The Feed Zone

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

We have been busy. The Goofy was great. Except...Sarah and I did get sick... we think it is from the water at the drink stations. Not completely sure, but we were feeling great, and then after two days of stopping at each drink stop and guzzling down our fair share we both ended up with some major stomach issues. I suppose it could be the fact that we ran 39.3 Miles in two days but.. ya never know. We took those races easy and had a blast, we stopped and took pics with sooo many characters. Along with the water stops, and bathroom stops.... we think it was the water.

Here is Sarah and I at some point during the 1/2. Yes it was dark. Disney is the only place I know that starts a race at 5:30am on the button. But, regardless of the early hour, they make it very magical. Fireworks, Characters, pixie dust...Disney does it best.

This was us at the end of the Marathon. We brought our 1/2 marathon medal in our bags with us that day because there was no way we were running 39.3 miles and not getting credit it for it. We brought home 3 blinging medals that trip =) Shortly after this pic I started eating a protein bar... and my day went downhill from there. By the end of the day I made a trip to the ER because I could not keep a single thing down. BOO.

Aside from that we have been in winter recovery mode. I was feeling alright after I got over the Disney experience but then ran into a nasty flu that lasted 2 weeks. It was horrible.

But now the sun is out, the snow is gone (hopefully for good) and I am back to running and training for my next marathon. I have chosen the Colfax marathon here in Denver. It isn't going to be a super easy marathon, but my plan is to just attempt to not give up!  During that goofy I learned a lot about myself as a runner. When running the 1/2, I wanted to give up between miles 8-11, but then I was good. During the marathon I wanted to give up between miles 15-20 and then I was fine. There are always times during whatever race that I always want to give up, but I always thought it was because I was running a much faster pace. My new theory is that regardless of pace I will want to give up during those miles. So if I can figure out how to overcome that mental block, I will be real happy =)

Also, I have tried to eat more real food while running. Looking at GU lately makes me irritated.

Check out this new amazing cookbook, The Feed Zone Cookbook. I stumbled upon it and had to try it. I suggest you do the same, give it a whirl and tell me what you think. I have tried the Chocolate Peanut Coconut Rice cakes and it was a success! During my 18 miler last week I had 2 "blocks" of this and never once did I want to bonk. I also noticed that my recovery was easy peasy.

Sorry it is backwards, but the cover was so pretty I wanted you to see a pic. Totally buy this book for its cover. I think it will be worth it ;) Oh, and p.s. I did not get this book for free. I bought it with my hard earned cash.

Who is running what this year?

What is your favorite marathon? -Mine used to be Disney....and although it is still very magical it has been tainted. Time to find a new favorite.

Do any of you have any good portable running food recipes?


Here is to Spring and Happy Running!!

-Jen

And We Are Back and some Recap.....

The drive up to Duluth went pretty quick.  When we first were pulling into Duluth the fog was intense but begin to let up after 30 mins or so.  We checked in and by the time we put our bags in the room the sun came out.  We went to target to get some basic necessities and then Jen insisted that we all down a V8 for our veggies and sodium. Cheers!
 

After we finished our errands we hit up the expo to pick up our race packets and do a little browsing.  We all walked away with some compression socks. We weren't looking to purchase some of these puppies but since it was supposed to be raining and 48 degrees in the morning anything that covered us up sounded like a good purchase.  Plus he was a pretty good salesman and increasing our blood flow longer sounded like a good thing so we were sold.  We also picked up some matching headbands for the race.

Oh yeah and the fast Kenyans and Ethiopians were hanging out in front of the expo so Heather strategically placed us so we could get a picture of them in the background.  As you can see Jen is still star struck because she couldn't even turn around for the picture.

It was raining when we woke up and we took your guys advice and covered our feet with bags. GREAT IDEA!! Thank you! No one else had this great idea and you could tell they were envious of our dry shoes :)

While waiting in line to use the port-a potty we ran into a fellow blogger!  Running Sane was also running Grandma's.  It was fun to chit chat with her and share a little bit of our own marathon experiences. Jenn is one fast lady and we hope you had a great marathon!

This picture was taken after the race when we got back to the hotel.  We each have great stories to share.  Jen ran a PR.  Heather and her knee which caused SEVERE pain.  She still crossed that finish line with flying colors! And me being a totally awesome coach if I do say so myself! (Oh yeah, we ended up not even wearing our shorts because of the weather it was just to cold, wet and windy).

We will each be blogging about our experiences in the next couple of days.  Jen will be on for tomorrow.  We will let you know about our times, our Gu's, our pain, the good moments and the bad moments.



Hope you all had a great weekend!
Jen, Heather, Sarah

Pasta with Italian Sausage and Toasted Ciabatta... dependably delicious.

Pasta with Italian Sausage and Toasted Ciabatta.

(A family favorite)

Olive oil over medium high heat with some freshly minced garlic, reduce heat and give a little stir when garlic starts to smell delicious.

2 cans of diced tomatoes with dried oregano and basil. Simmer for 20 mins or so.

Ciabatta bread with a little olive oil topped with Parmesan Reggiano and Pecorino Romano cheeses. toast in upper rack of oven at 390 until golden.

Italian sausages on the grill on medium high heat until done.

Mix with pasta of your choice and Eat up. 

Happy Cooking -Jen