Saturday, November 17, 2012

Trail Running and the Weekend!

Since it is off season for USA Fit Rio, there are just some randomly spaced runs coordinated by the coaches. Not many people attend, but it is still a nice motivator, to get to run with others instead of by myself. I woke up at 7:00 due to pups wanting to go out to potty. I got up, made two fried eggs and three pieces of bacon (although I'm not real sure why we call them fried... I still cook them in Pam, but just dot scramble them up). Fried makes it sound like I poured an inch of oil in a pan and let it fry! Breakfast was good - pups helped with the last piece of bacon and a bit of the eggs. I still have problems eating right when I get up, but I surely wasn't getting up earlier on a Saturday!

I met coach Amy, and some other Rio Fit runners including Michelle, Alison and Arv at Walgreens (score! Only 6 minutes from the house). We ran out two miles and back two miles. It was a challenging run - lots of hills and very sandy! Might as well been running on the beach (except no waves to look at and listen to). I ran out with Michelle and we chatted a bit, and then I ran back with Alison. We chatted also. It is nice to run with her bc she isn't that far into her running journey and she describes the same troubles as me - wanting to lose a bit of weight, hitting the wall while running, etc.).

We finished up after some chats, at about 9:45 and I headed home. I feel pretty good post run, and I think my body is starting to adjust better to the low carb diet. I am a bit hungry now, and I even got up and did the dishes with the intent I find a snack, but didn't. Oh well, at least something got done, lol :).

I'm planning on getting off my booty, showering, and heading out for some shopping today. I need to do some shopping for myself, I MEAN start my Christmas shopping! ; )

Jason is at martial arts and has UFC fight at a friends house tonight - NO THANK YOU! I'll just continue my shopping journey and maybe catch a pedicure. My feet deserve it!

Happy weekend and happy running!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Low Carb Deliciousness

Hubby and I went to a new restaurant in ABQ on Monday; BJ's Brewhouse... Yum! Check out my grilled chicken salad. Oh, and did I mention they brew about 10 of their own beers? Their lightest one is low carb too! Mmmmhhhh!

I still needed some sweetness when I got home hints the homemade Pumpkin Spice latte. Only 3 carbs total. Yummy!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Run, Pilates & Yoga

Woke up early for a Saturday morning - 5:45 AM to be exact, yuck! Since I missed some runs this week, I wanted to go meet Katie & Danielle to run with the Lululemon group. I ate about 1 1/3 scrambled eggs bc it was making me gag; had some coffee and headed out the door. I got to Lululemon at about 7:15 AM. It was about 45 degrees. We ran about 30 minutes. I felt pretty decent during the run, despite my small un-yummy breakfast. Post run, we headed inside Lulu for some Pilates led by Danielle and then Yoga led by Katie. I'm not going to lie - by about 8:30 (30 minutes into Pilates and Yoga), I felt pretty cruddy. Probably partially diet and partially coming inside to 70 degrees when I was sweating and immediately starting Pilates. We finished up at 9:00 AM and I headed back to my side of town. I talked briefly with Katie, Danielle and Julia about whether or not I was doing the PF Changs half in Phoenix, in January. Truthfully I haven't decided. I want to do that run, but that is a two hour event, and losing weight is way more important, so I can be successful at subsequent races. I truthfully don't feel like I can run over five or so miles, without going back to a carbo-licious diet. I don't want to be tortured thru the whole race. I think I'll try to continue what I am doing, see how much weight I can lose by maybe Christmas time, and then decide.

It's a pretty cold day in ABQ. It actually night snow tonight. I might go run in the AM anyway. Lets just see how sore I am!

Besides all that, all is well. I'm sticking to my diet, and had an incredible dinner from Pappadeaux last night - jalapeƱo and cheese stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon and drenched-with-butter spaghetti squash! Delicious! Sometimes this diet can be pretty awesome! Should have taken a picture, but you will just have to drool at my description! Mmmhhhhhh!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Cooking this weekend

I found this recipe via a Facebook post. Looks delish and super low carb! I'll be making these sometime this weekend! Yum yum yum!
http://www.closetcooking.com/2012/11/bacon-wrapped-jalapeno-popper-stuffed.html?m=1

Lazy week

I've found it hard to stay motivated, being as though I'm not running with my group lately. It's more difficult too as I just don't feel my body has adjusted to this diet. Running under a 9:30 mile average for a half marathon was easy and comfortable before. Now, running a 10:00 mile just for a few miles seems torturous! I'm going to Lululemon tomorrow to participate in a group run/yoga combination. It's at 7:30 AM - gag! Why it needed to be so early, I'm not sure. It's nice and cool here in ABQ! Ugh, okay, enough negative nancy! See what not exercising does to you? ; )

Monday, November 5, 2012

Spaghetti Squash

I made spaghetti squash for the first time today, and it actually turned out, surprisingly!

