Brie Fit

So you know how some people lose weight/get healthy and then suddenly all things they previously liked are suddenly “oh my gosh, that’s so disgusting, I can’t imagine that I used to eat that”?

Yeah.  That never happened to me.  Which is why, when I see crap like this in the supermarket, I am still overcome with a huge sense of “whoa, that looks delicious” and not “whoa, those red dyes will make any children I have in the future nutso.”

Red velvet flavored milk, guys.  It’s the color of blood but looks so delicious and I want to buy it every time we go to Super Target.  Save me from myself.

Did you know that ever since I tried breakfast cookies a year ago, I’ve eaten them every single weekday morning since? 

As much as I love them, I’ve gotten a little sick of them and the prep work they involve (plus, protein powder isn’t cheap).  And I’ve found a substitute for a cereal I loved in my not-so-healthy days—Captain Crunch with Berries = Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble.

A bit high on sugar, but lots of protein and fiber and I find it really filling (and delicious).  Win!

I took today off work because I worked too damn much in November.  I did relatively little, although I did make myself get out for a run.   I ran two miles, and then stupid November allergens got to me and I had an asthma attack and had to go home for my inhaler.  Rather than scrap my workout altogether, Milhouse and I went for a nice long walk to keep my heart going.

Not groundbreaking, but I moved, so that’s something.

I’ve also been getting back into a hobby I’ve neglected for awhile—counted cross-stitch.  It’s totally old-ladyish, but it’s so relaxing for some reason.  Unfortunately, all the patterns I can find are…errr…not my style, so I give them away to my mom and aunts when I’m done. 

  (Nail polish is OPI’s Diva of Geneva!)

I also took Milhouse’s Christmas picture.

Poor guy is still recovering from Thanksgiving and has had some nausea today, but seems to be recovering nicely.

What foods are you ashamed to still love?  I’m pretty sure you will have to tear the occasional boxed macaroni and cheese out of my cold, dead hands someday.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

We started the day with church.  As much as I loathe getting up early on Sundays, I usually enjoy church once we’re there.   (Subtext: thank you, Tim, for dragging my ass out of bed.)

Since I work Saturday this week and next (and then get one full weekend, and then another half-weekend), I decided to do a little shopping to bolster my fall/winter work wardrobe.  When I first got a job last fall, I raided the Ann Taylor outlet and got tons of stuff for dirt cheap…but now it’s all falling apart.  Sad.

I wound up with 2 cardigans ($15 each, and they seem pretty substantial!) from Old Navy, and a camisole and necklace from Loft.  Hooray!

Then I spent the rest of the morning running various errands (and NOT cleaning my house, like I told myself I would.  Ugh).

Around 3:30, I got home and thought, “Man, I wish I’d had time for a run today.”  And then I realized I was being an idiot, because 3:30 is perfectly acceptable running time.

And then I performed the greatest multitask of my life.

I really, really hate getting my oil changed.  I know it’s necessary, but it always feels like I’m flushing my money down the toilet because I don’t GET anything out of it!   The waiting rooms are always boring and dirty and smell like gas (both human and car varieties).

So, I dropped my car off.

And then I investigated the brand new trail (okay, paved path, but whatever) that runs right by the oil change place.

Literally, this trail came out of nowhere…conveniently, AFTER my marathon.  It’s not exactly scenic, but it’s safe, paved, well-lit, and in an area where I don’t feel isolated.  Score!  It’s super hilly, but fun.  I’ll definitely go back in the future.

I ran a mile and a half out and then back again.   My goal today was to run for fun.  Honestly, the idea of running hasn’t appealed to me much in the last few weeks.  I’ve been enjoying other forms of exercise and focusing on work, which has been nice.  I think I achieved my goal—I saw lots of fall leaves, enjoyed the cool weather, and generally had a great time!

And by the time I was finished, my car was ready and all I had to do was pay.  Perfect!

