Tape-ring

Everyone's been blogging about tapering, with less than 2 weeks til Boston. I figured I should taper too:





Oh wait, tapering doesn't include actual tape? Oops. My bad. I earned myself a mighty big blister last weekend from my street shoes, and a bandaid plus packing tape were the closest thing I had to moleskin or blisterguard. Luckily since I'm a mid striker, it doesn't really affect my running but my work shoe choices have been limited. It is *kind of* a taper week for me with the half on Sunday but really I'm just having a taper day on Friday. Since my marathon is more important to me than this half, I'm trying not to compromise my training too much.

Today was my last real run for the week and I loved every minute of it. I am actually getting really excited for Sunday! Maria was in today so we had nerdy Paleo carb loading talk and I am feeling really prepared. She also gave me permission to eat frozen yogurt after the race. Yogurtland, here I come!

Have I Done Any Good?

Not to steal a line from one of my favorite hymns.. but I am pretty sure the message of SERVICE was loud and clear in today's General Conference. This morning as I set out on my very windy run, I tried to clear my head to soak in the good word and messages I'd be hearing today. My mind wandered off onto a blog post I read over at Rust Belt Runner. Her local radio station has started a movement called The Drive Through Difference. The idea more or less is to do selfless acts of service in little ways like paying for the person behind you in the drive through, and encouraging that person to pass on the good deeds. As I fought the wind this morning I tried to think of little ways I could create opportunities to do this. After watching conference today I will definitely be looking for extra ways I can serve others.

With only one week til the Platte River Half Marathon , I am crossing my fingers for good weather. It was 82 degrees here in Denver yesterday, and 68 at 7:30 this morning when I laced up my shoes and headed out for a run. By 1:00 today it was cold and rainy, and by 2:00 it was snowing. I'm not really sure what tricks Mother Nature has up her sleeve, but this is really not funny.

I have been a little bit stressed out about the race, but am trying to be excited. I have set myself a time goal and have been training hard to be able to attain it. I know that my body is conditioned to complete it even faster than my goal, but sometimes the negativity takes control and I get nervous that I won't be able to push myself hard enough. After having terrible 16 last week I was unsure of how to go about my schedule and include tapering at the same time. Fridays run was scheduled to be 10 miles, and next Friday is supposed to be 18. Since I'm doing 13.1 on Sunday it is clear that 18 on Friday is not an option. I am still unsure of if I will be able to make up the 18 (considering running 5 more after the race), but I decided to do 13.1 on Friday within my goal time to remove all doubt of if I am capable of my goal. I put my playlist together, fueled up, brought appropriate refuel (honey stix, coconut juice, and a Lara Bar cut up), and ran with purpose. I'm feeling pretty confident, but now just have to work out the logistics- where to park, how to get my packet, what to wear, etc.


One thing I am really excited about is having people there. When I ran the Rock N Roll in October, I went it alone. My friend Nic dropped me off but didn't make to back to the park before I finished. As excited as it was just to finish, it was a little anti climatic to cross the line and then hang out waiting for my ride. For this race, Sarah and Steph from work are also running the race. Hopefully we will have a few of the salon girls there to cheer us on, and Reece promised to come watch me finish as well. Regardless of the outcome I need to remember that I am doing it for fun and to ENJOY all 13.1 miles.

workout this week:
ran 5 miles/abs
ran 6 miles/arms/chest/back
stair climber for 60 minutes
ran 5 miles/shoulders/abs
30 min elliptical/1 hour zen strength class (btw, I found out this is a lot of Vinyasa Yoga)
ran 13.1 miles/abs
rest

Does anyone have any specific examples of little acts of service they have performed? Or have been done to them? What songs would you suggest I add to my 13.1 playlist? What mantras work for you when you're giving yourself a pep talk?

I will.

I've said all along that if I follow my marathon training plan, the marathon will be work but it won't kill me. I am starting to think that I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Friday I ran 16 miles. By mile eleven I was ready to quit. I stopped for about 30 seconds after every mile for those last five. It was torture. I felt sick. I was hungry. My legs hurt. My toes were numb. But I pushed through and pounded it out. It took be 2:26, which is slower than I wanted, but nonetheless I got the job done. Mentally it is frustrating because I know how hard I struggled, and the marathon in 10.2 miles longer than that. I have my work cut out for me, but I am up for the challenge.

One of the things that has helped me the most is having mantras, songs, quotes, etc to repeat to myself when it gets hard. Luckily Friday morning Under Armour posted this video and I repeated to myself over and over "I will."



The good thing about having a bad run is that I get to learn from it. I am learning a lot about food and how to fuel my body for what I put it through. One thing that I know is that I haven't been eating enough fruit. I've been trying to shy away from it since I still want to take off a little weight, but now I know that my body needs the glucose so that I have glycogen stored in my muscles for endurance runs. I also know that I need to eat A LOT during, and after a run. Part of what set me back was that I only refueled with some coconut water and one packet of Gu. I also know now that I need to stay away from Gu. My next run will be with honey sticks and raisins or Lara Bars, which is much better for my body.

