Tag Archives: running

Seven More Thoughts on Running and Exercise

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Exercise has always been a huge part of my life.
My parents always exercised so to me it’s not at all odd to get up at 5am to run 10 miles or to spend two hours in the gym on a Saturday afternoon. I think when you grow up in that kind of environment it just becomes ingrained in you.

But there have been times in my life when I’ve struggled with maintaining an exercise routine.
So I’ve had glimpses of what it’s like to NOT have lots of movement in my life.

And I can say without hesitation that for me it is oh-so-much better to HAVE some kind of regular ongoing exercise.
I feel more energetic.
I can maintain a healthy weight.
I feel better about myself.
I am more productive in other areas of my life.

Even with the huge advantage I have of growing up with parents who exercise, I’ve learned that:

  1. I have to stay disciplined and make exercise a priority.
  2. The exercise that I do has to be something that I really enjoy. Currently I really enjoy running, but in the past I’ve experimented with gym classes, power yoga, swimming, racquetball, rock climbing, and weight lifting. So my favorite form of exercise has changed over the years and will probably continue to evolve.
  3. Having a routine keeps me on track. I prefer to work out in the morning and I will get up early if I have to. If there is just no time in the morning then I will plan ahead to work it in later in the day.
  4. Having a “just do it” mentality is key. Sometimes I have to make myself put on my running shoes. I have to talk myself into it. I’m always glad later on that I did.
  5. I can usually do more than I think I can. My brain likes to make stuff up, like telling myself that I can’t possibly run more than X number of miles. I find that if I JUST TRY I can usually go just a bit further. My body can do more than my brain thinks it can.
  6. Have a big goals is great, but it’s important to set small goals along the way. It’s unrealistic to think you are going to run 10 miles on your first day out. But 1 mile might be possible, and from there you can work your way up to 10.
  7. Never ever ever give up. Some days are off – they just are. But the next day you get up again, put on your running shoes, and try again. You just do. Because what is the alternative?

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Six Lessons From Running

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Six lessons I’ve learned from running:

  1. It’s always better to start small. We tend to get these ideas that we can or should tackle five miles on the first day out. This usually leads to nothing good. Instead, start small. Try attempting to run one mile by running one minute and walking one minute until you’ve completed the one mile. Then, STOP! Increase your running by 10% every week.
  2. It’s ok to WALK during your run. Why do we think that running the entire time is superior to walking some of the time? I don’t know – machismo?
  3. That all said, there is also a need to push yourself to YOUR limit. Knowing exactly what that limit is becomes the “yoga of running.” It’s going to be different for everyone and sometimes we get caught up in a competition with other people or with what we think we ought to be able to do. Try listening to your body.
  4. Running creates endorphins, which can fool you into thinking you can do more. So does this conflict with point #3? In a way, yes, and in a way no. It’s a challenge to listen to your body but know when it’s really the endorphins talking. To be a strong and HEALTHY runner you have to REALLY be in touch with your body. Learn to read the signs and hear what it is truly saying to you, and then HONOR it. Practicing yoga can help with this ;)
  5. Sometimes you won’t feel like running, but you’ll be glad later that you did. Sometimes you feel like sitting on the couch, but you won’t be glad later that you did. Going running often means putting your indulgences on hold. It may mean doing something you don’t feel like doing, but you’ll be better off later.
  6. Running will feel much harder when you are going up hill. Acknowledge that you are going up hill and allow yourself to slow down or even – gasp! – walk! It’s OK, you won’t get a ticket. Sometimes we need to slow down in order to have enough energy to finish the run.

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Marty Update + Daiya Vegan Cheeze

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We got great news about Marty today :)

We took her to the Oncologist, who said we have four options. We have OPTIONS! That alone was awesome to hear.
I won’t bore you with the details, but basically we are opting for surgery, which has a 95% cure rate!
The surgery will be on Thursday at South Paws in Fairfax.
I feel very good about this. I really liked the Oncologist. We met the surgeon too, and I really liked his as well.
So we’re all feeling very optimistic today :)

I also got my root canal finished today – yay!

Run

I went for an early run today at the gym because it was rainy and gloomy out.

  • 6.21 miles
  • averaged 7.2 mph which is about an 8:20 minute mile – I was cruisin’!
  • average incline: 0.75

I’m so excited to run the 5k with the Runners in Training in November!

Eats

Next to learning more about Marty’s situation and getting my root canal topped off, the a highlight today was making vegan pizza with Daiya cheese.

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Daiya is a relatively new brand of vegan cheese. In case you’ve never tried vegan cheese before I can tell you this: they ain’t great. The better “non-dairy” cheeses aren’t really non-dairy as they contain casein in them. The non-casein cheeses rarely melt very well and don’t have the best taste.

Daiya is different! It’s completely vegan, made with plant-based ingredients.
I used the “Italian Blend” flavor and found that it melted very well and had a creamy, full mouth-feel to it.
I also put other vegetables on my pizza and so the Daiya was a wonderful accent to those veggies (I used up the rest of my Tomato Salad! Thank you again Kat for the recipe!).
D. had a plain “cheeze” pizza because as I’ve mentioned before he will only eat plain pizza. He liked the Daiya too. He called it “pizza-y” and said it tasted good. He said it didn’t taste as good as dairy cheese but it’s definitely something to buy again.
Now I thought the Daiya tasted great but then again I don’t think dairy mozzarella really has much flavor and the Daiya was pretty mild too. But I also had it with other veggies so I’m sure that makes a difference.

Before going into the oven

Before going into the oven

Before...

Before...

After baking for about 10 minutes

After baking for about 10 minutes

Daiya also comes in Cheddar Style which I will definitely be trying. Overall I give Daiya a solid “A!”

(By the way I made the yeast-free pizza crust from La Dolce Vegan! It was so good – thin and crispy – but kind of more like a cracker than pizza crust.)

Have a great evening…stay tuned tomorrow for a GIVEAWAY!

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Labor Day Vegan French Toast

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Ahhh yesssssssssssssssssssssss.

I FINALLY have cooked from Vegan with a Vengeance! I was beginning to think I was the only veg who hasn’t.

Yesterday I made the Scrambled Tofu and Chorizo Sausage. I forgot to take photos BOO :(
But I can say it was delish. I think next time…a little less salt ;)

And tonight…French Toast! Or as Isa says, “Fronch Toast!”

And you might say, how on earth can French Toast be vegan?

Well, the recipe uses soy creamer, rice milk (I used almond), and chickpea flour.
And it was fabulous.
It’s been so long since I have had French Toast.
I used to like it but only when it wasn’t “eggy.” I always detested eggy French toast.

DSC_0001Next time I will add some cinnamon, or vanilla extract, or both. But even plain it was awesome.

Eats

I made it to 8 fruits and veggies today as part of my 9-A-Day Fruits and Veggie Challenge!

  • 1 Banana in my morning smoothie
  • 1 serving spinach in smoothie
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad snack – yummy yum yum!
  • 1 apple snack
  • 3 servings of veggies at Thai lunch
  • 1 serving Tomato Salad at dinner

I could make it to 9 tonight but I’m just not very hungry so I’m going to stop here. I’m pretty happy with 8!

One thing I’ve noticed since starting the Challenge is that I’m selecting my food more consciously. Instead of snacking mindlessly I’m thinking, “what fruit or veggie could I eat?”

Run

We have a new “Runner in Training!”

RIT2 and I started with a 2 mile run today:

  • walk 5 minutes
  • run 1 minute, walk 1 minute for 21 minutes
  • walk 4 minutes

RIT2 did AWESOME his first time out. I was really impressed with how well he was breathing during our run. He is planning to run a 5K with me in November – Details about that race will be coming!

Marty Update

Several of you have emailed me asking about how Marty is doing.IMG_0499
We found out on Thursday that the lump she had removed on Monday was malignant. She has fibrosarcoma.
The good news is that this type of cancer stays local and she was diagnosed as a “grade 1″ – we caught it early and it was small.
We got a chest xray on Friday and her lungs are clear. So that’s good, too.

We are going to the Oncologist tomorrow to find out what our next steps should be.
We know from the biopsy that some of the cells had started to migrate to the edge of the tumor, and so most likely she will have another surgery where they will remove more tissue from that area to make sure the cancerous cells have all been removed.

I was pretty distraught when I first learned all of this and it took me a few days to accept all of this. We’re staying optimistic and taking it one day at a time.
I really appreciate your kind words and prayers.

