12.4 - Jen's Last Day Visiting

Sweater: F21, Jeans: Express, Necklace: Lia Sophia, Earrings: Target 

Dave woke me up when he went to work. I didn't want to wake up but I did. I stayed in bed with Poly. I also didn't want to disturb Jen.

Dave took the car to work so Jen and I had to walk to the train station. We were almost late. Once I crossed the tracks, I got my camera and took a picture. See how close the train was.  Instead of driving Jen to the airport we did the less stressful thing and took the train. We both took the train to the BART. Jen took BART to the airport and I took the train home.

Once I got back on the train, I walked to Sprouts to get some food. Then I relaxed and watch TV. I needed a recovery after all those days in a row of socializing. Dave was even more tired than me when he got home from work because he had to work all day instead of getting to relax.  Poly seemed tired too.

11.23: Afghan Complete

We discovered Poly sleeping on top of Dave's clothes on the dresser in the morning.  I guess we didn't leave her enough room in the bed.

I made grilled turkey and cheese for lunch. I use put a lot of turkey and cheese on it. It's great.

I finished the afghan.  I put it in the washer after I took these pictures so it ended up softer and more consistent looking. I forgot to take a picture of the entire thing after it was soft. Dave and Poly tried it out.  Poly loves afghans so Dave told me I should make her one.

Week 2 of Half Marathon Training (12.3-12.9)

Planned Mileage: 2, 4, 2, 8 (for a total of 16 miles)

Monday: I walked around Google. I didn't run.

Tuesday: I walked to the train station and back with a slight detour so I walked about 2 miles
Wednesday: I took a rest day because the outside of my right thigh kept throbbing for a few minutes every hour or so. It was quite painful and I don't know why.

Thursday: Rest again because of the same thigh issue.

Friday: I walked to Target, Office Depot, and Sprouts

Saturday: I did nothing.

Sunday: I did nothing

Total Mileage: 0

Summary: Last week I knew that once I started "training" things would fall apart and it seems like that is the case. I will consider next week to be Week 2 after all this. I knew as soon as I started training something like this would happen.

11.26

I got Jen's afghan ready to mail. Poly had a field day with this ribbon. I am pretty sure there are teeth marks and teeth streaks in it.

I did the same things I always do.

Dave: did you lift weights?
me: yes. (and i continue to tell him when and how long)
Dave: Did I just ask you if you lifted weights?
me: yes. I've been telling you about it
Dave: Oh I think I meant to type that in an email. Can you respond via email?
me: Can't I just tell you now?
Dave: OK. (then he looks at me. waits a second) OK I'm ready
me: Yes
Dave: OK that's all I needed to know.

What a conversation. We have interesting conversations.

I did go lift weights as soon as I got off the phone with him when he told me he was on the way home. I knew I had 20 minutes and I did. But I did abs back in the apt versus at the gym just in case he was home first. He did get home while I was on my last 20 sec of abs. (I didn't even tell him all this before he said he wasn't listening.)

11.22

Poly spent time cuddling with me in bed and on the couch.

I ended up tearing out about 5 inches of afghan because I noticed a mistake.  Poly sure thought all the yarn was just for her.  I timed how long it took to redo what I tore out and it was 4 hours. I spent a good portion of that talking to my mom on the phone.

I love spaghetti sandwiches. But I have recently realized I like spaghetti toast better than just spaghetti on bread. In both cases I use butter.  The bad part is, the spaghetti gets all over my hand a lot more when I'm using toast. At least with bread I fold the bread in half and thus I have something to hold the spaghetti in.  I have a tough time eating spaghetti without bread of some sort anymore.  Just so you know that if I'm not having spaghetti on my bread, no sauce whatsoever can touch my bread or I won't eat that portion of the bread.

Dave and I watched TV. Poly took turns hanging out with both of us. Some days she is all cuddly with us and other days she goes and sleeps under the bed.  I prefer when she hangs out with us.  She also loves afghans.

