Dev on Running

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!

Tonight I had strength training on my plan, so I did the three sets of the following with 15# weights:

• Bicep curls
• Hammer curls
• Military press
• Chest press

And I did 20 sit-ups between each move. I also started and ended the workout with eight push-ups on my knees, which were so difficult. That’s kind of pathetic. But I’m working to change that!

Now, on to a topic that I’ve been meaning to address for a while: eating.

Here’s a typical day for me:

Breakfast

• Two eggs, scrambled or fried
• Salsa
• ¼ of an avocado, if I have it on hand

This used to tide me over until mid-morning, but since I began this training plan (i.e. started exercising regularly again), I find myself starving by the time I get to work at 8:30. I may have to add a chicken sausage or a few strips of bacon to breakfast. If I have corn muffins ready to eat, I will eat one with breakfast. (I recently bought a six-pack of Jiffy mix and the muffins just keep coming, since Aaron mostly will not eat them.)

Mid-morning snack (free at work*)

• Handful of nuts, usually walnuts

Tonight’s three-miler started out a little windy, but ended up feeling great!

I think it’s safe to say that I’m officially used to running in the dark again. Woo-hoo!!

And, you know, I think some wind might actually help my training. Let me explain.

In December 2011, I ran my first marathon in Las Vegas.

In October 2011, my future mother-in-law Greta conquered 26.2 miles of hills and heat in St. George, Utah.

(Photo by Aaron, killer guns by Greta.)

Buuuuuut it seems like neither of us got enough of the joy, pain, and sheer exhilaration that comes from crossing that marathon finish line.

So in 2013, we’re both going to take on marathon #2: CHICAGO, BABY!!!

I believe Greta swore she would never run another marathon after St. George, but SHE was the one who initially brought up Chicago. I’ve always planned on training to shave 15+ minutes off my time to run a sub-4:00 marathon, and all you Tumblr people are always talking about how great Chicago is.

Plus, I want some deep-dish pizza for my efforts.

I told Greta I was going for it, and it took her less than 24 hours to text me this: “Ok Devon. Chicago 2013 here we come!!! Let’s do it!”

Watch out, Windy City. WATCH OUT, CLAIRE. We’re* coming for you.

*Includes Aaron, obviously.

Today was a cross-training day, so I did just over 30 minutes on the bike trainer, which was tougher than I expected! I definitely got my heart beatin’ and sweat pourin’. Good times.

I did:

• 8.07 miles
• 15.6 mph average
• 21.3 mph max

…while watching an On Demand episode of Giuliana & Bill. (I just love them together, and am so happy they were finally able to have a baby!!)

Then Aaron and I headed over to our friends’ place to hatch New Year’s Eve plans. We’re doing a five-couple trip to Vancouver, B.C.! So excited.

Our other mission today was to get a Christmas tree, but first we got a little sidetracked by cupcakes. Aaron “likes” our favorite cupcake place (and future vendor for our wedding cupcakes!!) on Facebook, and we got sucked in by today’s seasonal cupcake flavor.

It was SO GOOD.

We also got two more cupcakes to share: salted caramel and cookies ‘n cream.

Aaron LOVED the salted caramel, but it was too rich for me. I preferred the simplicity of the cookies ‘n cream. Of course, nothing compares to the greatest cupcake of ALL time: the cookie dough cupcake. That one will be at our wedding for sure.

We won’t do an official tasting to place the order for our wedding cupcakes until January or February 2014, so in the meantime we’re just doing… research…

Anyway, we eventually found the perfect little Christmas tree. I put on the Pandora Christmas station and lit a pine-scented candle to get the Christmas spirit flowing while we decorated.

Thanks to Aaron’s mom for giving us lights, ornaments, and old stockings that she didn’t need anymore, because otherwise we had nothing except for my sparkly lobster ornament (because) that my mom gave me a few years ago.

Now it really feels like Christmas!

Yesterday was a rest day, and Aaron and I did two super-rare things last night:

• We went out to eat.
• We ate lots of bread.

Aaron has been craving Indian food for a while, so Taste of India was our jam. We ordered chicken tikka masala and butter masala with lamb to share, plus a huge piece of hot, doughy, garlicky naan. Yum.

Apparently the food didn’t go over so well for Aaron (he felt sluggish on his ride this morning), but I had a great run!

4 miles in 38 minutes at a 9:30 average pace. Freakishly even numbers.

And negative splits!

I usually do an out-and-back between home and Green Lake, but today I ran to Green Lake and finished my run there so I could run continuously on the path and not have to stop for traffic lights. Once I got down to Green Lake (about 0.8 miles in), I ran the whole time! Can’t stop, won’t stop.

I was very sweaty and red-faced afterward. The walk home was nice for cooling off!

I saw this funny sign on the way back. Heh.

