gone

Don't you hate it when you read a blog, get interested, get invested in someone's life, follow their journey, cry with them when things get back, laugh out loud when they get better, and then they leave you? They solve their problems, come to their own conclusion, then leave you behind, wondering what happened next. Several of my favorite blogs have gone to ending lately (mostly happy endings, thankfully) but their leaving is harder to take that I would like to admit, like a book that ends but I still want to know what happens next.

By the skin of my teeth, I had an ok week food wise. I eeked in just under the points limit for the week, the exercise really helped on that score. No exercise tonight, am resting (and sulking) but another 2.5 mile jog on schedule for tomorrow.

My mood has seen better days. I don't know why I am so grumpy and unhappy, I have a gorgeous sweetie, a hysterical baby, a lovely home and great future plans. I guess the move and everything is leaving me feeling overwhelmed and just past overwhelmed is where grumpy lives.

Tomorrow is weigh day. I think it is a serious possibility that I am the same weight or have gained since the beginning of September. That isn't helping my mood.

2.5 mile jog

Exercise:

• What : jog
  
• Time: 1:8:06 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.5 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:37, 3:43, 3:47, 3:42, 3:55, 3:59, 3:57, 4:00, 3:55, 3:21
  
• Minutes/mile: 15.2

Wow, I can't believe we are up to running (well, shuffling) 2.5 miles. Go us! And all of our laps were relatively fast for us. Lately when we run, my lower back starts to hurt so I was reading on-line about form and what might be wrong. I was really trying to think about form today, but I think it is harder to have good form when you are going slower. The last lap, I consciencely made an effort to go faster and I felt like I could maintain better posture.

So, great day for exercise, but I really blew it with food. And I knew exactly what I was doing, it wasn't that I was hungry or anything, I was just having a CRAP day at work. I am working on what feels like a never ending project and it is getting me down. I suggested to Mike that we go out for lunch instead of eating the meals we had packed. We did. Then I don't want to leave the restaurant so I suggest we get dessert and we did. And it was all because I had a crappy day at work. I journaled everything and I think I have enough flex points to cover it, but boy, does it feel like a waste of good exercise to eat that way.

Changing Focus

I hear the total for the auction fundraiser was more like $13,000. Whee! :)

I'm tired. This cold is taking it's time leaving, so we spent my 30th birthday at home and very low key. Paul's going around telling me I'm a "dirty thirty" because I've reached my "triple-X" age. (XXX).

Been doing some work for playgroup -- this weekend I have to help Gretchen with the booth at a veg festival and then there's the preschool event in another 2 weeks.

THEN I will be done, done, done with fundraisers for the year and can change focus to Disney, Disney, Disney.

I have to leave for work early today and get some Xerox done so I'm going to sneak a peek at the gym construction site. I hope it opens very soon!

day 4

This week is going well. Food consumption was good. I don't have any idea what to count dinner, I ate at a friends and they made a great dinner. I had seconds, but it was healthy. Then we walked to the parks and the babes played for 45 minutes. Iz discovered the slide. Oh my, the cuteness!

another jog

Exercise:

• What : jog
  
• Time: 1:00:20 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.25 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:53, 3:56, 3:52, 3:55, 4:00, 4:07, 4:11, 4:02, 3:36
  
• Minutes/mile: 15.8

Great day food wise and great workout too. We had a nice enough chat. Mike is still agonizing over his upcoming work move so we mainly discussed that. I felt like I could have gone faster, but I was burping, my knee was twingy and I had cramps. I figured I wouldn't push it. We do 2.5 miles on Thursday.

Tomorrow night, Iz and I will be meeting up with a couple of other moms and babies for a trip to the park and dinner. I don't get to do these trips very often since I work so I am very excited about seeing my mom friends again, and I can't wait to see the babies all together again. I can't remember the last time that happened.

day 2 report (on day 3)

Yesterday went ok. We went out for dinner, but I just had a vegetable grill which meant a few grilled veggies over a very small amount of pasta. Based on volume, I would put the pasta at 4 pnts, but I added 2 more because they tossed it with oil. So on the whole, a fine day. It was rainy, though, so no formal exercise. We went over and browsed the mall to get out of the house for a while. Still looking for an outfit to my bro's wedding, didn't find anything that said "mountaintop wedding at 9:00 am in October" to me.

