Gotta Run Now

My First 20 Miler of the Season
I averaged 10:05/mile and the second half was the fastest part of my run. I ventured into the woods a little here and there, but I was on an asphalt road in the park most of the time because I can run faster there and I need to work on my speed. Since I'd like to run a 50K trail race on May 10, running through the woods is good training, though.

Wild Animals
When I was running through the woods, I scared a deer so I started calling out, "Running through!" Then I saw a coyote - my first I've ever seen at the park! And then I saw a great heron with a big fish hanging out of its mouth. It flew away with the fish hanging out of its mouth the whole time, which looked kind of funny.

Zoe, the Weimaraner
In the top photo, my dog is on one of the trails through the woods. She's got her eye out for deer or maybe even a coyote!



Fuel During the Run
Now I've used Tailwind Nutrition on a 16, 18 and 20 mile run. This time, I mixed Tailwind Nutri…

Running Outside
I've especially enjoyed the scenery this week! While running, I've seen the sunrise, spring flowers blooming, 5 deer, an armadillo, a big turtle, bright red Cardinals and a bald eagle. That was really special since I haven't seen a bald eagle since August.

Garmin Connect Tip
Did you know that if you already record your mileage using Garmin Connect, you can see your yearly total on it? Click on the Plan tab, go to goals and set a mileage goal for the year. This will keep a running total of your miles towards your goal. This week I ran 50 miles and this year, I've run 435 miles. It might be fun to run 2014 miles this year, but being able to do that depends on my body. So far, so good, though!

New Recipe
Something that I'm pretty sure that I can manage in 2014 is to try a new recipe every week. This week I used a new Greek marinated chicken recipe that uses yogurt. It was delicious and I'm sure I'll be making it again.

A Good Book
This week I lear…

This Week's Long Run
I ran 18 miles for my long run. It's kind of funny how your feellings change during a long run. With 5 miles to go, I knew I'd finish. With 4 miles to go, it seemed like I'd never finish! With 3 miles to go, once again, I was sure I'd finish. It was a good run, though. The weather was nice (50-67 degrees) and all day long people kept talking about the perfect weather. My Asics Nimbus 14 shoes (on the left in the photo) kept my feet cushioned on my run.
Berry-flavored Tailwind Nutrition 
Before the run, I ate a bowl of rice. During the run, I used my 22 ounce Nathan handheld bottle filled with two scoops of berry Tailwind Nutrition. Berry has a fruity taste and isn't too sweet. Last week, I tried mandarin orange and I like both flavors. At mile 2, I started sipping my drink every 2 miles. At mile 9, I started sipping every mile. I looked forward to counting down each mile and drinking more as I ticked off the miles.

Then I Ran 10 Miles
The nex…

Weekly Summary

Last week was a good workout week. I looked forward to my workouts and finished them feeling strong. I ran 45 miles, rode 13.5 miles and strength-trained, too.

Ramping up the Miles 

I ran a 16 miler on Tuesday and then I ran 8 miles the next day. Next, I'd like to do long runs followed by 10 milers the next day. I'm training for a 50K trail race on May 10 here in Texas: the Hog's Hunt.
Riding and Running

In addition to running, I like to ride my bike every week. I think it's good to change my exercise routine a bit and it's fun to ride. Saturday I rode 13.5 miles. Immediately after that, I ran 5 miles. After 1/4 mile, my tired legs felt normal and I was able to run negative splits. Those miles were some of the fastest I did all week.

Chia Chocolate Milk

After that ride and run, I was in a hurry so I drank my already prepared chia chocolate milk while I got ready to head out the door for some Saturday fun like going to the local running store and out to l…

During this week's 16 mile run, I tried something new. Since the five 4-serving packets of Tailwind Nutrition that I ordered on Saturday arrived on Monday (fast!), I used it this week.

A hand-written note was included with my Tailwind Nutrition. Little things like that are a nice touch. I told my husband about the note. I'm telling you. It was a great first impression.

