Workouts 3.24-3.30 and ULTIMA

Last Tuesday I biked 50 minutes and did weights. Wednesday I ran 55 minutes at an easy pace.

Thursday I ran 11.25 miles in the heat of the day. I tried out a new sugar-free high-electrolyte drink, hoping to alleviate my intestinal issues that come with harder runs. It is called "Ultima." I tried three different flavors. The strawberry banana flavor was delicious--it tasted like a banana Powerbar. The lemon-lime flavor was yummy, too--not the overly strong flavor a lot of lemon sports drinks have. The kiwi strawberry was yuckity-yuck. The good news: NO unwanted trips to the bathroom!! YEA!! (I know you're all relieved.)

Friday I rested. Saturday I biked 1 hr and did weights. Today (Monday) I ran 1 hr 2 minutes at an easy pace.

Tortillas!!

We are tortilla eaters. We eat them as wraps, tacos, chips, and even pizza crust. I had learned to make them as a teen from my friend Cassandra's mom, but her recipe called for Crisco, which we now know is the very unhealthy hydrogenated oil (not that we thought it was manna before). So I searched the internet for a tortilla recipe that used some other healthier oil. Sure enough, I found a canola-oil based one. I have been making tortillas about once a week with lots of help from the boys. It was a very time consuming process, so I ordered a couple of tortilla presses. This SIGNIFICANTLY sped up the process. Here is the basic recipe along with an altered one we have enjoyed:

Basic Canola Oil Tortillas
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup warm water

Mix the flour, salt and oil together until it resembles course meal. Slowly add the warm water--you may need a little more or less than a cup--until the dough is evenly mixed and moistened but not sticky. If it gets sticky, add a little flour. Form walnut to golf-ball sized balls and roll out or press with a tortilla press. Cook on a hot griddle, turning after it starts to bubble then letting it cook just minute or less more. Store in air-tight container to keep pliable.

Fiber-rich Canola Oil Tortillas
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup hard white wheat flour
1 cup great northern bean flour

(the rest is the same as above, minus the 3 cups of flour) These were more flavorful, more filling, and more pliable.

Talladega, here I come...

So I'm off to do another long run. Before leaving, I decided to check out the route on the Talladega Half. Here it is:

I was under the impression the finish would be on the track. Apparently, 3/4 of the race is on the track!! CRAZY!!

BEACH!!!

So we went to the beach for Spring Break last week. It was a WONDERFUL trip. I had never gone in the spring and was worried it would be too cold. The water was a bit chilly (not enough to keep our boys from riding the waves), but it was a beautiful, serene, relaxing break from everyday life. We went with Eric's parents, so we all enjoyed being able to spend time with them--it had been close to a year since we last saw them.
We came home on Saturday, then on Sunday attended a concert of The Saints United Voices, directed by Gladys Knight. It was an amazing, inspiring and uplifting performance.
Today real life came back around. I received word that about 6 of our track practices in the next month were conflicting with soccer games being held at the stadium. Much of my day was spent working on and worrying about that issue. We had to move our practice time up, which will hopefully solve the problem.
While at the beach I was able to do some running. Last Monday (we were still here in town) I ran about 52 minutes. On Tuesday I biked 50 minutes and did weights. Wednesday I skipped and we drove to Pensacola Beach. Thursday I ran 12.35 miles in 1:43. This will serve as my main long run for the half-marathon coming up April 11. I felt okay, but had some intestinal issues I won't go into, and sincerely hope they don't afflict me during the race. Friday I skipped running (my legs needed a rest), and Saturday I ran 52 minutes at a tempo pace and felt great. Today I ran 53 minutes, taking it easy on the trails.

Workouts this week

Monday 3/9/09: Biked 50 minutes on the stationary and did weights.
Tuesday 3/10/09: Ran pushing Asher in the stroller 48 minutes.
Wednesday 3/11/09: Ran with Ashley to Trussville Springs and back. Daylight savings made it much darker than usual. We ran 7.5 miles, 8:20-8:30 pace.
Thursday 3/12/09: Biked 50 minutes and did full-body weights.
Friday 3/13/09: Speedwork at the track: 1 mile warm-up. 8x400 at 9-10mph with 100 walk/jog between each one, then a 2 mile cooldown. Felt this one that night and the next day.
Saturday 3/14/09: Biked 20 miles on the stationary in 1:03 then changed my shirt for a rain jacket and ran in the rain for 42 minutes. Felt great!

I signed up for the Talladega 2100 Half-Marathon. It happens April 11, and the finish is on the SuperSpeedway!! Yeah, I'm racing at Talladega--so now I'm OFFICIALLY an Alabamian.

Flying

I sometimes dream I'm flying. Not flap-my-arms-like-wings flying. And not Superman-style either. More like Michael Jordan, where my legs push off the ground with such force that soon gravity no longer has much hold on me. They are nice, but kind of exhausting dreams. My week has been a bit like one of those dreams. It has been very productive, but VERY busy.

We had our first week of track practice, which by and large went very well. On Tuesday at our first practice, the only big hang-up was that the bathrooms were locked. This is NOT good with 70 kids plus parents and siblings there. Luckily they were opened toward the end of practice b/c of a soccer game, but I knew I needed to take action. The next day I made phone calls, left messages and sent emails to coaches, city personnel and the high school athletic director to find out how to get a key. Thursday I received an answer and it involved purchasing insurance for the team, filling out usage forms with the school system and coordinating our schedule with them. Finally I had to find a willing parent who was also a school employee to be the key-keeper. Luckily this last one wasn't hard.

