Category Archives: jogging

What’s blooming and challenge to myself.

Gorgeous Sunday here, absolutely gorgeous! And I have to work LOL! Although it has been really slow, so I am getting stuff done around the house. Went to Panera Bread for our ritual bagel: Asiago cheese here:

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Then grocery shopping. Lots and lots of good stuff, including some new Chobani greek yogurt flavors: Pomegranate and Pineapple. You’ll see those this week. I was so excited to find them. I think I embarassed John about how excited I was to find them. Or maybe it was my dancing to the store music 😀

And these were in and on sale!

clems

So, I after some thinking and pondering, I decided that part of me is just being a baby about getting off the last bit of weight. It’s because I love food ( ya think??), and tend to not want to limit myself. I think the possibility of going to Cancun in January also makes me want to work a bit harder. I won’t have to do much, just trim back some of the extras for a bit (like those little cinnamon rolls!). In general, just tighten up the food. The exercise portion is totally fine. So, I decided I am going to give myself a challenge to lose 4 pounds during September. Those long-time followers know this is going to be hard, I am the turtle queen even when things are going well LOL!

Anyone want to join me in a personal challenge for September? It doesn’t have to be weight loss; it could be exercise, or eating more whole grains, keeping your desk free of clutter, or saying something positive to yourself each day. We can just check in once or twice a week here to be accountable.

Lunch was a deliciously sweet/tart kiwi with a grilled wrap stuffed with chicken and cheese spread and broccoli (yep, broccoli at lunch today, not dinner!).

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John made up some homemade chocolate sauce, so I had to have some on my latte today. We have a squeeze bottle for it so I can make pretty patterns. For those curious, we drink 1% milk at home.

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Met with one of my tenants today (the good one) and he gave his 30-day notice to leave as he is buying a house. I am a little bummed since he was such a great tenant. Always on time with the rent, very polite, etc. Will be speaking with the other tenant in a few days to see what he wants to do. If he wants to move, I will probably try putting it on the market, but I imagine he will get a room mate and stay. Anyone want to buy a house? LOL.

It was so nice out that I took a run before dinner. I just wanted to do 2 miles and hopefully get under 10 minutes for each mile.

Total time: 19:20 (9:40 per mile). I was pretty happy with that (and sweaty).

sweaty We were going to make a vegetarian chili for dinner, but I was hot and sweaty, and I wanted something lighter and cool for dinner. So yogurt, cereal, and berries it is!

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Starting to get some fall blooms in the garden!

Liriope:

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Sedum:

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Aster:

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Mums will be blooming soon.

Question: Anyone up for a personal September challenge?

Breakfast – it’s what’s for lunch!

Rainy and humid last night, but the morning showed some promise so we decided to go for a light run. I was not hungry when I woke up (shocking) so decided just to head out the door. It was so humid, which would have been okay, but then the sun came out and it felt so ucky while jogging! I told myself I needed to do 2 miles, then I could stop or keep going if I wanted. John had already pulled way ahead right from the start. I wanted to be slow because of my hamstring and just resting up for race day on Sat. After 2 miles, I was sweating so bad my forearms were dripping sweat (eeeewwwwww!!). Now that is sweaty. I decided on 1 more lap and then walked one. Turns out I lost count and actually ran 2.5 miles LOL! John was counting for me.

Had a lighter breakfast today of waffles and blueberries.

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Got right to work and was hungry not long after. I did not have enough fat or protein with brekkie and wanted something nice and solid in my tummy for lunch. So my go-to when I want to be full? Oat bran! I was feeling nice and cool after my shower and the house was shady in the morning with a nice breeze, so I didn’t mind a hot lunch.

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1/3 cup (40 grams) oat bran
1 small mashed banana
2 tbsp PB2
dash of cinnamon
topped with a few dark chocolate chips.

Look how melty they get on top. Sooo good.

ob2

Had a fairly craptacular day with work. I am learning a new account which is really frustrating, plus they upgraded their software which created real problems on our end. On top of that – a visit to the dentist today and they have to redo a filling because I may have a possible abscess forming, although we are hoping doing the new filling will take care of that and I won’t need a root canal. Then I find out that there is some damage to my rental property which needs to be taken care of. One of those days where you just want to cry, you know?

So – I told John I wanted to go out for dinner. We dropped off a couple library books that were due today and decided on Rock Hill Bakehouse. Very nice place with a politically outspoken owner. It’s casual there and very airy feeling:

rock

Flowers at the table:

flowers

They serve local everything here and small company stuff (no Coke or Pepsi products!), so meat is okay here. I ordered the Grandpa Smith sandwich, which is ham, cheddar cheese, granny smith apple, honey mustard served on grilled cinnamon raisin bread. Yum!

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My choice of side was a lemon pistachio biscotti, which I shared with John.

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With all the problems earlier and the dental appointment, I am going to be working late tonight, so I had better get back at it. Sometimes I wish I led this life:

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6-miler and Crispy Fruit

Decided today would be the 6-mile run, as there is a 5K race Saturday morning so I wanted to space it far out from that. John went with me, although just to do 3 miles around the track. Fueled up with the english muffin/nut butter combo. I wish I had let this digest a wee bit longer before heading out the door.

I was going somewhat fast, my goal today was to finish in 1:10 or less for the 6 miles. I did it in 1:07. I finished 3 miles in 32 minutes, so I got slower in the last half (but some of that was for liquid breaks). Overall pretty consistent, though. I brought along a coconut water to have after the first 3 miles. Drank some at 3.5 miles, then 4.5 miles and 5.5 miles. I was starting to feel a bit fatigued then, but a little voice actually told me to keep going after 6 miles – which I promptly kicked to the curb 😀

I wore my trisuit for this run. I so love this outfit! Yay! I will wear it this weekend for the race.

I think I will make a decision on the 1/2 marathon once I get up to around 8 or 9 miles and see how that feels.

I won a drawing over at Annabel’s blog Feed Me I’m Cranky of some Crispy Greens dried fruit which arrived today (thanks Annabel!).

crispy

She also generously put in some Amazing Grass samples, so I will get to trying those soon as well. I had to try the dehydrated pear:

pear It looks like cubes of crusted white bread, doesn’t it? Tasty though. Not really crunchy like a dehydrated fruit that has oil on it. 40 calories for the whole bag. Fun!

Another new food item I tried today is this strawberry pluot I got at the store the other day:

plum1 It is supposed to have a taste of strawberries, and it kind of does! It is more tart than a plum, with a berry background. Really yummy and super juicy. Grocery stores are really stocking some of the most interesting things now!

I can’t even begin to say how much easier it has been to get my eating back on track after stopping the intense triathlon training. The scale is starting to drift back down again, which makes me happy. I think you really can hinder weight loss with a lot of exercise, which is why I really did not focus on weight loss while training (although I could have been more careful LOL).

Question: Have you tried any new produce this year?

5 mile run and feuling for exercise

Got up today and decided on another 5 mile run (or jog, I guess… whatever). I fueled up with a wheat english muffin, 1 half with PB and the other half with the last bit of almond butter. This is toasted, but doesn’t look like it in the picture.

muff

So this is about 150 calories. I found it to be good fuel for the run. Not too much, but just enough to keep me energized.

I knocked some time off the last one! I did the 5 miles in 57:15 (last time was 59:01). Still not pushing it, but staying comfortable. Yay – and it burned 600 calories!

I only fuel for longer workouts. If I was only going for 3 miles, I would have just done that and come back and eaten breakfast. During the week, I exercise first thing in the morning. Now that I am done with the triathlon, I am settling into a less intense workout program, which is kind of nice! When my workouts last longer than an hour, I fuel up before hand. Except for running – anything over 3 miles gets morning fuel.

If I exercise later in the day, I do not fuel up as I have been eating all day prior to that.

While if you exercise on an empty stomach, your body will have to dive into its fat stores to gain energy, but this is wasteful (IMHO). That makes the body work harder than it should just to get energy, let alone burn it – making your workout less effective and making you more tired. Your muscles store about 300 calories of glycogen at any given time – which is your fuel for workouts). That covers about 3 miles of jogging (100 calories per mile). Anything over that and you should give your body some fuel to consume that is mostly simple digesting carbs with a bit of protein and fat so your body doesn’t “flash” through it with a glucose spike.

This is why carbs are really important in a diet when you exercise just as much as protein.

Great pre-workout snacks tested by me?

1/2 bagel with nut butter

Zone bars

english muffin with nut butter

cheese and crackers (if you can eat that in the moring. I don’t like cheese when I first get up, although I could eat it for the rest of the day all day long).

Banana and nut butter

Stonyfield yogurt smoothie

I have found these fuels to be the optimum ones that give me energy without feeling full and not making me ravenous when I am done.

What are your workout fuels?

Taper week and garden.

No Y this morning since I am not lifting or swimming. I actually slept in until a little after 7!! I wanted to do an easy run today. I finally understand what easy run means. Running always used to be hard, no matter what the distance LOL! Today I did a slow jog and kept it at that pace for 3 miles. Usually I do intervals or push the last 1/2 mile or so (sometimes because I want to finish), but today I just kept a steady slow pace and it was kind of refreshing rather than tiring. Interesting…..

