Me Day

Greetings Blogland!

I'm taking today as a me day. I've got a vacation day from work, I slept in and now I have the next few hours to work on my race day playlist, clean the house for my weekend visitors and lounge around with the kitties to fully rest my muscles :-) I'll be hitting up the expo later today (one of the best parts of race weekend!) and then enjoying a nice spaghetti dinner with a few of my favorite people.

My focus for the day is to keep my nerves at bay and just remember that I've done everything I can do.  I'll be dreaming dreams of sub-2 all day and night and giving this race all I've got. In past races I was too afraid to fight for one goal because I didn't want to end up disappointed but I think a little disappointment is okay and can be motivational. Regardless of my time I'll be happy knowing that I did my best (is that too corny?) so that's what I plan to do.

At some point I'll be back with a race report, hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Carb Loading?

With less than 48 hours until race time (yay!) I'm going a bit crazy over here. Physically, there isn't much more I can do. I plan on getting some good stretching in tonight and tomorrow and maybe squeezing in an easy bike ride or a long walk, purely because the weather here is beyond perfect, but that's about it. What I CAN do is completely obsess about everything else. Over the past week I've definitely read every article I could find about pre-half marathon routines. Despite this being my third half marathon I'm still approaching this whole thing like a beginner and trying to be as thorough as possible. Perhaps this is me trying to overcome my less than ideal training with perfect nutrition or something, but regardless I feel like I'm learning things.

So let's talk about carbs.

While perusing Runner's World I found a lot of differing opinions on exactly how many carbs one should eat pre-race. This article said a marathoner should eat 4.5-5.5g of carbs per POUND of body weight during the 2-3 days before a race, while this study showed that an average of 5-6g/kg of body weight led to an increased performance. What I took away from most of my research was that there really isn't an exact answer to this question. There's no magic number to aim for but there is proof that increased carb consumption does help.

What does that mean to me?

Generally, I strive to eat a lower carb diet. By no means does that mean LOW carb! When I first because a vegetarian (light years ago, ha) I relied on carbohydrates far too much. As I've grown up and learned more about my health (and become more serious about exercising) I've shifted my nutritional goals a bit. I aim to get more protein and good fats and a few less carbs. Since I'm "only" running a half marathon, I have simply shifted my diet around and I'm aiming (loosely) for 3-5g/kg for today and tomorrow. 

Something important to remember is that carbs aren't just bread- they are found in fruits and starchy vegetables (sweet potatoes are a fantastic source of carbohydrates!) too. Most of the articles I read also recommended staying away from foods high in fats and not eating too much fiber the night before the race (obviously). Here's a look at my planned eats for today

Breakfast

Greek yogurt pancakes made with 0% raspberry Chobani 

~44g carbs

Drinks

Vitamin Water Revive (normally I drink the Zero, but I want the potassium AND carbs today + tomorrow so I will drink the regular kind)

~32g carbs

Lunch

Baked tofu (marinated in dijon + agave) sandwich on double protein whole wheat bread w/ spicy red pepper hummus & romaine

1 clementine

~55g carbs

post-work snack

Thai Chili popchips 

~20g carbs

Dinner

Homemade burrito bowl (quinoa, black beans, sweet potato, red/orange peppers +onions, avocado, lettuce, 0% plain Chobani)

~53g carbs

Dessert

0% plain Chobani w/ raw blueberries + strawberries

~10g/carbs

Total Carbs

214g (!!!!!)

This puts me comfortably inside the 3-5g/kg range and also gives me a whopping 75g of protein for the day.  

What are your thoughts on carb loading? 

Meal Planning + Grocery Shopping for Two

After years of living with roommates (and not sharing food) and then living alone, I felt like I had just about mastered the art of grocery shopping for one. There were definitely some times when I would overestimate and things would go bad, but in general I felt like I had a perfectly stocked fridge. I loved knowing exactly what was at home and planning dinner as I walked home from work.

Oh my how things have changed!

Despite having lived together for a few years now I feel like I'm just finally getting getting the hang of shopping for our family of two. K. and I are both typically very active people who strive to eat as healthy as possible while living on a budget. All those things combined make grocery shopping a real chore. I've been working really hard at making a meal plan and then basing our grocery list off that and it seems to be pretty successful. Here's a look at the planned eats + groceries for this week.

