Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

After eating sweet potato fries at a restaurant recently, I wanted to bake my own. These are good! The recipe makes enough for 1 - 2 people.

Ingredients

1 sweet potato (about 1/2 lb.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

Peel the sweet potato. Slice potato into round chips or long, thin fries or both, like I did. The chips cooked faster and were crispier.

Place foil on baking pan. Place potato slices on the foil. Brush oil onto potatoes. Flip potatoes over and brush the other side. Sprinkle salt on top. Spread potatoes out on the pan so that they aren't touching each other.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes. Using a spatula, flip potatoes over every ten minutes.

Gulp Your H2O, It's OK

I did thirty minutes of strength training. My right knee felt stiff before I started, but fine when I finished. That was good because I wanted to go on a short run.

Today's run was so much better than yesterday. I never felt like I needed to walk like I did yesterday. I took a couple of minutes to stretch and drink in the shade after running two easy-paced miles and then I ran a couple more easy-paced miles.

I meant to pay attention to whether I gulped my water when I stopped for a drink, but I forgot. I read that gulping is better than sipping during exercise in the Eating to Fuel Exercise article by Tara Parker-Pope with Leslie Bonci. Gulping prevents cramps. I'd never thought about it before, but I'll try to pay attention next time.

Pre-exercise: Cheerios, skim milk & a spoonful of peanut butter
Post-exercise: plain & vanilla yogurt topped with blueberries

8 Mile Run vs. Me

The heat nearly did me in today. The "feels like" temperature went from a hot 81 degrees F. to a hotter 91. Or it could have been that Gatorade Endurance I drank before I ran. Normally, I just drink water pre-run. Or it could have been that I was just plain tired. I keep waking up in the middle of the night. I know... I should just exercise more - then I'd sleep better. ; )

So now that you know my sob story... Oh wait, I'm not done. I forgot to mention how much I really wanted to stop running in the third mile, but I didn't. Didn't I just read that our bodies will acclimate after two weeks of summer running? I've been running all summer! And then it happened again in the sixth mile. Still, I didn't give in.

In the seventh mile, since I was nearly walking anyway, I caved in and walked. I shook out my arms and I wiped all of the sweat off my face (with my dripping wet shirt - yuck!). After a couple of minutes, I felt better and I finished the run.

My mile splits were - 9:59, 9:28, 9:43, 9:42, 9:35, 9:53, 10:40, 10:43/mile. and my average pace for my 8 mile run was 9:58/mile. Looks like I should have stopped at 6 miles. Oh well! I'll be back at it again tomorrow.

Pre-run: 3/4 peanut butter and honey sandwich & Gatorade Endurance
Post-run: chocolate malted milk & yogurt topped with strawberries

Tempo Running Article

My goal was to run 5 x 4 minutes with one minute rests. I got the idea for the workout from the Tempo Running Tips to Boost Your Speed article by John Hank at Active.com. After a warm-up, I ran at a pace that felt like an 8 on a scale of 1 - 10 and it worked out to be an 8:30 pace, so that was my goal for the rest of the workout.

Somewhere towards the end of the run, a message popped up on my Garmin, "Delete some old workouts now". So I stopped, deleted some old workouts and pushed 'start'. Or was it 'lap'? My Garmin beeped and I started running again. Those 4 minutes felt especially long, but don't they all? Turns out, I ran an extra one of those four minute legs and it really was too long, but I stayed close to my goal pace - so, no big deal!

Today's workout: 4 min. @ 8:28, 8:35, 8:25, 8:30, 8:22 and then 4:52 minutes @ 8:34/mi. pace
Total Miles Run: 6
Post-run: a delicious peach smoothie

Glisten Workout

I receive workout plans by email from Glisten. Today I did the Abs with Allyson (Allyson Felix, that is) workout. I worked through the exercises three times. The goal is to do each exercise for one minute. A month ago, I could only do 30 seconds of each one, but now I can almost reach the goal - the ab scissors exercise is holding me back.

After that, I ran three miles on the treadmill with four one-hundred meter strides towards the end. The time went by fast with the fan blowing on me and music humming through my earpods. Glad to be running pain-free today!

Pre-exercise: Cheerios with skim milk
Post-exercise: chocolate malted milk and a banana

Time to Retire the Trainers

I woke up and did 35 minutes of strength training: chair dips, swiss ball exercises, weight lifting, etc. so I was sweating even before I went outside for a run where the 'feels like' temperature was 88. The clouds helped, though.

It was a good run until the 3.64 mile point when my left shin started hurting so I walked home. I'm icing my shin now. I had run at a 9:38/mi. average with my splits being 10:02, 9:30, 9:28, 9:31.

My other shin hurt Saturday afternoon (after the 5K race), but was better by that evening. Today the right shin didn't hurt at all. I wonder if it was the shoes I was wearing - that it's time to retire my Asics DS Trainers with 372 miles on them. My previous DS Trainers had to be retired at 377 miles because they felt flat when I ran.

