roller derby

Weekly Therapy: And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should

- Mel

the week:
That subject quote came up in a Timehop post from, like, 7 years ago — and it’s still ever-applicable. Although I don’t know what the universe is trying to tell me with all this insomnia and stress.

I’ve been having an opposite sleeplessness problem as of late. In the past, I’ve struggled with falling asleep; now, I can crash pretty quickly, but find myself WIDE AWAKE only after an hour or two… and completely unable to fall back asleep. Sometimes I’ll stir in the dark just staring at the ceiling; others, I’ll flip-flop mindlessly for hours and then finally grab my phone or iPad. Yeah, I know, no devices in the bedroom. I tried that for a while. I’ve removed the TV. I’ve removed my boyfriend. It didn’t work (nor do drugs or ear plugs or cold bedrooms or going to bed every day at 8:30 and waking up at my first alarm or sleeping with a sweatshirt tied around my face to block any light). Ironically, I find myself falling asleep easier when I’m reading or playing a word puzzle on my phone, or petting the cat. But I just. cannot. stay. asleep.

I stopped drinking coffee in the afternoon, but I am definitely drinking more in the morning. I haven’t tried a full coffee stop because that just sounds like a terrible, no-good idea. So, I’m frustrated and I feel like crap to boot basically for two weeks straight and now I’m PMS’ing. YAY. #sorryforcrabby

weekend:
Hey, I’m playing in a mixed scrimmage this Sunday! (I’m a Hero!)

seven things, seven days:
1. I missed the initial memo about changes in our office dress code… but, YAY more casual days!
2. I finished “The Girl on the Train” this week (my first and only book of 2016! Big difference from last year). If you’ve read it, did you like the ending? I did NOT.
3. THIS IS SO FASCINATING!!! 8 things that practicers do differently {via Bulletproof Musician}
4. From the perspective of elite achievers: If you’re busy, you’re doing something wrong. {via Cal Newport}
5. The Pi Day 5K is back! I’ll likely register for this virtual race taking place on 3.14(16), since I don’t have anything currently on my March calendar.
6. Since I’m currently (half-assed) training for a challenge race, I came across this helpful post for Training Tips for Challenge Races. My motivation is nil right now.
7. What you can learn from William Hung about perseverance. {via Pacific-Standard}

Gasparilla Challenge: Training Week #7 + #8

- Mel

Unfortunately, some unexpected travel and a sick day threw a wrench in my training/running plans on Week #7, so there’s not much to write about. For Week #8, I didn’t exactly get back on track but it was a whole lot of “it’s better than nothing.” Reality check, though: My training program has completely gone to shit, and I am less than a month away from this race weekend. I NEED a good week!

WEEK #7
MONDAY: [walked to/from work] Home team practice night for two hours. Our Monday night team practice overlaps with league practice, so right out of the gate we were working on offense scenarios. The remainder of the practice included a lot of hitting drills (1-on-1 and hammer-and-nail partner work) and a few rounds of “Get Lead!”

TUESDAY: Travel team tryouts, round 2! This session legit kicked. my. ass. But it felt so awesome. As you see in the pic, you know it’s derby season…

That’s two nights in a row though that I ended up having to leave the floor because I was bleeding. Yikes. BUT I made the team! WOO!

I have to tell you, too, that it is amazing how much my legs have already transformed in just under two months of skating. Roller skating is seriously the secret to a perfect butt! ;)

WEDNESDAY: Needed a rest day, and since it was going to be over 40 degrees later in the week, I was going to save my outdoor runs. I don’t mind so much running outside in this weather because I have the gear, but I would have had to lug SO MUCH STUFF with me to work. And… no. See also: I didn’t wake up until 8 am on Wednesday.

THURSDAY: I did this upper body strength workout at home with 10-lb. dumbbells.

30-something upper body workout

A great quick strength workout! No way could I do 5 rounds though (one round basically made my arms immobile), but something to work up to. It’s a burner, for sure, and you can squeeze in one round in less than 15 minutes.

Friday through Sunday were a complete bust due to travel and some seriously negative wind chills.

TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 3
TOTAL RUNS: ZERO. Awful.
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 0
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: Standing strong at 47.81

WEEK #8
MONDAY: Since I was traveling, I was lucky to set be up with a personal training appointment for the morning. The private facility where I was at, by the way, was incredible! We started with some dynamic stretching, then moved into a strength training workout. Most rounds had 15-rep exercises, except for push-ups, 10 is my max effort (the worst). The workout: Front Squats (with 45 pound bar), leg presses (didn’t note the weight, oops!), calf presses (same weight, didn’t switch plates), box step-ups (alternating legs), front row on a bar, bicep curls (10# dumbbells), tricep machine (I think we only had one plate on this one), and then ROWING. For the first round, the row was a 30-second fast-then-slow for 3 minutes; the second round, I had to go max effort for all 3 minutes, which… PUKE. I really do not like rowing. Afterward, we did some core work on the Bosu, and then she put me in this amazing stretching machine that I need in my house for real.

TUESDAY: Rest Day. I thought maybe that I would be really sore from my training session, but… I wasn’t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WEDNESDAY: THANK GOD for run//yoga//run// club. Our group leader almost talked me into doing spin instead of running outside but I was determined to get in some miles. I don’t care about no snow!

30something run outside winter snow

Because of the snow, however, we didn’t keep track of time. Our mileage was somewhere in the 3.2 range.

THURSDAY: Rest Day

FRIDAY: Well, it snowed. Again. And my fleece tights are somehow missing and/or in laundry purgatory. I plan to get an additional pair with these gift certificates from Christmas because… SERIOUSLY?! BUT, I walked to/from work AND I walked to the Strip District for lunch, so… OMG my toes will be cold forever, won’t they?

SATURDAY: SCRR canceled their morning group run. MEH. I found my fleece tights though, so I went out after the snow stopped in the afternoon and got in 3 miles. My pace was slow due to a LOT of slushy mess on the north side (average 11:26 pace), but I did some “bridge repeats” into/out of downtown because those sidewalks were the clearest.

SUNDAY: NOPE. Decided to meet up with some neighbors for brunch, where I proceeded to drink three mimosas and then let my afternoon go to shit. Maybe I just needed to do that today.

TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 2 (1 strength training; 1 yoga)
TOTAL RUNS: 2
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 6.2 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 54.01 miles

Weekly Therapy: Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow

- Mel

the week:
Well, the BIG news of the week is that I MADE TRAVEL TEAM! I’ll be playing for our A/varsity team, The Steel Hurtin’. So excited, you guys!

steel hurtin pittsburgh 2016
My Team!

weekend:
If you’re in Pittsburgh, this weekend the orchid and tropical bonsai show opens at Phipps’ Conservatory. Visitors can experience this tropical escape starting Saturday through February 28. (Hours 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily and until 10 p.m. on Fridays.) More details can be found at phipps.conservatory.org.

Also, you can cheer for the Steelers again… if that’s your thing.

seven things, seven days:
1. Unfortunately dropped off the Dry January wagon, when we were invited to a neighbor’s Steelers party last weekend (back on as of Monday — dry weekdays instead for this month, maybe). Eh.
2. I’m (finally) through season 2 of The Leftovers, and all I can comment is WTF?!
3. Got my first Wantable Fitness Edit this week and I have… conflicted feelings about it. Is this something you guys would like to see reviewed?
4. Celebrated our department’s post-holiday holiday party this week, complete with a “regift” exchange. Good fun to break up the work week.
5. Therapy Wars: The revenge of Freud (long read, but really interesting look at CBT) {via The Guardian}
6. The top 5 fitness trends for 2016 looks a lot like last year (and the year before that). {via Runtastic}
7. You can’t trust what you read about nutrition. This is a fun one about correlations. {via FiveThirtyEight Science}

Product Review: Apera Bags Performance Duffel

- Mel

I’ve been on a search for the perfect gym/workout bag for far too long. Last year, I was gifted this Gaiam yoga bag for Christmas. It proved to be too small for my two-a-day run//yoga//run//club necessities; the shoe pouch was also too small for my Size 9.5 sneakers. And once I upgraded my yoga mat to a Manduka, I could no longer use the straps underneath to carry under the bag (the Manduka mats are, like, 10x heavier than those everyday, cheapie mats). Then, I received another bag this year courtesy of Chelsea Collective preview party. I really wanted to like this bag — my shoes fit after a little Tetris-ing, there was plenty of storage, and the straps were the right size — but I missed having an exterior pocket to hold a water bottle, of all things. Plus, the zippers seemed overly difficult to move and the bag overall feels a little cheaply made.

On Black Friday I saw a tweet about Apera Bags and a 20% sale, so I finally decided to make the Big Purchase (I consider dropping $100+ on a workout bag a Big Purchase). I landed on the Apera Performance Duffel.

apera bag review 30something therapy

Few things that I outwardly LOVE about it: It fits everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. The bag has great organization for my needs and can hold a LOT of gear — it fit TWO PAIRS of Size 9.5 sneakers on both ends (this bag has two separate shoe pockets) while also holding a freaking laptop. It’s a NICE looking bag, and it is obvious that it’s well-made. Bonus: SO MANY POCKETS with/without zippers, some with mesh for airing stuff out! The bag came with its own interior wet bag too. I can even fit my yoga mat inside (and peek the top out) if I want.

Some mehs: it’s actually quite large — while not totally a breaking point for me since I needed a bigger bag, it kind of overwhelms my frame and was awkward to carry with all of my stuff in it. This purchase continues my streak of being completely unaware of dimensions when purchasing items online.

30something therapy apera bag review
You like my “workout” pants? 😛

POO: The strap is WAY too long for my body — even when pulled all the way tight from both ends — and not all that comfortable to carry when walking the mile+ to work with all my stuff. It hits just below my butt and even pulled up my skirt (!!!). And after using the Nike bag from Chelsea Collective, I kind of missed the option of carrying like a tote (the Apera bag has two small handles at the top to lift but I can’t carry at any length with them).

So, I’m a little disappointed because I *really* need a commuter-style workout bag and I really love this bag, BUT I think I might keep this to replace my roller derby bag: 1) because my derby bag really needs to be replaced and 2) because this bag is so huge that it might actually fit all my gear. I’m not sure about how it will handle the weight, though; would be an interesting test.

30something therapy workout roller derby bag review
This bag is seriously, like, 20 years old. If it ain’t broke, right? Wait…

Completely off-topic tangent on my current derby bag: One of the zippers of the outside side pocket broke off when a piece of my gear got stuck in it (at an away game in Columbus, Ohio; hilarious that I remember it because I was pretty mad that night and I obviously have brute strength). The long strap is being held on by mustache-printed duct tape (seriously). I bought this as part of my FIRST luggage set (yes, I used to have an entire set in this color scheme) at a Super Kmart when I was a freaking teenager. But, hey, the colors match my team’s uniforms, so that’s fun!

Here’s some benefits (and a tl;dr), if you’re looking at Apera bags:

  • Sanitized-Infused antimicrobial product protection resists the formation of bacterial odor, inside and out.
  • Two flexible exterior water bottle pockets.
  • Padded shoulder strap and two top carry handles.
  • Exterior pocket for a laptop and tablet storage.
  • Immense capacity features 43 litres of storage volume.
  • Water-resistant base protects the interior from moisture.
  • Laser-cut venting for your bag to breathe, ventilate, and stay healthy.
  • Large exterior pocket on each end holds a pair of men’s size 12 shoes.
  • Comes with a Fit Pocket washable insert.

I could probably use this Apera bag for race-cations and other travel weekends too. There’s a possibility that I may exchange for a smaller bag but I haven’t completely decided on that yet (and tbh, I am the worst with actually returning things; for the record: Apera has an amazing no-hassle return policy and free shipping). I even tossed the idea of getting the strap taken in at the luggage repair place but that seems ridiculous to spend even MORE money on a bag that was already over $100.

The search for my “perfect” workout bag, however, continues.

Note: I purchased this Apera Performance Duffel for my own needs, and did not receive any compensation for reviewing and/or this post.

