Fall Food: pumpkins, pecans and changing leaves!

I haven't written a post on food that included a recipe in a really long time, but that is about to change!

I am officially in the off season, taking a few weeks off and lifting weights in the gym, and letting my foot heal before I start training for the Asheville Marathon on March 3rd and then my half-Ironman race (or races...) I did have to go to the bone and joint doctor and my foot issue is an inflamed joint (the joint above the arch that points the foot and helps to bend your big toe,) I am happy that it is not a stress fracture and that some relatively cheap orthotics might be the cure. I will not be complaining about not being able to run since this was going to be my few weeks off anyway, but if  you want to read a post about being frustrated about not running you can find it here.

To celebrate my off season I have been indulging in my absolute fall favorite food - pumpkin! That means Pumpkin Ale, Pumpkin spice bread with chocolate chips, and lots of pumpkin oatmeal to start my day! Over the weekend I was volunteering at a weekend long music/craft/arts festival for an organization aptly called LEAF (see picture below.)

In order to get a cheap ticket to the festival, I opted to volunteer for 10 hours on Saturday - two five hour shifts, one shift selling beer and drinks at the concession stand and one shift cleaning up at the kids village until 11pm when the cold and starry night was filled with awesome funk, soul, and folk music. That meant that on Sunday I was able to just chill by the lake and have a good time, which included having good food!

Those are tempeh tacos with guacamole and vegan slaw plus rice and beans! They were delicious and as you can see I ate them while watching a bunch of kids enjoying the activities on the lake, including ziplining into the lake! In order to fuel myself for this awesome weekend, I made myself protein packed pecan spiced whole grain pancakes with pumpkin butter... yes, all of that is possible in one delicious meal.

Pecan Spiced Pancakes:
Ingredients:
3/4 c. Multigrain/sprouted grain pancake and waffle mix (for convenience I use pancake mix, just make sure that it doesn't have buttermilk/milk if you want to keep these pancakes vegan)
1 scoop Warrior Blend SunWarrior protein powder
1 teaspoon maca powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg)
1tablespooon melted coconut oil
3/4 to 1 cup water (depending on thinness of batter)
1/4 c. raw or roasted pecans
non stick cooking spray
Pumpkin butter (Trader Joe's seasonal pumpkin butter is incredible!)
Raw or roasted pumpkin seeds

Mix all the dry ingredients together then whisk in coconut oil and water until the desired pancake batter consistency is reached. Add the pecans last, breaking some of them into small pieces and leaving others as entire halves. Spray skillet or griddle with non-stick spray and spoon batter onto it. Flip when bubbles start to form on the side facing up. I like to make smaller pancakes, about 4-5 inches in diameter. This recipe makes about 8-10 small pancakes and 4 to 5 larger ones, serving two people.
Serve warm with a dollop of pumpkin butter on top plus a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds and berries - maple syrup can be added for sweetness. Enjoy with a warm beverage of your choice!

Triathlon season in review

My last triathlon of the season was yesterday, Sunday, in Anderson, SC and was a very well organized and well run Rev3 event with a lot of participants. They really do treat all their racers, Olympic and half distance, like they are pros - from fantastic volunteers and a well marked course to the smallest of details like a name plate where you rack your bike. There were also pros at this race, the first race I've done with pros since the DC Triathlon last year, which added a cool element to the race, not to mention some briefest of moments where I "raced" alongside them, translation, they blew past me!

On Saturday I live-streamed Ironman Kona and became, as they say on twitter, #konainspired. Honestly it was awesome to watch the pros, especially the women, and if I had been able to stay up later I would have watched all the "mere mortals" (read incredible amateur athletes) crossing the finish line. I read Chrissie Wellington's book A Life Without Limits: A World Champion's Journey last month and became thoroughly excited about the idea of one day racing in Kona. I have known for a while that I wanted to eventually do an Ironman distance race, in fact it is on my goals to do one before I'm 30, but I had never felt the extreme desire to make it to Kona until Chrissie's book. Her entire journey makes for an incredible and engrossing read (which I might get into in a later post,) but her writing about this particular World Champion creating race is illuminating. Watching it then unfold on screen, even through the overly advertised livestream on the Ironman website, left me with a drive to one day run that particular race on that beautiful island.

But back to Sunday's race, I felt fully inspired to tackle this mere Olympic distance race, (and remember that this is only  my second ever time with this distance!) My foot was still bothering me post half marathon training and racing but since this was actually a slightly shorter distance on the run than the previous Olympic+ distance race, that I could get a better time. I did get a better time, but I may have sacrificed my foot for a few weeks... The swim portion of the race was not my best because I wasn't used to swimming in my wetsuit, even though I practiced in the lake the day before. It was a chilly 65 degrees in the water, although the outside air was colder to start, so I don't regret wearing the suit, I just wish I had more practice in it - my breathing felt restricted so for the first 300-400 yards before I stopped to tread water and loosen the zipper in back a little bit, I was not swimming smoothly. The bike went well, a nice rolling hill course, the bike mechanics had helped me make an adjustment the day before so I felt really comfortable in my aero bars. The run was hillier than I expected, I kept an even pace, not pushing my foot, but the ups and downs but a lot of pressure on it. I got passed the girl in my age group that came in third (I got fourth) and was really tempted to up my speed and chase her down, but I held myself back. I did sprint to the finish and somersaulted across the finish line (can't wait to see the finish line pics!)

I went to the A.R.T. (active release therapy) tent after gathering most of my gear and throwing it haphazardly into my car (I still need to wash off my wetsuit...) and the wait was only 10 minutes so I signed up and waited. Really I knew I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me and was hoping to get some of the stiffness out of my neck and shoulders (remember I adjusted my bike so my back wasn't totally used to it) before sitting in a car for a while. The lady who worked on my neck/shoulders did a wonderful job so I went ahead and asked her to take a look at my foot. Well it hurt quite a bit and I couldn't point my foot without pain, basically I had lost flexibility and range of motion in my foot and she thinks its due in part to swelling post race, and scar tissue build up. She kneaded some of the scar tissue out, to where I have been icing my foot on and off today under my desk at work, but I am probably going to see a sports specific doctor about it this week, especially if the range of motion of my foot stays this poor. Luckily I am not signed up for any more races so I can take a long break from running if I need to in order for this to heal. I need it to heal so that I can eventually start my training for Ironman 70.3 Raleigh next summer and possibly the half distance of Rev3Tri Knoxville, because right now I am definitely Ironman inspired!

A New Chapter

This blog is no longer “the healthy undergrad” because I graduated from Tufts University back in May. Since then I was homeless for a couple of months bouncing around between Washington D.C., Dallas, Boston, Vail, and my new city of residence: Asheville, NC.

My move to Asheville as a post-grad was decided before I even obtained a job here, but the job solidified the move. I am an AmeriCorps VISTA working for the city school district as a volunteer and outreach coordinator at the city schools preschool. Additionally, after two weeks on that job I was asked to temporarily take on the job of volunteer coordinator at one of the elementary schools as well because their new hire dropped out. That temporary addition started over two months ago and I still work half time at the preschool and half time at the elementary school although that should finally end in the middle of November. This additional work of course didn’t result in any pay raise since I get paid a stipend, not a salary or even an hourly wage. All I have been getting is the benefit of added and varied experiences working in these two positions.

With all the moving and the job fluctuations alone I have stayed busy, but I have also been training and racing! I started off my triathlon season with a 3^rd place finish in my age group at the local Asheville sprint triathlon back in July. In August I ventured to Charlotte for an Amica 19.7 Spring series race (I did their Boston and Newport, RI races last year) and bested both of my previous times in that series. Also In August I placed first in my age group in a sprint race at Lake Lure, outside of Asheville. September held the race I was working towards, my first Olympic distance race at Lake Junalaska called the King of the Smokies Triathlon (the run was over 7 miles so it was really an Olympic distance + race.) Although the field of women in the international distance was small, I unbelievably placed first overall in the women’s race in my first ever at that distance!  To finish September I raced in the inaugural Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon in Cherokee, NC and bested my previous half marathon time even with my training cut two weeks short due to foot pain, (my longest training run in the run up to it was under 9 miles.) And next week I have my last triathlon of the season, the Olympic distance Rev3Tri in Anderson, SC.

The only way I have been able to participate in these races is with the financial help of my parents who supported two of the pricier entry fees. As you can guess, I don’t make much money at all – in fact, I am on food benefits since my stipend covers just a little over twice my monthly rent. Even still I have been able to train and race and feed myself enough to cover that training.

Now that I’ve come to the nutrition part of my life I’ll mention that since the day I moved to Asheville nearly three months ago, I have had a fully plant-based and mostly vegan diet. The only reason I say mostly is because I have not been super particular about honey in the occasional processed products I’ve eaten and if I have accidentally bought or been served at someone’s home an item with traces of dairy or egg in it then I have not been wasteful and thrown it away. But the basis of my diet is plants: beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruit and whole grains. Before I would occasionally have eggs, and often have cheese (to the detriment of my digestive system.) Now I have not had any digestive issues, I have fueled myself through all the aforementioned races, I feel healthier, my mood is elevated and I crave certain whole food plant based foods – I have honestly had no cheese cravings.

I’m not advocating that everyone adopt a fully plant based diet immediately, but I am advocating taking elements of a plant based diet because you’ll discover new foods you love and might start craving kale chips more than potato chips. I experiment with making a different type of dip/hummus every week – my favorites so far are black bean walnut hummus and sundried tomato hummus. I make my own salsa for my fiesta kale salad. I even bought a nut milk straining bag and make my own almond milk and coconut milk. Oh yeah and did I mention I’m on food stamps? Through the farmer’s market (which accept food benefits by giving tokens for a swipe of your EBT card) and the bulk section of the grocery store, I have been able to easily eat and cook in a very nutritional whole food way. What about eating out at restaurants? I am very lucky that Asheville is a super veg-friendly town, but most restaurants can make accommodations and ethnic food restaurants are usually your best bet (veggie burritos with guacamole instead of cheese are still delicious and vegan!)

My life has gone through a lot of changes in the past few months, some harder than others (being vegan by the way hasn’t been one of the hard changes!) I have always been focused on paths, goals, the next thing, and I still am, but I am also very happy to wake up in the morning, take a look out the window at the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding me and be content with where I am right now. For at least the next 10 months I will be racing, training and eating right here in Asheville and I couldn’t be more happy to have the beginnings of my journey into the post-grad world in this place. This blog will now follow me into life as a healthy post-grad.

The Marathon

This is going to be a long post:

As most people know by now, the temperatures during the race yesterday reached 88 degrees, great if you want to drink on the beach, not so great for running a marathon. Lets back track a little bit though. I saw the weather was supposed to be in the 80's last Wednesday and started freaking out a little. I'd been training in cold wintry Boston, hoping for a perfect race day in the mid-50's! I got even more freaked out when the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) sent out an email warning runners who aren't experienced or who didn't qualify (I'm a charity runner so I didn't have to qualify) to think about not racing, and gave the option to defer to next year's race. Deferment is pretty unprecedented for Boston, I think they allowed some runners to defer in 2010 during the Iceland volcano ash incident that grounded flights out of Europe. I discussed it with friends and my parents (who flew up to watch me) and decided it would be a game day decision but for now I was going to run it. A friend who is a 2:49 marathoner came up from DC with my boyfriend and he (and my boyfriend who has also run a couple of marathons) were indispensable for their advice and calm about the whole thing and it definitely rubbed off on me.

The Tufts Marathon Team had a big dinner for friends and family on Sunday night before the race and our very experienced team captains gave words of wisdom, especially regarding the heat. They basically said that with this heat expect to run the race anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half slower than you originally expected. After my stress fracture I was hoping for a little over 10 minute miles for a time of around 4:20 to 4:30. Now I was hoping for under 5 and half hours. After the lovely dinner I went home and set everything out for the morning, my race singlet, shorts, fuel, I froze a water bottle, a sweatshirt to sit on while waiting before the race, my race number bib, and my hat, sunglasses and watch. Then I had the hardest time falling asleep and woke up sweating at 5:25 am. I ate some pretzels with my breakfast for some added salt and got to our team bus at 6:10am. The team bus was taking us down to the Boston Common to catch the official BAA buses to the athlete's village at the start in Hopkinton. We got there and had to wait in line to get on buses and got separated from each other in the process but many of us regrouped at the athlete's village. Once there we found a spot in the shade because it was in the 70's by 9am and I sipped on watered-down gatorade and ate a little bit more. Then at around 10:20am the third wave of runners were sent to the starting corrals (we were corral nine.) I finally started running at the starting line at 11am!

It was hot, I wasn't even as mentally prepared as I thought but I had a plan. Run 10 and a half minute miles and walk through water stops where I would have gatorade at every other mile and water every mile (either to drink or dump on my neck and head) until mile 9 where our family and friends and coach were waiting for us. They were at an animal clinic in Natick run by a Tufts trustee so I was able to use a real bathroom there! I grabbed the energy chews (Honey Stinger) I was having my boyfriend hold onto to give me there and I was off again. I lost the buddy I had been running with for the first nine miles when I used the bathroom but I found other Tufts people to run with until around the half-marathon mark where the heat really hit me. It was the first time I walked without it being a water stop but I didn't want to overheat and I'm pretty sure that this was one of the hottest parts of the day, around 1:30pm.

This is the part of my post where I want to thank the citizens of greater Boston for their complete amazingness with the heat. Fire stations had hoses and sprinkler tunnels set up but so did random houses! People were out with bags and buckets of ice that I filled my hat with before putting it back on my head, some were handing out cold orange slices. The only injuries I have today are three blisters on my feet from running through so much water and letting my socks and shoes get wet but I know a lot of people could be a lot worse off today without those hoses and buckets of cold water. The kindness and cheering of strangers really has to be one of the best parts of the Boston Marathon.

I had decided that I would walk up the Newton hills and run the flats and downhills, including the dreaded Heartbreak Hill (which isn't the worst of the hills, its just the last one.) By this time I was running alongside a friend on the team and she was thinking about dropping out at mile 16. I told her I would help her get to mile 20 and from there I promised its only six miles, totally doable! I'm not sure why I was so optimistic at this time, I really never lost the smile on my face whether it was from random onlookers yelling my name or Tufts, or high-fiving Wellesley girls and little kids till my arm started hurting. I knew I was in this for the experience and I wasn't letting someone who had helped pace me during grueling cold weather runs abandon the race after all that hard work. I told her we would walk the uphills and coast and recover our legs on the downhills and thats what we did for three more miles, until I lost her at around 19 miles. I had hoped that I got her far enough to finish on her own, and that she'd gained some confidence back. Then I started running with another Tufts runner and he said he wasn't sure his legs could take him all the way. I told him I'd help him finish the hills, and that's what I did, we got over the top of Heartbreak hill!

I lost him when I got to Boston College and I swear I felt like I was sprinting! So many students were out (it felt like a day on the beach after all) and their drunk cheering was better than the Wellesley cheering. Everyone yelled my name, I high-fived hundreds of people, they were cheering for Tufts, they were saying five miles to go, it was an incredible feeling. I swear I teared up at some point when I realized I only had five more miles until I would finish the Boston Marathon! I had run into a few Tufts friends handing out water at different water stops on the course, but when I got to mile 22 with a giant grin on my face I sought out one of my sorority sisters and gave her a big hug! Four more miles! I knew I would have a lot of friends waiting from there to the end of the race. Two groups of sorority sisters were lined up on Beacon street and a few sisters ran with me a little bit, always encouraging! I kept alternating watered-down gatorade and straight water until the very last water stop, determined to stay hydrated without being over-hydrated. With less than two miles to go, our previous university president, Larry Bacow, who founded the Tufts Marathon Team (originally the Presidential Marathon Challenge) ran with me and urged me on! With less than a mile to go I teared up again, I was so close! I was still smiling! And other than blistered feet I felt good!

I took a right on Hereford, then a left on Boylston, then it just became noise! I didn't know if people were cheering for me (some were) or if everyone was just cheering for everyone but it gave me a push as I passed the 26 mile marker and pushed on to the finish line! When I crossed the finish line, again, with a giant smile on my face, I found and hugged my coach and our current university president! They both congratulated me and sent me on through to get my medal and water. The space blankets that they usually wrap people in during cold weather were put on people with the reflective part on the outside to keep the heat out! I went to go find my parents and my boyfriend and there were hugs and pictures all around. When leaving the finishers area to go to my parents hotel, I saw my friend I had paced to mile 19, she had made it to the finish and we shared a long embrace!

My legs were feeling it by now so I changed into a new pair of socks, assessed my blisters and kept walking around to keep blood flowing. I got to my parents hotel and took a nice bath, and weighed myself: even though I took in water and or gatorade at every stop and eaten a pack of sport beans, energy chews and a couple of orange slices, I had lost almost 7 pounds! When I got to my house my housemates all chanted my name and hugged me. Then I went out to dinner, had a cold beer, a lot of bread and a great meal.

I told you this was a long post but there's only a little bit more I promise!

This marathon was an incredible experience for me, not only because it was my first marathon or because it was the Boston Marathon but because I learned a lot about myself. It turns out not only can I keep a smile on my face after miles of running in 88 degree heat, but I can help others to grit it out as well. I learned that high-fives and hearing my name get called are two of the greatest gifts that a stranger can offer me. I learned that there are some days not meant to be races but instead are meant to be tests of stamina, willpower, energy, compassion and determination. I probably could have pushed myself to run up those hills and through water stops, but instead I finished with a gigantic smile on my face, some blisters, and a sunburn, and I enjoyed every single minute of my day!

Running to the finish with a smile on my face with an official time of 5:23:09 on an 88 degree day!

One week till the Boston Marathon

After over five months of training, a stress fracture and recovery, there is now just a week left until my first marathon. With such a cut back on my training I feel like I'm just waiting for Monday to arrive. I've put in a lot of hours, a lot of hard work and a lot of mental and physical energy. I feel prepared but I also feel anxious, just wanting the day to be here already! I'm reminded of my favorite quote from one of my favorite books: "First with the head, then with the heart." Mentally I have prepared, a week from today my heart has to take over everything that my head has done.

I can't wait to get those pre-race adrenaline jitters. I can't wait to hear the sounds of the crowds. I can't wait to pass all of those historic Boston landmarks. I can't wait till the moment I'm able to say "I just ran the Boston Marathon!"

I'm eating a lot of brown rice with fruits and vegetables this week - burrito bowls being my favorite with with a combination of brown rice, black beans, roasted sweet potato, kale, salsa, and avocado. I'm also drinking a lot of water this week, including coconut water and trying to get a full 8 hours of sleep every night so that I am hydrated and rested going into the weekend.

My goal this week is to take care of myself. My goal a week from today is to run a marathon!



P.S. I'm still fundraising so if you are a friend who reads this then please consider donating! Go to http://www.tuftsmarathonchallenge.com/runners/lizziesager

Only Two Weeks Till the Marathon!

Only two weeks until I'm running from Hopkinton all the way to Copley Square in downtown Boston! Right now I am in my tapering phase, which means reduction in mileage, intensity and duration. Those of you who have read posts from my triathlon training know that this is also the time when I go completely vegan and dedicated to solely whole foods. I'm currently snacking on apples and almond butter, my lunch was half a baked sweet potato, spicy black beans and brussel sprouts and breakfast was my superfood oatmeal. Much of what I eat over the next two weeks comes from No Meat Athlete my go-to vegetarian/vegan running resource. 

