As of today, I’m on it, choo choo!  I celebrated my 49th birthday on the pavement this morning with 7 well-deserved recovery miles, thanks to a weekend of strong, satisfying runs capping a 66-mile week (and this one had a rest day in there, too).

As mentioned, I switched Tempo days from Friday to Saturday in favor of better temps.  Though I’ve made that Fri/Sat switch 3 times this cycle, I’m never truly pleased about it because it means Sunday’s run will be on tired legs.  Add to that my LRs are in the trail system for hillier terrain, it’s a double-challenge, but I’ll take that over a tempo in humid soup any day, so the switch was made.

Originally scheduled as an 11, I changed it to 9 since those extra 2 warmup/cooldown miles wouldn’t win me anything, so: 2 miles warmup, 6@half pace, 1 mile home. It went swell, I wore my heart rate monitor and the numbers were as they should be.  Pace-wise, I averaged one second over my projected goal pace which bodes well since race morning is likely to be 10-15 degrees cooler.

Later that afternoon, I went to a BBQ where I ate and drank like a happy pig, knowing I had 17 miles the next morning.  It’s good to have an occasional piggy day when you’re dieting anyway, though I may have mowed down a group of small children when the cakes were served, I can’t exactly recall, it’s all one big sugary blur.

Yesterday before the run, I wondered how it would go since it was a 50-50 set of circumstances.  It could go great because I’d carb-loaded at the BBQ with a wide assortment of bean dishes (strangely, no farting…stranger still that I feel the need to report that fact) but on the other hand, I’d had enough wine that it could be one of those leaden-legged deals.

The weather was wonderful – low 60s to start – so I wore a singlet for the first time since May. My initial miles were slow, as they have been all summer (worth a discussion on another post, it’s been a dramatic change) but each mile clicked by a little faster and when I got in the trail, I started feeling more energized.  On the return, I was doing low 8:00s and my last mile was 7:50, an unexpected surprise considering the previous day’s tempo and booze-a-rama.

Coming Up
This next week brings only one major workout (wow, winding down for real!): 3 x 2.5mi @ HP w/3 min. recoveries. Very happy to be doing one more race pace workout…good for the mind as well as the body.

On Wednesday I’ll fill you in on my continued travels down to race weight, the latest numbers and observations.  In the meantime, UPS will be delivering my second pair of Kinvaras tomorrow, blue ones with white soles.  Woohoo!  Not that I don’t love my current pair despite their screaming hot pink soles, but if I wear anything with pink in it, I’m convinced it looks as though I spent serious closet time putting together the perfect ensemble.

Since I’m way too cool for that shit, I’ve been occasionally wearing older crappier shoes to keep from looking like I’m trying to be the Queen of Pink…deliberate insouciance at the risk of tendonitis or some other shoe-related running injury.  Because birthdays may come and go, but immaturity is forever.

It’s 6am, pitch black out and I’m looking at the weather, thinking “tempo or no tempo?”.  The fact that it’s already 80 degrees and tomorrow at this time will be about 70 has decided it for me:  Tempo tomorrow.

On the amusement front, the twins I talked about in the last post, Steph and Linds, replied with the best head-trip ever, they ran together yesterday specifically to have me see them in one place, at one time.  LOL!  I couldn’t stop laughing as they approached and was relieved that it wasn’t one girl messing with my head all this time.  Great job ladies, you had me grinning like a crazy person the rest of the way home.

One other little amusement, at least to me, is that the next time you read this blog, I’ll be a much wiser and more thoughtful writer than ever before.  OK, scratch that, though I will definitely be a more mature one, seeing as how I turn 49 on Monday.  Yikes.  Thank god for running, with its ability to turn a potentially anxiety, depression-filled occasion into only mildly irritating that I’m not turning 50…the better to kill in a new Age Group.  Let me say this again: Thank god for running.

Have a great long weekend, you US Labor-day celebrators, hope you enjoy your BBQs and gatherings, races, runs and rides.  See you back here next week.  Cheers!

It’s finally happened – the Plateau, she is gone.

