The Blessing of a Broken Routine

Vacations are great. It’s actually been proven that simply planning a vacation makes you happier. I can vouch for that. During the past 2-3 weeks of being crazy busy at work, knowing that I was going to have 3 days off was like a ray of sunshine through clouds of gloom. And now that that trip is over, I’m looking forward to our Alaska trip where I’ll run my first full marathon.

But something about vacations has always bothered me: the break from routine. You may think that sounds ridiculous but for me, a person who values routine, having many days in a row without my usual routine makes me feel naked and unproductive. It also makes me worry that my routine must not be that important to me, if one little vacation makes me throw it out the window. The result is that I come back from vacations feeling like, for however many days I was gone, I wasn’t really living my life. I was living someone else’s life, a life in an alternate universe.

I can hear some of you saying, “That’s the sign of a good vacation.”

And now, I’d have to agree. I was thinking about this while we were down in Evansville, how feeling so separated from normal life bothers me. And then I realized: the break from reality is God’s blessing. True, I come home from vacation feeling like I was someone else for a while, but that reinvigorates and refreshes me for my everyday life. It makes me even more excited for my routine, more thankful for my own bed, more loving to my pooches, more grateful for my house. Without the break from reality that a vacation provides, I wouldn’t feel that new life instilled in the “same old.”

So now, I’m looking at the break from routine as a good thing… and trying to keep that positive perspective when I look at what happens to my eating habits on vacation.

Over the course of doing my Food Log for Lent, I have experienced many of the “diet downfalls” that normally trip me up: group meals, vacations, baby or bridal showers, date night, post-long run food fests. It has been very interesting to me to see how my body naturally regulates itself so that higher calories days (or weeks) are balanced out with lower ones.

On our recent trip to Evansville, I kept up my food log as much as I could (though I’m pretty sure I missed a mini Twix bar or two). And looking back on what I ate and drank, I was interested to see that 20% of my calories were EMPTY. Meaning they were in the form of chocolate (not dark), alcohol (white wine), and soda (Mountain Dew), and provided no nutritional value (there were other things consumed that weren’t the epitome of health but they had some nutritional value). I compared that to a “normal” week of eating and found that my empty calories then were only 8% of my total calories. Sure, the numbers aren’t a night and day difference but when I look at days where I ate 700 calories of pure sugar, it’s not hard to see why I feel sluggish and blob-like on vacation.

You know what they say, Knowledge is power. It’s been helpful for me to see the truth of my eating habits, even when they’re not pretty. And even though at first, I was surprised at how much I ate (which ended up being a higher-calorie week than average anyway), I’m now surprised that the times when I feel like I’ve eaten “so much food” and have “gained 5 lbs” really aren’t that big of a deal calorie-wise in the end anyway (it’s still a big deal glorifying-God-wise). And because I can relax over “the damage that has been done,” I can focus on what really matters: finding my satisfaction and joy in God alone.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a little more chocolate than usual while I’m on vacation.

Off to Minnesota!

I’m so excited to be flying back to Minnesota today. The biggest reason is to see my family at my cousin’s wedding and my sister-in-law’s baby shower. But I’m also excited about the (more) real fall weather that they’re having.

It’s still warmer than I’d like, but it’s better than Denver! Yesterday, it was 90 degrees here. Blah. And although today’s high is only 68, the temperatures are supposed to get back up into the 80s again over the weekend. Quit it Mother Nature! I’ve already put away my flip flops, put our comforter back on our bed, and lit the pumpkin candles. No more harking back to those bygone summer days – it’s time to be fall for real.

This is fall. {source}

Anyway, I almost got everything done that I wanted to before leaving. Tuesday night, I made chocolate chip banana bread while Travis grilled dinner (both turned out delicious!). Then I did the dishes, finished the laundry and got out the outfits I knew I was bringing to Minnesota for the wedding, the groom’s dinner and the baby shower. I came home from my book study to find that Travis had read my blog and cleaned the bathrooms for me. What a sweet husband! I LOVE it when he does things like that for me. Such a load off. So with that, I was able to go to bed and finish reading Managing God’s Money (thoughts to come later). The only thing I didn’t get done was go to Walmart to buy cards, coffee and face lotion. But no biggie. (For me, at least. Travis will probably go berserk when he discovers the coffee is gone.)

Yesterday morning, I got up early again to go run repeats on the track at the gym. Besides one other time when I ran half-mile repeats, this was my first real track workout. The other times that I’ve done speedwork, I’ve either done tempo runs, done .1 mile sprints, or ran fartleks outside using trees as my measurements. It was a great workout – very challenging. I ran 8 x 400 – 400 was 2.5 laps around the track. I did the first 400 in 1:55 but I knew that I couldn’t do another 7 at that pace. So I slowed it down a bit and ran the others anywhere from 2:05 to 2:15. Based on the McMillan Running Calculator using my most recent 10K time, I should be running 400s in 2:05. So I was right on pace!

