I Feel So Fit

Date: July 17, 2016

Author: astottler

Hello! It seems like I’ve only been popping in on weekends, doesn’t it? I don’t have much to share about my weekdays; in terms of food, I’ve basically been having the same thing every day anyways!

I have a few scenes from my run. I made it 2 miles! That’s the farthest I’ve run since my stress fracture, and while it felt good, I don’t think I’m quite ready to go further yet.

So why not another weekend recap?

This weekend my parents came to visit! Which of course meant we got to eat lots of good food!

Thursday night, we met in Market Square and went to Trio. I got the Trio salad, with added roasted chicken. The salad had portabello, brie, and blueberry balsamic. Their chicken was super tender and delicious as well!

We then went to Rita’s for frozen custard. I went with chocolate and vanilla swirl.

Friday night after I got off work, my parents picked me up and we headed back to Market Square and hit up Cafe 4, which had been on my radar.

I had a really delicious salmon, beet, and goat cheese salad. My family also split cheddar grits. I love grits!

For dessert, we split a slice of flourless chocolate torte. I’ve actually been super impressed with the gluten free options in Knoxville. A lot of menus have things labelled.

We walked around downtown a little bit before calling it an early night. I definitely didn’t get enough sleep the previous couple of nights, and was feeling it!

Saturday morning, my parents slept in while I went to Crossfit. The workout was a partner AMRAP. It started with a 400m run then:

29 Minutes

7 burpees

13 goblet squats

19 sit ups

8 pull ups

7 box jumps

And no, I really don’t understand the numbering scheme. My partner and I switched off rounds. I am so impressed with how much my foot has improved in the past 3 weeks. I can do pretty much anything now. On Saturday I did 20″ box jumps for the first time (I had been doing 16″). For my burpees, I’ve been stepping back and forward. On Saturday, for the first time I started stepping back and lightly jumping forward! (It might be a while before I slam my foot into the ground by jumping back). My pull ups have also drastically improved. Now, I just do the WODs without a band for pull ups. Without questioning it. I didn’t do most of the sets unbroken, partly because my hands got slippery on the bar, but I did do one set of 8 continuous pull ups. A couple of months ago (or less), my max was 4! I felt really strong and fit out there during that workout. Since coming here, I’ve stopped babying my toes to bar and pull ups, and I’ve realized both how strong they really are, and have seen them get stronger. I feel really good, and really fit out there in my workouts. And I finally feel healthy, like a whole (non-fractured) person. That being said, don’t ask me how fit I feel when running! Still working my way back into that…it’s not easy to get back into, but I’m putting zero pressure on myself, and I have zero expectations.

For brunch, I took my parents to a gluten free bakery/market. We all had egg and cheese biscuits (although theirs had bacon).

After lunch, we drove into the Smokey Mountains.

It was a tad rainy. We got out at the head of the Appalachian trail to hike, and ended up getting back into the car and staying there for a little while while the worst of the storm passed.

It was pretty cool to be hiking there. Only 2,000 miles to Maine!

The scenery was beautiful!

It was a great afternoon trip. We DID the Smokies! (As my mom said!)

For dinner, we headed to Market Square yet again to try another restaurant on my list, Tupelo Honey Cafe. This was recommended to me by somewhere I went to Physical Therapy with when I was working on my foot!

We started with spiced and and grilled Okra, served with buttermilk ranch.

For my main meal, I got a side salad with Tupelo Honey Vinaigrette, and corn soufflé. The soufflé was delicious, and I would love to try and recreate this at home!

We got back on the early side, so once at my dorm I began laundry and Facetimed my college roommate. It was so good to catch up with her, even if the signal was sketchy! It’s amazing how much there can be to share about just a few weeks!

The next morning, I let my parents sleep in (West Coast time) while I went to a spin class. HELLO cardio. In terms of exercise, Crossfit has been my method of choice (and really my only option) for the past few weeks. I lost most of my cardio endurance with my broken foot anyways, so it’s been a little rough! I’m subbing spin classes the week I get back to California though, so I need to get it together a little bit!

I actually made my own lunch while cleaning up and throwing in some more laundry. it involved avocado toast, watermelon, and BBQ chicken over salad.

We met up again so that my mom and I could get pedicures. Mine were looking rough—I am pretty bad about my my nails. I tend to get a pedicure with my mom about once a quarter, and then leave that polish on until the next time. It had been extra long this time because my foot was too broken for a pedicure! I went with deep red.

Afterwards, I kidnapped my parents to help me work on my vet school apps. We went to K Brew, my favorite coffeeshop here, for Lavendar Honey Iced Lattes. (Yes, they are as good as they sound.) I have a pretty good idea of what I want to write my personal statement on , but we brainstormed a few more ideas. I think for my writing process, I need to get it down in a low stress, relaxed environment, so I’m hoping to find somewhere nice to hang out next weekend and get started on it. Everything feels slower and more relaxed here in Tennessee, and I know a return to the Bay Area is going to feel like a sack of bricks to the face.

