Ocean's Run and Running by the Ocean

Two days after my most recent half marathon -- the Ocean's Run from South Kingstown town beach -- I was still lurching around like Frankenstein's monster. But I knew Running While Mommy was planning to run today and while I couldn't join RWM in person I decided to join her in spirit. I hoped a short run would shake out my legs a bit and relieve some of the aching but it didn't really.


I ran fast (for me) in Sunday's half marathon and I'm proud of myself. My previous half was two hours and fifteen minutes; I was hoping to be faster than that and I was, in two hours and eight minutes. Mike and Muffin joined me early in the morning and my mom had joined them by the time I finished. After all the cold weather long runs RWM and I had done with some other friends, the weather on Sunday was almost shockingly warm once we got moving. It was still chilly, though, with the ocean breeze. While I ditched my mittens the first time I saw Mike and Muffin, I'm glad I kept my hat. Every time I warmed up a bit I'd turn a corner and the wind would hit me, freezing me again.

So, that's one more race behind me. I'm trying to decide which races to do next with my shrinking amount of time in the US. I'm shopping around for a treadmill to take with us to Mali. I signed up for the Spring Bootie Buster Challenge to keep me on track while the craziness of spring cleaning and summer packing gets under way.

Are You Up for Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge 2013?

For the third year in a row I'm participating in the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge at Run to the Finish. This year is going to be tough. Last year I contended with a combination of Indian and American holidays between October and January. This year I'm back in the United States after five holiday seasons overseas and I fully intend to indulge in all the treats I've missed. I signed up early, before Halloween, to get me thinking about staying on track through the eating extravaganza. It's cold here and I'll need the motivation for getting outside for a run. Also it will be too easy to eat comfort food on cold winter nights. Adding veggies to those foods will help keep me healthy.

I've already started preparing. I've unpacked and/or replaced all the parts of my blender for smoothies and purées. I'm freezing a lot of foods for healthy convenience dinners on those nights when I'm too tired or when it's been more important to be outside playing with Muffin rather than inside chopping veggies. I started freezing summertime blueberries and tomatoes months ago. I'm making double batches of snacks and meals when I have the time so I can put the extra in the freezer. When I made lasagna last week I made two and put one in the freezer. I used a mixture of half ricotta cheese and half tofu. To jazz up jarred tomato sauce and sneak in extra veggies, I sautéed red peppers and garlic to mix into the sauce and on top of the middle sauce layer I added a layer of sliced tomatoes. 

Mike leaves today for Washington, D.C., before heading overseas and we don't know when we'll see him again. It could be this weekend. It could be Thanksgiving. It could be in January or February. It's going to be stressful and I'd be prone to hibernating if I didn't have to take Muffin to school every day. But, since she is in school, I have several hours a day to myself and I plan on making the most of them. I want to stay happy and healthy so I can care for Muffin and take care of myself.

The Challenge is more fun with friends! If you decide to join please refer to my blog or to my Twitter handle, @StephanieSD. Then tell your friends about the Challenge, too! I'm not in training for anything. I don't plan on running a marathon ever; I'm quite happy with the half marathon. But the Challenge is fun. There's an online community of support. You earn points for any amount of working out and bonus points for other activities such as cleaning the house or playing outside. You also earn points for eating enough fruits and veggies. I wasn't expecting to win anything last year but I ended up winning a nice Asics long-sleeved zip-up shirt that I've already worn several times over the last few days of chilly weather. So, just by putting forth a little effort, you could win a fabulous prize, too!

The Challenge starts on November 17, so get a move on!

Motivation Monday -- HBBC Final Chapter

It's the end of HBBC. I didn't exactly end on a bang. I ended with a decent mileage week, compared to the previous weeks. I ended with my dental thing fully healed and with not actually getting sick even though I feel like I'm continuously just on the edge of having a cold. I ended with not taking advantage of cooler weather when I should have because the days are getting warmer now. I ended by signing up for two months of yoga classes (starting tomorrow), signing up for a 5K here in Hyderabad in February and a half marathon in Providence in September. Training for the half marathon begins a couple weeks before we move from India to the States, so I'm sure it won't be hectic at all. Until then, I'm working on base mileage.

