Day ONE in the books !

A great Monday afternoon easy pace 3 miles on the Seattle waterfront. Wahoo ! I started with two sets of run 5 minutes walk 1 minute... then I just jogged along.. with a stop along the way to pet a Mastiff :) Priorities right ?!?!? Felt OK, lungs need to be bigger, but shin felt good. New shoes will be here on the 2nd and I'm ONLY going to use them for running. ONLY.

A got a great deal from our Rock and Roll Marathon friends... :

Train with Cytomax, the official on-course sports drink of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series. For a limited time SAVE 10% on all Cytomax products at Bodybuilding.com.

Use coupon code at checkout: 10offcytomax. Offer expires 12/31/09.

I've shopped at BodyBuilding.com before and they are good...they also have some great articles as well. I like CytoMax powder better than Gatorade :)

And..... the MOST exciting... I received a shipment notification from Elite Racing (the RnR people) and something that is a half of a pound is shipping to me via UPS... hhhhmmmm...

I think it's probably the "in training" shirt !! So excited !!

OK... and last.... wahoo for reverse lunges ! Tomorrow is cross training day people !

From the training calendar...

Monday starts the half marathon training... and it starts low intensity. This could work for me ! I'm excited :) I logged in today to see what the week was going to look like and I thought I share the coach's notes... they're good... we should ALWAYS remember stuff like this..

In the beginning, there was you.

It would be great if we could pick the body that we want to train. It would be great if we could start with a body that weighed a little less, was a little more fit, or was builit a little more like an athlete's body.

You are going to walk or run the race. The same you that's starting today will come across the finish line. There's no need to worry about it. You are all you'll ever need.

Get out there and rock it ladies !

T Minus 4

4 days until Vegas Rock and Rock Training begins !!
Who's with me ???

And yes, I'm counting my biking in Leavenworth as training !

Let the fun begin...

Woot Woot ! New Balance training program starts on the 31st for Vegas.. wish me and my shin luck !

Heading to Vegas on the 8th to check up on the college kid, home on the 11th, IronGirl on the 12th, Brew HaHa on the 20th, chick day at the condo on the 30th, and Leavenworth on the 3rd of October.

Kinda busy.. but this is GOOD... gotta keep movin right ?

I've really been attempting to stay on the "good food" track since getting back from Montana, and so far so good (with the lapse of Greek food tonight) and I feel pretty good. Shin is OK... a tad bit painful, but not a show stopper. I'll see how the training program goes.

Thinking about nutrition in general these days... and working on not eating so much processed stuff (what ?? that's crazy talk from me!) My sis did a nutty race up north last weekend called Lost Lake... it's an insane trail race (one of her running mates who is 60 did a face plant, fractured her wrist and fingers and still finished first in her age division !!) and after she finished, she called to chat. We talked about nutrition. A key during any endurance race is to figure out when to get your calories / nutrition down the hatch before you start to feel crappy. Hmmm.. Another issue is Gu's / Gels / Gummies etc. Me, I can't do any gels, my stomach revolts, I can do Sport Beans and that's about it. My sis is the same way. Sometimes all those chemical things get into your system and your body simply doesn't know how to process them, especially during the middle of a race. And often, just the over-sweet stuff is too much for me. Some ideas we came up (thanks JJ !) peanut butter packets (refer to Justin's Nut Butter), peanut butter pretzels (snazzy - easy to carry, bite sized, organic at Trader Joes) turkey pepperoni or jerky, and for some sugar, what about just good ol' fashioned Jolly Ranchers !! Your thoughts or suggestions ??

And on the 'good food' road.... Check out this recipe... it'll be at chick night ...

Ingredients: 4 oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast, cut into 8 nuggets 2 tbsp. fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original) 2 tbsp. whole-wheat flour 2 tbsp. sweet chili sauce 1 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes Dash salt Dash black pepper Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and/or spray with nonstick spray. Place chicken in a bowl, cover with egg substitute, and toss to coat. Set aside. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and black pepper, and mix well. One at a time, transfer chicken nuggets to the flour bowl, giving them a shake first to remove excess egg substitute -- coat completely with flour, and then transfer to the baking sheet. Bake in the oven for about 16 minutes, flipping halfway through, until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the oven and set aside. Combine chili sauce, vinegar, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and mix well. Add chicken and toss to coat. Now gobble up! MAKES 1 SERVING

Serving Size: entire recipe (8 wings) Calories: 267 Fat: 1.5g Sodium: 775mg Carbs: 30g Fiber: 2g Sugars: 15g Protein: 31g

Writin' it down

It's time to start documenting the food intake again... we all know what a snacker I can be and if I hold myself accountable for what I eat... including a few of these or a handful of that, then I can see how the calories add up.

But stop snacking????? crazy talk... so I found 100 calorie snacks that I can take with me... and I'll know what I'm eating :)

Best snacks, from the Good Housekeeping Institute's Nutrition Director, Delia A. Hammock, M.S., R.D.

