Monthly Archives: October 2013

PRR Training Week 9: I Skipped My Run (Twice)

Posted in Run by

First things first:

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*****

I am very annoyed at my Garmin right now.

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It isn’t talking to my computer so I can’t show you pretty pictures of my speedy (for me) run on Friday. Friday runs are my thing now.

Let me back up – as you know, I moved last week. For some reason, I thought I could function as a normal human being and run all of my Week 9 miles, pack everything I own, clean, and sleep. False.

Runs were the first thing on the list to get cut. I ended up skipping 2 out of the 4 runs on the schedule. I had so much run guilt it was ridiculous. I felt like skipping your run = you are a bad person.

I kept having this internal/external battle between my mind and my body. Should I do the run, should I squeeze it in, should I try to wake up really early….?

It seems fine to scold yourself when choosing the couch over a run, but what it you are legitimately working your butt off? Sometimes life is busy and it’s not worth pushing yourself to exhaustion in order to write in the extra mileage on your training chart. In gel pen.

At least all of my shitty running weeks coincide with stepback weeks in the training cycle.

At the end of the week I sucked it up and ran even though I was overtired. I was glad I did, because it actually ended up energizing me and being one of my best runs in a long time. I hope that sets the tone for the next three weeks before the half! 

Week #9 Recap

Monday: yoga

Tuesday: 3 mile run

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: rest

Friday: 5 mile run

Saturday: rest

Sunday: rest

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Do you ever get run guilt when you skip runs on your training plan?

Eating While Moving

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, WIAW by

Last weekend I moved to a new apartment on the other side of town. It was super exciting but also took way more out of me physically than I thought it would.

A procrastinator by heart, I planned out the logistics of packing rather than actually doing the packing itself. Basically – I kind of waited until the last minute. The almost all-nighter reminded me of some of my college days.

Another side effect of moving was that for once in my life I wasn’t being a food hoarder. I found myself with nothing in the pantry. Which meant random ass dinner and nibbles of stale items left in the corners of the cabinets. That, paired with convenience store snacks for brunch (BBQ chips were eaten…) and ridic mealtime gaps zapped my body into sugar-filled galore that had me feeling like shit 8 hours later.

Thank goodness my aunts/cousin immediately brought us steaming hot home cooked dishes so my hangry headache would finally disappear. Their basket entailed an entire roasted chicken, vegan chili, brown and white rice, and steamed broccoli.

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veganchili rice broccoliI don’t think I’ve ever been happier to shovel my face with veggies. It is amazing how good of a fuel nutrient-packed food is for our bodies. It made me feel so much better.

I’m hoping to eat healthier this week now so it will help me unpack!

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday! 

Tell me: do you ever forget to plan meals when you’re really busy, or during a move?

PRR Training Week 8: Froyo and Double Digits

Posted in Run by

Last week marked a little over halfway through this training cycle!

I started off the week with a slow and steady five miler. Everything felt pretty good and my muscles are finally starting to get used to running a lot (for me) again.

On Wednesday I had a running date with my friends Mal and Stephy after work. We ran our usual loop around the local college campus and chatted away. Running with friends is truly my fav.

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Obviously froyo was necessary afterwards.

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Lately my weekends have been taken up with lots of errands and sitch, so I’ve really had to improvise in order to make my long runs work.

Enter: obscure running schedule.

Yup, I just spend my Friday afternoons running for two hours now. Not my ideal time re. exercise motivation, but I at least had Friday dinner pizza to look forward to.

It was a race against the clock to make it back before the sun went down, and I made it just in time.

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Double digit runs are exciting for me because I have only ever done a handful of them!

I was feeling ballsy and even ventured down a new path that I can usually see from where I run. This trail is actually the one that the half will be on (in less than a month, eek!) so it was nice to get the overall feel of what the route will be like.

It’s very flat and scenic, but a teensy bit of rough terrain. The path leads down below a bridge and I often spot serious runners on it with camelbaks and other fancy gear. It was fun pretending to be one!

Week #8 Recap

Monday: 5 mile run 

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Thursday: yoga (20 minutes)

Friday: 10 mile run

Saturday: rest

Sunday: rest

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Be my friend on dailymile.com!

When do you usually do your long run?

What did your week of training look like?

Pumpkin Bread

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

I can’t decide which is a better perk of the fall season: good running weather or pumpkin-everything. It’s a close call.

Not only is pumpkin amazingly delicious, it is also sups healthy. 

That means I can eat a lot of pumpkin and it’s still okay, right?

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Makes 1 loaf

You will need: 9 in x 5 in bread pan

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups spelt flour
  • 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/2 cup almond slivers
  • 1/2 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Spray pan with cooking oil.

