Recently someone told me that Mountain Dew is good for you. And that it helps with muscle cramps. I just about jumped out of my skin. If there is one thing I am passionate about its educating people what they put in their bodies. Most don’t care to read the labels. Maybe because they know how bad the crap is for them.

Mountain Dew is on on the top of the worst soda’s you can consume. Here is a great article that will inform you of just how awful it is.

Even Diet Soda is on the list! It can actually make you thirstier (has more sodium) and the artificial sweeteners may make you crave & eat sweet foods. Which in turn will make you gain weight. Read these facts.

Here are 6 beverages to drink and 6 to stay away from.

#1) Drink Water, not Gatorade. Replace the sugary, food dyes, and HFCS laden Gatorade with Smart Water or AquaHydrate. If you are exercising over an hour you need electrolytes not artificial junk that Gatorade has in it.

#2) Drink Homemade Mint Tea, not Iced Tea. Try this simple recipe: Pour 4 cups of boiling water over one bunch of fresh mint leaves. Steep for 10 minutes. Remove mint leaves with a strainer. Add a tablespoon of Agave Syrup or Natural Honey. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice. Serve over ice. You’ll cut the sugar by about 90%.

#3) Drink Seltzer Water, not soda/diet soda. If you like the fizz, opt for Seltzer Water. No sugar, food coloring, HFCS.

#4) Drink Skim or 2% Milk, not a Frappucino. Some of the drinks from Starbucks can have 32 GRAMS of sugar! That’s about 8 teaspoons of pure sugar. Never mind the saturated fat content. Opt for skim milk, 2% milk or low fat chocolate milk (again watch the sugar content).

#5) Drink a homemade smoothie, not a commercial smoothie. Smoothies are wonderful. If you know what goes in them. Most of the ones you buy are filled with sugar. You want pure protein, fruit and healthy calories. It’s easy to make a smoothies. Take 1 cup skim Organic Milk, fresh or frozen fruit, protein powder and some ice cubes. Blend in a blender. Bon appetite!

# 6) Drink 100% juice, not juice. Read the labels on juice bottles. Most will say “juice” on the label, but in fine print it will say “33% juice. Make sure no sugar is added. And for 100% juice, add water to your glass of juice. It will help cut the sugar (although natural) down.

Bottom line: avoid buying drinks/beverages. This includes Red Bull.

For more ways on how to live a healthy life, subscribe to the monthly “with-a-touch-of-sugar” e-newsletter here.

Photo by: realSMILEY

I promised updates. And I have them. PLUS video’s AND photos. Enjoy!

My run yesterday turned into just enjoying the snow falling. The peace. The quiet. Yes, it was a diversion from my triple A personality. Shocker I know. I took some photos. And shot a video:

Live from DC Snow Pocalypse update 2

It didn’t stop snowing till LATE evening. Like 10pm. Midnight perhaps?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Woke to a white blanket. Nope, more like a white duvet cover. A very thick one at that. 23 inches. Felt like 50.

There is a pool under there!

It was 26 degrees and about 16 degrees with the wind chill. Downright cold. HOWEVER. The sun was out. And you know what that means? A perfect morning for a run. A few layers, and MicroSpikes.

Pardon the interruption, but let me just state that this run was ONLY made possible by MicroSpikes. No, they didn’t pay me to wear them. I bought them at REI. Worth EVERY penny. All 6000 of them. Check them out here: http://www.kahtoola.com/microspikes.html

Okay, back to the 2009 Blizzard update.

Front yard, wrap around driveway

Then it was down the trail. A self made trail.

Snowy trail

I was so happy to be running & enjoying the beautiful Winter Wonderland, all I wanted to do was take pictures and shoot video. This is where we need live or reality TV. Just sayin’.

Second diversion. The past 2 months I have been on recovery. Still training. But no set running miles. It had been a while since a “long” run, but I really wanted to “do 10″ miles. I know my body pretty well and the poor thing has learned to just be quiet and suck it up. LOL.

Back to business.

Congressional Country Club

It was FUN to run on the road. When else do you get a chance to do that? Okay, yes I will admit that I have been know to run on the road on sunny days. Remember my 36 mile long that started in Long Beach, CA in July? Yeah. I MADE cars get over. Today was a little different. Just me. The snow. Some ice. A few cars. Snowplow. And drivers who thought I was crazy. I think they wanted my autograph. Just kidding.

Snow filled wall.

I ran down to the end of the road. The road I usually ride (bike) on. It was a nice change. Did I mention how peaceful it was? And my MicroSpikes. Totally the bomb. A couple was at the end of the road. They needed a ride to the Metro. The bus service was closed again today. The sad part? NOT one person had offered them a ride. Makes me mad. I was only at 3 miles. I told them I would run back, get my truck and come back to get them. I started running back home. On the way, a H3 passed me. Thank god another person had compassion and gave that couple a ride.

So, I stopped to chat with a gentleman (Jim) shoveling. Nice to meet new people. Yeah, hard to believe. Me talking.

Avenel Country Club. Golf anyone?

