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

Caballo Blanco and FREE GU

Yesterday was a great day =) To start, I woke up early and met a friend at the pool. We did a short Strength session:

Body Weight Squats: 2 sets of 20 reps

Standing (body weight) Lunges: 2 sets of 10 reps each leg

Push ups: 2 to 3 sets 10 to 20 reps (bent knee style or standard)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Sitting on a chair or a bench do Bent Over Rows: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Dumbbell Curls: 2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions:2 to 3 sets of 15 to 20 reps

Plank: 2 to 3 sets of holding it for 30 to 60 seconds

Crunches: 50 to 100 of these everyday.....or more.

This Strength session takes only 10-15 minutes to do and works all your major muscle groups. When I don't feel like doing strength (which is always) I try to fit one of these sessions in before or right after a workout.  

Anywhoo, following the strength we went and swam for 30 minutes. I did 150m crawl, 50m kick, 150m breast stroke, 50m kick and repeated that 2 or 3 times. I can't remember for sure. What I do remember is the kicking..... I used a kick board and it was so hard. I apparently really need to work on the kick!

After my workout my day just kept getting better and better. First I stopped off to pick up my medal from the Sprint Tri only to realize I also had won a raffle for a 25 dollar gift card to Redline Running Company!! WOOT WOOT! 

Then I came home and checked the mail only to find the BEST PRESENT EVER!! Mallory sent me 20 GU's! I was thrilled to the max. I am sick of spending money of those things. Plus, there is no running store that is too close to me so if I don't stock up I am always making an extra trip to get some. Thanks a ton Mal. 

Now even more..... Caballo Blanco from the Born to Run came to my Lifetime fitness and spoke. I was still stuffing my face at the MN state fair but luckily I have the best friends and brother in the world because they went and got me an autograph in my Born to Run Book. I am so happy. This puppy is going right up there next to my autograph from Daniel Radcliffe. I ran into him at the Today show one time while out visiting Sarah. I love Harry Potter. Also, stay tuned for a guest post about what it was like to listen Caballo. =)

Yesterday was good. This morning I went out and did a tempo with 1 mile easy and 5 miles @ pace with 1 mile cooldown. Went well. 

Tomorrow is a Cross Train day with a 17 miler on Saturday.

Happy Running all!  -Jen

Am I gonna miss Summer?

In response to Sarah's question about summer, I am not going to miss this one. I am more excited for fall. 

Tonight I want to make some delicious dessert. Any suggestions?

What is your favorite dessert?

-Mine is typically chocolate cake or some kind of cookie with chocolate. I like chocolate.

Grandmas Marathon Recap from Jen

I had a great personal race on Saturday.  Although I did run a new PR I also overcame some personal struggles that typically I would give into. Here is my time and breakdown.

Official Time: 3:51:41
Average Pace: 8:51

Splits according to my chip:
10k - 53:44
13.1 - 1:54:08
20 Miles - 2:55:02
25 Miles - 3:40:50

My Garmin info.
Total Time: 3:51:36
Average Pace: 8:46
Miles:
1 8:50      14 8:41
2 8:37      15 8:43
3 8:37      16 8:47
4 8:32      17 8:55
5 8:33      18 8:50
6 8:38      19 8:38
7 8:42      20 9:04
8 8:55      21 9:03
9 8:42      22 9:41
10 8:21    23 9:14
11 8:47    24 8:50
12 8:39    25 8:30
13 8:35    26 8:47 (the last mile had a major headwind.... my effort felt faster this this split is indicating)  
                .4 3:16 (8:04 minute/mile pace. Also, I tried to run the tangents as much as possible but of course ran more. But ran less the my last marathon.  Long beach I clocked in at 26.58 miles....!)


GU Stops: Miles 3,7,11,15. Sprees Candy at Mile 22
Water Stops: I walked through parts of every water station and drank some. Not a lot, but just a drink or so. They were every other mile starting at Mile marker 3 and then every mile from 20-25.  They weren't necessarily at the mile markers either. They were just kind of in that mile somewhere.

The rest is just blah blah about my marathon, so please keep reading but consider yourself warned =)

I technically was shooting for a 3:50 marathon or faster. I knew it was going to be tough with the cold weather, rain and wind but oh well, a race is a race right. Doesn't matter what the weather or whatever it is the best you can do that day on that race. So, my plan was to follow the 3:50 group for as long as possible and then hopefully have enough energy to move forward around mile 23 and go in ahead.

