Coach Jen B

There was a time I would turn around and go home if I forgot my beloved Garmin.  But I have found that I've been so focused on what the Garmin says for a pace, that I'm not listening to my body.  I tried my first "naked" run earlier this week and I loved it!  So, I did it again later on in the week.  Again, loved it.  Today, I went out for an easy, recovery 3 miles with the husband on the rail trail and left the Garmin at home again.  Yes, folks.  3 days without the Garmin.  It feels so liberating!  I don't need it for mileage because I did run on the rail trail and it is well marked for mileage (every 1/4 mile), so I'm good there.  I admit, I do glance at the clock on the car dash just before walking away from the car and I check out the time again when I return, but that's it.  No minute to minute obsession of my pace.   Tucker was at swim lessons at the time, so it was just Ward, Izzy, Pepper, and myself. Ward...

This morning I set out for my first solo long run in what seems like ages.  I've been quite spoiled to have an outstanding group of women to do long runs with for the past year or so.  While schedules sometimes get crazy, I've usually managed to have at least one running buddy.  Due to the LL Bean 10K taking place this Wedensday and a scheduled 15 miler long run for the weekend, I had a conflict of interest going on.  I need to stay on track with marathon training (especially since I kind of threw the plan out last week prepping for the half marathon) yet I ant to do well on Wednesday. Some people can bounce back from a long run and perform well, but not me.  Part of me wanted to keep my long run on Sunday just so I could have a running buddy or two, but a bigger part of me was positive that my body wouldn't be recovered for the 10k.  It was a very humid but cool 58F when I set out this morning.  It was absolutely perfect running weathe...

Do you keep your bib numbers?  I haven't always kept them, but once I caught the racing bug, I started keeping them (after writing the date, time and place on the bib).    Once I started keeping them, Ward started keeping his.  Next thing you know, we had a huge collection of bib numbers, race pictures, ribbons, and medals. "before" At first I thought keeping two bulletin boards would be enough.  Nope.  If we were going to accommodate the never-stopping collections, the one bulletin board per person was going to grow to several bulletin boards or begin to cover an entire wall.  Who knows, it could turn into an entire room.   We do have a nice sized house, but we definitely don't have the space to dedicate a room to our running  collection.  Not yet anyway.  Maybe once the kids are gone. One day I set out to organize our collection.  It took forever.  And apparently we never took the safety pins off of t...

This is what I found on the kitchen counter, sitting beside my fuel stash,  on race morning.  My husband is the sweetest, ever.   Jill, Carrie, Michelle, and myself pre-race photo courtesy of Michelle @ Average Girl Doing Average Things Yesterday was my sixth half marathon and my second KRRT half marathon.  Jill and I were at the start bright and early and ready to rock.  I have issues.  Apparently, in my mind, it made perfect sense to pick Jill up at 6:30 (with the race starting at 7:30) for a 10 mile drive AND we had already picked up our bib #s the night before.  Jill knows me well and we waiting for me when I came around the corner.  When we got there, we finally got to meet Michelle from Average Girl Doing Average Things , a local blogger and fellow Tough Chik .  It was great to finally meet her in person.  I can't wait until we can meet again.  Eventually we headed over the starting line to get...

The other day, I came home to this fun box of goodies.   Who doesn't like to receive goodies in the mail?   It is actually the contents of a Bulu Box .  Have you heard of this service before?  Upon receiving my box of goodies, I did some searching on their website an came up with this information.   They have some great products available that you can try out before spending a lot of money on larger quantities or be introduced to new products that you never thought you'd try.   Here's a close up of my goodies: Life = Omega 3 Wild Norwegian Fish Oil I love the way fish oil supplements make me feel.  I only wish I received more than just a sample of this one.   I am guessing I need to buy some.  See, the sample worked. Vitamin D3  Oh yes, my doctor keeps telling me I need for vitamin D and I've been awful at taking it.  Here's my chance.   Cellucor - Weight Loss High-Def Fat Targeting ...

It's summer (yay!) and I've been craving a sweet and savory kind of cole slaw for a few days now.  I love the fresh, crispness of a just made slaw and I find it incredibly filling.  Yesterday when I was at the grocery store I grabbed one of my favorite pre-shredded slaw mixes - with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and red cabbage.    But what I forgot to get was my favorite dressing.   Desperate to figure something out with what I had on hand, I whipped together a quick little dressing that really pleased me.  It was light, sweet, hot.  Perfect.   My secret ingredient.  Actually, this "find" is turning into my secret ingredient in quite a few items lately.  I don't know what I did without this jar of hotness before.   And since the kids didn't want any and Ward was at work, I was sure to enjoy every last bit of it at dinner tonight.  Yes.  It was that good.   quite satisfying and I didn't h...

