Half Marathon #5 - Check!

So as I mentioned, I wanted to PR from last year. Last year's time was 2:21:40 and this year I just wanted to get 2:20. It's all I wanted, all I expected from myself. 

And I KILLED it. 

I knew going into this that I was going to have to have a 10:40 average to make my PR. I started off and my first few miles according to my Garmin were looking good, low 10's. I purposefully tried to slow myself down so that I didn't wear myself out too early. And I found it hard to slow down to a 10:40 pace!!  I kept reminding myself if I started to ache that I CAN slow down - I was under no pressure to keep going 10:15, 10:20 miles. But every time I tried to slow down to 10:40, I found myself moving right along with the crowd!

Everyone was so nice on the course! I ran into some familiar faces and made some new friends along the way. I normally don't remember much of my runs, but I was trying so hard to ENJOY this one!! I know that my tendency is to speed out of the gate, so around mile 3 I warned myself I needed to slow down a little bit. But mile 4.5-5 was the "High Five zone" at a farm where they invite spectators to high five as the runners go through! As soon as I knew the farm was coming up, I sped up a little (hence the 10:11 mile at 4) to see my family!!  And it was worth the sprint because I got two of the sweetest little hugs ever. 

The next few miles is through a community. I tried to keep my headphones out and take in all the sights of fall (the weather today - PERFECT. Mild temps, no glaring beating sun...), appreciating all the people who came out to cheer for runners.  Once you come out of the community, it's almost mile 8. That starts a SLIGHT uphill. Mile 10 - the ONLY true uphill run in this race! Sort of mean that they put it so close to the end, but it is what it is!

Once I hit 10 miles, I had my favorite thought - "Now it's just a Tuesday run. A 5k!" And when I looked down and realized I had a 5k left and was only at 1:42??  The writing was on the wall that I would PR, by how much was the question. 

I kept going, tried to keep myself from sprinting at that very moment. My Garmin was off by about .2/mile and I kept having to remind myself - MORE than a mile left, MORE than a half mile, etc.  As I rounded the corner to the street I knew the finish line was on, I knew it was TIME to sprint! I saw my family again right at mile 13. I didn't ALL OUT sprint like I usually do, but I was at a good clip into the finish line. I paused my Garmin, got my medal and tried not to explode. The clock as I passed said 2:17!!! Could I have possibly broken not only 2:20, but 2:15?!!!

Once I finally found my family, my first question for my husband was "Did you get the text? What was my official time??" 

2:15:27. 

ZOMG, I shaved SIX MINUTES off my time from last year!!!!!! 

 

I have a 10K next weekend. then no more races on the books for awhile. I may try to sneak a few 5ks in before next spring race season, but I'm definitely going to keep going and training! I never in a MILLION years thought I could hit 2:15. Now it makes me wonder what else I am capable of doing!! 

HALFWAY!! Oh, and a long run.

HALFWAY DONE WITH WHOLE30!! 

I had a rough weekend (see this post) so I did slip, but not as much as "old me" may have.  More on that later. First off, Sara and I met up for another long run on Sunday! 

We both had 9 miles on our training plan, so away we went. It was a GORGEOUS morning with almost perfect running weather. I was severely dehydrated and probably under-nourished from Saturday that I felt like I was running with lead legs. I honestly wasn't sure I would make it to 9, but we did it!

The pace is about 40 seconds off of my average mile/min that I will need in order to PR the race, but after the week I've had, I'll take it. I am going to go on at least one "longer" run this week (hoping for 6 miles tomorrow morning) and go for a speedy run on Thursday (after my new "yogalates" class!) to get some more mileage in. Then Sunday, we'll aim for 10!! After that, people - it's TAPER time already!! What the what?!?!  This training season is going SO QUICKLY!! 

Day 11! 

Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, blueberries.

Lunch: Leftovers. Salmon, carrots and an orange (Lunch brought to you by the color orange obviously!) 

MIdafternoon: Lara bar, roasted rosemary almonds. 

Dinner: (This was my daughter's plate! I was so hungry I ate quickly so my daughter got seconds of everything so I could take a picture  Dry rubbed grassfed beef roast, mashed potatoes (no dairy) and green beans.

This was day 12!! I was off by a day!

Day 12: 

breakfast: 3 egg muffins

Lunch: 3 hb eggs (only the whites, I don't like the yolk). olives. cucumbers. peppers. blueberries. 

