Windows are open!

Today is a scheduled rest day and I am taking full advantage of it. My legs need a break from running for a solid week! Last night was the first night this year that I could wear shorts outside to run! I was scheduled to do 3 miles but I finished at 2.8…Mina and I both had out tongues hanging out, ready to go inside. I averaged a pace of just under 10 minutes per mile.

Today the weather is beautiful and the sun is out and everyone in the NE Ohio is buzzing around with smiles on their faces. I know it doesn’t look like Mina is happy but she’s got her eye on a chipmunk!

I opened the windows in the study and next thing I know, she’s sitting there smelling the fresh air! I took her outside for a bit so we could both enjoy it.

 

For those who are resting today, take it all in! For those who train today, get out there and enjoy a run in the sun!

2 Things

1. I ran the scheduled speed training today. I planned to use the nearby high school track since the sun was out, but the snow hasn’t quite melted enough there. I ended up running on the side roads and using my GPS application to measure the .25 (400m) that I needed to run. I did 6 of those intervals and walked about a block or two in between.

2. I just spent the last hour with my friend K setting up my new menu planning system on Plan To Eat. Once you take a look at it you may not believe that I almost gave up on this. But now that I’ve had some time to really play around with the 30 day free trial and input some recipes and paste some from the internet…I’m in LOVE!!!

If you’re like me and hate to grocery shop or want to simply organize the whole meal planning – grocery shopping – ingredient hunt DANC…you should at least try this out. My plan is to use this system to share healthy recipes, plan meals for an entire month and the best thing….(drum-rolling on my desk)….

It takes your plan and delivers an organized shopping list you can print out and take to the store. That alone will save me mucho time!

Alright that’s two things…I’m signing off of this machine and hanging with my husband for the rest of the night!

Warning: this might be a cluster

Yesterday I finally did something that resembled ‘strength’ training. It’s been too long since I’ve done any kind of resistance training, other than resisting the urge to stay inside rather than run outside :)

I had one busy day yesterday and loved every minute. I started the morning with some quiet yoga before getting ready for church. After a bunch of meetings and errands I ended up at the gym and did some biking to help my legs recover from Saturday’s 5 miler. I did the 1 mile bike ride at a resistance of 7. After that I did a little bit more stretching and then 1 cycle through the strength circuit. It felt good to lift again and I’m hoping that feeling lingers until my next scheduled strength day.

Of course, I couldn’t leave without hangin in the Jacuzzi and the sauna for a bit. That was a great way to end my workout week!

In other news, I’ve been having a serious case of Spoiled-Runner-itis. Yes, I made that up. I don’t know what else to call that feeling when you are just fed up with your equipment and you know there’s better stuff out there and that’s all you think about on your run. That was me on Saturday:

Mile 1-3 “These earphones are CRAP”! They don’t stay in my ear…and when they do they hurt…and they are so long…and I’m sure there’s something better out there..something more comfortable”

Mile 3-5 “I love this Blackberry and the Slacker Radio app and the RoadRunner GPS app and how they sync together…BUT I hate this arm band. It wasn’t made for this..it was made for my iPod..which I haven’t used in months…I need a new armband”…blah blah blah!

My friend E warned me this would happen. So many people take up running because you can do it anywhere and all you ‘really’ need are shoes. But soon enough you find yourself wanting more comfortable clothes and a better sports bra and water bottle that’s easier to run with and THE LIST GOES ON!!!

Enter the latest item I’m eyeing…maybe a 10 mile goal? :)

It says this comes with an arm band. My problem now is that I’m STUFFING my wide blackberry into this narrow case made for my iPod and when I press the START button on my gps I can’t really start because I have to stand still to get the darn thing in there. We’ll see..of course you’ll know if I get it.

Still on a mission for better earphones :(

The sun is shining so be sure to get our there for a bit and sweat!

A hello to the sun & almost-goodbye to menu planning.

This morning I met C for our 5 mile long run. It was very cold and windy BUT the sun was out! It felt good to feel the sun on my face after a long winter of running outside under grey skies.

I was able to pull off another long run at a 10min/mile pace! I was happy when it was over but felt OH SO GOOD when I saw the RoadRunner GPS stats on my Blackberry.

I came home and stretched before showering and heading out the door to do a little shopping. My hubby is kind of sick so he’s been ‘veggin’ out all day and sleeping. About an hour ago I had the greatest urge to fall asleep because I was still tired from the run, but I ended up cleaning instead. Now the house smells like Febreeze and wood floor cleaner and I’m still tired :)

I’m on the computer so I might as well do some menu planning. I know I haven’t talked a bunch about this on the blog but my frugal personality kind of backfired lately in terms of the menu plan.

My ‘plan’ was to buy a month’s worth of groceries and once my meal schedule was done I’d try to push it for a few more weeks to really ‘clean out the kitchen’. What happened instead – We were left with a bunch of random ingredients and stuff in the freezer that really just made me scratch my head for a bit before heading out to Chipotle for dinner. Don’t get me wrong, Chipotle was good by it we ended up spending more money and Kevin really missed a home-cooked meal.

Don’t worry, I learned my lesson. Now I’m menu planning for 4 weeks and trying me best to stick to it. Now that I’m consistently getting up around 5:30 in the morning, I’ve got plenty of time to do my dinner-time prep in the morning, which should help hold me accountable for what I’ve planned to actually cook that night. Everyone cross your fingers and let’s see what happens this month :)

Sushi!

