No, Seriously

Who am I? Seriously.

I am not a lazy blogger. I think about blogging a lot, but unfortunately the majority of my day is spent at work behind a bakery case or an espresso machine.

It’s either I am making a 400 calorie drink for someone or burning 400 calories by running.

I’m still in my running rut, but I feel better about it. I no longer feel like dying during my runs, but I prefer the treadmill over the outdoors. Who am I?

I’m also listening to music while running outside. Again, who am I? Before this rut, I would have never put music on while running or even step on a treadmill.

I’m cray cray.

Due to my craziness, I’m going to cover this week’s workouts.

So, Monday…

I don’t even remember that day. I don’t know if I ran or what so let’s just skip that day. Oh wait, now I remember.

I did run. I ran 5.30 miles @ 7:07 pace.

I didn’t even look at my watch the whole time. Go me.

Tuesday: I rode my bike to the gym (7.21 miles) where I did a track workout with a girl at my gym who does Ironman’s and all that crazy stuff I want to do. Her fiance is sponsored by Newton (stay tuned for more Newton news).  I just want to be her.

Anyway, we did two laps as a warmup followed by a mile that was supposed to get faster as we went along. I think I did the mile in 6:03. Next, we did two 400′s, which I did in 1:30. The last thing we did was 6 x 200. All of this totaled out to 4.25 miles.

I can’t tell you the last time I did a track workout. It was awesome.

After that, I went on the elliptical for 11 minutes and lifted some weights before I rode my bike home (9.80 miles).

Wednesday: Another run! I thought I was going so slow, but it turns out I did 8.83 miles @ 6:49 pace. I’m a little shocked.

Thursday: I ran for an hour on the treadmill, probably covering 8 ish miles between 7:03 – 7:13 pace.

Who am I running on a treadmill?

So much butt sweat.

Friday: I rode my bike to the gym (7.23 miles), ran on the treadmill for an hour covering 8 ish miles, lifting for 15 minutes, and then riding my bike back home (9.77 miles).

I did lift some weights on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, but otherwise I was lacking in the weight lifting department. It’s like, yeah, I’m still in this running rut, but if I can handle running on a treadmill, why not do it? 

Running miles: 34+ miles 
Biking miles: 34.1 miles

I definitely want to bring up those running miles to like… 200 miles. Seriously.

In other news, I bought some bike shoes. 

I love it. I’m such a hardcore biker now. Man. Now I just need some stickers on my bike that say “Keep Portland Weird” or “Drink More Beer” and I will fit right in with the Portland crowd.

I got another pair of running shoes (more on that later).

I got acupuncture done again at this new place. My quad has been killing me so I’m hoping some needles will help. My mom came with. Awesome time.

Let’s see. I haven’t been up to much. I’m going to have a post tomorrow on Newton running shoes and a book review. 

Well, let’s wrap this up with honorable eats. Boooyeah.

   Candy cane mocha
 

“Even if you fall flat on your face at least you are moving forward”
–Sue Luke

Get Use to It

You guys should really get use to me being gone all the time. In a few weeks I will be gone for three months.

Sorry to disappoint you. I know how much you all (maybe like two people) love me and my bitchiness.

It’s all good though. It’s all good.

Anyway…

Heyo!

Today included me riding my bike to the gym,

 My awesome bike shorts that give me a butt

sweating on the elliptical, lifting weights, running a mile, and then going to the Marine’s office.

There I did 100 sit ups. Killed it.

Did a flex arm hang for 70 seconds. Died.

Then, my recruiter drove me to the track where we had a tea party where I ran two miles in 18:04. Don’t laugh. I know I fail at running now. I did do my first mile in 6:28. That’s something considering I pulled something in my quad and it hurts like a bitch.

I haven’t run in… a few weeks. Seriously at least. I run at least a mile or two daily, but other than that, I have no desire to run so why force it, you know?

This happened before though except for not that long. I just biked instead everyday. Whatever. I better like running soon since I will be doing it all the time at boot camp.

Aye, I got results and photos from Race the Reaper that I did October 1st.

I game in 5th place in my heap, 51 place overall, and 6th female overall. I feel like I could have definitely done better. Whatever.

As you can see, I was pissed. What’s new?

So, I have been meaning to talk about my acupuncture appointments. I have had three acupuncture appointments and all of them were great. The first time I did it, I had a Groupon.

