Laura's Boise-full Life

HP Photo Creations

2012-01-31T15:46:00.000-08:00

I found out about this cool software on The TomKat Studio blog. It's super easy and fun to make your own cards. I made this little early Valentine's Day card just to play around with it.

First Training Run!

2012-01-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

This weekend has been totally nuts, and to add to the millions things I needed to do, I have been sick. Friday night at 11:30 PM I had indoor soccer which is WAY too late for a game! But, apparently it worked for us because we played the first place team and won!

Up WAY too early and it shows!

Tried to get an outfit shot...this is my Canyonlands Half Marathon "In Training" shirt I bought myself for incentive to actually train and show up for the race. I like bribing myself with clothes :)

My pre-run breakfast.

Bright and early Saturday morning at 6:00 AM I woke up to get ready for my first training day with BOISE Run/Walk. I found this group through a Groupon deal for a 14 week training program, looked at their website, and thought, why not? I'm super glad I bought the deal and got my butt out of bed to run! I am hoping this is just the incentive I need to be on a really good training plan. In addition to Saturday morning coaching sessions and group training runs, this group offers access to coaches, a physical therapist, and a week by week training plan.

This group appears to be full of very friendly people and coaches and I am definitely looking forward to sharing more runs with them and hopefully making new running friends. I did end up knowing one person there and we ran together this week but I think we will end up being in separate groups in the weeks to come.

This week started with an easy two miles. I say easy, but who am I kidding. It was an out and back that was uphill until the turnaround. Since I avoid hill work like the plague, this group should be good for me. I was going to post my Garmin elevation chart until I realized how tiny the "hill" was. The elevation profile looks almost flat lol. I guess I need to do some hill work!

Mile 1: 12:41 - The girl I was running with stopped to tie her shoe and then wanted to walk a bit at the turnaround.
Mile 2: 12:27 - See, I really banked that downhill ;)

Overall, I think I would have gone fasted on my own, but this group preaches slow long runs, which I think will be very good and healthy for me! Basically, their goal is to help you build distance and support by being able to hold a conversation during long runs. I think this is going to be a great way to go about things!

Another quick update, I am back to wearing my Body Bugg! On Saturday, between playing soccer after midnight, getting up and running, and then working on the house with Zack, I burned 3,029 calories! Of course I offset that with some beer, but oh well...baby steps.

Who Is Planning This Crazy Life?!?

2012-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I am sitting up waiting to go to my 11:30 PM indoor soccer game...who the heck planned that?!? It's our latest game of the season so I guess I will get through it and feel much better about anything earlier, but still, sheesh! Last week we were ahead and then the other team scored with about 10 seconds left so hopefully we can avoid that happening again.

In other exciting news, I signed up for a running training group/program! Tomorrow morning I will be getting up bright and early for my first coaching and running session with BOISE RunWalk. I'm not going to lie, I'm a but nervous since I have never been to an actual training group, but I think this might be just what I need. I'm assuming it's going to do more for my running than my "research online and read blogs" training methods of the past.

My "I'm trying to stay awake late and not be too nervous about tomorrow" face.

So hopefully soccer will go well tonight, I will kick this cold I seem to have acquired, and be up bright and early ready to run!

Out With The Old In With The New (Part 2) - The Year In Pictures

2011-12-30T07:23:00.001-08:00

January - Running Strong!

February - This is my birthday month and yet I could not find a single photo! What was I doing in February 2011???

March - Waldo looking angry!

April - I dressed up like a Falcon!

May - My first 10k

June - I was watching my first "garden" grow

July - I moved into my sweet little apartment!

August - I went on an awesome date to watch the Princess Bride outside at the Botanical Gardens.

September - We roadtripped to Eugene and forced my family to be tourists!

October - The zookeeper and penguin go to a party.

November - I chopped off my hair and Zack and I went to Eugene for Thanksgiving.

December - Jamie's baby shower!

Out With The Old, In With The New (Part 1)

2011-12-28T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again...time to talk about how the year went and what is to come. Last year I pretty much nailed my New Years Intentions...this past year though, holy moly! Full of so many changes I don't even know where to start. I should have looked back at my January posts before today. I would have realized that I was feeling the exact same way about work that I am right now: too much to do, too little time! The only difference is this year we are two people short at work. That means more reports for the rest of us. I believe I have a report a day due for the next two weeks! Email me mid January and make sure I am still alive!

The most amazing feeling has to be the elation I still feel about my job! The newness has worn off but I still feel so lucky to do something I am passionate about every day! I am also amazed to say I have been assigned over 150 investigations! That's a lot of cases and a lot of offenders, victims, and collateral contacts I have interviewed. It's amazing to think about really!

There were some crazy changes for me in 2011 that I really didn't see coming. Mid way through the year I was not happy. Nothing seemed to be going right in my relationship. I wasn't completely unhappy, but it quickly snuck up on me and I realized that I COULD and SHOULD want more. Some may say that living with a guy before marriage is a mistake, but my decision to move in together wasn't really what I questioned. Instead, moving in together magnified the things that I really should have cared about all along. Mainly, that a relationship is about sharing things; interests, hobbies, happiness, sadness. Of course you should have your own "things" too, but when one person adapts to the likes of the other, but that effort isn't returned, it's not fair and eventually it just won't work. When I finally made up my mind that it wasn't selfish to want the same effort and emotion returned to me, it was not that hard to walk away.

My mom has always said that you can love people in different ways, but loving someone doesn't make them right for you. She also told me that the right person would come along when I least expected, and I think I learned both of these lessons this year (see mom, I DO listen...sometimes). I am so happy where this year has taken me. And, the fact that one door closed, only to find Zack standing on the other side, couldn't have worked out any better. These changes also meant that I lived up to very few of my intentions for the new year. But rules are meant to be broken right?!?

I think one area I really let myself down on was my running. I did do some of the races I had planned, but I had wanted to do 4 half marathons and only one happened. I wanted to PR in the 5k and half and did neither. I DID however, run my first two 10k's and PR'd in both :) mostly because the first was an automatic PR and hilly as you know what. I ended up injured in June and didn't race again for the rest of the year. I think reestablishing my running goals for the New Year is appropriate. I think I now know how to be smarter about my injuries and I'm hoping my sweet new orthotics will make a huge difference. First stop MOAB!

Even though there have been major changes in 2011, there are sure to be even more in 2012. It will be the year that my best friend has her baby and I could not be more excited! I can't wait to meet that baby and be the best "aunt" in the whole world! Zack is the proud new owner of a house that has been the focus of all free time for the past month. More on that later...

Remembering and A Tough Week

2011-12-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

I have loved Brian Andreas and Story People since about 2003 when my best friend Jamie and I ran into some prints while visiting a little boutique in Eugene. I have several of the prints and feel like there seems to be a story for many emotions and situations that just "fit". I find them hauntingly beautiful and, at times, absolutely hilarious So, this week when I ran into this story, on an ornament no less, it was too perfect: "I carry you with me into the world, into the smell of rain & the words that dance between people & for me, it will always be this way, walking in the light, remembering being alive together"

Last Friday, December 16, my grandma, who we called Nana, passed away peacefully at home. I have not shared any details of this on the blog and I hope my family will forgive me but this is the first time I have felt like writing at all in quite a while.

When Zack and I were in Eugene for Thanksgiving, we visited Nana at her home with my parents. She was in great spirits and gave me two big hugs and a kiss. She was looking forward to Thanksgiving and all was well. On Thanksgiving Day, my dad picked Nana up and brought her over to the house where we enjoyed veggies and dip while we waited for my mom to put the finishing touches on dinner. While Zack and I sat in the living room talking to Nana and telling her stories, she wasn't responding much and was just kind of nodding about things that she would have normally found humorous with us.

We all sat down to dinner and Nana said the blessing, a memory I know my dad will hold very close from now on. Our little family was all together and was blessed to have an intimate and delicious dinner together! As we were clearing the table and talking about what games should be played while waiting for our food to settle before dessert, Nana was still just sitting at the table. She seemed sad. Dad thought it might have been her and Papa's anniversary and she might have been sad, but no one was sure what was going on. We moved back into the living room to play Scrabble and Nana said she was okay just staying where she was. Eventually dad got her to come into the living room to watch a round of Scrabble. She appeared to have been crying and just was not interacting in a normal fashion. Then Nana started looking for something. She couldn't tell any of us what she was actually looking for and I was quickly starting to worry. Something was not right.

My dad finally decided it was time to take Nana home. He checked her blood pressure and it was in a normal range so he thought he would get her more comfortable at home. Once Nana had her purse and coat and was ready to go she started walking towards the back door. Dad kept telling her she couldn't leave that way, that door only leads out to a porch, but Nana kept turning the door handle to get out. Something was definitely not right.

Dad drove Nana home, but when they got there, she didn't recognize her own house. It was time to go to the hospital. At about 2:00 AM, Dad came home to pick up some of his things. Nana was having a barrage of tests done. Unfortunately, Zack and I were flying back to Boise on Friday, so I hugged my dad and told him I love him. I also told him to hug Nana for me. I think something inside me knew I wouldn't see her again. It was a bittersweet trip home. We had such a good trip to Eugene, and such a sad departure. Zack had to help me hold it together at the airport even as we were just waiting to get through security.

The tests the hospital did didn't really answer any questions. Surprisingly, they initially ruled out stroke. The doctors thought whatever was going on with Nana was viral. To those of us who knew Nana, this seemed somewhat absurd. Nana was obsessed with cleanliness, she carried handy-wipes and tissues in ziploc bags in her purse. The doctors asked my dad if she had traveled anywhere out of the country recently. Dad realized that the last time Nana even left Eugene was for my college graduation, in May of 2010. The idea of a virus causing this was strange, but somewhat hope-full as well, that things might turn around with anti-viral meds and Nana could go home.

Two of my favorite people, Michelle and Jamie with Nana at my college graduation.

After a week and a half in the hospital, Nana had had some ups and downs. She had a day where she was talking pretty well, which quickly gave way to her not being able to speak well at all. The doctors changed their minds. They called it a stroke. They said she probably had a second one at some point after being at the hospital. It was time for her to go home, with full time care, and be more comfortable.

Once at home, Nana had some days where she could move about the house with a walker. She was eating a little and thought that tuna on crackers tasted good but not much else. Pretty quickly, she lost strength and was sleeping more and more. Last week my dad and uncle started staying with her during the night and at that point I knew it was just a matter of time. On Friday morning, Nana passed away.

I know it's a blessing that things happened the way they did. It's hard to accept sometimes but I heard enough times in the past few weeks, God's plan is perfect. I thank Him that Nana didn't suffer, that my dad and uncle didn't have to stay with her, up all night, for weeks on end. I am thankful that Zack got to meet Nana when she was happy, both this past fall and on Thanksgiving. I'm incredibly grateful that so many of my friends got to meet Nana and could remind me of funny stories the last couple weeks. I will have to share some of those here soon. Nana also taught me the only Yiddish I know. I would spell it for you, but I don't know how. All I know how to say in Yiddish is "Go with God"...seems appropriate I guess.

I'm most sad for the things that Nana will miss. I'm heart broken that she will never see me get married, or have a baby. I'm sad that she will not be here to share in more family memories. She will be so missed!

I love you so much Nana!

Sarah, Me, Nana and Sam; three of the four granddaughters.

I'M IN!

2011-12-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

Picture me running here:

Because on March 17, 2012 I will be running the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab Utah!

Wordless Wednesday: Exhaustion

2011-12-07T19:36:00.001-08:00

Why Zack and I "Work"

2011-12-06T21:13:00.001-08:00

A bit of background: Zack is buying a house. It happens to be a house which currently has tenants and every time we have ever gone over there the children (at least four of them) are at home at all hours of the day and not in school. The living conditions are near "Hoarders" status, it's gross. They also have not been moving their stuff even though closing is tomorrow. Zack does not know how much stuff will be abandoned for him to deal with. So anyway, following the arrival of the appraisal which included some pictures, the following conversation ensued via email. I apologize to all those offended.

Zack: "One good thing I noticed while reading through the appraisal was that the pictures show that the refrigerator has been removed. Nothing else seemed to have moved, but it's something."
Me: "I actually thought that was weird. What have they been eating? But it's more likely they can't afford to stay long without the fridge."
Zack: "Maybe they are eating down their supplies or maybe they are eating their children."
Me: "Which might explain why the kids aren't in school. Livestock doesn't need to be educated."
Zack: :) "I love it."

Okay, So I Lied...Kinda

2011-12-06T08:29:00.001-08:00

You know how yesterday I said I wouldn't run until Wednesday? Well as soon as I wrote that I felt guilty. I ended up walking across the parking lot to the little gym in the apartment office and running about a half mile on the treadmill before getting on the elliptical and trying to stretch my legs out. I had never used the elliptical in our little gym before and I have to say I was impressed. It has a full body workout setting and actually tells you to step off the foot peddles and pull or push with just your arms. It even has handy little foot spots when you aren't using your legs, it gives you a bit of a wide stance, but that's how we do things here in Idaho, isn't it Larry Craig?

Anyway, I totally worked up a crazy sweat on that little elliptical. The worst part was, as I was working just my arms, I looked down and what was there??? A chocolate chip cookie...under the elliptical. Taunting me. Who eats a cookie while on the elliptical? I have to assume there was a child left unattended playing in the gym, but the apartment staff really needs to move that thing, it's cruel and unusual punishment.

After cookie torture I came back to my apartment and made my first attempt at P90X Ab Ripper X which I found a link to online. Because my legs were so sore from soccer, I couldn't do many of the moves which required my legs be elevated. I tried to do them, but it wasn't pretty. I think I will do this routine several times a week though and I found some other small body weight type strength routines that I am hoping to rotate in as well.

I have been feeling totally dumpy since about Sunday. I don't really know what is going on but I just don't feel like me. I feel overly stressed and bummed out. There are exciting things on the horizon for Zack and the holidays should be happy so I know I need to pull myself out of it. Last night in an attempt to be a bit cheerier, made a batch of snickerdoodles. I was proud, I only sampled two and I had tracked all my food yesterday so that was great. However, I slept like crap and am now totally exhausted and not yet at work.

Someone get me out of this funk!

Speed Is A Whole Different Type Of Beast

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-08:00

In the year and a half that I have been running I have never really incorporated true speed work into my workouts. I figure if the distance alone feels this hard, why would I mess with my speed? I told myself that come next spring, if I can do a half marathon with no walking and so that it feels like a normal run, I will start adding some speed. However, in my apparent need to mix things up and make myself busy and exhausted, I signed up to play in an indoor soccer league. This is our team picture:

Yeah right.

We are actually a coed team made up from people I work with and some people from another work location. Apparently our league is the second to worst coed league and we play every Friday night until mid February. I'm not sure I knew I was signing up for that much of a commitment. Anyway, Friday was the first game I played in, I missed one the Friday after Thanksgiving, and I am still not walking normally...This is where the speed work comes in.

Holy running! Within the first 5 minutes of the game I was sucking wind and ready for a sub. It's such a different speed of running than anything I do while running on my own that my legs were screaming immediately. By the end of the first half I wasn't really sure how I would do in the second. Our team played great in the first half but it was pretty clear that the wheels fell off pretty quickly in the second half. We just had nothing left and no one was dropping back on defense. We ended up losing by 1 I believe.

It's now Monday morning and while I have had two full days of recovery, I am not walking well and pretty much everything in my legs hurts. I was not able to go for a run this weekend and I don't foresee running today and maybe mot even tomorrow. I think in the long run soccer will be a great addition to my running routine and should serve as speed work in some form, but currently I am not happy that it is going to keep me from my regular workouts. I can't wait to be in good enough shape that I am not sore after a game, but I'm thinking that won't be until February...

Cross Your Fingers...And Toes!

2011-11-28T19:20:00.001-08:00

I just got this email:

GREETINGS RUNNERS!

Hello Laura Denner:
Your registration for the 2012 Canyonlands Half Marathon & Five Mile Run Lottery has been processed. Race selection will take place after December 8, 2011; you will receive an email by December 15 stating your lottery result. Your credit card/check will only be processed if you are selected.
For more race information please visit www.moabhalfmarathon.org
Good luck!
Moab Half Marathon, Inc.

I am hoping to be selected in the lottery for this race as an excuse to get out of town in the spring and run somewhere very different for a change! The only think Zack might kill me for is it's on St. Patty's Day and Utah has weak beer...we might have to figure that out somehow :)

In other running news I had a horrible run tonight. It was my first run since the 4 mile Turkey Trot and I wrapped my left ankle that has been bugging me. However, I think I must have wrapped it horribly. Instead of my ankle hurting, by a mile a half my foot was killing me, although not due to the PF, thank God! I think the wrap was too bulky/too tight and just plain hurt. By the end of the run I felt like I was compensating for crappy wrapping and my ankle started to hurt anyway. I may try some type of neoprene ankle brace for some stability without bulkiness but we'll see. I keep trying to tell myself I am still adjusting to the orthotics, I just don't know how long I should really make that excuse.

Race Report: Turkey Trot Eugene

2011-11-24T11:31:00.001-08:00

Zack and I have been in Eugene since Sunday and have had a great time hanging out with my parents and lounging around. It's so nice not to be at work! This morning the family (minus my sister who is coming down from Portland today) got up and participated in the Turkey Trot. My parents did the 2 mile walk together and Zack and I both ran the 4 mile. I told Zack a bunch of times that he should not run with me. I knew he wanted to run a good race and I was happy to tell him to do it!

The course was a flat path along the river and covered a lot of the same ground as the Eugene Women's Half and had the same finish line as the Butte to Butte, so I didn't completely feel like I didn't know where I was. Zack said he kicked a little too early at the end which had a slight uphill. I felt like I finished super strong and my legs felt great when I picked up some speed towards the end. The walkers started later than the runners so my parents went across the finish line with me when I caught up to them. Actually, my dad cheated and ran in with me to the finish. I didn't realize they hadn't crossed the line yet and I thought he was just running in with me so I kind of waved him off as he was trying to talk to me...oops.

Zack caught this picture of me running to the finish.

Zack and I had also taken a run on Monday up the Ridgeline Trail which has a trailhead close to my parent's house. It has been nice running in milder weather and also it's beautiful running in the tress. We both realized what flat landers we are though since the trail running totally kicked my ass.

My goal for this race was to just come in under 50 minutes since this was the farthest I have run since before my injury. I believe I came in at 48:06 on my Garmin. Not too shabby at all!

Busy Day, Busy Life, Countdown to Vacation and A Run

2011-11-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

My blog title is busy today because that is how my mind is feeling. In the next 11 days I have 5 reports to turn in at work, one holiday on which I'm not allowed to work even if I need to, one full day conference for work, one county concert, one "event" at work which is big in the news but I should probably not really talk about on the blog and one indoor soccer game. I think it's going to be an exhausting 11 days!

