No Excuses

Next time you start making excuses, remember this:

Last year I got to work with some very talented ladies on a photoshoot for Edelweiss by Sarah. Because NYC was extra frigid when Sarah needed to shoot her collection, she came to Colorado, which was much more fitting for the look of that collection. When I had gone to New York to visit Julianne I met Sarah, who lives and works in Brooklyn. When she decided to bring her collection here, she asked me to work hair and make-up for this shoot. If you haven't seen the pictures you can check out her website for all of the photos here: http://edelweissbysarah.com/fall10.htm

I was also lucky enough to get the gig for a line she did for Shabby Apple. Now, she is giving away one of her incredible dresses on The Daybook. Check out http://tandsdaybook.blogspot.com/ to enter!

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I saw this on another blog and thought it would be fun.


1. I am currently obsessed with macadamia nuts and bananas. Sometimes eaten together. I think the nuts might be coated in crack.

2. Today I am annoyed because my toes took a beating during my run. Poor things are blistered and I keep knocking them on things.

3. The age I am is 24 and the age I feel is 20, the same age I was when I moved to Colorado. Sometimes I forget that I'm still aging. And then again, sometimes I feel like an old person with aches and pains + turning down plans to sleep.

4. My favorite place is Costco. There's nothing that you can't find there. I go 1-2 times a week and stock up on spinach, broccoli, rotisserie chicken, turkey breast, organic meat, baked apple chips, almond butter, or whatever my little heart desires.

5. Something I have been procrastinating is refolding the clothes on the shelf in my closet. I'm going to tackle that one today. After I catch up on my blog reading.

6. The last thing I purchased was some workout shirts from TJ Maxx. That place is dangerous.


7. The thing I love most about my home is that it's the perfect size of a city. Denver is big enough to have awesome concerts, cool restaurants/stores, but small enough to have it's own charm. I can drive across the city in like 10 minutes, yet still get lost if I try a different route. I love the people, the culture, and the scenery.



Part of why I posted this is because I had a pretty boring week. Got to the gym late on Monday, was thrilled that Ashley spent Presidents Day skiing and decided to come to get her run on a little later in the evening too. It's nice to have a friend to encourage me, and to help pass the time. Wednesday I did a "speed workout" which was more of a "I don't want to do this so I'll bust it out as quick as possible so I can be done" workout. That made for sore legs on Thursday. I've been doing this Zen Strength class on Thursdays that I have decided I like. It's kind of zumba/pilates/kickboxing/a bunch of old ladies dancing around. After I changed my running schedule I decided it was worth checking out. It's done with 3 pound weights, and your arms are up for long periods of time. It makes my shoulders burn! But more than anything I feel like it helps me stretch my hip flexors and gets me moving in a different way than I would on my own. Best of all, my legs still feel good on Friday.

Speaking of, I ended up getting out of bed a little later today and didn't have a whole lot of time to procrastinate my run. I fixed breakfast, stretched, prepared my Lara Bar/coconut juice, and headed to the gym. I had considered running at Highline today, but it was like 22 degrees at 11:30 when I finally made it out the door. Thankfully, I didn't have too much time to stew about it beforehand but still had major butterflies. I put some new songs into my running playlist this morning and was pretty excited to take on the challenge of 12 miles. I ended up adding another 1.1 at the end walking uphill, just so I could reach a half marathon distance. Even with adding that I finished in under 2 hours which is my goal for the Platte. It feels good to know I'm on track!

ran 4.5 miles, arms, chest, back
ran 6 miles, arms, 10 on elliptical
stair climber @ level 10 for 30 minutes, elliptical for 30
ran 4.5 miles, arms, abs
30 minutes elliptical, abs, Zen Strength
ran 12 miles, arms, chest, back, abs, elliptical for 15 minutes

Super excited for this coming week! Joshua Radin on Monday, Chase comes home on Friday!!!!!!!!!!

4 years ago...

This weekend marks my four year anniversary in Denver. I quit my job(s), packed up my Honda, best friend riding shotgun, and drove to Denver in search of an adventure. It's been an adventure to say the least. At the time, I was looking for a fresh start, and a place to call home. Since I have been here I have fallen in love with this beautiful city, met incredible people, and most importantly- evolved into a person that I am proud to be. I am truly blessed to be working in a career that I am passionate about, surrounded by incredible inspiring people, in a city that has so much to offer. Moving to Denver at 20 years old probably was not the most well thought out decision I've ever made, but it is by far one of the best decisions I've ever made.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer

I had kind of a tough time in the gym this week. Well, more like a tough week in my head. It's all in the head, right? I have noticed on a lot of the running blogs that I follow that I am definitely not the only one getting the work out blues. I guess we all have those days, especially in the middle of winter. I had one of my worst runs on Monday and it plagued me all week. My Wednesday run went well, but I was dreading my long run yesterday. Up on the docket was 10 miles. That's a lot for me. I've only ran that distance probably...3 times? Daunting. I think what gets me down is that I'm worried if I can't tackle one of my longer runs, I won't be able to tackle my marathon which is still 3 months away. Ridiculous thinking, but that's how crazy my thoughts are. My drive over to the gym I had a lot on my mind. Something had happened earlier in the morning that kind of had me upset. I was trying to talk myself through it when I bumped into my friend Hannah (a trainer) in the locker room. She had barely said hi to me and I already had tears rolling down my face. It took a few minutes of pep talking, and I think I got all of my nerves out. I decided to slow down my pace a little, so that I didn't wear out too quickly. It turned out being a great run, I ran out my jitters, my frustrations, and still feel good today.