I did have a problem with my right foot again. After the appointment, my foot did feel better. Then, I went to a new acupuncture place that my mom paid for and, afterwards, my foot felt brand new. It helped so much and I was able to run better immediately. Of course, I still iced my foot, wore compression socks, and toe separater(?) socks to increase my recovery.

Even though I didn’t feel like running, I ran to test out my foot and to see if the acupunture indeed helped. It did in my opinion.

Acupuncture isn’t even painful. Basically, you get very fine point needles put wherever you feel some type of pain. The needles sit there for, like, 30 minutes while you sleep.

“Acupuncture, the treatment of pain and injury using thin, disposable needles, has a history dating back thousands of years in China. Although its practice and theory have evolved since being introduced to Japan, both styles share a similar focus: reducing pain and muscle imbalances by treating specific points of the body. Russ Stram, a New York-based licensed acupuncturist at Brill Physical Therapy, practices a mixed style. “Acupuncture follows Chinese medicine theory with the philosophy of restoring balance to the body,” he explains. “A practitioner takes a thorough history and examines the body for tight and painful areas, choosing points based on the meridian point system.” (Source.)

If you are a runner and are experience some muscle soreness or another type of injury, I recommend acupuncture instead of seeing a doctor who will just tell you to stop running.

“But more than recovery from injury, acupuncture’s greatest potential may come in injury prevention. According to Stram, “Running and training hard, whether it is fast acceleration sprints or long distance, takes a toll on the body. This is especially true of problem areas such as the back, hips and legs, which are most affected by running. Acupuncture needles can get directly to deep muscle bands to maximize the treatment effect. ” (Source.)

I loved acupuncture and will be going back once more before I leave in November.

Also, don’t be afraid to try a few different acupuncture specialists until you find one you like. My first experience with acupuncture was just okay so I tried it again and found someone better who knew what they were talking about. It was fantastic. Don’t be afraid of needles either. You literally feel nothing.

So, I’m going to wrap this up with some honorable eats:

 Tamale w/ tofu

Black bean burger

Not that great tasting, but I like that it’s crunchy
 I just started eating this bread. Love it.

Since I’ve been gone…

Heya.

Since I’ve been gone…

I grew a mustache.

Since I’ve been gone…

I shaved it.

Since I’ve been gone…

I was called cute by one of my (male) coworkers after I shaved my mustache.

Holla.

Since I’ve been gone…

I ran, like, maybe sixish miles. I’m still in a hell of a running rut.

Since I’ve been gone…

I biked 52 miles.

Since I’ve been gone…

I have not been able to put down this book:

Seriously. It amazing.  I will definitely do a review on this. Thanks, Barbara Walters, for recommending this on The View.

Also, since I’ve been gone, I bought the ESPN Body Issue.

Look at those legs. Holy moly.

I think they could crush a walnut.

The ESPN Body Issue actually made me feel better about myself. I may have big thighs, but they are all muscle. I may be a size zero/one, but I’m strong. I’m buff. My dentist told me that. Nevermind my teeth. Who cares?

Gretchen Bleiler, Olympic snowboarder, proclaimed, “This is not about being sexy but about being strong and powerful and showing girls it’s OK to have muscles.”

Today, while working out, I actually liked my body for once. I’m not a stick. I’m not just a bone. I have gained muscle and weight, and guess what? I’m still a size one just like I was when I was 105 or 103.

I don’t weigh myself anymore. I’m not doing all this cardio like I was (thanks to my running rut). Guess what? I’m fine. I may not be 100% confident with myself, but I feel better about myself.

That’s a start.

“It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners.  Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit.”
 –George Sheehan

Miss Me?

Oh my gosh.

Hello!

Did you guys miss me? Well, I didn’t miss you…

Just kidding. I still need to catch up on reading all your blogs. I’m so behind due to work and working out and turning orange…

I have had pumpkin soup every day this week. 16oz worth of pumpkin soup. I’m going to turn orange. 

Anyway, my workouts have not included running a billion miles. I am in the worst running rut currently. I hate running. I never been in this terrible of a running rut before either so it is frightening me.

I have no desire to run, but I force myself to at least run on the treadmill for as long as I can handle it. I wish I was still running 50 miles a week, but I love running, but I don’t want to now.

I just don’t want to run. Boooo to me. Has anyone else ever been in a super dull running rut?

So, if I haven’t been running, what have I been doing?

Eating Bonbons and watching soaps all day.

