Investments

I like the kind of questions that make me stop me in my tracks. The kind that get down under my skin and really make me think, forcing me to repeatedly revisit it.

April has been nothing short of a whirlwind, with two fantastic weeks of back to back visitors. First we had the honor of hosting Andrew's brother and wife, who then went on from here to Greece. Two days after I headed back to the airport to scoop up three of Andrew's high school/middle school/elementary school (IDK these guys have been friends forever) buddies, who we had a blast running around Israel with.

Andrew's friend count of visitors: 5

Kait: 0

(not including family)

Where ma' girls at?

Since the dust settled this past Monday and the boys went on to their next connections - including Andrew who had a work trip - the apartment has been eerily quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I made a point to hardly be in it at all, jumping from working in coffee shops to dog walking to visiting new babies to the gym, etc.

But it was the quietness and loneliness of this week that made me revisit the question that one of Andrew's friends asked me last week - What would I even be doing with my time in Israel if I didn't have an interest in fitness.

The question honestly left me without an answer, and my response at the time was to laugh and shrug, admitting that I had never even thought about that.

Think about it though. Think of the most prominent interest/passion that you have in your life, whatever you are most invested in and love, and then pretend you actually don't like it at all. Wipe it off the map. What do you think your fall back would be?

I'm still scrapping my brain. I would say my runner up is writing - but how do you make friends through writing? Attend slam poetry contests? Maybe a local writers workshop hosted in Hebrew?

Perhaps I would get heavily invested in dogs. I mean I already am - and genuinely, heavily miss being a dog mom every single day. I've always had in the back of my mind to volunteer at one of the local shelters - and have even looked up courses as to how you can become a dog trainer. Dogs are probably my second passion tied with writing.

I don't know why, but the question shook me and simultaneously made me step back and really appreciate what this passion has done for me - actually for both of us as a couple - in regards to the life that we have built here in TLV.

Outside of the fact that fitness-related activities take up a lot of my time and are slowly but surely intertwining with my career, it's also how we have made roughly half of our friendships in Tel Aviv. So to imagine removing that entire portion of my life actually makes me wince a little.

It's an odd thought to have, but I found it to be an equally productive brainstorming session. At any moment passions/loves/interests can quickly be extracted from our lives, and perhaps it's smart to know what you can fall back on when it comes to dedicating your time and energy.

Just felt the need to share, and let the general realm of health and fitness know that I'm appreciative of it. On that note - I'm off to swim. Have a great weekend!

Cheers - 

Kait

Thinking Outloud Thursday

I'm wondering if I've ever used this blog title before, but I'm too lazy too scroll back and find out.

Oh well.

I swam at the outdoor pool this week at Patterson Park. I’ve never dared to go there after work because it’s typically over run by neighborhood kids… so my coworker convinced me to go early with her when it opened; 6 AM. Per usual of 6 AM, I dragged myself there in a very crabby manner, but left feeling glad I got in a solid 30 minutes of cardio. Outside of the dead cockroach floating in my lane, I think I like swimming laps outside better than inside.

Also, morning swims = shower, right?

Driving to work with windows down = blow dryer, right?

I'm curious as to who made the call that new music is consistently released on Tuesdays? Whoever it was, I like them. Tuesdays are literally worthless outside of new albums/singles being released. 

THIS GUY, is killin' it.

I’m back to eating pumpkin in the mornings –I made a weird pumpkin chia pudding and kind of loved it. Don’t know what chia pudding is? Check this out.

I’m also back to chewing on my cuticles like a savage. I swore I would stop once I had a pretty ring on my finger AKA a legit reason to keep my hands looking nice. Yeah… that lasted about a month. Does ANYONE have ways that they’ve stopped chewing on their nails/cuticles without paying for gel manis on a bi-weekly basis… because I can’t afford that.

Crossfit was last night. My weird shy self is slowly making friends. I wrote about it over here. 

Anyways, there’s some thinking out loud for your Thursday. Make it great.

Cheers –

Kait

Try Try Tri

Where oh where do I begin?

