Sarah Gets Healthy

Au Revoir

2010-09-21T06:51:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed how I haven't blogged in weeks? Yes, weeks!

Well, that's because I'm quitting my blog. There I said it. I admit it.

But before you judge, I have some reasons for quitting:

1. I don't really have anything to say.
While I continue to push myself in workouts and watch what I eat, my healthiness journey has become more of an unconscious effort than anything. What this means is that when I sit down to blog, I don't really have much to say. Yes, I went to the gym. Yes, I may have had dessert but I avoided second helpings. It's kind of been the same tune for months now. I figure this is boring for you guys to read!

2. I've run out of tips.
Many health blogs are run by people who are constantly trying new things and handing out more tips than Shape Magazine. Not me. I find something that works and I stick with it. I'm not constantly trying new recipes and I'm not constantly doing exotic workouts. I've kept my weight off here for more than a year and I've done it the boring way: working out and watching my food. Not too exciting to blog about, if you ask me!

3. I frankly don't have time.
For the past month, my life has been uber busy. I've been slammed at work, I continue to work most nights at home, and my second job has started up. So free time is something I'm lacking. And when I have free time, I don't want to spend it at a computer.

What I promise you (and myself!):
1. I will continue to work out. Working out has become such a MAJOR part of my life, I can't imagine going back to my previous workout schedule (aka never). I hit the gym 5-6 days/week and I don't want to change this. I have fallen in love with running and am training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile in two weeks. I will continue to sign up for races. I will continue to push myself. I will continue to sweat!

2. I will admit my mistakes.
The blog has been a great place for me to say "Drat! I messed up. OK let's move on." I think that's a very important step in being healthy. If you can't admit that you've messed up, you can't learn from it! Yes, I mess up. More than I should. And facing those mess ups has been important to me.

3. I will watch what I eat.
Just because I'm done blogging does not mean I now have permission to now eat pizza and take out for every meal. While I do indulge in these from time to time, I can't go back to making it an everyday occurrence.

So I took a break from blogging these past few weeks to see if I could do it. Could I really follow through on these three things without the accountability of a blog? Could I rid myself of all responsibility? Well, for the past few weeks I haven't skipped workouts. I haven't eaten much differently. And I haven't gained weight. So that tells me it's time to move on.

I still love reading weight loss/health blogs and will continue to frequent them. But for now I'm ready to move onto the next step of my journey: it's time to go it on my own.

I so appreciate all of your comments, tips, and love over the course of my blogging time. I owe where I am to all of you!

No turning back now

2010-08-27T09:50:00.001-07:00

It's official: I'm all signed up to run the Twin Cities 10 Mile on Oct. 3rd. WooHoo?

It's not that I'm dreading the race, it's that I haven't even started training and it's a little more than a month away. How did I let myself slack? I've been running pretty frequently and can do about 6 miles now but I'm on no kind of a training program. So I'm a bit nervous.

To add to the nerves: the race is a competition. Yeah yeah...all races are competitions. But this one seriously is! I've signed up to be on a Media Team through my magazine and we're running vs. the Star Tribune and a few other media outlets. So my time will actually count. EEK! We've won the race the past few years, so the pressure is on!

Other than that, it's almost the weekend! I have another busy one.

Tonight one of my BFFs Nick is hosting an art gallery opening at Aloft. Should be fun! And then tomorrow I am playing an early-morning make-up tennis game and working in the afternoon. Tomorrow evening I'm headed home to hit the town for my friend Emily's birthday party. Then Sunday morning I'm playing MORE tennis with my mom and am going to a work party. All in all, packed weekend! I'll update y'all on Monday!

Have a good one!

Fail Blog

2010-08-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, has it really been a week since I've blogged? EEHH sorry readership. Life is so busy right now and work has me going going. But I'll give you a little update.

Let's see, where did I leave off. Oh yes, last weekend. My weekend was great (aren't they always?). I dogsat (hmm apparently that's not a word?) on Friday night which means I spent the night in Chanhassen. I got home from a dentist appointment (ouch, cavity. EEK) and had about 20 minutes to get a workout in before my plans for the night. So I hopped on my mom's treadmill real quick. It's in the basement and nice and hidden so I really heart this treadmill. Mostly because I semi-dance the whole time I run on it. Not OK GO style dancing, but dancing nonetheless. And my fave jam of the moment, "Club Can't Even Handle Me" kept me groovin. By the end of that 20 minutes of dancing and running, I was a ball of sweat. Which was muy good because after running I showered quick and met Emily, one of my high school besties. I had free tickets to Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's All Shook Up so we had a little date night. We had a few drinks before, apps, entrees, and desserts. All was included so we took advantage! Let's just say I was full...for a while! But it was a fun night and the show was soooo good. Loved it. And I'm not even a huge musical fan.

Saturday I had to get up early to work my first shift of the season at the Gopher stadium. I'm taking on this second job for another season. I really liked it last year, plus the people are great. This was just some kind of a preview day and I was outta there by 12:30, which was nice. And I was TIRED. So I napped and lounged until that night when my friend Scott was having a rooftop party in St. Paul. So. Much. Fun. Crossing the river is worth it every now and then apparently. Plus, a ton of my favorite people were there so it was fun to catch up with what felt like everyone.

Sunday we woke up super early to watch my roommate Dan tackle his first triathalon! It was at Lake Phalen but we had to park about 2 miles away due to the bike route. So by the time we got to the finish line, we had missed him. Boo. But I'll post a picture of him post-race anyway since he deserves some shout outs! Here he his post-race with his BFF Kelli who also did the tri. We did see Kelli cross the finish line! At least our journey to St. Paul (the second in one weekend, what?) wasn't for nothing!

Then I was exhausted after two late nights/early mornings and the day was gorgeous so I hit the beach with some friends. All in all, a great weekend.

But did you notice? Oh yes, after my run my weekend was a little lax (well, really lax) on the working out. Oh well, life goes on.

So far this week has been crazy with work (hence my no posting) but I've been getting my activity in and eating well despite the crazy so that's been good. Especially because I've been in and out of the office interviewing people for a story I'm working on, which is taking me away from my routine. And we all know, no routine = scary!

But Monday I had a minor accomplishment. I had an interview at 3:30 so I was home by 4:30 (which is a little earlier than normal). All day I had planned to go right to the gym after my interview but come 4:30 I found myself parked infront of my house dreaming of sitting in the sun and reading my book. I was having a mini-fight with myself while sitting in my car until finally I said (outloud, mind you) "No! You're going to the gym." So I started the car back up and went to the gym. Did low-impact bike and elliptical, but it's still better than nothing! I was proud of myself for going despite every intention to sabotage myself!

Especially because Monday night I had a pizza dinner date with Kate and Sarah. We made 4 different kinds of pizza on homemade crust Sarah made. It was delish! And always fun to catch up with these ladies.

And last night I met my mom after work for some tennis. She is getting good! She was a little down after losing the first set 6-0, but then she totally came back and ended up almost beating me in the second set. The set was 7-5. Go mom!

OK, there's a little update for you. Sorry about my sporadic blogging. Sometimes it feels like I don't really having anything to say, but then I come on here and write a novel like today. :-)

Walking the dog

2010-08-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! Have I really not updated my blog since Monday? Sorry everybody! I've been super swamped at work and I have been working all day and then going home to work some more. So really, no new exciting updates in my world.

But I have gotten some great workouts in despite my work schedule. All week, after I work from home for a few hours, I've been taking Jack on nice, long walks. Monday, Eric and I took him on a 2-hour walk around Lake of the Isles. Perfect weather. Then Tuesday I took him on a long walk to Lake Calhoun and back while zoning out to my iPod. We took a bit of a detour home so it was about an hour and a half walk.

And last night I took him to the dog park. Now I know that walking isn't rigorous exercise, but taking Jack on these walks is better than sitting on the couch. I love that he gives me a reason to lace up my shoes and clear my head.

So last night we went to Minnehaha Dog Park. If you have a dog and you have not been, go now! Like, run. It's the best dog park in the city, hands down. You turn into the park at 54th & Hiawatha/Hwy 55 and you're there! Park at the meters, not in the lot (you need a permit). Here are some pictures of one of my favorite places in the city. You know I can't resist taking pictures of Jack when the camera is out!

Jack's ready to go!

Entrance to the park. After this point, dogs can be off leash. (Technically, the off leash part doesn't start for another half mile or so, but everyone takes them off leashes here. Plus, it's all fenced in, so why not?)

Got Jack to pose for a picture for me. This was a small miracle.

You walk completely downhill to get to the river. You know what this means: leaving is a nice uphill hike.

Jack usually gets to the river a few minutes before me since he bolts ahead. He doesn't swim, but he loves to "wade" in the water.

Long stretch of beach, just for dogs! It's really so much fun. And the only dog-friendly beach in the cities. (Trust me, I've looked)

Up from the beach there is tons of room for dogs to run and play. As you can tell by this picture, the park was a bit empty. But Jack was still running around like a crazy.

Then as you leave, you have to hike back up the hills. And the terrain is a bit rocky, so you've got to stay on your toes. Here we are, starting the uphill journey.

So after you've walked uphill for a while, you hit these stairs. They're not huge stairs, but I'm almost always panting by the top. Feel like my thighs and booty get a good workout here!

So while taking Jack on long walks and to the dog park is no substitute for a workout in my book, it beats sitting on the couch! And I always feel like such a good dog mom when he's tuckered from a walk or playing.

Plus, after these walks, I usually fall asleep nice and quick too!

Weekend Recap

2010-08-16T06:36:00.001-07:00

How was the weekend?

Mine was great! Perfect weather here in MN. Sun with little humidity. Thank you Mother Nature! We needed it after how hard and hot last week was!

I had a great weekend at home, which I haven't had in a while. With so much travel and whatnot it was nice to have a somewhat "normal" weekend.

Friday I got my strength training in after work and then worked my second job. I came home, made dinner, and spent the night hunkered down with my computer doing some freelance work. Uneventful Friday night, but it felt great to get some stuff done and just chill.

Woke up semi-early on Saturday to get a run around Lake Calhoun in. I haven't run the lakes in weeks and I must start training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile. So it was nice to get a nice 5 miles in.

Of course, I took a post-workout sweaty pic for you.

I've become addicted to running in hats. Not only do they keep my hair in and the sun out of my eyes, but they also hide the sweaty a little bit. I thought I'd model for you.

With hat.

Sans hat.

Yeah...I am in love with hats.

The weather was perfect Saturday so I went to the New Hope Farmer's Market with Eric (he works for New Hope and started the Farmer's Market. It's a great one!) and then went to the beach to catch some rays. Perfect Saturday if you ask me.

Then I hit the town to celebrate two birthdays.

First was Erin's Here we all are celebrating. Birthday girl is in the back.

Then was my friend Josh's birthday. Can you tell which one is the birthday boy? (Hint, he has a drink in hand and a sloppy look on his face).

Then Sunday was a family day.

My family has an annual croquet party at my great aunt's house. I went early to meet my mom for a few games of tennis first. We've got great courts right by our house that are always deserted. Perfect. It was a bit windy though...

Here we are. Post match. I kicked her booty. 6-1, 6-0. But it's fun that she's playing again. Plus, she's the whole reason I play! She loves the sport too and signed me up for lessons as a kid.

Croquet party on Lake Minnetonka. What a fabulous backyard, huh?

Ready to play! Of course my aunt had to walk into the background as this was being shot. Outta the way Mary! ha.

Great, great weekend. And now onto Monday!

Friday!

2010-08-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone! What is it about Fridays that makes everyone so happy? Oh I know, it's the weekend!

Last night Sarah and I had our tennis league, and it was a doozie! (doozy? Not sure here). Not only were the temps into the 90s, but we played a great team! One set even went to 9-7! (You have to win by 2, the winner usually ends having won 6 games). The game was eventually rained out, but we did play 30 games of tennis! 30! And we played pretty intense. It was fun!

I was happy to get a good sweat session in though because I ended up having to skip my lunch workout yesterday thanks to a slight work emergency (since been taken care of!). But I knew we had tennis so I was happy about that.

And now comes the weekend: the hard part.

Getting workouts in and eating healthy is a HUGE challenge on the weekends. But I'm feeling good about this weekend. I haven't had a "normal" weekend in a LONG time. Normal as in being in town. So I'm taking it upon myself to workout BOTH days. Today our office closes at noon so I'm going right to the gym afterward. All summer on our half day Fridays I have headed right home at noon thinking I will run or do something. And guess what? I don't! I nap, I watch TV, I have lunch, etc. So instead of going home, I have to hit the gym first. It'll be the first Friday I've worked out on in a looong time. And it'll be a great kickstart to the weekend.

Tomorrow I have all day free and it's supposed to be gorgeous, so I'd like to get a run in. I haven't run around the lakes in a few weeks and I miss it, so it's time to get back out there! And Sunday I have a tennis date with my mom before a party at my aunt's house. So lots of activity in there!

And now for the best news of the day (and possibly the reason I have a slight spring in my step): I've lost 5 pounds this week! 5 pounds?!?!? I know it's because I'm back into healthy mode after being out of it for a while and I know I won't get results like this probably ever again, but it's nice to see some instant gratification for my healthy week. More motivation to keep going! Given this 5 pounds isn't water weight, I just have 10 more to go before I'm back to my "old" self! :-)

Have a good weekend everybody! See you Monday!

Wet Treadmill

2010-08-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a cardio day for me and I decided to conquer another thing I used to do as part of my trainer routine: cardio intervals!

Since becoming addicted to running last summer, I've mostly completed long runs. (3 miles plus) and I wouldn't stop during my run. Stopping to me during a run is somewhat of a failure (and I know this is crazy and I have to talk myself out of bad thoughts everytime I have to stop). So I haven't done cardio intervals in a while, but when I first started working out, these intervals got me into good enough shape to do long runs!

So yesterday I hit the gym with my cardio schedule in hand.

Here she is! I just created this on excel. I set it up on the treadmill and follow it religiously.

My run is 40 minutes and it's a mix of going fast, conquering inclines, and walking to cool down. And a program like this (mixing fast/slow) burns more calories than a regular run. Hard to believe since I'm such an advocate of NOT stopping.

I can't figure out a way to get my program on this blog (formatting, ugh) but it's basically a mix of running, walking, sprinting, and mixing in inclines whenever you want. Make sure there are at least 5 times you are at an incline and try to make one of those times while you're running.

Obviously you can modify this routine however you want to fit your fitness levels. I was sweating like a mofo after my routine. I even got drops of sweat on the treadmill, ewww. And my shirt was soaked.

I brought my camera to the gym so I could take a sweaty pic for Jen's Sweaty Pic Blog Post today. Yay! That's me on there! I don't look neeearly as sweaty in that picture as I was.

Here was my one attempt at getting all of my sweaty glory. Ignore my stupid face, notice the wet shirt! Stomach, neck, and shoulders were soaked. So was my back! (I only had one try at this as someone came into the locker room right after I took it! Cameras in the locker room = a no-no).

I'm My Own Personal Trainer!

2010-08-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've decided, as part of my amped up workout routine, that I must re-incorporate circuit training back into my work out. When I first started working out and I got set up with a personal trainer, she designed a routine for me that I was supposed to do MWF. It consisted of strength training moves (push ups, squats, etc) split up by cardio moves (jumping jacks, running in place, etc). You then do two circuits of these moves. I did this routine religiously for 6 weeks (the length of the program) and guess what? The pounds fell off.

But then I got uber bored with it and dreaded my strength training days. Running on the treadmill just seemed better. Yes, running was better! This strength training stuff must have really been bad.

But since quitting those routines, my strength training has been more like weight lifting. And I only weight lift for about 20 minutes. Not really a quality exercise.

So now that I'm back in action, I decided to make up my own strength training routine.

You know those workout moves that you see in magazines and think, "Hmmm I like that move!" or "I should try that one!" but then you never really do?

Well yesterday, while making up my routine, I took a look at all of the moves I had cut out from magazines or saved over the year. And from those I made my own routine.

My new "moves"

So yesterday at the gym I gave it a go. The routine itself took me about 40 minutes (with some delays as I was learning the new moves) and I was sweating and panting like a crazy person. Which was nice.

So here's my new routine. These descriptions are from the magazines...so hopefully they make sense!

Tools: Bosu, dumbells (I would recommend starting with 5 lbs), and a mat.

Here is my set. Two moves (10 total) broken up by cardio to keep heart rate up.

1. Bosu Dip.
Sit on the edge of a Bosu and place your hands shoulder-width apart on top of it, fingers pointed forward. Extend legs on the ground in front of you. Raise right leg to hip height and straighten arms so butt is lifted. Slowly bend elbows, lowering butt toward the ground. Straighten arms and repeat. I did 6 reps of this with one leg, then 6 with the other.
2. Around the world Bosu Burpee.
Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold a Bosu in front of you, flat side facing you. Squat and place Bosu on the ground in front of feet. Jump feet back into plank position, then tilt the Bosu forward, to the right, toward you, and to the left. Return to center, jump feet foward, and stand up raising Bosu overhead. Do 10.

50 jumping jacks

1. Front to side raise.
Hold dumbell in each hand in front of hips (I used 8 pounds and it was HARD), palms facing thighs, and stand on a Bosu with feet hip-width apart. Find your balance, then raise arms to chest height in front of you, palms facing ground. Slowly move hands out to your sides. Reverse the motion to return to starting position. Do 12.
2. Work the plank.
Start in modified plank position on forearms and toes. Keeping back flat, draw right knee toward right elbow. Return to start. Draw left knee to left elbow. Return to start. This is one rep. Do 10.

20 squat side kicks. (Do a small squat and then kick to the side.)

1. Down dog sweep.
Starting in a pushup position, lift your hips and move into the downward-dog facing dog pose, keeping your legs straight and heels just off the floor. From that position, drop your hips toward the floor as you simultaneously rise your chest and shift your weight foward into upward-facing dog. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position. That's one rep. Do 15.
2. Uneven push up.
Get into a push up position with your left hand on the Bosu. Lower into a pushup until your chest is as close to the floor as possible. Press back up. Do 5 reps, then repeat on the other side with your right hand on the Bosu. If doing in modified position (with knees on the floor), do 10 on each side.

20 star kicks. Stand with arms up overhead. Kick right leg out and bring left arm to extended leg. Repeat with right arm coming to your extended left leg. That's one rep.

1. Tummy Tamer.
Lie faceup with knees bent, shins parallel to floor, legs pressed together, a weight cradled between shins (I used my 8lb weight, which was too much. I'd suggest 5 lbs). Lift shoulders off floor as you reach toward shins and grab weight. Extend les and extend arms overhead until hovering above floor. Return weight to shins for one rep. Do 15.
2. Star Ups.
Lie on your back with your arms and legs outstretched so that your body forms an X. Brace your core and raise your head, arms, and legs, a few inches off the floor. From that position, simultaneously bring your right arm and left leg together over your abdomen. Lower back to start. Repeat on the opposite side. That's one rep. Do 10.

50 butt kicks. Run in place with heels moving high toward butt.

1. Pretzel
Sit on the floor and bend your right leg, bringing your foot across your body; bend your left leg so that your foot is behind you. Try to lift your left knee off the floor 10 times then reverse your leg positions and repeat, lifting your right leg. (This one feels weird, but my booty is sore from it!)
2. Reshaping Reach
Crouch with left foot crossed behind right, left heel lifted, fingertips on floor. Leaving right fingers on floor, lean forward and extend left leg behind you as you reach let arm to ceiling. Return to start. Do 10. Repeat sides. (This one really tested my balance!)

Now do this again for the second set!

That's probably much more information that most of you wanted, but just in case anybody wanted to try my new moves, there are the directions!

It was fun to do something different than the moves I'm so used to. Plus, my body is feeling it today. My shoulders, glutes, and arms are sore. Very nice! I'm planning on doing this TuTh for 6 weeks. Here goes.

Pasta Recipe

2010-08-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Last night was night 1 of my "I'm going to be an adult and cook real recipes" challenge. And because I'm doing my best to be a good blogger, I took pictures!

I was making a broccoli, garlic, and lemon penne dish I found in one of my cookbooks. Here goes!

Whoops. First a slight disruption. Because I had my camera out and because he's my fave, here's Jack for your enjoyment. He's such a help in the kitchen picking up all of the food I drop.

American Cancer Society Eat Right cookbook. Has some great recipes in it! I bought this book more than a year ago at a used book sale (for $1! Score!) and had never opened it. Tisk Tisk.

(Could not get this picture to rotate! Sorry!)

I have to admit. The photo grabbed me. Then I saw the recipe was pretty dang easy.

I heart the PLUS pastas. Whole grain but cooks like white pasta.

I did snack on some grapes while cooking! I was starving!

The recipe called for frozen broccoli, but I prefer fresh. And I don't care how much the recipe called for, I used a whole head. Broccoli, yum!

So while the water is boiling and the noodles are cooking, in another pan you sautee garlic in olive oil. The recipe called for 10 cloves of garlic, which seemed like a ton. So I just put a few spoonfuls of minced garlic in.

When the pasta is close to done, add broccoli.

In the other pan, when the garlic is done being sauteed (about two minutes) add chicken broth and bring to a boil. You're supposed to let the chicken broth boil for 3-5 minutes so it thickens. I jumped the gun on this a bit and didn't let it boil down too much. It was a tad watery, but it didn't ruin it.

Pasta, waiting for the broth to boil!

PS the only problem I ran into here is that I did not realize that the recipe called for a whole box of pasta! So I used too-small of a pan and not enough water.

