Air Quality Alert...should that discourage me?

Nahhhhhh!
I threw caution to the wind and went on my run anyway. My schedule called for 9 miles today.
It didn't happen.
I started out strong, packing water coz I'm smart like that. Yah well,I used up my water by mile 5 and ran to the local park to fill up at the drinking fountain. I ran the rest of my miles there so I could be close to the drinking fountain and bathrooms. It was so hot. If it keeps being this humid I'm going to have to grow gills. It was 83 degrees at 7:30Am. What The Hell!!! The park was pretty empty... all the sane people were at home in their beds still sleeping. It was just me and this old guy for the longest time. We were running in opposite directions so we only passed twice each mile. So I ended up keeping an eye on him it really wasn't a good idea for someone his age to be out on such a humid day. But he was there, chugging along, just like me. His pace was a litter slower than mine. Heck my pace was a lot little slower than usual. I'm guessing he did about 2 miles. When he was done he stopped to stretch, he was covered in sweat and looked pretty beat. I gave him the thumbs up as I went by, he smiled and nodded. That left me two more miles. I tried to pick up the pace a bit, to just get them done. Nope, not happening. My legs were starting to cramp. My shoulders grew tense, I was running outta steam fast. When I got close to mile 8 I knew I didn't have another mile in me. Especially since I knew I still had a 1.5 mile long walk home...straight uphill the whole way. I pushed through to mile 8 and sat down on a bench. I thought I'd call hubby and have him pick my sorry buns up there at the park and take me home. His phone was off. DAMN! The walk home was the worst. Lumbering like Frankenstein up the hill, step by delirious step. It seemed to take forever. Once I got home and got in an ice cold shower I felt so much better.
Good enough to check the nets and tally all my stats online. The weather station said we were under a Air Quality Alert. That probably has a lot to do with why I got tired so fast, and why this run seemed harder that the 10 mile run I did a week or so ago.
On to the running sites...

I have 3 main sites that I hang out on.

Runkeeper.com - coz I use the GPS and my phone to track my runs (although the site itself is kinda boring.)
DailyMile - think myspace/fackbook for runners (love that site!)
and
SmashRun - Coz you get to earn badges!

Here are a few screen shots from SmashRun so you can get a feel for the site.

You can use it with Nike+ or just manually enter the miles. I've done both. One nice thing is it tells you home much juice you have left in your Nike+ sensor thing. So you can replace it before it runs out.


If you don't have a site to track miles at yet... I encourage you to check those out. SmashRun is by invitation only but, I'm inviting you so you're all set!
Your invited to SmashRun join here

My Air Quailty Alert Run:
Distance: 8.14 miles
Time: 1:59:46
Pace: 14:42

Random thoughts

Looks like next week is going to be a difficult week for running...


Yuck!Each one of those days is supposed to be HUMID. There has already been an Air Quality Alert issued for my area. LOVELY! And tomorrow I have a 9 mile run planned. But I'm doing it early in the morning...so it should be somewhat cooler. HOPEFULLY.

So today I was reviewing my weight changes this year. So far, this year has been an interesting year for me. Going from traditional eating, to Vegetarian, and finally to Vegan was a slow process. It has paid off slowly in weight and overall health and the best part is I haven't felt deprived...like I always do when I'm dieting. What I'm doing now seems very effortless and results in modest weight loss each month. Just look...

In the first week of December 2010 I was 198 lbs.
January 2011 - I had brought that down to 185 lbs
February - March 2011- down to about 181 lbs and then I stalled. As March began I pigged out for my birthday and many days after.

Starting in the beginning of April 2011 - I went vegetarian

I didn't record my weight until the end of May 2011 at which time I was 184.2 lbs at This point I start full vegan.

June 2011 I started recording my weight more diligently.
June 8 - 176
June 15 - 174.6
June 29 - 171.8

July 2011
July 8 - 169.4
July 15 - 167.2

Total weight loss so far about 30 pounds.

I'm happy That I've finally found something I can do to lose weight. Something that doesn't require me to count every single calorie or record every single morsel of food. I HATE, HATE, HATE that!!! I'm excited to see how far vegan and running can take me!!

Summer Blahs...

