Last weeks workouts

So last week was jam packed full of workouts and not getting home before 9pm, so blogging didn't happen.

Sunday, August 21st - off/rest day! It was a nice rainy day spent inside.

Monday, August 22nd - Boot camp with Stephanie! During the mile run, I paced a friend, trying to get her to break 8min/mile. She ended up going 8:20! Her best for this course.
5min plank and 32 push-ups in 2min. We had a new instructor and we did lots of squats and lunges. Then during the advanced class we did wall sits, buns of steel, and 10 min of jumping lunges. Needless to say, my buns and legs were killing me after. It was a good workout.

Tuesday, August 23rd - 15min warm-up, 6x {3min @7:30 and 2min easy}, 10min warm-down
15min - 1mile @8:57, 0.68miles @8:53
6x {0.39miles @7:42 - this was hilly!
0.41miles @7:16
0.40miles @7:25
0.41miles @7:28
0.39miles @7:36
0.42miles @7:08 - I guess I still had more in the tank!}
1min - 1mile @8:23, 0.26miles @8:12

Total - 6miles in 55:30!
I like this training!

Wednesday, August 24th - Boot camp with Stephanie! My goal for the mile run was to break 6:30. My friend and I chased each other and I went 6:36! My best time!! I did do 5 min plank and 34 push-ups in 2min. The rest of class we did two 9min routines with 1min of an exercise with bands, then 30secs of dead man burpees (the first round) and plank jacks (the second round). We were all ready to pass out at the end. We finished the class with some ab work and stretching. It was a great class!!

Thursday, August 25th - off day. I was going to run in the morning, but the late nights had caught up with me. I listened to my body and took a day off. This afternoon, I found out that my 10mile race on Sunday had been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. Annoying!

Friday, August 26th - Morning run! 15min warm-up, 3x{10min @8min pace, 3min easy} 10min warm-down.
15min - 1mile @9:02, 0.67miles @9:00 - still a little tired.
3x {1mile @7:50, 0.28miles @7:50
1mile @7:52, 0.27miles @7:58
1mile @7:51, 0.27miles @8:02}
10min - 1mile @8:19 and 0.44miles @8:23

Total - 7.37miles in 1hr6min. Great way to end the week!

Saturday, August 27th - unplanned off day because of rain from Irene. We did have steady rain all day and some wind. Fortunately, we didn't loose power and there wasn't any noticeable damage.

Sunday, August 28th - Travel day. I wanted to do something active because I did feel a little cabin fever after being inside all day Saturday, but it just didn't work out. I like rainy days and spending a day indoors, but two days - I start to get cabin fever!
I'll make it up on Monday with a long run.....

Enjoy!
ELH

Hurricane Irene

A hurricane is coming....

I got an email this morning saying Sunday's race was ON and a decision would be made closer to the race. Hurricane patterns change, no need to make rash decision on Thursday.

Then this afternoon, I got another email:

"The A-10 has been cancelled by the Annapolis City Emergency Management in anticipation of Hurricane Irene. "

The irritating part is the "anticipation" and the fact that I have rearranged a lot of things specifically for this race!

Argg!!

We better get a lot of rain to make it worth canceling the race.

-ELH

Happy Birthday....

to one of the best SILs a girl could have!
This picture is from Christmas about a week before my first "offical" nephew was born.
Hope you have an amazing day!

Love ya
Elaissa

Saturday's long run

Saturday, August 20th - So I am following a modified training plan from Women's Running Magazine (March/April 2011) and Run Less Run Faster and the plan for this weekend was 8mile warm-up, 5miles at marathon pace (8:15). Next weekend is supposed to be 22miles, but I am doing a 10mile race on Sunday, so I thought I would switch the runs around. 22miles this weekend, then substitute the 8+5miles for the 10mile race next weekend. Sounds good. My training plan has 3-20 mile runs with the longest run being the 22miles.

I talked to a few of my running friends (thanks Amanda, Suzanne, Kerry, and Erin) about my plan and they all said it was a bad idea, I even got some OMG facial expressions! Since I did 18miles two weeks ago and 20 miles last weekend, this weekend needed to be a step down. Not a step up. These ladies have run multiple marathons and even an ultra-marathon, so I decided to listen to them. Sort of!

As I drove to the running location, I was thinkine one 10mile loop would be a good start and I would see how I felt about continuing. Still not on board with the idea of not doing 22 miles. After about 4miles and my knees not feeling that great, I was leaning more and more to the idea of just one loop. But then I would be missing two runs - the 8+5 and the 22. What if I did the 8+5 now? Great idea. I wasn't going fast, so the 4miles was within the 8mile warm-up training plan. I did do the 8+5 run! And it was great. I felt great, felt great after, have some confidence, and am happy with my decision!

I even finished in time to make it to outdoor yoga. I walked there and back (1.45miles), so it was a great cool-down and after run stretching workout. Since my legs were sore, yoga was hard and I really felt it. It was also the last class for the summer :( since they are closing the area off for the Grand Prix race over Labor Day weekend. I went to a handful of class this summer and enjoyed all of them! Thanks Charm City Yoga!

On to the splits -
13.1 miles in 1:52.22 with an elapse time of 1:57.10 - did have to stop at the bathroom once! The water just goes straight through me!
Mile 1 - 9:00
Mile 2 - 8:59
Mile 3 - 9:12 - really feeling tired and mentally down about the run - got to get back into it!
Mile 4 - 8:47
Mile 5 - 8:37
Mile 6 - 8:54
Mile 7 - 8:40
Mile 8 - 8:42
Mile 9 - 8:12 - Start of marathon pace running - I didn't take a walk break before starting this, just got right into it!
Mile 10 - 8:07
Mile 11 - 8:04
Mile 12 - 8:10
Mile 13 - 8:05
0.1 miles with a pace of 7:38

Happy about all of this!
Sunday was a nice rainy rest day.
Enjoy!
ELH

More workout updates

Monday, August 15th - Boot Camp with Stephanie - Since this was the day after the 20miler, I decided to take it easy. The mile run was 8:52. We did diamond push-up for 2min (basically make your hands in the shape of a diamond and do a push-up) and 5min of the dynamic plank. August is bands month so we alternated bands strength with cardio the rest of class. I did stay for the advanced class where we did more cardio stuff and buns of steel!! It hurts so good.

Tuesday, August 16th - More marathon training...
15min warm-up - 1mile @8:48, 0.72miles @ 8:40
6 x {3min @ 7:30 pace, 2 min easy}
1st set - 0.38miles @ 7:45
2nd set - 0.42miles @ 7:12
3rd set - 0.4 miles @ 7:27
4th set - 0.4miles @ 7:33
5th set - 0.41miles @ 7:23
6th set - 0.43miles @ 7:03
10min warm-down - 1mile @8:30, 0.24miles @ 8:34

Total time was 55:36 for a distance of 6miles.

Wednesday, August 17th - Boot Camp with Stephanie
Mile run - 6:40! Pretty good. I want to break 6:30 next week....
33 push-ups in 2min and 5min plank.
Again we did bands with a mix of cardio and finished the class with buns of steel! My buns hurt!

Thursday, August 18th - I was feeling tired this morning. I wanted to run during the easy parts, but decided to walk instead. Kind of lame, but I am okay with it!
15min warm-up - 1mile @9:09 and 0.65miles @ 9:03 - very slow warm-up for me.
5 x {5min @8min pace, 2min easy}
1st set - 0.62miles @ 8:01
2nd set - 0.63miles @ 7:54
3rd set - 0.63 miles @ 7:55
4th set - 0.63miles @ 7:57
5th set - 0.64miles @ 7:48
10min warm-down - 1mile @8:46 and 0.29miles @8:08 - what?!?!

Felt good once I got started. The weather is starting to cool down, which makes running so much better!

