Returning to Hills

Today marks the return to hill work on my training plan.

I’ve been looking forward to today with an odd mixture of dread and glee.

Yes I said it…glee! Because while I know in the moment of running repeats, my quads will be burning and I’ll be cursing like a sailor  that there’s the other side – there’s the strength training and confidence building that only running hills can bring.

And I’ve seen the results – last summer Coach Bennett introduced me to hill work and I truly thought the man was trying to kill me 🙂 Then I faced ZOOMA’s hilly Cape Cod course and the Newton hills of the Chilly half! While both courses were definitely challenging, the hill work Bennett had put me through prepared me both mentally and physically and I PR’d both courses! That’s where the glee comes in, from knowing the potential payoff.

So for the next few weeks, Thursdays are Hill Days and I say “Bring it on!”

Do you do specific hill training? Or do hills make you want to run screaming in the other direction?

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What’s in my fitness closet?

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I’m joining Pavement Runner and some other bloggers and peeling back the curtain to reveal madness that’s taking over my closet – my ever-growing running gear collection.

I took some time this weekend to pack up the winter gear (I don’t care what Mother Nature throws at us next, I’m done with running tights and my heavier layers!)

So what’s in my fitness closet now?

4 pairs of capri pants (2 Nike, 1 Lululemon and 1 Lucy)

5 running skirts from Brooks, Sport Skirts and Running Skirts

Love a good running skirt!

Love a good running skirt!

2 Compression shorts (Aspaeris & CW-X)

7 race shirts (these are the tech ones – I have no idea what’s become of the cotton ones!)

Too many tech shirts & Singlets from Brooks, Nike, Bia,  Tough ChikPearl Izumi, & C9  FitCloset_tops

4 sports bras (Champions & Handful)

5 Saucony shoes  (including the retired pair of Mirages I just use for kicking around in)

#FindYourStrong   #FindYourStrong

Hmmm I’m starting to feel like I’ve got a little bit of an addiction going here – especially when you take into account that this doesn’t include compression sleeves, arm warmers, hats/visors, jackets, etc!  🙂

What about you – do you find your fitness clothes are taking over your closet?

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Omega Infusion Review

One thing I really struggle with is my hydration – unless it is the dog-days of summer, I have to really make a conscious effort to drink enough water. And I’ll admit, sometimes I just get bored with plain old H2O. Often you’ll find me putting either lemon, cucumber or mint in my water to give it a little umph and keep me drinking.

I was recently introduced to Omega Infusion – a zero-calorie enhanced water that not only provides you with hydration, but also with natural energy from B vitamins and antioxidant vitamin C, and much needed Omega-3s.  Once I heard the description I had to give them a try.

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Omega Infusion comes in berry, fruit punch, citrus, and orange. I thought they all had a good flavor – offering more taste than most “flavored” waters I’ve tried, without being too strong. My favorite was berry. My oldest son got in on the act too – trying all of them with me and declaring them “delicious!” Fruit punch was his favorite, with the citrus a close second. In fact, since they’ve appeared in our fridge, he’s been grabbing a bottle after school, instead of making his usual pitch for lemonade – win!

Each bottle contains 80mg of Omega-3s EPA/DHA. Did you know that the FDA qualified health benefit of Omega-3 fatty acids is a reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD)?  It is a fact that our bodies cannot naturally produce the nutrients found in Omega-3 so we must get them from outside sources.  Recent studies have shown several potential benefits of Omega-3’s, including:

  • Improvement of cognitive function in both children and adults
  • Help with psychiatric disorders such as depression
  • Increased mental focus and motivation
  • Reduced stress levels and mental fatigue
  • Reduced macular degeneration
  • Strengthened red blood cells which may improve blood pressure, heart rate and vascular function
  • Possible anticancer benefits
  • Potential to counter inflammation
  • Higher level of satiety and appetite reduction

Omega Infusion provides nice variety when you get tired of drinking plain H2O – with some added vitamin benefits! You can find Omega Infusion in Giant Stores, Stop & Shop and HEB stores – check out their website http://www.omegainfusion.com/ for details. You can also follow them on Facebook (here) or Twitter (here).

This post was sponsored by Omega Infusion. As always, all opinions expressed here are my own.

