Monthly Archives: June 2012

Oh, What Da Hell

Posted in Food, Running Gear, Tough Mudder by

I am all kinds of excited about several things today. You probably don’t care at all, but I figured:

I’ll share ’em with you anyway. 🙂

1. I now have my own domain name.

I was reading a post by Julie at Peanut Butter Fingers about the importance of self hosting your blog.

It was a spur of the moment decision – having my own domain name was something I really wanted to do, but didn’t want to spend the 20+ bucks to do it.

Luckily, I decided to give myself a ‘lil haircut last night (don’t worry, just a trim!) instead of getting it cut this weekend.

DIY, bitches.

So because I saved a buck trimming my hair, I shelled out some dough for a domain name.

2. I discovered The Clymb.

No, not the Miley Cyrus song.

But The Clymb. It’s like Rue La La or Ideeli for fitness gear. My dear friend Vicki sent me the link and I immediately made a much needed purchase.

It’s Billabong. I guess that counts as fitness. They also had a periwinkle/pink one which I wanted until I saw that it was covered with FLAMINGOS. I am deathly terrified of flamingos. So…yay, palm trees.

I’m going on a lake vacay next week and I needed a new bathing suit. All mine are too big for me now (yesssssssssssss.)

3. I did a pull up!

After a mediocre spin class tonight, I ventured down into the scary section of the gym: the weights/jungle gym/open area.

There were some girls training for cross fit and doing those swing pull up thingys:

Soo coool.

When I was little younger I could always do tons of pull-ups. I still have the girl’s pull up record at my elementary school – I did 26 pull ups. Don’t forget, I probably weighed like 100 pounds back then. Ha. In middle school and high school I loved the pull up fitness test day because I could always beat the girls (and some of the boys) with 12 or 13 pull ups.

I tried to do a pull up last week and I couldn’t even do one. Embarr.

But then I tried again today. SUCCESS!

For now. It is slightly petrifying that the Tough Mudder is in two months and I can only do one pull up. I got a lot of work to do, folks.

4. “Healthy” chicken nuggets exist.

Need I say more?

Hallelujah.

Happy Friday!

Good Sesame/Bad Sesame

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Run, Running Gear, WIAW by

We’re halfway through the week! Thank goodness.

As soon as I woke up with a migraine this morning I knew it was going to be a rough day.

Why the headache? Who knows.

Though I don’t think it was from dehydration after my 5 miler last night, I used it as an excuse to order some nuun! (I’ve been wanting to for awhile. :)) Yes, I am beginning to have a running-gear ordering problem. #dontjudge

I ordered the Mixed U Sampler – the natural hydration options.

I’ll let you know what I think!

Anyway, I think I over-did it with my activities/running around yesterday: work, babysitting, the gym, the grocery store, and hanging at Tuna’s. I left my apartment at 9:20am and didn’t get home until 11:00pm. My all day headache showed me I need to slooooowww dooowwwwn today.

*****

As usual, thanks to Jenn for hosting the What I Ate Wednesday link party!

This week, my overnight oats were summery and fresh with a yummy fruit substitute.

Mmm hmm.

Peaches subbed for bananers. It is so yummy with the peaches and blueberries mixed!

I had to run errands for work this afternoon and missed my usual lunch time. By the time I got around to eating at 2:15pm I needed to eat both my lunch and my afternoon snack!

I tried the herb blend of boxed salad this week – yuck! I definitely won’t be buying that again. It’s too flavorful for my plain ass taste. As my friend Mal would say, it tasted like leaves.

However, those sesame sticks are freakin’ amazing. I bought a tub of them yesterday in an attempt to spice up my boring lunch salads and they are a keeper. I can’t wait to eat ’em again tomorrow.

The hummus on the side was my much needed protein. Protein = brain food.

And my favorite flavor:

Lara bars are on sale this week at Whole Foods – go get them while they’re cheap(er)!

My din din tonight was inspired by our WIAW hostess herself. You can find the recipe I used for Quinoa Fried Rice here:

http://www.peasandcrayons.com/2012/01/keen-wahhhh-adventures-in-cooking.html

I don’t think my version was as tasty as Jenn’s, but it was still pretty good.

