Worst Day of the Year Ride & Talk to You Guys Soon

Before I make you depressed that I am leaving for 29 days for MCT in North Carolina, where I doubt I will be able to blog, I will talk about…

As you may know, I signed up for the 45 mile challenge. The challenge was the fact that every single bike rider that passed me or just saw me had to say, “You’re riding that mountain bike? You have big tires! Mountain bike tires! Woah, you’re getting a workout.” After about twenty people saying that to me, the challenge was not to say, “Shut up.”

It is true. I rode my mountain bike 45 miles and it wasn’t that tough. Considering I never rode 45 miles, I did rather well. Not to beep my own horn or anything.

The bike ride started off at 9 AM. 

The course started off in Portland then followed up to the Portland Rose Garden and the zoo. That was a steep climb, but it was short so my legs felt fine. My brother was worried about me doing the hills. I was fine the whole time.

After the Portland zoo, the bike course went to Hillsboro, Oregon. That was quick speed wise because it was mostly downhill. I should have taken advantage of that because the next part of the course went to Old Germantown Road. When I say it was uphill, it was all uphill. I’m not exaggerating. I was going so slow for several miles  and I was panting. I tried going faster, but no matter how much I pushed my legs, the hill just got steeper. I forget how much in elevation I went up, but it was A LOT.

After Old Germantown Road, I was back in Portland on the North side. 

The bike ride went fast after that even though I had 15 more miles to go. The rest stops definitely helped. At the rest stops, there were bananas, fruit bars, and cookies. I barely fueled myself during the bike ride. I had a fruit bar, water, half a banana, and an oatmeal cookie. I don’t know how much I burned during the 45 mile bike ride. I could check my Garmin, but I try not to look at the calories I burned while working out or I’ll get obsessive again.

Anyway, the bike ride was great. I loved it and it was great way to spend my last day in Portland.

I still do not want to leave Portland or my family.

Well, the bike ride took me a little over three hours. I don’t know if that is fast or not. Considering the hills, that’s not too bad and I was on a mountain bike. Apparently, I’m crazy for doing that.

I’m crazy for still being awake when I have to wake up at 4 AM tomorrow morning so I can get on a plane to North Carolina. Luckily, at MCT, I can have my phone so I may be on Facebook every now and then. However, I don’t know when I get to use my phone. If you want to text me, send me a message. We can keep in touch by texting or writing. Let me know!

My last meal at home was at New Season’s Market. I got a salmon filet with a salad.

Dessert was an apple brown sugar mini cake.

Some other good eats that I ate are…

In the inside…

Don’t miss me too much, guys! Soon enough I’ll be back to normal blogging and I’ll have a normal life again. I have to keep reminding myself that it won’t be like this forever. Please keep me in your thoughts. I know that sounds a little selfish, but I need some positive vibes my way. Feel free to send me positive messages.  If you want to write me, send me your address in an e-mail. Take care, everyone. 

I leave you with this:

Tags: mountain bike tires, oatmeal cookie, old germantown, portland rose garden, portland zoo

Fuel Me Up

Happy Saturday!

I started my day off with 15 minutes on the elliptical, an hour spin class, and a five-mile run. I felt fast so hopefully my pace was up there. It will be my last run until God knows when.

Well, I am riding 45 miles tomorrow.

I have never rode my bike that far. I think the furthest I have gone on bike is 30 something miles. I’m rather excited to ride 45 miles in the lovely city of Portland.

Being away from Portland for three months made me realize how much I love Portland. I seriously could live here my whole life I think. As long as I get to travel, I’ll be fine with living in Portland and the weirdo’s.

Enough of my love for Portland.

As I was saying, I am beyond pumped for tomorrow except I have no idea how to fuel myself before riding 45 miles. I know on bike rides you can eat more and not have to worry about stomach issues. Fueling for a bike ride is different from fueling for a long run.

If you guys have any suggestions on what to eat before a long bike ride, hit me up. I don’t think I’m going to have a bagel or anything to carby. Maybe just my usual breakfast of cereal, cottage cheese, and a banana? I’ll be bringing gels and fruit with me on my ride. Also, there will be plenty of rest stops with food from local food places so if I get hungry, I’ll be okay.

