sports, fun & therapy running

I had a fantastic weekend with my family.  I started my weekend with an 18 mile run on Friday morning.  Surprisingly it was the best run I've had in a long time.  I finished my 18 miles in 3 hours and that includes stopping at stop lights, stretching,  and climbing hills.  I averaged a 9 min/mile.  I honestly couldn't have felt better.  I didn't even feel sore after.

We went to Utah for the rest of the weekend, because my baby sis graduated from BYU.  I feel old.  My parents came into town and the weather was beautiful.   We hiked the "Y" at BYU, we went to Bridal Veil Falls, and we went to a BYU Men's Volleyball game.   The VB game was so awesome.  My sister wanted us to really experience the game, so we got baseline seats and I'm telling you...you had to watch out otherwise you'd get smoked in the face with a ball.  Great times.  The fans were crazy and the gym was loud.   It makes me miss sporting events.  By the way....we made it on TV.  What?  We be famous now, yo!

We look confused, I know. Haha!

  
Have you ever had a workout that was therapeutic? 

I have....a lot.  But, this past week I had a first, I was literally crying.  It wasn't because of physical pain, but joy and happiness-- and I felt a strong witness of God's love for me.  As you know, my grandpa recently passed away, and my thoughts were flooded to the 3 grandpa's that I've lost.  My Grandpa Lester, Grandpa Jim, and Justin's Grandpa Elliott.  All great men with strong values, and men who cared about me.   As I ran I watched the sun rise over the mountains and watched the majesty of the earth as the sun peeked over, my mind flooded with thoughts of gratitude for all that God has given me, and grateful to know that there is life after death.  The birds started to wake up and chirp, and as I looked around I could see Spring bringing life into the trees, flowers and animals.  As I turned the corner, the temple was bright and beautiful, and reminded me of God's love for all of His children and the plan he has for each of us.   It was a great run to strengthen my testimony  that life does go on.  And happiness & warmth can be found after the bitterness of winter or death.



Not the greatest photo, but I was moving pretty fast ;) 



Running Resources #2- Garmin Forerunner

If there is one running gadget I'm obsessed with the most...it's my Garmin Forerunner.  I LOVE this thing, and it's my best bud. 

What does this thing do? It may be easier to explain what it can't do.

• This gadget will not magically transport you to the finish line.  You will still need to put in the effort to get there.

Other than that...it pretty much does everything you'd think it could.   Some of the features I like to use include:

• Uses a GPS to track your pace, distance,time and route
• You can upload your runs to the Garmin Website (using the USB chip) and look at each specific mile's pace, as well as view a map of your run. -- Crazy part is your watch will save the memory of each run you've completed until you upload it to the internet. 
• Race a virtual partner on a downloaded course
• You can buy the Heart Rate Monitor strap to track your calories burned.
• You can pair the Garmin with a foot-pod so that if you are running where you can't get a GPS signal (treadmill, indoor track, etc) you can still track your distance/pace/time/etc
• Ability to turn on backlight in the dark.

I love the sleek design!  I have this product in BLACK, but I secretly want the green color.  Right now they have a killer price on some websites...only $160!  That's 30% less than what I originally paid for mine.

The Garmin uses something similar to a touch screen to set up your watch.  During a race you can lock your touch screen so that it doesn't change if you accidentally bump it. 

If you run in humid climates, or if it's raining.... be sure to have your watch ready prior to the race/run and locked.  The humidity or wetness makes it hard to recognize the touch sensors.  It IS waterproof (to an extent...I mean don't go plunging it in your bathtub or anything).

The battery life is pretty great on this watch.    Using the GPS satellite after you're done with your run will suck out the battery life, so always remember to turn it off afterwards.  I can usually run Monday-Friday without charging it.  And then I charge it up good Friday night for my long Saturday runs.  And I charge it after my Saturday long run.  I haven't ever ran long enough for it to die in the middle of a run.

I honestly can't think of any cons......I've had ZERO problems related to the watch.  Most of my issues are with the user...derr.

Long runs & the future

I've had a crazy couple of weeks.  My grandpa passed away and we did the long drive to Minnesota (20 hours driving).  It was hard to say goodbye to him and to know that I won't see him again in this life, but I know he is in a much better place and I will be reunited with him again someday.  Despite the somber weekend, it was also a great weekend.  We spent a lot of time with family, and it was great to have my immediate family all together.  It's been almost 3 years since we were all together.  And, it's been over 8 years since we last spent Easter together.

