December Days of Reflections and Hope

Patience is something that has never been easy for me. Always trying to be perfect and the best right away, never came to fruition the way I planned. Throughout my life, I would work extra hard for things that would come easily to others. In high school, I felt like I had to study more than people to get great grades in my AP classes. When becoming a teacher, the lesson planning seemed endless, as I desired perfection in my goals. Throughout my yoga teacher training, my genes and lack of knowledge on proper stretching made me feel inferior. This patience, or letting life take its course, can affect anyone’s self confidence and self worth. Nonetheless, with hard work and patience, we will end up exactly where we need to be in life.

Half Moon Pose- Ardha Chandrasana

This year, I finally took the plunge and changed my diet to fuel me through races. There is a direct correlation to after this switch of becoming a conscious pescatarian, that I have set a PR in the 5k, 5 miler, ½ marathon, and full marathon. This is my 9th year of running and although it took time for me to get into the swing, I feel better than ever. Although becoming a stronger runner did not happen overnight, it is helping me develop the tools needed to continue this growth! Joining the Conshohocken Running Club and running with others pushes me even more.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (See pantry on how-to!)

Sweet and Sour Acorn Squash (See pantry on how-to!)

Similarly, It is my 7th year of teaching high school and I’ve finally found a lesson plan format that is beneficial to me, as well as to the students. I’m finding that I am much more proactive planner- I can use bases of old lessons and objectives, but also be creative in keeping the material fresh and interesting. Students can log into my online site, Canvas, and everyday there is the objective, the warm up, tasks, assessment, and homework. Teachers, I highly recommend it. The speed grader has saved so much time- I can leave quality feedback and it is a more efficient way grade. I currently use the free version.

Click here for Canvas login.

As for yoga, while my original certification took place in 2009, I have been working to better my teaching this year by taking different classes with new instructors to learn more poses and life-changing teaching cues. I obtained another certification last year and now have a stable teaching schedule, based around my full time job as wife and history teacher. The yoga students I currently teach every Wednesday night are fabulous- and we are able to have some fun! A lot inner emotions and experiences come up on runs and in yoga classes. I see my body changing and growing, as I am advancing as a yoga instructor and well as practitioner. It is the continuous practice of developing the skills need to deepen a yoga pose that makes it rewarding when it finally occurs. Similarly, developing the proper tools to live a fulfilling and healthy life takes time, but when you can taste a feeling of accomplishment or success, it makes every minute, every hour, every year, every decade worth it. We may not have the best harvest each day, but the seeds we plant to develop that harvest; although they may take time to grow (and they will with some nutrients and care), will change our life, and hopefully one day, the world we live in. 

Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose

                               

Bird of Paradise. Here, I am working on straightening my leg and opening my shoulders. 

Love,
Jenn

Home Course- Philadelphia

 The Philadelphia Half Marathon is my favorite half of all time. It goes through the different neighborhoods like South Street and University City. The smell of beer oozes from the Fraternity Houses as they cheer you on (to which you are grateful and a tad jealous). Turning onto Market Street in the 5th mile ramps up adrenaline and the streets are lined with people everyone. The crowd giving you high fives, kids making noise and cheering on their parents, and holding those funny signs to keep you going.  At the 9th mile, there is a hill in Fairmount Park that forces you to drive exert energy in lifting your knees and focus on the flat circle that lies ahead. The end leads you right up to the Art Museum (and that .1 around Eakins Oval feels like the 12th mile all over again).

While the full marathon offers the beautiful East Falls Bridge and the party-town of Manayunk, the half is just perfect. Especially three weeks after completing a full marathon.

It was a beautiful day for a run. High socks, running shorts, a t-shirt or long shirt would suffice. However, around mile 2, I questioned if I had it in me. I felt...tired. By mile 5, I was shocked that I was actually on pace for breaking 1:50. When I reached the water station at mile 7 where some of my student-athletes volunteer for the water station, I knew I was good to go. After mile ten, I pushed positive mantras in my head, like “This is what makes you a runner, you are used to sore legs. There is only a 5k left, you can do it in your 5k split time. This is nothing like 26.2 miles, you got it!”

Running around Eakins Oval, knowing the end is near, the best feeling in the world is seeing the clock and knowing you broke your previous best time.

Eating more plants in my diet has contributed to this recent success in shaving off time. I feel better and stronger. I added a Spaghetti Squash recipe that is very easy and very healthy. I also had the same meal as I did for the Indianapolis Marathon- Butternut Squash Soup, a small side salad, some spaghetti and marinara, 2 pieces of bread...and a glass of wine! It worked again!

