Ick.

Goodness, exam time is never fun. I always find myself thinking of all the careers I'd rather be pursuing. At the moment, yoga teacher and nutritionist are at the top of the list!

I'm currently at Frothy Monkey, but am about to leave because it's SO noisy. I can't concentrate, even with my headphones in, and I have enough distractions running around in my own head without external help! I did want to share my deeeelicious sandwich though!
The Ned Sandwich! Marinated tofu, red peppers, hummus, alfalfa spouts, whole grain bread... wonderful. Plus, the side salad is acutally a real salad.

Alright, heading off to school where it is guaranteed to be quieter, if pretty boring.

I'll leave you with this interesting vintage ad. Funny how things change.... I particularly like the health warning regarding exhaustion at the end. :)

Pups!

Since I've talked about my pups so much (and I'm procrastinating), I thought it would be worth devoting a quick post to show of their cuteness.....

Martha on the trip to NY! Poor tired thing

Max and Sam

Martha and her wildfowl

Tired from chasing geese and getting under foot all day

:) :)

Belated Thanksgiving Recount

Alas, how time gets away from me.

I spent just over a week at home in New York for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to be home and sit still for a moment! Of course, I also did lots of running around, seeing some people (but not enough!) and making it into the city. However, this time around, I did spend most time upstate, mostly because I was so exhausted and just needed a break. Plus, then I got to cook with my mom and play with all the pups! We had tons of people over for Turkey Day so it was certainly busy.

There was so much good food to be had and I ate like there was a famine coming! The appetizers I really loved were roasted chickpeas and baked brie with cranberries, walnuts, and currant jam (as well as some impromptu trail mix created by the chefs for cooking snacks!). The dinner menu was particularly amazing this year. We always have both a turkey (this year we actually had two) as well as brisket, plus all the trimmings. My personal highlights were the whipped sweet potatoes with caramelized apples, roasted root vegetables, jalapeno corn muffins, apple sage stuffing.... I'm really a carbohydrate kind of girl! The boy came to Thanksgiving too and I made him one of his favorite Thanksgiving dishes, green bean casserole, which I actually liked! (I was able to subdue the food snob in me for a bit!) I also tried these Sweet Potato Biscuits out. They were a huge hit at dinner, but for me, they were too light and fluffy. I like my biscuits to have more substance so I can load butter and other things onto them! For dessert, we also had deliciousness like lemon pecan squares, oatmeal cranberry walnut cookies, and my absolute FAVORITE, my mom's homemade rugula with nutella. A guest also brought these oatmeal bars which were filled with chocolate chips and gooey caramel. I pray that I never get my hands on that recipe because I must have eaten half of them (and finished the rest off in the morning).

I love how my mom plans Thanksgiving. One of my favorite tips is that the day after the meal, we write down comments about the menu which she files away for next year. It's always super helpful since it's so hard to remember specifics about the previous year. For example, from last years comments, we remembered that the meal worked better without a salad course (too hectic) and how it's always hard to keep mashed potatoes hot (thwarted again!). Also, we have dessert in a more informal setting and with bite sized pieces instead of full pies. Usually everyone is so full that bite-sized grazing is all that can be managed! Finally, for the cooking process, she also photocopies all the recipes so it doesn't matter if you spill vanilla extract all over it (oops) and there isn't a huge stack of cookbooks taking up counter space.

Thanksgiving Table, all set up before the masses descend...

....and the feasting begins!

Unfortunately, I barely got any work done (read: none) which means I'm in a bit of a crunch now. Only two and a half weeks until the end of the semester though and then home for a whole three weeks! Too bad there's a whole lot that needs to be learned between now and then...

Yoga has been going pretty well. I went to a class in Beacon at Shambhala Yoga and was the only one to come to the class so I ended up with a private session! I'm so used to my teachers method here in Nashville so the cadence of the class felt a little odd but it was still fun. I also was able to get some more one-on-one feedback on my headstand which was great! It was nice to be back here in my usual classes though.

PT has been going pretty well too. I was pretty good about staying up on my exercises while I was home but had a few days of laziness/fullness! On Tuesday I was cleared to try a 10 minute run today, but about 5 minutes in, my left knee started to hurt so I immediately stopped and walked home. I'd rather be careful this time around. Sigh. I did walk the New Paltz Turkey Trot while I was home though (walked. the. whole. darn. thing. yay self control) and had no pain! I know that I'm making progress, it just feels sloooww. I did get a pedicure today and now have glittery gold holiday toes, so that helped of course. :)

Alright, time to walk the pup and get some rest! Hopefully I'll be more productive tomorrow!

Free Cheese!

On a completely non-workout matter, I won a cheese basket today from Ile de France! I'm so excited! I never win anything. I signed up on a whim and got lucky. Plus it looks like they are giving them out for the next couple of days so you should sign up too. :) Who knows?! As a warning, I'm not planning on sharing. Well, except with the 20 people coming to Thanksgiving... no one else though!

Tonight I had yoga which was lots of fun. I got about 3/4 up into headstand for a bit (no wall!) and didn't flip over onto my back like last week (that bruise is just fading). Plus, I got to untape my feet afterward. I think that it helped, but by the end of the day, the outside of my right foot was sore. I don't know if that has anything to do with the taping or if I just walked into something though!

Alright, late night for me. Another round of PT exercises and maybe a little more time on this exam before bed. As of Thursday afternoon though, 2/5 classes down! Woohoo!

Laziness, Acorn Squash and Taped Feet

Well, not running has certainly made me lazier about updating. I tend to do my updates after a run to document mileage and progress, but since I do my PT exercises throughout the day and yoga at night.... I get lazy. I'll work on it!

So physical therapy has been going pretty well so far. I try to make sure I do the exercises consistently and my therapist sees some improvement so far. I can now walk downstairs but up is still a little bit difficult. However, rolling my IT bands out feels much less tender now. It was really excruciating before, especially on the left side, so I'd have to do it in shorter sections.

Yesterday, she also taped up my feet to see if that helps with my knee pain (the point is to keep my arches from rolling in). I'm not sure if it helps but I like the pressure on my feet. The bottom of my right foot is super itchy though. I only have to leave them on until tonight, but if they are helpful, then orthotics may help keep my feet more stable.

They look a little silly, but I hope it helps!

I also have been cooking lots! I was in the mood for squash again, so I did a quick internet search and found a recipe for Stuffed Spicy Acorn Squash with Quinoa, Walnuts, and Dried Fruit. I was out of walnuts so I subbed pecans, and also added some raisins and an apple. It was so good! I suggested the quinoa mixture to my mom for Thanksgiving and I think that we are going to make it. Yum. I also made a white bean spinach soup out of my new vegetarian slow cooker book and oatmeal for the week. Anything to put off doing schoolwork!

It made for awesome leftovers too

Besides that, I have just been trying to get through some work. I have an exam due Thursday so I'm hoping to get through a lot of that tonight, before and after yoga. However, I'm going home to New York on Friday morning! Super excited for that. I can't believe how close finals are getting though. I really need to bring some work home with me, even though I definitely do not want to. Oh well. Only a few more weeks of this.

Back to work!

