Wilde Week #9

1. Being a child of the nineties, there are so many things to miss! I really miss #23. Remember those tiny floaty bubbles in Orbitz? They were awesome.

2. I'm spending the weekend in Amherst, NY! It's not only my dads birthday, but I was invited to Perry's ice cream to be a taste tester! I brought my dad with me (As his birthday present. I'm cheap!) and I'm also enjoying all the foods that Western New York has to offer!

Izzy and Bella say hi!

Dad and I spent a few hours with Perry's ice cream taste testing the new flavors!

A quick stop at Watson's chocolates is always necessary!

Ted 's versus Theodore's?  Each local has their opinion.

Bella is ready for Easter!

3. Eight miles to run today, I hope it stops snowing!  I am ready for the cold weather with my new hat, but slogging eight miles over snow covered streets doesn't really appeal to me!  First week of springing Buffalo and three inches of snow fell yesterday. I met someone at the airport who was also flying to Buffalo. He asked how warm it would be this weekend and was surprised when I told him it would be just above freezing. But it's spring!  He said. I laughed and told him spring starts in Mayin Buffalo. The businessman across from us laughed. He knew. 

4. Let it be known BF took this weekend of me being away to go and visit his parents. In Florida. He keeps posting pics on facebook of sunny skies. I'm super jealous/hate him. 

5. I've got nothing else today, I'm so full of ice cream and hot dogs!  What do you like to pig out on when you visit your hometown?  I'm looking forward to a chicken finger sub this weekend! 

Lightened Mac'n'Cheese

Tuesday I told you about my treadmill running.  Today, I'd like to discuss running outside!  Long runs are best done outside. The monotony of the treadmill would make any run longer than four or five miles a chore. Boyfriend prefers running outside.  Mostly because he falls off the treadmill.  His legs are too long.  He also likes running in the rain and cold.  Something about "earning it."

My 8am, 6 mile run this Saturday took my from my apartment, down a wide street and through the park. It was exactly six miles, an out and back run with a loop through the park. On my outdoor runs, I keep track of my pace and mileage with MapMyRun+ on my iPhone. It tracks me with satellites and records my route down to the closest 1/100th of a mile.

The nice lady in the app tells me when I reach each mile and how fast I'm going. I know that if my pace drops below nine minutes per mile, that I need to pick up my feet for the next mile. The mile callouts are helpful when I'm doing an out and back run, rather than a loop.

When my workout is over, the app shows me my splits for every mile I ran, along with a terrain map. That way I can tell that lost a minute from my pace when I was heading uphill.

This weekend I'm heading to Buffalo to visit my parents and the Perry's ice cream factory. This means that I will be doing my long run in the Buffalo cold. I bought a hat and gloves just for the trip! I will even show my mom how to track me on her phone, just so she can make sure I didn't slack off and stop at my brothers house for a break!

Three and a half weeks until my half marathon and I'm looking forward to it! We'll see if BF joins me on my run, he's been too busy to train with me! Silly work is getting in the way. Now I just have to find the perfect running outfit and I'll be ready to hit the starting line.  I can tell you one thing, it will be neon and you'll see me coming!

Today I made you something ahead of time!  I've been spending a bit of time each Sunday, preparing a meal that BF can just put in the oven.  This way dinner can be on the table when I get home, with minimal work from either of us.  Starting in April this will be a biweekly post, so stay tuned for Make Ahead Mondays!  This week, I made you some lightened mac'n'cheese.  Yum.

Homemade Thin Mints

My marathon training continues as it seems to be getting easier to run these longer and longer distances. This weekend was my first "long run," with me logging six miles on a chilly Saturday morning. The training program that I am following gradually increases the weekday runs, from 2 miles to 5 miles, while the long Saturday runs increase by two miles each weekend.

During the week I like to use the treadmill. Especially since I run either very early in the morning (like my 5am, 4 miler yesterday) or late at night (I have a 5 mile run set for 9pm tonight). Right now it's dark outside at those times of day!  Though the best thing about running on the treadmill are speed intervals.

My usual running pace is between 8:30 and 9:30 per mile. I can run at this pace very comfortably and breathe normally. On the treadmill, I tend to get bored about a mile before I hit my goal distance. What do I do? I increase the speed until I'm breathing heavily and have to work hard to keep up with the belt. Yesterday I maxed out at 7:00 per mile.

Speed intervals not only help me bust out those last quarter miles in no time, but they also train my legs for the faster speed. After a week of speed intervals on the treadmill, I find my overall pace when running outside has improved!  Then I come back to the apartment and have a few post-run cookies!