The H2O Experiment - Day 1

I made a confession on SP yesterday that I don't drink water. Ever. Yes, I know that's not a good thing.  I do however, drink way too much coffee. And coffee is made from water. So there.  Anyways, I tried something new today. I forced myself to drink a glass of water before I was "allowed" to have a cup of coffee. I ended up drinking 6 glasses of water and 6 cups of coffee.  I have peed about 412 times today, and the water made me so full and bloated that I wasn't able to eat breakfast or dinner.  I think tomorrow I'm going to limit myself to 4 glasses of water and 4 cups of coffee. That equals 8 glasses of water as far as I'm concerned. So there.

Looks like I finished off January with 103 miles (some of that is biking though). My running goal for February is at least 50 miles. Hopefully I will get to run outside soon as the treadmill is boring me to death. I have this new Garmin that I haven't even gotten to use yet :(

Supposed to go back to Trenton tomorrow but guess what?! Another friggin' snow storm is supposed to land before morning! I normally would love all this snow but considering I can't drive in it, and I'm broke, ENOUGH ALREADY! I need to work. Mama needs a new pair of (running) shoes! :)

That's enough ranting for now. Must sleep. Sorry for the crabby post. I will be happy tomorrow- Lol!

January 2011 Fitness Log

I suck at Blogging

Yeah, I'm horrible at keeping this thing updated. I always feel like I have so much to say, but them when I sit down to write... well... I got pretty much nothing :(

I do have some good news! I started back at my old job yesterday and I finally feel like I'm back to my normal self. Funny how much I hated that place and couldn't wait to get the hell out of there, and now I'm so relieved to be back! They were all so happy to see me so I "let" them buy me Chinese food as a sort of Welcome Back present ;)   But anyways, since we moved here I just haven't felt like myself. I've been running again which absolutely makes me happy, but other than that, I've just been a big ball of BLAH! I'm sure it's because of the job/money situation. All my prior "experience" has nothing to do with my schooling, regardless of the fact that I still have NO IDEA WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP! Yes, I'm aware I'm over 40 now but SO WHAT!?!

I am still very introverted and shy, and I do not want to "go to" school. I much prefer the online degree approach. The problem with this is that I am a math/science person, and anything I'm interested in involves "going" to labs.  But I digress. I may have found an alternative option.  Health information technology. I could take my 20+ years of clerical experience (I type over 100wpm btw) and combine it with science/math in the medical industry and become a medical secretary or something like that. I mean really, what's another 2 years of my life, right?  Wow, I got so totally off the topic of what I was intending to talk about.

Half Marathon training is still going well. I actually just got back in from a 3.5-mile run. I'm usually just warming up about mile 3, but for some reason today I had a hard time with the last mile and a half. My times were ok though: Mile 1 in 9:05, mile 2 in 8:35, and mile 3 in 8:55.

Ok so anyways, what I really wanted to say is how the saying is true that "You don't know what you got til it's gone." I have been in a total funk since we moved here, but after returning to my old job yesterday I finally feel like I'm back! I'm me again! I'm HAPPY again! So Yay! Of course it also helps that they are paying me more because of the longer commute ;)

And I really am going to try to do better with this blog thing.

Sinus Infection = BLAH!

Not a whole lot has been going on. I have a terrible sinus infection which makes my head all groggy and puts me in sort of a depressed state.  I was supposed to start back at my old job on Tuesday but when I woke up to about 3 inches of snow and an ice-storm there was no way I was going to attempt the 2-hour drive! Wednesday wasn't much better so they will have to wait until next week to see me again!

Half-Marathon training is going well.  I've only missed one day, and that wasn't a run day so I don't feel too bad about that. It was Tuesday, which was Strength and Stretching, and I still haven't figured out quite what to do for this. I think Yoga would work for the stretching part. I'll work on coming up with some sort of routine for this by next week.  Yesterday I ran 3 miles in 27 minutes. Pretty good for being sick.  I think I went a little faster so I could get it over with. I HATE BEING SICK!  Today is either a 2-mile run or Cross-training. I think I may opt for the CT after work tonight. I can ride my bike while I watch the last couple episodes of Dexter ;)

Oh, I found my new favorite slogan...

