Catching You Up

Lots of crazy stuff going on around here!  Let's catch you up!

1.  Yep, I'm still pregnant.  Still cooking that baby - it sure takes a long time!  I had my 24 week appointment the other day and everything looked well - baby's heart beat strong at 146 beats per minute (bpm), my blood pressure was still rocking at 102 / 60, and I was up about 12 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight (15 pounds from my lowest weight during the 1st trimester), which seems like a freaking ton to me but apparently is right on track. 

Bumpy abdomen courtesy of my refusal to wear maternity clothes.  Yes they are more comfortable, but they NEVER STAY UP!  It's so annoying. 

Although I think it's pretty freaking obvious that I'm pregnant, I guess I can understand why it's not so obvious to everyone else that I'm not just getting super chubby.  The lady who cut my hair the other day said, "Oh, I had no idea you were pregnant, I thought you just had a pooch".  When I'm not accenting the baby bump it does seem a little less obvious:

Same outfit, but less obvious. 

The doctor gave me the fun gestational diabetes test to take prior to my next appointment, which will be my last monthly appointment before I start going every 2 weeks!  Eek!  It's getting here soon!  Only a few more weeks left until I'm in the 3rd trimester!

2.  We spent last week on a babymoon vacation in EUROPE and it was freaking fabulous.  AND JMan finally felt the baby while we were there!  We went to London and Paris and I tried to pretend like the Paris Marathon wasn't happening while we were there.  :-)  LOTS to tell you about that so hopefully I get around to it someday and it's not one more post that never gets written! 

 

Also, banana Nutella crepes are the best things in the WORLD.  I really don't want to go back to living in a world where they don't serve them on every street corner. 

3.  I know all you runners already know this, but inner thigh chafe is NO JOKE.  Seriously.  It is NOT to be messed around with.  Speaking of my weight gain - which is at least some in my thighs, annoyingly enough, and speaking of my maternity pants that don't stay up, AND speaking of the 30-40 miles we walked in London and Paris - inner thigh chafe was a HUGE issue during the first half of the trip.  And it's not exactly like I brought my Body Glide! 

4.  Running is still happening!  It's definitely become a run / walk and it causes a CONSTANT need to pee which is highly obnoxious but it's still happening!  I ran 7 miles last Saturday and 7 miles again yesterday.  I only ran one sad mile in between those two days though.  Normally I LOVE to run while on vacation but a) it was freaking freezing cold in London and Paris, b) we were already walking 4-10 miles per day so it's not like I needed extra exercise, and c) the jetlag caused us to sleep weird hours like 2am - 10am so by the time I was awake it seemed necessary to start sightseeing! 

Last weekend's run was GORGEOUS and felt like SPRING.  Yesterday's run was stormy and rainy. 

For some reason my right calf has been really really tight when I've been running though, and I'm not sure why.  Do I need to stretch more?  Foam roll more?  I'll admit I don't think I've foam rolled once since I've been pregnant.  It's hardly seemed necessary with the few miles I've been logging.  Do you think my Brooks Pure Connects can't handle my growing weight?  Maybe I need shoes with more support?  Anyone have any thoughts? 

5.  Running had been happening enough that I even signed up for a race!  The Seahawks 12k will be April 21 and will definitely be stretching my abilities, so hopefully it's not a horrible decision!  Given my constant need to pee I'm also a bit worried about the number of port-a-potties the race will have (and how often on the course!), especially given that this is a smaller race.  But I did it last year (although then it was part of a 15 miler in the good ol' days of marathon training) and it was a blast, so it seems like a fun repeat.  Hopefully I'm also not dead last since I doubt many people will walk the 12k (there's also a 5k). 

Who wants to join?????

6.  I'm apparently the last person in the WORLD to finally WATCH Argo and READ Silver Linings Playbook (still haven't seen that movie) - which I did both yesterday on the 12 hour plane ride from Paris to Iceland to Seattle.  I LOVED both.  I HIGHLY recommend reading Silver Linings Playbook!  I really didn't know what to expect or even what it was really about but for some reason I just LOVED it.  Go read it!

What have I missed with you??  Who's pregnant / engaged / married / got a PR / ran a race / submitted a Nuun Hood to Coast application?? 

