A beautiful day

Of course, I'm referring to yesterday and our wonderful near 50 degree temps! I sat in my livingroom, seeing the sun peeking in through the windows all day and finally, about 4pm I kicked myself in the butt and said get out there are run! I am not allowed to use the weather as an excuse if I'm not taking advantage of the good days!

Being that I've run probably 3 whole times in the last 4 months, I decided to do run/walk intervals. It started with run 2, walk 3...cuz I didn't want to over do it and end up walking the whole thing. Once I got a few of those in and was warmed up, I switched to 2.5 run, 2.5 walk. This felt good. There were a few little inclines in there that I thought might kill me, but I doing it! I finished my 3 mile loop with 3 sets of run 3, walk 2. It took 37 minutes. I think that is an outstanding time! I was probably keeping a faster pace while running due to the walk intervals. I felt very tired when it was over, but great at the same time! Although, I had to dodge more than a few ice patches that we still hanging around and I felt like I tweeked my knee a little with my turns and leaps :S

After I was home and settled, it occured to me that I had to meet with the trainer this morning at 7:30am...what had I done?! I ran at 4pm on Sunday afternoon and had to endure 30 minutes of hell 15 hours later? This was not good! Lucky for me, she went a little easy on my this morning. And by easy, I mean I still was absolutely exhausted by the end, but comparing to some of the other workouts she has put me through, it could have been a lot worse! I have another appt with her on Thursday so at least I know I'll have gotten 3 workouts in this week. That is a great week for me these days!

At this point, I'm pretty positive I won't be able to get up out of my chair by the end of the day...but I needed this!

Blob-o-rama

Yeah, that is me right now! I had Chipotle for lunch and it made me bloated as heck! I feel like I'm breakin' out of my britches over here! On the upside, nothing is more motivating to get to the gym than having the waistline of your pants gouging into your stomach all afternoon. Yeah, that's right...blob-o-rama!

I think I might actually make it...

to the gym on my lunch break! I keep telling myself I'm going to go up there on lunch and get a little weight training session in, but somehow I never end up getting out of here. My lunch is generally spent at my desk shoving a bite in my face every few minutes. But today? Today I am going to make it a point to get my butt up from this desk and go get half a workout in! And that will leave less to face after work :)

Also...I think I can say I'm officially decaffienated! I've still been getting a coffee or hot chocolate in the mornings, but its always decaf. Except Sunday morning because I went to my little neighborhood coffee spot and the guy knows me and just started making my usual. I didn't have the heart to stop him! Now, if I can just kick the morning expensive drink altogether and drink water, I'll save myself about $100 a month! Oh yeah! And I also FINALLY stopped driving to work...which costs $16 a day for parking! That was a truly bad habit! This bad weather was too much for me to endure in the morning. But following along the same lines as the new running philosophy, I can choose to drive or I can choose to suck it up and freeze!!! I choose to FREEZE!! And frozen I am :)

Inspiration

I'm forever looking for inspiration. I'm weak. It is hard to find it within myself to accomplish some of my "life" things and I'm just always forcing people to give me words of wisdom :)

It was Valentine's Day. My friend and I happened to end up going out to dinner that night and being that we are a man and a woman, having dinner together, on a holiday for couples, well...it seemed to be assumed by the waitstaff that we were in need of a little romatic push. So, when we ordered our usual huge bowl drink, it came much more alcohol infused than usual! And, of course, we both proceeded to drink more than we ate :) Ah...I love Valentine's Day!

Anywho, this little buzz-fest led to a really, truly inspiring conversation after dinner. My problem with this whole running thing is multi-tiered. First, there is the getting up in the morning to run. I am forever trying to figure out how to be a morning person. Why is this so important? Because when the weather gets hot, I'm also not one to force myself into suffering through a night run. Therefore, if there is no run in the morning...and temps make me call it that night = NO RUN. Next is the whole laziness factor. I admit it! I am lazy! Marathon + Lazy = Failure. It goes without saying that that missing one run during the week makes progression hard enough...but missing multiple runs? That is recipe for disaster...and for some reason, I guess I liked living on the edge :)

So, the conversation. He just put it all so simple. I am in charge of my actions. I can do whatever I CHOOSE to do. Choices. I have to make them. For the right reasons. And another thing he put so simply...don't you want to be able to face the day and everyone in it and think about how much you already accomplished before 9am, that they didn't? YES! Yes, I do! I want to walk into the office and look at everyone and scream, "I ran 8 miles this morning! What did you do?!"

And so what if I can't pig out on pizza everyday? I've got years and years and YEARS beyond this marathon to eat pizza. Can I really not handle passing it up right now? I think I've just been looking at this all wrong. I am in charge of me, my time and my abilities. Not my job. Not the weather. Not my heart rate monitor that rubbed me raw...I am! And I will do what I need to do, to do this right! And everytime I begin to falter, I will think of that buzzed conversation that made it all sound so easy. Just like he made the marathon look.

Decaf: Day 2

That means that yesterday was Decaf: Day 1. And it sucked. I just went to 7-Eleven and grabbed a cup of decaf, threw in some splenda and lots of yummy flavored cramers and was off. It tasted less than appealing, but it was something to satisfiy the hand-to-mouth habit I have in the morning. I thought things were fine. Until 2pm struck. Out of nowhere came the worst headached I've had in I don't know how long! Right in the front of my forehead and in my temples. I don't like medication and I tried to fight through it. I had to go see my chiropractor so I thought maybe a distraction would get rid of it. NO. Instead, walking around in the non-human temperatures there and back seemed to make it worse.

The day wore on and the headache persisted. Finally, at 6:15, when I was ready to leave work, I spotted a little bottle of Advil at the bottom of my bag. I gave in and took 2, thinking of how by the time I got home, my little (huge) headache should be gone. WRONG. It was still going strong when I got home. I made dinner, ate dinner then finally just laid down on the couch. I'd guess somewhere around 8pm it finally ceased. A 6 hour headache! Augh!

So, today is day 2. I gave in and got a decaf Starbucks...that 7-Eleven decaf stunk! I will assume that the torture yesterday will not again occur. At least it better not! Now, my next step is figuring out how to make my tastebuds like tea :)

Morning *cough* Coffee

This morning I went and met my friend for coffee...well, he had tea because he's already knee deep in his training mentality, but I told him I wasn't giving up coffee until Monday :)

We started talking about our training differences and he made some valid points. He wanted to clarify that the reason he wanted to wait until August to train with me was because he wants to make sure that I'm doing it for me. He said that if he is my crutch the whole and and something should happen that he can't continue, he doesn't want me to fall off because I was using him as my motivator. And you know, that is a very valid point. He basically wants me to make sure that I'm doing it for me and that nothing will get in my way.

Then, of course, he addressed my morning issue. You all know how many times I've tried to conquer the early morning thing, but it just doesn't seem possible! I love to sleep! Again, he made another valid point here. We both felt sort of cheated out of our summers in the years that we trained because running had to come first and forced us to miss out on various events and whatnot. But, he says if we can make sure that we run in the mornings, that will leave our weekends and evenings free to take advantage of the good weather and still enjoy ourselves while also getting all our training in. Hmmmm...this guy is kinda smart!

Lastly, he talked to me about my overall dedication and how far I'm willing to go. I never played organized sports past junior high and he thinks that is why the thought of pushing myself beyond my physical comfort level is so awful to me. I've just never had to. My take on it is to find a way to do this in the least disruptive way possible, while his take is to attack it head on and adjust anything and everything in the way.

Now I'm not sure what to do. I guess my way didn't work so well, afterall...I supposed I could try to push myself harder. But that is scary. I supposed now is the time to test the waters, before the real training starts. Yikes!

Training style

My friend who ran the marathon back in 2006 and inspired me to try for 2007 decided to run it again in 2008. I will be running Portland this year, but they are only a week apart so we would be able to train together.

