Baby it’s cold outside

Brrr.

Can you feel that?

Winter has definitely set in here in the Bay Area and we are hitting some very low temps overnight. I’ve moved some of my plants into the greenhouse and praying that my citrus trees will survive. But seeing how they have been here since before we moved in, I’m sure they’ll do okay.

This what I saw on the windshield this morning.

Crazy huh? I scraped away the frost layer while the car warmed up and Lando watched me from the passenger seat.

Let’s rewind and go back to yesterday. I tried eating a grapfruit for breakfast.

Note the word tried.

I remember tasting grapefruit when I was a kid because my mom and dad would devour them like candy. Sprinkle a little sugar on them and bam, a meal. I remember not liking it. At all. So I hadn’t tried one since until yesterday. After reading and hearing how it’s supposed to be healthy for you, I figured I’d give it a whirl.

Blech.

As nasty as I remember it. No offense to those that actually like this fruit but this first bite I had to spit out. After doing a bit of research and pretty much had to peel lay and layer of skin and membrane from the actual edible portion [which was a total mess] and the end result was the same. Grapefruit is not for me.

I cleansed my pallet with a Macro Cashew bar and snacked on some almonds and dates and an much better tasting citrus until lunch.

Lunch was a VERY filling mix of Greek Yogurt, museli and blueberries with a sprinkle of honey all mixed together.

It may not look pretty but it was delicious. It held me over until I went to the gym around 4:30.

With all this cold weather, it has completely unmotivated me to run outside. Run out there? Are you insane?? Since I got a 1/2 marathon to train for, I sucked it up and hopped on the treadmill at the gym last night.

I don’t know what it was, but I was sooooooooooooooooooooooooo not feeling it. I was stuck on the clock, I was focused on my lack of pace, cursing my seemingly shot to hell endurance. I was loathing each minute, each lack of mile. I was all around not in the zone of running. Funny, because when I ran last, I was outside having a ball with Lando. It was cold and wet as heck, but it was fun. And here I was, my spirit frozen over with the painful run. The dreadmill was treating me differently yesterday, or maybe I was treating it differently but I just couldn’t handle it.

Negative thoughts of the upcoming races sprang to mind and I quickly tried to push them back, telling myself not to worry about them now. Just do what I can and be happy with what I accomplish.

I left the gym with a 5k completed in 40minutes, happy to be done, but disappointed in myself. I set an expectation of myself on that treadmill and it was completely unmet.

I went to yoga right after and zoned on my mat, trying to detach the run from my mind. But as I stumbled and wavered through my practice, the negative thoughts crept back in. Bad day of running and bad day of yoga, why do you even bother? Just sit down and give up on both. I could barely hold myself in crescent without threatening to topple onto my neighbor.  Why the heck was the guy behind me breathing so freaking loud!? I again had to push those thoughts away, glaring at myself in the mirror, angry that I was feeling so negatively about myself. I was there wasn’t I? I was on the mat doing yoga. . . and then I realized I wasn’t there at all. I wasn’t there while I was running and I wasn’t in yoga. I was too busy focusing on what I should be doing and how I expected myself to be, comparing to what I had done in the past, that I wasn’t in the moment.

Whoa.

I then focused on my breath and then ignored my reflection and set to ignore the rest of my surrounding with the exception of my teachers voice. I focused on my posture in the poses, told myself to let my body go, giving myself to the flow that was whipping my butt. I sat in child’s pose several times. My left knee cried when I did Warrior 3. I grinned happily was I managed headstand. And when it was all over and I laid there in savasana, I felt lighter. My spirit felt warmer. Sure my body was beat to heck, but I knew as to why it was and loved it.

Just because I had a bad workout day, didn’t mean I was a failure in any sense. It just happens sometimes.  It’s hard not to compare myself to what I have done and to what others are doing around me (hello really lovely bendy lady that looks like a dancing Tolkien elf doing yoga), but once I focused on myself, on my body, the anger began to slip away and the coldness I was feeling inside disappeared, replaced by a fire that’s still burning and looking forward to this afternoon’s class.

I got back to my car, shivering my butt off and made my way home, happy with what I accomplished.

I had another protein shake once I got home, as I wasn’t feeling like cooking.

Vega Vanilla Chai mixed with some almond milk and a little bit of leftover vegan Mexican hot chocolate. I had one previously the night before and found it to be filling and tasty. It’s surprisingly tasty, not chalky at all, and VERY filling. It was like a meal all to itself. I can’t wait to try the other two samples I got from Vega.

I got to bed, had some crazy dreams that involved the Ronin Warriors (aka Samurai Troopers), Sailor Moon, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and the Cullen Family. Hilarity ensued. I rolled out of bed with very little time to slap my lunch together and defrost the windsheild before taking Lando to camp.

I forgot about breakfast so I picked up some Jamba Juice antioxidant juice and a breakfast wrap.

the wrap was actually very watery for some reason. I had to towel off after eating it :\

My lunch is a sandwich with some grapes and a snack will be an orange later.

My muscles are aching and I feel a little slow all around, but I can’t wait to get back on my mat tonight.

 

Tell me. . .

-ever had a bad workout day? how did you turn it around?

-what’s your favorite protein shake mixture?

-Ever try grapefruit? Do you like it?