Really GREAT 16+ mile run on the trails today!  I felt strong... although I finally broke down and realized WHY I must buy a pair of gators... ASAP! ;-)

THIS IS HOW I HAMMER!!!  TRAILS and PERPETUEM!

When you are hours into the middle of no where... finding one of these gems is like finding some gold....

Look I stumbled upon an alpaca farm?! 

This morning's run was the best run I have had in a long time... NOT because of a PR or because I went really far.. but because I played.  I stopped and used the restroom... stopped and took pictures... went at a slow pace, watched some wildlife and watched the sun come up over the river.  It was a cool 40 degrees so I could wear a long sleeve running shirt, and some crappy Dollar General gloves and a fall headband.... I LOVE this time of year... it makes me feel so awesome!  I live a block from the Mississippi.... I can run this path any day I want... I don't do it often... but when I do, it feels like home.

I am standing in Iowa.... the hills across the Mississippi are Wisconsin's... ;-)

NO RUN WEDNESDAY!!!!

I don't mind it if I do!  Heading to the gym tonight for a little different cardio and weights!  And what am I taking with me???  Some HEED!  Love melon HEED ;-)  

Had kind of a worn down crappy 15 miler this am.  ON THE BRIGHT SIDE... who just got notified that they are officially a HAMMER FUEL AND NUTRITION AMBASSADOR?!!!  I was so excited to find out my head almost exploded!!! ;-)  Now I will be able to offer people a discount for the products AND hand out samples! ;-)  WOO HOO!!! ;-)  DID I MENTION BUSINESS CARDS?!!  I am incredibly honored that I get to wear their brand and show it off.... make sure if you have never tried one of their supplements or gels, etc... and want to, get a hold of me... I will get you a sample to try!!  If I don't have a sample supply on hand.. you can try something of mine! ;-)

I should add, their products are for just about any sport, running, cycling, basketball, football, bodybuilding, climbing, swimming.... it goes on and on.  They have awesome supplements, gels, recovery products, you name it.  ;-)

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP TONIGHT AFTER GETTING SOO MUCH AWESOME STUFF IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!????  CANT WAIT TO SPORT THEM AROUND SOME RACES!!

If you are a new runner and want a place to find fellow runners, new friends, advice, etc.... you should definitely check out RunJunkEes on Facebook.  Great community of runners and a great organizers!  Check them out!!!

PEACE!! ;-)

Ran some local hills early this am hard!  Great heart-pumping run!  Many people do not realize how beautiful Iowa is in the Northeast areas... #driftless #God'scountry.......  

Had a great long run today!!  Went waay smoother than I thought!  I seriously owe it to one... the work I have been putting into strength training and two... the proper fueling!  I am so in love with Hammer products!  I wish I could give every single one of you a sample... ;-)  If you want to try them out... use my link on the right side of my blog under the Hammer advertisement.  It can get you 15% off.  Their products are really reasonably priced!! ;-)  HAPPY RUNNING!!!  

OH, and stay away from these.....

Received my HAMMER NUTRITION shipment!  I am so pumped, if someone let me I would hold a news conference.  NOT KIDDING!~  Hammer products are so awesome.  Finally a company who gives the truth about ingredients... cares about its customers and offers products for all my running needs (AND the products don't make me feel sick!) EVERY order I have received had great reading info and FREE samples or items.  YOU NEED TO CHECK THEM OUT!

If you are a cyclist or runner... you need to try Hammer's products.... specifically ordered through their site.  I cannot brag enough about the company.  The products rock, the customer service is AWESOME and they know what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition.... the shipping is so fast I look twice when I get my orders thinking "it cant be here already?"PLUS, you get free stuff and discounts often!    

YOU NEED TO ORDER NOW!!!  USE MY LINK ON MY BLOG TO GET 15% OFF on your ORDER!!!!! ;-)  Referral -Stephanie Radabaugh, client # 250618

HAD A GREAT TIME AT THE PARK TO PARK RACE IN WATERLOO, IOWA!!

Seriously.. this is GREAT!!!

Another half marathon for this week!  Great week!  Fueled with Hammer Products before and during.  Wasn't a fast half marathon for me... but I was on kind of sore legs.  It was a really beautiful course though... mainly through wooded areas.  Will likely do again!  

Finished the Dubuque Classic Half Marathon today... as well as the Dominate Dubuque series!!

 I hate humid running...  

 today almost made me cry it DID make a young girl ahead of me drop and go unconscious....someone stayed with her and I ran ahead to notify the police a mile up the road.... 5 days off and then off to my next half marathon!

I have never carried my own water before.  I have always depended on the water stops.  I think I was always afraid of looking "dumb."  For some reason, local races often do not have a lot of runners carrying their own water... well, I swallowed my pride and carried one handheld water bottle.  SO glad I did in this humid weather!  Plus, I did see a few others sporting water packs on their backs and hips.  This is always the hilliest and hardest race of the year for me... its pretty darn steep.  Now that I am going to the gym for strength training.. hopefully next year's Dubuque Classic will be a breeze.  In the next month I have two more half marathons and then let the ultra marathon training begin! ;-)  Just in time for some cool temps ;-)

THE HEAT and HUMIDITY!!  Yikes, at 4:30 AM in the pitch dark it was STILL TOO humid to run.  I got 5 miles in... but the word oppressive ran through my head over and over.... lol.  I am a fall and winter lover... so I am counting down the days for running in the snow!

