December 2011 Goals Recap

I went back through my blog archives to find my 2011 year long goals and realized I never really made any for the whole year.  I think this may be the first year that I didn’t make any specific year-long goals.  I did do monthly goals so we’re going to roll through Dec 2011.

1. Make wreaths. (Spoiler, didn’t happen in November).—SUCCESS! I made about 6 wreaths.

2. Get in the holiday spirit.—SUCCESS!  The little tree Mr. Pi brought me really lifted my spirits and from then on it was all Christmas music and CHEER.

3. Start basement project!—SUCCESS! We have bought supplies and prepped the space.

4. Christmas cards?—FAIL!  I’ve decided if these aren’t in progress or done before Thanksgiving I’m not going to do them.  Things get too busy.

5. Continue return to running plan.—SUCCESS!  I’m up to comfortably being able to run 4 miles and have done as many as 5 (with a walk break).

6. This is going to sound cliche and also super hard to do in December but start losing weight.—SUCCESS! Starting the Paleo diet was actually a good thing.  This is the first time in a long while that I lost weight over the holidays.  Not a ton but about 3.5 lbs.

7.  Keep Mr. Pi's gifts a surprise.—Half SUCCESS!  He did end up guessing a couple of them.  I tried.

8. Continue going to yoga.—SUCCESS!  I am still loving CorePower.

9. Plan out my 2012 season!—FAIL!  I haven’t really planned my season yet but I have races in mind.  For me, “planning” only fully counts when you’ve pulled the trigger and registered.

10. Create a "build" plan in anticipation of #9. Part of my build plan is #6 but I also want to have some good base mileage and yardage before I start "real" training for my upcoming 2012 races.—Mostly SUCCESS!  I have my 8-10 build plan but I need to actually start writing down specifics.

11.  Stress less.—Work in Progress!

12. Limit my netflix watching.—Mostly SUCCESS!  I didn’t have a lot of time this month to watch a lot of Netflix.

2011 was a year of some ups and downs.  I started the year with the Goofy Challenge and had a blast.  By mid-spring I was injured and through summer at a low point with the BOOT.  However, I rebounded and am finishing the year strong.

2012, I am ready for you!  Bring it!

Three Things Thursday (EPIC Adventures of Past, Present and Future!)

1) PAST EPICNESS---Christmas with the Pi’s is always EPIC!  With Mr. Pi’s 4 siblings and all their little ones running around the house it’s always merriment (with some screaming children thrown in the mix).  

It’s no secret that I like to run with family and friends…this year I asked conned my sister in laws into a day after Christmas bootcamp.  We loaded up and headed to the local highschool where they proceeded to liken me to Jillian Michaels (totally a compliment) and I lead them through a booty busting workout.  We ran stadium stairs, we did push ups, we planked, we crunched, we squatted, we lunged and we ran speed intervals.  It was EPICly a good time.  My sister in laws are amazing women, each with very unique lives and all with super strength.

2) PRESENT EPICNESS---We’re gearing up to tackle the basement.  We have prepped the room and painted the floor with a special sealant.  My Dad is flying in next week to help with the project.  We have days where we think it won’t be a big deal and days where we feel we are WAY over our heads.  As soon as the action begins, I’ll be posting photos of the chaos that is soon to be had.


3)  FUTURE EPICNESS---Remember that post where I said I’m starting a base building plan, well, I better kick it up a notch because I’ll be participating in Rev3’s Run Across America!  

Unfortunately, with work obligations I can’t commit to running the whole country (but how cool would that be?!?!) BUT I will be arriving in Phoenix and running from Arizona to Texas (eeeek, did I really just say that out loud?).  The team is raising money and awareness for the Ulman Cancer Fund.  I’m not usually one to push fundraising, in fact, I never have on the blog but in the New Year, I will add a donation widget (our team goal is $100k)---donate if you’d like or ignore the widget and keep reading.  Cancer is a disease that has affected many and unfortunately, some that are very close in my life.  I’ll be posting more about the EPIC adventure in the months to come but at the end of March I’ll be heading south for my part of the Run Across America!  If you need to visualize what my run might look like, see below…minus the trucker hats and add full Rev3 compression gear (I’m going to need it!).

