Cox Providence Half Marathon Finisher!

It happened! On Sunday I ran 13.1 miles for the first time in my life. And it felt so good. The best part was crossing the finish line…and seeing all of our supporters on the sidelines.

I guess the best way to recap this half marathon weekend is to start at the beginning. Friday night I nervously packed my bags, with literally everything I could think of to bring. I had every different combination of running outfits, just case there was a freak snowstorm…or hurricane. Hey, I wanted to be prepared! Saturday morning Matt and Jess picked up Dan and me and we started our journey back to the ‘hood (not the real “hood” but that’s just what we call our neighborhood, since Jess and I have been neighbors since I was 10).

Probably a week ahead of time, I had my prerace dinner planned out.  I knew we probably wouldn’t be home in time for the dinner with the other Rhode Scholar bloggers, I went to my go-to fueling meal, Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Spinach. I rolled with white pasta, since it’s easier to digest. I noticed how much thicker white pasta is than whole wheat and I can definitely say that I like whole wheat better. Hooray for healthy!

I figured I could splurge on some white bread, ya know, since I was about to run 13.1 miles!

Yummmmm, pasta!

With butterflies in my stomach, I tucked myself into bed early so I would be well rested for what was coming. I woke up around 6am and we left the house at 7am.

Despite my long night’s sleep, we look a bit groggy waiting for the race to start.  We took our places and the gun went off at 8am. We were off!

The first 5k went by really quickly and my nerves quickly dissipated.

Our families came out to support us and positioned themselves on Blackstone Blvd. in Providence, where they knew they would see us twice.  Here we are so excited to see them at mile 4! We knew they would be around mile 4 but it was still a nice surprise to finally see them!

The course was hilly, as expected, and we did a really good job of pacing ourselves and listening to our bodies to make sure we conserved energy for the rest of the race.

To entertain ourselves during the race, we came up with three mini goals. The first was to not finish last, which we figured would be easy to accomplish. The second was to finish in under 2:30, which was going to be more of a challenge because of those dang hills. And the third was to beat the man wearing cargo shorts in front of us, because really, who wears cargo shorts to run for two and a half hours!?

Another way we entertained ourselves? On-the-run photo shoots!

Here we are around mile seven, starting to get a little loopy.

Mile nine was quickly (well it wasn’t actually that quick) approaching and we knew we were going to see our families again soon, which gave us something to look forward to.

These are our cheerleaders, minus my dad because he was taking the photo. Thanks for coming to cheer us on guys!

I must say, this course was absolutely beautiful! So many gorgeous houses to look at.

A spontaneous jump at mile nine, which took a toll on Jess’s knees…sorry for making you jump for the camera, girl!

We weren’t sure if we would see our cheerleaders again before the end of the race, so we turned to say goodbye.

But see them again we did, right around mile 11.5, where we both were really starting to fade. This is right where the marathoners joined the course, so we kept moving out of the way for the elite runners who were looking to win. When we saw our families this time, they tried to get us to jump again…you can tell by our faces that that was NOT going to happen. Dan’s dad kept telling us we were going to set a world record, which made us laugh each time. Jess’s dad mooed for us since they didn’t have a cowbell, ha! And my dad ran alongside us for a little to take some photos.

Finally, after 2 hours, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds, we were done! That’s right, we beat our goal time! HOORAY! And we didn’t see cargo shorts again, so we assume we beat him too. Yay for hitting all of our goals!

As soon as we crossed the finish line I just about collapsed. They quickly handed us our race medals, a bottle of water, and these super chic tin foil blankets. As we searched for food, I wobbled a few times and had to catch myself from falling. But as soon as we got to eat and chug water, I felt much better. Weird thing though, my feet kept cramping up, which I’ve never had happen before. I quickly chugged a Gatorade and devoured a banana and it eventually stopped.

We met up with our families and took some finisher pics with our first ever race medals

After the race we all went out to have an enormous breakfast, complete with bloody marys and mimosas, of course!

All in all, it was a really great race.  There is some discrepancy with how long the half marathon course actually was, but we still beat our goal, even if the course was a little bit longer.

