10K Today!

So I woke up to a bright sunny, not to cold Saturday morning. It was a wonderful way to start by day since I knew I had a long run a head of me. At 7am I left the house, new music pumping through my blackberry and began my goal for the day.

My goal was to finish the 10.6 kilometers from my house to the Fahit Sultan Mehmet Bridge and back without stopping. I was not trying to challenge my time (however I will do that soon) I simply wanted to finish without walking for even a second no matter how slow I had to jog. Guess what!!!??? I DID IT! The feeling when I finished was so gratifying, it overwhelmed the exhausted and actually gave me a boost of probably the last bit of adrenaline I had. I thought this was going to be a pretty high set goal. I mean I have ran long distance before but whenever I was tired I would stop and walk a bit, then run again. I went 10.6 Kilometers (6.58 miles) without stopping and actually I feel like I could have gone farther. I timed myself and finished sooner then I thought I would at 1:02:55. This is very impressive for me. Its about right too since my 5K time is 27minutes and this run involves two hills both about 100 yards up then 100 yard down again. This makes me optimistic because I want my half marathon time to be under 1:45:00 which seems doable to me at this point. I mean I was not running I was jogging and it only took a little over an hour. I think a couple more times of simply finishing without walking then I will actually try to start improving. One month till the big half marathon!

Here is a great beginners page for anyone else who wants to start training!

Energy Whatsits?

So as I was browsing through the web looking for pre running tips, do's and don'ts. I came across something called an "energy gel" its I am assuming some form of liquid tablet that you carry with you while running and take at a refreshment station. Does anyone know what these are and if they are worth a try?

Schedules are Hard to Follow

Well I tried to follow a schedule but it seems life just wont let me. What was I thinking? I guess that since today was just such a busy day that I couldn't get a run in I will be moving my rest days on Saturday to Thursdays. I think not having a rest day on the weekend makes more sense because I work doing the week and I don't have regular hours so sometimes (as this week has proven) its hard to follow a schedule.

I ate wonderfully today though. I got some fish oil pills, with vitamin A&D and a vitamin D. I also didn't snack at all and was able to eat probably one of the healthiest dinners I have had since we were in France living off avocados, potatoes and vegetables for a month. My dinner if you were wondering was 2 cups of veggies with some plain Turkish yogurt on top. Yum! For desert I had jello with half a banana and nutella on top!

Also today I used the Google maps to figure out how many kilometers I was running and turns out from my house to the Fahit Sultan Mehmet Bridge and back is about a 10K which is more then I thought it was. I will start my day tomorrow with that run to make up for the lack of one today.

Istiyorum!!! (I want... in English)

I really want one of these!!!

Nike sportband!!!

Nike sports band, logs your run time, miles, and even calories burned!! (Also comes in cool colors) they are only about 60 dollars!

Week One is going Great and Strong!

This morning I really wanted to get up and run with the sunset, well I got up but it was pouring down rain, so I fell back asleep only to wake up to a bright sunny sky!

So far I have kept up the pace and energy, its now Wednesday and seeing how yesterday I was not able to run (busy with the the kiddos), I went on an extra long one today and included some intervals and hills. I ran from our house to Istinye harbor, then up hill toward the Bosphorus, and once there decided to loop back and run uphill (one mile!) to Istinye Park. I did the same thing the other day when I ran to the Fahit Sultan Bridge but only the other directions. I finished all this in about an Hour with some walking intervals included. Check out my running long to see the times I managed to do this in!

For my after run snack I had half a banana and a cup of mixed unsalted nuts with of course coffee!

Officially Week One, Bir, Une, Uno.

After two weeks of slowly seeing how my body would react to running again I am ready to take the plunge and start real training. I have three goals associated with my overall goal. One is to keep a running log or journal so I can track my progress, hence the online blog. Two is to be consistent with everything from what I eat before and after to what time I wake up and the routes I take. I foresee some challenges with this in the future but that's what the logs are for, too see what worked and didn't. Three is to time myself, not just look at the clock when I left and look at it again when I return but to actually see how far I went in what about of time... and get better the next time.

One thing to remember is that you should always have a pre run snack. Mine is half a banana today and 2 cups of coffee. I am a believer in coffee before a run, simply because my human phys professor told me he did it before runs. Good enough excuse for me!

What to eat and why to eat before running? Choose something high in carbohydrates and lower in fat, fiber, and protein. Such as a bagel with peanut butter; a banana or a energy bar; a cup of milk. So this 30 minutes before the run.

