The HILLS! Oh the hills. We went running again today – 6.2 miles to downtown and back in one giant loop. It was a great run (I was thankful for the clouds during this time!), but I can’t believe how much more tired I am after 6 miles here. Not sure I’ll be able to do half marathons again!
The relief of walking back in the door:
The reminder to be happy about things!
And the reminder that I need to S T R E T C H more!
Yoga Tune Up to the rescue. These guys are in my Open Sky store and are lifesavers both in the car and for my feet. I used to use tennis balls, but I use them so much they got soft! These balls do not get soft. Perfect for a foot massage. I’ve been feeling a little twinging on the bottom of my foot – probably related to the hills – so I’m going to take it easy and go run somewhere flat for a while – NYC + Chicago!
Another 2PM lunch. Getting up in the 8 O’clock hour and finishing breakfast around 9 means I’m not hungry till afternoon!
Leftover Bean + Chard Stoup with almonds on top
And these little nuggets!! A sample sent to preview from OpenSky. Look for them as a bonus package soon!
I don’t know if it was post-run salt depletion, but these were pretty much the best food I’ve ever eaten.
With half a peach (shared with Matt)
A few tortilla crumbles made their way into my soup was well when Matt brought the bag out.
Matt sez hi
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If you haven’t heard, Operation Beautiful THE BOOK is out today! Tune in to the Today’s Show Thursday in the 10:00 hour to see Caitlin talk about the book live. Hooray for beautiful Caitlin, women and girls everywhere!
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Despite taking my Camelbak on my run, I’m sooooo thirsty right now. Going to go chug.
{ 87 comments… read them below or add one }
it just takes time to acclimate…you can do it! half marathons got nuthin’ on you
It’s amazing that breakfast holds you over so well. I eat mostly whole foods and a balance of food groups at every breakfast, and I’m very, very lucky if my 8am breakfast holds me over until 11! This is even more true for lunch. I had a very filling lunch if I’m not starving by 4pm!
Kath,
did everything turn out with your bakery lease? You haven’t talked about it anymore so I was wondering if everything fell through.
Everything fell through and we’re starting from scratch, which means there won’t be news for a while.
Fell through with that location, I mean
I’m so sorry to hear that. Good luck with finding your new location.
I JUST finished a bag of those pretzels the other day. SO good and fulfilled my hankering for PB-filled pretzels perfectly. Congrats on the run!
Is your backdoor knob in the middle of the door? Oh my gosh that’s so charming!!
And I have to agree with Michelle – I’m equally amazed that your breakfast holds you till 2pm… I’m gonna have to start eats OIAJ!
That’s the doorbell!
I’ve never seen that before! I love it!!
I’m usually hungry by 10 am .. FAIL
I can imagine how much more difficult those hills could make your runs! It’s going to be awesome once you’re used to them though! Your body will be an even greater force to be reckoned with! =P
You guys aren’t eating ENOUGH if your breakfasts don’t hold you over!
My foot has been bothering me as well so I’ve been rolling it over a tennis ball. My Yoga Tune Up balls are still in our POD. Along with the rest of my life! So jealous you guys are settled in and love your new place! Makes me want to move to Charlottesville.
I eat LOADS for breakfast(much, much more than you!!) but mine wil only hold me for MAX 4hrs – 1cup fibre/protien rich cereal, 1/2 c. milk, tbsp chia seeds, 1/2c yogurt, banana, spinach….I think I must have a ravenous appetite
If I have overnight oats, using 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 cup milk, 1/4 yogurt, 1tbsp chia, I’ll be STARVING 3hrs later!
Is there enough fat in that breakfast?
The chia seeds are good fats right? I either have 1tbsp chia, 1tbsp of flaxseed, or a big blob of peanut butter, depending on the mood…do you think it is a fat thing? I wonder if it’s cos I’m very active, so I just have a crazy fast metabolism?
Well yes, those are fats, but i find they hold me over the longest. If I had 500 calories of JUST oats made with milk, I would be hungry sooner than 500 with more fat + protein.
Just throwing this out there since people sometimes figure seeds like flax into their nutritonal stats- when I worked for Spectrum, which is a major producer of flax oil and flax products, they always reminded retailers in their trainings that you don’t necessarily receive the benefits of the oil in the seeds unless you are actually cracking them open or grinding them. This is the reason a lot of people use ground flax or oil in their food instead- otherwise, it’s likely that a lot or most of the seeds are just, ahem, passing through. Sorry if this has been mentioned before
I may need to get my hands on one of those Yoga Tune Up balls!
