Portland/Seattle trip recap

I'm home! I had SUCH an amazing time in Portland and Seattle, but I was missing Jerry and the kids (and the pets) quite a bit, so it feels nice to be back. This was my third time visiting the Pacific Northwest over the last year, and it has become my favorite spot for a fun trip! Taking the train to Seattle was awesome.

My friend Laurel picked me up from the train station. Laurel started reading my blog several years ago, and I met her in person when I went to Portland for the first time. She and Thomas were best friends/roommates in college, and she is the one who introduced Thomas to my blog. She now lives in Seattle, but she goes down to Portland very frequently. So that's how I met her and Thomas.

Laurel took me to this gorgeous waterfall right after she picked me up

I won't recap my entire trip, because that would probably take up several posts, but here are a few highlights...

On Saturday, Thomas, Brandon (Thomas's "little brother" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program), and I went hiking in Ape Cave at Mount St. Helens. I had never seen a cave before, so I wasn't sure what to expect; but I'm kind of a scaredy cat when it comes to adventure, so I was pretty nervous about it! I'm not necessarily claustrophobic, but if there were any really tight spots to crawl through, I wouldn't be happy about it ;)

I'm so glad that I went! At first, I thought I made a big mistake, because I was shaking so badly (nerves) and it was hard to find my footing. The cave is completely pitch black (without a flashlight, you can't even see your hand in front of your face), and there are tons of huge boulders to climb over, through, and around. I was scared of falling off the boulders and breaking my leg (the day before my race!), so I was being extra careful.

As we went deeper into the cave, though, I got more confident with my climbing. Physically, it was a tough workout! At one point, we even have to use a rope to climb up about eight feet of solid rock wall. I kind of impressed myself that I was able to do it. I don't have many pictures, but here are a few:

This is the opening where we started

Boulders everywhere

Brandon and me (I was covering my headlamp);
He's taller than me now!

Almost too claustrophobic at some parts ;)

The cave was 1.25 miles long, and I'm not sure how long it took us to do it, but my legs were tired after that! I was worried it would affect my race the next day, but how often do I get a chance to hike through a cave? It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip.

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I had two reader meet-ups--one in Portland on Saturday morning for coffee, and one in Seattle on Monday night for drinks. I love doing these meet-ups! I met some really fantastic girls. Here is a photo from coffee on Saturday:

Samantha, Mary, Katie, me, and Margaret

I'd met Mary and Katie the last time I had a meet-up in Portland, so it was great to see them again. And Samantha and Margaret were super sweet! Samantha had just gotten off working a night shift, so I was honored she came. And Margaret was going to be running a half-marathon the following day (she hit her goal of sub-2:30!).

On Monday night, Laurel, her husband, Dan, and I went to McMenamins Queen Anne in Seattle for the other reader meet-up. I invited my friend from high school, Allison, to come meet us before everyone else got there, so I could catch up with her. I hadn't seen her in about seven years! I thought it may be a little awkward, but we talked as if we'd seen each other just last week.

I was so very excited to meet reader Melisa, and she showed up next. I don't read many blogs, but I adore Melisa's writing style (she's very witty and hilarious), so I was really looking forward to meeting her in person. And she is just as great in person as she is on her blog! We laughed (a lot).

Rounding out the meet-up was Amber, a sweet-as-pie girl (with a voice to match) who loves cupcakes so much she has a tattoo of one on her arm; and Laura, a very busy mom of three kids, all under age three! I am so sad that I forgot to get a group picture of everyone (likely due to the vodka tonics I was drinking! ha). It was a super fun evening, and meeting Laura, Amber, and Melisa was awesome. I hope to see them again if when I go back. (Laura, we didn't get a picture together! sad face)

Amber and me

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Just before the meet-up on Monday, Laurel, Dan, and I went up in the Space Needle. As touristy as it is, I just had to do it! It had an amazing view of the city. Thankfully, I'm not afraid of heights, because it was pretty high in the sky.

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Laurel happens to love cupcakes, and she obviously knows I love my desserts, so she suggested a "cupcake crawl" in Seattle--going to several cupcake shops and taste testing. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate my new 10K PR! So, Tuesday, we spent the day eating cupcakes and walking around. We went to four different cupcake shops, and Laurel actually took notes at each one about my thoughts--which comes in handy now, as I write this.

At each shop, Laurel and I each ordered a cupcake, and then we split them in half to share. That way, I could try eight cupcakes, from four different shops. Here is the gist...

Stop #1: Pinkabella
We tried the Cookie Dough and the Chocolate Peanut Butter. I loved both of these! The cake itself was good, and the frosting was sweet, with enough frosting to cake ratio (I prefer a 50/50 ratio, but none of the shops were THAT generous with the frosting, haha). I can't really decide which of the two cupcakes I liked better, but I think I am leaning toward Cookie Dough just a smidge.

Stop #2: Trophy
We tried the Chocolate Peanut Butter and the Samoa. The peanut butter frosting wasn't quite as sweet as I would like, but it was very peanutty, which made up for it. The cake itself was a touch drier than the Pinkabella cupcakes, but it had a very deep chocolate flavor, which was good. The toasted coconut on the samoa cupcake was amazing, and we both declared the samoa the winner there.

Stop #3: Yellow Leaf
We tried the Pancakes & Bacon cupcake and a vanilla cupcake. These were my least favorite of the day, and I actually didn't even finish eating mine, because it wasn't worth it to me. I believe the frosting was whipped, and not buttercream, because it wasn't sweet at all (so if you like whipped frosting, you'd probably like these cupcakes). The cake part of the Pancakes & Bacon cupcake was the only thing I liked--it was almost like a pound cake texture, with some maple syrup soaked into it. I thought the vanilla cake was dry.

