Three Things Thursday

1.  Training.  Yup, it's happening.  I'm working with someone from my Rev3 Team to put together a new and improved training schedule.  I'm confident that I'm going to kick some serious butt.  I know since November when I started running again that I'm doing things the right way this time and I'm hopeful that I'll stay injury-free this year.  Speaking of training plans...Rev3 Portland Group Coaching starts very soon!  For more information don't hesitate to email me  or go straight to the amazing woman behind the scenes of the training plan Carole!  




2.  The next three weekends are going to be crazy!  This weekend we have company in town, the weekend after we will be down in California visiting family and after that...Amy's EPIC baby shower!




3.  Yesterday after my swim workout as I was driving home, I noticed it was still sorta light out! We are heading to spring and then SUMMER.  I CANNOT wait.  Despite the gray cloudy, misty crap weather going on outside right now, the days are getting longer and that in and of itself makes me a chipper chica. 

Weekend, please don't go

I would say I have been loving weekends lately but honestly who doesn't love weekends?!?!  Or whatever you consider to be your "non-working" days.


This weekend was just great!  Friday night I went out with awesome people for dinner. Honestly, I relish my friday nights of pajama relaxing but I really did have a great time at dinner Friday.


Saturday, I spent some time in my new "pain cave" aka our awesomely re-finished basement, rocking a 90 minute trainer ride that left me super duper sweaty.  I made a new playlist...here are some of the highlights:


Til I Collapse...Eminem (b/c who doesn't love some Eminem)
Pass at Me...Timbaland
Spybreak...Propellerheads (from the Maxtrix)
Hit the Floor...Twista and Pitbull
Gloria...Laura Branignan (bet this threw you all for a loop!)
Hungry like the Wolf...Duran Duran (again, I like to mix it up)


Trainer ride fun...

During the ride, this little one kept trying to jump up at me from the futon!

Attack of the Beagle!

The rest of Saturday was delightful, I got some relaxing in (which I feel is rare these days) and then went out to dinner with my hubby for date night.  It felt weird to go two nights in a row!

Sunday was an early morning for the Pi's to drive out to the Gorge with Jen and her husband. Zach ran a ridiculous amount of miles like 25 or something crazy that started with a giant uphill right from the trailhead.  

There he goes in Orange!

Mr. Pi, Jen and I did our runs at a really cool (but hilly) paved trail a little further east of Hood River.  We were treated to amazing views, some climbing and even snow/ice on the trail.  All in all, an amazing 9.15 mile run with 1100+ feet of climbing in 1:54 minutes (12:29 avg).

Gorgeous views!  Notice that yellow thing in the sky, yeah, the SUN!!!!!!!!!

Running buddies!

Ice and snow on the trail and yes, that is a hill!

Me and my amazing hubby!

Another great weekend in the books!  I'm ready to start a new week.

Friday Favorites

I haven't done a Friday favorites in a long time, maybe ever...but here it goes.


1. Sweet Potatoes...I'm obsessed with them lately.  I eat them for breakfast with yogurt on top, sometimes with eggs and cheese, sometimes just plain.  I eat them for dinner with beans and cheese on top, sometimes with marinara sauce...I just LOVE them.


2. The new roast at Starbucks, the Blonde---it's delicious!  SO GOOD!  I have switched from Pike's Roast to Blonde, mmmmmmmmm.


3. My new long run buddy!  Now that Jen is out with her news I have to give her a shout out. It's been so fun to do "long" runs with her.  We've been running buddies before but for short runs on her recovery days and my tempo days.  At the moment, we're a perfect match for running well, technically, she can still kick my butt several weeks into her pregnancy but that's why I love her.

4.  My Team and My Sponsors! Rev3 recently announced BlueSeventy as one of our sponsors--BlueSeventy is going to help me make my swim even FASTER, woooo-hoo!

  
Also, another of our sponsors which I've mentioned before, TriSwim/TriSlide is doing a SWEET deal for all of you, they are doing a 20% promo on triswim products through the end of February.  Great time to stock up on swim products before tri training kicks into full gear this spring.  You can be swimming like a fish and not smelling like the pool =).  Use the promo code: triswimval12.  

One of our newest sponsors is Swiftwick!  I had not heard of them prior to their announcement as a sponsor but some of my other teammates RAVE about them.  I'll do anything to keep my feet happy you all know how sensitive they are!  Two things I already really like about this company...they have some really BAD ASS looking athletes on their facebook page, go check it out, AND I like their motto "do what moves you."

 
There is one other sponsor that I'm really excited to share with you all but MUMs the word for right now...

5. My new basement!  It's amazing!

The Floor!

New futon.

Another view.

6.  Signs of spring!  Guys, we have SPROUTLINGS!  

February 6, 2012

AND, SUNSHINE....

February 5, 2012

February 4, 2012

There are plenty of other things I could have listed on my favorites post but those are the first that came to mind that aren't one of the obvious (aka my AMAZING husband who deserves way more than a number on a friday favorites post).

Here we are at our housewarming party September 2010.

Being Tagged

I was tagged for the "11 things" post by a couple of people BUT Kristen tagged me first so I'm going with her rules for this one.  I know I'm supposed to tag people back however, I think everyone I know in blogland has already been tagged.

11 Random Things about Me
1. I'm a morning person!  I am NOT a night person, most nights I'm in bed by 9:00, lights off at 9:30pm.  Lately, I feel like I can't get enough sleep, I think it's the time of year.  It's cold and dark outside and the bed is warm and cozy.

2. I get anxious about being late, anxious and annoyed.

3. I don't really like to read.  I used to but I think grad school killed my love for reading.  Now, a book has to be incredibly entertaining and grabbing from page 1 to hold my interest.

4. I am slightly obsessed with the Biggest Loser.  Now that I discovered it's on Netflix instant, I think I've watched 3 seasons maybe.

5. I sometimes get in over my head.

6. If I could I would be a professional party planner.

7. I don't love running.  Sometimes this surprises people.  I like to run but I don't LOVE it.  My exercise love is the pool.

8. This is the first time in my life I have EVER been able to do REAL pushups!

9. While I love to cook and love to try new and exciting cuisines, I eat pretty much the same thing every day for lunch during the work week.

10. I love to clean.

11. I used to hate grocery shopping until I started shopping at Trader Joe's...so much more of a pleasant shopping experience.

Kristen's questions for me:

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

--Toss up between BAD drivers and people that are consistently late.

2. If stranded on a desert island what 3 personal items (not including survival tools) would you want?

--Oh man, tough one.  Good shoes (running or hiking), Mr. Pi (does he count) and my iPhone (to call for rescue when I feel like I've enough of the desert island).

3. What’s the one food you could never give up?

--Dairy products (yup, all of them...except maybe plain milk, not a huge fan of that but CHEESE, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc)

4. What’s your best quality?

--Listening...and I give pretty great hugs.

5. What was the last thing you really laughed over?

--Hmmm, don't laugh!  Photos my hubby took while I was lip-syncing. HAHA!

6. What is your go-to book recommendation?

--Ugh, reading really isn't my thing but I did love both The Hunger Games and Twilight series =).  Also, if you haven't read Harry Potter, read it.

7. What’s your ideal time of day to workout?

--Morning...specifically 7:00 am...too bad that's about when I have to be at work.

8. What’s the last food you ate?

--Spaghetti squash with red sauce and cheese!

9. Who is your favorite athlete (dead or alive)?

--So many good ones but the first one that came to my mind and one that I have memories watching as a kid was Summer Sanders (she's a swimmer).

10. What’s the last movie you watched and would you recommend it?

--Midnight in Paris (I think) and yes, I liked it!  I'm not usually a fan of Woody Allen but I did like it.  Actually, the last movie we watched may have been Thor and that one sucked.

11. Toilet paper over or under?

--Um, whatever way I put it on the holder.

If you haven't been tagged and need something to blog about, consider yourself tagged...just use Kristen questions, they were good ones.

Unamerican?

Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday and I didn't watch one minute of the game.  I'm not a huge football person (I'm a baseball girl) and the 49'ers weren't playing so I decided to keep the TV off and not bother watching any of it...nope, not even the commercials.  Am I unamerican?  Maybe.  But I had a great Sunday afternoon despite (or in spite of) being unamerican.

Things I did this weekend:

1. Crafted for Amy's EPIC shower

2. A million loads of laundry, including all the sheet and towels

3. 2 hour trainer ride

4. Vacuumed the whole house including the stairs

5. Ran 7 miles with Jen on Sunday

6. Grocery shopped for the week

7. Did some weeding in the yard

8. Took my hubby to the airport =(

9. Spent lots of time enjoying the sunshine, including taking Zoey on several walks

10. Took the car to the carwash!

Things I didn't do this weekend:

1. Start painting the bathroom (next house project)

2. Finish hanging artwork with Mr. Pi (in the office and in the basement)

3. Find a rental house for Mr. Pi's race in May (he's doing a 100k---yes, he's nuts)

4. Sign up for my Rev3 race (I need to do this!)

5. Clean out my email inbox...it's crazytown!

February Goals + January Recap

Guys, I haven't blogged much this month and it's not for lack of awesome things to share.  I just haven't had much time.  I'm in my busy season at work and my personal life seems to have been go-go-go since the holidays.  Anyway, here is a recap of January goals and what I have on tap for February.  At some point, I'll get to specific posts about all the things I want to share.

