eat.run.bake.blog

Recently I took a new job so I no longer work in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a beautiful city to run in and for a few years I would run many times a week on my lunch hour. Our office was located right off of the Schuylkill River Trail. I would run right out of our back door down the alley turn the corner on to 24th Street and then pick up the River Trail on Locust Street or via the dog Park if a Train was blocking the trail entrance. The trail is often filled with other runners, walkers and bikers so I typically felt safe there. There were a few incidents with hooligans messing with runners so they started having more of a police presence on the trail and that made everyone feel even safer.
I am now running in West Chester PA. My safety concerns are far different here than they were in the city. The office I am working on now is located on the corner of two major highways. The neighborhoods around the office have no sidewalks so now I’m more afraid of being hit by a texting driver…

If you are like me you are overwhelmed by the number of Nationally recognized days there are. Each day we are recognizing or celebrating something else. Today we are recognizing something that I strive to recognize every day! Women's Health and Fitness Day. Many years ago I decided that I wanted to live the healthiest life style I could live. Health and Fitness became a huge priority to me. Each day I aim to eat healthy real foods and do atleast 20-30 minutes of physical activity.



Typically my workouts for the week right now consist of three 4-6 mile runs plus two 75 minute yoga classes each week. I also include any walking I do to and from work  as physical activity plus and and all house work I do while I am around the house. Housework is certainly physical activity.  Especially when there is a toddler involved that you need to keep up with. When I first made it a goal to get moving I bought an UP Band. If you are not familiar with UP it is an activity tracker designed by Jawbo…

I am interested in all things natural and healing to the body. I love learning more about ways to make my body stronger and healthier. I would say the first thing I did to start a healthier lifestyle was running. After running for sometime I wanted to learn how to run more efficiently so I started to research better ways to fuel and what foods to eliminate from my diet.

The results were amazing my body was thrilled. I knew there was more that I could do to strengthen my body and mind. I started to look into ways to reduce my toxic load. I cut out commercial face wash and face lotion for more natural alternatives. I didn't stop there I cut out antiperspirant. I started making all of my own products. It was empowering knowing exactly what I was putting in my body. My goal now is to empower others on how to live their most healthy life! Essential Oils have been a power house for me. The Be Clean Get Well Team is hosting a Fall Educational Series and you will not want to miss these ev…

I enjoy running on trails so much more than I enjoy running on streets. Don't get me wrong I will run anywhere I can because I love running.  Running in the woods just makes me feel so care free, no cars, less people, beautiful scenery. Last week I had the opportunity to run an event called Quadzilla. It was a 15K trail run and it was a blast. First of all I made it to the start with only minutes to spare. My husband was kind enough to drive to me to the race which was over an hour and twenty minutes from our home and then we someone missed an exit. We were hoping to get there at 7 am and got there at 7:25. Oops. Anyway I did not let that stop me from having a good run. I quickly grabbed my race bib pinned it on my shorts and headed over to the start. Since I got there so late I just lined up and the back of the pack.


There was some walking almost immediately after the race started which is always frustrating but it comes with the territory. Its hard to fit over 350 people on sin…

How freaking cool is the race name Quadzilla? I wanted to run this race just on the name alone but then I read into more and its a trail race that is 15k. I thought this event would be the perfect event to follow up after our 50 miler.  I have not signed up yet but I am pretty certain that I will be.

Running has been tough since the Glacier Ridge race. I guess 50 miles was more taxing on my body that I had expected it to be. I am finally feeling like I have my full energy levels back. It took nearly a month. Every time I would go running I would feel so tired. My legs are feeling strong again. I am so grateful for this. I can think of nothing better to do now that my legs are feeling strong again so lets trash them on some gnarly trails!!!

We have reviewed the elevation change for Quadzilla and I think it will certainly be a challenge but it is nothing more than we have done before. It will just be condensed hills and it should be a freaking blast. I don't have many weeks to train…

Over the weekend I ran my first 50 mile trail run. The event was in Northern PA, Glacier Ridge Trail.
I was stalking the weather forecast for Butler PA for a week before the race as I normally do. Rain rain rain all week. The past two ultra events I signed up for it had rained the entire week before the event. I was keeping the faith that the trails would still be run-able and that I would be able to finish but that my time would just be slower.



We got the start area and dropped off our drop bags around 545. The start time of the race was 6:30 for the 50 mile runners, 7:30 for the 50k runners and then 8:30 for the 30k runners. Thankfully we started the race with no rain. I want to say there was very little rain until about 8 but the trail was already super muddy and pretty soft in many places. When we stopped for fuel at the mile 10 aid station I was feeling great and optimistic even with all the mud and rain. As we set off on the next stretch things were going good but the course was…

Weeks 16 & 17 of the training program I have been following were nuts!! The first of the two hard weeks was not as hard as the second. My legs were spent on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday of the Second hard week. On Saturday when I started out my long run it was so much harder than when I started that exact same run the week before.