It didn't totally go that way. I couldn't find the 3:50 pace group before the race started. Because of the lots of people and my 2 trips to the bathrooms prior to the start I was wandering my way through the crowds too late and ended up starting just somewhere in the middle of tons of people.... Anywhoo, I saw some balloons up a head and just assumed that was probably the right group and thought I'd just keep my eye on them.  Sure enough after the race started I moved a little quicker then I had anticipated.  I ended up catching that group (it was the 3:50 pace group) around mile 7. Once I was with them I stayed right on there heels until about mile 17.  Also, as for how miles 1-17 felt, they were mostly good.  I'd have a few miles where I'd start to wonder if I felt ok, but then I'd start to feel better for a few miles. I'd think about all the AMAZING people who have helped me realize I can push myself and I am not gonna die =) My Husband, my running club, my parents, brothers, sisters, etc. etc.  There are lots of you out there and I did think of them all.  I get inspired by these people and really do feel a difference in my running because of them.

At mile 17 the pace group started to pull away and I noticed my legs starting to burn slightly...... I let the group keep going knowing I was already ahead of my goal time as is and figured I had time to spare.  But while keeping the idea of staying near the pace group in my mind I was feeling like I really needed to use the restroom....but I ignored it for a while.  I think because I drank so much water during the days leading to this race I ran into this issue. I don't think it had anything to do with my drinking during the water stops.  I had the feeling of wanting to go to the bathroom around mile 4 as well but was like, um hell no I just went! Next time I will be more aware of how much I drink to be sure I drink enough but not an entire lake =)!

Around mile 20 I was really starting to feel my heavy legs. I started to take this race 1 mile at a time. I wouldn't let myself stop until I got to the following mile marker.  Then I'd walk through and drink and I told myself I'd re-evaluate the situation.  But this worked for only 1 more mile and then the urge to find a tree(bathroom) was too overwhelming and a random bush is exactly what I found.... I could have cared less who saw me.  I saw people left and right the entire race doing the exact same thing so really I just convinced myself I was doing my part.... So that mile was a little discouraging.... 9:41. I knew by this point I had lost a lot of time and was realizing the goal of finishing in under a 3:55 was soon going to be gone if I didn't get my butt in gear.

This is where I had some new mental toughness that I didn't know existed.  Typically in my previous races if something like this were to happen I'd give in a just let myself slow down knowing that I had given a good try and just finish. I literally told myself, "well if I finish the last 3 miles at a 10 minute mile I'll still finish under 4 hours and I can live with that...  But then something else happened that made this race different.  During mile 23 I felt myself just start running and speeding up. I kept thinking, this doesn't hurt and I can go faster. I all of a sudden just started running and didn't pay attention to my watch one more time.  I was passing people left and right and my adrenaline just started pumping.  I remember just looking at the sidelines and asking what mile I was at and how much longer I had.  I knew I had passed 23 but that was it. I could feel my watch buzz but I just didn't care, I kept thinking to myself, "I am just going to RUN and just see what the hell happens.  Then, I came around a corner and saw the finish and just thought well it is all or nothin and I am not looking at my time until I am finished! When I saw 3:51 on my watch I was SOOO happy.  I had overcome some issues and although I was 1 minute off I could have cared less. I did it! I was in cold, wetish, semi-windy weather, I felt on and off the entire time but managed to get through it and come out closer to ON pace then off =) Sheesh! The things that can go through your mind during 3 hrs and 51 minutes of running can really make or break you and Saturday I used some self discipline and did it!

but anywhoo, onto the next one =) Time to try how to get faster and push myself further!

These pics below were taken by my Brother -in-law Bryan who ended up finishing his race with a 3:24! Not to shabby for a first marathon..... jerk. j/k Bry, you rocked it. Anywhoo, he was nice enough to come back and found me with about 1/2 mile left in my race.  I look kind of crazy but thats just me I suppose =)

I went on by and just kept passing all these suckers!!  I was soo happy to finally be the one passing all these peeps and not the one getting passed =)  WAHOO for passing people, it feels great. Not gonna lie.

Happy Running - Jen

Jens Saturday =)

This past Saturday I had a 22 miler to run. (I originally was supposed to run Thursday but the rain was just too much, and there was NO way I was doing this on the dreadmill) I was volunteering at the 5k Families Supporting Adoption race and then I had a golf date with my hubster scheduled..... BUSY day.

Well, I got almost all of it finished except the golf.  It rained.  Anywhoo, in order to get all of this done I had to wake up at 3AM people.  Thats right. It was early. My little boy Peter was staying at his cousins for the night so it I had my hubster run the first 7 or so miles with me.  It was still pitch dark then and I am kinda scared to run that early by myself......

