The Little Things
April 29, 2012

Wow- I only have one more half marathon training recap to go. In fact, this is the last one that I’ll post before my race, as my race will be over in a week. Can it really be race week already? eek! Nerves! Excitement!

Here’s what the past week looked like:

Total Miles: 15.09 miles

Lesson Learned: I don’t really feel like there was a real lesson that I learned this week. I think my legs felt pretty sluggish all week, and that 2 miles on both the run and elliptical felt exhausting for my legs. Hmm. I guess the 10 miles on Saturday were tiring for them? Not sure…

Biggest Struggle: I’m not really sure how to taper before a half marathon, especially how to taper given the way I’ve been training the past month. I feel a little lost. I’m also finding I have a lot of questions, and wish I had someone close to me who races so I could ask. Questions include: what’s good to eat the few days leading up to a race (maybe it doesn’t matter), what should I eat the night before (i won’t be home to make dinner), what things do I need to make sure to pack, and what important things should I keep in mind.

Now it’s your turn to share: Do you have any advice for a first time half marathoner (advice on anything from food to clothing to packing to race day info would be appreciated!)? I’d love to hear anything you have to share:) 

April 27, 2012

I love creating different types of oatmeal dishes, and I have fun creating different dessert options for different holidays. In my Easter basket this year, my mom put in a bag of bunny marshmallows, much like the heart marshmallows I used in my Valentine’s Day oatmeal. She immediately said she thought of me when she saw them and figured I could use them in oatmeal. Does she know me or what? This weekend I finally sat down to make my Easter oatmeal, and it was delicious!

Cute little bunnies.

Here’s what I included:

WOW. This was SWEET. I felt a little like I was eating a bowl of lucky charms again, except maybe with a little more nutritional value thrown in there. I certainly did taste like a dessert, and it was delicious! The little marshmallows started to melt once they touched the hot oatmeal, which also made the taste more interesting.

It was delicious, but I think on a regular basis I’ll stick to my regular oatmeal, like my Blueberry Almond Oatmeal, Tropical Oatmeal, or the Strawberry Mango Oatmeal.

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite spring dessert to make? What’s one fun thing that you have planned for this weekend? 

April 26, 2012

These weeks are rushing by, and I can’t believe this is my last thankful post for April! Here are a few of the things that I’m feeling thankful for today:

I’m thankful for sunrises and sunsets. Seriously- they’re amazing. Twice every day the sky changes into a brilliant array of colors. It’s beautiful and fantastic! I especially like that I have something nice to look at when I get up early to work out!

I’m thankful for my fantastic 10 mile run/walk this past weekend. I’m still really happy about it (you can read all about it here if you are interested), and am now anxiously looking forward to the first half marathon! I’m thankful that my injury did heal and I was able to go that many miles:)

I’m thankful that I had time to clean this weekend. agh… something so simple. Between spring break, visiting family for easter, and a work trip to new york, as well as many extra evenings that I’ve worked, I’ve had a really busy last month. It was nice to have a down weekend to get some stuff done from my to do list, and to go through the extra papers that somehow always manage to start piling up!

I’m thankful for La Croix grapefruit sparkling water. Yum. I’m drinking it right now, and I’m pretty happy about it. It tastes great and is a fantastic substitute for someone who likes a sparkling drink but doesn’t want to drink pop (or soda… or coke… depending on where you’re from in the country!).

I’m thankful my friends. They’re great, and there’s a few that I have weekly scheduled things with. It’s fun to look forward to those things each week, and fun to have a “work out buddy” to walk with throughout the week.

I’m thankful for the fun sparkle skirt I own. Winning things is fun, and this was definitely one of the most fun things I’ve actually won:)

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? What is one of the best things that you’ve won? 

