First "Long Run."

Today I headed out for my first long run of the cycle - officially only 15 weeks until race day. That's hard to believe.

There's nothing terribly exciting about today's long run to report. The weirdest/most unusual thing was the weather. It was about 60 degrees and VERY windy/drizzly/gray for my entire run. This is pretty odd for southern Ohio when it's almost July.

It's been a long time though since I've ran up to 8 miles, and even longer since I've ran 8 outside, so my body was feeling it, especially the hills. My arms and back are sore from swimming yesterday - which I didn't expect. The first few miles of this run were slow and my calves were feeling cramped, but once I got going I fell into "race pace" towards the end - which was great. Prior to the run I had a small piece of toast with pb & banana - my regular pre-run fuel from last summer's training.

Race Across America came through my town yesterday for the most part, but there were still some stragglers coming through today and I saw them and their crews during my run. It was really motivating to see that and I cheered for them as we passed each other.

As I mentioned, I went swimming yesterday during lunch! I only had time to swim for about 25 minutes, but it felt really great. I just can't get over how slow I am. Sometimes I think about the time cut-offs for big triathlons - especially full and half Ironman triathlons (because those are my goals!) - and I am just not close enough at all. Luckily I have lots of time (years probably) before any of those types of events to improve, but it can be discouraging! 

All things pink.

After my run this morning I did something I never do and made pancakes (with mix that Alex gave me when he was getting rid of stuff during his move this summer) with fruit and homemade whipped cream. And maple syrup. And a scrambled egg on the side.

I need to work on my food pics.

Now I've got to do some stretching and study for the GRE before I head to work for the afternoon.

Have a wonderful weekend :) 

First 2 Runs of the Cycle!

On Monday I got in my first two training runs of this cycle. I went early in the morning to beat the heat and it felt great! Usually Mondays will be "off," but since this week is a little unconventional I did it on Monday to get it out of the way. The run was 5 miles with 5x20 seconds of strides (faster than marathon-pace, but not "all out" running).

Today  I got in an easy 5 miles - already the second run of the cycle! I am so excited to really work hard. I want to get stronger too, and keep doing yoga and plyometrics and my hip and core strengthening exercises.

I'm working on "8-angle pose..." I have a ways to go!

Over Father's Day weekend I had a little reunion with my friends from high school :) We were all on the rowing team together and we visited our old boathouse - it was so great to visit some of our old haunts!

I gave my dad some treats from Little Italy for Father's Day (I might've sneaked a bite, too...)

Time for me to do some studying (less than 1 week until the big day!), just wanted to say a quick hello!

I hope everyone's week is going well :)

Two things.

I feel like this is my last week of "freedom" before I get sucked into marathon training (next week, people!). So, if I don't feel like running, I don't. I've been doing a lot of yoga lately instead... Sometimes I get bored in the library and I start distracting myself with asanas since I'm the only one there. 

I usually do self-led yoga postures, but sometimes if I need some inspiration or something a little different, I resort to podcasts. This one and this one are my favorites from 3 Dog Yoga in Santa Rosa. If you have a background in yoga and have a basic knowledge of what certain postures are, I couldn't recommend these more! They are the best.

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I celebrated this past Saturday night by watching "A Lot Like Love" and making flourless chocolate cupcakes. I found this recipe and am now not only obsessed with these cupcakes but also with The Iron You. These cupcakes had everything I love; almond milk, chocolate, coconut :) And The Iron You loves all of those things plus running and yoga and racing triathlon. I will have to get lots more recipes from his blog!

Hope your week is going well :)

What am I doing besides running?

In terms of working out, there's a few other things I'm working on in addition to running.

Usually I workout twice a day - one ~40-minute run in the morning (building a base for marathon-training) and one small workout in the afternoon/evening. During this smaller workout I do my PT exercises, stretching, yoga, and strength-training.

I've talked about yoga before, which is working wonders on my strength, flexibility, and most importantly, my mind. I've also mentioned ab-workouts. However, I'm also trying to strengthen my arms and work on plyometrics. 

To work on my arms, I use hand weights. Typically I do 3 exercises, x10 reps each. I will explain as best I can:

• Extended raise: Hold weights in each hand, arms fully extended at waist. Raise arms straight up so they are a 90-degree angle with your body. Lower back down and repeat.
• Lateral raise: Arms are fully-extended, resting at hips. Raise arms up sideways so that they're parallel with the ground.
• "Push-up": Arms are resting at your shoulders with weights in hands, ready to push up. Push up straight and come back to rest at your shoulders. Repeat.

