All Grammys, All the Time!

Workout: 2 miles, 10:38 pace

Is there an apostrophe in Grammys? I feel like there shouldn't be and yet we often put one in titles like these. I made a half-hearted attempt to look it up but came up short. Meh. Grammys it is.

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I was aiming for 10:52 pace for my run but my Garmin was doing its Garmin thing and being crazy. Whoops.

There's not much to say about this run except that it was a run and it was in my neighborhood. Although dare I say I felt a slight spring in my step? It was enough of a spring that I was inspired to venture from the flat stretch of road and up the mountain that is my street.

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It snowed yesterday. I took pictures.

Whee!

This is my coffee cup on my car. My coffee cup has moose and pine trees on it because after spending almost 20 years in Alaska, I'm still a tourist.

There was a raven (crow?) up there, I swear!

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So, the Grammys. Can I still talk about the Grammys two days later? Is it old news now? Guys, the Grammys were so much fun!! I'm usually a cynic asshole, but it was such a good time! I've mentioned before that I'm kind of obsessed with celebrity gossip (I don't want to be their friend or anything, or even meet them; I just want to hear stories of how insane they are), so I'm glad to finally have a t.v. to watch award shows on. Unfortunately, the couple of award shows I've seen this year have kind of blown (except for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler!), and I was expecting to be seriously let down by the Grammys because of the live singing. Well, the performances got off to a rocky start (Taylor Swift?! Poor girl) and I was already moaning about how awful it all was, but suddenly something changed and I was obsessed. I think it was that Miguel character - I, like Kelly Clarkson, had no idea who the hell he was, but he killed that song! I seriously thought he was lip-synching, he sounded so great. And for some reason I can't explain, I loved what the two of them were wearing (Beetle Juice chic?).

Anyway, just to drag this out some more (you don't have anything to do today, right?), Justin Timberlake's new song (Pusher Love Girl, I think it's called?) is my jam. Seriously. Can't get enough of it. I was in the awkward position of being kept up for hours post-Grammys unable to sleep because a song I couldn't even remember was stuck in my head. Seriously. I had no idea what it sounded like (despite having just listened to it on repeat for, like, an hour) but it was stuck in my head. Don't worry, I listened to it for a few more hours (heh) the next day and it's firmly engrained in my mind. Now I'm trying to convince myself not to listen to it again until a non-live version comes out to postpone the inevitable fatigue that comes with listening to a song 6 trillion times. I don't know why I'm so obsessed - there's something so awesome about the first four beats and that first line ("Hey, pretty mama..."). I'm also of the belief that an organ makes any song epic and therefore amazing. I dislike JT as a rule, but I've got to hand it to him this time. Dammit.

So, apart from that dipshit Chris Brown getting way too much screen time, the Grammys were a blast! I've been listening to all the performances non-stop since then. It's a problem. I was sucked into a major YouTube time warp last night and when I came out of it, three hours had passed. Funny how that happens. I think my favorite part of the Grammys is that they actually cut to the people we want to see when certain people are on stage (except, again, Chris Brown). They're too nice at those actor shows! I mean, if Katy Perry is on stage, I obviously want you to cut to Jon Mayer (no cut during Taylor Swift's song, though - bummer). This also applies to any of the losers. Or Prince, all the time.

Apparently some dude crashed Adele's acceptance speech? The things you miss when you're on a time delay...

And with that we conclude Grammys talk.

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In today's (okay, yesterday's) WIATTIMIL, I ate gravelly kale. I was so pissed! Why was there gravel all over my kale?! Kale I had washed thoroughly, by the way. I kept trying to convince myself it wasn't that bad, but after a boulder nearly broke my tooth in half, I was done. Lame. Other than that half-hearted kale attempt, I've been taking iron supplements and drinking a glass of orange juice in the morning. My heart's no longer pounding in my ears at night, which is good, and there was that pleasant spring in my step during this morning's run, but I can't really tell whether I feel more energized or not. I suppose I'll have to give it more time.

Question!

• Who was your favorite at the Grammys? You've answered this question six million times already, haven't you? If you didn't watch, just say Miguel.
• Ever have a song stuck in your head despite having no idea what it sounds like?
• Ever had gravelly kale? What the hell, right?!

In Which an Uneducated Person Attempts to Teach You Something (and Alaska!)

