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!

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.

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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!

Unbearable Lightness Review

‘Ello, mates!

I am in a fairly good mood despite the fact that I have spent too much money in the past few days.

I bought the second season of Eastbound and Down.

Have I mentioned I love Danny McBride and crude comedy? Yeah, I make those type of jokes if you know what I mean. I might as well be a ten-year old boy.

I bought Lululemon shorts.

On sale, baby.

Then I bought these with much hesitation - Adidas Adizero Mana 6 

I bought them online with free shipping/returns so if I don’t like them, I can return them. I really just want another pair of my Adidas adiZero Tempo 4, but I already have both colors. It just makes me super nervous since those shoes work so well for me, I hope these do too. They are supposed to be similar.

Anyway, I had two days off from work so I just spent money because I’m insane. 

With my two days off from work, I lazily went to stores, grocery stores, and the movies where I saw 30 Minutes or Less and The Help. I bawled during The Help. Of course it wasn’t exactly like the book and there were some good details left out, it was still a fairly good movie. 

Before I forget (and since my mind is all over the place right now), I wanted to say I am glad you guys enjoyed the ab workouts I posted. If you do perform the workouts, make sure you allow a day in between. I found this great article on ab obsession. It is true that people are obsessed with getting a six-pack. However, “your muscles need at least a day of rest in between workouts in order to recover and strengthen properly… If you work out those same muscles (aka abs) on consecutive days, your body does not have enough time to complete the rebuilding process. Thus, it’s actually less efficient to workout a muscle group every day than waiting a day in between.”

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On the running front, my last two runs were somewhat shitty. It’s like I was into them mentally and I wanted to push myself, but my body was like, “Hell no. I’m just going sweat a lot to burn your eyes so you have to stop.” I did 12 miles on Monday just because I wanted to. Then, on Tuesday, I did 10 miles because I didn’t want to do a hill thus I took the long way back. Does that me lazy? Anyway, because my last two runs were abnormal, I started to run today and this time I wasn’t into it mentally. I just didn’t want to be stuck with myself and my lunatic mind for an hour so I went back the gym. Tomorrow is another day though.

Whew. Running can seriously put you in a funk, I think. I’ll push myself through pain, but if I am not feeling it mentally, it is a hundred times tougher. Anyone else with me?

One of my goals this week besides finish off the 88464689 pints of ice cream I have,

and to find all the Vitamin Water flavors

(best drinks ever!)

was to finish Portia de Rossi’s book Unbearable Lightness.

I loved it. First off, it was very well written. If she truly wrote it herself, then she is intelligent. 

She is so honest and brave in her book too. She reveals everything like:

“I raised my arms above my head and shook out my hands as if to expel the energy. My cousin and my brother were in the living room, sitting by the Christmas tree, but I no longer cared. In front of my cousin and my brother, I started jumping up and down with my arms above my head and shaking my hands to try to get rid of the calories in the potatoes.”

The things she did when she was sick with her eating disorder were ridiculous. Of course she says that now, but then, it made sense to her.

I feel as if a lot of us can relate to this book in some way. For me, it was the fact that Portia didn’t just wake up one day and decided to eat 300 calories only; but it the fact that her healthy eating got out of control. She wanted to lose a few pounds and eat better. I was the same. I started eating veggies, but soon that was all I was eating and eventually the scale said 94lbs.

Portia counted the calories in gum. I did that. She counted ever calorie and only ate tuna, egg whites, or Jell-o. She ran non-stop. She hated herself.

How can a woman as beautiful as Portia see flaws in herself? 

If she made it to be a model at a young age and then an actress, how could she see ugliness?

I know I am the biggest hypocrite saying that since I dislike a lot of aspects about myself, but Portia is gorgeous as well as an amazing actress. Has anyone seen her on Arrested Development? Hello, favorite show.

I highly encourage you to pick up this book. I wouldn’t worry about any triggering thoughts while reading it because I didn’t have any. If anything, it just made think, “Wow. I did that. I couldn’t sit because it hurt. I stood to burn more calories.” 