Because the pans were too small, I moved to a bigger bowl.
Combine pasta/broccoli (drained), lemon zest (this was my first time ever zesting a lemon!), and broth/garlic mixture and blend. Add Parmesan cheese.

Viola!

Overall: I liked this dish. As stated above, I should have let the broth boil for another minute or two as the dish was a bit "watery," but it was still good. And it made a ton. Lots of leftovers!

PS: It would be easy to be more creative and add more veggies to this. I thought of that as I was eating it. Also, for a stronger taste, I would recommend not using the whole pasta box. I think this recipe would work with less pasta.

Here's the official recipe if you're interested:

1 box penne pasta
garlic (however much you'd like. Recipe called for 10 cloves sliced, I just used some minced)
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 head broccoli (or frozen florets, however much you'd like)
1 lemon
Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T olive or canola oil

Bring water for penne to a boil in large pot. Add penne and cook per box instructions. When penne is al dante, add broccoli. When done, strain and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat oil and add garlic. Sautee for 1-2 minutes. When garlic is done, add chicken broth. Bring to a boil and let boil for 3-5 minutes to thicken. While boiling, zest lemon.

When broth is done, combine penne and broccoli with the broth/garlic mixture and add lemon zest. Top with Parmesan cheese. Serve.

Hopefully I'll have more cooking successes and will have more recipes to share on this blog. Until then, enjoy your day!

Time To Get Healthy

2010-08-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

So the title of my blog is "Sarah Gets Healthy." (Hopefully since you're here, you already know this). But I have a confession: I have not been so healthy as of late. Work was super crazy before I left and I skipped workouts and didn't cook (aka ate out. A lot). Then I was on vacation and had every meal out: Chinese, fries, burgers, etc. Plus, I didn't workout at ALL while on vacation. I knew I'd be up a few pounds but reality struck when I got home from my flight and stepped on the scale. I am up 15 pounds since this time last year. 15 POUNDS!!! How the hell did I do that? Well, I know how, but how could I let myself do that??

I'm worried that I am slipping back into old habits again and I'm going to gain all of my weight back. Mucho bad!!

Then, I started to think about my habits lately:

1. My working out has been fairly consistent, but I've been working out less (4-5 times/week as opposed to 6 days) and my workouts have been much less intense. I run, but not nearly as much as I used to. Uh oh...

2. I eat out a lot! When you hit your "maintenance" weight, it's hard not to slip back into old patterns because, heck, you deserve it! And that brownie didn't make me gain 30 pounds so why not another? Well, not anymore! When I first started to get healthy, I didn't eat out for a long time. And when I did, I paid attention to what I ordered. I quit doing this and the pounds have come back on. Coincidence? I think not.

3. I never walk Jack anymore. I used to walk Jack morning and night. Without fail. Come hell or high water. Now besides our trips to the dog park, I never walk him. This has to change. People are saying he's gained weight too!

So it's time to take control (once again) and change my habits for the better. I need to take control of this before I've completely ruined what I've accomplished in the past year!

I will do so by doing the following:

1. Cooking more. I used to look up healthy recipes, cook meals, and incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my diet. Time to do this again! Also, I'm going to make a weekly meal plan. Planning out my meals and knowing what I'm eating everyday (and looking at yummy, healthy recipes) will help me stay on track and avoid easy fast food.

2. Working out more consistently. I don't care how busy work gets, I will take my lunch hour to work out. And I need to start training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile in October! I will also get quality workouts when at the gym. No more 20 minutes of half-hearted weight lifting!

3. Walking Jack more. While this isn't a huge calorie burner, it used to be so nice to begin every day with some activity. Yeah, I had to get up earlier, but I was generally more alert in the morning after a nice walk. When I got healthy in January 2009, this was the first thing I changed about my routine and it really helped me stay motivated. Plus, you all know how much I love to spend time with my pooch! No, not my belly pooch, my dog!

4. No more diet coke. While I'm not sure how much this has impacted my recent weight gain, it's bad for me. And I'm seriously addicted to it. My diet coke consumption has been much less than before, but I still have a few every week. Time to cold turkey that stuff!

So I started my new plan right away with a nice, healthy Sunday yesterday. I didn't wait until Monday! Good sign.

I spread out my cookbooks to make a meal plan for the week.

I have tons of cookbooks! Now time to use them!

Then I made a looong grocery list with all of my ingredients. I bought tons of produce. Already shows I'm off to a good start.

After grocery shopping on Sunday morning (So nice. No crowds!) I went to my mom's to pick up Jack and spend some time with the family. My brother was in town from Madison (he's a Badger) so the family threw together a nice BBQ. I said no to chips and tried to keep my burger light.

Then my mom and I went to play tennis. Tons of fun but so hot! Seriously, yesterday was a rough one! After about 45 minutes of tennis we called it quits. But after that I wanted to workout more (I was craving some activity after my vacay) so I ran around the neighborhood. No easy feat with the heat yesterday, but I did it! Probably only ran 1.5 miles, but I'll take it. Plus, the route I did is one that I used to conquer all of the time when I was out of shape and I would have to stop many times. This time, even with the heat, I didn't stop!

Then I came home and made some soup for lunches for the week and made a nice, light dinner.

Already feeling good about my new outlook and excited to take this on! Hoping I can fix my months of messing up! Wish me luck!

Vacay Recap!

2010-08-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm back!

My vacation to Los Angeles was absolutely wonderful! Hit up the West Coast with Nikki and Eric. And we stayed with our friend Nate who lives by Venice Beach. But I'm happy to be home after a whirlwind 6 days full of sightseeing, friends, and lots of sun!

Here is a quick photo recap of my trip. Enjoy! Real blog on renewing my healthy lifestyle tomorrow. (Because, you know, nothing throws a healthy life off like a vacay).

Nicole and myself. In flight!
We arrived late Monday night so we just hit the hay.

We woke up bright and early Tuesday so we had time to hit Malibu and Calabasas before picking up Eric at the airport. Here we are in Malibu Canyon.

Picked up Eric and headed to Santa Monica. Here we are at Third Street Promenade.

Santa Monica Pier

Wednesday. We tried to get on the Price Is Right, but no dice. So we hit up Venice Beach. Here is my excellent hot dog (well, two hot dogs) from the boardwalk.

Muscle Beach on Venice Beach. Yeah...look at those guns.

Pacific Ocean in the background!

Thursday was Hollywood day. Hollywood sign in the distant background.

We found a Harry Potter store! Of course we had to play with the wands.

Malibu! Gorgeous.

We also met some new friends and hit the town with them. Tres fun.

So there's a very brief recap of some choice pictures. I had an absolutely amazing time. The weather was perfect. 70 degrees with no humidity (very nice right now as I'm sweating in my house) and we had lots of sun.

But I'm happy to be home. I went and picked up Jack from my mom's house. I missed him so much, it was nice to come home to him!

And now I'm in normal post-vacay mode: Getting life back in order, getting back on track with food/diet (much more about this tomorrow), and catching up on sleep!

Hope everyone had a nice week! :-)

Vacation!

2010-08-02T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Happy Monday to me because I'm officially on vacation for the week. Lovin' it so far!

This past weekend I went up to Aitkin, MN (near Lake Mille Lacs) for a relaxing weekend with the fam. I drove up with my mom and Jack and we met my mom's boyfriend Jeff and his parents for a nice weekend. We played lots of cards Friday night and that's pretty much it. I was in bed by 9:30. Ahhh freaking wonderful.

Saturday my mom and I woke up early to play some tennis. There were some great courts by the Aitkin High School that we had to ourselves. My mom hasn't played in years but she's the reason I play so it was fun to hit the court with her. She had some trouble serving but some of her shots were hard to hit! It was great to play with her and tons of fun. Plus, we were happy to get some exercise in. After tennis we hit some garage sales and then it was time to get on the lake. I was the only "kid" there so I got to tube as much as I wanted, and that was great! My mom even tried tubing (her first time ever!) and that was hilarious to watch. Then we just hung out, enjoyed the sun, and played some more cards. Saturday night I was in bed by 11. I just loved being early to bed all weekend!

Sunday my mom and I played more tennis and then we came back and were ready to hit the road. When we got back yesterday I was go, go, go with errands because today I'm headed to Los Angeles for some vacation! Nikki, Eric, and I are visiting our friend Nate and enjoying the City of Angeles. I absolutely can't wait!

So you won't hear from me for a while. But the best news: I got a new camera for the trip (mine has been MIA for a while here) so I'll have lots of pictures to update y'all after the trip.

Enjoy your week!

What Friends Are For

2010-07-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

On my nearly constant to-do list lately, blogging seems to come last. Trust me, I want to blog but sometimes I go the whole day and then think, "ek! I didn't blog!" Well, I know y'all can survive without me but I'm trying!

So I'll give you a little recap on my week so far, OK? OK!

The theme so far this week: my friends rock and really help me out.

Monday night I went over to Jessica's house for a dinner date. Jess is my vegan amiga and dang she is a good cook. She always makes somewhat adventurous dishes (well, for me) and I always gobble them right up. Monday was no exception. I texted her that I had tons of potatoes from the Farmer's Market left over and could bring them. She said great! And she was making a noodle soup. Hmm what to expect?

I got there and she was making Udon Noodle Soup. Something I've always wanted to try at restaurants but have been a bit cautious of. The soup was fab! Lots of veggies and the broth was great. Then she steamed the potatoes and put curry powder and a bunch of other spices on them. They were amazing too! And for appetizers we had these Vegan Munchees that I got at the Wedge. They were great! You get 12 for about $4 and they are 150 calories for 6 of them! Not too shabby for an app.

Of course I was a bad blogger and didn't take pics of any of the food, but it was fab. Everyone should really check out Jessica's blog. She amazes me. And she's been a great supporter in my whole getting healthy journey. I heart that she loves to cook healthy meals. And it works out, since I love to eat!

Then we took our doggies on a little walk around the neighborhood. It wasn't strenuous activity, but after skipping the gym Monday, I'll take it.

Then yesterday lunchtime hit and I had had a really stressful day. All I wanted to do was skip the gym and run to Chipotle. I KNEW I shouldn't do that, so I emailed Sarah. A call for help if you will. Here's what I said:

"I am TWO SECONDS away from going to get Chipotle and I brought my lunch and am skipping the gym to work. STOP ME!" (this is a copy/paste from my email to her)

Yeah, that's a cry for help.

But like a good friend, Sarah called within two seconds.

"Put down the burrito," she said. HAHA, good one. It continued. "Here's what you're going to do...grab your gym stuff and go to the gym. Even if it's just for a half hour."

Well that was just what I needed to hear. I stepped away from my nonstop work and went to the gym. I did a half hour of weight lifting and abs. Yeah, it wasn't the most intense workout but it was something! And I did feel rejuvenated when I got back to my desk. And the trip to the gym motivated me to eat the lunch I brought. Yay! Success.

What friends are for indeed.

Again today I'm too busy to go to the gym over lunch but it's beautiful out today so I'm determined to get a nice bike ride in after work. I haven't gone around the lakes in a while so I'm excited to hit the trails.

But have I mentioned to you guys why I'm so swamped? Well I'm in the middle of a project, but the more importantly: I'm going on vacation next week! I'm off to LA with Nikki and Eric for the WEEK! Should be amazing. It's what's keeping me going right now.

Of course before then I've got to get two weeks worth of work done in one, but once this week is over it's smooth sailing!

Heart of Summer Recap

2010-07-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

How was the weekend? Mine was absolutely fab.

It was my first weekend in town in what feels like forever!

On Friday night, Nikki, Sarah, and I just watched movies and hung out. Felt nice to just sit around and do nothing.

Sarah and I were taking it easy because Saturday morning we finally took on the Heart of Summer 10k!

We got up nice and early and were both feeling pretty low key about it.

The route was just twice around Lake Nokomis. It was a really flat course, which was great. And it had rained the night before so it was cooler than it has been.

Before the race with our bibs on! (Excuse the trunk of the car in the photo!)
PS: Note how I have long sleeves on! That cover up came off shortly after Mile 1. Overdressed!

The race itself went OK. We ran the first mile in 9:13: great time! Then around Mile 2 I got a nasty sideache. If we were running a 5K I would have just run through it. But since we still had 4 miles to go, I had to walk a bit, which frustrated me because I otherwise felt great.

While we were walking though Sarah asked me how I was breathing. In this conversation I realized I run looking at the ground infront of me. She suggested that I might not be getting enough oxygen to my bod. So when I started running I consciously kept my head up and boy did it make a difference! And I kept putting my head down by habit, so I definitely do look down! Glad I'm now aware of this!

With my head up, miles 3-5 were pretty good. We did stop to talk a couple of times so that we could sprint at the end.

Around Mile 5 you could tell we were tired, but no point in stopping then. By the time we passed the 6-Mile marker we sprinted to the finish.

Total time: 1 hour 6 minutes. Not the under an hour we were shooting for, but I'll take it!

The post-race pic. I love how badass Sarah looks with her bandana on!

After the race is tagged along with Nikki, her mom, and her mom's fiancee to the New Hope Farmer's Market. Eric started this market last year (he works for the city of New Hope) and I hadn't been back since opening day.

Wow, what a great market! So many veggies! I bought baby new red potatoes and sugar snap peas. I made a stir fry with the peas Saturday night, Yum!

Then we went to Mall of America and Nikki had a party Saturday night. Phew, busy day!

Sunday was a productive one. I went to the Starkey Gala for work (and spotted a few celebs: Adrian Peterson, The Doobie Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Nick Lachey, Peter Alexander, and a few more) and then came home and cleaned and did laundry. It felt amazing!

But this weekend was an exhausting one! Now ready for the week! Happy Monday!

Friday!

2010-07-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!

I'm super pumped about this weekend because it is my first weekend in town in a month! A MONTH! While I have greatly enjoyed my weekends away, there's nothing like time spent at home. Plus, I'm gone the next two weekends after this! Phew!

I am starting to feel like my old self as I get back on track this past week. I've been working out over lunch (which has been hard, more on this in a minute) and I've been cutting back on the eating out (which has happened as a result of my putting off grocery shopping!). When I skip workouts and constantly don't eat healthy I start to feel in a funk. So I'm always a bit happy when Monday rolls around because it means my week routine can begin!

I'm always sooooo much better health-wise during the week. Isn't everyone?

Anyway, back to my lunchtime workouts. I have been absolutely, redonkulously swamped at work (hence my sporadic posting). Which means that come 11 a.m. most days I'm thinking "Hmm I'll skip my workout. I need to stay and work." But the reality is: what I need more is to get some exercise in and boost my endorphins!

Nothing pumps me up for the rest of the day like my lunchtime workout. Not only am I proud of myself, but I am able to not snack in the afternoon and I get a boost of energy. So really when I am swamped, what I need is to take that hour for myself and get a workout in.

And yesterday I did just that. I could have easily been at my desk the entire day but I really wanted to get at least one run in before my 10k tomorrow (eeeeeekkkkk!!!!). I haven't run in more than a week (who am I?). So I made a last minute decision to grab my gym bag and hit the treadmill. Boy am I glad I did! I ran 3 miles with no problems, sweat a TON (which always feels nice), and had a great, productive afternoon because of it.

So moral of the story: when it feels like you don't have time for a workout, you really do. You just need to make that #1 on your list!

And now it's Friday! Weekend time! Tonight I am lounging (which will feel amazing!) so I can get up and run 6 miles at 7:30 a.m. (hmmm doing races like this is a whole level of crazy, isn't it?). I'm excited for the 10k but nervous as well as I haven't trained or been running a ton lately. But either way, it'll be fine. I know I can run 6 miles (I've done it countless times before!), plus I'm running with Sarah, which always keeps me moving longer.

I'll have photos and an update on how it goes on Monday. Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Heart of Summer!

2010-07-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

There's no turning back now. I've officially done it.

This morning I finally registered for the Heart of Summer 10K this morning. It's this Saturday (how's that for last minute?) and I've done absolutely no training. I'm nervous for it but I'll have my runnin' partner Sarah by my side so we'll power through. Plus, I NEED a reason to get moving.

Because it's time to admit something:

I haven't worked out since last Thursday. What the heck? OMG, horrible.

I'm trying not to beat myself up about it, but I just haven't had time to workout lately. I was out of town on the weekend and with rain + a nice size hangover I didn't get a run in up at my cabin. And yesterday I was busy all day because I went to see Zac Efron at MOA. (more on this in a minute).

So today I'm lacing up my shoes and hitting the gym hard over lunch. Every minute is going to be an ass kicking one. I feel this need to really work hard at it. And that's great! The thing to focus on here is that I MISS exercising. Now, I just have to actually do it!

So I took the afternoon and went to see Zac Efron at the Mall of America yesterday. I'm a huge fan and I had a press pass, which got me into some pretty sweet seats, but I didn't get to meet the hottie. (Yes, I think he's gorgeous. Judge away.)

Tons O' Zac fans at MOA.

He's in the blue there. This is as close as I got. But worth it!

It did take up a good chunk of my afternoon though and by the time I got home it was time for dinner with my J-school besties, Sarah and Kate!

The Spread. Yum!

We have a standing date to get together for dinner once/month and last night was great! Sarah made tacos fixin's and chicken fajitas. Yum! Plus, not too shabby on the health side. Although we did follow up dinner with a trip to Sebastian Joe's. Oops!

Busy Summer!

2010-07-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been crazyfun, but I have to admit: my blogging has been less than sporadic. Sorry about that. I haven't forgotten about you!

But don't worry, I have some pictures to share of my latest cohorts!

On Thursday I got a call from my friend Bryan. He's a bigshot PR guy and he was calling because he had free tickets to the Champion's Club and could take me and a date as a client thank you. (We do business on occasion). I jumped at the chance! I hadn't been to a Twins game at Target Field plus I heart spending time with Bryan plus Champion's Club = free food and booze and killer seats. Yes please!

I brought Sarah as my date as we had to skip tennis to take advantage of this! Here we are at dinner at the Champion's Club. GREAT food!

Target Field!

Row 7! We were thisclose to Joe Mauer.

Sarah and I in our pimp seats!

The whole gang. Bryan, Angela, me, and Sarah.

It was seriously an amazing time! Plus we stayed late and met Joe Mauer. But the picture I have with him is a bit creepy. But that was great too!

Friday I worked a half day because I was taking my friends up to my cabin! We got there around 5 p.m. on Friday night, which was great. Friday night we had cocktails and enjoyed the bonfire.

Saturday we woke up to beautiful weather, but it started to rain by lunch so we played card games and relaxed. It was actually really nice!

Ready for cards!

Then the rain cleared and we played some yard games.

Nikki and I were on a team titled "Goldie's Girls" since we're from MN.

Here is this beachball game we made up. All you had to do was keep it in the air. It was hard, but fun!

Taking a break from games for a pic. Dan, me, and Nick.

When the sun set we started up the bonfire and played more games! Lots of games!
Here are Mark, Nikki, and Dan.

Then Sunday came and it was time to go! Here's the whole group.
Nick, Mark, Me (holding Jack), Nikki, Eric, and Dan.
Corby (Mark's dog) is in the front.

It was a great time! But I'm tired today!

All of this fun also means that my health and fitness goals have taken a backseat. I haven't been to the gym since Thursday and cabin means that healthy eating doesn't really happen. But I do feel like we were at least pretty active! haha.

The goal this week: lots of running as Sarah and I have a 10k this weekend!

My Issue With Running

2010-07-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Next weekend, Sarah and I are running the Heart of Summer 10K. We have a goal: to run it in under an hour. And yesterday we talked about how worried we are!

We both think we're pretty psyched out because of that difficult 5K we did a couple of weeks ago. It was hot. It was hilly. I got a sideache. Ugh.

We're both pretty avid runners but lately when we hit the trail, it's been hard. Is it the heat? Is it that I'm trying to run farther? Yesterday I ran over lunch and had to stop 5 minutes in! Just a month ago I ran for more than 2 hours? What is up??

This is my issue with races: the pressure I put on myself.

I want to run this race in under an hour, but what is going to happen if I don't? The last 10K I ran I did in an hour and 1 minute. And I was dang proud of myself. I just wanted to run that whole race.

In the past, I've gone into races with low expectations and because of that I've always been proud of myself. But this time my goal is a hard one to meet (for me). I know it's do-able but training for a fast run has made me burn out pretty quick.

So I think for training I'm going back to my slower pace. I can't train for speed, I just had to decide to go for it when I'm racing. You never know what is going to hit you on race day.

And I really need to figure out what works for me with training because yesterday I signed up for the Twin Cities 10 Mile! EEK.

Weekend Out East

2010-07-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry my blogging habits were sporadic at best last week. Apparently things get busy post-holiday! But now I'm back for my first full week in about a month!

I must blog about this past weekend though. It was an absolute blast!

We were invited up to our friend Sam's cabin, just outside of Hudson.

We got there Friday night right around dinner time and naturally, it was cocktail hour. There was about 10 of us up there so we lounged and played a few drinking games.

Me, Dan, Nikki, our wonderful host Sam, Kyle, and Allison.

Dan, Me, Jack, Nikki, and Nick. Oh yeah! Jack got to come. He loves cabins so he had a blast.

Then Saturday we got up and played some tennis. Oh yeah, they have a tennis court on property! I played vs. Nick and Nikki and it was super fun. By lunchtime we were hot and sweaty so it was time to head to the lake! Sam's place is gorgeous and down the hill from the cabin he has a great beach set up and a boat. So we did some swimming and then it was boating time!

