We planned, God laughed.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to blog… and that’s because I’ve been rather busy living.  I think I mentioned this previously but I recently acquired a second job at an acute inpatient facility for children.  My role there is to assess the children as they come in to determine whether or not they need to be admitted, then make my recommendation to a psychiatrist who will make the final call.  I’m also the first clinical contact that the potential patient and their family might have with the facility so I’m there to help them feel comfortable about leaving their child with relative strangers for 5-10 days.  It’s very rewarding and it’s given me an opportunity to work with an inpatient population, which I have not yet been able to do in my graduate training.  It’s also very fast-paced and requires shift work to which I am unaccustomed.  I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to adjust to working occasional overnight shifts as well as evening shifts (which actually seem MORE difficult than overnight) that keep me up until after midnight.  On top of that, I have a heavy course load this semester and I’m still staying on top of my training.  I’ve had to learn to be very efficient in moving from one task/activity directly to the next and sometimes I goes days where the only “rest” I get is when I’m actually sleeping… but I love it (except when I am tired and cranky haha)!

Multi-tasking while my husband was out of town last weekend, I ate while working on the statistics for my dissertation… and then I worked… and slept… and got up and trained and did stats and worked all over again the next day!

 

While I was enjoying a dinner date with my dissertation, my husband was having dinner with world class athletes like “Rinny” Carfrae!

 

But that’s okay because the next day, he did an awesome job of representing the Navy at the USATF XC National Championships in Boulder, CO!

My husband was the only guy at the National Championships with fans like these! 😀  Our runner friend Krista (who relocated to the West Coast about a year ago) is on the left and my sister and her boyfriend are center and far right, respectively.  My sis lives in Boulder so it was great she and her bf, Matt, could be there to support!

Luckily, my husband didn’t leave me entirely alone.  I had the excellent company of some gourmet chocolates in his absence.

I’ve been playing catch up this week after working three shifts last week plus working a few hours at my other part time job (therapy/psych testing).  My professors haven’t eased up any, either, seeing as how I have a take-home exam due next Tuesday and a tedious test on Monday evening.  And, even more importantly, this Friday is Match Day! MATCH DAY!  Let me tell you about Match Day…

So, you remember all of that interview traveling I did in January?  We’re going to see how it all works out on Friday morning. Our internship application process uses a match system.  We apply and interview where we are invited.  Once we interview, we rank the sites at which we interviewed and the sites rank the students who interviewed with them.  It all goes into a computer system and… wa’la!  It spits out a match.  For most applicants, this is a year-long commitment.  Because I have applied for two Navy internship sites as well as three civilian internship sites, it could be a 1 year OR a 4 year commitment for me.  Most likely, I will have to move from Virginia Beach but if I receive a military internship then my husband will get out of the Navy and move with me.  So, as you can see, there is a lot up in the air.  In some ways, this busy week has been an excellent distraction and, though I have some feelings of anxiety about this “match,” overall, I’m looking forward to Friday morning.  My closest (local) friends are coming over for breakfast (to include pancakes, french toast and mimosas) and my husband is taking the morning off of work so, really, I’m most nervous about getting our condo cleaned up enough to have people over for breakfast! haha  I’m actually feeling excited about Friday morning… I will finally KNOW!

I will definitely keep you all posted on the Match Day results the possibilities are:  San Diego Navy site, Bethesda, MD Navy site; Hampton (local), VA; West Palm Beach, FL; Columbia, SC.  And it will all come down to the email I receive from the Match system on Friday morning! EEK!

Despite the craziness of my schedule, I’ve still managed to stay on top of my training and nutrition (except for Justin’s chocolate sabotage) and I’m feeling very optimistic about the coming triathlon season.  I have an amazing husband, great friends and family and a career that I love!  I have running and triathlon and my awesome sponsors (Betty Designs, CycleOps, BedGear) and an awesome coach (Dai Roberts) so I know it will all work out, one way or another.  I was even able to enjoy a lovely walk at the local park with my mini family, yesterday, and I look forward to many more family walks regardless of where I end up!

We enjoyed the improved weather together this week and I enjoyed wearing my custom made dragon hat by Ruth York. 😀

 

Stay tuned for news on where I will be living, working, training and embracing life next year!

