2013 Wrapup

No one would call 2013 my favorite year. While some key events definitely took place, I was certainly lacking in major accomplishments. It was my first full year out of school, and I think the mundanity of true adulthood got the best of me.

There were highlights:

• Setting a wedding date
• Running a sub-30 5k
• Starting NROL (and finishing Stage One as of today)
• Becoming confident with not only my weight (low 150s) but my body image (I ran at the gym in a sports bra for the first time ever)
• Starting this blog

But overall, I spent a lot of the year hoping that things would change and be better than they were. When I really should have been thankful that I had a full-time job, healthy life, loving fiance and supportive family. I will do better at this next year. Less pity parties all around.

I've never been one for setting new year's resolutions. I am of the mind that new year's resolutions tend to be very short term and unsustainable. What I learned from the last year is that I need goals to keep me motivated, sane and happy.

In this light, I have many goals for 2014. It is looking to be a much more successful and satisfying year than the last one. 

2014 Goals:

1. Get married
2. Buy a house
3. Run at least 7 races including a sub-25 5k
4. Finish NROL and develop a new lifting regimen
5. Find and start a new job
6. Become a certified personal trainer
7. Throw less pity parties (read: have a more positive attitude about life in general)

Honestly, the hardest part of this list is probably number seven. I read the inlaws' Christmas letter last week and while everyone else had a long list of things they did this year, my note was, "Raven is still working at the college." And I cried. Because that doesn't feel like much at all. 

But really it is, and I just can't convince myself to see it. I have two Bachelor's and a Master's and a full-time job that has allowed me to save a good amount toward the down payment on our future home and get the experience I need to be able to find some other type of work that I enjoy. 

And it is that kind of attitude that I need to adopt predominately next year. Because even while being as fit and healthy as I am now, I can't be truly healthy without adopting a positive attitude about my current living state. And while it may not be what I envisioned, it works for now. And I'm fortunate to have what I do. 

Here's to a happy, healthy 2014 (body and mind).

P.S. I will most likely be absent for the next few days as 2013 wraps up. Expect the first 2014 post on New Year's Day. Have a safe holiday, everyone!

Today was a Good Day

Yesterday I flaked out on my run. I was honestly a little nervous about it and pushed it back and back until I convinced myself it was too late to go out. (It wasn't.)

Today was a different day. I put in a 5k at a PR 28:35. I wasn't expecting it, and it was fabulous. I was still nervous about running this morning, but I have a 10k in four weeks, so we're in the no-joke training stretch. With a week off last week, I was concerned that my muscles wouldn't remember how to push hard. I was wrong. I put in a 9:06 pace while trying to keep it slow.

Basically that means I'm getting faster. And I'm stoked about it. Maybe I can get to a sub-25 in 2014. That might be a bit ambitious, but I don't see why not. If it's only taken me a few months to knock almost five minutes off my time. If I am actually training for speed, it isn't completely unfathomable to get to an eight minute mile.

I still don't anticipate trying for half distance again. If anything that would be a 2015 goal. For now I'm happy running my shorter distances and working on my speed.

Today I also finished off Stage One of NROL. I still have two max out sessions, but the 16 initial sessions are in the books. And I'm glad because that rotation was getting tedious. The rest of the stages are only eight sessions each, which keeps things more interesting. I'm excited to learn some new strength training moves and getting an even better handle on lifting.

Tomorrow will be another run day. We'll see if I can keep the faster pace going. I think I'm officially sub-10 pace, which is awesome. Bodes well for 2014.

I'm Back!

The sickness is officially kicked. And it left me substantially weaker than I was one week ago. Awesome sauce.

But nonetheless, today I was able to get in my last NROL Stage 1, Workout A day. On Saturday I will knock out Workout B, then we are on to the maxouts of Stage 1, which I'm super excited to get to. Though I imagine I would have been much more capable without the week of sadness.

Today is the first day I actually felt good. It is now time to start focusing on good eating through the new year and back on the NROL/Hal Higdon game plan.

Tomorrow I am going to get back into running. I'm expecting it to suck a good deal, but hopefully I can get in a three mile run with minimal difficulty. The good news about being sick was that it gave my shins a good amount of time to heal, so hopefully there won't be any pain tomorrow. I'm very much looking forward to getting back on the road. Wish me luck!

I'm Sick

I'm sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. In addition to some serious shin pain last week, I developed a tickle in the back of my throat on Thursday. And I that tickle has developed into a sore throat and runny nose and general cold awesomeness.

So I've had no exercise since Thursday. And it's killing me. Killing me.

I know that if I tried to work out it would make me worse, but that doesn't make me want to work out any less. For the last two days now I have wanted to give NROL a shot, but I know I'd never make it through the step ups, so I'm holding off until I'm recovered. Killing me.

Nonetheless I am going to try to knock out some pushups before bed so that I can say I've done something. And hopefully tomorrow I will be ready for a short run and NROL. I need to be done with Stage One. And this, in case you missed it, is killing me.

Until tomorrow, let us think healthy thoughts.

Holy Shins

I had every intention of running yesterday. But it was cold, and I was sore. So I made it my official full rest day for this week. I felt guilty about it, but ultimately it was the right decision in order to get anything else done this week.

Today, I went out to run three miles and had the most disappointing run I've had in a long time (potentially ever). I have been very sore in my calves lately. I don't warm up enough, and I don't stretch enough after my runs. I know this, and I kind of ignore it. Shame on me.

No longer. I made it through the first mile slowly with minor pain. I thought it would go away as I warmed up as calf soreness tends to do. But starting into that second mile I could not make it anymore. I did a walk/run interval for the second mile but ultimately called it quits two miles in. 

I did put in an NROL session afterwards that felt good. I also did some serious stretching to try to work out the calves followed by icing. I am going to try to a tempo run tomorrow and will warm up and stretch beforehand. It may end up being modified again depending on how my legs are doing. 

This is not what I was expecting this week after such a nice successful run week last week. But I will listen to my body, and I will not overdo it. 

Moderation, kids. It's important in every aspect of life.