In all honesty, I hate fueling during a long run/bike ride. I never do it. Even during two-hour runs, I don’t eat or drink anything (unless it is water). I know that’s wrong and not healthy for training purposes, but I never get hungry on my runs. However, I do eat immediately after I work out.

I will start eating properly for training purposes when I finally settle down at wherever the military places me. When I arrive in Virginia, I plan on finding a marathon to train for. I know I am ready for marathons. Before, I was just physically ready for a marathon, but now I know I am mentally ready for a marathon. I am fully prepared and I want to start training for a race.

I also plan on stricter eating habits. I do eat sweets daily (at night), but I want to cut that out once I settle down. I want to go on the Paleo diet too. I ordered The Paleo Diet for Athletes, written by Dr. Loren Cordain and Joe Frie off of amazon.com. I won’t get it until I come back from MCT. I have been reading a lot on the paleo diet and I like a lot of the aspects of it. I read about it in Triathlete magazine. A lot of athletes follow it. As much as I would like to be vegan, I need dairy. Without dairy, my body suffers. It suffered enough while I was in boot camp because I wasn’t getting enough iron. I had a clump of hair fall out. Disgusting. Anyway, once I settle down wherever I am, I am going to start training hardcore and eating like a professional athlete. All and all, if I want to be one, I have to act like one.

What are you views on the Paleo Diet? If you didn’t know, the paleo diet is based on lean meats, seafood, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables, which can promote peak athletic performance. Obviously I would not be eating any meat. No meat for me.

I hope everything goes smoothly for me on the Worst Day of Year Ride. It will be my last day in Portland. I’ll get a post in tomorrow too before I take off. I think I may do a vlog because I got my laptop! It has a webcam and all that cool stuff all the cool kids have.

I leave you with my recent eats:

Eggplant, Indian rice, onion rings, asparagus, crab cake
Crab and shrimp

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tags: city of portland, run bike

No More Comfort Zone

If there is one thing I learned from being away from home for three months is that you need to appreciate the small stuff. There are so many things we do take for granted and I know how cliché that sounds. Being away from home makes me miss the little things like driving my car with the music blasting, my dogs wagging their tails when I come home, and my mom’s home cooked meals.

We take showering for granted for goodness sakes! Our showers at boot camp were like two minutes long and we washed our hair maybe once a week. My showers at home are hot and short, but I still manage to wash my hair. Eating slowly? That’s taken for granted. Reading books for fun? I missed that insanely at boot camp.

It’s the tiny things that I missed. Family, pets, freedom.

My decision to join the Marines was rather snap. I believe if I would have thought it through thoroughly, I wouldn’t have joined. No one wants to leave their comfort zone. No one wants to leave their comfy sofa or their family. You gain the risk of being deployed in the future. You put yourself in danger. You leave your happiness, individuality, and freedom for three months of hell.

In the end, it’s worth it. There is so much more gained than lost.

My point is, to find happiness and the chance to make a difference; you have to leave your comfort zone. You have to put yourself out there and take a risk. You have to try something to gain something. Waking up every day at six AM, eating your oats, working out, and going to school or whatever isn’t making a difference. You are not improving yourself or the ones around you. You are in a rut. The same old routine, which of course is the comfort zone, is worthless after a while.

That’s why I joined the Marines. I wanted a challenge and, gee whiz, am I being challenged mentally. Leaving my family is tough. Leaving my routine is tough. I would love to do my same old routine daily, but what’s my purpose? Yeah, so I run faster than the average person, but that’s not going to do anything unless there is a miracle and I get sponsored. I have to put myself out there. YOU have to put yourself out there. You have to leave something you love to find something you love even more and something that improves your self-worth. It could be going to college, or it could be finding a job and forgetting about college. Just remember, you don’t have to go to college if it isn’t for you. Just because everyone else is going to college, doesn’t mean you have to. It’s the norm currently, I understand, but there is so much more out there. Find what you really want and then go for it.

Leaving your comfort zone is not easy. You have to think positively though. Think good, happy thoughts. Think that at the end of the road, everything will be better. My advice is to not think about it. Just do it and see how is pans out. I guarantee that everything will be okay.

11 Things

It’s Friday! It’s raining here, but my mood is high. How is everyone doing today?

