My favorite thing and dinos running.

Luckily, my favorite thing ever--chocolate milk following a run--is back. I enjoyed a glass of Trader Joe's finest Swiss Chocolate Milk after my run today.

Today I truly "ran happy," as Brooks likes to say. I ran in the rain, which 90% of the time inspires a good run for me (and a not-so-good rest of the day mood-wise, but a good run always is a great start!). I've been sort of struggling to find an inner push lately, and have been nervous for my upcoming half-marathon, which is hitting me exactly one month after the Cleveland Half-Marathon. However, today I struck out and just pounded all of stresses and anxieties into the pavement (and mud). It was like there was a torch under me, each of my mile-splits for the four miles that I was running were at least 70 seconds faster than my normal training mile-splits...And it felt good. Perhaps I had the right combination of cookies and yogurt for breakfast this morning (usually I do not advocate eating cookies for breakfast but on the occasional gloomy days it's okay) or something because I felt great. If there was pain, I could push through it. I didn't think about my hips or knee and they didn't hurt. It felt great. I was actually shocked when I got home and saw my overall summary of my run from my Garmin--I was flying without even realizing it for most of my run!

When I was almost home, I had to pause to cross an intersection and a man with two beautiful dogs asked me about my run and then asked if I was training for anything as he walked by. We got into a conversation as I played with the dogs and it turned out he was quite the running veteran. He didn't say much about himself but he stressed the importance of rest days and eating a banana everyday to prevent cramping. I've not put a lot of thought into my potassium intake but I guess it's something I should consider, because I never eat bananas so I guess that's something I should think about. He also suggested epsom-salt baths...which I've never heard of doing--just ice baths--and I think I should consider it! I should've iced after today's wild run but it slipped my mind...luckily it can still be beneficial within 24 hours so I can get on that and hopefully it'll help my recovery!

After today, though, I think I really need to cool it and focus on my taper. Soooo I'll be trying not to run over 4 miles and keeping it nice and easy between now and the big day!

In honor of running happy, Brooks's run happy image of today :)

National Running Day!

Happy National Running Day, everyone! To celebrate I logged 6 hilly miles. My Garmin checked out after only five unfortunately (I need to get better at charging that thing!), but it was a pretty nice run otherwise. A friend drove past me and recognized me as he rounded the corner, so he honked his horn! Unbeknownst to him, he inspired every one of the 3 cars behind him to honk and wave at me as well! It made my run. I love when I see people during my runs who say hi, which recently has been about 2-3 times a week! I live in a great running neighborhood and am super lucky.

I took Hungry Runner Girl's National Running Day quiz (you should too!) and these were my results:

1. Headgear I need: Ponytail, hat, AND sunglasses!
2. I usually do 2-3 races a year. Hopefully more soon.
3. Usually my training plan or what I feel like doing that day or a sort of combination of the two but it really depends on what I'm preparing for.
4. Probably a little lower on the scale of miles…300-350? I haven't kept close track until my current pair of shoes so that's approximate!
5. I don't bring my phone on the run!
6. IT-Band Syndrome….it was horrible!
7. My current running goal is to get faster AND add more mileage, double-wammy!
8. I do speed work on the track.
9. I usually  throw down and stretch right after my run, though once I recently stretched in the shower! 
10. I run for my mom--when brain surgery in 2011 prevented her from running anymore marathons, I took over! I've run one half-marathon now and am getting ready for another in 2 weeks. Full marathon soon to come, I hope! Every race that I run is dedicated to her, and every time I run I think of how lucky I am to have this ability, no matter how much it might hurt that day!

Here's a candid most-recent-race-day photo of me in honor of this national holiday:

And a very old race-day photo with old friends:

I get a lot of emails everyday from different race-organizations and sports gear companies, and I got one from active.com  today about how to speed up your half-marathon time. I have a feeling I'll be competing in the half-marathon distance for awhile before I move onto full-marathons, and I feel that with proper training and if I'm careful, I have a lot of potential to really speed up if I work hard at it and dedicate more time. Since today's post is pretty much all about running, I thought it would be suitable to include a little snippet it from this article, which is an example of how using the tools they recommend can help you improve your time:

Of course, for more info you should read the article! I found it helpful. I think the number one thing that I'm learning from all that I've read is that I should work on tempo and speed work, and perhaps even runs beyond the peak 12 that often precedes half-marathon races. I'm so excited for my next half-marathon, but I'm also itching to start mixing things up in my training!

Fun Fact:

I sported some lovely bright pink loafers at work today!

Honey Stinger Review.

Today I took a lovely run--it was short because I might try to do another long one tomorrow, and my legs were definitely still tired from Sunday. So it was easy pace, but that was fine with me. I really gave it an extra kick at the end though, bringing my pace down 30 seconds for the last .75 of a mile. Combined with the beautiful weather, it was super fun and started off my hectic day perfectly!

I think some of the credit is due to my purple compression socks though...

Purple is slowly overtaking my whole body and soon I will become a complete grape.

Of course, blue is still my number one color of choice when it comes to Gatorade...

I wanted to talk a little bit about Honey Stingers, which are athletic-fueling foods that are completely organic and composed of mostly honey for the energy. The concept is the same as GU, but it's supposedly better and more natural for you. I picked up some of the Chews and one of the "Waffles" at the CLE Marathon Expo, curious about more natural products. You can also choose between bars and gels, depending on what sport you're engaging in and what you might want to the nutrition for. During my 8-miler, I took some of the Chews before and during my run to experiment with them.

I could totally dig the flavor (Cherry Cola) and texture (not too sticky) but the chews themselves didn't seem to float my boat. First of all, let me get back to my original reason for taking energy during a half-marathon (this distance is short-enough that most people can probably scrape by without out any solid-intake during it). I wanted to take chewable Gatorade for the electrolytes because I didn't want to drink Gatorade and get all sticky during the race. When I'm running in races and start to feel the discomfort, I get quite easily miffed and P.O.ed, to the point where I suddenly want to rip my music out and throw it at something or throw my hat on the ground and stomp on it. Being sticky would NOT make me a happy camper at all. So, I took chewable Gatorade that I'd practiced with and bought lots of when I was at school. This worked well for me, and banished any cramps that usually hit me mid-way through the half-marathon distance, especially when I take water. The use of the Gatorade Chews led me to be interested in the use of other chewable items like CLIF Blocks, etc., which might have been more substantive. 

For my next (probably extremely hot) half-marathon, I have made the decision to just stick to the little packet of Gatorade Chews. For this distance, I really only need a few extra electrolytes during the race, and can easily stock up again at the end, by which point I will really need it. I thought the Honey Stingers might do the job equally as well, but they didn't sit well with me and will require further investigation on a real long run at some point this summer. As for the CLIF Blocks that are sitting in my cupboard, I'll definitely try those, because they seem to be nearly the same exact thing as the Gatorade Chews, but I've decided to save them, again, for a "real" long run this summer. They're bigger and there's more in a package, so I can just stick with my Gatorade, remembering that the initial purpose of having them was just so I wouldn't have to actually drink something sticky that I inevitably needed to take in during the race. Soooo... those are my thoughts on that!