Yesterday’s workout was: 10.7 miles w/5 x 1.25mi @10k pace, avg. 3:40 recoveries.  I averaged 6:59s.  It was 81 degrees and Daniels and Tinman say that’s equivalent to 6:47s in normal temps, so I plugged it into McMillan and dang if it doesn’t spit out my Half PR from last year.  Of course, this is all calculated approximation so TWB (tinged with bullshit) but I haven’t been in spitting distance for close to a year, so this is a beautiful thing.

Btw, some weather trivia I just read: this is the hottest Philly summer on record, and by a wide margin.  Highs averaged 88.7!  Last winter had record snowfall.  If this keeps up, I may just move my ass outta here.  But back to running…

Race Goals For The 19th
As mentioned, I’m not looking for a PR for this one, instead my main focus will be getting hydration down right.  I’ll also be tweaking the nutrition aspect and for the first time, at Adam’s suggestion, will take 2 gels, one 30 minutes in, the next 30 minutes afterward.  I think this is a great idea, I’ve always scrimped on that stuff during Halfs but now I have no problem taking gels (they used to remind me of snot but now I find them quite tasty, or else I’ve established a craving for eating snot).  But back to the goal…

1:34 has a nice ring to it; challenging, but not tempting fate too much.   Having trained in this miserable weather for months, it’s hard to realistically know what’ll happen.  It’s like you’re rehearsing for a dance but only marking your moves for months, then suddenly you have a week to dance all-out (assuming we’ll have some cooler weather before the 19th).  Should be interesting, if nothing else.  Plus, the major happiness with this race is the girlies coming in: there’ll be Reyana coming from California, Rebecca from Alabama, Doggie & Loren and Kat.  So it’s a chickfest in the works!

Meanwhile, I’m actually looking forward to my 6@Half pace tempo this Friday (or Saturday if the weather’s better) to see where my heart rate lies.  Who is this person?  Looking forward to quality runs again?  No defeatist attitude?  Some actual confidence?  She seems familiar but I can’t quite place her.  Looking forward to become reacquainted with her as the Fall progresses, though.  Speaking of…

Fall Races
I started scouting out races to do between this Half and the November one, and compiled a nice little list, which I’ve put on my At The Races page. I’ll pick 3 but those are the choices so far.   It’ll be so good to get back in the game – the longer I’m away, the more nerve-wracking it is to race.  Which is another reason I’m happy that September’s Half will be a rustbuster and not one that (in my mind) counts.

Back to the present
I had a fun 11-miler this morning, the first few miles run with blog commenter and friend Steph, who is one half of a pair of athletic twins (missed you today, Linds!).  I see them both in the park and they look so remarkably identical, the only way I can tell them apart is one wears red, the other wears blue.  I’m still not convinced there are two of them since I’ve yet to see them together.

Anyway, we had a fun time jabbering about the park regulars, it’s so satisfying to have your observations of weirdos and funny running styles confirmed.  Btw, they’re not the only twin runners in the park, there’s another set of sisters in their 20′s too, though they’re much easier to tell apart.  They’re also very sweet and always say hi.

I’ll end today’s post with a shout-out to my friend Matt Tartar, whom I met doing the Runner’s Roundtable.  He’s got a cool podcast called Dump Runner’s Club where he talks of all things running.  If you’re a podcast listener, add him to your list, he’s a funny guy and a sweetie, besides.

And that concludes today’s blah blah.   I wish you all the blah blah for the next couple blah.   Be safe and make sure to blah your blah blah because it might get itchy if you’re not careful.

Another 65 mile week in the books and I’m really pleased with how good I feel physically (and mentally, for that matter).  I had a day off today, first in two weeks, and while I enjoyed it and made a crapload of headbands, I didn’t feel as though I needed the day off, which is heartening.

Moving backwards in time…

Last Friday’s tempo was swell: 9 w/ 3mi@Half, 2min rec, 2mi at 10k.  Wore my HR monitor for the first time in many weeks and was happy with the outcome.  An easy 9 on Saturday and on Sunday, 16 into the trails.  That was a cool run because I was dragging at the start but on the way back, managed to hit paces I rarely run in easy runs anymore.

My Facebook friends know that for 2 miles, I was followed by some spitting, hocking, wheezing guy, then when I got to my half-way point and turned, the guy said “Oh no, you were giving me great paces!”.   It made me laugh, but I’ve never been happier to separate myself from another runner as I did then.  I so wanted to say “Good luck with those allergies” but didn’t bother.

On a more fun note, I passed 3 groups of XC runners (I guess they’re XC?  Is any college type group of runners a group of XC runners?  Is there such a thing as a group of track runners?  But then I guess they’d be on a track.  I have no idea about these most elementary running things) – anyway…one set of guys, two sets of girls.

The girls were pretty cool, looking way fierce, and one group was led by a definite Alpha, she was very tall and telling a story while everyone was laughing.  When I passed them on the return, they’d all become silent as the heat of the morning and their effort had obviously made a dent.  I was surprised when the Alpha said “good morning” as they passed, usually those groups keep to themselves.

I like the way I can peek into these alternate universes that I’d never noticed before, understand what people are doing even though we have so many years between us.  It’s funny because I know that to many, I must look like an old hand at this running thing, but half the time, I still feel like an interloper or someone playing being a runner.  Not that I mind really, it doesn’t affect my enjoyment at all, but I wonder what it’ll take to feel permanently ensconced.  Maybe it has to do with starting so late that I’ll always feel like I’m borrowing somebody’s sport.  Then again, I’m a transient in life, so maybe it’s just my M.O.

Anyway, got back from the run and spent the rest of the day making a Facebook page for GIMheadbands and bugging my friends to “Like” it.  Big hugs to those who did, especially the men…that’s pure support right there.

Super big hugs to those who’ve bought some already.  I got the testimonials/customer photo page working, so don’t be shy, send me a photo of you rocking a headband, I want to see many lovely faces up there soon!!

And now, time to chill out, got an early morning tomorrow with quite a hard workout: 5 x 1.25mi @10k pace, 3-4 minute recoveries.  Hmmm…given the choice, do you think I’ll take 3 or 4 minute recoveries?  What is that 3 even doing there?  Making me feel guilty because I sure as hell will be doing 4.  Once a slacker, always a slacker.

I’ve been asked a few times what a typical day or two of eating is for me while I’m on this weight-loss adventure, so that’s what this post is all about: food, calories and a few ruminations on the subject.  If you’re not into it, skip it because this is a long one.

For the record, I don’t pay attention to the carb/protein/fat ratio of what I eat.  I did last year when I was logging food and again when I began this time, I logged a few days worth on DailyPlate.com just to check, but my ratio comes out pretty solid so I don’t sweat it.  I suggest you log your food online for a few days to make sure your proportions aren’t way off.

I do keep a few key things in mind:

1. Protein and fat are what keep you sated (I always thought it was carbs until I read Racing Weight), so a bit of either/both will help you feel full longer than just straight carbs.
2. After a run, you want to eat within an hour or so and include a little protein to aid recovery.
3. Since I eat less and stop eating earlier than I used to, if I have a hard run the next morning, I make sure I get a nice carby meal that night.  Might not make a difference but it can’t hurt.
4. If you don’t already, consider taking a multi-vitamin to cover any potential holes.

Tools Of The Trade - my postal scale (only used to weigh marijuana once and not successfully, either) and my cups and tablespoon.

Now About That Food…
I live alone so I rarely never feel like cooking. One thing I love to do is make a huge pot of rice or Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains and divide them into 1-cup portions, put them in baggies and shove them in the freezer.  That way I’ve always got perfectly-sized servings on hand.

Bread – I avoid those huge-ass loaves and try to keep the calories per slice around 70 – this requires some label reading since most of them are 90-120.  And I always get whole wheat or a grain mix.

Herbs – I love these Dorot frozen cubes.  I get the garlic and basil ones at Trader Joe’s.

Warning: Trader Joe’s (TJ’s) is a running theme throughout the post, though several of the items including these cubes, are available elsewhere.  I’m sorry if you don’t have one in your town or country, it kicks ass.  In lieu of that, similar frozen meals to the ones below are available in Whole Foods or normal grocery stores, though usually pricier.

Butter – I use faux stuff, 50 calories instead of 100.  I also use (but only for popcorn) “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” spray.  Some of you are barfing over this, but it works for me.  For cooking, I always use non-stick cooking spray.

