Baby it's cold outside!

This morning's run was pretty cold. Weather.com said it was 18 degrees F with a 12 mph wind, which put the wind chill in the single digits!

But it was so pretty, I stayed out for an hour and got six miles in.

Look at that sky! The wind was a little challenging but when you prepare properly it's no big deal.

I've got to say, I'm a huge fan of wool. I can't wait for my wool tights to be delivered. That material really does make a difference.

I saw a guy I didn't recognize running on Sunday, and I saw another new guy out running this morning.

Today's guy looked like a new runner, and it made me glad to see him out when the weather was so horrible.

If you look closely, you can see Jack Frost gave me some eyelash extensions! LOL!

Tomorrow's forecast is not looking good either. The temperature is supposed to be 8 degrees, with a wind chill below zero! And it's not supposed to get much warmer the rest of the week.

Don't get me wrong though, this isn't a complaint. I love winter! And it's been so long since it seems we've had a real one around here. Now if only Pennsylvania would share some of that snow they got I'd be happy!

I'll end with a photo of a building which caught my eye on my run this morning.

Winter is here

Last week was a little rough.

Not sure if I came down with a little cold, or if I hurt something; but something was just a little off. So I took it easy.

The weather took a serious turn for the colder but I still had some good runs. We finally got some snow!

Saturday was my birthday, I took a short run then my Beloved and I drove down to Joplin.

On the way down I thought about how I'd always wanted to visit a casino to see what all the fuss was about. There's one just outside Joplin and we headed there first.

I took in $20 and the casino gave me around $12 for my birthday. Mostly I played the penny slots, and I walked out with about $80. It as kinda fun, next time though I'm going to have to try the Texas Hold 'Em.

I found an outstanding book recently. It's titled "Run Gently Out There." It's by an ultrarunner. I'm nothing close to an ultrarunner, but his writing is incredible.

I love reading about running, but I have to admit most running books are kinda dry. Paces and VO2max and lactic threshhold.

His writing on the other hand is mostly about the places and people he encounters on the run. And it's very well done.

Also I have officially discovered wool. I bought a SmartWool PhD running zip top. And it is incredible! I love it.

I've never really felt cold on the run, despite running near zero occasionally. But there is a different feel to wool than the technical clothes I've had up till now.

I like it so much I went right out and bought two pairs of their tights too. I'll let you know what I think when they get delivered.

Exciting news

I was so stoked to get an email from the good folks at Honey Stinger welcoming me to the Hive Ambassador program for 2018!

I've been using Honey Stinger to fuel my running this past year and I really like it. So I'm excited to be able to promote their products in a slightly more official manner. 😀

Talking about Matt Fitzgerald's racing weight quick start

I talk about Matt Fitgerald's book Racing Weight Quick Start. 

Quick start week 6

So I'm going into week 6 of my quick start weight loss.

Here was my weigh in this morning.

I've lost almost two percent body fat. And that makes me happy, but I had kinda figured on being further down than that at this point.

Granted this has not been easy. Trying to do this over the holidays has been even worse.

There is food everywhere!

But I am making progress. And I am thankful for that.

I've got two more weeks before I'm supposed to start the training cycle for my next race, but maybe I'll put off the spring race and focus on getting lean.

That last five percent

One of my goals for this year was to get down to 12 percent body fat.

All year long though I've been hovering right around the 17 percent mark. I became very focused on my running and didn't give so much thought to weight-loss.

I realized though that I've got about eight weeks until my next training cycle begins so I thought about making a more concerted effort to lose these last few pounds.

I've been reading Matt Fitzgerald's books on nutrition and he had published a "Quick Start" guide for dropping a few pounds quickly. So I bought a copy from Google Books.

His training plan rests on three main facets: calorie deficit with a high percentage of protein, hill repeats and strength training.

I began the program Monday and my official weigh-in showed 177.6 pounds and 18 percent body fat.

I did have to adjust my diet a little to accommodate the calorie deficit and the higher protein levels. But I'm really enjoying the meals we've had so far.

Monday's lunch was salmon, snap peas and a sweet potato. We've also discovered pork tenderloin. We've been wanting to try it, but just hadn't ever gotten around to it.

Like I said, he's real into the hill repeats. Thankfully there are lots of great hills around town!

The really high protein intake was a bit of a challenge. I couldn't figure out how to get it up that high without going over my calorie limit. But Fitzgerald recommends protein shakes. I tried one brand about a year ago and couldn't stomach the stuff.

I bought a can of Equate protein mix though, and this stuff I really like!

I also found these protein bars without many calories and zero sugar.

So far I like the plan very much, I feel good. I'm not terribly hungry. And I've really been meaning to work on my strength training anyway, this gives me a good framework to follow.

Also this past week, I got a new piece of gear!

It's the Ultraspire Spry 2.0. I've been thinking about a hydration vest for a while so I can carry more water and supplies as my runs get longer.

I really liked what I'd seen about this model, and when I saw it on Amazon for $33 I couldn't resist and bought one.

The weather here has been very cool lately, which has given us a very brilliant display of fall colors. I haven't seen them like this in quite some time. It's beautiful. Here's a shot from this morning's run.

I'll keep you all updated how the weight loss goes!

Hanson's Method review

Well, you can definitely count me a Hanson's convert!

I only began running a little more than two years ago. I ran my first ever half marathon last April. I finished in 2:11:33. For that race, I used one of Garmin's heart rate plans. But it left me like I could've done more. And I felt like I hurt too long after the race, as if I wasn't fully prepared.

I signed up to race the half at the KC Marathon which was Oct. 21. When I began training for it, I started out using the same plan from Garmin still thinking I wanted something different. I did that plan for about a week and a half before deciding I wanted/needed something more. I had checked out the Hansons book from the library earlier this year and had been lurking these groups so I went ahead and ordered the book for myself and printed one of the free calendars from the website.

I had to skip the first week or so of the calendar because of the time frame but I'd gotten my mileage up to about 20 per week so I just jumped right in. I really want to break 2 hours on a half marathon but I thought that might be a little ambitious so I set up my paces for a 2:05 finish time. The first couple weeks really kicked my rear end, but I could really feel a difference too.

So I stuck with it. Other than having to jump in late, I missed only 3-4 workouts. I debated starting out with the 2-hour pace group, but I decided since I'd trained for 2:05 that was who I'd stick with. But I realized about a mile in that I was feeling really good and I wanted to give more, so I ignored the pace band the rest of the race and ran by feel.

I finished in 2:02:31 and I am super happy. It was warmer than usual, pretty humid and very windy. Plus the Kansas City course is really challenging (ie- hilly!). But it was a beautiful race, and I had a blast! Now to figure out training paces for that sub-2!