Workout: 4 miles, 10:51 average

You Lower 48-ers (slash foreigners) will appreciate the "Alaskanness" of this morning's run. As I was driving to the dog park, I hilariously saw a musher mushing his/her dogs through a tunnel beneath the road. Okay. Then, post-run I ran (walked) into some ice fishers. Don't ask me why they chose a 40-degree day to go ice fishing. I kind of wanted to swim out there and rescue their dog before he broke through the ice. Poor guy. Then, to top it all off, we ran into a moose before returning to the car. Today, safety came before photos.

First creepy attempt at a photo

Second and reasonably successful attempt

Reenactment

There wasn't anything very interesting about this run. It was a gloomy, gloomy day (in stark contrast to yesterday's awesomeness), I ran where I always run these days,

Yep. I spend a lot of time here.

and it was slow going.

Thanks, phone, for mistakenly thinking I wanted you to focus on the tree reflection - so alternative.

 A clearer display

For anyone who's wondering about my recent obsession with 10:52 and 11:38 miles, let's review, shall we? To your seats, please, and no questions because I don't have any answers.

So, the cult leaders that are the brothers Hanson (no, that moniker never gets old and no, I won't stop using it) argue that most runners train too little during the week, and that the runs they do are too fast and therefore require too much recovery time (to prevent injury). By running easy runs at a truly easy pace, you allow your body to make all the physiological changes that will allow you to safely run the higher mileage required by the Hansons. It will also make sure you're sufficiently trained for a marathon and, of bigger concern to me, surviving phase two of the plan, which adds in speed work as well as significantly upping the mileage.

They also say that running really slowly (slower than anaerobic threshold pace) allegedly improves your body's capacity to burn more fat, which is good because we've got more of it than glycogen (glycogen? I'm no scientist). Or maybe they just put that in there because they knew the fat burning-obsessed laaaaaadies would come running.

As always, I don't know what I'm talking about so don't listen to me. It is entirely possible that slow training runs just lead to slow marathons. Who knows. This is why I've volunteered myself as a guinea pig.

Am I allowed to be teaching you guys this shit? Am I going to go to jail? Preserve my liberty by buying this "renegade" training plan (their words, not mine).

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I'd like to do some sort of weekly training re-cap, but I'm not sure what day to do it. Should I do it Friday, as I used to do, Saturday, when my calendar's week ends, or Sunday, the end of the Hansons' week? Probably Sunday. Okay, Sunday it is. Here's my check in:

Plan started Thursday. Completed 10 miles, all easy.

Hey, that was a breeze! Okay, body check:

• head: still there
• legs: working
• torso: upright. Core work has been a failure. Must get back on it.
• swag: lacking, as always

Now it's your turn!

• Did you do anything really [insert state/country here]-ish today? You know, something that reinforces stereotypes, like ice fishing.
• Should I trust the Hansons with these slow miles? Am I setting myself up for disaster?
• Happy Chinese New Year! I hear you're supposed to clean a bunch the day(s) before - did you do that? I did! So if I have a bad year, I'm doing the logical thing and blaming it on that.

Slow and Pretty

Workout: 3 miles, 11:32 average

Today was SO PRETTY.

This wasn't taken today, but it looked the same.

It's one of those days where you're sort of dumbfounded by just how beautiful this place is. It's roughly 40 degrees today, which would usually bug the hell out of me because winter warm weather is almost always accompanied by 60+ mph winds, but not today! Today we got the warmer temps without the wind and without a huge snow melt. It was awesome.

Bailey and I completed run two of marathon training, which consisted of a grueling 3-mile run at a pace not much faster than a walk. Nailed it. I like that I don't have to feel badly about running much slower than I usually do, because according to the brothers Hanson, I'm doing all sorts of rad physiological things to my body that will ultimately make me a stronger runner. Let's hope they're not playing some sick joke on me. For now, I'm for it! I wasn't for getting passed by 6 trillion other runners, though. Fortunately, this wasn't a totally new experience for me.

I went here. There is more snow now.

I couldn't get enough of this incredible weather, so after we finished running we did a loop around the ol' dog park.

There is more snow than this now. It is also not 20 below anymore.

The warmer weather created a problem I haven't encountered in ages. I ran in a long sleeve shirt without any pockets, so I didn't have anywhere to store my shit! This was a constant annoyance for me in the swamp that is New York, but I almost always carried a handheld water bottle with me so I could fit the basics. Since I didn't need water today, though, I didn't need one. I ended up leaving my phone in the car, which is my way of explaining why these photos aren't new (the horror!).

