a bean counter's food blog
Whelp, it’s official.
Once an Excel spreadsheet enters the picture, there’s just no turning back. In my world, transforming an idea, plan, or goal to a glorious (preferably multi-tabbed) spreadsheet is like signing my name in wet cement. It took a lot of thought and research, googling and binging, reading and pondering, but I finally got my half marathon training plan together!
Whelp, it has been 14 days since I proposed the 14 day fitness challenge and made it my goal to exercise every day for 14 days straight (including the Thanksgiving holiday). The first 7 days went as planned and I exercised each day. Boo. Ya.
Here’s how the second half of the challenge stacked up:
Day #8: Power Pump class at the YMCA
Day #9: Woke up with knee pain, so I decided NOT to exercise.
Day #10: 15 minutes on the elliptical, 1 hour of strength training & free weights
Day #11: Turkey Trot! 5 miles in 43:48!!
Day #12: 30 minutes on the elliptical
Day #13: 3 Mile Leslie Sansone walking video with my mom
Day #14: Stuck in traffic on the drive home from Ohio and got home 2 hours late – AKA no exercise.
So the 14 days fitness challenge was more like the 12 out of 14 day challenge. Even though I missed the challenge goal, I’m happy with what I was able to accomplish. First off, I listened to my body and decided not to run when my knee was bothering me. This is HUGE for me. Normally I am stubborn (and stupid) and try to run despite pains, which is exactly how I hurt myself two summers back. Second, I EXERCISED ON THANKSGIVING. Insane!!!
The Turkey Trot was the first race I have run in, and I’m already searching for my next race.
Half marathon here I come!!!!
Say it with me now. In through the nose……. out through the mouthhhhhhhh…….
In through the noseeeeeeeee…..
Out through the mouth.
Phew!
Another tax busy season is (nearly) behind me, and thank the frickin heavens! Tonight is the first night I’ve come home with nothing URGENT URGENT URGENT to think about in FOR-EV-ER. It has been a rough few weeks, but the good news is work should be a whole heck of a lot slower until January when the season-who-shall-not-be-named rolls into town once again… bleghhhhhhh….
So to update you on the last few weeks:
* ERGONOMICS UPDATE: My office chair has developed a permanent indentation of my butt due to the extensive quality time we’ve been sharing.
* OBSESSION UPDATE: I’ve developed a love for Clif Bars. You may recall my longstanding obsession with Luna bars. I dare say Clif bars are now taking the lead. They leave me feeling fuller longer (quite possibly due to the extra 60 calories they pack) and the Clif bars don’t seem to give me a sugar rush. Though, I will admit that the Luna Bar flavors are more craveable than Clif’s flavors. Must be a girl thing.
* RESTAURANT UPDATE: I had a string of crappy meals, which I didn’t think was possible in CLT. I was sadly wrong. Two thumbs down to disturbingly grey eggs and unidentifiable breakfast potatoes at Bluprint, incredibly fatty steak at Firebirds, and insane over usage of butter at Cajun Queen. BLEGH!
* TRAVEL UPDATE: BF and I went to Chimney Rock, NC for a day to hike courtesy of a Living Social deal I snagged a few months back.
We hiked, and climbed, and did our best not to contract poison ivy….
There were beautiful vistas, fancy gaps, and excessive sweating.
We also took impromptu senior year of high school photos:
How ridiculous is that photo??? Makes me giggle every time I look at it!
And since the BF is *cough* afraid of heights *cough* I climbed to the top by my onesie:
Even though it was overcast that day, the view was gorgeous!
WARNING: Do not look directly at my white legs. Doing so may cause temporary blindness.
* CHEAP ASS UPDATE: Target has Clif Bars and Luna Bars on sale this week! They have boxes of 6 and limited flavors in BOXES OF SEVEN for $5!! HOLLER!
* TECH SAVVY UPDATE: The wireless on my computer died 
* NOT-SO-TECH-SAVVY UPDATE: I spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to fix the computer problem. This included several rounds of me answering the same exact series of questions over and over. I think the rep was hoping I’d change my responses. Think again, Dell. Think again….
* FRIENDS AND FAM UPDATE: The BF’s mom and pop came to Charlotte. We showed them the town (through food, naturally). We also had a make-your-own pizza night at my humble abode:
Mmmmmmm pizzzzzzzzzzaaaaaaaa *drool*
* BEEF CAKE UPDATE: I upped my squat and tricep weight at Body Pump! I’m now up to the following (total weight including 2.5lb bar):
Sept 2011 versus June 2011
My goal over the next two weeks is to bump up my squat and back weight again. Every time I increase my squat weight I get lower back pains, so I’m going to work really hard on my form. I’m watching the how-to videos on the Body Pump website as we speak…
* RUNNING UPDATE: I didn’t run for two weeks, and felt like death was upon me when I ran 6 miles Sunday. But I did it, and I hope to beat my eight-mile record in the next couple of weeks!
* THE WHY-IT’S-GOOD-TO-DATE-GUYS-WITH-SKILLS-UPDATE: My IT guy fixed my computer *wink* *wink*
* NERD UPDATE: Shit got serious on my 2012 budget spreadsheet. Yes, that’s my 2012 annual budget I’m working on, which is something I’ve started every September for the past 7 years. Every year it gets bigger and better, and with the addition of my new friend the “Indirect Formula” my summary spreadsheet just went to a whole new level of awesomeness. Be jealous.
So fill me in! What have you been up to? What have you cooked? Where have you been? What have I missed??? My Google Reader is outta control right now!!
Well if that title didn’t furrow your brow then you my friend read with unshakable candor.
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I survived the Great Attack of the Rogue Toenail and all I got was this lousy Band-Aid.
Perhaps we should back up a few steps….
Sunday morning I snuck out of bed early to make myself breakfast, drink excessive amounts of black coffee, and sprawl out on the couch to catch up on blog reading and a good hour of budget reconciling. Ahhhh nothing brings me more joy than a nice breakfast and a nicely balanced budget 😉
I absolutely adore those peaceful morning hours when the rest of the sane world is still cuddled up with their blankies sucking their thumbs while I’m off doing whatever my little heart desires. It kind of reminds me of sneaking out of the house as a teenager. Something about being awake when no one else is feels rebellious and thrilling to me. *Perhaps* I’ve traded in sneaking out to meet my friends for sneaking out to play with excel. But that’s ok. This is a judgment free zone. Sadly these special hours seem to only present themselves on Sundays and this is precisely the reason for which I dutifully savor ever ounce of every Sunday morning.
Once my breakfast settled and I started to feel the caffeine from my coffee IV kick in, I decided to head out on my Sunday long run. I hadn’t been on a long run for two weeks–since the day I ran a whopping six miles—the *ahem* farthest *ahem* I had EVER run. Yesterday as I set out, I was motivated by Lindsay’s post about reaching her new 8 mile long distance running record. So I got my butt off the couch and laced up my sneakers. As soon as I stepped outside I realized it was kinda hot out. As in I’d been outside 3 seconds and I was already starting to perspire. The mental games immediately started. I began to talk myself down and lower my expectations. It’s hot. Just go for a quick run and get your butt back inside. If you’re too tired, you can always stop. Etc. etc. Mind games to keep myself from heading back in. Maybe I would make a good salesman…
After pretending to stretch for a minute or two, I was off. Miles started to tick by. I ran to the pizza shop, to Target, to the coffee shop, to the grocery store… Everywhere I could think of. Each time I reached my destination I gave myself a new one. Toward the end of mile 4 I seriously contemplated calling a cab to come get me. I had taken an unfortunate turn that put me at the foot of a rather steep hill, and I actually had to clasp my hand against my chest as I weased my way upward right past a Two Men and a Truck Van with unloading in process. They looked concerned, but they didn’t try to stop me and I kept going. And going. And going. And finally, after an eternity of running, when my Runkeeper ap declared that I’d reached and unfathomable 8 miles I said “mmmmmmkay yeah that’s enough.” And I stopped.