My only beef with this book was the ending. It ends too quickly and I wish she would have elaborated on her recovery. Yeah, we all know recovery is difficult, but I would have like to read more about her’s.

It’s not another book on just an eating disorder. Portia does talk about her sexuality, which I found severely tragic how she thought everyone would view her diffidently if they found out she was gay. She struggled immensely with it.

Overall score: 8/10.

Sometimes

Sometimes life is a curve-ball.

Sometimes you have to ask your mom to cook you veggies to take to work for dinner  because you haven’t had a home cook meal in over a week.

Sometimes you have to have strawberry and banana smoothies for breakfast and wonder why they’re brown.

Sometimes you just have to adore your cute puppy Dean.

Sometimes you have to eat cookies bigger than your head.

Sometimes you have to take pictures of yourself before lifting weights and spin class.

Sometimes you have to wish Angie would adopt you.

Then wish you would rather be best friends with Pippa.

Sometimes you have to eat fried foods.

It’s fried catfish. Who cares?

Sometimes you have to look cute at work because you have a crush on your co-worker despite his Facebook status.

And sometimes you have to re-think your life.

I mean really re-think it. 

 

 

 

 

I know my numbers

10 times I have sung Hair by Lady Gaga today.

9 miles I ran yesterday. Most of it was uphill too.

The only unfortunate thing about running hills is the down hills. I’m being serious. I hate running downhill and even more so because I ran too many down hills yesterday and now my knee today is in pain. Actually, it’s tender and perhaps a bit painful, but that’s it. Nothing I can’t run through a bit. Looks like tomorrow I will do some lifting and strengthen up my legs to counteract my knee.  I hear this is just runner’s knee anyway. It happens when you run downhill. Does anyone else experience knee pain running down hill?

8 hours I worked yesterday plus an extra thirty minutes.

Guess what happened at work yesterday besides little kids sticking their fingers on windows I just cleaned? The show Portlandia filmed at my store!

Fred Armisen was there and so was Jack McBrayer. I arrived at work when they were finishing so I didn’t see any of the stars, but still. It’s like we were in the same place and everything so… wooo.

7 miles I ran today due to my knee.

I stopped five minutes earlier than I wanted since my knee was super tender. Thanks (down) hills! I felt so slow. Booo.

I ran in my new shoes though! Check dem out, suckas.

6 minutes of foam rolling I did immediately after running today. It felt nice for once. Usually I foam roll and it hurts so good that I get sweaty. I’m a dude.

5 pages I have read in the book Racing Weight.

I received it in the mall yesterday and I think I am going to love it. It’s about finding your perfect weight for racing and reaching your full potential. I suppose it involves some weight loss information, but that’s only for athletes who need to find their race weight.

4 times I have weighed myself this week. I know, guys. I’m cray cray. I am weighing myself to see if the pounds I gained will affect my running. It’s not due to eating disorder thoughts.  Besides, I want to back away from eating at a certain time even when I’m not hungry. I always have a snack around three even if I don’t feel hungry so now I just want to eat a snack when I feel like I need it.

2 days in a row I have had a tuna Panini for dinner from my work.

Also, two days in a row I have had my lunch out of a peanut butter jar.

1 full chin up I did followed my several half chin ups. Don’t laugh. I probably could have done more full ones, but I got lazy. My goal is to do them everyday thanks to my brother’s magazine Men’s Fitness. That magazine owns.

0 hours of work I have today and tomorrow. That time will be spent blogging shopping, reading, and seeing Harry Potter. 

It just occurred to me that I have not done a week in review. Well, let’s get this sucka out.

July 10th-17th workouts:

Monday: 4.25 miles (recovery run/blisters on my feet) + RIPPED class + elliptical
Tuesday: 8.50 miles – average pace 7:05
Wednesday: 8.90 miles – average pace 6:49
Thursday: Elliptical + strength & conditioning class
Friday: 8.66 miles – average pace 7:01
Saturday: 12.47 miles – average pace 6:56
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: 42.78 miles

I backed off and did more cross training this week since last week my total mileage was close to 60. This week I hope to ramp it back up again.

