Thursday, December 30, 2010

Look out 2011 Here I come

Ahhhh a new year. For those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time you know that I love calendars, I love making lists, I love plans. Do I stick to them? Not usually. But I love the process of filling out a blank slate, plotting out my plans. I’ve been blogging for many years now. When I started blogging back in 2007 it was b/c I had Ironman dreams and I wanted to track my progress. Over the years I completed a few sprint tris, did a few marathons, took a few vacations, lost my father who I miss every day in an accident, changed a few jobs and most importantly I became a mother. If you were to click back through my posts most of them would not be worth reading, they aren’t interesting. They are just posts where I talk on and on about what I ate, how much I weigh and how much I ran. I have thought often of abandoning my blog. But I keep coming back, I enjoy the outlet. My goal for the new year is simple, be nicer to myself. I have spent the last 3 years blogging about it and many more years before it worrying about 10 lbs. 10 lbs that I want to lose, but 10 lbs that always seem to come back. And so what, it is what it is. I know that I am strong and I know that these tree trunk legs can get me through a marathon, they can swim/bike and run their way through a middle of the pack tri and best of all they can squat down and pick up my bundle of joy and carry her around the house. And really isn’t that what matters? Isn’t this what makes life interesting: This blog is going to become much more interesting, I promise you that. There will be more life antidotes. There will be more talk about being a vegetarian and how hugely important that has become in my life b/c once those meat eating blinders are off, how can you ever look back? Meat is mean people plain and simple. I am going to be working on converting Harper to a vegetarian, but first I have to become a better well rounded veggie cook. I will be leaning on Peas and Thank you for that. I want to embrace Cleveland and learn to love it like my good friend over at Unmiserable Cleveland. I want to get out each weekend and do something, not just run and sit around the house with the kid. So, watch out 2011, watch out Cleveland, here I come.

On a P90x note, I have 2 more workouts to complete this week. I wasn’t feeling well, had a stomach bug, so the workouts have been a bit half assed this week. But I have still gotten through them. I am attempting an 11 mile run with some friends tomorrow to ring in the new year. Hopefully the frozen rain goes away.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Press Pause while you puke

Let me tell you something! The second week of P90x is no easier than the first. Last night I pushed myself through Back & Chest, while fighting with Harper over my resistance bands and this morning I sweated and almost puked (still not feeling great) my way through round II of Plyometrics. I learned that no matter what I need to get up at 5am. P90x requires my full attention and doing it while Harper is awake it too difficult. Although it is super cute to watch her run in place and try and do the warm-up with me. But after the warm up she quickly loses patience and wants to steal my weights, pushup bars and resistance tubing. I felt like a bad mom several times as I just let her cry while I worked my way through my set up mock pull-ups before returning the tube to her. LOL.

I believe this year we are going to get a babysitter (grandma) for NYE. We usually don’t do anything special, but I really want to work more on being a strong couple (not just Harper’s parents) in 2011 and what better way than to ring in the new year on a date. I found the perfect event! I am starting the day with an 11 mile run and pancakes with friends, so this will be an awesome way to end the last day of 2010.


Snowfest 1.0 is open until Jan. 2, including a “Snow Year’s Eve” celebration. It’s tubing, skating, dinner, dancing and fireworks at the Jake…, I mean, Progressive Field on New Year’s Eve. The fun stuff happens on the field; the party spins at the Terrace Club. Good news is tickets are fairly a la carte — you can buy a complete package, just dinner and dancing, tubing or skating tickets — to suit your new year’s groove.
Tubing and skating on the field run 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. with 2-7 p.m. Happy Hour. Snow Year’s Eve dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. The party starts at 9:30 p.m.
Snow Days at Progressive Field (2401 Ontario Street) tubing and skating tickets start at $25. The Snow Year’s Eve party-only ticket, which includes a DJ and dancing, fireworks, champagne, cash bar, dessert, breakfast buffet (see the menu), parking and favors, runs $49 per person. Dinner-and-a-party tickets feature a prime rib dinner buffet (see the menu) in addition to the party outlined above and cost $99 per person. See the Snow Days site for complete details.


Monday, December 27, 2010

Week 2 let's get started!