P.S. How fun does this look!? Country Music Half Marathon

Running Blogs

I miss running. To make up for it, I've been reading lots of articles and running blogs. Here are some of my favorites that I read daily...

Runner's Kitchen
I love her blogs about balancing running and healthy eating, in a realistic manner! Plus, she was so kind to answer an email I wrote her about IT band injuries :)

Heather Eats Almond Butter
I've been reading this forever. I love her recipes and yoga stories. Love love love. Plus, it's turned me on to kabocha and a few new things in Nashville!

The Long Run
My friend gave me this link, which chronicles her friend's marathon (and now ultra) training! Eek.

New York Times: Training the Mind to Run Through the Winter

It's been so beautiful out so there are lots of people running out now and it makes me so jealous! Sigh.

PT and New Cookbooks!

I've been rather lax about posting recently. I apoligize!

Physical therapy has been going pretty well. I've been pretty good about keeping up with my exercises at home, I think, as I've been pretty sore every morning. However it's a good sore now! I don't mind muscle soreness as long as it's not causing pain. So this week, I've gone three times and I've got another three scheduled for next week. Unfortunately my insurance isn't covering as much as I'd like, but this is pretty important to me so it's worth it. I can walk normally now (good for Martha!) but I still can't manage stairs. It's amazing how many glares I get taking the elevator at school or the bookstore. I think most people think I'm just being lazy. Judgy.

So I learned a little bit more about my IT band from talking to my physical therapist (love her, really!). It seems that something that I do every day might also be really stressing my IT bands. When ever I'm standing still, I tend to cock my hip to one side, which really stresses the band in that leg. Once I noticed that I do it, I see that I do it ALL the time. While brushing my teeth, washing the dishes, even during pauses while walking the pup. I'm trying to keep my weight evenly distributed on both legs, but I've had few lapses. It looks like this is going to end up being a total re-education in how I walk, stand, run... I usually sit on the couch in a way that stresses it too because I fold my legs under myself in a weird sorta way. I'm trying to be pretty conscious of it so that I can learn new ways to do things that don't stress my legs.

I've been making it to yoga at least! I went on Tuesday and Thursday this week, and I hope to make it to the free class at lululemon tomorrow too. I've been taking it easy and trying to not push it, but so far, no pain from class. I think I've developed a little bit of fear towards re-injury too. It hurt a lot. These past two classes, I've been using my new lululemon yoga mat and I'm shocked to report that I really don't like it! I even switched mats mid-class yesterday because it was so slippery that I can't stay in downward dog. Luckily, the company stands by their products so much that I've heard that they will take it back! I will test that theory out tomorrow and see what happens. Maybe tomorrow if I make it to the class?

I picked up a couple new cookbooks to try out as well! As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not a vegetarian, but I tend to eat a rather plant-based diet so I bought two vegetarian cookbooks. I find that most others revolve around meat as the main part of the dish (i.e meat and a veggie side instead of veggie with a little meat), especially for slow cookers. I'm pretty excited to try both out and if I'm really craving bacon, it looks like it would be pretty easy to toss some in.

First up: How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

I really like Bittman's column in the NYT and his food philosophy. I also have his book Food Matters, and while the recipes are really good, it's got a lot more narrative than cookbook. I was especially excited about the section in this book on seitan! I love getting it in restaurants but am clueless as how to handle it in my own kitchen. I'll let you know how it goes!

Second: Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker
I just bought a slow cooker, thinking how wonderful it would be to just toss some ingredients in it in the morning and to have something ready for dinner! However, most slow cooker cookbooks are for roasts and stuff. This one has a great white bean and escarole one that I can't wait to try out. Yum.

One last comment on food before I get back to some physical therapy exercises. I had some Ben and Jerry's light Phish Food Ice Cream last night which is deeeelicious, but I took a gander at the ingredients and almost fell over. Ingredients 2-4 are liquid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar. ICK. I'm going to finish out the pint (can't waste tasty ice cream), but I'm kinda conflicted at buying it again. That's a lot of sugar and artificial sweeteners, and since I'm so careful about not throwing that into most of my diet, it seems like a bit of a shame to eat it for dessert. Any thoughts on this?

So tasty! But so artificial! What to do!

As I go, I'll leave you with a picture of Martha (who just turned two!). The poor pup has been trying to climb into my lap for the past half hour and has been asking me to hurry up with the update so she can settle in. She says hi. :)

Physical Therapy Round I!

Fantastic! Wonderful! Awesome!

What are: words that describe my first physical therapy session?

:)

I'm really pleasantly surprised at how well that session went. I love the office and the people who work there are so nice and helpful. I was seen right away and the therapist I was working with got a pretty detailed history of the injury and then proceeded to examine me. She looked at my feet, how I walk (limp?), checked strength on both legs.... plus, she said I had very good feet for running! Something on me is natural for running! Her assessment showed that my knees curve a bit inwards, my glutes are a bit weak and the muscles on the insides on my knees aren't responding as quickly as the outside ones... that's my summary in very non-medical terms of course. So she worked on the IT bands on both legs which was about 25% nice massage and 75% ouch pain, but I was shocked when I stood up to walk. My knee was still twinging, but I could walk on it. Amazing. I'm a convert. Finally, she put the e-stim pad thingys on my left leg with some ice and showed me my "homework" exercises. I'm heading back in tomorrow and Thursday!

I'm so excited. She said it will probably be about 2 weeks off of running and then from there we'll start with light runs and she'll watch my stride and see what is causing the injury. She already had a bunch of ideas from inserts to taping my feet to more exercises. I'm so happy to find something that I think is going to work for me. I've still got a whole load of work to do before I can really train again, but that's ok. We're on the right road at least. The idea of running pain free is amazing. I hope I get there. :)

For dinner, I just warmed up some left over frittata and made butternut squash. Delicious for watching House. Now it's time to get some reading done... and do my exercises again!

Race Report of Kneee Disaster

Well, I've been putting off doing this race report because the race did not go nearly as well as I'd hoped... however, I'm sitting in class, enjoy some nice oatmeal with banana and almond butter, so now is as good a time as any I suppose!

I'll start with Friday. I dropped Martha off in the morning to stay with a puppy friend and headed out to Clarksville to pick up my race packet. The "race expo" definitely left much to be desired but it was cute. This year was also the inaugural Clarksville race so there were expected kinks to be worked out for next year. I also checked into our hotel and instead of doing work for a bit there, I just napped in the patch of sun on the bed... ah....

After a bit, I picked my mom up at the Nashville airport. Hurray! I was so happy that she flew in to run with me. We had a pretty good dinner at Cafe Nonna in Nashville, but I was a little disappointed with the lasagna. Not nearly as many tasty fall veggies as I had hoped. We drove back to Clarksville and after some ice cream, called it a night in preparation for the morning race.

