Top O The Mornin To Ya!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  I hope you find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow today! 

There were tons of races and parties this weekend...I hope everyone enjoyed the festivities!  I know I sure did!  

 Elya and I at the Tacoma St. Paddy's Day Run 5K

Elya and I kicked things off with a long run Friday night, and a pub run mixed in for good measure!  I wasn't sure how running 8 Friday night and 3 Sat morning would work out given how my legs have been feeling, but it ended up being fine.  Walking Wednesday instead of running (and dedication to my foam roller and trigger pointing) worked wonders! 

 Low light/blurry pub photo's.

We got 4 in on our own before meeting the group, and then ran 2'ish miles to The Parkway, and 2'ish miles back to the store.  Funny thing...our two fastest miles were the post beer miles! 

I got to test out the new adidas Energy Boost 2 and am in love!  I will do a post about them in a day or two in more detail, but for now you can see them in the top right picture.  Elya and I in the ladies, and Collin's foot in the men's.  I love the raspberry pink color...so much fun!

  Collin used my phone to take a selfie. 

I'm not going to lie, the 8 miles Friday night made Saturday's 5K a bit of a challenge.  I just focused on keeping up with Michelle the best I could.  It was a just for fun race, but still we were keeping a good pace, and it's a bit more hilly than is billed.  By the time we hit the hill up to the finish line (that's just mean by the way) my legs were done.  There was just nothing left in them.  I had to get stern with myself and force myself to keep up the pace and chased Michelle across the finish line.  Thankfully I had her to run with, otherwise I may have been tempted to slack off big time during this race.  

Ready to run!

Finished in 29:27.  Not my best time for a 5K, but I'm really happy with it given the hills, and the miles/beer from the night before.  Elya finished strong too, with a PR I think!  Not bad for tired legs! 

It was a really fun, festive race, and very well organized.  Most people dressed up and everyone was having a good time.  I LOVED the soup served at the Fleet Feet VIP tent (for run club members, training program participants) after the race.  Even though it had broccoli in it (I'm one of the few runners that despises broccoli and refuses to eat it...can't even stand the smell of it) I still loved it!  All the garlic killed the broccoli smell/flavor.  It was really yummy! 

After the morning 5K we hit up Bob and Michelle's St. P Day party that afternoon.  Oddly I didn't take a single picture.  Sky had a blast though running around with the other kiddo's and playing dress up! 

Sunday was truly a day of rest.  My quads were a bit sore, so I rolled them, and while I got a ton done around the house, I moved pretty slow and was careful to take breaks and sit as much as possible to give the old legs a break.  

This week is the highest mile week of the cycle, then it's time to bring on the taper and head into Whidbey Island with fresh, ready to run legs!  Getting excited!  

P.S. I was really excited to stick around after the 5K and watch the 1/2 leaders finish.  I got to see Amy blaze across the 1/2 marathon finish line in great time!  Stay tuned for a pre-Boston interview later this week/early next week.  I tend to interview her after the big race, this time I'm doing it before to change it up!  I'm putting questions together for her now, so if you have anything you would like to ask her shoot me an email, or leave a comment!  You can check out Amy's previous interviews (about Chicago and running in general) HERE and Here and all about Boston last year HERE

Who ran this weekend...What fun race/run did you do?  

Any PR's out there?

  

Pub Run Friday!

Honestly I think every Friday should end with a pub run!  I'm so excited for some fun and beer tonight with adidas! 

It's kind of a crazy running day.  Elya and I need 11 miles for our long run this weekend, but I'm running a 5K in the morning.  So, we are meeting early before the pub run to get 4 miles in, then running 2 miles with the group to the pub(s), and then 2 miles back to the store.  Add on the 3 I'm doing in the morning, and 3 she will run on her own/with a friend, and we will piece together 11 miles in less than 24 hours.  Not the perfect training plan, but it's better than nothing.   

