanent retirement.

2. Saturday morning I am running another 5k. Quite possibly my last 5k and last race of 2011. I haven't decided if I will actually race this race yet. I just hope that my registration is all in order because last week I got a letter in the mail saying they had lost my registration but had my check. I think I know what happened - I registered under my married name with my married address, but my checks still say my maiden name with my maiden address. It's like I have two identities! Hopefully everything is straightened out now.

3. Daylight savings time is this weekend! I can't wait for at least a few weeks of lighter mornings. Currently the sun is rising on my way to work at. I maybe slightly obsessed with colorful sunrises/sunsets.

Good luck to everyone racing NYCM this weekend! Happy Thursday!

10 Reasons to Become a Winter Morning Runner

2011-11-01T09:57:00.000-04:00

Winter is upon us and instead of running for the treadmill, here are the reasons to continue to hit the road in the early AM.

1. You have to shower and shampoo anyway, why not do a workout first?

This way you also avoid the second shower later in the day and have more time for laying on the couch since you did your workout first thing.

2. Your clothes don't have to match because it is dark and no one will see you.

The chances of you running into anyone you know at 5am or even 6am on the street is highly unlikely. I actually feel more comfortable bundling up in my crazy winter running gear because I know no one will see me.

3. You start the day off with a caloric deficit.

It is a great feeling to know that you burned calories first thing and have the whole day to refuel.

4. You don't have to worry about eating the wrong thing before you run.

Even if you have to have a snack before your morning run, it most likely wont lead to you saying "I shouldn't have eaten that...." Running before breakfast just takes out one less variable from having problems on the run. Which also leads into #5...

5. It helps develop a tolerance for glycogen depletion.

A study was done to show the benefits of exercising before breakfast compared to other times of the day. It stated that running before breakfast increases the proportion of fat you burn which is a very good thing. This also can relate to that fact that running before breakfast will also increase your ability to run with low glycogen stores which will help you be a better runner. And who doesn't like to burn fat?

6. There is less traffic and you can run in the middle of the road (if you so choose).

On average in the mornings, I get passed by about 5 cars. When I run in the evening, on average I get passed by 500 cars. So I am exaggerating a bit, but its true - at 5am there is a lot less traffic which makes it a bit safer for runners.

7. Its dark at 5am and 5pm, so why not get your workout done early and out of the way?

In the winter, chances are no matter what time you run it is going to be dark. So why not run in the morning?

8. It is far less likely to storm in the pre-dawn.

Now I am not a weather expert, but in my experiences I have seen that winter storms usually come in during the late afternoon and evening. Usually by 5am, the plows have been out and cleared the roads.

9. You have an excuse for running a bit slower.

If the temperature is already below freezing and you didn't manage to hit your paces on that tempo run, just blame it on the early morning run.

10. There is just something about being alone in the dark morning when its snowing.

Enough said. Quiet snowy mornings are just something you have to experience.

What else is missing?? Feel free to add to the list!

First 40 mile week

2011-10-31T09:32:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday morning!? Not so much - I am dragging today and two cups of coffee is just not going to cut it.

The main reason I am so tired today? Well, I hit 40 miles last week for the first time ever!

This year I have really pushed my body farther than I thought I could. Before this year, I was stuck in a rut of 20-25 mile weeks and 80 mile months. And then I took a look at my training and decided I needed to change things. The way I was training was not going to allow me to become a stronger and faster runner.

So I changed my plans and each run began to have a purpose. I started running 30 miles weeks and 100+ mile months. And slowly I got faster and stronger.

And then this week, I hit a new milestone of 40 miles in one week! It was not easy and I am definitely feeling the effects of it now but it was worth it! It was worth it to see if I could handle it and push my body farther than I had before!

My 40 mile week

Monday - Yoga
Tuesday - 8.7 miles => 2 mile warm up, 2x (400m @ R, 800m @ I, 1600m @ T), 2.95 mile cool down
Wednesday - 3 easy miles
Thursday - 8.8 miles => 1.5 mile warm up, 2x18 min at T, 2.24 mile cool down with strides
Friday - off
Saturday - 13.7 solo miles (Longest solo run ever)
Sunday - 5.8 easy miles

It really was a process to increase my mileage from 20 to 30 and now to 40 miles per week. Since I am not training for anything I have been following a semi structured plan with a few rules that work for me:

1. Four week cycle - three weeks of increased mileage and then one cutback week. This way I ensure that I get a rest week every once in a while.
2. Long runs - I try not to have two weeks of back to back long runs. One week I may run 13 miles and then the next will be 8-10 miles. Running back to back weeks with longer long runs really tears up my legs.
3. Run easy - Keeping these runs easy and slow has been a key part of my training. Often I look forward to an easy/recovery run because I can just go out and enjoy the run.
4. Five runs per week - I have been running 5 days per week since the start of 2011 and it seems to really work for me. Every once in a while I will have a week of 6 runs but it doesn't happen very often.
5. Streaks - I try not to run more than 4 days in a row, most times I keep my streaks at 3 days.

AND the most important one...

6. Increase mileage not speed - As I mentioned last week, pace matters, so I only increase my paces after a race when I have had adequate rest and recovery. When I am increasing my mileage, I maintain the same pace for tempo and long runs to ensure that I don't over work my body.

This week will definitely be a cut back week. I need more rest after that week of running plus I have my last 5k (maybe) of 2011 this weekend.

How do you increase your weekly mileage? What is your highest mileage week?

Hot and Addicting

2011-10-28T08:49:00.002-04:00

So I can't take good pictures of food...yet. I am working on it! So keep that in mind and just trust me when I say that this is the best and easiest recipe ever for a sweet potato (or even a regular potato).

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs - Iowa Girl Eats - she always has great recipes that are easy and tasty! Plus she always takes photos of each step which I really need because I am totally a visual learner.

Baked Parmesan Garlic Fries
(adapted from IGE Recipe)

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato (you could add in a russet potato too)
1 -2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs (or panko bread crumbs)
salt and pepper
garlic salt

Directions:
1.Wash potato and slice into 1/4 inch slices (the thinner = crispier) and soak in water for at least an hour to remove starch, the longer they soak the better.

2. Preheat oven to 450F degrees. Drain potatoes and pat dry with paper towel. Add slices to a bowl and add in olive oil and mix together. Season with parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and garlic salt. I used my 1/4 cup measuring cup but I did not fill it all the way with the bread crumbs or cheese since I was only making one potato. If you have more potatoes, add in more seasonings. Mix well to ensure that seasoning is coated well onto potato slices. Place slices on non-stick baking sheet.

3. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, flipping half way through, until potatoes are golden brown and cooked all the way through. Once removed from oven, allow to cool for a few minutes so you don't burn your mouth, then enjoy!

Super Easy. I was slightly pressed for time so I made a few changes to this recipe - First I made these after work so I didn't have time to soak them for more than 30 minutes but they still came out. Also I was baking a pork tenderloin at the same time so I set the oven to 400F degrees and baked them for 45 minutes. This was an easy way to use potatoes and they tasted so good!

Tasty Tuesdays!

A weekend with Joanie - Part II

2011-10-27T10:41:00.002-04:00

We left off on Saturday morning with the XC race. Once everything was all set - all the races were finished, it was time to go home because later on we had a running team dinner with Joan. I was super excited about this because I had not had a chance to get a picture with her yet.

Once we got home, I immediately took a shower to warm up and also get all the caked mud off. We relaxed for a few hours before heading to the dinner. Once we were there I could not wait to eat - I was so hungry. Who knew that XC racing could cause my appetite to go crazy!

After dinner, Joan spoke to us again briefly. She really seemed to be enjoying herself even though I could tell she also wanted to get back home. I bet is tough to be traveling so much.

After dinner I worked up the courage to go over to her and ask for a picture. I was so nervous but she readily agreed. My running buddy jumped in too and you can tell from the picture we are both quite tall compared to Joan (we are both wearing flats - Joan was wearing her Nikes!)

After dinner, everything caught up with me - the long week of work and planning for the XC race, all the running, the racing, just everything. I had planned to try and get up early to run to the nearby farmers' market but I started to have second thoughts and decided that I needed a day to sleep in.

As we were walking out the door, my coach came up to me (and my running buddy) and pulled us aside. He said that Joan had expressed a great desire to run the next morning before she boarded her plane home. She wanted to run on the canal path that runs through the suburbs and our coach wondered if we would like to join her. Of course I signed myself and my running buddy right up! We were in! My sleeping in plans went right out the window.

Sunday morning was ANOTHER early morning. 6:30am the alarm went off and I rolled out of bed. The first thing I noticed was that the inside portion of my quads near my knees were very sore. But that wasn't going to stop me from running with Joan Benoit!!

I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise as I ate my breakfast and got ready to go. It was a bit chilly out and I opted to over dress instead of being cold. I am sad to say that I gave in and wore my LONG spandex. It's official - its getting colder out and winter is almost here :(

I made the short drive to our meeting place and waited for everyone to arrive. Soon enough it was time to start and we headed to the canal. The sun was shining brightly and we started out at what seemed a decent pace, but Joan quickly warmed up and I saw the pace on my garmin dropping.

The first mile was around 7:45 and we didn't slow down. Joan was very talkative and seemed to be really enjoying herself. The second mile ticked by in 7:21. My legs were a bit tired but I knew I could hold on to the pace we were running. The second mile ticked by in 7:05. She was going FAST and I didn't know how long I could keep up with her or if it was even smart to try. The fourth mile ticked by in 7:17.