1. Racing Weight here I come…partial SUCCESS!  I have lost about 1-ish lbs per week but b/c of my love for cookies I haven’t lost as much as I’d like.  I feel fitter and leaner and have gotten some compliments so I think all is heading in the right direction.

2. Have a relaxing MLK Day Weekend.  FAIL/SUCCESS.  It wasn’t really all that relaxing but it was VERY productive!

3.  Finish the basement floor.  MAJOR MAJOR SUCCESS!  We actually did more than finish the floor.  We painted, we put in molding, we bought some furniture and some artwork!  FULL post to come.

4. Finish one spin/trainer ride of 2 hours (or more).  SUCCESS!  I did a few rides at 1.5 hours and one at 2 hours.

5. By the end of the month run 7 miles.  SUCCESS!  I ran 2 runs OVER 7 miles.  My longest run of the month was 8 glorious miles with JEN.  Now that she’s out’ed her big news, it’s been awesome to have her as a “long” run buddy.  She’s a great motivator and even in her second trimester can kick my butt (in a loving way).

6.  Follow my build plan. Mostly SUCCESS!  I am still having a hard time fitting EVERYTHING in but I think I’m doing a good job of focusing on cycle and run strength.  I should be bumping up my swimming but as I’ve said before, I’m comfortable in the water and know that my time is best spent on my cycling and running.

January was a great month!  I finished with the following stats:

Running--51.46 miles (While this is a far cry from the 100+ mile months I used to run it's a HUGE accomplishment that I'm back to running 3-4 days per week and my injury hasn't cropped back up.)

Biking--11.5 hours (All of these hours were on the spin bike or on my trainer.)

Swimming--5600 yds (pretty pathetic but it'll get back up there)

Yoga--4 hours

I also started the push up challenge doing REAL pushups!  Yeah!

February 2012 goals:

1. Finish one trainer/spin ride of 2.5 hours and one of 3 hours.
2. Continue to lose weight. (I'd like to be down a couple more lbs before heavy training kicks in, in March.)
3. Finish final preparations for Amy's EPIC shower.
4.  Start gathering ideas and supplies for Jen's equally EPIC shower (scheduled for JUNE).
5. Yoga once a week.
6. Do a few SHORT double runs to prepare for my Run Across America!  There is a virtual run option with great prizes for the winning team, I'd love for TEAM ALISA to win, leave a comment if you're interested in joining my virtual team.
7. Blog more!
8.  Continue to work on leaving work stress at work!
9. Continue following the push up challenge.
10.  Register for some races!

I'm Running Across America!

Well, actually I'm only running across 4 states but STILL that's FOUR states, approx 600 miles and mucho elevation gain.  I kinda gleaned over this goal when I did my post about goals for the year.  Guys, this is HUGE! 


Why am I doing such a crazy thing?  Rev3's  charity organization is the Ulman Cancer Fund and our run across america is to raise money for Ulman.  Unfortunately, almost everyone I know has had cancer impact their lives.  


Too many of those we love have battled cancer.  I've never run for a charity before and I'm not usually big on fundraising but for this cause at this particular time in my life---I'll be out there running my heart out and raising all the funds I can for this cause.  I'm respecting the wishes for privacy but know that someone dear to me is in a battle with this disease right now.  This is something I can do to show support and my own way to cope.


If you're in a place where you can donate, please click on the link on my sidebar or go HERE.  Every little bit helps and I thank you for your contribution.  For those that aren't in a position to make a donation I hope that you'll follow my journey and keep those battling this disease in your thoughts.


I leave Portland bound for Phoenix, AZ on March 29th and will be running from Arizona to Texas, returning to Portland on April 2nd!  I know it will be an amazing experience. Never having done a relay before I kinda jumped into the ultimate of all relays.  As the run gets closer I'll post more about the logistics etc...if you're interested in virtually running with us or meeting us along the course definitely drop me a note in the comments or email me: ambitiousalisa@gmail.com. 

For more information on Ulman, please check out their website: http://www.ulmanfund.org/