Back to School and Workouts

I've been loving doing whatever workout I feel like doing. Monday was fartleks with Thomas. Tuesday was level 3 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred, today was 5k with about 1.5 mile of it uphill.  I read in my new Runner's World that once you have been running for awhile, in order to increase speed I need to speed up at the end of my runs. So the last mile I really tried to pick the pace up.  Overall I averaged like a 9:15 pace. Yikes, I need to be going like a minute faster than that.  But I'll give myself credit, half of it was uphill. 
School starts tomorrow!! AHHH!! I already recieved an e-mail from one of my professors with an assignment for the first day.  It took me two hours! That stressed me out a little bit. I'm afraid I'm not going to be juggle everything school, working out, work, making dinner, keeping the apartment clean, etc. But the good thing is that I really think I'll enjoy the classes I'll be taking.  They are mostly practicum classes which means I'll be doing lots of lessons and even get a chance to be in a classroom doing reading interventions in a local elementary school.  And I'm starting my application for student teaching.  I'm hoping to do it this spring or next fall in Boise.  I was going to post my rough draft of my letter of introduction but I made even more changes and still want to fix it up a bit.  Wish me luck!

Three Things Thursday

1.  I love pillow talk.  Last night Thomas just let me go on and on about experiences I had while in Ecuador.  I love that he is really interested in listening. 

2. This week I've decided to do whatever workouts I feel like and wait to start training for the 5K.  Monday I did Jillian's No More Trouble Zones.  I was sooooooo sore the next day.  Not a good idea to do one of her workouts only a day after running a half marathon.  My butt was the sorest part so I had Thomas use his elbows to give me a really deep butt massage.  The next day I did a 3 mile power walk with my heart rate monitor.  I always thought that walking just was not beneficial at all but it still got my heart rate up into the 130's going uphill.  Jillian's Yoga Meltdown felt absolutely wonderful yesterday and really helped take away the soreness.  Today was a bike around town and do errands day for excercise.

3. I finally subscribed to Runner's World magazine and got my first issue today! Love it.  It really motivates me to train hard. It has an article about Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe, two marathoners, and even now as they are pregnant they run twice a day and can do like 7 minute miles! That's insane.  I honestly don't know if I could do one seven minute mile.  But for them that is slowing it down big time, because there usual times are 5:30 miles for a whole 26.2!

Pacific Crest 1/2 Marathon

This was my fourth 1/2 marathon ever and very rewarding.  When talking with Thomas the other day I was saying how crazy it is when people do multiple 1/2 marathons or marathons in one year and he reminded me that this one would be my third in a year. 

We left for Bend, Oregon Friday morning after I had done a short 3 miler.  I was super worried after that three miles cause I felt soooooo slow!

Here are some pics from the drive over to Bend.  We caravaned over there with our good friends John and Kaisey.

Mt. Bachelor (I think)  there were at least four mountains that you could see in the landscape at one time.

These windmills are HUGE! There were hundreds of them a

To start some carb loading we stopped at Subway for lunch around 1pm. I got the turkey breast on wheat as usual with all the veggies except for onions.
We got to the hotel around 3pm and then headed over to Sunriver Resort where we picked up our packets.

At the Race Expo

Packet pick up was super quick and easy.  I was very impressed with the race expo. The expo was full of good vendors and the things they were selling were very decently priced.  We stopped by the Hammer Gel tent and they were selling Hammer Gels for $1! That is such a steal! In a normal store they cost at least $2.  I tried the Hammer Electrolyte drink and did not like it at all.  It tasted very watered down and bland.  Luckily I discovered this before the race so I wasn't totally disgusted during the race.

The band at the expo was excellent.

Goodies from our race bag.

I wasn't impressed by the shirts.  They were cotton long sleeved shirts!! It's summer time! I don't know if this typical for this race or it was just this year.  I want a shirt I can sport NOW, not in 6 months.  They would be fine if it was winter time. 
The bag also included some Hammer Gel drink mix and electrolyte pills.  I had Clif Shot Blocs for the first time and LOVED them! I'm a huge fan of fruit snacks and that is what they tasted like.  I had three the night before the race and three the morning of the race.

