Marathon Training: November 17

I finally did it!! I did my long run on a Saturday instead of last minute on Sunday.  :)

*applause*

And I did it somewhere other than the Bedford/Euless area!

*standing O*

Hooray for looping White Rock again!! Yaayy!!

10 miles, 1:38:47.  Woot.

Let's talk gels.

When you train for an hour or longer you are supposed to have some sort of calorie/electrolyte replacement. There are probably countless ways to do this... gels, chomps, honey sticks, jelly beans, power bars, etc. You could also probably eat something like a banana or PB&J sandwich, but that would be a little difficult to carry with you while running.

Enter space food.  AKA gels.  They fit in little pockets on/in a SPI belt (think runner's fanny pack), shorts, water bottle, etc. and they're easy to tear open and eat while you're running if you want.

Why I like them:
  -I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to
  -Sometimes I get an extra boost (real or imagined, I don't know)
  -Nice mantra of run 5 miles, eat something.  Run 5 miles, eat something. (x5)
  -I kinda like the taste.  haha.

I can't vouch for all the different options, but here is what I have tried:

• Jelly Belly Sport Beans.  Yup.  Jelly Bellys for running.  Very tasty but you use about half a pouch for one serving and I don't like having to close it back up and put it back.  (Really not a big deal but it's the little things.)  I do like them before or after a race though when I'm not concerned about time.
• Honey sticks.  Honey Stingers makes some but I just had some from Montana.  I like honey, but it's kind of difficult when you're running, especially straws since you have to bite them open and sometimes you just puncture them, and then it's all over the place and you're frustrated and you don't get the nutrition you need.
• Shot Bloks.  Made by Clif Bar, Shot Bloks are gummy cubes that come in a long, skinny package.  They taste great, but again you have more in a package than you need for a serving, and can be a pain to put back, and their shape makes it more difficult to put in shorts pockets or water bottle pouches.  Perfect for SPI belts though!
• GU Chomps.  They taste like Gushers.  YUM.  I love how the strawberry ones taste!  Again with the packaging/serving size though.  
• GU Energy Gels. As you can tell from the photo above, this is my personal preference.  I like the small, individual serving and I like how they fit into all my pockets.  They come in a lot of flavors but I like the fruitier ones best.  (Jet Blackberry, Mandarin Orange, etc.)  The sugary-sounding ones like Vanilla Bean are too sweet for me.  They have another division called Roctane but I can't tell the difference between the two other than the flavor selections.  (Cherry Lime FTW.)  They're also easy to handle if you want to eat them without stopping.  

There you have it.  All of this can be a trial and error process and is up to your body and your needs to determine how to replace your calories/electrolytes/carbs while you train.  Gels can be an acquired taste and can make some people sick to their stomach, so it's important to try them out during the week than on race day.  

As my TNT coach used to say, "NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY."  I partially disagree but I've never gotten sick from gels, and I ate a Ghiradelli chocolate square during the Nike Women's Half and it was just fine.  :)  

Run 5 miles, eat something.  Run 5 miles, eat something.  

The 9-miler

Y'all.  I know this will come as a surprise to you but I procrastinated my long run again.

*slaps forehead*

My intentions were to run my 9 miles somewhere other than my neighborhood for a change of scenery. But I procrastinated so I just ran around the Euless/Bedford streets. Although I forgot to figure out where to turn so if you see the map below there's a little peak on the top left corner where I stopped to check the map and turned around.  Oops.

To be completely honest I was a little nervous.  I doubted my ability and frankly gave myself the option of just giving up.  Training can be a pain in the glutes.  (Get it??) It's chilly outside, it's getting late, I'm tired, I don't want to run.  But I went on anyway.  Felt kind of like this:

Felix Baumgartner, I salute you.

PS. Have you watched this?? Can you imagine that moment?? Actually those moments.
-Getting into the capsule oh crap... this is happening... 
-Climbing and climbing higher above the earth heh, no going back now!! 
-Opening the door to the capsule holy crap I'm high, maybe I can go back into the capsule?
-Standing on the edge of the capsule this might have been a bad idea
-And then actually free falling from the stratosphere all right God, hope you're watching out for me!

"Sometimes we have to get up really high to see how small we are." -Felix, standing at the edge of the capsule.

Okay.  So I'm no Felix Baumgartner.  9 miles isn't all that bad.  And I got 'er done.

If you're unfamiliar with an area, you could map or drive it out first!  Accidentally added an extra .7 miles.  Again... oops!

