Two dinners

I haven’t been sick for awhile, but I think I’ve got some kind of bug.  I’m not really sure what’s going on, but my throat feels phlegmy and scratchy and I’m coughing a lot.  And I’m tired.  No fun.

But, alas, today, after work, I ran five miles.  It was HOT in the gym.  No fans for me today, and the AC was struggling.  I poured sweat the entire time.  All in all, 5 miles in 49:26.  Not great.  It was hard.  I was not a fan of my “hey, let’s run a marathon” decision today.

About halfway home from work, I started feeling really nauseous.  My stomach was churning and I just did not feel good at all.  But, after a quick shower, I made dinner anyway.

Dinner the first—whole grain white pasta, the fantastic local ground beef Tim got from a co-worker’s beef hookup, and some marinara sauce.

Ate two bites, thinking that getting something in my stomach would help with the nausea.

WRONG.  It instantly got worse and I couldn’t stomach any more.

I took a 15 minute hiatus from food and tried again.

Plain, bland carbs, in the form of a whole wheat Bagel Thin.

Bingo.  That did the trick—I ate one and felt much better, so I ate a second, with a little peanut butter.  Stomach?  Settled.

I don’t know what the deal is, but my stomach does not like running sometimes.  The post-run nausea thing doesn’t happen regularly enough to ascertain a pattern, which is frustrating.  I THINK it’s usually on particularly sweaty, longer runs, but I can’t be sure.   Hmmph.

What soothes your tummy when it’s upset?  Any hypotheses on how to fix me?

Lunchtime workout

So, lately…I’ve kind of been resenting the gym a little bit.  I have STUFF to do at home, what with, y’know, the wedding and all.  I also admit that the combination of our upcoming nuptials and being so busy/traveling so much have me feeling like a clingy koala bear and I want to spend as much time with Tim as possible.   If I go to the gym…I don’t get home until 6:30, have to shower, and basically make the quickest dinner possible.  Normally I don’t mind, but I just haven’t been feeling it lately.

But, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to work out.  Au contraire!  I’ve been craving a good workout all weekend.  So, today, I randomly decided to work out over my lunch hour!  My gym is only 0.4 miles away (according to Google) from my office, and the weather was nice. 

So, I had a little snack around 11:30:

And at noon, I changed in my office, ran to the gym, and worked out!

I ran the 0.4 miles to the gym, then 1.5 miles on the treadmill.  (I decided to keep the run short to see how my knee/leg felt.  It felt awesome!  I’m going to try longer tomorrow.)  Then, I hit the weights and did…

• 3 sets of 12 squats at 95 lbs.
• 3 sets of 12 shoulder presses at 30 lbs.
• 3 sets of 10 overhead lat pulldowns at 60 lbs
• 3 sets of 10 underhand grip pulldowns at 60 lbs
• 3 sets of 12 upright rows at 30 lbs.
• 3 sets of 10 deadlifts at 40 lbs.

And sprinted the 0.4 mile back to my office.  All in all, it was quite a good workout—I think I’m going to keep this up, at least for the foreseeable future!  Obviously it won’t work for longer runs, but it’s definitely do-able, especially while the weather is nice.

I do need to make sure to bring some kind of powder for my face, some kind of body spray, and a change of undies for next time, though!  (I already keep deodorant and face wipes in my desk.)

I promptly devoured the rest of my lunch. 

Spinach with balsamic…

A multigrain bagel…

 

And Greek yogurt with strawberries and a little GoLean crunch.

 

Around 4:00 I snacked on a Chocolate Raspberry Luna Bar.  Is it just me, or are they getting smaller?

All in all, I was home and showered by 5:45.  Love the new routine!  I felt nice and cozy and worn out all afternoon, too, rather than antsy and eager to get up and move.

In wedding news, my mom sent me a picture of the flower girl basket she’s devised:

And we are still waiting on six RSVPs.  Yaaargh.  This is seriously driving me nuts!  DUDE.   

What time of day do you prefer to work out?

I’m sorry I made you cry.

You GUYS.

You are all too incredible. 

