Monthly Archives: September 2010

Yay for double digit runs! I finally broke past the mental barrier and ran my 10 miler!  It was definitely an epic run: one that made me want to yell with joy, cry/think about about giving up, and everything in between.

But first, to fuel up for this run, I made one of my favorite meals for dinner last night.  Can anyone guess what I am making from this picture?  I know, it’s a hard one.  I’ll give you a hint: it’s a staple in Mexican cuisine…

If you guessed tacos, you hit it on the nose!!  I made pulled chicken tacos yesterday, by slow-cooking some frozen chicken tenders with a packet of taco seasoning.  After they cooked for a few hours, I pulled the chicken apart with a fork. Here’s my plate with all my fixings.

I promise there is chicken under there!!  My taco was huge, with all that tomato, iceberg lettuce, peppers, shredded cheese, and guacamole.  It was pretty filling too!  For dessert, I ate a small piece of my pumpkin apple banana streusel bread.

This morning I woke up with a sour stomach, again.  I had canceled my 10 miler on Sunday, because I just didn’t think my tummy would handle it.  Monday, it was the same story.  So today, I decided to run, regardless of how my tummy felt. My Larabar breakfast today was much less than what I’d normally eat before runs, but it still packed some good, quick carbs.  I’ve never had the peanut butter and jelly flavor, and it was pretty good.  Thanks again, Nicole for the loot!

I waited about an hour for the Larabar to settle (and for some Tums to kick in), and even though my tummy was still feeling a little off, I decided to take off.

Mile 1, I was feeling good.  I was keeping about a 10 minute mile pace, and it just felt good to be out there.  I had forgotten in the last week how much I LOVE running outside!!  Knowing that I should be keeping a 10:45-12:00 minute mile pace for my long runs, I decided to (be a little a little stupid and) run at a 10 minute mile pace as long as I could.

By mile 3, I knew I was going to need some sugar and fast!  That 220 calorie bar this morning was certainly not going to give me energy for 10 miles.  Unfortunately, all I had brought with me was 100 calories worth of Cliff Shot Bloks (which equates to 3 bloks).  I decided to eat a blok ever 3 miles.

At mile 4, I was starting to wonder if I was going to be able to keep the pace.  I knew that it was more important that I finish the run, so I told myself to slow it down if I needed to and to take walk breaks if I really needed them.

(During miles 5-8, I took a few walk breaks whenever I felt like my legs wouldn’t move.  I didn’t want to fall on my face like I did for my 9 mile long run!)

By mile 6, my legs were really starting to hurt.  I started mentally berating myself for not training as I should, because I’ve been skipping too many mid-week runs lately.  After getting down on myself some, I told myself that I needed to be on my game for the next month.  With this new found resolve, I became simply determined to just finish.  (I’ve started a Workouts page where I will be tracking my daily workouts (or lack thereof).  Check it out!)

Miles 7-10 were really a blur.  I remember tearing up a little (just a little) at how much my legs just felt like blocks of cement.

And then, finally, I was done!!  I walked a few blocks of Downtown Minneapolis to cool down my legs, and then I headed back home to stretch.

Whew.  10.02 miles in 1:45:55. Not bad.  My 10:34 average pace certainly beat the average pace of my 9 miler (which was 10:47).

When I got home, I just wanted to flop on my bed and take a nap.  Which I did, eventually.  But first, I tried some of this Recoverite that came in my blog giveaway package.

I was only able to drink about half of this before my tummy started feeling sick again.  Even though my tummy wasn’t at its best, I decided to force myself to eat some of my pumpkin apple banana streusel bread before crashing on my bed.

I crashed for 2 hours!!  I actually felt loads better after my nap.  Unfortunately, with all that sleep, I slept through lunch!  I ended up snacking my way through the afternoon, eating some graham crackers and a tortilla with melted cheese.  I’ve found that I do best when I listen to my body and what it wants on my long run days.

Time to go scrounge up some dinner!  We’ll see what I come up with!