Some Random Facts

I have nothing exciting to post about because every day of my life is like that movie Groundhog's Day. Exactly the same. I am making some fantastic friends with a few ladies in my cohort, which is wonderful. We have so much in common that I feel like we could talk forever and still not run out of things today. I really enjoy class.

So instead of boring you with the same details I write about every day, I decided it would be fun to write some random facts about myself. I also don't have any new pictures, so I've interspersed some really random oldies but goodies.

I eat dessert every single night. I don't feel right if I don't eat something sweet after dinner. Lately I've been on a homemade applesauce kick that I pair with a pile of dark chocolate chips and a piece of dark chocolate. I obviously love dark chocolate. The darker the better.

I can't watch a movie or tv show without doing something else at the same time. I don't know why this is, but I can't just sit and watch the screen. I have to have something else in front of me to make me feel a little more productive. Most nights, to unwind, I sit in bed and knit while watching a few episodes of a TV show. The past few nights I've been playing homework catch up while boyfriend and I laid in bed watching New Girl. And right now I have Friends on in the background.

On that note, if I'm not doing something, I will always fall asleep watching the screen. It seriously takes me several days to watch a movie. I even have been known to fall asleep in movie theaters. It annoys everyone I know, but I really enjoy my sleep time.

Every year around this time, boyfriend and I go mushroom hunting. Boyfriend loves mushrooms. He has a huge book of how to find the good mushrooms and he does massive amounts of research. We have already eaten some delicious chanterelles which are $25/lb in the grocery store. 

I hate canteloupe and pineapple and cilantro. With a firey burning passion. These are the only three foods that I really refuse to eat because they make me gag. I can't explain why. And everyone tries to convince me that fresh pineapple is the best. It's not.

I have a sushi party every year for my birthday. I grew up making sushi and having sushi parties with my family. When I returned home from my first year away at college, I decided to start a tradition. Everyone brings something and we all celebrate and have a great time eatin massive amounts of rice and nori.

I watch everything with the captions on. Our landlords while I was growing up have a daughter who is deaf. We are really, really close with this family and we were always at each other's houses. My soul mate is her sister. So, we always had the captions on for her which made it completely normal for me.

I actually can't stand when the captions aren't on now because I feel like I miss so much.

There are so many more random facts about me, but I will save them for another post.

My 24 hour weekend.

Okay, so it's a little longer than 24 hours, but who's counting? Not me when the hours of my actual weekend hurts to think about. Luckily, I have been making the best of them and cramming as much as I possibly can into those hours.

Saturday, after class, I came home to hang out with boyfriend and the dogs. I got to take my brand new running shoes out for a spin. My wonderful father bought me a new pair on Friday afternoon (after a 5.0 earthquake hit). I've been needing new shoes for, well, an embarrassing amount of time. I'm an Asics girl and I stuck with what I know.

When we came back from our walk, I forced him to workout with me. We were pretty cute during our couple's workout and even matched. I promise we didn't do that on purpose.

Of course, I had my usual snack after the workout. I've been obsessed wth hummus and carrots. Like super obsessed. It's bad. 

That picture was from Friday afternoon, but it was pretty much the same, only I was in sweaty workout clothes. 

Saturday evening we met up with some friends and went to a beach bonfire. It had rained earlier in the day, but cleared up and was freezing by the night. I had three layers of clothing on and borrowed a hat from my friend.

Luckily, the fire and good friends kept me warm.

Especially when my hat got stolen away from me.

Today I allowed myself to sleep in. Until TEN! It was lovely. Then we headed to boyfriend's mom's house for our usual brunch.

Boyfriend's grandma has Malcom's sister, so they played for hours. I found them like this under the table after we ate.

He was so tired that he didn't even wake up when I picked him up to hold him.

Then it was time for my long run. On the treadmill again since it was so close to dinner time and I didn't want to be far away.

As you can tell, the run was great. I was in a really good space. I even ran with a 2% incline for most of the run. Turns out, running is easier when you have had a good breakfast. I usually do my long runs first thing, so I haven't eaten.

This is what boyfriend did while I was running.

Family dinner had a lot of people tonight. My brother brought his new girlfriend and my brother-in-law's little brother had his friend who is a girl over.

