The Warmest Color

Today's Workout:
 - Swimming and Healthy Eating

Hoo-Ray! Today has come, and I get to eat chicken! After so many nuts and vegetables, I am really looking forward to some animal protein. I woke up salivating over the dull, white meat I would be consuming later.

The pleasure of eating meat was quickly overshadowed by my desired to have cheese and beer. Jake, Stacy, and I sat down around lunch time to play cribbage. As with any game of cards, cribbage is more enjoyable with a beer, so Jake and Stacy both grabbed one. I enviously sat and watched them imbibe.

I am only vaguely aware of how it happened, but somehow I transitioned from a young, college student who would only consume beer as a punishment, into someone who appreciates and savors the different flavors the malted beverage. My ability to tolerate beer came from sheer exposure (I can't help it that I'm awesome at boat races), which grew into a forced liking of beer necessary to be cool, and now we have landed at a mutual respect. I respect beer for offering many different styles appropriate for any mode, and Beer respects me for drinking it (responsibly?).



This mutual respect and appreciation for beer, made it difficult to game with the charlatans and not grab a drink myself. However, I stood strong and resisted. This could be why I ended up winning. Clear Head, Full Heart, Can't Lose!

We swam soon after lunch, which was great because my feet were so cold. I couldn't wait to jump in the hot tub and feel warm again. 
...Maybe I should have though. The extreme of the hot tub on my toes burned worse than beach sand in July. Quickly, I acclimated and savored the time in the warm bath.

About the time the hot tub became unbearable, a family with a few small kids entered the pool too. The youngest boy was so excited to be in the water that he stripped his outdoor clothes instantly and ran around the pool area naked waiting for his suit. The tiny streaker shrilled excitedly when his mom finally came over with his trunks and swim diaper, then launched into the warm arms of his grandpa and the water. Eventually tiring out every member of his family, pool time ended before he was ready to leave the water.

While all the commotion to our left was happening, Jake swam gracefully in the water. He would disappear below the surface for minutes, only to pop up in an unexpected location afterwards. Almost shark-like in his surfacing, but more friendly.

Good Yawping Stance

I, on the other hand, apparently lack grace in the water. I wish I could video tape my attempts at swimming, because I have a terrible time picturing how it looks. I splashed around back and forth for a while, then decided it would be fun to learn how to turn like a real swimmer. I approached the wall on the deep side, pushed forward to flip underwater, and yawped as water came rushing up my nose. Looks like I need to return to elementary swimming lessons and learn to blow bubbles betters.

Taking a break from submerging, Stacy and I had contests holding our breaths till we were blue in the face and on the verge of fainting. She won the set, but I am pretty certain she was bending the rules a little. Now I plan to practice and increase my lung capacity more for future showdowns.

After our lazy exercise, I was off to the store for dinner ingredients and produce for the next few days. Apparently, the best time to grocery shop is a little after 5 on a week day. The part time high schoolers, having just started their shifts, where sitting at open check out lanes awaiting customers. With my pick of line, I obviously went to the girl with the superfly, blonde / cerulean hair. The way the color streaked through her mane resembled raindrops or icicles. I should have said something about how I liked her hair, but regretfully did not.


Back at home, Stacy's blue hair also made an interesting development. What was originally supposed to be a dark indigo color hidden beneath her blonde strands, it really took on more of a bright blue shade. Until today that is. We were sitting on the couch, and I noticed part of her bangs looked almost purple. Me, being a person with perfect colorvision, reliably recognized this hue adjustment. Stacy, however, did not believe me until there was pictorial evidence backing me up. After shrieking with disbelief, she spent the next few minutes texting everyone about her hairs of a different color.

From blue toes to blue hair, today definitely had a shade. I wonder what tomorrow's will be. (Also, 1.5 mile run)

But I don't want to be what I eat

Today's Workout:
 - 3 mile run

I started my healthy eating plan yesterday, and things have gone about as I expected. Only on the second day of the new food plan, and I have already had kale 3 times... Ugh.

It is the world's worst vegetable. And the worst part is that one day I will probably like kale. One day soon even, kale is on the schedule everyday for the next 20 days. With that much exposure, I will likely have a hard time turning away from the dark, earthy green.
        (I was googling words to describe the taste of kale up above, and two things became apparent. First, almost everyone on the internet hates this superfood. And second, someone compared the taste to a cross between brussels sprouts and asparagus - my two least favorite vegetables before I met kale.)