Stop #4: Cupcake Royale
We tried the Lemon Drop (lemon cake with lemon frosting) and the Kate (chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream). You all know that I love frosting, and these didn't have nearly enough for me. I took off a lot of the cake part, so I could have a more preferable ratio of cake and frosting. The cake part was a little bit dry, but the frosting was delicious. I liked the Lemon Drop one best.

Overall, my favorite was Pinkabella, hands-down. They had the whole package--good cake, good frosting, good ratio of cake and frosting. Following that would be Trophy, then Cupcake Royale, and then Yellow Leaf.

To avoid sugar overload all at once, we spread out the tour throughout the day, which worked out well. In between, we shopped Pike Place market, which was AWESOME--I could have spent all day there. I bought a couple of souvenirs for the kids and Jerry. We also met Allison for a ginger beer at Rachel's Ginger Beer. She told me it was a must-try, so I was glad she was able to meet us there during a break from work. I have to say, the ginger beer (I got the original) was amazing! I love ginger and lemon, so I knew I'd like it, but I can't even describe how good it was.

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My entire trip went by so quickly! I am thrilled to have met my goal at the 10K (it still hasn't really sunk in, yet); I made some amazing new friends; I tried lots of delicious food and desserts; and overall, just had a really great time. Now, it's back to reality ;)

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Blooms to Brews 10K Race Report

Well, the big race day was on Sunday. I can't even begin to describe how nervous I was for this race! It was "only" a 10K, but I had trained my ass for for this race all winter, and I felt so much pressure (from myself, mostly) to hit my goal. I had been talking it up for MONTHS on my blog, and I'm sure my friends and family were sick of hearing me talk about this 10K. But to me, this goal was more significant than any other race goal I'd ever set...

Back story: It all started last year, when I was about 160 pounds (27 pounds over my goal weight) and injured with a stress fracture. Even before the injury, my pace had slowed significantly since my previous 10K PR in 2013. That 10K in 2013 was my proudest moment in running--I never DREAMED I would run it under 50 minutes! However, in 2014-2015, I put on 27 extra pounds, and my pace slowed more and more.

In August 2015, when I was in Portland for the weekend with my brothers, I had a couple of training runs to do--one of which was 10 miles. My friend Thomas (who lives just outside of Portland) said he'd ride his bike alongside me for company. It was a hot day (it felt like 120 degrees, although Thomas swears it was only like 75). I had a pretty miserable run--I ran an 11:00/mile pace, but struggled through the entire thing, and I probably complained more than Oscar the Grouch.

I decided that I was really tired of the extra weight and not feeling good on my runs anymore. I impulsively made a bold statement to Thomas that I was going to get back down to my goal weight and PR my 10K in 2016--a goal that was nearly impossible, given my current situation. I thought that by making a statement, instead of a goal, I would be forced to do my best to make it happen. (The difference between motivation and determination).

Anyway, the 10K time that I had to beat was 49:23 (a 7:57/mile pace). In 2015, my pace had dropped to about 11:00/mile (probably could have done 10:30 if I really tried to). To hit that goal was a HUGE task in front of me. I decided to choose a race near Portland, so that Thomas could pace me--I kind of wanted to redeem myself from my terrible 10-miler, and prove that I wasn't a total wimp. I ultimately chose to do the Blooms to Brews 10K in Woodland, Washington, on April 10th. It was a flat course, which is hard to find in the Pacific Northwest, and I needed every advantage I could get!

I spent the fall working on losing the weight I'd picked up. I couldn't run, because of my stress fracture, so I just focused on my diet (counting calories) and I got back to my goal weight by Thanksgiving.

On Thanksgiving Day, I ran a 5K race, giving it my all. I wanted to see what my current pace was, so I would know how to train for the 10K. I finished in 27:00, an 8:41/mile pace. Not my best time by a long shot, but much better than I'd expected. However, my goal 10K pace was 7:55, so I would have to take 46 seconds off of my 5K pace... and DOUBLE the distance! Impossible? Pretty much ;)

I started training a little differently than I was used to, hoping to stay injury-free. I ran my easy runs VERY easy (an 11:00-12:00/mile pace, typically) and I ran like hell on my speed work. I was excited to see my pace improving quite a bit!

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Now, to the whole point of this post... the race report!

We got to the race with enough time to stand in the porta potty line, which was pretty long. There was a dog there who was begging anyone who would look at him to throw his tennis ball. It was so adorable! He'd bring his ball over to the line, and just toss it out of his mouth at someone, and look at them like, "C'mon, throw it!"

I'm kind of glad we didn't have much time to stand around at the start, because I was so nervous I thought I was going to vomit. This race has been all I've been able to think about for months, and for the last several weeks, I was feeling very doubtful about whether I could pull it off. I didn't care what my finish time was, as long as it was a PR (49:22 or better). I told Thomas not to let me go any faster than a 7:50 pace, because the last thing I wanted to do was crash mid-race.

The weather was PERFECT for running! Overcast, zero wind, and probably 50 degrees or so. We lined up at the start, and in just a minute, the horn blew and we were off. My plan was to look at my watch as little as possible, and just try to stay next to Thomas, who would be running 7:55 (my goal pace).

I'm in pink on the far left

I tend to know at the beginning of the race whether it's going to go well or not; and thankfully, I felt good a mile in. The pace felt do-able, and my heart rate was in the 160's, which is a tempo range for me (when it hits 175, I tend to crash and burn). I wasn't planning to talk at all during the run, but I told Thomas that I felt good and thought I could actually do it.

At around mile two, we came to the only hill on the course; which, thankfully, was a very short hill. I sprinted up, thinking I would catch my breath on the downhill. That was stupid of me, because it turned out there was no downhill! I felt really winded, and had a hard time catching my breath. I was dying to walk for a minute, but I knew I couldn't afford to. I felt my pace slow a bit, but I was still under 8:00/mile.

