Mantras and Miles

I don't know about you all, but I am a big fan of the Runner's World email I get pretty much every day. I don't read it every single day or every single article, but there are frequently some pretty good ones. Today's article "The Magic of Mantras" was particularly good for me right now.

I don't know why I didn't already think of creating a running mantra for myself (or several) seeing as I have many that I've been using lately in normal life—favorites include: 'Fake it 'til you make it,' 'Keep on keepin' on,' and 'You will get through this.' So far, they've been doing very well for me. As such, prior to today's anticipated 5-miler (Helen's and my longest run together to date), I used Runner's World's list in the article and settled on: "Run strong. Be bold."

Sidenote: Why do mantras always sound kind of hokey except for when they're in use and need them?

But I digress. As we set off for our windy run, I felt pretty good about my choice and Helen and I settled into a nice, slow pace to make sure her ankle stayed in the game. I must say, lining up "Run strong, be bold" with my footfalls for the last two miles did make a difference and we ended our run with roughly a 12 min/mi pace, despite the Mistrally wind we encountered throughout the run.

I'm really excited about having a 12 min/mi pace as our "slow/LDR" pace because even at that pace, we won't get picked up and kicked out of the half marathon in April! :) Theoretically, we get paid tomorrow, so Helen and I will finally be able to register for the half so that'll be taken care of.

As for tracking today, I did good on points and clocked in at 33P+ for the day, including some red wine. Only in France does one find a not-horrible 1,75€ bottle of Bordeaux. Just saying.

Tomorrow, my goal is to get out those resistance bands and do one of the P90X DVDs as well as squeeze in another run in the morning (if possible).

Question: Do you guys use mantras when you run? What keeps you pushing yourself to the limit and makes you keep going when you're out there on your long, tough runs? I know we all love running, but sometimes it's just not fun. It's hard work!

Another good pace and a new blog layout :)

Today, Helen and I had another run planned--this time a 3-miler. It seems the warm weather is beginning to slip away (much to my dismay) and, this morning, I started off the run wishing I'd brought a pair of gloves.

The whole training partner/quick workout setting on Mr. Garmin is really starting to grow on me. The only downside is that he stops at the exact mileage. Next time, I'll have to see if I can get him to start and continue on next time just to see how it would work if I wanted to run longer. Since Sunday's 12:15 pace was too slow, this time, I decided to plug in 11:30. I knew that my last run felt good at 11:21/average, but I didn't want to set to high goals for both of us, what with never running that fast on any of our runs together to date.



As you can see, we averaged out at a great 11:09/mi pace. To be fair, we did take about a 5 minute walk in the middle because Helen's ankle was hurting (I turned off the Garmin so it wouldn't count to our 3-mile workout). After that break though, she pushed on like a trooper and said she was glad she did. If training keeps going like this, we might have to re-evaluate our half goals a few months from now! I'm so excited!

In other news, I spent a bit of time this afternoon re-vamping the blog's look! I've noticed over the past couple of days that I seem to be getting more hits than usual (I'm excited), but I realized that the old appearance was kind of bland and I hadn't heard from any of these new people (Don't lie, everyone likes comments). I'd also been wanting to do an "About me" and an "About the blog" section like I'd seen on so many blogs. Part of me feels bad because my blog is all over the place and not super focused. Then the other part of me reminds myself that this is, in fact, my blog, so I shouldn't sweat it.

Regardless, what do you all think of the new layout? I'll admit, I totally made the new header using Mac's Preview, Screen Capture, and PowerPoint. Talk about working with what you've got, right? :-P Have a great day!

Woo! Race pace! I think?

I don't know where this freakishly warm weather has come from the past few weeks, but I'll take it. Honestly, today felt a tad cold, though my widget says it was 57º, but that gives you an idea of how much sun and 60º weather we've had lately. I'm loving it.

Saturday was supposed to be our long run day, but a mile in, Helen's ankle was really hurting, so we ended up walking back and detouring through town instead. It was still bothering her on Sunday, so she insisted that I go ahead and do the run myself. This gave me the golden opportunity to finally listen to the new Girl Talk album I'd downloaded. I first heard about it from Bitch Cakes and went ahead and downloaded it, but it wasn't until my friend Dennis mentioned it recently that I finally started listening. Like Sheryl said on her blog, it's PERFECT for running. If you listen to music when you run, download it for free here.

I'm not sure if it was the weather or the music, but yesterday's run was great. I've just recently started playing with Mr. Garmin's pace partner feature, so I went ahead and picked an easy 12:15/mi pace for my long run and off I went. I quickly saw that the 12:15 was going to be too slow, so I just switched to a different view that didn't tell me how far ahead I was and kept on going. Somehow, mile 1 happened in 11:04 and felt really good so I just kept at it... I know that long runs are supposed to be slow, but 4 miles isn't particularly long, so I decided to just go with the good feeling and ended up with an average 11:21/mi pace! I haven't done that since October! I'll admit that Mile 4 was difficult and that I did stop for about 5 seconds a few times, but I can already tell a huge different in my heart rate in comparison with last week!