Winner: It's a New Years Giveaway!

Sorry this took me so long everyone!  I thought I’d have time to choose a winner and post results while I was done in CA with family but clearly that didn’t happen!  However, a winner has been chosen via a random number generator.  

The lucky winner is: Audrey!

(Audrey, email me your mailing address and I can get your package out to you.)

New Schedule

Like many of you, I’m putting together my schedule for 2012.  My foot rehab has (so far) been successful, I am almost ready to start committing to races.  I have already promised my sister-in-law that I’d run a half marathon with her this year so that’s in the works already and I know she is going to do great!  I also want to smash my 70.3 time this summer/early fall.  At this point, I have many races to consider.

I’m going to be starting an 8-10 week pre-build schedule in the next couple of weeks, most realistically after the new year. My fitness level right now is decent but I know I need to kick it up a notch before I start a half iron training plan.  I haven’t been on any sort of formal training plan in months, it’s been go with the flow.  Here are the facts and the future of my plan:

FACT: I’m comfortable running 3 miles at about a 10:30 pace, which isn’t fast by any means but is pretty solid for me.  

FUTURE: In the next 8-10 weeks, I’d like to build that 3 miles up to about 8ish. To do this I plan to continue lunch running during the week with my co-workers and push these runs from 3 miles to 4 miles and time permitting up to 5 if possible.

FACT: I’ve been consistently doing 2-4 spins/trainer rides per week.

FUTURE: Given that the bike is my weakest sport, I’d like to consistently average 3 spins/trainer rides per week and build my “long ride” to 3 hours.

FACT: My swimming has been very inconsistent, sometimes non-existent.  I’m comfortable with swimming and after spending so many months not being able to run or ride I’ve been more excited about those activities.

FUTURE: 2 swims per week.  Eventually I’ll need to bump this up a notch but like I said, I’m comfortable with swimming and I’d rather use this time to focus on riding and running.

FACT: I have been loving YOGA.

FUTURE: Continue attending yoga, at least once a week.

FACT: Strength training is happening but sporadically.

FUTURE: In the next 8-10 weeks, 2 strength sessions per week.  At a minimum this means 20 minutes of push-ups, abs, squats, lunges, other stuff you can do at home.

Alright, there it is!  I’m going to put this into a more serious “schedule” and post on my training & racing tab but for now these are my general principles.  

Three Things Thursday

1. I’m leaving in a few short hours for California.  I cannot wait to see my family.  Mr. Pi and Zoey left a few days ago and I miss them dearly.  I won’t get to see them until Friday.  Vacation is going to be short as I leave today and am back at work next Wednesday but it’s going to be wonderful.  I’ll be sure to capture all the craziness and chaos of the Pi Household over Christmas and post the pics.  It is always an adventure with all 21 of us under one roof.

2. I’ve started eating Paleo.  I’m not 100% on a strict “diet” per se but I’ve been incorporating “caveman” changes into my diet.  I have pretty much ruled out eating anything that comes in a box.  I am still eating dairy, mostly b/c I love greek yogurt and cheese!  I’ve been doing this for about one week so far.  I allow myself one “cheat” day a week.  So far, so good.

3.  This is the time of year to start planning your 2012 racing schedule.  I’ll be posting about mine soon.  It’s also the time of year to start thinking about plans/coaching.  Rev3 is doing a new group coaching schedule for their races.  I’ve never had a coach however, it is something I have considered.  The Rev3 group coaching is a great way to try out a coaching program targeted to your specific Rev3 event.  I’ll be doing another post with more in-depth details but here are some of the highlights.

Rev3 Group Coaching:  At Rev3Tri, every athlete matters!  You guys know this is true b/c this organization picked me, a mid/back of the packer for their team.  They want everyone to succeed no matter if your time is 5:00 or 7+ hours.

 What each program will include:

* Monthly training program to include race specific guidance, equipment tips and nutrition suggestions.

* Password protected forum available to each athlete in the program.  Rev3Tri Team, Rev3 Race Director and Rev3 Staff will all be available on the forum for continued support.

