Hello :)
Thank you for your support with the Portabella Playoffs. I am so thankful for you guys! The Stuffed Portabella Pizza recipe is linked from the Tastespotting post and it can be found on Mushroom Canada. Give those mushrooms some love during National Mushroom month!
I woke up with a nagging headache this morning from too much red wine last night, but it was nothing 2 cuppas couldn’t fix…
…and a delicious Green Monster. ;)
I was almost human again.
In the humanizing GM:
- 1 cup almond milk,
- 2 big handfuls of spinach,
- 1 tbsp almond butter,
- 1 serving Amazing Grass Chocolate Amazing Meal Protein Power,
- 1 tbsp chia seeds,
- 1 tsp maca powder,
- Ice, ice baby
I was operating with 65% of my brain instead of 30%. Some days you take what you can get. I do not take responsibility for any errors on my accounting spreadsheet that may have occurred today…
This would be a great time to let you know that Amazing Grass has extended their 25% off sale until the end of today! Just use the code HLS10 in the checkout if you want to take part.
For lunch I had a delicious open-faced sandwich on toasted Ezekiel bread.
I love open faced sandwiches because you can stack them as high as you want. ;)
Open-faced Pico De Gallo & Butter Bean Sandwich
- 2 slices Ezekiel bread, toasted
- 2-3 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1/2 cup butter beans
- 1/2 cup Yellow Tomato Pico De Gallo/salsa
- Sea salt + pepper, to taste
and a bowl of really sweet cherries!
Running Talk: Striving for speed and my next race:
Today, I also snuck in a challenging 10k run:
My goal was to run it at ‘almost’ race pace.
The last couple miles were really tough, but I kept my eye on the prize and tried to treat it like a race as much as I could. I also focused on running each mile faster than the previous and this helped me keep my focus. When I felt like giving up I repeated my mantra ‘You are so much stronger than you think’ over and over. It helps!
My post run snack was an Awake Glo Bar and a huge glass of OJ. I rarely drink OJ but for some reason today I was craving it big time.
Striving For Speed
Lately I have been asked how I have increased my speed with running. I am by no means an expert on the topic, but I will tell you what I think has worked for me. Everyone is going to be different so take what I do with a grain of salt!
1) Consistency
Aside from not feeling well, much needed rest, or unexpected obstacles in my life, I try to keep my running consistent with about 4 days of running and a couple of rest days each week. If I am gung-ho and run 4 days in a row, most likely I will follow it with 2-3 days off. It is all about balance and how I feel when I get up in the morning. Some days my body says GO and some days my body says Ah Hell No.
2) Rest
When I need more rest, I take it. I don’t allow myself to feel guilty anymore for taking time off when I need it. I have realized that there will always be unexpected challenges with running and if you need to take an unplanned week off here or there it is not a big deal. Running is very hard on the body! When I got back from Chicago, I felt a cold coming on and I took 5 days off exercise. My body bounced back and I avoided a full blown cold. A rested body is a happy (and faster) body.
3) Pace Challenges
This summer, I introduced negative split pace challenges as a way to get in some speed work. On most of my runs I try not only to run a negative split, but I also set a goal of running each mile faster than the previous. This has proved to be a fun way for me to ‘sneak’ in speed training. I believe these runs have conditioned my body for a race-like scenario because my goal for a race is to gradually build speed as the miles go by.
My Next Race:
After my 10k practice run, I signed up for a real 10k race! I was debating between the Oakville half marathon and 10k distances.
I decided on the 10k for two reasons:
1) I have run three half marathons and just one 10k race (see recaps here). I am very anxious to try and beat my 10k PR. My 10k race was the very first race I ever ran in June 2009 and I have come a long way since then.
2) For most of my races, I have been under-trained, especially for my half marathons. For two of my half marathons, my longest run was only 10 miles and I felt greatly under-trained. I have been doing long runs almost each week since my last half marathon in May (I got up to 10.5 miles as my longest training run this summer, post-half). I want to know what it feels like to be ‘over-trained’ for a race distance. I have been running longer distances than I need to for a 10k and I am really excited to feel extra prepared for the 10k instead of feeling under-prepared for the half. I have never gone into a race feeling as prepared as I should, so I am excited for Monday’s 10k race. I have an option of a half marathon in October should I decide to do that as well. I also am shopping around for a 5k.
I feel ready to rock the distance on Monday!
It will be thrilling no doubt. I can feel the nerves already! :)
For those of you who have have participated in a race (or races) before, what was it and did you feel prepared enough? Would you have changed anything about your training if you could go back in time?
Thanks for the mushroom recipe. Do you think I could leave out the nutritional yeast though as I don’t have any?