Besides spending most of the day cooking or cleaning up after cooking, Jake and I went for a run indoors again. The weather today has been terrible, super windy and raining at different strengths all day. While seeking refuge from the elements, we encountered an unexpected climate. The exercise room was extremely hot and humid. About a mile and a half in, I started getting a little lightheaded. I ran about 2.5 miles and had to throw in the towel. 

A pretty slow day all around, but pushing forward to tomorrow. I am looking forward to eating meat for the first time in a couple days.

You got Chili in my Chocolate

Today's Workout
 - 4 1.5 mile run

Alarm clocks bright and early this morning. Jake and I were setting out on the road for our long run early. Well, sort of. I was up early with the alarm, then I piddled around wasting time on my computer or something. Finally it was time to go out the doors or else the whole day would be bust. We slowly plodded along a new path, having to cross a busy highway to run on a gravel road. Uncertain of how far it would take us, we sadly found out that the road stopped not long after the dog park.

We turned around at the end of the line and headed for home. The plan was to recombobulate and finish the next 2.5 miles from there. However, this run followed the path the morning took and lacked motivation. Even though the theme of the past two weeks has been motivation, today it evaporated.

More like 45 mins of reflection

Once back in the house, Jake took his typical, use all the hot water, shower. During this time, I made my grocery list. The theme for the next few weeks will be nutrition, so I was making plans for lots of produce. 

Since Jake's lengthy shower meant I didn't have enough time to wait for the hot water heater to reboot, I had to go to the store sweaty. The two of us split up to do our own grocery shopping. If it weren't for the game day snacks I was making today, I would have never left the produce section. Check me out, so healthy and green.

If only the store sold Gold Star

In addition to football, I was having some friends over to play cards. As usual, I was pumped for cards and loaded with trash talk. Considering that I am starting to eat healthy tomorrow, I planned that today will be full of beer and cheese. I made an spicy artichoke and corn dip, that could have been spicier, and Cincinnati chili dip. There is something about chili made with chocolate (sandwiched between cheese) that really motivates a person to eat better.

Tomorrow no exercise, just food stuff. Back Tuesday with quarter mile sprints again.

The Steph Truman Show

Today's Workout
 - 2 mile run

Today's run went surprisingly well. We ran to the bar up the street, which turns out it makes for the perfect milestone. The bar was packed, Jake thought it was just Satur-Day-Drinking in Wisconsin but I assumed there was a Badger game happening at the moment. We walked a bit after turning around, then once more at about the final half mile. Look at that endurance starting to show.

The only other thing on my to-do list today was tutor a girl who reached out to me on the internet. I have a site offering tutoring in most math and science options, today I would be working on cardiac physiology. My student sent a worksheet with questions late the night before, so I spent most of the morning cramming the topics she was struggling with.

One of these topics was a diagram, called the Wigger's Diagram, that combined the volume, pressure, and electrical impulses, and sounds of the heart all along the same time axis. I watched a few YouTube videos in order to help remember this dusty knowledge. My favorite vid was taped by a a bro wearing a backward's cap. In the middle he described the cardiac cycle like the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. People come in, the doors close, the walls sneak in, and the people burst out the exit excitedly (or blood comes in the heart, the muscles contract, blood ejects through to the rest of the body.)

The thing about this that struck me as funny was that I just thought about the Haunted Mansion yesterday, at the Forevertron. This is just another coincidence, in a long list, that makes me think my life might be the Truman Show. I mean I can't blame people for wanting to watch 24/7 Steph Maule. I'm smart, funny, a little eccentric, and hopefully a bit unpredictable. I'd watch that. The sad thing is that the writers of my show aren't very clever. It's like they don't know what to do, but then I will mention a thing that they will latch onto and work into the next couple days worth of material. Come on guys, get creative!

Ok, so really, I don't believe it that much. It is more of a fun way of coping with synchronicity or Baader-Meinhof illusions. On that note, since it feels like I just ran today, I guess I'll make plans to do so tomorrow as well. Sunday's are the long runs, so Jake and I have 4 miles in the morning before football starts.

An Unexpected Gated Community

Alternate Title - All roads Lead Where?

Today's Workout:
- 15 burpee's according to the 30 day challenge

First off, I know I had planned on roller skating today, but Stacy was worried about getting hurt before her big weekend plans that would be impeded by a twisted ankle. Instead of skating, Jake recommended a silly named statue that he has wanted to visit for a while. 