Cheese – I had stopped buying cheese since I’m either a pig with it or it gets old in the fridge.  Now I buy individually wrapped string cheese and cheddar cheese which works great because it’s a pre-measured 70 or 80 calories, stays fresh and makes a great small snack.

Syrup – I respect that some of you hate the idea of Splenda and sweeteners, but I love my Maple Grove sugar-free syrup.  Compare 210 calories for 1/4 cup of normal to 30 calories for this stuff.  Btw, I don’t eat the standard portion size of 1/4 cup, I get 8 servings out of a bottle instead of 6, so that’s only 22 calories per slab of pancakes.  My insatiable sweet tooth is very happy.

Veggie Burgers – I’m not a vegetarian at all but I’ve not had the urge to buy or cook raw meat in a long time.  I do however, like to keep an assortment of veggie burgers on hand.  They’re so easy to prepare and yummy, too, though a couple aren’t really “burgers” at all, just shaped like them: Dr. Praeger’s California burgers (110 cal) which are so vegetabley, you can see each individual pea and carrot and Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala burgers (120 cal) which are fantastic if you like Indian food, really great to crumble over grains or rice.  When I want one that tastes and chews like an actual burger, I get Boca burgers (140 cal).

Grains and Pasta: Big favorite is TJ’s Harvest Grains which contains Israeli couscous, red and green orzo, split dried garbanzo beans, and red quinoa.  It’s 283 cal for a prepared cup, easy to make as couscous, has 10g of protein and has a wonderful substantial texture.  I make mine with chicken bullion and no added fat, cook the whole bag (yields 6 cups) and freeze half of it in the aforementioned baggies.

As for pasta, I just recently started eating whole wheat pasta and love it.  The thing about pasta is you really need to measure or weigh it before cooking because it’s too easy to make unnecessarily large portions.

Frozen Entrees: Trader Joe’s has so many excellent ones, I’m only partially ashamed of my frozen food consumption.  When buying frozen entrees, I always look for portion sizes that go with my calorie goals, 450 -500 calories.  If I bought something that had 650, I surely wouldn’t put 4 bites in the fridge for leftovers, I’d eat the whole thing, so it’s just easier to choose the right amount from the start.

Dividing Your Calories Up
As per the Racing Weight book, when I was targeting 1800 calories, that’s 450 per meal and 150 per snack.  Now that I’m going for 1900-2000, I add a bit here and there.  My main deal is to make sure that by the time dinner rolls around, I’ve had about 1200 calories so I’m not “saving for later” as I used to.  This also makes lunch a hell of a lot more fun because I can eat the meals I’d only reserved for dinner in the past.

So let’s get into it.  Note that when you see a lower amount of calories for a meal listed, like a turkey sandwich, I’ll have a small side dish or fruit or make the next snack a bit bigger to try to keep things even as far as fueling.  It feels so much better this way – no cravings, no hunger.

Pre Run (5:30 – 6am, though the last few days 8ish…woohoo cooler weather!)
Quality run or if I’m hungry first thing: Bread with peanut butter and 1/2 banana – 220 calories
Recovery run: 1/2 banana – 55 cal
Always: Hazelnut coffee with fat-free Half and Half – 20 cal

Breakfast (whenever I get back)
Pancakes with sugar-free syrup – 330 cal
Bread with peanut butter and 1/2 banana – 220 (I’ll have 2 of these or one will have been the pre-run one)
Old Wessex 5-grain cereal (I get it at Whole Foods…love the chewiness) w/ 1 tbsp. of peanut butter and sweetener (just like a warm PB cookie!) – 250 for 1/2 cup cereal and 1 tbsp. PB or 375 calories for a bigger portion.
Eggs with spinach/mushrooms and 2pc. toast with faux butter  – 390
Dr. Praeger’s Veggie burger on toast – 250
Maple Shredded Wheat and 1% milk (1.5 cups cereal, 3/4 cup milk) – 380

