Training Log #1

Training for Half Marathon - Day 32 & 33

Day 32 - Thursday

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    Thursday was an intense day for me training wise. I spent 15 minutes in the morning doing some stretching and vigorous weight lifting (I was really panting by the end of it) before I had to get showered and dressed so I could get my daily chores and studies done before my 2:30 chiropractic appointment.

     When 2:30 finally rolled around I got my regular adjustment and electro-heating therapy. Afterwards it was time for my physical therapy with 15 minutes of the leg curl weight machine. I managed 100 front leg reps (10 sets) for both legs , alternating between 20 and 25 lb. weights, as well as 50 back leg reps (5 sets) for each leg using 15 lb. weights.

     As soon as I got home I went for a 20 minute run around my neighborhood. I had to slow down to a fast walk on occasion to catch my breath. It's very hard to run in my neighborhood because it is made up almost entirely of steep hills, so running the whole time is near impossible for me at this point. And later that same evening, I accompanied my mom around the neighborhood for a 20 minute moderately brisk walk while wearing 2 lb. ankle weights.

     My daily eats for this day was 2935 calories, almost 3000 calories! Let me tell you I needed every bite and I had:

• 3 Honeydew Melon

• Spicy Spinach Mango Smoothie

1. Put the coconut water & the spinach in the blender.

2. Cut up the mango.

3. Put the mango in the blender.

4. Precede to use teeth to scarp and eat remaining Mango fruit on pit and peel. :-D

5. Add chopped Banana.

6. Blend!

7. Pour, drink, and enjoy!

• Happy "Caramel" Bars (just take a bite of banana with a bite of Medjool Date)

• The last two thirds of my durian

My mom and brother can't stand the smell, so I partook of my heavenly bounty on our back porch.

• 12 Clementines (no pic)

• 1 Personal sized Sugar Baby watermelon. 

Day 33 - Friday

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     I woke up this morning with very sore and stiff legs and arms! But after stretching for about 10 minutes I was just sore. LOL! So I decided to that since it was a little over a week since a I had a true rest day, without any type of intense physical exertion, I settled down in my room to study. 

     Around 2 pm I took a break and came out to get some lunch (A Minty Papaya Smoothie) to discover that it had begun to snow! :-D Around, 3pm, when it became clear that the snow was not going to stop, my family and I  immediantely went out to run some last minute errands before the roads got to icey. 

Even Charlie got dusted! Hehe...

 I hope everyone out there has a wonderful weekend. I know what I'll be doing. . . making a snowman!!!

Training for Half Marathon - Days 24 & 25

DAY 24 - Wednesday

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     Wednesday was the day of my brothers 16th birthday. My mom and I got up early to drive into Atlanta to get food supplies from Whole Foods. When we arrived home my mom and I spent an hour or so in the kitchen whipping up some treats. We baked an apple pie for my brother and I made a raw apple crumble.

      I was  able to spend a few hours working on some CSNN work and catch up on some of my emails before heading out with my family to the theater to see Sherlock Holmes. My brother had been begging for us to go see this movie since it first came out, so my mom and I decided to grant him a birthday wish.

     Sadly, my day was kept so busy that I was unable to go for a run on Wednesday. I did, however, manage to squeeze in 15 minutes of weight training before bed. I was just glad knowing that my brother had a wonderful birthday! :-)

DAY 25 - Thursday

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     Today was rough. I woke up bright an early (6 a.m.) and promptly consumed two small honeydew melon while working on the computer. At around 7:30 a.m. I went for a half hour run before it started to rain, so I came home and did 10 minutes doing weight sets before taking a shower.

     After getting dressed I then proceeded to consume a cold, sweet, refreshing, and creamy Minty Papaya Smoothie and five Fuyu Persimmons. Yum yum! :-D

Minty Papaya Smoothie

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- 4 C. Papaya, chopped

- 2 C. Banana, choppes, frozen

- 1 large handful of Mint, fresh

- 1 Tbs. Raw Honey

- 2 Tbs. Raw Probiotic Coconut Yogurt

- Juice from half a lime

- 2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

- 1/2 C. Coconut Water

Blend until smooth and fell sweet, clean, & fresh!

     

     At 2:30 p.m. my mom and I went to out chiropractic appointments. The doctor popped my my neck (didn't realize I was so tense until he did that! LOL) and then popped my back and hips before  putting the electro-therapy patches with the heating pads on my lower back. 

     While my mom underwent the same electro-message therapy, I was doing 15 minutes of leg strengthening exercises using a leg curl machine. The doctor thinks that this will help with the knee aching. I'm going to see what a month of this does for me.

My mom undertaking her electro-message therapy with heating packs to cause relaxation.

This device is similar to the leg curl machine at my chiropractor's office.

 

          Tomorrow will be raining again, so I believe I might go for a swim at the local indoor pool. My mom and I are also hoping to set a date to drive up to Kentucky to check up on our land. It's been a couple years so it's probably overgrown. Maybe I'll actually get to meet the some of the Amish who live in the area! :-D

Training for Half Marathon - Day 1

     Ever since going raw and becoming more physically active I have wanted to try running a half marathon. However, my life just wasn't able to make room for it until now. So on March 21, 2009 I will be running a half marathon race with my best friend Terra for the very first time!

     The half marathon is in 69 days (including today), and I have training schedule that lasts that amount of time. I will be following it as closely to the letter as possible. The only change I am making to it may be which days to be the rest days, but with a little bit of smart juggling around I can fit this training into my life for the next couple of months.

     Yesterday (January 11th) was my first day of training and the schedule called for stretching and strength training. I accomplished this by doing 30 minutes of stretching, 8 minutes of sit-ups and push-ups, and 22 minutes of weight circuits.

This whole project has me really excited! I can't wait to reach my goal!!
Wish me luck.

Hello 2010!!

     Can you believe it?! We are all now getting settled into the year  2010, and this is my very first blog post for this brand new year! Let me tell you that this January has been FREEZING!! Mind you, I know that there are quite a few places in the U.S. that are much much colder than here, but for me, it is more than uncomfortably cold. Still, I have not allowed myself to use the nippy temperature to give me an excuse not to get outside and MOVE. It may be cold out, but it's also bright and sunny (Vitamin D baby!).


     This weekend I spent loads of time freezing my little bum off outdoors! LOL. :-D Saturday I went for a 30 minute walk/run (trying to increase my running distance) before going to the park with my mom, brother, and our two dogs (Charlie and Penny. Love them bunches!) to go for a 30 minute walk. By the time we all got back to the car, body temperature wise, I was actually feeling quite comfortable as I was wearing my new insulated outdoor running jacket. My poor mom, however, had by then lost all feeling in her hands and toes. Before we left we also took the time to set Charlie loose on the geese that had gathered in the field. That dog had a ball!! Hehehe. . . it's the sheep dog in him I guess.ice

How my brother managed to stay warm in nothing but a long sleeved t-shirt and a hoodie is beyond me.

     Sunday, my mom and I did our routine grocery trip. We went to Whole Foods and Rainbow, stocking up on all the good stuff:

• Blood Oranges
• Red and Green Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Persimmons
• Bananas
• Apples
• Pineapples
• Tomatoes
• Leafy Greens - Spinach, Romaine Butterhead
• Celery
• Okra
• Bell Pepper
• Fresh Coconut Water
• Raw probiotic coconut yogurt
• Raw Tahini

     After coming home and unloading all the goodies, I grabbed some Persimmons and headed off to pick up my friend Terra to go (drum roll please)  ICE SKATING!! Woohoo! :-D We skated for about an hour until we were chilled to the bone and had blisters from the renter skated before walking around the town taking random pictures of our chilled selves and whatever else we came across until my mom came to pick us up.

Winter's Beauty

     We stopped of at Starbucks to chat over tea and coffee while we warmed up. I felt so excited when Terra expressed interest in raw food!! So happy that one of my friends is really open to the idea and not so skeptical on its validity. She actually expressed interest in trying a green smoothie instead of wrinkling her nose at the mention. It pays to have opened minded people as friends.

     This morning was sunny but I just didn't feel up to braving the cold again. I settled instead to do weight circuit training indoors. Let me tell you, my muscles are going to be feeling it tomorrow! It was worth it though, a good workout always is. :-) 

     My college applications are well on there way to being finished. I have the applications all filled, almost all my college packets assembled, and all but two of the supplement essays completed. All that's left is for me get Paragon Academy to send out my transcripts and pick up my teacher recommendations. The deadline for all this stuff to get sent out is January 15th, so I do believe I am right on schedule.

     So far this year is off to a pretty good start. I have a good feeling about this year for me and I think a lot of adventure is in store! Until next post, may Yahweh love you and keep you all the days of you life!