Thoughts on Running

• I love seeing other runners while I'm out. I always smile and wave. The ones I see out often I even think about when I don't run. The ones I don't see out often, I think about too.
• I care if they wave back. 
• I wonder what kind of run they're having. 
• Somewhere in between 7-13 minutes I hit my stride. Everything kind of stands still. It's like meditating. I hope to be able to stay in that place all the time someday.
• I try to plan my runs for distance, hills, etc. I always hate those runs.
•  I love the ones where I just wing it and take a new route, go out at a different time, listen to some new music. That's when it's really fun and I feel alive!  
• I love my hydration belt (even though it cost a bazillion dollars).
• I have no interest in learning about running. I just want to keep doing it.
• I'd like to try running early in the morning before the sun comes up.
• Running is the only time that I get where I'm truly alone.
• I usually have several moments of clarity during a run. I forget them the minute my high comes down. 
• Sometimes, I pretend that the trees and grass and squirrels and birds and dogs and bushes are all cheering me on. 
• Even more weird, I sometimes pretend that I've stopped running and the universe is carrying me. (But I really just still be running though.) =/
• It's super awesome running with a group because of the collective energy. Harness and use it!
• I ache to GTFU from my desk and run while I'm at work. If I didn't sweat like it was the end of the world I would try to sneak in a light jog on my lunch break.
• I love even the runs I hate.
• I run because it's something that I never thought I could do. Who knew all I had to do was do it?! 

I finished it!

Water, but Better

I just used frozen strawberry slices for ice cubes. This beats chicken & waffles any day! *happy taste bud dance*

Free Day of Yoga!

Ricky Tran

Every year on 9/3 is the DFW Free Day of Yoga. I've never taken advantage of it before, but today I finally took the plunge. I found a (and hopefully he will be MY) teacher, Ricky Tran of Krama Yoga Center, literally 2 days  before I found out I was pregnant back in February 2010 and today was the day I ventured back into his studio for an Intro to Ashtanga class which ended up being 95% philosophy & only 5% asana...just the way I like it. I'd like to decide to make time for a yoga practice with him, but I'm not sure I'm there yet. When I am, I think I'll know. Right?

See the thing is, I don't want to be a yoga chic. I don't want cute (and dangerously expensive) yoga clothes from Lululemon, I don't want to show off my headstand or super deep back bend. Yoga is not the destination. For me, yoga is the path. I guess I just want to be sure that when I commit, I'm committing to the right thing.

Ok with that being said, the free class coupons he handed out today will surely get me back in there sooner than later! =P

Hefty Post-Run Protein Shake

The comfort in planning ahead

We have plans to visit friends that live VERY far away so we're going to stay all day long, which means I need to be smart about eating and working out! I got up early with the baby and our "new" Baby Jogger 2 and hit the streets for 8:1 of Run5K and I packed a salad and protein shake to take with me. I feel confident that I won't get off track!

Farmer's Market Day!

Took my very first trip to the Farmer's Market today! I can't believe I've NEVER been to a Farmer's Market before. I've always wanted to go but it was just one of those things that "other" people do. You know the type that has disposable income, does yoga at swank yoga studio wearing sweatbands made specifically to catch cosmic yogic perspiration, owns a bike they actually use as a primary mode of transportation, and those people that walk around hugging trees and volunteering for PETA. I also had severe anxiety about what the parking situation would be like and would rather just 86 the super fresh locally grown veggies than battle over a parking spot. Well, the market was NOTHING like that at all! It was fairly quiet with a steady stream of very regular non-pretentious patrons. I took the baby and he gobbled up some fresh pineapple and mango, I ate a few bites of the most amazing cake, discovered a little BBQ shack that had a line wrapped around the corner before it ever even opened....and bought some awesomely cheap and super fresh fruits and veggies. Did I mention awesomely cheap?! OMG everything was so cheap! Cheap cheap cheap. Who knew eating healthy could be so affordable!


OK so I eat a ton of spinach. I throw it in everything from breakfast omelets to my protein shakes. I bought a bag at the market and I just want to note that this super fresh spinach doesn't look anything like the spinach I buy at the grocery store. All of the pieces don't look the same and there's a rough-ish texture instead of being all perfectly smooth and rounded. It looks like an actual leafy green veggie. Perhaps I just learned the difference between adult spinach and baby spinach?! *pinky to mouth & ponders* Either way...I can't wait to taste it! The salad that I made out of my other farmer's market purchases was delicious and I'm sure the spinach won't disappoint!

On the road again...

After my 2 very long evenings of not working out (specifically running)...I hit the pavement today! It took a bit of negotiating to get 'er done as someone had to get the baby to bed and be available for him and my <3 wanted to mow the yard (which I never want to stand in the way of!) but there wasn't enough time for him to do the yard THEN for me to run so we compromised and he decided to only mow the front so that I could squeeze in my run before the sun went down. He totally freaks if I'm not in before the street lights come on (which is beyond sweet!). So anyways, I did in fact re-run the previous Run5K program that I totally fucked up last time, and I'm pleased to announce that even though I didn't run it perfectly...I ran it strong.

