Summer Fun

               I have always loved tahini.....and I have always bought the Goddess dressing, which incidentally has tahini in it. Today I made my own dressing with tahini. It had tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, and very little salt. The salad was great. 


            Bought Nora a new bike yesterday.....21 speed Trek bike. Now I have a trail partner. Today we went for a 6-mile run/bike  around Accotink and she did awesome. It was in the 90's yet she breezed on those hills and pebbly downhills. 

At the bike shop the bike attendant told us about this site where we can find trails and trail maps. 

Me at my friend's pool! 

After ending a 17 mile weekend.....next weekend, 18 miles. 

My Dahlias are blooming!! I think I might purchase some more for my garden.....cannot get enough of them. 

Update on Training for my First 50K in the Fall- Week 5 of 16

             I am 2 days away from completing week 5 of my 16-week 50K training I designed for myself. These next 2 running days, Saturday and Sunday will be very telling of whether or not I will actually be able to do this race. You see, Saturday, I am due to run 18 miles, and 8 on Sunday. Remember, for ultra races the trainings call for 'running on tired legs', hence the long miles Sunday after the long, long run. We are still in New York, at my mom's, and there are no hills and although the training calls for running on hills, at least once a week, I have not been able to do them at all for 3 weeks now. Those 'hill' muscles will have a rude awakening when I go back to DC; I guess I'll have to take it real slow at first. Anyway, things have been going very well otherwise. Been doing my miles and staying on with the schedule.

                Running in and around my mom's in Freeport, Long Island has been different to say it mildly. There are basically NO runners anywhere on the street. Occasionally I have caught a glimpse of a lone runner at large parks, but oddly enough, they all run wearing weights, humongous backpacks, or sweatshirts in 90 degree weather, in the MIDDLE of the day. Yeap, totally crazy, I know. While running on the bike path that leads to the beach though one will see just a tad more runners than on the streets, oh and walkers too. Mostly people on bikes though, going very fast, just zooming past you as if they were racing at the Tour de France, then a lot of walkers and a sprinkling of runners. I miss my hills in DC and mostly I miss my trail runs in Rock Creek. I can't wait to get back home to run on MY streets, but I am also having a blast here at my mom's....

               Wish me luck on my run this Saturday. 18 miles. Never run that long or far before and I am pumped. Being a mom, I am planning on going to bed early and start running at 5am. I have not quite figured out my route yet, there are pockets of areas that are not too safe feeling for a woman in general, so, I figured staying on a larger road might be the best option. Will update on both runs Sunday.

Got my dose of TRIUMPH this morning....

                     I love, love, love running in the mornings. This morning I ran 5 miles ending this week at 28 miles total, three more than last week. I have been slowly trying to both maintain a good running base as well as slowly raise the amount of miles I do weekly so that I am race-ready for any last minute half-marathon I might want to join. I am trying to do about 3 runs during the week at 5:30am that total to about 15 miles, and a long run of 13 miles on the weekend. 

                   Lately, I have been very slow in my runs. I've had to be very mindful of my form in order to not get any injuries. I believe my increased pace is due to the fact that I've been having salad dressing daily with my salads, making me retain water; salad dressings have massive amounts of salt content. In addition, I partied with some friends twice this week and had some alcohol, which I'm also sure is making me retain water. Therefore, I am not surprised that my speed has been slower. 

                       Nevertheless, all is great....summer is almost here....I finished this huge project that was due for my job, am running a half-marathon this Sunday in Maryland, going to the race expo Saturday with Nora, Luke has a Little League game this weekend and the weather is getting warmer and the flowers are everywhere....