I realized that someone might be interested in the recipe for the wheat bran muffins I mentioned yesterday.  I use a recipe that I got from Runner's World.  I buy a box of single serving cups of applesauce from Costco, since they are almost the perfect size for many recipes like this one that substitute applesauce for oil in baked goods.  I also add in about 1/3 cup of wheat bran that I buy in bulk at the grocery store.  These muffins aren't very sweet, but with added raisins or dried cranberries, they are pretty tasty and will keep you from crashing after a hard workout.  Even my youngest son likes to have one for an afternoon snack.

Today's track intervals were 5 x 1K, with 400 m rest intervals, target pace of 5:14 each.  Here's my actuals:

1- 5:12

2- 5:14

3- 5:24

4- 5:14

5- 5:22

I ran at lunchtime, and the weather was once again super, warm enough to make me wish I had worn shorts instead of my capri running tights.  I think I did pretty well at pacing myself, since I have a harder time when the distances get longer.  I just tried to keep a nice steady 5K pace.

I came home and ate a muffin, took a shower, then ate my lunch of cottage cheese and canned peaches.  I need to remember to pull out the peaches that hubby froze for me back last summer from the farmer's market.

I couldn't get through Oprah today, even though I was really interested in the topic of hormone replacement.  I can't believe that she led the show with Robin McGraw, whose only claim is being married to Dr. Phil, and now she's wrote a book about hormones.  Claiming she's done 'research'.  Is she a doctor, or a scientist?  NO!!  Certainly we need some more research in the field, but not from famous wives looking to make a buck from their husband's fame.This is my one argument with Oprah, that she is too much about helping people merchandise their latest products, and too often it is because of a relationship that she has with them, rather than an honest assessment of the product and it's usefulness.  Anyway, I was looking forward to this show, and it really let me down.

Today was my second cross training day of the week.  While I watched yesterday's Oprah on TIVO, I did a set of core exercises from 'Brain Training for Runners', then I dragged my oldest son out of bed to join me at the gym(he's on a break from college). 

I did a set of intervals on the stationary bike, 1 minute hard with 4 minutes of recovery, 6 times (with a warmup & cooldown of course) all at 90 - 100 RPM, for a total of 45 minutes.  I literally left it on the gym floor, but I cleaned it up, I promise!   I had to use a paper towel to clean up the puddle of sweat on the floor behind the bike.

I came home and did a set of jump squats and a set of one legged jump squats (also from Brain Training). 

Then it was a wheat bran muffin and a shower and the rest of the day.

I wasted so much time today updating the security software on my laptop, and also watched a few episodes from season 2 of Heroes.  My days of leisure are soon coming to an end, as I'll be starting my new job next Wednesday.  After nearly a year of unemployment, I accepted a 30 hour per week position that will hopefully lead to a better full time position later this year.  There are some real plusses to this job, as I'll be able to carpool with hubby, and I'll have free access to excellent fitness facilities (and the time to use them).  I am more than thankful to be getting employed during this particularly tough time.

I put down another great long run on Saturday.  The weather around here has turned into a little interlude of spring in the middle of winter.  Saturday was sunny and temps in the morning were in the 50's, in other words, perfect running weather.

My target pace for this 9 mile run was 10:01, and I actually ran a 9:50 average pace very easily.  I ran a different route than usual, just to keep things fresh.  Maggie did very well, and ran nearly the entire nine miles, with the exception of a couple of laps I did at the track near the end to let her rest.

Saturday night hubby and I watched 'The Spirit of the Marathon' on DVD(second viewing for me).  I just love this film, and now that hubby is running too, I wanted to share it with him.  It really captures what it is like to go out and run, and to train for a race. 

Today I ran a 3 mile tempo run at nearly 5K race pace, once again in perfect weather conditions.  We had to run through a large crowd of middle schoolers on their own running workout for PE. They were happy to see Maggie out running, but she was kind of freaked out about them, she ducked around behind me and refused to run by my side until we had passed them all.  I run past two different middle schools, and we often run through their PE running, but this was an especially large group, forcing us into the street.

