HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Took a very short run today. I'm having problems with my left leg, don't know if it's the new shoes or too much working out. My race is in 3 weeks so want to be in good shape. I've decided to cut back one day on my boot camp until after the race. I'm getting spooked about injuring myself.

9 MILES, FRIDGE RAID AND PUMPKIN SEEDS

Yesterday the first thing on my agenda was to get my long run in that I missed on Sunday. I was suppose to do eleven miles so headed out on the trails and then the streets. I wasn't sure how far 11 miles was ( a lot farther than I thought) but figured if I went a certain way I would come pretty close to the 11. I was wrong, I finished with 9.50 miles. Guess I'll have to do better next time.
I was really tired when I got home but had to shower and get ready for Shayla to come and do a fridge and pantry raid. I'm in her goal contest to win $500. and the goal this week was to rid your pantry and fridge of anything that isn't clean eating. If you did the challenge you got 5 entries into the drawing. She arrived with a trash bag in her hand and quickly got to work. Frosted Flakes were the first to go then the Cascadian chocolate cereal followed by some granola bars. I talked her into leaving the Sun Chips because they were Allie's and I don't eat chips. Once the pantry was finished she head for the fridge, that was good except she almost threw away my husband's unhealthy salad dressing which I don't use. Finally the freezer, oh boy, mystery meat, and fudge pops found there way into the trash bag along with a half used bag of sweet potato fries.
This is the week we will be carving pumpkins and they are full of healthy pumpkin seeds. According to The Top 100 Health Tips by Janet Wright pumpkin seeds are one of the richest sources of phytosterols, which reduce the risk of arteries becoming narrowed by cholesterol. They also contain vitamin K, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, omega 3 oils and protein.
I'm going to roast my pumpkin seeds in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and then use them as a snack or sprinkle them on my salads.

COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES

This morning was boot camp with Heidi and J.C., we were inside doing a Tabata workout. It always amazes me how long 20 seconds seems when you are being timed. This was a good work out and I really felt it in my legs. We did squats with overhead press, push ups, wattle squats
, bicycles, and plank.
After boot camp I had to hurry home, get showered and head into Dallas for a mammogram. It's only been 4 years since I had one, shame on me. The test was being done at the Baylor medical center. I got there with about 15 minutes to spare before my appointment so had time to stop in the ladies room. Now this really surprised me, I opened the stall door and there on the wall was a small plaque saying " MAXIMUM WEIGHT LIMIT 300 LBS". I couldn't believe my eyes, I didn't know there was a weight limit for toilets. And what if you're over the limit and really have to go?

INTERESTING BOOK

I was at the library this week and found this interesting book by Janet Wright in the health section. It lists a 100 food, drinks, herbs and spices that have an impact on your health. There are six chapters that cover health improvers, detoxifiers and digestion, fitness enhancers, weight shifters, brain boosters and mood, and life lengthers. Each page features a food and gives the list of nutrients in that food along with the benefits of the food and a recipe to use.

For example pineapple contains vitamins B1, B6. C, copper, manganese and fiber. It also contains the enzyme bromelain which is an anti-inflammatory. Pineapple can help heal bruises and inflammation. It is also good for sore throats.

The recipe they give is for a pineapple salsa to be served with meat or fish

I have an 11 mile run tomorrow and may just go buy some pineapple to have when I get done to help with the muscle aches I'm sure I'll have.

EMPTY PANTRY

Yesterday I had hills on my schedule. I was to jog for 15 minutes and then run 2 minutes uphill at a hard effort; jog back down and repeat for 3 more times and finish with a 15 minute jog. I never realized how hard hill repeats were, ouch! My legs were so tired all day and still were sore in the morning.
This morning I was debating whether to go to boot camp, the legs were tired and I felt exhausted. I got ready and went, my mile warm up was slow but helped to loosen things up. Lucky for us we were inside using weights, doing push ups and the plank. Felt great when I was finished.
This afternoon I cleaned out my pantry, our goal for the week. We have to get rid of anything that doesn't qualify as clean eating. Let me tell you I had a trash bag full. Good by junk food. You should see all the room I have in my pantry now.

IT'S IN THE CARDS

Beautiful day for boot camp. We were outside playing poker again only this time she switched up some of the exercises. Today it was burpees, push ups, sprints, wiggles, Indians and squats. After five exercises we were given a 30 second rest.

Today is my oldest birthday so a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Amy.

MORE THAN 4

We're putting out our Halloween decorations today. I've noticed on my runs that lots of people have decorated this year. I had to search for the rabbits mask, couldn't remember where I had stored it.
This morning when I got up I was so sroe from yesterdays boot camp that I was really thinking of skipping my run. I remembered that sometimes when you'e sore or don't feel so good if you run you actually feel better. I only had 4 miles to do so I got ready and headed out. When I finished I had 5.36 miles on my Garmin more than what I needed to do. And yes I did feel better.

GOOD LUCK

Tomorrow these three ladies are running the Nike Women's Marathon in San Fransisco. They are such an inspiration to me. Always getting their runs in, up early every Sunday. I hope you all have an awesome time. Good Luck.

WORKOUT POKER

Today was a really fun but hard workout. Shayla had a deck of cards with her and explained what exercise they stood for. She would draw a card and we would do the exercise.
Spades - squat with shoulder press
Clubs -reverse lunges holding weight
Diamonds- plank
Hearts - push ups
Face cards - sprints down the parking lot and back
Ace - Indians

The value on the card was the number of reps we were to do, on the plank it was 10 times the number, so a 2 would be for twenty seconds.

