I just love positive feedback

"I would like you use your short, but motivating e-mail on my website. I think it really says it all regarding just getting in there "where you are" and doing it. I will then have a link that will take them to the xxx site so they can join in with us (our e-group). I think it would help inspire a lot of other people."

Shared the "jump in where you are" post with a e-group I am on, and the moderator sent this back. Wow. I am really flattered!

The Good, the Bad, the Weigh In

Since I won’t be at work tomorrow, I weighed a day early. Down 3 pounds – hurray! I knew a lot of last week was bloat, but that’s pretty good! There goes 3 of the 5 pounds I gained in April.

The down side is I am firmly stuck again seemingly, although as a slightly lower number. Today I was 152.5 – my new home it seems. I am determined to see the 140s! I went home last night & re-read key sections of my Fat Flush book so I could be ready for next week. I meant to take a walk as well since I missed it at lunch but didn’t manage to do that. I did walk in the morning though, as well as lifted weights last night.

I would post what I did in the weight room, but I didn’t bring my log with me. It was heavy on the leg exercises. Actually, this whole plan places more emphasis on legs than I normally did. That’s not a bad thing, but I’m not sure I feel like there’s enough upper body. While I am on the 3 day a week program, I may add push-ups to failure at the end of one day and inverted rows to failure on another. Gotta keep that upper body buff, doncha know? Seriously, my upper body looks pretty good – you can tell it would be really good if I would lean out a little (working on it!).

The Fat Flush isn't too difficult to follow really - it basically means eliminating starchy carbs, sugar, alcohol, caffeine. Lot of lean meats, veggies (all you want) and 2 fruits a day. Plus eggs & protein powder are "legal" also. That's the basics of the food plan. I think I'll feel better after following that for a couple of weeks.

Are you guys doing anything special for Mother's Day? My mom & MIL are coming over for dinner Sun My mom is bringing the shrimp (already cooked & peeled) and dessert. My MIL is bringing her appetite. Ha ha ha. I have small gifts for both of them. Considering MIL didn't remember my b-day (she said "sorry I forgot" but never even sent a belated card), I think I am being very generous. Please feel free to nominate me for sainthood. :-)

On the down side I am going to my brother's wedding. I'm sure most of the guests are the bride's parent's friends so I won’t know many people. And of course my evil dad will be there sucking up the air & life force of others. Icky-poo! But I am going for my brother. Dad's mom isn't bothering to show. God that half of my family sucks my emotional well-being away.

Done with that negativity. Here’s a suggestion, and not just because it’s Mother’s Day. Take time this weekend to tell a kid you are proud of them. Maybe for something they did at school, maybe for being generous. Whatever. There’s my challenge for the weekend. I don’t think we can give our children too many sincere compliments. If it’s sincere, they will know.

Back to Flushing

After waking up this morning, I have decided to go back and do the “Fat Flush Plan” 2 week detox again. I’ve gotten in the habit of eating more bread, rice, & pasta than I want to be eating. That plan makes me eat “clean” – very similar to what I call “body builder eating”. It is a little low on the carbs for 2 weeks, although it does include plenty of vegetables and fruit. But this time of year, I love going to the farmer’s market and loading up on veggies anyway. So it’ll be pretty easy to follow. And I need to get the caffeine & alcohol out of my diet – for a while at least. This stuff isn’t making me feel good mentally or physically (except when I’m consuming it).

Walked this morning. Tonight is day 2 of the weight lifting plan – I’m excited about that! Also, the boy is going to grandpa’s after school today since Thursday & Friday are teacher workdays. And “Deathstalker 2” came in the mail yesterday. I feel a bad movie night coming on. Tomorrow we’re hitting the $3 theater in our town for “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”. As much as I loved those books, I’m a little leery of seeing the movie, but hubby is wanting to go.

Well, that's about all I know. Mighty quiet in this corner of blogland. Hope everyone is doing well & enjoying spring!

No spiffy title, just good exercise

So, last night I did the first workout from “The Body Sculpting Bible for Women”. The book has several programs: a intro level, 2 “intermediate” workouts – one with very basic equipment and one assuming you have more, and a “super intense” 6 day a week program for the truly insane. I selected one of the middle programs – the one with more equipment since I am doing it at the gym.

Weeks 1 & 2 of the 6 week program have me doing 2 sets of more reps (12-15 range). So the weight is fairly high but nowhere near max, and there are 90 seconds breaks. The exercises are arranged in compound supersets. Here is what I did last night:

Set 1:
(back) db row: 30/15 30/15
(chest) incline db press: 25/15 25/15

Set 2:
(shoulders) db shoulder press: 20/15 20/15
(calves) standing calf raises: 20/20 20/25 (this one exercise had you do more reps)

Set 3:
(bicep) db curl: 15/15 15/15
(Tricep) overhead db extension: 30/15 30/15

Set 4:
Db squats: 30/12 30/12
Stiff legged dead lifts: 30/12 30/12

I never do either of the exercises in set 4, so I was uncertain how much weight to use. Also, I plan to go a little light on the legs since I am keeping up my running program.

This morning was a 2 mile run. I rolled out of bed, into my clothes, had a few sips of water and was out the door in under 5 minutes. The cool thing was I’d run most of the first mile before my eyes were fully open! I ran the run parts fast and used the walks for recovery. Felt so good. The hubby got out & walked a mile. I caught him as I was getting ready to cool down, so we walked the last stretch together.

I was starved yesterday, and wound up scoring a bag of hot air popcorn in addition to my planned food. I had a light supper to try & make up for it.

If you need inspiration, read this marathon report. I got all verklempt. http://www.msteechur.com/ (go to the blog)

Well, that’s all I know. How is you training going? Anything new or special?

When your best isn’t good enough, it’s time to get creative!

I am a fan of the “Flylady” (www.flylady.net). At first glance it’s about de-cluttering your home and creating routines to keep it neat. Really, it’s more about de-cluttering our lives and setting up routines so that we can enjoy the things that are truly important. She has an e-group which sends reminders, all of which end with the phrase “You are not behind! I don't want you to try to catch up; I just want you to jump in where we are. O.K.?”

Think about that for a moment – what a liberating thought that truly is. Imagine if we gave ourselves permission in all areas of our lives to not beat ourselves up for where we are versus where we think we should be. Like our weight. Like our fitness. Don’t try to catch up, just jump in where you are. Own that phrase and watch your inner brat cringe and curl up into a ball!

I’ve been missing the discipline of a running program. Just getting out there wasn’t getting it for me because I wasn’t because I felt I lacked a purpose. My “best” hasn’t been good enough. Not being able to run while my husband was sick really de-railed my training plan for the June marathon. So I spent a couple of weeks whining about poor me and not getting out there. This weekend I got out there. Inner brat whined, but Inner Athlete just said “This time we’ll pick a run farther out, so that we’ll have some fluff in our routine. No more picking a run, counting back, and leaving no margin for error.”

Another flaw in my logic has been my expectations. The moment I cross the finish line of my first marathon, the angels will not sing, the remaining 15 pounds of lard will not fall magically off my a$$, and I will not look like “Buff Girl” at the gym in an instant. (Inner brat despises Buff Girl because she exists and uses air. I give Inner Brat a little leeway so I can keep her under control.) While it will be a great accomplishment, I have been building it up like some sort of holy Mecca of fitness - hanging my self of worth as an athlete on this one thing. Not good.

So, I have tentatively picked a run in November (yes, November). There are weeks of fluff built in, so if I need to take off for a vacation or illness that’s fine. I can always get to a point and hold there for a couple of weeks. It’s flexible. I looked at my running log, and looked at a marathon training plan, and tried to figure out where to jump back in. I picked an 11-12 mile run.

Like Gaul, yesterday’s run was divided into 3 parts. Since I was just looping around the neighborhood, I stopped at home at the 4 and 8 mile points for potty breaks. I had bought some cinnamon apple flavored Hammer Gel at the tri (YUM! I was using the wrong flavor all along!), which I used. I rolled out of bed at 5:30, had a power bar & half a glass of diet Pepsi, and headed out the door.

Miles 1 – 4 were excellent. Cool, still dark, quiet. Felt excellent. I stopped at the house & took off my t-shirt (I had on an aerobic top – jog bra thing that looks okay in public), had some gel, & headed back out.

Miles 5-8 weren’t too bad, except I had to pee for 7 and 8 (have I mentioned my bladder is the size of a peanut?). But still feeling good. More gel, & I was back out.

The last 3 miles it was getting warmer and more people were out. The birds were enjoying the worm “all you care to eat buffet” the rain had left on the pavement. I thought I hadn’t gotten a runner’s high, but then realized that this was my longest run in 4 weeks. The fact that I was still feeling good was awesome!

After the run, I had breakfast, a hot bath, and a nap. It took more out of me than I thought. It felt so good to be back out there. I did much much better with my eating over the weekend, I hit the gym Friday after work, and I am feeling much more like myself again.

I’m back!

The Smith can be your friend

While I think that free squats are better than Smith squats, here's a great article in Muscle & Fitness (Hers) showing some uses for the Smith. They show a nice assisted pull-up (inverted row they call it). I plan on using that baby!

http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/hers/120804/smith.html

Life Can Resume

We have our house back - woo hoo! I am feeling better already, which is saying something considering I slept lousy last night.

I am grateful for Friday, a relaxing weekend, and a nice trip to the gym this evening! I plan to do some HIIT on the elliptical after doing legs, abs, & low back. Dinner is in the freezer (homemade chili), so it's a low maintenance evening - just what I need!

Not Fitness Related, except the last paragraph

Just wanted to put that up there. The thing is, my husband hired a helper (hubby is a carpenter BTW) a few weeks ago. The helper (we’ll call him A) lives in Raleigh. This was fine when the hubster was working out of town. Because A doesn’t have a driver’s license, he has been staying with us during the week ever since hubby started working close enough to come home every night. This has probably been going on 3 weeks now. This would be difficult even under the best of circumstances. The circumstances aren’t the best. Suffice it so say, my home is no longer a place I can go to unwind. I am angry and resentful there, unless I’m hiding in the bathtub. I am in danger of turning into a raisin at any moment. I’ve never been this clean in my life – ha ha.

