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Monthly archives for April, 2012

Giveaway!

Apr30
2012 6 Comments Written by Linda

The half marathon went really well, and I’ll write a recap of it really soon.  But today I have my first giveaway!  The book that I am in, Healthy Tipping Point, comes out tomorrow and the publisher has given me a copy to give to a lucky blog reader (of which I have about 10).

All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post saying anything you would like to say and tomorrow morning I will put all of the comments in a basket and pick one at random.  The publisher will send you the book directly.

Good luck, and your chances of winning are very high because hardly anyone reads my blog!

And if you don’t win the book you should buy it because it really is an excellent book, and I would say that even if I wasn’t in it.  And you should read Caitlin’s blog – which is also called Healthy Tipping Point.

Posted in Fun - Tagged , ,

Quick Catch Up

Apr26
2012 4 Comments Written by Linda

I had a great time in Florida, it was fantastic to get away for a few days.  My aunt and I did lots of cooking, there are such wonderful fruits and vegetables in Florida, I’m jealous!

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Tomorrow I leave for the beach because my half marathon is Saturday morning.  I have been anxious about this race for weeks.  I always have pre-anxiety before races, but never for this long.  I haven’t run a half marathon in 2 years, and that one was a “virtual” half marathon, so basically I’ve never run one that has the race atmosphere.  And I’ve never run a race out of town, so I have to pack and I’m worried I’ll forget something.

And I’m worried about the weather.  Tomorrow Ocean City, MD is supposed to have 25 mph winds, gusting to 35!  Saturday the weather report says 10 mph winds, and no rain until the afternoon.  But only 45 degrees at 7:00am.  I hate that!  What to wear in a race that lasts two and a half hours when it starts out at 45 degrees.  Well, I’m bringing a running skirt and capri tights, so I can decide when I get there.  I have a short sleeved shirt packed, but I’m thinking of bringing a long sleeved one also, but if it gets up to 50 degrees long sleeves will be too hot.  Ugh, I’m obsessing!

I decided to write down everything I am worried about so that I can see how ridiculous this is.  Here we go:

  1. What if my legs start to feel like jello?
  2. What if I feel like I can’t finish?
  3. What if I don’t get my goal time?
  4. What if I forget my shoes?  (I had a dream once that this happened to me.)
  5. What if I start out too fast?
  6. What do I do about the boredom?  (Actually ipods are not prohibited, so I can listen to music!)

Then I answered all of the questions with things like:

  • slow down
  • walk
  • eat a gu
  • breathe
  • visualize crossing the finish line
  • rely on my training
  • use a checklist to pack
  • bring 2 pairs of shoes
  • take more frequent walk breaks
  • count
  • sing the ABC song
  • repeat my mantra
  • do my times tables
  • run to landmarks

I think the most important thing is to rely on my training.  I’ve been training for this, and I only missed one run in the last three months or so.  I’ve done long runs of 11 and 12 miles.  I can do this!

Anyone else get performance anxiety before a race?  What do you do?

Posted in In My Head - Tagged , , , , , , ,

Florida – That’s Where I Am

Apr20
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Linda

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My aunt has an otter in the backyard pond. This isn’t her otter, it is a generic otter, hers was too hard to photograph.

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Posted in Fun, Uncategorized - Tagged , ,

Weekend Musings

Apr17
2012 15 Comments Written by Linda

We’ve been having wonderful spring mornings, and I love to sit out on the deck with my coffee and do my school work, or just look out at the green grass.  My lilac bush is blooming, and my parsley, which I planted last year, is growing like a weed.  I had no idea that it would last through the winter.

 

A new store opened nearby, and I took a field trip there on Saturday afternoon.

Look at these amazing strawberries:

strawberries 2 apr 12

Which I made into a strawberry chocolate smoothie:

strawberry choc smoothie apr 12

I found these bags of freeze dried fruit:

crispy pineapple

Kind of fluffy and sweet.  The whole bag had 35 calories and contained one ingredient – pineapple.  This would be good for travel.

crispy pineapple 2

They sell these dried green beans in the bulk department – these are really good:

crispy green beans

I’m embarrassed to say that I have no idea what food costs in a grocery store.  If I see something that looks good, I buy it.  My reasoning is that if it is healthy, and I eat it and don’t waste it, it is worth whatever it costs.  Sometimes I do notice prices, when they are high, like a jar of almond butter for $12.00 or a pound of cherries for $8.00.  I do have my limits, but in general I don’t look at the prices.