Breakfast:
Eggs + toast, bagels w/ cream cheese, yogurt + fruit or pancakes. If not for the half this weekend, bagels wouldn't have made the grocery list but they are a nice little treat.

Lunches:
Salads, sandwiches (turkey for K., PB2 + jam for me), leftovers

Dinners:
Monday: eating up leftovers (random pizza for K., giant sweet potato + assorted greens for me)
Tuesday: Spicy Peanut Noodles
Wednesday: Giant Salad w/ baked tofu
Thursday: Messy Mexican Burrito Bowls
Friday: Pasta night
Saturday: cupcakes (oh just wait for these!) + out to dinner
Sunday: eat our way through leftovers

Grocery list

Fruit/Veg
Carrots, cucumbers, romaine, baby spinach, bok choy, avocados, green onions, red/orange peppers, cilantro, limes, bananas, apples  (I wasn't pleased with the organic apple selection so I got strawberries + blueberries on sale instead), frozen edamame, onions

Grainy Items
Brown rice noodles, linguine, blueberry bagels, Double Protein whole wheat bread

Dairy
Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, butter, buttermilk (both for cupcakes), light cream cheese, eggs, muenster cheese

Proteins
Black beans, tofu, turkey (for K.'s lunches), PB2, hummus

Drinks
Revive Vitamin Water Zero (SO MUCH POTASSIUM!), Naked coconut water

Snacks
Pop chips (sweet potato and Thai chili. They were on sale), popcorn kernels, flaxseed tortilla chips and salsa


Other 
Powdered sugar (for cupcakes), pasta sauce


Total money spent: $75

Very important thing that I forgot- CUPCAKE LINERS! Stupid Ashley.

I can't remember the exact split but we buy organic as much as we can- especially fruits and veggies. 

The snacks don't stand a chance of making it to the weekend, minus the popcorn kernels since I bought 2 lbs, but I bought more than enough to get us both through breakfast, lunch and dinner for nearly a week. We always have a pretty well stocked pantry so rice, quinoa, lentils, etc. are already in the house. K. also supplements his diet with protein powder after all his long rides + hard climbing days, so that helps to keep him full.

I'll report back on how long these last- I swear if I'm at the store for anything other than cupcake liners and tequila (an important ingredient in the cupcakes ;-) ) before next Monday I will not be a happy camper!

A kitchen success, a kitchen failure and my LAST training run!

Yesterday before I went to the grocery store I emailed K. the meal plan for the week + the snacks I planned on buying to see if he had anything to add (we are trying to stick to meal plans & grocery lists, but I've got a whole post dedicated to that coming up later today) and his only request was that I bump Thursday's dinner up to last night. So our planned salad night turned into Spicy Peanut Noodles

A few years ago K. and I were OBSESSED with making mac n' cheese. It was a very elaborate recipe and not even remotely healthy but it was insanely delicious. A couple months back I whipped up these easy peanut noodles and K. decided they should become our new mac n' cheese. I perused the internet for inspiration but I wasn't super stoked on any of the recipes I found- they either had too much oil, too much soy, too much honey or not enough PB. Here's my version of the sauce (enough for 3 large portions, or 1 normal sized portion and 1 K. sized portion):

3 T sesame oil + 1 T red pepper flakes cooked over medium heat for 4 minutes, strain out the red pepper flakes and return the oil to the pan.  Add in 4 T of PB2 (prepared per instructions on the jar), 3 T soy sauce and 2 T agave nectar. Stir to combine, adjust as needed. I added another sprinkle of dry PB2 and a squeeze of agave.

We used brown rice noodles and added in sauteed bok choy. I topped it off with green onions and cilantro. Quick and delicious.

This morning was my last training run! My legs were tired but I really just wanted to test out the temperature as the forecast for Saturday is looking a lot like today. According to weather.com it "felt like" 54, so I went with my favorite Moving Comfort shorts and a basic C9 tee. I did an easy two at a ~9ish pace. Admittedly I set out for three but I felt the slightest twinge in my foot so I stopped on the spot, not the time to get hurt! I was a tad chilly in the shade but the sun felt great. Since my race starts about an hour later than my run this morning and will be more than 6 times as long (eek) I think my planned outfit will be just fine.

