Now in Ecto-Cooler Green

On Wednesday I was feeling like life was pretty good.  Julia didn't have a fever anymore.  Alex trusted the couch to keep itself on the ground.  My leg felt a lot better.  Life was pretty good.

I teleworked that day and all the sickies went about their merry way.  It was pretty relaxing to get back into the normal swing of things without having to worry about our juice supply and making sure everyone was medicated.  On my lunch break I even took a quick run on the treadmill with my new shoes!

I have to admit that I love the color of these shoes!

My run felt pretty good.  My leg seemed to warm up quickly and wasn't giving me much trouble at all.  It felt so good to run that I felt like singing while I was on the treadmill.  Later that night we had dinner with Alex's parents.  Alex's cousin and her husband were in town so we ended up staying over there later than we had originally intended and by the end of things, I felt like I was falling apart.  I felt completely run down and my eyes were burning and I had the chills.  No bueno.  I thought that I was feeling tired earlier in the day because I had been sitting on the couch for the past couple days.  Apparently, it was my body asking me to give it some rest.  So Thursday I stayed home sick to nurse myself back to health.

Boo.  Unacceptable.  On the plus side, I made a pretty amazing pork chili in the crockpot :)  So simple.  You just put pork chops in the bottom of the crock pot and add one can of black beans, one can of kidney beans, one can of green chiles, 1/2 a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, and 1 cup salsa.  Turn it on high and let it cook for six hours.  Dinner is served!

Do you run when you get sick? 

Spinning with Stacers

Today I took off from running since I had plans with my friend Stacy to take a spinning class.  I'm pretty annoyed with my leg because it's still giving me problems.  I was concerned with how spinning would affect my leg and hoped it wouldn't make it worse.  

Well, it was an awesome class.  This is only the third spin class that I have taken but it is always a great workout.  I love me some running but spin was great and didn't bother my leg!  Bonus!  Even though I loved the workout, I was not in love with the instructor.  She was spouting out random facts about the percentage of adults that are dehydrated, don't eat enough fruit, don't eat enough veggies, etc.  Shut up, lady!  

Unfortunately, he was not in my class

In other news, after we left the rec center, they had to evacuate the rec center due to a fire.

Something weird is going on in Woodbridge....Our Target closed due to a fire just last week....

Do you love spinning?

Have things been burning down in your town?

Rx for Bum Leg

I'm still whining about my leg....

Here's my solution:

I also got new shoes last night!  I hope they are the real solution!!

It's my Pimp Walk

No, I'm not cool enough for a pimp walk.  Yes, I'm more white than the driven snow.  I'm already getting frustrated with my goal of 1000 miles for 2012.  I'm trying to stay positive but it's difficult to do when you've only increased your mileage slightly and already your body is being dumb.  My leg hurts, wah wah.  My leg has been giving me problems for about a week now and I have been easing up on the pace but still running through the discomfort.  Usually my leg warms up after about two miles and feels fine for the rest of the run but then I walk like a pimp for the rest of the day.

In case you want to be a pimp too

I ran a 10k on the treadmill yesterday and by the end of the run, my left butt cheek was so tight because I am clearly over-compensating for the pain in my right leg.  So now my right leg hurts and my left cheek is sore.  Boo.  I'm taking today off as a rest day so I will probably do some walking and a TON of stretching.  So far I have 12 miles completed and 8 left for the week.  I have no doubts that I can complete them but I just don't want to aggravate my issue.

I have been thinking about getting new running shoes for a while but from what I have read, I should still have some life in the ones that I own.  Generally, you should replace your running shoes every 300 to 400 miles.  In that case, I should only replace my shoes once a year?   I did a little research online and the wise Internet told me that you should rotate a new pair of shoes in with the old ones to determine when you need to replace the old ones.  Apparently, when the new ones start feeling better than the old ones then it's time to throw the old ones out.  There is a also a twist test to determine when the midsole of your shoe has lost its support?