And yes, you read that right, indoor soccer! I am signed up with people I work with in a coed league and I'm super excited! I haven't played indoor in a couple of years and even then I only played one season. Tonight my dad asked me if I was going to volunteer to play keeper. I had to remind him of an indoor game I played in for a team he was coaching. They were in a coed league but had a team off all 6th grade girls and were playing a team of all 8th grade boys at the time. I was in 8th grade and was playing club soccer for another team so my dad asked me to play thinking I was better matched against the boys. I was playing really well I remember, and one of the boys was having none of that. So he dribbled the ball into the goal box and I dove on it and instead of backing up, he wound up and kicked "at the ball" but kicked me straight up my nose. I will probably never forgot that indoor soccer experience. Needless to say, I don't think I will be volunteering for goal keeper.

I am super excited about the conference I am going to for work. It's a whole day about learning to work with victims of sexual violence. The morning is a large group speaker and the afternoon is split into smaller, more specific topics, and we got to choose which topics we were most interested in. One afternoon session I will be attending deals with how perpetrators use internet and social media to commit sex offenses.

Tonight I got to the gym to do my scheduled 2 miles. I completed it in 21:16 which is honestly TOO FAST. I know I need to back off and let my body adjust. I'm too anxious to build and get faster and the LAST thing I want is to be back on the injured list!

The best part of all of this busy stuff is that, only 11 days from now, I will be in Eugene for almost an entire week for VACATION!

A Date With The Mill

2011-11-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Tonight I knew I was going to need to go run out some energy on the treadmill. It was dark so early but I worked myself up today working on a case and had to get some tension out. Yesterday I worked up a training plan on Runner's World Smart Coach which will lead to a yet-to-be-determined half marathon come spring. I'm not going to lie, I sort of have my sites set on going somewhere for a half and was eyeing the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Moab, Utah, and my sister and mom are signed up for the Eugene Marathon Half, so I will most likely join them in that venture. Canyonlands is a lottery registration so that would be up in the air anyway, but it is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and while it would be an "away" race for me, it's just a days drive away.

Anyway, I let dinner settle and hit the gym for a short treadmill run tonight. I had to leave behind my second boyfriend (Brian Williams) and missed most of Rock Center, but I suppose it was worth it. I had planned to see how I felt and aim for one 10:00 ish mile and then one slower mile. The first mile felt great, but I was definitely pushing it, and honestly started to feel a little bit of a jell-o like shakiness in my legs. I backed off the second mile, but with only about .4 miles left, I knew I had more in me and cranked it up.

Mile 1: 10:09
Mile 2 10:34

I felt great after this run. I finished 100% pain free!

It's interesting, the training plan has pace targets and right now the targets say I should be running 2 miles at a 13:43 pace. I know that I need to ease back into running, but come on, that seems ridiculous. I will admit, I have days when that is my pace, but those days were days when I was in pain and probably shouldn't have been running at all. Now that I am injury free, I think I would like to aim a bit higher pace wise.

Getting To Know ME

2011-11-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

I was granted my first blogging award and "tag" by Michelle at Runn Princess Runn whose blog, and comments I love! I feel like we have been injury sisters recently and both got back to running within a week of each other. Thanks Michelle!

I have to admit I am pretty excited about it and looking forward to filling it all out!

The rules of this nomination are:
I get to tell you seven random things about myself as well as pass on the award to seven other great bloggers.

Nominees, in order to accept this award you must:
-Thank and link back to the person who awarded you
-Write seven random things about yourself.

-Award seven other awesome and inspiring bloggers.

I have lived alone for the majority of my 20's. When I moved away for college I lived in the dorms at Boise State. My parents brought me to Boise and had planned to stay the few days before school started, but once I began meeting the people I was going to live with and go to school with, I told them to leave (nice huh?). After the dorms I lived with my best friend Jamie until we had our one and only worst fight ever and moved out. We ended up moving into different apartments...right across the parking lot from each other. Since 2004, except for about a year and a half when I had roommates for different reasons, I have lived alone. I love it!

No one quite understands my job, so let me explain. My title is Pre-Sentence Investigator. I work for the Department of Correction. When someone is convicted of a felony, whether by pleading guilty, or in trial, the Judge orders a Presentence Investigation Report. The Defendant has the right to waive the report, but most don't. My job is to interview the Defendant about the crime they committed, their criminal history, childhood and social history, substance abuse, health and financial situation. After the interview I start digging and verify facts. I then provide the Judge a written report about the Defendant and make a sentencing recommendation regarding whether the Defendant is appropriate for Probation or whether some programming or incarceration would be more appropriate. I absolutely love my job and am incredibly passionate about it (even when it sometimes make me grumpy or frustrated).

I love to read! I used to work as a receptionist and was allowed to read during slow time (which was often). Some time before that I was a barista is a small coffee shop and was able to read after the morning rush was over. Basically I was reading about one fun book a week WHILE I WAS IN COLLEGE. Those days are over and I am lucky if I can read a book a month, but I certainly try.

My marathon time was pitifully slow. I was in no way prepared for "running". The farthest I trained was 18 miles. I am here to say, if you are a slow runner, train for miles, not just for time, but that's just my humble opinion. What I mean is I was told by my training to increase the amount of time I was running and not the miles. While I didn't exactly follow that advice (and did train using miles) I would have never crossed the finish line if I would have listened to her and only trained up to 5 hours or whatever. I have never put my marathon time on this blog...but I am going to now. I was among walkers...old...slow...walkers. 7:48:32 <---- That is probably the slowest marathon time anyone will ever admit to. But I finished. Now you know.

I would like to run another marathon, when I know I can actually RUN the whole thing. I don't even think I will sign up for one again until I can comfortable run a half marathon in closer to two hours than three. I know there is nothing wrong with being slow, but I want to be able to go for a half marathon length run and feel like it's "just a training run" and I am not there.

I tend to take on the hobbies of my significant other, it's how I learned to shoot a gun (awesome), it made me do some stupid things when I was younger, and now it's going to teach me to snowshoe. I like to think I am a pretty independent woman, but I like to learn new skills from people, so I don't think this is a bad trait to have. Zack is a snowshoer, whereas I have snowboarded every winter since 2003. His knees can't handle snowboarding, and my best friend will be very pregnant all winter, so I am guessing I won't be snowboarding very much this year. I am excited to snowshoe though and still be out in the snow and see some gorgeous scenery! I have heard it's unbeatable exercise too.

I used to hate country music, but now it's almost all I listen to! When I moved to Idaho I swore I would never listen to country, and I have no idea when things changed. I think part of it was a country bar downtown where Jamie, Megan and I would go dance the night away when we turned 21. Who knows. But now I love it and get SO excited when country artists come here for concerts. The problem is, none of my friends like country THAT much. So no one wants to go to concerts with me. Luckily one of the gals in my office at work likes country too and she and I are going to see Dierks Bentley, Jerrod Niemann and the Eli Young Band in two weeks! I actually just "like" Dierks Bentley, but I LOVE the Eli Young Band! It should be fun. Zack said he got a lecture from a woman he works with for not taking me to the Miranda Lambert concert!

NOW; My turn to tag YOU!

Stephanie @ Ms. Runnin Sole
Candice @ I Have run
P @ The Adventures of An Average Athlete
Molly @ I'm A Sleeper Baker
Julie @ Adventure is Out There
Shannon @ Running Injury Free
Laura @ The Charmed Hornes

Sorry for those who have already been tagged, I tried to only tag those who are followers of my blog so they might actually see it :) Since I don't have that many followers, it was tough!

"Unsaid"

2011-11-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that my reading habits have diminished in the past year. Ever since I got my "big girl job" following college graduation I read about a quarter of the books I was. Of course, I'm also not getting paid to sit at a reception desk and can't read between phone calls or all day on Sundays when the phones hardly rang. I used to read almost a book a week and absolutely loved it! Now that I can't do that, I think I have become much more picky about what I do read. I don't always read the most mature or serious literature, because I deal with very mature and serious things every day at work. So lately I have been seeking good, entertaining stories that make me feel something. I seem to be less and less interested in books full of drawn out prose...get me to the story already!!!

I don't remember when I downloaded "Unsaid" by Neil Abramson, but I think my Nook Color recommended it to me. Sometimes the Nook recommendations are ridiculous, but in this case I'm very happy it did! From the publisher:

As a veterinarian, Helena had mercifully escorted thousands of animals to the other side. Now, having died herself, she finds that it is not so easy to move on. She is terrified that her 37 years of life were meaningless, error-ridden, and forgettable. So Helena haunts-- and is haunted by-- the life she left behind. Meanwhile, David, her shattered attorney husband, struggles with grief and the demands of caring for her houseful of damaged and beloved animals. But it is her absence from her last project, Cindy-- a chimpanzee who may unlock the mystery of communication and consciousness-- that will have the greatest impact on all of them.

When Cindy is scheduled for a research experiment that will undoubtedly take her life, David must call upon everything he has learned from Helena to save her. In the explosive courtroom drama that follows, all the threads of Helena's life entwine and tear as Helena and David confront their mistakes, grief, and loss, and discover the only way to save Cindy is to understand what it really means to be human.

From me: I really enjoyed reading this book, which is surprising considering how many times I bawled my eyes out. This story is incredibly touching for someone who values human relationships and human-animal relationships. This isn't, however, light reading. There is a lot of death in this story, there is a lot of loss. I cried in the first chapter, and last night I finished the last chapter with eyes almost swollen shut, snot dripping from my nose and a pillow soaked with tears. It was beautiful, horribly sad, and fantastic all at once. I think if you are an animal lover you will love this book. The animals all have completely realistic personalities and are in the story without taking away from the reality of the people who care for them. The sub-plot of Cindy, the chimpanzee was secondary to me, I could had a "take it or leave it" attitude toward some of the scientific research parts of the story. Overall I would recommend this book if you want a good story and don't mind crying like a baby if you really love animals like I do.

First Run In The Books!

2011-11-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

My official first day back running was put on hold yesterday due to pure exhaustion. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep, got up at 5:30, was at work by 6:40 and got two reports turned in. Needless to say, running was placed at the end of my agenda and I sadly stared at my pretty new shoes which had yet to see some real pavement action.

Tonight however, IT WAS ON!

Post run glow!

I'm happy to report that my short and sweet little run was completely pain free! I did 1.1 miles in 11:38 for a 10:34 pace and I loved every second of it! I could tell I was excited since my first .25 was at a 9:50 pace, which you all know is smokin' fast for me ;)

The orthotics feel fantastic to run in. I am supposed to slowly increase my "wear time" daily but what I am finding is that they don't really fit in any of my shoes. It was suggested by my boss that I try Payless Shoe Source or somewhere like that and just find some cheap flats, which would be smart considering the expensive and comfortable part is the orthotics I will be putting in them. We'll see, it's hard for me to want to spend any more money that revolves around these orthotics, but I also really want to wear them!

Ready To Run!

2011-10-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today I went and picked up my orthotics! Woo hoo! I have been pain-free for approximately a week now and am going to go for my first run tomorrow. I was instructed to wear my orthotics for one hour the first day and increase the time I wear them by an hour each day for each day I don't have pain. I can apparently expect some soreness in my knees and/or hips since the orthotics should properly align my feet and adjust what needs to be adjusted. Supposedly that soreness could happen for 2 to 6 weeks while my body adjust. Right now I am wearing my orthotics around the house with my awesome new running shoes!

My awesome new kicks and orthotics!

I went to my favorite running store today with the Amazon Daily Deal coupon (a Groupon type deal) that gave me $60 worth of gear for $30, which I have been waiting to spend until my pain went away. I was so excited to go get some shoes that would work well with my orthotics and help me ease back into running. The guy who helped me today seemed young but he was super friendly and as soon as I told him I had been dealing with plantar fasciitis he was empathetic and acted like he really wanted to help me find the right shoes. I handed him my orthotics and we went from there. It's funny trying on shoes with orthotics because initially they all kind of feel the same, I mean all of a sudden you have the same insert in every shoes you put on. So I walked around and ran a few steps in all of the shoes and started to notice the differences I could feel in the cushioning and fit around the upper. I seriously wanted to go for a run right then and there. The orthotics felt like HEAVEN! I ended up with Nike Pegasus. I knew I needed a neutral shoe and the shoe guy verified that saying, "you don't want to have two corrective devices" ie. the orthotics and a stability shoe. I have to say I went in there completely open to whatever shoe felt best regardless of style, price, color etc. I lucked out and think they are pretty cute anyway.

Tomorrow is the big day!

Return To Running: A Date

2011-10-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am officially calling this my return to running post! My foot has been feeling really good after being booted for the past week and a half. I can't feel any pain in my PF when I dig into my foot and that's what we were hoping for. My doctor had suggested physical therapy following the second unsuccessful cortisone shot, but I wanted to avoid the extreme out-of-pocket cost I assumed would come from physical therapy, so I made Zack try to break up the scar tissue for me. I suppose something between being in the boot and working on the tissue has worked because my foot has no pain! I would like to take it easy through the weekend and make sure it's really going to cooperate, but come November...I WILL RUN!

Zack and I have our sites set on the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning in Eugene. It's a 4 miler, and while I might be horribly slow considering my hiatus, I think it will be fun to do a race before the racing season is over until spring.

My orthotics came in as well but I don't have enough in my FSA account to cover them so I will be picking them up after I get paid again (and after I pay rent). They were a huge investment and I really hope they will help!

Thanks to the several people who sent me awesome emails with info about PF! It's so incredibly awesome to hear other people's stories and know that I am not the only one struggling with this pain. It's so funny to be in a boot and have to explain to someone that nothing is "broken". People look at you like you are a freak after you explain.

The Best Race I Never Ran

2011-10-24T19:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday something exciting happened:

This guy ran his first solo 5k!

Zack wanted to go sub 30 in a 5k and I knew he was totally capable and I told him so because I'm the best girlfriend ever! Not only did he sub 30, he knocked close to 5 minutes off his last 5k time (mostly because I wasn't slowing him down). This was one of my favorite races last year so I was a little bummed not to be running but also super excited to be a spectator and watch him finish and reach an awesome goal. I know that now Zack caught the running bug he's going to keep getting faster and leave me in the dust, but I'm okay with that!

Following the run we took off to get ready to watch Boise State take on Air Force. We ended up at a bar and grill we watched one other game at. Zack declared after the game that we could afford to get cable and watch the games at home for much less than we spend going to the bar to watch them, that might have a little to do with this:

Yes, that would be a beer tower. Go Broncos!

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet and we ran around town to get me the only Halloween decorations I have ever lusted after:

Mini flaming cauldrons that look SO cool in the dark!

Diary of An Injured Runner

2011-10-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't wanted to address my foot in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday marked my third visit to the foot doctor and it was not pleasant. I haven't been running, anything over a half hour on my feet hurts, and it doesn't really seem to be getting any better.

Appointment #1: I went to my first ever appointment with the foot doctor (his totally official title), I was told that I suffer from the most common overuse injury, plantar fasciitis. There really is nothing like being told you injury is nothing special. Actually, I was just glad to call it something and have someone say, "this can be fixed". Then we discussed some options. The option we decided on to try to nip this thing in the bud was a cortisone shot in my foot. Holy ouch!!! This was so painful and scary, I was not prepared. I muffled a "s*#@" and he said, "go ahead, swear if you need to" and I squeaked out, "no, I'm good now". Later I found out from my boss that she threw out a full blown f-bomb when they shot her up and her doctor is Mormon, whoops. Basically I left appointment 1 with a taped up foot and a little fear. The doc told me that the cortisone is used to thin the scar tissue caused by the condition and that there was a possibility that I could in turn tear the tendon if it thinned too much. This is good and bad. Tearing it is basically what they do if it comes down to surgery, which should take care of the problem. However, I was not so much interested in doing my own surgery.

I can't wash my foot while it's taped...The tape is supposed to stay on a week. Think about that.

Appointment #2: I definitely felt relief in walking and general getting around, but still had pain to the touch. Doc said that wasn't good enough progress because if I could still feel it at all I will probably just re-injure it if I try to run again. My foot was re-taped and I was told we would go another week. I also decided to take the step of being fitted for custom orthotics. When I was training for the Portland Marathon I suffered from horrible shin splints, now I have this, so I figured I could probably justify the cost of getting some proper support. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover any of the cost, so I depleted my FSA account. Please cross your fingers that I don't have any more "stuff" come up between now and July 2012 when the policy renews...

Getting fitted for orthotics

Appointment #3: Yesterday I went back to say that I really wasn't feeling any better. That led the doctor to believe the best plan of action was one more cortisone shot, at which I panicked. I REALLY didn't want that shot! I knew what to expect and it made it THAT much worse! I am not afraid of needles, shots etc. however, that shot is in a league of it's own! It sucks! The doc said that if this does not work, we would only do another shot about 6 months down the road. I'm really hoping it doesn't come to that. They taped my foot one more time, and said next week we may have to talk about wearing a boot, physical therapy or other options. Thankfully, we are not to the surgery option yet, I would really like to avoid that option.

At this point my concerns are numerous. I haven't lost a pound...I haven't gained any either, but I haven't exercised at all. I could go do elliptical or rowing but the doc said to limit anything so that my foot doesn't sweat and cause the tape to come off. I REALLY want to be able to run again. I really want the orthotics to come in, to go get some shoes with proper support and get out there. Zack ran over to my house the other night and I broke into tears from jealousy. Yikes! I didn't think I would be that bummed about not being able to run. I just really want this to get better, but I also want to be honest with myself if it's not. I don't want to keep dealing with this in the long run.

A Public Cry For Support - ie. A Goal

2011-09-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Last night I FINALLY unburied my long lost Body Bugg. It had been missing since the move but I wasn't all that concerned about it because I don't like wearing it during the summer months. The reasons for this are totally superficial; I don't really like explaining to anyone and everyone about what it is, how it works etc. And by everyone, I mean the random people I don't know who ask about it and then dare to tell me, "oh, someone like you doesn't need something like that". Which really means: "Oh the thing from the Biggest Loser, you aren't THAT fat". I prefer to wear my Body Bugg when I can cover it with sleeves...but I'm weird like that and totally embrace it.

Getting ready for my first ever half marathon. About 155 pounds June 2010

Anyway, now that the Body Bugg has been uncovered, I am ready to start setting some goals. I have not lost a pound from running and exercising 3-4 days per week. Food and alcohol are my main problems. I hate to feel hungry and I don't like depriving myself. HATE IT. I realize that might mean I have poor self control blah blah blah. Whatever. That really doesn't matter. What does matter is that the Body Bugg has helped me in the past make small changes that have made a huge difference.

My skinniest since high school. Probably about 145 lbs in March 2009

Post Portland Marathon October 2010. 165 pounds.

Labor Day weekend 2011. My heaviest ever. 179 pounds.
I totally hate how I look in this picture.

I admit I was a little sad today to sign back in to the Body Bugg site and see the little chart that showed how much weight I had lost by my college graduation day, I was down to about 155 pounds. I wanted to be about 145 but completely lost motivation and didn't want to pay for group training anymore. I was training for the marathon and acted like I was running enough to eat and drink whatever I wanted, and I did. By the time I crossed the start line for the Portland Marathon (almost exactly one year ago) I had gained about 10 pounds back. Since that time, I have put back on all of the weight I lost, plus about 4-5 pounds. My official weigh in this morning was 179 pounds. See, I really am laying this all out there!

