Christmas vacation show and tell part 1

Manatees
When it gets cold enough in FL, Manatees that normally live in the Indian River move into Blue Springs, where the water stays a constant- warmer- temperature.

Manatee Hot Tub Time Machine?

Because the water is clear (and the area is probably smaller), Blue Springs is the perfect place to see them.

The best picture I got was Lindsay Lohan Manatee with her tracking device:

We did this once before when I was in the 8th grade, and back then you could actually walk down to the water and pet the manatees (Manatees as a rule have type B personalities.), but someone probably tried to ride on one and you can't get down to the water to touch them anymore.

One thing that hasn't changed is a huge tree that got hit by lightning.

Note the little kid posing in the background.

Same tree, 15 years ago:

Which answers the question, "Do I look the same as I did at 13?"  Yes.  I do.

Workout
I love UW when the undergrads aren't around!  The gym has been dead every morning.  I will be sad when the New Year's Resolution-ers get back in a few weeks.

Yesterday I ran 7mi on the treadmill doing treadmill track workout #2 from Training Plans for Multisport Athletes.  I started the intervals at 8.0 and worked up to 8.5.  I really like these workouts.  They make the time fly by, and are definitely tough enough to satisfy resolution #4.

Right before vacation I had a reader ask about running outside during the winter.  I definitely do it, but I've found that it doesn't work well for any kind of quality workout.  It's just too hard to get going when it's really cold and there's ice and snow on the ground.  As for what to wear- I'd say the closer you get to 0 (or below) and the longer you plan to be out- you should try to wear as much as possible.  Up to a down jacket, if you've got it, put it on.  Here's a post where I mention what I wear when it's really cold.  For me, the hand and toe warmers are the thing that make the biggest difference in my comfort.  Dr. TriRunner also has some excellent posts on winter running.  

But I'll be warm and toasty inside today because it's a strength training day with maybe a little elliptical depending on the time.

I'm on a lake!

I'm on a lake.  I'm on a big frozen lake.

I got the lake pictures (taken Monday) off my camera*

It's amazing how clear the ice was.  If you looked down through the cracks (which were frozen back together) you could see that it was about 6in-1ft thick.  See coworker Dan walking on water:

A picture looking back on campus from out on the ice:

Taking all the fear out of walking out on the lake- it was actually really shallow where we were walking.  If the ice did crack the worst that would happen is wet feet.  There's a piece of lake weed suspended in the ice:

Crazy ice fisherman:

 Picture of downtown.  If you squint, you can see the capital right in the middle:

For all the times I've toted my camera around and not taken any pictures, this was the first time I'd really wished I'd had it.  I'm sure I'll have some crazy extra charge for sending these pictures, but I think it was worth it.

Resolution update

I was on such a role with accomplishment yesterday I also checked off two resolution goals for the week.

The first was a little bit of a punt.  I have cooked spinach before- and probably with eggs for dinner- but I didn't have a chance to do any real meal planning before we went to the store on Sunday, so my new veggie for the week is cooked spinach in a coconut curry frittata:

This was a little bland, but you can't really taste test the raw egg so we covered it in ketchup, and it wasn't too bad.

I also sent a Christmas letter electronically to a friend who let me know I accidentally sent her card without a letter or even signing it.  Oops.  I think I remember thinking I might not have filled up her card before I sent it, but I was so tired of doing cards at that point that I didn't worry about it.  Anyway, she got to be my first "reach out and touch someone" of 2011.

Workout

I'm headed back to the gym this morning to do a treadmill track workout.  It's gotten cold again- boo- but fortunately no snow buildup.

Stay warm out there!

*Thanks, Dr. T. for the suggestion.  I was able to send a Pix Message to my e-mail account.  Hopefully I will not have to un-thank you when I see my phone bill ;).

Better

The pile of stuff in the living room (and my "to do" list) is still pretty large, but my existential angst* from yesterday has gone away, and I'm already feeling better about returning to "normal life".