After making ourselves feel like humans again, we hopped back in the car for the 3.5 hour ride home.  Jess and I had big plans to nap the whole way, but that never happened. By the time we hit New York City, everyone was really loopy and out of it, which lead to some overtired giggles. Once we got home, I finally feasted on a day late Cinco de Mayo meal and called it a night.

Boy was I SORE when I woke up this morning though! I foam rolled a little this morning but it didn’t help much. At work I tried everything to make myself feel better including Advil, coffee, Emergen-c, walking during lunch, and stretching as much as I could.

Check out what was at the office this morning…we have the best co-workers Thanks for getting these, Gill!

When I got home, I took an Epson salt bath and foam rolled my little heart out. I’m starting to feel more human, but I still can’t bring myself to grocery shop!

My first half marathon experience was truly a great one, and I definitely plan on doing another one soon, maybe even this summer! I want to thank a few people who made this experience so enjoyable and manageable. A huge thanks to the people behind the race at Cox and Eident Marketing for giving me the opportunity to be a blog ambassador and for comping my race entry fee! Thanks to Dan who encouraged me to continue to train, even when I felt like I wanted to give up. Thanks to Jess for always being my fearless running buddy and running right along side of me for each mile, you’re the best! Thanks to Matt for the delicious breakfast and for driving us to and from the race! Thanks to my family, Dan’s dad and Pam, and Jess’s fam for waking up early on Sunday to cheer their hearts out each time we ran by, the cheers really kept us going! And thanks to everyone who listened to me talk about my training plans and training runs and are still friends with me after it’s all over! You all are the best and I wouldn’t have done this without all of you.

So there you have it, 13.1 miles down! Next up, I’ve got a 13 week speed plan I’ll be working on while running other races in between. See you soon blogstars!

It’s Almost Over

Here we are, only two days away from the Cox Providence Half Marathon! After five months of training and running my little heart out, I finally feel ready. I know that I will be able to run 13.1 miles on Sunday and not feel like dying once I cross the finish line. I can’t wait for that victorious feeling to sink in, that I, not a runner girl, just ran half of a marathon.

Me and my running buddy, Jess, who’s running the half marathon with me on Sunday.

Whenever I used to hear about or see people running any sort of long distance, I used to think, “they must be a runner and it just comes naturally for them.” You know by now that this is not the case for me, not even a little bit. Running has always been something that eluded me for the longest time. I would try, maybe too hard, and end up suffering from a day-long asthma attack. I would get discouraged and never want to run again. Heck, I was on the track team in high school and taught myself how to throw the javelin just to get out of running a two mile warm-up around the surrounding neighborhoods!

When I competed in the triathlon two summers ago, I had to run a 5k. The day of the race, I had never run further than 3.1 miles. Coming to think of it, even after my Halloween 5k and my Thanksgiving 5k, I had never run further. It wasn’t until I set my sights on this race that I ever mustered up the courage to run even 4 miles. I know it sounds cliché but if I can put one sneaker in front of the other and run a half marathon, so. can. you. All you have to do is be patient and start slow. Don’t set out for a run your first time.  Do the couch to 5k plan first, it will build up a great base for further distances.

Coldest day of.my.life. The HoBooKen 5k on Halloween weekend when we had a freak snow storm.

So here’s the thing…despite the fact that I’ve run four races and am about to run 13.1 miles, I still don’t consider myself a “runner".” Weird, right? I can’t bring myself to raise my hand in yoga class when the instructor asks if there are any runners in the class. Maybe it’s because I don’t really have plans for any more serious races after this. I guess I think that “real” runners are always looking for the next big race or competition. Sure, I’m doing a local 5k in June and potentially a mud run in July, but I don’t have plans to ever do another distance past a 10k. Maybe the running bug will bite me during the half, but I just don’t see it happening. I didn’t ever wake up on a Sunday morning excited for the miles ahead of me (unless they ended with a big breakfast and mimosas ). Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on running once this is over. I have big plans to become much faster with a couch to 10k plan, which I’ll share later. I am really proud of myself for building up this endurance and I don’t ever want to lose it and be back to where I was 3 years ago.

For now, that’s all I have to ramble on about . I will be back on Monday with my last Rhode Scholar blogging ambassador post about how the race went. Wish me luck!

