Three Things Thursday ...

Team Rev3 - Later today, I will be picking up my Rev3 Roomie extraordinaire, Anne, from the airport and we will be headed to the Rev3 Team Summit.

Anne and me at last year's summit. God, I loved my hair then ...

Three days of teammates, sponsors, triathlon love and all around crazy antics. Kidding aside, it's the one time each year that the majority of our team will be together. Last year was simply amazing and I expect nothing less this go-round. Plus, I'll be sharing a house with like 14 women with access to lots of wine. If nothing else, it promises to be memorable.

In other exciting Summit news, since we will be at Rev3 Headquarters in Manassas, I will finally get to pick up my new bike - a Quintana Roo CD0.1

Isn't she pretty? Yeah, I know she is.

Allergy update - Immediately after finding out I am allergic to 14 different food, most of which I eat every day, I cut every last trace of those allergens out of my diet. Now seven days later, I am happy to report my rash and itchiness has gone away COMPLETELY. Well, except that time I got peanut butter on my hands while making the girls lunch and broke out in a rash an hour later. But that was just one time, and I don't really count that.

Anyway, I have to call the doctor on Monday and let him know how things are going. When we last spoke, he told me that if my symptoms went away, our course of action would be to have me continue with a modified diet. He thinks I may be able to occasionally tolerate small amounts of some of these allergens, but I don't know that it's a route I want to go. Think about this, if you are allergic to something it causes inflammation in your system. The more you have, the more the inflammation builds up. Inflammation is not good for your body. So why would I knowingly cause inflammation when I can just as easily avoid it? You're right, I probably wouldn't, because that would be stupid.

Planning - I know I am incredibly OCD and what not, but am I the only person who knows what their family's schedule for the 2014-2015 school year is going to look like? I went to four different stores the other day looking for planners that ran from July 2014 - June 2015 (I like my calendar to run based on school year, not calendar year) and I couldn't find a single one. July is only three and a half months away. I mean, I have firm plans for December already, but no where to write them. I find this completely frustrating. And now that I write this, I am 100% sure that I sound like a complete freak ...

allergy testing ...

For about a month now, I have be itchy. Like "wake up in the middle of the night to scratch" itchy. It hasn't been pleasant. After about two weeks, I decided to go see an allergist. I knew I hadn't changed any of my body care products or detergents, so I suspected that this itchy rash was caused my something I was ingesting. (Note: even after the testing, we're still not sure that's the case).

Bright and early this morning, I finally had my appointment. The allergist's office said to be prepared for a four to six hour appointment (it only took three), so that's what I did. Snacks and drinks were packed. Books were brought. My cell phone charger was ready.

Upon arrival, I filled out your standard paper work and was quickly brought back to have my vitals checked. Then, I sat down with the doctor to discuss what's been going on, my medical history and a million other things as we tried to pinpoint whether or not skin testing was needed.

With all his questions answered and a quick physical out of the way, it was decided that an environmental or food allergen was likely contributing to my itchiness. And that's where the fun began.

Moments later, my back was being pricked with 61 different allergens. 15 minutes later, it was clear that I had an allergy to almonds, mustard, sesame seeds and lima beans, as well as a slight reaction to peanuts and soybeans.

Following the first round of tests, my nurse walked in with this tray...

Yeah, that's another 61 vials of allergens. But even better than last time, these ones were to be injected under my skin and then I would be left to bake for another 15 minutes.

Fun times for all!

Rather quickly this time, I could tell I was having reactions to the injections. It took all my power not to scratch. When time was up, there were 11 new allergies to add to my list. And most of them were things I eat EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

So, here's where I stand. For the next 10 days, I am on a strict elimination diet of the following foods.
(ranked on severity of my allergy):

• Almonds
• Mustard
• Sesame Seed
• Lima Beans
• Peanuts
• Soybeans
• Hops (fortunately I hate beer)
• Hazelnut
• Walnut
• Carrots
• Green Beans
• Cottonseed
• Cantaloupe
• Peach

So basically, if it's a tree nut or a legume, my body hates it.

After the 10 days, we hope my itchiness and rash are gone. If so, I will simply modify my diet. Avoiding (but not necessarily eliminating completely) these foods. If it doesn't work, who knows? I'll probably end up at yet another type of doctor. For now, I am at least happy to have more information to work with.

Have you ever had allergy testing done? How did you incorporate the results into your life?

February Rewind ...

Miles Run:  97.43 miles. Kind of wish I had checked on Friday. I would have totally run another 2.6 miles ...

Bike Miles Rode: 126.7 miles. My bike trainer and I are so totally BFFs ...

