Introducing….
June 22, 2009
The new site that I’ve been working on!
http://www.chicrunner.com
Remember to take out the blogspot! Mosey on over whenever you get the chance, hope you like it!
xoxo
Foto Friday!
June 19, 2009
Hooray! So many good things are happening today! #1 on the list, is that I’m getting my new iPhone today! (As soon as I posted this post, um Mr. UPS came! hence the photo above…) Don’t worry, I’ll be doing a review of it next week after I get a chance to play around with it for a little bit, I still have to post a review of my netbook as well, perhaps I will post that sometime next weekend. #2, going to a rehearsal dinner tonight for the wedding of Mr. R’s friend (and my friends too!). #3, I went running this morning! I ran two whole miles! Ha ha, but I did realize that I haven’t run in a long time, my body was super stiff. My knees were hurting a lot but it felt good to get out there and run again, and I’m glad that I’m back in the game. I didn’t have a bark cough at all either, which was promising! Now I can run again and of course, I wanted to share some pictures of the June Gloom that still plagues my house every morning.
This is the bay I ran by, notice, there is a swimmer in there! I have huge respect for swimmers who swim there.
That’s downtown Long Beach in the hazy fog
Houses line on side of the beach, but I LOVE all those palm trees lined up.
Here’s the path I travel the most! I love this path but this morning, I was sucking wind. Ha, ha, I will be back in the longer distances soon though!
So tractors drag the sand across the whole beach every morning so that it looks flat and the way it does. I feel like I am letting out some secrets of the beach here. I think it would be fun to drive that tractor though!
YAY! Here’s a picture of me. 6:15 am came a little early this morning, but this just shows that I don’t always look so dapper. Also, that’s the Rock and Roll Marathon shirt. I am not in love with it but oh well, it’s a running shirt. So after the run, I stretched really good and did 100 sit ups and 25 push ups. I know I’ll be back into the swing of things in no time, and even though I was sick, it was nice to give my body a rest, and let my toenail heal as well. Next week I’ll start the training plan that I had originally thought of and it looks like I’ll just bump down the mileage for the long runs by a little bit. As I was running 2 miles, I though, how in the world did I EVER run 26.2 miles?
So yesterday I posted about linking to every one’s sites and boy I have a lot of new cool sites to check out as well! Thanks for posting everyone! If you would be so kind to also update your blog roll to include my blog, that would be great. Just update it to be http://www.chicrunner.com/, even though my new site is not up yet, it will be on Monday, and then it will be all set up to hit the right site! Thanks again and I look forward to creeping around on some new sites.
So creep around on Monday for the new site will be up and running, and I hope it lives up to this hype I’ve created for it. Tomorrow I plan to run a nice little 5 miler in the morning and then will be at the wedding all afternoon and of course I’ll post pictures.
I got an black eightyish dress that I will be sporting and I’m pretty excited about the day, it will be lots of fun!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and can fall asleep since you all are so excited about this new site. There I go with the hype again. Gosh, somebody stop me!
xoxo
PS So many of you complimented my sunglasses in my car wash post. They are from Forever 21 if you wanted to lurk over to their site.
over-freakin-whelmed
June 19, 2009
So today I am working on finishing up a huge proposal at work. No deals, but don’t worry, once I switch over to www.chicrunner.com on Monday. (MONDAY, MONDAY, MONDAY! said in a superbowl echoish voice) I will have TWO sick contests for you guys, so I guess that makes up for no deals today. At least I hope so.
So in working on the proposal, and finishing up my site at night, I have been super overwhelmed. Tomorrow I’m going to run in the morning though. I went for a nice walk this morning and I felt really good so I’m ready to jump back onto the track. Wow you can tell my mind is going as well with all these lame puns.
So in my last projects for the new super sweet site, I need to include links to all the blogs I read and I would love to include YOURS. This means, just leave a comment with your blog address and I can include it. Try to include it like this:
Then it’s much easier for me to just add it into the page. If you want, you can write nice things about me too, perhaps that will weigh in on where you show up on the list.. JUST KIDDING! Don’t worry I’ll be doing this tonight while watching some So You Think You Can Dance and also Wipeout.
Seriously, I am so jazzed on my new site. I almost think I like it more than I like my bag of Peanut Butter M & Ms I picked up last night. Nahhhhh.
So leave a comment with your site. I just am trying to include everyone, and I have been reading every ones sites, I just haven’t been a comment fiend like usual because of the building of the new child! Some people I have down already from twitter, so I hope you want to be included on the BEST SITE EVER. I hope I get some new cool blogs to check out by doing this too.
