I’m back!  After my half marathon, I sorta took some time off from tracking runs and food.  I just needed a break from it.  Plus, I got really busy.  I’ve run a few times since the race, but I think my body needed a little rest, so it’s been sporadic.  This week is the first week I’ve run more than twice.

Things are settling into a bit of a routine, and I think I’ve found a new running schedule that will work for me.  We’ll see how it all pans out.  For now, I’m planning to run MWFS and do my long runs on Mondays.  I don’t know how LONG my long runs will be since at this point I’m not registered for another race, but I’m guessing I’ll probably just do 6 miles or so.  Maybe every once in awhile I’ll build up to 10 again.  *shrugs*  I’ll just take it as it comes I think.  :-)

This morning, I ran about 2 miles and it was COLD!  About 50 degrees, actually.  It was a welcomed change from the summer heat and humidity I’m used to, but I think I’m going to need to figure out a new shirt to wear or something.  The short sleeve shirt I had was okay, but 3/4 sleeve would have been better.  Overall, it was a good run.  Felt pretty good, had a good pace.  Feels good to be running again!

One crazy update, though – I’ve lost weight!  Not really on purpose, and probably not in the best way, but I’m now down to 141!  We’ll see if I stay there, I kinda doubt it.

I finally got pictures uploaded for sharing from my half marathon last weekend!  The race went pretty well.  It was much harder than I expected, and the heat tired me out pretty fast.  Thus, I walked a lot more than normal and my finishing time was NOT what I expected.  But, I finished.  And for my first race, that’s all I can really ask for!

My brother, me, and my sister before the race.  Proof that even at 5’9″, I am still the shortest in my family.

The whole group – David, Kevin, me, Carrie, and John.  David kicked some major butt in the 1/2 – he finished number 15 overall!

Carrie and her husband, John, after finishing the 5K.

My brother and I toughing it out in the last mile – I was SO tired at this point.

Finally finished – and totally ready for a nap.

Will I do it again?  Probably.  Though I will be smarter and choose a race in the fall or spring when the weather is a bit less extreme.  :-)

Sorry for skipping a few days.  I’ve been busy preparing for the start of the next academic year and preparing for a wedding we’re “hosting” this weekend.  Oh yeah, and I’m the photographer  Busy busy!  I won’t catch up on everything I’ve missed, but instead, I’ll give you the highlights!

Eat

We made the mistake of baking a cake last week.  Sure, it tastes wonderful, but there’s really no reason we NEED the cake.  :)

Several special events – hosting some friends for dinner, and a wedding reception – have led to copious overeating.  Whoops.  I need to exercise more self control!

Pray

I’ve been spending a lot of time praying for patience and less stress.  For some reason, panic has set in a bit and I had a little bit of a weird instance this weekend where I had a bit of a stress induced panic attack.  NOT fun.

I’ve also been continuing to study John in preparation for the semester.  Like I said before, Jesus says some WEIRD stuff!

Run

Saturday was a total bust.  I felt awful and it was ridiculously hot.  I completely skipped my run, which means last week, I only ran twice!  It was very strange, which makes me think that maybe, just MAYBE, I’m actually becoming a runner.  Crazy to think about.

Monday was my last long run before the race – 11.3 miles.  It was super humid, but I toughed it out.  My legs were definitely a bit tired towards the end, but I was feeling pretty good still and could definitely have gone for a full 13 if I had felt like it.  Honestly though, after mile 10, I was just getting a bit bored and wanted to be done.  Since there was a threat of storms, I stayed closer to home, which towards the end meant that I was running laps around a local park.  That got old REAL fast.   My overall pace for the whole run was around 11 min/mile, which I’m okay with.  I’d love to go a tiny bit faster, but I think on race day, I’ll probably settle in to a similar pace.

Tuesday was a rest day, and today I’m supposed to go for a short run.  It’s pretty crummy outside, so we’ll see…I may just end up at the gym or doing another Turbo Jam video like last week.

Today was an abnormal day – family in town, and crazy weather.  Good thing it was my “off” day.

Eat

Breakfast – Fiber One Shredded Wheat, milk

Snack – Strawberry, banana, blueberry smoothie (made with raspberry yogurt)

Lunch – 1/2 homemade wheat sandwich with honey ham & pepper jack cheese.  Organic carrots, pineapple, and leftover Asian slaw

Snack – m&m’s  (I blame my mom for this one!)

Dinner – Spinach salad with feta and homemade vinaigrette, leftover mushroom cabbage soup, leftover cumin rice

Pray

I had zero time to myself today until now.  Hopefully some moments before bed will count

Run

My official off day, though I really felt odd taking a day off.  I think it’s because I had a rest day on Tuesday, did cross training on Wednesday, and ran yesterday.  So really, I’ve only run twice this week, which feels SO strange.  Tomorrow I’ll have a short run, hopefully upping my pace just a tad.

