Jinx.

My final training run has bit the dust!  Now I just need to manage to get through the next week without breaking a leg, toe, etc….  Thank you Kelsey for giving me a nice close call with the broken toe thing this past week… Note to self, pinky toes < 10lb dumbbells… Next Sunday I will be in Appleton running like the wind! (or so I like to tell myself )  I’ll probably jinx myself by typing this but considering how my run went this weekend and two weekends ago, I am thinking a 2:05 half might be possible??  Then I’ll just need to figure out a way to shave another 5 minutes off the darn thing and I will be able to claim a sub-2 1/2 to my running record!!!  Someday maybe???

I ended up waking up super early this morning – like 4:30am – and could not fall back asleep so I decided that was maybe just a sign I was supposed to get this show on the road sooner rather than later.  It ended up being a good thing because I still managed to creep around the house for like 3 hours before actually leaving….  Thank you 17 Kids and Counting on instant streaming on Netflix  But either way, I was out the door by 7:30am so technically still earlier than normal for me.  It really felt like Fall this morning and I loved the cool crisp weather for running.  Hopefully this sticks around until next weekend and then I don’t care what happens!  It can snow for all I care but no more horrible heat like that half marathon that shall remain nameless.  (Apparently I have yet to publish this post??  I swear I wrote it at some point….)

In the theme of totally jinxing myself, today’s run was also surprisingly…easy.  Or at least the first 10.5 miles were easy and then the last .5 felt like forever but that was probably just because I was so close to home.  I finished with a pace of 9:35/mile which for me is pretty darn good!  After the run, I came back, filled back up with a smoothies and pancakes and then showered to get ready for lunch – lol!!  Love that long run hunger monster.  Now we are off to the apple orchard for a little Fall festivities  Have a good rest of your Saturday!

This is Why…

…my alarm gets set for 5:30am so I can HOPE to be ready to leave for my run by 8 am…

Pre-Run pictures must be taken...

Pre-run breakfast must be eaten...

Post-run smoothie must be assembled...

…UnderArmor compression shorts are the best inventions ever.  Old Navy running shorts are great for shorter runs but this morning, Hello Chafing and Riding Up!

…drinking coffee BEFORE going on a run is not the best idea.  I will get 30 seconds from home and realize I REALLY need to pee

…hairspraying (yes, that is a verb) my head/sweat band in place is a good idea. (Trying to hold a water bottle in your mouth while adjusting your hair will just result in the spilling of your sticky water all over yourself and the side walk )

…Clif Shots rock.  Not only do they work awesome!  but they also make a Margarita flavor.  I will be trying to find these today!  Yes they are a bit processed but my stomach accepts them, they do not have gluten and they keep me from bonking – so… order me up a box!

…my 9 mile runs are jinxed.  About 6 miles into my run this morning, it started pouring rain!  Truth be told, I actually kind of like running in the rain but always worry about my iPod going berserk from getting wet… My last three attempts at a nine mile run have not gone very well so I am not at all surprised something random like a rainstorm occurred this morning!  Ummm.. holy crap – 4 weeks weeks and I will be halfing!!

Wetness! And no, that is not sweat... (notice the water droplet coming off the glasses...)

…this 9 mile run ROCKED! I finished in 1:26 minutes (9:35min/mile average) and that included two breaks, one to talk with the Sister as I passed her walking on the trail and another to talk with some random dude on a bike who wanted to know how much longer the running path would go.  I told him to Port Washington (20ish miles) so he was probably good to keep going that way

…you don’t want me making you a recovery smoothie.  This is probably the grossest color to come out of the little beast.  But might I also add, there are zero flecks of spinach in this.  Impressive.  And it tasted 10x better than it looked.

Almond milk, banana, strawberries, pineapple, protein powder, carrots and spinach walk into a Vita-Mix...

…breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day.  And especially THIS breakfast.  French toast oats by Edible Perspective, topped with my new favorite gluten free granola, hemp seeds, cacao nips and almond butter.

I promise that there is oatmeal under all those toppings!

