Who needs motivation?

February 14, 2015 CaitlynLeave a comment

Oh. I guess I need motivation. I mean, yeah, I’ve set tasks for myself that are totally doable. But you know what? Sometimes I just don’t feeeeeeeeel like doing that whole exercise thing. I mean, I love going for walks and doing yoga, but Chad has decided I need to run a half marathon or something. Yeah, you read that correctly. CHAD. DECIDED. I’M GOING TO RUN A HALF MARATHON. And he’s going to be my hard-ass trainer.

But I’ll tell you what: he’s really fricking good at motivating me. Not to mention inspiring me. For example, today we had a lovely lunch with old friends from Mie, and I drank enough beer to be on the tipsy side by 2:30 in the afternoon. I was silly and had beer with the knowledge that I was supposed to run 5K today in order to stick with the training plan Chad found for me. By the time we got home from running errands after lunch, the last thing I wanted to do was go for a run. The biggest thing on my mind was avoiding running today. I felt heavy and tired, and like there was no way I could get myself out the door. I struggled against Chad’s encouragement like a HUGE baby, playing up my puppy dog eyes as much as I could for sympathy, but to no avail.Chad got me out the door for my 5K, and I must say, albeit sheepishly, I had a really nice time. The first few minutes, I told myself, “You are being good to your body. Your body is thanking you.” And after that, I was able to enjoy the rest of the run.

Chad is an awesome Valentine (not to mention an awesome husband!) because he encourages me to be the best version of me, no matter how stubborn I get (and just ask him, I can get really stubborn!). He helps me set goals for myself, even if I don’t want to at first, and helps me achieve them. I’m not really sure why I try to fight against things that are good for me, but I am sure that I am super lucky to have someone like Chad in my life. He encourages me to follow-through with things and to work to make my goals reality. I’ve witnessed him work for his dreams time and time again, like back when he ran the Kobe marathon, got his black belt in judo, or ran the Detroit marathon. And I’m not just talking about fitness goals. This guy can seriously do anything he puts his mind to. And who doesn’t want to be like that?

I think it’s important to surround yourself with people who help motivate you, inspire you and lift you up. Chad is one example in my life. Who are some examples in yours?

Happy Valentines Day loves!
xxCaitlyn

P.S. Have you ever given or received a locket as a symbol of affection? Read some interesting locket history here!

P.P.S. Did you know there’s a downside to Love Locks? Learn about it here, and enjoy the alternative ideas for showing your eternal love 😉

Around Town/Bookspiration: My Fishy, Muddy Weekend

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014 Caitlyn5 Comments

After a bit of a rough patch there, I decided I should read something uplifting and funny, so I chose to go with Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. It was funny in parts, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say uplifting. There were, however, quite a few parts in which I found myself nodding, saying to myself, “YES! EXACTLY!” For example, in the story “Loggerheads,” Sedaris describes a time in which he comes across a monkey in a national forest in Japan. I could relate to his feeling of being in awe of animals and nature, of that feeling like time stops in that rare, surprising moment. Sedaris writes, “…part of the thrill was being accepted, which is to say, not feared. It allowed you to think that you and this creature had a special relationship, a juvenile thought but one that brings with it a definite comfort” (59).

I also loved the story “Standing By,” not only because it described airplane travel in ways I could COMPLETELY relate to, but because it made me laugh out loud a lot. The last story that stood out to me was “Day In, Day Out.” In this story, Sedaris talks about his writing habits, and about rereading old journals. He writes:

“…that’s the terrible power of a diary: it not only calls forth the person you used to be, but rubs your nose in him, reminding you that not all change is evolutionary. More often than not, you didn’t learn from your mistakes. You didn’t get wiser, but simply older, growing from the twenty-five-year-old who got stoned and accidentally peed on his friend Katherine’s kitten to the thirty-five-year-old who got drunk and peed in the sandbox at his old elementary school. ‘The sandbox!’ my sister Amy said at the time. ‘Don’t you realize that children have to pee in there?'” (229).

Sometimes rereading old journals definitely makes you feel that way! Though I like to think I’ve been learning something along the way, journals do sometimes “rub your nose” in some of the less-than-good choices you made or in unfortunate situations you experienced.

In Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, Sedaris talks a lot about his time living in England, so I convinced Chad we should have Fish and Chips for dinner Friday at Fish X2 in Spring Lake.

