The Paleo Diet for Athletes

The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance

I first heard of the Paleo Diet through runner Dean Karnazes. I was always very interested by the diet, but I knew I couldn’t try it because it has meat as a main source of food.

For those of you not aware or familiar with the Paleo Diet, the Paleo Diet is essentially called the Caveman Diet. The Paleo Diet is supposed to be rather basic because there is no packaged food, processed food, or anything like that. You know the question what would Jesus do? Well, before you put that donut in your mouth you should ask yourself what would the cavemen do? They would go hunting for buffalo or whatever dinosaurs. I don’t know. I’m not a historian.

The Cavemen did not have all the food we have today. They literally worked for their food, burning calories nonstop. There was no dairy, grains, sugar, and all that other bullshit food we eat today. They simply ate lean meat, poultry, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. By eating these main foods, the body will have complete nourishment; especially for athletes.

If you didn’t notice, I didn’t mention anything about grains in the above paragraph.

As a runner though, aren’t carbs important?! What about that big pasta dinner before the marathon?

 This book says that you shouldn’t worry. You will get plenty of carbs through veggies and fruits. However, if you were to follow the Paleo Diet, you would need to watch your carb intake so you have enough fuel.

So, the Paleo Diet means no grains even oatmeal, buckwheat, and quinoa. It also requires no dairy. I don’t know about you, but dairy is highly essential in my life. No cottage cheese? No Greek yogurt? No way.

I did try following the Paleo Diet in my own way since I am vegetarian. I ate some dairy and barely any carbs besides rice. (Hello, Chinese food!)  I rarely eat processed foods in the first place so that was easy for me.

If you are interested in the Paleo Diet, fortunately, this book really helps you with the nutrition part of the Paleo Diet. It gives an understanding of what to eat, when to eat it, and why. It gives you information on eating eggs (because apparently those are okay in moderation) and caffeine.

I have no beef with the Paleo Diet or even the book The Paleo Diet for Athletes. It was well written, easy to understand, clear, and helpful.

I believe the following the Paleo Diet will help any athlete; however, I don’t believe that anyone needs to follow it to the bone. Eating no grains is insane. I think eating oats, some whole grains, barley, and quinoa is okay. Dairy is supportive to the body so why can’t we eat it? Who knows if the cavemen milked some cows. Then, don’t even get me started on peanuts. You can’t have peanuts or peanut butter with the Paleo Diet. Now that’s insane. I like my peanuts and my peanut butter straight from the jar after eating hot and spicy shrimp out of a greasy bag.

Due to those few rules that I do not appreciate, I followed the Paleo Diet with a 90% rule. I would (and still do sometimes) eat only fruit and vegetables with some type of protein on the side like cottage cheese. I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t see the harm in doing so.

I followed that routine for several weeks and felt the same as I do now, except now I feel a little worse so I am thinking of going back to my half ass Paleo Diet of barely any grains and just more protein. As of now I am trying to up my protein because my legs never feel re-freshed in between runs so I think that may be the case. Either that or I don’t eat enough.

Whatever the case may be, I recommend the Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel.  If you are looking for something new and something different from you oatmeal, Greek yogurt diet, try the Paleo Diet for a bit and tell me how you feel. 

Overall score: 7 out of 10

What type of ‘diet’ works for you?
Have you ever followed the Paleo Diet? What are your thoughts?  

11 Things

It’s Friday! It’s raining here, but my mood is high. How is everyone doing today?

Well, I have been tagged by Sarah for the 11 things survey. Holla. She’s beast.

The Rules:

1. List 11 random things about myself
2. Answer the 11 questions she asked me
3. Come up with 11 questions to ask other bloggers
4. Tag 11 bloggers do this next

1. I enjoy reading Good Housekeeping and those Family magazines. Don’t judge. They have good recipes.

2. I won’t dare touch a soda, not even diet, but I will drink sugar/calorie free Monster. I bet they’re bad for me. Go ahead and tell me how wrong I am.

3. I  cannot sit still through any TV show. I have to record it first so I can fast forward through the commercials and any parts I find boring.

4. I’m currently reading three books:

5. I want the abs of Kara Goucher.

6. My brother is my biggest idol. I look up to him more than anyone else.

7. It’s noon and I still haven’t showered. In my defense, I am waiting for the FedEx man for my laptop. I don’t want to be getting dressed and have him come to my door. Awkward.

