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Bacon at the spa, and your potential
This post is a few days late, but better late than never, right?
I’m in this awkward transition between a PC and a Mac. I’m using my husband’s old Macbook Pro, but I have a love affair with Windows Live Writer and Microsoft Office. For Valentine’s day, Mark put Microsoft Word on my Mac. True love.
And I got flowers. ;)
So anyway, I’m currently using MarsEdit which SUCKS compared to WLW but the reason is that I’m using RAW format on my pictures and my PC hates RAW (formatting them is a real pain). I’m in the in between! The awkward in between of PC and Mac world. Things were easier back when I used my Powershot, jpegs, and WLW. Oh the olden days.
I’ll drink to that. Ok – I know that green concoction looks weird but trust me. That Key Lime Cream Liqueur is pretty incredible. I mixed it with club soda and Malibu banana rum. It’s like a key lime banana pie. I thought I was drinking coconut rum. Until I looked at this picture 4 days later and that is definitely not coconut. Whatever, it was GOOD.
I know there are some boys reading this thinking “frou frou girly drink,” but my husband is a warm blooded manly man and attests to the goodness of my girly mixed drinks. He will also attest to my craziness … but he married me so it can’t be that bad. Right?
Right?
The glass is a toast to Boston Legal! (The only TV legal series that I have ever watched and not wanted to kick the screen)
Oh yeah, so here is where I explain that I drank that drink and made this meal a few days ago – Friday to be exact, when my friend Robin came over.
Brace yourselves: Bacon lies ahead.
Asparagus wrapped in bacon.
The asparagus looks like it’s wrapped in little bathrobes of bacon. It’s like a spa retreat for asparagus, and instead of choosing the seaweed wrap, the asparagus chose bacon.
Maybe asparagus is onto something.
On the side… Er… Rather, the main course was spaghetti squash with coconut encrusted tilapia.
I dunked tilapia fillets in coconut milk and then pressed it into a bowl of curry + shredded unsweetened coconut. Then I pan fried it until the coconut browned. I came very close to burning it (that frou frou girly drink has an effect on my attention span).
It was super yummy. I recreated the coconut curry ensemble a day later with shrimp. It’s a classic combination that works well with white fish and shrimp, but I bet I could get it to work very well with chicken too.
Look, Robin is hanging out with Jemaine and Bret! Robin asked me who my favorite is, and it’s definitely Jemaine.
Don’t tell Mark! (Isn’t Robin beautiful?)
Running Stuff
I’m excited to tell you all about how great my running has been the last few days. My half marathon plan is pretty aggressive and challenging. Just looking at last week’s workouts intimidated me:
4 x 800m @ 7:15 pace
4 miles at 8:08 pace
8 miles at 8:53 pace
Really, anything under a 9 minute mile scares me. My 9 minute mile is my comfort zone. Hell, I feel fine doing 8 minute mile paces for repeats.
But you know what? The last time I was sore from running was probably a year ago when I was running 18 -20 mile training runs for my marathon. It’s not good to get TOO comfortable. And that’s why I’m glad I chose a challenge for this training plan. I did the long run of 8 miles this weekend and was just barely sore. That tells me something – I’m training where I’m only SLIGHTLY uncomfortable and that’s great. But it also tells me that I could be so much stronger, so much faster, if I just keep pushing myself. I just need to keep telling myself that.
Really, if you think about it, our strength is a function of our current strength plus an unknown amount: Strength = Known strength + unknown increase
We can always be stronger, and faster. The question is, how much? Not knowing where my potential ends is exciting. Hell, not knowing where Michael Phelps’ potential ends is exciting. Isn’t that why we watch the Olympics?
You will never know how strong or fast you can be until you try. Just trying to complete the workouts above was fun for that fact – but even more fun was discovering that I could complete them. I was stronger and faster than I thought.
I bet you can surprise yourself, too.
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Just Do It
I learned a couple of things about motivation yesterday:
1. Just writing about how I lost my groove made me feel better.
2. Sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other is what you have to do. Jillian Michaels posted a video of her podcast production on her Facebook wall facetiously, but Janice has a point. “Don’t wait to feel better to go to the gym, go to the gym to feel better.” Just do it (as Nike says).