I reached for the soy sauce and instead accidentally poured sesame oil in the skillet. Uh oh. Though I like my sesame sticks, I don’t like sesame oil. This is why I’m Chicken Nugget Girl. I can’t explain why I like one food versus another made of the same thing!

After that mishap, I added a little too much actual soy sauce.

Next time I’ll have to use more vegetables. I only used peas and onions (are onions vegetables? I’ll have to look it up.) Plus, my egg scrambles were too chunky. Lessons learned.

I have been craving my evening snack forever:

Glorious.

Original Puffins and milk!

Have you tried nuun? What’s your favorite flavor?

What did you eat this week? 

Sweet Treats and Running Geeks

After my Saturday morning run (treadmill 5K) I chowed down on a fancy raw granola bar from Starbucks on my way home from the gym.

20120625-105056.jpgIt was the first time I tried this brand and it was amazing! The bar had just the right amount of flavor and chewiness. I’ll have to see if they sell them at Whole Foods or if it’s just a Starbucks thing.

On Saturday night I went to a cookout in Baltimore to celebrate a friend’s birthday – and one of my fab friends from DC brought sweet treats a la Georgetown Cupcake.

So. good.

I had chocolate on chocolate, but I also tried a bite of birthday cake flavor.

20120625-105126.jpgEven if you are a clean eater or healthy eater you have splurge every once in a while. If I didn’t let myself cheat here and there, I would definitely have a hard time eating clean most of the time.

Another example of splurging/firsts/sweet treats from the weekend:

20120625-105238.jpg

I know frozen yogurt is all the rage right now, and I finally got to try some.

There are strawberries. That makes it healthy. Yeah.

I opted for the standard vanilla and chocolate combo with a dash of birthday cake. The G-town Cupcake birthday cake flavor sparked a craving!

My mom got chocolate with walnuts, kiwi, dark chocolate chunks and chocolate sauce. Ok, typing this is making me hungry…

20120625-105315.jpg

My mom also re-gifted me the below array of amazingness:

Yessssss

Looks like I know what I will be reading for awhile!

Coincidentally, Netflix alerted me that I have some more running geek merch arriving soon.

Netflix so kindly tells me:

“This biopic stars Billy Crudup as Steve “Pre” Prefontaine, the Olympic runner who overcame a physical abnormality to become the top American runner in the early 1970s. The film follows Prefontaine from his early years at the University of Oregon under the tutelage of Coach Bill Bowerman (Donald Sutherland), through the grueling Olympic trials and the 1972 Munich Olympics, and ultimately to Prefontaine’s tragic death.”

Sweeeeet. Embarrassing that it now looks like I am OBSESSED with running. But I guess that’s the point, right? I’m obvi still a hardcore beginner runner, but the only way to eventually become a hardcore still running runner is to throw yourself into it. At least, that’s the way I’m doing it.

I better go hide my new bookshelf of running reads before Tuna finds them next to my half-eaten pack of shot bloks or I’ll never hear the end of it.

What’s your favorite frozen yogurt combination?

Are you a geek about running too? Or just a natural?

Net Time, Changes, and the Secret to Productivity

Posted in Clean Eating, Race, Run, Running Gear by

   PurpleStride 5K Run/Walk

   Washington, DC June 16, 2012
   ChronoTrack Timing and Scoring
    by Pacers Events
    Official 5k Results
Place Div/Tot   Num   Age Hometown                 Gun T Net T Pace
371   82/122    152    24 Silver Spring, MD       32:28 31:49 10:15

I didn’t know what the difference between Gun T and Net T were, so of course I googled it. Thank goodness I have google to teach me the ways of the running world.

“Chip time is another way of saying “net time,” or the actual amount of time it takes a runner to go from the starting line of a race to the finish line. This is usually what Age Group awards are based on.

But for the really fast guys that win the money they must abide by USATF rules (governing body). To win money they must be timed by “Gun time”, or the time from the start gun to the time the participant crosses the finish mat.” (championship-racing.com).

So my real time was my net time? Yaaay, that means I actually did better than I thought! I obviously still didn’t make my sub 30 goal, but 31:49 looks better than 32:28!