As we headed into the fifth mile, I knew I shouldn't continue at that pace - I didn't want to hurt myself by pushing too hard, so at the 4.75 mile mark, I stopped and waited for my running partner who had decided to slow down a bit earlier. We let Joan continue on for a little and decided to try and get a head start back. Joan caught back up to us at about the 7.5 mile mark and just kept on going!

First 4.75 miles with Joan - 35:14, 7:25 pace
Second 4.75 miles back - 37:32, 7:54 pace
Total - 9.5 miles, 1:12:46, 7:39 pace

My legs were dead after this run but I was so happy for the once in a lifetime chance to run with Joan. She was truly amazing and such an inspiration! The rest of the day I spent resting on the couch with my recovery socks. It was a good weekend!

Pace Matters

2011-10-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Every time I run, I always make sure to record my time and distance using Dailymile and RunningAHEAD. I really enjoy using DM because I like to connect and share with other runners, but it doesn't offer the advanced statistical options that RunningAHEAD does. I love to see a graph of my workouts, comparing pace or distance over time.

Just a few days ago I was thinking about last year when I was injured and couldn't run. I was facing severe knee pain with no explanation as to why it came about or how to fix it. I have often wondered what caused my pain and I think I know the answer - running TOO fast and not recovering.

Using RunningAHEAD I was able to compare my pace from last August (2010) before my injury to this August (2011). It became clear that my pace from August 2010 was a lot faster than my pace in August 2011.

August 2010 Paces

August 2011 Paces

This past August, I had more runs in the 8:30 min/mile range than I did in 2010. Now of course this is just one month, but honestly I know that I was running too fast before. Looking back at 2010, a lot of my easy 3 milers were done at 8 min pace which did not allow my legs to recovery at all. Now I run my easy recovery runs at a goal pace of 8:40 min/mile. Some days I am able to go faster, some days I am not. I also know that I was running my tempo paces too fast. I would go out for a run with my running club and when the workout would call for tempo pace, I would usually end up running my interval pace. I wasn't using a VDOT that was close to my fitness at that time - I was going off a PR and VDOT calculation from over a year ago.

So how do you figure out what your easy pace (or tempo pace) should be? Well I use the VDOT system, which is very similar to McMillan or any other running calculator which takes a recent race distance and time and then outputs the paces you should be running for interval, tempo, long and easy runs.

Using the VDOT chart and inserting my current and recent 5k PR, it says my easy runs should be at 8:50 min/mile, while using McMillan, it says my easy runs should be at 8:13-8:43 min/mile. The McMillan chart breaks the paces down more specifically to recovery runs, easy runs and long runs. It is really all about personal preference.

Click to enlarge

Over the past two years when I have really been focusing on my running and trying to become faster, I have learned a lot. I know that I need to slow down and run the pace designated for each run. It is all about staying healthy and uninjured!

What's your easy run pace?

How about a little mud?

2011-10-25T07:40:00.001-04:00

Yes I ran a cross country race this weekend, but that does not mean I enjoyed it. It was TOUGH and MUDDY, but let me start at the beginning.

After arriving at the race course on Saturday morning, I met up with the girls running the race. We have a bunch of women who are in the open division (19-39 yrs old) but most of the fast girls were running in another XC race on Sunday so they needed some girls to take their places. That is the only reason I ran this race - for the team.

Guess I missed the memo to wear my hot shorts instead of capris.

It was a chilly 45F at the start and I was freezing my butt off waiting for the gun to go off. I had a goal of just trying to stay with one of the faster girls. She is more experienced with XC races and so I thought that if I could stick with her then I would do well.

I also promised myself that I would NOT look at my garmin during the race. I knew that would psych me out if I looked at my garmin and saw that my pace had dropped because of the mud or a hill. I decided that I would go off of my "perceived effort" and just go as fast as I could for as long as I could.

Soon we were off and running across the open field. And then I hit the mud and it was so hard to go fast in the squishy, muddy grass. I was not happy already with the race and running and I wanted to be done but I still had a long way to go.

I rolled through the first mile in just over 7 minutes which was way too fast considering we had two hilly climbs in the first mile. My legs were on fire and I was already tired. I couldn't resist so I looked at my garmin to check my pace and was pleasantly surprised. I pushed on and headed into the second mile and also the longest hill.

I knew that Brian was out on the course as a marshal but I had no idea where he was. I also had no idea where the two mile marker was so I just kept pushing on. I hit an especially muddy area and just got frustrated that I could not get solid footing on the ground. When I finally came out of the mud soaked section, I rounded a corner and saw Brian. I must have had an extreme death face on because he stopped mid cheer and became quiet and just clapped for me. I just wanted the race to be over.

The next section was probably the easiest with only a few muddy sections and a small hill. I resisted the urge to look at my garmin and just pushed on. Finally I rounded the last corner into the final straightaway to the finish. The clock was in sight and I saw it had just ticked over into 22 minutes. I was shocked - I thought I would finish so much slower.

My final time, unofficially by my gamin was 22:35 and I was pretty happy with that. It was a tough, muddy course and although I hated almost every second of this race, I knew that it just made me stronger as a runner.

After the race, I became aware of how much mud I had managed to get on myself. Good thing I wore my old Brooks shoes! Here is a picture of my shoes before the race:

And this is my shoes and the back of my legs after the race:

And my shoes after the race:

Ugg I hate mud. I don't think my old brooks will ever look the same. Overall it was a good race - I guess I always say that post race. Our team ended up winning the race which was an added bonus.

Official results:
Time: 22:34
Place: 28/36
Female: 7/11

A weekend with Joanie - Part 1

2011-10-24T07:19:00.000-04:00

I have been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time. This was the weekend that Joan Benoit Samuelson was coming to town! A few months ago, well back in the early summer, my coach gave us some great news - that the running club had finally gotten word that Joan had said yes and would come to my town to run in the National Masters' XC race in October.

Well October came around pretty quickly and Joan came in on Thursday night and spent Friday talking to high school cross country teams from the area and then that night she spoke to my running club! When I first saw her in person, she was so much smaller than I thought she would be, but she was super cute, humble, gracious, nice, and well spoken.

It was such an honor to hear her speak - I was just amazed at her story of having knee surgery before the Olympic trials. To hear her talk about it in person gave me goosebumps. I can't imagine going through what she did. Then she talked about the Olympics and she said her favorite moment during that race was running down the empty LA highway.

As she spoke she talked about how her running life has changed and how now her 5k pace is only about 10 seconds/mile faster than her marathon pace. She is still faster than me by a long shot.

The one thing that she said that really stuck out to me was,

"...you don't have to run a marathon to be a runner. There is too much hype and too much pressure on the marathon. Running should be about enjoying it."

From the mouth of the 1984 Women's Marathon olympic gold medalist. For someone who has not run a marathon, it really was inspiring to hear her say that. I have often felt like less than a runner because I don't have the desire to run a marathon or to run Boston.

Time really flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go home and get some rest. The next day was the race and a tough XC race at that.

Saturday was an early morning and Brian and I were up before dawn to head out to the XC race. I had volunteered to be the volunteer coordinator so I had to get down to the race site early. I had also been persuaded by my coach to run in the open division of the XC race - talk about a very busy day. Being over booked as usual, I bribed Brian to take my place volunteering so when we arrived he headed out on to the course to marshal and make sure all runners stayed on course.

The open division race was first 9:30am, followed by the masters women's race at 10:30am and masters men's race at 11:30am. Things were pretty quiet before the open race started - there weren't too many people who wanted to come out on a cold morning to run on the grass, hills and mud.

My XC race went decently well, but this post is more about Joanie so I'll post my report later on.

Joan was in the masters women's race (obviously!) and I made sure I was at the start line while Brian was out freezing on the course. He really is the best - he gave up over half of his weekend to spend time with runners and help out at the race.

The women's masters race was amazing to watch. Many great runners all together in one place along with Joanie. She took off and was in the lead pack before all the runners disappeared into the trails and woods. Not long after, she was back around and headed to the finish. I was shocked at how fast her turnover was - she was FLYING!

She finished in 20:17, still way faster than me and she is twice my age! Seriously she is just an awesome lady! After Joanie finished her race, I grabbed some food and headed back out on to the course to help out Brian. I felt so bad that he was stuck out there all alone. He was a good sport and we spent the rest of the time cheering on the men's race and spending time together.

Beautiful trail!

Yes we are having fun although its cold!

Brian - being a great course marshal

It was a great day, but the fun was not over yet! Stay tuned for Part II!

Foodie Friday: Birthday Cake

2011-10-21T08:07:00.001-04:00

Things have been a little bit busy around here - who knew that life would be busier post wedding?!

A weeks ago, we celebrated Brian's birthday and of course I made him a cake. A few years ago, I started a tradition of making a cake for Brian's birthday. That first year was a complete disaster and I messed up the ingredients so badly that the cake was not even edible. It was my first attempt at homemade cake and a homemade red velvet cake at that! Well, I learned my lesson and now upon request from Brian, I make his cake using a mix from a box. Someday I will master the art of homemade cake baking!

So here it is - the beautiful birthday (from a mix) cake! I used the last of our wedding candy (from the candy buffet) to decorate his cake. It was quite delicious!

