10:00 Minute Mile!

Yesterday was a day off from the gym but still an active day.  I started with a couple hours of gardening - pulling weeds and planting a few new plants - before getting the kids out the door for some errands.  After the errands we went to Whole Foods to meet a friend and her kids for lunch (Hi Michelle!).  The cool thing was Miguel was able to come meet us.  Always nicer to have the whole family together.  I had a burrito with a whole wheat tortilla, chicken, black beans, veggies and salsa.  I was going to have avocado too but I figured with the mother's party that evening I should save the calories.  I wasn't sure how many points to give it so I went with 10.  In reality it was probably more than that. 

Back home and put the kids down for their naps while I started to get ready for the party.  Marek woke up from his nap with a huge fever and that made for some hectic last-minute readying. In the end I decided to wear a black skirt with a pink and white blouse.  For whatever reason I felt kind of "big", though I pushed that feeling out of my mind.  I had a plan to drink two glasses of wine and have one dessert.  I stuck with the wine but in the end had probably more like two desserts.  There were A TON of cupcakes, mini bundt cakes and various other yummy things.  I'm not sure how much I ate because I took a bite of several that I didn't like so I tossed 'em.  I also ended up grabbing a few bites of cheese and crackers and had two small slices of turkey breast.  I wasn't upset about my food intake, especially because I ended up eating just a bar for dinner before the party - mostly because the fever through a wrench in my food prep plans.  Here's a pic from the party, holding my raffle prizes (I won a restaurant gift card and a certificate for a 10" bundt cake).

I had a great time at the party.  All my mom friends overwhelmed me with compliments about how great I look.  It felt good to be recognized for all the hard work.  I've still got a ways to go in my brain catching up with my body but I'm working on it.  One of my friends gave me a workout outfit that doesn't fit her (Thanks Jackie!).  The top is too small for me but the shorts are great.  And hopefully the top will fit eventually.  I got home a bit after 10pm and pretty much went straight to bed.

I had to stay home with Marek today, he still has a pretty big fever.  Fortunately he's eating/drinking fine and other than being a bit lethargic he's showing no other symptoms.  I struggled with wanting to graze all day and I ate a couple of things that were not part of the plan.  Mid-morning I ate a bowl of the kids cereal and later I had a 1/2 of peanut butter/jelly sandwich that Marek didn't eat.  But I tried to skip the negative talk and just tracked it and moved on.

Miguel came home and relieved me to go to the gym.  I started with a 25 minute run on the treadmill.  It was hot and I just didn't feel like running outside.  The run was friggin' awesome!!  I started at 5.0mph, then went up to 5.5, my "normal" pace these days.  At the 10 minute mark I pushed it up to 6.0mph and I felt really good.  I decided to go for 10 minutes at that pace, which would mean a mile at 6mph.  I did and I still felt good enough to keep going.  I ended up staying at 6mph for the rest of the run, meaning I ran for 15 minutes at 6mph!  I felt so happy.  It feels so good to be getting speedier.  I think the treadmill, even with a 1% incline, is a bit easier than the reality of outside but I'm still pleased.  The first time I ran at 6mph I felt like my legs were moving like egg beaters, but today it felt smooth and doable.  Yay!

After the run I did legs/shoulders/core.  Everything went pretty smooth.  I came home and made myself dinner (the kids and Miguel ate while I was at the gym).  I had a salad with chicken breast and avocado.  Yum!  And a good balance with the day's earlier indulgences.  Well, that's it for me.  I'm super tired so I'm signing off.  Night all!

Morning Run

Yesterday afternoon I arrived at the gym feeling a bit tired.  Probably leftover from the super busy weekend.  And then I saw all the upright bikes were taken.  Gah!  So I rode a recumbent instead, which turned out to be a nice change of pace.  I had to use my glutes a lot more.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core.  I was feeling spiffy so instead of normal planks I did ones with arm raises.  I didn't count reps, I just did them for 40 seconds, my normal plank time:

that's not me.  but i bet you knew that ;)

This definitely made for a challenge.  I finished up with some stretching and then went home to zone out until bedtime, I was tired as heck!

Today, Tuesday, was a busy day.  I had a PT appointment after work so I decided I should maybe do my run in the morning before work.  This way I wouldn't stress about it all day, worrying I wouldn't fit it in.  Also, the forecast was for another hot day, another reason to run in the morning.  I set my alarm and decided I'd make a game-day decision.  When my alarm went off I groaned.  But after a bit of self talk - mostly, "If you don't get up and do it now it might not happen today" - I managed to get up and head out the door.  It was chilly but not freezing.  I ran 3 miles and felt pretty good.  This is only my second pavement run in the Brooks and things seemed to go smooth.  I finished in 33 minutes, my normal/good time, which made me happy.  I stretched after the run but boy were my muscles tight!  That's the biggest drawback of exercising in the morning, you're just not all loosened up like you are come afternoon.