Here's a little Pinterest running wisdom to get me through my final week before the actual race!

A Whole Night of Rest

My fellow band geeks out there are probably giggling at the pic! Clever eh? Anywho,  yeah I'm resting tonight. Washed my hair, washed the dishes, clipped my toenails and now I'm writing this here blog post just to prove that I, in fact, did not work out today no matter how bad I wanted to. The night has kind of flown by. Until next time...

Walk in the Park

Yup that's pretty much what my run was like today because I walked most of it which doesn't qualify it as a "run" at all now does it? For the first time since starting the program, I just couldn't run anymore. No matter how many positive affirmations I muttered I just couldn't keep running. I had a very normal first mile and took a different route which is always fun and is usually when I do my best work, but today my brain got the best of me. When the program informed me that I was at the "halfway" point I was like "are you fucking kidding me that's it? Only halfway? Ugh I'm tired and I'm going to stop running now" and that was it. I tried to shuffle along for a few more minutes after some majorly casual walking but that just felt ridiculous so I walked again.

But..it's all good. I've worked out for several consecutive days and I'm tired. I need to rest and even though I'm soooo close to completing the program I can't rush it. I'm vowing to not work out for at least 1 day, maybe 2 depending on how I feel.

In other news...I finally shaved my legs. You're welcome.

Best Week Ever

I've had a great week! Hmmm where to begin...

Let's start with today's run. DEATH. Running uphill in humidity as thick as shaving gel is not my idea of a good time. But I have to admit I feel pretty kick ass for still finishing the first mile in under 13:26. Not a personal best, but it's right on target. Only 4 more runs left and I'm done with the Run5K program! Woo!

Ok now on to weight loss. I hit 191.6 today and being just 1.4lbs away from hitting my 30lb loss milestone AND the anticipation of dropping under 190 is a recipe for an excellent upcoming week! Definitely natural motivation.

A friend loaned me her copy of "Crazy, Sexy Diet" and even though I'm pretty familiar with the topics outlined in the first several chapters there's lots of good stuff in here. Like did you know that your gut has it's own nervous system?! Interesting right?! I'm kind of over the "yeah I'm so cool because I curse and I'm witty" tone of the book (very reminiscent of Skinny Bitch who actually wrote the forward in the book) but I won't let that get in the way of the info. I just might be considering the 21 day cleanse, but I'm not sure yet. We shall see!

And finally...I stumbled back into yoga. I LOVE yoga. I have stumbled in and out of it for 15 years and I've even found my teacher Ricky Tran (I just can't make it to any of his classes!). So this Friday I popped in my  Nicki Doane Primary Series and did a half hour of yoga. *BLISS* I have a feeling that yoga and meditation will play a pretty big role in my unfattening but I can't even begin to imagine what that role will be. All in all, I'm looking forward to rotating yoga into my workout routine and might even browse the yoga sutras for old times sake. Yay!

5K Here I Come!

I absolutely can't believe that I jogged for 20 minutes non-stop! Bring it!

The Lunch Trap

We had a new employee start today and took her out for the customary welcome lunch and my inner fat girl couldn't have been happier. I indulged on a couple of pieces of bread with butter and ordered a veggie burger with side salad. The lunch itself may not sound so bad but it was super greasy and didn't even begin to look healthy! I can still rest assured that it was probably way better than most of the salads on the menu. I only ate half of it, but it still basically gobbled up my calories for the day. Today is my rest day from working out so I'll just have a shake for dinner and call it a day. Not a bad day, not a great day...just..a day.

UPDATE - Fried Chicken Danger

Ok so I scarfed down 6 delicious fried chicken wings BUT I didn't have a drop of alcohol (the emptiest calories of them all) or anything else to eat for that matter because even though I took a fruit tray I knew it was just a slippery slope to spoonfuls of guacamole and a margarita. I countered that greasy yummy fatness with 30DS (Level 2!) as promised and topped off the night with a protein shake. Not a bad day! Cheers!

Fried Chicken Danger

A friend of mine is moving to NY next week and is having a going away get together today. I'm taking fried chicken to the shindig. Fried chicken is one of my biggest weaknesses! Ah! I'm going to do 30DS tonight which will earn me back at least a couple hundred calories, but I'm not building in a huge cushion so I need to be careful. I need to be sure to plan ahead and take some healthy eats to munch on.

32

Yup. That's right. I'm 32! Such a random age to be, but somehow this seems to be the year I finally figure it all out. So here I am hoping to keep myself accountable and hopefully inspire someone else during their journey. Really this post is just to breathe some life into this blog so that I can actually get it started.