Update Your Readers!!
Hellooooo SoS Readers!!!
I’ve changed hosts, so PLEASE update your readers. It’s the SAME address, but unless you resubscribe in your reader (or directly through the blog or RSS) you will no longer get updated posts after this!! You will think I fell off the face of the earth instead đ
So update now! http://www.sideofsneakers.com
Feel free to spread the word if you feel so inclined!
Technical Difficulties
Well Iâm still a little broken but at least Iâm here!! Still working out some kinks, but hopefully Iâll get it figured out soon. Thanks for bearing with me. If anybodyâs really good at website stuff let me know;)
Iâm munching on a bagel thin with peanut butter, almond butter, and sunflower seeds while I try to figure this stuff out!
(I know- no oats!!)
Iâm so excited itâs Fridayâwhich means I get to see my most favoritest person in the world tomorrow- my momma!!! đ
Ok back to work on this blog-nonsense đ
Have a great Friday!!!!
To Publish or Not…
Did anybody see last weekâs Parks & Rec with the overly loud park security guy Carl? That was my life tonight.
To say the husband is a diehard WVU fan is an understatement. He HAD to see the game tonight, and when we found out it wasnât going to be on our tv, he was on a mission to find it. Three restaurants later, we ended up at Cooperâs Ale House, which is quite the interesting weeknight scene. Iâd say itâs full of âregularsâ. By regulars I mean drunks. And by that I mean they thought they were our new best friends. It was an odd combination between pure entertainment and utter discomfort.
Anyway, the one guy that insisted on sitting at our dinner table YELLED REALLY LOUDLY every time he talked. Just like Carl.
I decided to distract myself with some nachos. Pretty much the exact inverse of my taco salad lunch. Reverse ratios of lettuce to tortilla chips đ
This salsa was amazing! I ate most of it (minus the olives) but brought a little bit home along with some of the husbandâs fries.
Well, Iâm going to keep this short because Iâm pretty sure I completely broke my blog earlier, and I have no idea whether this will even making it past publishing. Cross your fingersâŚ..
Taco (Salad) Thursday
I love salad but almost never eat it at home for 2 reasons:
1. I canât find good looking lettuce
2. Iâm too darn lazy to wash it and cut it up (and I donât like most of those bagged ones that give you maybe half a bowl of salad.)
But luckily I thought ahead the other day and chopped & washed the whole head of lettuce for my taco salad!!
I already had the seasoned corn & black beans mixed in with the lettuce, so I just added some avocado, jalapenos, tortilla chips, salsa, and some Caesar dressing just for kicks.
I wanted some Morningstar Farms Chikân Nuggets on the side, and was so sad to see only 2 lonely nuggets in the bottom of the box. đŚ
This salad really has me craving some real tacosâŚ
I wasnât quite filled up by that, so followed the salad up with a Quaker True Delights toasted coconut banana macadamia bar and some Jello Rice Pudding. This True Delights flavor is starting to grow on meâŚ.I sure wish theyâd come up with a shorter name instead of listing all the ingredients. The rice pudding wasâŚok. Good for convenience, but kind of had a watery aftertaste.
(Hello somebody needs to wash her placematsâŚ.)
Well Iâm glad I decided to take it easy and just go for a walk instead of run yesterday- not to be a baby, but my I woke up with my feet hurting 10x more than after running Sunday. Good thing I didnât run! I think Iâm going to stick with non impact activities the rest of the week, then start up a new training plan on Monday.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!
Today started off with a huge new container of chia seeds!! I mixed up some more pre-mixed oat combo, and then made some pumpkin-chia oats for breakfast.
Oatmeal, cottage cheese, pumpkin, almond milk, chia seeds, pecans, and peanut butter!
Along with a nice foamy mug of coffee.
Race Photos
Ok I promise this is the last time I mention the half marathon, but official race photos were just posted. They actually werenât as bad as typical race photos haha…well maybe they were…
<âIâm in the background there
<–What the heck am I doing in this picture?!? Maybe someone should tell me that you donât have to literally prance over the finish line- itâs ok to step on it.
Croak Monsters
As I was getting dinner ready, the husband walked in and asked what was for dinner. I said âcroque monsieursâ. He looked at me funny and said âcroak monsters?â Oh jeez.
So I guess we had croak monsters and soup for dinner. Itâd be a lot better story if it came from a 2 year old and not my husband.
To make the croque monsieurs, I heated up some milk on the stove, and stirred in some Smart Balance & spelt flour. Once it had warmed up, I mixed in some grated Fontina cheese. I kept whisking until it had made a nice, thick sauce.