I have been running, I tried Zumba, I have walked, I am TRYING. But the weight is not coming off...so it's time to get real. I am going to use the Body Bugg to track everything and I am going to post on the blog my progress and be REAL about my struggles. Right now I am going to set small goals with forseeable dates. When I have used Body Bugg in the past I have tried to input my longterm goals, but it seems like when you get off just a little bit, it will keep telling you that you are off your goal pace etc. and then there is no catching up. My current small goal is 12 pounds by Thanksgiving, bringing my weight to 167 ish. From there I will keep setting smaller goals in reasonable time frames until I am comfortable and a healthy weight. I think a healthy weight for me will hover in the 145 to 150 pound range.

Any support, tough love, suggestions, encouragement or slaps to the face are totally appreciated!

Biting the Bullet

2011-09-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

Today I did something I have been avoiding for months. I admitted to myself that my foot hurts enough I need to go see someone. I called and made an appointment at the Idaho Foot and Ankle Associates. I didn't have a referral or recommendation from anyone but this place has three locations in the Treasure Valley and their website looked legit. Good enough right? I am definitely interested to see what they will tell me. Every morning when I get out of bed my first half hour or so is extremely painful while my foot "stretches out" or whatever it does while I'm limping around and grimacing. Enough is enough, it's definitely time for someone to tell me what's really up.

On a happier note, I went to my first ever Zumba class tonight! I have been wanting to go but wimped out every time I really gave it any thought. I have to admit I was scared of looking like an idiot. I used to learn dances all the time while I was a cheerleader in high school but, after 10 years and my current chubbiness, I was a little worried about how it might go. Well, let me tell you, once the music started, it didn't matter anymore AT ALL! It was so much fun! There were definitely people in there less coordinated than me, but even that didn't matter. Everyone was rockin' out and just having fun. I also don't think I have been that sweaty outside of Bikram Yoga, so I know it had to have been a good workout. The exciting thing is it can continue to be a better workout as I figure out more of the moves and routines and start to add my own "flavor" to it. If you haven't tried Zumba, be brave!

The Perfect Gift

2011-09-25T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to share this post for a while because I wanted to make sure I had the pictures to go with it. When Zack and I were preparing to go to Eugene over the Labor Day weekend I told my mom that we would be coming...about three to four weeks sooner than we had originally planned. My mom sounded a little mad and said she was planning to clean the house that weekend in preparation for our arrival. Now, if you have never seen my parents' house, just know, it would NEVER take an entire weekend for them to prepare for guests. It's ALWAYS clean. Always. So needless to say, I was a little put off by my mom's reaction to us coming to visit and thought it seemed like a strange reaction, but ignored it and got excited about visiting anyway.

Fast forward a couple weeks and our arrival in Eugene...

My mom had been telling me all summer about the quilts she was making. When I went home in July she was just preparing to take her first machine quilting class and took me to the quilt shop with her to look around. I was quite skeptical while she was talking, quilts just aren't my thing, but the shop really changed my mind. There were quilts that looked straight out of Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie and were so hip! So my mom casually asked me what colors I would go for if making a quilt and I believe I told her blue and green or blue and gray, both color schemes I usually gravitate towards. Anyway, after my mom took the class she kept telling me all about the baby quilts she was making. She was working with the smaller quilts to practice techniques and play with fabric.

Well, when we got to Eugene, my mom had the best surprise ever! She hadn't just been making baby quilts...she had been making MY quilt!

So apparently when we moved our arrival date up a bunch, there was a lot of quilt to get done in a very short amount of time.

This quilt is really special to me. I can't remember what my mom called the pattern but it is supposed to look like text bubbles in a cartoon conversation. She said that it reminded her of all our phone conversations. I am the blue and she is the green and we are talking back and forth (my mom is awesome). The water drop pattern reminded her of the tears I have cried during several of our conversations. She did such an amazing job picking fabrics and up close the quilt is totally amazing!

Race Report: Run For The Health Of It 5k

2011-09-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Zack and I ran in his first 5k! My two friends from college, Christie and Megan are currently pharmacy students at Idaho State University and their program put on this first time race. The race included a great raffle afterward and proceed went to sponsor a little girl with Leukemia who's wish was to go to Disney World with the Make A Wish Foundation. I love running races that are for a good cause, and a local cause makes it even better! Since this was the first year for this race it was tiny. Christie told me before the race that there might be 70 people and they had been hoping for 50, so she was a happy race director.

The race started at the Idaho State University Meridian campus and was mostly on sidewalks. They had an awesome number of volunteers out at every single place we had to cross the road. I didn't run into any issues with traffic or safety. I'm sure if this race continues and grows, they can eventually expand onto the roads, and since they are multi-lane it wouldn't even interfere with traffic.

Zack and I started off pretty quick for us, about a 9:30 pace and I believe stayed around that for the first mile. By mile two we were down to a more normal-for-us pace but still faster than our training runs. The last time we ran a 5k training run it was very slow and took somewhere around 38 minutes. So needless to say I really didn't think I could shoot for a sub 30, but I knew Zack wanted to. So with about a half mile left I took one of my headphones out and told Zack to take off, I could tell he had more left than I did. He didn't sub 30, but he finished around 32 minutes which was fantastic considering our training pace. I finished with a 34:25 which is one of my slowest 5k times ever. But I was totally ok with it. It was such a fun race because it was so small and because I got to run it with Zack! It's so fun to have him not only support my weird desire to run these races, but want to actually do it with me.

To add to the fun I won a t-shirt in the raffle! I will probably never wear it because it's an ISU shirt and in this town anything but BSU gear could get you killed :)

An Update At Last - A Little Running and A Lot Of Adventure

2011-09-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

I figure I have been silent long enough...a lot has happened in the past couple of months and next to none of it has been documented. There has actually been a decent amount of running, with about a week and a half hiatus. I have been having issues with the arch of my left foot but have still been trying to get out there and hope that it will heal on it's own. It feels like I pulled the muscle in my arch and it happened during my half marathon in June. When I press on the part that connects to my heel it feels bruised, so I'm not exactly sure what's going on and I haven't been able to find anything online that sounds similar. Suggestions runners?

Anyway, slow/meager running aside, I think it might be time to reveal a bit more about what has been going on in my life lately. The running buddy I have mentioned in several other posts is certainly a bit more than a running buddy. Z and I met, or I guess I should say, re-met through a co-worker at the best time and the worst time. I had some things going on with moving and trying to get out of a relationship that was no longer making me happy. My plan was to date again, worry about myself and be selfish for a while. But things changed quite rapidly when he came along. Once we started hanging out I knew I wouldn't be dating, or being selfish. But luckily, I was still thinking about myself and what was best for me...and he just happened to fit in quite well.

One of my all-time favorite dates...watching the Princess Bride in the Idaho Botanical Garden and wine drinking.

Z and I went to Oregon over the Labor Day holiday and he was forced to spend 4 crazy days with the fam. It was one of the best trips home I have ever taken! BFF Jamie corrected me and reminded me that, of course, it couldn't have been better than my trips back with her :) We drove to Oregon on Friday and took our time, stopped for lunch, stopped to see Sahalie Falls and finally made it to Eugene in time to meet my parents for dinner at the North Bank.

Saturday we went down to Saturday Market, Voodoo Doughnuts, and then out to King Estate for wine tasting and lunch. Saturday night we feverishly flipped between channels for the Duck game and BSU game.

Making friends at Voodoo Doughnuts

Lunch at King Estate

Sunday we woke up and went to Florence and were quite the tourists, stopping at Sea Lion Caves, Mo's, getting salt water taffy and going out to the North Jetty, which was completely fogged in.

Mo being a mo in front of Mo's

Monday we went for Z's first Cafe Yumm experience and then home to help my mom get ready for an early dinner with Nana and the rest of the clan.

On Tuesday we set out to go shopping in Portland on our way home. We got the hook up on passes to the Columbia employee store so I got two awesome Mountain Hardware jackets for less than the price of one! Then we spent several hours browsing around IKEA where I ended up with a sweet globe lamp and Z ended up with cool new dishes and silverware for the house he will hopefully find soon. After shopping most of the day away and honestly losing track of time, we left Portland and made one more stop at Multnomah Falls before getting on the road.

The whole trip was amazing! Exhausting, but amazing! I feel so blessed to have someone in my life who not only wanted to, but asked to, come to Eugene and meet my family and find out what I am all about. We have such an amazing time together and I am so looking forward to many more adventures!

Oh, and back to the running buddy thing...Z and I will be racing this weekend in Meridian. It will be his first ever 5k! I can't wait to see him cross that finish line!

How To Get Compliments...

2011-08-10T21:14:00.000-07:00

I take no credit for this, but if you want to get compliments, go check out the hair advice on My Yellow Sandbox. It's where I learned to do this:

The hairstyle that is, not the photo taking. That craptastic skill is all mine!

Anyway, while I was at work today I got a lot of comments about my hair looking cute. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I actually tried this for the first time on Sunday and got one comment that was something like, "Oh, that's quite the braid you've got going on there" which wasn't quite the response I was hoping for. Tonight I ran to the grocery store to prepare for the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. I almost ran this girl over with my cart while trying to get to the produce section. I very politely said, "excuse me" to which she replied, "no problem...WOW cute braid! I am not that talented". I wanted to shout, "READ BLOGS, they can solve all of your problems!" But I decided that I didn't want to seem as crazy as I probably actually am.

On another note, I was supposed to go to the gym and run tonight after SYTYCD, but instead I decided I am feeling very sleepy and here I am blogging about hair. Priorities people! I would like to blame my exhaustion on my traumatic trip to the prison yesterday when a felon pulled a tooth out of his mouth during my interview with him...but that's a story for another day.

Week One: Done...Almost

2011-08-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

This week I officially started half marathon training again. I have a race in mind but had yet to sign up because I know the course is super hilly. At this point I feel like being on a training plan and looking forward with my running was the most important thing. Yesterday I got to guest post on Runn Princess Runn which you can find here. In fact, I think this is one of the best running posts I have written in a long time, so go read it.

My goal for the end of summer, early fall, is to really enjoy running again, and I think being on a training schedule will help me to do so. I have a lot more fun working towards a goal than just running to run. I am using Hal Higdon's Novice Half Marathon training plan again because it has worked for me in the past and I am still unconvinced that I will ever be a fast runner.

On the running buddy front, every run for the past couple of weeks has been with company, no music! I can't even believe how much faster the miles go by. I think I will still have days when I just want to put my head phones in and get on the treadmill, but as far as running outside goes, this is sooooo much better!

Tomorrow I will be doing my first "long run" of this training plan. A whopping 4 miles, which I accidently already ran on Wednesday when I was supposed to do 3. I think my running buddy almost strangled me...

Be Inspired

2011-08-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

I decided to participate in the Great Big Bloggy Post Exchange, and while my poor post is still floating around in my crazy busy little mind, please meet Candice from I Have Run:

The theme – or whatever you want to call it – of my last race was “Be Inspired.” At least that’s what the race shirt says on the back. Seeing that over and over again on the racers daring enough to wear a brand new shirt during 13.1 miles got me thinking.

As I ran, I thought about what inspires me as a runner. The incredible setting of that race was undoubtedly inspiring. But that isn’t the kind of thing that helps me continue to put one foot in front of the other day after day or that keeps me moving when my legs are screaming to stop. What inspires me are words. As a writer, I count on words. And as a runner, words create my mantras. But those words must have meaning to be effective.

Like when I tell myself, “You’ve freaking got this.” The words alone are a pretty good kick in the pants. But being able to associate them with one of the runners I most admire is what makes them truly inspiring.

About halfway through the race, I saw a guy with a shirt on that said, “I run for _______.” The runner hadn’t filled in the blank, so I spent the next mile or so thinking about the different names I would put at the end of that sentence. I thought about the people, runners and non-runners, in my life that inspire me.

As I finished my race with an entirely unexpected PR after suffering from a cold for almost two weeks, I thought back to an unexpected form of inspiration. On my cough drops, there was “A pep talk in every drop.” At least that’s what the wrappers said, among other things, like:

· You can do it and you know it.

· Get through it.

· Put your game face on.

· Inspire envy.

· Dust off and get up.

· You got it in you.

· Don’t try harder. Do harder!

I kept a few of the cough drop wrappers on my treadmill and those little words really helped me get through the runs when I really just wanted to sit on the couch with my box of tissues. Inspiration is everywhere. You just have to look for it.

Thanks Candice for the post, please go check out her blog! The best thing about this exchange has been finding some new blogs to check out and some new runners to inspire me!

About a girl...

2011-07-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

I am feeling so good about life today. I posted on Facebook just now: "Amazing the things that can happen when you allow yourself to follow your heart..." I feel like the last couple of weeks I have just felt so amazing following my decision to leave a relationship that was okay, but not what my heart really wanted or needed. I have been more productive at work, I feel like I am living in a cleaner, healthier place, I have come to find out which of my friends will be there for me no matter what, or when I just need an ear or a body present. Some things are worth fighting for, and shouldn't we consider ourselves and our wants/needs the number one thing we should fight for? I have said through this whole situation that my decision to leave was selfish, but right now I don't see the word selfish in a negative light. Selfish is doing what I need to do to be happy. I deserve that.

This morning I went for a run with another person! Another human to take steps with...amazing right? I haven't run with anyone really since I talked the BFF Jamie into running our first half marathon together over a year ago. She hurt herself training for that race, still ran it and kicked my butt, but has since sworn off running pretty much all together. So my new running buddy and I set out together for a three mile run around a neighborhood and nice little trail. It was a super slow run but I could not believe how much faster the time went by with someone to talk to rather than listening to music. This is something I could get used to. So runners, music or running buddies? Does it depend on your mood?

Where Did All The Pictures Go?

2011-07-24T20:27:00.001-07:00

Does anyone know enough about Blogger to know what the heck happened to my blog and all the pictures? I signed up for Google+ and I am really hoping it doesn't have to do with my picture settings on there since it seems to share Picasa, and therefore Blogger pictures...I don't know what's going on?!?!

First harvest!

2011-07-17T16:49:00.001-07:00

How awesome do these look?!? Almost too good to eat :)

Photo Friday...The New Digs

2011-07-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Living room with the sweet couches I found on Craigslist for next to nothing (cat not included).

Love this little kitchen, something about it just makes me warm and fuzzy inside!

The eating nook...don't mind the boxes, this is the only area I have allowed to look like I am still moving in.

Bedroom from one angle.

Bedroom from another angle. I love that there are two windows in the bedroom since I am in a corner unit. However, the blinds and not good at blocking light, so it's pretty much full daylight in there by 6 AM.

My little couch ornament.

So far we are settling in nicely. Still not completely moved in, but it's been nice to have some time and organize as I go and not just have a mess in the apartment. The cats are finally calming down a bit and I have been closing the bedroom door at night and they don't wake me up until about 6...which is right about the same time it's too light in my room to keep sleeping anyway.

Morning Run

2011-07-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I got out in the neighborhood for a quick run. I decided to run straight down to the other end of the subdivision to find out how far exactly it is. Turns out it's exactly one mile. After I got there I thought I would wind through the neighborhood to add some distance on the way back. I am really trying to ease back into a more regular running pattern, even if that means it will be two miles at a time. I have had no consistency for months and think I can, and need to, do much, much better! Well, the neighborhood got the best of me this time. The route I took on the way back ended up being shorter than the way there. Silly subdivision!

1.86 Miles in 23 ish minutes. Slow...slow...slow

Waldo and I after my run. She looks like trouble doesn't she?

On another note, I have no idea what to do with the cats in the new place. In the house we were not letting them sleep in our room and they were usually pretty well behaved but would occasionally wake us up meowing at the door at odd hours. Since being here I have been allowing them to be in the room since I used to live with them in a studio apartment and had no other choice. I thought they could handle the responsibility of letting me sleep and being my little fluffy cuddle buddies. Not so much. So far Waldo has attempted to climb my dresser, like, literally hanging from the handles on the drawers. I have no idea what her goal is. Lilly, on the other hand, walks through the apartment moaning and meowing at all hours of the night. So far I don't think I have had a full night sleep since I moved in, and that was reduced even more when I moved them in this past weekend. Any suggestions?

First Run In The New Hood

2011-07-12T08:37:00.001-07:00

Last night I went for my first little run around my new neighborhood. Holy moly, the houses behind my apartment complex are pretty gorgeous. In the center of the sub division there is a large park area with a water feature, playground, basketball court and picnic shelter. I felt spoiled and like even though I'm living in an apartment its definitely the most grown up apartment I've lived in. Hopefully in the next hour the internet guy will show up and I will actually have internet and can post pictures!

My run was slow and short, 2.6 miles in 33 minutes flat. I walked a couple times. I went out at about 9:20 last night and it was still in the mid 80's. Still pretty Freaking warm. The best part about it was exploring some of the little side streets in the neighborhood and realizing this sub division is so big that I'm pretty sure I could train for a half marathon without using the same loop all the time and getting bored. It's all completely flat so I would still need some hill work elsewhere when necessary. It's an awesome feeling to think I can just walk out my door and feel safe and comfortable running...no more trailer park and halfway house less than a block away!

My other sweet discovery was that I knew my gym had a location somewhere in the suburb I'm now living in but I hadn't gone exploring to find it. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I ran to another entrance to my sub division...and there was my gym! It's about .75 miles away from my front door! How cool is that?!?

Have you tried this?

2011-07-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

I should have internet soon and will start posting much more interesting things...but in the meantime, have you tried Silk Pure Almond dark chocolate? I may have found a way to beat some chocolate cravings. This stuff is incredible!

Almost wordless Wednesday...

2011-07-06T20:23:00.001-07:00

Pretty much loving my new little kitchen. Not much moving has happened so far but I am staying in my new place and made my first dinner tonight. Looking forward to having furniture and my kitties here ASAP!

Life in Eugene

2011-07-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

My vacation so far has been an attempt at relaxing and letting go of some of the anxiety I have felt for the last few weeks. I'm not doing a great job of letting go yet...my sleep cycle still seems out of whack and I feel more tired than I should. I think I might be boring my family to death as well. After working every weekend in June, being lazy feels wonderful. I have to admit that I am also extremely distracted by my parents big, nice TV and cable! I don't watch anything that isn't on Netflix instant play (ie. old stuff) or what's on normal boob tube through my converter box. Oh the things I miss on HDTV and the Food Network. It's all getting my decorating juices flowing for the big move next week. I submitted my address change with the post office this morning...I suppose that makes things more "official". I have to admit that day by day I am getting more excited/nervous/excited about a fresh start. I also keep eyeing the forecast and can't wait for 90* days by the pool!