I was really thrown for a loop when we hit a spot around mile three that we had to turn onto a gravel trail. I had no idea that some of the race was on gravel! Running on gravel is tough, and my pace always slows down. I felt doomed when I saw that, but I just hoped it would be a short path, and then we'd be on the road again. My legs felt like rubber, and they were screaming at me to slow down. My pace slowed into the 8:00's, and I felt like it was just over. I focused on getting to mile four, because remember my crash and burn during my four-mile race? I just wanted redemption from that!

The gravel was never-ending, and when I got to mile four, I was ready to call it quits. My heart rate had hit 175, which is always when I realize that I just can't continue. I saw my pace was in the 8:00s for a couple of splits, and there was less chance by the minute of me making that up later. I gasped to Thomas that I just couldn't do it, and I told him to go ahead, that I would try to catch up. (I knew I wouldn't actually try to catch up, but I really just wanted him to go ahead so I could sulk and jog it in).

Thankfully, Thomas is the kind of friend who doesn't let me bullshit him. Instead of telling me it's okay, I did my best, he told me to suck it up, quit saying I can't do it, and keep going. I finally quit arguing, and just tried to keep up.

I was dying to get off of the gravel! Finally, with less than a mile to go, we turned back onto the road. Instead of feeling the relief of running on concrete, my legs felt SO weird--you know that weird feeling when you get off of a trampoline or roller skates, and you try to walk again? It was like that. It only lasted about 30 seconds, though, and then I just ran my hardest (which at that time, was just barely a sub-8:00 pace).

If I made it, I knew it was going to be very, very close. I started thinking about how pissed I'd be if I had to do it all over again because I missed it by mere seconds, or even a minute. There was a girl about 20 yards in front of me, so I used that mental "rope" trick, where you imagine lasso-ing someone and reeling them in. I focused on passing her, and once I did, I realized I would feel like an ass if I slowed down and she passed me back. Thomas said he was going to continue at 7:55 just behind me, even though I'd sped up just a tad; and that way, he could act as a "sweeper" if I slowed down at the end.

When we got to the very last turn, and I could see the finish line, Thomas told me that it was going to be very close--I needed to give it everything I could. I certainly did not want to fail by just seconds, so I pulled every last bit of energy out of me (which wasn't much) and ran my hardest across the finish line. I had no idea whether I made it or not, and I wasn't even really thinking about that. I didn't want to pass out by abruptly stopping, so I continued jogging and then grabbed some Gatorade and chugged it.

Thomas crossed the finish line and said that I did it. It took a second to even register--my mind was so foggy for some reason! But then I just felt this ENORMOUS sense of relief. I finally looked at my Garmin for the first time since crossing the finish line, and I saw that I'd done it. My Garmin said 49:12, but I had forgotten to stop it right away, so I knew my official time was a little less than that. Jerry texted me my results right away, before I even had a chance to look them up--I had finished in 49:03, a 20-second PR!! AND, I somehow managed to come in first place in my age group.

I felt bad having to wait an hour for the awards, but Thomas insisted that we wait--and then we learned that he, also, placed first in his age group! We had a post-race beer at the beer tent, and then at 10:00, went to the awards ceremony. We got our medals (I even had to stand on the little "1" platform!), and then headed out. I had been dreaming about Cajun Tots from McMenamins for months, and I promised myself that if I got my PR, I could eat as many tots as I wanted after the race ;)

It took a while to really sink in that I had done it. I set a nearly-impossible goal, and I DID IT. It was the hardest I'd ever trained, but looking back, it was totally worth every drop of sweat. It did more for my self-confidence than anything else, and now I feel like I could set some laugh-worthy goals while being sort-of-serious. I'm so happy that I proved to myself that it really is a big mental game. Physically, I was capable of this all along; but mentally, I had some serious doubts.

Anyway, as I write this, I'm on the train to Seattle to visit Laurel (a reader-turned-friend); Allison (an old high school friend); and even meet up with some other readers tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to be trying cupcakes from around Seattle (Laurel surely knows how to celebrate a PR! ha) and I head home on Wednesday morning. This has been a great trip!

Thank you, by the way, for all the kind comments on my social media posts about the race! I was too excited to wait to share the news in my race report ;)

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The Importance of the Easy Run (a must-read!)

I've been running for six years now, and I've done races from a 5K to a marathon several times over. I am an RRCA-certified running coach. I have read countless books on different training methods. I've studied websites, and have tested out training methods on myself. I feel pretty comfortable saying that I'm "experienced", and I feel very confident when I talk about running.

However, there is one key part of training (in nearly every method out there) that I was ALWAYS doing wrong. It wasn't because I didn't know how I was supposed to do it, it was just that it felt counterintuitive, and I felt silly when I did it correctly.

I'm talking about "easy runs".

Easy runs make up the majority of most major training plans available. They're called easy runs because they are meant to be run at an easy pace--a pace that requires little effort, sometimes called a "conversational pace" because you should be able to hold a conversation while you run. It's very simple! You don't worry about trying to hit certain times or paces during these runs--you just run "easy".

However, the majority of recreational (even competitive recreational) runners do their easy runs too fast. Some may feel ridiculous going at a slow pace, some may be impatient and want to get it over with quickly, some may like to compete (even with themselves) to improve at each training run. For a lot of us, running hard feels like we've really accomplished something--the sweat, sore muscles, heavy breathing--it feels good. Easy running doesn't FEEL like you're doing anything worthwhile (but I hope to help you realize that the easy runs actually are doing something very productive). There are numerous reasons that runners may run their easy runs too fast, but the point is, we need to do the easy runs how they are meant to be run: easy.

I always ignored this bit of training info for myself. When writing training plans for other people, I was sure to include the slower pace suggestions for easy runs; but when doing my own training, I convinced myself that what I was doing was "easy", when, in fact, it was more "moderate" in effort. I just felt embarrassed by the slow pace required to keep my effort easy. Running slowly is very difficult in a mental aspect--we tend to feel silly about it.

