Conditioning, Champions, Volleyball

Since there seems to be tons of these videos based on exclusive groups/communities (and I’ve already forced you to watch 2 of them…):

My favorite: “I’m only running 10 today…”  Guilty.  Just like my post on Sunday when I said I ONNNLLLLY did 8 instead of 11.  Psh.  Can we say “runner snob”?  Yup.

Bye Week took home a win last night.  It was an effortless win which is fortunate since the game was at 9:15!!! Whhaattt?!  Aren’t people in bed then? I know I am!  It didn’t help that I couldn’t keep my eyes open once I got home – I didn’t dare lay down on the couch.  I forced myself to stay in an upright position until I dragged myself to the game.  Even though it was an easy win, we all played really well together.  Now if we can do that when we play a harder team, we’d be all set!

Boot camp this morning – Tuesday=conditioning.  My favorite!  Now I’m just waiting patiently for the Ladder Conditioning day.  It’s my favorite conditioning day!  Tomorrow will be a 5-mile run.  I’m due to run hill intervals, but with the insides of my ankles/heels bothering me I think I’ll do a fartlek run to play around with speeds.  I heart fartleks 🙂

I’m still so happy with my fat test results.  It really is helping my motivation in my workouts.  Sometimes you wonder if your workouts and healthy eating even do any good and it’s easy to get down on yourself.  But this was an awesome pick-me-up to keep telling myself to push harder – it IS making a difference.  I’m also treating myself by eating a little more during the day (an extra little snack or two).  Now I know why my appetite has been out of control lately – my body is in furnace mode and needs more fuel.  Good work, bod.

Speaking of motivation, here’s a good quote to leave you with:

Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years that they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance is merely the demonstration of their championship character.

If by “preparation” they mean coffee, I better go get some so I’m ready for my presentation at 2pm today 🙂

New M&Ms & Food Phobias?

Hhhok so.  Aside from a busy weekend, it was a great weekend.  Also of greatness is how great I physically feel today.  That 8-mile run really did the trick.  I’m sure I’d feel a little less than stellar if I did an 11-miler as was sort-of scheduled.  Today is a rest day so that may also be aiding in my “I feel great” Monday.

During a Saturday night run to Target I found these:

 

Raspberry Dark Chocolate M&Ms

They MIGHT have been a little over-priced, but I was feeling adventurous.  They are amazing.  I can’t stop eating them or thinking about them.  There was also a mint dark chocolate variety (I SO love the mint/chocolate combination), but I’m still happy with my choice.  I’m trying to find a coupon somewhere online (there has to be one SOMEwhere!) to justify me purchasing another pack of them this week…

Also during the Target run, I decided I’m in the market for a mini blender, like a Ninja or Magic Bullet, so I can make quick post-workout protein shakes without having to drag out my big blender.  I’m just being lazy, really.  Anyone have any pros/cons on specific mini blender brands?  I’ve heard great things about the Ninja (which is reasonably priced BTW) and the Magic Bullet (I really can’t justify spending $40-$50 on it though).  Target also had a Hamilton Beach and Oster mini blender too, both of which are good names in the blender industry, or so I’ve heard.  There was an end-cap sale for a mini blender (can’t remember the brand) for only $18, but I was worried about the quality since I’d never heard of it before…oh the drama of purchasing household appliances.  Any suggestions out there?!

Check out this article about food phobias.  Could you imagine?!?!  A fear of chicken?!  A fear of food/eating?! A fear of taste?!  How are those even possible?  I enjoy the fear of “peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth”.  I’m sure my dog has that phobia…  And fear of chopsticks?! HA!  SO weird.  I would not survive if I had any of these phobias…although I may have a phobia of mushrooms.  Ick.