Well, I have been tagged by Sarah for the 11 things survey. Holla. She’s beast.

The Rules:

1. List 11 random things about myself
2. Answer the 11 questions she asked me
3. Come up with 11 questions to ask other bloggers
4. Tag 11 bloggers do this next

1. I enjoy reading Good Housekeeping and those Family magazines. Don’t judge. They have good recipes.

2. I won’t dare touch a soda, not even diet, but I will drink sugar/calorie free Monster. I bet they’re bad for me. Go ahead and tell me how wrong I am.

3. I  cannot sit still through any TV show. I have to record it first so I can fast forward through the commercials and any parts I find boring.

4. I’m currently reading three books:

5. I want the abs of Kara Goucher.

6. My brother is my biggest idol. I look up to him more than anyone else.

7. It’s noon and I still haven’t showered. In my defense, I am waiting for the FedEx man for my laptop. I don’t want to be getting dressed and have him come to my door. Awkward.

8. Eggplant and brussel sprouts are my favorite veggies. 

9. I bought another pair of shoes. I already have these, but in blue. These will be 5th pair of Adidas Tempo 4.

10. I’m surprised at how much I pee. I pee more than a puppy.

11. While I was gone at boot camp, my doggy died. My mom didn’t tell me until I got home. It was awful and now I feel like a Debbie Downer.
Sarah’s questions:

1. Are you a Hunger Games fan? (I can’t wait for the movie!) Hello! Hell yeah I am a Hunger Games fan. I’m so excited for the movie.

The only thing that pisses me off about the series is the two guys and one girl aspect.

2. Physical or intellectual challenges? Physical. I can’t solve riddles.

3. Cardio, weights or both? Cardio only because I love running too much.

4. Name a pet peeve. I hate when people touch my sides of my stomach. Or when people walk super slow. Come on. The world is ending, start walking fast.

5. Psychology or sociology? I suppose psychology. I took a psychology class in high school and enjoyed it. It was really interesting.

6. Favorite way to workout your legs? Deadlifts.

7. Do you play angry birds? I do. I beat like all the versions of Angry Birds though.

8. Do you have any tattoo’s? Nope. I wouldn’t mind getting some though.

9. What is your go to post workout meal? Greek yogurt, peanut butter, cereal, apple or pear, and Luna bar.

10. The beach or the mountains? The beach. I need the warm weather.

11. What are you currently excited for? My 45 mile bike ride on Sunday!

I’m suppose to tag 11 more people, but this survey has been around the world and back. If you want to do it, do it. I have some questions you can answer regardless. 

1. When do you feel most confident?
2. Harry Potter or Hunger Games?
3. Favorite store that is not a grocery store?
4. If you could go to any restaurant, what would it be?
5.  Your opinion on Valentine’s Day.
6. Dark or milk chocolate?
7. Favorite actress?
8. How many pets do you have?
9. Favorite form of working out?
10. Could you live without Facebook?
11. What type of cell phone do you have?

Answer them in your own post or here.

Have a great Friday!

Tags: good housekeeping, kara goucher

Pacing

Hi! What’s up, ya’ll?

I’m such an awful blogger. Not only do I leave for three months, I come back and I don’t even bother blogging. Truth be told, I don’t know what to say! That’s a lie. I could talk about running… and I will.

The thing that sucked about boot camp was the most we ran was three miles. We barely worked out. For me personally, that messed with my head big time. However, that’s a whole different blog post I have planned. Anyway, I love running. Obviously.

 I run despite my mood, the weather, the pain, and the voice in my head that tells to stop.

I have a billion and one running photos on my computer…

Not running for three months was terrible. I feel like now I have to make it all in this single week before I leave for North Carolina.

Already on Saturday I ran 16 miles @ 7:29 pace.

The rest of the week, so far, has looked like this:

Monday: 9.84 miles @ 7:25
Tuesday: 8.94 @7:16
Wednesday: 12.06 miles @ 7:29

Tuesday I did a speed workout that consisted of…

• 1 progressing mile @ 6:07
• 3 500′s @ 1:40
• 3 400′s @ 1:20

My pacing is totally off! I just keep thinking if my calves weren’t so sore and I have been running consistently, I could being doing a mile in less than six minutes. It’s crazy. My long runs are messing with me mentally. I was doing 14 miles at a 6:59 three months ago. I don’t know when I’ll get back to that.

