2 a days and Cooking with abs!!

Happy Monday Guys!

Last week I was in Florida for Thanksgiving. I maintained my mileage almost getting 70. It's not hard to do when you are bunking with 11 family members, Haha...I did a 2 a day last week and asked my coach to work a few into my schedule this week.

So today I did 7 miles in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. The 3 sounds like a joke. I didn't even count it as running...beforehand that is. Well, we all live and learn so I have a few pointers on 2 a days.

2-a-day pointers

*Check the conditions. This morning it was 28. This afternoon 70. I was not dressed quite appropriately. I had lip sweat by mile 2. WTF?

* Don't forget, even 3 miles is still running. So eating 20 proteins in a protein bar and a turkey sandwich on your way out the door is a NO-NO. Especially, if you're like me and run on an empty stomach. I was green by mile 1.

*Force a slower pace if it's just mileage. Or drop the pace 20 second a mile and be a dork like me. 

* And get ready to be punked by the endorphin gods. Just when you get into your happy space, all warmed up it's then time to stop. Booooo. 

For housekeeping here is last weeks schedule:

Monday: 7 on a treadmill. don't ask. horrible

Tuesday: 9 @ 7:28 in the AM and 4 @ 7:42 in the PM

Wednesday: 3 x1000, 4x400 inside of a 9 miler. clung to 6 flat and mid 80's. 

Thursday: 9 @ 7:14 pace

Friday: 9 @ 7:15 pace

Saturday: 7 @ 7:16 pace

Sunday: 15 @ 7:15 pace

Also, a huge add on is that I go the the gym everyday after I run for 45 min to an hour for either core or upper body strength. And I do not eat refined sugar. Except for pasta and bread. 

So get ready for it!!!..Cooking with Abs!!!

haha, I am a self proclaimed dork and this is the dumbed photo ever but holy bageezus, do you see em??!! Those are "late day" abs. The most coveted of all abs. This is not your typical wake up dehydrated abs. This is full belly abs!! Wooooohooooo! (lol)

So, apparently the key to the lean look is:

*70 road miles a week

*6 hours in the gym a week

*no sugar

I'm thankful I can enjoy every second of it!

Well, party on peeps. If you have anything bad-ass going on I'd love to give you a shout out. I love hearing motivating stories.

Have a great week and happy training!

Laura

Abs with a gun show...I just like saying that...

Hell to the YA. Word to your Mutha. My new improved ab routine is working! To you it's probably the same ol sh*t but I swear I'm on the cusp of ab greatness!

Look Ma, something! lol and as the Instagram'ers say: no filter. ha

So you may be thinking, wow Laura obviously skipped the sodium fest that is a bowl of ramen noodles last night. Well, contrar. I have a few new ab exercises. I changed out the bosu for the large stability ball for a greater range of motion. And I added leg lifts:

Here's the video that got me thinking of this exercise. THIS girl rocks!

It's not the most flattering video but I saw the same video by a girl on Fb about a year ago and thought, damn. I wish I could do that. I'm sure my form is crap or there are newbie mistakes but I'm a work in progress!

I think the core and upper body strength stuff I have added is working to make my run stronger. More on the gun show later (haha)...

Have a great weekend!
Laura

I'm 1 stomach flu away from a 6-pack

Haha. No, not really. I need some pump! I'm getting there this time. I have changed up my ab routine and now it's done in the gym. I don't know about you, but my ab exercises are done with much better form knowing that others are around. At home, my form suffers and things like leg lifts look like some sort of fetal position leg spasms. Meanwhile, playing 10 games of Words with Friends..aye! (username:1fastfrey) <-----

I've been planking more and using the stability ball more than the bosu. In addition, I'm not eating refined sugar so I hope to look the part of the badass that I want to be someday....

ha

Running gear in the cup holder only means one thing!

It's Marathon Training Time!!

Booty shorts in the cup holder (yes, clean!) Means it's Marathon training time! It's like I need to have gear ready to go at all times. Despite running religiously at 7:40am every friggen day. lol

 

21 weeks till Boston!!! Here's how my week has gone:

Monday: 8 miles 7:42 pace followed by 5x20 second pick ups.

enter---new hat!

Tuesday: 8 miles of hills @ 7:49 pace VERY cold, no hat. I could not move.
Wednesday: 9.5 miles. 2 w/u then 6 miles of fartleks at 6:30 pace and 10 min cool down. whole run 6:55 pace
Thursday: 6 miles at 7:15 pace
Friday: 8 miles at 7:15 pace
Saturday: 7 miles at 7:06 pace
Sunday: will be 14 with the last 4 descending.
total: 61 miles 

PS I went to the gym after 5 of these runs and strength trained for an additional hour. abs one day and upper body the next. I feel much stronger!!







