Enough with the rain. And an August recap.

I can hardly keep track of all the tropical storms swirling about -- Jose, Katia, Lee, Maria, Nate -- I just know that they are dropping way too much rain on some already water-logged communities in upstate New York. Actually, they're causing problems from the Gulf of Mexico on up to Maine. Enough already!

Locally, towns very close to where I live have been evacuated several times over the past 10 or so days and there is flooding all around. Fortunately, we haven't had any flooding at my house and I hope we don't. My brother has had some water in his basement and I saw pictures of my sister-in-law's house in Mississippi with a completely flooded backyard.

Enough with the rain!


I'm requesting lots of sun for the rest of September to dry things out. We'll see what kind of pull I have with Mother Nature.

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Now, a week late, I have my August recap. It was my highest mileage month all year! Actually, it was probably my highest mileage month in two years, considering I was pregnant for most of 2010.

August stats:


Running: 110.3 miles
Racing: 1 race, a 10-miler where I finished first female
Out of town runs: 2 runs in New Jersey
Cross training: 4 sessions with Jillian Micheals

I missed a few planned workouts, including two of my speed sessions, but I also ran a wicked fast mile (6:12.25) when I timed myself for the first time since early 2008 (when I ran right around 7 min). The one major downer of the month was being diagnosed with Lyme disease and starting treatment. The first week of treatment was really tough and I felt horrible but I am doing much better now.

Wow, as I finished this post, the sun came out. Woo hoo!  Maybe I need to request sunshine more often :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Felice

On Palin's half marathon.

Like her or dislike her, I don't really care (and, since this is not a political blog, let's not go in that direction at all). The fact of the matter is, the woman can RUN.

Who? Well, let my post title be your guide: Sarah Palin.

Seriously, the woman can run and run well. I knew that she had run a sub-4 hour marathon back in 2005, when she was 41. But then over this past weekend, she ran a half marathon in Iowa and finished in 1:46:10. That's a nice 8:03 pace. And, to me, somewhat more impressive than the 3:59:36 marathon.

Why? Well, for starters, she's six years older than she was when she ran the marathon and I love it when runners refuse to let aging slow them down. She also had another baby in the ensuing years and you can be sure that I love it when running mamas run well. And, the last thing: She just squeaked in under 4 hours for her marathon. But in that half? Well, she didn't squeak in under anything. She ran way under 2 hours and well under the 1:50 line. Nope, no squeaking there.

So that's got me thinking: What the heck am I doing? I ran my first and only half marathon back in April and totally just squeaked in under 1:50, finishing in 1:49:29. If you're keeping score, that was a full three minutes slower than Palin's time. And Palin is 47 -- a full six years older than me.

The former governor has a good mixture of speed and endurance. Good for her. Really, I'm impressed and a little envious. And I plan to use her.

Use her?

You read me right: I'm going to use Palin's great time as motivation over the last 2.5 weeks of my half marathon training. See, her time -- 1:46-:10 -- is almost exactly the time that I feel I can run. I believe with full confidence that I have a 1:46 half marathon in me. I'd like to go a bit faster than that, sure, but I will be very pleased with 1:46. So, if a busy Sarah Palin -- age 47, mother of 5 kids -- can run 1:46, there is no reason I can't, too.

There you have it, folks. I've successfully managed to make Sarah Palin's good showing in a half marathon about me.

Hey, I take my motivation where I can get it!

So, that's what's next for me: The half marathon in 2.5 weeks, hopefully finishing in 1:46 or better. What's next for Palin? Well, I'd like to see her qualify for Boston, personally. McMillan says she has it in her . . .

Your thoughts? Let me know. Just, please, no hate mail -- or love letters, for that matter -- for writing about Sarah Palin. I'm only concerned with running here.

Have a good day!

~ Felice

Vega Breakfast Challenge.

Have you read Thrive by Brendan Brazier? I read it a while ago and picked up several good tips and suggestions for dietary changes. Some of them I've made, some of them I haven't but I did find Brazier's story -- how his performance (he's an Ironman) improved after he became a vegan and eating whole foods -- quite interesting.

I try to eat whole foods as much as possible and in the past year or so I've tried to cut down on meat and increase my fruits and veggies. I've been eating a lot of chia seeds, ground flax meal and chlorella, all with the hope that they will support my overall health as well as my running performance.

So what does any of this have to do with anything? Well, I was recently invited to try the Vega Complete Whole Food Health Optimizer, which is part of the Vega product line that Brendan Brazier founded. I was sent some samples of the supplement and information about and a link to the Vega Breakfast Challenge.

On the Breakfast Challenge page, you can compare your current breakfast with the nutritional profile of the Whole Food Health Optimizer.

Yeah, I guess my breakfast isn't quite as healthful as I thought.

It's not bad but it pales in comparison to the Whole Food Health Optimizer. Which is a bummer because I really thought my breakfast was healthy. Pretty much every day I have a smoothie made from plain organic yogurt, unsweetened frozen strawberries, unsweetened frozen blueberries, a banana and either some flaxmeal, chia seeds or chlorella. Take a look at how my breakfast stacks up against the Vega WFHO:

I have to say that think that some of the levels might be a little off -- my flaxmeal claims to contain 2400mg of Omega-3, for example, and the calculator puts my breakfast at zero. Also, I wasn't able to put in an amount less than one cup for my banana and I usually use about a half cup.

Regardless, the calculator shows how many more nutrients I could be getting if I used the Vega WFHO. And I'm all about getting more nutrients. So, maybe Vega will be my new friend. We'll see!

You can check out your breakfast by visiting the Vega Breakfast Challenge page HERE. It's pretty cool to look at the comparison. You can also learn more about Vega and Brendan Brazier at the main Vega site HERE and follow Vega on Twitter HERE. Even if you are not planning to become a vegan or adopt the total Vega way of eating, there are tons of resources on the Vega site. And one last thing: If you "like" Vega on Facebook (HERE) you can enter to win a trip to Hollywood to meet Brendan later this month! How awesome would that be? Very awesome, no doubt.

So, good luck and have fun with the calculator!

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After a T-O-U-G-H run of 9 miles yesterday I'm hoping for a more comfortable run this evening. Fingers crossed.

Have a good day!

~ Felice


Review disclaimer: I was sent four samples of the Vega WFHO to sample. I was not otherwise compensated and the opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Long time, no post.

Yeah, huh. It's been over a week since I last wrote and lots has happened since then! In the past 10 days, I . .  .

• ran a 6:12.25 mile (yay!);
• had my vacation delayed by ol' Hurricane Irene;
• ran my longest run of this training cycle (13.5 miles);
• hosted some hurricane evacuees -- my sister-in-law and her three kids came up from Long Island to avoid Irene. Unfortunately, Irene caused major flooding up here, too. Fortunately, Conal and Niall had a blast playing with their cousins for three days:

Happy baby!

•  was diagnosed with Lyme disease (boo!);
• finally made it to lovely Stone Harbor, NJ for an abbreviated week at the beach;
• had a super time on vacation with my little family:

• and some great friends:

Now, it's catch-up and back-to-the-routine time! 

Thanks for stopping by -- have a great week!

~ Felice