Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5k Update

Today I ran in the Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5k in downtown Ann Arbor.

I’m really glad that it didn’t start until 11:30am, especially since last night was the Spring Forward night and we lost an hour of sleep. Got some breakfast and then headed out to the parking lot behind Conor’s to wait for the start. Temperature wasn’t that bad, either, it was about 36F out. Much warmer than my last race!

My knee felt pretty wonky this morning when I woke up. Really odd since I didn’t work out yesterday so I figure I just slept on it wrong. I figured I wouldn’t be able to beat my time from last month’s race but…..

I BEAT MY TIME!

Time: 30:16.9
Pace: 9:45 minute miles

I shaved 30 seconds off of last month’s run!

I also signed up for two more runs as well.
4/2/2011: Martian Invasion 5k in Dearborn, MI
5/22/2011: Back to the Beaches 5k in Shelby Twp, MI

That’s all for today! Hope your weekend was good too

Goal Keeper: Dressed to the Nines

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday.

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I’m not entirely sure which number I am at…. I’ll have to figure that out.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: ~109 pounds
Still at 109 pounds. Not sure right now if the exercise needs to be upped (as if it could anymore!) or maybe if the food needs to be looked at. Maybe I’ll check out the calories more often this week. I don’t eat a lot of packaged foods, so it’s more work to count calories. However, I wouldn’t trade that work for the processed foods.

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah
• Tuesday: Six Week Six Pack (morning); 4 mile run (outside, afternoon)
• Wednesday: 5:30pm work out with Sarah (1 hr)
• Thursday: Six Week Six Pack (morning)
• Friday: Six Week Six Pack (morning)
• Saturday: off day
• Sunday: Shamrocks & Shenanigans 5k (real update later)

Well, the bike came off the trainer yesterday. The weather is warming up and I have had less than zero motivation to ride the bike on the trainer… even if it is not quite warm enough to do it outside yet. This week is supposed to hit 50F (can you believe it!?) so with all luck I’ll get out there.

3.) Run a 5k
Done! Completed on 2/6/2011 with a time of 30:48.

New Goal 4.) Run the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon, without walking. For my run this past Tuesday, even though I didn’t go farther than I had before it was a big success for four reasons:

-got to run outside!
-nothing was sore or hurt during/after the run
-no stopping! not even to cross the road
-did 4 miles but I felt like I could keep going at the end

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 0
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 0
• Wednesday: 0
• Thursday: 1
• Friday: 0
• Saturday: 0

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
We ate dinner out twice this week, which doesn’t meet this goal, but I was able to eat meat-less both times.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
I’ve been accepted! Next weekend I’m going to a seed swap at Downtown Home & Garden and maybe Lisa will go with me

My race starts at 11:30am today…. I’m sure you’ll get a post later today or tomorrow about it

Goal Keeper – no clue what number

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday.

I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I’m not entirely sure which number I am at…. I’ll have to figure that out.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: ~109 pounds
This was taken this morning. Not much change in a few weeks, which is good.

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Sunday: 5k in the morning!
• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah
• Tuesday: Six Week Six Pack (morning); 2.5 miles (treadmill, afternoon)
• Wednesday: 6am work out with Sarah (1 hr)
• Thursday: Six Week Six Pack (morning); 3.25 miles
• Friday: 30 minutes on bike trainer (morning)
• Saturday: 3.1 mile run on treadmill
• Sunday: 4 mile run on treadmill

As I talked about yesterday, I have some exercise goals set and now it is just all about actually hitting those. I’m actually having a really hard time remembering what I did this past week…

3.) Run a 5k
Done! Completed on 2/6/2011 with a time of 30:48.

New Goal 4.) Run the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon, without walking. The farthest I have ran without walking so far is 4 miles. 8 months to work up 9 more miles? I can do this.

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 0
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 0
• Wednesday: 1
• Thursday: 0
• Friday: 1
• Saturday: 1

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
Three times this week… not that good on this one.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
This is partially complete! I’ve gotten my application approved and now I just need to wait around for May to come so I can start planting

This post is straight and to the point this time. Not much to muse about down here that hasn’t already been in said in other posts.

