post-half-marathon thoughts

So, sure, the race was a full two weeks ago, but I'm still going to recap all my thoughts about the race for you, because it's a running blog, and I do what I want.  Also I have more pictures to share, because me in the same outfit sweating is obviously what you were hoping to see here today.  In no particular order, I hope you enjoy the rambling below:

• I am such a baller.  I can't believe how fast I ran.  Okay, yes, I'm bragging, but also... this was a revelation, because as you might know from prior entries, I'm generally real slow.  To know that I can run a half at a 10:11 pace suggests  I can do things I never thought imaginable.  Maybe I could run my next half in under 2:10.  One day, I might even break 2:00.  That sounds insane and amazing all at once.  ... and of course this generalizes to other (shorter) distances.  If I can run a 10:11 pace for 13.1 miles, how fast do you think I could run a 5k/5 miler/10k/15k/10 miler? Oh the possibilities!  (Time to get serious about speed work?)
• I must do another half.  Followed by several more.  I'm currently in search of a half to run in the spring, but I'm having trouble finding one that is at a convenient time for me (read: one that I can run without having a long run the same week of my wedding).  Still pondering.  Also want to do the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler again... so with all that going on, I'm not sure when the next half will be.  But no worries: there WILL be a next half.

 mile 5, courtesy of Devin

• Despite many people suggesting that after a half, I would want to run a full marathon, I don't.  Sorry.  Running for 2 hours and 15 minutes? Fine.  Running for 3 hours? Ummm, maybe.  Running for 4+ hours? No thanks.  It's not that I don't believe I am capable of running a marathon.  It's mostly that I don't have the time to train.  Plus, that running for that long doesn't sound fun.
• Speaking of fun, I can finally say with confidence that I find running to be more fun than it is not fun.  Obviously not every minute of every run is fun, but I definitely think I like it more than 50% of the time.  It took somewhere between 12 and 18 months of consistent running for me to feel that way.  So, if you don't like running, try going at least 3 times per week for a year, and then let me know how you feel, haha!

somewhere between miles 9 and 11

• I think my style with races is the bigger the better.  I like the excitement, having other people around, and having at least somewhat of a crowd.  The 2 races I have run with less than 200 participants have been my least favorite, and the 2 with ~1,800 and ~15,000 have been much more enjoyable.  This shouldn't be a shocking revelation (and I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way), but it will definitely influence what races I sign up for in the future.
• Lastly, you might be wondering what's next for me?  Well, that was decided even BEFORE the half had ended.  I've already signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15K in Washington, DC.  M is signed up, and so is Susan!  Actually, a ton of friends are signed up - I know at least 7 people doing the 15k (including myself) and another 7+ doing the 5k!  It's going to be a blast!  M and I have already started our training program, and I'm REALLY pumped about this race!  Hot chocolate and a chocolate fountain at the end?  WIN.

mile 11.5ish - perfecting the jazz hands

I want to give a shout out to my sorority sister Danielle who just started a running blog!  Danielle wants to run a marathon in every state.  This makes her insane, but it also makes for a fun blog I think, so go check out her blog!

 most attractive photo ever taken of me, woo!

right after M finished!

So blogland, I'm taking suggestions for half marathons to run in 2012 - sometime in April or beyond.  Preferably within driving distance of Durham.  Oh and it can't be April 21st or 28th weekends.  Or May 19th weekend.

last long run & goals for the half.

i'm finally blogging in october ABOUT octobter - go me!  so today's post is about my last two long runs before my half marathon!

sunday, october 2nd: 12 miles on the docket.  the weather forecast, pretty much amazing:

 

Oh hello FALL WEATHER!  Love it.  Pretty soon it's going to be time to pull out the cooler weather running clothes!  But not today.  I have finally found the absolutely perfect thing to wear on long runs, and I now refuse to change it up.  It consists of an American Apparel v-neck t-shirt and cotton shorts from Victoria Secrets.  M had on slightly warmer gear when she met me at our usual spot at 9am, but after a few miles she agreed that shorts and a tshirt were perfectly find for the low 50s.