Week Three

This week should be a turning point in training. If all goes to plan, I should get in about 19 miles according to the training plan. This is a really big number for me, and I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about it.

My body felt great this week. I came in at 17 miles, and I felt good for all of them. Today, I started off the week with a three mile run at a 10:03 pace and followed up with NROL. This was my sixth day in a row of running. I'm going to try to not change up the training program this week so that I have cross training and a rest day before the six mile run on Saturday. My joints may need a rest day before then, but we will see.

I'm a huge proponent of listening to your body, and I went into the intermediate program knowing I am not yet an intermediate runner. Knowing that next week is a light week is helping my motivation for this week. Once we get into weeks five through eight, I may need to start making modifications to account for the increased mileage.

This week, I'm going to start seriously focusing on food. I am in much need of incorporating more protein in my diet and reducing the amount of fat I'm taking in. I'll be looking into protein drinks to help with the 160 grams of protein I should be getting per day. I have been coming in around 100 grams a day, and that just isn't enough to deal with the amount of lifting and running I'm doing.

I absolutely do not want to lose muscle mass, so I need the muscle to have the fuel to heal and build. My ultimate goal is to be stronger not thinner, and my diet needs to reflect that. So much to think on.

17.3

Week two of the 10k training plan is officially done. I successfully ran 17.3 miles this week. This is a huge increase in mileage for me, and I actually feel really good about it. A little soreness and some blisters going on, but nothing crazy and no fatigue (knock on blogland wood).

Thursday and Friday I put in lunchtime workouts because I had afterwork activities that prevented me from the normal routine. B came and ran with me at work on Friday. It was the sweetest thing ever, and totally made my day. Romantic gesture noted.

I had a terrible pain in my neck yesterday that completely went away after the run. It was like magic. I think I slept on it wrong, but the power of exercise is ridiculous. The run calmed me down and took the pain away. Seriously--magic.

Today was my five-mile long run. I definitely wanted to take it slow today because this was my fifth day running in a row, and it was wet from a morning of rain. I ended up at 52 minutes, which is a decent pace although certainly not my best. For the record, I am now considering myself a 10-minute miler, and therefore anything less is "not my best". No pressure, Ray.

Next week we are due for even more mileage followed by a low mileage week 4. I will adjust if necessary, but for now we are chugging along as is.

Tomorrow is a 3 miler with NROL. I'll also be talking a bit about my new nutrition goals. Stay tuned.

California Cold Spurt

It was cold today. Okay, it was California cold, but that's still cold to me. Today was the first run that I was actually cold on all the way through. I had on capris and a t-shirt with a lightweight zip-up jacket. This setup has been completely fine for me the last weeks, but I definitely felt the chill today. Although I do believe this was my first run in the mid 40s.

I think it's time to invest in some gloves and a headband to keep my ears covered. I'm a pretty big fan of Target's Champion brand of exercise gear. It holds up to my general routine, and is decent quality at a very affordable price point. They have a few different headband options, so I may take a trip tomorrow.

The forecast for the next week is chilly, and I'm not exactly stoked about that. But it's easy to convince myself to run while it's in the high 30s and low 40s here because I have some amazing women in my life who are running in actually freezing temperatures. If they can run in the snow, then I can certainly run in whatever California is throwing at me (read: not snow).

Today was a three mile run and a round of NROL. I am very much so over lunges and stepups. I really, really want to move on to stage 2 of NROL. Only four more stage 1 sessions left. I am also consistently running a 10 minute mile now, which is encouraging. I am definitely in a stride. It's pretty amazing what consistency does for the body.

A Slacker No More

Since I slacked off the last two days on running, I was fairly determined to get a good run in today. I am still not feeling 100 percent. But I'm thinking that what I'm feeling really is residual tiredness from the weekend and not the cusp of sickness.

I will not get sick. Traditionally I am a holiday sicky. I've spent many a holiday sniffling and coughing my way through the cheer of the season. It blows. But I successfully powered through last year without much sickness, and I'm determined to not be sick this year either. I got one of those fancy flu shots, and my diet and exercise regimen are simply much better than they've ever been.

Speaking of diet. I need to seriously up my veggie intake. My macros have been all over the place lately (granted that may be due to holiday meals--hello fat!).

Over at the forum, we are doing a holiday challenge to keep on track with our fitness goals through the holidays. This week I really want to focus on running. But I think next week's goal needs to be veggie and macro related.

I did successfully run 4.5 miles today in 46 minutes. I was rocking a 10:21 pace and only stopped to stretch my calves at about the two mile mark. I am pleased.

I am definitely off my training plan, but with a little bit of shuffling around on days, I should be able to jump back on track for this week without issue.

I'm a Slacker

I'm a bad blogger. I blame it on the holiday weekend. I wasn't at home in my normal routine so all of my routine slipped away. *hangs head*

I'm also a bad exerciser. I had a seriously lackluster 3-mile run on Saturday where I  *hangs head in shame* walked part of the way. B and I did a hill and that pretty much wrecked me for the rest of the run. I definitely need to start incorporating some hill training if I'm ever going to run anything but a flat course. Although that may end up being incline training on a treadmill because I seriously live in the flattest community ever.

And today I was tired after the long weekend and it was California cold, so I skipped the run and just did NROL. It was a good workout, but I'm definitely upset at myself for not running today.

Tomorrow is another day. A better day. I'm going to force a long run in there to make up for two days without one. Maybe a 4.5? We'll see.

On a positive note, I ran 35 miles in November. That's pretty huge for me, and I'm expecting even more in December. Bring it on.

Happy Thanksgiving and Race Recap

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. Mine was lovely. I started off the day with my 5k Turkey Trot.

When I signed up for the Turkey Trot in October, my goal was to go sub-30 minutes. As my training progressed over the past few weeks, that seemed a bit unrealistic. My base run was at 35 minutes, and my pacing was all over the place.

As you may recall, I was having a terrible time pushing through the second mile. Just this past week, I started running the whole three miles and keeping a pretty consistent pace around 10:25 minutes per mile. This led me to reevaluate my goal for the 5k and set it at 31:00 minutes.