However, easy runs are the bread and butter of a training plan! After spending most of 2015 with a stress fracture, I finally decided to change the way I was training. The first thing I did was to run my easy runs at a truly easy pace, using a heart rate monitor to ensure that I didn't convince myself that a moderate run was easy.

This was a typical self-proclaimed "easy run" for me (in reality, it was a moderate run):

October 2015 (9:32 pace; HR 165)

Using a heart rate monitor is the best way to ensure you're running easy enough, especially in the beginning. You may be surprised at just how much slower you need to run in order to keep your heart rate in the "easy" zone. When I was doing what I called easy runs before changing up my training, my "easy" pace was about 9:30. Once I started using a heart rate monitor, I realized that was definitely a moderate effort run, and to keep my heart rate where it needed to be, my pace had to be about 11:30!

Here is one of my first TRULY easy runs, keeping my heart rate at less than 146:

December 2015 (11:36 pace; HR 143)

I made the decision to keep my easy runs at a low heart rate (I used Dr. Phil Maffetone's 180 formula), no matter how slow I was. And you know what? I really started to ENJOY my runs! Before, I was always dreading having to go for a run. It was a chore to me, and I never looked forward to it--particularly my long runs. Once I started the low heart rate training, I actually really enjoyed the running itself. I dare say that I even started to look forward to my runs, which I never did before.

I still did some speed work, however. I now follow the 80/20 ratio of easy running to hard/moderate running... basically, 80% or more of the time spent running each week should be at an easy effort; and 20% or less should be spent at a moderate to high effort. Personally, I've been running five days a week, with two of those days being spent doing a modest amount of speed work. The other days? I kept my heart rate under 146 bpm, no matter how slow my pace had to be to keep it there.

I got so much faster as a runner, and pretty quickly, too! My 10K pace had slowed to about 11:00/mile in 2015, due to some extra weight and poor training. I set a goal to run a 10K at a 7:55 pace in the spring of 2016, and that became the focus of my training. That's over a three-minute-per-mile improvement, which is a very LOFTY goal--but I did it (well, nearly--I'll find out for sure on Sunday! Regardless, I've done five miles at a 7:50 pace, so I feel confident). It only took me about four months of solid, good-quality training.

I really feel that the easy runs have played an enormous part in my success. I also feel that the easy runs have helped me to drop to my lowest weight ever. Once I switched up my training, the weight came off pretty easily, and I had no idea why--the only thing I was doing differently was running very slowly on my easy runs.

I could get very technical and scientific about WHY running at an easy pace is so important (it involves a lot of talk of cells, mitochondria, capillaries, slow twitch muscle development, and things like that)--but that kind of chat usually goes in one ear and out the other of the typical runner. Here it is, without all the anatomical info:

Throughout training, your body is constantly making adaptations in order to get fitter. The ideal scenario is that you can run fast while using minimal effort--but it takes a lot of training and adapting to get there. For someone who is just starting out, just running a mile takes an enormous effort and your body has to work very hard. As you continue to train, your body adapts by doing all the scientific stuff in order to make it easier. Your body doesn't WANT that run to feel hard, so it changes what it can to make it easier for you the next time.

There are different ways that your body does this, and it requires different training efforts on your part during your training in order to make all of the necessary adaptations. When you run at an easy effort, your body is making very specific changes that are NECESSARY to getting your body in ideal shape; when you run at a hard pace, it is making different changes, which are also necessary. There are very good, necessary reasons to run at several different effort levels in order to get your body to adapt. That means you need to run at an easy effort sometimes, a moderate effort sometimes, and a hard effort sometimes in order to get all of those anatomical changes to happen.

It's like baking cookies--there are necessary ingredients that must go into them in order for the cookies to turn out well. If you skip one or two ingredients, you may still get something that resembles a cookie--but it's not going to be the perfect, ideal cookie. It may taste bad, it may have a poor texture, or it just may not resemble a cookie at all.

Doing all of your running at a moderate or hard effort is like leaving out half the ingredients in your recipe! You will still get some changes and adaptations, but it will be far from ideal. When you have all of the necessary ingredients (or training runs), you will have an amazing batch of cookies (or turn into a master running machine!).

Some of the adaptations in your body can't occur when doing ALL of your running at a hard effort, so you won't get any better. In fact, MOST of the adapting comes from easy running, which is why it's important to do the majority of your runs at an easy effort. The easy running is like the whole base of a good cookie (flour, sugar, butter, etc)--and the moderate or hard running is the extra mix-ins, like chocolate chips or walnuts, to make it even yummier.

In running, training begins (or should begin) with "building a base". Basically, that is a LOT of running at an easy effort--very little or no speed work. For a beginner, this could take six months to a year; for a seasoned runner, a few weeks will do. It just depends on the person. But during the base building period, the runs should be done at an easy effort in order to maximize your aerobic conditioning. Once you build that base, you can start sprinkling in some speed work. The speed work will go much more smoothly when you have a good aerobic base to start with.

I realize this post is very long, and it really is just a long-winded piece of advice: "Make your easy runs EASY!", but I hope that I've convinced you to actually do it. I read all about it over the years, and thought, "Yeah, yeah, I know--easy runs should be easy." I convinced myself that what I was doing WAS actually easy, but after utilizing the heart rate monitor, I realized that I was just kidding myself.

One thing worth mentioning is that running truly easy on your easy runs makes your performance during hard runs much better. One of the first things I noticed when I switched up my training was that I had more energy to devote to my hard runs, and I was able to put in a really great effort; before, I was doing my easy runs too fast and my hard runs too slow.

