Journey to a Half Marathon-Post #3

WOW! 151 days to my first half marathon! Today started off extremely positive. Woke up at 4:30am, got my swimsuit on and headed to the Rec center for a swim. Swimming is my passion, my therapy, and what keeps me grounded! I did 20 laps freestyle and backstroke in 25 minutes.

Then it was home to be a mom - pack lunches, walk the dog, and get everyone off to work and school. Took the stairs as usual at work. I had planned on going running 3-6 miles around my work area this afternoon, but life had other plans. My daughter called and had to take my dog to the emergency vet. SCREECH!!!! That put the breaks on my run tonight 😢  After we got the puppy situated, I had dinner and decided to take a walk before it started raining (again...ugghhhh!!!) I did get in 1.31 miles walking with Eddie. So onward to food for the day!

I did extremely better on my food choices today! Although I slipped a little at dinner. Before heading to the Rec I had a handful (literally) of trail mix. I took my water with me because swimming is still a workout. STAY HYDRATED! After swimming Eddie made us a new energy smoothie to try. Check out the Blueberry Energy post for recipe. Score one for me - I was able to skip my morning coffee this morning! 😊 I did get hungry around 8:30am so I had my oatmeal. I wasn't able to get out for lunch today (or even up from my desk), so around 10:45am I had a small Gala apple and 4 slices of oven roasted turkey breast. Around 2:30pm I had about a cup of trail mix (I could live off that stuff!). Now my plan was to have my small banana around 4pm and go run. That didn't happen. Instead I had some cheese pizza with my daughter. I know!! This is a crime! 🍕 Pizza is my weakness! 

So that was my day 152! Stick around for more of my adventures to my first half marathon!!! 

Blueberry Energy Smoothie

I had this after my swim this morning and it was delicious! It's vegan too!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup frozen spinach (plain, no seasoning)

1/2 cup frozen pineapple (that's all I had today, could use fresh)

Small apple and 1/3 cup organic applesauce (or a large apple)

Medium banana

1 tbsp flax seed

1 tbsp palm sugar

2 tbsp rice protein (this is all I had, prefer pea protein)

1 1/2 cups coconut water

Added everything to my Vitamix and blended until smooth. Pour and enjoy! 

Journey to a Half Marathon- Post #2

152 days until my first half marathon! Mixed feelings today. It has been 4 days since I worked out at all. Now that doesn't mean I have been sitting around! As usual, every day is full and busy but I need the normal workouts to stay on track. I can already tell the eating habits will be the hardest to change. I can fight through the workouts and training. I ask myself why I'm being so candid about this journey with complete strangers? The reason is simple- it holds me accountable for everything I'm doing. So here is a breakdown of the training today and food log.

Training Completed

2 miles of running/walking on treadmill at the Rec (rain and storms are not helping me 😁)

          *Tried not to watch the timer

          *Paced myself by starting to walk until 0.15 at speed of 3.2

          *Started running at 0.15 until 0.30 at speed of 4.8

          *Started walking to 0.31 to 0.40 at speed of 3.2

          *Started running again at 0.41 until 0.60

          *Continued this pattern until I ran/walked total of 2 full miles

          *Finished in 30:12 (very disappointed in that time!)

Did a "push" day on weight machines. This means you are only using machines where you push the weight with whatever part of the body you are working. An example is the leg press machine. Did two sets of 12 reps per machine on 6 different machines working both my arms and legs. 

Pic is of my first weeks workout plan. 

Food Log

Started my day stuck in traffic and munching on whole grain Cheese Its. Sucks being bored! 

When I got to work, I made my cup of regular coffee with sugar and creamer. Also made my pack of Maple & Brown sugar oatmeal. 

For lunch I had two shredded chicken soft tacos and an order of nachos with a bottle water. 

For snack in the afternoon I had trail mix. My hardest time is around 3pm everyday. I need to find something I can munch on that is low cal. I'm going to do celery and PB tomorrow.  

After workout tonight, I had one beef taco and about two tablespoons of both rice and beans. What can I say, I love my Mexican food!

I have had a total of about 100 oz of water today. No sodas (haven't had those in years)!

So don't be too hard on my food log! I have a new smoothie I'm trying tomorrow after my swim. I'm also taking snacks and lunch tomorrow. See you tomorrow for an update!!!

Journey to a Half Marathon- Post #1

So my running team, Rump Runners of TN, has decided to sign me up for my first half marathon on September 27th. What am I thinking! The furthest distance running to date, at one time, has been a little over 6 miles. At least half of that was walking. So I have 153 days or 22 weeks to get ready! 

I started planning today by researching training plans. Most of them are based around 12-16 weeks. They all mainly start based on an assumption that you can run 3 miles without stopping already. Since I'm still in the run/walk phase, I'm going to use a plan but modify it a little so I can catch up to running consistent 3 miles. 

I have changed my nutrition intake but I still have my "problem" areas. In these next 22 weeks, I also plan to change a lot more. My first sacrifice? No more sweets unless it's my vegan cookies or vegan frosty. Recipes for those are found on my blog. 

I have planned the next 4 weeks out so let's get this journey started!!! See you next post with an update. 

(Current weight: 210)