Hills are your friend

 Today's workout was some hill repeats. I headed out to Umstead State Park this morning in the rain to get them done. 8 miles total, and some nice climbs along the way.  Hills are my friend!

Umstead Hill Work

At noon I had to go to the gym for youth cardio orientation, a cool program we have there that trains kids in the "tween" years about how to use the treadmill, elliptical and stationary bikes. I love working with the kids, and we keep things light and fun.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with an eye on the football games and working on my runner's training plans for the upcoming week. I did get some time to foam roll and whip up some Red Lentil hummus too!

Here is where you can find the recipe:  http://www.chow.com/recipes/14110-red-lentil-hummus


Judging from this shot, I do not think it is going to be a late night for either me or the pup!

Sightings

Getting up and going for my 7 mile run with one of my clients this morning was more of a challenge than normal due to the fact I did not got to bed until 3:00am last night. I would like to tell you that it was from some epic good time adventure, but I was at the gym where I work helping move equipment so they could come in and clean the floors.

I was meeting my runner at 9am, back at the gym of all places. I took a couple hand fulls of Energy Bits, washed them down with some coffee and off we went for our 7 mile run into downtown. I must admit I felt pretty good. I have really tightened up my diet since the start of the new year, cutting out almost all processed food and incorporating a huge green salad for lunch most days. I can feel the difference in my running already. I had a lot of holiday crap that needed to be detoxed (cookies etc.)
and I am feeling lighter and stronger as a result. But back to the run!

We were not even a half mile into it when we spotted something I had never come across alongside the road in all my years of running: A ( I am assuming it was used) pregnancy test! I would be hard pressed to think of anything quite that random I have spotted on the roadside.

 Oh yeah, there was that toilet!

So, I ask you my fellow running compatriots, what is the weirdest thing you have ever come across during a run?

Leave your answer in the comments section below!

Trifecta

Lots of running today. First client was at 5am, we got in a good hour long run. The forecast was for black ice, but luckily the streets were fine at 4:30am when I set out to meet Jamie for run #1.

Run #2 was at 7am. a negative split run of four miles with Hannah.

Run #3 was at 4pm with Ted. 1 mile warm up, then 1k at 5K pace with three minute recoveries. Four times. Then a 1 mile cool down. I ran the first 1K with Ted, then let him handle the other three. It's good to be the coach sometimes!

This evening I had a delightful session with the foam roller, followed by some quality time in my ProCompression calf sleeves.

Then a few more things to catch up on for NC Roadrunners, this post and some emails.

Get up tomorrow and do it all over again!

2 Hour Delay

Due to the inclement weather we had this morning (freezing rain/minor icing) everything here in the Raleigh area was put on a two hour delayed opening. I was scheduled to teach a boot camp class at 5:30am at the gym, but that was cancelled and the gym was not opening until 8am. I was looking forward to sleeping in a bit but SOMEONE did not get the memo about the delay:

Well, since I was now awake, I headed down to the gym. (The roads were fine by the way) The gym was empty, so I got in some weight training for myself ( MUST do more of this) and some burpees to get the blood really flowing. I then took to the streets for my run. Traffic was still light, and the temps were hovering right around 30 degrees, with a delightfully nipping wind to make things extra special. 4.15 miles done!

Back at the gym, I put one of my runners through some 400M repeats on the treadmill and then whipped up on two of my other clients with this Lovely routine:

Warm up 5 minutes at recovery pace on Treadmill

1.5 mile run for time (treadmill)
Then:
20 Air squats
20 burpees
1 lap around the gym track (200Meters)

Do a total of five rounds.

5 minute cool down at recovery pace.

Yes, I was cussed at.

But they still love me.

Weather Event

So we are having our annual winter weather alert and panic here in the south. Now mind you, the precipitation has not even begun yet, but school openings are already delayed two hours and the gym will not be opening until 8am. So much for me teaching my 5:30am boot camp class!