11.30 - Jen Visits

Dave woke me up by listening to Howard Stern entirely too loud. Then he asks me 2 questions. Both were asking me where things were and I told him but I also told him in the past so I was a little mad. He doesn't remember when I tell him things.  Then he got mad wondering why I was mad.  I tried to go back to sleep but I just ended up resting in bed until my alarms went off. I hit snooze a few times trying to get some more sleep.

I sat on my leg thinking the chair wouldn't get as wet!

Hilary and I started texting each other about a half hour before our run. We were both complaining about the rain.  We were supposed to run 10 miles but with the rain we weren't even sure we'd go at all.  We ended up running 6 miles and complaining a lot.  The trail was closed 2.99 miles into the trail anyway so good thing we didn't want to do 10. We would have never doubled back again in that awful weather.  We got so soaked. I can't believe how wet I was.

I got home and tried to load the data. I looked up a few things online then I went to shower.  I sat on my desk chair and made it wet for hours. Oops.

I had a cheesy broccoli casserole (aka with rice) frozen thing plus more fresh broccoli. It was good but it sure took me a long time to eat it. I ate for over 30 minutes and only ate slightly over 300 calories.

I vacuumed or tried to vacuum the last room in the apartment and the vacuum broke. (Later I learned  I need a new belt.)

Poly knocked the bag of bags on the ground to lay on. I moved her bag to clean and she still slept on it. I opened the bed to put it together and she got in the way.

I watched TV.  I was going to pick Dave up and then go get Jen. Originally we were all going to eat dinner together. Then her flight was delayed an hour so Dave and I were going to eat.  Then I picked Dave up and her flight was only going to be 30 min late so we didn't eat.  We waited in the cell phone lot for a half hour for her then picked her up.  We all ended up going to dinner. It was close to 10 PM.   We went to some Bar and Grill that Dave went to for work before. It was nothing to write home about. I think it was called Tied House.

After we got home, we talked a bit then went to sleep. Nothing but nice accommodations for Jen. She had to lift up the air mattress if she wanted to close the door to the room.

11.28

We woke up to POly sleeping on Dave's clothes.

I feel like I was productive most of the day. I just spent a couple hours watching TV. My productivity was halted a few times because of Poly's cuteness.

I went for a run in the afternoon.

I cooked dinner. Well I cooked hot dogs and had leftover rice and broccoli.

I was snacking on pretzel crisps and pub cheese after dinner. Dave had Cookie Butter. Then all of a sudden he throws the cookie butter container on the couch and says I need to get it away from him. I wasn't even going to try it but after he went on about how good it was, I had to try it. Man it was so good, I could barely pause eating it long enough to post on facebook about how good it was.

Dave and I went for a short walk because he thought Trader Joe's might be open since their sign was on. They weren't opened but we got a little walk out of it.  Then we watched 4 episodes of Breaking Bad. We just finished season 2.  The planes just crashed but need to watch more to find out all the details. It's funny that they were cleaning up the aftermath at the beginning of a bunch of episodes that it had me thinking something totally different happened.

Poly sure cuddled up cute with Dave. I can't even remember back what it was like before we had a cat.

11.27: Shoe Shopping

Boots: Famous Footwear, Shirt: Limited, Cardigan: Target, Jeans: F21, Necklace: Lia Sophia.

I got dressed so early in the day that I got so exited to take my picture that I took quite a few.

Some of the shoes I liked (I bought the brown flat boots in the bottom row)

I started my day off right. I didn't waste time.  I went shopping. I ended up arriving at DSW just as they were opening. I shopped for an hour and a half looking for boots. That store is huge.  Then I went to UPS and the post office.   When I got home, I was sure tired.

Then I spent about 3 hours watching TV.  Maybe more.  I watched TV longer because Poly was so cute cuddled up with me.  (Oh  boy look how fat my face looks. or maybe look how fat my face is.)

