Week 1 of Half Training Done - check!

Week 1 of training plan - done! 3 three mile runs and 1 four mile run in Saturday.  I was procrastinating getting my run in Saturday morning and my friend Erin text me & told me to get my ass in gear :)  My 4 miles Saturday felt pretty good & I ran a lot faster than usual...

I was very happy with that! Me & Charlie cooling off - I have tried to run with him a couple times but he is still in puppy phase and zig zagging around and looks back at me like 

"WTF are we running from?!?" :)

So this week will be a repeat of last as far as training goes - 3 three mile runs and 1 four mile run. And....I will actually register for the race on June 1st as there is a discount on this day. It still is a little daunting to me but - just tackling it one week at a time.

As far as my nutrition - I have splurged a bit on the holiday weekend. We did a beer brunch yesterday morning post-run at Brasserie with Perennial beer pairings. It was delicious but... I think the Side Project pairing was a little bit better.

So we split everything... half the calories half the fat, right?  I will share my two favorite dishes from he brunch.

These beignets were the first part of the meal (not on menu) and wow, these are so very fluffy - amazing!

 Poached eggs over asparagus and a hollandaise mustard sauce & crispy potatoes - so very rich but so good!

I was very happy that I got my miles in before brunch....definitely helped put a dent in the calorie damage for the day. Today will be some food prep for the short week ahead (off on Friday to take Charlie to the vet) - Hope everyone has an awesome holiday weekend.

Training Plan & the Struggle Bus

One of the roadblocks I have always had while training for a half is how daunting 13.1 miles sounds to run - all at one. A friend said to me once "so that's running for over 2 hours straight...you realize that right?" - well that sounds super fun. Not. That actually sounds heinous to me!

So the mind game I have to constantly play is tricking myself into NOT thinking of it like that. Set out a plan, get my miles in for the day & focus on the week ahead. Be proud of what I have accomplished and not freak out over the work ahead.

Yesterday was one of those days where I had to convince myself to just put one foot in front of the other and move my ass. After a long day at the office, I was tired mentally. I was a little stressed. It was the final Blues hockey game. It was Wednesday before a long holiday weekend. It was hot out (no, it was not but I was justifying my 'not today' argument). Truth be told - I wanted to put on yoga pants, pour a glass of wine & lay on the couch. Truth.

After tossing around my options in my mind for a good 30 minutes and lots of pouting to my husband. I decided to just suck it up buttercup, throw on my Brooks & hop on the treadmill.
After getting my 3 wee miles on the treadmill I felt great, relaxed, more energized & centered. And - I was happy to have a glass of wine guilt free :)

In the spirit of keeping it real, I fully admit during my run my mind was also racing - I couldn't stop thinking that WOW if I am struggling this early in - how am I going to feel when I have an 8 mile run, a 10 mile run, etc.  The more I thought it over - I am just going to have to do it. A friend put a comment on my IG account regarding the struggle of getting my run in - "No Excuses. Play like a champion." So this will have to be my new mantra - NO EXCUSES!

My other thought is - damn I need to learn how to be a "wake and run" kind of girl. I have always preferred running later in the day but - living in St Louis - it gets muggy as fuck in the summer. Like terrible awful humidity. So I am either going to have to run in the AM or research running in the humidity. And just do it - No excuses :)

Here is my training plan I am following....

Right now I have to focus on the first few weeks and not look ahead and freak out about the Saturday runs in my future. No excuses, right!

Food Prep Sunday

Sunday is the day I typically hit the grocery store to stock up on healthy eats & food prep my meals for the week. It takes a hunk of time out of my day - like today is absolutely gorgeous and sunshiny and I would much rather be out and about but.... when I meal prep it makes my week go so much smoother & controlled. Makes it much easier to stay on a healthy path.

This week I tried two new recipes - both from this really cool website - My Body My Kitchen. This guy is the king of healthy food prepping - lots of really great ideas and super healthy recipes - love!

So lunches for this week - Turkey Meatloaf, Creamed Cauliflower & steamed green beans. Both of these recipes can be found on the My Body My Kitchen site. I have been meaning to experiment subbing cauliflower for potatoes - really just out of curiosity! I have had many people tell me it is very similar so a healthier, less starchy alternative to white potatoes. I will let you know my official review but - so far, it tasted pretty good as I sampled as I cooked ;)

Both recipes were really easy and pretty quick to prepare- I sautéed green onions, white onion & garlic for the Turkey Meatloaf....

Added to the rest of the ingredients - 1 lb lean ground turkey breast, panko, bbq sauce, egg, pepper, salt & chili flakes.

Here it is going into the oven....baked for 50 mins on 400 and it was done - easy peasy! Makes 5 servings.

For the Creamed Cauliflower - I steamed 2 heads of cauliflower...

Sautéed more yellow onion & garlic in EVOO...

