Post Vacation Struggles and a Food Review

I have MIA for almost 2 weeks... The first was because I was on vacation and the second was because I suck! LOL

I have this problem you see... When I settle into a routine I'm set, it is really easy (OK, easier) to stick to my exercise plan. But when I get jostled out of my routine, I'm hooped!

I had a really great plan set up for my trip down to Oregon and I even ran my first run (a 5k in 35:25 which was my best 5k so far!). However it got suuuuper hot and I could not barely to even stand around in the heat much less run. It got up to 96 degrees toward the end of the trip even! That is hell for an Alaskan girl like me!

So it has taken me 4 days to get back on track since we got home. Today I finally got out for a run after 2 days of "I'm going to run today"..... "Nope I'm not"

I managed to run 3.1 miles with only 0.25 of it walking while I was in Oregon so I figure I could bump it up a bit now that I'm home. I decided to challenge myself to 3.5 miles today. Yeah... not so much! LOL I was much more fatigued by it than I expected. I'm not gonna lie, I did a LOT of walking. But I did it! That's what matters!

My pre-run snack :) A green smoothie (kale, mango, pineapple) and a banana

Now on to my food review.

One of my biggest reservations about trying to become vegan has always been cheese. I have been trying to find some vegan cheese to buy which was a struggle in my little town but I finally found some to try. I bought Follow Your Heart cheddar and mozzarella to try out.

So I decided to try it in burritos with mashed up pinto beans and avocado.

I tried the cheddar first and it smelled and tasted vomit-y.... No joke. It was so gross I threw the burrito straight in the trash after one bite.

I decided to try one without any vegan cheese and just with nutritional yeast. That was better. The next night I gave the mozzarella a try and it was really good! I loooooved it! I also tried sprinkling some nutritional yeast over the vegan mozzarella to make it more cheddar-y and that was good too!

Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names!

I have busted my ass working out this week so far! Heres what I did on Tuesday and also today:

-Serious stretching
-Hip flexor exercises
-5k in 36:17 min and 35:52min respectively
(then off to the gym)
-Every arm machine at the gym for 2 sets of 12-20 reps
-2 sets of 20 lunges
-2 sets of 10 pop squats with an 8lb medicine ball
-2 sets of 20 squats with an 8lb medicine ball on the bosu all
-A full ab routine
-Some more serious stretching

I was SO sore today that I really didn't want to work out but I want to be successful and make no excuses so I worked out anyway! There were several times I want to quit soooo bad. But I didn't! It feels so freaking good to follow through with the things I say I'm going to do and be good to myself!

I am also proud to say that I have not skipped a single run since I started my Nike+ training program! :)

You know, I am still working on the food front but this much is sure... I am a rockstar at kicking my own ass when it comes to working out!

Hip Flexor Woes

I knew this was coming but hoped I was wrong. When I was 16 I broke the little bone of my hip that connects the hip flexor to the hip. Super lame! Let me tell you! LOL But I rehab-ed it and it is better than ever. Now the problem is the other hip, my right hip. I am prone to hip flexor pain and it is what has stopped me from pursuing running seriously in the past. I have always tried to keep the running to a minimum and intermittent. Thankfully my favorite sport is hockey and it doesn't have the same stress on hip flexors as running. However, I want to be a runner.

Here is some info on hip flexor injuries to those who may be curious.

I am wasting no time and I started doing my rehab exercises on my right hip tonight! I kept my Theraband from when I injured my other hip flexor because technically I should be doing the exercises on a regular basis... oops...

It's interesting too... while I was looking for a site with example of the exercises I noticed several sites mentioned the importance of stretching and that stiff muscles can exacerbate this problem. It's funny I have decided recently to work on stretching more because typically I only stretch when I'm sore due to the fact that I loathe stretching... Yeah I know not good... But I am trying to do right by my body and I'm trying to grow to like stretching (LOL). Good thing too because I do NOT want to break the bone of my other hip! That is the goal: to avoid bone breakage.

Here are the best pictures I could find of the exercises I am doing and descriptions also:

Hip Extension vs. Resistance Band

Begin this hip strengthening exercise standing at a bench or chair for balance and a resistance band around your ankle as demonstrated (figure 8). Keeping your back and knee straight, slowly take your leg backwards tightening your bottom muscles (gluteals). Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions as far as possible provided it is pain free.

Hip Abduction vs. Resistance Band

Begin this hip strengthening exercise standing at a bench or chair for balance and a resistance band around your ankle as demonstrated (figure 9). Keeping your back and knee straight, slowly take your leg to the side tightening the muscles at the side of your thigh / hip (gluteals). Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions as far as possible provided it is pain free.

Hip Flexion vs. Resistance Band

Begin this hip strengthening exercise standing at a bench or chair for balance and a resistance band around your ankle as demonstrated (figure 10). Keeping your back and knee straight, slowly take your leg forwards tightening the muscles at the front of your thigh / hip (hip flexors). Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions as far as possible provided it is pain free.

