Blarney 5k Race Recap

I woke up this morning at 7 a.m. and got up right away to make my coffee.  I had to fight Eggy for it.

 I kept looking outside to check the weather, because we were supposed to get some rain today.  It held off and was in the mid 30's and windy.  I was worried I would be cold.  I wore some running tights, knee high St. Patrick's day socks, a long sleeve tech shirt, a short sleeve tech shirt over it, and my running skirt.  I brought an extra long sleeve shirt and wore my jacket until we got to the race.

I also had a green bow and green ribbon-rubber band with a shamrock on it.

Becky drove.  We got there at 11 a.m. and the race started at 11:30.  We used the bathroom and picked up our race packets.  We brought the stuff to the car and grabbed our watches and ipods.  We walked up just in time.  They were singing the national anthem already!

The start was fun since it is all downhill.  I looked at my watch once and I was under a 10:00 min/mile pace which is super fast for me, especially at the start of a race!  Becky is good at keeping a steady pace and we stuck together for the first couple of miles.

At 2.5 miles I started getting a sharp pain in my side.  I didn't know if I didn't drink enough or drank too much, but OUCH!  I considered stopping to walk, but tried to tough it out.  Becky had moved ahead of me by now. I was just focusing on my breathing and trying to stay focused.  I was almost finished and told myself if I walked, I would regret it afterwards.

The pain went away after what seemed like an eternity, but was probably not even five minutes. It was just in time to climb up the hill for the last .1 miles.  This hill gets me every time!  I got passed by a guy pushing a stroller who yelled out, "It's just a hill!"  It was enough to push me a bit faster to the finish line.

After I crossed, I really felt like I was going to throw up.  I couldn't talk and just kept on walking to lower my heart rate.  I grabbed two cups of water, but it was too cold to drink.  My throat and chest hurt and I really wanted something warm.

After the feeling of nausea passed, I sipped some of the water.  Becky and I walked up to the building with the post race snacks.  I got some nice, room temperature water, an apple, half an orange, and half a banana.  I also got a headband that covers my ears up with a bank logo on it.  It came in handy, since it was really windy out and my clothes were sweaty.

Dry Heaves

I PR'd the race with a 34:32.  The official race times haven't been posted, but I'm just using my Garmin time.  It's my official 5k PR time.  I have an unofficial time of 33: 52 from some training run I did outside.  There's always next year!

Here's my splits!

It was a great race and I know I pushed myself as hard as I could - hence the feeling of throwing up at the end.  I can't wait until next year to celebrate my Runniversary!

Are you doing a St. Patrick's Day race?

4 Year Runniversary

Four years ago, I completed my first 5k.  I trained using the C25K and was so nervous!  It was really tough and took almost an hour, but I finished!  Now, my Runniversary is upon me again and I'm headed to Wauwatosa to run the Blarney Run.  It may seem silly to drive an hour to run 3.1 miles, but it's a very important race to me. It's where my love of running began and led me to my other 5k's, 10k's, half marathons, and sprint triathlons.  And now, I will start training for my first marathon!  I never would have thought that I could or even would come this far, but it just shows that if you believe in yourself and don't give up, anything is possible!

Why do I run?  I have been asked this SO many times!

It's too easy to point out all of my flaws and short comings.  It would be easy for me to say, "I should be faster, thinner, better, more dedicated, etc."  I have said all of these things to myself.  I've been injured, taken a hiatus, wondered what the point to all of this is, but in the end, I have to realize I am doing it to make myself happy.  I feel cleansed after a run.  I can leave my problems and worries at home for an hour and totally detach from the world.  That is what keeps me coming back.

Here's some pictures from races past.  I wish I had some from every race!

Mt. Pleasant 5k April 2010 with my younger brother who did the half marathon.

Pleasant Prairie Triathlon June 2010

First Half with Laura Haunted Hustle 10/30/10

Run Into the New Year 10k 12/31/10 Day after my 30th bday

Blarney 5K 2011

Medals

Race Bibs

Pink is Irongirl 2010, green is Irongirl 2011

Run Into Spring 2012 in Chicago

WI Half Marathon 2012

Brewer Mini Marathon 9/22/12

Skeleton Skamper Half 2012

It's great to look back and see how far I've come.  I never thought I could be someone who runs, but I kept on going out and doing it, striving to get better.  I look forward to another great year of running! 

Happy Running!

Spinning is Winning

Happy Thursday!!

Today, I finally got my butt up and went to spin class!  It was really great.   I didn't wear my cycle shoes, because I wanted to check it out first (does that make any sense?).  I really enjoyed getting back into the groove of things.  The teacher was up beat and funny and the music was good.  I did, however, forget how my booty hurts from the seat afterwards.  That will go away in a couple of weeks.

I also went swimming.  I did a quick 800 yds.  I don't want to push too hard yet, since I'm just getting used to 2 a days again.  AND, I enjoy swimming so much more when I remember to wear my ear plugs.  I always get water in my left ear otherwise, since that's the side I breath on.  And it doesn't matter that I use the alcohol drops afterwards to get rid of the water in the ear, I always get a horrible headache for the rest of the day.  I feel great, now.  I also remembered to bring a brush.  I forgot it last time, and those that know me and my hair, know that was a disaster!  I somehow lost my shampoo, though.  I must have forgot it at the gym.  It's a kids shampoo to get rid of chlorine.  Suave makes it and it was under $2!  Quite the bargain!

I ate a banana between workouts, but I was famished afterwards!  I came home and heated up some rice I made the other day and a Boca Chk'n patty.

I got the recipe from the cookbook, Vegan Planet.

