TAGGED!

So, this is a blog first for me and it is most exciting!  I got "tagged" to answer some questions.  My tagger was MsGigglepuss from Just a Bit Wicked.  I, in turn, shall "tag" some bloggers of my own with some new questions when my questions are answered. 

So here are my questions and answers:

1. What is your favorite holiday and why? Any special traditions?
I have to go with Thanksgiving because it's the one holiday that I have my entire immediate family together every year combined with a mini vacation.  The irony of the whole thing is that it is the furthest thing from a traditional Thanksgiving that you could possibly imagine.  For the past 14+ years, my family has gone to Las Vegas to celebrate.  We always meet for 2 meals a day, we go see movies, we shop, we gamble, we see shows...  We hit up a killah buffet for our Thanksgiving meal!  haha!  This coming Thanksgiving, we are changing it up a bit, however.  My parents have rented us a huge house in Orlando and we are doing Disney and Universal Studios instead - for a whole week!




2. What is your go-to kickass song in your workout playlist?
Just one?  Oye - there are so many that really kick me into gear when I hear them!  My younger sister Linda told me I had to put Miley Cyrus's "Can't Be Tamed" onto my iPod the other day.  Honestly, I didn't listen to it before uploading it (that's trust for you).  It came on while I was doing my 13.1 miles ON THE ELLIPTICAL on Sunday and it really put that pep in my step, so it just might one of my new faves!  Ya gotta keep it fresh, ya know?!


3. If you were forced to only watch one TV show or movie ever again until you die (can choose shows no longer on the air, and you can watch it again and again, but nothing else), what would it be and why? Defend your choice!
I will go with a tv show because there are many episodes to it (versus watching one 2-hour movie).  I could, for the record, defend a movie choice, though!  Okay, so my tv show is...LoSt!  Big shocker for those of you who know me IRL, right?!  I love(d) that show!  I was only disappointed in the ending because it ended.  I was intrigued with each and every episode and it kept me guessing.  There were so many literary reference weaved into the story line - so many great characterizations - it was so well cast!  Oh...just writing about it makes me miss it! 



4. Where is your favorite vacation destination?

Playa del Carmen!  I love me my European vacations, I really do, BUT they are working vacations.  You have to go, go, go...see, see, see and by the time you are done, you need a vacation to recover from your vacation.  Playa is soooo close - a 2 hour plane ride away to tropical paradise.  I just set myself up with one of those all-inclusives and prepare to be lazy for 5+ days.  It's heaven on earth with a fruity tropical drink on the side for good measure. (pic taken from my last trip there)


I am tagging...
Meliska-D
That Pink Girl
Lauren (Team Giles)
Tales from the Back of the Pack
The Incredible Shrinking Girl

Here are your questions:

1.  What is your favorite holiday and why?  Any special traditions?  Favorite holiday food item?  (had to steal this one - 'tis the season and all that jazz (but I tweaked it slightly))

2.  Have you read a great book lately that you would recommend?  Tell us about it!

3.  What is your dream vacation?  Money is not an issue.  Time off of work is not an issue.  Where do you go?  Why?

4.  Looking back at 2010 so far...what are you most proud of?


Get to answering!!!  Get to tagging!!!

survivor

So I'm notorious for hatin' this whole "dark by the time I get home from work" thang.  It messes with my head.  It doesn't take much to mess with my head, mind you, but still...

Okay...first things first.  I bet you are wondering if I was able to master the 13 miles on the elliptical.  Well...I didn't only master it, I overachieved it by 0.1 of a mile just to make it a half ellipticathalon.  You see 26.2 miles is a full ellipticathalon.  I don't ever want to go that far.  If I do, PLEASE have me committed.

My plan was to hit the gym bright eyed and bushy tailed, but that didn't happen because Runner's World was doing a live blog feed of the ING NY Marathon and I was drawn to it like bees to honey!  I was pulling for Shalane Flanagan to win it for the women, but I was quite proud of her 2nd place finish!  Imagine running your first marathon and finishing 2nd place?!  Bananas!  Then again, when she competed in her first half marathon here in Houston in January of this year, she won it!  She's amazing!