Gasparilla Challenge: Training Week #6

- Mel

Though this was the official kick-off week to training for the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 1, I’m still in the midst of training for the Gasparilla races in February. I’ll switch over my post titles once Gasparilla training is over. But most importantly, this week was travel team tryouts for roller derby!

MONDAY: THREE HOURS of roller derby practice. Since league and my home team practice are on the same night (and overlap), I decided it would be helpful in advance of tryouts this week to get more skate time, and both practices were skills-based with a LOT of 1-on-1/2-on-1 work. I also re-tested my laps (hooray, endurance!) but didn’t pace myself as well as last month – only getting 30 this time around. Our minimum skills require 27 laps in 5 minutes. It was a really fun night, especially skating for the first time with my new Avengers teammates. Make no mistake, my legs (and my poor feet!) were TIRED.

There was much chocolate milk after this practice.

TUESDAY: Travel Team Tryouts Day #1! Most of this first night of tryouts was focused on minimum skills — the word “minimum” is certainly a trap given that A-teamers should definitely be performing at more than a minimum skill level. There’s always an opportunity to step it up, even when doing partner work with someone at a lower (or higher!) skill level. Even when something is super easy for me, I have to remind myself that.

WEDNESDAY: [REST DAY] Skipped my weekly run//yoga session to rest my legs for Thursday’s night two of tryouts and opted for laundry instead. I feel like I haven’t had a chance to catch up since the holidays!

THURSDAY: Travel Team Tryouts Day #2! Tonight was scrimmage night, which, again, was SO much fun. Nights like these remind me of the reasons of why I wanted to return to the sport. In between halves, our group broke out to do some more skills and 1-on-1 work (each of the 3 teams played 2 halves in some order in addition to the skills work). I got a call-back for round two of tryouts this week!

FRIDAY: [REST DAY]

SATURDAY: Marathon Kick-off Day! So many exclamations in this training week. Since this is a drop-back week for me, I only needed to do 3 miles buuuuuut a friend texted me the night before and really wanted to do 6 (and for me to run with her). So I joined her. This was probably a good idea that I made plans specifically with someone else so that I didn’t skip out on the training run (because as much as I love running in winter, I equally love my warm bed), and this would also good to make up the miles I didn’t run earlier in the week. Since the start location was on the north side, I did a 1-mile warm-up run to marathon office.

Mini-expo at the Pittsburgh Marathon kick-off event and a beautiful (if chilly) winter day of running!
Mini-expo at the Pittsburgh Marathon kick-off event and a beautiful (if chilly) winter day of running!

Dr. Vonda Wright led a group dynamic warm-up and then we went off with the 10:30 pace group. Our goal was to (slowly) speed up to the 10:00 pacer by the last mile. It was a cold morning, with slippy spots throughout the course. We averaged 10:09 and completed 6.28 miles in 1:03:48.

Splits: 10:57 (1) / 9:59 (2) / 9:39 (3) / 10:18 (4) / 9:49 (5) / 10:06 (6)

SUNDAY: Since I took care of my “long run” on Saturday, I needed a LOT of foam rolling releases and trigger point therapy. I regularly use this Foam Rolling app on my iPhone, which has sport specific exercises, including one for running. I went through this program with my short-and-wide roller, and then did more trigger release work on my feet, hip area (IT-specific), and my piriformis with my RAD Roller.

The boyfriend and I were on the same schedule this week, so I only walked to/from work one day. Probably best for my tired legs.

TOTAL CROSS-TRAINING WORKOUTS: 3-4 (depending on how one would count a three-hour derby practice!)
TOTAL RUNS: 1
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 7.28
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 47.81

Sunday Lately: Week 54

- Mel

Blogger Tribe_Sunday LatelySunday Lately is a weekly linkup hosted by the Blogger Tribe (lead by Angelica, Meghan, Nicole, and Katy). Every Sunday morning, the Tribe shares a small glimpse into the last week. Every week, a new theme is release for all of us to post and share your link through one of the host’s post. I’m so happy that I found this amazing community of bloggers! All are welcome, so click through and join us in the Blogger Tribe Facebook group.

This week’s themes: Updating, Remembering, Needing, Wearing, Being.

