Tag Archives: travel

Oh, hello there.

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I’m late to blogging, late for the “new year resolution” entry, blah blah. It’s been a crazy month, month and a half. No way I can even catch up, but I’ll recap a little bit here.

Went to Lake Placid at the beginning of December and it was so much fun. I learned so much about skeleton, bobsled, luge, how the USOC works, and meeting some neat people. I had so much fun, I extended my trip another week because I didn’t want to go home. I ended up with a nasty sinus infection & cold while I was there, but not unexpected.

A couple days after I got home from LP, I packed up the kids (dogs) and hit the road to Ohio to spend the holidays with K’s family and see friends. What was supposed to be 2, relaxing, weeks (we hardly made any plans!), turned into 2 stressful, busy, weeks. UGH. Not restorative, not relaxing, not enough sleep, still trying to get over my sickness.

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Zombie Nativity in Cincinnati!

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So funny.

Left there and drove straight to Knoxville for the Pistol ultra, to pace a friend doing the 100. The weather was cold, miserable, and I got about 2 hours of sleep -in the drivers seat of my car- in 40hrs.

Left Knoxville and drove to DFW to dog/housesit for my good friends who were going to run the Dopey & Goofy Challenges at Disney. They were going for almost a week and needed someone. Good reason to see them, and another opportunity to -hopefully- relax and do fun stuff.
Nope.
Arrived on a Sunday evening and was exhausted. Monday, felt more human after a great night of sleep.
Normal day Monday.
Woke up in the middle of the night with food poisoning.
Not a functional human on Tuesday.
Recovered from that for about 2 days.
Then wake up with a cold on Friday.  Spend the weekend hydrating, bone broth-ing, NyQuiling.

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Watch all the squirrels.

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All the puppies!

And now…today…I get to take my computer into Apple where they will send it off, wipe it clean, replace some important hardware, and send it back to me. I will probably be without my computer for a week.

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Nope, not so good.

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Don’t think this is supposed to keep happening.

One of my friends said after the food poisoning, “well, you’ve got nowhere to go but up!” Well, apparently not and while I’m upset about my computer, they’re fixing it pretty quickly, and free, and I caught the issue in time to backup all my photos and important files. Small victories!

While I feel like I’ve been run down, sick, and not home, I’m generally ‘ok’ with it all. I’m handling it well. I’ll get home, be able to rest, get into my routine, and eat well. I’ll get better, my computer will be fixed, and this crap is just temporary. I think big, good, changes are on the horizon too…which could be stressful, but hopefully worth it in the end.

When I return, I’ll have my “goals” for the new year written. I’m starting my “new year” later this week when I’m at home. Who says it has to start on Jan. 1?

Until then, I leave you with a needy pup.

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Your pillow is mine, peasant.

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I’ve GOT to be a better blogger.

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Days 45-58.

I’ve got no excuses. I just haven’t felt like blogging. School is in full swing and it feels like a luxury to ‘waste time’ and blog. I don’t believe it’s a time waster, it’s a creative outlet I need to continue.

It took me forever to write this post, because I’m so far behind. Putting the pictures into Layout, formatting and using the right ones, sending them to Flickr, then uploading here…takes a long time! ANYWAY, tons of catching up to do! So, read if you like, or just look at the goofy pictures. I’m caught up and will NOT be letting myself get this far behind. New rule: 1-2 posts per week!

Day 45 (feb 14): CrossFit, home workout. Felt good! Finally starting to feel ‘recovered’ from the race.
4 rounds:
25kb swings (25lbs)
565m run (around the big block, mapped it out!)
Time: 14:40. The run totaled 1.4mi.

Some Valentines CrossFit love:
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Day 46 (feb 15): CrossFit, home again. Walk.
Walked the dogs 2miles at the dog park.
CF
Warmup: 400m jog, bodyweight stuff (squats, pushups, etc)
3 rounds
1130m run (.7mi)
5 burpees
10 thrusters (45lb bar)
Time: 16:57. Run total: 2.1miles.

8514729478_20cbe59727_nLets ignore the tissue on the ground, shall we? My dog likes to pull them out of the trash.

Day 47 (feb 16): Benchmark WOD. Stretching/Foam roller (10min).
9min AMRAP
7 KB swing
7 burpees
50m run.
Again, the burpees are always my limiter. Ugh
TOTAL: 7 rounds, +7 KB swing +2 burpees.
In Sept. I did 6 rounds + 7 swings. Decent improvement.

Day 48: (feb 17) Kettlebell. Handstands. Stretching. 
KB: 50 sumo deadlift high pull, 50 swings
Handstands: Practice. MAJOR breakthrough. All of a sudden, I was “getting” it and able to hold them, without a wall, for much longer than before! WHOOO HOO!
Stretching: splits practice & foam roller.
Now I want to get my splits since my handstands are getting better. I have a long way to go though.

