14 January 2006

Poor Baby.



Nala, the baby of the family, has severe arthritis in her left knee and a partially ruptured ACL. She is on total rest and pain meds for the next 10 days. It's really sad because she's a very strong, active dog and she loves taking walks and playing. Also, because she can't go on walks, her brother Rocco can't go either (oh sure, try to take one without the other, there will be mass rioting and general chaos). She is not a candidate for surgery due to the extensive arthritis. Not sure what's going to happen if this doesn't work. Poor Baby!!!

However, in the interest of synchronicity, I have been wracking my brain for the past week trying to figure out how I was going to get swimming in. I want to go in the mornings (I'm checking out the Y tomorrow) but I always walk the dogs in the morning. I figured I'd just walk them really early and in the pitch dark (at least till it starts to get lighter earlier). Now I have my mornings free and I believe she'll be on restricted movement for awhile to come. So there, problem solved :)

Here come the weekend!!!!

Do love the weekends. This one will be kind of busy but that's okay. It's my first weekend of the new year and I have lots I want to accomplish this year, so it begins here.


Synchronicity: A meaningful coincidence.

Yesterday morning I was reading the newspaper and there was a column on being different (I won't go into details and it was different from the way I took it) and I thought to myself, "Self, I used to pride myself on being different. I enjoyed standing out from the crowd. I don't seem to do that so much anymore. Hmmmm"

Cut to later in the day.

I received Chris Carmichael's Food for Fitness the other day (finally!!!) and have started reading it. One thing that hit me right off the bat was this:

"The American College of Sports Medicine's recommendation for getting adequate exercis is to walk 30 minutes, at least three days per week. This recommendation was not designed with you in mind; ... Your fitness level has already progressed way beyond the point at which ninety minutes of walking each week would have a positive effect.
You are the people who get up early to train before work, ... Climbing stairs or walking to the far end of the parking lot doesn't leave you winded, and you secretly enjoy the way it feels when you first start to sweat."
So I read this and went, whoa!!! I read it again and went, whoa!!! This is part of my problem. I am not like most people. I am different!! The majority of the magazines I read are geared towards getting people moving - I already move, a lot!! They offer ways to jump start your diet - I need to refine mine to support my training. I realized I'm still in my old mindset from when I was really overweight. I still have some weight to lose, but I'm not that person anymore. I move more often than not. I think about every morsel I eat and how it will effect my body (moreso now). I willingly get up early on the weekends to fit more into my day. I get up early to train before work. I may not be as fast or as strong or be able to go as far as some people but guess what, I am an athlete!! I really am. For so long I've been saying that I want to be an athlete that when it happened I missed it!!!
I go to Weight Watchers every Saturday and I have nothing in common with those people. They are trying to get the motivation to walk everyday, I'm trying to find a place to swim at 6 in the morning. Wow!!! You have no idea what a revelation this is to me. And for me, mind set is 99.9% of the battle. Now that I realize I am an athlete, I will start acting like one.
So, while I didn't do any training this morning because my back is still a little touchy, I'm off to WW and take the dogs to the vet and find a place to swim at 6 a.m., after all,
I AM AN ATHLETE!!!

13 January 2006

Some major mistakes or life is a learning curve.

I have done something to my back. My sciatic nerve is all a twitter and it's just driving me crazy. I have "issues" with my lower back but over the years we have come to terms. It acts up and I have some things I do to calm it down. Well this time it's not working and it's pissing me off. I just hate when the rules of the game change and no one tells me!! But it's not really that bad so I can deal...

On the food front however, I made a huge mistake last night. I'm working out my hypoglycemia and overall it's been going well. Yesterday afternoon I had 1 piece of dried fruit (a major no-no) which set me up for sugar cravings later in the night. I decided that I could have a bowl of cereal before bed and the sugar crash would happen during the night and therefore not bother me. WRONG!!! I woke up this morning starving!! I mean really, really starving. I ate a banana and had a cup of coffee (both small no-nos). That helped for about 20 minutes. Then I went into full blown sugar shock (that's what I've always called it). Shaking, cold sweat, couldn't think, creepy-crawly feeling, you get the idea. At this point I had 2 choices: 1) start cramming anything I can find into my mouth and pray for the best, or 2) eat some protein and try to ride the reaction out for 20-30 minutes to allow the protein to hit my system. I don't know how I made the decision but I chose path 2. Some deep breathing and relaxation and 30 minutes later I was just fine. The result of this little episode was that I could not exercise. So I made today my rest day instead of tomorrow. This of course means I must get up super early on a Saturday to get my workout in - bummer. But I learned a very important lesson, actually a couple. Even a little bit of sugar (dried fruit) can screw things up and eating forbidden food at night only sets me up for a really horrible morning. Lessons to take home!!

In other news, it's Friday and I don't feel like working. Right now there is no one else in the lab so I'm goofing at the computer. I expect the boss to walk in any minute so I should get going. Hope everyone has an awesome day.

12 January 2006

I managed to beat the demons back today.

Thursday is my absolute worse day!! When the alarm goes off on Thursday morning I generally shut it off and roll over. By Thursday it's just too damn hard to get out of bed. But this morning that didn't happen, in fact it didn't even cross my mind. I was so proud of myself!! I got to thinking, mayber there is an Action Hero buried in there somewhere!!!

11 January 2006

It's the voices inside my head.....