30-something therapy sunday lately

Updating: I had to update my derby number for this upcoming season, which means new scrimmage tanks, armbands… but basically a new identity too. Having butt-hurt feelings about it, naturally, but not really much that I can do about it.

Remembering: Speaking of derby, I couldn’t remember how long ago I joined and thankful for Timehop to remind me. Five years ago, I was skating at my first Steel City boot camp, and I tried out for Fresh Meat a short time later, which means that I’ve been skating for almost 6 years (I started in a rec league in Ohio the year prior). CRAZY!

Needing: PROTEIN. Hard-boiling eggs, eating all the chicken (as much as I hate it), stocking up on protein bars. And I just received a great sample pack of protein powder (angel food cake flavor!!!) and flavor packs to try from Devotion Nutrition. I’m making this Fruity Hoops Protein Fluff first.

Wearing: These days, it feels as though I can’t get into all the fleece soon enough. Unfortunately, wanting to be all warm and cozy is making me LAZY AF.

Being: My first 30-day “challenge” was to acknowledge and attempt to redirect my behavior of complaining. Man, do I HATE being labeled as a complainer! My focus is to reduce the complaints and more be actionable about changing the situation. A lot of my complaining stems from a loss of independence, so these small behavioral changes will help me gain back a little of my take-charge attitude.

Have a good week!

Weekly Therapy: Kickoffs and Tryouts and Health and Training

- Mel

the week:
Well, we made it through the first week of 2016 — and there’s a LOT going on! It finally snowed in Pittsburgh for real, which makes me so happy.

snow Pittsburgh 2016 new year
SNOW! This is the park in my neighborhood and it always looks so lovely in every season — but especially in winter.

I am positively excited and exhausted from my first full week back at roller derby — practices for both my home team AND two nights of tryouts for the travel teams. I was also immediately reminded how expensive this sport is when doing a needs assessment of equipment and such (especially considering that I needed to change my number and needed new scrimmage tanks, armbands, etc.). I got a call-back from the first round, so I have another round next week!

Also, THE BACHELOR STARTED THIS WEEK! The boyfriend and I watched it later in the week, and it’s always a fun source of entertainment and dating roles banter between us.

weekend:
It’s Pittsburgh Marathon Training Kick-off time! Can you believe it’s already here?! I feel like I was just training for the half. My “official” full training starts after Gasparilla, which is at an almost-halfway point of my training cycle. I also renewed my annual membership with Steel City Road Runners, which I hope to use a lot more this season. There is a lot of FUN running madness that happens in conjunction with this kick-off, so maybe I’ll see some of you there. 😀

ALSO, if playing roller derby was ever something you considered, Saturday is the LAST pre-tryout boot camp for joining Steel City Roller Derby in 2016. You need to attend a boot camp in order to try out, so this is a great opportunity to come out and see what we’re looking for and talk to some vets about your skill level, training, gameplay, etc. etc. And it’s especially helpful in meeting some of your Fresh Meat teammates who you will be progressing alongside on this new fun adventure. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

For your resolutions/health: Pittsburgh area Sam’s Clubs will be hosting free health screenings, open to the public, from 11-4pm this Saturday, Jan. 9. These health screenings are free, confidential and available to the public at all Sam’s Club locations with a pharmacy. Additional details on each one will be made available at SamsClub.com. Two of the free tests being offered – blood pressure and blood glucose – are two key markers of overall health. Participants will get an idea of where they stand healthwise, and what they can to do for a healthier 2016.

seven things, seven days:
1. Have you heard of/used Sweat Cosmetics? I learned of this brand over the weekend when watching the GRID league championships. And as someone who wears makeup during workouts (don’t judge!), I need to test these products out!
2. In doing additional research on “workout makeup,” I found FITGLOW BEAUTY. BONUS: they’re a natural beauty brand.
3. Somehow, with all of my current beauty choices, I have taken to shopping Ulta over Sephora. I’m definitely not a VIB anymore!
4. Every day at lunch, I’m eating at least two sticks of PLAIN veggie. Gotta start somewhere, right?
5. For a few years (not last year), I would do a dry January; the boyfriend and I are doing this again — though this year, we didn’t start on January 1 (but the 4th). Basically, it’s a sober 30 days reset. This year is already kind of wonky, so like most things… we’re adapting a bit. The importance of doing this, however, remains. {link via Huffington Post}
6. Oh, hey, fellow Browns fan: The psychological reasons why Fans stand behind perennial losers {via NYT}
7. Here’s your weekly dose of science — appropriately, for keeping your resolutions {via Greatist}

