I mentioned how inspired I was by Denise over at Running Journal to eat healthy. She has been preparing her food ahead of time and taking it with her. Great idea! Except, that I spent hours in my kitchen Monday evening preparing and cooking food. It was a lot of work, but it was very nice to come home yesterday after work and simply heat up a healthy meal! I got off work at 6, and was home with dinner ready at 6:35. I called my husband to tell him dinner was ready, and he was like, "you're home with dinner ready already??" He knows that IF I make dinner after work, we don't eat till closer to 8.
Anyways, Monday evening I made several things. For dinner that evening (which created healthy leftovers for lunch) I made a vegatable and chicken pasta. It was a recipe I found on http://www.kraftfoods.com/ a long time ago and is very yummy. It has asparagus, zucchini, and red peppers, chicken, and pasta. For the sauce, you use chicken broth, 4oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and a little parmesan cheese. It makes a lot of food, and I have eaten on it for a couple of days now. Since I had extra asparagus, peppers, and onions, I went ahead and sauteed those up with some chicken and teriaki sauce, made some brown rice, and stuck that in the fridge for the next day. I also chopped up veggies and fruit so I would have healthy snacks to take with me and make some hard boiled eggs. I have packed my food for the whole day to take to work with me the last two days and am trying to eat every 2.5-3 hours. So far, it's working out well. Yesterday I got hungry here and there, but today is much better. Hopefully the hunger pains will subside after I train my stomach to eat smaller portions again.
I guess I will repeat the meal prep on Friday. I anticipate running out of food then. It does take a lot of work to prepare all that food in one evening, but then it makes the rest of the week so easy. Having my lunchbox makes what to eat not a question, and I'm much less likely to eat out everyday. I hope to continue this!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A great run for a change
Since I haven't been running regularly, whenever I do get a run in it feels so difficult. I think that's another reason, on top of the weather, that I haven't been running much. Whenever I do run, I feel like poop. Well, tonight I had a great run on the treadmill for a change. Five miles and I felt great the whole time. I ran it at the South Charleston Rec Center. I think I've raved about that place before because each treadmill has a television. I watched the end of American Idol and some new show called Human Target or something. Pretty interesting, but not sure it will be around long, lol. At any rate, it kept me going!
Running stats: 5 miles/57:41/10:32 min/mile
Running stats: 5 miles/57:41/10:32 min/mile
Monday, January 18, 2010
New Years Resolution 2 week update
Not so good. Ok, it's been terrible. I have not put forth much effort at all. But, I have one excuse, which wouldn't even be an excuse if I had better prepared myself. The first week I was going to start my resolutions to eat clean and run and such and ended up working six 10-hour shifts from Monday thru Saturday. Needless to say, I wasn't able to get in clean eating or exercise with that work schedule. I usually only work four 10-hour shifts, but we had a pharmacist on vacation and I chose to pick up the slack (and the overtime, lol). Had I thought it out and prepared my meal plan for the week, I would've been fine, but I didn't and I was a total flop. Last week was no excuse at all, I just didn't do anything I should've done. I did run my 8k, on Sunday the 10th, though. Yay me! The only problem was that the entire 5 miles was a sheet of ice and snow, and I was more worried about not falling on my ass than speed. This may have been a good thing because I ran a slower pace and finished without feeling like I wanted to die.
I snapped this pic after the race. I have never ran on ice and snow before, but it was kind of fun to do it with about 200 other crazy people. I bet the neighborhood thought we were nuts! I ended up finishing in just under 53 minutes for an average pace of about 10:30. Last year I ran the same race in about 48 minutes, but there wasn't snow or ice on the ground and I actually trained for it. This winter, as you all know, I haven't been running much at all. The 10k is on Valentine's Day, so I have some time to prep for that, and I will actually train for it (I will!!). I don't really think I can go into a 10k without running at least a few times per week, so I will have to train. And, if I train like I want to and do well, then I may have my eye on the Pittsburgh half marathon on May 2. Hopefully, I will get back into my groove training for this 10k, and the weather will be warming up shortly after that. The weather has been by far my biggest barrier to running. Winter kind of depresses me and I don't want to run in the cold or on a treadmill. When the weather warms up, I will be outside guaranteed.
So, I was really super motivated by a blog that was posted by Running Journal. She is an absolutely amazing runner and is currently dedicated to eating clean. Her blog was an inspiration to do what I need to do - go grocery shopping, come home and prep all my food for the week, and take it with me everyday. It is very nice today, so I'm going to go for a run, then go to the grocery store and come home and prep my food.
I hope everybody is doing well and sticking to their resolutions. I haven't forgotten or given up on mine, I'm just getting a late start!