While the sauce was heating up, I toasted some whole wheat bread, then topped it with brown mustard, provolone, and sliced avocados. I spread a little of the sauce on top of the cheese & avocado, then some more on top of the whole sandwich. Under the broiler for a few minutes and yummy, grown-up grilled cheese was served!
Mmm avocado grilled cheese sandwich- something I never thought would taste good a few years agoâŚ.
I also had some Campbellâs Light Mushroom Barley soup. It was just so-so.
Snack
I was extra hungry this afternoon, so I did some snacking: Oikos Caramel Greek Yogurt and Kashi Stoneground crackers.
Iâm not gonna lie- the yogurt was expired. I ate it anyway. Oh well- Iâm still alive đ I figure yogurtâs cultured anywayâŚ..
Recovery
I am just itching to run!! But since I said I was going to take recovery seriously, I didnât run. Yet. I had to get outside for a bit after work since the sun was shining, so I went for a short walk around the neighborhood, followed by a quickened version of Yoga for Runners. (Meaning I just did some of the poses, I didnât listen to the classâŚdonât tell anyone I cheated;))
If the sun is shining tomorrow though, Iâm gonna have to get moving a little more đ
Happy Wednesday!! Hope you have a great evening đ
Running Inspiration
Pizza time!!
Lunch was a conglomeration of leftovers. The last two slices of pizza, some lima beans, and the very few remaining veggies from my tropical rice dish.
Work is an insane madhouse today!! I keep looking longingly at the sunshine through the windowâŚ..
Howâs this for inspiration?
No matter how much you love running (or other workout), we all have our days when we donât want to do it, or think we canât. Thinking I canât gets in my way more than Iâd like to admit.
I know there are a TON of inspirational running stories out there, but this one hit home more so than usual, because this guy was running in the same race I wasâŚ.and he went twice as far. With a brain tumor.
Not even brain cancer could stop this marathoner
Iâll leave you with 3 of my favorite running quotes:
“Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.” Â -PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian
“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.” Â Â -Priscilla Welch
âRun if you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just never give up.â â Dean Karnazes
What inspires you to run?
Funny Fitness Pictures
I woke up this morning just screaming for coffee (not much unlike any other day), so I treated myself to a homemade latte. In case youâre wondering Fresh Market Peppermint Blend and Torani Hazelnut Syrup do not make the best flavor combo. Not as bad as you might think though đ
And some pretty simple oats: oatmeal, flax, chia seeds, cottage cheese, and peanut butter.
Having simple oats ending up being perfect this morning- there were huge banana nut muffins and little mini cinnamon rolls waiting at work, which I gladly helped myself to. đ
Music
This is a little after the fact, but by request, hereâs my playlist from the half:
âFunnyâ Pictures
I donât have anything interesting going on, so hereâs some ironic âfitnessâ pictures for you:
No wonder we have obesity problemsâŚâŚ
Revealing Answers
Dinner tonight was nice & simple- but good! Taco salad!
I mixed black beans & corn with paprika, chili powder, and cumin, then served it on a bed of chopped lettuce with salsa, avocado, crushed tortilla chips, and a little cheese.
So quick yet so good đ
Now on to the fast food quiz results: (If you havenât taken it yet, go do it now before you see the answers!)
1. Which of the following breakfast items at Dennyâs do you think has the fewest calories?
a. Ham and cheddar omelet (595)
b. Country fried steak & eggs (464)
c. Three slices of French toast with syrup & margarine (1000)
d. Three pancakes with syrup & margarine (650)
2. Which of the following items from Chiliâs do you think has the least salt?
a. Cajun chicken sandwich (2220)
b. Classic combo chicken & steak fajitas (2660)
c. Guiltless chicken platter (2780)
d. Smoked turkey sandwich (2920)
3. Which of the following items from Macaroni Grill do you think has the most fat?
a. Traditional lasagna (54)
b. Chicken Caesar salad (69)
c. Pasta classico with sausage & peppers (50)
d. BBQ chicken pizza (24)
4. Which of the following from McDonaldâs do you think has the most calories?
a. Two Big Macs (1080)
b. Two Egg McMuffins (600)
c. One large chocolate shake (1160)
d. Four regular hamburgers (1000)
How did you do?!
You guys are smarty pants, but not one person got ALL 4 answers correct!
The breakdown:
1. 20% correct
2. 20% correct
3. 53% correct
4. 60% correct
These questions were asked to a group of 523 registered voters in California.
The results?
– NO ONE answered all 4 questions correctly
– <1% got 3 out of 4 correct
– 5% got 2 out 4 correct
– 68% got ZERO correct answers
(These questions were asked at the conference I was at last week- in a room full of 200+ RDs, 2 people got all 4 questions right.)
