Happy New Year! (or: how *not* to run/swim on 1/1/13)

Whoa is me.  I had a rough go of it today.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me go back to yesterday.  The day started out with a bang.  I worked but it was a beautiful day weather-wise and just all the way around.  I had a drive out to the Point Reyes area and found myself getting lost in the beauty of it all.  I wish I'd had my camera so I could post a few pictures of the sun breaking through the clouds.  I guess I could have used my phone camera but truth be told, I was mostly focused on other things.  Still, it was a beautiful day.  Afterward I hit the gym.  It was my last workout of 2012 and I didn't want to end the year on a whimper.

I started with 25 minutes on the upright bike.  My music was rocking as usual and I had a grand time pushing myself.  After the bike I did back/biceps/core for strength training.  The highlight was when I was doing my second set of pullups.  A gym-regular was standing there and I said, "I'll only be a second, I can only do two on my second set."  So he asks if I want him to "spot" me so I can do more.  How do you spot someone doing pullups?  Now this is funny, you bend your knees a bit and wrap your ankles together and the spotter basically holds your legs and gives you just enough of a lift so you can do more.  Another guy and I might not have gone for it but I've seen him there tons and he seems like a very normal, older guy.

This guy is probably a "senior" but in any case, there wasn't even a hint of anything untoward in his behavior.  And I liked being able to push myself.  I think I did another 5-6 pullups with the assistance.  He said that's the best way to get stronger, to be able to push your muscles beyond what they can do normally.  Sounds good to me.   I also threw in a few intervals of jumping jacks between sets when I had nothing else to do.  An hour-and-a-half and 593 calories later and my workout was complete.

I wanted to stop at Starbucks for a latte because it was going to be a long night.  We managed a somewhat last-minute deal with Catherine to watch the kids so Miguel and I could go to a friend's New Years Eve party.  We were planning to be the 5-9pm crowd with kids in tow but I was now really excited about being the 9pm-midnight crowd sans kids.  Anyway, I ended up making a latte at home, something I haven't done in years.  We used to make them all the time pre-kids.

Latte fixings.  Scored that coffee at a White Elephant party.

So I had a weird dinner - a slice of veggie pizza, a teriyaki chicken thigh, a few bites of rice and a 1/2 of an avocado.  I was full and figured that should help me from getting too tipsy at the party.  Boy was I wrong.

We got to the party around 9pm and things were well underway.  I got to hang with some great mom friends and meet a few new people too.  This post is going to get picture heavy at this point.

Susan, me and Lauren all dressed up with somewhere to go.

Miguel and I.

See that huge wine glass?  I have decided the size of that glass is partially to blame for my state today.  The thing is half the size of my head!  I started out with a few glasses of wine inside the house while talking with all the ladies. 

Rock-n-Roll!!

About this point this wheels started to come off.  Normally I count how many drinks I have to make sure I don't go overboard but unfortunately not this time.

10, 9, 8...Big Thanks to Erica and Dave for a great party!!

After midnight I joined in the poker game that was happening in the garage.  I think it's fair to say I was outright drunk at this point.

Lucky hat.

I don't know how but I managed to win a bunch of money playing poker.  At one point I was in a pretty big hand, over $80 in the pot, and I thought I had a straight.  So a guy goes all-in, I call and lo-and-behold, I don't have the straight...yet.  I needed a King or an Eight on the river to make the straight.  Lucky me!  I got the eight.  I went home with over $100 in winnings!!  What a fun way to end the night. The rest of the night was a blur but I think I was sleeping by around 2am.

I woke up this morning and was feeling giggly at first, probably still a bit drunk.  I was hopeful I could do either a swim or a run to welcome 2013 and I had a babysitter scheduled from 11am-2pm for that purpose.  But within an hour or so it was clear that wouldn't happen.  I spent the entire day being sicker than a dog and it was not fun.  I'm frustrated with myself that I let the alcohol intake slip away from me.  I couldn't eat or drink anything and my head was pounding all day.  The babysitter ended up watching the kids while I suffered in my bedroom in peace.  Miguel was out playing golf but fortunately came home around 2:30pm so I could continue my suffering.

By around 5pm I was able to hold down water and eventually some bread.  Took some aspirin around 6pm and my headache finally went away.  And then Catherine texts me that she has vegetable noodle soup for me.  My prince of a husband actually took the kids over to her house to pick some up for me.  I ate the whole container and a few more pieces of bread and started to feel human again.  Needless to say, it's going to be a good while before I drink more than one and hopefully I've learned my lesson and never have to experience a day like today again.

Ahhhh...

Tomorrow I'm spending the day at a spa with a mom/runner friend, Deb.  We were genius to book this back in November as a post-holiday spiffing up.  Genius, I tell ya.  I think I'll feel just good enough to relax and enjoy a bit of peace and tranquility.  Not to mention I'm in dire need of a massage.  I'm going to take my running gear just in case I can manage that somehow too. 

That's all I got.  Happy New Year everyone!

p.s.  Justice Garoutte was the winner of the Weight Watchers scale.  Thank you all for entering and let's hope I can do more giveaways in 2013!