8 days to go!

I am blogging after my third glass of chardonnay.  God help me, but…I’m feeling more relaxed than I’ve felt in WEEKS.

For lunch, I resurrected the egg puff!

With cheddar cheese, a yogurt mess, and a multigrain bagel.

I took cookie Friday to heart.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve had a plain old cookie out of a store-bought box.  Crazy! 

I skipped the gym today.  It was pouring.  I’m sore from lifting yesterday, and I’m not sure what cardio I’d do because my shin is still twinging. 

Came home and immediately poured this times three:

Cheap chardonnay.  Not good, but it got the job done.

Dinner was take n’ bake pizza.  It’s all about balance, friends, and today tipped towards the “unhealthy” side, and I don’t so much care.

Tim helped me open a fun package!

A whole bunch of Cascadian Farms goodies from the good folks at My Blog Spark!  Cereal, granola, and granola bars.  I can’t wait to try these.  (Note: they sent these to me for free.)

 

I’ll be reviewing these after the wedding most likely, but we dipped into the Cinnamon Crunch cereal while waiting for the pizza to bake and mmmm…it was seriously addictive!  I can’t wait to try everything else!

Also, Tim’s very sweet co-workers gave us a wedding gift!

 

A bread maker!

There is a long and tragic story of bread makers in the Fit Bride household, but this is not the time or place.

Tonight, I will sober up and make some escort cards.  Good times.

Also, 10-day forecast, you suck.

What foods do you indulge in on not-so-healthy days?

The Bottomless Pit

Ahh, weekends.  I was awakened around 8:30 by a wriggling beagle.  Nothing like it!

Tim and I ate a quick breakfast and headed downtown to get our passports at the ONE post office that takes passport applications on Saturday.  While we were prepared with all our paperwork and such, there were several people in line who didn’t understand that you could fill out the paperwork first.  My legs were sore from my run yesterday, and I was wearing my old Pumas+arch supports in the spirit of breaking them in.  I was a crankysquatch, but we got it done.

Yesterday’s long run made me a bottomless pit today.  I just cannot get full!  I’ve been getting down on myself a little, like “oh, 8 miles, that’s a SHORT run for a lot of people” buuut then I remember that my body isn’t used to such distances and calorie burns, and it’s all relative.

As soon as we walked in the door, I prepared a huge, awesome lunch.  Two scrambled eggs with a touch of salt and pepper—so simple and perfect:

A chocolate-cherry green monster (SO GOOD when they’re fresh):

And a bagel thin with goat cheese:

So, so, so good.  But it barely made a dent in my hunger, so I immediately finished the half Builder’s bar left over from yesterday’s pre-run snack:

Much better.  I then spent a very productive Saturday afternoon napping from 12:30-2:30 with Buckley.  Deeelightful.

Anyway, I woke up and Tim and I hit the outlet mall for one last shower dress shopping try.   I kinda liked this, but not as much as the stuff I’ve seen online.  I’m going to order the blue and white strapless dress after I post this!

I feel like it made me look a wee bit top-heavy.

I did, however, score some nice workout gear at the Adidas outlet.  I got a super-light wicking tank for $6.97 and a pair of navy wicking capris for $14.97.  I’m officially going to get rid of the last of my cotton workout pants—now that I’m spoiled on wicking fabrics, I just can’t deal with sticky yucky sweaty cotton.

Yeah, I need to clean my bathroom mirror.  Cleaning is one of those things that’s slipped by the wayside as my running mileage has increased (along with shaving my legs, weight training, and making dinner).  Whoops!

We also got a bunch of RSVPs today.  The count now?

• 17 yes
• 6 no
• 181 question marks

I also wore my arch supports to the mall…big mistake.  We only walked around for maybe an hour and a half, but I feel like there is a big knot/bruise about halfway between my ankle and knee.  I realize there is a break-in period for these, but I’m incredibly skeptical of anything that makes me feel so awful just walking around the mall.  I don’t think the Defyances were bad yesterday on their own—the chafing/blistering I had I think was due to the taping—and I am tempted to scrap the arch supports altogether.  My gut is telling me these aren’t the solution.  But I’ll keep giving them a chance for the next few weeks.  I am also going to start researching whether my insurance would cover a visit to a podiatrist—I’m hoping to find one who runs, so their advice isn’t “stop running.”

Anyway, we went out to dinner and yes, I ate a giant cheeseburger and fries.  The bottomless pit demanded it (and, less than two hours later, I’m feeling rumbly again).  Hopefully my appetite will be a little more subdued tomorrow!

Have you ever seen a specialist for a sports injury? Did you have a good or bad experience?

Olympics Day!

Happy Olympics day!

I listened to myself and brought eggs for lunch.  I think I overcooked them, so they weren’t great.  I’m still a bit iffy on microwave eggs.  Sigh.

In nerdier news, I downloaded a whole bunch of Olympic video profiles of athletes to watch while I was at the gym (for free).  It was nothing groundbreaking, but interesting enough to pass the time (and pump me up for the opening ceremonies)!

I realized that all I had for a snack this afternoon was very calorie-dense bars.  So I had this PowerBar Harvest Toffee Chocolate Chip bar.  It was okay–not as good as the other flavor I tried awhile back, though.

