My Cure for Post-Race Blues

I’m suffering from a case of the post-race blues today…blah.

So, here are some funnies to cheer me up…and hopefully you, too!

When people asked me my race goal.

How I felt at the starting line.

During the race.

At the finish.

My post-race appetite.

And now today….I only had 7 miles on the calendar and wasn’t sure what to do with myself.

It’s about to turn cold again in Nashville, so I have to include this list…thank you Shyla!!

14 Thoughts Every Runner Has During A Cold Run

1. That feeling you get when the first snowflakes of the season start to come down.

2. But then you step outside and realize, wait, maybe I should wear full tights instead.

3. You’re a mile in and the regret starts to sink in. Maybe it’s time to turn around now.

4. But then you just start pleading for any kind of help.

5. Oops! Patch of ice.

6. You fall and think, “Maybe if I don’t get up, I won’t be hurt.”

7. Everything hurts! You can’t feel anything.

8. You look down at your watch and you’re not even halfway done.

9. Ok, it’s time to turn back.

10. You finally get home but are so delirious from the wind, cold, and snow that you can’t see.

11. A nice hot shower will feel so good… not!

12. Your friend doesn’t understand why anyone would go out in this weather – especially for a run.

13. You try to explain, it really wasn’t so bad.

14. Then you look at the calendar and realize it’s still fall.

from Runner’s World

Alright, that’s enough funny clips.  I cheered myself up A LOT making this one!  Happy Tuesday y’all:)

Do you get the post-race blues?  What’s your cure?  I’m meeting friends on the track in the morning!

Is it cold where you live?  It’s been unseasonably warm here in TN, but it’s about to get colder…eek!

How are you doing on your Christmas shopping/decorating?  I’m still a work in progress.  Hopefully I’ll post some Christmas pics in the next few days!

#choosejoy

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

You have probably noticed that I love sweet potatoes! This is one of the easiest soup recipes and I’ve been making it for years. This is a great weeknight soup that doesn’t need to cook all day. Sweet potatoes pureed with low-fat milk make a rich and creamy soup that’s good for you. The cayenne pepper gives it a little kick to keep it from being too sweet. I like to garnish mine with pepitas to give it a little crunch.

Here are your ingredients:

Cook your sweet potatoes.  To save time, I just nuke mine in the microwave.  Punch holes in them with a fork, put them on a plate and cook for 15-20 minutes, turning every five minutes.

Once they’re tender, I slice mine down the middle and scoop out the insides into a large soup pot.  Be careful…they’re hot!

Add the vegetable broth to the sweet potato.

Puree until smooth.

I love my immersion blender.  It’s so easy to make creamy soups.  You can also use a regular blender.

Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, reduce heat to medium-low.  Stir in the brown sugar…

salt, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the milk.

Garnish with pepitas and serve!

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes
42 oz. vegetable or chicken broth
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
black pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste (a little goes a long way!)
1/3 c. milk (I used 2%)
Toasted pepitas or pine nuts to garnish

Instructions:

Use a fork to punch holes in the sweet potatoes. Microwave for 15-20 minutes, turning potatoes every five minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.

Peel sweet potatoes and puree with vegetable broth until smooth. Bring puree to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in milk.

Garnish with pepitas and serve!

Enjoy!

St. Jude Memphis Marathon

I got all of my ducks in a row the night before.  (I say ducks because we’re staying at the Peabody…I quack myself up!)

Saucony Kinvara 5’s, Fleet Feet Racing Kit, Swiftwick Zero Socks, Oiselle Strappy Bra, and Garmin 620

Amphipod Handheld, Picky Bar, Gu, and Cocogo

Woke up at 5:30 for coffee and banana bread.  I’m superstitious about this pre-race breakfast.

Met up with my Run 4 Others friends at 7:30!  It’s so fun to do a destination race and still have so many friends.

Temps were in the low 50’s with a cold 15mph wind!

The race started at 8am.

After running the Flying Monkey Marathon two weeks ago, I wanted to go out easy.  I started with the 3:55 pace group.  I stuck with them for around 6 miles and realized I wanted to pick up the pace.  I really tried to run this race by feel.  I stayed talkative and gave lots of high-fives!

Here are my splits:

9:10, 8:46, 8:46, 8:27, 8:20, 8:50, 8:44, 8:43, 8:45, 8:35, 8:40, 8:39, 8:33, 8:23, 8:25, 8:26, 8:15, 8:08, 8:12, 8:16, 8:04, 7:58, 7:51, 7:52, 7:37, 7:34

You get to run through the St. Jude campus at miles 5 and 24.  I teared up both times feeling such gratitude for my health.

Finish Time: 3:41:42

I got really cold immediately after the race…probably from the strong wind.  I took a hot shower and ate pretzels in bed.

I loved getting to wear some of my race swag afterwards:)

I always crave chips and dip after a race (must be a salt thing) so I inhaled this spinach dip…

over a glass of wine!

Nutrition:

Gu 15 minutes before the race and then at miles 8, 15, and 21.

Cocogo in my handheld and sports drink at the water stops on the course.

Muscle Milk immediately after the race for recovery.  It’s not my usual, but it got the job done.

**I walked every water stop…still haven’t mastered the pinch the cup running technique.

Can you drink and run at the water stops?

What’s your favorite recovery/protein food and drink?

Do you have a reward food after you race?

#choosejoy

Memphis Bound

So, I made a last minute decision to run the St. Jude Memphis Marathon. I was registered for the half.  I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after running the Flying Monkey Marathon just two weeks ago. I still have heavy legs (read…I’ll be slow), but I’m looking forward to the distance.  I’m using it as a training run for my upcoming ultra.

3 marathons in 7 weeks.  This is first for me!

So with that said…I haven’t tapered.

Wednesday:

My fave crepe breakfast at the Perch!

Followed by 11 miles with these beautiful ladies!  This run in Percy Warner Park was part of the Flying Monkey Marathon course.  It felt like I was returning to the scene of the crime!

Thursday:

A rainy run with The Breakfast Club…followed by breakfast (of course)!

I also did some PiYo DVD’s afterwards.

Friday:

Memphis Bound…in the rain.  Thank goodness it’s not raining like this on race day!!

Jason loves when I do this…

Lunch at J Alexander’s in Germantown for magical cornbread croutons and a veggie burger.  The croutons aren’t on the menu…just ask for them.  Now!

We hit up the expo…

Where I had to buy some St. Jude swag!  The Run TN shirt is from Fleet Feet🙂

We checked into the Peabody.  It’s always so pretty at Christmas.  And, big BONUS: you can walk to the start and finish line from the hotel:)  No race morning parking fiascos!!

I knew I’d need to rest, so I brought our Christmas cards with me and FINALLY finished addressing them!

St. Jude Heroes are invited to the Pasta Party.  You receive quite the greeting!!

 

It’s not too late to give!  Click HERE to make a donation 🙂

We joined our Run 4 Others friends for dinner.

And listened to some remarkable first hand accounts of the many ways St. Jude provides care for children with cancer for NO CHARGE to their families.  This race is about so much more than running.

Have you ever made a last minute decision to run a marathon?  How did it go?

What’s your favorite weather to race in?

When you travel for a race, does that change how you eat before a race?

#choosejoy

The Friday Five

1.  Big thanks to my friend Alex for introducing me to Dress My Run!!  If you’ve used the What To Wear site from Runner’s World, you have to check your weather and then enter the conditions onto their site.  Dress My Run automatically pulls up your local weather conditions…saving you a step!!

2.  Oiselle Moto Lesley Tights.  They’re soft (lined with a light brushed fleece), fit really well, and they’re cute!

3.  After hearing and reading great reviews, I’m finally listening to the Serial podcast.  They announced that there will be a season 2, so it’s a great time to start listening.  I’m hooked!

4.  I love all things elephant, so I had to buy this iphone 6 cover from Lilly.

5.  Thanks to the Athletarian (love her blog!) for introducing me to the Thug Life Shirts!!  I want them all!!!

Happy Friday!!

#choosejoy

National Cookie Day

Happy National Cookie Day!!

(Yup…it’s a real day!)

3 of my favorite cookie recipes:

1.  Pillowy Pumpkin Spice and Honey Cookies

2.  Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies

3.  White Chocolate Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Here are some fun facts from Buzzfeed:

1. In the Middle East, chocolate chip cookies are topped with chocolate sauce and eaten with knife and fork.

2. 13.5% of American adults admit to having eaten 20 or more chocolate chip cookies at a time.

The surprising part is that ONLY 13.5% will admit to it.

3. Those cookies the Cookie Monster eats on Sesame Street are actually rice cakes with brown dots painted on.

Real cookies would make the Muppet greasy, explains David Borgenicht in his book, Sesame Street Unpaved.

4. One easy way to up the flavor of your chocolate chip cookies is to let the prepared dough sit in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours before baking.

5. Otis Spunkmeyer is a mash-up of the names of football player Otis Sistrunk and popcorn maker Orville Redenbacher.

It was dreamed up by company founder Ken Rawling’s 12-year-old daughter.

6. Otis Spunkmeyer’s attempt to sell cookies in the U.K. flopped because of the company’s name: In Britain, spunk is slang for semen.

7. Chocolate chip cookies are among only four foods acceptable to even the pickiest of eaters.

The other three are fried chicken, French fries and macaroni and cheese.

