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If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you how sad I feel about my first race “DNS” (Do Not Start) this morning. I’ve never had to give up on a race that I want to do, but this time it was the smart thing to do. I’m starting to get shin splints, so resting them and healing them is priority #1.
If we were having coffee this morning… We would absolutely talk about nail polish! I’m so obsessed with it, and have my nails painted every week since I believe it’s one of the great “little things” in my life! I’d show you the nail polish I wore last week, which reminds me of a robin’s egg! I’d also tell you about the new color I’m wearing now!
If we were having coffee this morning… we would obviously have to catch up on all the new TV shows or episodes that have been on the past few weeks! I’m starting to watch a few new shows (like “selfie” and “how to get away with murder”), but I’m enjoying some older favorites as well ( like “criminal minds”, “the mindy project”, “new girl”, “modern family”, and “dancing with the stars”). I really enjoy them all 🙂
If we were having coffee this morning… I would talk about how fall biking is so different than summer summer biking but I’d also talk about how much I’ve enjoyed the changes on the trail. I’ve had to cut back on my long rides- the days of my 50-60 mile rides ended with the end of summer, but I’m still enjoying my time on the roads.
If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you how excited I am to watch the movie “Gone Girl”. I read the book this summer, and I thought it was equal parts fascinating, intriguing, and terrifying.
We’d have to cut coffee short, since I have to make sure I get in a short bike ride for some cardio and then head to a fundraising event for my Team in Training group. I still need money to hit my fundraising goal- would you care to help raise money for blood cancer research?
And that’s what I’m doing- because people’s lives are on the line. It’s up to each of us to help fight blood cancer- will you join with me to help?
To start out with, here’s my nail polish color choice for the week:
Seriously, I’m obsessed with this combination! I’m wearing Essie’s “Where’s My Chauffeur” which I’m really in love with. It’s such a beautiful shade of turquoise, and with the silver sparkle on top, it reminds me of a robin’s egg! This is definitely a combination that I’ll bring back often! I feel like life is just better in sparkle, so that’s why I tend to put it on top of whatever nail color I’ve chosen for the week 🙂 Nail polish is such a little thing in life that brings so much happiness and many smiles to my life throughout the week.
And now for some random facts for you:
- This is the first season of Scandal that I am actually watching live on TV, and I hate waiting week to week for it. I binged on the first three seasons right after the season finale in May.
- I love giving new shows a try, and am hopeful that some of these will turn out to be great shows. This season the new shows I’ve watched so far are “How To Get Away With Murder, “Selfie”, and “Manhattan Love Story”. I’m interested to see how these shows turn out.
- I’ve worked 10-12 hour days most days in the last 12 days, and my brain is just fried. I can’t wait for the weekend.
- I had a huge amount of items due this week for a grant I’m working on, and it feels SO so good to have it all completed from my end (for now at least!).
- I have a friend from Ecuador in town (remember when I went to Ecuador back in January?), and after an early morning client today, we’re meeting for brunch! I can’t wait to sit down and have a long catch up session with her! 🙂
Now it’s your turn to share! What nail polish are you really loving right now? Are you watching any new shows at the moment?
I’m thankful for a relaxing start to my day last weekend. I had a very busy day ahead, so I took some time to sit on the porch, breathe deeply, enjoy the fresh air, and drink some coffee with pumpkin spice on top! I wish I could start every day that way, as I felt much more calm and peaceful despite having lots of work to do.
I’m thankful for a relaxing massage. In the middle of my long list of things to do on Sunday, I took advantage of a 40 dollar hour long massage. This massage was seriously deep tissue, and she worked out so many of the knots that have developed the past few weeks because of running and biking. I felt SO much better after she was doing (although during it hurt quite a bit at some points!)
I’m thankful for fantastic fall bike rides. As I’ve said before, nature feels so peaceful and grounding to me, and I’m loving getting to experience this fall on my bike.
I’m thankful for delicious fall oreos! Seriously. Have you tried either of those flavors yet? If you haven’t, run… no… SPRINT to the nearest store and pick yourself up both flavors. They are absolutely delicious, and one of my favorite parts of fall so far! I’m thankful for the little things like delicious treats.
I’m thankful for how productive I’ve been able to be the last 10ish days. You know when deadlines approach, the stress response kicks in just enough to make you a bit extra productive, and things just click? That’s how my last almost two weeks have felt as major deadlines for some work projects approached. It’s feeling good to be mostly done with those projects!
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
I challenge myself to run 200 miles. I’m at 223 miles for the year, which has means that I’m DONE with this one! It feels good to have already surpassed last year’s total mileage by about 40 miles (I think- I was wrestling with tendinitis last year and had to cut my mileage).
