Camping Prep!

For those who know me... you know I am a freak about planning.  Planning a vacation, camping trip, trip to the zoo, backpacking... whatever.  You best believe I have a list made, usually written out, way before anyone else.

The whole idea behind me starting and stopping my Whole30 was to be finished before Memorial Day weekend.  Why you may ask?  Because it is tradition in my (camping)family to camp Friday-Monday, live by a campfire, and drink/eat copious amounts of alcohol/food all the while.  Not Whole30 compliant.  BUT I was thinking that I didn't really want to ruin all of the hard work I put in for the past month, so I decided I wanted to eat Whole30 and drink as "responsibly" as possible.

A lot of the meal plan ideas I read on Pinterest were rubbish... because people consider staying in a RV with a stove/water camping. I'll fight you bro, it's not. End of story. BUT car camping isn't really roughing it either, so I found a middle-ground that may work for others that want to enjoy the great outdoors without having the guilt of heavy foods.

Keep in mind that the ingredients I will be using are all Whole30 approved (aka the ranch, mayo, bacon, etc) except the vodka.  Also, some of these foods aren't exactly in the spirit of Whole30 per say (sweet potato chips).

Day 1 (1/2 travel day)
Meal 1 - Hard boiled egg, banana
Meal 2 - Leftovers
Meal 3 - Bacon wrapped asparagus, hot dogs

Day 2 
Meal 1 - Twice baked breakfast sweet potatoes, banana
Meal 2 - Taco meat in lettuce boats, sunbutter+apple, carrots
Meal 3 - Chicken avocado burgers, roasted veggies in foil

Day 3
Meal 1 - Whole30 Breakfast bake, banana
Meal 2 - Cold cut lettuce boat with ranch, potluck broccoli salad, sunbutter+apple
Meal 3 - Grilled Mediterranean Chicken foil packs

Day 4 (1/2 travel day)
Meal 1 - Whole30 Breakfast bake, banana
Meal 2 - Cold cut lettuce boat with ranch, sunbutter+apple, potluck broccoli salad
Meal 3 - Leftovers

Snacks
- Almonds, pistachios
- Sliced veggies (carrots, peppers, cherry tomatoes)
- Red pepper dip (for the veggies)
- Sweet potato chips
Condiments
- Ketchup
- BBQ
- Mayo
- Ranch
- Sunbutter
Drinks
- Water
- Homemade bloody mary mix
- Seltzer water
- Lemons
- Vodka

I think the trick to eating delicious foods with limited resources in camp is to prep-prep-prep! Notice there are some items highlighted in orange and some in red.  Things in orange will be prepped the day before I leave and the stuff in red will be prepped the weekend before I leave and will be frozen/vacuum sealed.  Told ya I'm a freak ;)

There were a few other snacks I was thinking of such as Apple Cookies and Ultimate Dill Tuna Salad Bites.

So this is my start to healthy camping!  I have also been on the lookout on Pinterest for good meals to dehydrate and vacuum seal for my backpacking trip in October!  Those too, will be Whole30 meals :)

Happy trails!

My Whole30 Journey Thus Far (Day 21)

It feels like it's been EONS since I've posted on my blog... I mean, it's probably been about two years at the very least.  I have been busy starting my career post-graduation and figuring out what post-college life is really all about.  It's about working... and proving that you're an asset... and all the corporate BS you hear/read about... BUT the nuggets of feeling like you're making a difference and doing what you love make it all worth it!

The weirdest thing is I feel like I have more free time since graduating, but the hours I have available aren't "primo" for working out (aka ass-crack of dawn or when I'm starving for dinner after work).  So, I fell into quite a bit of a slump. And by slump, I mean I got back to the weight I was before I started working out.  Five years of hard work.  50 lbs gained.  Toned muscle un-sculpted.  Pretty much one of the worst feelings EVER.

I had gained about 20 lbs back within the first year after graduating, but I was still running quite a bit and hitting the gym.  Was eating not so healthy and drinking quite a bit, so that is probably the reason there.  And then I got assigned to a three month project in northern Wisconsin for work.  To those unfamiliar, northern Wisconsin is NOT known for their health food.  They are known for beer, cheese, fried fish, and ice cream.  So three months in that junk-food haven, although surrounded by beautiful forest and lake, got me to where I was April 2016.  Just over 200 lbs and hating it.

Don't get me wrong, be big and beautiful the way you are, but that's just not a healthy weight for my body type.  My left hip and knees were starting to bother me again, I was getting winded easier, and running felt like I was pushing through Jello.  I feel comfortable when I can hike the way I want to, run the way I like, and do my usual kick-assery out in the field for work.  Which lead me to the Whole30...

