On the negative side, I think sharing food no matter what you share is going to dig you into a hole.   You’ll have someone thinking, wow she works out like that and eats that healthy?  Or wow, I could never run after eat a giant cheeseburger…

Then we get all preachy about how balance is key, you are only seeing a glimpse of my life and try to justify the food from a post.  It’s a lot more blog “political” to share food I guess.  

Personally I don’t feel the need to justify anything that I ate.  It’s no secret that I run around 70 miles weekly.  That post comes out every Sunday…it’s no secret that I’ve weighed 130 pounds for the last 3 years.  I don’t hide that either.  I haven’t lost weight nor have I gained weight.  I feel energized and my body reacts to runs how it’s supposed too.  I’m tired after hard days and I feel rejuvenated after rest days.

There are some days where I probably consume close to 5000 calories.  Why?  I don’t know, I like to go out to eat (some days for multiple meals because that is how my schedule falls…) and there are some days that I’m not hungry and in a deficit.  Ask anyone that I eat at a restaurant at, it’s no secret that I like salads a lot (like at me…good blogger technique!).

Some of my favorite meals to order at restaurants are meals I just have no skills in cooking/baking myself.  This means salads (they are always better…maybe because I almost always get two orders of dressings), eggs (I really enjoy omelets but cannot cook them…no skills), sushi and Greek food.  Those are just things I can think of off the top of my head.

Have I gotten crap for ordering a salad at a restaurant?

Yeah…all the time.  “Hollie, you just ran 10 miles and all you want is a salad”?  Yes, that is all I want right now.  In two hours I’ll want something else.

Have I gotten crap for ordering something because “I’m small”?

Yeah and that annoys me too…”Are you sure you can finish that young lady, it’s pretty big.”  Yes, I’m 100% sure.  Then when I do…oh wow I am so surprised you did…you are so small…where do you hide it.  I normally have a smart comment back like I hide it in the 10 miles I ran coming to eat here…

Just like in the real world, online there is judgment.   Personally, I’m tired of blogs that say “I’m not like the rest of the healthy living blogging world”.  I don’t care if I eat 20 pieces of cake…I still have yet to figure out who these blogs are that don’t say that because it seems a post like that comes out weekly.  There are quite a few blogs that have health issues relating to eating disorders but those aren’t blogs I chose to read.

Do you ever notice in the real world (the world outside of blogging) that people really just don’t care.  Rest days are not a big deal, not broadcasted and oh I’m taking a few days off…just because…I’m eating this piece of cake…just because.  I’m going out to eat with my friends and hanging out doesn’t merit 20 pictures and “I listened to my body which said I wanted a 1000 calorie piece of cheesecake” posts don’t exist.

So that is me on a soap box.  Personally, I enjoy sharing food…I’m very open and upfront with readers and people about my daily diet, running, racing, whatever.  That’s why I have a blog (because I can’t shut up).

Questions for you:

What are your thoughts on sharing food? 

What is your favorite recipe that even I might be able to do? 

Then on Wednesday like I said, I started feel sluggish.  My voice deepened and I realized I was getting sick.  I debated doing the race.  Using my proper blogger technique, I whined about being sick and said oh no I won’t do this race (when it wasn’t really a question that I would…sorry I already paid the 40 dollar registration fee).  If I was unable to breath at all or had a temperature I wouldn’t have, but I could breath, didn’t have a temperature by Friday night, I just sounded like a man and was congested.

So I got to the race and did a 2 mile warmup.  It felt like I had a million layers of mucus in my lungs but pretended to take deep breaths and made it to the start line.  I decided if I wasn’t able to race as fast I would like, at least look intense…so I ran in just a sports bra (I’ve done that in 3 races ever).

Since I was avoiding talking to a lot of people (being sick, I sound like a man), I just went to the starting line.  I saw a few friends and then started the race.

Bonus points if you can find me in this photo…

The first mile was pretty smooth.  It felt actually easy (I was surprised) and someone told me I was 7^th female overall and to start moving up.  I said we still have 4 miles to go not my time to shine and some other guy said all about the pace.  Right then (6:13).