Continuing the theme of focusing on the positive:

• I had a slow but relatively warm 8mi run yesterday.  Nearly all the ice on the sidewalks and streets has melted and we only got a light dusting of snow last night.  We are expecting more snow this week so that may be the last one for awhile.
• I didn't return to 23098439 e-mails at work.  I have two new projects that are interesting but not overwhelming.
• Because of an unusual thaw/freeze cycle, Lake Mendota froze clear, and I got to walk out on the ice and could see all the way through to the bottom of the lake.  I have pictures but they were taken on my phone's camera so today's lunch time internet project will be to figure out how to get them on the computer.  
• Even though I was tired from not sleeping well a couple nights ago, I had a fun with our church small group, eating brownies and playing Sporkle.  

I'm headed to the gym this morning for weights.  We don't have any plans for this evening so I'm hoping that I make a dent in the mountain 'o Christmas that's hanging out in the living room tonight.  Have a good Tuesday!

* I love putting terms like this into Google Image just to see what comes up.

Vacation withdrawal

Happy New Year!

The last time I posted from our home computer was a lot like this one.  I was up early.  There was tons of stuff in the living room.  There was snow in the forecast.  But sadly instead of getting ready to go on a big, fun vacation, everything is waiting to be put away.  The rush of endorphins from travel! family! Christmas! New Years! has dropped off and I feel sad and tired.  But instead of focusing on the negative, I want to think about all the good things- I got to spend lots of time with my family and my in-laws, my vitamin-D levels are way up, I heard a reading of the great American novel, the Gators managed to pull out a win at the Outback Bowl, I'm rested, I have big plans for this year, our parking spot was clear of snow and ice when we got home last night, I'm about to go on my first run of 2011, and I look forward to sharing more about my trip and catching up on more of your 2010 recaps/ 2011 excitement.

The Resolution Post

After a long drive down from Madison, we are enjoying Chirstmas Part 1 in Tennessee.  While it's much warmer than where we left, I decided to take a break from running this morning to bring you The 2011 Resolution Post.  Rather than having 10 kind of nebulous goals like last year, I've tried to break it down into 5 concrete things that I really want to do(not feel like I have to or should do) that cover three broad areas- healthy eating, fitness, and my social life.

Now that's some scary kale.

1. Try one new vegetable or way to prepare vegetables per week.  I tried kale (a vegetable I was particularly terrified of) at a party last week (I get invited to some crazy parties), and it was actually pretty good.  Part of this plan is to subscribe to a CSA box from a very local (about 1/2 mile from our apartment) farm. 

2. Have one social dinner every month.  It can be a potluck with our church lifegroup, meeting people for dinner at a restaurant, or making something at our place.  As long as it's food + social + dinner time, it counts.

3. Write one blog post a day every day I am home.  I enjoy writing and I have a feeling that coming up with good blogging ideas and writing witty prose is more a matter of practice than anything else.  We don't travel with a computer so I'm off the hook when we are gone.

4. Up the intensity of my interval training.  I got a big boost in speed when I started doing speekwork at all, but it's time to push myself harder if I want to see results.  I like the FIRST plan for outdoor training, but I haven't been able to translate it to the treadmill.  Instead I've brought out my copy of Training Plans for Multisport Athletes, that has two sets of training plans specificially for speedwork on the treadmill.  Even though I don't ever plan to do a triathlon, this book is worth having just for those treadmill workouts.  Once the weather improves I'll be back out on the road FIRSTing again.

5.  Connect with one person I don't talk to regularly each week.  It could be anything from calling my grandparents or commenting on something on Facebook.  Just reach out and touch someone.

And that's it!  Not sure how much I'll be posting, but I hope to do some reading and commenting at least every few days.  I look forward to reading about your resolutions and exciting plans for the new year.  Stay warm out there!

Paleo Recap

Yesterday, or today, or something like that ends my 1 month paleo diet "trial."  I put trial in quotation marks because I didn't stick to the diet (no grains, no legumes, no dairy) 100% strictly, but I'd say I hit it about 75-80% of the time.