The program is based off of eating more natural foods that fuel your body and help you develop a better relationship with food.  If I have a bad day at work, that time of month, bored... I can plow down half a bag of tortilla chips with salsa or a pint of Ben and Jerry's and have terrible guilt for the next 24 hours.  NOT a healthy relationship... that's called a binge eating disorder folks.  The Whole30 is just this:

"...short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system"

The premise is to eat real foods and not eat/do the following:

• Added sugar of any kind, real or artificial
• Alcohol
• Grains
• Legumes
• Dairy
• Carrageenan, MSG, or sulfites
• Re-created junk foods with "approved" ingredients
• STEP ON THE SCALE OR TAKE BODY MEASUREMENTS DURING

The last rule is what really turned me onto the program.  It leads us to walk away from this obsession that many of us, myself included, have with the quantitative aspects of our bodies and instead focus on what's inside and how you feel.  They also have had people testify that their Hashimoto's Thyroiditis has improved and their hormone levels have gone back to normal thanks to changing their lifestyle!  What I would give to be medication free!

Again, this is only technically a 30 day reset, but the idea is to use what you learned from the program and re-introduce foods you've cut out slowly to see how your body reacts.  For me, I could see myself continuing to eat paleo and drinking a glass of wine every once in awhile post-Whole30.  Definitely the occasional coconut milk ice cream for the summer months.  Ya know, the important stuff ;) The beauty of the program is it doesn't need to be JUST 30 days.  If you're still having a tough time with food, you can make it a Whole60 or Whole90 if you REALLY are committed.  Or you've had a few bad months and need to get back on track? Do another Whole30 to reset yourself!  The food has been AMAZING, even my non-Whole30er significant other likes it!  

The reason why I started blogging again is because I FINALLY have re-cooped my energy from starting this new lifestyle and I have started running/working out again starting this past Monday (May 16th)!  I am currently on Day 21, which is about the time they say you start getting your energy back.

I have the Dirty Girl Mud Run coming up August 13th and I want to be able to really have fun with it!  After that, I begin training for my second half marathon August 28th!  I have lots of things to look forward to, and I want to keep track of my progress on here as best as I can.  I'm thinking recipe/photo posting, personal progress/workout updates... neat geology stuff... ya know, the important things in life.

Maybe if I am feeling a little discouraged later down the road, I can look back at these posts and see WHY I am working my tail off once again!

Happy trails!

(Some of my favorite meals thus far...Sorry most of these don't have provided recipes.  They were in the Whole30 Cookbook which is copyrighted)

Paleo Breakfast Muffins for work breakfasts

Pork Chops with Spiced Applesauce - Day 1


Shepherd's Pie - Day 12

Slow Cooker Pot Roast - Day 13

Stuffed Peppers - Day 20

Muggy summer runnin'

As promised, I will be sharing my initial measurements going into my half marathon training for the second time.  From head to toe, drum roll please...

Neck = 13.25"

Upper arms = 11.5"

Chest = 38.75"

Upper rib cage = 35"

Waist = 33.5"

Hips = 41.5"

Thighs = 25.75"

Calves = 16"

Weight = 167.6 lb

Size = 8-10

I'm far from Sir-Mix-A-Lot's dream lady, but whatever.

Thanks to my mom for helping me awkwardly take all of these measurements!  Some things I'm hoping to improve upon are shrinking my arms, thighs, and hips since these appear to be the least toned.  I know the last time I was training, I was down to 150 lbs, but really, I'm trying not to focus on the weight, but rather how fit I feel and toning of my body (which I hope that's how EVERYONE feels about fitness).  Muscle weighs more than fat anyway folks!

Today was my first legitimate Saturday run which consisted of 3 miles.   Since I've been sporadically running this distance with my "regular" workout routine prior to this, I wasn't terribly worried about it.  I was hoping to increase my speed to under a 11 min/mile, but unfortunately my body had other plans in mind.  I went to the Madison farmers market earlier this morning and was not patient enough to wait for my "ultra healthy" blackberry scone to digest a bit more before tackling the run.  

I had a side stitch for the first mile and a half, but once I conquered my breathing strategy, I was able to finish strong enough to cut off a minute off my original pace.

I'm actually rather proud that my boyfriend and I had to go out to eat before a party tonight, and I stuck to my guns and got the chicken cashew salad with fat free raspberry vinaigrette.  I think focusing on the little accomplishments is what's important.  Looking forward to a night of drinking and running a 4 mile hangover cure Sunday morning.  I'm hoping to try a new healthy recipe this next week and post how it goes.  Stay tuned!

