Chicago plans

The fall weather we had recently was a big fat tease. Today, I checked out the temps before deciding on whether to run inside or outside, and saw that the high was going to be 97 degrees today. What the hell?! I've been wearing long sleeves and jeans recently, and now we're back into the 90's.

So, considering the temp and that I had intervals on the schedule, I decided to run on the treadmill. I spent probably an hour trying to find a show on Netflix to watch. There is NOTHING that sounds interesting to me! Once Sons of Anarchy has the fifth season on Netflix, I'll be able to watch that; also, I'm waiting for the second season of American Horror Story. But today, I couldn't find anything that even remotely interested me, so I just decided to run outside.

There was no way that I was going to run speed work in "feels like" temps of 100, so I figured I'd just run five miles at whatever pace my legs felt like running today. The air was really thick when I stepped outside (after my dilly dallying around, it was after 9:00). I ran a five mile loop around the neighborhoods, and my heart rate was about as high as if I'd been doing my intervals... that's how the humidity affects me. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 90's again, but it's a rest day, so I'll be in the air conditioning!

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Remember my post from a few days ago, about the gross jar of Justin's Maple Almond Butter I bought? It was very runny and tasted like pure oil. Here is the pic of it compared to a "normal" jar of it:

The one on the left was obviously the liquidy one. Anyway, I e-mailed Justin's about it, and I just got a response yesterday. I was incredibly disappointed when I read it.

Apparently, this runny nut butter was not a fluke. Justin's is changing the way they grind the nuts--the purpose is to make it easier to spread, less oil separation, and more consistent from jar to jar. She wrote that the recipe hasn't changed, and they aren't adding more oil, but that this consistency is actually what they were going for :(

It's hard to show with a photo just how runny this new consistency is, but it's VERY runny. You can't scoop it up with a spoon without it spilling over the sides. I'm trying to think of a comparison... I guess you could say that it has the consistency of a cream-based soup. I tried to put some on an English muffin, but it just ran off the sides of the muffin. And even though I was told they didn't change the recipe, I have to say the flavor is TERRIBLE. It tastes like rancid vegetable oil.

Anyway, the woman who wrote me back was very kind, and I like that she explained this to me, but I won't be buying Justin's Nut Butters anymore, if they are going to taste like this one. Bummer!

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For Taste Test Tuesday, I bought a box of Barbara's Toasted Oatmeal Flakes to try. I love cereal, but most of my favorites have 200+ calories per serving, which is a lot for a tiny little bowl (and I rarely stop at one serving...). I usually have cereal for an afternoon snack rather than a meal, so I like it to be lower in calories. This one has 110 calories per serving (3/4 cup).

I was expecting the texture to be very airy, like corn flakes, but it was kind of thick and dense, which I liked.

It was also sweeter than I expected (not that I'm complaining!). I really liked this cereal. It was hearty for being only 110 calories, and because of the denser texture, it took longer to chew than airy flakes. The flavor reminded me of Honey Nut Cheerios. I would definitely buy this again!

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My plans for the Chicago Marathon have changed a bit. Andrea, who I was going to be running with for her first marathon, has decided not to run. She has a very good reason for it--she has severe sciatica that really bothers her when she runs, and her training has really suffered. She is extremely disappointed, but I think she's making a wise decision. I ran Cleveland with an injured knee, and it was a totally miserable experience! So I am not upset with her at all. Even though I signed up for Chicago to run with Andrea, I am still going to run it alone--it was a very expensive race, and I've already done the training, so I might as well!

Andrea still plans to go to Chicago with me, which is very kind of her, considering she's not going to be doing the race. We're going to stay with my sister in Rockford on Friday night, and then head to the city on Saturday (my kids are going to stay with my sister). The race is Sunday morning. We'll stay Sunday night in Chicago, and then Andrea will go to the airport, and I'll go to my sister's house for another night before coming home with my kids.