8. The Whitman, Mass., Wendy’s built on the site of the old Toll House restaurant was once the only one in America that doubled as a museum, with historic photos and clippings about the Toll House lining the walls.

9. Consumption of chocolate chip cookies INCREASED 10% following the introduction of detailed Nutrition Facts labels.

10. Chocolate chips were invented for use in the chocolate chip cookie recipe.

11. The standard rounded tablespoon of cookie dough can hold a maximum of 50 chocolate chips …

… but most people are happy with 6 to 8 per cookie.

12. DoubleTree by Hilton extends its tradition of giving a warm chocolate chip cookie to guests on check-in to anyone who walks in the door on July 4.

13. Back in the late 1970s when he was bored just being a lawyer, John Kerry opened a Boston cookie store that is still going strong.

14. Gov. Bobby Jindal loves chocolate chip cookies so much his favorite recipe is on the official Louisiana governor’s website.

15. Before he became famous for chocolate chip cookies, Wally Amos was the William Morris talent agent who discovered Simon and Garfunkel.

16. The world’s largest chocolate chip cookie weighed 38,000 pounds, was 102 feet in diameter and contained 30,000 eggs.

Of course I have to include some cookie humor…

Go forth and celebrate accordingly!

The obligatory…What’s your favorite cookie?  Store bought: The vegan chocolate chip cookies at Whole Foods.  Homemade: Molasses Cookies…recipe coming soon.  I bake a ton of them for Christmas gifts!

Crunchy or soft-baked?  Soft-baked only!  I really don’t like crunchy cookies.

Please share links to your favorite cookie recipes!! I’m always looking for new baking ideas:)

#choosejoy

100% Chance of Run

Here’s my monthly and annual mileage update with one of my favorite race pics from the Flying Monkey Marathon🙂  It feels good to have another month in the books!

Track Tuesday.

Prep the night before…

Woke up to cold rain.

I put my stuff in ziploc baggies and hit the track.

I arrived early to get in some extra miles and felt a little nuts running alone in the dark, in the rain, in circles.  Luckily my friends joined me!

Here’s my before shot.  I may have been delaying the rainy run by taking a selfie.  Scroll down to see my after…

The workout:

4.5 mile warm-up

4 x 1200m (400 recovery jog)

(with the first 800m at tempo pace and the last 400m at 5k pace)

1 mile cool down

It wasn’t my greatest workout.  At one point we just started laughing at ourselves, because we were so wet.  It’s hard to run fast when you have squishy shoes.

Here’s my after shot…

My husband must love me…even though I look like that, because I came home to another awesome post-it.  Obviously, I married him for his artist abilities.

The rain never let up.  Luckily I put Body Glide everywhere.

Whenever I’m putting Body Glide on everything, I think of the Frank’s Red Hot Commercial!  Has anyone else seen these?  Body Glide—–>hot sauce.  It makes sense in my mind!

And it was the ultimate test for my favorite Asics Storm Shelter Jacket.  If it’s possible, I love it even more after today’s workout.  My tank that I wore under the jacket stayed dry.  Amazing!

Obviously I got distracted while working on this post…

And this is completely unrelated, but my friend Corrie gave me the most aweome mug to celebrate the Flying Monkey Marathon!!!

Do you ever do your speed workouts on the treadmill or do you prefer the track?  I avoid the treadmill at all costs.

Do you wear any special rain gear?

Do you keep track of your mileage?  How was your November?

Any tips for warming up after a cold, wet run?  My goosebumps wouldn’t go away even in a hot shower.  Shaving on top of goosebumps is not fun.

#choosejoy

Meet Your 2015 Fleet Feet CMM Pacers!

Saturday:

I joined the Run 4 Others group for my long run.

Followed by….wait for it…oatmeal.  I am loving pomegranate arils right now!

We decorated our Christmas tree which makes me so stinkin’ happy!  The star has a little lean to it, but so did we after drinking wine.

Best mail day…ever.

Sunday:

USMC Bootcamp.  This was our pitiful attempt at a group pic.

This workout was all about running stairs…

and this hill.

We were so happy to survive!!

Just another reason why Corrie rocks!

Monday:

8 miles.  Nothing special…just doing the work.  Followed by PiYo Drench.

We had our 2015 Fleet Feet Country Music Marathon Pacer Kick-Off Party…that’s a lot of words, and a lot of awesome people!

If you want to train with these folks, click HERE to sign up!

And this one is for our awesome Brooks rep, Drew Jones, because “I never wear Brooks!”  Brooks is sponsoring the CMM and our training program…GO BROOKS!

For your Christmas viewing pleasure…

What’s your favorite Christmas movie? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!

If you celebrate Christmas, is your tree up?

Do you use colored lights or white lights?

#choosejoy