My legs feel good, my foot feels great. I am a little concerned about not being able to do as many long runs as I wanted to with my stress fracture, but with my intermediate distance runs between 12-15 miles I felt really good and my almost 18 mile run post-stress fracture was awesome so I think I'll be fine. My pace will be slower than I had intended at the start of marathon training but I won't let that phase me, its my first marathon and I just want to finish it with a giant smile on my face!

I'm already looking forward to getting back into triathlon training and logging more miles in the pool and on my bike. I haven't picked out any races yet because I don't quite know where I'll be after I graduate but once I do know, I'll probably pick a couple of races before I find a place to live! Marathon training has been exhilarating, and I love being a part of the Tufts Marathon Team, but I do miss multi-sport training!

Now I have to put in a fundraising plea! I still need to fundraise a little less than $500 for nutrition, medical and fitness programs at Tufts University and for the Friedman School of Nutrition program to curb adolescent obesity.

I'll take any encouragement though! My friends from Texas sent me an awesome care-package (see photo below) full of nutrition goodies and words of support! A big thanks to Alicia, Jenny and Taelor!

This is my runner page that gives more information about the team and where our fundraising efforts go towards: Tufts Marathon Challenge 

17 miles on the 17th

Spring Break just started for me, and before I leave for the beach tomorrow I decided to get in one of the long runs that I had been unable to run while my stress fracture was healing. So in St. Patrick's Day fashion I ran 17 miles on the 17th. Many of the miles were hills, especially between miles four through ten, and my legs felt really good on them so even with my one month long break from running, my cross-training routine was very effective.

I needed this long run to figure out what nutrition on the run worked for me. (My wonderful boyfriend drove to specific points and had water and gels for me, plus words of encouragement!) I ate about every 5 miles, and drank water more often than that. I had tried clif shot blocks before but this time I tried a different brand of organic energy chews by Honey Stinger and I liked them a lot. Plus I had a bite or two of a more dense Larabar at about 10 miles when I was feeling a little on the hungry side.

My times weren't like I wanted them to be when I started out training, but since the injury I'm pretty happy with them and I don't want to push it with a month left. During spring break I have an awesome opportunity to do some running and conditioning on the beach plus swimming, oh and relaxing...

After break I will have to start on the nitty gritty things like cutting out drinking and keep up a more vegan diet. After break will also be when I start my taper when I'll be running less weekly mileage and run with less intensity. Until then, I hope to have a fantastic, relaxing and safe Spring Break!

Oh I also now have my official team uniform!

Optimism and a zesty salad!

My optimism stems from the fact that last weekend I was running 3-4 miles per run and this morning I had a very fun and pain free 10 mile run! The run was out and back from the end of the marathon course so I got practice on running the last five miles of the course (although the next time I run it I won't have to stop for all the traffic lights!) I only ran half the distance as some of my fellow runners, but considering I was on crutches just a month ago, I am feeling really good. This is actually the first time I don't feel like I'm having to 'fake' it when I tell people I am training for the Boston Marathon, now I know I am back in form and will be running the Boston Marathon 35 days from now!

I am attributing my recovery to diligence and serious patience in my recovery. If I had started to run when I wanted to instead of listening to my trainer and coach, I really think I would have made the stress fracture a lot worse. But now, with full recovery, I've gone from a 4 mile run to a 10 mile run in a week, I think I rested and recovered for just the right amount of time.

And now for the recipe:
My superfood recipe of the week is a zesty salad with avocado and salsa, (extremely happy avocados are so delicious right now!) I ate this for lunch three days of last week and it takes very little time to put together.

Ingredients:
Kale or a mixture of Kale and spring mix
1/2 avocado diced
lemon or lime juice
favorite flavorful salsa
olive oil
pepper
A whole wheat tortilla toasted on the side

Wash, de-stem, and break the kale into small pieces and mix with spring mix if desired. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the leaves, add the diced avocados and sprinkle lime or lemon juice over it, then add a quarter cup of salsa and some pepper. Easy, vegan, and super delicious!

And I'm back!

After four weeks of crutches and swimming then biking then elliptical, I ran for the first time this morning! It was only for 3 miles in around 30 minutes and that means that with six and a half weeks to the marathon I still have a ton of work to do, but I'm healed and taking it one step at a time.

Now when the trainer told me to do the elliptical so that I could see how my foot did with a weight bearing exercise, I cringed. I hate the elliptical. I don't really like cardio machines to begin with but at least the bike and treadmill involve two of my sport's disciplines so I put up with them if its a super hot day in Texas or ridiculously cold in New England. But, I know a lot of people aren't runners and actually do like the elliptical, so I came up with a good workout using the elliptical that had my legs actually sore the next day.

The Elliptical machine workout:
I did 30 minutes on the elliptical on the interval setting then a five minute cool down.
Then I did a simple circuit of three exercises, three sets each.

First: Kettlebell swings. Those Russian kettlebells you see people swinging around in the gym might seem super intimidating but don't worry, its not as complicated as you may think. The link gives really good step by step instructions but my tips are to try to keep in mind this isn't a squat and you should not be using your arms that much. It is really a motion in your hips and involves really activating your glutes. I do between 20-30 swings per set, less if your form goes.

Second: Overhead Squat with a barbell or with no weight. If you need to start with less weight than the bar, sometimes the gym has 5 or 10 lbs rods that work well or in the link provided a woman starts out with a towel. Don't think because you've done squats with weight on your shoulders before means that you'll be able to do this squat easily. This is a challenging exercise as it really involves your core, keep your reps low to start 10-20 per set and form is crucial, especially if you are holding weight over your head.

Third: Hamstring curls on a stability ball. Find a mat and one of the giant exercise balls and you're all set. This bodyweight exercise can test your balance but just make sure your glutes are engaged the whole time. You can do 20 of these or break it up into 10 or 15 of these and 10 to 15 hip thrusts where there is no curling motion.

Then repeat each of those two more times, stretch and have a healthy snack!

Road to recovery

I'm healing well. Yoga wasn't too bad on my foot yesterday, I'm off of crutches today and I can ramp up the biking now as well as swimming. Hopefully next Wednesday the trainer will give me the okay on slowly introducing running back into my routine. I am determined to take my recovery very seriously and heal really well to be back in form as soon as possible.

Even more incentive to heal up for the marathon- friend and family contributions to my fundraising page and the warm thoughts they've sent my way! I have to get through this for me and for them now! Below is also from the Boston Athletic Association confirming my acceptance, another incentive!