This weekend is going to be busy - Joan Benoit is in town to speak to my running club and run in the National XC Race here on Saturday! Can't Wait!!

Happy Friday!

The worst time to grocery shop

2011-10-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

It has been said before that the worst time to go shopping for food is when you're hungry. Well, in fact I believe the worst time to go shopping is after a tough running workout. But today it couldn't be avoided because we really needed milk. And since I was already at the store for the milk, I decided to stock up on everything else we needed for the week.

And 45 minutes later, I left the store with 10 bags of groceries. And I even forgot one thing on my list - canned pumpkin! I heard it was almost out of stock in our area so I wanted to pick some up but I think I got distracted and just wanted to get home.

Tonight's running club workout was really tough. This weekend we are hosting the National Master's XC Championship so we met at the course for practice. As I have mentioned before, I do not like cross country but somehow my coach talked me into running in the race.

During the workout as we were scaling hill after hill I was definitely regretting my decision but I am already signed up so there is no turning back now. I need to just remember what my coach says - cross country training makes you stronger.

Tuesday Workout:
Continuous run on trails (with 0.25 mile jog recoveries)
800m at tempo
2x1200m at interval
1x800m at tempo
4x200m strides

We were running along and everything was going great until three of us got separated from the group on the course and got lost. We missed a turn and ended up running about a half mile extra out of the way. Good thing the course will be marked on Saturday!

This workout was so much harder because it was on the trails. Every time I thought I was going fast, I would look down at my garmin and be surprised that it showed such a slower time. I guess that is just how it works with cross country. I am just glad the workout is done so I can relax.

What's your hardest workout?

Runners' Hair Love

2011-10-16T21:34:00.001-04:00

My hair endures a lot of abuse. Every morning I run, it goes up in a very tight ponytail and then if its a work day I will blow dry and/or straighten it.

I try to avoid washing it too much but when I sweat I usually end up shampooing in order to not look like a total grease ball. My hair is pretty fine and most of the time I just don't want to bother spending the time styling it so I just let it air dry and then it looks like I just rolled out of bed (as one of my co-workers fondly said one day)!

So last week I finally got a hair cut - a good hair cut. Previously I would just wander into any salon and tell them that I wanted my hair "trimmed" and just a straight cut. Well 15 weeks post crappy hair cut, I would look like this...

This time I made an appointment at a salon where a friend works and had her actually style my hair. She added a few slight layers and a bit of a face frame - nothing drastic but a bit more girly and easy to manage. Here is how it turned out...

Perfect! Still long hair - still able to put it up in a ponytail but now I have life in my hair and an actual style! And I love it. Now I just can't get lazy and I have to do my hair everyday!

Now I just have to figure out some good products to use in my hair so I don't destroy it by blow drying and straightening it everyday!

Do you style your hair everyday?

Do you take Vitamins?

2011-10-12T08:56:00.002-04:00

When I first started running track in college, I was extremely tired. I would run in the mornings, similar to what I do now and then work all day. When I would get home, I would eat dinner then collapse on the couch and be exhausted and ready for bed by 7:30pm.

As this went on for more than a week, I went to my doctors to have some blood drawn and tests done. The results came back that I was in good health except for a vitamin B deficiency, probably due to my increase in mileage volume. So I started taking a multivitamin every day and my exhaustion went away.

Fast forward 3 years and I am still taking a multivitamin along with a vitamin D supplement and vitamin C supplement and flax seed. Do I really need to be taking all these vitamins? If I stopped taking them would I really noticed a difference?

Yesterday my lovely husband, who is aware of my vitamin taking activities, sent me an article about a recent study done on women who take daily vitamins -> Research Finds, Vitamins may increase women's risk of dying.

Really?

Honestly I don't believe it. I mean how can having too much vitamins cause you to die earlier? I am not a doctor, but I thought that if your body didn't need the extra vitamins, it just flushed them out of your body.

I have been taking the multivitamin, vitamin D and C for a long time but just added the flax seed at the beginning of summer. Within in a few weeks I noticed that my nails were stronger and my hair was a bit healthier. Just proves that I personally do need some extra vitamins and I am not getting enough from my "healthy diet".

What do you think? Do you believe this study? Do you take vitamins daily?

October 5k Race Report

2011-10-10T21:30:00.000-04:00

October is the time of 5k races in my town. Seems like there are quite a few every weekend. There are only a few that I look forward to every fall (when I am not injured like the last two years...) This past Saturday was the Scarecrow 5k, which is one of my favorites because of its flat course and I signed up early this year. In fact I signed up before the wedding AND I signed up under my married name ;)

Although Brian had not been running or training, he begged me to sign him up too and so I did. He came along as we met up with all my running group friends and did a easy warm up on the crisp morning. We have been having a streak of clear sunny days and I have been loving it and Saturday was no exception! Soon after the warm up the race started and we were off. The best part about home town races is that you get to start up close and there is no weaving or dodging slower runners.

I enjoyed the first mile when the pace actually felt good. There was a slight downhill and I coasted through the first mile. I was ahead of my planned pace (planned = 6:40, actual = 6:32) and was feeling good so I thought that I would be able to at least hold this pace or negative split the race but how naive I was.

At the 1.5 mile mark we hit a dead turn around which really slowed down my momentum. That was my least favorite part of the course. All through the second mile I was feeling the honeymoon - I could tell that I had lost a bit of speed due to all my relaxing in the past few weeks. My second mile was definitely not a negative split.

Going into the third mile I tried to speed up. But it didn't work and with most 5ks my legs were starting to hurt. I hoped I could hold onto the end and soon enough the finish line was in sight. I knew I had a PR but I really didn't care at that point because I just wanted to finish and stop running.

Mile 1 - 6:32
Mile 2 - 6:37
Mile 3 - 6:46
Last 0.1 - 6:08 pace
Finish time: 20:40 (6:40 pace)

Once again someone managed to catch my death face at the end of a race - really need to work on that.

Walking through the finishers shoot I did not feel good. I pulled over to the side and dry heaved. This is the first time since my college track days when I have almost been sick and just like always it was not fun. Thankfully the feeling passed quickly as I downed water.

I am happy with this race and my new PR by 18 seconds! Finally breaking 21 minutes in the 5k has been a goal I had pursued for years and often thought it might not be attainable.

Brian finished a few minutes after me (25:02) and he actually PR'd too (by +30 seconds)! I was really proud of him and he was pretty happy with the race too! He thinks he ran so well because of his new shoes which also happen to be his favorite color! I am not so sure about that - I think it is because he ran with one of my running group buddies and had a good pacer so he didn't go out too fast.

Another 5k race in the books - and even though it hurts really bad, this race distance is still one of my favorites!

Real Double

2011-10-09T19:14:00.001-04:00

Back in July and August, I talked about my fake doubles. The times when I ran at night and then again the following morning. After a very busy September, I finally had a free day to do whatever I wanted which included run twice.

I love doing double workouts - there is just something invigorating about working out twice in one day plus it helps strengthen your running, so its a win-win!

Fitting in doubles, especially for the second workout which for most people (including me) would happen after work. When the end of the day rolls around, the last thing I want to do is workout. The couch is always more inviting so I decided to try and fit in my double on a weekend.

My first run was at 8am - it was quiet and a cool 53F. The sun was bright and the sky was blue. Just a perfect fall day.

First Run -
3.55 miles/31:38/8:52 pace

After a little grocery shopping and football watching, I changed back into running clothes and set out again. This time it was a hot 80F at 5pm but still clear and sunny! I ran the same route as in the morning and was happy to see that my pace improved and my legs felt less lethargic and tired.

Second Run -
3.55 miles/30:06/8:29 pace

So which one is better - a real or fake double? I think I am still on the fence. For me a fake double is way easier to fit into my schedule, but mixing it up with a real double ever now and then is fun!

Happy Running!

Essentials for a cold and dark run

2011-10-06T13:03:00.000-04:00

First off, let me just say that this is my favorite time of year to run. The cooler weather, the leaves changing colors, the perfectly clear blue skies - I just LOVE it. That being said, I will still complain when the temperature dips below a certain point. This morning was the first taste of winter coldness and I did not like it. It was cold, like 38F/3C cold. Like "I can see my breathe in front of my face" cold. I am not ready for it to be this cold. Thankfully we have some summer-like weather for the next week. Hopefully I wont be seeing any more 30 degree weather for some time.

Two iPhone apps, Two different temperatures...hmmm?

I bundled up for my run - gloves, headband, sweatshirt. But I refused to wear long spandex - I stuck with my capris. I am holding out for November on the long spandex - we will see how far I really get! Besides being cold this morning, it was dark at 5am. It has been dark in the mornings for a while, but once again I refused to bust out my headlamp. I always wear my reflective vest when its dark but the headlamp to me just signifies cold weather and winter.

So here are a few essentials for a cold and dark morning run:

Headlamp!

Gloves + Garmin

Spandex capris!

Reflective vest and little flashing red light.

It was a good run this morning - beautifully clear sky with all the stars. Since I have a 5k saturday morning I took it a bit easy -> warm up + 12 min tempo + recovery +4x50m strides + cooldown = a good Thursday run!

Post run

Ready for work - how about that scarf? Its an infinity scarf that I bought last spring - finally getting the chance to wear it - Brian makes fun of me in it, he says it looks funny!