It is time to put some pants on and get this day started.

Honorable eats: 

 German chocolate cake
Mushroom tart
Broccoli quiche
 New crop of apple I found. So good.

Questions:
How is your week going so far?
How many of you have seen Harry Potter? 

“Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder.”

Food Baby

I feel like I have a permanent food baby just hanging out in my stomach. Doing this move helps me stretch out the food baby in my belly.

 I’m telling you. Heidi and I would be best friends.

I feel like my thighs are getting bigger.

I don’t like what I see in the mirror so I avoid it at all cost. I wish I knew why I am having this sudden negativity towards myself. However, unlike the past, I am not restricting at all. I still eat and I am eating more. I just started reading The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women and I do love it. I find all the information very interesting and helpful. I’m only on page 45 though, but still. I cheated by looking through the book. It made me very nervous about not getting a period. Then it is making me question how much I eat. Is it enough? Even more despite my permanent food baby? It’s making me uncomfortable. Then, of course, I notice other blogger’s WIAW and I’m like, “Jeez, I guess I’m not eating oatmeal three times a day for every meal so I must be fat.”

The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women simply makes me question my lifestyle as well as nutrition. I love it though. You should definitely expect a solid review once I finish it. I started talking to my mom about it on the phone, but she’s like, “Just way until I get back home.” I haven’t talked to anyone today since I’m home alone. I talked to my pets. That’s about it. I’m nuts. My mom is going to get home and I am going to yap my head off.

I won’t mention how much money I have spent on groceries though. Seriously. I have been to several grocery stores in a two days time. A girl has to eat!

Anyway, wasn’t I talking about books?

Another book I need to start reading is Kara’s!

Why yes, that is her autograph. When I met her a few months ago, her book sold out so I couldn’t get her autograph. I put my name on a list though, which ensured me a copy when the bookstore got more in and then Kara actually came back to sign them. Holla.

Originally, I wasn’t going to get her book. It seemed like a mediocre running book. I’ll give it a try though.

So, let’s review.

I have spent money on food…

 My dinner tonight

Cheese+pepper quesadilla with roasted veggies in pesto and kale 

…more money spent on fruit….

and of course books.

How could I forget my other recent purchase?

They are the same as my other Adidas; just a different color. Why change what’s working? Besides, I got them for cheap. I love a deal.

And I love free cupcakes from work.

Free cupcakes that go in a semi empty peanut butter jar with cottage cheese.

As you can tell, I am trying to be positive and upbeat. Being by myself with no one to talk to is not helping. Nevertheless, having Pandora comedy on full blast in my house just to fill the silence helps. Don’t get me wrong, I love silence. I don’t run with music for that reason. I can handle being alone, but after a few hours, I need to talk. I need to tell someone that my car still smells badly probably because I ate a burrito two days ago and that my sweaty sports bra is making me cold. I would not do well as a silent monk.

Questions:
- How do you get out of a ‘funk’?
- What are some awesome purchases you have made recently? 

 

Learn to run when feeling the pain: then push harder. 
William Sigei

Let’s Catch Up

What’s crackin’?

Thank you for all the amazing compliments and words on my half marathon. You guys really know how to make a girl feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I’m glad today I have a day off from work today. I missed the blogging world. I’m finally caught up on reading and commenting my favorite blogs so that’s a load off my back. If only I would put the same amount of effort into doing college tests before my orientation next week. College… pshhh. Who needs it?

I’ll be honest, you guys didn’t miss much of my exciting life of running and work.

Monday: Race

Tuesday: I should have just done the elliptical this day because I felt awful as in sick. I’ll save you the details. On my run, I had side aches so I stopped to breathe. Breathing… you know, you need it. Then at the end of my run, my stomach was like, “Find a bathroom.” Yeah, I know that is TMI. It’s true. It happens.