I hope that everyone had a great holiday. We sure did, but the running around was relentless and the kid got way too many presents. I did manage to get everything put away for the most part so I don't look like I am living in a Babies R' Us hurricane anymore. Sat was my rest day from week 1 and I took it. There were very few hours to spare in that day. Sunday morning I woke up early with the plan of going for an 8 mile run. Unfortunately a stomach bug hit me Saturday night and the run sucked big time. I made it 3.8 miles and headed home. It was a touch 3.8 miles b/c it was all in the snow. I was set to start week 2 and do the Back and Chest DVD, but ended up laying around and resting the rest of the afternoon. I also overslept this morning! So, tonight I will have to do Chest and Back as soon as I get home and ab ripper after I put Harper to bed. Then tomorrow morning is plyo. I still don't feel 100% but I am not going to let it deter me. I will give it my all. Whatever my all happens to be today.

Anyone doing anything good for NYE? I think Harper is going to spend the night at the in-laws so I need to come up with something to do!
Friday, December 24, 2010

Power Yoga X - Week one recap


This morning I got up at 6am so that I could get through most of the 90 mins yoga DVD before Harper got up. I got through about 70 mins before she got up. I am not new to yoga. I honestly wasn't looking forward to a 90 min workout, it just seemed too long. But it went by quickly. You basically spend the first 30 mins doing a chataranga vinyasa flow with various version of warrior thrown in, then you move on to standing balance moves, then down to the floor for some yoga abs, then some bridge and wheel and plough moves, then cool down stretching. I think Tony's yoga workout is a very well balanced one, it hit all the major moves. My only complaint is that he calls some of the moves names that I don't believe to be correct. But maybe I am wrong and crow pose is also called crane? He also doesn't tell you the name of a lot of moves and for people new to yoga I think that would be beneficial. You hold all of the moves a decent amount of time, you don't have to flow to quickly. Overall I give it two thumbs up. I originally said to my friend that I was only going to do this tape once and then sub in a 60 min DVD, but I take it back. I am going to stick with Yoga X through the 90 days, it is really good.

Last night I had to do ab ripper X again to complete by day and boy was it tough. I had misplaced the DVD, so earlier in the week I did 2 other ab DVDs that I had to sub in for Ab ripper X. Well i found it yesterday when I was cleaning and did it and boy did I suck. I have done this DVD several times before without a lot of issue. It's 11 exercises for a total of 339 crunches. I will admit that I didn't get through many of the complete sets. My body is just tired from working out this week. I feel beat for sure.

Tomorrow is a rest day and I will do the Xstretch DVD. I also plan to take a short run today and tomorrow and a longer one on Sunday, combined with Day 1 of week 2, back and chest again, ugh.

Week 1 of Power 90x
In a few words - I love it, I feel so much stronger. I feel like I am standing up straighter and my muscles that had gone dormant from doing nothing but running feel awake and engaged. My stomach isn't pooching as much b/c the abs are active under there. I feel great. I am very sore. Not horribly sore though, its not limiting me in any way. But as I do each workout, I can feel the pain a bit.

I will only mess with measurements every 30 days, but I weighed 136.7 on Monday and this morning I weight 135.4. My weight was a bit higher than normal, so I'm sure a lot of that was bloat and sludge from too much holiday food over last weekend. But I will take any loss. I really desperately hope to be under 130 at the end of the 30 days.
Thursday, December 23, 2010

Day 5 - Legs and Back

Do your best and forget the rest. That is Tony Horton’s favorite saying from his P90x videos. He repeats it often and I think it’s just a great saying, and a very good mantra for life.

I mixed the designated order of the DVDs slightly and swapped Kenpo for Yoga. I want to do the Yoga DVD on the weekend since it is 90 minutes long. I overslept yesterday, so I ended up doing abs in the AM and Kenpo after work. Kenpo is really just like Taebo, lots of punching and kicking. It made me feel kind of stupid as I am incapable of mimicking feet and hand movements at the same time. I tried to focus on the punching and pulling the punches from my abs, then just kind of jumped around on the bottom. I’m sure I looked super boxer scary. Harper joined in for most of it, showing off her downward dog skills and quick feet movements. One thing I really love about these P90x DVDs is the great warm up and cool down. I am horrible about stretching and this makes me do it. I am sore as hell, but actually feel loser and better than I have in forever.