I'm working on my One Little Word for the year in lieu of a resolution. I'm not going to share my word, but it's helped me through some tough times already. India has been kicking my butt lately and oddly, working out and running have been relatively simple and a constant, reliable thing. If I choose to relive some of the negative stuff, it will be in other posts, at other times.

Thirteen points this final week, for mileage and Facebook check-ins.

To cheer myself up, I cleaned out my closet and replaced some of the clothing with new running clothes, specifically, shorts that I can wear when we set foot in the States this summer.

You can see other HBBC roundups at JillConyers.com.

Monday Motivation -- HBBC Week Two Wrap up

Week Two of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge is finished and accounted for. I did not complete my weekly goals but I did much better than Week One and I'm ready to kick off Week Three on the right foot.

My goals for the week were to run three times and to try a new vegetable recipe. For various scheduling and "life" reasons, those just did not happen. However, I ran twice, I did two ab workouts, and I did Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred; I ate seven to eight servings of fruits and vegetables every day; and I had outdoor play time with Muffin nearly every day. Overall it was a pretty healthy week for the family (because when I'm eating fruits and vegetables, everyone's eating fruits and vegetables). I also checked in at the Facebook group every day for a bonus point. On Thursday, rather than earning bonus points, participants wagered points on completing a specific healthy activity. I wagered my veggie point on keeping myself to only three cups of coffee or tea. Yeah, I drink a lot of caffeine. Cutting down to three cups for the day had me ready for bed by about five o'clock in the afternoon. But I did it so I got to keep my well-earned veggie point. My total points for the week: 22.6.

Outdoor Play

This week my goal is again to run three times and to keep myself to three cups of coffee or tea every day. (It's 7:15 Monday morning and I'm already done with one cup. It's going to be a long week.) Three cups means one cup in the morning, a small at the coffee shop, and one cup later OR one cup in the morning and a large at the coffee shop, with none later in the day.

Here's to a Week Three!

You can check out other participants' weekly wrap-ups at Jill Conyers: Fitness, Health and Happiness.

Motivation Monday -- One Holiday Down...

Thanksgiving was easy. We were on the road so there was no giant home-cooked turkey with side dishes and desserts. We were on the road in India so there was no restaurant serving turkey and all the fixins' either. But my first week of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge wasn't the greatest. I knew it wasn't going to be, knowing we'd be on the road. We walked quite a bit but I didn't bring my Garmin so I'm doing a conservative estimate of one mile per day; we weren't running 5Ks but we weren't exactly sitting on the couch watching television all week, either, so I want some activity accounted for. I didn't reach my seven servings of fruits and vegetables per day until we got home. (I got them in on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.) I was careful not to over-indulge in sweets and fried foods; I ate fresh fruit whenever it was available to me, mostly bananas and papaya, and I'd brought dried fruit and nuts for snacking on. Fresh vegetables are a little iffy in India so I avoid them when they don't come from a trusted kitchen, which means I didn't eat any while on the road.

Lululemon water bottles from Pinterest

We came home to find our kitchen freezer partially defrosted. Most of the expensive meats were in the deep freezer in the storage room, which was fine. The kitchen freezer was full of my pre-chopped fruit for smoothies, soup stocks, fruit purees for muffins,  tomato sauce, and vegetable soups -- all the healthy things I'd hoarded away to help me through the first few weeks of the challenge. It also had the duck we'd planned on having over the weekend in lieu of a Thanksgiving Day turkey.

I'm looking forward to Week 2. I have some treadmill time scheduled. I have a huge shopping list (partially on account of restocking the freezer) and a meal plan. I'm going to hold off on my Christmas baking for a few days, until I've got my healthy routine back on track.

Week 1 Points:
Monday: Walking -- 1 point
Tuesday: Walking -- 1 point
Wednesday: Walking -- 1 point
Thursday: Walking -- 1 point
Friday: 7 servings -- 1 point, Facebook check-in -- 1 point
Saturday: 7 servings -- 1 point, Facebook check-in -- 1point
Sunday: 7 servings -- 1 point, Facebook check-in -- 1 point

Total Points for the Week: 10

You can check out other participants' weekly wrap-ups at Jill Conyers: Fitness, Health and Happiness.