Wednesday, July 31, 2013

July Totals, August Goals and Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

It's the end of the month! I feel like June dragged on and July flew by!  Here are my July totals:

Notice there's no swimming?  I did.  I decided to skip the tri I wanted to do in 11 days since I am absolutely not prepared at all.  I just couldn't get a balance going between marathon training and working (and laying on the couch watching T.V).

I use to register for all of my races in January so I would, a) get a cheaper price and b) have time to plan and prepare.  I think that is what I will do next year.  That way I won't be trying to squeeze in all these other races and workouts that don't really fit in.  And maybe I'll have a new bike by then, eh??

Onto August goals.

While I was cleansing, I felt really good after a couple of days.  I lost a ton of weight and my runs felt really good.  I told myself I would eat healthy after the 10 days were finished, but it has been a bigger struggle than I thought it would be.  I've just been lazy and have had junk food in the house to munch on, which I didn't during my cleanse.

My husband is trying to eat healthier as well, so I think it's a great time to try and stick to clean eating.  So, my first goal is

1) Don't eat out (unless it's something without processed foods) and eat as clean as possible (minus running nutrition).  I've tried to make my own gu twice before, the second time was just last week.  Neither time turned out well.  So, I think I've accepted the fact that I just have to buy them for the best results.

My favorite things to eat during my cleanse were the easiest to make.  A recipe to curb my salty potato chip/french fry craving used a sweet potato.

Sweet Potato French Fries Recipe

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut in thin circles
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
.5 tsp chili powder
.5 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste



Preheat oven to 400.  Combine EVOO, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until combined.  Put sliced sweet potatoes in a large zip lock bag and pour EVOO mixture over sweet potatoes.  Seal bag and move potatoes around in the bag until they are covered with the EVOO mixture.
Take a 13x9 cookie sheet and cover with aluminum foil.  Spray nonstick cooking spray onto it.  Pour sweet potatoes onto aluminum foil and spread evenly over the cookie sheet.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, flipping once halfway through.  I like mine very crunchy - almost burnt - so I cooked mine for about 30 minutes.

 2) Stick to my running plan!  I am following Hal Higdon's Marathon Novice 1 program for my first marathon in October.  I know it will be here before I know it.  I want to make sure I'm ready and I don't go into the race wishing I had done more.

3) Lose at least 5 lbs by August 31.  I think that's a very conservative and realistic goal.  I would like to be down at least ten more lbs by my race in October.  I think it will help with my endurance and speed to make me a better runner.

Hopefully all of these goals will work together and I will end up with a very successful August!

Do you have any goals for August?  What are they?

Monday, July 29, 2013

New Shoe Monday

I had mentioned here that my foot was really bothering me on my last long run.  I currently wear Brooks Pure Connect 2 and love them!

Brooks Pure Connect 2
I think it's time for a new pair for my long runs though.  These shoes are much lighter than I had usually worn.  I never had any  problems breaking them in except some calf soreness...until Saturday's run.  I can probably still wear these on the shorter runs, but I don't think my feet are strong enough to handle the minimum support for the 3-4 hours that I'll be running soon.

It was go time when I was browsing through Brooks website, like I often do, and came across the Ghost 5's that were on sale!

Brooks Ghost 5


They rarely go on sale.  Just about once a year when the new one's come out they will put the old one's on sale and I always seem to miss it.  I hope these shoes work out.  I haven't worn this style, but they are similar to the Defyance that I use to wear and love.

I have some foot pain after today's 3 mile run, but hope massaging it with a tennis ball will work with relaxing the tendon, which is what I self diagnosed the problem to be.  I keep having to find the ball, because my cat keeps whacking it under things!

Now, the challenge is patiently waiting for my shoes to arrive!

Do you have a favorite brand of shoes?  Or do you just wear different shoes every time?

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Running Playlist

I am constantly on the look out for new songs to run to.  I've revamped my list from here, but I am already getting tired of the songs I have.

Here is my new list:



It's just under 4 hours of music.  Hypothetically, if I were to listen to music the whole time of my marathon, I would need at least 6-6.5 hours of music that I loved.

Any suggestions?  What are your favorite songs?

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Yesterday was my long run, 13.1 miles.  I decided to try and make my own gu after discovering I didn't have any at about midnight.  Let me back up a minute.  I went to bed at about 6 or 7 on Friday.  I was so exhausted!  I woke up to the sound of a motorcycle that kept zooming down the street.  I was so angry!  I was like, "I'm going to call the cops on this jerk!"  I grabbed my phone to check out the time and it wasn't even 10 yet!  After that, I couldn't fall back asleep (and I didn't call the cops).  I started thinking about my long run the next day and realized that I didn't have any nutrition except a Lara bar that had a bunch of nuts in it, not the easiest to eat and digest while out running. So, I thought I would make my own Gu.  I have made a recipe before and it turned out disgusting...but, I decided to give it another go.  It was either that or drive out to Walmart at midnight.

I looked online for a little bit and decided to just mix agave with one of those powder drink flavorings.



