Half Marathon #2

Today I ran (and walked, because hello I'm not Superman) my second half marathon.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I finished in 3 hours and 12 minutes, which was roughly 15 minutes faster than my previous time.

Sidebar: If you ever get a chance to go to Palmetto Bluff, you should. It's a beautiful, serene place and I'd love to go there when I'm not gasping for air while crossing the finish line. Just kidding, sort of.

Weather

But back to the race: It was a perfect day for running: nice and cold in the morning and it was warm in the sun, but not hot. Almost no humidity (compared to my previous one when I was sweating before I started) was a nice surprise for South Carolina.

Team

A friend of mine ran it with me, but she actually ran the whole thing (because she most definitely is Superman). But it was nice to have some camaraderie in this race, even if we only stayed together the first .65 miles.

In the Rock'n'Roll, I ran it by myself, but I ran and walked with a handful of different groups and individuals. That's the great thing about runners: we seem to be fairly easy to get along with... And we like to cheer each other on!

Course

For the most part, the course was flat and it was all paved.

However, unlike the Rock'n'Roll, which is apparently the royalty of races, this half did not supply any energy along the way. Luckily, a nice older woman found me before the race and randomly gave me some GU energy gel, which boosted me about halfway through. I was always taught to not talk to strangers, but when you know you'll need a boost, you just say thank you and take it.

Also, this race didn't have as many water/Gatorade stops. But they did have plenty of bathrooms for those who can't hold it all the way through the race (thank goodness I didn't have to stop for that).

Training

Unlike my previous race, I didn't really train for this. I knew it was coming, so I kept relatively in shape, but I really didn't set aside time to train.

So when it started, because of the lack of training and the 40° (might as well be freezing) weather, I got shin splints. (Now just to clarify, I'm not complaining about the weather, because let me tell you, I'd rather have freezing cold than scorching hot sun.) Luckily they wore off about mile 2 and after that, I was pain-free for the most part! (Shocking, since last time I hurt so bad I slept for two days.)

My feet, which were killing me last time, really didn't even start to hurt until mile 12, which conveniently seemed to be the longest mile of the entire race.

My goal for this race was to get in at 3:00. I admit, looking back, I probably could have done it. But I got distracted a few times and walked a bit too much.

However, you can bet your last dollar I sprinted that last .1 mile to the finish. (I'm nothing if not a finisher...partly because I try to impress everybody and look good for the cameras!)

Big finish

But the best part was having a cheer squad of my friends/coworkers/running buddies meet me at the finish line. It made all the difference.

Now if only I could walk to the freezer to get some more ice...

Whole 30: Round 2

March 5th, 2018

Today I started my second try at the Whole 30.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Whole 30 is basically a cleanse where, for 30 days, you only eat whole foods: meat, fruits and vegetables. In other words, there's no sugar, no grains, no dairy, no legumes, and no alcohol.

After those 30 days, you reintroduce one of those groups back in at a time, spacing it out so that you can see what affects your body.

After last time, I realized that I do not like American cheese. It tastes like wax. It's incredible how my palette suddenly realized that. I also started drinking more water.

So this time, I'm focusing more on less snacking (which you aren't supposed to do at all during this cleanse) and more water. I really think if I fill up on more water, I can start to change my eating habits for the long haul.

Day 1:

I'm a caffeine addict, so I knew I'd go through some withdrawal. It didn't hit me as bad today as it did on Day 1 last year, so we will see what Day 2 has in store in terms of withdrawal.
For breakfast: 1 banana and a mighty mango naked juice. (I didn't mean prep yesterday - amateur move).

For lunch: pineapple chunks and a blue machine naked juice. (Again no meal prep)
For dinner: 4 small chicken breasts grilled with cajun and lemon spices and (a heck ton of) new potatoes. (I usually have something green, too, but I was starving, so I just dug in.)
Now it's 9:50 p.m. and I'm so exhausted because hello no caffeine. I'm going to sleep incredibly early for me. Hopefully the crazy dreams don't start yet.