I challenge myself to walk 275 miles. DONE! I’m at 280 miles for the year, which already has me over my walking mileage for 2013 (although I walked far more miles in 2012). I’m mostly just really enjoyed being out in the sunshine and getting to be in nature throughout the year.
I challenge myself to bike 900 miles. DONE! I’ve passed this goal as well, coming in at 933 miles so far for the year. I’ve fallen more in love with biking than I thought possible this year, and that’s definitely reflected in my numbers. I think I biked 600 miles total in 2013, so this is a huge jump. What can I say? I love my sweet country roads.
I challenge myself to 75 hours of pilates. I’m currently at 67 hours, so I’m only 8 hours away from being done! I was worried about this goal, even at the half way point this summer, but I’ve been really diligent the last two months at doing pilates and stretching myself out again.
I challenge myself to 250 minutes of planks. I tend to be really good at doing planks from October-April or May, but I tend to really slack at them over the summer, and this summer was no different. I’m currently at 194 minutes of planks, meaning I’m only 56 minutes away from being done.
I challenge myself to run 10 races for the year. DONE! I’ve ended up running far more races than I thought this would, and have finished 8 in person races and 5 virtual races so far this year.
I challenge myself to read at least 14 books. DONE, and this one has been so fun! This summer I read more than I have in a LONG time, and I really enjoyed it. I’ve slowed down since work started again, but I’ve currently read 21 books (and have read at least half of 3 or 4 others). Getting into listening to books on tape this summer has been pretty fantastic too.
I challenge myself to go through all the clothes that I own. DONE. This one I finished at the end of January when I got rid of 54 or 56 (I forget which) items of clothing. I just did another haul at the beginning of June, getting rid of another 75ish items. I think that just shows how much I’ve really held on to over the years that’s been ridiculous! This podcast (Freedom From Stuff) has been inspiring!
I challenge myself to continue to be present. Am I present every single moment of every day- no, but I don’t think that’s fully possible for most of us! But being present has really changed my life, and I’m continuing to enjoy this challenge! I try to put down what I’m doing regularly to just pause in the moment. I stop and look at things in nature when I’m out on walks, and I check in regularly to see how I’m feeling, etc…
I challenge myself to continue to hunt for provisions and blessings (continuing to develop gratitude in my life). Yes! I’ve written it down twice a week, and am really enjoying it. I even started a gratitude journal outside of this blog, and it’s great to have a hard copy I can flip through. The practice of gratitude has really deeply changed my life.
I challenge myself to read the entire Bible this year. I found a plan online (it’s this one if you’re interested) and have been following that. I don’t necessarily exactly read what is outlined on the day, as sometimes I get ahead or behind (and then have to catch up). I’m a few days behind on the reading plan, so I’m close to being on track!
I challenge myself to publish an article this year. I haven’t published it yet but it’s been submitted, so in terms of that, I’m done with all I can do at the moment!
I challenge myself to put more time and energy into friendships and relationships. YES! This one has been so much fun, and I’m loving the relationships that I’ve either strengthened or built over the last three months. I’ve even made some new blogging friends, like Melissa and Meg, and I have some new coworkers who I’m really enjoying getting to know. This goal gets a big thumbs up!
I challenge myself to be brave. Oh yes! I wish I could write blog posts about this, but at this point I can’t so much. Brave (or courage) is my word for the year, and while this probably deserves an entire post of it’s own, I thought I’d throw it out there anyways. I want to continue to push myself to be brave in any area of my life…
So, really, I’ve completed almost all of my goals already for the year, and I couldn’t be more happy with that! I of course will continue to work out as I have been, so it’ll be interesting to see what I end up with in terms of total mileage!
Now it’s your turn to share! How are your goals/resolutions/challenges going for the year so far? What’s going well, and where would you like to put a little more energy?
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by The Fitness Games through my partnership with Fit Approach as a Sweat Pink Ambassador. I was not compensated monetarily, but was provided the Platinum Version of the application for review. As always, all opinions are my own.
So, let me first say that I absolutely love the idea of “The Fitness Games” App. To have an app that can travel with you everywhere, that gives multiple categories of workouts, is a pretty fantastic idea! The app is free to download, although there are some features that you have to pay for (the option that keeps popping up says 99 cents, which is very reasonable).
The home screen has four categories of exercises to choose from: strength, cardiovascular, full body, and cross training. There are workouts listed under each of these options. The app has video and pictures to show how to do the various exercises within each workout, which I think is a fantastic feature. There’s even an option to challenge friends as well, which just creates even more motivation ( you know… if competition is your thing 😀 )!
Besides the different exercise categories, as well as the challenge your friends option, there is also a place to post your classic gym selfies! Now this is obviously not for everyone, but for those of you who like to document your workout in an organized place, this is for you!
