Recovery

I don't really know where to start with today's post! I feel like I'm still in that random, just want to get it all out frame of mind. My thoughts are so scattered still! 

I looked up my official time to see the standings, and I was off 2 seconds, so here's the official stats! 

I am really happy with my finishing time, pace, place, etc. I figured I'd finish between 2:25 and 2:30. If I don't count my bathroom stop, I was at 2:28, so that was just what I was hoping for! Hopefully they'll put the photos up soon, Disney had so many photographers there! 

It was interesting to see my 5k time at 34 minutes. That was the pace I ran my first ever 5k. My 5k PR is 28:56, however I was running a half marathon, and I was trying to keep my pace around 11 minute miles... so I succeeded! My 10k time though would have been a PR! My previous 10k was 1:08:51. It was cool to see my 15k split because I'm running a 15k on Saturday, and I'm hoping to be around 1:40-1:45, so that would be right on. The 15k scoring track was after the bathroom break, too, which cost me about 2 minutes.

I could look at the stats, figure my percentages, and stress about it, but I really don't care. I'm thrilled I finished and ran the whole time. That's what it was all about for me! 

As far as the future goes, I can't see myself registering for another half marathon any time soon. As it gets warmer, I'm less likely to run far distances. Also, it's just too hard for me to try to lose weight with long runs and trying to stay fueled for that. If I can lose the last 15-20 lbs., and get to a healthy maintenance phase, I might do the January Disney Half Marathon, I think in 10 months I should recover   ;)

I'd have to say that 10k's seem to be my favorite distance race so far. 5k is not much of a challenge because I'm not built for speed. Half marathons are a lot of prep, training, and mental work. But the 10k's are great for a little speed, a little endurance, and not much training. I can see myself looking for and running more 10k's in 2010. I also want to start varying my exercise... but that's another post for another day :) I think I'll bask in my Half Marathon (and 15k this Saturday) glory for a few more weeks...

So after I posted my recap last night, JJ and I picked up our guests for the night, two girls from the Newberry College travelling choir. Newberry was one of Lenoir-Rhyne's rivals, so we knew all about the school. The girls weren't here for long, but we had a nice time with them.

I had planned to cook a roast turkey dinner feast for us that required minimal cooking since I knew I'd be tired... but does a roast turkey dinner ever have minimal cooking... nah.

So here's what I made - Lemon and Herb Roast Turkey and Gravy, Garlic and Onion Roast Potatoes, Roasted Beet, Orange and Goat Cheese Salad, and Garlic Peas with Marsala Mushrooms. It was such a delicious dinner, I ate so much turkey! I'll have these recipes up on the food blog soon, I promise! 

After talking to a few people, they all asked the same thing - what did you eat after the half?! Well, not only did I have an awful stomach ache all day, but after running that far and long, I just couldn't eat anything greasy, fattening, or unhealthy. I was craving another Ruby Tuesday Salad! So for lunch, I got a Quizznos Veggie Sub and then had this for dinner. I was almost too tired to eat dinner, but the turkey smelled amazing! 

When I hit the sack last night, I was pretty much unconscious. I woke up laying the exact way I did when I went to sleep, and I never wake up that way, so I'm pretty sure I didn't even move last night! 

I was a little sore when I woke up, so I took some advil. All of the soreness went away by about lunchtime except for my shins, specifically my left shin. JJ said to roll a frozen water bottle on it, and it's gotten better as the day has gone on. I actually feel pretty good today (except I am still pretty tired).

So let's see...

Tomorrow I plan on taking the day off of exercise again, might take a little walk and do some yoga.

Wednesday I'm planning on some light strength training.

Thursday Lou and I are going to run the bridges one last time.

Friday is an off day, my mom and sister are coming to town! 

Then Saturday is the 15k. 

After Saturday, I'm going to a hardcore weight loss phase with food journaling, calorie counting, and varying exercise to lose 15 lbs. in about 2-3 months. I just want to get the weight off so I can go back to maintenance (where I'm happiest). 

And I feel the need for a little disclaimer: Before I get some emails about trying to lose weight fast or whether I need to even lose any more weight, I am still considered 'overweight' by BMI standards. Losing 15 lbs. will take me to the healthy weight category. I know "quick weight loss" scheme type things are bad, but I'm aiming for 1.5 lbs. per week through healthy diet and exercise, which is perfectly healthy.