I snapped this pic after the race. I have never ran on ice and snow before, but it was kind of fun to do it with about 200 other crazy people. I bet the neighborhood thought we were nuts! I ended up finishing in just under 53 minutes for an average pace of about 10:30. Last year I ran the same race in about 48 minutes, but there wasn't snow or ice on the ground and I actually trained for it. This winter, as you all know, I haven't been running much at all. The 10k is on Valentine's Day, so I have some time to prep for that, and I will actually train for it (I will!!). I don't really think I can go into a 10k without running at least a few times per week, so I will have to train. And, if I train like I want to and do well, then I may have my eye on the Pittsburgh half marathon on May 2. Hopefully, I will get back into my groove training for this 10k, and the weather will be warming up shortly after that. The weather has been by far my biggest barrier to running. Winter kind of depresses me and I don't want to run in the cold or on a treadmill. When the weather warms up, I will be outside guaranteed.
So, I was really super motivated by a blog that was posted by Running Journal. She is an absolutely amazing runner and is currently dedicated to eating clean. Her blog was an inspiration to do what I need to do - go grocery shopping, come home and prep all my food for the week, and take it with me everyday. It is very nice today, so I'm going to go for a run, then go to the grocery store and come home and prep my food.
I hope everybody is doing well and sticking to their resolutions. I haven't forgotten or given up on mine, I'm just getting a late start!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Reflections on 2009 and New Years Resolutions
2009 was a good year for me. I actually became a "runner" in 2009. In April, I set a goal of running the Charleston Distance Run in September. I signed up for the race really early and trained for four months. My goal for the 15 mile race was 2:30, and I finished in 2:28. I had a great time and learned a lot about myself in the process. I learned that I really really like running. Sure there were times when I didn't want to get out and run, but most of the time I couldn't wait to get outside. Each run was like a new challenge for me. I tackled speedwork, tempo runs, long runs, and hills. I had bad runs and awesome runs. I learned about running and nutrition. I did the most I have ever done for my body in my entire life, and it felt amazing. When I finished that race, it was the greatest accomplishment ever.
Then, I took some rest time....and some more rest time.....and some more rest time....and before you know it, it was getting dark outside at 6PM and it was winter. I rested so much that I lost all my endurance and stamina. Everything I had worked so hard for was lost. The motivation of a big race. Gone. I even signed up to run a half marathon in Pittsburgh in November and didn't go because I had slacked so much. For this, I am ashamed, but I guess when you don't feel like running, you don't feel like running. Only you can give yourself the motivation you need to get out there everyday.
The whole reason I started training was to lose weight, and I didn't. Sure, I was in great shape and lost enough inches to drop a size. But, the scale didn't move. While I trained for the race, I also trained myself to eat what I wanted, when I wanted, simply because I was running. I told myself it was ok to eat the Chinese buffet, wings, Olive Garden, or whatever it was, because I was going to run 10 miles the next day. This is the reason I didn't lose any weight, and the reason I have gained 5lbs since the race and feel like a fat blob, lol.
So, I come to my resolutions.
1. Get down to a goal weight of 140 pounds. I am currently 5'3 and weigh 160lbs. This is the heaviest I ever remember weighing in my adult life, lol. I usually stick between 150-155. When I was training, I got down to 148 quickly, then settled in at 153. Basically, I have 20lbs to lose. If I lose 1lb per week, that means I should reach my goal by May 23rd. I'm going to make it a goal to reach by June 1st.
2. Run at least 10-15 miles per week all year round. None of this training hard for 4 months, and then doing nothing the rest of the time. There have been 2 weeks at a time since my race that I haven't run 1 mile. I resolve to not do that anymore. I need to be active and fit exercise in each and every week of the year.
3. Eat Clean. Period. This will obviously be the toughest of my resolutions. Anybody can follow a healthy diet for a couple of months, but for a whole year? The point is, it's not supposed to be a diet, it's supposed to be a way of life. I'm reading Tosca Reno's The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged. I read the original Eat-Clean Diet book over a year ago. The prinicples are simple - eat clean. Avoid processed foods and sugar. In a nutshell, you don't eat anything that doesn't come from nature in its simplest form. You eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Brownie sundaes don't fit into this category, nor does pizza at midnight, or unlimited amounts of food at the buffet. Eat 6 small meals per day, about every 3 hours, and drink lots of water. This will be difficult with my husband and all his buddies around all the time, but I am serious about this. I know how to eat healthy, I just need to do it.
4. Strength train twice per week. I always talk about doing it, but never make time for it. I know the only way I'm going to get the results I want is if I weight train. When I make my running training plan, I need to limit the running to 4 days per week, so I have time to do other exercise on the other days and still have a rest day or two.