We were up and fed and at the starting line by 7:45am the next morning, and the race began at 8. The course and weather were both perfect! The course winds its way by some wineries and farm houses and had a good mix of flat stretches and good hills. It was about 60 degrees when we started and I was actually kinda hot as it warmed up. All in all though, perfect conditions. Plus, the run felt great. My legs felt relaxed, the pace was nice, and my heartrate was comfortable. At about mile 2, my left IT band started twinging, but not too bad. However, by mile 6 it was really starting to hurt. We stopped to walk for about a half mile, hopping that it would give my knee enough of a rest to come back. Between mile 6.5 and 7.5, it hurt but I figured that i could run through it. Only another 6 miles to go at that point! However, between 7.5 and 7.9, it went from uncomfortable to unbearable. We were going around a curve and within 10 steps, I couldn't put any weight on it. With some tears (I'd say half from frustration and half from pain), we got a ride from a really rude cop to the finish line, where the EMTs had to check me out.

Beginning of the race! You can see how beautiful the weather was. :)

Once they determined that I wasn't going to die on the spot and I signed a refusal of treatment form, my mom got the car and picked me up, and off we drove. I didn't want to stick around for the festivities and medal stuff because it would just add to the depressing situation.

After a few days of contemplation, I know that it was the right call to stop and that I probably ran through it for too long in that I still can't really walk on my left leg. I think I kept going because I didn't want to stop and give up and then think back that I hadn't pushed hard enough. I think the lesson is to listen to your body and when it says no, it means no. Also not to take two weeks off with a race coming up!!

So for the future! I'm going to physical therapy today and we'll see how it looks. Hopefully in a few months, I can start really training again and maybe the DPHM is still a possibility. Rehab it and try again! I'm more determined than ever now to finish it because having an unfinished half hanging over my head is going to irk me until I finish one. I hope I can come back stronger and quicker. I also hope that my knee feels well enough for yoga tomorrow!!! I have it in a brace now because it helps keep it stable as I drag myself around. I'm a tad worried that I'm going to throw my right hip out with the awkward way I'm walking but hopefully we'll talk about that at PT today. It felt a whole lot better this morning after icing it lots and elevating yesterday, but it's pretty uncomfortable in class with the angle of the chair and all the stairs I have to hop up to get to my seat. Last class of the day at least! Hopefully someone can give Martha a long walk for me today too... poor puppy.

Here's to hoping that PT goes well today and that I'll have some good news in a few hours!

Frittata Success

My run yesterday was a tad miserable. I got about 2 miles in on the treadmill and the left knee was starting to twinge and by the 2 1/2 mile point, it was downright hurting so I stopped. I'm glad that I got a little bit in but I'd feel better about it if I could've gotten through the whole thing pain free. Right now I'm just focusing on getting the knee swelling down and making it through Saturday in one piece. My mom suggested that I just do the 5k instead of the full half, but I want to try. Hopefully my knees will play along. I wish I had fit more runs in the past two weeks. Sigh. Things to do next time around.

Yoga was pretty theraputic though and felt great. My teacher did lots of corrections on me and it felt great on my knees and back. Plus, I really am starting to get the hang of headstand!! I still have my legs bent but I can hold that for about five breaths. I wish I had more room in my apartment to practice on. Now that I'm not totally relient on the wall maybe I can try the living room? There isn't a whole ton of free floor space! I'm looking forward to Thursday and told her that I might need to opt out of a few warriors so I don't exhaust my legs for this weekend!

Last night, I opted out of going to Zumi because I am both trying to save some money and get more veggies into my diet. Solution: I made this awesome frittata from the Clean Eating website!! I've been considering subscribing to the magazine, mostly for the recipes, and now I think that I definitely will. I found the recipe on their main website, under Menus&Recipes (I can't seem to get a direct link to the recipe), and it was delicious with potatoes, arugula, and cherry tomatoes. I subbed in red potatoes because I like how creamy they are and added onion.

Easy Deliciousness

So amazing. I planned on eating half of it, but could only manage to eat about a third so now I have lunch for today and tomorrow! I'm going to roast some butternut squash to accompany it, if I have the time. I have another class this evening and a presentation to work on for the next couple of hours so I don't know how much time I have to devote to cooking. Unfortunately.

However, when I get home tonight, I'm going to try my hand at this Curried Vegetable Stew, but I think I'll just have a nice chunk of sourdough bread instead of the couscous. Hopefully it goes well! Goodness, what would I do without the internet and its recipe search functions.

Swine flu avoidance at school

So the knees are feeling a bit better today! Hurray! I bought another IT band strap for my left knee yesterday and I'm going to try a 3 mile jog or so this afternoon to see how it goes. I'm hoping it goes well ... or else. I know that the straps are just a temporary fix, but after this weekend, I can work to get to the root of the problem. Eeks, I also have lots of work to do and errands to run as well. Yikes. I can't believe it is already November!

Plus, school right now basically sounds like a swine flu infirmary. On all sides of me, people are coughing and sneezing and looking downright feverish. When I had the swine this summer, I was out of work for almost an entire week so these people must really be suffering trying to get here for class. On the other hand, I am working so hard this semester not to get sick so being surrounded by all this illness really stresses me out. I had bronchitis during both sets of finals last year and got pneumonia this summer. My poor lungs just can't take another round! I'm doing all I can with eating well, exercising, sleeping enough, and taking lots of Airborne. Hopefully I'll make it through the semester unscathed as I definitely do not have time to get sick again. Although I should be immune to swine flu now, I still fear the seasonal flu... and any cold really, as it always goes straight to my lungs.

On a happier note, tonight I have yoga, hopefully after a successful run! I'm working on my schedule for next semester and as of right now, it looks like I'm going to have loooong Tuesdays, with class intermittently from 8am to 5:50pm. Sigh. I was trying to avoid that but the schedule of offered classes for next semester is pretty terrible.

OK, I'm off to get some more reading done and have a snack, of course. Skim cappuccino and cashew cookie lara bar it is! However, before I run off, I have a bone to pick with Starbucks...

Really!? It's the beginning of November! I love the holidays as much as the next person, but this is getting ridiculous. I am officially boycotting all things holly jolly and jingle bell-y until post-Thanksgiving. Call me Scrooge but this is starting to become absurd.

IT Band strikes again. and again.

Well, my running freakout was certainly justified. Unfortunately. However, I did complete my first official 5K on Saturday!! It was just a fun experience in general to get a number and line up and run with lots of people you don't know. Plus, there were some fabulous costumes which provided on course entertainment. :)

Awkward pre-race, sun-in-my-eyes picture.
At least it proves I was there!

Blurry action shot

I'm not sure what my official time is, but the clock said 33:10 when I finished. I'll update when I find out the official time. (UPDATE: Apparently the official time was 33:19... Don't know how that happened but maybe I saw the clock wrong.) My knees were in a world of pain though, and not just the right one. By mile 2 they were both hurting, but it was really the left one that was killer for the duration. It feels like it's the IT band on that side too. Sigh. I think it was caused by a combination of things, mostly that I hadn't run in a while and the entire course was pretty much uphill. They were pretty swollen on Saturday night and when I woke up on Sunday, my left knee was so swollen I couldn't bend it all the way. I iced them on both Saturday night and Sunday morning, but I'm not sure how much it helped. Any kind of motion that involved pivoting was super painful. I cleaned the apartment last night and just vacuuming was pretty painful.

Of course, the swollen knees prevented me from my long run yesterday and now that the half is only 5 days away, I think I just need to focus on getting my knees back to normal and will run it without doing a last long run. I'm definitely looking forward to the race, but I'll be happy when it's done and I can go to a doctor to get my knees checked out again. I think I may pick up an IT band strap for my left knee as well, since the right one seems to give my knee some relief and that knee recovered much quicker.