However, Jake only wanted to visit Dr. Evermor's Forevertron if we had a reason to drive north in the first place. We did not have a reason to make the hour long trek. Eventually though, it was decided that maybe we would grab dinner on the way home. Before you knew it we were piled in the car and en route to see some metal statue.

The unincorporated towns of
The Great State

Now when I say "some metal statue", I had no idea what we were walking into. First of all, we could not actually find an address for Professor Terrible's Futuretron. My phone was dying, so we eventually found something on the car's GPS with potential. It was in a different town that was maybe close to the unincorporated place we were looking for, but a start is a start.

40 mins later, my GPS directed me to a gas station near some bluffs. In a town that didn't match either of the names we were theoretically driving toward. When we put the address in my phone, it turns out we were pretty close. Just a short drive through a surplus lot named after a friend.

I have a friend
named Delaney

Except for you couldn't drive through the surplus lot. I tried driving around it, I tried driving to the park's true entrance, and all roads were blocked and gated. This left us with only one option, parking in the surplus lot to walk through it to the statute. 

We pulled up next to 7 pick ups and one Dodge charger hatchback, and cautiously walked through what seemed to be an open-aire, hillbilly Wal-Mart. Dodging the puddles, examining the crates of strangely organized belongings, and slinking past the bearded guy loudly sawing metal, we followed the path potentially leading to the Megatron. The surreal path only reminded me of picking up shirts from Scary Larry in Milwaukee. That's a story for a different time, but if you need cheap, good quality t-shirts in Brew City - I know a guy.

As the path opened, the junk "cleared" to reveal this magnificent heap of symmetrical art. Every piece pointing towards the point in the sky where, supposedly, Dr. Tomorrow rode on his Magnetic Lightening Force Field to explore the heavens and escape the evils of Earth. It really was an amazing sight, and the few pictures I have do not do justice what used to be the world's largest metal sculpture.

We meandered through the park, initially avoiding the Forevertron to examine the supporting pieces. It is surrounded by other sculptures of adorable bugs, something from a carousel center, a forest of shelves, and a band of instrumental birds. 76 trombones at least (some of which I'm certain I've seen as installations at Epic.) 

Finally, examining the central piece, we first noticed that it was guarded by multiple dragons. Tucked behind the dragons, rose a spiral staircase leading up to the observatory tower. It was not meant for people to climb, but more likely a push off structure / elevator like you would see NASA use. We then found these cross-section pieces of birdcages hanging under the Forever Bridge that reminded me and Jake of the Haunted Mansion part of a Disneyland video game we played on the original Nintendo.

Took me too long to find this screenshot

Sadly, it was time to leave the world's most amazing scrap heap. But I remembered seeing a sign for a nature bridge a mile and a half to the right. Since we were already this far out, it made sense to go find this new wonder. 

Eventually, the GPS lost the map, and I was certain the natural wonder was a mistake. However, we eventually found the state park and started hiking. With Stacy guiding us along the less than confidence inducing path, we actually found the rock formation.

Adorable, yeah?

Atop a hill, we discovered a rock eaten away by erosion to form a connection with the other side. Although we could not traverse the actual bridge, standing beneath it was cool enough. As expected multiple others had carved meaningful, heart-encased initials everywhere along the bridge. Today was not the day for that, but after a few adorable photos we decided to head back.

An hour in the car, gave us time to really drool over the pending food. Jake has never eaten at Noodles and Company before, so we had our sights set on those bowls or carbs. The restaurant was so cold, I could not eat fast enough. 

Finally leaving meant we got a early evening nap, and then sometime for me to finish my brief workout. I cooked a Hot Pocket, and let it cool while I slowly (but with decent form) performed my 15 burpees.

Crazy day, but a fitting way to spend Friday the 13th. Tomorrow I have a tutoring session and a 2 mile run to look forward to.

*This is really called Dr. Evermor's Forevertron.
We had fun all morning calling it by different titles, which is what I replicated above

And the Furious

Today's Workout:
 - 1 mile, timed (10:43)

Since today's goal was the first timed effort in my 5k training effort, Jake and I decided to run indoors and let the treadmills push our limits a little farther. It is so easy to be on the road, realize you are dragging, and start to slow down both mentally and physically. I understand that the treadmill does not require so much forward drive. However, when the road is moving beneath your feet, there is no option to slow down - only keep up and push harder.