Friday, August 19th - off day! You know I have no motivation to work out on Fridays!

Saturday - another long run.....

Enjoy!
ELH

Happy Birthday.....

to the best MIL a girl could have!

Love you!
ELH

Lamp

What do you think of this lamp for our master bedroom night stands?? It is from Crate & Barrel and are on sale for $80. They are 22" tall and the shade has a diameter of 13". I have been looking for lamps and haven't found anything that I am in love with. I like this, but $160 for two lamps I don't love seems a little high.
Let me know what you think?

Enjoy!
ELH

I want that 26.2 sticker!

and a sticker that says "I am reconsider this marathon thing!"

I had some technical difficulty with my alarm Saturday morning and didn't wake up until after 6am. Doesn't sound late, but I wanted to start my run at 6am. You know that awful feeling you have after missing your alarm? I had that. Not a good thing if you are about to run 20miles. So I decided to go back to bed and instead walk to yoga at 9am. Great idea!
I walked 1.59miles and had a great yoga practice!

Sunday, August 14th - Yes, I did 20 miles in and out of the rain! My shoes were soaked and squeaking. I was soaked from sweating. It was a little rough after mile 17, but I made it! I did stop at a port-a-potty twice and at 10.3miles at my car to refuel with liquids and eat sports beans. I did stop my watch when I stopped, so the elapse time was 3hr 33min. My running time was 3:00.06!
Splits -
Mile 1 - 8:43
Mile 2 - 8:19
Mile 3 - 8:45
Mile 4 - 8:52
Mile 5 - 8:40
Mile 6 - 8:50
Mile 7 - 8:52
Mile 8 - 9:06
Mile 9 - 9:06
Mile 10 - 8:51
Mile 11 - 9:06
Mile 12 - 9:06
Mile 13 - 9:12
Mile 14 - 9:07
Mile 15 - 8:51
Mile 16 - 8:58
Mile 17 - 9:11
Mile 18 - 9:19
Mile 19 - 9:32
Mile 20 - 9:29

My knees are feeling a little sore today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be all right!
Running girls - I need some confidence advice. I have no confidence that I will be able to finish the run without walking miles. Help!
Enjoy!
ELH

Some more workout updates

Sunday, August 7th - Sleep in day, so I did some stretching and an easy run in the evening. Wanted to stretch out my legs.
2.56miles in 22:21 - 9:04, 8:30, and the last 0.56miles @ 8:33pace.
Nice run!

Monday, August 8th - Boot camp with The Boot Camp Girl!
The temps have lowered (high 80s, low 90s), so we were able to do our mile run which I did in 7:19. I did 33 push-ups (on my knees because of some pain in my left elbow) in 2min and 5min of planks. The rest of class was cardio work with bands. It was hard! I stayed for the advanced class where we did 3 x 5 x {50sec on, 10sec rest} of dead man burpees, push-up -> roll on the ground 360deg -> push-up, speed sumo squats, knee tuck abs, and then prisoner get-ups. I was soaked after! Great workout!

Tuesday, August 9th - Another interval/tempo marathon training run. 15min warm-up, 6 x {3min @7:30, 2min easy}, 10min easy.

15min - 1st mile 8:55, 0.69mile @8:53 pace.
6 x {0.39miles @ 7:30
0.41miles @ 7:25
0.41miles @7:18
0.41miles @7:18
0.42miles @7:10
0.43miles @7:00}
10min - 1st mile 8:33, 0.24mile @8:33pace.

Total distance 6.01miles.
I guess I get better as I warm-up!

Wednesday, August 10th - Unplanned off day. Our AC had broken on Saturday and was going to be fixed this afternoon. Because I was at the mercy of the AC guy, so I cancelled my spot the boot camp girl. My body was really sore from the week, so it probably was a good day off to let my body recover.

