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A few weeks ago I tried to do a tempo run. It was too much too fast after taking a break from running during my busy study time. I have been apprehensive to re-attempt the tempo so I have stuck with fartleks and intervals. Last night I decided to give the tempo run another go. The plan was to do a 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo, with a 1 mile cool down. Historically this was one of my go-to workouts so I was hoping it would workout this time around. Dressing to run in these unpredictable temperatures can be kind of difficult.

That's okay though. I look like an awesome green ninja (a runnerd ninja). The middle top is something I picked up at the outlet mall over the weekend and it is my most favorite new winter running top. What is your favorite piece of winter workout gear? I only just realized that my Bondi Band (from my Daily Mile Secret Santa) matched my outfit perfectly. Also, special thanks to the husband for getting me green Yurbuds for my birthday!

I felt a bit over dressed during the run but since it was only 5 miles, it wasn't too bad. I made sure to take the warm up nice and easy. I tried not to go out too fast which ended up with my first tempo mile split at 8:03. The second mile I knew I needed to pick it up. An 8:03 just wasn't going to cut it for me, mentally. I just did loops around my neighborhood and part of the way, the wind was at my back and part of the way the wind was in my face. I tried not to let this get to me and just power through it. The second mile I clocked in at 7:52. I wasn't sure if there was a way for me to keep going for another mile at that pace. I was beating myself up thinking that my third mile would probably be my slowest. I also thought, maybe I'll just do a half mile. To get myself out of it, I tried a technique that Sierra mentioned she had done during the Hot Chocolate 15k. I told myself that I can keep this up for a half mile more. That was nothing. When I stopped focusing on the distance, my watch was at 0.65 mile before I knew it. Then, the rest was easy (well, as easy as the end of a tempo run can be). I think I might have even been able to tackle one more tempo mile, if I wanted to. The last mile I clocked 7:49. I don't think I've run a mile that fast in a long time. The last mile cool down felt great as I was so happy with how things went down.

I am ready to improve in 2013 as I was no where near this point at this same time last year! I felt so invigorated when I got home! Have you ever had one of those workouts where you weren't sure if you could do it, but you talked yourself into it and succeeded?

Now, today at the office, I'm wearing some compression sleeves under my dress pants as the calves and shins are a bit tight. I plan on using the foam roller and doing a bit of yoga tonight to help stretch things out.

DON'T FORGET! Today is the last day to enter the Running on the Wall giveaway!

When it comes to cooking, I'm pretty lazy. Lately, however, I've been trying to be better about cooking meals for me and Toph to try to get into some good habits before we start a family. It is definitely challenging while working full time, studying, and running. Whenever I find a recipe that is easy and not too bad for you, I put it into the (very small) rotation. A friend had made a couscous salad once for a barbecue and when I finally replicated it, I was amazed at how easy it was! I'm sure there are lots of variations that you could come up with, but this is the base and what I made for me and Toph.

Ingredients:
Couscous
Olive oil
Tomatoes
Almonds
Feta cheese
Fake chicken (but I'm sure you could use real chicken instead)
Green onions (optional)
Avocado (optional)






Couscous has to be one of the easiest things to make. Do you know how to boil water? If the answer is yes, you know how to make couscous. (I'm not joking.)

After cooking the couscous (with the olive oil) and fake chicken, I put all the ingredients in a bowl together after chopping up the (already oven roasted) almonds and tomatoes.

Clockwise from Top: tomatoes from our garden, fluffed couscous, fake chicken and diced almonds,

Mix ingredients in a bowl, chill for 15-30 minutes in the freezer (if desired), and serve. It is such an easy, easy dinner that is tasty and not too bad for you! I only seasoned with pepper as I know the fake chicken already contains a lot of sodium, but feel free to salt and pepper to your heart's desire! We had a few avocados that needed to be used yesterday so I sliced them up and put them on top. They added a buttery texture that only made the recipe better! Toph and I also despise onions so I left those out of the recipe as well. To those onion lovers, feel free to add them in!