I love my family!!!  What a great looking bunch!

As I mentioned...the driving took a lot of time.  Basically we were driving 4 out of the 7 days we were gone.  Typically we split it up 14 hours one day, 6 hours another day---and the same way on the way back.  We ate a lot of Subway sandwiches and salads from Wendy's.  We tried to hustle at each gas-up point, but yet we chose healthier alternatives.  Nothing worse than being stuck in a car for hours and feeling like crap because you've got nasty grease sloshing around in your stomach.  No thank you!


On Saturday I completed the longest distance I have yet to run....17 miles.  Afterwards I felt conflicted, it was my worst pace (11:20 average), but yet, my personal record for distance.  I decided to forget about the pace and be happy that I completed it.  This week I'm going to go for 18.5 miles.  I know it's going to be a challenge...but by golly...I'm GOING to do this.  I can do hard things!  I'm currently reading an AMAZING book by Elain S Dalton called "A Return to Virtue".  She compares her marathon training to life and her reflections and analogies on are very similar to thought's I've had.  Life is hard, and running is hard.  But, it's so worth it.  I've just started the book, so I hope to share at least a few insights as I read along.

My husband graduates with his undergrad in Accounting in July and we still aren't sure where life will be taking us.  I get a lot of questions like "Where are you going?  Are you stressed that you don't know?"  And my answer honestly, right now...is No.  I am not stressed at all!  I feel like we've done everything the Lord has asked of us and we have done all that we could, and wherever we end up, and whatever we do....will be the right thing.  We've spent a lot of nights on our knees praying for guidance as we seek for help with our future, and I have no doubt the Lord will answer our prayers.  It may not be what we thought we would do....but it will be the right thing. 

I love learning about healthy snack ideas for road trips.   So, if you have any good ideas or tips...let me know!

Green Monster

I've been a blog slacker.  I've been busy with my training schedule and the weather is beautiful these days so I pretty much forgot that I have a blog. 

For those that don't know...I am running my first marathon in June.  26.2 miles of pure craziness.  I love running- and I feel the most fit when I run, plus it's a great time to unwind.  The training has been good so far, but this week I'm starting to feel the fatigue of increasing mileage.  And my weekly mileage is only going to keep getting higher.  Right now I'm running 4 days a week, cross training 2 times a week and my beloved rest day (Sundays).  My mileage is around 25-30 miles per week right now, and it will be increasing up to 40 miles a week.  Here's what this upcoming week's schedule looks like--starting with today:

Thursday-  Strength Training + Turbo Kick
Friday- 4 miles + yoga
Saturday- 14 miles
Sunday- REST!
Monday- 4 mile run
Tuesday - Strength Training + Turbo Kick
Wednesday- 6 miles tempo (aka-- hard, fast run)


The hard part is that while I'm training, I'm also trying to get fit and hopefully tone up/lose weight.  I'm not a girl who's totally focused on the scale, but I want my body to look toned and tight.   Why would this be hard?  Marathon training requires a lot of fuel.  To run 26 miles, you need to be properly fueled, otherwise your body could completely give up on you.  So, I'm eating more calories and food--but I'm trying SO SO hard to eat good, clean foods.  So far, so good.  I'm feeilng more fit and looking more toned (at least to me, and that's all that matters really).   My biggest hurdle is my eating at night.  For a while I ended up feeling starved at 8-9pm, and then I end up eating too much and feel gross afterwards.  So, what I've done to eliminate this is to eat more calories throughout the day (healthy snacks & smaller meals), eat more fiber in my diet, and have a healthy shake after dinner to satisfy my "sweet tooth" and to get me some healthy nutrients.  My friend gave me this recipe, and I love it.  I'm sure there are many variations out there, but I'm in love with the creamy-not-too-sweet taste.

Any shake that looks green and has lots of nutrients I call a Green Monster.  So, here's my Green Monster...

My husband thinks the color is disgusting, so he won't eat it.  And that is OK by me....it's yummy, cool looking and I LOVE IT!

Green Monster:

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 cups spinach-raw
1 TBSP peanut butter

Use blender and blend banana, milk & spinach until creamy.  Add peanut butter & blend well.  Wa-lah.  Yummyness. 