Normally I don't condone pub running the night before a race, but it's St. Paddy's Day weekend, and I'm taking it easy pace wise for all of it.  This weekend's running is about having fun, sporting the outfit I put together, and kicking off the running season with Elya and Michelle!   Plus, I don't plan on drinking more than a few sips at each pub, so I won't have any issues in the am.  Smart fun is the best fun!

I found this the other day on FB and Love it!     

It's a lifestyle!

It's the #1 reason you don't see me posting about dieting, watching what I eat etc on this blog.  My personal truth is diets don't work.  It's a temporary state of being that isn't sustainable over a lifetime.  I restate that is MY PERSONAL TRUTH.  Some people find success with diets/eating plans and that is great for them. 

I don't.  I would rather have a little bit of yummy than a lot of bland.  Thankfully I don't have a problem limiting my portions (using salad plates for dinner is great!), and while I don't give in to every little craving I also don't think deprivation is mentally healthy.  Let's say I'm craving a snickers I let it go for a few days, if after 2 or 3 days I still can't stop thinking about it, then you know what I have the snickers bar and I don't feel bad about it.

Everyone has to do what works for them, this works for me.  The fact I'm maintaining my weight/clothing size for 5+ years, even though I'm getting closer and closer to 40, makes me think I have a pretty good handle on my eating and training! 

Who's running a St. P Day race this weekend?

What's your favorite beer?

From The Kitchen - Thai Beef with Basil

I feel like every week we have a new favorite recipe around here!  This one is for sure my favorite from last week, in fact it was a race to see who could eat the leftovers!  Really, yummy and it makes a pretty dish with all the colors!

The original recipe can be found at bonappetit.com or here: Thai Beef with Basil go check it out!

Two tips:
-Trust the directions when it says to let the meat brown and get crispy.  It almost seems like you'll burn it, but just go with it, those crispy parts are what add tons of flavor!

-3 cups of basil leaves = a lot of fresh basil!  I didn't get enough, so make sure you get a lot of basil, more than you think you'll need.  If you end up with too much you can flavor your plain old water with lemon slices and a few basil leaves.

I highly recommend Bon Appetit magazine!  For a long time it intimidated me as a cook, but of all the cooking/food related magazines I get every month Bon Appetit is the one I get the most out of, and find the highest number of recipes I want to try.

My first race of the year is coming up in March and for the first time I'm running in "costume"!  I'm not much of a running costume person/fan.  I think it's great when others do it, but I just don't like hassling with it. However I'm getting into the St. P Day spirit and have the first piece of my outfit figured out!

Shamrock leg warmers that will go over my compression socks!  Found them at Jo-Ann's fabric the other day, and for a way better price than I would pay if I were to buy themed compression socks.  I'm not going to spend $50 on compression socks aimed at one day/a few weeks out of the year, just can't do it.

I found a green sparkle skirt HERE that I'm checking the mail for daily.  Seriously for $20 you can get a cute skirt that goes over your shorts/tights and add's festive fun to themed races!  Great price, and it's not ton's of poof and tulle added to my hips.  Last thing I need to be doing is running in something that makes me look like an overweight ballerina!  Some can pull off the tulle look I can't!  

I just need a top now.  I have zero green running shirts, so am thinking I'll just wear the event shirt race day. It's usually long sleeve and obviously fits the theme.  I read a blog post the other day about the sin of wearing the race shirt the day of the race, and how "not real runner" it is.  Don't even get me started on how stupid and judgmental that post was.

I don't wear race/event shirts to the race simple because I have tech shirts that I run in and I know work for me.  But to assume someone is a newbie who doesn't know better, or is somehow wearing a shirt they haven't earned because they haven't crossed the finish line yet it petty.  If I paid for my registration and the shirt that goes along with it then I will wear that shirt whenever and wherever I want to!  Ok off my soap box.

