Monthly Archives: July 2011

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Positive Splits

Saturday Workout: 5 miles (56:19)

I’m in a surprisingly good mood after my 5 miler this morning in 86 degree heat and POSITIVE splits. That’s right, I got increasingly slower as the heat got to me… and I’m okay with it.

A few mistakes I made this morning:

#1: Don’t sleep in – I didn’t start running until it was almost 10:30! The sun was killer the whole time and I didn’t get much shade.

#2: Don’t eat high fiber cereal for breakfast – I thought that it would just be a short 5 miler so it wouldn’t matter, but my stomach was in knots the whole time

#3: Don’t start running at your race pace for your first “long run” when you know you won’t be able to hold it the whole time – there was the problem with the positive splits. It was way too hot and I thought I felt fine at the beginning. Once I got to some hills, I ended up walking more and more as the heat got to me.

#4: Bring a cell phone in the heat – Which is more dangerous, running a 20 miler in April or a 5 miler in July? I always carried my phone with me for my long marathon training runs in March/April in case something happened. I still think this is a good idea and I carried my iPhone with me in my SPIbelt. BUT, just because I was going for a short run it was in crazy heat that I am not used to and I felt really lightheaded when I was 2 miles away from my house. I would have rather called someone to get me and finished the run on the treadmill.

I think the main reason I’m not upset at all over this run is that I know it is just the heat for me. I have always preferred running in cold weather over hot and I know as soon as the fall temperatures come I will be running so much better outside. I also know that if I would have ran this 5 miler on the treadmill I could have easily kept a 9:20 pace the whole time. I can’t wait for colder weather!

Smoothie time after my run!

My smoothie was actually a nice chocolate pink color from the raspberries. I also included a scoop of this…

OH MY GOSH! Where has this been all my life??! I see Peanut Butter & Co on a bunch of blogs and finally saw it at my grocery store. I had to decide between PB honey or PB chocolate… obviously this won. It is amazing. I want to put it in smoothies, bananas, sandwiches, everything! Obsessed.

Yesterday, I took a break from blogging to do important things… like get my hair done. :)

I LOVE my hair dresser because she is one of my friends that I graduated HS with and she is amazing.

My hair <3′s Rachel and her awesome skills. I told her we look like hair twins right here. I promise she can do way more than long blonde highlighted wavy curls :) I did get an inch or so cut because it was getting out of control and I have to get into teacher-mode in a few weeks!

So as I blabbed on and on about blogging Rachel gave me hair products to review! Free hair products???? Yes :)

Love Wella products and I can’t wait to actually use professional shampoo/conditioner at home.  I’ll admit, I’ll pay to get my hair done but I don’t always spend the $ for shampoo/conditioner at home.  This will be a nice treat for my hair :)   I’ll let you know how I like using the Shampoo, Conditioner, Deep-conditioner, and finishing spray when I wash my hair today! Yes, I’m still sitting in my sweaty nastiness from running.  Maybe a little hair tutorial should be in the works for how I curl my hair? It is really easy and I get comments on it when I post a curled hair picture. I tend to curl it more than straighten because I think it is faster and it always looks good and almost the same the next day if I don’t wash it.

Oh yeah, still obsessed with this stuff. Thanks for introducing me to this expensive tea habit Jen :)

#1 favorite is the ginger flavor. It is amazing. Liked cranberry and #2 favorite would have to be Katalyst Kombucha’s berry flavor.

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2 A Days

Wednesday Workout: Spin class (1 hr) , 2 mile run (17 min 37 sec)

Thursday Workout: 3 mile run (30 min 11 sec) , BodyPump class (1 hr)

2 workouts a day for the past 2 days!

Yesterday, I had a 2 mile run planned because I am following the first week of my Hershey Half Marathon Plan!

