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Weekend Recap: Celebration

February 12, 2012 by Kristy 15 Comments

Missed the first recap of the weekend? Read it here.

On Saturday night, Matt and I got our Groupon on at Spamps to celebrate my birthday. Yes, that is the name of the restaurant. It’s short for Spampinato, the owner’s last name. Dinner was good but dessert…oh my, one of my favorites. Chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream.

Initially it didn’t come with ice cream (can you imagine?). I requested it. You can’t eat a lava cake without melted ice cream drizzling down. I turned my flash off to take the picture. I didn’t want strange glances.

Matt and I went to the bar afterwards for a drink but were home by 9. You need to make a beeline out of Spamps before 10pm before it turns into a meat market.

Proof that it always snows around my birthday. Excuse my demonic eyes.

Matt, hating life because I’m taking his picture. Do it for the blog, Matt.

I woke up Sunday morning and I was feeling the 20-miler from Saturday and 48 miles in general for the week. I knew I was in for a treat at barre class.

My legs shaked non-stop in class. My quads were screaming and I could no longer tuck and squeeze. No one else’s legs were shaking, I appeared to be so out of shape. So barre class the day after a 20-miler is not ideal. Lesson learned.

What’s your favorite dessert? The lava cake is pretty high up there but I do love myself a DQ Blizzard.

Ever feel completely inadequate and out of shape during strength training or yoga because of running (even though you are clearly in shape)?

Weekend Recap: Running

February 11, 2012 by Kristy 6 Comments

I know it’s odd to write a weekend recap on a Saturday but I’m done with running for the week (I’m taking a barre class tomorrow, which I’m sure will sufficiently kick my butt).

Funny how running works…on Tuesday I was nervous and not feeling confident at all. Then I had great runs yesterday and today and now my confidence is starting to come back.

FRIDAY
Since I had already planned for my 20-miler to be a long, slow distance run, I knew I could get in some marathon-paced miles on Friday without adversely impacting Saturday’s run. My plan was to run 6 miles at MP. I felt great and the miles seemed easy. Turns out they were faster than MP – 8:13, 8:13, 8:08, 8:08, 8:05, 8:08. Sweet! Gotta love when that happens.

SATURDAY
We got “snow” overnight. This is my kind of snow though – sticks to the grass and trees but leaves the sidewalks and roads just wet. It pretty much “snowed” the entire time I ran so I put my hood up and hunkered down for 20 miles. It was really beautiful out. No wind, wasn’t too cold, and everything looked so pretty. I love LSD runs – no pressure, just fun. I finished in 2:59 (8:57 average pace).

Fun fact: A year ago, I was in San Fran for my birthday and I ran 15 miles. I remember being so happy that my average pace for a long run was 9:00; that was huge for me. And now a year later, it’s my LSD pace. Hooray for progress!

I am so ready to celebrate my birthday. I’m not-so-patiently waiting for Matt to come home from the airport. He was away for 2 weeks (again). Boo.

I hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Five for Friday

February 9, 2012 by Kristy 15 Comments

Terrific Tempo
On Tuesday I had 9 mile run planned with 5 miles at 7:50 pace. I was all in my head about this run and was seriously doubting my abilities to maintain 7:50 pace. I’m not quite sure where my confidence has gone this training cycle but I wish it would come back. My neighbor joined me for the run (i.e., Maximus, his blog alias) and that made me even more nervous. I generally run alone and, therefore, can wimp out when the going gets tough. The result? 7:55, 7:53, 8:03, 7:56, 7:51. The 3^rd tempo mile was rough but I got my groove back. The best part? This pace was comfortably hard, the way a tempo should feel.

Green Monsters
So they are very popular in blog land but can you really not taste the spinach? I’ve been drinking (eating?) them for a few weeks now and I promise you that if I tasted spinach they would be a no-go. I generally toss frozen strawberries, a frozen banana (1/2 of one), a ton of spinach, a splash of milk, and some OJ (to add some sugar) into a mixer. It’s delicious. Trust me. This is coming from the world’s pickiest eater.

Birthday Celebration
I can’t wait to celebrate my birthday this weekend with Matt. I just need to knock out a 20-miler on Saturday before the celebration can begin Smile

Mindful Eating
My friend Ruth sent me this article in the NY Times. It’s about mindful eating and really taking your time and enjoying and savoring each and every bite. Nearly impossible in today’s world. How many of you plow through lunch at your desk while reading email? Yesterday I tested it out and ate my lunch super slowly. It was difficult and I had to remain conscious of it at all times (I was also checking email, etc…I can’t just sit and stare at my cube wall). It definitely helped with digestion. Sometimes I feel like crap later in the afternoon because I gulp down my food in a few bites. Hmm, I think the Buddhists on are to something…

Heel Strike vs. Forefoot Strike
Another interesting article in the NY Times. Naturally, my favorite part of the article is something I said in a post a few months ago – does this mean that those of us who habitually heel-strike…change our form? “If you’re not getting hurt,” Dr. Lieberman says, “then absolutely not. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Ever had a green monster? If not, you are missing out! I’m officially a convert. Although don’t expect me to start eating chia seeds anytime soon

Ever tried mindful eating or is it just not feasible? I would imagine that for parents of small children this is impossible!

