For Christmas, I asked for and received from my older sister (thank you, Catie!) a slow cooker. Especially during marathon training, it's hard to have energy left for cooking after going from a full day of work to a run or workout that usually lasts over an hour long. So I figured this would help solve some of my problems. I pinned a bunch of gluten-free, vegan recipes from Pinterest , and this is the first one I tried. I'll admit that, while the slow-cooking part is great, about 15-20 mins prep time was still required for this particular recipe (I know, I know--that's not a very long time). I haven't quite figured out when to do the prep--night before? morning of? But how lovely it was to come home after my workout, take a quick shower, and have a warm meal just waiting for me. Granted, I have to look for the recipes that take 8-10 hours in the cooker to make this possible (on a weekday, anyway), but that doesn't seem hard to do so far. From www.thesw...

This past Sunday, I completed my third marathon at the Clearwater Running & Fitness Festival . Not only that, but it was my second one in just over four months. And even though I knew I had prepared and was capable of running another sub-4, I wasn't sure I'd have it in me to push through all 26.2 miles by myself. I had nobody to pace me, like I did at  Steamtown . But in the end, I was able to pull off a PR by 1 minute, 49 seconds (and FYI, I had to use a time calculator to figure that out). Here are my stats: Race:  Clearwater Marathon (Clearwater, FL) Date : January 19, 2014 Gun Time :  3:53:54 Chip   Time : 3:53:34 Average Pace : 8:56 Overall Place : 79/472 Age Group Place : 6/32 My biggest conundrum prior to this race was how to dress for it. I knew it would start out in the upper 40s but would end up, for me, possibly in the low 60s with full-on sun. That's a significant difference for racing-wear...

I wasn't gonna do it, but measuring my progress on last year's goals was such a fun exercise that I thought, why deny myself that same pleasure in 2015? So here they are. I didn't include any PR goals because I figure those are a given. (I amazed myself by only listing one running-related goal. I must feel the need for improvement elsewhere.) Work on relieving anxiety . This is a biggie, as last year was one of my most anxious years. I feel I can do better. Do speed work . I've been saying I'll do this since I began running. It's time to put words into action. Visit a new place . There are so many cities and states I have yet to visit, it would be silly not to. Do more yoga . This will help with #1. Plus, it just feels good for my body and soul. Eat less sugar . I developed quite the cupcake fixation last year. I'm taking baby steps to end that. Send more cards . Because I know how good it feels to receive them. (And the USPS currently sells Ray Cha...

I recently re-read a post from early last year with my year-end totals for running in 2012. I ran 924.35 miles, and I made a goal to run at least 1,000 miles in 2013. I'm happy to say I've exceeded that goal by 288.59 miles! And there are at least a couple more runs that I didn't record on my watch, so they aren't included in this total. That's a lot of time spent pounding the pavement! This looking back reminded me that I'd also set some goals for 2013 . Let's see how those panned out: Run a sub-2:00 half marathon. Done and done! I first met this goal at the Gasparilla Half , and then topped it at the Nike Women's Half (and still ran a sub-2 at the St. Pete Women's Half at the end of the year, though not a PR). Train for a marathon without getting seriously injured (i.e., don't overtrain). Check! Appreciate the diversity of friends I have and don't be overwhelmed by them :-D I admit I fell short of this at one point in the year...

Flatwoods 18 Over two weeks ago, I had decided I wanted to do my 18-miler at  Flatwoods . Perhaps it was the previous weekend's tough (and steep) bridge run that had set my mind on the flattest possible terrain. Tim and I had gone to Crossboot the night before, which could have meant heavy legs and sore muscles for the morning's run, so I didn't have high expectations for a stellar run. The main running trail consists of a paved seven-mile loop plus a few extra miles to get from the two park entrances to the loop. The park also has dirt trails that cut through the wooded areas surrounding the paved trail, but I mainly run on the pavement. The park is actually called "Flatwoods Wilderness Park," and I've heard stories about some such wild things that exist in the woods. I've seen lots of deer--I actually saw three beauties cross in front of me Saturday--otherwise I've only seen snakes, rabbits, squirrels, and birds. But I've been told that eight...

I'd been wanting to do a long run run out in Clearwater for some time now, partly because of its three bridges, and I finally did it last weekend. I say "wanting" with the caveat that I knew it would be good training for me; I did not think it would be particularly fun. And aside from the fact that I had good company and decent weather, I was right. Because Clearwater is a foreign land to me (and a mere 25-minute drive from home), I contacted my friend Beth , who runs in the area frequently. She gave me very detailed directions for where to run--so detailed that I was afraid I wouldn't remember and printed them out on a piece of paper I carried with me on the run. Her route would have incorporated the three main bridges: Sand Key, Bellair, and Clearwater; but because that particular loop would have put us back at our parking spot with only 12 miles, which meant we could have been tempted to not run the four more miles we needed, we decided to just run an out-and-bac...

It's three-subject blog-post time. Which means I've fallen behind. First things first: Turkey Trot Last, last week, on Thanksgiving morning, Tim and I went to Clearwater to run the Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot 10k race. I understand my northern family and friends will likely scoff at what I'm about to say, and they may feel free to do so, but it was freezing! It was about 31 degrees (with wind chill) during the race. That is cold for Florida, especially when it's been in the 70s and 80s in the weeks surrounding that one. It's difficult for me to know what to wear for a cold-weather race, because I know I'll get warm quickly, and I hate being hot during a race. So I wore shorts (which I swear are under my sweatshirt in the picture below), a tank top, arm sleeves, and a headband to cover my ears. While it may seem silly to wear a tank top and full arm sleeves (why not just wear a whole shirt?), I don't like to get sweaty under my arms, and this is a good s...