I taught music lessons all day yesterday and needed to run in the afternoon. I knew I could do 2 miles fairly quickly but my friend Anne talked me into spinning class at 5:30. Colby made a deal with me and said that when he got back from a bike race we could run the 2 together. That would be 2 miles fast for me and slow for him :)

Got this picture from one of my 4th graders :) I love that I’m playing a tiny violin with a bun of hair on top of my head and the fact that I am rocking a pink shirt and black heels! Love <3

After lots of music lessons, I asked Colby to go for sushi with me for a late lunch. I had this and a bowl of egg drop soup. So good :)

2 mile run after spin class… I was VERY happy with how I felt running at 8:30 pm outside and my pace.  My goal is to push myself on my short Weds. runs to help me get faster! I took it a bit easier at first staying around a 9:00 min mile and picked it up for my second mile with a 8:31. I felt really good after I finished and know I could have gone farther at that pace :)

This morning I met my friend Amy for a morning 3 mile run. I’m loving going for runs with her and talking the whole time and taking it easy! I’m hoping she doesn’t get sick of me and will keep running with me once a week in the fall!

We are meeting for Amy’s first BodyPump class tonight!! Look at me making her workout 2 times in one day! Maybe I could convince her to write a little review on her first BodyPump experience after tonight :)

Met my friend Julie for a Mexican lunch and it was awesome. We caught up on our blog obsessed lives and she revealed that she is starting up a blog of her own! YAYYYYYY :)

After all these workouts, I’ve been making sure to drink some recovery drinks! My favorite smoothie right now is:

A half or full scoop of chocolate protein

1 scoop Recoverite (the bf swears by this stuff!)

1 banana (I cut them up and put them in a ziplock and freeze them ahead of time)

1 cup almond milk – Almond Breeze unsweetened vanilla

A pinch of xanithan gum to thicken

YUM !!

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My 7 Links

Wednesday Workout: 2 mile run

Kristy tagged me to participate in the 7 links post that is going around the blog world right now!

THE GOAL

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1)     Blogger is nominated to take part

2)     Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.

3)     Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.

 

Most beautiful post

Saturday Boat Adventure

Pretty pictures of being on a boat and the water.

 

Most popular post

Photo Shoot!

I had my Dad take a bunch of action shots of me running in the middle of the street for a guest post I did for Sunny Seeds!

Most controversial post

Pink Walker

Not very controversial, but after attempting a 6 mile run one weekend I complained about walking almost all of it and worried I would annoy anyone that reads this blog! It ended up being so nice because I received so many encouraging comments :)

 

 

Most helpful post

Half Marathon Plans

I was looking at different half marathon plans to use for my upcoming race this fall and posted my options!

A post whose success surprised you

Guacamole Salad

I don’t think of myself as much of a cook, but I attempted this recipe after watching the Barefoot Contessa make it on Food Network. It must have looked good because I received a bunch of comments!

A post you feel didn’t get the attention it deserved

Sugar Monster

This post described my sudden increase of sugary foods and how I was determined to watch my sugar intake for the week. I also posted a picture of the sugary pancakes and cookies I made that same day…

The post that you are most proud of

Pittsburgh Marathon

My first full marathon! I am very proud of my experience at the Pittsburgh Marathon this past May :)

Tag! Your turn!

Cherie @ Cherie Runs This

Krissie @ A Philly Nerd Girl

Katie @ Running 4 Cupcakes

Ari @ Stopping For Daisies

Stephanie @ Food and Fitness 4 Real


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Late Night Exercise

Monday *Night* Workout: 3 mile run on treadmill: 27 min 17 seconds

Tuesday: TBA! (Yoga/pilates?)

Today I am teaching music lessons 8:30-3:00, then going to a dentist appointment, then hopefully going home to grab something to eat before a marching band practice 6:00-8:00. I can’t make BodyPump tonight :(

This is my week 1 of half marathon training, so I decided to move my Tuesday run to Monday (last night)! I try to stay fairly flexible with my training plans and I don’t get upset if I need to move a run to a day I keep open (Monday, Friday, Sunday).  I planned on running yesterday around 5:00 because I worked on grad work all day long. Instead, I came home from a 4:00-5:00 music lesson and was starving. So of course, I ate dinner and then needed to wait before I could run. Then I started reading blogs and watching tv and before you know it I was watching crazy Ashley on the Bachelorette and I think she made it through the whole episode without crying…?

Always crying… not sure why I continue to watch this train wreck of a show?