So it won’t be the best site ever, but I think it’s pretty freakin’ cool.
Tomorrow is pictures, a run recap (gasp! I run? crazy!) and anything else that my little fried brain might want to discuss. Be ready!
xoxo
Car Washes and Deep Thougts
June 17, 2009
So this morning, Baby Koo got a wash. That was the exciting thing ever since it’s been misty/drizzly lately, she was VERY dirty. I was pretty excited as you can tell.
I tried to run this morning and my barking cough didn’t like my breathing through my mouth thing, so I barked my way back home. I shall try again tomorrow morning. I feel like my energy is coming back now though, which is good. Last night I drank some bomb wine with the roommate and we discussed life. It was wonderful.
So there’s no real transition that works well but I feel compelled to post about what is going on over in Iran. Every night on Twitter and through some new sources I see more and more destruction and people standing up for what they believe in. It has reminded me that we are SO blessed to live in a country where we can talk about anything we want, can find information we want, and do whatever we want. Seriously, seeing people who would die for a cause blows my mind.
I think I began to reflect on this and for some reason, those pictures and those people, really have touched my heart and made me appreciate what I have today. I can get out of bed and get dressed in whatever clothes I want. I can drive my car to work and I’m not scared for my life. I get paid and can talk about whatever I want all day long. I can even write whatever I want on the Internet. Whether you agree with my opinions and thoughts or not, I can still say them and not fear for my life.
It’s amazing that some people don’t have what we take for granted every day. Right now my stomach is grumbling and I’m thinking about lunch. Some people don’t even know when their next meal will be. We are so fortunate to be able to eat food, have computers, and have technology. My biggest fear is that my iPhone won’t be here on Friday and I’ll have to wait until Monday to get it. How materialistic am I? It’s crazy to think that some people are fearing for their lives for trying to get out true news stories from Iran, or are trying to let their voice be heard. It’s so easy to take things for granted, like the fact that you can read this post, but man, some things just humble you. I guess that’s what the election did for me in Iran.
So whatever you do today, remember how great it is to live in a free country. Be thankful that you have life, liberty and can purse happiness. Also, if you want, you can pray for the people in Iran. Pray for their government and pray that they can survive this time of turmoil.
xoxo
Nuun is tasty.
June 16, 2009
I am trying to stick with the Tuesday Reviews of my favorite products that I love because I want more people to know about them. Alas, today I wanted to talk about the wonders of a little tablet called Nuun. Nuun is a delicious form of hydration that I tried out during my marathon training and I really liked it. First off, the taste is MUCH better and not overly sugary and overwhelming when running. They have pleasant flavors that really taste good and are refreshing. I really like their tri-berry flavor.
Nuun is a product that helps you stay away from dehydration. Nuun produces a hypotonic solution so that your body will absorb Nuun faster than the leading “sports drinks” or even water alone. Your body is therefore, able to restore optimal water and electrolyte balance more quickly. When drinking Nuun I have never felt dehydrated on a run at all. I have also never gotten an upset stomach off drinking Nuun either.
Another important aspect of hydration that Nuun provides is the electrolyte count (or sodium). Nuun provides 700mg of sodium for every litre of drink – this amount, in addition to the other critical electrolytes contained in every Nuun tablet, ensures that you are adequately replenishing your body’s stores to help you perform at your best, and stay healthy.
Though many people say that Nuun lacks some of the carbohydrates that other drinks offer, and it has zero calories, for me personally I would much rather eat something on my run, than drink calories because I think that may be what is upsetting my stomach and creating my stomach issues. I have come to realize when running very long distances (anything over 8 miles for me) that calories are super important and your calorie intake needs to at least be something. I think for my next training cycle, for whatever race that may be, I will try to eat foods instead of take gus/beans/shots etc, because those seem to be what messed up my stomach in the first place. I mean, besides the episode at Mile 8.
Nuun is tasty, replenishes electrolytes and I would recommend you guys to check it out next time you are at your local running store. It’s just a small tablet that you can dissolve in water. Think alkaseltzer. It’s nice because I can take more than one with me on a run and can refill my water and still have Nuun with me.
You can buy it on their website, or you can sometimes find it at local smaller running stores. Check it out! You won’t be disappointed in the flavors and hydration.
xoxo
Just around the riverbed….
