24 November 2007

I've lost my mind

I really thought I wrote a post today. Honestly! I can remember what I wrote. How weird is that? Maybe blogger lost it??? I don't know, but I do know that I have to post everyday this month so I guess I'll do it again. Weird....

So this morning the neck was feeling much, much better. It's still a little sore when I wake up but probably 75% better. When I got up this morning I was really wanting a kick butt workout. Something that would generate a ton of sweat and make me feel like a dishrag when I was done. I settled on an hour long strength program with intervals of cardio between sets. It was a great workout and just exactly what I needed. I felt whipped when I was through.

In other news, we went to Sports Authority this afternoon because they had hubby's work boots on sale. While there I looked at the workout clothes because they were all on sale also. I ended up getting 3 running skirts. I tried them on and they fit really nicely. I think I'll like running in them. I'm very excited and I'll let you know how it goes. I'll be running my longest run, 4 miles, tomorrow in one.

That's it for me. I'm going to take it easy tonight - it's been that kind of weekend.

23 November 2007

Hawaii Won!!!!

The UH football won their game tonight against Boise. It was a really big game, probably the biggest one in UH history. If you follow college football at all you will remember Boise had that dream season last year. They went undefeated and then beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. It was the type of season movies are made about. So UH had to face Boise. All season the football pundits have been saying that UH probably won't beat Boise. Boise is going to be hard to beat. Boise is the big game. Boise, Boise, Boise....... I kept saying, don't count UH out just yet.

UH is having their dream season this year. It's been a real joy to watch. Colt Brennan, the quarterback, is in the running for all kinds of awards, the Heisman among them. They went into this game 10-0. They beat Nevada in a squeaker last week. They are literally having the season of a lifetime. I kept saying, you can not quantify the high they are on. You can count touchdowns, and field goals, and yards rushing and passing, blah, blah, blah. You can not quantify the excitement and adrenalin that comes from having a season like they are having. I tried to equate it to doing a race.

Everyone has had that race. The one where everything goes right. The one where you can do no wrong. You hit the timing mats knowing you are swimming/biking/running the best you have ever in your life. The one where you know you are going to PR and there's nothing you can do to change it. The one where you could go on forever. The one where you smile from beginning to end because you know you've nailed it. That one. That is the kind of season UH is having and you can not quantify that or calculate it's impact on your performance.

That's the kind of season UH is having. They have one more game to play and I hope they win that one too. I hope they get their fairytale season and I hope they get a bowl berth. Because you can't count out THAT feeling and how far it will take you.

All I want is a couple days off.

And I got them. It's been a good couple of days.

Yesterday we got up and went out to breakfast. I then lounged around most of the afternoon and read. I love that!! Then we went over to some friends house for dinner. We had a great meal, great conversation, a little too much beer, and a really good time. Definitely a great way to spend the holiday.

I had off today also and it ended up being as lazy, or possibly more so. I got up this morning and a 2 mile run was on the schedule. I figured my neck was feeling good enough, I could do the run. I headed out about 7:30 am and had an idea that I'd try to run a little faster than normal because it was only 2 miles. I quickly realized that the beer I consumed last night was going to present a problem this morning. My legs felt great, I definitely could have gone faster with my legs. But my breathing wasn't keeping up. It was a little pathetic. But I gutted out 2 ugly miles and got it done. I ended up doing 12:15/mile so it wasn't a total loss.

When I got home though my neck was really bothering me. I ended up laying down to rest it and spent some time there reading. I had a chiro appointment this afternoon so now it's feeling much better. It clearly is going to take some time to heal this.

Meanwhile, I have been investigating land for sale on the Big Island. We are seriously considering buying some vacant land and building in a couple of years. We would do this whether or not we bought a house here. Oh, who knows. We are thinking.

That's it for me. Tomorrow and Sunday will be much more productive days. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Anyone go shopping today???

21 November 2007

Okay, I'm on the downside

of the pain. My neck felt pretty good last night but was really stiff and sore this morning. I put this stuff on the chiro gave me and it helped a lot. I can tell as the day wore on that it really is getting better. But it is still very, very sore.

As a result of the stiffness this morning I didn't work out. But that's okay because it was my cross-training day. I don't mind missing my cross-training day, I'll just use it as my day off. Plus, since I have 4 days off I'll get a lot of training in.

I really don't have anything to say. I'm tired and glad that it's a long weekend. My boss, Wendy, has this odd sore on her arm. It looks exactly like a cigarette burn but since she doesn't smoke we kind of ruled that out. She has no idea how she got it. It's a Miracle burn I tell you, a miracle :) We really did spend a good part of the day trying to figure out what it was. Yeah, we worked hard today.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving. I'll be around blogging tomorrow since we're not heading out to dinner until 4. Have a great day.

Not a good day....

