Run to Finish (Daily Running Log)

30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge: June

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:08:13 PDT

A blended drink (we aren’t talking mimosas here) makes all of the nutrients in food bioavailable to your body to be absorbed right away without needing to go through the full digestion process. This helps to get those vitamins where the need to go and let's be honest would you fix yourself a plate of 2 cups kale, 1 banana, 1 carrot, some broccoli…all raw for breakfast? Hey maybe salad for breakfast is your thing, but nonetheless a single smoothie a day ensures lots of vitamins and veggies.

The 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge starts on June 1!

You weren’t ready for the Vegan Challenge, but need more veggies in your diet.
Solution = Green Smoothie Challenge

You’ve been struggling with low energy in the afternoon and need to be more focused.
Solution = Green Smoothie Challenge

Your skin is breaking out more often or your hair has lost it’s luster.
Solution = Green Smoothie Challenge

Your increasing the intensity or length of your workouts and you need better recovery.
Solution = Green Smoothie Challenge

A blended drink makes all of the nutrients more bioavailable to your body to be absorbed right away without needing to go through the full digestion process. This helps to get those vitamins where the need to go and let's be honest would you fix yourself a plate of 2 cups kale, 1 banana, 1 carrot, some broccoli…all raw for breakfast? Hey maybe salad for breakfast is your thing, but nonetheless a single smoothie a day ensures lots of vitamins and veggies.

What you will need for this challenge:

Open mind
Desire to experiment
Protein powder (can use Vegan one’s like Vega or stick to Whey)
Blender - I have used it all from a Magic Bullet to a Vitamix…you can do wayyy more with a good blender, but it’s not required to just get started!

What are you waiting for? Sign Up in the form below.

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Gratitude Journal
May 24
I am grateful that I treated myself to a VitaMix last year as not only a reward for working hard, but an incentive to keep making daily smoothies.

The Kick I Needed and Under Armour Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Wed, 23 May 2012 05:00:04 PDT

Workout motivation is not something I have struggled with since I started doing it for my own reasons and not because a coach told me to…however, pushing myself harder and reaching new levels has certainly been an area needing improvement.

The Under Armour Wha't’s Beautiful Challenge came along at just the right time and has really inspired me to stick to my goals. In the last week, I have been pushing harder on my intervals, dropping race pace miles in to my long runs and GASP passing up frozen yogurt!!

Living in Miami means humidity year round, so it’s important to find gear that allows me to keep going when I’m drenched without weighing me down. I have run in Under Armour Heat Gear tops for a long time because they NEVER chaffe, they keep the moisture at bay and well hey they fit me great. Today I decided to test out their Compression Capri’s. Pardon the abs, they are part of this whole process to get to race day in better shape. You all know I’m a crazy compression lover and these pants fit FANTASTIC. I have used Under Armour compression shorts for past races, but the thin waist band always made me feel like something was being squished over the top…I actually snipped the band on one pair because I loved the shorts and really wanted to race in them feeling a just a little more comfortable. Let’s be honest I think everyone of us runs better when we feel better and their new compression pants have the wider waistband. These are not a hard core compression like some of the others I use for recovery, but I do like them and will probably use them for race day.

Post run I have been extremely dedicated to my nutrition. I am drinking a recovery smoothie or a plain green monster at least once a day, along with lots of clean, unprocessed foods. At first I was really worried about kicking my sugar habit after a week in KC with way too many available, but I have allowed myself some dark chocolate and otherwise really found that I was truly craving great foods. I swear these smoothies help with cravings.

I am so excited to be following all of you in your own challenges and to see how all of the women on the What’s Beautiful Challenge have come together to really push each other! If you haven’t signed up yet, you have to check it out! Not only are you picking a challenge, but there are then minor challenges that give you steps along the way to meet your goal.

How do you empower your workout??
Leave a comment for your chance to win a $500 Under Armour gift card!

SWEEPSTAKES/GIVEAWAY RULES
Rules: No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion, including exactly the following unique terms in your tweet message: “#whatsbeautiful” “#sweepstakes”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post. To comply with FTC Guidelines (see http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm), entrants’ blog posts must disclose that they are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post.
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 5/23-6/11.
Be sure to visit Under Armour's page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews.

The Power of a Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:10:40 PDT

Over the years one of the things people have often noticed in my workouts is A LOT of walking. What’s interesting is that I never walk during a run, but can go for ages before, after or any other random time.