Okay, so once the winners were established, I geared up, grabbed my Powerade Zero and my iPod shuffle and headed to 24-Hour Fitness.  I picked my machine, tested the ol' iPod to make sure there were no technical difficulties and then I was off.  My quad/thigh was a bit achy at first, but I told it to "man-up" and I adjusted the intensity and the incline and eventually found my rhythm.  The machine only allowed me to set it up for 60 minute segments, so after the first 60 minutes, I reset it for another.  About half way through my second 60 minute segment, I had to briefly pop off the machine to refill my bottle - water was gonna have to do it for the rest of my jaunt.  I took that opportunity to stretch my legs.  I hopped back on the machine and finished up that 60 minutes.  I reset the machine for the final 60 minutes knowing full well it wasn't going to take me that long.  I worked on my arm swing during the entire work-out since I know that has been a weakness for me.  I would have killed for an audio book, FYI.  Half ellipticathalons are MEGA BORING!  33 minutes later, I was done.  13.1 miles completed.  I can honestly say I have never before spent 2 hours and 33 minutes in the gym in one segment before.  I would love to say that I will never do that again, but sadly this may not be the case depending on what's going on with my injury.

Good news is that my leg doesn't feel any worse for the wear today.  Honestly - my upper back and shoulders are a mess (from the arm swinging).  Weird, right?!

I was able to make an appointment with the sports medicine ortho at the practice I go to.  The ortho who did both of my ACL knee surgeries ('94 and '98) retired several years back and the ortho who helped me through my hip tendonitis (earlier this year) is a joint specialist, so I decided to go with the sports medicine expert.  This one lists running as his hobby, so he'll understand!

I took today off (as I would after a long run), but I'm hitting up my elliptical new BFF again tomorrow.  I'm planning on a 4 to 5 miler.

Where there is a will, there is a way!  Destiny Child's Survivor popped up on my shuffle while I was laboring away.  The lyrics inspired me.  Here are just a few:

I'm a survivor,
I'm not gonna give up,
I'm not gon' stop,
I'm gonna work harder,
I'm a survivor,
I'm gonna make it,
I will survive,
Keep on survivin'

Oh and I almost forgot to share with you that my blind beagle, Penelope, stole 2 packs of Clif's Shot Bloks, 5 Larabars, 2 Luna Bars, and 2 South Beach bars while I was at work today.  I had a bag full of my goodies on top of my desk in the kitchen and she must have been desperately seeking something/anything to satisfy her hunger?!  Hmmm...guess who is NOT getting dinner tonight.  

fighter

Let's talk about how much I *love* waking up at 5am on a Saturday.  Let's one-up the early birding with 38 degree weather, shall we?!

Since I am not eating bread carbs right now, I made myself a breakfast of 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 lite mini baby bell cheeses, and 2 TBSP of almond butter.  I washed it all down with water.

I geared up with Nike capris, a light weight long sleeve shirt, my shoes, my Spibelt, my Garmin, my iPod Shuffle, and my visor.  I stretched VERY thoroughly and then headed out the door at 6:45am.

I had a positive attitude.  I knew that I might not be able to do all 13, but I felt that surely I would be able to do the same 7 I had done the week before.  I promised myself I would stop if I hurt.

My team met up at the picnic table, discussed the plan of action, and headed out.  I had a bit of a struggle with my iPod.  It wasn't working and I panicked that I was going to have to run without it.  Just me and my thoughts?!  Yikes!  No worries...got it working.  I started jogging and BAM...pain in my thigh...all the way around it.  That is where the pain has moved to - from the hamstring to the glutes, back to the hamstring, then to the entire thigh/upper leg.  Do you see how this is the weirdest injury ever?!  It keeps moving.  I'm thinking at this rate, in two weeks, it's going to be in my ankle.  Sheesh!

I just stopped.  What was the point?  I could feel myself running with a limp.  I don't want to put myself out of commission, so I turned around and walked back to my car.  I almost cried.  I wanted to, but I stopped myself.  I am not giving up here.  I have done everything that I could on my own, so it's time to take it to a doctor (I will call my ortho on Monday and make an appointment).  What's my biggest fear here?  It's not really that he will tell me not to run, because I don't believe my injury is that serious.  He didn't tell me to stop running when I had the tendonitis in my hip, after all.  My biggest fear is losing my training.  I don't feel like I can go another week of nothing and then be expected to pick up where I left off.  I feel like if I don't pick up where I left off, I will be getting too far behind to catch up.  In other words...continuing to build distance is going to be a problem.

I have a plan.  I'm going to the gym tomorrow morning.  I want to try the elliptical first.  It's low impact and I control the intensity/tension of the machine.  I will know instantly as to whether or not it is aggravating my injury.  If it does, I get off and try the bike.  If it doesn't, I do 13 miles.  I know it isn't the same, but it's something.

