Time for a Marathon?

So I ran my first half marathon on Saturday! Okay, actually, it was my first race ever. Go big or go home, I guess. Wow..so much to say about it. Where to begin? Let's just start with the fact that during the race I felt I was being tortured by Chinese water droppings, then 5 min after the race was over, I was thinking about my next race.

A couple things I will do differently next time:

• Wake up early enough. I had to catch the bus to the half at 5:20, so that meant originally waking up at 4 am. Which the night before turned into setting the alarm for 4:30 since I didn't get to bed until 10:30. Hmm..30 min really isn't enough to eat and prep for a race. And it's especially not enough time when you MISPLACE YOUR IPOD. WOW! This coming from the woman who works out sometimes solely to listen to her ipod. So let's just say the morning started out poorly. And I ended up leaving the house at 5:12 still having to drive to catch the bus. 70 mph in a 30 mph is totally safe, no?


• Lift more weights and/or start doing pilates and/or yoga next time before the race. I had a good pace until mile 9 when my heart and lungs were going strong, but my legs felt like Jell-O.


• SLEEP. Between race anxiety and external noises, I probabaly slept about 4 hrs. I am no sleep expert, but something tells me that's just not right!


• Push myself. Running that long is not easy. And part of me wishes I wouldn't have walked so much at the end and just pushed it more. It's so much head games at that point! However, I am happy that I wasn't that sore after the race AT ALL. Until the next day when I was a bit stiff and almost fell out of bed in the morning. No biggie!

Oh, by the way, I did find my ipod. After the race was over. So here is my race day playlist, in memory of not having an ipod during the race:

The Adventure-Angels & Airwaves

Turn Up the Radio-Autograph

Machinehead-Bush

Hustler's Anthem '09 (feat. T-Pain)-Busta Rhymes

Viva la Vida-Coldplay

Love Is Gone (Fred Rister & Joachim Garraud Radio Edit Remix)-David Guetta & Chris Willison

Encore / Curtains Down-Eminem

Calabria 2008 (feat. MIMS & Natasja)-Enur

Eye of the Tiger-Survivor

The Rolling Stones-Give Me Shelter

All my Life-Foo Fighters

Hate it or Love it-The Game

Crazy-Gnarls Barkley

Fool in the Rain-Led Zeppelin

Green Light (feat. André 3000) -John Legend

Flashing Lights-Kanye West

Welcome to the World-Kevin Rudolf & Rick Ross

I Like the Way You Move-Backstage*

*This song is actually WAY better for spinning, but none-the less, just try to not get pumped up from this song!

Love Generation-The Allstars and Bob Sinclair *

*Again, another good spinning song.

Day 'n' Nite (Crookers Remix)-Kid Cudi

Lit Up-Buckcherry

The Resolution-Jack's Mannequin

Poker Face-Lady GaGa

Bia' Bia'-Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz

Mama Said Knock You Out-LL Cool J

All the Above (feat. T-Pain)-Maino

Enter Sandman-Metallica

Electric Feel-MGMT

Dr. Feelgood-Mötley Crüe D

This Town-O.A.R.

The Anthem (feat. Lil Jon)-Pitbull

Patiently Waiting-50 Cent Feat. Eminem

Can't Tell Me Nothing-Kanye West

Swagga Like Us (feat. Kanye West & Lil Wayne)-Jay-Z & T.I.

Beautiful-Akon, Colby O'Donis & Kardinal Offishall

Knock You Down-Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo

Say Hey (I Love You) [feat. Cherine Anderson]-Michael Franti & Spearhead

On that note, I'm going to think of my work-out goals this week. I evaulate this WEEKLY because you never know what is going to happen with your schedule. And it always helps to have something to focus on. If you didn't notice, my workout routine is on the right. --> This week I am focusing on getting 3x of weights in. What's your goal? Small steps=big changes.

Peanut Butter-Everyday Essential? I Think So!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to touch on a subject that is very near and dear to my heart. Peanut Butter. 'Cause you know what they say, a day without peanut butter is like a day without sunshine. Or coffee. Or something like that.

First of all, there are so many people I come across that are using the wrong type of peanut butter. By "wrong" I mean they are eating ingredients in their peanut butter besides just peanuts. Who wants to eat trans fat that raises your "bad" cholesterol and lowers your "good" cholesterol? Who wants to eat added sugar? Leave that to a place you know you'll find it..ice cream. At least that's what I tell myself. So why would you want that in your peanut butter? And how do you know if you're eating it? Well, you're eating it if you're using Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan, and other such generic crunchy and creamy peanut butters.

With that being said, is there hope for pb'n'j lovers out there? Of course! That's where I come in to help. You want to look for a peanut butter with very few ingredients. For example: peanuts and perhaps salt. NOT peanuts, salt, sugar, and hydrogenated oils.

One could argue you that if it's a small amt of sugar, who cares? Well I care and so should you. Avoid those items in your condiments and everyday items, and enjoy them more moderately in something you REALLY enjoy. Not just something you spread on whole grain bread.

Some brands that I LOVE which do not "rip your bread" when you spread them:

Parker's peanut butter (Formerly Parker's Farm)-Made in Coon Rapids, MN which is nice, local, and FRESH!

Trader Joe's organic natural peanut butter

Trader Joe's raw almond butter

(I can't leave out the fact that almond butter is equally delicious and that it might taste EVEN BETTER than regular peanut butter on an apple. Plus, it's packed with Vit. E and calcium.)

So there you have it, all you'll ever need to know about peanut butter. Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but I hope it helps. Hope you're having a great week!

Workout Music Part 2

Cardio #1:

Stronger-Kanye West
Gimme More-Britney Spears
Make Me Better (feat. Ne-Yo)-Fabolous
Hey Mama-Black Eyed Peas
8 Mile Road-Eminem
99 Problems-Jay-Z
Rock Your Body-Justin Timberlake
Get Low-Lil Jon and The Eastside Boyz
4 My People-Basement Jaxx Rem-Missy Elliott featuring Eve
Move your body (main)-Nina Sky Ft Jabba
Rosa Parks-Outkast
MAN! I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN-Shania Twain
Poker Face-Lady GaGa
A-Punk-Vampire Weekend
The Adventure-Angels & Airwaves
Anonymous-Bobby Valentino
Around the World (Radio Edit) -Daft Punk
B-Boy Stance-K-OS
Beautiful Day-U2
The Beautiful People-Marilyn Manson
Bia' Bia'-Lil Jon & The Eastside Boyz
Black Betty-Ram Jam
Block Rockin' Beats-The Chemical Brothers
Calabria 2008 (feat. MIMS & Natasja)-Enur
Click Click Boom-Saliva
Closer-Ne-Yo Closer
Cry for You (Radio Mix)-September
Dey Know-Shawty Lo
Disturbia-Rihanna
Dr. Feelgood-Mötley Crüe
Electric Feel-MGMT
Elevation-U2
Encore / Curtains Down-Eminem
Enter Sandman-Metallica
Eye of the Tiger-Survivor
Fake It-Seether
Feedback-Janet
Flashing Lights-Kanye West
Forever-Chris Brown
Forever-Papa Roach
Get By-Talib Kweli
Get Up-50 Cent
Go Getta-Young Jeezy featuring R. Kelly
Go Girl (feat. Trina & Young Boss)-Pitbull
Gold Digger (feat. Jamie Foxx)-Kanye West
Good Life-Kanye West
Headsprung-LL Cool J
How Far We've Come-Matchbox Twenty
I Get Money-50 Cent
I Will Follow-U2 Boy Rock
Ignition (Remix)-R. Kelly
Impacto (Remix)-Daddy Yankee Impacto
Killing in the Name-Rage Against the Machine
Kiss Kiss (feat. T-Pain)-Chris Brown
Krazy-(feat. Lil Jon) Pitbull
Le Disko-Shiny Toy Guns
Let's Go -Lil Jon, Trick Daddy & Twista (the song of the Vikings cheerleaders) ; )
Light Your A*s On Fire (Radio Mix 1) -Busta Rhymes, Pharrell Williams & The Neptunes
Lit Up-Buckcherry
Love Is Gone (Fred Rister & Joachim Garraud Radio Edit Remix)-David Guetta & Chris Willis
Mama Said Knock You Out-LL Cool J
Maneater-Nelly Furtado
Mighty "O"-OutKast
Only-Nine Inch Nails
Runnin' with the Devil-Van Halen
Shake It-Metro Station
Metro Station Alternative
'Till I Collapse-Eminem & Nate Dogg
Touch the Sky (Featuring Lupe Fiasco)-Kanye West
Upgrade U-Beyoncé
What You Got (feat. Akon)-Colby O'Donis
4 Minutes (feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)-Madonna
Pass That Dutch-Missy Elliott 2