After eating dinner and letting my stomach settle, I went out for a tempo run. With vacations and weddings, I haven't been able to get in as much speedwork as I would have liked in recent weeks, so I was a little apprehensive to go after it last night. The plan was to do 5 miles with 3 of them at tempo. When I was approaching mile 3, self-doubt started to creep in and I wanted to stop. My legs thought I could do it and so I pushed on for one more tempo mile. I completed the workout (tempo splits were 7:57, 7:54, 7:51), and I felt exhausted and accomplished at the same time. It was obvious during the workout that some of my fitness has dropped off since I was working with Coach Britt, but I knew this would happen. I'm just happy that I'm able to get out there and get these legs moving again! I think my next goal race is going to be the F^3 Half Marathon on Saturday, January 26. I'm going to be able to focus much more on my workouts after the exam on December 1. The temps last night were a little warmer than I had anticipated so I came back pretty sweaty from my workout.

Just a little sweaty

Do you like the recipes I occasionally post on my blog? Have any of you made any of the things I've posted?  Obviously I'm no chef, but I like to share when I find things that are easy and delicious! If you've made something I suggested, please let me know! :)

This week I decided to try and start speed work again in preparation of a 5k and half marathon I have coming up in October. After working out with Kate on Sunday, my arms were sore for most of the week. The soreness finally subsided yesterday, but I was worried how it would effect my running on Tuesday. Thankfully, it didn't. I wanted to kick things off with a tempo. I met up with the FNRC for the 2nd week in a row on a Tuesday. There are a few folks in the group who are around my pace and they were on board for the temp run attempt. However, I was a little rusty on how to properly adjust my Garmin. I had it set to the "average pace" function instead of the "lap pace" function so things didn't exactly go as planned.

The warm-up was a bit too fast at an 8:27 pace. The next two mile splits were exactly the same (including the turnaround) at 8:14. We picked it up for the last tempo mile and it was more 5k pace than tempo pace (7:21). The last mile I slowed things down for a legit cool-down (10:07). My legs felt great and I enjoyed pushing them, but I know this wasn't the best executed workout. However, I'm okay with it and this workout gave me a little bit of my confidence back. Next week I'll try something different for my speed work and I know it can only get better!

I don't really like to cook and when I make dinner, I look for the EASIEST recipes that include ingredients that we have on-hand. Thanks Pinterest for existing! Last night my husband and I wanted something lighter for dinner since neither of us were super hungry. I found an easy Pinterest recipe (found here) for a corn/tomato salad. I modified it slightly and left out some of the ingredients (on accident). My salad included:

All it needed was a quick toss and voila! I used the flash so things are kind of bright, but it was light, delicious, and totally hit the spot. I bought mozzarella cheese and croutons to use but totally forgot it. It still tasted good without it too! I made another one to bring to work today with the leftover corn and tomatoes.

After this delicious salad, I laid down to do my PT exercises. Pepper just wouldn't let me lay still so I did some strength training too. :)

Ropey is her 2nd favorite toy (after the tennis ball)

I haven't done mile repeats as a workout before. I had them as the first workout this week so I was looking for redemption after Friday's not so great long run. I was going to try to meet up with my running group but by the time I got home, I was hungry and realized I needed to have dinner first if I wanted to have a quality workout.

"Wow" is all I have to say about this workout. This was a tough one, possibly the most challenging workout I've completed on this training cycle (or ever?). I had to tell myself that PRs aren't easy. If they were easy, everyone would get them. They needed to be earned and I was earning mine. After the 1st repeat was finished, I knew this was going to be a challenging workout. Sweat dripped from my brow as I still had 3 more to go. Traffic lights worked in my favor along the way, which I took as a sign that I could do this workout. I wasn't meant to stop or the light would have changed. I tried to keep all my thoughts positive during this workout and I think it worked in my favor. The goal was to finish all 4 repeats between 7:35-7:40. Actual splits were...
Mile 1: 7:38
Mile 2: 7:37
Mile 3: 7:39
Mile 4: 7:38

Consistent and within the target. I tried to push that last mile towards a 7:35 or 7:36 but with the slight up hills and down hills along the way, I was just short. It is only a few seconds though and I'm still really happy with this workout! Of course I had to grab a quick action shot between intervals.

