Marathon Mom

August like I have said many times is the month of new beginnings: a new job, a comeback to running strong, back to school and a change in my program, new routines and a new outlook and attitude on life. So how did I do on my goals? 1st I had my highest mileage run month all year: 237.4 miles !! PR at half marathon (at least beat previous time this year 1:42) 1:37 Not a PR but better Pass NASM CPT Nope, haven't even scheduled a time to take it Plan workouts and stick with the plans. Did this weekly and stuck with 95% with only changes when needed Plan meals and snacks and try to stick with it. Work more on further cutting out processed foods, especially for snacks. Getting better but still needs work Do weekly Boot Camp Challenges Yes, did challenges for water intake, adequate sleep, increasing green veggies and pushing myself to do more Swim at least 1x weekly Nope, I only swam 1x this month (plan to get there this afternoon making 2x) Continue with Boot Camp a...

Why do you run? A simple question with many different answers. For me it is many things: stress relief, to stay healthy, to be outside, to socialize, to prove my strength to myself and accomplish things I never thought possible. These are the things we need to to remember when the alarm goes off at 4:30 am and we second guess our decision to get out and run 1/2 mile repeats while much of the world is still sleeping. I started running to say I could finish a marathon and raise money for Stroke Research, that led to 10 more years of marathons and eventually coaching and raising even more money for Cancer research, nearly $10,000 between the two organizations. This week I am donating my miles to A Girl Runner's Memorial Run to remember the 7th anniversary of hurricane Katrina. Since that time I've heard first hand experience from friends who worked rescue and medical in the aftermath as well as attended graduate school with multiple trips to Alabama in an area effected b...

Weekly Chase As great as I did last week there is a lot left undone. I am lacking some motivation and have a tough time starting stuff right now (or following through when it gets boring). I get frustrated when things get overwhelming and tend to not do much at these times. This is unfortunately a frequent occurrence at the start of a semester which was last Monday. I need to find my pattern and get back into the swing of the school/ work combo. How was last week?... Goal #1 Workouts... Mon: AM: Bike PM: Strength - No bike but a walk Tues: AM: Boot Camp PM: Run -  Yes Wed: AM: Speed Run PM: Strength - Yes Thurs: AM: Boot Camp PM: Run - Yes Fri: AM: Run PM: Strength or Bike or Pilates - Am: strength PM: Speed work Sat: AM: Run PM: Swim- No swim Sun: AM: Long Run- 21.6 Miles in 3:05:30 Goal #2 Eating: Stick with planned meals and limit the birthday treats and drinks. Pretty good only 2 meals out, stuck with meal plans but a little extra wine involved Goal ...

As I have mentioned before I have many issues with food intolerances, eating before a workout and fueling during a long run without consequences during and afterwards. As I head out for a 20 Mile run this morning I am making some changes to the plan in hopes of solving many of these issues. Since it falls in line with Day 26 of the August Challenge: What do you eat before a workout I figured I'd document my strange morning routine. 1st I should say that my pre workout food varies on duration of exercise. Many mornings I have nothing or a handful of GF pretzels on my way to Boot Camp. But anything longer I need food (and coffee).   I decided to instead of my normal pre run GF toast and almond butter I would make my typical banana oatmeal protein cake and have coffee. Today I took advice of long time running friends and will try Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem I was impressed to head to their website and see a list of solutions to common endurance problems including...

Through the years I have dealt with more then my share of running injuries. With this as my history then why is it that after 10 years as a runner I am finally working hard to change the mechanical issues causing my injuries in hopes of not only preventing further injury but also becoming a stronger runner? I was thinking I can't be the only one, right? My trainer and I have decided to share our findings and exercises with the running group and I thought I'd share with others as well. The glutes are key in keeping the pelvis stable, extending the hip, forward movement, and keeping it all aligned. Weak glutes cause the entire kinetic chain to be disturbed. Glute weakness is shown to be linked to Achilles tendinitis, shinsplints, runner's knee, and iliotibial-band syndrome. The glute is often not active in regular activities like other muscle groups leading to disproportionate calves, hamstrings and quadriceps, it is also hard to isolate glutes in strength training ( Kim...

August Challenge Day 23 The best thing to happen to you this week: So much this past week has been great that I can't really narrow it down to only one thing. Sometimes it is good to focus on all the wonderful things that are going right instead of dwelling on the negative so I am just going to take a little time to do that. My week of good things -I finally ran a half marathon feeling good and now can feel like I am truly coming back. -Matt and I spent a fun afternoon relaxing at the Homegrown Experience and enjoying some great food and wine. -More free coffee for my birthday and this one from my favorite place   -Sushi from my favorite restaurant and wine for birthday dinner with my two favorite people.     -Of course plenty of tough workouts: alone, with Matt and O, with friends and with my trainer. I love how each has it's own purpose for me. Some are social and just a great time to chat and relax, others are a time to work and push myself harder...