Nikki, Nick, and myself. Ready to hit the water!

We did tubing and lots of it. I freaking LOVE tubing but I have to admit. I've been a bit sore ever since! Especially in my obliques. Good things.

Nick and I are on the double tube here. Our friend Zoey is in the single. She could tube for days.

Here are Nikki and I. Post-fall.

Here's one of my fave pics to come out of the weekend. Dan lecturing Jack. Hilarious.

Then Saturday night we just enjoyed dinner and some drinks. Great time.

Here's the group: Dan, Nick, Jack, me, Nikki, Eric, Zoey, Sam, Kyle, Allison, and Martha.

Great, great time. This is what summer in Minnesota is all about!

Summer Must Haves

2010-07-08T07:28:00.000-07:00

Lately I am finding myself downright obsessed with a few products. They're all (fairly) healthy so I thought I'd share my latest obsessions. Enjoy!

A decent size bag of animal crackers can be found in the dollar bins of Targets right now. You can get a pretty big serving of these for only 120 calories. And while you have to watch it with these (it can be easy to finish the whole bag!) they're great for something crunchy at cabins or on the road this summer.

Did everyone know it's hot out? Yup, it's summer. And while browsing the dessert section of the grocery store I spotted Bomb Pops. Hmm loved these as a kid. So I took a look at the nutrition facts, there's only 80 calories in one of these! I instantly snatched a box. Great dessert alternative to chocolate.

I picked up a Vitamin Water Zero Lemonade last week and since then I've had about three of these puppies. So yum. And not too sweet or sour to enjoy. Plus, 0 cals! Obviously you don't want to substitute all water consumption with something like this, but it's been a nice treat.

In love with most of the Light & Fit flavors, but nothing beats plain ole raspberry in my book. These yogurts are generally a little bit more expensive than Yoplait, but dang there's worth it.

I have been having the absolute best luck with raspberries this season. Hmm maybe I'm on a kick? I never really cared for them until this year. Driscoll's have been don't-miss. The ones I bought Tuesday night are HUGE. And fab.

4th of July Recap

2010-07-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Still transitioning into real life after a nice, long weekend.

I had Friday off and absolutely loved it. I got up around 9ish and went on a run around Lake Calhoun with Sarah. We were hot and tired so we didn't make it the whole way, but we got some activity nonetheless. Then Friday afternoon I had to work my second job in Sartell, which is right by St. Cloud. Thanks to 4th of July cabin traffic, I was in my car for more than two and a half hours to get there! I was crabby, tired, and hungry by the time I got to my job. I made it through my shift and immediately scarfed McDonald's when I was done. Bad, but by that time I didn't care!

Saturday morning we got up nice and early to hit the road to Welch, MN. Me and a dozen friends were camping and then going river tubing. It was only about an hour drive and we got there nice and early so we could get a camping spot. We found our spot and set up. Then we got ready and headed down the river.

Here's where we camped. Now picture it filled with tents.

It was a great, great time. Lots of beer and sun, plus some of the most fun people I know all tied together on a floating barge. Excellent.

We were done around dinnertime and cooked hot dogs. Then sat around a bonfire for hours. It was great! Sleeping in a tent was not so great, but is it ever?

Then Sunday morning we got up waaay early (6:30--I had no idea what time it was!) and started to clean and pack. We all felt like hell and were full of sand, so why not hurry home? We stopped for breakfast at Perkins and were home by 10, which was kind of great.

I called my mom and her and her bf were going to watch the Chanhassen 4th of July parade. I quickly showered to join them. I heart parades! And it was a great one.

Here's the Chaska High School dance team. Loved them in high school! They were great!

So spent the day with the family and even played a competitive game of Bocce Ball with my mom. We love that game.

And then we went to a friend's condo on the river to watch the Minneapolis fireworks. What a great view we had!

All in all, fab fab weekend. And with yesterday off, it was a long one.

Now it's back to life, back to reality. Until next weekend...

Gosh, isn't summer the best?

Happy Fake Friday!

2010-07-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

It's my Fake Friday! I have tomorrow and Monday off from work. Yipee!! (Not that I hate my job or anything —quite the opposite!—but who doesn't love days off??)

I was super tired yesterday morning thanks to the midnight showing of Eclipse. I was actually OK in the morning when my alarm went off, but as the day dragged on and I had a few meetings, I was gettin' sleepy.

I had my gym clothes and wanted to workout. Then I got an idea: I should go on a run! Then I got an even better idea: I should run over to the U!

One of the joys of working downtown is my lunchtime running routes. I can easily run to the river and run the Stone Arch Bridge—gorgeous.

But yesterday I realized I could run over the U of M. My alma mater!

I freaking love it over there. The Washington Avenue Bridge is great. The Mall is gorgeous. So I went to gmaps pedometer to see how long a run to the U would be. 2 miles there. Hmm a little longer than I normally run (usually just do 3-3.5 miles over lunch) but 4 miles would be do-able. And it was so gorgeous out!

So I headed East toward the Washington Avenue Bridge. The sun was out, students were there. It was so great. And the atmosphere totally helped keep me running despite not having my iPod.

Then I hit the Northrop Mall. Gorgeous. And I even got to run by the journalism school. Ah nostalgia.

And then I headed back toward downtown. Ran all 4 miles and felt absolutely amazing afterward. Totally perked me up for the rest of the day!

When I never worked out, I would often read about how a workout would help beat grogginess. But who wants to workout when groggy?? Well yesterday, it did the trick and I felt great all day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now it's almost the holiday weekend. My big plans are river tubing on Saturday and camping. I have NEVER camped before, so this should be an adventure. Planning on doing some relaxing and getting some sun the rest of the weekend. Can't wait!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Flops! And a Mighnight Showing

2010-06-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was determined to hit the gym. I hadn't done anything since the 5k and I needed to get something in. But I got to work and realized I had forgotten my tennis shoes! EEEK. Hate, hate that!

But then I instantly thought: I wonder if I could workout in my flops? I could just limit my routine to some weight lifting and it would be OK, right?

Ready for my workout!

I did kind of feel like I was walking around the gym in my pajamas, but all in all, working out in flip flops turned out to be OK. I didn't get any weird looks, but the gym was nice and empty. Everyone must have the week off for the 4th?

I did my arms "routine" and a lot of abs. I'm sore today! Feels great. I'm so glad I got some strength training in. There was no way I could save my workout for last night.

Because the second I got home from work, I headed to Southdale to see Eclipse! Well, I saw all three Twilight movies, staring at 6:30. It was a long, but fun, night.

We got to Southdale in enough time to grab awesome seats. So we claimed them and then headed to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

With my fellow TwiHards, Nikki and Sarah.

I ordered the BEST pulled pork sandwich at Cheesecake Factory, but I neglected to take a picture. It was sooo yum. And while not the healthiest, it kept me full enough to stay away from the concessions all night. A feat in itself.

Concession stands: avoided! Yipee!

Nikki and I. Yes, we have shirts and are absolutely crazy about Twilight. Judge away. I don't care. Mostly because I'm tired after going to bed at 2:45 a.m. :-)

Oh and because Eclipse was AWESOME! Like, go see it. Now!

Weekend Wrap Up: 5k and Pride!

2010-06-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I'm back after a whirlwind weekend.

Friday night I had to work my second job and then I spent the night chilling. Mostly because on Saturday, Sarah and I ran the Heartbeat 5000 5k race.

And we wanted to kick its ass. Our plan was to run it in less than a half hour! That's a pretty quick pace for both of us, but we were feeling good.

Saturday morning was a gorgeous one, but it was also HOT. I was happy there wasn't rain though.

The 5k started at Father Hennepin Park on Main Street in Northeast Minneapolis. I love, love running in this area, so I was excited to do a race there.

At the starting line!

With Amanda, another priorfatgirl. Happy I saw her there!

Sarah and I, ready to get our 3.1 in!

And we were off! Our pace was faster than normal and you could tell. We were both huffing and puffing. But it was only 3 miles so we kept at it.

Well about 1.7 miles in, I got a sideache. And it was a killer. But we kept going and I ran through the pain. We hit a hill that was hard and it was so, so hot.

All in all, this 5k was a BIOTCH.

Heat + sideache + hills = ouch. But we soldiered through and really kicked it in when we saw the finish line. Like couldn't feel my legs.

We were determined to run this in under a half hour. We're doing a 10k in a month and really want to do that in under an hour.

But as we sprinted toward the finish line, we both knew we couldn't make it! We were going as fast as we could and both felt close to death.

Final time: 30:22.

Even though we didn't hit our goal, I'm still mighty proud of us. This race was HARD. And 22 seconds over a goal ain't too shabby. Just means we have to train more! Oh, joy.

On the Stone Arch Bridge with the finish line in the background.

Sarah, ready to jump off the bridge it was so hot! Ha!

I heart the Stone Arch Bridge. What a pretty view!

When we finished there were snacks, so we dug in. And we met TC Bear!

So after the 5k was done, it was time to focus on the real point of the weekend: Pride!

We hit the town on Saturday night for a block party, which was mucho fun despite the rain.

With our dear friend Marty, who traveled from Sioux Falls.

Sunday was the Pride parade and beer garden. So much fun. Is every year. And the weather was perfect! Amen.

With my lifelong besties: Eric and Rob.

And I figured this post would be perfect to end full circle. With my 5k and running and tennis partner Sarah!

And tonight is another exciting event: the Eclipse premiere!! Yes, I'm a Twihard. Oops had I not admitted this to you guys yet? Post on that tomorrow!

TGIF!!!

2010-06-25T06:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!

This weekend is a biggie for me. I have mucho to do and friends in town for the annual Pride festival. I'm waaay excited. Now if only mother nature will cut us some slack....

Here's a rundown of the schedule:

Tonight I'm working my second job until 8 then Sarah and I are hitting the Uptown Block Party. It's just a few blocks from my house, so why not?

Then in the a.m. Sarah and I are rising early to run a 5k! The Heartbeat 5000 is at Father Hennepin Park right in Northeast. I'm excited! And I'm shooting for less than a half hour. Hopefully I can make that happen! It'll be great training for the 10k Sarah and I are doing in July!

The rest of Saturday will either be spent shopping or at Loring Park. Feel like the weather is going to determine this one.

The Sunday is the big kahuna. Gay Pride Parade, Loring Park beer garden, and then the big block party downtown. Needless to say, I am taking Monday off of work!

I'll have pictures of it all of a post on Monday!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And here's props to Nikki, my stand-in tennis partner last night. Sarah had tickets to NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, so Nikki played in her place. For having claimed to not be that good, she was great! And we won our game! Here she is with the game winning balls. Our trophy if you will.

My friends are such good sports to pose for blog pics. :-)

Happy Friday everyone!

Mess up. Like, bigtime mess up.

2010-06-24T07:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, for one reason or another, was not a good day in my little healthy world here. I made mistake after mistake after mistake, and then to top off those mistakes, I made some more bad choices.

I don't really have any excuses either. I was busy at work, but that's no reason to just make horrible decisions. I had an event after work, but that shouldn't have caused me to make such dumb mistakes.

Ready for fess up time? Here she goes.

1. I brought my workout clothes, but didn't workout over lunch.
I was busy at work so I don't think I had time to take a full-on workout lunch complete with shower. But my plan from the get-go was to just lift weights and I normally don't shower after that. When I saw how busy I was I instantly thought, "Yup, not making it to the gym." I didn't fight my urge to skip. I didn't think of where else I could fit it in. I just didn't go.

2. I packed a lunch, but still went ventured out into the skyways and ate out.
Not only did I eat out, but I had Chinese. Like, worst decision ever. The lunch I brought wasn't anything I was excited about, but it was lunch. I should have eaten it. Plus, I am constantly trying to not spend money. Hence, packing a lunch. Fail on two counts.

3. I followed up my Chinese lunch with a brownie.
A coworker of mine emailed out that she brought brownies. I don't pass these brownies and they're nowhere in my eyesight. I didn't think about them at all yesterday. But then I overheard someone else say "brownie" and almost like clockwork I got up from my desk and went to find one for myself. Was I hungry? No. Was I even craving chocolate? No (and that's a rarity).

4. I planned a post-work run, but let laziness win.
I heard that it was raining all day but then when I got out of work it was beautifully sunny. "Hmmm, I should go on a run!" I thought. Nope, that was instantly stopped with time management thoughts. I didn't have time to run and shower before this event I was going to. So I just skipped any ideas of a run.

5. I did have a semi-healthy dinner.
A Boca chicken patty and corn. I'll take it. This was probably the best decision of my day. Sad.

6. At this event, I had beers. A multitude of beers.
No need to explain this one. I enjoy my brewskis. I planned to just have one or two. Well, I had four. On a weeknight! Don't worry, it gets worse.

7. After this event, I went to a late night happy hour.
The event I was at was right next to one of my favorite late night happy hours, Legends in Northeast Minneapolis. They have HUGE mugs of beer for $2 after 9 and half price apps. Well, I went just with intentions to get a beer. But then everyone started to order food....

8. At late night happy hour, I ordered tater tots. TATER TOTS!
I will happily admit that I didn't eat the whole plate by myself, there was lots of sharing going on, but still! Why did I need these? I wasn't even hungry. I just had my food beer goggles on. UGH.

9. Then this morning to counteract some of this, I was going to get up at 6 a.m. and hit the gym.
Well, you guessed it. Alarm goes off, Sarah doesn't get up. FAIL!

The only thing I can do at this point is just admit my mistakes and move on. I'm going to go to the gym for a bit today even though we have a company lunch. I just want to get some weight lifting in. And then I have tennis tonight. So I'll get some activity in.

I just hate when I have days like this. At the time I wasn't even thinking about how bad these decisions were, but now this morning I started to make a check list of where I went wrong in my head (and it looked something like this blog post) and I was just pissed at myself.

It's not that I even gained 5 pounds yesterday or anything, but I just FEEL like crap. I'm super thirsty (I'm blaming my beer + tater tots combo here), my stomach hurts, I'm tired as heck, and bloated like a mother.

You live, you learn, you move on. Right? Well, I'm trying.

Tennis Date!

2010-06-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

My brother is in town for two weeks. Naturally his schedule is packed with friends and family. Apparently he's one popular dude. But I was lucky enough to fit into his schedule last night. And we played tennis! Hmm must be the heart of the summer if I'm doing multiple tennis posts, huh?

My bro is my number 1 healthy life supporter. Mostly because he's so dang healthy himself. He's always quizzing me on whether or not I've been to the gym and what I'm up to with working out. It's nice he keeps me on my game.

And speaking of games, our game has always been tennis. We were raised by parents who both played tennis, and we grew up taking lessons. Our tradition after our lessons was to stay on the court and play for hours. He's awesome at it and routinely kicks my butt. But it's just so much fun to play with him, I can't stay mad.

So last night I went out to Chanhassen to meet him for some tennis and then we were having dinner with my mom and her bf.

Luckily, there's a tennis court a few blocks from our house.

The Joy of the 'burbs: empty tennis courts! You'd never find this in Uptown! It was just us the whole time. Tres nice.

My very worthy opponent. He wanted to pose like a senior portrait. What a good sport.

Playing tennis with Rob was freaking amazing. Every point was a hard fought point. You could tell we were trained to play by the same instructor. And Rob's roommate plays for the UW tennis team, so he's been taught some tricks. But overall I'd say we were matched equally and it was a great game. Many, many long volleys. It was so great. We even chatted while playing. Nice to catch up with him.

Not sure if y'all noticed but it was HOT last night. Like 90 and humid hot. So we only made it one set, but we played for more than an hour and a half. Our games took quite a while as we hit multiple rounds of deuce many times. Multiple times we had to pause because of sweat in our eyes. Ewww, but it kind of felt great.

Oh and sidenote, I did not win against him. He's always been able to beat me at tennis. Bugger.

With my broski Rob.

Love his face in this one. Had to post.

Then after tennis we had dinner with the fam. An amazing flank steak cooked by my mom bf Jeff. But I forgot to take pictures! And then my mom and I went on a walk around the neighborhood. I kind of love escaping to the 'burbs every now and then.

All in all, excellent night with the fam. Happy I live only a half hour away so I can sneak these in every now and then!

Weekend Up North!

2010-06-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I'm back after being away from technology for 2 days. It's weird to be away from it. Seriously, no TV, no cell phone, no Internet. It's kind of nice to get away like that every now and then!

I went to my cabin this weekend with my dad and Jack. Figured Father's Day was as good of time as any for us to have a bonding trip. And I had a great time!

We headed North Friday afternoon (thank you half day Fridays!) and were up there by about 6. We made dinner and had some time by the fire, and then it was bed time! Normally I never get to bed before midnight on a Friday, so it was kind of nice to crash at a reasonable time.

El cabino.

Fire pit. MANY hours spent here.

Then Saturday I woke up hoping to go on my 5-mile run. I heart running up there. Empty road. A perfect 5-mile trail. Wonderful. But it was sprinkling Saturday morning. And I've been caught in the rain up there before on a run, so I decided to skip it and either get it in later or Sunday.

So my dad and I started working. This cabin is great for relaxation, but there's also lots of work to do! And my dad is a nonstop worker, so I wanted to help him. Well, I didn't know what I had signed up for! We had two trees fall thanks to storms, so we spent all day Saturday cutting and splitting wood. I was moving some HUGE pieces of wood and was on the go until dinnertime. With no break! And then my dad had some mowing to do and instead of sitting around, I put mulch down on a garden. I was really tired after that. So needless to say I skipped my run. I was tired. My back hurt. I figured I had gotten enough of a workout in!

I made my dad take a break to get a picture with his truck "Rambo." He's had this thing since he was 25. We used it to haul wood. Fun, huh?

Jack. Tuckered after running around ALL day. He loves it up here.

So Saturday night I went to bed around 10:30. Again, it was kind of nice to hit the hay this early! Especially when I was tuckered.

Sunday morning I woke up to nicer weather and was determined not to miss out on my run. So I set out and was able to run the whole 5 miles, which is great! This route, while empty, is hilly! But I loved it, and definitely had a few Amber Atkins moments. (You know, in Drop Dead Gorgeous when she's practicing her tap routine while going to work??) I was jammin' to my music nice and good.

Post-run. Holy sweaty.

Beautiful day on Sunday. Here's our view of the lake. It's us and one other cabin on the lake, so it stays pretty quiet.

How Jack spent most of Sunday. Sleeping in the driveway. Yes, I know. I take too many pictures of him.

And that was the weekend! I've decided after a super active weekend I've earned a day off today. And tomorrow I have a tennis date with my brother!

Quiz!

2010-06-16T11:52:00.001-07:00

I follow Fitness Magazine on Twitter and on Wednesday they posted this quiz titled "How Healthy Are you?" Well, I (smugly?) like to think I'd do OK on a quiz like this. Sooo not the case.

Take it for yourself and see how you do.

Some of the answers are a bit misleading. When they're explained they make sense, but off the bat to a few I was like "What??"

TAKE THE QUIZ BEFORE READING FURTHER! Spoilers up ahead!

The quiz is not only about food and does have some questions about relationships and whatnot, but the few food things did make me pause.

--A doughnut for breakfast??
What? It explains that a 150 calorie doughnut is better than a 400 calorie muffin or nothing at all. But still, a doughnut? Some people might read that wrong.

--Vegetables covered in cheese/butter are OK?
It says that eating veggies in cheese and butter is better than not eating them at all. But, again, people might read that as it being OK to eat veggies like this.

We all know, if you're trying to be healthy and/or lose weight; doughnuts, cheese, and butter are sooo not the answer!

All in all I got 4 out of 12! 4!! UGH.

But I am feeling healthy today. Conned Sarah into running 4.5 miles with me this morning around Lake Calhoun. Of course she was game. We met at our usual 6:15 a.m. and I even brought Jack along so he could get some activity before the day. I had to get a morning workout in since I'm headed to my cabin with my dad at lunch time.

Which brings me to the weekend. It's Father's Day and the past few years I've spent it at my cabin with my dad. He loves nothing more than a weekend up at our cabin so spending time with him up there is really the perfect gift for him. Plus, I could use a little R n R and a weekend away. It's just the two of us going, so I'm looking forward to the bonding time.

And I'm pumped because the weather is supposed to be gorgeous!

I'll take lots of pictures. And I'm hoping to get in a 5-mile run up there. I love running by my cabin. Miles and miles of road and nobody in sight means I can jam to my music and let Jack run wild. Perfect.

Have a nice weekend everyone. Catch ya on the flip side.

A chocolate fix!

2010-06-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

I tried a new product (well, new to me) last night and I had to run here and dish to you guys! Well, ok, I admit. If I tried it last night and I'm just posting this morning I must not be in that much of a hurry, right? Well, I watched tons o' True Blood in the meantime.

But last night I was searching for something sweet post-dinner. I gotsa have me some kind of dessert! And when I was searching the freezer for some kind of popsicle I stumbled upon these: Fiber One Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Hmmmm....muffins means breakfast but they had chocolate so I figured they'd do the trick.

I have had these suckers in my freezer forever! Like for more than six months. I don't even remember buying them.

They're kind of tiny, but what can you expect? "Normal" size (aka huge) muffins at coffee shops and whatnot are sometimes close to 600 calories. This little beauty weighs in at 190!

According to the directions, you just take the muffin out of the plastic wrapper and microwave for 15 seconds. Like, too easy!

And my verdict: They were DELICIOUS! Banana chocolate perfection! Totally cured my sweet tooth!