The second mile I found managed to stay (and remain close) with a fellow local area runner Mike.  I don’t know why this mile was much slower (more tangents and turns? More talking?), I really haven’t the slightest clue.  I wasn’t feeling awful but wasn’t really like…oh today I’m going to the Olympics.  (6:31)

Mile 3 was the exact same way and by this point I had made my way up to 5^th place female.  When I passed 4^th place female, she said “oh shit”.  I don’t know if she realized how loud her music was or that I wasn’t wearing any but in typical instigator demeanor I tried to muster strength to look like I was cruising by as well as raise the roof as we both went by the water stop.  (6:32)

Mile 4 I had my sights on another female and I really started to drop the hammer.  Around mile 4, I saw the 3^rd place female way ahead in the distance.  I started to really try and pick it up.  This is where I could feel my lungs full of mucus.  Yummm.  (6:16)

It wasn’t until mile 4.75 I passed the 3^rd overall female but in a turn of events it became an ALL OUT 200 meter dash.  She crossed the line one foot ahead of me.  I was pretty bummed since it had been a clear outkick and I have always thought of myself to have a decent kick.  Unofficial results had us both at tied at 31:50 but had me in 3^rd and her in 2^nd.  Then when they announced official results and awards they had me in second with a time of 31:48 (must have been chip time). Oh and the last mile was 6:18 with my kick that dropped below a 5 minute pace for a few meters (which is a new speed record for me I think)…god knows I could only hold that for the 5 meters.

This race (as you can see) was actually extremely place driven race.  I won’t lie that I like to win things…I am competitive.  I sought out other ladies and tried to pass them (and I still don’t care about males so high school boys don’t grunt like I’m doing you a disservice by passing you).  This is a huge PR for me (12+ minutes) but I know if I wasn’t sick I could have been around 31.  I knew no matter what PR I would probably get, it wouldn’t be exactly what I had wanted because I was still recovering from whatever bug went around.

It was really a cool thing to have the race come down to the final meters for second overall.  I’ve had plenty of those experiences with swimming but never in a running race really.

Questions for you:

Do you have a good kick at the end?  Has it ever come down to the final meters for you?

Do you workout when you are sick?

I’ll do easy workouts unless I have a temperature, can barely breath or feel extremely weak.

So I bring you a very simple and awkwardly named savory crab waffle.  That sounds awkward typing out though but I sat here for quite some time and couldn’t think of a better name.

Besides my smoked salmon waffle, this has honestly become my favorite savory waffle to date (and in top 5 favorite waffle recipes).  I like it so much I’ve gone through all five containers of crab meat and will probably end up buying more…then complaining when I grow tired of it and once again have five containers of crab meat.

2/3 cup flour
1 cup water (I tried milk once and it tasted a bit odd to me, water actually tastes better in this case)
¼ feta or crumbly blue cheese
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
Spices I used: Old bay and garlic

Mix water and egg.
Add flour, spices and baking powder.  Add extra water if needed.  Add cheese and about ½ of the craned crab.  (Save the rest of the canned crab for topping).

Mix and pour on waffle maker.

Once done…top with more crab.

Questions for you:

Favorite seafood?

How do you get rid of things when moving?

Well for starters, I fully admit I haven’t exactly been doing anything well this week in regards to training.  My pace was off (ie: slower).  My speedwork wasn’t the greatest and I thought I was going into cardiac arrest during my runs…as my pace slowed.   Everyday during my run I thought about how I need to stretch and use my foam roller and everyday after my run I got sidetracked and then ended up being at work realizing I didn’t do it.

Awesome.

Most people will read that first paragraph and say, well why the hell did you keep running?  Just take time off…well it really wasn’t that bad…  

Meh, it was just an off week for me.  If I ran perfect runs every day of every week…I’d be the Olympic champion…in every single running related this.   I still got base building injury free miles in. While typing this is the morning and reflecting I also think I got some sort of head cold during the week which probably wasn’t helping.  I know it wouldn’t be helping.

Which I’m completely happy with regarding this week of training and everything else I had going on. 

The details of Wednesday’s workout are as followed.

