Monthly Archives: August 2011

Running Errands

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After work I picked up our race packets for the Emerald City Quarter Marathon.  I was reading through the race information and it says they give out free Bloody Mary’s at the end of the race to all participants.  Gag.  The highlight of the race packet was a sample-sized tube of Aquaphor.  The low-light of the race packet has to be the race shirts.  The men’s shirts are a normal white with a subtle logo on the side.  The women’s shirts are lime green! Lime Green! Wasn’t I just talking about my distaste of lime green?! I think its ironic but I’ll probably never wear it.  Its just not my color. My shirt is destined to the bottom of the drawer.  Its only purpose will be to act as a receipt that I ran the race.  In case anyone questions my participation, I’m prepared to prove them wrong.

During my 3.2 run, I went on a bank run.

Not that kind of bank run (did you watch all seven minutes of the video?).  I was putting money into the bank. Not taking it out.  Running errands during my run is probably not the best idea.  I don’t know what I was thinking.

Only four more days until the race.  I think I just realized I’m not really ready for it.  I’m going to put my race bib under my pillow case and hope my brain absorbs the great athleticism.

 

Dear Gym, Its not you, its me.

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Going to a bad gym is like shopping solely in the women’s clearance section.  Just because its cheap, doesn’t mean its going to be worth your while.  My gym is comparable to a short, lime sherbert colored, seersucker blazer with a broken zipper that was dropped in the dust bunnies.  Its just a waste of money because I’ll never wear it.  I won’t wear the ugly blazer and I won’t go the cheap gym.  And thus I’ve concluded, I need to break off my membership.  I don’t really have a contract since I pay month to month but they charge an annual fee in October.

I haven’t gone to the gym in one month.  They don’t have group classes like my old gym (which is further away) and I hate to admit it, but I feel really intimidated when I go to the free weights section and its all muscle men.  I am seriously the only one who is skinny (not muscular), the only one who is a woman and the only one who doesn’t eat a giant steak for breakfast.  This gym and I are just a bad match.

Don’t call me, Gym.  I’ll call you.

Daydream Believer

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After a long day at work, an impromptu trip to Target, and sitting on the couch for a few minutes, I finally put on my clean workout clothes and went for a jog.  I love evening runs with no music.  It really gives me the chance to think about the future and daydream about whatever I want.

www.nataliedee.com

A two mile run around the neighborhood.  Trees shaded me practically the entire time so I didn’t really sweat until I got home and stretched.  I love the feeling of drenching in sweat, it makes me feel like I really worked hard to reach my goals.

One of my non-running goals is to plan our meals and waste less food.  I always buy potatoes by the five pound bags and waste at least half.  I tried an Oven-Fried Potato recipe from Simply Recipes but I’ll have to try it at least one more time to get it right.  I also tried Sauteed Kale for the first time from and picked an easy recipe from Eating Well.

 

5 Tips for Staying Motivated Past Monday

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What is the best way to stay on a training plan and continuing to be motivated past Monday? Here are my tips:

1. Wash your running clothes:  This one is really hard for me.  I hate laundry.  It makes me feel sick to my stomach at the thought of having to do it.  Sometimes I’ll wear the same sports bra a few times or the same pair of shorts for an entire cycle until I do laundry again.  I don’t think the clothes smell too bad but when you know you’re going to be fresh as a daisy, it can be easier to throw the shoes on and go for a jog around the block.

2. Keep buying new things.  Now I’m no financial expert, but I think its pretty fair to say that spending a lot of money on workout related items is a very inspirational way to work out.  I recommend spending top dollar.  Don’t look for bargains.  Think of your physical well-being as an investment.  (I actually don’t want to admit how many reusable water bottles I have)

3. Rely on other people to work out with you.  This way, when they don’t want to work out, its not techniqually your fault to not have a sweat session.  Its so much easier to place the blame on your “workout buddy”.  Way to be a good friend.

4. Announce your workout plans to everybody at work.  When you do this, friends and coworkers will ask how your workout went the next day.  If you don’t work out, you’ll be too embarrassed to admit you actually slammed a bag of Munchies while watching Two and a Half Men.  Take other people’s opinions about you into consideration before becoming an Olympic Couch Potato.

5.  Change every day on your calendar to “Monday”.  Only do this on your personal calendar.  No need to piss everyone off.

 

**No workouts to report today.  It is only Tuesday after all**

Kicking Butt, Taking Names

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Two miles. Done. Could have done more.  Didn’t.