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Day 49 (feb 18): CrossFit x2! (at the Box & at home). Stretching.
Warmup: 400m run, 20 push press w/25lb plate, 20 air squats, 20 burpees, stretching…
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13min AMRAP
“FUN WITH SANDBAGS”
100m run
5 ground-to-overhead
5 front squat
5 push press
5 back squat
Total: 8 2/3 rounds. AWESOME WOD. Finally feel 100% again.

(SOMEONE forgot their workout clothes and had to wear my short shorts! Ha! Lets point and laugh!!)
WOD #2 (home): 
as much in 11min as possible:
800m run
50 situps
75 air squats
100 pushups
I did:
800m run
50 situps
75 squats
70 pushups.
I bet in a couple months I can get through all of it, doing the 100 pushups. They were all “real”, no modified, no knees, etc.
Stretching: Foam roller.

Day 50 (feb 19): Run. Stretching.
Run: 2.01 miles, 18:25, pace: 9:10. Easy little jog to move my legs in a running-type motion.
Mile 1: 9:13
Mile 2: 8:57
Felt like I could have easily kept a faster pace or sustained what I was doing.
Stretching: Foam roller. My legs needed it! Owwwie!

Day 51 (feb 20): Swim! Stretching.
Swim: 750m, 15min, 2:00/100m.
100, 100 breast, 550 pull.
Shoulder wasn’t feeling great. So sore from sandbags Monday.
Stretching: light stretching.

Day 52 (feb 21): CrossFit x2 (Box & home). Stretching. Treadmill walking.
Walk: treadmill while watching The Americans. Love my treadmill desk!
@Box:
Warmup: run 400m, samson stretch, duck walk, 50 jumping jacks, 10 burpees
STRENGTH: 4×4 front squat (did some bar & 65lb warmup)
85, 95, 105, 110! Whoop. Haven’t done that in a long time. Felt pretty easy. Should try my 1RM soon.
WOD:
100m run
15 burpees
30 wall ball (12lb)
Time: 13:09. Second fastest female, RX, as of 5p. Whoo. Couldn’t have caught #1 girl, she did 11:19.
CF @ home:
3 rounds
15 kb swings (44lbs)
10 double unders
0.3mi run
Time: 12:49
Was going to do 5 rounds but this was taking longer than I liked. Wasn’t feeling “fresh”.
+2min for warmup (DU’s, some swings, & K taking pics for blog)
Stretching: light stretching & foam roller.

Annnnnnd, as proof I don’t just use the “best” pictures, here’s some…notsogood ones:
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Day 53 (feb 22): Treadmill walking. Kettlebell. Travel day to my brothers. Will be a “minimum” day.
Treadmill: 30minutes. Walked while doing some computer work in case I couldn’t get a real workout in.
Kettlebell: 35lbs
5 Sets of 10’s:
Deadlift high pull
Swings
R & L arm snatch

Day 54 (feb 23): CrossFit 318, Monroe. Drop in at the Box by my brothers house.
Warmup: run 400m, bunch of sprints: high knees, butt kicks, side shuffles, duck walk, skips, etc etc. Don’t remember what else. Some other stuff.
Saturdays at this gym are “Partner WOD’s”. Pretty fun. K was my partner, his weight was 135lbs, so he had to walk with his 40lb weights and put them on the bar after I did my 100m walk. (it was out-and-back)
3 rounds:
42 wall balls (12lb for female)
36 box jump
24 burpees
100m front rack walk (95lbs)
Time: 20:56
One person working at a time. It was BRUTAL! Love it. My quads are FRIED. We did these same exercises on Thursday at my Box and I was already a little tired. Now…they hurt. Oh Rhabdo!

None of the pictures from the workout came out (blame the photog), so, you get ones of me playing on the rope swing! Let me just say again, that WOD was BRUTAL! Also, it’s not my fault that races give out neon shirts. I do have other colors, promise. I guess I just don’t wear them.
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Day 55  (feb 24): Yoga. Stretching. Two different ‘stretching’ times. Drove back home from my brothers, then had a family party for my late grandmothers birthday.
Yoga: 20min. practice poses, splits work, handstands.
Stretching: focused on hamstring stuff w/foam roller.

Day 56 (feb 25): Swim. Run. Stretching.
Swim: 850m. 15min. 1:46/100m.
Fast swim! My 50’s were 40-45sec, my 100’s were around 1:40! I don’t think I’ve been this fast…ever.
100 warmup. Mostly setting up lane ropes for the lifeguard, she didn’t want to get in the pool.
2 sets of:
50, 100, 200. Rest same amount of time each set took.
50cd
Run: 1.47miles. Sprints.
30 sec sprint, 2-3min rest (walking back to the start). Usually around 3. I think I did 8 sets.
Felt great!
Made or exceeded my distance on every set.
Stretching: nothing special. Just stretching.