The past two days have been rainy and cold. I even ran inside on the treadmill this morning! I did run out in the rain at the Greenway in Raleigh yesterday afternoon before our NC Roadrunners Board meeting. On my drive into Raleigh, at one of the main intersections there was a homeless guy asking for money. Since it was raining and my Catholic guilt washed over me, (plus the light turned red) I gave the guy a few bucks. He was very gracious. I would like to think he spent that money on some fresh organic produce, but I will not get my hopes up. While I was waiting for the light to change I noticed that I was the only one in a line of about twenty cars that gave this guys anything or even acknowledged his presence.  I imagine if that were a stray puppy wandering the median I am certain there would have been 8-10 people stopped to help out. Now I will be honest, there has been a time or two I have sat in my car staring straight ahead, trying to avert my eyes to the man or woman standing in the median soliciting, praying for the light to change. Regardless of their circumstance or how they got to that point, we still have to remember that is a person out there. Hell, a few more stupid choices during my youth and it could well have been me out there in the middle of the road.

So I am making it a point during this Write and run 31 streak to take a moment each day and be thankful for the things I have.

Another phenomenon here in the south when there is a winter weather advisory is for folks to rush out to the stores and buy milk, bread and eggs, which is fine with me because there is always plenty of kale, tofu and almond milk left for me! Another perk of plant based living!!

My yummy Organic Fuji apple I had for an afternoon snack!

 

Sunday Run Day

Today I was out early to Umstead State Park to meet up for a run with two of the runners that I coach. When we met in the parking lot at 8am it was a crisp 17 degrees! We did a quick warm up and off we went. We ran the Reedy Creek/Turkey Creek Bridle trails, which are a wide crushed gravel trail with lots of really nice hills on the second half of the 9 mile-ish loop. We had a great run, with Meghan and Ted both thrashing the old coach, which made me very proud indeed.

Giddy students after kicking their coach's butt!

After the run I stopped at Starbucks for my post run Grande Pike with soy. Members of my family, which know my proclivity for post run coffee, texted their order in as well.

Riding with the fam's precious take out order!

Lunch was a nice big salad, and the afternoon was spent putting together next week's training for all my runners, setting the agenda for the Roadrunners Club executive committee meeting and catching some NFL playoff action. A fine way to finish out the week!

Staying Green and Mean in 2015!

Meet and Greet

Full day today. I taught boot camp class this morning at 8am, then spin class at 9am.Both classes were full and people were motivated and ready to get to work! After the gym I then went into downtown Raleigh to meet up with some fellow No Meat Athlete folks  for brunch at the Irregardless Cafe.   http://www.irregardless.com/.

 I had a great time getting to meet and talk with other plant based athletes! Great conversation and food. It was interesting to hear every one's journey to a plant based life style. It reminded of what it must be like when refugees from another country finally get together and can converse in their native tongue. In this case the language was plants. ( and running too!)

Inspired by this meet up, I got home and got into some running gear, ready to tackle a short run to keep my #writeandrun31 streak alive. The run was delayed however, by my daughter's arrival at the house and her announcement that one of her tires on her car was making a "hissing" noise. That "hissing" noise was air rapidly leaving the tire. We quickly took the car to the local (5 minutes away, thankfully) tire shop and got her two slightly used tires to replace the completely worn out ones on the front of her car. I should mention here that she was supposed to have done this a week ago, but it would seem she has inherited her father's fondness for procrastination. To add to the challenge, she was supposed to be at work at 3pm, and this all occurred at 2:30.

With that crisis averted, I returned home and got in a quick 3 mile run from the house.

Post run I took the dog outside for some well deserved play time. I got in a good round of stretching and foam rolling too. With the temps dipping, I headed to the kitchen to whip up some lentil soup. The recipe was easy, and it only took about a half an hour to make.  http://www.chow.com/recipes/29342-basic-lentil-soup

I will be heading to Umstead Park in the morning to run some trail!