Pot Run: Finished, here is how I feel great! I went on a 30 minute run today because its my adventure day and I will be walking around the Sultanahamet area and didn't want to tire myself out too early.
To Istinye Harbor- 15:30 minutes 3K one direction. I stopped to enjoy the sun rising over the harbor then ran back in 15:11 the same distance 3K. I then felt like a little more exercise was needed so I ran up the 200 stairs to our apartment building. In all accourding to Self.com I burned 405 calories in 30 minutes. Now off to my adventures in Istanbul... after a cup of joe.

Lets Get Down to Vitamins

I started to wonder what type of vitamins I should be taking if I am going to really embark on this hardcore serious running. No more fooling around with a jog here and there that never really gets logged in my journal, never timed, never challenged. All that's changed now, which means I better make sure my body is in tip top shape! So as my boyfriend would tell you, looking things up via Google is my favorite past time and that's what I did. Basically every morning these are the vitamins a women 20-30 should be taking.
-Multi-vitamin
-Vitamins C and E, with a selenium
-Iron
-Vitamin D
Now if you really really know me you would say "Ashley take pills? sista please!" I don't like poppin pills because there are natural ways to enrich your body with the above vitamins (and its cheaper then buying all those supplements).

For Vitamin C- this ones easy just eat broccoli, bell peppers, strawberries, oranges, lemons, cauliflower, and my favorite Brussels sprouts. Basically this one vitamin does the following in short terms; helps your cells protect from free radical damage which lowers cancer risk.
For Vitamin E- load up on almonds, and spinich as well as blueberries. Vitamin E does wonders for your skin by protecting it from ultraviolet rays so if you tan you especially need this. It also helps your cells to communicate with one another!
High Selenium- This is found in mushrooms, cod, tuna, and salmon, what it does is help your thyroid produce the thyroid hormone you body needs.
For Vitamin D- start eating salmon, shrimp, milk, and eggs! There is a whole slue of disease's this helps to prevent, as well as keeping bones and teeth strong. It does more, it regulates cell growth and reduces inflammation.
Iron- this one is a bit harder especially if you are a vegetarian cause there is lots of Iron in meats but you can also find it in spinach, broccoli, lentils, asparagus and thyme. Iron helps enhance the oxygen distribution throughout your body, which duh has to happen in order to get those muscle the O2 they need to make you run. Iron also helps produce the energy your muscle use, and keeps your immune system healthy.

See that was easy, and if you have any questions ask, or Google them.

Day of Rest

One of the hardest parts about running for me is that once I get into a good motivating groove its hard for me to stop and realize my body needs a break. My first reaction is always, "If I stop now my motivation will die." Then I think, "If I don't take a break... my motivation will die!" So if you leave my blog with any more then this tid bit you are in great shape already.

So what to do when you know you need to take a day off but you are in the middle of such a great groove you think, "bring the marathon now!"? I tend to take breaks on the days when I know I already have a lot planned. For example my Saturdays are great days to take breaks because not only do I still work in the am on Saturdays but I teach English for 2 hours, then usually walk down to the market, then explore as much as I can of this wonderfully vast city! Not only am I taking a break from running which is allowing my muscles to rebuild and strengthen which means my running only IMPROVES but I am still burning calories since my entire day is full of walking (and Istanbul is not flat let me tell you...). So its really a win win for me.

Here is an article on why its so important to take a break
http://www.therunnersguide.com/rest/

So today is Saturday and its my rest day. My rest days are never scheduled but I always have at least two a week. For me rest days make me feel guilty like I SHOULD be exercising if I am not sore which is why its important for my rest days to be active days and I plan them accordingly. Today I will walk down the hill to the market which is about 2 kilometers long, walking and shopping. Then I will walk up another hill to Istinye Park mall and do a little shopping there. Not only have I given my glutes a great workout but I might find some goodies for myself!

Would I Dare?

Yes I would, start a new blog all about my own fitness and running skills... Basically I wanted a way to express how I feel about running and exercise in general. I also got sick of reading all those magazine blogs and in the end thinking two things, either that type of exercise is unrealistic for me, or wow that's not helpful. So in this blog I will bring up those topics and much more!

I also will be talking about my own personal goal to run a marathon (or more) within the next year. My most recent burst of energy has pushed me to be realistic about this and start a training and workout log, something I have done but never really felt it did anything for me. Things have changed now and I have a real goal.

I want people to read this and think about their own fitness, lifestyle, and most off stop REALLY believing those magazine that are just chalked full of trendy "fads" and useless information unless you are filthy rich and have the time and money to spend on fitness.

So I'mma get real... :)