Fuel

Enough about me. About how many miles run (though for the record it was 61.7 last week - my first 60+ mile week since March 2011...and it felt WONDERFUL), about how many yards swam (*gulp - zero), about how many minutes biked (*cough zilch cough*). This week's post (which I realize is five days late as per the New Year's Res) is dedicated to what I've been relying on (and enjoying in the process) to fuel the miles. And soon, I assure you, to fuel swim yardage, and cycling minutes in a serious way as well.

Granola

3 C oats

1 C almonds

1/2 C maple syrup

1/4 C coconut oil

1/4 C honey

1/2 C sunflower seeds

....because that's what I had in my cupboard.

* makes 20 servings of 1/4 C each at 120 cal

I toasted it for close to an hour at 200, stirring it every 10 - 15 minutes. It is delicious. The coconut oil gives it wonderful flavor. I'd eat it plain with milk six times a day, but granola, while nutritious, is calorie packed. So I've been using it as a garnish atop my yogurt and blueberries (I picked and froze about a million blueberries this summer...or at least I hope as many as I need to get us through until next July:). I may occasionally (while cooking dinner, or just before bed) pop dry handfuls of it in my mouth because it's so tasty. Possibly.

Cookies I made up! And they taste good!

1/4 C butter

1/4 C coconut oil

2/3 C brown sugar

1 egg

1 C wheat flour

1/4 C cocoa

baking soda (sprinkle)

vanilla (quick pour)...in my opinion, why dirty the cute the tsp/Tbsp measurer thingy?...

1 C slivered almonds (because I found them in the back of my cupboard when I cleaned it out)

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (...in the same cleaning I found a half used bag).

*recipe makes 30 cookies @ 90 calories each

Bake on 375 for 8 minutes. They are tasty and wonderful. Don't get me wrong, they're still atrocious for you...they're cookies;) But I feel a little better about them, and even if there's nothing astoundingly more nutritionally sound about them, I made them up and we (yes, even Mike, who is a tough guy to please in cookie world when you're not his mother:), enjoy them.

Quiche

8 eggs

1 C skim milk

4 oz shredded cheese - whatever kind is in the fridge

vegetables - again, whatever is on hand. This week it was broccoli that needed to be used.

jiffy pie crust.

* makes 4 servings at 300 cal each

I make mine in 4 mini souffle dishes. Line each w/ pie crust, sprinkle 1 oz of cheese and the pre-cooked vegetable to the bottom and cover with 1/4 of the milk/egg mixture. Baked for 35 - 40 min at 400, the two of us have dinner that night, and lunch the next day. I completely realize that my take on "quiche" is incredibly generic, but what a fun word to call "eggs and other stuff in a cute little crust" that provides good protein punch.

Those have been my favorite three things recently, though there's been a lot of kitchen creation going on here in Camptown. Winter always gives me the cooking and baking bug, but unfortunately this fall gifted me five pounds I'd like to shed. *sigh. What a terrible, horrible, unthinkable realization it is to come to that it is possible to run 50, 55, 60 mile weeks for weeks on end and still need to watch calories. I only started running five years ago as a means to lose weight, and as strongly as the running stuck to me, the weight shed off. That said, this isn't the first time I've had the scale wake up call and it will unfortunately not be the last. And so I've been calorie watching, and actually remember how much healthier it makes me to keep myself accountable to portion sizes and nutritional information.

Okay, this post still ended up being all about me. Sorry. But we're 30 from the Martha's Vineyard 20 miler (my FAVORITE event of the year, and our two year wedding anniversary) and I'm up 3 lbs (the calorie awareness has shed 2 of autumn's nasty little buggers so far) from wedding day weight. I'm thinking that with a little food conscientiousness, and a few more good weeks of running mileage, I can hopefully do my joints the favor of a little less weight baring down with every step by then. And I intend to enjoy every step and bite along the way!

The enormous pain in my butt.

Last week was long and tough. School was crazy, jumping back into the pool left my arms sore, jumping into a 10K was a cruel reminder that fitness doesn't just reappear overnight and that I've got a lot of work to do, and no matter how much I run, bike, swim, and watch what I eat, the scale just won't let go of the Christmas cookie and fudge grudge its holding. The week's biggest bummer, however, was the pain in my butt. It's a Trek speed concept 7.0 that is sitting on a trainer in my living room. More specifically, it's the saddle that sits on the bike.

My life cup is really 99.99999% full, so I'll focus on the good before going into negative nancy mode.

Last week was the mothership of running company. I ran with a crew after school Thursday and again this afternoon, and Saturday's January freeze 10K in all its balmy mid 40's wonder brought people out of the woodwork, giving me lots of familiar faces throughout the race. The sixteen of us (yes, 16!) tromping out of the Wegman's parking lot at 7:30am yesterday on our way to get anywhere from 10 - 20 miles in was the icing on the cake. I got 16 in, a miracle feat that would not have been possible without the fabulous Emily PT and Chuck H! Sixteen people, (seventeen, actually, once we picked up Stephen M around 1.5 miles), who love to run so much that they'll get out of their warm beds on a Sunday morning to don the running tights, hats, and gloves, and run mile after mile after mile into the January elements. I've said it before, and I was reminded again this weekend - gee I love runners!

I got back into a swimming routine last week too, and though it left me sore, I feel like it was a good start. 5000 yds over three sessions. I'm still completely rotten at swimming, but I felt really good about what I did, and I feel like, with hard work, I have a lot of potential to get stronger and faster. Here's hoping anyway.

Our dishwasher had a moment, throwing a wrench into my "keep a cleaner house" plan, as the kitchen (where we enter the house) was a bit chaotic, but we have been eating healthy, nutrient rich meals. I think I'm slowly becoming a part time vegetarian too, but that's another post. In other food news, thanks to Ashley M (blogger, runner, and new mom) blogging about coconut oil, I picked some up and it has revolutionized my homemade granola! So while the scale may insist on being a wench, at least I feel like there are lots of vitamins and nutrients mingling with the holiday gorging fat cells in there.

Now the butt pain. The P.I.T.A. if you will. The plan was M W F 5:30 - 6:30am on the trainer. With Spinervals Louisville KY is all ramped up in the xbox ready to inspire me, Monday I rode. Yep. I rode Monday. That's it. Just Monday. Because that one hour left the innards of my sit bones tore up from the floor up. It wasn't just "a little uncomfortable" to get back on the saddle on Wednesday, it was unbearable! And I fancy myself quite pain tolerant. So, a trip to the bike shop is definitely in order, but if anyone reading has any advice, please do share! I switched out the original bike saddle (which nearly rendered me maimed for life in the nether regions) for an adamo which served me well all fall (training rides, tour de shunk, Syracuse 70.3). Maybe it was not getting out of the saddle at all that morning? Maybe it was because I haven't ridden in forever and I just need to build saddle stamina? Maybe I sit on the bike wrong? All I do know is that we're not going to make it through an ironman together unless we mend ways soon.

I'm giving it another shot and hoping the biking goes better this week. I'd also like to get my weekly running mileage up to the 55 - 60 range - a much more attainable goal. I mean, after all, running is like riding a bike to me...oh, wait...

Hope you all enjoy a pita free week!

The 7 month count down

...or 200 days if you will. Yes, just 4,800 measly little hours (give or take) separate me from the starting line of Lake Placid. 28 weeks. And a whole lot of running, swimming, and biking.

For New Year's I resolved to keep a cleaner house, eat less meat and more local, blog every Monday, and do my best to dig real deep and find my inner A type in an effort to be more organized and get more done. 40 hours later, our house is clean(ish), I'm blogging on a Monday!(late night and will probably post Tuesday morning), and I ate local pig for dinner last night. Summoning my inner A type personality however: like squeezing water from a rock. I had cleaned my band room one day over break, and thought that with a clean desk and newly organized room all things were possible. By lunch time, piles that only I understand (but that in my defense I can always find anything in) a bazillion tiny to do post it notes lining my computer screen, and the dust of chicken feed (that's a long story, but suffice it to say that I do not own chickens) on my right pant leg. Ah well.

In the hopes I'll stick to my Monday blogging resolution, this should be the last entry until July that I have to summarize numerous weeks in one post. It's been a fun filled and (phew, I am still a runner!) running filled five weeks.