Well, I blew that out of the water. I successfully completed the 5k just under the 30 minute mark, averaging a 9:38 minute per mile according to my GPS. The recorded time was 10:26, but that was from the official start time of the first runner, and not my actual start line to finish line time (thank goodness for GPS).

I started off with a 9:51 pace for my first mile. To be honest, when I heard that I thought I was screwed. I haven't run a sub-10 minute mile ever, so I thought I had way overdone it and that I would burn out early.

The second mile came in at a 9:49 pace. I was feeling it in my calves at that point, so I was still pretty sure that I was going to burnout on the third mile.

Then my third mile came in at a 9:06 pace, and my face blew up into the goofiest grin. This was when I knew I had my sub-30 5k. I sprinted the crap out of that last .1 miles, and loved every second of it.

It made my whole day to hit my original goal. I had no idea it was going to happen, and that made it so much better.

I'd call it a major success. And now I'm super confident that I can go sub-60 for the 10k in January. Training here I come.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

It was a huge success, guys. A huge freaking success.

I found the recipe for this vegan pumpkin pie over at the Perfect Supplements blog. I was a little hesitant to go there because a normal pumpkin pie recipe doesn't really lend itself to clean eating. Pumpkin pie is full of eggs, sugar and milk.

This recipe was super simple. The filling calls for:

• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 cup nut butter (I chose cashew)
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

I put everything in the food processor and pulsed until smooth. 

For the crust I used my go-to nut crust. I put 2 1/2 cups of walnuts with a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, a dash of salt and enough honey to bring the crust together (about 1/4-1/3 cup). I put all of the ingredients in the food processor and pulse until the walnuts are in small pieces. 

I pressed the nut mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and filled it with the pumpkin filling. The original recipe says to let the filling set for half an hour. I let it sit overnight, and it cut perfectly.

For the maple coconut whipped cream I used a can of coconut cream (kept in the refrigerator overnight), a 1/4 cup of maple syrup and a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. I put this in my stand mixer with whisk attachment and let the machine do its thing until I got stiff peaks. This holds up incredibly well in the fridge, so just stick your leftovers in some tupperware and indulge whenever.

Overall I was thrilled with the texture and the taste. You can definitely taste the nut butter, but the overwhelming flavor is definitely that classic pumpkin pie flavor. I also loved that it wasn't as sweet as a standard pumpkin pie. 

Don't get me wrong, you should not eat this every day. It has a ton of fat from the nut crust and the nut butter. But for a holiday indulgence, I think it's a fantastic healthy alternative. So delicious. And parent improved.

Two Days to Turkey Trot

I was trying to figure out how to best arrange week one of 10k training with getting enough rest to be able to run a good race on Thursday. The solution is cross training today (aka NROL) and a full rest day tomorrow.

Today was the day in NROL stage one that you jump from two sets each to three sets each. I wasn't sure how much I would feel the difference, but man step ups are hard to do three times through. The step I'm using comes to my knee, so it is quite the step up. I have to use a ton of control to make it so my second foot doesn't hit the bench and that I come down gently. It's a lot of work and really gets my heart rate up.

I'm also struggling more than normal with my pushups. I think I just need to adjust my hand position a bit, so I'll give that a shot next time around. I did not up my weight anywhere today. I wanted to keep it steady with the increase in sets. I may consider going up a bit on the next round.

The vegan pumpkin pie is in the fridge setting. I'm excited to share it with you all tomorrow, and let you know how it turned out. The batter tasted pretty spot on though, so it bodes well for the finished project.

One more day of work this week before the long weekend. And I pick up my race bib tomorrow. It's going to be a good day. I can feel it.

Training Day Two

I am tired. I did not want to run today at all. In the past five weeks or so that I've picked up running, I've exclusively run outside. Historically, I've only ever been a treadmill runner, so this is new.

Running on a treadmill is entirely different than running outside. There's something about propelling yourself forward that just makes it more challenging. And that's what I've been enjoying so much about running this time around. I'm challenging myself to keep going.

I have also been primarily running at work. The college town is a little more runner-friendly. When I run at the colleges I see dozens of other people doing the same thing, which gives me confidence that drivers are aware of pedestrians.

I do not get the same feeling at home. There are plenty of people who walk their dogs in the daytime, but in the dark, at night, I do not get the feeling that drivers are aware of me, the runner.

As I was saying, I did not want to run today. So rather than running after work, I came home and ran after dinner. I looped around the block twice, which ends up being just about three miles if I loop the culs-de-sac twice each time around. So I managed to push through the three miles in 31 minutes.

For the second day in a row, I ran straight through. This is making me much more confident about Turkey Trot Thursday.

Tomorrow I am making a vegan pumpkin pie. I bought several cans of pumpkin puree, and I'm probably going to use all of it this weekend. Get excited, guys. Delicious food is on the horizon.

10k Training Day One

Today was my official start to 10k training. It was a run plus strength training day. I am happy, okay ecstatic, to report that I cut three minutes off my 5k time from a few weeks ago, clocking in at 32 minutes.

I was not intentionally trying to PR, but I did want to run the entire three miles. I actually thought I'd be a little slower because I was running into a fairly strong win half the time. But the PR made me very, very confident in the Turkey Trot on Thursday. I was thinking I'd come in around 35 since I hadn't seen much improvement over the past few weeks, but I think I'll be much closer to 30 than I realized.

It should be pretty easy to stay on track this week with it being a short week at work. I'm still not sure about the mileage on the intermediate training plan, but I'm still sticking to it this week before working on any modifications.

This weekend I made my first spaghetti squash. The first night I had it with a little bit of alfredo and some leftover chili. The second night I had it with just leftover chili. It was really, really delicious. I thought I was going to need to try it a few times before liking it, but I'm much inclined to make it a staple off the bat.

I halved the spaghetti squash and removed the seeds. I put olive oil, salt and pepper on the flesh and cooked it flesh side up for 40 minutes at 375*. It came out lovely.

