I Ran Outside!

Breaking news...I finally ran outside again!  TWICE last week!  And I actually think all that treadmill running has made me faster outside.  In other news, my knee has still been bothering me, mostly when I bend it, so I'm didn't lift leg weights last week and plan on taking it light this week to test it out.  But all this speedy running has definitely been working my quads so I'm still feeling the burn. And good news is that my knee doesn't hurt when I run.

Last week went down like this:

January 23-29, 2012

Monday: Back, Abs and Cardio - CHECK - Ran 3 miles on the treadmill with a speedy mile in the middle
Tuesday: Chest, Calves and Cardio  - CHECK - I think I did the elliptical but I don't remember
Wednesday:  Arms, Abs and Cardio  - Ran outside with my friend instead and we covered 4.75 miles including a large HILL
Thursday:  Shoulder and Cardio - Arms, Abs and Cardio - Cardio was 45 minutes on the bike
Friday: Attempt Legs depending on my knee - Shoulder and Cardio - I was at the gym at 5AM for this workout, I felt so accomplished :)
Saturday:  7 mile run...super speedy for me and it felt great!  1:03:00 - 9:03 pace
Sunday: REST!

Last week was my last official week of the LiveFit trainer but I'm just going to go back to the beginning and do the weight routines in order to keep up the hard work I've already done. The first phase was all about weight lifting and NO CARDIO but I'm going to do the lifting and add cardio when I need to run.  My number one goal this time around is to record what I lift so I can see how much I improve.  I always do a great job in the beginning of a weight program but then get lazy so I never really know how much I've improved except for the fact that I can now do twice as many regular pushups as before and I don't actually die when trying to complete more than 1 tricep pushup :).

This week will hopefully look like this:

January 30 - February 5, 2012

Monday: Chest & Tricep + 3 mile on the treadmill with some sort of intervals thrown in there
Tuesday: Back & Bicep + some sort of cario
Wednesday: Run with Carol - she wants to attempt 6+ miles so I'll probably consider this my long run for the week
Thursday: Legs & Calves - Going to try this light on the weights to see how my knee behaves
Friday: Shoulders & Abs + 3-4 easy miles of runnin
Saturday: REST - but won't actually be resting at all since I have to work an event all day on my feet :(
Sunday: GO TO YOGA!

In delicious food news I bought the Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook 2 this weekend and made Halibut with Minted Lima Bean Puree for dinner...fancy!! And delicious!!

I should probably become a food photographer :)

Question: Do you have any foods you are scared to cook?  I used to be scared of halibut because it's so expensive I don't want to ruin it but I got comfortable with salmon and other white fish first before upgrading to trying halibut.

Want to know 11 things about me?

I thought you did!  I feel like such a legitimate blogger after Pain is Nothing tagged me in this 11 things post that has been going around. 

The rules of this post:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog (FB page or other Social site) and tell them you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag people! <---I have no idea what this is talking about but I'll just link to people at the end of this and if they see it they see it, if not...whatever!

11 Random Facts about MarathonLar that you probably never wanted to know:

1. I grew up in Eastern Washington hours away from any ocean but had an obsessive love for all things whales growing up and actually got a degree in marine biology.
2. I have really bad road rage when driving alone and have to try really hard to contain myself when others are in the car.
3. I've only broken one bone in my life so far...my arm...doing a running somersault.  Needless to say I never got into gymnastics. 
4. But I did dabble in figure skating and baton twirling when I was younger. 
5. My dog, Stacey, is named after my childhood friend (who I'm still friends with) who was actually scared of dogs growing up and still hasn't quite warmed up to them.
6. My family loves TV and my dad jokingly says that our family motto is: "It's not WHAT you're watching, it's THAT your watching."
7. Which meant canceling my cable recently to save money is KILLING me and I've been known to kill time on the elliptical at the gym just to catch up the Real Housewives or the Kardashians. 
8. I've been a bridesmaid 7 times now...never the bride ;).
9. I just bought my first pair of Lululemon pants...and now I have to wait two torturous weeks for them to get hemmed.  
10. I eat two scrambled eggs for breakfast every single morning
11. I want to move to a tropical island and live a life of leisure as a bartender or barista! 

Now I have to answer questions from Pain is Nothing:

1. Favorite Color: ORANGE!
2. What's your favorite season? Late summer when it actually gets warm in Seattle
3. Do you have any pre-race superstitions? No superstitions necessarily but routine for SURE!  The key for me is having a hearty breakfast with coffee 2 hours before race time.
4. Favorite food: Chocolate!
5. If you could run a race anywhere, what would it be? Anywhere along a beautiful coastline! But I do have dreams to run all the world major marathons :)...got one down...Chicago!
6. Would you be doing a different career now, if you knew back then what you know now?  If money wasn't an issue I would run my own coffee shop
7. How many states have you traveled to? Oh man, if I had to guess and didn't include airports I would say about 15.
8. What's one thing that scares you? Right now...my dog dying eventually since she is starting to show her age more and more every day :(
9. Where is your favorite place to workout? I'm kind of obsessed with my gym right now
10. Would you want to live forever? No, because then what would there be to live for ;)
11. What's the best piece of advice you have received? Wow, this is a tough one...my dad always told me to "pay yourself first" in regards to saving for retirement and I've always listened to that.