This is from the folks at One More Mile. They have the BEST running shirts! And their customer service is great too! They even add a personal hand-written note with each order. Love these people!

Hal Higdon's HM training

After a few days of doing the Fitness Magazine's HM training I decided there was way too much walking, and so I switched to the Higdon's 12-week HM Training Plan. I had to modify it a tad to make Saturday my rest day and here's what I came up with:

I did w1d3 today, but then realized I had accidentally done day 4 instead. Which is why I made my own document. But anyways, I ran 5k in 28:48, which is an excellent time for me considering it was on that dreaded machine with the belt ;)

Hood to Coast Relay Race

I really want to see this movie but even more I want to participate in this event! Adding this to my list of goals for 2012!

Just another Manic Monday

And just when I thought things were finally starting to look up!


So anyways, I have begun Half Marathon training! I tend to do better when I'm following some sort of routine, and I found an 8-week plan that looks doable. It's from Fitness Magazine and each week looks like this:


Day 1: Rest
Day 2: Walk/run intervals
Day 3: Cross-train
Day 4: Easy run
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Walk/run intervals
Day 7: Long run


Each week adds more mileage so that by the end of the 8th week you are running 13.1 miles! Today is my w1d3 so I'll be riding my bike while I watch Dexter later. Speaking of which, I am totally OBSESSED with Dexter! I only have 2 episodes left of season 4, and so far I haven't been able to find season 5 :(

Happy New Year? Not yet but I promise myself it will be!

Well here we are, one week into the New Year. I was so excited to move and get a fresh start on everything, but I've really only found myself in a total funk for the past couple months now. I feel like I've lost myself somehow, and I just can't seem to pick myself back up.  I stopped tracking my food and have made some really unhealthy choices through the holidays. It's a miracle I haven't gained any weight. Well, that's a lie. I gained 3 pounds, but at the same time I discovered that I am not 5'2 1/2 as I have been for most of my life.  I am now 5'4, however the hell that happened! But that means that to be at a healthy weight I cannot drop below 117.  And that's exactly what I am now :) 

So nutritionally, I vow to myself that as of today I will track every single thing that goes into my mouth, and I will make healthier choices about what those things are.

Fitness.  While I didn't stop running completely, I totally slacked off.  I have been slowly working on this one as of January 1st.  I haven't been running my usual 10ks, but I have been running 3 times this week so far.  I did 3.4 miles on the 1st, 5.59 miles on the 4th, and 4 miles yesterday (the 6th). To be honest, I liked running on the other golf course better than this one. I miss the trees and the privacy.  Other than running, I haven't done much at all, but even before I started slacking off I wasn't doing anything but running.  I did get Zumba for the Wii and I tried it once so far.  I discovered that I am way more uncoordinated than I originally thought :( 

So for fitness goals, I vow to make out an actual routine, and then stick with it!  I will run at least 365 miles in 2011. That's only a mile per day which I should have NO problem accomplishing.  Especially since I want to begin HM training for the Philadelphia Rock n Roll HM in late summer (August I think).  I also want to start training for a triathlon, but that means I have to find a gym with a pool, and then I have to get in a bathing suit in front of people (my biggest fear!) - EEK!

I am now officially employed with Weight Watchers.  While that's a GREAT thing, I don't have many hours, and it appears that it will be almost impossible to get on full-time which means I will need supplemental income.  I think this is the biggest part of my funk.  I really don't want to go back into social work, but I don't know what else to do.  I am waitressing part-time, but I really have nothing to say about that ;)  So yeah, I definitely feel like I'm kinda stuck in limbo as far as work/money goes.  I should be appreciative of the extra study time but that's another thing I've been lacking in.  I complained about never having enough time to study and now that I have the time I'm still not doing it like I should, and that makes me feel like a failure :( 

School/work goals.  Spend (at the very least) 2 hours per day studying.  Find a "real" job. Sigh.

I think this is a good start, and as I work out a plan and/or think of other things I will come back here and update.  I think I need to blog/journal to keep myself focused.  If anyone actually reads this, thank you :)