Sheridan, you've got some training to do!

I'm not a runner.

This may sound silly to say, seeing as last month Tom and I ran in the Broad Street Run, which is a 10 mile race. And we did complete it, at a steady jogging pace of just over thirteen minutes a mile. In case you are as clueless about running as I was (still am) when I signed up for that race, that is slooooow. And it felt slow, but I refused to go faster because I just wanted to survive. I just wanted to cross the finish line. We did! I was happy, elated, accomplished...

Looking cocky after the Broad Street Run

Sort of. To be honest, I wasn't very impressed with myself, even though I probably acted like I was. Part of it was that I didn't feel like I was pushing myself that hard. Which is great, right? I ran ten miles and DIDN'T feel like I was pushing myself hard?? Well, it's ok. I guess I felt like I should have run faster, felt confident to push myself harder even if it meant at some point I might have to slow down. I was afraid if I ever slowed down, I wouldn't be able to pick up the pace again.

Also, I suppose I just feel like if I can do something, anyone can do it. You can call it a complex or just call it the truth. Unless you have some kind of debilitating injury, YOU can run ten miles. I did. Seriously, I'm not a runner.

So, I guess since I didn't get enough of the rush from that race, I needed to sign up for another. Some friends at work were casually discussing the Philadelphia Half-Marathon (same day and place as the full marathon, just shorter). With little thought, I was in. In fact, I was the one encouraging people to sign up! Why would I do that to anyone? I was stressed training for Broad Street, why put myself through that again, and take friends down with me?

Well, there is significantly more time to train. When we signed up for Broad Street, we had about two months to train. That was two months from barely being able to run a mile, to running ten. Now, I wasn't so out of shape. I can hold my own on an elliptical, but running is different. And running outside is totally different. I dig it, though. The treadmill is so boring, I can't push myself more than a couple miles. But given the right temperature, the right mindset and the right breakfast, I can now run 4, 5, or more miles outside and not be dying. That's a vast improvement.

Thirty three minutes = almost 11 minute miles on the elliptical

I don't just want to finish the half-marathon, though. I want to be proud of my performance. I don't have a time I want to finish in mind. Not yet, at least. Maybe after I get a month or so of training under my belt I will think about that. Right now I am still getting back into a routine of working out since I kind of blew off working out over the past month and a half in favor of enjoying my wedding and honeymoon. Plus, even if I wasn't as impressed with myself over Broad Street as I would have liked, I do like things that give me an excuse to be lazy. Cutting out the lazy excuses is another thing on my to-do list.

Fitness magazine routine. This is no joke.

I need to put together a more formal "Half-Marathon To-Do List", but basically I am trying to run one long run a week and cross train in other ways. For example, this morning I did the workout routine pictured above. It's hard! I read Fitness and Self magazine, more for motivation than anything else, but they always have routines in them to tone your back, tone your front, tone this, lose that, etc. Every now and then I try to tackle one of them and every time I feel like a total failure because I can't even DO some of the exercises, not the way they describe them anyway. The above workout calls for using 8 lb. weights and I literally can't do one of them with that much weight. It's sad. But, I will do my best not to let that get me down.

Me post-workout. Done.

I'm also going to try to keep up a healthy diet, watch the booze and start doing some leg strength training. I never felt the need to do much leg work, because if I have any strength anywhere, it's in my legs. That is more a comment on how little strength I have in other places than it is on how strong my legs are. I've worked on my feet for most of my life, not that that means much for fitness, but I'm not particularly sedentary. I've been told by a number of REAL runners that leg training is really crucial to a good performance. So be it. Squats anyone?

Healthy spinach and goat cheese salad for lunch

Enough of all that. Expect plenty more updates on training as that is a big item on the semi-long-term to-do list.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I've been making an effort to get more chores and errands done during the week so that I have Sundays free to relax, visit friends and family, or, my favorite thing, chilling with my husband. I have a bit more on the to-do list for tomorrow, but I'm hoping to wrap things up early and get a good bit of hanging out in the late afternoon/ early evening. My sunburn is still present, so the couch and a movie sounds like just the ticket.