So what's a gal to do? I know I could buy one of those fanny pack things, but I just don't like them. I used to run with one and it led to some serious stomach discomfort. I could go for a smaller one, blah blah blah, but I don't want to because I'd rather complain about it. I think what I'll end up doing, actually, is buying one of those sleeve things you wear on your arm. They seem like they'd work reasonably well. Of course, the odds of these warm temps sticking around are pretty low, so I shouldn't have to worry about this for another couple of months.

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The infamous HRG posted something about a movie I'd never heard of called "Spirit of the Marathon" and after blacking out for a few minutes, I woke up to find I had rented it from iTunes. Funny how that happens. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I'm pumped. Will report back. Or maybe not. Hell, I'm not a movie critic!

Questions are hard to come up with. Hm...

• East Coasters, tell me about the adorably-named Nemo storm. Seems you finally got some snow? Good for you.
• What do YOU use to store your things while running? The fanny pack thing? Stuff it in your sports bra? I used to stick my old phone in there until it broke, presumably from excessive exposure to sweat.
• Ever watched Spirit of the Marathon? I have a feeling sales for that movie just skyrocketed, because everything HRG touches turns to gold.

Somebody Buy This Gal a Steak!!

Alternate Title: Blame it on the i-i-i-i-i-i-iron

BREAKING NEWS. THIS JUST IN. DROP EVERYTHING. This broad's got low iron levels.

Workout: 3 miles, 10:51 (moving pace)

So it's official: my wonky health is at least in part attributable to low iron. Not very exciting, but it was nice to hear it's not just me doing me. The doctor left me a cryptic message telling me she's going to "send instructions" with the results of my blood tests. I assume these instructions will be something to the effect of "Take more iron." She didn't tell me how deficient I am (in iron, not life skills), but I assume she would have been a bit more energetic if it were anything serious.

Maybe I'll start something similar to that WIAW thing you see everywhere, only I'll call it "WIATTIMIL" (What I Ate Today To Increase My Iron Levels). It will probably consist entirely of iron supplements and kale (kale has iron, right?).

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In other earth-shattering news, I started marathon training today! I was hoping to kick it off with a bang, but instead I kicked it off with a lackluster run around my neighborhood. The word "meh" sums it up pretty well.

It snowed! This constant thawing/snowing cycle needs to stop, please thank you.

I randomly felt sore this morning, peculiar given that I've hardly moved for the past week. I guess my body knew what it was in for. The goal was to keep a 10:52 average, and I'd say I nailed it.

 10:51 total average. Full disclosure: my clock is still on East Coast time. I always forget whether it's three or four hours ahead and start flipping out when I think I'm going to be late to wherever I have to be that day.

Despite the slower-than-usual-pace, I really felt like I was dragging ass. Bailey also seemed to be struggling; like owner like dog? Because of the ass dragging, I limited my route to the very short, flat part of my neighborhood.

Again and again and again. Please don't hunt me down and kill me.

It wasn't the incredible, picturesque, life-changing run I was hoping for, but it works.

Thumbs up for working. And for a possibly receding hairline.

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A couple of administrative notes:

1. Blogger won't let me access the comments on my last post so alas, it seems I'm going to leave y'all hanging. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate them just as much (nay, more!) than any other time you've commented.
2. I've been living a double life (cue dramatic music). I read blogs through my other Google account, which means I occasionally comment as that Jean and not this Jean. I finally got my act together and moved my subscriptions over to this account, so maybe that will stop happening. If you've been wondering why there seems to have been a recent proliferation of Jeans on the interblogs (you haven't), it's probably all me. Sorry.

I'll leave you here. If you need to find me, I'll be stuffing my face with iron supplements. How many is too many? Ten? Twenty? I like to excel in everything I do.

Questions galore!

• What do I eat to get my iron levels up? Kale? I like kale. I hate most other leafy greens.
• Is your place of residence also experiencing this melt-snow-melt-snow thing? The news seems to tell me this is happening everywhere.
• Send me some steak, please?
• WIATTIMIL is an incredible idea, right? Let's trademark it.

R-S-T!

Workout: grgrgrfggg!!! That means nothing in chewbaccan.

Wow, it's been entirely too long since we've talked. Three days?!?! The horror!

It's okay, though; we can make it through this. How about we do it in list form, a la Random Shit Tuesday? In fact, let's just do it. It's been far too long.

• We'll begin with a photo from the blog's renaissance because a picture-less post is a sad post indeed, and I haven't taken an Anchorage-y photo in ages.

Weeeee!

