GLUTEN FREE ~ MEAT FREE ~ RUNNING FREE
It was an honor to sit down with Crystal and Tom O’Keefe for an interview about all things Peloton as well as my time in Germany, running the Berlin Marathon, and…Bradley Rose. This was one of the most fun interviews I have ever done.
Check out the episode on their YouTube channel:
You can also listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and other listening apps – you can find it by searching The Clip Out in your favorite app!!
You can also click here!
Sorry that this is over two months overdue in posting. My lack of motivation to sit at my computer at home…after working at home for 8 hours…is more than lacking these days. But I’m very behind on these blogs…so I need to start cracking on them. Since then, the Olympics in Tokyo are postponed until 2021. What crazy times we are living in. I hope everyone is staying safe.
Back in April 2019, when USATF announced that the Olympic Marathon Trials were going to be held in Atlanta, Ga., I knew…RIGHT THEN…that I wanted to go and spectate. I wanted to be on the course where it all happened. Six people – 3 men and 3 women – would cross a finish line and achieve the dream of becoming an Olympian.
I had to go.
So, my roommate and I went ahead and booked a hotel room at the Westin Peachtree Plaza in downtown Atlanta. Then we bought some non-stop flights to and from Atlanta from Louisville. And then, because, why the hell not?…we each signed up for a race on the day following the Olympic Marathon Trials (Cathy did the Atlanta 5K and I did the Atlanta Half Marathon), since we’d be there.
And somewhere between when all that happened…my left hip started giving me problems again. I took most of February off from running or any real distance, and definitely not workouts. I went back to my orthopedic doctor for X-rays…where I was told there was nothing structural happening. I went back to physical therapy, where my physical therapist worked to help get me back on the road, even though it seemed where the pain was changed each day. And she even could work with my coach as he is also a physical therapist (same company, different location)…and together they eased me back out onto the road, with only a few days with setbacks.
To say I felt 100% when I started packing for my quick trip to Atlanta at the end of March is a huge understatement. I was questioning whether to drop to the 5K or just not do it at all. Since I was able to run, perhaps not fast or strong, I decided that I could fake my way through a race. It would be rough and hard and probably would suck a lot more than usual, but I could do it. So, after our friend Melissa dropped us off at the airport on a Friday morning, we boarded our flight to Atlanta and touched down without any delays or problems. WINNING!
After a quick MARTA ride to get to our hotel, we checked in, dropped off stuff in our room, and took a moment to admire the fact that we could see Centennial Park from our window. How awesome!!
Then, we gathered our stuff and took a nice stroll past the park and the Olympic Marathon Trials finish line, to hit up the expo to pick up our own race stuff and see what kind of merchandise was around.
The answer…not much. At least not at this point. I managed to snag a Marathon Trials t-shirt for myself and my friend Natalie. And I got a couple of pins to commemorate the event. But there was little else left. Guess it got decimated on Thursday or earlier in the day on Friday.
Oh well. The expo was much smaller than I anticipated. For real. And we breezed through it faster than the time we budgeted for it. So, after we were done there, we hiked back to the hotel to drop off stuff, take a breather, and then figure out what we wanted to do next. We ended up hiking around the Dragon*Con hotels just to kill time. We snagged some water (we hit up CVS so many times for water on this trip) and a snack. And then we had to figure out what we wanted to do for dinner. The easiest option was the food court…but I needed to figure out where and what would be safe for me. And one of our top options would have meant eating dinner around 3:30 or 4 pm, which was WAY too early for me.
Lots of google and Find Me Gluten Free searching guided me toward a place called BÊP Vietnamese Cuisine. Cathy opted to go find something with meat and gluten in it for herself (since when we are eating out and on vacation, she can do this!), and ended up at Beni’s Cubano and opted for the Milagro Sandwich with Maduros (Sweet Plantains). So, while she was hitting them up, I went up to get Curry Tofu Rice Bowl from BÊP…except they were all out of tofu as they had to cater a large party earlier. BOO! So, I ended up doing the Vegetarian Phở with the Gluten Free Vegetarian Spring Rolls. It wasn’t my first choice…but, hey…it wasn’t a bad option to end up with. And, honestly, I just wanted the spring rolls, so that made me happy enough (but 2 spring rolls don’t make a meal).
We ate in the food court before heading back to the room for the rest of the night, enjoying some Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives on Food Network while we wound down and prepared for the following morning, which would involve having to find a good spot in which to view the trials. And, man, did we have some options to think about.
We woke up the following morning with a mission. Kara Goucher was leading a 3 mile shakeout run around Centennial Park. I wasn’t running. This was a rest day, and regardless, I was really hoping to give my hip an extra day off before the half marathon on Sunday morning. Cathy safely tucked my 2015 Boston Marathon bib into her bag and we headed down toward the park. We ended up making an entire lap before converging on the crowd by the Olympic rings. And there, in the middle of it all, was Kara Goucher. Kara Goucher was one of the first female runners that I took notice of. Her book was one of the first ones I ever read (and applied a lot of it to shorter distances as I was not running marathons yet). It was chaotic in that throng of people, but I somehow managed to get up to her, tell her something about Minnesota girls (I was born in Minnesota, remember?) and got my bib signed! YAY! It wasn’t the way I envisioned talking to her or meeting her…but it happened, guys!! We also made one last stop in at the expo…and glad we did because we both ended up getting some hoodies that had Atlanta to Tokyo on it (at that point, obviously, the Olympics were still happening in summer 2020). The smallest size I could find was a large, but I figured I could just wear it around the apartment.
After that, we headed back to the hotel to grab a big breakfast (as this would be what would hold us through to after the marathon trials AND…a live Ali on the Run Podcast that I got free tickets to attend). It was going to be a long day…but thankfully, we had snacks.
The breakfast at the hotel was mostly buffet. And for someone like me with food allergies…that just doesn’t work well. BUT, our waiter was kind enough to put in an order for me with the kitchen so everything would be safe for me to eat. I got an egg white vegetable omelette with a bowl of fruit. Cathy was able to go pick and choose what she wanted and was excited that there was a mini chicken and waffles option out there (it might have been on the kids table, but she loved it). We ate. We drank a lot of coffee. We went back up to the room to prepare ourselves for all the intense wind, cold weather, and the fun of spectating the Olympic Marathon Trials.
I. COULD. NOT. WAIT.
Originally, we had planned on going right to a spot where we could see the athlete 6 times on the looped course. But after we got down there, we decided that we really, really wanted to see the start of both the men’s and the women’s race. Then we could go up to about Mile 8 and see the men twice and the women once, and then hopefully get back to the finish line area to see who would make the team from a decent enough s
It felt like the right plan for us. So…we scouted out a spot for the start of the race. It was VERY windy! In case you hadn’t heard. I felt bad for the athletes because when you’re in a metro downtown like that, there is no wind breaks. There are only wind tunnels. And that wind will hit you in all directions! We were right near where the athletes would be walking out. Shalane Flanagan passed us. She, obviously, wasn’t competing, but there was no mistaking her in that Bowerman Track Club gear.
And…I got to hug and wish good luck to Ashley Paulson, who I know from Instagram. She ended up coming in 44th in the women’s race. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! Anyway, that was super fun. Cathy gave the woman standing next to me her ear warmer because she had tried three times to find somewhere she could buy a hat and couldn’t find one anywhere. One good deed…
The winds were whipping around 20+mph. And it was COLD!! Man, was it cold. But the sun was out…and the athletes were lining up at the start line. The men would go off first. Then the women. And who was sending each group off? Meb Keflezighi!