Goal Keeper: The Fifth Element

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday. Also, let’s see how long I can come up with cute “number” phrases for the post title.

Random Fun Fact
The Fifth Element, aside from being boron, is a super sweet science fiction movie with Bruce Willis and an extremely cute Milla Jovovich with hunting gear orange hair. Our cat is named Leeloo after her character in the movie!

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: ~109 pounds
This was taken Saturday morning. I’ve got some serious super motivation now from signing up for lots of races! I bought Jillian Michael’s Six Week Six Pack DVD and some hand weights from Meijer today and we’ll see what she’ll all about. I watched it today (and didn’t work out) just to see what I was in for. I do many of the moves already with my trainer, so I think it’ll be a good video to work along with at home (as long as the husband isn’t there to watch me!).

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Sunday: 5k in the morning!
• Monday: 40 minutes on trainer (morning)
• Tuesday: 40 minutes on trainer (morning); 2.5 miles (treadmill, afternoon)
• Wednesday: 5:30pm work out with Sarah (1 hr)
• Thursday: 45 minutes on trainer (morning); 3.25 miles (treadmill, after work)
• Friday: Off day!
• Saturday: 4 mile run on treadmill (morning, 46 minutes, 11:30 pace)

3.) Run a 5k
Done! Completed on 2/6/2011 with a time of 30:48.

4.) Run/bike a duathlon
Thinking about signing up for the Willow Metropark Duathlon. I am actually going to start to look for some duathlons later in the summer… because of some big news I’m dropping below!

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 1
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 0
• Wednesday: 0
• Thursday: 0
• Friday: 0
• Saturday: 0

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
This week, since I had planned on the disastrous soup not being disastrous and lasting for more than one meal, we ended up eating out twice: Wednesday night at Great Plains Burger Co (very good bean burgers) and Friday night at Gourmet Garden (veg lo mein!).

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
Still haven’t heard from Project Grow…. this goal is on hold until then! It’s out of my hands right now whether I can complete this or not.

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I’ve signed up for the Free Press Half Marathon!

otherwise known as, I get to run across an international border and through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel under the river.

I’m crazy, but it’s okay. I’ve got 8 months to add 8 more miles to my longest run. Totally do-able. :)

Also, I’ve been practically meat-free the entire week, save for the ham & cheese soufflé I had at Panera a week ago (they didn’t have the other kinds left, boo hiss…). What’s funny is that we went out to Great Plains Burger Co. for dinner on Wednesday night and I remarked to Tim, while eating my black bean burger, that it has been so long since I’ve had a real hamburger, that I can’t accurately remember what it tastes like. I’m sort of excited about that!

Food for Thought Fridays: not all beige is bad

Happy Friday!
You always hear about adding color to you diet and how colorful food are always much better for you than bland, beige foods.

I don’t think all beige is bad and sometimes it just happens.

This past week it just happened that one of my meals lacked color. I could’ve added some bright greens with zucchini and broccoli, but those were being saved for another meal, so beige it was!

Potato pancakes (aka flat hash browns) and Quinoa

Shredded potatoes
No onions, that’s gross.
Cornstarch, Paprika, Red Pepper Flakes, Bread Crumbs.
Mix it up and fry. I used peanut oil (it just smells awesome!)

I got the recipe backbone from the Veganomicon, but when it wasn’t quite sticking together well enough, I threw an egg in there (note: I didn’t have matzo meal, so it might work better for you if you have some).

Still really good though, especially with a bit of locally made BBQ sauce ♥

I didn’t have too much time to get a lot of articles for today. I did read a lot of them, but many are just repetitive of the same information.

The Eating Rules Philosophy Summed up in Two Venn Diagrams
This pretty much sums up the best & simplest good eating philosophy ever.