Those organic strawberries cost $3.98, the pineapple bag was $1.50, and the dried green beans were $12.99 per pound, and the amount I got cost $3.50.  There are a lot of dried green beans in a pound.

Looking at my receipt I see I spent $8.99 on stir fry vegetables.  The package weighed 1.5 pounds, and there was no waste because the veggies were already cut up.  I got two meals out of that.  Organic bananas seem cheap – 69 cents per pound.  A little package of organic raspberries was $5.99.  One tomato, locally grown and weighing .68 pound, cost $1.35. 

I should really look at these receipts more often so that I can see what the cost of food is.  I don’t know – how do these prices sound to you?

Posted in Food - Tagged , ,

Sometimes Things Go Well…And Sometimes Not

Apr15
2012 4 Comments Written by Linda

Let’s start with what went well.  Look what I did:

waffle success apr 12

Yes, I had success with waffles!  The secret – I used a ton of coconut oil on the waffle iron.  They came out crisp, but yet had a greasy taste and feel as well, in a good way.  So waffle success, but extremely not healthy, although the batter only had 1 tablespoon of oil.  I guess you can’t have everything.  With strawberries and maple syrup:

waffle success apr 12 berries

What didn’t go so well?  My run yesterday morning.  It was my last long run before the half marathon which is in 13 days.  11 miles.  I did the first four with the running group, they only had 4 miles on their schedule because this is the second week of training for them, but it is the second to last week for me.  I then changed my shirt, put on my ipod and ran the last seven by myself.

It was painful, I’m not sure what was wrong.  I had no trouble with my 10 mile race two weeks ago, but this felt so awful, every step was an ordeal.  I’m thinking I started off too quickly since the pace leader for the first four miles wasn’t running/walking at my pace.  I run more slowly and walk more quickly than he was leading us, so our running intervals were way too fast for me.

My splits for the first four miles, with the pace group (this is the 12 minute pace group):

  • 12:34
  • 11:28
  • 11:30
  • 11:34

Total average pace = 11:47.  Doesn’t seem so bad, but our running intervals were fast, 9:52 to 10:13.  Then I moved to the back of the pack so I could run more slowly and walk more quickly.  That helped, but I must have worn myself out too early.

My splits for the next four miles:

  • 12:04
  • 11:30
  • 11:23
  • 12:05

Total average pace = 11:45, but my running intervals were 10:43 to 11:32.

Splits for the last three miles:

  • 12:00
  • 12:11
  • 12:17

I was not doing well for the last three miles, my running intervals were 10:38 to 12:38.  I had to take extra walk breaks.  I was drinking Ultima sports drink diluted with water, I had a Honey Stinger Waffle and a gu, and the gu helped at the end.  I won’t eat Honey Stinger Waffles on runs anymore, they are too hard to eat.  Great on bike rides, not on a run, although they taste really good.  Just too dry I guess.

My total average pace was 11:53, which isn’t so terrible actually.  My goal pace for the half marathon is 11:41, which I came up with using the McMillan Running calculator and entering my time for the 10 miler two weeks ago.  I’m just hoping the half won’t be as torturous as my run yesterday.

I stretched out after the run and put on my compression sleeves, but on my drive home my calves were cramping so badly, I could hardly push on the accelerator pedal.  I stretched more when I got home and used my stick on my leg muscles, I probably should have done an ice bath, but was too lazy to stop and get ice.  I tried to keep moving, but in the afternoon my right leg was cramping like crazy.  More stick and stretching, and some calcium/magnesium/zinc tablets seemed to help.

Things are fine this morning, but I really hate when I have a bad run right before a race.  I already suffer from an extreme lack of self confidence, and this just makes it worse.

At least I made good waffles.

Posted in Running - Tagged , , , ,
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