In an odd coincidence, Tuesday through Thursday produced 3 runs averaging 8:06, 8:07 and 8:08, yet each run was composed differently: one had some faster miles in the middle, one included fartlek and the 3rd run was even splits.  I was especially happy with that last one since I never start quickly anymore, my first mile is usually between 9:1x – 8:3x so I was pleased when I saw 8:17 for that initial mile.

But then!  Saturday afternoon I wore my Hyper Speeds for the first time (review below) and between their magic powers plus the last day of Lady Time (hormonal magic powers) and a beautiful upper-40s day, my first mile was a completely unexpected 8:05 and then it progressed from there, ending in 8 miles@7:46 avg. pace.

Heart Rate
As much as I love data, the last time I strapped on my HR monitor was in September before my Half.  It would have been wonderful to have the comparison of HR while injured and rebuilding, but the inevitable crappy feelings it would have brought were not at all worth it.  I like to be happy when I can and knowing those numbers wouldn’t have given me anything useful.

But this week, I figured I was ready to see where I stood, so I started yesterday by checking my resting HR.  Much to my delight, I got a rock-solid 46 with a teasing of 45 (47-48 is more of a usual) so Yay!  Then today, I wore it out for my runs.

I’m glad I wore it for both runs because, while the morning run’s HR was fine, the afternoon’s was better – which is a good reminder never to put too much weight on HR data for one run, there are simply too many reasons for it to vary.  But back to the run…

I wasn’t wearing the magic shoes but the hormonal magic must be lingering because it was another feel-good zippy run averaging 7:58/mi with an average HRR of 73% and it was windy out there.  Considering this is the first week where those paces have reappeared, this is a really strong sign that everything’s in order.  I couldn’t be happier.

Running Form – Arms
As you know, I’ve given attention to different areas of my running form over the past couple years.  I’d work on one thing for a while then eventually come to peace with it, either because I’ve made an improvement (posture) or because the initial problem loses importance (foot plant).

Starting last Friday, I began focusing on something that’s been bugging me since the start: my armswing.  It’s not all bad, for instance I don’t cross the centerline of my body which is a common enough mistake, but when I see photos or watch my shadow on the bike path, there’s a certain “smallness” to my arm carriage that I know could be improved upon.

While it sounds like an aesthetic complaint, it’s much more than that.  I mean, of course I’d like to look like an Elite or, hell, even a high school XC kid, but beyond appearance, I suspect I’m missing out on a power boost because of this.  After all, your arms drive your legs: they dictate how fast you’ll go and even affect your stride length, so it really is no small thing.

I started by studying the race video from September’s Half and noticed a clearly uneven carriage: one arm doesn’t go back far enough while the other one goes back farther, but only because it’s driven by the hand (not the shoulder or elbow, as you’d want),  thus the angle increases well beyond the optimal 90-degrees.

So I’ve been reading articles and watching videos of runners I like – here’s a nice slow-mo of Shalane and Desi at the trials (Kara too, but she was all tensed up at that point).

When I work on it (and it’s very much a focus on the shoulders, not just the arms) there’s more swing to my upper trunk, less rigidity. It also seems to give me a more “tits out” posture, which is a good thing, not because I’m trying to get a job at Hooters, but because it’s optimal for breathing and efficiency.

In fact, Friday’s run was weird, it was unseasonably warm, 59 degrees, but super windy and I was feeling like crap so I almost cut it short.  The first couple miles were 9:15s and I was slugging along. After a bit, I started paying attention to my arms/shoulders and I’m not sure if it was the distraction or if it was really helping, but I picked up a good amount of energy – the last few miles averaged 8:03s.

I tend to think it’s really helping since I also paid attention to it on Saturday’s fast run as well, this time with an additional “trick” of brushing my hands lightly on the sides of my hip, which ensures they’re going back far enough while keeping a good angle.

Weight
It’s been 9 days and I’ve lost a touch over 2 pounds. I’m also happy to report that by timing my meals differently I’ve virtually eliminated the hunger spikes I used to get.

