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Rat Pose > Crow Pose

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Very happy this morning after a class at Y7's pop up on Melrose! Less hip hop, more ambient pop rock, but still one great workout. I have been afraid to take a hot yoga class for YEARS but this squelched my fear. Ready to take on a regular practice and challenge myself!

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That awesome, awesome day when you start working at a company you really, really like.

Now to make sure this temp job goes permanent!

Regardless, my yoga game is about to get SO strong.

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God bless those girls but the only thing that inspires me to do is go back to sleep.

It takes all kinds. Equal respect to the well dressed and to the well rested.

pretty girls just…. make me wanna do better and deep condition my hair, get my nails done regularly, dress nice every day, exfoliate etc. and I feel bad for other girls who hate instead of get inspired but u know!!!!

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After a full month of rest post-half I am back at it. Right now I am trying to work on consistency. 2 miles a day, every day. It's enough to get a solid sweat but short enough that I know I can manage it the next day and the day after. Right calf has been feeling a little crampy so I am making an effort to foam roll, ice, and remember that strength training is my friend.

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26 HOURS TO GO! Let's reblog the SHIT outta this and get that last few thousand dollars funded! So stoked to watch this movie.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/runitoutfilm/run-it-out-run-free-from-your-past-and-the-rest-wi

Hi guys! The clock is ticking to support Run it Out - a documentary about running 5 marathons in 5 days for MS research. Thanks for all your support and love getting the project to the final stage for festivals. Love y'all. http://www.runitout.co.uk

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Note to self: running your first half-marathon does then not make you immune to getting out of shape. 

One month after and I just had to take walk breaks on a 2 miler. Helllooo 5k training plan all over again.

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Rock N’ Roll Seattle 1/2 Marathon Results

Ack. Only a month later. Have only gone running once since this race. Yikes. 

But for now, let me just congratulate myself on finishing my first half marathon! 

Forgot to un-pause my watch after a porta-potty break around mile 6, and because of said break there is a huge discrepancy in the official results but they came in as follows:

Time: 2:38:26

Pace:  12:06

Place Overall: 7662 / 11071  (69%)

Place for Age Division: 784 / 1109 (71%)

Place for Gender: 4324 / 6946 (62%)

Things I was unprepared for: 

1. LONG ASS CORRAL WAIT. I went pee thirty minutes before the start time but didn’t account for the additional 45 minutes I’d be waiting in my starting corral. For shorter races there have always been less groupings and time in between so I kept thinking I’d run out of time or not be able to find my friend if I went again, but it just meant by the time I started running I already had to pee.

2. HYDRATION. I was running with a much more experienced friend who advocated waiting till we were at least at the halfway point before stopping for water or to pee. This sounded like a good idea but ultimately, I wish I had stopped for water earlier or brought my dorky belt. The BIGGEST issue was that there were no water stations between Mile 8 - 11 which seemed like a cruel, cruel joke -- especially given that the course for those miles consisted of ugly sun-parched freeway stretches. 

3. NUTRITION. A banana for breakfast was not enough. Next time, peanut butter toast for sure. 

4. MENTAL. Something I hadn’t really anticipated being tricky at all was doing my longest run with a friend. Don’t get me wrong. It was incredible to have one of my best friends cheering me on the whole way. She is a queen among queens and even though she could have done the race in half the time, she stuck to my pace, talked me through it, walked with me when I thought I was going to cry, and even ran ahead to the next water station when I started to lose my shit at Mile 11. Hero status. Still, I have spent the last year running solo. My inner dialogue is essential to my running experience. Yes, that sounds a bit lofty and self-centered but as a person who consistently finds reasons to feel guilty in my day-to-day life, I’ve learned to love running as a time when the quietness between myself and the road teaches me to push through the hard stuff with self-encouragement. While having a friend’s encouragement was a very welcome addition to my race, I hadn’t accounted for the reality that it might imbibe my own inner dialogue of “I am awesome. I can do this.” 

Looking ahead:

I’m continuing with my goal of running a race every month this year. Next up is a 5k in my new home base of Los Angeles. I’m going to stick with short distances for at least this month and August as I’ve become pretty out of shape since the half. 

STRENGTH TRAINING. I was super bummed that my knee was giving me grief two weeks before the race. It felt fine the day of (THANK YOU KT TAPE!) but I’d like to not have weak muscles and injury be such a fear and that means getting strong and being vigilant about those squats and sit-ups. 

TRAIL RUNNING AND RACES. There was a really pretty stretch of this race along the water in Seattle that made me feel like I could keep going all day. The long stretches of freeway? Not so much. While I am stoked to be living in a big, bad city once again -- I suspect my running life would benefit from sticking to the trails. Easier on the joints and a better view to push you through. This fall I want to prioritize racing trails over roads. 

GROUP TRAINING. I definitely want to find a way to marry the encouragement and company of others with my own inner dialogue and autonomy as a runner. There’s a few trail running groups I’m looking at in LA and I think it’d be a great way to try new spots, get to know people, while moving towards my individual goals of kicking ass in the dirt. 

