Making Strides

I was another wet and cold day today.  More rain than yesterday.  Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have cared.  Sunday is my off day so I would have just curled up under a blanket and watched football all day. 

But, today, a group of us from work waked the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in my town.  A co-worker was recently diagnosed and it really seemed to hit me all of a sudden, how terrible this disease is and how many lives it affects.  I had a slight scare about a year and a half ago when I found a lump in one of my breasts.  I was scared to death.  My lump was only a cyst but when my co-worker got diagnosed, I suddenly realized how easily it could have been me.

So, we walked today.  In the rain and in the cold and in support of everyone whose life has ever been touched by breast cancer and in the hope that, someday, a cure can be found!

Cold and Wet!

It's really Fall.  Amanda and I did a 6 mile run this morning.  It was 40 degrees with a light rain.  YUCK!  We started off slow but the chill and damp in the air just made me want to be done so I sped up quite a bit on the back part of the "out and back!"

My diet is in check today, so far, but the Buckeyes play at 5:30 tonight and we'll be headed for the bar shortly before that.  Time to blow my diet on football food and beer!  I've got myself talked into a Buffalo Chicken Salad for tonight.  Not the healthiest thing I could eat but at least there are lots of veggies!  The Calorie Killer is the beer but it's only one day a week.  If I deny myself too much - I'll never be successful!  But training is in full gear and next week's run gets pumped up to 7 miles so I'll burn a few extra calories!

Afternoon Runs

I know I've said it before:  Afternoon runs suck!

We did a slow, easy run/walk this afternoon.  My friend, Amanda and I went out for a 5 mile run but Amanda was traveling for work this week.  We both do the same job so I know first hand how badly traveling messes with your body!  She was feeling stiff and sore so we just took it easy.  We're in a really good place for our Princess Half Marathon training right now so no pressure!  I do think I'll do a two mile run the morning since we took it easy tonight.

My next race, however, is a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  I'm really excited to be running this with my daughter.  She's a great pacer and has promised to get me to my lofty goal of sub 30:00.  It's an inaugural run for our neighboring town but since it's a 5k and just about 5 miles from my house, it should be a really fun, easy race!

These Shoes are Made for Running!

I got my new shoes!  They are Nike Zoom Structure +16.  I almost bought another pair of Brooks Adrenaline.  I have really liked those shoes and liked the new ones when I tried them on today.  But, I'm tempted to try something different and these came highly recommended.  I will try them out tomorrow afternoon on my 5 mile run!

Speaking of running, the bug is crawling into my blood deeper and deeper.  I went for a 2 mile run this morning and it was drizzly and misty and I DIDN'T HATE IT!   I usually can't even stomach the thought of running in the rain but I did it and survived.  I think it made me feel bad ass to be out in the rain (even though it really was only a drizzle)!

The diet is coming along.  I did eat a little pasta last night and I still haven't shed a pound but I am trying really hard to ignore the numbers on the scale and go with how I feel.  Every morning, after I finish my green smoothie, I imagine I look like Popeye after he eats his spinach.  I picture all the strength building in all my muscles (imagery must be worth SOMETHING!).

Another bit of excitement is that my daughter and I are going to run an inaugural Turkey Trot in our area on Thanksgiving morning.  I'm excited to run with her but scared!  I told her that my lofty goal is to run the 5K sub 30:00.  She said she'd be sure that I get 28:00.  I told her that would make me dead!  We'll see.  I am working on the speed and the Turkey Trot is still a month away!

Hoping to finish out the week strong with some abs in the morning, 5-6 miles tomorrow afternoon, abs or 30 Day Shred on Friday and a good 6-7 mile run on Saturday.  I'll let you know how it goes!

So Far So Good

This week is going well, so far.  I ran for two miles yesterday and did Jillian Michael's 6 Week Abs (level 1) today.  I have still been drinking my green smoothies and I should have enough ingredients to be able to make one every day for the rest of the week.

I am just finishing my 10th month of "serious" running.  So, tomorrow, I'm off to Second Sole to see about getting a new pair of running shoes.  I dread spending the money but my Brooks Adrenaline have just about 500 miles on them (can you BELIEVE I average running 50 miles per month?) and they have seen better days.  This past Saturday was our first "official" training run for the Disney Princess Half Marathon and I think it's time for some new shoes before I suffer some kind of injury!  I'll let you know the verdict when I get home from the store tomorrow!

Diet

This week has been good for exercise so far:

Monday - 2 mile run
Tuesday - 30 day Shred
Wednesday - 2 mile run
Thursday - 6 Pack Abs

I'm planning a 5 or 6 mile run tonight after work.