I start my workout with some plyometrics in my 20 pound weight vest. Yeah, plyometric workouts are tough and sweaty, but try with it a 20 pound weight vest.

I went through two shirts during my workout. Now, all the guys at the gym start talking to me. Not the senior citizen dudes, but young cute guys. They only go, “Sup?”, but still. That’s better than nothing.

Then, all the women are like, “What does that skinny ass girl think she is doing?”

I’ve been doing plyo moves like this:

• 2 sets of 15 jump squats
• 2 sets of 15 jumping jacks
• 2 sets of 15 alternating jump lunges
• 2 sets of 15 high knees
• 2 sets of 15 mountain climbers
• 2 sets of 15 running butt kicks
• 2 sets of 15 wide push ups
• 2 sets of 15 jumping jacks
• 2 sets of 15 bicycle crunches

And…

Julie’s track workout…

• 2 miles or 8 times around the track: jogging (running or walking whichever you prefer)
• 1 mile of sprinting the lengths of the track (8 sprints total)
• in between the sprinting (for the ‘widths) i did the following:
• backwards jog (2 widths)
• sidestepping (alternating sides) – 2 widths
• high knees – 2 widths
• butt kicks – 2 widths
• 10 bleacher runs (up 15 steps, across, down 15 steps)
• 30 seconds bleacher up-downs (times 2)
• squat jumps 15 (3x)
• pushup with leg side crunch 15 (3x)
• 1 minute planks (3x)
• reverse crunches alternating with leg lifts (25 each) 2x
• squat jumps 15 reps (2x)
• box jumps (using bleachers) 15 reps 2x
• 1 lap around the track, jogging

And…

	Single Leg Hops	Bleacher Hops	Double Leg Bounds	Alternate Leg Bounds	Squat Jumps	Depth Jumps	Box Jumps
1	2 x 10	2 x 10
2	2 x 10	2 x 10
3	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10
4	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10
5	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10
6	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10	2 x 10

What are some of your favorite plyometric workouts? 

Supposedly, plyo is great for runners.

According to Running Times, Plyometric training has been shown to be an important part of training a distance runner to recruit muscle fibers most efficiently. Dr. Karp explains this, saying, “Increasing the rate at which muscles can produce force helps improve how oxygen is used to maintain any given speed. It’s really about exploiting the elastic properties of muscles and tendons and how they utilize elastic energy.

After doing some plyo moves, I hit up the stairmaster or the elliptical. Then, I lift some weights for 45 minutes.

Today, however, I switched it up. I rode my bike to the gym (7.25 miles), ran 4 miles, lifted 35 minutes, ran another mile, and then rode my bike home the long way for a total of 16 miles of bike riding. 

Lifting has been going great. My arms are feeling it. I love it. Lifting > running as of now.

Well, anyway. If you e-mailed me in the past few days, I’ll get back to you soon. 

I apologize for my absence  and how boring I am now, but even six shots of espresso and Irish cream doesn’t wake me up.

To make my blog worth wild again, I have some upcoming posts on acupuncture and… whatever else you guys want to see. Let a sista know.

Enjoy the rest of your week, guys! I miss you all and let’s hope work calms down. I signed up for part-time and I’m working full time. Oh wee. What’s up with that?

“Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be.”

Warrior Dash

Hiya!

I bet you want to hear all about the Warrior Dash. Well, that’s gonna have to wait. I’m going to rewind a bit.

Friday: No work! I woke up at six anyway to workout with some Marines. You know how that turned out. After that, I rested for a bit before I headed to my acupuncture appointment. It was incredible! The back of my legs (hamstring, calves, part of foot) was done. It didn’t hurt at all. I’ll have a single post on acupuncture for runners later on. I also got a massage. The woman giving the massage told me my right leg was extremely tight and so was the arch of my right foot. Go figure because that’s where my current problem is now. My right foot/toe area is bugging me. Now it’s not so terrible and I feel like I could run, but I’m holding it off.

Anyway, I’m hoping to go to another acupuncture appointment soon. It seemed to really help.

Friday night I went out to dinner, too, with my folks as well as my brother and his girlfriend. My family usually doesn’t eat at commercial restaurants, but we went to Outback Steakhouse. That use to be my favorite place when I was meat-eater. Besides, they have delicious bread. I got the Mahi with a salad and grilled onions.

Let me tell ya, I love onions. I seriously thought my meal was so good. I was really surprised and impressed.

