New swag!

I got my Skinny Runner shirts today! Thanks SR for sending them so fast! As promised, here's some pics. I can't wait to go run in them! They super comfortable, nicely made, light weight and fit well. Hopefully she'll get more made soon; make sure to follow her blog to be the first on the list for the next ones!

*Please don't mind the lighting, it's weird in here and all I had was my web cam.*


Team Skinny Runner!



It's not about vanity, it's about sanity! (This one makes me lol, yes, I'm a dork)



I wanna punch running in the face!(Get it? I'm flexing my muscles? Hardy har har)


And a sweet bumper sticker! I'm not sure about the word funner, must be a California thing. ;)
Off to class in my sweet new swag!

I've lost 10 pounds!

And I can't believe it. I've been struggling with hypothyroidism so losing weight has been HARD. I was getting upset everytime I weighed myself and it kept going up. The last time I weighed myself I was about 158. I went to the doctor Friday and the nurse said I was 153 with my clothes and boots on. I weighed myself Saturday and I'm around 147.8. I'm excited because I wasn't even trying. Yeah I've been running(not really strength training) but I think a lot of it is from this primal eating method. I'm loving it so far.

The down side, I tend to get obsessed with weighing myself. At one point I was weighing myself multiple times a day. I'm going to try really hard to remember that it's not the number on the scale, it's how I feel and the way my clothes fit. I need to lose about 5 more for the Army and I'd like to drop down another 10 but progress so far is making me happy.

Apparently, I also have shin splints. I have these wonderful little knots up and down my shins. The husband says they're probably shin splints, they've probably been there a while and were aggravated by snowboarding on Saturday. My half is in 3 weeks. Awesome. He tried to massage them out, which flippin HURTS by the way.

Ever had shin splints? Any ideas how to help them?

I am in pain

Snowboarding is a great workout. My whole body hurts. I'm going to lay around for a while and try to convince myself to go run my 10 miles scheduled for today. Oye. But it was the most beautiful day for snowboarding, I got to break in my new boots, and I spent it with two great people. And even BETTER we got to go to Quaker Steak and Lube after for dinner. Best. Wings. Ever. All in all, good Saturday.

WARNING: This post includes a vent and ramblings

I'm going to vent, to get it off my chest and real quick like. So my job consists of a ton of internet research. My state has a database that I'm supposed to input all the information I find on each subject. When I research all day, sometimes I don't get around to putting stuff into said database and I get a little behind. Well today I got a nasty gram from my HQ about being behind and the entries that I had done were crap and blah blah blah. I was so kind as to remind them that in HQ they have 4 (FOUR!!!!) people who do my job that I do alone. We're in the middle of one super huge case that could go federal and honestly I let it slip. I know I did but cut me some slack up here would ya? Being told I'm not doing my job on top of school, my Guard obligations, my possible failing marriage and my awesome half training, I'm a little stressed.

/rant

I have to throw in a quick shout out because I'm super excited about some exciting news. Recently, I've been reading a lot about/from/on Skinny Runner because she's super funny, cute, talks about running, (did I mention pretty ?)AND designed pretty sweet t-shirts. I've already placed my order and I can't wait to get them in the mail!

I'm also very nervous because tomorrow night my husband and I are going on a date. This is the first "date" we'll have been on since we separated almost a month ago. We've gone to counseling twice now and it has helped us hash out our issues and what our lack of communication barriers are. Our counselor thinks it's a good idea because she believes that all the hours in counseling won't help unless we can implement them outside of counseling. She suggested a simple dinner and movie date, no going back to one house or the other, just a simple, PG, first date. I'm nervous. He has a restaurant picked which he won't tell me and I think we've decided to see Unknown. Has anyone ever seen it? Any good?

Anyway, I'm off to wallow in my stress, anxiety and nervousness with a glass of wine and some Grey's Anatomy. Oh and it's supposed to snow tomorrow, good thing I have the day off!

What is wrong with people?

Snowboarding is a hard workout. Snowboarding on chunky ice covered snow is even harder. The slope(read: hill since we live in Chicagoland) was covered in ice since we had a nice sleet storm the day before. We were hoping for fresh powder since the weather dudes said 2-4 inches on Monday. Perfect day off right? Umm...no. It didn't start snowing until yesterday afternoon and it wasn't until this morning I walked out and had to clean off my car. Bullspit I tell you! They're a bunch of lying liars who lie.