Last night we got to talking about getting started again and where we need to work ourselves up to in order to be ready when the real training begins in the spring. When he ran it in 2006, he made a complete lifestyle change. He was an athlete, but never really a distance runner and yet in his first attempt, in his mid-30s, he finished in 4:20 without struggling at all. But, like I said, he made a complete lifestyle change. He stopped drinking caffeine, cut his caloric intake by more than I truly deemed healthy :), stopped drinking alcohol and going out (which made for quite the boring summer for me!) and just basically completely devoted those months to the marathon. I was amazed and in awe. He made it look so effortless.

As we were talking, I could tell that he wants me to put forth that same effort he will be in this year's training. I want to. I probably really, really need to. BUT...YIKES! I don't want to give up my coffee! I don't want to run 23 miles TWICE before the marathon. I want to enjoy my summer because I feel like I missed the last one. Does that mean I'm not devoted to this? I just don't know what I should do. Do I give his plan a shot and hope I can hang on? Do I learn from my weaknesses last year and change my approach based on that?

I think I already pissed him off and made him not want to train with me :) He said, and I quote, maybe we should just wait until mid-August to train together. Hahaha! MID-AUGUST! By then I'll know if I'm marathon ready or not and won't need as much help! Oh, decisions, decisions!

Small Steps

So, with my promotion come working on alternating Saturdays. Sucks, right? No! Actually, I loved having Friday off and then going in on Saturday where basically no one is there and I can actually get some real work accomplished!! PLUS...since its a short day (9-3pm) its a lot easier to fit in my trip to the gym! Most days, I'm so drained when I get off that I just want to go home and be a lump!

Yesterday, I totally planned to hit the gym after work. But, as the day wore on and the thought of getting home started to creep into my head, the seemed to become less and less enticing. Right when I had almost made up my mind to forget the gym, it was 3pm and time to head out. I'm not sure how or why, but I found myself grabbing my gym bag and heading upstairs!
I got to the gym and it was deserted. Saturdays in a Loop office building are a little quiet :) The lights weren't even on! But the music was still pumpin' through the speakers and the TVs on the machines were going strong. So, with the gym all to myself, I finally attacked a little cardio. I spent some time on the elliptical trainer and then walked some serious hills on the treadmill. And that there, folks, wore me out! I wanted to get some weights in, but I was too tired!

As disappointed as I am at how bad I've let my cardiovascular stamina get, I still feel a little better with every workout. I know its not possible, but I swear I already feel stronger! When I put my hands on my thighs when standing up from the couch, I swear I feel my little quad muscles coming alive! My butt feels just a little bit tighter. And its great to feel some soreness in my abs since that is a muscle group I have always neglected...no matter how good of shape I've been in! I'm taking small steps, but this is the start of something good! I can feel it!

Oh, me booty sore!

Well, my new job has kept me at the office obscene hours this week so I haven't even made it to the gym except for my scheduled appointments with the trainer :( I don't have have time to eat lunch! I finally get away to grab something between 2pm and 3pm and then slowly eat it at my desk over the course of the next 2 hours or so. I kid you not, I usually finish my "lunch" close to 5pm! Its absolutely crazy!

But, that was not what this post was supposed to be about :) Met with the trainer yesterday morning for another circuit training session. I don't know if its been my crazy schedule this week or what, but this time it all felt a ton harder than last time! We started on the squat machine...I can't remember what its called...the one where you put the weights on the bar and squat with it...Smith machine? Can't remember! Anywho, easy enough. Did free weight for upper back and shoulder presses again. Still not too bad. Then I had to do walking side squats down the length of the gym and back holding a weight. Uh...one time down felt okay, but on the way back, I started to get REALLY tired! I mean, didn't I already do squats today?! I finish and we go straight into abs. I'm not sure its possible, but I could swear my abs were still sore from last week!

Just one circuit had me sweating and out of breath! I was so embarrassed! I really think it was the walking squats that were killing me. After the 3rd circuit, I wanted to die! I went into the locker room and I swear I couldn't stop breathing hard! And my legs muscles were so tired, I didn't even want to expend the effort it took to stand up! How pathetic!

This really is freaking me out about running. If lifting is there hard, imagine trying to do some serious cardio! Oh my goodness! I have to work Saturday so going to be sure to stop into the gym after that and give cardio a go. Maybe do a little lifting on my own too. At least she is stregthening my legs! That is bound to help when it comes time to get serious about training. But for now, my booty is sore like never before and my hammies and inner thighs aren't feeling so great either! Oh yeah, and abs...hurts to laugh :) But its still that good pain...pain that reminds you that you got the job done!

Hello, Soreness!

I had my first session with the trainer and boy am I feeling it now. It was yesterday at 7:30am. It's a miracle I even made it out of bed :) She had me do a weight training circuit that lasted only 30 minutes, but what a 30 minutes it turned out to be! I now realize a 5 minute warm-up might have been a little smart, but I will make sure I get there a little early to work it in.

We started on the leg press...one of my favorites. It was easy, gave me the false impression that I was going to fly through this workout. Then on to tricep extentions...still fairly easy. Next was the wall squats w/ the ball, then a wall sit. I almost died. Lower back on the Bosu ball, shoulder press with free weights and abs came next. All became steadily harder to do. By the 3rd set, I could barely finish...which is how it should be, but rarely the level I push myself to!

I woke up this morning and it basically hurts to move everything! Oh my poor muscles! But, at the same time, it feels great because I haven't hurt like this in a very long time. It's incredibly motivating. My goal is to do another weight training stint on my own and get 3 cardio workouts in. With my new job, time seems to be a little hard to come by so I'll be elated if I actually pull it off!

Off topic...the moment that made my morning today? As I was driving down North Ave from the Whole Foods, I saw The Average Joggler joggling down the street! Talk about making me feel lazy! :p

The crickets are a chirpin'!

Yeah, I've been a little quiet around here. Okay, A LOT quiet around here. I'm not even sure the date of the last entry! I will be completely honest here, I was on major burnout. Still am. I've run ONE time since the marathon. And no, that is not an exhaggeration...although you don't know how much I wish it was!

I went up to the gym in my office building, mounted the treadmill and knocked out a whole 5 minutes before I was sucking wind and had to walk. It was down right embarrassing. I then alternated with 2 1/2 minutes of running with 2 1/2 minutes (*cough* sometimes 5 *cough*) of walking. It was an ugly day in the land of decline.

But, there is hope yet! The gym sent out an email offer for 1 personal training session per week for 8 weeks, 5 workout cards per week, nutritionist advice, and prizes at the end for those who put forth the most effort...for only $49!!! I mean, how could I not sign up? The kicker here? The time slot I had to schedule for the training session was 7am on Fridays! That is going to suck! Yet, I need to find some sort of discipline with this so maybe being able to show up for 8 weeks in the worst time slot ever will conquer all! Or in the very least, make me sleep through all the friday nights of fun!

Portland Marathon is official

I know, I know...where have I been? The holidays and some changes at work have already got me stressed out and busy! I had my mom in town for Turkey Day and that limited my free time. Then right after the holiday I asked to be considered for a management position here at the office and...I got it! So, now I've been ridiculously busy trying to keep up with my accounting responisbilities while picking up the slack for the manager who walked out on us last month. Yes, the official transfer won't be until 1/1/08, but somehow I'm already responsible for duties over there. So, its been hectic!

But, the real news is that I just (like seriously JUST) official signed up for the 2008 Portland Marathon. It is no longer just a thought or good idea. It is real. I cannot wait!!!!! Just 10 months to go... :p

The Fam

My mom is in town so it's been busy. Rushing from work to her hotel, dinner, to my place, back to the hotel, back to my place, you get the picture. Tomorrow she and her boyfriend check out of the hotel and spend the rest of the trip at my place, which will make it easier. We have our Chicago Ghost Tour tonight and I'm totally psyched! I've wanted to go on this forever, but couldn't ever find anyone that would go with me! I think we are hitting up the The Art Institute of Chicago tomorrow...yeah, I got the day off...which is another thing I've been meaning to do for the past 5 years! Then it will be off to the grocery store to stock up for the Thanksgiving Day Feast!