8. Eggplant and brussel sprouts are my favorite veggies. 

9. I bought another pair of shoes. I already have these, but in blue. These will be 5th pair of Adidas Tempo 4.

10. I’m surprised at how much I pee. I pee more than a puppy.

11. While I was gone at boot camp, my doggy died. My mom didn’t tell me until I got home. It was awful and now I feel like a Debbie Downer.
Sarah’s questions:

1. Are you a Hunger Games fan? (I can’t wait for the movie!) Hello! Hell yeah I am a Hunger Games fan. I’m so excited for the movie.

The only thing that pisses me off about the series is the two guys and one girl aspect.

2. Physical or intellectual challenges? Physical. I can’t solve riddles.

3. Cardio, weights or both? Cardio only because I love running too much.

4. Name a pet peeve. I hate when people touch my sides of my stomach. Or when people walk super slow. Come on. The world is ending, start walking fast.

5. Psychology or sociology? I suppose psychology. I took a psychology class in high school and enjoyed it. It was really interesting.

6. Favorite way to workout your legs? Deadlifts.

7. Do you play angry birds? I do. I beat like all the versions of Angry Birds though.

8. Do you have any tattoo’s? Nope. I wouldn’t mind getting some though.

9. What is your go to post workout meal? Greek yogurt, peanut butter, cereal, apple or pear, and Luna bar.

10. The beach or the mountains? The beach. I need the warm weather.

11. What are you currently excited for? My 45 mile bike ride on Sunday!

I’m suppose to tag 11 more people, but this survey has been around the world and back. If you want to do it, do it. I have some questions you can answer regardless. 

1. When do you feel most confident?
2. Harry Potter or Hunger Games?
3. Favorite store that is not a grocery store?
4. If you could go to any restaurant, what would it be?
5.  Your opinion on Valentine’s Day.
6. Dark or milk chocolate?
7. Favorite actress?
8. How many pets do you have?
9. Favorite form of working out?
10. Could you live without Facebook?
11. What type of cell phone do you have?

Answer them in your own post or here.

Have a great Friday!

Since I’ve been gone…

Heya.

Since I’ve been gone…

I grew a mustache.

Since I’ve been gone…

I shaved it.

Since I’ve been gone…

I was called cute by one of my (male) coworkers after I shaved my mustache.

Holla.

Since I’ve been gone…

I ran, like, maybe sixish miles. I’m still in a hell of a running rut.

Since I’ve been gone…

I biked 52 miles.

Since I’ve been gone…

I have not been able to put down this book:

Seriously. It amazing.  I will definitely do a review on this. Thanks, Barbara Walters, for recommending this on The View.

Also, since I’ve been gone, I bought the ESPN Body Issue.

Look at those legs. Holy moly.

I think they could crush a walnut.

The ESPN Body Issue actually made me feel better about myself. I may have big thighs, but they are all muscle. I may be a size zero/one, but I’m strong. I’m buff. My dentist told me that. Nevermind my teeth. Who cares?

Gretchen Bleiler, Olympic snowboarder, proclaimed, “This is not about being sexy but about being strong and powerful and showing girls it’s OK to have muscles.”

Today, while working out, I actually liked my body for once. I’m not a stick. I’m not just a bone. I have gained muscle and weight, and guess what? I’m still a size one just like I was when I was 105 or 103.

I don’t weigh myself anymore. I’m not doing all this cardio like I was (thanks to my running rut). Guess what? I’m fine. I may not be 100% confident with myself, but I feel better about myself.

That’s a start.

“It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners.  Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit.”
 –George Sheehan

And You Thought You Knew Me Already

Hey, buddies!

Did you miss me?

I have been super busy working and trying to get my running game back on.

By the way, it’s not.

All my runs just make me feel awful. Afterwards, I’m like, “Alright. I bet I could get back out there tomorrow.” I do and then I start running…

My body is just like, “Slow down. Stop. Go again. Slow ‘er down.”

I even tried listening to music during my run and that simply gave me a headache.

I don’t know. Perhaps I’m just going through a running funk. That happens, I suppose. I would give up running for a week, but I wouldn’t know what to do instead besides lifting.

