Super Training Update

OK. Some of you may have noted that for awhile I was doing training updates, then kind of just...well...stopped. To be honest I was tired of posting things saying, "I think I'll do this..." and then not doing it. Then saying, "I'm going to do this instead..." and then not doing it (again). Fail.

Additionally, I was tired of feeling more like this:

than this:

So, I did this:

Image: sacramento365.com

Run To Feed The Hungry


I would like to have shared photos, especially because this race is huge - over 27,000 people this year - and the start is really cool.  All you can see ahead of you is a massive sea of bodies.  It stays that way for most of the race too.
But alas.  It was raining.  I was sick.  I made it to the start line 3 minutes before the gun.
And most importantly, I was afraid of dropping my iPhone and getting trampled.
So.  No photos.

I also did this:

Image: twentysixandthensome.com

California International Marathon - Relay

Photos (Yay!)

TEAM WALLY

It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  

The Cyclist RAN (wow)!

We hope to do it again next year.

I will also be doing this:

TRAINING ► HALF MARATHON TRAINING

F.I.T. - Focused INDIVIDUALIZED TRAINING

FIT

as well as this:

Shamrock'n 1/2 Marathon

So here is the deal. There will be no more of me saying "I think I'll do this...". I already completed Run To Feed The Hungry and the California International Marathon - Relay. And, I am officially registered for FIT and the Shamrock'n 1/2 Marathon. It's a good thing too, because Shamrock filled up fast this year!!

I have been training since mid-October, although I slowed down a bit around the holiday's (you know, that whole buried by Christmas thing...)

...needless to say, I'm starting to feel a little more like this again:

...but that's OK (for now).

FIT training starts tonight. I will embarrassingly admit on this blog that when the Coach asked me to give him my training schedule for last week I had to preface it by saying *Results Not Typical. Which is TRUE! But seriously, I'm sure the Coach was a little nervous after he got this back....

Your hard workouts for the week: None

How did you feel (mentally) about the workouts completed: Not good.
Total Mileage for the week: 4 running, 7 walking
How many days did you run this week: 1
Cross training completed this week: Ab/lunge work-out (1), 4 mile walk, 3 mile walk
How are you feeling physically: Like I need to drop some pounds and get back to a more frequent routine.
Races this week (details): PR? Splits? Age Group placing? None
What is your next race? Shamrock

Hey! Last week was super busy alright?!

Anyway, I am happy that I can now do real training updates instead of half-arsed ones, considering I'm actually doing something. And, I'm just happy to be feeling fit and getting "the fever". Once you start on a solid exercise regimen the fever will get you. Just sayin'.

Last, I hope I can finally figure out how to get a good race photo this year at Shamrock darn it! Seriously, this is what happens to me every time (and gets caught on film)...

More to come!

Kitchen Remodel Phase 1 & Training Update

Like  many Americans, we suffer from an ugly kitchen.  It was #1 on the list of things to do-over, but before we got to it our shower decided it would leak....all the way to the outside wall of our house....so the bathroom got done first.  Then we got excited and put in all new doors, bamboo floors, base boards, tile, paint, light fixtures and fans...then said, "oops, I guess we'll have to wait awhile before we do the kitchen". 

It is at this point that I must say I am very happy to have a handy husband who is able to do lots of this stuff (he gets credit for pretty much everything listed above) and happy to have friends of husband who often work for beer and food.  This was the first project that I also really (truly) had a hand in that counted for something more than dawdling so not only can I say "check out what we did", I can also appreciate the tediousness and time it takes to finish stuff like this.  Thank you husband/Cyclist for all your hard work in this project and all the others.  I ♥ you.

So, like I said, our kitchen is ugly.  You won't really get the ugliness of it until we tackle Phase 2, but you will start to get an idea.  I originally thought somebody re-modeled our mid 50's kitchen in the 70's and put in the funky wood cabinets with copper handles, but after watching Mad Men I surmised that someone actually must have put these in originally.  Seriously, Betty could really be standing in our kitchen in this photo:

The similarities are eerie. 