Getting out of my comfort zone

Hey guys how’s it going? Not much is new over here, except for running. I went home to RI for Easter weekend and while I was there I ran a 10k…over a bridge!

This wasn’t just any bridge, it was a 2.5 mile bridge connecting Jamestown to the mainland of Rhode Island. Take a look at this puppy.

(Source)

Needless to say, I was scared out of my mind the whole day before. I was not-so-quietly freaking out about the fact that I had to run over a bridge. First of all, I hate bridges. I hate driving over them, I hate thinking about them, I hate looking at them. So that’s where half of the nerves came from, and the other half came from the fact that I didn’t think my body would be able to carry me over the bridge twice.

My mom always says that a positive mental attitude is 90% of achieving anything. So Friday night, I started using that PMA to get myself ready for the race. I laid out my outfit the night before and got a good night sleep.

One thing I was excited for was the swag; mainly the tek tee and the bunny ears! We wore the bunny ears throughout the whole race and it gave me a sense of community, which made the race a whole lot more fun.

Nervous nelly on the right the morning of.

We had beautiful weather that day, although it was a bit cool. 

And you know what, the race wasn’t half bad! Despite the butterflies that were circling my stomach all morning, as soon as the first ascent started, I knew I was going to be just fine. And my second realization? I’m not nearly as afraid of bridges as I thought I was! Check out this pic I snapped from the very top of the bridge, it doesn’t get more beautiful than that!

I’m so lucky to have grown up in such a beautiful place-I can’t wait for the summer!

After all the worrying and psyching myself out, we made it to the finish line and didn’t feel like we were going to die!

I even had energy left to sprint the shoot!

Who’s that girl haulin’ some serious a**? Just me!

Thanks for the photo Capstone!

So the name of this game was conquering fears. And you know what? You may find you’re not actually as afraid as you thought you were! Facing those fears is the only way to ever overcome them and grow.

Oh hey, the running bunnies survived!

We finished the race in 1:10 (gun time, I think we were a minute or so faster if they used our chips instead). Not the speediest race ever run, but at least we didn’t walk for a second!

Hey look, there are people behind us on our way up!

So now that it’s been a little bit of time since the race, I have had time to fit in quite a few more runs, I am feeling far more confident in my running ability. Last Sunday’s run was an 11 miler, my longest run to date. Sunday’s forecast called for nothing but rain, so there was talk of changing the run to sunny Saturday.  I decided I needed to become familiar with running in the rain, in case the Cox Providence Half Marathon ends up with weather more like this:

Fingers crossed that’s not the case, but if it is, I feel ready because I did my 11 miler in the rain.  I actually had a good time.  I never got hot and it was kind of fun avoiding the rain puddles. Another benefit? When it rains, people tend to stay inside. Hooray for nearly empty streets, which is a rarity in my little city!

So there you have it, an update on all things running. I decided I should taper the week before the race, so I am only doing 6 miles this Sunday, instead of 12 like I had previously scheduled. And once that run is over, I’m having a huge home cooked breakfast and declaring my training for the Cox Providence Half Marathon (and my first ever half marathon) over! (Save for a Zumba class or two I plan on taking the week before.)

What fears have you overcome recently? How did you face them head-on?

Week 2 Wrap of Best Body Bootcamp

Hello friends! I hope you had a great week and a happy Saint Paddy’s Day! I spent the weekend up in Boston with some of my favorite people.

This weekend was week 2 of phase 1 of Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp and week 5 of my half marathon program. I’m so happy it worked out that both of these plans matched up and I had to do cardio in Tina’s plan on the same days as I had to run in Hal’s plan. Hooray for good timing!

I really love doing Tina’s plan because I am doing strength training moves that really challenge me like never before. Another part of the plan is to pick two personal goals to complete each day.  I kept the same two goals (taking a multivitamin and eating one serving of protein a day) and succeeded each day in completing them! They have become a normal routine for me so I am going to try two new goals for phase 2 (which starts today). Those two goals are going to be to only eat meat at one meal a day and to unplug from the computer and TV for a half hour each day. I really struggle with this because I spend all day on the computer at work then I come home and use my iPad or watch TV for most of the night. I think these are two achievable goals but ones that I will have to put my mind to.