Also, I have decided to eat as Paleo as possible through my training. Usually I need Gu/shot blocks/some sort of fuel around mile 7 or 8. Yesterday I brought Coconut Juice and cut up an Apple Pie Lara Bar into bite size chunks. This older guy jumped on the treadmill next to me and saw me getting my treats into place. He turned to me and said, "Did you bring lunch?"

this weeks workout:
4.5 miles ran/abs/shoulders
6 miles ran/arms/chest/back
45 minute walk through my neighborhood
4.5 miles ran/arms
30 minutes elliptical/zen strength class
10 miles ran/arms/chest/back/some legs/30 minutes elliptical
rest (much needed!)

Paleo Valentine

Valentine's Day came early for me when I got this little treat at work on Wednesday. I was oh so excited to see my client, Maria, and update her on my paleo success. She's a 10 weeker, so I hadn't seen here since I read The Paleo Solution, and she didn't know that I had committed to the lifestyle. Nonetheless, she showed up with this bag of goodies for me, and I couldn't have been more giddy. Inside was a batch of a home baked nut mix and sugar free "dessert" gum. I am so lucky to have such great clients! Especially ones that care about my health.


There is nothing I love more than finishing a workout and having my shirt look like this"



There's something about dripping in sweat that makes me feel accomplished. I don't end up sweaty like this from the elliptical, that's for sure. Here was my schedule for the week:

4.5 miles ran, abs

6 miles ran, 15 minutes on the stair climber, 30 minutes on the elliptical, upper body strength training (this was workout night with Ashley)

elliptical for 45, legs, lots of extra stretching

4.5 miles ran, upper body, abs

60 minutes on elliptical (2 different ones)

6 miles ran, 15 minutes on elliptical, upper body, abs

Monday I was feeling really discouraged. Last Friday was an 8 and I was still feeling it after my rest day. When I got to the gym Monday night I was achy and tired. 20 minutes into my run Ashley showed up and changed my whole attitude. She and I chatted while I finished up my last 3 1/2 miles and it was a breeze. We finished catching up while we did the stair climber (brutal!), and some strength training. It was the exact pick me up I needed. I realized by Wednesday afternoon that I had been sick since the weekend. I wasn't necessarily achy from the gym, just from being sick. I am feeling much better now and today's run was a piece of cake. I also got a new pair of my favorite shoes (Brooks Adrenaline) and found out they come in wide! I am going to start rotating them in and hopefully will end up with a few less blisters. Excited that week 4 is out of the way!


As a side note, I saw No Strings Attached tonight. A few weeks ago a guy friend recommended I see it and he said, "it has a really great message." I kind of laughed and asked him what the message was. He responded with, "that love isn't convenient." He was right. The movie was good, and the message was loud and clear. Although I definitely don't practice in "no strings attached" sex, I felt very connected to the main character. I'm not going to go into the details of the movie, or the details of my dating life.. but I think it was a good reminder that sometimes you have to take a risk, even if that risk involves getting hurt.

Has anyone else seen any good movies lately? Anything exciting planned for Valentine's day?

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

My mom gave me a "Quoteables" journal a few years back, and I have loved their stuff ever since. They sell magnets and cards at Whole Foods and Papyrus in the mall, and I always stop to browse. This quote, is one that recently caught my eye so I snagged a card and hung it in my room. Every day, I try and get out of my comfort zone. For those of you who know me well and know about my rituals and routines (OCD much?), know that this isn't always easy for me to do. I live a pretty redundant life. I like that I wake up naturally at 7:13 every day. I like that I always run on treadmill #20. I like sitting in the back pew at church on the left hand side. I try not to let my OCD get in the way of my every day life. I have recently realized that I would rather be in control than be controlled, and I don't really think that's a completely healthy way of thinking. This is why I push myself into the uncontrollable unknown from time to time. Sometimes it's small, sometimes it's big. Sometimes it's scary, and sometimes it's exciting.

For me, running is scary. I get nervous, I doubt myself, I make the whole thing a big mental roadblock. When I started running I could run for 30 seconds at a time, then I would have to walk. It was frustrating and intimidating. I worked up to 5 minutes at a time, then 15, then 30.. Somewhere between run/walking a 5k Thanksgiving 2009 and now, I have challenged my mind and body to push past comfort and go a little further. I notched down my mileage after my half marathon, and 6 miles has became my comfortable cap. Thanks to my marathon training program I have no exceeded that mileage twice. I spent my morning eating the worlds slowest breakfast, stretching, procrastinating, and dreading my run. But I got there, didn't think of quitting or not doing it as an option, and ran my 8 miles.

Week 3: complete