Friday OOTD

• I’m seeing The Great Gatsby tonight with the Husband and Friend, and I am so excited.  SO EXCITED.  I love the book, and the original movie, but there is something about Leo Dicaprio being Gatsby.  It just works.

Source

• Next week is a short week for me (working from home on Friday to start the three day weekend as early as possible) which I am more than looking forward to.  We’ve got a baseball game with my dad, Dinner with the Husbands parents to celebrate his mom’s birthday, and other than that – a whole lot of nothing.  Which is amazing.  Ahhhh weekends without plans are great.
• Oh hey I’m on UglyRacePic’s!!
• Not much else going on though.  My Workout today is:
  • NROLFW Stage 3 A2
  • 30 Minute HIIT treadmill workout
• Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Food For Thought Friday:

• Health.com – Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?
• Alex Tries It Out – How to Balance Weight Lifting and Running
• Runner’s World – Treadmill Workouts For Winter (Or Cicada Season, if you are me)
• Weight Watchers – The 5 Fitness Fibs that Hold You Back

My HIIT workout last night was kick ass.  It was only 30 minutes long, but I burned a crap ton of calories, and felt like I might die afterwards!  GREAT WORKOUT!

Tonight is NROLFW Stg 3 B1 & Interval training.  I like the intervals because it’s impossible to be bored with them.  Yesterday my workout was over in no time.  I was like seriously?  That’s it?  Interesting….

I wish I could train for half marathon’s with that amount of ease, but no.  I am actually going to try something different this go around with the half training.  I am planning on running a half marathon about 4 weeks out from the race – just on my own in my neighborhood/surrounding areas.  I think if I get the shock of the mileage out of my system, the proverbial wall I usually hit but not happen?  Eh, who knows.  I am not planning on actually PR’ing this – it’s just for a fun, and it’s a new to me course.  

It will be interesting after like 6 months of lifting, how I perform for the half marathon.  Right now I have the mentality that I could take on a full marathon, no problem.  But I am also coming off of a really good race, and my high on that is still pretty, well, high.  This weekend is the Color Run – which I don’t expect to PR, but I plan on running it – as much of it as possible, since I hear there are so many people it’s kind of hard to do so.  We’ll see.  I’m not sure I’m excited about the color being thrown at my face, but eh.  It could be worse.  It’s not like it’s going to be a tough mudder, where people are going to die or something.   Now that I’ve said that, I’ve jinxed myself. The color will be made of something I am allergic to, and I’ll just turn into one big hive.

I’m so positive!

Happy Hump Day!

1. What’s your eating plan?  Eat when hungry?  Eat all the things?  Eat only Green food?
2. What’s your Workout Today?
3. What are your opinions of Vampires?

Food For Thought Tuesday:

• The Londoner : Ceviche Boats
• Minutes Per Mile : Exercising During Vacation
• Sophieologie : Strong Is the New Skinny

What better way to start a Monday Post?

This weekend was great, because The Husband came home in the storm on Friday and I was able to finally get a good nights rest, without thinking someone was invading the house.  I was feeling pretty wretched all Friday so after failing my Praxis II, I came home and laid in bed for the rest of the day.

Saturday we ran errands, and strolled over to Reston to pick up my race packet for Sunday’s Mother’s Day 4 Miler.  Over the course of last week (and how bad it got) I really had lost motivation to run the race.  I honestly had no desire.

But that was a whole day away so I put it in the back of my mind and went to meet Adie and her boyfriend for dinner at Range. Oh my.  This place is amazing.  AMAZING.  I ate too much (no shocker there) and then still couldn’t believe how much more we didn’t try.  Like I want to go back and try there pizza.  MMMM.  I’m not remotely hungry (most likely still full from Saturday) but I could easily shove a pizza down my throat.

Jason’s Dessert – Dark Chocolate cake & Orange Sorbet with Earl Grey Tea Leaves

My Dessert – Tahitian vanilla Yogurt, Espresso Ice Cream, Salted caramel ice cream

Yes, I am a fatty when it comes to dessert.

We bid them farewell, and settled into our drive home from Bethesda Maryland and I did everything in my power to remain awake, but I am sure I lulled into a food come at some point.  We came home, watched last weeks episode of Game of Thrones to prepare us for this weeks, and then went to bed.

Woke up Sunday and begged the Husband to tell me it was okay for me not to go to the race.  He wouldn’t.  He said it was my decision, and I immediately felt the guilt.  I got up and raced around taking care of the dogs, and while the husband was getting ready I got back into bed.  I closed my eyes and drifted for 15 minutes and then woke up feeling a little less pathetic.

I wasn’t hungry, thanks to the previous night, so I simply took some water and then we were off.

Fake Enthusiasm.