When I started my 12 mile run on the second Sunday however I felt much better than I did on the 12 the Sunday before it was the strangest thing. I think it was purely mental. I think on Sunday the 17th the 12 was so hard because I knew I had another brutal week ahead of me and then on the 24th the run was much easier because I knew I was starting my taper and that would be the last run over 10 that I had to do until race day.
Training for this race I have not been as mental about my running performance as I was when training for the Blues Cruise 50K. I have been running injury free for months and month now and that really had built my confidence up but…

I went for a run yesterday on my lunch hour and I felt great. The only thing I did any differently was eat. I have been slacking on my nutrition. Yesterday before my run I had already consumed over 30g of protein and I'm certain that is why i felt so strong. I do not usually watch how much protein I eat because I feel like everyone hyped the shit out of protein and forgot all about the other many foods we need to eat and now I went in the opposite direction.


I need to start keeping a food journal again. When I ran the Blues Cruise 50K in October I was on top of my food and I know that is why I felt great come race day. I have made it a point to drink a protein drink after every run 6 miles or longer. I prefer to use Nutiva Hemp Protein. It is an Organic Superfood that has 15 grams of protein per 3 tablespoon serving. I have never tried it with anything other than water yet and it is not very yummy at all but it is tolerable. I know you may be thinking why drink it if it doesn'…

Life won't wait. My training along with much of my life right now has been a major struggle. I am going through something that is breaking my heart. It is not as easy to run on a broken heart as I would have imagined. I want to give up on so much but that is just not who I am. I will stick to my training schedule as much as I can. I will try to not beat myself for every mile I miss. At this point in my training I am not confident that I will see that finish line but I'm certain I will give it my very best.


I'm wondering how many other people that were training for their first 50 mile event had this much self doubt? My longest distance that I run at any one time of this schedule is 28 miles followed by a 10 mile run the next day. The more I talk to other people the more I am hearing that the mileage you can run in one weekend is the mileage you can run in one day. I need to trust this schedule. I am not giving it enough credit. Who am I to judge this schedule until race day…

If you are in any running groups on social media networks you will often see posts about what food and electrolytes people are using while training. My answer is always to try things out and see what works best for your body! We are all different. I personally like to use SaltStick Caps to replace my electrolytes and I stick to real foods for fuel like clementines and raisins. While I was out on my 20 mile run this weekend I started to crash around mile 20. Next time I run for more then 2 hours I'm making sure I have a protein on me. I will most likely add some pistachios to my raisins. I have used this combo before and I know it works for me. I had not run that distance in some time so I was not thinking about adding a protein. You live you learn.



Eating healthy all the time helps fuel your run. Many of us runners think we can eat whatever we want because we run so much. That is not true. If I eat like crap the day before a long run or even a 6+ mile run I will fee like crap. My …

This weekend I was on a mission to get in my 20 mile run that my training plan had scheduled for me. As many of you know here in PA we are still pretty snow covered so I knew 20 was going to be tricky. I didn't want to risk the chance of injury but running on trails I knew were snow and ice still so I decide to run the Schuylkill Bank Trail. What was I thinking!!!! Don't get me wrong I really do love this trail. However I am not a street runner. Most of my high mile runs take place in the woods and on a much softer course then pavement! I didnt start my run early in the day like I would normally because I was hoping to let the temperatures warm up a bit and I was hoping the snow would melt some of the ice that formed over night.


I started my run around 12:30 at Chestnut Street. I had planned to run 10 out and then 10 back. When I got a short way past the falls bridge I hit lots of snow and ice so i was thinking the remained of the trail would not be clear so I turned back arou…

Ok yes maybe the Headline is a little dramatic but I never claimed to not be a dramatic person. I am having such a hard time staying motivated to run during the winter. Nowwith all the snow we got I'm not even a little excited to run at all. I seriously love running. I feel like a huge part of me is missing when I dont run.  Im not a fan of the cold. My buddies at work have really been keeping me motivated because the three of us decided to sign up for a 50 miler in May so we needed to start a training schedule right away. The weekday runs have not really been an issue they mostly consist of 4-6 mile distances so far. Its the weekend runs that are really high already at weeks 4 & 5 that have me feeling a little bummed. I was supposed to do 20 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. I got in 10 miles on my friends treadmill on Saturday and it was a tough 10. Ok let me back up a little bit. On Friday I came home from work with a tickle in my throat which made me think I was coming do…

I admit it I love making resolutions for the new year. I also really love keeping them. Id like to think that I place realistic expectations on myself when I set resolutions and or goals. Yesterday while I was out on my run I was thinking of writing this post. I have been seeing so much about New Years Resolution and how many people have such a hard time sticking to them. I find being in an accountability group of sorts is extremely helpful. I am in several group on Facebook that help motivate and keep me accountable towards my fitness goals. Please join our group eat run bake blog on Facebook. There you can find the motivation you need to eat healthy and get fit while having fun and bouncing ideas that work off other like minded people. If your goal is to excel in your career this year and perhaps find financial freedom please join us in Spark Your Rockstar group in Facebook. Spark your Rockstar is a community made by Carolyn Rim. Carolyn helped me spark the idea of this website. Sh…