Riverside Genesis 10k Race Recap

Oh. Hi there.

Pardon the lull in posting this past week. I may or may not have been waterparkin' it up with these two little goobers.

But, but, when I got back from my week-long hiatus, I had a 10k race facing me. (We won't even get into the ridiculously hot and tiny workout room at the hotel or the parents who brought their children in to play around on the machines.) I had kind of taken it easy in the two weeks between my half and this race, and I was a little on the nervous side that I had lost some of my speed and endurance.

Going into the race, I set three goals for myself:

Goal #1:	48:00 (7:43 min/mi)
Goal #2:	46:00 (7:24 min/mi)
Goal #3:	Top 5 in Age Group

McMillian "Goal": 48:55 (7:52 min/mi)

Even though I was feeling slightly under-prepared, the day of the race came, and the weather was slightly chilly, but still great. I had specifically picked out this race based on the fact it was almost completely flat and ran along the river giving a nice scenic view. Perfect for a nice fast race.

Unlike my previous two races, Adam and my parents were going to participating with me (in the 5k) which was kind of a nice change. We arrived at the race nice and early (around 8:00am for a 9:00am start) in order to pick up our race bibs and chips and hop in the port-a-potty before the line got too ridiculously long (which it did).

Soon enough, though, it was time to head to the start. Adam and I wiggled our way in closer to the start than usual (keying off my start from my half). Once the gun went off (or when they shouted "go!") we soon found we probably could have started even farther up.

After the usual bob & weave for the first half mile, I kind of fell in pace with the other runners around me, while Adam took off. I came through the 1 mile around 7:33 - right about where I wanted. I'm not exactly positive what compelled me to speed up like crazy during mile 2, but I knew after seeing 6:43 on the clock I had to slow down. My stomach was starting to act up a bit and I was terrified of getting horrible cramps. Another girl was running about my pace, just ahead of me, and I told myself to just keep up with her.

Miles 3 and 4 came in right under 8:00 minutes each, and I had pulled up next to the girl and we continued to run together up until the very end of the race. Luckily, my stomach cramps went away somewhere between mile 3 and 4, which was a huge sigh of relief.

We picked up the pace in mile 5, coming through in 7:39, but I could tell I wasn't going to be able to hang on to the pace for much longer. Somehow I managed to keep up with her for the remaining mile, despite feeling like I was losing my endurance, and fast.

I wasn't able to see the finish until I was well within a quarter mile, which made judging when to start my "kick" a little difficult. Not that there was much of one anyway. But I gave what I had left and crossed the line with a chip time of

46:57

I may have missed hitting goal #2, but I was more concerned with beating goal #1 since it was faster than I was expecting to be able to go.

As for goal #3. See, chip timing is a funny thing. I was super excited to find out when they posted the results by clock time that I had finished 3rd in my age group (out of 66). However, it wasn't until they were announcing the awards that a girl who started and finished behind me actually beat me by 1 stinking second, putting me into 4th. As bummed as I was that I wouldn't be taking home a medal, I'm still thrilled that I ended up in the top 5.

What I was even more excited about, is that I unofficially smashed my previous 5k post-college PR. I came through mile 3 at 22:10, and adding roughly another minute for the 0.1 puts me at 23:10 -- an entire minute faster than my previous PR of 24:09 from back in October. And that rivals some of my times from running cross-country in high school. Woot!

Half Marathon Training: Week #12 and 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

And it's race week! Or, well, was.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 4 mile run

Kicked the week off right with a nice easy run. I didn't really push myself, just went with how I felt and ended up dropping about 30 seconds on my overall pace, which has slowly been creeping up as of late. Definitely refreshing to see heading into my race week.

Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run

Maybe it was purely psychological, knowing I was doing a shorter tempo run, but the run felt actually pretty easy and just flew by even though I held my "peak" pace for longer than I have been in previous runs.

Wednesday: 3.4 mile run

Surprisingly, a third good run in a row. Same principle as Monday -- just go with the flow -- and again, my pace dropped. Woot!

Thursday: Indoor Soccer Game

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 1/2 Marathon RACE RECAP

Of course, the previous couple weeks and days leading up to the race were unseasonably warm but the actual day of the race rolled around showing up with mid- to low-40s temps. I was actually happy that the temps were a little on the lower side, as it made my decision regarding my hydration belt much easier.

My previous two long runs with my belt had proved to been annoying and distracting, not something I particularly wanted during my race. BUT I am horrible at drinking out of cups while running... so it's a bit of a toss up for me. Since the weather was cooler, I was willing to take the risk of running without the belt and drink from a cup instead. (It also may have helped that was what I did for my 10 mile race a few weeks earlier.)

That decided, 6:00 rolled around nice and early Saturday morning. After some oatmeal and a few minutes to wake up, we were out the door by 6:40, picked up my running buddy (who was running the 30k version of the race) by 7:05, and were at the race around 7:30 or so. We made a straight beeline for the porta potties to help prevent any mid-race stops. (And a good thing we did -- the line got crazy long!)

10 minutes to race time we said our good-byes and wished each other luck (the 30k had a separate start and start time than the 1/2, 8.1mi, and 5k). I wandered down to my start to scope out where I should hop in. And then I remembered they actually had pace groups for this race.

Quick recap: I set three goals for myself for this race. One I knew for sure I could hit and still be okay with the time, a second one that would be more of a challenge and would really push me, and a third that is more like a pipe dream which would be awesome to hit, but mostly likely won't happen.

Goal #1:	2:00:00 (9:09 min/mi)
Goal #2:	1:55:00 (8:46 min/mi)
Goal #3:	1:50:00 (8:23 min/mi)

McMillian "Goal": 1:51:38 (8:32 min/mi)

Seeing as I came through my 10 mile race at a 8:24 min/mi pace, I figured these sounded like pretty decent goals. (To be clear - I've never raced a 1/2 before, but I have had "official splits" taken in longer races, with my best 1/2 time coming in at 2:05:32.)

Anyhoo, about those pace groups. I had completely forgotten this race had them. However, they only had them in 10:00 increments, so it was either go with the 1:50 group, the 2:00 group, or head out on my own as usual. I opted to switch up my tactics at the last minute and shuffle in next to the 1:50 group. Not that I had any hopes up keeping up with them the entire time, but at least I would start out at a decent pace and not too crazy fast.

A few minutes later, we were off. The first mile of any race is pretty crazy. Lots of bobbing and weaving. But for once, I actually lined up in the right spot and didn't have to dip and dodge any walkers or shufflers. Well, at least until the nice little 1/4 mile 7% grade hill about a 1/2 mile or so in. But I kept an eye on that 1:50 sign darting in and out of view and tried to keep up. Back down the other side and around a few more twists and turns and we crossed the mats after the first 5k in 25:28. The remaining 10 miles were the exact same as my 10 mile race (only in reverse) which involved two 5 mile loops.

I was feeling really great through mile 4, and actually started pulling away from the pace group sometime during mile 5. It then became my goal to stay ahead of the group for the remainder of the race (or at the very least keep up with it if they caught back up to me). I grabbed some water around mile 6, and as expected, ended up with half of it all over my face, but I did manage a few sips before tossing it aside.

8.1 miles came and went in 1:07:22, and I was starting to second guess my pace a bit. I slowed down to take a few sips of water right after crossing the mats, and I somehow managed to mess my pacing up. I ended up right behind two runners who seemed to be going at a decent clip, until I hit mile 9 in 9:29 and realized why it felt so nice.

Awkward side wave to the hubby going through the 8.1 mile mark

That pace refocused me and I just knew the pace group had to be right behind me at that point. Halfway through mile 10 I could hear them, motivating me to cut a minute off my pace. By the time I hit mile 10 I was really starting to feel my legs and starting to regret just going with how I felt in the first half of the race. But I knew I only had a 5k left, and surely I could hold the pace for 3 more miles.

So I pushed, and pushed, but by the time I hit the last turn into the final 1/2 mile, the pacer from the 1:50 group had caught me (though I'm not sure where the rest of the group went -- and looking at my splits, he had to have sped up as well). He wished me luck as I decided to give one last push, telling myself I had to get the last mile in under 8:00.

By the time I came around the final curve to the finish, I was running on empty. There wasn't going to be any crazy little sprint to the finish that I love to do. I'm not even sure I sped up at all. But I gave it everything I had left -- I saw that clock: 1:48:something. Seriously? Seriously? I was going to do it. I was going to break 1:50. I was going to beat Goal #3.

After crossing the line, taking down lots of water, and cheering on my running buddy as he finished out his race, they posted the official results. Chip time:

1:48:50

It's official. I beat Goal #3. The "impossible" goal. With a pace of 8:18 min/mi. I think it's pretty safe to say I was ecstatic.

Here's the breakdown according to my watch:

Mile 1 -	8:51
Mile 2 -	7:53
Mile 3 -	7:51
Mile 4 -	9:07
Mile 5 -	8:27
Mile 6 -	7:26
Mile 7 -	8:29
Mile 8 -	8:22
Mile 9 -	9:29
Mile 10 -	8:31
Mile 11 -	7:25
Mile 12 -	8:12
Mile 13 -	7:55
Mile 13.1 -	0:47

Um, yeah. Kind of all over the place, even with the pacer. But, I'm still pretty stoked that all but 2 miles were under my McMillan race pace of 8:32.

*Note: I'll update with more pics if/when they become available.

Up next? A 10k in 2 weeks. Rounding out my "race distances I haven't completed" goal for 2012.

Half Marathon Training: Week #11

Oh my goodness! I can't believe week 11 has already flown by and now it's on to the final week! The week overall turned out much better than expected, though there were definitely hiccups along the way.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 5 mile run

While still not an awesome run, and there was still a bit of prodding to get myself not to cut it short, it was definitely an improvement from last week.

Tuesday: 10 x 400m speed work

After getting my legs properly warmed up during the first few 400's, the remaining one kind of flew by and I felt like I could have added on one or two more. Definitely surprising after the way I've been feeling the past few weeks.

Wednesday: 3.4 mile run

Thursday: Rest

Seeing as we had a full weekend scheduled and the weather was supposed to be crappy on Saturday, we bumped our long run up a day. Bye bye 50 minute tempo run.

Friday: 8 mile run

Annnnnd then the whole "great week of training" took a sharp nosedive. Right around mile 3. Right when I totally regretted not bringing my hydration belt because, oh I've done this mileage before without water and was fine even though it's at least 30 degrees hotter. Maybe 40. That was a brilliant maneuver.

And to think. I was actually feeling good in the beginning. But by mile 3 I was getting thirsty in that 85 degree heat. I ignored it the best I could, chowing down on some shot blocks around the 4-5 mile mark, borrowing some water from my running buddy to wash them down. I wanted to chug the entire bottle. (But I didn't.)

I hit mile 6 and I knew I couldn't keep the pace up. I stole a few more sips of water before slowing my pace down a bit. Mile 7 just proved to be even worse -- I could feel my mouth was ridiculously sticky from the shot blocks and my lips felt like they were beyond dry. Kind of gross actually. I knew I wasn't going to make 10 miles. I decided to make myself hit at least 8 before calling it quits.

Right about the turnaround point halfway through mile 7 my body just started shutting down. I felt like I was moving through molasses and had to fight really hard to keep from walking. How on earth I ended that final mile with a 9:30 pace I will never know. Needless to say, I took down a TON of water after shuffling my way back to the car.

Saturday: Rest

Can I just reiterate the fact I can't believe that the half is almost here? I'm a little on the nervous side (especially since by training has been lacking the past few weeks), yet a little on the relieved side. I'm definitely ready to get the show on the road and see how it turns out. Guess I'll find out in a few days!

Half Marathon Training: Week #10

The last couple weeks I've mentioned that my training has started to take a nose-dive. Not exactly in effort (okay, maybe a little) but mostly in performance and "feeling". As in, I've been feeling tired, tight, and run down. Unfortunately, Week #10 didn't show any improvement on that front, and actually, got worse.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 45 minute 30 minute tempo run

Knowing that I was "short a day" in my training this week, I decided to forgo my easy beginning of the week run and jump straight into my speed work to ensure that it was going to happen this week.

So, off to the gym I went. And by "went", I mean dragging-the-hubby-because-he-really-did-not-want-to-go. I should have just stayed home.

First off, it was about 1,000 degrees in the gym. There are two incredibly huge ceiling fans which were turning at about 1 revolution per minute. Not helpful. And it doesn't help that I'm usually "that sweaty kid" to begin with. But this time, it was just out of control.

Who wants to use the treadmill next?

The run actually started out okay, but about the time I hit the 20 minute or so mark, something was off. My stomach was starting to act all crampy and by the 25 minute mark it was turning into random shooting pains. This isn't the first time this has happened, but usually I'm outside and just slow down to a jog and push through. Yeah, doesn't really work when you're trying to do speed work. At the 28 minute mark it got to the point I had to slow to a walk crawl in hopes that the pain would go away and I could resume my workout. 6 minutes later, I gave my tempo run one more shot -- cranking it back up to speed. Which lasted a whopping 2 minutes before it all came back and I decided to call it quits for the day.

And that was just the start of my week.

Tuesday: 7 x 400m hill work

Since the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I didn't actually do all my speed work the day before, I decided to bump up my hill work out a day to make sure it got done.

It actually wasn't too horribly bad until I hit hill #4. I'm pretty sure I was moving as slow as molasses in January, and had no motivation to go any faster, much less finish. Somehow, I talked myself into making it the rest of the way up by reminding myself that I only had 2 hills left (not counting the one I would walk) and it was my last hill workout before the race.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to find a new hill. I didn't think it was possible, but it's just too steep. Most programs recommend running at your 5k or 10k pace up the hill during the workout... yeah right. Not on this beast. On the bright side, I have 51 million other hills to choose from around here. :)

Wednesday: 5 mile run

I was tired, and wanted to quit most of the way, but luckily I ran into a friend heading into the final 1.5 miles which gave me a quick break to stop and chat. It was such a nice relief (especially since it was about halfway up my 1 mile climb portion).

Thursday: Indoor Soccer Game + Strength

Friday: 14 mile 10.5 mile run

Since I had a birthday party and was traveling this weekend, I ended up moving my long run up a day. The original plan was sneaking in a 14-miler before my taper, but it just wasn't meant to be. We started off a little faster than normal, but it felt like we were absolutely flying. And not in a good way.

Once we hit about mile 7, I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up the pace for another 7. I wasn't even sure I could go for another 7. I started coming up with every excuse in the book to shorten my run, and not much else to motivate me to keep going. My legs were tired. I was dehydrated from not drinking enough throughout the week. My hydration belt was annoying the crap out of me. I already ran 13 miles the week before. Blah, blah, blah.

Suffice to say I talked myself out of 14, but I compromised with myself making sure I ran at least 10 before calling it quits. It was probably for the good in the end as I was starting to feel some of the same issues from Monday creeping back up and I'm not sure I would have been able to actually make it another 3.5 if that kicked in full force.

Saturday: Rest

Despite the numerous set-backs and feeling like crap for several of my runs, I did make it through the week. Only TWO MORE to go! I have officially ran my farthest long run, so it should be downhill from here. I can always hope that these next two weeks go much smoother than the past 3, but who knows what's going to happen.

Half Marathon Training: Week #9

As much as I wanted this week to be a 180 turnaround from last week, it just... simply.wasn't. It was more of an extension of the same tiredness and lack of motivation -- all the more reason I'm glad I chose a half marathon instead of a full to train for right now.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 5 mile easy run

Tuesday: 9 x 400 speed work + Strength

Unfortunately, I had the same issue getting started with my speed work as last time. The first couple sets my legs felt tired and stiff and fairly uncooperative. Luckily, I made it to the halfway point before I started getting too antsy, which made counting down the sets a little more bearable.

It didn't help that I decided to eat an apple right before we left for the gym either. Apples and I do not have a very good relationship when it comes to pre-workout food. I end up with something along the lines of heartburn, but not quite. I keep telling myself that apples = bad (before a workout), now I need to start listening to my own advice.

Therefore, eating an apple before a run =

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

It's settled. No more apples before working out. For real this time.

Wednesday: 3.4 mile run

Definitely feeling the speed work from the day before.

Thursday: Indoor Soccer Game + Strength

I originally had a tempo run planned for today on top of my soccer game, but my body was honestly just dragging. Okay, and the fact that it was raining might have been an extra deterrent, but that's beside the point. Knowing that I was making a large (2.5 mile) jump in my long run this weekend kind of just sealed the deal for me -- I was simply going to rest and not go overboard with the training like last week. Even though it was kind of killing me inside that I wasn't going to get in one of my "key" workouts.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 13 mile run

I really wasn't sure what to expect out of myself going into the run today. My hamstrings were tight (which has been pretty par for the course the past couple weeks), and the first few miles I felt sluggish and not in my "running rhythm". Not quite as bad as the previous week, but still, not how I'd like to be feeling.

I also added on a new friend this week for the run --

I decided to try out a hydration belt for the half. Last time I bought one (while training for a full marathon), it only had one bottle and bounced around like there was no tomorrow. Let's just say that one went back right away. I did kind of fuss around with the placement of the belt -- on the hips? or on the waist? I ended up going for the waist although it still puts pressure on my stomach which wasn't too noticeable until the end of our run. The hip placement felt better, except the bottles still bounced like crazy and felt like it was messing with my gait a bit.

Oh!Oh! And... the iMapMyRun app and I are no longer on speaking terms after this long run. I used to love this app since it had voice feedback, and it automatically updated my workouts online and I could go back through and see my pace at various parts of my run. Well.

Seriously? I mean, we're not even close here. It wasn't even just one random point off in the wrong spot like it usually is, the entire run was messed up. I'm tired of having to go back in and fix almost every.single.map., and it's no longer reliable to depend on to make sure I'm running the correct distance. Heaven forbid I switch up the route mid-run and I haven't mapped it out ahead of time. It's time to move on.


So anyways. This week. A little two step shuffle of the workouts is in order since I need to get in my long run on Friday (rather than Sat). Hopefully, hopefully, my legs are feeling a little more fresh this week.

Half Marathon Training: Week #8

Coming off my "racing high" from last week, I had pretty high expectations for this week. However, apparently I suck at arranging my runs to hit my intended distance (whether ahead of time or on the fly) and ended up short on a couple. Frustrating as that is, it honestly ended up being only about 1/2 mile short total, so I can't be too awful mad about it.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 4.4 mile easy run

I felt surprisingly good for only two days post-race. A little bit on the tired side, but that was to be expected.

Tuesday: 4 mile easy run

I originally had this run scheduled for Wednesday, but I had the rare opportunity to go for a run with one of my friends at a different park, so of course I jumped on it. Can I just say how impressed I am with her still running at 25 weeks pregnant? Of course it involved one pee stop (which is to be expected), but seriously? I just hope I can have that kind of motivation and willpower when I'm pregnant.

Wednesday: 6 x 400m hill workout + Strength

I went back and forth all morning debating which speed work to do on Wednesday after waking up to heavy rain. Surprisingly, things cleared up by the early afternoon and the temps hit the mid 60s so that made the choice easy. Outside to the hill I went.

I trudged up and down that dang hill 5 times at a run then once more at a walk. By the time I made it outside it was about that time of day when the kiddies were getting dropped off by the buses from school and I had to run by the crossing guard 20 million times. I know exactly what she was thinking, too:

I might just have to agree with her.

Thursday: 40 minute tempo run

I was a little worried about this run as I was still hearing about the previous day's hill workout from my hamstrings and glutes. But I was determined to get both my hard workouts in this week, so I drug the hubby to the gym (totally against his will) and pushed through. I started out with an easier 9:13 pace for the first 5 minutes, dropping to 9:05 for the next 5, gradually building to a 7:54 pace by 32:30, then dropping back to 9:05/9:13 for the final 5 minutes.