Whateva, whateva.

Yesterday was my birthday! I’m 19, ladies and gents.

My mother ordered me a Dell laptop, which I should receieve on Friday. Unfortunately, I cannot take it to MCT, but I can take it to my MOS school. I can continue to blog then as well as stay in touch. By the way, my blog needs serious updating. I am aware. Moving on…

Also, for my birthday, I celebrated by going to a restaurant called Zeppo. It’s an Italian restaurant and it is delicious.  I got…

with

fresh salmon thin crust pizza that had garlic, goat cheese, spinach, and capers. It was amazing. I seriously ate the whole thing then went to Coldstone.

With food, I am just enjoying myself although it is a struggle for me to not step on the scale in the morning. I’m starving all the time though. I came home from boot camp and I just want to eat. My stomach is a pit I think.

It will be even more so since I signed up for the Worst Day of the Year Ride.

It’s a bike ride in Portland. There is an 18 mile course and a 45 mile one. Guess which one I did?  The 45 mile one. I may kill my legs. Oh well. I’m excited despite the guilt my mom placed on me for leaving her by herself all day. It’s the day before I leave for North Carolina too. I feel somewhat bad about it, but I don’t know if I will have another opportunity.

Well, I hope all of you are doing well. Share anything you like with me because I’m very lazy/busy/tired to stalk your blogs.

I’ll leave with you some past eats…

 

“Common sense is necessary … more so than high tech. Race to the
finish not race from the start, pace yourself, run your own race and
don’t get sucked into someone else’s, walk when you need too, run when
you can, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we will hurt.”
- Kevin Sayers

Tags: running photos, speed workout

A Little Blurry

There is so much to say about my experience at boot camp and there is a football game on that i would like to watch as well. Honestly, I don’t remember much about the beginning of boot camp. Receiving and forming week or whatever else those weeks are called are such a blur to me.

Here is what I recall:

The first two days I did not sleep. No one slept. I was up for two days straight. I remember being thirsty, scared, homesick, and just plain frightened. When we did get water, we also go box chow. Box chow is the worst food ever. In the box is a terrible meat sandwich, chips, cookies, raisins, an apple, granola bar, and powder Gatorade. The drill instructor was screaming at me to eat the meat sandwich so I did. What was I going to say? “Um, excuse me. I’m vegetarian.” That was the only time I ate meat though.

Those first few days of no sleep and barely any food, I lost three pounds. In total, I lost 13 pounds surprisingly.

During phase one of boot camp you do martial arts. For me, I despised martial arts. It was repetive. In addition, I swear everything at boot camp had the fun sucked out of it. Martial arts could have been a blast, but it wasn’t. There was swim qualifications were during phase one too. I thought we would learn to swim so I was excited. However, the qualification for swimming was for you to know how to stay afloat. I passed the first day.

I can’t recall any more from phase one. There was initial PFT testing. That involves flexed arm hang, crunches, and a 1.5 mile run. I did 70 seconds for the flex arm hang, 144 crunches, and I came in first in the run. In all the runs, I came in first. The runs only went up to 3 miles though. For the final PFT test, I ran three miles in 18:04. That combined with my flex arm hang of 1:29 and my crunches, which were 149. My score of the PFT combined with my CFT score. With that, I won Ironwoman. I was the most physically fit of my company. Do you know how much that means to me? That’s like the only thing I remember of boot camp.

Phase 2? Well, we were at the rifle range. I remember that because I loved shooting. I got sharpshooter.

As for phase three, still a blur. I only remember Liberty Sunday, Family Day, and leaving the damn island. The Crucible went by rapidly that I don’t remember all the details.

I don’t know what was in the water, but it made my memory disappear. All I can is that I am so happy to be home although I leave February 13th for MCT school for 29 days. Booooo. I am not looking forward to it at all.

To conclude what I have to say, Marine boot camp is 90% mental and drill. It’s not physical whatsoever. I was challenged. I am a new person now. I would take a bullet for any girl in my platoon. I would fight for any American’s freedom. I still have barely any confidence, but I am a new person. I feel different. The experience was worth it.

