Talking It Out

I knew the entire month of October was going to be crazyville, and it's staying true to that:

-Last weekend of September: Trip to Austin
-First weekend of October: Trip to KC
-Last weekend: work Saturday and Sunday for Tour de Scottsdale
-This weekend: RACE
-Next weekend: work Saturday for SpoooooOoOoOooooOooOky Carnival: Pirate Edition (I wish I had a peg leg)

So, the light at the tunnel is in sight, but I have to finish 13.1 miles to get there.

Saturday's 11 miler brought a mix of emotions. I am officially the weirdo who kind of likes setting out before the sun rises to spend a few hours running. Not that I do it fast or with any grace, but I do it. It's a nice time before the weekend really begins. I felt a little sluggish in the beginning. My first 4 miles clocked in at the 11:00+ mark which made me mad. (More mad at myself--perhaps I shouldn't have pushed myself to a fast-for-me 4 miles the morning before: 4.16 miles at a 10:07/mi pace) The ensuing few miles were an up and down roller coaster of times. I felt pretty OK with everything until the very end. Mile 10.5 came with a ton of bricks hitting me in the face. I have solace in the fact that I'll have more fuel on me for the race on Saturday and that I'll know to eat more before I set off.

I ended 11 miles by running in a circle around my gate box because I just didn't want to go any further away. I'm sure I looked deranged. 11 miles in 2:01:16 for a 11:01 min/mi pace.

Now, here's where I have to have a come to Jesus conversation with myself. I will need a 20 seconds/mile pace to hit my goal on Saturday. Can I do it? I've had some amazing long-"ish" runs where I've gone faster than that. I'm not going to be doing any sort of physical activity the day before the race and I'm making friends with the foam roller this week.But, 20 seconds is kind of a lot. If I'm being honest with myself, I know it's going to be close, and I'm erring on the side of "Welp, I'm probably not going to hit sub-2:20." There are all kinds of factors. All my long runs have started out bright and early. The race doesn't start until 7:00 a.m., putting me at finishing after 9:00 a.m. When I was working the Tour on Sunday I noted the brightness/temp around 9:30 and it was WARM. That doesn't bode well.

But weirder things have happened. I think the greatest achievement of this training season is that I don't hate running like last year. Don't get me wrong: I am READY to do a week straight of yoga and nothing else after this weekend. But the idea of continuing to run and keep myself in better running shape doesn't make me want to die like it did before. But I think any future races will aim for the 10K mark. That seems much more sustainable for my life and abilities.

In other news...

• AV is signed up for the 5K on Saturday! If anything, it will give him something to do besides just wait for me. Plus, snacks after the race.
• We finished House of Cards last night. MOAR PLZ. I heard they're filming season 3 right now. It makes me want to get into politics and secretly murder people. Next I think we will move onto OITNB.
• Speaking of politics, this guy's write-in signs are everywhere. FIVE F'S O' FREEDOM! My Five F's of Freedom are: Fireworks, Frosting, Frangelico, Falafel, Fazoli's (I'm hungry)
• These have been made twice and they are really glorious. Last night I followed the recipe to the letter (although halving it) and mixed in some diced green onions before cooking. I topped them with sharp white cheddar and an avocado mash. DO IT.

Mah babe's babe

Hello again!

I left off last Thursday. Yoga that morning was amazing. We did a ton of work involving back-bends and opening our spines and our instructor said something about how we'd have lots of energy throughout our day because of it. Not sure if this was just a yogacebo or what, but I was pumped! up! all! day! It was awesome. The free iced coffee they have in the mornings probably helped.

Friday morning I set out on a "long-ish" run, because I was fairly certain I wasn't going to haul my cookies out in 35° morning weather during my quick weekend trip to KC. I did pack a workout outfit, my water bottle and running shoes just in case. Shoulda saved the carry-on space! I ran 6.56 early morning miles with progressively faster splits and felt completely amazing. 1:09:29 for a 10:36 min/mi average. I want every run to be that not. (Spoiler alert to this morning: they're not.)

My boss scared me into leaving for the airport earlier than I had planned, so I headed down there around 1:30. I'm glad I did, because the entire economy parking lot was full. I was forced into the garage spaces out there, which is $2 more per day. What a ruse!