He counted down the men’s race…and they were off. As the group ran past, we cheered really loud and started pointing out the people we recognized. It was exciting. What a rush. And 20 minutes later…with one almost false start…Meb sent the women off. Now that…THAT was insane. It was just flood of women, running down the road. I spotted a few people I recognized. I screamed really loud. And we even saw the ones at the back who were starting, but dropping out due to injury, pregnancy, or whatever. It was inspiring, regardless.
From there, we hopped over to a spot on the rail near the 8 mile mark. This was at one of the turns on the course, so we would definitely get the chance to see everyone as they went past. We would be here for a while, able to see the men twice and the women once, if we wanted to try to get to the finish line area.
We took this opportunity to snag a snack. I brought oranges. LOL! Hey, I’m like Dustin in Stranger Things…so I always bring snacks with me everywhere. I had no idea how long it would be before we’d get to eat. We polished off our oranges (I brought Sumo’s…only the best for this occasion) and were settled in, wincing against the wind, and making friends with the people around us…as you do.
The guy who was on my left was spectating his daughter, who qualified at CIM with a squeaker time, just hitting it with maybe a second to spare. The pride and excitement in his voice was just…awesome. And then…we saw the pace car come down the hill and toward the turn. Behind it…the wave of men. And, there were two people out front that I didn’t recognize. But then in the chase pack (just steps behind them) were all the big names and the like. And I tried to shout out to as many as I could.
There were smaller waves behind them…and then it quieted down as we all awaited the arrival of the women. And that was a wave that was just as amazing as the start. And the crowd. Wow…it was loud. And you could just feel this electricity as the women continued to make the turn and head back up the hill into Mile 8. It was insane and I loved being a part of the noise and seeing these woman lay it all out there on the challenging course. Seriously…inspiring. Not that I’ll ever get the chance to run the Olympic Trials…but man…I felt like I was part of something big…just by being there.
We waited around for the men to make their second loop and, by the time they came back around, there were more familiar faces at the front of the pack. Mainly…Galen Rupp. No shocker there. And, apparently, that’s where he would stay. But…it would be those remaining two spots that would be the surprises for us spectators.
Not wanting to miss any of the final finishes…because, honestly, I wanted to be at that finish line when the runners who would be representing the country crossed, we left to head back to the finish line area. The general public could only get so close, but luckily we found a spot of the rail, next to a man who was cheering for his daughter (this was a theme, LOL), named Val Curtis. So, he was tracking her and I was trying to catch bits of conversation about where some of the favorites out on the course were.
And you could tell when the finish was getting close because people who were able to get into the grassy parts of the park near the finish started climbing into the trees. No joke. Cathy even said, “Looks like the spectators are in full bloom.” It made me laugh. A lot. Security, however, did make them all eventually get down, but that was just a testament to how big of a deal this was to the people in Atlanta to spectate.
I will never forget that feeling when I saw the lead vehicle come down over the hill and veer off as Galen Rupp came surging past. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Galen Rupp fan. I don’t like him. But he was going to go represent the United States at the Olympics, turning in an amazing time on what was a VERY challenging course. The second and third place for the men came in over a minute behind Galen. It felt like a HUGE gap of time, honestly. But that battle for second and third was SPECTACULAR!! No lie. It came down to just one second that put Jacob Riley in second and Abdi Abdirahman in third. Our alternate for the men…Leonard Korir…just seconds behind Abdi. What a finish!!
We saw more men come streaming in. A few were bloodied, which left us really confused until I started listening to podcasts after the fact and finding out that people fell down on the course, were almost trampled, and the like. How scary is that. To rally and get back up and finish…that’s gutsy. I respect the hell out of it. I saw Jared Ward finish, but he was way out of contention for a spot. He was definitely a favorite going in.
Eventually, the volunteers began to route the men down a different path to finish, which could only mean one thing…the women were coming! I had no idea who was leading at this point. I was up on my tiptoes, leaning on the rail, just waiting to see the first woman blaze by. It felt like forever, but then…graceful, swift, and steady…the first woman flew past. It was Aliphine Tuliamuk…which wasn’t out of the conversation to make the team, but she was leading the way. I was here for it! Just behind her was Molly Seidel, who qualified using a half marathon time and this was her first marathon. This also meant that she started behind the A standard qualifiers. And there she was…carrying that flag all the way to the finish line. And just over a minute behind her…our third woman came in…Sally Kipyego, who I had just heard an interview with on Lindsey Hein’s podcast, “I’ll Have Another.” Both Aliphine and Sally had recently become citizens of the United States and here they were now…heading to the Olympics to represent the country. Amazing.
Des Linden came in fourth, now officially becoming the alternate and missing out on the Olympic Team by 30 seconds. Stephanie Bruce wasn’t too far behind, coming in 6th.
We stayed at the finish line, because now we felt like we needed to see Val Curtis come in. We were basically adopted members of the Curtis cheer team. In the process, I saw Jordan Hasay come by, finishing 26th, and considering she came in with the fastest time…that was a shock. Ashley Paulson finish 44th overall for the women! That was super exciting. She’s just so genuine and amazing.
I noted some names that weren’t coming in…Sarah Hall, Molly Huddle, Emily Sisson.
It was weird.
We were getting updates from Val’s father as to where she was on the course, so we knew exactly when to start cheering. I held a sign for her while he waved a flag and shouted as she blazed past to her finish line. Cathy snapped photos. It was pretty exciting to be part of that. I felt like I knew Val…even though I had just heard of her that day.
After a long day of spectating, we were heading to the Generation UCAN live podcast with Ali Feller and Carrie Tollefson and Meb Keflezighi. We figured we would grab dinner afterwards…which in hindsight wasn’t our best plan…but we had a podcast to get to. I am so glad we did. A surprise to me was when Dathan Ritzenhein went up and talked for a brief moment. If you know me, you know how he is one of my favorite male runners. Hip issues caused him to drop out of the trials, but he listened to his body and did what he needed to do.
After he spoke, he left and I grabbed my 2015 Boston Marathon bib and went to see if I could catch him for an autograph. He very graciously signed it for me…and I was able to tell him a little bit about my devastating race that morning…due to hip issues. He listened and said that he hopes my next time running Boston (2021 with any luck), would be a much better experience.
The live podcast was a lot of fun, and very emotional. We laughed. We cried. We had a good time. I wanted to meet Ali after the show, but there was a rush of people, and we had to go find some food, as both Cathy and I were racing the following morning. The problem is…so many things in big cities close early…and we really didn’t have many options. We ended up ordering in room service at the hotel, and they took very good care of me with my food allergies. So, we were definitely eating dinner at 8 pm, watching Guy’s Grocery Games, and trying not to fret too much over the hour and the fact that we had to be up early to get ready to get to our own start lines. I ended up with a delicious quinoa dish.
As for me…my leg wasn’t feeling 100% despite weeks of physical therapy…but I was going to see what I could do on these Atlanta hills. But that’s another blog.
Race: Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben
Place: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: October 5, 2019
Time: 1:39:13
Friends…I am 21 SECONDS away from matching my half marathon PR (which I set at the Geist Half Marathon in 2014). That’s…that’s ONE HILL. Do you know how thrilled I am to see this time? To know that I’m 22 seconds away from a new PR (hey, a 1 second PR is still a PR)?! I am ecstatic!!
And shocked. This is my second fastest half marathon to date. It’s been over 3 years since I even came close to my PR.
This is HUGE!
I apologize right now for all the bold, italics, caps lock, and exclamation point abuse!
Let’s take the deep dive into this race, shall we?
This story starts…on Friday. Friday’s are complete rest days for me. I hadn’t been sleeping well this past week, which sucked, but my sleep was a bit better Thursday night into Friday morning. Not great…but better. I got up, showered, finished packing, and started to prep my overnight oats (I’ve been eating these prior to long runs all summer, so why stop now?) to take with me to Indianapolis for race morning. I put those in the fridge, finished getting ready for work, and went into the office for 6 hours. Arrangements had been made to leave at 2:30 pm, head to Dragon King’s Daughter (because my magic sushi had to happen prior to a race for sure and I had a cooler in the car to keep it through the drive), and hit the road. We were about 30 minutes away when I realized I had left my prepped overnight oats in the fridge at work. UGH! So, Cathy and I said we’d find a grocery store to find something comparable when we got to Indy.
The drive was uneventful. We listened to Meb Keflezighi on the Ali on the Run podcast for most of the drive. Great listen, by the way. It’s part of the “You Can Run a Marathon” series that she put together. It was a funny, inspiring listen and it got us pretty much all the way into the greater Indianapolis area. We rolled into our hotel, checked in, dropped stuff…I put sushi into the fridge in the room…and we headed out to hit up the race expo.
The expo itself was small (probably good from a financial standpoint), but very well organized. Finding packet pickup was easy and I quickly was able to retrieve both my packet (bib and quarter zip) and my friend Kelly’s (she couldn’t get off work early and was going to drive up in the morning) packet for the half marathon. Cathy went and got her 5K packet before we stepped into the small merchandise area. She bought me a hoodie from the race. YAY. And that was all we did. We left to head to the Fresh Thyme (for some pre-made overnight oats, cashew butter, and waters) and then Noodles & Co. (because Cathy needed a night before the race fuel too), before heading back to the room to eat while watching, what else?, the traditional Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives.
Cathy went to shower after we polished off our respective dinners, and I got down to stretching and foam rolling. Lights out was just before 9 pm. And, my newfound insomnia kicked in again. WEEEE! I tossed and turned and tossed and turned and didn’t get much sleep…yet again. UGH! That sucked. I switched off the first alarm I set because I was able to get up and not have to wake up anyone else because…I WAS ALREADY AWAKE. I got back into bed for another 45 minutes, but no rest was coming. Apparently I was going to run on fumes. YAY.
The temperature outside on race morning was a brisk 47 degrees. This was really the first morning of cold weather any of us were experiencing. I decided to race in the outfit I wore in the Glass City Marathon, and would likely be wearing again at Monumental. Arm warmers and everything. Cathy had a bit more of a dilemma…because 40s are hard to dress for. Sleeves are good, but sometimes you warm up fast. Short sleeves might not be enough. She opted for sleeves. We ate some breakfast (she brought oatmeal from home), finished getting ready, and then headed out the door to drive up to the giant parking lot prior to the half marathon and 5K.
Kelly was there bright and early, so when we parked she made her way to the car while Cathy got out the trash bags she brought for extra warmth. I handed off the packet and zip to Kelly, who was excited she was actually getting one of the jackets, before she went to drop it in the vehicle. She was just in shorts and a tank (calling herself a human furnace)…and I was cold just looking at her. HA! She returned to the car and the three of us made our way over to the staging area near the start line. There were some nice fires going, and we tucked in to attempt to stay warm. Cathy went to drop her bag at Bag Drop, and we were just killing time now. I did drink my Maurten 160 Drink Mix 30 minutes prior to the start, per the usual.
As the start of the race neared, we did meander over toward the start corrals, where we met up with Elizabeth (another member of the MRTT/SRTT Southern Indiana Chapter), took some pictures, and then wished each other luck. I was in Corral B, Elizabeth in C, Kelly in D…and Cathy was in the 5K corrals, so she was able to at least take some photos, video, and cheer at the start of the half.
The 1:40 pacers were in my corral and lined up near me. I was to run this one at MARATHON PACE, so I wasn’t paying any attention to that. It was a cool, crisp morning, and after the elites and first corral were sent off…we were moved up. Cathy actually got a nice video of me starting, though she didn’t realize it at the time. In fact, she was waiting for the corral after that. Oh well. That’s what happens sometimes.
The 1:40 pacers were fantastic, especially Troy, as he gave a lot of helpful advice to those who were running with him as we started out. And it was a good reminder that we still had a long road ahead. The first part of the race was a slight downhill…so I let gravity work it’s magic there. We were off, and I was feeling surprisingly good.
The first two miles of this race were a nice, relaxed, gentle downhill. My legs were feeling rested and good and they were on the move. Mile 1 rolled by quickly, and as we hit Mile 2, we were already inside the Fort Harrison State Park. It was as we headed into Mile 3 that we hit the first monster hill in the race. It’s funny, when you look at my splits you can see the 2 giant hills that you have to tackle in this run. But this one was early and my legs were fresh with some bounce. And I just bounded up it and kept going.
The next few miles were rolling hills and flats. And they were enough to just sort of keep your legs guessing and feeling good. The volunteers at the water stops were phenomenal, cheering loudly for the runners as they came through the aid stations, and just being really encouraging. I was still feeling good as I hit the 10K mark, knowing that I was ahead of my marathon pace, and hearing my mind tell me that if I slowed down, it was okay. But I wasn’t going to make myself slow down. We had perfect race conditions and I was rolling. I took out one of the Maurten 100 Gels (the new one with some caffeine) and managed to take it without slowing down much. There were no trash cans, so I held onto the wrapper until I spotted one, about a mile later.
We were routed into a little round about of a parking lot, looped and came back out on the other side. Just after Mile 7, we crossed a grassy path and onto a bike path (the Harrison Trace Trail) for the back half of the run. While this was a bike path, it never doubled back on itself, so it didn’t feel crowded or cluttered. In fact, I felt like I had plenty of room to stretch my legs and push myself.
Just after Mile 8, we hit a HUGE downhill. I love downhills, but I wasn’t expecting the drop that this one had. Luckily, downhill is my favorite speed and I adjust very well to it. My footing found itself and I easily rolled back into my pace. It was just after this point that I removed my gloves and tucked them into my hydration pack. It was starting to warm up, and every time I thought I could take off the arm warmers, a cold wind would sweep up, and I’d keep them off.
After Mile 10, where I took another (non-caffeinated) Maurten Gel 100, we hit the largest hill on the course. It was one of those that starts up, levels off, then continues to go up. This was my slowest split of the entire race. It felt good to get to the top, but now my legs were definitely feeling the fatigue of the speed of the race. Just after Mile 11, we ducked back across that grassy path and onto the road, heading back toward start of the race (also the finish, obviously).
It was at Mile 12 that the 1:40 pace group caught up to me. And this entire time, in my head, I am reminding myself that I’m not running for a PR…I’m running Marathon Pace. I knew I was way ahead of that, but I still felt good, despite that late, monster hill. I ran right with them as Troy told his runners to skip the final water stop and keep rolling. As we got halfway through the mile, Troy started to talk runners in…take some deep breaths. He said they were easing back on pace, so as not to blow people out so close to the end (they were just slightly ahead of the time on his back)…and I kept going. And I picked it up a little as I started to make the final turns to head toward that finish line. I felt amazing. And I crossed, still feeling good. I stopped my Garmin, collected my medal, and then finally pulled the wrist band away from the watch face to look at my time. And I about died.
