Vegan Volition

Volition: (n): [voh-lish-uhn, vuh-]
1.

the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing: She left of her own volition.

2.

a choice or decision made by the will.


In one of my earlier posts I was talking about how having a title for my posts is really important to me. And if you're kinda-sort of perceptive you'll also notice I have a think for alliteration and using words that start with the same letter...like those people who have 7 kids and all of their names start with the same letter--Brian, Ben, Becky, Beth...who does that?! haha. So for this title I couldn't think of anything that started with "v" and I ended up googling "v-words". What should come up but a slue of words that start with "V". How I love the internet :)

But I couldn't have just any "V" word, Volition...I've never heard this word before and my vocabulary is not that diverse, BUT it's basically a fancy way of saying that someone has the will to make decisions and exercises that ability. Well as I'm sure you've gathered this post is going to be about my attempts at being a vegan HOWEVER! Upon reading the definition of this word I googled picture results for decision making and found this picture above, which made me think of my kids at the high school I'm interning with. Of course I'm thinking about school and my work while on spring break....what's up with that? haha. So every morning two of the students do the morning announcements and at the end of it all, after the pledge, one of them will say, "Make it a good day or not, the choice is yours". After hearing it day in and day out it kind of just sticks in your head...which is probably the point to saying it, so you remember it. Ok so it's kind of corny by totally true right? From the moment we wake up everyday we are making decisions all day long. I have to laugh though because there are times when I'm completely indecisive--where do you want to go for dinner, "I don't care". The reality of that is I do care, but the magnitude of choices are so many that it's overwhelming, or maybe I'm just being too passive. As one of my very good friends would say--"Make a decision, ONE TIME!" Well alright then this one is for you :)

About three weeks ago now I decided that I wanted to try and become a vegan. Now before I get into this let me explain the difference between a Vegan and a Vegetarian: A vegetarian does not eat meat (there is also something called a pescetarian which is an individual who does not eat meat but will eat fish...honestly I never understood how fish could be considered "not meat" but that's just me). Ok so a vegan then does not eat meat or animal products--no dairy. So that means no cheese, no yogurt, no milk, and no ice cream. Sounds painful right? Well I already don't drink milk and I had no problem switching over to soy yogurt but the cheese, oh the cheese! One of my friends told me that the reason diary is bad for us is because it slows down our digestion process and screws up the enzymes in our stomach. As gross as this may sound we should actually be pooping something like 3 times a day!!! Isn't that crazy!?

I set a goal to not eat diary for a week--7 days. So I went to the grocery store and stocked up on a ton of fruits, veggies and soy yogurt. Now this was the week before I was starting my iron man training, which is why I only set it for a week, I didn't want to screw with my diet too much before getting into more intensive workouts. The first few days, i.e. Monday through Thursday were easy enough because I had really structured days where lunches had to be made the night before and I could put thought into what I was eating. The only challenge during that time frame was my family dinner night with Mara and Alivia, who wanted to go to Cold Stone. Well that didn't go over well so I ended up going to Chipolte to get a burrito with basically nothing in it. So I sat at cold stone with the girls eating a burrito, now that's classy! But even more challenging was the fact that I LOVE ice cream! It's like one of my vices, so to sit there and watch them eat it was beyond difficult. But I made it through.

But then I hit a wall. Friday afternoon, I got off of work and went to the gym. When I got home I realized I hadn't thought out dinner at all and was so hungry! But not only was I hungry I was CRAVING cheese!!! Honestly I don't remember what I ate but I do recall that it didn't have diary in it because I felt accomplished when I woke up the next morning from not giving in.....until Saturday. There was defining moment, after I got home from work and my workout that I just was so frustrated with having to ask myself, "Can I eat this?" That I heated up some water and made cheese ravioli....It was delicious! :) So I only made it 5 days, oh well. I came to realize a few things though: 1) I am strong enough and persistent enough to attempt things that would otherwise be unthinkable. 2) I don't have to cut everything out of my diet right away, slow and steady wins the race.