I picked up a veggie sambo and iced coffee from La Grande Orange (Sky Harbor's restaurant scene is glorious) and waited while my flight got delayed about half an hour. It didn't matter, since my flight was now arriving the same time as my WonderTwin Ashley. We bounded off our flights and went to pick up her amazing chariot:

(I got tha Hertz hook up...holla if you hear me)

We sped off to my dad's house and got there around 11:00 for baseball watching and snacks.

The next morning she left in her pimped-ride and my mom came to pick me up for the baby shower. It was a glorious afternoon of friends, snacks, a mountain of gifties and of course lots of pictures. I miss these ladies!!!!!!

 (BUMP!)

 (Every gal needs a hip set of glittery Jayhawk diapies)

Afterwards we helped deliver gifties to Jo's house and hung out for a while. Can't wait to meet that Blueb!!!!!! And learn her name, but someone said "Beyonce Spears Conrad" and Jo didn't say it WASN'T that, so there is hope.

That night we went to Pizza Bella for mom's belated birthday dinner. The food was just as delicious as the Crossroads location, but you could definitely tell we were in the Johnson County location by the two tables nearby with screaming children.

Sunday we all met up at Eggtc. off the Plaza for a final group get-together and breakfast. This place was a standard before I moved, but they've expanded their menu and it's even more glorious. Their iced coffee was on point and my frittata ("Cheddar, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, onions and roasted red peppers. Topped with spicy salsa and basil") was DELICIOUS. AND HUGE. We all wheeled ourselves out of there.

(Blurry breakfast)

My flight back was on time and I relished the 90 degree air that hit me in the face as I walked to the parking garage. I forced myself to go to the grocery store and that night we started an epic binge:

I'm glad to have a new TV obsession because when Mad Men ends next spring I'm going to want to die.

I forced myself up for a 6:00 a.m. flow class at the Gainey Village location. I'd taken this class once before and while the instructor is a little more hippy dippy than other ones I've experienced (she's the one who starts class with "breath of fire" and talks about astrology/moon cycles/etc.), which you know I love, the class itself is right up my alley. A complete workout without feeling like I'm going to pass out and die like some more power classes can do to me.

I was not looking forward to this morning's run for some reason. I ended up sleeping in a little later than usual (alarm went off at 5:25 so that's my "later" time apparently) and was just not interested. I actually still wanted to go back inside and just hang out while I was stretching outside our gate. No idea what the problem was, but I sucked it up and ran 4 miles in 42:04 (10:31 min/mi) with progressively slower splits. 10:25, 10:28, 10:31, 10:38. Whoops. Not terrible, but not the greatest, you know?

Tomorrow I hope to do another "long-ish" run like last Friday. It looks like the heavens may storm-dump on us again so I might have to do it on the treadmill. Woof. We'll see.

 

Austin eating (and one lonely run)

How long will it take me to fully recover from four full days of eating amazement in Austin? However long, it was worth it. I officially have a new favorite food city.

We arrived Thursday afternoon and went to lunch with Aaron's mom, sister and niece (!) who was a riot. She was a little chunkola!

After eating we set out for our apartment for the weekend. We thought we were going to stay with his aunt the whole trip, but it turns out she recently bought an apartment and has been working on making it fully furnished and updated to rent out. What a glorious surprise!

 

 

 

After we dropped our stuff off we went down the street for an iced coffee and hung out before heading to his sister's house in Buda, about 25 minutes away.

 

(Tio AV!)

 

 

I was full from my gigantic salad and airport breakfast burrito, but when we stopped by Torchy's to pick up food that night I couldn't resist an "Independent" taco ("Hand-battered and fried portobello mushroom strips with refried black beans, roasted corn, escabeche carrots, queso fresco, cilantro and avocado" COME ON!) and lots of sampling the green chile queso blanco. Ridiculous.

 

The next morning I was determined to get a least one work out for the trip in, so I set off in our apartment's neighborhood to try my best. The temperature was perfect (around 67°) but the humidity crept up on me! Still, it was neat to see the neighborhood wake up (tons of pups!) and run some hills for once. Splits were in at 11:10, 10:23 and 10:29 for 3.15 in 33:49. A nice little vacation workout, which sadly wouldn't happen again for the rest of the trip. Whoops.

