The Last Long Run and a Wicked Awesome Couscous dish

Well folks, today was the last long run of my first half marathon training cycle! woo!

I was not quite as peppy as I was after last week's 11 miler, the fact that it was already 72 at 7am when i started out prooooobably had something to do with it. I mean, that's like 20 degrees warmer than last week! wtf.

Dear Lake Placid,
Please be 55 degrees 2 Sundays from now.
kthanksbye.
Jen.


The run was pretty good. I did it at a park in Liverpool, NY - visiting the fam this weekend - so it was pretty flat. But dang with the hot! by mile 7 i was really just wishing it would freaking rain. It did not. In fact, 4 miles later the stupid sun came out. I was hurting by the last mile so I told myself i could do run walk intervals for .1 mile. However, I surprised myself by being able to sprint pretty decently hard during those .1 miles, even after I'd already trudged through 11. the sprint intervals got longer (and faster, what the hell is going on here?) as the mile went on. About half way through that mile my dad passed my on his bike and shouted words of encouragement. He probably thinks i'm wicked fast now, since i was like tearing up the pavement when he saw me. I assured him, when we were both back home, that I am not actually that fast all the time. ;)


12 miles done in 2:29:45. boom! I think I can manage LP's hills as long as it's not this hot. i freaking hate the hot even when I'm not working out. It should only be in the 70s in the afternoon, ever. grrr.


Now, let me share with you the best couscous side dish e.v.e.r. Cranberry couscous.

Before last night I'd never had couscous at all, but it seemed like something I would like - ya know, carbs.

Here's how the magic works on this one boys and girls:


Bring one can of chicken broth and a tablespoon of butter to a boil.

Stir in one box couscous, 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberrys, 3 chopped scallions.

Cover pot and remove from heat.

Let sit for 5 mins, fluff with fork - DEVOUR. 

omg, so freaking good. enjoy suckas!

I'm off to do nothing for a few hours, then shake out my legs by walking to the ice cream shop where my badass lil sister works :)

I'll catch you on the taper, fools! :)

3 Things Thursday - in Pictures

Today's workout was 4 miles. First two were 125 ft decline, second 2 was right back up that betch. Tough, and already 65 degrees at 6 am. did NOT want to get out of bed, but oh so glad I did. WOO!

1. I am an anglophile. Nat happens to be British (confession: that may have something to do with why we are friends, jk jk.) Anyway, her sweetest mom bought me these teas when she heard I'd been laid off (faked off if you'd like, since i was offered my job back at the last second). L.O.V.E. I will probably never drink these teas but will use this package to decorate my desk for the rest of eternity - or until the next time I'm laid off, tee hee.

2. I am in love with Dark Chocolate Dreams Pb. mmmm My coworker gave me this cute little pack - which is good, a jar would involve eating, um, all of it. I'll admit, i did suck the last little bits right out of the package. No shame.

3. This is a picture of most of my new running shoes. I cut off the toes- they are uninteresting. The pink is the fun part. These shoes are really doing it for me. I have had little to no hip pain since I got them, minus the first run in them. woo! Tonight is my adjustment. It's gonna be awesome!

Mile Repeats

It has come to my attention that I've been selling myself short. I've got some sort of wall built up around 10 minute miles - as in: I can't possibly run faster than that.

I have on occasion run a mile (or three) at under a 10 minute pace. But I've always considered it a fluke. Today, I intentionally ran mile repeats to prove myself wrong. Uh, ps and btw, mile repeats is a hard workout!

Mile 1: 10:00

Mile 2: 9:55

Mile 3: 9:49

hmm. It appears that I can do such a thing. Imagine that!

Miles of Smiles

My long run this weekend was 11 miles. I usually do long runs on sundays. However, I had to go to a bridal shower today, so I opted for a Saturday long run. It was a nice change of pace - for one, it kept me away from friday happy hour, haha.