One of the things I was looking forward to about this race is that it was going to be pretty stress-free; I didn't have a time goal or anything, I was just going to run with Andrea. Now that I'll be running alone, I've had to reevaluate the situation. I've been training as if I'm going to run a 3:55 marathon (BAHAHA) but I never had intentions of actually doing that. There is no way I even want to attempt that pace! That would mean running an 8:58/mi pace for 26.2 miles, and, from experience, the last 10 miles of a marathon don't agree so well with me ;)

I think that if I were to go and give it my ALL, really bust my ass to reach a goal, I could probably do a sub-4:00 finish. However... that doesn't sound like fun to me in the slightest. I'm happy with my 4:50-something finish time from Detroit, and never had intentions of breaking that time. So, for Chicago, I'm going to go and run whatever pace I feel like running that day. I don't have a goal, I'm not going to follow a pacer, and I honestly don't care what my finish time is. I don't even have a "secret" goal! ;)

If I had to guess, I'd say my best estimate for a finish time (based on my long runs and easy runs) would be 4:30-ish (10:18/mi pace). I've been doing my long runs at a 9:30/mi pace, but I know I would feel more comfortable at a slower pace. I wouldn't be surprised if I finish in 4:15-ish, but I also wouldn't be surprised if I finish in 4:45-ish. Anything can happen! I'm just really happy with my decision to run for fun, without any goals, and just see what happens. I always enjoy races the most when I don't have a goal.

One thing that I would love is to chat with some other runners during the race. I know some people don't like to talk while running, but it always helps me pass the time faster, so I'll be happy if I can have a few conversations. I'm trying to think of a clever shirt I can make that might spark conversation, maybe something to do with my weight loss? If you have any ideas, I'd love to read 'em!

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Motivational Monday #31

There are LOTS of motivational stories/photos to share today, so I'm not even going to bother with an intro. Enjoy!

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Brittney ran her first 5K race on Saturday! She states (as written on her shirt), "I run slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter but I run!" Through training, she's also lost 20 pounds! She wants to let everyone know that signing up for your first race is like stepping into a different world (and I have to agree!).

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Lyndsey's daughter, Ella, ran her first one-mile race, and Lyndsey ran it with her. Usually, Lyndsey runs the 5-mile race, but Ella wanted in on the action this year, so the two raced together. Ella was VERY proud of the ribbon she earned!

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Colleen and her friend Cathy did the Diva Dash this weekend, despite EIGHT of their teammates backing out! This was her first race, and she said it would have been easy not to go, but she and Cathy completed the 5K obstacle race together.
 

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Heather just ran her first 10K race! She set a goal of 1:10, and, despite the heat, ended up finishing in 1:06:54. Her husband ran the 10K as well, with a PR of 44:30; and her 7-year old son completed the 5K!

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Ivayla was super proud to have run nine miles, her longest distance to date. She's also reached 20 pounds lost, and is very proud of the visible progress in her photos!

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Jess (on right) ran a PR at her half-marathon this weekend, finishing in 1:47:15! She was paced by her friend Amy, who helped her to stay positive and push on throughout the race.

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Katie is in the middle of a weight loss journey, and just reached 67 pounds lost after a frustrating 6-week plateau! She was also really proud that she ran for 17 minutes in total doing intervals as she trains for a 5K in October. Her husband snapped this picture as soon as she got home from her run, so that she could see herself glowing! (Katie's blog)

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Kendall ran her longest run to date this weekend--a 14K point-to-point race that went over two bridges! She's training for her first half-marathon at the end of the month.

On Labor Day, Kristen ran her second half-marathon! She was hoping for a PR, but Seattle had unexpectedly hot weather that day, and she was upset when she realized it wasn't a good day for a PR. But nevertheless, she finished with a smile on her face as her family cheered her on at the finish line. Her four year old daughter completed her first kids' race that day, too!

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Laura began her weight loss journey on January 5th, and has since lost 58.6 pounds! She's working on losing another 50 pounds, and to help take the weight off, she started running. Like me, she tried the Couch to 5K and found it too difficult to complete, so she tried the method I did in order to reach a 5K distance. And she did it! She worked her way up to 3.1 miles in honor of her 31st birthday. This weekend, she ran her farthest distance to date, 4 miles. She never would have guessed she'd be running that far! (Laura's blog)

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Lesleigh ran her first half-marathon this weekend! She said it was a lot harder than she'd expected--at mile 9, she felt fantastic, but at mile 11, she felt like she would be lucky to crawl across the finish line. She finished in 2:16:30, coming in under her goal of 2:20! She just started running a year ago, after her weight loss hit a wall; she has lost a total of 70 pounds to date, and just hit her Weight Watchers Lifetime weight a few days before her race.

