Category: chill out

Paving the Road

Sunday started out according to plan. I slept in a little, started some laundry and then met my family for a last guilty lunch. Per usual, it was pizza and salads at a local restaurant. It was very yummy. I then headed home to work on organizing and cleaning my closet before heading out for a run. I had enlisted my mother’s help with the early spring cleaning. She is an organizational queen, I once posted a picture of her closet on Facebook. All the the tank tops were hung by color, and it was very noticeable as she had upwards of 140 at the time! With my inherent Slacker-ness, minor OCD and germophobe issues, I can have hoarding tendencies. She on the other hand loves either throwing things away or donating them. I figured between the 2 of us, it would take an hour, hour and a half tops.

I was so naive. It took an hour to empty the closet. How is it that items that fit so well before suddenly expand to fill up a room and then some? It was ridiculous. I seriously do not need any more running clothes. It was dark by the time it was finished, with 2 bags of trash and 2 bags to donate. I was so over it by then, now the test is to see how long it lasts. The thing about closets; they have doors, so very easy to hide a little mess. 🙂

It was now too late for a run. I don’t run in the dark, the streets around my house are just not designed for that. There is one, just one, street that has sidewalks but they are more like hurdles, haha. My gym also closes early on Sundays. Then my phone rang, when my phone rings on Sunday afternoons, it’s rarely ever a good thing. It was someone calling in sick for Monday. Waaah! That meant that for Monday, it would be a crew of three, just me and two others. Yikes! I had a hard time sleeping last night just trying to figure out the logistics of only three people.

So this morning that meant I had to be up earlier and out the door sooner. I also went for a double dose of caffeine. I had the feeling I would need it. I even upped from a small soda to a medium. Caffeine and sugar! Work started out well, it stayed steady all day but didn’t really pick up until the afternoon. I managed to sneak away at 2:45 for a few minutes to eat a quick lunch. From then on, it just felt like chaos. I hardly sat down and walked back and forth about a hundred times. And sadly this is not an exaggeration. I was exhausted. We even managed to get help from another location, but it was still rough.

I had optimistically packed my running gear and my shiny new Garmin but I was in no mood to deal with people 😦 And it was too dark to run outside- stupid daylight savings! Tomorrow is more of the same work wise 😦 But it’s New Years Eve, so we’re wearing jeans!!! It’s the small things right?

I am also torn between going to a New Years Eve party or trying to hit the gym again. My gear is still in my car, ready to go. Hmm, decisions, decisions.

So is the road to hell paved with good intentions or good excuses?

Who got in a last or second to last run of 2013? You rockstar!

A Christmas 4

Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you and yours are having a truly wonderful day!

Christmas day is the one day a year that I usually take my Slacker-ness to a whole new level. Like stay in my pajamas all day, Slacker, But that’s ok right? Christmas is one day of the year that it’s acceptable to wear matching pajamas, right? That was my plan for today. However things changed a bit after opening presents this morning. My amazing parents sprung for a Garmin for Christmas!! So I had to test it out right?

After a yummy breakfast and gift opening, we relaxed watching movies. Choice for the morning- Red 2. I then joined my mom and Zoey for an early afternoon walk. Well it was supposed to be a walk, but I really wanted to play with my new toy. So I would run ahead and then double back. I only almost lost them once. I threw in a hill loop and it took me longer to catch back up. It upped an easy run into a temporary tempo, ha! I ran with the Garmin and the Nike App, just to compare. They were pretty dead on to each other. 4.25 miles to 4.23. I love being able to check my pace as I am running. This may make me more neurotic than ever, haha.

Then it was time for an amazing dinner of Beef Stroganoff and the previously mentioned matching pajamas. Fleece ones this year, so much better than flannel. Then it was time for the Doctor Who Christmas special, a tradition these past few years. I won’t lie, I may get a little misty eyed this time around.

Hope everyone has had a great day!!

