Posts
Is it wrong to enjoy a sick day? I mean, when you're staying home because one of your children is sick? That seems wrong. But, I enjoy the time to stay home and cuddle, provide juice and soup. I get a lot of stuff done around the house--it's like a bonus day!
Take today, for example. Daughter number 2 is home from school because she was running a 101 fever last night. She's insisting that she's fine today, no more fever, but I'm keeping her home for the full 24 hours. So, thus far, I have spent 45 minutes on my new indoor bike trainer (best $40 I've spent--thanks Mr. T!). Then, I finally used the box of Clairol (Natural Instincts #18--Pecan) that I've had for a couple of months. I'll make a real dinner for tonight, and bake a cake for tomorrow. I'm starting laundry, and catching up on some tv I missed. I've checked work email a couple of times, but there's nothing that can't wait for tomorrow. We had chow mein (homemade!) for lunch and watched an old episode of "I Dream of Jeannie." That's a pretty good day by any account!
Of course, in my case...it only has one name on it. Mine. But, I'm back in the game again. I just need to learn how to pay attention to what is PAIN and therefore I should stop doing whatever it is...and what is just regular soreness and fatigue. I'm not good at this. I once sat through the first few minutes of a dental procedure without being completely numb...just figuring that it was supposed to hurt like that. The dentist finally noticed the tears streaming down the side of my face and asked "Can you feel that?" to which I responded "uh-huh." It's not that I'm tough. I just don't want to call attention to myself. (Stop laughing G-man.)
So anyway, early in January Mr. T had us do a workout i his class that he called "The 1000". !0 excercises, 100 reps of each one, broken up by short intense bursts of cardio. It was awesome. A couple of younger guys in their late teens/early twenties started and then abandoned the class. Hee. I stuck it out, but on one of the sets, I could feel that my shoulder .which I have some probelems with anyway due to an old swimming/pickleball/badminton/tetherball/pick an activity injury) was not going to last. So, I switched to a lighter weight. It hurt for a day, but then I thought I had recovered enough to go back to class. Not so...and that continued for a week, until I finally acknowledged that I am over 30, and therefore might actually need time to heal. Turns out, I had a pinched nerve. But, 2 weeks of Physical T and I am good as new. G-man thinks I should not be allowed to go to the gym unsupervised, since I managed to starin my back while taking it easy on my shoulder. That, and I was taking advice from non-physical therapists at the gym...who had no affiliation with the gym.
a colleague goes and one-ups you by doing the Polar Bear Plunge, during a blizzard, for cryin' out loud! And my hat is off to her. Maybe I'll join her next year. Maybe.
Around here, it's been cold and snowy, and snowy, and snowy. The giant pile of snow at the edge of our driveway does NOT bode well for my roses, and I fear that the snow will not melt in time for my tulips to make an appearance. The North side of the house does not warm up very quickly, and we have over 5 feet of snow piled there right now.
Yeah, there are flower beds under all that. Sigh.
I took a fortuitous 2 weeks of vacation during Snowmageddon, and we really enjoyed ourselves. The kids have been home from school since Dec. 19th. I baked like there was no tomorrow. Cookies, breads, cinnamon rolls, brownies, all kinds of good stuff. And, drumroll, I did not gain the requisite holiday weight because I gave most of it away. hehehe.
Overheard last week in our house..
Daughter 1 "Come here"
Daughter 2 "I don't want to snuggle your butt"
D1 "It's okay, just come here"
D2 "Don't put a stink on my head"
D1 "It's okay, just come here"
[Inevitable betrayal]
[Much giggling]
aaaaaand, that was what it's like to be housebound with 2 little girls for 2 weeks. Boy, it's nice to return to work.