After my PT appointment I went to the gym to do weights.  I did a quick warmup walk and then headed to the weights - back/biceps/core.  I am really focusing on keeping my shoulders down, which is not easy.  I need to strengthen my mid-back.  After weights I did a quick stretch (and still felt a bit tighter than normal, I blame the morning run) and then headed home to my kiddos. 

I am tired.  Tired, tired, tired.  It's 9:30pm and I really want to watch Mad Men but I think it'll have to wait until tomorrow.  Incidentally, this is already week 3 so next week will be a recovery week.  Still haven't decided exactly what that will look like but I'm thinking maybe drop 2 levels for the bike and do walks instead of running.  For weights I'm thinking one light set instead of three.  We'll see, all I know is that I'm liking this recovery week idea.

I realized I never really commented on my weigh-in last Friday.  Up .4 pounds.  Two words: menstrual. cycle.  Enough said.  Oh!  I forgot to mention - I signed up for another event.  And this one is coming up in less than two weeks!  But I'm out of time so I'll have to share all that exciting info tomorrow.  Night everyone.

Busy Bee, That's Me!

Talk about an active weekend!  I hardly stopped at all other than to eat and sleep.  I went to the gym on Friday morning and rode the bike for 25 minutes.  Then I did back/biceps/core.  I had to go early because between my and Miguel's schedules that was my only chance to go.  I always feel tight in the morning and things are just harder it seems.  I don't know if I mentioned but I've been going to physical therapy for my shoulders.  They have started to ache most of the time and I don't want it to get worse.  So I'm not supposed to do any exercises that aggravate them.  But I get all crazed in the gym and can't skip stuff.  I went to the PT in the afternoon and they gave me some alternatives for now.

Saturday was a day off from the gym but not from running like headless chickens.  We took the kids to an open house at our local police station in the morning.  They got to check out riot gear, sit on motorcycles and pet the k9 officer.  Afterward we walked over to a street fair and let the kids jump in the bouncy houses for a while.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast.  Home for naps (for them, not us) and I ran out and purchased more plants for my ever growing garden.  I'm kind of getting into this gardening thing.  It's amazing what can be enjoyable when you have the energy and feel comfortable and strong in your body.  I think I've always hated gardening because it involved getting down on the ground, using muscles and being in the sun.  All things I can handle just fine now. 

After the kids' naps we took them to a super-fun birthday party with more bouncy house action!  I even got in for a while, which was actually a lot of work.  The kids were piling on me and at one point I feared for my own safety! (wink).  I indulged in food and drink and used up all my extra points for the week.  I had 2 margaritas, 1 glass of red wine, a chili-dog and lots of snacks (pretzels, cheese puffs, etc).  Oh, and 2 mini cupcakes.  I tracked it all when I got home but struggled with a desire to keep eating.  But I wasn't hungry at all and really did NOT want to go into the red on my points.  I vowed to not eat another single bite of food, got a big glass of bubbly water and texted my friend Kristy for support (Thanks Kristy!!).  I made it through the evening without eating more food.  I can't tell you how good it felt to wake up Sunday morning knowing I made a better choice.  The party was a lot but not too much and I didn't go overboard by eating more at home. 

So Sunday morning, despite the alcohol, I actually felt pretty good.  It was going to be a hot day and I wanted to do an outdoor run so I decided I'd better get moving.  I went back to the same trail I did two weeks prior.  I did the same loop, but backwards.  It was much better in this direction, though it meant walking up one steep hill.  I ran for an hour and was able to do the loop three times in that time.  It felt so incredibly good to be out there in the morning air, running in sun and shade, listening to the birds - trail running is sort of magical.  If you haven't tried it I highly recommend it.  I'm lucky to live in this area with all these beautiful trails.  Here's a post-run picture:

Those are my Reebok shorts, size Medium!

After my run I met up with Miguel at the soccer field.  He had a game but took the kids early to play.  Once his game was underway I took the kids home for lunch.  Miguel got home when they went down for their naps so I headed to the air-conditioned gym to do weights.  I did legs/shoulders/core work.  I followed the PTs advice and dropped an exercise that was hurting my shoulders (lying shoulder presses). 

After the gym I had a quick shower and then headed to the mall in a last-minute effort to find a dress.  My mother's club social is coming up this Wednesday and I still don't have anything I really like.  Shopping continues to be a whole new experience.  I can walk in any store and find stuff that fits - even what I consider teenage stores like Express.  I ended up buying a black pencil skirt at H&M and might wear that with a blouse to the party.  It's cute but it's a little work/professional instead of party/casual.  We'll see.  And I have a food/drink plan for the party.  I used up all my extra points over the weekend so for the party I'm going to focus on why I'm there (to socialize) and limit my drinking to two glasses of wine.  I will eat dinner at home and limit my eating to fruit and one dessert item.  Doesn't that sound reasonable?