How about at 4:45 AM this morning, when the alarm went off?

Confession: I was a little worried about properly fueling for the race being on Day 7 of this sugar detox, and very few grains/no processed carbs being allowed in the picture. The good news is, I prepared plantain pancakes the night before, and loaded those bad boys up with almond butter when 5 AM rolled around.

(side note - plantains are my newest fav addition to my diet)

Fueling problem, solved.

I had no idea what I was walking into as I rolled Beth into the transition area to set all my stuff up. You all know what it's like, trying some for the first time. Walking into a completely unknown environment. Plus there were all those 'professional triathletes' strutting around with their perfectly toned calves and sponsored tri suits, making me feel even more unsure about myself.

I don't have a tri suit. I don't own clip-in shoes. I actually didn't even wear socks for the biking or running portions. I managed to do alright.

Before I divulge anymore detail, I want to the moral of the story to be this: almost anyone can do a sprint triathlon. Find yourself a bathing suit, a bike (any kind of bike) and strap on some kind of shoes (I saw people doing the run portion barefoot). You're golden.

My transition area.

I set up my transition area and realized that most of the women were planning on swimming in their compression/biking shorts, and so I made the last minute decision to pull mine shorts over my speedo and hop in the pool with them on.

I read a lot of articles to compete only in the attire that you are used to training in.

  I guess I'm a rebel rule breaker.

The pool swim flew by - it was short - 300 yards total. I underestimated my swim time pretty horrifically (underestimating myself is one of my favorite pastimes) and ended up starting pretty far back, therefore having to pummel pass 5-6 swimmers in the pool portion. At one point I did end up getting a kick to the face from the swimmer ahead of me, but hey I guess I deserved it.

If we are being honest, I can't wait to see the professional pictures of me sprinting across the street from the pool to the transition area, swim cap and goggles in hand, water flying off of me. I probably looked like the biggest badass ever.

If I had to pick an area I felt the weakest in, it was the bike course. 8 miles - two 4 mile laps - with a couple of small hills, and one pretttty decent size hill. Decent as in several people got off their bikes and walked up the hill...

Guys come on now, you see the subtitle of my blog up there. Life's too short to walk.

Kidding, kidding, but seriously, Beth and I groaned up that hill twice together, never stopping, and zipped back into the transition area for the final stretch. I threw off my helmet and took off, legs feeling just like the bricks that brick workouts promise.

The run was a 5k. My PR for a 5k is 20:30 (hoping that one day I break 20) so my on-the-fly goal was to come in around the 21 minute range for the run, knowing that this was going to have to be my strongest area. The first lap (of two) felt like I was possibly holding a 9 minute pace... the second, maybe closer to an 8?

Come to find out, I actually held a 6:54 pace... lining up well with my goal and finishing my run at 21:26.

Final Time: 59 minutes, 18 seconds

15th out of 138 women for my first ever try/tri? Ya I'll take that as a win. Not only that, the bike ride portion was through the Baltimore zoo, and my glass that I was awarded for placing 2nd in my age group has a GIRAFFE on it. Whaaaaat!?!?!

SO DOES THE RACE SHIRT. BEST DAY EVER!

Other random facts: Having numbers written all over my arms and legs makes me feel extremely cool. Because of that, I think I shall do another triathlon some time.

I got home from the race and was like "Oh ya I'm still training for a marathon" and realized I was scheduled for 8 miles today, so I packed a quick 5 around the park. Now my legs are dead, and there is currently an ice pack upstairs calling my name.

I'm so glad that one dreary day this past March/April, as I was lamenting being unable to run due to that stupid stress fracture, I made the decision to sign up for a tri. At the time August seemed years away. But here we are, and I'm pretty stoked to be able to add the honor of triathlete onto my athletic resume. More to come there, I'm sure of it.

I hope you enjoyed your weekend, and did something active as well. I made a point on the last mile of my race today to reflect on how grateful I am to have a body that allows me to compete, and soak in the joys of life while doing it. I recommend doing the same in areas of life you are grateful for.

