Mazda Milestone

Our little Mazda Protege hit 100,000 miles this week. It's been a good little car so far, with relatively few problems - none major. (Major is defined as anything greater than or equal to a $500 repair bill)

We hope it lasts through at least a few more moves and drives across country for us!

(And a special thanks to Mom and Dad Swensen for gifting us this car when we got married!)

Winter Advertising

A dentist across the street from our housing complex saw a silver lining in all the snow we've been having. My apologies to my dad who has to advertise like a "normal" dentist. :)

100 Push-ups!

Today I scratched an item off my "list of things to do before I die" - I did 100 consecutive push-ups!

Around Christmas time I ran across a website that proves I'm not the only one with this goal: www.hundredpushups.com They had a very simple 7-week progression program where you start by only doing 10 in a row, and after doing push-ups three times a week for seven weeks you can do 100 in a row. The guy who put together the website also sells a book with the same goal, but the website has all the same information so there's really no value-add.

I do have to give a shout out to the push-up bars I used, the "Perfect Pushup". I don't know if it made them harder because I was higher in the air, but it was less strain on my wrists which was very nice.

Gotta love scratching goals of of lists! Since I found this website and book, I found another book that is dedicated to another one of my lifelong goals (via Kevin who pointed it out to me).

National Countdown - 4 Weeks to Go

I have a hard time balancing the feeling of being a running slacker and the proverbial "listening to your body". On Monday, I opted out of my planned run because my calf muscle was bothering me again. It concerned me mostly because I was pain-free during and after last Friday's long-run but then I began getting pain again on Saturday and Sunday.

On Wednesday, I tried a sample of KT Tape I had from the Chicago Marathon. It rolled a little when I put on my running tights, so I'm not sure how effective it was. I didn't have major pain though, so that's good at least. Our speed workout was hard though! It's been a long time since I've done a speed workout. Hopefully it will come back to me quickly though...I'm running out of time.

On Saturday we did our long run of 18 miles even though I'd only run a total of five during the week. It was awesome and motivating to have the sun shining on us even though it was still only 28 degrees when we finished. It was hard though. After mile 10, I was struggling so I turned on my music and let it blast out of my iPhone since neither Jonelle nor I had headphones. Jonelle said it reminded her of someone running around with a boombox on their shoulder. My iPhone was much lighter though! After we GUed up, things went a little better, but it was still pretty tough.

I always feel so great after finishing a long run! It's crazy to me that I can say, "I'm going to run 18 miles today," and then I can get out there and actually accomplish it. It's a great feeling!

Part of my feeling good after long runs is in thanks to yogurt. Yogurt with granola has become my go-to pre- and post-run meal. For those who have experienced really bad stomach cramps during or after a long run (which is really common, actually), I know how you feel! The post-long-run experience is not fun if you're in pain for the rest of the day. (And I'm not talking about good muscle-strengthening pain.) After reading a couple online forums and trying different carbohydrate gels to solve the problem, I decided that I might be a little lactose intolerant. I know it seems counter intuitive to eat yogurt if I have mild lactose intolerance, but the bacteria in the yogurt actually helps regulate the stomach.

So now, 24 hours before a run, I limit my milk intake drastically. If I have cereal, I don't drink the milk. If I have pancakes, I don't have a glass of milk with it. I try not to eat a lot of cheese or ice cream the day before either. Then, about a half or so before my run, I eat about 1/4 cup of lowfat vanilla yogurt (make sure it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup!). I started adding a little granola too, for an extra carb boost. Then, after the run if my stomach is still bugging me, I eat some more yogurt. It's made a world of difference for me! Hopefully, if anyone reading this has a similar problem, that information might help.

Weekly Goals

Monday: 6 miles at 8:41 /mi

Wednesday: 4x1600 at 6:52 /mi

Thursday: 5 miles at 8:41 /mi

Saturday: 18 miles at 8:41 /mi

Outcome

Wednesday: 1x1600 at 7:26 /mi; 1x1600 at 7:22 /mi; 1x1600 at 7:52 /mi

Saturday: 18 miles at 8:52 /mi