I have been taking lots of pictures so far (although mostly on my phone) but can't wait to post/recap all about my time in Eugene. On Monday I will also be running the Butte to Butte 10k for my first time! The first mile is straight uphill and I am NOT ready!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-06-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't been around the blog, or reading anyone else's really either. There have been a lot of things going on around here, some of them good, some not so good. I am not really wanting to talk about some things here yet however, here's some exciting things:

I'm headed out this afternoon to go to Oregon for a week to see my wonderful family. It's a solo road trip that is going to, hopefully, relieve some stress and anxiety and get me ready to come home to a new start
When I get back to Boise I will be immediately relocating to Meridian! I have never lived outside of Boise proper since I moved here and the place I will be is absolutely gorgeous.
With the move I will inherit a pool! I'm looking forward to some super relaxing weekends poolside reading! I can't wait!
Because I knew this vacation was approaching I worked pretty much every weekend for the past month. That wasn't so fun. But what IS fabulous is that I am officially caught up...until I get back :)
With everything that has been happening I have seen some people come out of the woodwork to be amazing friends and support. I have even started to make some new friends. It eases the feeling that I am probably losing a few friends too.

So those are my ramblings for now. I'm planning on running, maybe hiking, eating, hanging out and relaxing my way around Eugene for the next week. Can't wait to be surrounded by my family!

Murder City Shakedown

2011-06-14T06:46:00.000-07:00

J. Reuben Appelman is one of the most inspiring people who ever taught me at the college level. He made me want to be a better, and more passionate, writer. Now he has moved on to give life to some amazing new projects and his latest, Murder City Shakedown, is an important one. This is a story that needs to be told. J. has a little over a day left to fund the rest of his project. Please watch the video, click the link, and help in any way possible.

Three Things Thursday

2011-06-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

1. I have been the WORST blogger/runner/CrossFitter in the world for the past couple of weeks. Work is killing me. I have been working some insane hours and still don't feel even remotely on top of things. I am so glad I love my job and am endlessly entertained by it, because if I weren't I would have probably had a melt down this week. I ended up with 8 reports due this week...that's 8x20ish pages each. I'm surprised I haven't had finger cramps from typing...but maybe I will have super buff fingers :)

2. I have a half marathon to run in a week and a half. I haven't not run since my 10k. I get the feeling it won't be pretty. I don't care if I walk, I'm DOING the race. This is a fun one with chocolate and champagne at the end, and I get the feeling that 9 days from now I am going to NEED champagne and chocolate, even if I have to crawl across the finish line to get it!

3. I have been doing the Dukan Diet for a couple of days now. I am doing a fairly short attack faze, but since it's so restrictive it's been tough. I decided to try it out this week because I knew I would be too bust at work to work out much so I figured if I felt tired/hungry I wouldn't feel like I HAD to go to the gym. I have lost about 3.5 pounds so far and although I know it's not safe to lose a lot of weight really fast, I think there is something to the diet when it says that the fast loss at the beginning keeps motivation higher. If I wasn't seeing results I would definitely quit this one quick. I can say that it has already kicked a lot of my sugar cravings...in 3 days!

Race Report - High Desert 10k Trail Run

2011-05-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Because nothing instills confidence in a race like marked graves next to the porta potties!

I think I am liking these smaller race fields. Yesterday I got 6th in my age group! While that sounds totally fantastic, there were only about 15 runners in my age group. I told Loren that I will be happy anytime I finish in the top 50% though, to me that means I am getting stronger and faster and training pays off.

Waiting for the start

This was my first EVER 10k. I picked a heck of a

run for my first 10k though. Sheesh. I was aware that there were hills, but I had NO idea that for 5 miles I would feel like I was almost solely running UP. And up. And up. The first half mile alone was a steady climb, followed by a tiny dose of flat, let your legs relax a bit, preparation for more uphill torture. Pretty early on I told myself, you are NOT racing. You are running a course that you would NEVER do in training, and you are going to pretend like you LOVE it, and reap the rewards. That worked pretty well for me. Until about mile 4. Then I just started to get pooped.

Loren likes to take pictures of long porta potty lines.
Mostly because we get there early enough to miss them.

Just waiting for the start still.
Good thing I brought my personal photog with me again!

Mile one was a serious wake up call. I realized that I do ZERO hill training. I was running behind a 5-year-old girl. Seriously. I was so jealous of her twiggy little legs and how easily they climbed the hill. There were some serious runners in this race so I honestly was not surprised to find myself chasing down the one child in the race (who was with her patient father). Mile one was nearly all hill. Brutal.

Serious runners up front. I'm somewhere back towards the back.

Mile two was a little more comfortable but not much. I think I mostly just realized that the hill climbing was probably never going to end until the last mile (almost completely downhill). This was also when I started to take the race director a little more seriously when he mentioned that there were lava rocks on the trail and ginormous badger holes. Badger holes are huge, like, swallow an entire one of my legs, or an obnoxiously skinny runner huge. Luckily I only tripped over one rock, did not fall, and never saw and beady little eyes staring up at me from any one of the large holes.

My Garmin made the hills look worse but I couldn't figure out how to get that graph onto the blog. This is stolen from the race website instead.

Up the first half mile hill. I hate how pictures never do hills justice!

Mile three marked the first couple of walks. No good in a 10k but I did not feel I had any other options. Walking was going to happen or puking was going to ensue. Not much of a choice in my opinion. Walking > Puking. The upside was that the scenery was beautiful! I wish I had a camera with me so that I could show off the beautiful views that we got from up on those hills. I suppose it was worth the climb after all! I passed the 5 year old around mile three as well and luckily she never caught me again. I don't think I would have been able to live that one down. At this point there was also a split between the 10k course and the half marathon. The sign that marked the split led the half marathoners somewhere called "The Snake Pit" I was pretty glad to be running the 10k at that point.

When I got to the aide station at mile 4 the guy asked me if I was ok. I took this as a bad sign. I wanted to throw the water at him and tell him to go run those hills. I chide, he was friendly and I probably DID look like hell. At that point I took off my iPod which I haven't done running since Portland. I have never gotten sick of hearing music while running such a short race but something about it was making me crazy! The water guy told me that the hill climbing was almost over, which was kind of a lie, there were definitely hills to climb all the way to mile 5.25. Asshole.

Mile five was more rolling hills. I don't know what was worse at that point...continuing uphill, or trying to control exhausted legs while going downhill. Both were freakin' hard. There was one lady in front of me who was keeping a good pace and I was trying to stay within a good distance from her but she definitely gained some ground while I just sort of chugged along. Mile five was also when I blew my first ever legitimate snot rockets! It had to be done. I think I can blame the dust. At one point, mid-rocket, the wind picked up and I really thought I might have hit my hair instead of the ground. I had visions of looking like this:

But no such luck, even crazy hilly 10k's won't make me look like Cameron Diaz, damn!

I was so glad to hit the downhill between mile 5.25 and 6 that it was all smooth sailing. I even gave the photographer my best muscle man/huge running dork pose!

I hope you can see my new muscles that CrossFit is giving me. I like to think it's not ALL in my head.

Crossing the finish line.

Downhill was actually a really tough way to end the race. It felt kind of good, but kind of out of control and had me imagining hitting a rock and eating you know what in front of all the people at the finish line. I always imagine knocking my teeth out at times like that. I think it's a ridiculous fear that comes from 4 years of braces and head-gear. When I could finally see the finish line clock I was actually really happy. Super slow for a 10k, but I think pretty darn good for my first ever trail run/10k from hell!

Parched. But done.

Can't Sleep...Running Nerves

2011-05-20T21:51:00.001-07:00

I am running my first ever 10k in the morning and I am already going through all the worst case scenarios in my head. Including coming in DEAD LAST. Yes, I realize that there are probably for worse things, but this is a small race, a trail run, and I just keep reminding myself that there might be some speedy half marathon runners crossing the finish line at about the same time as me...seriously.

I just hope I finish my first ever 10k before the world is supposed to end tomorrow!

Race Report - Famous Idaho Potato 5k

2011-05-14T12:11:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran my first race of the season! I wanted to post a race preview and some goals but blogger was down so I was unable to. My unwritten goal was to get a sub 30. I would have loved to PR. But let me back up a day...

Friday marked the end of my 6 week intro to CrossFit bootcamp. Loren thought I was totally crazy for going Thursday, let alone Friday. But I wasn't about to miss the last day! I poured a lot of sweat into those 6 weeks and I was going to show my coach how much I have improved with her help. At the very end of Friday's tabata workout, as I was doing weighted walking lunges, I yelled, "Cassie, I can feel my race tomorrow getting harder with every lunge!" I tried to be a bit conservative with the leg reps that we did but I still want to get a good workout in.

This morning I woke up feeling pretty good. My arms were super tired and felt like I had been punched repeatedly in both shoulders but my legs weren't feeling stiff or heavy so I was ready to go. The race start was at 8:30 and I wanted to be there early since I had never done this race before. I did a good job fueling and ate oatmeal with craisins followed by a Syntha-6 protein shake. I think I drank about a half a cup of coffee and it was just enough to get things moving (if you know what I mean).

Loren took me to the start line and we were about a half an hour early. It ended up perfect because there was no line for the port-a-potties so I got in and got out. Loren high-tailed it back to the finish line because he had no idea where to park and wanted to make sure he didn't get stuck walking a ways and miss me. It turned out he was early enough to make friends with the professional photographers who were shooting the race. The guy asked him who he was shooting for...lol I totally have my own personal race photographer, because that's how I roll.

While waiting to start the race I was chatted up by a nice lady who turned out to be a blogger from Indianapolis. She apparently writes novels and is into quilting, I am going to try to find her blog if I can remember the name of it. She was walking the 10k and told me that she had lost 140 pounds in the past year and a half! I was happy to talk to her for a bit and laughed with her about her time in Idaho while she has been visiting. As everyone lined up it was obvious there was a lot of confusion because the 5k and 10k lined up together and no one seemed to know where the course split. The couple next to me were super confused and I was right there with them. I love chatting with friendly people before a race! It calms the nerves. The lady was asking all about my Garmin too. She had a Polar I think but was oogling my pink Garmin...I might have just cost her husband a couple hundred dollars :)

When the gun finally went off I think it took all but the first couple lines of people by surprise. We couldn't hear any announcement and then all of a sudden there was a shot and we were off...kind of. This was a really crowed start with no organization. With these bigger 5k's there are so many people who don't know race etiquette and it's quite frustrating. A bunch of walkers were lined up ahead of me. There was just go way to go out strong at all. I don't think I got up to speed for a half mile until things spread out a bit. A quarter mile out we had some room to run in, but that led to a bridge that was only about 4 shoulders wide and there was no way to pass. My Garmin showed that when I was stuck on the bridge my pace dropped to a 12:20 mile, so irritating! Once I got off the bridge I was able to find my stride a bit better and even out my pace.

Most of the race was on the Greenbelt and it was a flat course. I had fun running and felt pretty good but could tell I wasn't running on fresh legs. Skipping CrossFit on Friday probably would have been a good idea, but oh well. There were a lot of "non-runners" running this race it seemed. A lot of people went out super fast then walked. I passed several girls multiple times as they would sprint ahead and then walk. Sometimes it frustrates me that I am slow enough to get stuck around those people and it makes me wonder if maybe I would be better off adopting a run/walk technique. Apparently I could go approximately the same speed anyway.

Going into the last mile I could tell I had done just about all the pushing I could have done. My legs felt strong to the finish but I'm not sure I could have done much more. I pushed it through to finish where Loren was waiting and taking pictures. It was nice to have him at a race finally (he was working weekends last year and couldn't ever come).

Loren's shot of the finish line before the race

The final stretch. Please note that I TOTALLY just chicked those two dudes behind me. Take that!

Crossing the finish line! Still ahead of the guys...even if they are old.

We got shirts at the end and I was happily surprised that they are dri-fit shirts though they are men's cut and mustard yellow with a picture of a potato. Hey, what do you expect from a Famous Potato Race in Idaho!?!?

I have no idea what my official time was and I forgot to stop my Garmin. It looks like my upload thinks my time was about 32:34, but I really thought I came in at 31 and some change. Anyway, they will post the times and I will let you know how slow it really was :)

First 5k of the season down...

2011-05-14T09:22:00.001-07:00

Race report to come.

In case you need a bucket of coffee...

2011-05-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

I had a weak moment this morning and went through the Starbucks drive thru because we were out of coffee at home. While paying I noticed this obnoxiously large cup for iced drinks and was pretty sure I needed it. I have been working on my water drinking and my normal water bottle is a solid color so I can't see how much I'm drinking. Apparently I decided this morning that if I could see the water I would drink more. While waiting for my coffee, a socially awkward barista explained to me that I could actually write on the inside layer of the insulated cup to indicate my favorite drink so I wouldn't have to verbally order when i came in. Is that really helpful? I change my order all the time so I wouldn't do this anyway, but I also didn't have the heart to tell him I don't buy 2 gallon iced coffees from Starbucks because I make a state salary and can't afford them. I wanted to explain that the cup was for water and iced tea from my keurig. But I knew he would never understand. So I smiled...and thanked him...and put a dollar tip into his little jar...and drove away with my new water cup.

It's one of THOSE days...

2011-05-10T12:33:00.001-07:00

The ones where your chocolate protein shake explodes all over your brand new Ann Taylor Loft dress that you just removed the tags from the morning. And yes, I swear I ironed it even though it doesn't look like it.

When Should I Just Start Calling Myself A Walker?

2011-05-08T20:04:00.001-07:00

6 mile run today that felt like it might as well have been a half marathon. Just like last summer its been taking me about 4 miles to start to settle in to the run. Today I was feeling horrible and slow but when I came home and plugged in my garmin I was at a pretty normal pace for me (albeit slow as hell). I'm crossing my fingers that slow this weekend equals super fast 5k next weekend...right?

I started the run with my jacket on which had to come off after the first mile. I felt like silly with it tied around my waist. Then my handheld started to drive me nuts, so at the turnaround it got tied onto my jacket as well. I'm sure the real runners out the on the greenbelt chuckled as they passed me. I definitely looked unprepared.

Like I said, my pace ended up being pretty normal, it just seemed like nothing felt right. I hate those runs!

Exercising My Green Thumb

2011-05-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well today I did something I have never done before. I planted stuff. Tomatoes mostly. We'll see how this little experiment turns out. My best friend Jamie has been really into organic gardening since she bought her house so I figured since I finally live in a house instead of an apartment I should try something out.

These bigger pots have tomatoes in them but I can't tell you what kind because Loren accidentally threw away the markers while I was transplanting them. One is called a Juliet, which is a little cherry tomato variety, and the other is a more standard hearty tomato that was supposed to do well in containers. Around the outside of the pots is three different varieties of basil (sweet, purple, and who knows what). Jamie swore to me that planting basil near tomatoes enhances the flavors. We got the plants from a local organic farmer while at the Saturday market this morning. They had a ton of veggies and I had wanted to get peppers and apparently wanted them so badly I forgot that I hadn't actually picked them up, I just THOUGHT about picking them up. I will probably go next week and get some Anaheim peppers and some Jalapeños.

The small pots in the first picture contain Tiny Tim tomatoes that Jamie started organically from seeds. They apparently only require a 6" pot, but I bought them 8" pots because I'm nice like that. The itty bitty pot in the middle are snap dragons that Jamie started from seed from her snap dragons last year. They are just for fun, I will separate them and give them more room next weekend. The other small leafy things are a variety of lettuce we got free with our tomato purchase from the market. I ran out of pots to actually transplant them. If you need pots, go to Target! Cheap and cute. I stuck with plain rather than cute.

Cross your fingers that I don't kill everything, I would really like to feel like I didn't just waste money and my whole morning. Especially since I should have gone running...

Stomach Update

2011-05-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the comments last week when I ended up in the hospital. A lot of concern came up at work about my stress level and whether that is playing into my ulcer. Considering my age, an ulcer is quite unusual and it's certainly not something I would have expected to deal with. But at this point, it's not something I can ignore either. My mom told me that she started having stomach problems around the same age so I guess it shouldn't be all that surprising.

Yesterday marked one week of no alcohol and being really conscious of how my stomach was feeling prior to eating, and then gauging how food was settling after meals. I am super happy that since about Wednesday morning I have had no stomach pain at all. I have been taking Prilosec-type meds everyday and have been extremely careful with caffeine intake and watching spicy foods. So far so good.

I was talking to my dad on Friday night and saying that I am really sad about the whole business of alcohol. I know that sounds horrible, but I am a gal that enjoys a good glass of red wine or a really yummy dark beer. I'm sure that eventually I can have A glass of wine, or A beer once my stomach heals, but it's hard for me to think that I might not be able to socially drink when I want to. Such a silly thing to be concerned about in the grand scheme of things and considering that my health is much more important than a drink with friends...but it's still something I am going to mourn for a bit. Let me have my pity party...

Weekend Adventures

2011-05-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been a pretty fun one, full of activity and naps...what could be better?!?!

Friday afternoon I did a killer Tabata arm circuit at CrossFit and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to wash my hair or get dressed this weekend. Lucky for Loren, I pulled through like a champ and was ready to go on Saturday. I was feeling some fatigue in my arms but nothing too extreme so we decided to go use a Groupon I bought a couple months ago for the indoor rock climbing gym. Loren used to be a pretty serious climber, which included insane things like ice climbing...seriously, who does that?!?!

Anyway, it's been a couple years since Loren climbed, in fact, he hasn't been at all since we started dating, so I think he was super excited about going. We had an awesome time, and Loren even said that he trusted me belaying him. I took that as a good compliment from a climber. I told Loren that I'm not sure climbing, in general, is my best angle for pictures (there were some BAD ones) but I'm glad we got some pictures all the same.

Today I finally got my butt out the door to go for a run in my new Mizuno Wave Runners. I have only been running once a week for the whole month of April for fear that my Brooks Ghosts were going to cause a serious injury, they were WAY too old. I was thrilled that on my run today I was able to do 5 miles feeling really good. I have never been in good enough shape to only run once a week (2-3 miles) and then go out for a 5 miler feeling good. I know that CrossFit is the reason I am feeling so strong and so fit despite my lapse in training. My run today made me feel like there is hope for my upcoming races even though I am grossly under-trained to this point. Now with new shoes and no leg pain I can start building some miles and hopefully be ready for a half marathon PR come June 18th. A girl can dream right?!?

My Running Anniversary

2011-04-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks my official one year anniversary of the first 5k I ever decided to sign up and race. Of course, I figured out by my time alone that the race was not a TRUE 5k, but that's besides the point. The Race For The Cure will always probably hold a special place for me because I know that it was the first time I heard a race start since high school and the part of me that thrives on competing with myself kicked in and was fulfilled. I got hooked on racing after that. I spent a lot of money last summer chasing down my 5k time and training for distances I thought were impossible.

2010 Race for the Cure (I'm behind the lady actually in this picture but it's the best race photo I got)

I won't be doing the Race For the Cure tomorrow. It's a great cause, and one I would be willing to support, but as far as races go, this really isn't one. I didn't have to pay for it last year because I worked for Ford and our dealership had a sponsored team. With no chip timing, 30,000 people, and a whole heck of a lot of walkers, I just think I will save my $30 this year.