Then I went to the gym.  Rather than try to get a real long run in today, I decided to just feel my shins out and go from there.  I ran a mile–at the end I felt a few tiny twinges of shin pain, so I stopped and hit the elliptical for 20 minutes instead.  Then, I was on my way out…and there were several free treadmills…and I couldn’t resist.  I hopped back on and ran a fast 9 minute mile pain-free as well.  I feel like the rest is what my shins needed, and I’m confident that after taking off Saturday and Sunday I’ll be back in the saddle Monday with a little more ice and foam rolling.  It’s such a relief to know (I think, anyway) that what I did worked.  I really, really think my body just likes several rest days after 6-8 weeks of consistent exercise.

Anyway, I got home, and the Shape subscription my sister got me for Christmas started with double duty!  I’m looking forward to reading these.

I also got a cute Valentine’s Day gift from my boss (the flowers and chocolate) and a most adorable Valentine from my talented card-making aunt.

Now we’re eating pizza and watching the start of the Opening Ceremonies.  U-S-A!  U-S-A!

Olympics: love, hate, or neutral?

Winter Wonderland

Kansas City got 8 or so inches of snow while we were gone for Christmas, and another 3-4 piled on overnight!  Look!

It’s the good snow–fluffy and pretty and not icy.  The roads were fine this morning on my way to work!

This morning I snacked on the most delicious pear.  Tim is a staunch Bartlett supporter, but I picked up Anjou last week because they looked 100 times better.  And it was pretty awesome, I must say.  (Woulda been better with almond butter, though.  But isn’t everything?)

After work I headed to the gym for a bit of strength training.  I forgot my lifting gloves, so my game was off and I had another kinda ADD workout.  I did:

• 5 minute warmup on the treadmill
• 3 sets of 12 squats at 135 lbs.
• 3 sets of 12 deadlifts at 75 lbs.
• 2 sets of 12 shoulder presses at 40 lbs.
• 2 sets of 12 Bulgarian split squats at 40 lbs.
• 15 minutes on the elliptical with the resistance maxed out

The problem with lifting is that halfway through, I get HANGRY.  Like, thinking about breakfast cookies and pickles and almond butter constantly hangry.  And my gym’s half an hour from home!  Strangely enough, (or probably not), lifting always makes me desperately crave eggs.  So guess what was for dinner?

An egg and two egg whites with some cheese, and two slices of wheat toast, one with AB&J and one with a little buttah.  Delish!  It totally hit the spot.  I finished about 15 minutes ago, though, and my tummy’s still a-rumbling.  Hmm…

Happy New Year’s Eve Eve!  Don’t forget to enter my super awesome Road ID giveaway!

Incredible eggs

Phew.  Today FLEW by.  My boss was out yesterday (whoa, I have a boss now!) so it was kind of slow, but there was lots to do today!  But the important stuff first.  Lunch!

One of the things I was secretly mourning as my funemployment came to a close last week was the fact that I would no longer be able to eat eggs for lunch.  My standard lunch these days is a yogurt bowl (yogurt, frozen fruit, granola, peanut/almond butter) with either a turkey sandwich or an egg sandwich.  Then I remembered that my good buddy Susan at The Great Balancing Act makes egg “pillows” at work in the microwave.  I tweeted her asking for instructions, and she obliged.  The results?

Ta-da!

It was delicious, I must say.  They didn’t taste weird or rubbery or anything!  I had the sandwich and the yogurt, ran an errand (which I’ll tell you all about in a minute) and then had some TJ’s trail mix.  I saved the apple for a mid-afternoon snack.

So, back to my errand.  In my quest to find a new workable routine with working 8-5 every day (not including the 30 minute commute each way) I realized that my new job also has the perk of being university staff.  Annnnd university staff can use the university gym.  I still have to pay, and I’m debating the switch overnight, but I think I’m going to cancel my current gym membership and pick up here.

How awesomely inspirational is this?  This is what they have above the door.  I took this as a great sign.

The pros of switching:

• Convenience.  I won’t be able to work out there on weekends, because it’s so far from home, but it WILL be extraordinarily convenient 5 days a week.  (Okay, let’s not kid ourselves.  I won’t work out on Friday after work.  But at least I’ll be able to go 4 days a week, which gets a thumbs up in my book.)
• Cost.  This set-up is $10 cheaper a month than my current gym.
• Swimming!  I’ve missed swimming, and I would be able to use a gorgeous Olympic size pool there.
• Sauna and steam room.  I’ve never tried them, but I bet they’ll feel awesome in the winter.
• TVs on the cardio equipment that will sync with your iPod.  Cool!
• Indoor/outdoor track to run on, should the treadmill bore me.
• Nicer weight room
• No annoyingly loud music on the speakers at all times
• I could take a swim class!  (See the “goals” tab above.)
• Racquetball/squash/basketball/volleyball courts, should my crippling uncoordination issues ever resolve themselves

The cons?

• Not convenient on weekends/holidays.
• I would have to pay extra for classes like yoga.  They’re about $50 for 7 weeks, and there isn’t a big selection at good times.
• No personal training (not that I’ve ever done this anyway)
• Would be working out with lots of hormonal college students

(I didn’t take pictures of the gym because I had an actual tour with tour guide.  If I join, I will.)  I think I’m going to pull the trigger and join unless T brings up any good objections tonight.

What do you think?  Am I forgetting to check anything out, gym-wise, that I should?