Blog Me This...

Happy Anniversary... 22nd edition

2012-02-03T08:18:00.000-05:00

On this, the 22nd anniversary of the day I said "I do", I decided to re post this from my 20th anniversary on February 3rd, 2000. Not much has changed, we're a little older and one of us is a little more gray (not me, so I don't really know what that says.) We've gone through a couple of really bad years in the building industry, moved, suffered some losses and celebrated some victories. After 22 years together we have made it, or faked it 'til we made it. I guess the more things change, the more they really do stay the same. Even the toilet seat.

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary! Since I am 40 years old, and this is my 20th anniversary, even by my rudimentary math skills, that comes out to being married for half of my life. I am extremely proud to make that statement. I barely remember my life before Sloan was in it, and I truly would not have it any other way. That's not to say that it has always been easy, because it hasn't. But together, Sloan and I have weathered some storms that would have broken a lesser commitment a long time ago. I believe with all my heart that my life is better because Sloan is in it. If anyone knows Sloan, even a little, I feel sure that you are probably familiar with his kooky, goofy and sometimes corny sense of humor. That ability to make me laugh, usually more than once a day, is one of the may, many things I adore about my husband. I love that he can deal with the fact that I am a lousy housekeeper, but a pretty good cook. I love that even though I try to finish his sentences for him instead of listening, he still wants to share things with me. I love that he will stand patiently at the edge of the green while I putt for the 6th time, and then still congratulate me for finishing the hole. I love that when something funny happens or he gets a new account, that I'm the first one he calls. I love that he treats our dogs like children and lets them sleep in the bed sometimes. I love his competitive nature and desire to excel at everything he does. I love the commitment he has for his job, and the devotion he has for his family. There are so many things in him that I appreciate. While they may seem ordinary and unimportant, I think it's these things that mold the "normal" (such as it is) that we enjoy everyday. Now, don't think that even after being together for 20 years, the toilet paper or paper towels never get left empty, the toilet seat always gets put down, the trash always gets taken out right away when it's full, or that all the dirty clothes find their way to the hamper. They don't, it doesn't. But, at the end of the day, there's faith, hope, trust, love, commitment, compromise, patience, empathy and understanding, and I am so incredibly thankful to have found these things in Sloan. And who knows, maybe in 20 more years, the toilet seat actually will get put down!

There's a light

2012-02-01T15:54:00.000-05:00

There's a light at the end of my totally un-motivated tunnel. Hopefully it isn't an oncoming train that will flatten the glimpse of progress I have made over the last week and a half or so. I have made it to the gym more than I haven't made it to the gym over the last week and a half. Score. I have lost 2 pounds over the last week and a half. Score. I even made it to the gym for the elusive 5am workout once in the last two weeks. HELLA SCORE! I've done ~~pretty good~~ better with my eating and cut back on the alky-hol. All good things. But I won't lie, it has taken every ounce of determination in my body to keep at it just for a week and a half. I'm continuing to do my half circuit training/half cardio schedule and it seems to be working out OK. I like the variation of the circuit training but I also appreciate the straightforwardness of the strictly cardio days. I'm hanging in, trying to stay on top of it mentally. I haven't been logging any of it dailymile like I used to, but maybe I should. Sometimes it helps to see what you are doing in "black & white". Overall, I think it's a good start and hopefully a step to actually enjoying the whole "healthier living" thing again. In other news:

I tried the COOLEST product yesterday. You may have seen the Sally Hansen Nail Effects nail polish strip kit. They are technically made for fingers, but since I don't necessarliy want to sport a heavily patterned manicure every day at work I decided to try them on my toes. It's a little tricky because clearly toenails are shorter, and there is a lot more trimming them to fit, but with a little patience I was very pleased it the overall result. The directions are implicitly clear, so if you just follow them as written I can't imagine anyone having too much of an issue. I actually went a couple of steps beyond, on my own accord. After I applied them and trimmed and filed the excess, I heated them with a hair dryer (be CAREFUL of you will burn your toes, use a little common sense here...) and then I applied a top coat. No dry time, self imposed topcoat notwithstanding, and I didn't have to wait a few days for the excess polish to come off my cuticles. They are a bit on the pricey side, I purchased the kit for $9 which included a file, an orange stick and 16 strips in various sizes. Since I cut them in half and used some of the strips for more than one nail, I actually have enough left for two more applications on my toes. You might have to cut a little extra for the side if you have a wide big toenails like I do, but the pattern that I chose, "Frock Star" blended together so well that you couldn't even tell. I can't speak to the durability since I just did it yesterday, but the box claims that they will stay on for as long as ten days. I did shower, and they were still on today. I'll definitely be trying some of the others designs now that I have the hang of how to apply them.

"Frock Star"

Contents

TA DA!

My apologizes if you have a thing about feet and the picture grosses you out. It's kind of hard to show the end result without it!

Did hell freeze over?

2012-01-24T09:49:00.002-05:00

Stop the presses! I made it to the gym yesterday afternoon. And went in. And actually worked out. Which leads me to believe that hell may have actually frozen over. It wasn't the morning workout that I have been trying in vain to get myself to do, but it was a pretty good afternoon-after-work workout. Until I can get this last 30 30-ish pounds off, I am going to concentrate more on "circuit" type training where the running is an element, but not the sole focus. This is what I did:

1 mile on the treadmill, intervals of walking/running
1 set of 12 each of the following:
Squats holding 12 pound dumbbells
Lunges
Wall Push-Ups (2 months of boot camp last year and I still can't do a decent push-up)
One Armed Dumbbell Rows
Lateral Raises With 12 Pound Dumbbells
Hammer Curls With 12 pound Dumbbells (LOVE these)
Tricep Extension With 12 Pound Dumbbells
Bird Dog (This is kind of a yoga-y ab thing, see photo below)
Planks
Seated Ab Rotation Holding 12 Pound Dumbbell
1 mile on the treadmill, intervals of walking/running (mostly walking) :P

Bird Dog From Real Simple Magazine

At first I thought one set of 12 each didn't seem like much, but oh it was! This gave me right around an hour workout. And I was sweating profusely. I really liked the combination of exercises, as I read that exercises that push and pull and work muscle groups as a network, rather than isolating a particular muscle (such as calf raises) are more effective for burning calories and weight loss. Please note, I am NOT an expert, I just read it on the Internet. And since I came across the same information several times I am going to assume it to be true. (Yes, I know all about assuming.) I think I'll try this 3 times a week for four weeks then mix it up a little. And just do cardio on the other days. It's a good start, and if I can get my eating back on track I think I can get my motivation back and get the rest of this weight off. I am sore today, and especially thankful for the handicapped rail in the bathroom, but for the the first time since November I actually feel enthusiastic about it.

Dear Self...

2012-01-20T10:48:00.004-05:00

That is all.

Ode to Joe's

2012-01-19T13:46:00.000-05:00

Something you may or not may know about me is that I rarely buy groceries as in "buy groceries all at the same time". Instead, I usually choose to make a stop at the local Publix nearly each and every day on my way home to purchase a few things for that nights particular meal. This results in my spending a good deal of my waking life in the grocery store. I've tried to plan and make "one big trip" but for whatever reason it just doesn't seem to work for me. Actually there are two things that probably have a lot to do with this. 1) It's just me and the hubs and 2) We like to eat out. It's not that I don't like to cook, I do. It's just that I like to cook specific things when I am in the mood for them or taking a dish somewhere. I do not necessarily relish the "if I don't cook we don't eat" kind of cooking. Clearly this is easier to get away with when there aren't other mouths in the house to feed. (Yes the two "kids" are other mouths and they do eat what we are eating, at least a bite or two, but fortunately we can also purchase their dinner 20 pounds at a time.) And allllll of that superfluous information leads me to share with you how much I like taking a road trip to Trader Joe's. If you aren't familiar with TJ's, it's a quirky little market that sells lots of unique, organic and environmentally conscious foods and items. It's a fun little store with a "neighborhood market" feel. The one we visit even has "pooch parking" outside of the store with water and treats for your dog. It is, however, a road trip in the most literal sense because the closet one to us is in Atlanta about 40 minutes away. When you first walk in there is a lovely display of bouquets with all types of flowers in them. And they are categorized by price this way: "I like you", "I really like you" and "I really, really like you." I think that's cute! They have a decent selection of organic fruits and vegetables, dairy, frozen foods, snacks and lots and lots of specialty items. Like the dark chocolate and turbinado sugar covered almonds with sea salt that I am now wishing I had purchased. Damn. Oh... and the wines!! Lots and lots of moderately priced wines. Including the infamous "Charles Shaw" label unique to TJ's, also affectionately (or not) called "two buck Chuck." Even though it's really "three buck Chuck" in Atlanta. And yes, I've tried it. It's not bad, at all, but it isn't super overwhelmingly good. It's... drinkable. I guess it's probably what you might expect a $3 wine to taste like (I've had the Cab and the Sauvignon Blanc). It wouldn't be my first choice, but I wouldn't turn it down either. I haven't had the chance to try many of the frozen items because of the 40 minute commute back to the house, but they have some fish and chicken items that look mighty tasty.

This was our haul. Frozen Steel Cut Oatmeal, Organic Celery Hearts, Organic Hummus, Brown Rice Sushi, flowers, a bottle of Cab and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

If you are in love with the whole idea of "couponing" and getting 20 bottles of salad dressing for $1.99 then it probably won't really appeal to you. But if you want a fun little change from the everyday grocery store, I think it's at least worth a trip to see what you can find there.