Jamie and I did the See Jane Run I Run for Chocolate and Champagne 5k in June. What a fun race! All women, great crowd support, super fun post-race expo, champagne & chocolate YUM! The only downside, my race photos were awful. I didn't buy a single one and we didn't take our own camera. I'm doing the Half Marathon of that race this year and I will try to pick a better outfit :)

After one 5k I guess I decided to become insane. I signed up for a half marathon. I guess I just wanted something to train for, a goal to set. I was even mean enough to talk my best friend into doing it with me! She says she never will again. The Fit For Life Half Marathon will hopefully continue to live on as my most hated race ever. The t-shirts sucked, the medals sucked and we waited 3 weeks for them AFTER the race, I did not get a single race photo out of it even though there were about 10 of people who I knew were around me, and by the time I finished, almost everyone had packed up and gone home (this would become a trend in 2010) :)

I'm not even sure I'm getting the order right now, but at some point, Jamie's mom couldn't make it to Boise for Run Fido Run, so being the best friend that I am, I slipped into some JEANS, grabbed a STARBUCKS, and agreed to WALK this run with one of Jamie's dogs. I think we were inching up on the Portland Marathon at this point and this run was not on even ground, it was on horse trails around Eagle Island Park and I was not risking an injury. We enjoyed our little stroll with the pooches.

In September I flew to Eugene to run (which ended up being a lot of walking) the first annual Eugene Women's Half Marathon. My hips were bugging me a ton that day and my mom's walking group passed me around mile 10. She hung back and helped me hobble my way into the finish...while questioning my ability to finish at Portland. I was a bit concerned too at that point, but the race was a fun one. I would like to do this race again more prepared. The shirts were awful, but instead of a medal there were finishers necklaces crafted by a Eugene artist and lots of women friendly finish line goodies. Best of all, the finish expo was so good, there were still people around cheering when my slow ass finished!

Then came my next questionable decision pre-Portland: The Dirty Dash. I could have probably killed myself doing this race and in fact, I was quite bloody afterward, but it was one of the most fun races I have EVER done! I would do it again tomorrow! It wasn't very muddy until the end, and I noticed this years race will be in July, rather than late September (when it's been dry for 5 months). Maybe there is another dirty dash in my future...

PORTLAND. What can I say about Portland. I FINISHED.

My first ever racing season ended with a race that I loved and a cause I will forever stand behind. The High Speed Pursuit is a fundraiser for the Idaho Peace Officers Memorial Fund. It is held out at the prisons, the start is amazing: the emergency sirens go off from the medium security prison, there is a military plane fly-over, you run through two lines of the Correctional Emergency Response Team in full riot gear (scary), and run past the prison fences where offenders are running on a circular track to "race" as well. If that all doesn't get your heart pumping then I don't know what will. This was a hilly race, but I PR'd, what more can you really ask for?!?

The line up of races for this year is taking shape. In May I will be running the Great Idaho Potato 5k (part of a marathon series) and then a High Desert 10k trail run, my first ever 10k! In June I am running the See Jane Run Half Marathon which is an awesome race, but small so I hope I'm not dead last! In July I will be headed to Eugene for the Butte to Butte and to spend time with my family. After that I am just going to keep picking races, I know I will do the High Speed Pursuit again and maybe the Eugene Women's Half. There will be no marathon this summer. I know I want to do one again but I want to be a better, more dedicated runner first.

I hate to end on a sad note, but I will not be doing the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October, I was not picked in the lottery. The good part is, I can now afford about 5 local races instead of one dream race. Maybe next year...

I Put The ER in EasteR

2011-04-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

I will start by saying that everyone is fine around here...now. Here were out plans for Easter: Breakfast to send off Loren's college buddies who were in town for the weekend, lazy midday, early dinner with my co-workers with carne asada and a special Easter feast! That day however, was just not to be.

We will start at T-minus 12 hours. We were heading out to spend the day at the World Center for Birds of Prey followed by the Boise Zoo. These were special requests of Loren's friends who had never been before. Loren and I were just at the Zoo a couple weeks ago but I really love animals and will go to the Zoo anytime anyone wants to go. It's also a good excuse to be outside in these first nice days of Spring. Between these two places there was a request for Indian food (apparently unavailable in small Wyoming town, duh). There is a fantastic Indian restaurant in downtown Boise called Bombay Grill which has a lunch buffet. I suggested it as a good option since I have been told the food is very authentic and, heck, I like the place so I might as well make other people go with me right?!?

After the zoo we stopped by the Tablerock Brewery (Loren's friends seriously got a good taste of Boise on Saturday!) and had a beer...okay maybe two. We went home to "rest-up" for the night and I snuck in a cat nap. Originally the plan was to take everyone downtown to the bars so they could see the "crazy" Boise nightlife, but a couple of us have done the whole downtown thing (aka Loren and I) and could really care less about going to hang out with drunk college kids and underage jerks with fake IDs. Downtown really no longer intrigues me and I was more than happy when everyone agreed we would go to a bar closer to home. We all met up around 10 pm at a county bar with live music, I have to admit I love this bar. Loren and I have never had a bad time there. We started going when we worked together, before we started dating, and the place brings back awesome memories of getting to know each other.

We left the bar around 1:30 am and I have to say I was pretty responsible with my drinking, I was barely buzzed when we left. I did indulge in a bar hot dog on our way out, because processed meat tubes are alway delicious after a couple beers! Loren and I went to bed and I told him my tummy was bugging me but I took a Zantac and just passed it off to crappy eating all weekend.

Around 4 am I woke up with horrible pain just below my ribs in my stomach area. I get heartburn really regularly (like 3-4 times per week) but this felt NOTHING like that. I stayed awake tossing and turning for an hour and then finally woke up Loren and told him I needed to go to the doctor. Yup, at 5 am on Easter morning! Luckily, Loren knows I don't cry wolf when it comes to being sick and if I say I need to go to the doctor I probably needed to go...like yesterday.

We got checked in super quick and I got blood draws, got to pee in a cup, and got moved into a room. Eventually I got to talk to a doctor, have an ultrasound and got some morphine pumped into my system. It was all pretty exciting and pretty scary. The doctor became concerned that I could be having gallbladder issues with where I was having the pain, but that was cleared by the ultrasound. I then had to chug a disgusting drug cocktail that numbed everything going down. Once it numbed the pain I was experiencing they determined that the problem was gastrointestinal. Basically there isn't much that can be determined without a full scope, but the doctor believes that an ulcer is a good possibility. I am now on a regime of bland food, Prilosec, and Norco when I need it. I can't drink alcohol and need to stay away from any foods that I know trigger my heart burn. Also, any pain meds need to be Tylenol type meds, no Ibuprofen, Aleve etc.

We hung out in the ER for about 3 hours and got to watch all of Jurassic Park 3, some CNN, and chat up some awesome nurses. I see a new Easter tradition in our future!

Today I am on the mend, I worked a full day and even went to CrossFit. I am feeling a like pain/burn in my stomach and will take it easy the rest of the night. I guess my eating plan just got a whole lot easier since the doc officially cut me off from the things I shouldn't be consuming anyway. JERK.

Where the Sidewalk Ends

2011-04-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

This could have been the title of my weekend...my run on Saturday took me on a long loop around the neighborhood and every time I would choose which side of the road to run on, the sidewalk would end and start on the other side of the busy road. GRRRR

Yesterday, Loren suggested that we go for a walk on the greenbelt. I was up for it and told him that if we parked at my work and walked to Lucky 13 (an awesome restaurant!), had lunch, and walked back, it would be about 1.5 to 2 miles each way. Well, it turned out I was off by a couple miles...in each direction! Our walk ended up being about 7.5 miles, poor Loren!

Have you ever taken a route that you used for long training runs and forgotten how far it ACTUALLY is? I had never done this before, but it made my laugh to think I used this route on soooo many marathon training long runs and got used to thinking about going past Lucky 13 as "no big deal". Oh well, I reminded Loren that now we know exactly how far it is; he laughed as if I will never talk him into walking to lunch again. It was overcast and we both got a bit of sun since we were walking for at least twice the amount of time we expected. I will never have a walking partner again...

Living on the edge

2011-04-17T18:51:00.001-07:00

Loren was a great roommate today and vacuumed the house. He actually does this his fair share of the time and you can tell when he does because he tends to move the cats' toys off the floor and he forgets to put them back. Tonight I looked up from the couch to find waldo curled on her scratch box on top of the mantle. The box is hanging off the side and I'm keeping an eye on her but she is currently snug as a bug in a rug.

Fingers Crossed

2011-04-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

This morning I submitted my application for the random drawing for the Nike Women's Marathon. I signed up for the Half Marathon distance, I'm just not feeling like marathon training is going to happen again this summer. I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I know there is a good chance I won't get in and that's fine. This is a race I would really like to do at some point, it doesn't necessarily have to be now, but who wouldn't love a trip to San Francisco in October? I wouldn't complain!

This week was a good fitness week for me. I doubled up a couple of days and did bootcamp followed by a short jog. My running plan has definitely suffered with CrossFit added in, but I can tell I am getting stronger and cardio-wise I have felt fantastic on my jogs. I think overall it will be a huge benefit to my running in the long run, it's just hard now to go out for runs on super tires/heavy legs.

I lost another 1 pound this past week and I am happy to see the progress, but with the change in diet I was hoping to see a bit more. I was at a 1 pound per week rate just working the BodyBugg program so if the eating plan doesn't pick up the pace much I think I will go back to eating what I want and counting the calories.

There hasn't been much "blog worthy" stuff happening around here...life has been busy but mostly just with work stuff. I was in the office early everyday this week and did something crazy like 7 interviews. Now for the next couple weeks I will be typing like crazy for 8+ hours per day getting reports together (sounds fun huh?!?)

We are still trying to find something fun to do with our Sunday...

Where the Wild Things Are

2011-04-09T15:20:00.001-07:00

Today we walked around the zoo while I tried to loosen my legs up after a killer crossfit workout yesterday. The temperature was perfect for a lot of the animals to be awake and moving around!

Fitness Friday

2011-04-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Weigh in day and I am down one more pound! I am on track with the BodyBugg program and feeling like it's really manageable so far. However, things are about to get tricky! I have officially been doing the intro to CrossFit bootcamp for one week and I feel great. She is really easing us into the workouts so that we start to learn good form and get stronger, but aren't so sore that we don't want to go back. I am really enjoying being in the gym and around weights again. Some of the people who do the real CrossFit workouts are amazingly fit, I am inspired just watching them! Where things are going to get tricky for me is that today I turn in my food journal and my trainer is going to start cutting food. She wants me to shoot for 1200 to 1500 calories per day and eat 6 small meals throughout the day. For those of you women that apparently eat much better than I do, this might be easy, but even my BodyBugg program has me at 1700 calories per day and I had to slowly go down to that from 2000. I am just worried that I won't have any energy at 1200 calories and I think that fear makes me hungry!

This is a silly fear. If I cut out my morning coffee with creamer alone I will reduce over 100 calories and if I cut out caffeine my body will adjust and not need it. I wouldn't mind running on natural energy sources, I just have to ease into it. I know that I need to prep food ahead of time including lunches so that I can grab something portioned and not have to think about it during the day. I think what will be hardest is she wants me to cut most fruit out! She said the craisins on my morning oatmeal have too much sugar. Sad day! No bananas either, too much sugar too. She said strawberries and blueberries are good though, so I guess I need to go stock up on the frozen stuff.

In reality I know these changes won't be that scary once I get used to them, and they should make a huge difference! I already become much more conscious of my portion size and obviously I am seeing some results for my diligence. I just can't wait to start seeing some physical results, one pound on the scale doesn't look like much in the mirror...

Fitness Friday!

2011-04-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

This morning I started an all new bootcamp class that is going to be an introduction to CrossFit! I am super excited after showing up this morning. Cassey, who I work with, is a CrossFit coach and is putting on this bootcamp to teach a small group of us about CrossFit. She is also doing nutrition coaching so I need to be on my best behavior. We will be journaling, which I have already been doing through BodyBugg, but the great part will be having a second set of eyes on what I am logging so that I can make some adjustments where needed. It's one thing to stay within a calorie range, but actually picking the best foods to stay within that range will make all the difference. She would also like me cutting my calories more than I am right now so we'll see how that goes. I think with bootcamp and running, I may not cut them as low as she wants, I definitely need the energy.

After my first bootcamp workout, I went out for a 2.4 mile run around the neighborhood. It was super slow, but it was my first run in 2 weeks and I ran without pain in my leg! Time to start up my training plan again. I think I am going back to the drawing plan though and getting rid of the speed workouts in my plan. So what if I never run super fast? I just want to be out there, pain free. If it's at a 12:00 minute mile right now, so be it!

By the time I plugged the Body Bugg in around 10 this morning I was already over 1000 calories burned for the day. I am going to like getting things done in the morning again I think!

Last week I gain .2 pound back. Not surprising given our traveling last week and I know I slipped with some eating this week as well. I'm still ahead of my Body Bugg program goal so I am feeling pretty good!

Three Things Thursday

2011-03-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

This has to be one of the strangest weeks EVER!

1. On Monday morning I took a little bit of time getting out of bed and into the shower. When I got out of the shower I realized that something was going on outside the house. I quickly got dressed and noticed out the back windows that the windows were being taped shut. We are renters and knew that the house was GOING to be painted. Apparently the painters decided that they didn't need to let us know that they were actually starting though. So by the time I was ready for work, the back and front doors were taped shut. I had no way of knowing if the garaged was covered, but I had to assume it was. So the painters taped me into the freaking house! Luckily I had my computer and one file at home to work on, and since I don't actually HAVE to work from work, I wasn't pissed. It was hilarious...but then I thought about what would happen if I needed to get out of the house and I quickly became claustrophobic. Luckily I survived my day taped into the house.

2. Loren has been feeling sick ever since Saturday night in Jackson. It has progressively gotten worse and tomorrow is his birthday which makes me feel bad. You can't be sick on your birthday! Anyway, on Tuesday night he was feeling super chilled and got out his down sleeping bag and fell asleep on the couch. He did the same thing last night. This morning Waldo was being a crazy cat and digging in the sleeping bag. Finally, she found what she was looking for...the foot pocket! She settled right in and slept there until I left for work this morning, cute!

3. Today I was super excited to come home from work because I had ordered some cute shirts and undies from Victoria's Secret and I saw on UPS that they had been delivered. I ripped open the bag and thought, "huh, those don't look right". I kept pulling things out of the bag super confused. I then opened one of the little bags containing some strange looking panties, and sure enough...GRANNY PANTIES! They sent 7 pairs of XL full-on granny panties. Also included were two 38DD bras! Is someone trying to tell me something??! I know I put on a couple pounds in February, but they are already half gone, and unless someone is paying for the boob job, I will NEVER in my life fit into ANYTHING that has the letter D in it! The package also contained an extra small tank top. I really hope that was a gift or for someone's teen daughter, because if you wear extra large granny panties and a 38DD, there is probably nothing extra small about you...JUST SAYIN.

Weekend Getaway - Hill Climbs

2011-03-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed out for Jackson, Wyoming. Loren's college buddies have made this journey for the past 9 years, although Loren hasn't been able to go for the past 5 years or so. This weekend was Hill Climbs, apparently a big deal if you are into snowmobiles traveling vertically up ski runs, which I am not. However, for this group, the weekend is less about Hill Climbs and more about good friends, and lots of beer.

Loren had to work on Friday so we didn't get out of town until about 5:30 Friday evening. The drive across south-central Idaho is incredibly boring, and also very stinky. It's mostly made up of farmlands and dairies. Dairies stink, seriously.

We arrived in Jackson at 11:00 Friday night. We were welcomed by a cabin that was already well broken in. When we opened the door I actually made Loren walk back up to the front office to make sure we were given the right key. Everyone was already out at the bars and left the room looking a little rough. Oh well, we threw our stuff into the mix and walked up to the square to meet up.

The best part of getting in late was everyone else was drunk, and in a really good mood. We were greeted with drinks, hugs and pictures. I forgot to grab my camera that night so I will have to try to steal some picture from someone else. This was the first time I was meeting a lot of Loren's college friends. I have to admit I was really nervous going into an event that is such an important tradition to them, but I was welcomed with open arms and had no reason to be nervous at all.

Jackson bars are super weird in my opinion. I never heard last call, and they stopped serving by 1am. It seems like on such a busy weekend they would want to make all the money they could, but apparently not. So after the bar closed, we headed back to the cabin. I probably shouldn't reveal all the antics of drunken friends, but lets just say, my abs were sore from laughing, I'm sure several people were quite bruised, and hopefully the neighbors didn't want much sleep.

On Saturday we took our time getting up, although I was awake by 7 for some crazy reason. Half of us had a real breakfast while the other half went to Wendy's which would prove to be a reoccurring theme for the weekend. I will admit that any attempts at nutrition went out the window this weekend. I told Loren you can tell when a trip is planned by boys when you are in a place like Jackson with so many good restaurants and people end up at Wendy's for half of their meals. I couldn't do it. I was smart and went to Costco Thursday to get apples, Clif Bars and muffins, along with some not so healthy snacks, so at least we had some food to hold us over until we could find decent food options close to the hotel.

Midday on Saturday we went to the hill climbs which is at Snow King resort in Jackson. The best part of the hotel we stayed in (which had cabins that slept 6) was that it was within walking distance of everything. We walked everywhere all weekend, so even though I ate and drank crap for two days, I'm pretty sure I burned off a reasonable amount of it all.

Hill Climbs was weird. Seriously weird. It was the strangest mix of people I have ever seen in one place. There were the snowboarding enthusiasts, half dressed sleazy looking women, guys in MMA shirts with piercings and mohawks, cowboys, and plenty of straight up white trash (I say that in the MOST endearing tone, I swear).

Dan and Mikki taking the Hill Climbs very seriously!

We hung out at the hill for a few hours and almost all of us ended up looking like our faces went somewhere tropical, while the rest of us was layered up to withstand the cold.

Kelly striking a pose!

Loren and Steve-O deep in conversation...or something

After the hill we went back to the cabin to hang out for a while before heading to dinner. Much more laughter and inappropriateness ensued. Those seem to be consistent themes with this group...

Pat, Loren and Steve watching some March Madness

I love Mikki, she constantly cracks me up!

We all headed to the Snake River Brewery for dinner. I usually don't attempt to trash businesses on my blog but I do want to say this: We had a party of 18. We spent close to $500 at this restaurant. They split our party between 2 tables, which we were okay with because we were hungry. They refused to split our checks. Not just wouldn't write up separate tickets, they actually would not accept multiple forms of payment. This wasn't some fine-dining restaurant, it was a brewery, on a weekend when 10,000 people come into town and pump money into the local economy, which is obviously not struggling. They were rude, the food was mediocre, and the bathroom smelled worse than the outhouse I used at Hill Climbs. I doubt I will go back, and I doubt I will buy their beer if I see it locally. They made THAT bad an impression.

Loren, Josh and Dan strike a pose

We were going to go to the Cowboy Bar on Saturday night but with a $20 cover, we decided to head back to The Tavern for half the price. The Tavern had good live bands both nights and somehow we stole tables both nights with enough room for everyone. Loren wasn't feeling great, probably a mix of sun, beer and not enough food, so we didn't stay out super late.

Sunday morning we were up and packing pretty early and headed out of town at 11 (after eating at Wendy's go figure). I made sure Loren let me stop and take one picture by the antler arches, because how else would anyone believe we were in Jackson!?!?