In half marathon training news, I hit a huge milestone for me.  I ran 8 miles without stopping or walking once yesterday! I never in a million years thought I could run that far, and with this new distance comes a new confidence. For the first time since I started training for the race back in January, I know I can do this. Each week I doubted I’d be able to add another week to my mileage or ever finish 13.1 miles. But now I can say that I know I have it in me and I know I will finish. In fact, I’m looking forward to adding more mileage each week. I can’t wait to get to 9 miles this weekend because I know I can do it!

This photo makes me so proud!

Is anyone else signed up for the Cox Providence Half Marathon or doing Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp? What are your keys to success during your training?

WIAW Holy Hills!

So it’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for none other than What I Ate Wednesday. (You can see my first WIAW post here.)

Since I’ve changed my work schedule (we were given the option of flex time so I now work from 8-5), I now eat breakfast at work which gives me more time to prepare and eat something delicious. Bring on the oats!

These were quick cooking oats prepared with 1/2 cup almond milk and 1/2 cup water and 1 teaspoon of chia seeds. After it was done cooking I added 1/2 teaspoon of agave, 1 spoonful of sunflower seed butter, 1 tablespoon of granola and 1/2 of a gala apple. I love oats for breakfast because they fill me up better than any other food and keeps me full until lunchtime.

For lunch I had the overwhelming craving for a chicken salad sandwich and boy did this one deliver! Chicken salad on a whole wheat hero with lettuce, tomato and spicy mustard. I may have to get this today because just thinking about it is making me hungry.

I ordered a shipment of supplies from IHerb and one of them was wheatberries.  I had never tried them before but Dan eats them at some place by work so I figured I’d add them to the cart. Boy am I glad I did! They taste kind of like brown rice but had a great new texture. I put some roasted veggies, which consisted of brussel sprouts, zucchini, and red peppers on top of the wheatberries. I also baked some chicken breasts then pan roasted them with lemon pepper seasoning.

I rounded out the night with some Cheez Its and a glass of white wine.

Holy Hills

So I told you about the Bootcamp I am doing and so far, it has been great! Yesterday’s exercise called for 50 minutes of cardio, which fit in perfectly with my half marathon training program. I was scheduled for 3.5 miles and I knew I wanted to incorporate hills into my running. I searched around and found this great workout.  I did it by the book and added in a 5 minute warm up walk and a 10 minute cool down walk to make sure I reached my 50 minutes of cardio.

Give this workout a try if you’re looking for a manageable challenge on your shorter run days!

I’m off, have a great day folks!

This is the start of something good.

Hey all! I hope you had a healthy start to the week. Did you set your healthy intention for the day?

Since my post yesterday I have decided to take on another fitness challenge. After seeing Julie’s and Courtney’s posts this morning about Best Body Fitness’s Bootcamp  I knew this was just the challenge I needed.  I was super bummed because the registration closed on the 4th, but I was so lucky that Tina reopened registration for yesterday only! For $25 I will be getting 8 weeks of a bootcamp plan with the chance to win prizes every week and a cash prize at the end. I can’t share any specific workouts but I will say that I think it is going to fit in really well with my current half marathon training.

Like I was saying yesterday, my strength training left something to be desired. I used strength days to do a few planks and do a few bicep curls but not anymore! Yesterday’s stretch and strength workout left me tired and wiped in the best way possible. The workout focused on full-body strength.  I did the weights circuit three times through then followed up with 20 minutes on the elliptical.

The one move that was the most difficult for me was the new-to-me Shoulder Press with Leg Extension.

I used 15 pound weights for the first set but I was super struggling through that set. I dropped down to 10 pounds but I wish I could have done it with 12 pound weights (we don’t have those at my gym). This move is a killer and a total body toner.

One final aspect of this plan is that we have to set two personal goals. Mine for this week are:

• take my vitamins everyday
• eat at least one serving of veggies a day

I say eat because I usually get my veggies through juicing so I feel like I should actually eat them once in a while.

So there you have it, my new fitness challenge! I think I am going to do a before and after post with pictures…eek! I think this plan is what I have been missing and I’m hoping that this plan, coupled with my 1/2 marathon training and tracking my nutrition, will really be what makes the difference in my pursuit of healthiness. Stay tuned!

