I'm back!

After a baseball weekend in Bakersfield (check back on my sports blog, I'm sure some weekend stories will pop up there soon), I'm home. Ugh, I'm so pissed too. Someone egged my car while I was gone.... I'm guessing it's due to the UC Santa Barbara Alumni plates I have and how this weekend was Pacific's graduation ceremony. Maybe you shouldn't display rival schools plates on a weekend celebrating your campus??

But I do have this weekend off! And I plan to go home and see the fam for the first time in about a month.

So how about some life updates, eh?

* Last night I finished the longest run of my life! 7.59 miles and today my legs feel GREAT. I was super sore during my workout and I also tried my very first running gel, which was a horrible first experience. My stomach was hurting the entire run and I told myself I wasn't going to do more than two miles. But it FLEW by and I figured that trying the gel around mile 3 would calm down my stomach. It did, but it tasted SOOOO nasty. I had the PowerBar Tangerine caffeine/protein gel and I literally had to choke it down. The consistency reminded me of warm, chunky toothpaste. Bleh. I won't be trying that one again.

* At work we've purchased the newest version of PhotoShop and WOW it's amazing.... it's so so so so so cool and much easier to work with than the version I had, from two generations ago.

* Purchases! I've been a buying machine. Well, not really, I'm staying within my limited budget so as to put about 1/3 of my paycheck into savings each month. But I did buy something cool I've had my eye on for a while. THE APRON!! I couldn't resist. I've never had an apron before and it's so girly and awesome.

And I promise, I'm not naked under it. I had on a tank top and shorts, just finished either running or yoga as this photo was snapped. And I apologize for the crappy iPhone quality photos. haha, but I did buy J.D. a new digi camera for his birthday last weekend, so maybe he'll let me use it for the blog ;) I also really want to buy this Champion running shirt in hot pink. It's also very feminine and cute. I'm going to hold off for a bit.... but I realllllllly want it!!!

* And finally, there is some possible relocation in my life. J.D. is interviewing for a job at Pepperdine in Malibu, California, ON THE BEEEEACH!!! If he gets it, off we go this summer :) I loooove Southern California and have been trying to get back there since graduating. And, I've been responsible and already notified my co-workers that this may be a possibility if it all works out. We'll see though. Otherwise, I'll continue my adventures in Stockton!

(Pepperdine looks a lot like my alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, no??)

* Which also reminds me..... I guess I've now officially turned down a possible life-changing offer. A while ago I applied to do some grad school at the University of Melbourne...... in AUSTRALIA. It would have been a two year program, but would have cost me waaaay more money than I'm willing to spend. Plus, I have my little doggie now :) I really would like to keep traveling and living abroad after two stints in France. But I think I'll need to work up some money first. And then, back to travels :) Sorry for keeping that a secret from y'all for so long!

Fuzzy Woodstock (ha, get it?!) seeing me off before my 7.59 mile run last night!

Enjoy the weekend everyone! xx

Why does this amaze me?!

I know that this shouldn't, since I watch and do most of my yoga off of AT&T's On Demand programing, but I am AMAZED at how technology and workouts can be so seamlessly intertwined nowadays.

For example, today we pulled into our hotel in Bakersfield at about 5:30 p.m. I haven't had a whole lot of time to run lately, and I've been taking it kind of easy since my knees really hurt after that seven-mile run earlier this week. I'd done a tiny bit of yoga and lots of walking just fine, so I felt like today was a good time to get back into my running routine.

Once I checked into my room, I got dressed for a run and went to check out the workout room (since the weather in Bakersfield is mid-80s and super dry... I don't plan on running much outside here). There, I did a 5K on a treadmill in about 27:37 - which is a good mark to be at after less than three weeks of training from zero activity! I'm still pushing for that 22-minute mark goal. Still hoping I'll be able to do the 5K at the beginning of June, but if not, I'll find another one not long after.

Well, post-run, I felt ready to tackle some stretches. And then I remembered lots of people talk about how yoga is good for post-run stretching.

With that tip in mind, I whipped out my iPhone (which has been providing me music and GPS tracking on my runs, and is also helping me keep track of my calories taken in and my calories burned from workouts). I opened the Youtube application and did a search for "post-run yoga.

That's when I found, and followed, this video:

Yeah, it's a bit cheesy, but it worked! And I think I'm going to continue looking up post-run yoga stretches every time I run now. Oh yeah, I was also a good girl and iced the heck out of my knees when I came back up to my room :) Hopefully, this helps them calm down a bit more after running long distances.

Either way, I'm going to give them a break tomorrow when I've got spare time and head down to the gym for a good cycle or elliptical sesh. I'll be tweeting about it!

Why do I find it so fascinating that we have access to ALL of this technology within seconds at our fingertips?? It really is changing the way people work out!

Puppy Update: Four Months

Woodstock has two major milestones in his puppy life this week:

His puppy training classes at PetSmart begin today! And he's starting to lose his razors baby teeth! I wouldn't have actually known about that, except walking around my living room barefoot yesterday, I stepped on one. I thought it was a small rock from outside that either he or we had tracked in, but when I picked it up, I realized it was the smallest tooth I've ever seen! Complete with roots and everything.

Working through the biting, I finally was able to pry open his mouth only to realize he's just got his front teeth and the molar equivalents left (don't know what kind of teeth dogs have, besides canines... har har). So I'm hoping the ridiculous biting will stop being a problem in the near future!!

This probably explains why he's been waking up so early crying in the mornings. We usually could feed him at 6 a.m. and keep him in the kitchen where he'd go back to sleep. Now, he barks and cries and cries and cries at about 6:15 and won't go back to sleep upstairs in the bed. Instead, he runs around like a maniac biting everything he can sink his little teeth into. It kind of hurts.

So the past few days I've been waking up between 5:30 and 6 a.m. to try and either occupy him, or make him sleep. So far, we've gone on several morning walks and I'm able to stretch in the mornings and make breakfast! Yesterday I made my own oatmeal with lemon curd and craisins, today I had an egg and bacon sandwich with pineapple cottage cheese on the side. Yum :)

The stretching part's a big deal because yesterday I partook in Running Tuesday, wansn't that big of a deal. I ran around my neighborhood, past a local park and down the Delta water path for a total of 4.01 miles in 38ish minutes. Like I said before though, I'm still trying to get back on the running kick, so my pace per mile will only get better with time. I'm glad my start time is under a 10 min/mile though, so that's a good place to begin.

I also did yoga for about 25 minutes last night and took Mr. Woodstock for three total walks on the day. All in hopes of him learning to go potty outside... I'd say 20 percent of the time, if I make him, he'll go out there. Otherwise, he's strictly paper trained. And I can't seem to wean him off of it. Hopefully the people at PetSmart will help with our training in the ways of his crying and lack of potty training. Wish me luck :)

Oh and, Happy Cinco de Mayo ;) Enjoy a margarita for me. I'll be too busy with the dog and house stuff tonight to go out and have anything fun.