April 24, 2012

About a month ago I talked about The Morning Workout. I talked about some of the pros and cons of waking up early, and explained some of my reasonings. To be honest, I am still really struggling with the whole “oh I’ll just get up early and work out before work” thing. I LIKE my sleep. Sometimes I set my alarm early and tell myself that I’ll “just see how I feel and decide if I want to get up early or sleep an extra hour”. What do you think I usually choose? That being said, I’ve still been waking up 1 or 2 days a week to squeeze a work out in before work, and even when I’m grumpy that I’m missing sleep, I enjoy getting my work out done before the start of my day.

That being said, I thought I’d share some of my tips for making my morning workout as painless as possible.

Ok, I think that’s all I have at the moment.

Now it’s your turn to share: Do you have any other tips for working out in the morning? 

April 23, 2012

Back in January I completed a 3.5 mile Virtual Run that was hosted by Toni from Running, Loving, Living. This was perfect, as my training plan had called for a 3.5 mile run on saturday anyway. I hopped on the treadmill and set out to run, feeling strong. I had a great time, knowing that I was “racing” with people across the country. As part of the race, winners were randomly selected for prizes by a number of sponsers. I was surprised when I got a tweet from Toni saying that I had won a Sparkle Skirt.

I had never worn a skirt while running, but had seen a number of people on blogs who had, and I was anxious to try it out. I’ve now worn my skirt a number of times while running, including a 5k race I completed a week and a half ago.

At the end of my 5k race. This skirt is lightweight, and honestly felt as if I wasn’t even wearing anything (which mentally freaked me out a few times as I was running:D). I love how this skirt is constructed, and find that it’s incredibly convenient for running.

The skirt has a zip pocket up front (or it can be reversed and worn behind) along the waistband that is big enough to easily hold an iphone and a few things of fuel, and ID, or other essentials.

One the outside of each of the legs, a 4″x 4″ pocket is placed, which again is big enough to hold Kleenex or other fuel that you may need. This skirt has lots of storage space, which makes it ideal for a long run.

I highly recommend checking them out and purchasing a sparkle skirt if you are interested in skirts while running. It’s fun, light weight, and is convenient for storing necessary items for runs! I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to win a skirt and get to try it out!

Now it’s your turn to share: Have you ever worn a skirt while running? What’s your favorite article of clothing in which to run? 

April 22, 2012

This is the 16th week that I’ve done these recaps now? Woah! This week I’ve been quite happy with my training, and after my run on Saturday I feel confident in my ability to cross the finish line in 2 weeks. Here’s what the week looked like:

Total Miles for the Week: 27.29 miles full of various cardio activities!

Lesson Learned: Doing run/walk is ok! It helped decrease the amount of pounding, and allowed me to cover a greater distance than if I was running alone. Also, running in compression sleeves has been really fantastic, and I haven’t experienced any shin pain while running! I should’ve tried compression sleeves much earlier in this training cycle.

Biggest Struggle: Despite having a really great experience going 10 miles, I’m still nervous about the actual race. I wish I had someone to go with me. I keep psyching myself out, and I definitely need to watch how I talk to myself about the race over the next two weeks. I keep going back to the following quote: “The voice inside your head that says you can’t do this is a liar.” I can do this… I know I can! I need to stop telling myself that I can’t.

Now it’s your turn to share: Do you ever talk yourself out of doing something that you know you can do? How do you choose to face your fears? Tell me one thing (big or small) that you accomplished this week! 

April 21, 2012

If you’ve followed my blog for very long, you know that my perfectly planned out training schedule got tossed to the side when I got shin splints in February. I’ve slowed eased my way back into running, and have only run 2 days a week. However, I managed to continue doing cardio a number of times a week while injured, which has allowed me to jump back in fairly easily!

I’ve decided that my plan for the half marathon (2 more weeks! eek!) will be to do a mixture of walking and running. As you know, I’ve been a big walker for a few years, and do a number of 4-7 mile walks a week with no problem. I want to try to avoid re-injuring myself, and I’m fearful that if I actually run all 13 miles straight with the longest training run being 6 miles, I will burn out or injure myself. So, walk/run it will be!