We ran a new route for the 12 miler, one that I had been itching to try every since my friend A told me about a local trail I had never run on.  It winds through a few parks and changes name twice, but it's about 5 miles 

long, so we started about 1 mile away and decided to do an out-and-back route.

Have you ever had a run where everything just seems to go perfectly?  It's effortless, comfortable, enjoyable, even euphoric?  That is how I felt about this run.  I didn't look at my watch for the first time until 36 minutes in!  We found a water fountain with a bathroom on the way.  I was never too hot or too cold and I was energized the entire time!  Oh, and we found a dinosaur:

This was also the first run I decided to try some sort of energy chew/gu/gel on the way.  Per Susan's suggestion, I went with Power Bar Energy Blast Gel Filled Chews.  Unfortunately, I read the label incorrectly and thought that a serving size was 1 chew, for 190 calories.  So I took one chew with me (they are the size of maybe 2 fruit snacks) and had it 45 minutes in.  I did feel great and energized the whole time, but when I got home I realized that the entire package of chews (9 chews total) was 1 serving for 190 calories.  Energy fueling FAIL.  Ah well, the raspberry  flavor was delicious and I look forward to having them during the half!

The last mile of the run was a little rough, but we powered through and our time was 2:03:20 - which is a 10:17 pace overall.  RIDICULOUSLY fast for us on any day, and ESPECIALLY to keep that pace for so long.  Feel pretty spectacular!!! I can't believe we finished 12.0 miles only 6 minutes slower than we did 10.2 a few weeks ago.  Not sure if it's the cooler weather, us getting in better shape, or both (okay it's probably both), but I'm liking it!

Anyway, 12 miles was the max distance we had planned to run before the race - which is actually a little on the high side for a beginning half training program - but I think it was perfect for us!  I'm feeling very confident knowing that I only have to conquer an additional 1.1 on race day.

Fast forward a week to Saturday, October 8th: we are tapering!!!!  I had originally planned to do 10 miles but Susan suggested 6-8 would be better.  Since she has run 9 marathons I figure she knows what she's talking about, so M and I searched USA Track & Field's website for a good 8 miler.  We found a good one around campus and set out around 9am.  It was around 50 degrees and mostly sunny with very light wind - awesome!  The run started out great and the first 3 miles zipped on by.  Somewhere around mile 4 I started to hate whoever made this route - it was hilly!  There aren't many hills in Durham so I'm not sure how the author of this route managed to find SO. MANY. HILLS.  Even so, at mile 6 I remember saying to M "this time last week we were only half done - but now we only have 2 miles to go!" and a few minutes later "it doesn't feel like we've been running very long but it's been over an hour!".  Unfortunately M wasn't feeling quite as perky as I was and around mile 7 she started feeling less than fabulous :-(  Since this is my blog and now her's I won't give you all the details - the important part is we both finished 8 miles :-)  And, just like it was a sick joke, the last quarter of a mile was a very steep uphill for about .10 miles followed by a less steep but steady up hill for the last .15.  Not cool!  Either way, I finished strong in 1:23:33 for a 10:26 pace.  VERY pleased with these long run paces staying around/under 10:30.

So, we ran this morning (our usual 3.4 miles) and we'll run again Wednesday... and Wednesday will be our LAST run before the half on SUNDAY.  Crazy.  I think it's time to make my goals public and official, as Susan often does.

2011 Ramblin' Rose Women's Half Marathon Goals:

• Goal A: 2:17:39.  This would be a 10:30 pace.  I would feel like a freaking rock star.
• Goal B: 2:24:12.  This would be an 11:00 pace and would make me feel like a respectable runner.
• Goal C: 2:27:00.  This would be an 11:14 pace and would qualify me for a Corral for my next race!
• Goal D: 2:37:19.  This would be a 12:00 pace and would be a slight improvement over my pace from the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April.
• Goal E: Finish and HAVE FUN! (and not get kicked off the course, which you will if you fall below 15:00 miles).

The race is only 6 days away... and advice for first half marathons?!?!?

good runner, bad blogger.

