I'm feeling colorful today so I'm changing up the font a bit :)

I headed out for my long run this morning. The temperature read 15 degrees feels like 0 degrees so I dressed as warm as I could: a pair of running tights, a pair of fleece running tights, a long tank to keep my midsection extra warm, a fleece turtleneck, my Brooks running jacket, gloves, hat and a balaclava. I looked a bit ridiculous with the balaclava and sunglasses on but the sunglasses were necessary since the sun was bright and we still have a lot of blinding white snow on the ground. I was very warm from the beginning of my run. I had planned to do just 6.5 miles out and 6.5 miles back for a total of 13, well apparently the road I was headed down is much shorter than I thought, only 3.5 miles so I ran up and down and around some side streets to get the mileage up. I finished in 2:05:14 for an average pace of 9:37 min/mile and an average heart rate of 161bpm. Just perfect :) 

I came home and got into my ice bath with as many layers on my upper body and head as possible, along with a cup of hot green tea but it was still frigid! It took me about two hours to warm up after the ice bath and it also took me awhile to eat anything since my run made me feel a bit nauseous this morning. Not sure why. Then I had to watch my Patriots play absolutely awful and lose. Ugh. But the boyfriend and I were at his parents for dinner and it was delicious! His aunt made this apple and squash dish which I loved. I will definitely be making it myself soon!

I said I was going to post about core exercises this weekend but I have a little bit of work to do so it's going to have to wait. 

Ending with a running quote that I get in my email daily from Runners World:

As every runner knows, running is about more than just putting one foot in front of the other; it is about our lifestyle and who we are
- Joan Benoit Samuelson 

26 miles so far

I've run 26 miles in 2010 so far and I am thrilled with the start I am off to, especially since it's been mostly pain free! I only had some pain during Tuesday's run but once I stretched around mile 2, it went away.

Runs this week:

Tuesday: 5.01 miles, 46:53, pace 9:22 min/mile
I ran outside and it was kind of miserable because the sidewalks on the main road aren't paved, so I ran up and down my side road and one circle for 5 laps. Oh well I got it done and it was a decent run despite some calf twinges. 

I had PT on Wednesday in between my running days and it was much needed. I love massage and ART! So nice. I had to do one new hard exercises, stepping into alternating squats on squishy half circle type things, so the flat side on the ground and I was stepping on the rounded squishy one. Eeeek, it was hard and everyone was watching me. But I got it done and it helps my leg strength.

Thursday: 4.00 miles, 36:10, pace 9:03 min/mile 
This run was done on the treadmill. I alternated incline and speed with each song, so song 1 - flat and 6.3, then song 2 - incline and 6.3, song 3 - flat and 6.4, song 4 - more incline and 6.4 etc ... for 8 songs which was most of my 4.00 miles, and then I sprinted the last .4 of a mile or so, increasing the speed every .05 miles. It was a good workout!

I've also been doing some Core Training and I think this weekend I'm going to work on a post about that but for now I have to go back to doing some work I brought home. (Yes, one of my goals was not to do this but I had PT twice this week, so it's just makeup work for time missed, not extra work I'm bringing home. As soon as PT is over, bringing work home will end).
 

Treadmill Running

It snowed all weekend here in MA. I woke up yesterday and was debating about whether I wanted to go Power Yoga then run or run then go to Power Yoga. Then I looked out the window and realized I probably wouldn't be running outside. I like to run in the snow but when it's constantly snowing, I have to worry too much about plows which is no fun. So I knew I needed to go the gym and run on the treadmill. Then I decided not to go to Power Yoga at all since I had taken too much time in bed making up my mind and would have had to rush to clean off my car and help my mom shovel. So I got up, did some shoveling and cleaning off then picked up the boyfriend and headed to the gym. I decided I would switch Saturday's 5 miles with Sunday's 12 miles in case I couldn't make it out at all on Sunday.

So, on Saturday I did 12 miles on the treadmill at the gym, with a dead ipod. Oh my gosh, I was soooo bored. I just started at the time and distance the whole time. I was going 1/12th of the way done, 1/6th of the way, 1/4th etc ... But I did it, 12 miles in 1:59:10. Just shy of two hours, with the second 6 miles a few minutes faster than the first. The only time I had to stop was when the treadmill ran out of time, since the longest I could set it for was 99 minutes. So I had to reset it to finish the last 2+ miles. I felt pretty good. My calves didn't bother me at all, which thrilled me. I took an ice bath after and relaxed all afternoon.

This morning, the snow wasn't as bad as yesterday but the roads still weren't very runnable. So back to the gym we went. Luckily, 5 miles go by a lot faster than 12 miles even when they are recovery miles. I ran it in 51:33 or something and my heart rate never went above 154 which was good. I was a little sore after the 17 total miles but not bad.

I did day 3 of the 30 Day Shred tonight and Level 1 is definitely getting easier for me. I'm sure when I move up to Level 2 it will be killer though. I'm going for 10 days at each level.

Back to work tomorrow, so it's early to bed for me tonight. I'm so thankful for the time off I get due to working for a University. It's really nice. I loved being able to sleep in, run whenever I wanted, nap if I wanted etc ...

So I read “Skinny Bitch” and …

It really has changed the way I think about food. I was already leaning towards becoming vegetarian after watching the documentary Food Inc. a few weeks ago and reading "Skinny Bitch" sealed that for me. So as of yesterday, I have given up meat. I'm debating about what else will also go. I should give up dairy especially since it has really negative effects on me and that part of the book really struck me. I've always found it weird that humans are basically the only adult mammals that consume milk and well I don't even like milk, it's other dairy products (cheese, ice cream etc …) that will be harder for me to give up, so I'm still processing this part. I think I need to give up a lot of, if not all, the dairy I consume because I do notice the effects of it on my body it's just harder to let go of than meat for me. So I'm starting with meat and will continue with the process from there. I'm sure I'll read "Skinny Bitch" many times while going through this life change, as it really does lay it right out there for you. And, I think that while I'll end up giving up meat and dairy, I may not give up fish which may seem weird and I'm not sure I can explain it … but it's something I'm processing. I'm really just starting out right now and I think everything takes time and I don't want to rush anything so for now gone from my diet are:

• Meat
  
• Soda
  

I'm researching and processing

• Dairy
  
• Seafood
  
• Caffeine
  
• Artificial sweeteners (well they're going for sure, I just need to wean myself off of Propel and Crystal Light packets and then I'll be done. I haven't had any today!)
  

FYI: Skinny Bitch is very blunt, lays it out there and has a lot of swearing … just a forewarning if anyone's interested in reading it. It is very informative though and I really enjoyed it. I need to buy "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" for recipes now.

So this is part of my 2010 journey … we'll see where it takes me.