Jake really took the effort to heart, and ended up running a 7 min mile. For somebody who hasn't been driving competitively in a while, this was an impressive split.

Now is when to hit the E-Stop

Mine on the other hand, less impressive. A quarter of a mile into the run, my treadmill suddenly halts. Apparently, I lightly tapped the emergency stop with my swinging hand and turned the machine off. After restarting, my previous progress disappeared, leaving me to guess when I actually hit the mile-stone (*wink* see what I did there?). I am pretty certain I ran just a little farther, but even still ran the fastest mile I have recently.

I was feeling pretty pleased with this accomplishment until Jake acknowledged that he would have been lapped by his high school self. I realized that I would have ran 2 miles in time it took for me to finish 1 tonight. We are far from that 5 min 1500m, but I suppose that is why they are called glory days.

On top of frustrations about being slower than a teenager, I got a pair of shoes in the mail I was excited to receive. However when they came they were not anywhere close to the sneakers I ordered. Even worse, I am having a hard time figuring out how to send them back. I reached out to company to request a refund, but I suspect I might not hear back. This could be the first time I have to call the credit card company and request to cancel that payment. So much work, but I'm extremely upset about the shoes I didn't get.

I suppose it is fast asleep for me next, furious about shoes (and hungry). Tomorrow, roller skating.

I Got the (Red, White, and) Blues

Today's Goal:
Core Strengthening Exercises

First things. Happy Veteran's Day. And thank you to everyone dedicating their lives for the rest of us. I recently had a friend join the Army, and I've been following her progress on the facebook. It is super amazing to see her accomplish so much, and do things that I could never dream of. Thanks again all, there aren't even words for your sacrifice. 

I feel like I accomplished things today. 
   ... Albeit frivolous things, but things none the less.

First, I woke up. A fact that sometimes needs to be celebrated for no particular reason.

I really think so, *think so*

Then I studied Japanese for a while. I'm fairly certain I can hear the difference between he and she at this point, but still not ready to watch Anime without subtitles. Someday, that will be awesome!

I spoke on the phone with some helpdesk support. Hooked up my phone to my router, so no I can reset the internet without getting off the couch (probably not the best thing to do, considering that I need more reasons to get off the couch.)

Finally, caught up on the blogging I let slip last week, since I didn't have time while achieving a marketable professional certification. 

Not what mine looked like

Then I made the worst mac-n-cheese I've ever eaten in my entire life. On a whim, I purchased Chipotle seasoned Velveeta. I should have known something was wrong when the only ingredient on the box was WATER. Unbelievably, the box of food that was stored in my pantry for 2 weeks, had a packet of gooze resembling cheese. I poured this gooze over my perfectly cooked, al dente noodles, and stirred in the chipotle seasoning smelling of BBQ rub. I offered Jake half of the pasta, since realistically I couldn't eat more than 1 serving. He took a couple of bites and threw it away.

I even offered some of the terrible mac to The Mitten, even a cat with almost no food in his dish turned up his nose at what I consumed for lunch. To make it up to the cat for offering him such gruel, I went to the store and bought some dehydrated food pellets that he would like better.

I fell asleep, napping to whatever autoplayed on the Hulu queue. And I was relieved to see the number of videos had both increased and decreased by the time I woke up. Somehow I mostly watched an episode of SHIELD and maybe the Flash, but I was more pleased to see that the Korean drama I'm sucked into posted a new episode. 'She was Pretty' is about long lost, childhood friends / first loves, who now work at the same magazine. Plus somehow a strange love rhombus between the first loves, a best friend, and a potential different boyfriend. 

So great... I maybe have cried the past 3 or 4 episodes. 

I found a series of ab workouts that lasted about 20 mins. I think this has the promise for turning into a routine. Additionally, I stumbled onto this 30 day burpee challenge. I think I might start adding that to the morning wake-up. 

Not my QB,
And the milk was chocolate

Even better than strengthening my muscles, I'm feeding them with the perfect body building cocktail - Chocolate milk. And not only chocolate milk, GREEN BAY PACKER Chocolate milk. I suspect that me owning this beverage that I actually despise is the reason that they have lost 2 games in a row and are tied with the stupid Vikings. Now that it is gone, I can test this hypothesis on Sunday.

Till Sunday, I have a 1 mile timed run tomorrow, and apparently a burpee challenge when I wake up. Awesome sauce. I might stay up all night to avoid the morning coming. Alright, whatever, good nite's sleep and then the world's most enjoyable repeated motion.