I just found out today that my brother injured himself, and a few days ago heard my sister is feeling a little less than stellar with her training.  Since we’re running the 1/2 together, I’m kinda wondering how that’s all going to work.  I didn’t imagine we’d all stay together the entire time, but I figured I’d try to keep pace with someone at least for a while.  I’m just not sure who that will be.  I guess we’ll see how it goes – two more weeks!  Crazy!

Today was cool – finally!  Sixty two degrees felt amazing.  Instead of slugging it away at the gym, I went for a run outside – it felt great

Eat

Breakfast – Fiber One Shredded Wheat, 1% milk

Snack – banana

Lunch – 1/2 homemade whole wheat sandwich, rare roast beef & provolone with horseradish, organic carrots, local cantaloupe, juice

Snack – one Girl Scout Cookie – I have a weakness for thin mints!

Dinner – Cumin rice with CSA eggplant, peppers, onions, and frozen peas

Pray

Today was a VERY full day with multiple errands and appointments.  I’m hoping to get some time to read and pray after dinner tonight

Run

Like I said, beautiful outdoor run.  About 2.5 miles and pretty easy pace of 11 min/mile.  I still would really like to up my pace, but my legs are also still QUITE sore from my strength training workout a few days ago.  Who knew?

Sharing a few days late  - I forgot this one!  :-)  It was a gross steamy day and I had a lot of work to do, but I did manage to get one work out in!  Woohoo!

Eat

Breakfast – Fiber One Shredded Wheat, 1% milk

Lunch – 1/2 homemade wheat sandwich, turkey, cheese.  Carrots, pineapple.

Dinner – leftover mac ‘n cheese CSA corn bake, leftover CSA cabbage Asian slaw, CSA cucumber salad, and yummy mushroom-rice-CSA cabbage-cannelini bean soup!

Pray

Read most of John 6 and did some background study.  There is some WEIRD stuff in there!

Run

I missed my morning run.  I couldn’t believe how sore I STILL was from the stretching and strength workout on my “rest” day!  Unbelievable.  As the day went on, it got hot and sticky, so I was really dreading being outside.  Finally, after delaying, I just folded and decided it wasn’t going to happen.  BUT, since I felt weird skipping exercise completely, I decided it was time to revive my passion for Turbo Jam.  Haha!  It’s been awhile, but the 20 min workout was a nice change of pace from running, and it was fairly easy too.  I’m not sure I’ll do much cross training again while training since it makes me feel like I’ve lost momentum a bit, but we’ll see.  Perhaps TJ will make an appearance again.

Yesterdays EPR was pretty good.  I think I’m faltering a bit on remaining disciplined in each of the 3 areas.  It seems that one day I eat well, next day not so much.  And then I’ll flup flop with running or prayer too.  Ack!  Oh well – I guess I’ll keep trying!

Eat

Breakfast – Fiber One Shredded Wheat and 1% milk

Snack – two trefoil girl scout cookies

Lunch – leftover mac ‘n cheese corn casserole, sauted mushrooms, juice

snack – 2 Graham crackers

Dinner – CSA cucumber salad, CSA corn on the cob with herbed beni sauce, lemon peanut grilled beef

Dinner was a bit European style last night – long and drawn out!  We had a tough time getting the grill up to temp since we’re running low on charcoal, so it took about 2 hours just to do that.  In the mean time, we had our veggies in “stages”.  Perhaps the one advantage is that we ate slow and enjoyed our evening!

Pray

Continuing to read through John – slowly, but surely.  I’ll make it to the end someday – I have to!  ;-)

Run

It was an “rest” day after my long run.  I spent some time stretching and doing weights – and boy, am I sore!  Squats, lunges, and stair step-ups is like the equivalent of buns of steel!  I also did arms and abs, using weights and stretchy bands at home with my ball.

Today is gross and hot and I’m really not in the mood for a run – at all.  We’ll see what happens…

This is slightly embarrassing to admit, but it seems I have a…”schedule”.  And it always interrupts my long runs.  I wake up every morning at 6 am, and usually have to go to the ladies room at around 7:15 on your average day.  Well, if I’m going for a long run like I was yesterday, then there’s no avoiding that I need to pick a route that has a potty stop about 2/3rds of the way into the run.  And yesterday was no exception.  It’s pretty annoying to be honest, but yesterday was definitely typical, and I’m definitely grateful that I timed my run to go past the county fair grounds, otherwise I would have been in BAD shape.  Anyways, enough about that…

Eat

Breakfast – had about half a berry smoothie before my run, a GU pack mid run, and snacked on some corn chips post-run.

Lunch – 1/2 homemade whole wheat sandwich with honey roasted turkey, pepper jack cheese, and mustard.  Carrots and pineapple, plus some acai pomegranate juice

Dinner – Ratatouille made from CSA zuchinni, CSA eggplant, CSA green pepper, CSA onions & garlic, local tomatoes, mushrooms, and red pepper.  Served with half slice of crusty whole wheat bread.