I would recommend to microwave them longer than 15 seconds, the middle was still a little cold, but that all probably depends on your microwave.

Two thumbs up from this gal!

MORE Races!

2010-06-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I miss running.

Yesterday I ran for the first time since my half marathon (so about a week break) and lordy I missed it. What? Am I crazy? (Wait. Don't answer that). I only did 2 miles (trying to ease myself back in) but it was amazing. NOTHING beats a run when it comes to working out.

But I had to do it on the treadmill thanks to this Seattle-like weather we're having. I can't wait for the sun so I can run outside again! The treadmill was HARD! So not used to that anymore. But it felt great nonetheless.

So when I got back to my desk after my lunchtime run and there was an email from Priorfatgirl for a FREE 5K, I signed up without hesitation.

Her company is sponsoring the Heartbeat 5000, which raises money for Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. And because of the sponsorship, family and friends could sign up for free! I jumped on that.

The one snag: it's June 26. The last weekend in June is a busy one for me. Friends in town and Pride (here's my post-Pride post from last year--it's a lot of eating out and LOTS of drinking). But instead of instantly thinking "Hmm, that weekend doesn't work for me!" I realized, hey running 3 miles at 9 a.m. means I'll get my workout in before everyone gets up! Perfect. And it will give me reason to stay in Friday night (save money and cals, very good).

So I'm all signed up and super excited! Plus, PFG has been rockin' 5ks lately, can't wait to run with her!

Then almost exactly one month later, I've signed up for my second 10k! The Heart of Summer 10K. I'm running it with Sarah and we've got a heckuva goal: to run it in less than one hour! I finished my 10K in April in 1 hour 1 minute, so I'm feeling confident with this goal. Plus, we're going to get our train on. Should be fun.

And I wanted to get another 10K in before I run the Twin Cities 10 Mile October 3rd. I'm really excited for this one. The 10 Mile runs (no pun intended) in conjunction with the TC Marathon and is a HUUUGE run. Like, waiting list huge. But here's a cool perk of my job: I get to run as a member of the media and don't have to worry about lotteries and waiting lists. Different teams from different local media run against eachother. Star Tribune vs. Pioneer Press vs. City Pages vs. us, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, and so on. Last year we won first (I work with a lot of runners!) so the pressure is on to get a good time. I welcome the challenge.

I'm excited for all of my races and might even try to get another one in between the 10k and 10 mile. I just wish there were more free ones so signing up for races wouldn't affect my budget!

Oh and speaking of running, I downloaded some new jams for my half marathon that I'm still addicted to. Maybe they'll give you the same boost they've given me?

- "Break Your Heart" Taio Cruz and Ludacris
- "Up and Up" Relient K
- "Somebody to Love" Justin Bieber. NOT the version with Usher! ugh.
- "Riding Solo" Jason DeRulo
- "OMG" Usher feat. Will.I.Am.
- "Airplanes" B.o.B. feat. Haley Williams. Great for cooldown.

Tennis FTW!

2010-06-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

Sarah and I had our second tennis game of the season last night. Last week was a bit L for us, but this week we were on our game! And this one went waaay better, most notably because we won! But really our playing and game strategy was kickin'

Yeah, we're that hardcore. We talk strategy!

Us, post-game. Happy about the results.

The last two weeks have seemed like they'll be washouts and the games will be canceled but we've played under the overcast sky both nights now.

I'm so happy to be in this tennis league and be able to play every week. I grew up playing tennis multiple times per week and then poof! It was gone from my life. And I never realize how much I miss it until I have that racket in my hand and I'm on a court. I live for it!

And our game last night was a good one. We kicked booty the first game with a 6-1 set. But then in the second set, things got close. Maybe the other team was warmed up? But we won with a 7-5 set. Those last two games where exhilarating and I was the last one to serve so I got to say the best line of all:

GAME. SET. MATCH POINT!

And we won it!

I live for the adrenaline on a tennis court. Just love it! And Sarah's a great partner to have. We talk (well more like whisper) the whole game and it's great to have a partner as competitive as I am! I get really competitive in the game, but when I lose I'm able to shake it quickly. I just love to play so much!

And one of the best parts of winning: You get to keep the game balls!

Every game a new canister of balls is opened and the winner gets to keep them! I'll take it!

Even Jack loves tennis! What a good boy.

And FTW doesn't just stand for "For the Win" in this post. It also means "For the Weekend!" Well, my plans for the weekend are low-key. Working my second job this afternoon (I get half day Fridays now that Memorial Day has passed!) and don't really have much planned. As mentioned yesterday the bank account is low right now so I'm hoping to avoid as much spending as possible. That really makes for a boring weekend! Boo. But it's supposed to rain the whole time anyway, so oh well.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Re-Assess

2010-06-10T06:39:00.000-07:00

Wait, is that right? Or am I just saying "ass" in that title. Eh, oh well.

Now that the half marathon is over, I sort of feel like the world is my oyster. Maybe it's the renewed "Hmm, I really can do anything!" high or maybe it's that the pressure is off, but now that it's done I want to switch things up a bit.

Yesterday at the gym I did a half hour on the elliptical and abs. I haven't done the elliptical in so long without feeling guilty. It was amazing.

As I've mentioned before, when I was training for my half if I was doing any activity that wasn't running, I was having serious guilt issues. I felt guilty for taking long bike rides. I felt guilty for running 3 miles when I was supposed to run 5. I felt guilty for checking out new classes.

Now that that guilt is out the door—I want to give myself new challenges.

And I've realized that the one "goal" I really overlooked while training was healthy eating. Hey, some weeks I was running up to 20 miles, why would I watch my diet?

But I have an admission here that I've got to spill. My eating habits are absolute crap. Garbage.

If you notice, I rarely post on here what I'm eating. That's because it's NOT good! I do make dinners at home but more often than not, they're quick meals that aren't the healthiest.

And that's my new challenge!

I originally lost weight by combining a healthy diet with exercise. And, OMG, it worked!

Now that the weight is off, I've let the healthy eating go by the wayside but I have kept the exercise. I've fluctuated by about 5 pounds for almost a year (wow, can't believe I've kept this weight off for one year! Hmm that's another post) and that's great. But lately, the numbers have been up way more than they've been down. My super skinny jeans are beyond tight and I HATE that feeling. I haven't changed sizes, but I definitely feel the tightness. And that's because of my horrible eating habits!

Yes, I'm still eating better than I was in 2008 when I went out to lunch almost every day, indulged in a buffet a few times/month, and NEVER worked out. But I really don't want to lose sight of everything I've learned when it comes to food.

I realized this yesterday as I was scarfing down cookies. UGH cookies! (yes, multiple)

I know better than that. I'm smarter than that. And I've worked too hard to let myself go!

I do believe that indulging every now and then won't kill you. And I do believe that these indulgences can keep you on track. But I need to pay better attention to what I eat and can't count on exercise to counteract everything. Especially on weekends when I really eat like garbage. (And often skip working out!)

I'm not sure if I'm going to go back to counting calories (that is really difficult for me) and I'm not looking to lose a massive amount of weight here. I just want to go back to the days when I'd plan out healthy meals instead of relying on Hamburger Helper. And I want to go back to the days when I was excited by new meals and didn't fall back on old (unhealthy) favorites. And I NEED to go back to the days when I'd portion out my desserts.

So here I am. Recommitting myself to healthier eating.

The problem: I'm like OUT of cash for this pay cycle so I can't really stock up on groceries until I get paid again. I'm not trying to make excuses. I will start this as soon as I can!

And, of course, I'll keep you guys updated on my progress.

Bike/Walk Week

2010-06-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for the congrats on my half marathon. It's still hard to believe that I did that. And, naturally, I've already been fishing around for more races to run!

I wanted to give a shout out that it's Twin Cities Bike Walk Week! This week encourages people to give their commute a make over and try walking or biking, if possible. I know a lot of people live a big commute from their place of work and obviously biking or walking to work isn't an option.

But you can bike or walk other places too! The grocery store. The gym. To pick your kid up from school. A lot of places you regularly go are completely accessible by biking or walking, but many people don't realize this until they give it a try! Heck, I never even thought about biking to work until one day I tried it. And it takes less time than the bus!

I will admit though that with rain in the forecast all week, it may be hard to give biking or walking a go when you could stay warm and dry in the car. But even if you don't get to it this week, give walking or biking a try sometime when you would normally take your car.

Here are a few excuse busters I constantly remind myself of:
1. I will be sweaty when I arrive at my destination
--You actually sweat biking a lot less than you'd think. Yes, if your route has a lot of hills, you may sweat but chances are good that the breeze from the ride will keep you dry. And even if you are a bit sweaty when you get somewhere, it won't be a ton of sweat that you won't dry off right away.

2. It takes me longer to get somewhere by bike
--If you take the bus from somewhere in the city to downtown, it will probably take you the same amount of time, if not less. My bike ride commute is quicker than the bus because there is no waiting time and I don't have to walk for blocks from my bus stop to my destination. Plus, it is much more relaxing than dealing with annoying people on the bus!

3. I can't walk in my work shoes
--Shoes don't take up nearly as much room in your bag as you'd think. Throw the heals or flats in your bad and wear your tennis shoes on your walk in. Yes, you may feel dorky, but knowing that your walking commute won't impact how your feet feel all day is worth it.

4. I don't know how to get somewhere by bike
--Given the Twin Cities' trails system, chances are good there's a trail that can help you get to your destination. But if you need help, Google has a function where you can put in your starting address and ending address, select that you're going there by bike, and it will tell you the best way--with trails included.

Check out this link for more info.

Other benefits:
1. It's cheaper
2. You get exercise in
3. A bike ride or walk home quickly gets rid of the "end of the day blahs"
4. Morning activity revs up metabolism
5. You won't get groggy on your way into the office.

As I said, I know biking and walking on a daily basis isn't in the cards for some of you, but if it is, give it a try!

Half Marathon Recap

2010-06-07T14:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in this post everyone. Blogger was down and I couldn't post! Frustration.

As everyone knows, yesterday was the Minneapolis Half Marathon. Here is my promised recap.

A friend of mine (Cristina, pictures of her to come) was picking me up at 6 a.m. She was running the race too but we hadn't trained together or anything. I didn't really want to head there alone so when she offered to pick me up, it was perfect.

I got up at 5 a.m. so I'd have lots of time to wake up and gather my thoughts.

I had my trusty peanut butter toast breakfast. Figured this would leave me semi-full without the fear of sideaches cereal might pose.

I also had a new flavor of yogurt I hadn't tried. Cherry Vanilla. It had chunks in it! Yuck (I'm not a fan) so I only had a few bites.

Cristie was nice and prompt and we headed downtown right at 6 a.m. We were both a little anxious but ready to take on the race.

I opted for a new tank I had recently bought. I was a little worried about being cold, but it turned out to be a beyond perfect outfit.

We had the plan to start the race together but if one of us had to stop and the other wanted to go on, we would separate. No big deal.

The cool thing that I hadn't seen at races before is that we lined up in the beginning depending on what we thought our pace would be. So the 7-minute milers were at the front. Cristie and I hung at the back with the 10:40 pacer. A nice girl named Tina was holding a sign with her 10:40 pace and that would give us a finish of 2 hours 20 minutes. I would be happy with that time. So we hung by her and would just see how it goes.

And we were off!

(Note: I did not run with my camera. I had so many pictures I wanted to take along the route, but I just didn't have a place for it! I did the best I could to record it!)

The route was kind of a fun one. We started at the Guthrie and then headed north toward Broadway Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. Then we headed south via Boom Island and then crossed the Stone Arch Bridge. By the time we got to the Stone Arch we were at Mile 5. We just had to head down West River Road 4 miles and then back 4.1 miles.

Cristie and I kept checking on eachother. We were running ahead of the 10:40 pacer, but we were good. We kept running. Both of us enjoying the pace. I had my headphones on and had plenty of jams in my ear. But I took off my headphones every now and then to chat. The race was zooming right along.

At Mile 7 we hit the hill. The one I'd been dreading. I told Cristie that we HAD to run the whole thing. She was game.

We did it, and when I got to the top, I had one sweet reward waiting for me: my friends were there!

Here they are, waiting for me. How nice! When I saw them I was sooo happy!

Here's the picture Nikki got of me running by. I'm the one waving my arms. Basically saying, thanks for coming! I really was so happy to see them! Gave me the extra boost I needed.

At about Mile 8 (and after the renewed energy of seeing my amigos) I started to think, Hmmm could I run this whole thing? We hadn't stopped yet and I was feeling OK. I had a bit of a blister started on my arch, but I was feeling pretty determined.

So I turned to Crisite and said "How do you feeling about running this whole thing?" With wide eyes she turned to me and said the words I needed to hear: "I'm in if you're in."

And we were off.

Of course if one of us had to stop we would have, but we had a renewed sense of determination. And I kept having the mindset, "Well...I've gone this far..." And we just kept running.

By Mile 10. I was hurting. My arches were on fire. My knees ached. My hips hurt. I was tired.

But we kept going. I tried not to think of the distance and just focus on the road infront of me.

And by the time we reached Mile 12 there was no stopping. I didn't care how bad I hurt. I didn't care how long I was going to hurt after this race. I wasn't stopping.

If it was a training race I obviously would have stopped but I kept thinking, "this is what I trained for. If I hurt afterward, it's worth it!"

We did walk through the water stops and those stops saved my life, but we started up right after going through the water stops.

At about Mile 12.5 we hit a huge hill on our way to the Guthrie. But people who had already finished were giving us some encouraging words. "Keep going!" "You're almost there!" It was just what I needed to hear to keep going.

So we kept running. Up a hill and right at the top, my friend Nick was there to cheer us on! He even ran with us for a little bit. I couldn't help but smile!

(I'm in the white tank here)

Then I saw the rest of my friends cheering me to the finish. I was too tired to wave my arms like a lunatic this time, but still grateful they were still there!

Then I saw my mom and her boyfriend. Cheering me on! I was happy to see that they had made it! I didn't get a picture with them though, boo.

And then we were done! Our names were being announced as we finished and I can't even describe the relief and amazement I felt when I heard "Sarah Howard" as I crossed the finish line!

I had done it. I had run the whole thing. Something I never thought I would be able to accomplish, it was all over. I was so relieved and very, very proud of myself.

Post race. I LIVED!

With my hard earned medal.

With my running partner Cristie!

Final results:
Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes 11 seconds
Mile pace: 10 minutes 43 seconds
Place: 2289 out of 3369

I am so happy with my final results and how I placed!

The race itself was absolutely amazing. While this whole experience was extremely difficult, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Training for a running event and finally being able to call myself a runner have been life goals for me that I've now completed! I still can't believe it.

Post-race I had a hard time getting around and was definitely limping. I took it easy though and went to watch some friends play in a softball game.

Watching softball with my race cheerleading squad. What a gorgeous day!

I took today off of work to recover. I had a hard time getting around and really just needed the day to rest. I'm so glad I did. The way my legs felt this morning vs. later in the day is like night and day.

And those blisters that almost crippled me during the race, they're now gone and healed. Wow, that was quick. So I'm hoping to be back to my normal self by tomorrow.

And as far as exercise, I'm taking today and tomorrow off, and then it's back to the workout routine for me. But I'm excited to get back to other things than running. Tennis, a long bike ride, and some serious elliptical time are all on my to-do list this week. And they're activities I've missed while training for this run.

I still love running, but I think my distance runs are going to be on-hold for a little bit.

That is, until I start training for the Twin Cities 10 mile Oct. 3rd! It never ends...

:-)

Pre-Half

2010-06-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come. My half marathon is tomorrow. 13.1 miles.

I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm anxious. I can't believe I'm doing this.

I keep thinking "ehhh it's not that far..." and then I think "Oh god, how am I going to do that?"

I'm confident in how I've trained. I know that I can do this. I don't know what I'll run into along the way, but I know I can handle it.

So I'm at peace with the run tomorrow. I can't wait until it's done with. And I can't wait to see how the energy of the half marathon makes me "just keep running!"

I'll be sure to get as many pictures as I can, but I don't know if I can have my camera on me tomorrow. I'm still figuring all of that out. I'll be sure to wrap it all up for you Monday as best I can.

And now I'm off to bed because I have a nice 5 a.m. wake up call!

One Year!

2010-06-03T06:30:00.001-07:00

ONE YEAR SHOUT OUT!

Today is June 3. Does everyone know what that date is? It's the date I started my blog! I've been at this ONE YEAR!

I was thinking yesterday, "Hmmm, I swear I started my blog June-ish. I wonder what the date was." Turns out I checked just in time because it's today!

I've had so much fun blogging and I hope you all have had fun reading. Some days it's a challenge to get a post up and some days I just flat out skip, but hopefully I post often enough to keep you coming back for more!

I had to give a shout out to my readers and commenters. The fact that you come to this site at all, whether it be once, monthly, or daily, means the world to me. Getting healthy and living a better life has been the absolute most wonderful thing I've done for myself and I'm so honored that any of you want to be a part of it. Thank you!

One year ago I had lost 35 pounds and, as people noticed I was thinner, I was getting a lot of questions about what I was doing, how often I was working out, etc. and I went to the blogosphere to keep people informed and share all of the cool, new things I was learning. But this blog has turned into so much more than that for me. It's a real outlet for me to share what I'm up to, what I'm afraid of, and what's on my mind.

I've been able to keep off that 35 pounds, I still workout 6 days/week, my diet is OK (but it's better than it was), and my momentum to keep on the healthy track is still strong. I've said it before and I'll say it again! Without this blog and your accountability, I'm not sure where I'd be.

So thank you!

And now the—as promised—recap of my first ever spin class!

SPIN!

My roomie Dan goes to spin every week. He swears by it, loves it, and raves about it. I've always wanted to try spin but since my gym doesn't have classes, it's just something I put on the back burner.

And it's definitely something I never would have had the balls to try before I got healthy. I'm willing to try things now. Try anything. And that's amazing. And a whole 'nother blog post...

Back to spin. So last week he suggested that a group of us go to his spin class at the Target Center Lifetime. We could come as his guests. And the best part: the class is taught by our friend Justin! And Dan had raved and raved about Justin's classes and music choices (as mentioned before I have the music tastes of a 13 year old. Think Bieber, Jonas, Miley, etc).

I had to coordinate someone letting Jack out (the joy of having "children,") but I headed there right after work. I wore my dry fit clothing because I knew I'd sweat a TON. And I was a little nervous to try something new right before my half marathon, but I went with it.

And I'm sooooo glad I did!

From the moment we hit go Justin blared some Justin Bieber (see above paragraph) and I was happy. I bike pretty frequently but I was still panting and dripping sweat in the first five minutes or so. But the music was blaring, I felt good, and I was motivated to kick some ass.

I had my BFFs Eric on my one side and Joe on my other side so I had fun just laughing with them and watching myself in the mirror.

Justin was an absolutely amazing instructor. His energy level was off the roof and he made it hard not to want to give it your all. You can tell he really loves teaching this class. I can see why your instructor can make all the difference when it comes to spin. He was great!

My one complaint: foot crampage! Justin said that is a common complaint from newbies (such as myself) so I didn't worry about it too bad, but it did get better as the levels got harder. Probably because I was pedaling slower. I do have a bit of a blister on my arch, but I'm not too worried about it. I was also in my crapiest shoes. Dumb Sarah.

But the class was wonderful and I really had a lot of fun. I was dripping wet by the end and that felt amazing! I wish I could go every week! The hour really flew by.

And of course, the boys played along with me while I snapped some pics. They're such good sports, huh?

Eric, Joe, me, and Dan. Sweaty messes. Love it!

Instructor Justin and me. Seriously, if you belong to a Lifetime, get to his class! Mondays and Wednesdays downtown Lifetime at 5:30. He's great! Thanks Justin!

National Running Day!

2010-06-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard the news yet, it's National Running Day today! The rain seems to have quit for the day, so get outside and run. Even if it's just a mile. But don't listen to me, I'm a hypocrite.

Because I'm taking the day off of running.

Since it's the week of my half marathon, I'm not sure what else to do to prepare. I know I don't want to strength train because I'm usually sore after that and I've heard that being sore the week of is not a good idea. I'm going to run a bit tomorrow and Friday, but they're going to be short runs (no more than 3 miles). And I'm doing nothing but resting my muscles Saturday.

But tonight I'm taking advantage of an opportunity and am trying Spin! For the first time ever!

My friend Justin is an instructor at the Lifetime downtown and my roomie Dan goes every week. As does a coworker of mine. And I've heard his classes are just fab.

So last week Dan suggested we go together. And while I'm a little nervous to try something new on this big week of mine and I'm scared to be sore, I'm also really excited to give this class a try!

I'll give you a full report tomorrow on what is a very special day. What makes it special? Well, I guess you'll have to tune in tomorrow!

On a different note: I have a new obsession. Kemps Raspberry Vanilla FroZing Yogurt!

It's so YUM! Have you guys tried it yet? I've only had the Raspberry Vanilla flavor, but I love it so much I don't want to try the other flavors.

It has 110 calories in a 1/2 cup and I probably have a 200-220 calorie serving. So it's a bit high for a dessert, but on these warmer days, it has really made me smile.

Memorial Day Weekend Update!

2010-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

How was the weekend?

Mine was great!

I worked Friday night and ended up going to bed shortly after 10. I sometimes LOVE Friday nights like this. I always feel so refreshed on Saturday.

