National Running Day and weekly workouts

Very exciting that last week I ran a total of 20 miles. Yeah, I think that is a good place for me right now when I am not in a real training plan.  I have been adding mileage every week so this week I will cut back and then return to my 20 miles a week.  I also have a race on Sunday, so that is another good reason to cut my mileage this week.  Here is how last week looked:

Monday:  Jillian's Yoga Meltdown and squats, 3.04 mile run with JS
Tuesday:  5.06 miles with JS
Wednesday:  Abs and push-ups
Thursday:  30 minute HIIT followed by 2 mile run on mill (5.1 miles total)
Friday:  A little strength training
Saturday:  7.09 mile run alone (9:51 average)
Sunday:  Rest

Total miles:  20.29 miles

Tomorrow is not a typical running day for me, but it's National Running Day so I guess I will have get some running in.  Check out the website and remember to run tomorrow. 

Why I need run more

One word . . . Menchies.  This is a new froyo place near our house.  If you aren't familiar with Menchies, it's a self serve frozen yogurt bar.  They have approximately 10 different varieties of frozen yogurt and 30 or so different varieties of toppings.  They only have one size cup but they do have little cups to sample the yogurts before you decide on a flavor(s).  If you know me, then you know I am a huge dessert fan with ice cream/frozen yogurt being my favorite.  So I was in heaven when I learned about this place.  I love the crunch of the toppings and I love variety.  Since it's one size only, I decided to share with Hope so she got to influence the toppings we got, which made it interesting.  We decided on cake batter and peppermint patty yogurts (swirled) and then the toppings were all over the place.  Hope likes the colorful ones and I like the chocolate ones, so we had a lot of toppings (probably why our was so expensive).  It was a little busy when we were there so I didn't get a chance to really look at all of the toppings and pick accordingly, so I had to just feel my way through it.  But as the hot summer continues, I am already making up fro yo combinations that I will be trying.  This is why I will need to continue my running if I want to lose those last 5 lbs of baby weight. 

If you have one near you, I highly recommend it. 

When to race?

I saw this race at the Peachtree Expo last year and immediately fell in love with the idea.  I really liked the idea of doing the FL Keys race.  I have really been enjoying getting back into running since the little guys arrival and south FL in Jan.sounds awesome.  So you ask, what's the peoblem?

1.  The hub doesn't get many vaca days, so I am not sure that he would want to take a few days off and spend them running. 

2.  The little guy that I am currently holding while he sleeps (he still won't nap in his crib, any advice on this) won't be 10 months old, and I will still be nursing (nursed DD until she was 15.5 months old).  Having 2 little ones makes it tough to do something of this difficult (but not impossible). 

3.  My sister is getting married in April, so I fear this might be too much to try to do before her wedding.  I am a bridesmaid, as well as her wedding planner, so I am busy with the wedding.  The race is in Jan.

So those are all the reasons why not to do it, but like I said, I have known about this July.  I couldn't do it last January because I was pregnant.  And it just sounds like so much fun, that I am just dying to do it.

What are your thoughts?  Should I go for it or just wait it out another year?

Weekly workouts - update

Still going strong.  Another great week with some fun runs and other stuff mixed in.  Here is what last week looked like:

Monday:  Rest
Tuesday:  5.06 mile run with JS, 3 x 10 push-ups, 100 squats
Wednesday:  Yoga Meltdown with Jillian
Thursday:  Treadmill - 5 min warm-up (6.0 mph and 1.0% incline), 45 seconds 9.0-9.5 mph followed by 1 min. 15 sec. at 4.0 mph (repeated 10 times), 5 min. cool down at 6.0 and 1.0% incline, then a 2 mile run at 6.4 mph, 5.1 miles total 
Friday:  2 mile walk with friends, weights and abs
Saturday:  Rest (Family fun at the pool)
Sunday:  6.23 mile run alone (1:01.23, I know, super slow, but I was enjoying my alone time, I guess a little too much)

Total running miles:  16.39 miles

Not quite as many miles as last week, but still strong.