Day 2:

The crazy dreams started. I dreamt that I cheated on the diet. Which, oddly enough, is a dream I had last time, too. Except this time, instead of diet mountain dew, I dreamt of popcorn chicken... Which is more curious since I don't really even eat popcorn chicken.
Withdrawal continued, but again not as bad as last time around, so that was nice.
For breakfast: I had leftovers from dinner last night, so chicken and new potatoes.

For lunch: stirfry! Steak with green beans and riced cauliflower.

For dinner: pork chops, mashed potatoes and broccoli... Delicious.

I'm still getting used to the no snacking, so instead I'd eating the horrible junk food I would normally eat, I substituted in a naked juice here and a banana there. It's frowned upon, but not completely against the diet.

Today was a long, busy day, especially without caffeine, so bedtime for me at 10:00 again.

Day 3: aka the longest day ever.

Today was rough. Someone offered to buy me Zaxbys and I got halfway through my order before I realized I couldn't have any of it. So. Sad.
I've had some pretty horrible headaches today, too which is odd.
For breakfast and lunch: leftover stirfry from yesterday.
For dinner: chicken and fried potatoes. At 10:20 p.m. I was too lazy to cook the veggies, but I threw in a banana for good measure.
Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe me right now at 11:50 p.m.

Day 4:

For breakfast: naked juice and watermelon.
For lunch: chicken, broccoli and mashed potatoes (unsweetened almond milk and soy free, began butter).
For dinner: I had to go to a meeting, so I just had a tall naked juice and some dried apple slices and then had a banana when I got home.

Day 5:

For breakfast: watermelon and a naked juice.
For lunch: chicken and fried potatoes.

For dinner: banana pancakes (one banana plus 2 eggs and some cinnamon in a blender, then cook like pancakes!... I feel like this might be against the rules, but it's technically following the ingredients rules, so oh well!) and scrambled eggs.

Day 6:

For breakfast: leftover banana pancakes.
For lunch/dinner: the previous night, I put a pound of chicken in the crock pot, poured a can of tomatoes with green chillies in with a can of water and set it on high. The next morning, I added in a bag of riced cauliflower. I added a dash of lime juice, cajun seasoning and soul food seasoning and a handful of salt. It's delicious! My own version of chicken and rice soup, Whole 30-style!

Day 7:

I slept through breakfast because I went to bed waaaay too late last night.
For lunch: steak and green beans
For dinner: more of the delicious chicken and "rice" soup... I'm so happy with the way it turned out that I'll probably have this even when I'm not on the Whole 30. It's so easy and pretty cheap and lasted me 4 meals... Of course I made another batch for this week because now I won't have to come home and cook every single night.

The crockpot has really opened up so many possibilities I didn't have last time around!

Day 8:

In terms of food, my day was pretty boring.

For breakfast/dinner: leftover chicken and "rice" soup.

For lunch: leftover steak and green beans.

However, for tomorrow, I've already put a roast in the crockpot with some potatoes and I'm excited to see how it turns out. 

I'm telling y'all, this crockpot is a game changer!

Day 9:

Today was just horrible. It was one of those days where normally, I'd eat my feelings/weight in chocolate and nutella and drown my sorrows in diet mountain dew. However, I sustained the willpower to push through. 

How, you ask? Two words: pot roast. 

For breakfast/lunch: naked juice.

For dinner: POT ROAST. And potatoes. And steamed broccoli. And a second helping of all the above. 

And let me tell you, it was TOTALLY worth the wait.

Day 10:

The cravings are getting worse. It's becoming increasingly difficult not to stop at Subway on the way home or order Chinese food. 

For breakfast: naked juice.

For lunch: leftover pot roast and broccoli.

For dinner: brunch - scrambled eggs and bacon.

Day 11:

MY AMAZON BOX CAME TODAY!

I ordered all sorts of fun goodies: air dried sliced beef, freeze-dried peaches, ghee butter, nutpods coffee creamer and a box of That's It apple and cherry bars.