In conclusion, I want to share what MY experience has been with easy runs. These are just some of the changes I've noticed:

• I enjoy my training much, much more than I did before.
• I have more energy during ALL of my runs--easy and speed work.
• I'm able to give a much better effort during my hard runs.
• My hard pace has improved dramatically--I PR'ed my 5K after just a month and a half of making the switch to easy running.
• My weight and body fat continued to decrease, even when I wasn't trying to lose more.
• I have stayed injury-free, even with the very hard effort I give during speed work.
• Because I am doing much less speed work, I actually look forward to doing it. It feels good to run hard once in a while.
• I've learned that my body doesn't HAVE to run fast all the time in order to maintain my fitness. Even just running hard once a week will keep me in good shape. The easy runs are doing their job, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Here is a recent easy run, which shows that even my easy run pace has improved. Still keeping my heart rate under 146, my pace has gotten faster (from 11:30-ish to 10:00-ish):

March 2016 (10:06 pace; HR 142)

I wish I had done my easy runs at an easy pace from my very first training plan, but I obviously can't turn back the clock. I just hope that I can convince those of you that may be doing your easy runs too fast to give it a try and see what happens :)

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Week 34 Weigh-in

After last week's three pound gain, I was really hoping for a good weigh-in this week. I'm leaving for Portland on Friday, and I want my weight to be low for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm going to be indulging in some good food while I'm there, and I fully expect to gain a few pounds on the trip; and 2) I'm running my race on Sunday, and every pound matters when it comes to running my fastest.

Last week's gain was a matter of indulging too much on a few occasions (out with friends, eating out with the family, etc.). I didn't regret any of it, and things like that are going to happen in life. The most important thing is how I handle the week AFTER a gain. In the past, I would have gotten discouraged, and possibly continued to indulge too much, leading to another gain.

This time, I just decided to consciously cut back on calories a tiny bit (not by much, because I didn't want to go from overindulging to feeling like I was starving). I still had my high-calorie day; and I still had my treat each evening.

I was very pleased to see that my extra effort showed up on the scale this morning!

I weighed in at 124 even today, which means I am down 3.4 from last week. Definitely very happy about that!

My calories were lower this week, as I mentioned. My average daily calorie intake was 1866 (I think that my body likes to stay around 1900). I'll be in Portland and Seattle from Friday through Wednesday, and I plan to count my calories while I'm gone, but I am SURE that I'll be eating more than 1900 a day. I don't want to go too far overboard, but the best part about being so far under my goal weight is that I have a cushion to indulge on vacation and not feel bad about gaining a few pounds. Hopefully, I'll be celebrating a PR ;)

My running was good this week. I just noticed that my Garmin Connect app has a summary feature! I'd been using three different apps to get different info.

As far as my long term goals go, I did great this week!

(App is called Momentum)

7,000+ steps 6+ days per week: I actually hit all 7 days this week.

Stay binge-free: Today is day 246! It's been almost eight months since my last binge.

Try one new recipe weekly: This week, I tried a Meatball Sub Bubble Up Bake. There are different versions floating around Pinterest, but this is the one that I used. I love these "bubble up" casseroles! If you're not familiar, the base of them is a can of (raw) biscuits that you cut up and mix with other ingredients. When you bake it, the biscuits "bubble up", which is where the name comes from. There are all sorts of variations--pizza, enchiladas, etc. The biscuits turn almost dumpling-like, which I love.

I've liked the other variations I've tried, and this one was good as well! Since this uses a whole jar of marinara, I think that the flavor of the marinara itself is important. When I buy jarred sauce, I always make sure to get a good quality one. They're more expensive than buying Ragu or Prego brands, but considering I don't use them very often, it's worth it to me to spend the extra money on a good sauce. (Yes, ideally, I'd make my own--but sometimes, I need a dinner that I can literally just throw together). Anyway, Jerry and the kids liked this, too! I'll be making it again.

I'm happy to have had a good week, considering things are going to be totally out of the norm for me starting Friday. I won't have a weigh-in next week, because I'll be in Seattle, but I'll post one the following Wednesday (hopefully after I've lost some of the weight I'm sure to pick up on my trip!).

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Speed work comparison

This week is going by so slowly! I'm super excited to head to Portland on Friday, but I'm also super nervous about the race on Sunday. I'm taking it easy this week as far as running goes, but I wanted to do one more speed workout (nothing too intense) before I leave. I thought it would be pretty cool to do the same workout as my first speed work when I started the low heart rate training.

That first speed workout was 12/24/15:
1 mile warm-up
6 x 2:00 fast (recovery until HR is less than 136 bpm)
4 x 1:00 fast (recovery until HR is less than 136 bpm)

I remember doing that workout, and it felt so tough! Running 2:00 fast (for me) is roughly 1/4 mile, so I can compare these intervals with previous 400-meter workouts I've done. Anyway, today, I figured I would run the exact same route and do the exact same workout as 12/24, so that I would have a direct comparison.

It was cold this morning! We're starting to get winter temps now that it's springtime. Go figure! I layered up, and wore my older 920xt Garmin heart rate strap with the new Garmin 620 monitor that hooks to it. I was having some issues with the 620 strap (I really need to replace it, because it's nearly three years old). I hoped switching it up would help.

I set my Garmin for the workout (it automatically logs splits and gives me an alert for each interval). During the warm-up, I was running very easy, but my heart rate was showing 160, which I knew wasn't correct. Today was not the best day for my heart rate strap not to work! By the end of the warm-up, though, it looked legit at 135 bpm. My Garmin beeped for the first 2:00 interval, so I started running hard.

I actually kind of like doing the shorter intervals (and for some reason, running 2:00 seems so much shorter than running 400-meters, or 1/4 mile, even though they are all roughly the same for me). I wasn't too worried about my pace today; I just wanted to run hard in order to compare the times with my previous intervals.

Between each interval, I had a hard time getting my heart rate to read, and when it did, it was reading much higher than I knew my actual heart rate to be. It was frustrating. My Garmin wouldn't start my next interval until my heart rate was under 136 bpm, and I was walking very slowly.