What I've Been Up To

Oh heeeeeyyyy.  How are you?  What have you been up to lately?  Sorry I've been so MIA.  Just not much to report around these parts.  So just to catch you up, here's the Cliff Notes version of what's going on (which is nothing!):

I did, miraculously, actually bake a few things for Thanksgiving this year.  I made pretzel brownies and s'mores bars thanks to Michelle's great ideas.  Like usual, and unsurprising, I f-ed it up though.  I know I know, you're far from shocked.  The in-laws have a fancy oven and unknowingly I used the "convection" oven setting, which apparently cooks things faster.  Buuuutttt I didn't alter the cooking times.  Story of my life.

So the brownies were kind of overcooked.  The s'mores bars were still awesome though, I highly recommend them.  What's not to like?  Butter?  Good.  Chocolate?  Gooood.  Marshmallows?  Goooooood.

Let's see, what else?  We saw Skyfall and Breaking Dawn Part II.  I fell asleep during Skyfall and thought Breaking Dawn was just as bad as all the other books / movies.  But we all know I'm not a reliable recommender. 

 

I went to yoga.  A LOT.  I bought a Groupon for hot yoga and decided it was my new method of fixing my hamstring.  Although I really liked it, and could feel it doing lots of great things for my body, I actually think it was making my hamstring WORSE.  All that direct stretching of it.  So my new method is to avoid putting any stress on my hamstring whatsoever.  I NEVER try to touch my toes.  I'll let you know how it works out.


I ran some races.  You already know all about those though.  Though I haven't "raced" any of them thanks to my bum hamstring, in the last 4 weekends I've done THREE races.  That's ridiculous!  The Mustache Dache, the Seattle Half, and now the Christmas Rush 10k.  Whew. 

I saw this amazing sunrise last week when I was headed to work.  I told you, I don't have that much to report!

We actually completed a home improvement project.  Our weekends used to be filled with these but we haven't done one in a LONG TIME now so I was proud we did anything.  This awkward space was in our bedroom and we finally added some shelves.  I kind of wish we'd done 4 shelves instead of 3 but those are NEVER coming out of there.

I read Reached, Wild, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 

Reached was the 3rd book in the Matched trilogy (more young adult dystopia fiction, the story of my year), and NEVER start a trilogy before all three are published.  I could not for the life of me remember what the previous ones were about. 

Wild was VERY interesting and I HIGHLY recommend it.  Very hilarious the true troubles Cheryl gets herself into when she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail without EVER training, wearing hiking boots before, or ever putting on her backpack.  Kind of like Eat Pray Love but better.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was okay.  I look forward to seeing Hermione in the movie. 

     

And last but not least, Cooper is still precious.  I know you won't find that surprising at all.

And how's Runcember going for you?  I've been struggling, I won't lie.  Last week was crazy busy for me with something work-related every night, and I was just so exhausted that convincing myself to walk even a mile was tough.  I hope this week is better.

We have some people who are just straight up DOMINATING though.  Seriously, Robyn did 50+ miles in just the first week!  Don't forget to enter your mileage!

So what's new with you???

My Obsession with Gone Girl

We all know I very often disagree with America's ratings of popular past times.

50 Shades of Grey Suck.  Downton Abbey.  The Avengers.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  I just didn't find any of these things very special, even though America sure did.

But we finally found a point to agree on. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  You've already heard of it / read it - I am the very last person to this party thanks to my craziness surrounding not buying books (the line at the library was like 1,000 people long).  I just started it and I am OBSESSED.  Like, seriously obsessed.  Like I don't want to go to work because I just want to listen to it ALL-DAY-LONG.  Like I'm going to be completely anti-social until it's finished, and this book is not short.  The obsession is a problem that's hindering my everyday life activities. 

It's like I know what's going to happen but I don't know all at the same time.  WHO DID IT?  WHAT'S HAPPENING?  HOW WILL IT END?  WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH MORE THAN HALF THE BOOK TO GO?  Seriously.  The rest of the book better not let me down or make me regret this post.

So you win this one America.  Just don't tell me how it ends. 

An August AND a September Recap Story(s)

Okay okay, so I kind of totally suck at putting up my monthly recaps.  It's true.  And as the ultimate proof, here are BOTH my August AND my September posts all rolled into one, since I never put up an August one.  So how are my goals coming?  Well, 2012 WAS the year of the marathon, at least in that I completed one (not in the whole PR-ing thing) and I already volunteered at a race!  Check, check.

So what's left to do before the end of the year?

1)  Finish my degree.  Okay okay, that's not happening before the end of the year, but I AM making progress on this.  I'm happy to report that my results section ALONE is over 55 pages and growing.  My work on this is slow, but it is steady, and thanks for a fabulous advisor who lets me hang out at her house all night while she answers a million of my questions I'm learning a ton.  Lots done, but still lots more to do. 

2)  Travel to at least 8 new places.  Ummmm???  So far this year I've been to Kauai.  That was awesome and amazing, but it's only 1 new place. 

I also went to Philadelphia, which was new, but since it was for work I'm not sure it counts.  I can't think of any other new places I've been this year??  I better get on this.

 Remember this?!

3)  Miles.  In August I ran 71 miles (a new low) and then in September I ran 54 miles (a newer low).  This is to be expected since I took 2 full weeks off of running because of my dumb hamstring, split between the two months.  This brings us to a total of 838 miles for the year - not too shabby given that I still have 3 months left to rack up at least 162 more miles.  Hopefully I make it!

4)  Races.  August was a HUGE month in terms of races, so it's not to be overlooked!  First, there was my very first triathlon.  Although this wasn't officially on my goals THIS year, doing a triathlon has seriously been on my new year's resolution list for SO MANY YEARS that this year I just didn't want to let myself down again so I left it off.  AND THEN I DID ONE!

Me with all my transition stuff!  Despite all my planning, I STILL majorly messed up that first transition!

Gold medals!

Then there was that itsy bitsy thing we'll call HOOD TO COAST!  Remember my BILLIONS of posts about it?  Yeaahhh, you probably do.  It was pretty amazing. 

5)  Read 26 books.  I've read 43 books so far this year so this task is definitely done!  I read 4 books in August and 4 books in September (all but 1 were during my trip to Kauai! ah, the joys of reading on vacation).  Most of the books I've been reading are young adult dystopia (aka Hunger Games-esque) fiction, so if you don't like that kind of thing, I don't have much to recommend.  I read book 1 and 2 in the Birthmarked Series (Birthmarked and Prized) and book 1 and 2 in the Across the Universe series (Across the Universe and A Million Suns).  I liked both and will definitely read the 3rd!  Just add that to the list of the other books I'm waiting for (aka Matched #3 and Divergent #3!). 

Although my book reading has slowed down IMMENSELY since my new job started (and since summer ended), I've still got one recommend-ers that isn't young adult (you can give your sigh of relief now).  The book is Perfect Chaos and I think EVERYONE should read it.  A true story of a normal, everyday middle-class educated family who deals with bipolar disorder - written from both the mother's point of view and the daughter who experiences bipolar.  I read this book in one day and found it incredibly powerful.  PLEASE read it.  I have to be honest - part of the reason I may have been obsessed with it is that I've actually met the authors, but I still think you'll find it eye-opening.

 Read it!

How were your August and Septembers?  Can you believe summer is over already?!  I'm so sad about it.  Are you?  Or are you one of those crazy people who don't love summer best?

50 Shades of Suck

This post could also be entitled: 50 Shades of Poor Writing.  Or E.L. James Repeats Herself for 528 Pages. 

Who are you people and WHY do you like this book???

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I just don't understand it.  It's probably related to how I don't understand why everyone is obsessed with Lululemon or loves The Avengers or is devoted to Downton Abbey.  Clearly, I don't always like what society thinks I should.

And in most cases, I can see the appeal.  Lululemon is well made, high quality, comfortable (probably, I'm just guessing).  I'm not the biggest lover of comic book movies.  I'm probably not smart enough to truly enjoy Downton Abbey.  But 50 SHADES OF GREY?  Let's forget it's all about sex for a minute, I don't care about that.  I mean, do I want to read the book out loud to my parents or worse, my grandma?  No, absolutely not.  I don't even want to read that book out loud, period.  But I can get past that.  But there are other aspects of the book that I can't get past. 

First, the writing itself is POOR, at best.  SO FREAKING REPETITIVE!  If Ana says "oh my" one more time I might SCREAM.  Same goes for "clench", "mercurial", "delicious", "eyes hooded", etc.  And what's with the talking to her inner self-conscious or "inner goddess" - who does that?!

Second, it's BORING.  There is absolutely NO story line besides them having sex.  Don't get me wrong, I love a little bit of a love story.  But that can't be the ONLY PLOT LINE.  Katniss and Peeta were FAR from the sole plot going on.  Even Bella and Edward at least have all kinds of crazy vampire and werewolf stuff going on.  And yes, while Harry and Ginny lived happily ever after, first they had to take care of that minor problem of killing all the horcruxes and taking care of that Voldemort character. 

Third, umm, I'm confused - isn't this book EXACTLY like Twilight??!!!  Like I feel like the beginning of the book is so similar that there is a potential lawsuit on their hands.  Ana (aka Bella) - both pale, very KLUTZY / uncoordinated, innocent, don't know their own beauty, don't know their own effects on others, etc.  Meet Christian (aka Edward), who tries to stay away from her because he's "a danger" to her.  Then Ana (aka Bella) gets herself into a situation that she needs "rescuing" from, and lo and behold, Christian (aka Edward) saves her.  SERIOUSLY IT'S THE SAME.

I just don't understand why this book stands out to America more than cheap romance novels.  What makes it special?  Why is everyone SO obsessed?  I totally get that people think it's a "guilty little pleasure" like ice cream or coffee creamer.  But is it too much to ask for for SOMETHING TO ACTUALLY HAPPEN???? 

Sorry people, I don't think I'm going to make it through all 3 books.  I just can't take it.  End complete rant.  Sorry if you hate me now.

Who's read Fifty Shades of Grey?  What about the other two (Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed)?  Who loves the books and why?  Thoughts???

Top 15 Things to do in Kauai Part 2 (of 3)

So yesterday we covered #11-15 of the top 15 to do in Kauai.  I must tell you though, there are a few things we didn’t do which others might recommend.  Many were crazed about helicopter tours – since you can’t reach the Na Pali coast without a 22 mile (round trip) hike or on a boat or on a helicopter.  Helicopters aren’t for us and I couldn’t convince JMan to make the 22 mile hike (shocker).  Others also recommended going to the tropical botanical gardens.  Nah, that’s not for us.  Finally, many recommend kayaking in various places, and I DO wish we had done that, but at the time it just seemed like an expensive hassle.   

So the next 5 things you should do in Kauai:

10)  Read at the pool.  Sit in the hot tub.  Relax.  Having time to read is one of my favorite things about vacations.  Plus pina coladas aren't too shabby either.  And if you loved Hunger Games and you already read Divergent... now check out Across the Universe!

 

9)  Take a bath at Queen's Bath.  I imagine when conditions are right, Queen's Bath is a rather lovely place to go.  It's basically a decent-sized salt-water swimming pool created by tidepools and the incoming ocean, with fish to look at and nice calm water.

For example - someone else's experience with Queen's Bath, which is how the Guide Book looked:

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But when we got there, which, in Queen's Bath's defense, was on the most rainy and worst-day-weather-wise of the trip, this is more like what it looked like: 

So no, we didn't swim in it. We're not THAT adventurous.  No need to add 2 more tally's to that sign today.

8)  Observe the local wildlife.  Donkeys are the best.  And who doesn't like an ENDANGERED Hawaiian Monk Seal?  I was excited to see that little guy. 

7) Watch the sunrise (or the sunset if you’re not staying on the east side).  This is easy because you're already naturally up early thanks to the time change!  Therefore my favorite activity became walking the beach as the sun came up. 

6) Walk on the beach.   Better yet – RUN on the beach if you’re not a hamstring-gimp like me.  Seriously - do views get any better than this?  Better soak them in while you're there. 
 

Come back tomorrow for the epic conclusion to this amazingly riveting trilogy!  I know you can't WAIT to find out what the top 5 things were!  :-)

How far are you running today / yesterday / tomorrow?  Make me jealous with your running stories. 

