Wordless Wednesday

Screw you hurricane - I ran a half marathon today :)

Today was (supposed to be) my 10-mile long run. As I watched the the treadmill display change from 9.99 to 10, I lowered the speed and went into cool-down mode. I walked for about 30 seconds and then I don't know what exactly came over me, but I just did not want to stop. I figured I'd go one more mile so I could have a new distance PR (10.25 was my farthest distance prior to today), but then instead of slowing the TM back down I cranked it up a little more and decided to "go for it!"

Honestly, I'm still in a bit of shock. I mean seriously, I am not what one would envision as an athlete. I even still smoke!  But something comes over me when I'm out there running, and it just makes me feel amazing :)

Sweat = Liquid Awesome!

I guess it all comes down to (finally) believing in myself. I believed I could do it, so I did!  I ran a Half-Marathon today! I ran 13.1 miles in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 37 seconds. I am awesome :)

Wordless Wednesday

FMM: The Last Thing

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: The Last Thing

1) What is the title of the last book you read?  Physically read? Peas and Thank You. Audio book? I’m listening to the J.D. Robb In Death Series. Currently on Possession in Death. Oi! Only 2 books left :(

2) What is the last movie you saw in a theater? Hm. We don’t ever go to the movies so it’s been quite a while. I’m sure it was a horror movie… maybe Saw VI?

3) Briefly describe the last person you saw today. I haven’t seen anyone yet today besides the cat. My husband leaves for work at 4am and knows better than to wake me up that early ;)  And the dog is still in bed!

4) Which store did you most recently shop in?  Barnes and Noble. Paid double the price of what I could have paid on Amazon if I wasn’t so impatient! Ha!

5) Who’s the last person you spoke to over the phone? My husband, about 10 minutes ago.

6) Where’s the last place you vacationed? We are terrible at saving money for vacations, and spend too much on instant gratification types of things. So it would have been our wedding/honeymoon in Vegas on Halloween of 2009.

7) When was the last time you kissed someone of the opposite sex? Last night, before bed :)

8) What’s the last thing that made you laugh? Definitely this:

9) What’s the latest app that you downloaded on your phone? Fooducate, but I haven’t used it yet.  Gonna check out this “Instagram” that I keep hearing about next.

10)  What’s the last kind thing you did for someone? I did my husband’s laundry yesterday. I know, too exciting!

Have a great week everyone!

What I learned from today’s long run…

 

But first, This Week in Review:

Yes I’m a bad blogger (again). I just can’t find the time to update this thing regularly. Probably because when I do have time, I spend it reading everyone else’s blog ;)  Not like I really have anything that interesting to blog about anyways. I eat, I run, I work. (And I shop when I can!) So here’s what this past week looked like (oh and again, the picture came out horrible, but I think it’s still somewhat readable):

New grocery items: Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (french onion flavored) – Yummy!  Wholly Guacamole (classic) – again, Yummy!  And finally, Tofu! Nasoya Extra Firm. Believe it or not – also Yummy!

Oh, my P90X came early in the week, but I haven’t started messing with it yet.  I was kind of hoping my husband would want to try it out, but he’s still too busy with his PS3 ;)

I ran 21 miles last week! Woohoo! All good runs even! Today was another story, but I’ll get to that in just a minute.

On Friday, I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up ‘Peas and Thank You’ by Mama Pea. I love her blog and already had a few of her “recipeas” printed out to try.  And thanks to Mama Pea, I have finally experimented with tofu (see above), and I liked it! Probably because of the marinade and broiling until almost burnt, but it was really good!  I highly recommend this book, but I suggest if you do get it, get it from Amazon because I paid double that at B&N :(

Speaking of Amazon, I ordered ‘The Happy Herbivore’ and ‘Veganomicon,’ and am anxiously awaiting their arrivals!  Lindsay (the Happy Herbivore) has a blog here, and Veganomicon is another of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s books.  Her blog is the PPK (Post Punk Kitchen), which can be found here.

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What I learned from today’s long run…

1. Do NOT eat beans the night before a long run. Really, just don’t. TMI.

2. Do NOT wait until the hottest time of day to head into garage (where treadmill is), which is at least 15 degrees hotter than outside.

3. If you wait until you “need” a Gu, it’s too late.

4. Do NOT wear a non-fitting, non-sports bra. Especially one that is too big.  I spent so much time messing with “the girls” that the bra broke. Granted, it fit much better after I tied it into a knot to keep it on.

