Month: December 2012

…but FUCK YES.

It’s cold (39 F) and windy out, so I ran the first mile quickly to warm up.

My legs just kept going for the second mile.

And the third mile? That’s about when I realized that I wasn’t just running faster than usual because it was cold; I was running faster because I am faster.

Even though I was a bum for the last four (cold, rainy, miserable-weather) days and pretty much ignored my training plan, I ran fast (for me) tonight and didn’t get tired. Every time my watch beeped with a thrilling mile split, I felt a renewed burst of energy to keep running strong. I never stopped, except for stoplights. I was in the fucking zone.

Three of weeks of training, including speed work, equals this incredible feeling.

I’ll take a lifetime supply of this.

Running is the best.

Bonus: Completely unrelated photo strip from Aaron’s holiday party Friday night.

Eek, I’m several days behind on blogging!

On Thursday, my team of about 25 people left work at 12:30 to go rock climbing at Vertical World. I’ve been meaning to try rock climbing for years, but just never made the time or effort, so I was pumped!

The equipment is fairly basic — a simple harness and special shoes — so I was ready to go in just a few minutes, and I found myself staring up at the beginner-level walls. Oh, hmm… this is when I got a little nervous.

I watched several of my co-workers climb first, just so I could get an idea of what I was getting into, and then finally it was my turn. I took on the yellow section above, which I think was the easiest route in the whole place (a 5.3, for you climbers).

The trick, apparently, is to climb with your legs first, and just use your arms to steady yourself. Since 99.9% of my body strength is in my legs, I had a ball. I climbed up to the ledge of the yellow wall, then climbed up on the ledge, and then made the mistake of looking down. Um, yeah, time to rappel back down ASAP!

Perhaps the belayer was just being nice, but when I reached the ground, he was all, “Nice job! You made that look easy. Go try something harder.”

Well, you don’t have to tell me twice.

I walked around to see what everyone else was up to, and found my boss’ boss (blue shirt) belaying my boss (gray tank). They are both avid climbers and did really impressive things on the more difficult routes.

I also found some totally crazy-looking walls with holds that went onto the ceiling. Whaaaaat?

And I wound up climbing five more routes, I think, including a 5.7 and two 5.8s!

No action shots of me climbing; just a bathroom pic instead (naturally).

I really, really, really enjoyed my first climbing experience, and I can see how climbing could become an addiction! It was a lot more of a workout than I expected — I was sweating as I reached the top of every route — and I loved being challenged, having to problem-solve, and having to gather the courage to take risks with my holds on the way up.

Just like running, it takes a lot of determination to reach the finish in climbing, and it is oh-so-satisfying to get there.

I must go back! Aaaaand I’ll drag Aaron, too. : )

Last night’s speed intervals:

I dilly-dallied for half an hour before going on this run because it was sooooo darrrrrrk and soooooo coooooold out, but once I got out, I really enjoyed myself and was all like, “Hey, I want to run an extra mile!” It’s always more satisfying to run a complete loop of Green Lake than an out-and-back.

Of course, it started absolutely pouring during that last mile, but I loved every minute and would do it again in a heartbeat. Oh, hey, I will tonight!

I had Aaron take a pic to show how soaked I was coming back from this run, but you can’t tell at all and I just look silly. Life story.

By the way, almost every time I run a complete loop of Green Lake (2.8 miles), I remember the time I tried to run around Green Lake with a college boyfriend, but I couldn’t even run for two minutes straight without stopping. He was just getting into running and it seemed effortless to him, so it made me feel like a steaming pile of poo that I couldn’t keep up.

I remember thinking I would never be able to run all the way around Green Lake.

And then there was that time he broke up with me, in part because I wasn’t “active enough.”

And then there was that time I saw via Facebook that he ran a marathon, and although his time meant nothing to me (I still wasn’t a runner back then), I was in awe.

And then there was that time that I ran a marathon without stopping.

And then there was that time that I went back and looked up his marathon time and realized that I ran my marathon more than 30 minutes faster than him.

And that makes me smile, friends, it really does. I’ve got nothing against the guy, but man, it feels good to smoke someone who used to make you feel inferior.

So that is what I think about every time I run around Green Lake: The fact that I’m doing something I never thought I could do, and that I’ve done (and will do) much bigger things as well.

/life-reflection

Have a great Thursday! I know mine will be fab because the entire marketing team is kicking out at 12:30 to go indoor rock climbing, and then to happy hour.

Hilarity will surely ensue.

I had it in my head today that even though I substituted spinning for running last night, I still wanted to run tonight in addition to lifting weights.