June 15, 2009
Name that movie? Can you guess? POCAHONTAS! When she’s on her way to see Grandmother Willow, yup, a talking tree represented as her Grandmother. Talk about weird.
Well that is neither here nor there, so just around the riverbed for me is the fact that I’m finally starting to feel better. I don’t sound like a man when I talk and I can almost fully breath through my nose again. This means that if I’m feeling up for it, tomorrow I will begin running once again. Hopefully. You see this is how I work, I start feeling a little sick, then I keep pushing myself and pushing myself, thinking that I will just get better, but my body says, “No Way!” and then I just get sicker and sicker and then finally I have to take off work and sleep for a few days in order to feel better. Annoying right? Every time I get sick that’s what happens. So the break was needed and now I’m feeling much better.
There are more exciting things coming to chicrunner too, that I’m super excited to tell you guys about. First, remember when I did my own site, at chicrunner.com, and then there were MAJOR issues of the site being down, problems with hosting, problems with email, problems with people not knowing that they had to add the blog spot back into the address? Yes, well this Friday, there will be a switch back to chicrunner.com without the blog spot, and it’s going to be a brand new, amazing, exciting site, and I’m kicking off the new site with 2 SWEET giveaways.
Seriously, I’m jealous of the giveaways because I want the prizes for myself. So stay tuned, I will be linking to all sorts of wonderful things and will let you know when the new site is officially up!
To all you Texans, the lovely Mr. R is attending a conference out in San Antonio this week for work. Perhaps stalk if you see him, don’t tell him you’ve seen him online for that would forever freak him out. He is just coming around to understanding this… but I personally would find it incredibly funny if someone did spot him partying on the river walk like he’s 21 conferencing hardcore for work.
On another completely unrelated note, here is a picture that I am in love with today.
I’m catching up on every one’s weekends! Can’t wait to post a sweet review tomorrow!
xoxo
Welcome to my bano.
June 12, 2009
Here’s the inside of the shower and yes, that is a little rubber ducky. I found him randomly in a drawer and we put him in the shower when we moved in. He’s stayed there! I love the tiling in our bathroom, and it’s a shower tub, but I thought taking excessive pictures of the tub would probably bore you.
Then you can look directly to the toilet from the sink! Told you our bathroom was small!
This weekend my only goal is to kick this sickness I have into 2010. Oh, and I’m getting a haircut. Well trim. I’m super anal about getting my haircut every 6 weeks and it’s been almost 2 months. I can’t wait. I have some stuff going on on Saturday and Sunday, I think I will go look at some new home options for Mr. R, since he is moving late July. New home in CA means very overpriced apartments. Though Mr. R feels safe in all locations, I don’t! So we’ll see what he has found. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and is able to get your run on. I wish I could be running but breathing through my nose is out of the question. Yea that whole post I did this week about my training schedule… see things like this happen and you can’t stick to the schedule. Meh! I’ll be back on the streets soon, as in running on the streets soon.
xoxo
Communicado.. No?
June 12, 2009
So I realized after I got all the comments yesterday and people worrying about my leg and lung health that I got a little something mixed up, I know I shouldn’t be doing two fast workouts back to back and the twenty milers shouldn’t be back to back. DUH. That was totally my mind and typing not communicating well at all. But alas, don’t worry, I will switch around the workouts so I have a slower, recovery day in between all my faster workouts and I will have a week to split up my long 20 milers as well. I know it seems like a lot for the longer distances, and I’m not trying to build my endurance that much, but at the same time, I really feel that a long run on the weekends is really good for me. I am going to work on focusing during my long runs and not allowing my mind to give up half way through. I think that will really strengthen my running abilities.
Also, coaching track and cross country and running competitively in high school for four years and on and off for 5 years, I think I will do a lot of the same workouts I did and had my kids do as well. I think that will be helpful since I used to do them and they are pretty engraved into my head.
Also many of you think this training schedule is super hardcore, but really looking at the schedule, it’s not too rough. It’s a few smaller runs, with longer runs on the weekend and I tried really hard to switch it up from just going out and running 5-8 miles daily as well, with the hill and gym and track workouts as well. Now, don’t get me wrong, you won’t be seeing me on a bike or in the pool anytime soon. Thanks for all your advice though, I definitely will be taking it to heart.
Now, I know many of you need new summer workout gear, check out the links below. Lately though, I am sad to admit that there are absolutely no guy deals out there. Every website I check it’s the same stuff I posted last week. Do any of you guys who might creep around this blog know of any new websites or places online to get good guy running stuff? Email me @ Danica@chicrunner.com if you know of any!