Also, another bee-tee-dubs for you, lifting is going fantastic. I am getting stronger. I love not being able to walk or lift my arms after strength training.

I do not want to be all down in the dumps about it. I’ll just complain about my running tomorrow.

I got something else up my sleeve. 

I was tagged by the super speedy Tara for the  “Blissful Blogger Award” and the “fresh fruition hungry blogger tag”.

The  “Blissful Blogger Award” requires 9 facts about yourself and tagging 7 other bloggers.

The “fresh fruition hungry blogger tag”  calls for before and after pictures of some of your eats, then tagging 6 other bloggers!

Well, I’m just going to stick for the first one for now and modify for the second award with just showing pictures of my food. I am too lazy to take a picture of my food after I finish demolishing it. Besides, who wants to see a photo of an empty bowl? You can see that any time. Just open up your cabinet.

Let’s get this started.

1. I haven’t cut my hair since the third grade. Of course I get it trimmed, but never have I cut more than, like, three inches.

2. I use to eat meat and eat at fast food joints all the time. Taco Bell was my all time favorite and because I ran too, I would eat like three burritos.

Hey, sometimes running does that to you. Ex: go read Dean Karnazes’ first book.

3. Not only do I not take photos seriously, I really enjoy to bomb other people’s photos.

4. I have made four documentaries during high school.

My first one was about teenagers trick-or-treating and how it isn’t acceptable. My second documentary was on a woman tattoo artist and my third was about a Mexican food cart. My final documentary was about a young girl with an eating disorder. Go figure.

5. I always carry a piece of reading material with me as well as food.

By the way, in the Hunger Games, I absolutely adore Peeta. I’m sorry, but Gale does nothing for me. Maybe it’s because his name is Gale and that just reminds me of Oprah’s best friend. I don’t know.

6. I have a rather strange taste of music. I listen from to everything from heavy metal to pop. I prefer alternative music though.

Christy the grunge kid.

7. I must admit it, I have read the whole Twilight series and at the time, I did enjoy the books.

Of course, they are not the best books ever and the movies totally blow, but I did like them. Go ahead and hate me.

8. Just as I went through a Taco Bell phase, I went through a dirty diner phase.

I only ate at scummy diners and ate loads of eggs with toast.

9. I love my job.

It will seriously be the number one thing I will miss when I leave in October. I will miss it more than this blog. No offense. I dream about my job. Really. I love it that much. Well, I dream about these certain people I work with… and they are a certain type of dreams… and that’s enough now.

Now onto the next award…

(I feel like a celebrity. Oh, thank you. You’re too kind.)

Instead of showing you before and after photos of my food, I’ll just show the before and you can imagine what the after looks like, kiddos.

Berry bread pudding

Eggplant w/ eggs

Well, that sums it up!

I tag anyone who wants the challenge of remembering to take a photo of your food after you eat it. Go for it. 

I’m off now. Have a good week!

Triggers

I come across many blogs that mention they have ‘triggers‘. I hope that I don’t have to explain what a ‘trigger‘ is, but in straightforward terms, it’s whatever (an image, person, food) that causes you to maybe restrict your eating or maybe binge, etc. 

I never been a person that has had ‘triggers‘. I view triggers as a weakness and something that would set me off to eat more or less. I wanted to be in control all the time. It would irritate me when I read blogs who said reading another blog could trigger them or seeing a model would make them not eat. It only bugged me because I thought that they were not strong enough and I thought I was.

Recently, I just began thinking about what triggers me to not want to eat a lot or to even fuel myself properly before a run. All my runs have been shitty. Really terrible runs. My body doesn’t want to go faster, but my mind is so into the run. Afterwards, I feel great that I wonder if it was me or my legs that were giving me a difficult time. Anyway, I thought, “Man, I need to be eating more. Why are more runs so poor? Why do my legs feel awful? I am always hungry before and during my runs anyway.” Also recently, I have been getting dreadful headaches after I eat. Is it because I’m not eating enough and when I do finally eat, my body reacts? I don’t know.

However, it just makes me think that maybe I have unconscious triggers despite my thinking that I am in complete control. I look in the mirror and think I look chubby with my tummy sticking out. My ribs are not showing. My hip bones barely show. The mirror is my trigger. My own image triggers me to eat like a bird.

I have always been my own worst enemy.

I should be happy with myself! I look happy.