Tonight we run!

day one report

It was a good food day. I picked up some healthy foods at the market and made rice, beans, and corn for dinner. Iz likes both beans and corn lately, she hasn't warmed to rice yet. We shared a bowl of strawberries and bananas for dessert.

Exercise:

• What : neighborhood walk
  
• Distance: 1.6 miles

Mike didn't really feel up to walking today, but Iz kept climbing up in her stroller so he finally agreed. It was a short one.

off to market

Yesterday I went to lunch with a friend, a fellow weight watcher, who has been struggling to stick to "the plan" for a while now. She was telling me how she was finally writing everything down and keeping track of points consistently for everything she was eating. Talking to her about it made me realize I really need to get back on track too. We only have a little over 3 months left until Disney. 3 Months! Those three months will be filled with training and moving and starting a new job. If I want to finish Disney in the allotted time (and I really really do) I need to lose a little more weight and get stronger. My weight is what is holding me back, I don't think I can go much faster at my current weight. So, this morning I sat down and wrote out a menu for the week and made a grocery list. We don't need much since one of our goals is to clear out our pantry and freezer before the move. As soon as I write this entry, I will be off to market to pick up the ingredients for healthy meals. I can't promise a "bootcamp" week with no eating out, but I am going to do my best to stay within points all week. I will record my progress here to keep myself honest. Wish me luck!

last wog

Exercise:

• What : wog: 1 mile jog/ 1/4 mile walk/ 1 mile jog
  
• Time: 1:01:52 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.25 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:48, 3:54, 3:51, 3:55, 5:24, 3:57, 3:58, 3:58, 3:36
  
• Minutes/mile: 16.16

Our last wog, from now on we will be doing straight jogs. The weather was much cooler and overcast. Other than the group of asian kids playing football and screaming at each other in another language (except for the profanity, which I could understand), we were alone on the track. And Mike and I kept up a constant stream of chatter the whole time, talking about books we are reading, food we need from the market, the birthday party we went to. The last time we started jogging (sometime in grad school, it was a short lived hobby, I think I got up to 1 mile of running) I was never able to hold up my end of the conversation. I was always gasping for breath, even when we were going super slow, slower than I go now. Having a nice chat while running is the best way to keep going and get it over with quickly. I wish Mike would run the half with me. I will have to start doing some long runs without him to get used to the boredom.

Our next jog is 2.25 miles. We usually wait a day between exercising, but since we are scheduled for rain all week long, we might go ahead and jog today if we feel up to it. I know Mike won't be running in the rain.

Congrats Cat! I am so proud of you! Raising that much in such a short time is really an accomplishment.

Gross...

Tired. Came home before auction ended to get us to bed because we have colds and Julia's wiped.

But just got a call from Mark, who stayed behind cashiering and cleaning and he thinks it is looking like $12, 200 gross! We have 10 days to turn in our receipts and things, to figure net, but I think we made the goal of $10,000.

I kick ass. :)

Good luck!

Good luck tomorrow, cat! I will be thinking about you. I can't wait to hear the grand total!

No exercise here tonight. The weather is crappy and my mood is worse. I am going to take Iz on a little walk in our neighborhood before it rains.

This is it!

Paul and I are doing better relationship-wise though we've postponed some discussion til next week because...

The auction is tomorrow! And you would not BELIEVE the amount of work left to do. I'm knee deep in last minute junk and the donation keep popping up from stragglers. I got two Shakespeare tickets last night!

I went to make xerox and saw the the new gym near church preschool has it's sign up. Woo. So it won't be long before doors open, and I can go and NOT leave Julia in gym daycare. She can just go to her preschool an hour early.