I planned to make a vegan pumpkin pie this weekend, but we were out of pumpkin, so that is a mission for this week. I'm quite looking forward to it, although I think I'll be hard pressed to get my family to enjoy a vegan pumpkin pie. Recipe and success story to come.

Countdown to the Turkey Trot: 4 days

Running in the Rain (But Not Really)

So this is kind of what I was thinking running in the rain would be like. I was actually kind of pumped about it. It rained pretty steadily most of the day today, which in southern California is kind of unheard of. "Rain" is more of a gentle sprinkle for five minutes or less. But it actually rained today.

This is a big deal.

I packed up my bag this morning with every intention of running in the rain. I was thinking of it as a rite of passage. Sort of a "real runners run in all weather" type of deal. By passing this barrier I was one step closer to being a runner.

And then 3:00 rolled around. And it stopped raining. It was a brisk 55* when I got off of work, which is California "cold" but most assuredly good running weather.

Nonetheless I got in a good three miles. I struggled through the second mile. I think I need to start stretching between miles one and two because I get very tight in my calves past those first 10 minutes. My third mile is always my fastest mile, so I know I can run it straight through. I need to work out a system to get that cramping out though.

I was very tired when I got home, but knocked out a round of NROL Stage 1. Apparently when you only run two and a half miles one week, the body gets tired with seven miles in two days. Who would have thought?

I'll be attempting a run of a yet-to-be-determined length tomorrow with a definite rest day on Saturday. Then Sunday, we'll start 10k training. I may need to modify the program a little bit to lessen the total mileage per week, but will try it out at face value for week one, and see where I stand.

It's getting serious, kids. Real serious. And real fun. Stay tuned.

Not my favorite Winchester, but that'll do.

10k Training

So I'm apparently running a 10k in January. I wasn't really planning on upping the mileage from 5k, but I am confident that I can do the 6.2 miles without much issue. The training plan I have lined up is pretty damn intense.

I'm not terribly confident about speed for the 5k next Thursday, so I'm hoping this training plan will help with my speed overall. And it conveniently has two strength training days and a cross training day, so built in NROL accountability.

Running is challenging for me. I was never an outside runner even when I was training for the half a couple years ago. Running consistently outside is lovely and challenging. And I'm enjoying the challenge.

Today I did a four mile run after work. I almost ate it about a quarter mile in, but luckily I did not. The four miles took me just over 45 minutes, which seems like a lot to me. But I really need to just work on getting a solid base run in, so I'll take it. I think a 33 is an achievable 5k time for next Thursday. That's what I'm pulling for now.

Fall Baking

I hate Tuesdays. Hate them. On Monday at least there's still a vague memory of the weekend despite four work days ahead of you. But on Tuesday the weekend memories have completely faded with more than half of the work week to go. It's just awful. Tuesdays should always be cancelled.

*End rant*

Today I was still a little bit hungover from the crazy weekend+Monday of sugar consumption. No more. I couldn't even eat a banana because I could not stomach those 12 grams of sugar. And thus I was under on sugar for the day. Hooray!

My mother has a holiday party tomorrow, and signed up for dessert despite the fact that she cannot bake. So I made these chocolate chip pumpkin cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. I ended up with five dozen, though the recipe claimed it makes three dozen. This never happens to me. I always end up with less than the recipe reads. And they were fairly large cookies, so they must have been HUGE for her.

Note that these cookies are by no means healthy, and were I cooking them for myself, I would make them completely differently. This recipe calls for a good amount of butter, sugar and white flour, which I rarely use in baking anymore. But they did come out soft and flavorful and delicious, so no complaints on the recipe composition if that's what you are looking for. I approve.

On exercise, I was a complete dumb-dumb today and forgot my bag at home, so no running today. I did manage to pull in a 40 minute NROL workout before calling it a day. I promise I will stop being a slacker tomorrow.

I'm calling good food and a good run tomorrow. And I have a spaghetti squash waiting to be eaten. Stay tuned.

Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

This weekend was a doozy. Eating was a mess, but I managed to stay around maintenance levels despite being way, way over on sugar. 

Saturday was spent at the Ritual Brewery in Redlands in honor of their first-year anniversary. They gave out eight drink tickets and a glass for $25. Eight tickets is a ridiculous amount. I certainly can't drink eight beers in 24 hours anymore (let alone the four hours that the event was on for). I had the Wit's End, a nice wheat beer, and it was delightful.

B and I got to see our brother and sister-in-law and catch up a bit. Then I convinced B to take me to A La Minute for some delicious birthday ice cream. I had the Orange Honey.

They make this ice cream in front of you using liquid nitrogen. It's really neat. And it's worth it. Every. Single. Time. 

Wind Family, Founder's Day 2008

Sunday we went down to San Diego for my sixth Founder's Day. I was recently elected to the Alumni Board, so it seemed like a most excellent time to visit with the active chapter again. It had been a few years since I had been at a sorority event, and there was definitely some initial shock walking in to a room full of women you don't know, and being one of the "old" women. 

Wind Family, Founder's Day 2013

Nonetheless, I had a really wonderful time catching up with old friends, and meeting so many of the new women in the sorority. There is also an incredible amount of pride seeing something you helped create continue to grow and thrive six years later. I've definitely lost some of my crafting suave, but it comes back to you (kind of, not really; I suck at crafting). I'm inspired by the promise these young women have. Pretty sure they'll change the world.


Today is my birthday. In case you haven't heard, calories don't count on your birthday. So I had an awesome omelet for lunch (courtesy of my boss), tacos for dinner and some seriously bitchin' chocolate cake for dessert. Between the brewery on Saturday and the cupcakes and cookies on Sunday and birthdaycaloriesdon'tcount, food has not been great the past few days. I'm definitely looking forward to eating clean this week. And working out again.

Three days without a workout kind of blows. Clean food, NROL and a run tomorrow. Twenty five is going to be a better year than 24. Of this I am sure.

It's Friday!

So to accompany the crazy mood swing mother nature had this week, today was in the high 60s. My body cannot hang with 92 then 88 then 68. It cannot hang.

