This time next week we'll be in Europe visiting my family! We'll be out and about most of the time but we're not letting that stop us from running! We've planned a couple of routes for while we're away in my parents neighborhood. There won't be any weight training though - I don't think my Dad has any weights on hand anymore.
What concerns me the most is food! There will be so much good food - we'll be in England, Scotland and France. I'll just have to be sensible and really pay attention to what I'm eating in terms of nutritional value and stay away from the home comfort food.
We'll be stocking up on healthy snacks when we get there - almonds, dried fruit.
I'm tired from our long run yesterday, experienced really tight leg muscles throughout the run. It was a pretty slow pace and I was so thirsty - definitely looking into getting one of those special water bottles that are easier/lighter to carry.
Most likely this will be an annoyingly long week before our vacation.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Guilty Pleasures
I'm almost at another weight milestone which is great - weighed myself this morning for the first time in a few weeks and I'm heading back down again. Hopefully I'll be past that hump in a few weeks so I can aim for my next milestone!
Today was a good food day I think. We did end the day naughty but hey it's that time of year right? Started out with cereal and almond milk as usual. Snacked on Almonds and Walnuts at work mid-morning, had a turkey sandwich and some pita chips for lunch, followed by a yogurt for my afternoon snack.
Our weekly interval training was tonight - weather was absolutely beautiful today, did our 8 sets of 200 meter jog/sprint combos (2 miles total). Came home and did my usual weight routine which we're thinking of mixing up quite soon.
For dinner tonight we had some spaghetti and meatballs while watching our guilty pleasure "Jersey Shore: Miami", why is Sammy so stupid? Anyway... NAUGHTY us decided to check out Dairy Queen on the way home... SURE ENOUGH, Pumpkin Pie Blizzard was available... so we both got a small one of those! Who can resist? And they are for a limited time, give us a break! I guess that will be our weekend splurge!
Tomorrow we're aiming for a 5 mile run on the Boardwalk. Hopefully it won't be too cold but last week I invested in a lightweight jacket and long running pants (Target C9) that will keep me warm and dry in the upcoming winter months. I think us running the Boardwalk will really help us work towards the Shamrock and get used to the surfaces. We have been doing a lot of trail running lately which I strongly believe has really enabled us to easily increase our distance. Our long run on Sunday will be on the trails though. it is the best and honestly I love the feeling of just being out there with all the trees and the beautiful inlet views. It's best when the sun sets though! We were discussing how long our long run really is, we thought originally it was 6.5 miles. Now we're wondering if it's actually 7 - we need a Garmin watch!
Not long now until I see my family!
Today was a good food day I think. We did end the day naughty but hey it's that time of year right? Started out with cereal and almond milk as usual. Snacked on Almonds and Walnuts at work mid-morning, had a turkey sandwich and some pita chips for lunch, followed by a yogurt for my afternoon snack.
Our weekly interval training was tonight - weather was absolutely beautiful today, did our 8 sets of 200 meter jog/sprint combos (2 miles total). Came home and did my usual weight routine which we're thinking of mixing up quite soon.
For dinner tonight we had some spaghetti and meatballs while watching our guilty pleasure "Jersey Shore: Miami", why is Sammy so stupid? Anyway... NAUGHTY us decided to check out Dairy Queen on the way home... SURE ENOUGH, Pumpkin Pie Blizzard was available... so we both got a small one of those! Who can resist? And they are for a limited time, give us a break! I guess that will be our weekend splurge!
Tomorrow we're aiming for a 5 mile run on the Boardwalk. Hopefully it won't be too cold but last week I invested in a lightweight jacket and long running pants (Target C9) that will keep me warm and dry in the upcoming winter months. I think us running the Boardwalk will really help us work towards the Shamrock and get used to the surfaces. We have been doing a lot of trail running lately which I strongly believe has really enabled us to easily increase our distance. Our long run on Sunday will be on the trails though. it is the best and honestly I love the feeling of just being out there with all the trees and the beautiful inlet views. It's best when the sun sets though! We were discussing how long our long run really is, we thought originally it was 6.5 miles. Now we're wondering if it's actually 7 - we need a Garmin watch!
