Don't Be That Guy...

Oh man...I've seen every single one of these types of runners out on the road.  I wonder which one I am!  It reminds me of this gem that's been floating around on the interwebs lately:

I love the internet and I love runners.

(And yes...someday soon I WILL do my Ragnar Las Vegas recap.  I didn't die, but I sure tried my darnedest  to!)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

http://www.raccoontoons.com/comics/2011-10-26-apples-are-not-candy

Hmmm...anyone relate out there?

It's Ragnar Vegas, baby!

Oh yeah.  This is totally happening.  I haven't ran since my marathon, but whatever.  I'm sure my knee will LOOOOVE it, and by that I mean it still hurts just going down stairs so this isn't the smartest thing I've ever done.  BUT!  But...there are THREE medals waiting for me at the finish line so even if I have to walk the whole dang thing it will totally be worth it.

I'm coming for you, little medals.  Who knew how much a stupid hunk of medal could motivate a person to totally destroy their body?  These are the things I've learned in the past year...

Race this weekend...

Yup.

An Awesome Sauce Weekend

This weekend was amazing!  I spent Friday with Jess watching Hocus Pocus.  It's been a good ten years since I've seen that show.  Don't you dare mock.  It was awesome sauce.

Rachelle, Julia, me, Ann, and Ashley

Also awesome? Marathon catch-up lunch with Julia, Rachelle, Ann, and Ash.  We went to Cafe Rio (a personal favorite) and spent over two hours chatting about running and blogging.  We stayed until we were stiff from sitting!  All in all, a good time. 

Beautiful Fall Colors!

After lunch we headed to Provo Canyon to go see Bridal Veil falls.  This is one of the most famous waterfalls along the Wasatch Front.  For being late in the season, it actually has a pretty decent amount of water flowing over it!  We were lucky enough to see some fall colors at the same time.  They are in their peak right now.  Ann timed her visit very well!  She got perfect weather!

Perfect complimentary colors!

Lovely!

Ann & I in front of the falls

Ann & Ash

After roughing it through some seriously nasty construction on State Street (what the heck is up with all the construction in Utah County?), we went to Ashley's house to get ready for our next adventure--Joe Bandidos and then Thriller.  Jen joined us for dinner with her hubby, and a great time was had.  Tasty eats for sure!  However, I was most looking forward to Thriller...

Creepy creepy eyes

I go to Thriller nearly every year.  It's a great Halloween activity that keeps me highly amused the entire time.  There are funny skits and fantastic dancing.  And the makeup is amazing (see above).  The zombies greet you when you walk in the main doors, and by "greet" I mean "scare the crap out of you."  They sneak up on you when you least expect it (like in the bathroom!!) and they invade your personal space like crazy.  It's awesome.

Yes, her finger is touching my face.  It nearly went in my mouth.  Brave girl--I bite!!

Apparently Ash smiles while being strangled...

I think Ashley wanted to keep her as a pet! 

One zombie scared Ashley's mom so bad that she let out a blood curdling scream and everyone in the foyer stopped to see who screamed.  We were laughing so hard we were crying.

We finally made it past the zombies into the theater to watch the show.  There are tons of different routines, and almost all of them are amazing.  I'm always impressed with the dancer in the Frankenstein routine; she is incredibly limber and flexible.  It's absolutely crazy!

Getting folded in half?  No biggie...

Excited for the show!

The Jasons Routine is always a fan favorite...

As is the "Dem Bones" routine.  I'm a sucker for blacklights.

It was a great way to end the evening.  I couldn't believe that Ann's time in Utah was already over!  It was such a short trip, but we got a lot crammed into the short amount of time.  

Also, disregard Ann's comment about some girl named Reba on her latest post.  I have no idea what she is referencing....  I swear that isn't my nickname.  Nope.  Why would anyone ever call me that?  Moving along now...

When Minnesota met Utah

This one time this super cute girl named Ann came to Utah to visit some of us crazy Utah bloggers.  A joyous time was had.  First, we headed downtown for some tasty eats at Faustina.  The menu looked delicious!  We all had a hard time choosing.  I opted for a tasty salad and wasn't let down.

