One for the books

It is all downhill from here! The second half of this year is going to be awesome!

The struggle Tuesday morning was real. I did crawl back in bed for a hot minute before I realized I would not be doing what I said I was going to do. Out of bed I got for my tempo run and reached my goal of 4 miles. The plan is to keep my minimum runs at 4 miles for a week or two before upping it again. 

I do like tempo runs. They are great for slowly making me increase my pace and not peeter out just because my head thinks I am tired. It is easier on a treadmill....I haven't tried a tempo run outside yet. 

I was killing time on Pinterest the other day and found this. I saved it since I seem to have so many problems with shin splints. I was told it is because I have high arches hence the inserts in my Asics. So on rest day tomorrow I am going to re-lace my shoes and see if I can start to feel a difference in my runs. 

My mid year progress. Most mileage for a month and over 170 miles for the year so far. I am pretty proud of that right there! I lost about 3 weeks of my life in April due to the vertigo so I know I would have been at an even better total mileage number if I had been able to run without running into something. 

Adios Andrea!

I kicked off my Saturday morning with a run down on the Beach Walk at North Beach in Corpus. I was picking up one of my close friends for a girls night in San Antonio at the Riverwalk so I thought it would be good to change up my locations. Plus it is so much harder running by the water. It is a good challenge considering the trail run is in Corpus in just 6 weeks. Even though Alice is only an hour away the humidity and wind are so much worse it seems. 

The Beach Walk goes along the beach (obvi) from down by the USS Lexington to a turn around point before you hit the bridge to go into Portland. It was a short run but it was brutal. If you have never been to Corpus Christi, you at least have to come once. There isn't a super bunch to do but it is a great little town. From the bay here in downtown to North Padre Island to Port Aransas. I have been in the Coastal Bend now for six years which is the longest I have ever been anywhere other than where I grew up in San Antonio. 

The crew for Saturday night....Me, Sara, Andrea, and Kelly. Andrea is moving to Montana to join her husband who has been working there for almost three months. I have only been close to her for about 6 - 8 months but I am going to miss her bunches. We met through church and just clicked. We are both oilfield wives which is nice to have that in common. Not many women understand the life of an oilfield wife. I don't have many friends and I am loosing one. But there is great hunting and fishing in Montana so we will be making a trip up to visit soon. 

Monday miles were not what they were supposed to be. My runs where all supposed to be at minimum 4 miles this week but I had a restless night of sleep and I just wasn't feeling it this morning. I got is 2.5 and abs which is better than staying in bed. 

I am going to finish June out strong! I am hoping to hit 45 miles for the month which is a new monthly record for me. I will let you know tomorrow how that goal goes!

Gettin' Cracked is the Best!

Since my mid 20's I have had problems with my sciatica and I also found out I am uneven by about 1/2 an inch or so. I used to go to the chiropractor every two weeks when times were better which was great for my back! Now I try to make it once a month to see Dr. H and get cracked. I have had to conquer my fear of my neck being tweeked because I always feel so much better when Dr. H cracks everything. Today was no exception. 

 Decided to do some cross training today. The gym just got two new stair steppers so I thought I would check them out. 

20 minutes on the stair stepper / 100 jumping jacks / 90 crunches / 80 V ups / 70 step ups / 60 calf raises / 50 squats / 40 sit ups / 30 bicep curls / 20 push ups

It was a great cross training session. I definitely enjoyed taking the afternoon off from work!

Random - does anyone else get eatin' alive by mosquitoes? Seriously...two on my face!

And this Irish girl turns red for anything so I looked lovely walking into the gym!

Hill Series & a Runners Survey

I live around primarily flat roads so if I want to get in hill training I run when I go visit family or I do the hill series on the treadmill. 

 Yesterday I kicked it up to level 3, which I had never done before, and set my mind to it! I didn't want to over do it so I figured as long as the incline is below 1, I would stay at 10:00 pace; incline below 2, I would stay at 10:24 pace; and incline below 3, I would stay at 10:54 pace. That seemed to work well for me. I only had to worry about changing my pace instead of pace and incline. I am sure if I had to do both I would fall off the treadmill! And I liked not knowing what was coming so I couldn't talk myself out of a big hill. 

I finished up with abs and I rolled out my shins. I told you the foam roller and I would become besties!