If you've been following along the last few weeks, you know that my last few long runs have been tough. first attempt at 10 miles was a mess, I slept very little the night before and was super dehydrated. Second attempt was better, but still had to stop for walk breaks. first attempt at 11 miles was a complete fail. My IT band had been acting up since the first attempt at 10 miles. My leg was on fire and it just was not happening. I left the gym dragging my leg behind me and feeling pretty defeated. But yesterday, oh yesterday.

It was a great day for a run. It was about 55 out in the morning, overcast, but not raining. I had a new cute running outfit from Target (its gonna be my race day outfit!!). I was set to go. I was well rested. Well hydrated. I brought one gu and one pack of sports beans. I set out for my 11 miles and had a smile on from the get go.

I
FELT
FABULOUS

The whole time. It was so great. I don't care if i looked creepy running around Albany with a huge smile on my face, fist pumping to my jams. I stopped twice (during miles 4 and 8) to stretch my hip as I felt it getting tight. I had only 2 concerns during the run. 1. as i ran away from my apt i realized i had forgotten to put on any vaseline to prevent chafing - it was a new outfit, so I was particularly concerned. 2. briefly during miles 3 and 5 the sun came out - i did not put on sunblock, which is bad news for this casper. However, run was completed with no chafing, no sunburn, no walk breaks, no negative thoughts.

Simply awesome. I even did a dance in the bathroom as I waited for the shower to get warm. It was a slow run, 12:06 average pace. But, hey, i'm not that fast (yet) - so it's cool. Also, thats 30seconds a mile faster than my last long run. so woo!

Next week's long run is 12 miles - I'll be doing it in syracuse, as i'm headed home for the weekend. then - then its taper time. My first taper! Then I will go kill myself on the hills of Lake Placid. Yikes.  3 weeks!

I'm looking forward to the race. I am not sure if i can promise any great times, since i'm so concerned about the hills. There aren't hills like that in albany to train on, so its a bit nerve wracking. But it should be an awesome accomplishment regardless. Also, despite what time i get on this race. I'm still aiming for a 2:15 for the fall half - which is a flat one. so its totally attainable.

Here's to many more weekends of awesome runs!!

Why Today Rocked Socks Before 730am

Could it be because I ran 6 miles outside? um YES!!!!!!!!!

PHEW!

Honestly, I needed this run. It was NOT fast, but that's ok. My goal was to take it easy, and anytime the pace inched up I pulled myself back. I know I can run 6 miles faster than 1:10. However, if you've seen any of the posts for the last, um, 3 weeks, you will notice a trend of hip/leg/IT band pain that got so bad it sidelined my entire long run just a mere 3 days ago. Priorities involve racing in less than a month, not being a psycho during training.

Things that are awesome include: new running shoes, foam rollers, stretching, listening to your body, not wearing heels to work. All of these things, I believe, have put me back on track. Now, my running has been spotty ish since the pain started. So I've also been frustrated mentally, runs have been harder. but when I over do it and push myself, then the pain comes back. It's a never ending cycle of beating myself up.

Well, this week I decided to change it. Jump out of that ring and do what's right. I laid off the running monday and tuesday. Did a kick ass xtrain workout on monday (kinda looking forward to another one tomorrow, who is this girl?!), backed off yesterday (mostly bc i was in a super foul mood and (because I?) ate like crap :-[ not a real excuse, I'm aware) Today's medium long run was about not beating myself up. I took it SLOW so as to not upset my precious leg, and FINISHED it to get my stupid mind off my ass.

End result. SUCCESS - and compression socks and sneakers at work. tee hee. :)

Happy Hump Day, ya'll!

Workin' on my Fitness

Today = way better than yesterday. I was really down in the dumps about my horrible non-long run/leg situation yesterday. But this morning, ah, this morning was so much better.

I really didn't want to get out of bed, though. Alarm went of at 5:15, I did not get up for an hour! I'm usually at the gym by 6:15 at the latest! I woke up like 3x to pee last night though (yay, hydration?). So, after an hour of semi-conscious super-weird dreams and snuggles with Dinah, I finally hauled my ass out of bed for my elliptical work out.