My new favorite vegan granola bars

I have been tweaking a few granola bar recipes to find one that I really like and is nutrious and feeling that we can make at home.  The husband likes to eat them on his way to work so they need to taste good and be filling.  Here is what I have come up with:

Vegan Granola Bars
adapted from Clean Eating Machine

Ingredients
4 cups oats
3/4 cup walnuts
3/4 cup cashews
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1.5 sticks Earth Balance (or other vegan spread)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
Large pinch of salt

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
2.  Mix well.
3.  Press firmly into cookie sheet with high sides lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper (makes it easier to get out after they are finished.
4.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.
5.  Let cool and then cut into 24 bars.
6.  Eat and freeze the rest.

You have to give them a try. 

Strawberry picking

A few weeks ago I took the kiddos to do some berry picking.  It's strawberry season here so we found one farm that looked perfect, but they were closed when we got there.  Even though I called the day before, but he did give us another place to try.  I am not sure that these strawberries weren't sprayed, but it was our only option that day and my little girl was super excited about picking some berries.

You pay by the pound and we had 11.5 pounds of strawberries.  We went home, washed and froze some and used others to top our morning oatmeal, to snack on, and to make muffins. 

Vegan Strawberry Muffin Recipe

Ingredients

1 flax egg, (1T ground flax, 3T water)

2 cups Bisquick 1/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil 2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk 1 cup strawberries

Directions

Make flax egg and set aside for 5 min.

Mix together all ingredients except the strawberries until JUST blended.

Fold in strawberries and spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Bake at 400*F for 13-18 minutes or until just browned.

Makes 12 muffins.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 53 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 116 Calories from Fat 30

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3.4g 5%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 225mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates 20.3g 7%

Dietary Fiber 0.9g 4%

Sugars 7.6g

Protein 1.8g

Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 12% Calcium 9% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade

Weekly workouts

I have been noticing my quads are struggling on some of my runs, so I have found a new way to hang with/ put to sleep my son - squats and lunges.  Yep, it's a great way to quiet him down sometimes.  So here is how last week's workouts went/\.

Monday - 40 minutes of yoga, squats, lunges, and push-ups
Tuesday - 4.54 mile run with jogging stroller (js)
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Treadmill workout - 5 min warm-up at 6.0 with 1% incline, HIIT (high intensity interval training) with 45 seconds at 8.8-9.5 followed by 1.25 min walking at 4.0.  Repeat 10 times, then I ran 2.5 miles at 6.2 for a total of 5.1 miles
Friday - Abs, 2.1 miles with js
Saturday - 1.5 mile walk with the fam
Sunday - 6.07 miles alone - oh it felt so good

Total running miles - 17.81 miles - the most in a long time. 

I think squats, lunges, and interval running are here to stay to help me get back into running shape.  Whatelse do you do it get yourself into running shape?

Race Recap - Race for the Cure 5k

I can't believe it has been a week since my 1st race back and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.  Sorry about that.  I am having a tough time typing with an infant in my arms.  That and the race was a bust in my books.  I was 8.5 weeks pp and knew I was not going to be near a PR so I thought I would push the jogging stroller.  Well the H thought he would push the jogging stroller since he was not in running shape.  Well this brought out a little debate between us.  I did not win. 

Strapping the kids into the stroller

 This race has been a family affair since the late 90's.  I even race this race in college some 600 miles away while the rest of my fam was racing in Hotlanta.  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb. 1997.  Here is my fam getting ready to run (bro-in-law, younger sis, me, hubby, youngest sis, and Dad).  My other bro-in-law and sis-in-law were there to capture the event for us. 

So the H wanted us to run together as a family.  While that sounds great for an average Sat. morning run, when it comes to racing, I prefer to run alone.  I started in the back with everyone, including walkers and strollers.  We had to walk for a little while before we even could jog.  At a turn, I looked and it was so congested, I knew there was no way the H could get around with that stroller.  I looked at him and he said to just go.  I went, but had to run around so many people I couldn't get into any groove.  My first mile was an awful time with all the walking.  The second mile was better.  Adam cut across the course and actually caught up with me and we did finish together, but again, we were slower because we had to maneuver around so many people.  Here we are at the end of the race. 

