Tiny Thunder Running

Last week my short runs were TERRIBLE. Completely terrible. Tuesday I could barely make it 3 miles. My legs were so tight and 3 miles felt like 30. Wednesday I had such a bad headache and was so rundown I have in and took the day off. Thursday I was supposed to run with a friend, but because my headache was still hanging on for dear life and I was still feeling exhausted I decided to go it alone on the dreaded treadmill. The first 3 miles were the biggest struggle ever. I seriously stopped at each mile trying to stretch and loosen my legs to making running even just a tad more enjoyable. At mile 3, I took a bathroom break. After that it seemed my body finally got on board and realized I wasn't giving up. Finished out pretty well and felt pretty good. After the frustrating short runs of the week, my spirit and love for running was a little down and broken. In fact, Saturday morning I was really tempted to throw in the towel and not go on my long run. I knew I had a super busy da...

Sorry I have missed quite a few weeks of inspiration... the weeks just slip by sometimes. Its like you blink once it's Monday, blink again.. it's Friday! Without further a due... here here here Seriously- just stop it. Stop DIETING. Pick foods that align with your goals. Treat yourself every now and then, but don’t diet.. PLEASE! here here here As always, I hope you found something to inspire you :) Happy Thursday!! 

And it's name is PRO70. I got to sample this new product as part of the SweatPink Ambassador group. Manitoba Harvest sent me Vanilla and Chocolate protein powders. With the Vanilla.. I kept it super simple and easy. Almond milk and the powder. That's it. Not frills or thrills about it. It was nice and smooth tasting. No weird grit that I could tell- like some other proteins I have tried.  For the chocolate, I decided to mix it up a little bit. I grabbed some ice, my almond milk, a little cold brewed coffee and some peanut butter. I blended it up in my (lame) bullet blender and ta-da!! It turned out pretty deliciously. If I had a better blender it probably would have actually BLENDED a little better, but really no complaints.  I can't say either powder had a super strong flavor either way but at least they were pleasant tasting, smooth, and plant-based. Although I am not vegetarian or vegan, sometimes it's just nice to make good decisions about what...

So unlike doing other things with “strangers” I have decided I like running with them. Ok ok. So not like pick up a random person off the street and go run with them. What I am talking about are people from the local River Runners group who I have never met before in my life. We connected briefly over the Facebook page for the group.. but other than that.. yep- strangers.  Verdict?  I loved it. I met Don and Marni (and a whole pile of others) at 6am on Saturday morning to run my farthest yet- 18 miles. Don is this super cool “father figure” type man who has all these awesome and inspiring running stories from his career thus far. Marni is a mother of one daughter who is still somewhat new to running and especially to the long distance scene- she is also training for the same marathon as her FIRST.  Don, Marni and I set off on our journey toward the river while some of the others in the group took a lap (or 2) around Wildwood Park (AKA hill city) to start out their ...

Seriously. It's not cool. Especially now that my new favorite thing in the world,  PocketFuel Naturals  is serious NUT BUTTER. People. You seriously must try this undiscovered amazing invention.  A little background... When I made the decision to train to complete my first marathon, I knew I needed to find a better fuel than all the GUs of the world. These artificial gels gave me unspeakable pain/GI issues that lasted the entire day after consumption. I knew that  Energybits  was part of that equation but knew I'd need something else as well.  I actually reached out to Jonathan, their community manager, to see what he used since he recently completed his first marathon. What did he recommend? POCKETFUEL! I checked the website and was ecstatic to realize two local stores carried the product. These feelings were quickly crushed when I arrived there and they had no idea what I was talking about. I decided to reach out to the company to see if maybe ...

This week was a pretty intense one as far as marathon training went. Tuesday I ran with a local running group and had a decent 5 mile run but it left my stomach feeling terrible and I went to bed early. Wednesday I was supposed to have a run date, but she cancelled due to a terrible migraine. I took this as a sign I should rest after Tuesday night anyway. Thursday I decided I would try to conquer a 10-miler!! This is the farthest I have gone on a week night and I was honestly pretty happy with how it went. The only thing that would have made it better would have been hydrating properly. The humidity had gone back up, but I just put straight water in my camelbak. Bad idea. I was dying. I had to stop at a gas station for gatorade. The best part? The guy tells me they were 2/$3. I just looked at him and was like... "uhhh, yea. I don't have anywhere to put it." Some people don't use their noggins. I had on a pair of shorts, a sports bra and a camelback. Duh. ...

Yesterday I completed my second official half-marathon distance race. Completed is really all I can say. Given the insane conditions of the race- extreme heat and humidity- I will forever revel in my 2:20 and some odd seconds finish. Before I get into the details of the race, let's talk about the super awesome time Friday night!! Emily and I got to the expo right around 2pm, picked up our packets/goody bags and walked around a bit. I got to talk with  Nate  for a bit and catch up on running triumphs and plans for the remainder of the year. I wanted to wait around to buy a copy of  Chris McDougall's Born to Run . I have wanted to read this book for quite a while so getting this opportunity to meet him and have him sign a copy of the book was quite awesome. I can't wait to see where this book takes me and I think it will serve as great inspiration for the second half of marathon training. You could order quilts made of your old T's!  And the famous ROAD APPL...

After being so tired last week, I decided to try out just doing two weekday runs and the long run Saturday. Did it help? Tuesday's run felt like a disaster and much more than the 7 miles it was. Honestly, if I wasn't running with a friend who was determined to complete it, I may not have. It was hot, my shoes were too lose and too tight, my legs felt a little like lead, and my head/heart didn't seem to be in this run. I was excited, as always, to have someone to run with but I just felt BLAH. Thursday was AWESOME. I ran from my house to the nearby Negley Park, around the hilly part of the park a few times, and then ran home. The air was much cooler than Tuesday and I felt so FREE!! No water pack, no flip belt. Just me, my shoes, and garmin. It felt really great to run the hills to and from the park as well as those in the park. A really great workout overall- this was a nice feeling since most of my shorter runs lately have been torture. Then came Saturday...