Whoops, I did it again...twice now. After the hurting Mr. T put on me last Monday, I needed all week to recover. By Friday I was feeling, all better, so I decided to go back. Different instructor on Fridays, so I thought it would be worth trying. Right off the bat she announced that we would be doing all the excercises in sets of 8, 20 seconds duration with 10 seconds rest. What!?! says me. I just regained the use of my arms after doing the same thing on Monday. But, I soldiered on, and this time, 'twas the legs that were begging for mercy.
I woke up Saturday, and my quads hurt so muich, I could hardly negotiate the stairs. The G-man had some sympathy, helping me by carrying laundry up and down for me all weekend. (I think he found my whimpering unsettling). On the other hand, he also pointed out that my pain was, essentially, self-inflicted. Too true. So what did I do Monday? Headed back to the same class. The gauntlet, she has been thrown down! I cannot let this class beat me! Fortunately, we did something different, and I felt much better afterwards.
In other news? The G-man is very shortly going to find it difficult to keep up with me if he doesn't get moving. Hear that? Yes, I'm talking to you...it's on like Donkey Kong! Start running!
Well, that's not the real name for it, but that's what the other women in the locker room were calling it a couple of weeks ago. And that's when I decided to try it. (I know, something's a little off with me.) I had asked Mr. T about his "Athletic Training" class last September, when we were finishing up with my sessions, and he told me that it was really intense. I think he might have been warning me off. But he did say that I could probably handle it, but that I would be more sore than I've ever been in my life. So, I debated and debated, pondered and waited until today. Think of it as my Turkey Day penance. Despite all the warnings about how tough the class is, I was shocked to find that it is absolutely packed. Apparently, I am not the only glutton for this particular punishment.
(Oh, and one of these guys... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvltzwkUEEA was also in my class...minus the scruff. )
In other news, we went to the West side of the state for Thanksgiving, and had a nice visit with my dad. Our kiddoes are pretty good travellers, but by the end of the 5 hour drive home, they were done with each other. Our oldest,Lulu, said "I think that Bubu and I need marriage counseling."
Well, okay, I ran the 5 mile run today, and not the Marathon or Half-Marathon. But I am happy because 6 months ago, the 5 mile would not have been in the realm of possibility for me. So, woohoo! And I ran the 5 miles despite having a continual wardrobe malfunction. You see, my new running pants are long, spandex legging type things, but they don't have a drawstring. And, they REALLY need a drawstring. So I was running, and then every half mile or so, I'd have to hitch my britches back up, because I was in danger of mooning everyone. These pants are low-rise to start with, but honestly! And it was not fun having 30 degree air on that part of my anatomy. Brrrrrrr! But, my friend G and I had a good run, nevertheless. I am going to add a drawstring to those pants, though.
Now, I know that I am way overdue for an update, so hop in your time machine, and let's go waaay back to August 17th. The Wunder Woman sprint distance triathlon. The thing that started it all. It was awesome, I had a blast, and I am hooked now. Here's the final results:
Place: 180 (out of 634 participants) Time: 1:23:53
I was pretty happy with that for my first time out.
The week after the Wunder Woman, I met with Mr. T for the last time (sniffle) and had my final measurements taken...and all my hard work has really paid off. I lost 25 lbs, 14 inches, and went from 32.5% to 22.9% body fat. That translates into 2-3 dress sizes--which translates into a new wardrobe (hooray--shopping!)
Mr. T was pretty proud of me for meeting every one of my goals, and so was I.
On September 13, the G-man and I ran a 5k in Seattle, together, and averaged a 10 minute mile. That felt really good, although I must confess that it annoyed me that he could match me without any training...at all! I worked so hard to get to that point.
But then, on September 28, I ran the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in 27:54. Another 5k, and I averaged a 9 minute mile--getting faster. Eventually, I'll be able to outrun the G-man, if I keep it up. And I will.
