Half Marathon Training: July 2014

I officially made it about 3 weeks into my half marathon training before I had to stop. Something in my hip was obviously pulled/strained which made it difficult to walk (and I do a lot of walking at work!) Rather than push through and hope it got better with time I decided to stop, no running and no walking (besides the usual amount) until things were feeling better. My PT-in-training bestie agreed with me and sent me a ton hip strengthening suggestions in the mean time.

Two weeks later and I may not feel 100% but I’m going to try and ease back into it. If it hurts I’ll stop and maybe go see a doctor, but I’m hoping for the best and I’m optimistic about getting back on track with training this month.

I did a slow and easy 2 miles with a mile walk for a cool down yesterday and no problems, so maybe the time off was just what I needed. Since July is a long month I’m starting this calendar this weekend. I kept the number of runs per week down so that I have plenty of time to stretch/crosstrain/recover between each one and I’m hoping these extra precautions will keep me injury free!

How do you let your body recover from overuse? 

Slices of Life #4

I start my grown up job today (and I may be more than just a little excited)!! I’m incredibly blessed that all my licensure worked itself out in time and I can start my first day of summer school on a good foot. I also get to meet my new ABA client at job number two this evening (because working just one job clearly isn’t enough for me). But while I’m off doing that I figured I’d leave you with a little recap of the past week, with another round of Slices of Life.

 The Eats

Lots of smoothies, stir-fry, and veggie burgers for me. I actually spent the last two weeks eating fully vegetarian until I went home for Fathers Day and we made my dad barbecue chicken…a girls gotta have some balance, right? I also found…

A Gluten Free Bread that looks like real bread- I can’t wait to try this recipe from The Non-Dairy Queen (Thanks to Lindsay for sharing the recipe).

A delicious Green Smoothie recipe and a fun contest from The Gluten Free Treadmill.

The Exercise

I already mentioned the last week was filled with puppy love, which included lots of walks. But it also included two 4-mile runs and my first time running on something besides the sidewalk. My legs definitely felt like jelly going through the grass and up the smallest of hills, but the view of the lake by my new place was totally worth it! Speaking of new places…

The Life

I’m officially, officially all moved in with the BF (and his mom) now. No take backs 😉 He may have commandeered majority of the dresser drawers and closet space, but I think we managed to blend our stuff together pretty well. I particularly love my little “kitchen” which is basically our mini fridge filled with my CSA share and a shelf for all the rest of my food supplies (thankfully we were able to make room for my giant blender in the actual kitchen!).

As for the rest of the life I got my first CSA share of the season and I’m definitely looking forward to the next 8! This one was loaded with greens including a new to me veggie kohlrabi, Meghan assures me it’s tasty just about any way you cook it though I haven’t tried it out yet. I also went back down to visit my parents (which seems weird since I haven’t been gone that long) but we had to do a little something for Fathers Day. I know everyone thinks they have the best dad ever but unless you’re my long lost sibling I hate to tell you you’re wrong. My dad is an amazing man who works so hard to care for our family and I was glad to go enjoy another family dinner (love you dad!). As far as links go this week I found:

A dose of reality from Katherine the Peanut Butter Lover.

A thought provoking post from Olive to Run- still don’t know if I have good answers but I love her for asking the questions .

A hilariously awesome book recommendation (and a serious case for berry envy) from Jenn at Peas and Crayons

Whats the best link you found in the last week? Anyone else out there who works multiple jobs? 

5 things I learned about life from a dog

Sooo if you follow me on instagram you’ll notice I’ve spent the last 2 weeks flooding your feed with puppy pictures. While that beautiful girl does not belong to me, I do watch her on occasion when my aunt and uncle go out of town. She’s shy and sweet and has the best begging eyes on the planet. We spent a lot of good hours cuddled up the last two weeks (she rivals me in the snuggle department) and she even taught me a few lessons along the way.

1. Naps are the best. Whether it’s a full out cat-nap (with the cat looking on) on just curling up with someone on the couch while you binge on Supernatural (the last season needs to get on Netflix stat) taking some time for yourself in the afternoon is the way to go.

 

 

2. Walks are fabulous. Typically I don’t like it when my schedule requires me to get my run in first thing in the morning, Surprisingly I didn’t have the same issue with walks. Starting each day with a quiet stroll around the neighborhood/park really gave me a chance to focus myself before the day, and helped start each day on a relaxingly healthy note.