I also like to work on plyometric exercises when I can. I mostly do them because I think they're fun and different, but studies have shown that plyometrics can help train your body to run more efficiently, which seems like a great benefit. There are some great examples here and here.

My favorite:

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I went to a free injury screening yesterday morning to try to work out some of my nagging issues. I have been to the physical therapy center here many, many times of the past few years at school, and I have always been above impressed with my experiences there. 

I expressed my concerns to the physical therapist and he watched me walk and did some strength tests. He used to sell running shoes, so he checked those out and said that they seem to be a great fit for me, that I have a nice gait. I was happy to hear that I'm mostly fine, but he said that my left side is pretty weak in comparison with my right side, which is definitely a contributing factor to my repeated injuries over the years. This isn't the first time I've heard this but he gave me some specific instructions to fit in with my marathon training (starting in less than 2 weeks). 

The physical therapist said that I "definitely have a runner's frame" and that it might be a little extra hard for me to build up "big muscles" in my hips and glutes because of my frame. When combined with high mileage and longggg distances, I start to experience into problems in the form of injury. I thought this made sense but that it was also a little baffling - professional marathoners are built like me, or have even tinier frames! Meb himself is only ½ an inch taller than I am, and barely 10lbs heavier! So how do those athletes with tiny frames maintain strong enough muscles that they aren't getting injured?!! If anyone knows the answer to this question... please let me know.

These are the exercises that my PT suggested. I also do pistol squats (which are pretty tough!) and clam shells, though he said I can "up the ante" with these and may want to just forget about clam shells all together. All of my other exercises can be found in this video.

Though I run in the mornings, I find myself wanting to get outside again later in the evenings. After dinner, sometimes I ride my bike to the trails and go on a short walk and listen to music. I also like to stop to see how fast the corn is growing (exciting stuff, I know). Looks like I had a friend last night...

Have a great Thursday!

Great summer salad.

Do you ever find a recipe that you really like and then proceed to make it over and over again until you get completely sick of it?

That's what I'm doing with this summer salad. 

[Source]

I made this salad for my roommates a few times over the course of this past school year, and it's always been a big hit. When friends were coming into town over the weekend, I wanted to make something that would accommodate everyone's preferences and dietary restrictions (vegetarianism, dairy allergies, etc.). This ended up being the perfect solution, and I got to use some fresh, sweet corn that is available in vast quantities in my country town this summer. 

All you need is tomatoes, red onion, black beans, corn, an avocado, and seasonings.  I love this recipe because it has such basic, easy ingredients that I usually have on hand, and is very quick to prepare with little clean-up. I chop everything up first, and then toss the fresh veggies in a bowl before adding the rinsed black beans. I like to cook the corn in the microwave for 4 minutes and then shear it off the cob with a knife. Once you've got everything together just add olive oil, salt, and pepper to your preferences and there you go! Great for sharing or to get you through the week. I'm getting ready to make a new batch today!

Running Lately.

So what's up with my running lately???

I've been getting back into the groove after months off on-and-off injury. A couple of months ago, after reaching a point of pain during every run after only 20-30 minutes and then having to stop, I realized how ridiculous I was being.

I was putting down a lot of junk miles. I was suffering a lot of pain and risking big-time injury for a few measly runs every week while I could just put on the brakes for a couple weeks and focus on strengthening and healing.

Sometimes we humans do silly things like that. Or is that just me???

I went on a no-running cleanse and did alllllll the strength-training and alllllll the yoga. I took 3-4 weeks off and focused primarily on these exercises (great for all runners to keep in your strength-training arsenal!).

After a those weeks off I hit the road again, expecting to be good as new.

Nope.

I still had pain after a few minutes on the pavement. Albeit, it's very hilly around here and that wasn't the best for the particular problems I was having, but I clearly still had some weaknesses that had to be worked out. I felt really defeated, though, and mentioned my frustration to Alex.

He suggested some running spots that I was unfamiliar with, out in some corn fields (not kidding). He thought the grass would allow me to run pain-free and continue to build up strength.

I was skeptical, but I tried it out.

It was an enormous success. I started doing about 30-minutes of "grass running" about 4x a week, and continued this for 2 weeks. Then I moved onto trails and built up to occasional 40 and 50-minute runs. I became quite a regular out there.