I wasn't expecting quite such a drop in the temperature today. I was thinking mid 70s and packed for the run accordingly. Well I was not ready to run in the dark in shorts and a tank while it was 60 degrees outside. That combination screamed of a cold that I do not want anything to do with. So I skipped it.

Today, instead, was an NROL day. I upped the weights all around today.

Squats: 60#
Row: 120#
Pushups: With a 10# weight on my back
Step ups: 30#

For the first two rounds of Workout A, I did straight pushups. Since you go down in reps over the weeks, I knew I needed to find a way to make the pushups more challenging. I strongly considered elevated pushups, but decided at the last minute to put a weight on my back instead. It was a little awkward, but I definitely felt the difference. I don't think I'll be going up in weight very quickly for this style, but it was nice to know I could do this.

I'd like to get a run in tomorrow, but I don't know that I will be able to. B and I are still undecided as to when we are leaving for San Diego. We also have a couple of activities planned around here tomorrow, so it may be hard to squeeze in, but I'd like to go for at least a short run.

Happy weekend!

We Cancelled Thursday

It's cool, guys. The universe knew Thursday was going to suck, so it got cancelled.

This is what I wanted to happen today. Alas Thursday happened, and it wasn't nearly as bad as anticipated. It's been quiet at work the last few days, which is helping a little bit with my malaise.

I also indulged in some shredded beef nachos from Qdoba, and they were delicious. I had half for lunch and half for dinner. That put me way over on sodium for the day, but I'd much rather indulge occasionally than binge often. Despite the overage on sodium, calories were under after accounting for the run.

The run was not my best. I'm still not 100 percent with the weather throwing a fit this past week (the high was only 88 today...ugh), but I did 2.5 miles in 29 minutes. It was slow, but it got done.

I'm going to try to do about the same mileage quite a bit faster tomorrow with NROL. I need to get a good workout in before the weekend.

This weekend is Founder's Day for my sorority and the Alumni Board (which I'm now on) is being introduced to the active chapter. B is sick, so the original plan to go to San Diego on Saturday and Sunday may need to be modified, depending on how he's feeling. I am excited about it, though. I haven't been to a sorority event in a couple of years, and I do miss them.

The trip will be awesome, even if it's just Sunday.

90 in November

That's right. It's November 13, and today the high was 92 degrees. Can you believe such a horrid thing? I know it's southern California, but where is fall? I want to wear boots and scarves. I want to not be wearing summer clothes.

Well the fact that the weather has fluctuated thirty degrees in the past week, and that it's scheduled to be in the 60s again this weekend means that my body is fighting me hard.

I'm resolved to not be sick, but my sinuses are acting up like none other.  And it's a bitch.

I had every intention of getting in a run after I left work today, but my body was just not accommodating. So rather than push myself too far and regret it, I resolved myself to a day of just NROL Workout B.

It was alright. My energy level was crazy low, but I pushed through. Tomorrow I must get a run in. Regardless of how long that run ends up being, I must run. Hopefully my sinuses are accommodating. If not, I'm pushing through anyway. It's a run day.

Change. She is a Comin'.

Workout: 45 minutes interval training

Today was the first day that I seriously considered what I want to do next. As you may have gathered, I am very unhappy at my current job. I am overqualified for what I do (secretary/receptionist). I am under-utilized and unvalued. This is painful for me.

I'm really good at a lot of things. This was a problem even going back to applying for programs before college. I loved writing, and I was really good at math and science. I decided to go the science route because writing didn't seem like a viable career option.

Pre-med turned in to biology turned in to psychology turned in to higher ed. Nine months ago, I thought higher ed was going to be it for me. The pay and benefits are decent (once you move up-mine aren't), vacation time is great (if you're salary-I am not) and you get to work in a college without being in academia (which I hated).

Now, being devalued as I am, I am considering a major career change. But the prospect of going back to school or ending up exactly where I am now, but at 30 instead of 25 terrifies me.

But, nonetheless, I can only be this miserable for so much longer. So I must explore my options. Right now I'm looking into health and fitness options. Fitness is the only thing that has made me consistently happy (apart from B) since high school.

Maybe that's the answer. Maybe it's not. But I am terrified to end up where I am now again. Terrified.

It happened with grad school, and now it's happened with my first full-time job. I need to remind myself over and over again, that at least I have a job. Good things must be coming. Power of positive thinking.

Monday Blues

Work has really been getting me down lately. I want so badly to be challenged and to use my skills in a meaningful and productive way. I have so much to give and such value to add to the College, but it is incredibly hard to remember those things when I am pigeonholed into a position I don't belong in.

When I started a little more than a year ago, I felt like I had a lot of people behind me wanting me to succeed, learn and grow. Now that my first year is behind me, though, I no longer feel like I have room to grow in my department. And that is incredibly frustrating.

I know what I want to do. I want to work with students. I want to interact with them and help them and know that I'm making a difference to someone, somewhere. It's hard to see how that's possible where I'm at, and it's making me second guess my next steps.

Although I love the College itself. I could see myself there for my career. I believe in the College and its values and purpose. We mesh on a deep level. It makes me sad to think of leaving, but without a clear path forward, I think it's inevitable.

B and I are in limbo waiting for him to pass through backgrounds at a couple of different departments. Wherever he gets hired, whatever he decides can majorly change where I look and where I end up over the course of the next year.

I'm a planner, so not being able to plan is also driving me nuts. Thank god for exercise. It's the only thing right now that lets me de-stress and chill.

Today was NROL Stage 1 Workout A. It felt good. I didn't up any weights this time around. I'll add on squats and row next time though only a minor amount on each.

Tomorrow  is a run day. I think I'm going to run two miles as fast as I can. We'll see how it goes. A sub-20 would be ideal.

Long Run Day

I had ambitious plans for today, but they mostly got sidetracked after the long run this morning. I stayed up a little too late last night to finish watching the last season of Supernatural with my mom.

I think you're adorable too, Jensen. 

