Monthly Archives: June 2010

Howdy! How’s your Tuesday going? It is BEAUTIFUL here in Wisconsin! Sorry for not posting yesterday. I went into the office and it’s the only time I’ll be at work all week so I was pretty busy. I didn’t get home until after 7pm and didn’t have the energy to post! I’ve got lots of fun things to post about so don’t you worry!

As I mentioned in a few of my most recent posts I am currently taking grad school classes. My program of study is called The Master’s in Servant Leadership and takes place locally at Viterbo University. The course I am taking for the next four days is called Stewardship and today this was my classroom for the day.

This is the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center located near Baraboo Wisconsin. We read his book The Sand County Almanac for class and went on a little field trip  to experience the inspiration for his book first hand. It was the most perfect day to spend outside enjoying nature and discussing the beauty of nature and our responsibility to it. I had a lot of fun taking beautiful and creative pictures.

My favorite one!

We took a little hike to “the shack.” In the 1930′s  Leopold bought this land which  use to have a farm on it. “The Shack” was the old chicken coop. He and his family fixed up the shack and used it and the land as a vacation spot.

He didn’t write his book here but took field notes about the environment and later turned these into the essays featured in his book.

This is Anna our excellent tour guide for the day!

This picture can only be described as “three old guys on a bench” (They told me to take a picture of them and call it that)

That’s Tom one of our professors with Jim and Allen my classmates. The shack is located just a few feet from the Wisconsin River. We took a walk down to check it out and it was gorgeous today!

   It was such a fun day! Tomorrow it’s back to our regular classroom but there will be a few more field trips this week. I learned so much by experiencing the land Leopold wrote about firsthand. You may be wondering what this all has to do with healthy living but in order for us to be healthy our Earth needs to be healthy. In order for the Earth to be healthy we need to work to make it healthy. We can only do this by having a deeper understanding and appreciation for the beauty of this land. Back to my regular ramblings soon!

Hey hey hey there! How’s the end of your weekend going? I use to hate Sunday nights but since I usually don’t work on Monday’s they’re not too bad….I do have to work tomorrow though

From the title of my blog you may have gathered that I have an affinity for girly colors, especially pink! To read about how I decided to name my blog check out this post. Here I am this morning after a morning run, a vision in pink!

I got this pink running shirt at T.J. Max yesterday. See how it matches my pink Zune and my pink BondiBand? Even my face is a nice shade of pink! Last night turned into a bit of wild debauchery.  Brian worked all day for a friend of ours and I met up with them later in the evening and let’s just say there was regular beer involved and a frozen pizza not to mention staying up until 1:30am. I got to sleep in this morning but knew wanted to start the day off with a good run. Man was it humid out! I must be getting use to it though because my pace was the best it’s been all summer. I busted out 4 sweaty miles in 38 minutes. When I got home I did Polly’s Yoga for Runners to stretch out and this great core workout from SparkPeople. Check out my yoga room!

I also knew it would be important to get some activity in since I would be doing this most of the day.

I have a final paper due for grad school and I’ve been working on it most of the day. I got a good start on it but have about 2.5 pages left to write and I am totally blocked! I’ve put it away for now, hopefully I’ll get my mojo back tomorrow. 

I’ve added one more little pink accent to my life! I made the mistake of wandering into the home section of T.J. Max and found so many adorable dishes and kitchen items. I just had to buy this mug for my morning cup of green tea.

You can’t see it but it says, “Always a princess” How perfect is that?!

I have a really great summer recipe to share with you but I think I’ll save that for another day. I’ve been staring at this computer way too long! Hope you’re all geared up for the week ahead. I know I’ve got a busy one! I work tomorrow and then have 4 days of grad school. Then we are headed out of town for the 4th of July. Crazy! How did summer get so busy?

Hey friends! How’s your Saturday treating you? Mine has been very productive!

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. Last weekend when we went out for my father-in-law’s birthday we passed the Blue Moon restaurant. Both my mother-in-law and I commented on how we had never been there. So, she decided that’s where she’d like to go on her birthday.

As you can see from the cover of the menu you this place was established in 1924!  It has quite the history. You can read all about it here. I really liked the blue water glasses.