Gasparilla Challenge: Training Week #3

- Mel

This is week three of training for the Gasparilla — a two-day running event with four different distances. Part of this race is a half marathon (on Day Two), which will be my fourth half and the focus of my training plan (an adapted Higdon’s Novice 2), but this is my first challenge event. I don’t currently have any plans to PR these races. But I do intend to do a LOT of workouts on tired legs, since I think that’s really the only way to train for one of these things. Running the morning after derby practices and back-to-back training days will probably help me the most, and how I ultimately plan to be “ready” for this challenge.

MONDAY Spinning Skipped spinning. I was just plain exhausted (and did not sleep well at all on Sunday night). [Walked to/from work.]

TUESDAY REST… and bake cookies. I haven’t baked in so long! Made some gluten-free dark chocolate-butterscotch chip cookies for my office cookie swap on Friday. I also tried out this King Arthur Gluten-Free Cookie Mix for the first time too — they came out pretty good (only lost a couple to cracking). [Walked to/from work.]

WEDNESDAY run//yoga//run club, holiday edition, which started with a plate full of cookies and peppermint bark — and lululemon gifting us a run top (Our ambassador brought a few different pieces and colors to select from; I picked a Runderful 1/2 Zip in a beautiful green color). Both lululemon and Urban Elements been absolutely amazing already in sponsoring these weekly run and yoga sessions, and this was above-and-beyond thoughtful. So I got to test out the top immediately, which was nice — I love the cuffins and small zip pocket in the front. The Runderful is WARM and super cozy. And Pittsburgh, as you know, hasn’t been cooperating with winter weather. But I will get plenty of use out of this top.

So, our group did 3 miles again (3.22) at an average 9:20 pace. We were speedy! Splits: 9:12/9:01/9:41

After the run, we were welcomed with another hot and sweaty 75 minutes of yoga flow, which really felt great for my hips and we did a good amount of plank/core work. Our instructor even put a series of Utkatasana poses to the 12 Days of Christmas (Muppets version, natch) and it was a leg burner! While we laid in Savasana, the lulu angel came around and left gift cards underneath our mats, so I will definitely be treating myself to a little something this holiday.

THURSDAY Two-hour roller derby scrimmage practice that started with some ladder-drill endurance work (woof!). We basically only had six players per team, which meant MORE endurance — so I played most jams (and even jammed a few times). First jam of the game: a direction of gameplay penalty. 😐

Alas, this was our last practice of the year, and it was SO FUN.

FRIDAY As much as I wanted to run before work, I was up super late from practice (past midnight) and I was out for after work (had to leave for a 5pm dinner reservation and holiday party). Sooooo, I took another rest day. [Walked to work]

CrossFit 12 Days Xmas WOD

SATURDAY I returned to my CrossFit box, Industrial Athletics for anyone looking for a gym on the north side, for a 12 Days of Christmas WOD and Cookie Swap. The workout was insane at first glance and felt a little chaotic when it started, but I found my rhythm with each progression. I scaled back to part bronze/part brass and finished in 32:15.

Check out my Overhead Squat! (and, naturally, an awesome lifting face). Since I haven't been to CF in a few months, I only used an empty bar.
Check out my Overhead Squat! (and, naturally, an awesome lifting face)

SUNDAY I waited late in the day to get this run, and to be honest… I struggled with leaving the house. I knew that I would be running into drunken Steelers fans again on the north shore and just didn’t feel like dealing with it. But, I bundled up (chilly run even at 4pm!) and did my long run in 59:16 (6.02 miles, average 9:51 pace). Splits: 9:50 / 9:25 / 10:17 / 10:08 / 9:26 / 9:53

Naturally, I felt better once I was out there (and thankfully, no incidents with drunken tailgaters aside from overhearing a guy call me crazy that I was “out running in this” — I’m assuming he meant weather, but… seriously?). And I’m definitely crashing early.

