Friday, January 28, 2011

To the UA!

So, I said 'Buh-bye' to the friendly YMCA this week and Helloooo to the the big box gym called Urban Active.

For half the price it has more of what I use. Treadmills, running track (my personal fave), boot camp, TV's with health nuggets randomly in cue, lap pool, nice locker rooms (that don't smell nasty), and all kinds of weight machines!

Oh, and a cardio cinema that is just like a movie theater only with treadmills, ellipticals, and recumbent bikes. It is even REALLY dark, just like a theater, which made me ask... 'Don't people fall off the machines?'... to which he replied. 'Yeah, sometimes.."

Well, ok.... but the SOUND was really cool!

So, in addition to the fun new things to try out, I got a 'complementary' personal trainer session. Lucky me. First they HUMILIATE YOU, encouragingly, then hit you with the price tag. (bummer) I would LOVE to be able to afford a personal trainer, two or three times a week! But I can't. It was nice. I agree with what they said.
I need to do different exercises to build muscle. And not machines, but plymotetric exercises. No denying that fact from me!

Well, I had the privilage of having a guy with 2% body fat, just how much fat is on my body. HAHAHAHAHAHA~ Life can be so cruel. I had to hold my arms out straight and hold tight on the handles of what looked like a giant PS3 controller. I still wish I knew the trick to cheating on that test!

Ok. So I get it, I wish I could afford it... Time to break out those Jillian Michaels DVD's and keep on truckin' with the training.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sunday Six

6. Snow days so far this year for the boys I think is at 6 or 7 right now. We are supposed to get more next week. They only had 3 days of school last week, and the first week in January. Well, at least it saves me on lunch money.

5. My Cello player decided to try and practice, just as my husband and oldest decided to play keep away with the husbands hat. As Reece, hauled out the cello, he was bumped and landed on top of the cello. It is a Shanghai Cello. Not Cheap. Hopefully they can fix it. The woman I talked to about it, asked if we put it on our homeowners insurance. 'Um, No.' I said. I didn't even know we were supposed to. It was still in the case when Reece fell on it, too bad it wasn't a hard case, like this...

4. Well, the season job Duner picked up for the holidays, said "Thanks now leave." on Saturday. The money was nice. It will be missed... but he is on the 'good boy list', so they said they will welcome them back next year.

3. One 'perk' if you will, for endurance training is the appetite reduction. Otherwise known as nausea index. You, or at least I do,know just how hard you push yourself with the workout by how nauseated I am after the workout. Especially after a long one. I ran for 2 hours on Saturday and had zero appetite. Thirsty? OH yeah!! But I ate as much as I could anyway. Especially protein.

2. After my 11 miles on Saturday, I was pleasantly surprised that I could actually walk and wasn't stiff on Sunday like I thought. I was struggling after those miles. Especially when I thought about how that isn't even HALF of the miles I will be running! By 9 miles I thought, gee, I only have to do this 2 more times for the race. But after stopping to drink some water, feeling my legs start to hate me, I realized I forgot my energy gel and missed it greatlly. I had think about the people that do Ironman's without a leg, or pushing a child along the way...I was whining, and had NO reason to complain. Suck it up, Buttercup.


1. I am looking SO forward to the SuperBowl this year. It is more fun, to be an out-of-state fan, than an 'in state' fan. When you live near by you get pounded by the media with all things . I remember how they were in the Superbowl back in 1996, it was fun, but a bit of overkill.... but now? GO PACK GO!!!

Saturday, January 08, 2011

Why I Run.

Ok. So allow me to get a bit deep here.

I hate to run. I completely, DREAD it at times. I hate squeezing into sports bra’s, putting on my cold heart rate monitor an watch. I hate to sweat. Blisters?grrr. Friction sucks. I get it. Really.

SO Why do I run?

I do NOTHING extra special, to make running easier for me than it would be for you. It simply makes me feel good, afterwards. Look better, and gives me something ‘real’ to complain about.

It is my cloudy day to let me see the sunshine better. My rainbow to my pot-o-gold. We need crap, so the rest is just, well, better!

Running allows me to get my mind and health straight. I can not begin to tell you how inter woven those two are. If you believe you are sick, or unfit. You WILL be unhealthy. Your mind is amazing. It can beat you up or it can lift you up.

And now the many reasons… why I should NOT run…

1. I have cankles. And thick legs. They are heavy. They remind me they are there with every step I take. They don’t like to move. It takes mind over matter for me to keep going for hours at a time. It sucks.

2. I jiggle. It is very much not pretty. I pity the person driving down the street having to watch me run. I hope that they are looking at the action of my ENTIRE body and not just various parts.

3. I turn bright red. Yes, not just blushing, but more like ‘quick grab your marshmallows and lets make a s’more red. Which brings me to reason number 4.

4. Woah,and the heat? Gives new meaning to the expression ‘hot mama’… let me tell you. I can not even shower for at least 30 minutes later, or else I am still sweating! Not to mention, natures cruel fate of ‘girls’ having to wear things like lotion and make-up to drip down your face or in your eyes. (D’oh, that is soooo annoying!)

5. It’s boring. If you can’t stand to listen to yourself, forget it. Why even try running. You will talk yourself out of it, EASILY. I read an article recently where the author talks about her running partners. She had 3. The first was fat, smelly and a complainer. The second was encouraging, upbeat and happy. As I read I didn’t understand WHY on earth she would keep such a crappy running partner… until she admitted it was herself.

(I LOVE the movie, Despicable Me, if you didn’t see it forget it) Ok, are you still with me?

