Today I completed my long run for the week. 9 miles in a pair of new running shoes (complements of by hubby, pictured to the left). These have been my 'go-to' shoes forever, the Asics Gel Nimbus. They just came out with a new model, which they do every year or so... the Gel Nimbus 12. I have owned every Gel Nimbus since number 6... I have strayed a few times and tried other shoes but I keep coming back. I don't even know why I every try and leave, they always treat me right (kinda like a great boyfriend who you fail to appreciate for some reason). Anyway, these shoes carried me swiftly along the trail today. I wish I could say that the weather was as supportive... about 1.5 miles in I got pelted by hail. It rained and hailed for about 2 miles or so. I just kept on keepin on... completed my run in 116 minutes, about a 8:30 min/mile average. I will take it! Especially because this week left me drained (physically, mentally and nutritionally). For some reason, my nutrition has been all over the place - not necessarily too much food but not the right kinds of calories. Take for example the fact that my afternoon was filled with a giant brownie and 3 cups of coffee yesterday. This doesn't exactly leave ones body overloaded with nutrition. I came home and went on a short run, which I didn't even have enough energy for. I felt bogged down, and sick to my stomach. Kinda like a car puttering as it runs outta gas... that was me - stop and start and stop and start... no one can qualify for Boston lookin like a backfiring car!

I am a total fiend for caffiene right now! So I guess you could call me a caffiend... caffiene really is a drug! Lately, my thoughts and needs have become consumed by coffee. I notice how much of a negative impact this has on me. Being on a caffiene roller coaster (complete with nausea side effects and dizzyness) is no fun! Really it is quite difficult for me to get off of this stupid roller coaster, I feel like I have no self control. To make things worse I am not drinking enough water, so I am habitually dehydrated which has added to the problem and made me feel lethargic. I have been waking up exhausted and achy... probably from the "crash" of the caffiene. Anyway, I am dealing with this battle to try and overcome this issue!

I had a pretty good workout the night before last. I did some speedwork, but didn't want to overdo it so I kept it pretty mild. Here are a few of the details;

*4 x 800 meters @ 7:30 min/mile pace (with 100 meters of rest)
*Leg press (drop sets - 100, 80, 60lbs - 10 reps each, 2 sets)
*Leg Ext (drop sets - 60, 40, 20lb - 10 reps each, 2 sets)
*Curtsy lunges (20 each leg, 2 sets)

I had intended to do 4 sets, but my legs were shot and oh man, was I sore the next morning! I decided to take yesterday off (bad Nicole!) but it was great to relax, chow down on some popcorn and watch a movie with TJ. Today I am back on... going to get a run in this evening and a strength workout. Tomorrow brings a long run (9-10 miles)...

Productive day... checked off the list! Today I had a killa workout, the legs seem to have loosened up some and my new strength workout gave me a good butt kickin. Here is what was on the agenda today:

• 4 mile run, pace was good... approx 8:20 min/miles

Here's were the pain and suffering occurred, my CRAZY strength workout:

• Shoulder Press (25lbs, 20lbs, 15lbs - 10reps each, 4 sets)
• Lat Raise (15lbs, 10lbs, 5lbs - 10 reps each, 4 sets)
• Rear Delt Row (30lbs - 10 reps, 4 sets)
• Front Shoulder Press (25lbs, 15lbs, 10lbs - 10 reps each, 4 sets)
• Assisted Pullups (wide, regular, close, under - 10 reps each, 4 sets... yes that's 40 pullups per set!)
• Bent Over Row (30lbs, 25lbs, 20lbs - 10 reps each, 4 sets)
• Wide Grip Row (100lbs, 80lbs, 60lbs - 10 reps each, 4 sets)

Yes, if you count that up is was a total of 790 reps... CRAZY high volume. The purpose of drop sets is that you go back to back to back with no rest. So you do 30-40 reps with no rest but still while dropping the weights. It was a hard workout, but even with that high of volume it didn't take me that long at all. The rest periods are essentially non-existent so it goes very quickly. I stole this workout from a magazine and will probably adapt a few things. These are the types of strength workouts I am shooting for three times a week (different body parts though). I will also add Pilates one or two times per week and that should compliment my running. My diet was also 'on point' today, thus contributing to my goal of improving performance... fingers crossed this habit continues.