Received a funny phone call from mom this morning. It seems they went to the Corner Bakery across from their hotel and lo and behold, there was Jerry Springer getting his morning dose of caffeination! Thank goodness I wasn't with them because I would have been absolutely mortified by what happened next...my mom's boyfriend went up to him and asked for his autograph! You can tell he doesn't travel much... :) So, they are excited to have had a Chicago "celebrity" sighting and I'm sure nothing I do from here on out can beat out that moment! Damn that Jerry Springer!!!

Plan B

No, not the emergency contraception... Went over the x-rays with the Doc and things are pretty not good. My lower spine is curving left, probably from that heavy bag I tote around with me all the time on my right shoulder. To make up for it, my body has curved my spine to the right up by my neck...nature's crazy version of "balance", if you will. So yeah, my spine is an "S". Great. Then there is my neck. This should be curved. Nice smooth curve from the top of my spine to my skull...but no. Mine is straight as an arrow. I kid you not. Why me?!!!

Treatment: I had electric stimulation (like a tingle that makes the muscle spasm) treatment and then an adjustment...which was the most unnerving experience EVER, let me tell you! Nothing like thinking someone is about to snap your head off and hearing 10 popping bones all at once! I have to have adjustments 3 times a week for the next 4-6 weeks, then we'll do a re-evaluation and see if things are straightening out...HA! Get it? Straightening out? Okay, yeah.

Running is not exactly on my chiropractor's top list of things to help my back :) Shocking, I know. So, I'm walking. A lot. It's pretty much getting boring, but it's the best option I've got at the moment. My mom will be arriving on Saturday so at least I'll have a walking buddy for a week. I'm trying to convince her to walk the Turkey Trot with me, but with the temps dropping, she is not ready to give in.

I may try to work on just strengthening my lower body as best I can in the weight department. I'll keep walking and maybe even try to jog some intervals. Mostly, I just don't want to reaggrevate this muscle...or nerve...or whatever the Doc said it was. Just when I'm ready to give it another go, something always comes up! I need to find a routine before the holidays come and I get totally sidetracked!

Oh yeah...

I forgot to mention I went to the chiropractor today about my back...he told me lots of interesting things, including that one of my ribs is out of place! We took x-rays and I go back tomorrow to get the final verdict and if treatment will help...I'll keep ya posted!

Pictures

Well, the kitchen table it together and ready for Turkey Day!

Here it is in full:



With one leaf up:



And finally, no leaf:



It's perfect for my kitchen...it can take up as much or as little room as I need!

While my friend was putting it together, I was testing some of the Christmas cookie recipes. Here is how the Oatmeal w/ White Chips & Cranberry turned out:



And just for cuteness, here are the cupcakes I made for Halloween:

Frustrating

Well, due to my back issues, I haven't been able to execute my plan as I had hoped. Mostly I've just been walking because it's the only thing that doesn't make me feel like I'm doing further harm. Yesterday, I was attempting to clear out my kitchen to make room for the kitchen table I finally bought and just that minimal amount of bending and lifting made my back worse! I am so completely frustrated right now! I'm making an appointment with a chiropractor tomorrow. I guess I'll just have to make due as best I can for now!

I still have a ton more to get done before my mom arrives on Saturday. The house needs a full swiffering to remove all the dust bunnies...and they are really dust bunnies, my bunny sheds all over! Dishes need to be done. Bedding needs to be changed. Bathroom can always use a once over. Augh! And my back is not going to make any of this easier :(

Completely Off-Topic :)

So, in order to save my sanity, I've been planning my annual bake-a-thon list of cookies for Christmas. I know, I know, a little early for Christmas stuff. But you learn from experience that it is never too early to plan when you are baking 50 or so dozen cookies! I need a little feedback on my line-up so far... My goal is to have a diverse group of goodies that will appeal to the masses. Honestly, of the first 7 cookies I picked out, 4 were based around chocolate. That is not diverse :) Don't get me wrong, I LOVE chocolate, but there had to be some changes. Here is where I'm at right now. Let me know what you think!