Favorite goodies: Free 16oz Jamba Juice and Clif Shot Bloks

I loved that the timing chips were on the back of the race bibs.  So we didn't have to turn in an ankle chip at the end of the race.  We also had to wear these yellow wrist bands to get into the Athlete Village after the race for the post-race snacks.  I guess this is so spectators don't eat the snacks, but I'm pretty sure you can tell who has just ran a 1/2 marathon but what they look like (sweaty, walking funny, race bib, finisher's medal). 

John, Kaisey, Me, and Thomas at the Expo

After the expo we stopped by a little outlet mall and did a little shopping and then headed to Olive Garden for dinner.  For the Wenatchee 1/2 we went there for dinner the night before so we knew it would be a good choice to stick with something we were comfortable with.  Last time I had the chicken primavera and this time I had the lasanga clasico.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to relax with a friendly game of Phase 10.

Phase 10 Fun

I slept pretty well the night before.  There was the usually waking up every couple hours to check the clock but overall a good nights sleep. 6am didn't seem too early because it was nice and bright outside. We left from our hotel at 6:45am and arrived at the start at 7am.
It was a little bit confusing as to where we were supposed to meet.  The marathoner's and walkers of the half marathoner's started a little earlier than the runners of the half marathoner's. But they had a loud announcement about 20 minutes before the start of the race and we all began walking to the start line. 

Thomas walked with me to the start line.  He is the best fan.

Waiting with the rest of the crowd to start the race.

Chatting it up while we wait.

The race started promptly at 8am.  It only took about one minute for us to get to the start line.  The first couple miles were really congested because there were 1600 runners and the path we were running on wasn't very wide.  But it kind of helped me to keep my speed in check the first couple miles which is when I usually want to go out fast. I think my first mile was around a 9:30 and my second was a 9:15.
After mile 2 I started getting into about an 8:45 pace and had found some people that I wanted to stick with throughout the race. 
Thomas had asked me before we went to bed what my goals/strategy/plan was going to be.  He reminded me of somethings that I had wanted to change after last half marathon.  One of those things was I wanted to go out slower and stick with somebody.  I successfully accomplished both of those girls.
After the race there was a lady who came up to me and congratulated me and said that she stuck behind me the whole time and just kept her eye on my bright pink shirt. 
I felt soooo amazing miles 1-6.  I was kind of separating the race into a 10k (mile 6), then getting to mile 10, and then a 5K.  It really helped splitting it up in my head like that.
At mile 6 I got some water and tried to get down some Clif Bar Energy Gel.  I don't know why but I could not get that stuff down.  I swallowed a little bit and tried to swallow some more and ended up just throwing it up.  I felt bad cause there was a lady next to me trying to get some gel down too and that probably didn't help.  I heard her say to her husband "I don't think I can get it down."  After that till about mile 7.25 I felt very naseaus and had a sideache on both sides.  I let myself walk for 20 seconds and then pushed through it.
I was sooooo happy to see Thomas at mile 7.5! I teared up a bit because it was exactly what I needed right now.  He told me later he had just wanted to jump in the race and finish with me.  Love that guy!

Mile 7.5 Don't you love the little tunnel? I thought I was going to hit my head.

I made it to mile 10 and then just thought "a 5k is all I have left!"  Those last 3 miles dragged by but by then I knew I was super close to making my goal. 

And.... I DID IT!!! I finished in under 2 hours! My official time was 1:56:30! So about a 8:53min mile.  I was so relieved and happy to finish and have completed my goal!