I started out with a glass of Prairie Fume from the Wollersheim Winery near Madison Wisconsin.

It was so delicious! Light with just a hint of sweetness. I have never been to the Wollersheim Winery and have only tasted their wine at friend’s houses since you buy their wine at our local grocery stores. After this tasty sample I would really like to visit and try some of there other wines.

The Blue Moon had a FANTASTIC salad bar. Look at this bad boy!

They also had soup on their salad bar. I had the tomato ravioli.

Very tasty! Everyone else had beer cheese soup and said it too was good. For my entree I had grilled salmon with garlic mashed potatoes. I started to dig in before I could snap a picture!

This was pretty freak’n amazing! I am really picky about my fish and normally don’t order it when I go out with the exception of salmon. This salmon literally melted in my mouth! Plus it was huge! The potatoes were real too, they even had the skins mashed in which I love and were very flavorful!

I could only eat about half of my salmon and my potatoes. Everyone else really enjoyed their meals. And they even gave the birthday girl a special treat!

That’s raspberry ice cream covered with white chocolate! She shared some with us and it was AWESOME!

I really liked this restaurant. The food wasn’t particularly unique but it was REALLY good. The price was a little high but the quality of food was worth it. Plus it was a nice casual atmosphere, I actually felt too dressed up wearing my Friday dress up clothes.   

After we came home from dinner Brian wanted to try is bike out since he hasn’t ridden it all year. We pumped up the tires and took a ride through the marsh. It was so much fun riding with him! Running has not been going well for him. His knees have been giving him a lot of pain. Nothing seems to help not icing, not knee sleeves, not even running on a treadmill. I feel really bad for him because he’s so frustrated and really does want to run. We are thinking about getting him a hybrid bike for riding around and I might get one too! Since my run around bike is from when I was 10 and doesn’t quite fit me right! It would be really fun to bike together.

So far today I’ve taught two classes at the Y (group strength and Zumba) and cleaned my very dirty house! It seems the cleaning fairy forgot to come while I was at grad school! I’m going to jump in the shower soon and maybe head out to the mall area to check out sun dresses at Old Navy. I should be working on my final paper for my previous grad school class (before the next on starts on Tuesday!) but I just need a break!

Hope you have a great day and stay cool! It’s very hot and humid here today!

Hey friends! It’s Friday! Yay! Actually I have been so confused about what day of the week it is lately Friday doesn’t mean too much to me! I love how summer does that to you!

Not much new to report here. I went for a nice hot sweaty run thie morning doing one of my favorite routes backwards. I ran a little over 5 miles in about 52 minutes, my longest run since the triathlon.

My dad pointed out to me something I need to clarify (hi dad!). In my post yesterday I mentioned how many calories I was burning during triathlon training versus now. What I should have clarified was that those were the calories I was burning through exercise in addition to what I burn simply by living, breathing, eating and sleeping which is called your Basal Metabolic Rate. According to SparkPeople my BMR is 1,879 calories burned per day. This is based on my age, weight, and how sedentary and active my job is. SparkPeople also states that this is not 100% accurate. I think you actually need medical tests done to know what your exact BMR is.

In other news I did something crazy today! I wore a dress to work! I rarely ever wear dresses or skirts but just felt like it. I have this cute comfy dress that I never wear so instead of casual Friday I’m having dressed up Friday. Once a week I’m responsible for taking pictures of the construction going on in our chapel. I felt pretty funny walking around the construction site in my dress. I did a few self photos just for your enjoyment!

Don’t worry! I go in there after all the workers go home so I was safe! It is so gross and dirty in there. My arm was covered with dust from leaning against the scaffolding!

One more picture of this cute little (okay so she’s not little) bugger I found snoozing in my bed!

What a spoiled princess!

Hope you have a good weekend! We’re going out tonight to a new to me restaurant for my mother-in-law’s birthday!

Hello! I know it has been so long since I posted! I can’t even believe it! I was doing so good posting at least once a day and I even had some good ideas for things to write about too! Life just got really crazy after the last time I posted!

On Saturday we celebrated Father’s Day at our house by having my parents, my in-laws, my brother and his girlfriend, and Brian’s brother, his wife, my two nieces, and their dog (Izzy’s sister Winnie) over. It was great fun but took up most of the evening. Sunday morning I got up bright and early to sing at church. After church I got ready to head to grad school which was every day Sunday-Wednesday from 12:00pm-8:00pm! It was totally intense yet wonderful! The course I took was an ethics course so we spent most of the day discussing Plato, Aristotle, Bentham and Kant. My brain was fried my the end of the day it was all I could do to go home and just veg out in front of the television. I didn’t work when I had class but my mornings were filled with workouts, a coffee date with an old friend, a meeting with my boss, and just plain getting caught up on little stuff around the house. I really had no time to post. And the fun isn’t over yet! I start another 4 day, 8 hour per day course next Tuesday! Honestly I really love my classes. True they are intense but I get so much out of them. I just might be a little absent again from posting that is all.

In my previous post I mentioned my plan for getting back to a healthy weight. So far it has been going really well. Even though there were a lot of tempting treats at grad school and dinner was provided for us each night I made some healthy choices and was able to enjoy a few indulgences. I’ve been keeping pretty close tabs on my calorie intake and what I’ve burned. Just to give you an idea of how things have changed since triathlon training:

Triathlon Training

Calories burned per week: 4,000-5,000

Calories consumed per day: 1,800-2,200

Now

Calories burned per week: 2,000-2,500

Calories consumed per day: 1,200-1,500

It was pretty easy to cut back on my exercise. On days when I strength train I generally don’t do any cardio so I’m only doing cardio 4 times a week versus 6-7 times a week. The only thing I miss is the variety. I really want to focus on running so if I’m not teaching a class I usually run which means I haven’t biked or swam much ( or at all!) since the tri. It has not been easy cutting back on food intake! I just love to eat so much! I really have to watch my portions and am keeping pretty close tabs on my calories. The good thing is I  do not physically feel like I need to eat a lot. It seemed like when I was training I was hungry all the time!

So that is what’s been going on in the world of healthy living for me! I’ll leave you with some pictures my friends sent me from my bike trip to Lanesboro.

I love this picture of me and my bike, before the trip began!

At the end of the day enjoying a beer!

I can’t believe this little town has a tattoo shop! It wasn’t open, and Lynette wasn’t going to get a tattoo! From left to right: Lynette, Jean, Nancy, me, Anne (I think, I might be getting Anne and Jean mixed up, they were only with us for the last half of the day).

Jackie had us pose outside this old fashioned food cart. I love it!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

p.s. I missed blogging!

Hello! Yay! It’s Friday! If yesterday I felt like I hadn’t accomplished much I totally made up for it today!

I got up at 5am (crazy I know!) to run with Brian. He was going to run after work but it is terribly hot today and I suggested he go in the morning and I would go with. This was a fabulous idea because then I was up and ready to go tackle my “to do” list. I practiced some Zumba moves before breakfast. Then I prepped for a Group Strength class  I was teaching today. I wrote my last paper for grad school and polished up the other papers I have due next week. I ran a few errands and got home in time for a healthy lunch before heading off to teach Group Strength and practice some more Zumba at the Y in front of the big mirrors! I just got out of shower, started some laundry and sat down to chill. I’ll admit I am a little tired!

Since it has been almost a week since my triathlon I have had some time to think about the experience. I really loved training for an Olympic distance tri. It was a good challenge but also manageable, I could fit the workouts into my life without too much trouble. I also felt my training fully prepared me for the triathlon. What I didn’t expect while doing the triathlon was the caliber of the other triathletes doing the Olympic distance. Many of the other triathletes are training for Ironman and this triathlon was a practice run for them. They had some pretty high tech triathlon gear like aerodynamic helmets like this one.

(Source)

This was a little intimidating. I was more use to doing “friendly” triathlons that were not as competitive. I did not do this race with the idea that I would place in my age category. I did it because I wanted to see if I could and to just to say that I did it. I feel very proud of myself for even accomplishing the triathlon. Last year I was close to placing in the sprint and I think I could have placed in the sprint distance this year so I held out a little hope that I would place but it was not to be. This does give me a good goal to work for next year.