It was my second fastest half marathon since I started running half marathons. My two top times are on hilly courses. How about that? I mean, I hate hills. Cathy came over and she was all, “YOU KILLED IT!” And I did. I killed it DEAD. And I still felt good (which was also good because I had another 13 miles to run the following day with more speed thrown in).
We decided to go and check out the cookout that the race offered, ducking in. There wasn’t really anything for me (food allergy queen), but Cathy snagged a piece of Jockamo’s pizza and a cookie. She went and purchased a beer and got me a local kombucha (which…was delicious!!). She ate and we went to go walk around, but had to stay in the little (and it was little) picnic area (we weren’t sitting in the tent) with our drinks (even though mine was NOT alcoholic). So, she chugged her beer and I drank what I could of my kombucha but I was fresh off a fast half marathon and chugging something didn’t sound appetizing…and I was freezing…so I didn’t want to stand there any longer.
We made one more pass through the official merchandise…and I was tempted to get the finisher’s shirt with the names on the back (mine was on there)…but ultimately walked away from it. I was happy with the hoodie that Cathy got me (she had to buy it as it said “Finisher” on it). We made the drive back to the hotel where I took a shower and dried my hair while she packed up everything. We headed to Carmel, Indiana (a short drive) to catch lunch at Woody’s Library Restaurant (where I got the Mushroom & Spinach Tacos with a side of the Cajun Dusted Tater Tots). Then, we headed over to the Indiana State Fair Grounds because…Half Price Books was having a BIG clearance sale, where all books were $2 or less. Amazing.
We left after a couple of hours and a lot of texting with my dad. Road work delayed our return to the Louisville area, but we finally made it home. Still without groceries. I ended up making popcorn for dinner and then heading to bed. And not sleeping well again.
My experience at the Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben was amazing. I can’t wait to run it again next year. Hopefully more of my friends can join me!! It was definitely much better running weather than what the large group of over 100 MRTT/SRTT ladies dealt with at the Indianapolis Women’s Half Marathon had the week before. Kind of glad I opted for this one.
My official results of the Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben are that I finished in 1:39:13, which, as I previously mentioned, was a mere hill, or basically 21 seconds off of my PR time from 2014). This race proved something very important to me…that I can still push the pace for 13.1 miles. With all the times I have doubted my body, my ability, and mentally let myself check out, I felt strong and capable this entire race…even the two hills that messed up my fast splits. HA! I was 156/1726 finishers overall. I was 24/851 female finishers. And I was 6/138 in my age division. Guys, my age division is SUPER competitive…always. This race was no different. But this rank…is beyond what I thought I could accomplish here. If you need a fall half marathon on your radar…put the Indy Half Marathon at Fort Ben on your radar!
Well, originally, this week was going to be a down week. Extra recovery. Because I raced pretty hard last Sunday. BUT…I reminded my coach that I was leaving the following week for a cruise and a Disney World venture…so, he shifted weeks and had this one be a bit of recovery, but keeping one day of speed work and shifting my third (and maybe last? Maybe not?) 20 miler to this weekend. Whew.
I won’t lie, my legs felt pretty flat for most of this week. And the heat and humidity returned…which also sucked. I know hot training days equal cool, fast, amazing fall marathons. But it’s still tough and I’m not always the best at adjusting expectations.
This week…I adjusted expectations because speed work morning was close to 80 degrees long before the sun came up. So, it was a challenging, and it really didn’t go to plan at all (save for the first mile, but more on that later)…but for the first time, I didn’t beat myself up over it. I let it be what it was that day. And I moved on.
So…let’s hit up this week, shall we?
Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.
It was the morning after the Downtown Doubler and I was relieved he set this as an easy, recovery run. Short and sweet too. Whew. I hardly slept Sunday night leading into Monday morning. My left hamstring was still tight from the race, despite having stretched and foam rolled. Mostly, I was tired. So my heart rate stayed VERY low and my pace was just where I felt it needed to be. I had my watch covered and never once even looked at what I was running. In the end, I managed 4 miles, my usual recovery run right now, and called it a day. I did go ahead and do my additional hip strengthening exercises with my morning stretches. Because I had a hard race, my personal training session was cancelled for the additional time to recover. And I did do that extra foam rolling to help with that hamstring. Guess what? It worked.
Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN
I had gone to bed early and managed some better sleep. Oh, and the hamstring definitely felt better. Much better. But my legs still felt flat on this run. I took it easy, but it felt harder than it should have been. And I actually checked my pace at the end of the run, and it was a pace that shouldn’t have felt that hard. I wasn’t running great at the moment. It happens, right? Heavy legs don’t last forever, right? I pushed the strides, but they didn’t feel as fast as I could usually run either. I let it be what it was for the day. Did my morning stretches and tossed in the extra hip strengtheners as well.
Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: TEMPO RUN – 1 MILE WU; 3X2 MILES AT TEMPO (7:20-7:50) W/ 0.5 MILES RECOVERY; 1 MILE CD
Like I said…it was 80 degrees before the sun came up. The humidity was not fun either. In fact, it made the real feel close to 85 degrees. Isn’t it September? I don’t want winter, by any means, but some cooler mornings (not cold, cool) would be nice. I went through my warmup and it felt…hard. UGH. Not a good start. But I told myself that I was going to just push hard and use the recovery to…well…recover. I managed to hit the actual tempo pace ONCE in the entire workout. The FIRST mile. That was a 7:32…from there…it went off the rails. 7:52, 7:52, 7:58, 8:02, 7:57. Recovery got slower each time too with one of them in the 9s. It wasn’t a good morning for speed work…but I did put in the effort and that meant I was actually okay with it. I met with Corey that afternoon for a killer core workout. I say that because my abs were actually sore through Saturday. How’s that for some personal training growth?
Thursday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES + 4-6 STRIDES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN
I kept the going to bed early thing going because I had some early wakeup calls. When the runs get longer, the bedtimes get earlier because the wakeup times get earlier. The air was thick and humid again, but the legs were actually starting to get some pep in their step. So, while it still wasn’t where I wanted the easy run to be, feeling-wise, it felt better. And my strides, still slower than I know I can push them, didn’t feel as daunting today. I fit in my stretches and foam rolling right after work, because I was cooking up a special dinner to have with friends before we left on vacation. They were bringing their adorable baby over and I was making Tomato & Goat Cheese Tarts for everyone. It was a fun night and…a late one for me…but worth every moment.
Friday: REST DAY!
Because of the later night, I slept in as long as I could before needing to get up, shower, and do my stretching. It was a crazy-busy day at work, but it was also Favorite T-Shirt Day. My co-worker, Kayla, gifted me with a Murderino t-shirt and I had to wear it ASAP! It’s my new favorite. For those of you who listen to the My Favorite Murder podcast…you know. I had a hair appointment that night, and Lauren not only cut my hair back up…and then French braided it. From there, a late night dinner of my “magic sushi” at Dragon King’s Daughter. It had to happen. I had that 20 miler staring me down on Saturday morning. I went home, stretched, foam rolled, and immediately called it a night. I had an early morning, because I was starting before the sun came up.