And I am happy. My life is going in my direction.

I am going to be a Marine. I am going to show people that even though I am short (and possibly stout), I can be tough and beat the guys.

I am going to get ripped (as I eat a pear).

I need to eat properly and get muscular most importantly. The Marines does not expect weaklings. I need to be ripped.

Also, I have the Warrior Dash coming up as well as Race the Reaper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race the Reaper is the toughest obstacle race in Oregon with 18+ insane obstacles (5 miles worth).

No skinny ass white girl can do it so I need to stop looking in the mirror with such a negative attitude. Why do women hate the way they look all the time? The most beautiful women will look in the mirror just to pick out every fault. I do that. All. The. Time. Hence, I don’t get on the scale or look at myself in the mirror. So pathetic.

Triggers, no matter what they may be, are just plain stupid. They are. They are worthless and pointless. I want to be in control of my thoughts. I shouldn’t let an image or whatever stir me in the wrong direction.

———————————————————————————————-

In other news, I finished the first book of the Hunger Games.

Oh my god. Best book since Harry Potter.

All I have to say is go buy this book now. I would seriously give it a 10/10.

That’s all, folks.

Stay tuned for tomorrow because I will be doing my first WIAW. I want some critiquing of my diet.

“I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and you put the work and time into it. I think your mind really controls everything. “ 

- Michael Phelps

Unbearable Lightness Review

‘Ello, mates!

I am in a fairly good mood despite the fact that I have spent too much money in the past few days.

I bought the second season of Eastbound and Down.

Have I mentioned I love Danny McBride and crude comedy? Yeah, I make those type of jokes if you know what I mean. I might as well be a ten-year old boy.

I bought Lululemon shorts.

On sale, baby.

Then I bought these with much hesitation - Adidas Adizero Mana 6 

I bought them online with free shipping/returns so if I don’t like them, I can return them. I really just want another pair of my Adidas adiZero Tempo 4, but I already have both colors. It just makes me super nervous since those shoes work so well for me, I hope these do too. They are supposed to be similar.

Anyway, I had two days off from work so I just spent money because I’m insane. 

With my two days off from work, I lazily went to stores, grocery stores, and the movies where I saw 30 Minutes or Less and The Help. I bawled during The Help. Of course it wasn’t exactly like the book and there were some good details left out, it was still a fairly good movie. 

Before I forget (and since my mind is all over the place right now), I wanted to say I am glad you guys enjoyed the ab workouts I posted. If you do perform the workouts, make sure you allow a day in between. I found this great article on ab obsession. It is true that people are obsessed with getting a six-pack. However, “your muscles need at least a day of rest in between workouts in order to recover and strengthen properly… If you work out those same muscles (aka abs) on consecutive days, your body does not have enough time to complete the rebuilding process. Thus, it’s actually less efficient to workout a muscle group every day than waiting a day in between.”

—————————————————————————————

On the running front, my last two runs were somewhat shitty. It’s like I was into them mentally and I wanted to push myself, but my body was like, “Hell no. I’m just going sweat a lot to burn your eyes so you have to stop.” I did 12 miles on Monday just because I wanted to. Then, on Tuesday, I did 10 miles because I didn’t want to do a hill thus I took the long way back. Does that me lazy? Anyway, because my last two runs were abnormal, I started to run today and this time I wasn’t into it mentally. I just didn’t want to be stuck with myself and my lunatic mind for an hour so I went back the gym. Tomorrow is another day though.

Whew. Running can seriously put you in a funk, I think. I’ll push myself through pain, but if I am not feeling it mentally, it is a hundred times tougher. Anyone else with me?

One of my goals this week besides finish off the 88464689 pints of ice cream I have,

and to find all the Vitamin Water flavors

(best drinks ever!)

was to finish Portia de Rossi’s book Unbearable Lightness.

I loved it. First off, it was very well written. If she truly wrote it herself, then she is intelligent. 

She is so honest and brave in her book too. She reveals everything like:

“I raised my arms above my head and shook out my hands as if to expel the energy. My cousin and my brother were in the living room, sitting by the Christmas tree, but I no longer cared. In front of my cousin and my brother, I started jumping up and down with my arms above my head and shaking my hands to try to get rid of the calories in the potatoes.”