13.1-I’m a Problem Solver

How’s everyone doing on this fine Monday? I’m pretty excited because I’m taking a few days off at the end of the week! This weekend was stellar. The ole’ apartment was stuffed to the brim with friends, which made for the perfect time.

Now on to the running portion of this program. While I am following Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon training plan (novice 1) pretty much to the T, I changed up the long runs in order to be better prepared for the 13.1 miles I am going to face.  With Hal’s novice plan, the most you run is 10 miles.  I know people say that adrenaline and the cheers of the crowd will carry you through the rest of the run but that 3 mile deficit was too much for me.  In order to close that gap, I adapted the plan to become my own and increased the mileage. Case in point, this week instead of 5 miles, I ran 6 and next week instead of 5 I will run 7. Enough about the plan, let’s talk about how I have put the plan into action.

To be frank, I have been having a little bit of anxiety about the upcoming Cox Providence Half Marathon. Before I began training I hadn’t run anything further than a 5k.  While I do feel like the plan is helping me (and I’ve been following it pretty religiously) I still get a sinking feeling that I won’t be ready come race day.  Here are some of the reasons I am intimidated by this race:

• I have been running pretty much solely on the treadmill.  Last week I expressed my frustration and boredom and tried to run outside. That run was a bust, so I was feeling discouraged.
• I don’t feel like I am working out enough for someone who is training for a half marathon.  Aside from my long runs on Sundays, I’m not really putting in any more time than I normally would be.  The only difference is that the training plan keeps me honest and forces me to stick with my exercise frequency.
• Hills! I am pretty frightened by the the quantity and severity of the hills that lay before me on May 6th. The only time I have run hills in a race, I nearly puked. It was not pretty. I live in a city and there really are no hills to run outside.

Those are my main fears and frustrations. After many days worrying that I won’t be able to finish this race, I decided I just needed to come up with a better game plan. So today, I laced up my sneaks, threw on a fleece, gloves and ear warmers and took to the streets.

Running on the treadmill has become so easy and boring for me, so I knew I needed to take the opportunity I had today and just bite the bullet and run outside. I mapped a run that would be pretty and I downloaded a long podcast to take my mind off of the running.  I was pretty pleased when I looked down at my Garmin and saw this beautiful sight:

I did it! Six miles is my new PDR and I did it outside without walking at all! Needless to say, I was pretty pleased with myself.  What I was even more pleased with is that I didn’t want to die when I was done. An accomplishment indeed.  I didn’t want to gouge my eyes out during the run either, so I’d say running outside is in fact the boredom buster I needed.

My second problem is the intensity of the workouts for the rest of the week. I want to push myself more during this training because I want to be in the best shape ever when this is over. I’ll admit it, my strength training at this point leaves a bit to be desired. Monday’s stretch and strength usually involves me laying on the floor “stretching” during The Bachelor and maybe doing a plank or two. Or curling the measly 3 pound weights I have in the apartment. How old am I, 80?! I’m training for a half marathon for crying out loud.  So here I am, proclaiming myself a changed lady and I will now kick my own butt with lifting that leaves my muscles begging for mercy. Hold me to it, will ya? Link up to your favorite weight workouts!

Finally, we face the problem of hills.  Honestly, I haven’t really come up with a solution for this one yet. I thinkkkkk that what I might do is dedicate one shorter run (either Tuesday or Thursday) to running hill intervals on the treadmill.  I’m thinking running hills on the mill is better than not doing them at all. What are your thoughts?

One final note, I tried a new-to-me method of fueling during my run.  I know 6 miles doesn’t really require fuel, but I know I am going to fuel during the race, so I don’t want any surprised the day of. I stocked up at Sports Authority last weekend with a few types of fuel and today I decided to try out the infamous Gu. I went with Gu Energy Gel in Tri-Berry and I had a so-so reaction to it.  I wasn’t expecting it to be so thick and I kind thought I was going to barf when I took my first hit.  Luckily I didn’t and I was able to gulp down the whole thing at a red light. The flavor was good and I didn’t cramp or anything from it. I just don’t know if it did anything. Around mile 5 I was really dragging and I don’t think the Gu really helped all that much.