That post that had been up here was not supposed to be published. It's for something else and I guess I accidentally published it. Dummy.

My neck has been sore since Sunday. It's slowly been getting worse. Today it finally got so bad I went to the chiropractor. Turns out my neck muscles on my left side are all spasmed out. He did electrical stimulation, massage, ART, and put stinky stuff on it and it's still sore. I have to go back again on Friday. This sucks. I'm walking like a stick figure. I can't turn my head, I have to turn my whole upper body. Ugh!!!

In other news, I did get my workout in this morning. I did strength and a 2.5 mile run. Interesting. I've been running 3.1 - 3.5 miles. This mornings 2.5 miles was really easy. Towards the end as I was approaching my house I had the energy and desire to really step it up and sprint the last 100 yards. It was fun. My pace was 12:30. I was going a little slow because my neck was bothering me. I felt great when I was done.

Okay, that's it. I have to go lie down. Holding this head up is tough :)

19 November 2007

It's all in how you look at things.

God, I've said this a thousand times. I've written numerous posts on this topic and yet it continues to elude me. What the heck is wrong with me???

Back on October 30th I made the decision to stop trying to lose weight. For so long this has been a large part of my focus that it had become a way of life. I decided to watch what I eat, keep portions small, and workout consistently. I've been doing that for the past 2 weeks and something really wonderful has happened.

I have begun to focus on the things my body can do and not what it looks like. My body image has improved immensely. I had no idea. Focusing on the positive aspects of my body causes me to see more and more positive things. When I was so focused on weight loss and what was wrong with my body, that's all I saw was the bad things. This is a great breakthrough.

What really pisses me off though is I knew this. I've discovered it a number of times. I've lived it and learned it over and over and over and over........... What the hell is wrong with me???

So there you have it. I'm focusing on keeping my diet clean and getting in my workouts and screw the weight. I don't care if I don't look perfect in a swimsuit, I can do a triathlon!! I can run. I can bike. I can swim. So even though I'm not the skinny person I'd like to be, I'm the athlete I've always wanted to be. I get up before the sun to get my workouts in, it's just a good thing I don't have solar lighting or I'd be doing it in the dark.

So this realization has set me free. It has released something in my mind that has been weighing me down (pun intended :). Instead of thinking about food every waking second of the day, I can focus on other, more important things. This is good.

18 November 2007

Running on empty.....

This morning was technically my first day of my 10k training plan. Due to my complete and total inability to figure out how many weeks from now until the first of the year (6), I planned to start an 8 week training program tomorrow - ha!!! What an idiot!!!! After some quick schedule adjustments I have a 10k training program for my New Years Day 10k.

So I head out this morning on what will be my longest run so far, 3.5 miles. They have been forecasting rain for today all week, so I slept in a little and didn't rush to get started. I left the house at 8 and within 1/2 mile regretted it. It was freaking hot and there was not a cloud in the sky. Why do I listen to these idiot weather people??? I did a slow slough and did my 3.5 miles in 43 minutes. That's about a 12:30 pace. It's pretty good. The really important part is that I feel awesome. Towards the end I can push myself and sprint towards the end. I love it.

After we went out to breakfast. We haven't done that in about 8 months and it was good. There is a local restaurant that makes the best fried rice in the world. They even make kim chee fried rice. If you've never had kim chee, it's basically pickled cabbage with hot spices. It's delicious. Add it to fried rice and it's like you've died and gone to heaven. Then put an egg on top of the rice and you have the world's best breakfast. Dang it was good.

I've just been doing housework and hanging around the rest of the day. I'm in the mood for some popcorn and have none in the house. Maybe I should check out some home theater popcorn machines so that I'll have some around when I want them.

I think that's it for today. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Dietary Supplements

This is something I wrestle with a lot, dietary supplements. In many ways I don't believe in supplements. I believe that we should get all our nutrients from the food we eat. In other ways, I live in the real world and that just doesn't happen all the time. So supplements can be a good alternative.

As athletes, yes, that's me :), we demand a lot from our bodies and can deplete minerals quicker than non-athletes. For instance, we use our muscles so much that we can deplete our calcium and magnesium stores. Both of these things are used in muscle contractions and therefore used a lot by people like us.

Magnesium gluconate is commonly used in dietary supplements. It's been effective in preventing restless leg syndrome. Have you ever had that?? Oh my god is it annoying. Lying there trying to sleep and your legs keep twitching and moving - UGH!!!!! Anyway, magnesium glouconate can help with that.

Additionally, taking things in liquid form can be more effective than taking it in tablet form. Tablets need to be broken down and digested by the digestive tract while liquid can pretty much be directly absorbed. So a liquid magnesium gluconate would probably be the ultimate solution to this problem.

Just some more things to think about on the journey to health and fitness. Boy I wish this were easier :)

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...