To prepare for my 16 miler, I put two scoopfuls of the Mandarin Orange flavor into my 22 ounce Nathan water bottle and topped it off with water. I started drinking it at mile 5. One serving, or one scoop, is similar to the average gel in the number of calories and carbohydrates that I normally use. The small packets that I bought didn't come with scoops, but 1 scoop equals 2.4 tablespoons.

3 Reasons I Like Tailwind Nutrition (Mandarin Orange flavor)
It mixes easily.It's clear. No fears about getting orange stain on my clothes.I like the mild orange taste. It isn't too sweet or too salty. The first taste …

New Activity Tracking Gadget 

I have a new gadget for tracking my sleep and daily activity. It's the Fitbit Flex. I can set the Fitbit to track daily steps or active minutes. The active minutes option might be good so that I know that on days that I haven't run that I've still gotten in 30 minutes of active exercise, but I haven't had much experience with that yet.

5 Reasons I Like Fitbit Flex:
It tracks a restless night.It tracks daily exercise/active minutes.There's a (nearly) silent alarm setting. It fits my small wrist with 2-3 holes to spare. My husband has a Fitbit, too, so we compare our results just for fun.  
My First Two Weeks with Fitbit Flex

Looking back on the stats, I can see that Sunday night was great, but last night I was restless. Last night I slept 7 1/4 hours with 8 restless minutes. The night before, I slept for 6.5 hours with zero restlessness plus I had a long Sunday afternoon nap. According to Gadgets for Collecting Data on Sleep, one thing act…

Feeling Great
What a difference you feel after running a half marathon compared to the marathon! After running the Woodlands Half Marathon on Saturday, I took a long walk through the woods with my husband and our dog. My legs felt fine.

14 Mile Run
Yesterday I ran 14 miles, fueled by a handful of dates. It was an easy run to do because it was 30 degrees cooler yesterday than it was on race day. Today I ran 8 miles. I'm gearing up for a possible 50k race in which I'd want to get in a few back to backs where I'd run two days in a row with some decent mileage.

Deer
On one easy 5 mile run this week, I accidentally ran up quietly upon 6 deer. This startled all of us!

Strength-training (3 sessions this week with a focus on arms)
Tank Top Arms at Fit Fab Cities blogArms at Run Salt Run blogOverhead Tricep Press (30), Bicep Curl (20), Standing Chest Fly (10) Running This Week (after the race): 40 miles
It's been great to get right back to running after the half marathon!

I started a second blog in January: iRaced! On my new blog, I post links to runner's race reports. You can check it out at iRaced.

My new blog is on Wordpress, but Gotta Run Now is on Blogger. It's been a fun way to learn about Wordpress.org. It's too soon to say which I like best, though.

My Blogs
iRaced: a place to find motivation and inspiration for running races from other runners. Gotta Run Now: a personal blog where I write about running, training for races and other aspects of healthy living like eating right.  I hope that both of my blogs will inspire runners to go for a run and to have fun while they're at it!

7/20/14 Update
I've moved the race reports to this blog, here at Gotta Run Now.

The Race: Woodlands Half Marathon, 3/1, 7AM

This was my 7th half marathon and the 2nd year I've run this race. Here's last year's recap.

Results: Chip Time: 2:10:36 (9:53 average pace)

Course: Mostly flat course with some gentle hills.

Weather/Clothes: 67 degrees, overcast, humid, Skirt Sports Women's Adventure Girl Skirt (lots of pockets!), Nike top and hat,Asics Gel-Nimbus shoes, Experia Thorlo socks 

Pace Group: I didn't run with a pace group. I planned to start near the 2:00 pacer, but because I was a little late I started near the 3:00 pacer. Towards the end, I saw a pacer ahead of me. I tried to guess who it was: 2:00? Nah! 2:30? Probably. When I saw that it was the 2:15 pacer, I was happy and I had a new goal: get ahead of that pacer. And I did! 

Spectators: The few that are out there are especially appreciated on a quiet course like this one. I heard my name called out a couple of times (our name was on our bibs) and caught a high five, too. 

Fuel Pre-run: Pancake…