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Lorenda spent her 51st birthday running the perimeter of Mackinac Island! It was an 8-mile race, and she had a secret goal of 1:10 (8:45/mi pace), as well as a SUPER secret goal of an 8:40/mi pace. She finished in 1:09:24, which is an 8:40 average pace! You would never guess she's 51, because after the race, she biked all over the island for two and a half hours, and then went on a ninety minute walking tour of the island. She followed up the next morning with a four mile run. I'm exhausted just typing all that!
 

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Marija's e-mail and photo actually brought tears to my eyes. She just completed a duathlon! It consisted of a 2.5K run/walk, 10K bike ride, and 2.5K run/walk. She said that she came in last place, but she never would have imagined that she could do something like this at 230 pounds. She already has a goal for next year--to run the distances instead of run/walk them!

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Nicole finally felt a "runner's high" after completing her first 10K this weekend! In November, she completed a 5K in 45 minutes, but she finished her 10K in 1:07:36. She felt fantastic, and crossed the finish line with a huge smile on her face. She's already looking forward to challenging herself again.

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Stephanie just completed her first 5K race! She started working on losing some weight at the beginning of the year, but wasn't whole-heartedly into it. She finally got the determination she needed, and started working her best to drop the pounds. She's lost 23 pounds so far, and has discovered that she loves BodyCombat and BodyJam classes at the gym, as well as running. She's hoping to run a half-marathon by the end of the year!

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Court has completely fallen in love with Zumba, and at her second class in January, she told her instructor that she'd soon see her 50 pounds lighter. She has now lost an amazing 67 pounds through Zumba and Weight Watchers!

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Susie just ran her first half-marathon at the Disneyland Half Marathon weekend! She is a self-proclaimed "Disney nerd" and had a blast running through the parks while no one else was there. She loved seeing the cast members along the way, cheering on the runners, and there were characters to stop and take pictures with. She really enjoyed the race, and plans to do it again next year!

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Don't forget to check out more motivating stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post!

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Sunday Runday

Sadly, my long run did not go so well today. I was afraid of that! The 16-miler I ran a couple of weeks ago went REALLY great, which usually means I'm due for a bad one. Jerry got my hopes up when he came in this morning by telling me that the weather was really nice outside. I think we have different ideas of "nice" running weather. To me, "nice" (in September) is 50's and overcast, low humidity. To Jerry, apparently, "nice" means 72 and humid. ;)  It was overcast, though, which made me happy!

I wasn't able to leave until after 8:30, when the kids went to church with my parents. Normally, I run much better on an empty stomach, but since I was getting a late start and wouldn't be home until after 11:00, I figured I'd better eat before the run. I had steel cut oats with brown sugar and craisins. Then I loaded up my CamelBak with water, my pepper spray, my phone, and a couple of ShotBloks.

My long run pace is supposed to be 9:38/mi, but I was just aiming for 9:30-10:00 ish. I've been giving myself a bigger range lately, because I don't want to have to look at my watch more than once a mile. The first couple of miles were okay; I was just thinking about how warm and humid the air felt, and hoped the sun would stay behind the clouds for a few more hours.

Just after mile two, I started to regret eating breakfast. I felt nauseous and really sluggish. For the next mile, I debated turning around and calling it quits. I honestly didn't think I could make it through 16 miles like that. Thankfully, just after mile four, I got a little burst of energy and started feeling better.

When I got to the state park, I was just focused on getting to mile eight, so that I'd be halfway done, and all I'd have to do was run home. Mile nine was my fastest, and that wasn't because I was feeling good; it was because I wanted to pass a boy! ;)  I came up behind a guy who was doing run/walk intervals. During his run intervals, he was about the same pace as me. I didn't consciously speed up, but I noticed my pace was getting faster and faster, because I wanted to pass him. When he stopped to walk, I caught up and went past, then I noticed my pace was 8:50-ish, and it about killed me.

I wanted to stop SO badly to take a breather, but that would have been embarrassing to pass him and then stop, so I kept going. The rest of the mile was really hard, because I was trying to recover from that. At mile 10, I would have gladly accepted a ride from a stranger, creepy or not, because I just felt like my legs were toast. I ate one of the ShotBloks, and hoped it would give me a little boost soon.