As far back as I can remember, my dinner time has been around 6:30pm.  Didn’t matter if my bedtime was 10pm in the summer or 12-12:30am in the winter, I’d always eat at 6:30.  This meant that in the winter I’d have those extra hours before bed that invariably required snacks and carrot consumption.  Carrots are fine vegetables, btw, but I don’t love needing a stomach filler to keep the growling at bay.

Now, in the last month, my eating schedule started shifting due to doubling my runs.  I usually get in from the afternoon run at around 4:30-5pm which left some time before dinner, so I’d eat some almonds or other snack to hold me over.

But this week, I decided to do away with the snack and just go for it: eat a small meal right after the run and then push dinner up to 8pm. This works beautifully because then at 10-10:30pm, I’ll have another little meal, usually the ole standby of PB/cereal (I love that shit like crazy, don’t ask me why) – far much more substantial than carrots or little snacks.

Et voila! I end up pleasantly sated until bedtime and my morning run doesn’t need fueling.  I haven’t had a carrot in over a week. It’s a miracle.

Aside from that, I did a silly motivating thing that I’ve never done before…I bought a clothing carrot.  That is to say, the other day on a whim I ordered some compression shorts (I only ever wear regular running shorts) that I’m too chicken to wear at my current weight but I think might look pretty damn hot when I lose a few.

I didn’t actually buy them with that in mind but once they arrived and I put them on I was like “I can’t wear these, too scary”.  FYI, a 4″ inseam is frumpy for me in regular shorts but in compression (with the potential of ride-up)…not so much.  Anyway, instead of returning them, it struck me that they’d make a fun treat for sticking to the plan.  We’ll see, I may feel too nekkid in them no matter what but it’s silly fun and they were on sale, so no loss.

Shoes
As mentioned, I took advantage of RunningWarehouse’s shoe sale a couple weeks ago and bought the Saucony Fastwitch 5s and the Asics Hyper Speeds.  Here’s what happened…

Saucony Fastwitch 5s
These are the first pair of shoes I’ve straight up lost money on, which is my own fault for not exchanging them immediately.  The thing is, it was a defective pair but it wasn’t till the second run that I was sure about it.  When I first put them on, there was an intermittent feeling in my right arch when stepping off, almost a pinching, but it was occasional and I thought it might be something that just needed “seating” in the shoe.  I did try to find the source but no matter how I bent or investigated the innards with my hands, I couldn’t replicate it, so I took ‘em out for a run.

First run was fine, I didn’t notice the sharp thing though it was odd to run in a stability shoe after wearing neutral shoes for ages.  They were comfortable in the upper but extremely firm in the sole and I did not love them, but as I ran faster I started liking them more.

However, the 2nd time I took them out, the pinching thing was there in full force and I ended up with a blister on my arch!  That is a pain in the ass place to get a blister – you’re doomed to feeling it for days no matter what shoes you wear.  So I was pissed at the shoes but thought I’d give them another shot once my foot was settled. (only because I’d spent 52 bucks on them)

So yesterday, a week after the blister run, I tried them on again but was instantly alerted to that same hot spot.  At this point, I knew the shoes were a loss so I took some snippers and cut the logo off the side thinking it might be the hard plastic and did some other operating but in the end, I couldn’t locate it. I think it’s the stability post or whatever keeps the shoe supported but I have enough working shoes right now that I don’t care to try another pair.  And I’ll stick to neutral shoes from now on.

Asics Hyper Speeds (aka Magic Shoes)
These shoes are wonderful.  They’re the lightest shoe I’ve ever had, 6.1 oz, compared to the Adios’ 6.5.  Talk about barely there.  I took them on that 8-mile run yesterday and you know how that went (fabulously) and they felt great!  Lots of room in the toebox and no discomfort anywhere.

I’m debating whether to stock up on them, putting ‘em in regular shoe rotation since they’re so inexpensive right now (new version’s coming out) or whether to save them for races, in which case one pair will last me a long time.  Either way, I resisted wearing them today, the better to harness their mystical magical powers for good rather than evil.  Not really, I just wore the pair closest to the bed.

And that’s it for today’s self-involved novella.  Have a great start to your week folks, run well and enjoy yourselves.  Later!

