Using hand dryer as hair dryer: faux pas?

I actually wrote this two, almost three now:/, weeks ago, but never proofread and posted, and then got sidetracked. Happy reading, spandex flaunting, and inappropriate rest room using my fellow runners!

I remember the days (they weren't all too long ago) when my curly hair and I dreaded swimming events and humidity. When I wouldn't have imagined leaving the house in lounging clothes, or without makeup. The days when the only lounge clothes I owned was a pair of sweats I'd bought from a school basketball fundraiser, two pair of cotton gym shorts, and a pile of marching band tshirts.

I knew people in those days who tromped around in their scruffy lounge clothes, and I envied them. I envied even more the people with the trendy lounge clothes; cute jogging pants and hoodies, hair in a pony. For me, even after laboring over clothes and crazy frizzy hair and face paint for far too long, I would still feel self conscious out and about. Which is, no doubt, why I not only noticed what others were out in, but envied their confidence in themselves.

And then one August day, there I was. Dressed in cotton shorts, a marching band tshirt, the only pair of sneakers I owned (that really weren't running appropriate and left horrific blisters on my achilles) drenched in my own sweat. I had on no makeup, or if I had at some point that day it had long since melted off and run down. And what was worse - I was standing next to the cutest boy I'd ever met. It was my high school nightmare. It was my 26 year old "content to be a cat lady band teacher but at least I'm going to be a thin and fit one lost my ability to give a hoot" happy reality.

The cute boy stuck around, (and has told me since that he hates make up and doesn't understand why women 'paint their faces'), and so did my happy reality. And I gained confidence. Rare is the day I feel those all too familiar from the past pangs of self consciousness, and the feeling of contentedness in self and life is bliss.

But will I know when I've crossed the line? The line that separates a secure sense of self from total lack of regard for others' opinion of you. The filter that screams "self confidence!" vs "socially unacceptable!"

Because I think I may have. This past Sunday. In a public restroom.

Due to snow, the county band concert I had to attend with students and direct during was rescheduled from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. Refusing to miss my Sunday long run with the Triple Cities group, I set out my winter long run clothes and packed up my dress clothes and toiletries on Saturday night without giving the whole situation a second thought.

I got in 19 with "the group" though really Emily and I ran alone for all but literally a couple of tenths of a mile early on. The temperature never reached double digits, and some of our miles were, we realized, the slowest the two of us have ever run together, but it was another great run in the bank, and I enjoyed every step.

After the run, I ate my breakfast and then made a break for the public restroom where I proceeded to change into my concert outfit in a stall, and then wash my face and hair in the sink, mousse my hair, dry my hair under the hand dryer (I had my blow dryer but there were no outlets), spray and pin my hair, and lightly paint my face. In the swinging door sweaty, salty and just minutes post frost beard, back out the swinging door in less than 10 minutes ready to direct a band and greet parents and students.

Oh the looks those 10 minutes held.

Now, Wegman's is the upper echelon of grocers in the area, but I didn't get the sense the clientele giving me looks was being snobby. Just genuinely aghast at the woman with her head stuck under the hand dryer.

Fleeting pang of that old insecurity and self doubt. Fleeting, but enough to get me thinking about how many borderline socially inappropriate things I do in my runner life.

I wear spandex everywhere in the winter. On my run and then into the grocery store, the post office, through the halls of my high school (where little to none of my running wardrobe meets the dress code).

I think nothing of spitting or snot rockets regardless of who I'm running with or who I'm running by.

I've given up makeup but for the lightest bit, and it seems unfathomable to me that I was ever self conscious about my hair, with whose out of control-ness I've fallen in love. The way I figure it, you really can't mess up what's going on up there unless you try too hard.

The thing is, I remember how exhausting those self conscious, hair straightening, makeup applying, fashion fussing days were. And how unhappy they often were. And so, while running may have led me to using that hand dryer as a hair dryer, it also led me to yet another wonderfully fulfilling and happy Sunday, and I'll take those at the cost of a few funny looks any day.

Fuel

Enough about me. About how many miles run (though for the record it was 61.7 last week - my first 60+ mile week since March 2011...and it felt WONDERFUL), about how many yards swam (*gulp - zero), about how many minutes biked (*cough zilch cough*). This week's post (which I realize is five days late as per the New Year's Res) is dedicated to what I've been relying on (and enjoying in the process) to fuel the miles. And soon, I assure you, to fuel swim yardage, and cycling minutes in a serious way as well.

Granola

3 C oats

1 C almonds

1/2 C maple syrup

1/4 C coconut oil

1/4 C honey

1/2 C sunflower seeds

....because that's what I had in my cupboard.