I do not like to eat a large breakfast because my stomach is not ready for all of that in the morning.. so therefore I eat a small breakfast and then have small mid-morning and afternoon healthy snacks. You feel like you get to eat all day!! It’s great! You should not starve yourself until lunch. You will always eat more than you should!
I’m never starving for lunch – just appropriately hungry.
I also don’t grazing because I hate feeling hungry and if I graze, I feel hunger all.day.long.
But it’s totally a personal preference
Yes it is… everyone is different for sure and I wasn’t referring to YOU in particular!
I hear ya on the hills! When I was seriously training and would go home to Florida to visit family, I was amazed by how much further/faster I could go on flat land! The hills are a great workout though, and I love the variation they add to my runs here.
You should run the Cville 10-miler at the end of March/beginning of April. It is one of the hilliest runs in the country, but so pretty too!
I feel ya on the hills! It took me three years here in CO to realize that I wasn’t going to die and my legs wouldn’t turn to led after I ran a bunch of them
You can do it Kath! Keep on keepin’ on!
~Alyssa
Love your blog! Those pretzels do look pretty yummy! Good luck with those hills
Don’t like hills 
~ Take Care…
I know how you feel with the hills. San Diego has enormous hills and I am used to running in super flat Brooklyn. I feel like I’ll never be fast again! I guess we need to keep plugging away at it.
I live in a very hilly area of Missouri, and one of my favorite running mantras is: “hills are speedwork in disguise”! You’ll be aclimated in no time, I’m sure!
Also, I don’t think I’ve said so yet, but your new house is adorable! I love your clean and simple decorating style.
i totally need to stretch more– tahnks for the reminder!
have a marvelous day!
love
becca
Remember… the hills make you stronger!! Don’t give up on those half marathons!
Pat yoursef on the back….I can’t even do 6 miles/day. I’m working on it…trying to do my first half-marathon in November..yikes!
so not to be a total creeper, but i think i saw you biking yesterday! i went to undergrad here and i’m starting med school, and i think it’s so cool that you moved here! love charlottesville, but definitely very hilly! the charlottesville marathon course is apparently one of the hilliest in the country!
Oh fun!! I always wonder if people see us. Say hi next time! Flag us down!
I wore a black tank with blue shorts for my run today too!
Congrats on your run!! That sounds intense. I remember my first runs in Colorado…the altitude difference was INtense. The combo of those pretzels + peach sound perrrrfect.
Aww Matt’s such a good sport with your blog! And that soup sounds so good!
I’m going to try eating a much bigger breakfast. I graze all day long and I still feel hungry all day long.
Those pretzels look amazing, and I don’t think it was just due to you being depleted of salt. I love pretzel snacks.
I love your “reminder to be happy” face. You should change your header to that pic.
Hills can turn a run from pleasant to unbearable! Looks like a wonderful lunch
The only thing better than peanut butter pretzels.. chocolate-covered peanut butter pretzels!
Looks like a fantastic lunch!
hills are rough but they make you a great runner! i used to live in a very hilly town. now, not so much.
Those pb pretzels are CRACK!!! I buy the TJ’s brand…well, not anymore…to addictive
I need one of those balls so bad! I bet they feel great after a whole day on your feet.
Some runs are just harder than others for no real reason… and it sucks!
Lunch looks amazing though!
oh man I think I need one of those balls! I’ve been having the worst pain on the outside of the arch of my foot after running last week and I really have no idea why it happened!
and my breakfasts really only hold me over 4 hours tops as well – and I feel like I eat WAY more than you! I even tried testing it out and eating what I normally eat for breakfast for lunch one day, and it held me over way longer than it does for breakfast. Maybe it’s just that my stomach is so empty when I wake up? But like many others said already, everyone’s metabolism is different. I guess you have to find what works for you!
Where did you get your cute little blue spoon from? Adorable!
Hills can take so much out of you.
Hills are sooo hard! I am trying to add hills at least once a week to my running workouts. I need to get myself one of those Yoga Tune Up Balls.
LOVE that you added almonds to the lunch – what a great idea!!!
That yoga ball looks cool! Good job on your run!
Those snacks look DELICIOUS!
Do those yoga balls help with cramps in the calves? If so, I need one!
Probably!
hey! good luck with the hills-hate them!!! question-what tank top are you wearing? it looks like you are wearing a shirt with a built in bra. not to be creepy, but you have a larger chest (as do i and thats why i am asking)-i find all the built in bra running shirts so cute but cant wear them because its not enough support!!
Oh gosh, I MUST wear a sports bra too!! I have a black one on underneath, and the top is from Target and does have a built in too
cool thanks. i dont know why i never realized i could just wear a bra underneath the built in bra shirt. duhhhh..thanks
stretching so important…it pays to do it
You should sign up for a half marathon in a flat location– just imagine how fast you’d run it after training on hills!!
good job on the run! I am sure you could do a half marathon tomorrow if you had to!