I have been reading your comments on my last post all day long and smiling and tearing up with you all.  I am so thrilled that we raised over $650 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today!  I am almost 20% of the way to my goal.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I can’t say it enough.  I will be inspired by your kindness when the going gets tough tomorrow.

I feel like I had to write that post for a few reasons.  I’m going to be talking a lot about marathon training and, consequently, Team in Training quite a bit from here on out, and I want everyone to realize that this is really and truly something very important to me. This is not something I’m doing on a whim, and I am taking my fundraising commitment very seriously.  Every little bit helps!

I also wrote it for myself.  I haven’t talked about those details for a long, long time and I was literally sitting in my bloggin’ chair sobbing.  It was cathartic.  I don’t have a reason to share that time in my life much of the time, and it truly helped me to be able to write about it.  I don’t walk around sad anymore, but the little twinges over the course of eighteen years add up. 

A few commenters suggested that I also recommend everyone register for the National Bone Marrow Donor Program, and I wholeheartedly agree!  I am a registered marrow donor, and I hope you will visit their website and learn more about how you can become one too.  Even though a transplant didn’t help my dad, it is an incredible cure for many, many people and I’m so grateful to the donor who gave my dad his best chance at life.

Anyway, tomorrow’s the BIG DAY.  So I did things today one does before a half marathon.  Such as charge Sheila the Garmin:

Carb load:

 

And pick up my race packet.

(Quite an expo, huh?)  There wasn’t too much there, but there was a Team in Training booth.  I stopped to talk with the rep a little bit and she gave me her card and told me to e-mail her and I could train with the Kansas City team!  Whee!

And a preview?

I…don’t think this is going to be a very interesting course. 

The shirt isn’t half bad.  At least it’s not bright orange!

 

And my number.  Nice and round.  I like that.

I also finished my official half marathon playlist.

I still can’t decide whether to wear my tiny iPod shuffle or carry my larger iPhone in my SPIbelt.  If I bring the iPhone, I can possibly take pictures along the course…but it would require more gear.  Decisions, decisions.

I am off to get everything arranged and re-arranged for tomorrow.  Can’t be too prepared!

Hopefully next time I ‘see’ you…I’ll be a half marathoner!  Eep! 

What’s your favorite pre-race breakfast?

Foot help is on the way!

Happy Monday!  I usually feel pretty cheery and well-rested on Mondays.  It’s Wednesday and Thursday I find it hard to get going!

Anyway.  Went to work.  Lunch:

Whole wheat bagel with 1 T. natural peanut butter, peach Chobani, strawberries, and granola.  And I forgot my Camelbak bottle today, so I had to buy a bottle of water at work!  And I (gasp) refilled it!  Hopefully I’ll live.

Anyway, my lunch break was significant because…long story short, I’m going to a podiatrist on April 1st!  I spent the hour calling around and checking my insurance benefits, and they will cover everything except for a $25 copay and orthotics over $1000.  I figured I might as well schedule it now, because I thought it would take a long time to get in, but not so!  Next Thursday, I might have some answers!  Holy cow!

The poor secretary asked what my problem was.  I was like, “Well, I’m a runner, and I have these giant blisters all over my feet, and now I have a huge knot/bruise above my right arch, oh and I have a black toenail too…” and her response was “You’re a mess!”  Yes, indeed I am.  At least in the foot area.

I also scheduled my annual pap smear.  It’s important, ladies.  Get it done!

Anyway, I tried the cushiony new orthotics in my running shoes today.

They felt pretty good.  I like that they have less arch support than the regular sockliner.

Anyway, I ran 5 miles in 46:45!  This is pretty epic for me.  I am really enjoying running faster lately.  I think less, and it’s over faster.  Yup.

Hey, look what came today!  A passport…and an assport. 

Heh.  So, folks, we’re all paid up and ready to take a honeymoon!  I can’t wait.  I’ll be doing a lot of traveling the next few months—in the next 3 months, I have trips to Vegas, Napa Valley, New Orleans/Mexico, and south Florida planned.  Whee!

Here’s what roasted chicken does on the second day at our house:

 

Whole grain white tortillas (they were out of wheat) with garlic & herb Laughing Cow cheese and leftover roasted chicken.   Delish.