Anyway, I spent most of my time walking up and down the hill as I tried to teach my friend C the basics of snowboarding. C has skateboarded for a while and picked it up pretty quickly. I tell you what, my legs hurt from booking it up and down the hill by foot. At one point I carried a little girl up the hill. Which leads me to the next part of the story.

The "resort" was pretty empty, only a few people out. There was a little girl, maybe 5 or 6, out on our green run by herself. The ENTIRE 3 hours we were there. I watched her fall, get back up, fall again and keep going. Hey, that's how you learn. Then on her way back up, she was holding onto the rope pull and fell. She got hurt and took her skies off, sitting there crying. WHERE are this girls parents? Siblings? Babysitter? So I look up the lift tower to which there's no one inside. This place is super small and they only have like two people on their ski patrol. I said "oh what the eff, small hill, I'll go get her" to myself of course, lol. I walked down, grabbed her skies and asked if she was ok. She sniffled and said yes. I offered her a piggy back ride and she smiled and nodded, so I took her up. At the top I realize she's wearing those $2 junk cotton gloves, jeans, a wool peacoat and a hat 5 times too big for her head. I thought that she had to be freezing and suggested she go inside to the "lodge" and find her parents. She nodded and walked off. C made it back up the hill and she asked if she was ok, I said yeah but WHERE THE HELL IS THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR HER? I found a ski patrol guy(finally) and flipped my lid about how they are irrensponsible and someone needs to find her family before she disappears. We.had.it.out. Overall, the place sucked and we probably won't go back.

/rant

But the day ended well as we warmed up at Buffalo Wild Wings and watched the BlackHawks win! Then I went to a birthday party for a dear friend and had a few drinks, laughs, hugs and kisses. The husband and I had a good talk and we seem to be getting along better since I moved out. Small steps.

Slacker

That's what I keep calling myself. Let's just say last night, some friends and I went downtown and I may or may not have indulged in too many adult beverages. I stuck to my eating for the most part, nothing fried or too junky. Until today, I had taco bell for lunch and just ordered pizza. I know, I'm disgusting right? I tried to go to the gym but the car ride made me feel nauseous and frankly, sitting around watching Grey's makes me feel ill too. Andplusalso, I was not about to run outside in the "freezing drizzle." I can run in rain, cold, even snow; but freezing rain = ice and super cold and wet. No thanks. Depending on the weather tomorrow I'll either snowboard or run. Maybe both. Sunday is a day of rest, right?!

I got my butt kicked.

By 40 mph winds. After sitting in the office most of the day yesterday, 3 pm rolls around and I look out the window and see sunshine. I had eaten a snack about an hour before and knew my stomach would be settled. I also knew that if I left work and ran when I got home, I'd be cut short because I'd run out of daylight(my commute is an hour). Good thing I brought my stuff with me! So I changed, laced up, grabbed my Ipod and off I went.

And then it happened.....the second I stepped outside of our office building, WHAM! Wind! And I mean wind that I had to stop and steady myself so I didn't fall into the building. I shrugged it off. It can't do that the whole time right? WRONG! By my office there's a nice riverwalk that is beautiful to run on, there's no cars, few people. Perfect. But it's a tiny path and did I mention it's a riverwalk? Like to the point I ended up running the road because I was afraid if the wind caught me just right, I'd end up in the river. And that water still has ice on it. No thanks.

So as I fight the wind and start warming up my Garmin beeps at me. Dead. Off. Awesome. Then begins the fight with my headphone. WHY can't I find headphones that fit my teeny tiny childsize ears?After about a .5 mile of fighting with them, they came out and I just ran with my Ipod on speaker. Whatever, no one was around me anyway.

I chugged and fought the wind and ran and then in all it's glory, I came upon the YMCA. I had set a goal just to make it there and head back. I circled the parking lot and headed back to the office. I got back into the office and the guys asked me what the hell happened since my hair was all over the place and I looked like a trainwreck. I laughed and just said "I got in a fight with the wind." But looking at the clock, I had been gone about 40 minutes and after looking at mapmyrun.com I figured I ran about 4 miles. I'm happy with that.

