Monthly Archives: March 2012

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A Week Off

Tuesday: 3 sad, sad miles

I took this picture of my ankles after my “run” on Tuesday.  You can’t really tell, but my left ankle and lower calf were completely swollen.  I thought my calf pain was gone after feeling okay for my 15 miler this past weekend, but I think the Advil just masked the problem.  Colby thinks I need to take ibuprofen, stretch, ice and take at least a week off from running.  Miss my 16 miler this weekend?! I guess it is really want I need to do.  I was practically limping on Tuesday when I was trying to run through the pain.  If I want to make it to the marathon, I guess I have to take the time off.

This is week 11 of an 18 week plan.  I’m hoping to take a week off, ease back into it and possibly run the 18 miler during week 13.  I might try to ride my bike with Colby as he runs his 16 this weekend, but I promise. No running for a week.  Even though it makes me really sad.

Even though I was upset over the injury and no exercise… it was kinda nice to come home after work and relax.  Then I got an email that my engagement pictures were online and I was very happy!  Here are a few of my favorites…

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When Your Running Nutrition Fails…

Saturday: 15 miles (2:41:33)

My workouts have been full of breakups lately… two weeks ago it was the breakup with BodyPump.  Pulled my left calf muscle during lunges and have been trying to get it back to normal ever since.  This weekend? My breakup with these …

I LOVE the tropical Shot Bloks! What happened?? We had such a good thing going this year and I thought I found a winner for the marathon! Lets go back and recap the 15 miler yesterday morning…

Colby and I drove to the railtrail to run our 15 miles yesterday morning.  It was raining when I woke up and slowed down a bit by 10:30 when we got to the trail and about 50 degrees.  Amy and I rocked some awesome baggy rain jackets and baseball hats and set out for her longest run ever! (I promised her I wouldn’t take a picture of us) We decided to take it easy and aim for a 10:00 min/mile pace so we would feel good, especially with my calf.  I took my 7 mile mid-week long run off on Thursday and I think it definitely helped.  The flat trail running also was great for my calf and it wasn’t much of an issue.

Amy and I love those Shot Bloks. Since a pack of them 2 servings, I was aiming to take one blok every 2-3 miles.  This probably isn’t enough, but I thought for a 15 miler, it would be fine.  We love taking these because they are so easy to swallow and taste great! Little did I know, they were all just sitting in my stomach the entire time and I wasn’t digesting them at all…

I started feeling really dizzy and light-headed around mile 11 and we started taking walking breaks.  We walked almost a half a mile during mile 12 and 15 but Amy was patient with me and we were just so happy our legs felt great.  I was kinda confused on why I was feeling so light-headed.  Since Colby finished so much earlier than us, he drove home and Amy drove me home.  On the ride home I started feeling super nauseous.  About a mile away from my house (sorry for the TMI) I yelled for her to pull over and got sick in someones front yard (oops).  None of my blue shot bloks digested and they must have been sitting in my stomach during the entire run :(  I felt absolutely horrible, but we could not stop laughing as we pulled into my driveway.  It was just such a ridiculous situation :)

I don’t think I can chance it for next weekend’s 16 miler and need to go buy some GU’s.  Last year I used them during my training runs and the marathon and took a chocolate or vanilla every 40 minutes.  I guess I’ll see how it goes next weekend…

When I got home, it took everything for me to shower and get in bed.  I put a towel over my pillow and laid there with wet hair hoping my stomach would calm down.  I drank a ginger ale and it helped a little. After a few minutes Colby asked what he could get me to eat that would make me feel better.

I wanted salt. And LOTS of it and knew that McDonald’s fries would taste soooo good.

I also really wanted a sprite from McDonald’s.  Something about that paper cup and the straw that makes it taste so good when you are sick!  I inhaled my fries and sprite after being home for about an hour and passed out.  When I woke up, I felt SO much better and a little hungry so I was happy to have dinner at my parents and go to see The Hunger Games with my mom and Colby.

Colby just finished the first book this past week and my mom and I read all three books.  I like them, and thought the movie did a good job of fitting almost everything in from book one.  It did seem to go pretty quickly for a movie that was over two hours.  I liked it, but I’m not obsessed.  Not like I am with Twilight… :)

What running fuel do you use? GU? Bloks? Did you ever get sick after a long run?

Did you see The Hunger Games this weekend?

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Skipping A Run

Tuesday: 4 miles (38:56)

Wednesday: 3 miles (29:26)

When is it okay to skip a mid-week run?