After that, we raided fro-yo.

Saturday: I worked all day. No joke. After work, however, I did get Voodoo Doughnuts. In case you never heard of Voodoo Doughnuts even though they appeared on Food Network and the Cooking Channel, they are the best donuts ever.

They are rather popular in Portland. Voodoo Doughnuts makes some of the awesomest (yeah, I said it) donuts.

I just got the classic Voodoo donut as well as cereal one.

Sunday: Warrior Dash!

 

It was rather hectic getting there. My mom decided to bring two of our dogs and it was 90+ degrees out. We were trying to park and there were 200+ cars in a single file line trying to drive down a dirt road to a giant field where there would be parking. My mom was freaking out since we were running out of gas and she’s just a spaz. I got angry and left the car, got my bib number, lined up, and raced.

It was tougher than I imagined! It started with giant hills. Not like any hill, but hills that were so steep I could not run up them. I was running in a shuffle, luckily passing others. There was so much dirt too. I was eating and breathing dirt.

The first obstacle was going into deep water and climbing over logs. I was too short to even reach the bottom of the creek/pond/whatever it was water.

The next obstacle was jumping over cars. That was simple. There were plenty of wall climbing and running through hanging tires or ropes. I know it sounds like a piece of cake, but I was so out of breath from the running. Amazingly enough, my foot did not hurt until I dropped a few feet from climbing over a wall.

I was passing people like crazy though. It was the most I have ever cussed in a race. Also, it was the first time I walked in a race because I swear it turned into a hike. I felt like I was crawling up a mountain.

The last obstacle included jumping over fire then swimming in mud.

Exhibit A:

The price I paid for getting into that mud… hives. I have little red bumps all over my chest and back right now. I am itching like crazy that I went home from work early today. I couldn’t take it. I am not on enough medicine that I am passing out while I type this.

Warrior Dash was hella fun and tough. I don’t know why I thought it was going to be easy. I finished in less than 30 minutes though.  Some people took over an hour. It all depended on your fitness level. I know mine could definitely be better.  I can’t blame myself though. All last week I did not run. I was on the elliptical because of my damn foot.

It’s just odd that I felt nothing running in the race. Then, today, it felt okay. It didn’t run still and now I really want to run. I do not understand how I can run 50 miles for a month then reduce mileage insanely and that’s when I get hurt. It angers me.

Anyway, Warrior Dash was a blast! If it is different next year, I will definitely do it again.

After I finished the race around 3:00 (I’ll have more accurate info when I get my results), I went to look for my mother. Yeah, she was not there. I sat by a tree for two hours. Turns out she left and didn’t even watch me race. I suppose she was a terrible mood that day, which caused me to be a terrible mood today too.

Well, here’s the review of August 5th through August 11th:

Monday: Ran 8.58 miles @ a very slow pace
Tuesday: Ran 5.71 trails
Wednesday: Elliptical + Weights
Thursday: elliptical and strength class
Friday: Elliptical + stair master + weights
Saturday: Elliptical + weights
Sunday: Spin class + Warrior Dash (3.1 miles)

Total mileage: 17.39 miles

I wish it was higher, but whatdaya gonna do? When you can’t run, you can’t run. Good thing I don’t mind the elliptical and good thing I am giving up desserts.

Honorable eats:

Apple tart
Spicy fritata
 Apple quinoa
Sweet potato cakes + eggs
 

That’s it for now! I hope you  all are having a fabulous week.

“Just do the best with what you have, and you’ll soon be doing it better.”  -Gil Hodges

I Know You Care

Howdy!

This week I am busy and I’m not even running.

Oh my god. I know you care about my running and how it is not happening. Yeah, I don’t know why all of a sudden my foot hurts, but it does and I don’t want to run because of it. First it was just my second toe that was hurting and now it’s below my second toe on the top of my foot.

Like I said, I have too many problems. 

I don’t plan on running until Saturday if everything feels okay because I do want to run before my 11 AM shift. Either way I will be running Sunday for the Warrior Dash.

On Friday, I go to the gym at 7:30 to train with my Marines recruiter then afterwards I have tutoring. I’m not done yet. I have an acupuncture appointment. I’m rather excited about getting needles stabbed into me. Hopefully it will help my foot.