 

Once I got home and we got ready, AV's aunt and uncle took us to breakfast. We stopped at this tiny little Mexican restaurant and I tried my hand a migas and breakfast potatoes. Completely stupidly delicioius. You know it's legit when nothing is in English.

 

After that we drove through all these little side and back streets to check out some amazing houses in the neighborhood. The architecture in the small spaces was insane. The whole thing reminded me of Lawrence on steroids. (Which you know I loved.)

 

A little later AV's sister and her husband came to pick us up and we headed down to Congress Street (again, Mass. St. times ten) for lunch and walking around. We had lunch at Snack Bar. Anything with "snack" in the name means I'm in love. AV and I split the black bean dip to start and I had a side of mac and cheese for my meal. A "side" because it was decievingly filling and AWESOME. (My Yelp here.)

 

 

(Dip of dreams.)

 

After lunch we were in desperate need of walking it off. Congress Street is awesome. The weather was perfect--sunshiney and not too hot.  So much people watching, so many tiny little shops.

 

(Shopping included weird anti-drug posters from India)

 

 

(We're the first people in the history of the world to pose with this, right?)

They dropped us back off after a few hours and we got ready to head BACK to Congress Street with his aunt and uncle for dinner. PIZZA! There was about a 45 minute wait so we grabbed some drinks and headed to their cute back deck that was decked out in twinkle lights, patio chairs, and ping pong tables.

 

 

The food was outstanding. (I haven't Yelped, but I'm sure I will.) We all split a Pear Gorgonzola salad and AV and I split a "Medium" (Huge.) pie with spinach, roasted red pepper, green olives, and onions. It was fantastic. The fresh spinach and green olives were the kicker for me. We had to bring home leftovers because we couldn't possibly eat more.

 

...buuuuuut once we got home we decided maybe we could possibly eat more. Enter the glowing sign of Gourdough's right down the street. How could we say no to dessert?

 

 

 

What you're looking at (thanks to photo editing, because ti was dark out on their patio and I didn't want to be the a-hole taking a flash picture of her doughnut) is their Nutty Valentine: freshly fried doughnut (almost tasted like a funnel cake) topped with Nutella, cinnamon, sugar and fresh strawberries. If you're wondering if this was out of controle, it was. I decided to pair it with more sugar: I drank a Ragtime, including "Absolute Citron & Ginger Puree With Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice & Basil. Topped With Blood Orange Soda." It was delicious, although I could have stood more ginger puree as I like to get punched in the face with ginger tasting things.

 

I slept the sleep of a thousand sugar-induced fever dreams that night, but it was worth it!

 

 

Saturday was Elia's birthday party (although her actual birthday was Thursday) so we headed over there after the world's most amazing breakfast tacos, conveniently just down the street from us.

 



 

 

She was wearing a fancy first birthday outfit and we watched her open gifts while we ate lunch and a glorious pink cake.

 

Afterwards we set out to get Aaron a BBQ Snack before heading home to rest up. He said it was easily one of the best barbecue he's ever had. ATX protip!

 

That night we met up with his sister and husband again at the Alamo Drafthouse for dinner and to see The Equalizer which was good Denzel actiony fun. I'd say the alternative title could have been "How to Kill Someone 100 Different Ways in Home Depot." The Alamo in KC opened up right around the time I left, so I was excited to finally give it a try. I loved it! I'm planning a visit when we go back to KC for Christmas. I had a really surprisingly amazing Greek salad and of course AV ordered bottomless popcorn. (We couldn't even finish the first round, although I tried really hard by stress eating.)

 

Sunday morning we woke up and knew we were meeting Aaron's sister for lunch at Bouldin Creek, so we attempted to go light on the food for breakfast. We'd seen Soup Peddler down the street so deicded to head there for smoothies. I ordered the "Business Time," which includes "cold-brewed espresso, banana, peanut butter, raw local honey, cacao, rice milk." It was everything I've ever wanted in life. We sat out on their sunny patio and it was a perfect start to the day.

