Nutrition Plan For Tashka 50K

First off--have I mentioned I love "followers?" Seriously, it is cool to have followers. Press follow if you are reading this, and give me a warm fuzzy feeling.

You know what else is great? Comments. Really great. I get SO excited when I see a comment.

Maybe I need a hobby. Hmmmm...I already have one that consumes my mind/body/spirit. Guess I am just a dork who likes comments and followers!



Ok, so I love this shirt. I might need it! Really, how cool is a cupcake with crossbones? Really cool.


and while we're at it...I need this shirt...I mean I seriously need this one...

Ok, maybe I don't need them. But they are fantastic.




Nutrition is a constant struggle for me. I really really love cookies, cake, and chocolate (see cupcakes above). In my perfect world, I could eat anything and feel great, train well, and be very lean. Hmmmm...turns out it doesn't work that way for me.

I have seen a fantastic nutritionist who is great. She keeps me from starving to death, I feel great when I follow her plan, and I perform well in my training and races. BUT--it's not easy. I usually kind of follow it, but I sometimes slack off. It is pretty strict, so it is not mentally easy for me to be perfect. I like chocolate. A lot.


So, this weekend is 6 weeks until my first 50K. I wrote myself a set of rules about the 6 weeks before the race. That is a manageable amount of time. It starts after Halloween and takes Thanksgiving into account. AND, there is a reward at the end! AND--there is a sticker chart involved. I will post a picture of my sticker chart later (IF I can follow my own rules).

Tashka 50K Plan

Rationale:

50K is a long way to run….a really long way. You need to be at your very best to finish this and recover in time for Goofy. You must take care of your nutrition for the next 6 weeks to train well, recover well, and be lean, fit, and strong. This whole race WILL be a challenge, and you need to be ready for it!

Rules:

1. Follow Ilana’s Plan

2. Track Ilana’s Plan every day (small frog for every day tracked).

3. At least 4 days a week without dessert (monkey sticker for every day!)

4. 2 Relaxed days on Thanksgiving week (Thanksgiving with the Darden’s and with the Schoen’s)

5. Carb Deplete and Carb load during race week—and no treats until I am done!

Rewards!

Cute winter running outfit

Or

110% Recovery Tights

Inspiration:

The difference between a goal and a mission is attitude. Missions are evident by an accompanying passionate commitment. With the proper attitude, almost anything is possible.



So, I will be starting on Monday (not THAT different from what I am already doing), but it is making myself be more accountable to myself during this training cycle.

George thinks I am going to get myself both of my possible rewards :-)

First Beach Pictures!

I am so so super proud of Sparkles. It was really fun sharing this race with her!!!
There's the medal.




Supplied by the amazing Sparkles. I really like jumping on the beach. Seriously.





Ok, so Tyra banks says that your shoulder hurts. Smize....

I look like I am really running, but in actuality I was going in circles and acting a little insane. Maybe I should not tell you that....






We took this same picture at the race in Jekyll Island :-)



I am sure that there will be more to come once they post more pictures and I steal them!

Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon

I'm back, and had a fun weekend in good ole Myrtle beach!

So I drove to the beach Friday afternoon, and checked into Camelot 7 hours later. I was SO excited to check out this lazy river, so I went to see it, and well....it was SO small. I mean, really, it took about 4.5 seconds to make it around. I could not contain my laughter!


Then I went out for about 4 minutes to get a bottle of water as to avoid beach water at Starbucks. On my way back in, I saw a "former-gangster-turned-jersey-shore-redneck" asked me to use my phone. Great. I give it to him, and he starts yelling at someone about loosing "2 grand" in cash from his wallet. I imagine that he earned that through entirely legitimate means. Oh, and he had one of those "i killed a person" tattoo tear drops. I imagine this friendship we forged will last forever....meaning I headed up to the room and locked every door! :-)


So, saturday, we went to Margaritaville


To be perfectly honest, it was fun!!! Cheeseburger in paradise (veggi for me of course!) and key lime pie!

We went to packet pick up, got everything ready, had some pasta, and went to bed.

In the morning, there was a Medieval Times--their picture from facebook--not mine. Hilarious way to start the race!!!



The race went really well. Chris ran ahead for a while, and Sparkles and I held a strong 10:14 pace to finish her first half marathon in 2:14:01. I am SOOOO proud of my friend Sparkles for finishing her first half marathon! What a great person to race with! I had a really good time in the race, and really truly enjoyed sharing the race experience with such a great friend.