The best part of this run? If I keep up like this, I'll definitely be able to finish the half in under 2:45:00! I need to go in and tweak the training plan a bit after talking to Christina, but I'm feeling really good overall. Now if only I could motivate myself to do some strength workouts at my apartment! I bought those bands and haven't used them at all! Tsk tsk, Nicky!

Anyway, I'll upload the stats from the run when Garmin Connect is loading properly. :)

Run 2 and a Roast Dinner: Successful Sunday!

It's true when they say that the hardest thing about getting back into something is doing it again for the first time. Helen and I met up "early" (for a Sunday) for our "long" run for the week. Since we're just getting into it and our official training isn't going to start until Tuesday, we figured 4 was fine. Today was also in the 50s and I started out with a jacket but ended up tying it around my waist.

We tried to go a lot slower to keep a more even pace since this was our long (and thus slow) run and stopped for water every mile. Next time, we're going to aim for every 2. It's really hard to build back up, knowing that 2 months ago I ran 10 miles with maybe 2-3 water breaks. Just goes to show how fast it goes. If you don't use it, you lose it, is definitely true!

Here are the stats for our run:




As you can see, the HR was up really high (for me)--I'm looking forward to my body getting used to running again so it'll go back down. So uncomfortable. We also ended up going for an extra half mile since mile 4 felt so good.

After such a successful run, Amy and I hit up Les Halles (the market) to do the shopping for our Sunday Roast Dinner. We stopped by our favorite produce stall and then went back and visited the butcher from whom we'd bought our Thanksgiving Turkeys in order to get the chicken. He was very pleased when I informed him that his turkeys had been such a hit. Our dinner was lovely and full of fresh roasted vegetables. Aside from the oil (and actual duck fat Amy used for the potatoes) it was REALLY healthy too. Well, aside from the king cake.

Amy and I even learned how to truss a chicken!
Massaging poultry is apparently a specialty of mine after Turkey day
Success!
My lovely British girlfriends (I'm going to go stay at their houses in the UK in February! We booked the trains today! Woo!
A finished photo of Wayne the chicken
Look at all those veggies: braised leeks and zucchini, roast potatoes, steamed carrots, honey parsnips
Galette des rois (King Cake) we got a "frangipan" one
Rosie got the "feve" or the little figure. I didn't know that they did this for the New Year in France. I wonder if they do it for Mardi Gras too like we do at home?
Lovely day with lovely people AND with a good run in the morning. What more could you want? Oh wait, to not have to walk home in this downpour:


Oh well! Great day nonetheless and BONUS one of my very best friends (Chris) gets here tomorrow to visit! Yay! She's never been to France (or Europe) so I can't wait to show her around!

A Running Buddy!

After a bit of a lie in this morning to recover from last night's Christmas party (more on that later), I opened up my trusty laptop to check the weather and look at what I found:


Yes. You're seeing that right. Out of nowhere it is apparently Fall again in Avignon. This weekend with Judith we were freezing (literally 33ºish plus wind) and then today BAM! it almost feels summery. As such, it was a PERFECT day for a run and to get out of the house. My friend Helen and I have been trying to get together and start running and today turned out to be the perfect day. Since this was our first time running together (and I'm still a bit out of shape after my month off), we aimed for a nice 3-mile run and here were our stats:



I'm really pleased with that since my HR was up pretty high and we still managed to enjoy ourselves. We also stopped to take some photos to show how pretty it was (and prove that it was tank top weather... see? I had to take off my long sleeved shirt!)



This is a view of one of the paths I run on from the bridge above. Yay riverside running :)

We're planning on running again on Friday (and possibly again Sunday). We both run at around the same pace, so 3x a week W/F/Sun seems like a great idea and we can build up more mileage together. Operation get me out of my apartment and stay on track with WW seems to be going smoothly for the most part! :)

10!!!

WOO! Big news! I was going to post about how I was displeased about my eating this week and how I resolve to do better this week, but then yesterday happened! What happened, you ask? Well, yesterday was my FIRST double digit run!!!! I set out to hit 9 miles in training, but I felt so good that I pushed all the way to 10! I'm really surprised because I spent all day being lazy in pajamas and REALLY had to work to pull myself off the couch to do this run, which is why it ended up happening at sunset.

Autumn is finally "bien installé" (very present) here in Avignon, as can be seen by the enormous amount of Mistral wind we've been having the past few days. The Mistral is a particularly southern/Provençal wind that can blow consistently for a day or for weeks... Very fun. As such, I have already bought gloves and and ear-covering headband that I feel like I'll have to start using soon! Yesterday's run was the first one with my winter tights and I'm very pleased that they cut the wind really well. I'll definitely need to get another pair because wearing the same pair 3x a week is going to be a bit difficult. Although sometimes it felt like I was running against a wall of wind, I think the cooler temperature did help me a bit on this run. Anyway, here are the photos from the run! One great part of having Claire with me is that she gets to be the official photographer on our excursions and I just get to keep on running!