Friday: 2 Indoor Soccer Games

Um, yeah. So this was supposed to be my "easy" day. 1 game. Until I got a call from the hubby asking if I would be willing to play for another team in an earlier game. In a lower division on the open (no boards) field. Sure. Why not? Then I found out it was against a higher division team. Sweet. So chalk that up for a third hard day in a row.

Saturday: 10.6 mile run

I woke up Saturday morning pretty much exhausted from the past few days. This did not bode well for my planned 12 mile run. As I have a few extra weeks to play with before my half, I knew running a 12 miler wasn't absolutely critical today. I figured I would start the run, then decide how I felt.

Crappy. That's how. At least for the first 6 miles. The majority of our run consists of out and back portions, which doesn't really bother me, except when it's crazy windy out. Which is exactly how it was on Saturday. Going into the wind really started draining me from the get-go, which didn't help the fact that I really just wanted to curl up on the couch and do nothing all day.

I decided at the very least I would aim for 10 miles, tacking on an extra bit right before the turn around about mile 7 for 11 miles if I felt like it. And maybe even add on an additional mile (to make 12) if some miracle happened and I was feeling amazing. Well, I did actually feel strong enough to add on the first bit, but slightly miscalculated the extra distance I was adding and wound up shorting my goal by about 0.4 miles. Oh well.


So, goal for next week? Actually running the right amount of mileage, and not overdosing on speed work!

Gotta say though, I'm pretty happy with how my training over the month of February has panned out. I have to admit, I think the very mild weather we've had has helped a ton!

Half Marathon Training: Week #7

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 4.5 mile easy run

Great weather + mostly dry trails = good running conditions. Having to go to the bathroom almost as soon as you start to run = one very uncomfortable run. Argh$^#&alsdfhas. That is all I have to say about that.

Tuesday: 8 x 400m speed workout + Strength

Once again I had that "blah" and "I-don't-feel-like-doing-this" day. But, I already had told the hubby he was going to take me to the gym after work
(days before, and I reminded him everyday), so I couldn't talk myself out of doing the workout. Dang it.

Based on how I felt 2 weeks ago during this workout I set the treadmill to the faster end speed of my recommended speed work range (hitting right around 1:46s). My legs felt very sluggish and tired the first couple sets, but it gradually got easier as I went on. Well, kind of easier. I was just mentally not focused -- if I had been out on my own this workout would have almost for sure been a complete disaster.

After I was done my hamstrings and quads were very tight, which was kind of unusual for this workout compared to my previous speed work. At least the hubby convinced me to come do some core and upper body strength work with him so I didn't put that off another day like I was originally planning.

Wednesday: 3.2 mile easy run

Nice and easy, definitely not pushing myself after the day before. My legs were still tight and tired.

Thursday: Yoga + Indoor Soccer Game

2 days after my speed work, 48 hours out from my 10 mile race, and I was still feeling the effects of my speed work. Not a good sign. Thus, I nixed my planned run prior to my soccer game and focused more on getting my muscles nice and stretched out. Enter yoga and lots of foam rolling. Despite my stretching attempts, I still felt a step slower than normal during our game, which made me very worried for Saturday.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 10 mile RACE RECAP

First and foremost, can I just say how happy I am that this race had a 10am start? Of course the weather all week had been wonderful, hanging out in the 40s and 50s, but just had to drop into the high 20s/low 30s for Saturday. Not to mention some gusting winds taking the windchill down into the teens. Ugh. But I bundled up and away we went. (Okay, side note: I don't really think that the low 30s is really all.that.cold. for a run, but it was seeing the "Real Temp" = 11 degrees that was kind of throwing me for a loop.)

I kind of felt like this:

(Don't even tell me you don't know what movie this is from...)

compared to everyone else hanging out in their running gear. But no, I didn't run in a snowsuit, even though that would have been awesome. I prefer to not have a heatstroke in the middle of winter.

Anyhoo, after standing around for 45 minutes or so, it was finally time to take off my toasty layers and start the run. I apparently have an incredible knack for finding the wrong spot to line up in at the start. I'm always way too far back, thus having to perform the infamous bob & weave for the first mile or so. Frustrating.

After coming through the first mile mark at 9:07, I was a little discouraged, but it wasn't totally unexpected since I knew I'd lose time at the start. Things started to spread out a bit heading into mile 2 and I finally hit my groove. I was still having to pop onto the shoulder or time my passes to get around people, but I ended up knocking out an 8:20 and 8:34 for my next two miles. Apparently, mile 4 had a nice tailwind going as I cruised in right under 8 minutes not feeling like I was working all that hard. But the nice-sized hill and a headwind in mile 5 ate back those extra seconds giving me an 8:38.

Mile 6 became the mile I lost focus a bit and strolled through with a 9:12. For my goal, this was unacceptable. At first I started doubting myself -- that I could actually run 10 miles at an 8:30 pace. Maybe I went out too fast, and now I was dying? I refused to accept that this was the case, so I pushed myself to go faster, to keep up with the "group" I had been running with and to slowly start to close the gap that had formed. I had to tell myself I COULD do this, and I WOULD. This was not meant to be a training run, but a race. I told myself I needed to feel strong and good for the rest of the race to finish at my goal time, and it became sort of a mantra for me the remaining 3 miles.

Apparently it worked as I came through mile 7 in 8:30. I picked up the tailwind again in mile 8 once again coming in right under 8:00. I was determined to hold on to that pace for the remaining two miles, even with a headwind and a hill. I really focused in on closing the gap between me and a few runners who had passed me earlier, and successfully passed them in mile 9. I knew once I hit the mile 9 flag I knew I was so.close. A little over 1/2 of the way through the final mile I checked my watch and saw I was less than 3 minutes away from my goal time. I could see the finish way up ahead, but could I make it? I really pushed myself, and coming into the final 150m, Adam was there cheering me on. Coming around the last corner I saw the clock and I knew I had to go. So I emptied what little left I had in the tank and gave it everything I had, finishing out the final mile in 7:57.

Final time? 1:24:09 (chip time & new PR)
Avg pace = 8:24

So. How did my efforts stack up?
Goal #1 - Sub 1:30:00 Check
Goal #2 - Sub 1:25:00 Check
Goal #3 - Sub 1:20:00 Maybe next time

I honestly wasn't expecting to hit Goal #3, so I'm overall pretty happy with how the race turned out. Chilly windy weather and all.


Hopefully all this good momentum carries into next week!

Half Marathon Training: Week #6

Dear iMapMyRun app,

Please stop dropping GPS during my runs. It's getting old having to go back and fix the routes. Not appreciated, and makes your pace tracking feature kind of pointless.

KThanksBye.

Sunday: 4 mile easy run Off

Sigh. I knew this day would come sooner or later during this training period. Doesn't make it any less disappointing. My first dropped run. I was originally scheduled for an easy 4 miler, but a couple inches of snow and visiting family made it just a little too easy to stay inside instead of getting out and hitting the trail. Sad day.

Monday: 40 minute tempo run

After skipping out on my run the day before, I knew today's run had to be a good one. Unfortunately, there was still snow covering the sidewalks where I do my hill work, so I switched days up and went for the tempo run.

Since I once again didn't feel like dealing with snow, I gave the hubby some puppy dog eyes and convinced him to take me to the gym with him again. I started out at an easy 9:30 min/mi warm up pace for the first 10 minutes, then gradually started to increase the speed every 5 minutes, ending up at around an 8:00 min/mi pace before slowing back down to 9:30 for a 5 minute cooldown.

As much as I hate to admit it, hitting my speed work goals is actually easier on the treadmill than outdoors. From a third party perspective -- duh. I just set the speed and away I go, can't do that outside. I've gone back and forth, debating the merits of both -- inside: I actually achieve my set goals, but I'm not the one setting the pace, vs. outside: I set the pace and listen more to my body, but I might not always hit my goal pace. While there are definitely bonuses and drawbacks to each setting, I've decided that for right now, teaching my body that it's actually capable of hitting these certain times is a little more important than trying to incorporate terrain and wind resistance for a more "race-like" situation.

Tuesday: 3.25 mile easy run

What a nice way to spend Valentine's Day than out for a nice easy run? At least it frees up some room for some dessert! :)

Wednesday: 5 x 400m hill workout

Wednesday rolled around and the sidewalks were finally clear of snow, which meant time to get in a repeat of the hill workout that made me sore for over 3 days a couple weeks ago. At least this time around I knew I was at least capable of making it up the hill 3 times at a (very slow) run, so my goal was to add in a 4th time up with a 5th time walking. And success. A little slower than the previous time, but much much less sore the next day.

And just for kicks and giggles... this is what the actual elevation of my route looks like:

Note: 0% is yellow and 14% is purple (!)

What it seems like to me:

Thursday: Strength + Indoor Soccer Game

Friday: 3 mile easy run

Originally, I had a hot date lined up at the gym with the hubby at 4:30ish when he got home from work. However, worked called and he ended up not getting home until after 7. Boo. But we still had our date. I just made sure to go nice and easy knowing that I had an 8 miler waiting for me in about 15 hours.

Saturday: 8 mile run

Even though I was a bit worried how my previous day's run might affect the run on Saturday, I went in feeling pretty good. Luckily, that feeling stuck around for the whole run, and this time around for 8 miles we kept a fairly consistent pace (versus last time when we were all over the map from a 10:30 min/mi pace to under 8:30). We also timed things perfectly and missed getting stopped by the dreaded traffic lights this time. Annnnnd I finished out the last mile with a sub 8:00 pace which just totally made my day, even if I was almost completely out of gas by the end. Woot! (I will say, this is really where having running buddies comes in handy.)



I can't believe I'm already halfway through my half marathon training. It seems like it's flown by so much faster than my training for the full (maybe because it's only been 6 weeks versus 9??). And that my 10 mile race is already this coming Saturday. Nervous!

Fingers crossed that my motivation decides to show up this week!

Half Marathon Training: Week #5

I apologize for getting this out late. Again. We had family visiting this weekend so not a lot of time for blogging. That being said, I'm going to make this short and sweet, as I'm sure you're here for the food, not the running.

Sunday: 4 mile easy run

Nice, easy, and definitely necessary to stretch my legs back out after Friday's run. Thank goodness my very sore glutes and calves were calming down.

Monday: 7 x 400 speed work + Strength

Although the original goal for my training involved performing all of my runs outdoors, I decided that I was more concerned about getting my body to actually hit and maintain certain speeds during my speed workouts versus incorporating slight terrain nuances and wind resistance. Thus, I opted to move indoors to the treadmill where I could have full control of my pace.

According to the McMillan Running Calculator, my goal pace for these should fall between 1:46 and 1:52. My splits turned out:
1 - 1:50
2 - 1:49
3 - 1:48
4 - 1:48
5 - 1:45
6 - 1:42
7 - 1:41
Seeing as I was able to go under the bottom end for several of the splits, I need to focus more on starting out faster and holding that pace.

Tuesday: 3.4 mile easy run

Once again, another easy run falling within in my goal pace range (9:30-10:00 min/mi). A little bit longer than originally intended, but I had to switch routes mid-run or end up swimming through a good mile of slippery thick mud. Yeah, it didn't take much to veto that mud.

Wednesday: 3 mile @ pace

I knew going into this run that "pace" means to run at your goal race pace. But I just couldn't help myself and had to push a little harder, ending up with a 24:29 (8:09 min/mi) pace. And I proved to myself that I will not be racing at that pace anytime soon.

Even though I felt like I had a pretty good run, going in the gym, on the treadmill without the constant switching of the pace every 2 minutes-ish (like with the interval training), was really hard for me. Of course I didn't bring any headphones to listen to the TVs, or my ipod, so I was struggling to stay on task. Outside, I almost never have a problem with getting bored, but inside is just a whole other story. I need to make sure I bring headphones/music of some sort next time I do any treadmill work that isn't intervals.

Thursday: Strength

All day was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, in preparation for our company, so I really only had time to squeeze in a quick strength session before having to shower then head out to the airport. Oh well, if anything is going to get cut, I'd prefer it to be yoga.

Friday: 10 mile run

It's hard trying to keep yourself on schedule with eating the right things and the right amounts before a long run when company is around. For some people this isn't all that important, but I tend to run into GI issues when I start getting into higher mileage, so it's really important I don't bog myself down with too much or the wrong kind of food ahead of time. Luckily, we went to a local cafe where I was able to get something light before heading out.

After last week's run feeling so great, I was a bit worried I'd swing back the other way again this week. Especially since I kind of felt like I struggled a bit with the speed workouts. Fortunately though, we started off at a great pace and fell right into a rhythm. The only issue I had pretty much the entire run was getting stuck at a traffic light (twice) which held us up for easily close to 90 seconds. Can I just say how much my body hates starting back up from a stop when I'm well over 5 miles into a run?

On the bright side though, 7 of the 10 miles were under a 9 minute pace and one of the miles which wasn't, included the time stuck at the light. I was a little concerned how I would feel near the end of the run since I was jumping 2 miles this week instead of 1, but surprisingly I held in there pretty well. I'm starting to think I may just be able to pull off a half marathon in under 2 hours.

Saturday: Rest

The countdown is on: 2 weeks until my 10 mile race and 7 until the half. I'm starting to get excited! I can't believe next week marks the halfway point. Since I've cruised into the double-digit mileage about 3 weeks early, I'm going to rearrange the long runs in the back-half of the schedule to better reflect my higher mileage and to better prepare me for 13.1.

Up next though, I'm going to insert a drop down week (8 mi) between now and my 10 mile race to help really firm up my endurance at this mileage.

Half Marathon Training: Week #4

So, I have decided to do away with trying to take pics when I'm out and about running. It's kind of difficult to get my phone out of the armband, then put it back in all while running. Not to mention everything looks brown and boring and all the same.

Sunday: 3.6 mile run + strength

Nice and easy. Just the way I needed to start this week out. I was a little tired from the Friday's long run, but I was feeling pretty good by the end.

Monday: 35 minute tempo run

Ugh. Totally did not go as planned. For some reason my body was refusing to make this a "hard" day. I kept feeling like I would speed up, but would almost always slow right back down. My goal for the run was to have a nice easy warm-up for the first 10 minutes (HR around 165-170), followed by a HR between 170-175 for minutes 10-15, 175-180 for minutes 15-20, 180-185 for minutes 20-25, and 185+ for minutes 25-30, then slowing back to 165-175 for the last five minutes. Yeah. That did not happen. For some reason I was struggling to get my heart rate up to 180, then I may have briefly reached 185, but I just couldn't maintain it. I think my max HR reached was only 187. I honestly don't know what was going on. I kept feeling like I was trying to push myself, but my body would for some reason always revert back to an easier pace. Frustrating.

Tuesday: 3 mile easy run + 3 mile walk

Tuesday turned out to be an absolute beautiful day for running with temps hovering in the mid-50s. I happily put on a t-shirt (a t-shirt!!) and some running shorts and headed out to the trail. The run was great, I didn't feel too bad, and I had it in my head from the get-go that this was a day to pull back and go easy on the pace. No pushing. Fine. Dandy. Then I finished my run. And went to get in my car. No key. Most running shorts have a tiny little pouch/pocket thing sewn into the inside front of the shorts. Whenever I'm wearing these kind of shorts, it's always where I keep my key. In the 16 years I've been running and keeping my key in the little key pocket -- no problems. Until Tuesday. No key in the key pocket. I did the only thing I could do, well, maybe short of having a break down, I went back and retraced my route.

All three miles of it. I'm pretty sure I almost went blind from the constant and intense side-to-side sweep of the trail I was doing. I was still about 200 meters from the end of my route and still... no key. I could not for the life of me remember feeling the key fall or hearing it hit the ground. Then I got a bright idea.

The other thing that usually comes with running shorts is a built-in brief. Now some people like to just assume that the built-in brief works as underwear and that's all they wear. To me, that is weird. Anyhoo. So I had an idea. What if, instead of actually falling out of the key pocket to the ground, it fell out of the key pocket into the built-in brief and never went anywhere? So I checked.

Let me tell you. Finding that dang key in my shorts totally made up for the fact I was alone, behind an elementary school, with my hand down my shorts. Egads. So yeah. Remind me never to do that again. Or at least check my shorts before wandering around for an hour in the now-not-so-warm-and-no-sun weather.

Wednesday: 4 x 400m Hills

Wednesday was another beautiful day for running. (Yay for shorts and t-shirt!) Since we moved our long run up a day the previous week, I ended up having an extra day to add in some speed work. I had originally planned on starting hill work in a couple weeks, but I figured while I had the time and awesome weather, why not? Now I know 4 seems like a fairly low number, however, the lovely hill I choose to do my workout on averages a 5.5% grade, although there are several areas which are steeper than a 14% grade. I had attempted a hill workout on this same route about 7 months ago and could only make it 2/3 of the way up before the lactic acid took over and I would have to turn around and go back down. Which makes me proud to say I ran the entire way up 3 times, then walked up the 4th. I don't even feel bad about walking, as my heart rate was consistently 175 the whole way up (a little bit higher than it is during an easy run). But man, did this ever remind that my calves and butt and are not strong.

Thursday: Yoga + Strength

Speaking of feeling Wednesday's workout, I woke up on Thursday and could barely walk. Both my calves and backside/hips were beyond ridiculously tight. I surprisingly managed to push through some yoga (which did help loosen me up, for about 5 minutes), and some upper body strength training. I totally bailed on the lower body portion as there was just going to be no way. Foam rolling and laying on the couch were definitely my BFFs.

Friday: 8 mile run

I was partly looking forward to the run on Friday and partly terrified. I was still very sore from Wednesday and was worried I would have another long run like last week, fighting every step of the way to keep up with my running partners. If I could even run that was. I tried to stretch out and move around throughout the day, and I finally felt halfway decent around the time of our run. Luckily, I hardly even noticed my calves once we started running. On the other hand, I could feel my sore glutes every step of the way for the entire first half of the run. Not pleasant. But we did start out at a reasonable pace, and I surprisingly felt great the entire run. Even with my aches and pains I could have easily gone for at least another mile.

Saturday: Indoor Soccer Game

Of course, that nice little long run we did made my glute pain flair up even worse after sitting down for a while, which continued into Saturday. There was a while there that I wasn't sure I was going to even be able to play. Once again, however, things loosened up over the course of the day and I was able to run without much discomfort by game time. And once I was nice and warmed up, I didn't really even notice it at all. Whew. I was getting worried there for a bit.

Hopefully all those aches will go away this week.

The mileage is definitely increasing this week, and I'm make a jump from 8 to 10 miles on the long run, too. Although this jumps seems kind of random, there is a method to the madness...

I've signed up for a 10 mile race at the end of February. It's actually the exact same course as my half marathon, minus the 5k at the beginning, which makes me really happy. According to the McMillan running calculator, I should be able to finish in under 1:25:00, so I'll set that as my current goal. But... we'll see how it goes and how I feel when it's actually time to run.

Half Marathon Training: Week #3

Wow. What a doozey of a week. Well, at least it started off good...