Oh man, school and life have been hectic lately, leaving less time for blogging.  But I have been running!  This week started M and I's 10k training program.  Tuesday morning started with a 2.5 mile run.  I was trying my best to push us to go fast.  When we got to where I thought was about 1 mile and my watch said 11:40something, I was so upset... if this was pushing myself to run fast, I was in trouble!  Alas, after a quick break to stretch (I was still pretty sore from Sunday's race!) we pushed on.  When we finally got to the 2.5 mile mark, my watch read 26:27 - hooray!  I was actually wrong about where the 1 mile mark is on our run, and we ended up averaging 10:35 miles.  I was so proud of us!  It was definitely challenging, but also something I think I can keep up.
In between my running and other activities, I haven't done as much cooking as I would have liked.  I had lots of leftovers to enjoy, and last night I just never got in the mood do make a real dinner... oops!  But, Tuesday I made an Italian Garden Frittata. The star of the show was zucchini, and the dish was topped with mushrooms.

I generally don't like eggs - they've been making my stomach hurt over the past year-ish... so I was a little skeptical of how this would go.  But, I used egg beaters instead and I think that totally helped.  Still not loving the egg-y flavor, but it was decent!

This morning it was ridiculously muggy and humid outside, and also a little rainy.  We've been lucky and not had to run in the rain yet, which I realize we will have to face at some point.  But today it just was not in the cards.  We headed to M's gym and got onto treadmills.  We only had two miles to go, and it zipped by!  When I'm on the treadmill, I like to warm up at a nice easy pace (like 11:30-12:00 minute miles) and then slowly increase my pace over time.  I like "getting used to" a pace and then pushing myself just a liiiitle bit more.  So that's exactly what I did!  I finished my 2.07 miles in 22:21 for an average pace of 10:48.  I probably should have made myself speed up earlier (M did most of her run at a 10 minute mile pace and then slowly sped up with me), but I felt great after this run... I flipping LOVE the treadmill!  For all of my readers that are also runners, how often do you use the treadmill vs. running outside?  How do you think this affects your training?  Any recommendations for balancing TM use with outdoor running?

running update

So, I haven't cooked any new food since Friday's crab cakes, but I'm hoping to change that today!  I wanted to update you on the runs I have been doing, though!

Friday I went out of town, and I knew that it probably wouldn't be feasible for me to go running on either Saturday and Sunday.  So, after checking into my hotel on Friday evening I went down to the hotel gym.  They had really fancy treadmills - the kind with your own personal TV.  So, I spent my run catching up on the newest season of the Jersey Shore.  I love the Jersey Shore.  My TV has been out for about a week so I've been missing all my trashy TV!  Haha.  Anyway, I really tried to challenge myself on the treadmill, and let me tell you, it was HARD.  I had 3.5 miles to go, and I started off at a 10 minute mile pace.  I tried to increase my pace to 6.5 (9:13 min/miles) for part of the time, but also had to slow down to 5.5 (10:54 min/miles) for part of the time.  I also had to press the pause once to get some water, I was parched!  But, overall I made it 3.5 miles in 34:33, for an overall pace of 9:53!  I was sooo proud of myself for running faster than a 10 minute pace, I immediately went up to the room to brag to Susan.  Who proceeded to tell me how fast she ran her 15 miles earlier that day, but that's ok :-)

The rest of the weekend was NOT well suited for running, so I'm glad I ran when I did!  This morning M and I set out to run 2.5 miles bright and early.  I didn't sleep particularly well, and I woke up with my leg already hurting... yikes.  M was also hurting a bit, so we were not feeling terribly optimistic.  Luckily for us, we hit a red light 5 minutes and 10 minutes into our run, so we got two short (20 second-ish) breaks to catch our breath and stretch.  After that, we managed to push through and finish our 2.5 miles in 27:51 - an 11:09 pace.  This was just a smidgen faster than last week's 2.5 mile run which was at 11:22 ... so I'm pretty proud of us!

Now I'm waiting for the Direct TV guy to fix my TV so I can resume my normal trashy TV habits ... oh, and maybe go into the office at a reasonable hour today, haha.  I'll hopefully make it to the grocery store soon as well, so I can have a nice full week of delicious meals to share with you!

my first kabobs!

