New Site and Boston

Hi guys- So I've decided to switch to http://runlucerun.wordpress.com/!! Please follow me and especially read my latest post on Boston and what we can do. http://runlucerun.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/what-we-can-do/

New Site!

Hi readers- I am thinking of switching to wordpress so please let me know which one you like better- this site or this one http://runlucerun.wordpress.com/

thanks a million!!!

New Training Plan

Lately I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the Hansons Marathon Method so I decided to buy the book. I've read about this method in magazines, articles, and blogs before but never gave it any serious thought because I was an avid believer in the 20+ mile long run.  Of course my beliefs were based on nothing but, what I thought, was common sense- run a long distance to train for a long distance, right? Wrong. The Hansons method has your longest run capped at 16 miles. This may seem counterintuitive but is based on the theory of cumulative fatigue- increasing your training runs (running 6 days/week) to fatigue your legs so that by the time you hit your "long run" or 16 miler, you are running on tired legs. The point is to train to run the last 16 miles of the marathon, not the first. As any marathoner would know, the last miles are the hardest and many struggle not to hit the wall or bonk. I have always bonked.

I will note that this method seems like it will only work if you are willing to do all of the training runs, which are focused on pace- the goal is for you to maintain your marathon goal pace, the entire race.  It's very common for a runner's pace to slow after 16 or 20 miles because the body is tired and again, the runner has hit the wall. Every run has a purpose (speed, tempo, easy, strength) and there is minimal to no recovery between the runs. If you are someone who is trying to get by running 3-4 days (that was me), this is not for you, and you will also probably bonk during the race (that was me). The goal is to hit between 50-70 miles/week for an average runner or rather, for someone like me.

I'm really excited to try the plan because I've been trying to build up a decent base over the winter and really want to hit the 4:00 barrier in Berlin. Phil suggested I give up my Equinox membership and just focus on running, spending that money on a coach who will be able to help me become a better runner.

Sooo now the question is, should I get a coach or should I try out the Hansons method on my own?? OR get a coach from Hansons Coaching??

Zucchini Muffins

Last night instead of going to the movies, I suggested to Phil that we make zucchini muffins because I had an extra zucchini and if I am going to eat any dessert, I wanted to make sure I knew what was in the food. OF COURSE he said okay, since he would be bringing home most of them. I made a healthy version of this recipe I found on allrecipes.com (my go-to). The recipe is for bread but I didn't have a bread pan so I decided to make muffins. They came out super moist and yummy. I also added choc chips to half the batch. Here's the recipe with my alterations:

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups cups all-purpose flour
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce 
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups grated zucchini (about two zucchinis)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup choc chips (optional- but WHY wouldn't you?!)

Directions

1. Grease two muffin tins. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared tins.
4. If you are baking one batch at a time, bake for about 25 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If baking both batches, bake for about 55-60 minutes. Cool on rack for 20 minutes. Remove muffins from tins, and completely cool.

CALORIES: 195 per muffin. If you add choc chips, it comes out to about 205 per muffin. 

The entire recipe made about 21 muffins but you can make more if you put less batter in each tin- I like bigger muffins so mine kind of overflowed :/

I also forgot to take pictures!!!! 

PPTC Fail, Easter, and Food Choices

I didn't go to my track workout on Thurs night. This is my problem- if I don't go running either right before or right after work, I will get lazy and comfortable. I got home at about 5:30 and track was at 7. So of course I lazed around and ate junk food, changed into my pjs and told myself I'd go tomorrow. I woke up and ran 7 miles but its just not the same. The workout was 12x200ms, which I did this morning in the middle of my run (right off the bus from D.C.).

Speaking of D.C...this weekend I was in DC helping Phil break his fast. I also forced him to run 10 miles with me on Saturday. Here's a photo recap of our run:

Our pre-run meal of oatmeal, bananas, and blackberries.

Ladybug running with Phil

We reached the midpoint and found a kite festival! Please ignore the face that he is making. 

Heading back into VA, past the Lincoln Memorial

Sunday morning I woke up to an Easter basket!! We had a long day of eating ahead of us but I still managed to break open some eggs to find some Reese's peanut butter treats. 

Phil broke fast with these pretzels. They were SO good and we're going to make them and share the recipe.