My pace didn't really slow down, but my body really felt sluggish. It was hard to keep running! At mile 13, I ate another ShotBlok. Just before mile 14, I heard a car pull up next to me, and saw that it was my parents with the kids in the car, returning from church. I was so so so tempted to hop in and get a ride home, but I knew I just had two miles to go.

I started thinking about the marathon, and how this training is supposed to simulate the LAST 16 miles of a marathon, not the first 16 miles. So I was supposed to feel tired. It was a very tough couple of miles to go, but I managed to finish!

When I uploaded my run, I noticed that the time was VERY close to the last 16-miler I did. Two weeks ago, I finished in 2:32:49 and today, I finished in 2:32:21. I didn't plan that, but thought it was interesting!

I was SO relieved to get that over with. Two down, and just one more to go. Next week is 10 miles, and then the third 16-miler is a week after that.

I was surprised to see that my average heart rate was 153 today; on my last 16-miler, it was 146. That's a big difference! But it goes to show that my rough run today wasn't all in my head. Probably the fatigue (I just ran 31 miles in 3 days!) combined with the higher temp outside caused the extra stress.

After I showered and changed into some comfy clothes, I just wanted to sit on my ass all.day.long. But first, I wanted to go to Monica's bakery to get a cookie before they closed. I got a big chocolate chunk cookie (16 PointsPlus). The chocolate chunk cookies never look very appealing there, which is why I don't get them often, but they taste SO good. So I'm glad that's what I ended up getting for a long run treat!

Once I got home, I plopped myself on the recliner, curled up with a blanket, and watched a Lifetime movie. That's kind of become my routine after my long runs lately. Lifetime movies are the best for lazy, relaxing afternoons!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you have a health/fitness accomplishment that you want to brag about, please send a photo and description to my e-mail: SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, and I may include it on the blog tomorrow.

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Notes

Today was supposed to be hot and humid, so I wanted to get my run done before breakfast this morning. I only had six miles at an easy pace on the schedule, which feels like a cake walk now compared to my other runs! ;)

My easy pace is supposed to be 10:00-10:40/mi. My legs felt surprisingly fresh today, so I just wanted to relax and enjoy it! I was really surprised when I saw that my pace was in the 9:00's. I honestly thought I was happily running about a 10:15-10:30 pace. It's weird how one day, a 10:30 pace actually feels hard, and another day, a 9:30 pace feels super easy.

My run was totally uneventful (unlike yesterday's wardrobe malfunction), and when I got home, I saw my water bottle sitting on the porch. Jerry is super thoughtful in that he always fills my water bottle with ice water when I'm out running, so that it'll be ready for me when I'm done. Today was extra special, because he left me a (very corny) note with it!

It put a huge smile on my face. I sat outside for a little bit drinking my water. Turns out all of my splits were under 10:00. I can only hope that my body feels this good tomorrow for 16 miles!

I got a note card in the mail today from Weight Watchers. Jerry has gotten a couple of cards before, when he hit his goal weight and Lifetime membership; but I've never gotten one, so I was wondering what the heck it was for! Turns out, it was from the leader of the meeting I went to when I weighed in last week.

It's kind of ironic, actually. I finally found a leader that I really clicked with, but she was actually filling in for the regular leader. As I've mentioned before, I've had a really hard time with my WW center. I haven't found a meeting/leader that I "click" with, so I just don't go to the meetings. When I weighed in last Friday, the meeting was just about to start, so I figured I might as well stay.

There was a new leader there, that I hadn't seen before, and she mentioned she was filling in for someone. I felt really comfortable with her, and she didn't look at me like I had two heads when I spoke up. I stayed after the meeting to ask her when her regular meeting times are, because I'd like to go to her meetings. She told me that she doesn't work at this center, she works in Ann Arbor. I was bummed! I thought I'd finally found a regular meeting. Anyway, I thought it was really nice of her to send me the card.

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So, I have to say, it's been really nice not weighing myself daily. I've weighed daily since I started losing weight in 2009. I know that weight fluctuates day-to-day, and I don't let those fluctuations set my mood or anything. But since I was feeling pressured to get back down to 133 for Jerry's sister's wedding next weekend, and Jerry hid the scale from me, I feel kind of liberated. And I've been 100% on-track ever since!

