Going Faster

A Relative of Mine.

Okay, so my runs are going a little faster at this point. Last night, I ran 3 miles in 31:02 pace which is a bit faster than I've been running during the summer. I chalk it up to feeling more motivated because of the upcoming marathon. While training for the half, I was just moving forward at what ever pace felt good. It feels like I've had a mental break from the speed (not that I have any delusions that I think I'm fast or anything) and I'm ready to get back to it. Yesterday's run was also a mile marker for the year: it was cool and cloudy enough to run after work. Yeah!!! I love after work runs. Running right before bedtime tends to not give me the best nights of sleep.

On the diet side of things, I've slowly taken a lot of my "needless but tasty" carbs out of my diet. I'm having fruit and or nuts for breakfast, veggie and protein-filled leftovers for brunch and lunner (I've split my meal in half so I eat at like 11 am and 1:30 pm), a small snack at home, and a fairly good meal with a small portion of carb. My body's still growing accustom to the smaller portion sizes, but at least I'm not just craving buckets full of rice and GF pancakes the size of houses.

Run on allergy peoples!

Marathon Training Schedule and Fake French Fries

Sucking air.

The Goal:
Kevin and I have decided on the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX on December 5. This will be my first (and possibly my only depending on how it goes), so I'll be writing a lot about it as well as discussing new recipes to keep me motivated in the months to come.

The Plan:

In order to maximize pain and increase the possibility for a mental breakdown, Kevin and I sat down this past Friday evening and outlined a training schedule for the marathon. Ha! No, it's not that bad. A training schedule is actually really necessary so that we don't wear ourselves out with unnecessary workouts or speeds. Take a look below, and I'll describe the reasoning shortly after.

1. 8/21:     6 miles,     Fast Pace (FP)  completed, see my training log!
2. 8/28:     14.5 miles,Race Pace (RP)
3. 9/4:       7 miles,     FP
4. 9/11:     16 miles,   RP
5. 9/18:     8 miles,     FP
6. 9/25:     18 miles,   RP
7. 10/2:     9 miles,     FP
8. 10/9:     19 miles,   RP
9. 10/16:   10 miles,   FP
10. 10/23:   20 miles,   RP
11. 10/30:   11 miles,   FP
12. 11/6:     21 miles,   RP
13. 11/13:   12 miles,   FP
14. 11/20:   22 miles,   RP
15. 11/27:   6 miles,     FP
16. 12/5:     Race Day

So basically every other week we'll be working on long distance speed work (fast pace runs) while the other weekends we'll be trying to stick with the pace we have in mind for the marathon (race pace). We might have to change it up a bit because we also have the Turkey Trot 5K on November 20, and that'll conflict a bit. This type of training will hopefully ensure that we can maintain our race pace throughout the marathon because we've actually trained to go faster. My goal is to run the fast pace runs in under 10:30 per mile while a pace just under an 11:30 will be my goal for the marathon. This is a finishing time of 5:00 hours.

AAAAHHHHHHHH! Um, I'm going to try and not think about how long that is....

These times might change as the temperature drops and my heart is using less energy trying to cool me down when it's in the 90s.

Now, this schedule does not include any cross training exercises (weight lifting, sprints, biking, swimming, etc) that we will be doing during the middle of the week. We have to do other activities Sunday-Friday so that we feel adequately prepared for the long weekend runs, but we'll be a little more spontaneous about those.

Questions? Concerns? Psychoanalysis?

The Motivation:

In order to make running as easy on my muscles, joints, and mind as possible, I'll be trying to loose a few pounds or as much as possible. It's the eternal struggle. So I'm still trying to reduce calories in all my meals and snacks. This weekend, Kevin and I decided to make some George Foreman-grilled hamburger patties with french fries. Typically french fry recipes have an enormous amount of calories especially in comparison to a regular baked potato.

