Mom's Banana Bread

Since I was doing nothing on Friday, I decided I wanted to make some banana bread, in advance of Cleanse Week.  More on that later.  I had a minor panic attack when I went to look for the recipe and couldn't find it.  I even swore at one point that I'd taken pictures of the recipe because the recipe card is so well used I imagine it will disintegrate in my hands at any moment.  It took me a while to realize the recipe had fallen out of the back of the drawer into the space below.  Phew!  But now I really am photographing it and writing a blog post so if I ever lose it in the future, I have a backup. 

Mom can make this the most moist and awesome thing ever.  Even with wholewheat flower and no sugar.  It's the honey and the applesauce that does it.  No joke.  Also, isn't Mom's handwriting awesome?

Ingredients:
1 C Mashed bananas (3 medium bananas)
1/3 C Oil or 1/3 C Applesauce
1/2 C Honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp baking soda
1/4 C hot water
1/2 C chopped nuts (walnuts are good)

Mom's directions say:
Beat Oil and Honey
Add eggs
Stir in bananas
Add dry ingredients mixing with hot water
Stir until smooth
Bake in a greased 9x5x3 pan at 325* for 55-60 minutes
Cool on a wire rack

Liz says:
Put all ingredients except nuts in a food processor.
Turn on the food processor, mix until smooth.
Add nuts and stir.  I almost always leave nuts out because I forget to buy them.
Bake in a greased 9x5x3 pan at 325* for 55-60 minutes
Cool on a wire rack

Running Post Marathon - Easy 4

Marathon recovery is roughly complete.  I had to keep running this week, just a mile per day, to keep the running streak alive.  Since it's been six days and I was ready to get out and move, I decided to head out on a real run today.  The thing people don't understand is that feeling of losing all fitness ever after a marathon.  I always feel like I have to start over at zero (it's not really true), like I've lost all endurance for distance.  Staring to run again after a marathon is always interesting. I picked a nice easy 4 mile route along the Greenway before Zumba.

Today I wanted to move.  I wound up running each mile faster than the last.  By the time I got done, everything felt strong and fun.  I was kind of mad at my GPS for telling me I could stop.  The Greenway was a popular place to be today.  It was nice and cool and the colors are starting to change.  Although, it's not really winter or late fall yet because we're still in high construction season...

The Post Marathon "I Don't Know What To DO With Myself"

I'm in the throws of the Post Marathon "what the heck do I do with my time?" feeling.  I keep coming up with things to entertain myself, and keep nixing them because I need to sit still and do nothing whilst I recover.  Add on top of that I got sick on Monday, and took off work both Tuesday and today.  This is not the lactic acid shuffle; this was like food wont go in my stomach.  Awesome.

Short term goals:  I am still running at least a mile every day.  The day after the marathon felt like knives in my quads for the first block. Why am I so crazy?  Because Oct 13 marks 365 days of running/moving at least a mile every day and I refuse to give up one week before the end.  Three more days.  I don't think I'll keep the running going every day after that, but who knows. I am also planning on another post marathon cleanse diet but opting in favor of waiting until I am healthy enough to both cook and eat the food on the diet.  Right now my stomach is protesting most forms of sustenance.

Medium term goals: There's always Dreidel Dash.  I'm planning on running the 10K and then cheering my heart out for the 5K runners.  I will probably get to training for that in a few weeks but I never take this race seriously in terms of training.  Sigh.

Long term goals: I want to do a triathlon next year.  Correction: a friend wants to do a triathlon next summer and I thought it sounded like a good idea.  It's a sprint distance.  I just read the rules and everything looks serious but it could be really fun.  Other than that, maybe some half marathons? Three Way Challenge again? 

Other things: I want to get back into Circuit Classes.  After a wild summer and a change in teachers, then marathon tapering, I totally abandoned the class.  I hear there's a regular teacher now and the class is hitting its stride again.  I also want to get a heart rate monitor and use it more in my training.  Also, maybe if I need a goal this winter it will be around losing weight instead of race training.  That could keep me out of trouble for a long time.

In closing, a couple more pictures from Sunday, one look of death and one look of relief.

In Pictures - Twin Cities Marathon: The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America

At the start line. On the left is taken about 7am, as the 10-mile race is starting and no one running the marathon wants to be outside. Note there are no rain clouds in the sky. That didn't last long.

It's hard to explain what happens in the Metrodome before the start of the race. It's a lot of resting and talking. I ran into a friend there and we chatted and it was excellent. On the right is at the starting line. I'm thinking "I'm not awake yet, so I don't really care what's about to happen."

Two very important reasons I actually finished the race and felt good, even though I had a blow up in the middle somewhere. Thanks again. You kept me smiling the whole way.