Disney Princess Half Marathon

I DID IT!!!! 

13 Miles!!! (well, plus .1)

Guess my Nike+ is a bit off?

My finish time according to Disney was 2:30:18! 

I'll get to that later. 

I DID IT!!!!

Ok, recap time! Hard to believe this all happened in 24 hours! 

Beware: Lots of photos! 

JJ and I left Saturday morning, dropped the dogs off at his parents, then continued on to Orlando. First stop was the expo to pick up my bib, sign my waiver, get my scoring tag, and get my bag and some free stuff! 

Then we walked around the Wide World of Sports and I found a lot of Ohio State stuff!

After the expo, we went to get lunch. I saw a Ruby Tuesday and remembered they have great salad bar options, so we decided to go there. My salad was delish! I'm going to have to go there more often! 

JJ made his especially pretty, he wanted it to be blogged.

After lunch, we went to the Braves spring training game vs. the Astros. It was fun, but really cold and windy.

After the game, we checked into our room. 

We stayed at the All Star Sports Resort. It was a value resort, but was really nice. It was one of the few resorts with transportation to the half, and with a half participant discount. 

It had a gift shop, but holy crap, Disney is so expensive. A diet coke was $2.75 in the vending machine and the gift shop! 

Since we stayed that the All Star Sports Resort, we got passes to go play putt putt golf! The place is called Winterland Summerland, so there are 2 courses, each themed. It was fun! 

Oh, and I won 44-46! 

We got golf balls, candy cakes, and sharpies... random! 

For dinner, we went to Downtown Disney. We ate at an American restaurant. We started with chips and guac, I ordered the chicken tacos. It was delish, and not too expensive (considering it was Disney)

Now, on to the good stuff... 

The half marathon!

I tried to go to sleep around 9pm, I could not fall asleep all night. I would sleep for 15 minutes here and there, but was literally up all night long. I got up at 3am, and Crissy met me at my hotel and we boarded the shuttle to the race at 3:30am. We got to the staging area, and sat in the cold parking lot for an hour. It was freezing and not fun. Then we checked Crissy's bag, and walked about a mile or two to the corrals. We were in our corral around 5am, and stood there for another hour until we started. It was so cold, maybe 35 degrees out. Crissy and I were dying! My feet were completely numb, and my lower back started to really hurt. I was getting nervous about starting because I literally felt like I was freezing for 2 hours! 

So I was assigned to corral B, which started at 6:07am. The first two miles I felt great! I had a nice pace going, and warmed up quickly. The second two miles were ok, kind of in the groove. Around mile 4, we got close to Magic Kingdom, so it was getting exciting! Then around mile 5.5, we ran through the castle in Magic Kingdom, which was so cool. Miles 6-9 were really, really hard. My stomach was in knots, and I was starting  to really lose my energy level. At 8.7, we stopped to go to the bathroom and got Cliff Shots. That gave me a great shot of energy, but I was still not feeling great. I was sweating a lot, so I grabbed powerade at the next 3 mile markers to get some electrolyes and keep going. Crissy definitely could have run much faster, but she stayed with me and we did it together, which was really great. I was so glad she was there with me, it really helped me keep my pace, and keep running! I wanted to walk, but I only ever walked when drinking the powerade! 

 

As we neared the finish line, I was starting to get really emotional, and it was getting so hard to breathe! I tried to just concentrate on that last mile (which felt like it was another 12!!!), and not get too emotional. So my official time was 2:30:18. I really didn't care what my time was, I just wanted to finish, and keep running as hard as I could! When we finished, I couldn't believe it. It was a rush of excitement, accomplishment, and then a little bit of sadness. It was really over! But then I rounded the corner, got my medal and was so happy! 

I think in addition to running 13.1 miles, I walked around 4 miles from the shuttle to the tents to the corral, from the finish to the monorail, to the parking lot... I was just exhausted....

It was sad to leave Disney without having gone to the parks. JJ and I decided that we are for sure going back to Disney for vacation in January, and we're going to stay at a resort. They make it so nice and convenient, and it was so much fun! Being Florida residents, and going in off-season will give us great discounts, too! 