What does this tell us?
Even if you are well educated about food & health, there is just no way to know whatâs in our food. Your omelet will be different than my omelet, which will be different from Dennyâs omelet!
How does this make you feel about posting nutrition information on menus?!
I think itâd be a great tool to help people make healthy choices- I canât wait for more places to hop on board!
Post Race Recovery Tips
Everyone recovers from a race differently. It depends on so many things- the race distance, state of training, conditions of the race, etc. You may not need to recover at all from a 5K, but you might need a full week or more for a marathon, or anything in between!
Since my main goal is injury prevention, Iâm taking recovery from the half marathon seriously. Itâs helpful if you look at recovery as part of your training plan. (Not that I was very good at sticking with thatâŚ)
What to do at the finish line
Donât stop moving. Going from 100 to 0 can be dangerous. Keep walking around for a little while after youâve finished. Grab a medal, check out the festivities, get your camera from the car- anything to keep you moving for a little while.
Hydrate. You hydrated leading up to the race, you hydrated during the race, and now you have to hydrate after the race. Itâs very difficult to meet your needs during the race, so replenishing fluid loss is super important. Your urine should return to a pale yellow or clear within in a few hours from the race. You can also weigh yourself before and after to come up with amore precise hydration estimate.
EAT!! Even if youâre not hungry, eat something with carbohydrates. The period just after exertion is the prime opportunity to refuel and replace lost glycogen and glucose stores- your body is more receptive to carbohydrates during this time. If you really canât eat, have a drink with carbohydrates in it. A litte bit later, go for some protein too. A carb to protein ratio of 4:1 is optimal, but no need to do any crazy math.
Stretch. Light stretching, nothing too intense if youâre already feeling the aftermath of the run.
Get warm & dry. âNuff said.
Ice. Ice baths can be a great way to help ice your whole lower body at once, but theyâre not mandatory. Definitely ice any injuries or nagging pains that are more than just sore muscles. You donât have to do a full on polar bear plunge to reap the benefits of an ice bath. I used to dump a whole bag of ice cubes in frigid water than hop in â but then I got my sanity back. Now I fill the tub with chilly (but not freezing) water. I get in while itâs still filling up to eliminate some of the difficultly of submerging yourself in cold water. After Iâm completely in and the water covers my legs, I turn the water off and dump in a bowl of ice. Sit for 10-15 minutes. It helps if you keep your top half warm, have a warm drink, and good reading material for distraction.
(Some people say a hot bath would feel much better- it probably would, but it could cause more damage since heat can increase inflammation and raises body temperature. Some people say itâs helpful because increasing circulation can help eliminate waste and the heat helps loosen muscles. Iâm not an expert here, but I lean towards waiting a day or two before hitting the hot tub.)
The Day(s) After the Race
Light activity. Or complete rest. You be the judge- listen to your body. Ease back into things with light, low-level activities like walking, swimming, cycling, or water running. When you move back into running, keep the intensity low. Gradually build back up.
Stretch. Keep stretching- make sure you warm up first, then do gentle static stretching (no bouncing!)
Massage. A massage right after the race may feel great, but too soon could make your muscles feel worse. 24-48 hours post race is the optimal time for a massage. If you canât get a ârealâ massage, take matters into your own hands. Stroke (donât knead) muscles towards your heart. Foam rolling or using the âstickâ can help too. Massage helps work out lactic acid and built up waste products.
Elevate your legs. This can help drain blood & refresh blood upon standing. You can get the same effect from recovery (compression) socks.
Hydrate. Nope not off the hook yet! Drinking enough fluid is important to restore blood volume- adequate blood volume is important for adequate blood flow, which helps muscles heal faster.
Sleep. Many of your bodyâs repair processes kick into high drive while youâre sleeping. Plus your bodyâs tired- give it the rest it needs! Use some of the extra time you would normally be training to catch some zzzzâs. Getting enough sleep can also help keep you from getting sick (a hard race can decrease your immunity for ~72 hours- so wash those hands!)
Eat. While a race isnât an excuse to eat everything in sight, you might need to. The best strategy is to listen to your body. Itâs perfectly natural to have an increased appetite for a few days post race- go with the flow. Chances are your body knows what it needs better than you mind does.
Reverse taper. When youâre ready to start running again, think of it is a reverse taper period. Kind of like how you slowly built up your training in the first place. Start with low mileage and low intensity, and gradually go from there.
Finally- respect the stress of a race!!! Your body worked hard, you need to treat it right afterwards! Post marathon depression is very common- look for something else to focus on or work towards until youâre ready to think about what comes next for you đ
Have you taken the fast food quiz yet?! Answers coming tonight!!