WIAW...just in case you care

Yesterday I ate stuff just like I do every day. I hardly ever post photos of things I eat because, seriously, who really gives a flying...you know. But sometimes you gotta follow the trend just to make sure you aren't missing out. After this "experiment", which I (along with Kari, Kara, and Alyssa) did once last year, I'm still pretty convinced I'm not missing out and people still don't care what I ate. But sometimes it's nice to know that not everyone eats only vegetables, chia seeds, and green smoothies. This day was a little different than normal because I ended up scoring free food at work, which was a godsend because I really need to go grocery shopping.

 

7am
Breakfast: leftover wheat pancakes smothered in peanut butter, and coffee. I actually made the pancakes Monday night and had three for dinner. Waking up knowing I had the rest leftover for breakfast made it a lot easier to get out of bed.

Butter and syrup? That's so last year.

10am
Second breakfast/snack: a KIND bar. These are my new favorite snack. I recently got a Groupon for an amazing deal on a big box of them, so I'm set for work snacks for a while.

11am
Third breakfast? First lunch?: Bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. This was the first of the free food for the day. Usually when there's leftover food from a class it's dry bagels and some fruit, so this was a huge upgrade!

1:30pm
Second lunch: Free leftover salad...with cheese AND salad dressing. Oh, the horror!

5pm
An hour workout: 40 minutes on the elliptical followed by weights and stretching
(No, this isn't food)

6pm
Dinner: Three scrambled eggs with spinach and onion, salsa, and toast with butter. I was annoyed my salsa kept making my toast soggy and I wished I had a divided plate...or just larger plates in general (perhaps proof that I was hangry). This was a "throw together whatever you can" meal since, like I said, I really need to grocery shop.

7pm
"Dessert": A glass of pinot grigio and two Dove peppermint bark candy things.

One thing I didn't add in is that I drank lots of water throughout the day, as I always do. I think I filled my water bottle up three times which would mean I drank 60 ounces of water yesterday. Yay me.

Ok, so I did learn something from this. I've got to get larger plates and bowls. Also? I need more bacon in my life.

What do you think you'd learn from documenting what you ate for a day?

What I REALLY ate (sponsored)

This post is sponsored by my business partner. She's very savvy. And she knows the importance of taking a long nap in the sunny spot in front of the back door, and pays me in poops.

Whatever. Just feed me.

Pippi wanted me to share with everyone what I eat on a "typical" day. She thinks my diet is severely lacking in chia seeds and overnight oats. Since I worked from home today, I ate a bit differently than I would have if I had been at work instead. What I end up eating really depends on when I last grocery shopped, and payday is two days away, if that tells you anything. Not exactly a typical day, but it's what I ate, nonetheless. (disclaimer: all times are approximate).

Breakfast (7:30am):

english muffin with peanut butter and strawberry jelly, a peach

Snack (9am):

two peanut butter cookies

lunch (11:30am): This picture didn't save for some reason, so just imagine it. It's a pretty boring one anyway. It was a smoothie. But it contained peanut butter so it wasn't exactly a healthy smoothie.


snack (1pm):

a very non-organic, very delicious banana

snack dessert (2pm):

a peanut butter cookie
(it was a whole cookie but I forgot to take the picture until after
I ate half of it)

"dinner" (4pm):

a veggie turkey burger (no, I'm not kidding. They were on sale)
on an english muffin with ketchup and spicy mustard, and a
pile-o-dill pickle chips.

dinner dessert (4:30pm):

chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, chocolate syrup,
rainbow sprinkles

I'm normally pretty hungry all the time, but, as I posted yesterday, I've not had much of an appetite lately and I was trying go cut down on the sodium today since I was pretty bad yesterday, having eaten ramen and drinking a glass of wine after work with a few coworkers.

I'm pretty sure Kara, Kari, and Alyssa had much more exciting days of food than I did. Pippi wanted me to post about what she ate, but then I reminded her she only eats dog food and that's way more boring than some peanut butter cookies and a fake turkey burger. She completely agreed, and promised me more poops after her dinner today.

