Feet Move Forward

I feel like I fell off the face of the earth this week. It's been so busy and the days have felt incredibly long. I didn't even have plans plans every night, just a lot of stuff to do, if that makes any sense. But I accomplished things!
Like running an interval workout by myself!

And surviving a trip through IKEA.


And finding links for you!
Hello my old heart. 

Turns out the "Angel Priest" isn't an angel at all.

Stunning outdoor kitchens.

My friend Jilian sent me this pin on Pinterest. (Thanks, lady.)
Kids' playhouse turned poolside hangout.
Hey girl. Now you can change every picture on a website to Ryan Gosling.You're welcome.
The end of the underwire? Yes! (But the scrunchie is coming back?!)
Have a great weekend!

This past weekend I went down to southern MN for Emily's bachelorette weekend. Here are the internet appropriate pictures.

Saturday morning started with a really great run through hilly St. Peter...


... followed by a little morning yoga with fellow bridesmaid Sarah.



After getting pretty, we split up between two boats for a little booze cruise. Don't worry, we had sober drivers and enough life jackets in case this turned into a swim.



Then it was time to small-town bar hop on a party bus!



And we stopped at a lot of small town bars that had names like this...


... and decor like this. 

A few things to note, since this was my first official bachelorette party (I KNOW!): A fair number of bachelorette games take a significant amount of alcohol to play. I wasn't drinking much, so I was red-faced the entire time. The type of people in a small town bar on a Saturday afternoon are either A) over 70 or B) under 12. Though "Drink out of a straw shaped like a p#ni$" was neve…

TGIF! Big plans this weekend?

My best friend from high school is getting married in October and we're having her bachelorette party this weekend. I've already roped a few girls into joining me for a Saturday morning run/ yoga session before the festivities begin.  I'm looking forward to relaxing and spending some time with some amazing women I see far too infrequently.
LINKS!

For real, this happens to me all the time.

I love stories like this! 'Angel' priest visits Missouri accident scene

An artist repaints signs for the homeless, then shares their stories on this blog. 


Fascinating! "Nail houses" in China are homes that people refuse to give up for construction. So contractors just build around them.

Have a great weekend!

I met with a dietician yesterday morning at Life Time for my nutrition consultation. The good news: I'm doing a lot of things right.

I've been eating a pretty whole-foods based diet for a while now but am not super strict with it, especially when I go out to eat or am over at a friend's, which is relatively often. I break the rules for Sour Patch Kids in movie theaters, froyo after a particularly stressful day, and chocolate just because I want it. And I get Cravings with a capital C. 

The better news: She told me to eat more fat. Yep, FAT. She said that adding fat to my diet will boost my body's ability to burn fat and also really help with cravings. (The Gospel of Fat is something Dietician Cassie has been preaching for a while now!)
I haven't been eating much dairy or grains of any kind, especially when I was trying to cut out processed foods. We talked about a lot about good carbs, some of which I'm already eating, and about what changes I could make,…

I've just spent a ridiculous amount of time pouring over my training journals from the past few years. Back when I was running a 5k a good 30 seconds per mile faster than what I just ran. Back when I was comfortably running under eight minute miles. Back when I felt like a real runner.

I know fitness takes time to come back. But here we are in August, nearly two years from when I was shoved from the running wagon (and my subsequent PE). And I'm looking back thinking what the heck have I been doing? and feeling like I should be farther along.
It's hard to keep going when results are slow and even harder to see, when all you have to go on is a feeling, and dreams of what could be. So rather than looking at paces or miles, I'm looking at progress: Runs are getting easier. I'm uninjured. I'm happy to be running.

It's all reason enough to keep moving forward.

I may have forgotten to mention that I ran a 5k yesterday. My original 2013 race plans had me heading to my hometown for a 5k this weekend, but instead I went up to White Bear Lake to raise money for children's cancer research.
Brady and I got up there early to register, and it was a good thing we did! There were tons of people wanting to register, and only a few people there to check us in. It was cold, too, and I found myself shivering while we waited in line, wishing I had brought a sweatshirt! Doesn't MN know it's August?
My goal for the race was to run hard and try to maintain an even effort. Story of my life, right?
The race starts at Lifetime Fitness and runs around Birch Lake, staying mostly on the sidewalks. Brady and I ran a warm up to get a preview of the course which was really scenic and relatively flat.
When it was time for the 5k to line up, we tried to position ourselves at the front so we wouldn't get stuck behind a bunch of people, even though the r…

This week has been one of those weeks.

And tonight is one of those nights.

I promise that I'll (probably) be back next week with actual links.