For some reason, if I have a long run scheduled and I can't fit it in, I just skip it instead of doing a shorter one in its place. With finals coming up, I definitely won't have time for long runs (long being 9+ miles) but I'm really hoping to squeeze in 3 or so 3-5 mile runs a week, focusing on speed. Then when finals end, I can start working on distance again, hopefully to do the DPHM. :)

Project done and running freakout

Soul-sucking, life-killing project has been submitted! Hip hip hurray!
And the Yankees won tonight to tie up the series! Hip hip Jorge!

Goodness am I glad to be done with that project. Well, in all truth, only the writing portion is done as we still need to present next week. Also, I have to physically turn it in tomorrow morning as it was just sent to the printer to be bound. However, as it is no longer able to be edited, in essence, I think it is done.

Tonight, I was able to beg off a few hours from my partner (who was fabulous by the by) and steal off to yoga for an hour tonight. It was so nice to be back moving, but I could really feel my inactivity from the past week. Plus, it was a crazy challenging class! We must have held chaturangas for 5 breaths at a time, 8 or 9 times. I was suffering by the end of those. Plus, my body was really super tight, probably due to stress.

Usually, I find Ardha Matsyendrasana (seated twists) to be super comfortable and easy to bind, however, I was having a lot of trouble getting into it. So, instead of being an intelligent yogini and taking it easy, I shoved by shoulder down and pulled my left shoulder. I suppose it's not really the shoulder, rather the muscle under my left armpit towards the back? Anyway, it hurt. I tried to rotate my shoulder a bit to loosen it up, but it was hurting even to extend my left arm all the way out so I was down for the count. I was especially sad because they spent the rest of the class working on backbends and walkovers, which I loooove. Anything involving a bendy back. :) I wish I could say lesson learned but we'll see. I tend to be rather injury prone and it's usually from pushing myself... or walking into walls. I don't think it's bad though and will probably be all better tomorrow.

Anyway, tomorrow is a "no school work" day for me as I am celebrating the end of this project! I'm looking forward to a nice pedicure, some sushi, maybe checking out the new Lululemon showroom. Fun fun fun! I also need to pick up my 5K registration. Oops. I haven't really run in.... (checking blog for training records).... OH MY GOSHNESS NINE DAYS! And my last long run was TWO WEEKS AGO!?! Crap crap crap. Well, 5K Saturday and I'll do a long one on Sunday and have a short taper until the half on next Saturday. This project could not have come at a worse time and I need to learn how to fit runs in when I'm busy. I hope this doesn't really screw me over come next week as it would suck if I lost all my endurance after all that work. Sigh. Alright. Positive thoughts and energy to my muscles.

Plus it's my five year anniversary on Saturday! "Anniversary of what?" you ask?


I shall tell you tomorrow. :) Good night!

Another article to tide you over while I slave away

No time to run and had to skip yoga today. Awful. Therefore, also no time to post. To keep you entertained, check out this additional New York Times article on human physiology and running.

The Human Body is Built for Distance

(I'm assuming that the New York Times is posting so many interesting running articles in preparation for the upcoming New York City Marathon this weekend. Keep 'em coming!)

I'm not sure that I'm quite ready to hop on the barefoot running train, but once I get through this academic crunch period, I'd love to read Born to Run. (Realistically, I won't have time until the end of December but oh well. I'll squeeze it in. Plus, it helps me me one of my goals set at the left!!)

Sigh. Back to work. Barf.

Interesting NYT article

Interesting New York Times article about slow runners. I go back and forth between being offended and agreeing with them.

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

Thoughts?

Wanted: Time for a run!

AHHHH! All I want to do is go for a run! It's so beautiful outside! 60's. Crisp air but clear blue sky. Crunchy leaves. Air smells smokey. UGH school UGH. I need to get this done.

I've always been a procrastinator. In high school, I got away with everything. Writing a paper in the class before it's due? Check. In college, I'd cram for exams the night before, sometime day of. Fine. However, it's so much hader to do now. I've gotten a bit better, but not really. I've always been jealous of the people who can sit down at a computer and write a paper in 3 hours... several days before it's due! The very few times that I've managed to do this, I notice how much less stressful it is and how I actually enjoy the process. Again, I think it comes down to mental stamina. Maybe doing school work can help my running by teaching me concentration? I truly don't know how I've made it this far academically without learning how to prioritize work.

While taking a break (read: avoiding writing like the plague) I found another race to do! :) The New Paltz Turkey Trot. I called my mom and told her about it, and she said that she'd been thinking about it today too actually! Weird cross country ESP that we have. It's on the morning of Thanksgiving, so the whole family will be in NY. I know at least 4 of us would want to run it and maybe others would want to walk! Nice way to start off a holiday which involves stuffing yourself chock full of food for hours.

Also, I heard from a good friend of mine out in Nevada who apparently reads my blog frequently. Just wanted to tell her that as soon as we get her back to her good and healthy self, I will run her first 5K with her. :) :) :) Now, I just have to do MY first one next Saturday!
And sometime between now and then, I have to do my 12 mile run...

GAHHHHHH! Ok. Back to work.

In a rush!

Busy busy busy! Please pardon the quick updates for the next few weeks. I have a giant project due next Friday. Honestly, I probably spend more time thinking about how much work I have to do and finding ways to put it off instead of actually doing it. As is, unfortunately, the norm for me. Anyway, so Tuesday as usual was yoga. Lots of quad work, for sure. I was actually thinking that I may either take the Thursday before the half-marathon off of yoga or ask her to not do so many warriors. I can't tire those muscles out!!

On to Wednesday which was supposed to be my short run of about 4 miles. However, because of my weird Wednesday schedule, I had to do it inside again so I got about a mile and a half into it and gave up. I'm surprised how running on a treadmill makes me so aggravated. It's all mental I realize and I really need to work on just calming my mind down. Once I start thinking that I hate what I'm doing, it's usually less than 5 minutes before I hop off and walk back home. I need some more mental stamina stamina stamina...

Thursday was yoga again. I'm surprised because at this class, there were more men than women again. This makes me happy because so many people think yoga is only for girls, but it's for everyone. :) The highlight of the class for me was definitely that I held my handstand (without the wall) for a few seconds for the first time. I wasn't expecting it at all either, which is actually probably why I did it. I wish I had some place to practice more. I don't have a lot of open wall space in my apartment and the carpet makes it hard. I wonder if some studios have open time?

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get my 12 mile run out of the way. I had wanted to do it today but it was in the 70s and tomorrow will be in the low 50s which is much more comfortable. I'm also thinking that I may just do the full 13.1 miles just for my mental piece of mind.

Ok, must sleep and do work. Hope to have more time to do a real update later.

Weekend update!

What a long but lovely weekend!! It was such a short and busy whirlwind trip so I didn't get to see everyone that I had hoped to in the city, but luckily I'll be home for a week before Thanksgiving so I can catch up then. Also, I didn't bring my computer with me and tried to update from my phone once, but it ended up being too difficult of a process. Here is the quick rundown of all my my training from the past couple days!