I really enjoyed the feeling I got from not being weighed down by diary, in fact one of my runs I went on, I felt like I was flying! Afterwards I went to talk to one of my coworkers who is a vegan and she gave me a ton of resources to supplement my vegan journey. There are just some things though that I am not ready to give up, for example, I mixed a soy protein shake the other day and as soon as it hit my mouth I spit it out! Disgusting! Whey is the way to go! Not to mention, I was talking it over with a friend and we decided in order to be a vegan you have to really know you're stuff. There is diary in EVERYTHING. And I just can't/don't have the time to analyze everything I put in my mouth. PLUS I found this picture (above) and couldn't stop laughing. I did a "Ohh, I didn't know that was in that!" But to some extent it's right. Besides I get enough crap for being a vegetarian. That awkward moment when you go out to eat with someone or make plans to do and you drop the V-bomb..."Oh yea, by the way, I'm a vegetarian" and the response, "Ohhh. why!?" haha Honestly I've heard it all, one of my favorites though definitely has to be, "I'm sorry". Why are you apologizing to me, this is my choice--(that's right D, I made a decision!!) and I have stuck with it since '09. I love being a vegetarian, yes, I get enough protein, no I won't consider going back, and I decided to do it for me and because I love animals. Those are usually the main questions I get. More so, I think it takes a lot of time and effort to change anything, especially a diet. The first year was really hard and I think I gained weight. But as I situated into it I learned what the good veg-head foods are and how to incorporate them into working out and a healthy lifestyle. I don't push my veg-head beliefs on anyone, to each their own. But if you ever mention to me that you are interested I will definitely jump on the advocacy train and tell you it's amazing. I love how light and clean my body feels, I'm more in tune with my body and what goes into it. But that's just my take on it. So to all of my carnivorous friends, I love you dearly, but I will always ask you to clean your spatula when you flip your cow burgers before you flip my veggie burgers :)

Transformation is a Present Activity

"Most people don't show up in their own lives. They go through life every single day without being focused and bringing their A game. Transformation is not a future event, it is a present activity. That is why you must bring everything you h ave to give in every moment."

The first time I heard these words was last Saturday, when I started doing Jillian Michael's 'Ripped in 30'....now I hear it everyday, for at least the next week since the program is 4 workouts, 1 for each week. Any who, I find it to be really empowering actually. I have reached a point now where I'm not sure what's hard enough, good enough, fast enough, etc. I just keep pushing until I feel like I could literally lay down and not get back up....tapped out! But when you put this thought into perspective you think to yourself, how many people do what you do everyday? Have I simply become desensitized to people calling me crazy that I just associate my work and workout ethic to the norm? It seems that way. I guess that's why it's important to have variety within the routine. Doing the same thing over and over again--Monday: lift chest, run 5, swim 30 minutes, Tuesday: Lift back, elliptical 60 minutes, abs...it gets boring and the challenge becomes upping the amount of weight from before or going faster than your last time. Don't get me wrong those things are enticing: waking up so sore you need that extra 5 minutes just to sit up, or pushing so hard in those last few seconds just to get a PR....those are the moments, those are the challenges I try to meet.

But get this, I met with my Iron Man coach for the first time two Thursdays ago. She was awesome about explaining everything, but one of the first things she says to me is, "I've always been a big proponent of core workouts". At that point I just knew this training program was gonna be stellar :) Then things got real, as we were discussing my current workouts Steph used the phrase, "Yea I was a little worried at first...." Worried? I work out 6-7 days a week, what did I sign myself up for if you are worried? So she draws me this triangle and explains that training is going to be focused on the three sides: Base, Intensity, and Volume. See I have a base and I can do volume but intensity, well we can just say I am more of an endurance sport person. The hard truth that I have discovered is that you can't just run for 2 hours or swim 2 miles and expect to perform well....you have to incorporate intensity within the workout. This means more sprint workouts and timed intervals in the pool....YUCK! It doesn't sound appealing to me at this point, but I think once I get going and accomplish some of the beginning workouts I'll be set.