It was supposed to be 90+ degrees and there was no way I was doing a tempo run at high noon in the heat with humidity.  So I decided to switch up my miles and do a 5.3 mile loop on trails around my house.  Then I came back and did 6.5 miles at a harder effort.  I knew while doing this workout I wasn’t feeling that great (I chalked it up to being in the AM) as I’m normally able to hold a much quicker pace (read 10 seconds faster per mile in hotter weather) but I mentally got through it.  Then did the PM miles just as easy, shakeout miles.  (instead of doing 10 easy in the morning when it was cooler and 6 hard in the afternoon when it was harder).

Regardless, this certainly wasn’t a highlightable week of training for me.  I think I’m partially under the weather though.  I got some solid cross training in and I’m hoping to be able to get to the pool this week…because right I have a 1 mile swim next Sunday.  Oh well time to move on…I’m becoming less sick and have no running races on the radar until a July 4^th 5k.

Next week I hope to get a long run in and speed workout.  Now that I’m getting over being congested, I can have a quality few weeks before my next race.

Questions for you:

Do you workout when sick?

I normally don’t but I just thought it was my usual change in climate (no humidity and cooler from Upstate…to hot and humid in VA)

Are you close with your father?

I am.  Happy Father’s Day to him!

Broccoli Slaw (makes about 8 servings)

*I doubled this recipe

Slaw:

1 package broccoli slaw

Small bunch of green onions cut up fine

2 cups sunflower seeds

1 cup sliced almonds

2 packages crushed Raman Noodles (I chose the oriental flavoring package)

Dressing:

1/3 cup rice vinegar

¼ cup sugar and ¼ cup truvia (you could use ½ cup sugar or ½ cup truvia if you wanted)

2/3 cup olive oil

1 packages of the reserved ramen noodle seasoning

Directions:

1. Put slaw ingredients in a bowl and mix.
2. Mix dressing ingredients in a separate bowl and stir well.
3. Pour dressing mixture into slaw mixture.  You can add some or all (I used about ¾ of it)

And that is that.  Super easy and super deliscous.

Question for you: What do you bring to pot lucks?  Do you have a signature dish? 

Well I suppose this counts as mine since people enjoyed it and it will probably be the only thing I’ll bring from now on…unless it’s a breakfast pot luck I guess.

You would think with all my socially awkwardness I would have more running humor stories to share with you.  First and foremost, I am the worlds biggest drama queen when I run.  I won’t run in rain, hail, sleet…snow, if I’m chilly.  A bug bite?  Must be a running related injury…so yes I’m a pansy but that is my running style.   I do have lots of real life embarrassing stories though…

Moving on: My most embarrassing running moment comes from my first year of running actually…when I did go for a run in the rain.  It was warmer fall day and the rain and it was sprinkling off and on…nothing too terrible (that year we got snow on Halloween).  I had decided I would rather run in that then the treadmill with creepy meat heads watching me so that is what I did.

I put on my shoes like a normal run and went out running (imagine that?).  I was wearing my first ever pair of Nike spandex (which I still have) and some sort of other white running singlet.  (First, what I was thinking, I don’t know).

How convenient, I actually have a picture of them. Go me for using good blogging technique.

So with that I headed over to the opposite university about 2 miles away for some trail running…you can probably see where this is going.  It wasn’t particularly raining at the time, just off/on sprinkles.

Mile 1.  Just over to the other college.

Mile 2.  Beefed it on a branch within a second of hitting the trails.  Mud on my face.  Mud on my shirt.  Mud on my butt…cute.  Mud on my shoes (ruined…just kidding). 

Do I continue running through the trails or go back home and shower before class?  (Which I notoriously always was the last person to walk into class).   Yeah I kept running…

Mile 3-5 were just in the trails still being muddy but there was no one back there thank goodness.

Mile 6.  Honk honk honk.  Hey mud monster go back to the cove!

In my mind: Gee thanks..it’s 11am are you drunk…mud monster…really?

Mile 7: Honk honk honk.  Dammm girl, I like a girl that can get muddy.

Me hollering back: And I like men that get arrested for sharing those thoughts with minors (no I was 20 at the time but can still pass for 17…it’s great).