5. Eat out less. I need to make healthy foods at home for me and my husband. I love to cook and my husband loves it when I cook. Eating out is the devil and is the reason our nation is so overweight and obese.
6. Blog more. Sorry, I know I have been a delinquent blogger.
So, that's about it. I plan to run as many races as I can, and to run the CDR again this September. Those aren't realy resolutions, just goals. I know that to stick to these resolutions I am going to have to keep a training and food diary. I am also going to have to lay off the chocolate. There are days that I just want to eat a big bag of hershey kisses or M&M's. Nothing like chocolate to sabotage a week's worth of healthy eating.
I wish everybody good luck on their resolutions. I know we will motivate each other!
Then, I took some rest time....and some more rest time.....and some more rest time....and before you know it, it was getting dark outside at 6PM and it was winter. I rested so much that I lost all my endurance and stamina. Everything I had worked so hard for was lost. The motivation of a big race. Gone. I even signed up to run a half marathon in Pittsburgh in November and didn't go because I had slacked so much. For this, I am ashamed, but I guess when you don't feel like running, you don't feel like running. Only you can give yourself the motivation you need to get out there everyday.
The whole reason I started training was to lose weight, and I didn't. Sure, I was in great shape and lost enough inches to drop a size. But, the scale didn't move. While I trained for the race, I also trained myself to eat what I wanted, when I wanted, simply because I was running. I told myself it was ok to eat the Chinese buffet, wings, Olive Garden, or whatever it was, because I was going to run 10 miles the next day. This is the reason I didn't lose any weight, and the reason I have gained 5lbs since the race and feel like a fat blob, lol.
So, I come to my resolutions.
1. Get down to a goal weight of 140 pounds. I am currently 5'3 and weigh 160lbs. This is the heaviest I ever remember weighing in my adult life, lol. I usually stick between 150-155. When I was training, I got down to 148 quickly, then settled in at 153. Basically, I have 20lbs to lose. If I lose 1lb per week, that means I should reach my goal by May 23rd. I'm going to make it a goal to reach by June 1st.
2. Run at least 10-15 miles per week all year round. None of this training hard for 4 months, and then doing nothing the rest of the time. There have been 2 weeks at a time since my race that I haven't run 1 mile. I resolve to not do that anymore. I need to be active and fit exercise in each and every week of the year.
3. Eat Clean. Period. This will obviously be the toughest of my resolutions. Anybody can follow a healthy diet for a couple of months, but for a whole year? The point is, it's not supposed to be a diet, it's supposed to be a way of life. I'm reading Tosca Reno's The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged. I read the original Eat-Clean Diet book over a year ago. The prinicples are simple - eat clean. Avoid processed foods and sugar. In a nutshell, you don't eat anything that doesn't come from nature in its simplest form. You eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Brownie sundaes don't fit into this category, nor does pizza at midnight, or unlimited amounts of food at the buffet. Eat 6 small meals per day, about every 3 hours, and drink lots of water. This will be difficult with my husband and all his buddies around all the time, but I am serious about this. I know how to eat healthy, I just need to do it.
4. Strength train twice per week. I always talk about doing it, but never make time for it. I know the only way I'm going to get the results I want is if I weight train. When I make my running training plan, I need to limit the running to 4 days per week, so I have time to do other exercise on the other days and still have a rest day or two.
5. Eat out less. I need to make healthy foods at home for me and my husband. I love to cook and my husband loves it when I cook. Eating out is the devil and is the reason our nation is so overweight and obese.
6. Blog more. Sorry, I know I have been a delinquent blogger.
So, that's about it. I plan to run as many races as I can, and to run the CDR again this September. Those aren't realy resolutions, just goals. I know that to stick to these resolutions I am going to have to keep a training and food diary. I am also going to have to lay off the chocolate. There are days that I just want to eat a big bag of hershey kisses or M&M's. Nothing like chocolate to sabotage a week's worth of healthy eating.
I wish everybody good luck on their resolutions. I know we will motivate each other!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Oh treadmill, how I love you
Well, I usually don't love the treadmill, but I have to this time of the year. I forgot that last winter when I was a newbie, I ran the treadmill all the time. In fact, I was scared to hit the pavement for a real run. That is, until I had a 5k to run and thought that I better get used to running outside. That was a big wake-up call because running outside was so much harder than the treadmill. Fast-forward a year and I have run about five 5k's, an 8k, two 10k's, and a 15 mile race.