Getting the running gears greased up

Since I last blogged I've been a bit of a lazy bum unfortunately.  Apparently there's been a summer cold going around and I just had to catch it.  Seriously, wtf.

Today I finally felt up to par enough to get back on my training schedule and keep up with my race preparation.  I was at a bit of a time crunch since I wanted to put in an extra hour at work (to make up for taking sick time on Tuesday) and I had a newbie dinner with an executive of my company at 6pm.  Instead of skipping my workout and pigging out on free and yummy food, I decided to push myself and run the fastest 5K I could.

The result?  I ran with an 11:36 minute/mile, which wasn't my fastest, but was still challenging after a few days of sickness.  I actually ran faster (11:03) the previous Friday in Lodi with more hills, not on a treadmill, which I thought was strange.

I decided to take a picture of my sweaty self before madly dashing to dinner, so here ya go:

Cotton makes workouts look WAY more impressive/sweaty.

I also decided to finally mark up the ol' calendar with my training regimen.  I'm a bit further along than I "should" be according to "The Non Runner's Marathon Guide For Women", but I'm viewing this as a good thing; allowing me to focus on speed the second time around.  Tomorrow is a rest day (which I might cross train for since I skipped so many days earlier this week) and I have a 3 mile run on Saturday.  Hopefully I can push for under an 11 min/mile!

I'm hoping to take some measurements before my next blog and record those so I can let the cyber world know my physiological changes as well as my physical accomplishments during this journey.  So... don't judge ;)

Back on the bandwagon!

Well hello again my digital brothas and sistas!

Long time no see!  I have been looking at my last postings, and I realized I have not posted since the beginning of my final year in college.  A LOT has changed since then, but one thing apparently hasn't... my will to run and tell the world-wide-web about it.

I did indeed graduate from UW-Madison with my geological/geophysics & geoscience degree in May 2014 AND found myself a big girl job.  After hours upon hours of resume sending and mostly digital rejection, I got a position as an environmental scientist with Ayres Associates in Madison, WI.  I am lucky enough to work with engineers and geologists and it's pretty neat using my 6 years of knowledge I've acquired.  I have a wonderful new boyfriend that I adore and am currently looking at apartments closer to work that I can afford with all the college debt I now owe.

Anyway, now that I'm in the grown up world, it will be a different experience training for ANOTHER half marathon in October :)  My first half marathon went splendid if I do say so myself.  I did acquire the good ol' runners toe on my left foot which I am STILL covering with nail polish for the summer flip-flop months.  The half marathon was challenging, but it was rewarding and it didn't scare me away!  I ran the whole way (even up the hills) and got a time of 2:36:45 which is an 11:58 minute mile on average.  My boyfriend at the time got a sweet action shot of me finishing up the race and I still have a smile on my face!

Tyranena Half Barrel Run: Nov. 2nd, 2013

My plan the second time around is to improve my time a bit since I've dropped a few pounds and inches since then and have more free time now that I'm not studying every waking second.  Ayres Associates is participating in a run in Eau Claire, WI October 19th and I've been upping the mileage on my runs for the past few weeks now.  The original plan after Tyranena was to do the Madison Marathon in November, but with the new demands in my life, such as a new career, that got pushed to the back burner for now.

This training may prove to be a bit more difficult than last time since I did start smoking for a few months before graduation up until recently.  It wasn't until I was running 3 miles on the treadmill a couple weeks ago and feeling AWFUL that I thought "why the HELL am I still doing this to myself again?! I ran 13 of these babies a few months ago with no major problems!"  So from then on, I quit and I'm upping my goals.

This time around, I look forward to posting more frequently, posting pictures of my newer diet (but that's not to say that I don't eat fast food sometimes with my naturally high-metabolized boyfriend), posting my physical results if any, and my goals/accomplishments as I go through this process once again. 

I guess I decided to start this blog again to not only document my progress for my self benefit, but that I may also inspire someone to look at their own life and decide to make some changes too.  I'm just an average 20-something that likes to party and have a social life, but also aspires to kick butt in her new dream job and stay healthy in the process.  I have seen many of my old college/high school friends struggle with their fitness as they move on to this new chapter in their life, and I just hope those people realize that they can do what I'm doing or find their own way of adapting.

School and running

Since I last blogged, I started my last year of school!! Since I only have class 3 days a week and don't have class until 1pm Wednesday, it leaves plenty of time to study, work, and run!  The first few weeks seem like they'll be tough since I have 2 field trips in 2 weekends (those are my long run days), but I'm moving around my schedule to keep on track.  Speaking of field trips, here's a couple of shots I took on my first one:

Conglomerate rock from the Cambrian

Stromatolite!!