5. I am no longer allergic to bee stings. Unfortunately, I had to find this out the hard way.  Yes, I got stung while running.  Yes, it was during the same mile (the 4th, by the way) my bra broke.  It was also during the same mile I had to stop for a minute because I really “had to go.”  

6. The right song can turn it all around. I was considering just calling it a day and doing it over tomorrow. ‘Never Surrender’ by Triumph came on. I did not surrender :)

7. Running really is a mental sport. I had a full-blown argument with myself about not giving up. I thought about the people who have put me down, and who didn’t believe I could accomplish anything.  Umm, before I start going off on a tangent here, let me just move on…

8.  And the most important thing I learned today? 

I finally believe in me

7-mile Long Run and Week in Review

Happy Sunday everyone!  It’s been a good (but busy as usual) week overall!  I just came in from my 7-mile long, slow run and I’m having a late lunch before jumping in the shower, so I thought I’d do a little post.

I was very happy with my long run, though I don’t think I’m slowing down as much as I probably should be.  If my “race pace” is around 7mph I’m told my long, slow runs should be around 5mph.  To be honest, it hurts my legs to run slower than 5.5 for any extended period of time.  Anyways, here are my splits from today’s run:

Mile 1: 12:05	includes 3-min warm-up walk then 6mph run
Mile 2: 10:50	6mph run w/5mph breaks for 30 sec every .25 mile
Mile 3: 10:15	ditto but increased regular pace to 6.5
Mile 4: 10:40	6mph w/4mph break for 30 sec at .5 mile
Mile 5: 10:10	6mph w/5mph break for 60 sec at .5 mile
Mile 6: 10:00	6mph no break
Mile 7: 9:55	5.5mph but increased to 7mph for last .25 mile

I hate having that warm-up walk in there because it destroys my overall time :( Boo! Anywho, I was pretty much a soaking sweatball when I finished, but I definitely could have kept going for at least another 2-3 miles.

And for my week in review:

Before I do my little calendar screen-shot, I have to give a shout-out to Cranky Fitness! When I first started reading blogs CF was an immediate favorite. After about a 6-month hiatus, Cranky Fitness is back! She just did an awesome giveaway for a P90x system, and guess who won?!  ME! Woohoo!!  Thanks Crabby! And thanks to Paul @fitnessbodyonline.com who is the one actually sending the P90x to me

My weight stayed between 113 – 114, except for Wednesday when it crept up to 115. I blame the Chinese food from Tuesday ;)  And maybe the Peanut Butter M&Ms that somehow ended up in our vending machine at work. I am not one to frequent the vending machine and probably wouldn’t have even noticed these, but one of my evil co-workers pointed them out since she knows I’m PB-OCD!  After the 3rd bag (thankfully not all in the same day!) I read the ingredients and noticed the dairy. Sigh.  Why would I have not thought about that beforehand! I mean, Duh! Milk chocolate = milk. I must have been in denial or something.  Needless to say, I’m done with the PB M&Ms (unless of course there becomes a dairy-free version!).

On Friday night when I got home from work, hubby and I headed out to Musikfest in Bethlehem. It was actually quite fun! We wandered around for a couple hours while he ate his way from one end of the place to the other. I had some potato chips and a whole wheat pretzel. While there, I found out there’s going to be a VegFest in the same area on September 10th! Yippee! I’m really looking forward to that!

On Saturday, hubby and I went grocery shopping and then went looking for somewhere to eat.  He has been wanting to try this place called Pickles so we headed over there, but when I saw the menu, I asked him if we could please go somewhere else. It would have cost me at least $20 to “build” a veggie meal! We ended up right down the street at Italiano Delight where they have a $7.50 buffet. It was fabulous! I had no problem finding meat/dairy-free items and hubby totally gorged himself sick! Lol! It also came with a complimentary side of pasta, so we got angel hair pasta with olive oil, spinach and fresh garlic- it was out of this world! We will most definitely be going back there again!

I think that’s about it. I’d like to thank those of you who have commented on my posts during the week.  I try to squeeze in what I can when I have time on my lunch breaks. I hope I got back to everyone, but if not, thank you! Your comments are truly appreciated!

I’m off to shower and then cook up my meals for the week.

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- Do you slow down for your long runs? If so, by how much?

- Do you batch cook on the weekends for the upcoming week?