Walk with a Purpose

Me, Becca, Vic, Roxy & Lou :)

This past Saturday I walked with my friend Becca in memory/honor of her husband Ian.  I was really happy to finally be able to participate in something with her since his passing.  (She has made trips to DC that I would have like to join her on but unfortunately could not.)

A good friend of ours from middle school/high school even drove down from Wichita Falls to join us!  I wanted to find an old picture of the three of us, but my old photo albums are at my parents' house.  I'll dig one out this weekend.  :)

Roxy and Daisy

It was a great walk and great to see so many people come out to support Becca, and all the other walkers to honor their loved ones they have lost to suicide.

Get this: 90% of people who die by suicide have a diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death.
From AFSP.

One of the strongest women I know!

Also, just a tip, if you are a biker and a bunch of people are taking up more sidewalk than you'd like, please don't be rude... they might have just completed a suicide prevention/awareness walk.  And you'll receive obscenities from me.  :)  Just sayin'.

Marathon Training: November 8

So... accidentally ran 5.55 miles yesterday.

I can just hear the throngs of people crying out, "How Amy?? HOW does one accidentally run 5.55 miles?!"

Well you came to the right place, my brethren.  You see, I have this friend, we will call her "Henna," and we decided to run together after work.  We were going to run the path that she normally takes, turn back, grab a beer at the Katy Trail Ice House, and go back.

She didn't know how far her normal path was, so I figured I would just follow her (with my Nike+ running app going) and see how far we went.

Right about where that red dot is (her normal turnaround point) is approximately 2.5 miles.  She has been running 5-6 miles without realizing it.

I think it's safe to say she's ready to start training if she wants to.  :)

Also there was a little miscommunication where I thought we were going to turn around, but then we kept going to the end of the trail (which got us to about mile 2.97).

Then we stopped, had a beer, discussed how far she had actually been running (among other life updates), and then headed back.

Then there was this:

A street art project where you can fill in your own bucket list items on the side of Company Cafe.  A few highlights:

-Go on Cupcake Wars
-Be a trophy wife
-Bump into Bono in a pub and have a pint of Guinness with him

So that was that.  Accidental 5.55 miles.

Marathon Training: November 7

Leg day... Ouch.

But it hurts so good!!

I love to hate lunges/squats/leg extensions, especially the next day when I'm trying to do normal functioning activities (like bend down to pick up something I dropped) and feel like I could break in half.

I came across this article that a friend of a friend, Sarah, pinned about running a faster 5K.

Remember how I said I wanted to be sure to do strength training to prepare my muscles for all this running?  Here's what the article says:

Incorporate strength training moves that target your shins, calves, quads, glutes, and core: Running alone won't increase your speed. You need to strengthen the muscles that make you move so your actions will be more powerful and more efficient.

Boom!!  It also says to run intervals (check!) and do hill work (which I'll do closer to race time).  

I'd really love to inspire people to give running a try.  But!  I have that planned for the article I'll write on being a "runner." 

Next post:  The accidental 5.55 miles. 

Marathon Training: November 6

Three miles, 28:13. Nothing exciting to report.

But.

This weekend, it gets a little more real.

My long run will be 9 miles, or one lap around White Rock Lake.  Yowzas.

Side note, does anybody care to see my mile splits?  I haven't been posting them but I'm thinking of doing so for long runs. 

I will also be doing a little bit of walking this weekend.

Rebecca Morrison, my chipmunk, lost her sweet husband last March to suicide.  Through the suffering and the grief, she has been an incredible role model for Christians and women everywhere.  She has spoken in front of massive crowds of people, and has been featured in publications such as TIME (you heard of it?) to tell her story and to help raise awareness about military suicides.  She also ran the Army 10-miler with TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors), has written articles for the TIME Battleland blog, done countless interviews, and is now working toward becoming a full-time member of the TAPS team.

This isn't even a hint of what all she has done.  It is overwhelming and she is truly changing the lives of others.  She has even helped get the attention of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.  Kind of a big deal.

So the whole point in me telling you this is to ask for your help in this cause.  If you can, please donate on my donation page here.  This is the absolute least I can do to help support her cause.

I'm awful at asking people for donations, especially in a small amount of time (part of the reason I'm not doing Team in Training anymore), but this is for Rebecca.  And Ian.  You can also see her donation page here.

For Ian!

Me with Ian on their wedding day. :)

Oh... Just being us. :)

Marathon Training: November 4

[First off- special prayers to the victims/those affected of Hurricane Sandy.  From the words of Chris Tomlin: "Into the darkness you shine, out of the ashes we rise... Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other."]