As for now, I just want to get back to normal blogging where I talk about running constantly. I want to comment and read your blogs again, but I can’t seem to find the time.

Anyway, when I arrived home Saturday, I ran 16 miles. My pace was awful so I am not even going to say it. What can I expect? I haven’t ran that far in three months. In the end of my run, my calves were killing. However, the run itself was great. I did not turn on music for the first hour. Amazing run.

Today I returned to the gym.

I was expecting people to be like, “Hey, Christy. Where have you been for three months?” Instead, they were like, “Hey.” I get to go to my gym for free though. That’s rather awesome. My spin class was killer. My body is sore. See, I was not physical challenged at boot camp. Now I feel so behind. I know MCT school will kick my ass though.

My shirt kicks ass though.

Well, I apologize for how choppy this post is. I just wanted to get something on here. I’ll answer any questions you guys have about boot camp. Just let me know.

The questions I received so far are:

- Was the food good? Well, as a vegetarian, I did not eat much. Breakfast I would eat fruit, eggs, and cottage cheese. Lunch was spinach and veggies. Dinner was more spinach, veggies, and maybe rice. I got lucky if there was fish, egg salad, or tuna. Otherwise, I did not eat much. Eating now at home is making my stomach weary. I feel sick, but extremely hungry. I think I was in starvation mode because I cannot stop eating. I still weigh 111 though. I really suffered mentally with eating. I feel like my eating disorder re-kicked in and now it’s on my mind 24/7.

- Were there scheduled eating times or snacks allowed? We had scheduled time for chow. Breakfast was around 4:30 am, lunch was around 11:30, and dinner was at five. There were no snacks except for at The Crucible, since that is 54 hours long with hiking. We received MRE’s there (meals ready to eat). Those were good and we could snack on them throughout the day when there was time.

- How much running was there or any form of cardio? Not much. We did not run much at all.

- Best and worst memory? Like I said, my memory is awful. My worst memory is something I don’t even want to mention on here. My best is graduating.

- Daily routine? Chow, drill, classes maybe, PT maybe, chow, more drill, more classes maybe, chow, free time, letters, bed. My day started at 4:00 and ended at 8:00.

- Friendships? I made so many friends. Most of the girls I got along with where in their 20′s. Throughout my whole life I always got along with people who were older than me. Anyway, there was 54 girls in my platoon. Some girls I could not stand, but I would take a bullet for them.

I’ll end this post with recent eats and other eats from, like, November. Enjoy.

Jalapeno poppers
Mushroom pot pie
Flatbread w/ salad
Tofu sandwich w/ salad

That’s all, folks!  

Three Months Later…

And I am now a Marine.

I’m back, guys. I won’t be back in Portland until February 4th, but still. I’m back and I am so excited to be home. As lame as it sounds, I am also excited to blog again and tell you about bootcamp. It sucked. Obviously. However, I’m a totally different person now to an extent.

It is difficult to believe that those three months of hell are over. It hasn’t hit me yet. Maybe it will when I run for two hours when I get home.

I have so much to tell all my readers… if they still exist. To make sure you guys stick around, I’ll tell you one thing: I am Ironwoman. Seriously. I received an award for my physical fitness. I ran three miles in 18:04. It is such an accomplishment considering bootcamp, for me, was not physical whatsoever.

Currently, I am in Savannah and catching a 5 AM plane ride home to Portland in the morning. I plan on tanning then running for two hours. I need to run right now. I need to have a free mind. Freedom. It’s what I need right now.

I’m done though.

 I’m done with the hardest part of becoming a Marine. I do have MCT school for 29 days, but that’s a completely fresh story.

All I know is that I owe you guys a long post of whatever you want to know about my Marine Corps bootcamp experience. Ask me questions. I don’t care. Let’s trade though. Fill me in I what I missed and I fill you in about the hell I just went through that made me who I am now.

I missed you all. Thanks for all the support. I insanely appreciate it.

Stay tuned.

See Ya in Three Months

This will most likely be my last post so I decided to the accent vlog since I promised you guys a video a long time ago.

Officially, I leave for boot camp on Monday and will be gone for three months.

Marines boot camp, here I come…

If any of you want to write to me, let me know by Sunday the 5th.

For the three months that I am gone, I hope all of you have a great time doing whatever you do best. Enjoy your holidays and don’t miss me too much.