Thursday was yoga, but with a different teacher for the day. Definitely challenging but I was surprised with myself in that I finally got the hang of one-legged chaturangas. Kind of. I think I sink into my shoulders a bit too much so I'm still working on pushing out of them.

I had an early morning on Friday to make it to the airport for my flight. Although I'm usually late for many things, I'm never ever late to the airport. It makes me too crazy. However, it usually means I end up sitting around for a loooong time especially because my flights are often delayed, which of course happened last Friday. Luckily I made it to NY at last and my mama picked me up and we headed upstate where I got to meet the new puppy! He is so sweet and I can't wait for Thanksgiving when all three Havanese pups get to play together. We'll have our own mini-herd of Havanese puppies wreaking havoc all over the house, with my Martha probably being the fearless ring leader.

Even though it was freeeeezing outside at aroun 40 degrees, my mom and I did a 7 mile trail run on the Walden Rail Trail. What a gorgeous place to run! I also got to test out some of my cold weather running gear and I warmed up pretty nicely. I think I need gloves though as my thumbs were pretty cold for most of it.

I was surprised how nice and comfortable it was to run with her. We were aiming for an 11min/mile pace, but hit under every mile. I think running with someone forces me to push my pace and then she pushes her and back and forth. When I upload my Garmin data later tonight, I'll put up the splits but it ended up being 7 miles in 1:16:05. Awesome. I really liked the Luna energy chews. I still find that around mile 5 or 6 I start to fade but hopefully munching on those will help me get some much needed energy to my muscles! I didn't feel too shabby the next day either, and haven't yet resorted to an ice bath!

Update for mile splits!:
Mile 1: 9:58
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 10:47
Mile 4: 11:15
Mile 5: 11:17
Mile 6: 10:56
Mile 7: 11:30
So I guess we didn't hit under 11 minutes every mile. Oh well. :)

On Saturday, I made it to the Lululemon store on the Upper East Side and it was love at first sight. I just wandered around for a bit picking stuff up and adding it to my pile. In the end, here are a few of the things I got: Swift tank, yoga towel, headbands, water bottle, and Groove pants for my mom. They even hemmed them for her in the store and are shipping them upstate to her. So nice. My bank account is going to be in so much trouble when the Nashville store opens up. Plus, my favorite yoga teacher, Gillian, is teaching the first community yoga class there on the opening day! Life is so good. :)

Back to this weekend, Sunday I did some speed work in the hotel gym (ick, treadmill). It was 40 degrees and rainy in the middle of nowhere Jersey so I didn't want to run outside. I planned to do a 2 mile speed workout, then stretch and do abs, then repeat the 2 mile speed workout again. I did the first set and it was SO hot in there. There was no air movement and the air between me and the treadmill screen was just hot and dead. So I did my stretching and some quick mini yoga, and hopped back on the treadmill. A half mile in, I paled and got cold and clammy so I hopped off and called it the end. I've never passed out, but I've come awful close in the gym a few times when it's too hot or I haven't eaten recently so I try to play it safe. Plus, there was all that wedding dancing later on at night. The wedding was beautiful and lots of fun, as expected!!

Finally, this morning, I took a flight back to Nashville. It was super early and my knees kept cramping on the flight so I was exhausted and cranky for most of the day. Instead of doing my scheduled run, I went to a yoga class which was a lovely way to start the week and loosen me up from a weekend of flying and running. Lots and lots of lunges and warriors so it was definitely a class for quad strengthening!

Whew. So that's the quick rundown. I have more yoga tomorrow night and then a run on Wednesday. Busy busy busy. I also registered for the Nashville Halloween 5k! Now I need to think of a running-friendly costume. I think fairy wings are probably aerodynamic. :) I also realized that this is my first official 5k and I'm running it exactly a week before my first half marathon. I probably should've spaced those a little better... oops. :)

Speed sets and yoga

Wednesdays are always hard to fit in a real run. I have class starting at 9:30am and don't wrap until about 6pm and my breaks in between classes are not quite long enough to run in. Therefore, when I finally got home last night at 7pm, the idea of going for a 5 mile run sounded pretty attrocious. Instead: speed sets! They aren't too time consuming but are really good for leg strengthening. It's basically a minute and a half at jogging pace (5.2) and then a minute and a half at a run (5.9). Then back to 5.2 for a minute and a half, then up to 6.0 for a minute and a half. It keeps going back and forth from jog to run and the run goes up .1 in speed every set, for seven sets, which ends up being 2 miles. I find that it goes pretty quick because you spend so much time concentrating on the time and changing speeds that it's over before you know it. Definitely a good way to squeeze in a good workout in 21 minutes when I don't feel like doing anything at all.

At least my legs felt better on this run. Finally recovered, just in time for my trip back to New York tomorrow!! Unfortunately, the weather there is pretty indicative of the end of the world. I bring bad weather with me, wherever I go. Hurricanes, snow storms, rainy summers. I apologize. Tomorrow, my mom and I have planned to go on a 11 mile run together, however the weather may dampen that a bit. It's supposed to be about 40 degrees and rainy so it may turn into just a 5 or 6 mile run. Apparently there is a 5.8 mile trail loop that she runs a lot so we'll test that out. Hopefully it's not too terrible outside! I plan on layering!!

Tonight I have my yoga class but it is a different teacher for the evening, so that should be an interesting change! I love my teacher, but I suppose that it's a good thing to change it up a bit. In fact, if I can find an early morning yoga class in NYC on Saturday morning, maybe I'll try to get out to that. I already have tons and tons of stuff that I have to bring with me but pair of Lululemon crops and a tank doesn't take up too much room! (Oh my, and I get to go to the Lululemon store in NYC and they are opening a store in Nashville on October 30th. So excited!) There are so many wonderful studios in Manhattan. I'll start searching tonight! Hopefully my flight will be on time tomorrow because I have so much to do and see and eat.

Ice baths?

Today my legs still felt pretty sluggish and I was so frustrated in yoga. Although I felt pretty alright after my run Sunday, I'm just not recovering well from it.

Which led me to, of course, do a handy internet search. The suggestion that kept coming up for recovery from 8+ mile runs was.... ice baths. I find that runnersworld.com usually has great articles and advice, so I'm a little dismayed that they also support this tactic (see this article!). I'm starting to like running more and I'm really pleased with my progress, but I hate, despise, loath being cold. My car's seat heaters are always on, I have about 4 or 5 throw blankets in a one bedroom apartment, and my winter heating bill is embarrassingly atrocious. Therefore, the idea of lowering myself into a bath with ice sounds appalling. However, it seems like there is a whole lot of support behind it and marathoners and ultra-marathoners swear by it. (And then there is little ol' me, huffing and puffing behind.)

Plus, the science of it makes sense. When you run, the blood vessels in your legs open up to deliver extra oxygen to your muscles. By cooling them, you are helping to restrict the vessels which keeps blood from pooling in your legs and helps in the healing process. (Can I tell you though, just the idea of blood pooling anywhere, even in my legs, is enough to make me squeamish... Ick)

Have any of you actually done this ice bath madness? Did it result in hypothermia? What kinda of really really exciting reading material did you have to take your mind off of the numbing of your extremities? Sigh. I'd like to think that I'm willing to do anything, within reason, to help my running process along, but I wonder if this is outside my boundaries of reason. Burr.

Yoga was shockingly unenjoyable today. I think much of it was because my legs were so tight and my body felt crappy. We also were working on peacock pose, which involves resting on your chin a little bit in order to get your balance to go totally up. I can't put any weight on my chin since I broke my jaw a few years back (more on that soon, I'm sure) so I found it exceedingly frustrating.

Peacock Pose in Yoga Journal

Oh well. There will always be hard days. I suppose that getting through hard classes and difficult days with grace is always a bigger accomplishment, but that didn't stop me from cursing under my breath. At least, I got to gorge myself on sashimi afterward!!

Sigh. Onward and upward, I hope.

Recovery Run as Torture

Since I felt so good after my run yesterday and so good this morning, I figured that my recovery run would be a super pleasant jaunt around the block. You know, just logging a few miles to loosen up some tight muscles.

Oh how wrong I was.

I pretty much felt like I was slogging through quicksand. I did 2 miles in about 23 minutes and then walked a really slow 1/2 mile. Sweet goodness, I was not expecting that kind of pain and sluggishness. At least I got out there and moved around a bit, but this felt like I was picking up right where I started yesterday at the end of 10 miles. However.... I ran 10 miles in under 2 hours yesterday and I'm still riding that high. Plus, my knee still feels great even though I forgot the strap today (oops). But golly, what a difference it makes when I'm well rested. I barely have enough left in me to update my blog.

All energy reserves have been depleted so I must eat some ice cream and get some sleep to rebuild. A vacation would be nice too. Something like... this.


Ah... Could you pass me a Corona and a couple teenage vampire love stories please? Thanks.

10 miles - Accomplished!

Holy amazing run! I did my 10 miles this afternoon in 1:50:32. Considering that I ran 8 miles last week in 1:47:28, this is a pretty incredible time for me. My 5K split was 31:38. Really pretty amazing! I think the thing that made the most difference is that IT band strap that I got last week. Honestly, I didn't have any side knee pain during or after the run. Both knees are still a little bit sore, but more the general soreness that comes from pounding on the pavement for two hours! I'm ecstatic. I actually got the chance to push my muscles without worrying about what it would do to my joints.

I'm also glad that I waited until today to do the run. On Friday, I wasn't really feeling it and I felt so rested today. I also didn't have my watch on Friday and it helps a lot for me to know my pace etc. Speaking of pace, my mile splits! (Goodness I love this watch)
1: 10:00
2: 10:06
3: 10:32
4: 10:47
5: 10:59
6: 11:02
7: 10:55
8: 11:23
9: 12:56
10: 11:42

I pretty much had no energy after mile 7. I'm going to try out a couple of things to munch on as I go to see what works for me. My mom tried Luna Sports Energy Chews today on her long run and really liked them so I think that I'll pick up some of these to try out this week.
I think it's time to invest in that fuel belt too as I'd like to have more water and Gatorade on me as I run. My arms also got tired holding the full bottles in the beginning!

I walked a minute after every mile and I think it helped save some of the energy in my legs. I also walked 1/2 mile of mile 9 because I was so exhausted but I pulled it out for the last one. Not bad, not bad at all, in my opinion!!

My muscle pain is also definitely not as severe post-run this week. I downed a banana and some Muscle Milk Light following the run as I was starving but I still felt a little nauseous about an hour or so later. I'm not a huge Muscle Milk fan as I think it tastes like chocolate chalk, but it's a quick way get some nutrients and a lot of protein. After dinner, I felt a little bit better though. Dinner was pretty simple but so delicious. I just mixed a cup of chickpeas, half a chopped tomato, half a chopped cucumber, some red onion, and balsamic vinegar and then devoured. I also had a baked sweet potato with some Greek yogurt mixed in.

Following dinner, and with a much calmer stomach, a friend and I tried out Sweet CeCe's frozen yogurt here in Nashville. I was pretty pleasantly surprised! I had stepped in before when I was in the area and was disappointed because it's self-serve and only one or two of the flavors were listed as low-fat. However, I found out later that all of the flavors are fat-free, unless it says low-fat. Interesting. They need to explain that more clearly at the store because I was ready to write it off pretty quickly!

I tried the pumpkin yogurt (fat-free!). It was very good and tasted like fall to me with pumpkin and cinnamon flavors. It was really sweet though so I'm not too sure of what the sugar content would be. Sweet CeCe's website lists the nutritional info for a bunch of the flavors, but pumpkin didn't make the list. Cookies n' Cream however had 110 calories, no fat, and 17g sugar in a 1/2 cup. The self serve cups are giant and the yogurt comes out really fast though so it was even difficult for me to regulate portions. I added some golden graham cereal and a little crushed malt balls. Final verdict: It was a tasty treat, but probably not one that I will be having all the time. Definitely worth trying out though if you are in Nashville!

Thwarted by the weather

Today was supposed to be my 10 mile run. I didn't get up as early as I would have like but I got dressed and drove to the park. On my drive down, I heard the warning signal on the radio that there were tornado watches and hail warnings. I made it a mile into the run when I decided that the sky looked way too ominous and that I would try again tomorrow. The sky opened up about 30 seconds later so I think that I made a good call. :) I will run through rain but I will not run through hail and high winds. I had a bit of a bad experience with the movie Twister when I was younger, so I have a tiny (read: huge) fear of those ravenous wind tunnels. During the spring in Nashville, the tornado sirens go off almost every afternoon and I usually spend the afternoon hours of 3pm - 6pm terrified. I'm certainly not up for running in it. Plus, I had forgotten my watch at home so I felt totally off kilter without it.

Yoga last night was crazy challenging. However, I suppose that I write that about every Thursday class but it's very true. I loved it though. I think I do need to find a new mat though! Mine becomes way too slippery when I sweat and it's caused me to fall on my face several times. This past class, I was in side crow and my right hand slide out from under me and thump, I was on the ground. Takes all the pride and fun out of doing a really difficult asana! My shoulders are a bit tight this morning but I'm definitely not hurting as bad this time around. My teacher is also a dancer and I like how graceful she makes everything look. All of her asanas have a really amazing flow to them and it is certainly something to look up to and try to emulate. I'm one of the world's most ungraceful beings, but it's still fun to try!

On a rare non-training note, today I bought a couple of pumpkin ales to test out. First up:

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale

Pretty tasty, smooth, mellow. I can't say that I taste all that much pumpkin in it and it's not as sweet as pumpkin beers can sometimes be. Definitely a delicious beer to just sip on while I did stuff around the apartment, but it's a little steep on calories at around 216. I might buy it again, but I'm going to wait to see what I think about the others. I only have 2 more types to try right now but may be willing to open up my lateral taste test to some more options!!

Off to walk the puppy and hopefully get to bed early so I can try a new yoga class tomorrow. Still working on my getting up early goal but at least I'm going to bed earlier!

Update:
How have I not mentioned the Yankees yet? After tonight's game, I'm ready to propose to Teixiera. I love that team, even if they try to kill me by being down in the 9th. Just saying.

Ouch

So, the morning run did not go as I’d hoped. Even though I was in bed by 11:30pm, I flipped and flopped in bed for another 3 hours so I decided to put it off to catch a few more hours. Sigh. I think that when I got into bed, I immediately started to worry about not being able to fall asleep in time plus worrying about a thousand other things. Dear brain, please shut down at 11pm. Thanks.

When I woke up and hopped out of bed this morning, I was shocked. Muscles I didn’t even know I have hurt! My butt, my thighs, inner shoulders, the outsides of my feet, even the muscles in between my ribs hurt. Granted, nothing is actually in pain, it’s just sore and achy, especially in the morning when I’m dragging myself out of bed. It’s probably a good thing because it means I’m working hard enough to be making myself stronger but yeesh, could I use a massage. I think I’m also a little dehydrated so hopefully my water guzzling will help. Plus, it’s my blog so please excuse me while I whine just a little bit!

Today is a 4 miler, but I may only be able to squeeze in about 3 because I have a softball game later tonight. I’ll try to sprint around the bases to make up for it. Theeeeeeen I have yoga tomorrow, 10 miles on Friday, 4 miles on Saturday, and maybe yoga too on Saturday. Sunday is finally a day off to rest. Eek. I’m thinking of doing my long run tomorrow and bumping the workouts up a bit so I will have more time to recover this weekend. Somehow in there, I also need to squeeze in a boat load of school work. I have a giant project due at the end of the month and am also going to be out of town next weekend (yay!!). I could probably learn to be more productive on the weekends for sure.

OK, so I have work to do, things to be read, and notes to be taken.

P.S. For breakfast tomorrow, I am meeting a friend for buttermilk pancakes and I'm already pretty darn excited. Plus side of all this exercise: stack of carbs and syrup. Mmmm.

Yoga for the Hamstrings and to bother Julia

Some crazy person said they wanted to work on hamstrings and quads today in class... OW. Those muscle groups are so tight on me now! Looking at it objectively, it was a very necessary class because I really needed to stretch them out because of all the running but as I was doing it, I was not having very yogic thoughts. Asanas that are usually pretty standard for me were really hurting. However, I do at least see a whole lot of improvement in the length of my hamstrings. Pre-yoga, my hands would come to about my knees when I'd try to touch my toes. Now I can now get my hands flat on the floor. I'd love to be able to do a full hanumanasana at some point but right now, I'm pretty happy with where I am. :) Oh yes, and a headstand. For some reason my body is afraid to go upside-down...?

Hanumanasana in Yoga Journal

At least post-yoga I had some delicious salmon sashimi and miso soup. I'm very odd about salmon. I like it raw, i.e. sashimi, and smoked, i.e. lox, but salmon fillets really do not appeal to me at all. Something about the texture and smell... yick. However, Zumi Sushi is really fantastic. I'm so glad that this city finally has a decent sushi joint. So yummy.

This is a super short and boring post but I'm tired and want to go to bed. I'm glad today was a day off from running and I felt a whole lot better this morning after a full night's sleep, but tomorrow it's back to the grind. In theory, I'd really like to run tomorrow morning before class. It's only a 4 miler and to be able to bang it out before my day really starts would be so fabulous. We'll see what I think this idea at 6:40am tomorrow morning though. It's a process but I'll get there. I think.

Looking over this blurb, it's such an optimistic entry. Yay me. :)

Ouch Ouch Ouch

Ouch. Everything hurts.

Today was a 5 miler and I actually semi-enjoyed (read: didn't completely hate) it. I ran the first 3 miles at about 12:00 each, walked the fourth in about 14:00, and ran the last one in just under 10:00! Even my fast mile is probably pretty slow for most people, for me, it was pretty darn quick.

However even though it went pretty well during the run, my body is really hurting now. My right knee felt kind of alright (more on that in a second) for most of the run, but now it's throbbing. My ankles are sore, my lower back aches, even my calf muscles hurt. I just took a pain killer and I'm looking forward to when it starts to kick in. I'm icing my knee now and will probably ice my ankles in a little bit, just for good measure.

I bought an IT band strap to see if that helps. I'm pretty sure that it's my right IT band that is flaring up and bothering me, and I thought today to search online if they make some kind of support for it. They do! I bought this one and tried it out today. So far, I'm undecided. My knee still hurt at about mile 2, but I think it felt a little better and didn't hurt as sharply as I continued running. It also didn't feel quite as stiff at the end, but then again, I am currently icing it so who knows. I'll hold off on judgment until I try it out a few more times. I'm pretty sure it didn't make anything worse though so I may as well keep at it.

Also, in a move of sheer brilliance, I decided that I'm not going to go to another orthopedist until after this half... mostly because I don't want to be told to lay off the training and not be able to do it. We'll see what kind of smart plan that really is. If I end up on crutches or needing surgery, here is a note to my future self: You friggen idiot.

Alright, off to finish up the icing and head to bed. I'm exhausted and could probably use a full night sleep. Thank goodness for Advil.

Update:
I was looking over the last couple of posts and realized that I ran 8 miles in 1:47 last week and 5 in 1:00 today. That's a difference of and average 13:23 and 12:00 mile splits. Granted, I tend to get slower as the mileage drags on, but I'm pretty proud of pushing myself. With running, I think I have a tendency to stop or slow too soon (when it's not related to pain) so I've been trying to run through being tired or cramps and only walk for knee pain.
Hurray for going from super slow me to slow me in a week.

Running Gear

4 miles in the rain. Ahh. With a big shock to myself, I didn't hate every single step. Now, this doesn't mean that I loved every second as I sped around the loop but I was able to enjoy a few moments. As I was running in the rain, I was thinking about what a big difference my running gear made. I was always of the mindset that you should get the good gear as you get better and pretty much "earn" it. In some sense, that makes sense. However, on the other hand, for someone like me who really really struggles with the workouts, good quality gear makes my life (and run) just a little bit easier. So, here is a run down of my usual running pieces:

1. Sneakers
I've been a converted Asics fan for quite a bit. They are so light and comfortable. I got a new pair about a month ago and I love them. Introducing my Asics Kayano 15. The best thing about them is that somehow, they stop me from kicking my ankles. I couldn't figure out why, but for years I would kick the inside ankle on my opposite foot every 10 steps or so, so a 5 miles run would leave them pretty raw and bruised. Not a problem anymore!


2. Clothes
I jump around in a lot of brands, but I think my favorite is Under Armour. I didn't realize what a ginormous difference sweat-wicking clothing makes. I was always under the impression that cotten tanks were fine and it was no big deal. For shorter 3 milers, I still don't really care but if it's raining or I'm running a long run, I now really appreciate the difference these make. For example, it was pouring today during my run, and I was only mildly damp at the end. No dripping at all. Today I was wearing my UA long sleeve and Nike running capris. My absolute favorites are the UA Quickstep shorts, too cold for them today though:

3. Watch
For my birthday last year, my mom got me a Garmon Forerunner. It is so technologically advanced that I'm pretty sure I can command satellites with it if I finally got around to reading the whole instruction manual. I probably never will. However! It's very useful for other reasons. First and probably most importantly, calculates distance so I get in the full length of each training run. Second, calculates speed. I find this especially helpful for keeping my walking recovery speed up and my run speed down because I'm really trying to pace myself. I can also use the lap timer to set mile splits, see my heart-rate, calories burned, elevation of course.... amazing thing. With all this data, I should at least be able to fine tune some of my training, right? It's certainly an investment piece but a really amazing tool. My one and only complaint is that the chest strap it comes with is way too big for me. I currently have part of it tied up with a hair tie which give me a nice lump on my back and I'm still always hiking it up. However, my mom just ordered an XS one for me, so that will be fixed soon. Minor complaint and easily fixed.