The trails are relatively popular, but I don't see many people out during the times that I run (either really early or middle of the day, depending when I can fit it into my schedule. 

Sunrise :)

I try to engage in safety precautions like bringing my phone and wearing my road ID, but luckily I do have someone to look out for me...

I named him Philip. He actually may be a girl, I don't know him that well yet. But I do stop and say hi to "Philip" every time I run past!

Now I'm running more on covered trails, and I can run on pavement occasionally and haven't had any problems. Hopefully the worst is behind me.

Now I'm trying to build my endurance back up so I can go into marathon training with a solid base, but not exhausted. Sometimes it gets a little discouraging, knowing how far I am from my goals, but then I remind myself that I'm at the exact ability-level that I was last June before I headed into marathon training!

In addition to yoga and the exercises I mentioned before, I've been sticking with General Strength and Mobility  exercises and 8-minute abs. I have not been rowing regularly, and want to keep the (little) arm and back strength that I had. So far, yoga is doing a great job of that!

Happy Thursday everyone! Have a great day!

New Summer, New Training Cycle, New Me?

I realize that this is like the 42nd time that I've said "Okay guys, I'm really going to get back into blogging now!" It feels wrong to make false promises and to say "this is really it," again, but I will say that this time I really do think I'm back. I've just extracted myself from a difficult couple of semesters, I'm going to be entering a new marathon training cycle in a few short weeks, and I find myself once again in the throes of a lonely summer with more time than usual for naval-gazing and self-reflection - two things that have, in the past, contributed to the livelihood of this blog. 

As I'm writing this morning, I should be studying for the GRE. I've even brought myself to a coffee shop in hopes that the vibe here would encourage a "study mood." The test is on June 30, and I'm supposed to be studying 3+ hours per day in preparation for it. I can't believe I'm already at this equal-parts-exciting-and-terrifying crossroads in life... I'm at the point where I'm preparing for a new stage in life - for some of my peers that stage is employment, for others it's a year of travel or volunteer-work, for me it's going to be grad school, in some way shape or form. The murkiness of the future is scary but also promising. I have little to no idea where I'll be or what exactly I'll be doing year from now. The next year will hold a series of new starts. 

I've turned the page on an academically and emotionally challenging semester. I was taking around 20 credit hours and traveling for research-related conferences, and my family also suffered the loss of my beloved grandfather. He was nearing 93 and led a wonderful, full life, but we still feel his loss sorely. We laid him to rest in Santa Ana, which elicited an impromptu trip across the country in the midst of school. It was completely worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat just to be there for him and my family. I think about him and miss him every day, and it's hard for me to believe that he's not here.

 I'm spending the summer conducting my own research project on the correlation between acquired capability for suicide in athletes (I work in a clinical psychology lab at my university). I've also recently completed training to become a "Qualified Mental Health Specialist," and now I'm and employee at my county's "Community Counseling and Crisis Center," as a hotline consultant. We're open 24/7, so it's relatively easy for me to get hours that conform around the rest of my schedule.

With some of my research at a national conference:

After eight-ish months of on-and-off post-marathon injury, I've finally gotten things together and been able to start running pretty regularly again. Right now I'm working on building my base again because as it turns out...

Yep, I'm headed back to Chicago :) I've got aspirations of a new PR, but I'm trying to stay healthy and un-injured for Boston in April 2016, as well. I've spent a LOT of time in the last month working on building my hips, core, and glute strength so that I can stay strong. I've also been trying to work more on stretching, which I definitely think I needed more of in the later phases of my marathon training and post-marathon last fall.

As it turns out, I'm also turning into a pretzel. I'm trying to better my physical and mental health through becoming heavily involved in yoga. I first developed familiarity with Vinyasa yoga when I was eight years old (which is when my parents bought me my first yoga mat and gave me a DVD) and have practiced on-and-off since then, both in studio and just on my own with what I know. 

This time around I began a 40-day yoga and meditation challenge as outlined in this book, which I would absolutely recommend, whether or not you want to do the challenge or just follow the yoga and meditation tips and instruction!

I am primarily living alone this summer (I say primarily because I'm back and forth a bit between university and home with my family) and that's led to a whole new adventure in terms of cooking! I definitely look forward to sharing some new recipes.

When I do come home I have been taking advantage of cycling with my dad, relaxing, and running around my favorite spots in my hometown.

With that... I should stop procrastinating and get my studying in. It's good to be back! See you tomorrow?