• The past few days can be summed up pretty easily. Sunday: spent curled up in a ball, ruing the existence of alcohol and my liver's newfound inability to process it. Monday: school/work/doctor/homework. I'm so sorry I won't get a chance to walk you through each and every intimate detail of these action-packed days.

• [Insert obligatory Superbowl-Beyonce-blackout musing here]

• So, the visit to the doctor. It happened, and it was like the twilight zone in there. I walk in, check in with the nice receptionist, and at some point during my hour-long wait (yes), the receptionist sticks her head out and says, "Hey, do you remember me? I used to help watch you and your brothers at _______ Gymnastics when you were four!" Huh? I was stumped. People always remember the triplets, but this triplet doesn't remember anything from when she was four. Nonetheless, it was exciting to stumble upon a long-lost acquaintance. I managed to stumble upon yet another forgotten long-lost acquaintance when the doctor lady started telling me we used to hang out with her kids all the time when we were little. Even stranger, I worked with one of those kids at the senator's office I worked at last semester, an office of seven people. What?! Small world.

• Related to the previous point, in the future I will not see someone who appears to know all about me and my family. This woman spent very little time listening to my symptoms and much more time judging me on my life choices and asking me very intrusive questions about my family that had absolutely nothing to do with why I was there. I was not a happy patient. AND I didn't get any blood drawn! Not only that, but she referred me to a place that doesn't accept my insurance! Ahhhh! Overall, doctor fail. The poor track record continues.

• On a non-health topic, my stupidity apparently knows no bounds. I have an electric blanket I love(d) desperately, but the damn thing decided to die on me. My room is always freezing at night and since spare blankets are few and far between in this house, I've been layering up before bed and waking up shivering in the middle of the night (full disclosure: this has only happened a couple of times. But it still sucks!). Clearly one blanket was just not cutting it, but how was I to procure another one? Oh. Seems electric blankets are still blankets, even with broken innards. Duh. I'm happy to report things have since heated up here in Jeano headquarters.

• I filed my tax return yesterday and was a very happy customer. I just never know how it's going to go; will I owe a trillion dollars? Will I receive a trillion dollars? It's kind of like the lottery (I KNOW, it's not really like that at all, but let me have my fun). I'm happy to report that it went well enough for me to justify treating myself to a parking pass to this beautiful place. It's been far too long.

• Noticeably absent thus far? Exercise. Blimey! It hasn't been happening. I couldn't wait another two weeks so decided it's Hanson or bust (and by bust I mean sitting on my ass). The plan starts this week! Thursday, to be exact. Let's take a look at my carefully crafted training plan just to make sure.

Yep. Thursday it is.

• Of course, I don't think the brothers Hanson would necessarily endorse my taking off the entire week leading up to the start of marathon training, but I figured I should take advantage of my wonky health and chill out. I'm planning to extend this "base-building period" by two weeks so the whole thing works out. Hopefully that will help with the terrifyingly sudden 15-mile jump in weekly mileage between weeks 5 and 6.

• As far as feeling tired goes, I seem to be over the hump, but I also haven't done any physical activity in a while. Maybe it was mental? One of life's great mysteries.

So with that, we conclude this week's RST! My apologies to anyone offended by my vulgar potty mouth. I realize it's not everyone's cup o' tea but it's my emotionally-stunted way of sharing my feelings. I guess my vocabulary's not developed enough to express what I mean in any other way. Forgive me my vices and I'll forgive you yours! And I hope you'll appreciate my sincere effort to cut it down some.

Okay, questions, let's go!

• Do you have any thoughts on the Superbowl I haven't heard? Know any funny blackout jokes? Share them! I'm personally a big fan of jokes of the "Destiny's Child's curling irons blew out the power" variety.
• When was the last time you took an entire week off of exercising? Did your muscles atrophy? I did it in December so I know I'll be fine, although I suppose I shouldn't make it a monthly ritual.
• Do you ever spend hours making fancy plans like mine above? Yes, I consider mine fancy and yes, it took me hours.
• Are you starting a new training plan anytime soon?
• Ever use an electric blanket? They truly are the best, aren't they?

A Momentous Occasion!

Workout: short hike, one hour

Thanks for your comments on my weird energy issues. I'm glad getting blood tests, if only to find out there's nothing wrong with me. Thyroid problems run in my family, though, so I'm hoping it's not that. If it is, though, they've got pills for that!

Today I celebrated a momentous occasion: the completion of all of my grad school applications. I decided to just get it all over with and spent a solid six hours on my couch doing just that. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted (from both my to-do list and my wallet). And now I wait for what I hope to be more good news.