I washed one medium (about 8 inches tall) spaghetti squash well, and then cut it in half long-ways. I scraped out the innerts (seeds and pumpkin type stuff), and then baked in the oven, bowl side up at 375 degrees for one hour. I let it cool a bit, and then used a fork to shred the noodles in the half's. Once I had dumped noodles in a bowl, I used a spoon to get the rest. It made about 5 cups, and at 40 calories and 8 carbs a cup, that's much better than real noodles! I did have a taste and they are better than noodles! Can't wait to try them with dinner.

Low Carb Pizza - DELISH!

I made this yesterday afternoon:

Mix (I used my Kitchenaid Mixer):

3 cups shredded mozzarella
3 eggs
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil

Once well mixed, press onto a greased pizza pan, or parchment paper lined pizza pan (works very well!)

Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and let it stand for 15 minutes.

Flip the crust, dress and pop it back into the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until your toppings are cooked to your liking.

I used 1/2 cup of Walmart Great Value brand pizza sauce (8 carbs total), about 1 more cup of mozzarella and about 20 pepperonis.

It turned out a lot better than expected! Delish! Next time I will put some more seasonings in the crust! I'd give it an 8/10 though!

I forgot to take a picture when it was fresh, so this is the re-heated picture! Still yummy!!

What the freak!?

I decided to weigh myself today, since it has been a week... Maybe I'm bloated, or who knows, but I only had .8 lb. weight loss over the past week! Not sure if something else could be going on - I am still adhering to around 20 carbs per day. I did have a couple days this week where I had around 25-28 carbs, but that wouldn't throw me out if ketosis. Maybe it was just a bad day to weigh myself...

In other news, Kroger & Walmart are now stocking sugar free pumpkin spice Coffeemate creamer! Only two carbs, and one of my holiday favorites! Never mind that wine in the background - I don't drink that! ; )

Thursday, November 1, 2012

First Female at FS Tree Mile 5k! May 2012

25:02 - fastest 5k! I think I must have ha something to prove to my coworkers! The race only had about 100 people, but I was first female, and only second to a male who was 24 seconds ahead of me (which if I knew he was that close, he wouldn't have been first!)

Eating and Running and lots of Scatterbrain-ness!

So it turns out that your eating habits directly correlates to how you perform while running... who knew? No really, it has been quite challenging to stay low-carb, and run as productively as I was (which is a bit scary since my purpose was to lose weight to get faster; not to become slower!)

I stated my third low carb week this past Monday, and I have to say, the diet is getting easier. The biggest challenge is ensuring I have new things to eat, so I do not get bored. I've found that it actually isn't that hard to eat out while on this diet - I just order differently. Before, I would eat some sort of wrap, burger, or french dip like menu item - not I splurge and get the steak that comes with steamed vegetables, and a pre-meal salad. It's funny what I consider a "diet," my husband would consider heaven, minus the vegetables of course! We went to Texas Roadhouse last night for dinner - hubby ordered a steak and shrimp, and I ordered a grilled chicken salad minus the tomato and croutons, plus ranch dressing. All was superb, including hubby's steak which I snagged a bite of. One thing that is hard at TX Roadhouse - those yummy warm rolls with cinnamon butter... When the hostess was seating us, I asked her to please not bring those to our table. No temptation if its not in front of me. No problem!

Since I am in lose mode, I've been trying to do some less intense cardio since it seems to be taking a while for my body to adapt to burning fat. Instead of my normal 30-60 minute runs, I am hitting the gym and doing the stair climber or elliptical for 60 minutes or more. It gives me the same (and sometimes more) burn, but without feeling like I am hitting a wall after 30 minutes. Right now, running 30 minutes is fairly easy, but it seems like at 30 minutes I hit a wall. I can go a lot longer on the stair climber/elliptical. I also notice that when I make my homemade sports drink, I perform more consistently... no "wall hit" at 30 minutes. I'm hoping as the low-carb lifestyle continues, my body better adapts to fueling with fat. Only time will tell.

I've definitely lost a few pounds so far. I haven't weighed myself yet because I want to wait as long as I can so when I see the pounds fall off, its more than a couple. I know I have lost some weight by the jeans - unfortunately it feels like its in the wrong places as all of my jeans are big in the butt now!

In other news, I have recently found some amazing blogs to follow. I've always followed some professional female runners blogs, but now I've stumbled onto some normal girls, like me. Some runners for just a couple years, some have been runners for 10+ years. I love reading about where they started from, where they are now, and where they want to be. I feel like I am somewhere in the middle, with many goals to progress in my future. It's great to read about normal people - we can't all be professional athletes!

That is enough ramble for now.

Exercise plans for the day: Elliptical at gym for 60 minutes. Maybe some strength training after.



Monday, October 22, 2012

One Week in Officially...

