Happy National Running Day!

Happy National Running day everybody. It couldn't be more beautiful here in the Bluegrass and I hope wherever you are that it's a beautiful day for a run :)

Now that life is "calming down", I'm feeling like I'm getting into a bit of a groove. Like most of you, by 'calming down' I don't mean there's less going on I just mean I'm getting more capable of coping with it.

For instance, this whole bar prep/bar examination thing has been a whirlwind to get used to. I have class (mostly) Monday-Friday for roughly four hours until the first week of July. This class - like a bad coach - imparts two kinds of wisdom: (1) don't stress! Take it easy, chug right along and (2) spend every waking moment working on this. It's like the training plan that says "for novice-beginner runners" yet has you logging 40 miles a week. Contradictory, at best. For instance here's a sample 'schedule' one of our academic advisors gave us:

7:30-9:00am - shower, breakfast, dress, and travel to bar review class
9:00-1:00pm - Bar review class
1:00-2:00pm - Lunch Break
2:00- 4:30pm - review and consolidate notes from morning's session; make flashcards
4:30 -5:00pm - break
5:00-6:30pm - work through MBE questions in subject you're studying
6:30-7:30pm - dinner break
7:30-9:30pm - work through another group of MBE questions OR 1-2 essays
9:30-11:00pm - review materials for the next day's bar review session

Does that look realistic? No? I know.  I'm not phased though - I'm treating this like I would any race: get a good base, build up endurance, train hard, don't peak too early, save some gas for the finish line.

Aside from the above ridiculous schedule and working, I've been trying to figure out how to incorporate some more running back into my life. I need goals to be successful - or to even be motivated! - and my primary goal of "must look good in wedding dress" wasn't doing it. Luckily Beth @Running Around My Kitchen wrote this great post with tips about how to get out of a rut such as mine. Beth had great tried and true ideas about how to get myself ramped back up about running. Not being one to just pick and choose, I decided to go all in and ramp it up a LOT:

1. I FINALLY got new shoes! 

Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12

I've been dying to step down into something more minimalist, or at least less bulky, for awhile now. These little changes to my stride have been helping and a shoe that facilitates those changes would be great. At the end of the day though, I just wanted shoes to run in NOW. Seeing as though my MAJOR problem has recently (read: always) been blisters, I wanted told the friendly ladies at Blue Mile Louisville "Give me the widest toe box in the world." They did not disappoint. So far I'm really happy with these babies, but only time will tell.


2. I signed up for a race!

Louisville Sports Commission Half Marathon
November 3, 2012

I'm one of those runners that needs a race to actually go out and run. Granted, I've gotten a lot better recently about running just to run, but if there isn't something on my calendar then running always manages to slip to the bottom of my priority list. Trying to work around the July Bar Exam and our September wedding made things a bit difficult. So November it is! I"m really looking forward to doing a half again - I think I can really rock this flat, urban race if I just stay healthy.

It's a good thing I've gotten back into running, too, because I've gotten back into eating BIG time! This past weekend was filled with parties: wedding, birthday, graduation, you name it. We had three separate cakes. But it's not all bad: living in the new house and having someone to cook for has been amazing! Josh is really open minded about things and will try just about anything I make. Monday night I tried a new weight watchers recipe I'd been eyeballing.

Shrimp & Spicy Tomato Sauce nomnomnom

I served it with Penne pasta & some good french bread and it was delish. Want the recipe? You can find it right here - there's lots of room for variation. I'm sure you more 'seasoned' cooks out there will scoff but hey, it was my first venture with shrimp!

Oh yeah, we still have the puppy. Despite her penchant for pooping (everywhere) and her bitty little puppy teeth, we've somehow totally enamored with her and just can't live without her.

Happy Running!

Are you running on national running day?
Any of my Louisville folks running the LSC (Half) Marathon?!

And then there was no coffee

I stumbled out of my nice warm bed this morning and into the freezing kitchen this morning to find this

no...coffee....??? AHH!

