Journey to a Half Marathon: Post #10 (57 days!!!)

I cannot believe there are only 57 days until my first half marathon!!!!! So much has happened since I last posted at the 80 days out mark. I decided to get on a formal training plan that started in July. Since I am also training for a Sprint Triathlon early 2015, I sprinkled some swim and biking in the running program. Overall, for July, I stuck with the plan. I had to move a few rest days but ended up training on the designated "rest" days so the mikes wouldn't decrease.

You Did What?

I also completed 13.04 miles on 7/26!!! My lovely husband thought it would be a good idea for me to "see what 13 miles feels like" so we set out early on a Saturday morning with no expectations other than completing the miles. I was able to get done in 3:50 which shocked me! We ran some but mainly walked fast. I did get really sick afterwards but I think it was lack of fluids and salt intake during the run/walk that did it. With Eddie having done this before and being a self-made vegan, he made me a Recovery Smoothie (recipe on blog) which helped tremendously. I feel more confident now knowing I can complete the distance. 

Some other cool things happened this month too:

1- I got my first road bike!!! She is gorgeous! I'm currently learning this new process since I have been riding a mountain bike with commuter tires for so long. 

2-I'm a finalist for Team Chocolate Milk!!! I submitted my application and made it to the next round. If I'm one of the top 8, I'll get sponsorship so I'm super excited!!!! (PS. You can vote at www.gotchocolatemilk.com). 

3- I completed a total of 104 miles in July!! Up from 66 in June. 

August has started off with a bang! Training will continue. Thanks for all the well-wishes!!!

Post Run Recovery Smoothie

After my first long run, I started having flu-like symptoms. This smoothie was made for me and within 20 mins I was feeling 100% better!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup blueberries

1 banana

1 stalk celery

1/4 cup beets (raw)

1/2 cup carrots (raw)

2 cups kale (frozen)

2 cups strawberries (frozen)

2 tbsp Rice Protein

1/4 cup peas (frozen)

1/4 oats

1 tbsp peanut butter (we use Whole Foods that we make)

2 tbsp palm sugar

1/2 cup Goji berries

1/2 tsp (splash) vanilla extract 

2 cups water

Put all ingredients into your Vitamix or blender (high powered is better for smoother drink) and mix until smooth. Place in glass and enjoy!

This makes 6 cups. There is 174 calories in 1 cup.

Eddie's Energy Balls

These are so easy to make, vegan, and full of energy! We take them on hikes and camping. 

INDREDIENTS 

1 cup dry rolled oats

1/2 cup chocolate chips or raisins

1/2 cup peanut butter (we use almond butter or 1/4 almond-1/4 PB)

1/2 flax seed

1/3 cup honey (Agave if vegan)

1 tsp vanilla

Optional: 1 tsp chia seeds

Mix all ingredients together and form balls  (golf ball sized or a little smaller). Put in freezer for about 30 min and then store in refrigerator. We put about 4 in a ziplock bag. Each ball is approximately 50 calories. 

Enjoy!

Journey to a Half Marathon: 80 Days!!!

WOW! This has been a roller coaster ride of emotions! I started out wanting to do this half. Then I said I was going to wait until next year. We'll now it's definite....I'm registered for the WRC Nashville Half on Sept 27th! It's officially 80 days from today!!!

So tonight I got serious! I do something everyday with maybe 1 day of rest each week. My passion is swimming. I also bike and have been trying to get better at running because it is definitely my weakness. I looked up a Couch to Half training plan and decided to put it on paper! It is based on 14 weeks so I modified it to fit my timeline and the fact I've already started training. Here is a link to the plan I'm going to use. I'm going to stick with this in hopes of being able to finish this half marathon! http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2013/09/training-tips/couch-to-half-marathon-training-plan_15065

Here are the pics of my calendar. I also added (blue) in some swimming and biking because I now have a goal of completing a Sprint Triathlon in April of next year (I know...I'm crazy!!!) I will try to post daily on here and start including my nutritional changes. Tonight was my last night for pizza for a while 😳 but I will survive! Especially when I cross that finish line!

