Weekend Wrap Up: I Broke My Knee Edition

After being sick with a head cold all week, I ventured out for the first time on Saturday for my friend Cara's baby shower.  It was a gorgeous shower.  Though I miss my marathon training partner, I'm excited to meet mini-Cara soon!

After the baby shower, I headed to Smyrna for my niece Jessica's 4th birthday party.  In typical 4 year old fashion, Jessica wore her Christmas dress & a tiara, like you do.

Jessica got her first Cabbage Patch Kid for her birthday.  I didn't even know they still made these.  And they still come with adoption papers!  This one's name is Aaron Phoenix.  Ha!

I kind of wore myself out, so we ordered Chinese take-out & watched Pitch Perfect on Saturday night. So cute!

Yesterday, our little NOLA training group met to run the 10 mile Bongo to Bongo route.  I only made it to 9.90, but I'll take it on account of I ran 9.90 miles WITH A HEAD COLD & a knee that gave out at mile 5.

When we got the to halfway point yesterday & turned around, my knee started hurting & progressively got worse as I ran the last 5 miles.  It's super swollen & super sore.  I've been icing it & taking Aleve, but it still hurts.

I've had runners knee before & I'm pretty sure that's what this is.  But the other time I had runners knee, I didn't train properly & I am this time.  The only difference is that I'm not doing yoga, but surely that's not it.

Well, I guess at this point, it doesn't even matter what I did wrong, I'm just hurt.  Again.  And I have a half marathon in 4 weeks.  Great.  PT, here I come.  AGAIN.

John was out of the house all day yesterday, so after our 10 mile run, Lana & I went shopping.  Correction:  Lana shopped, I consulted (& limped).  We did well!

I'm going to try to get in to see a physical therapist this week.  I'll report back on my knee.

Etsy Favs

I've been sick all week & have watched all the tv I can watch & read all the internet I can read.  I also spent hours cleaning up my Etsy account.  You can find most of my favorites on my Etsy Favs Pinterest board, but here are some things I had to share.

I've been lusting after this print forever.  It's time to buy it.  S'Morrissey print by my friend Betty Turbo.

I'm going through a HUGE bangle phase right now.  For $30, you can order a Custom Set of Skinny Bangles - XS-XL from Voz Collective.

You've got to love Berkley Illustration.  I already own 3 of their prints.  This snake wearing a trucker hat may be my fourth.  I've Got A New Attitude print 8x10 by Berkley Illustration.

LET'S MAKE OUT - charcoal & white - 16 inch recycled felt applique pillow by Alexandra Ferguson.

This is huge & ridiculous, but I'm into it.  Origami Hana Rope Necklace - Black by Homako.

You are killing me smalls acrylic or wood sign by Oh Dier.  They also have a sign that says, 'Holla', which I obviously need.  OBVIOUSLY.

Spinderalla hit me up one time.  Salt n Pepa Art Print 8x10 Hip Hop Portrait Illustration by thepairabirds.  Fun fact:  Salt n Pepa Hot Cool & Vicious was my first cassette tape.

John would hate this, but I'm tempted to buy it for downstairs.  Analog Synthesizer Poster - Minimoog, Roland, Korg A3 by Handz.

I'm a long-time admirer of Matte Stephens, but have yet to actually purchase a print.  This may be the one. Golden Gate Bridge Limited edition 13x19 print by Matte Stephens.

I'm a fan of QuillandFox.  They have the cutest cards.  Cotton Candy Birthday Card 1pc by QuillandFox.

I love these prints.  She has them for most major cities.  You can also request custom items.  Minneapolis MN by albie design.

Weekend Wrap Up: Belated Edition

On Saturday morning, we gathered for another cold long run.  We ran 9 miles in/around Maryland Farms & then treated ourselves to lattes & crepes at The Perch.

John's birthday was last Thursday.  On Thursday, we went to dinner at Kayne Prime.  On Saturday, we celebrated with friends at The Stone Fox.  John's friend Mike drew this terrifyingly accurate picture of John on the brown bag containing his birthday bourbon.

Ashlee cut all of her hair off the day before John's party.  Naturally, a pompadour contest ensued.  The jury is still out on who's pompadour is higher.

At some point, a DJ started playing bad music & we took our party to Church Street, specifically to Blue Genes - a gay karaoke bar, which, according to Rev. Scott K. on Yelp, is "the gay Cheers of Nashville".  Thank you for that, Reverend.

'Gay Cheers' was everything I hoped it would be & more.  Well, aside from the smoking.  I'm convinced sitting in a room full of smokers for hours is what brought on the head cold I've been suffering through all week.  Acute lung pain aside, we had a blast.  John sang Elton John, obviously.  OBVIOUSLY.

I woke up with lung cancer on Sunday & didn't do a lot.  Neither did Linda.  John & Linda bounced back.  I, however, did not & have been dying a slow death all week.  Thus the belated post.  I've got to run 10 miles this weekend, so I'm hoping to shake this cold ASAP.

Birchbox Review: December

Still loving Birchbox.  Here's what came in my December box.

Benefit Cosmetics | it's potent!  eye cream
Feign eight hours of sleep with this peptide-infused eye cream, which helps fade pesky dark circles using cocoa extract.  Full-size, $32

My Review:  Disclaimer:  I love my *eye cream.  That being said, I used this sample.  It was a good size & lasted awhile.  I liked it fine, but I like what I already use better.  It wasn't moisturizing enough for me, but probably is for someone a little younger, or someone who's new to eye cream.

*Mario Badescu Hyaluronic Eye Cream

Harvey Prince | Hello
Get a glass half full disposition with this optimistic blend of juicy Meyer lemon, white grapefruit, & pink plumeria.  Full-size, $26 - $55

My Review:  This is an interesting scent.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it.  That being said, if anyone wants mine, they can have it.

Klorane | Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk
Beloved by celebs, this award-winning oil-buster adds tons of texture & helps revive second-day styles.  Full-size, $18

My Review:  I was excited to receive this, but have yet to use it.  I promise I'll use it soon!

theBalm | Hot Mama
How cute is this peachy blush?  The universally flattering pigment is laced with faint golden shimmer to add warmth to your complexion.  Full-size, $20

My Review:  I had never heard of theBalm pre-Birchbox, but I'm quickly becoming a fan.  I bought theBalm Stainiac a few months ago & I love it.  This new blush, Hot Mama, is great, too.  I'm more of a cream blush/stain girl as opposed to powder blush, but I do really like this color.  Highly recommend either Stainiac or Hot Mama if you're in the market for a new blush.

LIFESTYLE EXTRA
Flo | Atomizer
Use this purse-friendly spritzer to carry your favorite scent with you everywhere.  Full-size, $17

My Review:  Sorry, I haven't used this yet either.  If I do, I'll report back.  I do have a bunch of Jo Malone samples I could put in there.

November Birchbox Follow-Up:

Back in November, I received Kerastase Chroma Sensitive.  I didn't review it because I was waiting until an upcoming highlight appointment to use it.  I used it & I really liked it.  You use it your first three washes after a color appointment & it helps seal in your color.  I gave away one of my two samples, so I only used it my first wash post-color, but I still think it helped.  At $42, I don't know if I'll buy it, but I liked it.  I would, however, recommend it for someone who actually colors their hair, as opposed to highlights, like me.

My Fitness Foe

*Disclaimer:  I am not a medical professional, nor am I in a position to give medical advice.  This post is based solely on my experiences.  Please consult with a doctor before embarking on a training or meal plan.

A couple of months ago, I went to a dietitian to find out why my body doesn't reflect my level of athleticism.  Turns out, I'm carbohydrate deficient.  You can re-read my post on that here.  You know that I upped my carb intake, that I lost a little weight & that presumably things are trucking along.  Well, they're not.  Here's what you don't know.

A good friend of mine read that aforementioned blog post, thought it sounded fishy & shared it with a friend of hers who happens to be dietitian, but a dietitian who specializes in athletes.  Obviously, this new dietitian doesn't know me, but based on what she read & what my friend told her, she deduces that the dietitian I saw put me on the wrong meal plan.  I saw a dietitian that primarily treats people with diabetes (I don't have diabetes), & as such, she put me on a diabetic carb plan, which isn't 100% wrong, but isn't right either.  I'm more athletic than her typical patient, but she didn't adjust my meal plan to reflect that.  Sorry, long story short - I need to go see the new dietitian who specializes in athletes.  But she doesn't accept insurance & I spent all my money on after-Christmas sales, so...  I'm getting there.

In November, when I first started my new carb-heavy meal plan, I lost about 5 pounds.  I felt good; I looked not terrible.  But then we went to San Francisco, then it was Thanksgiving, then it was Christmas & somewhere in the midst of all this, my scale broke.  I have no idea what I weigh, but I typically gain 5-7 pounds during Christmas & I assume I did this year, as well.  I'm also training for a half marathon, actually 2 half marathons, but I'm only serious about 1.  I tend to bulk up when I'm training.  If my body runs 10 miles, then my brain wants to eat an entire pizza followed by 24 cupcakes, & that's just breakfast.

Since I'm apparently never going to remember to buy a scale, I decided to get back on MyFitnessPal to at least track what I'm eating.  Granted, my daily calorie goal is a crap shoot since I don't know what I weigh, but it's a start.  My daily calorie goal is 1200, which can't be enough because I'm over it every day by noon.