 

A Year Wiser

I apologize for my absence in the blogging world over the last month or so.  Life took over, and it appears to be planning to run the show at least through the end of January so my presence will be scarce.  However, I did want to take a few minutes to wish you all a wonderful new year and share with you my last month or so of adventures.

 

 

 

My training suffered through the winter last year because of my family to embrace the trainer rides.  I’m approaching my trainer workouts with much more enthusiasm (and holiday cheer) this winter!  Of course, it helps that I upgraded to a CycleOps Fluid trainer!

 

We, of course, had our end of season Girls on the Run 5k.  I’m pictured with my former running buddy, Naomi, and her little brother, Jonah, also known as the “Yorklings.” 🙂  I had a new running buddy for this 5k and she was quite the inspiration. 🙂  I’m so proud of her that I was holding back tears throughout the race!  I would have shared a photo but I don’t have the ability to acquire her parents’ permission.

 

Justin and I enjoyed the photo both at the Jim White Community Fitness Foundation Christmas party.  They held a silent auction with all proceeds going to benefit Jim’s work with the homeless in the local community.  We had a blast and we are so thankful that we became involved with Jim White Fitness.  He’s brought our athletic performance and overall health a long way in 2013.

 

I stepped outside of my comfort zone on a brewery tour with our close friends, the Yorks.  Ruth and I tried every sample that we were given, and I discovered that I actually like beer… and dark beer at that.  Who knew!?  Cheers to trying new things and making memories.  The Yorks are moving to San Diego next summer and, though I don’t even know where I will be next year, I am sad to see them go.  I can honestly say that I love the whole family and feel like a part of it.

Enjoying Christmas Town at Busch Gardens with some friends… or, learning to enjoy it, anyway. Hahaha.  It had been a long time since I’d been on a ride.  Gravity can be quite terrifying!  Nevertheless, it was a memorable time spent with some dear friends, especially Renee, who I have come to love like a sister over the last year.

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been selected to race for Betty Designs for the 2014 race season; I’m a BETTY!!  I was psyched to receive my team gear in the mail so here is a shot of my first “try on.” 🙂  Definitely check out the website http://www.bettydesigns.com for edgy designs and high performance gear for triathlon, cycling, running and surfing.  Even better, take advantage of the 10 percent reduced rate for Team Betty family and friends by entering the code PINKpollman14 at checkout.  Definitely let me know how you like her gear!  I LOVE it.

On December 21st, I PR’d my 5k by about 20 seconds (I think) and finally broke the 21 minute mark, taking second overall for the females, while racing in my Team Betty kit for the first time! 🙂  I love it – it was VERY comfortable and for reasons that I will not go into, I can also say that the material dries very quickly and doesn’t chafe when wet! lol  It was also a surprising 70ish degrees that morning in Virginia Beach!

We make the long trek to frigid Illinois to visit my family for Christmas.  We were all under the same roof for the first time in many years.  It was good to see my family and to get to know my sister’s boyfriend, Matt (who is basically family), a bit better.

Christmas Eve selfie with my maternal grandma!

My sister, Kelcey, and I after battling over a wish bone.  She won, but that’s okay… I believe in doing rather than wishing. 😉

 

I have a very large family and these are just the few cousins who made it home to Grandma’s for Christmas (on mom’s side).  There was an other photo with all of the great grandkids… we wouldn’t all fit in the same picture!

 

After a Christmas morning speed session at my old (gravel and iced over) track.  It sounded like a good idea at the time but 20 degrees is COLD!  We were fogging up the phone camera!

Look, Ma!  We DO love each other! 🙂

So, that’s that.  Beginning next week, I will be traveling extensively in January for internship interviews, the results of which will determine where I live, learn and train next year and whether or not I will get to spend 2014 living in the same home as my husband. I’ll also be spending much of January training for a new job that I will work part time in addition to my job as a psychometrician so it’s going to be a busy and rough month.  My goal is to maintain fitness and get back to it in February.  Coach Dai has been excellent and IS being excellent in supporting these activities and helping me achieve balance between training and life. 🙂  Looking forward to another year with Dai Roberts Group!

