Thursday, February 3, 2011

Unexpected Gifts + Baby Steps = Big Leaps


Thank you to the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center! They sent me this gift basket yesterday! It is full of delicious GF products to try, as well as a GF shopping guide. Pancake and brownie mix, cookies, chips, some condiments -- all very useful things to have in my pantry! It was very thoughtful, and now I understand why they wanted all of my medical info - this was an expensive giveaway. But very much appreciated. I have also been writing to some GF companies asking if I can review their products on this blog - I figured some of you readers would appreciate to know which ones are the A-listers.

Thank you to the Safeway near my house! Within the past week, they have added a great GF aisle with some of my new favorite products!


My training this week has been going well:
Monday: AM Swim to Modernity (2000 yards), PM elliptical (60 minutes), lifting
Tuesday: 10 mile run with 5.8 miles at 7:30 pace
Wednesday: AM Swim to Modernity (2000 yards), 45 minutes on the elliptical
Thursday: Easy 7 miler - it feels good to have that feel like an easy distance again.
Today: Will swim, do the elliptical (we need a real verb for using the elliptical), and some weights.
Saturday: 9.5 mile hilly run with 10 x 90 second fartleks
Sunday: 13 miles (will add the .1 for good measure) - pretty excited about a long run on Sunday (and Super Bowl food Sunday night).

Sarah said that I might emerge from this new training routine a lot stronger, and that I would notice it the most on the runs. I was really blown away during Tuesday's run. The plan was to run 2 mile warm up, then a 40 minute tempo, and then a cool down. I have found a new road to use during my runs near campus: well lit and little traffic. Plus it is good to change things up a bit. I added 4 more minutes (wanted to finish at the end of a particular road) for good measure, and when I clocked it in, it was 5.8 miles in 44 minutes. And I felt strong! This is only 7 seconds slower than goal half marathon pace (hoping to run 7:23 pace in March at the National Half), which is reassuring that I have maintained a high fitness level during my recovery/comeback. This has definitely taught me to trust the process - it really works. Patience and smart training has really made a major difference. Yesterday marked 5 weeks of PT - and when I started, I could only run 2 miles without pain. Baby steps lead to big leaps!

3 comments:

  1. Congrats on your awesome training thus far!! It sounds like you are making great progress! :) That gift basket looks really cool, I bet you are excited! I hope some companies will you send you products to try, I am curious to know how they fare!

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  2. Looks like training is going well! =D Great tempo!!

    What a nice package! Just thought I'd let you know that another blogger I read is a nutritionist with celiac's disease. Lindsay's blog is at http://www.cottercrunch.com/ if you are interested. =D

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  3. oh thats an awesome package, can they send me one? Great training runs. Love the tempo.
    LC

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