Next up is working on my diet.  Since I starting running "for real" in January, I haven't lost even 5 pounds.  Now, my body has toned CONSIDERABLY and I know muscle weighs more than fat but I still have a few fat blobuoles that I would still like to lose.  I started drinking Green Monster smoothies this week to try to get some veggies and fruits into my diet.  More on what I think about it in my next post!

Diet Part Two

Ok...  Where was I when I was so rudely interrupted by my job?  Talking about my week and my new diet!

So, I finished up my week pretty strong.  I got in my 5 mile run on Thursday night and a 6 mile run yesterday.  Friday was supposed to be abs again but I wimped out.  After the first 5 minutes, I was NOT feeling it so I turned off the DVD and just did some planks, crunches and stretching.  At least I did SOMETHING!

On to my diet - or lack there of.  I started taking this running thing seriously in January of this year when I started training for my first half marathon.  In the course of almost 11 months, I have barely lost 5 pounds!  Now, I am really focused on my time.  I'm not going to win any medals anytime soon (unless there are only 2 people in my age group - that happened once!) but I still want to be stronger and faster.  I think part of my struggle is my poor eating habits.  So, this past Tuesday, I am turning over a new leaf (pun intended) and drinking a green smoothie every morning!  You might be asking yourself, "Self, what in the world is a green smoothie?"  It's a smoothie made mostly of greens!  In my case, baby spinach.  My recipe this week has been as follows:

About 1/2 cup of milk
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
A blender full of spinach
About 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
About 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 banana

Blend it all up and there you have it!  I learned pretty quick that I like them better cold so I have been taking them to work along with my other food and putting them in the refrigerator.  I eat a serving of yogurt with Muesli and then get my smoothie.  This spaces out my food all morning and gives the smoothie time to get cold.

The rest of the day, I have been eating a protein bar, humus with whole wheat pita and some vegetable sticks (these are from Sam's Club and I have some from Trader Joes - I'm sure they are not the healthiest but they satisfy my need for a crunch without being horrible!)  A couple of days, I had another banana in the afternoon.

The weekends area still horrible.  We live in the Midwest.  Football is our religion and football food is NOT healthy!  I'm trying to to completely deny myself or I will be miserable.  Just trying to watch portion size and trying not to overindulge in the worst offenders.

I haven't noticed any huge improvement in the way I feel or in my performance yet.  But I'm making an effort to modify my diet and try to get stronger and faster at running!

 

I AM on Track!

I've been away from my blog this week but I DID get back to my "normal" running routine!  A 2 mile run on Monday morning, Jillian Michael's abs Tuesday morning, Abs again on Wednesday morning, 5 mile run Wednesday afternoon, 30 day shred on Thursday morning, 2 mile run Friday morning and 6 miles yesterday morning.

It's clear that Fall is here.  It was 29 degrees when I went out to run at 7:30am on Saturday and barely light.  I'm one of the strange ones that actually likes running in the cold.  I ALWAYS over dress and end up being too warm but the air is invigorating!  Saturday was a good run.  A little slower pace than I would have liked but the morning was crisp with the sun coming up.  Steam was rising from the river/canal and I saw 3 deer during my run. 

After Saturday's run, we made a run for the border - AKA we went to visit our son at The University of Cincinnati.  The day turned out to be beautiful and WARM!  We went to the football game at 7pm and it was STILL 73 degrees outside! 

Looking forward to another good week of workouts.  I am headed for Sam's Club tomorrow for some odds and ends - namely dog food and protein bars - but I also plan to stock up on baby spinach, bananas and berries.  I'm going to experiment with Green Monster smoothies this week.  Wish me luck!

Getting Back on Track

After two weeks of back to back trips to Phoenix and Chicago, it's time to get this exercise routine back on track.  I had one run in Phoenix and two runs in Chicago.  I only got in one ab/core workout though. 

I'm, a little bit, relieved by the fact that while training on the road, (two days in Phoenix and 4 days in Chicago) I am on my feet all day as opposed to when I am at my office and I'm sitting on my a$$ all day.  But, the food....

I was shocked that I only gained a pound or two.  I tried to keep the unhealthy stuff to a minimum but it's hard when you're eating out at restaurants every day for every meal!  Luckily, in Phoenix, my hotel was right next to a Seasons 52.  They have wonderful food and it is all very low in calories!  Chicago was another story.  Like the Mac Piggy (mac and cheese with pancetta, black forest ham, bacon and chorizo!).

I got in a six mile run this morning (notice, I didn't say good).  My IT band in my left leg is REALLY acting up and I think it actually may have become irritated by wearing heels and being on my feet so much during the past week.  Hopefully, with some Aleve and getting back to a regular running/exercise routine, it will correct itself!

It's time to head off to the bar to wreck my diet some more with beer and football.  Maybe I should order the fried mac and cheese wedges while I'm at it!  I ran this morning, right?