Thursday, August 11th - Repeat of the 20min easy, 20min @8min pace, and 10min easy warm-down.
Splits -
20min easy run - 1st mile @8:39, 2nd mile @9:16, 0.23miles @9:10 pace
20min fast! - 1st mile @7:55, 2nd mile @7:50, 0.55miles @7:46pace
15min easy run - 1st mile @8:25, 0.82miles @8:20

Total distance - 6.60miles!

Friday, August 12th - off/rest day in preparation for the 20miles I plan on doing tomorrow. The route is 10miles, so I will be able to stop at my car and get food, fluids, and refill my water bottle. Wish me luck!
-ELH

Workout update

Saturday, July 30th - Easy cross-training day.
Walked Molly 1.75 miles in 35min and did pilates core challenge. Working on building my abs and flexibility.

Sunday, July 31st - Off/rest day with a short walk around the block with Molly - 0.69miles in 17min.

Monday, August 1st - Tempo training - 6mile warm-up/easy followed by 8 pick-ups (30sec fast, 30sec easy).
Splits -
Mile 1 - 8:38
Mile 2 - 8:16
Mile 3 - 8:23
Mile 4 - 8:24
Mile 5 - 8:19
Mile 6 - 8:37
1st PU - 0.07miles with pace of 7:09
2nd - 0.08miles, 6:33
3rd - 0.08miles, 6:19
4th - 0.07miles, 6:43
5th - 0.07miles, 6:48
6th - 0.08miles, 6:09
7th - 0.07miles, 6:39
8th - 0.08miles, 6:32

With a little running after, I ended up doing 7.01 miles in 1:00.16. It felt good. I did do a cool-down walk with Molly - 0.53miles in 10min.

Tuesday, August 2nd - More pilates core challenge and a fast 1.52 mile walk with Molly in 29min. We did take Molly for another walk after dinner - 0.68miles in 15min.

Wednesday, August 3rd - Another tempo training day. 20min easy warm-up, 20min at 8min/mile pace, and 10min easy warm-down run.
I did 6miles in 50:26.
20min - 1mile @ 8:40, 1mile @8:36, 0.32miles @8:42.
20min - 1mile @7:59, 1mile @7:55, 0.51miles @8:01.
10min - 1mile @8:48, 0.18miles @8:42

The middle 20min was hard, but again, not as hard as I thought it would feel. And again, another cool-down walk with Molly - 0.8miles in 15min.

Thursday, August 4th - off/rest day with a walk with Molly - 1.77miles in 34min and then some stretching.

Friday, August 5th - Long run! 18miles. My moving time was 2:43 and the elapse time was 3:25! I did stop twice for the bathroom at local baseball fields, three times to fill up my water bottle, and a few times to eat sports beans and fruit leather. The last stop was at Walgreens to buy water and gatorade. At that point, I still had 3.5miles to go. It was very hard and I was stopping almost every mile to drink more gatorade. Not liking this summer training.
Splits -
Mile 1 - 8:59
Mile 2 - 8:45
Mile 3 - 8:40
Mile 4 - 8:42
Mile 5 - 8:54
Mile 6 - 8:38
Mile 7 - 8:33
Mile 8 - 8:50
Mile 9 - 8:50
Mile 10 - 8:49
Mile 11 - 12:11 - had some watch problems - didn't start it while running, didn't stop it while walking, etc. so this split is off.
Mile 12 - 8:44
Mile 13 - 8:46
Mile 14 - 8:58
Mile 15 - 9:03
Mile 16 - 9:05
Mile 17 - 9:17
Mile 18 - 9:08

I did a cool down walk with Molly - 0.67miles in 16min and then rewarded myself with an Epsom salt bath and ~2hr nap. Lovely afternoon.
Next week is a 20miler! Good times!!

Saturday, August 6th - off/rest/recovery day. We did walk Molly - 1.78miles in 40min because we had to stop for 3 bathroom breaks and doggie freak-out moments when we pass other dogs.
I am surprised at my lack of soreness today. Yesterday after the long run, I was pretty worthless and my legs were really tired, so I was worried. The nap and bath must have helped.