Where Does the Time Go

Today's Goal:
 - 5 Quarter mile sprints

I'm not really sure where today went. I woke up early and read on the couch, then fell asleep, watched tv, and read more. Before I knew it, my running alarm was beeping and it was already late afternoon.

Jake and I ventured out into the cold to start our run. It was a bit brisk, but worst of all I forgot to take off my watch. This is frustrating because I haven't gotten the watch fitted yet, and it is about 4 links too big. So a little way into our warm up, I ended up holding the watch in my hand - regretting that I didn't have anywhere to put it just yet.

Next we got into the sprints, and like clockwork, I had to go to the bathroom after the first lap. Serious? This is two weeks in a row that I've had to stop and figure stuff out. Considering that a bike rider rode past as I clambered out of the bushes last week, I went inside today. 

I've got to do some work to strengthen my core. I hate sit-ups and strength training, with a passion. This means the theme of this week will again be motivation. (I was planning on moving on to nutrition, but priorities have revealed themselves.) 

I am not really certain what to do about working my trunk, but I'll look into that tonight and get started tomorrow.

In the meantime, it's time to drink some water and hopefully relieve this out of shape, runner's cough. I am not really certain runner's cough is a thing, but I'm too young to have smoker's cough (and there is the lack of smoking too).

(This a joke about coughing, not an advertisement.)

Caulk it Like it's Hot

Today's work out:
2 mile run

Whew, what a weekend. Lots going on and a pretty run down body meant that I didn't get a chance to run either of the planned days. I feel guilty about that, but spending time with friends and close ones was well worth it.

Friday, I showed up to the PMP exam, reviewing material even as I walked through the door. Between the morning of reviewing, relaxing, and ruminating I did not have time for a shower. My hair was wild and vertical, so I decided to just put on a hat. Feeling confident and sharp looking until I walked in the door, these feelings quickly changed when they told me hats were not allowed in the testing area. 

I went forward with my gravity defying hair and was seated at computer 24, just like my old basketball number. Finally, I was starting to feel like today was going my way. I worked through all 200 questions in about an hour and a half, rested briefly, and reviewed the items I was vaguely questioning. I was mentally spent when the nerve wracking moment of truth came to submit the exam. The computer tabulated my score for about 90 seconds...

... And I was told to fill out a survey about my testing experience. Ugh, serious?!? You have my scores right now, and are hiding them so as not to affect these satisfaction surveys. Finally, found out I passed, and I was released to go retrieve my hat once more.

Now onto the fun parts of the weekend. A couple friends were getting married on Saturday, and were having evening cocktails to celebrate before the big day. Jake, Stacy, and I drove into Chicago, stumbled with the purchase of train tickets, and commuted to our hotel. We celebrated passing my exam by drinking this mystical purple liquor I had been storing in my fridge for a while. It was amazing to pour but one of the most disgusting purple dranks I've ever experienced.

Cocktails at the Fulton Market kitchen were delicious, and I got to reconnect with a few old friends. Turns out we had too much fun, I got frustrated at a couple people for leaving without saying anything, and ended up staying up way too late having deep conversations that no one remembers.

Recovering the next day, meant brunch at Grand Lux and napping all afternoon in the hotel. Before long, it was time to head to the wedding. This was the 2nd time in about a month that I donned a dress and went to see my good friends unite their lives to each other. Apparently, I did a good job picking tonight's outfit too, because I got Vicky's seal of approval for he evening.

Stacy left after dinner because she had an important choir solo at church in the morning, but I stayed and danced till the party shut down. The people bussing tables kept clearing my drinks which made me spend most of the night in line for another. By the time I stumbled home, I was in a chatty and excited mood. I apparently chatted Stacy's ears off about the evening and the cab driver that said I should be the next President Trump (...not certain what that means, but nice of him to think that.)

Since I spent the entire week malnourished and exhausted, this hang over stuck with me the entire day. Stacy sounded amazing at church, but the small checkered carpet almost made me faint. We left and headed to lunch, football, and moving with her parents. 

The Pack lost, but Chili's was pretty enjoyable. Despite being extremely vulnerable, it was not hard to put on a good show. Stacy's mom was pretty entertaining throughout the whole meal. At one point we discovered she need a little caulk to fix some things around the house and at school. Imagine the jokes that followed. After about 10 minuets of innuendo, Stacy's mom admitted that she didn't understand what we were giggling over.