I missed my Sunday long run :o(
Something about an evening of margaritas makes it hard to get up and run at 5:30AM the next day. Who knew.

I've been running strong so far this week, but feeling blah. No air conditioning makes 90 degree weather a little unbearable. I've been trying to adjust my run schedule to run during the coolest parts of the day. It's been crazy. BUT I'm not complaining. If mother nature hears me complain we'll get 8 months of sub-zero temps this winter. It's the curse of living in Michigan.

Since running has been such a crazy sweat-fest, I've been trying to really pack the nutrients into my food.

I got this recipe idea from theAlmostRunner I made it the way she does originally, and it's great...then I got a little crazy with it. This recipe is so easy and so versatile you just gotta start messing with it....and yes, I actually fire up the oven when it's 90 and I have no air conditioning. I'm mental like that.

First the ingredients:
Frozen edamame
Frozen Okra
Frozen Stir Fry Veggies (any frozen veggies will work)
Fresh sliced mushrooms
Raw Baby leaf spinach (chopped)
Fresh Brussel Sprouts (with the ends chopped off and split in half)
1/4 cup - Tamari or soy sauce (slightly more if needed to coat veggies)1/4 cup pineapple juice (slightly more if needed to coat veggies)



To Prepare:
combine veggies, pineapple juice and soy sauce in a gallon size ziplock bag...shake vigorously to coat veggies. This could be done several hours in advance if you add a smidge more pineapple juice...the acid in the pineapple juice will keep the veggies from going brown.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spread the veggies thinly on a cookie sheet.


Cook for 15 minutes...flip and shuffle veggies then cook for 15 more minutes.

While the veggies are cooking...you can mix up some Quinoa...I had some ready made in the fridge. It takes 15 minutes to cook up so you have time to cook it while the veggies are in the oven. (or in my case...just nuke them to warm them through)


Pull the veggies out of the oven...mmmm...looks yummy!


Combine veggies and quinoa in a bowl and serve...

Sunday Morning Long Run

Another snapshot from the White Pines Trail. This little gazebo is just after mile 3 on my run.


This run was not the most enjoyable. Not because of my body, but because of Deer Flies.

While female deer flies feed on blood, males instead collect pollen. When feeding, females use knife-like mandibles and maxillae to make a cross-shaped incision and then lap up the blood. Their bite can be extremely painful, and allergic reaction from the saliva of the fly can result in further discomfort and health concerns. Pain and itch are the most common symptoms, but more significant allergic reactions can develop.

ugh, and they sure were bitey today. Not only that, but they chase you. Once they find you they keep right with you for a long time. From mile 2 to mile 3 I got bit so many times. Then once I was out of the trees and into the open sun, they were gone. Until of course I had to turn around and head back. They weren't AS bad on the way back. They must have still been full from the first time I came through.

Despite the annoyances, I still got my run in. I went further today than I ever have. 10 miles. When I got home and posted on facebook about my hatred of deer flies, my SIL suggested tieing a dryer sheet to my ponytail holder. She said that she has used dryer sheets before to keep away mosquitoes. Deer flies seem to be more aggressive than mosquitoes so I don't know how it would do against them. Guess we'll find out next Sunday.

How do you keep the bugs away on your runs?

Today's buggy Half Training:
Time: 2:18:07
Distance: 10.01
Pace: 13:49

Starting July out right.

Today I figured I'd start the month out with a nice run. I decided I'd get a four miler in. The weather was not ideal for running. It was really humid and it really looked like it could rain at any minute. I spend moments like these in my house pacing from the laptop to the patio door. Looking, timing, assessing. Do I risk it? Is it just rain or is there thunder and lightning? I heard thunder in the distance. and it was sort of raining...big fat drops here and there. I checked the radar...most of the weather was North and East of us.
I decided to go.

It was warm 71 degrees, and humid 87%. But, I was feeling good. I set out and kept a pretty nice pace, for me anyway.



Even kept pace over some pretty big hills...



It rained a little during my run, not enough to really cool me off though. So I got my four miles in and ran home. About 20 minutes later it really started to pour. So, I'm glad I got my run in when I did.

How about you, Do you run in the rain?

Half Training Run:
Time: 53:35
Distance: 4.32
Pace: 12:24