Again?

Here I am, playing catch-up again! Life has settled down, so I should be able to get back into the regularly scheduled blogging, but for now, I'll tell you about the last two weeks.

Oh wait, there isn't much to say. I have been working like crazy and traveling. What's new? Nothing.

We celebrated Christmas with my family, then we went to New Mexico for real Christmas with the in-laws. They had a Charlie Brown tree. I'm more of a full and fat tree kind of girl, but it held lights and ornaments,s o I guess I can't complain (or take pictures that aren't blurry).

The BEST part about the trip was seeing my very bestest BFF! Did we take any pictures together? No, of course not. That would be a good idea, and we rarely have those. But it was fantastic to see her, and I really really wish NM was closer to MA so it could happen more often.

I only worked out once...and it wasn't a run or anything good like that. It was fun though! I went rock climbing with my brother-in-law. He belongs to a climbing gym, so he let me tag along (I think it was so he could laugh at my lack of upper body strength). I managed to hold my own, but mostly just on the kindergarten wall. Anything 1st grade or above was a little tough for me. And today (three days later) my forearms are KILLING me. Opening doors and squeezing bottles is nearly impossible (and yet surprisingly important to be able to do. Get into work? ouch. Contact solution bottle? Ouch. Toothpaste? Ouch). It was WELL worth the pain though. This has been the year of trying new things, and I really enjoyed myself and hanging out with my BIL. Wouldn't you want to hang with us too?

We got home Tuesday, and now it's back to the grind. But not without a cold! Thank you to all the children who also traveled this week and left their germs all over the airplanes. You're the best! I love being sick right after vacation!

Not really at all. But I did catch a cold and felt pretty nasty yesterday. Today is better, so I'll be hitting the gym post-work and will hopefully start to feel normal. Vacation in New Mexico is always filled with amazingly good food, but now I feel like I need a dry salad and Tab lunch more than ever.

Also, not really. But a good, healthy salad and a Diet Coke are on the menu :)

Playing Catch-Up

It has been FAR too long since I updated. Sorry about that. Being on the road for a week, and then being home for just three days before company shows up and I'm packing to go out of town again is stressful!

So let's go back two weeks. TWO WEEKS. Yikes.

I set a goal of running a 10k the first Saturday in December. Why? Just because I needed to push myself. I did my 5-miler the weekend of Thanksgiving, and this was up next. Did it happen on that Saturday? No. Of course not. Life gets in the way, and sometimes things don't work quite as planned (and sometimes I need to reschedule my life so I can get my hair done). But did I do it on Sunday instead? Absolutely. Unlike my 5-miler, where I had no music or Garmin, this time I was full prepared. But also unlike my 5-miler, this run SUCKED. Hard.

I started on the same route I did last weekend, planning to take WAY better pictures. Here's the view of Boston at the half mile mark.

It's probably my favorite view. Unfortunately, I was already feeling pretty rough. I thought maybe I just needed to "get the lead out" aka work out the heavy legs, but by mile 1, I was hurting badly. I took one of the Shot Bloks I brought along, and actually sat down for a minute. I was feeling too hot (too many layers for the weather) and a little light headed. I took off a layer and calmed myself down before I set off again. I knew that I could head home around mile 2 if I was really not feeling, but I wanted to give it a college try before I just threw in the towel.

Once I was down a layer, I felt a lot better. I knew I was going SLOWLY, but I didn't feel sick anymore, so that was a major bonus. I did walk run intervals for the next 3 miles because I could not get it together. My pace was all over the place and my legs still felt really heavy. I didn't feel good until mile 4.5ish when my stint along the river was gone and I was in the Public Garden.

At this point I ate my second Shot Blok and was starting to feel kind of good. Not great, but based on what I had done up to this point, I was happy to feel even a little better about the run. That lasted about a mile, and then I wanted to die again. My last half mile was in my old neighborhood, so I know the distances between things and I kept psyching myself out. It was rough. When mile 6 hit I was so happy. I did not feel the excitement I felt when I went 5 miles for the first time, but rather I was SO HAPPY it was over. I ended right in front of my old apartment (and no, I did not run the .2 required to make it a 10k, and no, I don't care).

