Latest and Greatest

This past Saturday, I probably experienced one of hardest and worst runs as of yet. I had orginally planned to run 5 miles that day, but it ended up to be a hard 2.3 miles at a pace of 11 minutes and 30 seconds per mile. I felt defeated and useless. I wanted to cry, and eat ice cream for the rest of the day. When I stopped running, I still had to walk home for a good 20 minutes. I kept asking myself what was wrong with me. Then after a couple of minutes, I rewinded back to that past week of training. This past week I ran a HIIT of 2 miles on Tuesday, a HIIT of 3 miles on Wednesday, then hills for 3 miles on Thursday. I think with all of that stress endured on my body, it needed more than a day to recover. I learned my lesson, that is for sure. Sunday night I found the recipe below, 5 minute Avocado Chicken Lettuce Wraps.



http://www.dailyrebecca.com/2013/12/5-minute-avocado-chicken-lettuce-wraps/



I doubled the measuments for each ingredent. With the increase in size, I was able to accomodate my boyfriend and I. It was deliciious. I already had leftover chicken in my fridge, so this was super quick. After we were done devouring our food, we did not get that heavy feeling afterwards. You know the one that puts you to sleep almost. Which was great. Also, I found a great recipe on pinterest for breakfast. Below is the picture of the breakfast item that I will be eating all week.



I was skeptical at first on trying this out, but I really like it. It is not your normal breakfast, but it nice way to kick off my morning with. I whipped one up for my boyfriend this morning, and he loved it too. He is a picky eater, so if he gives it a gold star it must be good. Other than food, I did a HIIT of three miles this morning. It was actually not that bad. I focused on my breathing, especially the last 10 minutes of the run where my legs were getting tired, and focused on my posture. Those two factors helped me get through my run, and not struggle as I could have. My biggest thing is posture. When I start getting tired, I start to let my body limp a little bit. Such as my shoulders start to slouch, and I do not focus as closey on my foot placement. By focusing on all those factors, it helped with the end result, and how I felt at the end of my run. Below is the HIIT workout.

Queen of Changes of HIITS

Other than being the queen of changes, I am the queen of treadmill hiits as well. Throughout my weekdays I do treadmill hiits. They help tremendously with boredom, which is a big problem with me. This week I have done two runs, which I have modified both in the middle of my workout.

I used this one above on Tuesday.  After 10 minutes into this workout I had to modify it significantly.  What I did was, at 10-12 minutes I ran at a 6.0 speed. Then at 12 min for one minute I ran at 6.5, and increased by .5 for each minute until I reached the speed of 8.0. Which ended at 16 minutes into the run, so I ran for 2 minutes at 6.0 then the last two minutes I ran at 6.5.  I was shocked on how sweaty and exhausted I was after this run.  I was more shocked on Wednesday when my thighs were killing me.  I knew they were from my run.  I was prepared to run, and I was like whatever I am still running again.  So guess what I still did.

This one above I did this morning.  Yes, I did modify this one as well.  You need to understand, I do not have much time in my morning to  do this complete workout.  I know what you are thinking, make more time in your day to finish this workout. But I wake up at 4:30 am to work out at 5 am, then I leave at  7 am to sit in an hour in traffic.  So yes, I do not have the time.  I fully did this workout till I reached 29 minutes on this plan.  Than I ran at 7.0 speed for one more minute, then I quit.  Right when I quit I met my 3 mile mark.  Phewww!  Today my thighs are killing me.  I do plan on running an easy 2 mile run tomorrow.  We will see if I proceed.  I will let you know :)

Horrible Bathroom Experience

Before my long runs I will drink a cup of coffee along with my special running juice (4 celery stalks, one green apple, half of a small lemon, and one beet). Due to all of the liquids I consume I like to wait 30 minutes after consumption to run. This way, I am able to flush out all of the liquids before my run. Well, I proceeded to do so, but around mile three I needed to go to the bathroom once again. To my luck, there was a bathroom!! I hit pause on my nike+ running app, and went in. This bathroom was not the most pleasant bathroom I have been in. Thankfully the men and women section was separated. There was no door for you to close on where the toilet was. The entire time I was scared that someone was going to walk in on me. There was no way to signal that the toilet was being occupied, you just needed to cross your fingers someone did not come in. After my shock, I finished 7.5 miles. During my run I decided I need to start logging my running experiences in a journal. Such as how many miles I ran, my pre/post workout foods, if I needed to stop, and etc. I have not heard a lot of runners doing this, so I wonder if this is normal to do? After my run, I had the rest of my leftover burger from last night's dinner at the Twisted Root for my post workout food. It was their burger of the month, Muenster Cheese with grilled mushrooms and garlic. It was amazing, I wish it was not available for this month only. Then I proceeded to drink Chocolate Muscle Milk. As of the right now, I do not own any protein powders. I know that I need to. I once brought Tone it Up's perfect fit protein powder. It was a little bit of the grainier side, and it was a bit pricey for me. Eventually, I will break down and buy some protein powder. Have a good sunday funday!

