Tuesday, July 19, 2011

P90X...the saga continues

So I've been running on the treadmill (which I DESPISE) due to the freakish heat around here the last week or so. My big plan to bike to work? On hold until next week. It's going to be 96 friggin degrees here tomorrow, and while I do want to bike, I also don't wish to die. Oh, and I did a really, really stupid thing that is best expressed with a photo. I shall share soon. Promise.

Enter P90X. Now, I've done this workout before, and I like it and stuff, but after 6 weeks without resistance training? Yeah. My ass is weak. It's good for me though, and I'm happy to be doing it as I know it will make me a stronger runner. I plan to do Insanity after the Fall 50 before I start spring training.

The cooking is still going well. Last night I made Chicken Francais (or Chicken Fancy as Lily put it) and it was delicious :) So was the bottle of wine I consumed with it.

Rachel at Rachel in Real Life tagged me for a post, and I'm totally going to do it- but from my home computer so I can post pics. For real.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Hot, Hot, Hot = Swell, Swell, Swell

So I ran outside. And it was hot. And now? I am puffy. Like up 2lbs puffy.

That is le suck.

However, I know it is temporary, and I will survive!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

A Good Treadmill Run?

So yesterday I decided to use the treader, since it was pretty hot outside and Jamie needed to get in a 5ish miler. We took the spawn to the Y and he did an outside loop while I "took it easy" on the treadmill. I started off easy, 2 min walking alternating with 3 minutes running, and then I sort of forgot to slow down for my walk interval and just kept going. I felt so good, I jacked up the speed :) I ended up running the last 5 minutes at a sub-9 minute pace, and the last 2 minutes sub-8. You know what? It felt really awesome. I am a bit sore today though!

I also did 75 crunches, the last 5 of which were really hard to finish. I used to be able to bang out 5 sets of 100 crunches like it was nothing! I have to be really diligent with my core work. If my core is weak, my form collapses in the last miles of my long runs and my time suffers. Last October at the Whistlestop I caved in at mile 11, and the last 2.1 miles were exhausting. After spending the winter working on core and strength, my spring half marathons went much, MUCH better. I need to remember how good a strong core makes me feel, and work toward that feeling.

Today in my exciting life, I have taken the children outside to play in the yard for about an hour (man, that is going to be so much easier when that fence goes up on Tuesday!), watered the new grass seed and my flowerbeds, prepped dinner so I don't have to do it with the circling baby vultures, and done three loads of laundry. Right now I'm chilling out while the small ones sleep. Poor little Pat fell asleep in his lunch, and Charlie was a near zombie when I put them down. I try to shoot for noon, but they were out by 11:35! When everyone wakes up, it will be snacks all around and then a walk around the neighborhood I think. That'll be my workout for today.

On the menu for tonight? Crispy oven baked chicken fingers and sweet potato fries (regular fries for Lily), with a green salad on the side for me (well, maybe Lily too, so she doesn't steal my tomatoes. Tomorrow is Adobo grilled flank steak with tomato corn relish. Love the new menu board and dinner plan. It's worked out so well! We finished all of the leftovers just in time to go grocery shopping with the clan tomorrow. The fridge contains just enough to get us through dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. No waste, which makes me really super happy. Also making me happy? I've spent very, very little in the hospital cafeteria this week, which is a big deal. I was buying two meals a day there, 4 days a week. This week I bought 1 sandwich and 1 salad, and that was that. I hope I can keep that up!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Hooray!

Two awesome things happened today:

1. I ran 2 miles without stopping, and I felt like I could have kept going. I'm taking it slow, though, so I don't hurt myself. 21:34, which is slow for me...but no breaks or walking. I actually forgot to turn on my iPod, which is amazing. I was anticipating my return to running to be painful, so I charged up my 'Pod and figured I'd be relying on tunes to carry me through. I can't believe I didn't use them at all. It makes me so happy.

2. My bike is ready at the shop. I will pick it up tomorrow :) The remainder of my gear will be here tomorrow or Monday, and I am so excited to get rolling. I got my cycling sandals, and they are great. My multitool and copy of "Bike Repair for Dummies" came yesterday. I'm almost all set.

A little over a month to the Jerabek, twoish months to the EastBay 5K for Special Olympics, 3 months to the Whistlestop and the week after, Fall 50!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Living Life with No Restrictions!

I am officially cleared to run.

Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Everything is looking good post-op, healing nicely, and causing me no trouble. Per my plastic surgeon, I can do whatever I want to do exercise-wise. He advised me to take it slow with the running to start (duh...I'll be pretty slow after 5 weeks off). I asked about resistance training and was given the go ahead to begin whenever I felt ready.

I told my doctor about how much I hated being sedentary...the aches and pains and general badness I felt. I never thought I'd miss exercise so much, but it really made me feel healthy and alive. I've felt like an old woman these last 5 weeks (an old woman with bodacious boobs, but an old woman nonetheless). I put on my spankin' new Mizunos yesterday to walk at the Y and I almost teared up a little...they were so comfy and just felt like an old friend.

Is it weird to be so excited about exercise? I just don't know what to do first! My new cycling shoes arrived yesterday, and there should be a huge pile of awesome gear showing up this week. My trusty bicycle will be done at the shop soon! I'm taking myself for a run tomorrow for certain, and just need to decide when I want to start my cycle of P90X. I think I'll start with a nice mid-morning 2 miler...just a little jaunt around the neighborhood to test the waters. If I'm a lucky girl, I won't have lost ALL my fitness.

We started a little interdepartmental weight loss challenge at work this week. My goal is to drop 13lbs over the course of the 4 month competition. I will admit to a slight cheat. I puffed myself up a little by eating lunch and pounding 1.5L of water immediately before weighing in. I did not wear my hospital clogs, however. I thought that would be a little too much cheating :)

I'm pretty sure that being able to exercise again will cause me to drop weight like a bad habit. I've been able to keep from gaining being almost totally sedentary, so going back to healthier eating habits (less stringent calorie restriction) and amping up my workouts should do me good. I can't wait to feel normal again! I'm going to have a six pack by the winter, bitches.

We had Lily's 4th birthday party on the 4th, and it was a blast. The kids had a great time and the weather was perfect. We now own a sandbox and swingset, so with the addition of the fence we're all set. I made a kick-ass cake (I'll try to post a picture) and Lily got a ton of fun stuff, including a Lite Brite. It's far less of a fire hazard than I remember. Everytime she talks about it she says "Lite Brite" in this hilarious high pitched sing-song way. As in: "I'm going to go play with my Liiiiite Briiiiite". I wish I could impart just how awesome it is. She also got a mom and toddler doll set for her doll house. She refers to them as "Mommy and Sweetie". Surprisingly, Lily shared her birthday balloons with her brothers, and let me tell you, there is no joy as pure as a pair of 15 month old boys holding Mylar balloons. I barely got cake, as I had two small vultures circling the whole time. Pat decided that he was going to take matters into his own pudgy hands by walking over to Lily and snatching her cake (well, the top layer) and smashing it into his face. She, of course, went apeshit. It was hysterical.

Did you know that Strawberry Shortcake now has a trendy haircut and multi-culti friends? Neither did I, but she's sporting "the Rachel" these days. She still looked cute as a cake topper!