Are you guys interested in a post on acupuncture for runners? I got some good details on it. I almost said ‘I got some good deets on that’. It was odd. I also wanted to do a post on eating before bedtime and some other jazzy shit stuff. Just let me know what you want to read/see. So whatcha whatcha want. 

Anyway, it’s Wednesday! I now love Wednesday because of…

I don’t have a proper WIAW, but regardless, I have had some good eats in the past few days. 

Spinach pie + fish
Spicy fish + spinach + veggies + rice
Giant oatmeal cookie + Muscle Milk
Detour protein bar (so good!)
Trix cereal + cottage cheese
Chocolate coconut water 

Not pictured: fro-yo from Yogurtland

What I worked Wednesday:

1 hour on the elliptical + full body lifting

My great cell phone photography skills. Enjoy. 

Well, if I was in the blogging mood I would totally bore you guys with my life and what’s going on, but I think I might hold off.

Until then, happy Wednesday! 

“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.” - PREFONTAINE

How Low Can You Go?

I’m throwing you guys for a loop here.

You ready?

I only ran three days this week. Oh my god. Someone call the loony bin because I went off the  deep end.

Or maybe not.

I’ve been in a bit of a running funk lately. All my runs suck. I feel slow and, yeah, I was slow for my own terms. I was running seven minute miles or more (less?) and I barely wanted to run farther than a mile.

I obviously needed a break from running since I have been running 50+ mile weeks for a month. My mind wanted to continue, but my body didn’t. Then my mind started to concur with my body.

So, I ran three times this week. I’ll probably run about the same next week too and I’ll see where I should go from there. Also, my big toe area has been feeling odd. I don’t know. I have too many problems.

Active rest is so important. I was feeling sluggish and I thought it was just me. It wasn’t my body, I thought. I believed I was just a huge failure. Then, I read this article. “With all this talk about running, it’s easy to forget about weight training and core work. Summer is a great time to gain strength and work on weaknesses. Even if you can’t get to a gym or weight room, there are plenty of exercises that can be done at home—chair dips, push-ups, stair step-ups, squat jumps, etc. Pair two leg or arm exercises with two ab exercises and do three sets of each. Or choose six exercises and do two circuits of everything. “

I still weight trained three times this week, but I just added in the elliptical, a strength class, and  spin class.

It’s funny how not running as much caused my appetite to spike. I feel so hungry all the time now. It could be the weight lifting though. I have been adding more weights and the next day I feel it.

So enough blah blah blah. Here’s my week in review:

August 29th through September 4th

Monday: Hour elliptical + 45 minute RIPPED class (strength training, plyo, and abs)
Tuesday: 12.25 mile run @ 6:59 pace (fastest pace – 6:36)
Wednesday: 7.78 miles @  6.59 pace (fastest pace – 6.40) + Weights

Thursday: Approximately 9.60 miles @ 6.51 pace (I forgot to start my Garmin at one point.)
Friday:  Elliptical + weights

Saturday: Spin class + elliptical
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: Approximately 29.

Yeah, that’s a huge difference from fifty. It almost frightens me.

I plan on running tomorrow and I hope it goes well.

Honorable eats:

Peppermint cake
Salmon cakes and Indian rice
Oat bran muffin + custard
Tofu + tamale
Peanut butter cheesecake

In case you missed it:

• My view on salads.
• Recovery Running.
• My second WIAW.

“If you train your mind for running, everything else will be easy.”
                                  –Amby Burfoot 

Not to be Rude, but…

Hey, hey!

I have a confession to make or rather a confession of just my honest (possibly bitchy) opinion.

I’m secretly a guy.

Just kidding. But seriously now.

Let’s get cereal for a moment. (Ha, yeah right.)

Yesterday I was in the mood for my favorite spin class because it is taught by the best instructor ever. She does speed work, hills, intervals, and all this crazy jazz spinning stuff that I love! I sweat in the first ten minutes. Anyway, she wasn’t there. I forgot she was doing Hood to Coast. Needless to say, there was a sub.

I hate substitute spinning teachers. I have not had a good one ever. All they do is say, “Stand up. You should breathing… hard. Yeah, sit down.” It’s boring to me. I need intervals. I need to be drenched in sweat. 

So, I walked into class to see there was a sub. Immediately I was suspicious. I casually asked her if she teaches spin class regularly and she told me she teaches fifteen classes a wee so she knows what she is doing.

Okay. Maybe this will be a tough spin class.

Wrong.

