My morning routine.

My morning routine can certainly vary depending on what my workout is for the day. But let's just make things easy and say it is a running day. Here is what goes down!

My alarm goes off at 5:30 am. I get right out of bed- there's no point laying there and wallowing in the fact that I have to get up. I put my robe on, go to the bathroom, and then find the kitties to say good morning.   

Jelly hijacked my laptop before I could get to it!

Shamed.

I DO WHAT I WANT!

              

"Poooooo"! My cat is a genius!

Then it's into the kitchen to pour my iced coffee. Paul makes it by the jug fulls. My cup is already out on the counter because I am anal retentive and set everything out the night before. 

Then I sit at the island and check out what is going on in the interwebs... I'll post my blog to Facebook, check my email, and see if anything newsworthy or earth shattering happened overnight! I'll also download any new pod casts that are waiting for me.

Around 5:50, I get dressed for my run. My clothes have already been laid out. I warm up with the couch stretch (4 minutes each side), and gear up for my run! If I am good, I drink water at some point before my run, but mostly I suck and only have coffee.

I warm up with a quarter mile walk, run my 5 miler, then cool down with another quarter mile walk. Then it's inside for another round of the couch stretch, plus some knee strengthening exercises and mobility work. If I time everything right, I am completely done cooling down and stretching by 7:15 am.

I look THRILLED to be doing couch stretch!

I shower, get dressed, put my make up on, and do my hair in a matter of 15 minutes. My clothes are already laid out (of course), my hair doesn't require much, and my showers last maybe 2 minutes. That's the secret to my speedy "get ready" time!

 I also just let my hair dry in the car.

Then I gather all my bags for work, grab my lunch (already in Tupperware in the fridge), pour some more coffee, and make my cereal. I say goodbye to the kitties and if I'm lucky, walk out the door between 7:35-7:40.

Breakfast is eaten in the car and I'm at work by 7:55 am!

And that's my morning!

What's your morning routine like?

Do you set everything out the night before?

Ready to Run- my BIG TAKEAWAYS!

I recently reviewed the book Ready to Run by Dr. Kelly Starrett. You can read Part 1, Part 2,  Part 2 (yeah I wrote two part twos lol...) and Part 3 of my reviews if you missed them!

There was so much to talk about in the book that I just kind of wanted to wrap everything up... In this post I will share my "Big Takeaways", "What I Have Changed Since Reading Ready to Run", and "My Overall Opinion on How the Book Has Benefited Me".

BIG TAKEAWAYS

1. I am an athlete 24/7, not just during my 45 minute workout. Throughout they day, there are many choices (lifestyle and otherwise) I can make that will help my body prepare and recover for the training I put it through.

2. I need to warm up and cool down. And I have been an ass for not doing so properly all these years.

3. Nagging pains and hot spots are not to be ignored. It's not just going to "go away" unless the proper measures are taken. Sometimes those measures are not clear, but the sooner you start looking, the sooner you can figure it out.

4. My weakest body parts from a ROM standpoint, are my left hip extendors and my ankles!

5. "All human beings should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves." And according to the book, I should be spending at least 10 minutes a day on body rehab/maintenance.



WHAT I CHANGED SINCE READING READY TO RUN

1. I started warming up and cooling down before my workouts.

2. I wear compression socks after a run.

3. I do mobility work and injury prevention/rehab 6 days a week. (1 day off for sanity purposes!)

4. I run less. I was running 4-5 days a week. For now, it's 2 days a week until I get things more figured out and under control.

5. I drink even more water than I used to.


MY OVERALL OPINION

The biggest thing this book gave me was hope that I will be pain free again someday and that I have the tools to get myself there! I do think any runner could benefit from reading this book. It's not specifically geared toward an injured runner. It is geared toward the typical runner. And most of us are typical runners! We want to run until the day we die and never suffer from injuries or nagging pains. Dr. Starrett sets the reader up with the maintenance tools to do that.

Surgery at Johnny Hops (as we lovingly call it)

Just a little update for friends and family and anyone else who cares!

Paul had surgery on Wednesday at Johns Hopkins hospital to remove some new tumor growth in his right temporal lobe. It was something they were watching on his MRIs and his doctors decided it was time to take it out. It is getting sent to pathology, but preliminary opinions are positive. They also took out an epileptic region of the brain that may have been causing seizures. It is a part of the brain he doesn't need, so if it was causing seizures, removing it may help. If it wasn't causing seizures, oh well, no harm, no foul.

Surgery started a little after 7:30am and I was talking to his surgeon by 2:15pm. I know that sounds like a long day, but his first surgery was 12 hours long, so I couldn't believe it when I looked up from my book to see his surgeon standing over me with a smile.