Thirty-five

February 8, 2012 by Kristy 27 Comments

Today is my 35^th birthday! Go on, you can say it, damn that’s old! It does sound old!

A few tidbits about my birthday…

It always snows! When I was 6 we had a huge blizzard and everyone had to come to my party on sled (a perk of growing up in the city is that sledding to someone’s house was actually feasible). And on my 29^th birthday another blizzard hit but thankfully we were still able to schlep to the bars in the snow.
I was born at 6:28AM. I think there is this silly correlation between time of birth and whether you’re a morning person or a night owl. I’m very much a morning person.
I love celebrating my birthday (and other people’s birthdays too). I hate when people refer to it as just another day…

A few weeks ago I was driving home from work and it hit me that I was turning 35. I don’t feel 35 (but what does 35 feel like anyway?). I feel much younger than that. Sidenote: I don’t have kids. I’ve been told they make you feel older so I’ll take that into consideration. Running consistently for the past 10 years has to be the reason. Chalk that up as reason #742,831 to run!

Other things I’ve noticed or love about my need to run…

I hardly get sick. I used to be plagued with frequent colds and now I get a cold once in a blue moon.
I love how running makes my heart strong (and my resting heart rate low). When I read Matt Long’s book, The Long Run, I distinctly remember reading about how strong his heart was and how that was a huge factor in his survival.
Running keeps me sane and focused. It really is cheaper than therapy.
Running has become as routine as brushing my teeth. I need to do it.

Today I will celebrate turning 35 with a short fun run after work, followed by pizza and beer. I did receive a running-related T-shirt from my brother and sister-in-law. Hmm, the guy on the left sounds a bit like me!

What time of day were you born? Is my correlation correct?

What changes about yourself have you noticed since you started running?

The Boston Marathon Jacket and Week 5 Recap

February 6, 2012 by Kristy 21 Comments

This post will probably come across as trite and insignificant. If you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you know how much the Boston Marathon means to me. Well, the marathon and the jacket. I have wanted that damn jacket for the past 10 years. Sounds silly but it means a lot to me.

After stalking the Adidas website for what seemed like an eternity, the 2012 Boston Marathon jacket was finally unveiled. Honestly, it’s a bit of a letdown. Specifically, the fit and color are disappointing.

Color
Why can’t they just stick with the old blue and yellow jackets? Ya know, the Boston Marathon jacket that everyone recognizes? This year’s color is an awful red-orange and black.

Fit
I read on the Runner’s World discussion boards that the jacket runs small. Crap, they weren’t kidding. I normally wear a small but ordered a small and medium to be on the safe side. I took pictures so you can see how ridiculous this is.

Womens Small – It’s way too short and too tight in the neck. I look like I’m wearing doll clothes. And why is it too tight in the neck? My neck is definitely a normal size.

Womens Medium – too wide

So I ordered a mens small to try out. What the hell, right?

Mens Small – perfect length, not too wide, fits in the neck area. But…wait…it’s different than the womens jacket.

I actually like the mens jacket better. Will I look like a jackass wearing the mens version? What would you do?

Side note: I have NO intention of wearing this jacket until after I cross the finish line. That would just be bad luck.

Boston Week 5 Recap
MON: 3 miles easy
TUE: 6 miles speed with 3 x 1-mile repeats
WED: barre class
THU: 7 miles with 5 long hill repeats
FRI: rest
SAT: 17.5 miles progression run
SUN: 6.5 miles easy

40 miles total for the week. This was a drop back week. I hope to hit 48 this week and then head into the 50s next week!

Progression Run Love

February 5, 2012 by Kristy 18 Comments

After a rough 20-miler last weekend I wanted to try a different approach for this weekend’s long run. I wanted to avoid going out too fast in the beginning but also wanted to include some marathon-paced miles towards the end. Since it always takes me forever to warm up in the winter, starting out slower gives me a chance to warm up naturally (not forcing it) all while saving energy for the later miles. I love progression runs so I decided on the following…

3 miles at 9:00 pace
4 miles at 8:50 pace
4 miles at 8:40 pace
the remaining miles at 8:30 or faster pace…this would give me about 7 miles near MP.

I didn’t do so bad…

It’s funny, my legs went on autopilot and resorted to old marathon paces – 9:00, 8:45, and 8:30. I had a hard time keeping myself at 8:50 or 8:40.

Overall, I was pretty pleased. I felt great; it didn’t feel too taxing and I had energy at the end of the run.

Are you a fan of progression runs?

Do you have a pace that your legs automatically gravitate towards? I was stuck at 9:00 minute/miles for awhile before I started doing speedwork. My legs always gravitate towards this pace.