Here are my splits (just to say, I idn't get to run my pace the entire race):



Split	Hour:Minute:Second Time	Miles Distance	Minutes per Mile Avg Pace
Summary	00:30:53	3.16	09:45
1	00:11:15	1.00	11:15
2	00:09:01	1.00	09:01
3	00:09:08	1.00	09:08
4	00:01:28	0.16	09:00

 After the race with my other bro-in-law and sis-in-law.

 Hope next to her sign with dad.

So I am hoping to do a 4 mile race next month with better luck.

Hodgepodge post

Holiday
Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day (especially the Mothers).  Mine was wonderful.  The weekend started off with my first race since my son was born.  It wasn't a great race.  Too crowded and I didn't start up far enough so my time was terrible (30:54 for a 5k).  Then we went to brunch (my favorite meal).  On Sunday, the husband made me cornflake crusted french toast with strawberries (I am not a fan of syrup).  He also gave me a wonderful necklace with 3 charms/pendants for it (H, A, and love) for my beautiful children.  Unfortuantely, 2 of the charms don't fit and we tried to return it so they could fix it, but they were already closed.  :(  Hopefully we will get it fixed sometime this week, I want to wear it. 

Of course, Mother's Day is very bittersweet, but I tried to be a good sport about it on Sunday.  I know it bothers the husband when I am bummed out on holidays. 

Exercise
I am still holding myself to running 3 days a week, yoga once a week, and abs once a week.  I have been able to do it for a couple of weeks now and have started to increase my mileage some (4 miles at a time minimum).  Unfortuantely, I am running either in the late morning or afternoon and the temperatures are starting to increase.  I guess if it gets too hot, I will have to go back to the mill (not a fan).

Weight loss
Well I am down another couple of pounds and have 7 more pounds to go (my son is 8.5 weeks old).  Not too bad.  I am eating more veggies (think salads most days for lunch), very little dairy (not totally vegan, because I just can't avoid my ice cream, but no cheese really), and mostly whole foods.  My go to snack when I am on the run is a Larabar.  My current favorites are peanut butter and jelly and peanut butter cookie, but they are all very good.  I am also drinking a lot of water, both for weight loss and nursing.  I have been very happy with my progress over the past couple of weeks.   

How are you going to spend Cinco de Mayo

Well I can tell you that I won't be cooking, that's for sure.  I had planned on making tacos for dinner on Thursday, until I heard that Moe's Southwest Grill was doing $3 burritos in Atlanta.  Yep, any burrito is just $3.  I couldn't believe it!  The Husband and I can eat dinner for just $6.  That's awesome!  Different areas have different specials for tmorrow, so check it out here.  Looks like our taco night will be next week. 

I will be having the Jory Junior with tofu, black beans, lettuce, black olives, pico de gallo, and cucumbers.  That is all under 300 calories so I can even enjoy some chips and salsa and still stay under 500 calories for dinner.  Woo hoo!!!  Hope you enjoy your Cinco de Moes!

Working out - getting into some groove

Kinda.  I am trying to find some balance in my life.  And that is hard with 2 small kids and a husband who works long hours.  I am trying to go slow but working out makes me feel good.  My current weekly goals are:

1. Run 3 days a week, 3-5 miles at a time.
2. Do 40 minutes of yoga once a week.
3. Do an ab workout once a week.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but with lack of sleep (a growth spurt I believe), I don't want to put too much pressure on myself and set myself up for failure.  Last week, here is how it went.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 17 minutes of yoga, ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller
Wednesday - 40 minutes of yoga
Thursday - Ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Abs, walked 3.4 miles
Sunday - Ran 4.5 miles all by myself

My thought is to keep this up, with slowly increasing mileage, adding speed work, etc. 

The weight is slowly coming off too, slow and steady wins the race.  :)