Something must have happened with the heart rate monitor during my fifth interval. As soon as the Garmin beeped to stop that interval, I slowed to a walk to get my heart rate down. I didn't even walk three steps when my Garmin beeped for me to start the next fast interval. What the heck?! The HR monitor must have read my heart rate as being under 136, when I knew it was closer to 170.

I tried pushing the lap button, to start the next walk segment, but again, it immediately read my heart rate as being under 136, so it told me to run hard again--this time for 1:00. At that point, I just said screw it. I ran home at one solid pace, and figured that running five 2:00-intervals was better than nothing.

I was very surprised (in a good way) to see how much my intervals have improved in just a few months! Compared to the first five 2:00-intervals I did on 12/24:

The run on 12/24 seemed like it felt harder than today's, also. I compared today's splits with some other previous workouts (either 400-meter intervals or 2:00 intervals), and these are the pace comparisons:

I didn't include any treadmill runs--just outdoor runs. The one on 12/8/15 was my first outdoor speed work since my injury (not counting the Turkey Trot 5K that I raced hard), so it's nice to have that as a comparison. I was kind of surprised to see how much slower my pace was in January 2014. I looked back at that post on my blog, and saw that I had run at the State Park, and it was very icy. So that's why the splits were so inconsistent. (One of the things I love about having a blog is being able to go back and read about what went on during a particular day.)

Anyway, I was very pleased with today's speed work. Now I just have a couple of easy runs until my race on Sunday! I'm going to run easy tomorrow and Friday, and take Saturday off. I've discovered that I do best on speed work after a rest day, so I'm hoping that's what will happen for my race.

I've been so focused on my race that I haven't really thought about what I'm going to do when it's over! If I don't hit my goal on Sunday, I may try again in a few weeks (I know that I'm physically capable right now, but if things don't go my way on Sunday, I'll have to try again). If I do hit my goal, I'm not sure what I'll do next! I think I may focus on really building my aerobic base over the summer (tons of low heart rate training).

In the fall, maybe I'll try for another PR. I still don't have a desire to do a distance longer than a 10K at this point, so half-marathons and marathons are out. I signed up for the Tour de Troit bike ride again, so I'll probably do a lot of bike riding this summer. My goal for the Tour de Troit is simply to finish it, because now I know how to change a flat tire! ;)

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RECIPE: Banana Oat Bran Muffins recipe

I was craving a bran muffin something crazy yesterday, and I didn't have any bran cereal (which is called for in a lot of recipes I looked up). I looked at the Oat Bran box, and found a recipe there. I happened to have all the ingredients, so I made these (with a couple of modifications). They turned out amazing!

They taste like banana bread, but with a really nice bran muffin texture. And the coconut oil gives them a subtly unique flavor. They didn't even need a spread! At only 135 calories each, you could certainly spread them with peanut butter, coconut oil, or even eat two of them.

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF

Banana Oat Bran Muffins

2 cups Quaker Oat Bran, uncooked (found by the hot cereals in the grocery store)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup whole milk (you could use low fat milk, but I prefer whole)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted (you could use other oils, but the coconut oil makes these muffins even better!)

1 medium banana, mashed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 12 baking cups with paper liners. Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and then add the wet ingredients. Stir to combine well. Divide the batter among the 12 baking cups (about 3/4 full) and bake for 15-17 minutes. 

Nutrition info is per muffin (1/12 of the batch)

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Runs for Cookies is 5 years old!

Five years ago, after reaching weight maintenance, I decided to start a fresh, new blog. I had been blogging since 2000, but the site that I was using was really difficult to add photos to posts, so I went to Blogger.com and started from scratch. I had no idea how much it would change my life!

I originally titled my blog "Maintaining Half My Size", but that didn't fit quite right. I wasn't exactly half my original starting weight, and while that was my goal at the time, the title was kind of boring to me. I decided that I wanted to change it to "Cookies and Wine"--but the .com wasn't available. Eventually, I decided "Runs for Cookies" would be perfect, because it explains in just three words what much of my blog is about: I am a runner; I love cookies (or any dessert); and I run in order to maintain my weight loss and still eat the foods I enjoy. I thought it had a nice ring to it!

My first post was called FAQ #1: How did you lose the weight? because I knew that would be the first thing people would want to know.   (There are a few posts dated prior to April 3, 2011; those were copied from my previous blog.)

Having blogged for so long, I got used to answering those kinds of questions. What I was not used to was having more than a handful of readers!

Shortly after starting Runs for Cookies, SparkPeople featured my story on their site, which drove a lot of traffic here. I was terrified. I had always been very candid and personal on my blog, and when I saw how many people were reading it, I immediately worried that I'd made a mistake. However, I continued to write, and when the blog started presenting some pretty awesome opportunities, I was stunned at this world I never knew even existed just a year prior!

Looking back at the last five years, I thought I'd share some of my favorite posts. Here are my personal favorite Top 5:

The Evolution of a First Time Bikini Wearer
The Difference Between Motivation and Determination
How to Support Your Runner
Five Years!
How Running Changed My Brother's Life

Looking through the last several years of photos, I realized that there are SO many things I wouldn't have done if not for this blog. Here is a (very incomplete) list of things that never would have happened if I hadn't started writing Runs for Cookies:

I was a guest on The Dr. Oz Show.

I ran the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys with 11 strangers-turned-friends.

I took part in a documentary called From Fat to Finish Line (to be released soon).

I was on the Today Show.

I started earning an income from doing what I love--writing! When I was a kid, I always said I wanted to be a writer. My teachers said I'd have to choose something else, because it's very hard to make money by writing. That was before the internet ;)

I hosted a Virtual 5K on my 31st birthday, where hundreds of people ran "with" me to celebrate.

I became a certified running coach.

I was in Runner's World, Fitness, and Woman's World magazines.

