Hi!
Two very different running workouts for two very different days.
Yesterday:
Same outfit as the previous day (shorts, long sleeved wicking shirt, thin gloves) plus a hat this time. The weather was great and I was comfortable even though I had to stop for some potty breaks (Butler, not me!). I was even warm enough to push up the sleeves. It was 39 degrees Fahrenheit and 32 degrees with windchill.
Today:
Cold and windy! I had on my Under Armour running tights, long sleeved wicking shirt from the Lakefront Marathon, burgundy running jacket, thicker mittens and a hat. The first mile was a bit tough just remembering what winter running is all about and getting warmed up. After that, it wasn't bad at all. The temperature was 19 degrees Fahrenheit or 5 degrees with the windchill factored in.
Jen
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Winter Running Wardrobe
Hi!
Every year when it starts to get cold again, I don't remember how to properly dress for various temperatures. This year is the same-old-same-old, although compared to Wisconsin it's stayed warmer later. So, I decided to start keeping track of my running wardrobe on the blog.
Tonight is was 35 degrees Fahrenheit with a "Feels Like" (factoring in windchill) temperature of 28 degrees. It was sort of windy. I wore shorts, my long sleeve wicking shirt from the St. Louis Marathon and thin gloves. I would have worn a hat, but I forgot it. I was chilly at first, but overall the apparel choices were good. I did get a bit of a brain freeze due to the lack of hat, but other than that it was fine.
Jen
Every year when it starts to get cold again, I don't remember how to properly dress for various temperatures. This year is the same-old-same-old, although compared to Wisconsin it's stayed warmer later. So, I decided to start keeping track of my running wardrobe on the blog.
Tonight is was 35 degrees Fahrenheit with a "Feels Like" (factoring in windchill) temperature of 28 degrees. It was sort of windy. I wore shorts, my long sleeve wicking shirt from the St. Louis Marathon and thin gloves. I would have worn a hat, but I forgot it. I was chilly at first, but overall the apparel choices were good. I did get a bit of a brain freeze due to the lack of hat, but other than that it was fine.
Jen
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Vegan Experiment: Over
Hi!
So, the vegan experiment lasted a few days left than I had hoped. On Thursday I had a physiology midterm, three more classes and a meeting to work on a physiology project. I sort of developed a habit of getting a mocha before seminar on Thursdays to keep me alert. I caved and had one this week. It gave me a HORRIBLE stomach ache, so I guess that's what I deserved!
While I definitely don't plan to become a vegan, there were some definite positive points.
Positives:
-I definitely had to add more veggies to meals to get something really flavorful. Sometimes I think cheese acts as a crutch in this way.
-Most of my meals did end up really healthy.
-Obviously the carbon footprint of my meals for the 10 days was improved.
Negatives:
-I didn't necessarily feel any better than normal and one dish I made really upset my stomach.
-I was still eating some junky, process stuff like pretzels.
-Most chocolate includes dairy. Enough said!
I'll definitely be including a lot of vegan meals in the future, although I'm happy to have dairy back in my life for now. Especially since Thanksgiving is next week!
Jen
So, the vegan experiment lasted a few days left than I had hoped. On Thursday I had a physiology midterm, three more classes and a meeting to work on a physiology project. I sort of developed a habit of getting a mocha before seminar on Thursdays to keep me alert. I caved and had one this week. It gave me a HORRIBLE stomach ache, so I guess that's what I deserved!
While I definitely don't plan to become a vegan, there were some definite positive points.
Positives:
-I definitely had to add more veggies to meals to get something really flavorful. Sometimes I think cheese acts as a crutch in this way.
-Most of my meals did end up really healthy.
-Obviously the carbon footprint of my meals for the 10 days was improved.
Negatives:
-I didn't necessarily feel any better than normal and one dish I made really upset my stomach.
-I was still eating some junky, process stuff like pretzels.
-Most chocolate includes dairy. Enough said!
I'll definitely be including a lot of vegan meals in the future, although I'm happy to have dairy back in my life for now. Especially since Thanksgiving is next week!
Jen
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Winter is here!
Hi!
So it seems that winter has finally arrived in Boulder. It finally actually got cold out and I'm kind of surprised at the amount of complaining that I've heard. Seriously people-it's November and there have been about three days so far where I've really needed a coat. These are people that probably have some sort of crazy hobby like cliff diving and yet they are troubled by temperatures below 40 degrees F. The temperature drop was pretty sudden though, and that probably contributes to everyone's unhappiness about it. We also set the clocks back last week and now it is dark so early. I can take the cold, but the darkness...ugh.