* Advanced information given before the general public is told to include: course updates, course maps, race director tips, coach tips, race weekend schedules

* On-course training days  (If you’re local to Portland, I’ll be at the course previews and am hoping to organize some of my own rides/runs on the course.  If you’re not in Portland, you’ll be getting a first hand look at the course from my perspective as I’ll be posting course preview photos/thoughts/elevation/etc.  Course previews are a HUGE confidence boost, even if it’s a virtual “preview” through my photos/thoughts/elevation profiles.  I’ll be keeping it real peeps.  Remember there is tailored coaching for all Rev3 events, not just Portland, however, that’s the one I’ll be focusing on since I live here.)

* Race weekend meet ups, racing tips, motivation & strategy, meeting Team Rev3

* Webinars and online chats on specific training topics

Cost of program: 

Initial $200 start-up fee which includes a Rev3Tri training kit, $25 off Rev3 entry coupon, sponsor goodies, and your username & password for your schedule and forum access.  After the initial start-up fee, each additional month is $50. 

Coaching is expensive however, look at the value you’ll be getting for your money with this program.  $25 dollar off entry is HUGE, especially if you miss the early bird pricing.  Having interaction with other athletes training for the same race as you is a big PERK.  Team Rev3 will also be available for chats/emails via online forums—not all the team members are like me, we have some SUPER SPEEDY folks who have been involved in the sport for many years.  They have already passed on helpful tips and practices to me and I know they would do the same for any and all of you.

When will programs start?

Knoxville                    January 16 (16 week program for both Oly and Half)

Quassy                         January 16 (20 weeks)    February 13 (16 weeks)

Portland                      February 20 (20 weeks)   March 19 (16 weeks)

WI Dells                      March 26 (20 weeks)     April 23 (16 weeks)

Maine                          April 9  (20 weeks)         May 7 (16 weeks)

Cedar Pt                      March 26  (24 weeks)     April 23 (20 weeks)

Anderson                     May 28 (20 weeks)    June 25 (16 weeks)

Florida                         June 11 (20 weeks)   July 9 (16 weeks)

Questions?  Feel free to email me directly at ambitiousalisa@gmail.com

*** Don’t forget to enter my GIVEWAY, see this post.  Your chances of winning are pretty good as I don’t have that many entries yet.  Entries close on Christmas Eve!

It’s a New Years Giveaway

2012 is already shaping up to be an amazing year for me.  My foot is on the mend, I’m a FitFluential Ambassador which allows me to share my love of fitness with even more of the online community and I have an amazing new family of Rev3 Teammates to inspire me every day.  Add those three things to an amazingly supportive and wonderful husband, kick ass local friends/training buddies, a loving family, a good job, a sweet house, the most adorable dog ever and my life is truly grand.

Why not spread the love!  This is my opportunity to do a giveaway for you!  So what am I giving away?  I’m starting with this box

and I’m going to fill it with some of my fitness/healthy living favorites!  This box may or may not include items like sports nutrition, my recipe favorites, item from my favorite running store...

Once I pick a winner, I’ll start filling it with goodies.  This is a non-gender specific goodie box, all are welcome to get in on the giveaway goodness, I’ll be tailoring some of the items to whoever is the lucky winner.

Here’s how you enter:

1.  Leave a comment telling me one of your fitness favorites. (An activity, a recipe, a product...)

2. Follow me on Twitter. (@dunlapa)  If you’re already a follower, just let me know.

3.  Name one fitness or healthy living goal you are thinking about for 2012.

Bonus entries for: 

1) “Liking” FitFluential and Revolution3 on Facebook.  If you “like” them tell me you did! (1 entry for each like);

2) Tweeting this giveaway (make sure to include me in your tweet so I can see it too).

Giveaway entries will close on Christmas Eve (12/24) at midnight Pacific Time.  Winner will be announced Monday or Tuesday, Dec. 26^th or 27^th.

Here’s to 2012!

Let the Basement Fun Begin

I love my house, I love being a homeowner.  One of the best parts of being a home owner is home improvement projects.  Never in my life did I imagine I would think spending an afternoon or evening at home depot would be a fun event.  Well, it is!  I’ve been talking about next big house project for months.  We went back and forth about building a patio in the backyard last year and by the time we got our act together the short window for doing projects like that in Portland (read: non-rainy season aka August and if you’re lucky maybe part of September) had closed in on us.  All in all, probably a good thing since we never could decide on exactly where we wanted the patio or the shape, size, etc.  Instead we decided to tackle our basement!