Anyway, I’m in a great mood—three workdays left until I’m on a plane to Chicago, a great run, and foot answers are on the horizon!  Hoorah!

I’m currently watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu.  It’s definitely interesting. 

Anyone else watch?  What did you think?

Coffee Craving

Today I’m out in the wilds of rural Missouri for work.  You know what this means?  When you leave your house in a rush, thinking “oh, I’ll stop for coffee on the way,” you should remember that there is no such thing as a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts in rural Missouri.  There is Quik Trip, which has coffee that tastes vaguely like fuel and is not worth the $1.29.  And that’s it.

It was a long, coffee-less drive to get where I’m going.  Generally, I’m not a coffee-needer to get going in the morning.  I usually brew one cup in the Keurig, and rarely finish it.  But with Daylight Savings, and sore running legs, and driving,…all morning I was dying for coffee, or at least something coffee-flavored which would give me the illusion of being caffeinated.  Ugh.

I had to be somewhere for a few hours in the morning and then had to go somewhere else about an hour away for a few hours in the afternoon.  I was absolutely determined to get something coffee-like.  Sometimes, friends, we have to settle.

McDonald’s sugar-free vanilla iced coffee.  Full of crappy chemicals, I’m sure, but goodlord did it taste good (and pick me up mentally for awhile.)

I also packed my lunch in my favorite Fit n’ Fresh lunch container so I wouldn’t have to stop.  I had an Everything bagel thin sammich, strawberry Chobani, and granola, eaten in my car.  I’m a classy lady.

 

I was done with my stuff by 3:00 and checked into my hotel by 3:30.  I decided that I was going to check out the hotel gym.  Hotel gyms kind of creep me out.  Even though I stay in half decent places…they make me feel icky.  I don’t know, I have weird mental blocks on some things.  (See also Home Depot, condiments, and birds.)  But, today, I packed workout clothes and shoes and was determined to at least give it a try. 

I was impressed with the gym.  It had three treadmills, two ellipticals, a recumbent bike, and free weights (complete with loud, grunting, Jersey-shore-type dude).  And every machine had a TV ATTACHED RIGHT TO IT JUST FOR YOU!  Love.  TV makes running 35% more tolerable.

I watched Stacy and Clinton, naturally.  I had 3 miles on the schedule today, but I figured I’d do tomorrow’s 5 today, so I can get home after a night away a little sooner tomorrow.  And really, what the hell else am I going to do here?

So yeah.  Ran 5 miles, kept at an easy 10:00/mile pace since my legs were still a little twitchy from yesterday and sitting in a car all morning.  Even though the gym was nice, it was really hot and I sweated approximately six gallons. 

I showered and then went for the epic “What’s for dinner in this strange town?” question.  My options, according to my GPS and eyes, were Bob Evans, Shoney’s, Hardee’s, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Cracker Barrel. 

Now, I’m not one to shun fast food entirely.  I love me an occasional McD’s breakfast and I get cravings for Arby’s.  But the thing is, I want to eat that food WHEN I WANT IT.  Today, it all sounded gross to me.  Specifically, I was craving two things very strongly during my run: cut fresh fruit and peanut butter.   More and more, lately, while I’m running, my body will say, VERY clearly, “Feed me THIS when you’re done.”  99% of the time it’s something healthy—peanut butter, fruit, and eggs have all been very common ones lately.  I don’t mean to be all crunchy and shit, but who am I to say no?  My body is like a stupid puppy—I should reward it when it does something right, like say “I want healthy food.”  So I do.

Obviously, with limited options, it wasn’t going to come from any of those places.  So I took a cue from Susan and hit up the grocery store next to my hotel instead!  (In my pajamas, no less, because I really didn’t want to put on my work clothes and heels after a run.)

The results?

Total?  $13.46, for a big container of fruit (grapes, mangoes, honeydew, canteloupe, pineapple and strawberries), a Dannon Greek yogurt (which I LOVED, BTW), a 6 pack of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat bagels, natural PB (I went for the slightly less natural version to avoid messy stirring in a hotel room), a diet coke (I know I know) and a Cadbury egg for dessert!  Exactly what I wanted.  (I obviously only ate 1 bagel with PB, and about half the fruit—it wasn’t great, unfortunately.)