On another note - I officially changed my name at the social security office today! This is just the first step of so many but at least it is a start. And it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I would have changed it yesterday BUT I forgot the marriage certificate at home. Opps!

And another note - I have been feeling really out of whack lately - my muscles feel tight and I have had stomach/digestive pains more often than not in the past three weeks. It really hasn't affected my running, but I wonder if my body is finally coming down from all the commotion and excitement of the wedding. Maybe I am just finally not stressed out any more. Who knows.

Happy Thursday and Happy Running!

I am so over this thing called XC

2011-10-05T13:32:00.000-04:00

Every fall my running club begins to ramp up for the fall XC season and every year I think to myself...

"Maybe this will be the year that I will like cross country...?"

And every year I HATE it. I hate running on the grass and the hills and just everything! I have been this way for quite some time and I don't know why I would think that it would ever change.

My first official cross country race was in fact a race put on by my very own running club. In August of 2005, my mother convinced me to run a XC race as a training run for my second year of college basketball. I thought I would like it, but I hated every minute of it. I knew during that race that there was a reason I never ran XC in high school and played soccer instead.

Last year, I tried to run XC again and although I still hated, it I thought that maybe I should just keep with it. And then I got injured. And I blame the grass and the trails and the hills - I blame XC for my injury. So this year I played it smart. I have been avoiding the trails and the hills and the grass and I have stuck with running on the roads and so far so good.

The only proof that I actually ran a XC race - even though it is blurry I am positive I have a death face

I feel like I am just a runner who likes the roads. I like the sound of runners shoes on the asphalt. I like the feeling of roads clear of cars for races. I just like the roads.

So last night at my running club workout, I decided to ditch the grass XC workout the rest of the team was doing and run the same workout on the road. It felt good to run fast on the roads and not worry about spraining my ankle or falling in a hole. I dragged my running buddy along too and we had quite a nice time sprinting down the road as we did two sets of interval and race paced repeats.

And I didn't miss running on the grass at all.

So which is it for you? Cross Country or Roads?

September Recap

2011-09-30T23:59:00.000-04:00

Average Temp: 72F/22C

Miles run: 112.2 miles - passed 1000 miles for the year!

Rest days taken: 9 days

Highest mileage week: 9/12 - 9/18 with 28 miles

Average pace: 8:11 min/mile (same as last month!)

Races: Buffalo 15k - the last race with my maiden name!

Current Obsessions: Wedding Photos! Cannot. Wait. To. See. Them. ALL!

I think we were saying "We're Married!! AHHH!"

Current Blessings:
1. My uncle having successful heart surgery this week and being released from the hospital tomorrow!
2. A stress free life and a free schedule! I love having more free time than I know what to do with now that wedding planning is over! My weekly calender is completely empty and it is the best thing ever!

Current Excitement: My running club is hosting the National Master's XC race in October....and we are having some special guests!!

Current Bane of My Existence: Changing my name! Who knew it would be so difficult! Pain in the butt!

Current Read: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It is a collection of connected short stories about a woman named Olive and her immediate family and friends in the town of Crosby in coastal Maine. I also started and finished The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson while on our honeymoon. It was a pretty good book - the sometimes graphic portions were hard to read.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Free hot chocolate at work. I had about 4 cups today.

Hope your September was great! Bring on October!

Rewarding Yourself

2011-09-30T09:28:00.000-04:00

This week has been rough. As if coming back to work after two weeks off wasn't bad enough, I decided to throw in three early morning runs along with it. Monday was my first 5am run at our house and it was DARK outside. It was a bit scary at first because I wasn't completely comfortable with my route but once I got going everything was alright.

Then I faced a dilemma - our weekend is too packed for me to guarantee that I would be able to fit in a long run on Saturday or Sunday. So I decided to try for a long run on a weekday morning.

Thursday morning I was up at 5am and out the door for 9.3 miles at an easy pace. It was a long and dark run and I only scared myself once with my own shadow but I got it done. I decided that because I had accomplished my goal of getting up and out for a long run I should treat myself, so I packed a little snack pack in my lunch.

Leftover peach rings and swedish fish from our Wedding Candy Buffet!

Friday morning I decided to fit in a tempo workout because my schedule was so mixed up and I didn't know if there would be another time this weekend to do this workout. Waking up Friday morning was even harder than Thursday and I honestly considered going back to sleep. I was up and out the door by 5:10am and ran 2x2 miles at approximately tempo pace to complete 6.2 miles.

This run was tough - I had picked a loop with a giant hill which really killed my legs. But I made it and finished the workout. So as I was packing my lunch once again, I included a slightly larger snack pack as a reward for compelteing two great workouts on weekday mornings and running 15.5 miles in two days!

Leftover peach rings and Peanut M&M's from our Wedding Candy Buffet!

My legs are definitely dead now and will enjoy a full rest day tomorrow - AND sleeping in! For me, rewarding myself is definitely the best motivator! Do you reward yourself??

Have a great weekend!

Mr. and Mrs. Morning Runner go Honeymooning

2011-09-28T08:47:00.003-04:00

The morning we were set to leave for St. Lucia, Brian and I were up at 3am to get to the airport in time to make our 5:45am flight. Now we may be morning people but that is really EARLY! We made a quick stop at Tim Hortons' for some coffee to help us stay awake.

The next few hours were a blur of waiting to board, flying, sitting in JFK airport, waiting to board again and then flying 5 hours to St. Lucia. We finally made it there by 3pm in the afternoon and I was starving and tired. The drive to the hotel was about an hour over some very hilly terrain. It was beautiful though.

Scenery along the way to the hotel

When we finally got to the hotel, there was a nice surprise waiting for us along with a plate of snacks. I basically scarfed those down as quickly as possible. Dinner wasn't set to happen until 6:30pm so Brian and I set out to do some exploring to distract us from our hunger.

The view from our room/balcony

The little surprise waiting for us

After a satisfying and filling dinner Brian and I decided to just go back to the room and rest. The sun had set at about 6:30pm so we were pretty sure that St. Lucia was an hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time. We continued to think this until the next day when Brian finally found his watch and told me that we were not actually an hour ahead. The sunset and sunrises were just so different from home.

The next few days were filled with sun and lounging at the pool. Brian loved having the swim up pools so he could go and get drinks very easily. We ordered food by the pool most days and just enjoyed relaxing!

I basically lived in my bathing suit except for when I worked out or went to dinner. It was awesome. On the 4th day of our trip we took a catamaran boat ride to the other side of the island to see the beautiful Pitons! You may recognize these mountains from the finale of the Bachelor a few years ago with Jake and Vienna. We actually sailed passed the resort that they stayed at!

The Pitons

Jade Mountain resort - Host to the Bachelor Finale

Once we got to the little village by the Pitons, we got off and were taken on a tour of a botanical gardens and also the sunken volanco. The sad part is that during the botanical gardens my camera battery died. I was so upset and partially blamed Brian for not reminding me to charge my camera.

The gardens were beautiful and even though I was bummed about my camera, I soon was over it and just enjoyed out little excursion.

The next two days were once again relaxed by the pool and ate lots of food. The best part was that there were actually great sunsets to enjoy from our balcony!

It was such an amazing trip and I loved St. Lucia - such a beautiful island and so relaxing. I am just so thankful that we didn't have a run in with a hurricane. It only rained a few times during the trip and for the most part the temperatures were in the high 80s (26C)! I am so glad that we waited a few days after the wedding before going on the honeymoon - that way I was all rested up and ready to enjoy the sun and fun.

Vacation Running

2011-09-27T14:15:00.001-04:00

Since we still don't have internet at our house, I am working on ways to get the pictures from the honeymoon onto the blog. I seem to be making it a bit more complicated for myself but I hopefully will have some tomorrow!

In the mean time, I wanted to talk about fitting in exercise while on vacation or in my case, on a honeymoon.

I ran almost every day while in St. Lucia except for the day we arrived and the one day we had an early morning excursion trip planned. So for the duration of the trip, we were there for about 8 days, of which I exercised for 6.

Now if I had kids and went on vacation, I do not know how I would have fit in exercising, but since it was just me and Brian it was a bit easier. We of course wanted to spend time together so we went to the hotel gym together. Just 30-45 minutes a day and we got a decent workout in which made eating a ton of junk food the rest of day seem not so bad.

Each morning whenever we woke up, we would change into workout clothes and head to the little gym. A quick workout and then we were off to breakfast before lounging all day at the pool. Before I left I came up with a few easy workouts that I used during the trip to help maintain my speed but not take up a ton of time. It was definitely a bit different running on the treadmill after running outside consistently but I actually didn't mind it too much.

Easy Vacation workouts:

1 mile warmup, 2.5 miles at tempo pace, 0.5 mile cool down, total = 4 miles
1 mile warmup, 5x800m at tempo pace w/ 400m jog recovery, 0.25 mile cool down, total = 5 miles
1 mile warmup, 2x2000m at tempo pace, 0.5 mile cool down, total = 4 miles

Three good tempo paced workouts, with easy runs sprinkled in between to help recovery. Keeping it simple was definitely the way to go - maintaining a focus of just trying to fit in ~4 miles each day didn't make the workout seem overwhelming or too time consuming. I am definitely glad I was able to get some good workouts in while on vacation.

I really wish I could have run outside while in St. Lucia! It definitely is a VERY hilly island which could have been fun to explore or maybe not - I don't really like hills anyway!