After a quick shower (pretty sure I still smelled) I went to class.  It wouldn’t be an upper level math course filled with more socially awkward people without someone saying, Hollie was that you covered in mud 15 minutes ago…

Questions for you: Most embarrassing workout story?

Hollie, how do you run so much without being injured?

Well if you follow my blog regularly…you know I do get injured.   I have had one stress fracture, a ripped knee tendon, a cyst (not relating to running though).  The fact of the matter is, I am not always healthy as no runner is and I don’t recommend taking my advice solely.  Really I hate when people ask me for advice because I can’t tell you what has worked for me will work for you…

Here is my (very strict) training plan to run fast:

I really just enjoy this photo and it has absolutely no relevance…minus it’s a cat..running..

First post cyst injury, I haven’t really done any speed workouts that don’t consist of racing.  My speed workouts are racing.  I don’t go to the track.  I’ll do tempo runs at 7-7:20 pace and call that my speed…even though I race at below a 7 minute pace most of the time.  Heck, I haven’t even worn my racing flats during said tempo runs.  So yeah…speed workouts haven’t happened and I don’t really mind that.

Stretching…doesn’t happen a lot…though I wish I could tell you I was more consistent.

Being a member of planet fitness, I do use their hydrotherapy massage normally after I run on the treadmill.  Oh yeah, I don’t really mind the treadmill.  I don’t push the pace on the treadmill at all…It obviously isn’t hard to make yourself run faster on the treadmill.  You press a button.  When you feel like crap running outside, do you press a button to make yourself run faster than you should be?  Well maybe you do…but I don’t.

So with that I normally don’t really push the pace on the treadmill.  I’d rather be injury free than run 10 seconds per mile faster…who cares.

I also eat a lot.  I’m not going to really go into a big discussion about this…but if you don’t eat enough you will get injured.    You cannot be good at running and worry about how look in the mirror and if your thighs touch.  When you train high mileage…you must eat and yeah I just went there.

I also don’t really know how far or pace that I’ll run until I actually start running.  I don’t follow a plan and I don’t write exactly what I’ll do until it happens.  Every week I say, eh hopefully the week will be similar to last week.  That would be good and that’s that.  Do I schedule 10 miles run daily…no…they just generally happen.

So in short.

I don’t stretch.   I don’t do speed workouts (right now…I plan to when I start training for 5ks…maybe…)

I get hydrotherapy massages a lot from the gym.  (read: I run on the treadmill a couple of times weekly)

I follow a no plan stan.  Scheduling an exact: I will run 10.34859590 mile run on Tuesday and 11.23445 mile run Wednesday…well that isn’t my thing.

I like to eat.  I eat pretty healthy but I eat a lot.

Questions for you: What is your workout plan like?

Tensions were rising (at least in my head).

I literally stopped nearly in tears and said:  I hate dude running.  Take me to the car and I’m getting my ipod or I’m done with the run.  You can decide.

That is me in my drama queen moment at it’s finest.  No, he didn’t take me to the car.  No I didn’t get my ipod…I sucked it up buttercup and we finished 15 miles.  We chatted a bit more but only because the trail widened and we could.

And that was the end of the one fight we ever got into…all about dude running because I wanted to chat.

Come to think of it, that is literally the only serious argument that I can think of Tim and I have gotten into…

mmm…trails in Texas…

So with that introduction, I thought about the differences between male and females running together.  I really like to run with females a lot.  (Girl power!) I can talk about boy drama, girl drama, gossip…everything and generally other females are the same way (it obviously always depends on personality type too) but by in large the females I have run with will chat the entire run.  It’s fabulous and makes the miles go by so quickly.

I don’t have a lot of experience running with males.  I do know watching the dymanics a lot from cross country running or just watching men run together because I’m creepy…they less tend to chat.  Why run single file?  It’s like some sort of male code that we are all running a race and cannot chat (which chatting during races is “frowned” upon anyways…I would erm know…not).  But in my own personal observations of watching other men run together, they are not nearly as chatty or they might even run single file when completely unnecessary.

