KLUTZ!!

In an extreme demonstration of grace and sure-footedness, I totally face planted while running yesterday! I have NO IDEA how it happened. I think I may have misjudged a curb. But come on...I just ran a FULL marathon! And while out on a 4 mile jog around the neighborhood, I end up falling and cracking my knee open in the process!! Granted, it was dusk, but it was still utterly humiliating, as I was running across a street so there were a bunch of cars stopped at the red light. And --PLOP-- just like that, I was down! Remember, I used to be a gymnast!! I DON'T FALL. I can't remember the last time I fell, save for some black ice two winters ago. And my knee was bleeding enough that a RANDOM STRANGER in a car pulled over and asked if I was OK because he and his friends saw the blood. (I had to walk about 1.5 miles back to my car!) And then, when I thought things couldn't get any more embarrassing, I somehow mistook the stranger in the car for a close friend (he looked freaking identical!) and was pretty confused for a few moments. They probably thought I was some drunk slob, when really I was just out for a run! Geez.

Wanna see it?





WARNING: blood and general yuckiness. Skip the rest of this post if you're queasy.






LAST WARNING.






OK, here it is in all its glory:

Yeah, nice right?! (Notice the New Balance Minimus shoes! I ran the entire marathon in these! Excellent!)

And this is what I finally got it cleaned up to, after picking out the gravel and washing it:


Kind of swollen, and still oozing some sort of clear liquid (what is it?!?!) but it will heal soon enough. My pride however?! That will take a lot longer to heal.

By the way, you totally have permission to laugh at me; I am too! :D

Be well. Don't face plant. (<--- New slogan?! Lol!)

Please share your clumsiest moment! Any funny running stories? Other funny klutz stories?! My knee awaits company! :)

Marathon sponsors?

Sooo, I have a tiny problem on my hands. I officially ADORED the Pittsburgh Marathon and I am itching to sign up for another FULL marathon...SOON!

But they are so dang freaking expensive!!

Even the "cheap" ones are around $75, running up to $100 or more. Just for the entry fee! Not including the gas to drive there (not that big of a deal) and the motel room! I realized today that I'd have to pay for two nights at a hotel because well, I'd be somewhere around mile 19 when check out time rolled around!

Crap.

So this is my official announcement that hopefully falls into awesome hands via the power of the interwebz. I need a marathon sponsor. Badly. Hey, I could take pictures of and review the course and the four people who read my blog could learn ALL about it! What's not to love?! Seriously, we could be a dream match! Email me at: dietsbite@gmail.com. That's my real address.

Or, more realistically, I could just start saving money and pay for the damn thing myself.

Have you run any marathons or half marathons? Which ones do you love? Which ones have you heard good things about?

Thanks. I'm going to go back to drooling over Columbus Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon (sold out! the nerve of it!), Grand Rapids Marathon (helloooo, visit to my sister as well as having moral support on course), Akron Marathon, Air Force Marathon, and Philadelphia Marathon.

And maybe cry in the corner a little bit in jealousy of all who are running in them.

Why I Run

Why do I run?

It's a question I think about a lot. Almost every day, really. I run because it's hard for me. Every single mile I complete is a challenge both physically and mentally. Without fail, I'm usually ready to stop running after about 1/2 mile. But there is a kind and determined voice inside of me that says "Keep trying. You can do it. Don't give up." And this is extremely significant because for the first 23 years of my life, that same voice was a malicious, self-loathing one that only told me multiple times each day how ugly, fat, stupid and worthless I was. Where the change happened, I'm not exactly sure. Yes, it was definitely after the several year struggle with anorexia, then bulimia, along with chewing and spitting, binge eating, and restriction for years. But after I was recovered from harmful eating habits, I was still plagued by just-as-harmful thoughts toward myself and others. I hated myself and my body this time not because of what I weighed, but because of the fact that I "couldn't" run. I directed my self-hate to getting better at running. Although I did improve at running, my mentality was still extremely punishing and I only drove myself to shin splints and a stress fracture. It looked good on the surface ("Running is healthy!") but I was still tearing myself apart emotionally.

