The Challenge is Over, but the Fun is Just Beginning

The Lurong Challenge ends today!  I made it!  With minimal cheating and a whole lot of success.

www.lurongliving.com/challenge2013

 

 

I would encourage you to visit the website and learn more about the challenge, it was a really cool experience.  This company sells a deer antler velvet supplement, which you don't have to take to do the challenge, and I didn't.  I don't take supplements.  I tried once, but I keep forgetting to take them, so I figured why bother?  I'll just eat better and not have to worry about it.

 

 

For the last 8ish weeks, members of CrossFit boxes all over the country have been competing to see who can eat the cleanest and improve the most on a few benchmark WODs.  My results were awesome!  There was no weight component to the challenge, but I did do a before and after and I lost 11#.  That made me pretty happy, because I'd slipped off the wagon a bit before the challenge began and I was feeling kind of bloated and blah.  Measurements wise I lost 4 inches overall, which sounds small compared to some of the others I've seen, but that included an 1.5 inches off my hips and an inch off each thigh (which are still bizarrely uneven, but it is what it is).  My jeans are thankful for the reprieve.  More than these visible effects, though, I just feel a lot better.  I feel stronger, and my lifts got better, and I improved my time on each and every benchmark workout.  That was pretty cool.

 

I also got back into my red scrubs, which I refer to as being "red pants skinny".  They are a size small, and while I know that scrub sizing is bullshit, I am a girl (no really, I totally am, I crapped out a few kids and everything) and that makes me feel a little good.  Or a lot good.  Depends on the day.

 

Now that the challenge is over, I'm really looking forward to half and half in my coffee.  I'm tired of coconut milk. It doesn't take bad, but it's a little grainy.  The no dairy at all thing was hard, not that I eat that much of it.  Still, sometimes a girl likes a cheese curd.

 

I went to a party last night and had an odd realization:  It's been so long since I had a drink that I forgot what I used to like to drink.  I ended up having a couple of vodka cocktails, but they were sort of anticlimactic.  In retrospect I almost wish I hadn't had them.  I didn't even get a buzz on.  Snore.

 

In other news, I've made great strides in my effort to assemble a sweatpants based wardrobe.

NC state sweatshirt and Tennessee Volunteers pants.  Total expenditure? $13

 





I also bought a couple of ginormous pairs of men's sweats.  Drawstring = fitting.  They are so comfy.

 

I just finished getting my Winter/Spring running calendar together, and it's pretty exciting (if you like running and racing, which I do.  If you don't, prepared to be bored stiff).

 

Run Less, Run Faster has resurfaced!  I'm going to spend 12 weeks working on running my fastest 5K (goal = sub-28).  I have it all planned out and scheduled.  I even went so far as to program each workout into my Garmin.  I'm going to do actual speedwork, consistently, for 12 weeks pre-race.  I've got a warm up 5K in January with the goal race in February.  March and April will be fairly quiet, but May?  May is going to be CRAZY!!!  A race every weekend, with 3 of them being out of state.  I'm am beyond excited.  Here's the round-up.

 

January:

Icebreaker 5K (indoors)

February:

Seroogy's Valentine Run 5K

March:

Point Bock 5 miler (my PR is going down on this one!)

Two Rivers 10-mile

April:

Drake Relays On-The-Roads half marathon

May:

Door County Half

Ragnar Cape Cod

Cellcom Green Bay Half

Soldier Field 10 miler

Des Moines Dam to Dam 20K

June:

Bellin Run

HFM marathon relay?

July:

Ragnar Trail Lake Tahoe

 

It looks a little nutty, but I love having a full race calendar.  It motivates me to keep moving forward, even if I'm having a bad day.  Some of these races I've done before, but a lot of them are brand new, and I can't wait to get started. 

 

Hooray!  It's time to run again! 

 

 



I Just Need to Say This:

I just have to get this off my chest.  Stores are going to open on Thanksgiving.  Get the fuck over it.  I've seen this thing circulating on Facebook over the last few days.

What disturbs me about this is the last statement.  Everyone Deserves a Holiday. 

It sounds nice, doesn't it?  Everyone deserves a holiday.  Sure they do.  What annoys me is the implication here that the families of retail workers are somehow different or more important than those of us who work in other service industries.  I speak here of those who work in Public Service as police, firefighters, and EMS workers.  For those of us who work in health care settings.  For people who serve the public working at TV stations, radio stations, power stations, and gas stations.  For retail workers at grocery stores and in restaurants. For the motherfucking football players that you watch as part of your family Thanksgiving tradition.

ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE FUCKING FAMILIES.

You might say something like "Well, you chose to be a doctor/pharmacist/paramedic/power worker etc etc ad nauseum.".  Sure.  I did.  You, retail worker, chose to work at a store.  People shop in stores.  The money that the store rakes in by opening up at midnight on Black Friday, or at 8pm on Thanksgiving?  They use that to pay you.  Probably to pay you holiday pay. 

Have you ever run to the grocery store on Thanksgiving Day?  I'd wager you have, or a member of your family has.  Maybe you ran out of eggs, or forgot the whipped cream.  It sure was nice that they were open, wasn't it?  That year Grandma forgot to use a potholder and burned the shit out of her hand?  I bet you were glad the ER was open, and the 24 hour pharmacy down the street was able to fill her burn cream and pain pills.  When you were almost to Aunt Mary's place and realized the car was out of gas and that BP was open so little Jimmy could take a piss-sure was nice that cashier was there.  That nice old man that came into Jerry and Pat's every day was happy we were there on Thanksgiving, because we were his family-he didn't have anyone else. 

I'm on call this Thanksgiving.  My husband works a 24 hour shift.  We aren't making holiday pay, but I'm guessing if your TPN pump goes kablooey or your house catches fire you won't hesitate to call us.  Guess what?  WE HAVE A FUCKING FAMILY.

Sure, you don't NEED a discount sweater on Thanksgiving Day.  You don't need it at 2am the day after, either, but I don't hear anyone bitching about doorbusters. Do you really NEED to watch football/TV on the holiday?  Make a beer run?  Eat out?  No, you don't.  If you don't want to shop on Thanksgiving, then don't.  I won't be.  I never shop at all if I can help it, and certainly not anyplace that doesn't end in ".com".  But let's not pretend that it's because we value family so much or because "Everyone Deserves a Holiday".  That is total horseshit unless you're prepared to forgo all of the other conveniences of modern life so everyone else can stay at home, too.

Rant over.