Three Things Thursday

1. I had my new favorite lunch today! When I got home from work last night I plugged in the crockpot and here's what I threw in it:
     - one bag boca crumbles
     - one can black beans (I blended them first so they didn't "look" like beans)
     - one jar salsa (I use Salpica Cilantro and Green Olive)
     - 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
     - some cumin and hot mexican chili powder
     - 2 ears of corn, cut off the cob
     - a pack of low sodium taco seasoning
     - the juice of half of a lime
     - a handful of cilantro
I set it on low overnight and then portioned it out (5 1-cup servings) this morning before work. I had it for lunch over a bed of spring mix and then topped it with some of my homemade salsa and a dollop of Tofutti sour cream. YUM!

2. As some of you may know, I haven't been able to find a "normal" full-time job since moving this past November, so I've been temping back at my old job since February. We are currently in negotiations to make it "worth my while" to come back as a permanent part-time employee.  That would mean I'd get my benefits and PTO time back (among a couple other little "bonuses")! I should know something within the next month. Please keep me (and my poor little bank account) in your thoughts ;)

3. My running mojo is definitely back - I ran 7 days in a row! Yesterday I finally took a rest day, but tonight I'm looking forward to a nice easy 4 miler, which should finish off my 13.1 miles of the Hotter Than Hades Virtual Half Marathon :)

Lunch break is over now, back to the grind...

Wordless Wednesday (Cute animal edition :))

Weight-loss, Running, Vegan diet, Shopping, and the Week in Review

It’s been another busy (yet super successful running-wise) week! I worked my crazy-long hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then when I got home Thursday night my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew were here to spend the night.

I got up early on Friday so I could get my run in before we went to do whatever it was we were going to do for the day, which turned out to be a trip to Cabelas.  My hubby and his sister (and my niece) are hunters so they love all things Cabelas.  It actually turned out okay for me since I scored some Under Armour running stuff on sale! It also helps when I can shop in the kids department, Lol! I got a pair of biker-like shorts that are super comfy and a lightweight, short-sleeved running shirt.  We then went to Chili’s for lunch where I had an awesome black bean burger. Seriously, it was so yummy!  We came back home and while the kids were out playing on the 4-wheeler, I was able to get another run in! Twice in one day, yippee!  And instead of taking my rest day yesterday (Saturday) I decided to do some hill/interval work which got me another 5.45 miles in! 

Here’s what the week looked like:

Yeah, that came out horrible but here’s a summary:  My weight stayed between 114 – 115, I tracked ALL my food, and I ran 6 times! On Sunday I did 4.5 miles, Monday 4.75 miles, Wednesday 3.6 miles, Friday 3.4 in the morning and another 3.6 at night, and Saturday 5.45!  I’m going out for my long run today as soon as I upload this post.

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I also joined the Hotter Than Hades Virtual Half-Marathon (details HERE):

And I’ve been adding new blogs to my Blogroll like crazy!  I’m a much better reader than writer, and most times when I plan on updating my blog, I end up spending too much time reading others and then don’t have time for my own  

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I also still don’t really feel like I fit into any particular blog category.  Yes, I’m a runner but I don’t run to “race” and I prefer to run by myself.  Running is just my personal, happy place/pace sorta thing, ya know?  Which is probably why I jumped when I saw the aforementioned Virtual Run!

I’m not really a weight-loss blog seeing as how I’ve already lost the weight.  And while I am a lifetime Weight Watcher (and also work for them), I don’t count points (I lost my weight following the Core i.e. Simply Filling plan). I do still, however, track everything, but I use Sparkpeople.com for that instead of WW.

I don’t really count as a Vegan blog since I’m only 2 months into my Vegan journey and still learning.  And I don’t create recipes; I make the recipes other Vegan blogs post ;)  Unless of course, I happen to get lucky throwing things together in the kitchen, which DID in fact happen yesterday! Look for an upcoming post on my Asian Boca Concoction, hehe :)

But yet, I AM a combination of all of the above!  I’m a (mostly) healthy veg*n runner who rambles about whatever strikes me, which is usually pertaining to weight-loss/maintenance, a vegan diet, running, shopping, and those who follow the same sort of lifestyle

Ok done rambling and not even sure what brought that on, but anyways, I’m off for my run. Happy Sunday!

Little Survey of Me

Survey time! I stole this from Beer, Dogs, and Getting Healthier but there are a ton of people doing it. So you should do it to!

1.            What is your occupation right now? I have 2 currently. I work part-time for Weight Watchers and I'm temporarily back at my old job (Human Services/Social work) full-time, until I can find something local. Part of the reason for my poor blogging habits are because from Tuesday - Friday I'm gone from 6am to 9pm.

