Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Ch..ch..changes
Hello to my 4 loyal blog readers ;)
I'm still here but haven't been able to post because of security issues. Apparently someone in China has hijacked my account. I'm in the process of getting a new account set up and will let you know as soon as I get it finished up. Should just be a couple more days.
Hope you all are doing well, and please make sure your accounts are safe!
Monday, February 4, 2013
Virtual 10k done!
I'm a day late posting this, but as some of you know I've had that nasty virus that's been going around. My fever finally broke last night! Hurray!
Yesterday (yes, with a fever) I ran the first of the #13in2013 Virtual Race Series. This one was called #tacklethemiles and I committed to 10k. I was supposed to do a 9 mile long run and I was just going to incorporate the 10k into it, but because of my headache and fever I stopped after the 10k. As you can see by my splits I started out with all intentions of this being a long slow run, but by the 3rd mile I started "racing" it and finished with a better time than I expected. No PR or anything, but not too shabby!
Yesterday (yes, with a fever) I ran the first of the #13in2013 Virtual Race Series. This one was called #tacklethemiles and I committed to 10k. I was supposed to do a 9 mile long run and I was just going to incorporate the 10k into it, but because of my headache and fever I stopped after the 10k. As you can see by my splits I started out with all intentions of this being a long slow run, but by the 3rd mile I started "racing" it and finished with a better time than I expected. No PR or anything, but not too shabby!
So I ended up running 5 of 7 days last week:
- Monday 1/28/13 - 3.6 miles
- Tuesday 1/29/13 - 3.25 miles
- Wednesday 1/30/13 - 3.75 miles
- Thursday and Friday - Rest days
- Saturday 2/2/13 - 4.5 miles
- Sunday 2/3/13 - 6.2 miles
For a total of 21.3 miles :)
And that's about it for my exciting life, LOL! Have a great week!
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Wahoo Fitness and iRunner
I've been sick since Wednesday :( One of the girls came into work sick on Wednesday morning and within an hour I (and several others) caught whatever it is/was. Stomach pains, nausea, headache, fever... overall just feeling bleh! I still did my run on Wednesday but as my speed progressed I could feel the fever in my head. I took off (work and running) Thursday and Friday, and by this morning I started feeling human again. I still have a slight fever but I wanted to run today, especially since I hooked up my new foot pod!
I bought the "Treadmill Pack" from Wahoo Fitness, which includes the Ant+ key, foot pod, heart rate monitor, and (useless) key ring thingie. I downloaded the Digifit iRunner app, synced everything, jumped on the treadmill, and off I went. I started the treadmill and app at the same time and believe it or not the foot pod stayed within .05 of the treadmill mileage the entire time! Even with doing 2:30/:30 intervals the pace and everything stayed right on track. I did 4.5 miles in 45 minutes according to the treadmill, and 4.52 miles in 45 minutes according to iRunner. I am super impressed! Especially compared to the Nike+ app, which although I liked the app itself, the distance was WAY off! My only negative comment is that the Ant+ key sticks out of the charging port so you can't stand the phone upright on the treadmill and it's too large to fit into my armband. Also, the app seems to be a battery hog. I don't know if it would last through a half-marathon. But then again, I would wear my Garmin for outside runs so I guess it doesn't really matter, Lol!
As for using the heart rate monitor with the app, I liked that too! You enter your resting heart rate and maximum heart rate and then as you're running, the app alerts you each time you enter a different zone. It also gives a summary at the end. You can share the iRunner results with a whole slew of different apps including Facebook, Twitter, Daily Mile, Runkeeper, etc... The only problem I had with this part was that Runkeeper only showed up as .09 mile total because I guess it tried reading the GPS start and stop locations. Not a big deal though- I just went in and edited it :)
I would definitely recommend both the iRunner app and the Wahoo Fitness "Treadmill Pack" :)
Now I must go back to bed before my head explodes.
I bought the "Treadmill Pack" from Wahoo Fitness, which includes the Ant+ key, foot pod, heart rate monitor, and (useless) key ring thingie. I downloaded the Digifit iRunner app, synced everything, jumped on the treadmill, and off I went. I started the treadmill and app at the same time and believe it or not the foot pod stayed within .05 of the treadmill mileage the entire time! Even with doing 2:30/:30 intervals the pace and everything stayed right on track. I did 4.5 miles in 45 minutes according to the treadmill, and 4.52 miles in 45 minutes according to iRunner. I am super impressed! Especially compared to the Nike+ app, which although I liked the app itself, the distance was WAY off! My only negative comment is that the Ant+ key sticks out of the charging port so you can't stand the phone upright on the treadmill and it's too large to fit into my armband. Also, the app seems to be a battery hog. I don't know if it would last through a half-marathon. But then again, I would wear my Garmin for outside runs so I guess it doesn't really matter, Lol!
As for using the heart rate monitor with the app, I liked that too! You enter your resting heart rate and maximum heart rate and then as you're running, the app alerts you each time you enter a different zone. It also gives a summary at the end. You can share the iRunner results with a whole slew of different apps including Facebook, Twitter, Daily Mile, Runkeeper, etc... The only problem I had with this part was that Runkeeper only showed up as .09 mile total because I guess it tried reading the GPS start and stop locations. Not a big deal though- I just went in and edited it :)
I would definitely recommend both the iRunner app and the Wahoo Fitness "Treadmill Pack" :)
Now I must go back to bed before my head explodes.
Monday, January 28, 2013
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!
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!
Saturday, January 26, 2013
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!
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:
I'll report back on the shoes after my run tomorrow!
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| 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:
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| Injinji mini-crews |
I'll report back on the shoes after my run tomorrow!
Friday, January 25, 2013
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!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
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 ;)
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| This pretty much sums up how I've felt the last few days! |
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
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!
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 :)
-----------------------
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!
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