Supernatural is not my typical television show, but I have come to seriously love the on- and off-screen relationship between Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. They're awesome, and it makes them entertaining to watch regardless of the subject matter.

But that's beside the point. The point is that I stayed up too late, so I woke up later than normal. I did wake up and go straight out to my self-declared long run. I decided on four miles. It isn't so long that I'd kill myself, but definitely a step up from the 5k I've been doing the last couple of weeks.

I went just a smidgen over four miles in 45 minutes, which is not bad for me. I'm still clearly seeing the light at a sub-30 for the Turkey Trot.

After the run I had every intention of doing NROL, but I had to jump in the shower to be ready for the fiance's birthday lunch with his family (his birthday was over a month ago, but I won't get into that).

We went to Yard House, and I had hongos y rajas street tacos. I'm a southern California girl, so I love me some tacos. These were hands down the best tacos I've ever had. And that's saying a lot. A lot.

They had shiitake mushrooms, roasted pasilla peppers and grilled onions with lemon sriracha aïoli, jack, feta, avocado and red chili threads. Seriously. So. Good. 

I also tried a Maui Brewery Mana Wheat, which was delightful. But the star of the beer show was definitely the Deschutes Chainbreaker IPA. I'm not usually an IPA fan, but this white IPA would switch me to the dark side.

Then the fiance and I went shopping for  a bit, and by the time we got back home, I was tired. So NROL tomorrow. And the start of a (hopefully) much better work week.

Quiet Day and Pumpkin Gnocchi

After this week, today was a very much needed, quiet rest day. I didn't get in any solid exercise, but tomorrow is a long run day plus NROL, so I think my body will forgive me for taking today off.

I did make homemade pumpkin gnocchi loosely based off of this website. I paired it with a light cream sauce. Overall it was yummy. A little bit dense, but definitely hit the spot. 

Pumpkin gnocchi

1 can 100% pure pumpkin

2 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Add all ingredients to a stand mixer and beat with a dough hook until the dough comes together, scraping down the sides as needed. Separate and roll into logs about half inch in diameter. Use kitchen shears to snip logs into half inch long gnocchi pieces. 

These were sticky and a little bit hard to work with. I had to use a lot of flour to be able to work with the dough. I also refrigerated the pieces after cutting them before putting them into water.

Once ready to use, place gnocchi into boiling, salted water and cook until they float to the top. It was just under five minutes for me.

Cream Sauce

I'll be honest, I really kind of wing it with roux-based sauces now. I've perfected my technique enough to roll with it, so I use what I have on hand.

Today I sauteed about 1/2 cup of diced red onion and 2 tablespoons of minced garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter for about three minutes. Then I add 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour and cooked for an additional two minutes. 

I then poured in enough milk to make a nice, thick sauce (it was maybe a cup of milk, maybe one and a half–I really just eyeballed it). I added four ounces of cream cheese and stirred until incorporated.

Today I added a generous amount of pepper and nutmeg and a pinch of salt to taste. 

I tossed a handful of gnocchi with a couple tablespoons of cream sauce and called it a day. It was a filling, enjoyable pasta dish. I will probably tweak it a little bit to try to get the dough a little lighter next time I make it. I think sauteed mushrooms would be a delightful addition as well. 

Banana carob chip muffins are on the menu tomorrow morning. I'll get pictures of those to accompany the workout update. 

Happy weekend, all.

It's Finally Over

If you've been reading, you may have gathered that this week at work was a week from hell. It was busy and stressful and full of negativity. But we prevailed, and it has finally come to an end.

I ate much too much sugar today. Although I will say that a peanut butter cup chopped up and thrown in hot cereal is a fabulous treat. Seriously, try it–it's wonderful.

A run was much, much needed after this day.

This.

Day.

Ugh.

So I did some interval sprinting, jogging for two minutes and sprinting for one minute on and off for about 25 minutes. I cooled down with a walk for about 10 minutes and ended up going just under three miles. It felt good. I think I'm finally beginning to enjoy running again. Especially after this day.

After I got home, I ate a quick dinner and did NROL Stage 1 Workout B. Workout B consists of deadlifts, shoulder press, lateral pulldown, lunges and swiss ball crunches. I did 75#, 30#, 100#, 30# and 15#, respectively. I think that I chose good starting weights overall, although the lunges kicked me in the butt.

I think I'll be taking an active rest day tomorrow, though I may throw in a short run for good measure. We will see how the quads are holding up in the morning.

Until then.

A Long Day

Today was a long day at work. I was busy and felt generally flustered the entire time. Everyone did. The vibe of an office–my office in particular–can completely change with one person's attitude. That's what happened today.

The bossman had bad news funneling down to him, so that negativity seeped through the whole space and consumed us. I have yet to come up with a good strategy to combat this epidemic. And I don't have any ideas. It's just negativity energy that I can't avoid.

I wouldn't describe myself as particularly negative or positive. I am a realist. Sometimes to a fault. But I am a happy person. I like being happy, and I purposefully do things to make myself happy.

Like pictures of babies. Pictures of babies make me happy.

In light of the overwhelming negativity in the office, an already busy day and traffic on the drive home, I was not feeling a run in the dark today. I definitely wanted to do something, so I did a youtube search for a yoga video.

I settled on a 42 minute hatha yoga routine. I haven't ever taken a traditional yoga class. I really want to, but I'm a little intimidated. This video was nice. It was not awesome, but it was enough to make me feel better and stretch out the soreness I've had lingering all week.

Holy wow.

I will never have moves like the seriously awesome woman above. I mean seriously, she's so cool. But I'm definitely going to throw in yoga on active rest days from now on.

Tomorrow I will be doing a training run and Workout B of NROL.

Power of positive thinking indicated it will be a much, much better day.

Starting measurements for NROL
Weight: 152#
Chest: 35"
Waist: 28"
Hips: 36.5"
Bicep: 11.5"
Thigh: 20.75"

NROL Day One

The New Rules of Lifting for Women is a six month weight lifting program. There are seven stages, and each stage lasts a number of weeks with goal of increasing the amount of weight each week. I don't think I ever would have come upon this program on my own, but the ladies on my fitness forum suggested it overwhelmingly. So I jumped on board.

