Saturday, March 28, 2015

My trainer and hair-do catch up.

Brian and I are officially signed up for the Johnstown Flood Half Marathon. We like to try to run one race a year--they can get pricey. Last year we ran the Pittsburgh Wild Trail (read about it here), which was fun once I realized there was no way the hills and trails of Allegheny County would allow me to break two hours, despite following a training schedule. However, I have hopes for the Johnstown half!
I've been trying to exercise regularly for quite a while, and I've been good at doing something most days, whether it's kickboxing, squats and abs, or running. But I knew I'd have to train with at least longer runs for the half, so I researched a feasible training schedule to get me ready for a sub-two-hour half (9:09 min/mile). I'm generally following this plan whose details can be read here. I love the variety of workouts and that I run 13 miles twice before race day. I only had 11 to train when I started, so I had to shorten it a little. I also shifted the long runs to Thursdays. Also, it's very easy to adjust the plan according to your current fitness level and goal half time. Here are the first few weeks of my plan that I customized for my goal.
I've completed every workout except one cross train day. This is really great for me but it remarkably hasn't been very hard. I seriously have come to regard this training schedule as my personal trainer. It knows how fast, how long, how hard I think I can run, and then it says, "Well, I know you ran six miles last night, but I also know you can run ten miles this morning" or "Of course you can run four miles at a sub-nine-minute pace along with three other miles!" And the best part is, it's right. I look at my schedule, and it's almost like I'm talking to it with my thoughts: Woah, it's gonna be hard to run three miles that fast in the middle of that workout. Especially after eating all this candy and not getting enough sleep. But then I do run those three miles, even faster than my schedule told me to! I already feel faster and stronger, which just goes to show that my schedule knows best. I don't even question or think about it--I just follow the schedule. And I'm happily sore pretty much every day :)

On to the hair.
Probably my favorite hair style yet because it was easy (I think I curled just the ends), fast, and beautiful! Difficulty: easy. Just take the top part and bobby pin it back and then alternate hair from each side and pin it. The previous pin is covered by the hair you pull over from the other side. Then curl the bottom! Durability: five stars. Stays in through everything except sleeping. And probably a hurricane. Time: Ten minutes maybe? Way less if your hair is already curled.


Fishtail side braid
Layers and this do don't mix. Yikes. Difficulty: Not bad, but my arms start to ache if I make it too tight and take tiny pieces. It looks cooler then though. Durability: Negative. I redid it like three times in the car to church. It just would not stay in with my layers. Time: Five minutes or less. It was nice I didn't have to straighten or curl it first--I just worked with my hair as is. Maybe why it wouldn't stay in?


 Side Messy Bun
I like how the girl on the blog did this hairstyle to work out in. Difficulty: It took me a few times to get the french  braid to look right and to go to the right place, and actually looking at the directions I didn't do it right, but it turned out fine. My bun also wasn't as messy as I would have liked, but overall it wasn't too hard. I give it three stars out of five, five being the hardest. Durability: Super durable! Time: 15-20 minutes with my redos...


 Braided bun
Love, love, love how this turned out. And I actually did it again for work one day (with less success), so you know it has to be quick and easy. Difficulty: easy! I can do simple braids and wraps them around each other! And the directions were good. Durability: really awesome the first time I did it. I must have put the bobby pins in good places. Time: Five minutes.


Upside-down Braid bun
Okay, so no, mine does not look like hers. But this was my first semi-success at doing this! I think I just need to take smaller pieces as I'm braiding up. Difficulty: hard.. Durability: very. Time: depends how many redos, but it should only take like five to ten.

 Lace braid with loose curls
Oops, you can totally see where I forgot to take hair on one part. Oh well! I like doing different things with French braids. Difficulty: easy, just only take hair from the top part of your head (aka every other time that you would normally add hair in a french braid). Curls were from the night before! Durability: Very durable. It goes into a braid that comes over my shoulder, so there was no chance of it falling out. Time: Five minutes.


Sunday, February 8, 2015

January hair and chocolate party!

So I know this is what you've all been waiting for...how I do my Sunday hair! (Follow me on instagram @oswens for a week-by-week looksie.)

Week 1: Piece-by-piece bun
So I don't know the real name for this hairstyle, but it's basically a ponytail where you leave a bit out on one side/the front, and then you take pieces from the ponytail and droop the ends over the base of the ponytail and secure it with a bobby pin. You'll see in the sixth step she uses I teasing comb--I don't own one of those, so naturally I didn't do that. 

