Getting Ready for Launch!

Image via Wikipedia.

Hey Salty Runners!

We’re not playing an April Fools Joke on you by not posting. We’ve been busy behind the scenes making Salty Running bigger and better than ever!

I’d like to take a quick moment to thank all of you gals (and guys too) for following this site. Not very long ago, this online resource and community was still a crazy idea, my New Year’s resolution, and now to see a concrete version of it taking shape is really amazing!  I never thought it would grow so fast, but because of you Salty Running is gonna need a little more room…

With all the great articles we’ve been cranking out, you may be surprised to hear that this is just the beginning.  Very very  soon we’ll be rolling out the red carpet for the real deal, and we just know you’re gonna love it.

Stay tuned!

5 of My Proudest Running Moments

I’ve been working on my About page, not that you can tell from its current iteration. It’s pretty pathetic, I realize. I do know that now that we’re going places with this site that perhaps you’d like to get to know the woman behind the curtain. With that in mind, I decided to skip the “5 Lessons from Octomom*” post I had in mind for today and instead tell you about 5 of the best moments of my running career so far. Pour yourself another cup o’ joe because this is a long one!

A Friendly Guide to the Running Butt

Bunanza! Image via midwestnerd

As my training ramps back up and as my butt injury seems to be fading far into the background (please no jinx!) I want to look back upon my experience to create a guide for all future pain in the butt* havers. So without further ado here’s Salty’s Guide to the Running Butt, FAQ style.

Ginger With a J: No looking back now, ya hear?

How I felt many of days this past winter.

When my boyfriend began meeting with a friend to help her train for the Olympic Trials, I came along for the ride, although I did my own thing. This process helped us both get into a groove. Before I knew it, I was logging 35-40 miles each week. Initially, I was apprehensive to dip into the 40s, since the most I had done to date averaged around 25 miles a week. Not to mention, our groove began on the cusp of old man winter. But with the winter we had this year, I had the upper hand in remaining consistent during what is usually a challenging kind of time.

Excited about how my new training level was going, I decided to enter a 5k on New Years Eve to see where I was at. The naive self I had mentioned in my first blog post was alive and well. I was expecting to break 22 minutes. And maybe even 21 minutes. In fact, I had planned my Facebook status update weeks in advance: “I finally broke 22! And 21!”. The results were as follows:

Veggie Tempeh Tacos

I love improvising in the kitchen. I like to make healthy fun meals that everyone in my family will enjoy. (Kinda sounds like I’m practicing for my Ladies Home Journal audition).

Anyway, every once in a while one of my concoctions seems share worthy. This little taco recipe is one of my favorites. I like to make it on Sundays figuring that all the protein and vitamins will help me recover from my weekend long runs. It would also be a nice antidote to a Camille-style pre-run McDonald’s feast!

It’s a vegan* recipe made up of three components: mashed black beans; sauteed taco veggies; and marinated taco tempeh. You can make this recipe as written or use each piece of this meal as a side with other main dishes. I serve these beans at least twice a week with other meals. We love them! You can also make lots of substitutions depending on what you have around or what you and your family prefer to eat. When we don’t have tempeh I often used scrambled eggs or cubed sweet potatoes instead. You could also sub in any kinds of meat or meatless meat.

I'm an idiot and forgot to take a photo before we devoured our tempeh taco dinner! They were WAY better than these boring tacos. Photo via Wikipedia.

Mental Notes: Stitches. Forget About ‘Em.

Photo by jessebezz

You’re running along and everything’s fine and then all of a sudden: BAM! You get a stitch, one of the most annoying things that can happen to a runner. They have nothing to do with yout fitness or how prepared you are for a race. They seemingly come out of nowhere to plague otherwise great runs and races.

I can’t tell you how many of my otherwise great runs or races have been ruined by a stitch.

Race Report! Cinnamon at the NYC Half Marathon!

Before (sleepy)

The announcements. The anthem. The gun. The Great Shuffle. 20 minutes later I reached the start line.

I felt great the first mile, targeting a nice slow (for me) 9:45. I ran what I felt to be that pace, and was really pleased that the course opened up about twice as wide as the corral, meaning I didn’t have to climb over people for the first stretch, as is usually the custom at NYRR races. Just as I was marveling how easy it was to weave through the pack, BAM! I hit the one mile mark, clocking

Salty’s Training Log – 3.25.12

What a great week of running I had! It was my first week of official training with my Coach since my New Year’s Eve injury. It was worth the almost-three  month wait! I had my first completely plain-free run on Monday and everything felt better than it has in months all week long even with the introduction of some baby speed workouts. My paces are naturally dropping and the few pounds I gained during my down-time seem to be melting off.

With the on-set of spring (summer?) and feeling that getting-back-into-shape feeling I’m a very happy camper!

Happiness helped by beautiful spring-time views like this on my run today!

So happy that I ran alone both days this weekend and really enjoyed myself. I can’t remember the last time I could say that!

Ginger’s Training Log – 3-25-12

My week was pretty jam packed, a sneak preview of sorts to life as a full time employee. The dishes started to pile up in the sink and I failed to read Huffington Post crime stories. As for running, I was on pace to hit close to 50 miles, which would have been my highest weekly mileage to date and then this happened:

Notice where I struggle with the razor, too?

Cinnamon’s Training Log 3.24.12

The only real running I did this week was the NYC Half on Sunday. Coming off an injury my legs felt pretty weak, so I wanted to make sure I gave them lots of room to recover. My new job with the camera department provided me with plenty of running around to shake the lactic acid out, and I made sure to stretch every day and used The Stick to help massage my legs.  After almost a week, I feel great! I’m ready to go meet my running club this afternoon and attack some hills!  Uh… attack some hills slowly, I mean.

Here's me and Penny stretching out. She's doing the easy version.

Sunday – 13.10938 miles FAST!

Monday – Off

Tuesday – Off

Wednesday – Off

Thursday – Off

Friday – Off

Saturday – heading off to a 4 mile urban trail run with some friends!

Look out for my race report this week!  I’ve been so busy I could barely squeeze in time to write it but it’s coming!