DID IT

It's 7am and I just completed my 8 miles. It wasn't too tough actually - I stayed on a flat part of the golf course and went back and forth along the bottom. I know it's not as much as I've been doing, but I'm just relieved I finished without any problems.

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Food:
5am - 1 banana
7.30am - 1 piece multigrain toast w/ butter, 1 spoonful peanut butter
12.30pm - smoothie with banana, mango, spinach, almonds, pumpkin seeds, oatmeal, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, ice, greek yogurt
3.30pm - sandwich on multigrain bread w/ steak, cheese, spinach, onions, mushrooms, brown sauce
8pm - spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce + homemade pesto, parmesean, mushrooms

Exercise:
5.30am - 8 mile "Long Run" outside, didn't time it or anything but it took about 1 hour 30 mins
4.30pm - 30 min dog walk

gnight

Food:
10am - smoothie with spinach, mango,bananas, chia seeds, walnuts, peanuts, greek yogurt, ice, almond milk
-2 cups coffee
2pm - 1 piece multigrain toast w/ butter, ham, 2 scrambled eggs, 1 glass oj
6pm - like 6 cookies and milk
10pm - steak and cheese sandwich on multigrain bread, lettuce, mayo

Exercise:
4.45pm - 1 hour dog walk.

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Trough week, so 8-Mile run tomorrow morning. Going to get up by 4.45 and try and leave the house by 5. On it. Gonna listen to an audiobook I think. See how that goes. Will update tomorrow. Nighty.

Back after my 5-day pout session

Grr. I have been feeling under the weather the last few days, (both mentally and physically) hence no posts. I had another migraine day yesterday, plus I have still felt in a slump about not completing my 11 miles outside like I had planned on Sunday. I have been sticking to my marathon routine however - finished 11 miles on Tuesday as planned, crosstrained on Thursday, going to do 3 short miles tonight on the treadmill. I haven't had much of an appetite the last couple days either. Can't really say I've eaten healthy. A lot of grease, bread, and sugar. Might be another reason I've avoided my blog.

BUT, I am back now. For sure. Definitely. I promise.

10am - eggs benedict, 2 cups coffee
 4.15pm - smoothie with 1 banana, 1 mango, couple handfuls of raw spinach, chia seeds, walnuts, ice, almond milk, greek yogurt, brown rice protein powder
7pm - last bit of homemade chicken fettucini alfredo w/ spinach
8pm - loads of strawberries, blueberries
throughout day - 5 or 6 chocolate chip cookies

Exercise:
4.45pm - 1 hour dog walk
9.45pm - 3 mile short run on treadmill, 34 mins

Half Disaster.

Had a sort of setback on my long run on Sunday, and haven't come back to write about it since then half out of shame, half out of avoidance. I got out there by 5am, still dark out which was great because it was nice and cool, everything was going well, then shortly after the 3-mile mark, I started to feel very faint. My extremities were feeling shaky and I started seeing white before my eyes. I stepped to the side and waited. No change. What was going on? I carbo-loaded the night before with pasta alfredo, before my run I ate a banana and an apple, and loads of water. I decided to go home, eat something else, and see how I felt. Of course, time was slipping away because after 6.30am it gets unbearably hot outside. I tried doing the rest on the treadmill, but the whiteness before my eyes came back.

I ended up just going back to bed. After I finally got up, I felt awful. I totally failed on my scheduled long run for the first time. Stuart mentioned to me that I probably over-did it by going to a really hard yoga session on Saturday, and also not getting enough sleep. He's probably right, but I just felt like I failed and couldn't face writing my blog for the last couple days.

 I decided to take a full rest day on Monday and then do the 11 miles today on the treadmill.

So, here we are. 11 miles on the treadmill will take awhile for me, but luckily I have all day. I know stuff like this is probably inevitable and I just have to keep going. Not everything is going to go exactly as planned and I just have to make up the miles, end of story. Back on it!

You can do it Krystal.

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Completed the 11 miles! Took me longer than it should have because I got a bad little stitch in the back of my left knee, but the point is I completed it. I don't have the exact stats because every time I stopped for a couple minutes, my stupid treadmill reset itself, but I made 11 miles anyway.

Exercise:
11-mile "Long Run" on treadmill, over 2 hours.

Food:
10am - smoothie with mixed berries, avocado, mango, almonds, macadamia nuts, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, ground flaxseed, greek yogurt, maple syrup
2 cups coffee
Throughout day - peanut butter, blueberries, couple pieces of white garlic sourbread toast w/ butter, oj, chocolate chips
8pm - leftover homemade chicken fettucini alfredo w/ spinach, mushrooms, onions, with spaghetti noodles.
11pm - 2 cups coffee

Update from Yesterday, about to do 11-miler

Exercise:
9am - "Mixed Ability" Yoga - 1 hour, 15 mins
4.30pm - 1 hour dog walk

Food:
8.40am - 1 piece multigrain toast w/ butter
10.45am - smoothie with banana, mango, brewed coffee, almonds, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, ice, greek yogurt, ground flaxseed
snacked on fruit, cheese, nuts and chocolate chips in the afternoon
10pm - homemade Chicken fettuccini alfredo (but I used spaghetti, so I suppose it was chicken spaghetti alfredo) ingredients: butter, mushrooms, onions, garlic, flour, milk, rich sharp cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg, spinach, spaghetti noodles.

Total carbo-load last night. I'm typing this at 4.40am on Sunday, about ready to go out for my big 11-miler today. Not nearly as nervous as last week, I know I can do it, just have to go a bit further today. I made fresh english muffins last night and Stuart promised that he'll make me eggs benedict today (as if I don't have that enough). Update in a few hours.

Yesterday's post (June 21, 2013)

10am - smoothie with mango, banana, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almonds, greek yogurt, almond milk, coarse oatmeal, ice
2pm - sandwich on multigrain bread w/ roast chicken, spinach, mayo, cheese, half a ginger ale
6.30pm - 4 pieces multigrain toast w/ homemade orange and mango jam and goats cheese
throughout night: 1 cup coffee, blueberries, peanut butter, orange juice, water

Exercise:
1pm - 4 mile "short run" on treadmill - 46mins, 495 calories
4.45pm - 1 hour dog walk

Ran faster today! Kept switching between 6mph and 5mph. And, I ran the whole time. So I averaged about 11.5 minute miles, which I know isn't impressive at all, but it's a big improvement for me.

Must Run Faster.

Food:
9am - smoothie with almonds, banana, mango, coarse oatmeal, walnuts, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, greek yogurt, ice
10am - 2 cups coffee
12.30pm - 1 piece toast, couple spoonfuls peanut butter

Throughout evening: pineapple, blueberries, toast with goats cheese and homemade orange and mango jam

10pm - roast chicken, mashed sweet potatoes with olive oil, butter, salt n pepper, roast carrots in honey and balsamic

Exercise:
1pm - 30mins Fartlek - 33 mins total, 2.77 miles, 322 calories 

4.45pm - 45min dog walk


I tried to go to my yoga class this morning. Walked all the way there, and it was locked. Turns out it was held at some hotel further north up the island. Oh well. Will try again tomorrow.

I've been reading a lot of stuff online about running and it seems to me that I'm running way too slowly. I read things like "A 12-minute mile isn't shameful near the end of your 16-mile run". I'm lucky if I maintain 12-minute miles at the beginning. I thought it was because I'm short, but I've read forums where women are saying they're 5'2" and running at around 6.2mph. For me, 6.2mph on the treadmill feels like nearly top speed. Nevertheless, on my Fartlek training today I ran 6mph on the 4-minute runs, and hung around 4.5 on the "light jogs". But, by 15 - 20 minutes I was shattered and had to take walk breaks instead of light jogs. I don't think the damn thing is accurate. I've done the math and at this rate, I'll be lucky to complete the marathon in under 5 and a half hours. I know all that matters is finishing, and I know I'm only like halfway through my training, so that's encouraging at least.

