Unorthodox Workout: All-Day "Intervals"

Brasilliant's Unorthodox All-Day Intervals Workout*:

Interval 1: "A" For Effort
Late morning running attempt: 10 min.
Walk home (sweaty and panting for no good reason): 10 min.
Stretch (and ponder defeat from aforementioned run): 10 min.

Interval 2: Guilt Toning Exercises
Lift hand weights (wonder how 5 pounds got to be so heavy): 15 min.
Crunches (abs groan and puff dust): 10 min.
Lie on floor under fan: 10 min.

Interval 3: Take 7-hour Break
Maintain rapid heart rate by engaging with ass-head in class. Continue to build muscle tone by forcefully sitting on hands (in effort not to choke ass-head as he dishes out a healthy serving of senselessness and condescension while chewing gum. Audibly. While. Talking.).

Interval 4: Speed Training
Sprint for one mile and seethe about ass-head from class: 8 min. 45 sec.
Lose dinner in stranger's bushes: 30 sec.
Walk off embarrassment: 5 min.

Interval 5: Cool Down
Pet the cutest dog ever: 2 min.
Contemplate dog-napping (tired legs disagree): 30 sec.
Jog to prevent muscles from turning to stone: 10 min.
Walk to recover from jog (again panting and sweaty): 10 min.
Stretch bewildered muscles (that haven't seen this much activity in a decade): 10 min.

*Brasilliant is not a licensed trainer. She just plays one on the internets.

National Running Day

Eric alerted me to the fact that today is National Running Day. I felt obliged to participate (partially because I ate a lot of cake this past weekend and satisfied a rather large ice cream craving last night).

The run started out at a nice steady pace and I managed to keep it up for 15 minutes. I probably would have gone a little longer, but I reached the point in my route where I am confronted by a giant hill (one that makes me huff and puff just walking, much less running). After walking up the astoundingly steep, yet short hill, I decided to run again on flat ground. I was marveling at all of the roses in bloom in our neighborhood and how wonderful they smelled in the hot afternoon sun. Then, I hit a wall.

Around minute 9 of my second stretch of running, my legs turned to lead and my lungs shriveled up into raisins. So, I stopped, walked it off, and stretched a little. I tried running again and after only 2 minutes, I was halted by a wave of nausea (from hunger, not exhaustion). I had run completely out of fuel and my body was plotting to digest my legs. Thankfully, I was only about a half mile away from home. With engine lights flashing and my gas tank on empty, I dragged myself up the three flights of stairs and downed a glass of water, a grapefruit Juice Squeeze, and some leftover pasta from last night.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I felt like Old Mother Hubbard this morning when I opened the fridge, so I made a grocery list and purchased an entire cart full of produce and basics like oatmeal, crackers, and milk. Apparently, I went on vacation a week early and managed to not buy an ounce of food before we left for Santa Cruz. While out, I also picked up another window fan, which is working overtime in our living room. Today peaked at 90 degrees, but was very tolerable inside. Thank you Holmes for manufacturing a cheap, yet effective way of not melting in the summer.

You know what is still on vacation (besides my brain)? My camera. I have yet to pull it out of the suitcase. What kind of blogger have I become? In lieu of a photo of all of the roses that were in bloom on my run today, here is a photo of a lovely flower at the Japanese Garden in May. It isn't a rose, and didn't really smell like anything, so you'll have to use your imagination.

A Celebration

Jesse declared today a local holiday in honor of me unveiling my legs for the first time this season. It's the first day that's been nice enough to put on a tank top for running, so I decided to embrace it wholeheartedly and go for shorts as well. This was not a process to take lightly. It meant shaving my legs above the knees and foregoing lotion for fear that the reflective glare from freshly moisturized skin might cause severe car collisions as I passed by.

I'm not just doing this for comfort as I run, but also for the comfort of the guests attending Ben & Daphne's wedding in two weeks. I distinctly remember the last May wedding that I attended in California. My legs were likened to the color of thick, white tights -- legs so white, in fact, that they have never been found on any native species of the west coast. Since I've publicly committed to wearing a dress, I decided that it is time for me to do something about my porcelain (pasty) skin.

My run went pretty well today. I ended up jogging just over 25 minutes (with a couple of walking breaks), and covered about 3.5 miles while walking and running. The weather certainly couldn't have been more perfect. Other than the emergency pit stop stop in the very crowded Wallace Park public restroom (that doesn't have stall doors), the run was pretty sweet. I'm pretty sure the 6-year-old child that walked in on me didn't have such a sweet afternoon. She was quite distraught. Note to future self, make lots of noise when using bathrooms with no doors.

Running Epiphany

So, I've periodically updated on my attempt to get back into running again by setting a steadfast schedule based on mileage goals. To date, the progress has been kind of crappy -- to the point that I only have been half-heartedly attempting to even finish my second week of the 1.5-mile running loop. As you know, the first attempt resulted in me almost losing my lunch and the second, third, fourth, etc. were almost as disappointing. Run after run, I was hardly making any improvement and seriously thought there was something wrong with me. When comparing my experience now to when I first started to get into running in D.C., I was bummed -- in only a couple of months, I was running for 30 or more minutes without even panting. It was nice, relaxing even.

