A Hot Run, a Swim and a New Camera

Hello and Happy Thursday!  It's still a scorcher outside and right now, I'm living it up in the AC.  

This morning, I tried to run again before my pool workout.  Jesse met me at the local high school and we set out to do an easy 2 -3 miles.  In the beginning, my Achilles hurt a little bit, but after a half mile or so, it loosened up.  He came up with a good word to describe how I'm feeling...it's "tender."  My Achilles doesn't hurt {per say}, but I can feel it's there so I thought "tender" was a pretty good word to label the feeling. 

After our run, I hit the pool for a workout.  Today, he combined longer intervals with shorter ones for a total of 800 yards per set.   

Here's what I did:

150 swim/warm-up

500y - 10:23, 1:30 rest

{3 x 100 at 35 seconds rest}

100y - 1:47.2

100y - 1:47.2

100y - 1:47.1

2:00 rest

400y - 8:13, 1:15 rest

{4 x 100 at 35 seconds rest}

100y - 1:46.6

100y - 1:47.9

100y - 1:48.6

100y - 1;48.0

2:00 rest

300y - 6:11, 1:00 rest

{5 x 100 at 35 seconds rest}

100y - 1:47.5

100y - 1:47.5

100y - 1:46.3

100y - 1:44.69

100y - 1:38.63

100 cool down

For some strange reason, I was getting some minor toe cramps during the 100s in the second set so I took a short break and then I was good to go.  I think I may have been dehydrated from this vicious heat we're having.  Note to self:  hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!  During the last few 100's I was really getting tired, but some how, some way, I pulled out a few good intervals and finished strong.  I was glad once it was over! 

My Achilles was a little sore after all of the calorie-burning I did, so I iced it while taking in "The View" on TV.  Courteney Cox was a guest, so that was a score!  I like her.  

Willsey was hanging out with me on the floor too.

He felt the need to supervise the icing of my Achilles.  Note the blister on the back of my heel -- that is the war wound that I got from icing too much!  

 
After all of this, I headed to a local camera store to purchase a small digital {point and shoot} camera that takes good pictures in low light places such as restaurants.  I came home with the Nikon Coolpix S3300 in red.  I am so excited to try it out and experiment with the cool features and I will be sure to do a review in the next few days.  
 
For the rest of the day, I think I am going to hang out by the pool and relax.  I haven't done that since I've been off and I think I deserve a break.  

What are you doing for the rest of the day?  Make it a good one!  

Tracy 

Holy Hot Wednesday!

This was the view on my dashboard earlier today...a smokin' 102 degrees!!  Although that is a tad on the extreme side because my car was sitting in a sunny parking lot, today's temperature is supposed to reach the mid 90's with high humidity.  Swimming pool...here I come!   

Aside from the heat, it's been a busy morning full of some running, PT and a hair appointment.  I was able to run two whole miles!  Yep, that's right...I doubled my distance.  At last week's PT appointment, John gave me permission to start running again slowly so this past Friday I ran one mile and it felt decent.  Per John's advice, I waited a day and tried again on Sunday.  Not good.  I ran around the block and came home.  After all of this therapy, time off, stretching and icing, I didn't want to push it and be back to square one. 

As for this morning I wanted to try again, so I did something a little different.  Since tendonitis hurts more when the tendon is cold {such as first thing in the morning}, I decided to step on our vintage Stairmaster for approximately 8 - 10 minutes to warm-up the Achilles prior to my run and this definitely helped.  I made two miles comfortably with little pain.  The feeling I had is kind of hard to explain...it still feels like something is there, but it doesn't really hurt.  Does that make sense?  

After my run, I went to see John at PT.  I started my session with a 10 minute session on the elliptical machine followed by a few minutes on the treadmill where he watched my gate.  From what he saw, he said that I land on the middle of my foot, rather than on the back and that could be the cause of this injury.  Personally, I think I run differently on the treadmill than I do outside.  

After that, I did my routine stretches myself and with John's assistant {Danielle} and then they applied the anti-inflammatory medicine via the electrified patch on my heel.  On the flip side, I did get the green light to slightly increase my mileage!  Woohoo!  

On a side note, I have a blister on my heel that has evolved from icing TOO much.  Hey...I want to get back on the roads again...is that a sin??  Danielle told me not to ice quite as much to avoid future injuries. 

Lunchtime came upon me and I decided to have some leftovers from last evening...a half of a grilled chicken breast for protein, red quinoa with sauteed veggies, feta, almonds, cranberries and fresh thyme, and some berries.  

For tomorrow, I hope to run 2 -3 miles before hitting the pool for another exhausting workout.  

Question of the day: If you have had Achilles issues {tendonitis, etc.}, how long did it take to heal?  

Have a great day and stay cool!  


Tracy

Run. Swim. Eat. Photo. Groom. Pick.

TGIF!  My day was extremely busy and I felt like I went from one thing to the next {hence the title of this post.} 

I kicked it off with a run, bright and early.  My PT, John, granted me permission to try to run one whole mile!  I know it wasn’t much, but I was super excited to hit the roads again.  

Since the first half-mile of my run was uphill, I expected a little pain.  I have to say, I felt pretty good!  There was a slight ache in the Achilles area, and when I returned, I promptly stretched and iced like normal.  

Willsey was checking out what was going on from the other side of the door.  

  

Next up…swimming.  My daughter and I met Jesse at a local pool for another swimming session.  This time, he decided to shorten the distances and increase the paces.  I felt really good and was dipping below the times he anticipated me to swim. 

Here’s the workout:

Warm-up 100y

9 x 50y {15 sec rest} 

Freestyle for 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 & 8 between 49 – 53 seconds

Kick board on 3, 6, & 9 at about 65 second pace

-2 min rest –

 2 x 100

100y 1:47.7 (45 sec rest)

100y 1:47.2 (45 sec rest)

6 x 125 {except for the one where I miscounted laps and swam longer!!} at 45 seconds rest:

125y 2:17.5

125y 2:18.66

125y 2:15.20

125y 2:15.6

*150y 2:44.0 (2:15.8 thru 125) (1:00 rest)

125y 2:11.69

-2 min rest –

Decreasing pyramid at 50 seconds rest

100y 1:47.70

75y 1:15.8

50y 47.75

6 x 25 FAST! at 50 seconds rest

25y swim 20.04

25y kick 26.16

25y swim 20.22

25y kick 25.60

25y swim 19.48

25y kick 24.43

100y cool down

After swimming, Payton and I took Willsey to his first-ever grooming appointment.  He was excited to go for a ride in the car, but he immediately put the skids on as we entered the doggie salon.  Poor little guy!  We had a few hours to kill until we picked him up, so we decided to hit a new frozen yogurt place called Euro Yogurt.  

The inside was pretty funky and we sat in this little nook that was situated in the front store window.  

Payton ordered low fat cake batter yogurt with blueberries and I ordered a yummy pomerasberry tart yogurt.  Both were really good and we decided we would go back again.  

Since Father’s Day is Sunday, we had a few gifts to pick up so we hit downtown Bethlehem as our first stop.  When we parked, we spotted Ferrous and Fifi, the mascots of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, our local AAA baseball team {an affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies}.  Of course, we had stop for a photo op!  They’re adorable!

Soon it was time to pick Willsey up at the groomer and when we got there…he got a bad report.  Poor Willey was scared to death of the hair dryer and constantly tried to scoot off of the table.  But as they say…it takes work to be beautiful and I thought he looked marvelous!!!  He wasn't impressed.

Earlier in the day, I promised Payton that we would go strawberry picking, but I didn’t realize it would be so late by the time we got to the farm.  A promise is a promise, so we finally made it to Seiple’s Farm.  

 

It turned out that today was the very last day for strawberries and there wasn’t much left to pick.  Between the two of us, we picked about a quart of very small, but very sweet and juicy berries!  

Ok, this post is getting obscenely long so I will end it here.  I hope you had a great day and here’s to looking forward to a wonderful weekend! 

Enjoy!

Tracy

Running...And Some Other Random Thoughts.

Hello!  

Today's post contains some random daily doings since yesterday was just that kind of day!

Last night's run included a 5.5 mile loop that began and ended at my daughter's dance studio.  I planned to go 6, but the loop ended at exactly 5.5 miles.  Plus, I finished the last 1.5 miles in sub 6:40 pace so I was fine with ending the run early.

I had a few minutes before my daughter's class was over so I sat outside and did some well-needed stretching.  Ugh....my body needed it.

Later last night, I made Giada's Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam, a recipe that I have been meaning to try.  

Giada's Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam 


One batch from her original recipe yields 10 large cookies.  I wanted more cookies than that, so I made a few changes and they came out perfect.

Here they are prior to baking...

• I doubled the ingredients using the original recipe.
• I used a tablespoon {measuring spoon} to measure out each cookie so they were all uniform in size.
• I baked them approximately 9 - 11 minutes.
• I yielded a total of 62 cookies in the end!

Here they are after baking...

The mix of creamy peanut butter with the touch of cocoa powder, plus the sweetness from the jam all made this cookie a new favorite.  I highly encourage you to try it out!


Finally...this came today.

  
Yep...it's a Kindle Fire.  When Fred and I attended that hotel event last week, we put our names in the bowl for a chance to win.  Fred got the call late last week with the awesome news.  We won!  First of all, I NEVER win anything...so the fact that the Kindle was coming home to us was a great surprise.  Plus, I always wanted one but never had the urge to go out and get one. 

Fitting basically in the palm of my hand, it's a little smaller than I thought.  I can't wait to dig in and play with all of the functions and capabilities of my new toy.  

If anyone has any suggestions or comments about the Kindle Fire, I would love to hear them!  

Finally, this morning, I will start my day at Payton's school for their "Breakfast with Mom" event.  She is so excited that we are going to school together and I love being with her.  Hopefully, my cookies will be loved as well.  


Make it a great Wednesday!


Enjoy!


Tracy

Saturday Shenanigans.

Good afternoon!  I hope you are enjoying your Saturday as much as I am.  

I love Saturdays...especially when I can get some things done around the house that I have neglected throughout the week...i.e. laundry, grocery shopping, etc.  

Since I didn't get to bed until the wee hours, I woke up at 9:15 this morning...very late for me...but it felt good to sleep in.  My friend Lauretta came over and we decided to run an easy five miles on my fav out and back course.  Here we are pre-run...it was gorgeous outside!  

Once we got back, I got ready to tackle my errands and take on the day.  I started with numero uno - the grocery list.  Making a food list can sometimes be a daunting task since I plan for almost an entire week of meals.  With a load of laundry in the washer and a cup of coffee in my hand, I was ready to go.  

My grocery store of choice is our local Wegman's.  I particularly enjoy going on a Saturday because 1) they have LOTS of free samples and 2) it is usually a social gathering and I can't get out of there in under an hour.  Believe me.....I tried but, it's all good!  

Here is my car upon arriving at home after my journey.  This is my least favorite part...unloading the food and putting it away.  Ugh!  

My counters are usually a mess until I get them all sorted and organized, yet another challenge.  

Oh, and I'll be sure to let you know who is hot and who is not. Ha!

We can't forget Willsey's all-natural dog treats!

The bakery was sampling an Ancient grain bread filled with cranberries, flaxseed, rolled oats, sunflower seeds and more.  They topped it with their milky brie.  It was amazing.  Of course I had to buy a loaf, plus a side of the brie and I figured this could be our pre-party snack before we leave tonight.  

Here it is with a few strawberries.  I decided to dig in early before my husband got home.  Heh!  

Well, off to take a short nap before I get ready for a 40th birthday party.  

Up for tomorrow?  An early morning speed workout with Jesse and the baking of the friendship bread.  

Have a great night!

Tracy