Confessions of an Amateur Athlete

I have a confession: I'm obsessed with Almond Butter.  My pantry is stacked with jars, packets, and cases of the stuff.  So how does Justin's brand stack up to the rest?  I put it to the test! 

Peak-Week over!  Time to Taper!  In other words, I finished up my last "really long run" before the San Francisco Marathon in Three weeks! I'll still run, but nothing over 12-15 until Race Day!  The excitement is building. Most of the questions I get from friends, family, and followers revolve around my routine BEFORE and AFTER my long runs.  So I thought I'd take some time to focus on what I did the night before my 22-miler, and my routine afterwards for recovery.  In order to beat the heat, or at least, beat the SUN, I had to START my run around 5am. So I had to go to bed super early.  On a Saturday night.  Oh the sacrifices we runners make! lol.  Anyway, some people ask "what sort of exercise do you do the day before a long run like that?"  Well, I try to usually keep it light.  This time I did some light strength training and ab work.  Also, I took to my foam roller to work out any tight-spots like my IT band and d...

Me running through the desert trail   It's rare that I can tell you my long run felt amazing, that I had tons of energy, or that I could've went farther.  But today was an exception.  I was feeling good... and adventurous... so I pushed it to 20!   I do have to give props to my running partner of the day, Steve.  He suggested the extra miles half-way through our run and we both decided to go for it! That's the great thing about running with a friend sometimes.  You can push each other past your limits and see just how far you can go.   Where was all my energy coming from?  Maybe it was my overnight oats for breakfast.  Maybe it was the amazing weather... sorry all of you dealing with major snowy and icy conditions, but this is the advantage to living in the desert! But don't ya'll worry... you'll be laughing at me come summertime!   Besides all of that.. I do believe Steve pushing me was definitely the big factor that h...

giphy.com   18 miles tomorrow!  I'm not dreading it too much because I'll be running with a friend, and I'm excited to start getting back into the marathon mileage full swing.  But these long runs take some fine-tuned routine.   Part of my routine that a lot of people ask me about is what I EAT before a long run.  Some runners just grab a banana or toast and head out the door.  I, on the other hand, prefer to have a decent breakfast before I tackle heavy mileage.  That... and I run so I can eat... if I don't eat enough before my long run, about 12 miles in all I can think about is pizza... fries... burgers...   Of course, I don't want to eat so much that I'm too full before my run, so I have to find the right balance.  One meal that I've just started making and am really enjoying is "overnight oats" .  It's basically just letting oatmeal "soak" overnight in a container (usually something like a mason jar) and it's ready...

  Knocked out 16 Miles today! How did it go?  Well, I finished it.. that's saying something! The weather was amazing! (70 degrees and sunny in the winter time, that's why people move here to the desert!)  I felt great overall, my leg muscles were really fatigued though.  But that happens from time to time, especially when training, so I'm not too worried.  It was slow but I got the mileage in and that's all that counts right now!    Today's run... so awesome!  definitely felt more like Fall than Winter.. but that's a good thing! :)    While running I thought about all the questions a lot of non-running friends and family ask me... as well as some beginning-runner friends.  I thought I would take the time to address some of those now.  So in honor of my 16 miles I picked 16 of the most common questions I get asked! 1.) What do you eat before a run?   I don't have a set thing that I eat before my run.  But I tr...