See ya later!

Let’s Talk About Shoes

Hey there!

What is it now? Like three days until I leave?

Man, I better my eyebrows waxed.

Forget my legs. It’s No Shave November, if you didn’t know that already.

I wish I wasn’t.

Anyway…

Thursday I made myself do a recovery run after my 12.55 miles on the trail at an 8:30 pace. Do you know how fast that is for a trail run? Some people can’t even do that pace on pavement.

So, Thursday I ran 8.36 miles on the treadmill at @ 7:30 pace or so. I would speed up every now and then when I felt good.

Friday, I did a track workout, which was awesome. 

I warmed up with some 800′s, drills, then did one mile in 6:02. So close to breaking that six-minute mile! Damn it.

After that, Amy and I went to this wood chip trail that is about the size of a track (but with some inclines) and I did four 400 meter repeats in 1:30-1:27. I’m not even done. After that, I did four hill repeats that lasted from 28 seconds to 26. I got faster each time I did them.

All and all, that was 4.76 miles worth of speed work @ 6.59 pace (including warm up and cool down).

Boo yeah. 

I did 3 miles by myself on the treadmill making it 7.76 miles for the day.

I probably got a total of 41.33 miles in for the week if I don’t plan on running tomorrow or Sunday. I don’t know. That’s pretty good though. Who knows how many miles a week I’ll be running at boot camp! Probably like a billion; at least I hope.

———————————————————————————————

I totally wanted to a do little post on running shoes. I like to think I’m an expert because I have so many and have gone through so many pairs in the past two years.

My current rotation of running shoes include:

 Adidas adiZero Tempo 4

I love these shoes. I know they don’t look like much, but simple is better.

I use to buy only Nike shoes based on the price (expensive = better I thought), color, appearance, and how new they were on the market. Turns out, you shouldn’t do that. Obviously.

I ruined my feet because I would buy shoes that weren’t based on the my feet specifically. I went to Portland Running Co. and the guy got my fit fitted to shoes that I liked and felt good on my feet.

I’m also not a fan of heavy running shoes. These Adidas shoes are 8.6 ounces and are considered performance stability. You don’t know even know they are on your feet after a long run.

They go for usually $99.

Adidas adiZero Mana 6

I bought these because I like to think I’m rich and can buy every shoe I like. They were only $68, but I put myself, like, three dollars in my bank account.

Mana 6 are considered a racing flat to a certain degree. They are 7.5 oz. I use them for my track workouts and not really during long runs. I did once and they killed my feet. I did again, and it was alright.

They are rather sweet shoes though. They’re cool looking if that’s your thing. On top of that, they are another stability shoe great for a daily trainer.

Newton “Distancia U=Distance U” 

Oh my gosh, these shoes are incredible! They may be $155, but they are so worth every penny.

These shoes are 7.2 ounces and wear like a glove.

According to Newton’s website, “The Distance U is engineered for the Natural Running gait with a level-to-the-ground profile and ourAction/Reaction Technology™. This lightweight, high mileage trainer is perfect for everyday training, or racing any distance, from a 5K to an ultramarathon. Universal posting will accommodate a neutral or pronating foot.”

I really only wore these twice, but I love them. They are not your average running shoe. They will take time to get use to if you don’t wear light weight or Vibrams already.

Fantastic shoes I have to say.

And they go with my outfit…

I actually just wanted to show off my new pants.

Finding a great pair of running shoes is difficult. I say once you find a pair you like, buy several. You need to rotate your shoes anyway.

Have a good Friday, everyone!

WIAW #whatever

In my head, I say WIAW as “wha-yah”. Whatever the reason, let’s ignore it and get this started.

Breakfast:

Cottage cheese + peanut butter Puffins + banana

Insert 12.55 mile trail run

Lunch:

Greek yogurt + cereal in a barely empty pb jar + Luna bar + a pear + grapes

Snacks:

Insert a long walk with my doggy Dean

More Snacks:

Eaten with an apple + iced coffee

Dinner:

Tofu burger w/ peppers + onions + pickles + lettuce + a salad

Dessert:

Carrot cake

Late night snack:

The end! 

I totally want to add some running inspiration for you guys just because I’m odd like that. Have a good Thursday!