Dave and I met at 5 guys for dinner.  We went to Trader Joe's after. Dave discovers new foods there. You have to read what the foods are because the labeling is different than we're used to.  He said the cookies taste way better than they have any business doing in a package like that. I already raved about Cookie Butter. I guess I should look around the store more next time to see what else I can discover.

We watched some TV.  I pulled out the afghan a little and Poly came right over and napped on it. She loves afghans.

11.21: Food, Crochet

Outfit 1 = Google

Shoes: Macy's, Jeans: VS, Necklace: Lia Sophia, Shirt and Cardigan: Limited

Outfit 2 = Dinner

Shirt: NY&Co, Cardigan: Target, Jeans: F21, Boots: VS, Necklace: Gifted (Probably JCP)

Poly cuddled with me in bed in the morning. My shoulder gets sore after having it bent out for her to sleep in it but I still keep it that way.

I went to Google for lunch for turkey. I was disappointed that they didn't have mashed potatoes. The sweet potato fries were good. I didn't like the broccoli soup.

We went to BJ's for dinner.  We always get their 5 meat pizza. It's the only place that I order more than just pepperoni. Ham and Pepperoni are my favorite. The sausages and meatballs aren't that spectacular and I don't even notice the salami.

Since I left the house twice, I didn't have a lot of time to work on the afghan. Look how I have to crochet with Poly on me. At least I figured out how to do it.  Before she was on me, she sat on the end table and batted at the yarn the entire time.

11.20

I slept in again. I'm getting really good at this. I'm sleeping over 8 hours a night.  I watched some TV on my iPad in bed because I didn't want to disrupt Poly.

I actually kept doing certain things all day because of Poly.  I also talk to her all day like she's a person.

I talked to my mom on the phone today. We didn't talk long. She called as I was putting on my makeup to head out.

I walked to the grocery store today. It wasn't bad except the lunch meat counter.  I've wanted lunch meat for months but always put off going to the lunch meat counter.  The lunch meat area is about 1/5 the size of Giant Eagle. The employees go in slow motion but I think that's because they don't have the practice. Nobody is ever at the counter.  Today I was there for over 10 minutes getting my 3 things.

Later we walked to Panera and then to Target. I got a lot of walking in.  The Boudin near our apartment opens December 6.  Dave can't wait. I miss Baja Fresh but maybe I'll find something I like at Boudin. I was at the one in San Francisco back in April and I didn't like what I got.

December Workout Goals

I'm keeping all the goals the same as I did the past few months even though I haven't met many any of the months

1. Complete 16 cardio workouts (running, exercise bike, elliptical, or workout video)  
2. Complete 13 core workouts 
3. Frequency: Run 12 times. 
4. Distance: Run 60 total miles 
5. Workout with Dave 5 times. 
6. Lift weights 10 times. 
7. Exercise 5 times that aren't considered cardio above (mainly thinking about walks here that don't fit in anywhere) 
8. Have 3 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) 
9. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 2 times  
10. Do foam roller exercises 3 times 
11. Do yoga 1 time.

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have a photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post.
2. No more than 12 rest days all month (stretching or doing foam roller exercises means it is not a rest day)  
3. No more than 3 consecutive rest days. (the only change. It was 2 days before)

12.1 - Jen's Visit

Cardigan: Target, Shell: Limited, Jeans: F21, Boots: DSW, Necklace: Lia Sophia, Jacket: Sam's Club
Sweater: Express, Jeans: VS

We went to Eagle Cafe for breakfast. I got French Toast. Dave got the cable car combo. We both got the same thing that we got in April.

We went to Alcatraz. The weather was so dreary. We already had the tickets. It was also going to be rainy all weekend anyway.

It was foggy so I couldn't get a good picture of the city from Alcatraz.

The weather cleared up a little to get some nice pictures.

