eggs

Map My Wrong Turn

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A lifestyle of gracefulfitness weaves exercise into daily life in a way the is exciting, fun, and feeds something more than just the desire to burn calories.  For me this means getting outside and running a few times a week.  I love spending the time outdoors and running is a moving meditation unlike any other I have found.

This morning was all about my “long run” of the week and a half mile increase from last week brought the distance up to 7.5 miles.  I carefully planned my route on Map My Run, filled my water bottle, grabbed my directions, and hit the sidewalk.

I was feeling good but I was hit with the three H’s after 45 minutes or so, heat, hills, and hunger!  That’s the point when it started feeling like my “long run” was appropriately named.  Then I had a little confusion regarding my directions but I was pretty sure I had only veered off path for a block or two so I was bummed when my final time read 1 hour 19 minutes.  That’s slow even for me!

After conferring with Map My Run I realized I had run almost a mile out of my way and had run a total of 8.31 miles!  Whoops, yay, and time for lunch!

Mmmmm, food…

Leftover “noodle” and pesto, 1/2 small sweet potato, homemade kimchi, 2 eggs scrambled with kale pesto, and half of a tomato. It did the body good.

Speaking of doing the body good, I am really hoping for a nap this afternoon!

It’s time to outline week 3 of

MISSION: 10k PR

  • long run (7.5 miles) 8.31 miles √
  • 3 yoga sessions
  • 1 Pilates workout
  • 1 easy run (4-5 miles slow and steady)
  • 1 run with sprint intervals

Yikes! Most of these workouts need to be packed in between now and Friday afternoon because we are going away for the weekend again.  It’s going to be an active couple days!

Praise Your Fellow Runners

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Dancer with a running habit?  Runner with a dancing habit?  I don’t even know anymore but I do know my run this morning was glorious!

Blue skies, morning coffee, strong legs, and new running shorts all contributed to making this 4.55 mile run a great one.  I warmed up nice and easy for the first 15 minutes then did 20 minutes of sprint intervals (45 second all-out sprint  followed by 1 minute 15 second recovery pace) and cooled down with an easy pace for the last 5 minutes.  I averaged an 8.79 minute mile but obviously my pace was all over the place with the sprinting.  The good news is that I feel like I could have maintained this for another 1.5 miles and made my MISSION:10k PR of under 55 minutes.

I have a new mission to introduce, MISSION: Praise Your Fellow Runners.  This is inspired by Caitlin and her awesome Operation Beautiful.  I am always inspired, impressed, and motivated by other runners and, although running is usually a solo activity for me, I LOVE the running community.  So here’s how it works, while I was running today I complimented any runners I crossed paths with.  The first time I was a little nervous, as she approached from the opposite direction I thought to myself, “am I going to do it?” and as she passed I managed to squeak “Nice job!”.  The second time was easier, I locked eyes and smiled as she got close and gave her an encouraging “Nice work!”.

What I would REALLY love is to start a trend of high 5’s as runners pass each other but I have yet to go for it and throw my hand up there.  Will they think I am waving “hi”?  Trying to hit them?  I need to just put it out there and see the response.  How would you respond?  Would you like it if another runner shouted a little compliment/encouragement as you passed?  I think I would do a little double take and then grin ear to ear.

Post run snack time.

Breakfast (yogurt and cereal) was 3 and a half hours ago so it was definitely time for some noshing.  I rarely go more than 4 hours without eating, I like to attribute my hearty appetite to a good metabolism :).  This egg/kale combo was served up with some roasted garlic cloves, chopped tomato, and herbed salt.  Just what I needed.  Are you still eating eggs or have you been scared away from them with all the recalls?

See how my garden grows!

If all goes as planned I will be eating these little greeny babies in the form of spinach, mustard greens, and arugula before long.  I purchased these seeds at the Vegetarian Festival a few weeks ago from South Exposure Seed Exchange, a Virginia company.

Today is a busy one, Pilates, job applications, and packing are all on the agenda.  This afternoon Tate and I are driving to his mom’s house in West Virginia to spend the weekend with family.  It’s only a 3 hour drive (one of the main reasons we moved to C’ville) so it hardly counts as a road-trip but it feels a little weird to be leaving our house for the first time since we moved in 4 1/2 weeks ago.  Strange, huh?  I was so used to living out of a backpack and sleeping in a different bed every night for 7 months but I have adapted VERY quickly to having a home!

Hasta pronto!