Do you run while on vacation? Or do you just take the time off from all exercise?

Back from the honeymoon!

2011-09-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

Brian and I are back!! After a long day of traveling and being delayed in JFK for hours we made it home safe and sound from our honeymoon! We had such a great time relaxing for a week in beautiful St. Lucia! Although I didn't get to run outside, I was able to hit up the hotels gym for some tempo and easy runs. It made me feel better eating and drinking so much if I at least got a little workout in. I wish I could post more but we currently don't have Internet at the house and it's hard posting from my iPhone :( thanks for all your comments on our wedding photos - I still can't believe it's over and we are married!!

Guest Post: Running To the Aisle

2011-09-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

While I am on my honeymoon, I asked Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2 who is also a newlywed to do a guest post for me! Enjoy! I will be back soon!

Being a newlywed myself (I was married on July 23rd), I could completely relate to J over the last few months as she had been planning her own wedding, was a Maid of Honor in a friend’s wedding, as well as training for a big race.

So I was super excited when J asked me to return the favor of guest posting for her while away on her honeymoon, as she did for me while I was on my honeymoon!

In the last three months, I have also planned my wedding, been training for my second marathon, and was a bridesmaid in my good friend’s destination Vegas wedding.

My trick for success with all these huge important life events was to run it out!

I say that like it was totally an easy thing. But honestly when the wedding planning got to be too much, and all I wanted to do was have a cry fest and eat a tub of ice-cream to chill myself out, I threw on my running shoes.

And I just ran.

Just the time away from all the craziness in my life was enough to clear my head. The runs leading up to the wedding were by far the most important runs I’ve ever done.

I remember squeezing in a 12 miler run just hours before my very own Bridal Shower, and feeling on top of world the entire day.

(I PR’d in a half-marathon just one month before the wedding)

I also remember my last run as a single lady, just two days before the big day!

(See… only the engagement ring)

I always felt like there was never enough time to squeeze in my runs, and usually wanted to scratch those as the first thing to go.

But in reality, they helped keep Bridezilla & Cryzilla to a minimum, and made everything seem doable again.

If you are person with a lot on your plate and don’t think you can train for a big race and deal with everything else you have going on, you might think again.

Running up until the day I married my best friend was the smartest thing I did. It helped keep me calm (I had the endorphins going) and well it sure didn’t hurt during my dress fittings either!

My husband and I even incorporated our love for running into the theme of our wedding!

Life is always going to be crazy, and I am just so glad I found something that I enjoy that helps me when I feel I like too much is going on.

If you would like to follow me on my journey through training for my second marathon, please stop by over at Beyond Destination 26.2!

Guest Post: Tune-Up Races

2011-09-15T07:30:00.000-04:00

I'm Marlene from Mission to a(nother) Marathon and I'm honored that J has asked me to provide a guest post to share during her honeymoon. J and I have been blog buddies for years and I have loved following along on her running adventures from the competitive college sprints to long distance. We share a love for dark morning runs and candy, and now we will share an anniversary too! (I got married on September 10, 2005)

The topic I've chose for this post is tune-up races, which I believe to have played a big role in my own running success.

Anyone who has read my blog probably knows that I like to race. A lot. In 2010 I completed 20 races, and I'm at 14 so far this year.

Of course, each event is not going to be an "A" race. I choose my goal races (where I hope to PR) carefully and plan my schedule around them.

After that, I fill up the rest of my calendar with races that have other purposes. I strategically plan tune up races throughout my training plan, which allow me to practice things like pacing, hydration/fueling and even wardrobe in a race situation. I also find that the more I immerse myself in the whole race routine (from nerves to logistics), the more comfortable I become with the process.

If you want to get better at racing, you need to race more!

5K and 10K races are a great way to get in some speed work - don't you find that those faster paces come much more easily when you're on the clock? I also use half marathons or 30Ks frequently as supported long runs and find that it's a great way to shake up the routine and keep things interesting during marathon training. I've even been known to run a 10K (or longer) warm-up before a half marathon, and then use the race to practicemarathon pacing.

Aside from these races with "purpose", I love to include some races exclusively for fun. Traveling to a new destination (like Disney!) or dressing up in costume and running with friends is a great way to find joy in the sport.

Are you a race addict like me?
What's your take on tune-up racing?

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or would like to share your own experience, please leave a comment or feel free to visit me at http://marleneontherun.blogspot.com

Thank you J for hosting me and all the best on your wedding and honeymoon!

The best day of my life

2011-09-14T21:19:00.002-04:00

On Saturday, Brian and I officially became husband and wife. It was the best day of my life, although there have been many great "race" days as well.

Our awesome photographer was able to give us a sneak peak of a few of the pictures...we wont have the rest for about 4-5 weeks. Hopefully those weeks will fly because I CANNOT wait to see the rest!

So enjoy these few pictures of our amazing day!

I asked the bridal party what photos they wanted to take and they said a jumping shot so we did it!

Race nerves or Wedding jitters?

2011-09-09T14:44:00.003-04:00

In exactly 24 hours from when I am writing this I will be marrying Brian. Wow. I just got even more nervous than I was before.

I know every bride says it - but I CANNOT believe that the day is finally here. At times it seemed like this day would never some and other times it seemed like the time was just flying by and I could not get things done fast enough!

This morning I went for a final run before the wedding. My final run as a Miss and my final run on one of my favorite routes. I have spent so many quiet mornings on that route and I will be sad to not have it right outside my door anymore.

Someone asked me a great question today -

Will you be more nervous for a goal race or your wedding?

I am more nervous to walk down that aisle tomorrow than I ever have been for a race. Every time I think about it, my stomach turns to knots. I am so excited but yet I am so nervous. Hopefully tomorrow will be exactly like a race - once I get going I will feel fine and the nerves will just fade away.

I am nervous I will trip and fall.
I am nervous I will cry.
I am excited for Brian to see my dress.
I am excited to get MARRIED!

It has been a long journey to get here. This morning my mom and I went and got pedicures and manicures - that was the final thing on my "To Do" list.

Red toes to match my red shoes and the red bridesmaids dresses.

Brian and I wont be leaving for our honeymoon right away so hopefully I will be back with some sneak peak photos! Thank you everyone for all your help, support, advice and kind comments!

Have a great weekend!!

Recovery: To run or not

2011-09-07T11:29:00.002-04:00

The day after a race - do you run or do you rest?

Often I have chosen to rest. After my half marathon in May, I took two days off from running. But yesterday I decided to run even though I had just raced Monday.

And it was well worth it.

My legs were tight, my left hip was sore but once I got going I felt pretty good. I kept the pace pretty easy and enjoyed a leisurely run in the 60F fall weather with my running group. And after the run, I felt less sore and my legs didn't feel as bad as they had before.

Today - two days after the race - I definitely need the rest. It seems like the second day after a race is always the worst for me. I cancelled my run for today (partly due to all the rain we are getting) and pulled on my recovery socks in order to have a good recovery rest day.

Until I got into work - then things became a little different. Most of my collegues know that Brian and I are getting married this weekend, in fact one of the groomsmen works with me. So a few of the guys put together a plan to punish me!

I have to walk around the whole day with a ball and chain attached to my leg. Seems like I might be doing more sitting today than I planned since it is really hard to get around with this thing.

Happy Wednesday!

My last race with my maiden name

2011-09-05T20:59:00.000-04:00

It is officially WEDDING week and I was hoping to start this week off with a bang by running a 15k race. It was perfect timing as I could run my last race with my maiden name!

All week the weather said 80% chance of rain for Monday morning which was slightly depressing because I did not want to run a race in almost pouring rain. Sunday night was pretty rainy with lots of lightning but when I woke up just before 6am on Monday there was no rain! Thank goodness!

I wasn't really nervous for this race - I just wanted to go out there and run a good race! I ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee and we were on our way. For a special treat, Brian's mom and dad came with us to the race. I was touched that they took the time to come and cheer me on!

We arrived at the race with time to spare and I picked up my bib and waited for my running buddy to arrive. Somehow I had managed to convince her to run this race and use it as a training run for her half marathon in two weeks! I was excited to at least have someone there to warm up with and wave to on the out and back course!

Running buddies!

Walking to the start.

Soon it was time to go! With out much fanfare, the gun went off and we were off. I took off much too fast but the pace didn't seem to hurt and I could not slow down. It took me almost a whole mile to rein in my pace to just over 7 min/mile. We had one small out and back portion first and I saw everyone in front and behind me which was a great boost. The course was right by the lake and it was just beautiful to run by. Just before mile two I passed my little spectating crew! It was great to see them but sadly that was the last time I saw them until the finish.

Still happy!

The next portion was a long out and back loop and as I continued on, the group I was with slowly began to thin from 10 runners to 6 to 4. An older man and I ran with each other for almost 5 miles and it was great to have a pacer but I fell behind in the last mile. The course was apparently a net down hill but there were two long gradual hills from mile 3 to 5 which took its toll on me later. By mile 8, I just kept telling myself - "one more mile that's 7 minutes, that's easy you can run for 7 more minutes!"

I didn't realize my time until I turned the corner and saw the finish clock ticking up. I was so surprised to see it tick just into the 1:06 times. I sprinted as fast as my legs would take me and crossed the finish line - thankful to be done! It was an awesome race that really was just a blur for me. I think I was concentrating so hard on putting one foot in front of each other that I missed many of the details of the race.