* makes 20 servings of 1/4 C each at 120 cal

I toasted it for close to an hour at 200, stirring it every 10 - 15 minutes. It is delicious. The coconut oil gives it wonderful flavor. I'd eat it plain with milk six times a day, but granola, while nutritious, is calorie packed. So I've been using it as a garnish atop my yogurt and blueberries (I picked and froze about a million blueberries this summer...or at least I hope as many as I need to get us through until next July:). I may occasionally (while cooking dinner, or just before bed) pop dry handfuls of it in my mouth because it's so tasty. Possibly.

Cookies I made up! And they taste good!

1/4 C butter

1/4 C coconut oil

2/3 C brown sugar

1 egg

1 C wheat flour

1/4 C cocoa

baking soda (sprinkle)

vanilla (quick pour)...in my opinion, why dirty the cute the tsp/Tbsp measurer thingy?...

1 C slivered almonds (because I found them in the back of my cupboard when I cleaned it out)

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips (...in the same cleaning I found a half used bag).

*recipe makes 30 cookies @ 90 calories each

Bake on 375 for 8 minutes. They are tasty and wonderful. Don't get me wrong, they're still atrocious for you...they're cookies;) But I feel a little better about them, and even if there's nothing astoundingly more nutritionally sound about them, I made them up and we (yes, even Mike, who is a tough guy to please in cookie world when you're not his mother:), enjoy them.

Quiche

8 eggs

1 C skim milk

4 oz shredded cheese - whatever kind is in the fridge

vegetables - again, whatever is on hand. This week it was broccoli that needed to be used.

jiffy pie crust.

* makes 4 servings at 300 cal each

I make mine in 4 mini souffle dishes. Line each w/ pie crust, sprinkle 1 oz of cheese and the pre-cooked vegetable to the bottom and cover with 1/4 of the milk/egg mixture. Baked for 35 - 40 min at 400, the two of us have dinner that night, and lunch the next day. I completely realize that my take on "quiche" is incredibly generic, but what a fun word to call "eggs and other stuff in a cute little crust" that provides good protein punch.

Those have been my favorite three things recently, though there's been a lot of kitchen creation going on here in Camptown. Winter always gives me the cooking and baking bug, but unfortunately this fall gifted me five pounds I'd like to shed. *sigh. What a terrible, horrible, unthinkable realization it is to come to that it is possible to run 50, 55, 60 mile weeks for weeks on end and still need to watch calories. I only started running five years ago as a means to lose weight, and as strongly as the running stuck to me, the weight shed off. That said, this isn't the first time I've had the scale wake up call and it will unfortunately not be the last. And so I've been calorie watching, and actually remember how much healthier it makes me to keep myself accountable to portion sizes and nutritional information.

Okay, this post still ended up being all about me. Sorry. But we're 30 from the Martha's Vineyard 20 miler (my FAVORITE event of the year, and our two year wedding anniversary) and I'm up 3 lbs (the calorie awareness has shed 2 of autumn's nasty little buggers so far) from wedding day weight. I'm thinking that with a little food conscientiousness, and a few more good weeks of running mileage, I can hopefully do my joints the favor of a little less weight baring down with every step by then. And I intend to enjoy every step and bite along the way!

The enormous pain in my butt.

Last week was long and tough. School was crazy, jumping back into the pool left my arms sore, jumping into a 10K was a cruel reminder that fitness doesn't just reappear overnight and that I've got a lot of work to do, and no matter how much I run, bike, swim, and watch what I eat, the scale just won't let go of the Christmas cookie and fudge grudge its holding. The week's biggest bummer, however, was the pain in my butt. It's a Trek speed concept 7.0 that is sitting on a trainer in my living room. More specifically, it's the saddle that sits on the bike.

My life cup is really 99.99999% full, so I'll focus on the good before going into negative nancy mode.

Last week was the mothership of running company. I ran with a crew after school Thursday and again this afternoon, and Saturday's January freeze 10K in all its balmy mid 40's wonder brought people out of the woodwork, giving me lots of familiar faces throughout the race. The sixteen of us (yes, 16!) tromping out of the Wegman's parking lot at 7:30am yesterday on our way to get anywhere from 10 - 20 miles in was the icing on the cake. I got 16 in, a miracle feat that would not have been possible without the fabulous Emily PT and Chuck H! Sixteen people, (seventeen, actually, once we picked up Stephen M around 1.5 miles), who love to run so much that they'll get out of their warm beds on a Sunday morning to don the running tights, hats, and gloves, and run mile after mile after mile into the January elements. I've said it before, and I was reminded again this weekend - gee I love runners!

I got back into a swimming routine last week too, and though it left me sore, I feel like it was a good start. 5000 yds over three sessions. I'm still completely rotten at swimming, but I felt really good about what I did, and I feel like, with hard work, I have a lot of potential to get stronger and faster. Here's hoping anyway.