Our basement is finished, minus the floor.  Since we moved in we basically treated it as storage space and have gone back and forth about what we wanted to do with the space.  Ultimately, we decided to turn it into an extra guest space/exercise room/???  The big decision was what to do with the floor.  Ideas we considered…leveling the concrete and painting it or tile.  We ruled out carpet for several reasons and we never considered wood.  What did we decide?

That’s right, tile!  Mr. Pi selected a “hopscotch” pattern, which is basically two different sized tiles in a pattern.  We convinced my Dad to fly up for a week in January to help out and we started planning out supplies.  We made a couple of trips to different places to look at tile and bought a few to test out.

Ultimately we decided to go with tile from Home Depot and Sunday started making the many trips to and from HD to buy supplies.  Turns out, one box of tile weighs about 70 lbs, meaning it took a few trips to carry it in our car (due to the weight capacity of our car).  We still need to buy the leveling concrete that goes under the tile and some various tools, etc but we’re well on our way to starting this project. (Carrying boxes of tile from the car to the basement is a workout, right?!  I definitely felt it in my biceps the next day.  I'm calling it "real world strength training.")

Once we get the floor finished we will turn our attention to painting!  This is a whole separate project really.  After painting we will still need to put finishing touches like an area rug, a futon/pull out couch, shelving(?), artwork (aka race bibs) and probably many more things to finish the space.

I’ll be cataloguing the project as best I can.  The goal is to be finished with the floor and painting by March 3^rd---this is the day before I am hosting a very important party for a very important friend—AMY’s EPIC BABY SHOWER!

Ready, set, finish the basement!

Wishlists and Fitness Favorites

Oh the Christmas wishlist.  As we close in on the last 12 days before Christmas I thought I'd share some wishlists and fitness favorites!  

As kids many of us wrote down toys, crayons, legos and maybe a pony or two.  As adults some of us write down practical items and some of us write down our favorite indulgences.  My wishlist is usually a bit of both!  This year I had some practical items on the list: home depot gift cards, new dish towels, a shoe rack…and some indulgent items: Uggs (or ugg-like shoes, I’m not a brand snob on this one just something cozy), work clothes/gift cards, waterproof MP3 player.

The holidays are a great time to give the gift of fitness.  Many people are gearing up for a New Year’s resolution or two.  I for one am firm believer in goal setting, why not help them reach their fitness goals.  Here are some of my fitness favorites:

For the swimmer-- 

1. Gift Card to Swimoutlet.com. Great place to buy swimsuits, goggles, caps, fins, pool buoys, etc. The site carries lots of name brands and some discount off-brands.

2. Tri-Swim products! I LOVE my Tri-Swim body wash.  It’s the best product out there to get rid of that chlorine smell.  There is also shampoo, conditioner and lotion!  Your swimmer won’t be sorry.

For the cyclist—

1. Chamois butter.  This stuff keeps cyclists of both genders happy on long rides.  If you don’t know what it is google it.

2. Bento box.  Bento boxes are easy to find at your local cycling store, outdoor sports store (like REI) or online.  I got my PINK one on Amazon.  Bento’s are great for rides of any length—for long rides you can store extra food and for short rides it’s a great place to keep a camera, your cell phone, a wallet, etc.

For the runner—

1.  Nike Tempo Track Shorts.  It’s no secret that I LOVE my Nike Tempo Track Shorts.  I probably have at least half a dozen pairs in multiple colors.  They are lightweight, they don’t ride, they come in fun colors and they aren’t that expensive, I can find them at the local Nike outlet store for under $20.

2.  Headsweats hats/visors.  Both Mr. Pi and I have headsweats hats/visors.  Their products are lightweight, breathable and sweat wicking.

For the yogi—

1. Punch card for their favorite yoga studio.  Yoga studios can be expensive so why not help out your yogi by giving them the gift of classes.

2. Yoga mat bag.  Yoga mats can be a hassle to carry to and from class, they can unroll and become unwieldy.  Yoga mat bags keep your mat in check and usually have a strap so you can throw your mat over your shoulder.  I got mine on Amazon, there are a plethora of colors and types out there, do a little searching and you’ll be sure to find the perfect one for your yogi.

