Plunging & Playing

Man, I could honestly lay down right now and call it a night. I am tiiiirrredddd. To be honest, I probably will once I finish writing this up.

Fun weekend. It was an impromptu total rest weekend - I had planned to run 8 or so miles today, but my body wasn't feeling it so I listened, did some stretches, and officially deemed it a lazy day. Sometimes you just need those, I fully believe that.

The crazy Ravens bus that was at the plunge

I volunteered at the Polar Bear Plunge all day on Saturday with a bunch of my coworkers. In case you didn't know, the PBP raises money for the Special Olympics. It's a great cause, and I'm glad I volunteered (I helped with registration)... but I'll tell you what, I don't think I could do the actual plunging.

As I watched thousands of people charge into the freezing Chesapeake Bay in about 30 degree temps, I honestly wanted to cry imaging the cold. I can push through a lot of different pain and annoyances, but I'll tell you what, when it comes to being cold I'm a B-A-B-Y. I would rather be sweating my butt off than be cold.

Saturday evening involved the Baltimore scene once again, as it was my dear coworker's birthday celebration! Fun was had by all... perhaps too much... but hey who am I to be the judge of that?

me and the birthday girl!

classic 'stach pic

As mentioned, today was lazy, but it was good quality time spend with my main man. We braved the Sunday crowds at Costco, grabbed some smoothies after and enjoyed an early movie on his couch before both nearly falling asleep. And here we are.

I'm excited for this week. I need to hit 'reset' just be proactive in a couple different areas of my life right now. I'm pumped to go hard tomorrow, whatever that may look like. Weather's looking good mid-week... I'm sorry, does that say 64 degrees? Hellooooo running trails.

Cheers to some January warmth!

18 Miles & A Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'm pretty good at doing dumb things. Sometimes it may be on purpose, just to get a good laugh out of people. Other times, it's solely from lack of thinking through situations.

I'm going to blame today on the later of the two.

i literally look like i'm crying in that picture. i'm not, however i did feel that sad. 

Today while on my 18 mile run, once I realized that I had made a pretty dumb decision, I started running through what an ESPN announcer would be saying about me, if I was a really good athlete that the public actually cared about. This is what I came up with:

"Well folks, with the New York Marathon being only 8 weeks out, we really can't help but to comment on Kait's recent downward spiral. I mean, as a long distance runner, one is almost obligated to stop and ask, what has this girl been thinking lately?"

"Not only has her diet been extremely off-track the past couple weeks, but she also has been consistantly coming in with lower mileage on weeks that should be a bit higher. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for the occasional off week, with a couple extra days off thrown in, but after a weekend like the one she had last weekend, one can't help but question if she really deserves those THREE days that she took off this past week."

I'm going to stop it there, before the announcers get too brutual and get into the grimy details of last weekend. Those ESPN guys can be ruthless.

So, to get to the point. This morning, my alarm went off at 7 AM. Because I had to run 18 miles. I hit snooze, I woke up at 9:30 AM.

Instead of flipping out, I recruited Andrew to go to Starbucks, or (earmuffs kids) Starf*cks as he likes to call it. We both pounded Pumpkin Spice Lattes, because there's no better way to start your day.

after the ice melted.

WHY do they consistently spell my name wrong?

Unless of course, you have to run 18 miles. Then, there are several other great ways to start your day. A banana, perhaps?

So without really thinking, and without really eating much aside from the latte and a cliff bar I hit the trails at 11 AM, with temperatures quickly climbing into the high 80's, partly sunny skies, 80% humidity, and pretty obnoxious winds.

WARNING: This + sugary milky coffee is not great long run fuel. 

It didn't take me too long to figure out, this was one of the worst life choices I had made in awhile. And I'm even including the glow in the dark face paint last weekend.

This is getting fairly long-winded, so I shall wrap it up. I suppose, as Kelly Clarkson so eloquently puts it, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I finished the run, and I lived to tell the tail. I maintained a pace of 8:40, and only one of those 18 miles were over a 9:00 pace. Regardless of the fact that miles 12-18 felt like I was getting the shit beat out of me with a metal bat, I finished. Boom.

Lesson learned life, lesson learned.

Cheers to some better life decisions in months to come ;)

A work appropriate Piña Colada

Happy Monday!!

Due to a very restful weekend full of sleep, my 6:30 AM alarm was far less painful then it normally is on a Monday. I didn’t even hit snooze, and therefore had time to straighten my hair; a rarity these days. So much so that everyone at work got really excited over me having straight hair. I lacked their enthusiasm.

Rocking the aviators - getting ready for the upcoming Eric Church concert!

Lunch today consisted of one my favorite smoothies. And in effort to add to my FoooooD section, I’m going to share. It’s super easy, and tastes remarkably similar to a Piña Colada, minus the alcohol. Maybe someday I’ll add some rum and see how that plays out…

Piña Colada Smoothie:

-1 banana

-Handful of pineapple chunks (I use frozen pineapple)

- Half cup of greek yogurt

-Half scoop of vanilla protein powder

-Ice

-Almond milk (or any kind of milk you prefer)

-1 Tbsp of vanilla extract

Blend, throw it in a glass, add mini umbrella. However, due to my lack of mini umbrellas, I opted out for a loon.

I whipped some up this AM and threw it in my handy-dandy Gatorade water bottle to take to work, because I’m too poor to buy a thermos. I’m half serious… mainly about the water bottle part.

Hey, it gets the job done.

Today’s my ‘rest day’ for the week, so I’m using some time after work to get a few more things done before picking up Andrew from the airport tonight. It was nice to have a productive few days, but I’m definitely ready for him to be back.

Cheers!