Got no time got no mind for the line in my life

February 7, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

Training Recap:

Monday -  3 miles
Tuesday – 30 min. elliptical, strength training
Wednesday – 5 mile tempo run
Thursday – 30 min. bike, 15 min. hill walking, strength training
Friday – 2 miles, 3.5 miles, strength training
Saturday – 7 miles 3 miles
Sunday – rest or yoga 7 miles (10:38, 10:42, 10:50, 10:43, 10:38, 10:08, 9:15)

So… the middle of this week. I always start the week on Monday feeling so excited and ready to tackle workouts. The last 3 weeks my Monday runs have been knocked out easily and I’ve been happy to do them. But somehow by Tuesday I am ready to start procrastinating… and once I’ve done that once, it’s so easy for me to slip into the habit of making excuses for why I can’t go to the gym/run outside. Thankfully I got myself back in the gym on Friday to salvage what was left of the week (something I have trouble with… I tend to get stuck in the all or nothing mentality). The 3.5 miles on the treadmill was rough. I would have run outside but I had *surprise surprise* put off the workout until when it was dark out and I didn’t feel safe running outdoors. Strength training was fun though; I’m starting to feel myself getting stronger and I love it!

Then last night I left the house at 8:30pm to tackle my 7 mile run… again, on the treadmill. About 2 miles in I started having some pain in my left groin area, and ended up just finishing off the 3rd mile before giving it up. Definitely a good idea because walking wasn’t feeling all that pleasant afterward either. I came home and told Chris I was going to try it outside tomorrow, but that I would stop if the pain continued.

Well, this morning I could feel the same sort of discomfort in the first mile of my run, but after that it went away and hasn’t come back since! I’m beginning to think maybe the treadmill is not my friend for even more reasons. ;) The outdoor run was so pleasant too! I know I’m crazy but 17 degrees and no wind felt like the perfect running weather (with hat + gloves + warm clothes, of course). Does anyone else love the feeling of running outside in the cold? I felt a little chilly when I started out but by mile two I was nice and toasty. The first three miles felt tough; I think I am meant to be a distance runner because the first few miles for me never really feel all that comfortable, but by 4 or so miles in I start to feel like I’m in a groove. By mile 7 I was feeling great (as you can see by the time, haha) but was running late for church and had a grumbling tummy so I stopped at the set distance. It felt so good to finish that run though, and I know it is important to make sure I am getting these “long” runs in consistently.

Next week’s big goal is to actually do the speed training. I am really feeling intimidated about it because of the time goals, so at least for the next couple of weeks I am going to go into them with no time goals (just the goal to run faster in the middle miles of a tempo run and in the sprints of speed intervals) and see how I do. No pressure!

Really though, this week is the *official* start of my marathon training plan. 16 weeks!!!

Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: 30 min. bike, strength
Wednesday: 5 mile tempo run (1 mile warm up, 3 miles @ tempo pace, 1 mile cool down)
Thursday: 30 min. elliptical, strength
Friday: 2 miles
Saturday: 8 miles, yoga (free intro. class at a studio near me!)
Sunday: rest

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Do you have to, do you have to let it linger

February 5, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

Today is a big celebration day because yesterday I interviewed for and was offered a job! I won’t actually be starting training until March 1, but it is a job I am excited about and think will be a really good fit for me – especially while I’m still figuring out what I want to do with my life, and if going back to grad school fits into that.

What better way to celebrate than with pancakes topped with a coconut butter/maple syrup mix?

Yum yum yum. Nykerk post is coming tomorrow – tonight is a fun night! Chris and I are going to see the Madison Symphony Orchestra play and have a celebratory drink or two afterwards :)

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They’re prints in a box when my memory stops

February 2, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

Hope College time, parte dos.

This is a picture of Chris (known as “Hammer” during The Pull – with his moraler “Nails” in “The Toolbox” (name of the pit)):

Intense much? It is pretty much the same way all 40 guys looked like who were participating in “The Pull”. It’s a little game of tug of war that has been going on between “odd” and “even” year students (based on graduation years) since 1898. 3 hours of tug of war, preceded by 3 weeks of practice – 3 hours on weekdays and as much as 8 hours on Saturdays (debatable – there are rules on how long they are allowed to practice…). 20 men and 20 women (pullers and moralers) on each side, that come together the day of The Pull with one wish: to swim in the Black River.