Now that I've typed out my 24 hour weekend, I can't even believe how much I did. I can, however, believe how much homework I didn't do. No need to stress. I work best under pressure.

Highest Milage Week

This week marks my highest mileage week ever. Well, maybe not ever, but since I have been keeping track religiously. Yesterday, the wind got me again, so I stopped by my dad's house to use the treadmill. There are personal, really silly girl reasons I no longer go to the gym in the afternoons, plus my dad's house is a far more private place to run. I had planned on doing sprints, but instead did a progression run. It felt so easy, especially considering I couldn't keep my eyes open during the afternoon portion of work.

Then I hopped off and did tabata abs. Tabata is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 8 rounds. They sound easy is theory, until you get to that 8th round and you are wondering why you thought it was a good idea to start! I did 4 sets of these. Today I am so sore, it hurts to laugh. 

This morning was one of my early ones. I always do hill work on Thursdays just because I like to get crazy. I also feel like it goes right along with leg day. I do half a mile with an incline, half a mile with no incline until I have done 3 miles, which is all I have time for in the mornings.

By the end of this week I will have over 30 miles under my belt. I don't know what got into me this week or why my runs have been feeling so great, but I am not going to complain. Having a great run week doesn't always happen, so I've got to appreciate them when they do.

Tomorrow is Friday, and while that is exciting, it's more like an extra Thursday now that I have Saturday class. But this class is only 6 weeks (including last week), so it will fly by. We will also get some great information and get to work with real students, so that is awesome.

Accidental Miles and a New Family Member

After our 80 degree day on Sunday, I woke up to 41 degrees and windy. Really, really windy. I was even wearing 3 layers at work. That being said, I was being a baby and decided that I would skip running in the 30mph freezing winds and stick to my dad's treadmill. I had a terrible night's sleep the night before resulting in about 4.5 hours of sleep so I thought my run would be terrible and said I only had to run 2 miles.

Well, I actually felt great and ended up doing a 5 mile progression run of sorts. I couldn't believe I actually ran 5 miles instead of 2 because my legs felt so great and the time flew by. I even stretched afterward. 

Then I returned to my home gym and pumped some iron. It was a good workout day. I love those. Boyfriend returned from his weekend away shortly after I was done and took me on a date to Phò. I got stir fry to refuel.

Speaking of boyfriend, he's been on a puppy kick. A few weeks ago he suddenly decided he needed a puppy. And then some of his family friends happened to have Border Collie puppies. Boyfriend visited them and fell in love with one of them. And brought one home last night.

As you know, I'm obsessed with dogs, but I'm a bit against this puppy. I may have to get a job out of the area and having three dogs is just not condusive to getting a rental. But the dog is so adorable I can't resist him.

No worries, though, Milo will forever be my favorite dog on the planet. Even more so than Moe. Wait. Am I supposed to say that?

This morning's run was a little harder, but runs are always harder at 5am, I think. I love the morning crowd at the gym. Everyone is so dedicated. There is this group of me. Who lift together at the same time I am lifting and they seem to be multiplying by the week. They all stand around and take turns watching each other lift. There are now 4 of them, but I bet by the time my 12 week student teaching placement is up and I no longer need to be at the gym that early, there will be even more.

My favorite part of Tuesdays and Thursdays is the drive home. Because it's gorgeous, but mostly because I know there is delicious food waiting for me at home.

Tomorrow, boyfriend has to return to work again and puppy has to go to his grandma's house because that's the deal I made with him. I can't believe it's already the middle of the week.

My One Day Weekend

Now that Saturday school has begun, I get a one day weekend. Okay, so technically school gets out at 1pm, so I have a one and a half day weekend. I immediately took Milo for a walk when I got home.

I worked out and then successfully avoided homework by going out to art's Live with my sister and her aunts and cousin who were in town. I was in bed by 10 and asleep by 10:30. It was a WILD night for grandma! This morning I slept until 9 without waking up once. This meant I was ready to jump out of bed for my long run.

I wasn't really feeling it by mile 2, but I got a text from my soulmate telling me that her husband had just run his first half in 1:48! I knew I had to keep going. I did my usual sit-on-the-floor-and-pretend-to-stretch routine.

