Naturally More Review

The nice people over at Naturally More sent me this jar of peanut butter to try. If I haven't mentioned it before, I am slightly addicted to peanut butter. With that being said, this did not help my addiction at all. Naturally More peanut butter is absolutely deeeelicous!! The texture was really good, too. I'm having trouble describing it but it wasn't completely smooth, it was a little "grainy" which I really liked! Since it contains cane sugar, it's a little sweeter than other natural peanut butters. This was an added bonus for me. I think a lot of natural peanut butters are missing that touch of sweetness.

Naturally More is all natural, contains no cholesterol and has no trans fats. It's fortified with flax seed and flax seed oil, thus giving you the omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. In a 2T serving, there are 169 calories, 11g fat, 4g fiber and 10g protein.

And before I give it my final rating, I should probably explain this one first. For some reason Andy calls me Biscuit. We can't remember how this came about but I think it has something to do with me eating a shredded wheat biscuit every night. So we came up with this stupid idea to rate things by Biscuits.

1 Biscuit = no good, would not buy
5 Biscuits = good, not sure I would purchase again
10 Biscuits = I'm going to need this in my life!

Naturally More peanut butter gets 9 Biscuits!!!

A New Goal

I ran my first run with Coach Jack today. We did 14 miles and it was great! I have to say, it's so nice running with a pacer, I barely looked at my Garmin. We averaged a 9:46 pace, which was dead on as per my training plan (that's why he gets paid the big bucks!), and I feel great right now. Going into it, I thought the pace was going to be too slow, but it was actually very comfortable. If it wasn't for an upset stomach (potential clif shot side effect, will be looking into this), I could have kept going.

While we were running, a goal of mine came up. I've been thinking about this for a while now but never brought it up until today. I always thought it was for very experienced, elite runners and maybe I just needed Coach there to tell me it was doable. Anyway, I've been interested in becoming a pacer some day down the road. Not any time soon as I know I have A LOT to learn when it comes to pacing. But I think it not only would be fun, it would be so rewarding to help people reach their goals of finishing a marathon. So I'm adding this to the tangible goal list! Coach Jack trains pacers so I see an opportunity in the future...

It was a dreary day while we were running, we were admiring the area and how great of a running route there is in the city. I mentioned that I really need to bring my camera along to take pics for my blog so we stopped and Coach took this picture with his phone. I guess I can't complain about race day action photos because I can't even take a decent one when I pose for it! That's the Philadelphia Are Museum behind me.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! We're heading to our friends house for a early Spring cookout and some cards. Looking forward to it!

Getting Organized

I read a bunch of blogs which have daily themes and while I think it's a great idea, I'm just not that organized with my thoughts to know what I want to talk about when. But with that being said, I have been receiving a ton of great stuff to try out from some fabulous companies and I want to make sure I give them the spotlight they deserve. So from here on out, or until I run out of stuff to review, I'm designating Mondays as product review day. Hopefully I have some new stuff that you bloggers aren't already aware of! I'm also planning my first giveaway once we move in a few weeks. I just need to get unpacked and settled!

I ran 6 miles this morning at a 9:14 pace. This was my second run at a set pace and I have to say, I still feel like I got a good workout in. I was worried that the slower paces wouldn't work me hard enough but today it definitely did. But in a good way...I wasn't dead tired after it and even felt a little more energetic heading into work. Tomorrow is an easy day and then on Saturday I have a 14 miler planned. I'm running on Saturday with Coach Jack. I can't wait to pick his brain for a ton more information. Turns out he already has a pacer lined up for me for 20in24. He is on the ball!

Oh, I also find it mildly disturbing that my canned salmon smelled and tasted EXACTLY like tunafish.

Meeting Minutes

My first meeting with Coach Jack was a success!! He brought his wife, Missy, who is no longer a runner but is so enthusiastic about supporting runners and races. I'm secretly hoping that rubs off on Andy. She might have had him interested when she mentioned finding the good bars to duck into while spectating during a race.

