Year: 2013

Ten

Anna Blankenheim Exercise , ,

It’s really interesting to me how different training for a marathon is this time around. Last year every run was a mental test where I was thinking “this is the farthest I’ve ever run”. I was unsure if I could do it. Now I have confidence in my body and my mind that I was lacking last year. I know I can get through the runs, even if the worst should happen. I know how to deal with all of the little aches and pains. Dare I say, I’m actually enjoying it. I’m taking time to look at the scenery and to stay in tune with my body.

Today I test drove the Clif Shot Bloks. While they didn’t upset my stomach per se, they didn’t exactly sit well either. I ended up with a really bad side cramp that lasted for about three miles after I took them. I think that they might have been a little too much for my tummy to digest, but fortunately it didn’t rebel. I did like the consistency and taste – they were strawberry flavored and the consistency of swedish fish. I do love a good swedish fish, but maybe it’s not the best idea while running. I may give the jelly beans a try next weekend – they seem to be a favorite of many of my runner friends.

In other news, you might notice that my blog has a different look and feel. I decided tonight that I wanted a change, so I switched it up. What do you think? Do you like it? Use the comments spot below – I value your feedback!

Favorite Song Friday – “Maybe I’m Amazed”

Anna Blankenheim Music , ,

This week’s favorite song is “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney, which has special importance to me – it’s the song that Mike and I danced our first dance as a married couple to at our wedding. Mike actually picked the song and I fell in love with it. It’s really strange – I’ve heard the song on the radio about five times this last week and I’ve been missing Mike (he’s still fighting the Rim Fire). Every time I hear it I’m reminded not only of the love of my life, but of our amazing wedding and how much fun it was. It definitely puts a smile on my face! Enjoy!

Fitbit One

Anna Blankenheim Exercise, Product Reviews , ,

In preparation for my second marathon in December, I decided to take my training and eating (and general fitness) a little more seriously. A few days ago I invested in a Fitbit One… a cool little wireless device that helps track all sorts of fitness metrics. Here are some of the things it tracks:

Sleep: This is probably one of the coolest features in my opinion. When you go to bed (after you’re done reading, watching TV, etc) you press a button on the Fitbit and it starts timing your sleep. Through the magic of modern technology it tracks how many times you wake up during the night as well as how many times you were restless (but not necessarily awake). In the morning, you push the button again and it stops tracking sleep and goes back to steps (although if you get up in the middle of the night, it keeps track of steps too). You can then sync up with your computer or smart phone to see how long it took you to fall asleep and how effective your sleep was.

Steps: The Fitbit keeps track of steps similar to a traditional pedometer, but with an internet and smart phone interface. Your standard daily goal is ten thousand steps (recommended to maintain a healthy lifestyle) which is roughly five miles. You can update this goal if you find you’re more active and too easily hitting the daily target.

Mileage: The Fitbit also keeps track of mileage – the goal is five miles per day, but again, you can change that if you’re more active.

Calories: The Fitbit tracks calories throughout the day, including the calories you burn sleeping, sitting, etc. If you’re looking to lose weight, this is a great tool to better understand calories in vs. calories out.

Flights of Stairs: The Fitbit also tracks how many flights of stairs you climb each day.

The online and smart phone tools also have some input areas – you can track things like body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, water intake, blood glucose, and food. I’m using the food tracker to better understand what helps or hurts my running… I’m terrible about remembering those sorts of things (especially over the eighteen week training program), so it will help me identify any trends. I’ve noticed that I have no concept at all of calories (or protein or sodium, for that matter) and looking at them is helping me to make healthier, more informed choices!

I am so excited about this… being a data geek, I love something that gives me data to analyze! It costs $99 (available on Amazon, at Target, or direct from Fitbit) and is well worth it if you’re looking to improve your lifestyle!

Nine

Anna Blankenheim Critters, Exercise , , , ,

One of my favorite things about running near my house is that it’s a little bit off the beaten path. One of my favorite areas to run is this great little road that has some hills and winds through the country. Normally I see all sorts of fun animals… horses, cows, deer, etc. This morning I was treated to a rare sight… the llama. They’re used to guard sheep around here as they’re apparently very protective and effective against coyotes and mountain lions. This “little” guy was just hanging out by the creek watching me run on by.

Llama
Llama

All in all, today was a good run – nine miles. I tried a new fuel since I seemed to have some “tummy troubles” the last time I trained for a marathon. I have always used Gu to refuel, but decided to give something else a go. Today’s experiment was with Power Bar’s Energy Blends. This one was banana and blueberry. I was a little bit leery, but it actually tasted really good – they use real fruit, so you don’t end up feeling like you’re choking down frosting. It was more like a smoothie than anything. I took it at five miles so that I would have another four of running and could see what it did to my tummy… no troubles here! Next week I’m going to try Clif’s Shot Bloks. Fingers crossed!