Do you wear race shirts to the race, or do you wait until you finish?  
After, if at all.  I have so many race shirts now that unless they fit perfect and are a tech material they go in a pile that has become my yard work/camping clothes pile.  I actually just registered for a race that gave me the option of a shirt or a mug and went with the mug.

Anyone else running a St. P Day race?
Cool thing...the Tacoma St. P Day race is mentioned in the March issue of Runner's World magazine!





        

  

Running Excitment

Had another awesome run today!  It was supposed to be a nice easy slow, post long run, pace.  But, the pace that felt good was faster than normal.  Every time I tired to slow it down I felt terrible so I just kept going at what felt good. 

4 miles and it felt so easy!

 

I have been conducting an experiment with my Boost shoes.  Running without any blister prevention, no spray/powder/band aids.  Unheard of!  My findings so far...zero hot spots or blister issues.  Granted I haven't done more than 5 miles, but in my other shoes the hot spots start up on 3 mile runs.  I'm not willing to test it on a super long run until after the 1/2...just too close to race day to risk it.  But, I can't wait to do a 10 miler without all the blister prevention time suck pre-run! 

 

That's great news because that means there is a shoe that is perfect for me!!!  It's not great because they are the most expensive shoes possible.  Of course I have expensive taste.  At least I'm not running full marathons, so I'm not adding miles to them as fast as I could be. 

 

Speaking of expensive have you seen the new Garmin 620?! 

 

Check out what this watch can do!!! CLICK HERE

It’s the next best thing to having your own personal running coach. Forerunner 620 offers advanced features like recovery advisor, race predictor and VO2 max estimate to help you train smarter and achieve new race goals. When used with the HRM-Run monitor¹, the 620 also provides feedback on running form by showing your cadence, ground contact time and vertical oscillation. For indoor training, the 620’s built-in accelerometer tracks distance, so you don’t need a separate foot pod.

I'm not going to lie, even though my watch is only a year old, I want the 620 bad.  I love that it tracks your cadence, ground contact time, tells you when you should take a rest day, and offers training plans.  All the benefits of a coach without someone telling you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.  I don't like being told what to do at all.  I know what I need to do, but love the idea of having a watch that gives me prods while running!  It's got a hefty price tag though.  $450 with the monitor.  YIKES!  I'm hopeful that by the time I save my money over the next few years that the price will have come down a bit.  Might be able to get a used one by then too, or get a job with Garmin.  ;-)  (No that's not a hint that I have anything in the works, just wishful thinking for the future.  I have a very short target list of jobs/companies and they all have to do with running or coffee!) 

Something I can afford though, thank you Dad, is new cold weather running tights!  They should be here any day and will post a picture as soon as I have them.  You can check theme out HERE in the mean time.  I also know what long sleeve top I'm getting on discount at Diva night Thursday, so will post pics of the whole outfit! 

I can also afford, again Thank You Dad, some race registrations.  Especially when I get the early bird screaming deals!!!  St. Paddy's Day 5K for $17 and the Whidbey Island Half Marathon for $29!!  Holy cow you can't run 1/2's around here for that price!  It's the 13th anniversary though so they rolled back the price to the price 13 years ago.  Elya and I jumped on that!  Since it's near my birthday Mark was on board for us affording the lodging as my birthday gift and making it a family trip with Elya and her family!  I'm hoping we can find a house or cabin to split with them.  I'm sure the options are limited on the island so we had better get on that pronto!

I now have races on the books for March, April, and May!!!  Just a few weeks ago I was sad because I had no idea what my 2014 race life would look like, and now it's starting to take shape! 

Something else I'm excited about...

  
...Sky, just wanting to hang out in bed and giggle.  She loves to lay on our bed, and sometimes she wants to be left alone, but more often than not she wants company.  We have great conversations and lot's of cuddles.  Even when she is having a bad day, and is hitting/biting/crying about everything deep down I know she has a heart full of love and all she really wants is my/our full attention, and to know we love her back.  Love this little girl so much! 

What races do you have on the books for 2014?

What running gear are you craving?