Last night my crock pot was diligently at work while I zonked.  I made a cross between these two recipes:  Easy Crock Pot Salsa Chicken and Cilantro Lime Chicken.  I combined the salsa, black beans, frozen corn, lime, and chicken.  I sprinkled a little chili powder and cumin for extra measure in case the salsa flavor fizzled out overnight.  I MIGHT have somehow not put the lid on all the way because it did get a little dry/burnt, but still salvage-able.  It tastes delicious – can’t wait to wrap it up with some cheese, extra salsa, and maybe some sour cream later this week.  YAY! 🙂

Also of awesome note-worthiness: I finished Mockingjay last night.  LOVED IT!  So sad I’m done with the Hunger Games trilogy but I’m somewhat excited for the movie.  I typically don’t enjoy watching movies once I read the books, so we’ll see!  Now I need a new purpose…or just a new “can’t-put-it-down” book!

 

Sunday Runday, Body Fat Test, St. Louisans

A scaled-back Sunday Runday was in my plans for this morning.  I was only going to run 7 (down from 10 last week), but felt so good around mile 5 & 6 I decided to do 7.5 miles.  Then at 7.5 miles I thought, “Psh, I can do 1/2 mile further”.  So I ran 8 miles, averaging a little less than 11-minute miles.  Awesome run.  My typical Sunday leg workouts followed the run and a 30-minute interval bike ride was after that.  My hamstrings were tanked from Friday’s boot camp and Saturday’s hot yoga session.  My foam roller and I have been best friends today to work out all the soreness.  Aaaaah…. (that’s what I say when I’m foam-rollering…most of the time any way.  Other times it’s just painful).

I was jonesin’ for some chocolate milk during my run (weird craving when sweating, right?) so lucky for me there’s a grocery store right next to the gym.  I got some bananas and 1% milk for some yummy & healthy recovery food.   I don’t like ACTUAL chocolate milk (the kind you buy pre-made).  But I DO like Ovaltine or Carnation Instant Breakfast.  This morning’s recovery snack pre-breakfast included a nice glass of Ovaltine and 1/2 a banana with a little bit of almond butter granola for a crunch.  I always drink the chocolate milk to quickly and feel a little nauseous in the shower…It’s just so yummy and I guess I get a little over-zealous.

My back felt a little tight during my run from all the painting my mom an I did yesterday.  We knocked out the hallway AND living room (completely done, trim & all).  5-hours of painting.  It was a long day.  Between hot yoga, my Body Fat Test, painting, and visiting my dad in the hospital I was on the go from 7am until 7pm.  Blah.  I also forgot to brush my teeth until 7pm…Yeah…gross, I know.  But I DID brush them once I remembered (woo!).  I have a habit of doing that on Sundays since I don’t eat my first meal until 10:30 and usually have to run somewhere after I guzzle down breakfast & coffee… Ok so I really don’t have an excuse for forgetting.  I’m just gross.  Whatever, like YOU don’t do anything that’s gross – like forget deodorant before you go to the gym (guilty on a few occasions), re-wear comfy clothes from day-to-day since no one saw you in them the day(s) before (also guilty), etc., etc.

Body Fat Results:  I was a little nervous before my body fat test.  I knew I would be a little ticked if my readings weren’t great with the way I kick my own butt every week with my workouts.  Drum roll please…………. 14.7% body fat.  WOO!  Work hard, get results.  Here’s one chart that explains body fat %:

They actually recommended I put on 5lbs of lean mass by eating more protein.  That’s the one nutrient I’ve never really kept track of.  I guess I just underestimate the amount of protein I eat although I’ve got everything else down pat (calories, fat, sugar, sodium, calcium).  I highly doubt I’ll be able to put on 5lbs of lean mass, but I will definitely be eating more protein to help enhance my fitness performance and so I won’t become a waif 🙂  No one likes a waif.  The results also calculated my daily calorie expenditure at 1430 (that’s if I did nothing but sat on the couch all day…not a bad way to spend the day if you ask me).  So to maintain my fitness, I need to eat at least 1800 before I even lace up my sneaks…well not BEFORE since I run in the morning (duh) – just before I calculate my additional calories burned.  I heart the science behind fitness ❤

So what did I do to celebrate my results?  I ate one of the double chocolate donuts from my favorite donut shop in Alton that my mom bought me as payment for painting with a cup of coffee.  Then I decided the first donut was so good I ate the other donut throughout our 5-hours of painting.  Donuts = crack to me.