I’m actually slightly impressed with myself because I was closer to goal  – AND I walked for 3 darn minutes. If only I hadn’t walked…

*****

I was daydreaming a bit today about all of the the positive effects that eating clean and running have had on my body and mind even in just a few short months. 

Since I started clean eating and running at the end of January, I haven’t gotten sick. That’s a huge one.

Some other changes:

Physical Changes

  • Weight Loss
  • Clearer skin
  • Shinier hair
  • Better digestion
  • Easier time falling asleep
  • Sleep better
  • Less nail breakage
  • Nails and hair grow faster

Mental and Emotional Changes

  • More energy
  • Less stressed
  • Less mood swings

I should come back and look at this post when I feel like shoveling Domino’s in my face or when I’m sittin’ on the couch for the third night in a row to remind me how much better I feel when I’m living a healthy lifestyle.

*****

When I got home from work last night I was starving and exhausted. It was a running night though, so I really did want to get my butt to the gym.

I just needed something in my growling stomach, but didn’t want to eat anything that would give me stomach cramps during my run.

I settled for a plain whole grain waffle. Yes, I like plain shit. Leave me alone.

But I still needed something to wake me up. Then I remembered I bought shot bloks last week!

So shot bloks are usually used for intense long distance runners who are running long-ass races like half marathons or marathons. I.e.: not me. They’re gooey gummies with caffeine and other stuff inside of them.

I bought some anyway just to try them because they look so legit.

Last week when I had them out with my 5K gear, Tuna asked me if I was going to break out the shot bloks at mile 2 and tear in to them.

Ummm, no. I just think they’re cool, ok?

I’m going to use a few of them for my long run next week, but I figured why not try them last night. I was only planning on running 5 miles, but if I needed the extra boost of energy to even go to the gym, sure.

I chowed down on three bloks (the standard serving size) and drove to the gym.

I got through my 5 miler just fine. I didn’t really feel a difference, except that I had a little bit more energy for the last mile then I usually do. But I didn’t really know whether it was me or the shot bloks, and didn’t want to give all of the credit to the shot bloks.

However, after my post-gym shower, dinner, and some RHONYC, I frantically:

– Did laundry
– Dusted
– Swiffered
– Vacuumed
– Cleaned my shower
– Took out the trash
– Watered the plants
– Made my O.O. and lunch for today
– Blogged at bit
– Read 50 pages of my book club book

The secret to productivity has been solved. Guess I need to have shot bloks several hours before a run or a race.

My Favorite Weekly Holiday

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!

This week, my overnight oats got a makeover. They got blueberrified.

Basically, I was tired of taking thirty seconds to slice strawberries, so I switched up my O.O. fruit this week. And boy am I loving it. I didn’t realize how much of a blueberry lover I am. I even used to avoid blueberry muffins. Oh how times have changed.

*****

I’ve decided I’m completely sick of my hard boiled egg salad every day. Please don’t make me eat any more hard boiled egg salads.

This week, I opted for a different form of protein on my luncheon lettuce.

Quinoaaaaaa.

I added some shredded cheese and olive oil dressing, and it wasn’t too bad.

*****

Since we are snacking sensibly this month, I gobbled down some hummus and veggies in the mid-afternoon. This was my first time trying scallion and parsley hummus. It’s kind of a funny color, but I like it!

Let’s be honest, the veggies and hummus only kept me satiated for approximately one hour.

Emergency raisins to the rescue!

*****

I bought the ingredients for a yummy looking crab, tomato, and avocado salad for a sweet recipe my mom sent me. (Thanks, Mom!)

In my haste to make my fancy salad, there was a terrible casualty:

Nooooooooooooo.

But. But. My O.O. fruit!!!

Now I understand why Whole Foods always puts the rubber bands on produce and eggs. Maybe I should start doing that at home too and not just for transit.

Will you still be friends with me if I violently and aggressively re-wash the blueberries and eat them? Yeah. I think that’s fine…

Back to my version of the Crabby Summer Salad.

The best part – it involves almost no cooking. (I say almost because I put the salad a-top leftover wheat noodles.)