As far as the schedule goes, I quizzed Coach Adam/A muse on how far to take my long runs now.  Since I’m only doing short races this cycle, it makes sense to limit them accordingly.  I liked his suggestion: keep the weekly LR to 2 hours (for me, 14-15mi) and every 3-4 weeks do a 17-18 miler.  Perfect.

So on Friday, I did the 17-miler, moved up a couple days since our first real snowfall was due that night.  It turned out to be an excellent run, took my time on the way out but had lots of energy at the end.

That night we got 4″ of snow so I waited till the afternoon to venture out.  They’d cleared the bike path earlier but a thick sheet of sleet had fallen afterwards so the entire run was one long sheet of ice.  Luckily, it was mostly crunchy ice so no suicidal slipping, just a slow, effortful yet beautiful run.   I added a few miles to make up for not doing a morning run today – would have been too slippery.

Today was a lot more slippy and slidey.  I fell on my ass…hard.  Tomorrow promises warmer temps and rain, so hopefully that’s the end of it.

Oh, Snow You Di-unt! Week In Review

Weight, Weight, there’s more!
During my injured month off, my weight went up a few lbs to 123-124 and there it has stayed.  While it’s a fine weight for a normal 5’4″ woman, for someone whose primary interest is improving race times, that’s 10lbs over what I consider my optimal race weight (which is still 10lbs over any Elite), at least it’s the lowest I’ve ever been while running.

Now, my PR Half in September was done at a fluffy weight (120 lbs) so 5 lbs. heavy.  At the time, I had made a weak attempt to lose more but moving into a new apartment was stressful enough, plus I wasn’t that motivated since the higher mileage had already given me a great improvement.  But now my routine has settled in and after seeing the Olympic Trials last weekend with all those beautiful strong bodies, I’m inspired to get serious about it.

So at the beginning of this week I got all the cravings out of my system with a 3-day candy-fest: Reese’s Pieces, Hershey White Chocolate Bliss and some spearmint leaves.  Once the gorging was complete, I then pulled out the trusty ole notebook/food diary that got me to race weight in 2010 and Baby, I’m on this like a candy-coated shell on a Reese’s Piece.

Unlike some people who hate counting calories, when I’m motivated to make a real change I love jotting down my piehole input.  There’s something deliciously empowering about keeping track – it puts you in full control and as I’ve said in the past, removes the emotion from it entirely.  Not the enjoyable eating emotion, that’s still there in full glory, but the wishy-washy “I feel skinny today so I’ll eat this pile of crap” followed by “Fuck, I ate that pile of crap.”  I tend to get caught in that cycle indefinitely.

Calorie-wise, I’m kicking it off by eating about the same amount as I did for 2010′s weight loss (around 2000 cal/day).  Back then I was running 55mpw and lost about a pound a week but this time, with about 35 more mpw, it should come out to twice that (35mi = 3500 calories = 1lb).  It might end up even being more since doubling keeps your metabolism busy longer.  If that’s the case, I’ll up the calories to keep it at 2lbs/week.

My aim, as in the past, is to remain healthy and well-fueled for my runs.  So far so good: I’ve been timing things better with smarter choices, so instead of  munching on various and sundry after dinner, I have a 10pm bowl of hot cereal w/PB (my favorite sweet crack).  It’s the seemingly small things like this that add up to not feeling hungry despite eating less.

So this is exciting, as much as getting a new training plan or writing up my weekly schedule. I’ve worked on the puzzle pieces separately at different times in my running life: I know they work.  To think what might happen if I start putting them together…might be a trailer-trash masterpiece in the making.

Training beforehand
Might as well post a graph of my mileage since that’s been my focal point for the year.  The graph begins on Feb. 7th after taking a voluntary 2-week running break due to burnout.

Weight
I had mentioned how I was going to lose weight for this race and start counting calories again.  I did for a couple weeks but when the move started, I gave up on the counting and just ate healthy as ever, there was enough stressing without being nitpicky with food.

Turns out that while I only lost a couple pounds, holding at 119-120, thanks to the physical labor of moving to the new apartment, my bodyfat percentage dropped by 1.5%!  It’s been steady like that for about 2 weeks, so while I know my fancy-ass scale can’t be accurate as far as the base percentage (I’m surely not 14.5%) I do believe it’s trustable as a comparison unto itself.  So anyway, while I wasn’t at my best racing weight, the bodyfat thing made it A-OK.