Awesomely Awkward:  (During my milk run this morning) I placed my milk, bananas, and salsa (for an upcoming recipe) on the checkout belt thingy.  The customer in front of me was duked out in all camo for a riveting day of deer huntin’ (yay…) and was only buying a case of Keystone (GROSSSSS) and 5-hour energy.  He grabs my milk and slides it down to his “purchase” jokingly, of course.  We joked about it for a few seconds then he said “I love milk…”.  Uh…mmmk!! (???).  Since I’m no snob, I partook in the conversation but it was definitely interesting and awkward.  Good ol’ Southern Illinois at its finest.

Also something worth sharing:  Sh*t St. Louisans say…HA!!  I feel like they left out a few doozies, but these are pretty common and relate-able:

Are you there, Friday? It’s me, Sarah

Thanks for being such a slow poke, Friday.  GEEZE this week was weird and slow and I’d rather not ever repeat this week.  Sound good? K.

I skipped a post yesterday because I was in such a bad mood,  exhausted, worried I was getting sick, had a bad diet day, and shared a bad day at work with everyone in the office.  I had just walked through the door when I realized I should have just stayed home.  It was one of those mornings where I am more tired than usual and as I was finishing up my breakfast I truly felt so tired that I felt the need to stay home.  But I powered through anyway.  Everyone in the office was having a weird/bad day.  My appetite was also out of control yesterday.  A few possibilities why I couldn’t stop eating: My metabolism was actually on fire from my increased mileage, my body needed more fuel to recover from hard workouts, my body is so tired it needed more food (energy) to keep things running, or I’m starting to get sick and my body is stockpiling calories to help fight off the sickness…Who knows.  So to spare you all from a Debbie Downer attitude, I had to axe the blog-writin’ for a day.

Today I feel much better (physically and mentally) – the sun might be helping me in that regard.  I don’t think I’ve seen the sun for days on end.  Plus, the fact that it’s Friday and I have a full tank of gas makes today a great day, indeed.  That’s how I know I’m a lame grown-up…when a full tank of gas makes me feel awesome & rich (even though I’m about $50 poorer…). Hmm…

Boot camp this morning – great work out with great people.  Tomorrow I’m getting dunked in one of those underwater tanks that measures your body fat.  It’s the only accurate way to measure.  I’m excited but nervous – I’ll probably be disappointed with my reading.  It’s also supposed to measure my resting metabolic rate, calorie expenditure, and other really cool things.  It will be a great tool so I’ll know if I’m eating enough calories and getting enough of the right nutrients each day.  I feel better when I eat less throughout the day, but I feel like my body crashes at some point and says “Seriously lady, give me more to work with…I’m running on fumes”.

You know what also makes me feel better?  Looking at my calendar for the next 3 weeks and not seeing one meeting (that requires my attendance) after 4:30pm.  Wait…what…?  I can go home at a normal time…?!  WEIRD!  I still plan on hitting up some crock pot recipes so I have more planned suppers throughout the week.  It makes things easier.  Any one have any healthy crock pot recipes they want to share?  I’ll be so grateful 🙂

Tomorrow will be a horribly busy & non-stop day…I’m really not looking forward to the “I just might collapse” feeling…but then Sunday will yield an awesome workout and plenty of required & demanded couch-time. YAY!

Awkward moments?  I know I’ve had plenty in the last few days but I can’t materialize them at the moment.  Blame my poorly functioning brain.  Sorry to disappoint 😦

TGIF & Happy weekend all!  Woo hoo!!  We made it and we’re still alive…barely!

Humpty Hump.