Not long now until I see my family!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Another Milestone
After our long run last night we decided we'd do a shorter distance this time and closer to home - just under 3 miles. This was one of the routes we ran when I first got back into running and I always hated it. Fortunately today I shaved almost 10 minutes of my time and I couldn't be more proud of myself! After the run we went home and I did my light weight routine.
New clothes have been coming in the mail (ordered online) for our upcoming trip to see my family. Everything fits so much better now!
New clothes have been coming in the mail (ordered online) for our upcoming trip to see my family. Everything fits so much better now!
Monday, October 4, 2010
My day in food
For Breakfast today I tried some new cereal - Kashi Go Lean Crunch with my usual Almond Milk. I also had an organic apple and a large glass of water with my multivitamin. My mid-morning snack was a handful of walnuts and 4 slices of dried unsweetened mango (Trader Joe's). For lunch we decided to go to Tropical smoothie, we both had Blimey Limey's with Splenda and whey protein, when I returned to work I ate the lunch I had brought in today, some leftover homemade stew. I didn't have anything for afternoon snack.
I was bad today and ate two Almond Hershey Kisses at work! But the good thing is I avoided those awesome Strawberry Shortcake Cookies at Tropical Smoothie!
For dinner we had some leftovers - pasta and turkey sausage. Then I had to sneak in my obligatory Nutella on bread snack for dessert!
I was bad today and ate two Almond Hershey Kisses at work! But the good thing is I avoided those awesome Strawberry Shortcake Cookies at Tropical Smoothie!
For dinner we had some leftovers - pasta and turkey sausage. Then I had to sneak in my obligatory Nutella on bread snack for dessert!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Increasing Mileage
For the past 3 weekends and then of course tomorrow we have increased our long run mileage. We've been running 6.5 miles once a week in addition to our shorter 3-4 mile runs! It's a great achievement for us both, particularly myself.
Having never been a fan of long distance and not very good at it I'm quite impressed with my progress so far. All of this work is helping me build up my endurance for the Shamrock 8k next year.
One thing about running 6.5 miles is you realize just how hard that first 1.5 miles can be! Honestly, that part is where I struggle the most. It's almost like a warm up to the rest of the run! Once I hit 2 miles it appears to be easier and we often speed up for the last 0.5 to finish things up.
We've been running mostly on the trails at First Landing. We get a mixture of raw trail/dune running in addition to some softer asphalt trails and then a short stretch of road. We do need to start some more road running quite soon to condition ourselves for the upcoming 8k. We'll most likely start that when we return from our vacation.
As well as our regular running we have been implementing interval training into our schedule for the past few months. The past two times we have stepped up our efforts and have been doing 2 miles worth of 200 meters of jogging and then 200 meters of approximately 60% more speed. The goal here is that hopefully this interval training will enable us to increase our mile pace over time. Only time will tell of course!
Having never been a fan of long distance and not very good at it I'm quite impressed with my progress so far. All of this work is helping me build up my endurance for the Shamrock 8k next year.
One thing about running 6.5 miles is you realize just how hard that first 1.5 miles can be! Honestly, that part is where I struggle the most. It's almost like a warm up to the rest of the run! Once I hit 2 miles it appears to be easier and we often speed up for the last 0.5 to finish things up.
We've been running mostly on the trails at First Landing. We get a mixture of raw trail/dune running in addition to some softer asphalt trails and then a short stretch of road. We do need to start some more road running quite soon to condition ourselves for the upcoming 8k. We'll most likely start that when we return from our vacation.
As well as our regular running we have been implementing interval training into our schedule for the past few months. The past two times we have stepped up our efforts and have been doing 2 miles worth of 200 meters of jogging and then 200 meters of approximately 60% more speed. The goal here is that hopefully this interval training will enable us to increase our mile pace over time. Only time will tell of course!
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