The book itself is substantial, but I dug in as soon as I purchased it. The premise really resonates with my beliefs about fitness. As I've talked about a little bit before, I'm a big believer in understanding your body and figuring what works best for you.

Pure cardio doesn't work for me. I've done solely cardio before without seeing positive effects on my body. I need heavy strength training for me to feel my best.

Which leads me to NROL.

NROL is three strength training days a week. That's a little low for what I'm used to, so I'll be supplementing with 5k training and interval training on rest days to keep my body active.

Today I did Stage 1, Workout A. This consists of intervals of squats, pushups, seated row, step-ups and   prone jackknife.

Week one, from what I gather, is kind of a test run week. I wasn't 100% about how much weight I should use for my squats, row and step-ups. I ended up with 55#, 110# and 30#, respectively. I went higher on the step-ups initially but had to downsize (the "up" of the bench I'm using is pretty substantial).

I also warmed up with a five minute jog and cooled down with a five minute jog + five minute step in place. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to work up a good sweat, but I really did.

If I can get a nice workout on with a 40 minute routine, I am on board.

Baseline measurements and a training run tomorrow morning (for the record, I'm not looking to gain/lose weight or gain/lose inches, but I like to keep track). For now, I'm very much looking forward to Workout B on Friday. Let's see where this goes.

P.S. Homemade pumpkin gnocchi is on the menu for this weekend (food review coming your way).

30 Days Done!

I'll be honest--I did not want to do this workout today. I had a long day at work where I felt like this:

I was so busy. It was ridiculous. And then it was dark outside, and dinner was late, and I just did not want to. Because I'm a big whiner. 

Luckily, I sucked it up and put my big girl pants on. Because it was awesome. Fifty eight minutes of solid intervals really hits the spot. There were a total of seven active rest days in the 30-day challenge. But 30 days of high intensity interval training, even with the rest days, can be (and was) quite taxing.

It was exactly what I needed after so many months of the same old lifting routine. My motivation is sky high to start NROL tomorrow. 

Catch you tomorrow.

Two-a-days

My brother was a football player growing up. From the age of eight through his second year of college I remember him doing his two-a-day workouts. It was a lot of work, and he always lost about 10 pounds on those two weeks of two-a-days.

Baby brother is on the right. Isn't he adorable?

I never really played competitive sports. I played softball growing up, but (despite what my mother claims) I was never competitive. The closest thing I had to a two-a-day practice was cheer camp.

Seriously. Cheer camp kicked my ass. It was five days of practice from 7 to 7, and it was honestly grueling.

Two-a-day exercises are not something I advocate on a regular basis. Every once in a while, I think it's totally fine and can actually be a good kickstart to a new training plan. While I'm training for the Turkey Trot, I will be throwing in the occasional two-a-day.

Like today. At lunch today, I finally committed to running a baseline 5k.

I am happy to report that I ran 3.1 miles in 35:21. I was rocking a killer calf cramp that made me stop a couple of times to stretch it out. I'm feeling very confident that I can run a sub-30 on November 28.

Tonight I also completed day 29 of the 30-day challenge, which was a legs and ass day. So yay for me being completely wrecked tomorrow between 45 minutes of legs and a run today.

I started tracking calories on MFP today too. I was 1200 calories short before dinner. I managed to make up most of those by eating a whole avocado, but it was pretty telling of how under I've probably been for the last couple of months of not tracking. I will be paying more attention to that while on NROL.

Overall, it was an excellent Monday, and an awesome two-a-day. I'm so ready for NROL on Wednesday.

Throwback picture of me and the brother for good measure.

Sunday Fun Day

As always the weekend feels much too short--even though we got the extra hour last night. Oh well. Another week awaits. Good news! I was elected to the Alumni Board of my sorority today. So I'll be serving a two-year term as Secretary. I'm really looking forward to getting back involved in Phi Rho after the last few years relatively removed. That means a trip to San Diego on the 17th for our Founder's Day Weekend. It'll be nice to be back.

Today I was supposed to run a baseline 5k for time, but I definitely failed at that. It's on the to-do list for tomorrow morning. I just wasn't feeling it today, and that's okay. No need to push the body too hard before the week begins. I did, however, do day 26 of the 30-day challenge. I really upped the weights on the chest and back burnout, and I'll definitely be feeling it tomorrow.

Day 27 and day 28 were active rest days, which were accounted for on Thursday and Friday last week, so I'll be powering through day 29 tomorrow evening. I'm really excited to be done with the challenge and to get going on NROL on Wednesday.

Tomorrow will be a double workout day with the 5k in the morning and day 29 in the evening. I also plan to start tracking my food on MFP again tomorrow. I'm pretty terrible at hitting my TDEE especially when I'm lifting heavy, so I need to make sure that I'm nourishing my body properly while I'm training for the 5k and starting NROL.

Depending on how the 5k goes, I'm thinking about making it an every-other-month event. There are several ladies on the fitness forum I follow that are hardcore runners (one even ran the NY marathon today--congrats Giaspo!), so I'm encouraged by their amazing times and accomplishments. That means six a year, which doesn't seem like it'll be too hard on the budget. I'd like to make FI do it with me assuming his schedule allows. We shall see.

I'll check in tomorrow with the results of the 5k time. Wish me luck!

Catchup Days

As you all probably know, I am on the tail end of the 30-day challenge I'm working on courtesy of Bodyrock. Thursday should have been day 25, but I took an unanticipated rest day after pushing myself through two workouts on Wednesday. Friday should have been day 26, but I decided to do a 3 mile run instead, and then I spent the evening at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights. 

Currently, I'm an evening exerciser. I'm actually a morning person, but they (workouts) seem to be fitting in better in the evening with my schedule as it is right now, so that's what I'm working on. 