For the next week I'll be continuing to take it easy on high impact activities but will increase my effort in the pool and on the bike to keep my legs in shape and my lungs working hard. Calcium, Vitamin D and other nutrients are still my best food friends to help repair the stress fracture. To be honest this isn't a bad time to be injured... I take the GRE next Friday so I can use the time on the bike and extra time in my day to study - Silver lining! Setbacks aren't setbacks if you learn from them and use them to your advantage :)

Here are some useful or just entertaining websites I've stumbled on while researching recovery methods for stress fractures:

This is a blog post I came across of what I won't be doing for the marathon, cheating, but the stories are pretty funny and make you wonder how stupid these people are and how stupid they think race organizers are! Also if anyone else finds themselves with a running injury then this page will hopefully lead you to a cause and a way to become pain free as soon as possible, especially if you don't have access to university athletic trainers like I do. Also lately I've found inspiration and really good running tips from Jason at StrengthRunning who I happened to have met one time through Steve over at NerdFitness who is entertaining and helpful as always. 

Now off to make some roasted cauliflower and brusselsprouts with goat cheese and walnut polenta for an early dinner before class!  

Final semester of being "the healthy undergrad"

2012 is a pretty big year in my life: I will no longer be an undergraduate come May 20th. I am writing a senior project and I am taking my final classes, some of which I need, and some of which I just really want to take. Several other non-academic events have happened or started in the the past month that pertain to my life and physical well-being.

1. I found out I am on the Tufts Marathon Team and have officially filled out my registration form for the Boston Marathon! April 16th I will be running in the Boston Marathon!
2. A possible job I was hoping to get after I graduate did not go my way so I am having to do some adjusting and re-planning of how I go about job searching.
3. I signed up for a half-marathon in February so I can at least have run a half marathon race before I take on the 26.2.
4. I became a mentor in a program that works with 8th and 9th grade girls cooking and teaching them about food and nutrition and helping them come up with a service project aimed at hunger and food problems locally.
5. I found out I have a stress fracture in my right foot and I am on crutches for the next week and from there the trainers will assess when I can start back into running.

While most of those were positive things going on in my life, a couple of them would be considered setbacks. I will still be hopefully running in time for my half marathon and definitely in time for the Boston Marathon (fingers majorly crossed). But, it will take a lot of patience and healing and then proper training to get back into distance running form. Right now the pool and my indoor bike trainer are my best friends as well as a diet rich in bone healing nutrients to help repair the fracture. Lets look at my non-running workouts for the next week or two, and my diet.

The low impact of a swim workout will keep my endurance up while letting my foot heal. I am currently in a swim class and by utilizing the class for shorter swims with bursts of speed I can get in a good workout. Outside of class I can log in some longer swims to keep up my endurance. Both types of swim workouts will keep my lungs working. Because of the location of the stress fracture I am lucky that I can still ride my indoor bike trainer. Where the clips of my bike shoes line up with my feet doesn't put any pressure on the painful part of my foot. Spending some time on the bike means I will keep some endurance as well as leg strength without the impact on my foot. If I am out from running longer than I expect then I will try to utilize the bike even more and build up greater leg strength and leg endurance for when I can get back to running.

For the next week my training will look like this:
Th: swim class, short distances
F: hour of intervals on indoor bike trainer
S: rest and stretch
S: hour to hour and a half longer distance swims (main set pyramid of 100, 200, 400, 800, 400, 200, 100)
M: hour on indoor bike trainer
T: swim class and yoga to stretch out and test balance strength
W: back to trainer

My nutrition plan is essentially to watch my intake of calcium but also to make sure I'm eating foods that help my body absorb that calcium. Lysine is an essential amino acid that helps your body absorb calcium. Dairy products like yogurt and milk are high in lysine and help you absorb calcium but there are plenty of other non-dairy products with lysine. Nuts like walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts are very high in lysine, but surprisingly so are oats and tomatoes.  Good calcium sources other than dairy products are dark leafy greens: collard greens, kale, mustard greens, etc. (Be advised! Spinach and chards have a lot of calcium but your body can't absorb it easily, meaning that these are not optimal sources of calcium.) Vitamins C and K have also been associated with healing injuries so winter citrus is a good option for C and broccoli for K. Some foods that inhibit bone healing are foods high in salt and sugar, alcohol and caffeine, while I don't indulge in those often or in high amounts, I will still be watching my diet closely.

Recipes high in lysine, calcium, vitamin K and C for this week (but not limited to these) are:
Oatmeal with raw cacao, maca and walnuts for breakfast daily
Raw kale salad with baked sweet potato
Mixed bean and tomato veggie chili with sliced avocado
Roasted broccoli with hazelnuts and spaghetti squash with tomato sauce
Apples and almond butter for snacking
Oranges for snacking
And fruit smoothies with rice and pea protein powder


Hopefully this gets me back on track, setbacks are just opportunities to get somewhere on a different route. This new route might be even better than the one I was on before!

Born to Run

I recently finished the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall and have a newfound appreciation for the human body and ultrarunners (people who run distances longer than a marathon.) But seriously the human body is absolutely incredible! People trash it with shitty food and drink, even drugs, and they don't realize that our body is the culmination of our evolutionary history! We are the perfect machine: sweating, breathing, running, and thinking machines!

My university has a marathon team that trains for the Boston Marathon every year and is guaranteed by John Hancock (who sponsors the race) a certain number of spots for runners. I didn't start out planning for it, but I have been running with the group for a number of weeks now, between 7-10 mile runs twice a week and 2-3 miles of track work once a week, and now I am on track to run the Boston Marathon in April. Its no where near official and I have to stay healthy and uninjured, but at no other time in my life will I be able to run in one of the countries most exciting races with such ease. We have an awesome coach who provides us with food and water, training tips and takes care of paperwork and keeping a relationship with John Hancock and Boston Athletics Association. And we have a team of novice and experienced marathoners all a part of the university community. I have a feeling that I have to take advantage of this opportunity to be able to possibly run one of the most historic marathons in the country.

On Thanksgiving I'll be back in Dallas to run the 8 mile Turkey Trot with my cousin which I'm pretty excited about and then I'll try to find some half marathon to run after the new year if possible. I'm kind of getting into the running thing a little bit backwards of most people who compete in triathlons, where running is what leads them into triathlons, but I had to do it a little different because now I know what my body can be pushed to do and what my mind can be pushed to do. It will also help me on my way to my next goal: a half Ironman next summer. That sounds crazy to most people - 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and then a half marathon. Not most people's idea of fun, but I want to train for and complete one so bad that I research them all the time, think about it all the time and made my academic schedule for next semester conducive to training for it. Sounds insane but I've got people encouraging me to do it. The three separate races I did over the last year in total don't quite add up to the milage of one half-ironman but I still know I can do it, especially if I am able to run a marathon beforehand.

That's my plan right now and I'll probably be tracking my fitness and nutrition along the road to fulfill those goals. Again, there are a ton of steps to take in order to make this possible and keep me healthy and uninjured along the way but my first step is to announce it. By making this public on my blog I hope it holds me a little more accountable for its completion. When I actually get to the half ironman I won't even be an undergrad anymore and might have to change the name of this blog, but this outlet will hopefully help me on this journey. First step complete, now its time to hit the road running and biking and the pool swimming!

What happens when you decide to race a triathlon the week of the triathlon

Last weekend I was looking through websites to see what triathlon races were coming up since I knew that the season, at least in the northeast, was ending soon. There were two races the next weekend and that was it. There I was with a week to decide if I wanted to race the next weekend. 

Let me take it back to what had happened in the 5 weeks since my last triathlon. I hadn't been swimming at all for a month afterwards. I had crashed on my mountain bike in Vail and banged up my knee pretty bad, not to mention my shoulder and hand sustained some injuries. I had been running long runs on Wednesday and doing speed work on Thursdays with my schools marathon team, I had not been focusing on 5ks off of the bike. Plus I had been been travelling like crazy through Dallas, Colorado and back to Boston then a trip down to DC.

Basically I wasn’t really thinking about racing very much in those five weeks, until I realized that I only had this one weekend of races if I wanted to squeeze in one more. I ate extra clean, got back in the pool, went to spin class and continued running but I had an incredibly busy week so I couldn’t devote that much time to training. I decided then and there that I wouldn’t try to PR or anything, I just wanted to prove to myself that I am maintaining good enough shape to be able to just go run a triathlon on a whim. And that is exactly what I did.

I dragged two friends with me to watch (and be there in case I crashed and I needed someone to drive my car back) and we left for Newport at 5am. Newport, Rhode Island was beautiful even with bad weather and an eerie fog over the water and roads. I registered on site and there were two transition areas so I was a little rushed before the 7:30am start but I made it to the start and organized all my transition gear in time.

The water was cold even with a wetsuit but fairly calm since the rain decided to stop before the race. I wasn’t quite ready for the saltiness of it after swimming in lakes and rivers and pools. But soon I was in the water, swimming, at the turnaround buoy then stepping carefully over rocks to make my way out of the water. The bike ride was beautiful. 16.1 miles along coastlines and old historic homes. A few big hills but I just tried to enjoy it as much as I could. I rolled into the transition to see my friends cheering, changed into my crazy colored shoes and a hat to keep the mist out of my face and started running. My legs were in pain. I had only given them one day to recover from a hard track workout and it wasn’t enough. I was running at a snail’s pace. But it didn’t matter, I didn’t stop, I kept going and made it over the big hill knowing I just had to run down it on the route back. Way off my 5k pace, I got enough in my legs to sprint through the finish line with a smile.

So there you have it. That is what happens when you decide to race a triathlon the week of the triathlon!

Amica 19.7 Triathlon

I now consider myself a bit of an experienced triathlete! Yesterday I competed in the Amica 19.7 sprint triathlon in Myles Standish State Forest in southern Massachusetts, a .5 mile swim, 16.1 mile bike and 3.1 mile run! I came in 4th in my age division, so I missed out on a prize by less than 3 minutes. I'll talk a little about the couple of weeks leading up to the race and then my race experience.


I was in an interesting situation the two weeks leading up to the race because my sublease in DC was up at the end of July but my internship went until August 5th. Basically that meant I was living out of my car, my office, my gym and wonderful friends who would house me - not ideal for training! Then the weekend before the race I went on a road trip to Asheville, NC with a friend and went to a vegetarian festival plus I got some hiking and biking in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The way I sort of designed my training program, that week and weekend were supposed to be my most training intensive, followed by an easier taper week down to the race. Instead I was forced to work a little harder than I wanted to the week running up to the race, plus I was driving from DC up to Boston. I had an utterly amazing last week in DC that I wouldn't trade for anything, but it did kind of mess with training!

Details of the race:

I went out way too fast on the swim and had to slow way down before I could find my rhythm again. The pond was calm and warm (I didn't wear a wetsuit) but the sun was super bright right over the exit for the swim so it was difficult to spot where I was going looking straight into the sun. I may have wasted some energy and time not really going in a straight line but overall it was fine.

The bike was on rolling hills which made it both difficult and my kind of race because I happen to like hills and can generally blow past people on the climbs - I have more trouble holding my pace on the flats. It was 16.1 miles and I kept above 17 mph on average which is what I wanted to do.

The run was hard. I don't know if its because I haven't been sleeping that well but my legs didn't feel super rested to start the day and off the bike they were obviously extremely tired. And it was also rolling hills which is much more fun on a bike that on the run. I think I ended up negative splitting but not enough to make much of a time difference. 

Compared to the DC tri earlier this summer I was a few minutes slower; that course had a longer run and this one had a longer bike so they kind of even out, although I would say this was a tougher course.

I now have more crazy traveling ahead of me in my schedule, Dallas then Vail then back to Boston and I'm doing the Massachusetts Spartan Race (5k obstacle course) with some friends when I am back but I have a few days of rest and a birthday this coming week! So for now I will kick back, drink some of the craft beer I brought back from Asheville and eat what I want for a few days!


This summer has been amazing and I have had so many incredible experiences from my internship in DC to training and competing in triathlons and I can't wait for what this fall holds in store for me!

Why healthy living is revolutionary

Recently, and I may have posted the link, I stumbled across a website with "100 Revolutionary Acts" towards better health. At first I thought that the website was awesome, a great idea and resource, but then I started thinking about it... why is being healthy a 'revolutionary' act?

(Revolutionary meaning characterized by a marked or sudden change or a break away from the status quo)

Some recent observations:

- I saw this sign in the DC Metro for 7-11 that pictures a Big Gulp full of a sugar filled drink, what looks like chicken or hot wings, and a brownie, with a tagline that says "budget your time, not your taste." Is that what many people think a normal meal or a late night snack should be? Is that kind of processed, sugary and fatty 'cheap' food really people's 'taste'? Is having a different taste 'revolutionary'?

- The line for the metro elevator is always full when the escalators are out... when escalators don't work they become stairs, is taking the stairs 'revolutionary'?  

- Colorado is the healthiest state when it comes to obesity, but it still has over 19% of its adults qualified as obese! (This does not include adults considered overweight.) Why is a state with slightly less than 1 in 5 obese adults the best obesity rate in the country?

- Working for a reknowned cancer organization I see the strong correlation between the spread of the 'western diet' (and with it obesity) and cancer (and othe non-communicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes) throughout the world! Why is a break away from the 'western diet' revolutionary?

