you've got mud on your face......

so shiny and clean., originally uploaded by *** coleyB ***.

this weekend, robbo & i did the caveman crawl mud run. i <3 mud runs. i really do.

there were probably 6 mud runs i tried to sign up for this spring. between scheduling conflicts, events being sold out, cost and other family obligations, this one, caveman crawl is the only we have done this spring.

it's a good thing too. this is not one to be missed. 5k. 40 obstacles. robbo did the caveman extreme in the fall (with his brother.). but, this was my first caveman run.

it did not disappoint. it was totally fantastic!! and it was muddy. really muddy..... mud. lots of obstacles. hills. climbing. water. hot. hot. hot.








next mud run, i will bribe my brother to come along just to take pics....... or maybe we'll splurge and buy a waterproof camera case. any suggestions?

i'm sure i can't remember all 40 obstacles. here's what i can remember........

• climbing steep, dry "vains". anybody see 127 hrs? ok. not really anything like that. but, it still crossed my mind.
• a long, high "wooden plank walk". it was a bit precarious. max # of peeps?? i'm sure it was exceeded.
• "spider web crawl". classic.
• "triple threat" over & under in the mud. a mud puddle. swim under a pipe. then climb over tree roots. climbed through and over giant tractor tires. tractor tire to the top of some kinds of cement remnants.
• "lily pad" styrofoam island hoping.
• "mud river" this was a pretty long trek through shallow mud. some of it was knee / thigh deep. that always came as a surprise. it felt like quick sand. if you didn't keep moving it just sucked you in. whew.
• "rope wall" climb. another classic.
• "ladder crawl". nice steep crawl up a ladder up the side of a hill.
• "lake run". this had to be 1/4 mile walk / swim in the lake. swim? yeah.... parts of it were over 5 ft deep.
• "40 foot slide". famous. kinda like slip-n-slide as a kid. it was ah.some. i almost ran over the chick in front of me. yikes. what was i suppose to do? slow down? i mean, we were fine. just invaded her personal space. that's all.

well, like i said. i know that's not all 40 obstacles. maybe there weren't really 40. can you think of any more?

i loved having lots of obstacles...... the more obstacles, the less running. right?

before mud runs, i use to have a hard time swimming in texas lakes. the lakes i've been too do no look like lake tahoe. they are mostly muddy. reddish/brownish clay/dirt. you can't see 12 inches under water. ewe. as i swam under the pipe in the "triple threat" under/over obstacle, i thought ..... ha! swimming in lake? no.big.deal. ...... i have a whole new perspective. :)

shoe report: i wore my cute new balance minimus shoes. i've loved wearing them for all my other adventures. i am here to report ..... they sucked. they were terrible. seriously terrible. the mesh on the top is a pretty loose weave. north texas is mud is mostly rocks/pebbles. i don't think it could have been worse even if i ran barefoot. i will stick with vibram five fingers for mud runs from now on!!! lesson learned. .......




side note.......... last weekend, we went to the lake with some friends. i wake boarded for the first time. hard, but super fun. robbo stepped on a something (screw??) on the boat. he bled like a stuck pig. i mean. wow. it wasn't very deep, so no stitches. right on the heel .... not the back of the ankle, but the heel. ouch. we tapped it up hoping he'd be fine for the mud run ...... all this to say ...... between my running-on-rocks-shoes & robbo's lacerated heel, we were not in top condition.



we still had such fun. i guess these kinds of things make you me feel tough. not than any single obstacle was so hard or so scary, but it's not the kind of thing i test myself with everyday. maybe it's just getting dirty? that makes me tough. :)



happy monday.
coley

pomegranate eye serum

pomegranate eye serum, originally uploaded by *** coleyB ***.

oohhh..... i also made this last week..... the recipe for this is from gorgeously green by sophia uliano.