• Lemon Sandwich Cookies - lemon butter cookies sandwiched with lemon filling
• Rum Balls - Chocolate and liquor...what could be a better combo?! An assortment rolled in either nuts, cocoa or powdered sugar.
• Oatmeal Cookies w/ Cranberries & White Chocolate Chips - This was a boring ol' oatmeal cookie until I decided it would be festive to add a little red and white!
• Chocolate Mint Cookies - A chocolate cookies with a chocolate mint ganache.
• Chewy Coconut Cookies - Well, I guess the title says it all. This was an attempt to find something a little different than the norm.
• Peanut Butter Temptations - A peanut butter cookies with a mini Reese's cup shoved in the middle :) Mmmmmmmmmm...
• Russian Tea Cakes - A nice little shortbread type cookie w/ nuts and rolled in powdered sugar.

So, that's it right now. I think it's pretty diverse at this point, but not sure they appeal to the masses. Give me your thoughts so I get in the test kitchen! Yum!

To Trot or Not To Trot?

My friend came up with the glorious idea to do the Turkey Trot this year. I was all for it, but had to check with my mom first since she will be here in town on Turkey Day. She said it was okay if I ducked out for the morning and said that maybe if it wasn't too cold...we are from Oregon where anything below 50 is intolerable :) ...she would come out and walk it! I was excited! I kept on checking back with my friend to see when we were gonna register and he kept saying soon...soon...soon...until one day he said, I don't think I can do it. What?! I already checked with mom!!!! Dammit!

So, I wrote off the Turkey Trot. But now, I'm kind of thinking, why shouldn't I do it? I've done all my other races by myself...what is one more? Granted, I haven't been running and I have no cold weather gear, but so what? It couldn't hurt to burn a few calories before the Big Chow Down! Maybe I'll even just drag my mom out there and we can walk it together. I'm kind of getting pumped just writing this...I need to call mom again :)

Decisions

So, I think I've finally committed to some decisions. I will run the Portland Marathon in 2008. It is one week before the Chicago marathon so I can still train with everyone here or with a sponsored group. I'm excited about it. Excited to run for the hometown crowd. My friend may even do it with me which would make it that much more fun. Now, if I can just convince some of my girls back home to do it too! Sonja, you are gonna need a good goal to lose that baby weight ;)

I've also decided that I can't soley focus on running right now. For one, it has still left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and I can't stop dreading it! Second, I can't afford to buy gear fit to run in the harsh Chicago winter weather and clocking miles and miles on the treadmill is not tolerable! So, today I will start my weight training and do some cardio. Too bad I pulled that muscle in my neck and back again (it happens at least a couple times a year) and I'll probably have to stick to lower body work until it is better. And I probably ought to seek out a chiropractor to figure out why this keeps happening! BTW, my weight has finally stabilized. No, not gone down, but at least stopped going up! I've never seen it this stubborn in my life and it totally has me freaked! If this new regime doesn't jump start it, I don't know what I'm going to do!

Finally, I need to find a new job. It has been a long time coming, but it finally hit me that I just can't do it anymore. I don't like the direction our corporate office is taking us, there is no room to move up here, I'm underpaid and I think I'm actually hurting myself by not gaining more experience at the management level after all these years. It will be hard to leave these people, but I need to be farther along in my career than this. I should be in management or at least have full accounting close responsibilities. Don't get me wrong...I've been promised these responsibilities during my reviews for the past 2 years...but they never happen. I can't keep waiting. I'm bored and gaining nothing by staying here. Let the job search begin! Time to call the headhunters!

So, yeah, basically I'm bored and ready for change. I'm tired of the days all blurring together!