More on Monday!

As soon as we arrived in Delaware, I did some research to see if there were any popular running routes around the hotel. Using MapMyRun I found a route that actually started at the hotel, went down the street and looped around the hospital  ---> turned out to be the Wellness Walking Trail at the hospital.

After I scoped out the route on a drive-by (tell me you do this too!), I had to wait a few days for the weather to warm up enough for me to run outside. It's been really, really cold here, but then the forecast for yesterday finally looked good.

I had breakfast (scrambled eggs and coffee) with mrC while waiting for the temperature to warm up. When it was time for him to go to work at 10:30, it had warmed up to 40, so I put on the warmest running clothes that I had with me!

What I'm wearing: long sleeve, capris, layered tank, and shoes

I walked to the trail as my warm-up and then used the same interval timer that I used on the treadmill a few days ago. I ran/walked 1 minute intervals x15.

As I neared the end of the timer, I was feeling really good so I pushed to do more and finish strong. Instead of walking back to the hotel, I continued running and walked through the intersections. I was hoping to get a 5k out of it.

It was awesome! I ran more miles than I have in a LONG time. And I'm hopeful that I can run/walk a 5k race in my future. The sooner the better!

I realize that I have been patiently building up my run time and working on strength training, but there were other factors that helped make this run go well.

1. The route was flat and that's what works best for me right now. Uphills are ok too, but downhills make my knee uncomfortable.

2. My new running shoes from Mizuno. It feels like my feet are home again. The Wave Horizon are super comfy and I think my knee likes the stability. Plus they are pretty snazzy to look at, right?

Something else I'm excited to share ---> are you thinking about Boston already too?




Do you know your route before you run or do you wing it? Do you do drive-byes of new routes? How will you do Boston this year? Running, cheering, watching on TV/online?

Workout Recap - Travel Edition

Last week started off a little slow because I had the worst case of jet lag ever! I guess 20+ hours of travel and then hitting the ground running in Springfield caught up to me. Things settled down once we got to Delaware for mrC's recurrent training ---> I worked out every day!

Monday - We woke up feeling pretty good so we ran a bunch of errands (have to pick up our favorite USA supplies and raid the storage unit), drove to see our favorite dog and then stopped to see my in-laws.

Tuesday - I woke up feeling like I'd been run over by a truck, made it through breakfast and then literally slept off and on for the next 20+ hours. I have never felt like that before.

Wednesday - I felt much better! We drove four hours to Wilmington in a tiny rental car with mrC's coworker and somehow I did not get carsick. Win!

Thursday - RUN! I took my interval run inside because I didn't get a chance to scope out the area around the hotel. I did a 8 minute walking WU and then ran/walked 1 minute intervals for 30 minutes. I was also pretty excited to launch the new Wave Horizons I received from Mizuno.

Friday - I choose an elliptical workout on the Motion Traxx app called Need for Speed. It was a Tabata HIIT workout that got me sweaty fast! I finished off with a plank workout.

Saturday - I did another elliptical workout. This time I chose Elliptical Session - Level 2 and burned over 400 calories in 40 minutes.

Sunday - I wanted to run, but since the temperature was barely 30 degrees and I do not have winter weather gear, I did elliptical workout #3. Pyramid Pusher was a combo of two shorter workouts: Pyramid Power and Elliptical Pusher. Both are HIIT workouts designed to help burn calories fast.

I'm so glad that I found the Motion Traxx app since I'm missing my Bodystep classes while we are in the US. When I have enough space, I'll try the cardio HIIT workouts and maybe one day I'll try one of the treadmill workouts.

Ever have a bad case of jet lag?
What shoes are you currently wearing?
Have you tried Motion Traxx yet? (51% discount if you sign up with Groupon here)

Utah Valley Marathon GIVEAWAY winners announced!!

Hello from Delaware!

We arrived in Newark (outside of Wilmington), Delaware for mrC's recurrent training on Wednesday after a not so smooth ride from Hartford. I don't spend a lot of time in cars anymore, so it was a LONG 4 hour drive with mrC and his co-worker.

I'm just popping on to announce the winner of the Utah Valley Marathon race entry giveaway.

Here we go...

The winners are...

#2 Tashina Foster
#1 Cody Garrett

Congratulations! Please send me an email at runningescapades@hotmail.com to claim your prize.

For those who didn't win or enter in the giveaway in time, give yourself 15% your registration with promo code re15.

Weekly Workout Recap 2/20/17

Well, this post is a little behind schedule because we traveled to the US on Sunday!! As usual, we arrived feeling upside down and dove right into running errands and visiting family. Now I'm using all my super powers to fight jet lag and write this post.

