run this amazing day

There were a lot of great things about this week, but I think the best thing about it is that it's over.  Not because it was bad, but because my training was rearranged into two back-to-back high volume weeks, and I'm wiped.  Now it's time to cut everything back and let my body get strong; while it's doing that, I'm going to go take a nap. I rode the success of last week's long run pretty far into the week.  Monday I managed to get out on my bike for an easy-paced 40 miles - the longest ride of my training cycle so far.  I didn't bring enough nutrition and it rained on me for 30 minutes, but it was a great ride.  However, I didn't eat enough during the ride or after, which dumped me into a calorie deficit that I was still trying to get out of when track rolled around Tuesday evening.  My legs felt great but my stomach was in full sloshing revolt and 800s were on the schedule.  I worked my way steadily through, doing 8x800 and hitting them all in a 5-s

This post is mostly for Lauren , who is running the Hyannis Marathon on Sunday.  She is primed and ready to smash it.  A week or so ago, she put out a request for mantras and music suggestions.  Babes, here you go! Coming back to running hasn't been easy.  And the mental battle is somehow much tougher while running than while cycling or swimming.  I have a few mantras, things I repeat to myself when I'm trying to get through the 8th 800 or talking myself through finishing a tempo run.  Quite a few other bloggers play on a quote - "There will come a day when you can no longer do this.  Today is not that day."  I love that, but the way it plays out in my head is a bit different.  There have been a lot of days where I wasn't able to run, where I was sad and unhappy and jealous of everyone who could.   Not today.  And that's what I think, what I let beat along with my feet, what I was thinking last night while trying to finish out a tough 4M tempo.  Not today.

1. The turkey slider recipe! Put this in a bowl: 1lb of ground turkey, I use 99% lean 1/3-1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese 1 clove minced garlic 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs salt ground black pepper chili powder red pepper flakes Smush it all up with your hands.  Make small patties - this recipe gave me 16 sliders.  Heat up about 2 tbsp oil in a pan.  Dust each slider with flour and drop in hot oil.  Flip after a minute or two.  When both sides are crispy, pour about 3 cups of white wine over them and turn heat down to low.  Let simmer for a while until cooked through.   I sliced hot dog buns in half and put them in the toaster oven with gorgonzola cheese, then topped them with a slider, ketchup, and pickles.  They were delicious. 2. I'm trying to make a decision about drinking during taper.  Hang on, I'm not a boozehound.  The last time I trained for a half, I didn't drink a single drop throughout the entire training cycle (until I got injured 3 weeks out, then that all went

Another cooking experiment resulted in the most delicious turkey sliders I've ever had. They were gone before I even thought to take a picture (this shot stolen from Emily ).  Ignore my straight-out-of-the-pool hair, the frosting on my shirt, the puppy butt and the look on the poet's  face.  I'm sure he was just thinking about how special our marriage is.

Last night I sat for - and passed - my final exam for my final class of my MBA, despite my slightly less-than-awesome studying habits this time around.  I celebrated with these: and a bunch of this: And then thought it was a good idea to catch up on my blog reading and commenting.  Erm, sorry about that.  Happy Tuesday!

This might be one of the best training weeks I've had in a long time.  I feel like I locked into almost every workout I did, and finished each feeling like I had achieved exactly what I set out to do.  This was also my first - but certainly not last - 15+ hour week of half IM training.  The last 4 weeks have all been in the 10-13 hour range, but this is the first time I've gone over 15 since last summer, and guess what, players, I'm here to stay. Following the 5K last Sunday , I launched straight back into training, headfirst, mouth open.  I got in 3 swims this week, one of which is my highest yardage swim since I pulled my intercostal.  I've been really frustrated with my short pool workouts, but now I'm almost to the point where I feel like it's worth it to go to the pool, especially when combined with pool running.  I took it easy ("easy" being a relative term here) at the track on Tuesday night in the 2x800, 1x1600, 2x800 workout, but smashed my

1. I watched the first episode of "Secret Life of An American Teenager" last weekend.  Big mistake.  Huge.  It's awful and I can't look away from the blood-letting. 2. I'm taking a fake rest day.  24 hours, no exercise.  So what if it's 9am - 9am?  It's still 24 hours off. 3.  I always wait about 9 days too long to go back for a bikini wax. 4. I took a shower every day this week (M-T-W-R).  Huge fail. 5.  I guess this is "random facts about this week." 6. I just finished reading the Harry Potter books backwards.   7. I finally started reading "Racing Weight" and my body is 100% the body of the "cyclist."  Well, crap. 8. I'm starving all the time, I'm exhausted, my legs are totally beat up, and I'm only training for a half marathon plus a half IM.  What happens when I train for a full? 9. I'm thrilled to have legs that are totally beat up from running. 10. I don't like reading book

