Getting the most out of Fall: 11/8 – 14 WRD

November 14, 2021November 14, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 37 Comments

Unfortunately the storm clouds were metaphorically (and literally!) moving in again this week, although the actual weather was mostly quite nice — except Friday & Saturday, maybe this evening. There were definitely some bright spots to the week, though!

I’m joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and enjoying the sunshine this week. Literally walking on sunshine — yup, I went there. 🙂

Workouts update

Monday: Yoga (60 min), ~~recovery mile~~3 mile hike
Tuesday: Yoga (40 min), Dogwalk
Wednesday: Yoga (40 min), Dogwalk
Thursday: Yoga, (50 minutes), 5.79 mile long-er run, PB Walking with Weights (20 min)
Friday: Yoga (40 min), Rest Day
Saturday: Yoga (15 min), Dogwalk, 3 miles easy
Sunday: Yoga (45 min), Dogwalk, 1 mile recovery run, Yoga later

Running Mileage: 9.79 (NC)

PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike

Running Update

Thursday Intention: go long-er with a fast finish
Yup, it’s Thursday and it’s my first run of the week. I’ve been feeling run down off & on over the last couple of weeks, no doubt due to stress, so after our hike on Monday I took it easy. I deliberately wore my “slow” shoes today. I ran slower, too, but don’t know if that’s really due to the shoes or just how I’m feeling.

This run wasn’t really good or bad, and I did decide to pick up the pace for approximately the last mile. Otherwise it was quite consistent. I wanted to get it done before the 100% rain on Friday, plus the uncertainty of whether or not I might have to go down to my sister or my mom this weekend.

**Interesting sky. It poured later in the day—even some thunder!**

Saturday Intention: easy with a little cadence work
My plan was to do a recovery mile on Friday — on the treadmill (it works for about a mile) but my body said he!! no. Good thing I listened to it, I felt much better when I got up this morning & also had a better night’s sleep.

This was what I call a bell curve run — faster in the first & last mile, a bit slower in the middle mile. Worked on cadence just a bit in the last mile, making it the fastest mile.

**Catching the last bits of Fall**; **that burlap bag is “Lola”**

Sunday Intention: recover
I was sorely tempted to run on the treadmill. It would just have been faster. Instead I warmed up (a loose term as it felt colder than the 40s temp) by walking Bandit and then just did it.

**A good time was had by all. Luckily I didn’t have cell service so was unaware my mom was back in the hospital.**

Favorites of the week
I know our hiking days are numbered, but I also knew Monday was going to be a very nice day. Had a great time at Huyck Preserve and a good lunch afterward. Unfortunately came back to the news my mom was back in the hospital. It seems it’s the new normal — but it irks me that she saw both her cardiologist and her primary care doctor just days before this happened. She came home on Friday.

The iphone 11 we bought from a friend arrived this week. Transferring everything was easy peasy (seriously, Apple makes it easy). My iphone 6 was bought refurbished, and always had a couple of things that never worked.

The first wasn’t really a big deal, but you couldn’t turn off the shutter sound when taking photos, which was occasionally annoying. No seriously — my nieces said “oh that’s easy”; I assured them I had tried quite a few things and nothing worked. Even they were stumped.

The next thing was much more annoying: it never kept a good sync with bluetooth. So I didn’t always get text notifications, for instance. I couldn’t use wireless headphones/pods of any kind unless I basically held my phone at chest level.

Sometimes it rang when I got a call, and sometimes it didn’t. Once I got a call & it rang and just seconds after there was a second call and no ring!

Finally, the voicemail on my old phone never worked. I once spent hours on the phone with support, and it was working when we finished. At some unknown point it stopped working. I actually haven’t tried to set up the voicemail on the new phone yet — simply because I didn’t even think about it.

Last, but certainly not least, the dishwasher is fixed! Thanks to Mr. Judy.

No, Bandit, That bolster isn’t for you. At least he doesn’t unmake the bed like Lola used to.

ICYMI: Lately I’ve been a bit obsessed with neck release. It feels great to get the tension out of there — and out of our much neglected face, too. We’ll do that in the above short practice — plus I have a demo of face rolling for you, too. They all feel great!

Face & Neck Release click here * Face Rolling Demo click here * Kali Mudra Benefits click here

Coming up on Tuesday & Friday: Tuesday I’m sharing something I learned from one of my worst half marathons. Friday it’s about getting inspiration from teabags.

