The Best Moment

Date: October 17, 2014

Author: astottler

WHEW! We made it to the weekend! Mine will be chock full of work, but that’s not important right now. What is important?

1. AHHHHHHHHHHHH WE’RE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES! OMG OMG OMG. I was watching the game prior to my Chem midterm last night, and the minute I got out, my mom texted me saying we won! Such an amazing finish too. AHHH. Best moment-chem midterm done and Giant’s win!

2. I am SORE. Especially my calves. Going down stairs is immensely painful. Why did I have class on the 3rd floor? Ow. I did the Filthy Fifty yesterday morning at Crossfit and those box jumps…man. The whole workout kicked my butt! The last time I did it was on my birthday!

3. The reason #2 is a problem is that I am doing a Crossfit competition tomorrow, and I really need to practice my double unders, but the thought of jump roping is making me cringe right now. Ah well.

4. I’ve been running again! I did 5 miles on Wednesday, which is the farthest I’ve done since healing up my feet. It’s interesting-it’s hard but not in a cardio way-my legs get tired!

5. Food. I think I’m finally getting into a more consistent eating routine, which just makes everything better. Breakfasts have been yogurt bowls with sun butter from the dining hall.

I also had a latte this morning. It was super milky though, so not the best in my opinion!

Lunch yesterday was roasted carrots (!) from the dining hall, salmon from the dining hall, and my own sage mashed sweet potatoes.

Today, I had more leftover sweet potatoes, plus a turkey and brie sandwich. I ended up running back to my room a bit later for some more veggies.

Roasted carrots are currently my savior. First of all, I love them. Second of all, when I get out of class at 4 and am hungry, they’re a good pre-Crossfit snack because they digest pretty quickly.

Dinner last night was gobbled down during the Giant’s game. For some reason, I was STARVING when I got out of lab. I was definitely that person waiting outside the dining hall until it opened at 5. Favorite on this plate were the black bean chili and chicken masala, which had a really great warm flavor. Plus, I was starving.

Some other snacks lately have been fancy cheese (all my friends are cheese obsessed-I can’t really complain) as well as chia pudding. For the chia pudding, it’s simply chia seeds, milk, and preferably dates (which I am now out of).

And now I’m off to one more meeting before my weekend of schoolwork!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Midterms+Food

Date: October 15, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posting, but things have been pretty crazy around here with midterms, Giant’s playoffs, and all kinds of other commitments! This weekend I’m going home to participate in my Crossfit’s Crush Cancer charity competition, benefitting Stand Up to Cancer. So I hope to make up at least somewhat for the quietness around here with some pictures of life as of late!

What have you been up to lately?

CS

Date: October 10, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Friday! Who’s ready for the weekend? My night will be spent on schoolwork. Meh. On the plus side, I was reading some of my posts from this time last year and they were so much more sad-my last fall was so much harder!

Anyways, I’ve been working on CS since my last class. Until my next class in a little bit which is CS section. Which is directed followed by CS lecture. After which I’m going to lock myself in a coffeeshop off campus and work on my CS problems.

YAY.

On the fitness front, I went to Crossfit this morning so I wouldn’t waste time this afternoon waiting for it to start and I can get to work sooner. I had plans on running this evening before locking myself in said coffeeshop, but I can. not. walk.

Yesterday I did squats. And while I know it’s a bit early for Halloween, I’m definitely rocking the Frankenstein walk. Yesterday morning’s workout incorporated a new piece of equipment for me-the stair climber. I wanted some low intensity cardio I could zone out for, so I spend 45 minutes on that thing. The good news is that I didn’t fall off…I followed that with 8 minutes of 2 squats every 30 seconds, for a total of 32 squats. I didn’t even go that heavy-last time I used 20 pounds more (and then I REALLY couldn’t walk the next day). But man. Ow.

Foodwise, breakfast has been yogurt bowls.

And lunches have been packed or bought quickly. The first is a Trader Joe’s salad that I really enjoyed!

