Seemed Like All Uphill

Ran the Uptown/Downtown Rocky Mount 5k this morning - beautiful scenery and friendly people but wow what a hilly course! The children's fun runs are wonderful to watch and all the children receive an award.

I did a little better than last year but not as good as I hoped for receiving a second place medal in my age division but then I'm pretty sure there were only two of us in that category - oh well! I enjoy this race because it begins/ends at the farmers' market and I like picking up produce there. The market is small but the quality of the produce is great and is homegrown unlike some of the produce on the Roanoke Market.

After the run had a great cup of cappucino at Edible Vibe - also purchased a bottle of delicious homemade Thai peanut ginger dressing and vegetable chips. I like using the dressing as a marinade for tofu and to add to stir fry veggies. I plan to have both these meals later this week. Indulged myself in a little clothes shopping for a pair of casual black pants at J&J Fashions - much of their styles are not my taste (no scrubs or running gear here) but they carry several styles of women's jeans that flatter a real woman's body and do not look matronly.

Back to Roanoke to stop at the market for a little more shopping and a quick lunch with friends at Trio - good, healthy succotach wrap and a cold beverage. Cooking green beans with red potatoes,corn on the cob and a steak (!) for my husband. Yes, I am vegetarian but I don't particularly mind cooking meat - would rather not but I don't think I'll be converting my husband to a vegetarian diet anytime soon.

Back to my running plan, will do a 3-4 mile run downtown Monday or Wednesday, long run Thursday and Saturday, and run the Rocky Mount course again Friday when I pick up my hemmed pants. Will treat myself to lunch at Edible Vibe as well!

Training for the next Half Marathon

Went to class and meet Linda for a run over part of the Star City Half Marathon course and then over the 3 mile Wiley Drive loop. All together ~ 7 miles - plan on one long run (10+ miles) and 2 shorter runs weekly. Plan on running the Star City course every other week as my long run. That's my plan and I'm aiming to stick to it!

Resting Up a Little

Working as usual but having two days off from classes so have the time to catch up on rest and other hobbies. Raining on and off so I have a great excuse for staying inside today .... have seen three movies the past few days - each regarding some aspect of the maternal-child bond. Daughter from Danang, Rabbit Proof Fence, and The Story of the Weeping Camel are all thoughtful, beautiful movies - I recommend all three. I must quote a line from The Story of the Weeping Camel - the young boys arrive back from a camel ride into the town and the youngest asks his father for a TV and the grandfather said, " What do you want with that devil...you would spend all your time inside watching the glass images..." Back to running tomorrow - have another half marathon in November and the More Marathon in March! Oh my, did I just now really say that??

I Did It!

Back home with sore legs and the knowledge that I can move forward on my feet for 13 consecutive miles! Now about the run....drove up the day before to the beautiful little cabin we had reserved at the state park. These cabins were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps and have been updated to include electricity, heat and air condition, indoor plumbing and kitchen. What is not included is a TV, phone or internet access - wonderful! The run, along with the other events, started at 7am Saturday morning so we turned in rather early Friday night with the plan to get up at 5am Saturday to eat breakfast, pack gear, and stretch prior to the run. Seven am found us at the lake with the bikers, swimmers and other runners - final count of people only running the half/full marathon was around 40 but there were a quite a few more participating the the duathlon and triathlon - now I can't imagine doing all that! The first mile was mainly on pavement and then took us into the woods and onto the various trails well marked with orange ties and posted mile markers. We was also given written directions. The next mile or so was along the lake and gave a beautiful view of the fog and the swimmers.



Total elevation climb was ~ 2000 feet but it came all at once as a steady climb up the mountain including these steps that must have been built by someone at least 6 and a half feet tall!


I found this a challenge and walked most of miles 3 - 6 ..... one of the rules of trail running is "Run the runables and walk (briskly) up the hills". This cabin was at the overlook near the midway point and also served as a check station and a water stop.





The downhill was ~ the second half and I ran that portion with little problem. Trail running is not as fast as road racing because you have to watch your step for rocks, roots etc. otherwise you could have a nasty injury. I had no falls but I did lurch forward a number of times. As I passed each mile march I would shout "Eight (or how ever many) miles to go" and would think about similar distances I had previously ran. I finished in slightly less than four hours and am happy with my time - this was not a supported run so you had to carry all the fluids, food etc. that you thought you would need. I carried a Camelback with a full 1.5 liter water bladder, a gatorade, energy gels, toilet paper, alcohol hand cleaner and a whistle around my neck. I also carried my camera to record this fabulous event - that's the only extra piece of gear I had. After the run, Linda and I tailgated for a little eating a lunch of cheese sandwiches, chips and I drank part of a Rockstar Energy Drink - yuck!!



I believe my time on a supported road run will be a little better but I can't imagine the views could be any more spectacular. I'll see how my time is on the Star City Half Marathon in November - yes, I'm already planning my next half!

One Day Until!

Ran/walked 6 miles after class today, mowed lawn and worked 3p - 11p. Ready for half marathon in less than 48 hours!

A Moment of Meditation

Each day I work I walk across the bridge over the river to the hospital. As I cross it I try to shift my thoughts and intentions to my work and the many joys in my life...

Cooking and counting down to the half marathon

Roanoke has some great ethnic markets primarily along busy Williamson Road. Housing prices are reasonable along this street and close proximity to the interstate makes it a convenient area for working class people to live. I'm happy to say I live here too and can walk to many of these shops - isn't that great!

I recently stopped in one of these markets and picked up a variety of tofu and seitan products. Craving Thai food today I decided to try to put something together with the ingredients I had on hand. Tong's Thai is fabulous and I stop in every week or so for lunch but I have all this great food at home....

I sliced a yellow squash, onion and garlic and sauteed in a little veggie oil. I added some chopped fresh jalapeno to the mix, let that saute, then added the mushrooms and seitan mix (ingredients from the label: fried gluten, soy sauce, golden mushrooms, shiitake, sugar, soy bean oil, salt).


Stirring that around, I added a little cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken up the broth and added plenty of fresh basil and ground black pepper towards the end. Served over rice and yummy! My version of southern fried yellow crookneck squash with a strong Thai influence....



Now for the rest of my doings....Busy schedule this week with classes in the morning and working evening shift Monday - Thursday. Did a brisk 2 mile walk yesterday and plan to do a easy ~3mile run after class tomorrow. Trying to get enough sleep and drinking plenty of water in prepearation for the half marathon this weekend. The literature I've read suggests tapering off a little the week of an event to prevent injury....we'll see how it goes!