The workout that wasn't

2012-01-18T15:25:00.000-05:00

Here's how the first day of my "new and improved let's add some weight training to my life so I'll start working out again" went. 1) Set clock for 4am. 2) At 4am, turn clock off and go back to sleep. *sigh* Really? WTH? Do I really want to continue to be a lazy slacker and have to re-lose the weight and inches I have gained back since November over again and THEN some? No. I do not. Not only because I don't to go back to being 60 pounds heavier, but also because in a confident "purge-o-rama" last year, I gave away all of my clothes that had become too big. And I can't afford to NOT be able to fit into the new clothes that I bought. AND god forbid, there are already swimsuits out in the stores. Right there with the Valentine's Day candy. If I can get my head right about this and get recommitted, at least long enough to drop a few pounds I think I can reignite the motivational spark that kept me going for almost two years. I thought trying to get my work out in first thing in the morning would be a do-able change from going int he afternoon after work. And it might be, if I can ever manage to get there. Ditto the eating. I know what to eat and what not to eat. I know how to control portions. I know how to make good choices. I'm just not doing it. I just can't figure out why. So. Frustrating. So, what am I going to do about it? I'm going to set my clock for 4am tomorrow morning again ......

Blog Fail

2012-01-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Big. Fat. Fail. That's what you call it when you have only marginal skills and minimal working knowledge of Blogger and accidentally delete all of your posts back to April of 2010. Yeah, I did that. Just damn. So the big gap in the timeline is not two years worth of complete slacking by me as a blogger (well maybe some of it is), but a tribute to my complete lack of technical knowledge and ability regarding how to recover deleted posts. *sigh* Oh well. Here's hoping that all of my posts for the year 2012 will still be here come 2013.

Tales from the Trail

2010-04-22T14:14:00.003-04:00

Let me just preface this post by saying that if anyone ever tells you that running on the treadmill is NOT way easier than running outside, they are lying to you. Or maybe they just want you to try it so they can laugh at you later when you are icing your knees, shins and hips. And while setting the incline might give you some idea of resistance, it in no way will be the same as when you are the foot of an imposing, steep hill which will probably look more like Mount Kilimanjaro the first time you see it. But, unless you can find a 5K race that utilizes the treadmill, you have to get out on the road sooner or later, right? Faced with this realization I stepped out of my indoor comfort zone for about the fifth time yesterday, and decided to ditch the treadmill for the trail at the park. I’ve done it a couple of times before, early on, but it was very overwhelming and so different that I was really questioning if I could do this running thing at all. But, I read somewhere that the only difference between “TRY” and “TRIUMPH” is a little “UMPH” so out to the trail I went. (Yes, I’m a sucker for a catchy motivational quote….) The other times I have been to the trail were in the morning on the weekend, and it was just me. I expected a few more folks to be there on a weekday afternoon right after work, and I was right. No as many as I thought, but a few. The weather was fabulous, warm not hot, low humidity and very little pollen thanks to the thunderstorms that rolled through here yesterday. Running shorts (check) wicking t-shirt (check) running shoes (check) running watch (check) cool bondi band and mp3 player (check, check!) I totally LOOKED like I could kick some trail butt even if I had never gotten out of the car! My friend Jacki says “Sometimes it’s all about the outfit” so even if I failed miserably I’d look good doing it! (This same philosophy applies to my golf game by the way…) I did get out of the car though, and make my way to the point where I had started on my previous visits. I had a little cheering session in my mind, put in my ear buds, started my watch and I was off. I am familiar enough with the trail to know where my previous run/walk/stop/start points were, and really my main goal was just to run longer than last time, in less time than last time. The trail is paved, so that’s a plus, I guess. (Never having run on any surface other than asphalt or the deck of the treadmill….) it winds back in the woods, and there’s a lake-ish, (ok, it’s really more swampy) body of water, and a creek. Then a portion of it winds back up to where there are softball fields. There are also two very cool Vietnam War memorials on one side of the trail. In the middle of it all, there are several little buildings from the history of McDonough, GA like the first school house, the first library, a steam train engine and such. It’s called “Heritage Village” and hence the name “Heritage Park.” It’s definitely picturesque and provides a lot more to occupy my mind than watching each and every second tick off the treadmill timer. There is a fairly smooth stretch to start. That’s the good news. It leads to the bottom of a ginormous hill that I have yet to negotiate without nearly passing out. That’s the bad news. It’s entirely possible that I muttered some profanities out loud while scaling the hill. (Just because YOU can’t hear other people with ear buds in your ears does not mean that THEY can not hear you. Hopefully nothing too bad slipped out while the superwoman pushing the stroller came up beside me!) Once I got to the top of that hill (walking) and was able to regulate my breathing again, I settled into a walk a little, run a little pattern that took me down the remainder of the windy, still a little hilly trail and back to my starting point. One lap down!! I know that 5 laps around is 3.50 miles, which is what I wanted to complete. Whew, only 4 more times to deal with my mountainous nemeses. About the third lap, I realized that I was the only one going in the direction that required me to go UP that hill. Everyone else was looping around the opposite direction and going DOWN the hill. Well duh! Why didn’t I think of that? I decided to just think that they were less dedicated than me, and not actually smarter! :) I figured my butt would thank me eventually with a smaller jean size for not turning around and going the other way. I spent a lot of time trying not to step on those prickly round things that fall out of sweet gum trees, dodging duck and goose poop and giving dog walkers with angry barking dogs at the end of the leash the “I’m just being nice and pretending I don’t hear your dog raising cain at me because I’m wearing ear buds” smile. Ultimately, I managed to complete my distance about five minutes sooner than the last time, so that made me happy even though I walked much more than I wanted to. I didn’t beat myself up too much though, because after all, it’s only been 10 weeks. (I’m not sure how long I am going to keep leaning on that, when it becomes 11, 12 13 and so on!) I am making that my last run attempt until my 5K on Saturday. I feel a little sorer today in different places than when I run on the treadmill, like my heels and hip joints. (It might be time for some more cushy shoes.) But despite the fact that I am a good bit slower out on the road than on the treadmill, it is a really good feeling to be out there trying. We’ll see what Saturday brings!