Snack – I went to a local foods cooking class later in the evening and sampled a few dishes based on cucumbers.  There was a cucumber yogurt, a cucumber salad, and a cucumber salsa.  My favorite was probably the cucumber yogurt served with swiss chard – what a great combo!  I would never have thought of it, but I loved it.

Pray

Riding the fail boat once again – whoops.  Yesterday sort of got away from me and I skipped out on my regular prayer and scripture time by accident.  Perhaps my 2 hrs of listening to worship music during my run can count?

Run

Like I said, yesterday was a long run – 10.1 miles!  It actually went really REALLY well.  I tried a new route that’s a bit more out in the country, and I really enjoyed that.  Seeing the beautiful rolling hillsides full of corn, soybeans, and animals was lots of fun.  The sun was behind the clouds, so it was pretty cool as well.  I didn’t do nearly as much walking, though I wish I had a place to stop for water.  If I’m going to continue long runs in the countryside, I’ll probably need to by a waste belt thing for water bottles.

Towards the end of my run, my legs were definitely getting a bit tired and the knees were sore, but I could have kept going.  This is a good thing because I’ve been worried lately that there’s NO WAY I’m going to make the 13.1 miles on August 14th!  But I’m feeling better about it and I’m getting excited!

Quick recap of Friday and Saturday for ya…

Eat

Let’s just say that I tried.  :-)  Several social events (a gallery opening, a bonfire, a potluck, and church coffee hour) meant that I went WAY overboard on sugar this weekend.  I won’t give you the full low-down on all my meals because you’d probably be shaking your head at me.

However, I will say that homemade spring rolls might be my new favorite thing!  We made them on Saturday and they were delicious and very easy.  Definitely worthy of a try again.

Pray

Still reading and studying through the Psalms, which I’m enjoying.  Also, the book I mentioned on my last post, Amish Grace, has been really insightful as I think about forgiveness.   I’m really enjoying reading about the Amish perspective on the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord’s Prayer.

Run

Friday was a true off day – I did absolutely nothing.  It was wonderful.  Saturday, I ran a quick 2.5 mile run in the morning.  It was windy, but humid – and even though I tried to add some speed, it still felt slow.  *shrugs*   Sunday night, we went for a bike ride around town.  Oy!  My body is definitely not used to the bike.  It was a blessing for my knees to get a break from pounding the pavement, but my arms and legs were sore in new places afterwards.  Plus, I think it may help to get some more appropriate shorts – my poor bum!  :)

A bit of a rest day for me – finally!

Eat

Breakfast – Bowl of cheerios, glass of 1 % milk

Snack – one trefoil Girl Scout cookie (I am sooooo weak when it comes to these!)

Lunch – 1/2 homemade white bread sandwich with honey roasted turkey, Colby cheese, and mustard.  Carrot, strawberry, and acai pomegranate juice

Dinner – Handful of corn chips with homemade guacamole, mac n cheese corn casserole (SO yummy!), and half a jalapeno bratwurst.  Glass of lemonade

I definitely wasn’t completely full at the end of dinner, but satisfied.  I was bummed we didn’t have enough spinach for two salads (DH had the one) so I didn’t quite get enough fruit and veggies yesterday.

Pray

Late night reading of Isaiah 40 and 42 – there is some powerful stuff in there!  I’ve been continuing to pray for discipline, peace, and patience.  Plus, reading the book Amish Grace has gotten me thinking a lot about forgiveness.  A very interesting and worthy read

Run

Gym day + rest day = easy.  I walked for ten minutes on the treadmill just to get a little bit of activity in.  Did some simple squats with a light hand weight, and then box step ups.  Good grief, the step ups were tough!  Definitely good for the quads and hamstring.  I also did bicep curls and tricep presses (I think that’s what they might be called).  Later in the day, I did a bunch of lunges.  Overall, pretty low key.  Yet, my muscles are definitely sore the next day!

I’m not sure how I’ll adjust my running schedule for today and tomorrow.  I still have a 4 mile run to do, but I’m thinking I might shorten it a bit.  I’m also beginning to wonder if it’s completely necessary for me to continue building up miles by 10% each week.  I think it would be easier, though, if I was running 5 days instead of 4 – then I could spread the miles out a bit more.  Argh!  This is way too complicated!  I’m probably over thinking it.  We’ll just see how it goes today – maybe I’ll go for a short two mile run and call it a day.

Here’s the remainder of my training plan, not including rest days or weights, if I stick with my weekly increase and then taper:

Week of 7/26:  10M/ 4.3M/ 2.5M/ 3.5M

Week of 8/2: 11.2M/ 3M/ 2.5M/ 2.5M  (taper)

Week of 8/9:  2M/ 2.5M/ 1M/ 13.1  (taper & Race!)