So all of that happened within the last few weeks but more recently I just received my first months training plan this morning. I was more than excited but at the same time I realized that I need to get my butt in gear and get a bike, like this week! Since I'm on spring break from classes I opted to use my "class time" to get a new pair of shoes since it's been about 6 months since the last time I went and it's been on my ever-growing To Do list. Needless to say I walked in and said to the sales associate, "I'm looking for these shoes (points down to shoes on feet) in a size 10.5" She starred at me for a moment and was like well alright then. This will be my 3rd generation of the Nike brand I started running in almost a year ago now and I couldn't be happier with them. Not to mention when you flip them upside down you can tell that my stride is well supported and that I land centered. The highlight in all of this though had to of been the fact that the shoes had purple in them. Now this is funny because when I first started running I picked shoes by the color, well for anyone who has been running for a while you know that it doesn't work like that....AT ALL! So part of me feels mature that I know that and thankful because it probably saved me an injury or two.

Being a warm, sunny and 70 degree day outside today I decided first and foremost that I would definitely make time to go for a run on the lake path, especially since I had shoes that needed to be worn in. But the run itself was super challenging because the wind was beyond intense and was throwing off my stride. At one point I was running up a hill and the wind was hitting me so furiously that I literally lost my balance and threw my hands out because there was a possibility that, had I not caught myself, I would have rolled right back to the bottom of that hill! So I fought my 6 miles but felt extremely accomplished by the end of it and decided to celebrate with some weights ;)

I'm really looking forward to starting my training plan next week Monday, but at the same time have a bit of work to do before then to find a good, yet cheap road bike. We'll see how it goes. On top of that, and school, and internship AND applying for jobs, I'm hoping the weather stays warm so I can get a few more runs in before my first OFFICIAL race of the season: the Shamrock Shuffle!

The Concrete Calls My Name Again

Motivation. Drive. Empowerment.

Motivation gives us a foundation to build off of, Drive gives us the focus and energy to follow through, and Empowerment gives us the strength to do it again, only better this time.

This week was full of highs for me, starting with race registrations! Now despite the fact that my friends all call me crazy I have caught on to their little tricks. Calling me crazy and then telling me you want to sign up to run a race with me makes you only slightly hypocritical....but it's ok, we'll let it slide this time, only because I love knowing that you want to try something new and that you want me to be a part of that :) That being said, I finally kicked my butt into gear and signed up for more of my races for 2012. As it stands I am currently registered to run:

1) The Shamrock Shuffle--March 25th
2) Soldier Field 10 Miler--May 26th
3) Chicago Half Marathon--September 9th
4) Chicago Marathon--October 7th.

AND OF COURSE.....My Half Iron Man on July 15th.

After Saturday's visit to the Doc I finally got the green light to start running again!!!! I was, obviously, beyond stoked! She gave me some info on how to strengthen my quads and hammies more so that it would take the pressure off my knee some and told me about some supplementary exercises to do 3-4 times a week. And if all else fails, which I hope it doesn't, she said she'd send me to a PT if my knee acts up again. I'm hoping to beat my time from the Shuffle last year but being out because of my knee has put me behind a little. My first run back on the lake path was so smooth though, I got about 3 miles out and figured it would be smart not to push it and made the 3 mile trek back. I'm still running with my brace, only because I'm worried about taking away the extra support while my knee is still healing, and it helped since I was not in nearly as much pain as I was before. Some slight pain on the left side but heck no swollen-ness or feeling like I can't walk, hot damn I call that a good day!!!

Being me, I've hit the trail both Saturday and Sunday since being told I can run again. Each time I can't help but think about how awesome this weather is for February! I mean 40 degrees is kind of chilly, especially when you're only wearing shorts and a long sleeve T, but that is due to my own stupidity. Yet, at the same time there is something about losing all of the feeling in your body as you start off your run and slowly gaining it back with every mile you meet. That sounds kind of silly, and yes maybe a little crazy, but the way I see it the feeling of, well, not being able to feel your fingers, toes, legs arms, etc, kind of sucks, but as I got out to mile 2 I started to gain some of that feeling back and it drove me to keep going until finally I was on mile 5 headed into 6 and I had the feeling of my whole self back.

I had a pretty good sprint workout going today, but it only reminded me how much I really hate doing sprint workouts :P I've also added more leg lifting into my routines but have only come to find that with that comes more lactic acid build up in my quads and hammies. Hopefully yoga will even that out some.