When did healthy food and healthy living become a revolutionary concept?

Let me just throw this out there- The high carb, high protein 'western diet' has led to high obesity rates, high cancer rates, high diabetes rates, high heart disease rates, and the spread of this diet is increasing all of those rates worldwide! These rates are the reason that people who are disease free are considered 'revolutionary'! Yes, I just stated that people who are 'disease-free' could be considered healthy because that is what the norm has become. What healthy should mean is fit, energetic, and leading healthy lifestyles and therefore at a low risk for all of those diseases.

I very often get comments from people saying "You are soooo healthy!" or "I could never be vegetarian, I don't know how you do it!" Yes, training for triathlons is a little extreme and not something everyone does or can do because of the time commitment, their current fitness levels, not to mention they might just not want to, but when did my eating vegetables become a fascination for people? Eating vegetables should be normal, not something that sets me apart. Another question I get all of the time: "But where do you get your protein?"

We have been led to believe for a number of years that we need far more protein than we actually do, and this has been helped along by special low-carb diets like Atkins and Southbeach. The CDC recommends 46 grams of protein each day for women ages 19-17+ and 56 grams a day for men ages 19-70+; most cuts of beef provide 7 grams of protein per ounce, meaning that your favorite steak place's 8 ounce filet is as much or more protein than you need in an entire day! Add to that the chicken or turkey you had with your lunch, the cheese on that sandwich, the yogurt with breakfast, not to mention that whole grains and vegetables (if you are eating them of course) also have protein in them, and you get far more protein than you need for the day. You don't need high protein foods or dairy with every meal, for instance protein is used to repair muscle tissue so its best to have it after a workout, you don't need it to fuel before a workout. Too much protein can be converted to fat in your body the same way that excess carbs can be converted to fat in your body. Another misunderstanding we have is portion size - food labels and nutritional information that is given out in grams and ounces is useless if we don't know what a gram or ounce of that food actually looks like.

I am going to make this as simplified as I can- look at a plate. 1/2 should be non-starchy vegetables and some of it fruit, 1/4 should be dairy/lean protein, and 1/4 should be whole grains or startchier vegetables. If you can make your plate look like this every meal you will for sure be getting enough protein, healthy carbs, and most of the nutrients that your body needs - fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals.

Are you an endurance athlete? - make it more like 1/3 whole grains. Trying to add muscle? - make it more like 1/3 dairy/protein. Trying to lose weight? - make it a smaller plate. This basic model can be changed to fit your needs, the USDA just released a 'my plate' feature but it still categorizes corn and potatoes as vegetables and  dairy as a separate category. Active.com wrote a good piece on it that outlines a better way to look at the plate, more along the lines of how I picture it.

Does every single one of my plates look like this? No. Do most of them? Yes. Especially when looking at the entirety of my meals over the day. I prefer whole grain heavy in the mornings - oatmeal or cereal with fruit and supplements like maca, raw cacao and hemp; green leafy vegetable at lunch like a salad; one snack of raw almonds, a different snack of fruit with yogurt; and some combination of vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, quinoa, etc. cooked for dinner. All of that pretty much evens out to the distributions of my ideal plate.

Is my plate revolutionary? I think many people believe that is what a plate should typically look like, but its not what most people's plates actually look like.

I'm not trying to buck the status quo, I am trying to reestablish it. Healthy living should be the norm, not revolutionary!

Who is with me? Who wants to establish vegetables as a normal part of their diet? Who wants to walk up and down the escalators turned into stairs? Who has a taste different than big gulps and 7 eleven chicken wings? Who thinks obesity, cancer, diabetes and heart disease should not be increasing around the world? If you are with me then I guess you are a revolutionary too!

Bonus: this is a kind of fun article about Google's cafeteria and what we can learn from it! 

four hour body

I know it has been a while since I posted, I've been a little busy with making the most of being in DC, my internship, and training for the August 13th triathlon! This is a little different that my usual posts - it is a book review of sorts or rather an analysis and synthesis of certain methods to making changes in your body and I am only looking at a small part of the book.

I recently purchased Tim Ferriss's Four Hour Body mainly because I have heard so many controversial things about him and the book and I had a Border's gift card to spend. He used himself as a guinea pig, tracking workouts and nutrition for decades and has identified the smallest changes that he could do to make serious increases in weight loss, muscle gain, strength gain, etc. and also has some evidence on how it worked for other people as well. It's a pretty big volume and covers a lot of different subjects all having to do with the body in some way and making gains with the smallest effort needed. While I don't always agree with that principle in itself - if you want to make a change you should probably put in the 100% effort to make that change happen, not just try to find the easiest way - he does has some really interesting strategies for making new routines stick.

Have a set goal. Mine are the two triathlons this summer, but if you want to lose weight or gain muscle set a weight or body fat percentage goal, or put a number on how much weight you want to lift or how far and fast you can run. The goal though has to be realistic within a certain time frame.

One major strategy for doing this is keeping track of the data and changes without using calories or a scale as measurements. Calories don't help you separate the kinds of foods that will help you lose weight or add muscle, they are just a unit of energy. Calories can be an easy way to track the amount of food you consume, but they shouldn't be relied on as a good indicator of the health of the foods you consume. And a scale only measures weight - not muscle mass. I am five foot four inches and weigh over 130lbs which is at the top of my BMI range - but I am probably around 15% body fat and that muscle is never taken into account on a scale. Circumference of your waist, arms, hips and legs, or a fat caliper are much better measurements to take while tracking changes in your body than your weight alone.

Another strategy is one shared by the Nerd Fitness community and that is to somehow stay accountable for your set goal. Have a support group, make a bet with friends (where you lose money if you don't fulfill it which gives you more incentive than if you were only to gain money you didn't already have once you completed your goal,) take an unflattering before picture and post it somewhere you see it everyday. Even during the process you can take a picture of everything before you eat and post that online - you won't want to post a picture of terrible for you food or a giant bag of candy. Have others involved in the whole process and you will want to prove it to them and they will hold you accountable whether they are encouraging or discouraging you along the way (ignore the discouraging friends or use them as fuel to work harder.)

I can also be a resource - shoot me an email and I can give you just some plain old encouragement, I can plan workouts or a meal program for you, hell if you know me I can work out and/or cook with you! If you tell me what your goal is, I will do my best to help you reach it. Even if your goal is just to add more vegetables to your diet - I can help you out!

