Up Next: Turkey N Taturs! Race Report by Leslie Driskill
Nothing noteworthy has
happened the past few weeks. Sleep, run, eat, work, eat, eat, eat, kids, read,
eat. Repeat. Well, this weekend will change all that. I’ll be running the
Turkey N Taturs 50K in Tulsa. Check out the course map here.
I’ve been a little obsessed with this race the past few
years. I read about it when I first started running marathons, but was always
too scared to register. There’s just something a little intimidating about 31
miles on the side of a mountain, even if it is just a glorified hill compared
to other mountains. Plus, I’ve never finished a marathon and said, “I wish I
could go run 5 more miles!!” However, last year I won a free entry into any
TATUR race and decided it was time. I registered. I told a few friends. I heard stories about how tough the course was. I heard stories about how easy the course is. I worried myself sick the night
before and barely got any sleep. I thought about not even showing up to the
starting line because I was afraid I somehow wouldn’t be able to squeeze out
that extra 5 miles and would end up with a DNF. Then the race started, and I
was home. I absolutely LOVE trails. I grew up in the country, running through
dirt roads, on cattle trails, and through streams and creeks. I took it easy. I can even remember stopping on the trail at one point just to absorb the scenery and feel alive. Once the race was over, I remember wishing that I had time to go out for
another loop. This year, I hope that once the race is over I can barely stand
because I put 100% effort into dominating Turkey Mountain.
So how has my training been going? For the last two weeks, I
haven’t been running by a schedule. TNT changed the date of the race to a week
later than expected, so my original schedule was off. I didn’t have a chance choose to
actually sit down and think about how much I should be running. I waited a few
days for my foot pain to go away after the OKC HITS marathon, then went back to
running 7 miles a day. I’m really not sure how much I ran each week because I
kept forgetting to charge my garmin. I’m guessing somewhere around 25-35 miles.
I also alternated between the Hokas and my old Newtons. The Hokas have won me
over, so I’ll be wearing them Sunday.
This week, my foot/leg pain flared up a bit yesterday, so I
ended up cutting my run short with 4 miles. I’ll get one more run at PPR
tonight (3.5 miles) then rest until Sunday. I’m sure that by the time Sunday
gets here, I’ll be a big, sedentary, endorphin-withdrawn ray of sunshine that’s
ready to go out and tear up some trails!
Clean Eating
My clean eating has been going GREAT! After just a few days,
I quit craving junk food. Now I go nuts over apples and smoothies. The one
thing I have been eating that isn’t completely whole is the protein powder I
put in my smoothies. For those of you that have requested recipes, I’ve just been eating
the same 4-5 meals over and over again, so my recipes are limited. I have tried
some new things lately, though. First of all, there’s spaghetti squash. If you
haven’t experienced spaghetti squash, you’re missing out. It starts out as a
squash, but once you cook it- bam- the innards turn into spaghetti! Magic! I’ve
been cooking 2-3 large squashes per week and eating a big bowl of it with
marinara sauce as a meal.
My other “new” thing is just a tropical fruit smoothie. I
inadvertently purchased a bag of Mango Berry Fruit Blend instead of plain
strawberries. After realizing this and having a minor spazz attack at the thought of not having my
regular strawberry-based smoothie, I decided to try the new fruit and loved it
so much that I went back and bought 4 more bags. I have one blender full of
smoothie (1.5L) for breakfast and dinner on most days, so I’ve been going
through roughly 10 pounds of frozen fruit per week! At this rate, my poor little $19 Oster will probably need to be replaced by a big boy blender soon.
My meals:
Spaghetti squash with marinara sauce
-Cut spaghetti squash in half
Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes
Add marinara sauce and enjoy! I use Target’s Simply Balanced
Organic Garlic Marinara.
Salad- I use spring mix, tomatoes, mini peppers, red onions,
carrots, and balsamic or red wine vinegar
Simple Potato Soup by Leslie Driskill
In a crock pot, add:
1 bag frozen cauliflower
1 bag shredded carrots
1 can whole corn
1 can whole corn
1 white onion, diced
Then add enough cubed potatoes to fill the crock pot ¾ of
the way full. Cover with water, add salt and pepper, cook overnight on high and
enjoy!
Mango Berry Smoothie by Leslie Driskill
½ blender frozen Mango Berry Fruit Blend (Market Pantry,
Target)
¼ blender frozen blueberries
2 heaping scoops Garden of Life Raw Vanilla Protein Powder
Blend until smooth.
Happy running!
About Leslie Driskill
Leslie Driskill is a scientist from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. You can learn more about her running adventures by checking out her other pages.
Check out my work on ResearchGate
Want to check out some cool new hikes? Alltrails.
https://pharmahub.org/members/6085/profile
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=yqkPrs8AAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3484-2794
https://www.quora.com/profile/Leslie-Driskill-1
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesliedriskill/
https://soundcloud.com/user-907900105-88781924