Ironically enough, hubby has been feeling the same way and both of us have been waiting for the other to speak up. Ugh. Anyway, we are putting in our notice that this will end. So I am glad of that. I just feel I am in this holding pattern until then. I hate feeling like I am “waiting” for something. I’d rather just live. But at least improvement is on the horizon.

I have no fitness news. I had to get blood drawn this morning, so both breakfast and exercise were a no go. Cafeteria food has never looked so good as it did this morning! Tonight is back & chest at the gym, plus an evening walk, and a walk at lunch. Breakfast was a piece of quiche from the barfeteria and half a grapefruit. I love grapefruit. Lunch is a big salad some protein chunks (chicken probably). Dinner tonight is rotisserie chicken, steamed green beans, and fresh corn on the cob. And plenty of water, since I drank hardly any yesterday. I left my lemon at home and I can’t stand plain water with no lemon.

ttfn!

Serendipity

Three times is a charm. First, my girlfriend went to a belly dance seminar in Florida (she dances with a troupe) and was telling me about this great African dance troupe that put on an exhibition. 2) At our diversity conference, a local African dance troupe (which has traveled all over the world) performed and I was impressed. 3) Today while working the blood drive, a lady that works near me (but in a different department) plops down & asks “How did you lose the weight?” We start talking and she invites me to come out to a local African dance class. (She said there were white girls there:-). So, I guess that will be my next foray into fun fitness.

Krista over at stumptuous.com has put up instructions in how to modify pull-ups to assist yourself so you can actually build up to doing them. I did assisted pull-ups on the Smith with my feet on a bench last night. I am quite sure I looked like a total dumb-a$$, but I really felt it in my arms. Did I mention I actually lifted real weights last night? Biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Can I get a rousing rendition of “We Will Rock You”?

Also, I made myself some liquid crack (lima bean soup). Note to self, take a digestive enzyme with that. Hope everyone in the weight room blamed that on somebody other than the cute blond hanging from the Smith machine. Just saying.

When the low hanging fruit is gone

First off, yesterday was a darn good beginning. Had a much better attitude due to seeing some changes implemented, plus I walked & ate well. We are going to the gym tonight due to a change in the boy’s schedule. Which probably was for the best, as I was able to get in a really good speed-work session this morning. That might have been tough after leg night. I ran 2 miles this morning, doing some pretty fast (for me) runs with walk breaks. Felt great! After just a day of eating well and exercise, I feel like a brand new woman! And my husband even got up and walked a mile this morning, which made me very happy.

I was thinking about this whole journey. When you first decide to lose weight/get healthier, it’s not simply that you are in the “honeymoon phase”, it’s the low hanging fruit theory. When you go to pick apples off a tree, the first ones you pick are the ones easily in your reach. I submit we do this when we make our lifestyle changes. The first changes you make are the easiest to implement. They don’t take a whole lot of effort. Everyone’s easy changes are different – maybe it’s switching to diet soda, or packing your lunch. You lose weight, then it stops. You make a few more changes and you lose a little more. Until you get near your goal weight. With 10 to 15 pounds to go, you’ve made a lot of changes. If you’ve kept it off, you’ve probably changed your lifestyle. But you still want to lose a little more and there’s no more low hanging fruit in site. If you want more, you have to head for the garage for the ladder cause it won’t be easy!

That’s where I feel like I am. The changes I need to make to lose the last bit of weight are known to me. I know what I have to change to lose the rest of the weight. But what’s left are the tough changes (for me). And given the fact that I derive emotional safety from this extra fat, I have chosen to sit here on the fence. My goal is in sight, but I am hesitant to go there. If you read what I write here, you know I want to go for it, but I am afraid. And I know the changes will mean some sacrifice. Is it worth it? Will I fish, or keep cutting bait? Only time will tell.

Of fair weather blogging and goal setting

I have been writing here for over a year now. I post regularly – 4 or 5 times a week unless I’m on vacation. I am not a fair weather blogger. You know the type, they’re all amazingly insightful posts and/or all fired up…. For a while. Then they get tired, or something happens, and they disappear for a month or 2 or forever.

The down side of my compulsion is that you have to read even when I am struggling, or down. (Or not I guess.) Every boring detail gets written about here. Like others, I want to slink away to a corner when I am struggling. But having to come back to this place helps to keep me accountable the way WW meetings do for some. Sorry bout that, but really, this place IS all about me, right? :-)

Megan (who is a fabulous writer BTW), posted a comment to my last post about what my goals were going to be. Well, besides losing the rest of my flabby belly (ha ha), for cardio it will be running. I like riding my bike. I love running. I swim because I have to for triathlons. It is so off my radar until next December! :-O I also need to get better about doing my HIIT, because I’ve been even more slack about that than I have my weights.

For weights, I am going to use the 3 day per week plan in the “Body Sculpting Bible for Women.” I love weights, but my lack of focus has led to boredom. Without a workout partner who also happens to be a personal trainer, my plan has not had a lot of focus. It’s time to change that. I need to get fired up about the weights again. As they say in corporate America “We need to be maniacally focused.” That always makes me think of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining”, but a little maniacal focus might help. I am going to sit down with the book this weekend and write out my workouts.

The book has you do a routine for 2 weeks and then change it up in order to keep your body off balance. Sounds good – I seem to be suffering from a case of “short attention span theater”. That’s my high level plan – specific details will follow.

Back to Basics

Stress is an insidious thing. First you are slacking a little on the weights, then you miss a couple of long runs, and the next thing you know you are eating buttered noodles and ice cream for dinner while watching “Dracula 3000”, wondering what happened to your shiny dream of fitness.

But this isn’t a car accident, where you are skidding out of control, powerless. You have power. So do I. I expressed some feelings, and asked for some changes. Message given and received.

So, today is back to basics. Many things have slipped, and I can’t just jump back to where I was – I think that would be too much. Today I am going to do legs at the gym, and go for a walk after lunch. My food is planned. My book “Body Sculpting Bible for Women” came in the mail, so I am going to set up a routine. But this week something in the gym is better than the nothing or half-ass crap that has been passing for weight training for the past 3 weeks.

I have to say I am a little jealous. I read about Lee’s 100 k bike event, and Lynne’s 50 mile ultra. And Jack is getting ready for his first marathon! So much exciting stuff going on here in our fitness blogdom! My goal is to run this upcoming weekend. Having to cancel my marathon plan has left me feeling a little adrift, but that is no excuse.

Back to putting myself first.

Of Vacations and my Secret Vice

I realized a couple of years ago that we needed 2 vacations per year: one for my husband and one for me. The first couple of years we had the one vacation (“his”), but that just didn’t work.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned here that my husband and I met because we both do medieval battle recreation. Every year we attend the largest medieval battle recreation in the world in August in Slippery Rock PA called Pennsic. Its 2 weeks long, but we generally attend for 7 – 10 days. I love getting to hit people with sticks every day for days on end – really, its cheaper than therapy and you get to tell some great stories. “So, I was on the front line in the bridge battle – Gigantor fell and actually fought sitting on top of me…” Priceless. And I love it. But the place we go is a primitive site – basically a flat plain. And group camping in primitive conditions (2 spigots for a couple of hundred folks and bring your own shower) gets pretty tiresome, especially when you have a child to tend to. So I decided I needed a “me” vacation.

My husband is a good man. So 2 years ago when I calmly announced that we were spending a week in a resort on the Mayan Riviera, he was cool with that. This year it’s a house on the outer banks for a week (Hatteras to be more precise). I love his vacation, but I need something that’s relaxing in a different way as well. It works.

Which brings me to my vice. It’s pretty tough to keep sunscreen on continuously for 10 days, especially when you may be down at the battlefield sweating for a few hours. So I started going to the tanning bed 4 years ago. I usually start around April 15th, and tan until we leave for Pennsic (early-mid August). I don’t get super dark – just a good enough coat that I won’t suffer from sunburn if I’m exposed to the sun for an hour or so. Since then, I’ve never gotten a sunburn. But I have mixed feelings – I know tanning isn’t good for you, but burning isn’t either. And tanning is a little pricey. I like the way I look with a tan. I guess it sounds dumb, but I feel a little guilty for doing it – that’s why I called it a “vice.” I’m trying to decide whether to do it this year again or not. I dunno.

We have begun discussing “my” vacation for next year. I want to spend a couple of days hiking the App Trail. We have a nice section here in NC and we could do it fairly cheaply. Since we wouldn’t be up there a super long time, we could get away with using cheaper equipment. My son is totally excited – my husband is resigned. But he’s willing, bless him.

Last night was chest & back, with a hard 15 minutes on the elliptical. This morning was a great 2 mile walk. Tonight I am finishing upper body. Since we have team building out of the office tomorrow and I don’t have to be there until 9 am, I am planning a short “long” run tomorrow morning. Maybe 5 or 6 miles, with a real long run on Sunday.

Lunch out of the can

This is a plug for Goya products – I’ve tried a few lately. Sofrito and recaito are both a little like a pureed salsa, but with different stuff. Great thrown in with some chicken in the crockpot, or to zest up some canned beans. Just rinse the beans, add a little seasoning, and there’s a good side to go with lunch. This week I’m eating a tuna patty (made with ½ can of tuna), ½ a can of beans (today was black beans), and ½ a can of green beans. Pretty healthy, easy, and cheap. What’s not to love? Goya also has some good seasoning packets as well. I am throwing out what is left of my birthday cake tonight. I’ve eaten “on plan” so far today, and my body is thanking me!

Luckily, I have beer tastes to match our beer budget

I’m not much of a shopper. But I really enjoy shopping for beauty products. I don’t usually – I pick up mascara or whatever I need while I do my grocery shopping. But yesterday, I stopped at W-M and at the drug store to browse & buy. I got a couple of high ticket items: a L’oreal dermabrasion kit (read it was good in a magazine) and some of that hair color that you also add highlights. Those were about $20 each. Then got some Nivea sunless tan for your face (it’s a very mild one so you can add just a little color) and some powder that supposed to help with redness (which I get on my cheeks). Those were about $10 – I read about the Physician’s formula corrector in a mag also. Then just a bunch of stuff – root volumizer, hair spray, 1 lipstick and 2 glosses, mascara, blah blah blah. Did a great masque on my face last night, and generally felt like a princess. As much fun as a trip to the day spa for less $$$. I try to be a low maintenance wife, despite yesterday’s rant.

