Category Archives: Uncategorized

There is a really cool contraption that some really nice woman showed me how to use today at the gym.  Its purpose is to help you stretch.  And the stretch it helps you to gain is awesome… it feels heavenly after a run.

I’m not sure who thought this up… but I can stretch almost everything pretty quickly.

You know, this morning I got up and thought, man… it has been such a long week, I really don’t feel like running… but I hauled my butt out of bed and tied on my shoes and headed out.

This morning I went more for distance than speed… Did 4 miles in about an hour… made it the whole way to the Baseball Field, used the porta potty in their parking lot and home… got home, water and a shower and cut the grass.

Just finished an omlet (one whole egg, one egg white, cheese and salsa) and more water.

The grass is making me sneeze and cough this time, I think my allergies are kicking up.

Now, for not feeling like getting going, I’m feeling pretty fantastic.

Easter… Ham (great… ) and Scalloped potatos (more great) but it was worth it.

Ran out of milk with the scalloped potatos.  Walked the mile to CVS to get milk (only 5 days out on the expiration date) and back.  Stopped at Sonic to get a long cold (half priced!) cherry lime-aid.  Got an even bigger drink of water when I got home.

I wasn’t actually anticipating being able to exercise a whole lot today… it was raining when I got up and I needed to hide two easter baskets before the kids got up (I wonder, how many other parents hide easter baskets for teenagers… ) so I knew running was probably out… and my calves hurt from running yesterday a bit so I wanted to let them rest.  The walk was heavenly.

It warmed up nicely today… and it is great to sit and relax and get caught up on life in general.

I didn’t run yesterday… I was hoping to ease my muscles aching.  It helped to some degree, but only some.   When I got up this morning, I really wanted to run… so I suited up and ran.

Right now, I’m sitting listening to Harry Potter and drinking Lapsang Suchong tea.  At the end of my run this morning… the only thing I wanted was smokey tea… so after I soaked in a hot bath I made tea and it was perfect.  I should eventually eat something… but right now… tea is all I really want.

I hurt… but it is such a good hurt.  I am down 5 pounds over the last week so the hurt tells me it is helping.

It has been being a cross training kind of a day… three days this week.  Tuesday, I did two circuits of the weight machines in the gym then turned to the stationary bike for 20 min and the elliptical for 20 min.

By the time I got done, I was really proud of myself becuase the last time I tried the eliptical machine I made it about 90 seconds before I thought I was going to die.  This time, 20 min had me breaking a sweat and had my heart rate hitting 142 but nothing horrible.

Yesterday and today, it was the elevated treadmill… 25 min on the treadmill… then weights… 30 reps pushing 70 pounds, 30 reps pulling 55 reps, 20 reps pulling down, 20 pulling up.

My abdominals are sore tonight… so are the muscles in my lower back.  But it is a good hurt.

And, I haven’t had a can of pop since Monday… almost entirely water… a little jasmine green tea… a little coffee… tonight, my treat is sugarless drink mix in water and ice.  Tomorrow morning, I run again…  I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s run.

Tomorrow is a work from home day… I think I will make some sun tea while I sit out back and work… tea without sugar should be good, too.

Tonight, I measured for the first time in a few weeks

23 inch thighs, 36 inch waist.

Still entirely too high, but getting better (even during THAT time)

I wanted to see if my pants fitting better (actually hanging baggy off of my thighs and not tight on my waist or butt… “actually” fitting like they are supposed to) was a lot in my mind or if I really was feeling better and my clothes fitting better.  Wasn’t all in my mind.

The house was warm enough this morning when I got up so I put on my capri leggings and a T-shirt and headed out on my run.  Becuase it was pager duty weekend, and becuase the pager whined all night long, I ran later.  That meant I could run in the daylight and change my route.  I love to run the new route, but it is not well lighted enough for me to run comfortably that way at 5am.  I learned to trust my instincts… so I don’t go that way that early in the morning alone.

What did I find when I went outside?  I found frost on the grass, on the rooves of the houses and on the cars.

I learned that when it is really cold my scar on my arm itches really badly.

I leaned that even wearing leggings and a t-shirt, when it is freezing, I can sweat and when I get in the house the heat (even when the heat isn’t on) is amazing.

A hot bath after a chilly run feels FANTASTIC.

Spent most of the night sick.  So this morning, I slept in a bit (dog decided I needed to get up becuase she needed to pee) and now am just sitting here listening to the sounds of the trains floating in through the window on the breeze.  It would have been a fabulous day to run, too but I know that if I had tried, I would have ended up somewhere down the road sick again and that would not have been pleasant becuase I’m not sure I could have guaged where I was going to be when I got sick and in someone’s yard would have not been neighborly.

Sunrise earth is on tv.  That looks like a wonderful place to run… Point Reyes in California… purple wildflowers and queen annes’ lace, all to the sound of the sea.  Probably scare the elk, though.

Supposed to rain this afternoon… not sure about tomorrow morning.  I may have to dig out my waterproof bag again for my run tomorrow.  Then it is back to pager patrol.  Joy of Joys.  I think, though, that I might have a way to carry it now that doesn’t dial 911 every time I run… so I may have actually gotten past that issue.  I hope so, I really don’t want police and fire trucks coming after me when I’m out for a run just because they can’t make the stupid phone so it doesn’t dial emergency services by bouncing in a fanny pack.  EEsh.

200 days till the Run America Run half marathon.  I still think I can do this.  This morning, I think so with less confidence, but I think so.

Have a marvelously active day.  For me, today, activiety will probably be limited to the 3 or 4 flights of stairs that I go down and back up in the parking garage carrying two laptops.

I can’t for the life of me get past this plateau.  The inches have (are still) fallen off, but I can’t get the next five pounds off and it is driving me crazy.  I try hard not to pay attention to what the scales say but it is really hard.  It doesn’t seem to matter how much exercise I get or how many times I work out with weights, the pounds stick fast.

I feel good that the inches are changing and in my head I understand that muscle weighs more than fat so the fact that the inches leave means I’m doing some of the right things anyway, but it is frustrating that I cant prove it on the scale.

It was a fabulous run this morning.  I made it thought the ENTIRE podrunner interval day 1 to 5 k running every single beat of every single fast interval.

It was nice and cool out during my run and I feel fantastic after the run and I even managed to do 30 modified push ups.  I’m going to have to break down and start doing the NON-modified versions if my arm will tolerate them.  I drank 4 16 oz glasses of water… and 4 cups of lapsong suchong tea.  one egg with salsa and one slice of whole wheat toast.  lunch was a pot-pie (not so great… but protien) and now I’m sitting in the breeze in the back yard listening to Jimmy Buffett.

You take your successes where you can.

Today, it was finishing the entire run at the “right” pace.  It took me a couple weeks to get to where I didn’t slow down about interval 5 or 6… I guess now maybe I can actually say I’m a runner not just a race walker or extra fast walker…  That is a success today.

Weights at the gym again.  Going to wake up sore in the morning.  Want to try to go running if it isn’t raining too hard.  It is very freeing to not have to worry about carrying the pager.