After my run, I did not take a picture of myself in a mirror because I went to meet Johnny and my sister for brunch and the place we went to had no mirror in the bathroom. Weird. We had great brunch though. I was really hungry (no surprise there). After brunch, my sister and I went to get our nails done, and then I went home to pack!

My first stop was San Antonio, TX! It was a cool little city, but it was COLD. The first night we went to the mall (I forgot to back a belt) and I considered buying another winter coat! My down vest was not cutting it, but I sucked it up and went to visit the Alamo.

I had great plans to run by the Alamo while I was there. I even got a fancy running map from the hotel. But Tuesday morning my legs were still sore from Sunday, and Wednesday morning I was SO tired from work. When I travel I go to conventions and I'm on my feet ALL DAY. On concrete floors. So I couldn't pull it together (especially because I had a few margaritas the night before too...oops). Then Thursday morning I had a 6am flight to San Diego, so the run never happened! Oh well. I did get to see a friend from college for dinner, AND I got to go up in a private plane to see the city from the air.

It was such a cool experience and I was not at all scared or motion-sick, which is HUGE for me. I'm ALWAYS feeling sick while traveling, so I was so pleased to not embarrass myself and barf in the tiny plane.

From San Antonio I went to San Diego, and I have zero pictures or stories of almost fitness for this part of my trip. It was four more days on my feet at another convention and too many late nights. I've heard San Diego is a GORGEOUS place to run, but I just never had the chance. I carried my sneakers all the way from Massachusetts for nothing. OH WELL. Some times that just happens. And I felt REALLY GOOD about how I ate during the week (even if I did drink a little more than usual) so I think it balances out!

Now my brother is in town, and I'm off to New Mexico on Wednesday! We have Christmas with my family this weekend, and as long as I can get some shopping done tonight (I have purchased exactly one gift so far), then I'll be at the gym working up a sweat (for the first time in two weeks) tomorrow morning. I cannot wait for some vacation time! This running around like crazy is getting old!

Alive!

Hi there! Just wanted to check-in and let you all know that I'm most definitely still alive. I've been on the road since last Monday and I'm just finally headed home (after my 5.5hr flight from San Francisco).

I did get my 10k in before I left, so I've got updates to report! But until then, I'm off to fly the friendly skies!

Oops I Did It Again

I'm hooked on a new-ish breakfast! I was getting a little bored with the brand of greek yogurt we've been buying lately and took the opportunity to try a new brand that was on sale at the store last week, Athenos. Their honey flavor is ah-mazing (there is actual honey to scoop into the yogurt). Oh, I didn't stop there I even tried a new cereal, Fiber One Squares - together they have made breakfast delicious and more like dessert (always a plus in my book). Sometimes I just have to remember that it's good to change it up a little so that I don't get stuck in a food rut.



It is so cold in NM right now!! The whole state is under Winter Weather Advisory which may not be too big of a deal for those of you who live(d) in cold states but for the majority of our state, it means we are out of our comfort zone and not so certain what to do. The roads were nasty and icy this morning and afternoon so after a 2 hour delay I actually ended up staying home all day. Thankfully, I had Jay and Chaca to keep me company.


This past weekend we took some time to decorate our Christmas tree and house!

We didn't want Chaca to be left out of the holiday spirit so we bought her some holiday bling at this past week's Nob Hill Shop & Stroll (it was so windy and cold but totally worth it to support our local stores/restaurants/artists).

I did it again - I managed to get another blister on my foot. I did quite a bit of walking around on Sunday and before I knew it I had that sharp pain near my Achilles' tendon. I was supposed to go on an easy jog today but figured I might as well avoid the terrible weather and let my blister heal. This is actually the second blister I've had since the one I wrote about in November. The second one was completely my fault- I thought it'd be a great idea to wear that same pair of shoes I wore in the Dallas airport during a 5k walk I did with this pretty lady, "N".

I seriously love her neon workout clothes! The walk was for St. Jude's and it took place inside the mall, exercise+ a great cause = sign me up anytime!

I ran a new distance this past Friday, 4.8! It was not fun and because it was dark and snowing the run took place on a treadmill. But it is completed and I'm so ready to move on to 5.2 this week.

It's time to watch a little Ridiculousness and eat some dinner, have a good week!