I am so proud to say I am a half-marathon finisher and excited to get back in my shoes and pick out my next big race. 

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RUN IT OUT

There are many things to discuss. Since I last posted I have completed my first half marathon (!!!) and am at this very minute in the process of moving from Portland to Los Angeles. Goodbye trees, hello pavement. Looking forward to running you ragged, LA. 

But, but, but… Before I get into all that good stuff I just wanted to make sure I put a post up to encourage you all to support this Kickstarter page for the Robin Arzon documentary by Tara Darby, Run It Out. 

(Photo: shutupandrun.tumblr.com)

If you don’t know who she is already, you might start with this Rich Roll podcast episode, where I first heard about her. The girl is mad cool, mad tough, and really makes me appreciate the grit in life. Dig deep people. In your spirits, in your runs, and maybe in your pockets this week so we can all dig this awesome documentary together.

ONLY 8 DAYS LEFT! Pass the good word on! 

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blogilates banana pancake success! By far my new favorite breakfast. Thanks, Cassey!

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Inputting my half training schedule into my day planner like gurlllll, you gonna be feeling fly as hell on race day and those 30 runs in between now and then are going to be the reason why. Now excuse me while I download a hundred more audiobooks.

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Note to self: There is no point in owning running gloves if you keep them hidden god knows where. 

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Some days it's really inspiring to read about other people's morning workouts and some days I want to punch them in the face. Morning run? I'll see you after work.

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On the upside, I just accidentally put on my skinny jeans thinking they were my comfy jeans and didn’t even notice. Peace, muffin top.

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Lesson learned. You want to have a great run like its race day? PREP THAT SHIT like its race day. Had a glass of water when I woke up but it was not enough for this sunny warm weather run. Time to invest in a dorky running water belt. 🙌

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Dinner before my second work shift today. Hallelujah.

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Currently attempting this! Or at least a version of this. I am 2 days in and planning on sticking it out for a full THREE weeks before my trip to Los Angeles and San Diego where I intend to proudly flaunt my pasty Oregon body with pride and joy. (For real though, can anyone consult if a spray tan is a worthwhile investment?)

I am a SUGAR FREAK if you didn’t know so the only thing I’m really modifying is allowing all fruit instead of just non-starchy ones (also because I wasn’t sure which ones count as starchy). As someone who eats a cupcake/cookie/rice krispie treat/donut/eclair/ice cream/candy bar just about every goddamn day, I’m pretty sure cutting down to just fruit will still be an effective means for me. 

But the real reason I wanted to try this is, was to cut out bread. For the past few weeks I’ve been pretty lazy about planning my meals, and busy working two different jobs. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner turned into a rotation of either cereal, toast, or sandwiches. Not exactly a balanced diet. 

Here’s what my meals looked like yesterday and today!

Thursday: Breakfast: Two eggs and a banana. Lunch: Salad with cherry tomatoes, sweet potato, chicken and pumpkin Seeds. Homemade dressing using olive oil & white balsamic vinegar. Dinner: Two individual pieces of a sushi roll (okay so a little cheat here with some rice), assorted sashimi, carrot and burdock salad, and grilled squid.

Friday: Breakfast: Two eggs with leftover sweet potato, and a banana. Lunch: Leftover grilled chicken with corn, black beans, and avocado (another slight cheat as I forgot Cholula is from a bottle and not from mother nature’s bounty.) Snack: Small cup of vegan lentil soup and side salad from Elephant’s Deli here in Portland. Dinner: Yellow zucchini squash “noodles” with ground turkey and mushrooms covered in Cassey Ho’s raw marinara sauce. (Dates are probably also a no-no if you’re sticking to a strict low sugar diet, but as I said, making leaps and bound here with the sheer amount of vegetables I’ve traded in for bread so not going to sweat the small stuff.)

SO MUCH BETTER, right?

So excited to keep checking in with you all and letting you know how this goes! I am down 12 pounds since I started this blog in August (yes, even with the massive amounts of bread intake) which hasn’t really hit me until I just typed it here. So thank you for giving me a space to share that, and your support. I am so proud of having incorporated exercise into my life after 24 years of vehemently resisting all physical activity, and I’m really loving the idea of using that will power to change the way I’ve been eating too. 

If anyone needs an extra boost of inspiration, I listened to this podcast today with Robin Arzon that straight up made me want to conquer the world. Awesome, awesome boss lady. As is Katy, and big thanks to her for coming up with this great diet tune up. 

Alright, more updates soon! Xx.

14 (or 21) Day Clean Eating Challenge!

Alright yall, it’s almost Spring Break, and you know what that means, you gotta be beach/lake/boat ready ASAP. Maybe you wanna drop a few, maybe you wanna tone up, or maybe you just wanna feel a little less bloated. Regardless of the situation, I have come up with a little 2 week clean eating challenge for y'all to do with me! I started on Sunday, and with only 4 days in I already feel SO MUCH BETTER.

Here is how it’s going to go down:

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