Happy first anniversary to the most wonderful husband in the world!
March Goals
Hello friends! Life has been surprisingly busy this past week. It’s been really nice to stay busy and not be sitting alone at home, and I’ve actually been pretty productive! I’ve gotten a lot of work done. I baked donuts for the first time! They were delicious, but no matter how many times I tried to get good pictures with my point and shoot (Steve took the fancy camera to LA. Boo.) they never quite looked pretty. I’ll just have to recreate them when he comes home. Cinnamon sugar cake donuts with a cinnamon brown sugar topping. Yummm. I worked some more, got dry needled again…this time in both legs. Ouch. More work, had the most delicious breakfast ever!
I’ve also been riding my bike a whole lot. Tuesday am I skipped out on spin in favor of getting some much needed work done, so I ended up going to a bike ride that afternoon, and it’s pretty much the only thing I’ve done for exercise every day since. No, I’m not happy about it. Don’t get me wrong, I am in so much love with my bike, and riding it is so fun and relaxing, but you know what? It’s just not the same as running.
Unfortunately, I’ve been in quite a bit of pain lately, and it was enough to stop me from running Tuesday when I wanted to and even Wednesday morning when it was scheduled into my phone. KT, my physical therapist, first gave me a lecture about how I never listen to her, then I got super defensive promised to take any advice she gave me. Of course, I am not a fan of her advice. She told me to take a week off. I know a week isn’t that long, but I’ve only run twice since The Lost Dutchman, and I miss it. I was so excited about my speed work out on Monday, and I was really looking forward to keeping up the momentum and getting faster. I know in reality a week won’t really derail me, and mostly I just want to feel better. When I went shopping with Nicole on Monday, I was hobbling around the store π
In other news, one thing I wanted to start doing was setting goals at the beginning of each month, and check in at the end. Monica does this and I really like it! I set some 2012 goals, then totally forgot about it in February. Whoops. So here we go…!
March Goals:
- Schedule EVERYTHING. I keep double booking myself, and luckily I have amazing friends that have been able to help me out, and understanding family that doesn’t tell me just how much I suck, but I don’t prefer feeling like a flake. One of the hardest parts about my career is the scheduling, so I need to figure out how to make it work for me.
- Always respond to communication. I used to be like the best person about keeping in touch, responding to every email I received and being available pretty much at all times. I think I got a little burnt out, but when you don’t respond to work emails for days at a time, it doesn’t look so great and people may never want to hire you again. I have to be honest when I say that I am SO OVER non personal forms of communication like email and texting, but I know that at least email is necessary, and I need to respond to everything within a 24 hour period.
- Drink water with every meal and snack. I have a confession. I am motivated enough to run for miles on end, but I am literally too lazy to walk to the kitchen for a glass of water. It’s awful. If I go out and have a waiter, I will drink cup after cup until I’m in the bathroom every 5 minutes, but left to my own devices, I am a lazy bum, and that needs to stop, because being hydrated is super important to my health.
- Be mindful of intellectual labelings of emotional responses. WTF does that mean? Well, I learned recently that although our emotional responses are partially chemical, that many emotions are the same in our chemistry, such as sad/disappointed/guilty,Β angry/empowered, anxious/excited. We cannot control our chemical response. However, we can take bigger charge of our mood (and sanity) by choosing more appropriate labels. For me the big ones are going to be choosing excitement/anticipation over anxiety, and sad over guilty, because anxiety and guilt are two things that I struggle with. It’s interesting how challenging it is to make an active choice to feel less crappy, or a different kind of crappy in a situation. Once I feel like crap, my mental response is to want to just feel like crap, and I get frustrated at the idea of trying to change it! Well, that’s silly and not very mature, so I’m gonna put on my big girl pants (while still believing in fairies and such) and work on taking some control over how I respond emotionally to my life.
I’ll check back in at the end of the month and see how I did. I have a feeling most of these are going to be a work in progress, so I’m just looking for growth, not a bandaid.
What about you? Any goals you want to accomplish this month??
Independence
Although I’ve always been a people person and loved being around others almost 100% of the time, I’ve also always been really independent when it comes to my relationship with Steve. I had a lot of friends in high school that I felt would drop all their friendships when they were in a relationship and I never wanted to do that with my friends, so I sometimes hardly saw Steve at the beginning of our relationship, and even when we lived together, I often went out without him, and really kept my independence and being an individual a priority.