The things she did when she was sick with her eating disorder were ridiculous. Of course she says that now, but then, it made sense to her.

I feel as if a lot of us can relate to this book in some way. For me, it was the fact that Portia didn’t just wake up one day and decided to eat 300 calories only; but it the fact that her healthy eating got out of control. She wanted to lose a few pounds and eat better. I was the same. I started eating veggies, but soon that was all I was eating and eventually the scale said 94lbs.

Portia counted the calories in gum. I did that. She counted ever calorie and only ate tuna, egg whites, or Jell-o. She ran non-stop. She hated herself.

How can a woman as beautiful as Portia see flaws in herself? 

If she made it to be a model at a young age and then an actress, how could she see ugliness?

I know I am the biggest hypocrite saying that since I dislike a lot of aspects about myself, but Portia is gorgeous as well as an amazing actress. Has anyone seen her on Arrested Development? Hello, favorite show.

I highly encourage you to pick up this book. I wouldn’t worry about any triggering thoughts while reading it because I didn’t have any. If anything, it just made think, “Wow. I did that. I couldn’t sit because it hurt. I stood to burn more calories.” 

My only beef with this book was the ending. It ends too quickly and I wish she would have elaborated on her recovery. Yeah, we all know recovery is difficult, but I would have like to read more about her’s.

It’s not another book on just an eating disorder. Portia does talk about her sexuality, which I found severely tragic how she thought everyone would view her diffidently if they found out she was gay. She struggled immensely with it.

Overall score: 8/10.

Switchin’ It Up

 Hello fellas!

What’s happening?

Trust me, I don’t talk like that in real life. I sound a lot dumber.

Whew. I am so glad this week is finished! I had so much to do in so little time. My days were jam-packed.

You know you’re too busy that your car starts to look like a dump. Notice the apple core?

This week, I would wake up at the crack of dawn after getting home from work at 9:30 to eat, work out, shower, eat, go to work, die, etc. 

Here’s my review of this week’s workouts:

Monday: 9.38 miles @ 6:57 pace
Tuesday: 9.52 miles @ 6:49 pace
Wednesday: 8.66 miles @ 6:56 pace + weights
Thursday: 6 hour nap
Friday: 8.78 miles @ 7:01 pace + weights
Saturday: 14.14 miles @ 7:01 pace
Sunday: Weights + spin class + stretching

Total Mileage: 50.48

In actuality, I am very delighted with my mileage. I made it to the 50′s, which was fantastic. The thing is, I didn’t even stress about my mileage. I just ran how long I felt like it and I tried to up my pace. Go ahead and laugh at me. My pace never seems to progress. I felt super speedy on Friday and I was only running seven-minute miles. Ugh. I know I can run faster if I tried in a race so I need to do so in training runs. I think I may do a tempo run tomorrow then.

I am going to improve my running pace wise this week as well as switch up my workouts.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are only going to be cardio days. Then, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will consist of cardio plus weights. On Wednesday I will do full body lifting routine while Friday will be focused on legs and Sunday will emphasize arms. I did arm work today and it was killer. I borrowed a little routine from Julie. By the way, I received some awesome items from Julie in a giveaway.

I always see this stuff on other blogger’s sites, but never have I used it.

How do you guys use NuStevia? Remember, I’m like half ape and cannot bake much so I need easy peasy recipes.

Anyway, as I was saying…

I am changing my workouts this week and that means I will not be performing ab work every night like I have been. I know, I am crazy. I realized, however, that I do not need to do ab work every night when I am dead tired. It takes me twice as long do to so because a) I’m exhausted and b) Seinfeld is more entertaining and I get distracted.

I switched my ab routine and now my abs are feeling it. So, now, I will be doing ab work every other day. There and there.

I don’t sound so cray cray anymore.

If you any killer ab routines, hit me up please!

Remember when I finished Racing Weight and I promised a review?

Yeah, that’s not gonna happen because what I have to say will bother some people and I don’t feel like dealing with it.

All I have to say is, if you are seriously considering any sport like swimming, running, biking as a career, you have to accept the fact that you may be underweight. You may not be a normal weight (by other’s opinions) because you are in peak condition to race. Lightness = quickness. That’s how it works. You may not have to be, like, 100 pounds, but you may have to be under your ‘healthy’ weight.