Unfortunately, the tendon in my foot that was bothering me post-marathon is a bit achy tonight.  Boo.  Also, I took off my toenail polish to realize that my right big toenail (which felt bruised after the marathon, but looked normal) is dangerously purpley-black and will probably continue to blacken and fall off again.  Double boo.

We’ve had a steady stream of trick-or treaters all night and about half of our candy is gone—and all the kids were polite, said thank you, and were in costume!

Anyway, I’m off.  I’m baking a French Silk Pie from scratch in honor of Hangry Pants Macaron Monday!

Do you believe in giving out healthy treats on Thanksgiving or do you espouse the “it’s a holiday, enjoy it” view?

Thank you all for your kind (mostly. ahem.) comments on my post last night!  I still can’t believe I did it and feel great. 

Here are my official splits from my Garmin for 10/10/10:

I was happy I took my Garmin off Autolap and lapped it manually at every mile.  I was surprised I remembered, but I did!  Looks like the course was right on.  The only snafu was really in the first mile, when I lost service in the tunnel.

You can pretty much see where the heat smacked me in the face between miles 20 and 21.  Sigh.

Me and marathons, yo.  We’ve got unfinished business.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel twinges of shame about my time.  It was slow.  Really slow, actually, and slower than I know I’m capable of.

But, then I think about which I would have preferred: finishing slowly, or not finishing because I had passed out from dehydration in a med tent somewhere around mile 22.  And I feel okay.  I’ve obsessively googled Chicago Marathon recaps all day, and pretty much every one sounds like:

"Miles 1-14 were awesome!  What a race!  Then it got hot, there was no shade, and I tanked, hard.  Oh well.”

At least I’m not alone.

Here is the official “this is where it hurts” report.  The day of the race, I was mostly fatigued.  Yesterday, I felt pretty good.  Today, DOMS snuck in and I feel like I’ve been battered in a few specific areas.  Yeowch.

(Hurty areas highlighted in green for quick reference!)

Head to toe:

1. Nose is sunburned.
2. Biceps hurt from holding 32 oz. handheld for 26.6 miles.
3. Shoulder is tense.  Bad form.
4. HIPS ARE ON FIRE.  Like, the outside of my hips.  I just keep standing there and kicking my hips out to one side, and then the other, and enjoying the stretch.
5. Hamstrings are tight.
6. My right knee is not really injured, but just feels kind of inflamed and annoyed.
7. Top of my foot feels kind of weird when I walk barefoot.
8. Potentially going to lose right big toenail.

I was glad I made the excellent decision to get a massage over my lunch hour!

The massage therapist literally focused on my quads and hips for 75% of the time.  It was glorious and helped a lot.  She’s a runner herself, and was really up on the table stretching me out a lot.  I thought my poor hips and hamstrings were going to snap!

I returned to work with serious JBF hair and smelling like incense, but I didn’t care.

I did a little office decorating today.  My new view? 

And, of course, I updated the bib board.

It’s so real now.  I did this.  I am a marathoner.

I’m not experiencing the same runger I had after my long runs during training—that was predictable.  I’d do a long run, go to bed, and wake up a bottomless pit.  Since the marathon, I have actually had very little appetite…except for a few random times when it hits me like a ton of bricks and I need to eat, like, NOW.  Strange.

Anyway, onward and upward.  I’m running the Kansas City Marathon 5K this Saturday and am looking forward to a fun run.  A part of me just wants to do a slow recovery run and enjoy the scenery; another part of me wants to go out as balls-to-the-wall as possible and shoot for a PR.  I don’t know.  We’ll see how I feel.

How do you recover from a hard workout?

I had to.

I rounded my marathon training to an even 300 miles with a 1.64 mile over my lunch hour.  Hit the track, sprinted the last 400 at a 7:30 pace.  Fantastic.  It was weird to think, “Next time I run, it will be marathon day.  This is my last training run for this race!