To be quite honest, I don't know exactly the moment where the change happened. But I suspect it happened after I realized I was running myself into the ground, not based on 100 mile weeks, but on my attitude. It likely happened when I realized I literally drove my boyfriend away from me due to this new, slightly more creative form of disordered eating/mentality. It definitely happened when I renewed my promise to be kind to myself, in part due to the wonderful fitness blogs out there. (healthytippingpoint.com, operationbeautiful.com, ohsheglows.com, among others.) And it happened when I realized that harming myself and making running an idol is a sin. And it happened in so many little things. It happened when I accomplished my goal of running a 5K without any walking breaks. And when I was forced to take last summer off because standing, much less running hurt so much due to the stress fracture. Ironically it happened when I had some "WTF are you doing?" moments while running. And it happened when I heard "I Run for Life" by Melissa Etheridge.

In other words, I now run because it makes my soul happy. Running keeps me healthy, physically and more importantly, mentally. Running forces me to be kind to myself, especially if I am to complete my goal of the Pittsburgh Marathon this Sunday! Running gives me an outlet for stress relief and provides me something that I can be proud of in my life. Every single time I complete one more mile, I am thankful for who running has helped me become. I consider it a blessing that it was and still is hard for me, because I never take it for granted. I want to inspire others to be kind to themselves, whether it is through running, or nutritious eating, or learning to voice their opinions, or learning that it's OK to say no, or that it's not selfish to get all nine hours of sleep that your body may require. I run because I can and I want to.

And that's why I'm running 26.2 this Sunday!

Be kind to yourselves!

This is what a bad run looks like

So, I'm still training for the Pittsburgh marathon. The whole thing! As in 26.2 miles.

I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea when I signed up, but the Runner's World Quote of the Day today was something to the effect of "Running a marathon gives average runners the chance to be more than average." And I liked it! It's certainly true! I am a sllllow runner, I never ran in high school or growing up, I take lots of walking breaks and it's still hard for me, but dammit I'm out there and doing it.

Anyway, I am planning to do my last long training run off 22 miles this Thursday. Holy crap...22 miles?!? But, I've completed one 18 mile training run, and also a half marathon. (2:25:xx in absolutely wretched conditions...4 hours of sleep, legs were sore from gymnastics, and it was 20 degrees outside. Oh, and I got lost on the way back to my car and ended up walking another 3 to 4 miles to find the darn thing.) Anyway, after that, unfortunately I had to take the past two weeks off due to some strange but intense pain in the bottom of my foot. It feels better now (*knock on wood*) and I've done 2 short runs in the past week.

Today, I ran four miles and am taking tomorrow and Wednesday off. (For me, running every day or even every other day isn't really an option...just not how my body works.) Anyway, the point of this post is to list all the ways in which today's run sucked and how I can learn from it to help other runs (coughThursday22milercough) be better. Or you could also consider this your list of things NOT to do before a run:

1) Sleep only 6-7 hours a night for the week before. Especially when you know your body requires 9-10.

2) Unintentionally eat way too little food the day before. (Stupid work-related busyness.)

3) Wear clothing that you realized was too warm for conditions, thus allowing major dehydration by the end of said 4 miles. Hello swollen fingers. Not good.

4) This is totally TMI but I really needed to poop by the end. Uhh, yeah.

OK, got it. I'm going to REALLY try to sleep a lot this week! And obviously keep eating like I normally do (read: a lot). Yesterday really was just an off day but I was surprised by how much it affected me today.

And now, back to studying Algebra. If you're the praying type, please pray for me on Thursday. I'm honestly a little scared of the distance but I want to do this so badly.

Running Music, part 1

Good morning! Yay--I'm actually posting 2 days in a row! Thanks for all the recent comments by new readers! I really love getting them! It totally makes my day, so I just wanted to say thanks!

So I wanted to share some of my running/workout music with you and I would LOVE to hear your workout play lists! Please share them with me! Do you have separate lists for different activities (running, strength training, yoga, etc)? Any other themed play lists? Do you have any particular favorite artists or genres? Especially lesser known artists that I can familiarize myself with. I always enjoy discovering new music, so comment to your heart's content!