Shoutout to my sister who was supposed to be running the New York Marathon yesterday but deferred her spot before the race was officially cancelled.  Sandy you little dream-crusher you.  Training takes so much dedication and hard work.   You go to bed early and put off plans with friends (especially if they're drinking) because you have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to get your long run in.  Or if you're me you put it off until you're afraid hoodlums might getcha.  I digress... You spend hours on a lot of the same paths.  Hitting the same pavement, the same cracks in the sidewalk, over and over again.  You question your judgment.  You question your abilities.  You question your sanity.  And you press on.  One mile at a time.  You listen to your body and figure out when you need to hydrate and when you need to replace calories.  You push your limits.  And then you push them some more.  For 18 weeks.  And then you finally get to the starting line.

So this is why I giving the largest standing ovation to my sister and those who were supposed to be running this weekend.  Here's to doing it all again next year.  The feeling will be just as sweet.


Yesterday was my long run, and thanks to Daylight Savings Time ending [and my procrastination] it was mostly in the dark.

5 miles: 49:49

Training Plan... In case you were wondering!

This is the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Marathon Training Plan.  I went back and forth on the Novice 1 or Novice 2, but even though I have run a full marathon already, I haven't been running as much leading up to this training.  Hence the Novice 1.  Booyah.


This post monitored by Bella. She hates Sandy too.

No Excuses November

All right y'all.  It's November.  In Texas it sure doesn't feel like it at the moment!  For a little added motivation/self-encouragement I'm following my own "No Excuses November" plan.  I don't have any specific goals yet, so I might just take it one day at a time.

For the first day, my goal was to get out of my chair and go change for my run by 12. (Instead of sitting around debating/pondering/procrastinating until 12:30 or 1.)  And I did it!! :)

*Pats self on back.*

I'm also piling on two more challenges for myself.  I work will under pressure, people.  [This past Lenten season I gave up alcohol, sweets, fast food, and biting my nails.  Completed successfully!]

So here are my other two challenges.

1- November Photo a Day on Instagram (via @fatmumslim)

2- Naming something I'm thankful for each day.

Thankful for trees and calming scenery.

My run this day was 3 miles in 29:33.
You can follow me on Instagram @amyefrost

What will you stop making excuses for this month?

Halloween Tricks Part 3 - The Running Dead

Okay okay, last Halloween-related post... I promise!

So when I got home from work I did some arm/ab work and then went for a 3 mile run... still in costume.  :)
(I think I'm hilarious so this gave me special motivation for my run.)

Just imagine being on the trail and seeing this bloodied face with a tire mark on her back running by you.  Got a few looks and a few smiles out of people.  I aim to please.

Also I'm pretty sure my "just finished a run exhausted face" went well with the makeup.  The sweat added a little lifelike-ness to the fake blood.

See the spot by my ear? Blood + sweat. 

Coming up this month... No Excuses November!!

Halloween Tricks Part 2 - Tire Print DIY

Warning: Exclamation point overload.  I had too much fun with this!  I actually ended up doing it twice to make the print longer.  But anyway, now I look like roadkill.  So worth it.

Choose a shirt to paint...

Preferably one with armpit stains...

Put some newspaper inside your shirt.

Grab your paint!

Paint your tire!

Back back back it up.  (Or go forward. Not as fun.)

Collect your shirt from the ground
(or it might be stuck to the tire).

Admire your handiwork!

Halloween Tricks Part 1 - PSA

Amy decided to go for an early morning run!

Good morning, Amy!

But it was pitch black outside and Amy wasn't wearing any reflective equipment.

Someone who wasn't paying attention, or texting and driving, didn't see Amy as she crossed the street. 

Uh oh.

There goes Amy.

The aftermath.

So here's my little soapbox PSA for you: If you run when it's dark outside, please, wear reflective clothing or tape, or some sort of light!  And if you're driving in an area where you've seen people running, keep on the lookout.  That's all!

Up next: Tire print DIY!

Marathon Training: October 30

I'll just go ahead and say this, come back tomorrow for a special Halloween post/DIY/PSA. :)  I'm excited to show it to you!


Okay so today I did a lunchtime 3 miler.  Nothing too exciting, although I thought that my second mile was going to be faster than my first.  Nope.  Oh well!
28:06.  BOOM.

I'll post more about pacing later and why I'm not too worried about it now.

So here's a little information about my lunchtime workouts.  First of all, I am fortunate enough that there is a shower in the girls' bathroom pretty close to where my desk is.  (Otherwise I might battle between morning/late afternoon workouts which tends to be a lose/lose situation for me.)  So once I finally leave my desk, I go change in the bathroom and leave my gym bag/towel in the shower area.  There's also a gym that I've seen one other person in maybe 3 times since I started using it this year.  We're also located right next to Bachman Lake so I have some nice scenery during my run.  (Or interesting people watching...)

When I get back from my run or workout I shower with my hair still in a ponytail and use a body wash that I leave at work.  Once I get dressed again, I come out and usually look like this:



Then I just take my hair out of the ponytail, brush it, and re-blowdry.

(Happy blow dryyyy)

And then boom, done.

(Red face and all.  I stay flushed for a long time but at least my hair looks good?)

And since I'm doing just 3 miles during the week right now, I get this all done in less than an hour!

There you have it! Things you never knew you wanted to learn! :) Come back tomorrow!!!

Pants

Anybody want to buy me a pair? :)

X-Ray Pants!

Marathon Training: Second Long Run

The second long run.
I procrastinated. (Huge shock.)
The long runs make training real.  The real thoughts of:
-This sucks
-I think I hate running
-This is NOT fun
-I'm still running
-Seriously how much longer
Between miles 2 and 3.5 I was seriously questioning my commitment to this.  But something clicked at mile 3.5 and I hit my stride.
I'm still trying to figure out where to actually run for my long runs and not keep running in circles, and I alllmoooost made it this time but had to double back about half a mile to finish it out.

7 miles, 1:09.  And can I brag for two seconds and say that my first mile was 8:21?!?! Crazy legs.

Marathon Training: October 25

Lunch break 3 miler.  Good and cool outside, stopped to try and take a picture of all the ducks by Bachman!

SO MANY DUCKS.
Any way. 3 miles, 29:48.

Marathon Training: October 24

Instead of running today I did a little bit of weights with my frenemy Jamie Eason.  I was doing Nike Training Club workouts for about 6 months that totaled to 1,912 minutes of training.  (I loved getting the badges/rewards once I'd hit another goal!) But I wanted to change it up and start working different muscles.  I had done a lot of the workouts so many times and I just needed a new routine to challenge my muscles.

I'm working with limited (free) equipment and time so couldn't do the leg presses or seated calf raises.
Needless to say, it still hurt the next day. haha.  Good training tip:  you're going to be using your legs for running (obviously) so you should take care of the muscles that you'll be working (and the ones you won't) in the meantime.

Marathon Training: October 23

Yep I'm going to change the title format.  It's just easier that way.  I didn't run yesterday, instead I worked through lunch and then took some portraits of my cousin and her cute family!  I'm thinking this blog will give me motivation to blog more of my photography and recent shoots.  Dunno if you can tell yet but I'm not always the best when it comes to motivation.  Haaa.

^Today.  Case in point.
So yes, a shoot Sunday night and a shoot Monday night.
Today was the typical battle of "I'll go in 5 minutes... oh wait now I'm on a roll with this... I'll go in 5 minutes... nahh... okay okay, I'll go... nahh."
So 12:30 rolls around and I finally get out of my chair, go change, and go for my run.  3 miles, 29:07.
Plus side to this run... I spent a lot of time thinking about different running topics to blog about (lucky you!!).
So look forward to that!

Marathon Training: First Long Run

I really want to run another marathon, I do, I promise.  But not having Team in Training to motivate me to get out of bed to do my long runs?  Not cool.
After a solid half hour+ I rolled out of bed and got dressed and ran my dang 6 miles. 1:03. (I also decided at the last minute to just make it a 10K so technically I ran 6.24 in 1:07)
I also hadn't exactly planned out what my path was going to be and figured I would just run past my usual 1.5 mile turnaround and keep going til I hit 3 miles and then turn around, but I accidentally made the block back to my starting position.
(I guess I should add that I moved into a new apartment a few months ago so I'm not as familiar with the area.)
So I had run 3 miles and was almost back to the starting point.  Instead of trying to think of something new I just decided to keep going to my 1.5 marker and then back again to finish the other 3 miles.
This reminds me of when I would run in my parents' neighborhood/city and was trying to get long runs in.  Once I was trying to run 12 and it looked like this:

Basically I was running around and through neighborhoods just to tack on miles.  So another thing to add to the goal list... plan!!

Marathon Training: October 19

Since I had a doctor’s appointment this morning I was able to wake up and go running and still have time to get ready! It was pretty chilly outside (54 degrees) and it felt great. 3 miles, 28:45.

Marathon Training: October 18

Accidental rest day!  I thought this retirement party for this chick at work was going to be during lunch time so I didn't bring workout clothes, but it wasn't until 3.  Oops. Oh well!  Rest is good!