Brooks PureFlow 2s are Pure Heaven!

"They" say you should gently break in new shoes, but the heck with all that! I was planning on doing my long run yesterday at a somewhat slower pace, but I also wanted to use intervals, so I didn't want to go too slow. I decided on 6mph/4mph and for the 1st 3 miles I did 2:30/:30 intervals and felt great. In case you're wondering this interval equals a 10:30 mile. The shoes felt wonderful on my feet. They are light-weight and almost "spongy" underneath my forefoot. In a good way! For the 4th mile I switched to 1:30/:30 because I wanted to see how much of a difference time-wise a mile would be compared to the 2:30/:30 (it ended up being an 11 minute mile). Doing this was a mistake though, because having the more frequent walk breaks just made me want to walk more. So for the 5th mile I went back to 2:30/:30. Then the 6th mile I switched to 2:1 but increased the running speed to 6.5mph for 1/2 mile and 7mph for the other 1/2 mile. Ended with a .25 mile cool-down walk.

Today was going to be a short recovery run, but because I felt so good I decided to do some speed work. I did 8 x 400 repeats. I did the first 7 at 7.5mph and the last one at 8mph. In between each repeat I walked for .15 miles. This was a GREAT workout and I was a sweaty mess when I finished up! My feet still felt great and no toe issues like I've had with the Newtons. I'm very happy with the Pure Flows!

Bought new shoes, Won new socks!

Today my husband took me out to lunch and while we were sitting in the restaurant I realized we were only about 2 blocks from the local running store, The Athletic Shoe Shop, which I haven't had a chance to check out yet! My Newtons have been bothering my left foot during my last couple runs so I wanted to check out some of the lighter-weight Brooks shoes.  As soon as I tried on the PueFlow 2s I knew they were the ones!  Light-weight, super-comfy, and a normal color (unlike the bright pink/orange Newtons, Lol!). Can't wait to run tomorrow!

Brooks PureFlow 2

Then I came home and found out I won a pair of Injinji socks from The Boring Runner! Now I wish I would have asked for black instead of white ;)  Check these things out:

Injinji mini-crews

I'll report back on the shoes after my run tomorrow!

Virtual Racing

I've decided to join the 13 in 2013 Virtual Race Series, being hosted by Jill at Fitness, Health, and Happiness and Marathon Mom. You can find all the information HERE.

I've committed to two 10k's, two 10 milers, and two half marathons for the virtual racing. I'll also be doing the Bucks County half marathon in April, the Philadelphia Rock n Roll half marathon in September, and I'm strongly considering the Philadelphia Marathon in November. I'm not so sure about the others yet, but I will try to find something fun and involving a costume around Halloween :)

Since I've been playing around with interval running for the past couple weeks, I've switched over to one of the Jeff Galloway training plans for the half marathon in April. So far so good!

My eating has been better but still not great, and because of that I'm still stuck between 121-122 pounds. I really want to be back under 120 before February and time is running out! It's time to end my love affair with Reese's Dark :(

Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

I've had a stomach bug the last few days so I haven't really been doing much. That means nothing much to write about. Figured this would be a good day to pick back up since I can always find amusing pictures to share ;)

This pretty much sums up how I've felt the last few days!

New Recipe and another Progressive Run

Happy Hump Day :)

At the grocery store last night I saw a package of Mexican-style Smart Ground (fake ground beef), and since I love anything Mexican-style I of course bought it. After work tonight I was looking through the cabinets trying to decide whether to just make tacos with it or try to create something new. Here's what I came up with and it's wonderful!

- 1 package Mexican-style Smart Ground
- 1 cup dry corn grits (Polenta), prepared (see below)
- 1 can organic black beans (drained, rinsed, then mashed)
- 1 (3.8 oz) can sliced black olives
- 1 (4 oz) can diced jalapenos
- 1 package taco seasoning (I use Old El Paso Hot and Spicy)
- 1 cup vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a pan with PAM and heat the ground "beef" on medium heat for a few minutes and then throw in the beans, olives, jalapenos, broth and taco seasoning.