But, as I waited 25 minutes in the cold for my (very, very late) bus home, that determination waned. The last of it disappeared as it started to sprinkle on my walk between the bus stop and home. I would just pump iron tonight.

And then… we ended up pumping water instead.

I came home to find that the water heater was leaking all over the place. Aaron had pulled the stacked washer/dryer out of the hall closet to soak up the leaking water with towels, and he’d shut off all the water to try to get the leaking to stop.

The possibility of no shower before work tomorrow = no sweat-inducing workout for me tonight.

After many attempts to pump excess water through a hose (pictured) and lots of frustration when water just kept on leaking, we called a plumber to make things right.

The nice plumber is finishing up the paperwork for the new water heater he just installed as we speak.

Oh, life. It doesn’t always go as planned. Shit goes wrong. Plans change.

There’s always tomorrow. And, thankfully, tomorrow includes a hot shower.

I got home late tonight and wasn’t feeling a run after yesterday’s long-ish one, so I subbed 35 minutes on the bike trainer for my planned 3.5 mile run.

I did an easy warmup for a few minutes, then changed to a low gear (to make it difficult) and cranked as hard as I could on that for one minute, then relaxed on a higher gear for two minutes, and repeated one minute low/two minutes high until my 35 minutes were up.

The stats:

• 8.9 miles
• 15 mph average

Sweat galore! And super-worked quads and calves.

The photos from my company’s holiday party were emailed to everyone today, and Aaron and I made a grand appearance in one single shot:

That is premium Kirkland Signature (aka Costco brand) wine you’re seeing in my cup. It made the improv troupe much more entertaining. I had about three five who’s counting? cups of it. Yum.

Anyway, regarding the title of this post, today really was the weirdest day EVER. Aaron discovered something mind-boggling and hilarious that I’ll eventually tell you all about, but I’m not going to say what it is until March or so. Just know that the next few months will be VERY entertaining for us over here, and some of your minds will be blown when I tell you!

(Just realized that sort of sounds like I’m preggo, but trust me, I’m definitely not. Check back in about five years on that one.)

To end this random post on a high note, can I just say that I’m extremely proud of my state for finally voting for marriage equality?

Photo by Matt Stopera.

Check out 60 Moments That Gave Me The Chills During Seattle’s First Day Of Marriage Equality on Buzzfeed.

Word.

It never really got light out today. Dark clouds hovered over Seattle and shat rain all over the place without mercy. It was a good day to get a run in early so I could then shower, get warm, and move on with my life.

I ran these four miles 33 seconds faster overall than last weekend’s four! The fact that the weather was miserable probably helped me get this over with faster. I’ll take motivation in any form.

I will also take cookies in any form.

My mom and I spent hours today whipping up Christmas treats! We made gingerbread cookies, pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies, and church window candy (minus the nuts) while Aaron and Don watched football. The Seahawks shut out the Cardinals, 58-0 — whaaaaat?!? Go Hawks!

Our gingerbread cookies were mostly classic Christmas shapes, but with a few dinosaurs thrown in for good measure.

A Christmas brontosaurus, of course.

Award-winning decor.

We then watched Love Actually, per tradition. Best Christmas movie EVER.

Now, what to do with all these treats?? I think we’ll eat a few, freeze a few, and share the rest with co-workers. I’m sugared out for today, so we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. : )

Last night was my company’s holiday party, and we had a little too much fun!

Aaron and I started out the night by grabbing drinks and light eats at The Purple Cafe in downtown Seattle.

Malbec and duck liver pâte (so good) for me; beer and tomato soup for Aaron.

Then we hopped on a bus to Capitol Hill for the party at Melrose Market Studios, a cool, urban event space where three of my co-workers have actually gotten married (two of them to each other)!

I don’t have any photos from the party, since I was too busy frequenting the open bar and raiding the appetizer buffet all night, but just picture me in a black-and-white polka dotted dress and Aaron looking snazzy in a white shirt and skinny black tie. I didn’t spill wine on myself, and we snagged a free town car ride home, so I’ll say the party was a success. Holiday party round two (Aaron’s company) is next Friday!

I picked up a new dress today for that party and for New Year’s Eve in Vancouver.

Sequins!!! I am actually wearing this dress backwards, because I like the scoop neck better in the front than the back (the actual front has a higher neckline), and the lady helping me said it works either way.

(By the way, I Googled “chevron vs. zig-zag” to find out if there is a difference and if this dress qualifies as one or the other, and I discovered that this is a zig-zag pattern and chevron is a completely different pattern. A bunch of design/fashion/home decor bloggers are going nuts for “chevron” patterned items lately, but they’re actually zig-zag patterned items. Exhibit A, exhibit B, and exhibit C. The more you know.)