Running around the Ile as the sun sets = gorgeous

Apple orchards... We borrowed a few apples... I doubt they'll be missed


I'm running so fast I'm a blur! (Har har)
On the way home... Sunset over the Rhône and the palais des papes

Mile 10 was a lot slower because I paused to play with this vicious beast. I miss Sahara.
WOO! 10 miles!
See? Mr. Garmin has the proof (plus some extra walking!)



I felt great after the run, and I'm really pleased with the splits, since I made myself slow down in the beginning so I could have a more consistent pace. The only downside today is that my left knee REALLY hurts a little bit underneath it on the outside, so I'm definitely going to have to start doing the exercising again! As long as I can run pain free, I'm feeling REALLY good about next month's half marathon! I can't believe how far I've come!

Oh, and aside from running, here's me a bit more cleaned up at a really classy bar in town for Rosie's 21st birthday! What a great get together! It felt like all of the assistants who live in Avignon were there!

Jess, Me, and Rosie all dressed up!
More later! Tomorrow's lesson with the kiddies is on Halloween, so I hope it goes well!

First "Mini-Weekend"

I'm continuing to get settled in and to attempt to develop a regular schedule. So, my schedule in France is pretty sparse so far, meaning that I only teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, leaving me with a weekend in the middle of the week. As a result, I'm going to try and use that time to finish my grad school applications (already turned on in to Vanderbilt), read up on the subject I'm proposing to study, and to get a good amount of running and training in for the race.

Monday was my first day at school and I can honestly say I think the kids really liked me (see photo). I taught my first lesson on the USA and its states. We listened to the song "50 Nifty United States" and then played US State bingo. With my older kids, it was a hit, but, since I didn't know I was going to have the K-3 level kids at my second school, I wasn't really prepared for them. I'll be better next week.
During rainy recess, my CM1 (i.e. 5th grade) kids drew this on the board for me. I have a few photos of them all posing with their art, but I don't really feel right about putting their photos on the blog.
Yesterday was my day off, and I'm not going to lie, I did lounge around quite a bit. After the strikers woke me up from my daze, I did convince myself to get in the 5 mile run I'd set out to do yesterday.

Yesterday was a national strike in France. One thing to know about French people is that they are very active when it comes to striking and protesting. Here's a quick shot from my bedroom window as the "grêve" (strike) passed by, singing, chanting, and yelling. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I don't actually know what they were striking about.
Here's the run. This is the same area I ran on Saturday, only today's run was shorter (and by myself). It was a beautiful afternoon and I had to keep reminding myself to really enjoy and take in the scenery rather than to just focus on the run. It's just so pretty here.




Did you see these splits? I just want to make sure you see that they're all sub-12-minute/mile splits. For a 5 mile run. This is definitely a new personal best there. I shaved around 2.5 minutes off my average 5 mile time (I believe). I'm pretty excited. Also, on a sidenote, I'm REALLY happy I bought the water belt. I know it probably makes me look like inspector Gadget when running, what with my garmin, my ipod, and now a belt, but it's so nice to have out here, especially since there's absolutely no where to get water on the island.

Remember how I said how pretty it was here? Here are a few photos I snapped on my phone during the run. I need to go back and get some of these with my real camera... once I find a converter so I can charge it.

Here's the path next to the Rhône river I was running on on the ile. Up ahead is the bridge I use to cross over from Avignon to the Barthelasse.
Avignon's two most famous monuments: the Pont d'Avignon (I'm sure some of you have heard the song, right?) and the Papal Palace. I really wish I'd had my real camera for this photo.

Me. Post run in the elevator back up to the apartment. Yes. After running 5 miles, I did stoop to taking the elevator home. Oh well. PS, see what I mean about inspector gadget?
Oh, and to add, two photos from Claire's phone from our outing (my run/her bike ride) on Saturday:

Taking the ferry over to the island for our exploring fun run over there.
Claire decided to bike ahead and get my photo while running. I think this actually might be the first anyone's ever taken of me (aside from the ones you have to buy from race photographers)

Well, there you go. I'm so glad Mr. Garmin didn't give me any trouble uploading this particular run. I was SO freaked out when I thought he was broken... I don't know what I'd do without him!

Oh, and last night, I went with some of the girls to the CUTEST restaurant I've been to in Avignon: Ginette & Marcel's. While the one lady was really bitchy to us, we had a great time at this tartine restaurant. Definitely click on the link and check out the photos. It's the most adorable and quaint place. I got a smoked salmon/cream tartine and a small slice of chocolate/pear tart. Very reasonably priced and delicious. Can't wait to take any of my visitors there when they come to see me in Avi!






Anyway, I'm off to run some errands. Tonight, Claire is taking me to go meet the landlords of the apartment. Woo. Have a great dayyyyyy! Happy Hump Day, all!