Mark received HUNDREDS of cards from around the world (from RfC readers) while he was dying. This is probably my favorite item on the list. Because of each of you that sent him a card/letter/gift/etc., he felt very loved when he passed away in 2014.

I formed a team of blog readers for Ragnar SoCal, and they've become some of my best friends.

I hosted an Oscars party, which was so much fun.

I met Bart Yasso (twice)!

I went on trips to NYC, Boston, St. Louis, San Diego, Portland, Indianapolis, Key West, and Bethlehem, PA. Some were for blogging purposes, others were just for fun, but none would have happened if it weren't for Runs for Cookies.

My brother and I were the top fundraisers for Wins for Warriors, and I'm so glad that Nathan got to share his story.

... All of these things happened because I enjoy writing, and I put myself out there on the web. Six years ago, I never could have even imagined that I would have done all of these things. My "dream big" goal back then was simply to get rid of my excess weight!

I feel so fortunate to have gotten these experiences, and I have you, dear Readers, to thank for that. Thank you for reading my almost-daily ramblings; for offering advice when I asked for it; for lending sympathy when I most needed it; for celebrating with me when I reached some major goals; and for encouraging me when I didn't think I could do things. I appreciate all of it!

Right now, I have no idea what the future of Runs for Cookies holds, but I look forward to finding out. Cheers to five years!

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The icing on the cake

First, I just want to share some good news! Remember my post about Atticus? Well, he's getting a bike! Unfortunately, he didn't win the bike in the voting; but thanks to the donations and the sharing of his story, they were able to raise enough money for Atticus to buy his special needs bike. They have to custom order it just for him, so his mom said that when she has pictures, she'll share them. I'm so excited for him!

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It's hard to believe this is the last week before my goal race. My goal 10K is a week from tomorrow! After my awesome five-miler on Wednesday, I'm feeling pretty confident. I keep reminding myself that anything could happen, though, so I don't want to get overly confident. When I first started training, I felt like I had so much time to prepare. And now it's nearly here!

I was listening to Matt Fitzgerald on a podcast during my run this morning, and he was talking about "choking" during a race (figuratively, not literally). That is my biggest problem with racing! I tend to do really well during training, but then I choke at the race itself. Fitzgerald said that women especially will put so much pressure on themselves to hit a certain goal, and that pressure doesn't usually serve well for racing. I've been talking up this race for MONTHS, and I definitely feel a ton of pressure to hit my goal at the race (not from others, but from myself). My best races have all been where I didn't have a goal time, or where I just kind of let the race happen.

The first race where I set a very specific goal was the Big House Big Heart 10K in 2011. I was aiming for a PR of 55:04 or better (an 8:50 pace), and I trained hard all summer long. I followed Hal Higdon's training plan right to the letter, and I was determined to hit that PR! I was super nervous at the start, because I was feeling so much pressure to hit my goal. I just couldn't handle that last mile, and missed the PR by nine seconds.

Another race I wanted to PR was the Corktown 5K in 2012. I was actually hoping for a sub-26 time, something I'd been wanting for a year and a half. I even did something completely unlike me, something totally drastic and ridiculous... I left my Garmin in the car. On purpose. (Insert shocked emoji here).

I thought that taking the Garmin off would relieve the pressure to hit my pace, but I was wrong. To this day, I don't know what my splits were, and that drives me crazy ;) I wish I had some insight as to my pace during the race, but I ended up finishing in 26:57, nearly a full minute shy of my goal.

The most recent race with a time goal I was shooting for was at the Turkey Trot in 2014. I was hoping to hit a sub-55 time, and Nathan said he'd pace me. I ran my hardest, and if it weren't for Nathan, I'm sure I would have finished much slower than I did. He tried to push me at the end, because I was cutting it SO close, but at that point, I was so exhausted I just didn't care. I finished in 55:07.

Anyway, training for a particular race or aiming for a particular goal is disappointing when I don't reach it; but I really need to learn not to put so much pressure on myself. Of course I'm not going to PR every race! I think as long as I give it my best effort, then I can just be happy with the outcome no matter what. There are a ton of different factors that go into a "good" race or a "bad" race, and some of them have nothing to do with me (weather, for example). All I can do is run my best.

As far as my best races? I didn't feel pressured for any of them! My current 10K PR (2013) was a total fluke. I knew I'd probably PR the race (with 55:04 or better), and I guessed I'd finish somewhere between 52 and 53 minutes; but because I wasn't aiming for that, it really made no difference to me. I had actually forgotten that I was signed up for the race until a week beforehand. The stars aligned that day, and I ended up having a REALLY awesome race--finishing in 49:23! That race still blows my mind when I look back on it.

The same thing happened with my half-marathon PR. I was hoping to finally make a sub-2:00 time OFFICIAL. I'd wanted it for so long, and I'd done it during training, so I knew it would happen (barring something crazy happening during the race). I didn't care at all what my finish time was, as long as it started with a 1. I ran the race with the plan of enjoying it (I wore my fun muscle tights) and I really did have fun (as much fun as one can have while running hard). I realized along the course that I was going to finish FAR under 2:00; and I ended up crossing the finish line in 1:52:07, nearly 8 minutes faster than I'd hoped!

During the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot this last November, I went into it with the mindset of setting a new baseline of my fitness. I hadn't actually raced hard in a year, so I had no idea what my current pace was. I just told myself I would run my best, and it was what it was--I had no finish time or pace in mind. I ended up finishing in 27:00 (adjusted for course length; my official time was 26:14, but the course was short). I was pleasantly surprised, actually--I expected more along the 29:00-ish range.

Nathan smoked me! Wearing a turkey costume.