I don't think there is anything wrong with weighing daily, but it's been nice not doing it. Jerry will get the scale back out after the wedding, so I'm curious what my weight will be, but right now, it's kind of fun not knowing. I know that as long as I'm tracking my food and not binge eating, my weight can't be going up, so there really is no reason to weigh.

Once again, I find myself nervous for my 16-miler tomorrow. I have no idea why! I ran 16 miles two weeks ago, and felt great. I mapped out my route, and I'm ready to go. Just hoping that I have another good run!

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Bloody nipples

Today's run was MUCH better than yesterday's. It's been pretty cool outside the past couple of mornings, and today it was only 50 degrees! I was thrilled. My feet were still a little sore from yesterday, but I knew they'd be fine once I started running. I made sure to wear my new shoes today!

After I took the kids to the bus stop, I headed out on my run. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go or what pace I was going to run. I had six miles at an easy pace (10:00-10:40/mi) on the schedule, but considering yesterday's run got all screwed up, I thought I might try for nine miles at marathon pace (8:58). I wanted to see how I felt before I decided.

I didn't want to be a slave to my Garmin by constantly checking my pace, so I just ran at what felt a little harder than comfortable. I decided to look at my pace only when my Garmin beeped at the end of each mile. After mile one, I saw I'd run it in 8:31, so I knew I'd be fine doing a marathon pace run today instead of an easy pace. I still wasn't sure if I'd do six or nine miles, though.

I felt really good! My feet felt a million times better than yesterday, thanks to the new shoes. I ran an out-and-back along a busy road, which usually keeps my mind occupied (and the time goes by faster). Once I hit mile three, I decided to keep going. At mile 4.5, I turned around and headed home. I was surprised at how fast the miles were going by, and I was holding a sub-9:00 pace easily.

About a mile from home, there was a man running toward me, so I said "Good morning!" as we passed each other. He looked at me kind of strangely, but I didn't think much about it. When I got home, I sat on the porch for a few minutes, drinking my water and checking out my splits. When I stood up to go back in the house, I caught my reflection in the storm door. Words can't describe...

My first thought was, "Ohmygod, are my nipples bleeding?!" because I've seen men at races with bloody nipples. It's actually pretty common, and they even make nipple protection that people can buy at running stores. But sports bras are tight, so it rarely happens to women, and it's certainly never happened to me.

Then the realization hit me: I was wearing a brand new pink sports bra under my yellow top. The dye had bled through from all the sweat. I looked like I had just murdered someone with an axe.

I was SO embarrassed for a moment. I wanted to run back down the road and find the guy who thought I was a weirdo, and tell him that I wasn't bloody, I just like to wear pink bras. But that probably screams "lunatic" even more than he already suspected. So I just shrugged it off, and posted a pic on Instagram ;)

I was thrilled with how great my run was!

So I celebrated with a really yummy, indulgent breakfast--a non-peanut butter version of a Fluffernutter. I toasted two low-fat waffles and spread them with Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and marshmallow fluff, and turned them into a sandwich.

It was 9 PointsPlus, which actually isn't bad at all, and it was really filling. I like this sandwich with peanut butter better, but since I'm not eating peanut butter until the marathon, this had to do. It was still delicious!

I downloaded an app on my phone that calculates calories burned by heart rate (the name of it is a very clever "Calories Burned by Heart Rate"). I've been frustrated with my Garmin recently, because I know that the calorie burn is much too low, even though the heart rate is correct. I wasn't sure how accurate this app would be, but for 99 cents, I decided to give it a try. It takes into account your age, weight, minutes exercised, and average heart rate. So I put in today's numbers:

Of course I can't know whether this is super accurate, but it seems correct to me! That's about 88 calories burned per mile, which seems much more accurate than my Garmin's latest readings of 60-something per mile. I also don't think it's too high, like some of the calorie calculators out there (the one on my treadmill is always WAY too high; it probably would have read about 1600 for today's run).

Tomorrow is an easy 6 miler, and then Sunday is my second (of three) 16-miler. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to run it outside--Jerry's taking my dad's brother to the Lion's game, and I'm not sure if the kids are going to church with my mom or not. I really hope I don't have to run it on the treadmill... that would be a LONG 16-miles!

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Lesson learned

What a crappy run this morning! I was expecting it to be great, because the temp was about 60 degrees outside. I had nine miles at marathon pace (8:58/mi) on the schedule. The past few weeks, I've done the marathon pace runs on the treadmill, but because it was so nice out today, and the boys had school, I decided to run it outside.