Yesterday
My sweet pal and race buddy Kat arrived in the afternoon. I’d picked up both our packets already, so all we had to do was chat and eat dinner.  I made her accompany me to an old-fashioned diner in my neighborhood that I wanted to try because they served spaghetti and meatballs and I thought that’d be a funny place to go.  We were not disappointed.  It was Early Bird Prime Time so we were the only ones there who still had pigment in our hair.  Was good, made me feel fast.

This Morning
My new apartment is amazing for Philly races -  located 2 blocks from the start, it allowed us to take our time and pee to our heart’s content…luxurious.  We ventured out at 7:30, ran into my friend Peggy who was on the way to her long run.  She wished us great races (so cool to see her), then split up while Kat looked for our friend Lynn to run with.  I did a mile warmup with strides and got into my corral.  While standing there, I see my young friend Steph, one half of the twins I’ve befriended in my racing/running travels.  She didn’t have a firm goal but we decided to run together with the understanding that neither of us were “talkers”, which worked out great.

The Race
No big details here.  First mile seemed right on, then the Garmin went insane as it always does downtown, so for a couple miles I only had the mile markers to rely on, though I hadn’t noted when we’d left in relation to them and I missed the first one entirely, so my Garmin was saying anywhere from 8:46 – 5:xx, and for the first few miles, I thought we were off goal.  Around mile 4 I realized we were dead on, so that was a relief.

I wasn’t very stuck to the Garmin for this race because it was off for a great part of it and required quite a few “catch-up” lap presses (was on Autolap), it told me that for the most part I was running 6:4x-6:5x so after adding the leftover lap press, I figured I was right under 7:00 territory.  I did think I was in line for a sub 1:32, btw, right up until I saw the finish line.

I felt solid throughout this race.  There were points where I recognized my breathing was getting louder or that funny exhale whistle was happening but I would make a point to try and relax at those times, which helped.  Because of my previous collapsing/medical adventures, I was very mindful about how much effort I was putting out and told myself in the days before this that should anything feel strange, to not try and power through but to back off and slow down, race times be damned.

At this point we were at the park, my day-to-day running ground, and as we approached it I turned to Steph and said “home”.  Once there, I had a gel at mile 5 with a half-spilled cup of water to chase it. Never wanted for more, the temps were great (57, though breezy at times with 14mph wind) so it was extremely comfortable out there.

Once we hit Falls Bridge, with about 4 miles left, I felt like it was all downhill from there.  Steph dropped back at mile 9 so I was on my own from that point. Coach Adam/A muse had told me to keep steady till mile 10, then go into L’ Assassina mode, and I had to smile at the thought – while I was able to pick off people, I didn’t have an extra gear so I just kinda kept chugging was all.

About the park: since I started running in 2007, it’s been my gym, my confidant, my shoulder to cry on and an unparalleled source of joy.  I talked to the park this morning and thanked it for taking care of me.  I told it how much I loved it and reminded it where my favorite spot is and that even though it’s been the location of some scary health moments, I know it loves me too.  I communed with that park today.  But back to L’ Assassina…

There was this one girl that I don’t like from the park, she always gives me a bitchy look, and in the last few miles, she jumped into the race to run a few friends in.  When I finally passed them I heard her tell her friends they had to speed up, which I know was totally prompted by my presence so I took pleasure in moving farther ahead and out of their vicinity.

As I closed in on the finish, my friend Kev yelled out “just 1/2 mile more, you’ve got it!” which was great.  But even with all my park adoration, that last 1/2 mile is a scary spot for me, it’s the finish of many a Philly race and where 2 of those silly race collapses have occurred, so while other people were kicking it to the finish, I repeated to myself “feet under you, feet under you, keep your feet…”  and slowed down a tad until the finish line was right there.

After
I mentioned before that I thought I had my “A” goal right until the end so it was a disappointment to find I didn’t.  But really, it’s nothing but a few seconds and since this was my first race since January and I’ve had no real idea of where I was at, I’ve got nothing to be poopy about.  I know this and anything else is just plain Ego.  The main thing is after 2 long years, I finally got a PR when I’d pretty much convinced myself I’d not see another, ever.  I’m also pleased as punch with the Age-Grade and the Age Group placing.  This is such a competitive destination Half, I thought I’d be lucky to be in the top 6, so 4th is a nice bonus.