James and I did an easy two mile run through the neighborhood this evening with a few short intervals.  One of my favorite running exercises is the butt kick.  I just make sure to do it when I don’t think anyone is watching as I look goofy doing it.  Here is a video of former OSU football player Eddie George showing how to do the butt kick:

About halfway through the run, I was freaking out about how I’m going to do the quarter marathon in less than two weeks.  Then I started freaking out about the wedding being only 82 days away.  Then I started freaking out about being able to fit in my dress.  Whenever I feel pressure to stay a certain weight or size, I tend to gain weight as I binge on junk and anxiety.  I wish that wedding dresses were made out of the same material as yoga pants.  I think I need to start a career in the wedding industry!

need-tox detox

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This weekend was so much fun but now I think I need to detox to get back to normal.  James and I went to a beautiful wedding in Pittsburgh that was one of the best weddings I’ve been to.  The ceremony was so special and so personal; there were so many cute details to the decorations and everyone that attending was just fun to be around.  One of my favorite parts were the infamous Pittsburgh Cookie Table and the wedding cake that was a tower of doughnuts.

doughnut cake that smelled as good as it looked

My eating feels completely out of whack from the weekend.  We’ve eaten out for every meal since Friday lunch at Subway.  For breakfast on Saturday I did eat oatmeal with bananas and strawberries at Bob Evan’s and felt like I got the day off to a great start but the rest of the day I have n idea how much I ate.  The food was so delicious at the wedding and I ate my fair share of cheese and popcorn favors.  The biggest mistake, that I hate to fess up to, was the 1am pizza that didn’t even taste good and wasn’t even worth it.

I woke up this morning after seven long hours of sleep (no Goldendoodle puppy waking us up).  I went to the hotel gym and thought I could bust out at least three miles.  I set the stats on the treadmill but only went a little over a mile.  I hate running on treadmills because it is so boring, I didn’t have my iPod and they always make me dizzy.  When I’m actually running on the machine I feel fine.  When I get off and start walking, I feel like I’m stuck on a conveyer belt at the grocery store.

I’ve had a bellyache all day and being in the car with an upset stomach is never a good idea.  I’m not a doctor, but I’ve come to the realization that any foods ending in “-itos” is not the best way to cure any stomach issues.

Easy Monday Dinner

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There are a few staples that I always keep in my pantry.  I don’t think I’ve ever run out of some type of dried pasta any time during my adult life.  Whenever I’m in a pinch for dinner, I think its easier to make a pasta dish with the noodle front and center rather than a meat-heavy dish.  I honestly believe I could be a full-fledged vegetarian but James would never go meat free for more than a few meals.  Another one of my favorite staples is frozen cream of spinach in the freezer and shredded mozzarella in the refrigerator.  We always have a can of artichoke hearts and we get canned black beans by the case.

I don’t get the magazine anymore (the subscription is on my wedding registry…I’m hopeful) but I love the recipes from Real Simple magazine.  They don’t use too many complicated ingredients, the recipe layouts are easy to read and I have had more successful dinners or desserts come out of their recipes.  To see what we ate tonight for dinner, go to the Real Simple website and check out the Cheesy Baked Pasta With Spinach and Artichokes.  I have made this recipe no less than 5 times already.  This time I added mild pork sausage produced by Oink Moo Cluck Farms that we got at the farmer’s market last weekend.

Top 5 Running Songs

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These are some of my favorite songs to run to:

Best Warm Up:  Britney Spears- My Perogative

Best Tempo Run: Robert Randolph & The Family Band- Ain’t Nothing Wrong with That

Best for Uphill: Beyonce- Run the World

Best Cross the Finish Line: DJ Khaled ft. T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dog, Rick Ross- All I do is Win

Best Cool Down: Pearl Jam- Just Breathe

Long Run: 5 miles

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Today’s run felt like I was in slow motion.  It was like the dream I have where I’m being chased by bad guys running at normal pace and I run away like I have cemented shoes.

I may have gotten off to a late start and I don’t think I’ve been hydrating myself enough during the week. I ate a banana with a forkful of almond butter.  Bananas eaten with a fork taste more like a meal.  Another issue was that I felt really thirsty and I didn’t take my water bottle with me because I was carrying my giant iPod Touch (the iPod shuffle wasn’t charged).  I stayed dehydrated for the sake of vanity.

I walked a few times for about 30 seconds each time.  I don’t know why but I always feel like I’m cheating myself out of a successful workout.  I didn’t charge my Garmin and I left the house with only 25% battery life.  It died at mile 4 but I know I ran an extra mile because I’ve gone that route before.

never fully charged Garmin

I was planning on having my second breakfast but 10:00 seems too late since lunch is only about 2 hours away.  Now I’m sipping on some iced coffee with a scoop of vanilla whey protein.  I wouldn’t exactly call it delicious.

I’m a Bad Dog Mom

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I feel like I just had my first “bad mom” moment today.  I may have made mistakes in the last few months we have had Penny and her puppy training, but this one feels the worst.  I have taken Penny on a total of two runs, I think James has taken her on one.  All runs were less than two miles.  Penny enjoys the short run and sometimes it can tire her out and we can avoid the nighttime-crazy-time.

I wish I did a little more research before getting Penny too active.  Apparently, dogs shouldn’t run until they are about a year old.  Penny is only 4 1/2 months, a long way off.  To make it even worse, Golden Retrievers are prone to hip dysplasia.  Maybe the fact that she’s only 25% Golden Retriever, she could have the chance to miss that gene.  We walk every day and we’ll continue to walk a few times a day.  Exercise is important to prevent hip dysplasia but too much can also cause it.  Just like people, even dogs need good things in moderation.