Preparations for Holiday Racing

Date: November 14, 2014

Author: astottler

Happy Friday! We made it! Yay! I actually was able to get my big assignment finished last night, which is a huge load off my shoulders!

This is what I made:

Luckily we didn’t have to do any graphics for this assignment, and I just had to work on game play. I have played enough Yahtzee now to last a lifetime.

Not going to lie, I like days better that include 3 straight meals. It seems simpler and more in order. Which is weird. Either way, yesterday was one of those days. My morning began with an hour of spin on my own, followed by breakfast.

I think the pancake was whole wheat cinnamon? Plus the typical yogurt bowl.

Then I settled in to a coffeeshop to work on the above assignment.

I had coffee Mon-Thurs this week and I think about half of those days it was unnecessary. This was way too strong and I was WIRED.

Lunch before lab was same old, same old. My last freezer meal :'(

After lab, I really wanted to go to Crossfit because it was squat day, and we’re following a specific program, but my feet were bothering me and I had a lot of work so I skipped it.

Dinner was a mix of a whole bunch of things-edamame, potstickers (chicken and veg), butternut squash, barley, and teriyaki chicken. For dessert, I had hot chocolate cake with fudge. With ice cream in a separate bowl so it wouldn’t melt.

I’ve gotten into the bad habit of having dessert at the dining hall more often than not, so something to work on. This was delicious though.

And those were my 3 meals!

Now onto running talk.

I feel like I’m not at all in speed shape, unfortunately. I’m doing a Turkey Trot 10k, and it definitely will not be a PR. On the plus side, I have been running 6 miles a lot lately, so the distance should be fine. In mid-December, I’m doing the Santa Run 5k that I’ve done the past 2 years. Last year I tried to PR this race (spoiler alert-didn’t happen), but this year I know I’m not going to be close because that’s in a month! That being said, some speed work is definitely in order. I’ve been doing Friday morning track workouts, although not super consistently. This morning was 10x400m, and I feel like in the last few repeats I was starting to get in the groove of running faster. I think next week’s track workout will be longer and not as fast, in preparation for the 10k. In addition, I think for now I’m going to make Monday afternoons (I only have 2 more of these of normal classes though) treadmill runs. These will vary somewhat, although for next week I’m thinking I’ll do 2 miles @ 8:00 pace, plus 10 2:00 intervals at 7:30. I did a shorter version of this last Monday, and I think after that I’m ready to kick it up a notch! To be honest, my main PR goal races will be in the winter-probably the same ones I did last year! So I have plenty of time. Right now, my running isn’t super focused, which I’m enjoying, but some speed workouts will be good for me!

What are your upcoming goals?

Return to Running

Date: October 5, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Well folks, for months and months I was planning on running a half marathon this morning. That very much did not happen. However, I’m SO glad I made the decision not to run. And the fact that it’s been about 95 degrees lately here and the race was in San Jose and not SF, which is much hotter. I’m so glad I didn’t run because had I run, I wouldn’t be able to walk right now. Or tomorrow, and possibly not for the next week. I wouldn’t be running for a while, and that’s still assuming I didn’t injure myself in a more serious manner (I was worried I was going to give myself stress fractures from limp-running so strangely).

Instead, here I am, capable of walking. I’m making my triumphant return to running tomorrow morning after 2 weeks off. I swear, it’s like I have completely different feet. My plantar fasciitis is still there, and it still has its ups and downs, but my feet feel better than they did in months.

I also rediscovered my love of spinning during this time. I think I spun 10 times in the past two weeks? It was awesome. I didn’t make it to much spin this past summer due to schedule issues.

So that’s what things have been like on the workout front lately, plus Crossfit of course. Friday’s workout was pausing back squats for the strength-it’s amazing how much harder these are than regular squats! To do a pausing back squat, count 2 seconds at the bottom. I used a weight that would have been insanely light for regular squats and it still left me sore! The conditioning portion was a bit brutal as well. What could be better than starting your Friday night with 90 wall balls? *I have no clue if I’m being sarcastic here or not.”