From the Beachbody website – “Kenpo X was created to give P90X users a high-intensity cardiovascular workout packed with lots of punching and kicking combinations to improve balance, endurance, flexibility, and coordination. During this workout you'll learn some of the most effective ways to defend yourself, while at the same time getting your body in peak condition.”
This morning I got back on the early morning train and did the Legs & Back DVD. Hoo boy this was touch. Lunges on your toes, jumping squats, come on Tony, it’s 5am! Wah. I did it though. I subbed a band over the doorframe for a pull-up bar and I really think that it will work out just as well for me. If I ever go through multiple P90x cycles I may upgrade to the pull-up bar, but for now this is good. I didn’t use any weights for this workout today, but next week I will pick up my 10 pounders for sure. Here are the exercises.

  1. Balance Lunges. Imagine a lunge, with your back foot supported up on a chair. This exercise is 25 reps for each leg.
  2. Calf Raise Squats. A squat that is followed by a calf raise. 25 total reps.
  3. Reverse Grip Pull Ups. Giving the legs a break, you jump on the pull up bar, remember to modify as needed. I wrote quite a bit about how to modify pull ups in the P90X Review for Back and Biceps.
  4. Super Skaters. Interesting and challenging balance move. 25 reps each leg.
  5. Wall Squats. Wow, is about all I can say on wall squats. You’ll be here for 90 seconds total. You’ll spend 15 seconds in each position. One position is with your back against the wall, in a sitting position, with your quads and knees parallel to the ground. The second position is a little easier, you raise up slightly to about a 120 degree position.
  6. Wide Grip Pull Ups. Back on the pull up bar.
  7. Step Back Lunges. Just as it sounds, stepping backwards to a lunge, with 15 reps per side.
  8. Alternating Side Lunges. The same thing as step back lunges, except you step to the side this time, 12 reps each side.
  9. Close Grip Pull Ups. You’re hands are very close together on the chin up bar.
  10. Single Leg Wall Squat. Even more challenging then the wall squat. This time, you get in a deep wall squat and lift a leg, alternating between each side every 10 seconds, for a total of 60 seconds.
  11. Dead Lift Squats. Just like a squat, except you lower into the squat with only one leg, the other is off the ground behind you. 20 reps each side.
  12. Switch Grip Pull Ups. The switch grip pull up is challenging. You’ll do 2 reverse grip pull ups, then switch and perform 2 regular chin ups. Switching until you can’t do any more. 3 Way Lunges. On this move, you will lunge straight forward, step back with a kicking move, then lunge to a 45 degree angle, step back with a kicking move, then lunge to the side, and another kicking move. You will repeat these three moves for 5 total sets on each leg.
  13. Sneaky Lunges. Walking lunges, but you will stay on your toes the entire time, 20 total reps.
  14. Reverse Grip Pull Ups. Just do your best.
  15. Chair Salutations. This move is like sitting in an invisible chair. You’ll do two of these, for about 30 seconds each.
  16. Toe Roll Iso Lunges. I’ll let this one be a surprise. 20 reps each side.
  17. Wide Front Pull Ups. Pull ups again, you know you love them.
  18. Groucho Walk. Another surprise for you.
  19. Calf Raises. This move is a total of 75 calf raises, in 3 different positions.
  20. Close Grip Pull Ups.
  21. 80-20 Speed Squats. This move has you doing 30 speed squats on each leg. Imagine about 80% of your weight on one leg, and 20% for balance on the other leg. Then you squat at a quick pace. Add some small jump moves at the end for added intensity.
  22. Switch Grip Pull Ups.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Banner Blvd

So let’s talk about my fancy new digs shall we? I wanted to update my blog so badly and I have tried so many times to update the HTML myself by downloading free blogger skins and something always gets screwed up. So, I decided to spend a few bucks and have someone help me. I searched on Etsy for Blog templates and was surprised to find out that there are lots of graphics people on Etsy selling their wares! After purusing the various shops, I reached out to Banner Blvd for help. The designer there is a married mom of 3 from Atlanta named Tajuana, who used to run track and has recently taken up running again. She was so great work with. If you don’t believe me, check out all her positive feedback here . I told her how many columns I was looking for, emailed her some pictures and she emailed me mockups the same day. The same day! How is that for quick. I had some feedback that she quickly addressed, a color change here, a different font there and voila the new Mom in Training skin was born.