Cheers!!

The Rehab Report

One of my weird(er) phrases that I enjoy using to describe people is 'illusive pigeon.'

Example: Recently I have been a bit of an illusive pigeon when it comes to this whole marathon training thing.

Actually, when it comes to running in general it seems that I’ve been a big vague on here, don't you agree?

Remember the other day when I told you I was going to see my bff the orthopedic to have my knee checked out, and then never followed up? Yeah me too. Well, it turns out that after dealing with my left leg (IT band & stress fracture) issues, there’s been some compensation issues going on. And now, all of a sudden my right knee/leg is like:

“Alright lady, I’ve taken just about enough pounding for the year, so just a heads up I’m going to start shutting down soon.”

Oh the wonderful adventures of running.

So that conversation ended me up here:

Look familiar to some of you? Physical therapy b*tches.

The good news: This isn’t like last time. I’m still currently running almost pain free, and even plan on doing my 10-miler tomorrow morning. (SO PUMPED FOR THAT)

This is very proactive. Remember when I told you my word of the year was proactive? LOOK AT ME GO.

With some excessive icing, foam rolling, perhaps a little more yoga, and (hopefully) just a few weeks of PT…  I have my fingers crossed that marathon training will continue on as scheduled.

The shoe report: Recently I had been thinking about switching shoes again. I’ve been loving running in Brooks… but was beginning to question if maybe my 5’11’’ 140 lb frame needs a little more support?

(omgeeee did she just post her weight on the internet?!)

The verdict: No. According to Sean who I trust with my life legs, he said my running form is much more natural in the Brooks versus the ASICS. I believe him, because he has now filmed me running on the treadmill several times, barefoot, Brooks, and ASICS, and studied the shit out of my film.

This is good news, not only because I’m a Brooks brat, but because the bank account really wasn’t going to allow me to buy a new pair any time soon anyways. Once I saw Sean on Wednesday and got the OK to keep running, that’s exactly what I did:

Today I did a short WOD this morning, and then went swimming after work. Because apparently I still have that triathlon in two weeks?

I will leave you with these two things…

Have I ever shared my favorite starbucks drink with you guys? Green tea soy latte, unsweetened, 1 shot of espresso. Hot or iced, I find it quite magical.

Did you know people in Maryland literally put this on everything? I caught my roommate putting this on her ice cream the other night. Weird.

As fun as this has been, it’s restaurant week in Baltimore, and this guy I know is taking me on a hot date. Tell me, what’s your favorite Starbucks drink?

Cheers!

tacos

I don't think I've mentioned it on here before, but my younger sister Bri is on a pretty determined mission to find the best burger in Chicago. I urge her on an almost daily basis to start up her own blog detailing her journey, but that's besides the point.

For the record, this is Bri's cover picture on her facebook.

I ate tacos twice this weekend - once at the food truck rally that a group of us went to in Canton on Friday night. The second instance was tonight when we made our own beef tacos thanks to some of Trader Joe's finest ingredients:

While I sat at the table shoving the tacos into my mouth like a wild hyena hungry growing girl, I thought to myself how much I enjoy trying different tacos.

What's the point of this story?

I kind of want to become a semi-pro taco connoisseur, similar to my sister's burger status in Chicago. This is a random, not thought out idea, and could go nowhere. Or it could go somewhere awesome. Let me know your thoughts.

In a half-assed attempt not to die at my triathlon in 3 weeks, Andrew and I hit an outdoor public pool yesterday. I brought my horrible cheap goggles from Walmart and logged a solid 20 minutes in the chlorine.

Andrew's attempt to take my pic post-swim

5 miles followed the pool. It's still hot out in case you were wondering.

Because we loved it so much last time, we rented paddle boards again today and hit the inlets of Annapolis. Word on the street is that jelly fish start getting pretty prevalent this time of year (gross) so I only jumped in once. I have this intense fear of water things - dead or alive - touching me. Seaweed, fish of all kinds, crabs, etc.

We paddled around for about 3 hours, stopping for snack and water breaks of course. This time we left the cell phones in the car so we could have the option to jump in and cool off - hence my lack of pictures to share with ya'll.

Prior to unloading those bad boys.

Sometimes the memories just have to stay logged in your head, ya know?

Solid weekend. For some reason I'm dreading this coming week. It involves the dentist, some physical therapy, and figuring out my knee situation. 

Turn that frown upside down Kaitlyn.

You're right. I'm determined to find some greatness in this week.

How was your weekend? What is the best taco you have ever had? (homemade or restaurant)

Cheers!

The Gym Hunt

There’s this toilet at my work that is an overactive flusher. Any time that you move at all, to wipe, shift a butt cheek, etc., it freaks out and flushes on your ass butt. Literally. Yet I continue to go into that stall because I like the last stall, it feels safe and I may be attached to it.

There’s your weird Wednesday tidbit for the week, I know you needed it, it’s been too long.

Now I want to discuss my least favorite part about moving into Baltimore so far - finding a new gym. I was lucky enough to be added to Andrew's existing gym pass when I first moved out here, so the original relocation didn't involve any kind of search whatsoever...

Technically this picture has no relation to the topic aside from the fact that it was taken this past Sunday from my new house's deck. Pretty huh?

I tried out the Canton Merritt Gym last week, and ended up going about 5 times, to two different spin classes. Final verdict: Sorry current Merritt users, I was not overly impressed with the Canton location.

source

It was fine, as gym standards go. But it’s very much a ‘scene’. Every other girl is decked out in her LuLu Lemon, which let’s be honest I would be too it I had the money. All of the weights areas were extremely 20-something male dominated, most who wanted nothing more than to gaze at their beloved muscles in the mirrors.

It was annoying.

But hey, it was a free week of working out, and now I know that I don’t want to join there. The spin class that I attended there on Monday also rubbed me the wrong way, per the instructor getting off her bike, jumping frantically around the room from bike to bike, yelling in our faces.

That’s just not my cup of tea. I’m a self-motivator, I realllllly don’t want your sweaty face in mine while I’m on the bike. No hard feelings OK?

Next on the list to try is the Canton Club, which looks to be a bit smaller and doesn’t have a pool. Hopefully it's less bro-ish. A pool isn't the deciding factor for me when it comes to joining gyms, but technically I should be swimming right now as part of my training… I will probably hit up the public pool a couple times prior to August 11^th.

 Last but probably most importantly... I tried out the local Canton Froyo shop last night. Great news – they had crumbled up cupcakes as a topping option.

Life is good.

We’re sitting on the hump you guys. Is that the weekend I smell?

Cheers to gym hopping!

In the cards

Serious question: Is there any possible way to look attractive in a swim cap?

I pondered this for part of my swim this evening and decided that probably the only way to look attractive in a swim cap as a lady if one had an Olympic Medal hanging around their neck. Which isn't looking like it's in my cards, and that's OK.

What is in my cards is that sprint triathlon that I signed up for a couple months ago in the midst of my severe injury depression. Yet between my recent traveling and prepping for my big Baltimore move THIS WEEKEND, the tri had kind of slipped my mind...

That bad boy is now less than two months away, and today was the first time that I swam in probably a couple of weeks. I should probably get on it huh?

Side note: I still haven't found my gym to call home yet in salty Balty, and if I have any local readers, I would love suggestions!

We got rocked with some of those storms today, and at one point my phone looked like this:

Luckily, it doesn't seem like too much damage was done to the area, and life went on as usual. Brussel sprouts and all.

Can't stop won't stop. Love my sprouts.

In other food-related news, my next-door cube mate at work hooked me up with some of her homemade strawberry jam that she made after picking strawberries this past week. It would be a blatant lie if I denied sitting in my cube and eating it out of the jar with a spoon for awhile.

I'm extra pumped that tomorrow is Friday, let me tell you. Not only will the moving begin, but Andrew gets back from his week long hiatus tomorrow evening. Hollllaaaaa.