I was also running in new shoes. I returned my Green Silence shoes since they effed up my knee and I tried on these:

They felt fine on and then when I ran in them, they just felt chunky. I told myself not to go back to Nike shoes and I did. I returned them anyway. Might as well stick with my Adidas. They seem to work. My foot issue has been dwindling.

Wednesday: I made this a hill day. I love hills. Bring them on.

Thursday: I wasn’t sure what I was up for. I just know I wanted to add sprints to my run. It’s easier to add sprints to a run than do a track workout. I loathe the track. The track makes me feel like a hamster just running around in circles.

I guess my sprints weren’t that quick though. I was rather tired. My legs were dead. Don’t even say it because I know I should have given my legs a rest this week, but I was such in a running high. Despite my sprints being more like ‘run faster so you can get home quicker‘ type sprint, I was breathing hard and I was super sweaty. That just means I need to do more sprints and quick runs! Dur.

Friday: Today I was like, “Legs, I’ll give you a break.” I went on the elliptical for a while and watched

Nothing like becoming inspired to ride a bike. Can woman race in the tour?

I also went to this class called RIPPED. Today we went outside to the track (I just can’t avoid the track, can I?) and the workout looked like this:

- Warm up lap
- 15 reps of leg back lunge, military press with one leg balanced, squats with lifting weight in front, abs, and single arm row with one leg balanced.
- Run another lap then repeat 5x

I got sweaty even though I was only lifting a 15-pound barbell. Since the weight was lighter than what I normally would do, I just went deeper in my squats and lunges. My chest is actually hurting from the military press. Cray cray.

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Well, I finally gave in and ordered The New Rules of Lifting for Women.

It’s just taking forever to get here! I don’t know about you, but when I am expecting a magazine (ahem Oxygen) or books in the mail, I want them pronto. Every day when the mail carrier comes, I run out to the mailbox in my compression socks (holla I just bought some) and sandals and rip through the mail. My brother gets more mail than I do and he doesn’t even live at our house.

I was thinking of ordering this book:

I was also thinking of this book:

When I was talking to a woman ultra runner, she recommended his book.

Any reviews/thoughts? Should I go for it?

It’s nice having money in my pocket except I’m frugal and don’t want to buy anything like dinner. Since I work until 9 PM, I have to get dinner out.

Last night I had the best burrito. Well, it was hot and I loved it. It was from Laughing Planet Cafe and on it was: organic brown rice, black beans, sweet potato, fresh spinach, jicama, jerk sauce, and pico de gallo.

It hit the spot.

On Wednesday, I went to a crepe food cart by my work to order roasted sweet yam crepe with (clearly) sweet yam, apple, zucchini, squash, red onion, and agave nectar.

It was just alright.

More honorable eats:

Dinner before the race was a veggie calzone

Tofu + chickpeas + green peas +kale

I got to hit the hay early tonight. Work calls at 6 AM. Booo.

Enjoy your work free weekend!

Questions for you:
- Did I miss anything exciting when I was busy doing my thang?
- Is it difficult for you to spend money?
Oh, random fact of the day. What do Emma Watson and I have in common? We both are gorgeous and know how to dress. We have the same sports bra. Shout to Emma! Holla girl. Getting sport bras at Victoria’s Secret is where it is at.

“To a runner, a side stich is like a car alarm. It signifies something is wrong, but you ignore it until it goes away.”

Push It

Howdy! Should I just skip the chit-chat and get right into details?

Before I talk about the Foot Traffic Flat Half Marathon, guess who I saw today? I was running back to the gym and right by my gym is Duniway Track where Kara Goucher was running laps… like hella fast. She was wearing a sports bra and spandex and she has abs of steel. Oh my god. You could see the outline of her abs.

Anyway, the race! 

Before the race: I woke up at five, got dressed, rolled out my foot, and stood in my room debating on whether or not I should make my bed. I didn’t. I had some water with my vitamins before I left along with a banana and peanut butter. I’m one of those people who can eat before a run, but I cannot eat before a race. There’s a difference. My nerves take over.

We (my parents and I) had to leave the house early since it takes about 30 minutes to get to Sauvie Island. It’s just right outside of the city center of Portland. In the car I listened to pumpin’ music and read Runner’s World. Nothing like Pink and running magazines to get you motivated just to run.

Half way there, the traffic got bad. There’s only one way to the island so of course everyone and their brother is there. The race itself started at 6:45 and we had like thirty minutes to get there once we were on the bridge to the island. Yeah… that took forever. By the time we got across the bridge and a bit further, we had like fifteen minutes until the start of the half marathon. Needless to say, I was starting to freak out. I had to pee so badly too and you know at races… the porter potty line is as long as the line for the food.

We actually got to the start of the race area in time with like fifteen minuets to spare. While I was standing in line at the bathroom, guess who just comes up to me? The girl from the my cross-country team. I know, right? She’s like, “Hey! I’m just going to cut in front of everyone to go to the bathroom too, but I’ll pretend like we’re best friends so no one cares.” Obviously she didn’t say that, but that’s what happened. I didn’t even want to talk to her. Whatever. I wished her well afterwards and walked to the start. 

The race:

The race course was great! By the name of the race, it was obviously flat, but there was a lot of wind. The sun was out and it was just cool out. I loved it. The scenery was beautiful. I passed cows, horses, cornfields, cute firefighters, etc.

My first minute mile was 7:07. I am never one to get out fast. I don’t do it naturally. I just go at my own pace and eventually build up. I’d rather pass people (which I did) than have people pass me. People wouldn’t want to pass me anyway. I’m insane and I sing out loud. I also said, “Awwww” every time I passed an animal. Good thing there weren’t any cats. I stop when I see cats and pet them. Seriously. I’m a crazy cat lady.

Anyway, my average pace was 6:33. 

I really just tried to push it the whole time. I wasn’t hurting besides like once or twice. My foot was just annoying. It wasn’t painful. Besides, I have been waking up with less foot pain everyday. I can actually get out of bed without falling to the floor.

But I am getting off topic. I really need to work on speed during my regular runs.

During the race, I just pushed it nonstop.

So attractive. I have one leg. You guys didn’t know that?

I didn’t want to slow down, especially after I heard I was in sixth place for the women and that’s when I was literally running side by side with another woman. I had to pass her, so I did.

The rest of the race was just me and myself, running pass men. I would tell them good job or keep it up, man.

I knew I was getting closer to the finish since there were more people and then I saw the end. I just started sprinting, passing men as I went. I wanted it so badly. When I sprint hardcore, I start yelling. I just let out grunts. i didn’t give a shit. I’m strange. I know it.

I suck at recaps so I’m just going to get to the dirty…

My final time was 1:24. 

I was first in my age group.

I was fifth woman overall. 

I came in 45th place out of 1641. 

Sometimes I think to myself that I want to one day be an elite runner and run races hardcore all out with my little spandex on.

I want to train for the Olympics. I love running both for the recreation aspect and the competition. I love racing. I love that after I cross the finish line, I feel like death in a good way. I love that after a race, people come up to me and tell me how great I raced. Then they find out my age and walk away because they realized they just got owned by an 18 year old.

The only time I feel confident in myself is after I cross that finish line. I feel good about myself. I know I tried my best.

This was an amazing race. I don’t even want to know how I would handle myself with an awful race. I know that day will come though.

Until then, enjoy sweaty photos of me.

These were my dad’s photography skills. I was looking at the photos he took since he said he got some of me crossing the finish line and there was an actual photo of a pole. Then there photos of random people sitting. Thanks, Pop.

An actual photographer’s skills:

“Everyone in life is looking for a certain rush. Racing is where I get mine.” – John Trautmann 

Nobody said it would be easy, they just said it would be worth it.

I know it was only a half marathon. It’s not like I ran an ultra or even a marathon, but this race was just the little UMPFFF I needed to fall in love with running again.

Insane in the membrane

Yesterday was insane.

Of course I started my day off with a run.

I sure felt speedy. I slowed down obviously. In the end I was just running back and forth to get to an hour.

I went sleeveless even though it was cold out. Yes, cold in the summer!

Foot update: I have been waking up with less foot pain. Now I have a dull feeling/pain in my heel and the right side of my right foot feels iffy just by the small toe. I wish I could get it checked out, but that’s not going to happen. Whatever. For two days now I get home from the gym and dump my foot in a huge bucket of ice. That helps a lot. I wish there was something else I could do. Walking around barefoot in my house (or with socks) feels ehhhh compared to wearing shoes.

I got dressed yesterday in proper clothes. Insane!

Why am I wearing jeans even though it is summer time? Uh, because yesterday it was in the 60′s and cloudy. No sun whatsoever. Also, I haven’t shaved my legs since… Thursday? Maybe later than that. I was trying to wait until Sunday to shave since it’s tradition for me to wait the day before a race, but I am wearing shorts today. No more monkey hairy legs. You are welcome, America.

My dinner was insane!

That is a mountain of potatoes and a mountain of eggs covered with mushrooms, spinach, and yellow squash. I love eggs just not as much ice cream…

Yeah, I went there. I went to the all mighty Coldstone and got the ‘pie who loved me’. You know what’s insane? That was six bucks. So good.

Let the insane-ness continue…

Last night was traumatic. I normally don’t exaggerate so believe when I say that last night was really traumatic for me… and my two doggies.

I got home around nine PM. I have a German short hair pointer puppy that needs at least three walks a day otherwise, he gets crazy and tears up everything. Therefore, I went to walk him around the block with my dachshund Pete.  I already went down a few streets and I see this guy walking these two St. Bernard’s. I know these St. Bernard’s well. I see them often in the yard. Never have I seen them being walked though. Anyway, he could barely handle them. I just stood there, told Pete to stop barking, and waited for the guy to being walking again so I could continue. I walked some more, went up a big hill, and down a dirt alley and say the guy again. I stopped again because I saw he could not handle his dogs. His dogs came charging at my two little dogs and my dogs starting crying. His St. Bernard literally knocked my puppy to the ground and was ready to bite. My two dogs are crying and then they both come out of their collars. My dog Pete takes off running. I will remind you, Pete is a black dachshund and it’s dark out. He’s running down a busy street and you can barely see him. My other dog Dean takes off in the opposite direction. All this time, this guy with the two St. Bernard’s is doing NOTHING. I start running after Pete then stop because he is too far off and I have to worry about Dean. Luckily, two people come out of their house and help. They grab Dean for me. Did the guy with the St. Bernard’s say anything? No. He stood there. I thanked the people for grabbing Dean and I picked him up. He was shaking. I put his collar back on (my dogs were both on leashes) and apologized. Why did I apologize? I don’t know. I did not do anything wrong. I just took off running with Dean screaming for Pete because that’s when I saw two cars stopped. I thought, “Oh shit. He’s been hit. He’s hit.” I literally just start screaming and crying. I see another car speeding on a road that is 25 miles per hour and another car honking its horn. I just scream, “Slow down! Stop!” I thought for sure Pete was hit.

He wasn’t. This lady gets out of her car telling me to calm down and that my dog just kept running. I am bawling. I run down another street and just keep calling for Pete. Finally, I just think I should run home and tell my mom.

I get closer to home and my mom is yelling that Pete is there. Pete was fine. Dean was okay. They were just both shaken up. My mom asks me what happened and I can’t talk. I’m crying.  I was pissed too. I was pissed at the guy with the St. Bernard’s. If you can’t handle your dogs, walk one at a time or something. He never walks them anyway. Don’t get me wrong, I love St. Bernard’s. They are my favorite breed. I use to have one. It wasn’t the dogs’ fault. It was their owner.

Last night was just insane. What makes it even more insane is some guy at the store (before all of this went down) was in his car and kept trying to talk to me. Then he got out of his car and just watched me. I was so freaked out. He looked like a major creeper too. He had long hair that hasn’t been washed in weeks. Ugh.