I feel like training and doing the triathlon made me very physically fit. The fact that I recovered so quickly is a testament to that. So many people told me there was not way they could even think about doing something like that. Even though I feel very proud of my accomplishment there is something that is bothering me. After watching the video footage and looking at photos for a very long time I came to realize something. I look…well…big! I’m not saying that you have to be at your ideal weight to do a triathlon. I mean they even have divisions for “heavier” athletes (Clydesdale (men) Athena (women)). I even considered racing in the Athena category because I knew I would probably place but I wanted to see how I would do in my age category. The truth is this is probably the heaviest I’ve been doing a triathlon. I am not at my heaviest weight. I am definitely not at my lightest. Most importantly I am NOT at a healthy weight. I do think that you can be fit and not thin but that isn’t necessarily a good thing. I was afraid to admit it but my weight could have been the reason I suffered from a few injuries during my training. I know from my certifications in group exercise that exercise and fitness are important to your over all health and they certainly help with weight loss BUT food is also a huge part of weight loss. During my training I tended to got with the mind set that since I was burning soooooooo MANY calories I could eat whatever I wanted. I ate pretty healthy but my portions were a little out of control at times. And there might have been one too many indulgences here and there. I didn’t lose any weight while training and I also haven’t gained any weight since quitting Weight Watchers last November. I still feel I need to work on getting to a healthy weight as I train for my upcoming half marathons. I think that it will make training easier and also improve my performance.

So, what am I going to do? For starters I am going to be more diligent about tracking my calories on SparkPeople. I’ve only been half assed doing that. I will not be denying myself “treats” but working on the idea of moderation. I do have a lot of “challenges” coming up and I will need to have plans for each one of those especially since calorie counting might not be an option. I see how other bloggers eat in moderation and I KNOW I can do that too. I am also going to try and incorporate more strength training into my fitness routine. I did some with the triathlon training but I don’t think I really worked every muscle group. I will be trying to do Group Strength classes at the Y or my own strength program at least two times per week. I know that toning will give me a better look overall and help me to increase my metabolism. I will be sure to keep you posted on my progress! I don’t really feel comfortable sharing numbers because that’s not what this blog is all about. It’s about being healthy and living life!

So these are the thoughts that have been going through my head! Oh yes! And the fact that I have been toying with the idea of half Ironman at some point in my future! We’ll see how my half marathons go!

We’re going out to eat tonight with my in-laws to celebrate their June birthdays and tomorrow we’re hosting a Father’s day cookout at out house! Hope you have a fun weekend!

Hey friends! How the heck is it Thursday already? I feel like I haven’t accomplished very much this week! Except that is, riding my bike 45 miles yesterday! Oh yes! And making this AWESOME triathlon video.

For the last 8 years some friends, who I met while teaching in a different part of the state, travel to Lanesboro Minnesota to bike The Root River Trail. They bike every inch of the trail in 4 days. I’ve joined them a few times only biking 1-2 days. They always talked about “The Ride to Harmony!” They said this was the most challenging part of the trails with hills for the last 6-8 miles BUT waiting at the top was the BEST pie in the world! Last summer I swore I would go to Lanesboro and do “The Ride to Harmony” but I never did. I really wanted to do this ride and spend some time with my friends. I knew they would ride Wednesday after my triathlon. I didn’t know if my body would be properly rested but I still really wanted to do it.

I got up nice and early on Wednesday and drove to Lanesboro to meet my friends by 9am. The worst part was the drive! There was construction and a really hilly winding road! But I finally made it and had no trouble finding them in this quaint little town.

Three of my friends ride these really cool recumbent tricycles they can hook together and ride tandem.

It was the perfect day for a bike ride, nice and sunny, a little warm but not too hot! I also met a really nice couple from the Twin Cities Area. “The Ride to Harmony” was in fact challenging but I didn’t seem to have too much trouble. We road at a nice comfortable face and took in the beautiful scenery!