This is one of the workouts I’ve tried and enjoyed:
Looks pretty solid, doesn’t it? If you click on each of those words highlighted in blue, the pictures and/or video will pop up with an explanation. Pretty ideal!
Honestly, I don’t really feel that I’ve gotten to give this app a fair shot yet, as I’m in the middle of half marathon training. I’ve done some modifications of the exercises, but I’m obviously pretty packed with exercises right now. I’m actually really looking forward to using the app further once it gets colder and half marathon training is over!
To give you an idea of what you can get with each version of the app, here you go:
Honestly, if I didn’t have a paid version, I probably would’ve deleted it pretty quickly. It’s a great idea for an app, and has quite a bit of great information and challenges!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’re you looking for in a fitness app?
Fall biking just hasn’t felt the same as summer biking, even though the weather has been pretty similar. Last fall, my first having a bike, was different in that I only rode my bike on open roads; I didn’t ride on the trails until this past June. I’m starting to realize that the trail is getting littered with more and more twigs, sticks, and leaves, and that definitely provides a different biking surface!
The biggest thing I’ve noticed is how many more bugs (gnats maybe?) there are in the air. The parts where I was in the woods on the trail were especially bad. Bad enough that they were flying up my nose, in my mouth, and in my eyes. At one point I had to even look down at the trail more than out, tucking my head so that the bugs would hit my helmet instead of my face. Disgusting, right?
I was in the woods for the first few miles, before popping out into the fields. It’s really crazy how much they are drying out.
Remember these beautiful fields? Yeah, they don’t really exist much anymore. Instead, this is now my view:
Pretty different, right? I actually think the dried out fields are really beautiful, and I’m loving that the same routes are giving me different scenery now!
On this ride I had a biking first! Back in 2012, when I first started biking after my decade long break, I was so unsteady that I couldn’t eat or drink while on the bike. In the fall of 2013, I finally conquered being able to drink on the bike (and put my bottle back onto my bike), and this summer I conquered eating shot bloks on the bike. This had been my goal since my first triathlon, when my cousin’s husband saw a picture of me drinking in the transition zone, and commented that I was wasting time and I needed to do that once I hopped on my bike. NOTED. So I’ve slowly learned to do each of those things as I’ve gained more confidence on the bike. So, on this ride last week, I took my first gel while biking. I had my gel in the back pocket of my jersey, and, while biking, I took it out, tore it open, ate it, and put the empty package back in my jersey pocket. A little thing, but HUGE for me nonetheless. Progress, right?
Beautiful sunshine on my ride
When I was about three miles from home, I hit a groove in the street at just the right angle, and I happened to only have one hand on my handle bars, as I was batting a bug away. I tipped over as I flew up in the air, and I thought for sure I was going to crash. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I guess I righted myself enough in the air, because I managed to land and get one foot on the ground quickly. Someone else was passing me at that moment and laughed as he went away, but I didn’t care. A year or two ago, that would’ve shaken me up enough that I would’ve biked SLOWLY home and probably not gotten back on it again for awhile. This was another situation that showed the progress that I made. I tried to shake it off quickly, and kept my pace as I headed home. There was never a thought in my mind to not bike again.
I actually had a really fantastic ride, and felt pretty solid throughout the entire 24 miles that I rode. Despite having to swerve more for sticks and being bothered by the flying bugs and crickets jumping on me, I had one of the strongest rides of the summer! Hey- I’ll take it!!
I feel REALLY really happy with where I’m at right now. I’m just so thrilled to have gained as much strength as I have over the course of the summer, and I really hope that I’m able to keep my pace up on my bike trainer this winter, just as I did this past winter.
For now, I’ll take my new accomplishment on my bike, and continue to enjoy the changing leaves and fields, even if I have to put up with gnats and crickets along the way!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s an accomplishment you’ve had recently?
Hello and happy Sunday! This week was a really solid week in workouts, and I’m pretty happy about how it all went. I didn’t get in my lifting session this week (oops), so that’s the one thing I would’ve liked to do differently.
- Friday: 45 minutes stretching pilates,
- Saturday: 8.4 mile run, 17.25 mile bike
- Sunday: 30 minutes mat pilates, 2.7 mile walk
- Monday: 25 minutes of pilates barre while teaching
- Tuesday: 24.2 mile bike ride
- Wednesday: REST DAY
- Thursday: 2.35 mile VO2 Max Sprint Run
The sprint workout, while tough, leaves me feeling unbelievably good and on top of the world, so I was happy about that! I can’t believe I’m already over a month into training, and that race day is as close that it is already!