The Trouble with Positive Splits + . . .

November 12, 2021November 11, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 19 Comments

. . . four other surprising things I learned in my Run Coach course! One of the things I love about running is there’s a lot to learn — in fact, there’s always something more to learn.

I’m linking up with My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Runs with Pugs, Zenaida and Run Laugh Eat Pie for Fit Five Friday. Today I’m sharing 5 things I learned in my RRCA Run Coach course that surprised me — and might benefit you.

1: The problem with positive splits
Positive splits are running the first part of a race faster than the second half. Every one second you go out too fast in the beginning of the race may add three seconds to your pace at the end. Every runner is different, of course. Some runners do well with positive splits.

Put another way: do you want to be passing people at the end of the race, or do you want to do the passing?

2: 2-4 hard efforts per week are enough
What is a hard effort, you ask? It depends (we got that advice a lot in this course!). One person’s hard effort is easy to another person. What I learned in this part is that the whole week (in addition to speed work, or other intense forms of exercise) counts as a hard effort.

Let me repeat that: Your whole week of running is one hard effort!

I never thought about it that way. So if you have speedwork and a tempo run in your training plan, and you’re feeling burned out by your training — you may already be at your three hard efforts because the entire week counts as one, too. Every runner is different, but it’s a good point to keep in mind.

3: Hills may make you faster . . .
. . . but being faster won’t necessarily make you better on hills. I’m sure a lot of us have heard that hills are speedwork in disguise. It was interesting to me to learn that just because you run fast doesn’t necessarily mean you will run hills better.

Which brings us back to specificity of training: train on the terrain you’ll be racing on .

4: Try to give yourself a range for mileage/pace
Add some wiggle room to your training plan. Maybe you go a little shorter or a little longer, or maybe you have a range for the pace you want to hit. Notice any patterns that emerge — if you’re always choosing the slower or shorter runs, maybe you’re setting the bar too high for yourself. Conversely if you’re always adding mileage or running faster than the range you planned on, you may not be challenging yourself enough.

Only you know!

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5: Throw out some of the pyramid
Training plans have cycles, and in this course we’re taught to visualize the cycles as a pyramid. At the bottom is your base, and at the top are intervals (aka speedwork) right before you are at your peak performance (ready to race).

In between the base and intervals is the strength phase:

Tempos
Fartleks
Hills

None of that should come as a surprise. The thing that did surprise me is that we were taught as long as you continue to grow your long run during the strength phase you can run a great race without ever doing intervals. Food for thought, anyway.

Final Thoughts
We learned many things, of course. These are five things that surprised me; they may not surprise you — or matter to you. Maybe one of these tips will speak to you — or not.

Which of these was most surprising to you?

What have you learned about running recently that surprised you?

3 Things Learned from a Great Race

November 9, 2021November 8, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 27 Comments

Five years ago I ran a half marathon with some fellow bloggers in Florida. At the time it was a long awaited PR — it didn’t even feel hard. It also kicked off a year of PRs in halfs.

It was also the start of a lot of turmoil in my life — the ongoing saga of my parents’ decline. At the time they were still living in my childhood home, but it became very clear right around that time that they couldn’t stay there after my mom had some surgery.

It was also not long after we had adopted Bandit, and we were embroiled in the mess that turned out to be. When we adopted him, we had Lola and Gizo, and they all had to be kept separate for months. We couldn’t walk Lola & Bandit together. He was a senior rescue and he had issues — he’s come a long way! — but at the time it was just another stress piled on top of the ongoing stress with my parents, not to mention the many years I’d just spent taking care of sick furkids.

Yet the race, which was in general was an afterthought for me, went well, and I learned a few things.

I learned my sweet spot
Everyone has a sweet spot when it comes to training. A certain weekly mileage they need to hit to be well prepared for a race, or maybe a certain length run — or a few of a certain length run.

Your body needs to be prepared both physically and mentally. I learned that I could definitely do well on lower weekly mileage — as long as I’d been consistently running. Running consistently, training or no, is like money in the bank. It’s the golden ticket to staying strong and (hopefully) uninjured (although many factors go into injury).

I relearned how important Nuun was to keep me running smoothly
If you care to read the recap here (warning: it’s long!) you’ll learn that I had really bad cramping starting at mile 10 and getting steadily worse until the end of the race.