Spaghetti Squash Pasta with Pesto

-1 Spaghetti Squash

-2 or 3 garlic cloves

-3 cups packed kale

-1/2 cup hemp seed

-1tsp kosher salt or sea salt

-1/4 tsp ground pepper

-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

- 2 tbs lemon juice (1 lemon)

With Bell Peppers added!

Cooking the Spaghetti Squash- Set oven to 375 degrees.  Cut squash in half, clear out the seeds, and bake on a pan for about 40 minutes. Sometimes I put a little water or olive oil on the squash.

(While I am doing this, I often separate the seeds and bake them for about 8 minutes and put some salt on them. A delicious snack!)

I then make the pesto while the squash is cooking.

When the squash is done, just fork out the insides and it looks like pasta.

Making the Pesto: In a food processor add the oil, kale, hemp seeds, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Put the pesto in a bowl with the spaghetti squash and serve!

Indianapolis Marathon

3 months of training...for four minutes?!

While the world was waiting for the New York Marathon, I was lacing up my shoes, bundling up, and preparing to run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on November 1st.

Jeff Galloway!

The day before was windy and rainy, I was almost blown into the street! However, we were able to go to the Expo and learn about the course, as well as meet Olympian Jeff Galloway. He was there, signing books and discussing his walk-run program. I picked up a book on motivation and mental training.

We also stopped by the NCAA Museum to play some interactive games and quizzes on different sports. For dinner, we ate at Palomino, and we split a salad and a delicious butternut squash soup (keep eyes on a recipe soon, I’m going to be experimenting for a healthy and yummy homemade butternut squash soup recipe. Normally, I eat protein with pasta or bread, but this time I just had some capellini marinara. And a small glass of wine to celebrate my birthday.

Yum!

Cute idea for the kids before the race!

                                           

Maybe it was the wine, but I ran very well the next day. I felt really strong up to mile 20, when I slowed down. I used slogans like, “everyone’s legs are feeling the same way” and “It is the last 6 miles that make a marathoner!” to get me through. And some good music. I knew at mile 17 I was going to beat my previous time. This reminder, kept me going strong.

It felt so good to beat the time I've been stagnant at for two years. I did it by four minutes. Baby steps to get where I want to be! Eating well this month was key to success and it's important to keep it up as I develop into the winter training season.

Indianapolis is a cool city! We enjoyed our stay at the Omni Severin and loved the atmosphere on Georgia Street. We also loved this local cafe for breakfast: Cafe Patachou.

Eating and Breathing though training

-Every step toward your dream today is a step from your regret tomorrow-

Dr. Steve Maraboli

Lately, I have been trying to change my running and fitness outlook in order to be a stronger and faster runner.

The first thing that I have radically changed is the way I eat. My good friend, Kelly Strogen is a nutritionist (you can find her work and her blog here. Most health care plans cover several visits to a nutritionist). Currently, I am calculating what I eat to try to maintain the proper amount of whole grains, fruits, veggies, dairy, protein. I’m also involved in a program through the blogger Sherrie-Scaglione Castellano, who promotes a more green diet and was named the best health food blogger in Be Well Philly.  With Food and Love is a great resource for recipes and wellness. While I ate some pizza (about 3 slices) on Sunday night, I’m working to feel better in my body to run better.

While I enjoy practicing and teaching yoga, as well as recreational swimming (which I do 1-2 times a week), I noticed that I could be utilizing my breath more when I run. When I first starting practicing yoga, I realized that when poses became too difficult, I forgot to breathe. I use my breath to deepen poses in yoga now and help me move through the practice more calmly. Running for me should be like my meditation. Budd Coates’ book, Running on Air, is inspiring to help me breathe and focus on running.

So, will this help me November 1st for the Monumental Indianapolis Marathon? Each day is a new journey, and a step toward the right direction.

My green smoothie snack (for two)

1 apple sliced

1 plum sliced

1 banana

1 cup regular unsweetened almond milk

1 cup water

1 tablespoon hemp seed

2-4 handfuls of kale and spinach leaves

6 ounces Kefir (I like Lifeway’s Strawberry)

Fall Running Trail...Beautiful!          

Me and Sean after 20 miles!            

Jackpot celebrates his first birthday in the mountains!       

Fall Training through heat

It has been too long since my last post! August was a month of beautiful weather to run! September started out hot!
We went to a wedding in Buffalo, New York and signed up for The Biggest Loser 1/2 Marathon. We had 18 miles to do that day, so we ran 5 around the Lake Erie before the race begin. It was a hot, humid, and overcast morning. It was a very beautiful area, we were able to see the General Mills factory in the background. However, the run was pretty tough. I was so dehydrated the whole time and ran a pretty poor time. I really needed to be more proactive hydrating the day before. Afterwards, we went to Niagara Falls and took the Maid of the Mist tour. The day before, we tried to do it on the Canadian side and it was too long of a wait! We had to get back for the rehearsal dinner.
Lesson learned: hydrate more in the morning and the day before!

   

Yesterday, we ran the Bird in Hand 1/2 Marathon in Lancaster, PA. I have been looking forward to this run for a long time. It would be awesome to run with Amish people and through the cornfields! The Pasta Dinner was Friday night, and when I saw Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, was going to speak at night, I immediately bought the pasta dinner tickets. We arrived around 6pm on Friday, got our bibs, ate our food (which was made and served by the locals), and actually saw Chris McDougall walking around. He ran the 5k at 6:30pm, and we saw him walking around around 7:15. I had packed my copy of his book and asked him to sign my book. He was very willing and really nice to talk to. We discussed how he tied together several stories in the book and how he lived (near me) in East Falls before moving out near Bird in Hand. I then let him get to his pasta dinner :-). One of the best things about this run was the hot air balloons! They were launching them all weekend and would be in the air when we run the next morning. 

McDougall's speech summarized his book and the importance of running in a community. He encouraged us to run free and easy and push our fellow runners along. He told stories of one the men in the book and how they ran together, as opposed to in solitary, and this is what helped them. He then answered some questions about the book, including where the people are today. It was completely worth the $11 for the great food and to meet Christopher McDougall. 

Learning from the hydration mistake last weekend, I really made sure to hydrate on Friday and Saturday morning. Before I went to bed, I drank a gatorade. In the morning, I drank about 2 water bottles (we had an hour drive). I felt really strong at the beginning, despite the heat and the rolling hills. Hills are one of my weakness and when I got to the 7 mile marker at 1:02, I was pretty happy. I wasn't wearing a watch (I couldn't find it, and it went well with the message Christopher McDougall spoke about yesterday!) However, it became hotter and despite the cornfields, animals like horses, camels, etc, it was pretty tough. I ended up strong until mile 11, where I had to walk twice. They had ice cubes in coolers and many water stations, which was great! I would take an ice cube and put it in my mouth to keep cool. I also would splash water all over myself and run through sprinklers when I could. In the end, I beat my time from last week, although it is far from my normal 13.1 time! Sean was pretty beat up, he threw up after he finished. While it was a rough run in the heat, we did it. And the air conditioning felt so good later!

Here is our fall running scheduling, it can be adjusted based on time to a marathon or half marathon. We started right when we got back from our honeymoon:

2014 Indianapolis Marathon Training!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
August 4-10	3-mile run	5x800	4-mile run	35-min tempo	Rest	8-mile pace	12-mile run
August 11-17	3-mile run	5xhill	4-mile run	40-min tempo	Rest	8-mile run	16-mile run
August 18 - 24	3-mile run	40-min tempo	4-mile run	3-mile pace	Rest	Warrior Dash 5k	14-mile run
August 25 - 31	4-mile run	6x800	5-mile run	40-min tempo	Rest	9-mile pace	18-mile run (Wedding)
September 1 - 7	3-mile run	6xhill	5-mile run	45-min tempo	Rest	Bird-in-hand ½ Marathon	Rest
September 8 - 14	4-mile run	45-min tempo	5-mile run	4-mile pace	Rest	10-mile run	20-mile run
September 15 -21	4-mile run	7x800	5-mile run	45-min tempo	Rest	6-mile pace (Wedding)	12-mile run
September 22 - 28	4-mile run	7xhill	5-mile run	50-min tempo	Rest	10-mile pace (Wedding)	20-mile run
September 29 –  October 5	5-mile run	45-min tempo	5-mile run	5-mile pace	Rest	6-mile run	12-mile run
October 6 - 12	5-mile run	8x800	5-mile run	40-min tempo	Rest	10-mile pace	20-mile run
October 13 – 19	5-mile run	6xhill	5-mile run	30-min tempo	Rest	4-mile pace	12-mile run
October 20 – 26	4-mile run	30-min tempo	4-mile run	4-mile pace	Rest	4-mile run	8-mile run
October 27  - November 2	3-mile run	4x400	Rest	Rest	2-mile run	Indy Marathon!	Rest