Here are some of my favorite songs/artists, specifically for running. I have blogged before about how I am working hard to improve my running (although right now my shin is in serious trouble and I'm staying off of it for the next 2 weeks to even have a shot at running my first half marathon on March 27th!) But ordinarily, I was trying to run 4 days a week between 3-5 miles, plus a long 10-ish mile run once a week. So that's a lot of time and good music makes it so much more fun! I thrive with good music and it really motivates me so much more than if I had to run without it. It also provides the energy to keep pushing through (all of my songs are quite upbeat) because at this early stage in my running, with my extremely limited abilities, I am pretty much dying after the first 1/2 mile and anything thereafter is simply a mental and physical battle.

So without further ado, this is my all-time favorite songs list (part 1):

-Viva La Vida by Coldplay As a violinist, I am immensely biased toward excellent songs with strings in them!

-Lose Yourself by Eminem Always inspiring. It gets me just angry enough to keep pushing!

-Kick Drum Heart by The Avett Brothers
A peppy piano-driven song!

-Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly
And many other songs of theirs! I'm pretty sure I could do an entire long run of Flogging Molly songs! They are extremely upbeat Irish punk rock, for those not familiar! Other favorites include: Kilburn High Road, Rebels of the Sacred Heart, Requiem for a Dying Song, What's Left of the Flag, Tomorrow Comes a Day Too Soon, From the Back of a Broken Dream, and many more.

-Erasers on Pencils by Ceili Rain (a lesser known, but incredible artist) -These Things Have a Way of Workin' Out by Ceili Rain
Hard to find these songs, but worth buying the CD for. They are uplifting both lyrically and musically. I could loop these and be content for a long time. -Henrietta by The Fratellis
Another indie-punk band. I think maybe I have a large inner punk kid in me! :) Seriously, high energy and fun. Also recommended by them: Flathead, Chelsea Dagger, The Gutterati and Creepin' Up the Back Stairs.

-Plasti-Queens by Geoff Byrd
Nice and funky, with cool lyrics.

-Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous by Good Charlotte
This was popular when I was in high school, so I listened to it a lot. Good beat.

-The Middle by Jimmy Eat World
"It just takes some time, little girl, you're in the middle of the ride, everything is going to be alright." Great lyrics, great beat, so uplifting! One of my most comforting songs!
-Leave Me Alone by Hanna Pakarinen
Another artist who is harder to locate. But totally worth it. She's Finnish (I think) and has an excellent voice plus catchy almost rhyming music. Also check out Go Go and Stronger Without You by her.
-Jesus Loves You by Stellar Kart
I know it's a Christian song, and I don't want to offend anyone, but it's high energy and string-driven, so I love it! I can't say I'm a huge fan of the name, though!
-Fatima by K'Naan -Wavin' Flag by K'Naan
K'Naan has a cool voice and excellent instrumentation! I mean, a sampled trumpet riff? How many songs can boast of that? And his lyrics are great, but sad. Especially Fatima; you have been warned.
-Face Down by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
A very sad song that deals with domestic violence. But it handles it maturely and it helps me push through!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I don't want to overwhelm anyone, so I will end this post here. While I was typing, I noticed how long it was getting and I decided to break it into two (or more) posts. There are many more artists on my running play list, so I'll try to post that in a few days.

Before I go, want to leave you with a few more snow pictures!

My street!

You can barely tell where the cars start!


Big foot. Or just me being silly. :)

My poor little car! I hope the poor thing starts when I need it to!


A cleared sidewalk.

Most of the city is still shut down and most of my evening students have canceled. So I'm just staying at home all day, practicing and blogging. I do need to get some major practicing in, due to that Missouri gig that is coming up!

I might try to walk to the gym again. I ventured there yesterday and got a decent 30 minutes on the SciFit machine + 60 minutes of strength training. (Trying to stay off my shin!) Plus the walk which should have been 20 minutes was 45 minutes each way!

In the meantime, if you're snowed in (or even if you're not) here are two CHOCOLATE giveaways! (Hook me up! You know how much I love my chocolate! Wheee!)

-The Voracious Vegan is giving away some awesome Sweet Earth organic vegan chocolates!
-Mambo Sprouts is giving away fair trade organic chocolate!

I hope everyone is staying safe and warm! Spring is almost here!

On opportunities and life.

Wow, the title sounds super serious, and I guess to a certain extent it is. I've had a lot on my mind recently (partly responsible for the running) and I've been doing a lot of thinking.