Good. Let's move on from marathons to a new challenge. Next year, I either want to run in the 10-miler, or I want to sit out on the course and cheer the entire time runners are going by. I want to have a camp chair and be sitting in it when the wheelers go by, and not go home until the sag wagon sweeps by and the roads re-open. Depending on the part of the course, I could probably do both.

21 Days of Planks

I decided somewhere along my 21-mile run last week that I should start doing planks to keep up my core strength until race day.   I actually planked a bit during that run while I was waiting for my friend to meet me for the last 4 miles of the run.  But then I forgot yesterday.  So 21-days of planking starts today.  I'm hopeful that I can find some creative planking workouts in the next 3 weeks to keep myself entertained.

Day 1 - 1:30 plank.  Fortress Around Your Heart is a great song but totally sucks to hold a plank to it. 
Day 2 - 1:30 plank with some alligator push-up legs.  Turns out my hips are not so flexible.
Day 3 - 1:30 plank on the cold ass concrete.  That was a mistake. Mi did her planks with me and asked if I thought we looked silly.  No sillier than someone laying on their couch all day doing nothing.
Day 4 - 1:30 plank on the concrete.  Thankfully not cold and way less muddy than the grass.  There was a rock in my shoe.
Day 5 - 1:50 planking, mostly side-middle-side plank repetitions, in the grass outside the gym after a run. 
Day 6 - 1:40 plank.  Planking in socks on a carpet does not work well.  Lesson learned.
Day 7 - 2:00 of side-middle-side (or side to side) planks.  I do them with staggered feet, not stacked, but I've decided it' still legit.
Day 8 - 2:00 plank after a 12-mile run.  I've determined the best outdoor plank position is feet on the concrete and hands in the grass.
Day 9 - 2:00 plank after a quick 1 mile run.  Planks are getting easier to hold.  Also, don't plank after a beer.
Day 10 - 2:00 plank after a quick run at the gym.
Day 11 - 2:00 plank after a seven mile run.  Hands in the dirt!  Getting better at holding a regular plank and holding still.
Day 12 - 2:15 plank after an easy run.  Seriously thought I was going to collapse.  Getting stronger!
Day 13 - 2:15 plank after a quick 1-mile run.  It's an off day.
Day 14 - 2:30 plank in my hallway when I got home from Zumba. It's raining outside.
Day 15 - 2:30 plank after a 10 mile run. Six days left!
Day 16 - 2:45 plank after a quick 1 mile run. (Yes, that's 2:45 of planking.)
Day 17- 2:45 plank after a 5 mile run with Mi.  Four days left!
Day 18 - 3:00 plank.  3 minutes!
Day 19 - 3:00 plank after a 1 mile run. Not long now!
Day 20 - 3:00 of plank after a 1 mile run.  I day left.
Day 21 - 3:00 of plank before I make spaghetti for everyone.  Done!

To do this, I did try to find some interesting plank workouts.  I wound up focusing on time in the plank, and side planks, and just trying to make it longer.  It was quite easy to bang out the 90 second and 2 minute planks.  The 3 minute planks are ridiculous.  If I do this again and go for longer time, I think I'd do it a bit differently, like three sets of a 90 second plank instead of one plank for three minutes.  I didn't expect to be able to hold a plank for 3 minutes when I started this.  Effortless is too strong of a word, but I do believe I can do it, which makes it somewhat easier.

If you want to plank but holding out one plank for minutes at a time isn't for you, try these workouts instead.

• 12 Minute Full Body Plank Workout with nice pictures to demonstrate the moves.
• FitSugar Plank Workout.  It's a slide show.  Took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize that.
• Pumps and Iron Plank Workout.  Planks on the beach must hurt less.  Right?
• 8 Minute Plank Workout.  This is one is probably the next one I'll try.

How to Taper!

What am I doing the week before the marathon?  I'm going nuts okay.  Let's just be real about that.  This year I'm happily not freaking out about fitness.  I'm feeling like I have a decent race plan and several decent contingency plans.  One of the awesome things about OCD is I can freak out at the drop of a hat over things that aren't real anyways.  I'm learning to deal.

Sunday - I ran my favorite 10-mile route and then had a nice long stretch.
Monday - I did a quick 1 mile run to keep the running streak alive.
Today - I had a nice 5 mile run with Running Neighbor.  She showed me some legit trails near our house which I couldn't believe.  One day when I'm not taperingI want to go back and run like hell on them.

I have one more fun run with a friend this week.  I also plan to eat pasta and carbs like they're going out of style, stretch a lot, and relax.  I'll also look at the weather obsessively and hope the leaves turn an awesome color by Sunday.  They are well on their way.

Tonight, in favor of stretching, I got out my foam roller for a little session.  I have found the most painful foam rolling exercise on the planet.  It's not my IT band either, although that one always hurts.  Have you ever tried to roll out a hip flexor?  Holy mother of god.  I think I saw the light.  Watch the video and try for yourself. 