Still Running......(sort of)

2010-04-20T15:32:00.005-04:00

Yeah, it’s been a minute since I last posted, I know. But seriously, you haven’t missed anything. I am perpetually stuck on week 5 day 3 of the Couch to 5K training program, which as it turns out might end up being more like a nine MONTH program for me as opposed to nine weeks! (Have I mentioned that everything is more difficult for heavy people?) It’s the 20 minutes of consecutive running that my body just seems to be rejecting. I honestly can’t tell you for sure how times I have tried to complete this one single days run. The longest I have been able to go consecutively to date is 13 minutes. I have however, increased my distance to 4 miles each time so SOMETHING’S gotta’ be going on, right? Right now I am run/walking 4 miles in about 58 or 59 minutes. Some days go better than others, you know how it is. I do see looking back on my training log that my pace has improved from when I very first started. I started out at about a 17 minute mile and only doing a couple of miles each time. Now I am up to 4 miles and my pace is around 14:30. Still slow, but it’s only been 10 weeks. (Really, only 10 weeks? It seems infinitely longer…) That actually makes me feel better, because 10 weeks ago I couldn’t run a minute at 3.5 mph without sucking wind. The weight loss I experience when I first started running has slowed down a little, but I have had a few episodes of falling off the “healthy eating wagon” as well! To date I have lost 18 pounds, and am still losing, just a little slower now. I’ve added some weight training too, and am starting to see some results from that. Oh, and I missed my first scheduled 5K. :( I had registered for the Sweetwater 420 Fest 5K on April 17th, but it just didn’t work out. I hate that I missed it and that I missed spending the day with friends, but I got to let someone a lot faster than me use my number. :) (Maybe I’m on to something with that…) It turns out the course was probably MUCH too hilly for my current level of conditioning, and I probably wouldn’t have finished without bursting into tears. I mean, I think I could have finished, I’m just not sure in what condition. But a BIG WOO HOO to my friends Whitney, Jacki and Lynn who DID do it! At any rate, I ain’t too mad to have another week to prepare for the Truett’s Run of the Mill 5K this Saturday. That’s right, THIS Saturday. From what I hear, the hilly portions are more like a steady incline/decline so hopefully I can negotiate those without too much drama. I got an OK 4 miles in yesterday on the gym treadmill, and I am going to try to get out on the trail at the park on Wednesday, then take “rest” days Thursday and Friday. (I could do an entire other post about my “outdoor” running experiences, but I’ll just wait and recap on whatever happens Saturday.) I THINK that just about sums it up, like I said, I am working on an endurance, pace or BOTH breakthrough right now that seems to be s-l-o-w in coming! There are a lot of local 5K’s coming up in the next couple of months, and I am eager to get my first actual “race” experience under my belt so that I can move forward! I’ll let you know how it goes. On a totally unrelated note, this made me laugh...If you can't really read it, it says "Does this shirt make my butt look fast?" AND it's on the tail of the shirt in the back too. Maybe you had to be there, but it made me laugh out loud.

Couch To 5K - Weeks 4 & 5 (and 5, and 5....)