Alright, I've got some packing to take care of, and some sparkling water in the kitchen calling my name. Make your evening great peeps.

Cheers!

Crammin'

This is going to be fairly short because I still haven't packed, or worked out today, and both of those things are non-nonnegotiables on my to-do list.

Am I the only person aware of this?

Do you like my nails? They make me happy.

100% frozen sweet potatoes people. In your freezer, ready to go at any moment. So of course, I saw this as a challenge and added it to my overnight oats this past week...

Make fun of me all you want, but seriously, don't knock it 'til you try it.

Cranberry Sweet Potato Overnight Oats

-1/2 cup of rolled oats
-Handful of frozen cranberries.
-2-3 small chunks of frozen sweet potatoes
-1 TB cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
-1 TB of honey OR I used some cranberry apple butter that I happened to have on hand.
-Enough milk to cover all ingredients in container/bowl. I use almond milk.

Mix well, make sure the oats are completely submerged, let sit overnight. Enjoy a Thanksgiving-ish breakfast full of nutrients to start your day!

I played in the big girl gym yesterday morning before work, after spin class. I've found I'm much less intimidated to creep around the weight room at 6:30 AM when it isn't chocked full of testosterone-crazed men. Just bein' honest.

I did a 10 min workout of the following, as many reps as possible. (AMRAP)

-5 cleans
-10 deadlifts
-20 reverse lunges
-20 air squats.

Good stuff... I'm sore today, hence my date with the pool.

THE WEATHER WAS BEAUTIFUL YESTERDAY. IT MADE ME SO HAPPY.

Running out of work yesterday afternoon :)

Andrew's dad is in town, and we went up to the inner harbor for an outdoor dinner near the water last night.

THE DRAGON BOATS ARE OUT!

OK, I'm out the door peeps. If anyone has any advice as to how to cram my life into a large suitcase and two small duffel bags, please do share. I have to pack business attire for the still chilly Chicago climate next week, and then a full-fledged cowgirl wardrobe for my 4 days in Colorado.

Have I ever told you guys how much I love Colorado?  ;)

Okay, for real, bye.

Cheers to traveling, and the weekend, being sore, and pretty weather!!

Happy Spring?

Happy First Day of Spring!
Although, from what I understand, most places including B-more do not feel like spring...

Quick random thoughts of the day:

Whoever decided to make the cheap vanilla cream coffee at work this morning needs to be slapped. Not really, but seriously out of Starbucks and Caribou, you chose to make an off-brand pot of crap? That’s a potential day-ruiner right there.

A benefit to driving into work early aside from beating the crazy traffic includes watching the 7 AM flights out of BWI take off into the sunrise. It’s oddly romantic.

Dove Dry Shampoo saves my life on a bi-daily weekly basis.

Today marks 6 weeks since I haven’t run. I don’t want to talk about it right now... maybe tomorrow we can work through this together.

I woke up at 5:30 to go swim this morning, turned on my light, stood and stared at my swimsuit laid out on the floor… turned my light out, and went back to sleep for another hour. It just wasn’t happening today. And that’s ok.

Happy Wednesday, Happy Spring… tell me something you’re happy about.
Here's my post about Spring that I wrote for the Examiner.

Cheers!

Take a stroll

I have some fitness updates for you, as well as a recipe. And some other things too I think. Depending on where my crazy typing fingers take me. Let's take a little stroll, shall we?

Friday morning, 6 AM: My spin class instructor announced that he's running his first ever marathon tomorrow. He proceeded to have everyone who has ever run a marathon in the class raise their hand. I felt like a cool runner again for 5 seconds until I put my hand back down and remembered that I'm injured and have no purpose in life. JUST KIDDING. But seriously, that happened.

Friday afternoon, 12 PM: I decided that after a long hard week my body deserved something awesome. I settled for a Veggie Burrito Bowl from Chipotle, my favorite on-the-go restaurant in the entire world.

Food Porn.