4. Fuel belt
I don't actually have one of these yet but I want one! I'm thinking of getting the Wachusett Belt for water, Gatorade, and to hold a snack (I start to starve after 7 miles). However, I think the 4 bottle one might be better for longer runs? I really despise holding a water bottle as I run. I suppose I could always refill though... hmm. Things to think about. I'm a pretty thirsty girl. Suggestions?

5. iPhone and headphones
Enough said. How people can run sans music is beyond me. BORED. I was all about Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers on todays jaunt as I will be seeing them (for the 6th time!) tonight.

6. Recovery food!
For the last mile of my run, I usually just think about what kind of recovery food I get to eat. Goal is for high protein and nutrient dense. Today was an apple and my favorite: low-fat chocolate milk. I've been buying cases of it in the little kid lunch box size, in vanilla and strawberry too, so I can have one waiting for me in my car. Mmm. So good and so worth running for. Plus, I don't like regular milk so whenever I can cram it into my diet with lattes, protein shakes, or chocolate is a good thing.
So that's a pretty complete run down of my running gear! Are there any things that you can't workout without? (And of course, don't ever forget the SPF! I had 30 on today... and it was pouring). :)

8 miles! 8 miles!

I did it! I ran my planned 8 miles at Centennial Park this afternoon in 1:47:24. It was grueling and difficult and at mile 3, I was pretty ready to give up but I didn't. I'm so proud of myself, really. My knee started hurting about at mile 2 so I did a variation of run/walk every quarter mile. When it was really hurting, I'd walk a half, run a quarter, but by the end, it was back to the original plan. I was so exhausted and starving when I finished but at least I finished.

This trail was a great find though since it's much much closer than the one in Brentwood. It's a mile loop, with every quarter marked. Paved, flat, and very pretty. Also helped that today was perfect running weather with 68 degrees, sunshine, and a light breeze.

Trail

View of the Parthenon over the lake/pond

My whole body is pretty achy though. I popped some ibuprofen when I got home but my lower back especially is bothering me. The combination of my yoga class yesterday and the run today really kicked my butt. So, what do I plan to do about it? I'm going to another class tomorrow morning! :) This one is only a level II though so it should loosen me up a bit. I don't want the running to shorten my hamstrings and counteract all the goodness I have been achieving in yoga!

Alright, I'm exhausted but wanted to document my accomplishment today. Certainly not on the pace to break world records, but it was right on for making my under 3 hours goal (on pace for a 2:55, but I was definitely slowing towards the end). I also tried to keep my walking mile time under 15:00/mile in order to keep the pace up, even if I couldn't run all of it.

Good night! Hoping for less sore muscles in the morning!

Good night moon. Hello October.

Alright! I'm excited to run again! Woo! The weather is so perfect outside that it has renewed my running spirit. The fact that I find it really difficult doesn't mean I should give up as nothing worth doing ever comes easy, no?? Well, it surely does not for me. Plus, I have found the next half that I want to do: The Disney Princess Half Marathon. Imagine the possibilities! A sports tiara! Pink running skirts! A finish line filled with Disney princesses! A giant pile of chocolate chip pancakes with Goofy following the race!! Unfortunately the race starts at 6am, probably to both avoid the heat in Florida and so that they can open the park to the public at a reasonable hour. My goal is to finish the November 7th one in 3 hours, and then I will consider the DPHM. Goals to work towards! Tomorrow is my long run and I'm looking forward to checking out the loop at Centennial Park finally. Hopefully this nice weather will hold out for me (According to the weatherman, it should be perfect around 9am!!).

I'm hoping that my morning run will loosen up my legs a bit. Yoga was insanely difficult tonight and I was almost chaturanga'd to death. I'm always surprised by people who think that yoga is just stretching and chanting Om. Holding those high lunges and up-dogs for several minutes can be excruciating! I definitely need a towel for class though. I was trying to hold onto my ankle in trikonasana and my hand kept sliding off! Funny... but ew. I love the crazy challenging classes the most though. I love feeling exhausted, like I've worked hard and done my best. I've been easing up on the strength training in the gym because yoga is doing a pretty great job kicking my butt on its own. Interestingly, I find the meditation parts to be the most difficult as I can't quite get my mind to sit still yet. It's amazing how hard it is to think of nothing and just... be.

Also, I finally got around to making the acorn squash tonight. I meant to take a picture, but it was at about 10pm that it finally finished cooking so I basically dove into it. It was alright, although not the most special thing that I've ever eaten. It was definitely less food than I was expecting as I ended up also making tomato soup and crackers, and later had some of the roasted cauliflower that I made for tomorrow. I'm actually hungry now again. I guess that means that I better get to sleep.

Good night moon. Hello October. :)

Yoga and Acorn Squash Adventures

Ah, yoga was as lovely last night as I expected it would be. It's definitely a pretty tough workout for me and I pour sweat (such an attractive, feminine quality, I know) but I really love it. We spent a lot of the class working on back bends which I adore so it was a pretty fun class! I think I finally got the hang of flipping the dog too. Tuesdays classes are more instructive while Thursdays are more flow-y so it's a very nice combination. Hopefully I can add one in on Saturday too this week.

I ran out of healthy food on Sunday or so and never got around to getting to the grocery store so for Sunday and Monday, I kind of just ate crap. (Well, crap for me.) Grilled ham and cheese, grits with butter, chocolate covered pretzels, eh. I was surprised how blah I felt because of it, and rather quickly. Yoga always inspires me to do and eat good things though so I restocked yesterday. I bought an acorn squash, which I've never worked with, and through a quick online search, found this recipe that I think that I will try out tonight. I'd like to roast a head of cauliflower too for the next couple of days. I love cauliflower in eggs... maybe with some potato and spinach and cheese for a frittata? Delicious. This upcoming weekend (which starts for me tomorrow night - no class on Friday!), I'd like to do some cooking for the upcoming week. I love making homemade soups and they are so easy for midweek meal because you can freeze them. Plus, I've been meaning to make some more veggie burgers, but they take forever without a food processor. Maybe I'll just give in and buy a Cuisinart...

I also hope to get a run in today. I have a softball game, but I think that counts more as hanging out than real exercise so hopefully I can squeeze it in. My breaks are annoying on Wednesdays though because they are all about 2 hours long... not quite long enough to get a whole lot done but too long to just be lazy. At least I've been a little bit better on the sleep front. I was asleep by 1am last night and up around 8am... I'd love to be a morning person and I think it just will take some training to go to bed earlier and get up by 6:30am everday. I feel like I waste so much time with my current schedule.

Anyway, the weather is finally gorgeous and is so autumn-y! I guess I should bite my tongue from what I said a few days back! I think I'll go sit outside for a bit before shuffling back to class... mmm...