Swim Meters Completed: 16050 meters or 9.97 miles

Rest Days Taken: 4

 

Highest Run Mileage Week: 2/17-2/23: 28.25 miles

 

Highest Bike Mileage Week: 2/24-2/28: 52.4 miles

 

Highest Swim Volume Week: 2/10-2/16: 4600 meters or 2.86 miles

 

Long Runs Completed (1 hr+ miles): 5

 

Current Book: Right now, I am reading Lemonade Mouth by Hughes. But, I finished a few other books in February. (Note: For those of you who have asked, if it's on this or any of my lists, I would recommend the book. If I don't like the story or the book doesn't grasp my attention, I don't bother finishing it, thus it wouldn't be listed here.) 

• United We Spy by Carter
• Faking 19 by Noel
• Out of Sight, Out of Time by Carter
• Only the Good Spy Young by Carter
• Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Carter
• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Han
• It's Not Summer Without You by Han
• Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Carter
• Awaken by Cabot
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Galbraith
• The 5th Wave by Yancey
• Allegiance by Kluver
• Legacy by Kluver
• Fragments by Wells

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure: Nutella. A buy one, get one coupon and a spoon have been the death of me.

Current Colors: Orange and Pink.

Current Drink: Hot tea with cream and stevia. All day, every day.

Current Song: Be Okay - Oh Honey

 

Current Triumph: I've totally purged my kids rooms of all the excess stuff. With no tears. It was awesome.

 

Current Goal: Be a better me. Each and every day. And crush 2014 goals ...

 

Current Blessing: Health, happiness and love. I've got all three.

 

Current Excitement: Rev3 Team Summit is just 9 days from now! I can't wait to see all my teammates. Oh, and last night, J and I booked a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (sans kids). It's kind of a big deal.

 

Fitness:

• Get back to running 30-40 miles per week. For most of 2012 and 2013, I focused on 70.3 training. The only way for me to improve my cycling and swimming was to spend less time running. Eventually, my strongest discipline became my weakest and honestly, I am kind of over it. This year I won't race longer than an Olympic distance triathlon. Hopefully, this will allow me to balance my training loads and life a little better than in the past. - Getting there. I peaked at 28.25 miles last month.
• Strength train two times per week. In the past, I have dropped strength training as my training volume went up. I'm not letting that happen in 2014. - Crushing it! Haven't missed a day.
• Run 1,400 miles. A huge jump from 2013, but far less than what I used to run. - As of March 1st, 171.09 miles logged.
• Bike 1,400 miles A huge drop from 2013, but if I am going to find time for those run miles something will have to give. - As of March 1st, 239.7 miles logged.
• Swim 140 miles. Pretty much where I finished up in 2013. This will probably be the most challenging mileage to hit. - As of March 1st, 30,850m or 19.17 miles logged.
• Race a 10K with a finish time much faster than your very dated current PR of 53:17. I never managed to register for a 10K in 2012 and I'm not sure where it will fit in this year, but it's on my radar. As it has been since 2009. - I'm registered! That's further than I've ever gotten on this goal.
• Run a negative split marathon. I'm not looking for a PR. Just a well executed race.
• Run a 5K with Dizzle and Doodle. I'm thinking a Rev3 Glow Run for this one.

Personal:

• Only say yes to the projects I REALLY want to work on. An honest no is much better than a halfhearted yes.
• Stick to our budget. We were at about 90% with this last year, but I have a good feeling about 2014. - So far so good.
• Take a picture a day for a year. - 62 days in and going strong. You can see all my #project365 pictures on my Instagram account HERE
• Read 150 books. - As of March 3rd, 32 books read.
• Go the entire year without cutting my hair (unless I start to get a mullet, at which point a trim is required). - Haven't cut it yet!
• Relearn Spanish. Just letting that Rosetta Stone course sit on the shelf isn't helping anyone. - The course is still sitting on the shelf.
• Blog at least two times per week. 2013 left me uninspired and stressed when it came to blogging. I'm hoping a new perspective will change this. - Made this happen thus far!
• Have a date night with J, once a month. Considering that we only manage about two dates per year at this point, I'd be super impressed if we pulled this off half of the time. - Two month down and still on track!
• Continue to balance family life, training and now, work.
• Prioritize and be a good example for the people in your life.
• Help and support J and the kids in reaching their goals. We are a team and that must always be the primary focus of our lives. No one should have to sacrifice so that someone else can reach their goal. If a balance can't be found, it's not worth pursuing.

Random Facts Friday ...

1. I am a total book nerd. Add that to the fact that it takes me about 60 minutes to read 150 pages and I can crush a book in a few hours. Already in 2014, I have finished 29 books. If you're doing the math, that's about a book every two days.

