Fireflying

I haven't written all week. I know, I know, I'm sorry. Between moving, work, boyfriend(s) {KIDDING} and the gym, free time has been slim to none. There's just going to be weeks like that, we all have 'em.

My gift from my wolf. I love it. Cover your eyes kids.

I am writing this post from my rooftop deck, and it's glorious. The even more glorious part is that my sister and her two friends are sleeping right below me. The 3 crazy Chicago chicas drove through the night last night, and crashed on my bed/couches/around 8 AM.

Why you ask? FIREFLY.

A couple years ago my sister had the opportunity to work for the awesome company, Red Frog Events, in Chicago. She was actually in the original 'crew' that did all the planning for Red Frog's Firefly Music Festival - and therefore was offered free tickets this year to go.

"If I come out to Delaware in June for Firefly, will you buy tickets too?"

Ellie Goulding, The Avett Brothers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Edward Sharpe, MGMT, Tom Petty, Delta Rae, Dispatch, Passion Pit, Foster the People... and that's just naming a few...

"Absolutely I'll go."

Back to this morning. They walked in the door here in Baltimore and went to bed... I ran out the door for a quick run and circuit workout, thanks to some inspiration from my friend Brooke over at Babbling Brookelyn...

5 sets of:
-20 walking lunges
-15 air squats
-10 burpees
-10 pushups

All in the wet grass of a nearby park. Good stuff.

Then I stretched/rolled/did a bit of yoga up here:

I asked my roommate Megan the other day if I can just move my bed up here. For now, I will have to be content with the baby pool we brought up to cool off in.

That's all the time I've got for today. I apologize for being a neglectful piece of crap, however it may continue for awhile. If I had to guess our campsites in Delaware won't have internet... and I'm heading back with the ladies on Monday for some Chicago time this week. Hopefully catch up with ya'll on Sunday?

Would love to hear any weekend plans, music festival advice (this is my first) or anything random you feel like sharing.

Cheers to music!

Bad Samples, Good Weekend

I had every intention of writing a new post yesterday. And then laziness set in... and I sat. And watched football. And ate. And stretched. And watched more football.

I wore this ensemble all day long, including errand-running. 

 Overall, solid weekend. Uneventful, not exceptionally productive but solid.

I made a trip to a local apple orchard with my roommate, where I managed to get a variety of things that made me unreasonably excited. For example:

Which I slathered onto a slice of pumpkin bread this morning. DOUBLE PUMPKIN GREATNESS.

I also got three mini pumpkins, one which I gave to Andrew, and two which now sit in my room.

Let’s see, what else…

I knocked out 20 miles on Sunday, which actually went pretty well. It was a cool morning, and an old man complimented me on my ‘cool green socks’. Believe me, at mile 16 I’ll take any compliment I can get. 

post-run

Since the Philly Half my coach Amanda has lowered my long-run pace to the 8:20-8:30 range, so like an obedient student I managed to hold a steady 8:24 pace… in contrast to my 8:40’s the past couple few weeks. By the time I got home from the run it was already 11:30, and time to go to Costco.

Yes.

Cliff note: typically I’m able to literally feed myself lunch from Costco samples alone. Sadly, yesterday the sample people really let me down, and Andrew and I left having to immediately tear into the massive bag of veggie straws that he bought. Bad samples literally have the ability to ruin my day. Thank goodness for veggie straws.

I also bought this:

That, my friends, is 10 lbs of oatmeal. Which will hopefully get me through the winter. Maybe?

And here we are, Monday afternoon.  My left hip is strangely sore, which of course calls for some foam rolling tonight... maybe even the hot tub?

With New York only 6 weeks out, I plan to be overly proactive with injury prevention. This means foam rolling, foot stretching, heating/icing, etc. Yet Just to be clear, it DOES NOT mean omitting froyo from my diet. Not possible.

Last but certainly not least, congrats to a dear friend of mine, Miss Hode, for a massive marathon PR this weekend out in Omaha- You rock!

I'll leave you with this my friends. And don't forget it.

Cheers!!

Taking Care

Well, it's Monday. And let's be honest we could all use a little pick me up. Some candy perhaps?

Phelps & Lochte, top USA men's swimmers

Eye candy, that is. No thanks necessary.

I have to start off with a confession. I said I was going to keep the weekend non-impact up until my 11 mile run yesterday morning.

I didn't.

I couldn't. The track was calling. The good news? I cranked out some 400 repeats, and hit 1:26-1:27 every time. I was pretty proud. I also got a little swimming and biking in as well.

oh cool look what i did! so crafty.

Aaaaand aside from the above, my weekend was extremely low key. Other activities included taking cheesy pics of myself photography...

... rearranging the furniture in my room.... and lastly, a lot of taking care of myself. Something I've realized I don't do enough.

Outside of the realm of healthy eating, vitamins and icing... I really don't do much as far as prevention. I honestly don't even stretch, which I know is a controversial topic to begin with but let me make the bold statement that I'm possibly the most inflexible human being on the planet.

So Kait, what did you do this weekend as a means of taking care of yourself? Don't hold your breathe, this is actually a pretty lengthy list. Aside from my typical stretching and hydrating...

-I foam rolled, something I hate doing but am really trying to work on. Hurts so good.
-I bought this juice:

100% tart cherry juice. It's PACKED with antioxidants and is supposed to be a natural anti-inflammatory. So I've started taking a swig in both the morning and night, because I figure hey why not?

-I sat in the hot tub for awhile and rested my foot against the jet. I'm not sure if this is actually 'healthy' or not, but it felt great.

-Following the hot tub, I went into the sauna and stretched. Or at least attempted to stretch.

-I also soaked my angry right foot in Epsom Salt the night before my 'longer' run, as it supposedly relaxes your feet and reduces inflammation. Are you seeing a pattern here? Inflammation = the devil.

And post-run? I relaxed. I sat still, something borderline impossible for me to do. I gave my feet a nice rub with some delicious minty lotion and painted them up all pretty. And then I sat on my ass and watched the Olympics.

guess that sport...

I'm not really one for sitting in front of the TV, but when it comes to the Olympics, you can find me on the couch.

Anyways, there's the updates. Anyone else have different preventive measures that they swear by? Always looking for tips.

Cheers!