Sweet Treats

-5 Nabisco Nilla Wafers


-1 Whole Foods Market Two-Bite Brownie


-1 Healthy Choice Mocha Fudge Swirl Bar


-9 Tootsie Roll Midgees


-1 pouch Keebler Sandies Right Bites Shortbread Cookies


-½ cup Sharon's Lemon Sorbet with 1/4 cup blueberries


-1 Skinny Cow Fat Free Fudge Bar


-1 Nestlé Butterfinger Stixx


-12 vanilla Miss Meringue Minis


-4 Country Choice Certified Organic Ginger Snaps
-1 Vitamuffin Vitatop

Savory Bites

-29 pistachios


-60 Pepperidge Farm Baby Goldfish Crackers


-1 Jolly Time Healthy Pop 100 Calorie Mini Bag popcorn


-25 EatSmart Café Fries


-12 Back to Nature Sesame Ginger Rice Thins


-12 Quaker Quakes Cheddar Cheese Rice Snacks


-40 Rold Gold Classic Style Pretzel Sticks

Dairy Delights

-1 Laughing Cow Light Creamy Garlic & Herb cheese wedge and 3 Triscuits


-1 Kraft Polly-O Superlong Twist-Ums string cheese stick


-1 Yoplait Light Smoothie


-½ cup low-fat cottage cheese with 5 strawberries

Hearty Helpings

-Campbell's Soup at Hand Blended Vegetable Medley


-1 hard-boiled egg with 1 slice Melba toast


-4 slices Sara Lee Honey Ham with 2 teaspoons honey mustard, rolled in lettuce leaf


-½ mini bagel with 1 ounce smoked salmon

Fruits & veggies

-2 cups raspberries


-28 grapes


-1 cup blueberries


-1 cup mango chunks


-½ medium cantaloupe


-15 strawberries dipped in 1⁄4 cup Cool Whip Lite


-45 steamed edamame (green soybeans)


-2 tablespoons each of mashed avocado and chopped tomatoes stuffed in 1⁄2 mini pita


-½ red bell pepper dipped in 3 tablespoons hummus

Wow... I've been gone !

WELCOME HOME !!!

Brief re-cap: headed out last thursday evening to Bozeman MT, stopped in Missoula, arrived Friday in Bozeman, wedding on Saturday, packed up and headed to West Yellowstone on Sunday, Monday drove thru Yellowstone all the way to Jackson Hole WY and then Tuesday drove from West Yellowstone straight thru to Seattle... whew !!!

However - I did find out that another girl has registered for the Vegas half, and it will be her first 13.1 mile run ! So excited for that. Remember that www.rnrvegas.com has a free training program you can sign up for ... it seems snazzy and will officially start on the 31st of August.

I have officially been denied running in Leavenworth on Oct 3rd. I'm still going though. I'll be taking my Kona Lisa an riding along the route... and of course, the after party :)

Saturday the 12th is the IronGirl 5k around Greenlake... pretty excited for that as well, simply because a dear friend has registered to run and it's her first official 5k.

Sunday the 20th is the Brew Ha Ha - woot woot...

And ... in my search to find some motivation and not be discouraged by my current 'lack of running ability'... I found some tips to share:

1. Remember that you will have plateaus in your progress and tough days along the way.
2. It gets easier.
3. Accept and appreciate the fact that not every single run can be a good one.
4. Be prepared to remove the words “can’t” and “never” from your vocabulary.
5. “Do not compare yourself to others. Run within yourself and for yourself first.
6. Don’t expect every run to be better than the last one; some of them will hurt.
7. Don’t think too much about it or you won’t do it.
8. Even a bad run is better then no run at allI
9. In the immortal words of Walt Stack famed senior-citizen distance runner “Start slow … and taper.
10. Subscribe to a running magazine or pick up a book or two on running.
11. There's no shame in walking
12. Speed work doesn’t have to be scientific. Try racing to one light post and then jogging to the next
13. No matter what level of runner you are your training plan should include four essential elements: endurance speed rest cross-training.

SOOOOO.... get out there and move people !

Kinda hard to whine...

I love John Bingham.. I got this via email today, and minus the 4 babies, this is most women I know. Busy, work , home, just LIFE in general... so how do you find the time ? and when you do find it, how do you use it wisely ?

Via the NB Training program from the RnR Vegas site.. my training starts on August 31st... totally workable...

and NEVER EVER think that a Half Marathon is not a reach-able goal. ANYONE can do this ... I swear... anyone !

Training for a Half-Marathon with Four Babies

Dear John,
I set a goal for myself that I would complete my first half-marathon before I turned 30, which will happen November 28. I found a race that's on October 31; is that realistic?

Some background: I've been running about 3 miles a day, five or six times a week. I work 12-hour shifts and have four children, including my youngest, who I had just seven months ago. So I need some tips for a time-pushed runner. I really want to make this happen.

I know that what I am doing now will not get me to the finish line, so any tips would be greatly appreciated! - Tanya

Hi, Tanya. WOW. You’ve been busy! I had one child by 30 and thought I had my hands full.

The biggest problem nearly every runner has when trying to train for a long-distance race is time. So, in that sense, your problem is not all that unusual. The specifics of your situation -- the four children and the 12-hour shifts -- do make finding the time more challenging.