Smoked Chicken Sonoma Salad.  Yum.

After that, we went over to the LDS Conference Center for a tour.  The building is HUGE.  It is the size of a city block and can hold 21,000 people in the auditorium.  It also has a very nice roof with natural gardens and fountains.  Gorgeous!

In the Auditorium

Downtown SLC

Such a great view from the roof!

Love this girl!

Thumbs up because Salt Lake rocks.  The end.

After we left the conference center, we headed down to Temple Square to walk around and see more sights.  This may have happened:

The guy walking around Temple Square at the time thought we were insane.

Totally worth it.

We can be normal...sometimes.  :)

She can say she has officially been to Utah now.  This tourist photo cements it!

After leaving temple square (and changing into more reasonable footwear!) we headed a bit further south to Gardner Village for Witchfest.  They have lots of fun Halloween decorations and shops to browse.  I've never been during Halloween and it was fun to see all the decorations out and about.

So many witches to see!

And it was BEAUTIFUL weather for walking around!

This also might have happened.  Love this photo.  

These hats were awesome.  My double chin?  Not so much...

 It seriously was a super fun day.  Sadly, I had to leave Ann, Jen and Ash to head to a baby shower downtown.  One of my really good friends is expecting her first child in November, and she is super cute pregnant!  I haven't seen some of the girls that came for years, and it was a lot of fun to catch up.  They were all dancers in college and have super enviable bodies.  After eating dinner with them last night, it was clear to me how they maintain such svelte figures.  First, they continue to be active by working out frequently.  Secondly, they hardly ate anything!  Most of the girls ordered lettuce wraps and then ate only about 1/4th of the meal.  That's about 200-400 calories total for dinner.  And they said they were stuffed, and they genuinely acted like they were.  As a serious foodie, I couldn't help but be a bit shocked.  It was definitely a wake-up call for me.  It was clear to me that food was just fuel to them and nothing more.  They thought it was delicious, but they weren't consumed by how tasty it was and how satisfying each bite could be.  One day I hope to have a similar relationship to food!

I'm in the middle!

Overall, it was a great day.  This weekend will also be wonderful.  Tonight I am watching Hocus Pocus with Running Roommate aka JESS and relaxing at my house.  Tomorrow I am waking up to meet Julia and maybe Rachelle for tasty Cafe Rio lunch and then going to dinner and Thriller with Ash and Ann.  Lots to do and couldn't be more excited!

What do you have planned this weekend?

In 24 hours...

...I finally get to meet this girl!!

If you haven't been reading Twelve in Twelve by Ann, you have been missing out. She has accomplished SO MUCH in just the last year alone.  She has ran in 5ks, 10ks, and completed her first half marathon.  She's also ran a Ragnar Relay and biked 40 miles.  She is truly inspiring and I cannot WAIT to meet her in person!

I'm also lucky enough to get to meet Ash who is a fellow Utah blogger.  I love me some Utah bloggers!  We have a great weekend planned, and I am seriously so excited.

Julia and Rachelle--I will be in your neck of the woods on Saturday. Belated St. George victory lunch?  Could be fun!  :)

A Weekend in Pictures

This weekend was wonderful.  I went to our local amusement park with my partner in crime (aka Running Roommate) and her sister.  I felt like I was a teenager again and had a fantastic time.  I want to go back right now!!

Sisters!

I LOVE roller coasters!

Of all the rides, this one scares me the most.  I hate heights!

Sexy face.

More sexy face. 

Love this girl!

We followed up the fun day at the park with a delicious meal at the Bombay House in Salt Lake City.  They have the most delicious authentic Indian food.  It is one of my favorite restaurants!

Chicken Coconut Korma.  YUM!

How was your weekend?

I just ate half a twist donut...

...and I don't even feel bad about it.  It was yummy, y'all.

Can we talk about this?

I am not ready for this.  Feels like 31 degrees outside?  Where the crap did fall go?  It was seriously 90 degrees last week.  I think I am in shock.  I have a heater under my desk to keep me warm and I keep inching my toes closer and closer to try to warm them up, and I've burned myself more than once as a consequence.

I'm going to pretend this isn't happening, just like I'm pretending my pants aren't getting tighter.  It will all go away if I ignore it, right?  Right....