Today, I put one foot in front of the other, over and over, on the treadmill and did 5.5 miles. Running means a lot of things to me, but one of the best parts is how it erases my self-doubt and increases positive thinking. There is nothing that so instantly helps my self image and body image the way a good run or workout does.
I came home the other day and saw this book laying on the table:
Mark hadn’t mentioned that he was looking into this or wanting to buy it so I was really surprised. It turns out, his employer just gave it to him.
It’s quite the volume. (my iPhone to show how fat the book is)
On first glance, I assumed this was a book about some kind of diet plan. Inside, however, is quite the mixed bag.
The book starts with some chapters related to fat loss, nutrition, and working out. Then there is a section called, “The 15-Minute Female Orgasm,” “The Sex Machine.” The book then dabbles in injury prevention, ultramarathoning, breaking lifting records, learning how to swim in 2 days, and even holding your breath under water.
I have no idea why the book is called “The Four Hour Body” right now. I guess I have some reading to do.
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A Case of the I Don’t Wannas
Lately I avoid writing a blog post when I’m moody. This is probably why you haven’t seen much of me in the last month!
I am feeling moody and unmotivated when it comes to eating well and working out.
Well… I care, but apparently I don’t care enough? I can’t really figure out what my deal is, or how to get my groove back. I have a major case of the I-Don’t-Wannas. I don’t want to make my lunch for tomorrow so that i have something healthy to eat. I don’t want to cook a healthy dinner. I don’t want to go running. I don’t want to track my food intake. However, I do want to eat ice cream. I do want to sit on my butt and watch tv. This is fine for a day or two, but we’re going on a week now.
Emotional eating is in full force and I really related to this post. Emotional eating isn’t about feeding anything other than feeding feelings. And emotional eating doesn’t help anything, it actually just makes things worse.
On another note, you all know how I feel about artificial sweeteners, (or maybe you don’t, so to summarize: I’m ambivalent) but I keep getting assaulted by information telling me that artificial sweeteners are bad. And, once again, I’m back on the sauce, but all the negative information has motivated me to stop consuming artificial sweeteners again. I stocked up on some of this:
It’s just water and natural flavor. No sweetener. I used to think it was disgusting but now I like it. Strange. Anyway, I’m hoping it helps.
I’m also hoping that you can help me. How do you stay motivated?
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How to Run Faster
I recently mentioned that I am planning to run two half marathons this spring – the St. Louis Half Marathon in April and the Lincoln Half Marathon in May.
Since you read this blog, you might have an interest in running. If you are interested in running, 100% of you would like to run faster. That’s what my crystal ball says.
I have a treadmill set up that really works well for me. It’s nice to be able to stumble downstairs and hop on – especially when my town is covered in ice.
As you can see, I have a treadmill directly set up in front of a tv. I don’t mess around.
I also have a large fan next to me to keep me comfortable.
Here’s the view. It’s a Nordic Track treadmill. ( I don’t remember what kind but if you want to know just ask and I’ll find out.) Notice the double cup holders. Those are important.
On the arm of the treadmill, I have a pace conversion chart so that I don’t have to do any math.
Ok, now to explain the magic of dual cupholders. Sometimes I do more complicated speed workouts.
Exhibit A is from last year’s marathon training: “10-20 w/u, 6 x 400 (200 RI), 4 x 400 (200 RI), 10 c/d.”
OMG. What does that even mean? 10-20 minutes warm up running, 6 repeats (a repeat is a fast run, for me it’s under 8 min miles) of 400 meters a piece, 200 meter recovery interval (a jog) in between each, 4 repeats of 400 meters each, 200 meter recovery jogs in between each, and 10 minutes of cooling down running.
It’s hard to keep track! So for each repeat, I move pennies from one cup holder to the next. Then, my mind is free to wander! (Or to watch Jerseylicious on TV, as the case may be…)
So… okay. That’s how I run at home. How does that help you?