I had him take a picture of me because typically when I run early I am the only one around and so he graciously agreed and when he was finished I was like, "so did I look cute?" he was like, "for sure" but obviously he had not cleaned the sleep out of his eyes because this picture of me suks. But who cares. I had been wanting an early bird picture of me for a while so at least I finally got one. Oh and that is my beastie dog Grisz who I do love but is kind of annoying to run with......

Then after the run, (which felt pretty good I suppose. I stopped by running club and thought I'd attempt to do the workout with them in the middle of my 22 but ended up making my way home early because the thought of so many more miles mixed with lots of speed just wore me out). After the run I busted it home changed clothes and rode my bike over to the drink station I was to be in charge of for the adoption 5k. It was SOOO much fun =) The course was not easy and it was so inspiring to see all these people out supporting a good cause.

The arrow is pointing to me cheering people on =) I do realize I was supposed to help with the drink station but cheering for people was just TOO much fun.  Thanks Jarrie for holding down the drink stop while I wandered.

It was cold and then it started to sprinkle so instead of golfing we decided to go to the mall eat to lunch and wander.  I am so happy Dan (my hubster) does not mind going to the mall and just seeing whats out there =) Growing up as a family we did this lots and I don't know why but I find it comforting..... So I wandered into the Gap and found some cute shorts for only 25 bucks and was in line to purchase.  But after waiting for what seemed like an eternity I bailed.  Too bad for The Gap....

Then after browsing the mall we did the next best thing and went to one of my local running stores. Yep, below is a picture of me sporting my new arm warmers. I actually wanted to buy some for my run Saturday but ran out of time, so although I am not sure when the next time I will need them is I know I eventually will and that was reason enough.

I also purchased my new favorite refueling tool, Cherry Lime flavored Roctane.  Its is FAB, just as good if not better then the Jet Blackberry GU..... give it a try I say.

Anyways, it was a great Saturday and now onto this week.  Here is my workout for this week if anyone wants to join me.

Today: 5 Miles slow
Tuesday: 10 Miles with tempo (2x2 miles at 10k pace with 5 minute recovery followed by 2x1 mile repeats at 10k pace with 3-4 minute recovery)
Wednesday: Swim class (YAY) and hopefully some Yoga
Thursday: 18 miles with 12@ marathon pace
Friday: I dunno yet, probably practicing my swimming and some yoga.
Saturday: Match and Move Fartlek....not sure what this is, I will show up to running club and find out I suppose.


Happy Running -Jen

My Run this morning.

21 miles at 3:07:46.  No I didn't make it to 22 and I don't care either!  I was tired and so ready for my run to be over.  I can't wait for my taper to begin!  I have one more 20 miler and then I am on my way down.  Woot!  Anyways so this is how it went down.

Remember earlier today when I said I was getting up at 6 to leave by 7?  Yeah well that didn't happen.  I got up, ate my cereal and that was me below. Still way way tired.  All I could think about was my bed so I decided to lie down for 15 more mins.  Uumm yeah I woke up at 9!  What!  It was great to get that rest though, I needed it.

Downside... 1. Now the streets will be more crowded.  Annoying
                    2. My Gu's that I froze, I left out and were now room temp.
                    3. I wouldn't get back till the afternoon

Ok whatever, there was nothing I could do about it now.  Headed downstairs at 9:30.  This is me, yes squinting but it was not really sunny. Yes that is me being happy. Ha! But do you see...no sweat yet.  Nice

This was at the top of my steps.  Can you see Spring is in full bloom?  It's nice and I love it when the scenery is pretty.

So I decided to head up to East 80th where I said I saw those awesome homes.  I wanted to get some pictures to show you guys.  They were so amazing.  I also decided to run up Park ave because I never go that way and no one is ever walking on Park Ave.  It's great!

Before I headed into the park I ran past the Guggenheim Museum.  Isn't it cool?!

I took a picture right before I left Central Park of running peeps.  Really there are more than this but most people don't come all the way around the back end.

As I was standing there eating my Gu, these squirrels were getting super close to me.  I think they wanted food.  In fact I almost felt like they understood me.  I said "Sorry squirrel I have no food for you" He looked right at me and then kinda backed off a little.  Weird, I was a little nervous that they were getting too close.  I mean animals here are more friendly because they are being feed all the time by people. Seriously I thought it was going to jump on me at one point.

Moving on, I ate my Gu's at mile 5, 10, 14.65, 19.  I carried this water bottle with me that saved me!  I know it is super small but I was able to fill it up when I went past a drinking fountain.  I like that it was small though because it didn't bother me to carry it. It was way light.

