I just can’t figure out why I keep sabotaging my quality runs.  Maybe there is some inner demon inside me that doesn’t want to succeed.  There’s an angel on my left shoulder and an imp on my right. These are not your standard shoulder guardians.

These are the Runner’s Guardians.

There’s the good angel saying take it easy:  “Run the scheduled run, back off if it hurts.  If you don’t quite do what was planned, give yourself a break and go for it next time.” Then there’s the evil imp that says you failed and will never reach your goal: “You didn’t run fast enough. You didn’t run far enough.  Don’t give into that pain, keep running, push through it no matter what.  Ignore the fact that your right leg won’t move.  Forget about your heart that’s beating out of your chest.” Get the picture?!  I’m really beating myself up lately for not reaching higher expectations.

Take my speed work for this week as an example.

Speed work:  15 minute warm up, 8 to 10 time 2 minute intervals at 5K pace with 1 minute jog recovery in between, ending with a 30 minute cool down run.  That was the plan.

This is what happened.

I decided to do the speed work outside, Shane’s leash wrapped around my belly, looking for flat straight roads instead of suffering on a boring track or treadmill.

16 minute warm up.  9 x 2 minute interval at HALF MARATHON pace (that’s about 40 seconds slower than goal!), 1 minute recovery intervals, a 30 minute cool down.  I did do a quick back and chest workout for 20 minutes after but that doesn’t count. It’s not running.

I’m bummed that I never got to 5K pace. Well, I did on the very last 2 minute fartlek but the rest were slow.  I’m trying to be realistic and cut myself a break.  I ran the long run Saturday then went out with Ted and Steve on Sunday when I should have had a rest day.  Sunday we had a picnic party so my feet were in motion most of the day plus the wine …it just didn’t set me up for a good workout on Monday. It’s time to get real. Put on a smile and be grateful I can run and most of the time enjoy every minute of it.

During the course of that speed work, it started to rain.  I mean really rain hard.  At first, things were annoying to me.  My hair was wet and the pony tail on my head seemed loud banging against my collar.  My feet were making sloshing noises as my sneakers became saturated with water.  For every puddle I dodged, I hit a stream of water.  Then, the rain and getting wet became interesting.  The rain washed the sweat off my body and cooled me down.  It was fun playing “dodge the puddles” and I wondered if I would be spared blisters on my feet.  For every negative, there’s a positive. You just have to want to find it.

Relish the bad training runs. Without them it’s difficult to recognize, much less appreciate, the good ones.
Pat Teske

Do you beat yourself up for not achieving your goals or do you look at what happened that could have prevented your best efforts and justify the outcome?

ARBONNE

I’ve mentioned this company before and I have to tell you more about it.  Arbonne is a premium brand with Swiss heritage.  The products are healthy, plant based and inspired by nature making them Vegan friendly.  Never tested on animals.  From skin to food supplements, they have it all.

From the catalogue:

1. Pure:  Free of harmful ingredients such as animal by products, formaldehyde preservatives, petroleum based ingredients, and PABA.  The food items are processed without artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, no animal products or by-products, cholesterol, saturated fats, nor trans fats.
2. Safe:  Before the products go to market, they are reviewed and finished in formulation by safety testing to ensure quality. The tests include irritancy and allergy testing for all products.  NEVER tested on animals.
3. Beneficial:  They offer premium beauty, health and wellness products consumer and clinically tested to reinforce unparalleled performance.
4. Green Commitment:  Arbonne is committed to environmental responsibility striving to minimize the impact on the environment through implementation and innovative practices.

Products available are anti-aging skin care, skin and body care, cosmetics, health and wellness, and botanicals.

I was sent some product to try

I used all the face wash, the day, evening and eye cream.  The scent of these items was so fresh and bursting with citrus.  They smelled clean and pure.  My sensitive skin had no reaction.

I tried the bronzer and the powder foundations.  The glow they put on my skin was wonderful.  They were light and lasted all day.  Again, my skin gave no negative reaction.

The true test was the Protein Shake.

First, it was higher in calories than I usually allow for my shakes, fat calories that is.  I prefer a no fat shake and then I have room to add peanut butter or other things at my discretion.

Second, I was a bit concerned about the alfalfa, kelp, and 9 grams of sugar.  My stomach can be finicky.  My routine protein formula has 0 to 2 g of sugar.  What would the alfalfa and kelp do to my stomach?  No reaction.  The shake was down right, better than anything delish!

Weighing the concerns:   So it was higher in calories.  BUT…after I’ve added my peanut butters and bananas and such, my usual shake weighs in A LOT higher in fat calories than Arbonne AND it doesn’t taste as rich and smooth.   The sugar was evaluated in the same way.  After I’ve added my customized flavors, my standard shake exceeds 9 grams of sugar.  As for alfalfa and kelp, probably not enough in there to upset the G.I. track.

Ok. So maybe this sounds like an advertisement. It’s not.  I simply met Kathy Rutherford, the Arbonne Consultant at the Turning Stone Expo and she sent me some samples.  No strings.  I just love these products.

If you’re into natural products, Vegan nutrition (or just plain healthy), and you have sensitive skin but want to find something that works, email Kathy and see if Arbonne has something for you.

If nothing else, you HAVE to try their shakes.  So good!

Remember back in May, I was SO lucky to be a winner in a MixMyGranola giveaway?  It was the best granola I have ever had because I made it myself without having to clean up one bowl.  

MixMyGranola is up to great stuff once again.  In the last few months, they have added trail mixes, a Granola Club, and best of all Chocolate mini morsels, Peanut M&M’s, and …. get ready for this….TIRAMISU CARAMEL!  Can that be healthy?   Mix your own granola with no mess, no cleanup, no baking.  Super!

Before you go and enjoy all that Granola, try the following workout and let me know what you think.  This is Day 2 of Week 3, Get Your Body Back Plan by Muscle and Performance.   Remember that the last two of each exercise is to failure.  The weights took me just over 20 minutes to complete.

• Warm up 30 minutes- Elliptical trainer
• Shoulders:  4 sets: Seated Barbell (15, 12, 10, 8).  3 sets: Seated Lateral Raise (12, 10, 10).  3 sets: Bent over dumbbell raise (12, 10, 10). 
• Triceps:  4 sets: Close grip bench press (12, 10, 10, 8).  3 sets: Seated one arm overhead dumbbell extensions (12, 10, 10). 
• Calves:  3 sets: Standing Calf raises (20, 20, 20).  3 sets: Seated Calf raises (20, 20, 20).
• A 3.7 mile run followed for me but if you can add some ending aerobics for as much time as you can afford that would be aces.  40 minutes is really great. 30 minutes is terrific.  20 minutes is good.  Great Workout! 

One jazzed up bowl of Bob’s Red Mill Cereal followed my workout.  I used a mixture of the 5 Grain and the 10 Grain cereals.  The 10 grain is very fine and the 5 grain is more like cut oats.  I mix them together to get a more satisfying texture for my personal palette.  I added 1 tsp dried cranberries and 1/2 tsp cinnamon while they cooked.  To top off for flavor and texture, 1 TBS of Granola.  This wasn’t my personal mix of MixMyGranola (unfortunately when I had that, it disappeared in 2-3 days), but it is nutty, fruity and crisp.

Berry fruit is always a great side to cereal

A healthy protein shake washes all that goodness down with added nutritional benefits much needed after a great workout.  

Make sure to check out MixMyGranola and use the APPLECRUMBLES code to get your discount.  Let me know your mix.  I might want to try it! Have a Super Day Everyone!