Insane in the membrane.

Fortunately, today hasn’t been as insane.

It still included a run that I forgot to re-start my Garmin after 41 minutes. I bet it was around 8 miles though since I still went for an hour.

I’m going to hope that today isn’t as insane as yesterday. It’s gonna rock. How about that?

How about I not make that face again.

Have a great weekend and happy July!

Questions:
- Any insane stories you want to share?
- Best thing to get at Coldstone? 

No Hatin’

Hiya! Before I even start this post, I want to be a Negative Nancy opposed to my Positive Polly self. Well, I just want to voice my opinion for a moment so call me Voicing Victor. (??) Alrighty. Too many names.

The reason I don’t do WIAW is because I don’t want your comments on what I eat even if it is enough for everything that I do. I don’t want to read “you eat too much of that” or “no wonder why you’re hungry all the time” type of comments.

I should have known by posting my review of workouts this week that I would get shit. “Oh, you do so much. You are wasting your life. Take a rest. You need rest.”  First of all, who said I was working out all hardcore on the elliptical after my runs? It’s how I cool down. Who said I am even pushing myself to oblivion on my runs? Blogs are one dimensional. What I do and what I post can be two very different things.

As for rest, I take rest days when I know I need them. I understand athletes take rest days, but not all of them take them every week. They take them when they feel they need it or they take active rest days. 

If my workouts, what I eat, or how I post celebrity workouts bothers you, then whatever.

Yes, I said it. The end. 

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So, on Monday I successfully did a long run with my friend on the trails. We did approximately 11 miles.  I think my Garmin lost a signal at one point so it may be 12. Let’s just say 11. It was slow though. I’m not saying this to beep my own horn, but I was faster than my friend and she told me to go ahead. So I did then I would wait for her. I felt bad. I hate when you run with someone and you really have to slow down your pace.

But it was nice to run with someone. Besides, I love the trails. I could be on them all day. Holla for 11 miles!

That’s obviously how I run.

I had to refuel somehow and I wasn’t going to pay six dollars at Whole Food’s juice bar for a smoothie.

 Veggie pizza

Baskin Robin’s baseball nut and Reese’s ice cream

Seeing that I did 11 miles on Monday, Tuesday I just stuck to the elliptical and a strength & conditioning class.  My foot was feeling iffy. It doesn’t hurt, but it just doesn’t feel like my left foot. Perhaps it’s still getting used to running. I don’t know. As long as I don’t feel pain, I’m fine. No pain.

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I had work today at 7 AM, which meant I had a 5:30 wake up call. I don’t know how I took a shower and got dressed in under 20 minutes, but I did. Oh wait. I don’t shave my legs nor do I layer on makeup so that explains it.

Work has been going very well lately. I talked to the boss about working in the afternoons and it seems like they are looking into it. Also, I get to work immediately after my half marathon on Monday. Work it, girl. 

It may have not been the best idea to run 11.41 miles today. I didn’t plan it. I just kept going and I wasn’t thinking about anything. You ever have those runs when your mind is clear and you just listen to the sound of your breathing? That’s what happened so I kept going.

I did stop at New Seasons Market to pee and eat their free samples. Duh.

I don’t know why, but my half marathon that’s in like three days keeps slipping my mind. It’s not real to me yet. Not that running a half marathon is the big deal, but racing one… that’s getting to me. I’m such a perfectionist that it is making me nervous. What if I do not do that well? What if my foot gives out finally? Ahhh.

Remember when I said I see a marathon in the future? Well, I filled out form because I am interested in this one:

I love Tosh.0. I even saw Daniel Tosh live.

If you don’t know, I am a huge comedy fan. There was a time when I wanted to be a comedian. I would still like to be a comedian, but… I’m not  funny.

I could be a model though. I mean, look at me. I have so much in common with Jillian Michaels and Audrina Patridge.

Time for honorable eats: 

Questions:
- Do you run the day before a race?
- Who is your favorite comedian?