 

 

We decided to fit in one more Austin discovery and parked ourselves at Radio Coffee & Beer's patio. Of course, Aarond had to sample a single taco truck taco while we drank some amazing cold-brewed coffee.

 

 

We headed back to pack up and meet up for lunch. There's not much I can say about Bouldin Creek that hasn't already been said (Although I tried) It was basically one of my favorite places on the planet.

 



Our flight home was fine, although half an hour late. We watched football at the airport and finally made it on home. Thankfully, my car parked in economy parking was fine. I officially love Austin and can't wait to return for more funtimes! I just have to prepare myself for FEASTING!

 

 

Workouts this week:

 

Yesterday's 4.16 run was supposed to be 5, but at least it was speedy. For me. (I feel like I always have to put a "for me" at the end of statements like that. I don't want someone thinking I'm an elite racer when I'm...struggling on a 4 mile run. Right?) 4.16 in 41:13 for a 9:54 min/mi pace. Carbo loading for four days straight works!

 

This morning's 5 miles felt great. So great that I accidentally turned it into 5.62. Whoops! 10:29 min/mi pace. Felt strong.

 

Tomrrow is yoga. THANK YOU INFANT JESUS.

 

Friday is another run. I'll try to get a "longish" run in before work because I leave a few hours early to go back to KC for BABY BLUEB'S SHOWER!

 

I leave you with this:

 

 

 

9 Miles? Check. Hula Hoop? Check.

The weekend went by in approximately 38 seconds. Seems about right.

The forecast for Saturday morning seemed dismal. 60% humidity, mid-80's at 5:00 a.m., etc. etc. Pair that with a terrible stuffy nose on Friday night (and waking up during the night ON FIRE thinking I'd caught the flu or something. I hadn't, so who knows what that was.), and I cautiously set out for my scheduled 9 miles with no goal or or expectations. I just wanted to survive.

To be honest, I ended up feeling pretty dang good. It was the first long run I'd ever attempted with Nuun and I'm officially a disciple and fangirl. I do think I probably should have brought 9 ShotBloks rather than 6, as mile 8 felt pretty disastrous and weak, but overall this run went much better than I ever thought it would.

Not sure on my splits, but I think they were close to:

11:04
10:44
10:45
10:30
10:37
10:50
10:55
11:18 (crash and burn)
11:01

I finished 9.05 miles in 1:38:17 for a 10:52/mi pace. Was it fast enough for my 2:20 goal? No. Did it restore some of my confidence? Yes.

After brizza (obviously not my pic, but it's what I ordered and it was glorious) and nap one of the day, we set out to Sur La Table for the James Beard Taste America event that I'd RSVP'd to forever ago. We watched a cooking demo by Chris Bianco and got to sample some amazing homemade pasta, made right in front of our eyeballs.

(I spy tiny James Beard. Do you?)

(Cavatelli with Sweet 100 tomatoes, garlic, and basil. Topped with chive-mixed ricotta. This was amazing.)

I loved this presentation and what he had to say about working with locally-sourced food and cooking for other people. We also sampled some local crusty bread with olive oil made at St. Anthony's Monastery in Florence, AZ. I will now be planning a road trip up there and buying enough olive oil to last me a lifetime. It was outstanding.

After eating lunch at the ol' standby we came home and I took nap two for the day. I'm an infant.

Yesterday morning I tried to new-to-me class because I knew I wasn't going to make it to my regular 2:45 Sunday afternoon yoga. (Why, you ask? Well, the Chiefs game was actually being shown on TV here for once. Let's not talk about it.) 

I saw that the Gainey Village location of my gym was offering an 8:00 a.m. class of something called "FXP Coreflow," which I thought might be similar to a power yoga class:

"Fun, Xcessible, Portable! Meet us for the FXP CoreFlow Pilates/Yoga fusion class that will keep you challenged and motivated utilizing small props and your own body weight. The FXP CoreFlow class will provide a calorie burning, total body workout with a high energy, low impact, flowing sequence of moves set to music. The props utilized will deepen your core engagement, improve strength and coordination and increase flexibility. All levels welcome! Bring your yoga mat. Towels and small props will be provided."