You can check out Banner Blvd by clicking here . Oh and the BEST part, she logged into Blogger and took care of all of it for me! All my links were saved, my comments, etc. I didn't have to do a thing. Rad.

And just for Mom in Training readers she has extended a special coupon code for 10% off a custom blog or premade blog. You can enter coupon code BannerBlvdmonica when checking out. Now until Dec.31. So, what are you waiting for? If you’ve been itching to update your blog, this is a great deal. Her packages are mostly under $35, with many less than that. Go do it! Do it now I say.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

P90X day 3 - Shoulders and Arms

Today I did the “Arms & Shoulder” workout. I really liked this DVD. The exercises are below. I felt like I could handle it and none of the moves were hard to understand. I was able to push myself and get 1 or 2 reps past where I normally would have stopped. I have absolutely no cut to my arms, they are just thick slabs, so I am really trying to give the arms workouts my all. Today I feel beat up and pleasantly sore. Everything hurts a little. But not in a horrible something is ripped way. Getting up and sitting down cause me the most issue right now. But I’ve also started standing up at work for a few hours a day, which is contributing to my legs feeling sore. I get a few funny looks, but I am committed to standing at least 2 hours a day. I just put my laptop up on a box. It works out well. I spent my whole day typing on a computer, testing software or on calls. There’s no reason I can’t do that standing up! It burns twice as many calories as sitting. Bonus if you rock back and forth. I have gotten a few odd looks and I’m sure some people think I’m just doing it for attention, but I think it’s a great way to live a healthier life. I plan to sit on my ab ball for another 1-2 hours, but I need to remember to bring in my pump b/c it is flat.


Workout
· Warmup
· Alt Shoulder Press
· Bicep Curls
· In & Out
· Two-Arm Tricep Kickback - (repeat)
· Deep Swimmer's Press
· Full Supination Concentration Curl
· Chair Dip - (repeat)
· Upright Row
· Static Arm Curl
· Flip Grip Twist Tricep Kickback - (repeat)
· Seated Two Angle Shoulder Fly
· Crouching Cohen Curl
· Lying Down Tricep Extension - (repeat)
· BONUS ROUND
· Straight Arm Shoulder Fly In & Out
· Congdon Cur
· Side Tri Rise - (repeat)
· Cooldown/Stretch

Monday, December 20, 2010

Get ready to Bring it!

I started P90X on Sunday. I am so excited for this journey.

Sunday I did the chest and back workout, which is nothing more than push-ups and pull ups in different positions. Tony encourages you to do your best and just do as many as you can. Usually there were 30 seconds per exercise. I borrowed a set of perfect pushups from my Bro in law. They made doing the pushups with good form much easier. I admittedly did all the pushups on my knees. For the pull-ups, I just used a band that was over a door, it worked out just fine. If you can get the band in a secure place, like the hinge of the door, you are able to pull down and out and almost recreate a pull up. I think I am going to get a pull up bar, but not 100% sure yet b/c the band certainly left my back sore.

The chest workouts include:
· Standard Push-Ups
· Wide Front Pull-Ups
· Military Push-Ups
· Reverse Grip Chin-Ups
· Wide Fly Push-Ups
· Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups
· Decline Push-Ups
· Heavy Pants
· Diamond Push-Ups
· Lawnmower
· Dive Bomber Push-Ups
· Back Flys
The program is divided into two separate rounds where you run through each exercise twice. The second time around they rearrange the order of the exercises. I was scared of this workout b/c I suck at pushups and cannot do 1 pull-up. But it wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be. I did all the pushups on my knees and cannot even image that I may be able to get through a round on my toes, but maybe by the end.
I was also supposed to do the ab ripper DVD yesterday, but I was in KY for early family Xmas and had inadvertently left in back in Cleveland, so I will be adding it on today.
This morning I did the plyometrics workout. I had heard word that this was the toughest of the P90x workouts. I had a half day off work, so I dropped Harper at daycare and came home to put myself through some pain before work! This workout is no joke. I was sweating my butt off within 5 minutes. I just ran a marathon last week and this DVD made me feel as though I am the most out of shape person in the world. But part of me loved it!
Plyometrics, also known as jump training, has been proven to dramatically improve athletic performance. So, I will be interested to see if my running improves from this.