A July Recap Story

So I'm just a littttlleeee bit late posting this.  Sorry folks.  Story of my life.

July was kind of uneventful.  I actually don't think I have much to say.  You see, in June I ran so much while training and actually running a marathon that I didn't want to run that much in July.  And in May and June I did so much freaking data collection and data entry for my research project that I didn't really want to look at my data and pretty much just pretended like it didn't exist.  Can you say "burn-out"?  Say it with me - BURN OUT!!!

Books.  So the one thing I did do in July that I didn't do in June, since I had extra time when I wasn't running and being productive working, was read.  In June I only read 1 book, but in July I devoured 5, including finally reading 50 Shades of Grey (spoiler alert - not my favorite - post coming!), Divergent & Insurgent, Never Fall Down, and The Kitchen House.

 

I TOTALLY recommend both of these books.  The Kitchen House is about a white girl from Ireland who becomes an indentured servant on a tobacco plantation in the South during the peak of slavery.  It's tragic and wonderful and I loved it.  Never Fall Down is a young adult semi-true story about becoming a child soldier in Cambodia during the peak of genocide.  Also tragic but also wonderful and I read this one in a day - very fast read.  READ THEM! 

Miles.  I ran 88 miles in July, the least so far this year.  Not too shabby though considering I was coming straight off the marathon.  I have a feeling August is going to be even worse though because of my dumb glute.  Spoiler alert - it's still bothering me.  GET BETTER GLUTE!

Degree.  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  I made zero progress on writing my dissertation and that needs to change.  I gave myself a break after the drowing-in-data nonsense, now it's time to get back at it.  My parents (and husband!) will kill me if I don't actually graduate this year. 

Races.  I don't know if you remember... you may have forgotten because I only wrote not 1, not 2, but THREE recaps about it, but in July I ran RAGNAR!  And it was a blast.  The weather didn't really cooperate, but fun was definitely had by all (right JMan???). 

Ragnar was my 8th race of 2012 - looks like I'm right on schedule to hit 12 races with #9 and #10 coming up in August with my first triathlon ever and HOOD TO COAST with Team Nuun, then #11 in October with my first trail race ever and #12 in November with the cheap zozi deal I picked up for the Seattle Half Marathon. 

As for CIM?  I don't know if another marathon is in the cards for 2012 if my glute / piriformis doesn't start behaving.  I'm going to tough it out until Hood to Coast is over and then figure out what I should do.  But now we're totally off track. 

How was your July?  I don't want the summer to be over.  What good book recommendations do you have for me?

Divergent, Insurgent,... Convergent?

So if you follow me on Twitter (and if you don't - hello? Why don't you!) you may have seen my tweets about loving a recent book.  This book was Divergent by Veronica Roth.  And it definitely deserves its own post. 

 
Do you like The Hunger Games?  If you do I guarantee you will like Divergent.  It's very Hunger Games - esque - female heroine, trilogy of books, written for teens (i.e., easy to read), very fast-paced, takes place in an alternative society, minor love story, lots of action and rebellion against the terrible future society.  When I say all that it sounds like it IS Hunger Games.  But it's not.  And it's not quite as good, but the best look-a-like I've read, and I've read a few (MazeRunner Series, Matched Series, etc.).

After I finished Divergent I got super lucky in getting Insurgent, Book #2, from the library right away.  I also devoured this book in a few days (read both in about a week, and I actually READ these ones people, I don't think they have audio books out yet).  I know I know, you thought maybe I forgot how to "actually read". 

Insurgent wasn't as great as the first book, but still good.  But now here's my big huge problem: book #3 doesn't come out until Fall of 2013!!  How will I ever wait until then?!  That's WAY TOO LONG!  I'll have forgotten all about these books by then!  That's the problem with reading series before they're complete.  Huge mistake on my part.  Huge. 

I predict the 3rd book will be called Convergent - what's your prediction?  So far all they're calling it online is "Detergent".

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Conclusion = GO READ THESE BOOKS! 

Have you read the Hunger Games or any of the look-a-like series?  What did you think?  What should I read next?