California love and stuff

I am still hanging out in California.

It's been an awesome whirlwind of a trip. Saturday took me across another finish line at the Hollywood Half. - It wasn't easy but it was awesome.

Sunday, I headed up to San Francisco on a road trip for a little business.

Along the way I was tempted by tons of fast food options. In the old days I would greedily eat a burger and fries and "blame" the road trip for "messing up my diet." But this time was different. Instead of giving into that little voice that was begging for something crappy, I went to Starbucks and picked up this:

It's a little box meal that had hummus, fresh veggies, grilled chicken and a little whole wheat pita. I don't remember exactly the NI but it was pretty good. Had fiber, low in fat, not too bad in sodium and some protein. Way better than anything else I would typically get on a road trip. My biz partner, Ang, also stocked the car with low fat cheese, fruit and hard-boiled eggs so we really were able to eat well on the journey.

While on this trip, I got to meet a few of my fellow Ragnar Racer teammates for the first time! It's been awesome.

Before heading North, I met John after the Hollywood Half. John writes this awesome blog - check it out. 

John looking handsome, me still skanky and in race outfit

While up North, I met Ada Wong (from Biggest Loser contestant) I did a little interview with her (more on that to come) and then took a hard core fitness class with her. Fun but OUCH! (There were NFL players in that class!)

me looking all interview-y and news like

Finally we swung by Merced and met Mary - she writes this great blog that has been documenting her 155+ weight-loss/running journey.

My little grey jacket gets around, huh?

How much do you love the words on her wall?  Me too. I mean, it couldn't be more perfect. Fell in love with this girl.

Hope all is well with you.

How do you keep on track when you travel?

Do you find it harder to resist "crap" food when you're on the road?

XO

Jen

Belly aching', more on the long run and Ragnar Race 2013

water stations would be great on a long run!
Source

From the beginning of my running times, I've always gone thru this struggle with long runs. I have dedicated many of a blog post lamenting about trying to get them in, finding the time and even trying to rally myself into loving them with posts like this one. 

Someday (especially if I ever plan to run another full marathon again) I hope to make peace with the long run. 

Lately I've been particularly beating myself up for getting in less long runs than I would like. I have two half marathons on the calendar this spring and while I don't have to be clocking regular 13, 16, or 20 mile runs - I do like to keep those long runs around 8-11 miles to keep tuned up…  

Finally I did get an 8 miler in yesterday and it was a pretty good run. Hopefully, I'll get a 10 miler in before the Hollywood Half.

Ironically, with this on my mind a lot lately, Runner's World sent me this article from Amby Burfoot this morning in their E-zine: "What’s the Best Long-Run Training Distance for Half-Marathon Runners?"

The article questioned how long half-ers really need to run in order to be 13.1 ready. 

Burfoot suggests that seasoned runners (I guess with 6 races of 13.1 or more under my belt, I could be considered somewhat seasoned) Probably only need to keep a long run of about 7 miles or so.  Even less seasoned runners could conceivably get away with this but newer runners may desire the confidence of knowing they can come closer to the distance. (This was super important to me. Still is in a lot of ways.)

Burfoot says: 

"Bottom line: If you are an inexperienced half-marathoner, you can never go wrong by building your total slow miles run per week, especially your long-run distance. But it’s not nearly so important in the half as in the marathon. What’s more, if you’re relatively experienced or fast, you’ll get more bang per workout by increasing your speed than by increasing your distance."

What do you think? I am still going to want to chase that long run but this article gives me a bit of comfort.

In other news, I've been having tons of tummy troubles. I've always had a sensitive stomach. I'm going to the doctor today because lately I've had a stomach ache more days than I don't. I always feel like I'm walking around with a mild case of stomach flu. That can't be good. I am thinking I might actually have a wheat sensitivity that I've been in denial about. But we'll see. Hopefully I can get some answers and remedy the issue.

And finally…

As you might know I'm running the Key West Ragnar Race in January 2012 - there are too many cool things to tell you about with this race but all in good time.

Our team is the "Ragnar Losers" and all of us have lost a significant amount of weight thru lifestyle change - with large thanks to running.