It doesn't sound hard but trust me it was.

ACTIVE WEEKEND PART 3 AND ZUMBA CLASS

Sunday morning we all had a plan for some kind of activity. Riley, Katy and I were heading to Kennesaw Mountain for a hike.
Here we are about half way up. The temperature was in the 80's and we were lucky to have the shade.

Made it to the top, now the rest is all down hill. Look at that view.

While we were hiking Madison, Mike and Tom were busy at the shooting range. Hope they get some clay pigeons for dinner.

Last night I took a Zumba class at the gym. It was my goal challenge for the week, to take a class I've never done. I thought it would be pretty easy just dancing around. Oh no we were working up a sweat to all kinds of great music. There were places where I couldn't keep up and other times I was out of step but no one seemed to mind. It was an hour of fun, hard work and sweat. Would I do it again, maybe.

This morning I went for an easy run on the trails. Did 4.00 miles.

ACTIVE WEEKEND PART 2 AND A DEAD BATTERY

After the race we had time to go home and get a bite to eat and shower before we had to leave for Riley's soccer game. She is playing on a select team and has really improved on her skills.

While my husband took photos the rest of us sat in the hot Georgia sun. I don't know why I took that shower. The temperature was in the high 80's and we were facing the sun.
I think this was my favorite picture, we have one very similar of her mom doing the same thing at about the same age.

This morning I was ready to go to boot camp and my husband had a doctors appointment in Dallas so he took the big car and I was going to drive the Miata. I put my things in the car turned the key and nothing. Tried a second time and nothing. The battery was dead, I was miffed. This is when you should always have a back up plan. Mine was to go out and do run.
I checked my running plan and it was speed repeats. I don't think I have ever done these so had Jenny explain it and off I went.

I must say the repeats were harder than I thought they would be but that's how we improve.

Miles today 5.54

ACTIVE WEEKEND PART 1

My husband and I made a trip to Atlanta last week to visit our daughter and her family. When I told her we were coming she found a 5K race for us to do on Saturday morning. It was the Athletes Helping Athletes and all proceeds went to the Greyhound Adoption Association. I have to say this was one of the best 5K's I've done. The people were great and it was just over 200 runners. When we got our packet we were also given the name of our " Phantom" Greyhound running mate, mine was Slick. As we lined up for the start the dogs were along side the road we would be going out on. There was a person dressed as a rabbit riding in a convertible to start the race. Besides Katy and me there were her friends Tricia and Tonya, so the four of us lined up somewhat together but I knew they were all faster than me and soon would be ahead. This was an out and back race and included some pretty good hills. The weather was perfect, the hills were hard, the race was fun. We all ended up with great times. Tricia took second place over all and received a dog dish. Tonya placed third in her age group, Katy was ninth in her age group out of 50 and I placed first in my age group with a time of 35:22, a new PR. Another neat thing , the bibs are seed paper bibs and can be planted.

I loved the shirts, long sleeve tech. It will be perfect if we start getting cooler weather.

Katy meets her dog Max.

I meet Slick again after the race.


The four of us celebrate after the race. We were all happy with our times.

In the winners circle with my dog and medal.

WARNING

Last week a 28 year old runner was running on the Katy Trail in Dallas. She had ear buds in and perhaps didn't hear the biker as he was getting ready to pass her. As she abruptly changed directions she was hit by the biker slamming her head against the pavement. Sadly to report she passed away on Sunday.
I think we all need to be aware of the dangers that can happen as we run. I use ear buds but try to keep the volume on my iPod low so I can hear if anyone is about to pass me. I try to stay to the far right so if there is a biker there is plenty of room for him to go around me.
This was a terrible accident and probably won't be the last, but we all need to be aware of what's going on around us. So please if you use ear buds keep the volume low.

RACE REPORT

Christy and I did this race last year and liked it so much we signed up for this year.





The race is held at the Delaney Vineyards in Grapevine, Texas. This was a gorgeous day to be running. The temperature was in the 60's.

When we arrived there were already a lot of people checking things out. Free wine was going to be available after the race.

We got a picture before the race. Time to line up and we picked closer to the start than we usually do. Wished each other luck and waited for the horn to blow. I crossed the mats and hit my Garmin and turned on my iPod. A lot to do at a start. After about a 1/2 mile I checked my Garmin and for some reason it hadn't started so I hit it again and used it just to track my pace. I was able to run up the big hill, didn't do that last year. After the turn around I caught up with Brooke from boot camp. We ran the rest of the race together. One more big hill to go up and this time I choose to walk then it was down hill and flat to the finish. Brooke was slightly ahead of me, I finished with a time of 36:56:06.

After the race we spied Brooke trying some wine. Nice race Brooke and it was fun to have someone to run with.

While we waited for results we toured the winery. I was hoping this might be a prize.

Spotted some grapes that got missed being picked, guess they're raisins now.

Results are in and I took 1st place, another wine glass now I have a pair.

Found the rest of the boot camp gang and got a group picture.

And here is my glass, it has the race name, date and age category on it.

NEW SONG

Christy and I are doing the Vineyard Race tomorrow so I skipped boot camp today. I knew it was cardio day and there would be a lot of running . I didn't want to be sore for my race. I did however go out on my trails for a run/walk. I had my ipod and my new song was on, Angela's Surf City by the Walkmen. Boy did that make me want to run.
Last night was Yoga, another hard workout. There were a few things that again I couldn't do. I know it just takes time.