Trying New Foods!

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

In my 30 Before 30 post, I said that I wanted to try three new foods this year. If you’ve read some of my posts about eating, you know that I was quite the picky eater growing up and am now trying a lot harder to try new things and eat healthier foods. Earlier this year I tried cauliflower for the first time and have used it in several meals since then. This month I tried shrimp for the first time. Yes, it’s true, I’ve never eaten shrimp.

I’ve become a huge fan of the SkinnyTaste website and have found some awesome recipes. Ian really likes seafood but we don’t eat it often because I’m a little afraid of it, so when I found a simple recipe for angel hair with shrimp and tomato sauce I knew we had to try it. Neither of us like chunky tomato sauce so we substituted smooth tomato sauce for the diced tomatoes, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Recipe Prep

It turned out great! I even had shrimp again later that week in some jambalaya we made. I wouldn’t say I love it, but it’s not half bad and something I’ll definitely try and eat more of.

Shrimp with angel hair pasta and tomato sauce

What foods did you try later in life that you found out you actually really like?

Race Recap: Charity for Children 8k

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I’m a week late with my recap, but Sunday the 19th I ran the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes when I was back home for the weekend. I knew going into this that I wasn’t in the kind of shape I needed to be yet to actually race this, but I was looking forward to a challenging 5-mile run and that’s exactly what I got!

I’ve become a big fan of smaller races as of late and this fit the bill with just about 500 runners for both the 8k and 5k. Another draw for me for this race was the 10 a.m. start time! I always appreciate a race that doesn’t require me to wake up at the crack of dawn or when it’s still dark out to get to the start line on time. I was also excited to run at Green Lakes. I haven’t run there since I worked there in college years ago, and I was looking forward to taking things off the road since that’s normally the only surface I run on.

The 8k and the 5k started at the same time on a narrow beach path so I worked my way near the front of the start line to avoid being boxed in. We looped around the beach and into the woods changing from a concrete path to gravel and then dirt as we ran around Green Lake. I kept myself from going out too fast like the previous week’s 5k and hit the first mile marker in 7:15. As I worked my way past Green Lake and around Round Lake the path changed again to mulch.

The different surfaces definitely slowed me down a bit and so did a short, but steep hill on the way to mile three as we came back out onto the beach path past the third mile marker where my Mom was waiting to cheer me on and snap a picture before she headed to the finish line! Miles 2 and 3 came in a bit slower at 7:49 and 8:18.

Passing the 3 mile mark at the Green Lakes 8k!

After coming back onto the beach path we quickly turned and ran up a path, out of the beach parking lot and on paved roads, up through the campgrounds past the frisbee golf course and to the cabin area. The emphasis on that sentence should be on the word up! Mile 4 was pretty much all up hill… a long steep hill! My pace slowed all the way down to 9:29. I don’t normally drink water in races this short, but I was pretty relieved to see a water stop at the top of the hill at the mile 4 marker.

I grabbed a cup as I turned around and started the final mile. We didn’t go straight back the way we came, but I did get to enjoy a downhill to the main road through the park and decided to pick up the pace putting in a 7:04 final mile. I turned back into the beach parking lot and onto the beach path I started on around to the finish line. I crossed the line in 40 minutes flat according to the official results. My watch had me at 39:57 and even though 3 seconds shouldn’t make a difference especially when it’s not even a PR, it still made me a little upset when I saw I hadn’t officially beaten 40.

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

Regardless, it was a great race. The packet pick up that morning was incredibly quick, the water stops were staffed with great volunteers and the course was really well marked. I had a great run and would love to go back and do it again next year!

At the finish line with Mom!

I do wish I had stuck around longer after the race though – turns out I would have gotten an award! I finished 45th out of 235, was the 8th overall female and 3rd in my age group!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Last week started off tough. I was really sore – a couple days of hard running and not keeping up with my stretching and foam rolling had taken its toll. I made up for it with a couple days of serious rolling, stretching and icing and finished the week strong. I’m really enjoying the new training plan I’m on and also liking the group track workouts. We don’t all do the same workout, but it’s nice to have other people in it with you.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: After not fitting in the previous week’s track workout when I was back home in Syracuse, I headed out to Hains Point at lunch and ran 5X1000 meters. I was supposed to try and hit 4:38 for each one. I started out a bit too fast, but got the hang of it as I went on hitting my splits in 4:20, 4:30, 4:38, 4:39 and 4:33. After work I got a 40-minute strength workout including a lot of single-leg squats and pistol squats leaving my legs killing me!!

Tuesday: I took my sore legs out for a slow 5.35 mile run around Hains Point.

Wednesday: Today I got in a 30-minute full body strength workout after taking a client through a personal training session.

Thursday: I metroed out to my old stomping grounds at American University after work for a track workout with the DC Running Coach group. Today wasn’t too difficult of a workout, but I felt really great after it and feel like I’m starting to get the hang of the pacing thing. I was set to do 3X1 mile at a 7:25 pace with a 1-minute break and hit my splits at 7:18, 7:22 and 7:21.

Friday: Our office closed at 3 for Memorial Day weekend so I decided to get my long run in early and put in 10.35 miles along the Mall and Hains Point. It was a bit chilly after the warm weather earlier in the week and really windy, but I felt surprisingly strong especially for doing a long run the day after a track workout.

Saturday: Rest day – although it turned into quite a busy day with some apartment hunting (more on that later!) and a fun trip to visit some family in Gettysburg!

Sunday: Today was a perfect day for running. It was absolutely gorgeous out. I put in just more than 6 miles along the rolling hills on the Custis Trail.

Syracuse Weekend Fun

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

No matter how old you get it always feels good to go home. When you’re from Syracuse it feels even better when it’s not winter! Ian had to drive up to his camp north of Syracuse back-to-back weekends so last weekend I rode along and had him drop me in Syracuse to spend the weekend with my parents.

We left Thursday night after I got out of work and made pretty decent time after a rough start to the drive battling traffic and three accidents along the 8-mile stretch of the GW Parkway to get on our way. My parents have remodeled the “guest room” which my Mom calls the kid’s room. It was my brother’s room for most of the time growing up and then I took it over when he left for college and my room was turned into an office. Now it has the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. Seriously, I would steal it if I could figure out a way.

I always try to pack everything I can in on weekends home and this one was no different. Friday I met my Mom for lunch and pedicures before heading home to meet up with Dad for our usual Friday night dinner at Mulligans. I’ve been going to Mulligans for as long as I can remember…so long that I actually could never have tried to drink underage in this bar because they knew my birthday and wouldn’t want to upset my parents! It wouldn’t be a Friday night at home without going to Mulligans. After dinner my Dad and I always stay up late watching TV or a movie. We rented Silver Linings Playbook on demand and I loved it. He fell asleep, but I assured him it was a good movie, haha.

Drinks at the bar at new Toby Keith’s restaurant in Syracuse

Saturday my Mom and I were up early to go to the Y and try out an Aqua Blast class hoping it wouldn’t just be us and a bunch of old ladies. Well, not only was it us and a bunch of old ladies, but the instructor never showed either. We ended up grabbing the water belts and doing some aqua jogging instead. I took a trip down memory lane later on a long run to my old high school and back. I ran around all the athletic fields and couldn’t help but be jealous of the new fence at the softball field – that would’ve made chasing down fly balls so much easier!

I spent some time at my grandparents too. I hadn’t seen them since my Florida trip in January so it was great to visit. I was always very lucky when I lived at home to have them just 5 minutes from our house during the months they were in Syracuse. They very smartly get out of there before the cold and snow hits.

We headed out to Destiny USA for dinner Saturday night – better known as the Carousel Mall to those of us who lived there when it was first built. I couldn’t get over the new addition and how many new stores and restaurants have moved in. Just saying…I might have to make a trip back to check out those go-karts! We ended up at the new Toby Keith restaurant. It was really cool. The bar was ginormous and in the shape of a guitar. I could probably have dealt with one of the hundreds of TVs not being tuned into Nascar, but oh well. The beers were cold, the mac ‘n cheese bites app was amazing and my buffalo chicken sandwich was great as well – so all in all it was a great spot!

After an 8k race at Green Lakes (recap coming tomorrow), Sunday was spent at the house before Ian and I made the trek back to D.C. I attempted some tech support fixes that did not go as well as planned (thankfully I was at least able to restore the Internet before leaving), enjoyed a home cooked meal and wrapped up the ridiculous amount of laundry that I brought home. I will never be too old to take advantage of free laundry…unless I eventually live somewhere that doesn’t require me to go to the basement to do laundry.

It was a great trip home as always. Hope you all had a nice weekend too!

I’m Going to FitBloggin!!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

If you follow me on twitter, you might already know this, but I’m going to FitBloggin’13 this June in Portland, Ore., and I’m super excited! For those unfamiliar, FitBloggin, according to their website, “is for anyone who blogs about fitness, wellness, good food and a healthy lifestyle–regardless of where they are in their journey… More than just another blogging conference, FitBloggin’ is all about the desire to use technology, blogging and social media to motivate, inspire and foster a culture of health and wellness. We strive to bring together bloggers from all walks of life to create a tightly connected group of men and women who care deeply about and are committed to spreading this passion for fitness.”

I was lucky enough to get a FitBloggin assistanship meaning I get to go to the conference for free in exchange for live blogging one of the sessions on their website. My session is How to Create a Media Kit that Showcases Your Brand and Gets Companies Knocking on Your Door. I think this will be a really interesting topic, so I’m excited to not just cover it for their site, but also learn more about it. The schedule is jam-packed with great educational sessions and fun early morning fitness classes. I wish I could go to them all. It’ll be tough deciding which ones I plan to attend, but I’ll be sure to give a full recap here of all the sessions I make it to!

Have you ever been to a blogging conference? What did you think? What would you like to learn at FitBloggin? Let me know if you’re going this year too!

Ian will be making the trip with me as well and we’re planning to spend a couple extra days in Portland. Neither of us have ever been there and have heard great things about the city, so we thought it’d be fun to explore. Any sites/restaurants/etc. that we should definitely put on our list while there?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I had to do a bit of shuffling with my workouts this week, but felt great and feel like I’m on my way to getting back into racing shape. This was the first week on my new program designed by my running coach and I think it’s going to be a really great program for the next couple months. I ended the week with a fun 8k at the state park back home I worked at during the summers through college.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by a 35-minute full body strength workout and a 15-minute core workout.

Tuesday: I ran an easy 6.5 miles around Hains Point at lunch averaging just under an 8:30 pace.

Wednesday: 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by a 30-minute full body strength workout

Thursday: Getting to work early, a conference call during lunch and a long drive to Syracuse right after work turned today into an unplanned rest day. I was supposed to hit the track today and ended up moving it to the following Monday, so you’ll see it in next week’s recap!

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: I put in an easy 9.8 miles around my hometown running up to my old high school, around the athletic fields and back home. I enjoyed the run, but forgot how hilly it is there!

Sunday: I ran the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes State Park on Sunday. Full recap coming soon, but I loved this race and would really like to “race it” next year in better shape instead of just running it as a workout. I finished in 40 minutes according to the official results and wish I’d hung around for the awards, but didn’t realize till this morning that I would’ve gotten an age grouper award!

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

Working With A Coach

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I recently hired a running coach to help me reach my goal of qualifying for Boston this fall at the Marine Corps Marathon. I’d heard good things about DC Running Coach and in a strike of good timing just shortly after I gave up my gym membership at Washington Sports Club, a deal came on Zozi for a 3-month program with Mike of DC Running Coach.

I had an initial talk with Mike about my running background, my current training, upcoming races and my goals. Next up I went to a group track workout and after joining in for a few laps and the dynamic warm up, we worked on my running form. I’m still doing a good job of keeping the mid-foot strike I worked on with my physical therapist, but he identified a couple things – increasing stride length and a more compact arm swing – I can work on to get faster and run more efficiently.

We had another talk about my goals and what I can realistically accomplish this year, and I’m now in my first week of the three month program he created for me. I’ve been creating my own programs for years and while I think I’ve done a pretty decent job, I have a tough time not second guessing on what the best training runs to include are. There is so much advice out there so it can be tough to know what’s best. It’s nice to have someone just give me a plan that’s tailored directly to me and to help get me where I want to be. There are also weekly group track workouts and I’ll turn in weekly recaps to help hold me accountable. I’m really excited to see how much I can improve working with a running coach and I’m happy to be back in a training program! Now it’s time to put in the work so I can get that BQ this fall!

Have you ever worked with a coach? Do you think it made you better?

The Liebster Award

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

Last week Maureen from Running On Cabernet (one of my favorite running blogs to read, so go check it out if you haven’t read it before) nominated me for The Liebster Award. Thanks Maureen!

I’ve seen this going around on some of the blogs I follow and here’s how it works:

It’s a great way to promote new blogs as it’s given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers
You list 11 random facts about yourself and then answer the 11 questions from the person who nominated you
Next choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award on to and tag them in your post

Here goes…

11 Random Facts

I won a raffle among the girls in my sixth grade class (all 12 of us) and got the chance to carry the Olympic Torch along the grounds of my elementary school as it made its way to the Atlanta Games.
Carrying the Olympic Torch in front of IC school
I went to two different high schools.
I went to three undergrad colleges in four years, but still managed to graduate summa cum laude on time. I don’t believe in quitting, but I also don’t believe in staying in a situation that makes you unhappy if you have control to change it. You make your own happiness.
I ran cross country my sophomore year in college and actually made All Conference. Disclaimer: I could never convince enough girls at my school to come out for a meet so we never got to place as a team, and I very well may have been running in the worst conference in all of Division 3.
When I was little I wanted to play Little League Baseball so my parents signed me up, and along with my cousin Susie, I played with the boys for years until I finally made the switch to softball for school ball.
I love puzzles and I get one for Christmas every year.
I took piano lessons for 10 years.
I had a basketball coach who said if we wanted to be good at ball handling we should practice an hour a day no matter how hard it was to fit in. For the next three years of high school, my poor parents had to listen to me dribbling a basketball in our basement for an hour a day every single day, often in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. I can’t even begin to imagine how annoying this must have been!
My brother and I built a rope ladder to climb out of his second story bedroom room onto our deck when we were probably 12 and 14 years old. After he made it down, I couldn’t reach the ladder so I put my bike helmet on and jumped into the pile of pillows we put out in case the ladder failed only I missed the pillows. Other than a swollen ankle for a couple days I was completely fine somehow. We didn’t tell our parents for a very long time. In fact, they might just be learning about it now. Oops.
I didn’t eat my first cheeseburger until college. Why did I wait so long?!
I’ve run marathons in four different countries.

11 Questions From Maureen

Why did you start your blog?
I’ve always loved writing and had wanted to do a blog for a long time, but never knew how to start. I wasn’t super happy with the job I had at the time and it was making me hate writing, so I wanted to take that back and write for myself again.
What is your favorite type of junk food?
Toss up between Reese’s Pieces or sour gummy worms
Do you read newspaper in print or online?
I stuck with the print edition for a long time, but finally gave up and mostly always read it online now.
What was the last move you saw in the theater?
Lincoln
What was your favorite class in school?
English
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?
Ireland – in a heartbeat. I’ve been there before, but it was my absolute favorite vacation and I would love to go back!
What is the best meal you’ve ever eaten?
Oh man, that’s a tough question. Recently I’d say a homemade buffalo chicken deep dish pizza. I’ve had some really good steakhouse dinners. I always love spaghetti and meatballs. I LOVE eating, so I don’t know why I can’t pin down the best meal I’ve ever had – maybe there are just too many to choose from.
How long have you lived in your current city/town?
Almost 7 years
What was your first job?
I cleaned the rectory offices at my Church in high school, but my first real job was in Communications at the Consumer Electronics Association – a pretty good first gig.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My parents always drilled into me that working hard and being good to the people around you will pay off in the end. It does.
What are you looking forward to this summer?
Lots of long weekends here in D.C. and on the road with Ian including my first trip to Portland, Oregon!

Bloggers I’m Tagging: (Not sure if I’d consider all of these new bloggers and I know some of them definitely have more than 200 followers, but I do really enjoy reading all of them.)

Lindsay at Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Running

Molly at Heart, Sole & Cereal

Ashley at Coffee Cake and Cardio

Jennifer at A Knack for Nutrition

Sam at Yogitastic

Rana at Life, Love & the Pursuit of Running

Katie at Healthy Heddleston

Allison at Wicked Healthy Washingtonian

Sara at Magia e Pasta

Alex at The Run Within

Jess at Jess Runs

My Questions

What’s your favorite book?
Guilty pleasure TV show?
How many siblings do you have?
What’s your hometown?
Best Vacation you’ve ever taken?
What would you do if you won the lottery?
What’s your dream job?
Why do you blog?
Do you have any pets?
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
What are you most proud of?

Race Recap: National Police Week 5K

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

On Saturday my friend Jayne and I ran the National Police Week 5k in D.C. along with another friend of hers. The Police Week 5k honors fallen law enforcement officers by raising awareness to the sacrifices officers make every day. Every runner’s bib has the name of an officer killed on it to remind us all what we were running for.

Police Week Bib and Race Shirt

I had no expectations or time goal after two weeks of almost no running and just a handful of cross training days. While I was pretty far off my PR, I was pleasantly surprised by how the race went and by how strong I felt. I took advantage of an early packet pick-up option at Pacers on Friday, so I’d be ready to go on race morning. As usual I pinned my race bib on my shirt Friday night and laid my clothes out for the morning.

Despite staying in and being lazy on a Friday night, I still had trouble falling asleep and was so tempted to just turn the alarm off Saturday morning. The gloomy, gray day I saw when I looked out my window only made me want to get back in bed, but I knew I really needed to get out and run today.

I got to the start fairly early and had time to get warmed up and drop my bag off. I met up with Jayne and chatted for a bit before we split up and headed off to the start line. The rain started just before the race, but it was pretty light and actually felt kind of good. The course started off with several quick turns before heading down a slight hill that we’d have to come back up at the end. Then we hit a straightaway that took us down 3rd Street past the Capitol Building before the one-mile marker and then a turnaround.

Color Guard before the National Anthem

The course turned back onto 3rd after a the turnaround took us around a block then jutted down Constitution Ave. for a down and back past the 2nd mile marker before heading back up 3rd Street. The second mile felt really long. I almost felt like the marker should have been on the other side of the street when we first passed it rather than when we came back by it after turning around at a cone. My Garmin beeped well before reaching it – not that that is always accurate though. I also proved once again how bad I am at running tangents as I ended up doing an extra tenth of a mile according to the Garmin.

My adrenaline was flowing and I felt great at the start. I felt like it was almost too easy and I must’ve been going slow, so I was shocked to see my watch at 6:42 when I hit the first mile marker. Knowing I wasn’t in any kind of shape to be running that pace I tried to pull in the reins for mile 2 running it in about 7:18. It didn’t help though and I slowed way down unable to keep the pace up for mile 3 slowing down to a 8:11 mile. I was able to kick it down the final stretch turning it up a few notches for a 6:25 pace. According to the official results I crossed the line in 23:25 for an average pace of 7:33 putting me in 151st out of more than 1,500!

Adorable pups making it to the finish too!

Jayne also finished strong. She had a playlist and had a goal of finishing before a certain song came on and cruised in just as it was starting! Next up for her is the Marine Corps 10k.

I’ll be back racing again this Sunday back in my hometown for an 8k. Hope your weekend races and runs went well too! Let me know how you did in the comments.

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Colleen Lerro

I started off this week in a total funk and my one-week recovery after the half marathon turned into more like 2 weeks. A busy week at work and coming down with a cold midweek didn’t help my motivation any, but I finally broke out of things with a good Friday evening workout, a better than expected 5k after 2 weeks off of running and a good Sunday run.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Track workout with my new running coach. I did a 2-lap warm-up and dynamic warm-up drills with the group and then worked on my form while others did their workouts for the week. More to come on this later.

Thursday: Unplanned rest day. Today was a great example of why I shouldn’t put workouts off. I had to go into work early and was sure I could get in a lunch run, but ended up working through lunch.

Friday: Elliptical for an hour followed by a strength workout

Saturday: I ran the National Police Week 5k, and while it was a bit off my best performance, it was much better than I expected after a nearly 2-week layover from running. Recap coming tomorrow.