So...I'm Alive. How nice.

I can't believe it's all over. I did it. So wonderful. It was a FREEZING day, like we saw snow driving up, and my body just shook involuntarily afterwards, BUT...it was a good run! One of my favorites. I ran the whole thing without stopping (well, once to tie my shoe and walked for a few seconds while I guzzled some water at an water stop). It took me 2:25 hours to run 13.1 miles.

Oh, that felt good.

Seriously, even though I think there were a few places I could've pushed myself faster, it was one of the best runs ever. I've never really considered myself as a person who enjoys long distance running. But I loved it. Makes me happy.

But I tell you, next time I do a run. Please make it warm. It was SOOO cold. It even started raining toward the end of the run. But hey, that's the one thing I love about running. If you can endure long distance, a little (or a LOT) of cold and wet can't shake you. :) Never mind, I guess it did shake me...but you get me.

Half Marathon....wow, it's soon

(me drinking chocolate almond milk....the best prep for a run, lol)

The weather is CRAZY here....raining, cold, grey, very wet (not like the above pic)...and the half marathon is in 3 days...

Apparently, it's supposed to snow tomorrow. I will not freak out.

The last half marathon I did, was freezing too. Seriously, I did not break a sweat the whole run. It was raining, my hair got wet...the wind blew and it was COLD! I wore my jacket most of the time...I guess it's just a granted, that if I run a half marathon it'll be cold. And I live where normally, it would be very hot right now. Ha ha. Well, I think cooler than hotter is better for running anyway. As long as I don't die of hypothermia. If I do, you'll know why the blog won't be updated. :)

So I think I'm trained up. Hopefully. I've run 12 miles (furthest) and now I'm just chilling (literally) till Sunday, when the big day comes. I'm running with three of my strapping, strong brothers so if I die, at least I won't be alone. Haha....no, it'll be good. I think I'm prepared.

I'm not built like a runner. I'm 5' 11", medium frame, and personally....I dunno know....long distance running isn't fun for me. I just do it because I do. I enjoy 6-8 miles....but really no further. 3-5 miles is even better, lol.

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I'll post after the half and tell you if I'm alive.

11 miles...YES!

(me and my amazing sister!!!)

Slowly, but surely I'm picking up the miles. Next week I'm hoping to do 12 miles and from there, I will slow down. I'm officially running a half marathon the end of this month, so I think I'll make that run my longest.

From there, where am I headed with running? I think I'll just do pretty much my daily runs from 3-6 miles, but more than that...I dunno know. I'm just not fond of long distance running at all. I'm not sure I'm even built like a runner. I love short distances, but yah...more than that is more torture, hahaha. But I'm excited about the half marathon, should be fun...at least AFTER the run, lol!

I think that especially after this race I want to focus on more strength training, weights, interval training...not just the endurance running thing. I'm a girl of variety...and I know I need more than cardio in my life, but after running for 2 hours (that's how long it took for 11 miles), you're done! ;0)

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How do you guys balance your cardio and strength? What do you do for each?

10 MILES

Yessss! I am doing happy dances inside...after doing my 9-mile run a week ago, (which was torture!), I was super nervous about doing 10 yesterday, BUT it went really well! AND...I think I've stumbled on a little secret about myself.

I did this run in the evening...I'm a night person, always have been...and I had SO much more energy. I drank a little water during my run and ate half a Medjool date, but that was it. Another bonus, after a tiring, long run like that I slept like a baby right afterwards. From now on, I think I'll try to do my longer runs in the evening.

What about you? You guys morning, afternoon, or evening runners?

Oh, and hey...HiHoRosie has an amazing giveway which is ending SOON...for a bottle of Spirulina by Healthforce, so go on over there and enter yourself in!

It's a Coming...

I'm pretty sure I'm the worst blogger ever. Yup.

Moving on...I DID 8 MILES THIS WEEK! Yay! It took me an hour and a half of solid running. This time, instead of the dates, I drank a natural electrolyte powdered drink from Jamieson. Though it took foreeevvveerrrrr, and I had maybe 5-10 minutes of cramps, and my hip hurt the last 3 miles or so, it was one of my runs where I just had ENERGY for it. You know, sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don't. Sometimes even a quick 3 mile run just is a DRAG, simply because I have no energy and it's the worst run ever. Do you runners ever have those days? Today wasn't bad either. I just hopped out of the shower after 20 minutes of high-interval training and then a 4 mile run...I had a good workout with both. But I sure do love those days where you feel you can do anything because you have so much ENERGY inside of you!

Thank you all for the comments on the last post and the great ideas ya'll had. I'm looking forward to trying them. The coconut water seemed to be a running theme, and I need to do that more often. Claire, for one, had a great idea....here's her comment.

"For a mid-workout snack I find nothing better than 3 or 4 medjool dates, mixed with some pumpkin seeds or almonds and a touch of sea salt. I bring this in a little bag when I go mountain biking. I eat it mid ride (I go about 30 miles on my normal track) and it keeps me going strong!!"

I'm going to have to do that next run!

Now since I'm absolutely starved from all the exercise I need to EAT before I start chewing on my arm! :0) I'm off to eat a big, green salad with olive oil. Mmmmmm....

7 Miles

Yes, yes, yes! This is the longest I've run this year...and I'm so happy (and a little tired, lol). Because these next few days will be very busy and I'll be mostly away from home, I won't be able to do any runs for a while too...so I'm glad I got an extra good workout in.

Once it hit past the 6 mile point, that's when I start thinking of extra nutrition I need for running. During a 3-5 mile run, I don't need any water during or any form of sports snack...it doesn't take too long and I just drink up before and after...but once I'm past 7 miles...then I have to be a bit more prepared.

Right now, I'm reading Brendan Braizer's "Thrive" book (head on over to Rawdorable's site and check out her last two posts about Brendan Braizer and his books/recipes) and I'm really looking forward to trying some of his sports gels/bars...but today, since I don't have it all figured out yet...I just grabbed a couple Medjool dates and had one at the 5 mile mark and then one at the 6.

I've kind of fallen away from my green smoothies and been doing more protein/fruit based smoothies, so I'm trying to get back into it. This week I've committed to one every day. I fueled up after with a green smoothie for lunch. Here it is:

7 MILER SMOOTHIE

1/2 cup orange juice

1 peeled orange (with white pith)

1 cup or more of parsley

1/4 avocado

1/2 banana

4 ice cubes

BLEND. BLEND. and BLEND. I ate it with a 1/4 of an avocado with herb salt. An all green lunch...but I may go and get something else because I burned a lot of calories (like 828!) so I can afford to have something else, lol.

For those who workout, what's your favorite recipe/mid-workout snack or hydration drink?

Cinnamon Strageties

The other day we were out of cinnamon and my sister was making cinnamon buns...and as everyone knows, you can't make cinnamon buns without cinnamon. What to do? The rolls were already finished, save the spice.

I thought, cinnamon comes from...cinnamon sticks. Of course, so if we have the sticks...

Turns out, we did. So I broke them into as tiny pieces as my fingers could manage and stuck them in the coffee grinder. It worked...and I ground and ground until I got the powder as fine as I could.

Plus, I like the thought of freshly ground cinnamon...sounds fresher, doesn't it?

Next time you're out of the powder...maybe give this a try! Hint: Next time you make a banana shake add some freshly ground cinnamon...it's an amazing shake!