I actually had to pull out the tights for two runs this week. Today, however, was about 40 degrees midday and so I got to wear shorts again. Probably about 30 degrees F is my shorts to tights/pants transition point. The two runs this week were borderline. I was a bit overdressed, but I probably would have been chilly in shorts.
I got an exam back this week that I did very well on (well above the average) so that kind of made my week. Of course, my fluid mechanics exam last week was a different story, but anyway...
I missed running Tuesday and Wednesday this week due to fatigue, school and some amount of laziness. I had a great run this morning though and have high hopes for a decent "long" run tomorrow. I need to figure out a better long run path here. One of my favorite paths here is great in a lot of ways, but it runs out at about 3.5 miles. I prefer to be able to run half of the total distance out and then just turn around.
I'd like to run a winter half, but so far I haven't had any luck finding a local one. This seems a bit hard to believe, so hopefully something will pop up.
I only have a few more week of this semester and I am so looking forward to it being over. Winter break here I come!
Happy Running!
Jen
So it seems that winter has finally arrived in Boulder. It finally actually got cold out and I'm kind of surprised at the amount of complaining that I've heard. Seriously people-it's November and there have been about three days so far where I've really needed a coat. These are people that probably have some sort of crazy hobby like cliff diving and yet they are troubled by temperatures below 40 degrees F. The temperature drop was pretty sudden though, and that probably contributes to everyone's unhappiness about it. We also set the clocks back last week and now it is dark so early. I can take the cold, but the darkness...ugh.
I actually had to pull out the tights for two runs this week. Today, however, was about 40 degrees midday and so I got to wear shorts again. Probably about 30 degrees F is my shorts to tights/pants transition point. The two runs this week were borderline. I was a bit overdressed, but I probably would have been chilly in shorts.
I got an exam back this week that I did very well on (well above the average) so that kind of made my week. Of course, my fluid mechanics exam last week was a different story, but anyway...
I missed running Tuesday and Wednesday this week due to fatigue, school and some amount of laziness. I had a great run this morning though and have high hopes for a decent "long" run tomorrow. I need to figure out a better long run path here. One of my favorite paths here is great in a lot of ways, but it runs out at about 3.5 miles. I prefer to be able to run half of the total distance out and then just turn around.
I'd like to run a winter half, but so far I haven't had any luck finding a local one. This seems a bit hard to believe, so hopefully something will pop up.
I only have a few more week of this semester and I am so looking forward to it being over. Winter break here I come!
Happy Running!
Jen
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Vegan Experiment
Hi!
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat vegetarian most of the time. This is for a few reasons. Probably the number one reason is that I'm just not a huge meat fan. The second reason is that meat is sort of expensive. Especially the free-range, organic, etc. meat that I'm actually tempted to eat. Third, my carbon footprint is greatly reduced by not eating meat. I've never wanted to strictly be a vegetarian though, because that becomes a hassle when having dinner at other people's houses, weddings, etc., and because I'm not actually opposed to eating meat so I don't see a need to be restrictive.
I recently started using almond milk in place of regular milk. I had seen it in the store for weeks, but I was afraid to try it because it was only available in 1/2 gallon containers and had the potential to be awful. Finally I risked wasting the $3 and went for it. Turns out that it is delicious! Since I no longer needed regular milk for my oats, it got me thinking about veganism. There are quite a few vegans in the running community and in Boulder in particular (for anyone who wasn't aware, Boulder is pretty hippied out). So, I'm giving it a try for a few weeks. I mostly just want to see what it's like to eat this way. It also better environmentally, which is nice because the local produce will be dying out soon and thus my fruits and veggies will be shipped in from who knows where. Of course, if I like it and am feeling good, maybe it'll stick, although I'll never really be a true vegan or vegetarian. I am from the dairy state afterall, and let's face it: cheese is delicious!
I hope to keep this up strictly for at least two weeks. Hopefully I'm not singing a different tune tomorrow, lol.
Happy Eating and Running!
Jen
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat vegetarian most of the time. This is for a few reasons. Probably the number one reason is that I'm just not a huge meat fan. The second reason is that meat is sort of expensive. Especially the free-range, organic, etc. meat that I'm actually tempted to eat. Third, my carbon footprint is greatly reduced by not eating meat. I've never wanted to strictly be a vegetarian though, because that becomes a hassle when having dinner at other people's houses, weddings, etc., and because I'm not actually opposed to eating meat so I don't see a need to be restrictive.
