Speed it up

As many of you have probably figured out, I haven’t had the chance to run much these past few months. But I’m proud to say that my running has been steadily getting faster! I’m not sure how that happened, but I’ll take it! Secretly I’m blaming it on the fact that I’ve been spending time with a runner who has a pace of 6 minutes per mile or faster. Osmosis, it works.

At the start of my run on Tuesday I noticed that my pace was faster than normal, so I tried to slow down to guarantee I’d make it through without trouble. Of course telling myself to slow down never works, but I did maintain the pace for the entire time. Then today’s short run managed to be more than 40 seconds faster per mile than my typical pace. Or what I used to consider my “typical” pace. I’m hoping this sticks and I can improve my marathon time for Big Sur (less than two months away, eep!).

I should note that for the past two weeks I’ve incorporated stadiums into my workout. Running the mile to the track, going up and down the stairs, then running back to my apartment. It isn’t much, but I know I need to prepare my legs for some inclines. Next I need to incorporate speed training back into my plan. Yeah, that will happen eventually. (Baby steps)

How has your pace changed over the course of your running career? Does anyone have suggestions on what other workouts will help increase speed?

In other news, Meatless March is going well! I haven’t craved meat anytime in the past week. There have been moments when I nearly forgot that I was avoiding meat, but quickly corrected myself. And since my trip to Chile is on the rocks (probably not happening), I won’t have any issues completing the entire month. Who knows, perhaps this will slowly grow into a lifestyle change…

It Begins and a Giveaway

Good morning Meatless March! Today it all begins. Although I have only eaten meat two or three times in the past week, today I will be removing meat from my diet all together. I’m not so concerned since I know plenty of options that I love which don’t include meat, but we’ll see how I’m faring in a few more days.

I started off this morning with a great big (but portion controlled) bowl of Cheerios. Have I mentioned that I’m a cereal fanatic? When I was living in London I ate cereal for at least one if not two meals a day (the cereal there is amazing). Well a while back I received a fantastic box from General Mills (courtesy of MyBlogSpark) that contained some of my all time favorite selections. And best of all, they are full of whole grains!

I realize that some of them are less healthy (but slightly more delicious) than the others, so I’ve started off with Cheerios and Total and will be saving the others for a special occasion. One of the best parts of Cheerios, for me, is the high amount of iron they provide. I’m anemic, which means I’m always sleepy, and things would definitely be better if I started to get a full serving of iron each day. Having a serving each day will be a low cal breakfast option as well as get me on my way for reducing my anemia.

I’m looking forward to devouring the rest of the boxes over the next few weeks!

And now for the Giveaway:
One fantastic reader will win five boxes of General Mills delicious cereal, each contains whole grains as the first ingredient. (I removed the Cheerios from this box before taking the photo, but you’ll definitely receive a box of them as well!)

Now here is how the giveaway works:
Tell me more about your breakfast habits. What are your favorite cereals?

Want an extra entry into the giveaway? Well here are a few options:
1. Visit Whole Grain Nation and let me know a new fact that you learned about whole grains
2. Follow me on Twitter
3. Post a tweet about this giveaway, please include @RunningJewess and a link to this post.

Leave an additional comment for each extra entry.

The giveaway will be closing at noon EST on Tuesday, March 6th, 2012.

Note: The prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.