Disappointing

One of the things that has been a struggle for me with all this running shit is that I don't feel like I'm improving fast enough. Now in reality I've been "running" for all of 3 weeks. (I use running in quotes because a - it is fairly slow and b - it is still mostly walking). My knees and outer calves are killing me. And for fun, my lower back has thrown itself into the mix. This is all muscular pain not joint pain. In my knees it isn't IN my knees but the part that runs on the interior of my knees so I don't think that's the joint that's causing me pain. I bought new shoes and I'm wondering if they aren't part of the problem. On Tuesday when I do my 30 minutes I'll wear my old ones.

So I've been working this program for 3 weeks. Going from the total couch to "running" I probably am doing just fine, but it feels like I should be able to do more. (I don't know why I think that. Honestly there's no reason for it whatsoever). I guess I keep thinking back to my first long run which I was able to do despite the rain and the wind. I think I've taken a step back with the last two long runs which is where my frustration lies. Today I pulled off my shoes and finished my last 2 laps (or 1/2 mile) barefoot because my back and legs were screaming. Barefoot was much easier. (related, the track is more cushiony than I thought it was. I thought I was running on regular road asphalt but when I was barefoot I discovered that's not the case). It does make me ponder minimalist running shoes. I prefer to be barefoot in general. For people who are regular runners there's a huge length of time to make the switch, but since I'm a new runner I wonder if I could just start out that way. Something to consider. (Except I will never ever ever wear those ugly toe shoes. Never. Ever. Ever)

According to my calculations I should be hitting 13 miles in December. Since I have a long time I should be able to do this but damn if I wasn't feeling like I can't this morning.

Two Weeks Down - A training update

I've done four 30 minute runs so far and one long run on the weekend. I seem to be consistently doing a 20 minute mile. My long run on last Sunday took me an hour to do 3 miles. I've got a 4 mile run coming up tomorrow. I have 6 months to shave 6 minutes off my time so that I can get to a 14 minute mile. Have I mentioned I've never in my life run a 14 minute mile? I'm pretty sure I have. (mentioned it that is not run a 14 minute mile). But a 14 minute mile is my goal which means that by August 20th I need to do a 19 minute mile. I can do that. Maybe.

I bought new tennis shoes yesterday. The running shoe store took video of my gait and figured out what kind of shoes would be the right ones for me. It seems the pronation I used to do is no longer happening. My new shoes are lighter in weight than my current shoes. I hope they'll help with my calf muscles. The outer muscle has been getting tight and painful when I run. I've also been adding some stretching to target those muscles because I need them to not do that every time I run.

I feel all athletic and crap now that I have a regimen and I've bought protein powder that I drink in orange juice before a run. Oh and I bought protein bars which are delicious because they are basically nuts held together with something yummy and then dipped in chocolate.

Pintester Movement - Bisquick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since I love the Pintester's blog, I have joined her Pintester Movement. This is my second Pintester Movement experiment. This task was to take a pin she's already done and do it myself. I opted for Bisquick chocolate chip cookies. She found the original post here on Plain Chicken's blog. Since I'm gluten-free I miss the old chocolate chip cookies I used to eat. I like them to be a little doughier because that's what I grew up with. GF cookies tend to be super crispy.

 

 

 

Here are the ingredients. The bottle of peppermint and green food coloring are not part of the ingredients. They were part of another experiment. So the ingredients are 1 egg, 1 stick butter, 1 c brown sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 3/4ths c of Bisquick and 1 c chocolate chips. After I experimented with my peppermint chocolate chip cookies I decided that it needed more moisture so I added 1 egg white too.    

I creamed together the butter and sugar. I remember that from the olden days of cooking. I don't know why you cream things, you just do.

 

 Then added the egg and vanilla. I love vanilla. It smells so delicious.

 

 

Look! Gluten-Free Bisquick. I bought it at Kroger. I can buy it in the regular grocery store! I didn't have to go to Whole Foods or Sprouts or another health food store. It is ridiculously exciting.

 

I added in the requisite 2 3/4ths cup (the entire package of Bisquick for me) and mixed.