Meanwhile, bring 3 cups of water (with a pinch of salt) to a boil. Then add in the cup of dry polenta, stir, cover, and reduce heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the polenta to the "beef" mixture and stir it all together.

Pour into PAM-sprayed 9x13 casserole dish and bake for about 20 minutes.

I made it into 6 servings so they came out at 258 calories each. Fat = 1.6 grams, Carbs = 42 grams (Fiber 9, Sugar 1), Protein = 17 grams.

Delicious, with just the right amount of spicy :)

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For my run today I did the 5,4,3,2,1 speed progression workout (from 5mph to 7mph). Then walked for 1 minute and reversed it- 1,2,3,4,5 (from 7mph to 5mph). Total 3.5 miles in 31 minutes. Tomorrow and Friday I'll do 2:30/:30 intervals and then rest on Saturday. Not sure about Sunday yet since my "real" training starts on Monday.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Why am I worthless on the weekend?

In other words, I did not do my long run yesterday, again :(

I have no problem going to the gym and running every day during the week; in fact I look forward to it! But it seems like I can't get my a$$ in gear on the weekend. It's weird though- all day Saturday I look forward to my Sunday long run, but then on Sunday I spend the whole day procrastinating until I finally just don't do it. Granted, this has only been the last 2 weeks but it makes me feel like a failure.  I think my main excuse is that I'm not registered for any races at the moment so I don't need to be "in training." Whatever. 

Scratch all that. I'm going to do the Bucks County Half Marathon in April. I think I mentioned it already but I hadn't decided for sure whether I was going to do it or not. I am! It's 13 weeks from yesterday, so I can start training "for real" now. Bonus: it's only 5 minutes from my house :) 

I am keeping a full marathon on my goal list for the year. After the half I'm going to keep progressing my miles and once I'm up to (and able to complete) a 20-mile long run I'll register. I'm leaning towards the Philadelphia Marathon which hasn't been posted yet, but should be in November. Unless it's one of those lottery things like NY. Then I'm not sure.

I did have a productive weekend food-wise. I made and prepped my meals for the week: 

• Romaine salad with tomatoes, onions, and celery 
• Tahini lime dressing (from the Peas and Thank You cookbook)
• Mexican Quinoa with black beans, black olives, onions, mushrooms, cilantro, cumin and hot mexican chili powder (topped with salsa and guacamole) (adapted from the Daily Garnish)
• Super Salsa! (my recipe- see recipe page)
• Sriracha baked tofu (from Fo' Reals Mom)
• Buffalo Cauliflower (from PeTA)

And on the weight front, I'm still bouncing between 120-122. I'd like to get back under 120 by the end of January, and ultimately get back down to between 114-116. Anything less than that was unhealthy, especially when I'm running a lot.

That's about it. Have a great week!

Another good running week!

I ran every day again this week!

Monday: Because I missed my long run on Sunday I really tried to "work it" for this one. I ran 3.69 miles doing 2:30/:30 intervals with the running at 7.5mph. I felt GREAT!

Tuesday: Enjoyed Monday's workout so much I repeated it. 3.73 miles doing 2:30/:30 intervals.

Wednesday: Speed Progression. 5 minute warm-up then 5 min @5mph, 4 min @5.5, 3 min @6, 2 min @6.5, 1 min @7. Walk 5 minutes. Then instead of repeating I just ran @6mph for a few minutes. Did 3 miles.

Thursday: Ran 5.5 miles. Started with 1:30/:30 intervals then switched to 2:30/:30.

Friday (today): Slow, easy run for 3.15 miles. Had some tummy issues and also my knee has a huge "road rash" kind of burn. During my morning walk with Lucy yesterday I got tangled in her leash and went down with all my weight onto my left knee. Even ripped a hole in my jeans! It didn't hurt yesterday, but today it gave me some problems.

Tomorrow I'm taking a rest day and Sunday will (hopefully) be a 7 mile long run.

Other than that, I've been experimenting in the kitchen again. I found a blog with some spicy vegan recipes, and so far I'm loving what I've made! Buffalo-style cauliflower, Sriracha Baked Tofu, and Golden Potato Soup. It's all at Fo' Reals Mom. Go check it out!

CPR for Pets

I saw this on Facebook and thought I'd share.

In running news, I missed my long run yesterday due to some stomach issues so I tried to make up for it today by really giving it my all. I did 2:30/:30 intervals with my runs at 7.5mph. It was awesome! I went 3.7 miles in 30 minutes!

Have a great week everyone!

Rest Day

I ran every day this week! Last Sunday I did just over 7 miles, and I ran at least 3 miles Monday through yesterday. Today I'm taking a break, other than the 3+ miles I've put in walking/playing with Lucy :)

Lucy and her super chicken!

I've been messing around with intervals trying to find something manageable for running 26.2 miles. I really enjoyed the 1:30/:30 I did yesterday, but that was only for 3.5 miles. I'll see how that works on my long run tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, my brother and sister-in-law are coming over for a late lunch/early dinner. I ran out and picked up the last of the groceries today. The salad is made, my homemade dressing is made, the Italian bread is bought, dessert is bought (I was going to bake cookies, but I know I would over-indulge if I did) and I have a spinach lasagna in the oven.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Three Things Thursday

1. I have discovered the magic of crack kale chips! OMG Yummy!

- 1 bunch of kale (remove stems and tear into pieces)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (gonna experiment with PAM spray next time to avoid the oil)
- 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder (I didn't measure this- just shook it in)
- 1 tsp ground ginger (again, I didn't measure- just shook it in)

Toss everything together, lay on parchment-lined cookie sheet(s) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Done!  I think the trick is to lay them so they aren't touching each other.

2. I'm feeling really good about my running again. Since I'm concentrating on training for a marathon, I've been experimenting with intervals here and there. Today I did 3:30/:30 for 30 minutes and felt great! Yesterday I did my little speedup routine- 5 minutes at 5mph, 4 minutes at 5.5mph, 3 minutes at 6mph, 2 minutes at 6.5mph, 1 minute at 7mph. Then I walked for 3 minutes and repeated it. I think that will be my regular Wednesday routine. After a couple weeks I'll change the start speed to 5.5mph and increase from there, and so on...

3. I think Under Armour should sponsor me. It seems all my favorite running clothes (and gym bag) are UA. I used to swear by Nike tempo shorts, but now I prefer the UA ones- they fit so much better and don't "bag" out, if that makes any sense. A huge bonus is that I don't even have to try anything on. I wear a boys large for any tops (so much cheaper buying children's sizes!!) and a ladies small for all bottom-wear.

And here's the motto for today (and of course, every day):

Wordless Wednesday

This is so true! 



Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

My word for 2013 is COMPLETE. The first reason is that complete is the opposite of procrastinate, which is my worst habit. I also am going to complete a full marathon this year. I haven't signed up for an actual race yet (and might not), but I am going to run 26.2 miles in one go! I'm also going to work harder at completing my degree.

I'm not making any resolutions, but I am (still) working on some goals. These are my top 3 health-related goals:

1. Get back under 120. This morning's weigh-in was 121 (measurements 35-26.5-35) so I'm almost there. I don't have a particular weight in mind. I do know that 110 was not healthy at all. Looking back at pictures of myself at 110 I did not look healthy. I looked anorexic/emaciated. Not healthy at all. I'm thinking somewhere between 116 - 119.

2. Complete a full marathon. This is really just a matter of finding (or creating), and actually sticking to, the right training program. I'm not really in training yet, but I have been sort of combining the training schedules from Coach Jenny (see a few posts previous), one of the Hal Higdon programs, and a virtual trainer app that was made by The Boring Runner.

I am totally getting this shirt!

3. Food Journaling. When I'm not keeping track of everything that goes in my mouth I tend to make less than stellar choices. I bought a new planner for 2013 that has enough room to keep track of  it all, and it's Hello Kitty to boot ;)  I will also attempt to be better at blogging as I think it will keep me more accountable (knowing that it will be out here for anyone to see!).

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I'm not sure where this quote came from, but I think it's going to be my mantra this year. "Running is doing what you WANT to do. Training is doing what you SHOULD do. Racing is finding out what you CAN do."

My new running shoes- Newton Distance U

Happy New Year!