• Large French Fries from McDonalds (serving size is 5.4 oz, or 154 g) = 500 calories, 220 from fat
• Ore-Ida Golden Fries (serving size is 3 oz, or 84 g) = 130 calories, 30 from fat
• Small Baked Potato (serving size is 3" to 4-1/4" diameter, or 4.86 oz, 138 g) = 128 calories, 2 from fat

So how can you get the "beeest of both wooorlds" (Hannah Montana fans, please send me no hate mail)?

Fake the french fry! A childhood best friend of mine invited me over to spend some time with her and her immediate family at her grandparents house when I was in middle school, and they made this wonderful baked french fry recipe that I used this weekend. Given that I had been between 12-14 yrs old at the time, I've had to experiment few times to get this recipe right. But basically you can use Pam (with the oil of your choice) to make the fries in the oven and add only a couple of additional fat calories. Here's how it works:

Fake French Fries
Ingredients

• Slice up the potatoes french fry style (1/4 to 3/4 of an inch wide)
• Pam Spray Oil (I used the original version, but they also have corn oil and a few others)
• Salt
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder

Directions

Take a baking pan and lightly spray with Pam. I typically cover my pans with tin-foil before spraying to save on clean up time, but whatever floats your boat. Add the sliced potatoes to the pan and spread them out to where they are only one layer thick. I don't peal my potatoes because there are a lot of nutrients and fiber in the skins, but you can to make them a little more authentic-like. When they're on the pan, the fries can be pretty close together and touching to get more in. Then spray a light layer of Pam on top of all the fries. Add salt and and other spices to your liking. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown like the ones in the picture up top. You can flip them if you want all sides to be golden, but I haven't had the urge.

If you're really hungry, the fries are actually completely cooked in about 30 minutes, but they won't have that gold color or the taste that comes of it, like this picture.

By the way, Happy Belated Birthday, Lindsey! May remembering the happy times with your brother make this year and every year blessed.

Gluten Free, Milk Free Beef Stir-Fry Heaven

I was on http://www.msn.com/ the other day and noticed a link for quick recipes. So I clicked on it, fully prepared for the cheesy, gluten-filled recipes that normally saturate these types of articles, but I was happily surprised! Found a few to to print out and I tried out one later that night with Kevin.

It's called "Orange Scented Beef Stir-Fry" and the original recipes is located at http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/orange-scented-beef-stir-fry-recipe-5178?click=recipe_sr.

To tell you how good it is, Kevin and I argued over the leftovers. Kevin is not a big fan of leftovers.

It's not as quick as they advertised. I think it took us about 30-40 minutes. And of course we made a few changes based on what we had and what we wanted to deal with so I've listed out an altered recipe below. The recipe below is doubled from the original.

Ingredients
1 cup chicken broth (homemade, stored our freezer)
2 tablespoons arrowroot
4 tablespoons soy sauce (La Choy's gluten free)
4 tablespoons orange marmalade
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (soy)
2 pounds beef top sirloin (trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4 inch strips)
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 large onions (slivered)
1 small green bell pepper (diced)
2 cups broccoli florets
2 cups peas

Directions
Combine 1 cup broth, arrowroot, soy sauce, marmalade, vinegar, and garlic in a bowl and mix well. Heat oil in a wok or large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add beef and stir-fry until brown. Transfer to a plate leaving the juices in the pan. Add ginger to the pan and stir-fry for 10-20 seconds until fragrant. Add onion, bell pepper, broccoli, and peas then add the remaining 1 cup of broth, cover and cook until the vegetables are crisp and tender. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Stir the sauce mixture and add it to the other side of the pan. Cook, stirring, until the sauce becomes think and translucent. Stir the vegetables into the sauce and return the beef to the pan. Mix well and serve immediately.

Comments
My mom came to visit a while back and fixed up some fried rice and she used some fresh ginger. She didn't use it all, so she chopped up the rest and froze it in a bag. Worked great!

Also, yesterday was my first run after the Hottest Half. It was a struggle to put on my running clothes and get out there with Kaiya. Once I did though, it felt so good to be moving again. Kevin and I have been a wee bit sore so we took it easy for a couple of days. I was pretty fast too in comparison to what I have been running (two miles in 20:06). Not sure what made the difference...