Then I went away to school and we spent 2 1/2 years being apart. I hated a lot of things about it, but to this day, I really value the fact that i was able to experience college on my own, grow, discover who I am, and have the experience of living with my best friend. When I would come home to visit, I felt like I had to spend every moment with Steve before we would be apart again, so when I moved back for good in 2009, I fell right back into that, and spent every waking moment with Steve. We began to meld our lives more, and more, and before I knew it, I was definitely more a part of an “us” than a “me”. I didn’t feel like I had lost myself, but I did begin to lose sight of my independence and why it is important to me.
We’ve come a long way. but it’s still a struggle sometimes to find balance. And then, sometimes, life forces balance on you, and I kind of feel like life is a bit of a jerk, but I guess it’s okay and all for the best and all that stuff.
Yesterday, Steve left for a 5 week trip to California. He got a fancy new job that is based there, and he will be able to work from home, and then he will be here all the time and I will probably wish he was back in LA, but he has to go there for training first. Obviously, I was thrilled about him leaving. I even helped him pack. I’m such an awesome wife.
I also definitely did not unpack the things he’d already packed and hide them. That would not be a fun game. For him. Anyway, the silver lining in all of this (other than, you know, the whole awesome jump for Steve and his career) is that I have the next 5 weeks to refocus on some of my independence, as well as other relationships with family and friends. Although I already miss him a lot and kind of wish the 5 weeks was up, I also know that we have the rest of our lives to spend together, and it’s good for me to focus on myself as well. Not to mention that I already signed up to leave him for 6 weeks this summer to go play at theatre camp, so I guess we’re even. π
So for the next 5 weeks, I will be focusing on being comfortable spending time with myself, having awesome workouts, putting quality time into family and friendships, and cleaning my house. Come on Ari, let’s keep this honest.
I know some people really enjoy their alone time…If you were left alone for a month, would you be excited or bummed? What would you do? If you already live alone, do you like it?
Why I Run
Last Friday, I ran 15 miles for the first time ever. I was, of course, thrilled and wanted to post about it right away, but during the run, a million thoughts went through my head that I wanted to write about, so I waited and then we went to Disneyland, and I waited to put my thoughts together, and here we are over a week later and I still haven’t written about it. Whoops.
This run was different because every distance I had done up until this point was clearly in preparation to be able to run 13.1 miles on January 15th. Well, you don’t need to run 15 to know you can run 13. I chose, for no other reason than the fact that I wanted to, to run 15 miles. Crazy? Probably. It’s funny because the first 10 miles went so unbelievably well. This was my first long run since PF Chang’s and I was trying to listen to what the training plans say about taking your long runs nice and slow. Steve even came with me on his bike and rode next to me for the entire distance which was awesome! Around mile 7 I felt so good that I began to even consider going a longer distance (did I mention that I’m crazy?), but of course around mile 10, I started to feel it and get tired.
By mile 13, I just really wanted to be finished, and by mile 14 I was yelling and cursing at Steve asking him why I ever decided to do this in the first place. But then, that made me really thing–why?? I mean, of course I knew a few reasons:
- I feel awesome and accomplished every time I conquer a new distance or hit a speed goal.
- It is so much better than any piece of cardio equipment.
- I love the social aspect of being outdoors with friends and getting my work out in at the same time.
- It makes me feel like a little bit of a bad ass to walk around saying “Oh yeah, I ran ___ miles today.”
But I also know that none of those are the biggest reason deep down. I started to think about my attitude and feelings towards food, exercise and my body when I began running in October. They were vastly different than they are now. Going out to eat caused me to go into a panic. I meticulously counted every single calorie. My entire view of my body, and sometimes my worth, was based on whatever number the scale read that morning. I was absolutely miserable.
Then I started running. And my number-focused mind started seeing clear numerical results in something other than the scale. Something much more within my control. I am someone who has a hard time believing they have achieved something. It’s like my brain requires evidence. Proof. Facts. I feel like that is how I got so wrapped into what the scale said when I started losing weight. I would get on and see the evidence of my efforts. Until that stopped, and no matter how hard I worked, I had nothing to show for it the scale didn’t show it. Now I have a place where I can see my hard work adding up and paying off. It’s apparent in so many ways, but when I am lacking in confidence and self doubt sneaks in, I still have that proof in numbers that no one can’t argue with that I have accomplished something.
I realized while running that last mile that at moments felt like torture, that more than all of the pain and exhaustion, I felt free. Running gives me freedom. And I realized just how big of a blessing it has been on my life, and how lucky I am to have found something positive that brings me a sense of joy and accomplishment.