I just finished day 25 of the 30-day challenge, and let me just say that if you are looking for a program to kick you into gear, then I cannot recommend this one enough. It works in intervals alternating between cardio and strength exercises, and the woman who puts them together is a badass. She is motivating enough just on her obviously strong body, but her personality really puts her over the top in motivation.

Tomorrow I'll rock out day 26, and then finish off strong with day 29 and day 30 on Monday and Tuesday before jumping in to NROL. I also intend to time myself on a 5k tomorrow morning to get a baseline. I'm really looking forward to that because I really want to push myself to get the fastest time I possibly can.

Now the fun. Halloween Horror Nights was a blast. I've actually never been to a fright fest sort of event. Horror stuff just doesn't really interest me. But some of the girls from work encouraged me to go, and we really had a great time. I am apparently not prone to being scared easily. There were a couple of times when I jumped a little, but I never screamed. 

The actors seem to target certain people. I am far more interested in looking at the amazing makeup and the decor. 

Pulled these from this website. Really cool, right?

So my advice is: Stare those zombies down. They are way more likely to go after you if you look totally freaked out or worse, looking at your phone. And if they do jump out at you, wave at them and say "Hey there!" Seriously, it works.

What I'm up to

I went quickly through school. I started college at 17, graduated in four years with two degrees, started grad school at 21 and finished by 23. When I started my first full-time job last October I had never had a dedicated exercise regimen. I would alternate pretty steadily between treadmill and elliptical, do a ridiculous amount of crunches and occasionally fiddle with some of the weight machines.

I work on a college campus, and one of the amazing thing about college campuses is that they have gyms. Big gyms kind of freak me out. I went to UCSD and SDSU, and as very large, public universities, they have very large, intimidating gyms. I never went to these gyms at school. I worked at a YMCA, and I worked out at a YMCA. It was comforting being somewhere small and, well, comfortable.

The college I work at now is a small, liberal arts college. Small college equals small, comfortable gym. So from October to May I worked out after work in our tiny exercise room. It was lovely. I even started lifting weights in addition to my cardio routine. I did arms and shoulders on Monday and Thursday and back and chest on Tuesday and Friday. I was getting stronger and feeling awesome.Then in May, the gym closed for remodel—until August 2014.

My immediate thought was "What now?"

Luckily for me, my parents have all of the weightlifting equipment you could ever need. So, in June I started exclusively lifting. I was pushing myself harder and lifting heavier, and honestly in better shape than I had ever been.

Monotony reared its ugly head in late August, and I was honestly just looking for a change of pace to keep my body engaged. Luckily Lisa-Marie over at bodyrock.tv was starting a 30-day challenge in October. Bodyrock and Daily HIIT are websites dedicated to free high intensity interval training videos. They are honestly a godsend. I first came upon bodyrock about two years ago. I did one 30-day challenge, and loved it. Then I would wander over occasionally for a new video.

These fine people post videos every day. Free videos with interval workouts you can complete in as little as twelve minutes. I truly believe that Lisa, Shawn and Freddy are changing lives.

But off my soap box. I am currently at the tail end of Lisa's 30-day challenge. It's seriously amazing. If you need a place to start, start here: Clicky.

So for the past 24 days, I have been rocking out with Lisa for 45-75 minutes a day. It's a mix of cardio and strength training, and really lets me push myself. I love that.

Once the challenge is over, I'm going to start New Rules of Lifting for Women. I'm excited to get back to lifting heavy again. This month has been much needed. And since NROL is only three days a week, I'll likely supplement with some interval exercises at the Daily HIIT.

I'm excited to share that experience with everyone here, and I'll be posting daily to keep you updated. In addition to NROL, I was encouraged to sign up for a 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. In the spirit of competition, I threw myself into Couch to 5k (c25k) week 5, so that I can run my 5k as fast as possible.


It will be a very busy November, but I'm so excited to get it going.

Starting Out

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love writing. I don't get to do it as often as I like, and I've always wanted to start a blog to let that piece of me free. The problem with starting a blog is figuring out what you want to blog about. There are so many things I could talk about, but are they things others would want to read? I don't know. But we'll certainly find out.

Thanks to the encouragement of some lovely ladies on a fitness forum I follow, I'm going to start off by writing about my personal journey with fitness.

Growing up I was never thin and never heavy. I definitely had a baby-fat stage around puberty, but even that wasn't over the top. When I was 15, I started going to the gym occasionally with my mom, but neither of us were terribly fitness-oriented. When we went, we usually spent 30 to 45 minutes on the elliptical and called it a day. That was exercise to me.

This is funny looking back because my parents were really in to weightlifting when I was a toddler. Looking at pictures, they were ripped. It worked for their bodies. But they pushed too hard, and that phase eventually faded, leaving them relatively healthy but not fit.

So growing up through high school and into college, my understanding of fitness and health had a lot to do with the scale. The scale and I had a trying relationship at best. This is silly because at my mom's thinnest and fittest, she weighed 135 pounds at 5'2" (BMI just under 25). I'm four inches taller, but I was convinced that I should definitely be in the 120s because, BMI, obviously. 

I tried fad diets, but overall I just did not eat well. I wasn't overweight, but I definitely wasn't healthy. I topped out around 160 pounds senior year of high school. When I started college, I started eating healthier and lost 20 pounds in the first year. I started a weight loss challenge at a local YMCA, and lost 10 more pounds. This challenge encouraged an hour a day of exercise and a 1,200 calorie diet. It wasn't healthy. It certainly wasn't sustainable, but I got down to 128 pounds at my lowest, and that number mattered to me. The scale mattered to me.

Once I stopped doing weight loss challenges, my number slowly but surely went back into the 140s. I know now that I starving my body for a number.

In the past year, I figured out that my body likes being in the 140s—the high 140s. And my body needs almost double the calories that I was giving it at my lowest.

So now I eat to nourish my body and my mind. I have a lot of work to do on a healthy diet, but it's infinitely better than it was. And I lift because that's what my body responds to. And I do high intensity interval training because it's fast, and my body responds to it. And I weigh 152 pounds. And I love that. Because I'm living strong.

So let's see where we go from here.