Looks like a lovely place for a swim, right?

It is insane! Chris did it his freshman year and we both tried out sophomore year (kind of a no-no… even though a lot of pullers + moralers end up dating it is (discreetly) discouraged during pull season) but didn’t make it. You get a glimpse of what it is like though during the try-outs: 1 week of the hardest work I have ever done (and it only gets harder the closer you get to pull day). But you can see from Chris’s picture that the pullers build some wicked muscles ;) There are ambulances on both sides the day of The Pull though – blisters and bleeding are standard, and every year there are usually a couple of guys who pass out or are forced to get out of their pits by medical authorities (called “popping” a pit). A lot of the freshmen who participate in it spend the next year strength training for the following year, and it’s such an intense experience that most pullers and moralers stay close friends throughout college (and I know of 3 Pull couples from my year that are still going strong).

Here’s an article with more information if any of you are interested (I could go on and on but realize it may not be *that* interesting when you have no connections to it). There’s also a Sports Illustrated article about it, but it’s from 1966 and has a bit of outdated information. I think things are more intense and regimented now than they were then.

Up tomorrow? The last Hope tradition I’ll talk about – Nykerk. My only problem will be figuring out just how many *interesting* pictures of me I want to put in it ;) I need to know – is my school the only one with weird traditions? Any cool stories from your colleges you want to share?

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Well I have been standing quietly in the shade, all of my days

February 1, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

So… first post about Hope College.

Did you know that my little, DIII college has one of the biggest rivalries in basketball? There’s this little Hope-Calvin rivalry that was originally based on the reason for a lot of rivalries: religion (sad, but true). I like to brag about a little article that was written for ESPN a couple of years ago that really conveys the whole rivalry (the background, history and intensity). It’s a little outdated though – the record is now Hope 89 games, Calvin 86. And I got to watch a most awesome Hope victory on Saturday from the comfort of my living room couch.

One really fun part about watching the games live, though, is the Dew Crew. What’s the Dew Crew, you ask?

Lots and lots of crazed, orange-clad fans that are hyped up on Mountain Dew (and since it’s a smaller school, I know most of the people in the picture). Fun sponsorship for college students right? And if you want to see how ridiculous they are in action, here’s a fun video I found of them.

Promise the next post will have embarrassing pictures – somehow, I never captured any fun ones of myself before games.

Oh, and a little hint about the next post – it involves playboys. ;)

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I’ll never let you go if you promise not to fade away, never fade away

January 31, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

So, another week of recording my workouts… and another week of mediocrity. I’ve looked through different articles to give myself some advice and tips to improve this. Normally I think I would take a more laid back look at things (especially since I am doing some cardio and more consistent strength training than I’ve been doing since September), but with the marathon training… yeah, I can’t really slack.

Monday: 3 mile run
Tuesday: XT, strength
Wednesday: 5 mile tempo run
Thursday: XT, strength
Friday: 2 mile run
Saturday: 6 mile run, 4 mile run, strength
Sunday: yoga/rest

I’m most frustrated about Saturday’s run, to be honest. I made the mistake of thinking I would break up my run into two parts at the gym as a way to break up the torture of the treadmill. So I ran 3 miles, then did a bunch of arm, back and ab strengthening stuff along with a whole ton of squats and lunges. Running 3 more miles after that definitely did not happen. My legs felt like that each weighed 100 lbs! 1 mile later and I was out. So… lesson learned – no long runs on strength days for a reason, and splitting up a long run is probably not a good idea (and I know it isn’t a good idea as far as building up endurance, but I figured this early in the game it wasn’t as big of a deal).

