stitch fix review

I was "surprised" with Stitch Fix #9 this week.  

By surprised I mean, I totally forgot that I was scheduled for a fix until I saw that they charged my credit card account. 

My reaction: "Oh, darn."

First item: Sweater Dress. This was an extremely comfortable dress.  The sweater is of course attached to the black dress.  I would have got this if I was still working at a library.

Second: Striped Sweater.  This was a very simple grey and blue striped sweater.  Very comfortable once again.  I labeled this as a maybe until the below happened.

Third: Anorak Jacket. Oh, the love I have for this piece of clothing is just sad. Look at the polka dot detail! 

Look at the back! So comfortable and completely my style.  The stylist definitely hit up my Pinterest board and it literally paid off.

Yes, my love for this anorak was so deep that I had to tweet.

 

Fourth: Color-block long-sleeve top.  I really liked this one - the white part on the shoulder is a slightly different fabric which made it pretty cool.  This one is going to Sarah though!

Fifth: Necklace.  I really liked this necklace as well... but scarf season is upon us and I am all about scarves.  I would have definitely bought this if it was around summer. 

Overall: Awesome Stitchfix. Even though I only bought one item for myself...they've got me down. 

half training 2015.3.2

This week's training called for 20.5 miles. I really wanted to do more but decided that I was following a training plan for a reason...

Monday... I tried to start off with a "cleanse"  and rest because I was not feeling well...

Tuesday: 

3 miles on the treadmill/8:55 pace. Strength train.

What? Wool socks and running shoes are not attractive?

So I ended up leaving work around 730a because my cold was unbearable and I was drowning in tissues at work, and could barely talk.  I went home and promptly fell asleep for 3 hours, which was unexpected to say the least. I woke up feeling much better and decided to make use of the day I had.  So..to the treadmill.  I tend to start off the first mile around a 9 minute pace, and then gradually pick up the pace every half mile or so, at least on the treadmill.  I need to do that on real runs...

Ollie and I were totally on the same page.

Wednesday:

3.1 trail/9:04 pace.

Tried to "cleanse" again..

This was pretty bad.  I had this huge beet salad for lunch, which tasted amazing, but... I've never had beets before. Needless to say, my stomach did not want to digest this (add this to No Go list, right under quinoa). But I attempted to run.  I was supposed to do 5, but could only manage 3 which entailed stopping 3 or 4 times because my stomach felt like it was eating itself.  A very pleasant feeling, if I dare say so.

I see snow...

Thursday:

7 trail/8:53 pace.

As I called this on Strava, "Redemption"! In order to make up for the 2 miles I lost on Wednesday, I just added them to my run on Thursday.  It felt pretty good overall until the last mile.  Where I wanted to just stop. But I didn't. I blame this on starting off too quickly.  Felt like death after this one and think it was due to not refueling properly after.  (A bag of grapes will not do the trick)

My body temperature dropped way too quickly after this run.

Friday:

30 minutes on the elliptical - intervals. I was going to rest completely but the guilt of eating a half of bag of candy corn that evening was on my mind...

My intent of buying candy corn was to mix it in with trail mix.

Saturday:

7.5 road/9:03 pace. Strength train.

For some reason, I also thought having 10 pieces of candy corn at 7a before this run was a good idea. Eating junk before a run will make you feel like junk during the run.  Anyway, avoided some shady characters and got this one in.  Learned that 7.5 miles running is 12k FitBit steps..for me at least.

Now - time for Disney World!!!

half training 2015.3.1

As expected, I signed up for one more half marathon this year, before marathon training kicks in.  This one will be down in Gilbert in late November.  I really want that sub-2! And I also need motivation to stay in shape until the marathon training starts. This cold weather is not encouraging to me.

Monday: 3 mile treadmill run, 8:58 pace. Then, went to Restorative Yoga that night, which consisted of lying around for an hour.  I am okay with this kind of yoga.

I was sad I did not run outside once I saw this sunrise.

Tuesday: 5 mile urban trail run, 8:58 pace once again.  I am getting a bit tired of Buffalo Park so I went over to my personal favorite trail to get the longer-isn runs in.

These mountains though.

Wednesday: Full body workout in the AM. 

Thursday: Rest - had a late flight out to Austin for the weekend!

I always have liked this drive to Phoenix.  In the daylight like this preferably.

Friday: Austin City Limits... more to come. 

Saturday: 10 mile run on the Lady Bird Hike and Bike Trail in Austin.  So... according to my training plan, I actually had two more runs left in the week - a 3 miler and a 5 miler.  Since this trail was a 10 mile loop, and it seemed pretty scenic.. I just went for it. Ended up running at an 8:53 pace, though my splits did not go in the direction that I wanted.  Anyway - beautiful run! We ended up kayaking after which was probably pushing it as far as my energy levels, and I already woke up with a sore throat... 

This week, I have 20.5 miles of running planned, and I will start getting into the routine of strength training AFTER running as that what I will have to do in marathon training mode.  I don't mind running after work..but strength training is just not as fun to me though I know it has been key with preventing injuries. 

"recovery" week

Since this was the week after the half, decided it was best to take it easy. Sort of.

Sunday:

~5 mile hike through Lockett Meadow to Inner Basin.  Trailhead was at 8600 feet, Inner Basin was at 9400 feet.  This was a struggle coming the day after the half.  However, it was gorgeous.  Can't wait to come up here again in a few weeks.