The hardware

This course was so beautiful! It was all on an asphalt bike path. Most of it had shade from all of the pine trees.  We ran past the Deshutes river and passed meadows, just beautiful.  No big hills, just some little inclines.  The temperature was absolutely perfect.  A little chilly while waiting for the race to start but wonderful once I started running.
The finisher medals were really pretty and they had different ones.  Kaisey and I both got different ones.  I use to just through my medals away cause I didn't want to be a hoarder but my running bud Haley convinced me to start saving them.
I am a happy girl! I am thinking of doing another one at the end of August but for the next week or so I'm looking forward to doing more Jillian and switching things up a bit.

Offical Chip Time: 1:56:30



Pace: 8:53


15/55 in age group


279/1399 overall


207/1017 female overall

First week half marathon training

After the half in May I took a week "off" by just running a couple days and doing Jillian.  Then I did a couple weeks of training for the 10K that was last weekend.  And this week it was time to start half training again.  I'm liking this new program that I found on runners world.  When I ran my first marathon I did the beginners plan and this one is the intermediate plan.  For the Wenatchee half I did the Ryan Hall half marathon plan.  This one has me running 5 days a week instead of four. 
Here was this weeks workouts:
Monday: 2x [1200 (600 recovery jog), 800 (400 recovery jog), 400 (200 recovery jog)]
Tuesday: 2 miles easy with Thomas, Jillian No More Trouble Zones
Wednesday: 3 miles with hills ( I read in a running magazine that on hills you should shorten your stride and slow your pace down on hills.  While that may work for some it doesn't for me.  It just seems like it makes the pain last longer and discourages me and makes me want to walk.  And rather just keep my pace up and get the hill over with.)
Thursday: Off
Friday: 5x Yasso 800's, Pilates for Flexibility (It's totally helping so that my hip and knee don't hurt now when I run).
Saturday: 8 mile long run

Yogis

Did you know people who do yoga are called yogis?! I was thinking they would be called yoga-ers but apparently not. I did yoga for like a week or two when I was in high school and trying to be more flexible but then I lost interest. But guess what?! Jillian came out with a Yoga workout video! And of course in Jillian fashion, it rocks. We found it at Costco last week and I was pretty darn excited. We were out with my parents shopping and getting dinner when I saw it and HAD to have it. I did the workout with Thomas and we were both sweating. It's nice to do on a day that you don't have to work out but you want to get some kind of workout in. I don't know about you all but I always feel guilty about not running or working out even if it's supposed to be a rest day. So this is a nice one cause you still get in a good workout but it's not pounding on your joints and allows them to rest a bit. I don't think I'll ever be a yogi but I would consider myself converted to Jillian's workouts. Does that make me a Jillian-er or a Jillian-ie?

Run, Run, Run I like to run

Remember that primary song? Sing, sing, sing, I like to sing! I like to sing a lot, sing, sing, sing! That was the inspiration for the title of the post if you didn't catch it. Lol.

I can't even remember the last time I posted my running schedule so here is this past weeks:

Monday: I had borrowed my sisters Dallas Cowboy's Cheerleader workout video but it was scratched so I ended up doing my own Jillian like moves. I was actually pretty sore the next day!
Tuesday: 6 mile tempo run on the rez. Soooo windy. We could barely hear each other talk.
Wednesday: Jillian's 30 day shred
Thursday: 6x800 at about 3:30 each
Friday: rest
Saturday: 8 mile long run (Last one before the race!)
So my body is totally falling apart. Right knee hurts, both hips, and left calf. I know I'm not that old. But it's gonna be so worth it! Under 2 hours next weekend!

Runnin and Campin

This weeks workouts were on different days then normal but it all worked out really well.  Wednesday was a super busy day so it was perfect that we did our workouts on Tuesday and Thursday.  We went camping this weekend so we decided to do Saturday's long run on Friday after I got off work.  Work was soooo long on Friday and my head was killing and mentally I just wasn't feeling it.  But luckily I have a wonderful running partner who motivates me and so I went ahead and did the long run.  I thought I'd only make it like the first three miles but once I pushed through the first half it was easy breezy on the way back.  We had a strong head wind the first half that sucked and made us run about 9:30 miles but it helped us on the 2nd half to run 8:30 miles so it all evened out.  We ran 12 miles in 1:47. 