8 miles. Absolute ridiculousness.
How’s that for blogosphere motivation?!
If I’m going to keep doing this long run business, I really need to look into getting one of those little runner’s fanny packs to carry a bottle of water. Dehydration is no friend of mine. I’m thinking something along the lines of this Fuel Belt:
Any recommendations?
I was RIPE after the run. You know it’s bad when you can smell your own stank. When I undressed to hit the showers I was shocked to see that one of my toes was completely covered in blood! At first glance I thought the entire side of my toe had sliced open! After a momentary freak out moment that included me hobbling out to the patio to show the BF my war wound, I took a closer look and realized the toe was still one solid appendage, but rather my crazy pinky toenail had stabbed the one next to it in an apparent angry rage! What the heck?! I’ve always had squirrely pinky toenails. I mean, when I paint my nails I basically have to paint my whole pinky toe and then wipe off the excess because the nail is so small and peculiar shaped. I just never realized that thing was locked and loaded!
Lesson learned: Always be on the lookout for rogue toenails, especially before long runs.
Stop and go. Stop and go.
Ya’ll may recall my short-lived escapade with running last summer. And you might also recall when I hurt my knee. And if you recall those two things you might also recall that I tried to get back into running by purchasing new running shoes and starting interval training. And then remember when I hurt my knee AGAIN? And then I went to the orthopedic surgeon and he told me “some knees just aren’t made for running.” And then I said screw you, doctor. I’ll show you, doctor. And then remember when I tried to do interval training again? And then I hurt my knee.. AGAIN. And then basically said yeah screw running?
That was fun, wasn’t it? 
Sooooooo…. about 2 weeks ago I went to the Charlotte Running Company to buy *new running shoes* … Stubborn might just be my middle name.
Note that I purchased the new shoes BEFORE trying to start running again. Let’s give Mary a cyber pat on the back for at least taking one step in the right direction.
The coolest thing about my visit to the Charlotte Running Co., was the personal fitting. This involved me running on a treadmill while they videotaped my ankles and feet. The playback was pretty interesting to watch. I learned that I do not over or under pronate (roll the ankles inward or outward), which I was always curious about. What I do do is over extend my legs when I run, which causes my heel to hit the ground first. Apparently, the balls of your feet should hit first. The salesman told me to pretend that I’m running on hot coals and take quick short steps.
Verrrrrry interesting. It’s funny to think that there’s a “right” way to run. There’s more to it than strapping on any old pair of tennis shoes and hitting the payment. Really, Mary? Cuz that worked oh so well for you last summer, didn’t it?
After trying on about 10 pairs of running shoes, I ended up going with the Asics Gel Nimbus 13:
Even with my new shoes and my new hot coal running technique, I didn’t want to just jump into running head — strike that — ball-of-the-foot first. I decided to ramp up with… you guessed it.
Interval training.
Originally, my goal was to start with 1 minute running and 1 minute walking for 20 minutes. Then each week gradually increase the run portion of the interval by 1 minute.
Good plan, eh?
Probably was, but it just wasn’t challenging enough. But as much as I just want to just get out there and RUN until my legs can’t carry me any further, I have a little nagging voice in the back of my head reminding me how devastated I’ll be if I hurt my knee again this summer. Sooooooo I reached a compromise with the nagging voice. Instead of bumping the run time up a minute each week, I’m bumping it up a minute each day that I run.
My feets in action:
I’m also running every other day (as opposed to EVERY day I tried to run last summer), and I found a pretty nice path to run on (as opposed to hard streets/sidewalks).
If I stay on this plan, I should be able to run 5K no (knee) problem by mid August! That would be the ultimate accomplishment in my mind. I know 5K isn’t much—I mean it’s no walk in the park but it’s also no marathon—but in my knee-injurfied world it’s quite the accomplishment!