For the gym go-er—

1. Gym bag.  It’s no secret that I love going to the gym.  I like the classes and the option to workout indoors if the weather isn’t cooperating.  I also cart a bunch of crap to and from the gym.  If I didn’t have a good gym bag it could be a hassle.  There are TONS of gym bags out there.  I know places like Ross, TJMaxx, Marshals usually have good low-cost options.  If you want high-end and a large selection sporting goods stores will carry bags and places like Lululemon have really high-end tote bags.

Also applicable to most of the categories above is race registration.  Signing up for a race is one way I stay motivated!

Now that you’ve read about my wishlist and suggestions for your fitness freak be on the lookout for my GIVEAWAY coming to the blog this week!

5 Things Friday

1.  I am FINALLY feeling normal.  I do not wish that cold/flu on anyone—it was miserable.

2.  Every day I am OVERWHELMED by the amazing, supportive, inspiring and hilarious emails and I get from my REV3 team members.   I am still in shock that I was selected from all of the capable and equally deserving  triathletes that applied.  Thank you Rev3!  (I’ll be adding tab that lists all my teammates blogs once all the announcements have been made for 2012 so you can get to know them too!)

3. 2012 is going to EPIC as not only did I get accepted to be on Team Rev3 but I was also just selected to be a FitFluentialAmbassador!  

Look for a post on beginning story and some tips on getting started/maintaining.  Check out FitFluential for yourself on their webpage and twitter feeds.

4.  The weather has been really cold here in Portland but DRY!  I’ll take cold and DRY over wet and warmer any day.  I am loving that the sun is out and that the incessant, dreary, crappy Portland weather has stayed at bay.  Can you tell I LOVE the weather here?!?  SUNSHINE makes me happy!

5.  I am incredibly grateful to have met my husband.  Sometimes I don’t think he gets enough mention on this blog.  He is truly a great man and I am so very lucky to have him in my life.  (Love you honey!)

Finding my Holiday Cheer

I think I mentioned in my last post that I've been having a hard time finding my holiday cheer.  This is weird.  I love the holidays.  I love the Starbucks red cups, I love Christmas lights on houses, Christmas trees, the cheesy music, all of it!  For some reason I just wasn't getting into it this year.  I don't know why really but it just wasn't cheery.  I thought maybe it was because I've been feeling so under the weather for the past few days.  

I came home from work early again on Monday and basically took off my work clothes and got straight into bed.  I proceeded to sleep the afternoon away, even though it was a gorgeous day out and all I wanted to do was be outside, I couldn't get out of bed.  About 4:00 pm Mr. Pi was getting ready to head out to a meeting and then to his dodge ball game (yup, dodge ball.  Don't laugh, it sounds super hardcore!  I was supposed to spectate Monday night but I postponed to the following week as clearly I was not in any shape to be watching a game in which spectators often get hit in the face with runaway dodge balls.)...anyway, as Mr. Pi was about to leave I came downstairs after a few hours of sleep to find that he had bought me a Christmas tree!  We said we weren't going to get one this year but I couldn't have been happier to see our little guy.  And yes, I mean little, last year we had a tree taller than us, this year we went with little and charming.  I love all 4 feet of him though.  

Our little guy

I think it was just what I needed to perk me up from my sickness and non-holiday cheer funk.  Mr. Pi knew exactly what I needed.  He's pretty great like that!  He proceeded to leave I proceeded to holiday cheer the house for about an hour and then I had to take a nap.  Ugh!  I got a second wind after my nap and finished decorating and even started present wrapping all with a background of lovely Christmas tunes, thanks Pandora for the plethora of holiday stations.

Here he is all spruced up!  All of our ornaments didn't fit but I chose my favorites.

This was one of my grandma's.  She always had a pink and white tree every year.

Mr. Pi and I got this after Goofy in January. Those running Goofy in 2012 they had good sales on ornaments last year, keep your eyes open.

An ornament to celebrate buying our house!  Can't believe it's already been a year and a half (almost, January will be a year and a half).