We headed to Panera for an early dinner of a Fuji Apple Salad for me. Love that!

Then, it was time to say our goodbyes!

Thank you guys for coming to visit!

(Also—how crazy is this. This was my entire tank. That would take me 300 miles. In the Bay Area, $15 gets you like 2 drops of gas…)

Day in the Life: Summer 2016

Date: July 8, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hi friends! We’re back for another day in the life! Sadly, this may not be the most detailed, but we’ll roll with it, right?

5:40am: Alarm goes off

I get ready for Crossfit. This involves eating a bit: half a slice of zucchini bread (the last of my minimal freezer ration that I brought from home) and a few GF cheese filled crackers (SO addictive).

I’m not normally one to workout in just spandex, but workouts have been SO sticky with the humidity. The gym is unairconditioned an dust holds heat, so it’s gross even at 6:30am. When I wear shorts, they just stick to my skin and make it hard to move around.

I actually end up taking less time than I allotted to get ready. It’s only 1 mile away too.

6:20ish: walk in and start to warm up. We don’t do warm ups as a class; you’re responsible for doing your own beforehand.

Here was the workout:

When I saw tempo deadlifts, I knew it was my jam. I’ve been doing that tempo for deadlifts every week until last week for about 2 months, thanks to my foot limitations. The MetCon was sweaty and hard! I’m not fully functional at this point, so I did my jumps onto a 16″ box, and stepped back and forth for the burpees. I used a band for the pull ups. The second part was essentially a plank, on the hands. We went for as long as we could in the 5 minutes. I lasted over 2 minutes before resting, and I was pretty proud of how I did overall!

I left dripping and feeling like I accomplished something for my morning!

Upon arriving back at the dorm, I showered and got myself ready for making breakfast. Outfit of the day? Scrub top, khakis, hiking boots.

Plain Greek yogurt with blueberries, sunbutter, and vanilla cereal. I also snacked on cherries while I put it together.

8:30: Leave to start my day.

9:00: Begin the day’s tasks. I don’t think I should go into much detail but this week involves horses.

12:00: Break for lunch. I have more of those cheese crackers, plus a salad with goat cheese, mediocre blueberries, and chicken. I didn’t want to put my nectarines in my salad anymore because they’ve been crazy good lately and it feels like a waste!

I actually also ate my nectarine that I had packed for a snack. Oh well. I was extra hungry thanks to Crossfit.

I broke mid-afternoon to eat a peppermint Luna bar as well.

I actually had a lot of time to think about my vet school app essays, and I’m feeling good about my direction, which is important! I need to schedule some low key time to sketch them out a little.

6:30: Leave, as a giant storm is rolling in. It actually wasn’t as bad as it was projected to be, but there were flashes of lighting everywhere I looked as I drove back.

6:45: Arrive back at the dorm and throw some zucchini in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Scarf down some cherries and more of those cheddar crackers.

7:00 Phone meeting about vet school stuff while the zucchini cooked.

7:20: Throw a slice of GF bread in the oven to toast while I get the rest of dinner ready.

Nice and black, just the way I like them! (In all honesty I could and should have probably taken these out sooner, but oh well.)

7:30: Dinnertime!

Zucchini, avocado toast, chicken, and a veggie patty.

Settle down to eat with Grey’s Anatomy (I’m on Season 10). Dessert is a chocolate mint Yasso bar.

Throughout the rest of the night, I also have a GF blueberry muffin and part of a Bobo’s lemon popppyseed bar.

After finishing my episode, I do some vet school app stuff, watch a few youtube videos, and settle down to read.

Projected bedtime: 10:30-11. If I had work tomorrow I would probably be in bed sooner!

I Feel So American

Date: July 4, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend. I’m checking in with the latter half of my first weekend in Tennessee.

Let’s start with Sunday.

I started by hitting up Knoxville’s only spin studio, Turbo Cycle.

It was one of the classes where your stats appear on the screen, and this always makes me work harder! It was a tough and fun class. One thing that I didn’t love was that I didn’t have my own spin shoes. I’ve never actually used any other cycling shoes, but they didn’t make the cut of what to put into my crammed suitcase. Apparently mine have pretty thick and sturdy soles, so the shoes I used for that class made me a little nervous for my foot since I could feel the pedal more beneath me, but I was careful and it was ok.

Afterwards, I went to another highly rated coffeeshop to cool off with a decaf iced latte and to finish my book.

Back in my room, I made lunch.

Sweet potato noodles, spinach, cheese, guacamole, and BBQ chicken.

After lunch I walked down to World’s Fair Park with a new book in hand and explored the area.

After a while I decided that the ~95 and humid weather was not as pleasant in the shade as I was hoping, and headed back for a low key afternoon with my book and some netflix.