Nutrient Facts:
220 calories

30g carbs

8g protein

9g fat

 210mg sodium

14g sugar

811mg potassium

7g fiber

16% iron

147% Vitamin A

50% Vitamin C

Dine and dash

It's not what you're thinking.  Here's the thing...I'm a woman on the go.  I constantly have things going on in my life- between being the primary provider, to fitness instructor, to runner, to housewife, to mom-in-training.  Sometimes I feel this pressure to put an amazing meal on the table all the time.  And it doesn't always happen.  Life is busy!  So, I decided that some of the best meals are ones you can type up without looking at a recipe card.  Although....I'm not very good at that.  But, here are some fool-proof recipes:

By the way--- I'm a huge fan of tin foil.  If I'm baking vegetables or chicken or salmon...I line it with tin foil.  Easy clean up and a lot of times I wrap the meat in tin foil so it stays moist.

Italian chicken & veggies  (makes 4 servings-- perfect for leftovers the next day!)             
     Chicken breasts (4- 4oz breasts)
     4 Red potatoes, diced
     1 head broccoli
      Any other veggies you desire
     Italian Dressing - 1/4 cup
     Parmesan cheese

Wrap your chicken in tin foil and drizzle some light italian dressing on top (my favorite is Ken's Lite Northern Italian Dressing).  Then cut up some fresh vegetables- potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, green/red peppers, tomatoes, snow peas, green beans...whatever you'd like.  Line a pan with tin foil, place veggies in tin foil and drizzle italian dressing on top & sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top.  Place in oven at 350 degrees until veggies are soft & chicken is cooked all the way through.   Typically takes 20-30 minutes.


Fiesta Lime Chicken (Applebees copycat, with much less fat & sodium & calories)    
       Chicken Breasts (4-4oz breasts)
       1 cup salsa or pico
       2 TBSP Ranch dressing
       1/4 cup shredded cheese
       optional:  1/4 lime for juice

Place chicken breasts on baking sheet.  Cook chicken until almost cooked through at 350 degrees for roughly 13 minutes.  Before chicken is completely cooked, top chicken breasts salsa and top each breast with 1/2 TBSP of Ranch dressing.  Put shredded cheese on the very top.  Cook chicken for another 13 minutes until chicken is cooked through.   Before serving drizzle a small amount of lime on top.   Serve with a side of baked potato (which suprisingly also tastes GREAT with salsa and lite sour cream) and salad.  Or broccoli and salad.

Lean Turkey Chili  (several servings-- I believe it makes 8 to 10 1-cup servings)
       1 lb ground turkey (93/7 lean)
       4 cans diced or stewed tomatoes
       1 can black beans
       1 can kidney or pinto beans
       1 can diced green chilies
       2 TBSP tomato paste
       1 can corn (I love corn, so I always double the corn)
       1 packet of McCormick chili seasoning  (I always only use 3/4 of the seasoning packet to reduce sodium)

Brown ground turkey.  Then add all ingredients to a large pot (or we've done the crockpot on low before) and let simmer on low for 30 minutes.  Stir occassionally.

      

Swiss Chicken  **This one is my husband's favorite!
        Chicken Breasts (4-4oz breasts)
        1 can cream of chicken soup or cream of celery soup
        2 TBSP dried minced onions
        1 tsp garlic powder
        1/4 plain greek yogurt (or light sour cream)
        1/4 low fat skim milk (or unsweetened almond milk)
        Swiss Cheese (mozzarella, pepperjack, or monterary jack work just fine!)
        1/4- 1/2 cup bread crumbs  (or you could use crushed up corn flakes, or saltines even!)
         salt and pepper to taste
Lay chicken breasts on tin foil.  In a mixing bowl mix cream of chicken soup, greek yogurt, milk, garlic powder, and salt & pepper.  Sprinkle minced onions on top of chicken breasts, add once slice of cheese to each chicken breast.  Spread chicken soup mixture on top of cheese.  Add more minced onions, if you desire with breadcrumbs lightly sprinkled on top.  Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees, or until chicken is cooked through.