Then yesterday I ran 12 miles, and you know what? It really sucked. It was my first long run that I legitimately ended feeling like it sucked. I wore the wrong shorts and had no body glide and by half way through, my inner thighs were rubbed raw and I had to call my step dad to come and pick me up. I thought maybe the little break at the half way point would make the next 6 miles easier, but it made them like a million times harder. By the time I got to my house, the last thing I felt like doing was going back out and running more, but I went out and my legs felt like lead. I had to get my body warmed up all over again and it was already tired, and I was not happy about it.
Then of course my ipod and headphones kept getting tangled in my camelback and falling out and getting in my way, and at one point I literally stopped and repeated the F word about 6 times before giving myself a little pep talk that I had to finish whether I liked it or not, and it would suck a lot less if I could get a freakin attitude adjustment! I told myself to pull it together, and I finished my damn 12 miles, but I was not happy about it. I was grumpy and cranky that it hadn’t gone well, and I felt frustrated and of course on top of all of it, my achilles tendons were hurting worse than they have hurt in a long time. Okay, you get the point, it really sucked.
But….
I finished.
It would have been so easy to give up at the 6 mile mark when I had to come home and change, but I made a commitment, and I remembered all of those feelings that came to the surface the week before, and even though I did not necessarily enjoy this particular run, it was that discovery of why that powered me through, and in the end I felt a different kind of pride. I felt proud for not giving up when I easily could have, and it only further cemented the sense of freedom I discovered the week before.
And that is why I run, and why I think I will always run. Every day I am beyond thankful that I have a body that is capable of carrying me for miles at a time. I am strong, healthy and capable regardless of whether or not I actually ever make it to my “goal weight”. I have bigger and better goals these days!
Running is Like Dancing
Well, running is kind of like pirouettes (turns), I feel. I remember watching the amazing, beautiful dancers who could do 6 pirouettes and make it looks like nothing while I tried over and over to land a triple. I also remember how the guys could start and all of the sudden be able to do so many tricks and turns, but with that super fast growth, they lacked the control that others had learned over the years. I remember one saying “Today I discovered I can do a triple pirouette, but I can’t do a single.” I didn’t really get it. How is that possible?!?! I’ll trade you! I want to turn lots of pretty turns!!! I never did end up being much of a turner, but I did, over time, discover the balance of power necessary to complete one turn vs 2 or on a great day 3.
Today, as I was running, I kept feeling the desire to go faster, push harder, give more power. I only really wanted to be able to run the two middle miles at a 9:10 average pace, and I wanted that to feel comfortable. I ended up with 9:01 and 8:43 and it was not comfortable. I mean, 8:43 is really awesome for me, but that was not the goal. I was thinking about it during my cool down and realized that learning how much power my body needs to keep a certain pace is a learning experience. I am still so new at all of this and I don’t know what 9:10 feels like, or how much effort that requires, or how to keep the same amount of effort consistently.
I actually found the whole realization really exciting because I’m a huge nerd I learned something new about myself as a runner. I made a discovery that went beyond I can run XX miles! In case you didn’t notice, I am all about self discovery, learning about myself and figuring out how to make myself all around a better person, so any time I can make self discovery is exciting to me.
While we’re on the topics of discoveries (Kelly Q would be so proud if she read this post!), I made an even bigger one this morning. Sometimes, life is hard. Okay, I promise that’s not the discovery. But seriously, sometimes things happen in life that actually are the “big things”, and they are things we have no control over, and often seem unfair and never ending. So often in life, it is important to look at the big picture, but sometimes the big picture can be overwhelming. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is look at what you can do right now. Tackle one small individual goal that can make things even a little bit better. Then try to tackle an other.
There are some things going on in life at the moment that are out of my control. I know that in the end everything will be okay, but the moment you get bad news, it can seem completely helpless, as if there is nothing you can do, but I realized that, although there is nothing I can do that will fix the problem, there isΒ a lot I can do that can change this moment, and that is not only comforting, but makes me feel powerful and not quite so helpless.
Is there a point to this whole story? Well, this afternoon I talked this all through with one of my best friends, and she said some of the nicest things ever, and made me cry in the middle of Starbucks (thanks Lisa!),Β but I figured that maybe if this small discovery meant something to me, and helped me feel a little better, it could help someone else too, and that is really the reason I do this whole blog thing in the first place. Because I hope it will help someone else.
And lastly, because this post needs a picture and because I need to help you people discovery something else that is AMAZING, please take my advice, head to the nearest Starbucks and order the Casi Cielo. It is the most delicious brewed coffee you will ever taste in your life and they don’t usually keep it around very long. Seriously. You will thank me later!