This title kinda describes my recent "status"... not really emotional, more of my physical status. Last night I had one of those "lightbulb moments" - ding! I blogged about my 'experiment' to determine if I was allergic to carbohydrates a few days ago. Well, I guess allergic is a pretty strong word, but the reason I say this is because when I eat a lot of carbohydrates I don't feel good - in fact I feel pretty bad. Of course, this is also probably attributed to the fact that my portion sizes are meant for a full grown elephant and that my choice in carbohydrates lately have been french fries and gummy bears, but none the less, these things really aren't sitting that well in my tummy. This is really tragedy in my mind... I LOVE gummies, etc. I could seriously live off gummies if it wouldn't leave me completely malnourished and strung out on sugar all the time. So here's where the serious part comes in... I was reading this article about how certain body types respond better to certain diets. They were discussing things like high cholesterol, high triglycerides, hypertension, etc. Here is the statement that also made me drop the book... "those who are at risk for having high triglycerides should be very controlled with their carbohydrate intake if they are looking to loose weight or maintain weight". WHA?!?! NO!!! How can this be?! Those of you reading this might be saying... umm yah, that's kinda obvious. But here is where the enlightenment comes in... a few years ago when I was living in Colorado I had some blood work done. The results came back showing my triglycerides were through the roof! The doctor was shocked... and of course so was I - I literally cried for days. I thought, oh my gosh... I have a major health concern! At the time I asked the doctor, "how can this be?" he responded with a "there's nothing you can do about it, it must be in your genetics and we should really get you on some medication, you'll be on it for the rest of your life"? Whatever!!! No one in family is on medication for this! Not even my great grandparents (yes, I said Great Grandparents). He wanted to put me on medication, I thought it was ridiculous - the usual stubborn me decided that I would NOT take the pills. I actually asked at that time if this could have anything to do with my love of sweets. He told me no, they were unrelated. I always wondered to myself about this... and since then I have started seeing more and more research linking these things together. Years later, I had my blood work checked again. This was during a time when I was eating much more in balance and.. viola! No high triglycerides!

Well, my "food joy ride" has officially ended. It's crazy to think I am only 3 weeks post show and yet it feels like forever ago. I have been creating a new nutritional periodization chart that will help support my training periodization. The thought here is that by doing this I will be able to train harder and 'better'. I have transitioned into my next marathon training (this is probably glaringly obvious by my blog posts and new title). I am doing a bit of experimentation with my training this year. Of course my mileage will be high as it always is with training, but my strength training and protein intake will also remain high. This isn't your typical marathon runners schedule but I am breaking out of the mold a bit and honestly feel that while this isn't the 'traditional' way to eat and train I am going to do it this way. There is lots of evidence out there to suggest that my way of training may actually be the 'new way' to train - plus, it creates a different physique. It will enable me to maintain a look that is similar to my "figure girl look". Shapely muscles are much more aesthetically pleasing to me.

I am in a world of hurt today! It was from the butt blasting workout yesterday-dang it! My hips are so tight and sore, I resemble one who is walking on stilts. I will be spending the weekend with a glass of wine and my foam roller (the wine is to serve as a "numbing agent"). If you haven't done the foam rolling process before, you should be warned that it can be very painful. Some describe it as "hurts so good" and yet I ask - "where's the good part?" Oh ya, I guess that part comes after you become consistent and are 'loosened up'. The serious part in all of this is that my IT band has been tight for a few weeks now and I HAVE to loosen it up in order to continue increasing my mileage - a tight IT band and put you out for months - NOT GOOD! So I guess I will accept my grimacing face as a regular nightly occurance for the next several weeks... this is going to be harder than my 20-22 mile training runs.

Have you ever tried Kookabura licorice? Oh my goodness- it so good, it ain't even right! I love their licorice! We got some yesterday and I proceeded to mow through it like a wood chipper. The stuff is so good, not too sweet and super chewy. It is an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in quite a while. I took a gander at the nutritional info on the bag and almost dropped the bag. Wha?!?! This stuff really has that many calories for that many pieces? How can that be? It's just innocent little licorice. To add "salt to my wounds" there were 8 1/2 servings in the bag. Who is making up these portions anyway? Are these portions meant for lego people? I could have EASILY eaten the whole bag... and, now that I think of it probably have at one point or another. Moral of the story, beware of the black devil licorice.