Saturday: LONG RUN: 17-20 MILES – GOAL 19 MILES – EASY PACE – DON’T PUSH IT! AND PRACTICE RACE-DAY FUELING STRATEGY
I got up 2 hours and 15 minutes before I’d have to leave for my long run. I took my vitamins, drank 20 ounces of water, ate my overnight oats, stretched, did 50 pushups (I do this daily), fueled again with my Maurten 320, put on sunscreen, filled my hydration pack with 40 ounces of water with my Nuun tablets in them, and prepared to hit the road. I left at 6:40 am and ran the first 5 miles of my 20 miler on my own. I met up with Ron to run the Greenway (if you haven’t run it…DO IT). He did just over 11 miles with me. And they were great. We talked the entire time, had some shade in spots, and then…were blocked by a train. Just like after the Downtown Doubler. REALLY!? We did manage to run the flood wall and get across the tracks before the train started up again and we ran back to his car. Here we parted ways and I did the final four miles back to the apartment. From there, I showered, ate breakfast, went to run some errands, picked up some pho and spring rolls for my friend Natalie, visited with her while she gave me (my favorite) homemade birthday present. Who else LOVES homemade gifts? Then we finished up our errands, came home to eat dinner, PACK…because we hadn’t packed yet…and then watched Inside Out. I was a lot for just one day…but I think we are mostly ready for our trip.
Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: 3-4 MILES EASY/RECOVERY RUN. SLOW!!
No real time for an early bedtime. Not with everything that needed to happen. But I got up with enough time to fit in my 4 miles, a shower, and breakfast. Stretching and foam rolling would have to wait for the time being. We had an early flight to catch.
And now…vacation mode. This was supposed to be a trip where training didn’t have to happen (because I’d be in recovery from the Erie Marathon). I am a firm believer that all things happen for a reason. So, while I do have to train on this trip…and have two back-to-back mid-distance runs…at least I’ll relax and enjoy my time away. Deep breaths.
Should be an interesting week…
Also…8 weeks out!
How can I describe this week? What word can I use that will basically sum everything up? Oh…I know…
HOT!
From mornings in the 80s to real feel temps in the triple digits…this week did everything it could to destroy me. I persevered, but I was wrecked at the end of it. But, let’s hear it for getting it done. Even if it wasn’t pretty. And even if it wasn’t perfect.
(And we all know that I’m a perfectionist because…Virgo…so that’s not easy for me to deal with).
So…how about we dive into the week that wrapped up my first month of training with today (Sunday, July 21, 2019), marking 16 weeks out from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. So, let’s all settle into ice baths (HA…just kidding…I don’t do ice baths), stay cool, and review the events of this crazy week.
Monday: Every Monday, I pretty much have the same run. 5-7 miles (aiming for 6) and an easy recovery pace. It was 80 degrees at 3:30 am, so I knew that this wasn’t going to be a day where pace was even pushed. Once my legs warmed up and woke up, I fell into a natural stride and the easy pace started to finally feel good. I extended it to the full 7 miles for that reason. I went ahead and did my additional hip strengtheners during my stretches because I had just enough time to fit it in. And later that afternoon, I had my personal training session with Corey. And we had it outside. Which was super fun because it wasn’t overly humid out. Basically…a little bit of everything.
Tuesday: Hello, speed work. One of these days I hope to get to the track and see how I do on a flat track. But this week…it wasn’t going to work. Nope. Not one bit. The speed work this week was my favorite of the workouts that Daniel assigns: Mona Fartleks. These are fun and challenging and definitely keep it interesting. Mona Fartleks work like this: 2 mile warm up; 2×90 seconds, 4×60 seconds, 4×30 seconds, 4×15 seconds (with equal recovery time in between each rep); 2 mile cool down. I felt like I was moving faster than I apparently was. I blame the humidity.
Wednesday: It was a recovery day. A short, easy, deliberate pace for me. I got up at usual time though because I always try to fit in two days of my additional hip strengtheners, and they take some times. The shorter run did allow for this. And I took it easy on the run (somehow did negative splits…I can never do this when I try), and then got in the stretches and additional exercises. This morning, I also had my 6 year check-up with my dermatologist. He cleared me for another year, but did say that he wanted me to start running with a hat or do rag covering the top of my head. MEH. I hate how I look in hats, and my head gets really hot when I cover it with anything. But, my skin is more important, so I got on Amazon and placed an order from Buff, for both a hat and buff to use on my head. I had my second day of personal training with Corey this afternoon too. He had some serious fresh hell exercises ready for me.
Thursday: Welcome to Day #1 of the Extreme Heat Warning that was going to span the entire rest of the week. So, believe me when I say that I was looking forward to taking Friday off. It was HOT that morning. Around 80 degrees before the sun was up. MEH. I had 9 miles on tap. Nothing fast. Nothing hard. Just a base pace run. It wasn’t easy in air you can wear. Not at all. I was so soaked in sweat that morning that my running shorts wanted to fall off my hips. This sort of heat is serious business and people who downplay it are not smart people. Whether you react to it or not…it’s hot. Be safe. I survived, even though I looked like I had gone swimming.
Friday: Day off. Rest. Slept in. Showered. Stretched. Read some more of “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered,” by the My Favorite Murder ladies – Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. If you don’t listen to that podcast…YOU NEED TO! If you haven’t read the book…YOU NEED TO! Trust me. Went to work that day. Then went out for some sushi at Dragon King’s Daughter…because it was too hot too cook and…we made it through a busy week…why not treat yourself a little? I love vegan sushi. It made me happy. Plus…it was not just good carb loading for my weekend ahead, but also had some additional sodium to prep for the heat.
Saturday: Long run day. One of them. Because we were back to some back-to-back workout runs that I did a couple of weeks ago. I met up with my friend Ron, on an extremely hot morning. It was real feel 90 degrees and we started at 6:30 am. Cathy got up early on a weekend to actually drop me off at the starting point, because she had a cooler full of cold water bottles and she was going to meet us at the turn-around point so we could cool off with cold water to drink and pour over us as needed. This was also my first time running in the ultra-light Buff hat. I still think it makes my head hot. I will fight you. Ron and I kept the pace easy, but challenging. And he’s really good about telling me to ease back on pace because sometimes I feel good and that helps me to keep out of the “now I feel like crap” zone that likely will come sooner rather than later. We did 10 miles together. His training ended there. I still had 2 more “fast finish” miles to go. MEH. I took another cold water break before I left to go and get those done. I knew in the heat that it would not be super fast, but the effort was there. Both miles were in the low 8s which is in my marathon pace zone…but definitely not the fast finish I can usual produce. Iced coffee, a shower, and some air conditioned shopping later…I started to feel recovered. With heat indexes in the triple digits, and me needing to not be dehydrated going into Sunday, we skipped the Louisville City FC match (we would have baked). I went to bed after watching Chernobyl on HBO (we started it on Wednesday night) and hoped to rest up because I was setting yet another early alarm.
Sunday: I had texted Daniel on Saturday afternoon regarding my Sunday workout. I knew it was going to be impossible. He told me to go off of effort and not pace. But even with effort, this run was pretty much impossible to do without multiple, numerous, sometimes air-conditioned stops. I loaded up a cooler when I headed out to put on the back of my car. It had one bottle of water to drink and one bottle to use to pour over my head. I had frozen two small (5 oz) bottles the night before to allow to melt while I was running so I could snag them from the pockets of my Nathan hydration vest and pour over my head if needed before I could get to a good point near my car. I looped this entire run. I wore the Buff as a do rag, despite being out before the sun was up. I just wanted to see if it made my head overheat. The jury is still out on that. But I died. I died so hard on this run. No mile came without a stop or two. My effort was not as hard as I would normally push. It makes me feel like I just can’t string together hard pushes in runs, even when racing, and it’s bothering me so much. I know that it was 90 degrees at 4 am this day…but it still bothers me on a fundamental level. Want me to feel out of shape…let me fail at a workout. And this one was the one that nearly killed me a couple of weeks ago. 1 mile warm up; 3×4 miles @ marathon pace (with 4 minutes recovery); 1 mile cool down. It was bad. It went completely off the rails for the second time. And I just need to prove to MYSELF that I can do these more challenging workouts. I’m tired of feeling like I failed or having people make me feel like I’m a failure for wilting in this heat. I drank water, finished off Chernobyl, and have been meal prepping ever since.