PS: I have been considering adding a “How to Order at Starbucks” page to the blog. Thoughts?
What is one thing you discovered recently? Big, small, or silly–it all counts!
Self Hosted!
Hello, friends! I am so super excited right now, because I have officially made the switch over to being self hosted and although I feel like there is so much I need to learn, I am already loving it. You may have noticed a couple little updates and changes to the page, or it may still look exactly the same as far as you’re concerned, but I am trying to learn how personalized I can make things on my own before I shell out some money to get some design work done.
In other exciting news, you may have noticed the Around the Plate Recipe Guru badge that has been on my side bar for the last month or so. Around the Plate is a healthy living website with a huge community filled with “Healthy Living Champions”, “Recipe Gurus”, and “Nutrition Experts”. I was thrilled when they asked me to join and be a part of the community! If you would like to join, visit their community member’s page. As a part of my membership, I have also been able to become involved with their writers club. I recently wrote an article about Paula Deen’s diabetes announcement that is being featured on their home page, if you’d like to check it out!
Most of the past few days have been spent working and getting this transition up and running, but there has also been a lot of super cute puppy action happening lately. I mean, there always is, but these two have been sooooo sweet lately. LOOK AT!
I also have the best husband ever who made me a seriously delicious dinner of split pea soup after I got stuck in a much longer afternoon than I had bargained for. Check out his cooking skillllzzz!
To celebrate being self hosted, I have a new recipe coming your way tomorrow!
Trusting of Naive?
Yesterday I went out on my first post half marathon run! Holy crap, my hamstrings are still so very angry with me! Now that I’m finally feeling less sick I really need to schedule a massage.
It was super short and slow, but it felt nice to get back out there and move my feet again. A girl can only take so many days of lying on the couch complaining about being sick. Seriously. I was really hoping to get to Linda’s spin class on Tuesday, but I just did not feel up to it, so I listened to my body and focused on getting better. I still definitely don’t feel 100%, but I feel much, much closer.
After hearing rave reviews about the Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon, I decided I was ready for round 2! I texted my fabulous, newly married, speedy friend Lisa and asked if she would be down to do it with me. She wanted to run the RnR, but had some family stuff come up. She’s been a runner for years, but has never done a race. After a few minutes, I finally asked her if buying her the race would be a stupid and crappy wedding gift (the wedding was all of the sudden, and she’s having her reception in March, so I hadn’t figured out what to get her yet…and Lisa, are you even registered? You should do that!) Luckily, she loved the idea and so I took the liberty of signing us both up! Hopefully I will get to meet her new husband (they live up in Flagstaff so I haven’t even gotten to see her since she tied the knot!) and get a chance to do some post race celebrating with both of them. I’m super stoked!!
On a totally separate topic…
Are you someone who trusts strangers, or are you more guarded and suspicious?
The other day I met my mom at The Bux. I go there pretty often to do my prep work since I don’t have an office, and I can hardly ever get anything done at home, plus I am a social creature and need to be around other humans, even if they’re strangers. I left my laptop as we got up to order and she asked “Aren’t you worried about leaving that there?” I shrugged it off and mentioned how many people were around. I’ll often get up, use the restroom and just leave my things because I trust that people have mostly good intentions and that if a stranger saw someone try to take it, they would help. I often brush off things that concern other people, or that some might consider dangerous because I truly like to believe that people are inherently good, and I really don’t prefer to live my life in a state of fear. Let’s be honest, I am an anxious person by nature, I get quite enough of that!
Well, yesterday I walked into The Bux and one of the baristas told me that only a day before a woman had been there with her laptop and this man had been sitting, watching her and waiting. The second she got up to do something, he grabbed the laptop and ran into his getaway car. Seriously, it was 100% planned out. I couldn’t believe it. I tweeted about it, and then heard that at a different location, a woman had her laptop grabbed straight out of her hands and stolen! Are you kidding me?!?! I literally had to take my laptop with me every time I used the restroom while I was there yesterday. It makes me sad that people can be such jerks, and honestly, I don’t really get it. What I want to ask them is why? Maybe that sounds naive, and perhaps after nearly 27 (oy) years on this Earth, I should just know better, but I still hang onto a shred of hope that although some people are legitimately sick, we can, every single one of us, be kind to others.