Friday evening, 5 PM: Attempted to complete the Crossfit Open workout of the week, the 13.2 WOD. I realized my health club didn't really have an adequate space to do so, but still kind of half assedly did it. The dead lifts left my hammies burning, there's no doubt about that.

Friday evening, 6:30 PMish: I got bored and wanted to play in the kitchen. I remembered that I had a bag of Almond Flour that I had compulsively purchased from Trader Joes a couple weeks ago... and decided to bake. I did some chopping:

 Some mixing:

And some baking, and came up with...

Almond Flour Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls:

- 1 cup Almond Flour
-1/4 cup of oats
-1/4 cup coconut
-1/4 cup chopped dark chocolate
-pinch of baking powder
-1/4 cup honey
-1 egg
-3 Tbsp. coconut oil
-2 Tbsp. peanut butter
-1/2 Tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all of the dry ingredients into one bowl. Beat the egg in a separate bowl, add the melted coconut oil and honey, and then beat in the peanut butter and vanilla. Combine all ingredients. Form into little balls, put on greased baking tray, bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Voila. Healthy little almond balls. You're welcome.

Saturday morning, 8 AM: Successfully attended my second hot yoga class. Did not throw up, and actually felt fairly good for most of the class. Well, as good as one can feel in 100+ degree heat. I may even go again this week.

Saturday late morning, 11AM: Spent a little too much on new jeans. I love them and they make me happy. I haven't bought a nice new pair of jeans for over three years, so I figured I deserved them. Right?

Saturday afternoon, 1 PM: Failed to get a passport after learning the line was 2.5 hours long. I'll try again later this week. Proceeded to head to the gym and swam for about 30 minutes.

Here we are, Saturday evening. Laying here in all green writing to my favorite readers. 

And tomorrow? Hopefully some green pancakes, if I play my cards right. Happy St. Patrick's Day, hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

Cheers! (with a green beer)

A mouth full of porcelain

Once upon a time, about 5.5 years ago now, I smashed my face on the volleyball court and knocked out my front tooth. We’ve been over this before, I know. Today, a few dentist appointments, some whitening and a couple tears later, I finally have a beautiful permanent porcelain tooth to call my own:

I know you are all just as ecstatic as I am. It really brightened my week.

Another thing that brightened my week… before my dentist appointment this morning I hit the pool for some laps. The lifeguard was BLARING some awesome country jams and it made me so happy. When I did my 15 minutes of pool running at the end of the workout, I sang along and am confident that he was loving it. I mean, who doesn’t love a girl screeching along to country music in a hot pink swim cap at 6 AM?

Hmm what else… I think my foot’s getting better? I continue to not feel almost any pain, I’ve been icing it like crazy and limiting the pounding. I even hop down stairs on only my right foot. I plan to email my doctor tomorrow see what she says. Cross your fingers. 

Until then, I continue to stick to the elliptical, bike and pool. I found out earlier this week that Jane hates the elliptical (who doesn’t) and barks at it while trying to climb on it with me…

Next on the agenda. It’s been called to my attention that the random poetic post about summer earlier thisweek may have been extremely premature seeing that it isn’t even spring yet….

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love you guys. But I write for me, I write about what I love and am feeling… that’s why I love doing it. Speaking of my mom, I think I may need to hand over my title of smoothie queen to her. She has become a pro smoothie maker over the past couple months, and our freezer at home is STOCKED with frozen fruits and veggies. I woke up Monday morning to this note:

I threw a little something together following her guidance and came up with a delicious tangy smoothie. Mar, the smoothie queen.

Saw this, love it, set it as the background of my computer:

Andrew’s off getting rich in Vegas this weekend so that he can come back and buy me cool things, so I don’t have too many crazy plans. I have committed to returning to the inferno at which they host Hot Yoga on Saturday morning, and am determined to not let it ruin my weekend. Yoga is good, yoga is good, yoga is good.

If I keep saying it maybe it will grow on me.

Happy Friday Eve. Make it awesome. Tell me something awesome. Ready Go.

Cheers!