Anyway, we talked about my questionnaire, goals, training schedule, nutrition, etc. There are definitely some areas I need to work on, the first being my goals since I don't really have any. I really need to focus on what I want to achieve by running the Ultra and have some substantial goals other than, "not to die." I'm not sure I knew what I was thinking when I signed up for this...Yea, I think I'm going to sign up for this race and shoot for 50 miles. Who do I think I am?? All I have to say is it's a good thing I sought some help with this one, there's A LOT involved!!

With regards to my training, I do have to take it easy on my "off" days. Right now I have been cleared to lift on those 2 days, but as we get further into training, I will need to take one day completely off from exercise. The other thing that will be hard will be adjusting to my easy days. Like today. I have a 3 miler scheduled at an 8:50 pace. Normally I would do more cardio after a short run like this but not anymore.

I left the meeting with some action items, feel free to provide suggestions!!

• Set tangible goals!!
• Start eating before my morning runs (although I was told I don't have to for my shorter runs!!).
• Mantra to repeat in my head and keep me going (I'm sure someone has a good one out there!!).
• Line up some "crew" members to assist on race day. (Feed me, change me, wipe my azz...anyone interested?).
• Line up some Pacers for race day.
• Work on my nutrition for race day (start thinking of what I could eat when the last thing I want to do is put food in my mouth...hmmm, crunch n munch??)
• Stay on track with my paces. Even if it feels funny or slow, follow Coach's orders.
• Start getting more runs done outside and off the treadmill.

Overall, it was a really productive meeting. I'm looking forward to making Coach proud!!

Meeting my coach!

Not much going on today. Typical Monday...struggling to get through the day. I really think we should move to a 4 day work week and have Mondays off. Anyone else support this??

Anyway, I meet Coach Jack tonight and I'm really excited. I'm full of questions and excitement and can't wait to become a better runner!! Today kicked off my training and I had an easy 6 miler at a 9:14 pace. I woke up thinking this would be a hard run because I was running it slower than my normal pace and that it would take forever. I always feel rushed in the morning to get my workout done so I can get into work. For some reason I feel I have to be in by 8am, when really I can get in any time I want (gotta love flex time!). I need to learn to relax a bit because there's no way I'm going to get up even earlier to get my long runs in when that time comes. The pace was fine, though. A few times I felt a little slow and bored, but I followed orders and kept it steady at 9:14.

Tomorrow there is a "prediction run" at a local running store. You head out for a set distance without your Garmin and the top 3 who predict their times closest, win a new pair of shoes! I've never tried to predict my time without my Garmin before so I'm not sure I stand a chance. Here's hoping, though...Momma needs a new pair of shoes!!

Oh and lastly, I tried the YouShake vanilla dream this weekend and thought it was just ok. That might be because of how I made it, though. I made it with half water and half skim milk. I wanted to add strawberries and lettuce but I broke the blender the other day making a green smoothie. Grrr. Due to the texture of the shake, I'm not a huge fan of protein shakes in general, I think I'd rather sprinkle this on my oatmeal then make a shake out of it. I'll try that next time.

I also have LOTS to say about the Naturally More peanut butter I tried yesterday, but I'll save that for another day. I might have found my new love....

Good Eats!!

I went over to the new house yesterday to find these goodies waiting for me...

Naturally More sent this peanut butter which has less fat and sugar than regular peanut butter and the added benefits of Omega-3. It's made from roasted peanuts, wheat germ, flax seed, cane sugar, egg whites, honey and flax seed oil. I can't wait to try this!!

