Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Running Weather

In my opinion, the perfect running conditions are cool (around 50 degrees) and cloudy. All I know is I hate being hot when I run. Absolutely, hate it.


Which brings me to the worst running conditions: 110 degree heat and sunny. I'd rather run in the snow. Seriously.


Living in Tennessee, I get to endure all kinds of running conditions: rain, heat, sleet, "snow", black ice, fog, tornadoes, monsoons, wildlife, cyclists who don't know how to properly ride bikes, stupid drivers, etc. - sometimes all within the same week. The good thing is if we don't like the weather, we just wait a few days for it to change. 


So far, in January, I have run in every type of clothing (or lack of clothing) possible. I've run in the high 20's and the high 60's - in the same week. This past Sunday I ran in shorts, and Monday night I ran in layers. It rained both days, but there was a 30 degree difference in temperature. When I wake up in the morning I have no idea what to wear to work. I don't even believe what my weather app says anymore.


Usually, it's rain or shine.


But sometimes it snows:


That's Tennessee "snow" for ya. Pretty, huh?


Right now, we are under a Winter Weather Advisory. I'm not even sure I know what that means around here. Does it mean that the sidewalk might be a little slick? Or does it mean there's a possibility there will be patches of white stuff on the bushes? Or that you might have to let your car run for 10 minutes before you leave the driveway? 


Really, I don't know. I just pay attention to the school closings. I love the Snowbird. He's music to a teacher's ears. 



All runners are different, so what are your favorite running conditions?

Mileage

For the past few weeks Chris has tried to get my weekly mileage up in the 30's, but of course I keep finding legitimate reasons to skip one or two runs, causing my mileage to stay in the upper 20's. This week I'm determined to hit 30 miles! Here's this week's schedule:



Monday: 5 easy
Tuesday: day off
Wednesday: 5: 1 w/u, 3 @ 7:30-8:00 pace, 1 c/d
Thursday: 4 easy
Friday: 3 easy
Saturday: 11-12 medium
Sunday: 1-3 easy


I'm so grateful to have a husband who puts my run schedule together, and has been doing so since we started dating back in June of 2011. I've gotten faster over the past year, and a lot of him it is because of him. 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Here's to healthy eating in 2013

I am the typical poster child for "People Who are Skinny, but Eat Pizza for Every Meal." Okay, maybe not
EVERY meal, but I definitely am not a health food nut. I can probably count on one hand how many vegetables I like. Growing up, I was an extremely picky eater. My mom would actually fix something different for me each night than what she cooked for the rest of the family. For the longest time I lived on pizza, corn dogs, hot dogs, grilled cheese, french fries, and chicken nuggets. But, low and behold, certain foods started to "grow" on me. 

My taste buds started to evolve, and I moved on to trying (not necessarily liking) different (exotic to me) foods. I didn't even start liking cheeseburgers until I was in my late teens, which resulted in me eating at the healthiest of all healthy places: Micky D's. I mean, I could get a large sweet tea and a cheeseburger for $2.00! I've always said if my metabolism ever catches up with me I'm going to be 300 pounds (Side note: I have not eaten a McDonald's cheeseburger in a very, VERY long time. Years, in fact, but I digress...) 

Now that I'm 28 I have broadened my food selections. Even if I don't like the way something smells or looks I will attempt to try it. I'll wrinkle my nose, yes, but I am more likely to try it now. However, I will never like peas, coconut, mushrooms, and a handful of other foods, but the truth is there are vegetables that are just foreign to me. Foreign in the sense that I don't know how to cook them or what they are. That's how small- minded my food brain is. 

For awhile I have been telling Chris that he should start eating gluten free foods, and both of us need to stop eating processed foods. This would be easier if I cooked on a regular basis. If I cooked at all. Anyway, Chris and I went grocery shopping today (our pantry and fridge were BARE!) Long story short, we loaded up the cart with fresh fruits and vegetables, gluten free foods, and as much unprocessed foods as we could. Except ice cream. I put ice cream in the cart. And chocolate milk.  

I have to say, I'm proud of us! It's only the first day, but I think we can do this. I even made him a "green smoothie" and he liked it (and I did,too!) I'm hoping this leads to a healthy 2013 for the both of us. 