1/2 tbsp grapeseed oil
1/2 tsp pomegranate seed oil
1/2 tsp carrot seed oil
1/2 tsp wheat germ oil

i bought the grapeseed oil at a local organic grocer. should be fairly easy to find. i bought the wheat germ oil off of etsy and the pomegranate and carrot seed oil from mountain rose herbs.

overall, i really like this serum and am certainly hopeful that it help with puffiness and dark circles and fine lines around my eyes. but. i have to tell you...... it sorta stinks. i mean, literally. it doesn't smell good. i think it's the wheat germ mostly. i was hoping pomegranate would have a pretty smell. it doesn't.

so, 1, i'll get use to it and just live with it. or, 2, i'll add some other pretty, flowery oils just to make it smell better. :)

coley

cheek stain

i found this recipe at the velvet bird and knew i had to try it........... i love making homemade bath & beauty products, and i love stains. perfect.


this was so. easy.

2 medium size beets
3 tblsp of glycerin

robbo chopped the beets into 1 - 2 inch cubes. we put the beets and the glycerin in a medium size stainless steel mixing bowl. we created a double boiler by placing this mixing bowl over a medium size pot with water ..... filled it about 1/3 full. we stirred the beets every few minutes and heated it about 20 minutes. then, we strained the beets which left a lovely, dark, red glycerin stain. we let it cool and then bottled it up! i happen to have saved this little bottle ..... think it holds about 3 oz. it was the perfect size.

if you are wondering why robbo helped with this little project ............. 1. he's the king of the kitchen. 2. he doesn't exactly trust me to chop and boil anything. 3. he's the king of the kitchen.

happy sunday!!

coley

weigh in wednesday. 01 june 11.

154lbs. ok.

on with bigger news........................

today is my birthday. and, even better, robbo and i share a birthday!!! woot woot!!!

we are, in fact, the exact same age. robbo is older by 24 minutes. and, we have been celebrating our birthday together since we turned 16. how great is it to celebrate the best day ever, with the best person ever!?!? i am the luckiest girl in the world.






i think birthday's are important. i suppose this is influenced by the fact that i'm an obstetrician and get to celebrate birth.day's every day (or maybe believing in birthday's is what led me to be an ob??). what an honor it is to share these moments with my patients! no matter how many deliveries i've done, for this patient, this is a moment of a life time. it's history. it's a moment those parent's (and grandparent's and aunt's and uncle's and brother's and sister's) will never forget. and i get to be there. i love it.

and, we should celebrate every year. celebrate all that we've lived through. all the milestones we've overcome. all the adventures we have yet to experience. it's your day. it's a day to celebrate the importance of your existence. it's a declaration that you matter. that you are here and making a difference. who cares about age and how old you are?? those are just numbers. there is wisdom with age. there is dignity with wisdom. your beauty is more than skin deep. this is about celebrating you. the deep, inside, beautiful, brave you!!! so, celebrate with me. and robbo. :)

Source: google.com via Nicole on Pinterest

happy birthday to me! to robbo! to us!

we turned 36 years old this morning. we have spent 20 birth.day's together! i can't wait to spend the next 50 together!!!

happy wednesday,
coley

p.s. other details............. robbo was born at 6:27am central standard time. 6 weeks premature. i was born at 6:54am pacific standard time. on my due date. it was destiny.

weigh in wednesday. 25 may 11.

another weigh in wednesday......

looks like today i'm at 153 lbs.

this is where i was (wwaayyy) back in november...... before the back slide.

so, i'm pretty pumped. and i feel good. i can tell...... from 160# to 153#..... i look better. clothes fit better.

and as my dear robbo commented last week (when i was bummed for being "stuck" at 155#), there's more to it than just the numbers on the scale.........

we have been working out for the last 6 weeks, my workouts have already shown progress. so, a little weight loss and gained strength.... that's gotta say something. right?

after primal con, we decided to start working out again & what better plan than to follow the primal blueprint fitness plan.