My first thought after feeling defeated multiple times by my embarrassingly short runs (only 1.5 miles), was that 29 is a lot older than 27. Go ahead, roll your eyes, but in my defense, I do have multiple (obnoxious) grey hairs up front to prove that point. Anyway, I was feeling all hunched and trollish until Jesse's brother, Eric, emailed with a simple suggestion. He suggested that I pick an amount of time and just run. Then, I can improve by covering more distance within my time goal and eventually add more time to the length. (This coming from the guy who averages 55 miles a month, talk about rolling eyeballs.)

So, I tried it. I expanded my loop to just under 3 miles and decided that I would run for 10 minutes and walk the rest of the way home if necessary. It worked! I ran for 10 minutes and still felt good, so I ran for another 5. After that, I walked for 4 minutes (or the approximate length of one awesome Ark song) to catch my breath and jogged the rest of the 3-mile loop. In addition to running way more than I expected, my 1-mile split was a lot faster than it had been previously. This could possibly have something to do with the fact that I've been running off and on for a couple of weeks, but I like to think it's because my mental block has been lifted.

The overall accomplishment today? I ran 2 miles, which was physically impossible before. Seriously, my body groaned after the 1.5 mile based on distance. I also ran for a total of about 22 minutes, which is 7 minutes more than I had been able to do just a couple of days ago. Now that I think back, this approach is not all that different than when I started back in D.C., I just needed to be hit over the head with it again.

I'm happy to have found a way to get back into a running pattern that works for me. I felt so excited about all of the progress I made in just one run that I'm pretty sure getting out the door will be a lot easier from now on.

A Nice Night at Home

I sort of fell off the boat this week with my running schedule. The insane heat in the apartment Monday through Wednesday made the thought of exercising and having to come back home not very appealing. Also, Jesse was gone and sometimes I need a running buddy to get out the door. Not all is lost though! I went for a 1.5 mile run yesterday and my time was significantly less than last week. Even though my schedule indicates that I should have a rest day between runs, I'm going out again today. My legs aren't tired and my energy is good. I think the rest days will probably be more important if ever manage to run more than 2 miles at a time.

After my run, I had a conference call to discuss the upcoming team interview for the survey project on Monday. It's going to be a relatively quick interview, 15 minutes for a presentation and a 30 minute question and answer section. I still think we have a really good chance, but the competition is pretty stiff.I didn't worry about the competition for too long, because I was eager to start on dinner!

On Wednesday, I picked up a couple of beautiful pieces of halibut at a local meat market and couldn't wait to get them in a pan. I also picked up a couple of sweet potatoes and some fresh watercress. For some reason, I remembered watercress tasting quite different. I was shocked when I bit into a leaf just before serving and it tasted surprisingly like a radish -- sharp and hot. I panicked because I also had radishes sliced for the salad. I threw the watercress in a pan to wilt it slightly with the hope of mellowing out the spicy bite. While they mellowed, the texture was never quite right, they were a bit chewy afterward. I'm going to have to work on my watercress skills in the future. The radishes were delicious though, with just a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, and rice vinegar.

I sliced the sweet potatoes into shoestrings and tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic and baked them. If we were expecting fries (which I wasn't), they would have been a little disappointing -- they aren't crunchy at all. However, the flavor was out of this world. And the halibut, oh the halibut. It was so good that I savored every bite. We pan cooked it in just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and served it with a dollop of leftover chimicurri sauce over the watercress and radish salad. It was the perfect springtime/summer meal; fresh, light, and incredibly tasty.

A Good Day

Jesse got in late from his trip to D.C. last night and it's so nice to have him back at home. Aside from the fact that I genuinely enjoy his company, he also makes me coffee in the morning. It was rough not having him around for a few days and I had to (gasp!) brew it myself. Also, when he's not around, I kind of eat like a bachelor -- not necessarily bad food, just quick food. I found myself scrounging for leftovers and making a meal out of just about anything that would reasonably sandwich itself in a corn tortilla.

Wednesday evening, I made Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting to celebrate his arrival. Instead of Guiness (as indicated in the recipe), I used a good stiff porter. The cupcakes are nice because the cake itself is rich, but not terribly sweet and the frosting is decadent -- a perfect combo.

I was thankful that the sun was out this morning. It gave me the initiative to get out early and tackle my scheduled one mile run. Unlike Tuesday when I got to the one mile point and nearly died, today I didn't really feel bad at all. So, I decided to go for a few more blocks. Then, I went a few more after that. Before I knew it, I was back at home and had run 1.5 miles. I was sweaty and a little out of breath, but in a good way. I'm not sure if I had a mental block on Tuesday about running 1.5 miles (a distance that I haven't conquered since we moved to Portland) or that banana and giant glass of water that I consumed before heading out the door this morning was just the right amount of fuel. Regardless, the stars aligned and I finished the 1.5 mile loop without stopping. I have to admit, I forgot how good I feel after a morning run. Endorphins rock.