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Embracing the Challenge

Today begins week 6 of half marathon training.

Recently Coach Bennett sent me the next two phases of my training plan. Since I was struggling with my runs due to my cranky ITB, I’d held off reviewing the rest of the plan – until yesterday.  I got a good look at the target paces, hill work, weekly mileage – and took a deep breath.  Time to get out of my comfort zone again 🙂

But I’m looking forward to moving into this next phase of training.  I did the things I needed to do to calm my ITB and am back to pain-free miles. So I’ll continue to do the strength work and exercises necessary to hopefully avoid any hiccups moving forward. And it is time to move forward – I’m ready to embrace the challenge.

“Embrace the challenge”  has really become my mantra for this training cycle – I’m going after each workout with enthusiasm and confidence…maybe it’s time to create a new comfort zone!

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Thursday Thoughts (aka 3 Things)

Returning to Running

After Sunday’s not-so-long long run, Coach Bennett insisted on 3 days of no running. Cross-training yes, strength training yes, but no running. Of course, Mother Nature decided to serve up some of the best weather days of the month so far – but I left my running shoes in the closet and stuck to my strength work and walking my dog. But today I get to run, and despite the crazy drop in temps, I’m going!

Newport 10 Miler

 

More Race Shopping

Well now that I’m not running the New Bedford Half this weekend, I want to find another race of a decent distance this spring before Boston’s Run to Remember at the end of May. A ten miler would be perfect and I think I may have found the race!  It’s at the end of April so the timing is perfect. I’m going to see how cooperative my ITB is over the next couple of weeks, but I’m tentatively penciling this one in 🙂

 

ZOOMA Ambassador

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I’m very happy to say that once again I been selected as a race ambassador for the ZOOMA race series. I was an ambassador for their inaugural race in Falmouth, MA  last fall and had so much fun! I’m very excited to be part of such a great group of women when they return to Cape Cod in September! So stay tuned, much more fun stuff on this to come!

 

 

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Change in race plans

Black ice and an already tweaky knee quickly turned a 10 mile run in to 3 miles yesterday morning. I was lucky to not fall but the slide aggravated an already cranky left ITB/knee. I was only a mile and a half into my run when it happened and this little voice in my head said don’t push it…go home. Usually I’m fairly stubborn and would have kept going, but this time I think I made the right call.

I have been quietly agonizing for the last couple of days over the question of whether or not to run the New Bedford Half next Sunday. That same little voice I heard out on the road today is the same voice that has been getting increasingly louder over the past two weeks questioning whether running New Bedford is a good idea. Despite it not being a goal race, the truth is I am not where I’d like to be going into a race – and slogging through a race just for the sake of saying I finished it sounds really unappealing! Nor do I think it makes sense to push this knee/ITB and jeopardize the rest of my spring races and beyond.

I had this race on my calendar for two reasons – as a check in to see where I am in my training and because it’s suppose to be a fun, well-run race. Well I think I have my answer to where I am right now and as I said, the fun will quickly be negated if I’m out there slogging along.

So after an email exchange with Coach Bennett I’ve decided I will not be toeing the line next weekend. Still hard for me to type that, but I know it’s the right choice.

Have you ever gone through with a race when you know you shouldn’t have?

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Why I Meditate

From time to time, I have mentioned here and on Twitter that I meditate, and I’ve noticed that whenever I do I receive lots of inquiries about why I do it? Do I see any real benefits? Or, comments indicating that others would like to do it but don’t have the time, or have tried and failed.

Meditation

For me, meditation gives me a chance to connect with myself before the demands of the day take hold. When I meditate I’m calmer, more grounded, and as a result, more present in the moment.

Notice I said when I meditate – I’ve fallen off the mediation bandwagon on a couple of occasions, usually because I’ve gotten caught up in the whirlwind of schedules and have made the decision that “I don’t have time” or “I’ll do it later” only to never get to it. And, little by little, my meditation “practice” is more of a random occurrence and then before you know it I’m staring at the back of the meditation bandwagon as it pulls further and further away from me.

I recommitted to meditating at the beginning of December – thinking it was good timing with the holidays approaching, and for the most part I’ve been fairly consistent. I’m motivated to stay with it because I like how I feel and how I deal with things when I do. Now am I going to tell you I’m all roses and sunshine and the picture of zen? Nope – it is a work in progress, but I like the direction I’m headed.