I don't know if I've mentioned it on my blog before, but I consider my theme song to be Christina Aguilera's
"Fighter".  Most of the song applies to my life regarding a rather unfortunate experience I had (for several years), but that withstanding...isolating some select lyrics can be applied to this situation:

Makes me that much stronger
Makes me work a little bit harder
Makes me that much wiser
So thanks for making me a fighter

I am a fighter.  I'm going to fight my way through this injury.  You fight for what you believe in.  I believe in me.  I just have to fight smart.

I am free

well...not that you can like buy me or anything....

After babying my oddity of an injury all week long, I can honestly say I feel better.  So, this means I'm going to head out tomorrow morning to try to do my 13-miler.  I have not run all week.  I have not done any kind of physical exertion, actually.  I just took my anti-imflammatory pills, my Epsom salt baths, rubbed my upper left leg with Bio Freeze each night, stretched, and prayed. 

I am promising myself that I will stop running if I feel pain.

I am promising myself to take time off the table and to just feel free with the run.

You see, looking beyond the injury into the bigger picture, I have come to realize that I'm stressing myself out so much with this whole time limit thing to the point that I'm not even enjoying running.  I don't want to be running my full marathon staring at my Garmin fretting about each and every step with regard to each and every second.  I want to be soaking up every single second of that race for what it is - an amazing experience beyond anything I ever even thought would be possible.  Remember back to when my parents saved the day by buying me a spot in this marathon?  My dad asked me if it meant more to me to know that I would be able to finish the race on time (RnR New Orleans with it's 7 hour time limit) OR to have my family and friends there to support me (Houston with its 6 hour time limit).  I chose Houston!  I still choose Houston!  I'm not naive here.  I know there is only a slim chance of me actually being an official finisher (finishing within the time limit).  Worrying and stressing about it isn't changing the time limit and it's not changing my speed.  If anything it's dragging me down - emotionally, mentally, and physically.

I'm officially committing to myself and to anyone who reads this blog today that I am freeing myself of the chain that has been binding me.  I am no longer worrying about the time it takes me to complete my very first (and probably only) marathon.  I am solely focused on finishing what I started.  I want to cross that finish line on two feet (you know...not crawling) with my head held high knowing that I did something to be proud of!  As long as I can say I did my best...how can that not be good enough?!

On #Fitblog the other night (my first, but definitely not my last time participating), we were asked what was the headline defining our last 10 months and what would be the headline defining our remaining 2 (or...um...something along those lines).  I thought about it and my response was this:  "I Am My Own Worst  Enemy" to "I Am My New Best Friend".  In other words...enough with the negativity and the "I can't" attitude and the "what ifs".  It's time for positivity and the "I can" attitude and the "come what mays". 

I am free.

lonely

Cold weather makes me feel lonely.

The holiday season makes me feel lonely.

I have a lot going on in the next two months.  I have 3 trips planned.  One -  a quick weekend trip to Chicago for management meetings and some family time.  Two - a week long extravaganza in Orlando over Thanksgiving with my immediate family, aunt, uncle, and double cousins.  Three - Christmas in Chicago with my family.   I have a half marathon.  I have the continued training for my full marathon - doing mileage I never thought possible.  I have stuff to occupy my mind, I guess is what I'm saying.

But still...

I'm lonely.

Most of my friends are married.  So many of my friends have had babies this year.  I always wanted to be a mom.  I wanted to have three kids.  The older I get, the more I see that dream slip away.  Don't get me wrong...I'm not giving up.  I know there is still hope for me to meet and marry some wonderful man and then to have some kiddos.  I know that women have babies "later in life" now.  I know that I am way healthier now than I was 10 years ago and that I will be even healthier 5 years from now than I am now.

But still...

I'm lonely now.

It will pass.  I usually does and I will be content again.  at least for a little while.

not your traditional pudding

I'm a fairly open-minded girl when it comes to most things.  At the very least, I always try to see "the other side".  I am not so open-minded when it comes to food.  Or at least I have not been so open-minded in the past.  Something has come over me this year and I'm eating and creating all sorts of weirdness (by my interpretation).  I still have my standards, though...I will never ever try clam chowder.  =P

This year I've eaten sushi.  the raw kind.  ewwwww.

This year I've eaten mussels.  ewwwww.

This year I've put spinach in my smoothies.  yummmmm.

This year I've put pumpkin in my chili.  yummmmm.

Now...I've done the ultimate in odd.  I'm made chocolate pudding without Jello brand pudding mix.  I did it with an avocado as the base.  Also...it's made with almond milk (another newby for me).

