Puke

Update: Turned in Feces (thesis) on March 13, 2008 at 1:15pm for SEMI-FINAL review.
Sent email to reader, "Please let me know by April 1 of any final changes so I can make them and reprint for your signature by April 13 deadline."

Reader's email this a.m., "Do I sign the copy you gave me?"

In other words--HE IS READY TO SIGN IT!!!

Honestly, I think I might throw up.

The Vegan Foodie Hundred

The Vegan Foodie Hundred
The rules:

* Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
* Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
* Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
* Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
* Pass it on!

1) Natto

2) Green Smoothie

3) Tofu Scramble

4) Haggis

5) Mangosteen

6) Crème Brûlée

7) Fondue

8) Marmite/Vegemite

9) Borscht

10) Baba Ghanoush

11) Nachos

12) Authentic Soba Noodles

13) PB&J Sandwich

14) Aloo Gobi

15) Taco from a street cart

16) Boba Tea

17) Black Truffle

18) Fruit Wine made from something other than grapes

19) Gyōza

20) Vanilla Ice Cream

21) Heirloom Tomatoes

22) Fresh Wild Berries

23) Ceviche

24) Rice and Beans

25) Knish

26) Raw Scotch Bonnet Pepper--shut up, I had a few drinks first.

27) Dulce de Leche

28) Caviar

29) Baklava

30) Pate

31) Wasabi Peas

32) Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33) Mango Lassi

34) Sauerkraut

35) Root Beer Float

36) Mulled Cider

37) Scones with buttery spread and jam

38) ‘Jello’ Shots

39) Gumbo

40) Fast Food French Fries

41) Raw Brownies

42) Fresh Garbanzo Beans

43) Dal

44) Homemade Soymilk

45) Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46) Stroopwafel

47) Samosa

48) Sushi

49) Glazed Donut

50) Seaweed

51) Prickly Pear (cactus fruit)

52) Umeboshi

53) Tofurkey

54) Sheese or Teese

55) Cotton Candy

56) Gnocchi

57) Piña colada

58) Birch Beer

59) Scrapple

60) Carob Chips--unfortunately.

61) S’mores

62) Soy Curls

63) Chick Pea Cutlets

64) Curry

65) Durian--I really want to try this.

66) Homemade sausages

67) Churros, Elephant Ears, or Funnel Cakes

68) Smoked Tofu

69) Fried Plantain

70) Mochi

71) Gazpacho

72) Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies

73) Absinthe--YUMMM!

74) Corn on the Cob

75) Whipped Cream, straight from the can

76) Pomegranate

77) Fauxstess Cupcakes

78) Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

79) Jerky

80) Croissants

81) French Onion Soup

82) Savory Crepes

83) Tings

84) A meal at millenium in SF

85) Moussaka

86) Sprouted Grains or Seeds

87) Macaroni and ‘Cheese’

88) Edible Flowers

89) Matzoh Ball Soup

90) White Chocolate

91) Seitan

92) Kimchi

93) Butterscotch Chips

94) Yellow Watermelon

95) Chili with Chocolate

96) Bagel and Tofutti

97) Potato Milk

98) Polenta

99) Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

100) Raw Cookie Dough

Sorry I've been a little absent

Ok Ok. I'm totally lame these days. I'm so busy with feces, (I mean thesis) crap that I am not doing much but figuring out the edits I got back from my editor. On top of that, my desktop computer crashed so I've been working on a foreign laptop (It is swedish--ha ha!)frantically trying to finish edits. The editor took a lot longer than I anticipated so I'm hurrying to make a stupid self-imposed deadline. On top of everything else, I've been having to take care of a sick family member both in the hospital and back at her home. Blah.

I have not run.
I have not biked.
I have not swam.

I'm total suckage these days. I am not doing Shamrock'n half marathon next weekend obviously. I'm not even sure about the season at this point. Should I even train to race? Once this thing is turned in, I'll have more time to re-assess my racing status. I may just "train for fun"--which kind of sounds like an oxymoron. The motivation I have for training now, is that I paid BT for their bronze level membership--I want to train the rest of the year so that the membership doesn't go to waste.
I HATE WASTE!
I just need to finish the freakn edits. I just find there are a lot of citations that I just don't know how to do correctly. Like how do you cite a footnote in Chicago style when the source document was never published and has no discernable page numbers? HOW??? Or if you are citing a quotation within another (secondary) source, but you can't tell (because it was translated) who was the original source? ARRRGGG!