I am staying with Paul in his room at the NCCU. Don't worry, I am taking care of him! But between all the surgeons, anesthesiologists, neurologists, doctors, and nurses in this joint, it's not like he needs some extra TLC from me, but I am sure he will appreciate it.

If you are just finding out now that he had surgery, my apologies. We didn't know until a few days ago and didn't really tell anyone because the last THREE times he was supposed to have surgery it got postponed, so we didn't want to needlessly worry anyone. Plus, we wanted it to be "chill" and "no big deal". Even though brain surgery is a big deal!

I am just so happy the surgery is over. Surely every day (if not every hour) there is a new challenge to face- whether it's real or whether I just can't get out of my own head- but at least the actual surgery is over.

What does it feel like when your husband is having brain surgery and you are just sitting in the waiting room, helpless? It feels like all of your happiness, everything in your life that you care about, anything that matters at all is in there with him. Even though I trust his surgeon 1000000000000000000000% and would not choose anyone else to take care of Paul, those are still feelings I have. I guess it is natural.

One thing is for certain, no matter how sucky the situation is, Paul and I always say how lucky we are that we are able to get the expert, world class care that is provided at Johns Hopkins. Some people aren't as fortunate, but we know we are.

Fitness Survey

I did the survey waaaaay back in 2013... before anyone ever even read my blog! 
I thought it would be fun to do again...

What did you eat for breakfast? Special K Protein Plus Cereal! Or an egg sandwich. Or shredded wheat.

How much water do you drink a day? I aim for 100oz but it ends up being more like 67 oz or so...

What is your current favorite workout? Running! (Since I recently took some time off!)

How many calories do you eat a day? A lot. 2,000+.

What are your favorite healthy snacks? Apples, turkey breast, peanut butter, cheese... I am trying to limit my answers to the only truly "healthy" snacks I eat!

What do you usually eat for lunch? Chicken, broccoli, and/or sweet 'taters. Every work day.

Okay, I guess no sweet taters today.

What is your favorite body part to strength train? Back!

What is your least favorite body part to strength train? Biceps.

Those guns aren't from curls, I can tell ya that!

What are your "bad" food cravings? Oh, anything and everything! I don't look at it as "bad" though. There is a time and a place for all kinds of foods!

Do you take any vitamins or supplements? I sometimes have whey protein powder. I have it in the summer more than the winter because I will put it in shakes.

Do you eat fast food? Dairy Queen. :)

How often do you eat out? Not a lot. Eating at home is a great way to save lots and lots of money!

Do you have a gym membership? Yes, I love Planet Fitness! $10 a month, bare bones. Can't beat that.

How many hours of sleep do you get a night? I prefer 8-9. That doesn't mean I get it, though.

Do you have a "cheat" day? No, I just try to eat healthy most of the time. If I want junk, I have it. I don't require it to be on a certain day.

Do you drink alcohol? Yes I do! I am back on the dry red wine train.

Do you have a workout buddy? Only if you count Rob Cesternino, the greatest podcaster there is!

What is the best thing that changed in your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle? I obsess less!

What is the last healthy thing you did? I did the couch stretch!

Feel free to do this survey!
Or answer a question in the comments!

How to do Pull Ups!

One of the questions I get asked most often in the comments section is, "How did you learn to do pull ups!!!???"... or something of that nature! Well the thing is, while I am proud of the fact that I can bang out a couple pull ups in a row, you must know that this was something TWO AND A HALF YEARS IN THE MAKING. I believe it took me almost one year to do a single unassisted pull up (overhand, wide grip), and another year and a half to be able to do four in a row. I am stuck at four right now, but I dream of the day I can do ten! Maybe by 2020!?

So anyway, here are a few of the things that really helped me get to the point of doing several pull ups in a row:

1. Time. It takes time. Like I said before, pull ups are difficult, and I was not magically able to do them.

2. Consistency. I did consistent weight training. I started out two times a week and nowadays I do upper body 3-4 days a week.

3. Focus. My upper body training had a focus. I wasn't just throwing in a couple tricep dips and a plank after my runs. I used a training plan with the goal of getting stronger. I had to start light- I remember doing shoulder press with 10 lb dumbbells. I felt so awesome when I could do 12.5 lbs... then 15 lbs... Now I can do 30 lbs! (Again, this is over a two and a half year time period.)

4. I plowed through. Sometimes I would be stuck at a certain weight for months. Then I would see some gains and know it was all worth it. I trusted that I would keep getting better. I just had to KEEP GOING.

