Losing it!

There are alot of things I could start my blog out with today, but because I am excited it finally happened... my toenail fell off!  I turned black after my half back in October and its just been hardly hanging on and was actually painful at times.  Does it make you a true runner when you are totally not bothered by your toenails falling off?  Although, I am putting in a request to not lose anymore over the summer - I really love my flip-flops!

So, with that exciting news out of the way... lets get down to this last weekend's long run.  I have been struggling with my stomach again as of late and I am really worried about it.  I have a 20k next weekend and from what I have been told there are no port-a-potties.  I hate to admit it but that could spell disaster if my stomach decides to act up.  That means this weekend will be a dress rehearsal of what I am going to do to prevent any problems. 

Saturday's run was about what I expected... I decided to run outside so I could sleep in a bit plus the weather was supposed to be pretty nice, mid 20s to 30s.  Some people think that is cold but its just about perfect for me!  After a quick slice of bread I was out the door by 7:30... it was beautiful out, cool and sunny.  After a pit stop at mile 3.5, I headed back out to finish my run.  Miles 4-7 seemed so easy, then my stomach started acting up again.  After my last stop at mile 9 I wanted to give up and not finish the run, but I got out there and did it anyways.  You can tell by my splits that I was struggling those last miles.  My stomach was cramping and my heart just wasn't in it, but I didn't want to regret quitting.

When I was done, I HURT.  I knew I had pushed too hard for a long training run.  I knew I would be sore, so we planned a family walk for the next day to stretch things out and help make sure I didn't get too sore.  Sunday rolled around and I wasn't feeling too bad, but it was such a beautiful day that we couldn't just sit inside so we loaded the kids in their strollers and headed out to a local "dream neighborhood" and spent between 2 and 2.5 hours walking around looking at $500k homes.  

Yes, this is one house - it has its OWN cul-de-sac!  The garage was at least a 6 car garage!  I'm imagining this one is probably much more than $500k!

We didn't take the garmin,  but when I got  home I calculated the route to the best of my ability and it looks like we walked between 5.5 and 6 miles!  A HUGE feat for my couch potato, computer loving hubby!  Honestly, I think the walk took more out of me than the run on Saturday.  If we plan to be out that long again I think I will be taking some sort of snack.  It was great to get out as a family and do something active - I hope we can continue this in the future.  The only downside - SUNBURN!   I was wearing a tunic shirt that had a v-neck in the back, so my back, shoulders, and face are all burnt! :( 

Things continue to go moderately well on the food front... I am incorporating veggies and healthy foods and reducing the processed foods.  I am so proud to say that I have basically maintained the same weight since August of last year except for a short lived bump up during the holidays.  I'm still not in love with the body I have been left with as a result of the extra weight I carried around with me for years, but I am slowly coming to grips with it.  I still would love to get to 175,  but for now, I will be happy 5-10 pounds heavier.  I'm healthy and that was my biggest motivation for this whole journey.  

I wanted to blog about a couple other things, but my head is throbbing so I need to find some tylenol and my bed.  I will try to post later in the week. 

One question for my readers:  being that I am new to the whole eating vegetable thing, I would LOVE any creative tasty recipes, do you have any favorites?

I'm back!

I feel like I start all of my blog posts apologizing for being absent for so long.  This time I have a fairly good reason - at least for one week of my absence.  Audrey over at A Mama's Goals is doing weekly challenges and I am joining her on the the journey.  Last week the challenge was to give up facebook and blogging for a week!  Talk about difficult, I use social media to stay somewhat connected to adults.  Without that, my only social interaction comes from my kids.  And, while I love them to pieces, I do need some connection beyond an almost 5 year old and 2 and a half year old.   

Anyway, after that it took me a while to get caught up with everyone on facebook and with the blogs.  I am sorry if I didn't comment on all of them, but I think I am finally caught up! Since I was gone I have been doing pretty good with the training schedule.  I did miss one run due to my kiddos being sick.  My son ended up with double ear infections and my daughter ended up with a sinus infection!  Luckily, the antibiotics are making them less grumpy so I think they are on the mend!   To break up the monotony of this post.. here's a picture of my sweet boy passed out in my arms at the pediatrician.  Poor kid, he cried for hours that day. 

Last weekend, I had 11 miles on the schedule for my long run.  I ended up hitting the treadmill at the Y yet again.  I really dislike doing the long distances on the treadmill, but it really helps me keep my pace slower and more controlled.  I felt like overall this run went much better than the week before.  That is, until the last mile and a half.  My stomach started cramping something awful and everytime I tried to run I just couldn't, so I ended up walking the last mile or so.  The first 10 miles I averaged a 10 min/mile pace.  This included some walking the last half mile or so - but for the majority of the time I kept the treadmill at a 9:49 min/mile (6.1?).  The  good part of this run is that my legs felt fantastic and I even felt okay cardio wise... stupid stomach.  I haven't been watching my diet - guess its back to cracking down before long runs!  I will eventually get my body to stop revolting against me on these long runs... my persistence will pay off someday! 

I have some exciting things coming up in the next month or two running wise... 