CNG’s Crabby Summer Salad

Ingredients

1/2 Avocado
1 Tomato
3/4 cup corn
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Olive Oil
1 Lime
Crab Flavored Seafood Sticks a.k.a. “Fake”Crab
Cilantro
Salt
Pepper

Note that this is an individual portion of the Crabby Summer Salad. I’m thinking I’ll at least double this recipe and make it for Tuna and I this weekend.

Directions

Chop up the onion and put it in a medium sized bowl with 1 tsp olive oil  and the juice of 1/3 of a lime.

(I actually used white onion in my dish because the store was out of red onions when I went. It was waaay too oniony with white onion. I’ll definitely have to use red next time.)

Heat up the 3/4 cup of corn (I used frozen) in the microwave and dump in the bowl.

Add some cilantro, salt, and pepper.

I used some jalapeno too – that’s what the green things are. I wasn’t really a fan though, so I’m not using it in the official recipe. However, feel free to add your own ingredients! Cooking is all about making a recipe your own.

Step 1

The rest is simple – cut up one small tomato and one half of an avocado.

Deliciousness

Cut up one stick of “fake” crab, pull apart, and mix in.

You can eat the salad by itself, on greens, pasta, or meat.

Enjoy!

I certainly did.

What did you make to eat this week?

What is your favorite summer dish? I love picking crabs at the beach!

Purple Stride 5K Race Recap

Posted in Food, Race, Run, Running Gear by

Race day started out bright and early at 6:30am. Surprisingly, I popped out of bed just fine.

I quickly ate a some whole wheat toast with peanut butter and chia seeds and gulped down a cup of black coffee.

While I was waiting to catch the first train of the morning, a middle-aged runner man with a mustache approached me.

“Are you running the 5K today?” he asked me.

I told him I was and proudly explained that it was my first race.

My new bud congratulated me and gave me some running tips that he learned in his 35+ years of running.

“Double-knot your shoes.” Ok, that’s easy enough.

“Run the first two miles comfortably and then give it all you’ve got.” Got it. Don’t go out to fast.

“There’s always a hill at the end, so make sure you save some steam.” Steam. Sounds good to me.

Thanks for the race advice, mustache runner man!

I arrived at Metro Center with plenty of time to spare, so I popped into the Starbucks nearby to go to the bathroom (I figured they were going to be much nicer than porta potties) and bought a bottle of water.

I walked two blocks down to Federal Plaza where the race was.

There was a lot of purple to support Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, which was what the donations for the race/walk were for.

Freedom Plaza

There were plenty of runners, walkers, volunteers, and spectators mulling around.

I went on a 5 minute warm-up trot and stretched for a few minutes. Everything felt good and I was ready to go.

I found my friend Stephy!

Before the start, I was pretty nervous full of adrenaline.

I liked running toward the Capitol!

The first five minutes were really fun. I loved all the people running together at the start – some shot ahead of me, and some people I passed. I felt like I was running pretty fast, about a ten minute mile pace, which was my goal. I tried to reel it in a little bit, and run comfortably just like the mustache runner man said.

Remember how I lovingly put together my 5K race playlist so that Tubthumping played as I crossed the finish line? Well, I was so pumped/nervous/excited that I turned my iPod shuffle to the shuffle setting and didn’t change it for the whole race. Whoops. But to be honest, I couldn’t even really tell you which of the songs played. My nervousness made my brain/ears slightly blackout. Guess I didn’t need to complain so much about my headphones this past week.

The course was an out and back loop combo with some random baby loops on the side. It was nice that it all flat (mustache runner man was wrong about there always being a final hill) but….

THERE WERE NO MILE MARKERS.

I died. Both on the inside and out.

Stephy told me afterwards that the water stations were at mile marker 1 and 2. Wish the race peeps would have told me that.

I made it to the first water station (and ran right past it) in the low eights. So – fastest mile I’ve run since sixth grade.

However, I had no idea at the time how far I had gone. So I kept on running my ‘lil heart out at the same pace.

At about the 12 minute mark, misery set in.

I was starting to get really tired, slightly nauseous, and grumpy. For me,  getting grumpy while running can either be a really good thing and make me run faster or a really bad thing and I give up.

I didn’t give up quite yet. I ran for several more minutes and made my first big mistake.

Stopping at the water station at mile 2. I should have just grabbed a cup and kept running! Once I stopped, I was dunzo.

I got to the second water station in about 19 minutes, so that means I ran my second mile in about 11 minutes. (Though remember, I still had no idea WTF my distance or pace was.) Since the  first water station was only 8 minutes out of the race and I was already back to it, I figured I only had 8 more minutes to go. Wow! I’d would blow my goal out of the water!

After a 30 second water break, I started running again. I was toast.

When I finally rounded the bend for the last straightaway, running away from the Capitol Building, I realized I still had about .50 or .75 miles to go.

Nuh uh. No way.

My choice was to vomit or not vomit.

I chose not to vomit.

At 24 minutes in to my first race, I started to walk. Defeat. I walked for 1 minute and people started passing me by the dozens.

Once I started walking, I kind of gave up. I still had 5 whole minutes to get down the last damn straightaway. Maybe I could still finish in under 30 minutes.

I ran for another minute. And walked for another minute. Etc.

Nope, not making it in under 30. My unofficial time was 32:29.

******

After pouting for a little while, I decided to not be too too upset about the whole thing. I pulled the under 30 minute goal out of my ass, so that shouldn’t really matter. It was my first race and I didn’t know what to expect.

I’m glad I did it, even if the race didn’t go exactly how I had planned it to go in my head. I’m glad I woke up and got to feel like a real runner for 24 minutes on Saturday morning.

P.S. Congrats to Speed Demon Stephy, who finished in 22 minutes!

‘Twas the Night Before Race Day

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Music, Race, Recipes, Run, Running Gear by

and all through the apartment….

Just kidding.

Kind of. I am being a slight weirdo and over-analyzing/over-preparing/being over-excited about tomorrow. But just because it’s my first race! Well, my first “distance” running race. I know it’s not a big deal, and you probably think I’m a nutcase.

But it’s so fun to pretend that I am an actual runner; that I’ll actually get to do a race recap and actually get to be part of the running world for a morning!

I stuck with my Runner’s World/Insightful Friend via her Personal Trainer race week plan this week.

1.) Hydrate and Fuel

I did some research on how much water I should be drinking per day since I was having dehydration issues.

Livestrong.com told me:

“MayoClinic.com suggests that drinking about 2,000 mL (2 qts.) of water a day is adequate, since food sources also contribute some water to each person’s diet. Another guideline from the Institute of Medicine is that men drink about 3000 mL (3 qts.) daily and women 2200 mL (http://www.livestrong.com/article/527779-how-many-milliliters-of-water-should-you-drink-a-day/#ixzz1xtqMEXOP).

To test out my hydration intake, I kept track of exactly how much water I drank on Wednesday.

– 5 camelbaks of water = 750 mL each
– 4 cups of water = 500 mL each

Total water consumed on Wednesday: 5,750 mL

Ok, I think I’m drinking enough water now.

I took a healthy snack to Book Club Thursday night for all of us gals to munch on.

And made a delish chocolate peanut butter smoothie for a snack this afternoon.

CNG’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

Ingredients
– Skim Milk
– Ice Cubes
– Chocolate Whey Protein Powder
– Cocoa Powder
– Unsweetened & Unsalted Organic Peanut Butter

Directions
Mix 1 cup of skim milk, 4 ice cubes, 1 scoop of protein power, 1 heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, and 1/3 cup of peanut butter in a blender on SMOOTHIE setting.

*****

2.) 3 mile run outside in the heat.

It actually wasn’t too hot out, but I was glad to run outside again anyway. The weather for tomorrow morning is supposed to be around 70 degrees, so I should be just fine!

This run was my last-run-before-my-first-race-last-renewal-of-confidence-run.

It was great. My headphones worked, nothing hurt, and I ran it in 30:37.  My under 30 minute goal for tomorrow may be attainable!

Though either way, I have to remind myself that it doesn’t really matter. I’m only racing against myself. I’m going to try not to put unnecessary pressure on myself for no reason.

*****

I picked up my race packet last night at Pacer’s in Silver Spring.

I’m glad I don’t have to worry about registering in the morning.

I’m racing! I have a number!