In the Words of Andrea...

That was the "hotttttest runnn everrrr!"

Here's me getting ready to pass woman in pink shirt. (I've blurred her identity).

Here's me passing woman in pink shirt. Yeah!

Okay, so let's start with the statistics

The race started a little after 7:30 at about 87 degrees and I finished up at a little after 10:00 am somewhere in the mid-90s we believe. My time was 2 hours 30 minutes and 11.26 seconds. That's exactly 7 minutes and 11.26 seconds slower than my first half marathon last January. That's not too bad considering the heat. I finished 46 out of 95 women in my age group which is about the 48th percentile. I finished 615 out of 994 runners (62 percentile). For the first 4 or so miles I was running a little under a 11 minute per mile pace. Then it got hot. I walked quite a bit at the end, about a half a mile to a mile total overall. Katrina beat me by about 7 minutes. Immediately after the run, I drank 4 bottles of water 2 bottles of Powerade and split a large cherry slush with Kevin. I was still thirsty the rest of the day.

Discuss the feel
I was hot from beginning to the end. I had the "chills" for about half of the race even though I was sucking down Gatoraid (electrolytes) and water like there was no tomorrow. If you've ever been on a long run and you've had water or an athletic drink during the process, you know there is that certain amount you can swallow without getting a cramp. Sometimes you can drink more because it's hot, sometimes you have to drink less because your body doesn't need it. Yeah, I don't remember having to limit how much I took in. It went straight through my stomach to where ever it was needed. No cramping involved. I was sweating so much that my hands were prunes by the end.

Prune:

That said, I don't think I pushed my legs hard enough. I was able to sprint by like 4 or 5 people during the last 100 meters or so. So what was limiting me?

It was my head and heart telling me "you are burning up, you better not go too fast or we'll put you in a world of hurt. We will make you pass out. You will have the biggest headache you've ever dreamed of. You won't be able to drive home."

So I listened. Kind of had to because the racing coordinators ran out of water and Gatorade towards the end and I had to run without additional liquids during the last 4 miles. That was highly undesirable and not exactly helpful for setting a PR (not that I was expecting to, mind you).

The Sun.

When I passed the finish line, I couldn't find the finishers drinks or the family. So I'm walking all over the place and I just start to cry I was so hot.

[Editor's note: Katherine has never cried after a race before. That's darn crazy!]

Then I find the buckets of water bottles. Grabbed three bottles. Downed two immediately. Poured one over my head. Grabbed ice from the bucket and shoved it down my sports bra...front and back. That felt good. So I dried my eyes and looked for the family peoples.

I found them shortly after. I remembered them cheering for me right before I crossed the finish line. Then I cried a bit again. Then I was fine.

Sounds horrible, right? Nah. I was just thirsty and tired.

Thirst.

Normally I would be scared to death of having the world's worst headache after this type of run. Didn't happen. Whether it was the cold drinks during and after the race, my pace, the short nap on the car ride home, or my training, I'll never know. But that makes me so proud and excited. Plus, my pace wasn't too bad. By comparison, I think Kevin finished 10-20 minutes slower than his target. Keep in mind, Kevin's slower pace is still faster than Katrina's and all of the family members who were running that day and he finished in 2:00:38, 210th overall, 24 out of 80 in his age group.

Overall, we had a great weekend with the family, a new racing experience, and a good base for training for a marathon this fall. Would I have run this race knowing what it was going to be like? Yes. A lot of what I experienced was expected. Thanks, Trina! Will I do this race again in the future? No. There's a good chance Kevin and I won't be running this race again unless we're just doing the 10K.

And end with the consolation
I still hold the fastest half marathon time (female division) out of Kevin's immediate family. My first half in January was in 2:23:00! Sorry Trina. :) I know you were hot and I know that achilles was hurting. But there it is. Good luck next year! I'm sure you'll beat my time at some point.

And besides that, I'm an Aunt now! And Kevin's an Uncle! Welcome to the world little Cameron!