My brother got it for me for Christmas.  This is the risotto recipe, but instead I threw all of the ingredients into the rice cooker.  It tastes really good. 

Do you always forget to bring something to the gym?

March 1, Success!

Today, after enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and a quick breakfast, Kevin and I went to the gym.  I was feeling very energized and ready to conquer this workout!  I ran two miles in 21:36, with splits 11:03, 10:33 on the random setting.

BAM!

We got Jimmy John's for lunch.  I got my usual Vegetarian, with no mayo, add sauce.  Today I got no tomatoes too.  Yesterday, I had tomatoes on my taco I made, and BAM!  Horrible heartburn, so today I wanted to play it safe.

I have to close at work all weekend, so I needed to pack a lunch for tonight.  I brought baked potato and kale soup, an orange, and water.  I knew this wasn't going to be enough when my stomach started growling as soon as I got to work.  On my lunch, I ended up getting a bag of cheeze-its and a grape juice that tasted like a grape popsicle (not a good thing).

I bought these tiny little notebooks and a pack of colored pens so Kevin and I can track our foods through the day.  I like these, because it is way easier to transport in my purse.  It's always fun to get new things and use them for awhile.

Tracking in my new notebook.

On a random note, I can never successfully paint my nails.  I do not have the patience to wait until they are fully dry to do things.  It's like as soon as I paint them, I think of about a million things I need to do.  I painted them a pretty lilac color.  It seems very springy and Eastery.  Here's a picture before I wrecked them.

I better get to bed! I have to get up to run tomorrow!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

March Goals

Half of February went really well, and the other half not so much.  I really lost focus.  I started eating a lot of junk food and skipping workouts.  That resulted in me gaining back the two pounds I had lost the first two weeks of the month, leaving February as a zero pounds lost month. Whomp, whomp.

I did, however, stick with no caffeine.  It was really hard and I was tired ALL THE TIME! So, today, on March 1, I had a delicious cup of coffee and I am buzzed with energy!

I told my coffee how much I loved it and that I would never abandon it again.  

On the positive side, I am still down the 5 pounds from January and today is the start of a new month.  I love new beginnings!  It's a chance to start over from scratch.  So my monthly goals are not too different from usual.

1. Lose 4 pounds.
Hopefully I can bounce back from last month and learn from my mistakes.  Laziness got the better of me which resulted in bad food choices and little amounts of exercise. Bring on March! I'm bringing it in like a lion!

Rawr

2. No Soda, Only 1 Cup of Coffee Per Day
I had no problem not having soda, but no coffee really kicked my butt.  I never got over my constant fatigue no matter how much green tea I drank!  I can feel good about just one cup of coffee a day.

Coffee

3. SBR! 
I will start with the swimming and biking again.  I know I already said I would start it, but I haven't.  So, this time I mean it!  My goal is to swim twice a week, bike twice a week, and run 3-4 times a week with one of those runs being a long run.

Tri

4. Track all of my food!
This is something I really fell off of doing as well.  I was tracking my food using Weight Watchers Points Plus and having a lot of success.  I stopped and so did the weight loss.
I have also been getting my heart burn more frequently, resulting from binge eating of junk foods (also a reason I wasn't tracking).  I need to accept the fact that I am getting older and need to eat healthy so I don't have all these problems!  Diet directly effects every other aspect of my life!

I hope March is a great month for everyone!

What are your March goals?

Winter Wonderland and Seasoned Fries Recipe

From Fox 6

My plan to run after work was abandoned after a blizzard started about an hour before I had to leave.  Yeah, I could have run, but it was pretty bad out.  So far we've gotten about 7 inches of snow with more coming tonight and have a winter storm warning until noon tomorrow.  I'm glad I don't have to go in to work until the afternoon tomorrow so I don't have to get up too early to start the clean up.

From 2 yrs ago (I think) when we got a couple of feet of snow.

Instead, I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour.  I guess I was exhausted, because I woke up feeling very refreshed!

I made some homemade seasoned fries, one of my favorite things to eat.

The recipe is really easy.

The Best Seasoned Fries
5-6 potatoes cut into fry-like slices
2-3 Tbsps EVOO
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to sprinkle on after they are cooked.

Preheat the oven to 425
Cut the fries into thin slices and put into large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix together the EVOO, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and suger until combined.  Pour over the potatoes and stir until they are covered in the olive oil mixture.
Spread the fries onto a cookie sheet.  Cook for 25 minutes per side. Salt to taste after they are finished.

There's a bunch of different versions of this recipe, but I played with the seasonings and this is my favorite combination.

I'm also baking a bunch of potatoes so I can make my Potato-Kale Dish.  I've been craving warm, hearty foods lately and this will really hit the spot.

What's your favorite comfort food?

Cup of Ambition

Yum

Who knew ambition came in a cup?  It's probably coffee...delicious, dark, smooth, steamy, hot, coffee.  Maybe you can tell that I have still not had any coffee.  It's been 25 long and sluggish days.  I keep waiting for my natural energy to come shining through.  I've come to the conclusion that I have none.  I'm still not sure it I'm going to continue on this road of no coffee after February.  I will see what March 1 brings.

On an actually ambitious note, I have started my triathlon training.  I finally went into the pool after over a  year.  It wasn't too bad.  I did an easy 800 yards.  My shoulders and upper back was a bit sore, but I expected that.  I can't wait to get back into the pool.  

My general plan is swim twice a week, bike twice a week, and follow Hal's half training plan.

Did you watch the Oscars last night?  

I really like Jennifer Lawrence's dress. 

Who was your best dressed?