I got up at 9 a.m. Saturday so I could run my 12 miles before I had to work again. I had kind of been dreading this 12-miler and was actually supposed to complete it a couple of weeks ago. But vacay happened. And my birthday happened. So seeing as my half is THIS Sunday (OMG, Freak Out, WTH am I doing??!@#), I had to get it in this weekend. Plus, I knew that if I could run 12 miles, I would have much more confidence going into this half marathon.

So I laced up my shoes, put on my hat (which I only wear on long runs!), and set out with a fully charged iPod.

My course was running from my house to Lake of the Isles, then Lake Calhoun, then around Lake Harriet, and then back to my house along Calhoun again. Exactly 12 miles.

The first seven miles went well. I didn't stop that whole time and was feeling good. But by the time I got to Harriet, I was thirsty. My mouth feels gummy kind of thirsty. So I stopped for water. That's when it got hard.

It was also starting to get hot out. So I was thirsty. A lot. I stopped at every drinking fountain (thanks Minneapolis Parks for lots of drinking fountains!) and had to stop to walk a few times around Lake Harriet. But I never walked for more than about two minutes. So I was OK with it.

I really decided to listen to my body too and gave in to having to drink water. Normally I don't have water when I run and I wait until I'm done. But I really think I would have been way too dehydrated had I done that.

But it was in mile 8 that I noticed that the inside of my arms burned. My arms were rubbing against my body (I had a tank top on) and this chaffing was hurting. A lot. Even when I ran with my arms away from my body, it still stung. So that kind of sucked. I'll be sure to douse my arms in Body Glide before the big race.

So I kept on trucking and I finished the 12 miles! The last few miles were really hard, but I really had a sense of accomplishment. And in hindsight, it wasn't that hard. The "this is so hard I want to quit so bad why am I doing this??" mentality goes right away when I'm done running. Yeah, I'm not excited to do it again and add a mile, but I now know that I CAN do it!

Post-12 miles. Happy to have survived.

I was thirsty when I was done. I drank this whole thing. And then some.

Bad picture of my chafing, but you get the idea. Gosh my camera sucks.

I had to work after my run and I was tired and yawning, but I made it through the rest of the day with little to no problems. And I was feeling pretty dang proud of myself!

And now—to change topics—the exciting news of this upcoming week is that Sarah and I have our first tennis game on Thursday! We're signed up through the City of Bloomington and I'm so happy and excited to get to play tennis every week. I freaking love that game and I miss it so much!

Yesterday I texted Sarah to see if she was interested in a morning run. But then we decided instead of a run we should play some tennis!

Tennis courts are kind of hard to come by in Uptown. They're almost always all booked. But last week when we were running around Isles in the morning, Sarah says, "Oh my god! We should play tennis in the morning! The courts are empty!"

And she was right! Empty they were. We rode our bikes to the courts and played for about 45 minutes. We played a few games, hit some volleys, and even did hardcore net drills. It was great. And fun to get a workout in in the morning that wasn't running.

Here we are! Ready to take on the competition!

Almost the Holiday Weekend!

2010-05-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone. Happy Friday!

Since I don't really have a TON to say, I thought I'd share with you some random thoughts that have been swirling around in here. By here I mean my head.

Random Thought # 1
Has everyone checked out Google's new mapping system? I'm not 100 percent how "new" it is, but a coworker of mine directed me to their GPS page to track runs. I like it sooo much better than Map My Run. On MMR, you have to "pivot" around corners and mark every little turn you're making. On Gmaps Pedometer, it knows what trail you're talking about and doesn't move in straight lines! I feel my running distances have been much more accurate on this program.

Click here to check it out (just a warning and something that took me about 5 minutes to figure out: you have to double click to register your points).

Google also has a great feature for biking. You type in your starting address and your destination and it tells you the best way to get there by bike. You just have to select "biking" when you're typing in directions. Pretty nifty.

Random Thought # 2
I've been doing a lot, lot, lot of trail bike riding and running. Here's my question: to nod or not to nod?

When you pass people on a trail, do you nod or give a little smile? Or do you pretend you're not looking at them?

I find that when people give me a little nod, I appreciate it. I feel like we're sharing something and when I smile I'm almost saying "Yay! Look at us!"

But it stings when you smile at someone and they do nothing back.

Of course on busy trails it's hard to nod or smile at everyone, but when I'm on quieter trails, I like to give the little acknowledgement. How about you guys?

Random Thought # 3
My Gladiator workout review is finally on newsstands! Check out the June issue of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine for more. It's on page 38. (Sorry, it's not on the web...). In that same issue I suggest some of the top spots for being active in the Twin Cities by activity (hiking, biking, yoga, etc). Check it out!

Random Thought # 4
It's National Burger Day! Just in time for Memorial Day BBQs.

I just heart burgers. And to make them leaner I always use 93/7 beef and 80 calorie Sara Lee buns! Add lettuce, pickles, and cheese, MMMMM.

Now I want to head to a BBQ right now! Why did I post this?

Random Thought # 5
It's Friday so OF COURSE I'm thinking about the weekend.

I work my second job tonight and tomorrow during the day so there's goes half of it right there, but I need the cashola!

I'm really hoping to get a long run in this weekend. At least 10 miles. Most likely tomorrow or Sunday morning. Gotta step it up, half is in one week!

Sunday I have plans with friends and will most likely hit the town since Monday is a day off! And I'm helping my mom move a bunch of stuff on Monday since she's re-doing the kitchen. Exciting huh?

Enjoy the beautiful weather everyone! It's supposed to be a picture perfect Memorial Day!

Lots of A.M. Activity!

2010-05-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

I have a busy day at work and am going to a work event tonight, so of course my first thought was: when am I going to get my workout in?

I emailed Sarah yesterday asking if she'd be interested in a morning run. She's usually up for a run whenever, wherever, so I wasn't shocked when she said YES!

So got up at 6:15 and headed over to her place (she only lives about 5 blocks from me) and we set out to Lake of the Isles. I brought Jack with too so he could get some nice exercise in before sitting around all day.

We successfully completed our nonstop 4 miles with no problem! And we were both (well at least I know I was) more awake post-run!

Then as we were finishing up she was asking me about biking to work. What route I take, etc. So I said, let's go together. (She works downtown too) So about 45 minutes later, both ready for work, we met up on our bikes and headed downtown.

This time, we took Nicollet through downtown and it was absolutely gorgeous. The Farmer's Market was getting ready and downtown was just bustling. It was fun to bike through!

So all by 8 a.m. I had run 4 miles and biked (about) 2! Yipee!

Oh and unrelated but I wanted to share with you guys: yesterday I conquered the hill that is part of my half marathon course. You know, the hill that I blogged about on my Urban Bike Ride. The hill is right along the river just outside of downtown, so I biked to it and then attempted the run up it. And I was able to make it! I was tired by the top, but at least I made it! So I was happy about that. Especially because my half marathon is NEXT weekend! What?? How the heck did that happen? AAH Butterflies!

Helmet + birthday pics!

2010-05-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

Today I got to try out a fun, new "toy" I got for my birthday: a bike helmet!!

Yes, I'm nerdy enough that I asked for a bike helmet. I've felt like an absolute idiot biking to work without it. I'm swerving in between cars, dealing with rush hour in and out of downtown, and making my way around busses, all while not protecting my noggin! Dumb. I've worked hard for the info in my cabeza (that's head in Spanish, FYI).

As a kid I would have scoffed at the idea of wearing a bike helmet. And my parents never made me wear one. I biked and rollerbladed like WHOA as a kid and was never forced to put on a helmet, elbow pads, or anything.

But now as an adult, it really is foolish to not wear one. And I've been eyeing up people with helmets on thinking, OK maybe they're not as dorky as they once were?

Yeah, they're still not the sexiest thing on the planet but as I get older the motto Better Safe Than Sorry has been running through my head as I commute to work.

So today I rocked the helmet. It was a little tight and I wasn't used to it, but I was happy to have it on. So I took a pic for y'all!

Of course my number one concern was helmet hair. But this is right after I took my helmet off and I'd say there isn't a trace of helmet hair there. Of course, this hairstyle took me about 20 seconds.

PS how freaking cute are my sunglasses???? Sarah got them for me for my birthday. I'm in love!

And since I didn't have birthday pictures for you Monday, here are some of my faves. Notice the workout theme. People went all out, it was great!!

With sexy soccer studs Bryan and Angela. Bryan was my CA in college. Lurve them!

My BFFs. Dan (sweating hardcore!), Sarah, me, Nick (in his high school track uniform!), Nikki, and Eric

Two of my best ladies: Sarah and Kate

Out on the town. Gosh I love these people!

Cruise with Jillian?!

2010-05-24T08:51:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday everyone!

My birthday weekend was absolutely great. Of course, not the healthiest, but that's to be expected. And I'll admit, I haven't worked out since my Friday 6-miler and I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get that 12 mile run in over the weekend, but eh what can I do? The rain on Saturday morning kind of put a damper on those plans.

The birthday itself was great. Waited for the rain to pass and actually made it out to the beach in the afternoon. I wanted a fresh, golden sparkle for my night out on the town. People showed up in workout gear and it was so much fun! Of course I forgot to bring my camera so I don't have a picture, but everyone looked pretty dang cute.

And let's just say yesterday was spent in recovery mode.

But I'm doing the usual Monday thing: getting back into routine. Working out over lunch, grocery shopping tonight, and the like.

Unrelated, but I did want to share something kind of interesting I found. And something that makes me wish I had an extra $1,000 sitting around.

Jillian Michaels is hosting a cruise! Have you guys heard about this?

It's in October and is all about healthy eating, working out, seminars, etc. Basically it's a floating health club. Plus, you'd get to go to Miami and the Bahamas!

I know most everyone (ok, everyone!) can't afford it, but how cool! More info here.

I want to go!

6 miles at 6 a.m.!??!

2010-05-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Last night I had an absolutely fab happy hour with two of my best gals, Kate and Sarah.

Here's an oldie but a goodie of me, Sarah, and Kate on Sarah's birthday last year. Good times.

We went to Il Gato in Uptown and I hadn't been there yet. They have a pretty decent happy hour with $3 drinks and $3 apps. Well needless to say I downed a few (ok, more than a few) beers and we all shared a bunch of apps. And next thing I knew, it was 8:30. I'm really bad at keeping happy hour to just an hour, if you know what I mean.

So we headed home around 9 p.m. and Sarah and I made plans to meet up at 6:30 the next morning to burn off our nonstop happy hour with a morning run.

6:15 this morning came and I had a text from Sarah saying she didn't feel well. Not booze induced, I think :-) With this news I really wanted to roll over and not run at that moment, but Jack was already up so I got out of bed to let him out. Then I saw that it had rained and was lightly misting! Hmmm did not plan on that.

Again, I thought: OK maybe I won't run this morning. No big deal, right?

But then I stopped myself: NO! You're going running. Plus, it's not like I haven't run 6 miles in the rain before! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that? My plan was to run 6 miles. All before work!

So I put on the trusty iPod and set out.

It was lightly misting, but I wore my hat to keep the rain out of my eyes and the run itself was absolutely fabulous!! I felt great, I was into my music (plus Lake Calhoun was pretty empty so I got to sing along a little bit), and the rain wasn't bothering me a bit.

I did run into some sideache issues around mile 4, but I just took it slow and stopped when I needed to and I was able to power through. And I finished the 6 miles in 1 hour 4 minutes. Not too shabby!!

In all my sweaty glory. I guess I was a little pink-faced, huh? And those are my headphones hanging on my shirt. Kind of looks like some kind of a lizard is coming out of my shirt...

And you know what I was thinking the whole time? 6 miles isn't scary. I can run 6 miles.

There is never a time in my life when I ever would have guessed that I could think that. There was never a time when I thought 6 miles was no big deal and something I could accomplish before work.

There was also never a time when I thought I'd be training for a half marathon! I'm just feeling a little proud of myself today! And dang, am I in a good mood because of that!

And I have one heck of a weekend on the books. My 25th birthday is tomorrow! I'm hitting the beach all day (it's supposed to be gorgeous!) and then am having a workout-themed party and mini bar crawl. People are instructed to wear their workout gear and I put the finishing touches on my outfit last night. We're even giving people race bibs. Can't wait! And what I also can't wait for: wearing tennis shoes out to the bar. What a treat!

Happy Friday everyone!

Looong Day....

2010-05-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a long one for me. I got to work promptly at 8 a.m. and didn't take my eyes off of a spreadsheet until 7 p.m. Yes, my job involves the dreaded spreadsheet and I was determined to power through and finish this one yesterday. OK, I admit it. I'd been putting it off, but I'd also been too busy on other stuff to get to it! I swear.

So come 7 p.m. I was drained. My eyes were glazed over. My back hurt.

I headed home on my bike dead set on spending the night on the couch eating an unhealthy, quick-to-prepare dinner.

I got home and Jack jumped up and I said, "Do you want to go on a run?"

What? Where did that come from? The second I said it, I thought, Yes...let's go on a run! Aw that boy just helps me out sometimes.

I wasn't that hungry for dinner yet, I needed the energy boost, and Jack could use some exercise. So I changed real quick and we headed toward Lake of the Isles. I had no distance in mind and figured that anything I was doing was better than my original nonstop couch plan.

So we ran to the dog park and back. It's just one mile there and back. It wasn't too strenuous. But I was dang proud of myself! It was a gorgeous night and the smile on Jack's face said it all: we did good!

When we got home, I whipped up some Morningstar Chick' N Nuggets. Not necessarily a winner's dinner, but hey, I was hungry and it was 8 p.m. by that time! Much later than my normal dinner time. And a much better choice than what I really wanted: fast food!

Then as I sat down to my deluxe gourmet dinner, I remembered that I had Tuesday's Biggest Loser on my DVR. Well, picture me happy.

If you missed last Tuesday's Biggest Loser, run to your computer on Tuesday when it's posted on NBC.com. This one was a tear jerker! At least for me.

Next week is the finale, so this week was a lot about looking back at how far the contestants have come. Which is a LONG way. And, of course, they had to run the Biggest Loser marathon. A race that inspired me to sign up for my half marathon many months ago. And with my race in just 3 weeks, it was all the boost I needed to think: I CAN DO IT!

Watching these contestants transform their lives just brings a tear to my eye. Biggest Loser you get me every time!

So after my nonstop spreadsheet session all day, I had a pretty fab night. Just had to share it with y'all.

BodyFIT

2010-05-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I snuck into Lifetime in St. Louis Park with Alexa to take a BodyFit class with her. We've been trying to arrange this for a while, so I'm glad it finally happened!

It was a gorgeous night and Alexa had emailed me: How are we going to do this on a beautiful night????

But we both dug in and met up at Lifetime.

Which, by the way, is a gorgeous gym. Ahhh all of this sneaking in as a guest really has me hankering for a "real" gym. The lockers were wood, there were towels, there was a jacuzzi....hmmmm.

Anyway, back to the class. Our instructor Bruce was hilarious and the music he chose was fab. High-tempo Lady Gaga and the like kept me going.

He had us do an INSANE amount of push-ups on a Bosu ball, which nearly had me dying. We did a lot of arm/chest/back work, which was nice. I was scared there were going to be an insane amount of squats after Mary's class sidelined me last week, but it wasn't that bad.

The bad news though: when we were supposed to do a lunge, I went for it and had a sharp pain up my right quadricep. I couldn't complete a lunge without pain! So that was no good. But I just took it easy on that side. I was sore in my leg last night, but today I'm doing OK.

And I'm happy to report that I'm not uber sore today! The class was definitely a challenge and I thought I'd be hurting, but I'm OK for now. Maybe this will change as more time passes....ha.

Here we are: post class.

Thanks Alexa!! Glad we both went!

Raspberries + biking

2010-05-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

So far, I've made good on my promises to myself yesterday.

I had a hectic hectic day at work and of course missed my lunchtime workout. But it was OK because Sarah had emailed me asking if I wanted to run after work. I jumped at the opportunity to have someone hold me accountable. Plus I love running with Sarah.

So we set out right after work and ran 4 miles. It was beautiful!! Plus, I got to show her a trail I just love. You could tell we had both had hectic days and needed the stress relief a bit.

After our run, we went over to Rainbow to grab stuff for dinner.

The only reason this is newsworthy is because I bought the most amazing raspberries there! On sale for $2.99/container and I easily downed half while my chicken was cooking. They were YUM! Yay! Summer berry season is HERE! Don't they look fab?

Then this morning I had a fab idea: why don't I bike to work?

I used to bike pretty frequently when I lived in Northeast, but had yet to take the bike to work since I moved to Uptown. I know that Uptown is where the bikers are, so there had to be a fairly simple way to get downtown, right?

Well there is!

If you head up Bryant Ave (one block from me) you eventually hit something called the "Loring Greenway," which I had no idea existed.

Basically the greenway is just this bridge, but once you cross you're in Loring Park. And you get to go right past the traffic mess that is Lyndale and Hennepin avenues.

Then I crossed through Loring Park. Isn't she beautiful?

Zoom up 2nd Avenue and I was at work! Took me about 20 minutes. Which isn't shorter than my bus ride, but I also didn't have to curse just missing a bus (which I seem to do almost every day) and I didn't have to walk to my office from Hennepin Avenue (a 4 block walk that takes about 10 minutes). So I was at work quicker than normal despite travel time being close to the same.

I can't wait to do it again tomorrow!

And tonight I'm going to a Fit Class with Alexa at Lifetime! Will report back tomorrow if I can still move my arms.

Off Course

2010-05-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little out of sorts lately when it comes to this whole "being healthy" thing. I've been busy, I've been lazy, and the weekend happened.

But first, Vegas happened. And while I didn't eat myself silly or quit working out while on vacation, transitioning back into the "real world" has proved difficult.

I haven't run since my 10 miles in Vegas. I'm embarrassed to admit it. Before Vegas I ran 4 times/week and I'm just having a hard time getting myself to do it again. I think I'm frankly becoming sick of running and miss my other activities. Most notably biking. So I'm skipping workouts. Not good.

And I've found that my workouts since Vegas, since I haven't been running, I feel guilty about the fact that I'm not running. Going to Body Works on Wednesday, I thought: I should be running. Going to the gym on Saturday, I thought: I should be running.

The obligation of "having" to run is taking all of the fun out of it.

Also last week, it took me two full days to recover from Mary's ass kicking Body Works class. Which is great and I loved the class, but I just couldn't do anything during those two days. Talk about wimpy.

Add on top of this that I've been absolutely swamped at work. I love my job but I spent most of last week working over lunch, not working out. Then by the time I get home, I need to spend most of the night working so it's hard to motivate myself and find that time.

So this week, it's time to turn this around!

I WILL put myself first
I WILL find time for myself to work out
I WILL go to the grocery store so I have food on hand and don't rely on eating out
I WILL run my 12 miles this Saturday, which is my birthday BTW.
I WILL get in all of my training runs this week, starting with 4 miles today
I WILL NOT dwell on the fact that last week was a bit of a screw up. Time to look forward.

Body=worked

2010-05-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I took advantage of LA Fitness's unlimited guest policy (through May 15, hurry if you know someone who goes to LA!) and headed to the Uptown club to attend BodyWorks with Nikki. I was excited to give it a try, but a bit nervous since my workouts have been pretty much running only the past few weeks.

As we were headed to the club, Nikki was telling me how great Mary, our instructor was. When we go to the club, I spotted Fit this, Girl! talking to someone and said to Nikki, "Huh, I know here from the blogging world. Small world!" Of course Nikki responds, "That's our instructor!"

So I got a workout class from Mary, Fit this, Girl!

And it was a great one. The class focused on strength training, but I was panting quite a bit. We did lots of squats, lunges, and shoulder raises. And I'm feeling them today! Especially when I try to sit down. A great thing with the squats and lunges was that Mary slowed them down and had us count while coming down and going up. I think having that slow, controlled movement really changed the squat or lunge for me. Normally I go pretty quick.

Plus I was able to do all of the arm moves with 5-lb weights, even though I had 2.5-lb ones on hand just in case. I really wanted to challenge myself and I did it!

We ended the class with some ab work, which was great. I'm definitely going to steal two moves that Mary did and incorporate them into my workout.

But I absolutely loved going to a class and having someone to lead my workout. I wish LA had a club downtown. I want to join sooo bad! But as I was telling Nikki, if I limited myself to a club that only allowed me to workout before or after work, I'm afraid I'd fail since that didn't workout for me before and going over lunch DOES work for me. So until then, I'll stick with Snap.

But it's always nice to get a change of pace! And Mary did a great job.

Vegas Wrap Up

2010-05-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

I'm back from my long blogging hiatus. I had an absolutely fabulous time in Vegas. Lots of sun (I'm about as tan as I get!) and I even came home up $160! How fab is that??

Here are some choice photos from the trip and a quick rundown.

We took off at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

First, we had to have some drinks to get our trip started right. We were going to Vegas after all....

We spent four full days by the pool. Wonderful. Here are my traveling companions. Cindy (my mom's BFF who I've known my whole life) and my ma.

I met up with my cousin Dani who just graduated from University of Nevada-Las Vegas! She was about to move home to Portland, Oregon for good but stayed in town an extra night to see me. How sweet. We hit up a semi-strip show (American Storm, so fun!) with some of her friends. This was my wildest night out on the town.

Woke up the next morning and hit the hotel's gym. Best news: they gave us fitness passes when we checked in! No fee! Bad news: all of their treadmills were broken. But I did the elliptical and some weight lifting.

(Insert entire day by the pool here)

Sunday night we went to Old Vegas/Fremont Street. Here is my mom and myself. It was fun!