On the good news end of things, I had an AMAZING opportunity presented to me, as a violinist! I will be performing some works that a colleague of mine wrote at a university in Missouri in March! It's going to be very exciting, and I definitely have my work cut out for me in learning the pieces! (They are quite difficult!) I am super excited!

On the other end of things, I broke up with my bf over 2 months ago and we were going to remain friends, but now he is acting less and less like that's going to be possible, at least not for a very long time. I don't get it! You know who I am...why did you say that you were committed to remaining friends if you really didn't mean it? I know that I am partly responsible, because I've gotten a little emotional a few times and he feels like he's hurting me. But seriously, I'll be OK, even if I did miss him a little in a boyfriend way, while we are hanging out as friends. Whatever. I DON'T want to be that whiny little ex-girlfriend, so I'm giving him as much space as he needs. He knows my number whenever he wants to call.

Whew. Felt good to get that off my chest.

One of the (many) reasons I know that I am 100% over my eating disorder is that I haven't felt any need/urge to engage in any unhealthy behaviors over the break up and/or the general male population being slightly infuriating in the past few months! Yes, true, I'm exercising a lot to take my mind off things, but I'm eating plenty to make up for it, and I'm approaching exercise from a positive mental standpoint of "let's see what I can accomplish today" and/or training for my first 2 half marathons and I can honestly say that the thought of how many calories I've burned really almost never crosses my mind, except to make sure I'm getting enough calories. (I.e. extra large breakfasts before long runs, energy gels and/or honey packets during exercise, extra sleep to help my body repair, etc.)

OK, onward to one of my favorite topics: FOOD! :)
(And just a note to any new readers, this is NOT EVEN CLOSE to all of what I eat in a given day. I simply don't have time or inclination to take pictures of absolutely everything. Maybe one of these days it would be a fun project for the blog.)

Here is breakfast today, *x2* (as in 2 bowls roughly this size)

-frozen blueberries and blackberries on the bottom (hence the purple milk!)
-skim milk (unmeasured)
-Kashi GoLean original (unmeasured)
-PB (probably a bit more than a TB-not exactly sure)

*This bowl times 2* I was hungry after yesterday's workout which made me feel really bad ass:

I did all three triathlon sports! *What's the best workout you've gotten in recently?*

At my first day of swimming in God knows how long (like at least 4 years!), I was dying after just one time across the pool. I kept at it for 12 laps (300 meters) and then called it good. :)

So then I did about 30 minutes of arms and abs conditioning. **The former gymnast in me actually really loves sit-ups, push-ups, strength work, etc! Yes, I know I'm strange!**

Then, with a lot of extra time on my hands (I was barely teaching yesterday!) I hoped on a stationary bike and rode an easy 7 miles in roughly 33 minutes.

Got home (ate a Luna bar on the way home from the gym), grabbed this lunch of grilled cheese (full fat, of course!), avocado, hummus and spinach:


And drank this mixture:

Then I was off running, literally.

My church has a (small and informal) running group so I decided to check it out. Keep in mind that it's ~20 degrees here, and there was snow and ice all over the track! It made me feel very hardcore, like Dean Karnazes running over Antarctica! :)

I ran roughly 4.3 miles in a 55 minutes. My pace is slow. I'm OK with that. It was just cool to do all three triathlon events in the same day! My sister is a much better swimmer than myself, and we've talked about doing a sprint triathlon together. I think it would be super kick ass and I'm hoping that it'll happen over this summer! Nothing official yet that I'm training for! (Especially since I have A LOT of ground to make up in the swimming department!)

Anyway, onto some other food that was eaten recently.

Several breakfasts that are all quite similar. (I go through nut butter like it's my JOB!)

And lunches or snacks:


Lentils over sauteed veggies.


Much better when topped with hummus!

(I top PB bread with frozen berries--doesn't everyone?)

Finally, some recent running gear purchases:

(Super excited about this top! And by the way, Marshall's and T.J.Maxx are excellent for finding cheap but good workout clothes!)

And on a random note, I found some awesome washcloths at Target there's 6 of them for just $10! My roommates seem to have absconded with the ones that I had, so I bought these, as I can't find the ones I had!