The key to success in any long-distance training program is the long run. You’ve got to be able to gradually increase the distance of that long run once a week or, if necessary, once every other week. For most of us, an 11-mile long run before a half-marathon is more than enough. Working backward, then, your longest single training run is going to be hours long.

If you’ve already found a way to run 3 miles a day five or six times a week, then your daily runs are going to take care of themselves. You’ll want to focus more on the quality of those shorter runs and may actually find that a total of four runs per week will be better, since one of them will be a longer run.

You’ll also have to be realistic about your goals. You say that you wanted to complete a half-marathon before you turn 30. That seems like a great goal. The key is to remember that your goal is to complete the half-marathon, and not start putting unrealistic time goal pressure on yourself.

What’s certain is that if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

Waddle on,

John

A weekend with nothing planned... ahhhhhh

That's right... a weekend with nothing on the schedule.. bliss I say ! Friday night we headed up the Canadian border to congratulate the probies on finishing their year.

Rev got called for overtime (woot woot) and I did... nothing... I was going to run, but I vetoed that. I'm really trying to pay attention to what good ol' Doc Robertson said and when the shin is a tad hurty, to just rest it. Got it... trying... working on it.

I'll be setting up the trainer this evening thought and riding along for 30-45 minutes or so.

This afternoon, I headed to Wax On Spa... and way too much TMI for you all... but they do an amazing job !!! Way way way better than the place up north I usually go to and it's just right down the street from me ! Brilliant ! I highly recommend them.

I did decide to go for a spunky walk ... I trekked up to REI. Stopped off at Whole Foods for a slice of veggie pizza and then trudged up the hill. I wanted to find some squishy butt shorts that didn't have so much squish. Tried on few pairs, but wouldn't you know it, the most expensive pair was the one I liked the best. I'll wait a bit :)

I did find these amazing socks. I think I will die with them on. They are super comfortable ! When I run (jog, walk.. whatever) my feet always get too warm. Interesting huh, since I'm always freezing ! But these are actually made with Cool-Max, and are fairly light weight. I'll get a jog in tomorrow morning before Pesos and let you know.. They are THORLO Experia. LOVE THEM :)

I also wanted to re-post this info in case you didn't get the email - this is a free training program by New Balance and Active trainer.

I found it while browsing thru the RnR Vegas website - which has the new course updated btw... woot woot !

www.rnrvegas.com

Here's the link from the page:

http://training.active.com/ActiveTrainer/listing.do?listing=972

remember to use the code NBTrain4Vegas09

It's thru New Balance / Active Trainer and it looks pretty decent. It's a 14 week program starting on August 31st ending on the day before the race (December 5th). There's a run training program, a run/walk program, even a walk program. Very snazzy !

I think even my shin can handle it !!!

And for FREE makes it that much better !!!

**the program starts Aug 31st... everyday I get an email saying "today is a rest day" HA!!

NEW VEGAS COURSE !!!

where are you gonna be Dec 6th ????

Progress ? hhmmmm

well hello !! I know it's been awhile hasn't it ! Busy with work and stuff, and a tad bit under-motivated... I'm currently up to run THREE and walk ONE. I did only two runs last week, it's Tuesday already and I haven't done the 3/1 routine yet. I'll be hitting the treadmill this evening. The shin is tolerable. I'm learning, the hard way, that my shoes matter. Old running shoes, not so great after a day. Flip flops really not so great after 3 hours. I just hate to wear my good running shoes to the dog park...

Last year, I registered for the Seattle IronGirl 10K. I broke my toe, badly, and couldn't do it at all. This year, I registered for the 10K, and it got vetoed. HOWEVER... I am registered for the 5K !! woot woot !! It's Saturday September 12th around Greenlake. All chicks, all fun, all just an overall good time. I'm excited. If you've never done a 5K, this is a great first race. Easy, flat, great support, and every level of running imaginable out on the course with you. AND.... of course, the weekend after that is the.....

FREMONT OKTOBERFEST BREW HA HA 5K !!!!!

Sunday Sept 20th

A fun little jaunt down the Burke Gilman trail and ending in the beer garden. I don't even LIKE beer and this was super fun. I think I have Rob talked into it this year.

Speaking of Oktoberfest, I'm still working on the doc for permission to do the Half in Leavenworth.... still up in the air, but we're still going no matter what ! Good times !

On that note... how about some USEFUL info ? :)

I know most who read this run frequently, but these are 5 basic tips for first time runners, as well as seasoned peeps to remember...

FIVE Essential Race Day Tips:

• change nothing - no new food / gu / gear / stretches.
• wear a watch - keep your own time, and for me, the good ol' heart rate ! For those running experts... splits and such !!
• run the tangents - whhaaa ??? don't arc around curves, take a straight line through the turn (it's not cheating, courses are measured this way) I'm guessing that means that if you have to jump hedges or cars, then this is not applicable :)
• water stops - aim for an early table, but never the first table. And pinch the cup. This will help not to dump the whole thing on your face and mostly miss your mouth... and no, i'm not speaking from experience.. really..
• eat afterward - and this isn't the olives in a bloody mary - carbs and some protein please. I usually grab the closest banana and a cookie or a bar of some sort.