So now what? Well, I am trying to maintain a good balance of activity and diet. I'm enjoying fitting into old clothes again, and also being able to keep up with the kids better. We have some more running to do, turns out that this is a hobby that the G-man and I can enjoy together. He's a great running buddy. I will beat the G-man to finish at some point--and that's motivation enough for now. :)
There will be pictures and a full accounting later, but I'm too tired now. Suffice to say, I rocked the swim, and finished strong in the bike and run legs. My final time? 1 hour and 24 minutes.. and I had estimated that it would take me an hour and a half at least. That put me at 36th in my age group--solidly in the middle of the pack. I feel pretty darn good about that for my first time out.
So, yay me!
A couple of people have asked me what my plan is for this week. I'm "tapering" before the triathlon on Sunday. I feel a lot more confident after my workout with Mr. T on Monday. He was very encouraging, as you can see in the plan that follows below:
Good swim today! You are ready for this triathlon. You have done a great job of preparing and doing all of the things necessary in order to have an awesome race. Don't doubt yourself, you are so ready!
Here is your taper week. Enjoy the break!
TUESDAY = off
WEDNESDAY = cycle. Easy 45 minute ride. Don't worry about distance or speed, just get some riding in on your legs. Think about transitions, but no brick this week either. YAY!
THURSDAY = run day. Again, no distance this week. Run for 30 minutes, and throw in 3 x :30 accelerations to maintain form. I would also try to get a short swim in today, nothing hard or long, just enough to loosen up.
FRIDAY = rest day for race. Hydrate this day, and stay off your feet.
SATURDAY = pre-race day. You have to stay loose today. Run 15 minutes easy, and then do some stretching. Also try to fit in a 15 minute ride to make sure your bike is in working order. Nothing hard, just an easy spin.
SUNDAY = all the hard work pays off!!
GOOD LUCK and mostly, HAVE FUN!
The G-man has been both supportive and sardonic (it varies) which is exactly the right combination. Keeps me laughing and not taking myself to seriously. For example, I said that I would be really bummed if I got hurt during the race. G-man said "If you're hurt, don't finish."
I pointed out that that would be terrible, and that I would crawl if I had to... and HE said "Well, I know your pain threshhold, so I'm not too worried about you pushing yourself to hard there."
See, G-man knows how to throw down the challenge for me to keep going...
and I'm starting to freak out. What was I thinking????? The fact that I managed to fall off the stability ball and into a weight rack last week at the gym has me seriously questioning my athletic prowess. However, the G-man reminds me that I have in fact done the whole sprint triathlon multiple times at this point, after all this training. So really, it's just putting it together on the big day (next Sunday, 9am). And hoping that i don't act like a total spazz and trip over myself and everyone else, or wreck my bike, or drown...
Deep breath. It'll be fine.
I'm swimming with Mr. T today, so, you know, that's coming along. And I rode 12 miles last week and followed it with a 2 mile run. I even ran 4 miles yesterday, and it was a snap.
So, I freaked out this morning when I got on my scale. I've lost almost 20 lbs, so imagine my shock and horror when I climbed on my scale and it looked like I had gained 15 lbs since Monday! Jigga-what? So I got off the scale, and got back on...same read-out. Clearly, something was wrong. Maybe the bathroom floor wasn't level, so I moved it to another part of the floor. Same readout. Okay. What had I been eating? Nothing bad. I have followed my food plan, almost to the letter this week, no binges (and frankly, that would have been one heck of a binge!). So I moved the scale again...still the same. Could it be water weight due to PMS? 15 lbs of water...I think I would notice...or pop! So, something else. That can't possibly be correct. So I took another look, checking to make sure that it was zeroed out correctly..aaaaand THAT's when I noticed the little "Kg" in the corner. Oh. Somehow the switch got toggled. No fear, I haven't gained 15 lbs in a matter of days--in fact, I've lost another one. And for those of you who pay attention to such things, there was an even bigger clue that the scale wasn't giving me a readout in pounds. Yes, there was not a "1" in front of the number. I missed that critical piece of information...so distracted was I by the rest of the numbers in the tens and ones places. My mind supplied the one hundred.
Have I mentioned that I hate the metric system?