As soon as I started running, I felt okay, and my pace was a little faster than my goal, which was fine. Then about a half-mile into the run, a particular spot on my foot started to ache. The only time this part of my foot hurts is when my shoes have too many miles on them. Most resources will tell you to change shoes after 400 miles or so, but I've found that I have to change them at about 325-350 miles.

I bought a new pair of shoes about a month ago just to have on hand for when I reached the point of needing them, and I set them next to my dresser, where they've been ever since. This week, I started to notice that little achy feeling in my foot a couple of times during a run, but I thought, "I'm going to see if I can ride these out for 400 miles..." (Yes, I know, I'm a certified running coach for God's sake! I should know better!)

Anyway, about half a mile into my run today, I started feeling that ache on the side of my foot, and I made a mental note to swap out my shoes when I got home. But then I started wondering if I could even wait that long; the pain was getting pretty bad. I hit my target pace for the first mile, but my feet were hurting, and I decided to just forget the pace and focus on finishing.

By the time I got to mile two, I was practically hobbling. I decided to turn around and go straight back home to change out my shoes. For a minute, I even considered taking my shoes off and walking home barefoot, but the road isn't exactly barefoot-friendly.

The pain traveled up above my ankle, to the tendon on the outside of my leg. I was so glad to finally get home. I took off my shoes, and saw that I had a big knot on my leg where my tendon was feeling irritated. Instead of switching shoes, I decided to call it a day and just rest. As soon as I took my shoes off, I felt relief. I even tried on my new shoes, just to feel the difference, and it's kind of amazing at how different they felt! I've worn Brooks Adrenalines ever since I started running, and you don't really feel them breaking down but it's a big difference when you put on a new pair!

The one on the left is brand new; on the right has 385 miles.

So my lesson learned is that 50 miles makes a HUGE difference on a pair of shoes, and next time, I will change them as soon as I hit 350 miles.

Tomorrow is a six-mile run at easy pace. If the swelling is gone and I feel back to normal, I may try to do my marathon pace run tomorrow; otherwise, I'll just stick to the schedule for tomorrow. I sat with my feet up and I iced the swelling over my tendon, and it's feeling much better now. I'm really glad I turned around when I did, rather than trying to finish out the whole run (because I'm stubborn like that).

I got some groceries at Kroger today, and I saw that they had Justin's Nut Butters on sale for Buy 1 Get 1 Free... the best sale ever! I usually stock up when they have this sale (only a couple times a year). I bought four jars of my favorite, the Maple Almond Butter. This afternoon, I opened a jar of it to have with some carrots for a snack, and was surprised to see how liquidy it was. I've bought it dozens of times before, and it's never looked like that.

When I tasted it, it tasted like straight-up oil. Gross! Then I opened a second jar, and it was normal (yummy!). I'm not sure what the issue was with the first jar, but I wrote Justin's an e-mail about it, so I'm curious what they say. You can see the difference between the two in this pic:

On the left is obviously from the liquidy jar, and on the right is the normal jar.

I like Justin's Maple Almond Butter almost as much as I like peanut butter. I haven't had peanut butter in over eight weeks now! It's been really difficult at times, but I'm determined to make it until the marathon. I can't wait to get my new set of dishes! ;)

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Scale free

Well, I don't have a weigh-in to post today. Jerry took the scale and hid it from me somewhere! I've been WAY too stressed out about fitting into the stupid bridesmaid dress in 10 days, and he thinks that taking the scale away will help me stop worrying about it, apparently ;)  I think it might actually work, though.

It's kind of interesting... when I feel pressured to get to a certain weight by a certain deadline, it really gets to me, and I usually end up gaining weight rather than losing. I always manage to get my weight back down when I'm not feeling any pressure at all. It works the same way with races, too. When I set a specific time goal at a race, I feel all kinds of pressure to hit that goal, and I usually fail to hit it; but when I go into a race without any expectations, I usually end up having a great race and a PR! I guess I just work better when I'm not under pressure.

I tried on the dress a few days ago, and it fit well. So as long as I don't go completely overboard with junk in the next 10 days, I should be okay. Then, I will be totally pressure-free to enjoy fall! I try not to put pressure on myself (like with this wedding), but it just naturally happens. I wish I could avoid that. I think I've just been so worried about this because the end of summer is always when I'm my heaviest.