When I started running, I used Nuun. At some point I got away from that — mainly because I don’t like to drink anything sweet on long runs. After this race I went back to Nuun. I won’t say I never cramp, but it’s pretty rare these days. #teamnuun for life!

Those saltstick chews I lost during the race? Yes, those have also become a staple because I’m a salty runner!

pcb1 — **You may recognize several of these runners. The rest no longer blog.**

I learned that it’s not so bad to be one of the slowest runners in a group
Because then you have a built in cheering squad, since the speedy runners have already finished and can cheer you in and take photos of you crossing that finish line.

Final Thoughts
I had been running halfs for about five years at this point. I trained consistently. I did all the things you’re supposed to do. I remained stuck at pretty much the same finish time. Deep down I knew I had a faster finish time in me. I just knew it.

I was right, too. In fact, I have had a lot more PRs since that breakthrough race. Not all the halfs have been PRs, of course, but somehow that one race cascaded into a lot of improvement.

Only it wasn’t really that one race, right? It was all the work I’d put in before that race, and continued to put in after it.

Grateful for Simple Things: 11/1 – 7 WRD

November 5, 2021November 7, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 31 Comments

I apologize for last week. I had a bit of a meltdown. I literally felt like I was walking around with a dark cloud hanging over me. Things have been looking up this week. Mr. Judy fixed the dishwasher. The new phone ~~got mailed~~ arrived (today). I had two solo walk/hikes and didn’t get lost. I do not have to go for jury duty next week (three more weeks to go). Bandit’s heart murmur hasn’t progressed but we won’t get the results from his bloodwork back until next week and he has lost some weight.

Not to mention the abundant sunshine and mostly no wind this week!

bwrd

I’m joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and enjoying the sunshine this week. Literally walking on sunshine — yup, I went there. 🙂

Workouts update

Monday: Yoga (30 min), 1 mile recovery
Tuesday: Yoga (40 min), AM Dogwalk, .5 mile Walk to Saugerties Light
Wednesday: Yoga (40 min), AM/PM Walks
Thursday: Yoga, (40 minutes), 2.5 mile hiking
Friday: Yoga (20 min), 3 miles easy, Dogwalk PM, Cardio Toning (25 min)
Saturday: Yoga (30 min), Dogwalk x 2 (second with a friend), Rest day
Sunday: 6.06 (or 15 minute) long-er run, Yoga & ST later maybe

Running Mileage: 10.06 (+1ish)

PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike

Running Update

**We’ve moved on from Halloween to Thanksgiving**

Monday Intention: recover + endurance
Woke up to a beautiful, sunny, windy morning but had errands to run. Lost the sun but not the wind by the time I got out there. Another speedy recovery run due to lack of walk breaks. You can do anything for a mile.

**This guy was staring me down as I warmed up for my run**

Friday Intention: easy
Who wants to see a temp with a 2 in the start of November? Sunshine and little wind (plus gloves, leggings, a warm coat, and a beanie) meant not so bad after all. Normally I’d wait until it warmed up but Mr. Judy had somewhere to be and I had to take Bandit for his annual at 2. A somewhat sluggish run, but not surprising it’s always exhausting when I’m at my mom’s, sleeping there and taking her to the doctor. I considered strides but decided easy was the word for this run.

**Noticed the reflection of the trees on my hood & thought that was cool!**

Sunday Intention: go long-er and appreciate nature + fast finish
I wasn’t planning a fast finish when I started this run. The run was strong and relatively consistent. This is my kind of running weather! I decided on a whim to try to pickup the pace on the last mile — and yup, it was the fastest mile.

**Quick walk to a Lighthouse/BnB on the Hudson River in Saugerties**

Favorites of the week
I decided to skip Olana and explore a couple of new places this week. Even South we’re past peak, but there’s still some color here and there. First was a short walk to the Saugerties Lighthouse.

**More Hudson River views while hiking on the way home (Poet’s Walk Park in Red Hook)**

Then Poet’s Walk Park in Red Hook, NY on the way home. Both stops added a little more driving time — which is why I enjoy Olana so much, it’s a perfect halfway stop on the way to my mom. You can see lots more photos on my personal Facebook page here.

GWYWalking Meditation

ICYMI: Speaking of Olana, I filmed a short walking meditation when I was there a few weeks back.