Answer: It doesn’t. Not very much. Except it might help you a little bit?
Anyway, the secret to running fast!
The secret to running faster… is….
To run faster.
Yep. That’s it. I know, it sounds overly simplistic.
Any advice you’re going to get is going to boil down to that. You might hear advice to do tempo runs, fartleks (aka speed play), interval training, and so on. Basically, you need to get uncomfortable, to push yourself, over and over. Soon, your level of comfort is going to change. Your body will adapt, so that you will be ready for more speed. Your comfort level will change, increasing as you become stronger.
One of my goals is to someday qualify for the Boston marathon. My average runs are half a minute slower (about 9 minute miles) than the pace I would need to run for an entire marathon (8:23). Obviously I need to get a lot faster. Speed workouts, like intervals, definitely help me get used to running faster. Tempo runs help me run faster, and maintain that speed for a much longer period. I need both to learn to run faster.
Another way to help raise my comfort level with more speed is to lose some weight. This is simple physics. It takes less work to move an object with a lower mass. But, I think there is a happy medium – lose too much weight, and you risk losing muscle mass. I’m looking to lose 15-20 pounds… depending on how much I weigh on a given day
I also need to stay injury free. You can’t get faster when you’re injured, so stretching and listening to your body is important.
Happy running! If you would like me to explain anything else, hit me up in the comments or email me at michelle.stgermain at gmail dot com.
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Why I Left the Law
“Why did I even start” is probably a better question!
I practiced law for 2.5 years after I graduated and passed the Missouri bar in 2006. I had no idea what I was in for.
Writing a post about why I left the law is tricky. I don’t completely point my finger at the law firm I worked for after I graduated, at myself due to my personal preferences, or at the general malaise of law firm life – I know that my leaving the law was a combination of those things together.
That being said, here’s the gist of why I left, and why I haven’t gone back:
- Lack of work-life balance
I could give concrete examples of my experience to prove how out of whack a lawyer’s work-life balance is. But my specific examples are no different than the majority of lawyers: they have no personal life. Vacation is discouraged and often weekends are spent working. You go into work early and leave late. Yes, you can always take work home, but law firms are very traditional and it is more important to be physically at the office.
In order to be a successful lawyer, it really helps if you are more of the live-to-work type than the work-to-live type. I learned that I was more the latter type. At least, I thought I was when work was something I hated.
The firm I worked for had rather “mild” hours compared to some others. However, the easier hours were perhaps a compensation for the constant pressures to bring in more clients and the billable hour standards.
- Income
This is going to shock a lot of people, but most lawyers don’t get paid what you think they do. I’m not lying – some lawyers ARE paid very well. But a lot of lawyers don’t get paid more than you. My husband, a computer engineer, made much more than I did. Money isn’t everything to me, but spending a lot of time at the office and leaving with the paycheck that I got was not worth it to me. While my bank account sees less money now than it did when I was practicing law, I make more per hour.
- Constant conflict
Being a lawyer is like being a warrior in a suit. Every day, you prepare for battle. I was in court almost every single day. I was in depositions every week. But I hated conflict. I enjoyed settling cases much more than I did arguing with opposing counsel. Often, I faced middle-aged men that seemed to think they could bully me. What they didn’t know was that I couldn’t be bullied, but bickering with them made me start to hate practicing law even more. I noticed that fighting back against bullies was making my life more difficult. But I didn’t have much choice in my position. It’s not news that lawyers are awful. But for some reason it was for me. Nowadays, I feel a little cheeky when I call myself a quick learner…
Not long after I left the law, I took theStrengthsfinder personality test. The test tells you what your strengths are. My first strength was “Harmony.” In other words, I hate conflict. Before I went to law school, I wanted to be a judge. To be a judge, you need to practice law for quite a while. Life lesson: Doing something you hate for 60 hours a week for several years, just for the chance to do something you might like, is a bad idea. In many situations, I am able to advocate for both sides. You would think this makes me a good advocate – instead, it made me see the other side no matter what side I was on. This is a strength, however, in fields other than advocacy.