.........................
And...I'm not sure if I've ever shared this alfredo recipe before...but it's awesome and really low-fat compared to most alfredo recipes.  Plus, my husband thinks it's better than Olive Garden.  He just likes the flavors!  Best part?  I usually always have the ingredients on hand.  So after a long Saturday or Sunday at church I make this because I know I have everything already.  Enjoy! 
Chicken Alfredo  (makes 2 servings)   
       1 chicken breast, baked in oven
       4 oz whole wheat pasta
      
       2 TBSP whipped Land O Lakes Butter  (this kind has less calories/fat)
       2 TBSP flour
       1 cup skim milk
       2 TBSP grated parmesan cheese
       1/4 tsp garlic powder
       1/4 tsp salt
        1-2 TBSP parsley flakes

Cook chicken.  Cook noodles.  In a separate pot on stove, melt butter until liquid (not until boiling).  Add flour and mix quickly into a thick paste.  Slowly (very slowly) add milk, while constantly stirring....making a rue.  Basically it will keep getting thicker and thicker.  Use a whisk so that the mixture stays smooth.  Once really thick, add garlic powder & salt.  Remove from heat and add parmesan cheese.  Add parsley flakes.  Mix in chicken and top over pasta.

Windy

I've been busy, I promise!  Mid-January I started my marathon training.  18 weeks, baby!  I'm pretty excited about it, but nervous at the same time.  I gave myself A LOT more time to train for my first Half Marathon.  Like at least 25 weeks.  So, I feel like I have no wiggle room with this training schedule.   My fault.  The year is going by so fast, and I didn't realize how soon this marathon thing is coming up.

I'm running Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturdays.  Tuesday & Thursdays I'm doing strength training and teaching my Turbo Kick class.   My biggest goal with training is to focus more on clean eating and not worry so much about the calories as I am filling my body with healthy food:  vegetables, fruit, whole grains, lean meats, nuts.   And eat proper portion sizes.  I'm hoping that I can get some extra fat off my body in the process.  And keep myself properly fueled for long runs.

Last night was Wednesday and I was supposed to run 3.5 fast miles outside.  Ha.  Well, with 55mph winds and gusts up to 70mph...my run was not going to be happening outdoors.  But, lucky for me I decided that if I timed it right...I could do my fast run on the treadmill while watching the Republican Presidential Debate.  And, so was my evening.   We had breakfast for dinner because after coming back from Boise I didn't really have time to plan out my meals for the rest of the week.  Scrambled egg whites with ham & sweet potatoes.  It was so delicious.  I love breakfast for dinner! 

Copied this picture from the local news station.  This is a picture of a semi truck on it's side from yesterday's gusty winds.  Insane!!!

when ya have a bad day...

Yesterday I was having a rotten day.  The day where you just want to go back home, put your pajamas on and get back into bed.  My boss was cranky, but that's ususal.  It's just some days are easier to handle than others.  I could go on and on about why I dislike my job, but I'll spare you the boring details.  I will admit that part of my animosity towards my job happens to be because I just want to be a mom, plain and simple.  And the other part is frustration with poor leadership.  Ok-rant over.  Haha!

So... in order to combat my stress I can deal with it in two ways. 

1) I could sit on the couch at home and stuff myself with chips & cheese, or ice cream.  Telling myself I deserve it because I've had such a bad day.  In the moment the food will taste so good.  I'll eat it so fast that I won't even be able to  tell when I've had enough.  Shortly afterwards I will probably feel even worse than I started and I will want to cry.

OR

2) I could do Turbo Kick (my favorite anger-releasing workout) and get out all my frustrations with punches & kicks...and lots of cardio.  And when the Turbo section comes along...I could push so hard that by the end I won't remember why I was so mad in the first place.  And after my workout I would feel on top of the world.


I chose #2!  And it was fabulous.  I had an amazing Turbo Kick class last night and by the end of class I completely forgot about why I had been so frustrated with my job in the first place.  My class had such high energy, everyone was working hard, having a good time---and I think we all burned off a little stress together.  I love it!!!

TURBO SECTION!!!! 
**Not from last night's class...but you get the idea.... 

The first 5-10 minutes when I'm stressed or "not feelin it" are the hardest to WANT to workout.  But, I always tell myself---just do 10 minutes and then decide whether you want to continue or not.  Usually once I get to 10 minutes I feel so much better and want to keep going.  So....if you are having a bad day and don't think a workout will cure it.... just tell yourself "only 10 minutes"...and then see where that takes you!!