Sorry for the really long post! Hopefully you made it through the whole thing!

Here's a few giveaways to enter:

Marlene's Lift Your Sole giveaway.

Oh Nuts giveaway.

Nathan's Hydration Belt.

Have a great day! I've got to get some practicing in!

I did it: I ran 14 miles!

I DID IT!! I EXCEEDED MY OWN EXPECTATIONS AND RAN 14 MILES!!!

*Calms down*

OK, sorry about that! But I am extremely excited and pleased! Because I am the runner who COULD NOT run even 1/2 a mile about 5 months ago! Remember this post? Or this one?!

I struggled with running for a long time. I got winded and had to slow down. Now granted, I was running too fast and I was extremely impatient with myself. But I kept at it, blindly pushing aside negativity and discouragement and kept plodding along. It wasn't always easy, and it's still NOT. I still *want* to quit after less than a mile. Every single step is still extremely difficult for me. Running does not come naturally to me, but it does come. I have had to work hard at it. I have been running at least 2 or 3 days a weeks, maybe 10-20 miles each week + my normal cross training (LOVE my Expresso bikes, and of course strength training...that comes MUCH easier to me!)

In the coldest days I ran inside. Whenever it was even reasonably warm, I'd go outside. I tried to just run as much as possibly could, and I walked when I had to. I still almost can't believe my progress. I'm not exactly a professional athlete or anything, but I am still stunned with where I am at today.
I WANT to keep it up!
I want to go farther.
I want to continue getting better that myself.
It's exciting.
It's hard.
And it's worth it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After yesterday's run, I have been hobbling around all day like an old lady am incredibly sore. So I stopped by a local running store to buy the stick. This:


It is amazing! My right outer shin and both of my quads are killing me...in a good way! I love the feeling of being sore. It's AMAZING!

I also picked up a few flavors of GU gels that I can't wait to try on another long run.
(I bought the Tri-Berry, the Vanilla Bean and the Chocolate Outrage...hope they're good!)

But while I was there, I was talking with the team members and they were all so supportive of my running and encouraged me to join their local running club.

*jaw drops*

"Lisa?" "Join a running club?!"

Uhhh...

"OK!"

And so, I am TERRIFIED, but strangely excited for Sunday morning. (They also do tempo and interval runs on Wednesdays but I won't be able to make very many due to my work.) But I AM going to go! I don't know what to expect but they assured me that there are all levels of runners there, including people slower than me (didn't know that was possible! Hah!) and I'm going to do it! I really want to meet other runners locally, and it will make the long runs more fun! So we shall see what that brings!

Anyway, I am headed to bed. I would love to put up a real post, but I have been baby-sitting many mornings and I have to get up early again to watch the most wonderful, sweet, adorable little girl. And then go straight to teach from 2-8pm!

So I'll catch up on all your blogs tomorrow night!

I ran 11 miles!

I BROKE DOUBLE DIGITS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember all of my posts about how I struggled with running? Well, I've been working really hard at it, trying to get about 15-20 miles in a week, and I bought an excellent new pair of shoes: (Mizuno Wave Alchemy.) I am so excited about the shoes because my left shin pain has greatly diminished and I have really noticed a difference during and after running!

Yesterday I made an excellent play list and I noticed the weather today was going to be in the upper 40s (high for here!) and NOT raining or snowing! So I took advantage of the day and plotted out a 10.7 mile course on mapmyrun.com. I started running and things just felt really good! I was at a slow-ish pace because I was more excited to see how long I could keep it up for!

About 6 miles into the run, I decided to extend it by a little bit, hoping to push the run to a full 11 miles and when I mapped out this change at home afterwards it came to: 11.16 miles!!!!

My official time was 1:59:52 which only included 3 one minute walking breaks! (Plus about 5 minutes to use the restroom at Starbucks, but I stopped my watch!) Mapmyrun.com said I averaged a 10:40 minute mile or averaged running at 5.6 mph, which I realize is far slower than most of the women in the blogging world, but I'm still pretty freaking proud of it! I also realized that I thrive on accomplishing goals, and I think improving at running has made me exceptionally happy lately! (After I finished college, then grad school, I didn't really have any huge goals--as I had always worked so hard towards those ones!) But my next BIG goal: a half marathon in May 2010!! It is much less scary to think about after having gone 11 miles today!

