26 June 2010

I am a runner!!!

Today was the last day of my three weeks to a 30 minute running habit program and I just finished it. It was five intervals of five minutes running/1 minute walking. I adopted a very different course today, one that was almost universally uphill. WTF?!?!? What was I thinking?? It was hellish. But you know what? It makes accomplishing it that much sweeter. I did it and I am so proud of myself I could positively burst. Tomorrow is a rest day, then on Monday I commence my new eight week program. I am positively looking forward to that. For the rest of today I guess I will construct a perimeter :)

25 June 2010

Running on empty....

That's how I thought today would be. Yesterday we worked all afternoon getting one side of the fence up. I was completely exhausted last night and I thought that I wouldn't be able to run this morning. Luckily I was wrong :)

Today is the next to last day of my running program. 21 days ago I started a program to get me running 30 minutes in 3 weeks. I did it. It did it. All is good. But now what? Initially I just wanted to get back into running. Okay, I'm there but I don't want to stop. I have found that this program has been so great I want another one. So I found an 8 week to 5k program. Cool. I signed up and will start that on Monday. I wanted to find a 5k race around the time I ended that program so I was training towards something. No luck. That is getting too close to the Honolulu Marathon and all the races are getting longer - 15k, 20k. Ummmm, yeah....no way.... So I just kept poking around. I finally found a race that's the beginning of the taper to the marathon, the Val Nolasco 1/2 Marathon. Okay....it's on November 7, which is 20 weeks away. So I went looking for a half-marathon training program and found a good one that's 12 weeks long. So I can do my 8 week 5k one then jump right into the 12 week 1/2 one and be ready to run a 1/2 marathon in November. I think this will put me in good condition to start the year off with the Bosetti 10k and to continue running from there. The year I was doing all those races I had the greatest time. I really enjoyed the training and the atmosphere at races is just so much fun, even the small ones. So that's it, the start of my running career..... again :)

Which leads me to the fact that I can do anything I set my mind to. Anything!!! I started this program having trouble running for 1 minute. Now I can run for 5 at a time. Granted it's not fast but damn I'm doing it. I can do absolutely anything I set my mind to. So why can't I log my food? Why do I have so much trouble doing that? Why is that the most difficult thing of my day? Today, 1 day, I'm going to log everything. My freaking phone has a scanner that does the logging for me. Okay, 1 day, 1 complete log.

24 June 2010

Computers and other nonsense

My laptop is down. I clicked on a link in Facebook and apparently caught a virus. I have to take it in to have it cleaned but right now I just don't have the money. Luckily I have 2 other computers so I am good.

I went to the periodontist yesterday. I have gum disease. Big shock. Not!! My mouth is a mess. My lower jaw is shorter then my upper jaw, my teeth don't line up right, and I have thin gums. Not a good combination. Anyway, I have a hole in my gum near my front teeth that I have had for years. This has resulted in bone loss and the teeth on either side are now starting to get loose. So yesterday I went to have it looked at and see about fixing. I was really, really dreading it. I just knew it was going to cost thousands of dollars and be extremely painful. Last person I know that had a similar problem had to have their gums cut and peeled back, the teeth cleaned and then the gums sewn up. It sounds horrible. Luckily they don't do that anymore. Now they use lasers. It is much less invasive, much less painful, and it actually promotes new bone growth. So I may get some of my lost bone back. And, the best part, is it's only $1,000. Yea!!! So that will be happening in 2 weeks.

We are starting the fencing project. Yesterday we bought the wood to do one side and started prepping it. That is going to be a fun project. We are talking about putting in a pool sometime in the future. That is a ways in the future but we are considering it because we will need a solid fence along with room for the pool and the pool filters and all that stuff. Anyway, the fence is coming along.

Well, time to head out on my run. Today, tomorrow and Saturday and I'm done with my program. Woo Hoo!!!!!

23 June 2010

Running, running, running......

I'm very excited about my running progress.  I'm not going fast and I'm not going far but I'm going....and that is exciting...Today is a rest day and then 3 more run days and I am done with the program I started. That is exciting too.  I have a terrible habit of starting something and then not finishing it.  So this whole program has been good all around. I now need to start looking for the next phase of my running.  I want to continue. 

I've been reading and thinking a lot about my fitness.  I'm trying very, very hard to focus on the health aspect and not the number on the scale - though that's a little easier now since my scale is gone.  I've also come across some interesting HIIT (high intensity interval training) information lately.  It's supposed to burn more fat and be better for your heart and lungs.  My running training has kind of been like that and I've downloaded some specific HIIT workouts.  I'm thinking, since I really have limited time to work out, that I'm going to focus on these kinds of workouts and some strength training.  I'm really, really tired of thinking about my weight and fitness and stuff.  I've been doing it most of my life and I'm really, really done with it.  So I think I'm just going to focus on feeling good with short, intense workouts and call it done.

I am looking around for some fun outdoor furniture.  We have this fabulous backyard and really crappy furniture.  I have to be careful though. The dogs think all pillows are outdoor pillows. They take the pillows off the couch and drag them outside to lay on. It would piss me off if it wasn't so darn cute.

So today is a rest day and I have to go to the periodontist. Yikes. I am not looking forward to that because a) it's going to cost a lot of money and b) it's going to be expensive. I don't want to do this but I have to.

Okay, enough rambling. I'm going to go shower.

20 June 2010

Prevailing Wisdom

Do you ever wonder about the prevailing wisdom?  I mean look at some of the things that people absolutely and completely buy into without question:

  • You should eat 3 meals a day.  Really?  Do you think our ancestors, the caveman, had the convenience of eating 3 times a day?  I don't think so.  I think they ate when they could and ate a lot. 
  • Or, you should eat 5-6 small meals a day.  This one kills me because it's hard for us to do imagine how hard it was for cavemen.  I don't think so.  
  • You have to eat a certain amount of protein with each meal.  Again, really?  Where did the caveman get all this protein.  He had no refrigerators and therefore no way to store his kill.  He ate it and when it was gone he ate plants until he killed something else.  
  • You can should only lose 1-2 lbs a week to remain healthy.  I would love to know where this came from.  Yes, continuously not eating buts a tremendous strain on your organs.  But eating healthy and working out can result in more then 1-2 lbs a week and you won't die. This rate would be hard to sustain because the more weight you lose the harder it gets to lose it. 
I was reading some stuff this morning and came across some people talking about these things like it was absolute fact, written in stone, and never worked otherwise.  I think you need to find out what works for you.  If eating 5-6 meals works for you - do it. If combining protein and carbs or fat works for you - do it.  But my god, just because someone said it doesn't make it gospel.  

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...