Walking Meditation click here * 5 Physical Benefits of Pranayama Vlog click here

Coming up on Tuesday & Friday: Tuesday I’m sharing 3 things I learned from one of my best half marathons. Friday it’s five things I learned in my RRCA Coach course that surprised me.

Can you ever escape Jury Duty?: Tea/coffee Date November 2021

November 5, 2021November 1, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 25 Comments

bteanov21

Ultimate-Coffee-Date-1-300x300

Thanks, Coco and Deborah, I am grateful you give us this opportunity to get together virtually!

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I was working on my pumpkin post (click here if you want to know how to cook pie pumpkins in your Instant Pot), and I came across a typo that made me chuckle: I’d meant to type cutting board, but somehow typed cluttering board (which is totally appropriate for the state of my kitchen right now).

**I did feel guilty that my sister had to handle the aide change on her own. Not guilty enough to drive out in the Nor’easter to help. I thought about it . . .**

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I’d wanted to go away for a couple of days around our anniversary. That’s what we usually do (although we hadn’t for the last couple of years). It didn’t feel right with my mom in the hospital and then the aide change, though, so I decided on the daytrip to Lake Moreau State Park instead.

After my mom came home, I started looking at places for the next week. I immediately found one that looked perfect and we decided then and there we’d book it. A couple of hours later my brother told me they’d had to change the date for the aide change to yup, you guessed it — the following week.

I felt badly, because my sister had shouldered a lot during my mom’s hospital stay, but like the time she broke her hip, we couldn’t get our money back. Both my siblings told me to go and not feel guilty. My sister rarely goes anywhere though, and her life hasn’t been what she’d hoped it would be — so yeah, there’s going to be some guilt.

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you for the first time in a long time my body feels pretty good. I’m sure some other niggle will pop at at some point, but it definitely is nice to be niggle-free at the moment.

**I have never gotten mailings from NordicTrack before researching treadmills!**

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I laugh at people who think Alexa is a security risk. Do you use FB? IG? Siri? As you know I’m researching treadmills (anyone have a Sole F65 or F80, by the way?). The above postcard from Nordictrack arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. I own zero Norditrack equipment, but I did visit their site and research Nordictrack.

If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you that at my last visit to my mon, she handed me an envelope with the jury questionnaire for my father. You can’t make this stuff up! I took care of it, and they didn’t even ask for a death certificate (my father’s been gone almost two years, by the way).

Do you get postcards from places you visit online?

Would you have driven out in that Nor’Easter (about an hour’s drive)?

Tell me something you’re looking forward to in November!

Also linking up with:

A Clear Conscience: October 2021

November 2, 2021November 1, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 21 Comments

bnov21goals

A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.— Steven Wright

My conscience is usually pretty clear, and it’s clear that my memory isn’t always great — except when it is. Mostly I chose this quote because it made me laugh. I get what he meant, but it’s my blog and I’m spinning it my way. Conscience clear!

**I tried as much as possible to get out of the neighborhood. When Winter comes many of my normal routes are too snowy/icy to run.**

Getting in scheduled runs
I did very well until the end of the month, but that was due to hiking. I’m A-OK with that.

Grade Earned: A+

Recording my runs
I have veered off course here again . . . seriously, I need to start using my planner again because it helps me to keep focused. It’s a broken record, folks! But hey, I did finally got a haircut, LOL!

Grade Earned: C

Dynamic Warmup
The warmups are short, so they get done, but I’m still being a bit loosey goosey with those post run stretches — doing them a bit more often, though. It gets harder and harder as it gets colder and colder.

Grade Earned: A-

Foam Rolling
There were a few days I just forgot about foam rolling my calves in the morning. I blame it on Menopause brain. I wrote this part before I chose my quote!

Grade Earned: A-

Nutrition
It was hit or miss. Sometimes good, sometimes not great, sometimes not horrible. I am usually good for lunch, but by the time dinner arrives I just want it to arrive, LOL! I know that it’s important, though, so I’ve been trying to make more of an effort. I’ve been semi-successful with it.

Grade Earned: B+ (for trying)

**Not only a great place to hike, it would be great to run there, too. Hilly in parts, though.**

Cross Training
Yoga, ST, lots of walking recently, hiking. Gotta get out in nature before it becomes harder.