It was more of a barre/core-strengthening class, which I'm fine with, but it had a huge emphasis on hula hoops! Holy crap. Have you ever hula hooped for two songs straight? I feel weirdly sore all around my waist in a way I've never felt before. To be honest, this was a great workout. It helped with my current desire to start barre classes again, which is how I know I've gotten a little bored with running. I just never really thought I'd use a hula hoop as part of a (decent) workout. The instructor was great and said they hooping for an hour can burn 600+ calories. What! I just might put this class in the ol' rotation. 

10 miles next Saturday. Already tired.

No labor, but running, eating, shopping and NAPPING

Welcome to Wednesday, which feels like Tuesday but is awesomely not. Yoga already tomorrow morning, whatwhat!

Backtracking to the long weekend...

Friday was spent eating pizza (Spinatos. If you have access to it, DO IT.), which is basically my favorite way to spend a Friday night lately. I woke up in darkness of early Saturday morning and felt strangely calm and ready for 8 miles. I took my time getting ready and eating, made sure I had enough sunscreen/chapstick on, readied my Shot Bloks in my water bottle's little sleeve and took off.

This run felt pretty good. I needed some positivity after the week before. My first mile came in a little bit slow, but I can't complain about anything else. Splits were (I'm doing this from memory but this is pretty darn accurate): 11:18, 10:48, 10:45, 10:45, 10:43, 10:35, 10:49, 10:22. I knew I had to make up some time from that 10:49 that slipped in at mile 7 and really pushed myself. I ended with 8.01 at 1:26:23 with a 10:47 min/mi. One MEASLY second away from the 10:46 pace I'll need for 2:20. I will gladly take it. Everything about this run felt easy and fun. Yes, I just said running 8 miles was fun. I think it had to do with all the pups on the trail.

I swear, if I could bottle and sell the high that came with mile 5 I'd be a bzillionaire.

I came home and made a quick breakfast before we headed for our Labor Day weekend adventure to Out Of Africa. Seriously people. Safari adventures!

(Delicious celery treats)

We went to Out of Africa as kids visiting AZ, but apparently they've changed locations and all I remember is a gigantic snake being hoisted around by a bunch of people. The entire park had trams running through it every 20 minutes, or you could just walk to each destination. We chose the walking option, and got to see a whole lot of animal craziness. We watched the "Tiger Splash" show, which really stressed me out. No one got eaten, in case you were worried.

 

(Kitteh!)

 

(So sleepies)

(Hello.)

We were there for three and a half hours and decided to then set off to Flagstaff for a late lunch/early dinner. We wound our way through the scenic route that took us through Sedona, which was freaking beautiful.

 

 

However, soon hangry levels were approaching *DANGER* warning levels for both of us. I pulled up Yelp and made the executive decision that we were going to eat at Diablo Burger. It was holy, and all was right in the world. I had their veggie burger topped with pepperjack and green chiles and I think I saw God when I ate it. Paired with their amazingly herby frites and an open patio, it was everything I could have wanted at that moment. We walked around the downtown area a little bit more (really cute and Lawrence-esque) before heading back home.

 

Then I slept for 9 hours straight. Like a dead person.

 

Sunday afternoon yoga didn't happen. I took two naps that day. I am officially old.

 

Monday my gym had an abbreviated class schedule due to the holiday, so I opted for the 7:30 Yoga Flow Basic class. And basic it was, but she gave us options for more challenges. The pigeon was a godsend. It was a glorious hour.

 

We decided to be masochists at go to Ikea on a holiday. It wasn't that bad! We got there right as they opened and sped through in about an hour and a half. Picked up a new rug, coffee table and ottoman. The ottoman was in the wrong area (I know I probably should have looked more closely but come on!) and ended up being a dark green color verses the dark tan/brown we thought we picked up. It actually looks fine. Good decision on our part to spruce up the living room a bit, on the cheap.

 

Then I took a two hour nap. What was that thing about being old again?

 

Yesterday's 4-miler was a bit rough to wake up to, but I made the most of it.

 

(How badly did I want to get home?)

 

This morning's run broke the 30 minute 5K mark! Don't get too excited, the treadmill is basically the only time this will ever happen in life. Ever. Part of it was I was doing minute intervals at 6.5 and somehow forgot to take myself off that speed. I didn't know how I got so winded after about 5 minutes and then looked down. D'oh. 3.1 in 29:50. Heyo!