Almost every year we get a "Dunlap's" ornament with all of us on it, I love these.  Mr. Pi's parents wrote on the back of this one for us.  My mom has also gotten these type of ornaments in the past...like this one from when we lived in Boston, before we got Zoey, before we were married.

Our first year there we lived about mile 22 of the Boston marathon, it was awesome.  I wish I had been more of runner when I lived there!

How could a house full of runners/triathletes not have an ornament like this?!?! Thanks Kristen!

All I need is a tree skirt looks like I tossed the one I bought last year.  Oh and PRESENTS!  More pictures of tree with presents to come.

I'm now all holiday cheered and ready to get back to some workouts especially with my Christmas running playlist.  Yup, I have one, if only I could find it, iTunes seems to have hidden it from me this year!  It's full of Little Saint Nick by the Beach Boys and Glee Cast holiday music.  Hooray!

Maybe I'll have to do some more holiday cheer posts!

(P.S. I was able to add photos to this post b/c I went through and deleted some old photos out of old posts.  I'm still undecided if I want to move to wordpress or stay on blogger.)

December

It’s December?!?

Wow, it’s the end of 2011, crazy! The first weekend of December was not a good one for me.  I came down with the worst cold/flu that I've had in years .  I started feeling icky on Thursday afternoon and it got worse from there.  I came home from work early on Friday and Saturday I stayed in bed until 11 only to move to the couch.  I slept on and off all day.  It was awful!  Sunday was better but still no picnic.  I'm ready for this to be gone and for me to get back to sweating!!!!!!!

12 goals for 12^th month!

1. Make wreaths. (Spoiler, didn’t happen in November).

2. Get in the holiday spirit.  (I love the holidays but for some reason this year I haven’t been in the spirit.  We decided not to get a tree since we weren’t home for Thanksgiving, won’t be home for Christmas or New Years—maybe the lack of tree has something to do with it, I dunno, it’s weird.)

3. Start basement project!

4. Christmas cards?  (Going along with number #2, I’m just not in the mood to do Christmas cards this year.  Though, I so love receiving them!)

5. Continue return to running plan.  (I’ve varied a little bit from the Pfitz plan but using it as inspiration.)

6. This is going to sound cliche and also super hard to do in December but start losing weight. (I am on a quest to get to racing weight.  Right now I'm not there.  I'm active and I eat mostly well but I know there are areas I can trim stuff out. Say no to holiday office goodies will be easier knowing I have a long term goal of getting to racing weight.)

7.  Keep Mr. Pi's gifts a surprise.  I am notorious for spoiling presents ahead of Christmas, this year, my lips are sealed.

8. Continue going to yoga.  I absolutely love the hot power yoga I found at Corepower.

9. Plan out my 2012 season!  Eeeee, this is exciting and scary.  I have a few races in mind!

10. Create a "build" plan in anticipation of #9. Part of my build plan is #6 but I also want to have some good base mileage and yardage before I start "real" training for my upcoming 2012 races.

11.  Stress less.  I'm trying to be less anxious in general.  I get anxious about the silliest things, I'm working on letting it go.  This is one thing I think yoga really has helped with, it does give me that relaxed yet worked feeling that not many other activities can do.

12. Limit my netflix watching.  I'd say TV watching but I don't watch that much regular TV it's almost all netflix.  I'm not quite ready to state a particular limit but less than I watch now =).

November, how’d it go?!

1. DailyPlate track for one week.--SUCCESS!  Going strong.

2. Make a wreath.--FAIL!

3. Christmas cards.--FAIL!

4. Finish Christmas shopping.--Basically SUCCESS.  I have a couple small gifts left but that's it!

5. Start gathering supplies for the EPIC baby shower I’ll be hosting for AMY!--SUCCESS! nuf said.

6. Design basement project.--Mostly SUCCESS! We mostly have a plan and we've even looked at tile.

7. Continue to attend 2 spins per week.--SUCCESS!

8. Continue Pfitz return to running plan.--SUCCESS!

9. Go to yoga.--SUCCESS!  I have found a love for COREPOWER yoga.

10. Go to a weights class.--Does scuplt class at Corepower count?  If it does, there are weights involved, then SUCCESS!

11. Consciously be thankful for one thing every day.--SUCCESS!