Grade Earned: A+

October 2021 gets . . .
. . . an A. I kept us busy with visits to three different state parks this months — one new to me, one new to me because I don’t remember it from childhood trips (back to that quote!), and the other tried and true but a new trail for us. Of course a couple of trips to mom; one multi-day, one just for the day. I’d already been going twice a month this past year, but sleeping there is challenging. I might get a break in Winter, or not. Overall I kept busy, tried to eat mostly healthy, and did some of the things I love.

October Goals:

Run 3 x week. Y. Most weeks I exceeded this goal. Short runs (sometimes just 1 mile) made it doable.
ST 3 x week. Y. I did quite well with strength training, too. Except the last week, but that’s okay I was still very active.
Get back to a different course that’s been on hold for a while. N. I’ll be bringing this one back in November, I hope!
At least one hike. Y. October was hiking month with many hikes.
At least one real rest day a week. Y. I definitely don’t think I got as much rest as I needed many weeks. I tried, though. I definitely did my best to make rest a priority.
Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Y. Weight is definitely still higher than it should be — I just need to cook more!

Which leads me to November Goals:

Run 3 x week. 3 x week is usually doable, although sometimes even that can be hard. Hence the low mileage!
ST 3 x week. It’s a good goal to work towards, and most of the time it happens. Just not always.
Get back to a different course that’s been on hold for a while. At least finish up the reading & videos. Small steps.
At least one hike. I should get in a couple of short hikes this week on the way to visit mom. Go me!
At least one real rest day a week. I know many people hate the dreaded rest day. Not me. Many of my rest days aren’t so restful, either. I’m shooting for one rest day a week. The Nor’Easter last month enforced that and my body enjoyed a day in pjs.
Continue to try to eat intuitively — unless the weight starts to creep up. Seem to be maintaining at a higher weight. Some things are out of my control, but others aren’t. I really struggle with energy at this time of year.

btuesdaytopics

Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

Runners_Roundup_Logo-640x640

Are We Done Yet???: 10/25 – 31 WRD

October 29, 2021October 31, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 33 Comments

**We were heading out the other way when I turned around for some photo op & then saw this path! We had to go down it it was so beautiful (although wet after that Nor’easter).**

The beginning of the week was spent at Lake Minnewaska State Park, and despite the meh weather (including a Nor’easter) it was amazing! I can’t wait to go back someday and explore more. If you follow me on FB here you’ll see a lot more photos of our hikes there.

The subject, unfortunately, refers to the fact that in addition to researching a new treadmill, we’ve added researching a new dishwasher to that every-growing list of things we need. The new phone (which we bought from a friend) is coming? Maybe? Definitely #firstworldproblems but annoying. You know they say these things come in threes.

bwrd

I’m joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and enjoying hiking, a little running, and lots of Yoga, of course.

Workouts update

Monday: Yoga (30 min), 5 mile hike/dogwalk
Tuesday: Yoga (40 min) AM & PM, PB Cardio Abs (20 min), major rest day due to Nor’easter
Wednesday: Yoga (30 min), 6 mile hike/dogwalk, Yoga (20 min)
Thursday: Yoga, (40 minutes), 5.3 mile long-er run, Yoga (45 min)
Friday: Yoga (40 min), Dogwalk AM, 1 mile recovery run, Filmed Yoga video (60 min)
Saturday: Yoga (40 min), Dogwalk AM, Rainy rest day
Sunday: 3 miles easy-ish + surges

Running Mileage: 9.3 (-2ish)

PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike

Running Update

Thursday Intention: easy & long-er
I knew it would make more sense to not run long today, after a long, active day and a few hours in the car the day before, but I wanted to get a few runs in this week and there wasn’t a whole lot of options for juggling days.

**Definitely a gray day but the leaves are still colorful**

Stayed at same time for the run as last week — a little further than the previous week, roughly the same as a couple of weeks before. I’ll take it.

**Kinda Pirates if the Caribbean do Halloween**

Friday Intention: recover + endurance (no walking)
The weather is most definitely Fall and for the first time in a long time it was an afternoon run. The morning was chilly and foggy, and I had errands to run. It was just one mile, of course, and because I’ve been doing the one mile runs without walk breaks sometimes they’re faster than my long runs.

**Some really go all out for Halloween! There’s a cat pumpkin in there.**

Sunday Intention: a little speed (some surges and pick-ups sprinkled in)
Somehow I wasn’t really feeling this run. I was overdressed — it went from a chilly rain to warm-ish temps rather quickly. I thought about surges in the second mile but nope. I finally decided to do it in the last mile. Which made for a bell curve run.