It was a quick trip, but so much fun! I was so glad to finally meet everyone I have heard endless stories about for the past two years.

Weekend Recap...Work It Out

2011-03-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

There is not much to say about this weekend. I worked. Too much. I felt horrible for Loren who had to entertain himself, and I'm not sure he succeeded. I am finally feeling a bit more caught up on work and am glad about that since next weekend we will be road-tripping it to Jackson, Wyoming for Hill Climbs! I am so ready for a vacation, even if it is one that will leave me totally exhausted!

As far as fun goes, while I worked on Saturday, Loren went to shoot at the indoor range close to our house. I didn't really feel left out since I have yet to acquire the nerves of steel seemingly required for indoor gun fire. The worst part was that I brought the wrong file home and didn't feel like making a 40 minute round trip to get the right one so I got ahead on one report, and more behind on another. Great. When Loren got home we got changed and headed to the gym. I ran about 1.82 miles at a 10 minute pace and that was enough for my leg for the day. I got on the stair machine for 10 minutes to get my cardio up to 30 minutes for the day. I followed it up with a weight lifting circuit made up on the spot. I ended my workout with pull-ups on the assisted machine and I decided that this is going to be one exercise I would like to work on a lot. I had to put a lot of assistance on the machine and my goal is to work a couple times a week to up my reps and lower the assistance. Body Bugg calorie burn: 538 calories!

On Sunday I apologized to Loren and headed down to work to get my late report done. Again, the world seemed to be working against me. When I got to the office I turned off the alarm and went to work. Two other investigators showed up right after I did which was funny because there were more of us there on a Sunday than there were on Wednesday last week. Anyway, I was working for about 10 minutes when one of the other investigators noticed that there was a hatch in our ceiling open. This caused some minor panic since it hadn't set off the alarm. We left the building and waited for the on call officer to come clear the building. It's always something...Once the building was clear I grabbed my stuff and went home to work from home where there were no potential intruders.

Loren and I DID go to a movie Sunday afternoon. We went and saw "Paul" which was silly and stupid but fine. I would have been fine with watching it at home on Netflix but it was at last worth seeing if you aren't easily offended. Plus, we are still using a giftcard my parents gave us for Christmas so free dates are always fun!

Sunday we did not go to the gym but I somehow still managed to get to close to my calorie burn goal for the day. I have also officially made it one week without any chocolate or candy. Loren and I were talking about that on Friday and he said, "how many times a week do you eat that stuff anyway?" UHHHHHHHHH HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN DATING?!?!?!?

"Everyday!" I told him and he looked shocked.

Here's to one week clean and "sober". :)

Gym Creepo Update!

2011-03-16T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last night Loren and I went to the gym at our normal time and of course while I was on the elliptical, who else would walk in and get on the elliptical next to me but Creepo! This time he was carrying a book, and the one thing you don't want to do around me is carry a book if you don't want me spying on you to try to find out what you are reading. Well, this one didn't take many of my investigative skills, although he did bring a good old fashioned clip board with him to hold the book open while he ellipticalled? ellipsed? what the heck do you even call that?

Anyway, once he got going and attempting to turn pages while having the book clipped to said clipboard, Creepo was having a REALLY hard time hiding the cover of that book. The title? ADDICTION. So, now I have two theories: He's a psychologist who is really ~~brave~~ running an experiment to see how people will react when you take private mattered books to the gym...or maybe some of Loren's and mine initial vibes from him were somewhat warranted. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate that maybe he is going to the gym to keep his idle mind from wandering to less healthy past times. It might just be time to invest in an E-Reader. Seriously, if he had a Nook, no one would ever know the title of that book, he could have been reading a dirty romance novel and I would have never known.

Last nights workout while pondering creepy activities: 30 minutes Elliptical+20 minutes Weights = 404 Calories (according to Body Bugg)

Winner!

2011-03-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love winning stuff???? I had my fingers crossed on this one because I have been super curious about the new Sony Walkman's ever since they took over the blog review world. After running the Portland Marathon (okay well, hobbling) I wondered if there was something better than my iPod out there. It poured rain for the entire race and I was sucking/blowing (fun game!) water out of my ear buds for the entire race trying to keep them working (it DID work but they were cutting in and out).

Now, I will have the chance to try out the new Sony Walkman thanks to Adam over at I Am Boring. Adam hosted this sweet giveaway and has raved about the Walkman for some time now, even claiming to rinse the player off in pool water...we'll see. Although, I suppose to test out the water-proofness I would actually have to run in the rain again, and THAT hasn't happened since Portland. I suppose for the sake of product testing I could give it a shot...but NOT for a long as I ~~ran~~ hobbled along Portland streets. I will post a review when I get a chance to really give-em-a-go!

Hopefully I can look this cool wearing them! I will have to win a lot more gear though...

On another note, I may being using them while lifting rather than running for a bit. My leg is bugging me again in the same spot where it started to bother me between the Eugene Women's Half and the Portland full (right leg on the inside space where my shin and calf meet). I had to stop running during that period and just let things fix themselves. I would really prefer not to think that's necessary this time and I hate the word injury. Unfortunately, I think part of the problem has been my weight. I started a new medication and then had a follow-up appointment with my doctor, and rather than losing weight, like I planned on working on this spring, I actually put on 11 pounds in 2 months! Horrible! So, I am officially monitoring ever stupid calorie that goes in my mouth. For now I am going to let myself relax a bit more on the weekends and see where that gets me. Not sure how much running I will be getting in until my leg feels better but I am still a ways out from racing so it won't hurt anything to back off and run healthy later. We'll see...

In the Knick of Time!

2011-03-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

Last week was my highest mileage training week so far this cycle (yes, I realize that's the goal s to keep going farther) but I felt really proud that my long run was 5 mile! It feels like forever since I ran 5 miles, and it has been since October! I was also really thrilled that going out for a 5 mile run felt like no big deal, I just went out and got it done. It seems like last summer when my build up was quite a bit faster, my long runs would drain me for the rest of the day. All I wanted to do afterward was crawl back in bed and sleep the day away. Yesterday I came in and was ready to drink some water, take a shower, and get on with it.

The other aspect of my run that I am thrilled about is that I decided to do it outside. It rained yesterday morning but cleared into a gorgeous day. It was 46 degrees when I went out for my run with perfectly blue skies and only a little wind. This morning I woke up (just a bit ago) and it's dumping SNOW! Just when signs of spring start to show themselves and I spend part of the weekend dreaming about what I might be able to grow in pots on our tiny patio this spring, the white stuff shows up all over again. Loren and I definitely need to get in another ski day, I can't believe how little we have gone this season, it's sad! I heard on the news that Bogus Basin is currently getting an inch an hour of snow, which is harder than it has snowed all season.

Lilly, Waldo and I will be spending our morning working from home by the fire, what could be better?

Supernatural

2011-03-04T21:00:00.001-08:00

Gym Creepos and (Mis)Fortune

2011-03-03T05:53:00.000-08:00

Last night Loren and I headed to the gym so that he could do what he does and I could get in my first tempo run of this training cycle...just kidding, EVER. I have never done a tempo run, I'll admit it. Last year my training plan consisted of just getting through the runs. My current plan has a few speed workouts and tempo runs built in. I think the challenge is good, but I'm definitely still learning.

When we got to the gym there was a guy there who is often there around the same time we are. The guy is creepy. I don't even know why. Loren can't put his finger one it either. I suppose with my job I am a little overly in-tune with my creep-o-meter and tend to listen to the voices in my head that tell me somethings not quite right. This guy spends about an hour at the gym it appears. While he is there he never seems to spend more than 5 minutes on a piece of equipment, rarely does more than 3 reps with light weights, and when I'm on the treadmill it seems like he always stands behind it for short amounts of time to "watch the TVs". Now, our gym is really tiny and all the TVs are on one wall which are right in front and above the treadmills. If you are on the treadmill it's actually very difficult to watch the TVs because of their height (maybe you just have to be more coordinated than me). So technically the TVs are for the benefit of everyone NOT on a treadmill. This guy will stand for minutes "watching TV" which really makes me feel like he is watching me. I can never quite see his eye direction in the reflection in the window and it just creeps me out. Last night he was doing this quite a bit and then he got on the bike that was right next to my treadmill. THAT bugged me even more than usual because there was no one on the other bike that is identical but NOT all up in my personal space.

Then...I secretly hoped that dinner was going to kick in and make me extremely gassy! Have you ever WISHED for gas while running? I mean, besides secretly hoping that it would make me turbo powered when it just happened, I don't think I have ever wanted to be gassy so much in my whole life! It didn't really happen though, I had one stinky burp, but I don't think it wafted his way. Dang!

While I was running, and creepo was "biking" this other guy walked by the windows in front of me...slowed down...and did some creepy head tilt/half smile/"hey baby" head motion....UGH! I just wanted to run! I just wanted to complete my first ever tempo run in peace!

I did get my run done. 4 miles total with 2 miles at a 9:52 pace. That is basically my 5k pace from last year so I am more than happy to feel like I might be working towards another 5k PR this spring! That would be fantastic, I guess I need to sign up for some races already.

And just in case anyone was holding their breath for my Tuesday "fortune" to come true, absolutely nothing happened. I worked late (although that doesn't make me prosperous because we don't get overtime), I made a lame dinner, and went to bed. Sounds exciting huh? Stupid Mongolian BBQ, I may never put my trust in your fortune cookies again!

27!

2011-02-28T06:54:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a little self promotion right! Yesterday I turned 27 and enjoyed a very quiet Sunday at home. Of course, it was quiet because I was exhausted a recovering from the fabulous dinner party we threw here on Saturday! I have been having a ridiculously fun birthday this year and all I can chalk it up to is being comfortable with who I am. I thought back to birthdays past...bars, skimpy outfits, free shots and horrible next days. No thanks. I'm so glad to have moved past that stage and be happy cooking dinner for 13 of my favorite people.

On Saturday night we had 11 friends over for delicious food and I have to admit, on the dinner party front I was a bit over my head. My sister was giving me a hard time for cooking for my own birthday, but I really love cooking and realized I really rarely cook for anyone but Loren. I'll admit that it was a bit self-centered, I wanted my friends to think I was a good cook.

The menu was as follows: Parmesan and Artichoke Fondue, Cheddar and Ale Fondue, Spanish Meatballs in Two Sauces, Stuffed Mushrooms, Sundried Tomato Hummus, Flat Bread Pizza - one with olive oil, ricotta, spinach and caramelized onions, the other with pizza sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni (Loren's choice). For dessert I baked Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting! Holy yum!

I started prepping at about 2:00 for the party at 6:00. It was more out of boredom, but I'm glad I did because my best friend Jamie came over to help and we still didn't get food out until almost 7:00! Everything turned out fabulous, but I'm incredibly mad at myself (only a little at Loren), we didn't take a single picture! There is not a single ounce of proof that any of this delicious fare even existed! Maybe I will have to recreate the dishes one at a time and brag about them later!

In other birthday news I got my dream gift! My parents sent a gift card for me to go pick out my very own Nook Color! Loren and I immediately went to Barnes and Noble to pick it out and he surprised me by letting me know he was going to buy me a cover and my first Nook Books (ala a B&N gift card so I could pick them as I go)! What a fun gift! I fought E-Readers for a long time because I love, love, love my books. I thought this would be like cheating. It's not! I love that little Nook, it's stylish, easy to read, and I no longer have to get up to turn off the lamp and wake myself and Loren up when I'm up late reading at night. I can just put down the Nook and fall asleep. Back-lighting = No Lamp! Love it!

My first Nook Book is The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I read her novel, Half Broke Horses, but this is her memoir. It's a super fast read and it is hard for me to put it down and go to sleep at night. I have already read half the book in 3 days. Maybe the Nook was just what I needed to perk up my reading habits again. I have to admit that it took me way to long to finish the last book in the Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, even though I really enjoyed it. I had started another book by Alice Hoffman after that but just wasn't feeling it. So far, reading on the Nook seems to make me read more and I enjoy that I'm not wrestling with an awkward book in bed. This was seriously the best gift I could imagine, now I have to remind myself to pace my downloads so that I don't have a bunch of unread books on there waiting for me.

Last week I was excited for my birthday all week and now I'm ready to get back to work and normal life...birthdays are exhausting!

A very specific fortune...

2011-02-24T12:18:00.001-08:00

Stayed tuned for next Tuesday I guess!

The Week in Review

2011-02-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Monday - STRESS!!!! (no running)

Tuesday - STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (no running)

Wednesday - STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (still no running)

Thursday - For the first time since I was hired on full time I had to go out to the prison to conduct an interview. The prisons here are out in the desert south of Boise. Most people who live here most likely don't even know they are there. You really don't even see them where you fly in to Boise unless you know where you are looking. Anyway, Thursday of course happened to be the one day we got snow this week. I had been whining about snow for weeks with the dumping that happened on the East Coast and most of the rest of the country. Loren and I have only been snowboarding once this year because there's been no snow. So, as I headed out to the prison I knew if was going to be slow going. No one plows or sands out that way. Apparently Correctional Officers getting to work isn't a major priority. I'm just glad I don't have to go out there more often. My drive was a reenactment of an episode of this:

Not the most fun morning at work but it had to be done. Of course, I got out there and couldn't actually interview the guy because he wasn't prepared...surprise surprise!

Finally FORCED myself to go to the gym. I always realize that going to the gym and just doing my run will probably help reduce the stress from work, but it just doesn't sound like fun after a long day. And before I get lectured, morning workouts don't happen around here. I am not a morning person. I don't go to bed at a reasonable time ever, and therefore, will not be getting up at 4:30 or 5:00 to get my run in. Period. So I got my 3 mile treadmill run in and my times have been pretty consistently around 11:15 miles the last couple weeks, which it still faster than my plan needs me to be, so I'll take it.

Friday - Finally a little less stressed but still busy as crap. I agreed to stay at work a little late and then meet my best friend for Hot Yoga! I have done Bikram Yoga before but this was different. Still in a hot humid room, this style is called Sumit Yoga and it incorporates more strength moves with the poses and has what are called "flows" between poses. This is NOT your mothers yoga!

Saturday - Waiting for Loren to get out of bed to figure out the day. We are supposed to go to a birthday party this afternoon and I have a 4 mile run to do. It was supposed to snow last night but didn't so I am tempted to tackle the run outside while he goes to the gym. I have to admit that yoga left me feeling great and not sore at all from running and lifting on Thursday. I have 9 more classes on my pass so I think I will have to keep working them in when I feel sore and maybe my recovery will improve.

Sunday - I plan on working...maybe I can actually take the Monday holiday off...

My Sweet Valentines

2011-02-14T17:31:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day started off here with Loren getting to check out his Man Basket! What on earth is a Man Basket you ask? Well, a Man Basket is a totally macho Valentine's Day swag bag! I invented it myself, thank you. Loren's Man Basket came packaged with recycled plastic grocery bag "tissue paper" in his very own milk crate. And, when I say, his very own, I mean, I actually stole it from his own stash of stuff in the garage. It came complete with a spider carcass (yep, I left it there) for extra man power!

Loren's Valentine's Man Basket included 4 bottles of his favorite beer, Tadcaster Oatmeal Stout, the new book by George Bush (nope, I don't know the name and don't care, it's all his), rechargeable batteries for all his random gadgets and the wii, an iPod Shuffle, and an iTunes gift card! Aren't I a good girlfriend? Loren has been looking at mp3 players forever to take to the gym but I knew it would be hard for him to buy one for himself. He bashes on Apple all the time, but honestly, as far as working out, I think it's hard to beat the Shuffle. It's so tiny you don't even know it's there once you clip it on and mine will go for a week or more without needing to be charged. Plus, I already have iTunes and it's one less program to download if we can learn to share. I just hope he can learn to like it.

I got two fantastic and unexpected Valentine's gifts. This morning Loren surprised me with some very pretty diamond earrings! I'm a very lucky girl! Then, while I was working away around noon, a gorgeous dozen pink roses showed up in my office. It was a very nice surprise and had all the other women in the office jealous. They were bugging saying, "*sigh* young love, enjoy it while you can" and other ridiculous things. Maybe it's true, but I like to think Loren will always remember me on Valentine's Day. Well, at least until he gets sick of me.

Why are your other two Valentines staring at the DVD player, you ask? Well, since we got our new TV we have yet to get cables long enough to set the DVD player on top of the TV, so for the past couple weeks it's been on the floor. The cats keep walking over it, sitting on it, pretty much acting like it's their own kitty wonderland. Loren had the amazing idea yesterday to hit the eject button while Waldo was sitting on the DVD player. TOTALLY. ROCKED. HER. WORLD. They are now completely obsessed with watching the DVD player to see what it does next. And, of course, we have to humor them a bit a hit eject every once in a while...

We have had a great day around here and it's not over yet! Loren is grilling steaks and baking potatos! Yum! He is even letting me blog and drink wine while he takes care of dinner, what a guy!

Crisis averted!

2011-02-07T20:25:00.001-08:00

I'm pretty sure after today mondays should just be outlawed. Nothing went right, work was stressful, life was stressful and just when I thought I was going home to get away from it all...I dropped my phone in the parking lot at work. I had just sat in my car and was closing the door and it fell out of my hand. The screen splintered into a million little pieces, only hanging on by the screen protector. I was so frustrated! I had to call Loren and attempt not to cry while asking him if we were still paying insurance on my phone. Luckily, the answer was yes.

Usually I'm not super attached to 'stuff' but with my job, having my calendar, email, and phone all in one device has been my lifeline. It's kept me 10th times more organized than I am naturally. So I was basically in panic mode. Loren, however is much more practical than I am and tends not to sweat the small stuff. We met at home and went to the Sprint store who sent us to the service center. Believe it or not, they took my phone and had the screen replaced in an hour! They were miracle workers in my eyes!

The Week Albertson's Tried To Kill Us And Other Food Conumdrums

2011-02-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

We had quite the food week around here this past week. It was like nothing, or everything, was right, but never both at once. Come Wednesday, I was in a mid-week exhaustion/cooking slump and ready for an easy, throw-together dinner. Loren grabbed chicken boobies for marinating, some green giant frozen green beans for zapping, and a pasta side in a bag. Not exactly the dinner of champions. But once a week or so, that's what I can muster. I made a marinade and got the chicken in the oven and everything seemed fine. However, when I checked the chicken progress by cutting into one of the boobies, it still felt raw. Fine, I thought, they have some more time to go. No, we don't own a meat thermometer, but I have yet to poison us so I think we've been okay. I started the veggies nuking and put Loren in charge of the pasta.

Things went downhill FAST! First, Loren got distracted by Lilly doing something cute. He hates when I share something like this, but it's the truth. I can't for the life of me remember what the cat was doing, but it was apparently so great that Loren allowed the pasta to burn on the bottom of the pan. Oh well, I thought, crappy pasta side is no major loss to dinner. I then checked the chicken again and made another cut into the larger boobie. Loren told me it looked done and while I agreed I tried to explain to him that something felt weird while I was cutting into it. He didn't seem too concerned and since the one that felt weird was his, I just sort of let it go. Mostly because I'm such a nice girlfriend.