And that's not even all, but I only have so much time right now. I will post the rest another time. Mainly new running mixes and what not. Happy cardio-ing.

Workout Music Part 1

I know some of you have asked about this previously, so now looks like as good of a time as ever to talk about..workout music! What's more motivating than motivating..music? I have a couple collections I will post from my Ipod, since cardio and lifting require different music. At least in my mind. Or maybe that's just an excuse for me to buy more Itunes. Either way, here it is. Note that not all songs are suitable for all audiences. : )

Lifting/Weights:

I Am the Highway-Audioslave
The Kill-30 Seconds to Mars
Down With The Sickness-Disturbed
Got The Life-Korn
Until the End-Breaking Benjamin
Dragula-Rob Zombie
Got You (Where I Want You)-The Flys
Gotta Get Away-The Offspring
Hero of the Day-Metallica
Hey Man Nice Shot-Filter
Lakini's Juice-Live
More Human Than Human-Rob Zombie
Plowed-SPONGE
Save Yourself-Stabbing Westward
Shoulda Known-Atmosphere
The War-Angels & Airwaves
Whiskey In the Jar-Metallica
Comedown-Bush
Little Things-Bush
Annnnd pretty much any AC/DC. I'm pretty sure everybody listened to "Thunderstruck" in high school.

Step #1

Hi friends/family/clients/randoms!

Before I start posting any entries, I just want to run over a few things. Mainly what you can expect to find on this blog, and what my nutrition philosophy is. First of all, no I am not a "dork" for starting a blog. If trying to motivate people is "dorky," then call me a huge nerd. Second of all, if eating healthy and living well doesn't make you happy then what's the point? That's why you will see me encouraging eating foods that give you energy while avoiding foods that don't make you feel good and give you zero energy (most of the time). I think you and I both know we don't have time to feel tired now-a-days. But I also think you and I both know that a life without ice cream and wine is a sad one!

I also think that nutrition can be more of a lesson then a deprivation. For example, what foods make you feel great vs. what foods make you feel lethargic? What makes you eat well? What makes you not eat so well? Once you discover these things, it is much easier to fit proper nutrition into your life. This is something that I can not stress enough how individualized it is. Do you eat poorly out of stress? Boredom? Why do you do these things? Once you figure out the "real" issue, it's much easier to live a healthy lifestyle.

Lastly, I just want to talk a little bit about motivation. If you don't have the motivation to start, then why bother reading this blog? If you know me, you know it will be entertaining, but it may also be a waste of your time if you have zero desire to start exercising and/or eating well.

So let's find out what motivates you. And feel free to take some time to really think about this. WHY do you want to reach your desired goal? WHEN do you want to reach it by? HOW will you FEEL when you reach that goal? Are you going after your goal for the right reasons? It's a nice thought wanting to look good for your spouse, but what's going to keep you going when you don't want to exercise that day? Trust me, I'm pretty religious with my workouts, but 60% of the time I have to talk myself into doing it. Right now this half marathon in 11 days keeps me pretty motivated to run since I don't want to pass out and/or embarrass myself during the race. But I think you and I both know that "with the you spent thinking about running, you could have been done by now." So why do you keep thinking about doing it when you could just do it and get it over with? GO! GO NOW! : ) And speaking of working out, stay tuned for some exericse tunes to get you moving. No pun intended...