In regards to the book, its fun to scan through but I wouldn't go out and buy it right away (borrow my copy first!) I'm obviously a fitness nerd, so I like when he gets into the little experiments and the more scientific jargon and shows exactly what the human body can be pushed to do - but other people may not. I wouldn't use him as a guide to changing your lifestyle, but instead as a reference or resource. Even Ferriss admits that you have to find the formula for change that works for you, and especially the motivation to make the change, his method worked for a number of people but those individuals were all committed to his specific methods.

I think the main point to takeaway is that you have to find your motivation, set your goal and find a way to make yourself accountable to that goal - that is the key to making changes towards a healthier lifestyle!

Officially a triathlete!

I finished the .8k swim, 20k bike and 7.5k run in 1 hour 44 minutes and 10 seconds, good enough for 14th in the 18-24 year old women's age division and in the top 19% of all women competing in the sprint distance. Those results are better than I expected and I am more than pleased with my time!

Let me go into details on the race: The DC Triathlon had over 3200 registered racers for the sprint or international/olympic distances. That is a pretty big race logistically and I have to give a lot of thanks to the race organizers because it was very well run! Saturday I went to pick up my race packet at the expo at the Washington Convention Center and we took our bikes from there over to the transition area for racking via a police escorted bike ride through DC, meaning that we got to run a bunch of red lights and piss off the tourists and motorists! Sunday morning I woke up at 3:45am (when some of my housemates were getting home) and drove to the parking lot at the expo center to take the athlete's shuttle over to the transition area. Even leaving that early I didn't get to the transition area till 5 or a little after 5am.

I set up a transition station right next to my bike where I put down a plastic bag (because the ground was damp since it was drizzling out), a quick dry towel to stand on when I changed out of my wetsuit, my bike shoes with socks ready to go in them, behind that I put my running shoes with my race belt with bib race number attached and a hat in case I wanted it for the run. On my bike I put my two full water bottles in the cages, taped a larabar onto the top tube so I could grab it while on the bike, used the velcro on my bike gloves to attach them to the handlebars, and placed my helmet on my aero-bars with my sunglasses inside it. This set up worked really well for me because the less you have to worry about during the actual transition, the better. Having a bunch of stuff attached to my bike got me out of the transition area much quicker.

I got my chip timer and attached it to my ankle, and made sure that my body markings (when they write your race number on your legs and arms) was still clearly visible. I used bodyglide (an anti-chafing deoderant-like stick) on my ankles and places the wetsuit would rub so that I could make sure to get it off easily and it wouldn't chafe my neck, arms or legs too much. I then saw a woman who had a message written in pen on her leg - I mean I didn't lean over and read the message, I just saw that it was written there - so I took out my sharpie and wrote a mantra inside my swim cap. It was something that I knew was there but didn't need everyone else to see and because I wrote it down I remembered it and repeated it to myself on the course. By the time I had done all of this it was time for the 6am international distance to begin and we all had to be out of the transition area. I put on my wetsuit, stowed away my gear bag, and chatted a little with some fellow triathletes.

Before I knew it, it was time to get with our age groups and line up to jump into the water in groups of 8 (it wasn't a mass start but instead a time-trial start meaning our chip started to time us as soon as we jumped off the dock.) I don't think I was prepared enough for the jump into the Potomac River because I kind of had this moment when I was a few strokes out into the water from where I jumped were I was like "holy shit, I'm swimming in the Potomac!" I didn't think about the grossness of the water and instead just started a rhythm and tried to avoid and swim around people. I've never really timed myself on an 800 meter swim in the pool nor in open water so I don't know how far I am off of my normal swim times, but I swam this in 14:30 - which I think is pretty good for a newbie, plus I really just started swimming in late April. I'm proud of it whether it's better than average or not!

My wetsuit came off easily in transition, I was soaking wet but somehow got my feet dry enough to slide on my socks and velcro my bike shoes on and run with my bike out of transition. Once I mounted my bike, I flew. Biking is my strongest leg of the triathlon but if I had been able to bike the course before hand I could have shaved off a few minutes by knowing when the uphill and downhill sections were and where their weren't turns and I could have pushed harder on the straightaways. That is the problem with having a bike route in a city that is normally so crowded with cars that you can't recreate the route on your own. It was a very technical course with a lot of turns and u-turns that tested my bike handling skills. I kept an 18-20 mph pace most of the time - unless I let an unexpected uphill section spoil my cadence. I ate a larabar on the bike, but I think I ate it too quickly because I could feel it in my stomach once I started running. What I know for next time is to probably eat half of it within the first three miles of the bike and then the other half towards the end. I made sure to drink almost an entire bottle of water over the 20k course though which was good since sometimes on a ride I forget to drink until I'm already thirsty. I got back to transition and realized I was 2 events down and had only the run to go.

I undid my bike shoes dismounted from the bike and ran it into transition, slipped on my colorful Asics Noosa Tri shoes and pulled the toggle on the no-tie laces. Clipped on my bib and was on my way out. This course was originally going to have a 5k run, or so I believed. Then during my open water race clinic I learned that it had been extended to a 7.5k which I had not been training for. I was overtraining for a 5k but it still had a kind of mental influence on knowing that the run was just a little over a mile longer than I was planning for. So I came up with a different way to approach it. I decided that I would take the first 2.5k to just get my legs back from the bike - then I could just run a 5k once my legs were back. That really helped me mentally to break it down like that. The run was still pretty hard, with some uphill portions, a lot of turns on roads that seemed self defeating, and I was experiencing a little bit of stomach cramping from eating the larabar on the bike. I got water at every aid station but I never stopped or walked, I kept going. It helped that all around me were majestic monuments or DC buildings and there was a light drizzle all morning that actually kind of kept me cooled down. I got to the last section and I still had enough in my legs to sprint to the finish, I smiled and raised my arms up into a strong woman pose! I was now officially a triathlete.

I was handed my finishers medal, a water bottle, powerade and a wet towel. Then I went over to the place where the racing receipts from the chip timers were printed. That was where I saw I had placed 14th in the women's 18-24 year old division and that I had an official time under 1:45:00. I was appropriated exhilarated, exhausted and a little dazed.

I got some food, qdoba naked burritos, ate and found my friends. They got some pictures of me and we stocked up on free Pom juice and sat around and talked for a while and figured out a way for them to get my car from the expo center and meet me to pick me up with my bike and stuff from transition. They're awesome so we got everything handled and with everything picked up we headed to my house where I had beer, wine, chips, salsa and guacamole waiting for us, but not before a pit stop at Shake Shack where they bought me a chocolate milkshake - which was what I had earlier decided I wanted as a reward for this triathlon since I haven't had one in probably more than two years. It tasted well-deserved!

Showering was wonderful, sleep was even better, and now I have a week of training off before I gear back up for the Amica 19.7 Sprint Triathlon in Boston in August!