At the time, I separated it into 2 bags, but after thinking about it, moved it into four.  That way, they would have about 100 cals for each bag.

The weather was amazing.  It wasn't even 60 out when we headed out to run.




After 3.5 miles, we stopped to eat and I noticed a pain in the side part of my foot, around the arch.  It bothered me until about mile 9, and then again the last mile or so.  It caused me a lot of discomfort (understatement), making for a very long run.  I could barely walk afterwards.


Would I make my own gu again?  Maybe, but definitely not the liquid sugar I made this time.  It tasted great, but I could feel a spike in energy and then it would fizzle out fast after I took the gu.  And when I got home...two words, EXPLOSIVE DIARRHEA!  Thank goodness my bowels hung on til I got home, because there was no stopping it!

The rest of the day, I pretty much laid around.  We cooked out with some of Kevin's friends, but I was asleep by 9 again.  I was so tired! And I woke up at 3!  I really need to get this sleep under control.

Did you have a long run?  How far?  Did you work out?

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

My Cleanse

I am on the last day of a ten day cleanse.  I've never done one before and I really wasn't excited to do one now.  I was scared I would be hungry, tired, grumpy, and craving junk food all of the time!

I was surprised how easy it ended up being, how good my mood was, and how much energy I started having at the end.  I ate constantly and came in under my calorie goals every day according to My Fitness Pal.



I even ran 12 miles and felt great!



Here's the deal.  You have to eat clean for 10 days.  You can't have any processed foods (pretty much everything I loved!), sugar, caffeine (I drank green tea), dairy, and wheat.

The day before, we took our measurements and weight.  Did I mention that I did this because Becky was going to do it?  I took my measurements and weight on day 7 and was down 6 inches and 8 lbs!  I really couldn't believe it.  I didn't feel different or "skinnier".

How to be successful?  You just have to plan ahead and be prepared.  Always have enough food with you to eat in case you get hungry.  Find foods you love!  The great thing about doing the cleanse now is that there's so many delicious fruits and veggies in season right now!  Just some of the stuff I ate.

Cod with lemon and green beans from my garden!

Taco salad with fresh lemon juice and avocado

Green tea with lemon and a PB Chocolate Banana Smoothie
Eggs with spinach and blueberries


 So, what am I going to do now?  Go eat a pizza?  Oh, no!

No Pizza!

I am going to continue to eat clean.  I am going to start working in things like bread and tortillas, but they will be ones I make myself.  It will be more like the detox phase from The Hunger Fix.  My goal in the end of all of this is to crave all of the junk food less and have healthy "go-to" substitutions that I love even more.

I am really looking forward to trying to make a cauliflower crust for a pizza with spinach, tomato, and EVOO.  I am also looking forward to making my own bread and whole wheat tortillas.  Why buy gross, processed foods that you don't know what the heck is in them, when you can make your own? (Remind me of this in a month)

I will post some of the recipes for the stuff I ate.  It was all amazing!

Have you ever done a cleanse?  Was is successful?  Or did it backfire?


Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Zumba Tuesday!

I finally got a bike ride in today.  It wasn't long, only 6.5 miles, but it still counts!


I almost ran head first into a robin when I rounded a corner.  Thankfully, the bird is faster than I am at switching directions!  And then, a squirrel ran right out in front of me!  I was sure I was going to hurt an animal today.  I made it home without harming anything.

I also had Zumba tonight!  I cannot say enough how much I love this class/the instructor.  The class is always jam packed.  The instructor has awesome music choices and is so full of energy!  And I love the expressions on his face!  It almost makes me wish the class was 2 hours instead of just one!

On a separate note, my vegetable garden has really been struggling this year.  It's been much cooler and much wetter.  Last year at this time, I was already getting in zucchinis!  I am excited about my kale that is growing.  This is the first time I've planted it.

I hope that's kale.  I thought my pepper plants were just blooming.  Turns out, they are weeds.  But boy, are they really flourishing!

Is your garden doing well?  What did you plant?

Monday, July 1, 2013

June Totals and July Goals

June flew by and according to my workout totals, I don't have too much to show for it.  Hopefully I can have better results in July!


So, on to my goals for July!

I've been reading The Hunger Fix for awhile.  It's been slow going.  I'm almost done reading about the first stage of detox.  So, my first goal for July is to

The Hunger Fix on Amazon

1) Finish this book!  I bet you thought I was going to say start detox!  Heck no! lol.  Maybe eventually, but I want to see where this is going.

2)  Start and finish an ab challenge.  A person I follow on FacebookGone Bananas For Running, brought up doing an ab challenge for the month of July.  I've tried doing this before and lasted about 2 and a half weeks.  So, hopefully I will have better luck this time.  I have already completed Day 1!


3) And my favorite goal, SWIM and BIKE!  I have a tri in 42 days.  I really need to get in some swim workouts and bike rides, because guess what I will be saying after the race?  "I wish I had done more."

Do you have any goals for July?  What are they?