After my conference wrapped up, I headed to a party at my friend J's house.  Since J and her husband own a grill, I decided to make my very first kabob recipe.  I had been looking forward to making kabobs, because a while back I made a very silly purchase:

I love these circular kabob skewers, but I DON'T EVEN OWN A GRILL.  So it was a little silly for me to buy them, but, I did.  At least I have several kabob recipes to make.  The first one on the list: Caribbean Chicken Kabobs.  The online recipe suggests "Caribbean jerk seasoning" but my cookbook called for "Key West-style seasoning blend."  I could NOT find Key West-style seasoning blend... and this website of discontinued McCormick products suggests that it might not really exist, haha.  I decided to mix my Cajun seasoning with a Caribbean seasoning I found at the grocery store.  I think this recipe turned out well, but it would have been better with more seasoning.  I didn't actually measure out 3 tablespoons so it's possible I didn't use enough.  I'm starting to learn that I don't really like measuring.  Oops.  Anyway, I did most of the prep before I got to J's house so that all I would have to do there is pop pieces on the skewers and grill away!  Note to self: the points of skewers are SHARP.  I definitely poked myself about 20,000 times and have a little mark on my finger.  At least I didn't bleed on my food!

Now, normally you wouldn't cook kabobs in a basket, but the pieces kept sliding off the ends!  I am so grateful J and her husband have all sorts of grilling tools to help me not make a mess.

Everyone at the party seemed to like my skewers, so I'll consider them a success!  I actually bought chicken thighs instead of breasts, because the breasts were really expensive per pound and the thighs were on sale.  I did my best to trim the fat, but I bet thighs are still not quite as good for you... but they were TASTY.  Things to remember in the future :-)

 

Anyway, I stayed at J's house for the night, which was super fun!  J and her husband recently purchased a home near the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.  So, this morning before I hit the road, I obviously had to go for a run on it!  Since I ran 3 miles on Friday and only 1.9 on Monday, I figured I should do somewhere around 2.0-2.5.  Unfortunately, my muscles were pretty sore this morning.  The first 15 minutes or so were fine, but after that I was in pain.  I ended up going about 2.2 miles in 27:18, which included 7 minutes of walking.

As for the trail itself, I have mixed feelings.  There were a LOT of bikers out and it's fairly narrow, so I was definitely afraid that I was going to be killed by a cyclist! I like running on trails though, and having various plant life to look at!

I was kind of disappointed with myself for not pushing through, but my right ankle really hurt!  I didn't want to injure myself... especially because I had a 5 hour drive immediately following my run!  This evening I am still sore but not in pain, so hopefully I'll be ready to go on Tuesday morning.  I'm hoping now that I'm (mostly) back in town I can get back to my normal Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule!

i'm in love...

... with the treadmill!  Haha, maybe. I've never been much of a treadmill user.  I've probably been on a treadmill less than 30 times in my life, and 20 of those times were to speed walk on an incline.  Whether it was for wakling or running, though, I have never been a big fan.  I always felt like my plantar fasciitis acted up more on a treadmill.  It only took about 5 minutes before I was in too much pain to keep going.

To be fair, I've also never been able to run very far without significant pain until this spring when M and I began to run.  So, I decided it was time to give it another try.  I have to say, I might be in love.  It started out rough: I picked a treadmill with a subpar view of the TV and didn't bring my iPod.  After a 4-5 minute warm up at speed 5.5 (10:54 minute miles) I decided I needed a different treadmills.  I found one right in front of ESPN and settled in to watch the ESPYs!  I did another 6 minutes at 5.5 and then ramped it up to 6.0 (10 minute miles!).  In my head, I thought, ok I'll do this for 1 mile and then slow back down again.  But I was feeling GREAT - so I stuck at the 6.0 for 15 minutes and then ramped it up to 6.3 (9:31 min/miles)!  I stayed there for about 5 minutes and then thought I would slow down to 6.0, but I accidentally pressed the big "STOP" button.  Oops.  I immediately started up again, and this time decided to push myself and went all the way up to 6.7 (8:57 min/miles).  I could only maintain it for about 1 minute before I wanted to die, so I tamed it back down to 10:00 miles to finish out my run (about 4 more minutes).  Not counting my 4-5 minute warm up on the other treadmill, I went 3 miles without stopping (well, without stopping on purpose.. whatever)!! Which means I actually RAN 3.4ish!  I then pressed the 'cool down' button on the treadmill which did 3 one minute intervals at successively slower paces... first 4.5 (13:20) then 4.0 (15:00) and finally 3.5 (17:08).  As I cooled down I realized that trying to walk on the treadmill actually makes my feet hurt more than running on it... not sure why.