Lunch or Dinner (noon and 6-7pm)
Turkey veggie sandwich with tomato, cucumber, mushrooms and lite mayo – 270 cal
Egg salad sandwich w/lite mayo – 270
1/2 cup TJ’s Harvest Grains sauteed w/spinach and garlic for a nice side dish – 150 cal
Boca burger w/cheese – 360
Trader Joe’s quiche (love these!  they fulfill my need for crust) – 460 cal
TJ’s salsa verde chicken enchiladas – 480 cal
TJ’s Olympiad greek pizza (a one-person pizza and quite delicious) – 450 cal
TJ’s Chicken Tikka Masala and a piece of garlic naan (yum!) – 490
TJ’s Masala Veggie Burger crumbled over grains w/veggies- 450
Whole wheat pasta w/sausage, veggies and tomato sauce – 500
Pasta with white clam sauce – 470
Rice and black beans w/ spicy sausage and veggies – 450
Salad with lots of veggies, 1/4 cup walnuts & 1/4 cup dried cranberries, balsamic/1tbsp. oil – 530
Chinese pork dumplings w/rice and veggies – 500
Egg noodles (3 cups dry…lots ‘o noodles) w/broccoli, garlic, basil and faux butter – 530
Sauteed fish w/low-fat coconut milk and curry sauce, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts – 480
Shrimp coconut curry w/veggies (yes, I love curry) – 500

Once it starts getting cooler, I’ll pull out the crockpot and make stews and pork tenderloins, etc. which I’ll portion out and freeze.  I haven’t bought fresh chicken in about a year (I’m so weird), I used to cook a few breasts and freeze them, so I need to get back on that.

Snacks (10:30, 3pm and 8:30pm)
5 water crackers, 2 tbsps hummus and a carrot – 140 cal
3 crackers and an ounce of cheese – 115
Air popcorn (made in a paper bag) – 1/4 cup unpopped 145 cal, 1/3 cup unpopped 204 cal
1/2 cup Old Wessex 5-grain cereal w/cinnamon and sweetener- 160 cal
Veggie burger open sandwich – 180 to 210 cal
Tomato, cucumber, mozzarella salad w/balsamic – 140
White wine – 120
1/4 cup chopped walnuts – 200
Fruit

And that concludes my gastronomic sampler.  Hope it’s helpful if you’re stuck figuring out what to eat when trying to lose weight.  Of course, if you don’t mind cooking, the world is your oyster and there are tons of recipes online for light cooking.  Then you can invite me over for dinner.

Have a great weekend, my friends.  Eat well, run well!

Finally.  A workout that reminded me of what it’s like to feel you’re kicking ass: 9.25 mi w/5x mile@15k pace, 1min rec’s.

As I’ve said, mile repeats are my least favorite workout, they’re just so interminably long, and with today’s schedule having 5 of them, I wasn’t too thrilled.  On the other hand, I wasn’t too freaked either, since the pace was 15k, a nebulous speed found only from McMillan’s calculator since I’ve never raced a 15k. It’s actually quite a nice pace, a little faster than Half, little slower than 10k, so it seemed doable going into it.

The weather these last two days has been infinitely better, enough so that I haven’t had to set the alarm – went to bed at midnight and woke up at 7am, which is way more my style.  Btw, those 8-hour nights I’d been shooting for will probably never happen, but 7 is a huge improvement.  Temps-wise, it was 68 degrees when I got outside, low 70s by the end of the run.

Adequate rest and great weather had me running faster than planned and the kicker is that I actually considered adding an extra interval.  Shocking.  I ultimately decided against it, wanting to savor the feeling of having a tad extra in the tank because I haven’t felt this “right” in so long.

Funny how all it takes is one great workout to make you feel more confident about the rest of the schedule.  Friday’s tempo lands on another great weather day and I’m actually looking forward to it…more shock and awe.

Weight update
My weight hasn’t moved in a week and a half, though my bodyfat number is going down.  I’m really glad I got that scale, otherwise I’d be feeling a bit irritated about the plateau, but the bodyfat number decreasing totally makes up for it.  For the record, I’m at 118 right now so I’ve lost 5lbs since I started a month ago.

Also, I’m eating 1900-2000 calories now.  Feeling like I could stick with this calorie load forever.  In the Spring, in a misguided attempt to lose weight, I ate salad almost every night and lunch was always a turkey sandwich.  Yawn.  Haven’t had either of those in weeks, much more varied on the menu front.

And with that, it’s time to figure out what I’m having for lunch.  Likely it will involve my boyfriend, Joe.  Trader Joe, that is.  He’s dreamy and knows just how to feed a girl right.