keep your chin up

do not fear my friends, i have not died of m&m overdosing.

the ceremonial ribbon cutting

a dorky video of me eating my 1st m&m

i was so nervous to break the streak

it's been one week of being back on crack (m&m's) and man, it's a little hard to stop!

i "only" ate the 19oz bag of plain m&m's (and shared some too) over the weekend. at work earlier this week i ate the rest of the 56oz bag that has been sitting in my desk drawer since last september when i stopped eating them (there weren't that many left). one year old m&m's still taste alright, for the record.

i've made a deal with myself that i can only eat m&m's when i'm traveling on a trip (further than an hour away), when someone else buys them as a legit gift (not a shady under the table deal just to get a fix) or if it's truly a life or death situation (like if i'm lost in the woods and all i can find are m&m's to hold me over until i'm rescued). i hope this will keep me from falling back into my bad habits of eating a 12oz bag daily...

in other news -- (because there is more to life than m&m's lindsay)

i did my first real chin-up! no weight assistance, no stretchy band - just me and the bar. i actually did about 2.5. i feel so accomplished.

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international m&m day

while march 1st is national m&m day, today is international m&m day. that's right, you canadians can join in on this one.

m&m face says mm(m) for m&m's

as most holidays are created to celebrate the joyous victory over trials and hardships, international m&m day is no different. i have made it 365.242 days without eating a single m&m which basically equates to the suffering of the great depression.

today we must make our forefathers & foremothers proud and indulge in that 56oz bag of m&m's.

care package from my old running partner to ensure the day is properly celebrated

if mars, inc. was publicly traded, yesterday would have been a good time to buy shares.

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national m&m day

happy national worldwide m&m day everyone!! (even though maurlene didn't mail me m's this year)

i am still on the fence as to whether or not i will celebrate with an m&m or 463.

should i break the no-sugar streak (almost 6 months now) or celebrate in spirit?

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m&m's: missing in action

many of you have left comments regarding m&m's and their status in my life.

m&m's given to me the week of my bday (september)

(for those of you who don't know, and i'm not sure how you could have missed the boat, i have had? a slight addiction to m&m's. they even have their own category here on the blog.)

so where has all the m&m talk gone?

back in sept, i started seeing a nutritional response doctor for the various skin/health issues going on, and she didn't waste anytime cleaning up my diet. for two weeks, i did not eat wheat/gluten, corn, eggs, sugar, or american cheese. after two weeks, i was allowed to slowly start working things back in my diet except for eggs and sugar (i can have agave and honey though).

yes, you read that correctly. i haven't had sugar since 9/14/11 (58 days!)

so no, i did not hoard the halloween candy. it's worked out though, keeping me from blimping up while i'm not running, and i haven't had bad cravings (surprisingly). at my initial visit, doc said typically people go 3 months without sugar to let their body cleanse itself (or something like that). i immediately calculated this out to just before christmas, and she laughed when i said it was manageable because i would still get to have christmas cookies. now i am actually thinking/hoping to stay sugar-free. unsweetened applesauce is now delicious and i have to water down juice because it tastes so sweet!

josh found this gluten-free, sugar-free, egg-free cookie recipe and he's made them for me a few times. they're good, obviously not as satisfying as a real chocolate chip cookie, but i still have no problem plowing down the whole batch in a couple days. by myself.

ingredients:
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 cup uncooked quick-cooking gluten-free oats (not quaker)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup carob chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

note: carob chips look just as delicious as chocolate chips, but have no flavor.

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national m&m day

it's the most wonderful time of the year. that's right, it's national m&m day again!

thanks to marlene, i'm hereby declaring it world m&m day, taking it beyond the us border and welcoming all m&m lovers to join the celebration.

i think he's gonna eat gary

ps: another successful early am run today. it was short because i hit snooze a few too many times, but i'm perfectly content with just getting out for a few sleep-running miles at this point.

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candy aisle clearance

i returned to work monday after failing to convince josh that the flu/plague lasts 5-7 business days and saw they had freshly salted the sidewalks. good thing! the high was only 72 degrees today. safety first.

i got this sweet gift in the mail from genesis! i just know i'm going to get excited about finding an m&m on my shirt at work one day and try to eat it. then i'll be a little disappointed, but hopefully won't break any teeth. thanks gen!

after work josh and i went for a valentine run. i still have a rumbly cough, but uh, i've run three whole days so far this month. i need to move. we did a short and easy 3 miler; i only stopped 3 times to hack up a lung.

the best part of valentine's day? february 15th.

cha-ching.

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frankenstein: an almost wordless wednesday

i know it's hard to read but it basically says that 10 cough drops = 1 serving of fruit

i couldn't even eat my m&m's

put myself to bed with a temp of 101.8

not a whole lot of running going on over here.