I decided that I would stop using the "it's too dark and cold outside" excuse and just go to the gym to run on the dreaded treadmill. If I do go to the gym to run the treadmill, it's either early in the afternoon on my day off from work, or late in the evening around 8:30 after the evening rush of people has left. Tonight, I decided to go to the South Charleston Rec Center. I'm not a member of the rec, so it's $4 a visit, but I think it's very worth the money considering their treadmills have televisions on them, and they stay open till 10:00 at night. My lame gym down the street has 3 treadmills and only stays open till 9.
I tuned into the Carrie Underwood special and started my run. I needed to get a speed workout in, since the 5k is this coming Sunday and I haven't been running very much. I did a 1 mile warmup @ 11:30, 4 x 1/4 mi @ 9:13 with 1/4 mile recoveries, and a 1 mile cooldown. Actually, I did the first speed interval at an 8:48 pace, but that about killed me, so I droped it down a little, lol. 9:13 felt pretty comfortable, though, and by the end I was pooped. It was probably my best and most productive run in a month. It was a great workout. I'll probably take tomorrow off from running, but if I feel skippy I may do the Wii Active or something at home after work.
Workout stats
Distance: 4 miles
Ave pace: 11:09
Ave HR: forgot the HR monitor on purpose, lol, it's been elevated since I've been a couch potato)
I decided that I would stop using the "it's too dark and cold outside" excuse and just go to the gym to run on the dreaded treadmill. If I do go to the gym to run the treadmill, it's either early in the afternoon on my day off from work, or late in the evening around 8:30 after the evening rush of people has left. Tonight, I decided to go to the South Charleston Rec Center. I'm not a member of the rec, so it's $4 a visit, but I think it's very worth the money considering their treadmills have televisions on them, and they stay open till 10:00 at night. My lame gym down the street has 3 treadmills and only stays open till 9.
I tuned into the Carrie Underwood special and started my run. I needed to get a speed workout in, since the 5k is this coming Sunday and I haven't been running very much. I did a 1 mile warmup @ 11:30, 4 x 1/4 mi @ 9:13 with 1/4 mile recoveries, and a 1 mile cooldown. Actually, I did the first speed interval at an 8:48 pace, but that about killed me, so I droped it down a little, lol. 9:13 felt pretty comfortable, though, and by the end I was pooped. It was probably my best and most productive run in a month. It was a great workout. I'll probably take tomorrow off from running, but if I feel skippy I may do the Wii Active or something at home after work.
Workout stats
Distance: 4 miles
Ave pace: 11:09
Ave HR: forgot the HR monitor on purpose, lol, it's been elevated since I've been a couch potato)
A little update
I know I have been MIA for the past two months. I have definitely been taking a long break from serious running and working out all together. After the Distance Run, I kind of went into my "fat phase", if you will, lol. This is the phase where you really don't care about working out or eating poorly, you are happy and content just being and enjoying life. That is, until you suck it up and get on the scale, lol. I realized that during my training for the race, I simultaneously trained myself to eat whatever I wanted (example- eating wings, Chinese buffet, etc with the guys all the time) because I was burning it off running. Exit running and combine that with still eating what you want and you end up with a couple extra inches on your waist and about 5 more pounds. But, I have been happy, lol. Except that I have a 5k to run on December 13th, the first in a 3-race winter series. I have been out here and there running small distances, barely reaching 10 miles per week (ouch!). I definitely have the cold winter weather blues, combined with the fact that it gets dark at 5:30 now. I used to get off work at 6:00 and could run outside till 8:30. Now, all I want to do is go home and get under the blanket with my kitties.
New Years Resolution time is just around the corner, and I will revamp my eating and working out schedule accordingly, lol. I definitely need a better plan for the cold winter blues time of the year. For all you guys who have supported me through my tough training times, I'm sorry I haven't been around. I will be back, I promise! My 5k is next Sunday, so I will update you on that. I'm proud of you guys, training and running your half and full marathons while I'm sitting on the couch! Keep it up and run a few extra miles for me!
New Years Resolution time is just around the corner, and I will revamp my eating and working out schedule accordingly, lol. I definitely need a better plan for the cold winter blues time of the year. For all you guys who have supported me through my tough training times, I'm sorry I haven't been around. I will be back, I promise! My 5k is next Sunday, so I will update you on that. I'm proud of you guys, training and running your half and full marathons while I'm sitting on the couch! Keep it up and run a few extra miles for me!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Long time no blog
Hey guys, sorry I have been missing lately. My excuse is that I'm changing job locations, so I'm not going to be at a location where I have internet at my disposal all day anymore. I used to work at a pharmacy in South Charleston, which is crazy busy, then started working at the new Charleston location, which is super slow. Well, now I'm taking the assistant manager position at the South Charleston store, so I will be working there all the time and won't have internet. The internet thing sucks, but that's the price I will pay for being asst. manager and getting a raise!
