Stitch Fix #5 (and Guest Post @HappyFitMama)

The Winning Outfit, with some majorly drab lighting: Dark skinny jeans, a chevron-print tank and drop earrings.

I got my fifth StitchFix in the mail today, I look forward to receiving my Stitch Fix every month and was so excited to hear that I had a package waiting at home!

  I didn't waste a lot of time in opening up the clothes, and trying everything.  As a nice plus, someone used my referral link (whoever it was, thank you so much!)- and I got a $25 credit!

The first outfit that I tried on was the one pictured above, dark Kenzie skinny jeans and a chevron-print sleeveless top.  The jeans fit perfectly, and were a little more tailored than the ones I usually wear.  Stitch Fix seems to really like sending me chevron prints- this is the third chevron print I have received, I ended up keeping it because I liked the color. Plus, it would look cute under a navy blue blazer in the Fall/Winter.  I think I've reached my chevron print quota in my closet for the next ten years. 

  Next, I tried on a white, long-sleeved button silk/polyester that had large prints of leaves?  I'm not sure what it was...it wasn't working for me.  It also was huge in some places, and bunched up in other places.  I did receive a pair of dangly, gold earrings in this month's box.  I usually never wear gold jewelry, but I ended up liking the earrings.

   

Finally, I pulled out a giant, burgundy, very warm cardigan.  It was HUGE on me, I could see how it would be really comfortable in the Winter, but when I tried it on, Neil asked if I was going to a Fleetwood Mac revival concert. No offense to Fleetwood Mac...

Again, not a great or clear picture...but the cardigan, combined with the leaf print shirt wasn't winning votes in this house.

I ended up keeping the jeans, tank and earrings!

In running related news, I did a guest blog at my friend and marathon coach's blog.  Check her blog out!  Thanks Angela!

It's almost the long weekend- yay!! Maybe it will be a chevron print Labor Day!

Week 2 of Marathon Training Recap, and Life in General

Week 2 Mileage- (Minus the 3 mile warm-up/cool-down on Thursday)

Week 2 of marathon training is in the books, and now I am on to my 3rd week of training!  Week 2 was a good training week, the weather was cool(er), and I had a PR on Thursday at the Saunders race.

   Saturday,  I did my long run with Mariette and Angela (Angela had run 10+ miles before meeting us!)  10 miles felt good, but I was definitely ready to stop as soon as my watch hit 9.99!  Then, I realized that I would have to run 16 more miles in December. AHHH!

I did an easy 4 miles this morning, and am now taking it easy for the rest of the day.

Neil and Max have been in New York at my in-laws,  I miss them, but I used the rare free time to do work around the house, and catch up on sleep!! I wasn't able to go, because my sister's baby shower was on Saturday.  I am so excited to be an aunt in October!!!!

I got to record all of the gifts that my sister and her husband received,  they're having a baby girl, and she is going to be very well-dressed and well-read!  Also, check out the spread that my parents set-up!  My dad even made the watermelon baby carriage!  Well done dad, I wonder if he has a Pinterest account??

And now, some pictures of Max because I'm excited to see him!

Max got to play with some of his relatives, and is obsessed with his cousin's dog, Katou!

Saunders 10k Recap!

Tonight was my fourth Saunders 10k;  it's one of my favorite races,  it's super flat (with the exception of one hill at mile 3) and the starting line is only a mile and a half from our house.  It was the first race I ever did in 2009.  At that point, I just wanted to finish as I had never run further than six miles.  I ended up finishing in just under an hour, and from thereon, wanted to keep running road races.  One of the cool things about the Saunders 10k, is that you have to 'win' a t-shirt;  only a certain amount of t-shirts are given out, and you have to place within a certain percentage of your age group.  In 2009, I didn't win a t-shirt, but made it a goal to get one the next time I ran.  I didn't run the Saunders 10k again until 2012, but did win a t-shirt that time.  In 2013, I again won a t-shirt, and got my fastest 10k time to date at 51:09.  This year, I wasn't sure what to expect.  At last month's 10k in Dover, I had a rough race, I had a hard time with my breathing and was really overheated.  It was super hilly, and I started out way too fast.  I finished in 53 minutes, not horrible, but still frustrating.  My goal tonight was to just do better than I did at the Dover 10k; if I did better than I did last year, than that would be a huge bonus.