So I'm literally typing this with my eyes barely open, I'm so tired, but I want to get it all out before I go to bed and forget something! 

-I am so glad I chose this as my first half marathon. It really was a fun race. Being with mostly all other women made it much less competitive, and much more fun. The women that ran the race were really there to have a great time, and everyone had this amazing comraderie. 

-I kind of wish there was more time spent running in the actual parks, it was mostly highway running, but they did have the characters dressed up and with little sets along the routes, so there was a lot to keep you entertained with. 

-They did an excellent job at running the race, the logistics were spot on. There were so many people there to direct and cheer you on. There were more water stops than I've ever seen, and there was a Cliff Shot stop as well. 

-The finish line and the recovery and celebration area was great, there was a ton of food and drinks, and it was easy to find your family afterwards

-The shuttle was really convenient, so I'd definitely stay at a resort associated with the race (I think about 7 of the resorts had shuttles)

Ok, I can't think of anything else to say right now, I'm exhausted! 

I am so proud of myself, and I have to thank my family, friends, and all of you for your support. I still can't believe I ran a half marathon. I never, ever thought I'd be able to do this. Amazing! 

All my bags are packed....

And I'm ready to go!!!

Today has been fantastic. I feel wonderful, I'm excited (a little scared), but so ready!
I printed out all of the directions and information, got my bags ready with race essentials - cliff bar, bananas, G2, and gels. I packed lots of extra running stuff, added a few more songs to my ipod, got my camera, extra batteries....oh, I found out my bib will be #5050, sounds kind of lucky, right?!
If you really want to, you can track me here! You have to register to get email or text updates by 6pm on March 6.

I'm a little worried about the weather, it's on the cusp of long sleeve t-shirt and running tank weather. I'd rather be cold than hot though, so I'm going to go with a tank. I'm sure I'll be really cold before it starts, but I don't really have any other option besides wearing a shirt I don't mind leaving behind (which I might do...). It gets light here around 6:45, so we'll start in sort of dusk. Once the sun is up, I'll be ok!

Crissy texted me to say the parking at the Expo to get race #'s was crazy because of the Braves there for Spring Training, so I had a lightbulb go off, I checked the schedule and they're playing tomorrow at 1pm, so I surprised JJ and got us tickets to the game! The Braves are his favorite team, so he's really excited. I figured since he's doing this whole weekend just for me, he should get something enjoyable while we're there!

So the plan is to get in bed by 10:30 and get up at 5:30 (so I'm tired and want to go to bed early tomorrow), we're going to drop the dogs off (first night for the little one without us), and get to the expo at 11am. Then we'll go to the game, then check in to the hotel, grab some dinner, then I'm going to try to be asleep by 8:30-9pm because I have to be up at 3:30am on Sunday morning. Oh my!

JJ's ready to go with the camera, and really excited for me, so I'm sure I'll have lots to share with you. When I get home Sunday night, I'm making a mini-Thanksgiving type dinner since we'll have the visiting choir girls staying with us. Monday morning is going to be a killer!

Ok, I'm off to bed. I'll check my email once more before I go, if you have any last minute tips or advice, share please!

Success!

So after I wrote the last post, I was getting ready to head home. First I checked Hal Higdon's half marathon training plan, just to see what he says. In both the Novice and Intermediate, he has you run 2 miles the Thursday before the Half, so I was ready to do 2. I had my workout clothes in my office with me, so I figured I'd change at work so when I got home I could park my car in the driveway and go, the dogs wouldn't even know I was home! I usually get home, let them out to the bathroom, then they want to eat, and then I have to wait for them to go to the bathroom again, so it takes at least half an hour to get going, and by then, I just don't. So this method worked out great! They had no idea I was there, and I didn't feel guilty leaving them.

On my way home, Crissy sent me this text! It made me smile :) And it kept me accountable! I seriously am so happy that Crissy and I are getting to do this half together. She was one of the first strangers to read my blog when it started 2 years ago, and we became friends quickly thereafter! 

It felt like I was running so so so slow. But then about .5 miles in, I looked at my pace and it was pretty fast, just under 10 minute miles! I don't know why I felt like I was going so slow... 