Ok, the neighbors are starting to complain about the smell coming from this girl.  Time for a Shower!  And then I think some furniture shopping for maybe a new couch, some random something from Kohl’s with a $10 card that expires today and maybe a medicine ball from the sporting goods store with a $10 bucks back reward!  Oh yeah, and I need to get the wee little pup some more food and cut his hair finally!  Saturday’s never fail to go too fast!!

Confidence.

My (semi-modified/squashedintofitafter my Summerfest Half Marathon) training plan for my upcoming half marathon had me scheduled to run 7 miles this morning.  I had slept well, the sun was shining and the temps were finally not in the Unbearable Range.  Everything was cooperating perfectly… except my stomach!  I have been super stressed lately and my stomach seems to be bearing the brunt of the symptoms – weak!  But anyways, relaxing for a bit in the morning after I had a little pre-run breakfast (bread, PB2 and banana) and some water gave me time to find a new to me blog and a not new on that blog but new to me 30 day series that I am hopeful will help me reduce my (self-imposed) stress and be a little kinder to myself   The post for the first day of the challenge is Confidence.  Now, I wish just being confident my stomach would not start making flips while I am running would be enough to really not make it do so!!  But oh well… I set out for my run a little later than normal for me, 9:00am, and took the 70+ minutes of my 7ish mile run to reflect on what I can be confident in.

My running fuel of late, 1Tish of agave and my homemade sports drink.

I came up with the following list of items that were heavily influenced by the song that happened to come on my iPod at the start of each mile:

• Beauty will Rise.  I am confident in the fact that regardless of how bad I might feel about something or how dim the outlook is, in the end the Beauty will Rise and I will realize that there was a reason for the bad and that the “bad” eventually is replaced by something good.
• I am confident that God loves me.  Not much to add to this one but I know it’s true and therefore, I know it’s gonna be OK.
• I am confident that I am strong.  A few years ago, it took everything I had to do a few pushups on my knees and run a mile or so.  Today, I can do 30+ pushups ON MY TOES, and run a half marathon.  That’s saying something!
• I am confident that anything longer than 3-4 miles will never be an “easy” run and I should stop telling myself it will be
• I am confident that I am the one who holds the power to make changes in my life.  I have lived the majority of my life very passively.  Things have always just randomly landed in my lap.  But recently I have felt very trapped and confined by these circumstances and I now know that I am the one who is going to need to make changes happen.  Not sure what these will be yet but eventually I will!
• I am confident that I do not run because I am good at it, I run because I WANT to!  I will never be the one breaking records or winning awards at races, but that is OK.  I am confident I will keep running though because for some reason, I really like it
• I am confident that my body sometimes knows better than me what I need and I should therefore listen to it!  It was really hot this morning on my run and my stomach was still being a little sassy so I had to take it easy and take LOTS of walking breaks but I did and you know what, I still finished my distance for the day and feel fine now!  Something that would not have happened if I would have just tried to muscle through and run too fast for the situation.

Two other random confidences I decided on today are : 1) it is not OK to tuck your water bottle in your pants – gross!!! and 2) I will always have a minor heart attack when a dog comes running up to me without a leash on (I was attacked by a dog while running back in 2008)!

My run today really did not go that spectacularly.  Waiting until a little later in the morning gave the sun lots of time to heat up the pavement on the trail I decided to run on and there is no shade on it!  I used to run on this trail a lot last spring and now remember why I bailed on using that course during the hot summer runs!  OOOO eee!!  Next week I will stick to my shady neighborhood route!  I also just felt a little nauseous the whole time so I really did not feel like trying to break any land speed records today.  I also had to cut the run short at about 6.5 miles to stop home but then finished up the last .5 miles barefoot.  I really do love running without my shoes on, especially after how hot and sweaty they got this am!  In all, I finished in about 75 minutes or so.  Approx 10:20 pace for when I was moving.

Once I got back, I sucked down a protein enhanced smoothie and did some ab exercises and this Carrots and Weight workout that I have been using the last three weeks or so – man, now my arms AND legs are shot for the day!!  Time to go tackle the lawn that has gotten a little too “wild” looking and maybe make a trip to my Mecca, Whole Foods, later!  Happy Saturday!

Random backyard shot…