This race also unveiled the new race me: one that is confident but at the same time, reticent about pushing it to the Nth degree, probably won’t ever again as a matter of fact, but will do what I can within a comfort level that feels safe.  Because of this, I’ll never be a great racer – I believe you do need that balls-to-the-wall ability to do it properly, but I’m ok with that.  I think I have many great races ahead, just within those parameters is all.

After After
Kat and I went out for food and bloody marys before she embarked upon her journey home (Love you Kat, thanks for being such a fun and calming influence).  I sat here for a bit, thinking about the blog post I had to write and looking forward to seeing my ex-hubby tomorrow for the first time in eight years when he stops for a visit on his way home from that 12-week sailing adventure.  But after a few minutes, I said fuck this and went to the drugstore and bought a shitload of shit to stuff in my piehole.  Doritos, Reeses Pieces and Twizzlers.  All huge size.  After being good for so long, tonight I will be bad (or have a really bad stomach ache, whatever comes first).  All that’s missing is a cigarette.

Before I close, I want to thank all my dear friends from the 3:20 thread, even the hopeful crazies who predicted a sub90 (Matt), which I knew was not ever on the table.  Your confidence in me was beautiful, albeit overly hopeful.  And that huge collection of messages from my Facebook friends filled my heart like you wouldn’t believe.  I just love all you internet and real-life pals of mine – you make it all so much fun. Thank you for being so great.

I hope to have at least one ok race picture but until then, here's me and my dinner.

]]> http://www.girlinmotion.com/philly-half-race-report-2011/feed 48 http://www.girlinmotion.com/tale-of-a-tempo http://www.girlinmotion.com/tale-of-a-tempo#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:22:22 +0000 Flo http://www.girlinmotion.com/?p=10013 Today was my big-ass tempo day.  The run called for 6.5miles (5@7:05, 1.5@6:55) – no break between, just speed up for the second part.

Even though I could think of at least 3 reasons why this tempo should not be a problem for me, I was nervous about it.  The longest tempos I ever do are 6-milers and they don’t speed up at the end so this was a new thing for me.  Plus, I’m really not used to seeing these paces as a general thing, which is a bit of a head trip unto itself.

The weather was fantastic compared to the last few months: 67 degrees, dewpoint 54.  On the bad note, I got on the scale and saw 123lbs…I’m a pudgster!    On the good note, I filled my Shuffle with some favorite songs and downloaded some new ones, which always gets me pumped.  Ready as I was ever going to be, I left the house.

2.75 miles warmup, a drink from the fountain, 2 strides and I begin.  My first couple miles were slower@7:10, the first one because the Garmin was off, telling me I was doing 7:06, the second one because I went up the bridge, though on the way back I had gained momentum so the bridge didn’t phase me.  Section One went 7:10, 7:10, 7:03, 7:06, 7:05…avg 7:06.

Section Two is where it got interesting.  Honestly, I wasn’t convinced I’d be able to speed up at all.  I have a lot of self-doubt, even after writing a blog post spouting a bunch of confidence crap, it’s not like I’m walking around all puffy-chested, I’m just starting to believe.  But I got real lucky.

First off, there was a handsome guy ahead, right when I started that section, so I followed on his heels but after about 1/2 mile, passed him.  Then I found my rabbit!

What a great rabbit it was.  He was this guy, looked like a hardcore trail runner due to his garb, but also, he had a huge backpack on that looked like it was full of bricks. It was obviously some kind of training torture device so it was truly impressive.  And his pace was perfect!  We ended up running side by side, wordlessly, for a mile and when I finally got to my endpoint, I thanked him for the rabbiting, he grinned and chugged on.  Section Two went 6:52 and 6:54 pace for the remaining ½ mi…average 6:53.

Then, for the cooldown, that cute guy I had passed comes back in the picture, so I followed him for a while, the last couple miles averaging 7:53 (what can I say? he had nice legs).