First of all, I don't think that I can fairly evaluate any of the claims made about the diet because, as I said, I wasn't 100% compliant, and it seems like that's a must.  But here are what I'd consider my take-away points from the experiment:

• I never had any GI problems after eating a paleo meal
• I feel like I've gotten over the idea that I absolutely "have to" eat some sort of starchy carb with every meal.  For some people who run mega miles or who don't eat animal products, eating more starchy carbs is necessary, but for me- especially now that we are in winter hibernation mode- it would be better to replace them with non-starchy vegetables. 
• I've expanded my vegetable horizons (a bit)
• I realized that I can put a meat and vegetable meal together as quickly as any other kind
• There are a lot of great paleo foods out there, and there's no reason to feel restricted or like you can't enjoy a good meal within those parameters
• It is really hard to break the psychological "need" to have bread, cookies, etc. when they are served to a group.  However, most people don't actually care what you eat.  If you don't want something- for whatever reason- a simple "No thanks" will suffice.

In general, I really like the way I feel when I stick to the diet, and- like with healthy veganism- I think when you focus on what you can have, there are a wealth of healthy options out there.  However, the diet is not really supported by our social structure*.  So I've decided my goal is to make all of the food that I prepare myself be paleo compliant (again meaning lean meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and healthy fats), and then try to make good choices when I'm eating out and in social situations.  I think this is a fair compromise that will hopefully get my ratio of paleo to non to about 90% to 10%, respectively.  

And with that I'm headed out for my last treadmill run for awhile.  We will be on the road today and tomorrow, and the weather changes from snowy to nasty icy cold rain as we drive down south.  Any thoughts/prayers/good vibes you want to send our way while we travel are much appreciated.

If I don't post again before then, Merry Christmas to everyone! 

*But you can say that about any healthy way of eating.  For example, there are absolutely 100% no healthy snacks to be purchased in my building, but there are a lot of unhealthy ones (by any standard).   

Less than 24 hours

Until we hit the road for TN!  I need to pack, clean the kitchen (thank you, Christmas potluck, for taking care of dinner tonight), and do a little wrapping but otherwise we are ready to go.  Even though there was a rush last weekend, it's nice to have everything finished so we can just relax and enjoy the rest of the advent season and Christmas day without having to brave the mall, etc.  Unless we want to go people-watch of course.

I blame it on low vitamin D levels, but I haven't been super motivated to run lately.  I did a slow, cold 8.5mi yesterday outside, and today is a rest day unless I get a surprise boost of time and energy between now and 2:30 when I have to leave to get D from work to go to our final Madison Christmas event.  I'm planning to do a shorter run and weights tomorrow before we head out of town so I'm nice and worn out for the car ride. Hopefully we'll find a place to stop that has a fitness center because I'm still on my quest to hit 1800mi for the year.  Right now I'm at 1748.5 so it's just a little more than 25mi/week for the next two weeks.  Totally do-able (I keep telling myself).

Now on to the rest of the New Year's Resolutions.  This is the C+ group- the ones I either forgot or decided I didn't care that much about.

4. Be more social - I'm pretty much as social now as I think I ever will or want to be.  How much more fun can you get than this:

Ugly sweater party 2020.
Yes, the hat and gloves have owls on them!!!
Yes, Daniel's beard makes him look like a hearty sturgeon fisherman.

5. Take more pictures - This has improved since I got my new camera for my birthday, but I'm still not a picture-holic, capturing gems like this one:

Yes, this is Madison.  Yes, this was taken by a co-worker early last week.

 6. Stay in touch - I hate to say this was such an epic fail, but it was.  It just cries out for something more specific like reach out to one person I don't talk to regularly each week.

7. Music - Wait!  This one wasn't a fail!  Not sure how I missed it last time.  While practicing has fallen by the wayside a little bit this last week, I've taken piano lessons all year, and I've really enjoyed having music back in my life.  Also, Daniel and I have started going to a shape note singing group every other Sunday, which will *hopefully* help me improve my singing from "horrendous" to "doesn't scare many pets".

8. Waste less time - Ummmmm... here I am on the computer while I should be packing and scrubbing. Again, too vague.

9. Read real books - Nope.  Don't care.

10. Do a better job on the blog - This seems to go in phases, but I've been trying to come up with interesting and funny stuff to do.  It also largely depends on my exercise schedule, and how much computer downtime I have if I run outside vs go to the gym.

 So far I'm still in the brainstorming phase of Resolutions 2011 so that's coming up.  I'll probably post once more tomorrow and then I'll be on the computer a lot less because we'll be hanging out with family.  Happy Holidays to all!