Cold Front

This past weekend I was an absolute slug. Not by choice, mind you. I had started getting a sore throat on Thursday night, and trying not to panic I proceeded full force into my normal Friday routine. I had runners at 6:30am, 7:30am and taught boot camp class at 9:30am. By now you would think I would know better that screaming at people for a full hour in boot camp class is not a good cure for a sore throat. Undaunted, I promptly left the gym after class and went home.......And then cut the lawn. Because let's face it, what is more soothing to the throat than dust and flying grass particles?


Needless to say, Friday night was an early night for me. I knew I was sick, I just didn't want to accept it! I received full confirmation of this upon waking up on Saturday morning. Thankfully, the two women I coach on Saturdays were both out of town and I had no classes to teach at the gym. The sore throat had morphed into a searing sinus headache and congestion. Awesome. I sat around and drank coffee and watched the Tour de France time trials during the morning, then spent the rest of the day napping, which would have been an awesome day if I had not felt like shit!

"I am NOT sick!"

 Sunday was basically a repeat of Saturday, only now the nose was running non stop and I had picked up a bit of a cough. I was a COMPLETE sloth on Sunday. I realized this when I found myself watching an entire NASCAR race, from start to finish. Yikes.

This morning I awoke feeling somewhat better, and now that the day has progressed, I am starting to feel much better. I had been going pretty hard with my own training recently, on top of teaching multiple classes a day and coaching various runners in between. So I am taking this illness as a sign. Initially I was freaking out about not getting in a  long run  this weekend, but I think the rest was just the thing I needed. It came at a good point also. The next two months will be focused on some high quality training for the 100 miler in October, so I consider this past weekend a "Reset" of sorts.

In the midst of all this sloth I did receive some good news. I have been selected to be an Ink n Burn ambassador! I am looking forward to working with this awesome group of people! I will be posting more info soon, including a discount code to use on their website.  Check them out here:
http://www.inknburn.com/

Freedom Friday!

Back when I was working my 3rd shift job in the restaurant service industry, Fridays would be a day of collapse. We worked Monday through Thursday, usually starting at 7pm and finishing most days around 5am or later. By the end of the week I was quite the mess. Then I would try to jump back into "Normal" time for the weekend, so Fridays would be my "transition" day. In other words, I didn't do shit on Friday!


  Two years removed from that stage in my life, I realize how unhealthy that life style was for me. I did sacrifice quite a bit financially, but now getting up each day with the goal of helping others through running and fitness is much more rewarding on so many different levels. The financial thing is coming around as well, which is nice too!


Today I was able to sleep in (5:45am)! First round was a three mile run at 6:30am with Debra and Kelly. Kelly was one of the original members of the running club at the gym. She had taken some time off and just returned to the group runs this week, so it has been great to be able to run with her again!


Round two was some running at the track outside the gym at 7:30am with two of my beginner runners. It has been neat watching them progress. Carolyn recently ran a local 5K and told me that during the race she could "hear my voice in her head" which I always take as a compliment!


Round three at 8:15am was a 5 mile run downtown with Jessica. Jessica has been running less than a year and has really embraced the run. She is training for a 10 miler and a half in the fall. We took it easy on the run today and enjoyed a much needed break form the high temps and humidity that has been hanging around NC the past several weeks.


  Round three was a 5 mile run downtown with Jessica. We took it easy and enjoyed the lower temps and humidity. I know it won't last!





I made it back home (after a brief stop at Starbucks) and recovered with a  smoothie.

6 oz. Almond Milk
1/2 Frozen banana
1 tsp Bulletproof MTC oil
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 scoop Vega Sport performance protein (chocolate)

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth!

My afternoon will consist of laundry, (there's a shock)  other chores in and outside of the house and designing a training program. The training program is for the husband of a friend of mine at the gym, who is "surprising" her husband with a gift of me training him for his first 5K!

Tomorrow is 10 miles at 6am, then teaching spin class at 9am.

Happy Friday!!

But it's a moist heat

Summer in the south. Nothing like walking out the door at 5:00am to 77 degrees and high humidity. We actually got a break in the weather today. When I walked out the door to a crisp 64 degrees I thought about grabbing my North Face pullover!


  You see, I have this race coming up in October, The Grindstone 100. I felt a big fall race would be great as I would not have to battle high temps on race day, totally forgetting I would be training in the Godforsaken heat all summer long! I am now at the point in my training where the long runs are heading North of 20-30+ miles, and I have foolishly put two 50K races on my schedule for August. I have never done well with the heat, but with each passing summer of training, I am able to handle it a little better.


Last week was a light week for me, so I met up with two of the girls I coach for a run on Saturday. Hannah had 13 on her schedule and Meghan had 6, so I split the route into two 6.5 mile loops. Meghan, the speedster that she is, dropped us early on the first loop, but cheered us on as Hannah and I went out for loop #2. The first loop felt good, but we could feel the heat beginning to rise and we had some more  hills waiting for us on this round as well. By mile 9 I was drenched from head to toe. I could feel my feet beginning to squish in my Hokas! Even though we had started at 7am, we were now starting to bake in the exposed areas. We stopped and power walked a couple of sections. We even made a "guerrilla" water stop at one of the local gas stations to fill our hand- helds from their sink. Thankfully the clerk was too distracted with other customers  to notice the dripping wet runners staggering through his store. We then ran past a guy selling watermelons on the side of the road. If I had cash with me I would have bought one. Hannah and I could have probably eaten the entire thing at that point. We had finished all the hills, and with 2 miles to go it was basically a flat run back to the gym. In the midst of all this fun, Hannah had dropped her car key. Meghan had told us she saw a key on the side of the road when we met up with her after loop one. Sure enough, Hannah was missing her key. We went back out the same way for loop 2, but did not see the key. Coming back in from loop 2, we ran past the spot again, but could still not locate it! After a call to Meghan for more specific info, we went back out and finally found Hannah's key.
The rest of Saturday I spent chugging water and laying about the house. I messaged Hannah later on in the day and was comforted to find out she was doing the same exact thing.


Sunday I got back out early to run at Umstead Park and got 8 miles in on the Bridle trail. Conditions were similar, but surprisingly enough I felt good and was able to run all the hills, including the rather long one on Reedy Creek that takes you back up to the parking lot. After running 24 miles out at Umstead the week before, 8 miles was a treat!


A few things that have really helped me keep going through the heat:

GenerationUCAN is my main fuel source for all my training and racing. Check them out! generationUCAN.com

Elete Electrolytes: These awesome folks really keep my hydration dialed in, proud to have them as a sponsor! http://www.eletewater.com/

Red11Sport are the ones who keep me "safe and unchaffed"! A great product that keeps me going mile after mile with no chaffing or "monkey butt'!  http://red11sport.com/

one of my patented "sweat angels"!