I asked my friend Hannah if she would want to help me celebrate my “blogiversary”, and she very generously agreed! I’ve actually only met Hannah in person once, but I know her entire family, and Hannah and I have bonded quite a bit this summer over our mutual love for Big Brother Australia. 🙂 Here’s a bit of her story:
My husband and I moved to Maryland for 10 months for his job, and around Christmas time last year, I decided to start up my hobby of sewing. I grew up sewing, as my Grandma was a professional seamstress and my Mom sewed also. For my wedding (almost 2 years ago), I made chair ties and table covers for our ceremony & reception, and that triggered my love of the craft. I started TrendyStop on a whim, never thinking I could turn it into a profiting business, but 9 months later, it has become enough to keep my hands full, plus some. Customer service, creativity and quality work have always been 3 of my primary passions, and I am able to tap into all of these areas through my work. I take great pride in each item I make, and am thrilled when I am able to see pictures of my customers wearing their TrendyStop items.
A big thanks to Caroline for including me in her flourishing blog – I am very appreciative!
giveaway rules:
- Contest runs from 9/25/2014-10/1/2014 at 12 am EST.
- No purchase necessary
- 1 winner will be randomly selected via Rafflecopter
- Open to all US Residents (& must have a shipping address in the US)
- Winner will be notified by email if available (or other social media if email isn’t available)- winner will have 48 hours to respond.
- If the original winner doesn’t respond within 48 hours, another winner will be randomly selected
THANK YOU once again for taking time out of your busy lives to read this little blog of mine!
Last week I got out of work a bit early one day, and immediately decided to head off on a bit of a longer bike ride (nothing like my rides this summer that were in the 50-60 mile range though!). I took off on the same route that I took this summer on some of my longer rides (like Being Chased By Dogs, Take Me Home Country Roads, and Cornfields and a 50 mile PDR). Instead of listening to an audio book, I decided to catch up on my Jillian Michaels’ podcast which was fun. Sometimes she tells funny stories that make me laugh pretty hard, so I’m sure other bikers think I’m a little crazy biking and laughing down the trail. oops.
I tried a new to me flavor of gu, but one that I was pretty excited about:
Verdict- I thought it was delicious! I think it’s a little thinner than some of the gels I’ve tried, and I liked that. I also LOVED the taste!
At one point I just stopped and tried to enjoy the various aspects of nature around me- the drying cornfields, the warm glow of the sunshine, fall flowers, and birds chirping. It was pretty fantastic, really.
I was sad to not be able to go longer, but with the hours of daylight shortening, shorter rides are going to have to be ok! It was pretty fantastic to end a day of work with a ride like this, although I did realize that I had less energy on this ride compared to when I go out first thing in the morning.
“When a healthy individual stands up, gravity causes about 10-15% of his or her blood to settle in the abdomen, legs, and arms. This pooling of blood means that less blood reaches the brain, the result of which can be a feeling of lightheadedness, seeing stars, darkening of vision, or even fainting. For most of us, this lightheaded feeling is infrequent when we stand up because the leg muscles help pump blood back up to the heart, and because the body turns on a series of rapid reflex responses” (source). For those of us with POTS, however, this isn’t the case, and can be a {very} regular experience.
For example, a few weeks ago I could tell that my heart was pounding pretty hard, but all I had done that day was sit on the couch, and I wasn’t anxious. I tried to drink some salt water, and that still didn’t help, so I was at a loss. Then I thought to try putting on my compression sleeves, and was shocked when I had to struggle hard to get them over my calves. My legs were that swollen because blood was pooling there, and my body couldn’t function well enough to stop it from happening.
So what do I do in situations like this?
I just had my parents send me the copy of the notes I received when I was first diagnosed with POTS. This is what the doctor at Mayo wrote in my notes: ” Since the symptoms are worse in the afternoon and since there is good evidence that continued standing results in a loss of plasma volume due to transudation of fluid by capillaries, I suggested the simple measure of lying down with her legs above heart level for an hour in the afternoon”.
And that’s what I do. While I no longer do an hour a day most days (only if I’m feeling particularly dizzy in the afternoon or evening), I do often sit with my legs up in the air for maybe 15-20 minutes many days. This is especially true before and after races or long runs- I even have Melissa doing it now!
I did this just the other week at work. My heart started to pound during a session, but I knew it was POTS related, so as soon as the session ended, I closed my door and put my legs up against the wall for about 10 minutes. It made a significant difference, and was able to get through my last two hours of the work day without feeling dizzy. I went home and put them up for another 30ish minutes, and was able to get enough blood out of my legs that I was able to go out for a short run.
Regardless of running or not, I can tell a huge difference in putting my legs up against a wall above my heart, and for most people with POTS, it’s definitely a beneficial thing to do!
For more information on POTS, click here.
* I am not a doctor, and this post should not be taken as expert medical advice. I’m simply someone who has lived many years with POTS who has found resources around the internet that help to explain this syndrome. Please contact a doctor if you have questions about POTS or think you might have it