For breakfast: naked juice.

For lunch: pot roast and broccoli.

For dinner: I had prepped another pot of chicken soup... It's just so easy!

This is also the day I tried out one of the only things I can drink on Whole 30 from Starbucks: passion tango iced tea (unsweetened). It was pretty delicious, and a nice change from the naked juice and water.

Day 12:

I was at work all day... So I packed lots of snacks!

For breakfast: Starbucks passion tango iced tea (unsweetened of course!) and a That's It apple and mango bar.

For lunch: freeze-dried peaches and apple slices and a That's It apple and cherry bar.

For dinner: a bag of almonds, sunflower seeds and cashews and a BLT, no bread... Basically I took some lettuce and tomato and put my air dried sliced beef on it... It wasn't amazing but it kept me going until I could get home to get some chicken soup. 

Day 13:

I did the Rugged Maniac today. It killed.

I think I'm dead.

For breakfast: Starbucks passion tango iced tea and a tall naked juice.

For lunch: a bag of almonds, sunflower seeds and cashews, two That's It bars and half a bag of dried apples.

For dinner: chicken soup.

Day 14:

For breakfast: none... Woke up late and surprisingly not hungry.

For lunch: the rest of the chicken soup.

For dinner: I browned some burger and tossed in a bag of steamed riced cauliflower and a can of tomatoes and green chillies. I mixed it all up and then put it in a coconut wrap with some lettuce... I was pretty disappointed. However, I think it was partially because the wrap is sweet because it's coconut. 

Day 15:

I'm literally hungry all the time.

For breakfast: none.

For lunch: leftover burger/rice/tomato in lettuce wraps... Much better than the coconut wraps.

For dinner: pot roast and steamed snow peas with salt and ghee butter.

Day 16:

We're more than halfway! Yay!

For breakfast: Starbucks plus a Bolthouse Farms Raspberry Blood Orange Juice and a That's It bar. 

For lunch: leftover burger/rice/tomato lettuce wraps.

For dinner: an almond omelette and bacon and a banana. I also had some green grapes and dried apples... I'm telling you, I'm hungry all the time.

This post will be updated regularly, so check back in for more info!

Welcome to the world of running: here are two sprained ankles!

A little over a year ago, I ran my first 5k.

And so began an addiction that I don't think I will ever shake. Luckily, my friends and family support and encourage it (and sometimes fund it, because boy, can it get expensive).

I trained for that first race for about a month. And then during the race, I managed to sprain both ankles. Just call me Grace.

However, glutton for punishment that I am, a month and a half later, I was up running another one. That time? Faceplanted my way through it. But I survived to run another day. Which, conveniently was about a month later.

And then I ran another one. And another one. And another one. And another one. Did I mention it's really hot in the summer in South Carolina? And in Kentucky? And in Georgia??

And then a few months later, I ran my first half marathon. I trained for that race. I mean I really committed to the training. I was running 5ks every other day with long runs on the weekends. And yet I still managed to hurt myself so badly I couldn't walk for two days.

I'm told that's normal...?

But I cut 25 minutes off my estimated time, though, so points for style, right??

And even after all that, I've decided to run another half marathon in a few days.

Glutton for punishment, party of one.

I say all that to say this: I've resigned myself to the fact that running will never be a painless (or inexpensive) activity for be (I have the x-ray bills to prove it). But the competitive drive I have has put me in the very difficult position of forcing me to beat myself. And it's working.

Find what works for you. Is it the half dozen donuts waiting at the finish line of the Donut Dash or the frozen goodness of the margaritas at the finish line of the Miles to Margaritas? Maybe it's the challenge of running over a bridge so you can get the perfect selfie in Savannah (while trying not to trip)... Or maybe you secretly wish you were a superhero and need a villain to chase.

Whatever gets your shoes to the pavement or grass or whatever, let it get you there. And then milk it for everything it's worth.