I personally really enjoyed the book and loved all the facts that were made. The author highlights that if you want to be lean, run 50+ miles a week. I didn’t like that the author, Matt Fitzgerald, said to not gain too much muscle because muscle doesn’t make you light. Then, after racing season, you can gain a few more pounds back, but never too much.

If one was to follow Matt Fitzgerald’s plan of being very lean, you would have a strict life and I don’t really like that. I want a cookie and damn right I will eat it. In the back of the book, there were eating plans of elite athletes and it was a lot. Some runners were eating like 10,000 calories, but Matt Fitzgerald never seemed to say that you could. He made it sound like you had to eat 1,500 calories for ultimate performance. I don’t know. I’m dumb so I could have misunderstood his words.

Overall rate: 6/10.

Hey, Matt Fitzgerald, look what I ate this week:

Of course I had some healthy foods too. 

 Pepper/onion/goat cheese tart + spinach cakes

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

“I was pushed by myself because I have my own rule, and that is that every day I run faster, and try harder.” - Wilson Kipketer

Lazy Weekend

Your comments were incredible in my last post. I hope you guys know how beautiful and strong you are. It’s true.

What a lazy weekend I had.

I went shopping…

Check out my new watch, yo.

I also got some new V-neck shirts from Victoria’s Secret and Target as well as Pac Sun. Then, I got another pair of tempo shorts to add to my collection.

Read until I fell asleep…

I drunk a lot of ice coffee…

Thank you, Starbucks, for spelling my name correctly. 

Ate a lot…

 I am never  going back to regular ice cream again.
Eggs + mushroom leek tart + potato knish

Moreover, I decided to add more weight lifting days in my schedule.

On days that I lift, I will only run for an hour or less (if it’s an easy run day). I really do love lifting and it’s obvious I have gained muscle.

I believe I gained eight pounds in the past few weeks. Initially, I had no idea why. I mean, I was eating the same and working out the same so why was I gaining? Why all of a sudden would I gain weight like crazy? It had to be muscle because I went to shopping and I still fit in all the same sizes. At Forever 21, I could fit in a double zero or zero. (They are cheaply made clothes though.) Then, at Lucky’s, I could fit in a zero. Sorry if a size zero is shocking to you, but it’s what I am. I use to be a size 9 so… whatever.

Anyway, I love lifting weights. However, I hate the weight lifting routines or whatever you want to call them in Women’s Health Magazine. Fitness and Shape have worse examples. They literally say grab a five-pound dumbbell and do a rep 898484 times. Literally that number, guys.

Men’s Health Magazine, on the other hand, has great workouts. My brother gets the magazine, but I end up ‘borrowing’ it from him. I really do not think he uses it, to be honest (not rude), because he beer belly still exists. That’s beside the point. Men’s Health Magazine is for anyone who is serious about lifting and fitness in general. Also, the meal plans are awesome. They are not 1,500 calories, but hell of a lot more.

Besides, Men’s Health puts rather attractive men on the cover.

I know this week, thanks to Men’s Health, I will be doing this upper body workout. If I’m going to be a Marine, I need some arm strength.

WEEKLY PROGRESS TEST
EXERCISE		SETS	REPS
1	Inverted Row	1	As many reps as you can in 30 seconds. Retest weekly.

WORKOUT 1 (WEEK 1)
EXERCISE		SETS	REPS	REST
1	Deadlift	3	3	60 s
2A	Pullup	3	6-8	0 s
2B	Back Raise	3	6-8	60 s

WORKOUT 2 (WEEK 2)
EXERCISE		SETS	REPS	REST
1	Deadlift	3	3-5	60 s
2A	Inverted Row	3	10	0 s
2B	Lat Pulldown	3	10-12	60 s

WORKOUT 3 (WEEK 3)
EXERCISE		SETS	REPS	REST
1A	Scapula Pulldown	4	10	0 s
1B	Barbell Shrug	4	12	0 s
1C	Back Raise	4	12	90 s

WORKOUT 4 (WEEK 4)
EXERCISE		SETS	REPS	REST
1A	Face Pull	3	6-10	0 s
1B	Lat Pulldown	3	8-15	0 s
1C	Back Raise	3	10-15	90 s

  The Payoff   

• Bigger Muscle This workout trains your rear deltoids, rhomboids, and trapezius—all commonly neglected muscles of your upper body. By shoring up these weak spots, you’ll pack on muscle and build a more symmetrical physique. 
• A Wider Upper Back The pullup and lat pulldown in this workout are slightly different from standard versions. You’ll initiate each move by sliding your shoulder blades down. This allows your lats to contract through a larger range of motion, so they develop fully. 
• Total-Body Strength The deadlift is more than just a muscle builder for your lower back and hamstrings. It strengthens your back from top to bottom and conditions your “posterior chain”—all the muscles on the back of your body—to work in coordination.

