Training Log: GW Parkway Classic (Week 2)

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Coco

This was my only full week of “training” for the GW Parkway Classic on April 22, since part of last week was spent recovering from the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, and the end of next week will involve several light days before the race. 

To get ready for the rolling hills on the first few miles of the course, I did three different routes on my neighborhood hills and tackled the Wilson Bridge on Sunday.

Monday (Hilly Route 1)
Running: 4.5 miles, 42 min (9:21 avg pace)

Tuesday (Weights)
Elliptical: 15 min random program
Weights: 45 min full body routine

Wednesday (Hilly Route 2)
Running: 5.5 miles, 51 min (9:11 avg pace)

Thursday (Weights)
Walking: 1 mile morning dog walk
Weights: 25 min arms + abs
Walking: 1 mile afternoon dog walk

Friday (Yoga)
Elliptical: 20 min forward/reverse intervals
Yoga: Rodney Yee “Standing Poses”

Saturday (Hilly Route 3)
My friend came over to join me on my neighborhood hills. Neither of us were in the mood to run, but we just chatted the whole way to keep our minds off of the effort our bodies were making. The weather was lovely (mid 40s) and we ended up keeping a decent pace.
Total Distance: 7.3 miles
Total Time: 1:09
Avg. Pace: 9.30 min/mile
Splits: 9:29, 9:21, 9:31, 9:37, 9:27, 9:48, 9:25
It’s interesting to see such even splits when last weekend’s were all over the place. 

Sunday (Wilson Bridge)
I felt pretty good after Saturday’s run  (not to mention my Saturday afternoon massage) so I decided to do my Wilson Bridge run after church. It was warm (upper 60s!) and sunny but I figured that would be good conditioning in case it’s warm next weekend.
Total Distance: 6.3 miles
Total Time: 57:28
Avg. Pace: 9:06
Splits: 9:01, 9:19, 8:57, 9:07, 9:14, 9:01
The first mile felt hard, but I thought I was going slow, not fast. Once I saw my mile 1 split time I tried to relax. The other variations in the split times reflect whether I was running mostly uphill or mostly downhill during that mile.

I think my friend and I both are gearing up to enjoy the race without killing ourselves for a PR. We’ll see if we can hold back our usual type-A, competitive spirit and just enjoy a nice run on the parkway! 😉

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Three Things Thursday (Chobani Recipes With Deviled Egg Chicks)

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Coco

After confirming that my Mom would be joining us for Easter dinner, I remembered that one of my friends had not mentioned having any Easter plans, so I invited her and her husband to join us. Although I still planned to keep the meal simple, having company motivated me to get a bit more adventurous in the kitchen.

Deviled Egg Chicks

First, I wanted to make the too-cute-to-resist deviled eggs that made the rounds on the internet from  Pinterest to Facebook:


(I’m no Martha Stewart, but I do think these turned out pretty well!)

For the filling, I used the Healthy Deviled Eggs recipe from Anne’s fANNEtastic food blog, which calls for plain Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.  Of course, I used plain Chobani®.

Caesar Salad Dressing

I also wanted to fix a big Caesar salad, but couldn’t bring myself to buy creamy Caesar dressing with 19 grams of fat per serving. I wondered if Google could save the day, and by searching for “Chobani Caesar” I found a recipe for creamy Caesar salad dressing on Erica’s Itzy’s Kitchen blog that uses plain Chobani® as the base.

Strawberry Shortcake

For dessert, I made strawberry shortcake with my stand-by recipe from the back of the Bisquick box. Years ago I started using plain yogurt sweetened with Equal® instead of CoolWhip®, but after discovering lemon Chobani® last year, I think that is the perfect topping!

So that’s three recipes made healthier–and better–by Chobani®, which left me more room for chocolate eggs and black licorice jelly beans.

Did you try any new recipes this weekend?

Posted in Food | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Wordless Wednesday (The Newspaper Delivery Edition)

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Coco

Posted in Life | Tagged | 4 Comments

How Counting Calories Drove Me To Drink

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Coco

It was a long journey from my days of drinking a 6-pack of Coke a day


to my days of really, truly and honestly preferring water.


It’s been a long time since I’ve kept a food journal or counted calories, but I realized recently that the years I spent focusing on my calorie consumption had driven me to drink.

When I was dieting, I went through phases of pretty obsessive calorie counting. Software programs, websites and PDAs (remember those, before we all had smartphones?) fed my obsession by providing detailed data on every type of food imaginable, forms to record every micronutrient, and colorful graphs to plot my daily or weekly consumption. As obsessive as I was, there were three things that I never counted:

  1. My morning coffee (not withstanding the carefully measured tablespoon of fat-free Half-and-Half)
  2. The Gatorade I consumed during a long run (since I never added “calories burned” to my “calorie budget”)
  3. Any alcoholic beverages (although I did limit my consumption to 1-2 drinks on weekends)

My calorie counting days are over, but I think they’ve driven me to drink, although it took me a long time to realizing what was happening.

Lately I noticed that I’ve developed a habit of drinking a glass of wine or 1/2 a beer on most nights. I was talking to a friend about this, and trying to figure out where this habit came from. I don’t like to get buzzed, let alone drunk, so I’m not drinking for the effect. On the other hand, I have gotten more and more picky about the beer I like and have no problem not finishing a beer that doesn’t live up to my standards. So I came to the conclusion that I am drinking for the pleasure of the taste.

This thought made me realize that I rarely drink any other caloric beverages (other than the coffee I now enjoy with full-fat Half-and-Half or the Gatorade I might put in my water bottle if I’m running long on a warm day). After years of dieting, I have internalized the idea that “juice = empty calories” and I don’t even think of pouring myself a glass of juice, even though it would offer my taste buds the same pleasure as an alcoholic beverage. What makes no sense whatsoever is the fact that my glass of wine or beer does have calories, and they are just as empty as those in juice!

Now that I’ve realized this inanity, I’ve given myself permission to enjoy a glass of juice–or even lemonade. I am still conscious of the calories, but I am no longer ignoring the carton of fresh-squeezed OJ in the fridge when I know that it really would hit the spot. I know that wine–and even beer–may have health advantages, but juice also provides vitamins and other nutrients that can be good for me.

Do you have any “forbidden foods” that you just won’t eat?

Does your list of forbidden foods make sense?

Posted in Fitness, Food | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Monday Musings

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Coco

A few weeks ago they were sampling Chobani® Champions at my grocery store. I tried all of the flavors, and while I thought I’d be putting Vanilla Chocolate Chunk in my grocery cart, I really liked Orange Vanilla best.  This weekend I found Chobani® Champions and fresh blackberries on sale at Target, and decided that they would make a wonderful breakfast combination.

Yum!

Have you tried Chobani® Champions? Which flavor do you like best?

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This weekend we had dinner with some friends-of-friends whom we used to see frequently, until our kids’ activities took over our “free” time. When I was chatting in the kitchen with the woman (who’s always been slender), she said

You look great! You used to have a weight problem, didn’t you?

I mumbled something about eating better and taking up running and changed the topic as quickly as possible.  

How do you respond to uncomfortable questions about your weight?

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About an hour before we were heading out for dinner, my husband (who has Type 2 diabetes) got a package of cookies out of the pantry and started munching. I wanted to ask him why he was doing that when (i) he knew it was horrible for his blood sugar and (ii) he knew that he would be indulging at dinner, but I bit my tongue and went back to folding laundry. I know I would be pissed if he interrogated me about my eating, but it is hard to watch someone do something that you know they will regret later.

Do you ever question another adult’s food choices?

Posted in Food, Life | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments