Happy Monday

Boy - I've got a list !
1 - went for a run around the lake on saturday morning. My usual manatee pace, but everything felt great.. including the new Mizunos ! wahoo ! Although, I need some good new running socks... I'll be researching that

2 - summer cold = ew. Sunday, it decided to get the best of me. So I'm hangin' low until I can breathe again !

3 - Napa 2 Sonoma Half Marathon was yesterday. I'm diligently watching their website to see when registration opens up for 2011. I'll keep you posted. Also, if you check out their website, there's a coupla pictures from the race. B E A U T I F U L :) Rob asked me the other day why I wanted to try / attempt yet another half marathon. My answer, I want to complete one not injured ! I did everything right for the first one, had a shin splint. 2nd one I was complacent. Totally didn't train and figured I wouldn't have a problem. My own fault. 3rd one.... trained perfectly. Followed dr's orders, got up to 12 miles without any problems and then a stress fracture, from nothing i did wrong. So I just want to be able to finish one not injured. End of story.

3 - while digging thru the Napa 2 Sonoma web page, I found a blog called... danerunsalot. It's this amazing guy (or crazy... your decision) who, in 2006, decided to do a marathon every week ... 52 marathons in one year. He did it ! He's blog is pretty snazzy. And he has a shirt that I love - "This isn't sweat, it's liquid awesome.

4 - YUM - I love Bethenny :
Tuna Burger:
4 pounds sushi-grade ahi tuna
5 basil leaves, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
2 heaping tablespoons black sesame seeds
4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey

Wasabi Mayonnaise:
2 tablespoons wasabi paste
3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise (such as safflower)
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime

Tuna Burger:
Combine all ingredients and form into 12 patties.
Grill, turning once, until medium-rare.
Top with wasabi mayonnaise.

Wasabi Mayonnaise:
Combine all ingredients. (If you are pressed for time, wasabi mayonnaise can by found in most upscale supermarkets and health food stores.)

And last, are you a runner or a jogger ? This is from Dane's blog and I was impressed. So read away :)

Difference Between a Runner and a Jogger
By Dane Rauschenberg • July 19, 2010

As the total number of marathon finishers increases, and the average marathon finishing times get slower and slower, the debate about how slower marathoners are ruining what it means to be a “marathoner” has raged on. To some extent, I understand the viewpoint of those who state that those in the five-hour range or slower are “dirtying” what it means to be a true marathoner. For example, if you say you play baseball and are a baseball player, the understanding is usually that you play in the big leagues and are, at the very least, one of a select few hundreds of people in America that are good enough to play that position. If not, and you just play beer league softball, well, then someone can easily categorize you as such.

However, if one were to scoff at the five-hour marathon finisher the same way we would the guy with the gut and 40 ounce aluminum bat swinging for the fences, they would risk being ostracized for their unenlightened opinions about what it takes to be a true marathoner. I mean, I truly do get it. For people who define themselves by speed, not necessarily everyone should be allowed to call themselves a marathoner. But then we get to the obvious question: where is the line we draw? 4 hours? 3:30? Maybe sub-3? Heck, soon we may have a world record under two hours. Can people only 2:30 and under be real marathoners? They would still be over a minute per mile off the world record. Isn’t that slow and therefore demeaning what the other real marathoners are doing? Obviously, there is not a time goal that fits all criteria for this line of thinking. As such, there has to be a better way to decide what makes a real marathoner, or real runners.

Recently, I was at the Boilermaker 15k in Utica NY. I had the chance to partake in a great conversation with Kevin Hanson of the Hansons-Brooks Distance project. This creation of Kevin and his brother Keith is an Olympic development squad that most recently put Brian Sell into the Olympics as a qualifier in the marathon. Obviously Kevin, who surrounds himself with only the speediest of the speedy, must be disgusted by the plodders out there sullying this wonderful sport, right? Not even close.

Kevin and I came upon just about the same conclusion and feel that we were able to easily define what the difference is between a runner and a jogger. In our opinion, this difference is having a goal. Not obtaining a goal, not having a fast goal, but plain and simply having a goal. If you are going out to run for a reason and a purpose, with a goal in mind (whether it be to get fit, to get faster, to improve your mental health, etc.) you are, without a doubt, a runner. Sure, hopefully it is a realistic goal or one that is not somewhere on along the lines of “I want to decrease my marathon time by one second” but a goal nonetheless.

Everything else falls into too much of a gray category. What is fast? What is slow? In the end it matters not. It only truly makes a difference if there is reason why you are putting on your shoes. Then, regardless of your time, you have just as much in common with the elites as anyone else.

let's hear it for week off...

Not intentionally I might add... managed to gash my finger open when I was planning a trainer ride, and then somehow came down with a freaky summer cold so I haven't even got to test run the new BRIGHTLY colored Mizunos.