Here is the list of moves after the warm up and stretch cycle
· Jump Squat 30 secs
· Run-stance Squat 30 secs
· Airborne Heisman 30 secs
· Swing Kick 60 secs
· >> 30 sec Break – Then Repeat Above Sequence <<
· Squat Reach Jump 30 secs
· Run-stance Squat 30 secs ·
· Double Airborne Heisman 30 secs
· Circle Run 60 secs
· >> 30 sec Break – Then Repeat Above Sequence <<
· Jump Knee Tuck 30 secs
· Mary Katherine Lunge 30 secs
· Leapfrog Squat 30 secs
· Twist Combo 60 secs
· 30 sec Break – Then Repeat Above Sequence <<
· Rock Star Hop 30 secs
· Gap Jump 30 secs
· Squat Jacks 30 secs
· Military March 30 secs
· >> 30 sec Break – Then Repeat Above Sequence <<
· Run Squat 180 Jump Sequence 30 secs
· Lateral Leapfrog Squat 30 secs
· Monster Truck Tire 30 secs
· Hot Foot 60 secs
· >> 30 sec Break – Then Repeat Above Sequence <<
· BONUS ROUND
· Pitch & Catch 60 secs
· Jump Shot 60 secs
· Football Hero 60 secs

I was completely unable to do the pitch and catch, lol. It requires you to pretend to pitch a ball, which I have never done in my life and have no idea how to do. So, I just did some jumping twist back and forth while they threw fake balls.

It’s going to be a long 90 days, Tony Horton is super annoying, but thus far I still find him humorous. I’ll let you know if I still have that opinion come March!


Xmas in KY with the family was awesome by the way. I just do not get to see my family enough!


Friday, December 17, 2010

A Handmade Xmas

Oh ETSY how I love thee. I made it a point this year to try and buy a lot of handmade gifts. Hopefully none of my family is reading this b/c I’d like to show off a few.

Felted Soaps from Art By LisaK

For most of the ladies in my life, they will be getting some felted soap in yummy flavors such as rose, almond and lavender. What is felted soap you ask! Well its soap wrapped in felted wool. I actually saw some at Anthropolgie and thought it was a great gift idea. But figured I could find it much cheaper on Etsy and I was right. I messaged the seller and she was nice enough to combine shipping as I ordered 6.


Body Wash from Gudonya (good on you)

My mother in law loves Chai tea. So, I thought chai tea body wash was in order. I got myself some too and boy oh boy does this smelly good stuff sud up nicely. I got myself pumpkin cheesecake, which is a great way to start off the day when you have a sweet tooth like me. She also makes shampoo and I am definitely going to be trying it out.

Linen Applique Russian Matryoshka Bag from Robins Egg Blue


I actually got my sister this cute little bag for her birthday. It was a little smaller than I originally thought, but so super cute and well made that it made up for it. Plus the seller happens to be from Cleveland. Bonus.




Funny 2011 printable Calendar from Neat Things


I decided at the last minute that I really should have gotten some of my co-workers Xmas gifts. Everyone seems to hand out food, so I wanted to do something different. Since I left it to the last minute I don’t have much time. So, I decided to order a PDF of this hilarious calendar. I am going to print it out on high quality paper stock and tie it with some pretty string. Voila a office Xmas gift people might actually want. Although at the last minute I realized that Oct’s quote talks about 20something whores. Oops. I will have to include a note saying not to display Oct. I actually messaged the seller to see if he could change that page for me. We shall see. I happen to find 20something whores hilarious, but HR might now, considering the median age at my company is 30. Lots of 20somethings. Who probably do dress naughty for Halloween.

