Marathon Mom

2013 has not been my year (heck 2012 wasn’t much to brag about either) and I have neglected many race reports since I feel like they started to sound like a list of excuses and whining. But I think this race deserves a post… A couple months ago I was in the midst of marathon training, looking towards a new job and realizing I was not where I wanted to be and made the decision to find a different goal race. This one much closer to home and cheaper (even with the loss from the other entry). The race was close enough to head down after lunch on Saturday and arrive in time for O to run the kidsK, she was thrilled, even better the race started at the same start line as our marathon! For days she’d been telling me no one was running with her, she was big enough to run alone, so she did. She walked up to the start shoot and immediately made a friend; a 5 yo girl who she asked to run with her. This girl already had her mom running along side her, she promptly turned to me on side and in...

Yes, I am still here! I have sat down to write many times over the past couple weeks, including my marathon report, but have yet to find time to finish a post…life! We are still adjusting to my working full-time plus all the additional activities and races this time of year. Add Matt’s grad school and 3 year old meltdowns to this and you have our crazy lives right now. I think things are on the way down for craziness (or I hope!). To help out the weeknights I am back to Sunday meal prep and plan to spend the afternoon in the kitchen prepping for the week. So what’s on the menu for us? Chipotle Mac ‘n Cheese Samosa Pie Veggie Egg Bake with Roasted Potatoes Spaghetti Squash with Stir Fry Veggies Pre-run Protein Shake ??Salad and Soup pre-Halloween night out Yesterday in attempts to use some cranberries from our CSA I decided it was time to bake and the result is wonderful. The texture is a little soft and dense but still tastes great. Pumpkin Cranberry ...

Earlier this week my sports chiro suggested I consider acupuncture on my hamstring, at first I was skeptical but decided to give it a try after I was referred to a sports certified acupuncturist. So in the past 24 hours both Morgan and I had our first acupuncture sessions. I figured I needed to know what Morgan was experiencing, right? His acupuncture is to help alleviate pain and side effects of his chemotherapy so different yet similar. My medical based mind is becoming more open as I experience benefits for non-mainstream treatments; first was the Naturopath and now maybe this too. But in typical me fashion I did my research and have to admit I was a little surprised at the amount of supporting evidence. I saw number from 90-100% cure rate of hamstring tendonopathy with acupuncture, wow! I will say I didn’t read the full study so I can’t say if n=1 or 1,000! I honestly have no idea how or why it works but did find that it promotes healing and can help with injury prevention...

Week 17  and feeling pretty good, mentally I am ready! Loving this Fall weather and cool running mornings with sunny afternoons. Not to mention apples, pumpkin and everything else that goes along with Fall! Monday:  Morning 45 minutes bike and afternoon strength Tuesday:  Evening run coaching 6.5 miles hills Wednesday:  Morning 45 minutes bike, Strength with trainer Thursday:  Sleep! And 7.5 mile run afternoon, perfect weather 1:02:03 Friday:  Morning 10 mile run and afternoon core/strength Saturday:  Work then BBQ with my run group. Day off to relax Sunday:  11 mile run 1:28:33 and afternoon core/strength Week 18  and long anticipated marathon week has arrived! Yikes, here I sit stalking and obsessing over the weather highs 50/lows upper 30s sounds pretty good to me! Monday:  Not sure, pilates, yoga, bike. All I know is no running. Seeing sports chiro today Tuesday:  Evening run coaching Wednesday: ...

Now that I am back to work I am realizing the urgent need to get back to menu planning and meal prep, no more flexibility of running to the store daily for last minute ideas and waiting to see what sounds good at 5pm. If we did that we'd be eating cereal for dinner nightly! The other important thing now is planning dinners with leftovers to make lunch simple. I love Fall for hot meals and simple things that are easy to throw in the crockpot. What are your favorite fall meals? Sunday: Red curry squash (in crockpot now) with coconut tofu (recipe below) Monday: Grilled veggies: beets, carrots and roasted potatoes Tuesday: Run night so quick protein shake Wednesday: Work dinner (means I bring a salad) Thursday: Southwest spaghetti squash with quinoa Friday: Lettuce wraps with Peanut Sauce or grill veggie burgers and sweet potato fries Saturday: Pre-Marathon meal out, this may be tough! In the process of searching gluten free options. Coconut Tofu 1 block extra firm to...

I’m not sure if the high level of craziness in my life right now is making this taper easier or harder. My time to run is limited but after a tough day the first thing I need is a run! I am trying to be smart and take it easy, but after a good feeling 10 miler on Sunday I am feeling great and ready to go. The weather isn’t helping either, 70s and sunny…perfect! I got out of work early, so what do I do? Go run of course! Hit up an old favorite and ran the lakes, perfect views, perfect weather…October in a sports bra what else could you want? Thursday afternoon at the lakes! Of course day repeated this and after bringing O to school I had to take advantage of my day off and run. Thanks to Dawn for dealing with my crazy schedule this morning and running her first post-marathon run with me. 10 miles felt great. I love these fall mornings, a little cool but sunny and comfortable. Earlier this week I saw my sports chiro again and had more work on the leg, yikes I could tell over...

The story of my life! Week 16, finally settling into this new schedule and accepting that I have to cut out some workouts, the timing is fine since I am tapering, yikes! Keep me busy at work and I can forget the craziness that is going through my head thanks to tapering. Sick kid, healing dog and lack of sleep have added to the craziness but we are surviving. Through this all I am happy to say I am focusing on what I eat more than ever and doing much better than I was with mindless snacking. Got to look at the positive, right?! Monday:  Morning spin and afternoon strength Tuesday:  Evening 7.5 mile hill run coaching Wednesday:  4.5 mile Run, Strength with trainer Thursday:  Much needed speedy 4 mile run after work: 29:01 (mentally I needed this) Friday:  Strength Saturday:  Decided I’d rather sleep in and skip the drive to the 10K so I ran an easy 8.5 miles at home. Sunday:  10 Mile race at TC Marathon: 1:13:11 (finally a better r...