I'm currently trying out my new schedule with different rest days. I have rest days on the days I have 8am class and I'm finding it's kind of tough in the beginning of the week since I'm running 4 days straight.  Minus the drawbacks, I've increased my mileage up to 9 miles! Unfortunately it had to be done on the treadmill with the hills built in... lame.  Last week I skipped my cross training on Friday and didn't have time to run this past Sunday after my 12 hour field trip.  I have to be better about keeping to my schedule!! Today I did a 7 mile run outside once my clothes dried... laundry isn't as easy with a busy schedule!  It was hot, but I think my time was better than my 8 mile run outside.  BUT here's a little caveat to anyone who's reading this: DON'T let the excuses cause you to give up!

I've had friends as well as myself let this distract me from the goal at hand.  Is it hard to force myself to run in 90 degree weather when I have school work to do or better yet, trashy shows to watch? YES.  But I have started to change my view on my workout schedule as not something that sound like a good idea, but rather like an assignment that I need to do.  We've all had an assignment notebook at one point or another (whether you enjoyed it or not is a whole other topic), but it essentially tells you, "Hey! Lazy-ass! You need to get this crap done t-t-t-today junior!".  That's what this training has taught me.  There's no "late assignments" or "extra credit", it's get it done or hurt yourself in the long run.

Also, it's called a "workout" for a reason.  It takes work.  There's no way around that.  There's going to be some pain, there's going to be sweat, probably even some curse words, but it's all for a better good.  Hell ya my knees hurt and hell YA my hip hurts. But I know that it's within my threshold of pain and it's not something that should hold me back (unless it's SUPER bad, then ya know... go to a doctor).  I have the belief that this society, probably American since I'm not sure about country norms elsewhere, is that we want things fast and we want it now.  Any quick fix is what is wanted, but you just can't do that.  I have to remind myself of that almost every time I have to go for a longer run!

So anyway, I've still been having trouble with my right hip.  It's usually when I'm super sedentary, which is pretty much throughout the class-day.  I've been increasing my stretching and movement and it's been manageable.  It's feeling really great making sure to incorporate running since it seems to give me a lot of energy and certainly helps manage my mood throughout the week.  Looking forward to keeping to my schedule a bit better to make sure I can finish strong in my half marathon!

Hey, it's been awhile!

So life has gotten slightly busy and I've put off the blogging thing for awhile, but I figured after my backpacking trip and before school starts next week is a good time as ever to add another addition to my blog!

I'm now in week 4 of my training and it's getting a bit more difficult, but nothing I can't handle.  I took last week off to go on a backpacking trip in the Porcupine Mountains with my boyfriend and our best friend Cody.  We did 19 miles in 5 days which I thought was pretty good for one first timer and someone who hadn't gone backpacking in 8 years.  They were good sports :)  Since I'm so in love with that park, I have to post some photos before I talk more about running:

First day of the trip after driving for 6 hours. Excited for the trail ahead!

The boys super excited that our second site had rock chairs. Oh, and it was right on Lake Superior :)

Lily Pad Lake on the last day.  I progressively took less pictures as the trip went on unfortunately, but still gorgeous

So after we got back Thursday night I had a rest day Friday and could not motivate myself to run 7 miles Saturday, so I pushed it to Sunday and skipped my first rest day this week.  This lack of rest is reminding me how important keeping to the schedule is since my hip is starting to bother me a little bit.  Aleve liquid gel and ibuprofen are keeping my joints at bay.  I feel like I've accomplished so much in just a month nonetheless.  I ran 7 miles Sunday and ran 6 yesterday and didn't feel like death, but rather refreshed.

I have officially run 68 miles since having started my training!!

Tonight I'm just running a 3 miler FINALLY outside.  The past 3 workouts have been on Anytime Fitness' treadmills since it's been at least 95 degrees with ridiculous humidity.  Since it's currently nighttime, my best friend Angela has offered to ride her bike alongside me so I don't get attacked.  She's pretty much amazing.

I think my hips will be very thankful for my cross training day tomorrow and a rest day after that.  I've been upping my stretching during the day too when I think about it, so hopefully my body will get over itself and just work with me ;)

Anxious to see how well the training schedule will go once school starts next week Tuesday.  I've planned my schedule so I don't workout on the days I have 8am class.  I'm in my last year and luckily get to only have class 3 days a week! Most of the days are super long, but less driving on my part and time to sleep in and work Monday and Friday!