So, it was 9:45 and I knew I HAD to get on the treadmill and could just watch the rest of that tragic tragic show. (It’s either that or Big Brother… I know… pure trash)

Treadmill Workout:

0-.25 = 6.3 mph, . 25-.5 = 6.4, .5-.75 = 6.5, .75-1 = 6.6 – (9:30 mile..walked about 15 seconds to get started)

1-1.25 = 6.5, 1.25-1.5 = 6.4, 1.5-1.75 = 6.3, 1.75-2 = 6.2 – (9:25 mile)

2-2.25 = 6.3, 2.25-2.5 = 6.4, 2.5-2.75 = 6.5, 2.75-3 = 6.6 – (9:22 mile)

I was drenched after this quick 3 miler and ready for bed!

Has anyone tried coconut water? I’ve had this for awhile and finally pulled it out tonight to give it a try after my run. Then I realized it was expired! I should have tried it earlier!

Do you ever workout late at night? Does working out keep you from falling asleep? It only keeps me up because I wait to shower and end up getting on the computer!!

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My Ironman

Monday Workout: 3 mile run tonight

I will run my “Tuesday” run today because I will be busy all day tomorrow. It is so hot and I have so much grad work to do, so I am waiting until tonight to run (hopefully) outside or on the treadmill.

IRONMAN Lake Placid

On July 25th last year, my boyfriend competed in Ironman Lake Placid and I couldn’t have been prouder! If you are new to the IronMan, it is a triathlon with a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run.  When I met Colby, he was in the middle of training for the Ironman and I was new to understanding triathlons. He had already ran 4 marathons before the Ironman! I had started running that year and was signed up for a spring 5k but had no idea he would convince me to run my first half marathon just a few months after we met!

Colby created a 1 year training plan to prepare for the triathlon and was usually swimming 3 times a week, doing 2 workouts a day and running/biking long distances on the weekends.

Lots and lots of bikes the day before the Ironman at Lake Placid, NY. We took his bike to the transition zone the day before with his two other friends that were competing.  So many people, so crowded!

Posing for a picture the day before the big race.

Sunday morning… the start of the triathlon. 2.4 mile swim in the lake with 3,000 participants.  It was hard to watch because I knew how scary it must be to swim with all those people.  Everyone participating started the swim at the same time when the cannon went off!

Finishing photo! He said he was determined to have a good photo at the end so he made sure to fix his fuel belt, visor and sunglasses before the finishing line!

The hill I sat on and waited for him to finish the marathon. The cell phone reception was horrible at Lake Placid, so I couldn’t get on the internet and check where he was on the course. I ended up calling my Mom all the time to see if the website had updated and she knew where he was on the course. I tried to move around to see him as often as possible.  I saw him after the swim, half way and at the end of the bike course and 2 times during the run.  Near the end, I had no idea what his pace was for the run and what time he would finish, so I guessed and sat on this hill waiting to hear his name called at the end!

Sweaty hugs after the race. Soon after this picture, I took him to back to the hotel to shower and then to McDonalds to eat. I NEVER eat fast food, but he needed the salt and you can certainly find enough sodium at McDonalds so it was perfect for him!


The day after the race! He was moving around very well and we had a longgg 8+ hour drive back home that day! :)

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Mini Vacation

Saturday Workout: BodyPump!!! (1 hour)

Sunday Workout: off day!!

 

I was so happy to get to my BodyPump class Saturday morning! I start my half marathon plan this week, and my goal is to still take BodyPump 2 times a week.  This was one of my last free weekends without any plans and Colby and I decided to take a trip to his old college Saturday. Even though it was over 100 degrees, it was so nice seeing his campus and meeting friends!

 

People swimming in the river. We were melting trying to walk around so I could see the nice running paths and sandy beach area!

Love the panoramic function on my Sony camera!

On our way home today, we stopped to visit my friend Matt and went to lunch for his birthday!

Matt just got a Garmin 405 for his birthday and now we are Garmin twinsiessss :)

He is currently training for his first half marathon that will be a trail race in Pittsburgh!! Matt is using the half marathon plan that was in this month’s Runner’s World.

Yum yum yum! We started off with oysters on the half shell and followed with sandwiches. Colby and I feel like we need to do a few extra workouts this week to make up for all the food we ate this weekend!

Ready to start my half marathon plan this week! Even though it starts out with some short runs, it will be perfect for me.  I have not focused on running after the full marathon in May, and have not been running over 20 miles a week in awhile. This plan should get me back into the swing of things and still allow me to cross train with BodyPump class and yoga!