Enjoy!
ELH

July Mileage

112.87miles!!

Total mileage for the year is 519.58! That is a lot of miles and calories.

Enjoy!
ELH

Master bedroom After!

All done!

GAH's dad is going to install crown molding, which I think will make the room look prefect! After that, all we need is some artwork - I really want to get something sort of matchy-matchy to put on either side of the TV cabinet. Maybe move the artwork from the hallway....right colors and opposites. Might look cool?!

But then that leaves the hallway bare. Hummm....

If you have been keeping track, I have now painted the master bedroom, guest bedroom, office, hallway, and dining room. Busy girl!! All that is left is the living room. It is going to be the same paint as the hallway and dining room and I already have the paint. We also bought the curtains from Ikea, so I am set. Like always, the hardest part will be the prep work!
I might also paint the bathrooms, but we will see about that.

Enjoy!
ELH

Zucchini bread

We received some veggies from GAH's parents garden, so I made zucchini bread.

Before....

While in the oven...

After!

Tasty!
ELH

Chicken Pot Pies

We got 10 LeCreuset mini-cocottes for the wedding. GAH mentioned that we should make chicken pot pies. Ok! To be honest, I have never had a pot pie. I have seen them on the cooking channel, but that is it. I found a recipe the mine-cocottes cookbook for chicken pot pies and it looked pretty easy.
The dinner was great and very tasty. My only recommendation is to cut the recipe in half. We followed the directions and had enough to fill 9 cocottes! Serving size said 4! Part of the problem might have been the size of the chicken and miscommunication on our part. It calls for 4 chicken breast. I thought that was a lot and asked GAH, he said no problem. I said the chicken breast are the size of the cocotte, how are all the other ingredients going to fit? He didn't realize that I was using the recipe that came with the cocottes. Assume...... Then we get to the size of the breasts - one was small/regular, 2 were over sized, and 1 was huge!! I think it came from the Hooters farm! I voiced my opinion about the amount of chicken, but GAH sad it would be fine, still not realizing where the recipe came from. Oh well! 4 chicken breasts does seem like a lot regardless. My pot pie was all chicken, a few carrots and peas, and no pearl onions.
Overall it was a great meal and we will make it again, just cutting the recipe in half!

4 chicken breast
6 oz butter - I just used olive oil
4 carrots
3/4 cup pearl onions
2 tbspns flour
3/4 cup half and half
3/4 cups peas - used frozen ones
1 tsp parsley chopped fine
1 frozen puff pastry dough - follow the directions on the package for defrosting - do this before cooking the chicken, since it takes ~40min.
2 egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp of milk - this is an egg wash for the dough tops - I just used one egg with a little water.
Salt and pepper

-Preheat the oven to 350F.
-Put chicken on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Salt and pepper generously. Bake for 20min. When the chicken is cooked through (don't over cook the chicken because it will cook more in the cocottes later), cut it into large chucks.
-Peel the carrots and cut them into small dice. Peel the pearl onions. In a small sauce pan, bring the chicken stock to a boil, then set aside.
-In a large pan, melt the butter (sub-olive oil). Cook the onions for 10-15min until they are translucent and caramelized. Add the flour and continue cooking for 2min stirring continuously. Add hot chicken stock. Let it simmer for 1min till the sauce begins to thicken and loses the taste of flour. Add the half and half, 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, chucks of chicken, diced carrots, peas, and the parsley. Give it a good stir.
-Increase the oven temp to 400F.
-Divide the preparation into 4 mini cocettes. Cut 4 circles of the puff pastry dough slightly large that the cocettes. Moistne the edges of the cocottes with the egg wash. Place one cirlce on each filled cocotte, pressing down around to seal the dough circle. Cut a small hole in the center to make a steam vent.
-With a pastry brush, coat the dough tops with egg wash. Bake for 15-20min or until golden brown.
-Let stand 5-10min before enjoying!