Week in Review:

Monday: 9.61 miles @ 7.0 average pace
Tuesday: 10.41 miles @ 7:11 average pace (it was hella hot and I didn’t expect to go that long)
Wednesday: 5.15 miles @ 7:03 average pace
Thursday: 11.53 miles @ 6:53 average pace
Friday: Weights + Elliptical
Saturday: 13.66 mile trail run @ whatever pace. My watch says 7:48, but that would be feel like walking for me so I don’t think that is correct.
Sunday: Weight class + 15 minute spin class (I was bored so I left) + 4-5 mile run (I didn’t have my Garmin) + elliptical to cool down
Total mileage: 50.36 plus 4-5 miles 

Hell yeah! In the 50′s finally even though my first three runs of the week were slow. I didn’t really focus on my pace as much as I didn’t my mileage. So, this week I should really focus on both. 

Have a good second week of August!

“Now bid me run, And I will strive things impossible.”
- William Shakespear, Julius Caesar

Gettin’ Wild

Thank you so much for all your supportive comments on my thoughts about college and the Air Force. All and all, I am really leaning towards the Air Force. As soon as I have a day off from work, I am scheduling an appointment with a recruiter. Just like I think the Air Force isn’t for everyone, I don’t think college is for everyone either.

Let’s get down to business.

Yesterday was my second half marathon, but my first half marathon for a trail race. It was the Wildwood Trail Run. It was actually the same course as the Forest Park 20k I did so I was familiar with the path.

Since I knew it was the same course, I gave myself a goal of beating my previous time. My previous time was 1:36:41. In this case, the seconds matter because I PR by 18 seconds. I was rather disappointed that I didn’t at least do a minute better, but I realized that I started off way too fast. I was so wrapped up in the competition aspect that I didn’t even enjoy my surroundings. I was also so focused on pushing through my soreness from lifting weights the other day that I was afraid to slow down. I just kept pushing it. I felt super fast, but I don’t think I was going that quickly as I felt. It’s funny how that works.

Whatever, whatever.

My final time was 1:36:23.

I came in second place out of 167 people.

I was first in my age group and first woman.

Of course, I’m pleased with my results. Second place isn’t terrible even if it was out of 167 people. It was just one of those races that I wasn’t entirely pumped up for. I listened to some music before hand to get my fired up, but I was just so focused on picking people out from the crowd and telling myself I would beat them.

In actuality, I was a mixed bag of emotions Saturday morning. I was panicky, thrilled, and apprehensive all at once.

               

In the end though, I got my medal and I did set a new record for women on the course for the half marathon. Holla at your girl.

Just adding it to my collection.

That wasn’t a boast or anything.

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My appetite is slowly coming back. I somewhat did an experiment that Racing Weight recommended, which I will have a review of soon. In the past two days, I have been starving constantly hence eating sweet onion rings from Burgerville at ten at night. 

Have I stepped on the scale? Yeah…

I’m just telling myself it’s muscle. I mean, it really should be. My pants fit the same.

Who cares? I shouldn’t.

Whatever. Moving on to my new obsession:
So good and it says it helps skin, nails, and hair. I need that. Desperately.

In other news, here’s my week in review first starting with eats:

 Tamales w/ eggplant (good mix I know)
Dinner @ work. Tofu + snap peas + swiss chard + tuna casserole

Dinner @ work again. Tuna + asparagus + rice + potato ball of cheese

Workout review of 25th – 31st:

Monday: 10.01 miles @ 6:42 average pace (hills)
Tuesday: 9.06 miles @ 6:53 average pace
Wednesday: 7.46 miles @ 7:03 average pace (easy run)
Thursday: 10.21 miles @ 6:49 average pace (longer than expected. I got lost.)
Friday: Easy day of upper body weights
Saturday: Race! 13.1 miles @ 6:59 average pace
Sunday: Weights and spin class

Total Mileage: 49.93

I failed at upping my mileage once again. I just want to be in the 50‘s. I’m almost there. I either need to get speedier or go longer. I’ll aim for both.