it covers the 5 essential primal movements...
1.push up
2. pull up
3. squat
4. overhead press
5. plank

the week after primal con, we did the primal blueprint "ken korg's self assessment test"

here's how i did.......

push ups....... full "real" push ups. 11.
pull ups ..... no pull up bar...... but, i know i can't do any unassisted.
squats ...... 40 full squats.
overhead press ...... dive bombers. better start with just jack knife press.
plank..... forearm/feet plank. 62 seconds.

if you follow the primal blueprint plan, based on your assessment it gives you a starting place for your new training program. we've used this workout for 4 weeks for our heavy lift day.

here is what i did today. for the workout, you do 2 rounds of these 5 elements.

push ups....... knee pushups. 30.
pull ups....... we have been substituting kettlebells rows ..... until a suitable pullup station is constructed.
rows ...... 35 lb kettlebells. 12 rows.
squats ..... bench squat (or in my case, today was ball squat). 50.
overhead press...... first time to try jack knife press. one set of 20. second set i did elevated jack knife press. 20.
plank ...... hand/feet plank. 90 sec. ugh. so hard. this is the only core workout anybody ever needs.
side plank.......... forearm/feet. 45 sec.

about 2 min rest between sets. total workout ~ 30 min. once a week.

hand/feet plank pose.

in the four weeks, today was my first day to advance to jack knife press (from elevated jack knife) and first time to do side plank on forearms (from hand/feet side plank). pretty good progress. :)

the past 6 weeks, we have also been doing sprints once a week............ following the beginner sprint training plan from primal blueprint fitness. and the rest of the week... slow move & / or play...... lots of frisbee. walk. ride our bikes. slack line.

slack line.

playing frisbee at the park.

we even did stand up paddling for the first time about a week ago!! awesome!! :) wish i could go everyday............

stand up paddle boarding on lake grapevine.

what did you do this week?? anything new?

happy wednesday,
coley

weigh in wednesday. 18 may 11.

it's been forever since a weigh in wednesday, right?

so, the truth of the matter is that before primal con, robbo & i started sliding. we were probably 80/20 primal most days, but the 60/40 or the 50/50 days got to be more and more frequent....... i was back up to 160 lbs just before primal con.


and, here we are about 4 weeks out since primal con and back to 155 lbs..... still not my lowest ...... i feel good. we have done really well the last 4 weeks. i think we've really been 100% primal since primal con. and we are playing and moving more than we have in long time....... frisbee. sprints. primal blueprint fitness challenge. slackline. whatever else sounds fun..... i am anxious to see how things continue to change as we continue to live primally......




i hope you noticed i added a few new tabs also......
books ........ my favorite books. some life changing. some still worth recommending.

deliciosity ...... favorite foods. favorite recipes. :)

soaps & such ....... favorite d.i.y., eco friendly recipes for bath, beauty & cleaning.

happy tuesday,
coley.

reconnect.

at primal con, mark talked about his next project. he has a new book coming out (in a year or so....) about "reconnecting." his premise is ..... what's next? eating primal. moving. playing. taking care of ourselves... physically. but, what else? what he mentioned at primal con was this idea of reconnecting with the earth.

i'm excited, because this is where everything comes together for me....... several things have been changing all at once within me. i feel like i'm in a new place. growing to be a new person. a paradigm shift. it's my own reconnecting...........

one of the key moments that started these changes was reading the book serve God, save the planet by matthew sleeth. it changed my life. dramatic, i know. first, it is about living more sustainably from a Christian perspective. deep inside, this is something i've always questioned. it hasn't really been a struggle, but when i finally read this it made so much sense! second, it was written by an emergency room physician who has retired from medicine and gone on to teaching / speaking / writing about living a more sustainable lifestyle. i don't know, somehow i was able to identify with dr.sleeth's struggles of the expectations of how a dr. (or anyone successful) is suppose to live in our consumer focused society. this has been a struggle....... people think vibram boy and i are crazy for driving older cars and for buying the little house instead of a mcmansion.