Not having coffee is an apocalyptic event in my life. I hardly ever drank coffee before law school and now in my 3rd and final year I require a cup of hot strong java goodness before I can tie my own shoes. It's not the caffeine so much as it's the ritualistic aspect of waking up crusty-eyed and sore on any morning and feeling the sweet release of warmth from a big happy mug. Well, except for today obviously. Coffee is essential when you have a schedule like mine has been.

I'm happy that so much of my 'busy' has been fitness & food related. For starters, I'm in week 6 of my training plan and my long runs have been going GREAT. My weekly mileage, on the other hand, has been struggling. Looking at the schedule I noticed I haven't had a step down week yet, and I'm not due for one until Week 9. Lately my body has been telling me that maybe this is a mistake. I've decided this week I'm going to get my workouts in based on time rather than miles and see how I feel. Since I'm only about 1/3 of the way through, I'm going to focus on staying strong and healthy this week rather than logging every single mile. We'll see how this plan works!

In other news, I've been experimenting with new foods/recipes in an attempt to keep up with my raging appetite. I definitely spent twice my January grocery budget, but I justify it by feeding Josh too. Unfortunately, I haven't had as much luck in the "trying new things" category. Have you ever looked at a recipe and though "mmm YUM!" and then, upon taking a bite, though "uuuugh yuck!"? That happened to me with several things lately. Maybe my taste buds just aren't ready to surrender to some of these things. Then again, I don't know why I thought I'd just love recipes based on egg-whites and pumpkin when I don't really like egg whites or pumpkin. Oh well - I'll keep trying!

Wednesday Wish List
This week's wish list is simple: blog more! I've been (trying) to keep up with you all and had no time to update myself. This week, I'll be working to fix that. Thanks to Jen @ Running With the Girls I've been tagged in the 11 Random Things post that's been going around. What a great way to keep up this "wish". So stay tuned to 11 random things about yours truly!

The Lowdown On My Rubdown

After a pretty restless (read: awful) night's sleep, I was really happy that today was massage day.  I arrived my recommended 15 minutes early to fill out the paperwork and hit the table. I'm still on the fence about the whole thing, but here are just a few of my initial thoughts after my first Sports Massage

• The staff at Apex Spa Louisville are kind, knowledgeable and very professional (they also have a super awesome dog that works there too, and that was almost the highlight)
• It wasn't awkward at all, which I was kind of worried about (being my first massage)
• Though their sports massages normally stick to the lower body only, I asked her to also take some time on my lower back & she gave me a detailed explanation of everything she would be doing before she did it
• One thing I noticed is that there were times that I almost couldn't feel her hands. Maybe I'm desensitized because of the foam roller, but her dainty little fingers weren't doing much for my hips and hamstrings
• When I left, I didn't feel that much more relaxed OR sore than when I went in
• It's really really expensive

We'll see how I feel tomorrow, but my thinking is that it's something I could maybe do as a post-race treat but not at all regularly. 

After the massage I commenced a day of baking. I spent most of the day running in and out of the kitchen making upwards of 50 Almond clouds, some sugar cookies, and the innards of a chicken pot pie J and I will be eating for dinner shortly! I also managed to get in Cardio Core and Balance while one batch was in the oven. 

As you can see, it's not what you would call 'spacious'

Since my student budget is a tight one, I like to make gift baskets with love from my kitchen for friends and family. Most of these recipes came out of holiday desperation: when I was losing my initial weight I needed cookie/candy alternatives that I could eat without losing my diet goals. Over the last three years I've accumulated some good ones! I also love that I can feel good about giving my family treats that aren't (too) bad for them, but that taste just as good as any other holiday goodie. Enter, Almond Clouds. 

I could eat this picture, they taste that good

These delicious meringue-esc. goodies are a little bit chewy, a little bit crunchy, and a lot tasty. They're SUPER easy, keep for ever, and one batch makes a gazillion (give or take a few). I can't remember if I stole these from Weight Watchers or Ina Garten, but either way, they even out pretty good on the nutritional values. Check out the recipe, here. 

Hope those of you in the mid-west/Ohio Valley aren't washing away - GO AWAY RAIN!

Got any good holiday recipes for me? How was your run/workout today?