Unplanned Leave of Absence

I interrupt your day to briefly explain my unplanned leave of absence.

Hot tea. Tissues. And a baby playing alone. Yep, I've been sick. And, the baby got sick (of course). And, the Hubs got sick. It's been one fun time around these parts.  We're all starting to feel a bit better, but between the plague hitting our house and a trip to St. Louis and, well, life-- blogging has taken a back seat. Don't worry-- I'll be back soon. :)

I admit...

Am I the only one who ever feels like some running/healthy living/whatever bloggers sometimes come off as everything is always wonderful, each run feels like unicorns and sprinkles and sunshine, I ALWAYS eat perfectly healthy and organic and  I love chia seeds on everything and I call peanut butter a 'nut butter' and blah, blah, blah?? I could go on and on.

I'm OVER it.

I'm here to tell you-- life's not like that. No one is perfect. Well, maybe they are. But, I am not. So, here's my confessions to avoid any confusion for even 1 more second that I am one of THOSE bloggers... not that there was confusion, but ya know... let's clear things up before there's any confusion.

I admit...

-I pretty much NEVER set the incline on the treadmill at "at least 1% to simulate outdoor running". Never. Unless I'm doing a hill workout. Otherwise, that suckers at ZERO. I'll simulate outdoor running when I'm OUTSIDE.

Just an example... notice the BLANK spot next to the incline. That'd be the same as a big fat 0.0.

-I've never tried chia seeds. They look gross. I have no desire to try them and no plans to, either.


-I didn't know how to pronounce Quinoa properly. The Hubs had to find out the hard why (by mispronouncing it the way I had been saying it in public and getting corrected) and then educate me. Whoops.

Who knew they had YouTube videos all on how to pronounce Quinoa. Crazy.

-I "hate read" some blogs. I KNOW they annoy me. I know their seemingly perfect life bugs the shit outta me. I know when I read I'll yell at them in my head. But, I keep reading.


-I've never made a monster green smoothie that everyone SWEARS you can't taste the spinach. I kinda wanna try it just to prove everyone wrong when I CAN in fact taste the spinach, but haven't gotten around to trying it.


-I call complete BULLSHIT on about 80% of the "but-it-tastes-like-the-real-version" of healthy recipes. I still MAKE and EAT and even ENJOY a lot of healthified recipes. But, quit saying they taste just like the original version. They don't. And, whoever for 1 second believes black bean brownies taste like chocolate brownies is on CRACK.


-Some days I haaaaaate running. I don't want to do it. I don't want to sweat. I don't want to move. I don't want to do ANYTHING.

(source)

-I like to eat. Woah. I know. Maybe I should have warned you and had you sit before you read that. Food is freaking good. I cannot and will not survive on teeeeeeny, tinnnnny portions of nothing but whole food, gulten free, no carb, no sugar, bleah, bleah, bleah. I need sizable portions of food to live. Not ginormous portions, though sometimes I eat those too. I'm so sick of seeing pics on bloggers pages of their "OMG-- it was SO MUCH BIGGER THAN IT LOOKS" dishes. No it wasn't. It was 2 bites. That's all you're eating. I'm not you. I like to EAT.

There were MANY other choices of pictures of me shoving food in my face. Too many. Note to self: stop taking pictures while you're eating.

 

 

-Speaking of eating-- I eat regular, plain peanut butter. As in-- NOT 100% natural peanut butter. I know, I know. OOOOOMMMMMGGGGG. I very well may fall over and die from all the preservatives tomorrow. Truth be told-- I just can't stomach the kind that you have to stir and that has all that liquid on the top. It just grosses me out. I guess I could get the no-stir kind, but whhhhhy when this kind is SOOOOO GOOOOOOOD?!?!

-I never, NEVER call peanut butter a "nut butter". Nor do I call almond butter or hazelnut or whatever... I call NOTHING a nut butter. WTF is that anyway? How much harder is it to say ALMONDbutter than NUTbutter? Get over it.


-Sometimes I eat baked cheetos or ice cream while watching The Biggest Loser. All those "Do this workout while watching a show about working out and losing weight" workouts... yeaaaah. I never, never do them. Ever. Unless you count lifting your arm from bowl to mouth as a workout (which I do. duh.)

-Sometimes (a lot of times) I can only get it quick 2-ish mile runs during the week and then 1 long run on the weekends. Would I like to get a more substantial mid-week run in of say 6 or 7 or 8 miles? Sure. But, will I stop going to group fitness classes to do that? Not a chance. I know I should get a longer run in, but it's just not happening right.

 

WOAH! Look at that-- I even got a 4.5 mile run in at some point.  

 

 

-I've never been to a WholeFoods. Ok, that's not 100% true. For my job I got to visit our local WholeFoods to talk about employment opportunities for the students I work with, but it wasn't open yet (still isn't, actually). So, I've never been to an OPEN, functional WholeFoods. I've never eaten off the AMAZING, DELICIOUS (and PRIIIICEY, I imagine) hot foods bar or had one of their juices. Guess what? I'm still alive. Turns out you can in fact live without WholeFoods. EARTH SHATTERING news, I know.

