New Toys

We had so much fun at the Hot Chocolate 15k, that we decided to try for a half marathon. So, of course, I need new toys!

First things first: I needed new running shoes. I was getting sore in the knees and hips, which is a sure sign that one's shoes are worn out. So I paid a trip to Foot Zone in Bend, Oregon. What an awesome place! The staff was wonderful and extremely knowledgeable. They put me on a treadmill equipped with cameras, so they could watch my stride in slow motion. Sure enough, my ankles and knees were rolling in badly with each step. This is called "pronation", and stems from the low arches in my feet. On top of that, I have narrow feet. All this lack of support was causing my ankles and knees to roll, which was making everything sore.
So Foot Zone fitted me in a highly supportive running shoe and an orthotic shoe insert. The Mizuno Alchemy running shoe is made for hapless pronators like me. The orthotic inserts replaced the footbeds that came in the shoes, and provided a little extra boost. What a difference! I've only been on one brief run, but it felt so much better. Each stride felt much more natural and easy.

Next toy? A GPS running watch! It's a Garmin Forerunner 110, the same brand as my cycling computer and heart rate monitor. That way I can sync both my cycling and running workouts. It will track my mileage, speed, heart rate, and calories burned.
I can't wait to lace up my new shoes, strap on my fancy GPS watch, and put on some mileage!

Intervention Update

What a week! Let me start by saying that nothing ever goes as planned. I set four goals last week, and I did meet some of them. Unfortunately, I was waylaid by a nasty upper respiratory and sinus infection that kicked in to high gear on Tuesday. Such a bummer, because I had a good start.
The good news is I lost a few pounds anyway. So now I will eat right, rest, and get back to 100%.

1. Run an 8-minute mile on the treadmill. Did it! Knocked this one out on Monday.
2. No cookies. This was a partial win. I'm moving on to a new client, so I had one last celebratory cookie in the hospital cafeteria. I usually have a cookie every day, so a single "treat" cookie isn't a total loss.
3. Work out 5 times, 3 of these to be high intensity. Big fail here, thanks to The Upper Respiratory Crud. I did a 4 mile run at my Dad's home in Oregon, which was actually pretty tough due to the altitude. I went for an awesome hike at Smith Rocks with my Dad. Lastly, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill, which is where I put in my 8-min mile. So all told, 3 workouts, only 1 of these would I consider high intensity (the 4 mile run).
4. Watch Beauty & the Beast. Totally got this. It was bad, and I enjoyed it.

Pics from my hike:

Intervention

So yesterday I weighed in at an all time high. I have promised myself that I'd never break the 140 mark (unless, of course, I get thoroughly knocked up or some other perfectly legit reason), but I surpassed it by 3 pounds. Goodness me.
It all started back at the beginning of December. The weather turned rather abruptly sour. I also wasn't traveling, and took advantage by sleeping a lot and being lazy. I didn't cycle. The gym closed for winter break. Then Christmas happened. Then I went to the Florida Keys for a week, and ate like a horse. Not just any horse, a champion racehorse who suddenly found herself retired in a swanky pasture full of treats. It was awesome.
And here I am. 143.

I tried the 8-hour diet, where you limit your consumption to an 8 hour block. I stuck to it, but I still wasn't making healthy food choices. So that flew like a brick.

Unfortunately, making good food choices with my career is hard. I live in airports, hotels, and hospitals. My current client has a shockingly unhealthy cafeteria. A low-carb or paleo diet would be all but impossible. Calorie cutting is downright depressing.

So. These are the things in my way: sweet tooth, lack of access to healthy food, the desire to be comfy, loneliness, and procrastination.
Let's think. Let's get serious. Let's go all Dr. Phil on this mother.