So I'm going to be lame and break the rules and not tag anyone...sorry!  But answer the following in the comments for fun:

1. Do you remember the first blog you started following?  Mine was The Runner's Kitchen

2. Name one non running/fitness thing you are doing this weekend? I'm going to two concerts!

I'm Becoming a Weather Wimp

It's true, I've become a weather wimp.  Since I've been doing much more weight lifting that requires me to go to the gym I figure I might as well just stay there and run on the treadmill right? No use having to change into a totally new outfit and brave the elements to run outside after the gym is my thinking.  Well, when it came to do my long run last weekend that I told myself "NO EXCUSES" on, there was still snow and slush all over the sidewalks so I braved the treadmill for the 6 miles I had planned.  I have no idea how people like Christy and Christine run in sub zero temps all the time.  But I survived the treadmill and I kind of like it!  I copied a 6 mile treadmill workout from Tina over at Carrots 'N Cake to try and switch it up so I didn't die of boredom.  I'm not as speedy as Tina so my workout looked like this:  

6 miler 800's and 400's Workout

6.7 mph is a little under a 9:00 pace which is my goal for the half marathon so it's the perfect interval speed for me.  I was a sweaty sweat mess after this workout and while I was walking to the locker room I noticed a couple people sort of staring me down.  When I finally looked at myself in the mirror my face was BRIGHT red, they probably thought I was about to pass out!  I completed this workout in just under an hour.

I altered my weekly plan last week since my knee is still bothering me a little and I didn't think it would be a great idea to do the leg workout so it looked like this instead:

January 16-21, 2012
Monday: Back, Abs and Cardio (cardio = 4.0 3.0 mile run on treadmill)
Tuesday: Legs Chest, Calves and Cardio (cardio = 45 minutes on elliptical)
Wednesday: Chest, Calves and Cardio Arms, Abs and Cardio (cardio = 3.8 mile run on treadmill)
Thursday: Arms, Abs and Cardio Shoulder and Cardio (cardio = 45 minutes elliptical)
Friday: REST - I'm hosting a dinner party that evening and have to cook cook cook!
Saturday: Cardio - the program has an hour of cardio on one day so I have NO excuse not to run 6-7 miles - did the above treadmill workout!
Sunday: Shoulder and Cardio - REST - body said it needed another rest day so I listened.

This week is the last week for me for on the LiveFit program.  I have plans to sort of start it over to keep building and maintaining the muscle I've developed.  I've been seeing some amazing results from people who stuck to the plan and cleaned up their diets a ton so I might try doing a little better on the eating front the next time around.  I'm not sure if I'll do a total program recap since I didn't follow it nearly 100%, but you might get some pros and cons from me out of it and maybe a before and after arm picture :).

Here is what I'm planning this week:

January 23-29, 2012
Monday: Back, Abs and Cardio
Tuesday: Chest, Calves and Cardio 
Wednesday:  Arms, Abs and Cardio
Thursday:  Shoulder and Cardio
Friday: Attempt Legs depending on my knee
Saturday or Sunday: 7-8 mile run while visiting parents, other day will be rest...I hope my feet remember the feel of real pavement ;)

Question: I can't think of a fitness related question right now so, tell me what exciting non-running thing you are up to this week?  I have friends cooking me dinner two nights in a row this week!  Yeah for not having to plan my dinner for half the week!

Three Things Thursday - Snowed In Edition

I'm not sure if you've heard, but the Pacific Northwest got blasted with a winter storm the past two days.  I have about 3 inches on the ground here covered by 1/2 inch of ice.  Now, I know what many of you people might be thinking...3 inches...wimpy!  And while I agree with you, Seattle is NOT prepared for this...we don't have many snow plows and there are huge hills around every corner.  Basically the city is at a standstill and I've been off work for two days now.

Here is what I've been up to all snowed in...

1. Redbox: I don't have much cable and with this weather the ONLY thing on is continuous news coverage about where it's snowing and videos of people sliding down hills in their cars.  But I do have a redbox literally next door to where I live.  I've been really busy watching Fright Night, Super 9, The Ides of March, and Another Earth.

Really, really good movie! source

2. Cooking and Baking: Between movies, napping, and cleaning, I did some cookin!  I made some amazing roasted brussel sprouts and butternut squash with a maple dijon dressing, recipe to come!  I'm also experimenting with coconut flour right now and baked up a banana bread with it.  It looks pretty weird, but doesn't taste bad at all!