 

3. Food is better when it belongs to someone else. While I’m not one to encourage begging (okay who am I kidding I totally encourage it) you have to admit there is some things that just taste better when you steal them from someone elses plate. Ask the BF what it’s like to share popcorn with me and you’ll know what I mean. Puppy girl here didn’t let me eat a single meal without asking for her share… not that I would ever feed her people food 😉

 

2. Workouts are better with friends. Even if they end up leaving muddy pawprints all over your yoga mat and want to play chase with your medicine ball, there is something about having a partner in crime that makes the whole process more enjoyable.

 

1. The bed is always warmer when you have someone else to share it. Even if they hog half the bed like this puppy, or make a habit of stealing all the blankets (cough BF cough) having someone close when you go to sleep each night and wake up each morning is one of the greatest simple pleasures there is and I am definitely going to miss waking up to puppy kisses (though BF kisses might do the trick).

 

 

Now that that’s said and done, who wants to buy me a puppy? I may not be able to cross it off the list this year with the living situation as it is, but you can bet I’ll be begging for a dog as soon as we get our own place… and if my aunt’s just happens to go missing instead… shhhh nobody tell 😉

This random collection of puppy love is being linked with Spoons who loves off the wall thoughts on Thursdays.

Running for Non-Runners: June Training Calendar

Good morning everyone. Today is National Running Day so it seemed a fitting day to share my planned training schedule for my first official month of training. Training is such an odd word, but I like it, makes this whole thing feel very official. I have exactly 4 months from today to go from my current 3 ten-minute miles to my goal of 13.1 eight and a half-minute miles. Remind me again why I’m doing this?

I’m running to reach a goal. I have this wonderful habit of coming up with fabulous ideas and grand plans and then not following through. Well races are kind of expensive, and I know I won’t want the money I paid towards the entry fee to go to waste. Thats my way of guaranteeing I’ll follow through with the goal. I know that I have a long way to go before I get there. I’m pushing myself to do this because I know it’s good to try new things and I know doing it with the BF will help to keep me motivated.

 

Today specifically I’m also running for a cause. National Running Day is promoting Charity Miles to allow all participants a chance to do some good while working towards their personal goals. My money today is heading to Autism Speaks because why not support my favorite kiddos 🙂

With 4 months to go I have plenty of time to increase my miles slowly which is what I’m focused on. I went through so many training calendars but couldn’t find one in particular that I liked. But they did give me a great template to create my own.

Here’s to five miles by the end of the month!

Anyone else really bad at sticking to ideas they plan on? Who else is taking a run today?

This post is linked to Olive to Run’s National Running Day celebration.

 

Slices of Life #2

Whew the last few days have been a whirlwind, both of activity and emotion. I’m officially moved out of my parents house which is exciting and scary and bittersweet (I’m at my aunt’s house dog-sitting for the next two weeks, though most of my stuff is already at the BF’s). I officially accepted and started training for my part time job (because obviously a full time job isn’t enough for me). I also had my last day at my current ABA job, which was really hard because I’ve grown to love the kiddo I worked with. The thing I didn’t do… blog… whoops 😉

 

The eats

This past week was a combination of snacks, smoothies, and my last few dinners with my family. This coming week starts my budget for the year as I start being responsible for my own eats. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to try more veggie based meals and excited for the challenge of cooking good food on a limited budget. Now if only my CSA would start already! Some of the recipes I’m looking forward to trying this week include:

Broccoli Slaw from Cotter Crunch

Cheezy Chili Crackers from Eating for Balance

Lentil Tacos from Taste of Home

Farmers Market Salad from Peas and Crayons

annndd another batch (or 5) of Lemon Blueberry Granola from Clean Eats Fast Feets

The exercise

“Training” got off to a slow start this week, though I was definitely active. I got in lots of strength training while packing, unpacking, and repacking my life into the car to make everything fit. There was quite a lot of yoga which was so easy in my newly emptied room. I got in lots of slow, easy, cardio taking long walks around the neighborhood and park with my aunts dog. I did manage to run 4 hot sweaty miles which is not as many as I wanted, but at least it’s something. This week I’m planning to map out some runs around here to work on milage (I’m looking for 5 by the end of the week). I’m also looking into some at home crossfit based workouts for non-running days (mostly because BF is interested in trying it out, but neither of us have that kind of cash right now). Things on the list to try include:

At Home Crossfit from Simply Sadie Jane

HIIT from Pinterest

Yoga for Runners from Yogatic

My own spin on this Half Marathon Calendar from TrendHunter

The life

Like I said already moving out is both exciting and bittersweet. There was a lot to be done at the BF’s this past weekend including painting the room we’re moving into, moving all the furniture between the rooms, and helping move some of his/his mom’s stuff into storage in their garage. I’ve got some experience painting from when I worked with Habitat for Humanity and it was fun to show him the ropes. I finished developing and organizing my budget for the coming year. My wonderful Master’s degree came with a pretty hefty price tag, and though BF and I made the best of our space I’m really hoping to only have to live with him and his mom for no more than a year. Finally I checked a few things off my to-do list around here including starting my recipe page, updating my profile, and laying the groundwork for a few more regular features including this one. Slices of Life is my hybrid of a weekly recap and a link love post, with a little to-do list accountability thrown in for good measure. Helping me get all of this done in the past week were some of the following:

The 7 Baby Steps from Dave Ramsey (I also borrowed his book Total Money Makeover and plan to make BF read it)

6 keys for Young Adults becoming debt free also from Dave Ramsey

The Spending Fast from And Then We Saved

I may never be a famous food blogger from Clean Eating Veggie Girl

How do I find time to write from Blogging on the Side

Joining the Week in Review Party at Clean Eats Fast Feets and Marvelous in my Monday at Healthy Diva Life.

 What’s one new thing you learned this week? Have you ever painted a room before? 

Running for Non-Runners

I am not a runner. I don’t think that should come as a surprise to anyone around here, but this announcement might. BF and I are going to run a half marathon together this fall. That’s quite a bit farther than the 10k I put as a goal on my list, and a heck of a lot farther than I’ve  ever even thought about running before. But what good are goals if the don’t shake you out of your comfort zone once in a while right?

 

Since I took a few months some time off from running, BF said I had to run at least 6 miles this week before we signed up. Being the competitive spirit that I am I did him one better and did a total of 10, with another 3 planned for tomorrow. If I can split it up over 4 days this half marathon thing is totally doable! 

Since I have no idea what I’m doing I figure this is as good a place as any to share the training process of a total non-runner. Starting with actually setting up some sort of training process/goals…

1. Get to an 8 min/mile pace. That’s where I was when I did my 5k last fall, and where I would like to be for this race in October. I’m currently at ~10 min/mile so I’ve got my work ahead of me.
2. Build up my run length. Right now 3 miles is a good run for me, my goal is 4 by the end of the month but clearly I need to up my distance.
3. Build endurance. Currently I can last about 2 miles before I need to slow down to a walk, my goal is 3 without walking by the end of this month, and building from there.
4. Cross train with weights and yoga on non-running days. I’ve worked hard for a lot of my yoga flexibility and the last thing I want to do is lose it by getting focused on one thing. Plus I think cross training is supposed to help prevent injury? (clearly I’ve got a lot of research to do)

Sooo any distance runners out there who have some advice for a newbie? Anyone else think I might be slightly crazy? 

Changed for the better

Today I graduate from my Master’s Program in Speech Pathology. It’s been the longest, fastest 2 years of my life, and it’s hard to believe that this blog has been such a large part of it. I started my blog when I started my program two years ago as a way to chronicle my own experiences with whole body wellness as I began my journey towards life as a service professional.

Whole body wellness became an important part of my life after my undergraduate graduation. I knew that to be the therapist my clients deserved I had to take care of myself. And taking care of myself was the last thing on my mind at the end of my senior year.

The girl in that picture wasn’t happy and she definitely wasn’t healthy. A semester of rejection letters and failed plans for the future led to a lot of hours crying over the phone with my parents and pacing the BF’s room complaining how it wasn’t fair that I wasn’t getting the chance I deserved.  I was eating like crap, I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t happy. And it shows. 

I moved home immediately after graduation, too depressed to celebrate, and too frustrated to focus on anything other than deciding what to do next. When I got my letter that summer saying I had been accepted off  the only wait-list I’d been on it was nothing short of life changing. Not only did it change my plans for my future by giving me a focus, but it changed my attitude about my health by giving me back my motivation.

I have always believed in the body as a system. I don’t think that you can treat anything (speech or otherwise) by focusing on the problem removed from the whole of the person. But I couldn’t advocate that approach with my clients if I didn’t practice it in my own life. I knew I needed to make changes to be the kind of therapist I wanted to be and to live the kind of life I knew I deserved.

 

As I walk across the stage today I’m ready to leave behind that sad, scared, girl and move forward as a positive, confident, professional. Each and every person I have met in this community has helped to shape me into the person I am today, and I can never thank you enough for that. Sure the past two years have changed my physical health, but more importantly they have changed my mental health. They have shaped me into the clinician I want to be, the person I deserve to be, and the set me forth towards a life I’d stopped dreaming of.