Earlier this year, Lauren told me she had it before and loved it.  She recalled the recipe having agave nectar in it.  It isn't that I have any personal issues against agave nectar, it's just that I do follow the South Beach diet, so I try to go sugar free or use sugar substitutes.

I have been laying low on the exercise front this week trying to rest this leg injury into submission (hoping to be able to participate in Saturday's 13 miler with my running group), so I've been cooking and baking South Beach, phase 1 foods (since I'm on the second week of taking that step back to get my cravings in check) in my spare time.  I had this notion to make the pudding today, but I wanted to find a recipe that did not have honey or agave nectar in it.

I heart Google.  I found one right away.  I used this as my base recipe.  Now, keep in mind this is not a low calorie pudding or even a low fat one.  It is rich in nutrients, however - healthy fats, protein, fiber.  I can attest that it is incredibly decadent, creamy, and extremely filling.

Here's what you need:

1 large avocado
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP almond butter (I used Maranatha)
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I used Jillian's)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
6 packets of sugar substitute
a pinch of salt
1/2 cup of chocolate unsweetened almond milk
1 TSP vanilla

Here's what you do:

Mix the avocado and almond butter together.
Add dry ingredients - protein powder, sugar substitute, cocoa powder, and salt

Add in the liquid ingredients - almond milk and vanilla.
Mix thoroughly.
Chill.
Serve.
Enjoy.

Oh...supposedly it's 4 to 6 servings.  I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4, but then again I apparently have a heavy hand when it comes to scooping.  ;)

3 deep breaths

Happy November to you!

This is kind of a cRaZy month for me as I have lots of traveling going on.  This makes me VERY nervous as far as my training goes since I will be missing 3 Saturdays of long runs with my running group.  That statement alone is kinda funny considering I'm soooo much slower than the rest of my team that I'm basically running solo save for the turn around of each mapped out run when we pass each other, but even those few words of encouragement and our little team camaraderie before we begin go along way, you know?!  I will, of course, run the same mileage they are just in a different cities and sometimes on different days.  I should flip it for the positive by way of saying what an adventure it will be to run in Chicago and Orlando instead of Houston!

I also wonder whether or not I will be able to join them this Saturday.  I'm still nursing this strange injury from my half marathon (that wasn't) from October 24th.  I know I never went into much detail of what happened with that whole thing, so here it goes.  As I was running, I started feeling a tightness in my left hamstring prior to seeing my family somewhere just after mile 3.  I remember running past them telling them "the hills are killing me" and knowing I was referring to my hamstring.  When I finished the run, I was feeling sore in my thighs and my left side from the back of my hip to my hamstring - kind of the sciatic area.  The weird thing is that I ALWAYS have total runner's knee on both my left and right legs, but this run I did not.  I attributed it to my new properly fitted shoes (you know...the ones I probably shouldn't have run in, but I did cuz I'm such a rebel).  So after the race, we went to lunch and when I got up from the table I totally had a hard time walking, but not with stiff legs as would be expected, but it was with this whole problem going on with the left side of me.  On Monday, my father made fun of me calling me "Chester" from the tv show "Gun Smoke" only the reference was lost on me cuz I had never seen it.  I made an appointment for a massage and immediately Sarah (with her magic torturous touch) was able to break apart some knots that had developed in my gluttish (probably not a word, but bear with me here) area.  The rest of the week, I did all the things you are supposed to do to heal an injury.  I tried to run on Wednesday, but it was an epic fail.  Then came Saturday and as I mentioned - I did 7 of the scheduled 12 miles and then felt crippled (even limped) the rest of the day.  The pain had moved to most of my upper left leg (as in all the way around).  On Sunday, after an Epsom salt bath, it was back to just the hamstring.  I'm perplexed.  My coach told me REST it.  He said I might not be able to run all week.  He said I might not be there next Saturday.  My biggest fear is getting behind.  He tells me not to worry - that the worst thing I can do is further injure myself by running injured.  I'm a worry wart.  It's what I do.

My mom would ask "how's that working for you?"  It's not.  It makes me feel sick.  It probably prevents me from getting better.  My mom would say "when you always do what you have always done, then you are always going to get what you have always gotten."  I know she's right.  I hate that, by the way.  3 deep breaths.  It's going to be okay.

Anyway...I spent 3 months dealing with a hip injury at the beginning of this journey and that didn't stop me - if anything, it made me even more determined.  I am going to get through this.  I am.  If anything, it's an exercise on patience - a virtue that has been lost on me in the past and something I really need to work on.  Sometimes my stubbornness is a good thing - it means I don't give up even when it appears the cards are stacked against me.