Anyhoo, I’m a bit busy tonight with pre-marathon preparation…I’m working a full day tomorrow, then we’re racing to the airport to catch a 7 pm flight to Chicago!

I hit up Target for some good travelin’ food…

Frantically started throwing things in my suitcase…

And gave myself a Team in Training purple manicure to match my singlet!  (Super messy, I know.  Need  to clean it up a bit later!  Color is Essie’s Sexy Divide.)

I can’t make any promises about blogging the next few days, since I’ll be without internet at my mom’s house, but I’m going to try to post on Saturday night from the hotel! 

I will be Tweeting the whole way (@BrieFit), so follow me there!  (I will also be racing with my iPhone for music/family meetup purposes and will get any Tweets cheering me on on Sunday morning, so…virtually cheer for me!)  You can also track my bib here, #40929, to get text updates.

And, of course, it’s not too late to make a donation to Team in Training.  It’s a fantabulous cause and can’t say enough good things about it!

…here we go!  Ahhh!

Ran two miles today in 19:00 flat.  I guess I was feeling speedy today!

Reminded me how much I miss running short distances faster.  I think that after marathon training is over and I’m all recovered, I am going to attack my sub-27 5K goal with lots of short, fast runs.  But we’ll see!

The bad news is that my knee felt like it was out of place afterwards and was kind of achy.  It feels better now, but I need to seriously not push too much this week.  Bad Brie.

Today I’m feeling mostly excited.  When I let negative thoughts slip in, I am pushing them out and instead filling my brain with some things I personally find incredibly inspiring.

Such as…

1. Healthy Ashley!  Her Gasparilla Marathon recap reminds me that even if I am not feeling strong along the race, it doesn’t have to turn into a bad race! I am determined to finish happy, proud, and having fun, no matter what my time is.  She is such a great example of good sportsmanship and a positive attitude.
2. The story of Team Hoyt.  I think about what my life would be like if I couldn’t run, and then I stop feeling sorry for myself and obsessing over how fast I will be.
3. Jerry from Spirit of the Marathon.  He runs to have fun, and is a great role model.  I want to be still chugging away when I’m his age!
4. Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to challenge the male-only sport of marathoning.  She threw elbows so that I could run and I am grateful to her.
5. My dad.  For some reason, the phrase, “this is not your race” has been running through my head all week.  This race belongs to him.  I am running because he can’t.  I have no doubt that if leukemia didn’t take him away from me eighteen years ago, he’d be running by my side on Sunday.  Although I find the concept of the deceased "being with me” or “smiling down on me” a bit creepy, I do feel that wherever he is, he will be watching live race coverage with a beer in one hand and his Nikes on.  (My dad was known for following three sporting events at once—one on TV, one on the radio, and one on his Walkman.  If heaven has technology, I bet he is getting live text updates, watching the race on Tivo, and stalking footage online come Sunday.)

I am ready to go.  Eeep!  We fly to Chicago Friday night, Saturday is expo and BFF’s baby shower day, and then Sunday is the big day.  We fly home Monday!  I hope to have a recap up sometime late Sunday night or Monday—we’re staying at my mom’s house, and she does not have internet, so I’m going to have to sneak away to a Panera to get anything posted before we get home Monday night.  We shall see!

What inspires you?  Links, please!  I need all the help I can get this week!

Eeeeeep!

I vacillate wildly between excited, scared shitless, and back again, all within the span of five minutes.  Welcome to marathon week!