A great weekend all together, and I passed out about 7 (or 4 if you include the 2 hour nap). I was over due for sleep. No scheduled exercise, but 3.5 hours of dancing might count towards something. Next, sprints on Tuesday.

Before Dawn

Today's Workout:
 - 3 mile run

I found this thing on the internet, Thync, that uses neurosignaling to adjust attitudes and feelings through minor electrical pulses. I was intrigued when I read the articles and reviews on the internet, so decided that testing it out while cramming might offer a bonus to the regular caffeine intake.

My Thync came in the mail today, and I was crushed to find out that it had to be manipulated through an app only available on iPhones. What a waste and disappointment. I spent about an hour trying to find an emulator for either my phone or my computer so I would still be able to make use of my new toy.

This endeavor ended up being a frustrating goose chase, but turns out luck was on my side. Stacy had been visiting the area with hopes of seeing the Aurora Borealis the night before (clouds prevented that from happening), and decided to come visit. As the only person I know who has an iPhone, this ended up being perfect timing. I graciously let her try it first, but anxiously waited for my turn to play.

Using the Thync's "Energize" setting meant placing the main electrode above my eyebrow and the other behind my ear. As the pulses started to ramp up, the tingle behind my ear was not pleasant from the beginning. However, the guide suggested turn things up higher, this way the "tickle" would become more of a firm massage. I'm not sure if this worked or if the skin behind my ears died. 

Either way, I did experience a noticeable gain in energy, and a bright red mark on my head like I was back in chemistry lab.

This boost of energy and focus meant that I got drawn in to studying, and before I knew it nightfall was almost upon us. Jake and I got up to start our 3 mile run a little after 4, which I learned was too late for November in Wisconsin. By the time we finished it was full blown night out (a little after 5... groan winter or daylight savings. Seriously, as a farmer's daughter, I do not see how early nightfall should have helped end the depression. Do you know how difficult morning is?).

In addition to learning how to defeat the outer darkness, I almost met my own defeat. The road by my house is occasionally busy and does not have a sidewalk. As cars approached, Jake and I had to hop in the grass off to the side. The ground along the side was inconspicuously bumpy, so I would wobble when I occasionally hit the bumps funny. Usually, my lightening fast reflexes made it easy to swap feet and stay upright, but I kept thinking "What if I fall, into the cars as they are driving towards us? That would be super embarrassing."

Really a Japanese Proverb

But then, I actually fell. Remembering the words of the great and wonderful Dwyane Wade, "Fall down 7 times, Get up 8", I got up and kept going. (Of course, this means that I started already fallen somehow. Even just starting running means I'm coming from a place of disadvantage, so I guess it does fit.)

Or after getting hit by a car

I easily missed falling into the car, but I spent the next mile wondering about the psychology behind this run. Was me falling a self fulfilling prophecy or was I missing focus from spending it on all the Thyncing and studying? 

Relieved to be home safe and out of the darkness, I showered and returned to my last night of studying before the big exam tomorrow. Next workout is a run Saturday, which fits well with my weekend wedding plans.

If you can't stand the heat... Stay out of the Hot Tub

Today's Workout:
 - Swimming laps and Pool running

Sprinting yesterday must have really tuckered out Jake. At about 10, I walked into the living room to find him passed out with the lights on bright and his computer sitting on his lap.

For me though, I was up late and stretched a little before bed. I'm recognizing that this was pretty beneficial. Today I woke up feeling mostly good, only thing really was that my quads tightened a little as the day continued. I was waffling back and forth between bike riding and swimming today, but decided that swimming would help keep these mostly good feelings and work the most body parts.

Living frugally, I saved one of those sandwiches from yesterday to be today's meal. What I discovered in this little action, is that Subway sandwiches are not made to last to their 24 hour birthday. I should have expected this, because who does not eat a sub sandwich long after they ordered it? The toppings and filling survived fine, but it was the bread that couldn't hang. As I ate that sandwich, I thought the roof of my mouth would need to be bandaged and subjected to a liquid only diet in order to get enough recovery from this rock hard bread.


Not only did I feel the bread crunch in my mouth, but I am really feeling the crunch of the PMP exam as it lingers 48 hours away. The past couple days have offered some great resources to guide me through the dense material, and I took a couple practice tests for the first time this morning. The practice tests started a little better than expected really. Obviously, I did better on the areas I've covered in more detail, but I overall still was averaging about 75-80%. This was unrealistic considering that I was pretty much guessing on about the same amount.