Cant wait for Park to Park half marathon!

Received my VIP package! Really pumped for this half... kind of a fun fall relaxed distance! Awesome shirt, awesome backpack and sweet beer glass!

Found a few pics in the local paper from a race I was in ;-)

Bloody hell..... Peanut Butter GU gels are to die for!!!!  Oh why did I not try these before.  My new staple.  Peanut butter and salted caramel GU.  Thank heavens, they don't make me sick either ;-)  Happy Running Folks!!!

WILLPOWER

People often talk about peer pressure, the loss of willpower.... I am definitely the first to admit mine generally SUCKS.... especially when it comes to food.  I eat healthy for sure.  My problem is though I either eat too much (I definitely do not know when to say ENOUGH)  or I just get cravings like potato chips.  

So with the spirit of my ultra marathon training coming up, it is clear I need to work on this willpower thing.  I mean lets face it, this run will be brutal and waaay more psychological than physical.  Sure, my legs will want to fall off... but my mind is going to play some evil sabotage games all day with me.  If I go into the race with the same exact willpower I have now, I am afraid failure could be eminent.  I need to start attending to this now while the going is much easier.  

So I plan to start out by just using stronger willpower with my diet.  Being more mindful of my eating, etc.

Here is an example of CRAPPY NON-NON-MINDFUL eating.... Yesterday I was eating a bag of kale chips.  I was really loving them, as I do with anything that is a chip form such as that.  I was plowing them into my mouth while I worked at my desk, NOT PAYING ATTENTION.  I continued to eat them thinking, "whatever, its kale... who cares if I eat the whole bag."  I got to the point where I was tipping the bag and just pouring in.... lol.  In the middle of my piglet session I note a weird chewing event in my mouth.  I stop and somewhat focus on what I am doing and I was actually eating the damn silicone packet!!!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!!!???  I think many of us are guilty of this... chips or cookies, etc.... its easy to do.  THIS is what I am working on in the upcoming weeks.  I wonder if there are some good ways to work on this?  I wonder if anyone has any good tips?    Duct tape to the mouth?  etc.. etc....  I guess what I am trying to say...is I need better power over my mind.  I need to know what is going on... but also I need to know how to ignore it too and not let it be the boss of me. ;-)  

Monday I ran 2 miles and had to stop and slowly crawl back home and get into bed... yesterday no running.  Being sick is horrid!  I ran the Alzheimer's 10K on Saturday.  It was hot.  It was between 75 and 80 degrees with VERY high humidity.  I think the heat actually made me sick.  I was okay after the race and even the next day... but then Monday and Tuesday was cramping, stomach upset, nausea, the works.  One thing that is a "shame on me" moment... is I always run with a bottle of water and sip consistently when it is over 70 degrees (if I run at all....)  and at this race I did not.  I thought, "well, no one else is carrying water, I don't want to look dumb."  That was stupid of me.  I should have drank consistently through the race.  Although with the sun and humidity... I am not sure if that would have kept me from getting sick.  

I also noted during the last 3/4ths of the race.... my Garmin was showing my heart rate at 186/187.  My maximum heart rate is 180ish I believe.  I have never seen my number reach that high... I knew that and was purposely slowing down because of it... but still, that probably wasn't the best either.  

Finished the VERY HOT Alzheimer's 10K in Dubuque on the Heritage Trail.  Let me emphasize.. it was SOOO HOT but mainly SOOOO HUMID!  Great cause.  

So in some respect, it seems like my first Ultra Marathon is so far off... and yet, I panic when I think about how close it is.  It is in April 2016.  My official training starts December 1st.  I plan to document most of it on here.  The training should prove to be interesting considering I live in Iowa and my longest runs will be in Jan, Feb, March.  THAT is scary.  
Anyway, right now I am just enjoying the run.  I make sure to get one SLOW long run in a week.  To me a "long" run is just anything over 10 miles.  So it may be 10 one week, it may be 20.  I am a little excited because yesterday I signed up for my local Anytime Fitness.  I am going to need that place throughout training for some cross training and specifically weight training (that was a lot of "training" in one sentence.)  
I will probably do some updating on here how my experiences at the fitness center go.  I am a bit excited about it... yet a little nervous.  That is clearly the introvert in me.  Happy Running!

Looks like its a "Go Long Day" !!!!!

Looks like it's a long run day! Happy to hit the trails and use my Nathan pack!

Perfect Runner breakfast

As a vegetarian... I am always looking for new and exciting ways to fuel my run. This is one of my favorite "start the day right" meals! Ezekial bread, avocado, my garden tomatoes and two eggs. Perfect!

Had a nice 7 mile run yesterday... hydrated and then headed to the beach for the day!  (followed up with malts and ice cream cones on the way home!)  What a relaxing day. ;-)  What do you do to relax? ;-)