Category Archives: Random

Run Ruiner Smoothie!

Posted on by

As if the hot weather wasn’t enough of a challenge today, I got the bright idea of drinking a green smoothie an hour before my run in the heat. Not the smartest idea. Here’s my recipe for what I decided to call the “Run Ruiner Smoothie”, adapted from a Cuisinart recipe book. For best (worst) results, drink an hour or less before run. Serves 2-3 hungry runners.

  • 1 cup cold water
  • a few ice cubes (added chill on hot day)
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 1 apple (I use gala usually, but doesn’t matter)
  • a splash of flax oil
  • 6-8 cups of loosely packed greens (I used spinach, kale, swiss chard and some beet greens)

Blend first 5 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Gradually add in greens and blend for about another minute until really smooth. Drink the deliciousness. Have horrible stomach pains entire run.

green smoothie

The Run Ruiner

Thankfully, I decided to just do an easy run because of the heat so I could power through the stomach problems. I had to laugh at myself for making such a silly food choice pre-run though.

Also, I’d like to add that this smoothie is actually quite tasty. I would never believe it by looking at the picture, but the banana flavor really over-powers the greens. It’s super nutritious so I recommend you try it – AFTER YOU RUN!

What crazy food choices have you made before a run that you regretted later? What were the consequences?

Busy Life = Racing Dilemma

Posted on by

It’s about a week until my trip to Eugene for the Olympic Trials which goes straight into our move to Seattle for the summer. We have a lot going on. My stress level is medium right now, my sleep is lacking for sure, and my running is suffering a bit. (I’m running every day and getting the quantity, but not getting the quality I was hoping for!) I know once I board the plane for Eugene, everything will be fine, but for right now, there’a a lot to do and not much time to do it!

So, here’s my dilemma… I can’t figure out whether to race this weekend. There are at least 3 options for this weekend.

  • Race a local road race for money
  • Race the USATF Niagara track championships
  • Take the weekend easy, and get some packing done

I’m going to run no matter what so part of me thinks one of the racing options would be a good idea. I love to race! But, races happen at a particular time and place and usually eat up at least 3 hours (usually more) of a weekend, time which might be better spent with packing and planning.

So, friends… what would YOU do?

It’s Our Anniversary – When Runners Marry

Posted on by

We arrived home from Seattle last night, into a land of heat and humidity and are already desperately missing the crisp Seattle air. It’s difficult to go from 50s to high 80s… yuck! Also, my foot magically started feeling better in Seattle and didn’t hurt at all by the last few days of the trip – very exciting. However, after my run this morning my foot started bothering me a little again. Hmmm… what’s up foot?!

In other news, my husband and I have been married 6 years today! I’m having a hard time getting the song “It’s Our Anniversary” by Tony Toni Tone out of my head, nice old jam. We were able to run together today and went about 8 miles for our anniversary run. After our run we enjoyed a nice brunch while listening to live jazz.

It is wonderful being married to another runner. We don’t get to run together as often as we did before we had our daughter, but we fully support and understand each other’s running and racing and I feel lucky to have a partner who believes in and can share this part of my life. My husband is my biggest fan and has taught me so much about running and racing. He helps me by talking away my nerves in the week leading up to a big race and helps me calm down when I’m reeling from a super exciting PR or great race. He helps me with perspective after a bad race, pointing out the positive about my racing or saying just the right thing to help me through. My husband is part of the reason I learned to really love and crave racing and I’m so thankful for that. Thank you Jeff – I love you!

wedding shirt

My husband's childhood babysitter made us matching shirts for our wedding. This is the front...

wedding shirt

and the back!

Are you in a relationship with another runner/athlete? Have you been with someone who doesn’t understand your running? Want to share any wisdom for a long and happy marriage?

I Want to Run There!

Posted on by

I’m not sure if this is a normal runner thing, a crazy-obsessed runner thing, or a high mileage runner thing but I can’t help but want to run almost everywhere I go. For example, I drive from New York to Ohio to visit the family quite often. If I see a little stone road or dirt trail running along the highway, I really want to run on it and see where it leads. If I come across an unusual driveway (long winding, short steep hill, long drawn out hill) I really get the urge to stop the car and run it. I imagine what it might be like if I lived there and had to start and end each run on that kind of driveway. If I see something beautiful, a park with gorgeous flowers, a mountain range in the distance, famous historical sights, I always want to run them. This is definitely a plus when we go on vacation because we see so much more of a city than we would if we weren’t runners. It’s a negative when I have 6 more hours of driving ahead of me and all I want to do is go for a run…

Just a few cool places we have run…

Olympic Stadium Barcelona

June 2006 in Barcelona at Olympic stadium. Didn't have camera phones so didn't shoot a pic while running but came back and got one!

Runners on Diamond Head in Hawaii

January 2007 after running up Diamond Head on Oahu.

Trails to run in Prague

July 2010 in Prague. We ran on trails overlooking the city!

Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

October 2011 we ran in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. 823ft elevation gain and beautiful at the top! I obviously wasn't running in this pic.

Do you ever get a similar urge to run when you see something beautiful or interesting? Have you ever stopped the car to run because a path looked too good to pass by? Where is your favorite vacation spot for running?