Weekly Workouts: 1/9-1/16

This week's recap includes two Mondays; we didn't have work today and pushed our long run back from Sunday because I was working at Matt's studio all weekend during the art festival! I'll post about that later probably. For now, here's this week:

Monday: It's been awhile, but I made Elizabeth promise to hold me accountable for cross training at school. We did two rounds of the core workout below and then I spent a few hours building our kitchen island.

// CORE FINISHERS ✖SIX PLANK VARIATIONS ⚡⚡// Aim for 3 sets and 20 seconds of these six exercises for a core burn. 💥 #fitfam #plank #core #fitgirlvideos #bodyweighttraining #bodyshopstrong

A video posted by Elise Young (@elisesbodyshop) on Jan 3, 2017 at 9:38am PST

Tuesday: My thighs were feeling Monday's workout! Tuesday's run felt fantastic; it was the first time we kept a really speedy pace since my calf issues. So liberating!

Wednesday: Rest day. I was in Sarasota all day for work; when I got back I went straight to an art showcase Matt was participating in. It was so fun to be his lovely assistant while he worked on the wheel.

Thursday: Another flat four miles. My legs are starting to feel what being back in training means, but in a good way. Lots of good, non-injured, happily-used muscle soreness going on.

Friday: Rest...Our friend Oden was in town and we went out to dinner. I began to notice some tightness in my lungs and wondered if there were some fires nearby, so I didn't mind the rest day.

Saturday: I got up and ran 4 miles alone before heading to Upriver Ceramics for a full day of schmoozing and selling art! My lungs weren't great and I started prednisone doses that afternoon. We met Oden and Todd afterward for dinner, drinks, and mini golf.

I stayed VERY hydrated on Saturday night...hence our long run moving to Monday! I also got two holes-in-one!

Sunday: Another long day (10-5) on my feet at the studio. My feet and legs were tired!

Monday: Elizabeth and I ran a nice 9.4 miles in the morning. We got to start a little late (8am) because it was "cool" and overcast. My lungs weren't great but they were better controlled than Saturday. I ran with my inhaler but didn't need it. My legs are still feeling strong and happy!

We look a mess.

Total miles: 21

Over all this was a great week! I'm so glad we got a real long run in because we have just about four weeks to race day, so it's crunch time! Our training was pretty derailed over winter break and we've had to make some major adjustments, but I still think our goal is within reach.

ABK

TOL - Just Some Things

Today I'm linking up with Amanda at Running with Spoons to share some random thoughts.

1. More kitchen stuff! Our kitchen island came! I spent over four hours putting it together all by myself. It was a pain because the instructions weren't clear about which way certain boards had to face, so I ended up taking it apart and starting over twice.

I insisted on building this all alone and it SUCKED but now I feel like I can do anything!

But it's gorgeous! I built the doors and drawer and lifted the granite top (which is real granite and so freaking heavy) and everything! I was pretty proud.

It was really hard to get a good angle in these photos but you get the idea!

I've already used it to prep breakfast and dinner and I'm so glad I finally decided to just jump in and buy one - Matt and I had debated getting an island for months but it was definitely the right choice. 

2. Self-love. This week I realized how far I've come in the "body acceptance" area of my life. Like, I've finally gone from "acceptance" to full on embracing my body.

Instagram always brings up a lot of fitness accounts when I'm scrolling through searching for new people to follow, and often that means "fitspo"-type posts come up. Looking at some of those photos this week, I found that I wasn't comparing myself to IG accounts of perfectly fit or impossibly thin women.

I've spoken only briefly of it in the past, but I've dealt with disordered eating and I was surprised and proud to see that my mindset has finally naturally shifted away from wanting a waif-like body. (Some people are naturally waif-like, and that's fine, but that's not me.) I've never been happier with where my body is and what it's capable of, and it felt really good to avoid that comparison trap completely without having to consciously readjust my mindset.

3. RUNNING! Getting four runs in last week, even if our "long run" was shorter than planned, felt so good. I told Elizabeth after one of my two runs in late December that my body and mind felt good after running even if my legs didn't - I forget how important running is to my over-all wellbeing. I am so, so happy to be running again.

It feels great to be back!

Elizabeth raised a good point when so many people teased us for wearing long sleeves on our run Sunday...It literally goes from 80+ degrees to 50s overnight in Florida. We never acclimate to winter properly because the temperature drops 30 degrees without warning! That makes me feel better about how cold I felt!