Dinner: again made pizza for my family and I ate sausage, onions, portobello mushrooms, peppers, on zucchini noodles with a homemade marinara.

 Day 13: 

Today was bad for emotions. I was so nervous for the vet appt I only drank 2 glasses of coffee & ate a Lara bar. I had lunch at 2:30 (hot dogs and pickles) and a glass of wine with dinner. Dinner was a seafood stew with tomato-saffron broth. The menu didn't say rice but there it was  thought I was staying mostly compliant. My poor pup, I miss him desperately.

Day 14:

Woke up, ran 9 miles. Came home and was too nauseous to eat. I ate about 1/4 sweet potato with cinnamon. 

Lunch: Chipotle. I am still so out of it that I ordered CORN SALSA! WTHeck?!?! So I spent the first 5 minutes of lunch picking individual corn off of my barbacoa salad. *duh*

Dinner: Omelette with onions and peppers, homemade hash browns and Pederson's bacon.

Day 15: 

Breakfast: Banana & coffee

Lunch: peppers, zucchini, mushrooms and onions sauteed with chicken sausage. grapes.

Dinner: balsamic crockpot chicken, giant pile of zucchini.

The last few days I have walked numbly through, barely eating. Mostly because all the things I wanted to eat (pb&j, mac and cheese - comfort foods really) aren't compliant. So instead of completely derailing my progress, I have been doing the opposite - barely eating at all. I am trying to get better about forcing myself to eat, but it's just so hard right now when all I want to do is fall face first into a cake. 

*************************************************************

Soooooooo stayed mostly compliant through a very difficult time, which makes me pretty proud. I'm usually a severe stress eater, and it would have been easy to get something sometime in the last three days. It would have been easy to just throw back a few beers to numb the pain.  I did have wine, but ONE glass (one Saturday, one Sunday) instead of half a bottle. 

My knee felt AWESOME on Sunday, which was the one bright shining moment (aside from the wonderful company, of course!). Even at our turn around I didn't feel the pain like I have been feeling, which was SOOOO encouraging!! 

I wasn't THAT off diet on Saturday night but I could FEEL the difference in my run on Sunday.  Now, to be fair, that may be a result of dehydration, low calorie intake etc. But it was enough that I am definitely staying on track with my Whole30 through my races, even though I will technically be "done" by September 23.  I will add in a few things once my 30 days is up, but I will largely remain grain- and dairy-free until after my 10K on October 12th! 

My "Recovery" Run

Looks like the verdict is:

A little rest goes a long way!! 

People, I JUST don't run this fast!  Especially when the weather looks like this:

I am VERY excited!  Found out that one of the local running stores offers a foam rolling technique class, so I am registering to take that next week. I'll post about it after I go.  Looking forward to finding out all the best ways to get rid of the pain and prep my body the best. 

Revisited the possibility of beginning another Whole30 in the next week or so. Lots and lots of runners do it and the personal accounts of how it affected their running ability are very convincing. Still working out some details, though.  I will post more about it when/if I make a decision!

I DID IT!

I FINALLY finished the Jamie Eason plan!! (About 2 weeks ago, I've just been slacking on blogging :-) It was definitely an awesome plan!!!  It was intimidating to try things that I haven't done before (dead lifting and using the squat rack!) but it starts out easy (beginner level for sure) and works up.  I started spacing things out a bit at the end, the workouts got longer (1 1/2 hr and more) and I felt like I needed to take some days off to spend more time at home with my family.

I don't think I took before/after pictures, but I can DEFINITELY see an improvement! My favorite "result" - my TRICEP!  It's awesome now! :-)

So, I finished.  My running is in a weird place (I'm much more bulky than I used to be) so I will be spending the next few months focusing again on my cardio.  I am registered for the Halloween 10K and the Cowbell Half Marathon again in October and I am DEAD SET on PR'ing both of them!

Just proud to say I finished the whole program!!!

Final Stats from Whole30

I learned today that PEAS aren't allowed on Whole30. I truly had NO idea. So if you're looking to do one, don't eat peas!  

Aside from the whole "no peas" thing,  we finished a successful (as far as we knew) Whole30! 

Here are my stats ! 