So the entire tempo portion averaged 7:03, just one second over goal even with those slow first miles.  And the cherry on the sundae is that it was also my fastest training run ever, 12 miles @ 7:35/mile, a factoid I won’t mention again now that faster runs are in the cards.

Sure, it didn’t start as peppily as I might have liked but that’s my M.O., I always take a bit of warming up to hit pace.  And don’t think for a moment that the last 1.5 miles were easy, they weren’t – if backpack guy wasn’t there, I doubt I’d have been able to do it, so I’m not going to burst out with some crazy race time in September.  But if I can do 7:00s and it doesn’t hurt too bad, I’ll be thrilled – with 8 quality sessions to go, it’s looking good.

Heart Rate
It was great!  Funny enough, it was exactly the same as my shorter and slower 5.5mi@7:11 tempo 2 weeks ago: avg. 173 (HRR 83%), max 180 (HRR 88%).  Today was 10 degrees cooler which surely helps but still, I was quite a bit faster today.  Tis a thing of beauty.

Weight
I’ve been saying I’m not going to make a point to lose weight before the race.  My reasons are:

#1) It’s nice having a wild card for when these speed improvements stop
#2) It’s a slight reaction to having been so strict with my weight for racing last year
#3) As long as I’m getting faster, I don’t need to

But if I could lose 4-5 lbs in the next 5½ weeks, that’d be one powerful extra weapon.  So I’m going for it.  If I don’t manage it, no biggie, I’m already happy as hell with the status quo, but I may as well start jotting down calories and being more conscious about it.

And that’s it from my end of the world.  Hope you all have a great weekend and some swell runs while you’re at it.  Ciao!

As you know, my running schedule these days is very loosey goosey but I do have a general idea of how I want the week to go.  What’s nice is that since it’s all “just running” I can switch it around to suit the weather or work or how I’m feeling that day.  So the week was planned to be 85 miles.  On Friday I did a 15 miler.  That left me with Saturday and Sunday to get 24 in.

Since today (Sunday) was supposed to be thunderstorms, I went 14 yesterday so I’d only have to do 10 today.  Turns out the thunderstorms were delayed and when I got out there, I felt pretty damn good!  So I just kept going.

I should mention that my paces this week are slower in general but not from the mileage increase.  The heavy-legged days turned out to be the same story as last month…PMS.  But unlike last month, it didn’t linger beyond the expected timeframe, so if iron was the culprit as I suspect it was, the supplementation and beef I’ve been eating have in fact helped.

The other slowdown was a purposeful choice made over the last couple days.  Not that I was denying myself any sub8 runs – I wasn’t feeling that peppy this weekend, but I’m trying to be careful about potential hazards that could come with pushing the mileage envelope (or I should say, the singles envelope because that’s what makes it a bit tricky).  I think there’s a potential for injury from clumping together a 15, 14 and 15 on consecutive days, at least while I’m in this “getting acquainted” stage.  So yesterday and today especially, I was trotting along at such a comfortable rate that even the suck of a dewpoint didn’t bother me one bit.  How things are changing!

The Time It Takes
I had a nice cup o’ joe yesterday with my pal Judy from the Women’s BQ Forum, she was in town and it was fun to catch up.  One thing she asked me was “How long is all this running taking you?” and when I told her 11 hours and change, she thought that was a lot (as I’m sure lots of people will).  FYI: this week, with the extra miles and slower paces, came out to 12:37, but the norm will be closer to 11:30.  Anyway, here’s my take on it…

I remember in my 20s when I went to a gym a few times a week.  I’d travel to the gym, change clothes, do a 1½ hour step class or “cardio” and then the machines, take a shower, get dressed and travel back home.  That had to have taken over 3 hours total.

Now I know a lot of you guys go to a gym in addition to your running or you get massages or spend a lot of time stretching or maybe you cross-train in the pool or cycle, etc.  All I do is run, so comparatively, it’s not really that much time spent.  And of course, I have no people commitments and my work is on my own terms, which makes it easier still.

Back To Beef
I’m on a huge mushroom burger kick now and what makes it particularly satisfying is that, thanks to the amount of running I’m doing, I can shove more food into my pie hole.  Ordinarily, if I was to eat a home-cooked burger, I wouldn’t have a starchy side dish with it because the burger and bread alone would comprise a good amount of calories.  But I was wandering down the frozen foods aisle of Whole Foods a couple weeks ago and on a whim, bought a bag of Alexia Spicy Sweet Potato Fries.