This is the dreaded bridge that I hate going back over at the end of my runs.  It is about 2.25 miles away from home.  My legs are always so tired by this point that I dread, dread, dread going back over it.  Although coming back down the other side is much much better.

This was the end!  Finally, I was tired and sweaty.  Can you tell??  I look upset right?  Yeah that is because my whole body was achying.  Once again I ran my long run too fast.  I really need to slow it down but was feeling rushed because I left so late.  I also got super annoyed because from mile 16-18 I had to make my way back from the West side to the East side.  There were so many people out and so many cars that I felt like it was stop and go.  It drives me nuts because my pace is all over the place. Whatever, just happy that it is over.

Going to have a tunes mix for you guys soon!  I tried to pay attention to what songs I liked the best on my ipod so I could make a better mix.  For some reason Norah Jones is on my ipod??  Not a huge fan and not sure how it got on there but it kept coming on, it was driving me nuts.  Seriously Norah is NOT running material.

Ok tunes coming soon!!

Did you guys have a long run today?

Are you ever afraid of animals while you are running?

Do you take breaks when you eat your Gu's?
I totally take little breaks :)  Helps me get through my long runs.

XX
Sarah

Friday

Yesterday morning I pulled myself out of bed to get to my 7 AM yoga class. Yes, I know... 7 is not that early but for me it was tough.  I feel like I never get to bed before Midnight which makes it that much harder to get up in the morning.

Ok so this was my first time at Bikram Yoga. I normally go to a Vinyasa class at Hosh yoga which I love but I also wanted to try the hot stuff.  Let me just say I will need a few days before I head back.  That place was HOT, I mean 1 1/2 hours of pure heat and sweatyness I thought I was going to pass out! I made it through and felt glad about that.  I will probably head back on Monday or Tuesday.  I would like to make one comment if I may?  Why oh why is the studio carpeted??  I mean yuck oh, all I could think about for 90 minutes was germs, am I going to pick up any germs??  I have my mat, I have my towel so please lets get something else besides the carpet that absorbs sweat and germs and move on to something more advanced??  Ok I am done now and will be going back.  

For my day job I design woman's clothing.  I own my own company called Edelweiss by Sarah so the majority of my morning was working on that but I was excited because I was giving myself a field trip to the Met to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit.   I made it up to the upper east side and had to wait in line just to get in!  Once I was in my whole energy level changed, I couldn't help but feel sadden by the loss of such a great designer and artist.  It was a very intense feeling for me.  After I walked through I had to explore a little more.  I love the Met and don't go enough. 

 

So after a little while my stomach was screaming, I had to eat fast.  I don't know why I didn't bring a snack with me.  I was panicked, my blood sugar was dropping at a rapid pace.  I was going to walk back to the train and then saw that Sigmund Pretzelshop had a truck outside the museum.  Score! So I got a pretzel dog with mustard.  Delish!

I happened to walk down one of the most beautiful streets in NYC.  East 80th, all of the town homes looked like Alexander Hamilton could have lived in them.  Very American Colonial. I was lame and only took a pic of the flowers on the street.

Before I headed back to the studio I needed to run by the Farmer's market in Union Square to pick up some honey from a local guy to help cure my terrible allergies.  Anybody else suffering from the same problems this spring??  Mine are really buggin.

Got home and ate this.... whole wheat english muffin with almond butter, banana and honey.  It was good.

 

Got back and did some more work before I headed back into the city once again to meet my man for dinner.  Because I have my 22 miler today I thought I would eat a bowl full of carbs for dinner... We really like this place in the East Village called Supper.  It took forever to get our food but it was still good.

I had the Tagliatelle al Prosciutto di Parma, very salty and good but way too much and have left overs for today.  I think I actually like eating cold pasta rather than warm.  Is that weird?

And no trip could be complete without a stop to my favorite fro yogurt place, 16 Handles. YUM!

Here we are headed back to Brooklyn on the motorcycle.  It was a little chilly so I had to wear my scarf up around my face.  I thought I looked like a ninja, Scott just looks like he has a black alien head. Luckily on a motorcycle it does not take us long to get home.  We can weave through traffic, it is wonderful.

A little late night TV and then reading of my book before I hit the hay.  22 miler starts at 7-7:30 at the latest.  Taking 3 frozen Gu's with me and a pack of sports beans AND I am carrying water with me.  No more of me hoping to find it on the run.  Everytime I do that I wind up only thinking about when I am going to get more water.  Spring is here, sun is out I am sweating so I need my water!!