Race Day Tomorrow

It's the night before the Hottest Half tomorrow. We have all our gear ready. Bibs pinned onto shorts and shirts. Racing chips attached to shoes. Water and Gatorade made and refrigerated. Race start and finished scoped out. I'm excited! Gotta rein it in though or I won't sleep. I'll post the results later this week.

Countdown to the Hottest Half Marathon, Dallas, TX

It's t-minus 2 days, 20-something hours, and some odd minutes before the starting gun fires on Sunday morning at this year's Hottest Half! Kevin and I are ready at this point. His foot has healed up good enough that he's done a couple of runs this week, including a 6 miler. With his running history, I'm sure he'll do just fine.

I got a new pair of shoes (see picture at left); I got the ones that have the same coloring as yours, Kayla. They're called "Women's Saucony Grid Cohesion 3 Running Shoes." The previous model was just "Women's Saucony Grid Cohesion NX," which I've purchased around 4 times. They both fit exactly the same only they've changed up the apearance a bit. It's a nice shoe; $39.99 at Academy. My ankles and knees are thanking me!

My LogYourRun account says that I put 286.8 miles on the previous shoes that I bought on 11/11/2009. That's not accurate because I bought new shoes in May 2010, but I just forgot to enter in all of the information. There were also several weeks where I didn't enter in any of my running miles at the beginning of the summer. What can I say? Sometimes it's just good to run and not think about the details. If we do the full marathon in November, these will be the shoes that come with me, I think.

I went on my last run (before the race) last night. I did an easy 3 miles with Kevin and Kaiya. Kevin was on his bike this time. Didn't see any skunks, but we did see an armadillo towards the end of the run. Kaiya wanted to go play, but we thought that might not be a good idea considering they've got some pretty mean claws.

I was very cautious last night with Kaiya. Normally it's expected that Kaiya will stop, without warning, a few times to sniff at something while I'm on a run with her. But I tried to emphasize that random stopping was not a good idea in light of the upcoming race. I could just see myself trip or twist an ankle and that would be the end of it for me. So I tried to give her a wide berth and be a little more in tune with what she's thinking. "Uh uh, Kaiya," "Good Girl, Kaiya," "This way, Kaiya." I'm sure it was cramping her free-spirited style.

[Kaiya] "Why is Mommy micromanaging my life?"

Poor thing!

Run on Allergy Peoples!

Skunks!!!

I went on a 6 mile bike ride (coast) while Kevin ran last night at about 9:30 pm, and we saw a little wild life. Three skunks (which kind of messed up Kevin's run with a jolt of adrenaline) and a bug that squeaked (which scared me to death and I screamed; which also gave Kevin a jolt of adrenaline). Quite funny! ...after the fact.

Gluten Free, Cow Milk Free Coconut Cream Pie

When I asked what Kevin wanted me to bake him for our 4th anniversary, he said "Coconut Cream Pie!!!!" No hesitation. My husband and his family have been in love with this one recipe for forever so I called up his mom and got the specs (thanks Sandy!). The original version is full of cow milk and of course a flour-based pie shell. When it came time to make the pies, Kevin was like, I bet we can use that Pamela's Bread and Baking Mix to make you pie crust and then use goat milk for the filling! I hadn't even thought of making me one because I'm still trying not to focus on new pastry/sweet concoction recipes right now while I'm training for the half.

But we made me a version of the pie, and it's so good! I wish we had bought one of those throw away metal pie pans, because the one pyrex version we had was a little bit big, so the crust might have been spread out too thin and the pie filling didn't fill up the whole space. Other than that, we wouldn't change a thing. Kevin didn't even notice the goat milk taste and thought it was the real thing (although once he ate his version of the pie and went back to mine, he did notice a *slight* difference).

Gluten free, Cow Milk Free, Coconut Cream Pie
Filling:
1/3 cup of Pamela's Bread and Baking Mix
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups goat milk, scalded (microwave for 2 min)
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup shredded coconut

Crust:
I used Pamela's recipe except I used vegitable oil (soy) instead of butter (should be able to use any type of oil) and the recipe on the back of the package suggests refridgerating the dough for 30 minutes before baking. Poke holes in the crust with a fork around all sides and bottom (use a fork, one inch apart).

