A Fast 7

November 7th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Fitness - (9 Comments)

Yesterday during a grocery store excursion I was very excited to see young coconuts in produce! I haven’t seen them in ages and when I spotted three of them all in a row, I very happily played Eeny Meeny Miny Moe Get in the Cart and Let’s Go.

My-Mother-Says-You-Are-The-Very-Best-One.

Sweet Young Coconut

With my sweet little young coconut in hand, I got to thinking that coconut water is really good after a hard work out. What a great reason to get out there and bust my ass first thing this morning, wouldn’t you agree?  Read more...

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A Fast Mile

October 17th, 2009 | Posted by Alison Spath in Breakfast - (17 Comments)

Well why don’t you just make yourself at home Hissy?

Making Herself At Home

Hissy has in fact made herself at home, I happened upon her last night in the bathroom hanging out on the sink.

Hissy Brush Teeth

A little snake charming last night, a little charming pre-run snack this morning.

Why Do Dates Always Look Creepy?

Why do dates look so creepy when you cut into them? And then to top it all off – it coughs up this gigantic bug-like pit! This is a cruel joke of nature if you ask me. Here! Eat this thing that looks disgusting but tastes unbelievable! Try it – it’s good, I promise! Just don’t look at it.  Read more...

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Half Marathon Race Recap

September 13th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (49 Comments)

I’m going to spoil the ending by jumping ahead and saying right at the start that today was probably one of the best runs of my entire life.

The day started at 4:55 AM when I woke up a half hour before my alarm was supposed to go off. I slept like a rock and felt great when I woke up. I called Shawn at 5:30 to make sure he was awake and moving around.

Shawn and I went over our strategy last night, but I was still feeling unsure about our approach this morning. Fast at the beginning? If so, how fast? Save it all for the end? How much do I hold back? Maintain a steady pace throughout?  Read more...

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Run Like You Stole Something

August 27th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (25 Comments)

Speed work was on the agenda for this morning. I was hungry but didn’t want to eat very much because the likelihood of puking on a run increases exponentially during a speed work session.

Newman's Own Organics Raisins

A small handful of raisins ought to be safe enough. It’s kind of hard see but my little pile of raisins were in my hand underneath the Newman’s Own Organics carton there. It’s almost as if the perfect portion just dropped right out of the bottom like magic. That would be really “handy”, wouldn’t it?  Read more...

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Sweaty Oats

August 22nd, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (13 Comments)

I enjoyed a pre-run peach waiting for my bud Shawn to show up to run long this morning. I had my mind on 10 miles but was up for going with the flow and running less if necessary.

Pre-Run Peach

We set out to do a 6 mile loop and as soon as we started I was feeling pretty tired. We took it easy and maintained 9 minute or so pace and I started settling in and feeling better after we had a couple miles behind us.  Read more...

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So Damn Hot

August 16th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Fitness - (16 Comments)

As part of my very loose half marathon training plan (i.e., getting in one long run a week between 7 – 10 miles) I had a long run on tap for today.

My running buddy Shawn said he was up for going long today so he came out to run with me. Waiting for him to arrive, I enjoyed a plum snowman.

Plum Snowman

Watch them disappear.

two plums one plum no plums

Like magic! I think there was about a 15 second lapse between each of those photos. I’m a plum eating machine!  Read more...

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Decisions, Decisions

July 28th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (16 Comments)

On any given day, at any given moment, the answer to my own question “Are you going to run the marathon again this year or what?!” could go like this:

1. Or what.
2. Yes, of course I am.
3. Maybe.
4. I’ll do the half.

I’ve got a million different reasons for wanting to run it. I’ve got the same number of reasons why I think I shouldn’t.

I cycle around though all four answers at varying speeds, coming back to #1 when I think of the time commitment involved in training. Time is a hot commodity these days.  Read more...

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Sorta Long Run Monday

July 27th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (7 Comments)

Zak is off today to catch up on family time, so I decided today would be a good day to make up for no running for two days and get a sorta long run in too.

I got up to whip up the best pre-run fuel I could think of. A Tequila Green Lemonade Sunrise.

sunrise_green_lemonade

And two slices of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel toast with raw almond butter.

cinnamon_ez  Read more...

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Cookies and Shoelaces

July 20th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Breakfast - (9 Comments)

Before my run this morning I dug into my stash of strawberries and blueberries that I snagged from the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.

just_food

Food combining rules say fresh fruit is supposed to be “eaten alone or leave it alone”. I have found that *just fruit* is the perfect pre-run/workout fuel. This works perfectly before a run because obviously my stomach is empty from the night before and when eaten alone fruit leaves the stomach in 30 minutes. (45 minutes for a banana.) It gives me a nice little energy boost and by the time I’m dressed and ready to hit the pavement I don’t have to worry about running on a full belly.  Read more...

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15 on 7/18

July 18th, 2009 | Posted by Alison in Short or Sweet - (7 Comments)

15 miles on the docket for this morning. I’m running today with the same group I ran with a few weeks ago.

I carried this tub’o melon around with me as I gathered my gear.

gear

And even managed to read this tid bit about watermelon and its awesome metabolism boosting capabilities in this article in Prevention mag!

prevention

I got a free 1 year subscription to Prevention from Stonyfield Farm thanks to sending in some licked clean yogurt lids. It’s a nice mag with lots of good stuff.

Now I’m finishing up my banana and AB drizzle –  Read more...

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