I have also found that I prefer to have my hair in a french braid than a ponytail when I run. There is less strain on my head. I have thick, long hair; even though I just had two inches cut off.

Go to breakfast smoothies at home are the HEB Blendables. I can only get a certain few of them because of my food allergies. This green smoothies is awesome! It has green apples, pears, kale, and something else but I add more kale and kiwis and blend it together with coconut water plus a scoop of protein powder. If you have an HEB in your city you can find it in the frozen breakfast section and always be on the lookout for coupons for them too! 

So I follow Hungry Runner Girl on her blog and her insta account and today she posted a runners survey that I thought I would share as well. 

1.  Would you rather run along a beach path or on a mountain trail?

                That is a tough one to answer. First thought is beach path but I live in the Coastal Bend of Texas. A mountain trail would be so beautiful and something I do not get to do.

2.  If you could choose the flavor of gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be?

                I am a traditional lemon lime fan all the way!

3.  If I gave you a $100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it?

                Currently, I would go screeching with excitement to buy the Asics Gel Cumulus 17’s that came out.

4.  Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run?

                I am OCD planner type of person is almost all aspects of my life so I started using my BELIEVE training journal this year. I actually got two for Christmas so I am set for 2016 too!

5.  Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill?

                Start with an uphill and end with a downhill for sure!

6.  When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do?

                The gym I go to has an awesome boot camp instructor as well as a spin instructor so I will drop in when I feel like it.

7.  What is your preference—>  Out and back, point to point or loop runs?

                Point to point, then out and back and then loop.

8.  If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, it would be a—>

                To go get the correct pair of shoes from the beginning. FleetFeet is great at helping with that!

9.  Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs?

                Not usually but I do get chased by dogs quite frequently.

10.  Ever gotten lost while out on a run?

                Not yet but I think it might be fun! Maybe when I go visit my sister in Carlsbad, CA I will try it!

11.  If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days… what would that meal be?

                Nom Nom Paleo’s Crispy chicken, steamed or sautéed veggies, and a sweet potato would just be amazing!

12.  Capris or shorts… what do you run in most often?

                Capris. I have thunder thighs so shorts just don’t work for this girl!

13.  At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go?

                It takes me a solid mile before I feel like I am ready to conquer my run.

14.  What do you do with your key when you run?

                BUY A FORD! That is my only advice if you are a runner. My door has a keypad so I do not ever have to worry about it. Just don’t forget your passcode.

15.  If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be?

                My first 10K race in San Antonio

16.  What type of run is your least favorite type of run?

                I just started tempo runs and they are kicking my butt so yeah….right now they kinda suck in my book.

17.  What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on?

                That I do not want to stay the same. A body in motion stays in motion and I want to reach my goals.

18.  When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start?

                It depends on if I am running solo or if I am running with a buddy.

19.  When running in daylight—>  are sunglasses a must or an annoyance?

                A MUST! I love my Costa Del Mars sunglasses. I am usually easy to spot in race photos because I always have them on.

20.  When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting? 

                I have to have a serious pep talk in my head. It is like there are little people bickering about if I should quit or not. It is quite comedic now that I think about it. 

Hump Day

Wednesday is normally a rest day for me but the husband was home Tuesday and leaves today for hitch so I switched things around a bit to be able to help clean house and cook dinner with him once I got home from work. Whenever he is home my schedule does suffer a bit because my time with him is limited. I truly do need to get better at making sure my runs are when he is sleeping then I won't feel so guilty. 

Wednesday I was able to tackle a 5k with negative splits. 10:00, then 9:49 then 9:40 and finished out the rest at 10:20. My run felt good despite how tired I have been this week. Rounded out the morning with an ab series and rolling out my calves to help avoid the shin splints. 

I have been drinking green smoothies all week so I actually made breakfast! Farm fresh eggs (yes with cheese), bacon from the meat market (so it doesn't have all the crap in it), my garden fresh tomatoes, half an avocado, strawberries, and my homemade mango salsa! Yum!

I would like to get in another 10 to 15 more miles before the month is over which would make for the most miles I have run in a month for the year! I am about 6 weeks out from the 15K trail race that my running buddy Becky talked me into so I know I need to kick up the mileage a bit and add more runs outside into the mix. It you aren't familiar with the South Texas weather, when I leave the house at 5:30 to head to the gym it is all ready close to 80 degrees. With the all the rain we have had the humidity is well over 70% as well. 