We started with the dining side of the kitchen which included a "peninsula" (thank you Mr. F) which we called an "island" like the one Betty is standing next to above.

The Cyclist got going a tad before I said, "Stop!  Take pictures!", but you get the idea....

BEFORE ↑

and....

Ta-Da!  AFTER.

I should point out this was not just as easy as tearing out the ugly cabinet and replacing it with this nifty breakfast bar from IKEA.  It included putting in new tile too...

 ....(you are catching a glimpse of ugly kitchen here)....

My only "final" picture of the tile is the AFTER photo above, but you get the idea.

In addition to putting in the new breakfast bar, we also painted.

BEFORE

...and...

Gotcha!  Another BEFORE ↑

and...wait for it....

AFTER

AFTER

The black wall that you see is actually a magnetic chalkboard.  We put this in for The Munchkin and DD, which we thought would be fun.  We used magnet paint (yes they make this!  Crazy huh?) and then chalkboard paint.  It was pretty time consuming since I think we ended up doing 3 coats of each, but it turned out good and it is fun.  I believe we decided we will be doing another wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint too, but you'll have to wait for us to get started and finished before you will see!

Last but not least, training update.  Not much has changed.  The week before last I managed to ride to work everyday, do my Monday night ride and swim.  Last week I rode just about everyday, did my Monday night ride and swam.  I rode today too, but I think I'll be shifting some stuff up this week.  The ladies at the Rio BBQ filled me in on a women's group ride Tuesday's that I'm going to try and get in on.  I'm nervous about my crappy bike handling skills, but The Cyclist assures me that I'll be fine.  So hopefully soon I'll have more to report than "I did the same thing as last week".  The good news is, I've been fairly consistent, so that's always a plus.

Last week I promised the Mystery Garden and it is still coming!  I also have a race report and some other good stuff, so, stay tuned!

Training Update, Bike to Work Challenge & 2 Race Weekend

Well, I really wanted to do a post on the Strawberry Crown Criterium that The Cyclist raced on Saturday, but I am still editing the photos darn it!  My picture skills are improving, so I got some pretty good ones this time.  I intend to complete my Strawberry Crown Crit & Strawberry Festival post by tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Last weeks training was decent.  I was off Monday because I got super dehydrated at Tour De Nez, needless to say, I skipped cycling that day.  I did manage to ride my bike to work Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.  Tuesday night I rode after work and it was just plain hard.  It's amazing what skipping one week can do.  Thursday I didn't do anything exercise wise because I spent half the day getting my hair did and completing my name change activities at the Social Security office.  I am now officially Mrs. O!  Wednesday I swam with my pal after work.  This is one of my favorite work-out activities - Thank You C.G.!  The weekend was nutzo with The Munchkin's first swimming lesson (fun!), an attempt at attending a birthday party (sick birthday girl = no party) and travel to Watsonville and Pleasanton for two races in two days; no training was done.  Overall, not bad.

So, since I've mentioned a few times that I bike to work, I figured I'd probably explain this a little further....my co-worker and I started the "Bike to Work Challenge" two years ago.  We have a contest every year to see who rides to work the most.  The winner gets a six pack of beer at our Firm Outing (more on this later) in late September, early October.  The rules have changed over the years...I think this year is the most fair.  Because we work for an accounting related firm, we (of course) have a spreadsheet to track our progress:

As you can see, I am currently leading by 1 point (woot-woot!).  We get 1 point for each bike to/from work, 1 point for every 100 post work ride miles and 1 point for whoever has the longest streak (I currently am holding the title for that too).

Although a six pack of beer may not be the biggest prize, the real fun is in the smack talking.  Seriously though, anything that gives you motivation to exercise is good.  Riding to work isn't some huge work-out, but it's something, plus it is always good to decrease your carbon footprint.  So, that is why I ride to work.

Now....I think the six pack this year should be a six pack of these:

If you have not had a Pliny yet, you should definitely try one.  Good luck finding it though, cause I'm not giving up my secret location!