so, back to the book.................. from a Biblical perspective, dr. sleeth talks about saving our earth's resources, spending more time with family and consuming less. this is all part of being a good steward for Christ. it's not just about tithing our 10% back to the church. right? it's being wise with our money and our time and our crap stuff. it's making good decisions and to not live beyond our means. to give generously to others. and, the earth's resources too.

this was completely eye awakening for me. of course! this is where it all started to come together........ we've always been conservative. safe investments. savings. don't overspend. pay off debt. i got it. i was a careful with money. all of a sudden, i understood why i recycled. why i tried to make things. to re-use and re-purpose things. why we didn't have television (we have lived without t.v. since we've been married. ok, a short stint when we moved and had 3 free months of cable...) i understood why i felt the deep down desire to consume less.

i want my house life to look like a magazine. i want nice things. the perfect kitchen, beds made, cozy living room, manicured yard. always ready for company with a pot roast in the oven. but, i've come to understand that there is a more important life out there.......... we all know this. we know life isn't really about the clothes or the cars or the big house, but, so many of us give into those things anyways. and, let's face it..... it's easy to do. especially in america. thank you product marketing.... magazines, ads, commercials, infomercials, billboards, junk mail (and they know..... i am a total. sucker. for good design.)

so, reading serve God, save the planet was the beginning to overcoming consumerism. how does this tie into being primal? it goes back to this idea of reconnecting. not too long after reading s.G.s.t.p. we also started reading mark's daily apple. we slowly worked our way into the primal lifestyle. and, kinda like being a good steward, isn't just about money......... being primal isn't just about eating meat. it's an entire lifestyle that gets to the roots behind what we are eating and why, and how we can best take care of ourselves. the primal blueprint offers suggestions on how to work out efficiently and be the strongest, leanest, healthiest body. mark addresses sleep and playing and living with less stress. it is an entire lifestyle that addresses how to live our healthiest life.

and, now mark wants to address my same question......... what else? what's next?

putting these things together is helping me focus on my own reconnecting............. what's next? reconnecting with God. reconnecting with people. with nature. with a simple, yet fulfilling life.

things we do now....... baby steps remember............. recycle. buy grass fed beef. buy seasonally. buy locally. buy organic (this could be a whole other blog topic....). support local businesses. use the library. i try to "upcycle" old clothes into new pieces. shop at goodwill or consignment or antique stores. shop at the local farmer's market. eat meat and vegetables. play outside...... walk, sprint, lift heavy things, frisbee, catch, hike, yoga. keep things low key..... honestly, we don't have much stress. sleep 8 hrs a night. yes, really (ok, my sleep schedule can be unpredictable...). avoid harmful ingredients (parabens, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfate, petrolatum, etc.) make bath & beauty products.... we make our own laundry soap, tooth paste, face wash, moisturizers, etc.

our ultimate 5 year plan.............. compost. garden. have chickens for eggs (and meat, i guess). goats for milk and meat. vibram boy says rabbits for meat ..... i'm not there yet......... bees for honey. collect rainwater. use grey water. have solar panels and wind turbines. to be 75% off the grid (maybe 100% off in 10 years). to be flexible, strong and healthy and maintain our ideal body weights. to live in a tiny house or airstream trailer or storage container. to be saving for retirement (my goal is to retire from medicine in 2018............ then i'll open a yarn store or yoga studio or sell eggs at the farmer's market).

other books i've read that just continue to support my new ideas (might be nice to post book reviews, huh?)........

the four agreements by don miguel ruiz.

the gifts of imperfection by brene brown.

affluenza: the all consuming epidemic by john de graff, david wann & thomas naylor.

the alchemist by paulo coelho.

the vegetarian myth by lierre keith.

topics may seem a little broad, but these books are part of my personal paradigm shift are helping me get to this place of living my most authentic self, living for God, living a healthy, sustainable life and keeping things simple.

how are you reconnecting??

happy wednesday.

vibram girl.