I recently started using almond milk in place of regular milk. I had seen it in the store for weeks, but I was afraid to try it because it was only available in 1/2 gallon containers and had the potential to be awful. Finally I risked wasting the $3 and went for it. Turns out that it is delicious! Since I no longer needed regular milk for my oats, it got me thinking about veganism. There are quite a few vegans in the running community and in Boulder in particular (for anyone who wasn't aware, Boulder is pretty hippied out). So, I'm giving it a try for a few weeks. I mostly just want to see what it's like to eat this way. It also better environmentally, which is nice because the local produce will be dying out soon and thus my fruits and veggies will be shipped in from who knows where. Of course, if I like it and am feeling good, maybe it'll stick, although I'll never really be a true vegan or vegetarian. I am from the dairy state afterall, and let's face it: cheese is delicious!
I hope to keep this up strictly for at least two weeks. Hopefully I'm not singing a different tune tomorrow, lol.
Happy Eating and Running!
Jen
Stress, excuses & NYC Marathon inspiration...
Hello!
So, obviously it's been awhile. There's no really valid excuse for that. I have been really busy and really stressed. I have been running, but it hasn't been going so well. Mostly this is due to being really busy and really stressed. Ugh. So, basically I haven't been too excited about spending my precious leisure time thinking about running. One of my classes is really awful (to the tune of 'you might be seeing me in this course again next year') and I've really been letting it get me down. I know that I shouldn't be, but for some reason I just can't help it. I'm really not all that Type A, but this class is really making me feel like a loser. The upside is that I only have two weeks until I have a week off for Thanksgiving (yes, we have the whole week off-strange, but I'll take it!) and then only two weeks of instruction before the exams. Then, I'll be off for 3 weeks!
This morning I watched the NYC Marathon. It was great to see Shalane Flanagan take 2nd in her debut marathon. I was sad to see Haile have to drop out, but perhaps it made a better men's race in the end. Obviously, it was pretty inspiring to watch. I went out for an 8 miler, which is the longest run I've done in Colorado. It wasn't great, but it was good to be out there. It's hard for me to believe based on today's "long" run that I ran a marathon in June. It's hard for me to believe that I've actually run five of them. But, I will be back in marathon shape someday.
For now, I'm trying to consistently build back up. I'm also trying to be less stressed and more like a normal human because I really can't be this busy/stressed for two whole years. More than anything, I'm trying to find the joy in running again. It really is my passion and one of my favorite things to do. I've been letting things get in the way of that. No more.
I hope that everyone is finding joy in their autumn running! It really is the best season for it!
Happy Running!
Jen
So, obviously it's been awhile. There's no really valid excuse for that. I have been really busy and really stressed. I have been running, but it hasn't been going so well. Mostly this is due to being really busy and really stressed. Ugh. So, basically I haven't been too excited about spending my precious leisure time thinking about running. One of my classes is really awful (to the tune of 'you might be seeing me in this course again next year') and I've really been letting it get me down. I know that I shouldn't be, but for some reason I just can't help it. I'm really not all that Type A, but this class is really making me feel like a loser. The upside is that I only have two weeks until I have a week off for Thanksgiving (yes, we have the whole week off-strange, but I'll take it!) and then only two weeks of instruction before the exams. Then, I'll be off for 3 weeks!
This morning I watched the NYC Marathon. It was great to see Shalane Flanagan take 2nd in her debut marathon. I was sad to see Haile have to drop out, but perhaps it made a better men's race in the end. Obviously, it was pretty inspiring to watch. I went out for an 8 miler, which is the longest run I've done in Colorado. It wasn't great, but it was good to be out there. It's hard for me to believe based on today's "long" run that I ran a marathon in June. It's hard for me to believe that I've actually run five of them. But, I will be back in marathon shape someday.
For now, I'm trying to consistently build back up. I'm also trying to be less stressed and more like a normal human because I really can't be this busy/stressed for two whole years. More than anything, I'm trying to find the joy in running again. It really is my passion and one of my favorite things to do. I've been letting things get in the way of that. No more.
I hope that everyone is finding joy in their autumn running! It really is the best season for it!
Happy Running!
Jen
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