**Halloween & Alma Mater spirit in my scarf. Yup, it was chilly & the lake is roughly 1700 ft elevation (where we live is around 300 ft)**

Favorites of the week
Our trip to Lake Minnewaska was a complete success, although we could’ve lived without the Nor’Easter in the middle of the trip. Plus the multiple roads closed to flooding and/or construction which added a lot of time to the trip.

Bandit, who did not do well the one time we stayed at a hotel with both him & Lola (today marks one year that we said goodbye to Lola, read more here), did just fine at an AirBnB. He was particularly fond of the weighted blanket. I’m not sure I really liked it, but for some reason he loved laying on top of it.

gwy restorative ahimsa

ICYMI: If you’re ready to let your legs relax and re-energize, I have the perfect Restorative Yoga practice for you. You’re going to need a lot of props, though!

Restorative Yoga | Post Run Stretch click here * 5 Benefits of Restorative Yoga Vlog click here

Coming up on Tuesday & Friday: I’m wrapping up October. Friday it’s time to enjoy some hot chocolate and catch up on what’s going on in your world — and mine.

Getting in my hikes before Winter: Runfessions October 2021

October 29, 2021October 28, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 25 Comments

bfallhiking

I know plenty of people hike year round, but I have enough trouble getting myself outside to run during Winter. Sure, those frozen waterfall photos are cool — but so are the temps. Well, they’re downright freezing!

So I’ve been making a real effort to get in more hikes before the snow flies. Of course this is mostly a running blog, so there are plenty of runfessions to share from October too!

I runfess . . .
I liked the Saucony Endorphin Speeds so much, I went out and bought the Saucony Guide. They felt much heavier than the Endorphin Speed, but then I bought them for my easy runs.

I hikefess . . .
On a recent hike I told Mr. Judy I needed to move on (Bandit, too) while he was occupied taking photos. I did eventually text him which way I had gone. Apparently he was quite annoyed (and stressed) when I was “gone for half an hour while he walked up and down looking for me”.

No, I wasn’t lost, and no, it was nowhere near that long. I will apparently never live down getting lost (shared in my last Runfessions here). I also led the way on our anniversary hiking (which was thankfully quite clearly marked).

I runfess . . .
My Achilles has been behaving itself lately. Then the top of my foot started to hurt literally out of the blue one run. No, seriously, there wasn’t even a niggle there before it started hurting! I hate when that happens. I think it’s Extensor Tendonitis but luckily it mostly hasn’t bothered me since then (except that one time I wore rainboots at my mom’s).

I runfess . . .
I have been playing around, just a little bit, with doing my long-er runs for time, rather than mileage. Adding on about 5 minutes to the previous week’s long-er run’s time, although not every single week. Perhaps at some point I’ll actually get up to 90 minutes and it can be a “real” long run. Or not — because Winter’s coming!

I runfess . . .
I have had to do a lot of research helping my mom: did she actually get the new meds? will Medicare cover the bill if she has to go to rehab again? Does Medicare pay for the oxygen equipment? I haven’t had much time to research treadmills yet, although I have started. Definitely hoping when I make my decision one is actually available!

I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Sole F65 or 80 or Nordictrack 1750 (I think that’s the model number). Leaning towards Sole. I want to see if I can find a few reviews from real runners, but I don’t need a lot of bells and whistles — I just need something that will last as long as my first treadmill, or nearly as long, anyway! Sole has a longer warranty which is part of why I lean that way.

Do you ever self diagnose?

Are you winding down running for the year, or still training for something?

What do you have to runfess from October? Come join us

I am also linking up with:

Getting the most out of pumpkin!

October 26, 2021October 24, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 16 Comments

bpumpkin

Reasons to for runners to eat pumpkin:

It’s high in Vitamin A (good for your eyesight)
It’s high in antioxidants (helps battle cancers, like skin cancer)
It’s high in Potassium, which could make it a great recovery food (move over, bananas!)

Bonus benefit: don’t throw out the seeds (I didn’t!). They are high in phytosterols, which might help lower cholesterol and are also high in magnesium — which just might help you if you’re prone to cramping.

Why cook pie pumpkins?

I don’t usually cook, them, I’ll admit. It’s easier to simply open up a can of pumpkin puree — although did you know that canned “pumpkin” is often a different kind of squash? I digress.