Because I spend a lot of time at the gym there are a lot people that I "know." Some I chat with, some I compliment when I can see that their hard work is paying off, some I like to stair at, and some I avoid (like that stupid wench who tells me my headphones are too loud). Recently I have noticed a growing trend that is ridiculous. Apparently, people think it's okay to COLOR THEIR HAIR IN THE LOCKER ROOM. Seriously? Just because someone doesn't want to make a mess in their own home does not mean they should have the opportunity to make a mess at the gym. It's almost as gross as the lady who uses a foot file on the bench by the lockers. Do people not have manners?

Scout, trends, and tunes

Fortunately while I was in Utah, Erica and her kids were there too. Since Erica is a stay at home mom she has a little more flexibility and was able make it out there a whole week before me and stay a day later. Harper (who I like to call Scout) asked several times a day "want to play? go play?" She takes turns asking every member of the family and does not discriminate towards anyone. One of her favorite playmates is my parents dog, Rocko. He generally tolerates with her hugging on him, pulling at him, and sneaking in his room to play with him. Unfortunately it was too much to handle last Tuesday and he bit the poor thing in the face. She had to have stitches in her nose and her lip and spent 5 hours at Primary Childrens before heading back to LA. Erica said she was super brave at the hospital. Please remember the cute little munchkin in your prayers as she heals.



I was thinking about it today, and I AM a hair and make-up artist, so maybe I should blog a little more about that? My clients come to me for beauty advice so I must be doing something right some of the time. You can also check out the salons website (salonfoushee.com) for the beauty tips section from all of the lovely SF ladies.

Here are some trends I am loving right now:

Feather Extensions




These started as kind of Boulder/hippie trend but have been spreading like wildfire. I spied a few people in Utah with them, but I do believe that Colorado is doing them better. A single bundle of multiple feathers like JLH has is what's hot. Not big clumpy ones, or 6 different single strands throughout the hair. The bundle I have in my bright red hair has a couple of striped ones, but several solid bright colors as well. It's a fun way to temporarily spice up your look without color commitment. What's also great about them is that they can be washed, blowdryed, smoothed, curled, etc. I even did a Brazilian Blowout with mine in.


Nail Polish



This particular look is on the darker side, but it's so popular that it's nearly impossible to find. It's part of the Katy Parry collection and it's so fun. You paint the Black Shatter over whichever color of nail polish you want and it crackles. Very unique and fun. Also for spring and summer we're seeing lots of BRIGHT colors.

Make-Up
If you had asked me any time in the last 6 months what's in trend of make-up, I would say "a flawless face." It's true, and it's still true. However, we're also seeing some super bright colors. To sum it up for spring I would say metallic eyes, bold bright liner, and thick brows. A lot of people overlook their eyebrows but they frame the face, accentuate the eye, and should not be forgotten. I personally use a soft shadow (MAC Texture on myself) with a thicker angled brush. It can be done more dramatic when my make-up is darker, or lightly for days that I'm not wearing much. They also make brow gels, pencils, waxes, or Benefit makes a wax/powder combo that is incredible. For blondes and lighter brunettes I love Omega from MAC.

Clothes
This is not my expertise. When I do laundry everything is gym clothes, socks/underwear/, or black. Today I had 1 colored shirt in my laundry. I apparently need to go shopping because guess what's in style for spring for clothes? Color. Of course. It's popping up everywhere. Citrus hues are big again this year. But really, big chunky bright bangles, bright mismatched patterns, bright this, bright that, I guess it's time for me to branch out. We're also seeing one piece swimsuits, scarves, stripes, long skirts, tassles, bell bottoms (retro everything), biker gear, crocheted clothing, and sheer fabrics. I might redirect you to lookbook.nu or tandsdaybook.blogspot.com for more some people with a little more fashion sense than me.



After a week of working out with crappy headphones and an old ipod shuffle, I broke down and rebought what I had before. What can I say, I am a creature of habit. I love my Nike Vapor headphones because the sound is clear, they're extremely comfortable, and they stay in my ears. Some models have a cord that splits in the middle in case you're working out with an arm band. Brilliant. The ones I love are a little sturdier and can handle all of my sweat, so they are worth the extra money. I also decided to stick to the 5th generation nano because I like the click wheel and the video. I can't use my sweaty finger on a touch screen! I don't know what they were thinking. Lucky for me, the Apple refurbished site had an 8gb for $99. Now I am back to square one on my playlist. I like to keep one long running "running" playlist that I can put on shuffle. Does anyone have any suggestions of some great tunes? Great music is imperative for a good run.


this week:
walked 3ish miles with Kelly
ran 3.5
ran 5
ran 6
elliptical for 30 minutes/1 hour Zen Strength
ran 8 miles/abs
rest