- Anxiety/Stress
It didn’t take long before I realized there was something incredibly wrong with my career choice. Every night I woke up in the middle of the night, sometimes several times, worried about one of my cases – sometimes it would be a totally random case, or one that had a hearing that day.
As I became more responsible for cases, jury trial dates loomed on my calendar – that meant I would be responsible for trying cases by myself. This is the natural order of things. Some lawyers might complain that they don’t get enough courtroom experience; personally, I would have liked a MUCH longer period of getting my feet wet before I dove in. That’s just how I am.I didn’t talk about my anxiety much though, so it came as a surprise to my family and maybe some of my friends and definitely the firm I worked for. The month leading up to my resignation was one of the worst experiences in my career. I had been trying to “make do” for about a year, when one day I realized that twice that week I had driven home sobbing because I hated my job so much. I realized that I was going to have to leave my job and waiting around longer for things to get better wasn’t an option anymore.
I didn’t wake up one day and decide to leave. I had woken up every day for two and a half of years and decided not to quit that day.It was time to stop making that decision.
Frequently Asked Questions:- Why don’t you be a mediator? A: For the same reason it would be impossible for me to be a judge. This is a position that requires many more years of advocacy experience, and that is not a cost I am willing to pay.
- Why don’t you go into another field of law?A: I was in litigation primarily, so this is a fair question. I got experience in many different practice areas (I am truly grateful for that). To be a non-litigator, or transactional type lawyer, I would have had to start afresh in a new field. This is tough to do at any time. I thought about this while I was in litigation. However, I am not sure I would have enjoyed this either; the practice areas I touched in litigation were the areas that I liked in law school the most. All that said, if the opportunity to engage in transactional law came to me, I would consider it. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard of any opportunities. Perhaps the recruiters have lost my phone number. (That was sarcasm.)
- Are you going to go back and practice?A: No. However, I’m about as sure about that as I was about practicing law in the first place, so I’ve learned to never say never and never say always.
I am currently licensed, active, but not practicing. - What do you do now? A: I’m a technical writer for the IT department of a large St. Louis-based company. I like it because I get to use my writing and logical thinking skills. Also, I think I am a perennial student. This job lets me learn new things – there is always something new for me to learn about technology. It’s another reason I like blogging – I don’t know what the hell I’m doing most of the time. I work full-time, 40 hours a week. The IT field is considerably less stressful than the legal field. That makes for a happy Michelle.
- Why did you go to law school in the first place?A: I guess it started with being on the debate team in high school. I liked abstract thinking, writing, and I wasn’t afraid of public speaking. I had a knack for writing especially, but I never thought I would be able to cut it as a writer. So I thought law was the more bankable option. It was a cop out.
- Isn’t that a lot of time/money/investment to just throw it away?A: I don’t really think this is a question, just a judgment. And if there is a single person out there who hasn’t spent time and/or money on something and not had it work out the way they planned, please, let me know who you are – that should go in the Guinness Book of World Records. Seriously – break ups, divorces, career changes, movie flops, business failures, happen every day. Shit happens. I’m only one of thousands of law school graduates every year who decided that law was a bad idea. Check out JD Underground. Happy lawyers are a minority. It is not my fault that being a lawyer is a total disappointment. I do take responsibility for not knowing better in advance. Live and learn.
- Was your family supportive?A: I am extremely lucky to have an incredibly supportive family. Mark was extremely supportive. Obviously, he knew the most about my daily anguish – my stress came home with me. My parents and other family members were surprised, I think. Sometimes I think people get used to seeing you a certain way, and defining you by your career. That’s especially true with lawyers, doctors, nurses, firefighters, and many other professional specialties. I think it makes people a little bit uncomfortable to define you as something different. The shock just takes a bit to wear off.
- What about law school debt?A: I went to a state law school where I qualified as a resident, however, I still have law school debt. I continue to pay my loans. I do accept charity.
If you have more questions, please ask away!
READ MY FOLLOW UP POST, HOW I LEFT THE LAW.
About Me
My name is Michelle and I like to write about running, food, and fitness in general. Check out my About Michelle section for more!