 

 

 

I'm sure there are about a bazillion more, but I'll stop now while I'm ahead. Anyway-- I hope everyone knows no one you never see 100% of the whole story on any blog and that NO blogger is perfect. Even if they make you think they are.

Before & After

This is what I looked and felt like BEFORE my workout this morning.

 

 

 

Yup. You read right. This MORNING. I got up at 5am (WITHOUT an alarm, I'll add! Eck!! Good thing I happened to wake up right then!) and got to the gym just in time to take the 5:30am Signature Strength class. And, I felt good! I was awake and alert and feeling good.

 

 

Class was brutal, as usual. The obligatory "warm up" was 15 good-mornings (using 15 lb-body bar), 30 alternate lunges with weights in hands (I used 10 lb) and then 30 push ups. Repeat. Again- SO NOT A WARM UP, but honestly it was better than most, so I didn't complain (not that I ever do... at least not out loud).

 

While the warm up wasn't that bad... the rest of class was. Walk out push ups, rows, clean presses, bicep curls, push ups galore, lots of sit ups/crunches/core work, overhead tricep extensions... and more. I can't even remember. All I know is that I felt like DEATH by the end. Ex-freaking-hausted. But, I told myself just to TRY for a quick run and that if I wasn't feeling it .1 mile in, I could stop.

 

 

Well, I still was definitely NOT feeling it after .1, but managed to convenience myself not to stop. I only had time for 2 miles instead my usual 2.5 because class ran over (and because I have my morning routine down to the SECOND and even just 4.5 more minutes on the TM would have made me late to work). They weren't 2 fast miles. They weren't 2 pretty miles. But, they were 2 miles. Done and done.

 

By the end of class and the quick run, this is what I felt/looked like AFTER my workout...

 

 

No, that is not a mis-print photo. I felt like a SLEEPY DOG. I was freaking BEAT and just all around WORN OUT and felt CRUMMY. Just not my workout.

 

Which leads me to a small tangent... this weekend my girlfriends and I were talking about how sometimes social media/blogs/etc. can actually be REALLY mentally draining/damaging. Seeing/reading all these other people talk about how GREAT they are and how great their lives are when our lives don't seem to measure up can be hard sometimes.

 

There are some bloggers or "friends" on facebook who always seem to have everything together. Always the perfect workout and the perfectly balanced diet (about 9 times out of 10 including something that she "swear tastes so good" but looks like ASS. Or a green smoothie. Every freaking time.). They always seem so perfect.

 

Sometimes, we can't help but compare ourselves to these people who are supposed to be out "peers". We can't help but think "She ran 10 miles on the treadmill this morning, so I should at least be able to run 10. She did!" We know better, but we still compare.

 

After we compare, we try to live up to them. We run farther than we're ready to. We ignore injuries. We eat WAY too little food because she only ate like 1,000 calories today AND she ran 8 miles, went to a spinning class and did a 45 minute strength circuit. That she made up. On a Tuesday. We end up making extremely poor life choices to try to live up to her.

 

Then, the inevitable happens. We don't live up to their impossible-to-maintain standard of perfection, we feel BAD. Really bad. We feel like failures. We feel like she's better than us. We feel like crap.

 

WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

Here's a thought... STOP READING THOSE. And, who is this she? Who is she really? We have NO idea who whoever this persons blog is REALLY is. Some blogs (or facebook profiles or whatever) don't portray very accurate images of themselves. And, even worse, some blogs do and they are EXTREMELY UNHEALTHY. If a blogger never seems to have bad days or bad workouts or never eats a single freaking cupcake (made with FLOUR not freaking black beans or something)... they are NOT healthy. EVERYONE feels like a freaking sleepy dog sometimes. I guarantee it. If a blogger isn't saying it-- they're only showing you one side of themselves. And, fine-- it's their blog. But, if you feel bad about yourself after reading a blog, DON'T READ THAT BLOG ANYMORE. Seriously. If you find yourself thinking "I should be more like XXX" too often, STOP READING THEIR BLOG.

Be you. Don't let something that you do for FUN and for a HOBBY (like reading blogs or facebooking) be a source of stress. Please believe I'm talking to myself right now as much as to you. I just deleted 5 blogs off my favorites tab and plan to tackle my facebook friends list next. Life's too short.



 

 

The Day After

Well, I survived!

26.2 (or 26.7+, depending on who you ask!) later and I'm alive and... well, alive!

I've never been this sore, but I'll admit I was expecting worse. I can walk... and go up and down stairs, though both with a little waddle and not exactly pain free.

I passed out last night at about 10pm and slept pretty solid til 8am this morning. I honestly think I woke up so early simply because I was SO sore and my body needed to move around a bit.

Anyway, I got up and then made and devoured (a huge) breakfast. Then, I layed around and graded some papers and watched Desperate Housewives on Netflix Instant.