Feel free to share any gluten free/ healthy recipes. Easy ones, please. Don't be sending me recipes with 50 ingredients unless you plan to cook it yourself. Oh, and is there a cheaper way to do this? Seriously. We spent over $200 on food today. It's a little ridiculous.  

Friday, January 4, 2013

Calling All Mommy Runners!

First, I feel this blog needs a disclaimer: 

I. AM. NOT. PREGNANT! 

I'm not even a little bit pregnant (I don't think...just kidding.)

All right, moving on. 

Even though I am not gonna be a baby mama in the next 9 months, I will be one someday, and I'd like to get some advice/suggestions from any moms out there who ran during their pregnancy. I know that everyone is different, and lots of factors can come into play (weight gain, health, illness, bed rest, doctor's orders, etc.), which is exactly why I wanted to post a blog, so that maybe, just MAYBE, I'd get feedback from different points of view. I know it's possible to run while pregnant, because I've read several blogs (maybe some of yours!) saying so. And I'm pretty sure I read an article about a woman who ran a marathon near the 40 week mark in her pregnancy? Yeah, I don't really want to give birth at the finish line, but more power to her. Of course, she had been running for years longer than I have, which I'm sure makes a difference. 

Anyway, here are a few questions I have for anyone willing to offer sound advice: 

1. How far into your pregnancy did you run?

2. How much did it slow you down?

3. Did you run to exercise or did you participate in races?

4. What distance(s) were you able to run? 

5. How painful was it? (Don't say it wasn't! I won't believe you.)

6. What was your motivation for running throughout your pregnancy?


7. Did your doctor encourage running?



I'm sure I'll think of more questions when I'm actually in the situation, but these will do for now. I'd love to hear any stories (negative or positive - don't worry, you won't scare me) about your experience. Thanks! :)




Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Running Record

I think the next book I download onto my Nook will be "Blogging for Dummies," seeing how I don't know how to do much except type words and add pictures. Maybe one day I'll figure out how to add tabs to the top of my blog. I'm stubborn and like to figure things out on my own, so we'll see how long it takes. I want to use them to link races, but since I'm stupid and don't know how, I'm posting them here :).

A little background info: I started running (using the Couch to 5k program) in May of 2011; ran my first race while training for my first 1/2 in October. By the time 2012 rolled around I was hooked on racing! You can read more about how I started running in my blog post, How I Became a Runner.


2011:

1. Run for Him 10k  10/9/11 
Race Summary
Time: 53:58 (3rd in my AG, but they only gave out awards for top 2. Boo!)

2. Nashville's I Run for the Party 1/2 Marathon  11/12/11
Race Summary 
Time: 2:04:33

3. Boro Dash 4 Mile Run 11/24/11 (3rd in AG - got a trophy this time!)
Time: 32:21


2012:

4. Zoo Run Run 5k 1/21/12
Time: 25:26

5. Cupid's Chase 5k  2/11/12
Time: 26:28 

6. Special Kid's 5k 3/31/12 (2nd in AG)
Race Summary
Time: 25:06

7. See Spot Run 5k 5/12/12 (2nd in AG)
Race Summary
Time: 24:32

8. Doughboy Run 5k 6/9/12 (2nd in AG)
Time: 25:15

9. Smyrna Parks 5k 8/4/12
Time: 25:13

10. The Middle Half 10/13/12
Splits 
Time: 2:02:55

11. Viva la Diva 10 miler 11/17/12
Race Summary/ Splits
 Time: 1:35:57

12. Boro Dash 4 Mile Run (1st race I've ever repeated) 11/22/12 
Race Summary/ Splits
Time: 31:21 - took off exactly one minute!


2013:

I typically write out my race schedule month by month, or base it off of what Chris runs. The following is just a start for the year. Will probably run a 5k at the end of January to test my speed.


*Cedars Frostbite Half 2/9/13 - This will be a warm- up race.

*The Tom King Half 3/9/13 - This one is big for me. Will be my first Half without my husband pacing me (other than Cedars.) Looking for a big PR!

*Special Kid's Race 5k 3/23/13 - This was one of my favorite races last year, and I'm excited to run it again!



More to come later! In case you didn't notice, I love 5k's. Short and fast is how I like most of my races :). I'm starting to branch out and run longer distances, though - especially since 10 miles is becoming somewhat "easy." I really do want to run one race a month, but I am more focused on mileage, increasing my speed, and staying injury free :).


Here's to a great 2013!