Today's 8 seemed pretty easy after last weeks 14. My original plan today was wake up, get my emissions done, run 8 miles, home and shower and be ready by 11:30 to meet Reece for the Zoo or a movie to celebrate his birthday. I got to the emissions place a little late, waiting for 45 minutes, and then they informed me that there was some piece of paper that was covering my VIN number and that I had to leave. Ugh. I spent 10 minutes in my car trying to shove papers/cd jackets/anything to move it out of the way. And then, I discovered a fork. Fantastic. I got it moved, then rewaited in line and got it taken care of. I didn't even finish my run until after noon and he had to work at 4:00 so the zoo/movie plan didn't happen. Instead we walked over to City Park (my favorite!!) and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and Colorado 65 degree weather. After he left I still had to go to the DMV but it was less painful and my registration is taken care of until next March. Phew.

Utah

This last weekend I headed to Salt Lake to see Chase along with the rest of the fam. The best thing about the flight to SLC is that it's usually only about 45 minutes. If you're smart like I am, you'll book a flight at the crack of dawn and sleep through the entire time. I was excited that Chase volunteered to pick me up from the airport. After I got in I headed to the eye doc for a new pack of contacts and new pair of glasses. I got the privilege of having my eyes dilated which led to some confusing text messages and a super fun drive in paper sunglasses. Friday night we all went out to The Pizza Factory for some grub and I enjoyed a delicious salad bar. I should have just had pizza and breadsticks because my eating was shortly derailed completely leading to ridiculous amounts of cookie and brownie consumption instead of the asparagus and broccoli my mom bought for me. Oops. Moving forward.

Hailey and I at dinner



Greg and Gavin:


Saturday I decided to pay the $10 fee to work out at Gold's Gym for my long run. I wasn't familiar enough with the area to map out my own. More than anything I was nervous about running this far of a distance in such a hilly area. So I hit the treadmill and busted out 14 miles. I'm pretty sure the guy next to me during the second half of it (machines shut off at 60 minutes) thought I was a little off, seeing as at mile 2 (which was really mile 9) I was dripping in sweat and downing a packet of Gu. My final time was 2:06, which is good enough for me. I'm hoping to shave off a little bit more per mile before my half, but I'm not too concerned. I must have been a little disoriented afterward because I left my ipod and favorite headphones on the treadmill and didn't realize it until Monday morning. When I called they didn't have it. Darn. I also got to have lunch with my bff Dave, trial run Sam's hair and make-up for her June wedding, and attend an engagement party for my cousin Allia. She is a traditional Muslim (my family is so diverse), and is following the customs for her engagement. It was fun to spend time with her and her sisters, I am really excited for her.

My heart is full of love and gratitude today for my little (not so little) brother Chase. Today he returned home from serving a two year mission for our church in San Antonio, Texas. I am impressed with his dedication and service, and am thankful for the blessings our family has received in the two years that he has been gone. Next weekend I am heading to Salt Lake to spend the weekend with my family. I can't wait to see my nieces nephews/brothers/sisters/parents/friends/ and see Chase again. Here is a couple of pictures of us together before his mission. The first one was I think in 2006, and the second was taken the day of his farewell talk at church.

Going into this week I knew my schedule was going to be different than normal. I headed up to Boulder on Monday evening to see one of my favorite artists, Joshua Radin. I just saw him in November and the set was almost the same as last time, but it was still an amazing time. Laura Jansen and Cary Brothers opened for him and they were both fantastic. Here's a picture of Julianne and I at the show.

Because of the concert and having a meeting on Wednesday I knew my running schedule was going to have to get rearranged. Since I ran 12 on Friday I didn't know how my Sunday morning run would go. I was scheduled 4 on Sunday, 6 on Tuesday, and 5 on Wednesday. Sunday morning I started out hoping to complete 6 but was worried that my legs would be too fatigued from Friday. Luckily they felt great and I knocked out my 6. Tuesday I did my 5, and Wednesday I did 4. It's been a while since I've ran three days in a row, and I could feel it. Fortunately I rested Wednesday and cross trained Thursday. Today the goal was 7 and not only was it easy, it felt great. I am starting to really love running. My next race (Platte Half) is in 5 weeks and I am getting really excited. My goal is sub 2hrs, and I am on track to reach that goal.

ran 6 miles/arms/abs

ran 5 miles

ran 4 miles/abs/chest/back

rest

elliptical 30 minutes/1 hr zen strength class

ran 7 miles

I also started a running journal via recommendation of some of my running mentors. It gives me the chance to record my work outs, and how I felt emotionally and physically about each run. Hopefully I will be able to learn from challenges, learn more about my body and mind, and make sure I am fueling before and after correctly. So far all I have in it is a bunch of quotes that I find motivating, just in case I need a little pep talk or a reminder of why I'm doing what I do.

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!

fill in the blank

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?