I'm also a little confused on the weight issue.  They say that overweight runners will need to replace their shoes more often.  How do my shoes know if I am overweight?  If it's just heavier people that have to change their shoes more often?  Since men generally weigh more than their female counterparts, should men change their shoes more often?  Are men's shoes typically able to withstand more pavement pounding?  Maybe men's shoes are a better investment for the overweight female runner?

How do you know when you need to get new running shoes?

Do you wear men's running shoes?

If the shoe fits...

Good Evening!  It's been a slow day for me.  The highlight of my day was going shoe shopping with my dad.

We were supposed to go to the specialty running store here in the 'bridge but they closed at 7pm and we didn't make it out until 8pm.  So we went to Dick's.  It was probably all in my head, but I first started out with some sixty dollar Asics and I felt like I put bricks on my feet.  They were not comfortable or coushiny at all.  I continued to try on more expensive shoes with a little more luck. 

Here's what I finally settled on

Mizuno Wave Nexus 5 :)  These were actually a size 9W, which is why I think I love them!  My feet are sausages and I feel like my feet are suffocating in most shoes.  These were very roomy, light, and my feet were breathing happily!

My dad has recently had some pain in his calf and it started about the time he started using new shoes so he came along to get some shoes too.  A lady at the store recommended some Reeboks to him.

That picture isn't the greatest, but these are the Reeboks with the big zigzag soles.  He said they were a little like moon shoes but he liked them enough to buy them.  I hope this is the first step to getting his leg back to normal.  I double checked before we left the store and we can return our shoes within 90  days if they aren't what we want.  I LOVE that.

I was also hoping to get some compression socks but sadly, they only had one pair of compression sleeves.  They were by Nathan and in a size XL/L, which I wasn't confident would be the right size.  I think I will swing by the running store tomorrow to check out what they have. 

I did buy a runner's pak :)  Here's an embarrassing tidbit:  I put my cell phone and ID in a ziplock bag and I tuck it into my sports bra.  This will definitely lead to more comfortable runs in the future.  I'm testing it out tomorrow morning!

What's your favorite running accessory?

~Andrea

Just peachy!

Happy Tuesday!  I had an exciting weekend with my daughter, Julia.  We finally got to meet her little brother Austin Michael :)  She is very excited and loves being an older sister.  (Now just for the record for those of you who might not know me, Austin is Julia's Dad's child and not mine....what do we call this?  A blended family?)

To celebrate after we got home from the hospital, we made some peach cobbler!  My mom bought a million peaches through her church so it was a waste not, want not situation. 

Julia has always loved helping in the kitchen.  Peach cobbler was the perfect thing for her to help with too.  It was my job to skin the peaches and cut them in half.  Julia's job was to cut them into slices.  Hold on folks, peaches are pretty soft and she was only using a butter knife.

This was a modified recipe that turned out to be quite delicious :)

Peach Cobbler

Filling:

• 4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon chia seed
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

Cobbler Crust:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2/3 cup soy milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with coconut sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the coconut oil with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add soy milk and stir to form a soft dough.

Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of coconut sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

That's the worst picture ever...something must have gone wrong when I was loading it haha....maybe I will fix that later....maybe...

The cobbler was very good.  Of course, it was not the standard super-sweet cobbler but it was ooey, gooey and delicious all the same!  I really liked the topping.  It was very nutty and earthy tasting.  I would definitely make this again.

So in not-so-peachy things, I noticed as I was walking into work this morning that I had a slight twinge in my left calf.  Not legitimate pain but the feeling of some possibly brewing for the future.  As some of you may know, I was training for a half-marathon last summer and got a pain in my right leg.  Some said it was shin splints.  I went to an orthopedic surgeon that wanted to inject radioactive materials into me to determine if I had a stress fracture or not.  The end result would have been the same for shin splints:  stop running and rest.  I chose to go straight to the treatment without the radioactive diagnostics.

So anyway, I stopped training and have only recently started running again.  Is my mind playing tricks on me?  Or could something be happening that I need to address?  I have been warming up and focusing on stretching but maybe this isn't enough?

How do you run injury free?

~Andrea