The boat to and from Alcatraz was so windy. I had to put my hair in a ponytail.

After Alcatraz we went to Boudin's for lunch. I forgot to take my pictures.  After a lot of debate we decided to take a bus tour. It was a hop on hop off tour. We ended up waiting over 20 minutes to head out.  We got off at the Golden Gate Bridge but it was already dark.  The last half the tour was in the dark. At least the tickets we got were good for 48 hours so we could go back again. We only paid for 24 hours (minimum) of tickets but we got 48 hours of credit. I think because of the awful rainy weather.

Since we felt so gross instead of having dinner in the city we came home, changed, and went to BJ's for dinner. It was close to 9 PM by the time we ate dinner.   I don't even know how Jen was still functioning with the time difference.

Week 1 of Half Marathon Training (11.26-12.2)

I found a half marathon I think I want to run.  It is February 16 so that would make this week the first week of a 12 week training plan.  For some reason the training plan on smart coach started midweek and I didn't really pay attention to it so I won't share what all it had.

Monday: I was going to run 3 miles and kept putting it off. Finally I had to get started to get the run in before dark.  I could have probably run another 2 minutes with sufficient amount of daylight.

I set out with different goal times than normal so I put them on the right side of the table.  The last .12 would have been faster but it was quitting time for all the contractors in the apartment complex so I had to slow down for cars and to go around people.  Also at 2.86 I had some difficulty crossing the street so it slowed me way down.  With that in mind, I was probably closer to 9 minute mile pace but ending with 9:01 makes me mad and I wish I went a tad further in the parking lot just to lower the average.

This is the third day in a row that I ran, but this is the furthest of the three days.

An hour and a half after I was done running, I went to the gym to lift weights. I only had 20 minutes before Dave would be home and I used every second of that.

Tuesday: Planned for a rest day but then I spent 2 hours shopping, walked to dinner, and went for a 17 minute walk with Dave.

Wednesday: I planned to run and figured I'd do 3 miles.  Then I thought I should look at my spreadsheet to see how close I am to my monthly goal. I figured out I had to do 5.58 miles (plus the 10 with Hilary on Friday) to meet my goal. I haven't hit my mileage goal in many months so I figured I'd try that.  I knew it'd be tough plus with this not being my real long run, I decided to make it easy so I did not struggle. I ran slow. I also did 4:1 intervals. I ran around a 10 minute pace.  I kept track of my bonus seconds (or more like penalty seconds) the entire time.  Two minutes into the run, I had to wait for the walk signal so I didn't stop my run/walk app for that. Therefore I ran the first 7 minutes before my walk break.  I also ran the entire 6th mile. I paused my timer to cross another busy street but did not stop the run walk app so it made my walk a little shorter. I think I also skipped the walk in the last half mile.

Since I went slow and steady, I did not die at all.

My right knee started hurting 5.8 miles into the run.  That is better than the last few times.

You can see the peaks and valleys based on the walk/run.  You can also see how I was increasing at the beginning but then there was a drop off.  That was because I had to wait at the traffic light for 2 minutes and I didn't keep my heart rate up.   I ran the entire 6th mile and you can see there are no dips for a bit near the end.

Looking at the speed graph, you can tell how many times I walked.

Everything to the left of Hollenbeck is not where I normally run.  I think I ran over there one other time. 

In the evening I went for a walk with Dave.

Thursday: I only did a core workout.  I was resting up in preparation for my long run.

Friday: It was raining and it sucked.  Then about 2.5 miles in, it started raining even harder and made the earlier rain seem nice. My knee didn't start hurting until about 5.5 miles into it. This time it hurt above my knee.   We were going to do 10 but with the rain we thought about doing less. I suggested 6.  When we got to 2.99, the trail was closed.  It was closed right before a portion that goes under a road. Almost perfect timing.