So, things I found.
-the more you run, the easier it will be (This is what I need to repeat to myself during runs! I get so impatient remembering how 10 miles used to feel easy but tend to forget that it took me a heck of a long time to work up to that.)
-during times on a run when you’re feeling negative, think about times when you felt strong & centered – and go there (I like this one!)
-write down the reasons that running (or exercising) is important to you
-schedule each workout in advance as if it were an appointment (this would be good for me because currently I just keep pushing back the time I’ll leave the house to run)
-keep your appointments – would you break a hair appointment or a dentist appointment because you didn’t feel like going? (good point… I think I’ll be trying this with the previous tip)
-use the 5-minute compromise (I have read about this before and kind of laughed at it because sometimes I think I would give up after 5 minutes at the gym, but outside on a run I could see this type of compromise working for me mentally)

Any tips you all can add? I’m really going to try some of these out this week, and I will definitely let you know how it goes (or perhaps how I stick to this week’s training plan will tell you). The plan:

Monday -  3 miles
Tuesday – 30 min. elliptical, strength training
Wednesday – 5 mile tempo run
Thursday – 30 min. bike, 15 min. hill walking, strength training
Friday – 2 miles
Saturday – 7 miles
Sunday – rest

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Climb up in the loft, sit and talk with the radio on

January 30, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

So, I still don’t have a job. But happily for me, the Bible Study group I am a part of is letting me host our Thursday night meetings. That means every Thursday night (at least until I find a job if not past then) I get to cook & bake away for 10 or so people. Yes, I think that is fun :) And we do study the Bible – we just eat together first. Hehe.

This past Thursday we enjoyed a very delicious salad to start – spinach tossed with olive oil & minced garlic, then topped with grapefruit sections and avocado. The end result looked a little bit like this….

Thank goodness I left the grapefruit peeling until some of the girls got there – I am horrible at peeling & sectioning grapefruit!

For the main dish I chose something out of this cookbook. It was a risky choice because I’ve tried some recipes from there that I wasn’t really crazy about, but the one for Quinoa Vegetable Stew looked so delicious & easy that I couldn’t pass it up! Even though it’s from one of the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks I found the recipe online here; I highly suggest making some. And I think my decision to use fire-roasted crushed tomatoes instead of plain-old crushed tomatoes was a smart one… just because fire-roasting things makes everything better, you know? Anyway, when we served it for dinner it was layered (one layer of quinoa/corn mixture, topped with the vegetable mixture) but for leftover ease I just combined the two (still delicious, obviously). And it was a big hit!

Everyone still had room in their tummies for no-bake cookies afterwards – but really, is there ever a time where you don’t have room for no-bake cookies? Didn’t think so!

Basic No-Bake Cookie Recipe:

1/3 c. Earth Balance
1/3 c. non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 c. cocoa
1 1/4 c. sugar
4 c. quick oats
1/3 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pretty simple ingredient list, even easier directions. Heat up the first four ingredients on the stove until boiling; let boil for 2 minutes (no more or your cookies may have a burned flavor). Take off the stove and add in the remaining ingredients. Mix them all up and drop them by the spoonful onto aluminum foil or parchment paper. Let them sit until they have hardened up, then enjoy.

It seriously took all the self control in the world for me to a) not eat all the “dough” before putting it on the aluminum foil and b) not eat all the cookies before people got here and then just pretend there was no dessert. Somehow I did it though… that night. Let’s just say the 6 leftover cookies that weren’t given to Chris in his lunch were gone by the time he got home the next day. And that is why I cannot make these cookies unless I know the majority of them will be eaten by other people – and quickly!

Not a very good picture, but I think you all know how good and tempting they look. :)

So, that was my first Thursday dinner for 10! I’m already scheming planning for next week and hoping all the food will be just as much of a hit! Oh, and one nice thing about all the vegan cooking I did (you know, besides the fact that I could eat all the food): someone brought a friend and she was actually allergic to dairy products &  health conscious. She told me how nice it was to go to a gathering where she could eat all the food and it wasn’t the standard stuff (chips + salsa, pita/veggies + hummus, etc.). Nice luck for us both, right?

