Fitness Survey Linkup and Marathon Training Week 2

Hello all, Happy Wednesday! It feels especially great today, even though it's raining here, because tomorrow is a holiday! Anyways here's a little update on my marathon training. 

The Road to 26.2 -Marathon Training Week 2

Tuesday was a speedwork session where we ran a 2 mile time trial to help us find our marathon goal pace using the McMillan Calculator where I found out I was in the second fastest group of people-go me! I did crossfit twice during the week and then got in another strength and HIIT session on Friday.  

Saturday is long run day and a group of us roughly around the same pace ran a nice route from McHenry Row up Charles Street to around JHU and back down St. Paul.  The weather wasn't too hot, just really humid.  It has been really nice getting miles in with a group of people to keep up with and talk to so I definitely think I'm committing to the training group. I bought a hot pink hydration belt from Marshalls and have been filling that up with Nuun for my long runs. I definitely need to drink more water on Fridays though in preparation, especially as we start to build miles.  

Sunday I got in a slow 5K for a recovery run after a day of eating all that boardwalk food.   I definitely need to work on stretching and foam rolling more, especially with cross-training. 


A fellow Sweat Pink Ambassador, Sara from She cooks, She crafts, She Runs is having a Fitness Survey Linkup  here today so I thought I'd join in the fun! 

Fitness Survey!

1.  What did you eat for breakfast?
Breakfast is the best! Today I was in a rush so I had an egg over easy, an orange, and a slice of Ezekiel raisin bread with PB&J and half a banana. I also snacked on a handful of Barbara's cinnamon puffins while I was cooking my egg. 

MIMM #3 7/1/13

Happy Monday! It will be happier once I get myself a cup of coffee.  The weather has been super muggy and rainy, but this week  and weekend was pretty good. I had an indulgent weekend visiting my family and am ready to get back on track and kick week 3 marathon training's booty! Here's what has been marvelous (or not so marvelous)!

Not so marvelous is leaving work late on a Friday afternoon. 

Not so marvelous is planning to head up to NJ to go to the shore on Saturday and find out the weather forecasts predicts rain and thunderstorms, like it has every day this past week!

Marvelous  is heading to the shore to hit the boardwalk anyways and having pleasant and rain-free weather!

Marvelous is having my mom's homemade blueberry pie twice for dessert this weekend.  It's so delicious with all the fresh Jersey blueberries.  Thank goodness she only packed me one slice to take home or I'd be eating it everyday this week for dessert too!

Marvelous is having my favorite pizza for lunch!

Friday Favorites 6/28/13

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm so glad for the weekend. I've been back on tracking with exercising and following my marathon training so I'm feeling sore today! I'm also back on track with blogging so here's some Friday favorites. 

1. Favorite News Story- Supreme Court striking down DOMA

Not to get all political on you, but I believe in equal rights for all types of love and people, and this makes me happy. It's gone on long enough. 

2. Favorite Vegetable- Beets

from Chow.com

The past few weeks I've been picking up fresh beets at the farmer's market and then roasting them whole with a little bit of salt and pepper like this recipe here.  They are delicious in salads, with some goat cheese, or mixed with some chicken and brown rice.  I had only ever eaten canned beets every now and then but now I'll never go back!

Baltimore Women's Classic 5K 2013 Recap

I had heard great things about the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K so I decided to sign up about a month ago. It's an all-women 5K that raises money for women's health issue and promotes healthy living for women! I love events that empower women and as a bonus they were offering a sweet medal this year too!

 The race happened to be the day after my first long run in a while during week one of marathon training so I didn't have any big plans since I hadn't been running as regularly or doing speed work. I had picked up my race bib and swag bag the day before which included an awesome women's fit powder blue race tech tee along with some snack samples and coupons. 

I woke up a little later than I would have liked race morning and had my obligatory pre-race breakfast of banana and peanut butter but on a leftover pumpkin spice english muffin I had found in the back of my freezer. Yum! I got dressed quickly, repping my Sweat Pink Ambassador tank, and ran down to Rash Field by the inner harbor as my warm-up (it's only about a mile from me!).  The weather was hot and muggy but it was overcast, so the heat could have been worse. It was so great to see the whole area packed with women runners, some speedy, some first time 5K runners, but all with a whole lot of spirit.  

They had the starting line split by pace signs which is awesome because I hate races where you are forced to walk a bit in the beginning or can't get around a massive crowd of people.  I was up at the front of the 7-8 minute mile pace which was not crowded at all. 

The course was pretty straight forward and familiar because I run in that area all the time, going along Key Highway and looping around back towards the Inner Harbor.  The first mile marker was incorrectly at around 0.69 miles which would have been really disappointing to someone who didn't have a GPS watch or app with them.  I was feeling those inclines and was quickly reminded how little fast running I'd done in the past 2 months. 

 My pace was around 7:10 on average which is great because I had no expectations. As I turned the last corner towards the finish line I noticed my watch said we were not yet close to 3.1 miles.  

Later in the week after the race the BWC apologized and announced that the course was actually only 2.95 miles. My time, like I'm sure others was, was mistaken as a PR because the distance wasn't quite a 5K.  I had my GPS watch so I already knew that immediately, but it must have been a sad surprise to some people.  

Surprisingly I came in 37/3208 women and was 9th in my age division which is awesome for something I hadn't really trained for!

BWC 2013 race festival village area 

After finishing I was given a rose and my medal by a male volunteer and greeted with a cold towel, lots of fruit including watermelon, bagels, and other food.  I LOVE watermelon any time of day, but have found it is especially delicious to have cold watermelon after a sweaty run! There were a bunch of vendors and local women's health organizations so I walked around a bit. The cold towel felt great and is definitely one of the best ideas I've seen for after a hot summer race! I love all the swag, girl power, and set up of the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K. 

Besides the course distance hiccup it was a great event, and I'll be on the look out for it next year. 

 Remember that Google Reader is disappearing on Monday so come follow me on Bloglovin' which I switched to so I can easily read all my favorite blogs!

Have you ever run a race that was a shorter distance than expected? How are you doing?

5 Things Tuesday 6/25/2013

Hello all, hope your week is going well. The weather here is hot and humid all day with a chance of thunderstorms pretty much every afternoon. Awful running weather, but here's a little update of random Tuesday thoughts and things that happened over the weekend!

1.  Marathon Training Week 1 is over!
I joined a marathon training group through the local running store Charm City Run and ran a couple times during the week on my own. Saturday was the first long run of the training plan, and I was super nervous because I haven't had a "long run" in a couple months probably.  I ended up doing 9.75 miles and feeling great! Our coach reminded us that long runs should be relaxed and slow-just get the distance done! I'm excited to make more progress in the upcoming weeks. 

2. Cleaning out my closet makes me feel great. 
I clean out my closet a lot because I have a shopping addiction for clothes and shoes.  I make sure to get rid of things when I keep adding clothes to my closet.  I had a big bag of clothes and old housewares to take to Goodwill that had been sitting in my living room for ehhhh, 4 months?  I finally made the trip to drop them off this weekend and clear out some space! I also dropped off 2 bags of clothes which were in good condition to this store Uptown Cheapskate which is like a Plato's Closet where they buy and sell gently used clothing. 

Friday Favorites 6/21/13

Even though it's only been like a half week of work for me this week, it's still has felt long catching up on things.  I am ready to enjoy the weekend and get back on track with my schedule next week. Marathon training starts this weekend too with my first longer run in a while which freaks me out. Stay hydrated and wear sunscreen if you are outside! I know my Friday Favorites have been sporadic due to a few vacations but here are some things I've been loving this week! Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!

1. Favorite Workout Song: Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell

This song is catchy, old school, and funky. Robin Thicke has been doing what Justin Timberlake did on his latest album for years.

2. Favorite Snack: I've been back on a peanut butter and banana bender since vacation. 

But when is the Trader Joe's Almond Butter coming back?!?! I haven't seen it the past two trips, including one this week. I might have to shell out some money and head to Whole Foods this weekend. Boo.

3. Favorite Foodie Find: Trader Joe's Chicken Chili Lime Burgers

Back in Action

Welcome back! It's been a week since I've been on vacation at Bonnaroo in Tennessee and sadly I'm back to the real world.  It literally was a real vacation. No working out or running. No serious healthy eating. Lots of sunshine and music and good people.  It was relaxing and fun.

I saw Paul McCartney play for 3 hours (!!!),the Lumineers, Django Django, The xx, David Byrne and St. Vincent, and so many other amazing musicians.  The weather was pretty great until Sunday evening when it got stormy.

A couple mornings I went to a Roo vinyasa yoga session, and it was so wonderful to stretch out my body in the sunshine with a bunch of other yogis.  I actually spent a lot of the day walking around so even though I ate pizza and beer and a funnel cake the size of my face, I still fit into my clothes guys, don't worry.  Taking time off from anything can be rejuvenating. I'd been feeling kind of in a rut lately where I didn't see much fitness progress and was just going through the motions.  Now I'm ready to take on the week (well what's left) and get ready for the Baltimore Women's Classic 5K this Sunday!

Road Trip Healthy Snacking

Guess what everybody, I'll be away on a mini vacation again from blogging because-I'm going to BONNAROO!  

I'm super excited to live like a hippie and see acts such as The Lumineers, Paul McCartney, Passion Pit, Macklemore, and Grizzly Bear (and a ton others but I'm not going to list them all for you because that would be boring)!

The past two days have been filled with packing everything I'll need for a 4 day camping trip including some healthy snacks. I know I'm definitely going to indulge in the food vendors they have there and many adult beverages with not so much exercising.  I wanted to pack some healthy snacks to grab for the car ride and to keep on me during the day so I'm not eating french fries for every meal :)

Here's some things I've packed that are great for roadtrips, vacations, camping, or music festivals!

1. Easy Grab and Go Snacks:
-fruit: bag of apples, bananas, and other handheld fruit such as peaches
-trail mix or nuts (I love the 100 calorie packs of cocoa roasted almonds!)
-baby carrots and celery (goes great with hummus!)