I'm going to start taking my phone on my runs so I can take pictures of the insanity that ensues. Never freaking fails.

So, what kind of headphones do you wear? Do you run with an ipod/mp3 player on? Do you like to be one with nature during your run? Run with a partner?

P.S. - Did I mention I'm working? Yes, on a Saturday. *sigh* But I love my job. Hopefully this day will give us some info we need for some new cases.

I need YOUR help!

So as most of you know, I'm running my first half marathon in just about a month(eek!). For this particular half marathon a friend and I decided to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project(WWP).

Let me tell you why WWP is so close to my heart. First of all, obviously, being in the military, most military organizations grab my attention. However, during my tour in Iraq, a squad of our boys was hit by an EFP(Explosively Formed Penetrator). An EFP is a special type of IED(Improvised Explosive Device) that basically blows a hole through the "armor" on our vehicles and shoots a rocket through the open hole. A friend of mine was the guy manning the gun turret. The EFP shot at an upward angle and hit his legs. The driver and front passenger(truck commander) were relatively unharmed, just some pieces of shrapnel. He was sent home and went to Walter Reed Medical Center in DC. When he arrived there was a package from WWP waiting to greet him. It had some things for him to read, a pillow, blanket, puzzles, cards and other little goodies. Basically it was stuff to keep him entertained while he was confined to a hospital bed. This organization has helped so many service members. They give them encrouagement to heal, they arrange events to both fundraise and bring awareness. They also host a bunch of events for injured servicemembers like amputees, parapalegics, etc. so they can still participate in sports and races.

I've gotten a few paper donations so far but I'd love to raise some more. You can donate online! Just click the button to the right ================> with the WWP logo on it. Yes, it's clicky! Thanks a million!

Here we go again

In the Chicagoland area, there is a website that lists all the police departments(PDs), fire departments and various public safety jobs that are open. I noticed that 4 PDs in my area that I meet the requirements for are doing their two year eligibility list. *sidenote* the way it works in IL to get hired as a police officer is you test with a police department, which is only every two years. If you are in the top(however many the PD is looking for) you are placed on a list that is good for two years. It's not a guaranteed job but getting on a list is the hard part* So here I am again, putting together application packets of my HS diploma, college transcripts, my military discharge paperwork, birth certificate, application for specific PD, blah, blah, blah. I also have to go do my POWER test, which is basically a state recognized test that shows you can pass a physical test. I want to take them my PT card and say "Look, I pass the Army PT test which is harder than your standards. If I can pass that, I can pass your test." Sadly, it does not work that way.

So now I'm mentally preparing and need to start doing some more lifting for my test in April. I signed up today to try a free session of Crossfit. I hear nothing but great things about it and I found a gym that gives a $20/mo discount for military/police/firefighter, woot! I got my laptop lunchbox in the mail so I've been using that two days now, now if I could just get my primal blueprint book. I'm excited for these changes. Hopefully I'll lose some weight, gain some strength and self confidence and kick some bootay!

Happy 1st day of spring training!

Oh yeah, and Valentine's Day.

Today the Boston Red Sox pitchers and catchers report for spring training. Their first workout is tomorrow. Position players show up on Friday and the first full team workout is this Saturday the 19th. I am SO excited.

I love baseball season. The first day of spring training is one of my favorite days of the year. It means spring is close by. Today's 40 degree weather is a great example. Plus I've played softball since I could walk so my love for the sport runs deep.

I love the Red Sox. I know, I know, I live in Chicagoland why am I not a Cubs or Black White Sox fan? Well my dad was a Cubs fan, I'm not a fan of my dad so consider the Cubs tainted. White Sox, meh. But I have family out in the New England area and I remember my uncle brining me a Red Sox hat; so I adopted the Red Sox. This year they're playing CWS(Chicago White Sox) in the end of July. This is exciting because with a military ID, you can get into CWS games for free. I get to see the Sox and Sox play for free!



Spring is in the air! And now, I just watch the roster and schedule and pray the Bo Sox play better this year. We need a good season. Badly.

I have a plan!

Today I ordered



http://primalblueprint.com/products/The-Primal-Blueprint.html




and



http://secure.laptoplunches.com/AMAZING/itemdesc.asp?ic=B620%2DBLKAVO&eq=&Tp=

Only I didn't get all the stuff in the picture. Just the lunchbox.