For right now, however, I think it’s time for me to be a little more careful, because as frustrating as it would be to have my laptop stolen (I really love this baby and it was a Christmas present from Steve), reading this post on running safety, brought up even more concern. I guess although being trusting and generally idealistic has it’s benefits, I may need to re-evaluate how far that trust spreads.
What do you think? Are you trusting? Suspicious? How far do you extend your ‘benefit of the doubt’?
Inspired
I just read the best blog post. Seriously, you need to read it. Kathleen talks about something that I very clearly hearing over and over in Kelly Q’s class–opening yourself up, being vulnerable and letting others in. This could not have come at a more important time, and I felt so inspired by her post that I wanted to write about it too.
In the past month or so I have noticed the way I react to kindness. Someone tells me “Good job!” or “Wow, you’re running a half marathon? That is so impressive.” and I immediately jump to “Oh thanks, if only _____ had been better…” or “Yes, but I’m really slow, so it’s not really that big of a deal.” What the F, self? What is that? What am I afraid of? I sit and reflect for hours on every piece of negative criticism I receive, but push away so many attempts at kindness. I get so uncomfortable when people compliment me. I feel like I don’t know what to say and like I owe them some kind of epic reaction to thank them for their kind words. Well, that’s stupid. I don’t expect anything when I compliment others. Is it so terrible to think that I might actually be kind of awesome and people have no motives for their compliments other than to be a part of my life?
There’s been some life challenges that have popped up recently that I don’t feel comfortable getting into detail about–really with anyone for that matter. But today instead of crying alone in my car on the way to my work meeting, I called my beautiful, amazing friend Lisa and told her that I needed to talk to her, but essentially couldn’t tell her anything. She just listened and made me feel important and like my feelings mattered and by the end of the conversation, I felt a million times better. If I hadn’t opened myself up and let her help, I’d probably still be feeling super crappy. It’s easy to forget how wonderful we all are and how many people in our lives would jump at the opportunity to be whatever we need them to be, if we could only be brave enough to ask, because we all know that actually telling someone what you need can be downright terrifying, but even more so rewarding.
This morning I felt totally blah. I was wide awake at 6:30 and had plenty of time to go for my scheduled run, but I layed in bed and tossed and turned and then was late to a meeting. Normally I have this complex where if I don’t get my workout–especially a run–done first thing, then I completely let go of the whole idea and move on with my day and it never happens, but today I came home and the weather was perfect and I didn’t have anything that I couldn’t put off for 30 minutes, so I laced up and went for a beautiful run around the lake at 11am. Let me tell you, this whole running at an easy pace for taper week is awesome! I felt great the entire time, and it just felt so relaxing–exactly what I needed! And actually–this is probably the only time in my life I will ever use this sentence—I meant to run slower. I thought an easy pace for me was like a 10:30-10:45 min/mi, but 10:00 felt easy! Yay!! Now to finish an other 10 at that speed… π
Now to get some choreography done and audition Bravo! kiddos tonight. Then I have a date with a super cute boy who is making me dinner π
Food for thought: What makes opening up to others scary for you? What amazing payoffs have come from it when you did?
2012 Goals
If you know me at all, you know how I feel about New Years resolutions. Every time I hear the words “After the first of the year…” it’s like nails on a chalkboard to me! I am a firm believer that if you want to change something, you don’t wait for the first of the year, or month, or Monday, or even the next day. If you really want to change something, don’t waste any time. Start now. This second.Β I would love to say that my New Years resolutions are to clean more, do my laundry, and stop procrastinating, but let’s get real and say if I reaaaalllllly care enough about those things (I want to care enough!!!), then I will fix them when I’m ready and a different ending on the date stamp doesn’t necessarily inspire me.
However, I am big on setting goals for myself. I read a lot of blogs where they set monthly goals. I love that and I want to steal it! I definitely have a few goals that I really want to accomplish in the next year. Some are running/fitness related:
- Cross the PF Chang’s finish line with a big ass grin on my face. Yes, Big.Ass.Grin.
- 26.2
- Run a 7:59 min mile.
- Try crossfit.
- Try hot yoga.
- Keep strength training consistent.
Some are food related:
- Drink 9-10 cups of water per day. (I either do really well or really awful on this one, not usually in between.)
- Try at least one new recipe per week.
- Only eat out 1-2x per week. (I get so stuck in the “Let’s go out!” mentality.)
Some are more life related things I have been trying to focus on in the last year that I don’t feel like I’ve fully accomplished yet:
- Give others the benefit of the doubt, and don’t take every action personally.
- Chill the F out! Umm, this has been a goal since JULY. Clearly, it’s a work in progress.
