8 miles and grilled pizza

So glad its Friday. This has seemed like an extraordinarily long week. Big plans for the weekend include a 12 miler Saturday morning, a Costco trip, the usual errands, hopefully seeing “Angels & Demons,” and some outlet mall shopping. I hope that I actually see some clothes I like…for the past month I have not seen anything clothing-wise I even liked well enough to try on. How come I never see anything when I have money I’m willing to part with and when I’m in super-saver mode I see bajillions of things I want to purchase?

Yesterday morning instead of doing my usual 5 miles before work, I did 8! Wednesday evening I decided that I wanted to run 8 on Thursday morning so that’s what I did. I’m completely aware of the fact that I’m a running addict. I had some things on my mind I wanted to get sorted out. Nothing too big…just my father’s recurring un-supportiveness and I needed to think it over a bit. I haven’t even told Stephen or my sister about it yet but I needed to process it first. I felt awesome yesterday!! All day I kept thinking to myself, “I ran 8 miles before 7 am!!” Awesomeness!!

I am pumped for tomorrow’s 12 miler!!

When I was making pizza for dinner the other night I tried something completely new to me…I grilled the pizza instead of putting it in the oven. Fantastic!! So yummy…the crust is crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. It was awesome!! Try it sometime, you won’t be disappointed!

Making Lemons out of Lemonade

This past weekend Stephen was out of town so I spent a good chunk of time on Saturday morning in the kitchen playing around.

I started with some bananas way past their prime:

And made banana bread:

Then I made homemade granola using oats, honey, and peanuts:

I finished with homemade Larabars!! I made my version of chocolate chip Larabars using chocolate chips, dates, and peanuts.

They turned out awesome!! (On Sunday I tried making Cashew Cookie Larabars--Stephen's favorite flavor of Larabar-- with dates and cashews.)

All in all it was a perfect Saturday. I spent time in the kitchen and spent time watching girly movies.

Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon

Time: 2:24:11

Average Pace: 11.006 minutes per mile

My goal for this race was to finish with an average of 11 minutes per mile and I went 5 seconds over. I'm going to count this as a success though! My friend Kate came and cheered me on (she even had a sign!!). When I saw her, I stopped for 30 seconds, petted her dog and posed for some pictures. I'm so proud of myself! The Las Vegas Half Marathon was 6 months ago and my time has improved overall by 24 minutes!!

At first I was being hard on myself because I missed my time goal by 5 seconds but when I worked it out and my average pace was 11.006 minutes per mile...I couldn't really be disappointed with that! I was way too close to beat myself up about it.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that Stephen is out of town and I don't have pictures from Kate yet (or the official race pictures), I don't have any pics of me running or during the race. So I thought it would be interesting to show you some pictures of how I've been preparing for my races.

First up is my race clothes/electronics/accessories. I like to lay out everything I'll need the night before (way too many dreams of showing up for a race with no sports bra on). I lay out everything in the position it will go on my body. For example, iPod and Road ID go on my left arm and my heart rate watch goes on the right. I put everything in my hydration belt except for my cell phone and I fill up the bottles with cold water/gatorade in the morning. I pin my bib on my shirt and put the timer on my shoe so there are no last minute things before the race. My mental state during the race is much calmer if I'm not running around like a mad woman before I even leave the apartment.

The night before a race I eat like I normally do. I don't have a specific meal I like before racing but I try to have a serving of lean protein, veggies, and carbs. Since Stephen was out of town I wanted to enjoy seafood so my pre-race meal was sea scallops cooked in bit of garlic and onions and lobster ravioli with sauteed spinach.

This was eaten on a TV tray while watching "Gilmore Girls." When Stephen's not home I have a hard time eating at the table...mainly because I don't like sitting on the barstools.

This was my first time cooking scallops and they were delicious!! I only ate 3 of the 6 on the plate...the rest are going to make a yummy lunch later this week!

I got the ravioli from the refrigerated foods section of the grocery store. I simply sauteed the spinach in garlic and onion and used that as a sauce. The ravioli were flavorful enough...they didn't a heavy sauce.