Now there is my death face!

To the finish!!

Final Stats
Time: 1:06:21 (a five minute PR - previous time of 1:11:13)
Place: 101/544
Female: 23/246
AG: 5/40

I could not have asked for a better way to start this week! I cannot believe that I ran so fast today and in just under 5 days I will get to marry Brian! Basically this is going to be the best week of my life!

Three Things Thursday

2011-09-01T11:59:00.000-04:00

1. This mornings run was very eventful. First I forgot to charge my garmin so I went out with only 27% battery left. Then I was about a mile down the road when I saw lightning flash in the distant sky. I am not sure if it was the approaching storm or the low battery but my garmin was acting all crazy and I think the paces may have been a little off. Or I really could have been running that fast just to get home and out of the storm!

Made it home with battery to spare - recharge needed!

2. We are having a candy buffet at the wedding (they are the favors) and I have ALL the candy stashed in my closet! It is really hard to go in there without coming out with a piece of candy!

A drawer in my closet! Very tempting! (peach rings and chocolate covered pretzels!)

3. SINGLE DIGITS!! 9 more days people! Cannot believe it is almost here. Everything is almost done - and I mean that! I am literally going to relax and enjoy this weekend because I will be finished with everything by tomorrow!! Oh yeah and race day is only 4 days away!

Have a great Thursday!

August Recap

2011-08-31T19:39:00.035-04:00

Average Temp: 79F/26C

Miles run: 131.9 miles - Wow that is a lot! My second highest mileage month ever. Only 70 miles to go until I reach 1000 miles for the year!

Rest days taken: 9 days.

Highest mileage week: 8/8 - 8/14 with 35.4 miles

Average pace: 8:11 min/mile

Races: Only one - I ran in one of the running clubs XC races. Nothing special just a little tune up!

Current Obsessions: The weather. Between the race and the wedding, I have been checking the 10 day forecast non stop!

Current Blessings: My friends - their support and understanding has helped me to get through the last month of stressful planning!

Current Excitement: THE WEDDING!! Less than 10 days! Oh yeah and the 15k race I am running on September 5th!

Current Read: NOTHING! Please help! I need a good book to take on the honeymoon for our flight! Any suggestions!??

Current Guilty Pleasure: The Real Housewives of New Jersey! Every time I turn on the TV this show seems to be on and I get sucked it!

What's a post with a picture - so just for fun - here's a picture of some shoes I was eying at the a store last week. Hate to say it but I have been staying away from the high heels :(

How was your August! Cannot believe it is SEPTEMBER!!!

I'm not good at math

2011-08-31T09:17:00.000-04:00

Only a few more runs stand between me and the 15k race on Monday. I haven't raced a 15k since last summer so I have been trying to figure out what my goal should be. Sure I can add and subtract, multiple and divide with the best of them. But figuring out pacing times or adding running times together - I just can't do it. And then I found this handy little app that has been a life saver.

In my nice little running folder I have this amazing app which is so simple to use - its called Pacer.

This app gives you three options for calculations - pace, distance or time. All you need is two of the variables to figure out the third one -

To find the pace - enter run distance and run time.
To find the distance - enter run time and run pace.
To find the time - enter run distance and run pace.

It makes calculating times or paces for runs and races so much easier! I just used the "Time" calculation to figure out how long it would take me to finish the 15k if I ran it at tempo pace (7:10/mile).

Easy peasy....saved me from a few headaches of trying to add up paces. Its nice having this app on my iPhone so I don't have to be near a computer to figure out info for my run. What's your favorite app?

Happy Wednesday!

Wedding and race taper madness

2011-08-25T10:20:00.000-04:00

I am literally going crazy over here. I am stressed to the max; I am snapping at my best friends, I am having mini breakdowns in stores, I am second guessing myself.

This is wedding taper...the crazies set in. This is far worse than Bride brain. Add regular taper on top and my mind is running wild!

I have learned in the last few weeks that sitting and staring at a spreadsheet does not actually get anything done. I have learned that you have to actually go out and do things. You have to make decisions and move on. Live with the outcome - good or bad.

I have learned that wedding planning is like marathon (or for me half marathon and 15k) training!

Sitting on the couch staring at the training plan will not make me a faster runner, just like sitting on the couch staring at my wedding spreadsheet does not get me any closer to crossing off all my "to dos".

I have to get out there and do things! I have to get up early and run my workout and do my best. I have to make decisions and be happy with them and NOT second guess myself. When I put in the work and time, I know that the outcome will be the best it can be.

And the important thing for me to remember is that my wedding is a snapshot of who I am on September 10th, 2011. My decisions were made because this is what I like right now! I don't need to think about the future or think "will I look back and think this is tacky?" NO - this is who I am now at this point in my life and everything will reflect that.

Just like running a race - at the time of the start, I am the runner that I am. I have trained, I have done what I can to get to that point and that race is a snapshot of the runner I am on that day, at that time. I should not look back and think what I could have done differently. I should not second guess my training. I am the runner that I am.

And as the days wind down to the race and to the wedding, everything will fall into place. I have to believe that. I need to believe that everything will go smoothly and be wonderful. I need to believe that I will race well and enjoy every step. That I will enjoy every moment.

Meanwhile I am just trying to keep my head above water and not let taper madness completely take me over!

16 days!

12 miles in 12 hours

2011-08-24T08:40:00.000-04:00

I did another fake double - a run Tuesday night and then another run this morning.

Last night I showed up to running club with every intention of running 7 miles. I am technically in taper mode for the 15k so I need to start cutting back my mileage. But then my running buddy convinced me to run 9 miles, with 6 fast miles thrown in there.

The workout was 2x(2mi at half marathon pace + 1mi at threshold) with a 3 minute rest in between sets. It looks hard just looking at it and it was. (Goal paces = 7:35 and 7:10)

First set miles: 14:52, 7:08
Second set miles: 15:10, 7:03

The first set of half marathon paced miles was a little fast. We were able to pull back a bit on the second set and then crush the threshold portion. It felt good to run this workout - a sort of accomplishment when we finished that we could do it.

First run done.

Wednesday morning hadn't even dawned yet when my alarm went off and I headed out. And it was DARK! As I said before, I am house sitting so I was running in a new area this morning - although it is not totally unfamiliar because it is actually close to where I went to high school. I haven't run on those roads in over 7 years and it was good to be back, although it was dark so I couldn't see much.

3 miles in 26:15 (8:45 pace)
For a total of 12 miles in 12 hours => 1:37:45 (8:09 pace)

After the run, it was time to get ready for work. And of course I had a little company! Somebody likes the shower!!

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday vs. Saturday Long Runs

2011-08-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

For my half marathon training in the winter/spring, I was a dedicated Saturday morning long runner. It just worked with my schedule - plus my social and wedding planning schedule was a lot more flexible. Although the mornings were often dark and cold, I enjoyed getting up, completing my run and having the rest of the weekend ahead of me. But recently with my summer schedule, Saturday mornings have just not been possible. Which got me thinking - which day do I like best for a long run?

Sunday Mornings

Pros:

You can sleep in on Saturday morning
You have all day Saturday to hydrate and fuel without the distractions of work
The traffic on the roads is even less on Sunday mornings
You potentially can have a social life on Friday night

Cons

Early wake up on the last day of the weekend
You can't have too much fun on Saturday night

Saturday mornings

Pros

You get your run done early and have the rest of the weekend to enjoy
Going out on Friday night? Who am I kidding - I can't keep my eyes open past 9pm on a Friday night
Sleeping in on Sunday!

Cons

I always eat way too much all weekend after a Saturday long run because I feel I "deserve it"
Waking up early on a Saturday after a long week of work is tough!

It is a tough choice but most weekends this summer, my long run has been predicated by other plans. I think Saturdays are the best day for me because I love having the rest of the weekend free! Plus my running group meets (early) Saturday mornings so there is always someone to run with. It may be tough to get up, but I think Saturdays are my favorite!

So the question remains: Sunday or Saturday???

Isn't she cute? This is my new buddy for the next few days

since I am house/cat sitting!

What a weekend!

2011-08-22T09:22:00.000-04:00

Good morning!

I needed to come back to work just to get a break from the full weekend I had! My work place does "summer hours" from July 4th to Labor day so we work Mon-Thurs, 10 hour days. It is tough but so worth it to have Fridays off - especially when planning a wedding!

Friday, I had my hair and makeup trail along with my final dress fitting! I usually never wear make up so it was a change to have all this make up on my face but the girl did a great job and it looked pretty natural. I still fit in my dress (YAY!) and everything is good to go for the big day!

Saturday, I woke up at 5:30am to meet up with the running group for one of my last hard long runs before the 15k. My running buddy and I did a super hard workout in the humid morning which took alot of out me, but I still have a jam packed day ahead.

10 miles w/ 6 miles at HMP (~7:35) or faster - turns out we ran faster (~7:26 pace)

Then I went shopping for a few last minute supplies before working on my wedding projects. I am keeping all my projects a secret until after the big day but I can say that everything is coming out better than I expected! I am so excited. Anyway - I don't even want to know what the check out guy at the grocery store thought I was doing because I had such a jumble of random items!

Any guesses on what my wedding projects are??? I have hinted to them before...

I am still feeling quite overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I have to get done in just 2 and 1/2 short weeks but I know it will all get done!