4. Conversations on the run. While running one afternoon, Elizabeth and I received a few more honks than usual. (One of them was very encouraging and called out, "Keep it up, girls!" but the rest were just obnoxious as usual.)

We'd been having a normal running conversation, but eventually I couldn't ignore how strange it was that we'd received more honks during this one run than on the last dozen combined.

Me: "I wonder if we look really good right now, or if we look like we're dying and need to be woken up. Or if they think this is our New Year's resolution and they're trying to encourage us?"

E: "I wonder if they'd honk at us if they knew we were talking about poop."

I died laughing. Seriously! I imagine the people who honk and catcall would be pretty surprised if we turned around and told them we'd been talking about how running wreaks havoc on your intestinal tract.

We joked a little bit about maybe getting shirts that say WE'RE TALKING ABOUT POOP on the back so drivers have fair warning. It might make a good deterrent!

5. Candids. And, just because, here's an outtake from our workout picture from Monday. An old student had stopped by as we finished up, so he took the photo, and we were joking around about how we should pose.

Me: Let's look really sad that our arms hurt now. E: You are a dork.

What are some random things going on in your life this week?
Have you ever built furniture? (IKEA counts!)

ABK

Kitchen Updates!

Well, it's been over a year since we got started on this project, but the kitchen is finally...done? I mean, we still have hardware to install on the cabinets and I'd still like a new fan...and the breakfast nook is still being used for storage...but the kitchen itself - backsplash, kickboards, and trim - are finished!

My goal is to have it all done by Passover this year, and we are slowly but surely coming to the end of this project. Good thing we've started another to fill up all that free time we'll have now! (More on that in another post.)

Here is what we started with when we moved in, June 2014:

The numbers are things we wanted to fix. See below.

1: eliminate space above the cabinets
2: take out the wall behind the sink that separates the kitchen from the living room
3: move the appliances (this corner construction was idiotic) and get new ones
4: new cabinets that don't all open in the same direction and aren't from the 1970s
5: new countertops

Here's what the kitchen looked like when we got started on the backsplash:

Cabinets, appliances, layout, counter, and wall are all taken care of!

The backsplash took about three days start-to-finish. First, we met Dave and Tammy at Floor & Decor to pick up our supplies. We finally found a backsplash Matt and I could agree on - he finally agreed to white after we brought home some samples and decided it fit our kitchen best.

We wanted subway tile originally, but both agreed the quartz/marble white/gray looked best and was best for resale.

We also picked up thin set, grout (we had to pick a color for that too! Who knew?), and sealant.

Then, as we got started, we realized we'd need a real wet saw to cut the tiles accurately, so Dave and Matt went off to rent one while Tammy and I did what we could with the full sheets, individual tiles, and a tile-clipper tool.

Before: bare walls.

We worked into the evening. Once I learned how to properly go through all the steps, it was fairly easy. Tammy and I did the majority of the actual tile-laying while Matt and Dave cut tiles to our specifications so they'd fit perfectly. When the backsplash was done, I sealed it for the first time.

Matt and Dave measure the first set of cuts for the pass-through wall. 

Fitting everything around the sockets was the hardest part, but Tammy and I are pros now!

Matt using the wet saw after sunset with Tammy's help as the lantern-holder.

The next day (Day 2: New Year's Eve) Matt and I grouted the kitchen. My shoulders were so tired and weak from the previous day! We managed to get it all done, let it set, and wipe it down...by the time we were done, it was past midnight and officially 2017. I sealed it a second time and we called it a night.

The grout was the hardest part...not grouting itself, but scrubbing it off afterward!

Some close-ups!

The next day I mixed up one last batch of grout to fill in any little crannies that needed patching. And then...IT WAS DONE! Kind of. Here's the "finished" product:

We changed our outlet covers to stainless steel to match the rest of the appliances.

On the Monday following New Years, Elizabeth and Roniel came over so Roniel could work on our next project and help us get started on that, but he also installed our kickboards and finishing "trim" under the high cabinets.

This was a job I thought would take a few hours; when I told Tammy that, she laughed at me - with good reason! I'm amazed at how much work it took! But I felt really accomplished when we had finished, and I love how it looks! And I especially love that we did it all ourselves! The mini wall behind the sink was completely my work (other than the cutting), so I can look at that perfect little space and know I did that.

I am ecstatic that this project is nearly finished! The kitchen itself is done; we're down to the finishing touches. It's been fun, but I'm going to be so glad when we can stop thinking about "what's next" for this room in the house.

Do you enjoy DIY projects?
Have you ever tiled anything in your house?
Do you prefer DIY or hiring experts?

ABK