My outing that evening was froyo. It’s 5 miles to the nearest froyo! Worth it.

My 4th of July felt extremely American. My most American yet (although this one may be a close second). I’m in the South, my friends.

I started my morning with Crossfit, which was a Hero WOD.

Adrian

Seven rounds for time of:
3 Forward rolls
5 Wall walks
7 Toes to bar
9 Box jumps

Forward rolls? Not a thing for me. I did the sub, which was flutter kicks. I was able to knock out toes to bar pretty well. I’m getting stronger there at least! Box jumps? I did them! I used a shorter box (I think 18″), and was super careful. They felt good. I forget to mention it, but on Saturday I “did” my first burpees since my foot. I say “did” because I stepped forward and back. But we’re getting there my friends!

The Crossfit gym is decidedly un-airconditioned, so I was sweating buckets almost immediately. Lunch was a much needed green smoothie, plus a fuji apple chicken salad from Panera.

I spent the next few hours reading and doing laundry, before making the drive into the countryside to visit my college advisor’s lake house.

As a happy land dweller, I usually avoid water, but I was persuaded to spend some time in the lake, thanks to warm temperatures.

(Apparently Nike makes bathing suit bottoms that are shorts. This is my ideal!)

My floatie of choice was a paddle board. I’ve always wanted to try SUP, but there was a pretty strong current and I had no confidence in my ability to steer away from it if I actually got up. I stood briefly while hanging on to the dock. Baby steps! I spent most of the time just sitting on it, enjoying the beautiful day and the water.

I felt so AMERICAN. Floating in a lake, drinking a beer, eating ALL the appropriate BBQ foods.

I had a great time, and left in time to make it through the small and windy country roads with some daylight left.

It started to get dark right as I got back onto a main highway, and I saw a few fireworks being shot out a ways away. There is something so amazing and beautiful about seeing fireworks when you aren’t expecting to.

I made it back by around 9:30, and contemplated walking down to where I knew there would be fireworks, where lots of people were headed.

I walked a little ways before deciding I wasn’t feeling it. Also, I thought my room my have a decent view of some fireworks (yay for the 11th floor!), so I grabbed a treat at an open market (A candy bar. American? Probably.)

I arrived to my room JUST in time to see this:

What a perfect view!

And now it is time to head to bed—lots of early mornings ahead!

What did you to do celebrate the 4th?

Exploring Knoxville

Date: July 3, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

After a pretty intense week, Friday night I was able to start exploring Knoxville!

Friday night I went to Central Burgers and Taps with some of the people I’ve met while here and their dogs. This is a very dog friendly city, and most places with outdoor seating allow dogs.

Saturday morning began with a Crossfit class!

I hadn’t done any intense exercise in a week, so it felt good to sweat! (And sweat I did—no AC!) We did about 1000 burpees, push ups, wall balls, and ab mat sit ups. Well, maybe not 1000, but over 100 of each! We did a deck of cards workout, where each movement was a deck of cards. The coach let the class choose, and apartment the class is full of masochists, haha! In all seriousness though, the people were SO nice. Some of the most genuinely nice people I’ve met in the Crossfit community. I wasn’t sure I was going to try to do a membership because the class time I can make is 5:30am (ouch), but I was won over!

Next up was a trip to the only gluten free bakery in Knoxville, for their Saturday morning biscuits! Benefit Your Life was a bit of a drive (apparently you can drive 13 miles on the highway and still be in Knoxville?), but totally worth it. I got an egg and cheese biscuit, and a strawberry, banana, orange smoothie.

Plus a chocolate chip cookie for later.

After cleaning up, I enjoyed my lack of schedule by reading a book for an hour or so before heading out to explore the city (i.e. plant my butt in a coffeeshop and work on vet school apps). I headed to K Brew, and had to try their special, a honey lavender latte.

I’m not normally a sweet coffee person, but this was AMAZING. I’m going to have to go back and try their cappuccinos too to really evaluate this coffeeshop!

I ate my cookie while working on apps. Necessary to make them a little bit sweeter. In all seriousness though, having such a low stress and happy environment makes them a lot less stressful.

I was there for about 2 hours before I headed down to Market Square to walk around. Apparently there’s a nice farmer’s market there Saturday mornings!

I then stopped at a salad and sandwich/burger restaurant for a turkey, avocado, and ranch salad.

Followed by frozen custard. Chocolate/vanilla swirl.

This was from Rita’s. Apparently there’s one near my house in CA that I have yet to try, but this was really good! (Shake Shack is better though.)

From there I drove around the area to try and get my bearings and ran some errands, before heading out again with the same people. We played corn holes, which I’m decent at but not as good as you might think, given my pitching background!

Today I have another full day to explore, and after my workout, I’m not sure what I want to do!

Have you ever been to Knoxville? Recommendations for me?