Trick or Treat

It’s that time of year when all the ghosts and ghoulies come out—Halloween. To be honest, it’s not my favorite holiday. It is fun to dress up in silly costumes but I prefer good ol fashion Thanksgiving—a holiday all about eating and merriment without costumes and without the stresses of gift giving that come with Christmas. Give me turkey and pumpkin pie any day…actually, I probably could eat those two things every day. Despite it not being my favorite holiday, it is a favorite of one of my friends and she throws one hell of a party, thanks Amy! There was a cheese skull, which was creepy and yet also very tasty. I’m sure Amy will have all sorts of awesome photos from the party…there were pregnant nuns canoodling with monks, a cowboy, a ballerina, Joan and Don Draper from Mad Men, SOOOOOkie and Bill from True Blood, a crazy ultra runner in stripper heels, a cub scout complete with a coon hat and some folks from the 1920’s (aka Mr. Pi and me). I don’t have any pictures of the rest of the group unfortunately, but I’m hoping Amy got photos of everyone. Here is me and Mr. Pi.

Last week was a bit rough as I came down with a cold and really didn’t want to do any working out. Luckily, I had friends who didn’t let me sit on my bum too much and the cold was mostly short lived! Highlight of my week was probably running on Friday at lunch with 3 co-workers! It was kind of a last minute thing but they invited me along and asked me to “lead” the workout. That meant we did Pfitz return from injury week 2 day 2—warm up, 3 x (10 min running/2 min walking), cool down. It was a great day to be running the Portland waterfront, we even saw a group of costumed runners. Everyone did great and we finished with 3.3 miles of running at about an 11:30 pace overall. I foresee many more lunchtime runs with these gals in the future.

Portland Waterfront

Since I want to be able to look back at my progress here is my weekly recap:
Monday: 1 hour of sweaty Monday spin
Tuesday: Rest day (hoping to sleep off my cold)
Wednesday: 1600 yd swim with Amy (I really really didn’t want to do anything that night but I was so glad I had committed to swimming with Amy, I took the swim nice and easy and felt great when I was done, thanks Amy for keeping me accountable!)
Thursday: Run! 2.9 miles [3x (8 min run/3 min walk)] + abs
Friday: Lunch run with co-workers 3.3 miles
Saturday: 1.5 hour spin + abs and leg weights
Sunday: 4 miles running! [3x (12 run/2 walk)] + 1800 yard swim

Friday night we carved pumpkins with some of Mr. Pi's friends, here is mine...Happy Halloween!!!

Three Things Thursday

1. Cold season. This has more than one meaning. The first, it’s cold outside. This morning the car temperature read 38 degrees. Also, I kept my coat and scarf on at work this morning for about the first hour I was here and had three people make fun of me. Brrrr….. The second, is the lovely rhino-virus or the common cold. Ugh. I definitely have a bug but I’ve been trying to push through and keep my spirits up but also not push too hard and get run down.



2. Leaves! There are still some amazing fall colors around these PacNW parts. Here are two photos I took from my office a couple mornings ago (one isn’t of leaves but Mt. Hood sunrise never gets old, right?!)

3. Workin’ it. I’ve been keeping up with my running and other workouts, though I am taking it easier this week given my cold. I’ve been loving being able to run again (I’m sure you guys are already sick of my saying that!). I met up with Amy last night for a swim which was great! As she was driving me home we chatted about how it’s hard not to push ourselves. Right now I’m really trying hard to stay in the base building phase and not try to push myself too hard too fast. I don’t have any events on the calendar and I’m not planning to put anything on the calendar any time soon. I need to build my running base back up and continue to swim and cycle. I keep saying I need to do weights class again, and dang it, I do but so far I haven’t been able to get myself there. While I’ve been focusing on baby steps with running, it’s hard not to plan for 2012. I can’t be the only person with this problem!

Return to RUNNING!

I’ve watched probably half a dozen of my friends, fellow bloggers and Mr. Pi zoom to a marathon PR using Mr. Pfitz. So when Kristen sent me a Pfitz return from injury plan, I knew I had to try it. This guy has helped many friends to PR glory I was hoping he could help me return to running. So, last week I started the Pfitz plan. Here’s what the week looked like:



Monday: Spin class! (lunch time walk!)