It was a rough week, friends. I just need things to start clicking. I need to start feeling excited, confident, and prepared. I’m not there right now. I’m not even excited. And that’s definitely not where I want to mentally be with 4 months to go. So, we’ll see what happens in this coming week.
Fingers crossed that the heat never gets this hot again. But it’s only July. So I won’t hold my breath.
Hey everyone!
A couple of weeks ago, I was honored to be featured on The Bluegrass BAMR Podcast! I had a blast talking to Stephanie and sharing part of my story (I feel like I could have gone on for at least another hour…but I also like to talk). Anyway…please go give it a listen. And be sure you share, like, subscribe and leave a review for the podcast itself.
You can check it out below…or search on your favorite podcast platform!
And thanks again, Stephanie!
“Life as a Celiathlete” with Karen Brady Karen Brady, aka The Celiathlete, was diagnosed with Celiac Disease at the age of 30. After some trial and error, and help from a Registered Dietitian, Karen was able to find the nutritional solutions to help fuel her greatest passion: running. Not only has Karen learned to live […]
via The Bluegrass BAMR Podcast – Episode 10: “Life as a Celiathlete” with Karen Brady — BluegrassBAMR
I’m not the average girl from your video
And I ain’t built like a supermodel
But I learned to love myself unconditionally
Because I am a queen
~India.Arie
It’s been a hard journey for me the past couple of years, but I think I’m finally headed in the right direction. But before I go any further, I want to give a HUGE shout-out to my amazing friend, Kari…who watched a few of my stories on Instagram back in the summer and sent me directly to a few podcasts and links…and that has been helped me out immensely…especially during this time of year.
Through Kari, I discovered Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, a registered dietitian nutritionist, well-being coach, and a certified health and fitness specialist. And from Scritchfield…I have discovered the practice of Body Kindness.
Over the summer and through the fall, I have done my best to put the practices of spiraling up and self-compassion to work. And I’ve made leaps and bounds in this regard. I’m proud of myself. After two years of consistent injuries that, basically, kept me from really being active, I put on a good 15 to 20 pounds. And those pounds weren’t from eating a poor diet…not at all. My food choices go up on Instagram on a daily basis and I keep nothing from it. But the lack of exercise brought about a good amount of stress…which brought about bouts of binge eating/stress eating. Every. Day. To the point that certain foods in the apartment had to be hidden in my roommate’s room just to ensure that I wouldn’t devour them one morning when I was the only one awake and stressing out over something that I really coudn’t fix at that moment or at all. I felt uncomfortable in my skin, and while I was still at what would be considered a healthy weight for my size…I was SO mad at myself for letting myself get like this. I was angry every time I would get on the scale and see the number. I was so certain that, when I was cleared to run, the weight would slow me down.
Over those months, I did get back to running…and the weight stayed on. No big deal. I’m not someone who runs to burn calories. I’ve never been someone who tries to compensate food intake for exercise and burning off calories. I don’t do calculations in my head or add on miles or hit the gym a little harder. That’s not me. That’s never been me. So, in that respect, I already was grasping the overarching concept of Body Kindness.
But what really makes it challenging for someone like me…is seeing perfectly healthy people who are in the same boat as me…jump into a program like Weight Watchers to drop weight by a certain date. Hell, I was told to look into Weight Watchers…and I’m at a healthy weight…just not a happy weight (to me). And at the same time, I had a friend who went to the extreme side of the spectrum and wasn’t eating and was over-exercising and was down to just skin and bones…and it was scary. And it was perspective. And thankfully, she is getting help and will hopefully get stronger physically and mentally through her recovery program. But it was a lot of stress and anguish because…I love my friends deeply and when they go through shit…I go through shit with them. And I was thankful that I had been introduced to this concept of Body Kindness and Intuitive Eating…because that could have spiraled out of control quickly. And that’s not to say that the stress and those triggers didn’t get to me…but the way I dealt with it changed.
Enter…the holidays.
I work in an office packed with women. And the holidays are made for feasting and treats and parties and drinks and…the inevitable conversations happen at the water cooler…
“I ate one of those donuts today…I am so bad.”
“I’m being SO bad!” *said while balancing a plate with a cinnamon roll on it*
*At holiday pitch-in* “I had lost weight, but I’ve been so bad today and I know I put it all back on!”
“Look at all this bad food. Brownies, cookies, cakes…”
“Well, this has fruit in it, so that’s good, right?”
“All that food in there…I really need to go back to dieting tomorrow.”
“I feel so guilty…I had dessert after eating my holiday meal.”
I wish I could say I was joking. But, sadly, I’m not. With the advent of the holidays comes the inevitable around the New Year…the resolutions.
But it’s not just the, “I’m going to eat better and workout more,” mentality anymore. Nope. Now we have detoxes and juice cleanses and diet pills and fasting and keto and paleo and Whole 30…or meals that are just snacks and not providing you with the nutrition your body really needs to function. But let’s face it…diets don’t work. They don’t. If they did…there wouldn’t be multi-million dollar corporations built up around them. I mean, think about it…the reason they exist is because people have to keep going back to them. Mind…blown!
Diets and “quick fixes” are everywhere. But are they really that “good” for you? Diets, cleanses, detoxes…what they advocate is a huge calorie deficit. Most people don’t even hit the “standard” (and still low, especially if you’re active) 1200 a day. If you’re active…you HAVE to eat more. And I’ve had it out with people before regarding calories in vs. calories out…and I was told that I wasn’t losing weight because I was eating more than 1200 calories a day. Yeah…I also ran 10 miles and need to put nutrition back into my body! But the way it was done made it seem like I was in the wrong because I refused to be super restrictive. When I am training for an endurance race, I make sure my body is fed properly after any hard effort. It’s how it recovers faster and gets stronger. Diets, detoxes, and juice cleanses…yeah…you lose weight. You lose water weight. You lose fat. But you also start losing muscle mass. And I’m a runner. I don’t want to lose muscle. Muscle is what helps this body move faster, get stronger, and hopefully…not get injured as often. No matter what the person who created this meal plan and ran this group said to me…I wasn’t going to waiver on the type of nutrition that I needed to do the activities that I am doing. BUT…she did this in a public forum and made me feel like a failure or that I was doing everything wrong.
I’ve witnessed first hand the effects of starving the body of nutrition and recovery…watching someone I really care for waste away from over exercising and under fueling. If she did eat, she’d figure up how many hot yoga classes she’d need to do or how many extra miles she would need to run simply to negate the meager amount of food she did give her body. Not fueling enough does horrible things to your body. Especially when you’re active. But even those of us who aren’t runners or cyclists or gym rats…your body needs fuel regardless and when you’re operating on an empty tank…it turns to other means to get the energy it means to function. Fat…and then muscle. And, guess what…the heart is a muscle and eventually, that’s going to stop working properly too.