Pics up

Look in my pictures link over on the side. New albums are called "Fox bday 05" (that's the boy's bday), "Fox brown belt". "Pilot Mtn 05" (recent hiking trip), "Triathlon 05" (I posted the dreaded swimsuit pic - be kind), "Neca bday 05", and "Me! spring 05" - pics of my now not-so-new- hairdo.

Is my birthday no longer cursed? (but I’m still a pudge)

Here’s a true story about my birthday. See, I grew up in a family where you got gifts, and a special dinner, and the cake of your choice, because your birthday is your very own special day. I know not all families are like this, but mine is. You don’t have to be like that, but that is how things work in my world.

While my husband did not grow up like this, he has embraced the concept whole-heartedly for his birthday. But mine??? We’ve been together for 4 of my birthdays now. Birthday #1 happened 4 days before he moved down from DC. We were on the phone and he failed to mention my b-day. I say “Aren’t you going to wish me a happy birthday?” He says “Is it your birthday?” I say “yes”. He says “Are you sure?” No further mention is made of my birthday again that year.

I am not a stupid woman. I know men don’t have esp. I explain exactly what I expect, using words appropriate for a comic book. The next year, my grandfather is in the hospital dying. What was supposed to be a routine surgery became a horrid nightmare. We met at the hospital, visited, went out to eat (at a place I selected and paid for), visited a little more, and went home. It became obvious my husband hadn’t done anything. He said “Things have been so busy, I didn’t think I needed to.” Being a mature adult, I drove to the store for a 6-pack. Which I drank and then cried myself to sleep. He left, bought something he wanted, and gave that to me the next morning.

The next year I explain that, like the state of California, I have a “3 strikes and you’re out” policy. I tell him what I want – an MP3 player. He did get me one (it wasn’t wrapped and there was no card), but he was getting better. Until I found out a few days later that he’d let a bunch of financial stuff with his business slide and we were several thousand dollars in debt I didn’t know about. I re-took control of ALL finances, we went to counseling, and the MP3 went back to the store.

Queue up this year. I again want an MP3 player. My Sony walkman died, and the cheapy stand-in doesn’t play in reverse (so every 45 minutes I have to physically flip the tape over). It sucks. I print out descriptions (complete with pictures) of the 2 I like. Because my husband is himself, he of course waits until yesterday to buy it. Which he does on the way home from work. He has agreed to pick the boy up from tae kwon do so I can go home, paint my toe nails, and finish watching “Wrong Turn” to send back to Netflix (young people being chased by cannibals through the mountains of W.V. – must be watched with no kids around).

He comes home and wants to immediately hand me the package (in the bag he bought it in). Can you spell b-i-t-c…, I knew you could. I calmly (okay, that’s a stretch) explain that all I want is a gift that is something I would like, on my actual birthday, in a f-ing gift bag. I’m not difficult. If it smells good, is used in a bathroom (soap, foam, spray), and is in a gift bag I’ll be happy!!! I go for beer. He goes to the guest room, where he discovers the iPod is not compatible with Windows ME. I say I guess it has to go back to the store. I cry and go to bed.

This morning, I get up to fix his lunch and breakfast. He comes in with a gift bag and a card. He admits he bought the card and gift bag at the drug store after picking up the boy after my tantrum. It’s a nice card, and there’s a mini iPod shuffle in the bag. His helper has offered to load Windows XP on our POS computer so I can have music on my MP3 player. I tell my husband he is my hero, the greatest husband in the world, and that I love him.

He really is a good husband. He’s just got to learn that a) I need to manage the money and b) when in doubt, it’s hard to overdo my birthday.

The rest of the stuff

After getting my gift, I had a great run (with my crappy soon to be former walkman)! Got dressed, & the boy & I went to Sonic for breakfast. Without the cheese, the ham & egg sandwich isn’t a bad choice. I should probably not listen to 80s hair metal around my son, as we sat & discussed the lyrics to “Cold Shower” by Kix. He decided it was about a guy being dissed by his girl – she slams the door in his face, leaving him to walk home in a cold rain shower. Thank god for that interpretation. See, someone is looking out for me! I drop him at school – he says “Smell ya later, Jeeves” as he slides out of the car. I cue the Rocky theme, open the sunroof, and decide to have a good day even though I’m at work!

Also, got a ton of pics yesterday – I will let you know when they are loaded onto my picture site. I am still a pudge, although I am looking better. I refuse to post the one of me in my bathing suit at the tri Saturday. Really. Ugh. I was thinking sushi for lunch, but maybe just a diet Coke & a cigarette. Okay, just the diet Coke, but only if it has lime.

Thanks for the great birthday wishes – I am so appreciative of the great friendship & support I’ve found here in this corner of blogdom. I have decided this will be a great day!

Odds & Ends & A Race Report

I couldn’t get into blogger on Friday, and I was home sick with the boy Thursday. So, I’ll try to catch you all up. :-)

The tri report:

Note to self: Next year maybe we should pony up the funds for a hotel in Raleigh. I’m all for staying with friends, however, there were a number of things I didn’t know: 1) Their guest room not only doesn’t have a bed, it has hardwood floors. 2) Not only did the almost-4-week-old baby wake up, they keep their house roughly the surface temperature of the sun for said baby 3) Thanks for loaning us the alarm clock. Too bad you set it so it went off at midnight! Do I even need a number 4???

Needless to say, we were all a little tired Saturday morning. But we’d had an awesome dinner at the Mongolian grill (and a trip to Sephora!) Friday night, so we tried not to be too bitter. Got to the race site (we’d checked in the night before), set up in the transition area, got marked, and waited our turn. It was cold and windy Saturday morning. I told the guys we’d be grateful for it later, but I’m not sure my son believed me. It did stink for the spectators.

The swim was me, and it went okay. Having a cold made it tough – I actually had to stop mid-lane and cough at one point! But I did fine, and sprinted into the transition to pass off the chip. Poor hubby had it tough. I knew it would be hard – with the shingles, he hadn’t ridden in 3 weeks, plus was still a little tired. And it was still very windy! Not to mention hilly on the back side of the course. But he did okay, and the boy & I were waiting. We passed off the chip & the boy & I were off.

I can’t tell you how proud I am of my son. He was a bit slack with the training leading up to the race, but he did a good job with the pace and with making good use of walk breaks. His ankle was bothering him a little, but he hung in there and did great. We had put on sun screen, which was good. By the run it was sunny with a slight breeze. Perfect. He had saved enough to put on a good finish, and I have to tell you I got all teary as we went through the chute together. Hubby was waiting on the other side with PowerAde, which we needed!

There was still pizza, pasta, and pasta salad left, and we noshed on that. Then loaded up the car to head home. We made a pit stop just down the road at Dunkin Donuts, and we all got our favorite donut plus a large coffee for the hubster. Which was a good thing, cause you know both the boys passed out, leaving me “alone” to drive us home! Thank goodness for 80s metal CDs – nothing like singing along with the Scorpions & drinking your husband’s coffee (did I mention I don’t like coffee?) to keep you going. I made it to Burlington before I woke him up & made him drive the last half hour.

Times are supposed to be posted today, so I’ll let you know about that tomorrow.

The scale report:

Down a pound last Friday. I won’t make my birthday goal by tomorrow, but I’m headed in the right direction! Maybe by this Friday though!

The birthday report:

It’s tomorrow, but went out with sister, mom, & family last night. Sushi. Yum. Good gifts, good food, great time. I’m a happy woman!

The head report:

Doing the tri seems to have blown out the last few cobwebs. I’m feeling in a much better place today. A lot more upbeat about training. Looking forward to lifting tonight, and I got in a great walk this morning.

Misc:

I really thought about Lynne doing her 50 miler Saturday. I told my family how much I admired her. A couple of people sitting next to us overheard and asked “Is she still out on the course?” I explained she was doing a 50-miler, and they asked why. My answer was “because she can”. But I was thinking, Here you are in your fancy gear - you obviously do tris regularly Why are you here? Why do any of us do these things? I mean, we could get the same benefits a whole lot cheaper if we just ran or biked around our neighborhoods. But there is something about going someplace and doing it with a bunch of other people that pumps you up in a different way. If you read my blog regularly you know I’m not a frequent racer. A couple a year is plenty for me. I don’t train for them. I train for the zen of the training. But I think my son got a taste of that “high” you get when you’re out in a race. He & my husband both are already talking about next year’s family team triathlon. :-)

Can't a girl get a break???

So, my mom went to the hospital with my grnadma last night, and couldn't take the boy to tutoring. So, my evening got hosed and no exercise happened. But eating was at least okay. This is getting frustrating! And my poor mom was at the hospital until 2 am!

p.s. If I seem flip about my grandma, it's just that she has had Alzheimer's for 15 years now, and going to be with my granddaddy would be a blessing. Instead she has "great health" - besides the fact that she has no freaking clue who she is.... So, we just won't go there today.

Here in the in between

That is how I feel today. Pudgy and a little “hung over” (in a food way) from putting crappy food in my body for days, coupled with lack of exercise. But the thought of exercise isn’t very exciting either – it’s cloudy & grey & its perfect napping weather. I think I’ll go swim anyway. And go for a walk too! So there!!!

Evil marketing schemes

The microwave at work is right across from the vending machine in our break area. So I find myself staring into the vending machine while I heat up my lunch or soup. Generally, the expression on my face is about the same as it would be if I were looking at the arachnid exhibit at the zoo: curious, but a bit revolted. This is a good feeling to have while peering into a vending machine, IMO. Actually, eating the spiders would no doubt be healthier. But anyway…. Lately I have noticed “limited edition” candy. What???? In the past couple of weeks I’ve been limited edition “inside out” reese’s, white chocolate versions of traditional candy bars, and yesterday “fudge” reese’s pb cups. My theory is that the marketing department has realized that folks trying to lose weight treat calories like a “mad money” allowance. You only get so many, so you try to spend them wisely. Many times I tell myself I don’t have to eat every treat today – I can have this today, but that tomorrow, or next week. It will still be there. But with limited edition candy, they are telling you that you must get it now. The implication is that once it sells out, its gone forever, and you will grow old without ever knowing what a fudge reese’s pb cup tastes like. How evil is that??? (Don’t worry – I didn’t get the stupid things.)

