Paleo--who?

As many know, since moving to PDX I have made friends with Kayla from FitLifeForward and started running, not just because Kayla is extremely upbeat and persuasive (she is!), but also because I had gotten a full-time office job that had me sitting at a desk all day. My previous position in the midwest had me sitting less than 25% of the time. This huge change in activity convinced me that I needed to become more active in my off hours to maintain good health.

With Kayla's help I was running and feeling more energized in no time. My skin cleared up and my running times sped up. Then I ran my first 5 mile race on Thanksgiving, and though I may have finished last (55minutes--people in Beaverton are FAST--you know you're last when you are promised coffee and donuts at the finish line and by the time I got to the table all hints of food had completely vanished), I FINISHED and at a PR pace at that!

I'm being kept warm by two wonderful runners! Photo credit FitLifeForward

Unexpected Detours

Shortly after the race we had a pretty big health emergency and it left me a caregiver for my hubby and still working full-time. This event all but cut my running schedule. Thankfully, his injury wasn't life threatening, and within a month he has already made leaps and bounds back towards health, which has brought a normalcy back to our household I didn't know I would miss. This week our goal is to have Ktams driving again, and that means that my running schedule can get back on track.

So of course, when Kayla posted the group discount number for the Shamrock Run in Portland in march, I couldn't help but wonder...could I still hit my original goal of 15k on St. Patty's Day? I will have been running consistently again for 2 months, and after seeing what I could do in just 1 I was sort of nervously excited. "What if I fail?" I kept asking Ktams--and he, as my better half does, kept encouraging me. So on Saturday evening I registered myself for my first 15K race. From 5 miles to about 9 miles--I'm almost doubling my distance ability. I have the support of not only my spouse, but a great coach and friend, and when I told Kayla that I was all registered, she jumped into action, creating a wonderful running schedule for my endeavor.

Racing Eats

Now for the part ya'll are interested in...with my biggest race on the horizon, I want to ramp up my ability to train successfully through the foods I eat--we are, therefore, having our last celebratory meal at Brunch Box today, (which I will post a review on in the next week or so) and then it's on to a paleo lifestyle for us. This does NOT mean that you will no longer be getting delicious recipes, but that those recipes will also be incredibly healthful :) (I may have some recipes already in the blogroll that will go up that do not conform to the paleo lifestyle). I will tag all my paleo recipes with the label "PaleoEats", and I am planning on giving myself one vacation meal every few weeks for good behavior (as I'm only human).

You ever feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew?