Every Mile Earned

In the last week, I've run two races.  A one mile race and a 4 mile race.  First though, let me start with a weight update. I'm cautiously optimistic about my weight loss.  2.6 lbs this week.  I actually feel like I'm eating a ton though.  I've dramatically increased my protein intake. I'm also watching the about of fat per serving and the types of carbs I'm eating. Thanks to my friend Prof Badass, I took a good look at what I'm eating. I hate using MFP , I prefer a paper log, but I have been logging there just to get realistic look at where my numbers are. I've been really shocked. Foods I thought would be healthy for me were shockingly high in calories or fat. I have a huge sweet tooth so that's been another place of struggle for me. I'm trying to find better ways to get a bit of sweet, like a grapefruit with a touch of brown sugar. Yum. I'll keep you updated as I progress. My race season is starting off well....2 PR's in 2 w...

Last weekend's one mile race was bitter cold.  Monday and Tuesday of this past week, Hill Dynamo and I were running in shorts and tee's and then the temps took a nose dive again. By the time the race came around yesterday it was back into the single digits again. Friday night I couldn't get off the toilet. My stomach was a mess. I know it wasn't race anxiety because I've had plenty of that before and I wasn't anxious about this race. This was another race I was committed to only because of the ERRS. I woke Saturday hoping my body was emptied out but nope and I was only able to stomach half my morning smoothie.  I spent the rest of the morning trying not to throw up.  We had to drop Tink off at the local University for her All County rehearsal and off to the packet pick up we went. I drove part of the race course and the roads were covered with a slick layer of snow. Now I was a bit nervous, there was no way I was going to risk slipping and hurting mysel...

Fun one mile race This was a one mile race so not a lot of recap to offer for it. The star of the day was the cold.   I had every intention of running this race as hard as I could.  I had been having pain in my left glute and hamstring all week but I knew with a good warm up I'd be ok. Then these temps hit. We had been running in shorts and tee's the week before so I was not mentally prepared for the temps to bottom out.  My friend, Hill Dynamo and Superman were running the race and I decided to just have fun with them. The wind was right in our face no matter what direction we were facing I rode to the race with her and her family. My Musician and Tink stayed home, she had the flu. Hill Dynamo's hubs dropped us off at the finish line. The sun was out and it didn't feel too bad. That was until we got away from the shelter of the building where we parked.  The wind was so cold in our face.  In felt like it was blowing right through al...

I haven't updated in awhile. There's not a lot to update but I like to have this as a log for myself, too. I'm terrible with writing down anything about how I feel during training or a race, it all goes here or it's lost forever.  My training has really suffered this winter and we had a mild winter! It's very frustrating to me that I allowed myself to hide curled up under my blanket all winter instead of out doing what needs to be done. I'll fully feel that lack of training commitment in my marathon in just over a month.  I have a half marathon coming up and even that I don't feel as prepared for as last year and last year I had less miles going into the same race. I know some of my mental issue is that I'm comparing myself to my PR half last September and I'm just not in that shape.  I'm also a bit bummed that I realized that for my full at the end of May, I just have to treat it like a really long run and go easy at it. I don't want to comp...

Right before the finish line **sorry in advance, there are a lot of pictures.  It was a mini runcation for us too, not just a race ~ scroll to near the end for the race recap** It's been about two months and I still don't think I've fully processed my marathon and all the emotions attached. This was my second marathon.  My first was in 2010.  It took me 5-1/2 years before I was ready to run another one, even then I'm not sure I was really ready for this one. It was an emotional weekend all around.  We spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday visiting Philly for the first time.  It's a beautiful city. Officially my second favorite city after Boston.  I love the historic cities. Thursday night I made chia seed pancakes. I have come to love them for my fuel. They are natural, healthy and give me lots of energy! I'm so grateful to my friend, TW, for introducing me to these! Friday morning, we put Tink on the bus, finished packing and hit the...