And really enjoyed being outside in the DAYLIGHT so I could admire the fall colors of the leaves, even though they’re all on the ground now instead of on trees.

Now we’re off to see a movie and grab dinner with Aaron’s parents, and I have TWO friends who are celebrating birthdays tonight. Busy first day of December!

Before Aaron left for his ride this morning, he popped in to kiss my sleepy face goodbye.

“It’s raining,” he said, “but go run.”

I got up shortly after, and starting putting clean dishes away while eating a Larabar and psyching myself up for my long (4 mi) run today.

Then… I saw this directly out of the kitchen window.

It started as just a little burst of color shooting out from behind those trees, but I watched as it slowly stretched to become a full rainbow. (I couldn’t get a picture of the whole thing on my phone, but use your imagination.)

Rainbows mean different things to different people, but today, this rainbow spoke to me. It said (in the voice of God or the Wizard of Oz or whatever you’d like to imagine):

“DEVON. IT’S TIME TO RUN.”

I’m off to find the pot of gold!

A year ago today, I quit my well-paying job and set off on a journey of selling most of my belongings, leaving behind my friends and family, and traveling the world alone.

Part of me thought I was nuts to quit (I wasn’t). I worried that I would regret it (I don’t). And I thought I would find myself broke, homeless, and lonely after a year (I’m not).

It was the second-best decision I’ve ever made.

The first best decision was to say “yes” to Aaron’s proposal.

One of the top-10 best was to try to break into a new field of work, which has led to the exciting, creative, fulfilling job I’m now proud to have.

And I wouldn’t have been in the position to make either of those decisions if I hadn’t made that first crazy, bold, very-difficult decision to quit.

Leap, and the net will appear. If you’re lucky, like me, the net will be filled with adventure, love, creative fulfillment, and memories to last a lifetime.

New Zealand

Australia

Singapore

Malaysia

Thailand

Hawaii

Italy

Yup, I’m one lucky girl. Not a bad year at all.

P.S. I realized that I unintentionally wore nearly the exact same thing today as I did a year ago: one of my beloved v-neck tees and jeans. Some things never change, even when everything else does. : )

11/30/11 — Last day as a proofreader. (I was also in the best shape of my life, and ran my first marathon four days later.)

11/30/12 — Last day as an intern; I’m a copywriter for realsies on Monday! (I’m not in the best shape of my life, but… I never thought I’d say this… I think I prefer having fuller cheeks and some extra curves!)

It was raining this morning, and even at 8 a.m. I started thinking, “Maybe I’ll just do 20 minutes on the bike trainer instead of running two miles outside tonight.”

Then I was like, “No, I’ll run… if it’s not raining.”

Then I left work late. Then the bus was 20 minutes late. I just wanted to get hooooome. That’s when my best-laid plans started crumbling in my mind.

It wasn’t raining when I got home, but I still didn’t feel like running. I asked Aaron: “I’m supposed to run two miles tonight, but I might just do the bike trainer. What should I do?”

He said I should run, and I guess that was all I needed — someone to tell me what I didn’t want to hear, because I didn’t have the mental strength to tell myself.

I knew I should run, he said I should run, and so I did.

It’s not a big deal to talk yourself out of one two-mile run, but it sets a dangerous precedent. If it’s that easy to quit on two miles, it’ll just gets easier and easier to quit as the runs get longer and harder. On the flip side, the more I get out to hit the cold, dark, wet pavement — no matter what — the more I’ll continue to do so. Momentum, you know.

Anyway. I lifted weights after the run. I wasn’t sore at all after Tuesday’s lifting session, which was my muscles’ way of saying YOU’RE NOT DOING IT RIGHT.

I did the same moves this time, but used 15 lb. weights in place of 10 and 20 lb. weights in place of 15, and only did 8 reps of each move because OMG heavy. I think it’ll do the trick.

Lastly, since this was a boring post, here’s a fun fact: Did y’all know that Aaron used to weigh 220 pounds? It was when he was in high school, long before I ever met him, and it’s hard to believe when you see him today in the 170s (he’s six feet tall).

I long ago came to terms with the fact that he looks better in skinny jeans than I ever will.

This guy actually never stops eating, but here’s how he continues to fit into skinny jeans:

• He rides his bike to and from work 4x a week. It’s a 15-mile round trip, so that’s 60 miles/week of just commuting.
• He does a long bike ride once or twice a weekend: 40-80 miles if he’s on his road bike, 15-35 miles if he’s on his mountain bike. Either way, it’s 2-5 hours of riding, and he’s out the door at freakish hours of the morning.
• He aims to eat 100% Paleo with a cheat meal every two weeks.
• I’ve never seen him drink a soda, and he rarely drinks alcohol. I’ve never seen him drunk.

So that is the person who gives me mental strength when I need it to do my workout. And I get to marry him!