How many of you got running gear for Christmas?

Embracing the Excuse

December has shaped up to be Slacker month. I have decided to stop stressing about it and just enjoy it. I hit my weight loss goal in January of 2013 and have stayed there for almost a year. If the scale goes up a couple pounds in December, so be it. I would rather spend the holidays enjoying time with family and friends than being the weird one who isn’t eating. Besides I am having a hard enough time with the new stupid diet restrictions my doctor gave me, I am not going to stress about counting calories and pounds. I am having troubles with my newest restrictions, some days I notice I eat hardly anything and other days way too much. I am still tracking my food everyday (Lose It) but now it’s mostly so I can try to level it out and watch my nutrient intake.

That Slacker-ness has extended to running as well. 😦 My standard 3 days a week has become 2 days a week. Ouch. On the upside, my class finally finished and all final assignments have been turned in so I am hoping that will clear up some time for running. I am aiming to finish 95% of my wrapping tonight as well. I am going to attempt some last minute shopping tomorrow so I may have a few last minute items. Fingers crossed, it is not totally insane tomorrow.

I did make it to the gym on Tuesday evening. I was cranky and tired but my goal was to do 3 miles (very Slacker). I went with the same cuckoo pattern that I had done last week. For every mile, I walked 1:30, ran the middle at a steadier pace and then ran at 7 for the last .25 mile. I also had the incline set at 2, yeah that probably should have been higher too. L Luckily, none of the TV’s had Monsters Inside Me on, and yes I checked before choosing a treadmill. I chose one near the door so I could take advantage of the occasional cold air coming in. I must have been good because I ran 10 minute miles for 3.5 miles. Usually the treadmill feels like I am slogging and my pace reflects that. I noticed that I had upped my middle steady pace, so I will aim for more of that in the future.

Today I worked, so it was up cold and early to head that way. Of course I was stuck behind a car driving below the speed limit but even with that delay I was still 25 minutes early. I should have slept longer 😦 On Saturdays I work at a different location so sometimes I end feeling as useful as a bump on a log. Other than that it was a good morning, I drove home for some lunch and braving the Target crowds to get some essentials. I also picked up some ingredients for a Crock Pot French toast recipe that I found on Pinterest. Work is having a breakfast potluck on Christmas Eve. This is amusing because I can barely boil water. 🙂

After all that the plan was to get in 5 miles. However, my stomach was not keen on that plan, stupid diet. I thought about waiting and going to the gym when I felt better but I knew I would not follow through. I was also running out of daylight, so I sucked it up and went. I was torn between going really, really slow or just hauling to get it over with quicker. I also knew 5 miles was probably not going to happen. My first mile came in at 10:23. With that hill? When I run from my house, my first mile is always SLOW as I usually walk half of it. So hearing 10:23, hot damn!

Maybe the incentive was that I knew my mom was out somewhere walking the puppy for her first long walk. Success at 1.5 miles!!! I pause Nike for some puppy time and then ran on. I threw in some loops so I could meet up with them every mile. It was great incentive to keep moving quickly 🙂 I finished at my driveway for 4.27 miles in 42 minutes, sweet! But I was also glad I was done.

Now, I’ve spent too much time in the Comfy Chair, so it’s off to wrap presents. I even have a little helper-

If she stops eating the paper that is... — If she stops eating the paper that is…

Anyone brave the chaos today?

Any races this weekend?

Fun Times ( and a little running)

I tried to start this post last night but the kitten decided she wanted to join me on the comfy chair. I was cold so I had the big blanket out. She made it very hard to type. Not sure if it was her purring or just me but I totally fell asleep in the chair. It’s a good thing I didn’t drop the laptop.

Thursday saw a successful girl’s night out. We lost one before it even started (missed you A!) but picked up another. 🙂 We hit Chili’s for yummy food and drinks and then were off to an early showing of Catching Fire. And it was amazing. I got a little teary eyed and I knew what was coming. Could have done without the guy a few rows down getting trashed and shattering his wine glass, but the movie was great.