Sunday To-Do List

- hot yoga @ 10am (it's already paid for, so I gotta do it, even though at 11:49pm Saturday night I really don't feel like getting up for it)
- super fast shower
- noon time breakfast with Tom, Quinn and Mo
- supervise Tom and Quinn while they work on my car (aka, stand around and try not to be in the way)
- drop off my thesis to my mom that she has been dying to read
- attempt to make salsa verde
- Sunday Spa night (face mask, mani-pedi, general pampering of Sheridan)
- watch a new movie instead of the usual re-runs we always end up watching that we don't even care about  

Thanks for tuning in again! Your to-do list item is to give me any advice on training for a long run you may have. I have found that runners love to talk about running. Even non-runners like myself enjoy talking about how much it can suck. And how much it can not suck, too, I guess. As a reward, I will leave you with a picture of the delicious fish tacos I just ate.

Happy Sunday-ing!

Taco heaven

Stuff I Did Today

I tried to follow my goal of getting up when my alarm went off. I set three and was up by the third one, which is an improvement over endless snoozing until I really have no choice but to get up. The nicest part about getting up early is that I get to say goodbye to Tom on his way to work instead of just having some vague memory of him telling me he's leaving and getting a kiss of the head I may or may not remember.

After he left, I shook off the sleep and did a few things.

Today I...

Did some yoga

Enjoyed a leisurely pot of tea, a healthy smoothie and read my book

I put together a fruit salad

 I made a breakfast of eggs and leftovers from last night's dinner

I made a lunch box to take to work with healthy snacks

I brushed my teeth

And I wrote on my blog!

Now I am off to work a double. Literally right now. I'm late. See you!

Sausage and Sunburn: The reasons I don't want either

I did something this morning I'm not very proud of. It's one of those things that I really try hard not to do and I'm always a little ashamed and sick to my stomach after I do it. Why, why would I put myself through that? I could list a million reasons, justifications, excuses for my actions, but it all comes up the same. I was being lazy and I knew better.

I ate a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Sizzli from Wawa.

They look so innocuous

Oh, the humanity! I know I shouldn't beat myself up over it. It's hard to eat a healthy breakfast every morning. It requires effort and energy and planning. But this breakfast was a wake-up call (get it?) to really put in the time to eat cleaner and healthier. Besides the fact that there is very little nutrition in my breakfast sandwich, there is very little real FOOD. Just preservatives and salt and fat. Yummm.

Looks a little grayer in person

The thing is, I don't want to just avoid foods like this. I want to be disgusted by them BEFORE I eat them. On my long term to-do list is make all of my own food from scratch. I know that is more or less impossible, some things will always be in some way prepared by someone else. But I think it is a good goal to work towards. And cutting out processed-beyond-recognition fast-food like this is definitely the first step.

I am a product of my commercial, fast-paced, instant-gratification environment, though, and I don't do well hungry. So, instead of eating the granola bar I had in my purse (not that that is a great meal, either) I caved when someone was making a Wawa run. Karma caught up fast with me though, when I requested bacon and they only had sausage. I don't even LIKE breakfast sausage, but I ate it. And I felt lousy for it. Why do we do these things to ourselves?

Time to move on. I am making sure I go to bed early enough tonight to wake up with time to make a healthy, filling breakfast and packing good snacks for while I'm at work. Otherwise I end up eating the white, nutrition-free rolls with honey butter like I did today for lunch. Did I forget to mention that I ate white bread covered in butter and honey and called that lunch?

Another contributing factor to today's diet de-railment? I've been a little miserable the past two days. Why you ask? Sunburn. Like, whoa.

And this is an improvement over yesterday!

I went tubing with my nephew on Tuesday. I was good! I wore a light, long sleeved shirt! I put on my sunscreen! I swear! But I didn't put it on as evenly as I should have (see next picture), I didn't wear a hat and I didn't think about the fact that my feet were in the water, washing away all that skin-saving lotion. So, my hairline and eyelids (yes, eyelids) are burnt. Random splotches on my legs are burnt. And worst of all, the tops of my feet are SCORCHED.

Do you know what it's like to have a job where you work on your feet all day in dress shoes with sunburnt feet? I hope you don't because it sucks. Today is a little better, but yesterday my feet were throbbing all day, especially while I was running around at work. With every step I felt the regret of pale skin inadequately protected from the hot fury of the sun.

Note the difference between the pale legs and the red feet and knees

So I got a little sunburned. What's the big deal? Besides the excruciating pain of yesterday and the mild annoyances of the next few days to come, the big deal is long-term skin protection. My skin ain't as young as it used to be, but I don't need anyone else knowing that. Not to mention that my discomfort led me to over a day of being less productive than I otherwise would have been and to making bad food choices because I didn't feel well and therefore didn't care. A lousy reason for both, especially considering how easily avoided this whole situation could have been.