Until next time!

Amy

Homemade Mixed Berry Jam (by Eddie)

INGREDIENTS 

1/2 cup Fresh or Frozen blueberries 

1 cup Fresh or Frozen strawberries

1 tsp palm sugar

PROCESS

Mix in small blender. If using frozen berries, warm in microwave for 30-45 seconds to thaw. If using fresh berries, you can refrigerate to thicken. Spread on your favorite sandwich and enjoy!

Journey to a Half Marathon - Post #8

So it's 121 days to my first half marathon! I will say that May has been a busy but productive month - not only with working out - but in life, in general. So for my workouts, I have been trying to do two things:
1 - Be outside as much as possible
2 - Not just run but try new things and cross train my body

Having said that, I have completed 85.2 miles already for May! This week has been hectic so I haven't ran much but I do have a 5K this Saturday to close out my month. This is the most I have ever run in a month! The only thing that's strange with this Nike app is it calculates things differently so it's a little confusing.

So going into April, we will reach the 100 day to half mark. It's exciting! I plan on getting a more formal training plan in place with designated run and rest days. I am also getting into trail running and planning a 10K for August. And of course, I'm still swimming as much as possible.

As always, thank you for being with me on this journey!

Journey to Half Marathon - Post #7

133 days to my first half marathon! Today I ran the Foam Fest 5k in Whites Creek, TN. This is an obstacles course race. I have never done one of those before and I had heard horror stories from last years race, so I was a little nervous when the gun went off this morning!

My day started by waking up at 3:15am to kiss Eddie bye as he left for his half marathon. This is the first time he raced without me. I fell back asleep for a little bit, but we were staying with friends so I had a restless night. I started getting ready around 5:15am. Over the past week in Nashville temperatures have ranged from 40's to 90's. The weather was predicting 44 degrees and rain at our start time. Yay me! Now remember, I did the color run this year in pouring down rain and 37 degrees. Nevertheless, got up and ready! I decided to wear a bathing suit instead of undies and sports bra. My other clothes were spandex wicking type material to try and keep it fast drying and lightweight. I doned my signature headband and off we went! It was overcast and cool when we left. 

Most of the running group did this run. We were signed up for the first wave at 8am. Once we parked, we rode a bus over to the farm which was a cowboy theme park thingy. Stood in line for registration and lined up for the run. Adrenaline was pumping at the start line. My mind was on Eddie and how he was doing, and whether or not I was going to make it through this adventure!

It started with two obstacles right off the bat. Easy ones but enough to get you wet and slightly muddy! Then it was off to do some running in the woods! Weather update: cloudy, cool, no rain yet! I was feeling great today! My legs felt light, my breathing was steady, and I was bouncing down the trails. Before I knew it, I was at a water station and they said, "you're a little over half way done!" What??!!! I got this! I actually think I'm loving trail running!! So we kept going but it was time for some obstacles again! We made it to the river and it was innertube time! Immediately after that was lily pad which was running across mats laid across the river! I wiped out but it was so fun!!! 

After that lovely series of water obstacles, we got to run through a huge ice-cold mud puddle and low crawl through mud. Then we were on a short run to the wall obstacle. Let me remind you all that I'm 5ft tall. With a little help to make sure I didn't slide down the other side and fall, I made it over the wall! Now the next obstacle started out ok. This was the rope climb. I got 3/4 of the way up and started freaking out! All I could think was I was going to have a foot slip off the rope and to my doom!! My friend Reko talked me to the top and over the other side! Then we were off to get cleaned up (yeah right!) and to the death drop slide!! That would round out or Foam Fest 5k. So happy I accomplished this! Would definitely do it again! It worked muscles I'm not used to in my weekly street runs. By the way, no rain!!! And to top off the day, Eddie had a PR at his half of 1:37:36!