Tuesday: 25 minute run/walk with Jen + 1200 yards of swimming with Mr. Pi and Jen (short lunchtime walk)


Wednesday: 2.75 mile walk with Amy (no lunch walk, barely got to eat lunch super busy day at work, stressful and not fun)


Thursday: 20 min spin + 28 min run/walk (running at 10:30 and a few fast pickups at 9:30)


Friday: REST


Saturday: 1.5 hour spin + 30 min weights + long walk with the dogs


Sunday: 33 min run/walk (all running was 10:00mm or faster) + 2500 yd swim


Honestly, the week couldn’t have gone better. My foot is feeling good and my runs felt strong. While I am still run/walking I felt like every time a running interval would end I totally could have kept going. I was also running at a 10 min mile and wasn’t really breathing hard. I know I was only running at most 10 minutes at a time but a 10 min mile is pretty speedy for me. I am curious about my heart rate b/c even that didn’t seem very high. Maybe I’ll have to borrow Mr. Pi’s heart rate strap and his Garmin one of these days. Something that did surprise me—I was SORE! I know I have a long way to go when I got sore from a 25 minute run! However, along with the soreness I also got a “runners high”, yes, “runners high” from 25 minutes. I’ll take both the sore and the high thank you very much.


I’m moving on to week 2 of the Pfitz plan this week. Week 3 gets a bit more intense and moves to 4 days a week of running, I may repeat week 2 or pare down week 3 when I get there. So far so good though! If I continue to feel this way I may be able to run a turkey trot on Thanksgiving! I would love to run one but at the moment I’m just seeing how things go. Even if I don’t do an official race on turkey day morning, I would love to run any kind of run!


I cannot believe it’s the last week of October! I took a peak at my goals for the month and I know I’ll be checking a couple more of them off the list this week. Happy Monday everyone…only a few more days til it’s Friday again.

Three Things Thursday

1. Fall. I mentioned a few posts ago about how I’ve been trying to enjoy fall activities and not get bogged down in the changing weather patterns and return of gray skies. Well, it wasn’t hard to do last weekend and the early part of this week—Portland was given a fall treat---clear skies! Sure it was chilly in the morning and evenings but sooooooooo clear. Sadly, I have only one picture from the weekend and it was at dusk so it doesn't really even look sunny out but here is Mr. Pi and I at a dinner hosted by a winery to say thanks to its wine club members.  Let's just say I might not look it here but I was pretty toasted thanks to the free flowin' wine and a hubby that offered to be DD for the night.

2. Return of the lunchtime walks. Since my foot is finally healing I’ve gone for a few lunch time walks. This used to be such a BIG treat for me. It would break up my day and I could spend time outside breathing fresh air. I’m still planning to take it easy and probably not walk every day but I’m glad to know that my foot can handle a couple of lunch time walks per week again. The neighborhood near my work sure has some pretty signs of fall. These were taken on Monday, when the skies were the clearest blue I’ve seen in awhile.

3. Returning from injury. How could I not mention my triumphant return to running again. It is amazing to be back out there, even if it’s just run/walks for now. I’m loving it and trying not to get carried away as that can be easy to do. I’m taking it slow and every day remind myself I don’t want to end up back in the BOOT!

12 weeks and 5 days...

No, no, no, I’m not pregnant I went RUNNING. Well, run/walking, for the first time in 12 weeks and 5 days and guess what?!? My foot feels exactly the same as it did yesterday. I can still feel a little twinge of pain sometimes but it’s more of an annoyance than a real hurtful type of pain. I’m following the Pfitz return from stress fracture plan that I got from Kristen (thanks chica!). It starts off with just three days a week of run/walking and in true Pfitz form it ramps up to like 5 days a week with speedwork. I’m not sure how many times I’ll have to repeat the first few weeks or if I’ll even get to the more “advanced” weeks but for now I’m going to follow the plan.


I feel great and I’m so happy that I had a wonderful friend to accompany me as I ran/walked to glory for a whole 25 MINUTES—thanks Jen.

