60 Days of Healthful Eating

Tomorrow is June 1st. How did that happen? I tend to measure years in "school years", because I'm  a teacher. Right now feels like the end of the year. Summer has this weird sense of being suspended time, a season outside of the year. This summer will be extra special.

This summer my family and I will travel to Mexico, to a sweet place called San Miguel de Allende. We will be away from home a total of five weeks! Last night, during our date, my hubs and I talked through what we wanted that family time to look like. I am so excited to share with you all the day to day life in San Miguel but also share with you my newest challenge. This isn't one you sign up for. There are no prizes. It simply is 60 days, a list of yummy foods, and intentional eating. Sound like a plan? I'm starting tomorrow and will continue on our trip until I am back home.

  

1,2,3's of the 60 Day Healthful Eating Challenge:

1. This is just a little something I'm doing for me. If you'd like to join me...great! But there's no sign ups, prizes, or punishment. It's about real life, real food, and treating your body kindly.

2. My goal is to eat 3 different "superfoods" each day. I plan to document it on Instagram. Feel free to follow me there: @jlrosu and, I'd love to follow you back. I will also be sharing a recipe from my week each Friday.

3. The idea of superfoods is debatable, here's an interesting article on the topic. However, I will be using these below tools as resources on incorporating new, nutrient dense foods into my diet. I will also be focusing on variety, as it is the spice of life.

  

What is a superfood:

su·per·food / ˈsoōpərˌfoōd/ • n. (not in technical use) a natural food regarded as especially beneficial because of its nutrient profile or its health-protecting qualities: he touts broccoli sprouts and salmon as two of the most perfect superfoods.  Helpful website: superfoods   Helpful app: app I'm using  Helpful picture: more info at this site

   Cheers to going further and deeper into healthy living!

A day late....This week's plan

This week for Jess:

Monday: walk

Tuesday: barre 3

Wednesday: 3 mile run

Thursday: yoga

Friday:2 mile run

Saturday: WILD CANYON GAMES! Last race of the 12 in 12 Challenge!!!!

Sunday:Wild Canyon Games cont.

Happy for this week! And so very excited for this last race! It will be a crazy fun weekend for sure!

Recovery week for Jess: 

Monday: yoga Done

Tuesday: yoga Done

Wednesday:Barre 3 Done

Thursday:3 mile Done

Friday:Barre 3 Nope

Saturday: 2 mile run Nope

Sunday:Barre 3 Nope

I had a great, packed, friend-filled weekend, until Sunday when I thought I was going to die from stomach cramp. Yuck. This week I didn't really care one way or another if I hit all my goals, I needed to not have a schedule for the week. The rest week was great, but now I am ready to go get it again! What is it that causes me to feel guilty when my week isn't packed or I miss a workout?? Despite the guilt, it did feel good to rest up this week.

This week for Katie:
Mon- rest
Tues - 3 mile run
Wed - walk
Thurs - 2 mile run
Fri - workout video
Sat - rest
Sun - Heaven Can Wait 5k (just running for fun with some friends)


Recovery Week for Katie:
Last week was a fun week of traveling and vacation with my little family. We enjoyed time together and we walked all over the place. Mostly I let my muscles rest and recover. I waited until Saturday to run and I did a slow 2 miler while pushing my daughter in the BOB. It was a nice week. I look forward to piking up the pace a little this week. And on Sunday I am doing a 5k with a couple friends without the pressure of trying to PR but just to go out and have fun and chat our way through the course. 

Race Recap: Rock 'n' Roll Portland Half Marathon (Katie)

Race: Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Location: Portland, Oregon

Weather: 55ºF and rainy

Official Time: 2:15:51

Pace: 10:22

Jess and I had such a fun girls weekend leading up to the race. It was refreshing and just what we both needed. As we woke up Sunday morning to head to the race we were both a little blase´ and still very much in our relaxed mode from the weekend. We kind of looked at each other and said "well, let's go run 13 miles now". It was surreal. But as soon as we got there and saw the masses of people gathering, heard the music playing, waited in the obligatory long line for the honey buckets, then found our starting place, the adrenaline was pumping and we were ready! 

Before the race

Once our corral finally got past the finish line and the masses started to spread out a little, we were rockin and rollin and feeling great. Unfortunately we may have over hydrated because around mile 3 we had to stop and use the porta-potty. We definitely lost at least a minute. But when you gotta go...

Very early on, chatting away, feeling good

I was very much looking forward to this race for many reasons, but one of them being the awesome rock 'n' roll music I was expecting to hear mile to mile. I assumed that as one loud, upbeat, awesome rock song faded, I would begin to hear the next one and literally rock my way through the race. This was not the case at all. The music we did hear was slow and disappointing. Or worse, the bands were chatting instead of playing.