- Have patience. With others, with myself, with life.
- Focus on career goals and choose work accordingly.
- Continue working towards balance in all areas of life (I have come a long way, but I still have a long way to go).
- Sing and dance. Every day.
- Be me, no matter who else is around (again, still working on it).
- For the love of all things holy, TAKE A FREAKING HONEYMOON!!!!!
I hope this is just the beginning of things I work towards and accomplish in the next year, but I feel like it’s a good place to start, and I feel like the firstΒ set is 100% achievable, the secpnd set can and will happen most weeks of the year, and the third set is 100% work-towards-able–is that a word? Is now. I will not become the pillar of patience in 2012 just because it is a goal, I guarantee it, but I will become more patient.I can’t wait to spend the year checking back in with my goals and check things off the first list as they happen! π
What do you want to achieve next year? Next month? Today?
Ari + Whole Foods = β₯
Happy Monday everyone! Today is actually my easy day! Subbing a ballet class, teaching an acting class, and one voice lesson. I’ll take it! I actually get to see mi hermano tonight!! We’re going out to dinner. I feel like I haven’t seen him or Cindy (his mom–yes, my family is confusing.) in forever. I’m also excited because for the first time ever, we are performing together for his piano recital! We compromised by picking a song by each of our favs–Turning Tables by Adele and Paradise by Coldplay. I have no idea when we will have time to practice, but I just love creating music with him, and it’s so nice to get a chance to sing!
Last night, Steve and I went on one of my favorite errands–to Whole Foods! YAY! Did you know some things are actually super cheap at Whole Foods? Rolled oats in the bulk section for 69 cents a pound! We totally stocked up on oats for about $2. Also, whole wheat pastry flour for about $1.20 a pound. On the other hands, I might have to break up with chia seeds. $10 a lb just seems so ridiculous to me! I know they’re good for you, but are they really that beneficial nutritionally to be worth $10?! I mean if I want to add extra fiber, can’t I just use ground flaxseed meal for 1/4 the price? Thoughts?
Also not cheap, in an attempt to work on my food packing issue, I jumped back to my 19 year old self and actually bought packaged food.
Only when you’re attempting to be healthy with boxed food, it is NOT cheap. I miss the day of a box of macaroni for 99 cents. The mac and cheese cups and the noodles only require hot water and a microwave and both have decent amounts of protein. I also bought out the bar section
I really try not to do the bar thing all too often, but I hate not having an easy protein fix ready to grab when I need it, so I stocked up. Plus they were on “sale.” I hate when you get something on sale, but it is still overpriced. Oy. I can’t help it, I’m Jewish π
After some wise words from the smartest person I know (my mama!) I have realized that I really just need to invest in a lunch box with some ice packs and go back to making easy to go meals for the week like I did this summer. I love my mom. She always has the smartest advice. Also, before I bugged her to read mine, I don’t think she had ever read a blog in her life and now she calls me and says “So I read on the blog…” I’m a lucky girl to have parents who support everything I do and are just wonderful π
While at WF, I also picked up my fav grain sweetened chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. We were completely out, and this girl likes to spontaneously bake! And lastly, I also spent too much money on these gems
Why is it that anything with butter in the title is always delicious? Nut butter, honey butter, butter butter, pumpkin butter, fig butter. It’s never a let down. TJ’s was out of my fig butter on my last trip, and I used up the very last of my figgy goodness by making oats in a fig butter jar this weekend. Oats in a jar–not just for nut butters. It was delish. So anyway, I spent more money than I should have buying this new kind at Whole Foods. It better be spectacular!
In other news, my Garmin arrived on Friday! Whoot!! It’s pretty π So this morning I had to take it out for a little test run. I was surprised by how annoying it was at first to have it making my wrist all sweaty, but definitely worth it to track my pace. I feel like I was a little too focused on checking it out and I wish I would have focused more on actual running, but happy to see my pace average around a 10 min mile. I still have to set it up to track my pace for each mile and to pause when I stop. I stopped at the water fountain twice and stopped for a minute or so to stretch at one point. I wasn’t feeling fantastic this morning, so I kept it pretty short. I’m still trying to figure out what to eat right before I go out so that my tummy doesn’t hurt. So distracting! Plus, for some reason it just felt extra hot today. Anyway, not 100% happy with what I pulled out this morning, but it could be worse.
I’m really glad that I bought it already. I read some race recaps this morning from other blogs that were really inspirational to me and really hammered in why I want to some day run a marathon.