Since my speed work usually consists of me going as fast as I possibly can for only 1 lap around the track, I found it a little bit of a challenge to gauge how fast I could go for 2.5 laps without either slowing down at the end of the repeat or getting so tired during the first repeats that I couldn’t do the last repeats. I think I did ok for my first time but there is definitely room for improvement.

I also made sure to stretch really well before heading home.

This morning, I went swimming. The pool was abnormally busy for the early morning but I was able to have my own lane for the majority of my workout. I swam my good ole trusty pyramid – 100, 200, 300, 200, 200 (I added an extra 100 on to the last one because I couldn’t stand swimming 900 and not 1,000). I swam about 65% front crawl and 35% breaststroke. I think I’m going to try to learn to breathe every other stroke during the front crawl – maybe that will help me swim faster? Even if it doesn’t, it will keep me distracted during my swims and get my heart rate elevated higher than just a normal swim.

Since we’ll be staying at a hotel in the Cities this weekend, I’m hoping to get a few workouts in but we’ll see. I’m not a workout nazi and would rather spend time with my family so if it doesn’t fit in our schedules, it doesn’t fit. Plus, I had planned on these days being rest days so if I do exercise, I get bonus points.

I’m very proud of my packing job for this trip – I fit 2 outfits per day + running clothes + running shoes + 2 pairs of dressy boots + hairdryer + straightener in my carry-on suitcase. I was apprehensive if I could make it work but I did! I always show my suitcase to Travis like a little kid – look at what I did! – because he always makes fun of me for bringing back our ginormous suitcase (with only my stuff in it) for Christmas vacation. I tell him that it’s because I bring my winter sweaters along and they take up a lot of space. I’m not sure he buys it.

Are you a light packer or an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink packer? Do you carry on or check your bags when you fly? 

Labor Day in North Carolina

For the Labor Day weekend, Travis and I flew out to visit our good friends, Mark and Sarah, and their 2-year-old daughter, Ellie. They live in Charlotte, NC, but we actually didn’t spend much time there. Our flight left at 6:15 on Friday morning (meaning our wake-up call came at 3:30!) and everything went smoothly. We were relieved to not have to check our suitcases at the gate due to full overhead bins.

We arrived in Charlotte around 3 pm and Sarah and Ellie picked us up from the airport. Mark met us at their house and we spent the evening catching up and eating a delicious home-cooked meal – cheesy beer chicken and noodles, garlic bread, and cooked broccoli. It was so good, I went back for seconds. Even though in Denver time it was only 7:30, we went to bed at 9:30 Charlotte time. We were exhausted!

The next morning, we got up around 7:45, took showers, ate breakfast and packed up for our trip up to Sarah’s parents’ cabin in the Smoky Mountains. It’s in Transylvania County, which is also known as the Land of Waterfalls. The elevation increases 2,000 feet in 4 miles and it rains 80 inches a year, so it’s technically considered a rainforest (and it definitely looks like one with all the kudzu growing everywhere!).

{source}

On our way up to the cabin, we stopped at Sky Top Orchard to pick apples and eat some apple donuts. I hadn’t been apple picking in forever so it was fun to be there, but I have to admit that the humidity slightly ruined it for me. I’m not cut out for that anymore! It just makes me feel exhausted and sleepy. So we only stayed at the orchard for about an hour and a half.

Travis was the wagon puller.

Of course, we had to get some Honeycrisp. The orchard had actually picked all the Honeycrisp trees clean that morning but we found some decent ones on the ground and got them for 1/2 off. They were still delicious!

Some of the trees had tons of apples on them – very pretty.

They’re such a cute little family! Sarah is pregnant with their second child, due in February. She finds out today whether it’s a boy or a girl!

After picking apples, we ate the sandwiches we brought and some fresh, hot apple donuts. They were so yummy – I could have eaten all 6 of them.

We drove another hour and a half on the windy mountain roads and then stopped at a roadside store that sells boiled peanuts. The store has been there since 1947 and is a tradition with Sarah’s family. All I can say is that I think boiled peanuts are gross. Travis said that he thought that when he first tried them too but he muscled through half the bag and then they started tasting good. I don’t know why he does that. I did not muscle through. I ate 2 and decided that they were not for me. Kind of like pork rinds. Ew.

Finally, we got to the cabin.

After we unloaded and chose our bedrooms, Mark, Travis and I took a walk around the neighborhood to see all the unique houses and pretty gardens while Sarah and Ellie napped. When we returned, we read and hung out for a while and then ate dinner – North Carolina-style BBQ, bean medley, and mac & cheese. We watched TV for a bit until I started falling asleep. I got my second wind to play 2 games of Scrabble and won the last game (though Mark would have won if he had remembered to play Qi, which is a special word for Chinese life force). Then it was off to bed.

The room that Travis and I slept in had french doors that opened out on to the screen porch, so we left the doors open at night to let the mountain air blow in.

We slept in until 9:30 both mornings we were there! That was one of the many great things about this trip – it was very relaxing. We got a lot of good time to just hang out and talk with Mark and Sarah and be amused by Ellie. She is so cute and hilarious. I hope our kids are as cute someday!

Sunday morning, we ate breakfast (banana pancakes made by Mark) and then hiked up one of the mountains nearby. The hike was no joke! It was challenging for me, I think mostly because of the humidity (it’s amazing how much that makes it hard to breathe just like high elevation), but maybe also because I hadn’t hiked since the Fourth of July. I have discovered time and time again that triathlon/running shape does not equal hiking shape. I must admit that I was very frustrated on the way up during this hike because it seemed like everyone else, including Sarah who’s pregnant, was in better shape than me! They were just moseying up the mountain while I was hacking up a lung. This just reveals my pride in being “athletic” – something for another blog post.

Nonetheless, we made it to the top. The view was definitely worth it.

I called this a Beach Project picture because it was so bright where we were looking (though you wouldn’t guess it from the clouds) that I could barely keep my eyes open. That’s why I look slightly weird.

I’m not particularly fond of this picture but I’m including it just to show the massive sweat stains on my shirt. I was disgustingly sweaty from the hike up. Ew. Ew. EW. Luckily my shirt was dri-fit so the sweat evaporated fairly quickly.

After our hike, we grabbed some snacks to tide us over and went to a place the locals call “Little Sliding Rock.” Instead of explaining what it is, I’ll just post pics.

It’s a rock you can slide down. Mark and Sarah said that this was the busiest they had ever seen it so I only went down twice. The first time, a couple of little girls starting sliding down from the deep hole (see below) right as I was coming down and I ended up running into one. I pulled her to the surface to make sure she was ok. (She was.) Whoops.

That’s Travis going down the rocks. In the upper right, you can see kids hanging out in the middle of the rock. That was actually a huge hole – so deep that kids were literally jumping off the rock into it. It was also a popular hang out spot although the water was so cold, I didn’t really see the fun in hanging out in it.

Travis and Mark went down several more times and even pushed each other down so they’d go faster. Boys.

Nice and refreshed, we went back to the cabin for a nap and dinner. We had steaks with sweet potatoes and salad. Another delicious meal! Mark and Sarah really fed us well. I also had about 2 Mike’s Hard Lemonades a day. Calories don’t count on vacation, right? After dinner, we got sucked into watching a Dateline Mystery. Sarah said that SNL has done a spoof on the narrator guy. He was pretty hilarious to listen to. I’ve never heard so many rhetorical questions be answered by the person who asked them. Then we played 2 more games of Scrabble and hit the sack.

I woke up around 4 am to what I thought was a really loud fan in our room. Nope, it was rain. We had known it was supposed to start raining during the night and continue all the next day – in fact, the weather reports listed the chance of precipitation as 100%. There was no chance it was not going to rain. And they were right. It rained all day. I welcomed it, though, because it was such a nice change of pace from Colorado where it has been 95 degrees and sunny everyday. (Who knew that cloudy days once in a while could be nice?)

We just kind of bummed around the cabin until late morning and then headed over to Highlands, a nearby town. We shopped for a while, ate lunch accompanied by delicious white hot chocolate, then went back to the cabin. The boys went to a waterfall and swam in the natural pool at the bottom while Sarah and I enjoyed listening to the rain and reading. When they got back, it was time to pack up and head back to Charlotte.

On the drive back, we stopped for a true Southern meal at Waffle House. There are Waffle Houses out here in Denver but somehow, it just doesn’t seem the same. I had an egg and cheese biscuit with a side of grits. You could not have fit one more plate on our table, we had so much food!

We got back to Charlotte around 10 pm, just in time to go to bed. The next morning, we showered, ate breakfast and left for the airport around 10:10… we were supposed to leave for the airport at 9:30 for our 11:30 flight but that didn’t happen. The security line was ridiculously slow – I get so frustrated at the security personnel. They lolligag and take their sweet freaking time while the rest of us are frantically trying to get through because we’re about to miss our plane. To add to that, I forgot I was wearing a belt and didn’t take it off when I went through the full-body scanner (that’s the first time I had to do that!) so I required an additional pat down. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had to stand there for a couple of minutes while the security lady watched another guy go through the scanner. I wanted to be like, “Hello! I am going to miss my plane. Can you hurry the eff up?”

Travis and I ran to our gate and arrived just as they were starting to board. Whew. We made it.

Our connecting flight in Minneapolis was only slightly less eventful. When we got off our plane from Charlotte, I looked at the departures board and I swear it said our gate was C4 – on the complete opposite side of the airport. Since we had an hour and 15 minutes, we decided to eat lunch at Wolfgang Puck Gourmet Express. Despite the debaucle of their ordering system, I had a very delicious Chicken Tortilla soup with avocado and goat cheese – seriously, I will use that idea myself. The goat cheese melts so it’s like sour cream, only healthier.

Lunch eaten, we headed to our gate. Only it wasn’t our gate. It was for a flight to Philadelphia. Maybe it was C7? Nope. Hmmm… we went and looked at another Departures board.

Our gate was F9.

Are you joking?

We had to walk all the way back around the airport. Travis was mad. I was mad at his being mad, in addition to my mind reeling. What? How did I think it was C4? Did I remember that from the Charlotte airport – no, that was an A gate. Did I look up Charlotte instead of Denver? No, that gate was for a Philadelphia flight. Do I even remember looking at the Departures board? I must’ve because Travis said I did. 

A slight redemption came when we made it to F9 and there was a little old lady who was also at the wrong gate. The airline employee said that the gate had been switched and she now needed G17 instead of F9. Maybe that’s what happened to us?

Either way, we made our second flight as well. The only bummer was that they made us check our suitcases at the gate, and then proceeded to let people on behind us with their luggage. We were slightly annoyed. I am not impressed with Delta’s overhead bins at all. But they do give out free pretzels. Bins or pretzels? Bins or pretzels?

Overall, our trip to NC was very fun and relaxing. I hope to see Mark and Sarah again soon!

{Just a quick note – things at work have finally picked up, so my blog posts and comments will probably be a little more sporadic. But I’ll still try to post and keep up with your blogs as much as I can!} 

Minnesota: Pine City and Minneapolis

If you missed the first few days of my glorious vacation in Minnesota, go back and read it.

After we left the cabin in Voyageur’s, Travis and I drove down to my parents’ cabin in Pine City (about an hour north of the Cities).

We did some tubing.

I was very nervous about falling off (since taking a nasty waterskiing spill a few years ago) so asked my dad to treat me like a 5-year-old. It ended up being a nice ride, though I did almost fall off a couple of times.

Then we took a long boat ride around Lake Pokegama (the lake my parents are on), down Snake River to Cross Lake.

The most exciting thing we saw was a heron.

It was pretty late by the time we got back from our boat ride so we ate dinner and went to bed, after watching this video several times:

The next day, we ate breakfast and went to Walmart. Later, I amused myself by taking pictures of my mom’s flowers:

Aren’t they just gorgeous? I’d love to look at that garden everyday. I took pictures of some other things too…

That’s the view of the cabin from the lake.

While I was taking pictures, Travis tried to go fishing on our neighbor’s canoe before my brother and sister-in-law arrived from Indiana but didn’t get to. He did catch a few fish off the dock, though.

Once Jeremy and Jen got there, we ate lunch and went out on the boat for some waterskiing. I was water-sported out but Jeremy and Travis went.

Charlie made another friend.

My brother, Jeremy and sis-in-law, Jen (who’s due in January!).

Katy made a friend too.

When we got back to the dock after a little swimming, we decided to try to get Charlie to swim (both her and Katy don’t like water). I sat on the tube, called her to get on it, and pushed away from the shore. Then I got off and started walking back (it was about 3.5 feet deep) and called Charlie to follow. After much hesitating, and putting one paw in the water, she jumped off the tube and swam to shore. She can swim!

Soon after that, Chris (my younger brother) and sis-in-law Meg arrived. After some hors d-oeuvres, we played an intense game of croquet.

Chris and Meg

There was much debate over the official rules of extra turns and knocking other balls out of the way.

After dinner, we had a campfire and made s’mores (though I was so stuffed from Meg’s famous carrot cupcakes that I didn’t have one). My other brother, Brian and girlfriend, Lauren arrived then and we all played Two Truths and a Lie. Good way to get to know one another a little better!

Saturday, we were all heading down to the Cities for our cousin’s wedding (Ben and Nikki). Travis and I left early to take our dogs to Brian’s house (we left them in his yard) and to have lunch with some friends. I met up with 3 of my really good girlfriends from college – it was so great catching up! I only wish I could have stayed longer and had time with each of them one on one. Travis met up with his best friend from high school too.

Then we headed to the wedding. I unfortunately didn’t take any pictures of my lunch or the wedding but the wedding was so awesome. I really enjoyed it. Their ceremony was very traditional at St. Olaf Catholic Church in Minneapolis but their reception at the W Hotel was anything but traditional. The wedding party danced for their entrance, they made people sing songs instead of clink glasses to get them to kiss, their tables were assigned by various engagement pictures they took while wearing banana costumes, and instead of signing a guest book, you were supposed to write a message on a little chalkboard and get your picture taken. (Travis and I drew a rollercoaster with the message Hold On Tight! and put our arms up like we were on a rollercoaster.) The father of the groom (my uncle) wrote a very funny, cute poem for his toast and my cousins, Josh and Tim, made a really funny slideshow for their toast. And to top it all off, they had a candy bar at the end!

We left a little earlier than we would have liked, because we were worried about our pooches. Good thing we did, too, because on the way over to Brian’s house, it started pouring. Like can’t-even-see-where-you’re-going pouring. Poor pooches! Luckily we had left the kennel there for them so they had some shelter but I was sure they were getting wet anyway with how hard it was coming down. Travis braved the pouring rain to load the kennel and the dogs up while I sat in the cab, trying to see what was going on. Katy’s harness had gotten snagged on a bush and when it started raining, she had evidently wrestled out of it to get to shelter. Shows you how hard it was raining (or how much she hates water!).

That night, we stayed at our friends Holly and Eric’s house. The next morning, bright and early, we all met up for breakfast at Keys Cafe and then Travis and I hit the road stopped at Cabela’s again. Travis had a return to make for his dad so while he did that, I filled up the truck with gas, bought some cheese curds (!), and took the dogs for a walk. Then we were really off to Colorado! Oh so far away… We arrived home at 11:30 pm, mountain time. Long, long trip that I am still recovering from.

Minnesota vacations never disappoint! (Maybe I can work for MN Tourism if I move back, huh?)

Next up: My awesome birthday presents!

Minnesota: Nevis, Grand Rapids and Voyageur’s

The long-anticipated Minnesota pictures! (You were just sitting on the edge of your seat, weren’t you?) Since I took so many pictures, I’m going to break our vacation up into a couple of posts. Prepare to be shocked and awed by my awesome photography skills.

We started out for Minnesota around 4:00 pm on Friday afternoon, since we had to stop at Cabela’s in Sidney, NE, for a new gun (for Travis’ dad). While Travis shopped…

…I walked the pooches around this nice lake…

…I subjected Katy to taking photos with me – you can tell she’s thrilled…

…and we all rolled around in the grass for a while. I was incredibly itchy afterward. Note to self.

After grabbing some greasy deliciousness from Arby’s, we hit the road for the horrendous 16-hour drive to Nevis, MN, where Travis’ parents have a house (they live in Grand Rapids right now and rent their Nevis house out, but plan to move back to Nevis eventually).

About an hour into the drive from Sidney, I was wondering WTH made me think that I could handle the deadhead to Minnesota, overnight, after work? I hate to say it, but I’m getting too old for this.

I’ll spare you the gruesome details but we finally arrived at the Nevis household. After chatting with Al and Beth a bit, and giving Al his birthday present, I took a 2-hour nap (which in no way compensated for missing an entire night of sleep). True to form, Travis headed out to ride the ATV, shoot guns, and do all sorts of “fun” stuff…

 …like grate the driveway with an antique tractor.

The next day, I tried going on a run at 6 am (after being woken up by the pooches, as usual) but the deer flies were so bad (and those buggers hurt!), I turned around after a mile. It was a nice try. Then Beth, Carolyn (Trav’s sister), and I went to a place near Park Rapids called Summerhill Farm. It’s an old farm that has been turned into shops. There were a lot of things I wanted to buy but I confined myself to these finds:

The jam was made locally in Park Rapids but the salsa was made in Texas. No matter – it’s delicious and has a nice kick. I mostly bought it for Travis, who loves salsa. And the journal was just too darn cute to pass up (some of the trees are actually shimmery gold).

I spent some more time reading and doing crosswords until we packed up and headed for Grand Rapids on Sunday night. Their house in Grand Rapids is on a lake, which is great, but it’s also near a busy highway and other neighbors, which meant I had to watch the pooches instead of just letting them run wherever they wanted. Thus, my many, many mosquito bites. I definitely got bit up while I was there more than anywhere else.

The next day (Monday), we headed up to Voyageur’s National Park, where Travis’ extended family all co-own land that their great-grandmother bought in the 30s (I mis-typed before when I guessed the 40s or 50s). Like I said before, it is absolutely beautiful up there.

It was pretty windy on Monday, which made for a jolt-y boat ride and water too rough for floating. So we relaxed and picked some blueberries.

Tuesday was the perfect day though. Just the right temperature, calm water, nice breeze. Perfect.

Travis and his parents went fishing at sunrise. They brought back quite the haul.

While Travis filleted the fish,

I took my pictures of my feet.

After breakfast, Travis climbed a tree and cut the top off with a chainsaw. Seriously.

The top of the tree was dead, which is why they wanted to cut it off.

At first, the tree fell in the right direction but unexpectedly, got hung up on another tree. Then when Travis cut the trunk more and it actually did fall, it didn’t fall where expected. Luckily, no one got hurt.

After that excitement was over, I headed down to the beach and laid on a free-standing hammock. Katy was hilarious - whenever I was on the hammock, she would come lay underneath it – it was a pretty good deal for her. She got to be by me and in the shade. But there wasn’t a ton of room under there so I got jiggled around whenever she was switching positions.

A little while later, Travis suggested that we swim out to Fish Island and back. Since we’re at different levels swim-wise (the one and only thing I’m better at than Travis, he [jokingly] told me this past weekend), Travis swam out to the island and I swam back, while Beth, Matthew and Drew followed along on the paddleboat. We estimated the distance was 500 yards. Score 1 for an open water swim practice!

Then we went boating and the pooches came along.

I think Charlie actually enjoyed the boat rides.

She sat on the side of the boat a lot – maybe it gave her better balance?

She made a new friend with Drew, Travis’ nephew.

Matthew waterskied for the first time! Travis and I also waterskied a bit.

That night, we sat around the campfire and ate s’mores. Katy also took her first ride on a swing.

The next day (Wednesday) was rainy and overcast.

Travis and his parents waited to go fishing until after breakfast, when it had stopped raining.

Matthew, Carolyn, Drew and I stayed at the cabin and played the quintessential cabin game – Rummy. Carolyn won. (I lost, as usual. Those Kluthes are Rummy-playing fools!)

While we were playing Rummy, Katy and Charlie were vying for a spot on the only dog-friendly chair.

Hilarious.

Luckily, the rainy weather did not affect the fishes’ appetites.

They caught mostly walleye but a few small-mouth bass as well (I think – I only know so much about fishing).

After a lunch of delicious fish, Carolyn and I took the paddleboat out to Fish Island to pick some blueberries. Of course, we had to take the dogs with us (Carolyn has two dogs adopted from humane societies as well – one a golden retriever, the other a Rottweiler mix).

After a nap, Travis and I took the canoe out.

In vain, we tried to leave the dogs behind. They weren’t having it.

They chased us down the shoreline, whining and baying, “Come back! Don’t leave us!”I crumble immediately when Charlie bays so we pulled around to the dock in the bay and let them get into the boat with us.

Hence, dogs in a canoe. They actually did really well.

The sunset was gorgeous that night.

The next morning, it was time to leave already. Vacations fly by way too fast!

Stay tuned for tales from Pine City and Minneapolis.

Weekly Recap: 8/01 – 8/07

Between returning from Minnesota, going camping this past weekend at Twin Lakes near Buena Vista and being ridiculously tired and worn out, both physically and mentally, my training last week wasn’t the greatest. But at least I did something, right?

Monday: Rest

I did laundry, dishes and grocery shopping instead of training.

Tuesday: 7.5 mile bike (22:00), 1 mile run (12:46), abs + pushups

I had hoped this would be a 7.5 mile bike + 3 mile run x 2 but we got to the Rec late and I ended up getting acid reflux from the spaghetti I ate for dinner. So I ran/walked a mile before deciding to do abs and pushups instead. (I did the bike ride on a Spinning bike, hence the 20 mph pace.) My arms and core were sore the next day so at least there’s that!

Wednesday: 7 mile run (1:23:22, 11:36/mile)

This is the only workout from last week that I am proud of. I was a little nervous trying for 7 miles after taking an entire week off from running. It was also 75 degrees and humid (for CO) that day, which I definitely felt during this run. My legs were very tired and sore by the end but I continued to push it, partly out of fear that I will have to run 6 miles during the race after biking 25 and swimming 1!

Thursday: Rest

I was just so wiped after work and knew that I would have to pack for camping too, that I decided to watch 2 episodes of Drop Dead Diva instead of doing a bike ride. Though I felt kind of guilty, this was the first workout that I intentionally blew off since I started training back in March. Not too shabby, if I say so myself.

Friday: 1,750 yd swim

I timed myself on 825 yards (750 meters) during this swim, to get an idea of what my goal should be during the race. The 825 yards took me 21:20 so I think my stretch goal for the swim will be 43 minutes, realistic goal 45 minutes (the Oly swim distance is 1500 m).

Saturday: Rest

I went on a hike stroll with friends from church and then went swimming in the lake.

Sunday: Rest

We went on another easy hike on Sunday, but I didn’t get out of breath or break a sweat at all so to me, that is more of a stroll in beautiful scenery than a hike. But it was still enjoyable! (Photos to come soon!)

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I have decided to ditch my idea of getting up at 4:30 to get in the Word and train before work. Instead, I am going to spend time with God in the morning and train at night. And if the weather doesn’t cooperate or the pool is overrun by the swim team? Suck it up cupcake. I am really enjoying the more leisurely mornings. And because we are approaching fall, sunrise isn’t until 6 am now, which would make my outdoor workouts start later than they’d really need to for me to make it to work on time. So evening workouts it is.

With that, I’ll leave you with this creative representation of my day at work:

Happy Monday readers!

Weekly Recap: 7/18 – 7/31

The Jungle That Was Our Lawn

With everything unpacked; laundry washed, folded and put away; our garden harvested (lots of spinach, sage, snap peas and a 16-inch zucchini!); and the dishes done, I feel like have a handle on getting back into the swing of things. I even did a brick last night but it was cut short by acid reflux from eating pasta with spaghetti sauce (a notorious offender).

I don’t know how I manage to do it but I always come back exhausted from vacation (this time, I think the culprit was the short night after a wedding followed by 14 hour car ride.) So catching up on sleep is going to take a little bit longer, since I am staying up later than I would normally to get all the aforementioned tasks accomplished after work.

With that, here is my training recap for the past two weeks:

Monday 7/18: 15.35 mile bike (59:52), 3 mile run (28:38)

I did this brick with Travis at the Rec in the evening and totally rocked the run again! (It’s so much easier to run inside on a flat surface!)

Tuesday: Lower body weights, 2000 yd swim

Another evening workout. Did 2 x 15 of squats, lunges and calf raises, then went to the pool. Did 1 x 200 (fs), 1 x 400 (fs), 1 x 800 (bs), 1 x 400 (fs), 1 x 200 (bs). Right foot started cramping up during 2nd 400.

Wednesday: 6.05 mile run (1:10:29 in 85 degree heat!)

I took my Camelbak and went easy because of the heat. It was cloudy for the first half of the run and rained a bit, which helped a lot. This run was actually mostly pleasant, despite the heat.

Thursday: 14.25 mile bike (1:05:40)

Bike home from work – even though it’s slightly easier than the way there, there are still plenty of hills on the way home. My average heart rate was 152.

Friday: 14.6 mile bike (1:14:42)

Bike back to work – because the afternoon weather has been iffy in Colorado for the past several weeks due to monsoon season but the morning weather is almost 100% nice and sunny, I decided that it was safer to bike home one day and then bike back the next morning, instead of trying to do both in one day. That way, if there was an afternoon storm, I could just drive home instead of biking or having Travis come pick me up.  My average heart rate during this ride was 147. The mileage is a little longer than the ride home because I took a wrong turn. Whoops.

Saturday: Rest day

Sunday: 2.19 mile run (23:14)

I did this run on the county roads near Nevis, MN. While my legs felt great and I was optimistic for something more like 5-6 miles, the deer and horse flies were horrible. I turned around after a mile to see if they would get better the other way but they didn’t, so I called it quits. Boo.

Monday 7/25: Rest day

Tuesday: 10 minutes of waterskiing (arms and upper back!), 500-600 yd swim

My upper back was so sore from waterskiing. Waterskiing has to be one of the best workouts around because it saps your energy in about 15 minutes.

Wednesday: Paddle boating (legs), Canoeing (arms and core)

I noticed that I had more strength for these activities than I have had in the past, so that was exciting.

Yes, that is 4 dogs on a paddle boat…

…and 2 dogs in a canoe. They are seriously attached to us. (More on that in another post.)

Thursday: 15-20 minutes of tubing (arms!)

I told my dad that he had to treat me like a 5-year-old because I didn’t want to get flung off the tube going 25 mph. (You may say that’s part of the fun but after taking a really bad spill a few years ago, I’m so over them.) We found a happy medium going somewhat fast around the turns, but then slowing down for the waves. It’s the combination of going fast and going over waves that’s the doozy (and has the most potential for making you fly off).

Friday: Rest day

Saturday: Rest day

Sunday: Rest day

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While I enjoyed my week-long break from training, I am excited to get back into it. Last night, I was actually looking forward to a bike ride but then we got ready later than we should have, and the sky was really dark. So we ended up going to the Rec (after I threw a frustration party for 1). I just feel better when I am active.

Something that I’ve been thinking about for several weeks now and has come to a head with returning from vacation is that my time with God has really been taking back seat to training. I’ve thought about switching to night workouts but the weather here is so unreliable and warm at night (whereas it’s pretty dependable and cool in the morning) and the swim team takes up almost the entire pool at night. Plus, I really just enjoy morning workouts more.

But it’s the same thing with time with God — I’ve tried to do it during lunch but can’t concentrate sufficiently. I’ve thought about doing it at night before I go to bed but I have very little motivation and would rather just read an entertaining book instead of think deep thoughts.

These are the options I have:

1)      Get in the Word in the morning and train at night. (lunch doesn’t work because of the heat)

2)      Train in the morning and get in the Word during lunch or at night.

3)      Get in the Word in the morning and break training up into 2-a-days, morning and night.

4)      Get up early to get in the Word and train in the morning before leaving at 8:30 for work.

I am leaning toward getting up earlier to do both in the morning. My wakeup call would be at 4:30. Even as I type this, though, I’m debating. It’s so hard to stick to a bedtime like 8:30 when you have a husband and church activities during the week.

What I would really like is a 5th option: Get in the Word and train in the morning, go into work at 10:30.

How do you fit your training in among your other priorities?

Which option would you choose, if you were me?

Back from Eating…er, Vacation

Travis and I got back last night at 11:30 from our week-long extravaganza in Minnesota. We are exhausted and stuffed.

I will give a full update, complete with photos, later this week when I have rested up and am thinking clearly again. Right now, I’d like to talk about the thing that I always do way too much of on vacation: eating.