There are few things in life I loathe as much as tracking calories.  It'd tedious, it's time consuming & it's usually fairly inaccurate.  The best system I've found is Weight Watchers, but Weight Watchers isn't free & I'd rather spend my money on Tattlys & spiky bracelets.  Plus, Weight Watchers is very diet-oriented & I don't want to "diet".  I just want my body to work right.

MyFitnessPal is great for the most part.  It's free, it's easy & you can do it from your phone.  My main issue with MyFitnessPal is how to track homemade meals.  I do great throughout the day tracking my exercise, breakfast, lunch & snacks.  But the system breaks down at dinner.  I can A) search to see if what I'm eating already exists with a similar calorie count, or B) "Enter New Recipe".  Entering a new recipe in MyFitnessPal is the fat girl's DaVinci Code.  You will never get it right & after 20 minutes, you will either give up or your eyes will start bleeding.

I'm not always the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to things like this, so maybe I'm missing something, or maybe you're all just eating Lean Cuisines for dinner.  I don't know.  Regardless, it's hard to know exactly how many calories I'm consuming a day.

Another problem is that I tend to get obsessive when I'm tracking my weight & calories.  Some people thrive in this obsessive environment & that's when it finally works for them, but I'm not like that.  The more obsessive I am, the more self destructive I become.  This is assuredly something I should work out in extensive talk therapy, but the worse I think I'm doing, the worse my behavior is.

Let's pretend I still have a scale & I wake up & weigh myself.  That number sets the tone for the day.  If it's higher than I expected, my mood immediately drops.  I'll start planning out the least amount of food I can eat that day & God forbid if I already have a lunch date planned.  I'll agonize over what to wear & will inevitably end up in all black.  As the day goes on, I'll make countless self depreciating comments about my outfit & how I look in it.  I'll also eat like a crazy person because I'm depressed that I weigh one more pound than I did yesterday.  All day, every time I look in the mirror, I'll just see fat.  I won't see fresh highlights, or skillfully placed accessories, no, I'll see a fat girl who weighs a pound more than she did the day before & it will eat my soul all day.

See?  I told you I need therapy.  But this is why I haven't bought another scale.  This is what happens to my brain when I know what I weigh.  It's such a double-edged sword.  Weighing myself makes me neurotic, but not weighing myself tends to result in weight gain.  It's almost like I'm deciding between a healthy mind or a 'healthy' body.  Bleh.

I guess I'm going to go see the new sports dietitian & see what she says.  Unless she makes me, I'm probably not going to buy another scale.  Yet.  I'll report back.

Weekend Wrap Up: Scout Dark Thirty Edition

Tattly Friday!  I actually didn't order this one, it's one of the freebies that came with my last order.

I was supposed to run 9 miles on Saturday morning, but it was pouring down rain during the short window of time I had, so the run didn't happen.  But I did get my nails done.  The color is OPI Tasmanian Devil Made Me Do It.

We had a house guest this weekend.  A really short, really furry house guest.  Mary Katherine & Marshall went out of town, so Scout came to stay with us.  I feel like the above picture accurately conveys the varying levels of excitement between the two respective parties.  When MK checked in, I told her they spend all day sleeping & politely ignoring each other, to which she responded, "Just like the Royals!"

It rained here ALL WEEKEND, so I finished Bossypants & started The Casual Vacancy.  First of all, Bossypants was all I'd hoped it would be.  It kind of completes me.  I've heard nothing but meh reviews of The Casual Vacancy, but Ann Patchett loves it, I love Harry Potter & I refuse to accept that it's bad.  I'm only less than a hundred pages in, but I like it so far.  High hopes!

On Saturday night, we met our friends Jeff & Ashlee for dinner at Coco's Italian Market.  I wish this picture showed the rest of Ashlee's outfit, so you could see her purple Uggs, orange knee socks & aztec hot pants.

On Sunday (still raining, still not running), Heidi & I met for a bagel date.  Heidi is battling a back injury & hasn't been able to work-out, so we got together to catch up on all the things we usually talk about while we're running.

Zero Dark Thirty finally opened here this weekend & we went to see it yesterday afternoon.  I don't know if I've processed it enough to talk about it yet.  Parts of it were hard to watch; parts of it were surreal to watch.  Kathryn Bigelow doesn't make feel good movies & this is obviously not that, but it's a well thought out, well made movie.

I'm glad I watched it & I definitely recommend it, but I want to talk about what disturbed me most about this movie - all the kids in the theater.  This movie is rated R, first of all.  I can see the appeal a movie like this would have to a 16 or 17 year old boy, but these weren't teenagers.  They were kids.   Kids that appeared to be between the ages of 7 & 11.  Granted, these kids were accompanied by adults, but they shouldn't have been in there in the first place.