I'm hoping that Saturday AM is my time :)

On a side note, I went to the doc today for the usual annual ... and my last DexaScan was good. So I don't have to go for one for another year. Have you had your bones tested ??? Do it ! Painless, quick and totally good info to have :) And my doc knows that I run and workout, having my records from when I weighed in at 174. He told me about a patient of his that just started 'running'. The patient has lost 56 pounds. Dr. said the patient told him sometimes people who are walking pass him when he thinks he's running. Oddly... I can relate :) I told my Doc my fav saying to pass on to his patient... "first or last, it's still the same finish line". So true !

Next - CNN had a study yesterday saying pear shaped woman had more memory loss than apple shaped chicks. Damn... I'm a TOTAL pear. I need to work on whittling down the 'pear' side. However, apple chicks have more cardio / heart issues ... either way ladies... work it off !!

I went last weekend and watched our friend's 9 year old son do his first ever triathlon (100 yd swim / 1.5 mile bike / .5 mile run) . Seriously good stuff. After years of Little League and soccer, even though we were fortunate and had great parents for those teams, I was very impressed with the Tri parents :) One girl, probably, 10ish, got out of the water, ran to her bike, and her mom, easily 300 pounds, got on a bike and started pedaling with her. In they both came from the bike, and off they both went on the run. I was soooo happy to see that ! A parent, showing her child to get out and move, and this parent, large, working it too. So very thrilled with that.

Just know... size, age, weight, activity, ability doesn't matter... just get out and get moving peeps !

new shoes !

FINALLY !! new Mizunos ! woot woot ! however... it's a good thing I don't pick 'em for the color. These are purple... and blue... wow.

My FAV new website www.thebar.com . Seriously ! Killer drinks AND nutrional info !

Mexican Paloma
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Cuervo Tradicional (25 oz. per bottle)
3 oz. grapefruit soda
1 teaspoon(s) salt
1 slice(s) lime(s)
Servings: 1

Preparation Rub rim of a tall glass with half a lime and dip into salt. Fill halfway with ice. Add Cuervo Tradicional and grapefruit soda. Stir well. Garnish with lime slice

Hot Hot Hot

I have a killer new Road ID running hat :) I love me some Road ID. And this morning, at 5:15am, I'm up, dressed, ready to go for a morning run, heart rate monitor on, Road ID bracelet on, and I stop. I'm in the kitchen and I just had a feeling... something was wrong. Don't know what. Don't know if it was because I was going to go run the waterfront by the railroad tracks at 5:30am by myself and no one knew where I was, or because it wasn't completely light out... but something just felt, off. So, I erred with caution and didn't go. Odd though huh ?
I'll go for a run in the morning :)

A couple of interesting things I found this week... one is about exercising in general .. I kinda new about the crunches, and I can't do them anyway, they kill my back. But the time of day to workout was interesting... I guess I can't use the "it's been a long day" excuse !

Crunches are one of the best moves to target your abs.
Fiction.
You probably know crunches are old-school, but you may not know why they're not very effective. What's their weakness? Most women initiate crunches with their hip flexors without engaging much of their core. This may get the surface muscles in your abs, but it ignores the ones underneath, which are also essential to a flat stomach.Plus, crunches mimic the sitting posture we use for much of the day. "We don't want to exacerbate this 'hips flexed/shoulders hunched' position," Jack explains. "The point of training is to fix the gaps and do something different. Crunches repeat a similar movement pattern.A better bet for flat abs? Focus on moves like the plank and side plan that work often-neglected areas of your core. And don't forget your butt, too. Weak glutes push your stomach out and give you a belly even if you don't have one. (Not fair, we know!)

The morning is the best time of the day to exercise.
Fiction.
If you have your pick of any time of the day, the late afternoon would be your ideal workout window. Muscle strength and body temperature both peak somewhere between 4 and 6 p.m., allowing you to work out heard with less effort. And you've eaten breakfast and lunch, meaning you'll have much more fuel in your tank."Also, your threshold for pain is at its highest in the afternoon and your mental clarity is still there," says Jack. "Of all the different variables, the most are in place at that time of day."Studies have show that the body can adapt to peak performance at any time, though, so if you'd rather work out in the morning or evening, go for it. "The best time of day to train is the time that you're able to actually do it. That's most important," notes Jack.


And.... check this out from Hungry Girl :

Cake Mix + Canned Pure Pumpkin

PER SERVING (1 piece, 1/12th of cake): 183 calories, 3.5g fat, 301mg sodium, 37g carbs, 1.25g fiber, 20.5g sugars, 2g protein -- POINTS® value 4*

Ingredients:
One 18.25-oz. box moist-style cake mix
One 15-oz. can pure pumpkin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly -- batter will be VERY thick -- and transfer to a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray; bake in the oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. (Refer to cake-mix box for pan size and approximate bake time.) MAKES 12 SERVINGS

• Best Flavor: Devil's food cake mix is CLEARLY a classic choice. (Hello?! Yum Yum Brownie Muffins!) But spice cake mix... WOW. Yellow and white cake mixes, sadly, do not work as well.
  
• The Texture: Thick and dense in the BEST possible way. Brownie-like, in the case of the devil's food; the spice cake reminded us of pumpkin bread!
• The Taste: No one would ever guess this is guilt-free in any way. It's delicious!