Aaron was extremely patient as I searched multiple stores for shoes to go with my zig-zag dress. I only have one pair of heels, and they are black suede wedges that I felt would be too dark and heavy with this dress. I went tan suede with gold trim instead.

Sorry, I don’t buy fancy stuff very often, so I get really excited about it.

Back to fitness stuff. I decided to swap this weekend’s workouts to do cross-training today and my long run tomorrow because my shins are feeling a bit splint-y.

But after running around all day shopping and doing errands, plus feeling not-so-great after too much wine, I’m officially skipping my date with the bike trainer and just doing my long run tomorrow. I’m a-ok with this decision.

Since I started my training plan two weeks ago, I feel like I’ve become more energized on a daily basis, and I definitely notice my body slowly looking more athletic — more like how I looked a year ago.

Even though the number on the scale hasn’t moved much, I can now wear my jeans without counting the minutes until I get to change into sweatpants. I can walk out of a fitting room in an attention-grabbing dress and not feel self-conscious when everyone in the store looks at me. I can grab my normal sizes of clothes and know they’ll fit perfectly.

I actually got really excited today, for the first time, to try on wedding dresses, because I know I’ll be happy with what I see in the mirror. I couldn’t say that a month ago.

Anyway, tangent. Time to relax tonight. Happy weekend!

Tonight’s two-miler seemed to go by quickly… because Aaron ran with me!

The last time Aaron ran was in October 2011, so this was kind of a big deal.

This was supposed to be an “easy” two miles, but I think I ran faster than I would have at the end of a week of running because Aaron is crazy-fast, even after not running for a year.

9:30 pace is nothing to him. I don’t even think he was breathing hard. My lungs were burning, but it felt good!

Here’s what Aaron looks like when he’s running hard, finishing a 1:39 half-marathon.

ONE THIRTY NINE. That’s a 7:31 average pace over 13.1 miles. I cannot fathom this.

The reason he hasn’t run since October 2011 is because that’s when he was sidelined from marathon training by a nasty bout of plantar fasciitis. I don’t know exactly what that is, but apparently it’s extremely painful, and he was all like, “F#$% this!” to marathon training when he couldn’t even walk without pain, let alone run.

He was on track to run a 3:20 marathon or something stupid like that. I can’t even.

Long story long, he’s much happier on the bike with his bad knee anyway, but he’s going to run with me a few times a week as cross-training. Yay!

After our run, I did a shorter strength-training session than usual because I was hungry and over it. Three sets of eight reps:

• 15# bicep curls
• 15# hammer curls
• 15# military press

And 20 sit-ups between each set.

Rest day tomorrow. More importantly, my company holiday party is tomorrow! The caterer is one of the preferred caterers for our wedding venue, so Aaron and I will have fun tasting all the food and deciding if we want to price the caterer for our reception.

That’s my excuse, at least…

I usually get enough sleep and feel energized throughout the day, but last night I didn’t go to bed until 11:00 and was draaaagging all day today. So tired. I don’t drink coffee, so I just had more Tazo “Awake” tea than usual. The real remedy is to go to bed earlier tonight! (I’ll be tucked in by 10.)

Anyway, I was half dreading (so tired) and half excited (yay, adrenaline!) for speed intervals tonight. When I got home, I was like

“I have to go run”

and Aaron was like

“You GET to go run”

and I was like

“…yes, I GET to run.”

• 0.5 mi warmup
• Four sets of 0.25 mi fast and 0.25 mi recovery
• 1 mile cool-down

I did the exact same workout that I did last Wednesday, but I did it nearly two minutes faster! My speed intervals were in the low 8s and 7s instead of the high 8s, and my recovery intervals were in the mid and high 9s instead of the mid 10s.

THIS IS HOW YOU GET FASTER. It’s so exciting to see and feel progress, even a little, in just a week.

I came home to a fabulous meal that Aaron put together.

A massive burger seasoned with a dry rub of spices on a Romaine lettuce “bun,” with tomato, bacon, avocado, a drizzle of BBQ sauce, and a crunchy pickle spear. So good. So filling.

I also did really well with eating today. No sugary snacks!!

• 2 eggs + ¼ avocado and one corn muffin for breakfast
• Small handful of walnuts for morning snack
• Big spinach, cucumber, and tomato salad + chicken sausage for lunch
• Apple pie Larabar + tons of baby carrots for afternoon snack
• Tea and water for days
• Spoonful of almond butter straight from jar to mouth right before my run
• Aforementioned dinner + advent calendar chocolate for dessert

Time for bed. Good night!