How Yoga Has Changed My Life

There's a small chance I would not be alive to write this if not for yoga. But don't let my boyfriend know that, or my mom, or they will "told you so" me to death over my driving habits, and then we'll be right where we started this post. Dead.

But enough with the melodrama. Here's what happened:
Tuesday in Houston was this terrible day. It was foggy and cloudy, with this thin mist of rain coating everything all day. We aren't used to fog or mist or cold, we have sun or torrential downpours (but lately, mostly sun).
So anyways, I like to go to yoga on Tuesdays at 5:45. But yoga is by my house, which is 30 minutes (on a good day) from work. I like to leave work by 4:30. This gives me time to actually go to my house and change clothes in the privacy of my own bedroom. Want to guess how often that happens? (Answer: Never)  If I leave by 4:50ish then I can make it to yoga in time to change in the bathroom at the studio or in my car in the parking lot. If I leave at 5 I have time to make it to class, but I have to change at the stoplights.
So Tuesday I, of course, left work at 5:10. Whoops.  And then it was misty and dark and there was traffic.

Old Stephanie would have driven like a madwoman to get to yoga. Old Stephanie learned to drive on the mean streets of South Florida where people have the soul of a big city taxi driver and the heart of a soccer mom who's star goalie is late for the big game. She automatically adds 10 mph to every speed limit sign she sees, and then acts surprised when she gets pulled over for this. She thinks of driving from point A to point B as a game, where the object is to get there as quickly as possible. She bought a turbo, which has made this habit easier, but it doesn't have 4WD so it also makes driving like that in the rain a bit like playing Russian Roulette.  Chances are you hate Florida Driver Stephanie.
As New Stephanie (alternately "Temporarily Insane Stephanie") I decided not to do that. I decided to accept that I wasn't going to make it to yoga. I realized there's no point in rushing like crazy and risking your life to get to yoga, if yoga is supposed to make you calm and centered and happy. (Side note: You're probably not supposed to use yogic principles to skip yoga, but I'm gonna do it anyways!) So I drove safely, I let people in, I used my turn signal. And I passed the yoga studio 15 minutes late. Oh well. I accepted it as a sign from the universe that I had other things to do and I should let them take priority (like working late, like frosting my dessert competition cupcakes, like attending fitblog chat). And I made it through 45 minutes of rush hour traffic without even the slightest hint of road rage. Believe me when I tell you, this has never happened before.

I say Temporarily Insane because I probably will not keep this new outlook on life driving. Sometimes I will likely drive really fast, just for kicks. And I hate letting people in when they turn out to be people who drive 5mph below the speed limit. But at least for one wet, misty commute, I did not die in a fiery crash, thanks to the things yoga has taught me.

What I ate Wednesday- MCC Eats

This weekend I worked the evening shifts in Mission Control. I was there on Saturday and Sunday, from 3pm to midnight. Weekend shifts are usually quiet (read: boring), but at any moment something could break and you could spend hours crying fixing it. Also depending on communication satellites, you could have alot of breaks or few to no breaks for bathroom visits or microwaving. Because of this I try to bring an assortment of foods- some that don't need to be heated up, some that are really easy/quick to eat, and some random leftovers or Amy's frozen meals.  I am indecisive like choices, so I bring multiple options. Most days something doesn't get eaten, usually its the yogurt.



Saturday I brought this mega sandwich and tore into it almost right away. Partly because I was hungry, but at least half because it looked so amazing. Hummus, bell pepper, avocado, onion, tomato, and cucumber; inspired by the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich at Panera.

Saturday morning I woke up and did a 4 mile run with my bf/running buddy. I had been planning to make this delicious-looking Spaghetti Squash Mac-less and Cheese from ReadsRecipesRuns so while we were making breakfast, I prepared the squash and popped the cleaned halves it in the oven to roast. After they had roasted and cooled, I followed the recipe almost exactly- I did toss some Italian-style bread crumbs in to the topping. Before packing it up for lunches, I snuck a taste. It was, in fact, delicious! Goat is a good choice because it makes it seem really decadent and creamy without a lot of cheese tossed in... So good, even reheated! This one is definitely a winner!

Here's the giant spread I packed for Sunday:

 Lunch + Snacks + Dinner include: Leftover chicken taco insides (chicken, beans, avocado, pickled onions- aka that purple mess in the middle, and cheese), trusty Diet Coke (never control the Space Station without it), Hummus with pita chips and veggies, hard boiled egg with salt and pepper, and more Mac-less and Cheese.

