Things I accomplished while I was sick this week

This literally was my life this past week

Remember how I said I was feeling crappy on Saturday which is why I couldn't get through my bootcamp workout? Turns out I had an upper respiratory infection but it turns out the cure (Prednisone) made me sicker than the infection. Therefore I ended up having to take the entire week off from work. Here is everything I accomplished during this week:

It's ok to admit defeat...temporarily

I have two favorite quotes:
(Full quotes at the end of the post)

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" 

"There is a vast difference between failure and temporary defeat" 

The majority of the time if I'm struggling during a workout or run, I try to keep the first quote running through my head to keep me going. This weekend however, I found myself looking to the second one in an effort to make myself feel better. 

A little backstory:

My best friend Frannie and I recently started doing a bootcamp at the gym we're now going to, run by an amazing trainer named G.I. Jen. I haven't been going as often as Frannie has, either due to my schedule, conflicts with my training sessions with Andre' or because of my health. I was really excited all week though to go to this Saturday's bootcamp because I was planning on bringing my new GR1 and bricks with me. What's that, you ask?

Experiments in My Kitchen

So, I know this isn't a food blog, but the hubby and I made a dish last night that I'm so excited about that I feel I had to share it. First though, let me explain why I even tried to make it in the first place.



I was informed by my trainer Andre', none to subtly, that I HAVE to start eating my veggies. Here's the problem: I don't particularly like them. Don't get me wrong, I want to like them, but I just don't. Here's a list of veggies I find tolerable:

• Steamed spinach (raw is too bitter)
• Steamed broccoli (again, not raw)
• Steamed cauliflower
• Lettuce
• Cucumbers (this was a recent realization, as in the past week. I had to work my way up to it though)
• Onions, if mixed in something
• Red bell peppers if cooked down
• Corn
• Cooked green beans 
• Potatoes

WE ARE SPARTA! (For real this time)

The familiar first chords of "Eye of the Tiger" start playing as we slowly make our way through the dusty fields, heading to where we'd be parking and shuttling to the Spartan Race. The tension and anticipation in the car is palpable; Brian is practically bouncing in his seat, Daniel has his eyes closed-steadying himself-and I'm sweating bullets and want to throw up. I try to lose myself in the lyrics and beat of the song to get my head right. There's a lot riding on today's race. It's Brian's and Daniel's first ever Spartan Race and they've both trained hard for it. I, on the other hand, have been on vacation in Colorado for the last week, eating like a kid who just escaped fat camp. I've done everything I shouldn't have done before a race-burned out my grip and forearms while bouldering, killed my legs on a super steep hike in Boulder, and apparently let myself get dehydrated. Spending a week in high altitude with next to no humidity was probably the worst thing I could have done before this race. The heat and humidity on this race day make you feel like you're practically chewing the air before being able to swallow. Yech.

No Room For Egos

The idea for this post came the other night while I was watching So You Think You Can Dance (and for the record, no, I don't think I can dance. I KNOW I can't dance beyond my slightly spastic "happy jigs" but I love watching this show. It's completely my guilty pleasure.). There were the requisite amazing dancers, the heartbreak stories, 1 Exorcist dancer, 2 absolutely A-Dorable kids, and the "I'm really embarrassed for you" dancers. There was one guy who was autistic and while his skills were not the greatest, he looked so happy while dancing, and to be honest, he was pretty fluid with some of his moves. The whole crowd went wild, as did the judges. They didn't send him through of course, but he was told to never stop dancing because it really just made him light up, and it really did. I genuinely enjoyed watching him dance, and he had a lot of guts and courage to get up on that stage. This was his performance:

But I'm on vacation, so the calories don't count...right?

I think one of the hardest things about going on vacation is the food. When you're at home in your normal routine, making the right (or at least better) food choices is much easier than when you are on vacation. On vacation you are surrounded by new foods and restaurants that you don't have at home, which makes you want to try all the things you wouldn't normally eat. When faced with a burger with cream cheese, jalapeños and bacon (don't judge just try it, it will change your life!) vs. a plain grilled chicken sandwich while on vacation, guess which one I'm choosing?

WE ARE SPARTA!....kinda...

Team Legendary: Brian, me, Daniel, Diana

This past Sunday I decided to hold a little training session with the group of people I'll be running the Spartan Race with in May. They are all obstacle racing virgins and I wanted this training session to help prepare them at least a little bit for the race. Although that's kind of like saying you want to eat a Vienna Sausage to prepare for a hot dog eating contest.

Going into it I was a little nervous, for a couple of reasons.

1) The previous day, the salad I'd eaten at a restaurant completely tore my insides apart, which left me really weak and kind of hating life the rest of the day. I woke up Sunday feeling like I'd been roofied- not a good feeling.

2) I think we've pretty much established that I'm a pretty shitty runner. I get nervous running around other people I know because I am so slow. I also knew that because I'm the experienced one, they were going to be looking to me for direction. I was worried I wouldn't live up to their expectations. Still don't know, kinda too afraid to ask.