Yesterday I was asked how I planned to celebrate my birthday which is today. My reply was something that sounded perfect to me but got some strange reactions...so here it my plans for the day 5:30am Hill workout with a great group of runners 1 mile warm up run 20 Lunges, 20 High Knee Skips, 20 Speed striders Repeat until up hill Easy 1/4 mile downhill Repeat x 5 1 mile cool down run Followed by my 1st free coffee of the day from Caribou which I quickly grabbed on my way home.     I arrived home to hear "Happy Birthday Mommy" from a very smiley little girl and my great birthday card       And now I head off to work for a few hours and more free coffee from Dunn Bros. Folowled by an afternoon strength session with my trainer. As gacgirl who knows me so well posted on Facebook...   "H appy birthday Jen! Enjoy some sushi, wine, and a run!" My evening plans are sushi and wine, what a great way to enjoy my birthday. What is y...

What is the Liebster Award? The Liebster Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. According to Mindy, Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. In other words it means, “I love your blog! Keep up the great work and keep writing about your journey!! To me most importantly it’s a great way to discover new blogs and share the love. source Here’s how it works once given a Liebster Award: 1.       Each person must post 11 things about themselves. 2.       Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they’ve tagged to answer. 3.       Choose 11 people and link them in your post. 4.     ...

Weekly Chase How did I do last week... Goal #1 Plan and stick with workouts and other work/school tasks, pretty caught up on work stuff and only skipped one workout due to leg issues subbed in pilates for a run. Goal #2 Only snack when I am hungry and stick with healthy choices. Much better, only one or two days that I can remember with over snacking when I truly wasn't hungry. Goal #3 Finally have a good race at the Half- A: 1:40 B: 1:37 C: 1:35 Besides the time goal I want to finish feeling like I gave it my all. I ran my A goal, but felt like I should have continued to push more. Now for this week... Goal #1 Workouts... Mon: AM: Bike PM: Strength Tues: AM: Boot Camp PM: Run Wed: AM: Speed Run PM: Strength Thurs: AM: Boot Camp PM: Run Fri: AM: Run PM: Strength or Bike or Pilates Sat: AM: Run PM: Swim Sun: AM: Long Run Goal #2 Eating: Stick with planned meals and limit the birthday treats and drinks. Goal #3 Lay out my semester schedule for both ...

After a season of hot, humid and uncomfortable race conditions I think the curse is now broken. I was so excited to wake up on Saturday to find it cool and not even 50F yet, but I had forgotten how to dress for this weather. After a season of bad races, I was happy to finally enter a small races, less than 400 runners without pacers, and best yet I had gotten a free entry. We made the 1 hour drive to the start of the small town race and I debated what to wear, deciding to line up with arm warmers and a jacket which I soon regretted but luckily got rid of by 2 miles. Cold enough for arm warmers! I could bore you with my mile splits, but all that would show is that in typical race fashion I went out too fast, couldn’t keep up the pace and finished less then I hoped. Instead I will keep it short and sweet and ask for a little advice. The course was rolling hills, nothing huge but nonstop and on top of that many sections with slanted road, ugh! The race abruptly began, Nation...

I have done plenty of doubles in the past (actually pretty frequently) but I can't remember ever doing a triple workout until yesterday. What a day, without the not so wonderful afternoon of eating it would have been great. I got home late and needed a quick lunch, grabbed Winter Squash soup and veggies and hummus but this soon led to some not great choices and lots of snacking. My Triple Day: 5:30 am Boot Camp: Core Work and Ladder Crazy Core : 30 seconds each of Crunches, Plank, Side Plank, Pulse Ups, V ups, Plank Legs Raises, Spidermans, Mason Twists, Oblique Crunches, Stars Ladder: 1 minute wall sit followed by 10 squat jumps, 20 push ups, 30 lunge jumps and 40 V sit ups 8:00 am Strength Training with speed intervals on the treadmill mixed in 5:00 pm 45 minute windy run (no Garmin) pushing BOB to pick up CSA veggies That brings me to August Challenge Day 17: My Favorite Workout I have workouts I always hate, pushups! but my favorite besides running is alw...

It's Wednesday so that means another early morning speed workout and it was tough from the first second of my alarm clock to the last step of my run! I kept reminding myself I will not get faster without running faster and I had friends to suffer through it all with me. Today's Sunrise Run... 1 1/2 mile warm up 1/2 mile speed and 1/4 mile easy/recovery Repeat x 4 My times: 3:19, 3:17: 3:10, 3:20  1 mile cool down I saw this today and it was perfect for this morning's workout... And now for my new favorite baking creation (and it isn't even pumpkin!)... Zucchini Banana Mini-Muffins   Gluten Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free   ( Adapted from My Green Diet ) Ingredients: 1 cup oat flour (can grind your own with whole oats) 1/2 cup coconut flour 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ¼ tsp stevia 1 banana mashed 3/4 cup applesauce 1 Tbs coconut oil melted 1/8-1/4 cup map...