(Source)

I have more fuel to try out during my runs and I’m willing to give Gu another chance. I think I’m going to force myself to get used to it because Gu is a sponsor of the race and will be on the course.  I’d rather not have to carry my own fuel since it’d be a lot more convenient to just grab a packet as I ran by.  We’ll see how it goes.

So there ya have it, my ramblings for the week. How is everyone else’s training coming? Any advice for a newbie like me?

Preempting Health with What I Ate Wednesday

This upcoming weekend is going to be nutty. Two weekends before St. Patrick’s Day, Hoboken goes crazy. Hoboken St. Paddy’s Day used to start with a parade through the street, but due to the craziness of the event, they nixed the parade this year. Never one to miss a great time, Hoboken found another reason to spend all day drinking, Lepre-Con. Essentially, you dress up as a Leprechaun and go to bars. I am preparing my body for this week by being extra health conscious. I am ramping up my workouts and cleanifying my eats.

I’ve seen What I Ate Wednesday around the blogosphere for a while now and since I used to do a round up of what I ate on Wednesday anyway, why not link it up with other bloggers? You can see all the What I Ate Wednesday round-up over on Peas and Crayons. Here is what I ate one day this week.

I kicked off the day with some loaded oatmeal. I microwaved some quick cooking oats with chia seeds and added agave, a scoop of PB, 1/2 cup of strawberries and blueberries, and a tablespoon of Trader Joes granola.

For lunch I had my usual-Amy’s soups. Black bean veggie style. I also had some unpictured green grapes.

After a butt-kicking workout, I had worked up quite the appetite and couldn’t wait to make the dinner I had dreamed up.

This little baby is an amazing salad. Blood oranges, red onions, gouda on arugula with champagne vinaigrette. Yum!

Dinner part two-tomato, arugula, and mozzarella panini. Also yum.

I also had a green juice in order to up my veggie intake for the day, since this month’s theme of WIAW is “Love Your Veggies” month.

I topped the night off with a glass of Merlot and one of my most favorite things from Trader Joe’s, Dark Chocolate Powerberries. These babies are gold, I tell ya, gold!

(Source)

All in all, it was a nutritious and delicious day. I need to make that salad again, it’s definitely worth giving a try.

I wanted to share a workout that I made up yesterday. It wasn’t a butt kicker like the one I did the day before, but my poor muscles needed just a solid, steady workout. On my 1/2 marathon training plan, I had a 3.5 mile run scheduled, so I came up with this plan to make the run more interesting, which was a success. This workout, coupled with an episode of Dance Moms, went by in a blink.

Well, I’m off! Let me know if you try the workout and what you think if you do try it!

Half Marathon Training-Running Outside

Hey guys, I hope you had a great weekend! My family was in town and we went to a bunch of great restaurants around Hoboken, including Zylo, Charritos and Amanda’s.  I didn’t take pictures of any of the food but maybe I’ll do a review soon anyway.

Last week, I hit a bump in the road with my half marathon training.  Beside the fact that I took a whole week off from exercising, once I got back into it, the struggle continued. 

(Side note-I just realized that my running time I entered was totally off.  I ran 5 miles in 57 minutes, not 1:57!! I would have been barely moving to run that slowly.)

As you can see in my Daily Mile post from last week, running doesn’t come naturally for me.  It’s not something I enjoy and takes a big effort for me to want to run. I just get so bored! Many people suggested I stop running on the treadmill and try running outside, so today, I gave it a try.

I suited up head to toe so I wouldn’t feel the cold.

I was determined to run my scheduled 5 miles, or at least a few of them, outside. I set out and felt pretty good for the first mile but then I started to feel really miserable.  I’ve been battling a cold and I think the run made it worse.  It became really difficult to breathe and I started coughing a lot.  I decided that it wasn’t worth the misery and that I would try again tomorrow.  If I feel better, I may attempt the 5 miles on the treadmill tomorrow, because I want to get them in. 

On that note, I’m going to bed soon I think. I’m feeling rather gross right now and it seems to be getting worse. Womp womp.

Do you have any suggestions with training through a cold? I need to keep going!

A Body at Rest

Well hey there, it’s been a while! I had a super busy week at work last week and then I took a break from blogging to get back into my normal routine.