Monday - Not yesterday. Last Monday. :) Bodystep is fun but it's better with friends. I'm so happy that I met a couple of ladies who are fitness junkies like me!

Tuesday - Since it was already a FASTING day, I scheduled a physical for myself. Not long after returning home, I got a VERY SPECIAL delivery from my BFF! She sends me the best birthday boxes.

Wednesday - I decided to do an interval run for a couple of reasons. 1) I wasn't hiking this week and 2) I wanted to see how my knee would feel if I did two runs this week. I did the same interval run that I've been doing except I ran the promenade two times. We spent the evening at the AWA Charity Pub Quiz Night in Central. Our team did not come in first or last, but we did have a lot of fun!

Not from my run. I was practicing using our Go Pro for my next run.

Team Fabulous Roosters (it's the year of the Rooster!) 

Thursday - We went to the dermatologist for a skin check (all good!) and then laid low the rest of the day. There was a hike, but I couldn't go because of my evening plans to see James Taylor! It was a great show.

Friday - After two late nights I was not moving super fast on Friday morning. I did make it to Bodystep and BAM! I love seeing that calorie burn.

Saturday - I had big plans to do a second interval run, but woke up to rainy and cold weather. I don't mind running in the rain, but I do not want to slip and fall and hurt my knee. Instead I went to the fitness center. I used the Motiontraxx app and tried a new elliptical workout that was AWESOME! Motion Traxx is like having a private coach whenever you want! (Check out the Groupon deal for 51% off a year membership here)

Saturday night went to a friend's Mardis Gras party ---> beads, masks, hurricanes, Gumbo, King Cake, fun!

Sunday - USA or Bust!! Hong Kong to Chicago to Hartford. Red eye flight. 18 hours 42 minutes. 8577 miles. One rental car. Two orders of Mexican to-go. One king-sized bed.


Since we are only in the Hartford/Springfield area for a couple of days before heading to Delaware for mrC's work week, I'm taking the time to enjoy family and try to acclimate to EST. My workout routine will resume once we're in Wilmington.

PS - My Utah Valley Marathon giveaway is still open. Get all the details here!

Interval Running and a Race Entry Giveaway!!

Hello, hello, hello my fellow runners!

I'm happily writing this post because I just finished another interval run and I have a great race entry giveaway for you! (you can skip to the end of the post for giveaway details)

Lately I have been testing my knee a little more, although still slowly, using the walk/run method that my PT introduced to me during my rehab after my last surgery. My method is completely low intensity and focuses on increasing my run time without putting too much strain on my knee.

When I first started doing intervals I was doing one per week along the promenade because it's flat and it looked like this: run 20 seconds, walk 20 seconds, x 20

After a couple of weeks of running that interval without pain during or after, I bumped up the run time and the number of intervals: to 25 to 30 to 40 seconds x 25.

Once I was up to 30 seconds of running, I decided to try running around my neighborhood instead of just back and forth on the promenade. I picked a route that has a gradual downhill because my knee feels funny just walking downhill. I recruited mrC to go with me and we ran a nice easy interval loop together.

Today I added another run day to my schedule. I'm going to see how my knee feels doing two interval runs per week.

It's been so awesome getting out, even if just making little adjustments to the same loop, to see where I live and share #whereIrun with you.

I even had a sunrise run!

It's a far cry from the half marathons I used to run, but I AM RUNNING. That is the most important thing to me right now. And I can follow all my running friends who are running races.

Speaking of races, the good people from the Utah Valley Marathon reached out to me about running their famously scenic race in June.

I would love to run this race for a number of reasons:
1. The Utah Valley Marathon was named a TOP 10 race in America by Runner's World in 2014
2. They are giving out a nice race jacket instead of a shirt in 2017 due to this being the 10 year anniversary
3. It's a super fast downhill course ---> for all you BQ chasers!
4. They have very large race medals

I can't run in any of their events because a) my knee - no more long distance for me and b) I live in Hong Kong now. But they did say that I could share two free race entries with my Running Escapades friends!

There will be TWO WINNERS. Each winner will receive a promo code for a free entry in the 2017 Utah Valley Marathon event of his/her choice. Winners will be randomly selected on March 3, 2017.

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me WHY you want to #runuv (run Utah Valley). 

For extra chances, leave a comment telling me if you shared this post. If you shared more than once, tell me that too.

Did I mention that they have A LOT of events besides the marathon? Run with your kids or run with your dog! Check out the race website for all the details.