I ran a 5k yesterday morning. It's the first race I have run since the 15 miler on September 5th. I really didn't have a goal in mind. Considering I've only been running 2-3 days per week and have had a hard time with speed work, I really anticipated having a pretty bad time. But, I thought what the heck, I just like running the local races and getting the race t-shirt, lol. Earlier this week, I did a speed workout at the local high school track. My goal for that workout was to keep an 8:45 pace during the speed portions. Surprisingly, I did it with ease. I did a 3x800 with 400 recoveries. Not a big workout, but something to get my legs moving at that speed again. That gave me a lot of confidence back, since I have been having a horrible time with speed lately.
For the 5k I originally thought about treating it like a speed workout because I didn't think I could maintain the 8:45 pace I did during my track workout. But, when I got there they had race bibs and the little timing chip and everything. They never do that for the small local 5k's, lol. I guess they just wanted to be high tech and have the results posted quickly. Basically, when I saw that they had race bibs and timing chips my strategy changed. I kind of felt obligated to give it my all. I warmed up for about 3/4 mile before the race was suposed to start. Then they announced that they were running behind about 10 minutes. Crap! I hate when that happens. I decided to keep warming up, then luckily I came back right as they were starting the runners. The weather was about 55 degrees and wet out.
I started out with an 8:30-8:45 pace and felt pretty good. At the halfway mark I started to get a little tired. I thought about walking for a few seconds at that point, but for some reason I didn't. I was passing people the whole time, picking them off one by one. This made me not want to slow down, so I just kept pushing. When I got about a little over 1/8 mile away I saw the time clock. It was about 26:50 or so, and I knew I wasn't going to PR (my PR is 26:55). But, I started kicking really hard and finished in 27:11. It was funny because this woman in front of me looked really shocked as I busted it out at the end and passed her. For some reason I can pick it up at the end, even when I feel like dying, lol. Needless to say, I was so surprised at myself. Driving to the race I thought I would be lucky to finish in 29 minutes, but I did very well. I only finished 16 seconds off of my PR! I guess I found my speed, it just took some time and some rest.
There are quite a few 5ks this fall, so I'm going to work on improving my time. The next one is October 31st. That's just two weeks, so I'm just going to shoot for less than 27 minutes.
I ran a 5k yesterday morning. It's the first race I have run since the 15 miler on September 5th. I really didn't have a goal in mind. Considering I've only been running 2-3 days per week and have had a hard time with speed work, I really anticipated having a pretty bad time. But, I thought what the heck, I just like running the local races and getting the race t-shirt, lol. Earlier this week, I did a speed workout at the local high school track. My goal for that workout was to keep an 8:45 pace during the speed portions. Surprisingly, I did it with ease. I did a 3x800 with 400 recoveries. Not a big workout, but something to get my legs moving at that speed again. That gave me a lot of confidence back, since I have been having a horrible time with speed lately.
For the 5k I originally thought about treating it like a speed workout because I didn't think I could maintain the 8:45 pace I did during my track workout. But, when I got there they had race bibs and the little timing chip and everything. They never do that for the small local 5k's, lol. I guess they just wanted to be high tech and have the results posted quickly. Basically, when I saw that they had race bibs and timing chips my strategy changed. I kind of felt obligated to give it my all. I warmed up for about 3/4 mile before the race was suposed to start. Then they announced that they were running behind about 10 minutes. Crap! I hate when that happens. I decided to keep warming up, then luckily I came back right as they were starting the runners. The weather was about 55 degrees and wet out.
I started out with an 8:30-8:45 pace and felt pretty good. At the halfway mark I started to get a little tired. I thought about walking for a few seconds at that point, but for some reason I didn't. I was passing people the whole time, picking them off one by one. This made me not want to slow down, so I just kept pushing. When I got about a little over 1/8 mile away I saw the time clock. It was about 26:50 or so, and I knew I wasn't going to PR (my PR is 26:55). But, I started kicking really hard and finished in 27:11. It was funny because this woman in front of me looked really shocked as I busted it out at the end and passed her. For some reason I can pick it up at the end, even when I feel like dying, lol. Needless to say, I was so surprised at myself. Driving to the race I thought I would be lucky to finish in 29 minutes, but I did very well. I only finished 16 seconds off of my PR! I guess I found my speed, it just took some time and some rest.
There are quite a few 5ks this fall, so I'm going to work on improving my time. The next one is October 31st. That's just two weeks, so I'm just going to shoot for less than 27 minutes.
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