Patti asked me if I could expand a little on why I walk so much because maybe she was missing out on something great. While walking is always touted as a great form of exercise, those who are runners or more fit often look down on it as “too easy”, but I adore a great walk.

Nature: I will do almost anything, except camp, to spend time outdoors. It makes me extremely happy.
Kick Start: Have you ever thought about a speed session and you simply knew your body wasn’t ready…sometimes a short walk where you end up hearing your favorite song gets you motivated to give it a shot.
City living: We chose to only bring 1 car to Miami so I spend a lot of time walking to do errands and I like it.
Slow thinking: I think at high speed when I run and at a more slow deliberate speed when I walk.
Foot time: I subscribe to the idea that more time on my feet is better during distance training and thus far it has served me well
Friendship: Have you ever noticed that when you run with someone you tell them things you might not tell your best friend? There is something that happens with endorphins and not looking someone directly in the eye. The problem is sometimes the person you need to talk to doesn’t run, but almost anyone will agree to walk with you.
Site Seeing: Lacing up for a run in a new city is one of my favorite things, but I will often go back for a walk afterwards so that I can actually take in the little shops or pick out a little whole in the wall restaurant where we could have dinner.
Wake Up! Numerous studies have shown that a small bout of exercise during your day can help you stay more focused during the afternoon. Since I don’t always have time to shower after a run, I can usually get away with a walk in almost any outfit.
Active Rest: I have found that if I do nothing on my rest days, I feel sluggish for my next workout. Instead taking a long walk allows my muscles to stay active and helps me feel more refreshed the following day. Walking prior to a run has also been proven to help you run farther by allowing your muscles and body time to warm up to the activity.

My average walking pace is about 4.0 which is a 15 minute mile…but a walk can be slow or fast or any combo of the two depending on what you need from it! My one caveat is that just as with running you need to look at your form to ensure that you don’t over stride and thus create an injury that would prevent you from doing other things.

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Gratitude Journal
I am grateful for living near the water so that I may enjoy some pretty awesome views of nature during my morning walk or run.

Workouts and Gear: Running With Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:27:20 PDT

Speed work and I may become friends after all…I have always said I hated it, which really doesn’t make it any easier. What I realized is that I need to learn to like it for different reasons than I like my long runs. Speed isn’t time to ponder life, but to prove to myself that I can achieve anything I set out to do.

May 14
AM: 40 min walk
PM: 40 min walk, 30 min self practice yoga with core focus
- sometimes you just need it to be quite and to flow through some poses

May 15
AM: 20 min walk, Interval work for total of 5 miles in 44:45
1 mile, 1200m, 800m, 400m, 200m - Started at race pace and increased speed with each round, 3 min rest
PM: 25 min run with David (no Garmin!), 20 min walk
-- Ok so no yoga happened today, but honestly 12 hours of work and those runs wiped me out
Sweaty love

May 16
AM: 15 min walk, 10 min weights, Sage RounTree IT Band Express and Core Flow, Travel Warrior Flow (about 30 min total for all)
Lunch: Tried a runch, but it started raining 1 mile run, 10 min walk
PM: 35 min bike trainer, 25 min walk with David

May 17
AM: 22 min walk, 6.7 mile run, short stretch
.5 warm up, 2 miles @ 8:27, 1 mile @ 9:50, 2 miles @ 8:13, 1.2 mile @ 9:50
PM: 30 min Boost Your Immune System Flow - OMG love. It was a quick paced flow which is what I needed, but with some great breathing. 25 min run with David

May 18
AM: 3 mile easy run, 20 min walk, 40 min easy bike - one hour sports massage pain and pleasure combined
PM: 30 min yoga, 30 min walk with David

May 19
AM: 25 min walk, 13.1 miles in 2:08 - Easy run on tired legs, felt very proud that I did it!
PM: 30 min yoga self practice focused on hips

May 20
AM: Beach walking with David 45 min
PM: 45 min core flow yoga, 40 min walk round trip to baby shower

Running: 33.8 miles
Yoga: Avg 30 min daily
Everything else…totally fallen off. When you are focused on a race does your cross training fall off?

