bootcamp baby steps

Hello wonderful bloggies! So it turns out, when you take a day off for Memorial Day, it takes a week to catch up with things.

Since we last spoke, I started Bootcamp Tulsa. I have heard GREAT things about this program from lots of girls and now I know it's all true. My purchase came from Groupon, so it's only two weeks, but I just needed a jump-start booty kicking for my running training.

Unfortunately, after my first session on Thursday, I pretty much hated my life. This workout style is the antithesis of what motivates me. As I was telling my BFF, my entire childhood and growing up, I got very used to being the slowest, coming in last, and having to work twice as hard as everyone.

And I think it really became a mindset. Something I counted on.

When you factor in larger class sizes than I'm used to, timed drills, feeling like everyone who's already finished is watching me, not having as much rest time as the people who finish first -- not to mention 90-degree heat straight after a long day at work -- those have been my least favorite, least motivating factors. In the past, I have preferred more one-on-one interaction, everyone going at the same pace, etc. **

** Totally nothing against Bootcamp! Like my BFF, a lot of people are actually motivated by those factors, and lots of great success stories have been written through that program. I am all for the things they do and getting people accountable and moving. I think I will like it even better when I get to know these encouraging people better, too! **

So after my first session, I really, really wanted to never look back. If you really want to know how bad it was, let me give you a picture: after just the warm up with lots of up-downs, I felt like throwing up and a sweet older lady came to the side with me and poured cold water down my neck.

Yeah. It was like that.

Luckily, I was sick and missed on Saturday, and today after a long day at work, it took a mini-pep-talk from my wonderful JT to get me to go. And as I was doing my umpteeth hill sprint, I came to a realization: if I'm ever going to break my preconceived, slow kid mentality, I have to finish this Bootcamp. I did enjoy class much better today after my pep talk from JT and my little attitude check. It kicked my booty, but in a wonderful way.

I have never minded being slower (BTW, I really liked that they grouped us into "Fast, Faster, and Fastest" and never used the word "Slow") than others. But I am perfectly aware that my mindset isn't healthy, and that mindset won't get me through a half marathon in December.

So here goes Baby Steps toward a positive, healthy mindset. A mindset that doesn't freeze or over-analyze when other runners are around. A mindset that celebrates every inch of pavement crossed, every every drop of sweat that falls, and every major or minor finish line crossed.

A mindset that focuses on the beauty and strength of what God created a body to do.

intentional eating

This morning I had the privilege of partaking in my favorite sammy. Look at it. It's gorgeous. And it tastes fantastic. Sandwiches are quickly becoming like cereal, appropriate for any time of day. So since I had cereal for dinner last night, I thought, why not!?

I always feel motivated to eat healthy when I pack healthy snacks for the office. Today's survival includes an apple, my breakfast sammy, the last Lean Cuisine (cheese pizza -- darn!) in my freezer, and I filled up my Nalgene bottle with cold, crisp water -- and I forgot it. Every time I pack my water bottle I forget it.  Why can't I be like dear Andrea Cherie and carry my water bottle religiously?

The reason I need some good fuel today is because my body is in recovery mode. Last night, I signed up for yoga, thinking it would be a refreshing change of pace from my resistance training and running I've been doing.

Wrong. 

For one, this isn't your garden-variety yoga. It's sports yoga. And to top it all off, I signed up for the Intermediate/Advanced class. It was an accident! So last night, I'm doing this pose:

I'm feeling pretty proud because my instructor can't believe I'm doing this on my first try and I'm holding it longer than others in my class. But with pride comes a fall. Something in my neck tweaked just right and I fell. Luckily it was at the end of the class, so I was able to finish and then give it some good stretchies.

Since this was only my second class, I came into it worried that I wouldn't remember to say, "Namaste," at the end like last time. I didn't know! This time, I started to say it three different times before she said it, which was awkward but, I guess, funny in retrospect.

This morning my neck is stiff and sore. I had a nice run planned for this evening, barring any repeat performance of the cloud theatrics Oklahoma is famous for.  We shall see how I feel later!

My goal for today is to eat smartly. My favorite healthy snacks are string cheese, fresh fruit, peanut butter, carrot sticks with hummus, vanilla nonfat yogurt with a little dark chocolate, granola, and Pop Chips. (I am officially on nut burnout.)

Now I just need to learn to be intentional about making these snacks the majority of my snack repertoire. The staples. The shining gems I reach for over chocolate chip cookies. Does anyone have any good healthy food recommendations?

the best laid schemes...