Today's run was a track ladder interval workout. The weather was quite pleasant, mostly sunny and temps in the 50's.  Maggie is only a short distance sprinter, so she helps me warmup by running easy with me to the track, and then I tie her up while I go round and round.  I'm so lucky I live just about a mile away from a track that is open during the week.  It's not fancy, just crushed granite, but I can't complain.

I did quite well against my target paces, much better than last week.  I really liked the ladder style workout, with the distances decreasing as I got more fatigued.  I'm going to list out my splits here, not to brag, but just so I can keep track of them more permanently than the sweat-smudged paper I used at the track.

1200 m:6:20 target; 6:10 actual

1000 m: 5:14 target; 5:09 actual

800 m: 4:10 target; 4:09 actual

600 m: 3:06 target; 3:08 actual

400 m: 2:03 target; 2:00 actual

200 m: 1:01 target; 1:02 actual

All with a 200 m walk/jog interval between.

I forgot to un-pause my iPod after I tied up Maggie, and didn't remember until I was halfway through the 600m interval, so my Nike+ mileage for the day is too low by about 2.25 miles.  I was so wrapped up in the run that I just didn't notice the silence.

I checked out the book "Brain Training for Runners" from the library recently.  I've decided to add in some of the exercises from that book.  Today I began with the dynamic flexibility exercises as a warmup to my run, which the book recommends before speed workouts. They aren't just stretches per se, but exaggerated running types of moves that warm up the muscles and stretch them as well.  It may have helped, since even though I'm pretty tired from the workout, my legs aren't sore like I would expect them to be.  I should mention that I don't normally stretch before or after a run in any formal way, so this is totally new for me.

I was ready  to love this show.  I came to Dancing with the Stars kind of late, at season 3 I think.  But the various group dance acts they feature on the results show are a favorite of mine.  So, groups of dancers from eight countries, duking it out weekly? Count me in!

I watch 99% of TV on TIVO so I can fast forward through the boring chatter that pads out this type of show and just watch the dancing.  But unfortunately, this one is completely unwatchable due to the horrendous camera work and directing.  For some reason, the producers/director think that the dancing in and of itself is insufficiently exciting and dynamic, so frenetic camera/angle changes are required, leaving multiple dancers out of the frame altogether on a pretty constant basis.  I suppose this is to keep us all interested in the dancing on a show that is called 'Superstars of Dance'.  One would think the title would act as some sort of autofilter for those not interested in actual dancing. 

At the point when the solo Irish step dancer was completing his routine, and the director was completely unable to maintain the camera shot on his feet (which were the only part of his body performing at the time), I deleted the show and deleted my season pass to this pathetic excuse for a dance show.

I had an awesome long run on Saturday, 10.75 miles total at a pace of 10:11.  It was scheduled as a 10 mile run at no set pace, but I misjudged where to turn around.  Maggie made it past 6 miles before hubby picked her up.  She really starts to drag after 7 miles, so I don't like to push her past her limits.  The whole run was just a complete pleasure, really reminding me why I go out and do it.  I felt like I could have very easily run the half marathon distance with no problem, I even sprinted for the last 200 meters.  My target pace for the half in April is 9:41, so this easy run pace at 10: 11 boosted my confidence.

The downside of extending my run was that I had a 2:00 hair appointment, so I had to dash into the shower, wolf down some food and jump in the car to make it in time.  It felt so good to just sit in the chair and chat about running (my hair stylist runs too).

After my hair appointment, I went for a little bit of shopping, mostly to prowl the clearance racks and pursue my  (futile) quest for a new bra.  This was somehow 100% more exhausting than my run.  I left the store without success, but with a backache.

On Sunday I offcially registered for the Santa Cruz Half marathon (and hubby for the 10K).  We're both looking forward to spending a fun day in Santa Cruz on Saturday, spending a hopefully restful night and walking leisurely to the start on Sunday morning.  This is another good thing about this race, the motel rates in Santa Cruz are pretty reasonable in April, even though the weather is often beautiful by then.

Today I ran from Sunnyvale Baylands park to a bike path that runs behind Great America.  It was a beautiful partly cloudy day.  I saw a dozen pelicans swimming in a bayside pond, which is an unusual sight this far inland.  I truly wished my cellphone camera was up to the task of taking these kinds of pictures, but they are always just fuzzy and washed out.  My target pace was 9:23 for this 5 mile tempo run, and I managed a 9:24.  Still, this run felt like more of an effort than it should have.  Maybe it just suffered by comparison to Saturday's long run.