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january 2011

january 2011
total mileage: 130.10
time spent running: 19hrs 15min
days off: 12
avg temp: 46.35
trip of the month: south florida for ragnar keys

not a bad month. i realized i'm doing well at recapping 2/3 of an event and then never finishing it up though (ie ragnar, wedding, honeymoon). maybe i'll make progress on those in february. i won't be making it an m&m-less february like last year, but get ready for march 1st as that is still national m&m day.

actually, it was a great month. i hit my target weight loss of 3.6lbs for the month! even with indulging in these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for a few days. yum. (i added some lindt dark chocolate instead of nuts)

soft, chewy and not overly sweet

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back in the saddle

i'm a whiz at proportion

i hope the running i've been doing since august is good enough to consider a "base". some weeks were better than others, and i averaged about 30mpw for the past three months.

now it's time to put my nose to the grindstone. that doesn't sound very pleasant, but then again speedwork doesn't feel very pleasant.

over the next few months i'm planning an 8k, possible 10k, half-mar, and a grand return to the marathon. well, hopefully a grand return.

i still haven't forgotten the last one two, but i need to put on my big girl underpants and toe the line again.

the training plan i created for marathon #10(!) is a step back from jack daniels and incorporates the simple workouts i've preferred in the past instead - tempo runs, 800's and mile repeats. i'm also aiming to do back-to-back "long" runs like i did when training for the goofy challenge (8/16, 10/20, etc). i'll only build by 10% per week, and cutback by about 30% every 3-4 weeks. i will hopefully do yoga weekly to stay loose and stretch out.

of course i'm hoping to see a good time on the clock but let's not put the cart before the horse.

i got another awesome pair of socks from my dad this weekend!

and you thought i couldn't get any more stylish...

i was impressed with everyone owning up to having the sweaters and hoochy skirts.

16 weeks to go!

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rearview mirror - 2010

2010 was the year of nausea, have i mentioned that yet? it finally cleared up in september/october and these last 2-3 months have been soo nice to feel "normal" again. hopefully i won't have any lapses in '11.  the constant "off" feeling kept me from running consistently all summer, but gave me an excuse to be guiltlessly lazy.

it was still a good year - i ran a decent amount of miles and stayed injury free once again (i don't consider the random health issues an injury).

2005 - 735.94 (started march 14th)
2006 - 623.43 (did not log may-september)
2007 - 1335.95
2008 - 1618.95
2009 - 2025.10
2010 - 1545.00

january - 180.05 miles. ran on the treadmill a lot, but also had a few runs with the old kentucky crew.
7-days of no-running; longest run, 17.1 miles.

february - 177.36 miles, the (original) month of no m&m's! ran a 10-mile race for an automatic pr.
8-days of no-running; longest run, 17.1 miles.

march - 121.20 miles. vomit-inducing vertigo. when i quit responding to text messages because i was puking my brains out, josh left work and drove 6 hours to check on me.
11-days of no-running; longest run, 9.12 miles.

april - 155.81 miles. ran two marathons - boston and kentucky derby.
13-days of no-running; longest run, 26.2 miles by default.

may - 143.55 miles. looking back on this month now, i probably should not have re-inserted any speed/hard workouts so soon after my double 'thons.
7-days of no-running; longest run, 12.75 miles.

june - 129.61 miles. moved home from kentucky! apparently i never gave june it's own recap. sorry june. i think it was because this was when my mac crashed.
9-days of no-running; longest run, 10.4 miles.

july - 51.60 miles. health issues. wedding! tahiti!! 'nuf said.
23-days of no-running; longest run, 10.05 miles.

august - 88.65 miles. finally started feeling 2% better. began rebuilding the exercise habit.
15-days of no-running; longest run, 8.15 miles.

september - 101.60 miles. ran 3 races in one night and hope to repeat in '11.
13-days of no-running; longest run, 11.45 miles.

october - 112.45 miles. ran/walked a 5k with my sisters. spectated josh and my sister in their first half-marathon!
11-days of no-running; longest run, 10 miles.

november - 128.08 miles. another month of no m&m's. ran a trail half-marathon.
12-days of no-running; longest run, 13.1 miles.

december - 155.04 miles. ran/walked a 5k with my sister. ate a lot of cookies.
7-days of no-running; longest run, 14 miles.
time spent running: 23:27:40
days off: 7
abs/yoga: 10 ab workouts/3 yoga sessions
avg temp: 41.25*

december tends to get gyped out of it's own monthly review. i don't know about you but i'm kind of tired of 2010 reflections so i'm jamming it all together.

all in all, it was another good year of running. the day-in and day-out dealing nausea and other health problems sucked, but hopefully those are all behind me now as i continue to feel a little better every day.

