Big Fan, Top 3 & Running Topics to Discuss!

6 miles @ 8:37 average pace yesterday and a fun speed workout is waiting for me today.  Lately, I have really been viewing speed workouts as something fun that I get to do rather than worrying/dreading them and I think this is because of a few reasons:

*My runs each day are kind of all over the place as far as pace goes…  from day to day there are 6’s, 7’s, 8’s and 9’s.  I used to do all of my runs at the same pace (and usually way too fast for easy days) so I was too tired to be excited for speed.  There is such a variety now that I’m just excited for the daily switch up.

*I’m a big fan of complete breaks from running.  I took one after Skye was born for 6 weeks and I think it has just made me appreciate running and more excited for the hard stuff.  Distance from running every now and then makes the heart grow fonder.  I plan on taking a week or two off every year because I’m seeing how much it has helped me at this point in my training.

*I trust my coach and her training 100%.  I know the workouts that she gives me are working and getting me to where I want to be so it’s exciting to have something to get out and do because I know it will work.

*I’m hungrier than ever for a marathon PR.  The last 4 nights I have had dreams about it.  45 MORE DAYS!!!

Random thought during my run yesterday—>  Back 20 years ago when I would go for a run without my sister, I would take out my discman to listen to Celine Dion or my Space Jam soundtrack while running.  The key with my discman was moving it the least amount as possible.  I’m pretty sure that the cd skipped 40% of my run.   Maybe my portable cd player running days are what caused my weird upper body chicken arm swinging now.

Girl, Wash Your Face is one of my all time favorite books.  I felt like I wanted to highlight the entire book.  Rachel Hollis is now including chapters from her book on her podcast so I’ve listened to a few of them while on the run and I just love them.

The biggest most terrible lie we tell ourselves:

PS my kids do plenty of kid things that drive me crazy (because they are kids:) but I choose not to share a lot about that online because I don’t think that is fair to them:)  BUT I do love sharing some of their rockstar moments.

I got home from my run yesterday (usually she is still asleep at this time) to find Brooke cleaning her room all on her own and she also cleaned Knox’s whole room too.  Nobody asked her to do it… she just thought it would be nice!  I was pretty proud.

It was just Skye, me and my OOFOS (I’ve had zero feet problems since I started wearing these around the house) for most of the day yesterday (sharing school stuff next week).   She does not mind all of the attention when it is just the two of us at all.

Skye and I hit up TJ’s to grab a few things including the moisturizer that a few of you recommended to me.  Thank you!

Skye was checking out if I picked up anything she would like too…

Brooke asked me to do a Panda Express picnic with her so I picked some up for us to eat at the park.  Those chow mien noodles are almost as important to her as sprinkles are.

Skye was happy to be a part of the picnic too.

BEST MAIL DELIVERY EVER.  You know how much I love the Levitate 2s… so this made me pretty happy.  You can read my review of them here if you missed it.

Brooke’s riding teacher is back in town so she was reunited with Elf!

Skye and I hung out and cheered them on.

Andrew came home from his shift and went on a run (those of you that run after work deserve extra endorphins). Then we made some chicken burritos for dinner and hung out.  11 miles—>  I’m coming for you this morning.

Hopefully the hail storm from last night (below… it was crazy) doesn’t continue this morning!

Four random running topics to discuss:

1.  My 18 miler this weekend is going to be interesting.  It will be done at an easy pace but I’ll be doing it carb depleted.  I’ll eat normal the day before and drink water still but before and during no gels/bfast/gatorade etc.  I’ll refuel like crazy afterwards but I’m going to be training my body to use fat as fuel on race day if I run out of carbs in those final miles.  I’ll be bringing gels with me just in case for the run but this should be interesting because I’ve never done anything like this before.

From my coach:

2.  To keep going along with our talk yesterday about eating more the day of a long run or the day after… I think a lot of us have experienced a thing I like to call Runner’s Flu.  It happens to me the day of long runs or long races with a hard effort = I have stomach issues the rest of the day and feel a little nauseated.  This usually happens to me after starting to do long runs again after taking a break from them for a while.  It takes 4-5 good long runs for my body to start getting used to them again and used to running for a few hours at a time.  Currently I don’t experience Runner’s Flu but my hunger is just much stronger the day after the long run instead.   I also think part of my problem with runner’s flu in the past were GU gels because with Huma I don’t experience the same thing anymore.  I think my system is just much happier with Huma.  You are not alone if you experience some nausea/upset stomach after a long run (for me it usually kicked in once I finished the long run)… stick with it and your body will get used to running hard/long after a while.  Maybe think about using different types of fuel before and during your run because that might be contributing to what you are feeling.  Also, make sure you are getting in enough water during your long runs too!

Very important—>  Even if nothing sounds good after you finish, MAKE SURE to take in carbs and proteins because that will definitely help you in so many ways.  Your muscles are going to keep breaking down after you finish your run until you eat something (learned that from Allie Kieffer in this podcast).

3.  Did you see that both Stephanie Bruce and Molly Huddle just announced they will be racing the New York City Marathon too?  There are going to be so many amazing elites there racing… I can’t wait to watch.  Or should we all meet there to watch and cheer on the runners?

4.  Just something to think about from Deena Kastor’s book:

Believe that you are TOUGH.

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Ever had Runner’s Flu after a hard workout?  What helps you with this problem?  Also, has anyone done a carb depleted run before?

Did you ever run with a discman or walkman?  What other things have changed big time with your running gear since you first started running?

Who has already done a speed workout this week (or today)?  What was it?

Trader Joe’s lovers—>  What are three things there that you couldn’t live without?  (Because I need to branch out there)