Another week is done...

Today was C25K W3D3. I did well and felt good so I ran/walked another mile. I'm ready for week 4.

Time: 00:43:58 min
Miles: 3.0miles
Pace: 14:39

It's My Anniversary!

Just a quickie post to check in. Today was C25K W3D2 and I didn't skip it. I thought about it, afterall it is my 15th anniversary. But no, I had too. I took time off for Easter, I don't need anymore "time off" I got a race to prepare for! So, not only did I run it, but I gotta a better time then I have in awhile woohoo...feeling great! Now I'm flying high on good number too. I'm in such a great mood today! Off to get ready for my date with hubby!

Today's awesome training run:
Time: 00:29:30
Distance: 2.00 miles
Pace: 14:45

Tuesday in Slo-Moe

It's a rainy gray Tuesday morn, and today my daughter has a doctors appointment. Just enough time to get my run on and get showered up to take her in. It's lightly raining out...misting really, and I thought about running outside anyway, but I decided against it. Running on the treadmill can get so boring luckily for me I had just freshened up my tunes so my music was fresh and lively. Wish I could have said the same for myself...lol. Today I felt heavy and a little sick to my stomach as I ran. Note to self: do not toss a hand full of peanuts in your mouth 10 minutes before you hop on the treadmill...barf! I never did barf but that feeling came and went the whole time I was running. I think I'm just short on sleep. I cut myself short on sleep all weekend long entertaining for our extended family, I think now it's finally catching up with me.

Todays training run:
Time: 00:31:10
Distance: 2.0 miles
Pace: 15:35

Will it ever get warm?

I checked the weather this morning, just depressing...rain, rain, rain and...

BELOW AVERAGE...crap.
I'm soooo ready for some nice 70 and 80 degree days.
Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Jelly Bean 5K today...

Hey Everyone! I just completed the Jelly Bean 5K virtual race. There's still time if you wanna join in on the fun! Today was supposed to be C25K W2D3 so I just did the whole 5k in that fashion, run for 1min30sec walk for 2minutes. I did try to run more where I felt I could to try to get an ok time. Edn result? 00:46:33. I'd like to have done better...But, I'm fine with that number. Yep, another race under my belt as I prepare for the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach!! This is me just after my 5k, tired and happy!

Rest, Potassium and a Race?

Good Morning!
So, Today is my rest day. Time to stretch, take it easy, and let my muscles heal. So I'm reading up on proper hydration (also a good thing to be mindful of) and I see that while water is important, so to is the amount of salt and potassium in our bodies when we exercise.(3) Apparently Salt and potassium work to balance each other out. So if your a big salt fan your probably going to want to pay closer attention to how much potassium your getting. So what does potassium do anyway, "Potassium is especially important in regulating the activity of muscles and nerves. The frequency and degree to which our muscles contract, and the degree to which our nerves become excitable, both depend heavily on the presence of potassium in the right amount." (1) Not only that but, "Potassium is involved in the storage of carbohydrates for use by muscles as fuel." (1) So wow, potassium does play an important role in my running. I've tracked my food before (not a fan of tracking food) and I have noticed that I don't get very much potassium at all from my diet...well anyway my diet as of a month ago. " .... most American women 31 to 50 years old consume no more than half of the recommended amount of potassium."(2) My diet a month ago contained a lot of pre-packaged foods, meats, and occasional fast food. All high in Salt. But, since reading the Veganist, I've been vegetarian. Which sadly means making more of my own food and not relying on so much pre-packaged stuff. But, now I'm looking at my diet and my seeing that wow I bet I am getting enough potassium. I should track my food for a week and see how I'm doing. UGH, but I hate, hate, hate, measuring and writing stuff down and looking up calories and all that. I track at sparkpeople from time to time, but it's just such a chore for me.
I'm looking over the list of high potassium foods and surprised to see bananas down that list a ways... I would have figured that to be #1 or darn close. But, surprisingly Spinach beats it out...who knew. That's great coz I love baby leaf spinach in salads and wraps...and in my green smoothie's!
A few great food sources of potassium are:
"Chard, crimini mushrooms, and spinach, fennel, kale, mustard greens, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, winter squash, blackstrap molasses, eggplant, cantaloupe, and tomatoes.
Good sources of potassium include parsley, cucumber, bell pepper, turmeric, apricots, ginger root, strawberries, avocado, banana, tuna, halibut, cauliflower and cabbage."(1)
To see the rest of the list you can visit #1 in the links below. I love the World's Healthiest Foods website www.whfoods.com there is a TON of great info there about all sorts of foods. I have this page http://www.whfoods.com/foodstoc.php bookmarked in my browser for easy reference.

Today, in my random net surfing, I found a new blog to follow RunwithJess and signed up for a virtual 5K to be completed Anytime during Easter week (April 18-24)hurry up and go there now if you wanna sign up!!

(1) http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=90
(2)http://iom.edu/Reports/2004/Dietary-Reference-Intakes-Water-Potassium-Sodium-Chloride-and-Sulfate.aspx
(3) http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/aa011599a.htm

C25k W2D2

Nothing like a post-run icing to make yah feel like a true runner! Ugh, my legs are tired, glad tomorrow is a rest day.
Today's run went kinda crappy. I got into a small squabble with my hubby, just before he went to work. Which put me in a bad mood for my run. I actually thought about not doing it at all. I thought about making some sugary crap food to eat and watching TV instead. But, I didn't. I made the decision to get on the treadmill anyway and do my run. It was hard. I didn't feel very happy running. My legs felt heavy, I actually thought I might even cry. But, I powered through, and NOW I feel a little better...still mad at hubby, but at least I don't have the guilt of not running. That would just make things worse.

Today I managed to get this:
Time: 31:10
Distance: 2.01 miles
Pace:15.30

Snow Again?

WHAT is allll that about? It's mid April and it is all snowy outside. Grr, Michigan. So I decided to stay in today and run on the treadmill. This is W2D1 of the c25k. It went well no complaints. Would have been nice to run outside...but I guess mother nature had other plans. I hope it goes away soon, I'm so sick of winter.

Today I did:
Time: 31:00
Distance: 2.01 miles
Pace:15.25

Motivational xtrain

Vegetarian lentil soup and much running blog reading...seems like the perfect way to prepare of today's xtraining session. I must admit, reading blogs is so motivational for me, I'm not even sure why. Maybe it's a feeling of belonging to a group, or maybe it's just in the psychology of connecting through struggle. Or maybe it's just to ground myself in the idea that running can be a very physical and mental struggle, a struggle that every runner goes through regardless of distance, pace, or PR's. We all have our walls, we all have our PR's. The thrill of the race, the battle of will against muscle, and the victory of the finish line are all things we share and in that commonality there is peace, the peace of understanding. So while my non-running friends and co-workers shake their heads and wonder how...or why I torture myself, I can always find solace in the blogs of my fellow runners.

C25k W1D2 Today

Ok that's it...time to pull myself together and get goin'.
- Game face on - check
- Podulating device packed with groovish tunez - check
- C25K training schedule handy - check
- Random running blogs gleaned for inspiration/motivation - check

Then I am ready.

C25K W1D2

Lock N Load.

Pretty Darn Convincing...

OMG...I can't believe I'm actually considering going vegan. I haven't set anything in stone, but this book make a pretty good case for going vegan.

Cool

If you check out www.wordle.net you can make one of these!