2010-03-11T10:48:00.002-05:00

Ok, ok….bad, bad blogger! I didn’t really realize that it has been nearly four weeks since I posted anything. So, for anyone who thought I might have bought the farm in an unfortunate treadmill incident, never fear I have just been distracted and busy! When I last left you, Week 4 was just about to start. To spare you the specific times and intervals, week 4 is basically increments of 3 and 5 minutes of running with walking in between. I accomplished the 3 minutes fairly easily. I also accomplished the 5 minutes, less easily! I am trying really, really hard to get out of the habit of looking down at my feet when I run on the treadmill. Apparently, you are supposed to (according to whoever is in charge of determining these things) focus on the horizon in front of you. Which in my case is my less-than-flattering reflection in the big window at the gym and cars speeding up and down Old Jackson Road. Less than interesting. Not that gazing down at my spiffy green and white Saucony’s is much better, it’s just hard to stare straight ahead without feeling like I am going to loose my balance and fall off the belt. (While I do tend to weave from one side of the belt to the other when I get tired, I have managed to stay upright on it thus far.) I also try to concentrate on form and tempo when I can but truthfully, toward the end I am just trying to keep moving! Week 4 also brought a new element to the table…weight training. In my efforts to learn more about running, nutrition and exercise, I have read a lot about how integral resistance training is to losing weight. And since a big part of why I started this in the first place was to lose weight, it seemed like that adding some weight training would be a logical step. Sloan is doing it as well, so we started doing the weights after we do about 45 minutes of cardio. (Either running/walking or the elliptical trainer for me, and the elliptical trainer for Sloan.) Two things that have earned a place on my list of “intense dislikes”….lunges and hammer curls. But if it’s gonna’ help me lose more weight, bring on the dumbbells! Moving on to Week 5, I think I can sum it up this way…”The 5 minutes that I ran consecutively on week 4 remains the longest that I have run consecutively.” Week 5 is kind of random in it’s progression in my non-trainer opinion. And it ends with a 20 minute consecutive run on the third day. Um….what? Do you have ANY idea how long 20 minutes is in big-girl-running time? Big-girl-running-time converts to regular time much like dog years to human years! It’s long. So if you are somehow missing the subtle signals I am sending here, I have not been able to successfully complete any of week 5 so far. Boo. I do, however, continue to try each time my running day comes around. I seem to be pretty good at “walking one running one” but I am having difficulty running consecutively. I know it’s not really a big deal, and that I just need to keep doing what I can until my body is ready to move on, but the OCD in me is having a meltdown because I can’t complete the week “as written, on schedule.” For the last week and half, I feel like I have absolutely no energy when I start the running segments. It’s pretty frustrating, especially considering that the first four weeks were difficult, but not impossible. I’m trying to keep it in perspective by reminding myself that I couldn’t run the 90 second intervals 5 weeks ago. (It only helps a little…) Sloan suggested that I might be overdoing it, with 6 straight days of cario and weight training everyday, plus my reduction in caloric intake. After reading a little bit about “overtraining” I think he might be right. If I understand correctly, exercise basically puts muscles into a state of “fatigue” (it breaks them down), and if you don’t give them adequate recovery time in between you are trying to perform with muscles that are still in a state of fatigue, or “broken down”. Makes sense. I need to find a balance between doing the “running thing” and the “weight loss thing”. I certainly don’t want to give one up. So…I am going to try to revamp the schedule to work in a second off day starting next week. I’m just so afraid that if I slow down I’m going to stop losing weight. I’ve managed to lose 13 pounds since I started 5 weeks ago, with a l-o-n-g way to go yet! That’s probably a little neurotic and silly, but I worked really hard to lose those 13 pounds and I want to do everything I can to keep losing. So that’s the “skinny” of the last few weeks. Week 4 completed, Week 5 not so much. Added weights, lost 13 pounds, becoming tired and grouchy all the time. Hopefully, if I can successfully revamp my schedule and I can complete Week 5 before I turn 42 NEXT March!