The finish line was really fun right on the boardwalk, and I gave Bart Yasso a high five on my way in!


OH, and I did get fudge for Sara! Maybe that means she will be nicer to my shoulders now!

AND, I bought myself this shirt from David and Goliath. It is awesome, and I feel pretty much sums me up :-)


Well, this weekend, I will be racing the Silver Comet Half Marathon with my mom to celebrate her birthday! I can't wait! It should be a very different race from last weekend, and I can't wait to share a fun race with my mom! Love you mom!!!

Headed to Myrtle Beach!

So, I am leaving for Myrtle Beach this afternoon. I am clearly ready for this race because.....

1. I saw Sara last night, and after over an hour of "maintenance" on my hips, she had a few minutes for my shoulders. She said, "you have to come back Monday, because it is crunchy in here." Disgusting.
I did promise Sara fudge. Surely there is a fudge shop in Myrtle Beach. There's always a fudge shop in those types of places. Hopefully I will not be making fudge sunday night because I mad a promise I couldn't keep! Cross your fingers for fudge!



2. I have Trader Joes pumpernickel pretzels.

I mean really, what else could you need?


3. I also have something else ready for this trip. Ok, I also have...........drumroll...................a new phone!!!!! George got it for me as a "going away for the weekend so you can call me for more than 5 minutes without the battery dying" present! YIPPIE! It doesn't even have any lines or black spots on the screen! It is currently set to a beach scene with a starfish in honor of the trip to the beach!


But seriously--the real question of the weekend. This is my first race post Ironman. There are serious considerations after such a big race-----such as---




What am I going to wear?
I brought a variety of choices, but I just don't know!


So, I am heading out around 2, will be driving for close to 7 hours, and then the fun will begin!!

Final Races of 2010

First off, I had a pretty great weekend of training. 14 miles of trail running Saturday, and 4 hours of mountain climbing ride on Sunday up in N. Georgia. Hard to ask for much more than that!

Time to look at the rest of the year!

October 24th Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon.
Should be an enormous amount of fun this weekend! Running with Sparkles and Chris for their first half marathon!



October 30th Silver Comet Half Marathon
Celebrating my mom's birthday by running her first half marathon with her!!!



November 13th Serenbe 15K
So this will be the third year I have run this race, and I really love it. It is a beautiful trail race! George is probably going to run this one too, and I am so excited to be in a race with him!




November 25th Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon
This will also be the third time I have done this race, and I really love it. It is a brand new course, which looks more like the ING race, and that will prove to be a hilly one, but I'm ok with that--hills are kind of what I do!


Then....drumroll........I am signed up for the:
December 11th Tashka 50K Trail run in Alabama
Somewhat terrifying. I am hoping that a 50K will help my Ultraman application. That's why I'm giving it a shot!
I am getting pretty pumped for it though. I think I could do it well!


Well, last week was a 12 hour training week, which is solid! Ready to start racing again after a two months of recovering and rebuilding!

Camelot!

So, Sparkles (wonderwoman), Chris and I are running the Myrtle Beach Half next weekend!

I am super excited about the trip!

For a variety of reasons (and Sparkles is blaming everyone involved....hehehe), Sparkles and I are going to be staying in......Camelot!

Seriously--that is the hotel's name! AND, they have a lazy river and an outdoor sandbox (I am not sure how that is different from the beach....time will tell...)

I think it will be a really fun weekend though.

Now, I am a little disturbed by the finishers medals:

That is a shark bite!! Now, that is particularly disturbing because I did a peak Ironman training week not far from Myrtle Beach this summer. I swam in the ocean every day. I got stung by jellies, rubbed badly by the sand, and I hit a very solid fish-shark-toohardtosee-giant-thing in the water. And now, I am going to run a race where the medal embraces shark bites near the scene of my near freak out because my hand landed on an incredibly solid piece of somethings! YIKES!

All shark jokes aside, it should be a really fun weekend!

So my coach started our trainer sessions back up last night. An hour and a half on a trainer can be torture, but it flies by with a structured program and lots of great people to talk to during the "ride." As I took the trainer out though, I actually had to dust off real cobwebs, which felt like the sad coming of winter. With all of my goals for this next year, this winter is going to be one that is going to include tons of training. Gotta take care of myself in every way to make it through in shape for all of my 2011 races!

Eco Sport Bottles

I got a great email from Eco Sports Bottles that they want to sponsor me at their "Gold Level." This company makes environmental (and health friendly) sport bottles! I can't wait to get some to try them out! I will let you know what I think! Thanks! (That's not me below, but it does show the cool new bottles I get to try out!)