There was also this package from One Lucky Duck. One Lucky Duck is an online boutique selling raw vegan snacks which are handmade in small batches. All the foods are prepared at temperatures under 118 degrees so the vitamins, minerals and enzymes, which are often depleted or destroyed when cooked, are preserved. They sent chocolate macaroons, cheese quackers, and two bars...along with a nice handwritten note! Check out the close up picture of the bar below. It looks amazing! I tried the cheese quackers yesterday and the chocolate macaroons (but I only had one!). The crackers are organic and made from almonds, flax, yeast, spices and sea salt. It not only tasted good, but I felt healthy eating it! The macaroons were a perfect treat. Oh, and I love the packaging...so cute!!

Hooray Spring Six Miler

I participated in Runninglaur's Hooray Spring Six Miler this morning. Although it didn't really feel like Spring...there were some flurries falling!! But it was a beautiful morning for a run. We started around 6am and there's just something about running when it's dark and being out there while the sun rises that I just love.

My first week of training starts on Monday, this is what's on the schedule.

Mon - 6 mi (9:14)

Tues - 3 mi (8:50)

Wed - off

Thurs - 6 (9:14)

Fri - 3 (8:50)

Sat - 14 (9:46)

Sun - off

I meet up with Coach Jack on Monday and I'm going to ask what I can do during those "off" days. In the beginning, before the training gets intense, I'd like to do something on those days. I'm also really curious to see how the paces go considering this is slower than I normally run during the week.

And lastly, because I love cookies, but not as much as Crunch n Munch (hmmm, I wonder if Crunch n munch would sponsor me considering how often I talk about it), I wanted to mention this Luna Cookie that Clif sent me to try. I tried the berry pomegranate and let me tell you, it was deeeelicious!!! For only 140 calories, 2.5g of fat, 4g of fiber and 3g of protein, this is one cookie we don't have to feel bad about eating!! I didn't have too high of hopes as I'm not real into fruit in my cookies, but this was EXCELLENT!! And it was a good size cookie, too! Oh, and of course...Andy liked it, too!

Draft Training Schedule

I received my first draft training schedule from Jack. This is by far the best thing I could have done, by the way. Lately I've sort of felt like I've been in a rut and was having trouble getting my head into the longer runs. But after deciding to get a coach, I'm excited again! I think this is really going to help my confidence level since right now I still struggle with even calling myself a runner. But anyway, the draft training schedule was enough to get me excited. Of course my first concern was that the paces look slow, but I'm going to trust the expert here and do what I'm told (that'll be a first!). Seriously, I'm typing so fast right now because I'm so excited!!

Anyway, last week I got a package from Bell Plantation and if you have not been to this site before, go check it out. For those of us that suffer from the peanut butter addiction like Amanda posted about today, this might be what we've been looking for. PB2 is powdered peanut butter made by squeezing out the oil in peanuts. While I have yet to try mixing the PB2 powder with water to make peanut butter, I have been adding it to my oatmeal in the morning. It is so good and it smells great!! I'm planning on mixing it this weekend and trying it on sandwich. And the best part, a 2T serving has 1.87g of fat and 5.65g protein. This is one peanut butter I might let myself be addicted to!

Coach Jack

Even though I'm fairly new to running (I wonder how long I'll feel like that), I'm not shocked by how passionate I am about. When I find something I enjoy, it can consume my thoughts (sort of like crunch n munch) and I can spend countless hours thinking about it. I've been doing a ton of reading lately on all the different kinds of training runs, nutrition, recovery, etc. all in hopes of becoming not only a better runner, but a smarter runner. I want to be doing this for a long time and I know I haven't even skimmed the surface with all there is to know about the sport. And to be honest, it's all a little overwhelming for an activity that just involves your feet! Sooooo I decided to hire a running coach...his name is Jack! I am SO excited about this and can't wait to get started. Since he's local, it turns out he's training other Lone Rangers for 20in24 as well. It will be so nice to go through this training with some other people and then have them right there along side me on race day. There's some paperwork I need to get out of the way and some general planning, then we'll start up with the coaching on April 1st.