2013:  It’s been a year of growing and learning and racing and training.  It was a year of deployments and making new friends and learning to be more independent while still needing my husband.  I’d be lying if I said that the next year didn’t seem a bit intimidating to me but I’m ready for it and excited to see what 2014 has to offer.  Stay positive, stay focused, and take breaks from staying focused!

😛

Remember…

 

Keep it clean, people!

As of Sunday, my best friend has officially been defending your freedom for two weeks.  My (and therefore “our”) diet has continued to evolve over the last few years and I thought that, while I’m only cooking for one, I would try to step things up a notch in healthy-ville.  So, for the last few weeks I have made a significant effort to eat much less processed food (except for the comfort food like year-old Cadbury eggs and such that I used to fill the hole in my heart).  In the last two weeks, I’ve lost three pounds.  I was a bit surprised because I have actually been consuming more calories than prior to my clean(er) eating efforts.  My training has picked up, too, so it’s difficult to say whether or not this was a direct effect of the diet change.  My sleeping has improved, though, and I have cut down to only one cup of coffee on most days without feeling huge slumps in energy… and that’s saying a lot because I’ve had some long and active days in the last few weeks.  I’ll keep you posted on my adventures in clean(er) eating but at the very least, I feel better about what I’m eating.

I’ve also found this super delicious and clean recipe for homemade granola – way better than store bought.  I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought granola!  This recipe can be made Paleo and Gluten free and it is naturally Vegan, in case those things are important to you.  Here goes!

Super Yummy and High Calorie but Clean Granola

Base Ingredients:

1 cup oats

1 cup flax seed meal

1 cup almond meal

2 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup agave nectar

1 cup melted coconut oil

Add-ins:

Whatever you like!  I use nuts (cashews, almond pieces, walnuts) but you can also use dried fruits.  Just be careful with dried fruit because many of them have added sugars and sulfates when they are store bought.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 270 degrees

Combine coconut oil, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl from which you can easily pour.

Gradually stir in the oats, flax seed meal and almond meal into a large bowl, pouring and stirring in a little bit of the wet ingredients at a time.  Once all of these ingredients are combined and well mixed in the large bowl, add in your add-ins!

Scoop the mixture onto a baking sheet or baking pan and smoosh so that it is relatively flat.  Place in the oven for 20 minutes.  After that time, remove from the oven and stir granola, then smoosh back down and return to the oven.  Bake for another 10 to 20 minutes before stirring and smooshing again.  I usually end up baking the granola for about 50 minutes, give or take.  Just be sure to monitor so that it doesn’t burn.  You’ll know it’s ready when it has begun to clump and dry out.

To make this gluten free, you can either use gluten-free oats or replace the oats with an equivalent amount of flax seed and/or almond meal.

To make Paleo (according to the original recipe that inspired this) leave out the oats and replace with flax seed and/or almond meal.  I *think* that makes it paleo but I’m not an expert.

Here is a close up of my granola (made without the oats) on top of some blended fruit with chia seeds and blueberries on top. 🙂  This is one of my favorite ways to eat it but I frequently just eat it by itself!

Warning:  This recipe is both delicious AND really high calorie.  Eat with care!

Enjoy the recipe! I’d love to hear your thoughts!  Next time, I will talk more about my experience with Crossfit at Crossfit Unparalleled!  I know that Crossfit is often a controversial topic so I’m going to share how I think it will help me become a better triathlete and how I will be trying to avoid the potential pitfalls of Crossfit that make so many people cringe when I say that I am using this as a means of strength training.  haha 🙂

Happy Monday and Happy training!

Creatively Fit!

As many of you are aware, Hurricane Sandy paid a weekend visit to the greater Hampton Roads area.  My husband and I drove home from his marathon through a portion of the storm.  It didn’t seem too frightening other than the high water levels on the bridges we crossed and some of the high winds we experienced whipping our car around the highway.  We were happy to be home and my feelings weren’t too terribly hurt when my Monday classes were canceled due to high winds and flooding.

