Weekend Eats and a Cycling Race

This weekend has been filled with food, cycling, running, and yoga. On Friday, I started the day with a healthful bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, a salad and smoothie for lunch.

Then things got crazy and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch basketball with from friends. Got a Berger Cookie Chocolate Stout, a few wings, and a melty, cheesy dip with a huge basket of chips. The beer was delicious (brewed with Berger cookies!), and wings were okay, and the chips and dip were meh. The chip to dip ratio was pretty terrible; way to many chips for such a small amount of dip. I'm also not a huge fan of wings. Oh well, I usually go to BWW just for a beer anyways.

On Saturday, after my bike club ride, I went to a triathlon expo with my friend to hear Merinda Carfrae give a talk. By the time we were done, it was past 2pm and I was past the point of hunger. I was ravenous. My friend and I decided to get pho, and since I was so hungry, we got stuffed grape leaves for an appetizer and I got a large taro bubble tea. And devoured it all so fast that I forgot to take a photo.

On Sunday, I woke up early to get an interval workout in before heading out to a local park to watch a friend race. This was the first cycling race I've spectated, and it was really interesting to watch. The course was a little over a mile long, and the finish was up a really long hill. I watched the Cat 5 men's race, and situated myself right next to the finish line on the top of the hill. The men did 7 loops, for a total of about 10 miles.

 It was a sufferfest on that hill! Quite a few riders dropped off from the peloton after the first couple of laps. 

My friend looked really strong and was in the top 10 in the final few laps. He said he made a few mistakes on that final surge up the hill to the finish, and lost a few places. 

 

Number 1 crossing the finish line (above) and number 2 (below). What a tough finish!

 Bike racing looks so exciting, and it is something that I want to try some day. 

Watching all those cyclists hammering out there made me hungry, so for dinner, I went out to an Italian restaurant to use a Groupon. I totally ate a lot, including a few slices of bread from the bread basket, fried calamari, a Caesar salad, and most of my shrimp-covered linguini. Best way to end a fun-filled weekend ;)

What was the best meal that you had this weekend? 

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Training Log 3/23 and First Club Ride of the Season

This week, I started taking yoga classes, ran a few speedy miles, and biked a bunch of easy-ish miles. I've been telling myself that I should start practicing yoga for years, and this Thursday, I finally decided to try a yoga class. It's been over 5 years since I took a yoga class (which was a high school gym class), and I've been doing a little yoga on and off in between. Thursday was my first real yoga class in a yoga studio. I was a little intimidated at first, since I wasn't sure what the class would be like, but it was very enjoyable! I went to another yoga class on Friday which was faster paced. I was able to keep up and felt so much better after all the stretching.

On Saturday, I went on my first bike club ride of the season. My friend invited me to ride with the Reston Bike Club, which was kind of out of the way for me, but I'm glad I went. I rode with a group of about 40 people, which split up into 3 groups. I went with the more relaxed paced ride and had an enjoyable, social ride. Since I wasn't familiar with the area (I live in Maryland, so Virginia roads confuse me), I just followed the group and didn't really think. We ended up riding 44 miles, and the time just flew by! The day started off pretty chilly, but by the end of the ride, I was really starting to sweat.

Afterwards, my friend and I went to check out a triathlon expo. We mainly went to hear Merinda Carfrae, the 2013 Ironman World Champion, and her husband, Tim O'Donnell, give a speech. It was pretty exciting to hear from the best of the best in Ironman! They talked about how they became triathletes, their races in Kona (the Ironman World Championships) and what it's like to be married to a triathlete.

My first 10K of the season is in a week, so this week I will do more speed work and a tempo run. Can't wait to race!