Difficulty: I love that I didn't have to curl or straighten my hair first. I probably should have redone it to make it look even better, but I think two tries and you're good to go. Durability: Not so great. All of church I was like, I wonder what it looks like now... I had to fix it before we took the picture. Time: about twenty minutes

French braid to one side until you get to your ear, then just normal braid until it reaches around the back of your head; secure with a bobby pin. Then grab a front section from the other side, smooth it out, and tuck it under the braid.

Difficulty: I can never get my french braids to look like the ones in the picture, so I had to try that one a few times. I also had to curl the bottoms of my hair to make it look like the picture. Overall simple though. Durability: Pretty durable, and easy to fix if the part I tucked back fell out. Time: about twenty-five minutes (mostly curling my hair)


Week Three: Twisty Bun
Looks so easy! I had saved it for a day when I had a meeting early before church so that I could sleep in a little. Just gather your hair like you were going to do high ponytail, twist it around until it coils up, and secure with bobby pins!
Difficulty: I can never get my hair smooth on top and bottom for these buns. Also, my hair is way to thick to be secured only by bobby pins. And I didn't do it nearly high enough. So I think this is hard for me although the idea is very simple. Durability: my hair was escaping everywhere! From the sides, the top, the back especially. Not super durable. Time: I only spent ten minutes on it. Probably should have spent more...


Week Four: Headband Chignon
Get a headband that's not loose and put it straight on over your hair; mine came within like an inch of my forehead. Then take the hair underneath the headband and wrap it around. Keep curling and curling it until it's all around the headband. Secure with bobby pins if needed.
Difficulty: I've done this hairstyle before, but this was probably the best it had turned out. I have a serious problem with my hair not poofing up when I first put on the headband; here I just bobby pinned the front poof down and it ended up covering up the headband, which was great. This one takes practice, so I'd say medium difficulty. Durability: Always falls out by the end of church. I can kind of curl it all back in, but I need bobby pins on hand to keep it secure for any amount of time. Time: Can be as quick as five minutes! More like ten though since I redo it.


So there you have it! 

Brian and I also hosted a little chocolate tasting party. We got chocolate from ten different countries and taught people how to listen to the snap, look for white blemishes, and get the full taste by letting it melt. Super fun!!


Sparkling water, crackers, and bread to cleanse the palette between tastes.


Guest of honor: Jack's first party!! And yes, those are
mustache pants






Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Lessons from the flu.

So I don't actually know if I got the bonafide influenza, but whatever I got, it laid me out for five days, and I continue to have a horrific cough and sore throat (ghost tonsils, I swear). While I was bed-ridden, I had lots of time to think between four hour naps and drug-induced hazes, mostly about my resolutions for the new year.

I have a ton of resolutions, so I won't bore you with all of them, but shout out to Ellen at Running with my High Heels on because she has some awesome goals! I was initially discouraged that my sick body could not possibly keep up with the highly productive schedule I had envisioned for 2015, but I've come to be grateful. I spend so much time flying around getting things done that I don't appreciate what I've done or what others have done for me. Right now it's all I can do to pick a single task when I get home from work and slowly go about accomplishing it. Yesterday it was making dinner and then cleaning up after. Normally I'd be making dinner while simultaneously unloading the dishwasher, mopping the floor, and straightening up the living room. But when I walked out of my clean kitchen last night after Brian did the dishes and I wiped down everything and swept, I thought it was a job well done.

While I was visiting Ashley and her family, she mentioned something she had heard about reducing everything we do by 10%. (This actually came in a conversation about how in England, they have automated toilet paper dispensers that only give you a couple squares, but I digress.) Applied to how much I get done, my gut reaction is, "No! I can't do less and still feel good about myself!" But the truth is, I can do less and I should do less. President Uchtdorf said, "We would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most." I always thought my optimum speed was as fast as I could go. But thanks to the flu, I'm figuring out my actual optimal speed, one where I can enjoy life and progress without feeling overwhelmed.

PS--One of my resolutions is to try a new hairstyle for church every Sunday. We'll see how long that lasts, especially with church at nine now. I'll usually be instagramming them, but maybe once a month I'll blog about the last month of Sunday hair with little comments about difficulty, durability, and time it took me. Here was this past week's do:
We'll work on Brian's hair photography skills. I didn't check to see if it was a good picture. Please disregard the messy home as we had just gotten back from Rochester and I had the flu.

This triple inside out ponytail was inspired from here, although I didn't do the three ponytails first. I just did the top one, flipped it, gathered half the remaining hair and the tail of the first into a pony tail, flipped it, and then the rest of the hair and the tail of the second into a third bunch and flipped it. I used those tiny rubber band hair elastics. I hair sprayed everything at the end because I have more flyaways than you would believe!

Difficulty: super easy; only one try. Durability: lasted all day at work! That's better than a normal ponytail for me.
Time: > 5 min



Throw your hairstyles at me!