So I'll have to have the childcare charges removed from my membership.

new stroller

We got Iz a new (to us) jog stroller, but it tends to the left. Maybe I can get it fixed at a bike shop?

Took an easy walk tonight en familia. We stopped at the park and let Iz walk around. Had a great day, now off to shower and bed.

time free wog

Exercise:

• What : wog: 2 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 3 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 2 lap jog
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.25 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  

In an attempt to embrace running without getting overly concerned with speed, I left my watch at home when we went out for out wog tonight. We only have one more wog in the couch to 5k program, then we start just jogging. Tonight's wog went well. The band was out on the field so they provided some entertainment and the stadium lights were on so it didn't get too dark on us.

I had a bad bad bad day. It actually started last night with a late night out, a late night up talking about Mike's future job, and then a baby that wanted to play around 1 am. Today I should have just stayed in bed. I came home early from work and took a quick nap. I REALLY didn't want to exercise today, so I am proud that we got out there and got it done, even on bad days. I think Mike has made a decision concerning his future job so hopefully that will relieve some stress in our household.

2 mile JOG

Exercise:

• What : 2 mile jog
  
• Time: 56:51 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.0 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:54, 4:06, 4:03, 4:05, 4:03, 4:04, 3:59, 3:37
  
• Minutes/mile: 15.9

We JOGGED (straight, without stopping) for 2 miles tonight!!! It is probably the longest I have ever in my life run. If I have run this far before, it was a random occurence, not any kind of habit. We went slow, very very slow. If I could keep it up, I could finish Disney, but barely. Isn't it funny that I can run and walk at about the same speed? It is like my body has a speedometer with a max setting of 3.8 miles/hour. Anyway, I am so proud of myself. To get back on schedule we are planning to jog every other day for a few days, then back to the normal 3x a week next week. Now I just have to get my diet back in control. It makes no sense to do all this work to move forward with exercise, but to slip backwards on the diet.

What I learned from my first* 5k

1) Being in a race feels different than just exercising. There were a lot of people around, everyone was very excited. We were all trying to figure out where to go, how much time we had left, could we go to the bathroom beforehand. Everyone was chatty and people were wishing us luck. It was nice.

2) Stretching is important. Before the race started, my sisters and I stretched beside a fence. While my sis was stretching, she pulled the top of the fence down. Everyone turned and looked to make sure we were ok (or maybe the fence was ok). We were able to put it back together again, but the moment of laughter broke the pre-race jitters.

3) Drumlines rock. They had the local drum line there to start the race and they were great. I was hoping to thank the kids afterwards, but I didn't see them.

4) It is hard to run slowly in a race. And I wanted to run slowly, I didn't want to make the mistake of running fast at the beginning, then having to stop. I started near the rear of the pack and was quickly at the back of the 70 or so runners. There were a few walkers back where I was and I walked a lot too.

5) There is a little humiliation in out-and-back courses. I wasn't even to mile marker 1 when the first runner passed me going the other way. I was right at the crest of a hill (I was heading down and he was heading up) and there were a couple of people there clapping and saying "you're number 1!". I felt a little bad because I was more like #68.

6) Runners are nice. Even though it was a little hard to keep going forward while I was passing all these people headed back, lots of people said words of encouragement. This is a group of people I want to associate with.

7) I like passing people. I passed a kid that was stopping to pick flowers and running backwards. And I smoked him. :)

8) If I ever volunteer at the finish line of a race, I will keep up the clapping. Granted, I was nearly the last person in and there was no one in front of me for a long time, but the one woman sitting at the finish line in a lawn chair reading her book was slowly clapping against her leg with one hand. Honey, don't bother.

9) Who needs gatorade when there is free beer?

* I have walked in fundraising 5ks before, but this was my first race.