Whenever I feel lost, I can find myself on a run

Per Marathon Training tradition, the Sunday before race day is a 10-mile run on my favorite route ever.  Recaps from 2012, 2011, 2010, and the "rats can swim up toilets run" from 2009.  Today was a fantastic day and a run was exactly what I needed to lift me up.

Prepare for the worst: I read this thing in Runner's World or somewhere, talking about race day strategy.  Basically it said the best runners to prepare mentally for worst case scenarios like heat or feeling crappy or whatever.  Today I practiced preparing for the worst by starting off way to freaking fast, even for a 10-miler.  I hadn't planned to run this as a run with walking intervals, but I decided it was the most realistic way to slow myself down, and also what was most likely to happen on race day.  I walked every .5 miles for the first 4 miles of the run.  Yes, I know this route well enough to know not only the mile marks but the half miles as well.

Stay Strong in the Middle.  Have fun, but don't go too fast yet!  Miles 5 and 6 were down, and then up the hills at Ft Snelling and I ran them with the one walk break I take at the top of that massive hill by the fort.  This part of the run, I always try to slow myself down and enjoy the scenery, and not think about that stinking hill either.  Mile 7 was coming back around to the falls and it involved a food stop and also a photo stop. The river is amazing right now.  The leaves are starting to turn, just a few.  The maples are really red, but there's lots of green as well.

Finish Hard.  It may be okay to listen to some music on Race Day.  I'm toying with the idea of music on race day. Miles 8, 9, and 10 I did finally put in some music.  I was impressed with myself that I could pick it up for those miles.  I stopped taking breaks and just enjoyed the run.

Now Taper for serious.  Since I am still doing my mile per day (gotta keep the streak alive) I was really serious about stopping after mile 10, no matter where I was.  It turns out I was about 1.5 miles from home.  I did my plank for the day (2:30 baby!), took lots of pictures, and did lots of stretching.  I saw the Women's Gopher Basketball team on this court, I think filming a commercial.  Talk about random.  On the way home I called Grandma, and also talked to Aunt Barb and Uncle Spaghetti.  Then I called Dad and we talked for a long time.

Seven Miles of Chilly and Humid

This morning had a seven mile run on tap.  It had to be done this morning because I had meetings all day at work and then a shopping date afterwards.  That turned out to be excellent motivation.  I woke up a bit after 6am and it was still dark when I hit the road.  I forgot my reflective gear.  Fail for me!  It was super humid out, and there was fog rising off the grass and the lakes.  I stopped to take pictures near the last mile of the run and by then, most of the fog had burned off.  The fall colors are starting to pop out.  I saw a few maples had turned bright red, and a tree or two was turning yellow as well. Race day in the Twin Cities should be fairly stunning.

The run itself was pretty fun.  I tried to keep it moving at a fun and challenging pace and basically did great.  The overall pace reported includes a few stop lights and a photo stop as well.  I'm having an hilarious time this week running on pavement only, no dirt tracks next to the trail, to keep my shoes from getting torn up too bad before the race. I only have a few more real training runs before the race though.  Afterwards, I can beat the heck out of the shoes like normal!

Internet Search Results - Update

From time to time, I check which searches point to my blog.  There seems to be no end of searches pointing to the Nike Vs Endomondo App Showdown, and most especially to the Ikea Hack instructions for Expedit and Drona.  There have been hilarious ones like how tall is Sven Sungaard, and of course Can I put Chia Seeds in a Diet Pepsi?.  These are less frequent and only generate a hit or two, but they crack me up.  Today I saw this gem:

"Badass pipes and biggest" - I checked carefully on Google, peering through my fingers at first in case it was something dirtier than I'd imagined.  It seems to be a car thing, and there's an Audi called the A4, so maybe...  This is the only post with the words "badass" and "pipes" in it, and they're not even related.  I'm sure this person didn't find what they were looking for here. Sorry.

Chilly, Lazy 12-miler at Ft Snelling

Taper Time!

I got up this morning to run at 6am and I was out the door shortly thereafter.  I had a banana but no real breakfast.  That may have been my one true mistake for the day.  I got pretty tired towards then end of the run, even though I wasn't moving very fast.  Time to eat my Wheaties I guess.

One smart move I made for the day was I allowed my phone to vibrate every mile but I turned down the volume so I couldn't hear the girl telling me how fast my mile splits were.  I could've cared less about pace pretty much the entire run. It was lovely.  Minnehaha Falls was kind of busy, as people were arriving for Women Run the Cities.  I didn't go exactly by the starting line but I was very close to it. It's actually sort of my least favorite day to run in that area because of all the people walking to the race.

I tested out a new shoe/sock combination for today's run.  I love ProCompression socks, but something just was not working right today.  It's the first time I've tried to run in the socks; they're normally for recovery.  I'm not sure if it was the socks, or the way they fit in my shoes, or the way I tied my shoes, but something just was not working.  I'll go back to my other socks for race day.  I do need to stick with the shoes.  I'm still glad they're not as ugly as that picture.  I have another 30 or so miles to get them broken in for race day. 

The trail itself and Ft Snelling were gorgeous as always.  It was about 45* when I set out in long socks, shorts, arm sleeves and a shirt.  I stayed pretty chilly the whole run.  There was still a 3/4 moon up in the air as I was running.  I tried to take a picture of it in a few places but failed miserably.  The leaves on the trees are all still green, although some of the ivy and low lying bushes are starting to turn bright red.  I'm hoping this means well have a full burst of fall colors for marathon Sunday but who can say.

At the end of the run, I held a plank for 2:00, part of my "21 Days of Planks" workout series.  The perfect outdoor planking position is hands on grass, feet on concrete.  If you weren't sure.  After that it was a little stretch, then a quick change and off to help the Qat Lady.

Wordless: Minneapolis

Wet, Highly Motivated 4 Miles

At some point, I'd had visions of running 7 miles around my Lake Nokomis route.  I don't know what I was thinking.  This day didn't have 7 miles in it.  This day had 2 naps in it.  When I woke up from the second nap at 5:30pm, it started to rain.  Now I'll never run.  The rain stopped after a few minutes and I could see the sun peaking out behind some clouds.  I checked the radar and all was good. See the picture? No rain near me..  I decided I could get in a nice 4 mile workout before sunset and hit the road.

Motivation to get out the door was wearing my favorite pair of running shorts and also a new pair of running socks.  Additional motivation was that I'd planned to let myself listen to Pandora on my phone as I ran.  No, I am not making this up.  It all worked to get me out the door.  I started to feel better and by better I mean awake the moment I got out there, and busted out a fairly quick warmup mile.

Then I rounded on Lake Hiawatha and saw what was waiting for me.  Where did that come from?  The radar was clear?!?  Suddenly I found a whole new motivation for hauling ass.  Mile 2 appears slow from the splits but I stopped moving completely long enough to dig my phone out and take a panorama shot, so I'm not sweating it.  All those splits were way faster than I meant to run tonight. 

The rain started after I'd completed mile 2.  Mile 3 was sort of wet, but I was running down by the creek under a ceiling of cottonwood trees, so I had a lot of shelter.  By mile 4, the rain had lost something of its intensity, although it was still making me grumpy.  One good bit of planning I had for the run was to wear a pair of older shoes with a new pair of socks.  So I neither cared that my shoes were wet, nor did I get blisters.  Ultimately it was good I went out and hit the workout, even though I was sort of grumpy about getting rained on and even grumpier at the unreliability of radar and my weather apps.  There's not much rain in the forecast for the next week, so the rest of my workouts should be good to go.

6 Miles of "That was a mistake"

I actually woke up to run this morning and was greeted by 70* and 97% humidity.  I am not joking.  Ultimately I took a pass and tried to go back to sleep.  Why that failed is a story for another time.  Later on I got my hair cut, and then had lunch with Qat Lady.  I told Qat Lady to pick the place since she had to go to work later and I have the day off for slacking.  She originally picked a place with bagels and shakes but somehow we wound up at the place next door which was a Chinese buffet.  Lunch was really good.  I had a bunch of different kinds of mushrooms, green beans, a couple kinds of chicken and some other stuff, plus refills of my coke whenever I wanted.

Around 4:30, it was all "fall asleep or go run" and I knew I needed to hit it today so I got on my gear and headed up to the gym.  I did a six mile run, out and back style, along the Midtown Greenway.  It was an interesting run.  I certainly meant to keep it slower than anything else I'd done this week.  Didn't know how much help I was going to get until I started having gas cramps.  I know I have all kinds of stuff going on with my stomach when  I run, but that's really unusual.  Somewhere between miles 4 and 5 I walked for a moment and out of nowhere this port-o-pot appeared.  I am not kidding.  It was clean and well stocked and I totally took advantage of the situation.  I decided, the universe put that there right at the exact moment I needed it, who am I to say no to that? It must've worked because I ran the last mile 30 seconds faster than my next fastest miles of the run, so we'll assume I was feeling better. 

I think I'm getting to the end of this pair of shoes.  I'm not sure how many miles I've put on them but let's assume it's over 500 and call it done.  That still gives me a couple weeks to break in their newer younger brothers for the marathon.

I got done at a weird spot along the Greenway, and had a few minutes before Zumba.  I went up to the Sabo Bridge to take some pictures.  The clouds were pretty impressive by this point in the day.  The temps were still in the 70s although the humidity was definitely less than 90% by that point.