Whew! What a crazy hump day!  It started at 3:30am when my alarm went off for my scheduled Wednesday workout.  Yes, you read that right. 3:30am…1 hour earlier than normal.  Yes, I’m aware how insane that sounds…or how insane it actually is.  Until August 2011 I was getting up at 3:30am nearly every day to squeeze in a workout.  For some reason to me it doesn’t seem that crazy any more – especially when there are at least a handful of 3:30am crazies at the gym when I get there…another handful shortly follow.  Why did I have to get up when it’s still “nighttime”? I wanted to make sure I was at work before 8am since I had an event starting at 8am and ending at 2pm and another starting at 10am and also ending at 2pm.  Let’s all say it together: d-r-a-i-n-e-d.  I’m considering my work day officially over.  Hope that’s ok with you.  In case you were wondering, both programs were a great success and only one major issue with the early event (go figure).

I realize how annoying that makes me sound:  “I HAD to be at work before 8am”.  BOO HOO!  I normally stroll in around 9am or 10am which is the norm around here since student affairs folks can never find time to take a traditional 30 minute-1 hour lunch and we often work late and work weekends.  So it’s really just docked comp time. Not a bad gig really…

Speaking of student affairs awesomeness…this is hilarious: Sh*t Student Affairs Professionals Say.  Love it!  Sad, but true.

Of a somewhat related nature, here’s the Monday Motivation Quote from Training Daily:

“I’ve always taken the philosophy that you have to dream a little in this sport. If you stay in your comfort zone, you’re not going to do anything special.” 

Yes, yes, and yes.  Even if I only run .2 mph faster than my normal slow speed, I’ve still lived a little on the wild side to get me to my “running fast” goal.  Such is true in life, professionally & socially.  You’ve gotta dream for something bigger or you’re just going to plateau.  No one likes a steady plateau.  There’s your Monday Motivation…2 days late.  Whatevs.

Awkwards: During yesterday’s Merchant Fair in the University Center, one of the secretaries was craving a pretzel dog from Auntie Anne’s (we happen to have one on campus…right next to our office…torture).  As she was walking back into the office, one of our GAs yelled to her from across the lounge: “Did you get your weiner yet?!”.  Errrr……wwwhaaaattt?!?

Also of awkwardness/awesomeness: Tony the Tiger visited campus today.  I just happened to look up from my computer and I see a tiger shuffling past my office.  He really had no purpose in his trip past our offices…just a leisurely stroll.  Nothing really phases me anymore…not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

Happy Hump Day to all – 2 more days!

 

 

Haters, Holy Craps, Happies!

For all you haters out there… Running is only GOOD for you. I get so tired of hearing “Oh, your knees will hate you one day”, “Well, you’ll be getting a knee replacement one day”, etc., etc., etc.  So there. Boo-ya.

On a scarier note, I was scheduled for a 6am boot camp.  I woke up WITHOUT my alarm at 5:43am. I normally have my alarm set for Tuesdays & Fridays for 5:30am.  I had a split second thought of “Oh, I’ll just skip since I HAAATE being late & flustered for anything”, but I quickly reversed that thought to “holy sh*t!”, sprung out of bed, put on my clothes (before my contacts were in…I’m surprised I managed to have everything important covered), quickly shoved my contacts in, and rushed to boot camp with a few minutes of foam rolling to spare.  WHEW!!!  CRAZY start to my morning, which only seems fitting with this week’s theme of a crazy forecast.  I’ve been non-stop ever since.

But let’s all give my internal alarm clock a HUGE standing ovation, k?  That’s pretty impressive.  I’ve only failed to double-check my alarm once before, leaving me scrambling to get ready for work (made it on time then too), when my internal alarm clock woke me up just in time.  Seriously, strange mental anxiety that is always dead-on…I heart you.  Now tomorrow, I might change my mind when you wake me up 30 minutes before my alarm is scheduled to go off.  You just can’t win.  I was zonked pretty hard last night though – I didn’t even wake up to go to the bathroom (no, I didn’t wet the bed).  Craziness makes me TIRED.

Happy News:  This morning I looked down and saw 2 baby-related text messages: 1 birth announcement (YAY!) and 1 expecting announcement.  EEEEK!  YAY!!!   It made my heart happy.  It really did change my ‘tude about today and even this week.  Even if I’m still undecided on children of my own, I love my friends’ babies more than anything (just not strangers’ children that are acting a fool in public).  Maybe I’m just meant to be “Aunt Sarah”…only time will tell.