This month I've transitioned from my 5K training onto training for the Santa Cruz Half Marathon in April.  I'm using the FIRST plan once again, and I'm happy to be back to proper long runs on Saturdays.  I really missed them during my 5K training! 

The closest I'll come to making a new year's resolution is to follow the FIRST plan more closely--I'm adding in the actual suggested cross training, instead of just running extra 'easy' miles.  For the first time ever, I've signed up at a gym and started using the stationary cycle and rowing machine.  I managed to avoid the gym entirely during my weight loss and maintenance, until this month.  I suppose I could have bought a bike, but it seemed safer and cheaper (at least short term) to buy some day passes to my local city-run sports center.

My monthly mileage will come down now that I'm running only 3 times per week, but I figure it will still be about 85 miles per month on average, for another 1000+ mile year in 2009.  I still haven't decided on the rest of my 2009 running plan beyond April.  So many possibilities, I just can't decide.  I really don't think I'm ready to properly attempt a full marathon, mainly because I'm too slow to put in all those really long training miles.  I'd like to get more comfortable with the half marathon distance.  So perhaps the San Jose Rock n Roll Half is a possibility in October, or maybe I'll just concentrate on 10K's for the second half of 09.

On Sunday the 22nd, I finally had the chance to 'shave' my 5K time for 2008.  After the fiasco of the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot (maybe I'll blog about that later), I had to scramble to find another 5K before the end of the year.  I was lucky to find a nice little race in Golden Gate park, the Christmas Classic.

This time of year the weather can be problematic, either clear and rather cold, or gray and rainy.  This Sunday was gray, so temperatures made for perfect running weather, if only the rain would hold off until afternoon.  I donned my Target C9 running tights, long sleeve technical shirt, and my Santa hat for the ultimate color clashing fashion statement.

With just a few hundred racers, there was no crowding, so no diving around slower runners required.  In fact, I was a slow poke and got passed by quite a few people right away.  While I may have been tempted to go out fast to keep up, a gentle hill kept me from sprinting.  Just as I started to warm up and get the feeling back in my hands, a heavy drizzle started, leaving me wishing for some mini windshield wipers for my glasses.

I was able to increase my pace nicely on the downhills, and used my HRM to keep my pace sustainably fast.  Just to keep it challenging, the race ended on an up hill, but I pushed hard to the finish, for a 27:27. 

This is two and a half minutes less than my race time in December 2007, and a good result at the end of my second year of running and escaping the 'couch of doom'.  I'm a complete convert to the FIRST training plan that has produced excellent results for me.

Post race snack was a yummy chocolate chip ice cream, which I managed to wolf down even though I could barely see through the rain drops and fog on my glasses.

Many thanks to my pit crew (hubby and son) for carting around my duffle bag all morning.  Sorry I forgot to tell you about the umbrellas I packed until after the race ended!  And my personal race photographer did a great job, thanks a bunch sweetie!

I've achieved a couple of milestones recently, so where better to memorialize them than on my blog? 

One year at goal

Thanksgiving has taken on a new meaning for me, because it is my weight goal anniversary.  So this holiday that centers around food and family has for me become kind of a birthday for my new maintenance lifestyle.

I weigh daily, but I don't stress over any particular weigh in.  I just graph them, use a 28 day trendline, and look at the line over time to keep myself accountable.  My WW goal weight is 132, but my 'happy' weight is 130. 134 is my upper limit for Lifetime membership, and I've set 128 as a lower limit.

Earlier this year, my weight trended up as I began my half-marathon training and increased my weekly mileage fairly significantly.  Obviously I had a bit of disconnect between the increased hunger and the actual increased caloric requirements.  I even stopped weighing in until after I got back from my Mexican cruise in late May.  But I got back on the wagon and maintained at goal weight throughout the summer.

The big weight loss in September came when I started to train for my year end 5K race for my 'shaved' time.  I'm guessing that the more intense and longer speed workouts revved up my metabolism without increasing my hunger.  I certainly wasn't setting out to lose the weight intentionally. 