People really into baking would tell you that fresh pumpkin puree tastes much better than canned. I’m not really sure I notice that much difference. We get a veggie box during the Summer, and pie pumpkins were one of our options at the end of the season. I’d read that you could cook pie pumpkins in the Instant Pot — I thought that would help a lot!

**Chunked pumpkin with seeds scooped out**

Only the pie pumpkins we got were too large to fit in our 6 quart Instant Pot. Not to fear, you can still cook them in your Instant Pot — but it will require more work. Cooking the pie pumpkins in your Instant Pot definitely cuts down on the cooking time.

Cooking Pie Pumpkins in the Instant Pot

Place 1 cup of water in the Instant Pot inner container
Place the steamer in the inner container
Cut the pie pumpkin into large chunks (this takes some strength!)
Scoop out the stringy stuff & seeds & put in a strainer over a bowl
Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set it to High Pressure for 5 minutes; press on
After the five minutes are up, let pressure release naturally for 5 minutes (aka do nothing)
After five minutes release the pressure by turning the valve from sealing to venting (make sure to do that with a long spoon so you don’t get burnt by the venting steam!)
Carefully scoop out the pumpkin chunks (I used a fork & spoon) & place on paper towels or a cutting board (we just used the same one that Mr. Judy cut the pie pumpkins on)
Let cool for around 15 minutes — until cool enough to handle
Take a spoon and just scoop the pumpkin off of the skin — it should come off very easily
Put cooked pumpkin in a blender or food processor and puree
Now you’re ready to cook with your pumpkin or put into containers

**Pumpkin seeds draining & stringy stuff**

**1 cup of water, pumpkin chunks in steamer basket waiting to be cooked, don’t overfill!**

**Peel with pumpkin scooped off & put into Vitamix to puree**

While the steamed pumpkin is cooling, you can run water over the pumpkin seeds to get any stringy stuff off of them.

**That mason jar is completely full of pumpkin seeds. I still have plans to make pumpkin seed milk but haven’t yet.**

I put a paper towel on a baking cooling rack and just spread the pumpkin seeds out on it to air dry. I haven’t done anything with them . . . yet. Unfortunately they went moldy! I knew I needed a real mason jar, but we didn’t have many available after the great pumpkin massacre.

**Mason jars full of warm pumpkin purée — it stays fresh longer because the warm pumpkin creates a good seal**

I had two large pie pumpkins and I estimate I got the equivalent of 3-4 cans of pumpkin out of them. Plus a cup of pumpkin seeds. I actually do enjoy pumpkin seeds and use them to top salads or soups, but I’m thinking I might try to make some pumpkin seed milk (which is similar to making almond or cashew milk (see this blog post here) — yes, I still make my own nut milk every week!

What did I do with the pumpkin?

I put the warm pumpkin puree into mason jars — basically, it’s a way to “can” stuff without actually canning. I also do this all Winter with warm soups. Who needs to can anything?

I’ve only made two things so far:

Pumpkin Cocoanut Curry Soup
Basically pumpkin and coconut mile and warming fall spices, topped with pumpkin seeds –not the seeds from my pumpkins!

Healthy Pumpkin Custards

I still have a lot of pumpkin! I’ll probably make more pumpkin soup. Maybe some pumpkin chia pudding. Or maybe pumpkin brownies . . .

When I lived in VT (this is going back almost 30 years) I used to buy pie pumpkins and bake bread pudding right in there. I think I roasted them in the over first, then sliced off the top. Then you just mixed up the bread pudding and poured it into the pumpkin (of course removing the stringy stuff and seeds first) and cooked it until the bread pudding was set. So you’d get some cooked pumpkin with every bite of bread pudding! I used to eat that for breakfast.

Final Thoughts
It was a lot of work, not gonna lie. Luckily pumpkins keep quite well in the fridge for quite some time; I think we had them in there at least three weeks. I put it off until a time I knew I had the energy and the time to deal with it.

Will I get pie pumpkins next year if they’re offered? Not sure! I don’t think it actually saved us money, although maybe a little bit. My guess is I will though — home made is almost always better.

Have you ever tried to cook a pie pumpkin?
What is your favorite Winter squash?

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Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner

This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.