Yesterday was a very busy day full of work and working out and pizza and friends! That’s could be my very favorite way to spend a day :)

I met C right after work and we took advantage of the sunshine for our scheduled run. I was REALLY short on time so we started running after a quick warm up walk and booked it at a pretty quick pace for about 2 miles. Our plan was to run 2 miles to the gym and then check-in and run our last mile at the gym. Our husbands were there working out so we had a way to get back home. I chose the treadmill for my last mile and C chose the track. I wanted to get the run over with SO bad that I did my last 3rd at a 9:30 pace…there was a moment where I thought my legs would give out and I’d bite the dust right on the treadmill!

I didn’t have time to get my strength work in but I felt really good about the run. The rest of our evening was spent hanging with friends and then coming home to a bit of work and TV before lights out!

I’m currently counting the minutes until I leave the house to join my friend M for a lunch break sushi date! I can’t wait for some hot soup and a fun roll to devour!

Today is a rest day but I’m hoping I find motivation to do some upper body strength work today :| we’ll see.

Up to speed

I’ve got a TON to do, but I wanted to get up to speed (pun intended) on my workouts the last few days.

Sunday was really supposed to be a stretch/strength/recovery day and I guess it was…kinda. After church Kevin and I joined some friends and local Akron residents for a historical hike that took place on the towpath where I started running a few years back. It was FREEZING and I forgot how cold it can be outside if you aren’t moving around. The hike was a couple hours and the guide explained a lot of the history of the Akron area, the canal system and the the businessmen who built NE Ohio. I guess you could say the hike included a bit of strength work. It definitely wasn’t easy lugging around in my snow boots.

Sunday evening, after my hands thawed out and I was stuffed from a wonderful home cooked meal, I rolled out the mat and did some serious yoga.

Just kidding…I did something more along the lines or pilates-yoga-watching TV-laying on mat-gym class stretching.

Yep..that’s closer :)

The stretching paid off and I felt great last night when I took Mina for my scheduled 3 mile easy run. I didn’t track pace for the run which was kind of nice.

And lastly, this morning I planned to meet up with my friend K and run at her gym, but she bailed. I headed to the gym for a 30 minute Tempo run. Luckily the training plan explains what that is or I’d be lost.

Tempo Runs: This is a continuous run with a buildup in the middle to near 10-K race pace. A Tempo Run of 30 to 45 minutes would begin with 10-15 minutes easy running, build to 15-20 minutes near the middle, then 5-10 minutes easy toward the end. The pace buildup should be gradual, not sudden, with peak speed coming about two-thirds into the workout. Hold that peak only for a minute or two. I consider Tempo Runs to be the "Thinking Runner's Workout." A Tempo Run can be as hard or easy as you want to make it, and it has nothing to do with how long (in time) you run or how far. In fact, the times prescribed for Tempo Runs serve mainly as rough guidelines. Feel free to improvise. Improvisation is the heart of doing a Tempo Run correctly.

My knee hurt a little in the beginning, which I’m blaming mostly on Mina for pulling a bunch on our run last night. Well, that’s if for workouts lately. I’ve really been feeling the urge to mix in some strength training and that’s probably brought on by the minor tinge of guilt I feel for not doing that last week :( We’ll see what happens.

Good luck if you’re running today, or doing crazy yoga moves, or just need a ‘good luck’!

It Works!

This week was our first week of official training for The Cleveland Half Marathon. Here’s a quick recap, don’t worry I won’t restate the obvious every week.

Monday – I should have done 3 easy miles. I forgot to reference the training plan so I ended up doing 2 miles at a fast pace and my last mile on the track which I didn’t measure.

Tuesday – C and I successfully completed our speed work. I’m still a bit confused as to how I’m supposed to treat these workouts. I need to research the training plan more and figure it out. I’m also hoping I can find an indoor track or a clean outdoor track at a local school I can use.

Wednesday – I was supposed to do strength work. It didn’t happen.

Thursday – It was a rest day where I was going to make up the strength work I didn’t do on Wednesday. That didn’t happen either :(

Friday – The plan had us running 3 miles at our desired race pace. I ran with C a the gym for 2 miles on the track at what felt to be a relatively good pace, and then moved to the treadmill for my last mile at a 10min pace with no incline. I actually sprinted the last quarter mile to get it over with because running inside makes me psychotic. We’re both used to Friday being a rest day in our old training plan so we were a little nervous as to whether this would actually help our long run the next day.

…I guess it worked!

Yesterday was a MILESTONE of SORTS! I ran my 4 mile long run outside and kicked butt!

You see that! I averaged a 9:58 pace! I love running outside. I figured out how to play my Blackberry’s Slacker Radio and manage my RoadRunner GPS just by using the pause/play button at the top of my phone. I was jamming to rock music most of the time which probably helped me keep my pace. RoadRunner GPS also allows you to be alerted not only for distance but for time also. I set an alert for every mile AND for every 10 minutes. That way I could keep a check on my speed throughout the run without having to pull out my phone and actually look at it.

Ok enough for today! I’m going to try and stretch REALLY well today and maybe do a recovery mile or short bike ride at the gym. I also DESPERATELY need to find a new arm band that’s made for a Blackberry. Mine is just cumbersome and too small.

Lastly here’s a shout out to my friend J who ran 12 miles on Saturday in prep for The Cleveland Full Marathon! She rocks!