If she knew what she was doing, she would have added intervals or something! All she did was make us sit and stand up. I made it for twenty minutes before leaving and I think she knew why too.

I was also suspicious of how tough the class was going to be because the woman was… wide. She wasn’t fat. I’m sure she was fit and strong, but let me just say she was bigger than Randy Jackson.

I really am not trying to be rude, but how can you trust an instructor to give you a hardcore workout when they are bigger than you? Well, let’s not see bigger than me because a lot of people are bigger than me, but you get my point.

The woman was really wide. If she teachers fifteen classes a week, shouldn’t she be a little skinnier? 

Would you trust your dentist to fix your teeth when he has messed up teeth himself?

I don’t know. It’s just my opinion. It isn’t a fluke that spin instructors, personal trainers, or Zumba teachers are on the thinner side. You don’t see no overweight personal trainer giving tips on how to do a proper squat. What are your thoughts? Regardless of her size, the class wasn’t that great so whatever. 

There. I said it. 

So, that was my Sunday. Here’s how the rest of my week looked:

August 22nd through 28th review

Monday: 9.83 miles @ 6:51 pace
Tuesday: 9.54 miles @ 6:49 pace
Wednesday: 3.53 miles @ a terrible pace + weights + elliptical
Thursday: 9.94 miles @ 7.02 pace
Friday: 3.20 miles @ an awful pace + weights + elliptical
Saturday: 14.13 miles @ ‘I’m trying’ pace
Sunday: Weights + failed spin class + elliptical

Total mileage:  50.17 miles

Thoughts: Well, running sucks. I am in the worst running funk momentarily. Usually the night before my run or even the morning of my run, I want to run. I feel good. Then I start running and I just feel so out of it. As you can see, I tried to push myself regardless except for Wednesday and Friday. I didn’t want to run at all. I didn’t even run today! I’m hoping that I want to run tomorrow or any time this week just because I miss it in a weird kind of way. I miss running simply because when I run, my mind goes any where it wants. 

Any suggestions on how to get out of a running funk? I’ll probably just push through it.

Congrats to all the people who ran Hood to Coast over the weekend!

I ate a cookie in your honor (and I cheered for some of you at Hawthrone Bridge when I was driving home).

Holla at everyone else!

Kick some ass this week doing whatever you do best.

“Act like a horse. Be dumb. Just run.” - Jumbo Elliott

And You Thought You Knew Me Already

Hey, buddies!

Did you miss me?

I have been super busy working and trying to get my running game back on.

By the way, it’s not.

All my runs just make me feel awful. Afterwards, I’m like, “Alright. I bet I could get back out there tomorrow.” I do and then I start running…

My body is just like, “Slow down. Stop. Go again. Slow ‘er down.”

I even tried listening to music during my run and that simply gave me a headache.

I don’t know. Perhaps I’m just going through a running funk. That happens, I suppose. I would give up running for a week, but I wouldn’t know what to do instead besides lifting.

Also, another bee-tee-dubs for you, lifting is going fantastic. I am getting stronger. I love not being able to walk or lift my arms after strength training.

I do not want to be all down in the dumps about it. I’ll just complain about my running tomorrow.

I got something else up my sleeve. 

I was tagged by the super speedy Tara for the  “Blissful Blogger Award” and the “fresh fruition hungry blogger tag”.

The  “Blissful Blogger Award” requires 9 facts about yourself and tagging 7 other bloggers.

The “fresh fruition hungry blogger tag”  calls for before and after pictures of some of your eats, then tagging 6 other bloggers!

Well, I’m just going to stick for the first one for now and modify for the second award with just showing pictures of my food. I am too lazy to take a picture of my food after I finish demolishing it. Besides, who wants to see a photo of an empty bowl? You can see that any time. Just open up your cabinet.

Let’s get this started.

1. I haven’t cut my hair since the third grade. Of course I get it trimmed, but never have I cut more than, like, three inches.

2. I use to eat meat and eat at fast food joints all the time. Taco Bell was my all time favorite and because I ran too, I would eat like three burritos.

Hey, sometimes running does that to you. Ex: go read Dean Karnazes’ first book.

3. Not only do I not take photos seriously, I really enjoy to bomb other people’s photos.

4. I have made four documentaries during high school.

My first one was about teenagers trick-or-treating and how it isn’t acceptable. My second documentary was on a woman tattoo artist and my third was about a Mexican food cart. My final documentary was about a young girl with an eating disorder. Go figure.