Enjoy August!

By the way, just out of curiosity, how many of you would enjoy book reviews on normal books? By normal books I mean books not associated with running.

“Second place is not a defeat. It is a stimulation to get better. It makes you even more determined.” - Carlos Lopes

Seven Links and a Review

I have been tagged by the badass Alexandra who could probably kick my ass any day of the week with her huge muscles.

Let’s get it started in here!

My Seven Links!

1. Most Beautiful: Tears of Joy. The race in itself was quite beautiful since it was a trail race. I don’t know. None of my posts are really that beautiful. Well, I guess I could count Smile!
2. Most Popular: The Comparison Trap
3. Most Controversial: Tomboy. Okay, so it wasn’t my most controversial post, but it was up there. Note to self: people don’t like it when you post photos of celebrities in bikinis and ask who looks best
4. Most Helpful: So, You Want to Train for a Race? Hey, I thought it was helpful despite the fact that I called bitchy because of it.
5. Surprise Success: Weather Envy.
6. Not Enough Attention: Vegetarianism. Come on, people! Embrace it.
7. Most Proud: Obsession? I definitely think I finally got my point across as in, I don’t run to burn calories, but I run because I truly love it.

And I nominate… drum roll please…

• Allie 
• Emily
• Hollie
• Tara

 Bada bing! That’s a load off my back now.

Sorry for my absence once again. I have been working all the week to either 9 PM or 9:30 PM. I guess my work doesn’t know I have to be in bed my 10 for my bed time. I actually haven’t had a full seven hours of sleep in over a week. After I get home from work I am a) too hungry…

My normal dinner at work is half the size of my dinner I would eat at home.
Example:

Another example:

Third example:

So, like I said, after I get home from work I am a) too hungry and b) too energized to sleep so I watch Seinfeld while eating more food.

Exhibit A, B, and C

Despite my lack of sleep, my workouts haven’t been lacking just yet. 

Here’s my stats from last week:

Monday: Hills 9.45 miles (6.57 average pace)
Tuesday: 7.88 miles (recovery run – average pace 7:06)
Wednesday: Hills 8.73 miles (6:53 average pace)
Thursday: 8.87 miles (7:05 average pace)
Friday: Elliptical + RIPPED class
Saturday: 14.73 miles (6:53 average pace. Half of the run was done at the beach)
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: 49.33

Honestly, I wanted my mileage to be more, but I do have a half marathon this Saturday so I should be backing down on the mileage. I’m not much of a taper person. I find when I do taper, I get cranky and my legs just feel stiff from not running what I’m use to.

Anyway, I finished Kara Goucher’s book!

I have to admit, I really did love her book and I’m glad I finally bought it.

Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons was a simple read that I believe is useful for any runner. Whether you are just starting to run or have been running for years, this book will benefit your running in one way or another. 

The book wasn’t all running tips though. Kara included bits of her life in the book like why she runs, how she started, and why she continues. Kara herself is so inspirational. She has made it so far because she is dedicated. I can only dream of running as fast as her.

Kara Goucher also talks about her injuries in the book and shares her doubts. It was extremely heart warming for her to share that not every race she has done was perfect and that bothers her. You can truly see how competitive she is, which I adore. Normally you view athletes as hubris type people who believe they are golden, but Kara seems to struggle with not winning every single race. She’s only human after all.

Some sections in the book were repetitive and really meant for newbie runners who, I guess, can’t naturally figure out how to get rid of side stitches. A lot of things are common sense, but Kara just simply reminds the reader that you need to eat well to perform well. No duh. Really new runners should skip this book since it does not elaborate on some running issues that you may need to know. Some of her tips were silly and she also added “Dear Kara” letters that were ridiculous. “Dear Kara, why do guys run yada yada yada?” Who cares? However, if you been running for a while, Kara’s tips on running are valuable.

I would give Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons a 7/10 and that’s being friendly since I love Kara. (Holla, I see her a lot at my track I run at. ) I really hope Kara writes a book that is more of a biography. I would be interested in that.