I was stressing out what to do with my stuff during the run. I didn’t want to bring my iPhone with me and check it in the bag check, just since you never know what could happen. So instead, I decided to shell out $24 for a cool fanny pack racing pouch. Now I don’t have to worry about my phone since I can keep it on me! I’m also going to take my ID, some cash, my metro card, and some chapstick.

And don’t worry, I’m not so ridiculous that I think I need to use shot bloks for a 5K. I just wanted to buy them! I will probably try them out on my long run next week.

I’ve got my playlist all set. There will be praying to the running gods to keep my headphones working. Hopefully I will make my goal time so that Tubthumping will be playing as I cross the finish line.

I am currently sticking my quads with my vacuum cleaner hose because I don’t own a stick.

Don’t judge me.

Now let’s just hope I wake up!

The Weirdest Thing and What I Ate Wednesday #2

Running at 1% incline on the treadmill did feel a little different, but the only way I could really tell was that my legs just felt like they were doing more work than usual.

My 5 miler wasn’t too bad except my damn iPod shuffle headphones decided to give up on me again at mile 3.5. And they weren’t even the same ones that went haywire last week. They’re a different extra pair I have. This time all of a sudden the songs started repeating, cutting out, and the iPod shuffle voice that says “All songs. Playlist 1. All songs” decided to chat me up.  I’m assuming the headphones are upset about the are upset amount I’m sweating, but I’m not sure. Are your  iPod shuffle headphones ridiculously sensitive? I am going to try both sets of headphones again tomorrow, so hopefully I have some functional headphones for Saturday!

The weirdest thing happened after my run. I felt fine initially, stopped at Whole Foods, and headed over to Tuna’s. I wasn’t hungry AT ALL but I forced myself to eat half of a sandwich since I didn’t eat too heavily during the day. For the next hour an a half, I felt super nauseous. Like, almost lost my lunch dinner nauseous.

Jeez, I’ve never been that nauseous after a run before. Maybe I still hadn’t fully hydrated after cocktails Saturday night?

I drank a lot of water during the day, like I usually do – but I still had to go fill up my camelbak for extra water during my run, so I guess I was still dehydrated!

As usual, I googled my symptoms and got some answers.

“Fluid Imbalance

Dehydration can contribute to a feeling of nausea, but overhydration can also cause similar symptoms. To find the right balance of water, weigh yourself before and after you run. The weight you lose will be mostly water weight, so weighing yourself will give you an idea how much water you need to drink. Start hydrating the night before a vigorous run. Before you run, drink 1 to 3 cups of water so you are not too full. Take small sips of water during your run, waiting until after you finish running to fully hydrate. If you are sweating a lot while you run, replacing water with a sports drink enhanced with electrolytes can help you hydrate more effectively; however, you should avoid drinking beverages that are high in sugar and salt, as they can be hard to digest and often lead to nausea or other gastrointestinal issues”(http://www.livestrong.com/article/522155-what-causes-a-nauseous-feeling-after-running/).

I need to get me some Gatorade. Or I could really pretend I know anything something about running and buy some shot bloks and/or nuun. I’ve haven’t tried either of them!

The nausea finally went away around midnight, and I had the rest of my sandwich for a midnight snack.

Good thing I’m taking it easy for the rest of the week.

*****

Ok, that’s enough bitching complaining for now.

It’s link party time!

Per usual, this is what I ate on Tuesday.

Breakfast:

My typ overnight oats recipe and a cup of hazelnut coffee.

I was still feeling a bit funny from Monday night, so I could only finish half of the oats. That was a first!

I finished the leftover overnight oats later for my afternoon snack.

Even though I brought my lunch, we ended up getting lunch from Lebanese Taverna at work. I had my new favorite – a chicken kabob, potatoes (notice a trend lately?), and a Lebanese salad. I tried to resist the pita bread because I don’t think it’s wheat, but when they brought us extra garlic butter, I couldn’t refuse.

When I take pics of my food on my phone when I’m around people, I pretend to be texting. Ha.

I’m in love with the tomato sauce flavoring on the chicken kabobs.

Lunch was absolutely delicious, but since it was the first big meal I ate since my after-run nausea, I felt bit too stuffed.