Anyway, hopefully back on the bike soon. Only 9 more weeks until end of semester.

I have been putting on a lot of weight recently--although the muffin top has disappeared (HURRAY!). Probably all the boxes of Girl Scout Cookies I have been consuming. I was thinking that GSCookies would be great to eat after a race maybe alongside a big bowl of salty popcorn and a beer--which made me wonder... "What is the strangist thing you have ever eaten after a race?"

"What Kind Of Coffee Are You?" Quiz Results

I took one of the quizzes after reading Misty's blog

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Steve in a Speedo Interviewed Me

Steve in a Speedo Interviewed me and here are the questions and my answers. Enjoy!

Interview Questions:

1.) What's your best and your worst race experience? Explain.

Best experience was running the American River Half Marathon last year. I felt great--everyone was allowed to use IPODS so I listened to awesome music the whole time and I PR'd. Worst--there are two. My first half marathon ever, I took off too fast and at mile 5 my IT Band locked up so bad that I hobbled the remaining 7 or 8 miles and had to be off my feet for 2 months. The other worst one was my very first triathlon ever. I got in the lake and panicked--I basically had an anxiety attack and ended up dead last out of the water. It took me 45 minutes to swim half mile. It was humiliating.

2.) What was the race that got you "hooked?" Explain.

It was probably the crappy triathlon I detailed above--only because I realized that I needed to train in the water a lot more and after training I did another sprint tri two years later and finished the swim in 17 minutes--I cut my time in half! After doing that I realized I could do just about anything! In terms of running, I ran XC in high school and there was a local meet where the hill was crazy steep--we called it suicide hill. During the meet, I was upset about a boyfriend--prom issue and ended up sprinting up the hill passing everyone. It was kind of cool.

3.) If you could replace one leg of a triathlon (swim, bike, run) with ANYTHING else (canoe, 1/4 mile of monkey bars, off-road baja car race, pull-up challenge, etc), what part would you replace? Why? What would the new leg be? Why?

I would replace the swim with a girlscout cookie eating contest. I think it would make the bike and run portions VERY interesting because I don't think girls scout cookies settle down in the stomach very easily.

4.) If you could only wear one style of undies for 2 months, would it be thongs or granny-panties? Please explain.

I'd go commando cause it would just be easier than trying to pick between the two other choices.

5.) You're using a hammer and you accidently smash your thumb. What's your reaction? Silent rage? Deep grunt as you bite your tongue? "Golly-gee?" "Holy F***?"

I'd scream like a panther jumping from a tree onto a small animal.

Some Amgen Tour of CA pics

Made it to the TOC this weekend in Sacramento. I had a great time seeing all the cycling gods! First person I saw was Jens Voight. He is not nearly as tall as I thougth he would be.

Then as I walked away from the Saxo Bank Truck, Leipheimer, Horner and Armstrong rode/walked their bikes within inches of me trying to get out on the course !!!!

I waited at the astana truck for lance and company to come back. After about an hour of waiting Chris Horner showed up. I yelled, "Hey Chris" and he turned around and I snapped this picture.
Chris Horner


Then a few minutes later, Lance showed back up looking fit and trim--

Lance

I walked over to the OUCH truck and within 5 minutes a big escalade started down the street and inside was...tada! Floyd!!!

I was only able to get a pic of the back of his head though. He was smiling and he quickly hobbled/ran into the team truck. I milled around the team truck and saw Floyd's bike. I know it was his bike cause it had his name on it.

Floyd's Bike

This is one of the first pics I took.


I took a break for lunch and then came back around 2pm. I parked my big butt in front of the OUCH truck and waited with baited breath. Sure enough, within a few minutes, FLOYD came out and the crowd went wild asking for autographs, cheering and just being nuts!

Floyd

He got onto his trainer and hammered for awhile. He seemed kind of embarrased actually.

Floyd

At one point, he looked up and smiled at me. I melted. Of course, he was probably thinking, "I better play nice to the stalker-chick."


Anyway, after that we went a little ways away and started taking some pics as the guys went by during the timetrial.

Lance

Bobby Julich

He was in the same van as Jens I think.

Basso

Floyd

Yoga DVD Review

Last night I did Shiva Rea Creative Core Abs DVD.



The DVD was pretty tough. There are three sections to the DVD-- I did only the first 8 minute section. I have a few observations.

DVD has some weird background funky indian psychedelic music. If you are into that great. If not, then select the "instruction only" option.

A lot of the "fluid" poses are, well, not something I would ever want anyone else to see me do. I mean there are several poses with my legs straight up in the air split in half, and then toss them behind your head. It's fine if I am alone, but I know I could never do this workout with someone else in the room.

Shiva Rea is inspiring but also very intimidating. She has NO FAT on her belly. And for someone who was recently nicknamed muffin top it gives me hope. But also want to punch her.

Be sure to have a really good thick mat or carpet under you when you do this DVD. There is a lot of time spent on the knees (stop snickering) and on the back (ok now you can laugh) and if you are anything like me, your bones start aching after a couple of minutes.

All in all this DVD left my abs a nice kind of sore this morning. As I progress to the more difficult sections of the DVD, I'll let you know how it goes.

Citation Saturday; Swimmy Sunday

I'm brain dead but happy. I finished all citation revisions for my feces--I mean thesis saturday night. WHOOOO HOOO!!! I was able to locate some great forgotten citations from several old versions of my thesis and incorporated those. I am so relieved! Now just need to re-write a little and incorporate a couple of small details to smooth out the edges.

Then
I
AM
DONE!!

To celebrate, I went swimming sunday at the 24HOUR Fitness pool. Again, gross fat hairy pasty-pale, sweaty men were sitting on benches just watching us swim. I don't know if I should feel good that I have a great body (LOL) that someone wants to watch or if I should be creeped out.

I did the endurance swim #3 again. I still don't have paddles so I skipped the 600 yards of "pulling" but did the rest--1900 yards. The longest I have ever gone in my entire life. Ever. Ever.

It took about an hour total. I really focused on using my core to rotate through the water. WP watched me swim to give me some tips. She noticed one major flaw. I do not cup my hands! Seriously! For years I've been swimming without cupping my hands. No wonder I don't go anywhere. As soon as I corrected this, I started moving through the water a lot quicker. HURRAY! I feel like a real DOLT. How could I not be cupping my hands? They were just kind of open, flapping around as I pulled underwater. Something to practice from now on for sure!

I showered quickly after swim at the gym and then got home and showered again scrubbing my skin to get the chlorine smell off. It didn't work and I felt like I was awake all night because the chlorine smell kept waking me up. Is there a solution to this problem? The chlorine, besides smelling bad, is reaking havoc on my sensitive, dry skin. Do any of the "Chlorine Remover" shampoos/bodywashes work? Has anyone had any success with these?

Today is rest day--I will do a yoga DVD tonight.
Tuesday is run in the a.m. (4:30 a.m.)

That's it!

Silly sweaty laps

Went for a swim in the gross 24 hour pool last night. WP and I went at 8pm--much later than usual but family obligations and TOP CHEF kept me busy until then. We packed up and I drove us over. We both thought that since it was 8pm, that the pool would be empty.

WRONG!

It was fully of gross sweaty men sitting around. Let me elaborate, the men don't really swim. They just stand around or sit in the spa watching the women swim. When the men over heat or get all sweaty from sitting in the spa/sauna they jump into the pool to cool off. They don't care that there are people swimming laps. They don't care that their incessant gaze makes women uncomfortable. And at least on of them does not care that his political opinions are stupid and nobody wants to hear them.

WP and I swam for about 25 minutes. I have no idea how many laps, we just went back and forth. I tried to work on pushing my "buoy" down (chest) so my legs would float up and and not drag. One of the eccentric men from last years open water swim class was there and decided to try out two new wetsuits in the pool. He looked a little strange but we chitchatted for awhile anyway.

Another reason I don't think I can exercise that late is that I could not sleep last night. I had such a hard time falling asleep! It was almost midnight by the time I nodded off. That is just too late for old lady me.

Tonight is 5 mile run. I'm going to try to go faster than tuesday's run. Then saturday is long slow distance.

Oh--and I officially filed for graduation yesterday!! Whoo hoo! The grad coordinator said she will personally shake my hand as I cross the stage in cap and gown in May.

Hurray!

Funky Five Miler

Ran five miler around my neighborhood last night. It was hard, again up until the point I was about a mile from the house. Then I kicked it into high gear. It helped that "Slither" by Velvet Revolver popped onto my IPOD at the opportune moment.

47:03. That's 5 minutes slower than my 42:10 that I ran the same course last year. I suspect two things for the slower performance

1. I did not stop my IPOD whenever I stopped to stretch my calves, quads last night (twice). I think when I ran the 42minute time, I stopped my IPOD every time I had to stop and stretch.

2. When I ran the 42 minute time, I was in the thick of a prednisone induced rage. That makes me run fast and not care.

Any hoo-- Yesterday's time ends up at about 9:30 mile/hour. Not fast, not slow. I sprinted the last 400 yards--racing against my WP and beat her!!!! I can't believe it..She was ahead for about 300 yards and the last 100 I kicked it and passed her.

I'm pretty freakn sore today though. I'll drink a little Emergen-C today and hope to feel better. Have a 5 miler on Thurday and as a step back week, a 5 miler (long run) on Saturday.

Saddened Sunday

Trying not to freak out because I cannot find a citation that I need. Blah.

Ran 8 yesterday again--per the workout schedule. Last week I ran 8 in 1:17. This week it took me 1:29:58. What the hell? I felt awful during the run--lots of "trots" issues slowed me to a walk for large sections of my run. There was no TP in the porta-potties either. Yeah, get that graphic out of your mind now.

I looked extra cute though in my running skirt and bright blue top. The EC on the trail was amazing--it was a lovely 65 degrees so most male runners were sans shirt. Most of the time, that is a good thing--sometimes not.

It turns out that I missed my 60 mile mark for the month by 3 miles. Fk.

No workout today since I'm sitting in the library slowly plugging away. Most of the men in the library have started leaving and I guess it is because the superbowl will be starting in a couple of hours.

That's it. Oh, massive paycut announced friday afternoon (5pm) by the governator so my racing for the year is going to be curtailed. I just cannot afford to spend mucho dinero on race entries when my take home was cut so substantially. I shudder thinking about the local economy, afterall, most of sacramento is employed by governmental entities. So I think I am going to be highly selective in what I chose to race. American River Parkway half marathon is a sure thing. Other than that, I don't know. RugRat wanted open water swim lessons and a new wetsuit so those things may be on hold too. Have to wait and see. It sucks though. Maybe it will be a good lesson in frugality and priority setting. Hopefully.

Back to the Chicago manual of style and "New Era" (thesis title), and listening to Duran Duran's (Reach up for The) Sunrise.

Other songs on "study" playlist:

Hot N Cold
Step On
I Don't Want Your Love
Reach up for the Sunrise
Da Funk
In a Big Country
Suicide Blonde
Jump Around
MMMM Bop
Your Woman
Slither
Life is a highway
Infected
Breathe
Vibeology
Stupid Girls
Join in the Chant
Round&Round
Jump
Gold Digger
Too Funky
Come on Eileen
Barrel of a Gun
Let it Whip
Brimful of Asha
You Drive me Crazy
How do you want it
More Human than Human
The Edge of Heaven
SOS
Stronger
Opportunities
Good Vibrations
I kissed a girl
Stronger
Rhythm nation
It's No Good
Crazy in Love

PS --Happy Birthday Pops.

Tempo Run

Last night's tempo run was confusing. 6 miles total= warmup, 4 miles at 9:27 and cool down.

First mile (W/U) I did in 10 minutes.. No problem
Second mile (first of tempo) I did in 9 minutes 5 seconds..again, no problem.
Third mile (second of tempo) I did in ???
Fourth mile (third of tempo) I did in 9:15
Fifth mile (fourth of tempo) I looked at my watch and it said 49 minutes, which means probably 11 minutes?

I finished in 55 minutes, so if I do the math, that means I ran my cool down mile in like 6 minutes.?? That doesn't make any sense to me. I think that I really looked at Mile 5 (fourth mile of tempo) at the wrong time--I don't think it was 11 minutes, I think it was really probably closer to 9 and that I did the last cool down in near 8 minutes. Isn't that lame, that I do my cool down faster than the actual tempo work? that tells me that my brain is totally affecting my performance because I distinctly remember being really excited that I was close to the end and picking up my pace so I could get home for dinner. Next time I'll harness that excitement for the tempo portion of the run instead of the end. Apparently, Speggetti dinner and a glass of wine is a good motivator for me.


Tonight is a 2 miler and maybe a swim if I can get motivated. It is so dark by the time I get home from work that there is no way I can do a bike ride unless it is on the trainer (blah)so that will have to wait until the weekend.

Maybe I'll do a little yoga on friday morning too. Get my legs nice and stretched out for Saturday's 8 miler. I love this dvd --I can customize the workout to my liking --40 minutes is usually good for me, personally. Happy day everyone!

Floyd--EC extrodinaire

Ran 3 last night on the treadmill even though I had a horrific cold.

Feeling better today so I'm doing 6 tonight--1 mile w/u, 4 mile tempo at 9:27/mile and 1 mile c/d.


I have done 40 miles so far this month running and I need to make it up to 60 by saturday. So I'll do 6 tonight and 8 saturday which leaves 6 more to do between thursday and friday.. I'm going to try to make it--finger's crossed!

Just read velonews and saw that Floyd Landis and Ivan Basso are back racing --there's this other guy too--I think his name is Lance something? In any case, Picture of floyd is--well, perfect EC for me.

Weekend Willies

Watched rugrat #2 do a duathlon on saturday. Out of 56 kids, she placed 6th. She is awesome! We also got to meet Shana Powless--just in case you don't know, Shana is like the big 14 year-old triathlon champion of the century. Shayna was at the kids du, not as a competitor (thank god) but rather as someone helping the all the little kids finish the race. She was encouraging all the kids and riding in the back to usher all the kids to the end. I took RugRat #2 over to meet her and they chitchatted a little bit.

Saturday late afternoon I ran 8 miles on the american river bike trail in 1:15-1:20. So that is around 10 minute miles the whole way. I'm pretty happy with that pace and If I am able to push it just a bit I might be able to break 2 hours for my next half marathon in March. That would be really great for me. I signed up for BeginnerTriathlete's "Bronze" level and have noticed that my run paces have started to get a little faster---Not a lot, but the Route history is showing me that my usual 3 miler in the a.m. is getting progressively quicker. That makes me feel AWESOME!

Today both RugRat#2 and I awoke with stuffy noses and headaches so yet another cold has crawled into our home. Of course hubby exhibits none of the lovely symptoms,due, in part (he says) to his "superior breeding." Whatever. Jerk, you can make dinner then.

Other than that just sitting and working on finishing touches to my thesis. I am trying to make sure I get all my citations JUST RIGHT--in the Chicago style. I've been through so many drafts that some of my stuff is messy or the citations are missing altogether. So doing a little digging to try to find them again. I hope to turn it in "FINALIZED" the first week of February.

Anyway, that's it for now. So proud of the rugrat for her accomplishment in the du. She told us that she definately wants a wetsuit and openwater swim lessons for her birthday so perhaps the triathlon bug has bitten her too! There are also several trial run/Races I am considering but part of me so enjoys just running on my own on the american river bike trail, that I am reluctant to trade that in for an anxiety filled morning racing people. We'll see. Tonight I will either hit the pool or ride the mountain bike on the super muddy dirt trails!!!

hasta.

de-Motivators

Why do I suck a*s?