5k report

I finished! It took about 50 minutes (we didn't start right at 7:15, so I am not too sure about the time.) I was about 5th from the last person. I meant to do intervals, but didn't. I just jogged when I felt like jogging and walked when I didn't. Everyone behind me was a walker. I probably ran 1 mile and walked the other 2. It was an out and back course and before I got to mile marker 1, there was already someone coming back! That was a little depressing. There was a big hill, that wasn't fun, but the rest of the course was relatively flat. I was smiling the whole time, I was just happy to be there. I was even smiling after it was over!

Earth to Paul

Paul and I have been having dischord in the home of the Feminine Mystique variety.

Basically revolving around the fact that there are only so many hours in the day, I can only do but so much alone, and we really need to get committed to a schedule, pare back belongings and prioritize goals.

I am NOT getting workout time nor eating well.

Now if it comes down to the wire and I just can't train enough to do the Disney half marathon, so be it. I'm willing to let that go, since it was a carrot and not the ultimate thing. The idea was to do the race to get fit for another pregnancy. I'll just train as far as I can manage -- so long as I get some gym time. That's fine.

But I'm not getting it, nor am I eating well. Now he has to step it up and either a) start cooking or b) take the kid more so I can cook in peace because I cannot cook with a child on my leg.

I don't want to have to give up work at preschool. Julia is blossoming with the social interaction and if/when second kid gets here that's where she's going for a few hours each week to give me time to bond with new baby. So I'm trying to acclimate her slowly to it by being there with her while I can be.

So we dance around the question of whether or not we can afford another child financially, emotionally, and mentally (all of these are resources we have only but so much of) I can't get him to understand that I feel pressured.

Because it is ME who gets pregnant. MY body who carries it.

So while we can jiggle finances around a litlte bit and put off deciding if our finances are ready to take on another kid...

And maybe we can evetually manage to get ourselves on a smooth running household schedule so I can add another child without feeling like the home went to hell in a handbasket for more than the babymoon... and have some time to experiement and jiggle it around some or if all else fails figure out how to hire a little temporary help...

I CANNOT procrastinate on fitness. Eating well and walks have to happen every day. Or else I won't be physically ready when it's time to TTC. And if we are shooting for a certain age gap between children...I'm running out of time. This doesn't even include the fertility hurdles I have as a PCOS patient either.

So. Yeah. Hello? Earth to Paul?

Either work with me, or let's call the whole thing off. Your lack of involvement/concern is making me grouchy. Bleah.

short pre-race wog

Exercise:

• What : wog: 3 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 2 lap jog
  
• Time: 50:00 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 1.5 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:49, 3:57, 3:53, 4:44, 3:56, 4:04
  
• Minutes/mile: 16.25

We cut our wog short tonight because it got too dark outside (we went out a little late), plus I have a 5 k wog on Sunday and I didn't want to push it. It was an ok wog, very slow. I think I will try a 12 min jog/8 min walk on Sunday as long as the terrain is flat and smooth. I think it will take me 50 minutes to finish the 3.1 miles, so 2.5 sets of intervals. I will write more Sunday night.

So. Irritated.

Exercise:

• What : neighborhood walk
  
• Distance: 1.6 miles

Just took the pup for a walk around the block while our house was getting inspected. It is hot and the sun was up high and I was as slow as ever. At least the pup got a little exercise, she is panting like a deranged cow next to me.

I had lunch at (my normally favorite place) Panera. They have changed their soups!!! They have made their black bean a "cuban black bean" and it isn't vegetarian, and they added a lentil vegetarian soup. I asked for the lentil, willing to try a new thing, but a little disappointed that my normal black bean was no more. I discovered when I got home that they had given me the black bean. I only discovered this after taking several bites then discovering some chicken! I was so annoyed! Not only do they take away my favorite soup and give me the wrong soup, the wrong soup has meat in it!! I have been a veg for 13 years now. I have consumed meat a handful of times in that 13 years (that I know of). Most of those times were accidents, a couple were on purpose to check and see if I wanted to continue the veg diet. I can't tell you how grossed out I get when I eat meat by accident. I feel like my mouth is coated in grease and I have to brush my teeth and floss until my gums bleed. I am not a happy girl, panera is my favorite no more.