Women’s
Men’s
Sorry. Lame. I know.
I’m still sick. I’m seriously over being sick in the summer. I can’t breath through my nose so I know running is out of the question right now. My head feels like it weights 10 pounds and it’s all clogged up in my sinus area. Graphic? Yes. Would you expect anything less from me? I can’t believe tomorrow is already Friday. Where did the week go? I’m excited though, because tomorrow is Foto Friday! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
xoxo
Half Marathon Training Plan
June 10, 2009
So I realized sometime during my marathon training that training plans overwhelm me and really take the fun out of running for me. During my training I got burnt out and wanted to not run as much as I was in the beginning. The training plan I was following was made up for my current running abilities at the time and was perfect if I would had stuck to the plan pretty closely. I dealt with a lot of personal things during the training which also wore me out so I had no energy to run some days. Running hard six days a week is just not for me either. So with this upcoming half marathon, here are the things that needed to be addressed.
1. Bathroom issues – I need to find a good mix of what to eat while running that doesn’t lead to bathroom trips. Though I never had had a problem with the half distance and the bathroom issues, if I choose to run a marathon again, I would rather try to figure that out earlier on so I don’t have the problem anymore.
2. Speed – After the marathon I realized that I had perhaps stepped back on running fast for a little bit too long and I had lost a lot of my speed that I build up by building my endurance. I am going to work on getting faster and keeping with that pace for this cycle of training
3. Hills – I know the SF 1/2 is going to have some major butt kicking hills and if I don’t train on them I’m going to have an epic blowup at the 1/2.
4. Sticking to the schedule – So I got super burnt out, and had a really hard time getting myself out there to run because I think I got overwhelmed with the amount of running, the time it took and everything else in my life. This cycle I am really going to try to stick with the schedule.
5. Diet – So we all know that I eat a ton of crappy food. As in a TON. I eat a ton of fast food, and at work I’m called Lamar because I eat so much candy. This little issue will be addressed after the training plan.
So dun dun dunnnnn, I announce my OWN training plan.
I made this up according to what I think I can feasibly get done and also with the idea that one day, sooner than later I may possibly run another full marathon. This is all still speculation and I hope to discuss my feelings and how the race went mentally sometime next week. I’m still sorting through that whole mumbo jumbo in my head.
Sundays will be my rest day
Each week I will be doing on cross-training or weight lifting type workout. This will most likely fall on Mondays.
Tuesdays I plan to do some simple mileage. Usually at a nice, consistent pace. Anywhere from 6-8 miles. Somewhat of a recovery from weights if I’m a little sore. I will do some striders at the end to shake out my muscles and keep the speed somewhat included.
Wednesdays I will run a faster lactate threshold type workout. This can range from 6-12 miles, with 3 to 8 miles at a faster pace. Mostly the half marathon it will be on the 6-10 mile side.
Thursdays I will do a track workout. This means legitimately going to the track and running as fast as I can. Usually will be doing 400s or 800s all out. Possibly will include sprints (because I miss them dearly) OR I will run hills, which would be a very hard hill workout, where I run up a hill all out about 10-20 times and then slow jog around the back. There is a nice grassy hill that I know I can run up and it will kick my butt but will also get my quads into better shape and will get me more used to running hills more frequently. This is what we did in high school and it really helped me.
Fridays This is my 2nd rest day of the week.
Saturdays This is where my training will be a little different, I am going to include 2 20 mile long runs in the beginning of July before my taper to try to increase my endurance. All my long runs in the training cycle will be longer than the half marathon distance of 13.1 miles as well. I have 6 long runs to get in before the half so I am going to probably break it down like this:
June 13 (but sadly this weekend I think my run will come on Sunday because I have some prior all day commitments on Saturday, but it shouldn’t mess up my schedule too bad since it’s not too incredibly long and I shouldn’t be sore on Monday) – 14 miler
June 20 – 18 miler
June 27 – 20 miler
July 4 – 20 miler
July 11 – 18 miler
July 18 – 14 miler
July 26 (Sunday) – San Fransisco Half!
It seems crazy but I really think this will allow me to build my endurance up and I know I can run that far because of the marathon. I know it will also keep me in better shape in case I do decide to run a fall full marathon. I also hope it makes me faster. Also every night, I will do at least 25 push ups and 100 sit ups, if not more as I go along. I started doing that before San Diego and before I gave up on them, I was really starting to see a difference. I know the core is very important to runners and I want to work on mine. I feel that starting off with 100 and doing them every day will be a good number. If I feel good then I will do more, but I must always do 100.