Beat together sugar and oil In a large mixing bowl beat sugar. Beat in eggs.

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves in a separate mixing bowl.

Add the water and half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Dump the remaining dry in the wet and mix well.

Beat in pumpkin and almonds.

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

Let cool before serving.

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I also used this batter recipe [and added some dark chocolate chips 😉 ] for some perfect little muffs!

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The mini-muffins bake @ 325° F for 20 minutes. Also let these guys cool.

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

Friday’s Five

Posted in Friday's Five by

an icing experiment gone horribly wrong, #pinterestfail

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trying Trader Joe’s famous Minestrone soup my fav blogger always talks about

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discovering a place to easily donate old furniture that I need to get rid of

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 my first pumpkin spice latte of the season

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this late night chocolate froyo masterpiece

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We made it to Friday! 🙂

Do you ever have failed attempts when making something from Pinterest? 

Are you doing anything fun this weekend? 

PRR Training Week 7: The Treadmill Sucks

Posted in Health, Run by

For some reason last week was a lil’ rough in the running department due to lack of motivation.

On Tuesday night I could not bring myself to go on my run until it was already dark outside. When I finally got around to putting on my running clothes, I wandered down to my gross apartment gym (instead of my fancy gym I to drive to). The one working treadmill was taken so I felt like it was a sign to skip my run.

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Great photo.

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*****

Since I was going out of town on the weekend, I knew I had to do my long run during the week or it wouldn’t happen.

I usually run at night because I am not the biggest morning person (HA) but the fall sunset time has already started. Now it is getting dark around 6:45pm = no trails. Also, it was hurricane-ing outside.

So that meant: the treadmill.

9 long, miserable miles on the treadmill.

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They were pretty darn ugly and slow, but I got through it. Though I kind of felt silly downing my fuel right from the cup holder on the treadmill. I alternated listening to music and reading my Nook every other mile (and finished the last book in The Maze Runner trilogy!)

My evening with the treadmill got worse when I went home and was super nauseous and cold. I got wise and googled “nausea after a long run” while laying on the bathroom floor and found out from HERE that it means you are dehydrated and your electrolytes need to be replenished with fuel or a sports drink. I guess the jelly sports beans either weren’t enough or I should try sports drinks instead. Luckily, I had some Cucumber Mint Nuun in the cabinet and slowly sipped a glass of it. All in all it took almost an hour and a half after the run to feel better.

Damn the treadmill.

Week #7 Recap

Monday: yoga, 8 – minute abs

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Thursday: 9 mile run

Friday: rest

Saturday: rest

Sunday: rest

Do you ever lose motivation to run during a training cycle? 

What is your favorite form of fuel? GUs and gummies or sports drinks?

Have you felt sick after a run before?

Sunshine Crepes and Beachy Shrimp

Posted in Food, Restaurants, WIAW by

Tuna and I ventured to Bethany Beach in Delaware last weekend with some friends and we managed to have a lot of fun even though it rained the entire trip! At least we could still enjoy one of the best things at the beach: the food. 

On the Saturday after we arrived we went down to the boardwalk area for brunch. We found a good crepes place on yelp called Sunshine Crepes and they were perfect. Just the right amount of everything (especially cheesy goodness).

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I got the Supreme: with egg whites, bacon, green peppers and onions, and cheddar – so, without the mushrooms. 🙂

I like how there are egg whites…and bacon.

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At first I was only going to get a savory crepe, but then decided that how could I go to a crepe place and only get one crepe?

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Had to get a sweet one too.

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*****

Nancy’s bf is quite the chef (he grew up on the Maryland shore) and made us a protein snack Saturday late night.

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These were THE best old bay steamed shrimp I have ever had. And no, that’s not just because it was 2am…

Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting What I Ate Wednesday! 

What is your favorite thing to eat at the beach? 

Garlic Orzo

Posted in Clean Eating, Food, Recipes, WIAW by

I don’t think this quite counts as a ‘real’ recipe because the main ingredient is store bought (kind of like last week….) but I don’t really care because I am loving whipping up quick dinners lately.

By the time I get off of work, do my run, and finally get home for the night, the last thing I want to do is spend an hour making a meal from scratch.

Enter the magical ready-made sauce:

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Perfect for throwing together savory pasta when hangry. 

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Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups uncooked orzo
  • 1 cup frozen broccoli
  • 1 1/2 cups frozen shrimp, cooked
  • 1/4 red onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup trader joe’s garlic sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

Cook orzo.

Heat a large skillet with olive oil and onions.

Zap the broccoli in the microwave and add to skillet, along with the thawed shrimp.

Let simmer for 3-4 minutes Add salt and pepper and garlic sauce and stir.

Pour sauce over pasta to serve.

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Thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting WIAW!