Other side of the fence

On Saturday I enjoyed a race from a non-participant angle. I actually enjoyed it very much. I attended the Lake Charles adventure race in the capacity of race photographer, and coach/cheerleader for a friend. This was my first experience with an adventure race and it was very cool. You have to be extremely fit, a good runner, biker, swimmer, and paddler, as well as mentally sharp and also work as a 3 person team. Very challenging to say the least. The winning time was 2 hours 39 minutes. The winners were awesome:

So today after watching everyone push their selves to the limits on Sat. Chad and I did a 20 mile mountain bike ride and it felt really great to get out there and play hard. I am so happy that we share so many of the same interest. Life is good.

Water fun day

Took a break from running, biking and training for a day on the water of skiing and boarding with some friends. So nice to be out on the water and to enjoy the rich Louisiana landscapes. Looking forward to another 5k race on Sat. and plan to set my PR. Stay tuned.

Downtown Vinton Biking

Achilles on the right leg is very sore, going to stick with biking for a few days and see if it gets better. So Chad and I rode all around town today and ended up at a local pub for a cocktail then we raced home. Fun times. Love my Husband, family, dogs and horses.

Precious Time

Well as you can see this blogging thing is a bit difficult for me to keep up with. I guess the occassional post is better than no post at all so I will do the best I can when I can.
The South Louisiana Summer heat has been making my runs very difficult and mostly short. I can't seem to find anything that helps with that. Early morning running would be the best but I just haven't sacrificed my much needed sleep to get up at 3:30 in order to get it done. I have snuck in several twilight runs and that has not been terrible on certain days. But for the most part the majority of my running has been doing intervals on the treadmill.
A typical interval treadmill workout for me would be for about 40 minutes total time. 2 minutes at 4.8 mph alternated with 2 minutes at 8.0 mph on incline of 1. That would carry me roughly 4 miles in a comfortable 68 degree workout room.
Also been getting in some biking but nothing too long or strenuous. I am hoping to pick that up again soon too.

I am still enjoying the pescetarian way of eating and have no desire at all for red meat. My daily smoothie gives me a nice boost of protein and I love experimenting with different ingredients.

Trying to fill up my running calender as I hope to do a lot of fall and winter runs.

So today I ran 4 miles in the middle of the day and it was tough! I tried running on white line, yellow line, grass on edge of road... feet still got really hot. I had a hydration backpack on with ice water and drank a lot but still lost a couple of pounds which is the equivalent of 32 ounces of sweat! The extra weight of the pack was also very noticeable. But glad I did it and enjoy pushing the limits.
Afterwards had a protein smoothie of bananas, avocado, blueberries, coconut oil, hemp protein, hemp seed, peanut butter, almond milk, and of course CHIA SEEDS!

Later enjoyed watching one of our 4 legged trainee's win his race at Evangeline Downs. Hooray Heaven's Passage. Tomorrow night it is back to Evangeline Downs for Deltalicious, she is trying to win a $100,000 stake!

June 27, 2010

Finally after several days of not having any time left in a day to run... Got in a nice even paced 2.5 mile barefoot run today.  Here are the stats using GPS Motion X for my brand spanking new IPHONE 4. Love the voice coaching integration!

Name:     2.5 barefoot
Date:     Jun 27, 2010 7:59 am
Map:
(valid until Jul 27, 2010)    Google Maps
Distance:     2.50 miles
Elapsed Time:     22:03.2
Avg Speed:     6.8 mph
Max Speed:     6.8 mph
Avg Pace:     08' 49" per mile
Min Altitude:     4 ft
Max Altitude:     24 ft

Didn't run until 8:00 AM and it was plenty hot, but fortunately the pavement had not heated up yet and my feet did not get too hot in the Vibrams. I wore toe socks with them today to see if maybe that would help a little with the heat and it did.

Had a great week of horse racing this week too. We won two races and ran two seconds.  The week before we won with the filly shown below, Deltalicious. That is one bright running shirt I'm sporting in this picture. One of my favorite shirts, it is from the Run Wild race earlier this month in Alexandria, LA.

June 23, 2010

In 1985 on this day my 16 year old sister was killed in a car accident. She was not wearing her seat belt and might have survived if she had been. Tomorrow my mother will turn 70 years young. I love her dearly and always wish I could be with her during this time of the year. Family is certainly something you should cherish and should always come first.

Catch up post

The past few days have been extremely busy for me but here is the quick catch up post. Monday was the Sea Rim Striders weekly run in Beaumont, TX.  Lots of runners showed up for a quick two mile run which I did in my VFF's. It was a good run for me and I did it in just under 16 minutes. The pavement was a little warm and I ran on the grass where I could to cool off a bit. Most folks there had not seen the Vibram's before and were inquisitive about them. I really don't mind answering all their questions.  Tuesday was a hard work day, with my darling on crutches and one of our main guys on vacation, there was a lot of "slack" to pick up. Wednesday morning I managed to get most of my work done at the barn by 8:00 AM and then got in a 2 mile run outside followed up with a hill workout on the treadmill.

That brings me to this day, as I write this on the road to Evangeline Downs for tonight's races. No time for any sort of workout today either unfortunately. Got peanut butter, sugar free grape jelly and Chia seed sandwiches packed for dinner.

Sunday Sunday

Not a bad day, after last night.... going to Evangeline Downs and running one horse... I know it doesn't sound like much but there is a lot involved in running just one horse by yourself... I was so freakin tired. Anyway, I cleaned house all morning, did some garden work and weed pulling in the afternoon. Made an outstanding KIWI martini  and getting ready to make a blackened tuna salad for dinner. Watched Zenyatta win 17 out of 17 races today.... History being made.

Bike and Run

It was 98 degrees on my thermometer when I headed out for my bike ride today. Since the wind was pretty strong too I decided to ride the mountain bike. I rode up to the high school football field and dismounted my trusty steed, removed my shoes and socks, and ran one mile barefoot in the grassy infield. It felt really good and I would liked to have stayed longer, but time was running out. So a peddled fast to get back home. My smoothie for the day is made with 1 avocado, 2 bananas, 6 strawberries, a handful of grapes, raspberries, blackberries, chia seeds, and 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder.  It was outstanding!

Kinda feel guilty that I am too tired to run or bike today. But after working at the barn, dragging the track, taking a mare and baby to the vet, taking another horse to the vet, mowing grass, gathering the veggies from the garden, cooking supper, and showering.... I just don't quite have the energy left to get my run in. Bummer. Working for two is not easy. Hope my darlings foot gets better soon.

Original post from day one

Today I made it up to 2 miles running in my Vibram Five Fingers. It really felt nice and fast! I had plenty of energy generated from the run to complete a 30 minute workout of abs, arms, and shoulders after the run.

I have been avoiding meat and only eating seafood for about 2 months now. I feel great and I made a startling discovery in the shower today that my hair does not fall out like it used to. No more cleaning the drain of hair. Is that from my new diet or my vitamins? Not sure. 

Negatives for the day... my darling has a broken 2nd metacarpal bone in his foot. This from running too much too quickly barefoot.  So I guess we have both extremes of barefoot running. Much to be learned.