So I've heard of primal eating and toyed with the idea for a while. I have(self-diagnosed) gluten allergies and it seems almost anything grainy makes me sick. The whole point of primal(or paleo) eating is to go back to the basics. Meat, fruits, veggies. Things that are natural and not changed by man. Now, I've been working my way down because I've heard that just quitting everything and going straight primal can be r-o-u-g-h. I also will probably be a little more lienent and use things like cheese, quinoa, rice, etc. The way I see it, they're grown in the ground too. Some primal/paleos don't eat starches/dairy, I think I will just limited and only healthy stuff. Like rice cooked in water, not with a bunch of soy sauce and what not.

Now, the lunchbox. I follow a friend Katie's blog where she packs on of the laptop lunch boxes every day. She(and her husband, I assume) eat vegetarian, but I think you can draw recipe inspiration from anywhere plus she'll give me an idea of how to pack this thing. To me, this looks like a lot of food, so in reality it will probably be lunch and two small(morning and afternoon) snacks. Which is fine since I prefer to eat 5 times a day and smaller portions.

I'm excited about these changes. It's my house so I keep only the food I want and eat how much and how often I want.

I currently have a friend who is burning me a copy of P90X. Sadly I think my gym membership has to go, I love it but it's expensive. Plus it will be warming up soon and I'll be running outside a lot more. Especially since now I'm running THREE half marathons this year. First is one is a little over a month away! Can you believe it?! Changes are coming and I'm excited!

What pushed you into changing something about your lifestyle?

We have a lot to talk about!

First of all, I am BEYOND EXCITED because I won a give away over at Life and running in Iowa! They gave away some fun little things from local shops in Iowa and a free entry into the Des Moines Half Marathon! I also get to meet Kier and Nick for pre-race dinner and although I'd like to keep up with Kier, I think just hanging out before and after will be enough ;) You know what else is exciting about this? Bart Yasso, THE Bart Yasso will be hosting the event. He's a legend and the article about him in Runner's World was amazing! I can't believe it! This is the biggest pick me up and I needed it so badly.

On a more serious note, I haven't been around for a few reasons. Snowmaggedon, work and school have been crazy. Plus it's still snowing like every other day so there's that. I also moved out of my house last week. I don't want to go into why or what happened. Please just know that this is for the best, whether things with my husband will work out or not, I can't say. But despite my lack of internet, furniture, and food in my apartment, I'm happier and feel like a weight has been lifted. I'm really focusing on me right now. My studies and fitness have become priority. I never knew being selfish could be so hard. I'm such a people pleaser that it kills me to put myself first. I'm in counseling and it's helping immensely.

So, my posts may be few and far between for a while(internet guy comes on Wed!) but I still read everyone's blogs and look forward to 2011. I knew I put one of my 2011 goals to better myself for a reason.

18.5 inches

That's what she said! Ha!

No really though, that's approximately what our snowfall count is from last night. It's hard to tell because it's still snowing and it's blowing/drifting everywhere. We had winds that topped 61 mph last night. The windows rattled, the snow is halfway up my garage door and my balcony(which is covered) has a foot of snow on it. It's plain crazy. I could probably get out of the garage if I wanted to(YAY JEEP!) but I don't want to. So I'm going to lay around in my PJs, eat some yummy food and watch movies. All while doing some homework. On the VERY plus side, my BFF has been staying with me as she transitions to a new job up here and does some apartment hunting so she's here to keep me company and we're having fun on our snow day.

This is our parking lot. They were plowing last night but must have given up at some point. Notice how the snow goes half way up the garage doors?



The other side of the lot where it appears they didn't plow at all.


This is our balcony which actually is covered. There's probably a foot out there. Poor kitty, he likes to go sit on the balcony but now he won't. He just sits at the door and watches.

I haven't had a snow day since I graduated high school. Why is it when you're a grown up, snow days go away? Especially because of my job. We are the National Guard, we have to be ready at all times so come into work anyway. Even they canceled work today! If you want to read our stats in the area, go to this website. I could go for a run today but I think since I'm only around 5'3" that the snow would be up to my knees, plus we still have white out conditions and I'm sure that there are still people out driving. And the gym is closed for today. I think the entire city of Chicago is on a snow day! Hope everyone is warm and safe!