But as they say, tough runs don't last, tough runners do!

Weekend Wrap and Monday Miles

Last week I decided to take my Facebook social running group and join up with the Run JunkEes. The closest group was in San Antonio and since I had a pretty large group on FB it seemed like a good fit. I am excited to get to meet new runners and be a part of their community. 

This weekend was spent in San Antonio at a wedding of one of Dave's friends. We had a great time and we were even able to spend some time with his grandparents while we were there. 

But Monday means #MondayMiles and it was so hard to wake up this morning after the fun weekend we had. I think Dave and I were both crashed on the coach/chair before 9 PM last night. Did 3 miles of hills this morning on level 2, which is an increase for me! 

I was filling in my Believe Journal this morning and this quote was on one of the pages. I love it. I think I need to write it on my bathroom mirror until I know it by heart. 

Mid Week Wrap Up

I slept like crap Monday night but still managed to get out of bed Tuesday morning and get to the gym! I am always reminded afterwards of why.....the feeling of accomplishment and remembering the goal I have ahead of me! I got in a 2.5 miles tempo run. Short of my total goal mileage of 4 but I just started tempo runs and they are kicking my butt! I am hoping I can do them at the goal mileage I have set for myself during my training plan. 

Gym selfie after doing abs and rolling out my calves. This seriously hurts so good! This roller and I are going to be best buds before too long!

 I went to the grocery store and picked up some snacks since I was out. I found these Kind bars. I usually only see the granola bar type but these little squares are amazing! And HEB at a coupon for squeezies so I picked up a box of those too!

I have been keeping up with logging my progress and daily runs in my BELIEVE journal that I got for Christmas. I have a feeling it will be neat to look back on it and see how far I have come. I really like it to map out my training plans and put down my goal mileage on paper. I do wish that it had more examples for different drills and types of runs that the pros do since I am such a beginner. 

Today is rest day and I needed it. I must have snoozed my alarm atleast 4 times! Dave comes home from hitch tonight so I am looking forward to a a good night catching up with him. 

New Goodies!

I decided to stay in Friday night because I really wanted to get up on Saturday morning and run. I am glad I did. I met up with Becky and we ran the neighborhood together. We met up at 8 AM thinking the weather wouldn't be too brutal but it was all ready 80 something degrees with humidity at well over 70%! I think next time we will meet at 7 AM. There should be enough light then. 

I went into Corpus Christi to meet up with friends for lunch but I also really wanted to get new socks after my feet fiasco this past week. However sending me into Academy is just a disaster waiting to happen. I went in for socks then remembered I needed more tape and then wondered over to the clothing section. The socks are proving to work quite well. I am loving the fact that I now have a container for my tape and I think I prefer the Pro over the regular. And this is the second Nike shirt I have in this color. I love it. And I love the thin material. 

Sunday mornings to me are just the best. I wake up without an alarm, turn on the American Country Music Review and on Sundays it is Christian Country countdown. I drink my coffee and make my breakfast all before church. 

But yesterday I woke up in a funk and even after spending the day  outside with my friend and her boys playing in the pool I felt I needed a short run. I am glad I did it. 

Monday miles meant upping my mileage to start the week. Pretty much stayed consistent with 5k's last week but need to get in consistent 4 milers this week. 

This foam roll technique for shin splints is no joke. I almost yelled in the gym when I started this. I also am taping a bit differently. Instead of starting my long piece of tape at my ankle I am starting it just under the arch of my foot and taking it up from there. We will see how it goes. 

I am terrible at taking gym selfies. 

A good pair of socks

I never quite realized just how important it is to have such a good pair of running socks. Some people need the extra cushion at the back so they don't get blisters above their heel, some like thin socks, some like thick socks.....I apparently need moisture wicking socks and socks with extra cushion around my arch. 

Tuesday I made the mistake of wearing a thin pair of socks to run in which in turn caused blisters on my arches on both feet! So Thursday morning called for a warm up on the elliptical and a cross training session. Friday, which is not a rest day, I had to take off to make sure I could get in a run on Saturday in Corpus by the beach. 

