Category: work

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Quick Thoughts From the Week

It was a long, holiday weekend.  YAY!!  And, as is usual for me over the 4th of July…I was out of town.  At a convention.  In Indianapolis.  Now, normally when I am up in Indy for this convention, my Saturday morning is spent running the Monon Trail.  It’s gorgeous.  Seriously.  I always look forward to it.  The past few years (last year I wasn’t able to run at all at this point), I have managed to get out there for my long run of 10-12 or so miles.

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But, this past weekend, Saturday’s Monon Trail run wasn’t happening…

MEH.

SO…on Saturday morning, I was down in the fitness center at 6 am…and on a treadmill to do 12 miles that morning.  I started easy and worked up a ladder to a comfortable speed and then took it back down.  It was mind numbing, despite the music (and to think, I almost left my iPod in my room).  But, my training run was done.

And if that wasn’t enough punishment, I got up on Sunday morning to do my shakeout run.  I decided to do an easy run for an hour…getting 7.36 miles in during that time.

I was feeling it Saturday and I really felt it Sunday.  I hate running on treadmills.  They seem to do more damage to me than road running does.  I was sore through Wednesday, honestly.  I don’t know how people do long distances on these things on a regular basis.  My body couldn’t handle it!

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My runs have been suffering since those treadmill runs.  The hip was not mad…but not happy either.  MEH.  Not enough foam rolling in the world.  Of course…the epic humidity with air so thick you could cut it with a knife…isn’t helping either.

But, despite the humidity and the fatigue from late nights, I’ve been keeping up with my training runs.  Which…is impressive for me.  It’s not been easy to get out of bed to just go outside and melt…but…

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…I’ve been getting it done.  It hasn’t been pretty…and I’m not always happy with the results on my Garmin, but I’m doing what my body is currently capable of…so, there is that.

OH…and this past week, I got to play around with recipes that I created.  I made 6 different recipes…2 pasta dishes, a fusion pizza, a rice dish, a sandwich, and a dessert.  I was quite proud of the results…all based off of Peter Cincotti’s recently released EP, Exit 105.  Check out these images of the completed dishes…

 

Top (L-R): Island Spell Pizza (song: Palermo) – Jerk seasoned tofu, topped with onion, bell pepper, pineapple, cheddar cheese, and a Jamaican jerk coleslaw; Missing Sara Sammie (song: What’s Sara Doing?) – sammie layered with sweet potato, hummus, avocado (or guacamole), and kale; Unexpected Beat Tagliatelle (song: Long Way From Home) – tagliatelle pasta in a bechemel sauce and topped with shredded beets, goat cheese, parsley, toasted pine nuts, and toasted bread crumbs

Botton (L-R): Roamin’ Skies Pasta (song: Roman Skies) – my take on the traditional Roman dish – Cacio e Pepe – pasta mixed with butter, black pepper, Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses; Exit 105 Rice-A-Roni (Album Title: Exit 105) – my version of the San Francisco Treat (after all, Exit 105 takes you to the Golden Gate Bridge)…and it has been dubbed my “best rice dish in the history of ever”; Sexy on the Beach Ice Cream (song: Sexy) – a vegan ice cream made from coconut cream, pureed raspberries, pureed pineapple, chambord and vodka…just like the drink Sex on the Beach…

I love getting chefy.

So, aside from a little bit of work stress…that’s what’s going on thus far.  Stay tuned as this weekend is going to be amazing.  I can tell.

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It’s A New Week

Happy Monday!

That’s a bit of an oxymoron, yes?  It can be.  In fact, the past few weeks for me have been nothing more than a big ball of S-T-R-E-S-S.  Running and working out weren’t helping.  Escaping work wasn’t easy to do either.  But, so far, this week is off to a much better start.

For one thing…I had coffee this morning.  So, yeah…already a better day than yesterday…when the tea did not quite measure up get this brain functioning on 11 (because why stop at 10, when it goes to 11?).

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Work didn’t have me running around like a lunatic.  Which was a nice change of pace.  I did, however, make the mistake of hitting “REPLY ALL” on the e-mail to our HR person keeping track of mileage for our “Walking the Great Wall” challenge in the office.  All miles are cumulative and there are no prizes for anyone who puts in more mileage than anyone else.  But, man, I kept getting…”There is NO WAY you did that much…”

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It’s called marathon training, friends.  Try it sometime…

Doesn’t matter, all of it is tracked on my Garmin Connect…so I can show them, in living color that I’m not lying when I submit my miles for the week.

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I…swear…to…GOD.  People sometimes.  They should know…I run, I spin, I bike, I gym, I walk, I workout.  Mileage happens.

But, you know, nobody likes an overachiever…I guess…

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On the subject of people, I do believe the weird people in my building who are up at weird hours of the day must wonder why I am hopping around on the sidewalk every morning between 3-4 am (depending on what else is happening that day and how early my run has to start).  It’s fine…because I often wonder why the hell they are sitting out on their balcony, with their dog, at 3 am, on their tablets or phones watching YouTube.  And I’m all…

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Well…maybe nothing quite that dynamic…but I am jumping around past their balcony quite a few times…because I never miss a day of my PT exercises.  When you’re injured for as long as I was…you just do it.

I guess we’ll all just carry on with our early morning rituals and ignore each other.  And then whisper nervously to our roommates about one another in the privacy of our own apartments.

So Monday went well…without stressing me out too much.  So, I hope the rest of the week continues on this trend.

Hope all of you had a good start to the week!