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Some of My Favorite Yoga Music

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yoga

I love practicing yoga to music. Here are a few of my favorite yoga tunes:Whitney+Houston+002

  • Sringara by Illumine
  • This Player’s Hands (Instrumental) by John de Kadt
  • 1739 by Brent Lewis
  • Om Namah Shivaya by Wade Morissette
  • Dub Version CD Krishna by Wah!
  • Bore the Righteous by Arjun and Guardians
  • Breathe Me by Sia
  • Love is My Religion (Acoustic) by Bob Marley
  • Fly Away (Acounstic) by Lenny Kravitz
  • Chandini Chowk by Midival Punditz
  • I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston ( I know…just try it)
  • Space Weaver by Lisa Gerrard
  • Ubartu to Ubud by David Parsons
  • Tjampuhan by David Parsons

I have more but that’s it for now :)   Enjoy!

Run

Today I ran 7.25 miles at a 8:13 mph pace. I was bookin’! I ran part of it outside and part of it on the treadmill at my gym. We don’t have good running paths with bathrooms and water fountains around here (grrrr!) so I like to go to the gym so I have access to those things.

The “Runner in Training” is now up to run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute for about 2.25 miles. We’re going to sign up for a 5k this fall! I cannot wait! OH…and RIT has started to write about her running journey on her blog, so check it out! Her name is KATE by the way, so we can stop calling her RIT :)

Marty Update

I mentioned in a previous post that I found a lump on Marty my black lab. Well on Monday she had the lump surgically removed and it is being biopsied. She came out of the surgery fine but she has to wear a white t-shirt and an Elizabethan collar for TWO WEEKS! Poor girl. Anyway I’ll hopefully learn the results of the biopsy soon. Please continue to send your positive energy our way :) 0625092024

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Hello from WI

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I am LOVING my visit to Wisconsin!wisconsin

After a harrowing travel experience, we arrived in Green Bay on Thursday evening and got to our B&B in Door County pretty late. We stayed at the Whistling Swan in Fish Creek and it was such a great place :)

The next day we explored Fish Creek, Ephraim, and Egg Harbor – found a great little spa (the Lavendar Spa) where we got massages, and then we discovered the Greens and Grains health food store/restaurant in Egg Harbor that had yummy raw / vegan food for us.

From there we headed out to Neenah and saw tons of friends of mine from high school. I have some pics that I’ll share later but in summary it was AWESOME to see everyone. Things have changed in my hometown just enough to feel like things have changed but at the same time it all felt the same. I know that sounds confusing :)   I’ll reflect on this more later – I’m extremely pooped right now and need to hit the hay pretty soon.

Run

I went for a run this morning in Neenah. I ran for about 50 minutes and really wasn’t sure how far I went until I discovered a super cool “Map My Route”  program at www.beewellmiles.com/MapYourRoute. I now know that I ran 6.053 miles! I wanted to share the map I made with you so you could see how awesome this program is but I can’t figure out how to do that and like I said I am pooped! I’ll try again later but in the meantime check out the site :)

G’night for now…

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Root Canal OY!

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Sorry I’ve been MIA for a few days. I’ve had “stuff” come up.

First and most important, we heard back from the vet that Marty’s test was “inconclusive.”
Sooooo….we’re set up for surgery on Aug 31 – they’ll remove the lump and then biopsy it.
In the meantime we observe it.
I feel so like “Really? Is that all we can do?”
PATIENCE.

Second, I had to have an unexpected “root canal retreatment” yesterday.
Oh boy was that fun – NOT!
It started with a minor dull toothache on Tuesday.
I thought, oh I can just ignore this. :)
And then it got worse and my AWESOME DENTIST Dr. Clark was able to fit me in yesterday. He then sent me to the Endodontist, Dr. Suh, who – miraculously – was also able to see me yesterday.

The “retreatment” took an HOUR! That’s one solid hour with my mouth wide open while he worked on completely removing an old root canal, cleaning it out, and then putting it all back together. UGH! Then on the way home the numbness started to wear off and I experienced the worse pain I’ve felt maybe ever. Luckily I have some *help* for relieving the pain LOL. OH and now I need to get a new crown too!

BTW I actually FLOSS every day.

Oh AND I had a teeny little car accident on Tuesday to top it all off. It’s nothing – just a scratch, that happened as I was at Matchless getting an estimate for some body damage my car has from a different teeny little car accident! Can you imagine – getting into a mishap at the auto body shop?!

So needless to say it’s been a NUTTY WEEK.

Run

RIT and I ran yesterday:

  • walk 5 minutes
  • run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute for 24 minutes (8 sets total)
  • walk 5 minutes

It was super humid outside but we persevered!

I’m grateful for:

  • my dentist and endodontist who both got me in immediately when I really need it :)
  • the fact that I have access to great health care
  • pain killers – I usually avoid taking meds but I’m so glad to have them right now!
  • RIT for really giving it her all :)

What are you grateful for?