Day 57 (feb 26): Walk: 1.5hrs. 30min sets throughout the day.
Not feeling well. I’ve been having “major” digestive issues. Felt exhausted and never confident to do a hard workout without having bad side effects!

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Day 58 (feb 27): Walk. CrossFit.
Walk: 1hr 40min on the treadmill.
CrossFit: Warmup: 20 lunges, 50 jumping jacks, 20 GHD situps, 10 air squats, 10 squat jumps
WOD: 175 box jumps. Oh dear. This was horrible! Well, it was fine really, but mentally very hard to get excited about just doing box jumps. Probably how many people feel about just doing a 5k for time and such.
Time: 11:29

ALL CAUGHT UP!!!! YAY! I still need to write some food posts and a race report. Eeek! I should do that before my next race…

Bye 2012! (aka: December Excuses)

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This last month of 2012 has been a whirlwind and not in the amazing, romantic ways. Sure, there was tons of fun, but for the most part it was spent sick or criss-crossing the country. As I’m sitting here on NYE, reluctantly writing this post, I am mad at myself for 1. putting this post off, 2. not having enough time to actually write it, and 3. not having a fun, ‘grand plan’ post for the New Year and my CHALLENGE!! Oh well, there is tomorrow, the 1st. 🙂

Let me recap my horribly crazy December:

Dec 1-6: Finals. For those of you who are strangers (welcome!), I am a 31 year old full-time student. Again. It’s a joy going back to school with 18-22 year olds. Trust me. Or not. Ok, it’s not terrible, but I feel old. Anyway, back to Dec.

After my last final on the 6th, K (my other half, probably better) and I went STRAIGHT to the airport, with an hour to spare. Had a glass of wine. Boarded our flight for our “Anniversary/His 32nd Birthday” trip! 2 weeks on the Left Coast. A week in SF to visit my dear friend Luis, who is recovering from Brain Surgery #2. You see, him and my Hubs share this horrible affliction & affinity for brain surgeries… then a little over a week driving up the PCT/Highway 1 to Oregon, a big hiking road trip! Super stoked.

We arrived on the night of the 6th. On the 7th we hit up Zombie Runner: trail running store Mecca!, did some CrossFit, went to his CF Holiday Party. 8332173484_993a9b5d33_n

8th: Stupidly did the hardest race I’ve ever done: Coyote Ridge trail run (marathon) at Muir Woods (started at Muir Beach). I smartly dropped from the 50k to the marathon, before the race, when I realized the “only extra 5 miles” would probably take me about 2 extra hours! NoThankYou. (I won’t write a race report, but let me say: worst.race.ever. I was dehydrated, EXHAUSTED and felt BAD. After 20something marathons, I know when  something is wrong)

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Dec 9: I woke up sick. K’s birthday! Toured SF: different neighborhoods, Chinatown tea tastings, Golden Gate, etc. Had a birthday sundae at Ghiradelli.
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10-12th: SICK AS A DOG. I could barely hang on while sightseeing (we did go to Alcatraz, K got a tattoo, and tons of fun stuff, but we both felt like sh*t!) There was no way I could spend over a week hiking up into Oregon. We cut the trip short, got a last minute flight, and arrived home on the 13th. Also the day K came down with my horrid sickness.

14th: went to my brothers (4hrs away). Yes, I was home less than a day and left again. My SIL had her baby way too early and we went to help: not have the baby, but cook, housework, etc. I was still sick, so I couldn’t see the baby who was in the NICU.

17&18th: home for 48hrs. Feeling better. Laundry like a mad woman. Packing.

19th: Trip time! Again. 16+ hours of driving to surprise to the in-laws in Ohio. The highlight was stopping at CrossFit Mayhem  (home of Rich Froning!) in Cookeville, TN! So fun!

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19-25th: Christmas time in Ohio. Saw good friends, no major family blowups (this is huge).

26th: home

27-30: back to my brothers to see the baby, cook, etc. SIL is out of the hospital, but baby Aubrey is still in NICU.

31: Home. Writing this post.

SO. There it is. My grand plans of hanging out with my friends on New Years, running some stupid back-to-back marathons went out the window when me and K were both sick for over 2 weeks. We were nice and showed up unannounced at K’s parents at 11p went to Ohio when we started to feel like we weren’t disgusting people to be around.

I’m super excited for the 1st! I think I’m excited for my 365 workout challenge. Right now, I’m looking at it as one day at a time, one week at a time. Now, time for bed, I’ve got a big year ahead!