Meals and Marathons

There are only days left until I run this race that I am hoping to conquer......so from here on out I am going to do my best to eat all the foods that would make some good fuel for race day.  Cooking is a hobby of mine that lately comes 2nd.....to running =) If I have time and energy I'd totally cook crazy food always. So to start this marathon loading fiesta I went through all of my favorite websites: cookinglight.com, foodnetwork.com, allrecipes.com and found some recipes that I thought I would try.  I also am going to make some recipes that I know my family loves. Sometimes if I try too many new recipes in one week I kind of get a look from my husband that means... can you please cook something I've heard of. =)  

              

So below I have listed all the recipes I plan on making for dinner. I also plan on blogging about them, so on top of our daily workout postings hopefully you will hear from me about how some of these recipes turn out. They are listed in the order of when I am going to make them starting with the first dish tonight. So join me if you are looking to try something new. We can talk about what was good and what was great! I have made my grocery list and while my son is at cowboy camp I am going to make my way to the grocer and stock up. I am gearing to turn my kitchen into a mini Food Network.  Wish me luck =)   

Orecchiette with Mixed Greens and Goat Cheese and Grilled Steak

Halibut in Artichoke and Tomato Broth Served over Quinoa

Grilled Havarti/Roast Beef Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Oven Fries

White Chicken Chili with Tortilla chips and Fruit

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with Baked Sweet Potato and Grilled Veggies

Running Club pot luck.... (should be tasty, I am not sure what I am going to contribute but when I figure it out I'll let ya know)

Pasta with Italian Sausage, Veggies and Regular Tomato Sauce. Served with whole wheat Garlic cheese bread

Steak Fajitas on Corn Tortillas with Lime Sour Cream

Garlic Oil Sauteed Pasta with Broccoli

Parmesan Chicken from Barefoot Contessa

Tuna and Artichoke Panini's (this dish is extra but it is soo tasty I really want to try and fit it in somewhere.... I am just not sure which dish to eliminate yet. But if you want a good Tuna recipe try this. you won't be disappointed.)

P.S. although I realize "carbo loading" is the most popular term to get ready for a long race, I prefer to think of it as just healthy loading.  I personally think you need it all in order to preform well.

P.S.S. The recipes I don't have links to are recipes that are my own. I will post the recipe as I make the dish so you can try it at home.  If you'd like the recipe sooner shoot me an email at alwaystrainingtrio@gmail.com and I'd be happy to share.

My workout this week is going as follows:

Monday: 8 Miles slow
Tuesday: 6x800's with a 200m pickups; Barbell class with light weights
Wednesday: Swim
Thursday: 8 Miles with last 5 at marathon pace
Friday: Total Conditioning (class at Lifetime Fitness)
Saturday: Guess your own 5k pace at Running Club. This should be fun. We are all supposed to guess what we will run a 5k in and then take off our Garmins.. and the coaches will let us know how close we actually came.  Can you feel your pace or can't ya?

What are some of your favorite healthy loading meals?

How far in advance do you really watch what you eat before a race?

Do you guys like to cook?

Happy Running -Jen

My 2nd 5k was.... A SUCCESS! Finally...

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to run the Larkridge Chick-Fil-A 5k and I am happy! I did good =) I typically don't tell my times on here, but who cares, I'm tellin' ya. My 5k time according to the official results was 22:26! My Garmin was a couple seconds slower but I always take the faster time and base my performance off of that ;) Not once has my watch and the official time been the same and it can go either way. Anywhoo, to keep braggin about it I ended up placing 7th overall for women and 2nd in my age group.

This is most of my friends and I at the start, and YES I did beat that cow but for a cow he did really well ....(I have grey on in-between fellow run clubbers Tara(blue coat) and Pam(Pink coat). It was cold out and very windy.

These chicks below are the speediest ones of our group. They actually took the overall women's 1, 2, and 3 spots. The one on right right is Kim. She is one of our coaches and very speedy. She won this race for the ladies and came in 20:26. The other two are Amber and Corey, they rocked it. But here is a warning my dears.... once I figure out how to unleash the beast inside of me I am going to come knocking on your heels.... ;)

Here I am with Corey and Tara C. Tara won 3rd in our age group and came in just after me.  Really as a "team" we all did great! 

Thats right, I won a medal... and it wasn't just because I finished. =) 

BUT, (there is always a but...) now I am thinking about my marathon. As Sarah pointed out on her previous blog post it is only 7 WEEKS AWAY!! I mean, who cares if you can run a 5k fast if the race you actually want to do well on flops.... I don't have a great track record for doing well on race day. But, I am moving on and wanting to be better.  I am asking all out there in blog world to please take note and send me any suggestions you might have. Here are a list of questions that I would LOVE any answers too.

1. how fast did you run your long runs?
2. What was your longest run? How many times did you run 20 or more?
3. How many speed/tempo workouts did you do in a week?
4. How many marathon pace miles did you put into your long runs.... (some people say up to 11, some say 16, some say 20)???
5. What are your race strategies..for example, do you run same pace entire time, do you start REAL slow and then speed up. If so, when do you speed up? How many miles do you run slow?

So help a girl out here.  My first marathon I ended up doing a run/walk situation because I was plagued with the most annoying IT band injury.  My second marathon I did OK. I went out strong and stayed strong until Mile 20 and then I was able to continue running but slowed down to nothing short of a turtle crawl... This time I want to try and stay strong and be strong because I FEEL STRONG DAMIT! I am hoping to show that marathon who is boss and I could really use all the help I can get.

Happy Running and wish me luck as I try to conquer this beast.  -Jen

On Deck for The Cure

Something that I think is awesome about doing all of these running races is that you can always sign up and support something important.  While on vacation they had a 5k walk for breast cancer.  So when I saw this on the schedule I automatically knew I'd be signing up and convinced my mother she needed to do it for me.

It was really neat experience.  When we went down to line up at the start before we started they wanted everyone who had dealt with breast cancer to come forward and tell a brief story and start the walk.  It almost brought me to tears as several people, men and woman came forward and told their story. I was amazed at how many people on our little cruise ship were struggling with that horrible disease.  Some had literally finished a round of Chemo the week prior to coming.  It was very humbling and really made the walk that much more special.

So, if you have time to take part in a charity organization while running, biking, etc. I highly recommend it. It is very rewarding and inspiring to see all of these people march through these struggles.  It makes the groaning and complaining I do about my little issues seem completely irrelevant and helps me to move forward being the best person I can be.