 I've had more energy, I have successfully weaned myself from an antidepressant and I feel stronger. I didn't have the amazing results I've seen around the forums and Whole30 sites, but to be honest, I didn't have a ton of weight to lose to get to goal. I hoped to get closer to my goal weight, but I can't turn my nose up at a 6.5 lb loss in a month. 

I think I've said it here before, we won't be paleo after this - it's just not sustainable to us. Unless we find that someone in our family reacts poorly to something during reintroduction, we will return to "clean eating." My husband and I agree that this is an excellent "reboot" and we will try to complete 2 Whole30's per year. 

I won't even go so far as to say everyone should do this. It's NOT for everyone. But if you feel that you need a good body reset, if you feel like you have inflammation or AI issues, if you feel like you need CONTROL of it for awhile - this is for you.  I didn't hit my goal weight. I didn't even lose as much as I hoped, but I also am a lot closer to my goal than someone coming from a SAD (standard American diet) because of the small changes we've gradually made over the years. It's been hard for me not to compare my results to ALL THE OTHER people who have completed a Whole30. "Why didn't I lose that much?" "Why didn't I get the tiger blood feeling?"  But I can't do that. I am not them. They are not ME! 

I can only go so far as to be proud of my 6.5 lbs, my 1.1% body fat loss, the teeeensy tiny abs I see in my "after" pictures. The fact that I am off an antidepressant I've been on for as long as I can remember. That I don't NEEEEEEED coffee to get me moving in the morning (in fact, most mornings lately, I FORGET to make a cup until around 10am!) 

It's completely embarrassing to put these pictures out publicly, but I am proud of where I am now. I admit, the fact that there are baby abs pushing through in the bottom left picture is a little addicting and I want to keep moving in that direction.  We are a few days out now and I've been adding in "prohibited" foods - I feel them. I have been more bloated-feeling and I miss the feeling of thinning out. I am going to try to start making a conscious effort to get back to tracking macros (without such a RIDICULOUS number for my protein!) and go back to a "clean" approach - with whole grains and lots of starchy carbs instead of processed stuff. 

I've missed a few days of the Jamie Eason plan - and I'm ok with it. It was getting to be a LOT of time spent at the gym, when I really needed to be spending more with my kiddos (you know, the reason I left my job?).  So I'm spacing out the workouts a little more. I am going to complete day 61 tomorrow, which is the 5th day of week 9. Today is technically the 2nd day of week 10, so I am only 4 days behind. 

I am going to start adding some running into the mix too. I registered for the Halloween 10K (fourth year in a row!) and the Mo' Cowbell Half again for this fall, so I need to get my butt in gear! I registered my expected finish time for the half to be 2:15!! 6 min shorter than my last! So I have a lot to prove - if only to myself. 

So as always, I finished up one thing and I'm on to the next. We will revisit the Whole30 concept again, hopefully a few times a year. If NOTHING else, it's a good reminder that I DO possess will power. I CAN control my eating, I can accomplish what I set out to do. 

Camping - Whole30 Style!

So I'll be the first to say that camping is NOT the same without beer and s'mores.  However, it was still a delightful weekend! 

We got to our campsite around 5:00, set up and got dinner ready. I didn't take a picture (it was probably 6:30 by then I was ready to chew my arm off!) but we had hot dogs and chicken brats (found at Whole Foods and compliant! Brat Hans brand). We had carrots and celery on the side. 

For "dessert," I stuck bananas on skewers and "roasted" them. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on and the kids went WILD! 

Saturday (and Sunday, breakfasts are always the same) we had "cereal" - a teeny bit of pecans, slivered almonds, cashews, dried cherries, some raisins and some coconut shreds with a little almond milk and a sliced banana.  This replaced the sugary cereals that are usually a camping "treat" (I buy the tiny boxes) to hold the kids off while we make the real breakfast (eggs and bacon this time, egg sandwiches usually) in the pie iron over the campfire. 

Lunch for me was 2 HB eggs, carrots, celery, watermelon and homemade zucchini/carrot chips. The rest of my family had Applegate roast beef also.

We took a good hike midday so when we came back we had a snack of pistachios, almonds and strawberries/grapes.

For dinner Saturday night, we had burgers with bacon, roasted sweet potatoes on the campfire (started those around 2pm!), and mini bell peppers that we put on skewers and roasted right on the fire!  I chopped apples in a little coconut oil and topped with cinnamon.  I put them on the fire for about an hour to get them all warm and gooey, then we ate them straight out of a bowl. Yum yum. 