Yesterday before lab I was starving so I ran to a cafe for a quick turkey, cranberry, and brie on whole wheat.

Lunch today was an old classic from the summer-green bean salad with balsamic vinaigrette, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds. Plus a little turkey stolen from the dining hall the night before.

In addition, last night I learned the true meaning of the “death” in the death by chocolate cake at the dining hall. Yeahhh I felt like death! I seriously could not focus on anything, so I went outside and practiced my jump roping. Note to self-next time: LONG SLEEVES! I have some nice little welts on my arms now. Cute.

Ok, now I really need to get back to CS….

Reasons to Back Out of a Race

Date: October 8, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys!

Today’s post is going to be a bit different. Since I missed my race last weekend and am 100% happy with the decision, I thought I’d post on some of the reasons why it might make sense to back out of a race.

1. You are injured. This was the reason I backed out. While I MAY have been able to tough it out, it simply wasn’t worth it, and running has felt 100% better.

2. You risk serious injury. This can apply to a lot of things. I was worried that with my limpy gait, I was going to get a secondary injury, or even a stress fracture. This could even apply to poor running conditions. If your race is on a muddy trail during a rainstorm and you are prone to slipping, it might make sense to back out.

3. Extreme weather, especially if you aren’t trained in it. If you trained in 60 degree weather all season and then show up to 100 degree temps on race day, it might make sense to rethink whether or not the race would be safe.

4. You are sick. While sometimes you can push through an illness, a lot of times it isn’t worth it to tough out a miserable race, leaving you more ill than before.

5. Life gets in the way. Maybe it’s a family thing, maybe it’s a huge opportunity. While training for a race may be a big part of life, it isn’t all of life. Sometimes it needs to take a backseat.

Have you ever skipped a race? Why?

First Run Back

Date: October 7, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Wednesday!

First things first….YAYYYYY WE WON! NLCS HERE WE COME! #evenyearmagic

SO excited. Such a crazy and stressful game. The playoffs are seriously like a 5 unit class too, in terms of time commitment! Worth it.

Second things second. I ran for the first time on Monday! I did 3 miles with a friend, and it felt good. I was so amazed by how much better my feet felt. And it wasn’t crazy hard like I was sort of expecting, although I definitely wasn’t going fast. I was actually pretty sore from it though! Monday night I started to feel some soreness in my inner thighs, and then this morning my calves were sore. Crazy.

Fitness-wise, I did a 45 minute spin session Tuesday morning pretty early because I had an early morning dental appointment. I was supposed to go to Crossfit Tuesday night-it looked like such a fun one! But then I didn’t want to miss the game so I skipped it. Still bummed but oh well. I’ll go tomorrow. I’ve slacked off a bit on my workouts as of late, so I should get back into that more soon.

Foodwise, I finally managed to capture a picture of the pumpkin muffins my roommate made. They were amazing. She added a brown sugar/butter/cinnamon swirl too. Crazy good.

I got a Trader Joe’s salad to try. It had persimmons! Overall, it was good but very vinegar-y.

I went to the dining hall a couple of times Tuesday, which I almost never do (twice in a row that is).

Lunch was Mediterranean. It was just ok. The falafel was pretty hard. But there were roasted carrots, and they were totally amazing.

I wasn’t super hungry for dinner thanks to a cheese and crackers snack beforehand, but I had some good things. Roasted carrots, spanakopita, and a barley stuffed mushroom. I was excited to see the avocado. While I’m certainly not complaining about having avocado, I felt it could have been used better-this was a strange thing to put it on!

In terms of life, besides watching baseball and going to class, the other night I went to a recruitment event that consisted of roasting marshmallows, which was a ton of fun. I inhaled a ton of smoke and left smelling like a forest fire, but it was worth it!

But for now, there is lots of CS in my future!

How do you like your marshmallow?

I’m a golden brown type of person but I definitely lit mine on fire on accident!