For me, I guess it is okay if I skip my 7 tomorrow.  I absolutely HATE to skip my mid-week “long” run.  All I can say is, “whyyyyyyyy BodyPump whyyyyyy?!?!”.  We had such a great thing going for almost a full year! I wrote about it in a previous post, but I definitely pulled a muscle or something in my left calf at BodyPump last Tuesday.  I just just lunging my little heart out and then something didn’t feel right.  I thought it was getting better because it was okay for my 10 mile run on Sunday, but it hurt again yesterday.

I had a really good time running with Amy through an unfamiliar park.  The new scenery was so nice, but it was kinda hilly and every time we ran up a hill I could feel a strain on my left calf.  You wouldn’t be able to tell from the elevation chart Garmin has on my upload…

Come on Garmin!!! What is that?!? How am I supposed to tell anything from that?? Yeah, cause I obviously need to see -200 to 600 ft on the chart…

We ran 3 miles today after school planning to run 7 on Thursday this week.  I just don’t think that 7 is going to happen.  We ran through a different park today with some hills and every time we ran up one I felt like I was limping when I ran.  Probably not the best thing and I should have told Amy (sorry!!) but I thought it wouldn’t be so bad for just a short 3 miler!  I got home and did some hot tub, shower and compression socks that are not coming off until the next shower! I’m just going to take it easy and hope I feel better for my 15 mile run on Saturday!!

Anyone else reading them at the last minute like me? I finished the first two books over the past few days and I’m now on the third.  I even got Colby to read the first one and he is really liking it.  I figure if I can run 15 miles Saturday morning, my reward should be to go to the movies that night!

I really am liking the books a lot and I am excited to see the movie this weekend… but I don’t think they will take the place of my beloved Twilight :)

Is it sad that I’m really excited that the full Breaking Dawn II trailer will be shown before The Hunger Games??  I’ve watched this 15 second clip a bunch of times :)

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Dead Legs, Garmin Drama and Engagement Photos

Sunday: 10 miles (1:35:50)

 

Today was the end of week 9 in my marathon training.  Thank goodness for back down weeks because my legs are DEAD!  I was really happy with my splits from today, even though I had to get this screen shot from Amy’s garmin.  I am having Garmin drama.  I have the 405 and it has been acting up lately.  It would not hold a charge earlier in the winter, so I was leaving it plugged in all the time.  I unplugged it last night to plug in Colby’s garmin and thought it would be fine because it was charging for over a day.  This morning it was at 11% !!!!! I was SO mad and quick plugged it in to get it to 15%.  It lasted 7.5 miles before it died.   :(    I need to email them and see what is wrong.

The Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan had me do 13.1 last weekend for a long run, 10 today and 15 next weekend.  I thought I would take it “easier” by only doing BodyPump this past Tuesday and run Weds, Thurs, Fri for my mid-week runs.  I already had tired legs from last weekend’s 13 and I am now sure I tweaked something in my left calf at BodyPump during the lunge track Tuesday night.  I just felt uncomfortable during the lunges, my feet were cramping and my legs were tired.  The next day I went out for a 4 miler with Colby and could only do 3.  It was really hot (almost 80… strange for March in PA) and my legs were dead.  I had a little discomfort around my left ankle but couldn’t tell what was exactly wrong.  Then I went for my 7 miler with Amy on Thursday and was in pain.

Happy with our Thursday splits (above) but we walked for over 5 minutes at mile 5 because my calf was bothering me so much.  It started out feeling like ankle pain again, but as I ran more I could tell it was the back of my lower calf.  It didn’t feel better after icing, so I took Friday completely off and skipped my 4 miler for the week.  I think it helped me feel better for the 10 today, so I’m just hoping that if I ice and keep my Grandma/Walmart compression socks on enough it will go away!  So, I am “taking a break” from BodyPump.  We really had a great thing going for a long time.  I think it got my legs super strong for marathon training, but I just think I need to focus on the mileage now.

Last weekend, I was looking for dresses for our engagement photos.  I was looking for a pink wrap dress, but after hours of frustration found these two I liked from Black House White Market.

 

 

I really liked this one, but it was in red and I never wear red!  I just never think it is my color and always go for pink if I am going to wear a bright color.  I almost went for it, but thought I might regret it later.  I ended up picking this one…

 

Please excuse the lazy braided ponytail hair.  I already had the black rose ribbon from another dress so I didn’t have to buy this one.  We took our pictures yesterday and I was a wreck.  It made me SO nervous!  We should get the digitals soon, so I will make sure to share a few good ones :)

I also got my nails done this week for the pictures.  I got a “shellac manicure” that uses special polish and UV light to give a manicure that doesn’t chip and is stronger than regular polish.  This is the polish the lady used and so far, it is awesome.  My nails were really weak and I was trying so hard not to break them before the pictures.  Now they feel strong and look perfect.  I always mess up my nails after they are painted, but these are completely dry as soon as you are finished at the salon.