For breakfast before a race I like to have oatmeal with a banana and peanut butter. Since the temperatures are warmer, I didn't want a hot bowl of oatmeal so I made a chocolate chip breakfast cookie.

I used:

1/2 cup oats

1 banana all mashed up

dash of cinnamon

dash of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 handful of chocolate chips

Combine everything in a small bowl. Spread out onto a small plate and put in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning I put on ~1 tbsp of Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter and a few more chocolate chips.

Delicious!! And the perfect fuel for a long run! (Note to self, that was a little too much chocolate first thing in the morning...made the tummy hurt a little.)

My entire breakfast together! Breakfast cookie with cup of coffee (I only drank half...don't want to have to pee during the race) and VitaminWater10. I also drank lots of water. I like drinking Propels or VitaminWaters before a race because the slightly sweet flavor helps me drink it quickly. My biggest challenge before a race is to get hydrated.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed looking at what I do to prep for a race! I'll post pics of me when I get them.

Stomach/Food Issues

I've been in a weird food mood lately. Nothing sounds good. For breakfast I'm fine because I'm always hungry after running and I'm always craving breakfast foods. But for lunches and dinners, I've been having problems. I'll be hungry but nothing sounds good. I end up eating something because I am hungry but I don't get a lot of satisfaction from it. I don't know if it's because I'm bored with my food choices or the warmer weather...my guess is the food choices. As the temperature has fluctuated this past week, I still feel uninterested in food. I've looked for new recipes and foods to try but nothing has interested me.

And in other food news, I think I might be lactose intolerant. I've never had a problem with dairy before but over the last couple of weeks, any time I eat dairy I get a horrible stomachache and feel bloated. I'm cutting out dairy for the next 2 weeks to see if I feel better and then I'll reintroduce dairy to see if the pain comes back. It seems weird to me that I would just suddenly be lactose intolerant without ever having problems in the past but maybe it's not weird?? I don't know...no one I know is lactose intolerant.

Anyhoo, that's what's going on with my stomach lately...a lot of strangeness.

In running news, my first half of 2009 is this Sunday. I'm excited!! Weather is still looking good...woohoo!!

I am woman, hear me roar!

This weekend’s long run was in the weather I was hoping to have last weekend for the race. Overcast and mid-60s…great running weather which led to me running 10 miles in 1 hour, 48 minutes (average of 10:49 minute miles)!! So even though I wasn’t able to meet my goal last weekend for the race, I did it on Saturday. Now this weekend is a half marathon and my goal is 2 hours, 24 minutes (average of 11 minute miles). So far the weather forecast is good…I hope it holds up.

I had a weird epiphany this morning as I was getting ready for work. I feel like a responsible, happy young woman. A somewhat basic epiphany but let me explain why this is so mind-blowing. Since I graduated college I’ve felt like a kid playing at being a grown-up…I had an adult job and responsibilities but still felt in so many ways like I was still a girl. I let others dictate my life, my ambitions, my moods, and my feelings. In the past year, I’ve pushed myself emotionally and mentally to be me and to be the me I’m comfortable with. Embracing me as I see me has allowed me to cross over the threshold from girl to woman.

When I pictured myself as a woman I saw myself as a financially secure, healthy (mentally, physically, emotionally), happy person no longer tied to others’ expectations of me or my own inner critic. I’m not 100% there but I’m so much further than I was…far enough to call myself a woman.

I’m becoming more financially responsible and am working hard to get myself out of debt;
I’m proud of my body and what it can accomplish;
I look at food most of the time now as just food, not comfort or an act of rebellion;
I have an idea of where I want my career to go and how to get there;
I’m in touch with what I need and know how to get it (whether it’s alone time or standing up for myself);
I know what makes me happy (running, cooking, spending time with my man) and how to defeat my inner critic.

Thursday's Things to Love

1) Thursdays that are Fridays because of an alternate work schedule.
2) Foam Rolling! Hurts when I'm doing it but feels sooo good after. (What is foam rolling? Click here.)
3) Having a friend at work. Kate (a girl in my section) and I have really hit it off. We both like to run and read similar books, among other things.
4) My officemate taking the day off. It's so quiet in here!! A nice change from the usual random chatter I typically listen to all day long.
5) Having a few containers of flowers, herbs, and tomatoes on the balcony. They look so pretty and make our apartment feel more home-y.