2. This morning I was supposed to do a 13 mile run. I woke up not feeling great and my quick attempt to see how I would hold up was an utter failure. Ultimately, I bailed. At first I was frantically concerned that I wouldn't get my long run in (J's traveling this week), but then I remembered, I'm not racing anything longer than a 10K until October, so I probably don't need to stress about missing a long run now.

3. I've decided that I'm over trying to force my kids to learn things they are not interested in. Pushing the issue makes it harder for everyone. For example, Dilly potty trained herself in one day. I told her we had no more diapers and she never had an accident again. The timing was right for everyone and there were no tears or frustrations.

Recently, this whole "waiting until they're ready" thing has made another appearance at our house. For months, J and I have been trying to teach Doodle how to ride a bike. It's been less than successful and usually, someone walks away upset. But on Saturday afternoon, something changed. Doodle asked to ride her bike. J got it out for her and then he started doing yard work. A few minutes later, he found Doodle zooming around our cul-de-sac on two wheels with no help from us. Proving, yet again, that kids are not going to do anything until they want to do it.

4. On Monday, I am visiting an allergist. For a few weeks, I have had this itchy rash on my arms and legs that comes and goes with no real explanation. And since I haven't changed any of my skin care products or detergent, I figure it's probably something that I am eating that is causing the problem. I'm really eager to get some answers, but I swear if they tell me I am allergic to chocolate or peanut butter, I might have a coronary.

5. I am never going to understand why anyone would willingly choose to forgo whole milk and butter. I love them both endlessly.

6. The more that I train, the more that I realize that I would be perfectly happy if I never raced again. I've come to learn that I don't train to perform well on a single day. I train because I just really love to do it.

7. We purged the girls' rooms of all the toys that they had broken or outgrown this past weekend. I found the activity extremely energizing and would have gotten rid of even more had J not set limits on my cleanse. The crazy thing is that we removed a huge amount of stuff and you can't even tell.

8. I haven't eaten gluten in almost two years. I know that eating it would make me feel horrible, yet every once in a while, I consider what food would be worth feeling that bad for. Almost always, I think it would be a meatball parmesan hoagie. Trust me, I realize that there is a such thing as gluten-free bread (and meatballs), but it's not the same. Not even close.

9. I just wrote my second to last check for preschool. Knowing that I only have one payment to go is an incredibly exciting thing.

head-on collision ...

Being a parent has to be one of the scariest things you can do.

In your life before kids, you only have to worry about yourself. You may care about what happens to the people around you, the people you love. But, it's not the same as when you have children. The worry and concern you will feel for them can be overwhelming, crippling even. Trust me, you can't avoid it, it's instinctual and all-encompassing.

As a naturally anxious person, I always feel like I am on high alert when it comes to my kids. So, when Doodle was flying around our cul-de-sac on her two-wheeler (which I might add she only figured out how to ride on Saturday), I was a broken record of phrases like, "Slow down!" and "Doodle, be careful!"

And she was careful. She navigated her way through the other six kids riding around with her. They were all having a blast running, riding and scootering (not sure that's a word) the afternoon away. But, suddenly, that all changed. I was looking the other way and hear my friend say, "They are going to run into each other." And just when I turned to look at what she was talking about, it happened.

Doodle was riding her bike at close to her top speed and Dilly was running in the opposite direction. Apparently, they both misjudged the situation or neither one of them was paying attention and they collided. Doodle fell of her bike and cut her knee, but Dilly was thrown back from the force. I heard the sound of the hit. I watched her fall back like it was slow motion and I was terrified.

She instantly started crying but didn't get up. When I saw that she was moving her hands and feet, I picked her up out of the street and laid her on our walkway. She just kept telling me that her whole body hurt and that she thought her legs were bleeding. It was heart-wrenching to watch. But, seeing Dilly lying there in tears was nothing compared to seeing the look (and tears) on Doodle's face as she watched this all unfold. She was so scared that she had hurt her sister. It was probably the most heartbreaking thing I had ever seen. (Note: Part of me really hopes Doodle remembers that feeling every time she gets behind the wheel of a car. If so, she'll be the safest driver out there.)

After a few minutes and a quick assessment, I decided to take Dilly to the ER. She was refusing to put pressure on her leg and her thigh was pretty swollen from the impact. On the drive there, a million questions ran through my head. "What if she hadn't been running with her helmet on? Would we have a serious head injury? What if her thigh hadn't taken the brunt of the hit? Could she have internal injuries? If something is broken, will Doodle forgive herself?"

Dilly just before she was discharged ...

After an hour or two, it was clear that Dilly was just fine and that she escaped with just a few cuts and bruises. But, I think I was the one who was really suffering. I just couldn't shake the "what ifs" and thought that even with best intentions, we can't protect them all the time. Things are going to happen. They are going to do things when we aren't around and even if we are, there are no guarantees. We just have to roll with the punches and be there to pick up the pieces.

fED Review ...