Speaking of that, I went to Weight Watchers for my monthly weigh in a few days ago, and I was up a pound from last month. I stayed for the meeting, and when the leader asked if anyone wanted to share about their weigh in, I actually raised my hand. Most people think a 1 pound gain is a bad thing, but considering I always gain 15-20 pounds in the summer, I was thrilled. My grand total for summer weight gain was just four pounds this year.

Each fall, I spend a few months taking that weight back off. I am really excited that I'll be able to take it off in a matter of a few weeks rather than months this year. And hopefully next year, I can learn to keep my weight within a pound or two over the summer. ;)

Anyway, today was the kids' first day of school. Noah started fourth grade and Eli started second grade.

I can't believe how big they are! Next year, Noah will be in middle school, which is just crazy talk. When I was in school, we went to elementary through sixth grade. Then seventh and eighth was junior high. And ninth started high school. My kids will be in middle school in the fifth grade!

My day went by way too fast. I was hoping to get totally caught up on e-mail, which I didn't. Today was my rest day, but I did manage to go out for a 45-minute walk, which was nice. Yesterday's weather was perfect jeans and long-sleeved tee weather, but today, I was pretty hot in sweats. I think I'm just too excited for fall weather.

Last year, I fell out of the habit of walking with the boys to and from the bus stop. I would just watch them from the back deck until the bus came. But I want to get back in the habit of walking around the block with them again, rather than having them just cut through the backyard to the bus stop; and then in the afternoon, walking to the stop to wait for the bus. It's a little extra exercise for all of us, which doesn't hurt!

When Noah first started kindergarten, I asked him what he wanted to have for dinner that day. He told me he wanted Spaghetti Pie, which I thought was hilarious, because I'd only made it a couple of times, and I didn't even know he liked it much. So I always think of that on the first day of school, and I made Noah's Spaghetti Pie for dinner today. :)

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Calorie burn

Well, we didn't end up going to the Metropark yesterday, but we had a nice day at home. The weather was gorgeous, so we opened up all the windows. The kids got the idea to rearrange the furniture in their bedrooms (something I used to LOVE doing as a kid), so we helped them with that. I've never seen them so excited to clean their rooms ;)

I had a seven mile run on the schedule yesterday, and I ran outside. It was tough--I felt like I was working hard but a half mile in, I saw my pace was 11:15/mi! I put some more effort in it, and the farther I ran, the easier it felt, but it was still a tough run. When I got home, I was shocked to see my calorie burn: 454 calories burned in a 7 mile run?! That's only 65 calories per mile. I know that can't be right.

My average heart rate was 148 bpm, and the last time I ran with a heart rate of 148 (a couple of weeks ago), my calorie burn was 83 calories per mile. Something around 80 calories per mile is very typical for me (on super hot/humid days, I'll burn about a 100/mi, but the lowest is usually 77 or so). I was curious what it would say for my run today, because I always burn a lot during intervals.

For today's interval workout, I decided to do 12 x 400's at 5K pace (7:30/mi) with 400 jogs. After a one-mile warm up, that basically means to run 1/4 mile at 5K pace, then jog slowly for 1/4 mile, and repeat for a total of 12 times (6 miles total, not including warm-up). I hadn't done 400-meter intervals in a long time, because they are usually used for training for short races, like 5K's. But 400's usually feel like they go by so quickly, because you're only running fast for a couple of minutes at a time.

Each interval went by really quickly, but I felt like today's run dragged on forever! I kept telling myself I could quit after "one more" interval; and then, of course, I would say, "Okay, you can make through one more." And eventually, I made it through all 12 of them!

My average heart rate was 156 bpm, and according to my Garmin, I burned 557 calories (80/mile). The last time I ran with an average heart rate of 156, I burned 97 calories per mile. So I really feel like I'm getting screwed on the calorie burn. I looked it up on Google, and found that I'm not the only one who has noticed it. A lot of people who have the 910xt have the same complaint. Interesting! I'm not going to use that calorie burn number to figure out my activity PointsPlus earned; I'll just use the Weight Watchers eTools calculator.

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Today was the kids' open house at school. Their last day of summer vacation! They got to check out their classrooms, drop off some of their supplies, and meet their teachers. I'm excited for them to start school tomorrow, but also a little sad. They've been fighting all summer long, so it will be nice to have some quiet; but they're so funny/cute sometimes, that I'll miss them being around all day.