Sunday: Rest

Monday: 3.5 mi run + strength

Mother Nature, how sneaky you are. After giving us a nice layer of ice and snow over the weekend, you turn around and change your mind come Monday. I woke up to pouring rain, followed by sunny skies and pushing 50 degrees in the early afternoon. I was a bit hesitant to how the trails would be but figured I'd give them a shot anyways. Instead of being covered in what looked like a nice layer of ice, the trails were covered in inches of melting slush or simply pools of water. Yeah, not going to happen for 3 1/2 miles. I debated with myself for a while: go run the neighborhood across the street until I hit my mileage or have hubby take me to the gym later? I just couldn't pass up the incredibly warm winter weather. Although I forgot that even though the sidewalks would most likely be clear of slush, slush turns into... water. So I was definitely bobbing and weaving around a ton of puddles. Definitely by far not my fastest pace ever, but seeing as I was mostly wandering around, I'm really not surprised.

Tuesday: Yoga + 6 x 400 Intervals

After seeing what the trails looked like on Monday I knew they were still going to be a hot mess the following day. So I broke down and had Adam guest pass me into the gym so I could do my interval training on a nice, dry, non-slippery surface. Also known as the treadmill. While I kind of sort of consider hopping on a treadmill cheating (since there is no variation in the terrain and no wind resistance, things you'll never have in a race) I made sure to bring along my handy dandy heart rate monitor to make sure I was pushing myself enough. Although, when it comes to high speeds, and pushing yourself, and treadmills, one thing always looms in the back of my mind...

Yeah. I don't want to be that kid. Luckily, I felt awesome during the workout, and as expected, ran much faster than I would have outside. Usually outside I aim for 2:00 or under (giving about an 8:00 pace), and I definitely was well under that indoors: 1:55, 1:51, 1:51, 1:50, 1:48, under 1:47. And the great news is I felt like I could have done at least two more intervals. Woot!

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Well. So much for that good "I can run forever feeling". Definitely feeling the effects of the day before mixed with slippery muddy trails again. Not a horrible run, but not one of my best either. I got sidetracked with hurrying to pick something up from school right after my run, which totally killed the whole working out vibe and I ended up skipping my strength work out. Oops. Really regretting that decision, but as we all know, hindsight is 20/20.

Thursday: Indoor Soccer Game

I went to bed Wednesday night determined to get in at least a 2 mile run and my strength workout before our soccer game. I woke up Thursday morning to a ridiculously dry throat (that took forever to go away) and feeling like I had just performed a super strenuous upper body workout the day before. Needless to say, the 2 mile run was passed on, as well as the strength workout. The soccer game left me exhausted and unable to catch my breath (which isn't normal), only reaffirming my decision to back off of the workouts earlier in the day. Sometimes I need to yell at myself to quit being lazy, and sometimes I just need to listen to my body. Honestly though, it's kind of hard to tell which to do at times.

Friday: 7 mile run

After not feeling so hot the night before, I was a little nervous about moving the long run up a day. But, seeing as we were helping a friend move on Saturday, which would most likely take up a large portion of the day, it was the right thing to do. I caught up with a couple friends 2 miles into their 9 miler. Which actually worked out pretty good. We held around a 9 minute or better pace for most of the run, which I was kind of surprised I was able to keep up as long as I did seeing how I felt the day before. Then around the last 5 1/2 mile mark I could feel myself slowly losing steam. I was also starving, which didn't help matters. Despite having a blah mile between 5.5 and 6.5, I finished out the run pretty strong, which I was happy about. It may or may not have helped that it was starting to get chilly as the sun was going down and I really just wanted to be done. Eh, it happens. Hopefully I'll be feeling a little stronger next week.

Saturday: Rest Helping a friend move.

Even though this week wasn't to the level I was expecting, I still have high hopes for next week. And I need to make sure I stopping skipping my strength workouts. :)

We've opted to move the long run to Friday again as our soccer game is on Saturday rather than the normal Thursday. Trying to do sprints after a long run = fail.

We'll see how it goes... chances of this staying "as is" is pretty slim if we go by the previous few weeks.

2012 Goal #2 - Training for a Half Marathon: Week 2

Let's just jump into the week's recap, shall we?

Sunday: Rest

Ahhh, blessed rest. Man I love it. Just not really a good thing to do it two days in a row (I had Sat off too).

Monday: 3 mi run + strength

Didn't exactly feel bad, but I could totally feel those two back to back days I had off.

Cold and snowy. But at least it kept the mud at bay.

Still hovering around a 9:30 pace, which I wish was closer to or under 9 minutes. I blame all the rutted out bike tracks and ice on the path for slowing me down. I can do that, right?

Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run + yoga

Let's just say that the day did not start out great as all I really wanted to do was curl up in a ball on the couch and not step a foot outside all day. I really did. It took a lot of motivation and yelling at myself that I was simply being lazy and there was no reason I couldn't go out and run. I think my main deterrence was I was slightly anxious about doing a tempo run -- something I've never done before. And the thought of doing something new, and hard, in the rain and cold just wasn't appealing.

But I had to. I promised myself I would actually train for a race. I couldn't give up in week 2.

Since this workout involved pushing myself (up to a "comfortably hard" pace) I decided to stay away from slippery trails and rutted out bike tracks so I could actually focus more on my pace rather than where my next step was going to be.

For those of you who aren't sure what a tempo run is exactly, it's basically a workout to help increase your lactate threshold. Say what? In short, it forces you to extend the time/distance you can run at a faster pace without dropping on the pavement thinking your legs just turned to jelly and your lungs are going to explode. (Or, ahem, maybe a better explanation is here.)

I wanted to do a warm up for the first third of the run, build up to my peak pace by the 2/3 mark, then slow back down for the last little bit. Instead of going by pace during this run, which would involve me checking my phone every 5 seconds, then chucking it in the river, I opted to focus on my heart rate instead. Here's the breakdown for my 30 minute run:

0-10 minutes - Warm up @ 9:00-9:30 pace
10-15 minutes - keep HR between 165-175 (65-75% HRR)
15-20 minutes - keep HR above 180 (75-85% HRR)
20-25 minutes - keep HR above 185 (90%+ HRR)
25-30 minutes - Cool down, roughly a 9:00-9:30 pace

Oh, and then I did yoga. And thought my hamstrings were going to peel themselves off my legs and walk away. More on that later.

Wednesday: 2.5 mi easy run

Since my hamstrings were about die a fiery death by yoga, I decided it'd be best to back it off a bit, especially since this wasn't designed to be a run to push myself on anyways.

The first mile is almost all a gentle downhill with the second mile being almost completely flat. That's my kind of cheat easy run.

You can barely see the stairs back up a super not fun hill in the picture. This is where I stop and walk back up to my car. I call it my "cool down".

Thursday: 2 mi run + Strength + Indoor Soccer Game

Thank goodness the hamstrings started to chill back out a bit. I added back in the strength training I cut out from the day before. A necessary evil in my mind. Sigh. Do I have to?

Friday: Yoga

Okay, let's get something out of the way here. When I talk about doing yoga, I am most definitely a beginner. A ridiculously inflexible one. Let me demonstrate. One of the poses is something called the Needle:

I am pretty sure it's named this for feeling you get in this pose. As in, there's about a thousand needles poking you in the hamstring all while laughing at your pathetic attempt to get your back foot higher than your head. Which is pointing at the ground. Epic fail.

So yeah. That's why I do this at home.

Saturday: 6 mile run

Here's the story of my 6 mile run. In 3 inches of powdery snow plus a whole lotta slushy stuff.

[Source]

The regular powder wasn't actually all that bad, but the slushy, heavy, wet snow dumped on the trail by passing cars and snow plow was a whole different story. Despite working even harder to fight through the stuff, all I did was slow down. There was just no traction whatsoever. Thank goodness I was running with a couple friends or these areas would have been a complete disaster.

It's funny looking at our pace through these areas (which is kind of an awesome feature of the iMapMyRun app), we easily added 1:00-1:30 min/mile to our pace when going through that mess. Overall, though, considering the conditions, I'm pretty happy we finished in under an hour.


Whew. Holy long-windedness.

So. Moving on. Next week.

Very similar to Week 1, with an extra rep added to the interval training.

And I'm out. Off to curl up on the couch and enjoy my day off.

2012 Goal #2 - Training for a Half Marathon: Week #1

Ooo this week has been a doozey. Rainy, and wet, and cold, and snowy. The perfect set-up for the excuse not to run. Let me tell you, it was tough not to give in.

But! I knew here I would be, writing up the post, and I didn't want "passed", "lazy", "insert excuse here", to show up in lieu of the actual workout. Ha, I knew I was keeping track of my training here for a reason. Gotta keep me honest.

Which doesn't necessarily preclude me from changing things up a bit. I was planning on doing this for my workout this week, but instead, I opted switch things around slightly -- partly due to thinking things through a bit more, partly due to how my legs were feeling, and partly due to a certain nephew celebrating his 1st birthday this weekend.

Sunday:	Rest
Monday:	3 mi run + strength
Tuesday:	5 x 400 @ 5k pace + yoga
Wednesday:	3 mi run + strength
Thursday:	Indoor Soccer Game
Friday:	5 mi run
Saturday:	Rest

Not exactly how I was envisioning the week panning out, but sometimes you have to rearrange things around your schedule. Like my long run getting squished in on Friday morning instead of Saturday. Even if it meant getting up early and running in 17F weather with a windchill of -2. With blowing snow. Not ideal (would have rather had a day off), but what are you going to do?

Now that I have officially signed up for the half, it's time to set a goal time for myself. Since I'm actually attempting to train for this race, unlike my previous races, I figured this would probably be a good thing.

So, I've decided to aim for under 2 hours.

This works out to a little over a 9 minute/mile pace.

While it may not seem all that fast to some of you, it's pretty reasonable for me as my past endurance races all have me coming in well over that at the half marathon mark.

Moving on to this coming week, the original plan calls for this, though I've decided to go with this instead (surprise surprise):

Sunday:	Rest
Monday:	3 mi run + strength
Tuesday:	3 mi tempo + yoga
Wednesday:	3 mi run + strength
Thursday:	2 mi run (at 1/2 marathon pace) + Indoor Soccer Game
Friday:	Yoga
Saturday:	6 mi run

Fingers crossed I'll have the same motivation this week as last! (And maybe a bit better weather!)

47 Recipes to Kick Off the New Year

"I'm going on a diet." or "I'm going to lose ___ pounds." or "I need to eat healthier."

It doesn't really matter how it's worded, eating better and/or losing weight tends to end up on almost every resolution list (shoo, I know it ended up on mine). And almost every single one of those resolutions will be broken by the end of the month.

Most people outside the foodie world associate healthy eating = tastes like cardboard. Those in the know, know that it absolutely doesn't have to be the case. I refuse to eat some lackluster bland-tasting meal just because it's "healthy" for me. No wonder people can't stick to healthy eating if that's the route they go.

So to help you on your way (or at least to February), I've rustled up 47 recipes that aren't only healthy but taste great, too. And not just main dishes, but snacks, drinks, soups, sides, and lo and behold, you can have you cake and eat it too. Or, in this case, cookies.

How do I know it's healthy? 40 of the 47 recipes are either under 500 or 100 calories (depending on what it is) and qualifies for 2 or more of the following: Low in Saturated Fat, Low in Cholesterol, or Low in Sodium. The remaining 7 recipes qualify for all three of those categories but are not under 500 or 100 calories and are denoted by an *. (How do I classify my recipes? Read here.)

Appetizers & Snacks
1. Apple Chips
2. Black & Blue Fruit Leather
3. Cheese Straws
4. Haitian Chicken Pâté Puffs
5. Sweet Chipotle Snack Mix*
6. Spicy Red Pepper Hummus*
7. Tzatziki

Drinks
8. Blueberry Lemonade Soda*
9. Russian Tea

Soups & Stews
10. Ancho Pork & Hominy Stew
11. Cheese Tortellini & Vegetable Soup
12. Minestrone Soup
13. Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup
14. Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup
15. Tortellini, Kielbasa, & Spinach Soup
16. While Chili

Entrees
17. Chicken Biryani
18. Chickpeas with Spinach*
19. Chipotle Bean Burritos*
20. Cranberry Chicken with Wild Rice
21. Easy Cajun Jambalaya
22. Fusilli with Pistachio Pesto
23.Gemelli Salad with Asparagus, Pistachios, and Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette
24. Ginger Hoisin Stir Fry
25. "Meaty" Meatless Pasta with Parmesan & Pine Nuts
26. Pad Thai
27. Parmesan Polenta & Spicy Sausage
28. Pasta with Chickpeas & Garlic Sauce
29. Pasta with Feta, Tomatoes, & White Beans
30. Pasta with Prosciutto & Spinach
31. Penne Alla Vodka
32. Pistachio Chicken Fingers
33. Radiatore with Caramelized Onions & White Wine
34. Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
35. Spicy Malaysian-Style Stir Fried Noodles
36. Spicy Orange Noodles
37. Spicy Peanut Chicken over Rice*
38. Udon Noodles with Asian Vegetables & Peanut Sauce
39. Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

Sides
40. Brussels Sprouts*

Desserts
41. Chewy Amaretti Cookies
42. Chocolate Crinkles
43. Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies
44. Snickerdoodles
45. Spritz Cookies
46. Sugar Cookies
47. World Peace Cookies

Looking for other combinations of these categories? Check out the newly renovated Recipe Index which now makes it easy to find recipes with certain health characteristics. Or simply choose a category from the list to the right (under Labels) if you're just interested in one.