At least Ditmars isn't worried about it.

Late again

Starting to write this update at 11.50pm tonight. Totally slipped my mind again til now. 

Exercise: 

4.30pm - 45min dog walk

Food:

9am - smoothie with mango, pineapple, almonds, Greek yogurt, oatmeal, chia seeds, almond milk, ice

2 cups coffee

1pm - 2 pieces toast w/ butter, 1 red bull

4pm - sandwich on multigrain bread w/ ham, cheese, lettuce, beets, mayo

6pm - 9pm shitloads of popcorn w/ butter, truffle oil, salt

Maybe like 12 pineapple chunks. 

11pm - another sandwich same as earlier

Damn that's a shitload of eating today. Mostly crap too. I chose not to do my scheduled run today because I'm still very sore from running and yoga earlier in the week, but I'm going to yoga tomorrow morning as well as jogging to make up for it.  

Whole... body... hurts....

After I wrote "duh I don't feel sore today duhh" yesterday, my entire body is screaming at me today. Stuart is sore as well today because he's been hitting the gym Mondays with his friend from work. I think when my body was still recovering from the 10-miler, I went and did the Power yoga and it was a bit too much. It's a good thing though. Need to build up my strength.

Food:
9.45am - smoothie with mango, pineapple, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, greek yogurt, almond milk, ice
2 cups coffee
1pm - eggs benedict, 1 glass oj
evening - 2 pieces toast, bowl of pineapple
9pm - bowl of spaghetti with homemade sauce, parmesan
12midnight - 1 cup earl grey w/ lemon

Recovery Day

Food:
7.30am - a few spoonfuls peanut butter, an apple
10am - a portion of leftover lasagne

2pm - sandwich on multigrain bread with ham, beets, cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, mustard

Evening - another piece of lasagne

8.30pm - 2 burritos with cheese, beans, beef, tomatoes, onion, lettuce, salsa, avocado, 2 glasses white wine

Exercise:
8am - Power Vinyasa yoga, 1 hr 15 mins
12.45pm - walked to stores in town and back - about 2 miles

5pm - 45min dog walk

Surprisingly, I don't feel too sore today. My left knee felt like it was going to give out last night and I was actually limping for a couple hours, but then it loosened up and felt fine. Got up early and went to a killer yoga class this morning. I know I'll really be feeling it tomorrow and need my full rest day.

Monday weigh-in: 119

GAH. 10 MILES COMPLETE! Update from yesterday

I didn't update yesterday because my day went like this: Woke up. Ran 10 miles. Came back home and slept until 1pm. Woke up and forgot about it all day.

I COMPLETED 10 MILES!! This is one of those milestones that feels really good to cross. To think when I first started this training, I couldn't even run 2 miles without a lot of walk breaks.

So, for the actual run: I got up at 4.30am as planned, drank a lot of water first thing, and left the house by 5.10am. Just the tiniest bit of light in the sky. It was perfect. Ran all the way up the "Hill of Death" as I like to call it - from my map I posted yesterday, it's the big straight road leading all the way to the east, toward "Bennets". That motherfucker is uphill the entire way, sometimes very steeply. When I reached the crest of that hill yesterday, I had a Rocky moment.

Yeah yeah great Rocky, but try it in 80+ degree heat.

But, my run was far from over. Throughout my run, I was sweating like a pig of course, and because I left the house so early, there were tons of little clouds of bugs everywhere that kept getting stuck to my sweaty face. Disgusting, right? Just after the 3-mile marker, a bug flew into my eye.. I freaked out, all by myself on the side of the road thank god, and frantically tried to get it out. It didn't come out. This is what I'm saying:

MY EYE SWALLOWED THE BUG. AAAAHH THE HORROR. I had to pull it together and convince myself that it was a normal, totally fine thing and that I'm sure it's happened to many living things and I needed to just keep running. So I did.

After I recovered from eye-bug-swallowing, I jogged on. I took about a 3-minute walk break after mile 5. After mile 6, I came home for my water break as planned. Everything screamed in me to just forget doing the rest outside and finish on the treadmill, but I told myself I was being ridiculous and got back out there.

