1. Miss Flannery turned 14 years old on Friday!
She has retired as a bookstore dog, and is now a lady of leisure. Except for having lost her hearing, she is in good health. (And being deaf might actually be a blessing as she no longer freaks out every time there is a thunderstorm.)
For 12 years, she has been my constant companion and is really as obedient and loyal as dogs come. Happy Birthday, Miss Flannery! May your days be filled with bacon, belly rubbings, and Tobi staying out of your business.
2. As soon as I saw that an Aqua Vapor store was opening in Easley with their grand opening today, I knew where we were spending the weekend. Seeing as it is right beside a gun and tactical supply store, I figured Ben would think he was experiencing the rapture.
Besides the random kiosk in the mall, I have never been to a place that sold e-cigarettes and all their accoutrements. Aqua Vapor was packed out with people, but there were several clerks on hand. They seemed pretty knowledgeable and were very efficient even with the crowds. (I hope they will offer classes or something for beginners because there is such a steep learning curve. Not that I personally use one, but Ben has been for a number of years now.)
3. This morning was the Reedy River 10k and I was unable to run it due to my injury. Le sigh.
Although, it evidently was a beast of a hilly course. Other runners have been cracking me up on the local track club’s Facebook page.
Runner 1: I’m sorry about what I said to you right after the race this morning.
The Event Director: No problem. We aim to pain.
Runner 2: To hurt is to live; and I felt very alive this morning!
So, maybe sleeping in this morning wasn’t such a bad thing.
4. Ben sent me this saying it was how he runs:
Personally, I don’t know why he would be ashamed. Stopping at a garden party for orange juice sounds WAY more logical than finishing a marathon.
5. Although, I haven’t been able to run I still have been able to keep up with my workouts. (I’ve been doing the row machine instead of running.) However, I’m not really leaning out any. In fact, since October I think I’ve been losing and gaining the exact same 5 pounds. I get my workouts in and do a good job with that about 98% of the time. (I workout a lot, up to 10-15 hours a week. I have been doing this for over a year and a half, but progress has still been painfully slow.)
With my eating though, it’s about 80% on target. I was doing fantastic until I started running (in October) and I just became ravenously hungry. At that point, I became less strict with eating clean. It’s not as if I’ve been eating horribly but, obviously, something isn’t working. I read Tosca Reno’s series a little over a year ago, and the thing I remember the most was her formula for success:
I see variations of this frequently, but a lot of times they leave out the 10% genetics component. I have a syndrome which makes it difficult to lose weight. (And because life is so funny the symptoms of this syndrome drastically improve when I lose weight. Thanks, body!) Usually, I take my medicine for it and don’t think about it. However, I must be right at the tipping point because there was one week near the end of January where all of a sudden my symptoms drastically improved! My main problem is with my skin and it was just miraculous how clear it suddenly was. Oh! I was in heaven. Then, I injured my foot and there was snow and my skin went back to normal (and my pants are now feeling a titch tighter.)
For March, my goal is to eat clean 100% of the time. I have rearranged my priority to be diet. (Although I’m certainly going to stick to the same training schedule. However, if I have to take a “rest day” at the gym in order to prepare my food for the week then that is what I’m going to do.) I’m still in awe of people who can fit all of their weekly food prep into one afternoon or one day. It took the entire weekend (except for the trip to Aqua Vapor), and I am exhausted. I do feel incredibly prepared for this week though, and confident in my ability to stick with the food plan.
I’m also excited because I came across several new recipes. And except for the one for ranch dressing – which tasted like dirt – they all have been delicious. I will probably start posting some here so I don’t forget about them. My recommended recipe of this week comes from Natalie Hodson, and it is her Artichoke Rosemary Chicken. It is a one dish recipe (my favorite) Here is a picture taken from her blog:
