Juicing & Six Mile Run

Hi All,

Just as I promised, I want to talk about my juicing experience and the six mile run for my 1/2 Marathon training.  First off, juicing is messy! It's a hassle to clean up after juicing.  However, I feel like it is so worth it.  The first juice I made consisted of kale, spinach, apple, and strawberries.  I would  be lying if I said I didn't feel some type of way.  I will eat raw spinach but I'm so against cooked spinach.  It is disgusting to me anyway.   And I had never experimented with kale.  I'm really not a green vegetable type of girl.  I just started eating green beans and broccoli in the last few years.  Anyway, the juice was delish.   I wasn't expecting it to be be tasty as it was. Last night, I went a step further... My juice consisted of beets, carrots, strawberries, mango, blueberries, and blackberries!  Beets are messy and will stain your hands, countertops, and anything they touch.  But once again the juice was delicious.  What I didn't like was the mess I had to clean up afterwards.  That is the ultimate downfall to juicing.  It really is messy!  Now, that you know about my juicing experience lets talk about this run this morning...

So, I didn't eat properly last night.  Instead of eating a real dinner like I cooked, I decided to eat a bowl of cereal.  I knew better but that's what I wanted. I also didn't sleep well.  For the third night in a row, I think I know what the problem is but I'm not sharing it with y'all.  Anyway, I make it out to the race and things are going well until I get to 2.67 miles.  Then I just feel like damn why the hell am I out here.  It was starting to get hot and my legs were not cooperating.  I maintained until about 4 miles.  I slowed my pace and began to fall behind the group I was with.  I didn't care.  I just wanted to finish the run without stopping so I was fine with falling behind a little.  I've never been so thankful for traffic lights in my life.  Every traffic light break was needed today.  Anyway at 5 miles, I found some momentum.  That and the fact this was part of the route that I run a regular so I knew what to expect.  Anyway, I finished strong.  Completed 6.33 miles in less than 59 minutes.  I was so impressed with myself.  When I did my 10K last September I finished it in 69 minutes so that's a big improvement.  Next week is a 7 mile run and we will actually be training on the course for the race in October. I'm nervous but I'll be there.

What I learned from today's race.

1. Eat properly the night before.  Cereal was not a sufficient dinner.
2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I'm so happy I my hydration belt.  Those few swigs of water really helped.
3. Listen to your body.  I didn't want to over do it.  So, when I felt the need to slow my pace I did and my time was still good.
4. Celebrate your accomplishment! Don't beat up on yourself for having to slow down or not making your time.
5. Enjoy the run! I know I did today.  We ran on the Beltline and it was a different scenery!