3. Snuggling with my pup: Sometimes I feel like the worst dog owner on the planet when I'm gone at work all day and then come home for 5 minutes and leave to do something else, so being home these past couple of days has been nice, although Stacey has been mostly doing this:

this confirms my suspicions that she literally sleeps ALL day long on my bed

Question: What is your favorite indoor activity on a snowy day?

Growing On Me

I'm sure if you've followed me on Daily Mile for any period of time you would know that I used to HATE running on the treadmill.  I'm pretty sure every run that was on a treadmill included one or more of the following words: "dreadmill, hate, slow" and others.  However, since the marathon I have been spending ALOT more time at my gym and kind of growing to like the treadmill...we aren't in love yet but we are getting along really well right now!

The fact that I actually look forward to jumping on the treadmill after a weight routine is kind of crazy to me but last week I did a couple of really challenging, sweat pouring workouts on the treadmill I thought I would share.

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One-Minute Intervals
1. 5-10 minute warm-up at a slow jog
2. 1 minute fast interval
3. Rest for 1.5 minutes at a slow jog
4. Repeat steps 3-4 until desired distance goal
5. Cool-down

I did the above steps 1 and 3 between 5.0-5.5 and my intervals were at 7.5mph which is an 8:00 pace.  I felt pretty out of breathe by the end of each interval but the 1.5 minute rest gave me just enough time to prepare for the next one.  I ran these with a 3 mile overall goal and did 9 intervals in that time including a few minute cool-down.

400 Meter Intervals
1. 1 mile slow jog warmup
2. 400 meter (1/2 mile) interval
3. 200 meter (1/4 mile) rest at fast walk to slow jog
4. Repeat 2-3 until desired distance or number of intervals
5. Cool-down

I had a goal of 4 repeats and I wanted to complete them at half marathon goal pace so I ran each at 6.7 mph (about 9:00 miles).  The intervals wiped me out so the rest were between 3.5-5.0 mph.  I ended up running a total of 4 miles.

Let's review last week shall we!

Week of January 9-5, 2012:
Monday: Leg day! - CHECK!
Tuesday: Back, Arms, Abs + 3 mile run - CHECK did 1 minute interval workout above
Wednesday: Chest, Shoulders, Abs + 6 mile run with friend  weather was nasty so I did 30 minutes on the elliptical instead
Thursday: Back, Biceps, Abs + sprints - CHECK did the 400 meter repeats above instead of the prescribed sprints
Friday: Shoulder, Triceps, Calves - CHECK plus added 30 minutes of elliptical
Saturday: REST - CHECK!
Sunday: REST or Yoga - YOGA...I did it!  I tried a yoga episode on hulu.com that was great except for the commercial breaks in the middle of poses!

More reasons to love Hulu Plus - they have about a million yoga programs! Only 7 bucks a month!

I'm now on the last two weeks of the LiveFit program and they consist of doing high reps in a circuit like fashion and it's completely different then anything I've ever done at the gym so it should be interesting.  And I NEED to get a long run in this week, that is my number one goal.

January 16-21, 2012
Monday: Back, Abs and Cardio (cardio = 4.0 mile run on treadmill)
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Chest, Calves and Cardio
Thursday: Arms, Abs and Cardio
Friday: REST - I'm hosting a dinner party that evening and have to cook cook cook!
Saturday: Cardio - the program has an hour of cardio on one day so I have NO excuse not to run 6-7 miles
Sunday: Shoulder and Cardio - might forgo the cardio for some yoga

Question: Any crazies out there ever do a long run on a treadmill?  Like I said above I'm liking a treadmill more not loving it and the most I've ever gone was 6 miles on one and it was pure torture!

Three Things Thursday - Link Edition

Another 2012 goal...try to consistently do a Three Things Thursday!  This week's is three links I've come across this week that you should check out:

1. Blueberry Protein Muffins: I'm ALWAYS skeptical of how things like this will taste.  With only 70 calories a muffin how could these possibly taste delicious and moist and even a bit buttery when there is no butter or oil?  But, they are delicious!  I substituted Splenda for the Xylitol (I don't even know what that is) and vanilla extract for almond extract.  If you aren't used to Splenda I would recommend doing half sugar half Splenda and go from there.  Next time I think I'll try using half oat flour and half whole oats to give it more texture.

worst food pic ever but I promise these are yummy!

2. Race Medal Debate:  The Runner's Kitchen is literally the first running blog I started reading and following and up until today I always enjoyed the posts.  While this is a guest post, I'm sure Megan agrees with Sara.  Go read it for yourself and let me know what you think.  Personally, I love my race medals and think of them as a personal accomplishment, not that I actually WON the race...well I WON it for me and that is all that matters.