Food was excellent yesterday – I used the old “eat your dinner off a lunch plate” trick – ½ full of broccoli & cauliflower, a small piece of homemade meatloaf (with extra lean ground beef), and about ¼ cup of mashed potatoes. I love homemade mashed potatoes. Yum, and pretty healthy!

Exercise wasn’t quite as good. The boy & I planned to run, but we came in after a mile. It was 83 outside and we got too hot. While he did tae kwon do, I did a little bit of weight lifting (chest & back). I should have gone swimming, but I really didn’t want to. I did a few minutes on the stairmaster instead, and then sat in the last few minutes of his class.

Today I plan to walk this evening and then he & I are going swimming after dinner. I walked at lunch yesterday, but we may have to walk inside today. We’re supposed to get rain for the next 3 days, with cooler but sunny weather for the tri on Saturday.

Dinner is in the crockpot – I checked a couple of crockpot cook books out of the library – I use mine regularly and wanted some new ideas. It has tequila, so I’m sure it will be good. :-O

Little pink dress

I am feeling better today. It helps that my house is clean, I am rested, and I feel ready for the week. The hubster is back at work, so things are getting back to normal.

My weekend was long, which was good. Eating and exercise were pitiful. But you know, I feel so over that. I’m sure it will happen again, but not today. Not even tomorrow. I am feeling strong again. My food for the week is prepped, healthy dinners are planned, and I am running this afternoon with my son! Life is feeling pretty good again.

One of the things I did was to go shopping for something to wear to my brother’s wedding on May 7th. I found an adorable pink dress which I love. Too bad its tight in the hips. I bought it anyway. I have a month to get into the little pink dress. I know, how trivial a goal compared with a marathon. But its cute, and its pink. What is it about lifting weights that makes me feel so girly?

I finished skimming “The body sculpting bible for women”. Think I’m gonna give it a whirl, after I modify their eating plan. Sorry - 1200 calories ain’t gonna cut it.

I’m back.

Tidying Up

I've updated my links to other bloggers. What I had was so old! And I wanted a way to give a shout out to some people that, while I've only found them recently, have helped me immeasurably! And to people like Lee and Lynne and Brenna, that I feel like I've been reading forever, and never get tired of. :-)

Blogging has been so great for me. It's opened up a world of support and information. Lynne amazes me. Any time I start thinking I'm tired during my tri, I'll thinking about her running 50 MILES on the same day. How amazing is that????

I also updated my weight. Only up 2 pounds this week. Betcha 1 is water and 1 is real. Okay, time to move on. I am planning to run 16 miles tonight after supper. Early dinner, then off for a facial. Then come home & run around the neighborhood. I'll let you know how it goes.

Lots to do this weekend, so I am leaving work at 11 to get a head start. I want to get my kitchen clean & my shopping done today. The bathrooms are clean, and I think the hubster can manage the vacuuming. So the house is in good shape. Going to be out of town tomorrow for the day, then Sunday is cooking and mowing the front yard. Then a cookout with neighbors. All I've got to bring is the creamed spinach. :-)

Somewhere in there I want to plan some quiet time to paint my toe nails. And a swim if I can.

Hope you all have a terrific weekend. I plan to come back and be my usual self, as opposed to the negative pod person that has been using my body this week. I know we all have moods, but I really hate being down. It feels like such a waste of time. But I've found that fighting it tends to drag it out - better to ride the wave & get it over.

Where’s Your Head at?

It’s amazing how talented I am at completely disassociating myself with my emotions. I realized something last night as I was pigging out. Something I have been afraid to express because it sounds petty and immature. I resent the fact that my husband is sick (due to stress) and now I am stuck with his work as well as mine. Have I not been shouldering as much of the burden? So, what happens? He gets a week off and I get to cut the grass, clean the house, take the boy to his after school activities, do the shopping, pay the bills, tackle the taxes…… You get the idea.

So, my retreat from my anger and resentment (not to mention guilt over feeling those emotions) has been food. Maybe just the act of acknowledging those feelings by writing it down here will be enough to get me out of this cycle. I am taking time off work tomorrow because there is literally not enough time to do in 2 days all my work plus all my husband’s. I am using my vacation to do housework. And that sucks. I haven’t had any time for myself this week – I didn’t even get to take the hot bath I so badly wanted after mowing the yard. I had to make dinner and then take the boy to tae kwon do.

I am a really miserable right now.

Has Dr. Evil stolen my mojo?

Last night was a mixed bag.

Went home and filled out the taxes (20 minutes people. Why didn’t I do this 2 months ago when I first did them online and found out I couldn’t file them online?). We ate a yummy & healthy dinner out of ye olde crockpot (family loved it!). Then I took the boy to tutoring. While I waited, I walked around the tutor’s neighborhood for a while. It’s an older neighborhood, quiet. I listened to the birds and lawn mowers and dogs. I waved to folks I passed and felt good. It reminded me of when I was a little girl, and my grandparents and I would walk around their neighborhood after supper. After the tutoring, we went home and we went for an easy 2 mile run (it was getting dark and he said he didn’t feel comfortable running at dusk. How hysterical is that?).

Then I went to the dark side. Had a cold beer with the hubby. Decided a little dessert sounded good. Scarfed down a brownie while standing in the kitchen. Fixed myself a brownie with low cal ice cream on top. Had another beer.

WHAT!?!?! Geez Lousie! A) I don’t keep brownies in my house – my mom brought them over and left them so she wouldn’t eat them at her house. Thanks Mom. B) There is a good reason I don’t keep beer in the house except for the weekend. The siren song is too much for me, I’ll admit it. Most people trying to lose weight have trigger foods they can’t keep in the house. Mine are crackers and beer (I’m sure I could think of a few others as well).

Today was trash day. I got up, dumped both cartons of ice cream AND the remaining brownies in the trash, tied it up, and took it out. No guff about throwing away perfectly good food. There is no one in my home who needs that crap. We enjoyed (all of us at one point or another) more than enough of the brownies and ice cream. Out it went. The beer is gone. No more trigger foods in my house, thankfully.

My size 12 jeans still don’t fit despite what I’ve lost. Closer, but no cigar. I told myself a while back I wanted to be at 149 for my birthday (which is April 19). I weighed 151 last Friday, and I haven’t done anything to lower that number since then – quite the opposite in fact. I have just under 2 weeks to lose 2 pounds plus whatever damage I’ve done in the last 4 days.

What do I want? To be fit, yes. To do this triathlon with my family certainly. But I am still overweight. And I want to finish what I started and get to goal. I’ve been waffling in my head, and I realize that the weight needs to be my focus. Not as exciting maybe, but it got to be done. So, I am going to basically stick to what I have been doing, but my long run is going to be in the 12-14 mile range, and I’ll hang out there for a while. Not sure exactly what else, but weight training needs to get more attention.

I’ll keep you posted.

How about "I feel like I suck"?

Like Chris said, I don't suck. I just feel like it right now. :-) Had a great lunch, limiting myself to 2 rolls and 1/3 of my cheesecake. Considering I was sitting next to my "food pusher extraordinaire" co-worker, I was pretty pleased. Also a healthy salad, green beans, and poached fish.

I am just feeling a little overwhelmed and sorry for myself. Hubby doesn't get paid when he doesn't work, so missing this much work is kinda a big deal for us. We won't starve, but still....

I will feel much more positive when 1) I have mailed in my taxes. 2) I've made up my mind where to focus this spring & summer.

I think Chris' post today was on track. While he wrote it about himself, I think is applies to me also. I've been so busy with tri & marathon training that weight loss has stopped being my focus. Gee, do you think my stall might be because of that? I think it's time to put the focus back on weight loss. I can't do a long run this weekend - I already had plans for this weekend I can't back out of. Maybe I should just admit I need to focus on getting in my jeans for a while. Keep running, yes. Keep making it the focus? Maybe not. Does this mean I'm a quitter? I dunno.....

I Suck

Really. I'm so tired of the pity party - 2 days of crappy eating and no exercise. How humiliating. And it's not getting me anywhere I want to go. I am so done with this crap.

I have a luncheon today. I chose a healthy entree (and cheesecake). I am going running with the boy after work today.

I cannot let my husband's being sick screw up my eating & exercise. I think part of it is that I still don't know what to do about my running schedule....

Not what I had planned

Well, my husband has shingles. And he is allergic to the antibiotic they gave him. It was a pretty miserable weekend. I didn't finish my run. I kept checking on him every 4 miles (yes, he was THAT sick). At 12 miles he asked me to please go get him some yogurt.

So, my run schedule is thrown off. Yesterday was a "free day" when it came to food (more like "free for all"). He is feeling enough better that I am no longer freaking out. But he is home for the week - he basically just woke up about 11 or so. He went to bed at 10.

But hey, I ate my healthy pancakes for breakfast! Hope your weekend was better than mine. At least he is improving....

Pleasant Surprise

The scale was kind – up 0.5 pounds. Maybe next week will be water retention week? I seriously contemplated not getting on the scale, but facing the music is easier, and now I’m glad I did. I feel excited about my food plan for the weekend – I feel like it will set me up for scale success next week. I haven’t seen the 140s in 4 years or more – I can feel them right around the corner!

I did run last night, but didn’t make the pool. Post healthy dinner, I took hubby to Prime Care, this time for a rash on his face. They were just closing, but I elicited a promise that he would go this morning. Poor man – he has had a very tough week. He deserves a weekend of D&D!

I made a really great breakfast that I loved! I took some oatmeal, a raw egg, a scoop of protein powder, and mixed. Then added a little instant pancake mix and enough water to make batter. Cooked up my pancakes, and served with frozen mixed berries (thawed), spray butter, and a little sugar free syrup. I feel like I had a decadent breakfast, but really it was pretty darn healthy! I think I’ll cook up a batch for next week. Excellent!

