Food

As I sit here, my stomach is growling. Its 1:50PM and I am starving! So far today I have had a bowl of Honey Chex, 2 oranges, a tomato, and about a litre of water. I have a pot of water on the stove and am making alfredo because I can't stand the grow lies anymore.

This whole weekend has revolved around food (that's typical of most weekends actually) It started Friday with a trip to the grocery store where Nick and I were both hungry. We did good though and didn't buy any junk food, we did buy a lot of food though!

I had spaghetti sauce started in the crock pot so we ate that for dinner (I finished the leftovers the next morning for pre-breakfast) Saturday we had Chicken for dinner which was awesome, and Sunday was home made pizza. Both Saturday and Sunday morning we made crepes and now its Monday and Im still eating like a crazy hungry person.

oh well, whatever food is fun.

February

10K on the treadmill, 3K walk X 2 with Lilo

Its been a while since I have updated so here I go!

Into my third week of marathon training and it is going AWESOME! It is amazing how much stronger I am feeling. The first week, on my first Sunday long run of 9K, I was DONE and so sore the next day, and then the 5K on Tuesday just felt brutal. This Sunday the long run was 18K and I was tired out (even took a nap!) in the afternoon. The next day though, I felt awesome, and yesterdays 5K was SO FUN! Such a difference in just over a week..so I am sold on this training plan as it seems to be working well so far.

I have ordered two pairs of shoes and am really excited for them to arrive. They are ones that aren't available in any stores in Canada yet, and the one place that I know is getting them in late February will sell them for much more than what I was able to order them for online, including the shipping. Here is what they look like

women's asics gel neo 33

women's asics gel excel 33

Both seem to be great shoes, not sure which is the best for me as I haven't been able to try them on. I am a neutral runner though so both are applicable to how I run. Cannot wait to try them out and see how they feel :-)

I topped out at 160K for January and by following my running schedule, will do 230 for February. I decided to do the St.Patrick's Day 5K in March which will be my first non-virtual race this year..haha and a 5K which is not my thing! I seem to take between 5 and 8K to get into my groove lately, so heres hoping in a month and a half I will be a little speedier at the shorter distances!

For February my plan is to keep doing what I am doing. 

- I am at a point where I am SO excited about my running and feeling all sorts of little wins, I am working this month on focusing on the bigger picture as well since I know those wins won't always be so easy to find once the mileage cranks up and life gets a little busier. 

_ I have been doing Monday-Thursday training in the evenings, and then Sat/Sun in the mornings. I would like to do Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday in the morning, and then Wednesday in the evening since its a bit of a longer run. This may not always work with my schedule, it is still a goal though so I can get my body convinced this is a good idea for when the weather & sunrise does allow for running in the mornings. 

- There are 2 trips planned with work for this month, so I will be doing one workout on a different treadmill, and then another one outside. Feeling good about this actually, taking in scenery I haven't seen since Summer, in Winter, will be great! Plus, the treadmill at the one place is right next to the pool...that is fine by me!!!

- Don't eat like crazy! I am ALWAYS starving after a run, so I am focusing on remaining aware of the fact that if I burn 900 calls on the treadmill, it doesn't give me license to eat whatever I want to for the day..everything in moderation. 

My favourite distance right now is 8K. its long enough that I feel like I did something, and short enough that I can push myself without worrying about giving too much effort and nixing a workout further on in the week. Also, its a distance where my time is not great, so theres the continual need to improve on the last run which is a great motivator. 

Question: What's your favourite distance and why? 

1st Training Week Done!

Run: 10 miles

So, first week of marathon training schedule is over! 26 miles this week on the schedule, I did 25 as Monday I went 2 miles rather than 3. I have to say, I am looking forward to having tomorrow as a non running day - not used to 6 days in a row for sure!

For this week, I am going to go slower Tuesday to Thursday to save some energy for Sundays run as it was certainly a challenge today!

I was looking over my schedule & noticed I started it a week early -oopsies! So I was able to tone down the week we are in Dominican, without losing too much overall so I feel REALLY good about that.

Tomorrow for cross training I am going to do yoga, need to stretch everything out & really prepare for the week. I did 2 ice baths this week & they helped soo much. Super not loving them, but the benefits outweigh the uncomfortable minutes for sure. My toes are the problem! The cold water makes them hurt SO much!!!

Happy with my results in the Twitter Road Race! I finished 14th in my age category & 35th overall female, that adds up to awesome in my books!