I know I’ve been a little absent from the blog-writing lately, and I think that was because my weeknights were making me so tired.  Between the running, driving 15-20 minutes to Gold’s for BodyPump classes and grad work (and getting hooked on The Hunger Games books!) it was too much and I was exhausted.  I really think I’m going to enjoy the break from Pump!  Hopefully I will be able to blog more and take care of my legs!

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Vega Nutritional Shake

Friday: 3.5 miles (ran 3 in 28:30, walk .5)

No school today because of a little three-day weekend and I was sooooo happy to sleep in and run with Amy around 10:00.  I had school activities Wednesday and Thursday night, and was completely unable to run in the afternoon.  I am not an early morning runner (couldn’t even imagine getting up at 5 am!), so I decided to skip a 3 mile run and do the other today.  Tomorrow is 13.1 for our long run and I’m sure we will make sure we hit that .1 !  Amy and I tend to get a bit obsessive over miles and times…

I am in search of a dress for next weekend. Colby and I are getting our engagement photos taken, and I really want to find a PINK dress! (I want like Barbie pink)

I ordered this one from Banana Republic this past week, but it just isn’t right.  The ribbon around the upper waist is very snug and I don’t think I would be comfortable. I also think I want to find some sort of wrap dress with a 3/4 or long sleeve.  I am going out today to find something! I’ve been looking online on Black House White Market, Banana Republic, Gap, H & M and found a few ideas, but nothing pink enough…

I’ll let you know what I find!
Vega was kind enough to send me a few packets of their “all-in-one nutritional shake” in a few flavors.  I gave Amy the chocolate flavor and I tried Berry in my protein shaker.  Maybe because this dairy, gluten and soy free shake mix is made with pea protein (along with a bunch of other good vegan ingredients) … it just didn’t blend well.  Amy said the flavor was good, but she couldn’t get it smooth with water and milk.  I tried the berry with just water and couldn’t shake out all the clumps.  But… today I tried something different.
I tried the vanilla chai with almond milk and frozen bananas in an actual blender. (frozen banana slices in the zip lock bag above)
My favorite almond milk… Colby and I go through at least a half gallon a week.
After I used the vanilla chai shake mix, 1 cup almond milk and about 1 and a 1/2 frozen banana slices, the drink was smooth, just thick enough and delicious.  It was nice and refreshing and definitely held me over to lunch!
Have a good weekend!!
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Long Run of the Year

 

Sunday Long Run: 12 miles (1:53:48)

Amy and I had an AMAZINGGGGGGGGG long run this morning!! I’m still on cloud 9 and more motivated than ever!

Sorry for all the garmin stats in each post, but I really like looking back at old posts to see how I felt about my runs.  We didn’t have a goal in mind this morning, but have been aiming for 9:45s for our long runs thinking that is our marathon goal pace.  I’m not quite sure what happened, but we have been running SO well lately and we didn’t look at our Garmins much during the run.  I couldn’t believe that we felt good up until mile 11 and then just pushed it on the last mile to finish on pace.  I can’t believe our last two miles were exactly 9:25 and we didn’t even try it!

 

I was really happy to see my elevation map actually looked like something today.  For the past month or so, I’ll upload my Garmin and it looks like my run was completely flat because the elevation ft. intervals are weird.  I hope this problem is fixed?

 

This has been my after run routine and I love it.  I really need to start stretching after long runs, but I usually change into my bathing suit as soon as possible and jump in the hot tub.  I feel so spoiled, but it is amazing.  (hot tub was left by previous home owners!) Then I shower and rock my walmart compression socks the rest of the day.  Obsessed with my walmart compression :)

 

I’ve been braiding my hair for running lately.  I got my hair cut/highlighted a week ago and decided to go back to the side bang.  I’m really letting my hair grow long so I can have plenty of updo options for my October wedding.  I forgot how annoying side bangs can be when running, so I’ve been braiding them, then pulling my hair into a ponytail.  I also started braiding my ponytail so it isn’t all over the place.  I have a lot of hair, and my ponytail could probably be a safety hazzard when I’m running.  The braid keeps it from going crazy.

 

 

Random, but I tried another fantastic recipe from Peas and Thank You this weekend.  Seriously, Mama Pea has never disappointed me yet.  Her Zucchini Quinoa Lasagna was really easy to make, delicious and filling. I will definitely be making this one again!

Have a good week! I have four runs this week: 3, 6, 3 and 13 miles!