On Monday night my dad brought over some info on a pamphlet he wanted me to make for his business. I was grateful for the work, but had to have it finished and printed out by Wednesday so he could take it with him to New York on Thursday. I haven't had a deadline-driven marketing project for literally YEARS, so this was a bit of pressure. But I completed it and I think it went over well in his meetings.

Also this week I went to a recipe club, watched Eli's class, had Brandt home from school with an ear-infection for 2 days and took him to the doctor. Thankfully I managed to get my workouts in everyday, which is probably why I was able to stay sane.

Workouts this week:
Monday 3/2/09: Rode the bike downstairs for 47 minutes--barely fit it in during Asher's shrinking nap.
Tuesday 3/3/09: Ran the trails for 52 minutes. It was COLD outside. I think the windchill was around 17. The ground was very hard--places that were usually soft didn't give at all. I fell once, which I haven't done in months. I did a few weights downstairs, but not a full workout.
Wednesday 3/4/09: I ran with Ashley for 5.8 miles in just under 48 minutes. We pushed the pace pretty well.
Thursday 3/5/09: I biked downstairs 50 minutes and did some upper body weights. I did a bit of running at practice, too. I had the 9-12 yr. old boys, a really fun group.
Friday 3/6/09: I did a hill workout: ran 2 miles to warm-up then did 10 hill repeats Each one was just under 1/10 of a mile. I ran as fast as I could up the hills, averaging 8.5-9mph going up, then I jogged down. I ran just under a mile cool-down for a total of 4.43 miles. That night I went out and swung from a vine Eric had loosened and tried to take off a tree down by our sport-court. When he realized it would hold his weight, he dug out a little track and he, Brandt, and Eli took turns swinging from it. I came out later with the camera, but Brandt was done and had gone inside. Somehow most of the pictures that turned out clear were ones Eric took of me (I wouldn't have put so many of me up except that you can see the little area pretty well in a couple of them.) Eli and I had a blast taking turns swinging. It was a HARD arm and stomach workout holding yourself up on that vine!
Saturday 3/7/09: I ran 1:20, mostly on the trails. I was able to turn my speed up quite a bit at the end thanks to the following line up of songs on my iPod Shuffle: "Hit me baby one more time"(Brittney Spears) "It's gonna be me" (InSync), "Take California" (Propellerheads), "Dead Man's Party (Oingo-Boingo). I love when I'm surprised by several awesome songs to run fast to in a row (and I have the energy)."

Rain, Snow and Daisies

We've had some wild and crazy weather this week, but it has resulted in some fun, memorable time for our family. On Friday, Eric had scheduled a camp-out with the Scouts. He decided to cancel it because of the threat of heavy rain. Well, heavy rain we got. I ran the trail at Trussville Springs, which skirts the Cahaba River for about a mile on Saturday morning. The river was about as high as I've ever seen it. It flooded two areas of the trail--one area may be pretty pricey to repair. On Saturday afternoon we walked down to the river at the end of our street. If I was a kayaker, I'm sure it would have excited me--but I'm not, and I struggled fully enjoying it because Brandt kept trying to walk as close to the edge of the banks as possible. It was running so quickly, if he had slipped in, he would have been gone. Other than my constant fear of Brandt falling in, we all had a great time.

Then, on Saturday night a cold front moved in. This morning we woke up to about an inch of snow, and by 10 am, it was about 4 inches. By 3 pm, it was gone. "Seize the day" should be taken literally here when it snows. The boys had a great time--especially Eli--playing out in the snow. Brandt made a snow angel and a threw a few snowballs, then he said he was cold and hungry and went inside. Eli, however, stayed out, and he and Eric built a snowman on the deck. Asher was asleep for most of the fun. The pic of him was taken in the afternoon, after the melt, wearing Eli's vest.

I finished up a painting order last weekend and thought I would post pics of it on here. A friend of mine is having her first girl, after 3 boys. She commissioned paintings to go along with the bedding she is getting for her baby's room. I had a great time painting this set--especially thinking about a sweet little baby girl enjoying it in her room for years to come.

Work out log for the week:
Monday: I took the day off. My cold seemed to flare up again, so I decided to try resting.
Tuesday: I biked 52 minutes and did full body weights. I did a couple sets of 40 push-ups and my ribs hurt a bit, but I just tried to ignore it--big mistake.
Wednesday: I ran 7.5 miles with Ashley. My ribs ached the whole time. It didn't get worse as I went, it just ached, especially the more I swung my arms.
Thursday: I biked 1 hour and did weights. Skipped the push-ups and leg exercises because planning to do speed Friday.
Friday: Ran intervals. I ran about a mile into the sports complex then did 20 minutes of 1 minute fast, 30 seconds slow. I didn't wear my Garmin, but I tried to push about a 2 mile-5k race-pace for the intervals. Then I jogged about a mile home. The intervals included some hills, so it was a really good workout.
Saturday: Ran 7.5 miles--down to the flooded river area and back. My legs felt a bit tired, and my ribs were more sore than yesterday. I think the interval workout probably caused that.