Talk about a quality photo...

I can't believe how light it remains well into the evening. Summer is here, officially. The 100 degree temps we're expecting on Thursday are solidifying that...

I'm trying to work on a running mantra to help keep me motivated during a tough workout and on race day. I'm having trouble coming up with some on my own that keep the message positive (without words like "don't" or "can't"). I'm going to do some Googleing today but I thought I would ask what works best for all of you? What is your running or workout mantra that helps you get through the end of a tough workout??


In other news, the winner of the Warrior Dash helmet giveaway is...
Congratulations! Please contact me with your mailing address so I can get these sent out to you asap!

Today is National Running Day. How are you celebrating? I'll be running 5 miles tonight as recovery for my speedwork yesterday.

Every Friday my coach sends me my workouts for the upcoming week, which is nice because then I have time to coordinate my schedule and mentally prepare for the impending speedwork. This week's speedwork was a "ladder" as follows: 400, 800, 1600, 800, 400. As soon as I saw what I was supposed to do, I knew it was a workout meant for the track. When I told Toph I was headed for the track, he seemed confused that running in circles would be more fun than out on the trail. I haven't been on a track since high school so I was absolutely giddy at the mere thought of running on a real track. I arrived and instantly felt like I belonged there. (Maybe because I participated at a track meet at said track when I was in high school.) It was kind of a weird feeling. I ran around a few times to get in my 1.5 mile warm up and determine my preferred lane. I had a side cramp to start that went away once I got moving. Thank goodness for warm ups! Once I got rolling, I nailed all my splits. I know that you don't walk away from every speed workout feeling confident, but at this one, I did. I met my all of my goals and pushed it in the 2nd half. It was a great workout and one of those days when you can't help but think "OMFG I LOVE RUNNING!!"

I whipped out the camera and took some pics on the cool down as I couldn't contain my excitement. Smiles all around. When's the last time you had a workout that you couldn't help but smile (and maybe brag a little) about?

And the winner of the 5k entry is...
Congrats Marty! Please contact me immediately to claim your prize! runningkellometers at gmail dot com

Yesterday when I left for work in the morning, it was cold but not yet rainy. I didn't check the weather report or pack any running rain gear (jacket, hat, etc.) As soon as I got to work it started raining and it rained All Day Long. We had our normal Thursday night run scheduled and I sent out a reminder to the group that we will be there rain or shine. The drizzling let up a little bit for our group photo and we had a great turnout despite the weather. I guess my running friends are just as crazy as me to get out there on a rainy day to get in some quality miles.

L to R: Maggie, Amanda C, Amanda W, Brian, Diane (front), Susan, Amy, me

Because Maggie and I are jacket twinsies, a group member asked me where was my matching jacket?

Continuing to make this photo relevant enough to include in the blog.

I didn't have on my matching jacket, but Maggie and I were still twinsies since we both wore the same color. Twinsies without even trying. I like it. Speaking of being twinsies, I just (finally) purchased my "I Run with Fast Women" shirt from Maggie's Spreadshirt site. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. You can be twinsies with us too!

Now, about the actual workout. I had a speed workout on the schedule and I wasn't going to let the rain get me down. I mostly met my splits despite some weaving on the trail to avoid puddles, accidentally splashing in some puddles, and being soaked to the core. It felt so much more bada$s to complete the workout in the rain than to have pushed off to another day (it is still raining btw). I feel myself getting stronger and faster. I'm hitting numbers and working towards things I have never done (or would have even attempted) before. I'm really glad that I made the decision to work with a coach as it has increased my focus, alleviated the stress of deciding what type of workout I should be doing (bye bye 400m repeats), and given me confidence in what I can accomplish. Rock N Roll Chicago, I'm coming for you!! I'm already thinking about my race day outfit. (I may do a post on that alone...)