March 24: Local 20k race

March 30: going out of state to see my family/run a race

April 7: Oak Barrel Half Marathon - excited to have my whole family there to cheer me on, will be the first time my dad has been there! 

April 15:  Local 5k 

May 5:  Indy Mini 

This week has been interesting weather wise.  We got up to nearly 70, then today it was in the 40s again!  I wish it would pick a season already!  I have been enjoying some outdoor runs though so thats good. Wednesday the wind was CRAZY with 25-35 mph sustained winds with gusts to 45 mph.  I decided to run outside anyways because the temps were awesome.  Today I was feeling chilled to the bone for some reason so I stuck to the treadmill for my scheduled 3 miles.  I got my mileage done but it was slower than when I run outside - this seems to be a common problem!  I did manage to get in a short bit of hill training.  I ran .25 mile on an incline of 7 at 6 mph.  Not much, but a start.  I have a month to get ready for Whiskey Hill!  Hoping I will be ready!  

Last but not least - food!  I have been expanding my horizons and I am SO proud of myself.  I know it sounds like I am bragging here, but I have never been a fan of vegetables.  I would eat corn and lettuce.  If it was a good day I might eat celery and raw broccoli (only the very tops).  About a year ago, I started eating squash as well.  But, the last few weeks I have been incorporating veggies into at least one meal a day (normally two).  I am now eating: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, and zucchini (only tried it IN things, but it still counts).  I also ate some other sort of bean and asparagus at the running banquet .. but I didn't like either of them enough to make them again.  It feels great to be setting a good example for my kids even if they won't eat the veggies just yet.  Wednesday night I got brave and tried turkey meatloaf with zucchini in it (I skipped the mashed potato topping) and opted to try making cauliflower fritters.  Shockingly, my daughter who refuses to eat veggies cleaned her plate!   I was so impressed - will definitely be making those again!  I wasn't nearly as gourmet tonight, but I did remember to take a picture!  It was a yummy dinner, and incorporated two different veggies with a bit of brown rice and sauteed chicken with sweet and sour sauce.

I had a huge serving of chicken, but I was craving protein and its relatively healthy!

Once again, I apologize for not posting more often.  But, thank you to my followers who stick around despite my inability to make my blog entertaining!  

Up all night...

It's been a rough couple of days.  My daughter got sick mid-week and she has been getting progressively worse and then of course my son got the "plague" too.  It's an upper respiratory type thing, croupy sounding cough and congestion.  Natalie seems to be on the mend now but Daniel is not fairing as well.  If tonight is as rough as last night he will be going to the doctor tomorrow.  He goes into horrible coughing fits at night and wakes up crying several times a night.  This is totally NOT normal for my normally heavy sleeper!  The coughs sound like his throat should be bleeding... breaks this mommy's heart! :-/

That being said, there was still a long run to be accomplished on Saturday.  I woke up at 5:15 Saturday so I could shave my legs and get dressed to be at the Y when they opened at 6 am.  The treadmills get surprisingly busy first thing in the morning.  I had everything I needed to have a fantastic run - a movie on my tablet, fuel, water, propel zero, and a comfortable running outfit.  Unfortunately, even with the best of planning sometimes your body just won't give as much as you would like.  I set the treadmill just under 10 minute miles and ran pretty comfortably for the first 3.5 miles.  At 3.5 I took my first walk break, then at 4.12 miles I had to take a bathroom break.  After that it just never got comfortable again.  I ran a large portion of it, but the walk breaks were more frequent than I would have liked.  I got through this run, one promise at a time.. "get to mile 7, then you can walk for a minute," "get to mile 8 and you can walk for a minute" etc...

Note the crooked sweating, has anyone seen this before?!  It's WEIRD and I don't get it! 

My run came in at almost 10.5 minutes per mile.   I am sort of torn about how I feel about that pace.  On one hand its slower than what I was running during my training for my first half marathon and feels SO much harder.  On the other, its actually about the pace the McMillan calculator suggests I should be running for my long training runs.  I guess the frustration is in a slower pace feeling harder.  I am trying to trust in the training, knowing that its recommended to run the slower speeds on your long runs.  I am trying to prevent injury, and from everything I read the biggest thing is to slow down and not push your body too hard. I am hoping that the "hardness" comes from the fact that these runs have been done on a treadmill while my training runs last time were outside.   Either way I am just going to stick with it and do the best I can to get the miles in and see what happens come April and May when I have my first two halves of the year.

I came home feeling sorry for myself, but decided to let it go and plan what was on the menu for dinner... the answer may come as a surprise to many of you who know how much I despise veggies...

Food Photographer, I am not!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza! 

This recipe was SO good and we will definitely be making it again.  We will probably use less cheese in the crust next time.  It was very tasty but we think you could easily reduce the cheese and it would still be as tasty.  Looking forward to trying this with a variety of toppings in the future.  The best part - Natalie ate it!  Typically she won't eat vegetables or pizza with sauce, so the fact that she ate this is nothing short of a miracle!  

Reader Poll:  Does anyone have any experience with how slowing down your training runs affected your time for half marathon distance races?