Out of Commission

So I've been sick for the last few days...meaning my little mileage ticker at the top of the page hasn't moved one tiny bit.  I've had a weird stomach flu and though I went to work today, I'm still not feeling quite right.  I'm hoping it will go away soon so I can start getting my workouts in...I want to prepare for this race as diligently as I can!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Merry Christmas?

Happy Monday!  And Merry Frickin' Christmas!  It snowed this weekend.  Like 3 inches snowed.  It melted, but it's May for goodness sakes!

Friday night I got in my miles!  I was proud of myself because I almost decided to go home without going to the gym first...I talked myself into it, though, and got in 3.5 miles!

I had a pretty productive Saturday and Sunday, but not in the way of exercising.  On Saturday, my mom and I went to the greenhouse that my in-laws run and worked on planting my wedding flowers.  It went well, but because the weather is so crappy, the greenhouse is much more full than it normally is this time of year.  We had to really work hard to find a spot for all of my flowers!

After a day of planting, Dustin and I went out to dinner with my parents and aunt and uncle at our local Mexican restaurant.  Good food and great conversation was had, and a Negra Modelo might have been consumed.  It was totally worth it!  We then went to our friend's house for more beer and conversation, then travelled home (I stopped at my first beer, so I was DD) around ten.  After a few miles, I drove through the WORST snow storm I have EVER been in.  It only lasted about 4 miles, but when you're driving about 15 mph, searching for reflectors on the side of the road, it seems like forever!  Needless to say, I'm ready for summer to get here!  NOW!

Yesterday we woke up to snow, but it quickly melted off and actually turned out to be a pretty nice day!  I got the house cleaned in the morning and in the afternoon we set out to work on trimming the trees in the orchard...again.  We started this project a few weeks ago, but there are so many trees (all of which are 100+ years old and haven't been trimmed in at least 40+ years) that it is taking us forever!  We enlisted the help of our friends and got most of it done!

I was supposed to get in my long run yesterday, but it didn't happen.  I'm swapping it today since today's workout is stretch & strengthen.  I'm using yesterday's tree trimming project as my strengthen because I hauled heavy limbs all day!  After work I'll get in my mileage and be caught up again.  I have a feeling my whole training plan is going to work this way...trading days so I can get in the right mileage.  I hope it works out for me!

Wish me luck on my 4 miles tonight!  It doesn't sound long but my motivation is lagging today.  If all goes well I'm going to add in another half mile or mile...

Snow, Snow, Go Away!

The weather sucks!  That's about all I have to say.


Ok seriously...to my east is blue sky.  To the west?  SNOW!  Snow flurries!  They've been happening all day, and honestly the one thing that worries me the most is that my dog is outside by herself all day.  You might think I'm crazy, but I own one of the most spoiled dogs in the world, next to my father-in-law's corgi (notice I said father-in-law...I'm not married yet, but I'm trying it out for size). 

Luckily Tallie loves being outside.  And there is no way in hell she was staying inside all day, because bad things happen.  The last time we did that, I found a ziploc bag filled with needles (for giving cows shots) that had been ripped to shreds, needles laying all over.  She chewed on the caps that cover them and no needles were consumed (we think) so it turned out ok.  And she ate an entire paint stick (for marking cows).  It was non-toxic, thank goodness.

The worst thing, however, is what happens to my underwear when we're not around.  For some reason, she seems to like my underwear.  Not Dustin's, definitely mine.  Now you might be saying, "why doesn't Caitlin just pick up all the damn clothes off the floor?"  You'd think I'd learn, but so far I haven't.  I'm going to have to make a trip to VS soon to get some more butt gear!

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Now that I've shared way too much information, I'll get to the point.

Last night I went to the gym to run on the treadmill.  I had 3 miles planned, but I got to about 1.5 and had to stop.  My tummy issues are really starting to make me mad.  Sometimes I can jump off, go to the bathroom, get back on and be fine.  Then other times, like last night, I have really bad cramps and when I try to get back to running, it makes everything worse.  I really need to focus on my eating in the next few days so I can get in a run without feeling like I need to stick around a bathroom.

So tonight, I've got 3.5 miles planned and we'll see how that goes.  I'm already fudging on my training plan because today is supposed to be a rest day, but I'd like to get my miles in.  Once I get in my groove I'll pay more attention to my rest days, but I'm not worried about it this week.  If I really need to I'll take a break tomorrow before my long run on Sunday (long run = 4 miles at this point).

On another note, Beth at Shut Up and Run! is having a "Choose You" Healthy Lifestyle Giveaway!  Check it out here!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Thanks for all your support!

Just a Quickie

I'm just putting up a fast post today, because I'm off work and it appears to be nice outside!  Hopefully nice enough for a 3 mile run!  If not, gym it is...

Hope everyone has a great day!

3 Miles & a Pit Stop

Last night I got out for my scheduled 3 mile run.  I just ran on the driveway (our driveway is 2 miles one way) because I didn't feel like mapping out another spot.  I grabbed my precious running partner, Tallie (my dog) and headed down the road.  The first mile went pretty well.  I was sucking wind a little bit, but that is to be expected when I haven't worked out much for the better of a month or so.

At about 1.2 miles my stomach began to do somersaults.  The familiar feeling of nausea I get when I start a running routine was back and I had to get to the bathroom...fast!  Lucky for me Dustin's sister lives on down the road (we're total hicks, I admit) and no one was home!  I decided I could make it for a few more minutes until I turned around, then jetted inside their house for a quick pit stop.