And I also hope that I can be an encouragement to other beginning runners because 5 months ago in August I could not even run 1/4 of a mile without being completely miserable and out of breath. But I kept at it, and even though I'm not the world's best runner, the fact that I was able to make such an obvious improvement in my ability shows that anyone can, if you're just persistent and stay positive mentally!

I also got to try my first GU gel today! I had purchased 3 when I bought my running shoes because I knew I was planning on running longer distances! So I brought the Espresso Love flavor and I ate it around mile 8 (when I stopped at Starbucks!). Honestly, I didn't love the flavor, but it did an EXCELLENT job of giving me some calories that DIDN'T cause my stomach to cramp up, which is amazing, because almost any food does! I also purchased the Mint Chocolate flavor and the Vanilla Gingerbread Seasonal flavors, as well as a CarbBOOM Watermelon flavor and I look forward to trying all of these on other runs! Now I wish it wasn't getting so cold here, now that I'm really starting to enjoy running outside! If and when I make it back to Los Angeles (my parents live there!) I will be definitely doing a one or two long runs!

OK, I am SOOO sorry for slacking so much on posting! I want to get back to it! And I do plan on posting, so if I still have any readers would you be nice enough to leave me a comment? Thanks!

But now, time to ice my legs! By the way, I played racquetball for 1 hour this evening, just 5 hours after the run! I'm pretty sure that I would die happy if I could just exercise, eat good food, play good music, read good books, teach only the students who practice, and be surrounded by friends and wonderful people my entire life!

I PROMISE, I'll be back with a catch up food post soon!

Shin splints!

Hi everyone! This is a lame excuse of a post (no photos, just a lot of me rambling on!), but I just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm back from my out-of-town shows. They went OK--nothing spectacular and honestly not the most fun I've ever had but sometimes work is just work, right? Even when that includes playing in a band. But I tasted an excellent beer with a photo to come, had an amazing (and free!) meal of roasted chicken breast, fingerling potatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and peas (no photo--sorry!) and went for a 55 minute run/walk on Saturday morning.

Other than that, I got home on "Saturday night" (aka Sunday early morning) at 2:30am and went to bed at 3:30am because I wanted to unpack everything! Today after church I went out for a 5.25 mile run. It turned into a run/walk and it took me 58:15. I know this isn't exactly breaking any records but it's a decently long run for me. And I decided to time myself and then to compete against myself, run the exact same course and try to improve my time!

My question for all of you is about shin splints. For me, I only get them on the inside of my left leg and nothing else ever hurts. No knee pain, ankle pain, the right leg is fine, etc. What could be causing this? I've read a little about it on-line and the only thing I can figure is that I need to go get real running shoes from a store where they measure my stride and so forth. I will do this as soon as possible, but until then, does anyone have any advice? I have been icing after runs and it helps a little. Have you ever had problems with shin splints? What did you do about it? Do they still bother you?

Well, I do have some pictures for you from the past few days that I'll try to get up tomorrow. I'm teaching quite a bit though, so it might be late. Now I'm going to read a bit before bed since I have to be up in a little over 6 hours, which is also why I didn't want to put a full post up.

However, in the meantime check out these giveaways:

AnAppleADay is giving away the Gruve Solution workout tool.

One Frugal Foodie is giving away a truly spectacular goodie basket!

Jamie is giving away a reusable grocery bag.

Jamie is also giving away Kathy Ireland Skin Care products.

Good night!

A 5K, more giveaways and being a girl!

Good afternoon everyone! I have had an exciting day so far! Yesterday was one of my friend's birthdays, so we all went out and hung out ridiculously late and I got home and went to bed at 3:30am! The problem with this is that I had to wake up at 5:45am for the 5K race at the Zoo! I was definitely exhausted, but I still ran it in 30:44, which for me is a PR. I know that that time is slow in comparison to others, but I'm trying to focus on the huge improvement I made and not fall into the comparison trap! I have been running more consistently and improve my endurance, and I was so proud of myself after the race today because I felt like my work has been paying off. I literally started sobbing (or trying really hard not to!) at the finish line just because I felt relieved and happy and I was very tired (and emotional--thanks to being a girl! Don't know if the period is going to show up, but I'm definitely VERY emotional today!) so tears are hard to hold off on. But I also am so inspired to keep running. I know that Kath posted this following several days ago, but I wanted to share it anyway, because I thought it was beautiful:

You know the saying that your only competition is yourself? Well I don’t even think you can compare yourSELF race to race because there are just so many variables. Races are not science experiments!!!!!!! Factors like sleep, temperature, HILLS, crowds, GI tracts, fuel, hydration, weather, emotions all create so much variation that you really can’t even compare annual races. This year has a totally difference course with different hills and terrain, so I will do my best to run fast, but to compare myself with last year to a T isn’t a fair test.

Just like weight, calories, weight lifting reps, etc. – we cannot let the numbers override the pride of finishing strong.

To that I say, "Amen."

Needless to say, I came home and took a nap and I still don't feel great. I'll post food pictures tomorrow but today I just wanted to leave you with two giveaways around the blog world.

Julie GoLean is giving away candy! Sweet tooth satisfaction! Woo!

The Good Deal Gal is having a Nature Valley prize pack giveaway!

Have a good night everyone! I'm going to go to Starbucks now and try to get some work stuff done. (Bookkeeping for my violin lessons...being self-employed can be a tremendous pain!)

The ups and downs of life are a funny thing.

Thank you so much for your encouraging comments on yesterday's post! They really mean so much to me, I could not even tell you! I am so glad to be a part of the blog world!

Today went much better! I think my bf and I realized that we had both let things slip in terms of making sure the other one felt appreciated and loved in this relationship. The discussion we had yesterday was very good, even if it was hard, and I think we both feel closer to each other today! I honestly feel like I'm a better person around him, and I love his companionship and constant support of me. I am blessed to be dating him and I can't imagine us breaking up. Therefore, I am going to be more intentional about making sure he knows how much I care about him and how valuable he is to me. This doesn't mean that we don't still have some differences to work through, but I think that we're coming at it from a much better angle to resolve those things.

And on a related note, I'm really proud of myself for not even once--at all--having thoughts of restricting through all of this! In the (recent) past, I've had those thoughts but I haven't acted on them--despite the strong temptation. And in the farther past, this is exactly the thing that would feed disordered thoughts. I'm very pleased about that--like I said, I haven't actually struggled with that for a while, but this is the first time that those thoughts haven't even showed up! :)

So here's the yummy food I've been eating.

Yesterday's breakfast was a great bowl of oatmeal with PB, raisins, flax, pumpkin and cottage cheese:

And a whole plum (I had already eaten most of it--sorry!)


Then, while I was baby-sitting I had one chocolate chip muffin that the mom said I was welcome to--it was delicious!!

I slept in a bit more today but still got less than 7 hours of sleep. Surprisingly though I felt OK and I went on a 5.5 mile "run". (Remember my running is short segments with a lot of walking in between.) It was great though, and I felt awesome afterwards! I have that 5K at the zoo on Sunday, so I think I'm going to do one more "long" run tomorrow and then rest on Saturday (which is a VERY busy day for me anyway, so it works well.)

Yesterday night I made a delicious dinner/snack of sauteed zucchini and EVOO topped with Sabra spinach and artichoke hummus! I think it's a new flavor and I love it!


Speaking of hummus, check out this awesome giveaway to win some free tubs of it!

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Yesterday I got my first ever package from FoodBuzz!! I got ridiculously excited upon opening them! Woohoo!

(I apologize for the blurry pictures!)

So far I have only tried the Whole Wheat loaf and it is excellent! I have been enjoying it--many pieces of it!--topped with cheddar cheese and avocado like this:

And then with spinach too like this:

It also makes excellent sandwiches, such as this one with veggie "bologna", cheese, avocado and spinach:

For a non-traditional breakfast this morning I had the same thing (finished the avocado--so sad!) and had mushrooms and carrots with hummus also.


And with coffee. (By the way, yes my plates are always perched precariously on the edge of my computer desk, where I'm eating while either reading blogs or doing e-mail!)


The bread is so delicious and I am very much looking forward to trying the other loaf soon! Thanks FoodBuzz!!

