Getting Ready to Hobble Through the Houston Marathon

Quick Update

Relocating for work after college leaves me 1200 miles away from my nearest relative and leads to a whole lot of holiday traveling. Trip went from Houston to Denver to Truckee to San Francisco and as a whole I kept up quite well with 1-2 workouts a day between running and swimming and taking one off day a week as per the usual. On the good side of things I was able to do two long runs and get a baseline time for the Ironman swim distance (1:29:15). On the bad side, the airline getting me home really, really screwed up my flights (I know weather was preventing trips, but my plane came in From Los Angeles to Oakland then to Houston, all of which are known for their pleasant winter weather so that excuse is schenanigans). 

Original plan involved a couple days to settle back in and get long weekend workouts taken care of, what actually happened was I got 90 minutes of sleep before  having to go to work on Monday then had to make the hour trip back to the airport to pick up my lost luggage so I could get my run gear and do my long run that evening.

Work the next day.

Apparently long runs, in cold weather, on 90 minutes of sleep and in a generally poor mood are a no-no and I am now terrified for the Houston Marathon 10 days from now, shortly followed by the Surfside Marathon two weeks later. I am trying to relax a bit about it because the main purposes of those races is to get me ready for the run in Ironman Texas so as a whole time doesn't matter; however, we all know that isn't what we are thinking the day of the race.

The thing is it is happening whether I am ready or not so here we go!

Product Review: 

I have always used chamois butter and various other skin protectors while working out because my skin apparently flees my body at any signs of abrasion. I use it running on my feet, under arms and thighs and biking on my…uh hem… exactly where it says to. Ruby’s is a bit thicker that creams I was using previously which makes it last a lot longer but you want to make sure to get it everywhere you have trouble. I would provide the before and after pictures, but then I’d have to charge $9.95 a view.

Interpretive before and after.

Recipe of the Week: Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

If you’ve read any previous posts you know I am a die-hard fan of this super grain and like to incorporate it as often as possible.  This breakfast is easy to make in a large batch and refrigerate for use throughout the week and I like to throw a few berries and nuts before I microwave it to get a bright start to the day.

What you’ll need:

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (~3/4 cup dry boiled in 1 ½ cups of water)
• 1 cup almond milk (keep some extra around in case it gets too dry)
• Personal taste but approximately
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar

What you need to do:

Mix the almond milk in with the cooked quinoa over heat, add cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar. Cook until there is very little excess almond milk and refrigerate for tomorrow’s breakfast!

Workout of the Week:

My adventures this weekend lead to me being very sore (walking like a duck sore) so I have been spending more time on my foam roller. I typically do a deep roll after long workouts but this week have been light rolling before working out, and then five minutes after and can tell a significant difference. I am going to try to continue this habit and use it daily from here on out. That sore feeling of a good workout is satisfying, but it’s also important to live to fight another day and appropriate rolling, stretching and cools downs will make that possible.  




Next time you hear from me will be the Houston Marathon race review! See you then!