I hope my per diem covers full jars of peanut butter.

Anyway, it was delicious, filling, and hit the spot and I’m glad I didn’t hit the drive through. 

What foods do you crave, healthy and not-so-healthy?  On the healthy front, like I said, peanut butter, fruit, and eggs are big…on the not-so-healthy front, I’ve been dying for ice cream after long runs lately!

Busy Bee

I had lots of work to do today that kept me busy at work.  It was nice!  My work comes in waves, usually, so some days are really busy and others are much slower.  The day goes by faster when I have more to do!

Today’s lunch was a lesson in volumetrics (eating a whole lot of really low calorie foods instead of a small amount of calorie-dense foods).

Check out that spread!

I don’t usually do calorie breakdowns, but this was pretty magnificent.

• Spinach: about 20 calories
• Carrots: about 15 calories
• 1 T. Lighthouse dressing: 20 calories
• 2 clementines: 70 calories
• Chicken noodle soup: 150 calories
• Chobani Greek yogurt: 120 calories
• Strawberries: 35 calories
• Homemade corn muffin: 100 calories

530 calories for a huge, healthy, filling lunch that took FOREVER to eat.

After work I went for a run.  It wasn’t my best run, but not my worst either.  I did 4.5 miles in about 45:30.  I slowed my pace down a bit because my asthma was bugging me a bit.  My allergies have been bad lately, and I’ve had an off-and-on sinus headache for the last few days, so it’s not totally out of the blue.  But I got it done, anyway. 

Then, on the way home, I had to stop at the store.  I tried the Western Bagel brand of bagels, but I find the “sweet wheat” flavor a little weird.  Since they’re high in fiber and low in calories and have good ingredient list, I picked up the country white to try.

I’ll report back!

Anyway, I’m super tired and still have a million things to do before bed.  Sigh.

Are you a volume eater or a calorie-dense eater?

A Very Nauseous Holiday

Last night Tim and I went out to dinner.  We usually go out to dinner on Saturday anyway, so it wasn’t really a Valentine’s Day celebration.  I had some delicious blackberry sangria, pasta with chicken and mushrooms, and we split a slice of chocolate cake.  It was a nice night together!

Until this morning.  I got up and had an English muffin with PB and coffee, and immediately, my stomach started disagreeing with my decision.  Suffice it to say, it was not pretty 10 minutes later.  I felt better, so I decided to go ahead as planned and try to go shopping to get some of the things I need for the wedding: a rehearsal dress, a shower dress, and clothes for my bachelorette parties.

Unfortunately, no stores have dresses that are anything close to what I want yet.  I couldn’t find ANYTHING, and I went to two different malls.  I did wind up with some cute shirts for work, though.

And I also got two bras, which I desperately needed.  But you don’t get to see those.  Also, pet peeve: when women bring their husbands/fiances/boyfriends to Victoria’s Secret.  There were no fewer than four men awkwardly lurking around VS while I shopped for bras.  Creepy.

Anyway, my stomach was crampy and upset all day while I shopped.  I got home at about 1 o’clock and made the only thing that sounded remotely appealing: plain macaroni noodles with a little butter.

Yeah, that didn’t take well either.  10 minutes later…you get the idea.  This is all extremely weird, because I have a cast iron stomach.  It rarely gets upset.  But today…ugggh.

Anyway, again, I felt a little better and decided to finish running my errands.  I went to Target to pick up the printed pictures of Milhouse and get a few grocery staples, and then to Michael’s to get more adhesive and vellum for wedding-y stuff.  I noticed shadow boxes were 40% off, and I’ve been meaning to get one for our invitation, so I did.

I might dry a few flowers from my bouquet to add after the wedding, but I like it!   I just need to figure out where to hang it.

I also picked up dinner for myself at Target and told Tim to fend for himself.

A plain wheat bagel.  Exciting!

So, that’s our romantic Valentine’s Day.  I’m currently sitting in my armchair fighting nausea and wishing it would go away.  Blech!  I’m glad I took tomorrow off.  At least I was productive.  I’m not sure if it’s food poisoning, or a stomach bug, or what, but it’s not pleasant!