Let the Games Begin

I took my before pictures last night. That was not fun. I will post them, but I think I will wait until I have my 30 days comparison shots. Normally I would just put them out there, but b/c I talk about my blog on Facebook and have some co-worker facebook friends I feel weird posting shots of me in a bikini. But I do want to show the progress for those interested in P90x, so bear with me, there will be pictures at some point. I took my measurements as well and I almost cried. I don’t know how I managed to get back to this place. I have officially gained 10 lbs since May. I feel like I did when I was trying to lose the weight from being pregnant. I put on 4 of those lbs since the beginning of Nov, which really upsets me. I was upset that I was backsliding at that point and I did nothing to stop it. I am a perfect example of how endurance running does not naturally equal skinny. It is not in my genes to be on the slim side, I have to work my butt off to stay trim. When I step back and logically think about it, I know why I have gained the weight. I went vegetarian early in the year, which has steered me to a very carb laden diet, I went back to work which cut down the amount of miles I was walking the dogs each week (walked them like 10-15 when I was staying at home and now maybe 5), and I had some serious stress in my life over the last few months. So, it is what it is. I am so sick of being obsessed with what I look like. I’ve had this blog going for a few years now and every other entry is bemoaning my sweet tooth and thick belly. So, I want it to stop. I want to blog about more meaningful things. I want to get back to listing out recipes and things I do with my family. I do plan to blog about P90x and I really hope it is the magic bullet I need to get control of my body. What I have been doing thus far is not working.
I am heading to KY to see my family for Xmas after work today. I am very excited. I haven’t seen 2 of my sisters and their kids in a long time. It will be nice spending time with everyone. I plan to start P90X on Sunday. So, when I get home I will blog about the first 2 workouts. Let the games begins.

Pre Power90X measurements:

Bust: 34
Bicep: 15 on both sides
Upper waist (under ribs): 26
Waist at belly button: 31.5 :(
Hips at butt: 38
Upper thigh: 21 on right, 21.5 on left
Lower thigh: 17
Calves: 15 on both side

The stomach has a lot of room for improvement, my belly is normally around 26-27, so I hope to see that number go down quickly.

Like my new blog makeover? I will be doing a write up soon on the gal that did it, but you can check her out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/bannerblvd. To leave a comment right now you have to click on the title of my post and go to that specifc page, I believe she's going to fix that soon. She's been awesome to work with and turned this update around so quick!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Anticipation!


Anticipation…..I am so geeked to get started on the P90x series. I plan to post every day and give you guys an update on the program, the good, the bad, the ugly. I will take before and after pics, but I likely won’t post the before pics until I have made a little progress! LOL. Right now I am carrying a huge layer of muffin top fat and I super eager to see it disappear. I am spending this week getting myself motivated by reading success stories and watching before/after you tube videos.

I plan to follow what is called the Classic P90x routine. I will be doing the DVDs once a day. On top of this I will maintain a long run on my rest day and hopefully 1-2 midweek runs with Fonzie. But one day a week will just be the yoga DVD. If anything has to give that week, it will be that DVD as I do not want to lose my running fitness. I hope to keep my long run between 6-10 miles. I am going to take the fitness test tonight or tomorrow night. I need to take my measurements as well. I may post those…may….be. I need to stock up on some high protein snacks and I also need to get the pull bar to mount in my doorway. I was contemplating not messing with the pullup bar, but I want to do the program 100% and pull-ups are part of the routine.

I am also planning on following the meal plan as well as I can being a vegetarian. I found a modified plan online. There are several plans included within the P90x materials, but I am going for the portion plan which doesn’t require much calorie counting. I haven’t followed a real diet in many many years. I hope I am able to stick to it. The diet is basically broken into 3 phases:

Level 1 (1-30 days)
Proteins 2
Fruit 2
Vegetables 2
Fats (omega-3) 1
Carb one (legumes) 2
Carb two (grains) 2
Snacks: double (or two singles), Vegan Recovery Drink
Condiments 1



Level 2 (30-60 days)
Proteins 3
Fruit 3
Vegetables 3
Fats (omega-3) 1
Carb one (legumes) 2.5
Carb two (grains) 2.5
Snacks: double (or two singles), Vegan Recovery Drink