Busy day

Today has gone by quickly, because I have been busy. This is a good thing, since this week has been kinda crappy. I’ve mostly held my own on the food front, done pretty darn good on the exercise front, but I’ve just been tired. Hubby has gotten home late every night for one reason or another, and we are both just bone tired. He is off to play D&D this weekend, and I plan to lounge around as much as possible!

Had a great lifting session last night. Didn’t run this morning though. I thought thunder = rain, so I didn’t, but it wasn’t. Just thunder. Weird. So, I am running tonight. Swimming after dinner perhaps? I’d love to go out to eat, but no. Healthy food is planned, and will be consumed!!! No no, not even a chocolate cookie – I had half of one yesterday! I must weigh tomorrow, and its water retention week, so its gonna be bad enough without a bunch of carb bloat due to poor food choices.

Speaking of which, I ordered a copy of Joyce Vedral’s “Eat to Trim”, a book I got from the library which has some good recipes in it. I tried to make good choices this week, but my food has left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied, which is not good. Must create a better plan for next week.

Tomorrow is Friday, I’m sure to be perkier if for no other reason than that.

Weight

Because Megan asked about it in a comment (and I didn't want to bury the answer to her question): I have lost close to 30 pounds (27.5). It has taken me a while. I did Weight Watchers for a while. I think that can be a great program, and many people have had a lot of success with it. But it wasn't for me. I have lost weight through making a "life style change." My "plan" (or occasional lack thereof) is my own, and therefore I stick with it, changing things as needed. If it were just me I might go through stages of living on tv dinners and Skinny Cow ice cream bars. But I have a family and therefore feel like I should serve real food rather than the trash I would subsist on. Maybe I am selling myself short, who knows?

If you have questions, feel free to ask and I'll be glad to answer. But without a little prodding I'm not sure what to say :-)

Negativity Alert!

I just needed to let off a little steam here, so here goes:

1) Why do I spend so much time cooking? I mean, good Lord! Because of our busy weekday schedule, a lot of my cooking and food prep takes place on the weekend. I spent like 6 hours in the kitchen Sunday. In retrospect, I realize I chose poorly – making several “chopping” intensive meals in one week. But spending 3-4 hours in the kitchen is typical. What do “normal” people do? Eat crap? I used to have hobbies – now I have clean grapes and celery sticks in my lunch box. I want time to sew again!

2) I am tired. Real tired. D&mn tired. Like, I fall into bed every night between 9 and 9:30, freaking exhausted. It is sad when you tell your 10 year old they have to go to bed early because mom can’t stay awake any more. I get up at 5:18 each morning (barring t-storms). I realize 8 hours of sleep is optimal, but I really hate the fact that by 8:30 I am rapidly degenerating into a grouchy b&tch.

Sometimes being fit and healthy seems like an awful lot of trouble & effort, ya know?

As always “change of plans.” The hubster got home late because he had to go to Urgent Care to get a splinter removed from the back of his head. They didn’t get it all – he has to go back this morning. Poor guy. So, the boy & I went to a local pizza parlor. We shared a medium anchovy, extra sauce light cheese. And I mean it was light cheese – a couple of pieces had none! Their hand tossed crust is very good, and on the thin side. The boy also had a salad. Not the healthiest meal on the planet (or the lowest in calories), but not too bad either. We went to tutoring, then went to the Y for a swim. I wasn’t as comfortable as I’ve been feeling lately, but I didn’t drown. It still amazes me that I swim laps. Who would have ever thought? (I just learned last winter.)

We also stopped by the library on the way to tutoring to pick up a couple of books I had reserved. “The Body Sculpting Bible for Women” was in. So far it looks good. I am excited about hitting the gym really hard after the marathon! Have I ever mentioned how much I love lifting weights?

Okay, enough whining!!!!

Challenge Me?

This from Ron Harris’s “Daily Pump”: “Yesterday at my in-laws I had to watch everyone eat slices of this delicious-looking Snickers bar flavored cheesecake, while I had chicken breast and carrot sticks! It's cool though, it's better to get ripped than to stuff your face with crap.”

Wow. I am taking this as a “sign from god”. See, when I read Chris’ challenge yesterday, the whiny inner brat immediately asserted herself. “He wrote that last week. You’ve already bought all your groceries & planned your meals for the week. You have to take the boy places – you can’t change your workout schedule.” I let myself be oppressed by that brat most of the day.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about the challenge. I am always willing to jump on somebody else’s bandwagon. :-) I figured I could use the suggestion “make dinner your smallest meal.” I ate a reasonable portion at dinner, then we went to the gym. I did a little upper body & then watched my son’s tae kwon do practice for a while. So, there was one thing I could incorporate 1) making sure dinner isn’t larger than lunch. Then I thought of another 2) no snacking after dinner. Really not necessary, so why do it?

This morning I was doing my usual 2 mile run and I thought 3) Do the run segments faster, using the walk breaks as recovery breaks. It wasn’t all out my any means, but I ran a much faster pace than I normally do. Not only was I not worse for the wear, I felt really good! I drove in to work, the sun roof open and the “Heavy Metal” soundtrack blasting. Without changing my schedule or buying anything out of the ordinary, I had made 3 tweaks to my routine that I felt would help my fitness and weight loss. Will I cut out post dinner snacks forever? Of course not. But being mindful of it for even a week will help.

So then I read Lee’s response to the challenge. She is modifying Chris’s fruit fast suggestion to a fruit, veggie, cottage cheese only day. I thought to myself “Gee. Just this morning on the run you were thinking about what to plan for this weekend while hubby is out of town.” 4) This weekend I will do a fruit, veggie, tuna only weekend (after my pb&j post-long run). It’ll be just me at home so I won’t need to cook for anyone. I can either use being by myself as an excuse to shovel crap into my hole, or I can use it to help myself along, since I don’t have to fix meals for anyone.

Wrap back around to the quote at the top of the page. Ron is right. Note to self: Pick up necessary items Friday at grocery. Set yourself up for success. Heck, I won’t even have anybody eating cheesecake in front of me – should be easy!

Work fascinates me – I can watch is for hours!

In my case, this old joke would be “Nutrition fascinates me – I can read about it for hours.” Especially while slurping down a cold brewski.

While there was no “out of control” eating going on over the long weekend, it was simply that I ate too much here and there, spread out throughout the days off. Ugh! Back to my routine, I am doing my better. Done’s done, time to move forward.

Exercise however was quite good. Got in a great swim, a nice 7 mile run, the boy & I ran 3 miles together, we did some hiking… So lots of good stuff on that side of the equation!

We watched “Catwoman” last night, which I really enjoyed despite the cruddy reviews.

That’s all for now.

Life in a small town

Something happened to me this morning that reminded me why I like living in a small town. I felt like I was in one of those commercials on the Turner South tv network “This is my south.” I got up early to come into the office for an hour, then meet the boys at Jimmy’s – their favorite breakfast eatery. I had half a peanut butter sandwich with me so I wouldn’t starve for 2 hours, and decided a diet cherry limeade from Sonic would be the perfect thing to wash it down. I had no idea what time they opened – it was a little after 6. I pull up to the drive-thru and I’m looking for the operating hours. The lady says to me, “We aren’t open yet, but if you just want a drink I can take care of that.” So I order my drink and pull around. I explained I wasn’t sure what time they opened & couldn’t find the hours. She replied, ”When Don is working he gets here around 5 so the grill would be all ready by now. I get here at 6, so it isn’t ready yet. But just drive through and I can always get you a drink.” I never did find out what time they open.

Like the IBM commercial says, “Change of plans.” The hubster was going to be home late and grandpa was dropping the boy home for tae kwon do already fed. So I figured I would stop at the cafeteria for some healthy food on the way home & wait for the boy. My mom calls and says “There is a funnel cloud 15 minutes from the northern side of Kernersville. Go home now.” So, I whip the car around and head for home. By the time I get to the cemetery there is a huge wall cloud (anybody that lives in the mid-west probably knows that’s bad – we don’t generally get those here.) and the sky was green (due to all the hail in the clouds). I get home & the dogs & I go to the hall bathroom since it’s in the center of the house and has no windows (we don’t have a basement). We listen to 80 knot winds go whipping around the house and hail (reported to be up to 2.5 inches in diameter) pound the roof. Thankfully it was over in a few minutes. We were all safe and the funnel didn’t touch down. Pictures from Tobaccoville just down the road looked as if it had snowed they had so much hail. Unbelievable. I love a good thunderstorm as much as anyone, but that was a little much!

The boy got home & we went to tae kwon do. I took a nice picture of him getting his brown belt and then I headed out to look for some food. I had a stomach ache and nothing sounded good. I wound up eating fast food (yuck). I feel hung over today, although it’s probably from the Saltine’s I ate right before bed to settle my stomach.

Today is a 3 mile run, a swim, & running errands. Tomorrow is hiking over at Pilot Mountain (remember Mt Pilot in The Andy Griffith show?). This weekend I have an easy 7 mile run plan, and some militant relaxing with my family.

Have a great weekend.

p.s. Yes, Tobaccoville is a real town in NC, just down the road a piece. :-)

Rainy day blah blah blah

I went to the pool last night & swam. In a rare burst of intelligence, I decided to listen to my body this morning. The big honking fever blister I woke up with was a pretty clear sign: fever blisters = stress. So, my body was begging me to slow down! Working out 3 times a day the past 2 days after the long run and on top of being sick was apparently a little excessive, and nature let me know that loud and clear (ouch my lip hurts!!!). So, I slept in this morning.

Today, 1) my hair looks fabulous (I have no idea why, so I cannot replicate this at will), 2) I am ravenous (is that nailed down? no? then pass it over!) and 3) my friend G is back in the hospital. In the past 3 years she has had 3 typs of cancer (she started with breast). I am down about that, and I'm sure she is too. I called her this morning and we may ride over to Durham to see her this weekend - she is in Duke hospital.

It is raining really hard here, but that's okay. I have the next 2 days off, as do the boy & the hubster & the weather is supposed to be gorgeous Thursday & Friday. So it can just get all that rain out of the way today!