This helped me until I had about half a mile left to go, when that familiar urge came back.  At one point I stopped in the middle of the road and said "shit, shit, shit!"  (LITERALLY)  I had to walk for about .2 miles but was able to run the last bit home.

After I got back, I made homemade lentil potato soup.  The lentils were a bit of a disaster because after I'd rinsed them, I set them on the counter for a minute.  Apparently, I didn't set them all the way on the counter, because as soon as I turned my back on them, they crashed all over the kitchen floor.  I could have picked them up and washed them again, but my kitchen floor isn't something I'd eat off of.  I have a dog that resides in the house.  She sheds sometimes.  Enough said.

Anyway, before dinner was ready, I started to get really nauseous.  Instead of eating dinner with Dustin, I had to lay moan on the couch and watch him eat.  About an hour later I finally decided I could keep food down, and was able to eat some soup.

Thoughts:

• Until Monday, I've been eating like crap.  Not crap like I used to, but crap for what I eat like now.  So, now that I'm back on the healthy eating wagon, my stomach probably isn't used to so many veggies and good foods.  Go figure.
• When I started running in January, I had similar episodes when running on the treadmill.  It took a few weeks for me to get my diet down so that I wasn't having this problem.  Also, I think running is something your body just needs to adjust to.  Obviously my lack of exercise has made my body not recognize what real exercise is.
• I wish I would have picked a training plan that started sooner.  Not because I don't think I'll be trained enough for my half, but because I am dedicated (so far) to this plan.  I think a reason I didn't exercise much before the plan was because I knew I'd be starting it soon, so I put it off.  Lesson learned.

Asparagus...

So I bought a giant bag of asparagus over the weekend.  In turn, I've been eating LOTS of it, especially today.  I went to the bathroom at work a little bit ago and was really worried for a few moments because there was this...smell.  Then I remembered the large portions of asparagus I've been consuming, and it all made sense!

Day 2

So I'm on Day 2 of getting back in the habit...as well as official half-marathon training!  Last night I had "Stretch & Strengthen" on board for training, so I did Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred and got in some good stretching afterward.  I'm going to look into fun things to do for this to keep myself from getting bored, but I definitely like Shredding.

Tonight I have 3 miles on board.  I think I'm just going to go on the driveway when I get home for now.  I'd like to find some other places to run, but I hate having to drive to get to my destination.  Driveway it is for now!

My eats have been great!  I've been loading up on all sorts of fresh veggies and fruits.  I love when certain foods come on sale because they're in season.  Right now I'm loving strawberries and asparagus...


That just reminded me....I forgot in my last post to mention that I took a food preservation course!  It was a six week course (I had to miss the last week because of work training) that focused on various ways to can fruits, veggies, etc.  The last week focused on how to properly freeze foods (i.e. blanching...), but I have all the class materials on it so I can learn from them.  I'm so excited to have a GIANT garden this year and start preserving my foods.

In the class we canned pears, carrots, pickled asparagus (yum!), pickled brussels sprouts, pickled carrots, and made different jams and jellies.  My group made apple jelly that didn't exactly turn out (not enough natural pectin in the apples) but it was great on pancakes and french toast.  I haven't tried any of my others yet because I love looking at them all on the shelves of my pantry!  I might have to break into the pickled asparagus soon, though, because Dustin might open it and eat it all before I get there.  I might have to hide them...

I'll keep you guys posted on my canning adventures.  First up will probably be a batch of strawberry jam (full of sugar) because that is mainly in season right now.  And maybe some more pickled asparagus!  I feel like an old lady.

I'M BACK!!!!

Can you believe it?  I'm back!  I just checked and it's been well over a month since I've posted!  That is unacceptable!  I wish I could say it's because I have been so busy putting in my mileage and workouts, but that is certainly NOT the case.  I have been super busy, but I've definitely been slacking in the training department.

Recap of the last month or so:

• My job got extremely busy.  While this is great (I was previously bored out of my mind), I haven't made the transition that well.  Work took over and other areas of my life (and body) have suffered in the process.
• I travelled for a week for training
• I am busy training new employees
• I had my first bridal shower.  It was a small one put on for both me and another friend who's wedding is before mine.  Our mutual friend put it on and it was fantastic!
• I travelled to Las Vegas for that friend's bachelorette party!  It was great--I'll post some pictures below of my month recap...
• Dustin and I are extremely busy getting everything ready for our wedding!  The invites are in their final stages of being completed (YAY!), we got some engagement photos taken, our wedding flowers are ready and waiting to be planted at his family's greenhouse, and we've been busy getting the ranch cleaned up.
• On that note, we still have a TON to do!  We've been busy, but it usually gets interrupted by other ranch work.  We've also been busy branding and getting cattle ready to go out to pasture.

Notice what has been left out of the mix?  EXERCISE!  I have done a little, but definitely not what I should have been doing.  However, today is officially:

THE FIRST DAY OF MY "OFFICIAL" HALF-MARATHON TRAINING PLAN!

I'm ready to start and kick butt.  However, I know a few things have to change.  I need to become more organized with my time.  That is one reason why I haven't been working out, because I feel like I have other things that are way more important to do.  If I prioritized my time better, I would have time for exercise and all of the other items on my agenda.

Thanks to all who have stuck with me in my absense.  Feel free to HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE!

Some pics of my travels--