3 rds:

200m run (This was short and my feet felt good so I did this run)

100m Farmers carry

10 man makers

30 wall balls

[Man makers are performed with two dumbbells. One push up (on dumbbells), one row with each arm, and then a thruster with the dumbbells.]

In terms of food, meals have been sort of hit or miss lately.

HIT:

Yogurt bowl with mashed banana and cocoa powder, topped with sunbutter.

MISS:

The fact that the above yogurt bowl turned into brunch because I had lab through lunch. Or lunch could be the food I scarfed down immediately before dinner. Take your pick.

HIT:

These persimmons are amazing. I love my roommate.

MISS:

Dining hall dinner-the lentils were pretty salty. The kabocha was good though!

HIT:

Coffee from my favorite coffeeshop. A cappuccino.

MISS:

The above cappuccino was quite the trek across campus. At least biking back was easier caffeinated.

HIT:

Going to a different dining hall for breakfast and finding that they actually had edible eggs.

MISS:

Being too nervous to get up or move during the Giant’s game on Friday and instead scarfing down a bowl of egg whites and spinach before my afternoon class.

HIT:

Dining hall brunches have been good lately. Yesterday’s had butternut squash ravioli which was amazing, and a cinnamon roll that was good.

(Note: I try to stick to one “treat” during brunch.)

And then Sunday’s brunch which was banana chocolate chip pancakes and huevos rancheros.

Although I wasn’t a fan of the sides (vinegary kale and bulgar pilaf) for that one.

MISS:

Once again, I was glued to the Giant’s game through dinner so dinner consisted of pumpkin muffins my roommate made (amazing, by the way), egg whites, and cheese and crackers. It is what it is.

On that note, did anyone watch Saturday’s Giant’s game?? 18 innings! Insane. What a fantastic game (if you’re a Giant’s fan). Although I will admit, I stopped watching around the 15th inning because I decided it was time to move on with my life!

What are some of your “hits and misses” as of late?

2 Weeks

Date: August 12, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

GUYS. I apologize completely for totally leaving you! It’s been a week! I’ve been busy/haven’t had the energy so what do you say we do food pictures today and notes on workouts tomorrow? So this isn’t too insanely long.

Lunch-giant melty chicken pita with hummus:

Dinner out with a friend. We went to a tapas place, and it was phenomenal. Not to mention the adorable baby tortillas on the tacos!

Brussels sprouts with coconut/chipotle?

Guacamole (of course).

Mushroom tacos with fried plantains.

GUYS. The highlight of my life was on Friday. I went to the AVOCADO CAFE. That’s basically a dream come true. It was amazing. I think every item had avocado.

I went with a veggie wrap, and it was warm and delicious and came with roasted sweet potatoes (not crispy enough to be called fries).

I then went to Haagen Dazs and had a really delicious ice cream cone-midnight cookies n cream! I like it way better than Ben and Jerry’s..that’s just too much more me.

I then walked down to the waterfront and pondered how I’m leaving soon. 2 weeks…

Saturday, I went to a place called The Protein Bar. I saw someone tweet something delicious from there, and then I remembered I had seen one nearby! SO I had a guacamole type of salad and a chocolate protein shake. Delicious.

Sunday, post run I had a delicious unpictured meal (sorry, didn’t run with a camera) followed by a post run requirement-giant cupcake from Baked and Wired. It was called unicorn something-vanilla cake with cream cheese frosting. I really like their vanilla-I’m normally a chocolate person but this is very vanilla-y. And the cream cheese frosting tasted just like buttercream. Yum! I’ve liked Baked and Wired more than the first time I was there-the cake this time was very moist.

I went over to a friend’s house for a movie night, and “helped” with some of her leftover peach-gingersnap crisp. It was amazing-the crisp part was made with gingersnaps! It may or may not have also been breakfast because I’ve been too lazy to make my planned breakfast for the week (oops).