A week without working out

It’s true about what they say, “a body in motion tends to stay in motion, a body at rest tends to stay at rest.” This definitely happened to me the other week.  Like I said, I had a really busy work week which left me little time to work on my Cox Half Marathon training.  Because I took so much time off and submitted myself to all of the tasty treats that were available at the trade show, I found it very difficult to motivate myself to workout even when I did have time to exercise.  It was really easy for me to take a nap or catch up on TV when I had a spare minute.  I didn’t workout for an entire week.  It’s been a really long time since I’ve done that.  It took a lot of internal motivation to get back into my routine after that week.  I’m really glad to be committed to this race, or I might still be laying on the couch!

Moral of this story is that it’s very easy to break a routine.  Even though working out is second nature to me at this point, I can still fall out of it very easily.  I realized that living a healthy life is not my norm and that I actually have to work at it.  I really like being healthy and active, but it is not my first nature. This was an important realization because now I know that I have to make a conscious effort to maintain this lifestyle. Lesson learned!

Calorie counting while training

I got into trouble during my triathlon training because I was constantly hungry.  I was working out more than I ever had and I got into the mentality that I could eat whatever I wanted to because I was working so hard.  It turned out not to be the case, and I ended up gaining weight during my training.  I was not a happy camper.  I had signed up for the race to get in better shape (which happened) and to lose weight (which didn’t). This time around, I vowed I am not going to gain weight, which is why I am calorie counting.  I give myself 1500 net calories a day (net means that if I work out and burn 300 calories, I get 300 more calories to eat that day), which seems to be just the right amount for me. I don’t go to bed hungry and I typically have around 100 calories left for the day.

I have been using the My Fitness Pal app on my phone along with the online component.  This is a great, free app that allows you to input your calorie intake, fitness output and water consumption. It has the calorie count on basically every food and even food from many different restaurants. When I am on the go, I input my calorie intake on my phone but when I am at my desk, I keep the website open all day.

Calorie counting keeps me on track during my training and makes sure I don’t gain any weight while I am trying to get in better shape. My goal of this half marathon isn’t to lose weight, but if I happen to in the process of cal counting and running, hey, I’m not complaining!

So those are my ramblings for this week! Have a great day!

Surprisingly…Upbeat!

The first person to get remember where that title came from gets a virtual cookie.

So here I am, one week away from finishing Part 1 of my half marathon training and I have surprised myself with how far I’ve come. I think I could almost call myself a runner…almost.

As I’ve said before, each long run is a new PDR (personal distance record) for me. While I’m still truckin’ along in the single digits mile-wise, I did something this week I never thought I’d ever do. I ran 5 miles, in a row, with. out. stopping! It was truly one of my proudest moments, and honestly, those 5 miles FLEW by. I probably could have kept going, too!

If anyone had told me 4 years ago, heck even a year ago, that I’d be racking up the miles like it ain’t no thang, there’s no way I would have believed you. Running was always a source of angst for me-I remember dreading each cheerleading and softball practice because there was an off chance we’d have to do some long distance running. I was even on the track team in high school and I would feign sore knees to get out of running more than a mile. (That is also why I took up the javelin, but that’s another story.) It makes me smile while the miles tick by now, I welcome the exercise. I love the way I feel at the end of a run and I don’t feel like curling over and dying anymore…I guess that’s a positive thing!

While I did feel great this Sunday when I reached my 5th mile, I need to remember how much farther I have to go until I have reached my goal. I am still 8 miles away from where I need to be in May, so I cannot be complacent.  I still have a long way to go but I really love celebrating these mini milestones. While the work is hard, I do enjoy it. I am happy that I have decided to embark on this journey and I can’t wait to continue racking up the miles!

What mini milestones have you hit on your way to your final goal?

Surviving the Dreadmill

Hi everyone! I hope you had a fabulous weekend and enjoyed the snow a little.

Due to the snow and overall cold weather, I have taken my training inside the past few weeks.  Typically I find running on the treadmill to be sooo boring. The scenery never changes, which make it feel like forever. Also, I find I run a lot slower when I am controlled by the treadmill, so it almost makes me feel like I am taking a step back when I can’t go at my usual speed. I am learning to embrace the treadmill and even starting to enjoy its company. Here are some of the things I do to make the time on the treadmill tick by faster.