Sunday, I barely got to sleep in as I had another bridal shower - for my cousin who is getting married in October!! It was a fabulous event with great food and great people. I especially loved the centerpieces and I am even thinking about using the idea at my wedding!

So simple and beautiful!

Overall it was a whirlwind weekend of running and wedding stuff. Only 14 more days until the race and 19 until the big day! How was your weekend? I can't wait for next weekend!

I know it's late August

2011-08-18T09:31:00.000-04:00

This morning I headed out for my usual Thursday tempo run and it was dark. Like pitch black dark, can't see your hand in front of your face dark.

Thank goodness for the tiny half moon that was shining, otherwise it would have been a really long dark run. The only thing I really worry about during these dark runs is falling and/or stepping in a whole and twisting my ankle. Although I have had my fair share of falls, thankfully I haven't fallen recently.

As I was running my warm up mile, I noticed that I could once again see Orion's belt in the dark sky.

This is always a sign to me that we are officially entering the end of summer :( The mornings are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter. It always seems like summer goes by to fast.

Morning workout -
2x2 mile at threshold (~7:10 pace)

My legs did not want to go this morning - holding a 7:19 pace for the first 2 miles was tough and then a 7:16 for the second set was even harder. This kind of makes me worry about the 15k coming up because I wanted to hold my tempo/threshold pace for that race. We will see - there is till 18 days before the race.

In other news - I have my wedding hair and make up trail tomorrow and then my final dress fitting. I am very excited about this. I have a hair style picked out and I can't wait to see how it looks with my dress and make up and jewelry!

Married ladies - how did you decide on your wedding day look??

Thank goodness it is THURSDAY!! Have a great one!

Losing Weight

2011-08-16T14:10:00.000-04:00

When I got engaged over a year ago, I never thought about losing weight for my wedding. I was basically happy with my body - of course there were a few areas that I wished were firmer and toned but I was happy with how I looked.

I have always been primarily skinny. In high school I maintained a weight around 135-140 (I think), I didn't weight myself much because I was in three sports and eating whatever I wanted - oh to be a teen again. The first year of college I gained 15 solid pounds of muscle as I was playing basketball full time and lifting weights. Even with the weight gain I still felt good and happy with my body. I didn't start to lose that weight until my fourth and fifth years of college when I ran track - but my mileage was low because I was a sprinter so I never really shed a lot of pounds - just changed my body shape. My once basketball body slowly began to morph into more of a runners body.

Fast forward to the beginning of this year, January 2011 when I started seriously training for a half marathon. I was running more mileage than I had ever run before (30 miles a week or more) and I started to lose weight. The training combined with a ton of work and wedding stress, caused me to drop more than a few pounds by the time my half marathon rolled around.

And I liked how I looked; I didn't really notice the weight loss until someone at work mentioned something to me about how skinny I looked. When I finally took a step back and looked at my body I saw that I had lost more than a few pounds. I continued to run through the spring and into the summer, averaging many 30+ mile weeks which for me is a lot compared to before when I was barely managing 20-25 miles a week.

Last week I had a doctors appointment - my old doctor moved away so I had to go and meet my new doctor. She was very nice and asked a few questions about my running and lifestyle and I mentioned how I had lost weight in the past 6 months. She looked up my records from the previous year and we found this:

Last doctors appointment ~ Fall 2010, Weight = 151 pounds
New weight at Doctors, Summer 2011, Weight = 137 pounds

That is a fourteen pound drop in a year. I was shocked. I did not think it was that much. I knew I was skinny, I knew I could fit into my clothes from high school, but I did not know I had lost 14 pounds in over a year. The doctor said it wasn't a major concern YET - she said that I really couldn't afford to lose any more weight because then I would be at risk for problems down the road like low calcium and osteoporosis.

A part of me worries about this weight loss hurting my body, but another part of me is liking the new me. Its not a huge change but I have become leaner and stronger in my running. I figure that I didn't need that extra weight - otherwise my body wouldn't have lost it.

Here are a few pictures from the past few years...

At Brian's brothers wedding - August 2008

End of fifth year of college - College track regionals, May 2009

Wedding dress shopping - January 2011

My 25th Birthday - March 2011

10k Race - June 2011

This past weekend at my second bridal shower

My MOH and I at my bridal shower

So there has been a change in my body over the past three years. The big drastic change has been in the last 8 months but I have slowly changed my body since I left college. I wanted to transform more into a runner because I always felt big and bulky because that is the body I needed to play college basketball.

I think that it took the pictures from this past weekend AND my doctors appointment to finally have it sink in that I have lost weight. I know that I am running more than ever but I think stress from the wedding has also played a role in this. Obviously I have not mentioned much about my stress levels due to the wedding but it has been a struggle. It has been a lot of pressure and stress put on me by my family and I have used running to deal with that stress. Much of this has been extremely personal so I have chosen not to share the painful details because I want to forget a lot of what has happened. Thankfully Brian and my friends have been there for me to help me to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it will be here soon!

The point is that - even though I have lost weight, I am happy and I am happy with my body. You would think with all the stress I would stress eat and gain weight, but apparently it is the opposite in this case. After the wedding, we will see what happens.

Finding a race

2011-08-11T13:21:00.000-04:00

Every Tuesday night at my running club, our coach makes a few announcemnets before we start the workout-

He talks about any awesome race performances over the past weekend from members
He goes over the workouts for the 5k/10k people, half marathers and marathoners
He discusses upcoming volunteer opportunities at running club sponsered races
AND he talks about upcoming races

Tuesday night was no different, except that he mentioned a new race. A 15k race on September 5th.

My eyes went wide with excitement that I might actually be able to jam this race into my schedule, just 5 short days from my wedding. We ran a few warm up laps and I pondered the idea and wondered it I was even in shape to race a 15k.

I asked coach what he thought and of course he was on board with the idea since he is also running the race. So I took my old half marathon plan from spring and revamped the final four weeks for the 15k. Everything just came together so easily.

The 15k distance has to be one of my favorites and I am excited to get to race it again this year since I missed out on the Boilermaker. My coach said that this course is flat and fast so I am hoping to break my PR of 1:11 from last year's Boilermaker. Now I just need to talk my running buddy into running it with me!! Only 25 days to go...and 30 until the wedding!

Oh my Shoe!

2011-08-09T11:51:00.000-04:00

My current running shoes just crossed a major milestone - 500 miles! Its nice to see these shoes lasting longer and longer - in the past I have ditched my shoes around 400 miles because my knees would start to hurt.

I think I have been able to run more miles in each of my shoes because
1) I have been training more and my body is stronger and
2) I use two pairs - one for easy runs and one for my tempo, interval and long runs

My Brooks Ghost 3s are used for all tempo, interval and long runs. I love how light they are and I think having a less clunky shoe has helped my feet and legs to get stronger.

My asics 2150s have been with me for a long time and I only use them on easy runs. Often they feel bulky and big but the extra cushioning helps on my easy runs.

Since I started recording my mileage and tracking my shoes in May 2009 I have gone through 6 pairs - my current two pairs I use are both above 500 miles. Guess it is time to go shopping. I think I want to pick up another pair of Brooks Ghosts! Sorry Asics.

Also since I started recording miles, I have run 1,987.8 miles. Wow. That is a lot. And 823.3 has been just in 2011. It is amazing to see the improvement in the past 2 years and to see that I can run more miles!

Whats the highest mileage you have put on a pair of running shoes?? Happy Tuesday!

Wedding Talk: Jewelry

2011-08-05T12:27:00.000-04:00

I am not a jewelry person - my mom often joked when I was in high school that I would get engaged and never wear my ring because I never ever wore jewelry.

I got my ears pierced a month before my senior prom so that I could actually wear real earrings. After that I only wore earrings for special occasions or when I happen to remember to put them in.

Well now that I am engaged, I do wear my engagement ring every day but that is the only jewelry I wear consistently. Sometimes I will remember to put in earrings or wear my watch but usually I don't.

With my wedding approaching quickly I have been on the search for the "perfect" jewelry for me. Something that is slightly flashy but not over the top - something that is me. A few weeks ago I finally found the perfect bracelet and earrings.


Wedding earrings

I wanted a cuff bracelet because I have such small wrists and I needed a bracelet I could fit to my wrist.

Wedding bracelet

A few days after I found my wedding jewelry, I got a call that our wedding bands were in too!! It had been such a long time since I had seen mine so I was excited to try it on again with my ring.

And Brian got one too

For one day I think I can handle all this jewelry and then go back to just wearing my rings. Except when I run - I never run in my rings.

Do you like jewelry? Do you run in your jewelry??

Happy Friday!

Super Soggy

2011-08-04T07:57:00.000-04:00

After many, many days of scorching heat, yesterday's full day of rain was a welcomed change.

I headed out after work for an easy recovery run. I didn't realize how much Tuesday night's running club track workout had taken out of me until I started running. My legs felt heavy and didn't loosen up for over a mile but finally I settled into a relaxing pace.

This was only my second run from my new house and I enjoyed exploring some of the nearby neighborhoods. Thankfully I did not get lost and made it home but by the end of the run I was soaked from the rain. It wasn't really pouring rain just a light drizzle but I still looked like a wet dog when I arrived back home.

Yay Rain - Green grass again!