PB Energy Blend
PB Energy Blend

For those of you that run or do endurance activities, what’s your favorite way to refuel? What works and what doesn’t?

Book Review: The Time Traveler’s Wife

Anna Blankenheim Reading , ,

I was recently invited to join a book club (yay!) and our first book was Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. Sadly, I wasn’t able to make the book club meeting, but I did read the book and thought it was really interesting.

Synopsis (from Amazon):

A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger’s cinematic storytelling that makes the novel’s unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.

An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler’s Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come

My Thoughts

This book was really good, but be warned, it’s not an easy read. The story jumps back and forth between Claire and Henry as well as to different times. That said, I love the concept. Henry can’t control when his travel happens, nor where he ends up and how long he’s there for. It’s definitely very different than the typical time travel story. Claire is so in love with Henry that she not only puts up with his coming and going, but patiently waits for him,  not knowing if he’s ok or not. The ending actually made me cry!

This book is definitely worth a read!

Beat This Summer

Anna Blankenheim Music , , , , , ,

Last weekend I met up with my friend Amber and headed out to see Brad Paisley‘s Beat This Summer Tour at the Sleep Train Amphitheater. I love going there and getting lawn seats… there’s something so much fun about laying out a blanket and just hanging out. This show ended up being kind of interesting… there were lots of drunk cowboys around. So many, in fact, we saw three actual fist fights. Drop down, chests puffed up, roll on the ground fist fights. It was pretty entertaining!

Amber & I
Amber & I

The concert itself was really good. Lee Brice opened the show and was followed up by Chris Young. I went into the show thinking I didn’t know very many of either of their songs, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that I did. They were both awesome live… and as you know, that’s a huge thing for me wither performers.

After those two came Brad Paisley. I’ve seen him once before and loved him… this time was no exception. He can seriously play guitar. Like seriously. I love his music… he sings really great love songs. He even had a Carrie Underwood hologram for his song “Remind Me”. Amber and I spent a decent portion of the song trying to figure out if she was real or not… so it was pretty convincing!

Brad Paisley's Stage
Brad Paisley’s Stage

Let the summer of music continue!

Summer of Influence

Anna Blankenheim Music , ,

*** So this has been sitting in my drafts for like a week… totally forgot to actually hit publish! ***

Last night I finally got to see Straight No Chaser with Mike, Adam, and Eva… I’ve been wanting to go for years and one thing or another has gotten in the way. For those of you who haven’t heard of them, they’re the a cappella group from Indiana University who rose to fame with this little gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

The concert was at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga which is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues to see a show. It’s a great little concert bowl that overlooks the valley… absolutely stunning views.

SNC was as awesome as I had hoped they would be. They went through a range of their most popular songs (all covers of hits) and left me wanting to hear more. I would definitely see them again… I was really bummed that they didn’t do “The 12 Days Of Christmas” (yes, I’m aware that it’s August).

Marathon Training Part Deux

Anna Blankenheim Exercise , ,

Marathon #2 training is officially underway. This time around I feel like I know what I’m in for and I know what I’m doing. I’m actually looking forward to the aches and pains, the sweat, and that great “I-just-finished-a-sixteen-mile-run” feeling. I understand the importance of stretching, foam rolling, and compression socks. I know that if the worst happens, well, I survived it in San Diego.

I’m also making a conscious effort to eat healthier this time around. Not that I didn’t before, but there’s something about running that makes me hungry. Like really HUNGRY. And I tend to think “I ran ten miles this morning, so I can eat animal style fries and a chocolate shake for lunch”, which probably doesn’t help too much. I am trying to get better about eating healthier foods like fruits and veggies for snacks and trail mix instead of candy. So far, so good. I’ll definitely enjoy my In-N-Out, but I’m trying to make it more of a treat than a regular occurrence. I’ve also given up most caffeine. I have a love-hate relationship with Diet Coke and have completely stopped drinking it – all that I have is my one white mocha in the morning.

Honestly, I’ve started feeling so much better – I have more energy throughout the day and I’m sleeping better at night! Here’s to being healthier!

Book Review: Sisterland

Anna Blankenheim Reading , ,

I read Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld a few weeks ago and have been meaning to do a review on it. Enjoy!

Synopsis (from Amazon.com):

From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them.

Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading this one – I loved the struggle between the two sisters throughout the book – Violet to be understood and Kate to actually do the understanding. In the end, the story became less about one sister being more “eccentric” and rather, the other sister taking personal responsibility for who she thought she was and who she actually was. They story unrolls itself and makes you want to continue turning pages. Definitely read this one!