I didn't end up doing the Hill of Death twice as planned as my head was starting to throb after mile 7, but instead did the entire lower track twice over to reach 10 miles. I came home and was pooped, but proud.

Food:
4.30am - 1 piece multigrain toast w/ butter, 3 spoonfuls peanut butter, 2 dates, an apple, loads of water.
On the run: 2 dates
6am - few spoonfuls peanut butter, a few ounces of Gatorade
8am - toast, lots of water
1.30pm - 2 poached eggs, spinach, and ham on 1 piece multigrain toast, 2 cups coffee
5pm - smoothie with banana, mango, almonds, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, greek yogurt, ice, walnuts, almond milk, oatmeal
7.30pm - homemade lasagna. Insanely delicious.
9pm - 2 cups coffee

Exercise:
5am - 10 mile "Long Run", 2 hours
5pm - 30 min dog walk

10 MILES TOMORROW OMFG

Food:
9am - smoothie, normal stuff in it, 2 cups coffee
1pm - eggs benedict
8pm - Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, mushrooms

Exercise:
1 hour dog walk

Carbo loaded tonight! Huge load of spaghetti. Delicious. Getting psyched for my 10 miler tomorrow. I'm a little nervous actually, but I know I can do it. Have my music playlist ready, and an audiobook if music gets boring.

I'm waking up at 4.30am tomorrow morning, to leave the house by 5am. Yes, I'm serious. It will still be dark at this time and I'm hoping I can be done with the run by 7.30am. The one water station that was available on the golf course got vandalized a couple weeks ago and lord knows when it will get replaced, so my plan is to come home after mile 6, have water, maybe try and down some gatorade, banana, and my horrible tasting sports gel I bought in the UK, and then head back out for the last 4 miles. Here's the route I've planned, the little green flag in the lower left is my house.

Late late late post

Food:
9.15am - smoothie with banana, mango, almonds, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, walnuts, ice, plain greek yogurt, 2 cups coffee
12.15pm - 3 slices leftover pizza from last night
5.30pm - 2 more slices leftover pizza
6pm - 1 golden delicious apple
8pm - 2 cups coffee
9pm - 1 banana
11pm - sandwich with ham, bbq pork, lettuce, homemade mayonnaise, mustard, pickled beets, cheese, 1 glass oj, 1 cup earl grey w/ lemon

Exercise:
4.30pm - 1 hour leisurely dog walk
8.30pm - 3 mile "short run", 38 mins, 366 calories
9.30pm - Post-run yoga on youtube

I sooooosososososo didn't want to do my run today, and as you can see I put it off til 8.30 tonight. I just felt totally wiped all day, so at 8pm I made myself a pot of coffee, waited for the caffeine to kick in, and got on it while I watched "Solved", a true crime tv show about how they use forensics to solve murders. Good stuff.

"GOOD JOB KRYSTAL WE LOVE YOU"

Stats from yesterday

Didn't have time to update yesterday, here's my stats (that I can remember):

Food:
9am - smoothie with banana, soursop, almonds, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, ice, plain greek yogurt, 2 cups coffee
Afternoonish: blueberries, toast, etc
7pm - Bruschetta (tomatoes with marjoram, dried basil, balsamic, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesean).
homemade pizza with ham, mushrooms, cheese etc and another pizza with cheddar, goats cheese and the tomato mix from the bruschetta)
9pm - 2 cups coffee

Exercise:
2pm - 30 mins Farltek on the treadmill - 2.7 miles total (is that all??) 5.5 on the "fast" bit and 4.3 on the "slow" bit.

... I will say, I really pushed myself for Farltek yesterday, it was really a struggle running that fast for that long. I am so sore today.

Also, had an awesome Sci Fi nerd night with Fiori Tulipani, it was awesome. We definitely need to keep doing this on a regular basis.

YES

DOUBLE YES

Sick of this damn blog.