We sat down to eat and I tried the green beans and something did not taste right. I took another bite, and yep, no good. I started looking at the beans and some just looked bad, they were kind of a darker color inside...I moved on to the chicken. The marinade wasn't great, but it was okay. Decent enough to eat, so I did. However, Loren got about a quarter of the way through his and started spitting it out. At this point, pretty much all we could do was laugh. Every once in a while something we make will turn out so-so and it doesn't make it on the "Make Again" list, and that's fine, we move on. Never though, in our two years of dating, have we screwed up every single item in one dinner. It was impressive! We still have no idea what was wrong with that chicken but Loren still hasn't recovered. I don't think we will be making chicken for a while. He didn't get sick, just weirded out. The chicken looked cooked, but when we cut into it, it felt raw. If anyone knows what might cause this, I'm all ears!

The next morning I was still snoozing when Loren was getting ready to leave for work. He woke me up to tell me not to use the creamer, "It's chunky" he said. Sheesh! How much strange food could we get in one grocery trip?!?!? I didn't use the creamer and went on with my day. I looked at it later in the afternoon though and it looked and smelled fine, but Loren left in on the counter all day so we had to toss it anyway. I'm thinking that the creamer might have been in a too-cold refrigerated section at Albertson's and might have been chunky from freezing, it really didn't appear to have gone bad. Oh well, better safe than sorry. I've had salmonella before and prefer to stay away from repeats of that experience...

My other food excitement the past couple weeks is noting my reaction to dairy seems to be getting worse. I had kind of noticed in the past that too much dairy would make me feel bloaty and generally yucky. But, I love milk and have been mostly willing to ignore it for the sake of enjoying everything that is made ten million times yummier because of cheese/milk/cream/butter... For the past two weeks I have been really trying to limit my dairy intake and have felt SO much better! I bought several types of soy milk and have been enjoying it in my oatmeal and coffee. I haven't felt like I miss milk at all honestly. I did cheat in a major way on Friday though when we met my best friend and her husband for fondue on Friday (cheating is necessary sometimes). Hopefully going mostly dairy free will benefit my attempts to slim down as well by cutting some high fat and calorie dense foods out. That wouldn't be a bad side effect at all!

I have also been incorporating protein shakes into my diet. I thought I would hate them but decided to give it a try as a low-calorie way to feel full longer. I went to BodyBuilding.com's local store and had them recommend a shake that was low sugar/high protein and appropriate for weight loss. They recommended this:

BNS Syntha-6 Chocolate Peanut Butter is what the guy told me was popular with the ladies. So I decided to try it. It got excellent reviews on the BodyBuilding.com website so I suppose that it's good enough for me, certainly NOT a bodybuilder. That truth is, it is actually really good! I expected it to be gross and to choke it down but that is definitely not the case at all. I even got Loren to give it a try and he is hooked! When I make a shake for breakfast or a meal replacement I use one scoop powder, one small banana and 8 ounces of Soy Dream Vanilla soy milk. It's delish! I make Loren the same thing with 2% milk because his body is not rejecting dairy and let's face it, he can eat whatever he wants and not gain an ounce.

The other thing I picked up with my protein powder is a Blender Bottle:

This thing has been awesome for when I just want to throw the Syntha-6 and soy milk in a bottle and head to work. The little metal ball that goes inside the bottle helps blend everything with just a few shakes. It's awesome! Plus, the lid is super tight and sturdy and has not leaked at all! It's so nice because it has measuring marks on the side so I don't even have to think about how much soy to add. So easy!

Awwww

2011-02-06T13:34:00.001-08:00

My best buddies are enjoying this lazy Sunday!

A Physically Productive Weekend

2011-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend we got out a worked up a sweat! Yesterday we decided to hike Tablerock, a nice little spot that overlooks the city. We woke up to clear day and figured it was as good a time as any. We stopped for breakfast first at the Trolley House, which has been in Boise since before who knows when. It's a bit of a Boise staple, but Loren hadn't been there, so it was almost a requirement. The Trolley House is about 4 blocks away from the trail head. After breakfast we headed out, and of course, by then it was slightly overcast. Sad. Tablerock is a great place for pictures and Loren brought his big camera with him, but it was definitely hazy at the top.

There are several ways to get up Tablerock. most people take the straight up, hamstring killer way. It's about a mile and a half trail that goes right up the front of the hill to the top. I wanted to make a bit more of a hike out of it, so I made Loren take the long loop. The long loop is still only 4.5 miles, but 3 of it are hilly, hilly, hilly! It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the top. The whole time Loren was convinced I was getting us lost, but even though the loop looks like it's going away from the top, we made it. I suggested that he might bow down to me at the very top and chant: "You are the master of hiking trail directions". For some reason he refused...

The entire loop took us a little over two hours after stopping at the top for a few pictures and to catch our (mostly my) breath. I will say this: when you are a foot shorter than your significant other, and that foot difference is mostly in leg length, hiking is hard! Loren kept telling me to go ahead, but within about 10 steps he was ahead of me again. He can't help it, I take midget steps compared to him. After 1000 feet of elevation gain on the way up, I was beat!

Today we headed to the gym early, and while I was tempted to use the hilly miles yesterday as my Saturday 3 mile run, I decided to just get them done on the treadmill and not beat myself for "cheating". I set the treadmill on the 5k program and got it done. Felt good to get it done even though my legs were tired and it was slow. I am really enjoying my Runner's World Pace Plan. It tells me I should be running a 12:50 mile pace on my easy runs, which I already do more of a 11:00 comfortably. It will build up until the half marathon when it says I should be able to run a 10:22 pace or something like that, which would make a 20 minute PR for me! I want to stick with it and see what happens...

California Dreamin'

2011-01-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

Laura: Guess who's coming to town in July?
Loren: Uh, who?
Laura: Katy Perry!
Loren: What does she sing again?
Laura: (singing/screeching)"California Girlz" "I Kissed A Girl" "Teenage Dream"
Loren: (plugging ears...)
Laura: Wanna go?
Loren: Uh, no.
I tried. But, luckily I have an awesome best friend who loves to go to concerts and pretend like she is 16 all over again with me. And before you start getting all judgy and pretend like you are better than me and don't like cheesy pop music, the first concert Jamie and I went to together was Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake (with Black Eyed Peas opening before they got big). IT WAS THE BEST! There is nothing that can compete with the ridiculous budget that pop acts get to put on a concert. The production value is well worth putting up with screaming teeny boppers in my opinion. In Boise we get a lot of country shows, some washed up rappers, and the occasional pop star. So, we go to the ones that seem like they would be fun. We saw Carrie Underwood and Sara Bareillis last year, we've seen John Mayer twice, Panic! At The Disco, Jewel and Brandi Carlile. I may have missed some, who knows. But, we have seen some pretty fun shows over the 9 years we have been best buddies! I'm a lucky girl to have Jamie in my life, and lucky that Loren just shakes his head and says, "have fun!"

Eat This Taco Bell...

2011-01-26T17:48:00.001-08:00

For all of you who now feel cheated by the "new" revelations of the Taco Bell lawsuit, please enjoy

No more asking, "Where's the beef"...

First Outside Run in 2 Months!

2011-01-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning we woke up to pea-soup style fog. Yuck. It wasn't exactly a morning that would make you want to roll out of bed and get out for a run. So I didn't. We got up, laid around the house, and then decided to go to a movie (No Strings Attached was freaking hilarious IMO). We ran errands, got lunch, and had a pretty typical Saturday. By mid-afternoon the fog burned off and we were ready to head to the gym. I told Loren that I wanted to run to the gym and just meet him there. He looked at me like I was nuts. I geared up anyway and we both headed out.

So far my slow build up plan is VERY slow. My long runs are still only 2 miles. But it's making me feel really good about getting more comfortable just running and finding my pace. I mapped out a route to the gym that should have been just about 2 miles and set out. Loren was very concerned about this run for some reason and asked me how long it would take and made me take my gigantic cell phone with me (I now envy people with small phones, my EVO adds like 2 pounds). You would think we live in the slums or something. Anyway, I set out to just run comfortably and see what happened after only running on the treadmill since early November.

I don't care what people say about running on treadmills. I know that it is probably easier somehow, but I can tell you that it is the sole reason I have gotten faster. I'm not very good at gauging my pace on the road, I have to watch my Garmin constantly. But on the treadmill I can crank it up and go high intensity and know exactly what my pace is and how long I can maintain it. On my two mile run I maintained a pace of 10:04 average, which if you know my training paces from last year, is fast! That used to be faster than my 5k racing pace. I wasn't trying to run fast, I was just running.

I think an outdoor run was just what I was needing to feel like this slow build plan is doing SOMETHING. I was able to comfortably run the entire way to the gym without wanting to walk. There was no arguing with myself to keep going, no side stitch, no feelings of why? or how? It was a run that "just was".

How silly is it that after training for a marathon, I'm proud of 2 miles? Has anyone else ever started over like this or am I nuts? I think this is what I should have done in the first place, but live and learn.

TGIF

2011-01-21T07:05:00.001-08:00

Lilly is ready for the weekend!

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Under Pressure

2011-01-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

I have officially decided that my job and 4 day work weeks do not get along. So why, would you ask, would I be blogging at 9:15 on a workday morning. Well, because what's a better idea than agreeing to make food for a potluck meeting at work when you are already panicked about getting work done this week?!!? I feel like I have become the queen of spreading myself too thin lately, but eventually things seem to work themselves out, so I have continued to just hang on for dear life.

Today I am home from work making Mexican spicy shredded chicken for our staff meeting that is happening at noon. My plan was to work from home this morning while the chicken was in the crock pot, and then work the rest of the afternoon at work. But then, I realized, I might as well just take the morning off, because what do I deserve more during a 4 day work week than another half day off? In all honesty we have required furlough hours and I am behind on taking them because I have yet to figure out how to get ahead in order to do so. I see some unpaid work hours in the future.

My goal this morning is to slowly get ready for work, stop taking the lid off the crock pot so the chicken doesn't get dry, and attempt to cook the chicken well enough as to not give the District Court Judge, who is coming to our meeting, food poisoning. Because nothing says "welcome, thanks for coming to talk to us" like the runs...

I'm Running on YouTube!

2011-01-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

My co-worker saw this video posted on another co-worker's Facebook. Yeah, it was one of those, my friend's-uncle's-cousins'-sister type situations. But, this is video of the High Speed Pursuit that I ran in October. I come into the screen at about 1:43 and look very serious and run past the camera for a full 5 seconds or so, pretty exciting. You can find me because it's the race my profile pic was taken in, so just match up that outfit. It's like Where's Waldo, only way less exciting...

A Totally Bogus Sunday

2011-01-09T18:04:00.000-08:00

Today Loren and I spent our Sunday up at Bogus for my first snowboarding (his second skiing) outing of the winter. We had a great day! I wore my Garmin out of curiosity and Loren wanted me to turn it on so he could see the road up. I turned it on with about 6 miles left up the hill so the mileage we actually skied is different than the stats. I thought the Garmin output was awesome though. When it's zoomed in we could actually see where the lift and runs were etc.

The morning got off to a bit of a rough start. Last night we went bowling with some friends and while we expected to be out late, we ended up getting home after 2am! This is sooooo not normal for us these days, I was wondering how we would possibly get up to ski this morning. It ended up working out great though. We slept in, drank some coffee, and finally got up the energy to start getting ready.

Then...I pretty much threw a childish fit. I hadn't tried on my snowboarding pants since last season and sure enough, I'm officially too pudgy for them right now. I was so frustrated by this I almost threw in the towel. But Loren saved the day! He had an amazing pair of MC Hammer-esque fleece pants and some waterproof rain pants that went over those. I had to do a Hammer dance to show off the goods!

And yes, that IS my best Hammer dance! After the hissy fit I threw I finally got it together and we were ready to head out.

When we first got on the mountain there was a cloud right over the top of us, but after a few runs it cleared off and it was a gorgeous day with beautiful views of the valley.

I was glad I took the Garmin along just to experiment. We had a super fun day and I definitely don't feel guilty for not going to the gym!

Race Report - Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5k

2011-01-08T12:48:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I signed up for what would be my first race of 2011 and my first EVER virtual race. The Freeze Your Thorns Off 5k was the brainchild of Adam from I Am Borning and some Pheonix area runners whose blogs I follow for running inspiration (and a few laughs at their expenses). I didn't know how the whole virtual race thing would work out since I knew I would be doing it on the treadmill, and since I wasn't actually racing anyone I didn't find myself with that extra bit of nerves and oomph that come from running in a real race. But I geared up with Loren and headed to the gym...

Doesn't that picture make me look FAST?!?! Well that's the fastest I would look all day unfortunately. We got to the gym and it was FREAKING HOT! So much for the whole Freezing My Thorns Off thing. The gym was miserably hot and humid which made me really mad since it was a nice sunny, cool day outside. I probably should have just left Loren at the gym and gone for a few laps around the block instead of trying to sweat it out on the dreadmill...

This was my view for 3.1 painfully slow miles. Fascinating isn't it. I didn't really think so the few times I actually felt like I might hurl all over that window. It was not a good day of running. My time was my slowest 5k to date, impressive!

If Adam is giving a Slow Poke prize out, I just might win it! Here's to hoping...

Photo Friday...I've Got Some Work To Do!

2011-01-07T08:57:00.001-08:00

For a long, long time I fought the idea of E-Readers. I LOVE books, I have an obsession with books/stories etc. I just can't live without books. Not only do I love reading them but I love the fact that I have enough books to fill two book shelves so they decorate my house as well. However, I recently fell in love with Nook Color....it's just cool. My mom got one for my dad and one for my grandma for Christmas so that they can share books and even check them out from the library for free! I really want a Nook Color for my birthday, I am finally giving in to the idea that having any book I want at my fingertips instantly would be soooooo cool! Anyway, before I beg for said Nook for my birthday I feel like I need to make a dent in my pile-o-books that I own but haven't read yet. Ridiculous isn't it? Some of these books were passed on from my parents but a lot of them I bought, then heard about something I was even more excited about reading, and were set aside. I need to make a dent in this stack because the second I get that Nook, I know these will get set aside once again. My goal is a book a week but I don't know that that's possible. That won't even knock out half of these before my birthday though. Maybe I need to promise myself that if I ever get a Nook, I need to rotate my Nook/Book reading so I get through this stack...sigh, such a predicament.

In case anyone cares, I'm currently mid way through the third book in the Millenium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest. Love those books!

Legs of Steel!

2011-01-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

Well, that's the plan at least, and it all started Sunday...

On Sunday I did a short run on the treadmill, more of a warm-up anyway (it was supposed to be a walk/rest day on my training plan) and then I decided Sunday is going to be leg circuit day! I proceeded to kill my legs in the following manner:

(My names for excercises are not necessarily the official names)
3x10 Squats - 90lbs
3x10 Toe Raises - 90lbs
3x10 (each leg) Back Lunges - 65lbs
3x10 Leg Extensions - 50lbs
25 Minutes High Resistence Elliptical

And then...trouble walking for two days.

I haven't been the best on my cross training, don't get me wrong, I've been doing some. But I have been half-assing it most of the time. Sunday made me realize that I love the way it feels to really go for it with the weights, it just FEELS like I worked out. Make sense?

Yesterday I needed to get on the treadmill for 1.75 miles, super far,I KNOW! But my legs were like lead (not quite steel yet!). So I started with a walking warm up for 5 minutes, then decided I felt loose enough to just go for it. I covered up the screen of the treadmill with my sweatshirt and just ran by feel. Turns out, I ran comfortably at a 25 second per mile FASTER pace then I do when I look at, and set, the speed for the treadmill at what I THINK I should be running at. Imagine that. By the time I got going my legs felt great, I could tell they were sore still but there wasn't a feeling of heaviness in them once I was running. This was the first run in forever that felt effortless and enjoyable. That made me happy! I could have run longer but part of sticking to this training plan is going to be moderation, and in turn, continued desire to run (hopefully).

I followed up my run with what I thought was going to be an arm circuit which started with bench press. But the gym was busy last night and Loren was frustrated because the ellipticals that were in working order were all taken so he couldn't get any cardio in. And no, there was no convincing him to get on a treadmill. So bench press was it for my arms last night, maybe I will fit them in again later in the week.

All this lifting got me thinking this morning though. Mostly because I realized how fabulous my legs felt this morning after working the gunk out of them by pushing through the soreness and running last night. Another goal I have for this training cycle is going to be working out like an ATHLETE. I say that with enthusiasm because I think that is what a lot of my workouts lack. When I was in high school I was most certainly an athlete and was forced to train like one. I made it to practice early in the morning and stayed late after school. I did drill after drill and practiced and got better.

I think one reason I was able to finish the marathon even though I should have trained more, is because I had told myself I was a runner. I allowed myself to believe that, even if it was in the loosest sense of the word. Now I want to believe that I am a runner, not just say it. And part of that journey is to start training like an athlete, not just like a hobbyist.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-01T07:45:00.001-08:00

Here's to another fabulous year...

Goodbye 10 Hello 11

2010-12-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

2010 has been so successful a year, I'm not sure what to do with 2011. This year started with me in an internship that I absolutely adored, something that I found real passion in, and something I was a bit heartbroken over. Heartbroken, because there were no foreseeable job openings, and most likely not a position for someone without experience. However, I never let those fears cloud my work, I worked hard. I put my heart into learning and loved the work.

At the same time I was a full time student in my last semester at Boise State. I had returned to school in late 2009 after some time away and made the decision to just get done. In my last semester I connected with some awesome friends in my program. We were all a bit older than the traditional college students (but younger than the annoying old people who ask two million questions in class). My time with Melissa and Kendall made having the same crazy professor for 5 classes in 2 semesters much more bearable. And then we got to walk together....

Just after graduating I took my first "real" job...and came home every night asking "is this it?" I couldn't shake the feeling that THIS wasn't what I was supposed to be doing. I think part of me was stuck on the fact that I had chosen to major in Sociology and wondered what exactly that meant in the future. I realized that people often do not work in their fields of study, but I was quickly realizing that I had no passion in paper pushing. I came home bummed/angry/frustrated every night and poor Loren listened to me whine and told me everything would be ok.

A month and a half later I got a call that would change everything. A temp job. A scary - might not have a job again 3 months from now - temp position...AT MY INTERNSHIP LOCATION! YES! I took it, no hesitation, and unfortunately no notice, whoops. But when you say jump I say how high :)

I started my temp position in July and immediately found my place. I spent everyday working the hardest I have ever worked but being totally in love with my job. I talked about it all the time (I still do). As the months ticked by I worried, "will this be the week they tell me I have to move on". I was so scared to re-enter the job market having just left a job I had no passion for with no notice. What would happen? I got notice in September that a full time position was open. They filled it internally. I waited, I worked. In October I finally got word, another position, another chance. I applied. I GOT IT.

My job has given me so many fabulous experiences in 2010. I have heard and seen some crazy things. But above all else I am so grateful to WANT to go to work everyday.