With the month of December came the resurrection of a little more serious mileage, and it felt great. Tough at first, but great. Knowing I had to start training in all three disciplines come January, I focused on getting back to my usual runner self in December. 50 and change mile weeks, 204 for the month and I feel back on track. The best part of the running month was undoubtedly the Sunday morning long run company. I've missed those group long runs so much, and had forgotten how much easier and more enjoyable long runs are with friends. Two 15's and a New Year's day 14 with great company. And while I well know the bridge from 15 miles to 20+ is vast, those longer runs felt so good I feel excited to train hard again and ready to tell Boston 2012 to bring it.

December was a relaxing month, and quite possibly the most I've ever enjoyed Christmas. I baked, I canned jam, I ran alone, I ran with friends, I read, I spent time with family, and between winter band concerts, holiday parties, and holiday shopping, I found time to relax.

All in preparation for what 2012 was going to bring, and seeing as I'm tired on Monday, January 2nd, it could be a long, long, road to July.

The plan is simple for January. Just get back into it all. I was on the indoor trainer for an hour this morning, and plan to do just that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and for another 2 hours on Saturday or Sunday. If I gain nothing more than saddle stamina this month I'll feel as though it was successful. Swimming will happen the only time it can here in kudda janta khan - come hell or high water I will be in the Elk Lake pool each of the three days a week it is open this month. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, you'll know where to find me. So scared am I of the swim and not being prepared that if I miss one of those three nights I'm vowing to make it up at Owego or Vestal on the weekend. And then run.

And run.

And run some more.

Ironman training plans always call for minimal (in my opinion) running. We'll see how long it takes for me to change my tune, but I don't want to have to sacrifice running mileage to train for this ironman. I'm sure I'm the one who's wrong, and I'd be best served to run less and bike and swim more, but running makes me happiest. And if you're unhappy, what's the point? With that - Happy 2012 everyone!

5 weeks later....

Phew, I seem to have taken a little not so intentional hiatus from blogging about being active. This was no doubt a direct result of my lack of physical activity. There's just something about a 17 mile running week that includes no biking and no swimming that doesn't exactly scream "ooh, let's blog about that ironman I'm registered for..."

But I'm back in action!...ish. I'm thoroughly enjoying the freedom of not HAVING to bike or HAVING to swim or HAVING to run x number of miles each week that I'm experiencing right now, and I'm planning on soaking it all up through the holidays. That said, there's still some quality (and lots of fun) blog-worthy activity going on in my world this fall. Some of the highlights of the last five weeks since my Tour de Shunk post:

* Spectating! I spent the last weeks of October, first weekend of November doing one of the things I love most about running...cheering for others doing it. Mike's xc girls team qualified as a team for the state meet, and after going 1,2 in the District, NEB's two all-star boys earned 4th and 16th place medals in the state. We'll be off to do more spectating as those two boys run the Nike regional meet in New York this weekend!

* Becoming a Wine Baron. All those who ran the wineglass marathon (or half marathon) the first weekend of October and also the Red Baron half marathon the first weekend in November (both races in Corning, NY) earn special "Wine Baron" membership. (By membership, I mean a tech shirt. Cool, fun, new tech gear, and no one wants me to attend meetings, vote on things, or volunteer for crap...my kind of club membership). This was my 2nd Red Baron half, and I LOVE the run. I ran a 1:31:39, a little more than a minute slower than I where I was at last fall, and I could have cried I was so happy. I knew I wanted to race to see where I was at fitness wise, but I was scared to see where that was exactly - I had no clue what to expect. 1:31 was not on my radar of possibilities, and I went home 2nd overall (albeit I'm the first to admit that place is always obviously relative to who shows up) and a very content runner!

* Track work. What?! Yes! The high school I went to (and now teach at)'s record holder in the 800 and 1600 who went on to run in college and then in Europe for a year is home for a while. Not only is she completely lovely and enjoyable to spend time with, but she is also super motivated. And smoking fast. Thanks to her and the school's xc coach planning after school workouts, I have actually ran my butt in a quick fashion around the track a number of times at a number of paces. How novel!