I am getting really bored with blogging every day. Is that a smart thing to say on one's blog? It's like I'm even boring myself here. Maybe I should be a bit more edgy? Like Howard Stern style blogging? I'll give it some thought.

I'm gonna be so famous.

Forgot about my weekly weigh-in on Monday, and of course I didn't do it while I was away, so it's been at least 3 weeks. Anyway:

Weight today: 117

I'll take it. Although, I don't think our scale is accurate. I weighed myself on my mother-in-law's scale while we were on vacation, and granted I'm sure I had gained some weight because we were eating like pigs, but her digital scale said I weighed 123. Which actually "feels" more right. You know how you just kind of know your own body and the weight you feel comfortable at, and how your clothes fit at certain weights, etc? I do like seeing the scale under 120 but it really doesn't feel like it to me. May have to pony up the dough for a better scale soon.

Food:
8.45am - smoothie with almonds, banana, mango, almonds, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, ice, plain yogurt
12.15pm - eggs benedict, 1 glass oj
4.30pm - few bites of a tuna sandwich with reduced fat mayonnaise which was so disgusting I threw out the rest (note to self: reduced fat mayo is vile), some blueberries
6.30pm - 1 banana
8pm - sandwich on multigrain bread w/ ham, mozzarella, pickled beets, mayo, mustard, lettuce, 1 glass oj
10.45pm - 1 cup instant coffee (ew)

Exercise:
9.45am - 20 mins intensive swimming
7.30pm - 3 mile "short run" on treadmill, 36 mins, 379 calories

Yoga and last week's 9-miler

Food:
8.30am - smoothie with mixed berries, mango, banana, almonds, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, almond milk, ice, pumpkin seeds
11am - 2 cups coffee
12noon - 1 cold slice leftover homemade pizza with goats cheese, mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes
2pm - leftover pork from last night with homemade bbq sauce
throughout evening - blueberries, earl grey tea w/ lemon

Exercise:
9.30am - "gentle theraputic" yoga, 1 hour

The yoga studio I went to this morning was really great, but the class was way too easy. I'll definitely try a harder one later in the week. The place is literally a 5 minute walk from my house, incredible.

Not sure if I mentioned, but another reason my jog on Sunday didn't go as well as planned was because I didn't leave the house until 6.15am, which was way too late. Here's a picture I took on the golf course when my head was about to explode:

7am and already scorching.

I have a massive task this Sunday: 10 FREAKING MILES. In the killer Caribbean heat. I absolutely for sure need to leave the house by 5am. Would even be good if it was a bit dark when I leave.

My 9-miler last week:
In looking back at my posts, I never properly documented the fact that a week before yesterday (Monday June 3rd), I ran 9 miles! In the lovely Scottish hills, and in gorgeous crisp, cool weather, which made the whole run feel lovely, but I did it! I actually felt very euphoric the rest of the day. Whether it was a physical effect of the run, or a mental thing from me feeling proud of myself I don't know. At the end I did feel shattered, but also felt like I could have done more, which gives me more confidence for my 10-miler this Sunday.

Recovery day

Food:
9.45am - smoothie with blueberries, banana, mango, ice, almond milk, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, almonds, oatmeal, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, teensy bit of maple syrup
10am - 12pm - 2 cups coffee
1.45pm - 3 slices of leftover homemade pizza from last night, some oj
8pm - smoked and roasted pork, homemade coleslaw, homemade sweet potato fries
throughout day - 2 cups earl grey tea w/ lemon

I found a yoga class that is in walking distance of my house! Yaaaaay. I was going to yoga all the time when we had a car, but had to give it back in February so have had to give it up, but my neighbor told me she is going to start going on Tuesdays, so total score. I definitely need another form of exercise to go along with my running. Doing yoga at home is good, but there's nothing like being in a class environment with a teacher, it really forces you to not cheat or slack off.

6 mile.