This morning I missed my normal train so I took the later one. That gave me time to stop at my favorite local coffee shop for a cup to take with me on the train. Vanilla ice cream flavored coffee? Yes please!

Don't mind my sleepy eyes

This weekend I'm traveling up to Wisconsin Dells, WI to run a half marathon with two of my friends (Kate and Kate). We ran the Shamrock Shuffle as a group in 2010 and we plan on crossing the finish line together for this race. (Hopefully the photog snaps one of the three of us so we don't run into the same snafu as Bobbi!)

Yesterday I met up with my usual Thursday night running crew. I ran in a running skirt for the first time in a long time (I need to do laundry and I am towards the bottom of my "running bottoms" section). I don't know if it was this particular brand, or all running skirts, but I was not a fan. Once I was wearing it, I was like "Oh yea, THIS is why I never wear this."

L to R: Don, Julie, Susan M, me, Amanda

This may be TMI, but the shorts under the skirt were riding up my butt the whole run. That = not fun or comfortable. Maggie and I were talking about planning a running swap for folks to exchange clothes, accessories, etc. after one of our weeknight or weekend runs. This running skirt may end up in that exchange. TBD.

I did my speed workout with Julie this week and it worked out great. We weren't the same pace for the speed intervals, but I had my timer and would put my hand in the air signalling when we were slowing down. Props to Kim for the idea to use the timer app on my phone to help moderate the workout as my Garmin battery was dead. It is definitely different to do a speed workout by "feel" rather than "time." I'm always up for a new challenge to keep things interesting!

After our workout was over, I ran into my friend Kate S. and her little pup Bo. To help keep Bo hydrated while they run, she picks her up so she can have a quick drink.


Um, she can give Pepper a run for the money as cutest dog award. Maybe... Just look at that face!! (Pepper and Bo are friends IRL, in case you were wondering.) Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have a great weekend!

Last week things started to pick up at work and that will continue into this week and next. I'm mentally preparing for long hours and late night runs. Oh joy! :)

We were busy celebrating Cinco de Mayo at the office on Friday so I didn't have time to talk about my runs! First things first, Kim and I went out to lunch on Wednesday to a delicious vegan restaurant in the loop called Native Foods Cafe. We've been there before but I loved it so much I wanted to go back! As always, it was great to talk to Kim about life and running (shocking that we would talk about running, right?).

Purple cardi twinsies!!

Wednesday night my husband and I had some fun with the dog. I mean, how can you not love that face??

Thursday night I met up with the usual group and due to the thought of impending rain, it was a small group. Maggie and I did a fartlek workout together which was fun (and successful). Mostly because I enjoy the work fartlek. The plan was to do 4x2:00 difficult/2:00 recovery... The 2:00 minutes were supposed to be faster than tempo but slower than 5k pace. As this is a new type of workout for me, I definitely had fun with it. After our run, we headed to a local ice cream shop (The Creamery) for a tasty treat. Of course it was delicious and worth it.

L to R: Maggie, Kate S, me

Friday and Saturday I took rest days in preparation for my half marathon on Sunday. More to come on that tomorrow. (Spoiler alert: I finished!) There seemed to have been a ton of races this weekend. What race did you run? How did you do?

Last night was the standard Thursday night run with the FNRC. The group is kind of small this week but I'm hoping it continues to grow as the weather gets nicer.