I’m thinking of doing a few posts on my college – weird traditions + rivalries it has. This was brought on by a very important basketball game that went on today :) If I promise funny/ridiculous pictures of myself (and Chris) are you all game?

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But I’d rather be working for a paycheck, then waiting to win the lottery

January 28, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

Well hello everyone :)

Today started well and ended well, so that’s what I want to share with you today. I was reminded the other day that while juice + oatmeal are delicious, there are in fact other breakfast foods out there that I used to make all the time (crazy, right?)! One of those is the smoothie. I went for kind of my “classic” one that I throw together when I want something yummy that I can’t mess up – especially after a serious smoothie fail earlier in the week. Behold:

Frozen banana + cucumber, almond milk, almond butter & spinach

I consider this a good choice, even though it felt like 3 degrees F outside at the time. So thankful I don’t pay for my heat! Now I’m sure you’re wondering how I could possibly top this smoothie (I know I would be ;) ), but trust me, I did. Thanks to these lovely ladies…

(From left to right: Julie, Allison, me, Shelley, and Holly.)

So. much. fun. Julie organized a little Madison blogger/reader meet-up for tonight. I think we would have gabbed it up for even longer than we did if it hadn’t been past 10:30 on a weeknight by the time we decided to start heading home! And everyone was so sweet – not just saying that because that’s what everyone says about meet-ups of this sort, promise. We may have had some delicious food while we talked. Maybe. We went to Harvest Restaurant, a swanky looking place that I have walked by many times but never actually gone into. Thanks to Restaurant Week I didn’t have to break the bank to eat here! I was even able to get 2 of 3 courses – which can be hard for a vegan to do with a pre-fix menu. First up? Roasted beets with pistachios. OH YES.

So good I forgot to take a picture until there were only a few left.

Followed by lentil + mushroom shepherd’s pie. In this picture’s case, looks are deceiving. Trust me.

Looks gross, tasted amazing. As was the lettuce-type thing that came with it – no clue what it was though. I may have not had dessert but I heard from the other girls that it was amazing; cinnamon ice cream, apple crisp and panna cotta were the options. I came home to some leftover roasted potatoes that ended up sounding better than cookies for my own dessert (that is how much I love roasted veggies of any kind – more than cookies sometimes).

And I just saw this picture on Holly’s blog post that I think I like so much more than the “nice” picture of all of us.

Seems like a couple of them didn’t get the memo ;) This old lady needs to get to bed though – blog posts at midnight are so not my thing. Hasta mañana!

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And I’m breaking down, I’m breaking out, last chance to lose control

January 25, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

After 2 trips to Best Buy I have a new computer charger (and am $80 poorer – boo). Did you know that people can (and will) steal adapter tips out of charger boxers? That’s what happened to the first one I bought and so it wasn’t a match to my computer. Good thing the Best Buy is only 20 minutes away; if I lived further away I would have been even more frustrated than I already was. I have way too short of a temper though – have to work on it!

Some granola making soothed my soul and my only regret was not doubling the batch since as soon as Chris came home he was raving on how good the apartment smelled. :)

But the real focus of this post? The marathon training plan. I’ve got it saved in Google Docs, goal paces and all. The only ones that are really intimidating in my mind are the speedwork and tempo goal paces because I’m really not good at pushing myself. But I figure they are there to build mental toughness as well as physical speed. And for all of you who mentioned not being able to run more than 4 days a week? The original plan I got from RW SmartCoach (all you need to make your own, personally formatted one is a RW online account which is free) only had me scheduled for 3 days of running per week. I wanted a little higher weekly mileage than the plan had though and do best with a short, easy run the day before a long run (loosens my legs up) so I added in an extra run each week. The only other thing I really changed was adding in some strength training. What do you think? It’s fun to play around with the training tool on RW – I’ve spent a good hour doing so before when I was figuring out a half marathon plan last summer :) I like structure and planning, in case you couldn’t tell. Oldest child symptom much? By the end of the day on May 30 I’m hoping I’ll look as happy as I did after my half marathon in September…

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Riches I heed not nor man’s empty praise: thou mine inheritance now and always