Anyway, I decided to stop at 2 miles, and walk the last quarter mile. It felt great, after those 2 miles, I felt warmed up and ready to keep going! My body has definitely bounced back and is ready to go! I think I'll do great with a 11 minute mile pace. I think I'll probably average 10:30 for the first few, then 11 for the bulk of the race, and then in the last few, I'm sure I'll be closer to 11:30.

And just in case my iPod and Nike+ didn't cooperate, I took some photos...

I hate how workout pants give me a muffin top! I have to get them really tight so they don't fall down, but then I get the icky muffin top. I try to find pants with drawstring waists, but the yoga pants from Old Navy are always just elastic. My Under Armour ones are drawstrings though, and their my favorite. 

So today I got a church newsletter email, and it said the Newberry College Choir is coming to do a concert at church Sunday night, and 2 of the girls needed hosts... so I emailed the pastor back and said send 'em here! It's good because it gives me incentive to clean the house well tomorrow night before we leave for Disney. We should get home early afternoon Sunday after the Half Marathon, so I am pretty sure I'll be too exhausted to do anything then. I will be cooking dinner for them, so I'm trying to decide what to make. Part of me wants to make something really awesome and homey, but I know I'll be really tired... hmmm. I'm considering buying a turkey breast and doing some turkey and stuffing and veggies, you know... Mini-Thanksgiving.... At least then we'll have some leftovers for the week!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Friday, I'll get another post or two in before we leave for Disney, but I won't blog until after I get back. I think you can track me on the Disney website, so if I can, I'll post my bib# if I can blog with JJ's iTouch. 

He should be home in a few minutes, and we'll be able to start The Office, I'm waiting for him to get home to start it, and it's killing me! 

Dear Ash...

Even though Lou cancelled today's run doesn't mean you should skip running altogether. Hal Higdon's plan says to run 2 miles today. You need to do that. Or perhaps 3, and then rest Friday and Saturday. You need to have one last great run before the Half Marathon. It will give you peace of mind. And an extra 400 calories burned would be nice.

Don't go home and flake out on the run. It will be light until 6:30. You have to do it. Don't let the dogs crying guilt you out of it. Don't let thoughts of dinner suck you in. Or the couch and DVR'd tv shows. They'll be there when you get back.

<3 Ash

PS - Your blog readers WILL hold you accountable. They SHOULD give you hell if you don't do it. You need to post your Nike+ results tonight as proof.

PPS - the funniest non-ad fake ad ever....

March: Peaches and Cream Oats

I know so many of you are covered in snow right now, and think I'm a big baby for complaining, but seriously, it's freakin cold out, and I'm so over it! We're hitting record lows here, and it's even freezing, so I'm worried about my garden! When I get home from work, I just want to crawl in bed with my space heater, not workout!

However, as soon as I finish this post, I'm going to go do No More Trouble Zones. At least it will warm me up, it's just so hard to get started!

Hope you all had a great Wednesday! Tomorrow is running bridges after work, then a new episode of The Office!!!

So here are this month's Oats of the Month! Right now, peaches are arriving in the grocery store, so I've had peach pie on my mind. I thought these oats would be nice with a creamy touch, and a punch of protein, so that's where the cottage cheese comes in. They're a little higher in calories, but it's healthy and a good breakfast is very important!

Peaches and Cream Oats

Serves 6

Around 275 calories

1 1/2 cups steel cut oats

5 cups water

1 lb. peaches, peeled fresh or frozen, diced

3-4 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups soy or skim milk

12 tbsp. cottage cheese

Bring water to a boil, whisk in oats.

Turn heat to medium-low, simmer oats for 25 minutesm or until plump and tender.

Turn heat off, whisk in honey, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Stir in peaches.

Pour into a storage container and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, microware for 2 minutes, stir in 1/4 cup milk and then swirl in 2 tbsp. cottage cheese (per serving)

Bite, bite, bite, full?

So I'm feeling back to normal, and so happy about that. I've had 3 days off on the exercise front, tomorrow I'll be doing No More Trouble Zones, Thursday will be a 4 mile bridges run after work, and Friday and Saturday will be off days. I hope I'm resting enough, but also working out enough to keep my legs strong. 