When we got there, it was 5 minutes to gun time.  There is something nice about getting there a bit later, and not having to wait around FOREVER for the race to start.  And I was off!

I eased around the hills better than I remember from last year, but I had no idea how fast I was going because my GPS couldn’t connect to a satellite.  Stupid technology.  So I was “running blind” and pretty much winged my walk breaks.  I passed mile marker 1, and then 2 came up even quicker.  Heh.  Half way done already.  Down a hill and up a slight incline and I was past mile 3.  I texted the Husband while running to say that I had just passed mile 3 and he wrote back that I was making great time and if I kept it up I would most likely PR.

When I say the text I had 0.25 miles left, I thought I had gone too slow, since I hadn’t seen his response for 0.75 miles.  So I told myself, “You can vomit at the finish line.  Everything you have goes into this.”  I jumped into a sprint.  Well a Sprint for me.  I was most likely clocking in somewhere between 6.7 – 7.5 mph.  I saw the finish line, and everything was screaming at me.  I couldn’t hear anything.  My hear twas in my hearts, and it hurt.

Via PR Running Flickr page

I crossed the finish line at a Gun Time of 40’00″ even.  I had no idea when I crossed the start line, so I couldn’t figure out what my time was.  With in the hour (just before 10:00am) they posted the results.

Chip Time – 39’38″.

I shaved basically 4 minutes off my time from the previous year.

Blatant Happiness

From here we went home, I showered and changed and then we headed to Dunkin Donuts for Bagels and coffee.  We spent the afternoon with my family at Bull Run Winery and then the evening at the Husband’s parents house.  We finally got home around 9:15pm, watched Game of Thrones and then passed out in bed.

It was a short weekend, because of how busy we were, but it was a great weekend.

Today I start Stage 3 of NROLFW – So Look for a possible Vlog later about how that went.

There are families waiting for students coming home from college, friends waiting on long distance friends for a much anticipated visit, people traveling to a new location for the first time, wives (like me) waiting for their spouse to come home from a seemingly forever work trip, and then there are those stories who pull at your heart strings a little more.

I’m sitting across from a gorgeous woman with an American flag and a welcome home sign for her husband who is coming home from Iraq. She is dressed in a yellow sundress and her nerves are her only accessory.

“It’s been so long.” She says with a timid smile. “I can’t believe how long it’s been. Now it’s here.”

I smile and try not to become the emotional nut case that I am, but fail. She hands me a tissue and says that I look like she did everyday leading up to this. But that she is so sure that once he comes walking through the door, she’ll lose it.

Sure enough just moments later the gates open and another flood of people stream through the walk ways. Then, he appears.

She stands up holding her sign, and they make eye contact. Everyone else disappears but them. I watch silently wanting to take a picture of what I are next but can’t. It’s too personal, too beautiful. He takes her in his arms lifting her effortlessly and just says ‘Im home, baby. I’m home.”

I love airport baggage claim areas. I love the sight of two people reunited and nothing else mattering. I smile as I get a text message from the Husband saying he’s landed and I know that this means, momentarily, I’ll be having my own beautiful moment.

Have a great weekend.

I ate all of these in one sitting in a bathroom at work, while I cried.  Bipolar Disorder sucks y’all.  If you don’t have it you don’t understand.  That was self medicating so I didn’t go ape shit crazy and do something really dumb – like drive to Tampa because I miss my husband (the thought crossed my mind more than once this week).  But I called my “Bi-Polar Buddy” (a free counselor I found through an online network that I call when things get bad) and he talked me through it.  We both agreed that I need to go back to my doctor.  So I am making an appointment for next week.  We also agreed that I need more positive people in my life.  So anyone want to move in with me and be my bright ray of sunshine?  Seriously.  You can’t have any problems that you expect me to deal with, because I can’t deal with my own.

• The Husband Comes Home Tomorrow!  I have laundry and some light cleaning to do that I will get to tomorrow after my Praxis II exam, and then hopefully have enough time to just relax before Dinner with a Friend.  I am planning on waking up at 5:30 tomorrow and getting my workout done, so I can work from home in the morning and then head to my exam without having anything else on my mind.  Plus the workout is just NROLFW and HIIT so I should finish it in like 40 minutes.

What workout are you doing today?  Or is it a rest day?

Sweet or Salty Snacks?

Are you happy it’s almost Friday?

Food For Thought Thursday:

• Runners World – A New Way To Breathe
• Health.com – Why Hills Make You a Better Runner
• Women’s Heath – The Best and Worst Energy Drinks

( I type this as a eat a funsize candy bar.  Yeah I’ve just given up apparently. )

Food For Thoughts Wednesday:

• Sweet Tater Blog : Worth vs. Weight
• Elite Daily – What Abecrombie’s CEO Really Thinks
• CNN.com – How to Allergy Proof Your Day

Me, at every finish line.

Yup.

• I’m in a better head space than I was yesterday during my whiny annoying banter.  I am looking at things differently today, because I have no choice but to.  The negativity can consume you, sure, but then whats the point?  Why am I working so hard in my workouts to simply feel like crap the other 23 hours of the day? I am choosing to carry over those feelings from when I finish my strength training or a hard run – those feelings of satisfaction, gratefulness, pride – and letting them rule for the other 23 hours.  Or at least the hours I am awake.
• Since the Husband is on travel, I have been going to bed earlier, and I have to say, I like it.  I will be making him follow suit upon his return.
• Candy Crush on Facebook is pure evil.  PURE EVIL. I’m addicted.
• I am pretty sure I am going to bomb the Praxis II test on Friday.  I feel not ready, and feel like I should be taking the entire week off to study.  Or I should reschedule.
• I’ve learned that when talking to someone who is obviously not really interested in what you have to say, the best way to captivate them is to mention something they care about, and periodically respond with ‘Oh, yeah?’ and ‘Cool!’  Works like a charm.
• Did you hear about these two women who have been missing for 10 years, and they were found alive??  Brings chills.
• Gov. Christie of New Jersey has opened up that he has had Lap Band Surgery.  I applaud him for being open about it, and for being strong enough to take steps in the right direction towards his health, regardless of how he gets there.  Through Doctor Monitoring I am sure he will succeed at his goals.
• YEAH THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT NORTH KOREA
• Tweets I like:

I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way. ― Dean Karnazes,

— PRRunning (@PRRunning) May 7, 2013

I feel like such a winner when I nail a parallel park on the first try.

— Katie (@sweettaterblog) May 7, 2013

Dang you Elton John and your more difficult than average to play piano / voice parts in your songs.

— Faster Bunny(@FasterBunny) May 7, 2013

Since when did green Skittles become fucking apple flavored?! This is bullshit!

— Super E-Rizzle (@SuperErizzle) May 7, 2013

Dear House of Representatives,Who exactly are you representing?

— Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) April 22, 2013

• I’m running today – 40 minutes of intervals ( 4 min @ 6.3 / 1 min @ 4.0)  We’ll see how this goes.  I miss being outside but with Rain/Allergies/Looming Cicada infestation I am afraid to be outside for fear of turning into the human version of a sneeze.  Or a puddle.  Or being eaten alive.  Like what if there was a radioactive cicada, and it bit me, and I became Cicada girl?  I’d be blind, and my sole purpose would be to mate and then die.  Great powers.

Food For Thought Tuesday:

• Thriive – Starbucks, a Healthy Convenience
• Health.com – 5 Ways to Build Lean Muscle Fast
• WTOP: Heart of Teen Killed in Car Crash, Donated to Friend Dying from Heart Failure
• Health.com - Walk Your Way Slim

I’m chugging water and eating on plan and tracking everything.  EVERYTHING.  Honestly.

I’m questioning my Paleo-ness at this point.  I mean I could commit to 30 days of Paleo again and see where it takes me in Month 2, but I am seriously questioning the point.  I mean I kind of moved my eating habits away from grains anyways – excluding the cheat meal of the week – and pretty much everything else is the same.

So now it comes down to portions.

Now it comes down to actually thinking through if I am hungry or just mentally craving something because of some addictive property in that food (Sugar, Caffeine, etc.).  This is where the mind change gets in.  This week – Starting today – I am simply tracking everything I eat – good or bad – and all the exercise I do (always good) and then reflecting on how I felt at the end of each day.

I am, for the time being, going by the Caloric Intake that MyFitnessPal.com generated for me, and will be doing that for the next week, to see how I do.  I will still be exercising like always, and eating back those calories.

I need to decipher mental vs. physical hunger, and that has to come first.

I put the Husband on a plane last night for his work trip, and it shockingly wasn’t hard to fall asleep, it was hard to not have anyone to speak to last night though.  I mean Blarney and Moody are great and all, but they can’t respond back in a language I understand.

Not Good For Conversation

I am having a very blah day, and it’s not helping that with that blahness, I am looking out the window to blah weather.  BLAH.

Workout:

• NROLFW Stg 2 B3 & intervals (I’m kicking this up a notch today and going for 21 minutes at HIIT – 1 Min all out effort 2 min recovery for 7 rounds)

I’m not going to post my menu today, because since I started writing this post I veered off track (still track on MFP) so badly. UGH Monday.

I hope you all are having a better day than I.

Food For Thought Monday

• Metabolic Effect: 10 Rules of Fat Loss
• Health.com : Want to be a Morning Person?
• Runners World: Goal of Eating More Protein Linked to Weight Loss
• Confessions of a Fit Girl: Slimming Down Doesn’t Always Mean Losing Weight