Monday: Jillian No More Trouble Zones with Thomas

Tuesday: 1 miles warm up, 6 miles tempo, 1 mile cool down

Wednesday: Off

Thursday: 6x1200 meters

Friday: 12 miles long run

It felt so great to have finished the 12 miler after thinking I totally couldn't do it. 

We went camping, like I said earlier, with a bunch of other couples.  There were 7 of us and we had a blast! We went to Camp Zarehemla Friday night and stayed up playing Balderdash and Catch Phrase.  There were 10 of us in a little cabin with 4 people on 2 bunk beds and the rest of us on air mattresses.  Two couples stayed in tents! So brave! It was still pretty darn chilly up there! In the morning we had pancakes and bacon. They guys were supposed to clean up breakfast cause they lost Catch Phrase the night before but us girls were niceys and did it ourselves. We played some frisbee in the afternoon, went on a canoe ride, and a little nature walk.  The walk/hike was cause the boys were looking for where the river was that emptied into the lake.  We found it and the boys had fun finding big boulders to push off the little cliff into the water.  It was a great start to my spring break! Wahoo! I love our friends! I wish I had pics but when I went to pull my camera out I realized that the battery was dead. 

Running, Food, and Thomas things I love!

I posted earlier that I got a new running toy, the Garmin Forerunner 305.  I am really loving it.  It tracks my heart rate, my distance, my split times, my pace, elevation, everything! It's so cool too because after you run you hook it up to your computer and it downloads all of your info and puts it into little charts.  It even Google Earths where you were running at so that you can see your route.  Oh ya and it also tells me how much calories I'm burning! I love it.  It's a little bit chunky looking on my wrist but it feels light. 
One of bloggers whose site I read does a little summary of her workouts each week when she's training for an event.  I want to try and do that. Okay so this week:

Monday: 1 mile warm up, 25 minute tempo run (3miles), and 1 mile cool down
Tuesday:  Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones (my fave of all the Jillian workouts)  Thomas joined me for some of this one.
Thursday: 7 x 1000m my splits were averaging about 4:42 which is what they were 2 weeks ago when we only did 5 of them and I absolutely died. And I didn't feel like dying this time so there has been improvement!
Friday: 30 minute easy.  I just did a 30 minute walk cause my quadricep was bugging and I figure I need to keep rested for the 10 miler on Saturday!
Saturday: 10 mile long run

Another thing I really like in blogs is when people post recipes and meal plans.  I love making a meal plan and then going and getting all the ingredients and feeling ultra organized.  So tonight because Thomas is working the weekend late shift and did the grocery shopping and meal planning.  I stopped by my parents to let the dog out and run over there and while I was at it I picked up some recipes.  I found an old church recipe book, those are the best cause you know they are tried and true.  Tonight I tried Cheese Stuffed Manicotti.  It was super easy and delicious! Here is the recipe:

4 cups spaghettic sauce ( I used one can of Prego Traditional sauce, it's the best).  Simmer for 10 minutes.
Cook manicotti shells by boiling for 6 minutes.
Filling:
1 1/2 cups mozzarella
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup grated parmesan
3 beaten eggs
1/4 cup parsley

Mix 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and all other cheeses, add eggs and parsley.  Stuff shells.  Pour 1/2 of sauce in bottom of 13x9 inch pan.  Lay sheels on top.  Cover with the rest of the sace.  Sprinkle mozzarella on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Thomas and I celebrated our 6 month wedding anniversary today so I took him the manicotti to work for his lunch break and we had a romantic dinner eating it in the break room of the x-ray department.  ;)  Since our schedules were totally opposite today we met on my lunch break and went to this great little soup and sandwhich place right next to my work.  And like I said for dinner we met at his work. 
I love being married to Thomas.  He is my best friend ever.  Never before I met Thomas did I have a best friend who was a guy.  It's so wonderful having our lives totally intertwined.  I love having the same friends and the same plans for the weekend and weekdays.  Marriage is beautiful.