I got an email the other day from the Chopra Center announcing another of their 21-day Meditation Challenges. The theme this time is “Perfect Health.” I’ve found these challenges to be a great launching point for starting a practice and encourage anyone who’s interested in giving meditation a try, to check this out – it starts on Monday, March 11th. (For the record I’m in no way affiliated with the Chopra Center – just a fan sharing the love 🙂 )

Do you meditate?

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February Buh bye

Good things for February:
  • Started working with Coach Bennett again!
  • Ran the Frosty Virtual 5K
  • Started the 30-day ab/core challenge
  • Enjoying my new gym, despite too many runs on the ‘mill
  • Unveiled the blog’s new look!
Things I could do without:
  • Snow, snow and more snow!
  • Mileage shrinkage (see above)
  • Wampanoag 10-miler canceled (again thanks to snow)

What’s up for March:

  • Really looking forward to more miles – outdoors! March can be fairly rainy in New England, but I’ll take it over the frigid and snowy conditions we had in February!
  • NBHalf I’m looking forward to running the New Bedford Half in a couple of weeks! While I did have a little freak out over the fact that this race is just a couple of weeks away and my mileage has been down, Coach Bennett was quick to remind me that this is not a goal race – that I’m running it just to see where I am in my training. I’ve also heard that this is a fun race with great crowd support which makes it a win!
  • As I mentioned yesterday, focusing in on my nutrition — Did you know that March is National Nutrition Month? I just heard that…so my timing’s perfect 🙂
How’d your February go?  Are you as ready to say buh bye to the month as I am?

 

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Running and eating

One of my goals for 2013 is to set back and take a hard look at my nutrition. As I have said before while I don’t eat a lot of junk, I know there’s room for some improvement. Lately, I’ve been feeling really sluggish during my runs – this morning’s slogfest was a perfect example!  I need to not only re-examine what works best as fuel during my runs, but look at what I’m eating both before and after a run – not to mention what I’m eating on rest days.

This isn’t about dieting per se (though I am about 6 pounds above “fighting weight” at the moment) – it’s really about fueling my body for optimum health.  So it’s time to do some research  like testing out fueling options to see beyond whether or not they agree with my stomach to whether they’re actually providing real benefit. It’s time to do some reading, try out some new recipes and make some shifts in my overall diet.

My brother-in-law gave me Scott Jurek’s Eat & Run – which I have been dying to read and now seems like a good time to start. I’ll also be posting more regularly about nutrition – what’s working and what’s not and hope you’ll share tips and tricks that work for you.

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Race #1 Done, 12 to go

The Frosty Virtual 5K/10K/Half was benefiting the American Cancer Society – a cause I was very happy to support.  I lost both my grandmothers to cancer and both of those amazing women were on my mind Saturday morning.

Frosty 5kI stuck to my plan and got out early to run my 5K to beat the predicted snow storm and my son’s hockey game – the snow turned out to be nothing, but it was fun watching my son have one of his best games in his team’s win!

My running buddy E was heading out for 8 so we set out and ran the first mile together. I settled into a comfortable pace – not looking for a PR, just a good solid run and to enjoy a rare day of  no wind nor frigid temps.  Once I hit the distance, I decided to re-trace my route so I could get at least 6 miles in.

Thanks again to Jospehine over at Plant-based Runner for hosting this race.  She raised $1,000 for the American Cancer Society and even provided all of us with medals! She’s got some other races planned so be sure to check her out her blog.

Week 2 of half marathon training is done, school vacation week is over and it’s time to get more focused! Still in base-building phase, so this upcoming week looks like this:

Monday – 6 miles on a hilly route

Tuesday – Cross-training — Haven’t decided what I’ll do yet, but I may break out Jillian Michael’s 30-day Shred

Wednesday – Rest

Thursday – 8 miles with 5 at tempo pace and my 2 hr killer yoga class

Friday – Rest

Saturday – 10 mile LSD

Sunday – More cross-training

I’m also still working on the 30-day ab/core challenge – just 15 minutes a day to build a stronger core. It looks like the weather gods should cooperate this week and I’m looking forward to staying off the ‘mill and being outside!

What have you got planned for this week?

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