Stacy came by later in the afternoon to help with the test prep. Well, by helping she sat next to me and did work, but I appreciated the company. Even better, I appreciated the company Stacy and Jake provided when I finally decided it was time to break for swimming. A couple people were in the hot tub when we walked in, but the three of us had the pool all to ourselves. We played and swam for about 40 mins of hard activity, then wrapped up with some time in the too hot, hot tub.

Once back inside, Stacy wanted to quiz me over some of the material. I set her up with a quick practice test and she read the questions out loud to me. Some of the times she had thoughts on what the answer should be, other times it was difficult to even say the words that were written on the screen. The whole activity came to a halt after reading something about the differences between product management and project management which felt like the words were just being repeated with no noticeable difference in each of the 4 options.

Well, another late night of studying lies ahead, but that sounds easier than the 3 miles of running on the plan for tomorrow. Really testing that motivation theme.

GTD 4 Lyfe

Today's Workout:

 - Run 400 Meter "Sprints"

Today was the first day using my chosen mantra, and it seemed to come in handy. Starting first thing in the morning, I was up and cleaning my house in preparation for the cleaning people I was expecting at 9 am. As I walked constant circles around my house, my trigger reminded me to practice the psychological utterance almost every 5 minutes.

I did a great job cleaning, finally finishing the last steps of organizing my house that I started weeks early. I was soo pumped! I woke Jake at about 8:40 so he could get changed, and we were going to walk out the door for groceries once the cleaning people came.

... Then it was 9:30, and no cleaning people

... ... Then it was 10, and no cleaning people

... ... ... Finally, it was about 10:30, and I was getting too hungry to avoid the need for groceries anymore. We got up and left the organized house with no cleaning people inside.

Shopping with Jake was fun, we started in the produce section and decided there was nothing fresh we were interested in cooking or eating. We wandered up and down each aisle picking out soups or protein, cheese or salsa, Ramen or hot dog buns. Jake didn't mind that I like to sit and consider all the food options available, should I pick the raspberry yogurt or the blueberry tub? How much milk is necessary for the 3 boxes of Minion Mac-n-Cheese I bought? Which bag of tortilla chips should we buy (can't buy Scoops. I am still boycotting Frito Lays after the initial Taste of America Chips were never sold in the Midwest)?

By the time we were ready to check out, the grocery cart was brimming with everything needed to survive at least the rest of the week. I was famished in the check out line, and was slowly waiting for the bagging woman to help package our groceries. She looked like she was having a hard time standing her whole shift, so I moved the cart a little closer to help remove a few of the steps she was taking. Eventually she just gave up on moving, would put the bags full of food back on the conveyor belt for me or Jake to put in the cart. Well, full of food wasn't really accurate either, lots of the bags held 1 (ONE), single item. Serious, can't you tell I'm starving, speed it up!

One of the most memorable bagging experiences I've ever experienced. When it finally ended, and I finished sheepishly apologizing to the people behind me in line for taking so long to check out, we were ready to go to get our lunch. Subway had a buy one get one promotion, and Jake and I were going to make the most of this BOGOpportunity. Impeccable timing was on our side as we walked up to the store and were the 4th people in line at the counter. By the time we left at least 15 people were waiting for sandwiches and the line was out the door. The promotion crowd reminded me of a hospital Subway, specifically one in Seattle, just filled to the brim with doctors, staff, patients, and family.

I walked out the door feeling very accomplished with all of the mornings errands complete. I ate the first of 4 sandwich halves for lunch, and got back to the grueling task of studying more project management. Before I knew it, a few hours of studying passed, and it was time to run outside before nightfall. Jake said he'd come too, and I think he was excited to get off the couch for a while.

We started with a half mile warm up, easy enough. Then it was time to move on to our mile of quick intervals. As we came to the final sprint, I was sucking air pretty hard when Jake said, "Are we going all out on this last one?" Yes Jake, that has kind of been the expectation on all of these, but this last one specifically. For the first 3 sprints, Jake had been plodding along my snail pace, providing motivation from behind. This was confusing since I knew he was holding back quite a bit, but on the last sprint I made him take the lead. This is when I saw Jake speed away putting leagues between us on our final quarter mile. 