In other news, I did a number on my back today at the gym lifting. I need to get home, take some Advil and put a heating pad on. That and a good night sleep and I should be good to go for an early morning run tomorrow!

Paying the Piper

I'm totally paying the price for yesterdays activities right now. It was a great time although I could have been better with what I ate. I actually didn't eat during the day (because we were too busy trying all these different beers) so by the time we ate, I was starving and a little tipsy!! Not a good combination. Oh, I'll just say there were nachos and fries involved and they were delicious. I never let myself go like that, so I'm trying not to beat myself up over it, but I am going to go struggle through a workout right now in an effort to repair some of the damage.

The other day I opened one of my Motley Fuel bars. I tried the Original which was a hearty bar!! With 334 calories, 18g fat, and 10g protein, this would definitely fill you up. I only sampled a bite but Andy was happy to finish it off. He really enjoyed it and like the molasses taste. While I thought the bar tasted good, it was a little dry and hard. I personally wouldn't look to this for a pre/post workout snack, but it would definitely work for lunch or breakfast on the go.

Ingredients: organic peanut butter, organic molasses, local honey, organic oats, organic cranberries, organic coconut, organic sunflower seeds, organic raw almonds, organic flax seeds

In running news, training starts on Monday for my 20in24 run as a Lone Ranger. I was looking at the schedule the other day and there is a 31 miler on there. What did I sign up for?? At least we only have 1 more month of house renovations (we need to move in exactly 1 month from today) so after that I'll have some more free time on the weekends.

TIaRT - Only In Running

I haven't participated in Runners Lounge TIaRT in a while but today's topic was easy for me! The theme is "Only in Running..."

Only in running do you pass up every single Friday night fun activity so you can rest up for your Saturday morning long run. I used to live for Friday night Happy Hour. 4 pm Friday couldn't get here soon enough and plans were made by Wednesday of that week. It was a tradition and it's what got me through the week. Since running, my Friday nights consist of grocery shopping, eating chicken/brown rice/broccoli and going to bed early. While it's not very exciting, I love it and wouldn't have it any other way!

Now, with that being said, I'm well overdue for a day of debauchery so I'm taking tomorrow off to partake in some Philly Beer Week festivities. I'm heading out to celebrate Friday the Firkinteenth with some friends. We need to be in the city around 7am so I won't be able to get a run in and am thinking I'll miss Saturday, too. To make up for it, I got up extra early today and ran 7 miles on the treadmill. I may do a second light workout after work, but we'll see how the day goes. I'm also going to try this 7 minute workout that Bobbi posted tomorrow morning before we head out.

Tomorrow is the second weigh in for the Biggest Loser contestants. Since I'll be getting into trouble, I mean, not on line, I'll post results on Saturday. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Circuit Training

I decided to switch things up a bit at the gym this morning. Since I woke up early and got there right as they opened (5 am!!), I had some extra time to work out. Wednesday is usually a lift day, but I was really in the mood to run. So, I decided to do a circuit. For those of you who aren't familiar with circuit training, it's interval training in which strength exercises are combined with aerobic exercises. Therefore you get the benefit of both a cardiovascular workout and a strength training workout. I did the following circuit 3 times with no breaks in between and man, this really kept my heart rate up! I'm thinking this might be my new Wednesday workout.

Run 1 mile -- chest -- walking lunges -- shoulders -- leg extension -- back -- leg curls -- biceps -- abduction/adduction --triceps -- calves

I ran the first mile at 8:30, mile 2 at 8:15 and mile 3 at 8:00. After the 3 circuits, I did a lot of stretching and abs. I feel great right now, such a good workout!!

Oh, and I'm trying to pay more attention to what I eat, when. I typically don't eat before my morning workouts because it's just too early. But on days when I run, I feel a little sluggish. So I've been testing the waters with some food prior to the gym. Today I had 1/2 a banana before I went and the other half as soon as I got home. Followed by breakfast after I showered.

For those of you who get up early to work out, do you eat before hand? Any suggestions for something quick and easily digestible??

So Long Splenda

I really try to eat as natural as possible and have been in denial about my Splenda consumption for a while now. I honestly do think Splenda is a great invention and I love it, but I think I need to break the habit. On a typical day, I use a packet in my oatmeal, 2 in my coffee, 1 in my yogurt (I eat fat free plain Dannon). Some days I have a lot more. I know there are some side effects from consuming too much artificial sweetener, so I decided to cut it out completely for a week and see if I notice any difference in how I feel. This morning I used honey in my oatmeal and drank my coffee black. Not quite as enjoyable but I think I just need to get used to it.

On Sunday I grabbed one of my PureFit bars to eat while we were on the go all day. I took the Almond Crunch bar and I was NOT disappointed. Not only was it really good, but it totally filled me up! It had 230 calories, 6 g fat, 3 g fiber and 18 g protein. These bars do not contain dairy, wheat or gluten and will not melt. I honestly struggled to save a bite to get a picture of until I got home.

I also jumped on the green smoothie band wagon that's sweeping the blog world and made one from romaine lettuce, blueberries, wheatgerm and water. While it wasn't bad, I think I need to play around more with the flavors and add some variety of fruits. Surprisingly, Andy really liked it and ended up finishing it. I never thought he'd drink it! I'll definitely be making another one very soon.

I wasn't in the mood to workout yesterday after a hard day of work at the house, but I went to the gym anyway. I decided to do a variety workout since I wasn't really in the mood for one particular thing. I ran 2 miles, rode the bike for 15 minutes, then did the elliptical for 10 minutes followed by another mile on the treadmill. It really made the workout more enjoyable breaking it up like this, especially since I wasn't in the mood to be there. Since my back is pretty sore from working, I decided to take today as a rest day. Haven't had one in a while so I figured now was a good time.

Lots of Goodies

The weather has been great here lately! We actually hit 72 yesterday and it almost felt hot out!! I got in a nice 14 miler yesterday with a good hill workout. I'm heading to the house now to do some work outside since it's going to be nice out again and am hoping to get another run in this afternoon. Since I've run every day for the past few days, I'll take tomorrow off from running and save my squat Sunday for then.

Check out all these goodies I received to sample. I'm going to be a busy girl, and eating a lot apparently. I'll post reviews and more info about them as I get through some of the stuff. Oh, and the YouBar I sampled the other day, that was just half of the bar, I ate half before I took the picture. So it's not that small, Natalie!!

First up, Motley Fuel (a local Philly company). "Motley Fuel is an energy bar made from local and organic ingredients that can be tailored to your taste and is fresh made in small batches."

Next, a variety of Clif products. I've never tried any of the Luna products so I'm really excited to test out the nutrition products geared towards women.

And finally, PureFit nutrition bars. PureFit "was named 'Nutrition Bar of the Year' by Bike Magazine." They don't contain dairy, wheat, gluten, artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, trans fats or hidden carbohydrates.

Oh, and I've read about a bunch of you trying the Green Smoothie Challenge. I'm going to make one today, can't wait to try it!

Chatty Kathy

First off, since it's Foto Friday over at Nikemom, I decided to post some pictures of why I'm so stressed right now. I spent the morning loading a garage and living room full of trash into a dump truck. Below is our new house! We're scheduled to move in before April 14th...*fingers crossed*

Powder Room

Kitchen

Living Room/Dining Room

I asked my Dad what people do who don't have a Dad with a big truck and he said they pay someone to do this for them. That sucks. I'm glad my Dad has a big truck. ;-)


Next up, I broke into a YouBar today. I needed to grab something since I knew I would be on the go most morning so I took the Breakfast bar along with me. This bar had 150 calories, 1g of fat and 8g of protein. I could really taste the cocoa and cinnamon, which I personally loved. There are also coffee crystals in it, which I thought was a nice touch. Overall, I have to say I really liked it. When I saw the main ingredient was dates I thought it might taste like a Larabar (which I don't really like) but it was much better than those in my opinion! Here's a picture of the bar, which I was eating with my daily carrots.