I don't know much else. I am getting plantar fascitis again this year. I think I will make an appt to talk to an orthopedist. I am doing everything I've read about in Galloway's book to help it. But I don't want to graduate to bone spurs, so I may actually see a professional. Gag.

Coming into Focus

First of, I am obviously still not over my cold or my run! I did go to the gym last night. I lifted weights (back, chest, tris, bis) and then called it a night, postponing swimming until today. I was exhausted. I managed to go home, fix a simple supper, and clean the kitchen. Then it was a hot bath, a little relaxing, and off to bed by 9:15 for this girl.

I did get up and run 2 really good miles this morning. And the gym will happen tonight. Food was very much on track yesterday. I love that I can have a day of “heavy” eating, and go right back to normal the next day. In the bad old days, one day off plan left me off plan for days. Even if I “planned” to go “off plan”!

I perused another weight training book last night – this one by a guy named Vince Gironda. I had never heard of him, but apparently he’s a fitness guy from the late 50s or so that opened a gym in Hollywood. Arnold endorses a 6 day a week plan (3 day split twice) in the initial muscle gaining phase. Vince says a 2 or 3 day split twice.

I think I may go with the 2 day split twice a week once the marathon is over. Four days a week at the gym is probably about as much as I can handle. Since it will be summer, that will keep my weekends a little flexible. I plan to keep this schedule until school starts – then we’ll see what happens. Arnold’s program emphasizes a lot of heavy compound movements – which is great but you must have a partner to do his workout. If hubby is working in town he has agreed to lend a hand (have I mentioned how wonderfully supportive he is?). So, we’ll see what is up with that.

As far as cardio – HIIT with 2 of those lifting sessions and swimming with the others, at least to start. I will continue doing my walks & runs in the early morning, hitting the gym after work. And my walk at lunch of course. Once the marathon is over, I think my long runs on the weekend will look like this: 15 mile /7 mile /7 mile. A very long run every third weekend will let me keep a pretty high level of distance, but let my weekends be a little bit flexible to accommodate vacation plans.

On the food front, I am going to start with the 1500 calorie, 40/40/20 plan, and modify as needed to keep the fat moving along. The nice thing is my doctor checks my bodyfat every time I go, so I have access to a consistent measurement to let me know how I’m doing in that regard. If the scale isn’t moving, my pants & doctor will let me know whether its because I’m building muscle. :-)

I have found that to prevent a letdown after a fitness accomplishment, it’s helpful to have a completely different challenge waiting in the wings. I am already getting excited about this new program. It is radically different from my focus today, which I think is good. Mixing it up forces your body to improve in order to adapt. Fitness ruts suck.

What’s your next goal?

Long Post Alert!

This first section is a deep philosophical discussion about exercise. Feel free to skip down to my run re-cap & news if you aren’t interested.

My take on exercise

Chris and Fig both had posts last Friday about making exercise fun. It got me thinking about my own philosophy of exercise – indeed, I spent about 3 hours of yesterday’s run really thinking hard about that subject. I decided to write my thoughts down here. This is how I feel – it’s neither right nor wrong, nor better than anyone’s thoughts. I doubt it’s unique to me either – but this is what I’ve come to feel after 2 years of consistently exercise nearly every single day.

The Korean word “do” (pronounced “dough”) means “way” or “path”. The name “tae kwon do” literally means “the way of the hand and foot”. Like most ancient martial arts, as well as yoga, tae kwon do is about more than just physical prowess. Ancient (and many modern) students of these disciplines were seeking to reach that mind, body, spirit nexus – where the 3 meet – in order to make improvements in all aspects of their lives. Spiritual enlightenment can be achieved through physical conditioning, just as a spiritual activity such as meditation can lead to improved physical well being. Because all 3 aspects of life are innerconnected.

We have a dog named Butchie. Butchie was rescued from the shelter by my mom, who wanted a dog. Butch had been abused, and then he was at the shelter for a long time (past his “expiration date”) because he was so sweet, they hoped he would find a home. Unfortunately, Butch was very destructive when my mom got him, eating her koi pond, storm door etc, until she brought him to us in the hopes that being around another dog (Carmen) would help him settle down. It took Butchie a good 4 -6 weeks to get socialized into our family. He was very bright and eager to please, so really that’s a pretty short period of time. But even after that, he was just a little high strung and suffered from separation anxiety. He would still chew on stuff (or even his paws) if left alone. We quickly learned to keep him supplied with bones, rawhide chewies, rope bones etc. – this gave him an outlet for his anxiety. He has one bone (it’s one of those round ones with a hole in the middle) that he carries around like a child would a pacifier. We call it his “binky bone” because it is his doggie equivalent of a pacifier or blanket.

I am a lot like Butchie. Due to a combination of nature and nurture, I am a fairly high strung individual. Not only do I tend to see the glass as half empty, but I will obsess over how I am going to (single-handedly of course) make sure the glass gets, and stays, full. This is just a part of who I am. Counseling has helped offset some of the “nurture” sources of this, but partly this is natural for me. Like Butch, I need an outlet for this anxiety so I don’t chew on my own paws as it were. I stress, therefore I exercise.

When I first began exercising, it was to lose weight. But that has totally changed for me over the past 2 years. When I read Dave Draper’s weekly newsletter in which he discusses his take on following “the discipline of steel”, I totally understand where he is coming from. This man was a bodybuilding champion before I was born. He looks better today than men half his age will ever look. He views weightlifting as a path – one that leads to a lot more than an awesome physique. When people talk about making exercise fun, I tilt my head as if someone walked up to me and began speaking Swahili. It just doesn’t compute. I’m sure people have fun in church sometimes, but I doubt it’s their primary reason for going.

Indeed, the gym and the running path are a sort of church to me. This is where I go to improve my life’s vessel, to contemplate who I am, to reflect on my choices, to seek emotional well-being and to gain a measure of spiritual enlightenment. I have found all those things and more in the gym and on the road.

Pretend you got a phone call from someone you didn’t know. They said they were going to Chicago and needed directions. Having nothing better to do, you pull out your road atlas in order to help. I bet that before you began spouting off directions, you would ask the person “where are you now?” How can you given them directions if you don’t know where they are coming from? Even if every single person in America were headed to Chicago, they would need to take different roads based on their starting point.

Life is like that. Most of us may headed in the same direction, but we are starting from different places. Exercise isn’t the only mechanism by which I improve myself physically, mentally, or spiritually. But it is one road I use. You may not use this road at all, because you are coming from a different direction. Doesn’t mean we aren’t headed the same place.

Run report

I survived! Saturday I bought groceries and rested. Saturday night was thankfully the first night I didn’t have to sleep with a cough drop in my mouth to keep from coughing. I woke up at 2 am a little nervous, but finally settled back down and got some sleep. I was up at 6:30, washed a Zone bar down with a little diet Pepsi, and with the help of hubby (the best pit crew in the world) I packed my Walkman, Hammer Gel, and CamelBak, stuffed a tissue in my waistband, and took off.

I started out having to slow myself down – the air felt cool & great and I felt like I could run all day! After a couple of miles I removed my jacket – it warmed up quickly. I did the out & back to the cemetery (7 miles), then decided to stick in the neighborhood because it was getting warm and the road was getting crowded. (The neighborhood is a little cooler). The hubby rode his bike, and even jogged a little of my second 2 mile loop with me, so this broke the run up nicely. The first 13 miles were good – the last 2 were rough. It’s funny how whatever your last long distance was, those miles are okay, but the new ones feel like Mt. Everest! And it was getting hot. But with the Hammer Gel I have yet to bonk or to have a post run headache. I went home, rested, bathed, & went out for a well deserved lunch!

My right heel is bothering me a bit. This concerns me because last year I made it up to the 18 mile mark before plantar fascitis forced me to give up on marathon training. I am trying to baby it.

Other Stuff

Food was more this weekend, but not out of control. I don’t want my body to think we’re starving with all the running & the recent loss, so Sunday was a heavy calorie day. I read some of the Zone info again, as well as some of the nutrition section of Arnold’s encyclopedia.

My problem with the Zone is that a) sorry, 1000 calories aren’t enough and b) for me it seems to be a little heavy on the fat & light on the protein. Rather than a 40/30/30 split (40% calories from carbs, 30% each from fat & protein), I think I am going to use a 40/40/20 split, which will give me a little more protein. I will start at 1500 calories and see how that works. I have figured my grams of carbs, protein, and fat, and my next step is to write down all my stuff and see what the nutrition is. Then to juggle it all around until I come up with a Mon – Fri meal plan. Weekends will be a little more flexible, but not completely “off” either. We’ll see how this goes.

And then the heavens parted, and the angels came down & lent a hand

Really, it’s either that or coughing all night burns up a heck of a lot of calories. Cause I’m down 4.5 pounds this week. Granted, I was up 2 water pounds last week, so this really represents a net loss of 2.5 pounds, probably spread over 2 weeks. Put that way, it seems reasonable. But this loss puts me into virgin fat territory people! The lowest weight I’ve seen in .. oh, 4 years or so!?!? Woo hoo! Maybe I am making progress after all!

In other news, I did something to my knee while sitting at work yesterday and now its sore (ah, the joys of getting older), my nose is raw to match my throat, and I generally feel like 5 pounds of crap shoved into a 3 pound bag. TGIF!

Last night the boy and I did make it to the Y – I simply could not lift weights as I feel pretty much like some alien has sucked out all my life force. But we did do a swim – I did a strong 350 yards – 50 yards longer than the tri distance. I am working on picking up speed at this point.

My plan today is to get in another swim and a walk at lunch (I slept in this morning because I didn’t sleep very well last night due to trying to hack up a lung). Tomorrow is a “rest” day – just running errands, shopping, cooking, etc. I have a 15 mile run scheduled for Sunday and there is no room built into my marathon plan for illness, so I plan to suck it up, do my best, and spend Sunday perusing the books I got at the library.