Genevieve, Kate (with Bo), Maggie, and me

The workout on my plan was a tempo run. 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at tempo 8:08 pace, and a 1 mile cool down. I ran the first mile with Maggie and then took off. I forgot to switch my watch from average pace to current pace so I had no idea what my pace was until I hit the first mile marker. Mile 1: 7:17... I stared at my Garmin in disbelief. Well, that is about 1 minute too fast... I consciously tried to slow it down for the 2nd mile. Mile 2: 7:27... Not really slowed down. Since I haven't done a tempo run before, I guess I underestimated what is comfortably fast. I was definitely out of my comfort zone and pushing pretty hard. I tried to slow down more for the last tempo mile, Mile 3: 7:54. Then I did my cool down and couldn't believe what just happened. First thing I thought was how I need to remember to adjust my Garmin to show current pace instead of average pace for my next tempo run. Then, I couldn't decide if I was mad I didn't meet my targets, or happy that my 5k goal seems more achievable than ever (goal: to have a 22:xx time).

I got home and felt sick but it was pretty obvious why. I pushed it really hard in my run today and my pre-run fuel of cupcakes and beer probably wasn't the best idea. I knew it wouldn't be, but I couldn't pass it up. I guess there were quite a few lessons learned from yesterday's workout. Tomorrow is another day. This weekend I'm going up to my husband's family summer cottage and will be doing a loop around a nearby lake.

P.S. I'm not really a huge fan of Crumbs Bakery! Their red velvet cupcakes were made with buttercream frosting and not cream cheese frosting. Although, they are still better than no cupcakes. :)

This week has been crazy at work. The weather here in Chicago has been beautiful all week and I've missed the sunshine both days so far (arrive at work while its still dark, leave when the sun is setting). I woke up this morning thinking it was Thursday. At least I was only 1 day off.

Last night I wanted to get out there and enjoy the temperatures, even though I couldn't enjoy the sunlight. I had a speed workout planned to do 6x400m (last week I did 5x400m) with a 400m recovery jog inbetween. I <3 the interval function on my Garmin because it helps keep track of my average pace per split. Last week I was shocked to see that my splits were in the 6's. Doing the workout again this week, I see more 6's that are even lower!

6:07
6:00
6:19
6:02
6:25
6:10

(Maybe next time I'll have 1 in the 5's?) I didn't feel great during this workout. I was tired and definitely felt like I was going slower than last time. I didn't have the best pre-workout fuel and I think that is part of the reason why I felt so tired. (I worked late and grabbed Cosi on the way to the train. Apparently the Hummus & Veggies sandwich isn't substantial enough for a hard workout. I should have known this and gone with the Subway Veggie Patty instead. Now I know for next time.) My very first post talked about some stomach issues I was having, so I at least learned to not eat chips and guacamole before running. Now I also know to add Cosi veggie options to the list. Although, when Lent is over and I go back to eating meat, maybe a sandwich with some meat would have a different effect? Have you struggled with pre-run fuel while out running errands or working late? What is your favorite "restaurant" pre-run fuel?

Before I went out, I knew the workout I wanted to do but I didn't really think about the total distance. Since I've newly been including a warmup and cooldown to go with my speedwork, this adds additional time and miles. I thought I would be gone for only 3 miles but it ended up being 4. I'm not going to complain but it just didn't really seem like 4 miles. Have you ever had that happen before?

No worries on the post-run food. I have that covered.

I have to add hearts to all my food photos now

Thanks to everyone that has recommended Peanut Butter & Co products in the past. I joined the bandwagon and am never getting off. Their Dark Chocolate Dreams is just as delicious as it sounds.

I had a new running top that I was very anxious to try. It was in the clearance section at Target (for $9) and it was a BRIGHT orange.  I really liked it a lot. It was fitted but not too snug. The perfect size. C9 for Target does it again! If you're interested, the shirt can be found on their website here. I didn't take a photo because the orange didn't show up properly on my camera. :(

P.S. Have you entered my Road ID Prize Pack Raffle yet? Only $3 per entry and it is open to anyone anywhere in the U.S. or Canada!

