Don't Stop Believing

Ran 15 miles on the treadmill today. All at once.

This brings the total for this week to 42 miles.


Highlights of the week:

• Running outside on the lakefront path with my pup. He was very happy to see lake Michigan, and go for a run too!
• Running 42 miles this week
• Running 15 miles in one sitting on a treadmill.
• Nice post run massage
• Appetizers and soup at PF Chang with my wonderful, wonderful.

For the last few minutes of running today, I put on "Dont Stop Believing." It was the perfect end to my workout. I never thought I could run more than a few miles on a treadmill at one time. Today proved that all wrong. Anything, and Everything is possible.





Tired after our 6 mile run.


Cheers!

Lunch

Went to oasis cafe and had a chicken shawarma plate. Had to walk through some jewelry stores to get to it. I felt special, like I was "in the know" about this place. Delicious food! Secret lunch spot. :)









Going to check out the meaty balls street truck next week.

Mmm

-Xaar

60 minute time limit

8 Miles on the treadmill tonight. averaged 9:15 per mile.  I'm feeling pretty darn good. :) 
For this  week, I am at 17 miles so far.  4 Monday, 5 Tuesday, 8 today!!

After I crossed the 60 minute mark, somewhere around 6.3 miles the treadmill started going 4.5mph and was in "cooldown" mode.  I had to increase the cooldown mode (as much as I could- it topped off at 10 minutes) and i had to fight with the treadmill to go 6.6mph.  After it would slow down I would make it speed up, but 60 seconds later it would go slow again. once I hit 7 miles, i restarted the tread to finish the workout.

When I restarted it, i tried to see if i could increase the workout time from 60 minutes, to perhaps, 90 minutes. no luck. got the error message that said "60 minute time limit."

This is a sign.  I really should start running outside. It is cold, in the 30's, but no snow or ice on the ground at this moment. I need to go say "Hi" to lake Michigan, on the Lakefront Path ASAP.


Dinner tonight:
lemon pepper pan sauteed halved chicken breast
broccoli cauliflowers and carrots in a cheese sauce- only 45 calories a serving!
(seriously, I could do without the cheese sauce, but it was the only frozen combo of those veggies I could find, it's better than being smothered in a butter sauce right??)

Spring greens salad (rated "4" on the boldness scale, whatever that means)
with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and some artichoke hearts, with raspberry vinaigrette


Cheers!

Home sweet home

Glad to be back!

It was a pretty smooth flight the entire time, a few bumps here and there...

About 30 minutes before we were to land the pilot gets on the PA and says "PREPARE FOR LANDING." I thought he had a lot of urgency in his voice. I also thought it was weird the attendants weren't coming through the cabin again. About a minute later I understood why. for the next 15 minutes we were going through some hellish turbulence. The kind where the anyone not buckled in would have been tossed around like a rag doll.

The plane was silent.

Then, all of a sudden, the ride was so smooth. For the next 5 minutes, no turbulence. I kept waiting for us to hit a huge bump of air. Then we landed. WHEW! Glad to be back on the ground! We definitely got our money's worth on that flight. It reminded me of the worst flight I have in recent memory.



Last year I flew out to Phoenix for the Rock n Roll race. My dad did the marathon, I did the Half. (That was his BQ, I was so happy to see him cross the finish line with a few minutes cushion) On the flight back to San Fran- 2 hours tops, was bad. Once we got airborne, the pilot came on the system and said - No drink service today because of the turbulence. everyone, including the flight attendants remain seated. OH NO! I thought- Im not a fan of flying, and turbulence doesn't help this irrational fear. For the next couple of hours the plane was bouncing around. A high school student in my row was puking the whole time. AWESOME!

Life doesnt get any better....

Heading home

Back to the ice and snow in 4 hours.

-Xaar

Los gatos trail, Campbell California

I was finally able to run outside on my last day in California.





It was beautiful.

27 miles for the week. Off to a good start.

56 days to go!

Cheers!

-Xaar

Mmm

Ran 5 miles on the tread. I was hoping to do more outside on the Los gatos trail, but I didn't want to run in the cold rain.


Tomorrow I am looking forward to doing some LSD running on the Los gatos trail before returning to Chicago in the afternoon.


Salted caramel cheesecake For dessert. Mmm

Cheers!

Life is Gouda

4 miles tonight. 3.25 on the dreadmill, .75 on the elliptical. For me, breaking up the running helps me keep going. As soon as I got off the tread, i went straight to the elliptical.

Felt great!


Dinner:

smoked Gouda with kiwis, and plum

Healthy choice chicken something dinner.