This One Time

This one time I came face to face with some delicious cheesy dip that a coworker brought in to share.  It looked and smelled delicious.  It was being warmed in a tiny crock pot and sitting next to it was a lovely bag of Stress Chips.  We all know how much I love Stress Chips (particularly in the afternoon).

However, as I looked at those delicious Stress Chips and Stress Dip I did a quick self inventory, realized I wasn't even hungry and that I only wanted to eat the chips because they are delicious, but not because I needed the fuel.

Even still, I took another step towards them.  I really really wanted to eat them.  It was a rare office treat.

I took another step towards them.  I was within grabbing distance.  I could almost taste them.

And then I turned and walked away...

Progress, people.  Progress.

Apparently I can't count...

And by that I mean that while I can certainly count from 1 to at least a quadrillion, I certainly can't seem to count my calories.

Why is it so hard?  I mean, all I have to do is a quick search on MyFitnessPal (user: sugar4becky if you wanna add me) and there are the foods and their respective calorie contents.  It's a quick add.  However, I apparently can't even do that.  Why not?  Because I already know the answer!

Years of off-and-on again counting have left me with a good estimator when it comes to calorie content.  I don't count all my calories because I know they add up to no good.  Why is it that our female bodies only need about 1400-1800 calories per day to function and maintain, when I swear it takes a good 2000+ calories to make me feel full.

These are the things that are frustrating about trying to lose weight...

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again...

Dum dum dum....the RESULTS!

I survived the bod pod!  Have you guys ever seen one of these contraptions?  They look totally space age:

You can pretend that is me in that gigantic space egg.  I wore the swim cap and everything!

The test was pretty much painless.  They took my height and weight (5 pm weigh-ins are NOT my friend), and then had me change into skin tight shorts/capris (I wore my running capris) and a sports bra.  I quickly hopped into the pod and looked forward to it closing.  Least favorite thing about the test?  Having to sit while wearing tight capris and not having a shirt to hide the muffin top!  Good thing the technician did a good job of averting his eyes.

Anyway, once the door on the pod closes the fun begins.  For a 50 second interval, the pressure in the pod is adjusted as the air is used to measure the fat in your body.  It wasn't uncomfortable, just a bit weird.  It felt like someone was repeatedly trying to pop my ears.  Anyway, after 50 seconds they open the pod up to check on you and make sure you are okay and then close it down for another 50 seconds and repeat the test.

And that's it.

Yep, super short and sweet.  Minus the paperwork, the whole thing took less than 2 minutes.  The results were instantaneous.

So what were they?  Drum roll, please!

Height: 65.5 inches
Weight: 154.787 lbs (so specific!)
Body Fat %:  29.2%

As you might remember from my previous post, I was hoping for somewhere close to the 27% range but expecting something about 31%.  So...smack dab in the middle!  I can't complain too much.  This percentage puts me in the "Moderately Lean" category (but just barely).  According to the printout I received, if you are a female with a body fat percentage between 22-30%, you are moderately lean.  If you fit into this level, your fat level is generally acceptable for good health.

Yay, right?

Except the test has a +/- 2.7 pt variance.  So, my body fat percentage could be 26.5% or clear up to 31.9% which puts me into the "Excess Fat" category.

With that in mind, I have made a goal to get down to at least a 27% body fat percentage or lower.  In a perfect world, I would be around 20-24%.  That seems incredibly far fetched to me at this point, so I'm just going to take it one percentage at a time!

Have any of your ever gotten your body fat percentage tested?  Were you surprised at the results?

I have to admit that it is a bit disheartening to think that nearly 30% of my body is made of nothing but fat.  That's crazy, right?  Oh well, it is what it is!

An another note, cold season is here and has found me.  Thank goodness for Afrin.  Have you ever used the stuff?  I was totally against the idea of a nasal spray, but after trying it once in a moment of desperation I am a total convert.  It's a miracle worker on clogged sinuses!

How was your weekend?  Mine was spent watching my church's General Conference and laying in bed trying to get better.  I'm looking forward to feeling 100% and getting back on the active wagon.  I haven't worked out in weeks!