Pre-exercise: banana
Post-exercise: open-faced peanut butter and raisin sandwich & skim milk

Welcome Gotta Run Now Blog Followers!

I added a Gotta Run Now followers gadget in the sidebar. It's been fun to see folks join. Welcome! : - )

If you click on the follower's photos, you can see the other blogs they follow and their own blogs, too. It's a good way to find some new blogs to visit.

2009 Freedom 5K Race Report

I finished! It was hot - I think the "feels like" temperature was about 90 degrees, but I'm sure it was hot last year, too, when I finished in 24:01.

The morning started with a two mile warm-up. I ran a mile out and back from the finish line. I was surprised that there were a few short hills on the course, but they weren't too bad. I ran five short striders in the last mile.

The race started and we were off. I didn't have to do too much zig-zagging and my first mile was run at a happy 7:43/mi. pace. I didn't know it then, though. I should have paid attention to my Garmin, but after I saw 8:39 in the first mile, I thought it might be too depressing to know my speed.

I slowed down in the second mile to 8:17. Now I wish I would have kept an eye on my Garmin for extra incentive. The third mile was slower at 8:27, but after the three mile mark (for .14 mile) I sped up to a 6:44/mi. pace. Seeing the finish line helped.

My finishing time was 25:22, but I was hoping for 24:00 or better so I'm disapppointed. After the race I talked to a ten year old who ran the 5K. After asking my finishing time, he told me, "If I'd finished that fast, I'd be celebrating"!

So no PR this time, but I think it's time to celebrate anyway. Happy 4th of July to you! : )

2009 Freedom 5K Race Results and Photos

To see race results for the 2009 Freedom 5K held in First Colony in Sugar Land, Texas go to EzToRegister.

You can see 2009 Freedom 5K race photos at Race Shots.

Found a New Running Blog

I found another new (to me) running blog. Check out the Tall Mom on the Run Giveaway, read about Mel's recent first marathon in Seattle and get a chance to win a running necklace, too. (Update: Sorry, the contest is over now.)

Complete Running Blog Family - I'm In!

I started out looking for some new running blogs to read at the Complete Running Blog Family Directory. You can search by filters like favorite race distance and number of years of running experience. The website has almost 2000 blogs listed and anyone with a running blog can be added to the list.

After just a few minutes, I found a couple of good blogs and then I added Gotta Run Now to the blog directory.

Welcome to all, but a special welcome to you if you are visiting from the Complete Running link! : )

Fruit Smoothie

Smoothies taste great - especially after a hard workout. I like to make mine the night before I run so that it's ready to drink right after I run. There are a zillion ways to make them, but here's how I usually make mine.

Pour the following ingredients into a blender and mix:

1/2 cup low-fat yogurt (plain or vanilla)
1/3 - 1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup any fruit (usually strawberries &/or blueberries)
1/2 banana (I keep a bag of frozen 1/2 bananas in the freezer)

Photo: strawberry smoothie in my '08 Houston marathon finisher's mug

3 Advantages of a 3 Mile Run

As soon as I started running today my legs felt so tight that I thought I'd have to turn around and go home, but by the 1/4 mile mark, they felt fine. I ran thirty seconds slower per mile than I usually do for easy runs. I think I'm tired after the speedwork I did yesterday. I'll rest my legs tomorrow.

3 advantages of running 3 miles:

1. When you're used to running at least five miles, three sounds easy.
2. You don't drip sweat all over the house after a three mile run.
3. You have more time to blog. ; )

Pre-run: Breakfast Bowl
Post-run: Strawberry Smoothie
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Rider 11

Have a wonderful fourth of July holiday! And if you're racing this weekend, I hope you PR! : )

Not So Bad Speedwork

Today I warmed up for two miles with five 100m sprints and then I started the speedwork. I ran a mile trying to reach 5K pace (shooting for 7:44/mi.), but I was only able to reach 7:57. It was one of those long miles! I ran a half a mile slowly to recover, but maybe I should have recovered a tad bit more because...

I did 4 x 400m next and my first one was kind of slow at 8:15. Wait! I just remembered that I had Garmin trouble with this one. I didn't hear the "start running fast now" beeps. So, no biggy! The next three were better: 7:39, 8:04 and 7:40/mi. I took 200m rests between those 400 meters.

After that I ran 1 1/4 mi. in cool-down mode and that finished up my 6.15 mile run.

I liked this workout. The mile was hard, but the 400m intervals were short and there were only four of them. Too bad I didn't get down to the pace I wanted every time, but maybe actually being in a race will speed me up.

While I was running, I saw a tree down our street that was struck by lightning during a storm last night. With the storm came a bit of a break in the heat and it was a couple of degrees cooler this morning: 76 degrees F.

Pre-run: 1 1/2 packets apple and cinnamon instant oatmeal with raisins added in

Post-run: yogurt and an orange

Photo: last night's dinner - a bit of this and that: lettuce, egg, peas, carrots, tomatoes, almonds, avocados, & oranges