In other happy news, Bye Week won last night.  It was a sloppy game, but a win’s a win.  Only superficial wounds and verbal abuse were incurred.  I didn’t get punched, I avoided at least 10 collisions (which are always worse for me since I’m small…duh.), and didn’t get smacked in the face with a ball or elbow.  Success.

Other happy news includes our Merchant’s Fair in the University Center which means free breakfast, free samples, free stuff, and free lunch.  YAY 🙂

Also happy news: I’m nearly 2/5 done with this week.  More late meetings tonight, crazy busy day tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, then another weekend of hot yoga, painting, and a scaled back Sunday Runday.  I’m ready, bring it on.

 

 

Crazy is the Forecast…

Good grief, am I tired!  Just plain pooped out!  On top of crazy work schedules, I’m just plain tuckered out.  These hospital trips/visits and the ongoing worrying is exhausting.  Not only that, but the unending guilt is killer:  Am I being a crappy daughter? Should I visit more? Should I call more? Did I leave my attitude at the door so I can have a quality visit?  What if I didn’t, and this is my last chance to visit?.  AH!   But I don’t have much time to complain about it or even acknowledge it because “crazy is the forecast this week.” Anyone know that reference?  Anyone…anyone..?  Bueller…?  Bueller..?  Um, CELLOOOOOO, it’s a Jason Mraz song.  I just love him.  His voice soothes my soul.  Not like Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate soothes my soul but in a hippy “I feel so relaxxxxxed” kind of a way.  He really knows what I’m needing when I need it.  And for that, I thank him.  I secretly wish I would have been his soulmate, but that’s cool – no hard feelings. I’m not much for owning an avocado farm (which he does, bee-tee-dubs).

Weekend Round-Up:

Soooo the weekend started off a little stressful with the mini-ice “storm” we  had Friday evening.  I didn’t truly enjoy my Friday evening since I kept worrying about the roads/parking lots and if I could even get into my apartment without another dent in my poor car.  (I did make it home without even a scratch or bruise, but just a few more gray hairs!).  I passed out early Friday which is good since a student worker called me at 6:30am on Saturday to ask me a question.  ARGH!  Because the ice had not quite melted everywhere by Saturday morning, I was frantically sending emails/texts cancelling one of the volunteer projects.  So yes, I did end up working on Saturday, even if it was for only 45 minutes.

I hit up a great session of hot yoga and it was truly the best session ever.  There were only 6 of us because we were the only crazy ones that just HAD to go.  But hey, I NEEDED that yoga session.  I could tell I needed it because I ROCKED it.  I made so much progress in my balance & stretching poses that even the instructor noticed and complimented me (along with everyone else, but me individually afterwards) on a “great practice”.  I think I’m still feeling the high from the awesomeness of Saturday’s practice.

After yoga, I met up with Jeff for some breakfast then went home to change into “paint clothes” so I could help my mom paint one of the bedrooms at my parents’ house.  I was so glad when I was done with the paint roller – I helped with the rest of the “trim work” on the bottom base boards and loved it because I could kneel and somehow rest my head in my hand as my other hand carefully painted.  I must have looked pathetic.  THEN I visited my dad in the hospital – I’m not sure who was more tired: him (I had woken him up from a nap) or me (I couldn’t stop yawning).  I rushed home to shower before a much-needed “date” with my BFF and tidy my place up a bit.  It has been neglected with all the running around I’ve had to do in the last few weeks.

Where did we end up on our date?  Bigelo’s Bistro in Eville.  We had a 30-minute wait so I sipped on a Boulevard Chocolate Ale (which was DELICIOUS) and had me a little tipsy after only 1/4 of it down.  I hadn’t eaten much that day OK?!  Plus I was so tired…Ok, fine.  I’m just a waif, big deal.  I ordered the Memphis Club: chicken, bacon, mozz/provelone blend, romaine lettuce, and ranch & BBQ.  I ordered the ranch & BBQ on the side to control the portions but ended up eating all of BOTH anyway.  Whatever…I was hungry and trying to NOT be drunk with my ONE glass of beer 🙂  Regardless, everything I ate/drank was FABULOUS.  I want to go back…now.  Dessert consisted of some massive Raspberry & Cream Cheese brownies and PB brownies that my BFF made for me.  They were amazing (in past tense because they are all but 3-bites gone).  Glutton?  Yes.