Need Inspiration? Watch this Trailer – Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
I’ll probably have to watch this when it makes its way to Netflix. I love documentaries and personal stories (the accent helps too!). I don’t know what I think about the 60 day juice diet that the narrator takes on, whether it is the healthiest way to go or not, but I don’t doubt the ability to get all your calories, but I think I would miss chewing.

Is ‘Eat Real Food’ Unthinkable?
This was my favorite article this week. I just started following Mark Bittman on Twitter this past week and have not regretted it. There are three different happenings that he talks about that have occured recently.

New USDA food guidelines: I don’t really care so much about these. I know that they play a bigger role in school nutrition, but the public doesn’t pay attention to these. Michael Pollan’s “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” would’ve summed up what actually needed to be said. (I got to see him speak a year ago! Still pumped about that!)

Vegan Oprah: First, Oprah would do anything for more publicity (really, you’re taking your whole audience to Australia?). Second, as a person that flirts with vegetarianism and veganism on about a 90% basis, I hate strongly dislike the use of faux meats as substitutes. Yes, I eat tofu, but that’s the only ingredient – soy beans.

Wal-mart & the White House: do I need to say anything? Maybe. This is making me almost not like you, Michelle Obama! The idea of walking into a Wal-mart makes me uneasy and dirty feeling. I don’t want the know the lengths that they will go to in order to make ‘healthy’ food less expensive.

The end! It’s Friday! This weekend I am tasked with creating a menu of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for Thursday through Saturday night. It will have to have a veg option for me and also all has to be gluten-free for Megan. I’ll post my menu up here once I finish it

Goal Keeper: Fantastic Four

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday. Also, let’s see how long I can come up with cute “number” phrases for the post title.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: ~110 pounds
This was taken this morning when I woke up. It’s been between 108.5 and 110 this past week. With the 5k today I wasn’t sure exactly how much I should work out before hand…. and with my birthday this week we ate out a bunch more than we normally do. Oh well. Back on track today AND tomorrow.

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Sunday: off day
• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah (1 hr), 5k at the gym (evening)
• Tuesday: 40 minutes on trainer (evening)
• Wednesday: Pull-ups, push-ups, bicycle crunches, plank-ups, leg press, leg extensions, and 5k at the gym (afternoon)
• Thursday: 2.5 miles outside (!!!) (evening)
• Friday: Birthday! Off day
• Saturday: 60 minutes on the trainer (afternoon)

3.) Run a 5k
I have signed up for a 5k on February 6th in Novi, MI.

Monday’s 5k was my fastest yet, coming in at 33:04, which is probably the fastest I’ve done it in. I’ve been started at 5.3mph and going up by .1mph each quarter mile (the treadmill has an oval of lights that when it’s complete it is a quarter mile) and keeping it at 6mph once I reached it. So that makes my fastest timed mile at 10 minutes. I ran again on Wednesday, but I kept it at 5.5mph the whole time.

I really surprised myself on Thursday, leaving work only about 10 minutes early to bundle up and run outdoors for a little while. The cold air wasn’t as difficult as I had thought it would be.

My 5k is today (as you can tell probably I start writing well ahead of time) so hopefully that is going well My goals were to finish, to not be last, and to hopefully be under 35 min.

Upcoming Races
Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5k March 13th in Ann Arbor, MI
Warrior Dash: July 30-31st in Flushing, MI.

4.) Run/bike a duathlon
Thinking about signing up for the Willow Metropark Duathlon. I still haven’t signed up for this since I am not fully convinced that I can run two 5ks on either side of a bike ride. I need to talk to Tim and his friend about signing our century team up for Race for the Cure though, so we can start fundraising – I want one of the sweet jerseys!

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 1
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 1
• Wednesday: 1
• Thursday: 0
• Friday: 1
• Saturday: 0

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
This didn’t work out so well this week, haha. We went out for Chinese food on Wednesday night… who knew it was going to be Chinese New Year?? Lucky us I love that the Chinese restaurant we go has actual Chinese people dining in it, that must mean something good, right?

Friday was my birthday (big 2-5!) and we finally got to go to Yotsuba. I think it’s the best Japanese restaurant in Ann Arbor… also the staff is mostly all Japanese from what I can tell by listening in on their conversations.