Overall: Feeling really great about completing speed work consistently. Now I just need to keep it going for a few more weeks to hit my PR goal.
Nutrition: Sticking with about 200-250 calories a day that are treats, otherwise clean eating! I wish I could say this has lead to weight loss, but not so much…still debating if it might be fat loss though.
Best Workout: I am really proud of doing the 2 mile tempo interval run. It definitely helped me find a different way of looking at my runs.

Gear: Running with Joy: My Daily Journey to the Marathon
A good book about running will often encourage you to push harder or find ways to dig deeper to meet your goals…this book by Ryan Hall helps you to see that even a gifted, Olympic runner goes though the same mental hurdles!

This book is Ryan’s daily training log, but unlike yours or mine it contains a lot more than simply miles logged. He talks a great deal about his faith because that plays a large role in his personal success, but you also see the moments of doubt, jealousy or uncertainty. While this is a training log it doesn’t contain mileage totals for the week because as Ryan states his focus is on the quality and he believes quantity is different for everyone.

“I fixate on the schedule and focus on completing it rather than concentrating on what I am actually doing and living in the moment.”

“I have trained myself to ignore pain and tightness so I can push myself through discomfort. This is a great mentality in races but not the best for longevity.”

“This is where the mental side of running comes in to play in a huge way…not force all my workouts to be at the same level…”

For those who are put off by his talk of Christ this probably will not be the book for you, but I appreciate his sincerity of belief and I think for many that belief is what aids in their running. This certainly isn’t a book about how to train like an Olympian, but how survive a marathon training cycle of the mental and physical highs and lows.

For more about Ryan Hall, checkout my interview from the ING Marathon.
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Gratitude Journal
May 21
I am grateful for fellow bloggers who take time to answer questions and are supportive to everyone!

Long Run Sundays: Recovery Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:42:00 PDT

Some people go to church every Sunday to find their center; I go for a run. Long runs are my time to really think and make decisions about life…I get so excited about them that I actually did this weekends long run on Saturday!

After a long tempo Thursday, easy run Friday and…A SPORTS MASSAGE this was really not one of my finer ideas. While the massage felt great, it was horribly painful when she dug in to my shins, my hip and my calves. I have the bruises to prove she wasn’t messing around.

Anyhow I got up Saturday morning and just wanted to go! I set out thinking I would just see what happened…because well the weather looked just this awesome.

I have been wearing Under Armour heat gear shirts for years because I like how they fit, but let’s be honest a few miles in this humidity and well you are already wringing your shirt out.

I averaged just under a 10 minute mile for 13.1 this morning and was exhilarated at the miles on tired legs and surprised to see my pace is improving even on easy runs. Unfortunately since I wasn’t entirely sure if I would do the full long run, I didn’t carry any water and in that humidity it really meant by mile 6 I was dreaming longingly of my Vega Sport Recovery drink.
Once I got home it was time to take good care of these legs and repay them for letting me do what I love!! While I may not be great at rest days, I am great at recovery!

Epsom salt bath - I like to use it as time to read Runner’s World and put in a deep hair conditioner!
Foam rolling - watch how to foam roll if you wonder what this contraption is
Stretching
Vega Sport recovery drink
Green Smoothie
Compression!!! 2XU Compression socks and 110% Play Harder shorts, it’s pretty sexy.

I kind of love that I’m so dialed in on this half marathon and not even thinking about a full. It really makes a difference in the training to know I don’t have to run any farther!

What’s your recovery plan after a long run?
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May 20
I am grateful for finding a massage therapist that knew exactly how to work on a runner.

The Yoga-Running Connection

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:43:56 PDT

All right my Yoga Challenge participants, I’ve got an amazing guest post for you today that I hope will encourage you to keep going or start incorporating more yoga.

The truth is, I never thought I’d be “a runner.” While I myself have been actively involved in fitness and sports for many, many years, I always admired individuals who carried that “runner” title, logging dozens and dozens of miles week after week and truly enjoying it. Although I briefly ran track in high school, I always gravitated toward sprinting events as distance running was never my forte- I think I always just assumed I wasn’t good at it, and never would be. Little did I know though that my consistent yoga practice would play a key role in kicking off (and later maintaining) my love for running.

Upon moving to Southern California almost 7 years ago, I became friends with several individuals who were big into running- everything from 5Ks to marathons to hash runs, fun runs and trail runs, and everything in between! Since fitness is such a huge part of my life (both personally and professionally) I thought this could be a great opportunity to actually give running a try, as I’m always looking for new ways to be active, especially if they include having fun and spending quality time with friends and loved ones. As I started to hit the pavement (and the trails..and the beach…and the hills) in time I incredibly began to log more and more miles, and I realized one day that there was one key component to my newfound success- my breathing.