After running we picked up Mr. Pi and checked out a local pool in our neighborhood. It was crowded but eventually the three of us had a lane to ourselves. The pool was really nice but honestly, I don’t think I’ll be doing any long swims there as it was wayyyyyyy to warm for me. I like the pool to feel cold-opposite of how I like my running temperature. I like to run in the warmth and swim in the cold. Honestly, it felt like a spa to me and I felt super sluggish but I got in a measly 1200 yards and called it a day.


I’m also still loving spin class. I’ve been attending on average 3-4 classes a week and loving every sweaty moment. I really need Emily’s shirt that says “I love to sweat” because honestly, there really is no better feeling than walking out of class dripping sweat.


Speaking of dripping sweat, I recently bought a groupon for bikram yoga. I used to go to bikram once a week but I haven’t been in ages. I’m looking forward to yet another sweaty activity!


After spending much of the summer being bummed about not running and DNS’ing a few races I finally feel like I’m on the road to really recovering and getting my run fitness back. It’s going to be a slow road back but I’m committed to taking it slow and recovering properly and not getting reinjured. I’ve got high hopes for 2012 and I’m finally starting to feel like my goals might be attainable.


Yay for Running, Spinning, Swimming and most of all SWEATING!

Fall Fun

I am trying not to let the gray clouds put me in a winter funk, instead I’m embracing fun fall activities.



On Friday, I got a makeover. I haven’t had a makeover since before my wedding, over four years ago. My wonderful husband got me this makeover for my birthday (yes, my birthday is in July but our summer was super busy). I am a low maintenance girl and don’t wear a lot of makeup but I feel like the trends I’ve seen are subtle make up. I’m all about the What Not to Wear Carmendy, 5 minute face. I went in and asked for a daytime look that I could apply myself that wouldn’t take longer than 10 minutes. I also don’t like foundation or really any face makeup so she went with a tinted moisturizer that she says has “minimal coverage” and is really light. Well, needless to say, she did a great job and I walked away with some new makeup and confidence that I could apply it again myself. After we established my daytime look she spiced it up a bit for my date night dinner plans with Mr. Pi. Here is a shot of my new look at dinner:

(Audrey, what do you think? Also, next time I’m in the bay can I have an Audrey makeover? I’ve decided makeovers are super fun and I need to get them more than once every 4 years.)


Saturday, was a beautiful day, the sun was out and I definitely took advantage of it! I went to an awesomely sweaty spin class (I’ve been going to about 4 classes a week and loving every minute of them) and walked home from the gym (about 2 miles). Got home, grabbed the dog and headed out for another walk where I ran into JEN on her way to get her pre-marathon pedicure! It was great to chat with her and be out enjoying our neighborhood. All in all I probably walked 4ish miles and felt very little pain in my foot, until later that evening when it was a little bit sore. After walking the dog, Mr. Pi and I ran some errands, did some yardwork (here are our blueberry bushes)

and then randomly went to one of the local beer theaters (yup, we have movie theaters that serve beer and pizza!) to see Harry Potter 7, part 2. Good movie but not great, the books are much better! Saturday was busy but great!



Sunday, was the Portland marathon! Mr. Pi and I got up early and met up with other fellow spectators downtown to watch for our friends Jen and Andrew. It wasn’t pouring like last year and it wasn’t too cold. Like always, we had a great time spectating and cheering on all the runners. 

Though, I gotta say it did make me miss running that much more! Our runners did great! And, somewhere in between the coffee stops/driving to different points on the course, Mr. Pi picked up a very fall item…a PUMPKIN! 

All in all, another busy but fun day!

October 2011 Goals and September Recap

October’s 10 goals for the 10th month:


1) Attend at least 2 spins per week. (I finally tracked down where my favorite teacher is teaching now and I’m committed to Monday spins for sure!)


2) Go to weights class.


3) No shopping for myself. (I just bought new boots and a sweater and a scarf. That’s enough. It’s hard to resist as I LOVE to shop and fall shopping is something I really enjoy.)


3) Finish my Christmas shopping. (Yup, I’m ambitious!)


4) NO running until my foot is 100% for at least a few days. (I need to keep putting these goals on here b/c I’m not to a point where I REALLY want to run but know that it would be better for me to just let it heal 100%. It’s been 10 weeks, what’s another 2-3. At this point I’m hoping to be running again by December.)


5) Cook and POST a recipe of the week.


6) Look at artwork with Mr. Pi.


7) Track on DailyPlate consistently for an entire week.


8) Read three books. (It’ll probably be book club book TBD next week, Art of Racing in the Rain and The Help---since those are all next on my list. Any other suggestions that I should add to the list!?)


9) Try a kickboxing or zumba class at the gym.


10) Decide on our next house project. (Since we’re in the rainy season and undecided about the patio anyway, it’s likely we are going to choose an indoor house project or have to find a sunny weekend to tackle something outside.)




How'd I do in September...honestly, not that great.  Mostly because of all my traveling but here is a recap of September's 9 goals.

1. Post the pre-patio project list. FAIL. Actually, there is a good reason for this fail. We’re not sure what we want to do, we may not build the patio after all. We need to do some more designing to see what makes the most sense for our use and our space.


2. Be more consistent with pushups and weights. 2x per week of weights, 3x per week P-ups. SEMI-FAIL. I haven’t done weights or pushups as consistently as I’d like but I have started to incorporate them back into the routine!


3. Get back out on my bike. (This is obviously contingent on the status of my foot injury.) SUCCESS. While I haven’t actually ridden my outdoor bike mostly due to the change in weather, I have been rockin’ spin class. Last week I went to 4 classes---holy booty burn.


4. No running for another 4 weeks. Yup, I'm giving myself another complete month off from running to properly heal. It's going to be tough as I'm already going a bit nuts but I know it's necessary.—SUCCESS. In fact, I’m going on 10 + weeks. But I’ve decided I don’t want to run until I’m 100% better. At the moment I’m still hovering at 85-90%.


5. Eat vegetarian for a week. I don't eat a ton of meat as it is but I'd like to go veg for a week this month and consciously choose healthy vegetarian options (aka NOT all PASTA).—SEMI-SUCCESS. I did eat vegetarian for at least a week but it wasn’t consistently in one week, the traveling threw me off.


6. Order some artwork with Mr. Pi.—FAIL. We haven’t even looked together! I have a bunch of items in my “favorites” on etsy though.


7. Continue with the swimming! I'll be traveling a lot for work in the month of September so I don't want to set a specific amount of swimming since I'm not sure what I'll be able to fit in but I'd like to try for as much or more swimming than August!—SUCCESS. I didn’t do as many super long swims but I’m still keeping up with the swimming.


8. Go to a yoga class.—FAIL. ‘nuf said.


9. Think about/start planning a winter weekend getaway. (Yes, I know it's early to be thinking about this but I really want to rent a cabin or something this year for a weekend.)—SEMI-SUCCESS. I have looked into some rentals in central Oregon but I haven’t started any of the planning.

Four? Things Thursday

1) Chameleon. Every time I book a hair appt I always come out looking different and fabulous. The color is DARK but I’m really enjoying it. I know it’ll fade quickly especially since I had so much blonde under it.

2) Waiting for 100%. I was going to go running last weekend as it had been 9 weeks but I did a gut check and decided that without any races on the horizon it is best for me to wait. My foot is still healing and if I’m being honest with myself it’s probably back to about 90% but not 100%. I want to be fully healed before I start running again. So, here we are 10 weeks later and I’m still playing the waiting game. However, I was able to start cycling again and have attended many sweaty spin sessions in the last few weeks. I know this is the right decision but it isn’t fun. I know it’s going to be really tough when I start running again.


3) Its officially fall. Boo! I’m a summer girl all the way. However, the one thing I’m happy about is BOOTS. I love boots. I bought a new pair this week. While I put them in the geriatric category b/c of the brand, I feel that they are practical, comfortable and actually pretty cute! I wore them on a VERY rainy walk with little Zoey and stepped in the biggest puddles I could find to make sure they are water proof and my feet were completely dry. I plan to slowly invest in pricier but good for my feet shoes. Sadly wearing heels is just not an option for me right now.  What do you think of my new shoes?  (I like the tan/brown pair a lot but I alreayd have boots in that color that are super comfy so I went with black.)

Who am I kidding its 4 things Thursday today!


4) Goals. Nope, I haven’t written up September yup but I can already tell you with all the traveling and social obligations of the month there will be many FAILS. I also haven’t gotten around to October goals yet either but I will!