Couch to 5K - Week 2 is done, Week 3 begins

2010-02-16T09:12:00.002-05:00

It’s time for a little brutal honesty here. Being overweight is tough on your body. I am finding this to be oh-so-true with each week that I complete on the “Couch to 5K” program. I got through weeks 1 and 2 with relatively few problems. Just some minor aches and pains that you would expect when you’ve been sedentary for quite a while and then take up physical activity. After completing day 1 of week 3 last night, I am experiencing the joy that is “shin splints.” Not to the extent that I don’t think I can go on as scheduled this week, (although I did tell Sloan that he was going to have to make his side of the bed because I wasn’t walking over there), but definitely a constant dull-achy kind of thing. Someone advised me to remember that when you are heavy, you’re respiratory system recovers much quicker than your physical body. I thought it was a good “nugget” of advice when I heard it, and now I truly understand it. But, as my friend Chell says “endeavor to persevere” and so I will! Week 3 consists of three identical workouts. A “brisk” 5 minute warm-up walk, run for 1.5 minutes, walk for 1.5 minutes, run for 3 minutes, walk for 3 minutes then repeat the run/walk interval. I though that this segment seemed kind of short at just over 20 minutes…Enter the fact that when you are overweight and un-athletic, 3 minutes of running on the treadmill goes by about as quickly as the last 3 minutes of an NBA basketball game. Including TV time-outs! In my head I thought “Well that’s just twice the 1.5 minutes I’m already running at the start of the workout.” Well, my body forgot to tell my head that I am about to be 41 years old, heavy and very new to this whole running and exercising thing. I guess I set my expectations a little too high, and I was slightly disappointed at how much effort it took me to run the full 3 minutes. But, I DID do it, and threw in a cool-down period as I always do. I really wanted to make 3 miles by walking the rest of the distance after completing the actual workout, but the two 3 minute intervals were tougher on my legs than I anticipated. I settled for 2.36 mile at the end of the 40 minutes. I’m doing the walking at 3.6 mph and the running at 4.0 and 4.2 mph, but it just seems like I am not covering enough distance. Why am I so hung up on the distance? I don’t know. I suppose because I am looking at the “big” picture and not thinking about the fact that this is only week 3 of a nine week program. Whatever the reason “3 miles” just seems like a great benchmark in my head. Now I find myself wondering if I can actually do it in 9 weeks, or if I might have to repeat a week or two. That would really discourage me because I want so desperately do a good bit of running (jogging) in the 5K on April 17th. Since today is an “off” day, tonight will likely be a “leisurely” walk on the treadmill to try to complete the elusive 3 miles. On the flip side, I lost 4 pounds last week. That’s a total of 7.5 pounds in the 2 weeks that I have been watching my diet and doing the program. I am super happy about that and I can’t wait until it starts showing up in the way my clothes fit. (I have learned from losing weight in the past that your pants get longer!) Sloan and I did splurge and had Mexican for Valentine’s Day. We went for lunch on Saturday so that we could go to the gym later on. (Chicken fajitas are nearly as loved as macaroni and cheese in my book!) I felt a little bit guilty about it, but we’ve been going to the gym every day except Thursdays, and I still managed to loose last week so it’s all good. So…with 2 more days left in week 3, I hope I can push through the frustration that’s creeping in. “Endeavor to persevere…”