It's kind of fun to look back at that race report, because it was the beginning of training for my goal 10K that at the time, felt like it would be a miracle to pull off. Here is a quote from that race report:

"It's nice to have a starting baseline of my current 5K pace. I have to take about 46 seconds off of my 5K pace and double the distance in order to PR my 10K... that's going to be extremely difficult! But honestly, I am really looking forward to the challenge. I'm going to put in all of my effort during training, and then even if I don't PR the 10K in April, I will know that at least I gave it my best shot."

I really have enjoyed this training period. I've put in more effort than I ever have before during training, and it has paid off (I say this even before my race). I learned that I like doing short and fast speed work (one- or two-minute intervals) more than tempo runs (kill me now!); but tempo runs make me more confident in my abilities. I learned that I really enjoy long runs when I run very slowly, keeping my heart rate low. I learned that training slower on most days has helped me become much faster, despite feeling counterintuitive.

Looking back on the last four months, I can honestly say that I wouldn't change anything. I used trial and error to find out the best training for me, and I put in my best effort. I've improved my pace dramatically, and my confidence going into the 10K is fairly high. I keep imagining how exciting it would (will?) feel to cross the finish line having pulled off this goal that seemed impossible four months ago.

During the podcast I was listening to this morning, the host said something like, "...the training is the important part to focus on; the race itself is just the icing on the cake". And right now, that's pretty much how I feel. I put in all my effort to training for this ("baking the cake"), and a PR will definitely be some nice icing on said cake; but even without that icing, the cake is still there, just waiting to be iced. The hard part is over! ;)

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Countdown until the race

My goal race is getting closer and closer. It seems like just last week that I was returning to training after my 10-month-long stress fracture ordeal. I'm so glad that I decided to cut out the half-marathon and marathon distances and focus on my speed for the 10K. The changes I've made, both with the running and with the calorie counting, have really helped me to get refocused on my goals, and it's been awesome.

This week, being the week before race week, means that it is my peak week for the race. This is the last chance for me to push myself and see what I can do! Yesterday's speed work was going to be my final, big, confidence-building run. Last week, I completed the "best 10K workout", and I felt SO excited to have nailed it. However, I completed it just a bit early. Ideally, it would have been done between 9 and 12 days before my race.

I wasn't quite sure what to do--should I do the same workout in the ideal time frame? Or should I try a different tough workout? When I mentioned it to Jerry, he said that he didn't think I should do the same one, because what if I couldn't do as well as I had before. It would destroy my confidence in the race. I knew he was right, so I decided to try something different, but just as effective.

Yesterday, I was 10 days out from my race, so it would have to be my final hardcore speed workout. I was having trouble making up my mind about what workout to do, so I decided to simply start running, and see what felt right once I got out there--totally winging it. I usually do best in those situations for some reason.

I dressed in the clothes I am planning to race in (Heat Gear capris and a tank, with my Brooks Ghost shoes). Then I headed out for a (hopefully) confidence-boosting run. About a quarter mile in, my pace was at 8:10, which would have made a good tempo run pace. But I asked myself what would make me feel the most confident going into the race, and that answer was running at race pace for four miles.

So, I picked up the speed a touch, trying to stay close to 7:55 without going too fast. I decided on an out-and-back route. A 7:55 pace is tough, but I felt decent, and I was able to maintain it without too much trouble. Once I turned around two miles in, I started rethinking it. I really didn't want to go two more miles at that pace! However, I knew this run was crucial--perhaps the most important run of my training--so I pushed on.

I had done a 3.5-mile race pace run before, a few weeks ago, so I focused on hitting that distance mark. Once I hit 3.51 miles, I would have run my farthest distance at a sub-8:00 pace (other than my current 10K PR). Of course, once I hit 3.5, I knew I could push myself to finish out another half mile. At mile 3.75, I was tired and wanted to stop, but physically, I knew I was capable of going farther. I could either turn right onto my street, and finish mile four in front of my house; or, I could go straight, and add a little more distance to my run. I actually chose to keep going!

I thought, "I can do 4.5--think how awesome I'll feel if I do 4.5 miles at race pace!" And that became my focus. It was then that I remembered telling Stephanie during our recent long run that I might try and run a sub-40 8K on Memorial Day this year (an 8K is 4.97 miles). The last time I ran that race, I finished in 40:31. Being so close to sub-40 in 2013 made me wish that I'd tried just a bit harder. (My 40:31 time actually earned me first place in my age group, though!)

Anyway, I realized that if I could push myself to finish five miles, it would be a new (unofficial) PR for both four miles and five miles, as well as 8K. I was imagining the "Notables" on Smashrun telling me that it was my fastest 8K and 5 mile time ever, which made me decide to go for it. I knew if I could hit 5 miles, then I'd be as confident as possible going into the race a week from Sunday.

As soon as I made that decision at mile 4.5, I was wishing I could put on Eminem's Berzerk on my iPod. That song always makes me pumped up, so I like to listen to it last during a tough run. I was debating whether to get my iPod out and fiddle with it to choose that song, and then suddenly it came on! It was the sign I needed to push on.

When I turned onto my street, I was so excited that I had (almost) done it! As soon as my Garmin beeped for mile five, I stopped the watch and jogged slowly until I reached my house. I had actually just run 5 miles at a 7:50 pace!!

My splits were all sub-8:00, and I did, in fact, get some cool notables on Smashrun:

Once again, I noticed that my hard-but-comfortable heart rate is 174 beats per minute. Once it hits 175, I start to struggle. I find that pretty interesting.

After yesterday's run, having done 5 miles at race pace, I am almost positive I can hit my goal at my 10K! Of course, other factors will come into play--a different course, different time zone, out of the norm routine, etc.--but physically, I am capable of running a 49:22 (or faster) 10K. The countdown is on! :)

By the way, if anyone from the Portland or Seattle area is interested in a meet-up, I was tentatively thinking we could do coffee on Saturday morning (April 9th) in Portland, or drinks on Monday evening (April 11th) in Seattle. If that interests you, send me an email and we can work out details!

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