Oh My God!  They are now my favorite side dish in the whole wide world.  They’re frozen fries that bake up crispy in the oven or toaster oven (my weapon of choice) in 20 minutes.  The non-spicy ones are also very tasty, but these are my fave.  Best part is they’re not calorically dense or deep-fried like normal fries and are actually good for you!

Dinner at The Blue Hovel has improved a lot lately; I’m cooking more now.  Gone are the boxed dinners from Trader Joes I was so tethered to during my weight-loss phase last year.  Not that I’ve stopped shopping at Trader Joes…

One of my favorite T.Js items are their bags of 4 chicken breasts; I cook ‘em all at once and then add some to salads, quesadillas (another new addiction), etc. for the next few days.  It’s also handy to have some chicken in the fridge for right after a run when you need a bit of protein for recovery.

But what makes T.J.s bags of chicken so special isn’t the price (which is great) or the chicken itself (which is very tasty), but the packaging.  Gone is the usual styrofoam tray with that stinky diaper pad at the bottom – it’s just a bag.

Because living in a city apartment where they only collect garbage once a week, those chicken diapers start to smell like dead people after a couple days even if you rinse it out thoroughly – which is a disgusting exercise unto itself.  No longer must I walk the city streets in search of a dumpster or municipal trash bin to stealthily dispose of my smelly chicken wrappings.  Quality of life has been restored.

The Week In Running
My toe finally stopped hurting on Monday – I thought that was never gonna end!  And I had a bit of weirdness on Friday’s run when I stopped to adjust my shoe and soon after got a wicked side stitch that had me starting and stopping about 6 times until it finally abated.  Saturday was a nice rainy run and temps for the week were mostly mid-70s.

Monday: 9@8:15
Tuesday: 12@8:18
Wednesday: 14@8:10
Thursday: 11@9:02
Friday: 15@8:30
Saturday: 14@8:20
Sunday: 15@8:20
Total: 90 mi (avg pace 8:25)

Yerba Mate
I got my order from yerbamate.us on Wednesday and had some fun trying the different brands & flavors out. One thing’s for sure, I much prefer these yerba mates to the one I got at Whole Foods (Guayaki brand).  That one is extremely grassy/smoky tasting while the ones I ordered taste more like teas.  The one from Whole Foods works though, so it’s definitely worth trying if you want to test it out – just remember to buy loose tea – if you get teabags by mistake, you’ll need to infuse 3 or 4 to get the right strength.  If you decide you like it, order online; it’s cheaper and tastier.

A whole lotta Yerba Mate

I haven’t tried the Rosemonte Especiale yet or the free sample flavor they sent (Mountain Nut Premio) but I’ve tried the white chocolate and really liked it.  It has a relaxing, slightly sweet flavor (it contains stevia but I add more sweetener and milk) and while it’s not a dead ringer for white chocolate, it’s a great evening drink and didn’t give a buzz at all, though I only used 2Tbs so I wouldn’t get much caffeine.  I had a cup at 10pm and was able to go to sleep at my normal time, though because I brewed it conservatively, I was peckish an hour later and went for the carrots.

Now, yesterday morning I had the super-duper strong one, Mahtay.  That one has guarana seed, ginseng and extra yerba extract added and is touted as having “twice the kick of of any Yerba Mate on the market today“ .  I friggin’ believe it!  About 30 minutes after I had a cup, I was an absolute buzzing bee at the sewing machine! It was kind of funny actually, how I became uber-motivated and focused on the task at hand.

For a daytime pick-me-up it can’t be beat, but avoid it at night (not that I tried, you can just tell it’d keep you up).  I’m going to drink some before my next early morning voiceover gig – sometimes it’s hard to get my brain wrapped around medical/technical jargon at 9am but this stuff will have me zoned in from the get-go.

Like the other yerba mates, it keeps you from getting hungry but it’s not like you want to stop eating completely.  I had no problem downing my meals, I just didn’t get as hungry between as I ordinarily would.