I finally peeled myself off the ground and headed to my dad's house where brunch was waiting for me. My step-mom's family was in town, so we made them breakfast before they had to catch a plane. It was absolutely delicious.

The stuff dumped sprinkled on top of everything is called Slug Slime and I'm pretty sure it's made in heaven. This was the aftermath.

For some reason summer has come back to visit. I walked outside and almost passed out from heat exhaustion. This is what my thermometer said.

It was definitely a record breaker here on the Northcoast. Those temperatures only meant one thing. Studying outside. I had a study buddy with me too.

It was way too hot to sit outside for more than 45 minutes. Milo was just too hot but wanted to be with me.

After three hours of homework (to make up for the lack of anything productive yesterday), my dad came and picked up my brother and me and took us to sushi. Sushi is probably my favorite food in the entire world, and I haven't had it in months. It was the best thing ever.

Now I am trying to convince myself to do some more homework, but knitting sounds much better. 

Mental Exhaustion

It's no secret that I'm incredibly busy every single day of the week. My Tuesdays and Thursdays start at 4:30am and don't end until 7pm when I finally get to go home.

Tomorrow starts our first round of Saturday class. We have what they call "reading camp," where students come to us for tutoring and we get feedback on how we are teaching. This is a really awesome concept, but after a week of long, mentally exhausting days, I've been looking so forward to my weekends.

Today I came home from 6 hours of school and wanted to get ahead on my homework for the week. I started reading a chapter out of a book and almost had a nervous breakdown. I was so tired. I couldn't think. I missed boyfriend who is out of town visiting family for a week. I tried to use the same mental tricks I use to get me through a tough run. But for once, I listened to my mind and body and laid down.

I looked like this.

Thirty minutes and a lot of drool later, I felt like a totally new person. I had a more positive outlook and finished two assignments. I realized that I really do need to take mental breaks. That's why I run. That's why I lift. Those are my mental breaks. And lately, I've been knitting again before bed while watching Friends.

I can't do everything all of the time. I'm not a superhuman and I need to remember that and treat my body with care. I can't sit and learn all day and expect to be mentally fresh to complete assignments.  I can't run 6 PRs six days a week and expect to not get injured at some point.  Taking breaks are not a sign of weakness.  Breaks are completely healthy and reset us to make us even better the next time around.  I really need to remember this.

Hello October! And negative splits.

Is it just me or does time seem to pass much more quickly as we get older? I feel like it was JUST the holiday season and now we are quickly approaching it again. October is probably my favorite month (besides December when my birthday and Christmas happen). 

It's already the middle of the week! I guess it helps that I am so busy every day. Mondays and Wednesdays I have the afternoons free, so I've been taking the opportunity to run outside to keep up my awesome sock tan and also because I know once winter decides to hit, I won't see outside very much.

That Garmin picture was from Monday. Don't ask how I went so fast, because I honestly have no idea. I didn't look at my wrist the entire time and just went with the feel. I also had to stop to tie my shoe THREE times, despite the tight double knot I did each time. Noob mistake. I also tried to be artsy and get a picture of myself relaxing after the run. I got this.

While I lifted, Boyfriend was amazing and fixed my car. The check engine light had come on Sunday morning and I got really nervous. He switched cars with me on Monday and took it to get checked out. Luckily it was just a bad spark plug and he was able to replace them all, thanks to YouTube.

Tuesday was the same as the last 6 Tuesdays. In other words, the longest days of my life.

The only other photo I took all day was on my drive home 14 hours later. It really is a lovely drive home.

Today was another run outside day. I came home and just wanted to sit down and sleep for the entire afternoon, but I strapped on the shoes and the Garmin and headed out. I was so tired and wanted to cry the entire time. Then I saw this.

No WONDER I was tired. I decided my body needed a break and only did abs instead of a HIIT video. Then I did some more cardio at Kohls where I spent way too much money. I also played with Milo, who is finally home from his dad's house.

I've been focusing a lot on negative splits and FINALLY I got perfect negative splits on my run outside.

I'm pretty proud of how far I've come since January when I was in the hate part of my love/hate relationship with running and had only run about 3 miles a week for months.

Tomorrow I get to lead my very first IEP, which is making me so nervous I could vomit. But I won't, since that would out a damper on the evening.