Here is our team:

Rik (our team captain)
Katie (from 'Runs for Cookies', duh)
Mary from 'a small loss'
Linda from 'Frickin Fabulous at 40'
Allison (no blog, but she's lost weight and taken up running)
ME! (from 'From FAT to Finish Line')
Andrea (who was on Oprah for her weight loss)
Jen S (from 'Miles, Muscles, and Mommyhood')
Lealah (from 'Lealah on a Mission')
John (SparkPeople success story manager, and success story himself)
Ada (from 'The Biggest Loser' Season 10)

Yes! Ada from Biggest Loser is on our team! I reached out to her and invited her to join us and she said yes! How cool is that!?

Anyway, have you a good weight loss journey to share? Love to run? Want to run from Miami to the Florida Keys with us this January? Here is your shot.  Visit Katie's blog post here and find out how you can be a part of the team!

Questions of the day:

Love or hate long runs? 

What do you think about topping half training at around 7 miles?

Have you ever run a relay race like Ragnar?

Have a great day!

XO

Jen

Big workouts, big news and the big winner of the Healthmaster giveaway!

This week in California I've really gotten my workouts in.  I remember in the old days I would dread trips because I would inevitably skip workouts, eat too much and make excuses why I can't stay on track away.

Not this time.

As most of you know I kicked off the trip with the Surf City half marathon, I've been running in the mornings, I'll be running a 10K on Sunday and Tuesday evening I took Cardio Barre - the hot new workout in Hollywood.

I enjoyed this class more than I thought I would and I was glad I did it.

Every morning this week, I've run a few miles, soaking in the gorgeous Southern California weather.  The only morning I didn't run was this morning because I knew I was going to be attending Barry's Boot Camp that afternoon.

On paper, Barry's Boot Camp sounded like hell to me. I was seriously scared of it. It's the 'it' Hollywood workout to get your ass kicked into shape and I was fearful that I couldn't hang with the big boys.

I was seriously apprehensive. I have to admit, I would've never volunteered willingly for this class. But Angela pretty much said, "on Friday we're doing Barry's." And that was that. OK then. 

Leading up to the class I was super nervous. Truth be told, I was silently praying anything else would come up to 'foil' our plans for this. This is the workout to the stars. Their clientele list has more A-list names than a Hollywood Hills Oscar soiree - these people are in shape. Sure I can run… but could I do this?? 

We got to the class and met our instructor. She seemed too nice to be the devil, so I felt a little relieved. Well, she was tough. We did intense legs then would do these sprint drills on the treadmill then we'd jump off the mill and do arms, then we jumped back on the treads and did uphill sprints… at one point the tread going all the way up to a 15 mile incline! This workout isn't for the weak or a beginner.

Then we did more floor/oblique work before finally hitting the treads for one more sprint session.

SWEAT poured from every part of my body.

I LOVED IT.

I learned a lesson here. No matter how fit I've become, I still let fear hold me back. I realize that my nerves and apprehension all stemmed from still holding a deep, subliminal belief that I'm a 236 pound, out-of-shape person who'll be the fattest, most unfit, unable to do it, girl in class.  I truly believed that I was not cut out for boot camp that I'd be ashamed of myself for not being able to accomplish this.

What should 'shame' me was that I didn't even really want to try. WTF? Why haven't I learned this lesson already? I talk a big game about having the "courage to start" with running yet, a one hour workout class was scaring me away.

I could do it.  Just like in running - I learned that first of all, I'm fitter than I give myself credit for.  Many were walking instead of jogging during the jog recovery parts - I jogged/ran/sprinted the whole time. I even (puffs chest out proudly) killed the guy next to me with speed work.  I'm sorry that I doubted myself.  I'm glad that Angela made encouraged me to take these classes because I wouldn't have on my own.

Our gorgeous instructor Astrid McGuire…
and some creepy guy checking us out behind us

So… I better get fitter and fitter because this leads me to big… no. HUGE news!

I've been invited to participate in the Ragnar Relay in Key West, Fl in January 2013!  The Ragnar Relay is a 200 mile relay where a group of 12 rotates running for two days. (Average miles per runner is around 20 each!)

Everyone in our group has lost significant amounts of weight, most 100+ pounds! So it's a very special group of runners and we're coming from all over the country to do this together. I'm so honored and excited about this challenge.

Amongst my teammates are bloggers:

Mary from a small loss

and Katie from Runs For Cookies

Here's the map of our run from Miami - to the Keys:

More about this in the weeks and months ahead.

Finally the winner for the HealthMaster Elite is number 29 who happens to be:

LAUREL C!

Laurel, you have 1 week to contact me or post here with contact information or I'll be going back to the drawing board!

Hope all is well with you all!!

XO

Jen