A weekend of apps and Cheerios

What did I do this weekend? A lot of my new game obsession: Draw Something Free.












This had me laughing this weekend. If you have a smart phone, come play with me! (No, I'm not begging. Well, not really... ok, I really am).



















This is one clue I couldn't wrap my head around. In order to get three coins I'd have to draw a "raekwon". Umm...WTF? (I get that he's a rapper, but still. WTF?) I opted to draw "homerun".

You know when they advertise something on tv and you really really want to try it, but can't find it anywhere? Ever since I'd seen Peanut Butter Cheerios advertised, I knew I had to have them. I FINALLY found them at Target!

Amazing wrapped in amazingness, with a side of yumm.

My dinner on Saturday was two bowls of it. Delicious!


Today I'm working from home and I'm getting ready to take on a lunchtime workout. I was going to get some miles in, but since I'm the only one home, I figure it's as good a time as any to try my Nike Training Club app

I downloaded it months ago and have yet to try out. It looks pretty awesome. I'll fill you in tomorrow.


What are the dogs doing while I'm working at home?

They're extremely busy keeping the house from blowing away.

When was the last time you tried a new workout? Did you enjoy it?

Never too old for a sleepover

On Friday I drove up to Tysons Corner, VA early to meet and pick up Kari. After getting lost on the cluster that is 95/495/295/hell these days, I finally realized that she was working, literally, right next door to Tysons Corner mall. Such a bad influence! I resisted buying anything for a long time and then I found the Coach store. I normally just walk in and wonder in amazement over the fancy purses and then walk out, wondering whether the clerks think I'm going to steal something the entire time.

This Coach store, however, had jewelry. There's a Coach ring I've been eyeing up for a while...

and they had it there. I was trying it on and putting it down and trying on all the others and it occurred to me that my birthday is in a couple of weeks and I hadn't bought anything for myself yet, so why not buy a ring? (By "buy," I really mean "put on my credit card"). I ended up choosing a different one than the one pictured, but I won't wear it until my birthday, so stay tuned for a picture :)

When Kari was done working, I drove over and picked her up and she presented me with a seriously awesome early birthday gift.

How cool he?!

We got to Kara's house way earlier than we'd planned and she was on her way home from the doctor with her daughter. When she got there and opened up the door and let Peanut (her dog) out, I was in love! She has the same energy as Pippi but doesn't jump incessantly. I wanted to take her home and Kara kept offering her to me. Why she did not come home with me, I'm not sure.

Literally the next thing that happened was, Kara got me a glass of water and I proceeded to spill it all over the floor. I was prohibited from being around anything else that could potentially spill the rest of the night. Showing my true colors a little too soon.

While her daughter was eating her dinner, I tried to get her to say "cookie" because she pronounces it "cock". I got a couple of "caaahk"s out of her and it was enough.

She eats her Oreos in three layers. So ahead of her age.

When Alyssa and Amanda got there, Kara made us homemade pizzas. Like, she created the dough out of flour and oil and some other things. So fancy!

And then came the team shirt painting. I'd already painted the front of the shirts with "Team Bitch"

With our powers combined...

Alyssa painted the back of her shirt: Chocolate Loving Bitch

I was given the task of painting the others: Crazy Bitch for Kara, Nasty Bitch for Kari, Sexy Bitch for me, and Notta Bitch for Amanda.

You ain't cool unless you wear your Noodle Hugger like Rambo.

And then, Kara presented me with a surprise early birthday cake!

I love surprises. And fire!

Don't worry, I made a really good wish.

Purple flowers! Kara said the lady at the cake place thought it was for her
daughter so she made it extra special.

Before bed, we had some laughs over watching TLC's Say Yes to the Dress and previews for Virgin Diaries. And then, you know, pillow-fighting in our underwear. I also snuggled with Peanut for a little while before bed. I wanted her to come sleep in the bed, but she needed her space.