Farmer's Market & Training Update

We have a great Farmer's Market here in good ol' Sac-Town.  I saw a Yelp review this week that compared it to a French market and I would have to agree.  The amount of stuff they have is endless, way beyond fruit and veggies.  There is something about going to the market on Sunday morning that makes me happy.  I love the atmosphere, the smells and just the whole vibe of the place. 

At some point I plan to do a detailed post about the market, vendors and all of the good stuff (like Pretzel Croissants!), but today I just wanted to share my haul from last weekend....check it out:

I liked this photo so much I made the new blog background (in case you didn't notice).  But seriously, all of this for $39.  I don't know if that seems like a lot, but it would have been way more if I tried to buy it in the grocery store, especially since a lot of this stuff is organic.  Plus, the farmer's market goods always last way longer since they are so fresh.  All together I got:

• 30 eggs ($6!)
• 1lb mixed zesty salad greens (organic)
• 2 heads of lettuce (organic)
• 3 red onions (organic)
• 1 bunch purple carrots (so good and organic)
• 6 plum tomatoes (organic)
• 1 bunch golden beets (organic)
• 2 leeks (organic)
• 4 peaches (organic)
• 4 nectarines (organic)
• 4 pluots (local)
• 4 plums (local)
• 3 green bell peppers (local)
• 2 cucumbers (local)

I can't wait to go back this Sunday!

Now, onto training......

So last week I mentioned that I was going to train for this:

BUT....after going to register I've changed my mind.  First off, the super sprint is $100!  That is probably not a lot considering the course area, ocean swim and popularity of the race, but I'm used to my local $65 races.  So, considering how our calendar looks that weekend, driving to Monterey at 6PM, racing for an hour the next morning and turning around to go home right after the race just doesn't seem worth it.

Instead I'm looking at doing TBF Racing's Clif Bar Team Challenge

I've been wanting to do this for a long time but we usually have a conflict.  This year we are waiting to see if it will conflict with my cousin's wedding, but hopefully it won't.  If not, I'll be racing with IronMom (my mom) and The Cyclist.  We should be able to do some damage!

Otherwise this week - I had hoped to do a run or, wishfully, a run and a ride last weekend; I did neither.  Spending time with The Cyclist, The Munchkin and lots of other good friends took prevalence over exercise, and that is fine.  This week I have managed to ride my bike everyday again (woot-woot!).  I rode an extra 15 miles on Monday.  On Tuesday I attempted to run with Otis (The Dog), but it was hard and hot....I'm going to be glad I made the attempt and leave it at that.  On Wednesday I swam again.  So overall, doing good!  It feels good to be exercising regularly and I don't feel bad about all the cookies I've been making with my new Kitchen Aid mixer (I love that thing!).  I swear, 90% of why I exercise is food.

Coming soon I will review a great fish recipe and tell you all about Pizza Night!





Lots of Food = Tri Time

After eating stuff like this: Wasabi Balls & Thai Hot Wings and this: Gorgonzola Tenderloin with Brandy Cream Sauce and this: The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast

(here is a picture of mine)

and this:

(this dish was made by The Cyclist, yum!)

and, of course, this:

...although our Graham Slam packaging wasn't all Phillies'd out.  Apparently Graham Slam has become the official flavor of the Phillies.  Excellent choice!

Anyway, after eating all this good stuff on our vacation/wedding/honeymoon, my pants are suddenly tight, so it's time to get down to business!  Which means I am now officially training for this:

So.  This week I rode my bike to work everyday - it's only 4 miles each way so this isn't a huge accomplishment training-wise, but it is a big accomplishment towards getting back in the rhythm of daily workouts.

On Monday I did ride 20 miles after work.  I should have risen early Tuesday to run, but I failed to do this. Wednesday I swam with a friend and managed to swim laps for about 40 minutes.  Considering I haven't been in the pool for about a year, I was happy with this.  I would like to get a run in this weekend.....a run and a ride would be beautiful, but we'll see, we have a race on calendar so time may be an issue.  (More about the race later!)  I will soon need to pick a real training schedule to follow, but for my first week out I am giving myself a score of pretty good!