Tuesday- 45 mins on bike trainer + weights

Wednesday- 3.1 mi fartlek

Thursday- hatha yoga class
                  cycling 7 mi

Friday- running 5 mi tempo, avg 7:39 min/mi
             vinyasa flow yoga class

Saturday- cycling 44 mi with bike club at a relaxed pace

Sunday- running intervals: 7 x 400s avg 6:40, total 4.68 mi
              Yin Yang yoga class    

Totals
Running- 12.78 mi
Cycling- 51 mi

What was your favorite day this past week?

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5 Things Friday: Run, Yoga, Eat

Happy Friday and happy second day of spring! Wishing you beautiful warm weather for the weekend :) 

Here are 5 things that are making my day awesome:

1. Started my day with a 5 mile tempo run. It was hard, but I was feeling good in general. My first race of the season is next weekend, so I am stoked that my times are improving!

2. I went to another yoga class this morning, this time bringing my aunt. We did a vinyasa flow class, and it was faster paced than yesterday's hatha class. It felt so good, and I worked up a bit of a sweat!

3. Had a salad and a blueberry banana smoothie topped with granola for lunch. So good!

4. Yesterday, my bosses at work gave me a donation for my 4K for Cancer ride. They put it in an envelope decorated with stickers. So adorable and sweet of them!

5. THIS

I've been checking the weekend weather all week, praying for no rain on Saturday (there was a 30% chance). Looks like my prayer's been answered! I am going cycling Saturday morning with a bike club, so I'm excited to meet new people :)

Anyone racing this weekend? Name one thing that put a smile on your face today!

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A Fresh Start on the First Day of Spring

Happy spring equinox! I woke up to a foggy morning, but then as the sun rose higher, the mist burned away and revealed a bright sunny day. The sky is a brilliant blue, dotted with fluffy white clouds.

It is windy today, though a lot warmer than it was at the start of this week. My backyard was covered in snow on Monday, but now it's all melted.

Today, I wanted to try something new. I've been wanting to start practicing yoga for a long time, but I kept putting off finding a yoga studio. I was recommended to Yoga Bliss Studio by a friend, and I finally signed up for a class. They have a introductory week deal for $20, so I am going to try as many classes as I can. The studio offers a variety of yoga classes, including hot yoga, vinyasa, and hatha yoga.

This morning, I took a hatha yoga class. The studio was an open, brightly lit room, which comfortably accommodated the 7 people in my class. This was my first real yoga class since high school, and I really enjoyed the deep stretches and relaxation. 

Source

We ended the class in savasana, eyes closed,  and listened to the instructor reading us a poem about spring. I forgot who it was by, but the poem was about how spring symbolizes new beginnings and fresh starts, letting go of fears, coming out of your comfort zone, and doing something new and different. I thought it was a perfect coincidence that she read that poem on my first day of class, it almost felt that she was reading it directly to me. 

I am probably going to a vinyasa flow class tomorrow, and try to go at least twice a week for the next two months before I leave for the summer. I'm really glad that I finally tried out a yoga class. Sometimes, I get lazy, or feel uncomfortable trying something new. Today was a good reminder to overcome that initial anxiety and just go do it! 

Have you tried anything new, recently? 

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The Story Behind My Blog Name

My blog is called "Run Fast Eat Lots", if you haven't noticed the large header on top of the page. I've always lived up to the second half my blog's name, but I wasn't always what you would consider a fast runner.

The first version of my blog header

When I started running and writing this blog, I was slow, and probably logging 10 minute miles (why I still called it Run Fast Eat Lots, I don't know. It had a good ring to it?) Heck, when I did the mile run test way back in middle school, I think it took me 14 minutes! Granted, I wasn't even trying because I hated it. Gasp! Yes, there was a time when I actually hated running.

I discovered my love for running when I got sick of being a couch potato in college, and decided to sign up for my first half marathon in my senior year. Who cares if I've never ran more than 5 miles and had never even ran a 5K? I was determined to run the entire 13.1 miles and worked hard for my goal. Finishing my first half marathon in 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 10 seconds on October 21, 2012 was really life changing. I don't mean to sound cheesy or be profound, but seeing the success after I put in the hard work really changed my perspective of my abilities. Endurance running makes me feel bad ass, which gives me the confidence to be bad ass in other aspects of my life.