Couch to 5K - Week 1 is done! Week 2 and a leap of faith

2010-02-09T09:43:00.002-05:00

Week 1 is done and Week 2 is underway! Yippee! Admittedly I have to push myself a little more than I expected. (Why, I don’t know… I mean can’t you go from being a slug on the sofa to an Olympic caliber runner is a couple of weeks? No? Maybe that’s why more people aren’t Olympians…) but I am determined to stick with it! Sore muscles, aching feet, treadmill wedgies and all! True story about the treadmill wedgie. It’s really uncomfortable and I am simply not confident enough in my ability to discreetly remove it while cruising along at a 3.6 mph pace. But you gotta’ persevere so it’s either run with it or just go ahead and fix it in front of everybody. Next time I will make the conscious choice to embarrass myself. The last interval of Week 1 was not bad. I thought I had possibly pinched a nerve or something of that nature in my hip during the second workout of week 1, but apparently it was just sore muscles because it didn’t bother me too much on the “off days”, Saturday and Sunday. I guess you have to expect a certain level of aches and pains when you’re a big girl and you jump on the treadmill for the first tine in who knows when. It is my most sincere desire to remain injury free and I guess if indeed I actually do give myself one, I’ll know it. Week 2 is only slightly different than week 1. It’s a 5 minute warm up walk, then intervals of 90 seconds of jogging and 2 minutes of walking. 30 more seconds of jogging didn’t seem like a lot more in theory, but when you are watching the seconds tick off it seems a lot longer! But then you get 30 more seconds between intervals to walk than week 1. This week, I tried keeping the speed the same for the walking and the jogging. (I keep calling it “jogging”; the program calls it “running”. I just don’t feel like I have built up enough speed to actually call it running yet…) Rather than bump it up for the jogging and down for the walking, I just set it at 3.6 mph for both because that it a happy medium between the two speeds. That was actually a little easier than fooling with the controls when it was time to switch up. (Again, that lack of coordination thing...) I decided to just time it myself for the first segment of week 2 rather than use the podcast so that I could watch NCIS while I was doing it. I mentioned before that all of the cardio equipment at the gym has its own individual television monitor and control, so you just plug in your headphone and watch whatever you like. I love this because I don’t get stuck watching whatever is on the mounted televisions that I normally care less than nothing about. (You know, like at the doctor’s office.) I completed the intervals and the warm-up and cool-down walks for a total of 36 minutes with the loathing not setting in until about ¾ of the way into it. That’s an improvement over it setting in when I press the “start” button on the control panel! Doing the jog/walk combination at 3.6 mph and including the warm-up and cool-down I am completing a little over 2 miles total. (I figure that puts me at like a 20 minute mile maybe?). I’m thinking to myself “How and I ever going to run (jog) for 3 miles if I’m not even covering 3 miles now?” I have to remember that the process is GRADUAL. And they stress this quite a bit in the C25K program. Don’t over do it and don’t skip ahead, even if you feel like you can. (Not that I think I can right now, it just seems like that 3 miles is SO far away!) On this same note of building up endurance, I am alternating on the “off” days between the elliptical trainer and just walking on the treadmill. I did the elliptical trainer fir the first time on Saturday. My intention was to go just 10 minutes and then hop on the treadmill. I got 10 in, so I thought “Well, you did 10, you can do 15.” And I did. Five minutes at time until I had completed 30 minutes! Yes, I was dizzy and had jelly legs when I got off, but I did 30 minutes. Since I haven’t actually been out on the road any, I think the next “off” day walk I do, I will set the treadmill at the “random” or “hills” program to get the simulation of changing “terrain” conditions. I realize this isn’t exactly the same as taking it to the pavement, as I’ve already disclosed, I’m just not ready to “go there” yet. Maybe when it gets warmer as a friend of mine has offered to trudge along with me if I decide to venture out. (You know Jackie; I just might take you up on that if I get a big boost of confidence!) AND…insert drum roll here...(think Christmas Vacation, although if you haven’t seen the movie that probably isn’t funny) I have actually signed up for a 5K! Well, before you get too overly impressed and I know that you are, it’s actually a run/walk. It’s the Sweetwater 420 5K Run/Walk on April 17th. AND…My friend Whitney and offered to do it with me and registered too! Yay! Whitney and I plan to try to run (jog) the whole thing if we can but it’s good to know if we start in the back we can walk some if need be. The run is actually part of a whole “festival” that looks like it might be fun. Here’s a link if you’d like to read about it for yourself. http://www.rungeorgia.com/420fest.html So whether it’s a leap of faith or a temporary moment of insanity, it’s a goal. Unfortunately Sloan can’t really do it because of his knee, but he was nice enough to offer to ride the elliptical trainer for the length of time that it takes me to finish if they will put one at the finish line. Of course he might take it back if they actually would. To summarize, week 2 has started off well enough, I’m still able to do it and that pleases me. And the prospect of receiving a t-shirt that actually says “5K” on it makes me giddy. (Yep, I’m a dork.)

Couch to 5K - Week1, Workouts 1,2 & 3

2010-02-04T10:01:00.004-05:00

Well…. Week 1, workouts 1 and 2 are now under my belt! The first week is actually 3 identical workouts, so I have 1 more left in the first week. It’s a brisk 5 minute warm-up walk and intervals of 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. I also threw in a 5 minute cool-down walk just for good measure. Since I am doing the program on a treadmill at the gym, the instructions state to set the incline at 1 percent. I guess this is to simulate actual road conditions, but no way, no how am I running outside in public. Yet. Inside in public is slightly less traumatic and much more climate controlled. Baby steps here! (I probably don’t have the greatest running form, but I suppose its better than Elaine’s dancing on Seinfeld or Phoebe’s running on Friends.) After the first night Sloan said to me “I really didn’t know what to expect, but you actually looked like you had run before.” I’m still not sure if that was a compliment or not!  I put the program on a big grid, broken down by weeks and workouts so that I can use by beloved Sharpie marker to put a big red “X” on it when I complete a segment. I’m visually motivated and if you know me at all you know how I feel about Sharpies, so it works for me. Sloan going to the gym with me and cheering me on is helping me a lot as well. The five minute warm-up walk (the program actually says “brisk” warm-up walk, I guess you determine what “brisk” means to you) has been pretty easy. And the first few intervals of jogging/walking are not too bad. But I’d be lying if I said by about the last 8 minutes or so I wasn’t sucking wind and praying for the electricity in gym to go out. There are a few podcasts out there that have music and audio cues to let you know when to change it up, but after timing it myself once, and using the podcast once I find it just as easy to time it myself. If you are doing it outside and don’t have the benefit of a digital display staring you in the face the whole time, I guess it would be easier to use the podcast. I like listening to my own music on the MP3 player, and the treadmills at the gym each have their own television monitor with a headphone jack so you can watch whatever you want to. For my particular level of “non-fitness” I have been staying right around 3.3 mph for the walking portions and 3.6 mph for the jogging. I realize that is not particularly impressive to anyone with average stamina, but it’s working for me right now and it lets me actually complete the workout without having to call into work the next day. Since the “training” workouts are only 3 days a week, I am doing a 30 minute walk on the “off” days right now. Just to keep me going in and to acclimate my muscles so that maybe, eventually I will get over the soreness. I can live with the sore muscles. A sore muscle is not a pulled muscle, an ankle sprain or a knee injury, so I’m just investing in a really big bottle of ibuprofen! My sleep is a little messed up right now because we are going to the gym at 8:00 at night. This is so that it’s not quite so busy and the odds of me getting stuck on the treadmill next to the skinny girl who can run 60 minutes at 6 mph are less. I hope that eventually that we can go a little earlier, but for the time being later is better. I’m finding it easier to focus on a goal with an actual “plan” to follow; instead of saying “I’ll just go to the gym and walk on the treadmill.” Being more directed is helping me see the big picture more clearly. (I suppose this could be an element as to why so many people succeed with a personal trainer.) At any rate, it helps me. Although I have been making better choices and being more conscientious of my eating, I haven’t really implemented as actual “food plan” yet. I’m going to try “policing” myself for a couple of weeks and see how that goes. Weight loss IS my ultimate goal here, but right now this is more about me being able to accomplish something that I never thought I could do. Hopefully weight loss will be a by-product and in a few weeks I can direct more of my attention to that aspect of it. I do plan on weighing on Mondays and I’ll share my loss. (I won’t however, put my actual weight out there, I don’t even disclose that information to the DMV when I renew my license. As far as they know, I weight the same thing that I did when I GOT my driver’s license 25 years ago!) So, with one more workout left in week 1 and looking ahead to week 2, I’ve made some slow, steady progress. And I don’t run like Phoebe from friends.

