Monthly Archives: November 2013
All About Oranges
Goodmorning :)
Are you sipping a glass of orange juice? (I think it goes without saying that my morning mug is filled with coffee.)
I’m all about oranges. (Navel, not those weird Valencia ones. Who wants to deal with seeds?) My favorite grocery store Sprouts had a huge display of navel oranges this week, 3 pounds for $1. So obviously I bought as many as I could fit in my basket and have been slicing up a couple every day! They are so juicy, and citrus fruits in general just smell so fresh :)
Now that I’m overflowing with oranges I thought I’d do a little research into what these little guys are doing for me!
My go-to site for all nutrition information is nutritiondata.self.com (seriously, I look up the calorie/fat/sodium serving size info on almost every food without a label. Fun fact: a whole zucchini is only 30 calories. #goodbecauseicaneatfive)
So the COLD HARD FACTS:
A small orange is only 60 calories.
One contains about 85% of a day’s worth of Vitamin C. (Though the body can’t actually store Vit C so eating a dozen oranges won’t make you extra Vitamin C-y.)
An orange is also about 85% water.
They are naturally fat-free!
Vitamin C is an anti-oxidant. It helps repair and build tendons, ligaments, skin and blood vessels.
The vitamin also helps form scar tissue and maintain cartilage, bones and teeth.
(Source: National Health Institute)
Another fun fact (lucky you!) The city I grew up is historic orange grove territory. My high school is built right next to what’s left of an orange grove, and our school colors were even (BRIGHT) orange & green. Not ideal uniform colors. We were called “jailbirds” on more than one occasion…. clever.
Sometimes in high school when the oranges on the trees were ripe, we would pick a few to eat as a post-workout snack. Sticky hands – yes. Totally worth it – yes.
We even invented “orange grove tag” for off-season workouts. Instead of a 4-5 mile run, we would congregate on an acre of orange trees and play hide and seek until we all got hungry. <3
Don’t skimp on that Vitamin C. Your bones/teeth/skin/immune system will be extra thankful for the extra boost. Or go for the “cuties” (clementines) to get your fill of Vitamin C in an adorable fun-size fruit. I always try to peel them in one spiral piece, it’s my own competition with myself ;)
And that Hi-C or Tang crap does NOT count! Pulp is GOOD.
Marathon Mode
I’ve been keeping a secret and I can finally let it out.
For the past month, I have begun training for my first marathon (The Phoenix Rock n’ Roll Marathon in January). I’ve been training for this instead of track. That’s right. I am no longer an NCAA Division 1 athlete. (Not gonna lie, that was hard to type.) The decision to leave the team was all mine, and I waited until the end of cross country season to talk with my coach about my decision to leave the team. (I’m trying to avoid the word “quit” though I am fully aware that is technically what I have done.)
Quit: a word that doesn’t often come up in my vocabulary when I’m talking about myself. I haaaaate that word (more than the word “moist”…bleh).
7 years ago I was a high school freshman, dead last on the JV cross country team, and not the least interested in a future of running.
3 years ago, a senior in high school, I was being recruited by a couple dozen universities across the country and I started to like the idea of being a collegiate athlete.
Yesterday I ended that career, and today I started training for my first marathon.
When I was 17, I signed my Letter of Intent on National Signing Day in front of my team, coach and family at a little ceremony at my high school. One of my proudest moments ever!
Over the past three years at NAU, things just didn’t turn out how I expected. Overuse injuries plagued not just me but our entire girl’s team. In three years I was hit with three major setbacks and it feels like I spent more time injured and recovering than healthy and competing. Instead of training with a team and coach, I spent weeks at a time in physical therapy rehab sessions and substituted running with the bike and elliptical.
So now that my body is back to pre-injury shape, I’m not going to risk another “overuse” issue. I’m taking my training into my own hands and looking forward to my first ever 26.2 mile race in just 60 short days.
Obviously I’m going to miss having a team to train with! Since I was 14, I have had designated “practice” schedules, workouts dictated by a coach and a handful of teammates to run next to. Yesterday had a bittersweet moment emptying out my locker and realizing I’m no longer a collegiate athlete. Sigh, weird, ugh, ahhhh, what, okay getting over it.