Demolished. And that's What I Ate... in Mission Control.

10k Training- Week 1

I've been using my SmartCoach plan for about a month already, but this week it switched from maintenance runs (easy 2-3 miles) into an actual training plan (speedwork, tempo runs, long runs).
Having never really done a training plan before (except Couch to 5k) I can safely say that I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

We skipped our 4 mi run last Saturday in favor of the 5k. I promised my boyfriend if he picked up the pace to finish the 5k strong I wouldn't make him keep going for another 0.9 miles to make it an even 4. What I didn't tell him is that I was really just going to rearrange our runs and move the 4 mile run to Monday. Oops!

Monday came and we set out for our 4mi run- let me tell you, 4 miles is alot longer than 3. There's a 2.6 mile jogging track at work that we've been doing our weekday runs on, so we went out to the 2 mile marker and back. After the second mile I was feeling pretty tired and wishing this was a 3 mile run and not a 4 mile run. I rationalized that I can run at least 3 miles (as I proved Saturday) and I would go to 3 miles before walking. Then 3 miles hit and I told myself it was only one more mile and then I could be done... sneakily tricking myself into running the whole thing.

Tuesday night I headed over to yoga. We did some low back bends that were pretty cool for loosening up my tight neck. Then I headed home to bake some cupcakes. We are having a Dessert competition at work next Wednesday and I was testing out a recipe for Chocolate Dirt Cupcakes. Reviews at the office were mixed, but I tried one and thought it was amazing so I am going with them for my entry.

Wednesday was another run day, this time speedwork. Holy crap did I want to die! This workout consisted of a mile warm up, and then 3 repeats of 800m fast pace followed by 400m recovery, then one more mile to finish. It was supposed to be 11min/mile pace, only I forgot my Garmin at home so the speed of the so-called fast pace is unknown.

Thursday I left work at 1 and I skipped yoga. I was just feeling so beat and thinking of the looming weekend shifts that I wasn't prepared for. I spent all afternoon grocery shopping and cooking, and when time to go to yoga rolled around I hadn't eaten dinner, hadn't washed all the dishes, and wanted to curl up and snuggle. So that's what I did.

Friday was a super busy day at work- I was in a sim (like playing a video game for a living) and they threw so many failures at me that I was busy fixing the simulated space station the whole day and didn't get to eat lunch until it was over at 3. Its fun, but stressful and tense, so by the end I really wanted to relax. Boyfriend and I lazed on the couch and ordered Chinese food- not the best diet decision but I had given up a day off and a lunch at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse (my group's holiday get-together) to take the sim because my group lead was in a pinch, so the treat was deserved.

Saturday was a 4 mile run- this one felt long and my legs are definitely tired. Now I'm spending the rest of the day on console hoping that the real space station holds up better than yesterday's simulated one!  There's the ISS model in Mission Control all dressed up for the holidays.

Next week's plan is below:  a 3 mile run Monday, a 4 mile tempo run Wednesday, and a FIVE (!) mile long run Saturday. As you can see our calculated easy pace is 13:54 but we usually go at 12 min/mile. I figure this gives us wiggle room to walk a little if necessary but we try to push ourselves to run as much as possible.  Next week I will also try to squeeze in 2 nights of yoga and bake more cupcakes for the dessert competition. Luckily after working the weekend I get Monday off for baking, laundry, and an oil change.

Finding Motivation

Lately I've been feeling kinda blah about running. Not the running itself really, just that its been getting harder to fit it in with everything else. Work has been getting busy as everyone struggles to get stuff done before the holidays. And as it gets darker (and colder) we try to leave early on run days to get our runs in mostly in daylight. It seems like the nights are getting away from me. By the time I run (longer than I had been) get home, make food, eat, clean up, put together something for tomorrow- I'm exhausted and its time for bed. I don't know how people with more responsibilities manage to fit it all in.  Last week before every run I would be thinking "I don't want to do this," or "Can't we just do this tomorrow." And after every run I was thinking "Glad that's over,can I go to bed?"

Clearly I need some motivation.

First I must give big props to my running buddy, who has been making me go on runs even if he didn't want to do them himself. Between the two of us and our grumbles, we've still been hitting every planned run.