Then Monday morning was the best part: I woke up at 7 a.m., strapped on my running shoes and ran 10 miles. Yes, you read that right: 10 miles! I didn't take pictures though. Running with a camera is not ideal. But I ran the WHOLE thing. I ran south down the Las Vegas strip to the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and then north to the Stratosphere and back to my hotel. The last mile was HARD and I was TIRED, but I was soooo glad I did it! And it went really fast with all of the scenery. I had read on some running sites that running the strip was really cool, and they were right! Yay! My time was 1:42:15. Still rockin' a 10 minute mile!

I figured after that, I had earned my day at the pool. MMM Palm Trees.

That afternoon I needed a break from the sun, so I headed inside to play blackjack with my birthday present: $50 in casino chips! I sat down at the table and walked away with $140!!! That black chip in my hand (if you can see it) is a $100 chip. Woo hoo!

Fresh from my triumphant win, we hit the town.

Then Tuesday we packed and spent the rest of the day by the pool. Our flight didn't leave until 5 p.m. so we still had a whole day of sun infront of us.

I wanted to get a bikini pic to prove that I wore it the whole time! I'm not the skinniest person (obviously) but dang it, I worked hard for this body!

Last moments by the pool.

Goodbye Vegas and desert heat. I love you.

Busy Bee

2010-05-06T06:35:00.001-07:00

I have been mucho busy lately. Swamped, actually. And while I don't think it's taken (too much) of a toll on my being healthy/working out mojo, I can't help but think that it has.

I've been skipping by lunchtime workouts in favor of working through lunch. And while I do get my workout in after work then, I'm missing my lunchtime adrenaline rush.

When you're not as busy, you have all the time in the world to go to the gym, plan meals, cook, etc. But when you're one thing after another, it can be harder. I'm trying not to let my busy schedule get the best of me, but it did last night.

Well, more like a momentary meltdown did.

I was supposed to go to BodyPump with Eric and Nikki at the new LA Fitness in Uptown. (Sidenote: GORGEOUS facility! I want to join sooo bad. LA get a downtown location!!) Well, I got dressed and was ready to go to the class. On my way out the door, I noticed my tire. It was flat. My tire has been slowly letting out air for about a month and a half now and (insert eyeroll here) I've just been filling it up with air every few days to avoid a trip to Tires Plus. (Note: last time I took my car there for a routine fix, it cost me $800 in engine repairs. I'm a little scared to get work done on my car!). Anyway, the tire was as good as flat last night.

I still went to LA, but I was preoccupied and my stomach was a ball of nerves over my tire. (Another sidenote: mini panic attacks are my way of dealing with stress) I knew I wasn't going to enjoy the class. So on my way into LA I decided I wanted to turn around and deal with the tire. The good news: I did get a bit of a workout in and I ran home!

So I dropped my car off and completely skipped a workout yesterday. Oh well. Not the end of the world.

(Good news: as I was typing this, Tires Plus called. They were able to fix my tire and it'll only cost me $30! YEEESSS!!)

But I really wanted to get my tire fixed because I'm leaving town this weekend and am off to Vegas with my mom and her BFF. I absolutely CANNOT wait! And leaving a car with a tire that goes flat every 3 days or so is not a good idea.

But back to Vegas. It's supposed to be 75-85 degrees the ENTIRE time we're there. And we are ladies who do vacation right, which means sitting by the pool all day. Like I said, I can't wait.

We're going Saturday through Tuesday and my goal is to get at least 2 runs in and 1 weight lifting session. Our hotel has a gym (I think?) so the weightlifting won't be a problem. And one of the runs is just a 4-miler. But another one of them is supposed to be 10 miles....eeeh. Maybe if I get it in one morning it won't be so bad.

Either way, I have got to get some activity in there. Vacation does not mean time to slack!

But the nice thing is, timing is on my side. We sit by the pool all day and then Cindy and my mom usually take a nap from 4-6. Perfect time for me to get a workout in. So yay! :-)

More on the trip and my super exciting Friday night plans tomorrow! It's almost the weekend, hang in there!

Fake Swipe

2010-05-04T06:52:00.000-07:00

For the past month or two, I've been running into a big hurdle. One that I don't know how to control: it's hard to get my 12 swipes a month in at the gym!

I've become addicted to working out outside and if I can, I'd much rather go on a run, bike ride, or long walk than be in a gym. It's not that I don't love my gym, it's just with my half marathon training, I need to run outside.

And because of my running, I've really been taking my rest days to heart since these longer runs to make my hips and knees a little sore. I feel like they're very important.

So I have been skipping a lot of lunchtime workouts in favor for long runs after work. I've also done very little weight lifting because that would fall on my rest days and I want to actually rest on those days. And because of that, I've had to fake swipe my card a TON. Should I feel bad? I'm still working out!

I really don't feel bad about the fake swiping, but I find it kind of ironic.

I'm working out 5-6 days/week and I STILL have to fake going to the gym to get a health insurance discount. That doesn't make much sense to me! But there obviously isn't a way to track my working out away from the gym. I just can't help but feel a little defeated when I have to go fake swipe my card. I want to yell to the owner, "I swear I'm working out today! Sorry..."

And it's kind of a pain in the butt. I still have to get my butt to the gym in order to get the swipe!

Are you guys fake swiping now that it's nicer out?

How do you get your 12 times in at the gym and still take advantage of nice weather?

Will I have to do this all summer? Blech.

Run, Run, Run!

2010-05-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

Hello all! It's been a while, huh?

First off, my days out of the office and away from technology were amazing. I got so much work done and really was able to focus on this feature. It was great. So was spending some time with my dad.

The big news: since we "spoke" last, I've run 18 miles. OMG 18 miles!

Thursday I set out with Jack planning to only run 5 miles around Chanhassen/Excelsior. I ended up running 7!! Yeah, I had to stop a few times, but I'm still counting that as 7 miles. And these were 7 miles of hills. Apparently the suburbs have these great, big rolling hills that you just don't notice when you're driving. My lake running has not trained me for these hills. But it was good because there are a few hills on my half marathon course. Which, that race is a month away. EEEEKKK!

But I felt great after that run. Tired, but great.

Sweaty as HELL after 7 miles.

I just love when this happens. Had to snap a pic. Ignore my zombie-like stare. It's hard to take your own sweaty back pictures!

Then Saturday I had an 8-mile run scheduled before I had to work my second job. I had stayed in the night before so that I could get up and be able to run. Which in itself is an accomplishment of huge proportions. The sun was out, I was feeling good. It was good.

So I went around Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun with little to no problems. I did have to stop a few times (three to be exact) but each time I stopped it was less than one minute, so I'm not getting too down on myself. Plus, something dawned on me while I was running this. If I have to stop; it's not the end of the world! I've gone on runs before and if I don't make it the whole time running, I somehow think that I've failed. Come on Sarah, this is soooo not the case. I'm not really expecting to run my entire half marathon nonstop, so I don't really need to train for that. Plus, taking these mini-breaks allows me to go farther.

And having this mindset has made running seem a whole lot less daunting. An 8-mile run. HARD! An 8-mile run with little breaks when I need them. Not nearly as scary. Plus, even with my little walks on this run, I was still at about a 10-10.5 minute mile. Not too shabby.

And then Sunday was the fun one: the Arboretum Bud Break 5k. The sun was out, my family was coming to cheer me on, and Nikki was running the race with me. How great! Except for one thing: one of my bestie's bdays was the night before. So needless to say, we were both a little (ok, a lot) hungover. But if we had to walk, oh well. I knew I could do this course since we accomplished it a few weeks back.

But there was another issue: the course was the other way than we ran the other week! The hills seemed HUGE, but I just kept putting one foot infront of the other.

We kept saying, "It's only three miles." Then I realized, holy crap! I'm someone who thinks 3 miles is a walk in the park. Yessssss. So I really wanted to run the whole thing!

And Nikki and I were able to run the entire race! And in decent time! 31 minutes.

On the way. Pre-race. Oh and my awesome breakfast: peanut butter toast. PS, why do I insist on opening my mouth like an idiot? Forgive me.

Pre-race with the race course sign.

Us on the left. We're zooming to the finish line!

We did it! Post-race. We're huge fans of the thumbs up.

So there's my 18 miles. And by the end of the day yesterday, my legs were tired. So I'm happy today is a rest day. Need to recharge!

Weekend On My Mind

2010-04-28T10:24:00.001-07:00

I have an interesting few days coming up here.

And as anybody losing or maintaining their weight knows, breaking routine can throw a wrench in things.

I'm working on a feature story and to research further, I'm moving home to Excelsior (where my dad lives) for a few days to really dive into it. I'd go into more details, but I don't want to give away our July cover story.

Anyway, moving home will present some difficulties. But it will allow for some advantages. Here's my pros and cons list about the whole experience. (Keep in mind I'm staying tonight through Friday, it's not like I'm going for three weeks or anything!)

Pros:
--I'm out of the office running around for two days digging into a story that I'm really excited about.
--I'll have time to get my runs in tonight and tomorrow.
--My dad will cook my meals. (yay! I love being taken care of)
--Very little snack food around my dad's house.
--I get to sleep in :-)

Cons:
--It's supposed to rain nonstop starting Friday. Booooooo. Hard to get my outdoor runs in.
--My dad is President of the "clean plate club" and his cooking rocks. He always makes too much food and insists that "leftovers go to waste."
--I'll be out and about all day. Lots of fast food temptations for lunch.
--My dad has dial up internet. Yes, I know. Stone age! I won't be able to update this blog for a while.....

So enjoy your weekend if we don't "talk" before then! I'm planning on a low key one. I work on Saturday and want to get an 8-mile run in, so that's going to be a little difficult. But I'm determined to make it work!

Adios everyone!

Aches and Pains

2010-04-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for the nice comments about the Get in Gear. I'm still on a bit of a high from it!

I ran across a great article yesterday in the New York Times about running pain.

See it here.

It basically talks about when you should see a doctor and when to just tough out aches and pains. While it doesn't give any concrete answers, it did put some of my worries to rest.

This article hit home for me because as I've been running more distance, I have been experiencing some aches and pains. Some (like blisters) have been solved with my shoes, but others (like some shin pain) have not been cured. And this article kind of reinforced what I was told at Marathon Sports: You will run into pain while running. It will (most likely) go away.

It's comforting to hear that as I reach upwards of 8 miles on my training that it won't be pain free. Because it hasn't been pain free!

But this article says that if you're experiencing the same aches again and again, it's "normal." While some may argue that if anything hurts you should stop, I was comforted to hear this. The article explains how athletes know their body and know what they're going to run into. It's when you have prolonged pain or new pain that you should worry.

The article says that if you see a doctor, they will no doubt tell you to stop. So if you don't want to be told to quit whatever activity you're doing, you better tough it out!

Which is a little scary and could lead to a more serious injury, but more often than not any ache or pain you're experiencing is "normal."

And I'm glad to hear it, because yesterday I tried to run three miles and boy! Was it tough. Sometimes I get pain in my shin. And it's not sharp pain, but it's a dull pain. The woman at Marathon Sports said I probably just needed to increase my muscle tone in my lower legs. Which is very possible. But yesterday, I only made it two miles. And that's a bummer because I was still on my "I just ran 6.2 miles!!" high from the weekend.

So today I'm strength training and hoping to build and avoid my pains.

Get in Gear: Wrap Up

2010-04-26T06:56:00.000-07:00

The Get in Gear race this past weekend was (in a word) wonderful!

It was gross and rainy, but I did my best to keep a smile on my face. Not only was this my first ever race, but I had organized it so a bunch of coworkers were running it as a fundraiser for leukemia. Well we hit our fundraising goal, and then some! We've already raised nearly $1,500 (our goal was $1,000) and the money didn't depend on people actually showing up to run. Which turned out to be a good thing. The rain kept a few people at home, which I can understand. But I was determined to head out. I can't lie though, I was nervous!

I was nervous I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing. But then I realized, what is so wrong with that?

I was nervous I would have pain. Blisters, foot pain, arches, etc. But if I did, I would just deal with it and walk a bit. Not the end of the world.

I was nervous none of my coworkers would show up. But the money was already raised, it didn't really matter.

So I tried my best to set my nervous aside (especially nerves about that first one, I really wanted to run the whole thing!).

I had a relaxing night in on Friday, which included watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Freaking love that movie. And was alseep by 11 p.m. I wanted to be rested!

Got up at 6:30 a.m. and was ready to get my race on.

Had a decent breakfast. Peanut butter toast and a banana. Figured that would keep me full for the next few hours. But not too full to have a sideache.

As I was on my way to Minnehaha Park, it started to really rain. And I mean downpour. Like the wipers on my car couldn't go fast enough. But I wasn't turning around now! So I parked at the VA Hospital, took the shuttle, and headed to the park. I wandered forever before finally finding my coworkers.

I was there by 7:30 even though my race didn't start until 9. Since I was meeting people and was the organizer, I figured that was best. Plus, I'm super glad I wasn't late. I heard that traffic was awful and I would have been super stressed if I was late to the race! Note to self: early is always better.

I cheered on Nicole and Ann as they finished the 2k. I had talked with Ann on Friday and she was nervous about the race, so I'm so proud of them for finishing!

Pre-race and already soaked. I look more excited than I actually was. I was a ball of nerves!!

Pre-race. L-R: Me, Hannah, Katie, Lauren, and Morgon Mae. Hannah and I were taking on the 10k route and the other girls were running the 5k.

And shout out to Morgon Mae who was running her first ever race and absolutely loved it! She trained and practiced without headphones and everything. Nice work MM!

With my running partner Hannah at the staring line. I was a bit nervous to run with her. She wanted to do the race in under an hour (eek!). But we put on our music and headed out together. She's super fit and hits the gym almost everyday, but then I realized that I do that too. Could I keep up with her? Only time would tell.

All the people at the starting line. It took about 2 miles for us to all spread out and get our pace!

And then we were off. The first two miles zoomed by because it was more about getting around people and avoiding puddles than running. By the time we hit mile 3 I was feeling pretty dang good. But then....we hit a hill. A biotch of a hill.

It was a slow incline hill, but I'll say it went on for about a third of a mile. I either had to slow my pace down or I had to walk, and I REALLLLLY didn't want to walk. So I told Hannah to go ahead. I didn't want to slow her down. I was weezing by the top of this hill, but I just slowed down a bit to get my breathing back to normal. Good practice since there is a similiar, yet harder, hill on my half marathon course!

So I set out at my own (slower) pace and tried my best to focus on my music and stay out of my head.

I was tired and my hips hurt a bit but I kept going and by the time I hit mile 5, there was no way I was stopping. Then I could see the bridge, which meant we were almost at the finish line. Then I could see the finish line. Right as I was zooming to the finish line, I spotted fellow blogger Ann. Then I heard my coworkers who had finished the 5k cheering for me. And finishing that beast was no problemo!

Here's Ann and me at the finish line. How cute is her pink outfit??

With my coworkers who ran the race! (There were more, but I couldn't find them!) L-R: Me, Emily, and Hannah did the 10k. Jay, Katie, and Lauren did the 5k! It was Jay's first race and he said he wanted to do more. Yay!

The post pic. Taken in the (dry, warm) oasis of my car. Hmmm the hat really covers up my hair here...I might have to break it out more often.

My bib. I'm mighty proud of this thing. So is Jack.

Oh and here's the cool shirt I was supposed to run in, but my raincoat had to cover that baby up. It's the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Fundraising shirts. I'm proud to be able to wear this thing again!

So overall it was absolutely amazing. I was able to run the whole race and I did it in freaking excellent time (well, for me).

My final results:
Place: 968 out of 2051
Overall time: 1:01:38
Pace: 9:55/mile (what???? I normally run an 10.5-11 minute mile!) Guess that adrenaline thing does work!

Made me really excited for my 5k this weekend at the Arboretum and made me excited, yet still nervous, for my half marathon. I can't imagine that this race was less than half of my half marathon, but I'm so glad I've now experienced the "race atmosphere." And I'm so glad that I loved it! Can't wait to do more!

Urban Bike Ride: An Earth Day Tribute

2010-04-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Earth Day. So I decided to pay homage to my gorgeous town and the gorgeous day. Plus a little foot pain kept me not wanting to run my 3 miles. (My 10k is tomorrow and I want to do well, no injuries for me!). So I sent out on my bike for an adventure. I wanted to try a newish route: taking the Greenway then Kenilworth Trail to downtown, then taking West River Road back to the Greenway.

And I took my camera so y'all could enjoy the sights with me! And I was biking while I took all of these shots. Prob not the safest, but I didn't want to stop.

Beware: I am absolutely in love with this town in the springtime. So I'm a little gushy....

I set out on my beloved Greenway Trail.

Super cute garden along the Greenway.

LILACS ARE BLOOMING! This is by far my fave time of the year!

To the Kenilworth trail! I'm about 2 miles into my ride here.

Now onto the Kenilworth trail. Not nearly as busy at the Greenway. It goes between Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake.

Seriously, I heart this trail. Normally I've turned off at this point, but today I wanted to keep going toward Downtown.

It was pretty peaceful on this part of the trail. That bridge in the distance is 394 where it merges onto 94. Lots of traffic going on and I'm in my own world. Kind of fun.

(Insert detour through downtown here. The trail sort of ended by the new Twins Stadium and I had to navigate my way toward the river in rush hour right after a Twins game. I focused on my biking and not taking pictures.)

My old stompin' grounds: The Hennepin Avenue Bridge! The gateway to Northeast.

View of the river from the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. This is right where Minneapolis started!

Now headed East toward West River Road. Nice and scenic along the river. Used to love to run this.

Mill City Museum.

Pretty view of the river with the 35W bridge in the distance.

Guthrie Theater.

Then you round a corner and you're looking at the University of MN--my alma mater! I absolutely love going to the U's campus. I can pretty confidently say I had the best years of my life here! Oh to be young again :-)

Washington Avenue Bridge. Thanks to my Geography minor, I spent plenty o' time on this bridge. I get so nostalgic when I come over here!

Right after the Washington Avenue Bridge, you hit the river flats. Back in my dad's day, they used to park cars here. What a shame! So glad it's green pastures now.

So pretty. Minus the crane. Note the Weisman on the left.

And note how we're at the river level. This will come up later....

The U's Medical Center. Oh East Bank. I heart you.

So right after you pass the U and I quit reliving my younger years, there is this hill. It is HUGE. It's part of my half marathon course. eeeekkkkkk!

Seriously, this hill does not end.

And just when you think you're at the top...it keeps going!

Huffin' and puffin' up this thing.

Finally at the top! Now when you look at the river, you look down a cliff. (Remember how flat it just was??) It makes you realize the incline you just biked!

Then I turned off West River Road and was back on the Greenway. 4 miles until home!

East end of the Greenway.

Downtown from the South. Hard to believe I was just on the other side of that!

Martin Olav Sabo Bridge. Goes over Hwy 55.

Cute little bike shop only accessible by the Greenway.

Community Garden along the Greenway.

AND DONE! 1 hour 20 minute bike ride!

Not really a sweaty post workout pic, but I felt like taking one anyway.

Hope you enjoyed my pics! As mentioned above, I have my 10k Race for Brian (part of the Get in Gear) tomorrow. It's supposed to rain so I'm in need of some rain gear. Hopefully these 6 miles go just as smooth as my 6 miles on Sunday! A little nervous.... I'll be sure to take pictures of my first ever race though!

Enjoy your weekend!

200!!!

2010-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

I promised a special post today. Well . . . I got to work and got busy. And then I didn't post. But now it's lunch and I have time and I reallllly wanted to post today.

Why? Because it's my 200th post!

I don't really have anything groundbreaking or eye opening to say, but I just really wanted to mark this day with a big THANK YOU to my readers.

Thanks for reading, even on days when I feel I don't say anything
Thanks for commenting. Please, keep these coming!
Thanks for encouraging
Thanks for letting me spill/blab/drone on/etc
Thanks for not judging. Well even if you judge, that's OK. Thanks for coming back anyway!
Thanks for making me think. About my actions, my eating, my health.
Thanks for challenging me. And for forcing me to challenge myself
Thanks for being my friends. Yes, sorry. You're stuck with me.

Whether you know it or not, you guys keep me going when I want to quit. You guys help me make better decisions. You guys make me accountable.

This blog has allowed me to share my fears, blab about my life, mark my triumphs, and admit to my faults. Without this outlet, I'm not sure where I would be. I may have given up. I may be back to my starting weight. I may not be signed up for running events. I may not be as happy as I am.

So thanks for reading! It means the world.

Love,
Sarah

PS. Just so that I post something of actual note and use to people, I got this great article from Active.com in my inbox. How to run past your mental blocks. Something I've been dealing with a little bit as my training runs get longer....and longer....

Link here.

Enjoy!

One Hour Challenge

2010-04-21T06:54:00.001-07:00

About a month ago, Priorfatgirl challenged us to workout for an hour. Well, actually, The Anti-Jared challenged her, and she in turn challenged us to join her.

At the time I was quick to jump on board. Yes, of course I'll workout for an hour. Piece of cake. Well since then I've started my half marathon training and I ran Sat, Sun, and Monday for a total of 13 miles between those three days. So come yesterday I was tuckered. It was a rest day on my training schedule which means I was supposed to hit the gym for some weight lifting. And lately, my weight lifting day has become "eeehhh I'm not running so I can skip" day. Not good.

Well lunch hour came and went and I was just too busy at work to make it there so I skipped with little to no feeling of regret.

But then I opened my planner and saw it: One Hour Workout Challenge. I had completely forgotten about it!