Tonight was the Bite Club event, it was a great success! It's been so much fun hosting, and I can't believe how fast it's grown in popularity. But really, why not - it's free food, sometimes alcohol, and a fun time! 

One of the girls I met at the first event and I are Facebook friends. She has run many half marathons, so I told her we'd have to sit together tonight so she could give me some words of wisdom. She recommended having a big spoonful of peanut butter and a banana for breakfast to avoid cramps and keep me full. She also gave me a lot of words of encouragement, so I'm feeling great!  (she's next to me in the photo below)

One of the things I've noticed with Bite Club events is I eat bites of many things, but don't really ever feel full. And I know I shouldn't feel stuffed ever, but full is ok. I think part of this is because I take small bites of rich food, and don't have any big, leafy vegetables or fiber filled beans and squash like I normally do with dinner.

At the same time, it gets my rich-food-fix in for the month, and it's all small bites, so I get that rich dinner without the guilt of a fatty meal. 

I've decided, after many recommendations, to not worry about calorie counting for the next 10 days (when I'll be running the half and a 15k), and to just eat healthy and stay fueled. However, after the 15k, I am going to go back to food journaling and calorie counting until I lose the last 15 lbs. It's not fun to keep track in the journal and count calories, but it works. It really, really does. 

If I lose any weight in the next 10 days, great. If not, that's ok too. I'll have run 2 major races, and I'll be proud of that :) but I still want to lose the rest... so calorie counting it is! 

Ok, I'm off to bed. 

Oats of the month tomorrow, I've been loving them this week! 

Mickey in the mail

I got the most exciting piece of mail today!!! It's my travel arrangements :)

Disney really does go out of their way when you're staying there to make a great impression!

Today I feel much better. It's Monday though... so can it really be that good???

For dinner, my in-laws took us to Olive Garden. Dinner was great!

Tomorrow is my next Bite Club event, so it will be a busy and late night, I'll do my best to get a post up. 

Wednesday, I will have my next Oats of the Month post.

Please please please, don't let me get sick...

Today has not  been so good. I woke up with a really tight lower back, and thought a nice 4 mile run would be good. I was wrong. My legs were tired, my back hurt, I was cold, my head hurt, and I was just not feeling it. So I did 2 miles, freaked out to JJ a little bit, had some oatmeal, then crawled back in bed and slept until lunch time.

I needed some caffeine, so I went out and got a coffee and then made some leftover soup.

I started to do some housework, but again, my head was pounding, I was getting heat flashes then chills, and it was just all around bad. I spent the whole afternoon laying on the couch. I really don't want to get sick, but I'm just not feeling well. I'm going to do everything I can to keep myself healthy and in good spirits this week. I really, really can't get sick!!!

For an afternoon snack, I had an apple and a new flavor of Stonyfield Farms yogurt, Maple Vanilla. It was delicious, not too maple-y, just enough to taste good but not too sweet.

For dinner, I had a quinoa-pomegranate salad and teryiaki tofu kebobs. It was a healthy food day, hopefully all of the nutrients and vitamins will keep me from getting sick.

I really appreciate all of your encouraging comments for the half. At this point, I'm excited for it, but ready for it to happen and then for the 15k and then to get back to normal. I like running far because it makes me proud and it makes me feel strong, but it's not good for weight loss. I want to fuel for the runs, but knowing a larabar, cliff gel and gatorade is 400 calories throws me off. I want to figure it into my daily calories, but it's different because I burn so many calories running. But I want those to help me lose weight... it's justs really confusing and I'm torn all of the time on weight loss vs. fueling to run far and fast. And then do I take more rest days and eat less, or do I keep working out and run the risk of having tired legs...

It's too much to think about. 2 more weeks. My brain hurts, I'm going to bed!

Goodnight!

Nervous!

Thank you all for your running vibes this morning! I honestly thought of everyone in the bloggosphere when I was struggling to keep going!

So let's see...

Obviously, I started out with a great attitude, really excited, ready to go.

But then around mile 2, it just wasn't clicking, and I knew it was going to be a rough run. I came this.close to breaking down in tears and stopping. It was not pretty.

I made a few mistakes, you see.

1. I had Mama Fu's for dinner last night - Spring Rolls, Spicy Green Beans, and Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Those things do not sit well in the stomach on a run the next morning. I had some serious heart burn.

2. I put sunscreen moisturizer on my face before I went for the run. This caused me to sweat a lot more than usual, and it was slimey.

When I got to mile 4, I thought to myself ok, 4 more miles, and then I get to see JJ. And get some G2 and a cliff gel, I'll feel better, I know I will. Just knowing I'd see JJ really helped me keep going. I think, for some reason, I lacked some motivation today. I'm really hoping that for the half, just being in Disney with a tons of other ladies and Crissy will help me keep the strength and determination up.

So, finally, around 7.4 in, I got to the elementary school parking lot, and there was my wonderful husband with the gel, G2 and the camera! What a good little blogger's-husband!

For some reason I had the hardest time keeping a steady (but much elevated) heartrate today. I felt like I was out of breath and my heart was going to jump out of my chest. When I got to JJ, I walked around the car a few times to slow my heartrate down, then I took the cliff shot in 3 bites, and followed it with the G2. It was like a liquified gummy bear, not bad, not great... Then I took off again. After about 30 seconds, I got a little side stitch, so I walked for about a minute, then got back to running. I can't tell if it really helped, maybe if I did go for 3 more miles, having the Cliff Shot would make a difference, but I didn't feel any different for the next 2.5 miles. I'm going to plan on having on during the half, just because it might give me an extra push the last 3 miles.

So I kept going and going, when I got to our neighborhood, it was starting to rain. And I was tired. I just didn't have the heart to keep going. My legs actually were very tired, so I stopped at 10 miles. I didn't do 11.34. Though I think, if I had to, and it was the half marathon, I could keep going for sure. I think. I'm going to need some serious pep talks this week....  I just feel so spent.

So when I stopped the iPod, somehow I hit the off button or something weird happened, and it didn't even track my run!!! I am SO MAD! I am getting so close to the next Nike+ level, and that was 10 miles that went unrecorded! So these 2 photos reflect that... and I look awful, but this is how I feel about Nike+ and my iPod right now.

So after that, I ate some breakfast, a Pom Chobani, and some G2 and water.

Then I think between the run, the cold weather, the sweat, and the exhaustion, I FROZE! So I took the space heater in the bathroom because it warms up so fast, and sat on the floor in there for 30 minutes while stretching. I know, it's probably weird, but oh well. At this point, you all know I'm weird, right? :)

I stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a Venti Soy Misto. Did my weekly food shop, and started to clean the house a bit.

Around noon, I decided to make some lunch. I was still freezing, so a pot of soup sounded fabulous. I really wanted some Suppe Toscana because I had a giant bag of kale, but I didn't have and sausage (nor did I want it), so I did a spin off. Here are the delicious ingredients...

And here is what I came up with!

In the pot was:

1 yellow onion

2 garlic cloves

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1/2 cup quinoa

2 medium potatoes

1 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes

8 cups kale leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. ground fennel seed

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp. oregano

This pot of soup had about 850 calories in it, and I had about 1/3 of the pot. It was delicious and so so so healthy!

After lunch my co-worker came over so his wife could look at my old car, and they bought it! I'm so happy to be rid of that car once and for all.

Then I went over to the Jetta dealership to have my car detailed. It looks beautiful now! I'm so happy I got it, it's only been a week, but I'm so in love with Frau! I ran a few more errands, contemplated getting some fro-yo, but remembered I had caramel oikos at home, so I resisted.

For dinner I made polenta, fried eggs and a mushroom/pepper mixture. I'm going to be blogging it on A Year in the Kitchen, so if you're interested, check it out! It was my version of breakfast for dinner I suppose!

So now I'm just hanging out with the dogs and playing... don't laugh... Zoo Tycoon :)  JJ got it for me a few years ago because I was in a computer game phase, and I haven't played it in so long.

Of course I'm enjoying my oikos, apples and tea while playing :)

So to wrap up today... it's been rough. My run wasn't what I wanted it to be, but at the same time, I have confidence I'll make it through the half next week. But I am a little scared. I think that's natural though. I remember being really nervous for my first 5k and 10k races, but I did it. So I know I can do it....but I'm still nervous.