  In my marathon training plan for this week,  Angela (my coach), suggested that I keep the pace around 8:20-8:30.  Angela's really cognizant of what my goals are, but still sets challenges that won't burn me out, or injure me.  

  The Saunders 10k is always held on the third Thursday of August at 6pm;  it's a strange day and time for a race, but it works!  I didn't run yesterday, and I made sure to get a lot of rest today leading up to the race.  

Here's what I ate before the race:

-Breakfast: Everything Bagel (plain) w. Latte (2% milk)

-Lunch: Salad w. black beans, brown rice, non-fat chipotle yogurt, salsa and tortilla chips (made courtesy of the Green Bean

-Snack: my new food obsession  (They only sell them locally at the Juicery...they are just so good when I want chocolate!)

-Pre Race: Generation UCAN shake  (I started drinking Generation UCAN a few months ago, not for every run- it's expensive!  I have hypoglycemia, and it really does help stabilize my blood sugar.  I'm still not sold on the taste unfortunately.)

Pre-Race:

I went into work early with the intention of heading out early so that I could get home, get changed, and have something quick to eat.  I did pretty well with getting out of work on time; I was able to get dressed and have the Generation UCAN shake.  My friend Nicole was going to be coming over and we were going to do our warm-up together by running the 1.75 miles to the start line.  Nicole arrived shortly after I finished getting ready and we were able to do our warm-up and get situated in line with 5 minutes to spare.  We weren't sure where to place ourselves in the line-up, but afterwards, both agreed that we should have been further up.  Nicole is a really good runner, so I didn't expect to be able to keep up with her for the entire race.  We decided that we would run together for as long as possible, and connect again at the finish.  

Race:

The gun went off and it was slooooow going getting over the start line, and making it through the crowd!  We wove around a lot of people and settled into a good pace- there was one slight uphill at the end of Mile 1 (7:42)

Mile 2 was mostly flat with some downhill- we both figured that we would try to coast until after Mile 3 (7:58)

Mile 3 has the one hill of the course! I kept thinking that I should slow down, but I was feeling good! (8:00)

Mile 4:  I told Nicole that I was going to hang back, she was planning on doing her last two miles at a faster pace.  I tucked behind her, and put my music on...which didn't come on! (7:45)

Mile 5:  Starting to get tired, I had planned on listening to Spotify on my iPhone, and it wasn't working as I couldn't get reception! (7:45)

Mile 6: Really tired, but excited to almost be done! (8:00)

.25 Mile:  I saw my friend Laurie walking back to her car (she's super speedy, she finished in 42 minutes!) and I saw my friend Karla with a bunch of my Sixo3 team members by the start line (Karla was also super speedy in 43 minutes!) That was a big boost and help to hear them cheering! (7:30 avg pace for last quarter mile.)

I saw the finish line, expecting to see something close to 51 minutes....but it was 48 minutes!!!! I finished in exactly 48:54- a three minute PR!

Post Race:

Got a popsicle stick to claim my t-shirt, and saw Nicole (also, super fast in 47 minutes!)

and then,....I did not feel so well.  I'm not sure what happened, but I had to run into the woods, and had to throw up.  I have never had that happen after running (I didn't even feel horrible when I was running!)  I was so embarrassed, Nicole came over with crackers, and that helped a lot. 

There is a huge beer tent post-race; however,  as much as I love my beer,  my stomach was still queasy.  We ran a cool down back to my house which helped a lot!

Saunders 10k Tshirt!

                                               Our Six03 Team! 

Marathon Training- let's go!

Tomorrow is my first official day of marathon training for the Honolulu Marathon, on 12/14/14!  Angela and I will be flying over (Team 12!), and spending race weekend w. most of the Saucony 26 Strong team.  To say that I am excited would be an understatement!!
 
   Angela is now a certified running coach, and an amazing runner! She gets what my schedule looks like and what I will need to do to build up the mileage.  To not psych myself out by looking ahead to later weeks (hello 20 miles!),  Angela is going to send me my training plan week by week.
 The plan allows for me to build up endurance (and not get injured) by doing the majority of my runs at a 30-60 sec. pace that is slower than my goal marathon pace.  The plan consists of five days of running with one or two days free for cross-training or rest.