Today I set out for my last longer run before the 1/2 on May 5th, a 10 miler. Now, I don’t think I could’ve run the entire thing, nor would I have wanted to because of the time I took off. However, I decided that I could do it in a run/walk fashion, which I felt would be great preparation for the race. I wore a long sleeve Nike shirt and my running skirt, as well as a compression sleeve on my left leg. The temperature was between 41-45, which was pretty perfect, and I never felt overheated.

I took off slowly, making sure to take walk breaks every 5-6 minutes (not because I felt like I needed to, but I didn’t want to push myself too hard and re-injure myself). At the 1 hour mark I stopped by a place with a drinking fountain, and downed the first gel I’ve ever consumed in my life: a vanilla PowerBar gel. It tasted like frosting, but I still felt a little like I needed to gag it down. The water helped tremendously though, and I put it away quickly. I felt re-energized and finished up my run easily. I also ate half a packet of sports beans at the 1:45 mark.

All sorts of fun flavors in my fuel today!

Overall, I felt fantastic and really wanted to keep running, but cut myself off at 10. I easily could’ve gone another 3.1 to finish the half marathon today, and I’m hoping that I feel just as energized and strong on race day. I also felt like I could’ve run more than I did, but I continually forced myself down to a speed walk. I’m sure this will be a challenge on race day.

Apparently mile 8 was a little rough?

My average pace per mile was 13:07, and I will be very happy if I can do my half at that pace. I’m actually really happy about these mile times considering that I walked a fair amount in each mile. My run this morning was really fantastic, and I maybe had the most fun I’ve ever had on a run today!

Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite way to fuel on a run? Do you ever do run/walks? 

April 19, 2012

It’s time to be thankful again! I had a crazy day today, so as I sit here and type this at 11 pm, I’m feeling pretty off. This will be quick.

I’m thankful I called my friend. when i called I heard gasping and a quiet “help me” on the other end, and rushed to her house immediately. She jumped in my car and we headed to the ER. She was having huge issues breathing and had been trying to call me for a few minutes, but was so disoriented that she couldn’t figure out how to do it. I’m so glad I had the urge to call her and see how she was doing. I’m afraid of what would’ve happened had I not called her, and am thankful that she is ok!

I’m thankful that I got the chance to see NYC! I got to go to NYC this past weekend for work, and I had two afternoons to explore the city. It was fantastic, and I absolutely loved the city. I’m thankful I finally got to see the city, and that I get to travel for work!

I’m thankful that my speech went well! I love getting to lecture different places, and I felt like this speech went really well. The audience was engaged and we got some great feedback! I’m thankful that I have fun public speaking because I know most people are terrified of it (I used to be one of those people!).

I’m thankful that I finally got to try a potato pancake. I’ve heard about these my entire life, as my dad has a nightmare story about them. I’ve always wanted to try one, and I finally had my chance while in NYC. I found a little diner in Times Square and ordered one, and I loved it!

I’m thankful I’m not having shin pain right now! After so many weeks of having pain, I’ve been pretty much pain free, and I’m really thankful for that right now:)

I’m thankful I got to see the 9/11 memorial. It was deeply moving to stand there, and I’m glad that I got to see it. This deserves an entire post of its own, and I’ll hopefully get to posting that soon.

I’m thankful that I was able to meet up with my parents out in NYC and I got to spend the weekend with them.  It’s much more fun getting to explore a city with people and be able to share memories with them.

I’m thankful I have a friend who enjoys walking with me. We went on a 5.5 mile walk on Tuesday evening, and it was fantastic. It’s fun to work out while talking to someone, and helps the time pass quickly!

I’m thankful for chia seeds. I just bought some for the first time over Easter, and just tried them in my oatmeal for the first time last night. They’re so healthy, and I love being able to put them in so many types of food.

Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today? Have you ever tried potato pancakes?