Back to the theme of the week, motivation. While out on this run, I was modifying my slogan. At first I was just mentally repeating the mantra to push me forward a bit. During the second leg, I started cramping and began thinking about what I could do to shorten our already short workout. Instead of stopping though, I then toyed with adding another phrase to the mantra, a bit about pushing through the pain, breaking down the wall, getting better by working harder. All, super cliche really, but as I worked on changing this part I started feeling stronger during the next runs. It felt good to recognize a marked improvement, and I settled on the final phrase

Go out! Run well. Be an athlete and push to be better.

Even though Jake proudly blazed in front of me, I finished strong on my scale of measure. For the second time, I was pleased with today's achievement. We'll see what tomorrow brings in terms of recovery and cross training.

Lose the Battle, Win the War

Today's Workout:
 - Ride bike 30 mins

Like I mentioned yesterday, the focus of this week is motivation. It is definitely a good area of focus based on the struggle I fought this morning.

First, I set my alarm for 6. Yes, it is not that early, but without a meeting or work requiring me to be somewhere by 7, I find it easy to hit the snooze button for a while. Which is exactly what happened today. After blogging about Lucid Dreaming yesterday, I decided to listen a YouTube meditation guide to maybe try it out. MISTAKE! I was up stretching and breathing for about 45 mins with the recording. This was intended to trick my mind into sleep while renaming conscious, but my limbs ached from lack of movement to a point I couldn't drift off. Once I decided to stop and just go to sleep, I was still awake till about 12:30 from the general discomfort. However, this morning I was awake and studying by 7:30, so I call this a win.

After some productive learning, and even better Mitten snuggles, I decided to ride bikes at 9. Unfortunately, I didn't get out of bed to start hydrating till about 9:15. Because of that, it seemed a better idea to wait a little longer and digest. Possibly a loss, but a small one.


During my water digestion, I tried perfecting my shoe mantra. I still am filled with motivation when I see that cross country spike regularly, but my catch phrase is lacking ... catch. So far my thoughts are kind of negative or inhibited. I am thinking something like "Get up and get  out" (homage to the L Word), but I also want it to include something about being a strong and capable runner. Realistically, I'm leaning towards:

Go! And Run Well. Be an Athlete!

Oh! That's why my fridge is empty.

Finally, I walked across the courtyard to use one of the bikes in our gym. I know it was a beautiful day and exercise equipment doesn't work as many muscle groups compared to real equipment, but I wanted to control the effort at defined intervals. Sadly, the only bikes available were more recumbent style instead upright like I wanted. I rode about 5 miles but had to stop before I wanted because my toes were falling asleep. Not a huge fan of the practically horizontal pedaling.

Coming back to the house a bit dejected, I made lunch for me and Jake out of some freezer burned bratwurst and potatoes wrapped in the last flour tortillas from the fridge. We are in desperate need of grocery shopping. Oh well, nutrition is the focus next week, and Jake bought some pasta for dinner. I will survive at least another day.

This disappointing lunch and sleepy toes made me want something enjoyable. The reward was to finish the anime series Jake and I had been watching since he moved in. Kill la Kill, about alien, virus clothes trying to enslave humanity. Sounds absurd, but for the first many episodes it was about battling high schoolers in skimpy outfits. Reading the subtitles made me tired, and I fell asleep towards the beginning of the finale. Nother loss in the day's column.

The nap was just what I needed to turn the day around. I woke up and studied like a college student during finals week. I only took a break to write today's blog post because my hand hurt so hard from taking notes. This was one of the best days of PMP prep, and came at a great time considering that I am 4 days away from testing. Tomorrow is going to be practice tests at a coffee shop (my cleaning people are coming in the morning, so I need to get out the way anyhow.)

Feeling high from the successful mental workout, I put in some job applications too. One of which both surprised and excited me. I applied to a project manager position at a nutrition company, which is something I never really imagined before. I historically have had a do-it-yourself attitude about nutrition and supplements, but as I thought about it I realized that a company in that sector would actually be really interesting. It is a part of healthcare and would make use of some of the Biomedical Engineering I studied, both things that I want in my career. Plus it sounds fast paced with lots of travel, which I am starting to crave. 

Most of all, it dawned on me that working with people passionate about fitness and health would only motivate me to continue my better living (better blogging) lifestyle. And if you recall, motivation is the theme for the week!

Tomorrow is a mid distance sprint day. Get up and be an athlete!