This is what I'm scheduled to do this week:

Monday:  4 miles easy pace (9:30-10:10)

Tuesday: XT or rest

Wednesday: 5 miles tempo- 1 mi. warm-up, 3 miles at 8:32 and 1 mile cool-down

Thursday:  4 miles easy pace

Friday: XT or rest

Saturday: 5 miles easy pace

Sunday: Long run at easy pace- 8 miles


I had a really rough running week last week, and will be excited to get on a schedule.  Schedules and calendar planning excite me!

In 2009, I found out that I had exercise-induced asthma and started using an inhaler before most of my runs.  The inhaler made me visibly and physically shaky; eventually, I stopped using it altogether.  This week however, the majority of my runs were way harder than usual, and I had shortness of breath during and after exercising.  On Friday,  after another horrible run (see below), I broke down and called my doctor who nicely got a new prescription ready for me immediately.

Here's what my running schedule looked like last week (last week before marathon training.)

Sunday: 4 miles at 7:45 pace (Neil's friend was in town, and I got to run with him...he's pretty fast!) I felt great on the run despite the faster than normal (non-racing) pace.  We ran late in the day which always seems to help!

Tuesday: 6.25 miles- My friend Karla and I ran at lunch;  I felt so sick by only the 2nd mile.  I had to stop and walk several times; my breathing was off, I felt super tired and had a hard time breathing all afternoon.

Wednesday: Solo 5 miles at 8:48 pace, still not feeling well

Thursday:  Speed workout with friends at lunch; we did a 1 mile warm-up (8:30) and 6 x 400 w. 200 meter rest/walk in between.  My average pace for the 400s was 6:40.  -  5 miles total

Friday: 6 miles- This time ran with my friend Laurie at lunch;  again, felt incredibly tired by mile 3, was wheezing, tired and had to walk.  I'm not sure what was going on, I think I had been having a more stressful week than usual,  I actually started tearing up while walking. I felt like a 3 year old,  I think I was just overtired and frustrated at not feeling well.  Called the doctor!

Saturday:  Family swim day!

Today:  Used inhaler for the first time in 5+ years;  was really shaky for first 5 minutes but, was able to finish a 5 mile run at a comfortable 8:35 pace without walking. Yay!

Here we go week one!!!

Running and Weight

Am I "skinny fat?"

I've worked very hard for years to not obsess about my weight, to not worry about every calorie that goes into my body and to think of food as fuel, not as an enemy.   One of the reasons why I love running is because it takes my focus away from all the issues that I find with my body to all the cool things my body can do while I run.  

A few weeks ago, I started reading "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald;  it's a great book that emphasizes the need for whole, natural foods and why popular diets (i.e. Paleo) do not really work well with endurance athletes.  In the book, it suggests that to feel your best while running, you should get down to your optimal running weight (provided you feel healthy at that weight.)  It's suggested that you measure your body fat with a home scale and compare it to the suggested chart in the book.   What did I do? I bought a cheap body fat/body weight scale on Groupon.  Yep, bad idea for me.  When I received the scale, I plugged in my age, height and sex.  I weighed myself, it seemed right in-line with what I thought I was...but, then it calibrated my body fat and popped up with a large message reading "OVERFAT."  Over what???  I double checked that my height, sex and age were correct...all correct.  I checked it again, and again and again, each time overfat.  The next morning, I measured my body fat again; this time I was at the upper range of healthy.  I don't know how accurate my scale is but, if I want to be at my optimal "racing" weight per the "Racing Weight" book, I need to lose more than 15% of my body fat and lose 2-3 lbs. Am I "Skinny fat??"    I run 5-6 times a week and do core/weights 15-20 minutes 5-6 times a week.  I also eat pretty well, besides the occasional (ok, frequent dishes of ice cream.)  Of course after seeing my body fat percentage, I started obsessing about my high percentage of body fat and, started worrying that I was at an unhealthy range.  I felt frustrated, sad and started to feel down on myself. 

Finally, I got over self-wallowing and said

Whatever.  Maybe it's accurate, maybe it's not.  I will keep doing the best I can do;  I'm going to continue with my healthy habits, after all, training for the Honolulu Marathon starts this weekend!!

  ...and I might cut down on ice cream.


Anyone else have luck with body fat scales?  Do you have an optimal running/training weight?