PS I’ve been making changes to my diet – will update on that later :)

Birthday Help Please!

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Yikes! D’s bday is coming up in two weeks and he doesn’t know what he wants!

Yes – you read that correctly – HE doesn’t know what he wants!

So…I’m putting it out into cyberspace…any suggestions on what D should get for his bday?

Run

Great run this morning with the “Runner In Training” (RIT).

Like yesterday, we alternated running two miles and walking one mile. But we added on an extra “set.” Here’s what we did:

  • Walk 5 minutes
  • Run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute for 24 minutes (that makes 8 sets of run 2 / walk 1)
  • Walk 5 minutes

She did great! I think it will be good for us to stick to this pattern for about another week and just increase the overall number of sets. Her endurance is definitely building!  :)

Some bummer news…DSC_0103

Marty has a hard little lump near her right shoulder blade. I found it yesterday while we were doing our morning snuggles. It’s not a benign fatty tumor – I know what those feel like and this wasn’t that. So I took her to the vet today and he aspirated the lump, but the immediate result was inconclusive. So the sample is being sent to a lab and we’ll find out on Wednesday what’s going on. Please send Marty good healing energy.

Some Observations on Running

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Ahhhh….Sunday. Lately D and I have been taking it easy on the weekends, which means that besides me teaching two yoga classes and both of us working out, we haven’t been doing much else. I’m really enjoying my slow, sweet August – September is going to be a different story!

Run

So since RIT (the “Runner in Training”) improved her time last time we went running (which was Friday), we changed  from one minute run / one minute DSC_0002walk to TWO minutes run / one minute walk. So here’s what we did today:

  • walk 4 minutes
  • run 2 minutes / walk 1 minute for 21 minutes
  • walk 2 minutes

RIT did AWESOME! Here’s what I’m learning from our runs:

  1. Taking it “easy” when you start running is the way to go. While tempting as it may be to just go out and run as far as you can, it’s far better to pace yourself so that you are injury free and actually liking what you are doing. Finish your first runs feeling like you could have done more.  :)
  2. We want to see progress. Always. So better to start slow and jog short distances so that you can enjoy seeing yourself progress.
  3. For some reason our brains tend to freak out when we start running. Probably because the breath becomes labored? It’s essential to breathe calmly. To do this just slow down and focus on deep, extended breathing.
  4. When you want to stop running and walk, ask yourself “do I really need to do?” Most likely, if you’ve been gradually building up your endurance,  your breathing is fine and your body is fine. You can go a little further. When I really think about it, I stop mostly when I’m feeling bored. I can almost always go further than I think I can.

Interestingly, all of these observations are about what happens in the mind!

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Babycakes Johnnycakes

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Wow I never knew that I love johnnycakes!

No, not the 73rd episode of Sopranos, although that was good too.  ;)

I’m talking about the johnnycakes that are like cornmeal-pancake-biscuits sprinked with salt and doused in sweetness. One word. Yum.

I made the johnnycakes recipe that is in the Babycakes cookbook that I reviewed a few days ago. I’m happy to report that the johnnycakes, which are also the second recipe I’ve made from the Babycakes cookbook, turned out perfectly. The johnnycakes ingredients include spelt flour, cornmeal, coconut oil, agave, salt, and vanilla. No eggs. No dairy.  :)

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Between these and the blueberry muffins that I made a few days ago, I’m starting to think that coconut oil is a great add in baking. I wonder if you can take any baking recipe and get great results by substituting in coconut oil. Something to try!

Run

I had a great run today with “Runner in Training” (RIT). We ran the same route that we did the last two days but finished two minutes earlier! I think we’re ready to amp it up a little bit :)   We got in three runs so far this week and we’re going out again on Sunday – so that will be four runs in the first week. Pretty good! For my own personal running I’m really happy that I’ve increased each of my runs by 1/2 mile, which is one of my goals for the week. So here’s what I did today:

  • Walk 2 miles with the dogs and D in 40 minutes
  • Run / walk 2 miles with RIT in 28 minutes
  • Run 6.5 miles at 8:20mph (I forgot to note the incline) on the treadmill

Oi that’s alot! I’m pretty tired and happy to lay low tonight. Ok – I’m off to watch The Mentalist that we tivo’ed last night, and maybe sneak in one more johnnycake!

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PS: I’m teaching at Flow Leesburg Saturday morning + Sunday morning – come join me!