Random Fact Friday!

I think and think, I‘ve thought myself out of happiness one million times, but never once into it. ~Jonathan Foer

1. I can't play board games or anything else like that because I get too competitive and therefore, too cranky when I loose. 

2. My favorite professional runners are Ryan Hall and Desiree Davila.  

3. When I get upset I go shopping. I don't usually buy anything unless it's really cheap, but there's something soothing about wandering around a mall or Target. 

4.  It bothers me when people sit on a treadmill/elliptical/indoor bike and read. I mean, are you really trying to get a workout in? 

5. I hate when people are late. It's my #2 pet peeve. Right behind smoking. 

 

6. I used to be really hard core about biking in the cold. Now that I discovered the beauty of the indoor trainer it's more like "Um...under 70 degrees? No thanks"

7.  Sometimes I go back and read my older posts to make sure I didn't miss any typos. If I did, I always fix it. 


8. My 15 week doctor appointment and (hopefully) my last x-ray are both today. 


9. Despite the above I have little to no desire to start running right now. 


10. I am so in love with compression socks


11. Following a nutritional plan is not half as pleasant as I expected it to be. 


12. For one of my classes I'm giving a presentation on how to properly use Shakespearean insults in every day life. 


13. I check the 10-day  weather forecast at least every other day. 


14. This week I somehow got nominated to be featured on a bulletin board at my school. 


15.  When I was younger I had two guinea pigs which I "accidentally" left together in the same cage. I did this on purpose, hoping they would have babies. They did. For awhile we had a grand total of 10 guinea pigs running around. 


16. My favorite Disney movie is Mulan. 


17. I'm an extremely self-conscious person.


18. If I ever become really rich I have a pre-formed very specific list of charities that I'm going to send all of my money to. I don't really want to keep any of it. 


19.  My ipod has different playlists for different workouts there's : Speed Workout, Pool Workouts, and Spin


20. I strongly believe that when toilet paper is on a dispenser it should unroll from the top and not the bottom. No matter where I am, if someone has done this improperly, I change it. 


Have a good (and hopefully warm) weekend!

Nutritional Facts

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly..."


Today was my first appointment with my nutritionist. I thought I would love it. I thought it would be fun. It was none of the above. What it was, was scary and stressful. 


Don't get me wrong, Nicole, my nutritionist, is probably the nicest person ever. It's just that having someone evaluate everything you've eaten (or haven't) is kind of difficult. A long, deep conversation; very, very detailed food plan; and 50 dollars in groceries later here are some of the things that I walked away with: 


-Flaxmeal (made from flax seeds). Anyone heard of this? I am supposed to start adding it to at the very least yogurt in the morning. It has some serious fiber and omega-3's in it which I apparently need. I tasted some, and it's not good by itself. I'm definitely going to have to mix it with yogurt. 


-Every meal should include: protein source, carbohydrate source, and veggies/fruit. I tended to center my food choices around one thing (i.e. only one nutrient source such as just yogurt or just salad) Nutritionally, it's best to include both. 


-It's also important to spread you protein etc out through out the day.


-Osteopenia is a serious deal. More serious than I was taking it. I assumed that if I stopped running so hard core and threw in some almond milk once a day or so that it would just go away. This is....sadly not true. Nicole told me that if I don't start taking this more seriously I'm going to develop osteoporosis before I turn 30. I need to start taking better care of my bones right now.


Finally, 
I need to get my act together. This is now or never. Either I'm going to get this figured out now, blow by it, and begin my career in triathlons or  this is something that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life. I don't know about you but having porous bones by the time I'm 30 is not exactly appealing. 


I'm a little afraid, as I suppose anybody would be going into this sort of a situation. I'm also prepared to  give it everything I've got. I've never walked during a race. I've never given up on a class. I've never stopped a workout. I've never taken "almost" good enough. Just because for some reason, this seems a bit harder, I don't know why I would take "almost" good enough for a part of my life that could potentially have the biggest impact on it.  There's a lot of consequences that even I didn't see coming. I mean really? As if breaking my foot wasn't enough! The last thing I need is for something else to break by the time I start running again. 


It puts things a bit in perspective. Three months ago all I wanted, was to run as soon as possible, no matter what. The most important thing in my life was running. Now the most important thing is taking my calcium supplements every morning. 

Outside, and Looking In

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful of all. -Disney's Mulan

So, I watched an entire track meet yesterday. Not running, as I've said before isn't really all that bad because I can replace it with unfortunately intense spinning and swimming workouts. By the time practice starts, I already feel so accomplished that watching my teammates go out on a 45 minute run, doesn't really phase me because of the 90 minutes of biking/swimming that I just did. But at a track meet it's different. I usually don't have time to work out on those days because indoor track meets are so long. And there I'm slapped in the face with watching all of this success that I can't have anymore. I can't help but to put my times into all of the races and try to figure out how I would have finished. And I can't help but to be both jealous and sad. 