Despite feeling less-than-peppy, I figured going for a hike with my dad would wake me up more than sitting around would so that's what I did. It was a beautiful day!

Methinks some snow is falling. 

And now, every single sunset picture ever. Let's call it variations on a theme. Yuh welcome.

Weird sun blob. 

Bailey fleeing the dog whose tail is just visible in the right hand corner.

I can't claim to have felt fantastic, but I definitely felt better as the walk progressed. Let's hope beer is the magical cure to whatever ails me!

Questions for a lazy Saturday:

• Do you call it Beirut or beer pong? On the West Coast, it seems beer pong reigns supreme. On the East Coast, however, it's a mixed bag. I prefer 'ruit.
• How did you spend your Saturday? Did you do anything active and exciting? Tell me!
• I'm drawing a blank. Tell me your favorite drink of choice, alcoholic or otherwise. I'm going gin & tonic or white Russian, but I'll never turn down down a Belgian beer. Chocolate milk also rocks.

Lethargy and a Weighty Issue

Workout: 3 miles, 10:41 average

"A Weighty Issue"-a title I imagine has been used by every blogger at one point or another.

I didn't run yesterday as planned because there's something up with my health. I seemed to feel better this morning so ventured out for a planned 5 miles that turned into 3 as I realized I wasn't quite up to it. More on this below. For now, some pictures of where I ran taken a few weeks ago because frankly, I was just too tired for pictures today.

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So my energy levels are really wonky and I can't figure out why. The last couple of days I've been pretty lethargic, light-headed, shaky, and in kind of a daze. My muscles aren't tired, but if I do something suddenly like run up some stairs, my heart starts to beat much faster than necessary and I feel faint. I've also had a hard time sleeping because for whatever reason, my heart has been beating really loudly (not quickly, just loudly, if that makes sense). Before we continue, I'll say that following the holidays, I made a concerted effort to stop eating anything and everything in sight, as had become my custom, in order to lose some LBs. It was more "only one piece of chocolate tonight" as opposed to severely restricting caloric intake, but it was enough that I should have noticed a difference after a few weeks. It seemed to me, however, that not only was I not losing any weight, but I actually seemed to have gained a bit. That is, until I was suddenly 5 pounds lighter. I don't know the exact timing because I only weigh myself every three or four days, but it seemed to be almost literally overnight. This corresponding with the whole shaky "tired" thing.

I feel like I should insert my "history with my weight" story here because that's what bloggers do, but I really don't have one. I used to be adorably and hilariously chubby until I suddenly wasn't (I guess that's what happens when you grow seven inches over the course of a summer), put on some weight in high school (apparently eating fries and a muffin every day for lunch isn't "clean" eating?), and then became probably the only person ever to go to college and lose 15 pounds (that's what happens when "moving" becomes part of your lifestyle). For the past six years, I've hovered around almost the exact same weight, regardless of whether I'm pounding beer every night or eating well and running a lot. If I were cheesy I'd call it my "happy weight"-you know, my equilibrium, the weight to which my body gravitates naturally. It seems that a three-month all-I-can-eat buffet has caused me to leave this equilibrium, however, leaving me about 5-6 pounds above where I'd like to be. Hence all this nonsense about not eating every See's Candy bordeaux I can get my hands on, which had become kind of a mandate.

There she is! Soccer-playing Jeano! Love this picture (and this girl).

That extremely long and unnecessary history is my way of saying that I don't think my low energy levels are the result of trying to drop a few, although it's possible that the massive amount of salt I consume on the reg was making me bloat-y until suddenly it wasn't, at which point my efforts caught up with me. I don't know. I'm leaning more towards an iron or thyroid issue.

I have an extreme aversion to doctors since their track record with me is rubbish (we can talk about this another time), but I'm going to get some blood tests done to make sure everything's cool inside this aged body of mine. It's actually a great time to do it, regardless of my energy issues, since I'm about to start marathon training and it would feel great to start off with a clean bill of health. I've been on the verge of getting a cold for what feels like months now, so hopefully that's all it is.

Questions, questions, questions:

• Have you ever been anemic? Did you have any of the faintness/fast-beating heart issues I seem to be having? Or was it just an energy level thing?
• Have doctors been pretty successful in treating you in the past? Or have they gotten it wrong every single time like mine have? That's not to say that doctors are useless, of course not, just that I've had extremely bad luck with them.
• Chubby childhood pictures are awesome, right? Funny story: I didn't even realize I was a large child until a good ten years later when I happened to see this picture.