The last two updates I guess I should mention is that I'm meeting with Steph on Thursday for our first meeting to discuss a training plan. Which also means that in 22ish days my life will probably become even more dull than it already is as I have to adjust my diet, sleeping and workout schedules. Aaaaand finally I am getting my PAWS page into gear because apparently I have to raise $1,000 dollars instead of $600....but I accept the challenge :)


Until Thursday, I'll be hitting the pavement hard because the greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do :)

PAWS for a Cause

How incredible is it that after only a few short days, the Chicago Marathon SOLD OUT!!!! It's amazing how many people are willing to put forth the time, effort, and energy that it takes to train (both mentally and physically) to run 26.2 miles. I'm really excited to be running it again, and definitely looking forward to those long Sunday runs :) I even decided to run with CARA (Chicago Area Runner's Association) this year. Last year I researched different training programs and just made the decision to train on my own because there was no way I was going to go all the way up north on the weekends at 6:30am to do training runs. Little did I know that they had started a Hyde Park training group, but I think that even if I had known about that I would still have been inclined to run on my own. Training runs are the one time in the day that I am able to disconnect from everything else going on in my life....it's the best ME time :) But then when I did the 20 miler towards the end of my training I met some pretty cool people and thought maybe being a part of a running group would be beneficial, at least from a social standpoint.

I also opted to run for another charity group this year. I have to admit that I was incredibly disappointed with how little involvement the Foundation for Suicide Prevention had in my training, despite me raising a significant amount of money for them. So I decided that this year I wanted to join up with PAWS the number one no kill, anti-cruelty shelter in Chicago. I can even say from personal experience that PAWS is an amazing organization and a great place to take home a loving pet. Pete and I adopted Linus and Lucy from PAWS almost a year and half ago and they couldn't be better cats. Linus is somewhat anti-social and gets scared quickly but once he warms up to you he is a phenomenal cuddler. Lucy on the other hand, is quite vocal and is always a great homework buddy...she'll sit by you and even watch you work. So it's safe to say that my investment in this organization is somewhat personal :) ...That and I am one of those crazy people who supports PETA but we don't have to get into that......unless you wear fur coats.....

Anywho, I set up a donation page and will be sending out emails to all of my loving and supportive friends and family as I try to raise $600 before October, but it's safe to say I'm not in a huge rush. My training for the Half Iron Man will actually overlap with my marathon training....in fact if I have it right, I'll be completing the Half on a Sunday resting on the Monday and probably be jumping back on the training wagon on Tuesday. (Yes, I am aware that I am crazy, thank you). But if anyone is interested in donating to my PAWS Cause the link is at the bottom :) I look forward to updating my blog (Yes Judy and Megan I will be better about updating this haha) throughout my training and hopefully everything goes well with my knee and hip flexor that training will go smoothly.





http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1006413&lis=0&kntae1006413=6CCFFD1B702446078212AEDA0863410C

Prevention && Early Intervention

How often do you notice the little quirky things about yourself that in the moment make you laugh at yourself? I do it almost every day....yup that's right I laugh at myself on a daily, maybe even hourly basis. Like just now, I must have sat and pondered the title for this post for a solid 15 minutes because the truth is that I can't write a new post without a title. Why is that, you may ask? Well maybe it's because I am too much of a Type A personality for my own good or maybe it's because I need a direction to work towards and having a title is an essential part of that. Who knows. The funny part in all of this though is that I "borrowed" the title from one of my readings for a grad class. (Maybe I should have sited it in APA?) Thinking back on the assignment I really couldn't tell you what I was reading about, it was probably for my brief treatment class, but the irony I think falls on the fact that I am totally dweeeebing out and making a connection between Sam the social worker and Sam the Triathlete in Training.

So get this, I have at least half a dozen kids that I work with in my high school that are in desperate need of some motivation....or a good kick in the ass....BUT the good old NASW Code of Ethics says otherwise :P Anywho, I have been trying all kinds of interventions from grade sheets to behavior plans, to adding new goals....all topped off with extra extra EXTRA positive feedback and encouragement. What else could you ask for right? Well so in my mind I am thinking, "I don't understand why these kids just don't get it....you have to go to class, you have to get good grades and you have to graduate if you want to move on with your life." But it's a million times more frustrating when they don't see it that way.