All in all, while DIFFERENT from our usual camping trips, this one ranks right up there with the others! The food didn't make it any less enjoyable and it wasn't any more work to prep and eat "real" food. 

Me & my girl!

My boys.

Filing this one away for 10 years from now -
I'm sure I'll see this face again.

Happy and healthy, my kids were rockstars during the entirety of our Whole30!

Week 4.... The Home Stretch

Week Four, almost done.  I can't believe we've almost finished the entire Whole30 we set out to complete! 

This post won't be our complete eating for the last week - I'm breaking it up since we went camping (CAMPING! During Whole30!! What about beer?! What about s'mores?!?) and I want to pull that out separately! 

I don't know if I ever actually explained why I am posting our meals. I have had so many people compare this to the Atkins diet - to "low carb" diets - wondering if we're hungry all the time (no snacking, remember??).  The answer is NO!! And this is NOTHING like the "low carb" fads that have been around.  We snacked a bit over the weekend while camping (just some fruit/nuts in the afternoon) and I give my kids an afternoon snack everyday, but hubby and I have not snacked for the most part of the 30 days.  We ate, and ate well! The food has been delicious. I've found a new way to spice taco meat (WITHOUT a packet!) and flavor combinations (PLEASE try sweet potato and bacon!! OMG and if you're daring, add PINEAPPLE.)

Day 22, Easter:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with green pepper & onion, 2 strips of bacon, sweet potato hash. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Applegate hot dogs, apple with almond butter, avocado and sugar snap peas.

Dinner: Steak (missing from the picture, I hadn't plated it yet!), ginger-lime shrimp, whipped sweet potatoes, curried cauliflower. For "dessert"** I made coconut milk whipped with cocoa powder and strawberries.  FAR cry from what Easter used to be in this house!

 ** Dessert breaks the Whole30 rules because it's considered SWYPO, but it was Easter and considering the things we ate last year (and every year before that) and the fact that my kids did not complain ONCE that there was no candy - we had us some dessert! 

Workout: Rest 

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Day 23:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with homemade breakfast sausage, 2 cups super greens, 1/3 avocado. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Super greens, chicken breast, handful of green olives, 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon, 8 strawberries. 

Dinner: Meatballs with homemade marinara, spaghetti squash and peas. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk after dinner

Workout: Sick kiddo  

Total Time: 0

Total Calories Burned: 0

Day 24:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, 1/2 avocado, whipped sweet potatoes with cinnamon. Coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: Chicken breast, sliced carrots, zucchini & yellow squash & onions from kabobs, Cara cara orange. 

Dinner: Balsamic chicken thighs, homemade marinara, spaghetti squash and green beans. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk after dinner

 

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training day 57 - Quads & Calves

Total Time: 1 hr 20 min

Total Calories Burned: 568 cals

Felt good today. A great workout certainly helped it along! I'm counting the days until we're done now! We're going camping this weekend and it will certainly be a challenge to camp without s'mores, sandwiches and alcohol, but we're working on it!

Day 25:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, pineapple, some green pepper. Coffee with coconut milk. <-- I have a head cold and everything tasted weird this am.

PWO: Small chicken breast

Lunch: One whole HB egg, one HB egg white, 1/2 avocado in 3 lettuce wraps. Banana. 

Dinner: BBQ rubbed pork tenderloin, 1/2 sweet potato with cinnamon, roasted broccoli. 

Decaf coffee with coconut milk in the afternoon.

Workout: Jamie Eason LiveFit training day 58 - Arms/Back/Abs and Sprints

Total Time: 1 hr 41 min

Total Calories Burned: 675 cals

Workout today really made me feel strong. I don't know if I'm inching towards tiger blood or what, but it was just a good workout. I surprised myself with how hard I was able to push myself.  

Day 26:

Breakfast: 1 scrambled egg, 1/2 chicken apple sausage, banana. Coconut milk in coffee.

Lunch: Chicken breast, handful of olives, super greens, red grapes. 

Dinner: Jerk spiced salmon, peas, a hash mixture of sweet potatoes, pineapple and bacon. 

Workout: Rest

Total Time: 

Total Calories Burned: 

Good day. Counting the days to be done (4).