Til the Wheels Fall Off

This weekend was a whirlwind. Thursday night I ran my 3 miles in the basement then hit the showers and spent most of the evening with my friend Vicki. We had WAY too much fun catching up and then cruising and shopping in our new Highlander. Friday I got off work early and got Brian and I packed for a weekend in KC. My first organized run ever was Saturday morning. I did the Diva Dash in KC. I finished in the first 1000 runners, out of more than 2000 and had a great time. After I got cleaned up we met Uncle Wayne and Aunt Mary for lunch at Jack's Stacks and then headed home, after a quick stop at the Legends for the cutest ever pair of purple Nike's! Sunday morning I got up semi early (I was really tired) and then ran 8 miles. Our house to the Bob Devaney Center is a long way! My legs are still sore - must be from the back to back runs. I spent the rest of the day on the couch drinking a LOT of water and watching bad television and we were asleep close to 8:30 last night. My poor kitty Angel has been sick for a little more than a week now. I'm not sure if the antibiotics are really doing anything and we can barely get her to eat. She is 17 now and I've had her 6 years longer than I thought we would so every day is a blessing... and I really don't want her to suffer. Brian is calling the vet this morning and either I'll take her today or he'll take her tomorrow. If we have to have her put down I want to make sure that Erik can say goodbye to her!

Talk About Getting Blown Away

Lincoln had 29 mph sustained wind and gusts up to 60 mph yesterday so the dogs didn't get to go for a walk before I hopped on the trainer for an hour of pedaling. Last night I dreamt about what I wore to the interview for the job I am hoping to get and then dreamt that I got it =) Hopefully it's a premonition, like the dream I had about my $100 wedding dress. I'm starting to feel a little nervous about Diva Dash - but I'm sure it will be ok - it's only 3 miles - how bad can it be?

Hot and Cold

My work life is CRAZY busy right now. Some days I work all day and I'm not sure if I produce anything. Yesterday it was in the low 40's with bright sunshine when I got off. I got into my running gear and had Brian drop me off at Shopko so that I could run home. My times felt very slow and I worked myself completely out of breath, but in the end I was averaging 12-13 minute miles. It is odd, when I am only running two miles I run a very consistent time but longer distances are definitely affecting my times, even if it just one mile further. When I got home I was covered in sweat so I hit the showers and then we had egg cups for dinner. Hopefully the protein burst worked its magic. After dinner I delivered the neighborhood newsletters and was freezing cold and then ran a few errands. On run days I am usually exhausted by the time we go to bed so last night I crashed out hard and felt really refreshed today. Hopefully spring will be here soon!

Vegetarian Night - With Too Many Snacks

Yesterday when I got off work I was almost at 10,000 steps. By the time that I walked the dogs, did a little housework and worked out with Denise Austin (we'll get back to that) in the basement I was over 18,000. Brian and I had veggie patties for dinner with rice, pineapple and asparagus (I love spring) and then I snacked all evening. With my half marathon training schedule two nights a week I have cross training. I usually do aerobics for one night and ride the trainer for the other. I LOVE the Ellen Barrett workouts and am always surprised by how much I sweat even though there isn't a lot of jumping around. Her workouts on You Tube are somewhat limited and she is completely off the Fitness on Demand for Time Warner Cable so last night I bit the bullet and did a Denise Austin dance workout. It was AWFUL... but I just wanted to get my workout over with so I pressed on til the end. The stretching at the end was nice but it was a terribly disorganized workout and I don't feel like I got anything out of it. I know you have to take the good with the bad so next week I'll either tackle Jillian Michaels or I'll go back to the incredibly painful Tracy Anderson method videos!

Chewing the Fat

The weekend was pretty cold in Lincoln and Brian can attest to that since he slept outside with the scouts - the low Saturday night was 9. I'm pretty sure I would have frozen to the ground! Friday afternoon I did an hour on the trainer and took the dogs for a short walk in the cemetery. Saturday morning Brian left for camping and the 20 mph wind kept me indoors for my long run. I did 7 miles in the basement (where I am always slower), took an amazing shower and then had Chinese (my favorite post run treat!). Sunday was a slower day in our house. I went to church, walked the dogs, did laundry and put in 45 minutes on the trainer but I ate a LOT of fat Sunday. My breakfast started out healthy with overnight oats from the oatmeal artist http://www.theoatmealartist.com/2012/06/banana-cream-pie-overnight-oatmeal.html and then went downhill. My friend Susan shared some delicious Guinness Stew with me so I had that for lunch and then for dinner I made Brian the Barefoot Contessa's chicken pot pie. It has a stick and a half of butter..... and a pie crust. It was delicious, but I think I can feel my arteries hardening. With all that fatty goodness it is no surprise that I was up 3 pounds this morning. I am hoping that with lots of water, walking and a good aerobic workout tonight I can get things back under control - keep your fingers crossed!

Dehydrated and Miserable

Last night I ran three miles from Shopko to our house. It was a BAD run. My times were good but I felt terrible. I did a Tri Berry GU (it gives me powers like a super hero) and Brian dropped me off with my iPod, my phone and the knowledge that I could get in at home =) About half a mile in my right ankle started to feel a little tender, the same for the side of my left foot. At one mile my left hip raised an objection and I told it where to go. On the way down the big hill I felt out of breath and my right knee and calf felt like they just couldn't work together. Usually around the end of the second mile I begin to feel amazing and love the thrill of the run, but not last night. Last night every section of my familiar path was miserable. I pushed through, walked 4 times and finished in 43 minutes. I am not sure if it was because I was dehydrated or that I haven't had adequate rest time, or if this is the first time I've run that distance with temperatures in the 60's. For the upcoming week of training I will focus on pre-run hydration for the whole day. (Diet Cherry Pepsi will be consumed in limited quantities in favor of water). I am also planning to take ibuprofen an hour before my training runs to see if that will help with joint irritation during the run. I know there are a number of purists who say you should listen to your body, but seriously, if my fat had its way - we would eat ice cream for dinner, read mysteries all day, and cap off every night with tequila shots... someone has to be a responsible adult!

My 600 Pound Life

On Wednesday nights I do an hour on the trainer - coincidentally, it is usually the same hour that My 600 Pound Life is on The Learning Channel. Last night's episode involved a nearly 600 pound woman who was convinced that she would have the surgery, change none of her previous behaviors and become magically thin. She would set lofty goals with no plans to achieve them, refused to participate in physical therapy and readily adopted the role of victim. She acted as though the weight had been added to her body by another person and not through her own bad habits. She spent the last 30 minutes justifying the reasons that she was a better parent than someone who was active since she was always available to her son. It was the oddest episode I have watched and she was eventually kicked out of the program. The last part showed her around Thanksgiving consuming plate after plate of food. I was glad to have had a double workout! When I got off work I walked the dogs an hour while Brian rode an hour outside and after dinner (fish, asparagus, sweet potatoes, salad and strawberries) I put in my trainer time. While the show definitely keeps me pedaling, this episode was so sad to watch!