My bf and I went on a real date to get dinner at Chik-Fil-A (my first time ever!! I got the char grilled sandwich and fries and I loved it! It seems A LOT better than most fast food places!) and to see "The Hangover" which looked good and was still showing in theatres. It was hilarious (minus a few raunchy scenes!) and I actually really enjoyed it!

We sneaked these in and I had quite a few. (Like definitely more than one serving...so good!) This has been kind of a major choclate week for me!

Finally, I've been snacking on many Shapers whole grain chips (black bean and salsa flavor!) because I fund big bags at Big Lots for $1.80! They're very comparable to Sun Chips in their nutritional facts and I've been enjoying them frequently!

(Thank you Google Images!)

Here's one more great giveaway:

AnAppleADay is giving away Tropical Traditions coconut oil to cook with! I've wanted to try this for so long because I've read about it frequently in the blog world.

Good night everyone!

BLAB: Running

For any new readers, BLAB stands for BLogging ABout and then I always have some topic which I just feel like rambling on about for a while. After all, it is my blog, right? ;-)

So I ran a 5K race this morning, but when I say "ran" I use that term very loosely. For some reason, running for long periods of time (which isn't long at all--I'm talking like more than 10 minutes) is very hard for me, despite the fact that I work out fairly regularly and I am in reasonably good health. I'm not even running that fast--about a 10 minute mile pace, which I can keep up for only a mile on a good day. I'm wondering if you lovely, beautiful and talented ladies have any advice for me. Let me elaborate: I can use an elliptical for 60+ minutes non-stop at a reasonable speed/resistance/incline. I can bike for 60+ minutes no problem without stopping. I play racquetball regularly for at least an hour or two. I am still active in gymnastics once in a while. I do strength training quite often. I can walk (even briskly) literally all freaking day. I'm in pretty decent shape. But when I start running, my heart rate goes up very high very quickly. I get a cramp in my side (regardless of what or what time I last ate) and I pretty much am forced, by my body, to slow down after just a few minutes, no matter how slow the jog is.

Does anyone have any ideas on why this might be?!?!

This is really becoming a major source of frustration for me, because I desperately want to be able to run, for myself, for exercise and for fun. Also, my boyfriend is a natural runner and I think it would be fun to be able to more or less keep pace with him. I also wrestle with shin splints, but that's not the main problem. Pain I can deal with; frustration is MUCH harder. I DO listen to music to pump myself up (play list coming soon!), I psyche myself up positively (which also really helps with drowning out my inner critic who is a malicious liar to me!) and I do try and eat reasonably well before hand, etc etc.

I've found one online "training" program for a couch potato to 5K (non-stop) in 2 months. You can view that plan here. I think it is very helpful in terms of increasing endurance. But for myself I know that I'm going to have to extend the plan, maybe spending two or three weeks on each individual week of the plan that they list. My boyfriend tells me not to get frustrated with myself and to be patient as my endurance improves, but really, I'd love to be able to run the whole way with out stopping! I can seriously only do the first week so far, which is alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes (I double it and go for 40-45 minutes at a time). I'm moving onto the 2nd week come Monday. (2nd week of the plan is 90 seconds running with 2 minutes walking to recover, alternating for 20-40 minutes).

Anyway, that's my rant/vent/whatever. I would REALLY APPRECIATE comments, advice, encouragement, and support as I keep running. :)

Secondly, I want to get a heart rate monitor. I know that Garmin and Polar ones are the most famous. Right now they're a little out of my price range. I went to Target and looked at what they have, which is several products in the Sportline brand. Has anyone tried these? Are they worth it? They look comparable to the Garmins and Polars. They still track heart rate, calories, speed, time, and distance, which is really all I'm interested in.

The funny thing is that despite my slow walk/run time (which I'm not posting--sorry folks!), I still got a trophy from the race this morning, because I was the only female in the 20-24 year old age range, so therefore I finished first. Haha! But it's a cool trophy, so I'll roll with that. :)

Lastly, Peanut Butter and Jenny is giving away sampler packs of Kay's products. They all look delicious!

Now I'm off to shower, then go to a meeting for an upcoming community orchestra (starting in the Fall) that I will be working with, and then to play solo violin at a 3 hour long gig (wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner!) So that's my Saturday. What are you all up to this weekend? Any exciting plans?