What’s your nausea remedy of choice?

Trying New Things

The clear theme of today was trying new things.

First, at lunch, I tried a new soup (Progresso’s Hearty Penne in Chicken Broth) and a new yogurt (Yoplait Greek Strawberry).  The soup was something of a fail.  It didn’t actually contain chicken, and was basically broth, noodles, and carrots.  It was really bland and the broth tasted kind of like the can.  Not a fan of this flavor!

The yogurt was more successful.  While I didn’t think it was as good as Oikos, Fage, or Chobani, it’s half the price and pretty dang good.  There’s no actual chunks of strawberry in it, but the flavor was light and kind of gummy bear-y.  I would buy it again, but I don’t give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up.  Maybe one and a half?

I also tried these new bagels I found in the health food section by Western Bagel.  This was the sweet wheat variety.  I was in shock that it was an honest to goodness bagel for 120 calories!  I think it was half decent, but my tastebuds were off because of the weird soup.  I’m reserving judgment.

One of the most frustrating things about running is how one day, you can feel so strong, and the next, you are just randomly humbled.

I set out for four miles today on the treadmill.  A minute or two in, I started experiencing intense pain in both of my shins.  Usually I have a few random aches for the first few minutes when I run, but once I get warm they go away.  Not this time.  The pain got progressively more intense until I made the gametime decision that today would quickly become a 2 miles and cross training day.  I finished the last two miles, and then went nuts on the spin bike for awhile (which didn’t bother my shins at all).  I have absolutely no idea what caused this pain, especially after three days of real serious rest, but it was disconcerting.

I decided the solution was an ice bath.  I tried one.  It lasted 20 seconds.

This was not a new thing I recommend.  Good gravy, this was unpleasant.  I got out of the bath because I literally felt my chest seize up and could barely breathe.  So, now I am icing like this:

GoMoji pad on one leg, frozen corn on the other.  I am also going to foam roll and see if we have any ibuprofen.

I also got a fun package from lucy activewear when I got home!  Product reviews to come, but let me tell you…I’m already in love with this baby. Hello, lovah.

So, uh, yeah. Question of the day: have you ever had totally random shin pain?  How did you make it go away? Please be my internet doctors!

Alabama Downpour

Today has got to be the weirdest eating day I’ve had in a long time.

Breakfast was at 8:00.  I love raisin bran, so I had a big bowl with skim milk and some OJ.

Since I was going to be at a work thing all day, and work things mean boxed lunches, I prepared.  I hate, hate, hate pre-packed boxed deli sandwiches–the thought of deli meat sitting out for goodness knows how long makes me want to retch.  I packed a bagel and PB from the hotel breakfast buffet instead!

I didn’t find time to eat it until 3 p.m.  I was hangry at that point.  This stupid bagel and PB was all I ate pretty much all day!

Then I had to drive three hours to my next destination.  Which is fine, I don’t mind driving…but it was torrential downpour.  The whole way.  White knuckle, follow a truck and count down the miles on the GPS driving.  AWFUL.  And Alabama has mountains!  Who knew?

So, when I finally got to Godknowswhere, Alabama, I was obviously hangry.  And I drove around and GPS-ed for awhile looking for something–anything–halfway decent to eat.  It’s no wonder Alabama is the third fattest state in the United States–absolutely every single one of my options was no good.

So I got a Wendy’s value meal.  I didn’t particularly enjoy it.  It satisfied my hunger.  But I feel gross now.  I’m ready to go home, please!

Anyway, tonight will involve Google Video Chatting with Tim.  And our cats, because we are those people.

Blistersquatch is the same as yesterday.  The red part is a little darker.  I’m debating a doctor’s appointment.  I don’t want to be that person that goes in for stupid reasons, which is main while I’m holding back.  I don’t want them to think I’m crazy!  It does hurt still, but it’s not quite as raw since I didn’t run today.  We’ll see.

Anyway, onward and upward.  What do you miss most when you’re away from home? I miss Tim, of course…but the animals come in a close second.  And good food, too!