Level 3 (60-90 days)
Proteins 4
Fruit 3
Vegetables 5
Fats (omega-3) 2
Carb one (legumes) 3
Carb two (grains) 3
Snacks: double (or two singles), Vegan Recovery Drink
Condiments 3

Here are some of the common foods I will be eating:

Protein Portion List
Hemp protein powder – 100 calories, depending on brand
Rice and pea protein powder – 100 calories, depending on brand
Seitan – 3 oz.
Soy burger – 1
Soy cheese slices – 5
Tempeh – 2 oz.
Tofu – 3 oz.
Veggie burger – 1
Veggie dog – 1
Carb Two (Grains) List
Amaranth – 1 cup
Whole grain bagel, medium – 1
Bran muffin (2.5 oz.) – 1
Whole-grain bread – 2 slices
Whole-grain cereal – 1 cup
Whole-grain couscous – 1 cup
Whole-grain crackers – 12
Whole-grain English muffin – 2 halves
Oatmeal – 1 cup
Pancakes (3.6 ounces) – 3
Whole-grain pasta – 1 cup
Quinoa – 1 cup
Rice, brown or wild – 1 cup
Whole wheat tortilla, large – 1
Whole-grain waffles – 2
Wheat berries – 1 cup

Carb One (Legumes) List
Baked beans – 1 cup
Beans (kidney, black, etc.) – 1 cup
Hummus – 1 cup
Lentils – 1 cup
Peanuts (raw or home-roasted) – 1 oz.
Refried beans, nonfat – 1 cup



Fat (Omega-3) Portion List
Flaxseed Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Pumpkin Seed Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Walnut Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Canola Oil – 1 Tbsp.
Chia Oil – 1 Tbsp.



Single snacks
Dried fruit – 1 oz.
Frozen fruit bar – 1
Fruit – 1 medium piece
Rice cake – 1
Peanut butter (with celery sticks) – 1 Tbsp.
Popcorn, air-popped or light – 3 cups
Soy nuts – 2 oz.
Seaweed – 10 oz.

Double snacks
Bean dip (with 4 oz. chips) – 4 Tbsp.
Hummus (with carrot sticks) – 1 oz.
Pumpkin seeds – 2 oz.
Raw nuts – 1 oz.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Rehoboth Beach Marathon Recap -

(Monday Dec 13) I had such an amazing weekend! I got home just in time, right before a huge snowstorm hit Cleveland. Glad we landed safely on Sunday.

I headed to Rehoboth Beach DE on Thursday. We flew into Baltimore, and landed at 6. We headed to Annapolis to have dinner at some historic restaurant that George Washington used to frequent. One of my travel companions is a huge history buff. Annapolis is such a cute little town, I wish I had more time to explore, but it was still a 2 hour drive from there to our rental house. We didn't get to our weekend home until after midnight, I was exhausted. The house was super cute though. There were 9 of us total staying in the house. Everyone had their own little area, there were plenty of bathrooms and my trundle bed was super comfy!

On Friday we walked the mile into town and had lunch, did a little shopping and picked up our race packets. The weather was great. Low 40s and no wind. Being so close to the ocean I was worried that we'd have wind to contend with. I only knew 2 of the people I was traveling with before the race and I was a little worried about traveling and staying with a bunch of strangers. But we all got along great and I definitely have some new friends now. The guys I went with do a lot of races together and I can see myself traveling to some more races with them in the future. They are working on 50 states, but all have close to 30, so are way ahead of me! They've also been doing marathons about 10-15 years longer than me. We had a lot of fun, some good food, some good laughs and all headed to bed early Friday night.