Zoo Fun Run

I have been slacking off on writting on here lately. I am sorry, I have been reading the "Divergent" series and I can not put it down. It is really bad, I rather eat lunch by myself, so I can read the next chapter in the book. I am currently on the second book of the series, and it is very addicting especially compared to the first one. Almost each chapter ends with a cliff hanger. This past weekend I did the Zoo Run in Fort Worth with my father. For the majority of the run, we ran though a very $$$$$ neighborhood. Which are are always nice to look at. My dad was so distracted at one point by the view of the houses, he ran into one of the cones on the road. It happens though, at least it was a cone and not a small kid. We ran through the neighborhood for about 2 miles, and then the last mile we got to run through the zoo. Majority of the animals were not out as of yet, with the expection of Flamingos. But the zoo staff did come out and cheered us on while we were running. Along with the purchase of the race we recieved one ticket each to go to the zoo. So after the race, my dad and I went to central market to kill some time. We had breakfast tacos there, and walked around. Then we went to the zoo, and we were able to see the new baby elephants, Bella and Bowie. :)

Fast forward to today, this morning when I was headed to the treadmill at my apartment's gym to do my hiit workout I realized my ipod was dead due to my lack of not charging it last night. At first, I was not going to run but I decided to run inside the gate's of my apartment complex. I did do it in complete silence with the expection of my sneakers hitting the pavement. This was my firt time to run in silence. It was a little boring at first but I got over it. It was nice not to have anything playing in my ears. I could actually concentrate on some issues, I needed to resolve. By the end, I was struggling, my complex has a lot of little hills and it was super humid. I kept remininding myself of "Finding Nemo". One was a quote of, "Keep on Swimming (running for me)", and the scene when he touched the "butt", mine was that I needed to cross the 3 mile finish point. And I did complete my 3 miles!

Break Runs

In the late October, I received a promotion.  With this promotion, I received an extension on how long my lunch break was, which is an hour now.  At first I could not figure what I could do for a whole hour.  My apartment was too far, and I did not want go out and eat every day.  Then it dawned on my, I could run on my break.  At my work, there is small track about a quarter mile long outside.  So what better way could I spend my breaks other than run.  I do not run that far though, I usually go about a mile or a mile and a half.  This way I am not too sweaty, and it wakes me up.

This past Monday and today I ran both a mile and a half.  Then this morning I ran the HIIT workout below. 

 

 

I was running behind, I hit the snooze button too many times today.  This one was a quick 2 mile run.  I did not stop at 18:26, I kept going at 7.0 to 20 minutes.  My muscles were tired, but hey I was there to build endurance.  How else am I going to build endurance if I quit when my muscles get tired. 

 

When I was getting ready for my morning run, I decided to slather coconut oil in my hair.  After I slathered it up, I wrapped up in a tight bun.  This way when I get all sweaty, it will heat up the oil and it will penetrate deep in my hair.  The oil will act as a moisturizer.  So in a way I killed two birds with one stone.  Have a good day!

 

 

 

 



And....I am back :)

It has been almost a year ago since my last post.  At that time I was starting to train for my first half marathon.  That actually never happened.  When I was training, I was not training for myself.  I was really training to impress people.  Which is a big no no!  I made it to week 6 of the training program, and I fell off the wagon.  I have no clue when that was.....

Fast forward to the present, I still want to do a half marathon some day, but not sure when.  I have come to the realization I strongly dislike training plans.   From now on every time I do my long runs, I try to beat my distance from my previous long run.

 Yesterday morning the weather was gloomy, there was a chance of rain by midafternoon.  If I wanted to run, I had to run now or it would be too late. Thankfully the boyfriend had coffee ready for me when I woke up.  While sipping on my cup of coffee I made one of my favorite juices.  This juice contains 2 carrots, 1 beet, and one apple.  After drinking both drinks, I left my apartment to go on my run.  I was able to run 7 miles yesterday.  At first I was planning on running 6, but in the middle of my run I wanted to push past my record of doing 6.5 miles.  It felt good to accomplish this little last minute goal.  Usually before my runs, the little voice chimes in and tells me that distance is too long.  And how am I able to keep running that long.  Yesterday, I decided to tell myself this is a journey; a journey of my strength and endurance, and a journey with nature.  With that being said, the little voice was not so loud after telling myself about the journey I was about to embark.

After my run, I thought "eggs in a basket" would be a good recovery food.  Which is not to be honest.  I felt sluggish afterwards.  I decided to relax and watch "Roman", for a little while.  When I was relaxed enough, I went over to Target and picked up one of their archered farm salads, and the movie "Gremlins" :)      I got the apple and cheese salad, which is so delicious.  I love their premade salads over there.