Ran on. Almost got killed by a Honda Civic going to fast down hill, slammed on breaks. I dove into the snow bank (no joke) and almost got stuck myself.

Running up snow & ice filled roads was tough. But I did manage to run some 7:45 pace miles. THAT was cool.

Talked to another gentleman (Pete). He actually knew what an ultra runner was!! SCORE! We talked for a while. He said I DID NOT look my age and to keep up the good work. Aw, how sweet.

As I was running down a hill, a snow thunder “storm” came up. In my haste I left my ski mask at home, so my checks/face felt the FULL affects of it.

Snow Thunder!

Ran on. Snow plow almost plowed me over. The sun was shinning and it was just breath taking out.

Why people let a little snow, ice, cold temps stop them I don’t know. Their loss. Running outdoors in the winter is the best.

Tennis anyone?

Just look at that SNOW!!!

Hole in one! Snow in one! CCC

As I ran back home, I was thankful for legs to run. The freedom to run. The opportunity to be alive. To enjoy the moment. The feeling of working hard and being proud of it. Someone asked me why I run in the cold. My reply (in 140) was this: You realize that nothing can stop you. Makes you strong. The satisfaction of a run well done (when you peel off the sweaty layers). And that’s that. 11 miles in about 1.5 hours. Yup, slow. But you know. I had the BEST. RUN. EVER.

And here is a sweaty take! Enjoy!

2009 Post Blizzard Run

I don’t watch much TV. In fact, I pretty much detest TV. Just not my thing. Okay, I do watch the Today Show. And yes I watch some shows on the TLC channel.

And somehow, I have been known to watch the Biggest Loser. I actually don’t care for the show. Before you right me off and send me hate mail, let me quickly state why.

A) Losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time is dangerous

B) A person should lose weight/get healthy for the sake of their health, NOT money

C) Weight loss should not be based on a game/winning money

D) Sends the wrong message to the general public

E) Get the facts correct (a marathon is 26.2 miles, a half marathon is 13.1 miles)

If you are still with me (and I hope you are) and for the sake of your nipples, read on.

Your skin is soft.  Running produces sweat. Combine the 2 and it looks like you have been shot. Twice.

You see, as much as I love snuggling up in a soft cotton tee shirt, they aren’t made for running. That’s why god made company’s like Nike, Lucy Activewear, Lulelemon, Brooks, Asics, and others to make “technical” clothing.

Why you should NEVER wear cotton to run in:

Reason #1) Cotton doesn’t wick your sweat away. Technical material does. It lets your skin breathe.  Cotton will get wet, and start to chaff your skin. I should note that yes, even “technical” shirts will cause men’s nipples to gasp, bleed. Tip, make Body Glide, Band Aids, Bag Balm or Vaseline your friend.

Reason #2) Once cotton is wet, it stays wet. It will cling to your skin. So if you are running in heat/sun you can’t cool down. Remember it won’t let your skin breathe. If you are running in the cold, you will work up a sweat and the shirt will become soaked causing you soon to get cold. It all goes back to that whole breathing thing. See,  you thought that only applies to life. Nope. Clothes have a life too:)

Reason #3) All the cool kids do it. See, peer pressure will get you every time!

So, go buy a few technical shirts, shorts, socks, sports bras (women only, but men if you want to, go knock yourself out!) and your running body will be transformed. You may even run faster:)

Here is your happy running body. Your nipples will thank me. Trust me.

PS:  I am probably leaving out a few key facts as I try to warn the world before they go out to run.

PSS: Biggest Loser, here is an open invitation to you to have a certified running coach be a part of your program. I am just saying….

Photo by Broma

If you haven’t heard about the “power of red” yet let me tell you a little bit about it now:)

From the www.choosecherries.com site, states this: Cherries contain anthocyanins 1 and 2 that researchers believe can have a significant impact on relieving muscle and joint soreness more quickly. And, cherries’ powerful bundle  of antioxidants and carbohydrates offer added nutrition active people need.

Basically, tart cherries have special properties that help aid in muscle recovery & inflammation. This is REALLY great news for not only me, but for you. If you run, workout, have arthritis, gout, even fibromyalgia, cherries are a natural way to help manage pain and recovery.

I first started incorporating cherries into my diet during the summer when I was training for my 100 miler. As a fan of natural methods of managing pain & recovery I was very excited to hear about all the great things cherries have.

On my race day I drank the cherry juice and it really helped me manage the pain my body was going through. I highly recommend putting cherries into you diet.

You can find the cherry juice at a health food store such as Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or Wegmans. Depending on where you live stores may differ. Just keep two things in mind. That is 100% juice. And the label says “Montmorency”.

Drink up! Cheers!

WHOA! One month till my race! Can’t believe it!

Started off my day with Pilates. I highly reccommend that you try this if you haven’t already. Takes a few classes (weeks/months) to see results. But SO worth it.

So hot+humid today. Wasn’t able to start my run till 12:30pm. PRIME hotness. Like always the first 4 miles sucked. Everything always hurts. Then after mile 6, 8 and finally 10, I felt good (as good as one can in the HEAT) and speed up for the last 4 miles.