I picked up 4 books at the library yesterday: a Dean Koontz that I love and actually don’t have a copy of, a biography of Lucretia Borgia, and 2 weight lifting books. One is Arnold’s encyclopedia – which is huge! The other I reserved on impulse – it turned out to be a short history of bodybuilding for young people. I read it in about 20 minutes – pretty interesting actually. Gave Joyce Vedral some credit and you don’t read about her much these days, but nothing that could help me with my training program. Maybe reading about lifting weights will help me feel less dead Sunday afternoon! :-)

Jogging in a winter wonderland

I woke up this morning to the most snow we’ve had so far this year (okay, it was maybe an inch). But it was 32 F, so I decided to go running anyway. The first mile wasn’t too bad, then it really started coming down! While I could admire the “Courier & Ives” beauty of the morning, having snow blow into your face and stick to your hair does kind of suck.

The good/bad news was that they changed the format of my son’s tae kwon do test so that it lasted a mere 90 minutes, as opposed to being some kind of marathon endurance test with people feigning illness a la the roman coliseum in order to escape. That meant I had no time to work out. (He passed BTW). No biggie, I was hitting the gym this afternoon anyway. I’ll add weights to my swim, and I’ll try to squeeze in a third swim tomorrow.

In other bad news, I am sick. I have a head cold and feel like my a$$ is dragging. Unless this crap moves into my chest, I’ll just keep mushing on, being sure to eat healthy foods and get plenty of rest. Gah. I make a lousy patient.

What else? Our entire county library system has exactly 13 books on weight lifting. Really, how pathetic is that? Luckily 2 looked really good and a couple more looked like they had possibilities. Also added to my queue were a couple of the Zone books. I am not good at being a food fanatic, religiously sticking to a “regime” – I prefer to consume healthy whole foods in a quantity which allows me to slowly lose weight. But I think I will use this to check & make sure I am getting sufficient quantities of all nutrients. Blech.

I am going out to a business lunch today. Luckily, they chose my suggestion for a place to eat – I know I can have a very yummy and healthy lunch at this place. They focus on seasonal food, so the menu changes regularly, but they always have a good variety of healthy choices. It will even be worth getting out in the snow for.

We have BOOKS

My library has Arnold's bodybuilding encyclopedia, as well as a couple of others that looked good. They are now all in my queue - mwah ha ha!!! While weight training is in a holding pattern for the next month, after the tri my weight routine will be getting a major facelift. So, I have a month to read these books, decide what I like, start planning, and order from Amazon as needed! :-)

Reading about working out gets me so fired up! Just thinking about reading about working out gets me fired up! But not as much as actually doing it!

The beginnings of an idea

So, right now I am in a holding pattern with my workouts until the triathlon is over (Apr 16th). After that, I think I will (temporarily) remove swimming from the mix and add High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) back into the mix. That’ll give me a good balance of endurance with my long runs, high intensity cardio to encourage the extra weight to go away, and I can beef up my weight training a bit at that time as well since HIIT won’t take as much time as swimming.

As far as food I’m at a loss. I am closely monitoring, and I’m thinking about being stricter on my weekends in between long runs. Obviously I want to fuel my body for the long runs, but on those off weekends maybe I can cut back more. I am already planning food for this weekend. My long run is on Sunday, which will encourage me to stay the course Saturday.

Not much else is new. The boy has his brown belt test in tae kwon do tonight, so it will be a long evening. I had a Miller Lite last night, and still came in right at 1500 calories for the day (according to my doctor, my BMR is 1550). Although I missed my walk at lunch, I did walk after supper while the boy was at the tutor, so I got in a 2 mile run and a 30 minute walk yesterday. The walk was hilly!

I am still feeling a little discouraged, but I am not going to go drown my sorrows in a vat of chocolate or anything.

Hope you all have a good day and check out Jack’s awesome pics of his run this past weekend! Why don’t I have running pics? Easy – I’ve not entered a road race in over a decade! Weird, huh? I did take pics of the new haircut – once I get a few more pictures on the camera (probably tonight) I will upload them.

Fit Kids?

Last night I went to the gym to work out. In the weight room, a woman about my age (obviously very fit) was lifting weights with her son. I guess he was in the 13-14 range. He didn’t seem to be having a lot of fun. Anyway, I had a chance to speak with her briefly in the locker room. Turns out she takes him with her to body building contests etc and makes him work out with her. She said he just started football and she thinks lifting will help, although that wasn’t the only reason. She said he doesn’t like it and she has to make him work out. The child was fairly overweight (she wasn’t). I felt really torn – I mean, I applaud what she is doing. But I wonder if he won’t come to feel resentful at being pressured to work out, and eventually rebel by not exercising?

When I was a kid, my dad always told me how important it was to have a physical activity you enjoyed – one that you could continuing doing into adulthood. I sat around a lot of tennis courts, bored while he played. I hated tennis, and he never asked me to play anyway. So I confess to having a certain bias here.

So, how do you encourage your children to enjoy athletic endeavors, without sending them screaming in the opposite direction?
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What is up with blogger? I’m still having trouble posting.
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I took my son to the doctor for a swollen lymph node – doctor said it was due to his cold and not to worry. I think the salt water sinus irrigation will commence this evening. I missed my lunch time walk, so I think I will walk while he is at the tutor’s. That plus a 2 mile run is pretty decent for the day I think.
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I didn’t bring enough food – by 2 pm I had had 600 calories and was starving. I got a side of red skin mashed potatoes from the cafeteria, and put that with my ¾ cup homemade lentil soup (really just lentils, veggies, & water). Even with the potatoes, I am still tracking well with food for the day.

Beaten Down

Yesterday’s eating was great – right on plan. I walked at lunch with my friend. While the boy did tae kwon do, I did a quick upper body workout (1 set each for back, chest, tris, bis, & shoulders – then finished with sets of abs, push-ups & low back hyper extensions mixed together) then went for a great swim. This morning I got up and ran 2 miles.

So why the title? I feel fat. I felt very uncomfortable in my bathing suit last night. I am so tired of these last 15 pounds and I feel like I can’t make progress no matter what I do. I cannot accept being overweight the rest of my life, but nothing seems to make a bit of difference. It makes me tired to think about it. Ideas people!!!

I was so pissed at blogger yesterday – I enjoy leaving comments for people, even if it’s a simple “great job” because we all need encouragement and doling it out is its own reward. And maybe it helps other people as much as it helps me.

Well, I may try for a more in depth post later, let me see if I can at least get this little bit up today without giving myself an aneurism.

Why is Blogger being a poo?

Ugh.

I did 7 miles ….. technically

Clearly I was still recovering from being sick last week! I ran 4 miles Saturday and 3 on Sunday, but I couldn’t do any more either time. So I basically blew off my long 7 mile run this weekend! Oops!

That was all the exercise that occurred. Food-wise I did well, sticking to plan except for going out for Mexican Saturday (not as bad as you might think. Its all home made and 2 of the 3 things I got were not fried and had no cheese. Of course, I also had 2 beers and a donut for dessert). Another side note here: Is it wrong to be a die-hard Dunkin Donut fan when I live less than 10 miles from Krispy Kreme HQ??? Luckily, the Dunkin is not convenient and its not a big trigger food for me. I also had dessert last night – low cal ice cream. It never ceases to amaze me how much better I feel when I eat healthy food. A smarter person might make that connection and eat healthier all the time!

So. a nice relaxing weekend. Beautiful weather to boot. Coming up this weekend: 15 miles. Jinkies!

Actions are Being Taken

Okay, 90 minutes is sufficient self-pity. I ate a can of Campbell's soup for lunch yesterday, and saltines with snacks. Let's face it: extra carbs + extra salt = extra water = extra weight. It's water, stop crying.

To be safe, I have busted out the heavy weapons: a pencil and my pocket notebook. I will write down everything that goes in my pie-hole and count the calories. Take that weight!

On random stuff…

I am probably the only person on the planet that can run 13 miles and have a stomach virus within a week, and still manage to gain two pounds. I hate my f&@king body.

What was up with blogger yesterday?

Thanks for the sympathy. I don’t get migraines often, and this was the second worst one in my life. Thanks goodness for an on site massage therapist – although she is part-time, she was here yesterday afternoon. It helped gets the kinks out of my aching neck!

Glad you laughed Chris. I wanted to leave some pertinent comment, but thought it sounded a little me-centric in retrospect. But hey, what’s more fun than laughing at me right??? *lol*

My husband says my new haircut looks like Maj. Carter on Season 2 of “Stargate”. I’m loving it! Until last April I’ve had very long hair my whole life (even in the Army). I’ve gradually been getting it shorter & shorter. I love where it is now.

Am I one of like 4 geeks in America that watch cycling on OLN? Why don’t they have more coverage? I am Tivo-ing the Paris-Nice race coverage.

Who are you pulling for in the Tour de France this year (if you care)? Lance, right? I guess I am too, but I have to admit I love Jan Ullrich. Poor Jan, always a brides maid, never a bride. And he’s come in second to Lance so many times…. I love him partly b/c he was racing on some team in East Berlin back when I was living there (on the other side of the wall of course), and because he’s dead sexy, and because he’s a kick butt rider. If Lance hadn’t made a come-back, these last years would’ve been Jan’s….. Oh well, might have beens.

Maybe I just won't eat this weekend. I am so sick of this extra weight. I swear.

Workouts are shot for the week

So, Tue am was terrible rain, then pm I took the boy to his tutor. I woke up Tue night with a migraine, then was throwing up yesterday. Spent the day on the sofa. Woke up last night with a still even worse migraine. I'm pretty shaky today. But I packed my can of Campbell's soup & came into work. I won't be working out today either. We'll see how I'm feeling in the morning - I'm just grateful it's a short run this weekend. A mere 7 miles. God.

Not really about working out

Yesterday I was really beat. The boy & I ran, but I couldn’t swim or lift weights. I was still obviously recovering from Sunday’s long run.

To make matters worse, I am not in a great place emotionally. Missing my husband very much , and dreading my half brother’s wedding in May. I am much older than my siblings from my dad’s second marriage, and going to these things makes me feel very alienated. At my sister’s wedding, I wasn’t even seated near the family, let alone with it. Part of me says ‘don’t go’ and the other part wants me to be a bigger person than that. Do you ever reach an age where Grace comes naturally? Heavy sigh.