first back after the break

Exercise:

• What : wog: 2 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 2 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 2 lap jog
  
• Time: 61:41 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.0 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:51, 3:59, 4:46, 3:59, 3:49, 4:54, 4:01, 4:08
  
• Minutes/mile: 16.8

Wow, did I slow down or what? This is my first wog in a week and I was super slow. The funny thing was is that I felt like I was moving pretty good, if I weren't wearing the watch, I wouldn't have known I wasn't going very fast. We decided to repeat last week's wog schedule (week 6 of couch potato to 5 k). When I did this same interval pattern last time, I was 2 minutes faster!

To quote Nikki, I feel like I am eating to gain weight. We have been busy, stressed, selling a house, buying a house, packing, driving 14 hours to AL and eating on the road. Bad bad food choices. And it feels like a train going 200 mph and I can't get off. Today, Mike and I went to lunch at a place we have wanted to go to for a while. It was very good and very expensive, both monetarily and calorically. I Must Stop! Really, I have said it before, but no more eating out!!! Now I just have to hold myself to my own rule.

Tomorrow is a rest day or walk/yoga day. We will wog again Friday, then Saturday I will go down to my sister's and spend the night so we can be up early to do the 5 k Sunday morning. I am going to wog it, probably using my watch to keep the intervals. Maybe 10 min running/ 3 walking?

Exercise:

• What : neighborhood walk
  
• Distance: 1.6 miles

Just a quick walk around the neighborhood to get back in the swing of things. This week has been busy, we sold our house and bought a new one! The move is scheduled for the end of October, leaving lots of time for training afterward.

Tomorrow - back to wogging. I have a 5 k at the end of the week.

Fitting it all in

• Planned: 1 mile, any style
• Actual: (not yet)

I hate Mondays. There's always so much to do and so little time to do it in! Add that Paul and I are recently over being sick, grumpy because we're lacking in couple time, and I have a meeting this evening after work... ugh. It just piles up and I don't know how to fit it all in.

Better breathing

Today when I woke up my chest did not have that heavy pressured feeling any more. I can breathe!

Quick wog tonight. 2 3/4 mile jogs with 1 1/2 mile walk in between. My knees were twitchy so I was slow, but I got it done. I will be out of town till Tuesday, wish us luck with the house hunt!

quick labor day update

No formal exercise around here yesterday or today, but lots of back breaking labor to go around. I have been working on refinishing our upstairs banister before the house goes on the market, so lots of ripping out staples, sanding, and staining completed, today I am polyurathaning and re-installing. It doesn't look great, but it looks better. And it matches the downstairs banister which is what we were going for. Last night after spending most of the day sanding, my allergies kicked in and I had a horible sinus headache, scratchy throat and stuffed up nose. Luckily, I also had benadryl. Today I am wiped. We were supposed to go for a run tonight but I just don't see it happening. We will try to do one more run before we go on our trip on Thursday.

Exercise:

• What : wog: 2 lap jog/ 2 lap walk/ 2 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 2 lap jog
  
• Time: 59:38 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.0 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:37, 3:32, 4:40, 3:31, 3:39, 4:52, 3:45, 4:03
  
• Minutes/mile: 15.8

Did our wog early when it was cool outside. This time we did 3 sets of 1/2 mile runs with 1/4 mile walks in between. When I first started wogging, I tried to keep the walks to exercise pace. Now I view them as complete recovery so I take them very slowly, usually get water during them, load up Iz with cheerios and water, take lots of time to catch my breath. It effects my time drastically, the first 5 laps of jogging, we were doing a 14-15 min/mile pace, the walking laps were 19 min/mile. The last lap today was a killer, I really wanted to stop. I pushed through though. I keep wondering in the back of my mind if I am really ready to do 2 miles continuously.