One week down for marathon training.  I bet you won't be surprised when I tell you I altered the plan already. Week #1's plan called for - Monday - rest/yoga Tuesday - easy 4-5 miles Wednesday - 5-7 mile tempo Thursday - rest Friday - 5-6 miles temp Saturday - easy 3-4 miles Sunday - 12 miles Total:  25-29 miles What I actually did: I set out thinking I'm going to follow a plan, then I go and register for races and it throws off my plan.  Yes, I could still stick with the plans but when I pay for a race, I want to do well.  I know my body and I know I need to rest/recover, so I give myself permission to do so.  And while I didn't exactly stick to the plan, I still ended up with more mileage than I was supposed to.  I had added more distance into the shorter runs so I could make my long run shorter on Sunday.   Now I'm officially in taper mode and I'm going to follow the plan I followed the week prior to my (shocking) half marat...

I've been working part time at the gym for a little over a month now and I am loving it.    Win! When I run at the gym, I get to stare at myself in this mirror & admire my muscles and critique my form or watch TV (which is to the side of the mirror) .  At least I have options. I got there bright and early so I could squeeze in a run before the gym "officially" opened.   My plan called for 3-4 miles today and I was able to get in 4 miles.   Win! After my run, I drank a Premier Protein drink.   I actually won a selection of Premier Protein bars and drinks on twitter a little while ago.  The shipment came earlier this week and I'm just starting to try them out.  I chose the vanilla today.  Yum!  A fabulous win here.  I sure hope the chocolate drink and bars I got are just as yummy.   And then I ate the Coconut Cream Pie Larabar which I won (a 16 bar variety pack) from Angela at Happy Fit M...

No more school for Tucker or myself!  Yippee! We had to start summer off on the right foot - so the kids and I headed over to our favorite little swimming spot to stake our claim. This is our little Peacock Beach.  It's on Pleasant Pond in Richmond.  We love it there because it's only 5 minutes from the house, 3 minutes from Izzy's daycare, and usually has a great little beach for the kids and a nice grassy area for the moms to hang out on while the kids are splashing around and having an awesome time. Unfortunately, with all of the rain we had in the past couple of weeks, our little beach was not there.   It was a bit lonely there today because normally I'm there with my girls and their families.   I'm hoping they will join me next week when the temps hit 90s!  (that's hot for Maine) My view for most of the summer!   Happy Summer everyone!  

last day of school what I'm wearing under my "school" clothes yes - I do wear running clothes everywhere

Marathon #2 - MDI Marathon - is just under 18 weeks away, which for me, means Marathon Training has begun!   Good thing I only have 2.5 more days of school and then I'm officially in summer mode.  I won't be taking the entire summer off from school.  I will be teaching summer school (part time) and I will be preparing myself for my new program in my new classroom.  Not to mention, I'll be spending tons of time with the family at the beach, cottage, parks and other fun adventures.  Back to the marathon training.  I've decided that I'm going to follow a modified version Train Like a Mother's Own It Marathon Plan.  Have you had the chance to read TLAM?  If you haven't, you have to get it.  I love Dimity and Sarah's humor throughout the entire book.   There you have it - in B&W, I am trying to convince myself that I can BQ (someday).  I feel that if I up my game (big time) and train really hard, I can ...

Update (6/20/12) I completely forgot to post the winners - but rest assured, I did email them and they already confirmed what they would like.   Congrats to: Carrie @ Maine Mom on The Run Jill @ One Tough Cookie and a Beer   Meredith @ Dare You To  Runners need happy feet.   I think the nail polish really adds the happy touch on my feet because we know they definitely are not pretty!   Needing happy feet means sometimes we need to take extra measures to take care of them.   Profoot could be the perfect place for you to turn for your foot needs.   I was contacted by Profoot a bit ago to try out some of their products.  I was happy to do so and Izzy, of course, was pleased to be my little model for the photo shoot.   First up - The 2 oz Miracle orthotics These are great!  I cut them to size.  Trust me, this is easy because all you had to do is cut along the lines.  They are incredibly thin and easy to...