• Sweets are killing me. That daily cookie. That mini Sonic blast. I think I have a sweet every day. I must think of sweets as a rare treat, rather than a daily allowance. 
• Eating right on the job(I eat well at home) is extremely difficult and inconvenient, but not impossible. I have to accept that I must go out of my way to do it. Maybe I'll have to hike across the street and buy a Subway sandwich rather than get that unhealthy (but free) chicken finger basket at the hospital cafeteria. Or maybe it's more of that awful salad bar. Go for that bruised apple instead of the cookie. The options are bleak, but I need to toughen up. Although I may enjoy eating a little less, I will enjoy my health and fitness a lot more.
• Get my butt to the gym. Being lazy is temping, but unrewarding. It's easy to think, "It's so cold outside, it's late, I'll just work out tomorrow", but then I won't. I have to exercise today, so that I can be stronger tomorrow and the day after that.
• Going to the hotel gym alone is a bummer. I get lonely. But it is what it is. I'm definitely not going to meet workout buddies sitting alone in the hotel.
• Consider my long term goals. I just ran a 15k, and want to do a half-marathon. This summer I want to do 100-mile cycling events, Bike Ride Across Georgia, and ride up Brasstown Bald. I'm not going to be able to complete my long term goals if I fail the short term ones. So let's set some short term goals, to keep myself accountable.

This week's goals:
1. Run an 8-minute mile on the treadmill. I just ran 9.3 miles at a 10:19 min/mil pace. I can turn it around and run a short distance at a fast pace.
2. None of those delicious giant chocolate chip cookies at the cafeteria. This is my go-to fix for a raging sweet tooth. But if I put a moratorium on those cookies, then I know I'll reach for yogurt or fruit instead.
3. Work out 5 times in the next 7 days, starting tomorrow. 3 of those workouts must be high-intensity.
4. Don't miss the new episodes of Beauty & The Beast. Oh God, did I say that out loud?

Adventure Eating

Before so many of my sorority sisters left this fine city, we had a monthly gathering to try ethnic foods. It's been a few years, but I recall wonderful Indian food. And I remember that Marianna's idea of African fare was Gladys Knight's Chicken & Waffles. Or she just wanted an excuse to have chicken and waffles. I'm OK with it.

Watching tonight's episode of The Layover, I realized I missed these culinary adventures.

So let's roll it back out: The Atlanta Adventure Eating Club
The Rules. The restaurant must be:

1. Sketch - Whether it's weird food or a weird neighborhood, it's gotta make you a little uncomfortable.
2. Untried - If we been before, we aint going again.
3. Cheap - Aint no fine dining in adventure eating.
4. Known Locally - Everybody loves a local hotspot.

Yes, that spells SUCK. The restaurants have got to be SUCK.
So here is a starting list. Some of these are per Anthony's recommendation, and some spring from my own insatiable curiosity. Let's get freaky:

• HD1 - (Poncey Highlands) Hotdogs like you've never had them. Come hungry. You're gunna wanna try two.
• Thompson Brothers BBQ - (Smyrna) Conveniently close hole in the wall.
• Heirloom Market BBQ - (NW Perimeter) Supposedly among the best in Atlanta, and has some elements of fusion BBQ. Yessss.
• Fox Bros BBQ - (East Atlanta) Let's just put together a BBQ Tour de Atlanta.
• Crawfish Seafood Shack - (Buford Hwy) I have always eschewed shellfish, because I hated it as a child. But I recently tried shrimp again and was OK with it. I've never had crawfish. So let's do this.
• The Colonnade Restaurant - (Cheshire Bridge) True southern fare.
• Sabores Del Plata - (Buford Hwy) Uruguayan meat, meat, and more meat. I am so curious.
• Nicola's Restaurant - (Druid Hills) Lebanese. Bring me baklava!
• McKinnon's Louisiane - (Buckhead) Maybe breaking rule #2, but how can we not take Katie to this place?
• Desta Ethiopian Kitchen -(NE Atlanta) No chicken & waffles.
• JCT Kitchen - (Westside) Southern-inspired bistro food. Apparently the truffle parmesan fries are a must-eat item of Atlanta. Slow cooked rabbit, anyone?
• Woo Nam Jeong Stone Bowl House - (Buford Hwy) Korean, famous for their bimimbap. Put some squid on it.
• The Local Three - (West Buckhead) Pushing the limits of Rule #2, but apparently this is the hidden gem of Northwest Atlanta. And it's 5 minutes from my home. Stephanie, this could be your foodie Shangri-La.
• Nick's Food To Go - (Downtown) Greek corner counter on MLK Drive. If that's not an adventure, I don't know what is. Daylight required.