This morning (Thursday) I did NOT want to get up and run but I knew I needed to because I have plans for tonight. My legs were still feeling Tuesday's 800s and I barely was able to hit my half marathon tempo. Thankfully it is done and I can enjoy the rest of my (busy) day.

Tuesday's killer track workout:
2 mi warm up
8x800m (Yasso's) at 3:25-3:30/800m
2 mi cool down

Wednesday's easy relazing run:
4.5 miles at 8:40 pace

Thursday's "I wish I was still sleeping" tempo run:
5.5 miles with 3 miles at HMP (~7:40ish)

As I was running this morning I was seriously lacking motivation and I was trying to figure out why. It has to be the fact that I am following a full blown half marathon schedule with no Half marathon race in sight. Two of my running buddies from running club are running a half on September 17th but I will be on my honeymoon so I can't run it. But I am still training with them. I am finding it harder and harder to dig up the motivation to run when I have no goal race! I guess that means that I need to find on ASAP!

How do you stay motivated with no training plan?? Happy Thursday!

Wedding Questions Answered

2011-08-03T07:47:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who asked a question...I am going to start with answering some of the questions about the wedding.

Amber asked -
How did you and Brian meet?
Brian and I met in our second year of college. It was the first week of school and we had a class together. I saw him sitting outside our professors office and I went up to him and asked for help on the homework. From then on we spent a lot of time together doing homework and just hanging out but sadly we were both seeing other people at the time. Through the next few years we stayed in touch but didn't really hang out as much. Then in our fourth year we had class together again. I was going through a messy breakup and he was there for me. Soon after we started dating and have been together for 3 and 1/2 years.

Elizabeth asked -
What's been your favorite part about planning a wedding?
I love the details - picking out the perfect invitations, designing the guest book, planning the candy buffet! There is just so many little things that go into a wedding and I love how everything is finally coming together! I promise to do posts soon to show you what I have done!

Suzy asked -
What are you looking forward to most about your wedding?
I am looking forward to the cake! I can't wait to have a huge piece - it is going to be delicious! I am also looking forward to walking down the aisle and seeing Brian - I have been keeping my dress a total secret from him and I can't wait for him to see it!

Marlene asked -
Will you go for a run on your wedding day?
That is a tough one - right now the schedule is pretty tight and I would rather not get up before dawn to get a run in but I may depending on how stressed I feel. What do you think? Should I get up and run the day of my wedding??

July Recap

2011-07-31T23:59:00.042-04:00

Average Temp: 79F/26C - the average temp does not reflect the massive heat wave of 90+ degree temps we have had this past July!

Miles run: 126.3 mi - 5th month in a row of 100+ miles

Rest days taken: 10 - pretty standard for me since I usually run 5 days a week.

Highest mileage week: 35 miles (7/18-7/24)

Average pace: 8:19 min/mile

Races: No race July

Current Obsessions: Looking at other people's wedding photography! Have you seen Page's post about her gorgeous wedding??? I just cannot get enough!

Current Blessings: Brian. He is single-handedly keeping me sane while everything starts to get crazy as we get closer and closer to the wedding!

Current Excitement: Bridal shower and bachelorette party for me THIS weekend! Woohooo!

Current Read: The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card. Let me start by saying that I love Orson Scott Card. We had to read Ender's Game in high school and I just started to reading more and more by him. So when I saw he had a new book out at the Library I scooped it up. And once again he did not disappoint. This book is slightly similar in context to the movie Jumper.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Jelly Belly jelly beans. Seriously, my sugar intake needs to come way down.

I cannot believe it is AUGUST!

Three Things Thursday

2011-07-28T14:37:00.000-04:00

1. My run this morning was horrible. My stomach was upset the whole time and it only got worse when I stopped to take a break. I managed to get through 3 of my 4, 1000m repeats before calling it quits and heading home. It is so weird how my stomach is usually fine on morning runs but every once in a while it revolts!

2. Yesterday, Brian and I met with our priest to go over our wedding ceremony. He asked us a few questions, one of which was "Are you an introvert or an extrovert?" I had always thought I was an extrovert but apparently I have more introvert tendencies than I thought.
-I enjoy spending time by myself
-I am quiet around strangers
-I don't like being the center of attention
No wonder I enjoy my quiet morning runs so much - its my "recharge" time before I go into work and have to be social with everyone!

3. Check out my guest post today over at Linzi's blog (Beyond Destination 26.2) about having a fabulous summer while fitting in all your workouts!

Happy (almost) Friday!

Fake double

2011-07-27T13:07:00.000-04:00

Last night's Tuesday running club workout went off with out a hitch and we had a relatively cool evening for a workout. 80F with a light wind compared to 90F++ temps last week - what a welcomed relief from the heat wave we were having.

I was excited for the workout - 3x1600m at tempo pace followed by 4x200m at race pace, for the great company of my running buddy and for new running shoes/racing shoes!

A few weeks ago I stopped into a local running/tri store because I had a gift certificate from the race I won back in April. I was excited to get new shoes but sad to hear that the store did not carry Brooks. So I started trying on every pair they had in the store until I found these awesome red shoes! Last night I ran in them for the first time and they made me feel like I was flying. The adizero adios shoes by Adidas are super light and super comfortable. I can't wait to race a 5k in them in the fall!

8 miles later we finished the warm up, workout and cool down. My legs were pretty dead.
3x1600 - 7:06, 7:05, 7:01
4x200m - all at 41 secs, talk about consistent!

I headed home for a shower, dinner and to put my feet up. I purposely did NOT shampoo my hair in hopes that it would serve as motivation to get out of bed the next morning for a recovery run.

Less than 12 hours later, I was back out on the road for a short 3 mile recovery run. My legs were yelling at me for running again so close to my last run but this was the only time I could fit it in. Plus by not shampooing my hair the night before, I felt like I had to get up and run in the morning and then shower/shampoo. Otherwise it would be double showers for me and double shampoos if I ran after work which was something I did not want to do. Sometimes you just have to find a little stupid thing to get you out of bed in the morning.

So instead of running in the morning and night with work separating the runs, I ran at night and in the morning with sleep separating the runs. I think it still counts as a double of sorts - my legs definitely think so!

Happy Wednesday!

A little Q and A

2011-07-26T12:43:00.000-04:00

Suzy over at Running on my time tagged me for a little Q and A. Since I have never done a post like this I thought I would give it a try! So ask away!

I will post answers next week! Hope your Tuesday is going well!

A perfect day

2011-07-25T13:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the best day of my weekend. It was perfect because I did everything that I love all in one day!

First thing, I was up at 5:30am to meet the running club at 6:30am for a tough hilly run! It was brutally hot and I was soaked with sweat by the end but it was an awesome way to start the day! I kept the pace pretty easy until the end when I was running with another guy who wanted to go fast, so I ran with him. I was pretty sore the next day - opps.

13 miles in 1:50:26/8:26 pace

Then I met up with a very good friend for some wedding shopping! We were able to gather all the supplies for the rest of my little DIY projects! Can't wait to show you all when they are finished!!

Next I was in the kitchen preparing a scrumptious dessert! A berry trifle! The perfect treat for a backyard BBQ! We had a nice little house warming party and invited over a bunch of friends to show them our new home that finally looks like we live there! Nothing like a party to get us to clean the place up!

The recipe for this trifle is from the food network website - Patriotic Berry Trifle. It was so easy to make! I ran out of time so I didn't make the cream - I just used store bought whipped cream.

Hope you had a perfect weekend too!! Happy Monday - back to work :(

Morning Runner

From sun to snow

Friday Favorites

His and Her Shoes

My week in Hours

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 3

The return of the Lunch Run

Some days you just need a run

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 2

Going Old School

A pre/post Run routine

Whole Living Cleanse: Week 1

And we have snow

One final Long run of 2011

A perfect Christmas Break

Merry Christmas!

WIAW

This is what December running is supposed to look like

Holiday Baking and Tree Decorating

Tempo Thursday

Conquer the Morning

A little peer pressure

Mini Streak

What I Ate Wednesday

Our first Christmas Tree

Blackjack (21 things)

WIAW

Catching the Christmas Spirit

Post Thanksgiving update

The battle of the lamp post

A day of firsts

Taking a break

Don't be afraid of the dark

Final Race of 2011

Three Things Thursday

10 Reasons to Become a Winter Morning Runner

First 40 mile week

Hot and Addicting

A weekend with Joanie - Part II

Pace Matters

How about a little mud?

A weekend with Joanie - Part 1

Foodie Friday: Birthday Cake

The worst time to grocery shop

Runners' Hair Love

Do you take Vitamins?

October 5k Race Report

Real Double

Essentials for a cold and dark run

I am so over this thing called XC

September Recap

Rewarding Yourself

Mr. and Mrs. Morning Runner go Honeymooning

Vacation Running

Back from the honeymoon!

Guest Post: Running To the Aisle

Guest Post: Tune-Up Races

The best day of my life

Race nerves or Wedding jitters?

Recovery: To run or not

My last race with my maiden name

Three Things Thursday

August Recap

I'm not good at math

Wedding and race taper madness

12 miles in 12 hours

Sunday vs. Saturday Long Runs

What a weekend!

I know it's late August

Losing Weight

Finding a race

Oh my Shoe!

More Questions and Answers

Wedding Talk: Jewelry

Super Soggy

Wedding Questions Answered

July Recap

Three Things Thursday

Fake double

A little Q and A