Non Sequitur Box

For the next week, any post is probably going to be related to the Boston Marathon. The 10-day forecast shows that the weather might be slightly overcast with a high of 56 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 13 degrees Celsius) in Boston. Perfect. I've stretched and iced my legs very well this week. I should do that kind of a thing more often. My leg is feeling better, but I'm still being cautious about it. I don't want to do anything crazy or unusual. The last "hard day" was done yesterday . I have a final 10 mile run, then the rest of my runs will be six miles or less. I'm hoping Jack has time to run with me, just so I have a feel for running with someone. Pre-Race: 2100 - Go to bed. 0600 - Wake up. Brush teeth. Comb hair (note: bring extra hair ties). Get dressed (be warm). Eat a solid breakfast (oatmeal, banana, chocolate, PB). Drink some water. Walk to the buses from Club Quarters. 0630-0700 - Board bus. Ride to Hopkinton. Relax. Listen to music or rea...

I had never heard of phantom pains before a marathon until now. After feeling some pain in my soleus/Achilles/lower leg, I did a quick Google search and found out that many people feel new, odd pains right before their marathon (also during taper time). Some people claim this is the pain of their muscles repairing themselves. I hope those people are right. These "phantom pains" usually go away by race day morning. I hope that's the same for me. In order to keep a log/record of this situation, just for my reference or anyone else's, I shall write it here. On Monday, I was running an easy 4-6 miles when I started to feel a weird tingle in my right lower calf/soleus/Achilles. It felt like small sharp tears (imagine when taffy is pulled and you see the little threads snapping...that's what I felt like was happening to my leg). I stopped and stretched at the end of my workout and felt fine. I thought nothing of it. On Tuesday, I had a quick 1 mile-2 mile-1 mile a...

It looks like coffee, smells like coffee, brews like coffee, and tastes like coffee. It's not coffee. I bought some Teeccino the other day at Whole Foods, thinking it WAS coffee. Oh, silly me. It's HERBAL coffee. It's a blend of herbs, fruits, grains, and nuts. It says it contains barley, but it also says it is gluten free once brewed ! I don't have to worry about gluten, so it's not a concern to me. If you're super sensitive, I'd ask around to see if it truly is gluten free as it claims. I have the Vanilla Nut (teebag) and Mocha (grounds) flavors, and I enjoy both. I use the teebag like a teabag, and I make the grounds herbal coffee in my French Press. No caffeine means I can drink it at all times of the day. I just had a goodnight cup of herbal coffee. :-) It's delicious and smooth, so it doesn't need any milk, creamer, or sugar (but you can add that all the same).

After some suggestions from the running community, I bought some Picky Bars. You can read more about the bars made by professional athletes at pickybars.com . I received a freaking cool shirt, which I'm wearing right now , and 18 bars of my flavor of choice. Yes, I'm a part of the Picky Bar Club. You can read the website for the nutritional information and the story behind the bars. I'm not going to regurgitate what has already been said. For my first bars, I had the Smooth Caffeinator and Lauren's Mega Nuts. Both were delicious. They're mostly smooth with some chunks and a slight crisp (not crispy like Clif bars---more like a gentle, almost unnoticeable crisp--I liked that). I could really taste the nuts in Lauren's Mega Nuts, which hit the spot after my run. I had the Smooth Caffeinator right before my run, and I didn't get any stomach issues from it (yaaay). I will probably update this post more as I eat the rest of the bars and pay more attention ...

Oatmeal with Banana, Peanut Butter, and Chocolate Ingredients 1/2 cup oatmeal 1 cup water 1 banana 1 small handful of chocolate chips (or 1 serving) 1 spoonful of chunky peanut butter 1. Boil the water (I microwave it on high for 2 minutes) and mix it with the oatmeal. 2. Slice the banana on top. 3. Add the chocolate chips. 4. Stir in the spoonful of peanut butter. I do this while it is all hot, and it turns into a gooey mess of an oatmeal dish. I've had this before long runs and before long work days. Sometimes I start thinking about my sugar and fat intake, and I just have plan oatmeal...but that's no fun for a blog post.

Egg White, Spinach, and Feta Cheese Sandwich Recipe Ingredients : 1 English muffin, cut in half 3 TBS egg whites 2 tsp basil pesto small handful of spinach, torn into smaller pieces 1 TBS sundried tomatoes 1 TBS feta cheese 1. Put the egg whites, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and feta cheese in a bowl. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes, until egg whites are done. 2. Meanwhile, put the English muffin in the toaster until you get the toast you like (I prefer medium to well-toasted). Spread the basil pesto on one side of the English muffin 3. Place the egg mixture on top of the muffin mixture. Combine halves to make a breakfast sandwich! I know this isn't very complicated, but I hope I gave some of you ideas! I love making this sandwich for fast fuel. I get a mix of protein (egg whites), fat (cheese and oil from sundried tomatoes), and carbs (vegetables, bread). You can leave this off bread or use a wrap instead. What inspired this? Starbucks has a delicious Spinach a...

As the Boston Marathon approaches, my heart races faster and faster with excitement. My mind is punching numbers and trying to figure out how I'm going to run this race. First, I looked back on my previous marathons. 2007 Marine Corps Marathon: 3:19:12 (ran a 6k two days before) 2009 Boston Marathon: 3:10:58 2011 Marine Corps Marathon: 3:11:12 2012 Shamrock Marathon: 3:20:40 For my first two marathons, I was running track in college. This covered my speed work. All I had to do was increase my long run. I just wanted to not stop for my first marathon, and I finished in a decent time. I definitely started out too fast, but I was happy. For Boston 2009, I did all my long runs at 2 hours, coming back faster, and one final 2:30-3:00 long run. Speed work was covered by 10k track work. For Marine Corps 2011, I was recovering from an eating disorder and doing speed work and long runs with my ex-boyfriend. We were racing...and I won by a few seconds. I was cold the entire way. I ...