The only thing I hate more than vegetables are hills.
Peanut butter filled pretzels are seriously amazing. Salt-depleted or not, I devour those.
Hills are total killers when you’re not used to them. But, the good thing is that you’ll become used to them and then it’ll be like nothing for you!
Lunch looks great. I loooovvvee PB filled pretzels, so those look incredible!
It’s incredible breakfast holds you over that long. No matter what I’m ready to eat 2 hours after whichever meal it is. Not that I mind, eating a bunch of small meals is just fine with me!
Our subdivision is literally on a mountain, so almost all of our roads have an incline. So when I go for a walk, it’s uphill –both ways– and exhausting!! The incline of the surface you are walking or running on makes a huge difference. Miles of hilly paths don’t come close to miles of flatland. You’re probably burning a lot more calories running on such an incline, too. Nice perk for sure.
Jenn
You’ll get used to the hills soon enough! And be running half marys in no time
Check out this website. Katy Bowman is a biomechanical scientist who uses her knowledge to teach people about the human body. It is very interesting. Today she talked about feet.
http://www.katysays.com/
Hope you find it helpful!
Cool! Thanks!
So glad that I discovered your blog recently! Totally know how you feel about hills, they are such a pain when you feel like you’re conquering your run!! Thanks for all the amazing recipes:)
I can relate to you on massive hills, I’ve seriously scaled back on my mileage due to the hillage in my new hood.
I love peanut-butter filled pretzel nuggets, they’re the perfect portable and satisfying snack.
Hey there,
I just came across your blog for the first time and absolutely adore it! I live in L.A. but am from Charlotte. Sometimes I find it hard to run here when it’s hot even though it’s completely dry heat; I don’t know how in the world you could be running in the summer in North Carolina! I can barely get myself to leave the house when I visit in July. Can’t wait to read your future posts!
Hey Liz! I actually just moved to Charlottesville, VA!
“These balls do not get soft” – TWSS!!!
Hills make a HUGE difference when you run. You’ll get used to it soon, though. Each time will get easier!
I’m so excited about Caitlin’s book too!
Hills are the absolute worst! I’m so used to running in Eugene, OR where you can run a marathon and not go up a hill, to now being in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains!
I remember how hard it seemed to get my endurance back after taking some time off running. I remember running 3 miles was so tough but I kept thinking to myself “how in the world did I run for 13 miles straight less than a year ago.” It gets better, don’t worry, it does!
I love quotes and found this one just for you.
“Hills are speedwork in disguise.”
- Frank Shorter
Love this!
Ahhhhhh, these darn Charlottesville hills… they KILLED me at first! But they really do get better, and they make you feel super accomplished after every run!:) I seriously recognize that after-hilly-CVille-Run-face so well.
We live so close, care to brave the hills together sometime when you return?!?
Yeah Lynchburg unfortunately has its share of hills, too. I keep telling my BF that I want to run on a school track just so I can see what it’s like to run on a flat surface! Haven’t gotten there yet…
You’ll definitely be able to run a half-marathon again. In fact, the Charlottesville Half-marathon is one of my favorites.
such a great idea to massage feet after a long run, I’ll do that too!
And yes, after a long run , I got very very thirsty all day long, much more than usual. 
You really can’t go wrong with peanut butter and pretzels.
You should always be thankful you can RUN!!!
Yay for Caitlin’s book coming out, I love her, can’t wait to watch the Today show.
I know this is on the next post, but you guys look like you had a fun date night at TEN.
I just found your blog and have loved reading it. Then I found out you just moved to Charlottesville! My DREAM is for my husband and me to move to Charlottesville one day! You motivating me + C’ville= My new favorite blog
Ohhhh, I just finished the bag of peanut-butter filled pretzels I brought home to Australia with my from New York in April… I hate not having access to things like that over here! Yum!
Nice run.
You’ll get used to the hills, and you’re getting an awesome workout. I’ve seen those Anderson pretzel nuggets at my local grocery store, and I’ve always wondered how they are. Maybe I’ll have to give them a try now…although those would be a guaranteed danger food in my house!
The hills in Charlottesville are definitely a bear! I’m from Maryland, but I did the C’Ville 1/2 Marathon in 2008 and it was tough. Luckily, the whole county where I live is pretty hilly so I didn’t die! That is a great race, though. There’s both a 1/2 and full marathon. I think it’s normally in mid-April and it’s run by the Charlottesville Running Company. They actually organize or are involved in a bunch of different races throughout the year (both road and trail stuff). I wish I lived closer and could take advantage of more of them!