It took us a little less than two hours to get there. We ate at the restaurant that had the best pie BUT they only had three flavors and none of them sounded very good. Has anyone heard of Graham Cracker pie? I know I sure haven’t! Another couple who didn’t bike the whole route met us via car and had homemade lemon bars made with lemons from their tree in Arizona! They were better than the pie I think!

The ride back to Lanesboro was much faster due to the downhill. I felt pretty good the whole ride except for the last 4 miles I was ready to be done and drink a cold beer! We did just that at the hotel my friends were staying at. They had a really nice patio where we grilled out and just soaked in the day. In total I road 45 miles in about 3 hours and 28 minutes! It was such a fun day I really enjoyed myself. My only regret was that I couldn’t stay longer. I just couldn’t afford to take the time off what with grad school just around the corner plus I don’t know if I could handle more biking after the tri. Actually I feel pretty good today and I’m kind of itching to run, too bad it’s hot as heck out there!

Sorry there aren’t more pictures. My friends took some pretty nice ones and I hope they email them to me so I can post them. Hope you’re having a great day!

Hey guys and gals! Sorry to leave you hanging with promises of a triathlon recap video. I worked the better part of the day on it and then couldn’t figure out how to get it on the blog. It looks like the only way to do it is to give you a link where my video is posted. Check it out at the end of this post! Just a few things to mention first.

I was feeling pretty good after the triathlon. In addition to preparing the video I cleaned my whole house yesterday including the oven! I’m a little sore still in my outer hips even today. I hope some yoga will help loosen them up again. I haven’t done any exercise yet because I plan on doing something CRAZY tomorrow. I’m heading over to Lanesboro, MN to ride my bike 45 miles! Some friends of mine from the school I worked at in Eau Claire do a bike trip once a year and this week is it. I try to join them for at least one day. Last year I remember riding with them the week before the tri when I should have been tapering. I would have liked to have rested my legs a bit longer but I REALLY want to do the ride they have planned for tomorrow so I’m going to do it!

Some of my favorite parts of the video

1. The picture of me spitting out water after the swim. I knew I should have some water but think I must have swallowed too much lake water because when I tried to drink the fresh water it just wouldn’t go down! Luckily my dad caught it on camera.

2. My husband’s commentary is hilarious! There’s one part where he says, “That’s were all my sprinting is coming in handy” (or something like that). My brother said there was no way he could catch me on the bike and he ran over to get the video. He’s so proud that he’s running now and so am I!

3. The lady I give a high five to is my mom!

4. I used Glee’s version of “Don’t Stop Believe’n” since that was what was going through my head the entire time!

Hope you enjoy it! I’ll be back (probably Thursday) with a recap of my bike trip!

Hey guys and gals! Sorry to leave you hanging with promises of a triathlon recap video. I worked the better part of the day on it and then couldn’t figure out how to get it on the blog but I think I’ve got it now! Just a few things to mention first.

I was feeling pretty good after the triathlon. In addition to preparing the video I cleaned my whole house yesterday including the oven! I’m a little sore still in my outer hips even today. I hope some yoga will help loosen them up again. I haven’t done any exercise yet because I plan on doing something CRAZY tomorrow. I’m heading over to Lanesboro, MN to ride my bike 45 miles! Some friends of mine from the school I worked at in Eau Claire do a bike trip once a year and this week is it. I try to join them for at least one day. Last year I remember riding with them the week before the tri when I should have been tapering. I would have liked to have rested my legs a bit longer but I REALLY want to do the ride they have planned for tomorrow so I’m going to do it!

Some of my favorite parts of the video

1. The picture of me spitting out water after the swim. I knew I should have some water but think I must have swallowed too much lake water because when I tried to drink the fresh water it just wouldn’t go down! Luckily my dad caught it on camera.

2. My husband’s commentary is hilarious! There’s one part where he says, “That’s were all my sprinting is coming in handy” (or something like that). My brother said there was no way he could catch me on the bike and he ran over to get the video. He’s so proud that he’s running now and so am I!

3. The lady I give a high five to is my mom!

4. I used Glee’s version of “Don’t Stop Believe’n” since that was what was going through my head the entire time!

Hope you enjoy it! I’ll be back (probably Thursday) with a recap of my bike trip!