Things I want to try. If you know of a fantastic place to find these things, speak up:

• I've never had Peking Duck. Let's have a Peking Duck. A good one. I'd pay up for a good one.
• Best dumplings around.
• Traditional regional Chinese food. I know it's out there. Birdy mystery meats and 7 year broths and whatnot. Serve it up. I'll try it.
• Eastern European. I feel like these are a people who cook like southerners, in that they have historically made the best of what they had. But I have no idea where the Poles are hiding in Atlanta. And I'm not referring to stripper poles - everybody knows where they are (Cheshire Bridge).

Let's add to these lists. Speak up!

My First 15k - Hot Chocolate 15k Atlanta

I didn't run fast, but I did finish and didn't walk. I even finished in the front half of the pack. Hey, I didn't really train (I did just two 8-mile runs as preparation) and really slacked over the holidays. This was actually the longest run I've ever done. So all around, I'm pretty satisfied with my results.
Most importantly, my friends and I had a fabulous time! It was a really well organized race, even with 20,000 runners. And we got hot chocolate and fondue at the end!
I've got my eye on the Savannah Rock & Roll Half Marathon next fall. Maybe I'll even train for that one.

So here are my results:

Me, Isaac, Liza, and Amy at the finish:

Hot Chocolate 15k!

So for years I've had hamstring pain. I always figured I had an old strain, but oddly enough, the only time I  felt it was when I ran. About 2 miles in, I'd get a burning pain with each stride. If I tried to run through it, I'd be crippled for days. Sometimes it was awful. Sometimes it would ease up for months and I could run a little. Mostly it was frustrating.
So what did I do? Well, I stopped running. It was a blessing in disguise. I got into spinning, and then taught spin. I enjoyed weight-lifting, did p90X, and even taught boot camp and body tone classes. I discovered I loved kickboxing. I got a road bike, and got obsessed with said road bike.

Well, then some of my cycling friends signed up to do a 15k. I hated that I couldn't do it. It drove me nuts watching their facebook posts about their training runs. So I decided to see a sports medicine specialist. I have great insurance, so why not?
In retrospect, it's so obvious I didn't have a hamstring injury. I wouldn't be able to do any of my fave activities with a hamstring strain. Turns out I have a compressed disc, which can cause pain radiating down your leg. Lucky me. I can't believe I've had this for over 5 years. But it's an easy, albeit long-term, kind of fix.

With some physical therapy sessions and daily at-home exercises, I've gotten myself up to 8.4 miles. And that was a hard 8.4 miles. Like, dodging cars and running through ditches because there's no sidewalk for 8.4 miles. So I think I'm golden for 9 miles at a chatty jog.

Soo...drumroll...this weekend is my big debut:

Bring it!

It's a New Year

Bow howdy, it's been a while. And it's a been quite a year for this girl. Let me count the ways I am loving my life:

•   In March, I began working for a fantastic healthcare consulting firm. I knew I would like this job. I didn't know I would love it. It is challenging, but enjoyable. Always rewarding. I learn something new every day, but I get to use the skills I worked so hard (and I mean, painfully hard) to acquire at Georgia Tech. I travel, I move around, I interact with a variety of people. Basically, I am rarely sitting still, which is great for a fidget like me. Best of all, I feel useful and appreciated. I think that's a rare thing in this day and age.
• I bought a new road bike (aka "Sparky") and have thus opened an exciting new chapter of fitness adventures. I've made wonderful cycling friends. These people get me. They understand my burning need to get on my bike and ride up that big, steep hill. They even appreciate my commentary on the way up ("Slay the mountain, bitches!"). I have wanted a road bike for years, but I really underestimated the physicial, social and mental rewards.
• I've gone on some really special trips:

• Steph and I stumbled around Chicago for St. Patty's Day (admittedly, that city parties at a way higher level than we do). 
• I pulled together a Singles Ladies Weekend in the mountains of Asheville, where we hiked, ate like queens, and lounged in front of roaring fires.
• Cycling HBIC Liza arranged a lovely stay at a B&B on the shores of Lake Rabun, where we cycled the rollings hills and lake shorelines of North Georgia. It was gorgeous.
• My Oregon family and I stayed a week in beautiful warm Key Largo, where the temperature consistently clocked in between 75-85. I kept eating too much. They kept checking the Oregon weather ("Hey Kel, it's 3 degrees back home right now.")
• Dragon*Con. I think that counts as a "trip".