I am trying, however to make sure that I don't show that. I'm also pretty sure that being jealous and sad when watching my teammates compete is not really the kind of emotion that I should be having. So, I just make sure to cheer extra loud for them and give them all hugs when they're done. Don't get me wrong, I am so very proud of them and on a Saturday morning, besides going on a run myself, there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing than cheering for my teammates. It's just a strange feeling to be so happy and yet so sad at the same time. I was the only distance junkie out of all of the girls on my team. Luckily watching someone run an 800 or even a mile doesn't really make me to terribly upset. And also because none of the girls on my team are running the longer events, I have a good excuse to slip away when the 5k or 3k starts. Watching those races, for me is like watching a really bad movie. You don't really want to be watching it, and you'll ask yourself why you did later,  but at the same time it captures your attention and your eyes are glued to it. 

Not racing has, given me a different way of looking at a race.  It changes your perspective when you have to be on the outside looking in on things. When I raced, I used to get nervous. And I mean really, really, nervous. Not just the whole "butterflies" thing but sick-to-my-stomach-puking 20-minutes-before-the-race "nerves". I got over that after high school when I got to college. I took the pressure off of myself to win every race, to care about running. By the time I started getting good again, I was over the extreme nerves. I decided that if I wanted to be a really good runner, I also had  to act the part. Which meant being calm, cool, collected and absolutely NOT nervous (in front of my teammates). I got over it by covering it with rituals. A turkey sub the night before. A tortilla with  peanut butter and a banana the morning of, followed by a berry vitamin water. A chocolate outrage GU 15 minutes before. And finally a lucky sportsbra. 


Watching people go through these nerves, while not having to go through them myself is fascinating. Do you really think that listening to blaring music will silence your fears of the competition? Do you think that wearing the same t-shirt that you wore right before your last P.R. will alter the course of your race? And do you really think deviating from your routine has the ability to ruin your race? No, of course it doesn't. Three hours before a race, there's nothing you can do to make yourself run faster. That has to come three weeks before a race. If  you ask me, that's when the nerves should logically come too. 


I realized that eating a chocolate GU 15 minutes before your race isn't as important as believing in yourself 15 minutes before a race.  A lucky sportsbra isn't going to make or break your performance. Winning a race isn't about  luck, it's about finding success after suffering many previous defeats. On race day, you shouldn't feel scared. You should feel lucky. Lucky to be there that is. 


I think watching, as opposed to running races for the first time in my life has really changed my perspective on racing. Each race, is just an opportunity to celebrate running. Like freeing yourself from your otherwise strict training regiment. Race day, should be anything but stressful really. It's just a celebrating of the thousands of horrible miles that you put in by running a few really really  fast and awesome ones. 

Random Fact Friday

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds. ~Buddha


1. I'm going to California in a week and 3 days!!!

2. I'm obsessed with blue Poweraide Zero. Obsessed. Like I must have one after every intense workout. 

3. I got an e-reader for Christmas from my parents. I thought I would hate reading books on it. It is the opposite. I now hate reading regular books because it's so much less convenient.

4. This week I actually "went out" for the first time since turning 21 last April. I couldn't ever really go out because I always had a 12 mile run the next morning or something like that. My first drink of choice: Original mojito.  

5. I think having fake plants is pointless. Just go out and buy a real ficus tree!

6. I emailed everything I ate Sunday-Thursday to my nutritionist last night. I'm really nervous to go see her. 

7. I had to buy special lotion, because my skin got really really itchy after swimming too much last week. 

8. I miss coffee a lot less than I thought I would. It's been adequately replaced with chai tea. 

9. I'm planning on getting a tattoo this spring. 

10. Family dinners were mandatory at my house while I was growing up. I can't remember a night where we didn't have dinner at the table as a family. 

11. My leg hair is blonde. I rarely shave. 

12. I applied for a summer job at a bicycle shop the other day. 

13. I really want an indoor bike for my birthday. 

14.  My roommate and spend hours laughing at nonsense youtube videos when we aren't doing homework. 

15.  I really, really, hate the smell of fried food. 

Have a great weekend

Why Yes, I Happen to LOVE the Indoor Trainer

“This is my body, and I can do whatever I want to it. I can push it; Study it; Tweak it; Listen to it. Everybody wants to know what I am on. What am I on? I am on my bike busting my ass six hours a day; What are YOU on?” 
― Lance Armstrong

I discovered today, the beauty of the indoor trainer. Now, this post comes with a disclaimer. I've never in my life used an indoor trainer. This is due mostly to the fact that when it was too cold to bike I was typically out running. Since I can't run of course, I've had to find other means. 

But still I had never used an indoor trainer because if I absolutely HAD to be indoors...well, swimming was much better than sitting on a stationary bicycle. Right, right? That was before I pulled a muscle in my arm. I know, I know....MODERATION. But my 2 hour swims were definitely not moderate in any way, shape or form. So I semi-injured myself. Honestly though it actually feels good to have normal "I work out a lot" pains. It's actually quite exhilarating to not have to constantly worry about my foot. To worry about my bicep is, to say the least a nice change of pace. 