I may be graduating from my program, but I plan to make my health a program of lifelong learning. I may not know everything that’s coming on the road ahead, but I know that I am ready (physically and mentally) for anything that’s coming.

WIR #42: What happens when I’m brain dead

I feel like this has been the week of never ending conferences… I was in a social behavioral presentation all day Friday as part of my teacher institute day and then I went to support one of the therapists from work at an Autism presentation Saturday morning.

They were both great presentations and they’ll give me some current trends to talk about during interviews (my first one is this week!!) but after getting used to working on a daily basis I have to admit that 2 days of presentations left me more than a little brain dead.

But I’m going to try and put that all aside and list out everything I managed to accomplish last week… because that’s what Monday’s are for, right Meghan?

I worked 4 days at my placement (Friday was the institute day, so I didn’t see kiddos) and finally caught up on logging my hours. I actually passed 300 contact hours last week which means I only have 100 more to go before graduation. I also worked a double at my ABA job on Sunday.

I finally started that portfolio project I’ve been procrastinating… 6 years of higher education all crammed into a single 4 inch binder to prove I’m competent enough to complete my job (why do portfolios have to be a thing?) .

I wrapped BF’s birthday gift up for when we celebrate on Tuesday (these crazy schedule conflicts are getting old). His big gift has something to do with penguins if you weren’t able to guess 😉

I read a cookbook and a book a book off my list. Both were interesting but neither were anything special, reading them in a bubble bath was a treat though 😉 Here’s hoping my next trip to the library is a little more exciting!

I got in a few workouts last week, including one very chilly run! Spring needs to get serious about showing up because I’m ready to run again.

I also did the usual laundry, bathroom cleaning, kombucha brewing and food prepping.

This week doesn’t look like it’s going to be any less crazy than the last one but that’s life 🙂 I’m just hoping it stops snowing.

What was  your biggest accomplishment this week?

WIR #30: Christmas gifts and healthy goals

Hey guys! Everything was a little off around here last week due to the holiday, but I enjoyed the extra time with friends and family and hope you did to. This kicks off my last crazy week of the semester (and pretty much ever in terms of school) so let’s get listing all there is to do  this week (and all that got done last week!)

I checked my first goal off my 25 by 25 last week by running the local Turkey Trot with my brother on Thanksgiving. Well not really with him… he finished a good 8 minutes ahead of me… but hey I ran the whole time too! 

I also did 100 burpees yesterday for the #elf4health challenge… that was a first for me. 

I worked an odd schedule of hours at job #2 and spent some time yesterday prepping craft supplies for the Christmas party at job #1 later in the week. 

We hosted half of my mom’s family for a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration.

Best part of hosting is leftovers for days… including half a pan of my favorite apple cranberry crunch all to myself 🙂

And cranberry sauce to top pancakes as I continued to teach BF how to make them over the weekend!

Speaking of the Bf we also spent some time hanging out with his family on Friday AND he took me to see Catching Fire (which is the first movie EVER that I’ve thought was better than the book).

I helped decorate our Christmas tree and wrapped all my presents, because I’m on top of things like that.

This week I have my last day at my clinical site, conferences with my clients on campus, a demonstration on vocal hygiene (to go with the paper that I’m totally done writing…), half a dozen meetings, and written comprehensive exams on Friday. We’re also having problems with our router again… so if I seem a little quiet this week let’s just blame it on lack of reliable internet access.

Do you like to get your Christmas shopping done early? 

The reading list

Goal number 6 on my 25 before 25  is to complete my reading list. Like many lists that can be found across the internet this is a list of books to read. They are suggestions from family and friends, classics, and books I’ve previously passed by on the library shelves. 

I know next semester will be busy with clinicals, but clinicals are different from classes and I am looking forward to having more time for personal reading. 

Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy 

Come To Me- Amy Bloom 

White Oleander- Janet Fitch

The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues- Tom Robbins

Hateship Friendship Courtship Loveship Marriage- Alice Munro

The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Milan Kundera

How Should a Person Be?- Sheila Heti

Portrait of a Lady-Henry James

A Room of One’s Own- Virginia Woolf

The Complete Sherlock Holmes-Arthur Conan Doyle

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

The Handmaid’s Tale- Marget Atwood 

Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte

The Divine Comedy- Dante Alighieri 

Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden 

Frankenstein- Mary Shelley 

Never Let Me Go- Kazuo Ishiguro 

Catch 22- Joseph Heller

Fahrenheit 45- Ray Bradbury

By the time I finish this I’m hoping to have some new books to add to my all time favorites list! 

What’s your favorite book?