Anyway, obviously, the big story in the blog world right now is the Marie Claire debacle based on this article.  I won’t comment at length on this, but a few bullet points:

1. I read and enjoy most of the “Big Six” blogs.  They have inspired me to eat healthier, try new foods, and have the courage to race, and for that I am thankful.
2. I sometimes get sad and discouraged when I compare my (slow) running to their fast running.  But you know what?    That’s MY problem, not theirs.  I need to learn not to compare myself.  It’s hard, and I don’t begrudge any of them their speediness.  The positive stuff I’ve gotten from reading health and fitness blogs vastly outweighs the bad.
3. I think the “Is health blogging healthy?” question is a good one, but this article was terribly researched and incurably biased.
4. I haven’t had a period since I went off birth control in July.  (I’m not pregnant.)  Someone flog me, quick!  Seriously, though, cycles aren’t regular for a variety of reasons (NOT just because you exercise a lot) and I think it’s reeeeally shitty to drag Meghann through the mud on that one.  I have plenty of body fat, I am in good shape, and I’d rather my period be irregular than suffer from the host of problems that come with not exercising at all.  I plan to discuss this with my doctor should it continue much past the marathon.  If she tells me to cut back on the exercising, I will. 
5. I don’t post my food daily because it is boring and I don’t care to take a picture of everything I eat, not because I am ashamed or feel inadequate.  I eat the same damn breakfast every day that looks like a cow patty and totally uncreative lunches and dinners.  It works for me, and I don’t aspire to be the next great health food blogger.

And that’s that.  I’m sure you’re all sick of reading about it by now.

Anyway.  Today was a nice easy three miler.  I plan to do one or two more 2-milers this week with maybe a little light cross-training thrown in.  It was a beautiful, crisp, slightly chilly fall night and I felt strong and ready to race. 

Currently I’m on an “OMG I’m so excited!” jag.  I am excited to have my family and friends cheer for me (including my totally awesome 8 MONTHS PREGNANT bestie) and to cross the finish line.  I am already plotting what I want to buy at the expo (I’m thinking new compression sleeves or socks, a Chicago Marathon shirt of some kind, and one of those 26.2 car magnets that I used to think were cheesy).   And I can’t wait to meet some of the awesome other bloggers and readers who I know are running, too!

What’s your take on Marie Claire-gate 2010?

If you know me, you know I don’t give a shit about pumpkin.

Crunchy apples and juicy pears are my fall treats of choice!  I enjoyed my first Honeycrisp of the season today as a snack at work, with a bit of almond butter to keep me full.

Now, I’m not firmly in the “OMG Honeycrisps are the best thing ever” camp, but after eating (okay, biting in and throwing away) five straight mealy, flavorless (but cheap!) Galas, I decided to spring for the good stuff.  And it was good!  I guess you get what you pay for.

Pretty soon I’ll have to make some homemade applesauce.  Mmmm…

After work I did an easy, slow (but hilly) three-miler outside.  Nothing too taxing, but it felt good to get moving on a beautiful day.

In other news, I have begun overanalyzing every single pang in my body.   Random ear pain?  Is totally going to turn into some horrible infection.  Hamstring twinges?  OHMYGOD need to foam roll for half an hour right now.  Zit on face?  It’s probably leprosy.  Welcome to tapering.  Let the paranoia begin.

What’s your favorite fall treat?

Is anyone else looking forward to the weekend as much as I am? 

It’s not that this has been a bad, or particularly long work week, but we have some fun stuff planned with Tim’s family and I’m looking forward to some good old family time.  I’m also getting an overdue haircut and brow wax on Saturday.  I have had some unpleasant PMS-related (I think/hope) lately and need a little relaxation.  I can’t wait!

Now, story time.  About my wonderful, wonderful husband.

I have been in pursuit of the perfect purse for a loooong time.  I have a big work bag, but nothing weekend appropriate that isn’t dirty or falling apart or three years old.  I am picky about purses—I like nice leather ones, in a fun color, with very little riffraff on them.  And then today, I found one! 

But, it was $140 (marked down from $348), and Tim and I are trying to  both save and pay down some stuff.  So I consulted Tim, and he reminded me of our goals, and I was sad.  But then I sent him another (cheaper) purse (that I didn’t really like very much), and he was all “nooo don’t buy it” and when I asked why, he said he was going to buy the one I initially liked for me for a marathon finishing gift and surprise me with it.  Surprise ruined.  Good going, Brie!

And then I felt like a huge douchebag for whining about needing a purse.