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Anniversary Hiking: 10/18 – 24 WRD

October 22, 2021October 24, 2021 ~ Chocolaterunsjudy ~ 39 Comments

A short visit to my mom, who seems to be doing well. I suspect the change in some meds and the fact that she’s on oxygen accounts for that — although the oxygen is literally a drag. The rest of the week was run, hike, rinse, lather, repeat!

Fall is in full swing here, so for those who don’t get Fall, you’re welcome.

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I’m joining Kim @ Kimrunsonthefly and Deborah @ Confessionsofamotherrunner, and another week strong on activity, a bit weak on rest.

Workouts update

Monday: Yoga (30 min), 3 miles easy + surges, PB metcon (25 min)
Tuesday: Yoga (40 min), Anniversary Hiking Moreau Lake State Park, Yoga (20 min)
Wednesday: Yoga (30 min), 3 miles easy, Dogwalk AM, PB Walking with Weights (25 min), Yoga (20 min)
Thursday: Yoga, (40 minutes), 2 mile hike
Friday: Yoga (40 min), PB 5.17 long-er run, Yoga (20 min)
Saturday: Yoga (30 min), Dogwalk AM, 1 mile recovery run, PB Walking with Weights (25 min)
Sunday: Yoga + Dogwalk + Rest Day (except, packing — for me & Bandit)

Running Mileage: 12.17 (+1.17)

PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike

Running Update

**I’ve been visiting local race courses lately (not on purpose); this one’s gone virtual though**

Monday Intention: mostly easy + a little speed
I seem to be visiting race courses lately — totally unplanned. Since I’d pushed myself a little yesterday, I wanted to take it easy — but also remind my legs they can go faster. So I inserted some surges randomly through the second mile. Started out slow but negative splits for the win. My Garmin seems happy with my efforts lately. Summer running just isn’t my jam, and we are clearly out of Summer.

Wednesday Intention: EASY!!!
It’s a busy week of run, hike, run, hike, visit mom, etc. Our hiking yesterday was about 2 miles easy, 1 mile moderate. So I was determined to take it easy today — except I don’t watch my pace. So negative splits again; sue me! Mr. Judy offered to walk Bandit, which I took him up on, only they hadn’t gotten very far by the time I was walking home, so I ended up adding another mile on so they could both get some movement in, too.

**Stopped in the middle of my long-we run to visit a place off the path I used to stop at for a post run snack (on the left)**

Friday Intention: go long-er (working on endurance)
Normally I like at least one rest day before a long-er run, and visiting my mom tends to be stressful. It’s easier to just visit for a few hours compared to staying overnight and driving her all over.

Today went out for a long-er run determined to take it easy, and I mostly did. Splits all over the place, last mile fastest, but the overall pace was easy and felt it. A bit windy but I told myself how much better that was than running in heat & humidity!

**More neighborhood color; it’s kind of spotty this year**

Saturday Intention: recovery + endurance
Walked Bandit as a warmup and then headed out for the one mile recovery run. Except . . . I can’t seem to run slowly (for me) for just a mile with no walk breaks. I definitely wasn’t trying to push the past like I did last week with my 1 mile run, but it still ended up a little speedy for a recovery run (okay, a lot). Just a mile, though.

**Annual Anniversary hike/lunch, new to us location**

Favorites of the week
We are making up for previous lack of hiking this month! This is the second week of day hiking (with a second hike for me on the way to see mom) — and guess what? Booked an AirBnB for next week to finally test out Bandit away from home and a short getaway. Fingers crossed that the forecast changes because there are just amazing hikes where we’re going — but a not-so-amazing forecast (including 90% chance of rain one day).

**Some hiking at Olana too on the way to visit mom**

Albie (and of course, many Alvins) still sighted on the regular. Mr. Judy finally got a nice shot of Albie!

**Gotta admit chipmunks annoy me. First, they’re dumb. Second, for such a small critter they’re very noisy. But great photo, Mr. Judy!**

GWY Yin Yoga to Destress

ICYMI: Are you ready for some de-stressing and self care? God knows I am and that’s why I created this video! This Yin Yoga Practice will help you open and strengthen your hips and lower legs and is perfect for runners even if you don’t need to destress like I do.

Relaxing Yin Yoga | Post Run Stretch click here * How Long to Hold Yin Poses? Vlog click here

Coming up on Tuesday & Friday: Why pumpkin is good for runners & how to deal with pie pumpkins. Friday it’s time to cozy up to the runfessional with Marcia @ Marciashealthyslice!