2010 Got Energy? Triathlon Video Recap

Hey folks! Well, I made a pretty sweet video to recap my triathlon experience but I’m having trouble getting it posted to the blog! I hope to have it up soon! Hang in there! There’s more to come!

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the support this morning! I think I could feel you good vibes out on the course!

Overall everything went really smoothly! I felt prepared and ready to go. I got a pretty good nights sleep and woke up at 4:30am. I headed down to the basement to do a 20 minute hip opening yoga podcast from YogaDownload.com. I ate a nice filling bowl of oatmeal, with homemade peanut butter, a banana, and egg whites whipped in at the end. Then it was time to leave. Brian and I packed up the car and headed to West Salem. On the way there we saw a fellow racer pulled off on the side of the road. His bike had fallen off his bike rack and was laying in pieces all over the ditch! I’m not sure how he managed it but he did race.

We got to the race site with about an hour to race time. There didn’t seem to be a lot of people there yet. They body marked me right away as I entered the transition area. I got my transition area set up fairly quickly.

Then I headed over to the swim start to get my timing chip. I kind of wanted to get in the water but the volunteers were still getting the kayaks in the water and finishing up safety preparations. They had us line up according to how fast we thought we would do the swim. I was in the 30:00-32:00 area. Then they said, “Go” and sent us off into the water one by one. It was kind of nice not going in big waves. It gave you a chance to really get use to the swim without having someone kick you in the face or having to swim over someone. I felt pretty good during the swim. I had a hard time getting into a good rhythm because I kept having to stop and look up to make sure I was going the right way. The buoys were pretty far apart and I didn’t want to swim farther than I had to. Before I knew it I was at the shore and running up to the transition area.

I had no trouble getting the wet suit off and transitioned nicely to the bike.

   There were not many people racing the Intermediate Distance so when I was out on the bike I sometimes felt like I wasn’t even racing because no one was passing me and I wasn’t passing anyone else. It was at this point that one of my “worries” came true. I REALLY had to go to the bathroom! It didn’t feel too bad on the bike but I knew there was no way I would be able to run if I had to go that bad. I’ve heard that the real hard core racers go to the bathroom on the bike but I just couldn’t do it! Despite having to go the bathroom the entire time. I felt really strong on the bike. I was estimating that I would finish the bike in 1:45 but I did it in 1:25! Before I knew it I was heading back towards the transition area.

I made a quick transition and then headed out for the run.

I know I look happy but my feet felt a little odd from the bike, my legs did have that familiar “brick” feeling AND I still had to go to the bathroom. I looked around during transition for a port-a-potty but no luck. I had a feeling it was going to be a very long run if I didn’t do something. Fortunately part way into the run I saw a port-a-potty. I really didn’t want to hurt my time but there would have been no way I could have run that whole way feeling like I did. I ducked in and out as fast as I could. It made all the difference in the world! I felt really great after that. The run was a loop and the intermediate racers did it twice. I saw lots of people I knew from the Y as we looped back and forth. It was fun cheering other people on and getting encouragement from the other athletes. Towards the end of the run, like the beginning of the bike there weren’t very many people out on the course so I kind of felt alone. The volunteers were AWESOME and kept cheering for us the whole time. I finished strong!

My official time was 2:58:06. My swim was 28:32, T1 2:26, Bike 1:25:40, T2 1:26, Run 1:00:01. I came in 4th in my age division. The woman who placed 3rd’s time was only about 3 minutes faster than mine. I really don’t think my potty stop cost me a 3rd place finish but now I have a good goal to work towards for next time!

Brian and I went out for pizza and beer, the beer went straight to my head! I then came home and took a quick nap. Other than that I’ve been hanging out on the couch and doing laundry.

I feel pretty good, a little sore and tired but other than that pretty good! We’ll see how I feel tomorrow!

I have a TON of other pictures thanks to my dad, and my brother. Brian also took some video. I hope to put a video together soon to share with you some more highlights!

Thanks to Brian, my mom and dad, my brother, his girlfriend Raina, and our friend Gary for coming out to cheer me on!