I battle demons on a daily basis and I'm sick and tired of it. I want to exercise, train, workout, whatever the hell you want to call it, and I feel great when I do. Yet every single morning when the alarm goes off my initial reaction is, ahhh, screw it, not today. I have to battle this every single stinking morning and it gets old fast. Luckily, once I come half way awake I can debate with myself and most days manage to drag my butt out of bed, but it's not easy and I hate that I have to go through this every morning. I know others go through this too but most folks claim that after a while it becomes easier. With me it seems that it never becomes easier; in fact it gets harder. Ugh!!! I HATE THIS!!!

One of the problems, I think, is that I'm not a natural athlete. There might be an inner athlete hiding somewhere deep inside, but I think it sleeps a lot. Bold did a great piece on his Action Hero. How he can reach deep down and draw on something that's there. I don't know that I have that. Maybe I just haven't tapped into it yet. Maybe I just haven't pushed myself hard enough to require that extra little push. I use visualization a lot in my training and racing. I start at least a week before and pick a goal time, then visualize the entire race with me finishing at that time. In general, this works very well for me. In most cases I achieve my desired result and end up with the time I wanted. Maybe I'm not setting my goals high enough. I am a bit of a perfectionist and tend to not do something if I can't do it perfectly. Maybe I'm setting my goals on the low side so that I don't fail. Maybe I need to set a completely outrageous goal for myself and see what happens. If I don't make it I'm pretty sure I'll live through it, but I could succeed. Maybe I need to step out and take a risk. Maybe I need to find my own Action Hero.....

On other notes, I'm really feeling awesome. I have had no refined sugar since Sunday and am really starting to feel it. I have not had a hypoglycemic episode and the bod just feels way better, more steady, not shaky, stronger, leaner, and not as hungry.

Okay, that's it. Things to think about and mull over while I work.....

10 January 2006

Feeling Good

It's amazing how quickly I start to feel really, really good when I do the right things. I've been exercising and eating right since Friday and I am already feeling just awesome.

Today was another good day. I got up and did my Core Performance workout, I decided to take it a little easy since I was still a touch sore from Friday. This evening when I came home it was time on the bike trainer and a very, very short run. I felt just awesome.

My eating today was absolutely spot on. I'm back on Core and really enjoy eating this way. I don't have to weigh or measure things and it really doesn't take a whole lot of thought. I like it and I feel great when I follow it.

Today was my first day back to work. It wasn't too bad. Another unit in the building broke a water pipe so they had to shut the water off while they fixed it. Well, let me tell you what, a lab can not run without water - it's impossible. When I left at 5 they still hadn't got the water back on; it had better be on in the morning.

Well, I hope everyone had as good a day as I had. Check back in tomorrow....

08 January 2006

You have got to love this face.



My pit bull, Nala, has arthritis in her hips and it's been kind of cold lately so it's really bothering her. She has her own blanket which we cover her with at night, and it just came out of the dryer. Isn't she cute laying all cuddled up in her blanket?? Of course, she can't let the other dogs see her; she does have an image to maintain, she is a pit bull after all.......

Sunday and all is quiet on the home front.

My last day of vacation - bummer. Tomorrow it's back to work and back to the grind - bummer. Oh well, it's been fun.

I was supposed to do a 5k this morning but I got out of bed and was really having a hard time moving so I decided to skip it. After moving around for awhile though I was feeling better and really felt like doing something. I think that year's ago someone told me, when you are sore to do some light activity, that helps move the lactic acid out of the muscles. So I decided to give it a try and a bike ride seemed the easiest thing to do. I went for an hour bike ride, real slow just spinning, and it was great. When I got back I jumped on the treadmill for 15 minutes. My boss, who is 60 years old and has done 23 Ironman, swears by bricks. She says she always runs after a bike ride even if the run is only 15 minutes. She swears that this training strategy has helped her more than anything else. Okay, she also swears by double bricks but that comes later. So I decided that would be my strategy too. After every bike ride a run, even if it's really short. T2 is one of my hardest times so why not practice it as much as possible, right. So I did that today and felt really awesome. Then sat down and did a nice 15 minute stretching session - wonderful!! Been feeling pretty good all day.

Spent most of the day cooking. After reading my hypoglycemia book I realized that as good as I was eating I was still making some major mistakes. Something I also noticed is that the recommended diet for hypoglycemics is very, very similar to Weight Watcher's Core program. When I thought about it, I realized that at the end of 2004 through the beginning of 2005 I was religious about following the Core program and that is when I felt my absolute best. I was at my lowest weight, I had the most energy, and I really felt incredible. I want to feel that way again, so it's back to Core. I make some breakfast and lunch dishes today so I will have them during the week. They focus heavily on veggies and really taste good too. I'm ready to face the week. Back to work and back to feeling on top of my game. Years ago I heard Susan Powter of Stop the Insanity fame say, if it's white and creamy don't eat it. That's really a good rule to live by although I would change it to; if it's white or creamy don't eat it. That's my food motto.

I've also pulled out some of my old sayings to help me through. One of my favorites is:

DO OR DO NOT; THERE IS NO TRY - Yoda
That saying really speaks to me. Since I never allow myself to take the position of victim, this keeps me from doing that in my training or eating. I either do or I don't, that's it, end of story.
Another one I really like is:
What do you REALLY want??
This helps keep me focused on the ultimate goal. It's easy to get caught up in the here and now and lose sight of the brass ring.
I have a tattoo in my head that I think I will get in the next few weeks. It's going to be a ribbon tied around my left arm just below the elbow with the ends trailing down my inner arm to my wrist. In the trailing parts will be these 2 sayings written in decorative scrollwork. I want it to be so you won't be able to read the saying unless they are pointed out to you. This will allow me to constantly be reminded of my goals and dreams and ambitions. I am definitely going to get this done!!!!
Okay, that's it. I have nothing more to say. Hope everyone has a great week.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...