A 10-mile run on Sunday (with a weight session & 30-minute intervals on the bike) left me pretty tanked.  My 10-mile run led me to 2 conclusions: my favorite running shoes have now been sanctioned to retirement, and I am now allowing myself to sign up for the Alton Half Marathon.  Wooo/Boohoo.  But, a nice nap on the couch and a lazy Sunday full of TV-watching & reading really proved to be some great therapy. Things are heating up in Mockingjay!

Crazy?

Late meeting tonight followed by a late volleyball game AND 2 late meetings tomorrow night followed by an insane Wednesday may have me down for the count.  Good thing I made some crock pot chicken taco chili last night while I slumbered.  I have my lunches made and dinner mostly ready all week.  BOOM!

Awesome…

So this list is kinda cool:  30 things every woman should know about running.  I completely agree with or like every single one of the 30 items, but especially enjoy #s 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16.  I’m a huge fan of 21 (even little boobs need support!  Mine would have to agree.), and 30 (women just rock).

Food, Workout, Awkward, repeat.

Yesterday was CRAZAY!  I was so tired after my late meeting (for the Spring Break Service Trip- holler!) that I was practically falling asleep while eating my dinner.  I didn’t dare lay down on the couch which watching TV because I knew I’d end up passing out in no time.  Once I went to bed I only managed to read 1 “Kobo page” of Mockingjay.  My sleep habits are kinda strange.  Or the activities from one day just make my poor little body and mind exhausted.  Can you vote for both? I’m voting for both.

Food:  What was for dinner you ask?  Steamed tilapia, veggies, and brown rice – all conveniently cooked in the new rice cooker/steamer combo.  I’m very anti-rice cookers because I think they are an unnecessary kitchen tool since you can cook rice just as easily on the stove top. However, this was a pretty neat contraption.  It also has a delay start button so it can be ready the second you walk in the door.  Working women rejoice!  I really need to get my act together to make some crock pot recipes that I’ve been hanging on to.  My semester is quickly adding up to many late night meetings and I don’t want to resort to eating out just because I don’t get home until 7pm, even if we do eat healthy when we eat out.  I just feel better overall when we eat cooked meals at home.

My dessert included a few bites of Edy’s No Sugar Added Butter Pecan ice cream and 2 cups of Swiss Miss Diet Hot Chocolate.  This particular hot chocolate warms my soul.  It’s only 25 calories and tastes delicious.  Not to mention it was just what I needed to warm me up after my cold walk to my car post-meeting.  I always add 2 tsp of the Sugar Free Peppermint Mocha Coffeemate for a little extra yumminess!  It really hits the spot for “cozy”!

Delicious, chocolatey, cozy, & perfect!

Workout: Today was an arms & bike day.  I always breathe a sigh of relief when this day rolls around.  It’s my “lighter” workout and I always try to place it later in the week since I know I’ll be drained from previous workouts and the stress from the week in general.  SOOO I did 45 minutes of bike intervals.  Then it was time to get buff: 2 sets of 12 (each arm) alternating arm press, triceps dips (3 sets of 12), rows (3 sets of 12), pull downs (2 sets of 11), push ups, and a few other tricep-nuking moves that I don’t know their name…I just know they WORK!  My back has been a little iffy so I went a little lighter on the incline sit-ups and only did 4 sets of 12 with 5-10lb weights alternating.  Then to pull everything together, I finished with 20 minutes of intervals on the elliptical for an extra calorie-kicker. I was tempted to run just 1 mile (or even .5 mile), but I resisted the urge to give my foot a solid break.  It was a little sore after Sunday’s long run.  I’d sure hate to have to scale back my mileage when my training schedule is still in the “increasing mileage stage”.  That would be a total bummer.