We'll see how sore I am tomorrow, but right now I'm feeling AWESOME.  I really needed a good run too - after my crappy run Monday and then being sick and not working out most of the week, I was really feeling down about my running ability.  But now I'm a superstar - I averaged just over 10 minute miles for over THREE MILES.  Which means even if I've missed a few runs in the past two weeks, fitness-wise I'm on track.

I'm hoping to squeeze in a run on Sunday morning before I head back home.  After that I should be able to get back into the swing of things with both cooking and running... but for now I'm going to have some take out Thai food! YUM!

leftovers, leg pain & lamb

For lunch today, I had leftover Cheesy Italian Chicken Pie.  After it being quite bland when I originally served it, I decided to top it with a spoonful of alfredo sauce, a little bit more cheese, and tons of herbs and spices: garlic, cilantro, basil, and parsley.  I must say, this was MUCH improved.  So, whenever I get around to making it again, I will definitely have to increase the spices in the batter and add spices to the crust batter as well.  Woohoo for improving meals!

Despite having not worked out since Thursday, and having stretched/rested/iced, I woke up this morning and felt like every part of my legs/feet were in pain.  When I have PMS, I often get pains in my legs, so I think that was the cause of this morning's pain.  All I could think was "how am I going to run today... this is going to suck!"  Luckily, after stretching a ton this morning, taking some Advil and walking around the hospital (where I am currently working) my leg pain started to dissipate.  As much as I liked M's last playlist, I wanted to listen to my own music today, so I made a sweet playlist for my IPod and just kept it low enough that I could still hear my watch beep to tell me when it was time to start running/walking.  I decided to ramp it up and do 1 min walking, 5 min running, since the 4:30 wasn't feeling too aerobically challenging.  I started out fine for the first two reps.  Towards the end of the second rep, I was tempted to stop and stretch... but I normally stop and stretch halfway through, so I pushed through.  Finally at the halfway point (4 reps, so, 24 minutes, and 1.84 miles in) I stopped and stretched.  WOW was my first thought.  My right ankle was so tight.  When I tried to bend my right foot back towards my shin to stretch my calf/etc., it just felt so tight... my foot just did not want to move.  I think I probably took a solid 5 minutes sitting on the stone wall to stretch and pondered if I could push through.  Finally I took a deep breath and started up again.  After only two more reps, I was in pain again.  At the start of the 2nd run, some Maroon 5 song came on which I normally enjoy during work outs, and I just kept thinking ISN'T THIS OVER YET? ... but it was not.  So, after that rep (rep 6, 36 minutes in, now at 2.83 miles) I stopped to stretch again.  I can barely pull my right toe back to stretch out my ankle.  I'm almost positive I'm done now... no way I can keep running.  But I'm on the far side of east campus, so I decide I have to try!  I stand up and wonder if my ankle is swollen... it kind of looks that way.  I walk for about 30 seconds before my watch beeps again and start running.  Luckily for me, one of my favorite songs ever comes on.  Oh K'Naan.  He's rapping about surviving a war in Somalia... but as far as I was concerned he was rapping about me pushing through and finishing this run.  (For those of you who don't listen to the song: the chorus/main line that repeats is "Never let them see my down smile while I'm bleeding."  And yes, I have eclectic music tastes - Maroon 5 and K'Naan on the same mix).