Dinner had to be quick since it was before a capella rehearsal. I chowed down on a turkey sandwich on toasted wheat bread with cucumbers, pickles, shredded cheese, and tomato basil hummus. Mmmmm.

I wanted to have a second diet coke for the day but tricked myself into having water by putting it in a pretty jar with a straw. As we know, I need to hydrate!

My evening snack was my newest obsession.

Not only is the packaging stinkin’ cute, but you also get dark chocolate balls with berry stuff inside. They’ve got antioxidants or something like that in them, so it’s good I’ll get some of those as I consume half of the pouch.

What have you been eating lately?

Have you made any fun new recipes this week?

Potatoes, Tuberculosis, and Running Revelations

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, Run, Tough Mudder by

My 3.1 mile treadmill run on Friday wasn’t too bad, but my legs still felt pretty heavy from my long run on Wednesday night.

Tuna and I cooked a supposedly plain but surprisingly yummy dinner by adding a shit ton of Old Bay to all items on the plate (minus the spinach.)

It was pretty darn good!

Potatoes are probably my favorite food of all! These are way better for you than french fries, but still give you that potato fix, and are super easy to make.

CNG’s Quartered Red Potatoes:

Ingredients:
Small red potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Garlic or Garlic Powder
Cilantro
Old Bay
Cooking Spray

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Cut in the potatoes into quartered pieces.

Put the potatoes on the baking sheet and sprinkle (or heavily shake, bahaha) all of the spices onto the potatoes.

Cook for approx 35 minutes in the oven – this time depends on how hot your oven gets! You may want to double check them around 25 minutes, just in case.

You will know when the potatoes are done when they start browning on the tops and are more squishy than they are hard (I’m convinced my best asset is my cooking terminology.)

Add some ketchup and enjoy!

*****

On another note, I’m still a hot sweaty mess. I had another episode of night sweats last night, which was even worse than the first one. I woke up at 2:30am, and couldn’t fall back asleep for awhile, so I changed and read some Hungry Runner Girl.

My washing machine is really getting some action lately.

I made the mistake of Web MD-ing night sweats and it gave me these options:

– Mononucleosis
– Tuberculosis

Seriously? Seriously.

I had mono in college (didn’t we all) so it obviously must be tuberculosis. Maybe I can make my tuberculosis death lovely and romantic like Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.

*****

Numerous running revelations occurred this morning.

I found some great articles with beginner race tips when browsing Runner’s World online.

Mistake: Too much food
RW columnist Jeff Galloway says many first-timers eat too much before a race, particularly the night before. Carmichael agrees. “You don’t need to carbo-load for a 5-K,” he says. Most people have enough stored energy in their bodies to run a 5-K without taking in any additional calories (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-520–11941-0,00.html).

Mannnn, carbo loading is superfluous? There goes my excuse to have an entire pizza pie on Friday night. Sadface.

Revelations also came via g-chat (of course) from my marathon running, Tough Mudder finishing pal Vicki.

Victoria:  i did most of my tough mudder training last year without music, because i didn’t have an ipod

Sheeeeeet. I forgot that I won’t be able to use my iPod for the flippin’ race I’m training for.

Victoria: oh btw, my trainer said if you run on a treadmill you should always have at least 1% incline apparently it better simulates a flat road, otherwise it’s more like you’re running on a very slight downhill

Crrraaaaap. So I have been training solely downhill. From now on, I promise to always run at 1% incline. P.S. Thank you for the legitimate personal trainer insight fo free. We must continue this arrangement. 🙂

Victoria:  you should get in at least one run in warm weather to prepare for your race. otherwise it will be a huge shock to your system

Say no more. I shall obey and run outside on Wednesday.

Therefore, my Runner’s World/Insightful Friend via her Personal Trainer race week plan will be:

Monday: 5 miles on the treadmill at 1% incline
Tuesday: Rest Day
Wednesday: 3 miles outside in the heat
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: My First Race: DC Purple Stride 5K

Wish me luck!

Was your first race experience awkward or amazing?

What do you do for race weeks? If you do a race with short mileage, do you taper?