Thanks. :)
I have been craving oj & grapefruit juice today… in a Big Crazy Way!
HUZZAH for your next race! ;) My last race was several years ago… it was warm and it was hilly. I was prepared, though, and it was a race I ran 3 years in a row. :)
Ahh, you’re making me nervous!! I’m running my first half marathon in October and my longest training run is only supposed to be 10 miles. I hope that doesn’t leave me undertrained :(
If I could do those again I would have trained with a long run of at least 11.5 miles, for peace of mind.
Mind you, I was still fine and everyone is different!
I hate, hate, hate feeling undertrained for races. It’s such a miserable feeling. I think you were right to pick the 10K!
Good luck on the 10k! I’ll be running my 1st 10k on Friday…but at a much much slower pace than you :p That trail looks amazing, I would LOVE to run there!
I remember when you ran your 1st 10k! And you rocked it! With your swift splits, there’s no doubt in my mind you will smash your PR.
Good luck! I love 10ks. I have only changed my race preparations in what I eat before races. I’ve learned my lesson in what is good and what is bad to eat before a race!
What do you eat before/after races? I’m running my first race in just over 3 weeks… a 10km!
i’m now craving pico de gallo thanks to you! yummmmmmmm!
Congratulations on running, at whatever distance you feel comfortable at. I prefer to run marathons and given the time and format involved in training, you will unless you are a pro, always feel under-trainned. However, I just get out there and go, it is what it is, I am out there to do my best and be present in that moment. But that’s just me – you may have a different feeling when you’re out there – so embrace and that and go forward.
Your green monster looks so pretty!
I have ran a few 1/2 marathons, 1 full and a few 10 miles. I have been undertrained for each one. Mostly because somewhere in my training I decide that I will do just fine and don’t need to push it, or I skip runs, etc. Basically I lose my motivation or I pull a muscle :(
I’m sure you’ll do great at your race on Monday!
I did a 6 mile race about two months after a half marathon. I was dreading it because I knew I hadn’t prepared like I should have, but after training so hard for the half, my body went right back into the groove for the 6 mile race!
I have a 10k coming up quickly that I’m nervous about!!!
Congrats on the great splits today! :)
I’ve done a half-marathon and a 5K. For each race, I felt like I trained enough, but then again, I wasn’t focusing on a specific time for either race. I just wanted to finish, have fun, and give it my all. In both races, I was surprised at how well I did!
Now I am training for my second half, and I am a little worried about under-training. I seem to have this mentality of “I’ve done this before, and I can do it again,” which doesn’t really work when you are trying to PR.
Good luck with the 10K!
Usually after a race I’m immediately ready to train for the next one. But Hood to Coast last weekend drained the life out of me! I need to just rest right now. Maybe in a few weeks I can think races.
LOVE the portabella recipe!
Just wanted to let you and your readers in on a little fundraiser I’m doing: All proceeds from my blog in the month of September will be donated to helping end illiteracy in Zambia! So, click on over and help raise funds!
Being over-trained for a race is a great feeling and really helps! I ran a half marathon a few weeks after a marathon, and I did so much better in the half marathon than the previous year I did it. It just makes you feel so much stronger! Yay! So excited for you to ROCK IT on Monday! :)
I’ve never competed in a 5k, but I’m hoping to find one on campus and give it a try. They’re usually for charity or something of that nature, so I won’t devote too much time into training and focus more on enjoyment. The closest thing I’ve done was track and field in high school where I did the 400. I wasn’t good at sprinting but it was better than putting up with the distance coach ;)
Also, a quick question that has nothing to do with running: I noticed you put tomato paste on a lot of sandwiches. I love tomato paste as well (and open face sandwiches on Ezekiel) and I was wondering if you go for the generic, simpler tomato paste or if you dish out a little extra cash for something organic or fancy. :P I find they mostly taste the same so I stick to the cheaper ones (sodium free and without extra preservatives and additives though).
For a few years I bought non-organic, but now I buy organic because I can get it through my wholesaler at a great price.
Red wine = *sometimes* worth the headache.
Yay for 10k races!!
And LOVE those cool glass straws.
(thanks for the “sightings” link to my post a few weeks ago!)
np!
For my last 10K I did two 7.6 mile runs at our favorite state park in the six weeks leading up to it. It was WONDERFUL to run the race knowing full well that I would easily be able to complete it!
I’m always a bit suspicious of training schedules that don’t have you train up to the full race distance – but that’s just me!
I have done two 5k’s. One which I completely did not train for, I believe the proper expression would be “pulled out of my butt” the other I was mostly doing interval exercises. But I did know my pace and was able to do in 28 minutes, which for a non-runner, is pretty good!