Frustration is a funny feeling though, it's like anger and disappointment all rolled into a ball of tension. At this point I had to take a moment and think what in my life frustrates me more than watching my kids fail? And I was like 'Well that's an obvious one, my knee bumming out on me and not being able to run for at least two weeks'. (I think this is the point when many people would insert comments like, "Well if that's all you have to be frustrated about..." or "Big whooop Sam". Yea, yea, yea I got it.) But there's just something about driving past the lake path and knowing that I can't run it. I tried to push my limits and did lower mileage runs but it was no use, my knee was starting to bruise and was swollen more than I wanted to admit. So despite my natural tendency to be hard-headed and stubborn, I gave in to the pain for the sake of still being able to compete in the Iron Man, and went to the doctor. She gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and told me not to run on it for two weeks--continue on the elliptical, in the pool and with weights.

I'm a week into the medication and almost a month off my running routine. Glass half full: my knee is feeling better, it still hurts sometimes (and makes this awkward cracking noise when I haven't moved it in a while) but nothing like what it was....and the bruises went away! Glass half empty: not being able to run SUCKS! I would like to take a moment and thank all of those WONDERFUL friends of mine that have sent me texts or made snide comments like, "Wow it's such a great day for a run!" ....thanks guys! So I have my doctors appointment next Saturday, which means that run I've been holding out for is right around the corner. I'm thinking this upcoming Thursday (hopefully the weather is nice) I'll bundle up, grab my knee brace and hit the trail. So I'll have a better idea of where I'm at after that, just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to go to the ortho :/

The other really exciting thing is that I have my first consultation with my Iron Man coach. Meet Stephanie, she's pretty much my hero. I met her almost a year ago when I started working at the gym. She came in one day wearing an Iron Man hat and I was floored. I immediately professed my love and desire to complete an Iron Man and that I was beyond impressed that she had done one.....in which she replied, "Oh, I've actually done 4." What a champ. So when I ran into her more recently I was ecstatic to tell her the news that I had signed up for my first Half Iron Man. Little did I know that her response would be more helpful than I had imagined when she told me she was a coach and that if I was interested she would love to work with me. Um, YES!!! I must have sent her an email 2 seconds after she walked out the door and I was in pure bliss. I am looking forward to working with Steph as my coach and I feel like it will be really helpful to have her feedback through this process.

False Start

You know that feeling you get when you're super excited for something, like those left overs you put in the fridge the other night from your favorite restaurant, or having plans with a friend you haven't seen in a while? Or maybe, just maybe it's being signed up for a race and prepping to run for a month. Well guess what, someone ate your leftovers, your friend cancelled on you and the race was postponed.....wait what!?

I got the most FRUSTRATING email last week Thursday, and it went something a little like this:
"Because of impending weather conditions, the Chicago Police, concerned for the public safety of Polar Dash runners, have deemed the race for this weekend “critically unsafe” and will not allow the race to take place.

Our Team discussed the matter with the Chicago Park District, who graciously agreed to reschedule the event to NEXT SATURDAY, Jan. 21^st. "

.....CAN THEY DO THAT!??!

Well apparently they can, and just did! The only sucky part about it though is that now I can't run in it :( Ok truth be told, when the guy at the marathon expo tried to convince me to sign up for the race in October I looked at him and told him he was crazy! A few months later though my lovely racing partner, Alison Kool, twisted my arm and told me I should run it....because you get a cool fleece! Ha! So a reach for the credit card, one, two three, submit....oh look at that I'm signed up!

A half marathon doesn't seem like much but even still I increased my runs outside, despite the weather having an extreme case of bipolar. It felt good to run long distances, 6...8...10! I love 10 mile runs, that itch comes on and before you know it I'm scratchin' it all the way up to McCormick place :)

About two weeks-ish ago though I went for one of these fabulous runs only to have a significant amount of knee pain about 5 miles out on the run. Now see let me paint this picture for you, 5 miles away from home with a sore knee and it is freezing outside so walking just ain't gonna cut it. What else would I do besides run home on it? Well when I got back to the gym I hit up one of the athletic trainers I know and she took one look at it, told me it was swollen and that I shouldn't run on it. This was then followed by the phrase, "But I know you're going to run on it anyways so ice, wrap and rest it Sam." Ahhh she's knows me too well :)

I finished up the week tapering down to a 5 mile and then a 3 mile with weights and strength exercises and did a little pool action. I even went out and got a knee brace, which actually helped my running a lot. All said and done I felt like I could push through 13.1 miles, just so I could say I did.