With the new song as incentive to push through my run, I fail to hear my watch let me know that my 5 minutes have passed and I can have my 60 second walking break.  So I don't take it - I just run through my jam.  Then I hear it beep again to tell me to start running, and I decide to just run through the next 5 minutes (which started off with Paramore and then went into a Lupe Fiasco song, in case you were curious.  Also on this mix: The Kooks, Brett Dennen, Spoon, MGMT, and Parker House & Theory.  Eclectic, I told you.)  So anyway, I pushed through my last two reps and ran a solid 11 minutes - and it felt AWESOME! I had finished up the second loop on the East Campus track by then, as well as my 8 reps for a total of 48 minutes, so I decided to cool down and walk back to my car.  I timed my walk back to try to get a feel for my walking pace, which was 15:52.  Using that as a guesstimate for the rest of my 60 second walking stints, I think my mile pace when I was running was almost exactly 12 minutes.  Not too fast, but that's ok.  I also remembered where I started and stopped my 11 minute run, and calculated that I ran a mile in that time!  So basically, I ran that mile in 11 minutes  (woohoo energy form K'Naan) but averaged about 12:20 the rest of the run.  (Overall, I ran 41 minutes, walked 17 minutes, and went 4.5 miles, for an overall average of 12.9 minute miles).

Alright, that was probably more than you ever wanted to know about any single run I went on.  But I was proud of myself for pushing through despite some pain (we'll see how good of a decision that was tomorrow) and for running 11 minutes without stopping!  ... even though my right ankle is a little swollen on top... we'll see how it is tomorrow after lots of ice :-)

For dinner tonight, I cooked Honey-Mint Lamb Chops, and my friend L brought rice and peapods.  I was pretty terrified, since I had never made lamb before... in fact, I'm not sure I had ever HAD lamb before.  So, my first mistake: the recipe said to broil it 3-5 inches from heat.  I, for some reason, thought that the heat came from the bottom part of the oven, so I put the lamb in on the bottom rack, 3-5 inches from the bottom of the oven.  When I went to turn the lamb over and pour the sauce onto it, L kindly informed me that when you broil, the heat comes form the top, so the lamb ought to be all the way on the top rack, 3-5 inches BELOW the heat.  Right.  So, now that we have that cleared up, onto the cooking of the lamb!  Luckily, L has had lamb multiple times, so when she read that it should be cooked "12-14 minutes for medium" she knew to tell me that "medium" is probably a little more well-done than we/she enjoyed.  Thank goodness for this girl.  I managed to figure out how to broil, and only broil the lamb for a total of 10 minutes... and it turns out AWESOME!  So, SO delicious, as was the rice and peapods.

First is a picture of the lamb and peapods - L dribbled the juice over it fantastically!  Then, I wanted to show you how perfectly cooked my lamb was, so we also have a picture looking at the meet after I've cut into it.  YUM!  I hope ya'll enjoyed this super long post, haha.

just running, no cooking.

Today was stressful, and my officemate gave me leftover pizza - so I did not make any food.  However, in order to de-stress and burn calories from the pizza, I did go running! M  made another playlist, and now we are up to 1 minute walking / 4:30 running.  In order to make sure I stretch and don't injure myself, in the middle I took a break to stretch and walk a few extra minutes, and then at the end I had about 7 minutes of walking to do before I got back to my building.  So, I was walking/running for a total of 53 minutes: 36 minutes running, 17 walking, and a total of 4.24 miles!  Depending on how fast I was walking (15-20 min miles walking? Who really knows!), my run pace was somewhere between 10:30 and 11:30, which is a bit faster than I've been going - woohoo!  It's kind of funny how my energy comes and goes throughout the run - I could feel myself get bursts of energy and pick up the pace for a few minutes, and then suddenly I would hit a wall and barely be able to put one foot in front of the other!

Mentally and aerobically, I actually really wanted to run more when I was done.  I almost decided to find a way to lengthen my run a little bit, but I was in some pain.  I think I have trouble deciphering the difference between pain and soreness - or whether I should push through the pain or stop to avoid injury.  My Achilles' get really tight while I run, and the past few runs my left heel in particularly starts hurting.  I have been icing every night, and I think that helps... but it still seems like some muscle or tendon is always sore/hurting.  Now that I'm not running, my left Achilles' and heel are both fine, but my right ankle hurts, as does my right quad.  When I stretch, my arches and Achilles feel really tight... it's like I can never get enough of stretching my calf, but it kind of hurts to stretch it too! Oh and.. my shins have kind of been hurting this week again.  Sigh.

Any bloggers out there have thoughts or suggestions?  I'm hoping to run again on Saturday or Sunday, depending on how I feel and the weather... we'll see!

running AND meal #3!