Mix flour, sugar, salt well in a cooking pot. Gradually add milk. Cook on medium heat until think, stirring constantly. Add small amount of hot mixture to the egg yolks (so not to cook the egg immediately). Stir egg into remaining hot mixture. Cook for two more minutes without stirring. Add vanilla and coconut. Cool and then pour into cooked pie crust.

Makes one pie.

Running update
My ankles and knees are telling me that I need new shoes. Kevin and I will be going to Academy today or tomorrow to pick up another one of my favorite pairs. Not normally supposed to get new shoes right before a race, but I'll break them in on a run on Wednesday and while walking throughout the week, and I've been getting the same pair for forever now and my feet are pretty much molded to shoe.

Also, here's a random word from Kent

"Life is best lived with eyes wide open." -A Word from Kent, mighty mighty Super Dog.

Ha! He's so cute, ain't he?

Gluten Free Breaded Turkey Fingers and More Kayaking

So this past week, Kevin and I tried to make some delish turkey fingers with some of the new Pamela's Bread Mix and Flour Blend that we bought when we were in Dallas at the beginning of the summer, and oh oh they were goo-hood! The recipe called for deep-fat frying, but we decided to just fry them up with a little coconut oil in the bottom of the pan. Oh, they were tasty. As a kid, I'd usually order chicken fingers and french fries where ever we'd go out to eat (since it's quite often a staple kids' food item in most American-style restaurants). I've not missed the calories those meals packed, but I do miss the taste! Next time, we're thinking about baking the turkey (or chicken, whichever one is already cooked) so we can get rid of more oil.

On another note, I was doing some graphic design research for an upcoming project at work and I was looking at the Sonic Web site. I took a quick gander at their "allergen info" link (those things change quite often so it's good to check back every once in a while), and I noticed that their french fries and tots don't have gluten, milk, peanut, egg, or soy ingredients (not that I have a problem with soy or egg, but that's just an FYI for those staying away). Whahoo! Kevin and I might partake of some this evening along with the rest of our fourth anniversary celebration. Yeah us! Love you, Kevin!

On to the kayaking. Yesterday, Kevin and I tried out the single-person kayaks and had a lot of fun. We noticed that we could go a lot faster than in the tandem kayak and we had less, ahem, coordination problems. On the other hand, it's a little more of a solitary activity (even though we were fairly close together most of the time) kind of like jogging. Still had some drama though (hee hee).

Here we are, sitting on the peaceful lake, watching ducks swim by, fish jump, and birds skim the top of the water. Beautiful and relaxing workout. [sigh...] Oh, how wovely and momantic!

Then we head on back to the lakehouse and Kevin decides it would be great fun to chuck a stick at me (piece of rotting something...). I yell out in pain and surpise and give him the bull elephant-death stare characteristic of the "great cap gun incident" of '06 (which was actually our honeymoon). We've come full circle, I know!

Now the average person might say "oh, did that hurt? Sorry I was just trying to be funny. Ready to go back to shore?" This statement shows remorse, gives an explanation, and changes the subject so that negativity is not dwelt upon for too long. Right? Least of all he could have just said, "oops" and then moved on. But that's not what happened.

Kevin chucked another stick.

His explanation: "I wasn't sure if you yelled because of an emotional reaction or because you were actually hurt, so I thought I'd throw another one to find out."

Ha! Sadistic! Cruel! And as I think about it a day later, quite funny. But man did that hurt.

Half-marathon update: Katrina looks to be working through her injury (don't hurt yourself Trina!), Kevin's still staying off of his, and I've completed my last long-long run before the half (did 12 1/2 miles last Saturday morning). Felt good afterwards, and I might have felt better had we not watched Into the Wild later that morning. Depressing beyond depressing. My soul is still healing after someone tried to suck it out of my body and stomp on it. Thanks Trina and Brian!