PS My sister Heather was totally right on about freezing the Gu's.  Way better cool than hot!

What do you eat the night before a long run?
-I actually don't usually eat pasta, I don't really like it but I thought why not.

Also, what do you eat in the morning before a long run?
-Me, I am always eating grahams with Dark Chocolate Wonderful pb but gonna try a bowl of grape nuts and almond milk this time.

Happy Weekend!!
XX
Sarah

20 miles...okay, 18

Heather and I headed out for our 20 yesterday and this is how it went down....

Let me just say that we ended up just doing 18 instead of 20.  We ran around her neighborhood and were just shy of the 20 miles.  We were close to her place and Heather said we could go out another mile and come back and I just said, forget it, lets head in.  Do you ever have runs like that?  Where you miscalculate your mileage and fall short of your goal?  Do you make another loop around or call it a day?

Anyways, this is us before we headed out.  We had a few things to get done in the morning so we ended up leaving a little late.  It will still cool but the sun was starting to get hot.

First stop was at 5 miles where there was a CVS.  We ate a Gu and water, went to the bathroom and headed back out.  Feeling good so far.

Oh yes, and that is me below looking ridiculous pointing to our camera case.

This was right outside CVS.  It was so awesome that they had a bathroom and drinking fountain we could use.  Very convenient.

We ran on almost all trails.  Through neighborhoods and around lakes.  I was totally loving it because I am used to running in the city.  I loved being outside with fresh air and open space.  We went past these beautiful tulips that I had to take a picture.  Oh and we saw tons of birds!

So if your interested we found out that the Woodbury Runners meet here.  Anyone? Anyone?

This was our second stop at a CVS.  We went in this time to get a water and Gatorade.  We also ate another Gu.  We were getting a little tired but not bad.  But it was starting to get hot.

We came up with a nickname for my huge calves.  I mean, these babies are large and in charge :) I am not sure how I got such strong calves but I've got them.  So we are now referring to them as my boulders.  And yes I have to stretch my boulders out or they will get all tight and knotted.

The last 8 miles were completely on trails and in neighborhoods.  There were not anymore CVS so we had another Gu at mile 16. Oh yeah and Heather stepped on a snake and it totally freaked us out. Also at this point we were just plain tired and hot.  Ready to be done.  That is why when we got close to her place we decided to head in.

Overall is was a great run, the best part is that my sister is moving into a new house and until it is ready they had to move into an apt.  Their apt complex has a pool!  So we took a little swim after to cool down our legs.  It felt great!

Where do you guys like to run?  Trails? Neighborhood? Gym?

Do you like GU?  Or what is your favorite carb/sugar treat for endurance?

Music?

Hope you all have a great weekend!

XX

Sarah and Heather

Traveling to the M_N

Yay, I am so excited that I am headed to MN today!  I did all my packing last night so I wouldn't forget anything.  I really don't like checking a bag so I have mastered the art of the carry on.  I seriously love carrying my bag on.  It saves so much time and stress.  I have lost my bag a couple of times (luckily they found it) but it still puts a damper on the trip.

I am going for a whole week.  It will be so great because I will get to workout with my sister Heather.  All of my workouts, I do alone.  While most of the time I don't mind it, it is just during the long runs that it would be nice to have a buddy.

So this is what I am bringing...

 My running gear is always super important to have for trips that I know I will be running. Garmin, Gu, Spi Belt, Garmin charger, Running shoes, workout clothes. Arm band warmer things.(apparently it snowed there yesterday??) and my Ipod Shuffle.

 Gu!  I will be doing a long run while I am there and must bring the flavors I like.  You never know if you will be able to find it.  It took me a long time to warm up to Gu so now I make sure I always have my favorites on hand.

 

Good reading material.  I seriously love my kindle.  It is so great to just keep my books on it.  I will say there are still some books I would rather read in paper back. But if it is a fictional book, it is going on my kindle.  I just started The Paris Wife. 

Snack for the plane.  Is anyone else totally annoyed by what the airlines have to offer these days?!  And if you do want something good you have to pay $5-$10 for it.

Totally Lame.

This is the duffel.  It is great because I can just strap it on like a back pack.  It is hard to tell in the picture but it has a rectangle shape to it.

 Don't worry guys, I packed all my other clothes too, I just only felt the need to show you my running stuff.

Do you have certain things you have to travel with?

Do you carry on?

Do you bring snacks on the plane?  If so what do you bring?

Do you workout when you go home to visit family?

Hope to have some great pix from the trip and will post later.

XX
Sarah