Total: 14 miles in 2:15

Today I noticed that:

a) geese are growing up so fast. No longer baby’s!

b) the trees are REALLY green (remember when I had to live in a ark?)

c) it really is humid

d) dc weather is living up to its name

e) I am STILL craving chocolate, grapes and watermelon

f) its great to be alive

Photo by gui.tavares

WHOA!!! What a fun morning+afternoon+evening that was! Got to see David Beckham play. Toured Nurtilite Laps. Meet & greet at Beverly Hills Ritz with AC Milan. Awesome.

Woke up t the bright beautiful sun. Gloirious morning! Glad to be alive!

Had 14 miles to tackle. I knew my route. Nice to know where I was running! I must say I LOVE this weather. Sun. NO HUMIDITY. Rocks. Saw 2 whales. Did take a quick second to dip my feet in the sand. Ran 14 miles in 2:19.

Quickly hit the hotel pool. Only had time to swim 500 meters. BUT. I got a really great tan. Good thing I didn’t have any more time. I might have sacred everyone when I come home tonight!

Quickly shot some videos. Packed. Sunburn pain slowly fading. On way to airport. Layover in Denver. Back in DC at 1 am.

Thanks for having me Long Beach. I will be back!

Photo by CLF

I am totally excited to feature something that I love! Pushups! Yes, you read that right! Steve Speirs has started a craze called 100 pushup challenge.

Pushups are a fantastic way to build upper body strength, plus core strength. They are also a great way to see how strong you can become in just weeks!
So, please join me in “100 pushup challenge”.   Head on over to www.hundredpushups.com

Take the initial test (make sure you receive clearance from your doctor first). The plan Steve has laid out is easy to follow. So don’t let the number 100 scare you!

The cool thing is that you can do pushups ANYWHERE! You don’t need a gym. Just a floor and YOU! If you want to have some killer arms, then you have to get on the pushup band wagon! Oh and let me or Steve know you are joining in the craze! You will be glad you did!

Photo by MikeBaird

Thursday! Off day from running. Double ride day. Legs get ready!

Went out for a quick spin. Well, let me rephrase that. I thought it would be a quick spin. It was not. Legs wanted to spend more time sleeping I think. They missed the memo that they had to ride. It was quite warm out and it only got hotter as the ride wore on. The cars had very grouchy drivers this morning. I became so close to being road kill, I almost re-thought the whole riding thing. Even the deer were afraid. Didn’t see one! The hills seemed hiller then usual. Is that possible? So much for another PR.

I rode 25 miles in 1:38. Must. Do. Better. Next. Time.

Now on to some iron love (aka weight lifting). That always lifts my spirits. Not that my upper football body needs it, but it feels oh so good to lift!

The day was indeed HOT. The last thing I wanted to do was to go on another ride. But that was the plan! So, back on the saddle I went. I did pick a semi flat route. Didn’t want to totally melt on hills at the start ya know! So, I did hills at the start and end. Still melted.

Rode 32 miles in 2:03 (15.6mph)

Goodbye bike. I will miss you. I leave tomorrow for CA. You will be in my thoughts!

Photo by Eleaf

Today was a mixed day. Started off by jumping in the pool. If I swore, I would swear that I get slower each time I swim. Water was pretty warm this morning. It is fun to swim and see the sky though. I always pray that the birds don’t bless me, if you know what I mean! In the end, swam 1100 meters in 42 minutes. I’ll take it. Ironman here I come. Dead or alive!

Then it was on to a run #1. I needed to run 10 miles, but work projects in the morning kept pushing my run later & later. So I only had time for an hour run before dashing off to a meeting. To say my run was from hell, would be an understatement. I could not get going to save my life. Perhaps I did drown in the pool this morning and just didn’t know it! Being hot+humid only made matters worse. In the end, I ran 6.5 miles in an hour. Slow. Hell. Let’s move on.

Run # 2) So, after my meeting, I was by one of my favorite trails. Although this is a fairly tough trail, I still needed more miles. And, let’s face, it couldn’t get much worse then run #1! I arrived at the trail and when I stepped out of my SUV, I was hit by the 88 degree sun and heat. I was really hoping that the trails would be cooler. And, you know what, they were! Score! I was running happily along and then I noticed something. Luscious red raspberries. Score! I stopped, stuffed my mouth and slowly ran down the trail. Then I spied some more. Double score!  I had all the berries to myself. I was in heaven. Sorry bears, but thank you for sharing. It made my day. I really wanted to make jam as well, but that will have to wait. In the end I ran 3.5 miles in 36 minutes. VERY SLOW. BUT. Heaven on earth due the yummy red things. So I am happy.

Hey, are you getting my e-letters or RSS feed? If not, you should:)

Photo by mwri

Summer is here and what better way to celebrate it with a fruit shake? I have been making one daily.

Get a little ice, water, protein or whey powder, fruit (try blackberries, peaches, strawberries, cherries, or bananas), a little low fat yogurt (try greek yogurt or make sure it does NOT have HFCS!), put in blender.

Turn on. Blend. Pour in tall glass.

Cheers to your health!

Photo by Chapendra