Boulder Spring Half

Hello!

I had a great weekend where I ended up bagging 23 miles total, including a 16 miler. That makes for the longest long run that I've done since Grandma's Marathon last June. All of this inspired me to finally sign up for the half marathon that I've been working towards. It is the Boulder Spring Half.

I'm very excited to finally run a race again. When it comes to long runs, I'll definitely be okay. Of course I did the 16 miler today and plan to do one more 16 and a 17 miler before the race. However, my overall run volume and speed work leave something to be desired. Since today was the last day of Febulous (the MarathonTalk competition), I signed up for Marchvellous. For Marchvellous, participants must choose a race distance and an estimated finish time. I chose 1:51:00 for a PR of 40ish seconds. I think that is possible. It may seem a bit strange to shoot for a PR at altitude on questionable training. However, I think my half PR is a bit soft. It's actually from a half I did two weeks before the Lakefront Marathon, so it really wasn't a race effort. It'll be great to finally get out there and really go for it for the first time in a long time.

Happy Running!
Jen

My first encounter with the Green Monster...

Wow...I really thought that I had blogged in December! I guess not...

To catch up: I survived my first semester of grad school and got a 4.0 instead of flunking out. Whew. So far this semester I'm much less stressed and tired. I also found a great dirt and gravel running path. I am planning on running a half marathon here in Boulder at the end of March, although I have yet to sign up for it. I hope to run the Steamboat Marathon in June, but since I don't know if I'll be here for the summer (an internship may take me elsewhere), that is all still up in the air.

Regarding the Green Monster: I don't mean Fenway or some sort of mountain creature. I am referring to the spinach-based smoothie that has become quite popular among running and fitness bloggers and podcasters lately. Spinach, I know...as much as I love it, I couldn't really see it in a smoothie. But, it's actually quite good. I made my first Green Monster smoothie after my 12-miler today. Recipes vary, but this is what I did.

Green Monster

2 cups spinach

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1.25 cups almond milk

1 banana

1/2 TBSP flaxseed

1 serving Spirutein vanilla protein powder

3 ice cubes

Put everything in the blender and blend baby blend!

Admittedly it looks a bit strange, especially because the blueberry skins create black specks in the smoothie. When I poured it into a glass, Joe said, "What are you torturing yourself with?". But, it is actually very good, not to mention nutritious. I'm not typically a fan of protein shakes or powders, but I picked up a single serving package at Natural Grocers yesterday and it seemed like a good post-run recovery drink.

It looked like this.

I had a great run today as well. There is really nothing like being able to run in shorts at the end of January with a view of the Rockies the entire way.

Happy Running!

Jen