Came back to some pumpkin oats topped with Fig Almond Spread. Yum! These oats I have now are a bit different than the usual brand, almost thicker – so they take up less volume and makes the pumpkin seem like a lot more than the usual 1/2 cup.

brekkie

Did work with the business since my job was a little slow this morning due to the holiday holdover. Then came in for lunch.

Chobani mixed with Barleans Omega Swirl instead of honey (which turned it purple!), chopped strawberries, and Fiber One cereal.

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I have shown closeups of the garden, but here is a picture of my house on the whole.

house2 That’s it for yard space. We have absolutely no back yard, as there is a shop attached onto the back of the house (where there probably was a back yard at some point, presumably). So, I get to garden around the front and to the side. It’s a very big old house, 100 years old. Bigger than 2 of us need. I actually like it a lot, but it is on a busy street. We only bought it because of the shop on the back.

garden

Finally had work to do, and then it was snack time! latte3

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I also made some fresh pesto with porch basil!

basil

I incorporated that into what was supposed to be an omelet, but turned out more like scrambled eggs. Pretty tasty, though.

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So, I am going to be working late tonight since it was so slow this morning. That is one thing that stinks about working on a productivity basis.

Only doing the run today made me really realize how much time this training has taken up during my week for the last few months. I think I am going to enjoy this rest week!

Question: What do you do with bonus time during the day when it comes by surprise?

Run, smoothies and Starbies

So, I did my 4 mile run today. We ate breakfast first:

waffles Something different! Nutrigrain waffles with blueberries. Very good. They were decent fuel for the run, but thinking back I probably should have had more protein.

Anyway, the run went well. John decided to do 3 miles, and he started faster than I did around the track. He got about 1/2 a lap ahead of me and then never pulled any faster. He said he was starting to lose steam. I am a pretty consistent runner once I hit my comfort pace. I did the 4 miles in about 43 minutes – which I am quite pleased about!

Lunch was a green smoothie:

4thgm

several handfulls of spinach
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tablespoon of Barleans Omega Swirl
cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 scoops of vanilla protein powder
ice and 1 cup of water

I was still a little hungry, so John and I split a Special K Chocolatey Chip protein bar:

skbar

It was good, but really too sweet. The texture was nice, and I loved the little chips on top. Although – it is a soy bar, and those are being phased out of my diet (eventually…..).

The mall was open today, so we went looking at a recumbent bike along with shopping for new bike shorts for John. His are getting worn out from all our riding! No luck though, but we ended up going to Starbucks for a siesta:

latte1 Tall skim latte and a petite vanilla scone:

pvs The scones are one of the few things that you can count on being fresh at this Starbies because they are popular. Other baked goods are really hit or miss.

Spent time weeding the garden bed. Have neglected it and all the rain has sent the weeds into a tizzy! Need to buy mulch tomorrow.

Someone else was pretty lazy today:

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Since it is the 4th, tradition says you must barbeque! So, we did some pork on skewers with maple bbq sauce.

Snacked on these while waiting for the pork to cook.

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Dinner served with my 2 standbys!

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Today was my last hard workout before the triathlon. This week is rest and light workouts. I’ll be able to sleep in more, hopefully!

Stop on over and wish Susan good luck with her triathlon on Sunday!

Did any of you barbeque?

10K and fueling

No weights this week (although I have to say that I look forward to starting them again next week!). It was a beautiful morning, so I ran at home. I tried a different pre run fuel:

newtons

Whole grain fig newtons! I haven’t had these in a while, but a training book recommended them as an easy preworkout snack. Yum! They were good in that they didn’t fill my stomach up, and I got some quick energy from them. I then proceeded to jog for 6 miles again! I think I am getting the hang of the longer runs. I need to try one on a day where I have a full breakfast and then run an hour later (whenever I find the time!).

Came back to eat a bowl of oats cooked with a banana and cocoa powder, topped with some peanut butter that I made with cocoa powder. Chocolately delicious breakfast! p6080003

I used a really ripe banana. The store sells overripe bananas at a discount and I got a bunch of 8 for 59 cents! I keep them in the freezer and pull them out for cooking.

There was also an awesome sale at the grocery store where bulk pine nuts were 99 cents a pound – regularly $19.99 a pound. What a steal! So we got a big bag of them and I incorporated them into my wrap:

Chicken with feta cheese, spring mix and the pine nuts. It was tasty.

wrap

Long day of work today. Sometimes it is very sad doing transcription. There are so many people out there who ignore their doctor’s advice and pay the consequences. Then they have to take so many medications, sometimes 10 or more in a single day! I can’t imagine how they keep those straight.

I was in a fruity mood for dinner. I used this tropical fruit mixture with pinapple, mango, papaya, strawberry protein powder and water.

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With baby carrots. It was more like a lunch!

Question for you – do you purchase produce past it’s prime ever at a discount?

Spring Garden and Breakfast

Woke up a little early this morning. I went out for a run and decided to do another 6 miles. I ran one 5K loop back to the house, had 1/2 a balance bar and some water, which I left on the porch, then John joined me for the second 5k. That was fun! We then met my parent’s out for breakfast – they wanted to take me out for my birthday – thanks parentals!! We went to Samantha’s Catering, which has really great prices and wonderful food. I can’t believe that I ordered oatmeal LOL! But it came with maple syrup and milk, plus a side of homemade wheat toast (carb overload, anyone?)

oats

My parents each got the french toast, which looked to die for. Think John and I might come and split an order of this:

toast

Been a nice day today. I got a chance to spend a good amount of time cleaning up my garden bed. It looks quite good for late spring! We have had rain and it is nice and green. Unfortunately, we have almost no free dirt to garden in. The back of our house has a large workshop and garage on it, so I am limited to the front of the house and a wee bit on the side.

Here is the front. When they did road work and laid new water and gas lines, they tore up all the front yards, almost right up to my garden, so the lawn looks pretty sorry now, but it is getting better:

front

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Some close ups of my roses:

This is High Society climber that is pretty short right now:

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This is Sunsprite – and I will talk more about this rose in a couple weeks, it has very special significance (teaser!)

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This is a Knockout Shrub – you can see it is the biggest in the picture and blooms like a son of a gun all summer. Not too fragrant though.

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Here was an earlier picture from May with my black and white tulips: tulips

It’s latte time! We are going to a New Orleans inspired place for dinner called Bistro Talullah. Yum! Good thing I ran 6 miles today, right?

10K!!

I was going to go to the Y this morning, but since I wasn’t swimming, and I am lifting weights tomorrow (only 2 lifting workouts this week), I decided not to waste the gas driving to the Y to run. It certainly was nice enough this morning to head outside. I fueled up with half a Balance bar (approx 100 calories) and then proceeded to run 6 miles (I like the sound of 10K better, though)!! Took me about an hour and 15 minutes. We used Map My Walk to plan out several different 5K loops from our house, so I did one of them, and then did a second one. I definitely can go further than that, which is kind of exciting! I would for sure need to refuel after 6 miles along with a big water stop to keep going. You know, I commented on my chubby thighs yesterday, but they are quite muscular and can certainly do a lot for me, so thank you thighs!

I need to just take a day and see how far I can go. My knees were complaining a little bit towards the end. I was diagnosed with chondromalacia patella back in college (dare I say 20 years ago??), and my knees sound like rice krispies when I flex them (which I do to bug John sometimes, stinker that I am) – but they really are never very painful. I might think about some braces or wraps for longer runs just to be on the safe side and prevent injury.

Not to mention the bonus of burning over 700 calories with that run, after which I had this!

bagel

Anyone who has read my blog a lot knows I loves me some bagels! I actually had someone comment once that I wouldn’t lose weight eating bagels. Guess they should have told me that 100+ pounds ago…..

I am just enjoying those post run endorphins now!

Is the icy grip of winter over?

Today was in the 30s, above freezing, and tomorrow it might actually rain! On top of feet of snow, that should be fun.
Anyway, it really feels like we might have turned a corner on the death grip of winter. I love the change in seasons, but this winter seemed harder than usual. A winter home in New Orleans is more than tempting.

So anyway, I went out for a nice jog today. The sun came out for a bit, so I tried to soak up some vitamin D before it went behind clouds. I also got up this morning and did an exercise DVD – I have a whole hour of cardio already under my belt for the day.

I notice with my GoWear fit that there are a lot of flat lines in it. Some of that I can’t help, as I do computer work and can’t up and move around during that time. I do, however, need to quit with the computer games at night and do something. Although until it gets warm enough, it has to be something inside – but I can only do so much in the way of DVDs, as I try to do 60 minutes a day – and squeeze in strength training on 4 of those days, so I’m not really inclined to do much more than that.
I also note with the GoWear fit that I need to try to get more sleep. Or better sleep. It shows the restlessness that I have sometimes, and tells me how efficient my sleep is. Last night it was 91% and a little less than 7 hours.

I don’t feel lazy, but maybe I am.

Oh, and stay tuned early next week – Finding Radiance will have its first Giveaway!! Woo Hoo!!