Overdose

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Music, Run, Running Gear, Yoga by

Since my hip felt better after a late night yoga sesh on Tuesday night, I worked all day Wednesday on mentally preparing myself for my longest ever long run.

I fueled with some healthy eats for lunch that were surprisingly filling.

And had a late afternoon snack full of caffeine and fiber that I later regretted. I’m thinking I should lay off the fiber before long runs in the future. ‘Nough said.

Afternoon snack.

My goal for the night was a 7 miler – which was unknown territory. Unknown territory is usually rather nerve racking.

Wish me luck, I may never return.

My thoughts on any and every run always proceed in the following fashion:

0.00 – 1.00 Miles: “Ok, I’m kind of tired. I would rather be on the couch.”
1.00 – 3.00 Miles: “This is awesome! Amazing! I love running! I am so fit.”
3.00 – 4.00 Miles: “Is it time to stop yet? Maybe I should shorten my mileage.”
4:00 – 5.00 Miles: “I hate my life. No, I can do this. Ahhh! Pain!!! No, you can do this.”
5:00+ Miles: “Dying. I am officially dying. I hope I don’t puke or faint.”

Guess when my headphones stopped working? Uh huh, that’s right, mile 4.35. FML.

Seriously, running gods? Are you trying to jinx me? And on National Running Day, too.

Well they didn’t actually stop working, the volume just cut down really low and I couldn’t turn it back up. BTDubs, my biggest pet peeve is music playing juuuust low enough that I can kind of hear it but can’t hear it. I think my headphones secretly knew that. What an ornery old b*tch. (Umm, the headphones, not me. Duh.)

Luckily, I brought my iPhone to the treadmill with me, so I yanked my sweaty headphones out of my iPod shuffle and shoved ’em into my iPhone. No luck. Bruno Mars was still very softly crooning in my ear rather than shouting and me through dank beats to keep on going.

That was confirmation that the headphones were the malfunctioning piece of equipment. I think I sweated them out. Like, sweated so much on them (most likely build up from the past 5 sweaty months) that they broke.

I had no other choice but to rip them out of my ears and practice my mad pouting skills.

Recap: I was forced to do my longest run ever while running without headphones for the first time.

Before running today I couldn’t fathom those cray cray girls that don’t need any kind of musical aid to finish a run.

After running today, I can’t imagine ever running without musical aid again.

Running without music was so weird. I can see how people could do it with the adrenaline of a race, or maybe if you’re so in shape that you don’t need the motivation of sound to keep you going. Or maybe it’s just the musician in me that makes music a current necessity for me. Maybe I’ll experiment with running without music in the future, but for now, I need my iPod. Kthanks.

Moral of the rant: I completed my 7 miles, even with a big (for me) handicap thrown my way at the hardest part of the run.

I’m patting myself on the back right now, if you can’t tell.

After stretching for a nice 15 minutes, I headed next door to Rodman’s to grab a $0.99 piece of heaven.

Refuel success.

I continued my dramatic smart recovery with some frozen H20 love.

Better safe than sorry.

I went to bed freezing even though I was snuggled in my over-sized wool sweater.

But I keep waking up, all night long, tossing and turning in my sweat soaked sheets. (TMI?)

Huh? I felt like I had a fever or something! I woke up feeling so sticky and hot.

I hoped I didn’t push myself to hard. Am I dying? Am I not ready for longer mileage (for me!!!) like I thought I was? Maybe I’m not built to be a distance runner if my body is rebelling like this.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/397180-night-sweats-after-exercising/ 

Oh. It’s normal.

I know this girl says all sweat is good sweat, but I already completed my daily sweat! Sweat overdose.  I guess I got a BOGO?

I hope I don’t have to wash my sheets and duvet after every long run. Hopefully my body will adjust.

*****

However, I did enjoy the fact that when I weighed myself this morning, I met my 20 lb weight loss mark after clean eating and running for the past 5 months!

Maybe that extra sweat wasn’t so bad after all.

I took a rest day today, complete with a glass of Shiraz and some dark chocolate.

Next up: 3.1 mile run tomorrow.

8 days until my first race!!!!!

Do you ever run without music? Teach me your ways.

Do you ever get night sweats after long runs?