Fish X2 is a fish, seafood and chicken restaurant right off of the expressway from Grand Haven to Spring Lake. They have a special Hurricane Sauce, allow you to bring in your own fish to be cooked up in their kitchen, and have won an award for a salmon dish at the Salmon Festival.

We chose to go with their Friday Catfish special, each getting a Mate’s Basket. The baskets come with fries or slaw, homemade sauce and a slice of lemon. You can also substitute sweet potato fries for an additional dollar.

The inside of the restaurant is very open and clean, with no fishy smells at all (always a good sign!). Every time we’ve gone to Fish X2, the staff has always been very friendly and helpful, creating a very inviting atmosphere. Fish X2 also has nice, cozy outdoor seating for the summer time. We decided to bring our meals to a nearby park/boat docking area, but it was nice to sit in the sunshine while we waited for our meals to be prepared.We waited about ten minutes for our Captain’s Baskets, but who minds that when you’re about to get a fresh-cooked meal? Once we had our to-go bag, we headed across the street to Mill Point Park and Boat Launch. There couldn’t be a nicer day for a picnic!

We dove into our meals. Sadly, Fish X2 was out of sweet potato fries (which happened the last time we were there in February, too!), so we both opted for their regular fries. Additionally, only one of our baskets came with sauce and a lemon slice! Fortunately, Fish X2’s normal fries are really yummy, and we were able to split the sauce and lemon out of one basket.The catfish was perfectly salty, while also light and fresh tasting. While it’s very easy to have greasy “fish and chips,” our meal at Fish X2 seemed to be a perfect balance of an airy batter, flaky, fresh fish, and not-too-crunchy, not-too-soft fries. Yum!

Separate from our book-inspired outing was an adventure I had the next day in Kalamazoo!

Some of my fellow baristas and I decided to do the Kalamazoo Mud Run. It was definitely an interesting 5K, with lots of obstacles I never saw myself trying out (and with lots of unintentional mud-tasting!). I had a lot of fun with my Green Apron girls, evidence of which can be seen on Alex’s blog, here! While I was definitely more comfortable with the “fishy” part of my weekend, the “muddy” part was quite an experience, too!

What did you try this weekend?

Uncategorized

Nothing like suspense to get you running!

March 28, 2013March 31, 2013 Caitlyn2 Comments

So nearly a year ago I became more serious about running and bought a new pair of shoes. I was back in the states for a little over a week, so I was able to get what I thought was my size in what I thought was a good shoe. I think the shoes (Asics) were probably pretty good, though the salesmen clearly had no idea what he was talking about. Unfortunately for me, though, when I got back to Japan, the shoes felt too small! I know now that the fit can depend on the time of the day you try them on, and that there should actually be room between your toe and the front of the shoe and so on, but I was kind of out of luck because it is nearly impossible to find my size in Japan. I ended up running my first 10K in October for the RUN10FEED10 race in those shoes, and then continued running in them until my knees started hurting (my last run was on New Year’s Day). After going to the clinic last week, I was told I could still run as long as I had supportive shoes and stopped if my knees hurt while running. Then, coincidentally, yesterday I actually found my size running shoe! I promised Chad that if I could buy new shoes, I would start running again, four times a week, with a minimum of 2 miles each time.

These are my new, beautiful Nike Lunar Glides.

I wanted to be smarter this time than the last time I bought shoes, so I looked up lists of top running shoes and watched a video review of these on runnersworld.com. I also spoke extensively–at least, as extensively as my poor Japanese would allow–to the salesperson and she helped me a lot. (She, unlike the guy I had spoken to in the states, seemed to know what she was talking about!) Today was a moment of truth as I headed out the door for my first run in them. And…it was great!

I usually run about a ten minute mile comfortably, so I was happy with my time today after having taken a break from running for a couple of months. The shoes felt amazing–very light, yet supportive. Also amazing was revisiting an Old Time Radio Show I used to listen to called Suspense!.

Source

Although I sometimes listen to music while running, I usually prefer to listen to podcasts. Last weekend I was listening to The Story on NPR and they were talking about Old Time Radio shows, so I decided to start listening to them again. I chose a particularly eery episode of Suspense! called “Zero Hour” (you can download it for free on iTunes, if you’d like!) to run to today. Nothing to distract you from any running discomfort like an episode of Suspense!, I’ll tell you that much! I barely noticed I was running, and if I did I usually still felt happy because there were so many Cherry Blossom trees blooming everywhere.

Do you like running? If so, what do you like to listen to while you run?