Switching my Tuesday run this week to Monday because I have will be busy all day Tuesday with work!

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Fitness Friday!!

Friday Workout: 5 mile run on treadmill

I started and finished this run with a 1/2 mile walk, so I ended up walking 1 full mile and running 4. I think I ran the 4 miles in about 37 minutes (9:15 ish pace)

My secret to making a treadmill run go by faster is changing the speed!! I tried to change my pace every .25 miles and this works so well for me. Most of my miles were a mix 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6 mph. I peaked at 6.7 mph at the end before cooling down.

I know many of you probably hate the treadmill but I was more than happy to get on it this morning when it was already 90 degrees at 8:00 AM! It was over a 100 degrees here today :(

Last night, Colby and I drove his Mom to Harrisburg for a meeting and we went out to dinner at a restaurant called “Spice”.  My friend Matt introduced this restaurant to me :)

Yum! I had chicken and tortellini salad with a side of sweet potato fries and Colby had a pesto shrimp pasta dish!

Always happy to pose with his food for me :)

I was really happy to get my TOMS shoes in the mail today! My Mom had ordered these for me last Christmas and they were a 1/2 size too small so I had to send them back. They are really soft inside and seem like they will be comfortable!

For dinner tonight, I had ground turkey in the fridge I needed to use. The electric went out around 5:00 after a crazy thunderstorm and didn’t come back on until almost 7:00. I had to wait to make dinner (and post this!) so I played on my iPhone and found a recipe for turkey/black bean burgers.

Paula Deen’s Turkey Black Bean Burgers with Corny Salsa

My version of the burger. This recipe is super easy, especially when you skip the salsa like I did and just throw the ingredients into a bowl without measuring!

Colby and I are a little bummed out for our weekend right now. We had plans to go to a soccer game in Philly tomorrow night with a friend, but it didn’t work out last minute. So we thought maybe we would go to the beach for a day and just stay one night. All the hotels are booked in MD and DE and have 2 night minimum.  This is one of my last free weekends of the summer because I teach marching band camp for the first two full weeks of August and have other things going on…

I’m thinking of persuading him to use my guest pass for Gold’s and go to BodyPump with me at 8:30 am tomorrow…. think he will go for it?? It’s in air conditioning… isn’t that reason enough to go??

What was your Friday workout????

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Guacamole Salad

Wednesday Workout: 20 minute yoga, abs
Yesterday I had meeting/stuff all day with the rest of my music department at school and I have another day of meeting-ish stuff today.  It is nice seeing the other teachers and being in the air conditioning!! It was almost 100 yesterday and is supposed to be 100 today and tomorrow! Crazy! After watching Barefoot Contessa on Food Network on Tuesday (she’s my favorite) I wanted to make her Guacamole Salad for dinner.  I went to the grocery store after school and braved the heat for a yellow pepper, red onion, avocado, black beans and grape tomatoes.

 

Ina’s Guacamole Salad

 

Ingredients

  • 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and 1/2-inch diced
  • 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup small diced red onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (2 peppers)
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
  • 1/4 cup good olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 2 ripe Hass avocados, seeded, peeled, and 1/2-inch diced

Directions

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers, and lime zest in a large bowl. Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper and pour over the vegetables. Toss well.

Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, fold the avocados into the salad. Check the seasoning and serve at room temperature.

 

My salad! It was SO good and really easy. I will definitely make this again and maybe add corn and another kind of pepper to the next one! I also made Ina style shrimp by throwing them on a baking sheet and drizzling with olive oil, salt and pepper and in 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. Seriously easy and always perfect.

After dinner and my Kombucha :) I did some abs and yoga in front of the TV (Yankees game!) to get a workout in because I did not feel like getting on the treadmill or going outside in 95 degree heat.

My yoga mat :) From Target and I love how cute it is!

I followed something very similar to this for my TV yoga session and added in some warrior poses. I love how they open up my hips and stretch me out. I’m a little sore from Pump Tuesday night because I only did it once the week before! I’m looking forward to going to the new release again this Saturday :)

Oh yeah, I’ve been eating my overnight oats for breakfast the past few days! They fill me up SO much and I bought  different type of organic quick oats yesterday to try out soon. The oats in this picture are 1/4 cup = 150 calories (which I think is great). The new ones are 1/2 cup = 150 calories! I can’t imagine eating 1/2 a cup of oats because I’m always stuffed!