This movie is 2 hours & 37 minutes of adult language & graphic violence.  I understand that this may be a topic parents want their children to know about & understand, but I don't think this movie is the vehicle for that.  Had I seen a movie like this at that age, I would have been horrified.  I hope these parents went home & talked to these kids about what they saw.  I'd be particularly interested to hear how they explained the 10 minutes of water boarding shown in the film.

And I'm stepping off my soap box now...

Last night, Scout did a little multi-tasking while watching the Golden Globes.  John promised Mary Katherine that he'd teach Scout to howl over the weekend.  We're not quite there yet....

A Year of Races

I thought it might be fun to look back at all the races I competed in this past year.  It's funny looking at these pictures & realizing I basically have a lady gang that I run with over & over again.

February:  Preds 5K

You can probably tell by the fact that I'm wearing a tank top that this picture isn't from the Preds 5K, but I did run that race with Claudia & this is the only picture I have of us from a race.  I love the Preds 5K & run it every year.  I highly recommend it.  You run through downtown & you get free Preds tickets!  

Random fun fact:  the first year I ran this race it was my first 5K & it took me 45 minutes.  Forty-five minutes!  Ha!

March:  Tom King Half Marathon

This was my first half marathon & I ran it with Cara & Jaime.  While Cara's currently training for motherhood, Jaime & I are training for the NOLA Half in February & the Oak Barrel Half in April.  We're a good team.

April:  Richland Creek Run

This is actually a picture from the Germantown 5K, but I ran the Richland Creek Run with Lana (& Jenn), so just imagine us on a greenway instead of a city street.

I'm a big fan of this race.  It's 5 miles, the course is good, the crowd is good & the long-sleeved t-shirts are designed by Hatch Show Print.

May:  Girls On the Run 5K

Well, this is one of the worst pictures of me ever taken.  Good god.  Last May was a fat month, clearly. After Tom King, I had a hard time getting back into running, yet I was still eating like I was training for a half marathon.  And here's what happens after 2 months of that.  Yikes.

May:  Yazoo Barely a 4K Beer Run

This was my favorite Yazoo run because it was on MY BIRTHDAY!  The run sucked, I think Heidi & I walked the whole thing, but the beer was glorious & I won a bunch of ridiculous raffle prizes (see below).

Here I am after many beers (it was my birthday!) & many prizes.  

July:  Yazoo Barely a 4K Beer Run

This Yazoo race was hilarious.  We all ran in different colored capes & we ran from the taproom  in The Gulch down 8th Ave & back up 12th Ave.  Not a part of town that sees a lot of runners, especially ones with capes flying behind them.  Well done, Neil.  Well done.

August:  Tomato 5K

Every summer, East Nasty hosts a free Couch to 5K program called Potato To Tomato.  I was one of the coaches this year.  I really enjoyed doing this & will probably coach again this summer.  Here is Lana & I with our 2 favorite Potatoes:  Cat & Astrid.

August:  Girls Tri It On Triathlon

From left to right:  Alicia, me, Allison, Heidi

2012 was a banner year for fitness firsts.  I ran my first half marathon in March & competed in my first triathlon in August.  Training with these ladies all summer was a blast & I can't wait to do it again soon for our next tri in May.

October:  Germantown 5K

This is obviously after running the race, as we are holding our free beers.  I love this race & run it every year.  I like to get a little 8am free beer buzz, go home, shower & then come back for Oktoberfest.  It's a good day.

October:  Giles County 10K

From left to right:  Allison, Heidi, me, Melanie, Jenn, Mary Katherine

The Giles County Sheriff's Department puts on a race in the fall.  When a Sheriff asks you to come run a race on his farm, you do it.  This race was so much fun!  We all loved the race & Mary Katherine won & got this hilarious commemorative glass plate & Sundrop medal.  I assume this will become a yearly event for us, especially since Mary Katherine has to defend her title.

November:  Mayor's Challenge 5K

Because Nashville is awesome & has a great Mayor, we have a free 5K once a year.  This year I walked it with my parents & had a blast.  Even though it was November, you can tell from the picture that it was a gorgeous day.

November:  Boulevard Bolt

Another race I've made an annual event is the Boulevard Bolt that takes place on Thanksgiving Day.  It's a flat, out & back, 5 mile race that alleviates some of the guilt for everything you're going to eat that day.

December:  Yazoo Barely a 4K Beer Run

This is me, Jonell, Lana & Melanie at last month's Christmas Yazoo race.  The course was ridiculous.  We didn't even run a full 2 miles, but nobody cared because we donated over $5,000 worth of toys to The Last Minute Toy Store.

December:  26.4.26

My last race of the year & it was an impromptu one organized 4 days prior.  This is me, Heidi & Jaime after the run. We ran 6.5 miles to raise money & awareness for Newtown, CT.

As far as 2013 goes, I'm already registered for 3 big events:  1) Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon in New Orleans; 2) Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg; & 3) Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon.  Off to a good start!