Weighed in this morning and lost 2.5 lbs in September. I am really thrilled, it could just as easily been a gain for the month. The stress and eating out and everything will likely continue for another week or two. I also spent some time looking at myself in the mirror, my stomach looks smaller, my legs have lots more definition, even my b00bs look smaller (mike was a little concerned over this one). So the running is making big difference in my body even if the scale is slow to move.

Exercise:

• What : neighborhood walk
  
• Distance: 2.2 miles

Mike and I took Iz on a relaxing neighborhood walk today. Talk was light until we started discussing new orleans. It is one of our favorite cities, we have been there many times. Seeing the photos on line (I can't bring myself to watch the coverage on TV) is heartwrenching. So many other people are saying it better than I can, but I wanted to say something. It feels strange to just go on posting about exercising and walking and eating when such tragedy is occuring in our backyard.

Perking Up

• Planned: 30 min XT
• Actual:

Snotty. Ear better. Less cough. I think I'm perking up.

Chris and Heather, our church sponsors/new friends, called up to see how we are and are bringing us soup. I'm really taken aback by that in a nice way.

While I take food sometimes to the sick, pregnant, grieving or whatever... I think the last time anyone brought ME food that was not a relative was Craig who brought me some of his Ramen in the dorms 12 years ago.

And I don't think that kind of altruisim counts because typically boys at that age have the ulterior motive of trying to bed you.

30 min of XT onteh schedule today. I feel all flu-ey bone ache-y. So I think when Julia gets up from her nap I'm going to try doing a yoga thing with her.

back on the slow track

Exercise:

• What : wog: 1 lap jog/ .5 lap walk/ 2 lap jog/ 1 lap walk/ 1 lap jog/ .5 lap walk/ 2 lap jog
  
• Time: 58:00 minutes
  
• Distance: .6 miles warm up, 2.0 miles workout, .3 miles cool down
  
• Lap Times: 3:39, 4:21, 3:40, 4:11, 4:02, 4:11, 3:54, 3:42
  
• Minutes/mile: 15.8

Tonight we had perfect weather for running, clear, breazy, 80, not at all humid. All day long I was thinking about how we could do the sub 15 minute/ mile pace again. Alas, it was not to be. House chores got in our way and we got a late dinner. I even thought of not doing the run, a brief fleeting thought. In the end, we did the run a mere 30 minutes after supper and were dealing with gas pressure and heart burn the whole time. But we did it, the last run of week 4, my 12th run is over. :)

Our next wog will be Saturday and will consist of jogging three half mile interval separated by two quarter mile walks. On Monday, we will jog 2 three-quarter mile intervals with 1 half mile walk in between. Then Wednesday night, the night before we take a mammoth drive to AL,
we jog 2 miles straight. Yeehaw. I think if I can jog 2 miles straight, I will think of myself as a real runner.

why?

Cat - way to go on all the fundraising! You did it too well, now they are going to make you the official fundraiser!

Last night, Mike had a late meeting so Iz and I had a girl's night out. I decided to go out to eat at a restaurant that I love, but Mike refuses to go to anymore. I haven't been there in a while. It was bad. Iz was grumpy (she is recovering, I hope, from a stomach bug), they changed their menu so the food wasn't the same, the service was really slow, adding to the grumpiness factor. In the end, I had an overpriced meal I didn't enjoy that left me feeling gross and bloated.

Even though I am exercising (shocker!) and enjoying it (double shocker!!), my food consumption is off the chart. We are eating out way too much, we want to hit all our favorite restaurants "one last time" before we leave (umm, we aren't really leaving for 2+ months!) I am scheduling lots of good-bye meals with locals friends that I won't be seeing as much in a couple of months. So things aren't great. My desire is to do a boot camp as soon as we get back from our AL house hunting trip to get back on track with food.

We will be wogging tonight and every other day from now until we leave to make sure we fit in all of our runs before AL. The night before we leave (next Wednesday) we are scheduled to do a 2 mile continuous jog, no walking!!! It will be the longest jog I have every done.