I had already planned to take Jack on a long walk after work, should I just walk him for an hour? Eh, that didn't seem like enough of a "workout."

So it hit me on my bus ride home: a bike ride! It was an absolutely gorgeous night. 72 degrees. And people were out and about. So I straddled the bike and hit the trails. I wore my stopwatch so I would know that I was out for an hour.

I went to Lake Calhoun, then around Lake Harriet, then over to Lake of the Isles.

Have I gushed about how much I freaking LOVE living by the treasures??? Oh I have? Well I can't shut up about it!

It was gorgeous, people were out, the biking was good, and the sun was on my face. My grumpiness from the day faded. My tiredness waned. And my happy mood was in full swing by the time I reached the lakes. It only escalated from there.

All in all, I was on my bike for an hour and 11 minutes. I did it! Plus, I truly enjoyed myself.

I'm grateful to Jen's challenge because it "forced" me to get a workout in even when I wasn't in the mood to do it. And boy I'm glad I did!

See y'all tomorrow for a VERY special post. I bet you can't wait, right??

Bucket List

2010-04-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

To stick with the theme lately, I had an absolutely glorious weekend!

AND I was able to cross something off of my bucket list!

I grew up across the street from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen. I used to bike over there all the time and bike the 3-mile drive. Every spring they have a 5k on the 3-mile drive and I've wanted to run it my entire life.

But I've always chickened out. I've never run these three miles. But I've finally signed up for the 5k and it's May 2. I've walked the 3-mile drive and it's hilly as hell. So I was nervous to run it.

Well on Saturday I decided it was time to conquer my fears.

And I had some friends who wanted to do it with me. Dan, Nikki, Nick, and myself headed west to the Arb. My mom has a season pass so we borrowed that to avoid the $7/person entry fee.

While not everything was in bloom, most things were. It is gorgeous out there!

And we did the 3 miles! All four of us! It was actually a lot of fun to run a "new" route and the hills and scenery actually kept it interesting.

Arboretum 3 mile drive, we roasted you!

Nikki and I will be back here on May 2 to run the real 5k. Now that I know I can do it, it'll be a piece of cake!

Then on Sunday, I really conquered a fear: 6 miles. The farthest I've run in my life is 5.8 miles. And this weekend I was supposed to run 6 miles on my half marathon training. I was nervous, I was scared. I didn't know if I could do it.

My route was to do both Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. And Sarah wanted to do it with me. So we started running. And we didn't stop for 6 miles!! The run was actually really great and I enjoyed myself. I had music in one ear and was gabbing to Sarah with the other. It made the hour and 11 minutes zoom by.

And the best news: I don't hurt. I didn't get one blister on the run and besides a little bit of hip pain, I'm fine. I guess my new shoes might be working? Yessssss.

This weekend I have 8 miles to run, but I have my 10k (6.2 miles) on Saturday so I might just have that be my training run. Haven't quite decided what to do.

But overall, great weekend with some great runs!

Morning Run

2010-04-16T07:13:00.001-07:00

Today I've got a busy one. Photo shoot at noon (no lunchtime workout) and happy hour (no post-work workout). So last night it hit me: I should go for a run in the morning! (especially since I skipped a workout completely yesterday)

Why do I always forget about the glorious morning workout? While I hate getting out of bed as much as the next person, I'm always so relieved to remember that it's possible when I'm facing a day when a workout is not going to fit into my schedule.

So I headed out this morning at 6:15. The glorious thing: it was light out already!

I went toward Lake of the Isles, but when I got there it was windy! Like take your breath away windy. That is the problem with running around the lakes!

So I went off on a tangent toward the Kenilworth Trail. Just LOVE this trail. Very scenic and between Lake of the Isles and Cedar Lake. It meets up with the Greenway and I headed home, about a 4 mile loop.

Not sure how great this graphic is going to turn out, but here is my route. The dotted lines are my cool down walk.

But guess what? I ran the whole thing! With very little pain! I was in my new shoes (I just decided to give in and give them a try). My pinky and ring (if that makes sense) toes on my left side went a little numb/tingly, but no shin, arch, or hip pain! Yay!

I did find out that my new shoes are a different style shoe. My old ones were stability shoes, but these new shoes are Motion Control, for flat feet and overpronators. They definitely feel better on my arches. So I'll keep at it and see how it goes. I figure it's the best I can do right now!

Especially since this weekend I have a 6-miler on the books. EEK!

Happy Friday Everyone!

A little fried food

2010-04-15T06:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I just crave fried food. A swing past McD's or a deep fried something or other sounds amazing and next thing I know, I'm almost ready to get in my car.

Had one of these moments yesterday, but then remembered that I had all of the "ingredients" for a healthy "fried" meal. So I dropped my keys and went to the freezer.

I almost always keep these things on hand for these moments when I need something "fried," but also easy. This meal is seriously a lazy man's dream.

Boca "chicken" nuggets. 180 calories for 4. Less sodium and fat than the Morningstar version.

Plus sweet potato fries. If you haven't tried these: do it! 150 calories for about 12 fries. I give myself about a 250 calorie portion.

Both go on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 18 minutes.

Then I added a veggies. I'm seriously obsessed with asparagus lately. All washed and ready to go. Those asparagus are perfect! MMM how I love you.

This is my fave way to cook asparagus. Add about a teaspoon of oil and let it heat up in the pain. Then add asparagus and let it simmer.

Salt and pepper and give it a couple of stirs. In about 5 minutes, done!

18 minutes later, viola! Seriously, Emeril calls me for advice.

My gourmet meal. Eat your heart out Foodies!

My constant dining companion. I caught him mid-lick. Kind of looks like he's sticking his tongue out at me! Rude, Jack!

And I did buy new running shoes yesterday. Mizuno's, which I have had before. I had the Mizuno Wave Rider, and those were good shoes until the inside started to chafe against my foot. These are the Mizuno Alchemy. I'm not 100 percent sold on them and am kind of starting to feel like maybe nothing can help me. I talked to a very nice lady at Marathon sports and she looked at my old shoe and said what I feared, that it was the right shoe for me. What?!? How come I hurt so much then? She said that it was a bit too small (it was a 10.5, normally wear a 10) and that maybe I'm just experiencing aches and pains that come with being new to distance running. Sooo not what I wanted to hear.

These shoes do feel different though, especially in my arch, which is where I'm having the most trouble.

The problem here is that I can only return them if they haven't been worn outside. Well, the only time I hurt is when I run outside. The treadmill doesn't hurt as much. She suggested I find a track, but my gym doesn't have one. Ugh!

So I ran 2 miles in them at the gym yesterday and they felt fine. I'm just a little skeptical about them being any better. But unfortunately, a good long run outside is probably the only thing that can answer that.

While I love that they're pink and purple, I'm not in love with them. But if they take the pain away, I don't really care. Size 11. Quit looking for bigfoot, it's me.

The jury's still out.

Growing Pains

2010-04-14T07:07:00.001-07:00

Last night I tried to run 4 miles. In my head, 4 miles is no problem. It's a snap. I've done that many times before.

But last night, it was painful.

I had to stop about a mile in. I was sad, I was disappointed, I was frustrated. But more than anything, I was in pain!

My left shin burned, my right hip hurt, my arches were in pain, and I could feel my blisters acting up. ONE MILE IN!

Here's where I am lost: sometimes I can run 5 miles with just "normal" aches and pains. But how come on this run the pain set in at one mile? Or are these "normal" aches and pains not normal??

Am I not meant to be a runner? Or can I really blame it all on my shoes?

I got fitted for the shoes I am in now at the Running Room. They watched me walk and squat and fitted me in these shoes. Plus, they're the mandatory half size bigger to accomodate foot swelling. But I've since heard that the Running Room is not that great. So today I'm headed to Marathon Sports to get fitted for new shoes. I've heard time and time again that they're the real "pros." Now I know just yesterday I posted that I'm strapped for cash, but as I train for my half marathon I am finding that new shoes are no longer a "want" but they're becoming a "need."

To accomodate the cost of new shoes (sometimes up to $100), I'm returning two dresses that are in my closet with the tags on. I'm not in love with them and kind of bought them on a whim. So it's really not a loss. And I figure, new shoes are more important to me right now!

And I've decided: I'm not running that race this weekend. It would be a ton of fun, but instead I'm going to do my 6-mile training run. 5.8 miles is the farthest I've run. Ever. So completing 6 will feel absolutely excellent. Given my new shoes are the miracle I've been hoping for.

Has anybody else's running pains been cured by new shoes? I've heard time and time again that "it's all in the shoes" and I'm hoping they're right.

Weekend Wrap-Up: One Day Late

2010-04-13T06:23:00.001-07:00

Sorry I was MIA yesterday. I had a hectic Monday morning so I just passed on the blogging.

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was pretty good, despite my all-day training on Saturday.

I stayed in Friday night and watched a movie by myself, which was actually enjoyable. I almost always have plans on Friday nights so it was nice to just chill and get to sleep at a reasonable time.

Woke up bright and early for my training and just tried to put a happy face on despite dreading it. I went grocery shopping to prepare for the "We're not feeding you" aspect of the whole thing and I packed an 8-year-old's lunch. PB & J, Cheez-Its, and granola bars. I did manage to sneak a few pieces of fruit in there though. I was more focused on having enough food than actually paying attention to what I was eating. So I didn't starve. I also didn't eat that well, but it was better than the alternative: running over to Burger King at lunch, which a lot of people did.

Sunday it was absolutely gorgeous out here in Minneapolis. We headed to a park for a little football action again. Lots of fun and even sprawled out on the grass and got some sun. By the time we got back from that I was tired, but I also was supposed to get a 5 mile run in for my training. Plus I hadn't worked out since my Gladiator workout on Thursday!!! So I laced up the sneaks before I could convince myself otherwise and set out for my 5 mile run. It was actually really enjoyable, but the last mile was a bit painful. My hips hurt, even my back hurt. I so need to get new shoes! But I did it!

So I took a rest day yesterday to recover. And tonight I'm headed out for another 4 mile run.

In other news, I'm struggling a bit. Financially. I've sort of reached a breaking point and I'm SICK of constantly worrying about money. Well, something I've spent a bit of money on this year is my races. And I have yet to sign up for the Challenge Obesity 5k that a bunch o' bloggers are doing. And now I'm stressing about the price tag. Yeah, it's only $24 but I'm trying to save every penny so I can pay off my dang credit cards.

I have yet to decide if I'm doing it or not. I really want to (and what better way to run my first ever 5k?) but I'm sort of on a spending freeze. Plus, I'm supposed to put in 6 miles for my half training that day. Eck. Thoughts?

I'm a Gladiator!

2010-04-09T06:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I was privy to an amazing workout class at the YWCA.

It was one of the greatest perks of my job I've had to date.

For the magazine's June issue, I'm writing a "Test Drive" in our Shopping + Style section about the Gladiator Workout at the YWCA. It was intense, Biggest Loser-style workouts that were absolutely amazing. There were ten stations and you spent a minute at each station. Then you did the loop three times. We were flipping tires, using kettle balls, and even did squats with a tube filled with water on our shoulders.

It took an hour, flew by, and was intense! I'm feeling some of the moves today. It almost felt like a workout with Jillian! (Well, what I would imagine that workout to feel like, except probably less intense.)

And the trainer at the class, Tony, was great! He made me miss working out with a trainer!

Also, because I was doing the class for the magazine, there was a photographer there. Nothing will make you more self conscious during a workout than having a camera in your face. I was joking with the photographer about how horrible I looked and she was nice saying I looked great, but as you're jumping and sweating—it's hard to believe. I'm excited to see what the pictures look like.

For more info about the class follow this link. We did all of this—minus the Gladiator costumes. :-)

And look out for my Test Drive in the June issue of Mpls.St.Paul Magazine!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Food Challenge Post!

2010-04-07T06:50:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I set out with a challenge for myself. I was going to take a picture of everything I ate. The challenge itself wasn't too difficult and it did stop me from snacking a time or two, which is great! I actually kind of enjoyed it. The only problem: I have a pretty boring diet!

So here we go. On with breakfast:

My new Kashi flavor. I'm really trying to branch out and try their other cereal flavors. Especially since they're all pretty high in fiber and low in sugar. They're all a good way to start the say! With this flavor, I was hoping for a Cheerios taste! Fingers crossed.

Hmmm...sort of looks like Jack's dog food. Not sure about this....

But I did kind of love how the cereal has hearts in it! Tres cute.

And it was good!

Now onto my typical 10 a.m. snack. Some days I am busy and able to avoid this snack, but not today.

Mid-morning snack. Raspberry yogurt and Banana nut granola. Isn't the lighting at my desk artistic? :-)

Yum! Ready to dig in!

All gone!

I follow up almost every meal or snack with a stick of gum. This is my flavor of the moment: Extra Winterfresh!

I had half of a muffin in a meeting without even thinking about it. Apple cinammon flavor, YUM! I ate it so fast I didn't get a picture, so I had to snap one of the whole box. These were from Mystic Lake. OMG soooo good. Who would've thought?

These were the one low point in my diet....

Post gym, it was onto lunch. I eat at my desk most days (notice the keyboard/mouse background).

My lunch! Tuna sandwich, salad, a pear, and carrots.

Close up on my salad. Lettuce, Craisins, and almonds. I don't like dressing...yes, I'm boring.

Close up on the tuna sammy. Yes, just tuna (well tuna and no fat mayo) and bread. I guess I'm a real boring eater!

I finished up with something sweet from my Easter basket. Bunny with no head!

Another stick of gum! Need to "clean out" my mouth post-meal.

Plus at least three of these a day!

Now onto dinner. I headed out to Chaska to have dinner with my longtime friend Jessica. She's vegan, I've told y'all about her. Love having dinner with her. Not only is she great conversation, BUT she makes some of the best meals! Check out her blog, she's very inspiring.

Din. Portobello mushroom "burger," roasted veggies, and a baked potato. Jess always makes me such healthy meals!

It was my first time ever having a portobello mushroom. I normally dislike mushrooms (especially in cans!) but I trust Jess and wanted to give it a try. Here we go! A little nervous....

My first ever portobello! It was good. I gobbled this up pretty quick.

Follow up dinner with a chocolate mocha vegan cookie.

Seriously, check out Jessica's blog. She's amazing!

And that, folks, was my Day In Food.

:-)

Special post TK....

2010-04-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

In my neck of the woods, "TK" means "to come." (Why it's not TC I have no clue. We use TC a LOT for Twin Cities, so maybe that's it...?) We use it in journalism to basically say "this fact is on its way!"

But today it means that I have a very special post in the works. It's going to take me a little extra work, but I'm OK with that. Because I think you guys will enjoy it. Well, I hope you will...

So I'm taking it easy on the blog today because I'll be working on today's post all day. But I didn't want to leave you guys with absolutely nothing to read!

So here are some miscellaneous tidbits that are on my mind. Some health-related, some not. Welcome to my word/though vomit:

1. This weekend is basically a wash for me. I have a training for my Gopher stadium job from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. That means no going out on Friday night and I highly doubt I'll want to do anything come Saturday night. But I'm kind of OK with that. Relaxing weekends are pretty nice. But the worst part about the training: they're not feeding us. And there is no fridge/micro. What in the hell am I supposed to do for food?? It's in Coffman Union (on the UMN Campus) and there is a cafeteria there, so hopefully we'll have breaks to run there. I'm kind of worried I'm going to starve! ha.

2. Yesterday at the gym the showers were broken! AAH! So I didn't get my 3-mile training run in. Definitely would need to shower after that. I did, however, do 45 minutes on the elliptical. And I'll take it. Since my training runs are still at 3 and 4 miles and I know I can do that, I'm not taking it very seriously yet....I do have a 5-miler on the books this Sunday though.

3. I have one heck of a hectic few months coming up. I have something scheduled at least one of every weekend day for the next like 8 weekends. Here is my schedule the next couple weekends:
April 10: Work training
April 17: Challenge Obesity 5K with my blogger friends. I still need to sign up for that...
April 24: Get in Gear 10K and my Race for Brian to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
May 2: Bud Break 5K at the Arboretum
May 7: Taylor Swift!!! Sorry, I'm excited about this one, had to put it in there.
May 8: Vegas with my Ma
May 15: Friends and brother in town.
May 22: My birthday (so these last two aren't really set "plans" but I figure I'll be busy)
May 29: Memorial Day. Housesitting.
June 6: Minneapolis HALF MARATHON.

I mostly figured this out because I want to get up to my cabin with my dad. And then I was thinking "Nope, can't go that weekend....nope can't go that weekend..." and I realized I'm booked. Most of it is fun things and the only one I'm dreading is my training this Saturday, but still, I feel a little overwhelmed!

4. I'm having dinner with my vegan amiga Jess tonight. Super excited! What she has in store is TK. Absolutely love her cooking!

5. I'd like to give some shout outs to my fellow bloggers. Most of these people I met back at the Prior Fat Girl get together and I'm loving reading their blogs.

Prior Fat Girl, for challenging 200 people to workout for 60 minutes on April 20th. I'm in! Are you?
Norwego, for realizing her love for running!
Ann, for this post. Still love it.
Mary, for signing up for her first half marathon. I'm doing the Get in Gear 10K and I have my first half coming up too in June...can't get over my nerves about that!!

I'm constantly impressed by these (and many other!) bloggers every day. Let's keep it up!!

6. It's supposed to rain the next two days. Since I'm doing my half marathon training outside, I'm a little nervous this is going to throw me off, but I'll "make it work," Tim Gunn-style.

7. I should really get to work. Thanks for reading. BYE! :-)

Football Star?

2010-04-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

I had the best time on Saturday. Nick, Nicole, and myself headed to a park off of Lake Calhoun for a little "activity." We were originally going to hit the gym together but it was much too nice outside. So we set out with a football, badminton gear, and a ball to throw around. We also had some fun photo ops on the way there....

My boy on the beach!

My "activity" partners: Nick and Nikki. The ice is off the lake!! WooHoo!

We had fun.

Lake Calhoun. Practically in my backyard. I'm a lucky girl.

Among the rocks.

Jack, happy as a clam.

My Heisman trophy is in the mail.

It was a lot of fun to just head out and get some activity in, but not be confined to a gym. On top of football we created this game where you threw a ball around but never quit moving. Let's just say after about 30 seconds of that, we were all panting like crazy. We were also laughing nonstop at how dumb we looked. We were out for about two hours and with that plus the walk to and from, I'd say we got a good workout in. My back and arm have been sore ever since. Throwing a football is hard! ha.

I did get my four mile training run in on Sunday. It had two hours to kill before my Easter celebrations started so I set out. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning and I was perfectly comfortable in my t-shirt.

And with this weather, I can't seem to shake my good mood! Happy Monday everyone!

Slack-a-lackin'

2010-04-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA with the blog the past few days. I either didn't have much to share or was too busy! But now that it's Friday, I figure I'd give an update.

HALF MARATHON TRAINING:

My half marathon training has been going...eh...not that great. According to my plan I was supposed to run 3 miles on Monday, Wed, and Thurs. Well, the only day that happened was Monday. To be fair I was active those other days, but 3 miles didn't happen. Wednesday I set out with every intention to run 3 miles, but I had some shin pain and my arch hurt. So I started walking about 1.5 miles in and walked/ran the rest of the way. I figured I didn't want to hurt myself, but I also may have been using this as an excuse not to run. Not sure. But oh well, at least I got some activity?? :-)

Then yesterday I took advantage of the beautiful, 80 degree weather and went on a monster bike ride. I live right by the Greenway, which connects to the Grand Rounds. If you haven't experienced these trails, GET OUT THERE! They're absolutely gorgeous and cover Minneapolis's greatest natural wonders, including the Mississippi River, Minnehaha Falls, Minnehaha Creek, and the lakes. The total trail is 50 miles (and on my to-do list!), but yesterday I just set out to conquer the lower half, about 20 miles? I was gone 2 hours. My path is in black here. The X is about where I live.

So besides a bit of a sore behind, this was an abolusely fab workout. And so beautiful. That's what I love about biking: if you watch the scenery, it doesn't even feel like you're doing anything. But it does mean that I skipped out on my training run. Two days in and already skipping? Eh, I'm not worried about it.

I have rest days today and Sunday and am supposed to run 4 miles on Saturday. So hopefully I can make that actually happen sometime this week!

SUMMER WEATHER:

OMG I'm absolutely, positively, 100 percent in LOVE with this wonderful weather we've been having. Rain today and tomorrow, but still 60 degrees, so I'm not complaining. Makes me a little nervous about how hot the summer could be (especially since this will be my first summer EVER without air conditioning in my house), but I absolutely love the heat. Hopefully these words don't come back to haunt me.

But the weather has made me want to be so active. I feel like every spare minute I have, I want to be outside walking, biking, running, etc. And I've been taking advantage!

WEIGHT:

Maybe it's all the sweat or just life in general, but I am down 2 pounds this week. I haven't seen the scale move in a long while. While two pounds is nothing to be over the moon about, it still makes me have a spring in my step. I must be doing something right! Right?

The Power of a Good Run

2010-03-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

I have found that when I don't workout over lunch, I feel like hell. I get headaches, I feel groggy, and I just feel horrible. All I want to do is go home and sleep.

Fortunately, it's not too often that I skip a lunch workout, but yesterday as I was headed to the gym something felt wrong. My bag was really light. It turns out, I forgot my tennis shoes. No such luck doing a 3 mile run in heels. So I headed back to my desk and made plans to run after work. Which is all fine and good, but then the headache started in. My eyes felt heavy and they hurt.