After we had our pretzels, it was time to go have Easter brunch with Phil's fam at a churrascaria- my first time ever!! I was scared and excited. It was amazing and I love hanging out with his family bc they are super cute and I get to hear embarrassing stories about Phil!

I'm not even kidding when I tell you that I gained about 5 lbs from just a few weeks ago. I will attribute most of it to yesterday's feast (worth it) but Phil's fast has also put my eating habits into perspective. We had a discussion about how you don't realize how many chemicals and unnatural products are in the foods that you eat every day. My goal this year is to become a better, more efficient runner, and I truly believe that my diet is getting in the way of this. So this week, I am going to try and limit my consumption of foods that contain chemicals, additives, and all that unnatural stuff, which ALSO means I will be cutting out CHIPS and DESSERTS (or maybe just limit them to only one day/week...). Let's see how I do. I will be logging my foods for all to see.

PHIL will also be writing a guest entry about his experience fasting for lent!!!! Stay tuned!!!!!

Eq class: Deep Extreme

Last night I took a new class (new for me) called Deep Extreme. This is the description of the class:

"The barefoot cardio training of the future. All you need is your body weight and your breath to experience this challenging, unique workout. Move, swing, hold, release and fly in the most recent creation of Robert Steinbacher, fitness genius. Get off the machines. Get on your feet."

Sounds kind of dumb, right? I thought so and refused to take it because I expected a bunch of weird dance movements and yoga-like poses. But then I did some intense googling and read a bunch of convincing reviews so I decided to give it a shot before my 6:30 dinner.

The instructor is pretty good. She is also super fit and pretty...because she's a model, obvi. She goes around the class and actually does the moves with you. If you're doing something wrong, instead of adjusting you she just stands in front of you and does the move so you don't feel dumb and singled out. This happened to me a few times.

The class is pretty fast-paced and non-stop. There were a lot of plyometrics, some swinging of the arms (but not in a weird way), squatting, kicking, balancing, planking, etc. - basically all movements with your body weight, which I prefer over dumbbells and body bars. My disgusting puddle of sweat and sore bod today has convinced me to take this class again. I LOVE finding new classes and can I say again how much I love Eq?!

I felt so good after the class I ordered a salmon burger, sweet potato fries and a MINT OREO CRUMBLE MILKSHAKE at dinner. I haven't had a legit milkshake in a long time and it was so f-ing gooooood. It was kind of worth going over my daily caloric intake by 1000...

Tonight is my 7th PPTC workout. Hopefully my sore calves will make it through the track.

Allstate Half-Marathon Recap

On Friday, as I was perusing Twitter, I came across tweets about the Allstate 13.1 in Flushing Meadow Park Saturday morning. I figured I 1) I had no plans on Saturday, 2) may be moving to the hood soon, and 3) had to get in a 13 mile run anyway, so I got myself a last minute bib and decided to run it. 

On race day, my dad drove me the start but we couldn't find the entrance so he said to me, "you like to run so run around and find it." Once I found it, I still had about an hour to kill so I went inside the Tennis Center and bought Welch's Fruit Snacks (my fave) as mid-run fuel. There were a lot of people just roaming around and since it was so cold, I just ran around trying to warm up. The announcer wouldn't stop rubbing the weather in our face. That was super annoying. 

Once the race began, I started with a 1:50 pace group but about 6 miles in I decided to toss aside any thoughts of a decent race time and run the course,  just to run. That and my Garmin died on me sooo....it was a pretty clear sign. I had never done that before and it felt so good!

The course: Flat with about 4-5 repeats on the same bridge. It wasn't very long/steep but do it at mile 12 and you want to kill yourself. There were also a few puddles that we had to jump over several times because the course repeated. It's pretty scenic at times and pretty not scenic at other times, esp when you're running next to the highway and can hear all the traffic. I hate running next to cars. There were spectators and bands scattered throughout so that was nice too. 

The weather: Sunny but WINDY WINDY WINDY. At times I felt like I was running on a treadmill. The winds were between 20-30 mph. It was like that almost the entire time. Good thing I stole tissue from the porta-potty because I was sniffling the whole time. 

Overall, I would run it again. They had lots of snacks afterward (including OREOS!) and a band playing. People were doing the electric slide to the music. The crowd is great and it's a very nice change from running around Central Park. Good job, Allstate!