Glucomannan
I was timid about trying Glucomannan, which is interesting since it’s just fiber so in reality, it’s the least mysterious of any of these things I’m testing out.  But as I mentioned on a Facebook update, it has me thinking of the gelatinous creature from Alien, so when I tried it a couple nights ago, I only took 2 capsules instead of the suggested 3.  It seemed to fill me up some but didn’t last too long.  Since I didn’t choke, poop excessively or discover any jelly-like creatures bursting from my stomach, I’m going to test it with the proper 3-capsule dose next.

Hoodia
I tried it last night.  Since my interest in all this is focused on apres dinner snacking, I was tempted to take it a couple hours after dinner but followed the directions and took it an hour before dinnertime. I actually wasn’t expecting it to work since I’d read that you might have to take it for a few days before it starts working, which is one reason I was ready to dismiss it summarily.

Surprisingly, it seemed to work right off the bat. I held off cooking for an extra hour because I wasn’t hungry enough to go for it (and I’m always ready for dinner).  Btw, the kind I got, Source Naturals Hoodia, is the priciest of everything I’m testing but as I mentioned in another post, it’s worth it to me to spend the extra dosh since there are fakes out there and I trust this company.

Anyway, I found myself wanting to snack a couple hours after dinner, so next time I’ll try it mid-evening to see if that works because I don’t need or want my meals affected, I have no truck with those.  Ditto with Glucomannan, btw…it’s suggested to be taken 20 minutes before a meal, so I’m going to experiment with the timing of that, too.

Almost There
So the jury’s still out on Glucomannan and Hoodia.  I need to give them a couple more tries taken at different times to judge their effectiveness properly so keep an eye out for my final conclusions in a week or so.

Yerba Mate is genuinely effective for appetite suppression, however it can give you some added energy along with it, more or less depending on your brew strength.  While it won’t give you caffeine jitters, you’d have to do your own experimentation to figure out the right amount for the job.

I’ll close by giving my most humble apologies to those of you who don’t give a crap about any of this.  Normal posts will resume with the next one (not that there’s anything interesting going on anyway, but one can always hope).  In the meantime, have a great weekend, all!

I also wore my HR monitor for Saturday’s run and was very pleased with the result.  As a matter of interest, right after my 2-week break I wore the monitor see what time off does to a girl’s heart and was shocked by how high it was: 162 (76%HRR) for 8:42 avg.  Not a bad HR as a whole, but very high considering the pace.   Comparatively, Saturday’s run was 164 for 8:03 avg…way better!  Additionally, the knee is happy again.  It’s all good in Flo Camp.

Appetite Suppressants
…continued.  I found an entertaining video of a guy taking us through Yerba Mate preparation and explanation.  Not only is the guy charming and quite a cutie, but it’s informative, too.  I’m supposed to get my Yerba order in tomorrow, btw, so I’m looking forward to trying the different ones out.  As far as taking it late, since it does have caffeine (more or less depending on if it’s a first infusion and the amount used), I’d say you’ll have to experiment to see if it messes with your bedtime or not.  Here’s an excellent article that a commentor linked to in the last post (thanks Illiterate Primates) if you want to read about the chemical and study stuff behind it.

I also found another appetite suppressant that doesn’t contain anything stimulating at all.  This is a good thing if you don’t want the energy/mental boost Yerba can give (and is surely better for evening consumption if caffeine is a problem).  This one is called Glucomannan and all it is, is fiber.  It comes from a  root that’s been consumed in Japan for over 1000 years.  Here’s some info on it.

You have to take water with it or you can choke (seriously, that’s on the bottle) because it turns into gelatin, which fills you up.  Apparently, it’s also good for constipation due to its fibrous properties so it’s used for that as well.  I haven’t tried it yet though I did get a bottle at Whole Foods this morning.  I’m holding off on testing it out because tonight is date night and if it makes me fart, that could be problematic.

A common way to use it is to open the capsule and put it directly into a smoothie or in oatmeal which seems to thicken it up.  I read some woman used it for a sauce thickener.  I’m not that brave so I’ll be testing it out by keeping it in capsule form.

That’s it so far in the land of experimentation.  I’ll check in with the results of this stuff in the next post.  In the meantime, have a great day, all!