Gotta Run Now

It's still hard for me to believe that I lost my honey while I was running today.

I had put some honey and water (5 oz total) in a small flask (similar to this one) and put it in my handheld water bottle pocket. When it was time for some honey, I pulled the flask out of the pocket and it was empty.

I had noticed a few drips, but I thought it was the condensation on my bottle. Fortunately, it didn't make too much of a mess and from now on, I'll be double checking my lids. I was close to home so ran home and picked up some Powerbar Kona gels and a few pretzels to get me through my run.

After today's 12.31 mile run (even .01 counts when it gets up to 90 degrees!), I drank my Peanut Butter Banana Drink: 3/4 of a frozen banana (break up bananas and keep the pieces in a plastic bag in the freezer), 1/2 TB. peanut butter and a cup of milk. It has a 3:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. The ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 is what you want to aim for after a hard workout. For more on tha…

I had a great 9 mile run today! Even in the heat, my average pace was a minute faster than last Monday's pace on my tough 8 miler. That doesn't make me fast, just less-slothful in the humidity. (The picture is from today's run.)

Running Miles: Last week I ran six days, running: 8, 6, 10, 4, 12, 5 with a rest day on Sunday. I like a hard/easy run days plan. Weekly total: 45. 

Strength Training: 4 days of 30 minutes each, including these videos: Denise Austin's Rock Hard Abs Workout and Honolulu Trainer's strength training for runners. I especially liked the sumo squats with calf raise on the second video. They're hard! 



Healthy Eating: I made whole wheat buttermilk pancakes using Inquiring Chef's recipe. I topped them with peanut butter and ate some before today's run. I also made some peach honey yogurt popsicles, but I didn't follow the instructions and used non-fat yogurt. I tried again with whole fat and they worked. I ate one after today's run …

Razz Clif Shot Gel - Since the St. George Marathon I'm running this fall is offering Gatorade and Clif Shot gels on the course, during today's 12 mile run I drank Gatorade and I had a Razz Clif Shot gel. The gel was like raspberry jam, but with a thinner consistency. It tastes good to me, but it's on the sweet side. I used the same fuel when I ran The Woodlands Half Marathon. Normally, I use GU or Powerbar gels during marathons, but it would be nice to be handed my fuel during the marathon. Have you tried Clif Shot gels?

Salads - Tonight is salad/pizza night. So that I don't go overboard on the pizza eating, I like to make a good side salad. Some of my favorites toppings are avocados, beets and peas. Rather than use a salad dressing, sometimes I top my salads with cottage cheese. Do you like any unique and healthy salad toppings? Yesterday, I topped mine with bulgar and quinoa.

Vacation Running - I took the photo of the U.S. Capitol while on a run on my first ever Washin…

After not finishing my planned miles on Friday because it was hot, I decided to walk or sit before I felt like I'd collapse from now on! The photo shows one of my rest stops along my running route.

I'm usually a morning runner, but Saturday night I ran 6.6 miles when it was 95 degrees (with lower humidity than earlier). I wanted to see if running later in the day was easier than running on a humid morning. I sweat and drank less than usual, but after only one try, I'm not sure which is less difficult. My pace was about the same Saturday and today.

This morning I ran 8 miles in high humidity (90%) and 80* (maybe). I ran up a couple of hills (need hill info?) and did a few strides - the goal was to speed up towards the end on all of those. Hopefully, the next time I do these, I can increase the reps and the speed at the end, too. 

Before Saturday's and today's run, I did some strength training using Sculpt Your Arms and Core Exercises. At least the heat can't keep …

97% humidity at the start of my run and about 80 degrees during the run! One thing that pushes me to run the miles is knowing that I have a fall marathon coming up- the St. George Marathon. Inspiring stories help, too, like the post about Sabrina Little who set a new American record of 152 miles in a 24 hour race recently. I can't imagine doing that! Posts that tell me that the heat makes me stronger help, too.

Unfortunately, no matter how willing I am to run through uncomfortable temperatures, the heat sometimes wins. I cut my run short when the walk breaks were taking over my morning run! I ran 11.35 miles today. I saw a rabbit, a baby turtle, ran through the woods where I got a good look at a deer and stopped to take a picture of some ducklings at the lake.

When it's hot, it's a good time for crock-pot meals so I recently made Balsamic Chicken. I found that this is a good dish to serve with brown rice or a baked potato.

Pre-run: English muffin topped with peanut butter…

I've begun training for the St.George Marathon - less than 17 weeks to go! Today I ran 8 miles and included hills and strides.

The Short Hill in the Woods - 6 times up the hill. There was practically a trail traffic jam at the top of my first hill. Just as my dog, Zoe, and I made it to the top, a deer ran across the trail. I've seen a few deer since we moved to the area in January, but I'm still in awe of them. Seeing the deer running put a little giddy-yup in my dog's step!

10 X .10 - Next, I ran Zoe back home, grabbed my water bottle, ate some orange slices (tasted great!) and headed back out to finish my run. After each stride, I let myself walk a few steps - it's humid. This was a much better run than Friday's when I ran 10 miles and had to sit on a bench to rest. Today was a good run day with hills, strides and a deer!

Do you have a hill workout you'd like to share? Here's an interview with a runner trained by Brad Hudson who incorporates hills into…

In October, I want to run the St. George Marathon faster than I ran the Bob Potts Marathon (3:58) in May so I've come up with a plan.

More Miles - I did a maximum of 50-55 mile weeks training last time using Advanced Marathoning, but I'd like to increase that to at least 60. I want to run more 20 milers, too. Last time, I only did two.Plenty of Hills - I want to run hills at least once a week. Some days, I may substitute with stairs.Lots of Speedwork - I'll continue to do this at least once a week. I'll go by effort more and not get discouraged because my actual pace is slower than I want it to be not that it's so hot outside. More "Strength/Weights/Core Work" - Increase to at least three days a week instead of just two.
The period at the beginning of marathon training is such an optimistic time! That's a good thing, but I never know what will happen on race day. If I've learned something along the way about challenging myself and perseverance, th…

I'm going to St. George, Utah! A couple of weeks ago, I received this exciting news:

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We would like to congratulate you on being 1 of 7600 runners selected for the 2013 St. George Marathon. We will be hosting runners from all 50 states and 18 countries. We would like to thank you for your interest in our event and we look forward to seeing each of you cross the finish line!

Since it was my first try to enter the race by lottery, I was surprised to make it in. I love hiking in Utah and I can't wait to run a marathon there, too. The above photo is from one of my hiking trips in Utah (Nov.'11).

Since getting the news that I'm running the St. George marathon, I've found some helpful sites:

2011 St. George Marathon Video produced by St. George City

Marathon Guide.com - race details from previous St. George marathoners

Fast Cory's Advice After Running the Course Twice: After reading this, I want to wait for mile 14 and then fly to the finish!

Runarirun&…

After finishing my 14th marathon in York, PA, I did a lot of walking that afternoon at Valley Forge and in Philadelphia. My legs felt okay when I walked around on race day, but for a couple of days after the race, I was sore - DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)!

My husband and I stayed near Independence Hall for a couple of days before flying back home to Texas. In Philly, we ate at City Tavern where they dress in period costume. We had turkey pot pie and sweet potato bread, which they say was John Adams' favorite. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. I microwave them, peel them and sprinkle cinnamon on top.


Taking a detour from my usual healthy turkey sandwiches, we split a couple of cheese steak sandwiches from Geno's and Pat's, two rivaling cheese steak shops right across the street from each other. The sandwiches were nearly the same, but Pat's gives you more meat. It's good to have that figured out!


We visited the Betsy Ross House, the Liberty Bell,…