17 February 2007

Saturday at the Expo

So today was the Expo for the Great Aloha Run. This run is really a run for everyone. There are no cutoffs and the course will stay open as long as someone is out there. It's a great, non-runner friendly race and I really enjoy it. It was the first race I did when I started my healthy journey 10 years ago and it's still one of my favorites. They get over 20,000 runners every year and it's a blast. It ends inside Aloha Stadium (if you watch the ProBowl that's where they play) and it is a giant party; music, food, entertainment, give-aways, it's really great. So in their effort to draw in non-exercisers they have a 3 day health and fitness expo. This year they changed it up a little and it was really nice.

I got up this morning and had my coffee while hanging with the bird. After a while I went off and did my weight training. It's amazing how you improve with weights fairly rapidly, I like seeing progress. Anyway, after the weights I had planned on running. I was feeling a little worn out and was debating the whole run thing. I decided to go ahead since I haven't run outside in a while and I really wanted an idea of what Monday would be like. So I decided to go for a 20 minute run. Wow!!! My legs felt awesome (the lungs, not so much) and I really felt like I could run forever. I ran out for 10 minutes then back. Not only did I run further than I usually do in 10 minutes, I had a negative split. So now I'm psyched for Monday. I know it won't be fantastic since I haven't been training as much as I would like, but it will be a lot better than I thought it would be.

So at the Expo I got a pair of black chili pepper socks (for biking), a hand held water bottle carrier, and an international orange tank top. Okay, the tank top was free but international orange?????? I also picked up some Sport Beans (which I've never tried) and Clif Shot Blox (these are the most awesome!!!!). Oh yeah, and a credit union gave me a really cool gym bag. I really needed one as mine was falling apart - cool.

So a great Saturday. I also went to the book store and got 2 new books. Now it's off to the couch for a little relaxation.

16 February 2007

I hereby declare this a new start!!!

I was reading back through my posts and discovered that I have been dealing with this whole animal situation for 3 weeks. It ends here and now. Rocco is all healed and doing well. We will have to keep an eye on him and check for lumps for the rest of his life but that's okay, I can live with that. The bird is adjusting, slowly, but adjusting so we're good on that front. So this is it. I hereby declare today the end of all bullsh*t.

In the spirit of new starts, tomorrow I start my workouts again - with consistency and feeling. I have to say my back is much better. I haven't really done anything but some stretching and ibuprofen. It worked. My back is much, much better. See, I didn't need no stinking doctor :)

Anyway, I've been reading everyone's blogs and getting very jealous. Even though some of you are in the frozen tundra you guys are still managing to get your training in. Very good!!! That's determination!!!! So I'm taking a page out your book and getting my butt back in gear. Tomorrow I will do weights and run. Sunday will be a long, slow bike ride. Monday is the Great Aloha Run. I'm looking forward to this, it will be a good weekend.

I must say I have been doing extremely well on the eating front. I've been so stressed out over other things I've just been eating a pretty standard diet and it's working. So that I'm happy with. Starting tomorrow I will be counting calories again.

Okay, I'm back and (will soon be) stronger than ever.

I have been very busy this past week working on something that I hope I can share with you soon. I know, I hate when people do this, but I don't want to jinx anything. I can tell you that it really won't be very exciting to anyone but me but I like to share :)

So starting tomorrow look for more training posts. I am going to start running a lot more.

13 February 2007

Some random thoughts.

I was driving to work listening to some guy talk about an NBA player who has written a book about being gay in the NBA. I don't know who the player is, basketball bores me to tears, nor do I care. What I wonder about is why do I need to know he's gay?? Why do I need to know any one's sexual orientation?? If that's all that defines you I feel sorry for you! There are people I know that I can honestly say I don't know if they are gay or straight and it doesn't matter to me at all. I like them for who they are not who they sleep with.

I have the same problem with people who constantly bring up skin color. Barack Obama is a perfect example. The media keep referring to him as the black presidential candidate, while folks like Al Sharpton say he's not black enough (okay, I'm not sure who said that but someone did). First off, his mother was white so he's not full black. More importantly, who the hell cares what color he is??? He could be green with pink polka dots, it would not change anything. I don't like him for the same reasons I don't like Hillary, they are socialists!!! Whatever happened to Martin Luther King and judging a man by the content of his character and not the color of his skin??? I like people for who they are not because of the color of their skin.

My back has been really killing me. I may have to break down and go to the doctor. It's my low back and it's just sore. I had thought it was from stress or overuse. But the last week and a half have been relatively stress free and I haven't been working out as much. I'm not sure what's going on but it may be time to have it looked at. Big Sigh.......

So my stepson was visiting for the weekend. Him and a friend came out for the ProBowl. It was good to see him. It was really good to see him being independent and doing things on his own. We've had issues in the past with him being lazy and expecting other people to do things for him. Usually when he comes to visit he expects me to line up his flight and his dad to pay for it. This time he did everything on his own. They had a rental car and spent a lot of time sightseeing. It was nice to see him growing up. I mean he's only 25 :)

I have a race Monday, The Great Aloha Run. I've done this race every year for the past 10. I have not been running much the past few weeks and was a little nervous about doing this. Then I thought about it last night and realized that the first time I did this race I weighed 225 lbs and was in no shape to complete 8.25 miles. But I did it. Even though I haven't been running in a few weeks I'm in way better overall shape than I was then and I know I can complete the distance, I may not run the entire way but I'll finish. So I'm just going to enjoy it and have a good time. They have bands and entertainment every 2 miles and a huge amount of people do it so it will be fun and that's all I'm after.

I have been very busy working on my dream :) I've been doing a lot of things I've put off and really feel good about what's happening. Soon it will all become clear, standby.

Birdie is doing well. She's adjusting to her new home. I really feel sorry for her. She was so happy in her old home and doesn't understand why she's not there. We have good days and bad days but things are moving along. Oh yeah, birdie has a new name. She is now Xena, the Warrior Moluccan.

Rocco is doing well. I had the stitches on his side removed last night. The incision on his penis has turned into a nightmare. First he removed the stitches. I took him in and the vet put staples in and have him one of those cone head collars. He managed to remove the staples - yikes!!! Then Saturday I noticed that that area was huge. It had swollen up and looked like the udder of a cow. The vet was closed for the day so I figured I'd wait and call on Sunday. Sunday morning it was much smaller so I decided not to worry too much about it. I spoke to the vet Sunday afternoon and she agree with me, just keep an eye on it and apply warm compresses. So yesterday morning I wake up and it's huge and bright red, OMG!!!! Hubby was home yesterday and applied warm compresses a couple of times. By the time I got home it was much smaller and not red at all. So the vet looked at it last night and we've decided that the area is healing but him licking at it causes a swelling reaction. So at night he licks it a lot and it gets huge. During the day he doesn't lick as much because we are telling him not to and it goes down. This morning it was really down so apparently he didn't lick at all last night. So I think we'll be okay. That dog is driving me crazy.

There is a little black dog that lives a couple of houses down from us. He frequently gets out and comes to visit my dogs. Hubby and I refer to him as their little black friend (whoops, do I judge him by the color of his fur??? :) Well last night at midnight he came visiting and they were in the driveway playing. Needless to say it woke me up and I had to chase him away; he tried to get in the house!!!! So last night was not a great sleeping night.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say. If you are going to leave a comment please indicate your sexual orientation as apparently that's how people are defined. (I'm joking, trust me I don't care which team you play for :)

Conversation with Hubby

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