As a yoga teacher and a yoga student the breath is always at the forefront of my mind, as a key element to any yoga practice is the work done on breath control (what we in yoga refer to as pranayama), in which the focus is to deepen, lengthen and extend the breath, which is then paired with movement (the linking between breath and movement is typically how a vinyasa style yoga class is defined, as the connection between these two elements creates flow and continuity). As I would set out each day to run, I would find myself tapping into my Ujjayi breath- a full, rich, yet smooth diaphragmatic breath in which the inhalations and exhalations are completed through the nose and are done so in equal length. With practice, this style of breathing can help one to extend the breath for a longer duration, allowing for improved endurance due to the greater amount of oxygen, and because of its rhythmic and calming nature, it also helps to reduce stress and provide almost a meditative like quality, which for me only helped to enhance the running experience. Since this is the breath most commonly practiced in vinyasa-style yoga due to the fact that it is the breath best suited for the practice of asanas (or poses), it felt very natural, almost instinctual, for me to utilize this breathing technique while out on long runs, which in time increased from 2 miles, to 6 miles and on to 10 miles at a time.

Just as it took time for me to gradually build up the pace and duration of my runs, so too did it take me time and great practice to master the technique of Ujjayi breathing, but the benefits from doing so have been tremendous. In addition to yoga allowing me to become more aware of such a critical element of life and movement (the breath), it has also physically helped me with strengthening and also lengthening key areas of the body that allow for greater ease not only in running and other fitness and athletic pursuits, but also in everyday movements. Specifically, I can personal attest to the many benefits of hip opening postures, like eka pada rajakapotasana (one-legged pigeon pose), agnistambhasana (fire log pose) and ananda balasana (happy baby pose), which allow for greater focus on the hip joint and on stretching the muscles in that area of the body which is not only important for runners (who often have misalignment in this region), but also for just about every person who spends the majority of their day in a seated position, such as at a desk or when driving a car (which causes the hip flexors to tighten and shorten). In addition to greater flexibility and improved range of motion, yoga has also helped me to develop greater core strength and awareness (which serves as the foundation for quality movement), as well to focus more greatly on balance, both on the mat (in physical balancing postures) as well as off the mat (in how I approach everyday life).

One of the greatest things I’ve learned through my yoga journey is to be open-minded and to embrace every opportunity, concepts which I regularly impart upon my students and others. Taking the first step (literally) and giving running a try is just one example of how I put into practice what I teach, and without that leap of faith I never would have had the opportunity to experience first-hand just how well yoga and running beautifully balance one another.

Jessica Matthews, MS, E-RYT, is an exercise physiologist, yoga teacher, group fitness instructor, personal trainer, adjunct professor, blogger and fitness personality. As a spokesperson and presenter for the American Council on Exercise (ACE®), Jessica strives to open minds, ignite passion and inspire the world to health and fitness through purposeful movement, quality nutrition and kind words. Jessica has been featured as a fitness expert on CNN and has been quoted in numerous publications including Shape, Self, Oxygen, Health, Oprah.com and USA Today. www.twitter.com/fitexpertjess
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May 17
I am grateful for this yoga challenge which has allowed me to begin to catch my own breathe and tap in to my true spirit regardless of circumstances.

Where are we moving?

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:05:20 PDT

This is the monumental question that everyone has been asking and really wants an answer to now that the Marlins Stadium is open…and it’s one we simply can’t answer yet.

It’s been a fun journey to see this place go from nothing but dirt to a very…interesting stadium. David’s job deals with a lot of contracts so he still has work to go for at least a few months and then well…we could end up anywhere.

One of his co-workers found out last Thursday that by Monday he needed to be in Alaska! Yup can you see me running with Sarah Palin in some snow boots?

{Source}

Or maybe a job will pop up in Texas so I can see some great friends there…or maybe…well maybe anything! I am definitely a planner so it has become difficult to agree to anything in the fall without knowing where we will be living and I’m having trouble even planning a vacation this summer because if we are about to leave maybe we should just stay here and fully enjoy Miami!

Overall we are not stressed about this move or concerned or even terribly worried about when it will happen. I think this is because we are content simply being together and have learned that we can make great friends anywhere, though it does take some work.

I find all of this highly interesting since I only changed homes 1 time as a child and it was within blocks of my old home. That stability was something my mother wanted for me and I truly appreciated it as a kid. Now we seem to be enjoying this adventure of experiencing new places.

Have you moved a lot in your life? Where did you like best?
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Gratitude Journal
May 16
I am grateful for ginger tea that helps calm my stomach.

Wordless Wednesday: Family

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:51:00 PDT

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Gratitude Journal
May 16
I am grateful for sources of unconditional love.

10 All Women’s Races

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:16:07 PDT

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run surrounded by thousands of women? I’m sure most of you guys have, but ladies it is an amazing experience and an opportunity to bond.

Checkout the full list of races and race series in my guest post at Fitfluential.

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Gratitude Journal
May 15
I am grateful for inspiring articles in magazines like Runner’s World that help me find a new mental gear to push through intervals.

Workouts and Gear: Be Present Tank

noreply@blogger.com (Amanda - RunToTheFinish) — Wed, 23 May 2012 04:10:34 PDT

25 days remain until I line up to run Chicago 13.1…with nothing less than a pretty lofty goal of hitting a 5 minute PR. As part of that, I am going to be providing more details on my workouts and continuing to do all the things that might help me prove to myself that in 30 days I can build on my strengths to do something amazing.

Win my new favorite tank in the giveaway below…

WORKOUTS
May 7
AM: 30 min walk, 30 min yoga
PM: 40 min walk with mom, 20 min yoga

May 8
AM: 6 miles of hillllls (57 min), 10 min walk
- I used my access to hills to run every one I could find for an awesome strength workout.
PM: 20 min walk, 45 min Power yoga for Happiness - I loved this one as it was a great workout but light hearted!!

May 9
AM: 30 min easy run, 10 min walk
PM: 30 min relaxing yoga after a day of travel - more just me stretching while connecting with David than true yoga

May 10
AM: 20 min walk, 40 min Total Body Transformation Yoga
I had time for a long class, but the teacher on this one just kind of weirded me out and I didn’t feel like completing 60 min.

May 11
AM: I managed to get through a strong interval workout knowing I wanted to be accountable to you here! My goal is to do this one weekly and see if I can work back up the ladder.
5, 4,3,2,1 min intervals at 8.0 with 3 min recovery - with w/u c/d 4.5 miles total in 40min, 15 min walk
PM: Relaxing yoga - to say work is stressful is an understatement, so this practice helped to interrupt my frenetic pace…but man it was slow which also worked my patience so after 20 minutes I switched to doing the ToneItUp Sunkissed abs workout, 20 min easy run, 10 min walk

May 12
AM: 40 min walk to yoga, 70 min outdoor yoga

Awesome get together with some amazing female athletes in Miami to watch Fast Women and get inspired!

May 13
AM: 20 min walk, 11.25 long run in 1:45 with a few miles at race pace
40 min walk to Stand Up Paddle Boarding!

PM: 50 min Strong Free and Happy Yoga
I really love this teacher! He includes some really challenging poses, which I think is fun for athletes but he also has this hang ten attitude about having fun.

Overall: Satisfied with my variety of yoga and with pushing in my runs…less variety this week, but I am realizing that it’s going to be hard to push all out in speed work if I am doing so many other activities at high intensity too.
Nutrition: 80% unprocessed and that feels great!! I enjoyed a piece of chocolate daily, 2 cookies, 1 bowl of ice cream this week so it was a great balance for me of little treats with amazing veggie based days.
Best Workout: My long run rocked as always, but really getting out to Stand Up Paddle Board with friends is one of those memories you treasure!
GEAR: Be Present Yoga Tank

I started wearing the Be Present Easy Cami tank last year for yoga and it quickly became one of my personal favorites. I don’t like super tight tops so this one feels comfy and can easily be worn from class out and about for errands. They recently came out with a new Racerback Tank and I knew it would be just as fantastic!

While the tank is loose in the middle, the bottom band keeps it perfectly in place. I wore it for my 70 min outdoor class so even with the wind and some pretty crazy poses it never once moved and then I was perfectly comfy walking home in it! Enter via the Rafflecopter widget for your chance to win!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Gratitude Journal
May 14
I am grateful for a weekend that while marked by a lot of work and stress was filled with so many great friends that I was continually reminded of what is important.