While my marathon-crushing spouse was more than happy to spend the majority of the day with his feet up, I found myself going a bit stir crazy after a few hours of couch time.  Last week was my restful week of recovery.  I was bursting with energy and desperately longing for a quick run or, at the least, a thorough walk with the dog.  Sadly, the recreation centers that I use as my gymnasium were closed and my husband was pretty firm in asserting that I should not run outdoors in 33mph winds.  I tried to embrace the extra rest day but I just had too much excess energy… so, I broke out the Wii Fit Plus.  We almost NEVER use the Wii because we have very little recreational time after school, work, clinical hours, and (of course) training and we usually want to spend that small bit of free time resting our tired bodies!  After yesterday, I’m extremely pleased that we’ve decided to retain the Wii despite infrequent use. You can see from the smile on my face in the above picture that a bit of indoor exercise helped brighten my mood for the rest of the day!  As a bonus, my abs are sore today from hula hooping, push-ups and planks with a very strict Wii personal trainer.

I’m not sure how useful my Wii sessions will prove on race day (I think I’ll continue to stick to Dai Roberts Group training plans just in case) but it was certainly a great way to get in some calorie burn and ward off cabin fever when my options were few and far between.  Not everyone has the resources to acquire this type of video game/fitness gear but you can always find a way to get in some type of a fitness session if you’re creative and determined.  Maybe stair intervals if you have more than one story in your home?  What about weight lifting with hand weights or heavy objects in your home if you don’t already own weights?  And, of course, you can ALWAYS do some core work!  That being said, don’t be afraid to take an unscheduled rest day; even I slept in. 😉

Recovering from Recovery

Hard work has taken on an entirely new meaning for me over the last few months.  I’ve learned how to push through set backs and train through fatigue.  I’ve worked hard to hone my nutrition – “eat to train” became our grocery-shopping mantra.  After months of pushing through, eating well, and turning down social invites so that I could get proper rest… I needed a break.

The 70.3 didn’t cripple me for a week the way a hard marathon may have so I was feeling great when I did an easy run only a few days afterward.  Though my body didn’t need much of a rest, my brain was still exhausted!  Honestly, I enjoy healthy eating so it’s not that I didn’t want to eat foods that were good for me this last week, rather, I really needed a break from THINKING about nutrition.  SO… I spent this week NOT thinking about nutrition and it was fantastic! 😀  I did a couple of easy runs and I ate whatever I happened to feel like eating whenever I felt like eating it.  When my dear friend Ruth offered me freshly baked pumpkin muffins, I had three.  When I felt like having chocolate, I found our left over Easter candy (yes… from Easter and it was still delicious thankyouverymuch).  When I didn’t particularly feel like having a salad, I didn’t, and when I went to the grocery store to pick up some more veggies for the week I also grabbed a pound of brie and a french baguette that I ate, alone, with two glasses of red wine.

Truthfully, a lot of my healthy eating has been a means of coping with gastrointestinal issues.  Despite my history of upset stomachs I was miraculously able to eat loads of junk food for the majority of the week with virtually no consequences.  Sadly, I doubt that even those with a stomach of steel can gorge on a half of a pound of brie cheese, wine and a massive serving of bread without some GI retribution.  Hours after my solo French fest, I clutched my stomach and thought “Okay, I think I’m ready for training and good nutrition, again.”  😀

Aaaaand of course, now that I’m ready to get out there and sweat, there’s a friggin’ hurricane! haha.  Thankfully, I had an active weekend to burn off some brie and feel refreshed.  I walked at least 8 miles during Justin’s marathon, yesterday, and you have to walk pretty darn fast to spectate when your athlete runs his marathon in 2 hours and 31 minutes!  GEESH!

I really do feel refreshed after a week of care-free eating and loosely structured recovery workouts.  I needed it!  Recovery is important, mentally as well as physically!  It is important, though, to know WHAT KIND of recovery you need and HOW MUCH is enough. 🙂  When I felt bloated and gross after a week of questionable dietary decisions, I knew I was ready to feel lean and energetic, again.  Also, watching my husband absolutely conquer his marathon and finish top ten overall was inspirational!  I was so thrilled for him and so proud of all of his hard work that I couldn’t help but long to sweat and compete, again.

I think that I earned every bite of pumpkin muffin and every once of brie that I ate this week, maybe not calorie-wise (haha) but definitely in overall effort.  I don’t even feel the slightest bit guilty for my indulgences and for me, THAT is a first.  There’s no way I’d be ready to get back to the business of training, again, if I hadn’t really taken a break.  Work hard and recover hard; be kind to yourself.  🙂  Now, it’s time to recover from all of that recovering!