As you can tell, I’m enjoying myself. I swear I’m eating more than sweets, but vegetables only look so interesting after a while-I’m pretty sure I’ve shown the same green bean salad 50 times by now.

Also, you may notice I’m not linking up for WIAW. To be honest, it’s just not practical for me right now to try and deal with that while I’m at work, so it’s just not going to get done, so it’s just a regular Wednesday!

Living the Self Hosted Life

Date: April 7, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hey guys! How are you feeling? I’m feeling sore. My achilles was in a lot of pain this morning but that seems to be fading, but my QUADS are super sore. And thanks to my magic compression socks, my calves are fine. However, biking around wasn’t the most fun thing in the world this morning.

Clearly I did not do a morning workout! I slept in and it was fabulous. I think I’m still behind on sleep though because I needed an afternoon nap as well!

Breakfast was a classic-overnight oats. It was super thick though. I think I need more liquid next time!

Oats, plain yogurt, chia seeds, dried cranberries, and apple. Topped with very thoroughly cooked berries!

So, something strange and frustrating happened this morning. I lost my turkey. I couldn’t find it ANYWHERE while I was making my lunch, and I was rely angry because that meant it had likely gotten lost in transit and it was a lot of nice turkey that was going to make up quite a few of this week’s meals!

Well, this afternoon I found it. I somehow managed to throw it away this morning in the process of looking for it. It was actually still kinda cold! But I think I’m getting new turkey…SO frustrating though! At least it wasn’t sitting in my car all day today like I was worried it was!

Lunch was supposed to be a Chef’s salad, but without turkey it was just kind of a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, and avocado.

Still good, but would have been better with turkey.

So, this quarter I’m in Spanish 3. The class is entirely in Spanish. Which is fine, except I have Bio 10 minutes afterward, and it’s surprisingly confusing to have to switch around the way that I think. It’s funny because when I take Spanish, I definitely think in Spanish a lot.

Snack was carrots with a beautiful pool of sunflower seed butter.

And dinner was dining hall food. Not too shabby today-some type of Mexican seasoned chicken, salad, and my new favorite combo thanks to last week’s breakfasts: quinoa and sunflower seeds! Seriously-you need to try this!

And dessert-a Honey Oats and Coconut KIND bar. I’m really excited that KIND has come out with these new, nut-free granola bars! This one only has 7g of sugar!

And now onto today’s topic-living the self hosted life.

In summary: I don’t like it so far. Sure, I have more theme and style options. I got search engine optimization, which I’m still working on setting up. Fun fact-one of my top searches last week was “items made in the year 1842.” Ummm ok? Clearly need to work on that optimization!

I know there are more benefits-does anyone have any specific suggestions for me?

Now the cons. My number one annoyance right now is spam. I have to filter it myself, and there’s a whole lot more than I thought. And some things I have to make a decision about whether or not are spam. It’s a pain. And I still get email notifications about every spam comment which I really should turn off.

Next problem-is it just me or does my blog take forever to load? It was taking FOREVER to load the other day. And then my pictures came up black and I started freaking out. Until I realized it was my computer that sometimes likes to spaz out and freeze up when I go on the Internet. So maybe it doesn’t take forever to load for you guys and it’s just me? Let me know!

Last problem-I’m not sure how the transfer affects different blog reader sites, so I’m fairly certain I’ve lost readers as a result. For a while, the new posts weren’t coming up on Bloglovin if you followed my wordpress.com account, but now they are and as a result I see 3 Fitness is Sweet posts on my Bloglovin reader every time I post so I can tell it’s working!

So what do you guys think about self hosting-like, love, or hate it?

WIAW-How We Do Vacations

Date: March 25, 2014

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

WOW. I seem to have gotten a bit behind on posting, haven’t I? Thanks to Jenn, we can catch up somewhat in the form of WIAW!