Watch a TV show or movie.

When I know I’ll be on the treadmill for longer than 20 minutes I have started to watch what’s available On Demand. Recently, my series has been Rachael vs. Guy’s Celebrity Cook-off which is about 46 minutes long. Perfect for my 4-5 mile runs.

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I get my NSYNC fix on during the show with this guy.

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I’m pulling for him to win (I’m a week behind so don’t tell me if he’s been kicked off), but I digress… Once I start getting into even longer runs, I am going to start watching movies On Demand, since they last about an hour and a half. I like that these shows keep my interest because there are no commercials and I usually forget that I’m running.

Cover the mileage counter.

I always forget to bring a towel to the gym so I cover the mileage counter with my phone.  I drive myself crazy when I watch the mileage slowly tick away, so covering it puts that dreaded number out of your mind.

Listen to a podcast.

Listening to music isn’t usually enough for me. The music doesn’t distract me from what I’m doing. Listening to a podcast is more interactive because you actually have to listen to what is being said. I think this could also work well with a book on tape. I am going to try that next.

Don’t think of the distance in terms of a total amount.

This is the best trick I have. This can apply to inside or outside running.  Rather than dwelling on the fact that you have to run 4 miles, think that you have to run 2 miles twice or 1 mile four times. I like to have milestones in the run to make it seem shorter. At one mile, I’ll think “this is no big deal you’re already a fourth of the way through.” This type of internal motivational conversation is very helpful for me.

Do you have any helpful tips to make working out inside a more enjoyable experience?

So onto this week’s training. I completed week 4 of Hal Higdon’s 10k training plan, which means I’m half way done with my first (of two) training plans! I feel much more confident this week that I will be able to run 13 miles come May. Bring it on, Cox Providence Half Marathon!

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Monday- Sunday’s run was on the treadmill so I wasn’t that sore. Still, I rolled the leggies and did some great stretching. I also did the 100 workout while watching The Bachelor (go Kacie B!). It occurred to me that the perfect substitution for stretch and strength would be yoga. I don’t know why I didn’t do this before! Looks like this Monday I’ll be yogacizing. Here’s the 100 workout that I completed (I did 10 burpees at the end instead of 10 minutes of running.)

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Tuesday-I went into the city after work to take part in the Self Magazine Healthy Food Awards taste testing and was exhausted by the time I got home. I postponed the 3 miles until Wednesday.

Wednesday- We do yoga at work every Wednesday, so instead of 35 minutes of cross, I did an hour of yoga. I’d say that’s a pretty good substitution. I also ran my 3 miles from Tuesday on the treadmill as soon as I got home from work. Two-a-days baby.

Thursday-I busted out 2 miles on the treadmill with ease. I am beginning to love that running is becoming something I enjoy and not just a strenuous chore! I also did Courtney’s build your own bootcamp workout. Here’s what it looks like, except I only did it one time through.

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Friday-A glorious day of rest. It was marvelous to not worry about working out. I saw friends in the city after work and didn’t have to think about running. What a relief

Saturday-For my 50 minutes of cross, I rode the recumbent bike at the gym. I programed it to bring me through different resistances and levels and boy, was it a good workout! I was a tad worried that my legs would feel like bricks for my long run on Sunday, but alas, I was fine. I love my cross training days because I can read my Kindle or magazines while I am getting my sweat on. I tried to do this while running one day but I got pretty nauseous from the bobbing up and down. I wouldn’t recommend it!

Sunday-Nothing like long run Sundays! I am starting to enjoy building my Sundays around when I’m going to run. Today’s run had to be scheduled around the now AFC Champs Pats! I used all of my tricks for running inside and the miles flew by. I also challenged myself to complete the run with negative splits. I ran the first mile at 5.0 mph, the second at 5.2 mph, the third at 5.4 and the fourth at 5.6. Obviously, I was not doing this run for speed, but I’m glad I tried this type of workout. I think it accurately simulates how the race will go. Perfect practice make perfect.

I’m really pleased with how this week went and that I am really getting into the groove of this running thing The next few weeks will be a challenge because we have big events at work. It’s going to be a challenge to fit all of the training in, but I am going to try to make it happen!

Have a great week everyone!