(So we bought it anyway tonight.  Good thing, because I think it was the last one!   I can’t wait for it to get here!)

And that is the story of how I got a new purse, and how my husband is awesome.

After work run was WINDY! 

I did it on the track.   I like running on the outdoor track. 

Off to watch fall TV!

What’s your favorite accessory to shop for?  I love purses, but the ones I like are always out of my budget!

Today, I ran 20 miles.  (Whoa.)

Let me first start by saying that I set my alarm for 6:30 and snoozed until about 7:15.  I didn’t start running until 8:15 or so.  I am not a morning person, and sometimes, I feel like I SHOULD be, like long runs can’t be done after a reasonable amount of sleep.   Rest assured that that is NOT true—unless you are trying to beat insane heat, long runs can be done whenever.

Anyway.  I decided to tackle 20 today by doing 4 5 mile segments.  4 5-mile runs sounds so much easier to me!

For my first five, I headed out and ran around some beautiful gardens with fountains and other pretty things going on.  I put this section strategically first, because the hills in the area are killer and I wanted to do them on fresh legs.  (My iPhone camera was on the fritz today, so my picture documentation isn’t great.)  I tried to take a picture of something pretty, and got this instead:

(By the way—wore my new shoes.  The New Balance 759s are essentially a slightly updated version of my old 758s, but they feel exactly the same (though more cushiony, and with different laces) as the758s did.  Hooray!)

Stats for the first five:

Then I took a quick bathroom break, refilled my water bottle, took a Gu, and hit the treadmill for five miles.  Easy peasy.

Then, I went outside to the track to run 5 miles.  This didn’t work out quite as well as planned, as a soccer game was about  to start and I felt weird.  So, I went back inside to the treadmill after 3.5/5 miles were complete.

For the last segment, I ran 6.5 miles on the treadmill, split into segments of 4.5 miles-Gatorade refill-2 miles.   iPhone was not working, so I don’t have pictures!  By my math: 5+5+3.5+4.5+2=20!

Here is what I listened to:

1. 2 episodes of the Eric & Kathy Mix Morning Show podcast
2. 3 episodes of Kidd Kraddick in the Morning podcast
3. 1 episode of the Savage Love podcast
4. 2 episodes of the Talking TV with Ryan & Ryan podcast
5. 1 episode of Top Chef
6. some music

Here is what I consumed:

1. 32 oz. of Lemon-lime Gatorade (sometimes mixed with water, sometimes not—I’d estimate I took in about 56 oz. of fluids total)
2. 1 Vanilla Bean Gu at mile 5
3. 1 Chocolate Outrage Gu at mile 10
4. 1/2 pack of Sharkies immediately post-run

(I should have had another Gu at mile 15, but it didn’t sound appetizing.  Need to force feed one to myself next time. 1 Gu every 5 miles seems to work well for me.)

Time-wise, I was not fast.  I would estimate that I ran 80% of the time and walked 20% of the time.  That is fine with me.  Finishing is what matters, and if today’s run is any indication, I will not get swept away on the slow bus.

Here is what 20 miles looks like.  Be glad you don’t have smell-o-vision.

Post-run, I ice bathed (it feels SO good post-run and really helps recovery!), hot showered (to combat the smelly thing), and ate some Greek yogurt and plain pasta.  (My stomach was a little sour—not too bad, but I didn’t want anything too crazy.)

Anyway, although this was not a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, I feel infinitely more confident about my ability to finish this marathon in 3 weeks and shove it in Dr. Douche’s face.

Tonight Tim and I are using a Groupon for a fancy dinner at Room 39.  I can’t wait!

What’s the worst you’ve ever smelled?

Wanted to go longer, but my shin started really hurting again (eff) so I stopped.

I’m proud that I conquered (somewhat) my fear of outdoor running in strange places.  Got a recommendation from the concierge, took off, did some laps, didn’t stray too far from the hotel…good times.  I will do this again!