* Running with a frozen turkey in a back pack! A fundraiser for frozen turkeys for our local people helping people food drive put on by a senior at the high school and mentored by me:) You bring a frozen turkey. You run a mile with it. 10 seconds is deducted from your overall time for each pound the turkey weighs. Holy back ache the next day. Holy heart swell seeing 50 people in a little town run a mile toting turkeys for the community.

* Cyclocross. Mike, Jon, and Julie do it, (and very well!) I watch, take sub par pictures, sorry video footage, drink coffee, and talk running and lack of swimming skill with a run, bike, boat tri friend of ours. It's a phenomenal way to spend a Sunday:)

* Crocheting. The antithesis of physical activity, but I'm so tickled with myself I have to mention it. Youtube is an incredible teaching tool. I'll try to post pics when I'm not feeling too lazy to get off the couch and get my camera and take a pic and upload and....I have lofty goals of hats for 5 nieces and nephews by Christmas though!

*DIAMONDS! Ah yes, tomorrow is the day. I grew up a Thanksgiving lover. The smell in the house, the Macy's parade, family, food, Miracle on 34th street, naps on the couch, more food. However, on February 13th, 2010, when I vowed to love, honor, and cherish Mike for all the days I lived, I also committed to altering the fate of turkey day forever. For the Murphy's, Thanksgiving starts with a 9 mile road race in Berwick Pa, the historic (the 2011 edition will be the 102nd running!) Run for the Diamonds. It's only my fourth year (and only 2nd since I made a VOW in front of friends and family to do it forever), but it's already a tradition with Mike I love:) And bless my understanding, sweet, and wonderful mother's heart, she's convinced my entire family that 4pm is the best time to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Geesh, add pumpkin cheesecake baking the night before (the smell is wonderful in our house right now) and the invention of the dvr (if I really cared that much about the Macy's parade which I in fact, do not), I can actually still have it all!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Tour De Shunk

Mike and I are officially finishers of a century bike ride! We actually finished 101.3 miles today, complete with heavy winds, rain in the late miles, and a total of 8500 feet of climbing. Oh yes...no taking the gravy train on our first century out. We chose the Tour de Shunk, voted "Most Challenging Century Ride" by League of American Cyclists. Infamy right here in our own little corner of bfe America.

The greatest part of the whole thing (second, actually, to the obscene amount of mini candy bars at each 25 mile aid station...that was unbeatable), was that we only decided to ride Tour de Shunk officially at 11:15pm last night, and when we headed out on the route at 9am this morning, only planned to ride 50 miles.

Tour de Shunk is a century that offers 25 and 50 mile options. The 25 miler has its own course, while the 50 is the first 25 of the century and then you turn around and come back. Miles 18 to 23 involve 1250 feet of climbing. When we got to the 25 mile aid station I was adamant about the rest of our day and I told Mike "I'll take 75 miles of unknown over what I know about that 25 miles, thanks". It was that bad. And veteran riders all assured us that the first 25 miles were the worst, and the rest of the ride much easier. Turns out they are liars.

Liars, liars, pants on fire.

Mike stopped speaking to me around mile 35 and I don't blame him. We'd been climbing steep and steady for about five miles and the top of the hill was no where in sight. His last words to me before the long silent pause, were "what you've done today is the equivalent of signing up for a trail marathon because you completed a half marathon a month before and haven't run a step since. This is a huge HUGE mistake." It was a really good analogy. He was completely right. It was so ugly out there, and we were only 1/3 of the way home. But I had already had my spirit broken once this week (I wore all black on Wednesday as an homage to that incident) and I refused to be negative. I just pedaled and smiled and tried my best through my huffing and puffing and intense saddle pain, to enjoy the gorgeous scenery.

The lunch stop came somewhere just after the 40 mile mark. Even after a banana, nutrigrain bar, and two mini candy bars at mile 25, I was famished. One and a half pb&j's, another banana, a small bag of chips, and two more mini candy bars later, we moved on out to: more uphill. "This is the last bad one pink socks, I promise you!" shouts one of the three friendliest, most wonderful liar pants I've ever met. And then we got to mile 55ish. The spray painted signs on the road told us to turn right, but that couldn't be right?! Because the right hand turn was onto a chipped road that went straight uphill as far as the eye could see. It would be a cruel joke if this road were a part of the course. Liar pants #1 says to Liar pants #2 "this wasn't a part of the course last year was it? I don't remember this?!" It was somewhere on that hill I stopped smiling and my internal dialogue went from "well, at least its not raining, oh it's so pretty out here. I don't feel that bad"...to a string of negative thoughts laden with profanity. I hoped with everything in me that a course support vehicle would come along and I could catch a ride back.