I also went out on Saturday night with my friend Bryan for dinner

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
Still haven’t heard from Project Grow…. and it still isn’t May yet. Waiting so long for this is going to be super difficult. I did find out this week that the full plots are about 750 square feet…. hopefully its a square or else I don’t know how else I will plan it.

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Super Bowl 5k Update!

Today was the 5k! Finally!
I was up at 6am… not really sure what to eat, so I had a banana and some coffee. The long sleeve shirt we got for the race at the packet pick-up yesterday is awesome, it’s the wicking type, so I used it in my layers.

We left the house around 7:30am and drove out to Novi. Got there around 8 and hung out in the car for a while. Got out, stretched, jumped around a bit to try to keep warm. It was around 25F.

I was pretty far back in line so I got a nice walk to the start line at 9am. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Not too cold. I was actually able to pass a lot of people (and that’s not counting just the walkers!) and since it was my first time running in a group I thought it was really nice to get with a group I could pace myself with.

I didn’t bring my HRM or watch, so I really had no clue how fast I was going (I think this was actually a good idea – if I had worn it I would’ve been obsessed with checking it every five seconds).

My clock time was 33:06 and my chip time was 30:48!! Holy crap! That’s a 9:53 pace! I am officially amazed.

Goal Keeper: Hat Trick (#3)

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday. Also, let’s see how long I can come up with cute “number” phrases for the post title.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: ~109 pounds
This was taken yesterday morning when I woke up. I had seen 109 once before in the week… so hopefully it is a pretty accurate reading.

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Sunday: 3 mile run, ab work
• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah (1 hr)
• Tuesday: 25 minutes on trainer (morning)
• Wednesday: 45 minutes on trainer (morning), 35 minutes on trainer (evening)
• Thursday: 45 minutes on trainer (morning), 5k at the gym (evening)
• Friday: 6am workout with Sarah (1 hr)
• Saturday: 35 minutes on trainer (evening)

3.) Run a 5k
I have signed up for a 5k on February 6th in Novi, MI. I ‘ve good at running so far this week, as I managed to go on Sunday and Thursday. Hopefully I’ll make it out again 2-3 times this coming week. I meant to go on Wednesday too, but all the treadmills at our apartment gym were taken.

Thursday’s run was 5k in 34:37, which is probably the fastest I’ve done it in. I’ve been started at 5.2mph and going up by .1mph each quarter mile (the treadmill has an oval of lights that when it’s complete it is a quarter mile) and keeping it around 5.7mph for most of it.

I also signed up for the Warrior Dash! It’s July 30-31st in Flushing, MI. Apparently I’m a crazy ass that wants to wade in mud and crawl under barbed wire. Less exciting than the Warrior Dash is that I signed up for the Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5k in Ann Arbor on March 13th as well.

4.) Run/bike a duathlon
Thinking about signing up for the Willow Metropark Duathlon. It is 5k run, 20k bike, then another 5k run. Not signed up yet… I’m still thinking about it. I have been riding the trainer a lot to get used to being in the saddle. There are also some plans in the works to ride a century (100 miles) for the Race for the Cure this year as well.

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 0
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 0
• Wednesday: 1
• Thursday: 0
• Friday: 0
• Saturday: 1

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
Didn’t happen this week, but I’m not really upset about it. We had dinner Tuesday night at Silvio’s for a Slow Food Huron Valley meet-up and we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on Wednesday night at Grange.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
Still haven’t heard from Project Grow…. and it still isn’t May yet. Waiting so long for this is going to be super difficult. I did find out this week that the full plots are about 750 square feet…. hopefully its a square or else I don’t know how else I will plan it.

__________________________________________________________
I think that this week was especially good for me was because my one coworker that I normally go out to eat for lunch with was only in the office on Monday, so I had to eat my packed lunch on Tuesday through Friday… not to mention that two-a-day workouts really make an impact!