Post run I stretched (which I will be doing a LOT more of over the next 48 hours) and attempted to tweak my favorite Greek yogurt pancakes. The result was a huge giant failure. I was able to salvage about half of the batter and turn it in an edible pancake but it was not delicious. I'm determined to achieve what I was going for and as soon as I do I'll share the recipe.

Tuesday Musings

Today is a list making kind of day.

1. Last night our neighbor double parked behind us despite there being many open spots in the parking lot (even one just a single spot over!). It made my blood boil! Such a passive aggressive thing to do. We do not have assigned spots but typically we try to leave the two spots behind their door open for them, we couldn't last night (other neighbor was unloading lots of stuff from his car) and they react in such a childish manner. Owning a home is looking better and better.

2. This week's Jillian workout was Six Weeks to 6-pack and man, my core is WEAK. The workout didn't seem all that hard but I just couldn't hang.

3. I know that carb loading is kind of a myth, especially 5 days before a half marathon, but I will use any excuse I can to eat a sweet potato that takes up half my plate (oh hey Jillian DVD)

4. I may turn into a coconut. I have been drinking coconut water like it is my job, yay electrolytes

5. 4 miles at an 8:50ish pace (progressive last mile down to a 7:30) felt like a freaking marathon. And I'm supposed to run 13.1 at a 9:10 in 4 days? Riiiiight.

6. Every since Hungry Runner Girl reminded me about 8-minute abs I've been trying to do it daily. I'm pretty sure I'll have a six pack soon.

7. Today really truly feels like Spring and I hope it sticks around! Tomorrow is May and I've been patient enough, I NEED WARM WEATHER.

8. Every morning, right when I am down to the wire and need to get out of bed instantly or else I'll be late for whatever I need to do- Charlotte turns into the cutest cat ever. She gets super cuddly and refuses to move, even if I start getting up or moving the blankets. I love days off so that I can enjoy her cuteness and not have to try to resist and get on with my day.

9. 92% of the photos on my phone are of food. (7% cats, 1% cars parking badly).

Happy Tuesday!

Confession Time

A few weeks back, equipped with my shiny new pair of Mizunos I planned to run 6 -10 miles. I would say it was an enthusiastic goal- I had been "run free" for almost two weeks plus I had new shoes to break in- others would say it was a downright plan for failure. After a few 80 degree days I woke up to a windy 30 degree morning. I really didn't want to run, not even a little bit. I procrastinated for as long as I could, sucked it up and headed out. It only took me about two minutes to realize this was not going to go well. I'll spare you the whiny details of how much this run sucked and sum it up with this:

Total Distance: 0.85 mi

Um, what? That is certainly not 6-10 miles. That can't even be considered a run. I regretted hitting "Save" on the RunKeeper data because I don't want this failure staring at me in the face.

As I walked home (why bother running?) I mentally ranted about how much I hated running. How I would never run a marathon (one of my 2013 goals), how I was going to drop out of the half and made plans to become a cyclist. By the time I reached my front door I had decided I was done with running. I was going to return the >$100 pretty new shoes on my feet, quit my current gym and sign up for CrossFit or a yoga studio. Anything but running. I would find something else I enjoyed just as much and running would be a thing of the past. 

I had hit my wall and now I had a choice to make. Turn around and go a different direction or climb it and move forward.

Sometimes my affair with running feels more like an abusive relationship than wedded bliss. But just like the saying goes you can't choose who (or in my case, what) you fall in love with. 

To be honest, I'm currently still sitting at my turning point deciding which way to go. Last week was all rainbows and kitties and dreams of marathons filling my head but this weekend was a little bit different. I'm going to give this half marathon my all, I'm putting everything I have on the line. I'm going to fight for the sub-2 that I set out to achieve in the first place. I want to finish knowing that I put my whole self into this. And then I'm going to enjoy a break from the pressure of a training plan. Focus on riding my bike more (because I have that duathlon that I kind of completely keep forgetting about) and run for enjoyment for a few weeks. The marathon I'm eyeing is in late October so my next training cycle is set to start in early June which will give me some time to get back to my roots. I've been falling in love with yoga and obsessing over the baby arm + back muscles I'm starting to see, so at least I'll have other things to focus on.