Exciting post, I know…all I talk about is food and my workouts.  They basically consume my life.

Update on my car: I can’t get it fixed until February 7th.  Boo!  I just hate driving around with a bummed-up car.  It makes me feel cheap or something – I can’t really describe it.  Plus, without my best friend (the 26.2 magnet), I feel like my car is JUST a car.  It doesn’t scream “HEY! My owner is kinda awesome!”.  Yes, I value myself on the basis of my magnet, and my ability to have earned the right to own that magnet, but whatever…

Awkwardness?  Oh I’m sure there were plenty yesterday and I KNOW there will be plenty tomorrow since I have an early “mingle” meeting in the morning.  I felt like a fish swimming upstream on my way to the water fountain today though…a few students almost ran in to me, which reminded me of an awkward moment in high school.  I was walking up the stairs with a friend in between classes.  Our high school had about 3 flights of stairs, requiring you to turn on the landings to head up the next flight.  The rule there (and anywhere in America, really) was to stay on the right of the stairs, going up or down.  Well, I came up the stairs and as I was turning on the landing, a freshman or sophomore (can’t remember) was bolting DOWN the stairs on the LEFT side (my right).  We met on the landing and his force nearly knocked me over.  According to witnesses, I “bounced” off of him.  He was a “bigger” kid (built for football), and I’m petite (built for cheerleading)… The BEST part was the look on his face as if I were in his way. HA!   I love awkward run-ins…literally and figuratively 🙂  GREAT story, I know…
Happy almost-Friday to you all!

 

Comp Day.

Yesterday was a comp day for me.  I worked until 9pm Friday night and all day Saturday with the Civic Reflection Training that I co-facilitated for a group of “my” students.  No, I don’t take ownership of them, but in this fabulous world of student affairs, since they are members of a student organization that I advise, they become “MY” students.  Fortunately, I was impressed and so proud of them all weekend.  We all had a great time and seemed to grow closer.  I know, *gag*, but it was a really great training.

I’m pretty sure my diet yesterday consisted of almond butter granola, dark chocolate M&Ms, and hot tea.  I blame hormones.  Seriously, my appetite was out of control.  But I managed to keep it in check for the most part.

Other than the odd-ball diet, it was a day of to-do’s.  Oil change? Check. Visit Dad? Check. Take Latte-Dottie to visit Dad?  Check.  Meet with the insurance claims assessor-guy to review the damage on my car? Check.  Read MockingJay? CHECK!

Yup, my car has a boo boo 😦  Some super nice person decided to dent up the back of my car and not take ownership. I didn’t even notice the damage until Friday afternoon so when/where/how it happened is a complete mystery.  I was so out of it & oblivious to life most of my days last week it could have happened anywhere/any time and I wouldn’t have noticed when I walked back out to my car.  Therefore, I didn’t file a report.  Didn’t seem to do much good:

“Do you know where the incident occurred?”

“No.”
“Do you know when the incident occurred?”

“No.”

“Do you know of anyone that would have a desire to take revenge on you or your property?”

“Um…Probably.”

Yeah…that’d be a great police report.  Of course I’m mad, but at the same time I just don’t care.  It happened, can’t do anything about it.  But what I’m SUPER mad about is the “thiefery” that took place.  I’m assuming “they” stole my 26.2 magnet (which was always nice & comfy right under the damage left by the thieving jerk-face).  Really?  You stole my $2 marathon magnet?  I know it didn’t just slide off from impact because there’s no indication of scrapes of “sliding” of the two cars.  Bogus.  They’re just jealous.

Today has been crazy busy at work – It’s 4pm and I finally got a chance to catch up on email before my meeting at 5pm.  YIKES!  My Spring Semester is shaping up to be much busier than the Fall.  Blargh.