Last night I laid out my plan of attack for the GRE. Everyone I've talked to has emphasized studying hard and a lot, particularly geometry and vocabulary.

How I wish I'd taken this test fresh out of college; I had a geometry class my last semester.

My plan for now is to be consistent for eight weeks and then take it. I'll see how week 1 goes before I sign up for the exam.

Have any of you taken this beast? What advice would you give?

living intentionally

 At my brother's college graduation this weekend.

It's me. You know, your horrible blogger friend? Hope you missed me because I'm about to make up for all the reading you've been lacking and then some.

First, let me give you a little update. We are all moved in, but still unpacking with huge mounds of laundry on our kitchen floor, the only downside to using t-shirts and clothing to pack breakable boxes (or every box if you're us). I am longing for the day when every surface is clean, every item in its place, and I have nothing to do but sit out on our new porch swing and read a book. When that day happens, you will know by my loud sobs of joy.

But I really do love our new home. SO much storage space is nice, it's nice and green right now with lots of natural light. Maybe it's the rainy weather Oklahoma's been blessed with, but I sleep really well in this house. I can really see us living in this house for the rest of our lives.

One thing that's back in action is my refrigerator. Last night, I went to the store and stocked it up with all of our favorite things. I had a very disappointing predicament because I went to my number one choice for a replacement grocery store (Have I mentioned how much I miss my Lynn Lane Reasors?) and just as I was grabbing the last five things on my list, I saw the familiar face of Bathroom Man, the man who offices across the floor from us but still (loudly) uses the bathroom right outside of our offices, often using his cell phone as he takes care of his business. But this is a story for another time!


I have had a lot on my mind, bloggies.  That's why I am blogging from Monique at midnight, because I know this is more productive for me right now than sleep.

This post is about discipline, only I hate to use the word discipline because then I feel like I'm in trouble. So we will use the word training. And I have a lot of training in my near future.

Training a puppy. Sampson comes home a week from today. I'm excited and in love, but pretty much everyone I share the happy news with has a puppy horror story to share. Chewed power cords. Ruined meals. Bitten children. Sleepless nights.

"It's like having a baby," everyone tells me. Only, do women have a special bond with puppies like they do with their babies?

Training for a race. I signed up for The Route 66 Half Marathon in November and their quarter marathon in August. Let's just say I've been bitten by the bug. After reading so many inspirational stories, I've decided to stop flirting with my running shoes and start dating them. Not exclusively dating, but let's just say we'll be seeing a lot of each other.

My dad and I have been running several times a week -- just about 3-4 miles a pop, but it's nowhere easy. I don't think he will be joining me for, you know, 4 times that amount six months from now. But I'm glad I have a tangible date to shoot for, and I think I will do a lot of other experiments with my body in the meantime.

I've learned both from trial and error and the healthy blogs I've been reading (see my new tab blog love to check them out) that what you put in your body largely affects how it behaves. For example, I've learned that if I drink any type of Coke, my muscles will be much sorer after I work out. And if I eat anything substantially heavy the day I run, my stomach feels like a brick, which makes it much harder to breathe.

This blog will definitely keep you updated on my journey. I'm holding you accountable to keep me accountable, you know! We'll start with more than one post a week and see what happens from there.

Training for the GRE. At the graduations this weekend, I got MAJOR graduation envy. I love school, school supplies, reading, studying, and everything associated with school. I am a regular Hermione Granger, you know, except a little less of a know-it-all, but just a little. Anyway, while we were in Arkansas, I bought a GRE book at Borders. There's a Communications/PR program at a little school in the Tulsa area that has caught my interest, but my first step is to tackle the GRE and we will see that happens from there.

I am almost four years out of college, so if I don't study for and take it now, especially before kids come into my life, then I doubt I ever will. Part of me wonders if I just want to see if I still have it, you know? But I am willing to invest in this intellectual part of my life. The test lasts for several years, I've heard, so if a door opens in the distant future, I want to be equipped to go through with it!

You may be asking yourself, why the heck is LB even going through with all of these things at once? I will tell you how it makes sense to me. For one, when I want to be, I am the supreme color coder and chart-maker and task master. Unfortunately, this talent doesn't manifest itself into my domestic life, but it can.

And as for why, I am entering into a stage in my life where I'm becoming restless. With my personality, I can be content in pretty much any situation, including the current circumstances that make up my life. But I am tired of playing it safe. I am tired of spending my energy on the wrong things and not taking chances.

So welcome to my six-month experiment of living intentionally!