These ladies are seriously amazing. Thanks again for the fun times!

Have you ever met someone in real life that you'd previously only talked to online?
This was a million times more successful than that time I unsuccessfully tried online dating.

Do you have a firm stick?

First of all:

You're welcome :)

And now that you have that stuck in your head, on to my training last week. It was much more successful than the week before! If you're like me, you have a total love/hate relationship with running. Currently, we're in love, we've set the wedding date, and our first love child is on the way. Halfway through my run yesterday, I was wondering why I don't do this all the time! Who needs sleep?! ...and then the muscle pain in my calves from Saturday's long run (7.6 miles) quickly reminded me. I foam rolled, I wore my calf sleeves, but it's still killing me. Because I'm a big researcher, I discovered another fun tool yesterday. The Stick.

Yeeaahh...in theory, it might work great, but I just couldn't get past the name. Because there's a 12-year-old boy in my brain. If you're like me, check out the How to Choose page and you'll understand. (long sticks, firm sticks, flexible sticks...I mean, come on!)

I actually do wonder if anyone has tried these and what you thought of them...if you were able to get past the name.

So anyhow...NINETEEN miles last week! A new personal weekly record. Wee!

And now, because Pinterest is like my new bedtime story, I've found some real gems lately that I want to share.

I'm now thinking Pippi is mixed with fennec fox

Story of my life.

This is a newborn hippo. I want to snuggle him.

How was your week of training?

Ever snuggled a baby hippo?

The saga continues

It all started here, when I realized something was just not right with my workouts. I was getting dizzy and had pain in my ears. It was screwing up my workouts and I was worried something was really wrong, so I had to do something about it. I went to the doctor, who found nothing wrong, which led to a lovely MRI, which again showed nothing wrong (AND cost me $700, which I'll be paying off for two years).

You're not going to make me get a job to help
pay for that, are you?

Today is the next step: I get to spend $70 on a copay to have a little visit with the otolaryngologist (the fancy pants word for the ENT or Ear Nose and Throat doctor). Truthfully, I'm a little worried for two reasons. Reason 1 is that I'm sure I'll need more than one appointment and, folks, I just can't afford that horrendous copay! Reason 2 is because Kari had similar symptoms and when she went to the doc, they put her through some crazytown tests, including running on a treadmill half naked. I do not want to do that.

Google images is my hero.

I'm hoping I get there and they're all like, "Oh, you definitely have _________ and since we figured it out so quickly, we're going to take care of that copay for you." Yes, I live in a shiny dreamworld. I had to wait two months for them to fit in an appointment for me, so I'm not really all that confident for a quick diagnosis, but you never know.

In other news: Yesterday I did cross-training instead of running, with an hour-long spin class followed by some strength sets. I already feel better. Today is a run and then another spin class and strength tomorrow. I really think for me, the strength sets help with stress, at least mentally. I'm such a cross-training addict that running just doesn't seem like enough. I want to feel pain somewhere other than just my legs AND get better at running.

The cupcakes my mom and I got on vacation. Her: triple lemon.
Me: Peanut butter chocolate.

 
This week has been one of those where I just want to eat cake and cookies and peanut butter and sleep all the time, but the workouts really do help. I still want to sleep all the time, but I'm pretty sure that's not going away. Sleep rules! I envy Pippi.


Have you ever had to save up to pay to go to the doctor? Ridiculous, I tell you. Just ridiculous.

How do you balance cross-training with your running training?

Slacker

So let's just call yesterday "slack day". I didn't post, I didn't run, I did, however, have no cavities at the dentist!

At least my flossing is up to par.

I got home from the dentist around 3pm and figured I might as well take an hour nap while I wait for the temperature to drop a bit outside so I could get my four miles done. It was a great plan, until I didn't wake up until after 6pm! I'm convinced I don't get enough sleep at night. Pippi agrees. She didn't even get up when I got in the shower. She chilled in bed the entire time I ate breakfast and got ready for work today.

Can we please just go back to sleep, Momma?

I decided that I would make today a make up 4-mile run and then, of course, tomorrow is my long (for me) run. I'm technically supposed to be taking a step-down week according to my training plan and then I decided I don't want to do that, so I'm in-between weeks. I'm going to try for 6.5 miles tomorrow. If it's not pouring outside, I feel like it'll be a nice run due to the cooler temperatures.

So, back up to why I didn't blog yesterday. I've accepted a challenge, and, if it turns out to be a success, I may be receiving baked goods in the mail. Yeah, I know. YOU'D skip blogging for a day for free baked goods, too!

Your mouth is watering. Don't lie.

So, so far since I've started training, I've had a pizza from Subway every Friday for dinner before my long run, and then oatmeal Saturday morning before my run. I feel like I shouldn't depart from this plan. Do you eat the same things before long runs? Because now it's like some sort of superstitious thing. Yeah, I'm awesome like that.

In parting, I began my commute to work this morning with this song:

...like a chump.

My gynecologist tried to kill me! (No, not really. It's a line from FRIENDS)

I'm a celebrity. Just ask my gynecologist.

(Yes, this one is about my visit to the gynecologist today. Feel free to quit reading now if you would rather spare yourself the dirty details. Also, I apologize for all the google images. This is one post I have no real pictures for. You're welcome.)

For some reason this appointment was a bit different, yet exactly the same as all the others. You know, go in, pee in a cup, get weighed, make small talk with the nurse while she pricks your finger and asks you all those questions that were embarrassing ten years ago, but now are just blah blah blah.

At least I got a fun band-aid!

The nurse asked if I was still on the certain type of birth control. (side note: In order to not go insane and possibly bleed to death, I'm on a rare, high-dose birth control to control my...cycle, so the nurse is always surprised at what I'm on until she reads my history). When I told her that I am, and that instead of paying the $55 per month for it, (no generic for a drug not many people take), my insurance has raised prices on everything and it now costs me $64 per month. WEE! (New clothes? What's that?)

"Hi I'm the bane of your existence."

The nurse then told me something that, if it's true, will change my life in a big way. She said that, as of January 1, 2012, all birth control will be free. Uhm...WHAT? SERIOUSLY? You mean I can soon potentially afford to eat AND clothe myself?? When I got home, I did some research and I found out that, while January 1 is very optimistic, there may be some truth to this rumor. Also, those yearly exams we have to go to, but hate with every fiber of our being? Free too! Don't get me wrong, I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, but I have hope.

So back to the exam. When the doctor finally came into the exam room, before he even sat down, he said, "You got your hair cut." Uhh..yeah, I guess I haven't been here since I cut my hair, but surely he doesn't remember what every single patient looks like, right? I asked him if there's a picture on his little hand-held computer thingie and he said there isn't, he just remembers me. Woah, really?!

He then asked about my prescription and, as always, mentioned dropping the dose. I always have to talk him out of it because bad things happen when we do this (we've tried before). After more discussion, I convinced him. Apparently I'm his only patient on this drug long-term. THAT's how he remembers me! I'm the weird girl who takes that crazy drug. (I'm also the only person at my pharmacy who takes it. Since it's so expensive, whenever they have to reorder it, they ask if I'm going to continue to be on it long-term).

I'm also one of those people whose results always come back abnormal. They always have. Do you know what they do to you when you have abnormal results? They do something called a colposcopy and take a biopsy. Yes, it hurts. I've had it done twice. You also get to go to the doctor every six months instead of every year. Fun times! I decided to not go to my last six-month appointment. I was just annoyed and didn't see the need if they were just going to tell me the same thing I always hear (something about abnormal cells. Great. Thanks. I can do nothing with that). Yeah, the doctor mentioned it. Because, you know, I'm that girl.

I'm not gonna lie, I want a wand.