Gearing up for the final mile

While training for this race, I experienced many highs and lows. Due to this my confidence was shot and I doubted myself and my ability. But as each mile passed and I didn't feel like dying, my confidence grew and I knew I could do this. Not only could I do it, I could actually feel good doing it. At one point Jess mentioned how much better she felt during this race than she did during the girlfriends half. I told her I was thinking the same thing but was nervous to say it out loud. It was true, my endurance was strong, my lungs were feeling great and I was carrying on feeling pretty darn well.

The final push

As Jess mentioned, we both realized we need to do a lot more strength training in preparation for these big races (and any running really). My mind marvels at the thought of being both fit in endurance and in strength. Fortunately, it wasn't until mile 11 that I started hurting. At that point with only 2 miles to go, I knew I could push through the pain. 

almost there

As I passed the Mile 12 marker, I grew excited and attempted to pull ahead for the last 1.1 miles. I think I forgot how long a mile is and for some reason the finish line was basically camouflaged so I could not even see what my end point was. I had to pull back a little to keep myself upright but as the cheering got louder and I could finally see the finish line was just ahead, I took a little sprint forward to finish strong.

...and done!

I was so relieved and happy to be done. The sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with completing something you have been working so hard and so long for, is just indescribable. I was giddy! I completed my 2nd ever half marathon! And even though I only PRed by 3 minutes, I am thrilled with the improvement and with the overall sense of satisfaction I feel.

We did it!

I think we had intended to stay and enjoy the festivities after the race but it was raining and cold and we were looking forward to a hot shower and lunch reservations (followed by pedicures!), so we left with our heads held high and enjoyed reminiscing about our race together for the next several hours.

Some favorite spectator signs:
"Make 13.1 your bitch"
"You thought this was a good idea 3 months ago"
"You all are Kenyan"
"The beer is at the end" (we saw these guys 3 times so deserved a mention)
"Of course your feet hurt, you're kicking ASSphalt"
I also appreciated the people who were handing out paper cups of PBR around Mile 9

Jess' Rock N Roll Recap (May's Race)

This race was different than my other half marathons. I was so excited to hang with Katie and have a girls' weekend, I wasn't really prepping mentally for the race. On Saturday night I was feeling mixed emotions. Part of me was excited to get it over with, this long training schedule has taken its toll. Another part of me was confidant in the training that I had done, I knew this would be a strong race. 

After the race, I had mixed feelings again. There were parts of the race that I loved and other parts that I was disappointed in.

Let's start with positives:

• I loved the course. It was tough (hillier than I thought) but took us through different parts of Portland that I love. 
• Katie and I once again were a great team. We opened it up for each other to run our own race, but turns out we are just good running partners and were comfortable sticking together for the whole 13 (the last .1 she sprinted it out, thatta girl Kate!).
• I felt well hydrated and think that I did a good job taking care of myself, not waiting too long to eat my sports beans, using their GU provided, and didn't experience the "dip" at mile 9 that I have in the past. 
• My running gear gave no problems. It's hard to know what will work sometimes. I had quite the experience finding shoes during this training time, and had purchased some new things to wear for race day. Everything felt great. 
• We ran strong, both of us commented that our lungs/breathing felt great the entire race. 
• We managed to squeak out a PR. Not by much, and slower than I had anticipated but still my fastest half marathon to date.  Final time: 2:16:06

Love our hardcore expressions, we were diggin' deep that last .1

 Things I wish I could change:

• I really did NOT like racing without my Garmin. I'm ready to replace my lost watch. It has been a good experience running "blind", focusing on my body's signals, enjoying just running...but during the race, after 15 weeks of training, I would have liked some insight to my pace, so that I could have pushed it and "raced" a little more efficiently. 
• Walkers. Don't get me wrong, I love that there were walkers participating in the race. My mom and I have thrown around the idea of walking a half or full marathon together. However, there was more than a handful of walkers in our corral, making the start of the race our slowest mile (which was not my race plan)as we worked to go around them. Most that we passed were smack dab in the middle of the course. It killed a little of my enthusiasm to be honest. 
• Our lungs were strong but Katie and I both noticed a point in the race when we were feeling a little weak. Such a good reminder that strength training should NOT be ignored during training, feeling strong at the finish, having an extra kick to power up hills, and something left in the tank at mile ten are great reasons to take strength training seriously. (Not to mention avoid injury during race day and your weeks of training)
• What bands? I had expected the Rock N Roll to be chalk-full of bands. Upbeat music was supposed to be helping me rock my way from mile to mile. With such a steep registration fee I assumed that was the experience we were paying for. Wrong. Many bands we passed were in between sets, talking to the runners, or playing slow music. I had not planned to run with my own music because I wanted to take in the hoopla, however there was a real lack of hoopla to be had!

I had a great time with Katie. I'm so grateful for our fams for letting us have this great weekend and supporting us the last 15 weeks.