I am the first to admit that I do get triggered by certain aspects of the diet culture. Even today, as I’m comfortably settling into the idea of Body Kindness. I literally want to throw things when someone makes a reference to their paleo/keto dessert. Or the person who went vegan to lose weight and was disappointed when they didn’t. Or the diet pills someone is taking because it helps make them less hungry during the day. Or those “progress” pics that people put up that pretty much shame everyone who has put on even a pound because we’re not standing there in a sports bra with a smaller tummy or abs of steel. Or when people eat a handful of almonds and call it lunch. Or when someone says that they need to go to the gym because of what they ate the day before. The words “juice cleanse,” “cleanse,” “detox,” and “diet”…they all set off alarm bells in my head. Because, this “healthy” person is doing all this on Instagram…shouldn’t I too. And maybe if I did…I could be that skinny and strong and…whatever.
But…I’m not that person. And it took me the better part of the year to get to this point. And to say that none of this triggers me at any point would be a lie. I’m a perfectionist in my own right, and not feeling perfectly healthy or perfectly athletic has been challenging. But…here’s my takeaway…
Four years ago…and 20 pounds lighter, I ran a race on Thanksgiving that I run every year. I was at the peak of my running and the fittest I had ever felt. And I ran 5 miles in 36:52. I never cracked it since 2013…sometimes that race having me around 38 minutes. This year…with 2 years of hip injuries and 15-20 pounds more on me…I ran comfortably for the entire race, never feeling like I was pushing myself to go faster and I finished…in 36:36. I wasn’t dieting or fighting the scale. I was giving myself permission to eat better, more, and what my body needed as I was also in the midst of a marathon build-up too. So…lighter doesn’t necessarily mean faster. And faster doesn’t necessarily come because you follow a strict diet. Hard work is what gets you there.
And trust me…there is nothing easy about learning to love yourself the way you are. And there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve yourself. But, just for a moment, take a breath and forget about your clothing size and that number on a scale. Forget about seeing yourself fitting in with the social norm. That’s the great thing about being a human being. We’re all different. Perfectly imperfect. And we don’t have to miss out on experiences and treats and foods because we’re told by society what is “good” and what is “bad.”
This journey hasn’t been easy and, yes…I still struggle. Even today I struggle, especially with the “perfect squares” of those “perfect people” in social media. I struggle when I hear someone say they are being bad when they are just taking part in a holiday part or pitch-in. I hate hearing people tell me how much cardio they’re going to have to do the following day because they enjoyed a bit of dessert after their holiday meal. Guess what…it’s okay to indulge…in life, in food, in activities. It’s not okay to paralyze yourself and to stop living a full and happy life because of what the scale might tell you in the morning. Your self worth is not built upon what you are eating and how much of it you are consuming.
And I promise…it’s impossible to gain 3 pounds in one day…and it’s water weight…and it too shall pass.
So…how about this holiday season we share a bit of kindness with others, but also take a moment to spare some of that kindness for ourselves. Don’t stress the small things. Don’t miss out on something due to social stigmas and labels. Enjoy every moment and every bite and every bit of movement you manage that day, that week, that month.
Magic happens when we are not just compassionate, but also self-compassionate. So take a deep breath, and enjoy the foods and activities and moments that come with the season. It will lower your stress…it will brighten your mood…and in the end…you’ll feel better.
Here’s what I have gained since turning my back on the diet culture…late night sushi runs with friends…wine tastings with friends…dinner parties with friends…game nights, brunches, dinners, new ethnic food outings, movie nights, fun runs, vacation planning with friends, so many more invites…so much more quality time with people…bonding…laughing…joy. My life gained so much joy and shed so much unhappiness and stress and feeling self-conscious and unworthy. What I was gaining was way more important than what I had been trying to lose.
I really started living and being and enjoying the little things as well as the big things. There are always bumps and setbacks. I’m not 100% yet. But I’m clearing a path and have gained so much mental health in the process that it’s really become physical heath as well. I’m not saying I don’t stress and cry and feel upset and out of control and lost…I do. But I have outlets and I have people who carry me through it and lift me up and don’t make me feel like I’m failing at everything. I’m a beautiful work in progress.
And that’s truly what makes the journey epic in the end.
Be happy. Life life. Do epic shit. Be full. And be well.
UGH! I have started three blogs in the past couple of weeks, which I have since gone and deleted because they were no longer relevant. MEH!! Kinda sucks when you put some hard work into starting something and just don’t have the time or energy to get back to it.
Welcome to my life as of late…
I’m trying desperately to reach a bigger audience both here on my blog and on my most frequented form of social media…Instagram. Really, I am an athlete that deals, daily, with Celiac Disease…and I’m working really hard on branching out on the blog…maybe in podcast form…and on Instagram to cover some of the trials and tribulations of this.
But I need more help. So, if you could help me out a little…directing people to my blog and my Instagram (and if you aren’t following me…please…give me a little click and follow along)…I will love you forever!
Okay…so let’s do some quick catching up, shall we? What in the world have I been up to since…October 20th, when I blogged about setting and reaching goals? Well…a LOT!
First of all, the great apartment repaint, reorganize, and redecorate has commenced. The two bathrooms, the kitchen, and HALF of the living room are DONE! As far as painting goes. The decorating is taking a bit more time, because I’m totally OCD and need to measure everything I hang up to make sure it’s centered and perfect on the wall. But…progress!
I am not a fan of painting. It is tedious and tiring work…but I love the way the apartment is starting to look. After eight years of living there, the apartment definitely needed a touch-up. And being able to finally redo some of the wall hangings has been a nice change too.
For the 4th (I think this was the 4th year) year in a row, my roommate (Cathy), her sister (Amanda) and I went to the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park in Louisville, KY! We always make a night of out this, starting with dinner (we got sushi – mine was vegan), a hot beverage (usually apple cider or tea) from Highland Coffee, and then, Mr. G’s Kettle Corn while we stand in line to walk the half mile path and gaze in awe at all the amazing pumpkins. Seriously…this was AMAZING. It always is, but the theme this year was A to Z and they did a fantastic job with all the pumpkins.
On October 26, I went to the University of Louisville Comstock Hall and got to listen to the iconic Kathrine Switzer speak. She was so empowering and totally made me want to do ALL THE THINGS. I was just so wrapped up in her talk about her life and how she got into running and how the Boston Marathon incident came around and WHY this was so life changing. I was hoping there would be a photo-op afterwards, and there was. I had brought my Disney Wine & Dine bib, Bib #261, which I received in 2014, just after I met her at the NYC Marathon Expo the year I ran it. I told her the story and she was just so freakin excited. She even got a picture of the two of us with our 261 bibs on her iPhone.
She signed my bib “Karen – You are awesome and fearless.” I thought I was lucky to have met in her NYC 3 years ago…but I just got to meet her again…AND had a fun story to tell her. She might be my new running BFF. If nothing else, she is someone who has always and will always inspire me. After going to her talk, I just wanted to make SO many changes in my life…seek out things that really make me happy…
HENCE…wanting to do more with my blog and social media. So…again…if you could give a like and follow here and on Instagram…and tell your friends…let’s do this thing.
Dreams need to come true!
And I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. And so often stuff just gets crazy and things I enjoy…like blogging, writing, cooking, eating, running, etc…sort of get pushed to the background. NOT THIS TIME!
In addition to this…I’ve been enjoying watching Louisville City FC climb the ladder to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the THIRD TIME in as many seasons as they have been around. YAY!
Granted…last week I was pretty much frozen and the boys didn’t score until after Half Time. I had been hoping to keep warm by constantly jumping out of my seat. That being said…this is always as far as we get in the finals. And I want us to go on to the championship…and WIN IT! And the weather this Saturday looks to be warmer and much more enjoyable than LAST Saturday. I even stayed up late to drink hot tea to thaw out afterwards it was that cold. But the win was worth it.