I want to loose some weight, because i dont want to carry the extra lbs around with me mile after mile. I doubt i'll ever be as thin as I was in high school when i was doing cross country- I looked kind of anorexic then. I even got called to the school nurse because they thought I had an eating problem. (Eating problem that I LOVE to eat everything and had been fortunate with a good metabolism... that has slowed considerably ever since the big "25")

Going back to the city where "Tony left his heart.." for the weekend. Im excited to get my longer runs done outside in hopefully better conditions than the windy city. Tomorrow and Friday are 70%+ for rain... but Saturday and sunday are looking clear.. Oh the rainy cold runs... Brings back memories of The Nike Women's Marathon 2010, and the US half Marathon in November 2010... Cold and rainy.. Nice change of pace...

Cheers!

Speeeeeeed with a dessert of cranberry/cinnamon Chevre on garlic bread

5 x 800 with 400 jog in between. 4 miles in 34:40!!

Started with a 400 at 6.1 mph, then did 800 at 7.5mph (8 min/mile pace) repeat 5 times!

The first one was tough. Each one got easier and by the final 2 sets of 800's, i kicked up the pace to 7:40!!! These were all on the treadmill. Ugh, Im ready for a nice run outside! Tomorrow, tomorrow, you're only a day away!

did 100 crunches, and 30 push ups.

Dinner was leftover Chicken in the Garden

AND Garlic bread with leftover cranberry/ cinnamon chevre goat cheese on garlic bread.
I CANT let that delicious stuff go to waste.

MMMMM


Can't wait to go to road runner sports this weekend and get a new supply of Cliff Shot Bloks. I cant get down GU, and while I love GU Chomps, their packaging is less than desirable when running. The Bloks are better especially when you cannot think of anything else but one foot in front of the other and other crazy hallucinogenic stuff when out on a long run. Cliff Shot Bloks come in a more activity friendly package for eating on the go. For runs over 10 miles, I also use the SaltStix. One capsule every 5-6 miles. and 3 Bloks every 6 miles. With the bloks and the stix I havent experienced cramps or hitting the wall. Perhaps i've just been lucky.



Cheers!

Dreadmill

Did an easy 4 miles in 37 minutes on the "dreadmill" tonight. Felt really good- and even better than expected due to an added boost in motivation and excitement.


Tomorrow will be some yasso 800's which I am looking forward to. 5 x 800, with jog in between each repeat. Trying to figure out my goal time. Im leaning towards 4:00. I doubt I can do any faster due to the brevity of this training. I will take each day as it comes and figure out pace.

On Wednesday I am happy to run outside for the first time since moving to Chicago 3 weeks ago. My first outside run will be 4 miles along the lakefront path. The weather has warmed up into the 40's and the snowy stuff is melting away. PERFECT RUNNING WEATHER!!!!!!! I just charged my garmin 110 and am so excited to use it for the first time since I had to replace it a few months ago. My first one was faithful through my Nike Women's Marathon training and race, and then proceeded to die and fog up during the US half marathon. (which I am told is an uncommon problem for those units)

The rest of the first week of my new training will be:
Thursday:
5 miles outside

Friday:
Rest

Saturday:
7 Miles at pace

Sunday:
16 miles.


Tonight I got some takeout from a local Italian restaurant. It is delicious.

Dinner:
Small salad with french dressing
Piece of garlic bread
"Chicken in the Garden" chicken sauteed in garlic and olive oil and a myriad of garden veggies.- broccoli, cauliflower, olives, carrots, peppers, spinach and pasta. I will only eat half because it is a lot of food.


Cheers!

Great News Today!!!

Cant say exactly what for fear of it not being a surprise, but a big thank you to Beth @ SUAR and Salonpas. I am so surprised and excited for the opportunity that they have given me.

Original plan- Build more speed with shorter races, then work up to the Chicago Marathon and qualify for Boston.

Shamrock shuffle 8K
Soldier Field 10 mile
Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon
Rock n Roll San Jose (4th year in a row)
Chicago Marathon.

New plan: More LSD runs, with 1 day a week of speed work in addition to the races mentioned above. I just need to readjust my goals for the next couple of months. Another goal is to lose some lbs. These next 2 months will be the perfect time to exercise portion control and better, healthier food- along with increased exercise.

The weather is starting to get better so there will be some outdoor runs in the near future.

4 miles on the "dreadmill" is on the menu for today.

Happy V-Day! This is the best V-Day ever!!!!!!

now only 59 more days to keep a secret. ;)


Cheers!

247 more days!

Today I registered for the Chicago Marathon.

I will find a 26 week training plan.

I want to qualify for Boston.

Stay healthy.

That is all.

247 more days!