The only real downside to the night came when I realized I had left my hat in the theater. 😦 It was my favorite hat! It had been a little misty when I picked up my friends, so I had been wearing it to and from dinner and into the theater, I hate umbrellas (and cause more harm than good with them) so for years I have been wearing an old fedora. I tried calling and emailing the theater but no luck. Ugh! Otherwise, it was a great night!

Today marked the 1^st of 9 days off. I’m on vacation. Part of me is excited and part is anxious. I have not had that many days off in… well ever. But work gives me no choice, so here I am. If I had my way, I would just have a 4 day weekend every once in awhile. But no such luck. So much time and so little to do.

My first morning of vacation started off with a very slow 5.5 mile run. And it was so cold, and I apparently thought I didn’t need gloves or ear warmers. Stupid. It was cold and I was slow but whatever, I still made it a happen. I even ran halfway up 2 hills I have always walked before. One of which was my driveway- when my shin splints were really bad, I would drive to the bottom and park before running. So to even make it partway up was cool. This run may have been slow but I met my weekly goal for the Pile on the Miles challenge. Woo hoo!

My run was cold and early because nerdily enough I had a date with my tv at 11:50. Today was the 50^th anniversary special for Doctor Who and I was too impatient to watch it later. It was awesome! Between this and Catching Fire, it has been like nerd-vana for me this week. Now if I can just go get my book that came out this week, it would be a trifecta of awesome-ness.

Tomorrow my goal is to get in some track time and maybe do a little speed work. Now let’s see if I follow through or let this vacation thing go to my head.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Anyone else see Catching Fire or The Day of the Doctor?

Anyone racing?

Sunday Slacker-Day

This morning started early for me (at least for a Sunday), I met my boss at Wal-Mart to finish up some Christmas preparations. Does it freak anyone else out how close it is getting to December 25? After lunch and running some errands, I was home and feeling very Slacker-like.

I knew I needed to get in some miles for the Pile on the Miles Challenge, but I wasn’t feeling it. I was sitting on the floor (surprisingly comfy) and getting ready to scrapbook the last 2 races. That could potentially take a while, so I could substitute that for running right? I was also checking Twitter, and I saw this tweet-

DEVELOPING STORY: @mikewardian just won #RnRSA in 2:31:19, now he'll fly 1,200 miles to race on the #StripatNight: http://t.co/NcOIYWFrK6

— Dan Cruz (@DanCruzNews) November 17, 2013

If this guy is flying from San Antonio to Las Vegas to run 2 marathons today, I can get off my ass and get in a few miles. So I changed and set out for a quick 3 miles. My calves ~~were~~ are really stiff and my stomach was not the happiest so they were not fast miles. I felt a little better at the first turn around point and added another mile. The up hills felt ok and the down hills were uncomfortable. Anyone remember before they started running and they naively thought down hills would be the best part? Ha! I made back the house at 4.4 miles. They were slow, they were stiff but they were better than sitting on my backside.

After stretching and showering and trying to massage the stubborn knot out of my left calf, I did retreat to the Comfy Chair to put my feet up. I also checked out the Spooner’s Cove race website. Official times and photos are up from yesterday, 1:06:50. As I mentioned before, it was my mom’s first race. And what does she manage to do on her first race? She places 1^st in her age group! Guess we should have stuck around a little longer after finishing, oops. Most people try for years to age group place and she does it right out of the gate!

Both photos- coastaltrailruns.com

Back to the Pile on the Miles challenge, I am on track for the month but was a little behind on last weeks goal. My goal is to hit the gym tomorrow and Tuesday after work. Fingers crossed, I follow through. 🙂 I have a late meeting on Wednesday, so that can be a rest day.

Congrats to everyone who raced this weekend! The posts are coming in, you all did amazing!!!