We ran a mile then walked .08. Then at each half mile increment we walked .08 until 3 then we switched it to .12 walking.  I didn't take my phone so I didn't have my run/walk app so we were guessing what it should have been. Almost every split that had 0 walking in it was about a 9:30 pace so we were running faster than I ran on Wednesday but our walking was a bit slower so our later mile splits were slower. Plus .12 ends up longer than a minute. Well I'm just guessing that. I never once figured it out based on the watch.

Saturday: I didn't have a specific workout but I did a lot of sightseeing. I had over 10,000 steps and on Sunday I woke up and my plantar fasciitis was killing me and my calves also hurt.

Sunday: I didn't run again. I did tons of sightseeing and I also walked the almost 2 miles across the Golden Gate Bridge.  I had more steps than Saturday.  Dave had a new personal best with steps (and calorie burn, moderate activity, average METs, and physical activity).

Total Miles: 15.75 mi (my highest mileage week since August)

Overall Summary:  I think my mileage is higher now that I am not "training" but I'm not doing speedwork. Now that I have a training plan again maybe I can get back into the speedwork and not just quit when I'm not increasing the mileage like I should be.

November Workout Goals - How I did

Here's how I did

1. Complete 16 cardio workouts = 16
2. Complete 13 core workouts  = 6
3. Frequency: Run 12 times = 13
4. Distance: Run 60 total miles = 56.05 
5. Workout with Dave 5 times. = 7
6. Lift weights 10 times. = 5 
7. Exercise 5 times that aren't considered cardio above (mainly thinking about walks here that don't fit in anywhere) = 8
8. Have 3 double workout days (morning + evening, lunch + evening, etc) = 6
9. Stretch for 10 consecutive minutes 2 times  = 1.5
10. Do foam roller exercises 3 times = 2
11. Do yoga 1 time = 0

I have a few other goals that are related to exercise but aren't me working out.

1. Have a photo shoot to get some athletic pictures for at the top of this post. = 0
2. No more than 12 rest days all month (stretching or doing foam roller exercises means it is not a rest day)  = 9
3. No more than 3 consecutive rest days. = Happened 1 time

I was so close to my running goal. If only it wasn't pouring when I set out for my 10 mile run. I only did 6 and thus missed my goal.   I did a lot better this month. I actually hit some goals. 

Cookie Butter

I recently discovered Cookie Butter.  I have been raving about it on facebook so I thought I'd write about it.  Dave and I were shopping on November 27 and he saw Cookie butter. He read the side panel and said we had to try it. 

After we got home, he snacked on it. I was eating something else.  He was using pretzel crisps and dipping them right in the jar.  After a few minutes, I hear Dave say something about needing to take that jar away from him and then he put on the lid and tossed it onto the couch.  I wasn't even going to eat any but after that display, I thought I had to try it.  On my first bite, I was about to say something about it not being that addictive but then I said "Oh god this is good."  I wanted to post on facebook about it but I couldn't even stop eating long enough to type.  I did eventually get it posted but it took minutes.   Dave left a comment to my status update, "Don't buy this. I'm pretty sure I ate through my gym workout in 5 minutes."  I wanted to make pancakes to try it on but I still haven't done that.

Someone mentioned Peanut Butter when talking about the nutrition facts so I went and took pictures for comparison.  The Cookie Butter has fewer calories but a lot more sugars.

After 2 sittings of both Dave and I eating it, we ate half the jar. I can't believe the jar is 27 servings. 

I was looking up Cookie Butter online to provide more information to people and I found this nice article and my favorite part was "In fact, one tablespoon contains 90 calories, six grams of fat, and five grams of sugar. Two tablespoons of this stuff and you're going to feel pretty satisfied. Or you will eat a third of the jar in one sitting. There's probably no in between." 

Have you ever had cookie butter? What do you think of it?  I'm torn between recommending it because it is awesome or telling you to avoid it or you will get addicted. 

Update: I forgot to include a picture of how much we ate as of 11/30