Happy Anniversary!

2010-02-03T00:00:00.003-05:00

Today is my 20th wedding anniversary! Since I am 40 years old, and this is my 20th anniversary, even by my rudimentary math skills, that comes out to being married for half of my life. I am extremely proud to make that statement. I barely remember my life before Sloan was in it, and I truly would not have it any other way. That's not to say that it has always been easy, because it hasn't. But together, Sloan and I have weathered some storms that would have broken a lesser commitment a long time ago. I believe with all my heart that my life is better because Sloan is in it. If anyone knows Sloan, even a little, I feel sure that you are probably familiar with his kooky, goofy and sometimes corny sense of humor. That ability to make me laugh, usually more than once a day, is one of the may, many things I adore about my husband. I love that he can deal with the fact that I am a lousey housekeeper, but a pretty good cook. I love that even though I try to finish his sentences for him instead of listening, he still wants to share things with me. I love that he will stand patiently at the edge of the green while I putt for the 6th time, and then still congratulate me for finishing the hole. I love that when something funny happens or he gets a new account, that I'm the first one he calls. I love that he treats our dogs like children and lets them sleep in the bed sometimes. I love his competitive nature and desire to excel at everything he does. I love the commitment he has for his job, and the devotion he has for his family. There are so many things in him that I appreciate. While they may seem ordinary and unimportant, I think it's these things that mold the "normal" (such as it is) that we enjoy everday. Now, don't think that even after being together for 20 years, the toilet paper or paper towels never get left empty, the toilet seat always gets put down, the trash always gets taken out right away when it's full, or that all the dirty clothes find their way to the hamper. They don't, it doesn't. But, at the end of the day, there's faith, hope, trust, love, commitment, compromise, patience, empathy and understanding, and I am so incredibly thankful to have found these things in Sloan. And who knows, maybe in 20 more years, the toilet seat actually will get put down!

Couch to 5K

2010-02-02T15:12:00.002-05:00

This is my current endeavor. It's a program designed for non-runners (and I am the epitome of non-running) to be able to go from the "couch" to running an entire 3 miles ( 5K) in 9 weeks. It's a 9 week program with three interval workouts per week. I'll spare you the particulars, but here is the link if you'd like to see for yourself..http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml Understand that I have never run anywhere. Ever. Except maybe a few laps under duress when I was in elementary school. I have always wanted to "be able" to run, but thought that such a thing was out of my reach until I shed some of the extra weight that I carry around. At some point I had an epiphny that perhaps running could be a way to help me shed some of said excess weight. (I love to use the word "epiphany" when I write, and I so seldom get the opportunity....) So, after careful consideration and examination, and determining that while preparing a last will and testament might not be totally neccessary for me to attemp this, I am going to give it a whirl. To fully understand, you have to realize that I have been very sedentary for a very long time. (Ok, let's just call it what it is, I've been lazy.) I just got comfortable doing nothing, and well, nothing apparently gets you nothing. I know running for 3 miles may not seem like a big deal for a lot of people, but it would mean a great deal to me, both physically and psychologically. Hopefully, I will be able to blog about each training session, as long as I can continue to sit in the upright position and use my fingers for the endurance of the nine weeks. I'm tired of nothing getting me nothing, so here goes.....