So here come the weekly marathon training updates, protein smoothie recipes, core and strength training sessions.
P.S. I hope this post doesn’t come across as regretting my decision to join the team/quit the team. I’m so appreciative of the opportunity to come to NAU as a student-athlete, work with the amazing athletic trainers and meet some incredible athletes. I only wish things had worked out differently, I’d been able to actually compete to my full potential and take advantage of my hard work and summer training. That being said, Long-distance Training > Track Workouts. No more spikes! :D
Hiatus Complete
I realize I have been MIA from SLMC for a while. (Over 2 months to be exact.) Let’s just not talk about it? Okay :)
“I’m Back!”
The last couple of months have been a struggle of overcoming a hip injury due to “overuse” (overtraining). Remember those weeks I was running 80 miles while working 40 hours? Yeah not recommended. If you’re training for a 5k then a 16-miler every Sunday is prooooobably a little extreme. I was just following my coach’s training program! I learned better & will be listening to my own body from now on ;)
This weekend I came home to sunny SoCal for the first time since August and I can’t even tell you what a recharge button it was. When I rang the doorbell at 10:30 Friday night my mom had no idea that I was even in the same state as her. Missy was equally as surprised.
Back to Basics:
I’ve totally learned from injuries and recovery what works and doesn’t work for me. Running 80 miles a week with not enough sleep doesn’t work for me. Keeping a food journal and a training log DOES work for me. Being a student-athlete for a Div. 1 school is cool and all, but really I just want to be happy & healthy.
Current Healthy Obsessions:
- I just adopted my mom’s first SLR Panasonic camera that I’m taking out on some Flagstaff trails. Covering ground, fresh air, nature, photography. All good things!
- Sprout’s coffee beans. I got my parent’s hooked on their flavored coffee beans this year too, currently sipping on Pinon Hazelnut but my favorite still goes to Vienna Cinnamon <3 Grinding your own beans smells heavenly.
- The blog Skinny Confidential. Lauren knows what’s up!
- Eli Young Band and their Pandora station
- Nexxus Heat Protector Spray. Smells delishhhhh.
The next phase of my healthy lifestyle is to begin training for MY FIRST MARATHON. (I made a Pinterest board and everything. I mean, obviously.) This will give me so much more to blog about & keep track of. But first I’ll do a quick catch-up of the last two months:
I spent a lot of time outside.
Spent even more time with my favorite redheads:
Although this is a little more typical…….
We like to grab coffee and hang out in a field…..
Escaped to Sedona for a day of hiking, which was all fun and games until the “Bear Sighting” signs popped up (and you knowww how I feel about wild animals):
And many mornings started out enjoying the little things. (Oh and the lovely sounds of construction out my window.)
Because of my injury, I spent a couple weeks just “resting” with no exercise, and about 6 weeks slowly progressing back to running. This blog post is sparked by my increasing inspiration to get back in shape! While it might not be obvious or noticeable, I can tell that my body has changed after more than 2 months of limited exercise and more than a few splurges on frozen yogurt, homemade pizzas, Sprout’s chocolate-covered blueberries/almonds/cashews (OBSESSED.) and of course peanut butter ;)
Tomorrow I will climb back up to a 12 mile run and I feel like myself again. Long runs are my thing. And I’m working on a lot of goals for myself:
- Build back up my long run (the difference this time? Proper rest and recovery. Duh.)
- Eat clean (95%…..girl’s gotta have her coffee creamer). I’m cutting out processed peanut butters (actually all nuts for a few weeks because they are so addicting that I can’t stick to a serving!), crackers/granola bars/cereals (because honestly they are sugar & flour clusters) and definitely avoiding the chocolate bulk section at Sprouts for a little bit. I’m a scale-avoider and I don’t like weighing myself so I will base my progress on how my clothing fits and how I feel about myself when I look in the mirror :)
- Two consecutive pull-ups (currently at 1.5!)
- Plank for 4 minutes
- Stay injury-free
- Stress less over things I cannot control
- Take a new fitness class every week
- Try a new recipe every week from my new Pinterest board “Domesticated” ;)
It’s good to be back.