I failed to make myself breakfast I was so busy washing dishes, so I grabbed a bacon & egg sandwich here. Other than that, eating has been what I brought from home. The part I hate most about PMS isn’t that I turn into a raving lunatic (that’s my husband’s least favorite part!) – it’s that I feel like that girl that ate the gum in ‘Willy Wonka” – ‘overinflated’ best describes it. Please God let this week end soon.

Sometimes life gives you a gift

On a scale of “cat in water” to “fish in water” my swimming has been closer to the cat end of the scale. It’s my fault – once I finished last year’s tri, I just never found the time to swim very much. That is, until a couple of weeks ago when I realized I was doing a tri again in April. Time to drag my butt to the pool!

So, Friday I really didn’t want to exercise after work. Worse, I had to go home & let the dogs out. The sofa was singing its evil siren song. Luckily, I’m not very bright – I convinced myself I was putting on workout clothes and packing a gym bag so I could drive to the store for beer. Hee hee! I drove past the store and to the gym. One victory down! And another was waiting for me in the pool. It was the best swim so far – I managed to swim multiple laps in a row without feeling claustrophobic or weird. Woo Hoo! I may actually be ready for the tri next month. It was a great swim.

Saturday was my rest day and yesterday was my 13 mile run. I have to say it went very well. I ran the first 6 miles on my 2 mile loop in the neighborhood. Then I ran the 7 mile out and back to the cemetery. I hadn’t run it yet this year. The down side was it was later in the day and there was a lot of traffic (must run it earlier). But it was great to be out of the neighborhood and running through different scenery. I had my CamelBak and a fanny pack with my Hammer Gel (have I mentioned that stuff tastes nasty? :-)

After the run, I iced my feet while eating a PB sandwich. Then I took a nice long bath & laid of the sofa (using ice occasionally) and finished watching Saturday’s Tivo-ed SCi-Fi original picture “Skeleton Man”. What a dog of a movie! And the rest of the mini-series “Earth Sea Trilogy”. So, a nice afternoon.

Food was pretty good this weekend. I did indulge my taste buds in some cheese dip Friday night (with ‘light’ taco chips). Thankfully, they seem to have stopped putting the crack in the cheese dip – it’s not quite as tasty as it used to be. I enjoyed it, and then I went to bed!

Thank you very much! (but the scale still sucks!)

Wow. Imagine my shock when my email was chock full of replies to my post, as well as personal messages. Thanks! It’s like I wrote to Lee: sometimes I feel like I am shouting in the forest, but the shouting still helps me, even if no one hears. But it is nice to get feedback - I get so much from the blogs I read. And I am going to check Jack’s out for sure once I read his comment. I really enjoy reading men’s blogs as well. It is amazing how supportive people are of each other! And you read so many discouraging things about losing weight (and keeping it off) in the news - it is refreshing to hear from and about regular folks who are doing just that very thing.

Most people start their weight loss journey as a ‘1’ – some turn into 2s. Some never do. And that’s okay – I wasn’t criticizing at all. Some people hate exercise, do the bare minimum, lose weight, and go on with their life. I wish I didn’t have a body that needed a huge exercise investment in order to lose weight, but that’s the way I am. Luckily, I’ve learned to like it. The funny thing is, I rarely enjoyed exercise when I was in the Army. Eight years of doing something nearly every workday, and not really enjoying it. How sad is that?

There were a few runs in Hawaii I loved when I was stationed there – the Aloha run was a great organized race, and I used to run the course of the Kole Kole half marathon on a regular basis. If you aren’t familiar with the race, the first 5-6 miles winds through Schofield barracks and is very pleasant – the next couple of miles is uphill climbing to the mountain pass on a road that cuts through fairly thick jungle-esque forest. At the top is Kole Kole pass (and a huge 3 story cross marking the pass) that supposedly the Japanese planes flew through on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor. Once you reach the top of the pass, as the Ranger who lived next door once said to me “then someone steps on the back of your shirt.” Boom. You’re headed downhill through the naval magazine. The plants are cactus and the climate is dessert. The trade wind is blowing off the ocean straight at you, and uphill on the other side is looking real good. Since I was stationed at Schofield, we’d run to the top, and then turn around. Much easier. The running in Hawaii was so gorgeous, I enjoyed it in spite of myself! But really, these past 2 years mark the first time in my ENTIRE life I’ve done exercise for pleasure. That is sad.

This week: Mr. Scale sucks – no weight gone. You think I’d be glad I didn’t gain after last Sunday’s binge, but some people just are ungrateful wretches!

Other than Sunday, food has been good. Okay, I ate a sugar cookie yesterday, but besides that…. Okay, I’ll be more focused on the food side of the equation next week. Getting enough rest I have down pat. And hey! Let’s check out exercise this week, where I totally rocked the house!

M: swam
T: ran 2 mi, 30 min walk at lunch, walked dogs 1 mi in evening
W: 2 mi walk, 30 min walk at lunch, upper body weights
H: 2 mi run, swam, walk 30 min at lunch
F: 2 mi walk
Planned:
F: more weights + swim after work, walk at lunch
S: rest day
S: 13 mi run

I know a tad bit more diligence with the food will pay off for sure next week. And considering its PMS week around here, I think keeping my face out of the bag of dark chocolate Dove bites in the freezer was pretty good!

Hope you all have a terrific weekend!

An observation about blogs

I read a lot of blogs. There are some I have read for years, others only for a short time. Most of the blogs I read are weight loss related – either someone losing, or having lost, weight. In general, the weight related blogs I read fall into one of two categories 1) the person hates exercise and only does it to lose weight. She struggles to do it – if this person develops any sort of regular routine, any illness or family situation etc that comes along will totally destroy their routine. Then they’ll start again, struggling to make exercise happen. 2) For this person, exercise has become a way of life. They now exercise for reasons other than weight loss. Eventually their eating will change to support their exercise, whether they are still losing weight or not. Gone are the tv dinners they used for ease of counting flex points, and hello whole foods which support a healthier lifestyle. Where do you fit? I love watching the 1s turn into 2s. That is what has been happening to me, and it rocks.

So, weight training was awesome last night. Supersets rule!

Superset 1:
Db row 30/12 35/10
Db press 25/12 30/10

SS2:
Super pullovers 20/12 (too easy) 25/12
Incline flye 20/12 25/10
Finish these parts with 360s using 10 dbs.

SS3:
Tri kickback 15/10 15/10
Bicep curl 20/4 20/7 (why was I so weak here last night????)

SS4:
Tri overhead press 30/10 35/10
21s 15/10 15/10

Shoulders:
Overhead press 20/10 25/8
Alternating front & lateral raises 12.5/6 ea X 2

3 negative chin-ups

Ran 2 miles this morning. It was cold and my inner whiny brat wanted to argue, but inner drill sergeant kicked her to the curb and got our a$$ outta bed!

Today I noticed that my pants are a little baggy where my tummy used to be more flabby…… Yeah baby!

Do any humans read this stuff? Sometimes I wonder…..

Please Pass Miss Lousy-Mom Cranky-Pants her Machine Gun please.

Here is the deal: I am in a lousy mood. There are a number of possible culprits: a frustrating day at work yesterday, PMS, lack of weight lifting Monday (I swam instead), or possible electrolyte imbalance due to the fact that my dinner went through me like the Jamaican bobsled team (ahem). On the way to work, I found myself fantasizing about a nice day out on a machine gun range.

I was in the Army for 8 years. There was plenty I disliked, but there was a lot I loved. Being a machine gunner is high on that list. Working the machine gun range was a blast, especially if you got to be one of the people at the end of the day helping use up the extra ammo. Really, there is a tremendous primal satisfaction to be derived from putting a couple thousand rounds through a machine gun so fast that the barrel begins to warp (it’s okay – the assistant gunner carries a spare). I was an expert with a machine, and frequently won beer off the foolish Rangers who didn’t think a “girl” could out-shoot them. Heh. Remember, my hobby is putting on medieval armor and hitting people with rattan swords. I am hoping to curb my violent tendencies tonight at the gym, with an upper body workout that will have my muscles begging for mercy – in a good way.

I feel guilty because we went out to dinner last night. I was just emotionally beaten down to the point where heating up a can of soup & making a grilled cheese sandwich sounded like to much d&mn work. How messed up is that? I wanted to relax in the tub, but instead got a running commentary from a 10 year old on the other side of the door about how long I’d been in there. We had also gone out Monday for somebody’s birthday dinner, which means home cooking is sparse around our place this week. This is not typical, and I feel bad about it.

What else? Monday swam. Tuesday ran 2 miles, 30 minute walk at lunch, then we walked the dogs 1 mile last night. Got up and walked 2 miles this morning, even though it was freaking freezing. I got spaghetti for dinner last night, but the half I ate of my meal didn’t seem to hang around for long. I was in the kind of pissy mood that I used to squash with food. I did have a bag of soy chips with some diet pepsi after dinner. This morning I am listening to my world flute relaxation CD, drinking diet cocoa, and hoping this will pass soon. I hate being crabby – it seems like such s waste of time & energy.

I read this blog, and she posted this a few days ago:

“I am ready to just be a woman instead of the large woman. I am ready to be a triathlete instead of the fat chick doing a triathlon. I am ready to be a runner instead of the fat woman out jogging to lose weight.”

That is exactly how I feel.

And now, back to some exercise talk

I didn’t mention it yesterday, but I had the most amazingly mediocre 6 mile run on Saturday. I just totally couldn’t get into it. My attitude was “ho, hum” the whole time. I hate that, but it wasn’t painful either….

I have to make some changes to my workout routine. My swim last week showed me that laying off the swimming for 7 months meant I lost a lot. Well, the tri is in 6 weeks (hello!??! Where has the time gone???). Which means I need to be swimming more. So, gotta juggle things around. I will have to scale back on weight training – I only have X amount of time at the gym and something’s gotta give. It has to be the weights. :-(

Right now my priorities are 1) marathon training 2) triathlon training 3) maintain muscle mass through weight training 4) whatever fun is left over.

Yesterday was a good day food-wise. It’s nice to have things back to normal. I’m feeling better already. I swam last night. Ugly is all I can say……