 

My old pal, The Universe

It's Friday! We survived!

(This song was in my head for some reason on this morning's run. Not mad.)

 

And speaking of:

 

 (She is my spirit animal)

 

Wednesday's treadmill workout was fine. Ran a 5K in 30:27 for a 9:49 min/mi pace. Ended with some arm work and various squats which I STILL FEEL. Yoga yesterday helped stretch out some of the soreness (I swear it's like she knew exactly what was wrong with my body and based the whole hour off that) but I think I still need to do some stretches tonight before tomorrow's 8 miler.

 

This morning's run felt pretty great, and I'm sure that's because of the massive truckload of carbs I ate yesterday. Splits came in at 10:50, 10:20 and 9:54 (I think) for 3.15 in 32:28. To be honest, I probably had enough fuel in me to finish tomorrow's scheduled 8 miles right then. I finished with some core.

 

I know I need to up my carb intake while I'm upping my running, but I also don't need to drown myself in them. I need to find that happy medium. Yesterday's food diary:

 

Breakfast at work (yoga in the morning):

-Hard boiled egg

-Morningstar "sausage" patty

-1/4 C shelled edamame

-Half a thin bun with 1 Tbsp. of natural chunky peanut butter (Chunky or die! But don't refer to me as chunky, thanks)

 

Lunch:

Leftover stir fry consisting of:

-Approx. .5 C each white basmati rice and brown rice

-Approx. 1 C stir fry veggies/scrambled egg/soy sauce/shelled edamame

-Approx. 1.5 C of "power greens" mix underneath it all

 

This was obviously not enough (because I needed about 4840382 more grams of protein in it), so I stole a Samoa from the break room (WTF Girl Scout cookies randomly appearing in the office at the end of August?). At least I didn't succumb to AJ's carrot cake that was also here.

 

Snack:

-A few handfuls of this that AV brought a big bag of the other day and I'm basically obsessed with:

 

 

For dinner I busted out an old pasta recipe that I haven't made in about 356 years. 1.5 servings of that with garlic bread (because ALWAYS garlic bread). Oh, and? Finished half a piece of chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip icing. Because that's necessary. (It actually might have been necessary.) So basically, I was riding the carb wave all day for no apparent reason. BUT, hopefully the residual effects are still with me tomorrow morning!

I receive Notes from the Universe in my email every morning and today's was awesome: 

 

"Should you ever hear that voice inside exclaim that you're working too slow, are too easily distracted, or that you should take life more seriously, please rest assured, dearest Erin, that it absolutely, positively is not me.

I'm the one saying, 'You totally rock!'

- The Universe"

The Secret

This week I learned that Oprah was right about her "secret" of putting stuff out into the universe and getting what you want. Only by "into the universe" I mean this blog and my personal Oprah being Mom.

My very own Yogitoes arrived in the mail yesterday! Thank you Mom! Can't wait to literally sweat my life away on it Sunday.

Wednesday's workout was a quick (30:34 9:52/mi) 5K on the treadmill followed by some upper body weights. I especially love walking into the women's weight section at Gold's and seeing some a-hole in "lifting gloves" wearing a "Drop It Like A Squat" tank top stealing almost every dumbbell weight, along with two full barbells. Go out into the general weightlifting area you DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUCHE. Luckily, the lovely ladies at Gold's have no idea how to put their weights up in the right order and I was able to find two spare 12.5 lbs. in the 7 lbs. and 10 lbs. areas to complete my arm exercises. That place sucks sometimes.

Yoga yesterday was great. We ended with Double Pigeon (haha, "Fire Log"), which I still felt this morning.

And speaking of this morning, it wasn't too shabby. It was humid out, but not too hot. Splits came in at 11:03, 10:23 and 10:09 for 3.2 miles in 33:34 (10:29/mi). I'm attempting my 6-miler outside tomorrow morning (I hope), so I need to pick up some of my favorite "fuel" and get this training show on the road!

(Also, if anyone is playing along at home: I made these sun-dried tomato mozzarella quinoa burgers last night and they were OUTSTANDING!)