This year has also treated my relationship well. In April Loren and I were presented the opportunity to rent a house without a security deposit in a cute little neighborhood that was close to Loren's job (well it WAS). Timing was just about perfect and while I think he might have been a tad hesitant, we took it. I think we have both loved this house and I think I'm not as bad a roommate as he thought I might be. Loren and I have spent this year being each other's biggest fans, always encouraging and trying to help the other see that things could, and would, work out. He cheered me through the end of a tough semester of school, through graduation, through a job I hated, through a new opportunity, through lots of running, through the Portland Marathon (from a distance) and he continues to be an amazing support to me in any and everything life brings. I can't say enough about how good Loren is to me each and every day.

I would like to think I have been support for him too, but I think I could always do more. Loren also changed jobs within his company during the summer, and I could tell things weren't right. He wasn't coming home happy, he was frustrated, it wasn't working. At just the right time something else came along, and he was able to get a great job that he seems so much more excited about, and that makes me happy. In such a horrible economy we have both been so lucky to be able to change jobs this year, and actually enjoy the jobs we now have.

Loren and I also took our first vacation together, to his home town of Cody Wyoming. I was stupid and didn't post pictures past the first day...what was I thinking?!?! But it was an amazing trip. I met so many fabulous people in Cody, and fell in love with hot air balloons. Loren's parents were so awesome to host us and get me a balloon ride, it was unforgettable. I am so grateful Loren is from a beautiful place full of fun, welcoming people. It will be tough to top that trip. Especially since we were in Yellowstone at the same time as the Arizona murderers/prison escapees!

2010 also brought running into my life. In March I ran my first 5k and said, "I want to do this". I missed feeling nervous and slightly competitive like I did in sports in high school. I wanted to chase that feeling a bit, and I think I was fairly successful. I ran 3 5k's, 2 Half Marathons and 1 Marathon in 2010. I want to do more! I learned a lot from running the Marathon and even though it was one of the most painful (and wet) experiences of my life, it was one of the greatest accomplishments too. I've done it. If I never decide to do it again, I've done it. (I think I will do it again) Now I know that my body is capable of so much more than have ever allowed it to be capable of. When there is pain, there is still strength, you just have to find it.

Who knows what 2011 will bring. But, hopefully, life will continue to be an amazing adventure.

My 2011 New Years Intentions:

1. Consistency - In life, in work, in running. I think the key this year is to be consistent. I want to stay where I am, hopefully no moving, no job changing, and continued improvements in comfort and stability.

2. Run at least 4 Half Marathons, knowing that I am fit enough to run them!

3. Another 5k PR, and a Half Marathon PR (at least a 15 minute PR!)

4. Continue to support Loren in any and everything he decides to do this year, regardless of stress or other goings on in my own life.

5. Make sure Loren laughs at something crazy/stupid that I do each and every day.

6. Visit my family more, or make them come see me. (We have a spare bedroom that hasn't even been slept in yet!)

7. Another vacation with Loren!

8. Stay happy and healthy!

2010 Recap and What's To Come

2010-12-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

I haven't looked back at this post since I wrote it. It almost made me cry to see. If you read the post again, which I hope you will, you too might be amazed that 2010 turned out to be everything I had hoped for and more! What's even more amazing is that my good friend Laura H. even predicted in her comment to me that it would be a good year!

Here were my New Years Intentions for 2010:

1. Graduate!!!! (May 15, 2010 @ 10am to be exact)
I DID IT! AND IT WAS FABULOUS!
2. Get a big girl job
YEP, GOT THAT TOO! WOO HOO!
3. Keep working out with Megan H. (whether I lose more weight or not, I feel better!)
I did keep working out with Megan until she left for the summer to teach swimming lessons in Calirfornia. Then things were a bit spotty when she got back because I was marathon training and didn't want to kill myself trying to fit in cross training. But the one thing I can say is that through working out with Megan I was able to get in good enough shape to start running and feel confident about training for the Portland Marathon. And that was a great gift! After I get better with time management with my new job I will probably start back up with Megan.
4. Keep laughing
CHECK!
5. Move into a house or apartment with a bedroom door (not just a front door)!
This is one of my favorite goals! I have a bedroom door now! And I love the little home that Loren and I have made for ourselves!
6. Make sure Loren keeps laughing too :)
I think this is a CHECK! But you would have to ask him.

Now because my New Years Intenion post last year made me so happy, I think I am going to have to take the day to think about this years intentions. I know some of them will be running related, some work related, and all life related. This year has been another fabulous year and I don't know how 2011 could possibly top it, but I am up for the challenge! I hope that everyone is making New Years Goals or Intentions of their own, Resolutions get broken and are SO last year :)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

2010-12-29T06:03:00.001-08:00

Seeing as I am now back home I have to give a HUGE thank you to my secret Santa Blogger buddy! I arrived home to Boise to find a fun little package that Loren was hounding me about. When it came he asked me what it was...well how should I know?!

I FINALLY got to open the mystery gift and found some awesome loot! I have been wondering about Arctic Ease since it started going around the blogosphere. I can't wait to try in out...which I plan on doing even with a lack of current injury.

I also got a sample of some Asics Chafed Free...what do you know about me Secret Santa? I'm actually excited to give that a go since I haven't had the best of luck with Body Glide thus far.

The most exciting part of my gift is the book Sole Sisters - Stories of Women and Running by Jennifer Lin and Susan Warner. I love to read and this was JUST the motivation I need right now! I have very few running books but I find when I get them I can't get enough and I do end up running more.

A HUGE thank you to my Secret Santa, Michel at www.babyweightmyfatass.com

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Home Again, Home Again

2010-12-27T06:27:00.001-08:00

Am I the only person in the world whose parents left them with strange sayings from childhood that are now ingrained in her vocabulary and make an appearance at the strangest times? I hope not, but "home again, home again, jiggity jig" came to mind as I am sitting here in the Eugene airport waiting to take a tour of the greater northwest whilst really just trying to get back to Boise. Today's flights will take me to Seattle and Portland before finally getting me home and in to work for a half day.

Sitting here gives me time to reflect on the holiday though and quite simply, I'm leaving Eugene feeling fabulous this year! I have to say this has been the best Christmas of my adult life. It was so nice to enjoy the company of my family and I can't remember a single stressful, tense moment this year. Isn't that near impossible this time of year? Anyway, my only regret is that Loren wasn't able to share the weekend with us. Someday those things will all work themselves out.

The funniest part of Christmas was my over-suggesting the same gift to my parents and to Loren, so I got it twice! Whoops. It worked out though, I don't think my mom was too offended by my exchange of the watch she gave me for some awesome Coach sunglasses and a new wallet! Loren made fun of me last night and told me I was completely re-accessorized this Christmas. It's true. I told him he might not even recognize me when I get back.

All in all, a successful holiday visit! I think I managed to get everyone something they liked as well which is much harder to do than I ever realize beforehand. Thanks to my parents my grandma is the proud owner of a Nook! I know what I want for my birthday! But I won't ask Loren and my parents :)

Oh, and the picture is the fattest squirrel I have EVER seen. They know how to pack some away from the winter in Eugene I guess!

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Christmas in Track Town USA

2010-12-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

I am officially in Eugene for Christmas. While I am thrilled to be here with my family, I am pretty bummed to have left Loren behind in Boise! Someday we will figure out all of the holiday traveling and be more stable etc.

Loren and I celebrated our Christmas together on Tuesday. I INSISTED that we do that so that I would have time to pack and relax Wednesday since I had to be up at 4am to get to the airport. So Monday I made endless threats to Loren about needing to get out of work on time. We had 6 pm reservations and he could NOT be late. He gave me a bit of attitude since he had no idea where we were going. On the way over, since he was driving slow and didn't know what was going on, I told him, "we are going on a helicopter Christmas lights tour." The fire was LIT. He picked up the pace and we got to the South end of the airport in record time. This gift was actually something I found on Groupon. If you don't use Groupon, you SHOULD. Most of the time I just glance and delete the emails. But this one, this one was different. I knew that this gift was right up Loren's alley.

The helicopter ride was awesome! It was fairly short, about 15 minutes, but we took off from the airport and directly over the botanical gardens where they put on Winter Garden Aglow every year. It's millions of beautiful lights to walk through, it's a "must-go" while in Boise. While flying over it I decided that walking through there is actually a bit more dramatic. That way you are surrounded. They don't look as big and bright from the air. We then flew along the foothills and some of the ritzier neighborhoods with lots of lights. Our pilot told us that there are far fewer lights everywhere this year than he has ever seen. Oh well.

My favorite part of the helicopter ride was flying over downtown. The capitol building, the Grove, everything, was lit and beautiful. I have always loved downtown Boise but from the air it was spectacular! After a circle of downtown we headed back to the airport. Loren got some great pictures so when I am back in Boise I will post some. What a fun gift, even if it was from me to both of us :)

Next we headed out to Nampa, where there is only one place I will EVER make the trip there for: The Mona Lisa. I took Loren to Mona Lisa for his birthday 2 years ago and he still brings it up. So I figured that would be a great place to celebrate our early Christmas together. The Mona Lisa is a fondue restaurant and sooooo amazing, hands-down beats the pants off the Melting Pot for atmosphere and food (and I LOVE the Melting Pot). I reserved a little table for two that overlooks the rest of the restaurant and we had an awesome time!

When we got back home Loren let me open my gifts and I was ONE.HAPPY.GIRL. He was a VERY good listener and got me the Michael Kors watch I have been ogling since at least October. It's a BIG watch and I absolutely LOVE it! I really needed it since I go into the jail to do interviews and there is no clock. I never know how long the interview is taking or how long the staff is making me wait to bring people in. Anyway, I wanted this watch and was so excited that Loren is awesome and humored me with it. I also got a new Wii game to work on. (Yes, I'm an adult female who loves video games, deal with it.) We had recently beat Mario Galaxy 2 and started wondering, what next? So he picked up Epic Mickey which I started drooling over when I saw the commercial. So far I only had time to watch the introductions but the graphics look incredible, now I wish we had a nicer TV! Loren also fed my coffee addiction and got me two boxes of K-Cups for my Keurig in my office at work. He's a good man!

Now I am officially in Eugene and started and finished my Christmas shopping in ONE DAY! No sales tax here and no need to worry about stuff getting taken, broken, spilled on by split-open bottles of hair products in my checked luggage...My mom and I had a great day yesterday shopping, eating, visiting my best friend from high school and her "baby" (who is now basically a toddler) who I hadn't yet met. Last night we took Nana to dinner and went and looked at Christmas lights. It's nice to be home!

And, since I am in Eugene, I feel obligated to go for a run. This is Track Town USA darn it! Plus the weather is soooooo mild! Not cold, not icy, no snow, perfect!

P.S. If my Bloggy Secret Santa gift arrived in Boise, I am not ungrateful :) I will brag about it as soon as I get back there and get it!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Snow, Ice and Running...

2010-12-20T07:26:00.000-08:00

This weeks plan:

Mon: 1.25 M
Tues: Rest/XTrain
Wed: 1.25 M
Thurs: Rest/XTrain
Fri: XTrain
Sat: 1.75 M (what a long long run!)
Sun: Rest/XTrain

This week I am modifying my days a bit so that Loren and I can celebrate Christmas tomorrow. Unfortunately I will be flying out on Thursday and he will be stuck here by himself. Not unfortunately for me, I get to go spend Christmas with my family, but all this job changing hasn't been great for us as far as holiday plans. However, I did find out this weekend that while I thought Loren had asked his new job whether or not they were open on Christmas Eve, apparently he didn't. Oh well. I guess financially it will be easier for us to be apart rather than flying all over for just the weekend. We should have a good time tomorrow night during our own little Christmas celebration! I wish I could disclose what we are doing but that IS Loren's gift and on the off-chance that he actually cared what my blog said, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise. I will report back on the planned events later...

On another note:

Apparently I am quite the fair-weather runner. There have been a couple days lately when I wished I had just broken down and put on my running tights, jacket and sweet gloves that I got at the Portland Marahton, and just gone outside and RUN! However, every time I tell myself I am going to do this I rationalize about the possible ice, snow, cold, frozen buggers etc, and I just throw my hands up in the air and go to the gym. How do people deal with this? I saw a guy running on my way to work this morning and was afraid for him. We got freezing rain/snow last night and parking lots and side walks are literally skating rinks. When I first saw him I honestly thought, "oh, what did that guy just do that he is running away from?" Chalk it up to my job a bit, but it just didn't seem like running weather to me. Anyway, maybe someday I will get the balls (not literally) to just get out in the cold and run. But for now, I will stick to indoor torture device known as the treadmill.

Running Plan...Take 2

2010-12-16T08:54:00.000-08:00

This past two weeks have been a combination of insanely busy and insanely lazy. Is that possible? I have been playing catch-up at work since Thanksgiving finally have a bit a breathing room. Keep your fingers crossed that I can breathe through the New Year!

On the lazy front, not much running happened. My life has been a string of exhausting days at work followed by curling up with a movie and then crawling in bed and reading a fabulous book until I crash. No gym. No runs. Blah. It's always a struggle when I know that running and/or the gym would make me feel way better but I just can't find it in me to pull myself off the couch to go.

Luckily, I didn't pay super close attention to race dates for 2011. I say luckily, because I am still on track for my Half Marathon build up plan. My half mary is actually in June! Not in May, silly me! So I am still on track and ready to start up with a new outlook next week. The remainder of this week my goal is just to get my butt to the gym a couple times and not worry about speed/distance/calories.

Now I am in the process of figuring out what my "filler" races are going to be. These will be on the weekends when I work up to the 5k and 10k during my plan. So far I can't find races on the correct days in Boise so I might have to take some weekend roadtrips. I'm sure Loren would love to follow me around to races! He hasn't even been to 1 yet. To give him some credit he has only NOT worked Saturdays for 2 weeks now and he was gone for one of those.

Um...

2010-12-07T08:23:00.001-08:00

this was in the dryer this morning. Loren?

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AW, My Little Clepto...

2010-12-04T09:32:00.001-08:00

Today Loren and I are having people over to watch the last Boise State game of the season. We spent the morning picking up the house and realized we have no idea where our remote is. Luckily the tv is currently on right channel, however as of right now that channel is playing obnoxious Saturday morning cartoons. I swear cartoons were way better in my day!

Anyway, during the search for the remote we located the following stash of stuff that Waldo had hidden under the couch: a six pack worth of bottle caps, all of her crinkly balls, other cat toys, a Starbucks pastry bag, two toilet paper rolls, a champgne cork and a pen. She's been hard at work! And apparently we need to move the couches more often.

Still can't find the remote...

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So happy.

2010-12-02T15:46:00.001-08:00

I'm so simple right now. Life is happy. I was having a good day, and then my nameplate showed up. Now I'm even happier. Sigh. I never thought I would have my own office. Now it seems officially official.

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Let It Snow...Ok, Enough.

2010-12-01T06:22:00.000-08:00

Last night I was running my mouth to Loren (nothing new) and suggested that we would get snowed in today and would have snow up to our back door. In Boise it snows, but we rarely have snow on the ground for longer than a day or two. So far, we have had it for several weeks. I think this has been my first white Thanksgiving since I moved here 8 years ago. The forecast last night called for 2-4 inches of snow and it had pretty much stopped spewing when we got into bed last night so I really thought this was another case of the weather guy being right 50% of the time.

Our little neighborhood and snow still falling.

Well, Loren woke me up this morning to tell me there were 7 inches on the ground and the Interstate is pretty much at a standstill. This is the thing that bothers me about Boise, it snows every year, even if it doesn't stick around long, and it does so several times, so why do people drive like they have never driven in snow, EVERY SINGLE TIME. This is our third round of snow already this year and it's still mass panic. Schools are closed today. Even Boise State is delaying classes today.

Snow on our grill, and almost to our back door.

My day today is up in the air. I have SO much work to get done the next couple of weeks and while my job allows me to work from home should I choose to do so, that would require me actually thinking and bringing my work home with me. Last night I just thought, "I will get up and get here early and put in a full days work!" Morning me says, "You can't pay me to get out on those roads with my two door car with those crazies!" So we'll see which voice wins this morning. Now to the coffee pot...

A Weighty Issue

2010-11-29T06:56:00.000-08:00

While I am gearing up today to start my 5k/10k/Half Marathon build plan, I am also taking into consideration my general health and fitness level. During my marathon training I ended up being the only person in the history of the world to GAIN weight. I gained about 10 pounds during training, and no, it was not all muscle. I had gone from weight training 4-5 days per week to just running, mainly because I was scared that weights would make me too sore to get my long runs in, so I just stopped. Since my marathon finish in October I have put on an additional 6 pounds or so, not good! This is how I feel (don't worry, it's not actually me):

In order to get back on track with running and my health I am going back to usi

ng my BodyBugg. I used this little puppy last winter and lost 25 pounds! I have now put about 16 back on in less than a year, yikes! I am not into "dieting" AT ALL! But, the BodyBugg has helped me eat whatever I want and am craving, but track my calorie intake/output and make it work. I try to eat better when I am wearing it because I know I am going to hold myself accountable and log my food for the day. It's especially great now because BodyBugg now has a mobile website that I can use to log my food from my phone. I no longer hav

e to keep a mental list of what I ate until I can get home to my laptop.

My goal seems lofty, but then again, so did running a marathon, and I lived to tell about that! So at this point I would like to ideally lose 28 pounds. That's a HUGE number, but, just like my running, I plan on going slow and taking baby steps. If I stick to my running plan and cross train, this would be about a pound per week until my half marathon. How great would it feel to cross the finish line confident in my running and nearly 30 pound lighter?!?! Maybe then these will be my abs:

So today is the start of crazy new goals:

THIS WEEK

Monday: Rest or Run/Walk

Tuesday: 1.5 Mile Run

Wednesday: Rest or Run/Walk

Thursday: 1.5 Mile Run

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 1.5 Mile Run

Sunday: 30-60 Minute Walk

My "Rest or Run/Walk" days I plan on doing some cross training at the gym unless we really just don't feel like going. I figure if I really don't feel like going and make myself go I will get burnt out. That is the last thing that I want to do at this point.

Here's to new journeys!

Goals and Getting Back to Running

2010-11-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

Ever since the marathon I have been struggling with finding motivation to run. Even a mile on the treadmill seemed like a task everytime I got on. Now, I am making a conscious effort to get back to business. I have created a training schedule that will take me all the way through to May and the Half Marathon that I already signed up for. My goal is to run the Half as comfortably and confidently as I possibly can. In order to do that I am using Hal Higdon's novice plans in succussion, cutting out the first week of the second two programs in order to build up to the half. It will look like this: 5k 8 week novice plan, 10k 8 week novice plan minus week 1, Half Marathon 12 week novice training plan minus week 1. I think this should be the perfect, consistant build up I need to feel really comfortable adding distance. I think this year I did too much too soon with starting to run in March (for the first time in my life) to finishing a marathon in October.

My greatest hope is that this slower, steadier build will help me really enjoy (maybe even become passionate) about running. Since the marathon I think I have had a bit of a take it or leave it attitude. I want to LOVE it!

Anyone out there have any additional tips for learning to love running? Training and building tips I should keep in mind? Motivation? I appretiate all of it!