Today was weigh in day for my biggest loser contestants. Everyone did really well. We had a terrible week of weather here so I know that made it hard for everyone to get out an exercise, but we still had some losers. The biggest loser for the week was Jeanette who lost 2.59% of her total body weight. I'm so proud of these girls!!

Now as for the important stuff...running. I ran 6 miles this morning and felt great despite the glass of wine last night which made me feel terrible this morning. I mean, seriously, one glass? I'm getting old. We ran under 9 min miles, which I'm happy with but I'm finding I can run a lot faster on the treadmill than I can outside. Why is that?? Tomorrow is 14 miles and while Sunday is suppose to be squat Sunday and no running, I think I'm going to have to get a run in since it's going to be so warm out.

Sorry for the long all over the place post. Lots to talk about today!! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

YouBar!!

Check this out...Samples from YouBar!!

(Vanilla Dream/Blended Bliss/Breakfast shake protein powders, Most Awesome Bar, Great Date with Chocolate Bar, Breakfast Bar and Honey Cashew Bar)

For those of you who have never heard of these, they are customizable nutrition bars that let the consumer choose the ingredients. From their paperwork, "You Bar gives consumers the opportunity to choose what goes into their bar and their bodies. By visiting http://www.youbars.com/, consumers can follow the easy step-by-step process to choose each preservative-free, natural ingredient to create their own made-to-order nutrition bar." They also make customized protein shakes.

While I'm dying to break into these bad boys, I'm going to hold off until the weekend. I can't wait to try one of the shakes!!

Carbohydrates

I've always tried to limit the amount of carbs I ate for fear of them making me gain weight. With the marathon training though, I really made it an effort to consume more, especially at dinner when I would usually have none. Since I've been studying, I've been reading a lot about how much we need of each nutrient, and I'm curious to see if I'm getting the carbs I need. The recommended carbohydrate intake in gram weight is 4 to 6 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight (1.8 - 2.7 grams per pound).

So, here's what I've had today:

Oatmeal w/ wheat germ, blueberries, skim milk/water - 40
Skim milk - 12
String cheese - 6
Grapes - 58
Almonds - 3
Salad w/ chicken, walnuts, 1/4 c beans, 2 T avocado - 13.4
WW wrap - 10
Apple - 20
Carrots - 10
Bulgar - 30
Banana - 27
Chicken - 0
1/2 Sweet potato - 24
Green beans - 10
Yogurt - 16
Wheat biscuit - 19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EQUALS ~ 298 grams carbohydrate

My recommended range is 257 - 386 so it looks like I'm doing ok. With the amount of running, I could probably use some more, but at least I know I'm getting what I need.

Sorry for the boring post but I've been meaning to do this for a while and I thought the info might help my biggest loser contestants.

If anyone has any suggestions of some healthy carbs, feel free to share them!!

Snow Day

Finally, we're getting some substantial snow! Woke up this morning to a few inches with more to come so I decided to work from home. I made it to the gym and it was so nice. There were only 4 of us in there! Got a nice 7 mile run in and now I'm home, showered, back in my pjs and doing some work. I can't decide if hot chocolate or a glass of wine sounds better for this snowy afternoon. I won't have either, but they do sound good.

They posted pictures from the Frostbite 5 miler and I had to share this one. I've mentioned before that I have a hard time buying clothes because I *think* I wear a bigger size than I actually do. Case in point, check out this picture. I refused to by the size small running tights because there is no way I'm a size small. So I opted for the medium, which are forever falling down. I literally pull them up to my boobs and tie them really tight. Well, after seeing this picture, I think I decided it's time to buy a smaller pair. Nice front load I got going on...