April 17, 2012

Happy Hunger Games

Two weekends ago, I completely immersed myself in the world of the Hunger Games. After hearing about the trilogy for a number of years, I finally decided that I needed to read the books before I went to see the movie. Luckily a friend owns the series, and she dropped it off on a Thursday night. It took much discipline to put them down and not read them that night, but I knew if I started I wouldn’t sleep.

On Friday night after work I sat down with the first book, and made it about half way through before going to bed. I had set a time at which I would put the book down (again knowing that if I didn’t I would stay up all night finishing the book). I read a chapter on Saturday morning, but then had things scheduled from about 9:30 am to 6:40 pm. AGH. Such a long time to wait. Upon getting home on Saturday, I again sat down with the book, and managed to finish the 1st book. It was so good! Once I read the last line, i actually said out loud “you’ve got to be kidding me!” and immediately picked up the 2nd book.

I was fairly quickly surprised by what happened towards the beginning of the 2nd book, and it immediately drew me into the story. I put my book down at 11:30, hoping that I could easily fall asleep. I did not. About an hour later I got back out of bed, and ended up staying up until about 4 am to finish the 2nd book. I loved the story, and it almost immediately drew me into what was going on in the games. The author certainly does a great job of making you care about the people and engaging the reader in the story.

On Sunday I went with a friend to see the Hunger Games movie, and liked it quite a bit. However, I think that they missed out on what was actually going on in the love triangle, and if you hadn’t read the books you might be confused by this. I don’t think the emotional connection would be there in nearly the same way without having read the books before. But I liked the movie, and can’t wait until it comes out to watch it again!

As soon as I got home from the movie, I sat down with the 3rd book, determined to finish it. I knew if I hadn’t finished it by the time I went to work on Monday, I would be distracted by the story, and I knew that couldn’t happen. I finished the book by about 8 pm, and was shocked by the ending. I had convinced myself that something else would happen, so the ending completely took my by surprise.

I loved the series, and wanted to start it over as soon as I finished it. However, I wouldn’t advise reading it all in the course of 50 hours. I think it messes with your brain just a little bit, and for days I had dreams of being in the games. I’d highly encourage you to read the books if you haven’t already!

And may the odds be ever in your favor…

Now it’s your turn to share: Have you read the Hunger Games yet? If so, which book was your favorite? Do you find it hard to put books down once you are engaged in the story? 

April 15, 2012

This week was perhaps my lowest mileage to date, as I have hardly worked out. As I mentioned in last week’s recap, there are sometimes things in life that pop up that take all of our time and focus. The problem was that Monday I had an 11 hour drive, and by the time I got home I barely had enough time to eat dinner, unpack, and go to bed. Tuesday I worked 13 hours, and after work attended a memorial service, getting home after 9 pm (and then had to eat dinner). Wednesday and Thursday I was both exhausted, and needed to prepare for a lecture I was doing, as well as pack. Friday I flew all morning and afternoon, and Saturday I spoke all morning. So, it left very little time for any traditional workouts. While in a normal week I would’ve woken up early, the mixture of dealing with this death (which leaves you emotionally exhausted), the lack of sleep and days of traveling (which can be physically exhausted), and a cold that has left my unable to breathe through my nose, work outs just didn’t happen. I’m disappointed, but also realize that sometimes life is like that. This is ok. It is not the end of the world. It will not make or break me. 

This is what the week looked like:

Total mileage: I’m not sure, as I don’t know how many miles I walked on Friday and Saturday. I was moving quite a bit, but I can’t give a total number.

Lesson Learned: Sometimes life throws things at you that you can’t really control, and you need to roll with them. I decided that sleep and making healthy meals was more important then getting a few runs in. Some people might disagree with this, but I felt good about my decision.

Biggest Struggle: Feeling sick this week. I could hardly breathe on my run on Wednesday and had to take quick walking breaks every 5 minutes or so to get a good breath in…

Now it’s your turn to share: What’s your biggest accomplishment this week? Has life thrown anything unexpected at you this week?