But we made it to the top of that little booger without seeing an aid vehicle. And the next, and the next. And then we were at the "75" mile aid station, which is really at mile 67. Mike, feeling fine and seeing the light at the end of the dark tunnel I threw him in today, loved me outwardly again. Of course he loved me the whole time, he just likes to play snarly once in a while. Just one of the many things that make him perfect:) More mini candy bars. Some gatorade. And we left to....what?!?!...flat roads!!! A beautiful 8 mile, pancake flat stretch of road. It was heaven. There was drafting. There was aero position. (Oh yes, add to Mike analogy - "and you're doing that trail marathon in racing flats!"...yep...last minute decision to go and our pedals on our tri bikes meant the cervelo and trek were christened today in a way only the roads of Sullivan County Pa could offer). There was smiling again.

Liar pants 1 and I stuck together to the finish w/ liar pants 2, and 3 making numerous appearances, waiting up for us to make sure we made all of the turns. The last 25 miles were rolling. I use the term rolling in the sense that you went straight downhill and then straight back up and down and up and down and up. For whatever reason, I didn't feel that bad at all anymore. I just kept pedaling, talking, smiling, and getting out of my saddle as much as humanly possible because my hiney was oober uncomfortable.

And then it was over. And there were massages, and spaghetti, and story telling, and more mini candy bars, and coffee. I am SO thrilled to have made such a terrible decision at mile 25 this morning, because the outcome was terrific! We've ridden our bicycles 101 miles! 101 really cruel miles! It hurt, and it was so hard, but we did it! The bad news: we now have to ride 11 more miles...and swim 2.4 miles...and then run a marathon...in 9 months. Holy crap, those of you who have completed an ironman, I bow to you, and I'm wet my pants terrified of what that day will be like next July. But just like the sign said at the bottom of "pip squeak mountain" (a really cute little 5 mile climb this morning that was undoubtedly FAR easier to get up thanks to its cutesy name...gag me), "take it like a baby...one little step at a time!" So I'm going to appreciate the baby step we made today, and try hard not to dwell on how small 101 miles of cycling really is in the big picture of July 22nd, 2012.

Spinning: No dogs or cars, lots of sweat.

I've already divulged that I'm a nervous nilly weenie on a bicycle. It's weird because I always love the experience of going out and riding my bicycle, but it's not an activity I sit on the couch and think "ooh, I could go for a bike ride about now". I think that about running. I've even grown to really like my swim time. The "what ifs" of cycling make it less appealing to me.

What if a dog runs out at me? What if a car runs me off the road? What if someone is texting and doesn't see me and hits me from behind? What if a car squeaks too close to me and I go off the shoulder (which are like two centimeters wide and a mile high around here) and I bite it?What if I get to a hill that is so steep that even in my lowest gear I just can't do it and I fall over? (The last one is by far the weirdest and least probable, but I seriously contemplate it, and I like to think the first step in getting better is admitting all my neurosis).

After a great outing, I can answer all of those with "mmm hmm...yep...what if?...who cares?..you're a ridiculous idiot". But by the time I've got my shoes off, the idea of a ride on the road with cars, and gas trucks, and texting teens, and dogs, oh my...has already lost its luster.

Compliments of my mom Christmas 2008, I have an indoor trainer that (sadly) gets more use than my bike ever does on real roads. The bike on the trainer is a sweat fest. Within fifteen minutes it's heavily beading, and from 20 on it's pouring. Leave a puddle around your area kind of pouring.

But even sweating that much, I always wonder how much of a workout I'm really getting on the trainer. Am I really pushing myself? I know I don't emulate sprints and hill climbing. I just pedal hard at a comfortably difficult resistance and watch tv. And sweat.

I've seen advertisements for a "local" (keep in mind, local here means you can get there in an hour by car, eww) bike shop's spincore classes. 45 minutes of spin, 15 min of core. I've always wanted to check it out. Yesterday I did.