Not me.  I’ll run with females gossiping over drama over that any day.  

(Considering I’ve just told you I am more dramatic than a middle school female during runs, I know it makes you want to run with me)

Question for you:

Do you notice a difference in males working out together versus females?

Do you prefer working out solo, with others (male or female), or with large groups? 

Moving on, I fully enjoy cross country races.  I think they are far more fun then road races and I’d race more if they were offered…but they aren’t so I take advantage of the ones I can find.  This particular race is also a grand prix race for my road runners club so I mean I basically “have” to do it…After my half marathon before and my legs not feeling the absolute greatest, I knew this would not a PR for me.  I also knew you don’t PR is 100% humidity and you don’t Pr when you are running in a swamp.  I was completely fine with all of it and planned to use it more as a nice speed workout as well as pretending to have a social life.  And duh, I know I race every weekend and know not every race, half my races are a good percentage will be PR’s and oh look…I’m over it because I like to see my friends.

Like Ellie who is a 26 minute 5ker and 7 years old.  Let me just brag a bit about her because she is awesome.

Dad and I got to the race about an hour early where we were showered with a race number, ankle time chip and all that jazz.  I don’t know, it seemed like there were a lot of things going on.

I warmed up with the kids I used to coach last summer (and hope too this summer) and with a two mile warmup, I meandered down to the start.  I chatted with dad, some favorite locals and we started the race.

The first mile felt pretty smooth.  I didn’t encounter much mud and immediately noticed I was the 3^rd place female overall and my (14 year old) rival was about 30 seconds ahead.  I knew the first mile would be the easiest of the 3 (from last year and just continued).  My legs didn’t feel as bad as they had every single other run that week but didn’t feel stellar either.  (5:50).

After the first mile, I caught one of the females and the mud bath began.  The back trails were where I could not get any good footing and my feet kept sinking.  I had to physically avoid the mud on several courses and lost my rhythm a few times.  Honestly, if I had ran the course prior and realized this I would have probably wore spikes…oh well…I’m over it  (6:35)

The third mile I caught a couple more people and just kept running…I was never really physically in pain during this race.  I don’t know how to explain it but I was never breathing heavily or feeling like I was going into cardiac arrest and I’m not sure I reached my cardio limit.  My legs were just not allowing any faster though and I did a twins mile for 3 at 6:35 again.

I sprinted (just kidding I probably went the same pace) the grassy nole to the finish and finished in 19:27.  About 20 seconds faster then last year but I’m an overall faster runner in everything but the 5k from last year… Not my best 5k time, not my worst.  Just a nice cross country 5k.  I enjoyed the race a lot but for me personally, it wasn’t a race that stuck out to me either way.  I’m happy that it awoken my legs (and they feel a lot better than before the race) but still lusting after a consistent sub 19 minute 5k.

The awards were number one in heart though because they gave out a coffee mug tumblr. 

Questions for you:

Best race prize/swag?

I really enjoy mugs and glasses when they give them out but to be honest, medals are never a bad thing nor are trophies.  (I didn’t get trophies in middle, high, or college so it’s cool to get them at some road races).

I always like hearing people’s favorite race terrain.  Road, track, treadmill, cross country, dirt, sand…what is your favorite? 

Light beer and dark beer is like asking people if they like vanilla or chocolate ice cream then when giving a recipe just saying oh sub either or…they should both be equal…I guess.

So that is that.  These are rather simple (duh), I’m just bringing your attention to the fact that well…they do exist.  (As most of my recipes are…)

Light Beer Waffle

2/3 cup flour

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

6 ounces light beer (for some reason all I had at the time was bud light lime…so that’s that).  I guess they can be nicknamed the budlight waffles.

So there for you light beer fans who want a nice flavor boost.   I’m thinking next time you could add more mix ins.  The beer makes the pancakes more moist (as opposed to just adding water) and the taste isn’t strong or overpowering.  They are nice light and airy daytime boozy brunch cake.  I’m thinking next time I might add actual lime and see where that takes it.

Question for you: Favorite light beer?

I guess mine would be bud light lime but I blame that on one of my housemates from college really liking bud light.