Also I've joined Daily Mile to track my workouts. Its cool that it gives you totals, allowing people to know how far they've run in a week, month, or year. If we stick to the plan we can top 30 miles this month, and it'll be fun to watch that number tick up.

Finally, Saturday's 5k was really awesome for restoring my motivation. Running the whole thing, getting the PR, and finishing strong have all made me think I'm ready to continue my running journey.  I'm seeing the hard work pay off and I want to keep building on that. So where does that journey lead?

Well, first it leads to a 10k at the Illinois Marathon event. My good friend (former freshman roommate and mortal enemy) Meg lives in Champaign and is running her very first marathon. Another of our former roommates, Debbie, and her hubs Mike are going to run the half marathon and cheer her on. Bf and I are gonna go too, to run the 10k and cheer her on. I'm really excited for her to have this incredible achievement. Maybe one day we can all be marathoners, but for me and Dan that's a long way off.

I would like to hit a local 10k before then since our training plan is actually up on 2/18, and because I want to have a test run for my stomach which hasn't been handling 4 mile runs so well lately.

After that my true bucket list run is the Disney Marathon, but before I could ever be ready for that, I really want to do the Wine and Dine Half next Fall. They don't have any details posted for next years race yet, so I really hope they have it. I love Orlando and Disney and especially the Food and Wine Festival where you can eat your way around the world!
Here is a picture of Dan, my parents, and some college friends as we ate our way around the world in November, 2010 (sadly I was behind the camera for this one). Think of how much more eating you could do after running 13 miles!

Race Recap- Reindeer Run 5k

So as I said last week, we signed up for the 5k on a whim. Even so, I really felt we were ready for it.
Honestly, I think I would have been pretty disappointed if this race didn't go well, because I really thought we were ready. I have wanted to finish a 5k without walking breaks, something I hadn't yet done.  We had it in us before the Sand Crab 5k. We had even practiced on the beach (which required a special trip down to Galveston- 45 minutes away) to get a feel for the sand. But we didn't fuel right (rule number 1 for running a race- don't try a local, authentic Mexican place hours before race time) and on the night of the race things were awful. I didn't want a repeat of that, so I put alot of thought into our food strategy.

Friday night we had a simple homemade stir fry- brown rice, chicken, lots of veggies. No alcohol, no dessert.
Saturday morning we had our usual breakfast- Whole grain Eggo waffles, almond butter, with sliced banana on mine (boyfriend hates bananas because he is weird). 

When we got to the race location, we steered clear of the doughnuts (the high school aged volunteers were all over it though, so there weren't any left when we finished the race) and the coffee. We got our packets and found these beauties:

So, naturally, I decided we should wear them! Here we are all suited up:

Awesomely, the starting line was in the parking lot of the hospital that it was a benefit for, and we had access to the bathrooms. I really hate port-o-potties, so a flushing toilet just about made my day! The race was preceded by some goofiness with a guy in a reindeer suit and the kids 1K. I was starting to get really cold and was wishing I hadn't left my long sleeve pullover in the car. It was about 64 degrees, which is cold for this Florida girl! Finally we lined up and away we went.

We started out at a pretty fast pace (for us) of around 11:30. I was worried that we were going too fast too soon, but my boyfriend and I were able to keep up a conversation and enjoy the scenery (we ran by a lake and some of the old houses built when Johnson Space Center opened in the early 1960s) and the first mile breezed by.
We kept that pace, and the chatting through the second mile. We even passed some awesome geese. I haven't figured out how to run with my camera yet (I break things and I don't have a butt pouch) and I was bummed when we ran by the geese and I couldn't snag a shot. The 2 mile marker was placed way off (my Garmin said 1.6 miles) so I was really glad I wore my Garmin this time around.
When we hit the actual 2 mile mark (per Garmin) we were just getting done with a lollipop around a lake and back on the street we ran out for the first mile.  I am amazed we were able to keep a constant pace of just below 12 min/mi for most of the race. When we rounded the corner and saw the finish line we picked it to finish strong.

We finished, grabbed water and a snack, and caught a rubber ducky they were throwing out to the crowd. There was a petting zoo- we didn't go in but did wander over to look at the pigs. There he is:

Today the official chip times came out: We finished at 36:51. Let's review the goals:

• Run the whole thing. Check!
• Finish strong. Definitely did that!
• Beat 38:33. By a whopping 1:42! 

 And as a bonus, I shaved 1:15 off my PR. Whoo! When can I run another one?