1000 miles run

I'm now running 5 days per week, averaging 25 miles per week.  My overall Nike+ pace has fallen to an average of 10:10 per mile since I started using my Nike+ at the end of February.

Better late than never, right?  I ran a 10K race on April 12.  My race report starts the evening before, since my hubby and I traveled to Santa Cruz Friday night to avoid a super early drive Saturday morning to make a 7:15 am race start.  I got us a room less than a 10 minute walk from the starting line--sweet!  It seems that they roll up the sidewalks in the evening, because there were practically no people on the streets when we arrived at about 7:30 pm.  We took a long walk to the end of the Santa Cruz pier before turning in for the night.

I got up about 6:15 and ate a banana for breakfast.  We headed out the door about 6:45 and I took a 10 minute warm-up jog.  The half marathon with it?s two thousand entrants started at 7:00 am. 

Our smaller 10K group was about 500 people.  This was the biggest race I?ve been to, and the lines for the porta-potties were unbelievable.  I seriously considered rushing back to our room for a visit after my jog, but I was too nervous to miss my starting time.  Looking back, with the fact that this race was chip timed, I certainly could have made it back in time.

The weather even at 7 am was perfect for short sleeves, but not too warm yet to make running uncomfortable. 

I went out at a pretty good pace, and kept an eye on my HRM to confirm that I was keeping a sustainable pace.  My iPod shuffled me a great song to start out ?I?m Free? from the Footloose soundtrack, which played just as I started on the section of the course right along the ocean.  I passed up quite a few people during the first half of the race, which was fun.  What was not fun was heartily wishing that I had made that last bathroom stop before the race started?sorry, TMI.  I seriously considered stopping at the porta-potty that was at the 2 and 4 mile aid station.  But I kept my goal of finishing in under 1 hour in mind and powered through.

The race was out and back, so the second half was along a path directly next to the water, and the views were amazing.  I?m seriously jealous of the locals who live close enough to run it everyday.  It was just a fantastic way to spend an hour on a Saturday morning.

The race finished in the sand, and I just remember thinking, ?you?re going to make me run in the sand??!! But it was only for 10 feet.  I totally blasted through my goal time, my time was 56:10, for a race pace of 9:05 per mile.  I finished 22nd out of 80 in my age group, 157th out of 540 racers overall.  Best of all, I ?chicked? a guy just before the last mile, and I?m 90% sure he was younger than me.  The bad news is, the MacMillan pace calculator now thinks I should go much faster in my half marathon in three weeks: 9:33 minute miles instead of the 10:22 miles I originally estimated.  I?m going to decide my goal pace after I see how my 12 mile long run this Saturday goes.

I?m really happy with myself, because I had previously been kind of scared of the 10K length, because it seemed only the ?serious? runners ran it.  But I finished firmly in the top third overall, so maybe I?m more ?serious? than I gave myself credit for.  Or maybe more of the ?serious? runners were doing the half marathon that day.  Anywhoo, the awards for this race were really cool, they were ?sand globes? so I took a picture.

Food after the race was pretty good, lots of fresh fruit (I had more than my share of strawberries), bagels & cream cheese(not my cup of tea) and some awesome peanut butter granola bars(filled with not one, but two different types of corn syrup, but I made an exception).  I ate my fill, checked out the results that were posted, got a good sports store discount certificate, and beat it out of there, as I didn?t want to be around when the crowd of half marathoners started arriving.  There was plenty of time to shower and change back at our hotel room before check out time, and hubby to get some sad free continental breakfast.

Hubby and I then made our way back to the Boardwalk for some fun and bad food.  We rode the Giant Dipper, but I couldn?t get him on the Pirate Ship.  We ate garlic fries and nacho cheese fries (probably should have just picked one or the other), and rode the Ferris Wheel.  I was surprised that it wasn?t more crowded with the fantastic weather, but we barely waited in any lines at all.  I could have been persuaded to stay longer and ride some more rides, but that?s not hubby?s favorite thing to do, so we left when our parking meter ran out at 1:00.

I had scoped out a restaurant not too far away that had a good brunch menu, so we headed there to finish off our day together.  I had a great crab omelet with a corn muffin, and hubby had machaca.  I felt surprisingly tired, so I really didn?t do much of anything else for the rest of the day beyond napping and reading.