I could write a super detailed race report, but I don't feel like it, so I will keep it simple. The race was small, about 1000 runners, including a half. Packet pickup was easy and well organized, short sleeve tech shirt was nice. The starting line was right on the ocean and watching the sun come up before taking off for 26.2 was amazing. The course was really nice, it is one of my favorite races for sure. The course was pancake flat, the weather was perfect, no wind, the ocean views were breathtaking. The race did not go great for me. I felt sick from mile 1. My stomach was upset, I didn't handle my eating well thew few days before, lesson learned. My stomach calmed down at about mile 9, but then my legs started complaining. I kept a 9:24 pace until; about mile 15, then I just really started hurting. I started getting charlie horse pains in my hamstrings it was super painful. I wanted to cry at a few points. I toughed it out, but just kept getting slower. Once my pace got past 9:30 I knew my PR was out the window, so I really just kind of gave up. I tried to relax, slow down and just take in the scenery. But I couldn't do it. I kept trying to slow down to about an 11 min mile and just toddle in to the finish. My pace just stayed at 9:30ish so I had to take walk breaks. The last 5 miles were really mentally challenging. I finished in 4:26. I caught up to my friend Robin at the end and crossed with him. I wish I had just stayed with him the whole time so at least I could have talked to someone, but they went out slower than I was wanting too. As I said it was a bad day and a very mentally challenging day. But I am kind of glad it was. It's races like Saturday that make me a runner, that give me the mental chutzpah to get through other races. After having such a bad race and still running a 4:26, I know I can break 4 hours in a marathon.

The after race party was great, with a big spread of food and really good beer. We just hung out the rest of the weekend had a good dinner at Dogfish Head Brewery Sat night. All in all a fabulous weekend that I will not forget for a long time.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Impending Doom

I have this overall feeling of impending doom. I am inserting a picture from a happy summer race to motivate me, lol. I have to be honest, I really don’t feel like doing this marathon in 2 weeks. I feel like I have barely run since my race in Nov. That’s not entirely true. I took the week after the race almost entirely off and only logged 10 miles. The next 2 weeks I logged in the low 30s with a solid 16 miler and 12 miler. I wanted to log more miles, yes that’s true, but it didn’t happen. Now I am in a 2 week taper. I feel fat, bloated and out of shape. This is how taper usually goes, I know this, but the fact is that I am kind of fat, lol. I have unfortunately let some real life stresses and drama get to me and resorted to some old ways of burying myself in food. Which is embarrassing to admit here amid all my claims of “this is it, I’m finally going to diet and do it right”. But I try to keep it real as I know many woman struggle with this same up and down. This is the first time in a long time that my weight has creeped up to the point that my pants don’t fit and I am trying really hard not to get too down about it. Trying hard to combat the “I’ve failed once again” thought. How in the world I ever let myself get 5 lbs over my highest “ok” weight is beyond me. It happened very quickly. And I am taking it really hard. I am a very short person and I have gained 10 solid lbs since I started back to work in May and I do not like the way I look right now, at all. I know it’s not the end of the world. I know the facts of why this happened – I sit more, I work out less, I eat more. I know, I know, I know. But it doesn’t stop me from doing the internal hate talk, etc. However, when I take a step back I know it is what it is and I know what to do and I just need to do it. But being that it is taper week I can’t bust my ass too hard. I can’t cut my calories back too drastically and I need to rest my legs. I am so ready for this race to be over. I hope to have a good race, but I honestly have a feeling that I will run it slower than I did Huntington and if I do, I am okay with that. Anything under 4:20 I will be happy with.

I am so ready to start P90x. I am probably putting way too much weight into it being some magic formula, but I am just ready to try something new and mix things up. To be able to stay inside my house when it’s cold outside and to cut back on my carbs, drastically! For those of you who have done p90x, did you use the pull up bar? I saw one at CVS of all places last night and am wondering if I need to buy it or if I should just go with the resistance bands.

About Me

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Mnowac
distance runner attempting to run a marathon in every state, vegetarian foodie, mediocre triathlete, sucky swimmer, mommy to Harper, tea lover, coffee drinker, animal saver, hubby snuggler, race addict, full time working 31 year old living in cleveland
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Marathons so far

  • Sept 2012 - Corning, NY - TBD
  • April 2012 - Louisville, KY - TBD
  • Sept 2011 - Erie PA - 4:25
  • June 2011 - South Bend IN - 5 hrs+ (it was 98 degrees!)
  • Dec 2010 - Rehoboth Beach DE - 4:26:06
  • Nov 2010 - Huntington WV - 4:11:44
  • Oct 2009 - Towpath - Cleveland area OH - 4:30:35
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