Y'all know I'm a girl who loves her food.

Protein. Carbs. Fats.

I don't care what it is as long as it tastes good.

I mean, I might as well have #eatallthethings tattooed on my forehead. That's the kind of love I have for food.


That's me inhaling BBQ roasted turkey breast from fED...

Fortunately for me, I was recently given the opportunity to review a Paleo meal delivery service here in Richmond called fED. And I have to say, I was not disappointed.

As you probably know, Paleo eating consists of eating lean meats, vegetables, fruits and nuts, the way humans did before the onset of overly-processed, artificial foods packaged in boxes; food that needed to be hunted or gathered. This food lifestyle avoids eating all grains, processed sugars, dairy and legumes.

Do I eat Paleo all the time? No.

But would I if I had someone to cook and prep all my meals for me? Sure thing! (A girl can dream ...)

And do you know what? fED offers exactly that - tasty, ready-made paleo meals.

fED was founded by a group of athletes at CrossFit RVA while participating in a Performance Nutrition Challenge. Trying to improve body composition, lose fat, increase athletic performance and better overall wellness, they followed a strict Paleo Diet. Eating well and sticking to the program was made easier by planning out their meals for the week and preparing them ahead of time. As a result they benefited from weight loss, reduced body fat and improved athletic fitness and general lifestyle well being.

They soon made healthy, delicious, ready-made meals available to the Richmond CrossFit community by delivering meals directly to the gym.

All of the meals are cooked and packaged by restaurant chefs in Richmond and delivered fresh, not frozen. fED's goal is to support your healthy eating habits by making these meals available to you through a weekly pre-order service and advocating the education of nutritional wellness.


a weeks worth of lunches from fED ...


Such a great idea, right?

The meals were absolutely delicious and uber healthy. With only a handful of ingredients and nothing artificial, fED offers a fantastic alternative to your standard ready-made lunch or dinner. Each meal will run you around $11.50 and side dishes/soups are on the order of $4-6 each. What I love is that this service is an excellent tool for meal planning. Plus, there are no contracts, so if you are traveling or don't like the menu options, you can skip a week. 

Bacon wrapped chicken breast. Delicious.

So, I know you're wondering how it works. It's really quite simple:

1. Sign up for their weekly newsletter HERE

Menus are posted each Sunday evening for the following week. You'll receive and email each Sunday to let you know the new menu is available. You have until Noon on Wednesday of that week to submit your orders for the following week. Space is limited at each drop location so get your orders in early.

2. Select the items you’d like for the week.

There is a minimum of $55 for all orders. (But, you can combine orders with a friend).

3. Check out and pay for your meals.

All orders are personalized and delivered to your selected drop location on Sunday evening and available for pick up during open hours starting Monday.

So what are you waiting for? You know you're hungry!



Disclaimer: I received a week's worth of meals free of charge from fED. However, the opinions stated here are 100% my own.

Three Things Thursday ...

Date Day - Thanks to the numerous snow days my children have had this winter, the school district decided to revoke the President's Day holiday. At first I was kind of bummed because I like having the kids home and I'm not really a fan of schedule changes (it messes with my OCD).

But, then I realized that J's work did not get the memo and he still had the day off. So, we took advantage of our 6+ kid free hours and went on an all-day date. Our morning started with a swim and a little strength training. Afterwards, we went to a local pottery studio, where we each made glass plates.

Can you guess which one I made?

Then we had the most delicious and guilt inducing burger lunch ever at Burger Bach. It was so indulgent that we didn't eat dinner that evening. It was such a fantastic day. But, I have to admit that it is such a rare occasion that we have a whole day without the kids that I'm sure we could have stared at the wall and had a good time.

Swim Speed - Dizzle had another swim meet on Saturday afternoon. She placed 5th in the 25 back, but was feeling a little bummed that she didn't PR (note: she missed her PR by 0.08 - critical much?)

But, later in the day, she had the 50 back on her schedule. She must have been really ticked about the 25, because she went on to win her heat (finishing 4th overall) and PR'd by just over 14 seconds.

I'm confident that she'll be schooling me in no time.

Leg Power - There was a time in my life that I could bench press 220 pounds and squat 250. I also happened to be 17 and quite a bit heftier than I currently am. After college, I stopped lifting heavy, in favor for 15lb dumbbells for "lean muscle" (not that there is anything wrong with that).

However, in the past six months, I decided heavy lifting is where it's at. I rock a 50lb kettlebell for most of my sets. I load the bar up with weights to deadlift, clean and press. And today, I rocked out my own body weight for 4x5 sets of back squats.

That's 170 pounds lifted 20 times. Yeah, it's not the 250 I used to be able to hoist, but I'm getting there. And I kind of love it.