Added steamed cauliflower to the onions & used my immersion blender to cream the puree the mixture....

Mixed in some plain greek yogurt, parsley, chili flake, salt & pepper and a bit of honey - and here is the finished product! Tasty healthy creamed cauliflower!

Then I just steamed some green beans in the microwave and YAY - five lunches ready to go for this week :)

I cannot stress how much this simplifies my mornings & my week - yes it takes time up on a Sunday but it is so worth it during the week if you are a working chick like myself. Although I could see how this would make things much easier even if I did work from home again.

In other news - my plan was to run 4 miles yesterday. This would be the farthest run for me in ....wow I can't even tell you. Years! I was  a little nervous about it but - I just took it REAL slow & kept going - one foot in front of the other. I kept thinking "run the mile you are in" and tried not to think "ugh i have 3 more to go" or "I am only half way there" - focusing on the mile I was in really helped me stay committed and finish strong. And.... I actually ended up running 4.5 miles! YAY!!! This was me after my run yesterday and I was feeling pretty awesome!

I had a really active day yesterday according to my fit bit :) Trying to get as much movement as possible in....love days when I am all in the green!

I feel pretty good today - maybe a bit sore and my left knee feels a little wonky - I told my sister today, it feels a lot different running at 41 versus 21 ;) but - I am very proud of myself :) Official training starts tomorrow - 20 weeks out! I will share my training plan in a future post and how I am going to tackle it.

And I am going to keep it real here - I did pick up a chocolate cupcake at the store today :) but! just buying one is a huge improvement (i would usually buy four to eat on for a weekend) and  I am going to split this one with Chad. Baby steps :)

Happy Sunday Sunday & cheers to a productive & healthy week!

New Finish Line!

Time to blow the dust off my bucket list..... again! Third time is the charm, perhaps?

I am registering this weekend for a half marathon this fall - yikes! I am excited, nervous, scared & wondering WTF all at the same time. I have actually registered for 2 in the past and something has always come up that has prevented me from completing my training. This time I am really determined to stick to training, build up my mileage and endurance SLOWLY (no shin splints please) and complete my first half.

I don't know why but this is just something I want to do. The distance to me seems daunting although I know people that run marathons and ultra marathons. But for me - this will be the longest distance I have ever run. So far - that has been 6 miles. Gulp.

Please wish me luck and send positive thoughts my way! I will need it and yes I will be posting a lot of boring "hey I ran today!!" posts because that will be motivating to me :)

There are a few races to choose from in the fall but I decided to pick a local one (less stress with travel) and one with good reviews and swag :) Also - this race goes right by the end of our street so - my hubs can set up shop with the pups and cheer me on around mile 11. So... this fall I will be running the Rock n' Roll St Louis Half on October 16th!


My friend Erin will be running with me too - she has done a few and also at least one marathon but - I am excited she will be training and running with me to keep me accountable. And when i say she is running with me - I mean she will be running the same day as me :) She is a wee bit faster than me as I am SLOW but.... still running nonetheless ;) This was us (me, Erin & her hubs) at the STL St. Patrick's Day race a couple years ago...5 miler.

Right now I am running about 2-3 miles 3-4 times a week. This weekend will be 4 miles. And so it begins :)

Slow & Steady

Time has just been flying - I have thought about blogging quite a few times but obviously have not made the time. Tonight I am multi-tasking....blues playoff hockey and blogging :)

So the past few weeks have been a mix of healthy days and not so healthy days as far as my nutrition. When I am on - I am so good! But when I am not feeling it - watch out. And - I had a girls weekend in Atlanta and a couple girls night out and well.... I am not at the point that I am going to skip wine on my GNO. Not sure if I will ever be there but - that's another blog post entirely :)

I AM trying to celebrate the small victories more as I know they add up. For example today - lunch was ordered in from one of my favorite delis/bakeries and I said no thank you. I ate my healthy lunch I packed of grilled chicken, green beans & sweet potatoes. I passed on what I would typically order here - a grilled cheese sandwich (blue cheese, bacon & honey) and a fat ass sugar cookie with about 3 inches of icing on top. Yup. I was very tempted as hello... 3 inches of icing and bacon? But - I was proud of myself for sticking to my healthy eats. And you know what - i survived. I didn't really miss it or have lunch regrets. YAY - go me!

Running has also become more commonplace for me - I am up to 3 miles with no stopping... at a snails pace BUT hey, slow is better than no, right? I have never been overly concerned about my pace and more focused on upping miles & endurance. I am thinking of a race this fall but I will share more of that in my next post :)

Anyway - Amy Schemer posted this on Instagram today and it made me laugh....this is so me.....

More so that I go to the gym once - or work out for a week - and I am like hey.... where are the results?! I am trying to focus on consistency and the journey and not get overly hung up on the results (or lack thereof). Slow & steady baby - slow and steady!