Embracing My Impatience

If you know me in real life, there’s a good chance you’ve experienced my impatience. I’m not so much impatient in the “I can’t wait in line for 5 minutes way.” It’s more of when I get an idea in my head, I don’t stop until it’s finished. I need it NOW.

If you follow me on Twitter you might have seen me tweeting about buying a MacBook Pro that day. A few people sensed there would be an update the following Tuesday (today) and urged me to wait. Against my will, I held out for the two days. I had been thinking about upgrading to a Mac for a while, but it was just Sunday I made the decision to go for it. Again, once I make my mind up, I need it now.

Today was the day I would finally get my shiny new Mac. Long story short, everything in the world went wrong and I spent four hours running around town to three Apple store, 1 bank and my house to make this laptop happen. All the work I did might seem senseless to some when I could have just picked it up in the morning in one simple trip, but my impatience thought otherwise.

Normally I’d feel guilty about being impatient and working so hard to get what I want when I want it. But I’ve been thinking differently since receiving an email from Heather a while back. (She posted the email here.)

She said: I didn’t actually make RESOLUTIONS – instead I swore I would embrace the qualities that make me who I am, instead of constantly trying to change parts of myself that although weren’t always ideal, weren’t really that bad, either.

She inspired me to embrace who I am rather than always try to change it. Yes, I can be impatient, but sometimes that is needed to get the job done. My being impatient gets projects rolling now and keeps me ahead of the game. Plus, being passionate about something (even if it’s just a laptop), makes me feel good. Thanks for the reminder, Heather :)

My shiny new Mac is now home and I’m looooooving it. I’ve always been anti-Mac, but I think I’m severely in love. This baby will make my freelance marketing work and blogging soooo much easier! Today was a long day at lululemon. I woke up early and began the day with a green kombucha and an English muffin with homemade AB and jam.

…and a banana… and a huge salad with hummus and Italian dressing..

I enjoyed a pink lady and an unpictured homemade larabar for afternoon snacks!    I left work later than expected. I used that as my excuse to pick up dinner from Whole Foods! I LOVE their vegan sushi!!! The sauce is a creamy horseradish flavor. Yum!

Post-Mac festivities I went for a short (but fast!) 2 mile run around my neighborhood. Running as late as I did (11:00 p.m.) scares me so I cut the run short. I also took Dixie out with me for the second mile. I’ll blog more about that later!

Just a little bit ago I snacked on a granola bar.

And now it is finally time for bed! Good night!

What “bad” trait within yourself  can you learn to embrace?

Full-Time Bloggin’

Yippee, it’s Friday!

It’s exciting times over here. I’m venturing into ultra marathons and my first half Ironman (this May). I’m also working to maintain a healthy vegan diet as I approach my one year anniversary since I made the change (July 5th). Aaaand I’m really exploring how I make money since I want to be passionate about my career.

Through all of this you guys are a big support. I love sharing everything that’s going on. It’s your support that pushes me through the toughest miles!

So, I’m going to start blogging (almost) every day. I am going to include more of my workouts and my regular meals. To keep in line with this change, healthy ashley is getting a big makeover! The whole blog is getting completely revamped with the help of Ryan!

 

What do you like most about healthy ashley? What should I change/add as I move forward with a revamped blog?

To answer some questions:

On most races I bring my Canon SD750. It is small enough to fit in my hand or even in the pockets of my lululemon gear. It has recorded all of my videos, too!

To edit the video I used Picasa. I use Picasa for all my video/picture editing. It is really simple to edit videos with the program if you’re just putting together clips, but I feel limited when trying to do anything else (such as add music). If you know of any other PC programs, please share in the comments!

Back to Normal and Some News

Wow! The first Monday back to work after such a long, busy break was crazy! I’m glad I was able to fit in yoga with Ryan tonight to help me refocus and breathe after such a crazy day. I <3 yoga!

I’m still trying to get back into my normal healthy eating routine after an over-indulgent holiday season. Apparently I’m also trying to get back to regular food blogging since I only have three food photos! I did eat dinner and dessert- I swear! :)

Breakfast was naner-flax-oats. Lunch was an apple, hummus, cucumbers, and carrots.

The main star to lunch was Snobby Joes with a sweet potato. You must try this combo!!!  

___________________________

I’ve got some news to share..

The Bad: I am not recommitting to Team in Training for the Disney Princess Half.

The Good: We’ve still raised $836.00 that’s going to the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!

How It Works

Joining Team in Training takes only $50 to sign-up initially. After I paid the $50 I was included as a part of the team and began fundraising. After a few months of fundraising comes recommitment time where I have to sign my name with a credit card as a promise to pay the difference I don’t raise from my $2,100.

After much long consideration I have decided to not recommit. The $836.00 my friends, family and wonderful readers have donated will remain in LLS’s possession and still go to the initial cause.

Why?

1. I hate it, but I’ve been completely uninvolved with my team. The group runs always conflicted with my marathon training so other than a few meetings I was absent :(

2. I know I could raise all the money, but it would take a lot. Right now there’s another cause I’m committed to that could use that time (more about that later!). And I could use a little less stress.

3. Honestly, the race weekend would make us broke! David would stay with me in the hotel and attend race events with me and we’d have to pay big money for that. TnT covers things for their participants, but not the guests. We don’t have the $300 for David to join me and I’m not interested in doing it alone!

To everyone who supported me, thank you! Together we still supported LLS’s mission and helped to find that cure for cancer and better the future. Even though I won’t be running in the race, $836.00 is an impressive amount to raise for a charity. Thank you! I hope I didn’t let you down!

Have you ever completed a race with Team in Training? Do you think you will in the future?

Also the race with Team in Training didn’t work out this year, I would love to try it again in the future!

Cookies, Twilight and a BIG PR

What a weekend! This weekend has been all about my two favorite things: food and fitness. Oh yeah, I had great company, too ;)

In the name of shameless Sunday, I’m going to go ahead and admit all photos (except for the crappy ones- those are MINE!) were stolen from Ryan. It sure is nice to have a photographer friend nearby! Thanks, Ryan!

Katy and Ryan came over last night to test out Lindsey’s top secret vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe and watch Twilight again. (I was converted into a Twilight addict when I watched it for the first time last weekend. Now, I am obsessed. Consider yourself warned.)

Ryan was the boss lady/photographer while Katy and I goofed off and attempted to follow directions :)

Everything was going really well until we realized we should have greased the cookie sheets. So instead of the delicious batter coming out in actual cookie form, it was more like a second layer to my baking sheets. The result was still tasty… and hilarious.

Check out these videos for a taste :-)

 

 

It’s okay, the cookies are still beautiful :-)    What a fun night! Twilight left my heart beating out of my chest and I was so sad when it finally ended at 2 a.m. and I had to send the girls home….

 

….only to wake up at 5 a.m. to head to the Founder’s Day 10K in Celebration, Fl with Caitlin and Kelly! Caitlin was sweet enough to give me an abandoned race packet so I was able to run for free!

I started the very early morning with my standard pre-race breakfast: naner oats with PB!

Dixie had a late night, too, so she hung out on the big chair while I got ready. Look at the sleepy puppy!

My first 10k was last November. It was the first time I had gone such a long distance and I actually had to use my inhaler multiple times! For that race I finished in 1:13:18. I told Ryan and Katy (our cheerleaders/photographers) to expect me plenty after the one hour mark today.

Don’t worry- I represented some Twilight love.

As I started running I thought about my plan of attack and my recent accomplishments. Just a few weeks ago I ran a hard 12 miles without any stops and two days ago I completed a solid 20 mile run… it was those accomplishments that led me to decide that this was a race and I was going to push hard to finish it fast!

I picked one person to stick with but I ended up passing her and finding someone else :) I pushed hard, ran faster than normal and earned a new pr with a finishing time of 58:39. That’s about 15 minutes faster than last year… that’s something I can be proud of!Congrats to Caitlin and Kelly for blowing me out of the water and to Ryan and Katy for waking up so early to show their support.  It was a fantastic morning. I’m so lucky to have friends like these girls! :)

Have you ever had an unexpected PR (personal record)?

Sunday Night Already?

I’ve missed you! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I blogged. It’s a combination of getting home so late and having a broken laptop!

It’s been a fun weekend! Friday I went swing dancing and am officially addicted. Saturday Dixie and I visited the dog park and watched HLS with Ryan. Today Ryan and I enjoyed lunch at Whole Foods and then ventured to IKEA for some necessities (after my 32 mile bike ride)! Whew!

Instead of showing all my eats, here are my favorites from the last few days…

Mexican spring rolls (refried beans, salsa, carrots and spinach in rice paper) with carrots and a peach…

A chocolatey soy chocolate shake :)

Lots of oats! For dinner, too!

Quinoa with asparagus, corn and sundried tomatoes with Ryan!

Champagne grapes, a pink lady apple and some of Ryan’s yummy homemade almond butter!

I am so low on groceries so I attempted to make a Flat Out pizza with the ingredients I had! First I spread sautéed sundried tomatoes, onion, garlic and olive oil onto a Flat Out wrap.

Then I layered with fresh spinach….

…sprinkled tons of nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar…

 

..and baked at 375 for about 15 minutes! It tasted like a yummy and fun flatbread!

Healthy ice cream! 1.5 frozen bananas, some soy milk and cocoa all whipped in the food processor. Heavenly!

Speaking of heavenly… today’s lunch at Whole Foods with Ryan! I haven’t eaten at WF since I went vegan. I was surprised how easy it was and still 100% tasty choosing dishes made without animal products. I didn’t miss them at all!

Of course I got a vegan chocolate chip cookie to enjoy while exploring IKEA (I did enjoy the whole cookie)!

Ryan and I had tons of fun in the monstrous everything store that is IKEA. I’ll be posting my goods soon :)

Whew, what a weekend! Tonight I’m playing catch up to get ready for a great week.

How was your weekend? What was your favorite meal?!