By the way, I averaged a 10:14 min/mile pace during my first half marathon. For my next one in the spring of 2013, my one goal was to come in under 2 hours. And I crushed that goal in 1 hour, 52 minutes, and 53 seconds. My most recent half marathon in the fall of 2013 was even faster: 1:44:39. That's a 7:59 pace.

I certainly didn't start off as naturally fast runner, but I have made pretty large strides. The thing is, running fast is all relative. If I compare myself to an Olympian, I am practically a turtle running for its life (though still a turtle). I am pretty sure that I will never be as fast as an elite marathoner, but I'm okay with that. I love running because it allows me to strive to become the best I can be.

My most recent 10K and half marathon have both been PRs, and I am currently aiming for another PR in the 10K. It's thrilling to see my times getting faster, and that's what makes running and racing exciting for me. However, I am aware that not every race is going to be a personal record. Getting faster is great and all, but I am not going to let that define my success as a runner. I find great joy in the simple act of running, and I never want it to become a chore. If that means going back to ambling at a 10 minute pace, at least I can slow down to smell the flowers :)

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Super Hulk Smoothie

I have been eating out every day for the past few days. On Friday, I went out for pizza. Saturday, I went to a creperie and a Peruvian restaurant. Sunday, I went out for dinner to celebrate a birthday, and yesterday, I splurged on an Indian lunch buffet. And today, I grabbed lunch at the salad bar at Dawson's Market. 

I try to eat healthily most of the time, but weekends is when I tend to over-indulge. Lunch buffets are my weakness, and I always leave feeling too full. Last week, I went to a sushi buffet and an Indian buffet. I am a glutton and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

But seriously, I need to pay more attention to what I'm eating. As much as I dislike the term "clean eating", I am going to try to eat more greens, less sugar and fried foods. After a hard work out, I tend to feel endlessly hungry, and I grab whatever is convenient and yummy. Such as apple pie, cookies, bread, muffins, froyo. I don't make the smartest food choices :P 

But I'm not a dumb person and I can change my gluttonous ways! Case in point, I made a superfood and protein-packed green smoothie for my post-workout snack today. I added some Amazing Grass Green Superfood to my smoothie, which has wheatgrass, alfalfa, broccoli, probiotics, cocoa, acai, and a bunch of other healthy-sounding stuff. It's chock-full of antioxidants, which is important for recovery after a hard workout. I also added some fresh spinach and Greek yogurt for protein. It tasted sweet from the banana, which helped mask that green taste. 

I call it the Super Hulk Smoothie because it has superfoods, it's green, and it has protein so you can bulk up like the Hulk ;) 

Super Hulk Smoothie

1 banana

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

2/3 cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, etc )

Handful of spinach

1 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood

1 cup ice 

Add the banana, yogurt, milk, and spinach in a blender. Blend until very smooth and add the super foods powder and blend again. Add the ice and blend on the highest speed until there are no more ice chunks. 

Enjoy a refreshing and super healthy smoothie!

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Healthy Green Eats for St. Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We had yet another snow day today, so it was a nice three-day weekend. I spent the day shoveling snow, having a snowball fight, eating lunch at an Indian buffet, and playing poker. I was wearing a green sweat shirt, so the luck was on my side and I won! As much as I want spring to hurry up, it's still nice to have an extra day off to spend with my family :)

I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's day, but I will have a beer in honor of it. Maybe I'll even color it green. Here is a recipe round-up of green (ish) foods to celebrate! 

My Green Smoothie Formula (customizable!)

Chinese Chive Turnovers

Sushi with Avocado

Spinach Alfredo

White Lasagna with Spinach and Sausage

Did you run a St. Patty's day themed race this weekend? What are you eating/drinking to celebrate?

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