Today, M and I tried out the Al Buehler Trail.  A few months ago, when Susan was visiting, she went for a run on this trail and blogged about how hilly it was.  Well, I'm here to confirm - it is VERY hilly!  My Achilles' was definitely killing me whenever we had to go uphill - so much so that 35 minutes in we had to stop running for a while - in fact I thought I needed to stop running for the whole day, but we decided to walk for a while and after 15 minutes I felt up for a bit more running, so we did intervals for the last 5-7 minutes.  In total, we went about 3.7 miles over the course of 55ish minutes, so that's an average pace of 15.4 minute miles.  Given how much walking we were doing and the pain I was in, I feel fine with that!  It's weird how my Achilles' hurt so much more when I run up hills than when I run flat or downhill - is that normal?  I think it's because it's stretching the tendon out more?  I wonder if there is anything I can change about my form or whatever to alleviate that... thoughts, anyone?  Anyway, we've definitely run places with hills before, but the Al Buehler Trail hills are a new level of hilliness that I'm not quite ready for!  I also went into the day still feeling sort of sore, so that didn't help.  We probably won't return to that trail for a little while - but it's SO nice, and in the shade, so maybe when I'm pain free and a bit stronger we can try it again :-)  The OTHER strange part was, after my 15 minute walk break, I had significantly less pain while running all the way to the end... maybe I just need to be pushing through more when I'm in pain?  Or maybe the longer break allowed my tendons to calm down a bit and be ready for more?

For those of you who were dying to know, M used a program called Audacity to make the play list where she mixed in songs with a recording of her voice, telling us when to start walking or start running!  The funny thing is - I had NO IDEA it was HER voice telling me to walk or run... she sounded very different on the recording.

Anyway, I need to be better about stretching over the next few days in order to make sure I'm not in any pain for our next run - which is tentatively scheduled for Friday, but might get pushed to Saturday afternoon depending on pain levels / other factors.  For the time we did walk/run today, we did 1 minute walks and 2:30 minute runs - and aerobically felt pretty good (especially when there were no hills), so next time we are upping it to 1 minute walking, 3 minutes running!  If we keep upping our intervals of running by 1 minute each week, until we get to 1 minute walking and 10 minutes running, we should be in good shape to run a full mile without stopping to walk by the end of June.  The first week of July tentatively begins our 5k training, which starts of with 1.5 miles of running.  So, I'm feeling pretty good about that!

Alright - onto food!  The salad I made for lunch today was delicious, other than the spinach which was eh.  I think I discovered a new love for pecans, so that's exciting!  Then, tonight I made Orange- and Ginger- Glazed Chicken, which I had with steamed broccoli and (leftover) brown rice:

The glaze was deeelicious, although it was almost TOO sweet, and I probably didn't put enough ginger in it.  I have never cooked with ginger before, so I'm not sure how it would have tasted with more/less.  Oh well!!  It was still good, and I put some of the sauce over the broccoli as well to spice it up!  YUM!  I also bought some mac and cheese today (including gluten-free, lactose-free mac and cheese for my friend who is allergic to both, yikes) so that on Friday, I can make FRIED MAC AND CHEESE.  Doesn't exactly fit in with my healthy living plan, but I made it once for friends in the fall and they've been begging for more ever since!  One of my friends is having an end-of-semester party Friday, so I'm going to make and bring some delicious fried treats.  Yay for my favorite things (that I shouldn't eat): fried food and food with cheese, haha.

Alright - that's all for today - thanks for your comments so far!  3 meals down, 297 to go, and 341 days to do it :-)