What things are you loving today??

GW Parkway 10 miler

So happy to be done and no longer running in the hot sun.

Yea!! A good picture of me running and/or after a race!! Well, as good as a picture can be when you're sweaty and red-faced.

An "action" shot of me putting my phone back in my pocket. Stephen's not the best at taking pictures of me during the race as he's never successfully done it. He gets distracted so this is the best action shot of me on Sunday.

Yesterday (Sunday) was my first race of 2009, the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Miler. Both days this weekend were predicted to be hot and set records for the highest temperatures. Knowing this, on Saturday I made myself carry around a drink all day and drink as much water as I could possibly drink. I was so glad I did this as Sunday ended up being 94 degrees (temperature during the race was in the low 80s).

I started the race with a time goal in mind—I wanted to pace at 11 minute miles which would mean finishing the race in 1 hour, 50 minutes. And I also wanted to run as far as I could before I took a walk break. I made two rookie mistakes at the beginning:
1) I started off way too fast for me. I was doing 9-9:30 minute miles…way too fast for me. At mile two, I felt it and knew I needed to slow down.
2) I was close to the start line with all the faster people which only made me go faster. I was trying to keep up with other people instead of running my race.

I only got 19 minutes (right around the beginning of mile 3) of running in before I had to walk. And I knew I had been going too fast because my legs immediately felt like lead. I couldn’t imagine going 8 more miles. I was already tired and knew that I would have to do my 4 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking method to finish. I talked to myself and went to the talk that always helps me finish a long run. “Don’t think about how many miles you have left, don’t think about how many miles you’ve done, just focus on the next 4 minutes of running, 1 minute of walking. You can finish this race and you can do it in the time you want but just focus on putting one foot in front of the other.”

Miles 3-5 were okay. I wasn’t feeling strong but I kept going and was able to keep pacing at an 11 minute mile.

Mile 5 I lost my iPod. I didn’t physically lose it but my iPod was having none of the heat and sweat and stopped working. I was so sweaty, the sweat had gone through my case and got to my iPod so it stopped. “Great,” I thought, “I’m going to have to do another 5 miles with no music. This officially sucks.” But then I reminded myself that I did complete a half marathon with no music so 5 miles was nothing compared to 13.1.

Miles 5-7 were uneventful. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

At mile 7 I got so hot. When it’s August and I’m acclimated to running double digit miles in the heat, the temperature won’t bother me so much. But since the hottest temperature I’d run in since last summer was 70 degrees, my body (and everyone else’s) just wasn’t prepared for that type of heat. I seriously thought about quitting. I was tired, I was hot, I didn’t want to go on. And then I saw an 87 year old woman running. Well, darn it! If an 87 year old woman is going to finish this thing, I’m sure as heck going to finish it as well.

Miles 8-10 had no shade and it was just hot. People that live along the parkway were standing out in their yards with their garden hoses spraying water so that we could run under the cool water and that helped a lot. (I have no idea who those people were but they are amazing!!) I knew at mile 8 that I probably wasn’t going to make my 1:50 goal but I still kept aiming for it.

My final time was 1:51:24….sooo close to my goal. My overall pace ended up being close to 11:08 miles. Honestly, when I realized how close I was, I was mad at myself. But then I realized how I really had given it my all and with the weather, I’m glad I came in so close to my goal.

I was sooo glad I wore my hydration belt. I almost didn’t wear it but I’m glad I changed my mind. With the temperature, I needed to have water accessible to me whenever I needed it and not just every couple of miles at a water station.

After the race, I foam rolled for 10 or 15 minutes. Today I have a little bit of soreness but nothing too bad at all. I have a horrible burn from my sports bra on my neck but that's the only thing that truly hurts. (It also makes me feel like a true runner.)

I’m proud of myself for finishing. I had talked myself into quitting at mile 7 but I was mentally tough enough to keep going.

Next race will be the May 10 half marathon. Oh boy, that's only 13 days away. What was I thinking?