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athlete's plate: saving the best for last

jason of life of an aspiring athlete fame has a fun and yummy weekly installment of athlete-worthy meals. he chose to create his last menu of 2010 around me because he knew he had to go out with a bang.

go check out my menu here! don't worry, only one recipe contains m&m's. this stuff is actually healthy and realistic.

(for more entertainment, check out the marlene edition and the potty-centric suar menu)

i have to nominate next week's featured blogger -- so leave a comment and i just might pick you. first athlete's plate of 2011, those are bragging rights! bribes are certainly accepted. (hey, it worked for me; thanks for the nomination marlene!)

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pounds of fat

ok mathletes, and even you non-mathletes, here's an equation for you: (even i was capable of running the numbers, so no excuses!)

how many pounds of fat did you burn while running in 2010?

0.63 x your weight = number of calories burned because of running per mile (ncbbr)

ncbbr x number of miles ran in 2010 = number of calories burned because of running in 2010 (ncb'10)

ncb'10 / 3500 = how many pounds of fat you burned this year

*canadiens/kilogram-users: multiple your pounds by 0.4535 to convert to kg 

(3500 = appx. number of calories in a pound of fat)

my calculations said i ran off 67+ pounds of so far this year. that's pretty disgusting to think about. seeing as how i've roughly "maintained" the same weight all year that means i've eaten 67 lbs of fat throughout the year... gross.

hello eye-opener. good bye m&m's.

off for a 1,936mile run to burn some fat. i ate too many christmas cookies. and blueberry cheesecake.

(formula from runner's world)

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runs with friends

i've realized lately that i don't talk about my daily runs much. i've tried putting thought into it, but mostly i feel pretty unbloggable on a day-to-day basis.

with the exception of this weekend of course, before terri (one of my longest blog-buddies) un-invites me from coming up for boston in april. terri came down to visit her dad me and in addition to being lazy/eating m&m's, we got to run together twice!

we got a late start saturday after a lazy morning and went out for an easy 5-miler in 50-ish degrees; a warm welcome for my boston friend. sunday's weather was not as nice to us as it steadily drizzled the whole time, but we got in another easy, gab-filled run. once back inside the house the rain stopped and the sun came out. go figure.

saturday 12/11 mid-day run: 5.02 miles, 45:41 (avg pace 9:06), 50*
sunday 12/12 am run: 4.5 miles, 40:58 (avg pace 9:06), 37*

three things you should know about terri:

1. she makes delicious brownies.
2. she is concerned about my heart-health and buys me dark chocolate m&m's.
3. she's a running-sandbagger, always talking about being slow, and then she waxed me up the last hill on our run sunday morning. home field advantage i think not.

disclaimer about jill's gift exchange: i have begun to procure gifts for my secret santa but i still make no guarantees you get it before the post office shuts down for christmas. course you won't know this until you get it and find out i was your tardy secret santa, but you've been forewarned :)

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no-vember

this is it. don't get scared now.

i know i am starting to sound like a broken record, but i really do need to tighten up my eating habits. i have hereby proclaimed the month of november to be sugar-free. that's right, we're taking this one step further from february and eliminating all sweets. part of my problem in february was that i said "no m&m's" but proceeded to increase my intake of every other form of chocolate.

*most* of the m&m's consumed at work in aug-oct...
this does not include the bags eaten at home.
(ridic, i know)

i'm just getting my feet wet with 2 days of no-sugar/sweets, but i fully intend to keep this up even through thanksgiving dessert. hopefully i can convince my mom to bake something with splenda.

what are you saying 'no' to in november?

(in line with the past few months) - november goals:

30-min everyday

bike: 90mi (let's see if i can hit it this month)

tempo runs: 4mi, 5mi, extra credit for 6mi

speed work: 6x800, 3x1600

long runs: 12mi, 13mi

abs: 15x

yoga: 5x

weights: 7x

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the cows and the bees: giveaway!

unless you were born yesterday, you know i have two addictions - m&m's (notable breakdowns here and here) and gu chomps (here). well now i've discovered a liquid crack - honeymilk.

i first learned about honeymilk after they requested to share my "no white at night" post on their blog. they sent me a sample pack out of the goodness of their hearts and i quickly laid claim on "my share" - aka josh gets 5 bottles and i get 7.

nutritional facts
i'm sure you have all found a new health/workout/recovery product, only for it to have 900 calories, or 3800g of sugar. this is not the case with honeymilk. i was pleasantly surprised to flip the bottle around and see reasonable nutritional facts and fairly common ingredients.

the calories in honeymilk are comparable to a serving of regular milk. it's a bit higher than almond and soy milk, but way higher in protein in comparison to all three (26g in honeymilk vs. 1-7g in other milks). as someone who is allergic to most sources of protein, it's nice to have a non-powdered option.

flavors (click for nutritional facts)
honey - lightly sweet. forget chocolate syrup, i'm stirring honey in my milk from now on.
vanilla - very sweet, like a melted vanilla bean milkshake. i chugged it the first time i tried it (couldn't help it); it's also josh's favorite.
acai pom - a touch of fruityness. acai pom and honey are the less-sweet ones in my opinion, for those of you who don't have 32 sweet-teeth like me.
coffee light - this one didn't last long, it tastes just like an iced-coffee or frappuccino.
chocolate light - delicious, of course. i used one for a chocolate-banana smoothie and it was just like a milkshake, except with nutritional value. doesn't have that chalky taste like muscle milk.

win it
honeymilk has so graciously offered up a case of product to one lucky reader!

to enter the one-case (12 bottles) giveaway:

• become a fan of honeymilk on facebook and write "i'm chasing the kenyans" on their wall (and let me know)
• for an extra entry - leave a comment below about which flavor you want
• for a secret entry - send your friends here! they'll need to refer back to you (duh). you'll get even more extra credit if they use the coupon code below to purchase product... 

but wait, there's more!
purchase any case of honeymilk from their online store at 50% off with code "KENYANS" for a chance to win a three-month supply! it's like a groupon for ctk readers, except you already qualify. shipping is always free.

not only do you get a great deal, but each purchase enters you for a chance to win three-months worth of honeymilk (10 cases!). you can make more than one purchase to get multiple entries. if you don't have room in your fridge, feel free to have them shipped to me.

---

the fine print: both giveaways end 11/17. must be a resident of the unidastazovamerikaliqua (aka usa) to win because it's illegal to ship milk across the border/internationally (sorry!).

disclaimer: honeymilk sent me a sample pack of product after i shared my writing skillz on their blog. my review was unsolicited and i am not being paid or perk'd from expressing my enjoyment of honeymilk. the giveaway goodies are sponsored by the gracious generosity of honeymilk.

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you got whatever it is: getting ready

[picking up where i left off...]

after rehearsal dinner, i went back to my house with my sisters and some girl friends for ice cream sundaes, my scandalous bachelorette party. one of my friends got me two huge bags of m&m's, a few hershey bars, and some reese's pieces for josh - that's how scandalous we were. my sisters (bridesmaids) and jess (moh) spent the night. i got about 3-4 hours of sleep (and not from nerves, cause i didn’t sleep well pre-wedding-week and still can't now).

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finally

a decent run! i really don't know what's going on, but i am glad i had a good run at last. i've been feeling very pokey lately, and my pace has definitely shown it. thankfully monday evening i went out for a run in 84 degrees and surprisingly, it was a pleasant little run. either all the slogginess is starting to pay off, or all the m&m's i ate monday afternoon were magical. of course i'm leaning towards "needing" m&m's personally...

monday (6/7) pm run: 6.5 miles, 56:57 (avg pace 8:46), 84*
compared to....
sunday (6/6) am run: 4.75 miles, 45:18 (avg pace 9:32), 77*

what is up, self?

week in review (5/24 - 5/30)
total miles: 41.75 *finally crested the elusive 40-mile week
time spent running: ~ 6 hrs 10 mins
avg hr: 163.50
avg run pace: 8:51/mile
off days: 1

week in review (5/31 - 6/6)
total miles: 37.00
time spent running: ~5 hrs 44 mins
avg hr: 165.33
avg run pace: 9:17
off days: 1

well when i look at it this way, it doesn't seem like i'm slowing down totally - just some days. maybe i can blame it on the heat/humidity a little afterall.

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lucky number seven

the weekend
very exciting - full of painting (a lot of which should have been done 4 years ago when i bought the house. i would start painting a room and then get tired and quit.... so yeah, still not done). getting closer though!

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this is it

today is friday.
may 28th, two thousand ten.

but more importantly...

it's my last day working in kentucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ps: like a week ago i got a package from jill -- m&m's! i'd post a picture but... i ate them too quickly :) thanks jill! i also stumbled across some random facts about m&m's here while enjoying jill's present. i sure love m&m's, but we knew that already.

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national m&m day

alas, march is here
choc'late's better in color
m's, you complete me

i'm declaring this national m&m day, so go out and indulge now! (don't worry lenten-sacrificers and those of you starting your own sugar-free-challenge, i will take care of your portions)

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