January 24, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

I miss my computer! All of a sudden I am much more inaccurate at typing and it’s driving me nuts! It’s funny to me how attached I can get to something as little as a keyboard :)

Yesterday though I made a delicious dinner – inspired by the creative Anna at Newlywed, Newly Veg. She posted a couple of weeks ago about a black bean and mango quinoa dish that I knew I needed to try. I LOVE mango, and black beans, and quinoa, and avocado… yeah, basically everything in this. I’m a big fan of spice and when she added at the end that it could have used a bit more kick I decided to double the amount of chili powder and add in 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper. It was SO GOOD! The creaminess of the avocado (which was perfectly ripe – I’ve got it down to a science) mixed in with all the flavors was incredibly satisfying. It’s also one of the few times Chris has willingly added avocado to his food (no worries, I like avocado enough for the both of us).

I didn’t finish what was in that bowl because of the crazy filling powers of quinoa and beans and avocado, so Iwas lucky enough to enjoy more at lunch today along with some kale chips and more mango. Today was a really good day – the right combo of relaxing and well, not relaxing. Heh. Chris and I actually biked to church because with the warmer weather all the bike paths and roads are mostly cleared of slush + ice, and along with snuggling up to watch the football games we did some major cleaning out of our desks. I really should have taken a before picture because my desk was practically swimming in papers, magazines, and tons of random stuff. Now I could actually use it as a desk if I so desire!

One more reason why today was so nice?

The last of the mint chocolate chip ice cream from Coconut Bliss, along with 2 chocolate chip cookies from the co-op Chris and I belong to. The cookies… complete orgasm. I buy a bag of them and they are gone within two days and it is at least 60% my fault (it would be more even if I weren’t sneaking extra cookies when Chris isn’t looking ;) ). These are what I feel like I need to feed people when they say that all vegan food must be healthy, too. I’m thinking Earth Balance must be the second ingredient in these because that is what it tastes like. Come and visit me and I might share with you. If you’re lucky.

Tomorrow (after a morning run! It will happen!) I’m off to Best Buy to hopefully not spend a crap-ton of money on a new computer charger. I need to look through some of my computer docs to see if it will be under warranty – if it’s not there may be a desktop purchase in the future because my laptop is starting to have other, non-related problems as well and may not be worth putting lots of money into :( Has anyone else out there had problems with HP notebooks?

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Earrings weighing down the lobe and nose a lonely slope and the mouth turned down

January 24, 2010 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,

Planned vs. Actual Workouts

Monday: 4 mile run 4 mile walk
Tuesday: 45 minutes XT, strength
Wednesday: 3 mile run OR rest, 1 mile warm up, 45 min. strength
Thursday: 3 mile run, strength
Friday: 6 mile run
Saturday: 45 minutes XT, strength 4.5 mile run, 10 min. strength (squats, push-ups and lunges at home)
Sunday: 3 mile run OR rest

Yeah… did worse this week. Tomorrow is the official start of marathon training though so I’m going to work really hard to get myself out of the house in the mornings… because the days when I decide to wait until later to do my workout are the days when I somehow end up not working out. Funny how that happens, eh? The good news is my 4.5 mile run felt good and I actually dressed too warm. 35 degrees for me means no hat or gloves & just one long-sleeve base layer on top, I guess.

Monday: 3 mile run
Tuesday: XT, strength
Wednesday: 5 mile tempo run
Thursday: XT, strength
Friday: 2 mile run
Saturday: 6 mile run
Sunday: yoga/rest

Would any of you be interested in seeing the full marathon plan? I recorded all of it in my planner today and got really excited for all the fun to come (yeah, I know some of you are rolling your eyes but I’m serious). I have goal paces for all of the runs as well, but probably won’t post them up here to avoid any comparison stuff/pressure on myself to run faster than I should. I have enough of a problem doing “easy” runs – there’s a part of me that is constantly pushing myself to go faster even when I know that I do better only pushing my body once or twice a week on runs (hence the one long run and one speed/tempo run this week). Hopefully I will be reporting back next Sunday with good training news – especially mileage-wise.

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