I suppose the point of all this is, I want to be more mindful about my body. All the time. I want it to be second nature to remember to slather sunscreen all over and apply touch ups. I want to get up when my alarm goes off knowing I set it for a good reason. I want it to be inconcievable that I would ever get a fast-food breakfast sandwich. I want my body to be happy that I am it's operator.

My apology to my body for the breakfast I imposed on it

My to-do list is to start by planning my meals better. I need more easy, filling recipes that I enjoy both preparing and eating. I'm trying to keep myself going for a long, long time and I need the right fuel to do that.

Also on my to-do list: sunscreen. Every time I'm in the sun. It's annoying to put on, but skin cancer and wrinkles are probably more annoying. Just a hunch.

YOUR to-do list, valued reader, is to share any of your favorite healthy recipes! Any recipes, even if you know me and know I wouldn't like them, maybe someone else reading would. And I'll have you know, I have been eating a much wider variety of foods lately. Yesterday, I ate beets. Beets! Who'd a thought? They weren't bad either. I still don't like olives. I'm sorry, I've been trying. They are gross.

If you have any insight on healthy body or mind, share it. I get motivation by reading what other people do to stay in a good, healthy mindset. I also get motivated by sharing my ideas. Hence, this blog. So, thanks for the motivation!

Cod, roast potatoes, asian stir-fryed vegetables, salad, tea

Healthy can be pretty!

 

Sheridan's To-Do List: Not just for Tuesdays any more

My name is Sheridan and I am a to-do list addict.

My addiction probably stems from Tuesdays. I don't work Tuesdays. I am a waittress and for whatever reason Tuesday has been my only really consistent day off. Which is cool, some restaurant workers never know what day they are going to have off, if any. You know what's not cool? No one has off on Tuesdays except for me. Not my husband, not my friends, not my parents, no one. I have the whole day all to myself, whether I want it or not.

Now, this isn't the worst thing in the world. I LIKE me time. Who doesn't? But I also like getting things done and trying to keep my life organized. The problem is, I'm not very good at it. I'm a well known procrastinator and a bit lazy as well. My dad suggested that when my senior yearbook in high school offered no clubs or sports or activities to accompany my picture that the caption should read: "I'm about to...". It wouldn't have been totally inappropriate.

So, in order to keep myself from falling into a Sex and the City binge, or surfing the web for recipes I'll never get around to cooking or exercises I will never get around to doing, or just spacing all day on the couch, I started To-Do List Tuesday. I compile a list of everything I want to accomplish, from laundry to cooking a weeks worth of meals to planning how I will change the world to flossing.

Pretty typical to-do list

Most of the things get crossed off, some don't. I feel like there should always be one or two things that don't get done, always something to do tomorrow. If we always finished everything, what would there be to look forward to? Oh, wait, I'm justifying my procrastination again. I think there might be somet truth there regardless.

Lately, though, I have found myself keeping these to-do lists on Saturdays. And Sundays. And, even, Monday or Wednesday! I need to-do lists every day! There is so much to do, so little time to do it. And I forget stuff like it's my job. My actual job is literally to remember stuff, remember what people tell me to do. I can do that, but when it comes to things I need to do, I need it written down. Just like I write down orders from my customers, I write down orders from myself. And you know what? It helps.

I've been starting bigger and more long term to do lists, too. Things like, get a short story published in a respected journal, cook all of our food from scratch, and, more immediately, run a half marathon.

Yup, I'm  running a half marathon in exactly six months. Six months from today. Thirteen point one miles. What the ----. More on this next time.

Face masks are a regular on The List

 

So, here we are. Another thing crossed off my to-do list: start new blog about things I am going to do. Or did. Or am doing currently, like the face mask as shown above. Face masks are really lovely, in case you didn't already know.

Thanks for joining in the first installment of Sheridan's To-Do List. Add to your to-do list to leave a comment about things that you like to put on your to-do list. Motivate me by telling me all the things you would forget to do without having it written down!



Today's To-Done List (or, things I did today)

- worked
- gym (2.5 miles on elliptical, some weight exercises from a magazine)
- healthy breakfast (kale and fruit smoothie, fish tacos)
- delicious dinner (spaghetti with pesto and hot sausage, arugula salad)
- water the garden
- organize stuff I'm not using to be donated
- face mask (currently doing)
- start a blog
- floss

Check.

Dinner win.