Have a good day!!

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Running Partners

Tuesday Workout: 3.25 mile run, BodyPump class (1 hour)

I was SO lucky to have an awesome new running partner yesterday morning! It was so nice talking and running with my friend Amy, a teacher from my school.  We took it easy in the extreme heat at 8am ran at a comfortable pace and talked the entire time. I forgot how easy it can feel and how fast a half an hour can go when you have someone to talk to during a run! I really hope we continue running together every once in awhile. I forgot how important it is to take an easier run every once in awhile and have someone to keep you company! I need to just calm it down with the Garmin and run at a comfortable pace sometimes in the summer heat!

Both rocking our running skirts yesterday morning! Don’t you think Amy should sign up for the Hershey Half Marathon too????  She was worried about going on vacation the week before the race, but I said that’s the best time to take it easy and have fresh legs for the race!!

The Brooks Glycerine skirt I bought to match the tank top and shorts I already own came in the mail Monday and I wore it on my run for the first time.  I think it looks flattering and is a longer than the shorts.  I wasn’t used to the tight shorts that are underneath the skirt, but I’m sure I could get used to them.  I do think it was hotter wearing the skirt than the super lightweight Brooks Glycerine shorts, so it might be perfect for the cooler October weather for my race…

Colby and I came up with a training plan for the Hershey Half Marathon on October 16th.  We combined and altered Hal Higdeon’s Novice and Intermediate plans. I can always stick with the long runs on a training plan, but if my legs ever feel really horrible, I’ll lower or drop a mid week run.  So I know that might be a possibility during the end of the plan, and I am okay with that.  This really doesn’t look that bad compared to the Hal Higdeon Novice I plan I used for my first full marathon. For my first full marathon, I felt like I was running a lot last winter/spring! I’m looking forward to this half plan because I will still be able to incorporate BodyPump and yoga/pilates into my schedule!

After my run, I made a chocolate/banana smoothie! I used chocolate protein powder, chocolate recoverite, 1 frozen banana, 1 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, and xanthan gum for thickening.  I knew I was going to BodyPump at night, so I wanted to make sure to have a protein shake!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE BodyPump?? Yesterday was the premier of the new songtrack or “release” for our gym and it was a pretty big deal! I didn’t expect balloons and signs metioning the premier and 3 instructors for class! It was awesome having instructors up front running the class and another walking around and helping.  It was pretty crowded, but would have been perfect for newbies to get the extra help!

Meeting stuff with my department at work today and tomorrow, so I’m not sure when I will fit my running in, especially since it is supposed to be 100 degrees both days!! Craaaazy. I’m hoping to make this Barefoot Contessa salad tonight after seeing her make it on tv yesterday.  I seriously love this woman and she never gets on my nerves like all the other food network people!

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Sunny Seed Runner!

Workout: 3 mile run (2.5 outside in 24 min, .5 walk on TM) , BodyPump 77 Ab Track! (4 min.)

I let my Garmin die after my bike ride! It was at 0% this morning!! WHYYYY????

I HAVE to know my pace and stats so it was horrible going without it this morning. I know many people enjoy going without their Garmin every once in awhile, but not me. I probably ran way too hard in the beginning and was dying by the end. When I got to my house I knew I couldn’t add on anymore and stopped after 2.5 miles and ran inside to see the time. I had been out for 24 minutes, so I probably ran the first mile fairly fast for me because my overall pace was about 9:36 and I know I was much slower near the end. I hopped on the treadmill when I got in to cool down. I slept in this morning and didn’t start running until 10:00 when it was already 85 degrees. Not smart. I have a running date with my friend Amy tomorrow morning at 8, so I know it will be better because it will be shady and not as hot!


Playing around with my Instagram iPhone app!

Hey Apple people, did you see the new iOS 5 operating system (for iPhone, iPad, IPod Touch) is coming out this Fall? Looks like a very good update!

Make sure to check out my guest post on Lisa @ Sunny Seed Stories !

All my posing while running paid off :)

P.S. my first running skirt comes in the mail today!