It was the first partner on the run, asking herself ‘Why are we doing this again?’ or ‘Did you really have to eat that last night?”. We live in an age where we can not get a gallon of milk with out being bomb barded with 18 different ways ‘entertainment’. Flashing signs, news, music or store carts! Heck even the bathroom stalls have us entertained these days. TV is everywhere, on every device. Even with my ipod, heart rate monitor/mileage tracker and TV on the treadmills I STILL get bored at times. We are just simply used to be ‘zoned out’ all the time.

6. It takes a long time…. Ok. So 30 minutes to run? No. If weather is ok, yay! Maybe 1 hour and 30 minutes. But if I have to drive to the gym, put my clothes in the locker, pee, workout, ‘clean off the machine’, go back to the locker, drive home, shower… easily 2 hrs. That doesn’t include any weight workouts~

Now with all these reasons NOT TO RUN why do I still do it?

Accomplishment. I am able to give my kids a ‘hero’. It may be only for a moment… but they will be able to touch a real live person they can look up to.

Acceptance. Funny how some people treat you ‘before’ endurance and ‘after’ endurance. Like you did something awesome. So wrong they are.

To Believe. To prove to those voices in my head, during the run, that I can and WILL do it.

Excitement. My ‘events’ truly give me something to work towards to look forward to.

Wonder. I am continually learning how amazing our bodies are. We can go SO FAR with so little nourishment. (I could go on and on with that one)

Joy. Knowing that my body needs this exercise and craves it. I love going to the Doctor and after they listen to my heart ask ‘Do you run?” without me telling them!! It happens all the time! I love it.

For me, the reward is not so much in the small amount of time I put into the effort itself… but in the ever after.

Saturday, January 01, 2011

Ice and Rest

Well. Yet again, it is a brand New Year and yet again I have an aching knee. This time it is the opposite knee.

I have set my mind on finishing the Athens FULL marathon April 3.
Yep.
26.2 miles.

According to my training plan, I was set to run 7 miles today.

It was BEAUTIFUL here today... ok, by Wisconsin standards, maybe. 44 degrees. It started out overcast and a slight drizzle but ended up sunny.

Just as I got my shoes on I noticed my left foot seemed to be pushing to the left crushing my little toes. I applied lube, adjusted the pad in my shoe and hoped for the best...

My run felt good. I had planned to play with my heart rate monitor a bit... push it up, then back off a bit... trying to build my lactic acid threshold. Harder to do on an outside run than inside run.

Had the wind pushing against me on the way out. According to the weather we were supposed to have a cold front come through, as I ran it felt like it was coming. After the first 20 minutes I knew I was not going to hit my '10 minute' mile run mark. I was closer to 12 minute. Being my long run, I was ok with it. 7 miles was my longest run since my 10 mile run back in October.

I LOVE MY heart rate monitor/ watch. It tells me how far I have gone, my average heart rate, max heart rate (thanks to my strap), how long it has taken me and a bunch more that I have yet to figure out.

When it said 7 miles. I slowed to a nice walk, then finished to my home. I was bad and didn't get my stretch in since we had to quickly return the rental car. I showered when I got home and sat next to Duner on the couch and crossed my right leg over my left. I only sat for a few minutes... not very long, but when I got up my knee was mad at me.

I managed to get the house picked up and oversaw the holiday decorations get put away.

Now, thanks to my HP mini, I am sitting with it propped up with ice on it. Hoping my knee is good to go for Monday, when I am supposed to run again. At least it is only 3 on Monday, part of 19 due for the week.

And now,I am shopping for new running shoes...

So long 2010!

2010 was a year of change.
Began the year in Wisconsin and ended it in 66 degree weather in Louisville, near my favorite, the KFC (Yum!) Center!! I am NOT MAKING THAT UP! How can you not like a place with Yum in the title??
Ok, so I wasn't able to get my training in while in Wisconsin so I gave up the 10 mile Hangover Run in Louisville, but I still wanted to see what the place was like... so we decided to rent a car that would ensure we actually would make the trip to Louisville and back without breaking down, while being easy on the pocket book.

I went on tripadvisor.com and made reservations for us at a place called Bucks. They said on the website, it was a 'romantic' place with prices about $20. Perfect, since the kiddos didn't want to go on a road trip.

We arrived early and tooled around the city, getting familar with it. We didn't have enough time to do much except tour the area.

Once we found the place and got seated, we had a menu on the plate... it was a 'special' night so all they had was a 'meal' for $75 PER PERSON.
I had NO idea. I wish the lady on the phone would have told me that... needless to say, we quickly took off and found a nice place across the Ohio river, technically in Indiana, called Buckhead Mountain. We had a perfect seat overlooking Louisville, just in time to watch the sun go down.

Our waitress, seemed a bit stressed out and didn't give us much time. So we quickly ordered an appetizer to get more time... a combo sampler of tater skins, cheese bolders, and fried green tomatoes. We had to try 'em... they weren't too bad.. The tomatoes reminded me of deep fried zuchini. Didn't care for the cheese bolders. They were a mix of cream and cheddar cheese battered.
After the sampler platter and my salad, I was full so I brought home my entree of ribs. (the kids loved that)

We managed to drive home uneventfully and hung out until 10pm, when we got tired and headed to bed. No need to stay up til 11pm to watch the ball drop, since we were now on eastern time so it was going to be Midnight to watch the ball drop. No way I could have made that.

Needless to say we quietly ended 2010 from our peaceful bed as we slept... party animals I know.