That orange polka dot one is my favorite...homemade with love from my running pal Stacey when one half marathon we completed didn't have finisher medals!

3. Organic Authority website: You would think of all the internet stalking I do I would have known about this site but a good friend brought it to my attention this week and while I've only stalked it for about 20 minutes so far I love everything on it and have already marked a couple recipes for a dinner party I'm hosting next weekend.  Check it out!!

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Question: Do you treasure all of your race medals and bibs?  I admit I usually toss medals from 5 and 10K's but I keep all my bibs and try to remember to write my race times on each.

It's Time...

to get serious about running again that is.  I have definitely struggled to get back into running since the marathon but I have been seriously loving weight training so much more lately.  With the Mercer Island half on my calendar in 11 weeks I know I need to at least try to run a few times a week.  At first I was planning on following  a plan, specifically Hal Hidgon's Intermediate plan. BUT...I have never run 5 days a week, even while marathon training and I'm not about to start.  So, in an effort to try and maintain and improve my strength training and hopefully PR in the half marathon my goals for the next 11 weeks are:

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1. THREE runs a week: I'm going to aim for 3 runs and attempt to get 4 per week when the mood strikes.  One run will be a long run and one will be a speed workout of sorts.  I'm going to try and follow Hal's plan only to reference the interval or tempo workouts for the week.

2. FOUR strength training sessions a week: This shouldn't be a problem since I've been used to doing 5 for the past few months but finding the balance between running and strength might be a tad difficult.

3. ONE yoga/stretch session a week:  I feel like I'm probably setting myself up for failure on this one since I didn't do it during marathon training but maybe you all can tell me how great yoga is for runners and it will help me do it. 

I'm also attempting to finish the LiveFit program and I have three weeks to go so my running might suffer a little until then, but I'm confident I can fit in the runs necessary to perform well in March.

So to bring back Say It Do It from my marathon training days here is what I'm planning on doing this week:

Week of January 9-5, 2012:
Monday: Leg day! I'm cutting and pasting from the 2 leg days on LiveFit so I'm just doing 1 leg day
Tuesday: Back, Arms, Abs + 3 mile run
Wednesday: Chest, Shoulders, Abs + 6 mile run with friend
Thursday: Back, Biceps, Abs + sprints
Friday: Shoulder, Triceps, Calves
Saturday: REST
Sunday: REST or Yoga (I should probably try to do this the first week of my new goals right?)

And I laughed so hard at this photo I had to share...you're welcome!

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Question: How many days a week do you run when training for a race?

Now it's 2012

So 2012 arrived without much fanfare as most New Year's do.  Along with Halloween and Valentine's day I find New Year's Eve to be one of the most overrated holidays that I still feel required to do something fun.  Plus it's a great excuse to drink lots of champagne and go dancing with your friends!

Plus NYE is a great excuse to wear whatever you have that has sparkles on it :)

Along with a new year comes new resolutions.  I was asking my good friend (that cute one in the photo above in fact) if she had any new years resolutions and she told me that she doesn't do resolutions but sets goals for herself instead.  I like the way goals sound so I'm going with that.  Here are a few of my fitness/healthy living goals for this year:

1. NO fast food: Yep, none...no late night McFlurry's or french fries from McDonald's for this girl.  This won't be too difficult since I rarely eat fast food anyways but this year will be the year to banish it for good!


2. NO bread or pasta products: I haven't mentioned on this blog yet but I've pretty much been doing this for a couple months now and I feel amazing!  No more stomach issues, I feel lighter in general and never feel bloated or weighed down after meals.  I haven't been eating grains either but I don't want to include them since I know some grains are really good for you and I like to include them sometimes.

3. Run a sub 2 hour half marathon: This will happen this year during one of my two half marathons or I'll just sign up for more half marathons until I do :). 

4. Do a pullup: Just one pullup is all I ask, unassisted, just my body weight.  I've been working hard using Jamie Eason's LiveFit trainer and I'm definitely stronger, but still not quite at a pullup yet.  This goal will help me to remember to do strength training along with running as well.

5. Get more involved with Girls on the Run: I was a running buddy last year and it was an amazing experience.  I volunteered at the winter 5K a couple months ago and was introduced to a couple ladies that I'm anxious to get more involved  with helping.  I'm kicking off this goal by going to an auction committee meeting next week to see what I can do.

I think that is enough to focus on for the year in addition to a couple other personal goals I have.   I'll be back next week with my plan for the Mercer Island half marathon on March 25.  For now I will leave you with the most amazing sunrise this morning...and yes this is my view from my office.  It literally lasted about 5 minutes and then the sky went dark before it even got light and has been pouring ever since...oh Seattle!

Question:  When is your first race this year?  Maybe you were one of those crazies who ran one on New Year's Day!