I made it through the afternoon and by the time I got home, I really did not want to run.

But I did anyway. And guess what happened? By about halfway through my run I realized that my headache was gone. My eyes no longer hurt. I no longer felt groggy.

My run yesterday was a hard one, but I'm so glad I did it. My crap feeling was gone for the rest of the night! And I was a happy camper.

This is not the first time exercise has helped me feel better. Next time you're tired, groggy, or have a headache, maybe give it a try. It certainly worked for me!

And I started my half marathon training with a 3 mile run. I came to a very sad conclusion though, I really think I need to limit my running with Jack while I'm training. I love running with him because it gets him out and some exercise, but stopping at every tree, having to focus on him not being distracted by other dogs, and having him pull me are really distracting. Which sometimes can make my run go by quickly, but other times I'm just downright frustrated.

And I'm worried that if I get used to running with his distractions, running solo will be harder. When I run with him, I focus on him, not on my run. So I might limit my running time with him to once a week. Which works out because I'll do a lot of running over lunch downtown here.

Ah Blissful Weekend

2010-03-29T07:04:00.001-07:00

I had an absolutely fantabulous weekend!

I got home from work on Friday and decided to go for a run. Eh, that was a fail. It was sooo cold around Lake of the Isles. I ran about 1.5 miles and then turned a corner and the wind took my breath away. I had to stop. My ears were ringing. So I ran when the wind was at my back and walked when it was thrashing in my face. So I maybe got 2.5 miles in? I felt a little defeated that I didn't run the whole time, but oh well. It was better than nothing!

Then Friday night, Sarah and I headed to Hopkins with the intentions of seeing a movie at their cheap theater. We had dinner and then decided a movie in sweatpants was better. So we went to her apartment and I viewed New Moon for the 10th (not kidding) time. And then hit the sack. Really enjoyed spending a Friday night in though. Felt like my body needed that after last weekend's nonstopness.

Then met up with Sarah again (she does live only about 5 blocks from my house!) for a long bike ride. I've been itching to dust off my bike and figured Saturday was as good of time as any. It was cloudy and a bit chilly, but it was enjoyable. We headed out on the Greenway and stopped in Hopkins for lunch. OMG Hopkins twice in a row??

Sarah and I in our kick ass biker gear. Well, really, she just looks like a kick ass biker. I look like a person sans gear.

We stopped at Hopkins and ate at Big 10. Great food. Here is my pulled pork sandwich and fries.
Unhealthy! But it was GOOD.

Sarah orders healthy! Buffalo wrap and a side salad.

Then we headed home. Overall, it was about a two hour bike ride (maybe a little less). It was nice to hit the trails. Can't wait to explore more and absolutely love that I'm so close to the Greenway!

Then I took Jack to the dog park. I felt a tad guilty that I had gotten some exercise and he hadn't. Yes, I let him make me feel guilty.

So with my two hour bike ride and a walk to the dog park, I felt like I had gotten enough movement for a Saturday. So I went shopping (so many cute spring dresses out right now!) and enjoyed a night out with friends.

Then on Sunday I headed west to hang with my family. Had a delish lunch made by my pops and then headed to the Arboretum to meet up with my mom, her boyfriend, and my aunt and uncle. We walked the 3-mile drive and it was aboslutely gorgeous out! No real flowers to speak of, but the sun was shining and the conversation was good. So that was a lot of fun.

Plus, I enjoyed checking out the course for the 5k I'm doing there in May. In summary, this course is HILLY! Like the kind of hills that make you pant when you're walking. Running them is going to be a challenge. I might have to get out there and practice once before the 5k. A little nervous now!

I got home on Sunday and then walked around Lake Calhoun. Another 3 miles. So by the end of the Sunday I had put in 6 miles. All walking, but still felt like that was a good amount of activity!

So I haven't stepped foot in a gym since Wednesday, but I've been enjoying the weather and have been active outside, so I'm OK with that.

And guess what today is?? Day 1 of my half marathon training! According to Team Ortho's half marathon training guide, I start today! So I'm running 3 miles over lunch. And on the rest days they have (Tues and Fri) I am going to weight lift so I keep my muscles strong.

Uh oh, just saw a serious kink in my training plan. The most miles I'm going to run is 12, and that is supposed to be on the Saturday I'm in Vegas! EEK. Well, I'll deal with that when I come to it.

So there's a summary of my weekend. And it is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous out this week. So get out and enjoy it!

SPRING!

2010-03-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Is everyone out enjoying the weather?? I sure am!

Yesterday it was a glorious 55 and while that might not seem warm to some, to Minnesotans in the Spring, it's flip flop weather!

I ran by the river yesterday over lunch. I have a 3 mile loop from my gym that goes by the Metrodome, past the Guthrie, along the river, over the Stone Arch Bridge, then along Main Street, and then back to downtown on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge. I'd love to show you pictures of all of this, but I forgot my camera! Hmmm, maybe someday.

BUT as I was leaving work, Sarah texted me asking if I'd like to go on a walk. Well I love to walk the lakes (and I love me some Sarah time) so I instantly replied yes! Plus, I also love getting Jack out for long walks since he sits in a kennel all day.

We did Lake of the Isles.

And I did takes pics of that! Here we are:

Sarah, fellow Uptowner.

Me and my boo, Jack.

And with that, happy Thursday. It's almost the weekend, folks! :-)

New Breakfast Treat!

2010-03-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well it's not really "new" since it's cereal (and well, that breakfast is as old as time!) BUT I did discover a new Kashi cereal that I like. Thanks Lunds for making these buy one get one so I forced myself to try it!

I've been on a Honey Almond Flax cereal kick for what feels like about a year. Fairly sweet (although it's no Cinnamon Toast Crunch) and way high in fiber. So it's a pretty decent breakfast.

As I stumbled toward my regular box on a recent grocery shopping trip, I saw that some Kashi flavors were buy one get one free! And I gravitated toward this box.

It looked like healthy Capn' Crunch! And who doesn't love some of that. So I really invested and bought two boxes. And let me tell you, I love this stuff! It isn't quite as high in fiber as the honey almond flavor, but it's more yummy and definitely passes as a "non-healthy" cereal.

Makes me want to give their other flavors a try, but I'm a bit scared. At about $4 a box (sometimes higher!) it can feel like quite an investment. But I guess I used to throw at $2.68 on a bagel with peanut butter almost every day and think nothing of it.

Hmmm Kashi, I think I love you.

Update time!

2010-03-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, I had one heck of a crazy weekend. And I loved every single second of it.

Friday was Dan's (my roomie) birthday. Saturday was Nikki's birthday party bus. Yes, I have pictures!

We had dinner at Pancho Villa. They treat birthday boys well here. Free drinks, a birthday shot, and cake. Plus, look at his birthday marg! Eek!

The group at Pancho Villa for Dan's birthday. Great fun.

Nikki, Eric, and I (ok, mostly just Nikki) made this cake and surprised Dan with it.
The Reece's cake. Calorie count: a bazillion.

Dan, blowing out his candles. Dan's obsessed with Reece's. This cake is so good. It's currently sitting in my kitchen and is hard to resist!

Then we got ready to go out. AKA we played flip cup. It's probably our favorite past time.

With the bday boy!

(Insert Brian's funeral in here Saturday morning. I was sad to miss the Get Lucky 7K! But I can't imagine having missed Brian's funeral. It was really sad, but also nice. The eulogies were amazing. Post funeral I took a nap—yes, no exercise—and then did this:)

Party bus for Nikki's birthday and St. Patrick's Day! 40 of us crammed on to a bus while drunk. If that isn't a great time, I don't know what is. We zig zagged between Mpls and St. Paul Irish bars. It was a hoot.

With some of my fave people. L-R: Nick, Joe, Eric, and Thoma.

Then Sunday we all nursed our hangovers (OK, me worse than everyone else) and hung out. It was a nice day.

And as admittenly mentioned before, my "healthiness" was out the freaking window. I didn't work out, I ate out, I drank, etc etc. I had such a fun weekend that I hate to say it was "worth it," but it kind of was. The good news: I'm taking it easy for a while now...

But the fun wasn't over with the weekend, on Monday night, Nick took me to the Black Eyed Peas at the Xcel. LMFAO and Ludacris opened. It was SOOO fun!

Nick was wonderful enough to bring me as his date! We danced our booties off.

Nick got this photo. Wow! Really, great great show!

So now it's back to life as normal. Le, sigh.

Crazy Weekend Ahead

2010-03-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

I've got a super crazy weekend ahead. I'm way looking forward to it, but I know being healthy is going to take a backseat. Well, more like I'm throwing it in the trunk!

Today is my roomie Dan's birthday! (Happy birthday Dan!) We're going out to dinner at Pancho Villa on Nicollet for some yummy Mexican food and margaritas. Then we're heading back to our house to pregame before hitting the town. Eating out and drinking. My two pitfalls. But it's all in celebration, right?

Then tomorrow I'm hoping to get a good run in either before or after the funeral (see previous paragraph, it will most likely be after). Then mid afternoon we're begining the boozin' because it's our St. Patrick's Day/Nikki's birthday party bus celebration! Yes, it's Nikki's birthday this weekend too! So pretty much drinking all day. Hmmm, healthy? Um, no.

So Sunday will be recovery time (which it usually is). And I just thought I'd put it out there: I'm not going to be good this weekend. And I don't care who knows it! :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In cool news though, I did an awesome strength training routine yesterday. As I'm amping up my running I'm also trying to amp up my strength training. I have heard many times that you can gain weight while training for running events, so you need to remember that your muscles need to be in shape too! So my arms are hurtin' today.

Plus I invented (well, maybe someone else has done this move, but I've never seen it) a strength training move that I wanted to share with all of you. I don't have pictures of it, so I'll do my best to describe.

You need a Bosu ball to do this, so give it a try at the gym. It's a core workout like whoa.

You basically get on the Bosu ball like you're going to do a sit up (Bosu is in the middle of your back). But then you lift your legs straight up into the air. You can grab onto the sides of the Bosu for support, but try to do it with your hands behind your head. Basically with your legs in the air, bend at the knees and then bring legs straight back up. You wouldn't think that doing a leg-centered move would work your abs, but my core was burning! And I started with my hands on the side of the Bosu, but then moved them behind my head as I got more comfortable and felt good about my balance. I did two sets of 12. Killer!

Sorry for the random post. I get a little harebrained on Fridays! Have a good weekend everyone!!

Dilemma and Decision

2010-03-18T06:35:00.001-07:00

This week has been a trying one: swamped at work plus the death of Brian.

And then yesterday I got news that his funeral is going to be Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

My first ever race, the Get Lucky 7K, is at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

My first reaction was, "Damn! I sooooo wanted to run that race! Maybe I don't have to go?"

But then I thought "NO, I HAVE to go to Brian's funeral!"

So what to do?

After much thinking, and many moments of "why am I so selfish?," I'm going to the funeral. I just can't imagine not being there. I don't really think I need it for closure, but it just seems important that I be there out of respect for Brian.

But I can't help but admit that I'm really sad I'm missing my run. I'm realizing the run wasn't really about the run itself, but more about competing in my first race and having a 'crossing the finish line'-type moment. But I'll get there eventually.

My mom suggested that, post-funeral, I run farther than the race was scheduled. Which isn't a bad idea.

While I'm still a little torn about my decision and I can't help but get a little sad about it, what it comes down to is that I just can't imagine missing Brian's funeral. And for a race? And not even a challenging one at that? If it was my half marathon, it'd be a different story. But this race I signed up for more for fun, so it's skippable.

It was really reading his words posthumously that made the decision for me. A week before he died he wrote this on his CaringBridge site:

I assure you my service will be a celebration of life you won’t want to miss. I plan to be there.

And the more I think about it, the race doesn't seem nearly as important.

So my first ever race will be the Challenge Obesity 5K April 17 with my fellow blogger friends! And I will run a 7K on Saturday, just not surrounded by a sea of green.

First Morning Run!

2010-03-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry to leave you all hanging yesterday. I have been really swamped at work lately and while I love it, it leaves me little time to blog and surf the web. Dang, right?

And in sad news, my boss Brian passed away yesterday. Still can't believe how quick it all happened. I enjoyed a mid-day cocktail with my coworkers while we reminisced. He will surely be missed.

And well, as they say, life goes on. Right?

I have another packed day today and can't workout over lunch. And I've found that if I save my workouts for after work they're lackluster. So after seeing that the forecast was for 60 degrees today, I thought "Wow, I bet I could run outside in the morning." I used to love doing this last summer, but never have tried it in the spring. Now is as good of time as any!

So I got up at 6:15 a.m., laced up my sneakers, and headed out.

Wow, I'm getting a lot of firsts in this week huh?

6:16 a.m. 36 degrees. I was kind of hoping this would be more like 40, but oh well. And they say when you're running outside, you're supposed to dress like it's 10 degrees warmer.

Jack, ready to run! LOVE taking him on these morning runs. I feel like such a good mom. He needs to get outside too! Especially since he sits in a kennel all day.

I was a little worried about how dark it was going to be. But the streets were all lit up.

This picture, while blurry, shows off the lighting better....

The trail around Lake of the Isles was pretty well lit too (although you can't really tell in this picture).

Jacko, jogging. Well really, he's not here because I stopped to take a pic of him! Sorry, when my camera is on, I can't help but snap pics of him!

It really is a gorgeous way to wake up.

3.7 miles later!! The mandatory post workout pic. Love the feeling of completing a workout before 7 a.m.!

First Training Run!

2010-03-15T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hey all. How was the weekend? Mine was fairly uneventful. I worked my second job (I do liquor promotions and this weekend was a big one for Guiness!), watched movies, and enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday! But the definite highlight (well, healthwise) was that I completed my first half marathon training run on Saturday!

Team Ortho (organizers of my half marathon and the Get Lucky 7K I'm running next weekend) has been organizing Saturday morning training runs for those doing the marathon and half marathon. Technically I don't even have to start training yet, but I want to get started! I've skipped out on the last few training runs, but since I wasn't going out Friday night, I was determined to make it happen.

I was only doing 5 miles and while I've run farther than that recreationally, I was still a bit nervous. I'd be running with other people. What if I came in dead last? Would I be able to keep pace with everyone??

But I wanted to try it!

So come Sat morning, I woke up at 7 a.m. (which was hard) and made a hearty breakfast.

Breakfast of Champions? I figured an orange and an english muffin with peanut butter would fuel me nice and good. Little did I know, it would come to bite me in the ass (stay tuned).

My fellow runners. Our run was at Minnehaha Park (the tail end of the marathon route).

The practice route brought us to a marker at 2.5 miles, then people could turn around for a total of 5 miles or they could keep going to a 5 mile marker and turn around then for 10 miles. There was no way I was running 10 miles, and I felt pretty comfortable with 5 miles.

As you can probably tell from the coloring on this picture. It was COLD! The first mile was brutal. Cold wind, my hands were freezing (didn't bring gloves), and my ears were cold. Boo. But I soldiered on. Need to remember: you can always take layers off! But about 2 miles in, I warmed up.

So I turned around at the 2.5 mile mark. And then at about 3 miles....the dreaded sideache kicked in. Damn breakfast! It hurt. Couldn't breathe. So I walked for a bit. This had me muy sad. I was determined to run the whole thing! So here I am pouting.

On the way back it was just me and the trail. I'd say about 95 percent of people continued on to run the 10 miles. No thank you m'am. The run back was definitely more fun with my competition elsewhere.

I was happy as HELL to see that orange tent in the distance. The finish line!

ALL DONE! Despite my struggles, I was pretty dang proud of myself. My knees hurt, my feet had some major blisters, and my lungs burned a little bit. But I did it!

Ready for the TMI pics?

Blister on right. Smaller of the two, but hurt the worst!

And blister on left. Pretty sexy, huh?

What the training run taught me:

1. It's hard to not compare yourself to others. I was definitely in the tail end of runners, but I was by no means in last place. It was hard to not get a little freaked out when people passed you though. And it was hard to not run a little faster than normal, which tuckered me right out. I need to trust my own pace and know that no matter what place I come in, I'm just determined to finish!

2. I'm scared sh*tless of blisters. My blisters kicked in around the 4 mile mark, per usual. How in the hell am I going to deal with these when I have 9 miles left!?!? My shoes are not that old (just got them in January) and I went to the Running Room to be fitted for them, so I'm not sure if new shoes are the answer. Although I've heard from many that Marathon Sports is the way to go. I think I'm going to spring for a different pair in the next few weeks here. I can't keep training with these horrible blisters! They're crippling and they make me REALLY nervous.

3. Thank G Team Ortho lets you run with music. Some marathon courses don't let you run with your iPod. I would simply not be able to run these races. My music keeps me going, keeps me motivated, keeps my mind off any pain, and on the way back when nobody was around, I was definitely having a dance party in my head.

SUPER GLAD I did this training run. It gave me a better idea of how races work. And that is something I need to know, my first race is next weekend!! Get Lucky 7K here I come!

Two yummy yogurt snacks

2010-03-11T06:27:00.001-08:00

Generally I don't like yogurt. To be fair, I've really only given vanilla a fair shot, but even that flavor of some brands gives me the willies. I think it's a combination of the texture and knowing that it has "active" cultures (what are those anyway??). I often find myself choking it down.

But I have absolutely, 100 percent fallen in LOVE with Dannon Light and Fit yogurts!

I've been enjoying their vanilla flavor for a few weeks now. Something about it is just so much better than other flavors. Well worth it's generally higher price (only about 20 cents per yogurt, but you know...)

A typical morning snack. You like the artistic lighting of my desk?

But when I went to the grocery store on Monday, I couldn't find vanilla anywhere! I searched high and low (literally) to find it. To no avail...

So I thought, hey I love vanilla so much, maybe the other flavors aren't that bad? I only grabbed two just in case they sucked: strawberry and blackberry. And yesterday I faced my demon and tried the blackberry.

I also bought something new: Bear Naked granola. Banana nut flavor. MMMM. I've been wanting to try this for a while and it dawned on me: I could put it in my morning yogurt!

Viola!

Here goes nothing!

.....it was YUM! Pretty sure I finished it in record time! And the granola was such a nice touch. Yes, I'm completely behind the times. I had never had yogurt and granola! And these two flavors worked really well!

ALL GONE! I didn't lick the container a la Heidi Klum, but I thought about it.

Then I had a nice treat yesterday afternoon. I met up with fellow bloggers Lindsay, another priorfatgirl and Sheena from Destination Runway. I met Lindsay at the Priorfatgirl get together and we both realized we work downtown and had a common love: Frozen Yogurt! So we met up yesterday afternoon for a nice little break from work. It was fun to chat with ladies about similar problems, goals, and general life stuff. Let's get together for lunch soon, ok?

And now to leave you drooling, here's my vanilla/chocolate twist cone. MMMM.

:-)

Trigger Foods

2010-03-10T06:43:00.001-08:00

Monday at the gym I was watching Hoda and Kathie Lee on the Today Show and they had a woman on there who had lost 110 pounds. One of the main things she said she had to do to lose weight was to not go near her "trigger foods." For her, this was pasta. Whenever she ate pasta she had huge portions, ate way more than she needed to, and felt groggy and gross afterward.

I've definitely had that happen with pasta before so I started to think about my own trigger foods. You know, that stuff you eat that once you start you just CAN'T stop!

With me that stuff is snack-type foods. Goldfish, Cheez Its, Nilla Wafers, etc. And in general, I don't buy this stuff because I know that. I know that I will finish the box or container on my own in record time.

But my HUGE crutch lately has been Chex Mix! And I've given in one too many times.

I loooooove me some Chex Mix. Sometimes I buy it in the afternoon at work and within a day the bag is gone. BAD! But I still buy it. I get the midafternoon munchies and think "Gosh I would love some Chex Mix" and before I know it I'm at the convenience store downstairs buying some.

And last night I hit my wall. Keeping it in my desk is one thing. But I have started to bring the habit home. And Monday night while grocery shopping they had huge bags of Chex Mix on sale. I walked past them the first time and said "NO! You'll eat that whole thing!" to myself. But then I was in the cracker aisle looking for something to snack on and all I could think about was that Chex Mix. So I turned around and bought the bag.

Here she is, my gigantic bag of Chex Mix. But hey, it has less fat than chips, right? Oh wait, TONS of other stuff has less fat than chips too!!

Of course I tore right into it while making dinner and when dinner was ready I wasn't really even hungry. Then I snacked while watching TV. And last night I snacked some more while watching TV (Ironically I had the Biggest Loser on).

And then I hit my wall. I said to myself: Why am I eating this? I'm not hungry, I'm full actually. What am I getting out of this? This is horrible. Stop eating.

By the time I realized this, I had eaten this much of the bag in less than 24 hours. (see where my thumb is).

So I put the bag aside.

A serving is a half cup. There are 19 servings in a bag. I'm guessing I had 15 servings of this stuff in 24 hours. Yes, that means I had 1800 calories!!!! On absolutely nothing. On crap. On junk. On food that doesn't even "fill" me up! I was so pissed at myself.

So I decided it had to go.

I dumped that sucker right out. With the protection of the bag, it'd be too tempting to forget I ever threw it away and dig in the garbage.

So there you have it. I must cut all ties with Chex Mix. I eat waaaaayyyy too many servings of this in one sitting and a bag doesn't last much past 24 hours in my posession. So that's it. I'm not allowed to buy it and I will live my life without it!

What are your trigger foods? Any tricks for moving past foods you're addicted to?