It has been a grueling week... not so much because of the diet, but because of the exercise and the effects of the diet on my exercise.

On 10/15/2012 (first day of diet), I decided to run 3 miles doing negative split. I would run conservatively out for 1.5 miles, and then push my limits and my pace when I ran 1.5 miles back. It just so happened that the route I took was 1.5 miles downhill and then 1.5 miles back uphill (figures right?). It wasn't a very successful run, but that could be partially accounted to the downward/upward pattern of the route I chose. I went out thinking 10:00 minute/mile pace out and then 9:00 minute/mile pace back. I ended up running the whole thing in 29:05. The run out was about 14:30 and the run back was 14:35. The run out felt challenging, even at that slow pace, and the run back (uphill) felt pretty difficult (8/10 on difficulty scale).

On 10/18/2012 I decided to do inteval training. I waited to run until nearly dark and went to the track. I walked 400m to get a little warm, and then ran 400m to warm up for hard intervals. I then followed a pattern I learned from my USA Fit Rio coaches; 400m, 600m, 800m, 600m, 400m. I then followed that by a 400m cool down jog, and then 400m walk. My pace varied from 7:03-7:33 minutes/mile pace on the 400/600/800/600/400 intevals. Not horrible, but that wasn't for a large amount of time either, and I have ran one mile in under 7:00 in the past year - one whole mile.

I took off October 19-21 in preparation for the Duke City Marathon 10k I would participate in.

10/21/2012: Duke City 10k! I woke up, ate two scrambled eggs with about two ounces of pork sausage, and had a cup of coffee with splenda and 1 tablespoon of whole cream. I was having some GI distress, and didn't feel 100% when I got to the race. Maybe jitters, maybe diet... Oh and of course, parking was a nightmare... after waiting in line to park at the Convention Center, I turned around and parked at a local hospital - ONE MILE AWAY FROM THE STARTING LINE (bad move number 1). After my one mile hike to the starting line, I began to relax and wait. My running buddies were mostly doing the 1/2 marathon, so they were to take off first, then us few 10k'ers would wait for our turn. 7:45 rolled around quickly adn we were off! The first 3.1 were fine. I was actually adhering pretty well to my negative split plan. My average for the first 5k was about 9:25 minute/mile. I was on target to finish in under one hour. Then I hit the turn, and allowed myself a 30 second break to drink some homemade sports drink (recipe below). I began running again, but was running into to the sun, and of course I forgot my sunglasses! Suddenly the run became much more difficult, and I found that I was telling myself "just make it to the next corner and you can walk a bit," and I did! I stopped about a total of three full minutes. At the five mile sign, I was at 54 minutes, and I knew I had blown my goal. I relaxed, and took it easy, finishing at 1:05:02. Definitely my worst run yet. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself though - I know for a fact that this is my body adjusting to using fat for energy instead of carbs.

10/22/2012: Relax! I'm actually sore! Sad considering I usually run 1/2 marathons, and soreness doesn't come until after 9+ mile runs... :(

Week one done - looking forward to my body adjusting better, and using fat as primary source of energy!

The Recipe - Low-Carb Energy Drink (Gatorade)

2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 cup of water
Splenda to taste

Mix together, and refrigerate overnight. I made it with 1/4 cup of lemon juice in a 16.9 oz water bottle (filled with water). My entire drink was 5 carbs, and considering I was running 6.2 miles, I didn't feel bad for drinking the whole thing!

Where I am starting from...

So here it is... my first blog! I decided that now was as good of a time as any, to begin my "road to performing better" running blog. Here goes!

I've been fairly athletic most of my life. I never competed above the intramural level in any sport, but I've managed to stay in decent shape throughout my 32 years of existence. For the past 6-7 years, my cardiovascular activity of choice has been running, and although I have finished many events including five half-marathons; I have never been satisfied with my perfomance.

Today...

One of my best friends recently completed two marathons (exactly two weeks apart! Yes, she is crazy but awesome!). She is one of the people I have ran with at a couple different half-marathons, and we perform pretty close to the same level. Well, if she can do it... the dreaded FULL MARATHON... well, so can I right? We have both committed to run the 2013 Chicago Marathon and now I have one year to prepare. I don't just want to prepare though, I want to do WELL.

My goal for the Chicago Marathon is to 1) complete the full-marathon in under 4:00:00. I would really like to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but that requires completing Chicago in 3:35:00 or under, and that is a very lofty goal for a first-time marathoner. Stay tuned - as I progress, maybe my goal with change too!

How I am going to do it...

  • Begin a low-carb diet. (I need to go from about 155 lbs. to 125 lbs.).
  • Hydrate very well, 24/7.
  • Stick to a training schedule, and push myself harder than I ever have.
  • Inteval training.
  • Continue training with the group I have been training with for the past two seasons (USA Fit Rio).

Stay tuned for updates, menu's, and my progress!