So now onto the diet of myself. I know I eat a ton of fast food. To cut this down I’m limiting it to eating fast food once during the work week, and once during the weekend. This can be for dinner, breakfast or lunch, but it’s only ONCE during the day I choose, not a full day. For me, fast food is Mc Donalds, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell, Del Taco, etc. NOT Quizno’s, Subway, or Togos. If I get a sandwich somewhere that doesn’t count as fast food, because that’s basically what I would have brought from home.
This new diet also includes not drinking limitless amounts of Soda. I can have two of those a week too. Luckily, I don’t drink coffee so I don’t have to wean myself off that either, but I know caffeine and sugars are super bad for you, and I need to increase my water intake. I know I can’t give up all my soda but I think two a week is a good number, because sometimes I just need a soda, sprite specifically.
Then we have the candy addiction. This is rough because I love candy. I am going to try to cut as much out of my diet as possible, but if need be and I can’t resist the addiction cravings, I can have one bag a week, of whatever candy I choose. This isn’t the family size bag or a fun size, this is the regular bag that would be mixed in with the candy at any gas station type of establishment.
I am going to try to eat healthier by eating more fruits and vegetables as well. I seriously lack those in my current diet. Mainly my diet is made up of cheese and bread/pasta, with the occasional interspersing of chicken. So I think including more fruits and veggies will bode well for me. Also last weekend I tried tofu and really liked it so I think I’m going to try to start working on making some of that and including it in my diet. I don’t necessarily want to drop a lot of weight on my ‘diet’ but at the same time that would be an added bonus, but mostly, I want to do it to feel healthy and feel good. I love candy but it doesn’t always make me feel the best after I’ve downed some huge bag.
So that’s my plan in a nutshell basically. Well see how it goes and how all my workouts start to fall into place. It starts this Saturday (or Sunday, pending) with my 14 miler. I am trying to get my toe to heal as quickly as possible and it’s starting to feel a bit better, which I think will allow me to run well this weekend for the 14 miler I have planned. Now to get rid of this summer cold that has me a little congested and I’ll be good to go.
I am excited about this plan because I feel like it fits me a little bit more than such intense running. I like to switch things up and I feel like my long runs will help me build endurance and make the half fly by! Well see how it goes. I also feel that this gives me the option to run another fall full marathon if I choose to.
So tomorrow I’ll have some sweet deals! I will be posting my progress with the plan as well throughout my training up until the 1/2 on July 26.
xoxo
Me and Goji = Me and YUMMY
June 9, 2009
Love their packaging, and though it’s in a tube, I feel like you get more cereal from the tube form than from boxes. I also feel like their packaging allows the cereal to stay fresh for longer, which is always very helpful.
One of the things I liked the most is that the flakes are big and the fruit and other options that you can choose from to include in your cereal are large and I felt like they were actually real fruit in my cereal. I got cranberries, coconut, blueberries and bran flakes. The fruit was delicious, and I felt like it was too good to be in cereal. The bran flakes didn’t have much taste, but then again, what do you expect, they are bran flakes.
This is another picture of the tube and the cereal that I took out of the tube but this would be roughly what would be poured out with each pour. They don’t skimp on any part of the cereal or fruit which is another great factor of Me&Goji.
So overall, I really liked the taste and flavor of the cereal. I also felt like their website had many more options than some of the other websites out there. They have tons of different types of berries and even gluten-free options which is also really cool. Of course, it’s more pricey than a regular cereal found in the store and you have to pay for shipping but at the same time, it’s so much more healthy and delicious as well. Definitely check out their site and play around, trying it once won’t hurt, and it also makes a great granola mix as well where you don’t even have to eat it as a cereal.
The robust flavors and health factors alone make it delicious and I hope you all give Me&Goji a try!
My infected toenail is slowly dying so I am anticipating it’s departure soon. I am going to get in a few miles tonight, but I can’t do much working out with my toe like this because it shoves up against my shoe and just gets pushed back more into my skin which is painful. I also need to get some new shoes! Hooray! That will be done this weekend. Tomorrow I will be posting my plan for the 1/2, so stay tuned. On a completely unrelated but just as important note, what in the world was the Bachelorette last night? Crazy men, I tell you. Now scoot on over to Me&Goji and try to stay away from the chocolate covered goji berries.
xoxo