So I made my second attempt on the runnervals dvd. I got about 25-30 minutes into it before I had to quit. This time, the problem was not my family bugging--it was me. I sucked. I could not keep up with coach troy. Damn you coach troy!!! It was too difficult. I did the first set fine and went half way through the second set (+4mph & 3% incline). Holy Cr*p! I stepped off the treadmill and hung my head in defeat as Coach Troy continued, "You're doing great! Just another minute left to go before we reduce the incline. Keep goin!" Yeah. F-U Coach Troy. I tried my hardest but couldn't do it. So I was feeling really sucky last night and today. I want to run tonight to redeem myself, but I've got a dinner date instead. So maybe Friday a.m. I'll do my usual 3 miles. 8 mile long run on Saturday a.m. and then watchin' the rugrat do a kid's duathlon (2 mile bike, 1 mile run).

Speakin of Rugrat, after I got off the treadmill and started puttering around the kitchen in my run/bra top and shorts, RR said something, well, uhm, mean. She looked at me and said, "Oh my god you have a huge stomach! And it is hanging over your shorts --i'm going to call you 'muffin top'". So I'm already feeling kind of bad after failing in my workout goal and then SFBs tells me that my gut is hanging over my shorts.
I tried the excuse, "Well I took 3 courses of high dose prednisone last year."
She said, "But that was a long time ago."
I countered, "Oh, but I drink a lot of beer too, so the beer gut is a real thing. So don't drink." (I know hypocrite, but I was trying to be parental.)
She looked really skeptical and said, "uhm, yeah sure."

I just glared at her and said, "I remember when I was 13 and how much it sucked. How sucky do you want to make your life? Keep talking and you'll be surprised how sucky your life will get."

Blah. Muffin top.


In any case, I needed a laugh and Marci provided this morning. Thanks Marci!

Running at night

I'm not used to running at night. I like to wake up early and get my run over with in the a.m. But yesterday, I ended up doing a 3-miler in 28:24. Funny thing is--I felt really good even though my time wasn't so great. I felt relaxed and practiced the pose method a bit. I get a good rhythm going when I hear DM's It's No Good. So I listened to that song 3 times during the run.


I decided to postpone my 5 mile tempo run to tonight on the treadmill. I'll use the runnervals DVD I got for christmas (thanks mom & bro)! I need to get back on my bike and back in the pool too so maybe that will be on the agenda for friday. I'm pretty relaxed about this whole training thing--not to say I am uninterested. I just want to focus on my running for the time being and try to fit in whatever else I can.

I also need to be sure to hit the library for the final edits to my thesis! Hurray! I keep thinking, once that is off my back there is going to be a party in my backyard the likes of which nobody has ever seen! You are all invited!

Oh here's some more good news! I achieved a milestone with Nike Plus!

Fun on the run!

This long weekend was full of FUN workouts. I made up for all of last week---Karen got her groove back.

Friday--SWIM. I hit the pool for a 750-800 yards. It was difficult. I had a hard time getting into the rhythm of swimming. I figured I can do 50 meters in about 1 minute. The fastest I did it was 54 seconds for 50 meters.

Saturday--RUN. 7 miles in 1 hour 16 minutes. I felt really great on the run. Really strong and the male eye candy (EC) kept me inspired the whole way.

Sunday--Scheduled bike, but really did nothing. I ate and slept.

Monday--BIKE and SWIM. I got on my bike--the first time since it was fixed a few weeks ago. I averaged 15.4 miles per hour. I biked about 19 miles and it took me 1 hour 14 minutes. I felt really strong up until the very end. Again, the plethora of EC on the bike trail helped keep me motivated. I swam in the evening. I tried Gale Bernhardt's Endurance 3 workout from Workouts in a Binder--2300-3000 yards. I did the 500 yard warm up and then two of the 4 mainsets of 200 yards (150 swim+50 kick). So that came out to 500+400=900 yards on about 20 minutes. I felt a lot better on this swim than the one on friday. I am determined to do that full workout soon.

Tuesday AM--RUN. Scheduled but workout partner bailed at 4:30 a.m. so I crawled back into bed for some additional ZZZsss.. Will hit the treadmill tonight for 5 mile tempo.

Incidentally--BIG LOVE finally began season 3 on HBO again. Finally. OOOhhh... so good. What an indulgence. Bill and family are shopping for wife #4.

Have a great week!

Answer to Pic

New Order--Technique (1989)