As the instructor was setting up my bike he asked what I wanted out of the class. "To suck less as a cyclist...I'm a runner who signed up for a triathlon." I don't know if he was doing me a favor, or if every Wednesday is like this (I'm assuming it's the latter), but seeing as I was not only pouring sweat but also saying to myself "you can NOT turn your knob down, you can NOT slow your cadence, suck it up or they'll all think you're weak" throughout the whole class, I believe that if I stick with it, I will ultimately suck less as a cyclist.

The core part was great too, and no doubt a much needed break for Mike who I routinely demand be my core and strength training coach in the living room. The poor guy just trying to watch Jon Stewart and there's me "Mike...I need to do core, tell me what to do. Mike...is this a good push up, or do I look ridiculous? Mike..."

I also really enjoyed the company. It was so much fun to be a fly on the wall for an evening. I was coming off an extremely rough day at work (the kids were, as always, fantastic, but yesterday was one of those rare days I had to deal with adults and oh my...I chose the right profession for me...kids = astounding, adults = drive me batty!), and it was just so nice to have no one know my name, no one know a thing about me, and no one care. They have a really fun little spin group vibe going on, and I just gritted my teeth through the workout, enjoyed the fellow sweat, and giggled at their warm up and cool down banter, including their informing me that I could sell my eggs for $5000. Nothing says welcome quite like an estimate on your reproductive materials! (Which, for the record, I'll be keeping tabs on).

And so, hopefully, many Wednesday evenings this winter can offer Mike a break from personal trainer (don't be fooled - I'm really only inspired to do core or strength work a maximum of twice a week...and that's an ambitious week), and myself a break from the worry and fear of dogs, gas trucks, and distracted drivers while still getting some bike fitness in.

26.2 love.

Every marathon I've run has started with a controlled anxiety attack: yes, today will definitely be THE day my heart explodes. It's a really weird thing to think and worry about, but it's all just part of the routine for me. Every marathon I've run, up until this weekend's, has ended with the mantra "just finish and you never ever ever have to do this to yourself again".

I woke up before the alarm at 4:30am Sunday with the usual pre race "oh my poor heart" jitters. Though I still had no goal, and still had no idea what was a realistic expectation in my current fitness, I had decided days before to put my happy cap on, run comfortably, try my best not to let the clock get me down, and enjoy the experience.

I had a complete and total blast.

Over 26.2 miles I made friends, ran through steady pouring rain, splashed in puddles, ate (and enjoyed!?) gu....and vanilla sandwich cookies...and a milky way. My stomach never became upset. My legs never stiffened up. I never once said to myself "just finish this...".

I finished in 3:21:27 elated, feeling wonderful. To put it in perspective, I've run three marathons in the last 18 months attempting to squeak in under my pr of 3:09:30. Boston '10 - a painful 3:12, Wineglass '10 - an excruciating 3:12, Boston '11 - a 3:11 that hurt so badly "just get through this..." didn't even begin to cut it.

9 minutes. Roughly nine minutes over the course of 26.2 miles is all that separates running hell and running utopia. Should I feel a bit deflated now knowing that I've put myself through so many hells when heaven was only roughly 20 seconds a mile behind me the whole time?

I don't regret those failed PR attempts though. Those runs that left me all hunched, cobbled, shuffling, crying, and deflated. Nothing attempted, nothing gained. But Sunday's 26.2 was a breath of fresh air. A reminder of how great an experience the marathon can be. And a big reminder of how lucky I am. To have my health; legs, lungs, and (gulp) heart, that allow me to run 7:42 pace for over 26 miles and love every footfall of it. And the best running friends in existence, who I missed sorely Sunday mornings during my running funk of summer 2011 and I am excited to get back and training with! And family who stand in whatever elements the day has to offer to cheer me on. And a husband who not only supports, but encourages and shares (exudes!) this crazy habit.

Next up: Boston 2012. The plan: friend making, puddle jumping, vanilla sandwich cookie eating? Shuffling, moaning, failed PR attempt #4? PR setting, ass kicking extravaganza? TBD. For now, I'm just thrilled to have mended my broken relationship with the marathon.