Workout: 5-mile run w/.20-mile hill intervals, 20-minute interval bike ride, leg/weight shtuff.  Definitely a good/hard mid-week workout.  Tomorrow is arms.  Which are still somewhat sore from last week’s arm workouts and volleyball on Monday (more on that later…)

Food:  I splurged during our staff meeting today.  Each month one of us is asked to bring in treats in celebration of the birthdays for that month.  Well, this month my co-worker brought in delicious homemade cinnamon rolls, and cheese/sausage pinwheels.  YUMMMMM!  I ate both in moderation, but I am feeling a little guilty, even if it technically was in celebration of my birthday!  They were totally worth the calories though, so it’s ok 🙂

Awkward: I always get called “Laura” by mistake.  My name is Sarah, not Laura (obviously), but if someone is going to call me by the wrong name, it’s always “Laura”.  I guess my parents chose the wrong name 26 years ago…I happen to think “Sarah” suits me better than “Laura”.  Nothing against the name at all…it’s just so funny how a person’s name and personality shape one another.  Any Hoosier…in a meeting of 4 people last week, a “big-time Administrator” was speaking directly to me and called me “Laura”.  It was awkward.  Mostly because you could tell she realized she made a mistake in my name and everyone else felt awkward because they know that’s not my name and we were all trying to be polite and not say anything.  Also funny how people’s awkwardness (that they don’t realize they are projecting) can make a room so tense.

So that’s been my week/day/whatever.  I promise to be more witty and charming in the next posts.  Until then…

Yours truly in awkwardness,

Laura.

 

Birthday Round-Up

I think some of the most celebrated moments in human achievement should be those times when everything is going against a person and they are down in the dumps but they simply choose to get up. That’s real greatness.

This sums up my last week or so (not to keep dragging it out or anything).  But there were so many mornings when I really just didn’t want to get out of bed because of the health situation my family was facing…I really had to push myself to get out of bed for my workouts and NOT pull the covers over my head.  So a big applause to everyone that simply got up today or just kept “swimming”.  Sometimes it’s not easy.

So yeah…I had a birthday this past Sunday…I know, I know, I have my own 3-day weekend.  Can’t say I don’t love that!  How was my birthday, you ask?  Eh.  My mom and I both agreed we’d had the wind knocked out of our sails so we really didn’t feel like doing anything extraordinary.  And by extraordinary I mean simply going out for lunch on my birthday.  Given my Dad’s health I was having kind of a weepy day – even his signature (or lack thereof) on my card made me cry.

Now granted, I’m SO not the type of person that makes a big deal out of my birthday.  Everyone has them and I’m not 5.  I really hate it when people say “It’s my birthday week, YAY” or “It’s my birthday month” and my favorite, “X days until my birthday!”.  Really…?  Let’s grow up, mmmkay?  I even feel kinda guilty when someone says “What would you like to do for your birthday?”.  Maybe I need to live it up a little more, or just find a better balance between humility and selfishness.

But, it was a pretty good day.  I had a crazy good/hard/long workout with a 9-mile run (WOOO!), 30-minute bike ride, and leg-weight shtuff.  Instead of my usual egg/toast breakfast, I treated myself to 6 small whole-wheat pancakes.  I had 2 with sugar free raspberry syrup, 2 with peanut butter, bananas, & sugar free honey, 1 with just peanut butter & honey, and 1 with chocolate chips and peanut butter.  I know…I got c-r-a-z-y.  Since my Sunday breakfasts are closer to lunch than breakfast with my runs getting longer, I skipped my 2nd meal to save room for Peel for my birthday dinner.  We split the Chicken Gorgonzola and Spaghetti Squash pizzas. OMG.  SO good!  The creaminess of the Gorgonzola made it my favorite of the two but the spaghetti squash was great too.  I even had a big glass of Moose Drool.  I neverrrr drink beer but this one was YUM.

Also, my friends and family are pretty great.  Between the texts, emails, phone calls, and facebook messages, I feel pretty darn loved.  It really boosted my spirits 🙂

Do I feel older?  Nope.  But it threw me off when I entered “26” on the treadmill when it asked for my age…I guess it’s official.