TOTAL RUNS: 2
TOTAL WEEKLY MILES: 9.24 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 24.30 miles

Biggest Changes of 2015

- Mel

At the beginning of the year, I got a new job which meant leaving the non-profit that I worked at for almost three years. It also meant leaving roller derby. That last one is important because I recently made the decision to go back and will be trying out for travel teams again in January.

I left for a few reasons, most of which for feeling burned out and least of which… well, I wanted to do something new with my life. I struggled with my sense of identity probably the most. In deciding to go back, I had to be very reflective about my experiences and incredibly honest with my expectations of returning. Not skating for 10 months will change your skill level, but seemingly my endurance is OK. I certainly was no slug for the last year, so I still maintained a great level of fitness. But I have some things to work on, and I’m actually excited for some of those new challenges.

Changing jobs was probably obvious to most given the nature of my previous work, and to be honest was sort of a surprise given how long I had been looking for something new and couldn’t GET something new. I *LOVED* my former organization and my coworkers though (and, naturally, the animals), and I’m certain to be fond of my new organization in time as well. But the new job has also been a continuous adjustment with many organizational changes that came along with a new CEO (I have a new office, new boss and new title, for starters, since I started a year ago). I feel maladjusted more than I should be adjusted. But, eh, we all change jobs and roles with an uncommon (but common) regularity.

In a flit of madness, I not only signed up for a marathon (before finishing my first half), I ACTUALLY RAN ONE. That part of my journey this year was so fulfilling. And I sincerely look forward to pushing those boundaries some more in 2016.

In any event, when I think of change for change’s sake, I get very small. I do not do well with change. I prefer order and schedules and patterns (and a heads up, for chrissakes!) and all of their inherent expectations. I need routine. I CRAVE routine. But every once in a while I feel like blowing shit up — as in, uprooting everything that I know to break up the stagnation and complacency. Like, selling everything that I own (save for my car) and driving across country to live in Phoenix for a while, as I did in 2004. Or, pressing delete on a blog that I published to for over 10 years.

I’m starting to feel that kind of itchy need again. And there’s a good chance that might happen soon after the new year.

Gasparilla Challenge: Training Week #2

- Mel

With a nearly-full schedule of holiday social engagements and pre-Christmas tasks, I knew that this would be a tough training week — and something I’ll have to pay mind to for the next couple weeks. It wasn’t a total bust though, as I somehow fit in two runs and a derby practice.

MONDAY: Two hours of roller derby practice, skills- and partner-work focused. Hot, sweaty, fun. I’ve regressed back into a couple of my bad habits (grabbing, becoming “small”… or smaller in my case, forgetting about my long-lost “lower butt”) and making stupid gameplay decisions, so I have some work to do. It’s hard not to switch to autopilot as I’ve done in the past.

TUESDAY: First of a three-peat of rest days. Sorry not sorry, my legs were beat. Side note: it’s been really nice waking up early, especially on tired legs and your boyfriend drives you to work in the morning.

WEDNESDAY: Rest Day (walked to/from work)

THURSDAY: Rest Day (walked to work)

IMG_2266

FRIDAY: Ran three miles (3.02) in the morning (!!!) at average 9:44 pace. My legs were feeling mighty stiff, but the weather was incredible at 7:30 a.m.

Splits: 9:29 / 9:30 / 10:06 (That last mile seriously felt all uphill!)

I also walked to work. Call it a cool down!

SATURDAY: Today’s workout brought to you by Christmas Shopping.

SUNDAY: This week’s long run was 5 miles (5.02) — and it was GORGEOUS outside! It’s still surreal to be outside in mid-December running in shorts. Average 10:19 pace, which felt easy. Though, even in shorts, I was sweating pretty good. After my run, I did a mini-circuit workout: two rounds with one minute on, one minute off of plank holds, sit-ups, squats, push-ups and lunges.

Splits: 10:21 / 10:18 / 10:39 / 9:58 / 10:09

TOTAL RUNS: 2
TOTAL MILES: 8.04 miles
TOTAL TRAINING MILES: 15.06 miles