I’m pretty scared nervous about my run next Sunday. I hope it doesn’t dip back down into the teens… or snow… or be on icy roads. Did you hear me, Michigan?! I need you to behave yourself!!

Goal Keeper: Part Deux

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Sunday to Saturday.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Current Weight: 110-111 pounds
I am totally convinced that this is going to take a long time. This past week I saw anywhere from 110 to 111 pounds, and 109.5 at one hop on the scale.

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Saturday: one hour on trainer (evening) 
• Sunday: 40 minutes on trainer
• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah (1 hr)
• Tuesday: 30 minutes on trainer (morning)
• Wednesday: 5:30pm workout with Sarah (1hr)
• Thursday: day off!
• Friday: 40 minutes on the trainer
• Saturday: skiing at Crystal Mountain!

3.) Run a 5k
I have signed up for a 5k on February 6th in Novi, MI. I really need to get back to the gym and actually runing since it is only two weeks away. I need to go run today as well, to get off to a good start at that. I have no real goals for a finishing time, but it would be sweet if I could do it without stopping. My main worry is the cold weather. Seriously, February in Michigan? What was I thinking??

4.) Run/bike a duathlon
Thinking about signing up for the Willow Metropark Duathlon. It is 5k run, 20k bike, then another 5k run. Not signed up yet… I’m still thinking about it. I have been riding the trainer a lot to get used to being in the saddle. There are also some plans in the works to ride a century (100 miles) for the Race for the Cure this year as well.

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Sunday: 0
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 0
• Wednesday: 1
• Thursday: 1
• Friday: 1
• Saturday: 0

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
This week is Ann Arbor Restaurant Week and I cannot pass up a good deal, the chance to eat at a locally-owned restaurant, and a place that I’ve never been too before. This Thursday we went out for dinner at Melange Bistro. This weekend was also a skiing weekend but since my friend Megan now officially has a gluten allergy, I packed food for us for the drive up and back down on Saturday night.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
Still haven’t heard from Project Grow…. and it still isn’t May yet. I should figure out the size of a full plot and start planning.

9.) Continue posting about the yummy food I make and eat.
I feel like I might as well just take this one out of here, since it’s pretty simple

__________________________________________________________
I have a couple of goals that are really easy, some that are medium and just take a little bit of thought beforehand, and some that are a bit more challenging.

It still blows my mind that I used to be 25 pounds heavier than I am now. In fact, I am regularly amazed at that every time I pick up weights in the gym and think of how heavy they feel, then think of carrying around that amount of weight.

I really need to start working on the running more. It is so hard for me to get out to the gym, despite that it is so close, especially when I know I can at least get some exercise on the trainer.

I don’t want to look like an idiot at the 5k though, so today I am definitely going to go running. (Internets, hold me accountable!)

Goal Keeper: first check-in!

The only way that you can keep your goals is if you keep yourself accountable – not only to yourself but to those around you. That’s why I post my goals on here, that’s why I update my Twitter. Even if no one responds, I feel as if I have an obligation to keep my goals.

Earlier this week I tweeted and posted about wanting to wake up at 5:30am to ride on the trainer. 5:30am came and I just did not feel like getting out of bed. I reset my alarm for 6am. 6am came and I made myself put on those workout clothes and go on the bike.

It felt great afterward to know that I kept that goal.

Because of that, whether good or bad, I’m going to try to check-in on Sundays to go over who my goals when the past Saturday to Saturday.

2011 Goals
1.) Lose 13.5 pounds (from 113.5 to 100 pounds)
Hopefully this will go smoothly. I weighed myself Friday this week and was 110.5 pounds. Not counting anything yet until I see consistency for a couple of weeks. (Always note that I am 4’11″ and what I choose to do for my body is not necessarily right for your height/build/body type.) [Holy crap though! Three pounds since the beginning of the year? I blame you, skiing.]

2.) Work out five times per week.