Pretending I have a dog.  Don't tell Ollie.

So candid.

Monday:

Rest/Treadmill until 10k steps.

Sunset on my way over to the grocery store.  Which is a daily thing by the way.

Tuesday:

Full body strength training at 4a because I'm weird. I regretted this around 2p when I started crashing.

Wednesday:

4 mi run before work/the sun rise.  Honestly had no idea this was the first day of fall.  But it made sense: once I stepped outside the door, I could see my breath..so bundling up happened. It's always great to get a run done in the morning if possible. 

Negative splits.  Elevation loss helps. Also: I didn't want to miss the Pope's arrival..

Thursday:

3 mi treadmill run during lunch.  This was not as easy as recent experiences as the treadmill.. probably because I was awake and realized how super boring it was.

Bo-ring.

Friday:

Full body strength before work. Took a half day and went down with a friend to West Fork Trail in Oak Creek Canyon and hiked for ~7 miles.  This is one of the most popular trails in the area and you can easily see why. 

And we finished off the night with peach mint pizza and Echosmith.

Definitely recommend Pizzicletta in Flagstaff!

Concert was done by 10 - I was too happy about this.

Saturday:

The plan was to run 6 miles but my body was not having it due to the prior day's activities.  Ended up around 4.4 miles and got some time on a few long hills. 

The struggle was so real.

Today:

Now, I got my 6.2 miles in this morning, and decided to make it a road day.  Had a pretty good pace but need to work on negative splits next time.

Technically my fastest 10k yet though!

I may have lied about my next race.  May or may not be signing up for another half in late November - this time in Phoenix.  I am very set on this sub-2 even though I feel like going down to Phoenix for it is slightly cheating.  More to come.

blue apron review

This past week, I tried out Blue Apron for the first time..

First: Fresh Gnocchi and Maitake Mushrooms.

This was by far the easiest of the three recipes - and it was delicious.  I've never cut corn off the ear before so that was kind of fun. I love, love, love gnocchi so it was inevitable that I loved the dish.  However, the gnocchi never really turned that yellow color...ended up being grey even after cooking it.  I'm thinking I waited too long on making the recipe. But hey, I didn't get sick!  This is one I could definitely replicate on my own.

The alien gnocchi. Still tasted good.

Second: Summer Pepper Shakshuka.

Definitely my favorite, probably because I have never made anything like this before and it involved eggs and pita bread, as well as using ingredients I have never used before (sweet pepper, fingerling potatoes). So this is a North African dish with poached eggs in tomato, and pepper sauce.  Basically I used it as a dip with the pita bread and it was fantastic. I want more ASAP.

Heaven.

Third: Cajun Tofu and Dirty Rice.

As I'm back to vegetarian, this was my first tofu dish in almost two years.  This kindly reminded me how much I hate tofu.  Tofu's texture is funky, and you can easily screw up the cooking of it.  I was probably swayed by the terrible tofu, but this dish was definitely lacking something.  When I had the leftovers of it last night, I put some cheddar jack cheese on top and that made it bearable.  Usually I'm a big fan of rice...but not this time.

Also, made okra for the first time here.  I think I needed to let it cook longer..

Now, off on a road run. Couldn't get too many miles in yesterday thanks to lifting and hiking on Friday, so today should be better.

The hike was pretty gorgeous.

progress

The past two weeks have been in taper mode - thanks to the half marathon I had yesterday.

Spoiler alert: I finished. :P

I mistakenly spent too much time on running on the treadmill within these past two weeks, but I am pleased to see I can at least run on that thing again even if it's boring as heck.

Easy way to start off the morning.

Last weekend was spent in Columbus for a wedding and I was able to get a 6 mile run in there.  Which was supposed to be done the day prior, but I think Jeni's didn't want that to happen.

The Olentangy River Trail was packed (this picture is not evidence)! So awesome to see people being active early on a Sunday.

Bourbon salted pecans and salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks. So.. heaven.

Hung out with my favorite niece and the fam at the Columbus Zoo too.

Her hair is so long and curly!

Visited the best university around. No bias.

Been trying to have healthier snacks at work.  Greek yogurt and hummus have been helpful in that cause.

Sriracha causes me to eat a tiny bit slower, which is a win.

Yesterday was the Flagstaff Half Marathon.  My goal was to finish under 2 hours.  This was a bit ambitious for a few reasons:

1. I finished my first half marathon last month in 2:14.

2. This was incredibly hilly: 1000 feet elevation gain.

3. Also, running at 1000ft higher than the usual 7000ft here in town.

So much gear.

So, around the first mile, I completely ate it. Completely. But I bounced right back up and kept going. Wasn't going to let that mess up the rest of the run.  

I didn't actually look at my scratches until halfway in.  Couldn't really feel too much..

Until after. So much burning. 

Mentally, I really struggled with this race and I think that is due to reason #2 above. If I would have trained on more hills within the past month, I think the sub 2 would have happened. However, I finished in 2:05:04.  Really not that bad! Got my first medal! 

The middle spins!

Also, the shirt is my favorite so far. 

Just noticed the detail on the back this morning. Love!

Now.. I want to keep up my running so I'm consistently running 4 times per week. And focus on more strength training. 

However, Ollie would much rather I focus on cuddling.

Next races? Rock and Roll Half in Phoenix in January, and then the Paris Marathon in April..