Just finished my "6 mile" run. First run back in Barbados and WOW, it was really a struggle. I suppose I need to re-acclimate to the hot weather after being spoiled in the cool fresh Scottish atmosphere. I walked for a lot of it as well. Near the end, everything hurt, my hands were very red and swollen (something that happens to me sometimes), and my head felt like it was going to explode. Now that I'm back home, a headache has set in. Another thing, which was definitely my fault, was that I didn't get out the door til nearly 6.30am this morning. Bad me. This time of year is an absolute killer, and I really need to aim to leave at 5.30 or even 5am if I'm going to stack on the miles I need to complete in the coming weeks.

6.15am - 1 banana
8am - smoothie with banana, mango, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, almonds, oatmeal, almond milk, flaxseed oil, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, ice
1pm - eggs benedict. yeaaah.
8pm - homemade pizza with ham, mushrooms, and another with goats cheese, spinach, fresh tomatoes.

Exercise:
6.30am - Long run, 6 miles, a lot of walking, over an hour.
5pm - 30 min dog walk

And...

9am - smoothie with mango, banana, almonds, pumpkin seeds, brown rice protein powder, chia seeds, almond milk, ice, 1 piece multigrain toast w/ butter, 2 cups coffee
-throughout day: loads of blueberries, 2 spoonfuls peanut butter, oj
1pm - broccoli soup
8pm - homemade hummus with homemade flat (pita) bread with paprika and onion, 1 glass oj


Smoothies are the best thing ever. They are great fridge-and-cupboard cleaners. I've had this manky bag of pumpkin seeds sitting in my cupboard forever and today I was like EFF IT, let's throw it in the smoothie! And it tasted great. Couldn't taste it really. Friggin awesome. I always buy nuts/fruit/veg, etc with the best of intentions, like most people, but then can't find a good way to get the goodness in me before it all goes bad. Smoothies are the thing. Yes.

But not better than coffee.

Back on track

Finally feeling back to 100% today after our horrible food poisoning experience over the last few days. Actually feeling pretty motivated today as well, it's 9.30am now and I've already had my smoothie, coffee, and done the dishes and unpacked (took me a few days to unpack as I felt like death).

Food:
8am - smoothie with mango, banana, almonds, brown rice protein powder, chia seeds, almond milk, ice
12.30pm - 1 piece of multigrain toast with homemade hummus, eggs, green onions and parsley

Exercise: 3 mile "short run" on treadmill (had to stop halfway to sort out my tv show on computer so didn't get stats)

I should also mention that I weighed myself on my mother-in-law's scale at the end of our vacation, and I was up to 122. CRAP! I knew it would be something like that though, we really stuffed ourselves with goodness. But, because of being craptastically ill for 2 days and having no appetite, I am now down to 118 again. So... go me? That's one way to lose weight I guess... Stuart had a similar experience, he was up to 190 at his mum's, and now our scale says he is just above 180. Go us? Yay for food poisoning?

I wouldn't trade all the awesome food we ate for anything though. Here's my happy face in Paris:

C'est bon!

I'M BACK!!

Wow, what a whirlwind these past 2 weeks have been. Not only did we have an awesome kickass amazing time in Scotland, but we took a weekend detour in Paris as well. And we actually arrived back in Barbados on Tuesday night, but we've both been violently ill since we returned. We think it may have been food poisoning.

LIFE RULE: NEVER EAT AIRLINE FOOD. EVER. JUST DON'T EVER EAT IT.

But, we are back on track today. Back on the joggers, back on eating healthy, etc.

I will say though, I did alright on sticking with my runs on vaycay. Not perfect by any means, but did both of my big runs, which was the most important.

Ran past these lambypoos on my 9 mile Monday run! Magical.

It was insane how easy it was for me to run in the cold weather coming from the Barbados heat. I'm nervous about going back to it but hey, it's gotta be done. And now I know it will definitely give me an edge on the big day!

Food:
8am - Smoothie with banana, mango, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, brown rice protein powder, ice, almond milk, 1 cup coffee
lunch: sandwich with roast chicken, parmesan, mayo and romaine lettuce on oatbreab
dinner: 1 piece of oatbran toast with homemade hummus, ham, and 2 scrambled eggs