I pretty much stayed in the same spot til lunch... left over pizza with a side of more Desperate Housewives and compression socks.

 

 



At 12:30 I finally made my way out of the house and went to work. I took today off, but still had to teach.

By 2:15pm class was out and I was on my way to my massage!! I was SOOOO excited for this! 

The massage felt GREAAAT! But, I'm definitely still sore and it didn't do the wonders I was hoping for. Oh well.

One thing that DID do wonders for my rumbling tummy was FRO YO!

Best post-marathon gift to myself ever.

 

After fro yo I came home and wrote my expo-blog. Now, it's time to put my legs up and zone out in front of the TV for the rest of the night.

 

G'night all!!

 

 

 

(The rest of the marathon re-cap is still coming... I promise!)

One Lovely Blog Award

Never when I started this blog did I ever, ever, evvvvver imagine it’s actually go anywhere. I didn’t even think anyone (including the Hubs) would actually read it. So, you can imagine my completely and utter SHOCK when I got nominated for an AWARD!! What has the world come to? Wow! I am shocked and beyond humbled and super excited!

The one and only Amy at Recipe for Disaster must have gone temporarily insane when she nominated me for the Pink Tree award One Lovely Blog award!

THANK YOU, Amy!!! When I first start blogging I had NO expectations at all. I didn’t know if I’d like doing it or even if I WOULD do it for more than like 1 day. But, this lil’ blog o’ mine has really become something I love to do, has connected me with SO many wonderful running friends from all over the place, and has only further fostered my love for that crazy little thing called running. So, I am beyond excited about this award and am thrilled to accept it! THANK YOU, Amy!!!!  

So, to accept the One Lovely Blog award, I have to do a few things…
1.  Link it back to the person who nominated you – done and done. Check out Amy’s amazing blog if you haven’t already. She’s the bomb.
2.  Paste the award image to my blog, someplace – whoop! Again, donezo.
3.  Share 7 facts about myself (stay tuned)
4.  Nominate other blogs for this award: (I nominated Megan at Running Toward the Prize & Tasha at Healthy Diva. I read their blogs like every, single day. Amazing women. Check them out.)
5.  Post a comment on each of your nominees’ blogs telling them about their One Lovely Blog award nomination.

_______________________________________________________________________

So… 7 facts about myself, huh? Here goes nothing…

1. I'm a big college sports fan. The Hubs is an even bigger college sports fan. Well, to define "sports" what I really mean is football and basketball. I went to the University of Illinois (aka U of I... GO ILLINI!!) and the Hubs went to Purdue. Enter Big Ten love. Come college basketball season, our TV is complete taken over by Purdue or Illini basketball games. Our wedding was the day of the Purdue v U of I football game. Purdue won. I had to listen to the Hubs and ALL his groomsmen (who also all went to Purdue) sing their fight song to me. Worst moment of the wedding. :)

The Hubs and I at an Illini basketball game. ILL-INI!!

2. I go to spinning at least once a week and still haven't bit the bullet and bought spinning shoes. Too pricey? Don't know where to get them? Nah... I just don't want to take the time to change shoes after class because I have juuuust enough time to book it to the treadmill, run 2 miles, shower, and get to work. Just enough time. Clearly changing shoes would throw that whole system outta wack.

3. One of my very best friends and I went to grad school together and once had a very long, heated discussion about which of us was more weird than the other. We ended up ranking our entire co-hort on a "weird" list. I finally gave her the number 1 spot, but just the fact that we had this conversation makes us pretty weird, I think.

 MH, you know I love you. Quite possibly BECAUSE of how weird you are.

4. I hate stew. Beef stew. Chicken stew. Veggie stew. Sick. All sick. Stew of any kind GROSSES ME OUT. I cannot handle it. Never, ever will I make stew. G-r-o-s-s.

5. When I go to the gym I fill my water bottle up in the standard water fountain and forgo the fancy filtered water fountain thing. I think the water fountain water tastes better. NUMEROUS times when I've been filling it up someone tells me I should use the other fancy filtered water fountain thing instead. GET OFF ME! I like non-fancy water. Get over it.

6. When I was little I wanted to be a toll booth worker for like over a year. It seemed like a great job for some reason. Clearly, I was a weird kid. After that phase I just decided I wanted to be "the boss" when I grew up. People would ask me "what kind of boss? The boss of what?" Silly people. It didn't matter. As long as I could be bossy to someone. Woah, I was a special kid. 

7. I LOVE reality TV. Love. I watch more reality TV than non-reality TV. Far more, now that I actually think about it. Real Housewives of NY, Big Brother, everything on HGTV and the Food Network, Khloe and Lamar (WAY better than any of the other Kardashian shows!!), Guiliana & Bill... you name it, I likely love it. I DON'T however do many of the competition shows-- Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, The Voice-- never got into any of them. I also never got into any of the Bachelor's or Bachelorette's. 



I had no picture to go with this, so I decided to post a pic of me from my Bachelorette Party! Get it... The Bachelorette reality show, me as a Bachelorette... all coming together now? Get it? Good.