Our dishwasher had a moment, throwing a wrench into my "keep a cleaner house" plan, as the kitchen (where we enter the house) was a bit chaotic, but we have been eating healthy, nutrient rich meals. I think I'm slowly becoming a part time vegetarian too, but that's another post. In other food news, thanks to Ashley M (blogger, runner, and new mom) blogging about coconut oil, I picked some up and it has revolutionized my homemade granola! So while the scale may insist on being a wench, at least I feel like there are lots of vitamins and nutrients mingling with the holiday gorging fat cells in there.

Now the butt pain. The P.I.T.A. if you will. The plan was M W F 5:30 - 6:30am on the trainer. With Spinervals Louisville KY is all ramped up in the xbox ready to inspire me, Monday I rode. Yep. I rode Monday. That's it. Just Monday. Because that one hour left the innards of my sit bones tore up from the floor up. It wasn't just "a little uncomfortable" to get back on the saddle on Wednesday, it was unbearable! And I fancy myself quite pain tolerant. So, a trip to the bike shop is definitely in order, but if anyone reading has any advice, please do share! I switched out the original bike saddle (which nearly rendered me maimed for life in the nether regions) for an adamo which served me well all fall (training rides, tour de shunk, Syracuse 70.3). Maybe it was not getting out of the saddle at all that morning? Maybe it was because I haven't ridden in forever and I just need to build saddle stamina? Maybe I sit on the bike wrong? All I do know is that we're not going to make it through an ironman together unless we mend ways soon.

I'm giving it another shot and hoping the biking goes better this week. I'd also like to get my weekly running mileage up to the 55 - 60 range - a much more attainable goal. I mean, after all, running is like riding a bike to me...oh, wait...

Hope you all enjoy a pita free week!

The 7 month count down

...or 200 days if you will. Yes, just 4,800 measly little hours (give or take) separate me from the starting line of Lake Placid. 28 weeks. And a whole lot of running, swimming, and biking.

For New Year's I resolved to keep a cleaner house, eat less meat and more local, blog every Monday, and do my best to dig real deep and find my inner A type in an effort to be more organized and get more done. 40 hours later, our house is clean(ish), I'm blogging on a Monday!(late night and will probably post Tuesday morning), and I ate local pig for dinner last night. Summoning my inner A type personality however: like squeezing water from a rock. I had cleaned my band room one day over break, and thought that with a clean desk and newly organized room all things were possible. By lunch time, piles that only I understand (but that in my defense I can always find anything in) a bazillion tiny to do post it notes lining my computer screen, and the dust of chicken feed (that's a long story, but suffice it to say that I do not own chickens) on my right pant leg. Ah well.

In the hopes I'll stick to my Monday blogging resolution, this should be the last entry until July that I have to summarize numerous weeks in one post. It's been a fun filled and (phew, I am still a runner!) running filled five weeks.

With the month of December came the resurrection of a little more serious mileage, and it felt great. Tough at first, but great. Knowing I had to start training in all three disciplines come January, I focused on getting back to my usual runner self in December. 50 and change mile weeks, 204 for the month and I feel back on track. The best part of the running month was undoubtedly the Sunday morning long run company. I've missed those group long runs so much, and had forgotten how much easier and more enjoyable long runs are with friends. Two 15's and a New Year's day 14 with great company. And while I well know the bridge from 15 miles to 20+ is vast, those longer runs felt so good I feel excited to train hard again and ready to tell Boston 2012 to bring it.

December was a relaxing month, and quite possibly the most I've ever enjoyed Christmas. I baked, I canned jam, I ran alone, I ran with friends, I read, I spent time with family, and between winter band concerts, holiday parties, and holiday shopping, I found time to relax.

All in preparation for what 2012 was going to bring, and seeing as I'm tired on Monday, January 2nd, it could be a long, long, road to July.

The plan is simple for January. Just get back into it all. I was on the indoor trainer for an hour this morning, and plan to do just that every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and for another 2 hours on Saturday or Sunday. If I gain nothing more than saddle stamina this month I'll feel as though it was successful. Swimming will happen the only time it can here in kudda janta khan - come hell or high water I will be in the Elk Lake pool each of the three days a week it is open this month. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, you'll know where to find me. So scared am I of the swim and not being prepared that if I miss one of those three nights I'm vowing to make it up at Owego or Vestal on the weekend. And then run.

And run.

And run some more.

Ironman training plans always call for minimal (in my opinion) running. We'll see how long it takes for me to change my tune, but I don't want to have to sacrifice running mileage to train for this ironman. I'm sure I'm the one who's wrong, and I'd be best served to run less and bike and swim more, but running makes me happiest. And if you're unhappy, what's the point? With that - Happy 2012 everyone!