Hip Adduction vs. Resistance Band

Begin this hip strengthening exercise standing at a bench or chair for balance and a resistance band around your ankle as demonstrated (figure 11). Keeping your back and knee straight, slowly take your leg inwards tightening the muscles in the inner thigh / groin (adductors). Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions as far as possible provided it is pain free.

Finished my first 10 miles!

I have officially past the 10 mile mark on my running ticker! It is so gratifying to watch the miles tick upward!

I was scheduled for a 4 mile run but unfortunately only did 2.08. My body just didn't feel up to it and my right knee was killing me. I felt pretty shitty about not finishing it because I am the kind of person that when I set a goal I WILL finish it at all costs. But, I had to remind myself that I want to turn running into a long term fitness and enjoyment activity. So if I want to do that I need to be gentle with my body so it can keep doing it!!

I do need to give myself some kudos though for getting out and doing this run! I faced several obstacles over the course of 2 days that could have been great excuses to not run. But I didn't!!! I came up with solutions and a plan, then got out there and ran!!! This is NOT what I would usually do! I would usually take the first excuse at the first obstacle.

I am really looking forward to enjoying my rest day from running tomorrow. I foresee some IcyHot for my calves and shins and some relaxing with my hubby and Mostest!

Running Progess

So, I wanted to put shots up of my runs from my Nike+ but I can't figure out how...

But Monday I did 2.07 miles in 23:17 minutes. It was not too bad.

Then yesterday I was scheduled for a 3 mile run and it was POURING! There was no way I could run in that with Mostest. Finally around 11pm the rain stopped and by midnight I was out for a run! It was nice because it was cool out and there were very few cars out (I'm so self conscious while running.) I made sure to wear a white shirt just in case I misjudged the amount of light I had left and brought my cell phone.

Some reasons this run was possible:

• I live in Alaska and it's summer time so it stays light for a long time and barely gets dark period.
• I live in a small town so the odds of anything happening to me are extremely minimal
• I have a toddler who loves to stay up late if he can

I must admit, my imagination got the best of me at points. I was frequently looking around to make sure no people were popping out and being shady. I was also watching the tree line because I don't live in town and the running trail is right up against some thick tree/brush areas and I did NOT want to be surprised by a bear or a moose! Which entirely possible!

As I reached the halfway mark I was thinking "What did I get myself into? Am I trying to kill myself?" But I was already 1.5miles away from home so what could I do? Plus I'm super competitive and didn't want 1.5miles of walking to show up on my Nike+ when I got home!

As I neared the last 400meters of my run my thoughts went like this:

Tired Me- Oh my goodness why am I doing this? I am NEVER running again!

Optimistic Me - Shut up, you're almost done anyway!

Tired Me- Yeah but I'm never doing this again!

Optimistic Me - Well tomorrow is a rest day...

Tired Me- But then I'm scheduled for a 4 mile run!!

Optimistic Me- But then you have 2 rest days in a row :)

Tired Me- OK fine :/

LOL

I'm proud to say I finished and did 3.07 miles in 35minutes! I'm really glad I did too. However I am completely dreading the 4 mile run tomorrow! There will probably be quite a bit of walking in that one!

The best part... when we got home Mostest had fallen asleep in the stroller, so I took him into the house and laid him in his bed. He woke up as I started peeling off his layers and he looked up at me and said "That was a beautiful run Mommy." And he was not talking about the scenery :) It made me all warm and gushy inside!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July everyone!

So I got my Nike+ sensor the other day and yesterday Mostest, hubby and I went out for a run and I calibrated it! I also got my nikerunning.com account all set up to log my runs and keep me on track for my training. When I get my next run in and log it I will post a shot of it :)

My run felt really, really good last night. I ran my callibration mile at a 9:27/mile pace, which is pretty good in general for me and especially since I have not run since when I first started this blog. Best of all it was not a bust-your-ass run at all, it was just a chill run you know?

Here's Mostest all set for a run: binoculars (because apparently he was bird watching...), and iPod with his favorite turns and headphones of course.

These things make him much more content to hang out in the stroller. I also enjoy listening to him sing to his tunes too :)

Today was the 4th of July and there are lots of food are pretty quintescienial... BBQ'd hot dogs being one of them. I looooove them! I caved and had one... But a cool thing that came out of it was that my mom mentioned that she was going to look for vegan hot dogs for me but that she ran out of time. It meant SO much to me to hear that not only is she being accepting of my choice to become vegan, she is supporting it!

I had a lot of anxiety about "coming out the closet" so to speak. I don't know any vegans so I wasn't sure how my family would react. Now that it is out there and they are accepting of it I am SO relieved!

Since I live in a small Alaskan town and it was the 4th of July today of course there was a parade! Here are some fun pictures from it! :)

Watching the parade with Mostest

I've never seen one of these before... crazy!

The PFLAG float! I'm so proud that we have one now! This is it's second year being in existence and in the parade!

This just made me laugh!

This poster on one of the floats really moved me...

Lastly, I had to get a picture of one of these biker jackets because the Hoka Hey came to my town and it was awesome that some of them participated in the parade!