• Saturday: skiing up at Crystal Mountain
• Sunday: n/a
• Monday: 6am workout with Sarah (1 hr); 45 minutes on bike after work
• Tuesday: one hour on trainer (half in the morning, half after work)
• Wednesday: 6:30am: 20 min on bike; 5:30pm workout with Sarah (1hr)
• Thursday: day off!
• Friday: day off
• Saturday: one hour on the trainer in the evening

3.) Run a 5k
I have signed up for a 5k on February 6th in Novi, MI. I am also tossing about the idea of signing up for the Warrior Dash this summer (looks pretty amusing!).

4.) Run/bike a duathlon
Thinking about signing up for the Willow Metropark Duathlon. It is 5k run, 20k bike, then another 5k run. Not signed up yet. I still have a while and I need to work up the running distances and run-bike-run stamina.

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all.

• Saturday: 1
• Sunday: 0
• Monday: 0
• Tuesday: 1
• Wednesday: 1
• Thursday: 1
• Friday: 1
• Saturday: 1

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all.
This past week we ate out on Saturday lunch and dinner because we were at the ski hill for lunch and then a Mexican restaurant in Benzonia for dinner, and then on Friday night we had dinner at BeWon Korean Restaurant (blog post coming up!) right around the corner from my apartment.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in Ypsilanti.
I’ll be waiting until Spring to start working on these.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.
Signed up! Just waiting on acceptance and to know which site I will be at.

9.) Continue posting about the yummy food I make and eat
No problem!
__________________________________________________________
All in all, I think I did really well this week Eating went well and exercising also went well! I bought two new pairs of work pants back in November because my previous were so big I couldn’t stand it (I could take them off without undoing them)… and now those two pairs are two big. Seriously, having my bike on the trainer in the living room is golden.

I hope so much that I am able to be chosen for the Project Grow Community Garden Plot. I applied for a full plot in either Clague (near the apartment) or County Farm Park (a little farther but it has a lot more plots). Apparently I won’t find out which plot I got or even if I got one in the first place until May! MAY! Hope this happens a lot sooner.

I will definitely be passing around a lot of veggies this summer to lucky friends if I get this space!

Out of Time

It has been a busy week or so over the holidays. I’m really
glad that they are over.

Up to Flint, down to Shelby Twp, back to Ann Arbor. (24/25)
Back to Flint, Shelby Twp, Ann Arbor (26).
Up to Traverse City to go skiing (27)
Back to Ann Arbor (29).
Downtown Detroit to see Gowtham. (30)

I don’t plan on leaving Ann Arbor for a while now We’re heading to the bike
store today to finish paying for Tim’s new mountain bike (bringing the total number of bikes in the apartment up to seven when it is finally delivered) and then we have a reservation for dinner at the Grange in Ann Arbor for their special NYE menu.

Of course I have to take a look and see what I’d like to do next year.

2011 Goals
1.) From November 2009 until now I have gone from 135 pounds down to 112 pounds. 23 pounds lost! I can’t say anything grandiose like “I lost a whole person,” but that’s okay. My goal weight is 100 pounds, so that means I have 12 pounds to go. I want to put a goal date on this, but I don’t think I will. I will, however, note that I am 4 foot 11 inches tall, so this should be pretty attainable (and I’ve been there before in my adult life).

2.) Exercise goals: work out (on my own or with Sarah) five times per week. Start doing some P90X routines, if only to break up some monotony.

3.) Run a 5k (signed up for one in February on Super Bowl Sunday in Novi, MI.)

4.) Run/bike a duathlon (need to work on the running distance part, biking is no problem)

5.) Eat meat only once per day or not at all. Breakfast is always meatless.

6.) Eat dinner out once per week or not at all. Try to choose local restaurants over chains.

7.) Volunteer with Earthworks Urban Farm in Detroit and Growing Hope in
Ypsilanti.

8.) Have my own garden in a Project Grow community garden.

And lastly…..

9.) Continue posting about the yummy food I make and eat, like this:

Clam Chowder (brought to me in a bread bowl by mistake)

Spinach & Artichoke dip (shared with everyone)

Breakfast this morning
steel cut oats made in the rice cooker, with brown sugar, cinnamon, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.