5. I always carry a piece of reading material with me as well as food.

By the way, in the Hunger Games, I absolutely adore Peeta. I’m sorry, but Gale does nothing for me. Maybe it’s because his name is Gale and that just reminds me of Oprah’s best friend. I don’t know.

6. I have a rather strange taste of music. I listen from to everything from heavy metal to pop. I prefer alternative music though.

Christy the grunge kid.

7. I must admit it, I have read the whole Twilight series and at the time, I did enjoy the books.

Of course, they are not the best books ever and the movies totally blow, but I did like them. Go ahead and hate me.

8. Just as I went through a Taco Bell phase, I went through a dirty diner phase.

I only ate at scummy diners and ate loads of eggs with toast.

9. I love my job.

It will seriously be the number one thing I will miss when I leave in October. I will miss it more than this blog. No offense. I dream about my job. Really. I love it that much. Well, I dream about these certain people I work with… and they are a certain type of dreams… and that’s enough now.

Now onto the next award…

(I feel like a celebrity. Oh, thank you. You’re too kind.)

Instead of showing you before and after photos of my food, I’ll just show the before and you can imagine what the after looks like, kiddos.

Berry bread pudding

Eggplant w/ eggs

Well, that sums it up!

I tag anyone who wants the challenge of remembering to take a photo of your food after you eat it. Go for it. 

I’m off now. Have a good week!

Sunday Funday

Howdy, ya’ll!

It’s Sunday, which equals funday!

I have no work so it’s a fun day and I”m begging my mom to take me to Dairy Queen before I cut a ho.

So, where should I start with this post? Hmmm. Let’s see.

I want to clear something up that I was just thinking about the other day because I don’t really have friends or life so thinking is just what I do.

Anyway, remember how I said I haven’t been feeling hungry at all lately?

Well, I don’t ever get that hunger feeling in general anymore. Want to know why?

I messed up my metabolism when I had an eating disorder since I didn’t eat an adequate amount of food. My body got use to consuming less than a thousand calories a day that now I never get that feeling of hunger.

I do know when I’m famished though. I get severe headaches, I become very lightheaded, I’m even more of a bitch, I get cramps, my vision becomes blurry, and I can’t make any decisions.

This is why I would never wish an eating disorder on anyone. Do you really want to screw up your metabolism? Do you really never want to feel hungry again?

It’s like I get hungry, but if I don’t eat something quickly enough, the sensation vanishes and everything is just downhill from there.

So eat when you’re hungry! Eat enough to fuel your body. Eat, eat, eat.  

Eat as much ice cream as you can.

I have to eat a lot of ice cream to fuel my workouts. Here’s what this week consisted of:

8/15 – 8/21

Monday: 12.30 miles @ 6:55 pace
Tuesday: 10.30 miles @ 6:56 pace
Wednesday: 2.19 miles @ 6:57 pace + elliptical + weights
Thursday: 9.80 miles @ 6:45 pace
Friday: 6.16 miles @ 6:50 pace + weights
Saturday: Approximately 14 miles @ 6:47 pace
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: Approximately 54 miles. 

Thoughts: Overral, I am rather pleased with my mileage and my pacing consindering all my runs made me feel shitty. I just was not into them. I feel ready to go for tomorrow though. I want to do one mile under 6:30 though.

Weight lifting has been going great too. 

Monday’s weight lifting looked like this:

• Squats
• Bench Press
• Rows
• Shoulder Press
• Leg Extension
• Hamstring Curl
• Biceps Curls
• Side Lateral Raises

Wednesday:

• Squats
• Plie Squats
• Stiff Legged Deadlift
• Split squat
• Walking Lunge
• Leg extensions
• Lunge in place
• Single Leg press
• Leg curls
• Calf Raises

Sunday:

Superset 1:
Upright Rows
Barbell Curls

Superset 2:
Push Press
Preacher Curls

Superset 3:
Bridge Press
Rear Delt Flys

Superset 4:
Incline Front Raises
Skull Crushers

Superset 5:
Shoulder Press
Overhead Tricep Extensions

I’m feeling it today! Whew. I love lifting. 

So, I’m gonna wrap this up like a Chipotle burrito with some honorable eats:

 Salad w/ Green Onion dressing + tofu Cajun sandwich  

Enjoy your Sunday, folks!

Go dancing, shopping, rob a bank, or whatever else your heart desires.