I was toying with the idea of switching my long runs to Fridays again (it's easier for me to get outside for a run when the boys are in school), but with this Hansons training, ALL of my runs are pretty long. SO it really doesn't make much difference. I think I'll just stick to the schedule the way it is.

Over the past week or so, John and I have managed to put together the entire Ragnar team for SoCal 2014! I was thinking it would take a long time to get a full team together, but I went through old e-mails from readers (people who had expressed interest in running a Ragnar), and invited them to join. Within a few days, the team was complete.

With the exception of John and I, we are all strangers to each other. The first time we'll all meet up is going to be in California in April when we go there for the race. I've mentioned some of them on my blog before, mainly from Motivational Mondays, but I think I will slowly introduce the team here like I did with my From Fat to Finish Line team. We haven't come up with a team name yet, but hopefully soon! I'm super excited about this team :)

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Labor Day

Hope you're all having a great holiday! I forgot to post a reminder on my blog yesterday about Motivational Monday, and I only had two submission this time... so I decided just to hold on to those for next week.

Today, I'm just hanging out with my family, so I'll catch up tomorrow :)

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Wine hangover

My wine club meeting last night was so fun! It had been a while since I'd gone to a meeting, so I was looking forward to seeing my friends. Jerry even volunteered to drive me there and pick me up, so that I wouldn't have to drive; normally, I only drink 4-6 oz. because I have to drive home, so it was nice not to have to worry about that ;)

It was at Rachael's house, and she chose to do a theme of her favorite wines. She had about six different wines to share. I think my favorite was the Kendall Jackson Summation, a dry red blend. The dry reds are always my favorites! You can always tell when I've been drinking wine, because my teeth tend to get a purplish tint (so classy):

Jessica, me, and Renee

Anyway, I definitely indulged too much, because I woke up this morning feeling hung over. Not fun when I had a 10-mile run on the schedule! I drank a ton of water and procrastinated for a while, but finally got on the treadmill and got it done. I'm just grateful it wasn't a 16-miler this week.

Using that foot pod tool a couple of days ago worked perfectly! I found the correct calibration number, and it's very close to what my treadmill reads. And because the calibration was based on TONS of my runs (via GPS), I think it's very accurate. My long run pace is 9:38/mi, so I set the treadmill at 6.4 mph, and my splits were very even. The tenth mile, I kept bumping up the speed to get done, though.

I started watching American Horror Story on Netflix while running, and that's been interesting. I love scary movies, but I'm not usually into supernatural stuff, so I wasn't sure what I would think. I really like it so far, though! There are a couple of seasons, so it should get me through quite a few more treadmill runs.

I was feeling pretty crappy all day long, thanks to the wine last night. I was really craving homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner (one of my favorite comfort foods), so I made that and I'm sure I went way over my PointsPlus today, even with the 10-mile run. We ran a few errands in the afternoon, but then I changed into some sweats and lounged around for the rest of the day.

Yesterday, I got a text from my mom saying that she was at a garage sale that had a ton of Victoria's Secret clothing. I love VS clothes because they are so cozy to lounge around in. They're super expensive, however, so I always look for them at garage sales.

I went to the sale my mom told me about, and I was shocked at just how much this woman had. She works at Victoria's Secret, and she told me her daughter is very spoiled! The daughter had been a size 4/small, until she went to college last year and gained some freshman weight, so she was getting rid of all the smaller clothes. Lucky for me, that's my size!

I bought five hoodies, three pairs of jeans, one pair of sweatpants, a couple pairs of pajama bottoms, a few long-sleeved t-shirts, and a couple of other tops. I didn't even make a dent in the amount of clothes she had, either. I can't imagine how much she must have paid for all this stuff new, even with an employee discount. The hoodies retail for $45-50 alone, and I paid $66 for everything. I'm excited for the weather to feel more fall-like, so I can get cozy in my hoodies and long sleeve tee's.


Since tomorrow is officially the last day of the kids' summer vacation (they have open house on Tuesday, and school starts Wednesday), I think we're going to take them to the water park at one of the Metroparks. The weather looks good for it; I just hope it's not packed because it's a holiday. Anyone have big plans tomorrow?

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