Here’s to another one…if the soccer gods shine upon us!
Halloween came and went…in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t scheduled to do a run on Tuesday, but I was heading to the gym for some strength training. I dressed as Wonder Woman. I think it inspired me to lift heavier and more. But, damn…look at my arms these days!
So, yeah…training is still happening. I’ve cut back on cardio by a lot when it comes to time at the gym, usually hopping on a machine for 10 minutes to warm up and 10 minutes to cool down…and then I do one day of arms/abs and one day of legs/core. My running has been progressing. My hips hardly twinge at me unless the weather is cold or I sit too long. So, the strength training is paying off (not just in giving me amazing muscles to flex). I am currently using a run/walk method and hope to get back to a solid run in the very near future, but this is working and, honestly, hasn’t really slowed me down all that much with the short walk breaks in between efforts. So…YAY! And, thankfully, I have found one friend who is willing to train with me this way and doesn’t complain or mind. WINNING! Long runs are much more enjoyable with someone. And someone who doesn’t mind the starts and stops in my current training method is even better. There aren’t a lot of people who are willing to train that way or want to train that way. So, I count myself lucky.
I have a few recipes that I will add to the blog this week…if not tonight/today. I’ve been having a great time experimenting in my kitchen with all the winter squash and seasonal foods that are showing up in grocery stores. I buy that stuff up like it’s going out of season. And it’s not. The season is just starting! Grocery shopping is always an adventure when I decide to get all chefy and creative in the kitchen.
That’s pretty much it for right now though. Trying to really do better for myself and I am really trying to make some waves in the Celiac and running communities. So…watch this space. Get others to watch this space. And I post DAILY on Instagram, so, for one last plug…make sure you follow me over there.
Follow along with my progress…because there will be as many ups as downs, I’m sure. But if there is one thing I have learned from all of this over the past couple of years…is that I am stronger than my situation. And I learn and grow from every obstacle. Grow with me!
Guess what!!??
As part of my self-care, self-esteem building, bettering-of-myself experiment that is an ongoing series of successes and (yes) failures…I’m expanding my mind and still attempting to squeeze in a bit of ME TIME, which feels almost impossible these days…but I work with what I have.
Therefore…I’m listening to music…
In fact, I was fortunate enough to attend the U2 show in Louisville, KY this past weekend. And while it was hot and I wilted and melted until the sun went down, the show was amazing and I (as always) cried during Where The Streets Have No Name as well as Running To Stand Still. U2 and I have been in a musical relationship since I was a child…and, while I have seen them numerous times in concert, this show was on my home turf and I wasn’t going to miss it. I’m glad I went.
Honestly, I needed that show. I’ve sort of given up finding inspiration in music. Why search for new music, when some of the best lyrics, some of the best songs, are in the old favorites? I stand corrected!
I’ve also started diving back into some books. In fact, I’m working on three at this very moment. Yes…at the same time.
So, what is on my reading list at the moment? Well, at the encouragement of my sister, I am working through 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher, on my Kindle.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with this book, but in case you’re not…here is the synopsis from Amazon.com:
You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.
At work, I often listen to podcasts these days, but there is still room for my beloved audio books. It’s so easy to listen to a book while I do my work…so I can escape and still be productive. Let’s here it for multitasking. I am currently listening to Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, which is the very book that Lin-Manuel Miranda was reading when he was inspired to write the Broadway musical Hamilton.
It’s fascinating and a nice escape for the first part of my day at work. Once again, here is the synopsis from Amazon.com:
In the first full-length biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades, Ron Chernow tells the riveting story of a man who overcame all odds to shape, inspire, and scandalize the newborn America. According to historian Joseph Ellis, Alexander Hamilton is “a robust full-length portrait, in my view the best ever written, of the most brilliant, charismatic and dangerous founder of them all.”
Few figures in American history have been more hotly debated or more grossly misunderstood than Alexander Hamilton. Chernow’s biography gives Hamilton his due and sets the record straight, deftly illustrating that the political and economic greatness of today’s America is the result of Hamilton’s countless sacrifices to champion ideas that were often wildly disputed during his time. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.” Chernow here recounts Hamilton’s turbulent life: an illegitimate, largely self-taught orphan from the Caribbean, he came out of nowhere to take America by storm, rising to become George Washington’s aide-de-camp in the Continental Army, coauthoring The Federalist Papers, founding the Bank of New York, leading the Federalist Party, and becoming the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power. His is a Hamilton far more human than we’ve encountered before—from his shame about his birth to his fiery aspirations, from his intimate relationships with childhood friends to his titanic feuds with Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Monroe, and Burr, and from his highly public affair with Maria Reynolds to his loving marriage to his loyal wife Eliza. And never before has there been a more vivid account of Hamilton’s famous and mysterious death in a duel with Aaron Burr in July of 1804.
Chernow’s biography is not just a portrait of Hamilton, but the story of America’s birth seen through its most central figure. At a critical time to look back to our roots, Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the purpose of our institutions and our heritage as Americans.
And finally…at the encouragement of my amazing, inspiring, and brilliant friend, Melissa, I picked up a book this past weekend to read. She said that it would really help me through the struggle-bus thought process I am currently working through. So far, she’s right. I haven’t gotten far, but I’m going to make a point to sit down and power through this book. It’s called You Are A Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero.
It’s very motivating, the bit that I have squeezed in to read. And I find myself nodding and cheering for myself to get this excited about my life. Maybe it will help. I think it will. I’ve already found SO many sentences that I can apply to my current struggles. In case you’re confused…here is the synopsis from Amazon.com:
Bestselling author, speaker and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, cuts through the din of the self-help genre with her own verbal meat cleaver in You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life. In this refreshingly blunt how-to guide, Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, life-changing insights, easy exercises and the occasional swear word.
Via chapters such as “Your Brain is Your Bitch,” “Fear is for Suckers” and “My Subconscious Made Me Do It,” Sincero takes you on a wild joy ride to your own transformation, helping you create the money, relationships, career and general all around awesomeness you so desire. And should you be one of those people who would rather take a bullet than get busted with a self-help book in your hands, fear not. Sincero, a former skeptic herself, delivers the goods minus the New-Age cheese, giving even the snarkiest of poo-pooers exactly what they need to get out of their ruts and start kicking some ass.
By the end of You Are a Badass, you will understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to start living the kind of life you used to be jealous of.
So…that’s what is on my reading list currently, but why stop there? I’ve become so immersed in podcasts as of late. And while I love a good true crime podcast, I have been directed to, or even discovered through my own hunting, some uplifting and amazing podcasts that I’ve been diving into at work as well. These include:
I really need to think more about working toward my nutrition degree or becoming a dietician. I love learning new things and also…learning how to be kinder to myself during these very trying, often stressful times as I attempt to get this body back to a place where I feel comfortable with it.
AND…I have been out to the movies and had to see, because…reasons, WONDER WOMAN. It was campy and fun and amazing and everything that it needed to be. I was nicknamed Wonder Woman years ago by my running store/group…so this was a must see. And if you haven’t seen it yet…I highly recommend it!
I have numerous more movies on my TO SEE list…so we’ll see how many I manage to get through before they leave theaters.
So…that’s what I’ve been up to lately. And yesterday, I broke out my Vitamix and whipped up an amazing smoothie for breakfast that I’ll share the recipe for in a different entry.
What books/podcasts/music/television shows have you been enjoying lately? I want to hear all about them. Comment below!! I’m always looking for new things to get into!
The Celiathlete 