Kids at sprint triathlon

Oh man, my triathlon team was AMAZING this weekend at the Douglasville last chance triathlon. Not only did they all finish an adult triathlon, but we took home TONS of trophies!

Update with Josh

On Monday, I saw Josh, my sports Chiropractor. He had hear through the grapevine (thanks sara ;-) ) that I had applied to Ultraman. He was pretty hesitant about the whole endeavor. Then, he worked on me, and said that I felt "bulletproof," and that he is ready to support me in the crazy race!!! Now, I just have to keep waiting....

Ride + Run +Swim

47 mile ride with George up in Dalton on Saturday, followed by an awesome 12 mile trail run at Kennesaw Mountain, and a nice 3000yd workout in the pool. All in all it was a great weekend of training!

Goofy Mind and Body

So, I guess I will start with the bad and go to the good.

My mind was spinning yesterday as I really started to think about these commitments I am making for myself and my body. My coach told me to register for the goofy (more later on that), and to start looking for a 50K. I got scared for the first time. What have I gotten myself into? Who exactly do I think I am. I am just a regular girl, seriously!

So then I went for my easiest workout of the week-- a nice 6 miler run around the neighborhood. My mind was running WAY faster than me! I was thinking hard about injury and injury prevention and


I hit the ground. Nice, slow embarassing fall, but still a fall. I banged myself up enough that I was drippy with blood for the rest of my run, and I am a little bruised up.

Not to get too deep, but I do believe in the body/mind connection. My mind was getting WAY ahead of myself, and I was inventing injuries that have not even happened yet! I was worrying about things that I have no real right to worry about, and then I trip over nothing and knock myself on the ground. If that is not a clear body getting mind back to the present, I don't know what is! I spend the rest of my run trying to step on the crunchiest leaves I could find!



Certainly made for a better easy run!

It also got me thinking about the importance of recovery and a positive attitude. It is SO easy to let your mind slip into a negative place, and I have to do everything I can to resist that!

That being said, I officially changed my registration from the Disney Marathon to the Goofy Challenge and a Half! I am really excited about this! It is in January, and it is a half marathon on Saturday in Disney and a full on Sunday! Not going to lie, I am excited about the medals!


That is this year's marathon medal! There is also a Donald for the half, and a Goofy medal when you finish both!

Not only that, but I have SO many friends who are going down for the weekend! I am really thrilled about it! I finished in 2009, and had a blast, but everything is more fun with other people!

Ok, here's what all three medals looked like last year:



Those will be fun to hang up with the medal collection!!


AND yesterday, I saw my incredible massage terrorist, Sara. She is seriously an important part of my training. I told her about my Ultraman, and her words were, "I"M GOING TO CANADA!" I was about to invite her! She figures these things out first. It is seriously incredible how much better I feel after seeing her! Here we were (sara's on the left and sparkles, who is running her first marathon at disney is on the right) at a race this May:

Sponsorships

So, after thinking about exactly how much next year's racing season is going to cost, I started sending in applications for sponsorships.

I don't know if any of them are going work out, but in my quest for IM St. George and Ultraman, anything can help!

My eyes do feel a little cross-eyed after spending so much time asking for help! I will be sure to update if anything works out!

Ultraman Application Complete--take 2

So, as a part of my Ultraman Application, I have to include a picture. No hats, visors, helmets, sunglasses, other people, or pets. Man, I don't have any of those! So after a while of cropping, I came up with this:

Apparently, that was some weird shape that would have cut off my head if they used it! Yikes!

So, after school today, I had a "photo shoot" to come up with a basic picture. Felt pretty funny to do that, but I came up with this one:

Seems ok considering we just ran outside to take pictures!

So NOW I think my application is complete! Just have to wait until February now!

My pool is trying to kill me--and utopia

Pools should look like this:

It seems that whoever has been in control of my pool lately likes to dump in chemicals, so that it looks more like this:

On the downside, it means my eyes are watering before I swim, and I am coughing pretty hard by the last 500 of my 3000 yd swim.

On the upside, it helps me practice sighting in the pool! That's always good for an open water swimmer!

For another class, my students have to design a utopia. One student's idea of utopia was a place where there were no cars, and everyone would swim, bike or run everywhere. And there are snack shops with only "healthy snacks and water." Sounds like my kind of place!

My Ultraman Update--my application is complete! I was told that they would keep me updated about the number of people and the lottery. My fingers are crossed!