Friday afternoon, I finally made it home. I was really excited to do 14.4 at my home Crossfit! Since they only have 2 rowing machines, those of us not officially signed up for the open did an 800m run instead of rowing. I wasn’t sure how this workout would go-I’ve never been able to do toes to bar before! I ended up doing it for the first time ever, and getting 5 reps in before I kept failing and decided to just finish with knees to elbows so I could continue in the workout. I ended up getting up to 15 cleans before the 14 minute time ran out.

For my first dinner at home, we ordered food from a local favorite and I had chicken and rice soup. 85% of the reason I order this is because of the avocado!

Plus a side salad.

One of the perks of being home-raiding the pantry and or freezer. We always have amazing fudge sauce on hand, so I made a sundae with frozen yogurt and zucchini bread (on the bottom). The zucchini bread was from the freezer!

For breakfast before Crossfit Saturday morning, I stuffed a whole wheat tortilla with sunflower seed butter, raspberries, and banana, and microwaved it until it was warm and gooey.

At Crossfit, most of the other people were doing 14.4 so I got to choose my own workout from the WODs that everyone had done for the week. I chose one that looked fun-it included pull ups, hand stand push ups (which I did with a box), and front squats. It was a very poor decision to chose anything that involved hanging from a bar, after so many toes to bar/knees to elbows the day before! My hands were SO done!

After Crossfit, my family and I drove down to Monterey for a little weekend vacation. On the way, we stopped at a little bagel shop that we used to always go to when we had softball tournaments.

A turkey and avocado sandwich on a whole wheat bagel.

Taro bubble tea, which actually turned out to be blended-which meant it was a smoothie like texture with tapioca balls at the bottom. I actually enjoyed this flavor-I’ve never tried it before!

For dinner the first night, my family ordered room service and split salads, potato skins (I haven’t had these in YEARS), and roasted artichoke.

Sunday morning was my long run day. I’m officially in taper! 9 miles it was for me! I made sure to carb load up before running.

I’m slightly concerned that I haven’t had my typical pre-run breakfast a single time before a long run during this training cycle. I’ve done a few of the runs in the afternoon, which I’ve never done before, and I guess I just didn’t bother with it before then.

I found a trail that took me from our hotel, along the water through downtown Monterey.

I was probably not nearly as well rested as I would have liked to be but the run went fine! The thing was, we ended up not getting to eat lunch until super late! We finished lunch around 4!

My family decided to walk around Monterey in search of lunch, and I was instantly drawn to a little restaurant that was all about artichokes.

To start, we shared a fire roasted artichoke and artichoke dip.

For my main dish, I ordered a turkey and avocado sandwich on a croissant. It came with roasted artichoke soup.

This definitely hit the spot after 9 miles. More importantly than lunch, however, was dessert. Which is basically how my family does vacations. DESSERT.

A brownie hot fudge sundae from Ghiradelli. Yummmm.

For some crazy reason, we weren’t hungry for dinner yet! On my run, I found that there is a little Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, which we had never heard of! We rented a 4 wheeled bike-car thing, which was a lot of fun!

The biggest attraction of Fisherman’s Wharf was the caramel apples, and we picked up a couple for later.

I also saw Divergent-I’ve been listening to the audiobooks of the series on my long runs so I was excited to see it! I thought it was pretty good. My gripe is probably only because I read the book, but I felt like they left out a lot of details that while if they included everything the movie would be insanely long, I felt that without them the movie was a bit confusing.

Dinner was cheese and crackers and a caramel apple.

Monday was our last morning, and we drove to Carmel to explore the little shops. A highlight? Cheese tasting!

Followed by tasting lots of little tapenades and sauces at a fancy little foodie store. We walked away with some quality white balsamic, which I cannot wait to use!

For lunch, we stopped at a Mediterranean place with amazing hot bread. I had some delicious and perfectly cooked salmon with saffron sauce.

They also brought out a little complimentary dessert!

After lunch, we walked down to the beach to soak up some beautiful views.

Before dessert round 2!

In my family, if you don’t roll home from a vacation, you’re not doing it right! There was lots of great food over the weekend, but I’m definitely happy to return to a routine today!

How do you eat on vacations?