My left leg was a little tight upon waking. So I foam rolled before leaving for the gym. There's a knot in there folks, half way between my hip and my knee, and that sucker HURTS. But I foam rolled until I cried, and then I felt better :)

My elliptical workout was BALLIN' I know, i know, elliptical is actually *boring* but today I rocked it. First, I was able to maintain a fairly steady pace of 7.5 at level 7 for 50 minutes, which is like 800x better than the last time I did the elliptical (like 3 weeks ago, whoops, xtrain fail). I've thought a bit about posting my elliptical workout stats on here, because, let's be honest - i'm not in that great of shape. I'm not really  an athlete, I'm trying to become one. But, uh, hi - the whole point of this blog is to track my progress, right? And while I haven't been blogging since the first time I stepped on an elliptical however many years ago, I can guarantee you I was not banging out 6 miles in 50 minutes on that thing (yea, i know that's how fast some of you run, I WILL catch you one of these days).

After the workout I was feeling awesome - endorphins going, sweat dripping (like seriously, it looked like I jumped in a pool when I got off that thing. I don't know what it is about the elliptical that makes me sweat so much), and leg....looser? OMG! yay! maybe i've found the secret. I am going to make a more concerted effort to work in more cross training days. Especially if they are going to make my leg feel good! I'm sure my new shoes had something to do with it too. So i'm feeling more positive today. Let's just hope I feel this way after running.

One problem I realized today with this week's plan is - I have a bridal shower at noon on sunday. Can I wake up at 6 and get in my 11 miles and make it to the shower? I hope so. Otherwise I am going to have to do some re-tooling, and run long on saturday.

Here's to a better day than yesterday!! :)

Long Run Fail

long run it was not. 3.75 miles. FAIL. I'm so frustrated. here's the recap -

It's pouring. I have new shoes. My hip/IT band, basically all of the outside of my left leg from mid shin to tail bone has been uncomfortable, to generalize. I decided to try out the long run on the treadmill. No rain on the treadmills. And i figured the flat consistent surface would be easier on the leg. well, despite my best intentions by mile 3 it hurt. I toughed it out for another .75, and it was on fire. I was so pissed.

What's also really frustrating, is that its not *really* just the IT band. The pain associated with the original injury - hyper extended back when i was 15, though I've never really been clear on what the actual diagnosis was, regardless I was on bed rest for 2 weeks yuck. There's a pinching. about two inches below my tail bone into my left butt area. not good, not good.

My long runs have just not been good lately. But, as Nat pointed out, the last few may've sucked, but I did them. she's right (as always :-p) when I left the gym today (dragging my leg behind me) I felt like a quitter. I was so frustrated with myself. But nat's right- one run incomplete. just one. better to lay off, ice/stretch/foam roll/pay attention to myself, than push through a training run and not be able to walk without pain again for who knows how long and not race.

After some moping about, and a shower. I started some lunch and a pot of tea and decided on a new game plan for this week. honestly, today's outcome, while irritating, should not have come as much of a surprise. It hurt to walk friday and most of yesterday. I was running errands punching myself in the hip/thigh to loosen it up (can you say, red flag, hello).

Workout plan for this week:
Monday - elliptical 45-60mins. This will ensure that I still have some fitness, and it will give me the mental challenge I wasn't able to have today - elliptical is super boring after like 25-30 mins, but i have two issues of RW i haven't finished reading yet.

Tuesday - power yoga. yay!

Wednesday - medium long run 6-7 miles - i need the confidence boost.

Thursday - rest or xtrain (undecided)

Friday - 3-4 miles.

Saturday - rest

Sunday - 11 miles, take 2.

This is all contingent on how the hip is feeling. ice/stretching/foam rolling will be happening. paying attention is the key. and the appointment with the back doctor is on the 26th.

For today - I will spend the day facing a different mental challenge - cleaning the apartment. dun dun dun. won't Q be surprised when she comes home :)