 

But it was dry y'all. Dry like the desert. It was not bonding together well which is why I opted to do 2 things. 1 I started mixing with my hands because I always feel like I can really get things well mixed with my hands and 2 added the extra egg white.

 

 

Now I knew I was bringing in these cookies for my coworkers that were stuck at work with me on the Friday after the 4th of July. Seriously. There are 9 people in my department and there were 4 of us stuck there on Friday. That just isn't right. So to be all patriotic and supportive and good "go to person" (that's the euphemism for in charge that my boss uses) I brought them cookies. Don't worry, they know I'm gluten free AND they knew this was a cooking experiment so they were well prepared.

 

I've totally digressed. To make these patriotic I decided to color them with a little food coloring. But I didn't mix them so well together that it made purple cookies, just read and blue swirled cookies.

 

 

 

Look! See the swirls? You might have to look closely.

 

 

Finished product! The instructions didn't require parchment paper but I like to use it because I'm lazy and it is so much easier to clean up if I use parchment paper.

 

I'm not sure how I felt about the cookies. They were super dry which is a GF issue. As a result of the super dry cookies they are very fragile and tend to fall apart easily. I think if I do this again maybe a full egg extra instead of just the white. Otherwise I liked that they were doughy and not super crispy. My coworkers loved them. They thought they were great and I was being silly. They're good like that. :)

 

Recipe:

1 egg

1 stick butter

 1 c brown sugar

 2 tsp vanilla

 2 3/4ths c of Bisquick 

1 c chocolate chips

 

Mix the ingredients altogether. Bake at 375 for 8 - 10 minutes. I did add an extra egg because they were just too dry for me but that could be a gluten free issue.

Marathon Whoaman

My friend Lyday made a mistake recently (and by recently I mean YESTERDAY) and posted a link to this half marathon indicating that she wants to do it. By it I mean the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Walt Disney World in February of 2014. Now what Lyday didn't know is that I've volunteered for marathons before and I always find them so oddly inspirational. In 2004 when I volunteered for my first I pondered doing a half marathon then but didn't have any... motivation to do it.

So like an idiot I say if she wanted to do a team I'd sign up with her. And like an idiot she agreed. And then I did it. I signed up for a fucking marathon. What was I thinking? I'm not a runner. I don't have a runner's body.

 

This is me.  Well technically this is me like 3 years ago, but you get the picture. This is not the body of a runner. This is the body of a Polish field worker (which I know because I am built like my grandmother and as I've heard many times over from my mother, who rants about this after hearing a news story about slavery reparations or the atrocities visited upon Native Americans, our people were still plowing away in fields in Poland during the time all that bad stuff was happening in the states so a Polish field worker I am). (At least I think that's what she says, I tend to tune out)

 

I will say that although this is me 3 years ago, this is still pretty much me now since I can still wear both that pair of capris and that tank top. So this is me.

 

 

 

 

This woman, now she's a runner. She may eat cupcakes once in awhile, but you can be sure she's earned the damn thing.

(Image pilfered from Ultimate City Fitness website who probably pilfered it from someone else.)

 

But I have now committed to doing a marathon. And since I have paid a ridiculous amount of money and it doesn't even include park tickets or a hotel room I'm doing it. I have a training program downloaded from Disney's website. It is a 19 week program that, theoretically, should have me up to 13.1 miles by the end of it and at a pace that won't get me stuck on the golf cart of shame. I actually have more than 19 weeks, 32 by my count, and so I am hoping I can improve time and endurance during the part after I get to running 13 miles.

 

Let me repeat that in case you missed it: RUNNING 13 MILES!

 

Well, I don't have to RUN all 13 miles. All I have to do is have a 16 minute mile and I won't get picked up by the golf cart of shame. (Really I need to shoot for a 14 minute mile. I feel 100% certain I have never in my life run a 14 minute mile) (really)

 

So  my goal in all this is to complete the damn race and not end up riding in the golf cart of shame. Organizers of a marathon have a time you have to finish by (we get 3.3 hours for this 13 miles). If you are not at a pace to complete that in time they will pick you up. I've seen it at the marathons I've volunteered for although those are usually vans of shame because we're out on public streets. I want to finish. I just want to finish.