Just because I'm a total dork and like to make you laugh I attempted to get a side plank photo in the mirror....FAIL!

Have a great long run if you're running long tomorrow!!

xo Laura

Strength Training and No Sugar

PRE strength training. CLEARLY!

Hello my Dears!

I am so pumped to go sub 3 at Boston that I have made some changes. Not just for Boston, but because I want to for me.

1. No more refined sugar. It's been 2.5 months and this former chocoholic has had no sweets, nothing refined. Only naturally occurring sugar. More on that later.

2. Strength training. I have a lifting schedule. Yes, it's great for me and my running but I am b-lineing for one thing: The gym self photo in the mirror with ripped up tri's! C'mon..isn't that what it's all about??!

NO REFINED SUGAR!

So, my friend Allison talked me into a sugar free September and I never stopped. I started out eating zero grams of refined sugar. To compensate I ate fruit. Lots of fruit. Like $10+ a day of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries. That mellowed out after a week. It was too expensive to keep eating so much.

Then it became stressful because everything has refined sugar. Pasta, bread, gu, sports nutrition, all cereal but shredded wheat. I looked at my kitchen and could not eat a damn thing. I had to have special stuff. Gluten free rice pasta, Think Thin protein bars...but I took the time and figured it out.

Now, it's easy. I just don't eat anything with refined sugar EXCEPT pita bread and pasta. They have 2 grams. I hated the rice pasta and I eat sandwiches daily so for my lifestyle this worked. In the end, I'm a runner and need carbs and pasta. I can't say for sure but I can guess my performance would drop without the carbs I get from pasta and bread. And I'm freakin' Italian! Mangia mangia!

 I would never in a million years think of a pastry. Initially, I bought sugar free candies but as time went on the sweetness was overwhelming and I stopped buying them.

No weight lose. I didn't want to lose weight but I'm surprised I didn't lose anything. In the end it's all about calories and I have been eating nuts and cheese like a crackhead locked in a Pepperidge Farm outlet store.

But I think I'm not as puffy. I rarely get food babies. It is slowly helping my abs. And moreover, I feel sooooo much better!!

STRENGTH TRAINING!:

So my super awesome coach Eric who trained me for my 3:02 is in agreement to PUMP IT UP! He gave me a lifting schedule that is done after I run a few days a week. It's a lot of fun and because I have twig arms I can already see results a week later. Woohoo!

Here are some pics:

in pursuit of the self pic at the gym

wasting time in the gym....I need to work on not slacking betw sets.

I'm going to do one more blog on FOOD! Stand by...

LaBella!

Pacing Polooza!

I'm slacking bad on my blog but have sooooo much to say! I'm going to crank out a few posts now to catch up. Typically, I like good pics for my blog. Because I love YOUR pics and it keeps my ADD satisfied.  Lord knows my focus is limited. lol.

So this last month I've paced two half marathons. The Ramblin' Rose Women's Half and the City of Oaks Half. Both were evil mutha's with over 750ft of elevation. Clearly, the reason I paced and didn't race. haha. I did the 1:40 and 1:45 groups.

I love pacing! It's probably my favorite thing to do running related. I love watching people kill it and try so hard. Here are some things I've learned to keep people going:

*Talk. Talk a lot. Tell stories. Distract.
*Keep the splits even and share that info. People love knowing the pacing is even. It reassures them that you are competent.
*If the last mile does speed up, don't say it. It becomes an instant stressor.
*Yell loud, make the spectators yell too. It keeps everyone happy and pumped to hear shout outs.
*Hold hill clinic on the hills. Partly, for humor and partly because IT'S A NO HEEL STRIKING ZONE! ON YOUR TOES!!
*Warn of photographers and kindly remind others to straighten up and suck it in and wipe that nose!

Here are some pacing pics from those races

City of Oaks Half 1:45 group. A huge group!

getting a little crazy here. lol

My fab co-pacer Kim!

co-pacer and training partner Dan at Ramblin' Rose

This awesome lady was working through nausea here.To a big fat PR! 

Poser

These 2 races ended my unscheduled, run whatever the hell I want time period. Now this grasshopper must focus!! BOSTON 2013 Bitches!!!! Structure, tempo, long runs and a few tweaks. Here we go!!

xo

Laura