I have some good pair of socks that I can run in but I am curious as to what everyone else likes on their feet. Saucony and Asics have been good to my feet however I have seen lately some runners are impressed with Bombas and then there are the classics Nike and UA. 

Funny enough this happened and Runners World Magazine published an article on Choosing the Right Running Sock and Womens Running Magazine posted an article of the 4 Products for Happy Feet

Fuel for the day was fresh farm eggs scrambled and mixed with sausage (homemade from last season 60% 40% venison), topped with homemade chilipitin hot sauce with a side of sweet pot fries and of course coffee!

Go when asked

When my favorite and probably only running buddy texts and asks me to run with her for the first half of her run, of course I said yes!

So even though I ran Monday morning I went and ran Monday afternoon with Becky around the neighborhood. Got in almost 5 miles total for the day.

Hit the treadmill Tuesday morning for my first ever tempo run. I am definitely going to do these every week. I was sweating up a storm and I really felt it was a good way to slowly push myself to run faster. However after running that much I started to get my shin splints and since I wore crappy, thin socks I got blisters! I guess Becky said it best.....I am delicate! LOL

Today, Wednesday is a rest day for me and I had to train all day at work so I fueled up on a good breakfast and two cups of coffee! I use local honey and milk in my coffee. If I feel up to I make my own creamer but lately milk has been working pretty well. 

Will run for food

Saturday was the Pancake Run that Corpus Christi Road Runners put on and Becky & I decided to go. It was only a three miler but running next to the Oso and much closer to the bay, the humidity was an ass kicker!

And breakfast was delish! Blueberry pancakes, bacon, and sausage!  

Becky is one of my favorite people to run with. We have relayed a few runs and run solo together. We are registered for the 15K trail run at the Oso in August together. After our run Saturday I realized we might need to run more often around Oso to get used to the weather. 

Saturday was canning all day for the fair on Sunday. So fuel for the day was a salmon burger on a bed of spring mix lettuce, an avocado, cherry toms from the garden, grilled okra, and blue cheese crumbles! 

Sundays are usually rest days and since I had the craft fair I kept it that way. 

 My Monday Miles - a 5K hill series on the treadmill with abs afterwards. This is week 2 of transitioning AM workouts and it is going good so far. I didn't even snooze my alarm this morning!

So some friends gave me two duck eggs to try. He said that he mixes a duck egg with a chicken egg because he thinks the duck eggs are more rich. So I took his advice when I made myself breakfast this morning and mixed one of each. 

The end result of my breakfast but I will be honest, I was not a huge fan of the duck egg and how it mixed with my chicken egg. Are there any different recipes to do with duck eggs? I still have one more. I am thinking of hard boiling it to see what the difference there is between the two. 

Rise and Run

This week started my change of schedule to start running in the mornings instead of after work when the South Texas heat and humidity is almost unbearable. 

I took last week off to focus on my flood relief donations efforts and deliver everything we had on Sunday. If you haven't kept up with the floods that are going on all around Texas, then I would google it or you can check out my posts on it HERE and HERE. For my husband and I, the floods that hit the hill country really hit home for us since I am from the north side of San Antonio and he is a Texas State Alumni. Also, Corpus Christi had three local families that were swept away in the flood and as of this morning three members of those families are still missing. 

I did start my week off right thanks to my sister in law! We stayed with them Sunday after an long day so Monday morning I woke up early and went to CrossFit Seguin with her.

 
Tuesday I was sore...not gonna lie! But I got up at 5 AM and made it to the gym for a short 2 miles and abs. I am trying to make that a habit as well...every time I run, I do abs. Not only because having a strong core helps with running but because I would like a more toned tummy!

Wednesday was national running day but it was also my rest day. I got into running later in life...maybe a few years ago. It is a challenge for me to try to reach the goals I set for myself but I do enjoy. I am not the fastest, or the cutest in my outfits, nor do I run the longest but I am a runner in my own right and I will continue to run until my body tells me no more.

Thursday, oh Thursday! I seriously turned off my alarm at 5 and rolled over to go back to bed before the voice in my head started yelling me to get my ass out of bed! I am so glad I did. I got it another 2 miles and ab series. And for me the best part of getting up early and getting my day started is breakfast and coffee!

YUMMO!