That's it for now, have a good evening all :)

#TwitterRoadRace 5K

Today was the Twitter Road Race 5K. Such a run idea. I really love reading all of the Tweets and seeing how many people just had fun because that's what it is all about. I finished mine as part of a 5 mile run and while the 5 miles wasn't the greatest, the 5K was okay for sure.

whoa, that's me and my cool results!

Tomorrow once all of the results are in, the rankings etc will be posted that will be awesome to see as well since there are people of all ages, abilities, and from all over the world doing this, its quit amazing.

I have 10 miles planned for tomorrow. I am looking forward to it, just wish todays run went better so I felt pumped about tomorrow, because now I just feel mildly concerned. I am having a tough time figuring out what wasn't great about it - other than my legs felt like lead and my times were progressively slower each KM!

Tomorrow is a new day, that's all I have for now.

Ice Bath

Run: 3 miles

So last night iran 5 miles & pushed myself to go a little faster every K, and I did that in 1-7 and then that's all I had so the last K was a little slower. Because I'm running 6 days this week, and typically run 5, I didn't want to chance sore legs & so I decided to do an ice bath. I filled the tub just enough to cover my lower legs & knelt there for 10 uncomfortable and chilly minutes. My toes were the very coldest & my legs looked a little red lobster like.

This morning, my legs felt AWESOME and they have stayed that way all day. So I am a fan for sure! Its so good for them, and to recover so much faster is just fantastic!

So the weekend is

3 miles friday
5 miles with Twitter Road Race 5K in there too on saturday
10 miles on sunday

So weekly mileage is targeted to be: 2+3+5+3+5+10 = 28 miles.

Then Monday is cross training....not sure what that will be yet as its super chilly outside, any ideas? Something I can fit in early AM from 5 to 6 preferably.

Running Is Awesome

Run: 5 miles

Today was not the best day ever. I was in a funk all day & really only improved at around 4, not for lack of effort for sure. I was having a super emotional day which on any typical day might be comical, but since I was also having a very serious day, it was just a little messy.

Anyway, glad I am feeling more chipper now!

I mentioned a few posts ago about the new Under Armor tank tops & shorts that I bought a few weeks ago. They truly are awesome! I LOVE how comfy the shorts are & the tanks fit well & are cool as well, thank you for Heat Gear.

I was certainly skeptical with the shorts being 'charged cotton' but seriously are charged with something super amazing as they are not hot, heavy, and they breathe really well too.

Last night's run was 3miles/5K. My legs were not sore before starting, they felt a little heavy is all. After the run they still felt good, so the rest day yesterday was a smart idea - GO ME! When I'm running I'm really working on keeping good form & not getting sloppy when I speed up or get tired. Its mostly successful although I will needto put a continued focus on this to really nail it in the longer runs.

This weekend on Saturday as part of my 5 mile run, I am doing a 5K Twitter Road Race (search #TwitterRoadRace on Twitter for more info). This is really a cool idea. Its the first one ever & there are (at the time of this post) over 700 people participating from all over the world. The idea behind it is to keep running fun & interesting & be a part of something new! All you do, is sign up, run 5K Saturday & then fill out a form with your time. All of the results will then be posted at the end. Some people have really got into it & posted logos and race numbers too.

Running Is Awesome.

Its Tuesday

This is normally a run day for me and Mondays are a rest day, but I switched up this week. Yesterday my calf muscles were so tight that I thought a short 3 mile run would do it. I went SLOW and at the end my calves felt better but my shin was really sore. So I iced it for a bit and then it felt good but my calves hurt again. So, since I don't have a foam roller, I used a rolling pin to get some of the tension out. Wow it hurt but after wow it felt good! So I decided since my legs haven't hurt that bad in a very long time, that I would take today off.

Walking to the train after work, my legs feel good! A bit heavy, otherwise good though :) so while I am thrilled about that (and still taking today off) I wonder if it was the short, relaxed run, or the rolling pin, or both? I will need to investigate further and I have ample opportunities judging by my training schedule. This week is 3 miles Wednesday, 5 miles Thursday, 3 miles Friday, rest Saturday, and 10 miles on Sunday. sounds like a decent week only 21 miles but that's because of Sundays awesome half marathon effort!!!!!

I totally feel in a great spot running wise now. I feel prepared to start this 17 week training plan, totally committed to completing it, and for the first time in a while, I feel like I have the time to devote to putting the effort in, which has been the issue in the past.

I will continue this later, my fingers are getting to cold to be able to type properly!