running alone

Today, M was out of town, so I had to run by myself.  But, before she left, she made me an AWESOME playlist that tells you when to walk and when to run (with good music, too).  I meant to run right after my meeting with my adviser, and run from my office to east campus and around the track, but I forgot any sort of hair tie or clip, so I ended up heading home and just running in neighborhoods near my apartment complex instead.  In 45 minutes, I managed to about 3.30 miles - so a 13.5 min pace (again - 1 min running, 2 min walking - so the running part was probably 12 minute miles).  I knew I was running slower than we had gone on Friday, but that's ok.  It was hotter today, and the area around my house has more hills than the east campus track.  Plus, I was in a little  bit of pain (Achilles' mostly) after about 12 minutes, so I didn't want to push myself too much.  I definitely know I can run faster, though, because I wasn't totally out of breath and dying.  So, I'll have to push myself next week.  Anyway, I'm proud of myself for finishing the run - after 18 minutes I thought "I'll just make it to 30 and then quit," but I pushed through all 45!  I'm going to be away for most of the month of July and having to run by myself, so today was a good first challenge of going alone.  M gets back on Monday, so we are going together on Tuesday.  I'm not sure if we'll stay with 1:00/2:00 intervals or up it.. maybe 1:00/2:30 or even 1:00/3:00!

My cookbook is supposed to arrive on Tuesday, and I'm super excited!  I did a little bit of grocery shopping earlier this week, but didn't get too much in anticipation of starting.  So, with not many groceries, I've been eating plenty of junk food this week... oops!  I did buy lots of fruit, which I've been having for breakfast and as snacks, so that's good.  Anyway, once it comes I'm going to make plan for the week and go grocery shopping, and hopefully start cooking by Wednesday or Thursday - I'm so excited!

welcome to my blog!

Hello blogging world!  My name is Sara.  I'm going to be blogging to you about mainly two topics: running and cooking.

I've just recently started to get into running.  Throughout my life, I have been a yo-yo exerciser.  I've also had a history of some problems with plantar fasciitis, which hindered me from running the past.  But, with new shoes to help correct my overpronation, a list of great stretches, and a new running buddy, I've determined that I'm going to work my way towards becoming a runner!  My running partner (I'll call her M) and I went on our first run/walk about 4 weeks ago.  We are going twice a week (which gives me plenty of days off in between to avoid injury) for about 45 minutes.  Our most recent run (which was earlier today, woohoo!) consistent of 2 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking.  It's hard to know what pace we are going since we are both walking and running, but over the entire 45 minutes we went about 3.77 miles (guesstimated from my favorite website, USATF) and our pace was just under 12 minutes today, so I think we are running around 10 minute miles.

Both of us are relatively new to running, and our overarching long term goals are just to be in good shape and enjoy exercising!  In terms of running, we have a goal of running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, DC (where I grew up) in April 2011.  So, we've got about 1 year to train between now and then, and we are hoping to do 2 shorter races (probably a 5k and a 10k) between now and then.  So, a large part of this blog will be devoted to me tracking my running progress over the next year.  I should also mention at this point that part of my inspiration to run AND to blog about running comes from my college roommate Susan.  She has a blog where she talks mostly about running, but also about life in general.  Recently, Susan ran the BOSTON MARATHON, and I had the opportunity to fly up to Boston and cheer her on!  Watching the marathoners was a huge inspiration to me, and it got me thinking about whether or not I would ever like to run a marathon.  I think it would be really cool to run a marathon before I turned 30 (I have about 5 years), but I'm not going to make any decisions about that until after I complete the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.

The second half of this blog is going to be about learning to cook.  I would say I'm OK at cooking right now.  I have confidence in my ability to throw a meal together or follow a recipe, but I'm certainly not a pro.  I really enjoy cooking, especially for friends and family, and it's a constant goal of mine to learn to control my portions and eat healthier.  After watching the movie Julie & Julia, I decided, hey, I can do that!  French cooking doesn't interest me all that much, so I went on a the hunt for a cookbook of healthy recipes to cook my way through.  I have decided on Betty Crocker's 300 Calorie Cookbook: 300 Tasty Meals for Eating Healthy Every Day, which I recently purchased online and should be getting in the mail within the next week!

Since there are 300 recipes in my cookbook, and the 10 mile race is just under a year away, I figure I should be able to get through my cookbook by the day of the race.  (Note: Race day for 2011 hasn't been announced yet, but based on cherry blossom season and prior years, I am estimating that it will be Sunday, April 10, 2011).  So, I think that would be 349 days from today.  I'll have to look into getting a counter or something!  I think that's all for my first post, but I am excited to share my cooking and running endeavors with you, as well as other random things along the way!