Until I got the email. The disheartening part about it all is that now I can't run the race. Next weekend starts my swim lesson program and unfortunately it's not something I can just get out of. So I suppose this is one of those times that disappointment ensues, but what are you going to do?

.

...Write a nasty email and demand a refund......

"The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

Two days into the new year and I can honestly say 2012 is lookin' pretty stellar. After doing research on a Half Iron Man, book marking the page and incessantly checking the page every other day I finally brought myself to sign up. That and the price jumped $25 soon after. Not to mention staring at the page was cool and all, but it gave me a whole heck of a lot more motivation to know I was actually registered. So on Sunday July 17th I will be have 8 and a half hours to do a 1.2-mile swim along North Beach in Lake Michigan, followed by a 56-mile bike course through the countryside of Racine County, wrapping it all up with a flat 13.1-mile run through the Racine Zoo and surrounding Lake Michigan coastline. Sounds exciting right?! (I feel like the general consensus is that I'm crazy....I should probably start tallying how many times I get called crazy from now to July :))

Since I have never done one of these before and am going off of pure ambition and a love for swimming/biking/running I'm probably going to need to learn the ropes a bit. I've been doing some research and have found a few training programs that look good. The problem with these programs that I've had in the past though is that you have to make sure you sign up for the ones that fit you best. When I ran my first half marathon I signed up for one but barely even used it because I didn't like the way it was set up and ended up going off of Hal Higdons training--which is actually free to anyone online. In the mean time, I also plan to take full advantage of the fact that I work at a gym and have come to know quite a few people who do one or all three of these sports. Friendly feedback worked so well for me when I trained for the marathon so I'm gonna run with that again....pun intended hahaha.


Speaking of running, January 1st was the opening date for two more on my list: The Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle and The Chicago Marathon. The shuffle was such a greater experience last year because it's set up to be about the first or so 5 miles of the marathon, which I was running 7 months later. I got all excited thinking about how in such a short time frame I would be back at the starting line having prepared for my biggest challenge yet. This year I am looking forward to the same thing, however my goal is to set a PR (Personal Record) in each of the runs I did last year. So for the shamrock I'd like to take off about 5-6 minutes (which is gonna be challenging) to finish around 40 minutes flat, but I do that that 5 minute safety net if need be (last years time 46 minutes).

As for the marathon, I don't think I will have a problem setting a PR since I didn't end up hydrating right this last year and had to hit up the med tent....not this year!!!! Also, to keep the motivation going, I just signed up to run/raise money for the charity PAWS, which is a Chicago's largest no-kill humane society...and also where I got my cats from :) It's safe to say that I was disappointed with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention since they were not interactive with me while I was raising money, nor did they off any benefits for their runners even though they said they would. Buuut that's yesterday's news. I'm still grappling over whether or not to sign up for a training program though, since I will be training for the iron man until July I don't know if putting in extremely long miles is a good idea. Then again by the time I finish the iron man most training sessions will just be hitting up 13-ish miles so it may not interfere all that much. Not to mention, I did all of my marathon training on my own last year but had a really great time when I did the CARA 20 miler because I got to know one of my running partners and the social aspect of it all is enticing. I guess I have some time :)

So the last part of my update is that I am now less than 12 days away from my first winter run. The Polar Dash is on Saturday Jan. 14th and it's not that I don't feel like I could do the mileage but rather that when it comes to cold weather I would classify myself as a stage 5 high risk BABY!!!! But regardless of the weather, even though I have been jinxed by one of my friends for a blizzard to hit the day before, I am looking forward to the experience of doing a winter run....because this will probably be the only one :)

As school and internship are beginning to start up again I am confident that it will be difficult to balance my training and my work but I'm up for the challenge. Because what fun would life be if everything was easy?