After the exam, he told me, "everything looks good". I'm never really sure what to say when my gynecologist gives me a thumbs-up on "everything". I'm sure I'll be seeing him again in a few weeks after they get my results. You know, because history has an annoyingly annoying way of repeating itself. Dagnabit.

No, my gyno's not old. This picture was just the right amount of creepy.

Tomorrow I get to go to the dentist! I've decided frozen yogurt shall be my reward for being a good patient two days in a row. I promised Alyssa I'd go to a frozen yogurt place in Chapel Hill that she's been to, and take pictures. No problem there! I have no qualms about taking pictures of myself enjoying cold, creamy deliciousness. I know you can't wait :)

What's so long about it? (that's what she said)

In my opinion, "long weekend" is an oxymoron. Let's have a 7-day weekend. That would be a real "long weekend". Three days is just a tease. It's just enough for me to get used to sleeping in and getting "me" things done and then BAM, back to the real world.

For my amazingly long and random recap of the fake long weekend, I'll bring you all the way back to Friday, because that's where the wonderfulness began. Earlier in the week I ordered a foam roller. Not just any foam roller, a Trigger Point Performance Therapy - The Grid foam roller. (Because of some recommendations). My choices were black or orange. Of COURSE I went for orange, duh! All I have to say is...how have I lived without a foam roller all this time?! Holy amazingness.

Yes, I was wearing an orange shirt on Friday. I must have known!

Saturday morning I set out to do my six miles. I decided to try out the Thorlos Experia socks (also bought due to a recommendation. Apparently I'm easily influenced), after I decided the Balega socks I'd bought just didn't have enough cushion and were causing blisters. These socks seemed to do a bit better of a job. I'm thinking my left foot is smaller than my right because I still think I could use more cushioning on that side.

I bought 2 other colors also, but I got a size too large, so
green is all I've got for now.

After breakfast and digesting and getting suited up, I headed out

I finally figured out the self timer!

And came back after six miles looking like this

PDR, baby! And yes, I sweat a lot. It's disgusting.

Just in case you need proof.

Near the end, I saved a turtle from being smashed to death by a car or a mean kid. I think he was appreciative.

On Sunday Amanda, Jeremy, and I decided to earn our breakfast and cleaned out the fridge. Random? Yes. And earn our breakfast, we did!

The one good thing that came from having no food in the fridge for a week.

The rest of the weekend was spent grocery shopping, napping, and pretty much just lounging a lot.

Pippi has discovered the wonderfulness of the purple chair. This is where she
slept on Sunday night. (Also I'm convinced she thinks anything brightly colored
is hers. I had to save the foam roller more than once from her ripping it to shreds)

Rocco likes to chill under Jeremy and Amanda's bed. He doesn't fit under mine.
But Pippi does! :)

Amanda gives her people food. I have a strict
no people food diet for her because I can't
standthe begging. Well, guess who she begs
from now. (Ahh revenge is sweet :)

One of the things we always have in the house is bananas. On Sunday we bought a bundle of bananas and then Sunday night we discovered that they had all peeled themselves after I hung them up on the banana hook. It was the most bizarre thing ever.

WTF, bananas?

 





So, instead of being sad, we decided to make banana bread! (via Kari's recipe) The recipe calls for five bananas but we had six casualties, so we decided to add in one extra. We also added walnuts.

Pre-oven

I have no "after" shot because we tore into it soon after it came out of the oven. It actually overflowed a little bit in the oven. I attribute it to the extra banana and the nuts, but I have no regrets. It was yummy!

As for my training this week, I'm going to re-do last week's training and possibly skip the step-down week. I'll decide after another six miles this Saturday. Since last week was such a downer, I feel like I really need to redeem myself. My weekly running mileage since beginning training looks like this

The numbers are supposed to be going UP, not down! How important is it really to take a step-down week for someone training to run a 9.3 mile race? I'm thinking I really don't want to go back a step and keep my momentum up instead by moving forward.