Hi friends!  I'm done being cranky, I promise.  HURRAH BIG PR FOR ME! 1. Big big giant running news yesterday that is unlikely to ever have anything to do with me: changes to the registration and qualification process for the Boston Marathon.  For those of you that this directly affects, what do you think?  Being on the outside, I actually feel like this is a pretty fair way to change things, but I'd love to hear from everyone else.  The discussions I've seen in the past 12 hours have been fascinating.   I'm also a giant nerd and would love to see the numbers behind the decision.  As in, what percentage of the 2010 field would have been eliminated by the 2013 standards?   For the record, a 3:20 marathon (my get-in-right-away qualifier) is faster average pace than the 5K I ran on Sunday.  Um.  Right.  YAY KATIE!  Also, I'd probably have to stop getting injured every other day.  But seriously, what do you guys think?   Along those lines, I'll be in Boston

I'm not pretty when I PR. I guess it's actually not that much better after. Remember?  During? After. Does anyone know why my thighs look like that?  Oh, right.  Genetics.

Note: when I first posted this, comments weren't working.  Then they started working, but then a bunch of people let me know that this didn't show up in the RSS readers.  So, my apologies if you see this twice, but hopefully this one will post! ______________________________________________________________ Okay, I think I’m done with the woe-is-me wallow in misery.  I can’t wallow for long anyway, I’ve got lots of races to train for, and lots more to be cranky about. Last week was a solid week, even though I turned my training schedule on its head.  My original plan was to flip my long run and recovery run days, and to just stack up some miles after the 5K to get to 9 for the day.  I was also planning on skipping Thursday night’s tempo run in favor of an easy run.  I think it was Tuesday night after track that the lightbulb in my big fat head went on - I could do my long run on Thursday, recovery run on Friday, pool run on Saturday, and turn up to the 5K with fresh legs, but st

Okay, I think I’m done with the woe-is-me wallow in misery.  I can’t wallow for long anyway, I’ve got lots of races to train for, and lots more to be cranky about. Last week was a solid week, even though I turned my training schedule on its head.  My original plan was to flip my long run and recovery run days, and to just stack up some miles after the 5K to get to 9 for the day.  I was also planning on skipping Thursday night’s tempo run in favor of an easy run.  I think it was Tuesday night after track that the lightbulb in my big fat head went on - I could do my long run on Thursday, recovery run on Friday, pool run on Saturday, and turn up to the 5K with fresh legs, but still have gotten a longer run in for the week.  It also meant I could go straight to brunch after the race without having to worry about getting more miles in after stuffing myself with waffles and whipped cream.  Win. Looking back, this was the best way to do things.  After trying to figure out 9 different ways I c

This is a tough post for me to write, for many reasons, not least of which because I should be out celebrating instead of wallowing in disappointment. First, I really do want to say this.  Over the past few months, I’ve tried to take the focus of the blog off of pace.  I read some really great posts in the blog world about this topic a few months ago, and while I didn’t chime in with my two cents (strange), I did completely agree.  And with that, I’ve stopped posting my daily workouts with average paces and full descriptions of how fast and slow every moment of the workout was.  I do post my workout overall times in the weekly wrap, but not to give you math people the chance to figure it out, just to show the amount of time I’m working.  I totally get it: my fast is your slow, or my slow is your fast, and it’s all relative.  Going along with that, I’ve tried to take my own focus off my pace at any given moment.  I’ve been generally running my tempo workouts without looking at my Garmin

1. I sleep with one leg sticking out from under the covers, but I have to have the blankets pulled up over my shoulders or I will just freak out. 2. I really really really despise touch typing.  I turn on autocorrect, but it pisses me off, so I turn it off, and then all my texts & emails are completely illegible.   3. I always use fabric softener or the laundry detergent with fabric softener inside.  I don't like the smell of clean clothes without it. 4. Unread email messages in my inbox makes me itchy.  But getting new emails makes me happy and excited. 5. I have Burt's Beeswax chapstick in about 34 places: car, purses, desk, computer bag, saddle bag on my bike, iFitness belt, everywhere.   6. I am thinking about selling my motorcycle to help pay for my new bike because I've only ridden it once in the past year.   7. I ate about 1/2lb of fresh grated parmesan cheese last night on my pizza slices.  This is not out of the ordinary. 8. I've tried