Yesterday I met up with Kim at the Ilax Studio for lunch at a local vegan restaurant, Native Foods Cafe. I gave up meet for lent and Kim is vegan so this was a great place for us to enjoy a delicious meatless meal. Based on Kim's suggestion, I went with the:

Vegan Bacon Cheeseburger

And boy was it delicious. If I wouldn't have told you it was vegan, you wouldn't have known. It was THAT GOOD. We had a pact ahead of time to agree to only eat half of our meals and save the rest for later. Uhh, that worked until about 2pm when we both needed a post-lunch "snack" where the rest of our meals were consumed simultaneously. Haha, I guess we were both thinking the same thing! We were so busy eating and talking that we almost forgot to take a photo of us together.

Thankfully we remembered at the last minute before walking back to our respective work places. The weather was so beautiful yesterday, I was very happy to have an excuse to go out and enjoy it! Through our discussions, we decided it would be fun to plan a blogger run/meet up somewhere between the south and northern suburbs. There will be more on this to come! If you're in the Chicago area and interested in finding out about more local bloggers, check out Chicago Running Bloggers!


Wanting to really enjoy the weather, last night I did some speedwork and decided to do it outside instead of on the treadmill. This was a great decision as it truly felt like spring last night!

Pepper followed me around the whole time I was getting ready to leave, and whined the entire time I was gone.

I have never used the "interval" function on my Garmin before and decided to give it a try (ala OuaL). I did 5x400m with a 400m jog in-between. This workout has worked for me in the past so I decided to stick with what works! (Right now my race goal is to break 40:00 for the Shamrock Shuffle.) I was excited about the challenge of running into the wind. Thanks to the beeping of the Garmin, I didn't have to worry about my exact route or focal points at the end of the distance. I just ran until the beep! I didn't know what pace I was running, but I thought it was probably around 7:20 mile pace. Only when I changed the function away from the metric system did I see my actual per-mile splits:

6:37
6:50
6:31
6:39
6:26

Either there is something wrong with my Garmin, or I was going pretty fast. Some of these were into the wind too (although I don't know which ones. I'm guessing the 2nd one). My first thought was OMG I'm running in the 6's... THE 6's?!?!?! This is something I haven't done before, and considering I didn't know my time at all for these splits, they are pretty consistent. I guess all that hill work and long miles has been paying off. I am hoping/thinking my Shamrock Shuffle goal is accomplishable (if these times are in fact correct)... And maybe the sub 23:00 5k is also in my future?! We will see in the months to come I guess! Have you had a workout where you went faster than you thought, without realizing it?

I did some speed work last night, a route I've had in my head for a week or so. I did roughly 6x 400m sprints with a jogging 6x 200m in-between for a total of 2.1 miles. I felt fine during the run, but those sprints felt like they would go on forever! The average overall pace at the end was 8:16. I was debating whether or not to do one more loop and round it out at 2.5-3.0 miles, but decided against it since my next race is only a 5k.

While I was running these sprints, I thought quite a bit about the Polar Dash. I've decided that if I do the run, I'm not going to push it super hard and run with Kate. I'm trying to build up a strong base to have a solid half marathon in May. I'm worried if I train too hard in too short of a time frame, I set myself up for injury and disappointment. I've only been running 3 days a week since the marathon, and I've been thinking about adding a 4th day. I know Kate has been training harder since she has been planning to run this race for the past few months. She's doing the intermediate Hal Higdon schedule and I'm not up to that caliber, yet. I know if I run with her, I can't help myself but get competitive. I'll want to push hard during the race and since I won't have the base of training, I feel I am setting myself up for disappointment. I still have some time to think about it and Jeanne (my Chicago marathon pace leader) said she might be interested. I still have some time to decide.

My pup went with me for the run last and helped drag me along to the end of each sprint. She hasn't been out for a run with me since she was spayed 3 weeks ago. She saw me getting out my running stuff, and she was following me around the house until we left. (See video below of her excitement) I should have taken a picture of my outfit because I looked like a real runnerd. Reflective vest, pepper spray, iPod, headband, Under Armor gloves, head light, my Garmin... My husband couldn't help but giggle, and I knew I looked ridiculous. However, cars could see me and I was safe. Even the pup had on a blinking light!