2.            What color are your socks right now?  I'm wearing sandals today so I don't have socks on.

3.            What are you listening to right now?  My co-workers discussing a case. I'm on lunch break.

4.            What was the last thing that you ate?  I had my overnight oats for breakfast, and since I forgot to bring my lunch today I had a mini-bag of Orville Smart-pop Kettle corn. I'm STARVING!

5.            Can you drive a stick shift?  Yep, I learned how to drive on a stick shift and much prefer a stick to an automatic.

6.            Last person you spoke to on the phone?  A co-worker. Before that was hubby.

7.            Do you like the person you stole this blog from?  I don't know her but I like her blog! 

8.            How old are you today? Today I'm 29. I've been 29 for the past 12 or so years now ;)

9.            What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?  J-E-T-S! Jets, Jets, Jets!

10.          What is your favorite drink?  Coffee!

11.          Have you ever dyed your hair?  I'm a big fan of doing all kinds of different things with my hair, so yep! Sometimes multiple colors at once, lol!

12.          Favorite food?  Hmm. Either chocolate chip peanut butter cookies or Peanut Butter & Company's Dark Chocolate Dreams.

13.          What is the last movie you watched?  Saw VII

14.          Favorite day of the year?  Halloween!

15.          How do you vent anger?  Either running or kicking things. Or just throwing a temper tantrum.

16.          What was your favorite toy as a child?  A stuffed panda named Ming-Ming :)

17.          What is your favorite season?  Fall

18.          Cherries or Blueberries?  neither actually

19.          Do you want your friends to blog this survey?  Of course!

20.          Where is your favorite place to escape?  The garage - that's where my treadmill is. Of course I would love to say some remote island somewhere far away, but let's be for real. I'm broke :)

21.          Favorite TV Show(s)?  Dexter, Bones

22.          Living arrangements?  A house in the middle of a golf course with hubby, Chase (dog), and Bogey (our cat).

23.          When was the last time you cried?  Hmm.  I really don't remember but I'm sure it was during some sappy movie or something.

24.          What is on the floor of your closet?  A bunch of shoes, some pocketbooks, free weights, halloween costumes and a bag of wigs.

25.          Who is the friend you have had the longest?  I'm bad with friends because I move so often and am horrible at keeping in touch. Gonna have to go with Kim on this one :)  

26.          What did you do last night?  Worked at WW then came home and ran 5 miles

27.          What are you most afraid of?  Praying Mantis's - those things just totally creep me out

28.          Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?  Spicy but no meat in my burger please!

29.          Favorite dog breed?  Although I love my pit, I've never had a better dog than my black lab :)

This is Chase, our pit :)

30.          Favorite day of the week? Saturday

31.          How many states have you lived in? NY, NJ, VA, CO, CA, TX, MO, IL, PA

32.          Diamonds or pearls?  Diamonds

33.          What is your favorite flower?  Orchid

That was fun!!!

beerdogsandhealth.blogspot.com

FMM: Girly Questions

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

FMM: Girly Questions

1. Do you like to shop? I absolutely LOVE to shop! Clothes, food, running stuff, gadgets, home stuff, shoes..

2. How often do you wear makeup? Eh. I’m not real big on makeup, but I try to at least put on some type of foundation, mascara, and lipstick before leaving the house.

3. How do you feel about nail polish? My toenails are almost always polished, but my fingernails- not so much.  I go through spurts with manicures/pedicures. And I think I only have 2 bottles of nail polish at home- neon pink and neon green

4. Do you consider yourself to be a feminist? I consider myself to be a tomboy. Seriously though, no.

5. What’s your biggest challenge as a woman? Dealing with TOM.

6. Do you wear skirts and dresses? I do, yes. Mostly for work. When I’m at home I prefer shorts and tanks, or pajamas.

7. How do you feel about high heels? I think they’re sexy, but I’m much more of a sneaker girl

8. Do you subscribe to magazines? If so, which ones? Yes. Runner’s World and Vegetarian Times.

9. Do you shave your legs/wax/ use depilatory creams or go au naturale? I shave my legs and my armpits. I get my eyebrows waxed, though not as often as they probably need it!

10. What do you like most about being a woman? This is kinda hard. I’m really not your typical girly-girl and I’m not very nurturing. I do like to get all dolled up every once in a while and have my hubby take me out and show me off, haha!