If you look back on my post about healthy eating, you can see that I like to eat a little bit all day long. I don’t do big meals.

Well unfortunately for me, both Travis’ and my families do.

Here’s the typical rundown for meals:

Breakfast: french toast, sausage, fruit, coffee, milk

Lunch: sandwiches, fruit, lettuce salad, chips

Dinner: pork chops, beans, fruit, cooked veggies, chips

I’ve read that you eat more when you have more options. That’s why you can’t walk out of a buffet without feeling like you’re going to puke (that, and perhaps some health code violations). I am the poster eater of this fact. Seriously, lunch time would roll around and even though I was just barely hungry, or not hungry at all, I’d still eat. What if I get hungry later when no one else is eating? What will I do then? were the thoughts running through my head. Then there were the copious amounts of mini candy bars, licorice, and pop I consumed just because I was on vacation. Calories don’t count then, right?

Another kicker was that while I had the ambition and desire to workout on vacation, there were 2 hiccups: 1) I felt guilty spending time working out instead of being with Travis’ or my family. and 2) The deer flies were horrible. I did 2 miles on our first morning there and got 10-12 bites on my back, which turned into lovely red bumps. It was a good look for a strapless dress at a wedding.

All that to say, it’s no surprise that I have returned to my “normal” life feeling the Goodyear blimp. I am SO ready to be back to healthy eating, normal portions, and consistent exercise. The only thing I had energy for last night when we got home was to carry all our stuff in the house, drop it and go to bed. So tonight will be spent unpacking, doing laundry and going grocery shopping and then tomorrow, I’ll get back on the workout wagon. The Steamboat Oly Tri is less than a month away!

Stay tuned for a guest post from Lisa of Cow Spots and Tales tomorrow!

Two Tickets to Paradise

Today Travis and I leave on our road trip to Minnesota. We will be gone 9 glorious days. Here’s our itinerary:

Friday: Leave work at 2:00, drive home, load up the pooches, get on the road by 3:00. Stop at Cabela’s in Sidney, NE, to buy Travis’ dad’s 60th b-day present. Continue on to Nevis, arriving around 8 a.m. (it’s a 16-hour drive).

Saturday: Spend time in the middle of nowhere (aka Nevis where Travis grew up). I will read and bum around while Travis shoots stuff, creates trails on their property of 180 acres, and goes 4-wheeling (not in a Jeep but on an ATV for all of you who use 4-wheeling incorrectly ).

Sunday – Monday: Go to Grand Rapids where Travis’ parents currently live (they still have their house in Nevis, but rent it out – long story). Their house in GR is on a lake so we’ll probably do some fishing (I personally like to do tangling instead), boating, and sitting on their amazingly awesome wraparound deck. This will be the first time I’ll see their house without 5 feet of snow and negative temperatures. Yay for summer! Yay for a regular job!

Tuesday – Wednesday: We’re going to head up to Travis’ family’s cabin in Voyageur’s National Park in extreme Northern Minnesota (near the Boundary Waters). Trav’s great-grandma or great-great-grandma bought the property before it was a National Park (back in the 40s or 50s) so it’s very secluded (no phone or Internet) and you have to take a boat to get there (or a snowmobile in the winter). It is absolutely gorgeous up there.

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The sunsets up there are amazing and you can often see the Northern Lights (aka Aurora Borealis). Another perk, Canada is just right across the lake. Oh yeah, dontcha know.

I’ll also get to see a lot of this:

And I think we’re going to throw Katy off the dock. Because she hates water. And we like to laugh. No but seriously, we’d like to expose our dogs to some water on this trip so that they stop being so scared of it.

Thursday – Friday: Time with my family at my parent’s cabin near Pine City (an hour north of Minneapolis).

There will be time for this:

(although right now I’m not feeling the whole getting-thrown-off-a-tube-careening-around-the-corner-at-20-mph thing.)

And this:

My oldest brother, Jeremy, and sis-in-law, Jen, will be coming up from Evansville, IN, on Friday too. I’m not sure what my other 2 brothers and SIL (who live in the Cities) are going to be doing but I’m sure I’ll get to see them Friday too.

Saturday: Lunch with college friends in Minneapolis, then my cousin Ben is getting married! It will be fun to share in their special day and see all of my extended family on my mom’s side.

Sunday: Early breakfast with immediate family and drive the 13 hours back to Denver. I’m always extremely sad when we leave after trips like this, mostly because I miss our family. It’s just a matter of time before we move back…

Since I will be enjoying all of these wonderful water-filled festivities and decomposing (Decompressing!) during the summer of Kathy (Seinfeld references), I won’t be blogging. I actually won’t even touch a computer (unless forced). I will be soaking up sunshine, lake time, and humidity that melts your face off, and being eaten by bugs the size of a small child. And it will be glorious.

I do have a couple of guest posts lined up so stay tuned for those. Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

More Memorial Day Pics