Back to the indoor trainer. The Wisconsin Athletic Club has a really  nice cycling room, where it's dark, and there are fans that blow on you and keep you cool and you stare out over the pool and watch people swim (little did I know that there were all these people potentially watching my pool workouts). Right, so I thought the time would go soooo slowly but in truth, I am fully addicted to indoor trainers. For starters, I was able to cover (not literally) so much more ground than I can when regularly biking in Milwaukee. Here there's so much traffic, so many lights, so many hills. On a good day I can do about 16 miles in an hour. On the trainer, without any stops I did about 22 in an hour. 

I can NOT wait to go back tomorrow. And honestly, I'm so mad that I've been braving these stupid 30 degree days and painfully biking in the cold while wearing about a million layers of spandex when the quiet, peaceful, wonderful world of indoor cycling was there waiting for me all along! 

And finally, on a totally separate note, I took a very big step for me today. I sucked it up, tried really, really, hard not to have a panic attack and called a nutritionist. Who, to her credit, is probably the nicest lady I've ever talked to on the phone and did not scare me one bit. My appointment is a week from today in the morning. During that week I have been instructed to keep a food log of everything that I eat and email it to her. (It was when she said that, that the panic attack began) So these next few days will be an interesting experiment. I'm not necessarily looking forward on being instructed on what I'm doing wrong when I eat. 

Still though, even that can't burst my happy-I'm going to California and I get to bike bubble. That said, I'm pretty sure there's nothing in the world that can burst the California happy bubble. 

Goodbye Crutches, Goodbye Wisconsin

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"


I've been carrying my crutches around to my classes for the past week now. I haven't been using them, but at the same time I haven't been not  using them. 


So this past Friday the athletic trainer at my school looks at me and say "You're using these as a crutch! You don't need them!" He smiles and walk away with my crutches, that I've relied on for so long now. 


And just like that I'm walking. It's so strange to be able to walk wherever I want to. And biking! I biked 14 miles this morning! This is of course, nothing compared to the long, adventurous hour bike rides I used to do back this summer, but it's a pretty decent start. 


Not only that...that's not even the big part of the excitement over here. I've wanted to get into the same graduate program since my sophomore year of college. Not many people even care what program they get into as long as they  get into a program. But I've had my sights set on Rosemead School of Professional Psychology in LaMirada California for as long as I can remember.

So I applied. And I didn't think I would get in...and we're not out of the woods yet, but I DO have an interview. Which means that at least I'm being pretty heavily considered.

Therefore....$250 dollars that this poor college student does NOT have to spare suddenly went down the drain and into my plane ticket. I leave Monday, February 27th around 5pm. I stay for ohhh about 24 hours and then I get back midnight Tuesday, February 28th. Wow is all I have to say. I'm so excited for this next adventure in warm weather!

For now, I'm California dreaming, listening to songs about California during all of my workouts....California, here I come!

Random Fridays

"Don't put a limit on anything. The more you dream the farther you get." - Michael Phelps

1. Yesterday....due to the disaster of Tuesday, I walked into a bike store to buy a new pump. I got to talking with the sales manager and walked out with a new pump and an application. Can you say best summer job ever???

2. I'm afraid that I'm going to get to grad school and hate it. I'm also afraid that I'll be so busy with grad school that I'll have to give up all of my other hobbies. What I really want is to work out for 5 hours a day and get paid for it. hahah

3. I don't really like plain water unless I'm desperately thirsty. 

4. Since moving back to Milwaukee after Christmas break, I have yet to take a shower in my own apartment. All of my showers have been at the pool. ew. 

5. When I "run in" to places really quickly like grocery stores or the post office I almost never lock my car.  

6. I rarely sleep more than 7 hours a night. This is not for lack of trying. I just...can't. Even if I go to bed early I wake up at 4am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to start the day. This morning I was extremely close to going to the pool at 4:30 when they opened, but I somehow convinced myself to fall back asleep. 

7. My  go-to hairstyle in pretty much any occasion is a side braid with a headband. 

8. It annoys me that my arms are getting bigger due to my 2 hour pool workouts.

9. I do not own a pair of plain white socks. 

10. I was convinced for a long, long time that milk was pronounced "melk" Stupid Wisconsin accent. 

11. I've adequately replaced coffee with tea. I can't remember the last cup of coffee I had. Yes, I'm terribly surprised that I don't miss it as much as I thought I would. 

12. For the first time in 2 months I am actually getting a tiny, tiny, bit sick of swimming every day.

13. I'm planning to do a century ride this summer with one of my friends. 

14. I want to write a book someday. I have no clue what I would write about or if people would even find it remotely interesting. But, I still want to write one. 

15. I mapquest everything. I rarely go anywhere without looking at mapquest directions first. Something you should know about me: before this was a habit of mine I had a long, and pathetic history of getting lost easily. 

Happy Weekend Everyone!