I ate breakfast, showered, and was ready to get started on a new task for the day -- pickled beets. I purchased a bunch of red and golden beets over the weekend to make a salad for dinner sometime this week. However, as I was roasting the beets I remembered how much Jesse likes pickled veggies as a snack or over greens. My Mom used to pickle beets quite a bit; she'd just leave a giant bowl in the fridge that we would pick from here and there. So, I thought I'd give it a try. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out (I think the golden ones are particularly beautiful). Unfortunately, they're supposed to sit in the refrigerator for at least three days, so I'll have to try and restrain myself until then.

My true goal for the day though, was to break my streak of not-so-interesting food. I walked over to Whole Foods and picked up some fish and fresh veggies. I initially planned on having baked fish with lima beans and greens, but the limas weren't anywhere near ready by dinner time. So, plan B was to whip up something else delicious. Since I had a nice bunch of parsley and cilantro, we settled on fish tacos with a chimichurri sauce (I know, I know, dinner involved corn tortillas, but this meal was infinitely more sophisticated than my fare earlier in the week). In addition to the fish, we stuffed our tacos with a cabbage slaw, pan seared potatoes and onions, fresh tomatoes, and doused it with the incredible green sauce.

Today was a good day.

Trial and Error

On the exercise front, I went out for my first 1.5-mile-run yesterday afternoon. I made it through the first mile and felt like I might hurl (I stupidly chose a route that has a pretty significant hill). As I was hunched over, concentrating on not losing my lunch, I decided to adjust my 8-week schedule to include one extra week (this week). Instead of attempting 1.5 miles this week, I'll cut it down to just one. Then next week, I will start up with the original routine. I'm not discouraged, in fact today is my rest/walk day and I plan on going for a stroll this afternoon after a snack.

After my run, I got right to work on cutting out pieces for my first attempt at making cute summer clothes. Cutting out the pieces is the easy part, but even that was a bit challenging -- I was pretty sure the pattern maker was on crack when laying out the placement diagram. I had to improvise a bit, but luckily it worked out just fine. This morning I made a stiff cup of coffee and got right to work on sewing.

Almost immediately, I was happy that I decided to make the shirt out of muslin first. Once I pieced together the front and back, I realized that I was going to have to make some major alterations. I had to cut the pattern one size larger than I needed to accommodate my bust line, which meant that I had to take in seams in other places. Also, I'm a lot shorter from my shoulder to my bust line than the pattern called for, so I had to take up the slack accordingly. I usually have this very same problem when I buy clothes off the rack -- I need a hybrid between petite and regular sizes.

Overall, I'm pretty excited about the outcome. Of course it's hard to tell on the dummy, but it really does fit very well. I'm glad I survived all of the altering and ripping out (lots) of seams. It makes me a little sad that my next step will be to take the whole thing apart so I can use the altered muslin as pattern pieces for the real thing. However, the uncomfortable afternoon spent wrapped up like a duct tape sausage has already paid off. I can't wait to get started on one of the dress patterns!

Inspired

I talked with my friend Lauren on the phone last night and we managed to gab about what's going on in our lives for over two hours! It's really hard having a best friend that is 2,000 miles away. It took us a whole week of phone tag to finally hear each others voices, and believe me, I needed a good chat. We got on the subject of exercise and she was telling me about how she started training for a road race in a few weeks. Feeling inspired by her accomplishments, I decided to check out a training schedule online that she suggested. It seems very reasonable. I wonder why I haven't tried this before? Ladies and gentlemen, I will begin training for a hypothetical 5K today. I really have no desire to run in a race, but need some kind of structure to get my butt on a regular exercise routine again.

According to the schedule, Monday was a rest/walk day -- believe me, I relaxed to the fullest extent possible. After running a few errands, I ended up at the fabric store again on the hunt for a cute dress pattern to try out on my dummy (Erin 2.0). I ended up browsing through pattern catalogs for almost an hour and then spent another hour drooling over all of the fabric choices.

I forced my inner prudence to take over and decided that it would be best to just buy a few yards of muslin and play around with fitting before diving right into the fancy stuff. I started out with pretty basic dress patterns (along with a simple blouse) and am hoping that after a few tries I will be able to do more complex designs. Maybe I'll get all Project Runway on your asses and yell Fierce! at the top of my lungs when I wake up in the mornings. Or, a more reasonable option would involve me becoming accomplished enough to alter some of the basic patterns to include things like cute keyhole backs, or an extra tuck here and there for fun. I feel that the more I try the more I learn.

So, today I will run 1.5 miles (hopefully) without dying and will conquer pattern piecing. I also think I'm going to make a cover for Erin 2.0, because I have a feeling that the duct tape will start to get sticky if I continue to pull clothes off and on her over and over.

*** Noon Update ***

I just got a call to let me know that the architectural firm was selected for an interview for that survey project! YAY! Now I'm really going to have to get out on that run to burn off the excitement.