This doesn't mean I'm giving up or failing at being a "real runner", it's more like going through couples therapy. Taking some time to reevaluate the relationship and rediscover how you fell in love. Frustration and disappointment in not being able to reach my weekly goals has made me start to resent the sport and I don't want it to be that way. 

Has anyone else ever gone through a trial separation with running?

t-10 Days to Cap City!

Today is a big day- the first day that I can see the predicted weather for race day!

Given how unpredictable the weather has been around here lately I can't rely TOO much on a 10-day forecast but I would be mighty happy if this was exactly the weather I was running in (or a little warmer).

It's no secret that my training hasn't gone very well over the past 4-6 weeks. For the first part of the year I was sticking to my plan perfectly- I almost never missed a workout. Once an old injury started flaring up in mid-March I felt like I was at a loss for what to do next. I'd been here before. When I was training for my second half I was having a similar pain about 5 weeks out but I still ran a scheduled 12 miler and it was a HUGE mistake. I was sidelined for a month and didn't decide to run the race until two days before when I ran ONE pain free mile. I was running on the freshest legs of all time but I just didn't have the endurance that I was hoping to have. I finished (AND managed to PR) but boy did it hurt. I swore this time would be different. When the same exact injury flared up I should have made the connection to my shoes (I wish I would have!) but at least I cut back on the running and tried to stay smart. 

Since officially getting back on a regular schedule here's what it's been looking like

Friday 4/19              6 miles
Saturday 4/20          4 miles
Sunday 4/21            1 hour Vinyasa class
Monday 4/22            rest
Tuesday 4/23           5 miles in the a.m., NMTZ at night
Wednesday 4/24      3 miles 
Thursday 4/25          rest/ cross (if I don't work tonight I'll get on the bike trainer for an easy 30 minutes)

I'm smart enough to know that nothing I can do over the next 10 days training wise can really help me but it CAN certainly hurt.  I want to keep my running to every other day (or two). 

Friday 4/26            30 minutes cross, 30 minutes strength (arms + abs)
Saturday 4/27        6 miles EASY
Sunday 4/28          1 hour Vinyasa class
Monday 4/29          40 minutes running + Jillian at night (probably a core DVD, not NMTZ)
Tuesday 4/30         rest
Wednesday 5/1      30 minutes running, maybe an easy speed workout
Thursday 5/2          pilates/yoga (easy, really focusing on stretching)
Friday 5/3              rest/30 minutes cross depending


I'm really putting my energy into everything I can control. Hydrating, eating super clean, no alcohol, in bed by 10p each night, etc. I function well on a strict schedule and actually kind of enjoy it (I'm not sure what that says about me, haha). I wish my weekend was a little more open but between volunteering and second job I'll pretty much be on the go. 

The one thing I haven't settled on is my race plan. Sub-2 is still a big goal for me but I'm not sure if this will be the race for it. My pace hasn't really been struggling too much but I wonder if I can maintain it for 13.1 miles after all this time off. I'll have to decide if I want to commit and start off with the 2 hour pacer or if I want to just focus on a PR and go out with the 2:05. I know that I'll start the race with one of the groups. I've been reviewing my splits from the last two HMs and my first miles are just crazy fast compared to the rest (I was pacing ~ 8:45/mi for the first 4 miles of my last half and ended with a 2:06 final time, whoops). 

Any suggestions? Should I start with the 2:05 and catch up with 2:00 if I have it in me? Or push it from the gun and hope I can maintain?

My tentative sliding scale of goals is as follows

A. Sub-2. The spirits align, the weather is perfect, all is right in the world!
B. PR (sub 2:06)  My legs are a bit tired or it's too cold or I didn't sleep well. Something didn't go my way
C. 2:09 (still faster than my first half) More than one thing isn't right
D. Finish the race. And still feel good about it. Everything sucked, maybe it snows. But at least I ran!