5. PRACTICE. But how could I practice pull ups if I couldn't even do one? The answer was the assisted pull up machine. As I got stronger, I lowered the amount of weight I used as assistance. I still use the assisted pull up machine every time I train back at the gym! I do 4 sets of 10 reps with 16lbs assistance. It is difficult, but it does get easier. Once in awhile, after I am warmed up, I will see how many I can do without any assistance at all. Every once in a very long while, I can do one more than I used to be able to and I know my hard work is paying off!

Do you have any tips that helped you gain pull up strength?

Weekend Wrap Up!

I had a relaxing, yet productive weekend!

All weekend, we were wondering if we would get all the snow they were calling for...

I was the craziest teacher in the world on Friday. Crazy in a good way. I was just so jazzed it was the weekend, the kids were in a good mood, and I had fun lessons to teach. (I guess if I don't have fun lessons, that is my fault, right!?) Anyway, work was a breeze and I was surprisingly still energized by the time I got home.

That night, we had game night with our friends Geoff and Bree! We ended up talking most of the time and then played a rousing round of Quiddler, where Bree kicked our asses!

Bree, Geoff, Captain Tiny Cat, and Sprout (their fur babies)

Not pictured: Their actual baby. (She was sleeping!)

Can we talk about how long my hair is getting!?

On the way home, Paul and I stopped at.... Wendys! It was actually my decision. I got a 6 piece nugget, but when I got home and dumped them on my plate, I realized I had the hunger that called for a 20 piece nugget. Oops!




This was the first night in awhile that I got some solid sleep! When I woke up, Paul and I were super lazy around the house. We played cards and watched Jeopardy. I was really looking forward to the day because I had nothing on my agenda, and that's just what I needed this weekend.

Paul went to a Hershey Bear's hockey game with a friend, so I had the house to myself all night! Here is what I did...

I cleaned and organized my closet!

I blogged!

(Notice the litter box in the dining room...)

I did a photo shoot with Chrissy!



I made and ate guacamole!

I had a really bad night. I guess since I slept in so late on Saturday, it affected my sleep that night. I slept from about 9:30-10:30, but then laid awake. I played Scrabble, read, got on the computer, but nothing made me tired. At 2am, I took a sleeping pill. The last time I remember looking at the clock was 2:53...

I hate taking sleeping pills because they make me sleep forever. I am tired, groggy, and have no appetite the next day. I got up around 11, fueled myself with this tiny piece of chocolate, and had the most "foggy" run ever. (My head was foggy, not the weather!)

Not the best fuel, but I felt weird!

Still managed a strong run and my knee felt good.

Besides that piece of chocolate, I realized I hadn't eaten in 18 hours!

I made up for it by housing 4 blueberry toaster waffles!

Then I cleaned the house. You know you need to clean when the bottom

of your black socks look like this...

I had another night all by my little lonesome because Paul went to a Super Bowl party. I stayed home with the kitties, did my own thing... which included Night at the Museum (eh), Joan Rivers' book, Diary of A Mad Diva (hilarious), brownies that Paul forgot to take to his party (delish), and my kitties (adorbs).

What do you like to do when you have a night all alone?

"Weekly" Workout Re-Cap!

I'm running a little bit more!
However, I am still committed to my mobility work and rehabbing myself.
I am not "better", but I feel like I have direction... that is always good!

1/25- My first run after 2 weeks off! Read all about it here!

1/26- Snow day! Chest workout at home. Sine I barely got any sleep the night before, it took awhile to get motivated to work out. I compromised and did it all in my jammies!

Couch Stretch Video

1/27- Run! Oh boy does it feel good to RUN! Even if it was on the treadmill at the gym... I warmed up with a quarter mile walk and cooled down with the same. Also did the couch stretch before and after. COUCH STRETCH IS THE KEY TO ME RUNNING PAIN FREE, I AM CONVINCED!

Can we just talk about how inaccurate the calorie counter on this machine is?

There is NO WAY I burned 560 calories!

1/28- Back at Planet Fitness!

1/29- Chest at home. Pretty much the same workout as earlier in the week. But I got out of my jammies for this workout! I thought about a walk, but the "feels like" temp was 3 degrees so... no.

1/30- Gorgeous early morning snow run! My leg felt very strong during the run. Later in the day, I could feel my knee getting a little hot. It was not as bad as it usually is, but the hot spot is still there. I also did a lot of mobility work and knee/glute strengthening throughout the day.

1/31- A late afternoon trip to Planet Fitness to lift back. Boy does the gym STINK by 4pm on a Saturday! I did my normal back routine that I did earlier in the week. I was kind hemming and hawing on whether to even workout today, but I'm glad I decided to. I felt strong at the gym, and of course, post workout endorphins are always the best!

It is great to incorporate some running back into my routine!