Today's Run

Quick update.

I ran 3.5 miles this afternoon.  And by "ran",  I mean alternating between walking and shuffling.  Oh my word, my legs felt good today...not sore at all, which was surprising.  My 5 min warm-up walk was good, but the second I had to start jogging I wanted to turn around and go home!  It was pretty terrible.  My legs felt like lead the whole time.

But I did not give up!  My time is awful. Yesterday I did .5 miles more in almost the same time.  But I don't care!  I burned 471 calories after work!

And now I'm Starvin' Marvin and very glad supper is in the slow cooker.

Enjoy your night!

I ended up running 4 miles yesterday, at about a 12min/mile pace.  Not too shabby!  I ran more than I walked which I was proud of, even if I wasn't running very fast!  Small victories.

I ended the day yesterday with a chocolate peanut butter and honey sandwich.  Yum.

Today's eats:

B-fast:  Fail.  1/4C Steel Cut oats, 1/4C skim milk, splash of water, agave nectar, chocolate peanut butter and strawberries.  Overnight Oats style.  Apparently steel cut oats don't suck up liquid like regular oats do.  I micro'ed it at work, but it was kinda terrible.  Noted.

Lunch:  Chicken and havarti sandwich on delicious white bread.  Veggies on the side with some calorie wise ranch dressing.  Cup of tomato juice.

Afternoon snack:  Smoothie.  1C mixed fruit, 3/4C skim milk, 1 scoop protein powder

Supper:  Slow cooker Tuscan Beef Stew.  Probably with buns.  (I'm lovin' the slow cooker this week.  Enter leftovers.)

Workout:  I will do a least 2 miles after work.  I had planned to take a(nother) rest day, but my legs feel really good today!  I don't want to push it, but I'm away this weekend and am not completely convinced I'll take advantage of the workout room at el spa!

Meeting mumsy at the spa Thursday night for the weekend, and heading into the "Big City" Friday to find her a wedding outfit and to try on my DRESS!  Is it possible to lose 20 pounds by Friday?  :S

Hope it's sunny where you are!

There is Diem to Carpe

Let's get down to bid-ness.
(Right now I'm fighting the cat for my last bite of sammich.  I won.)

Yes, I have a lot going on right now.

Yes, the forecast is calling for SNOW again.

Yes, chips taste good.

I ain't here for excuses!  I am re-committing myself to this healthy lifestyle.  I will feel better, look better, and feel better about how I look!

It starts today.  I just need to *care* more.  I will eat clean and good for one day and worry about the next day the next.

Back to posting eats.  (Almost guaranteed that when you don't see the menu there's a reason for it.  I've put back an awful lot of licorice All-Sorts in the past week.)

B-fast:  2 servings of Source peach yogurt with 1/2C Go Lean, 1/2C Go Lean Crunch and a few strawberries

Lunch:  Chicken and swiss sandwich on White bread (I know there is no nutritional value, but the stats aren't bad....and sometimes a sammich ain't a sammich unless it's on white bread).  And a cup of tomato juice.  (lunch was rushed because I came home late and had to get sups in the slow cooker.  And now I'm out of swiss cheese.)

Afternoon snack:  Half - full Clif Bar

WORKOUT:  Treadmill, because it's too slippery/dangerous to run outside.  I WILL run at least 3.1 miles today.

Supper:  Perfect Pulled Pork in the slow cooker a la Jean Pare(avec accent).  And a bun.  And probably a salad of sorts.

Night time snack:  Unsure at this point.  Will depend how far I run.  Before I got on the "eat everything in sight" train, I was rockin' a PB& Honey Sammich each night before bed.  I've found a hobby that I can't mention until after the wedding (that may or may not have to do with bridesmaid gifts) that keeps me busy most nights.  Instead of wanting to mindlessly eat all night long, I make my snack and eat it at the table just before bedtime.  It's working.

Best get back to my day job.

<3PL

Think about this: 
All your life you are told the things you cannot do.  All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this.  THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless.  All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.
AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES.

Paper Bag Breathing

I've been a bad little blogger as of late.  I've been slacking and haven't felt like posting.  I'm planning meals, but eating a lot of extra crap that won't make it easier to breathe in my dress.  I'm running a bit, but I'm not on track with where I should be for the race.

I quit my job.  On April 15, one month shy of my 5 year anniversary with the company, my termination kicks in.  Yikes.  Let's call it my resignation.  I don't have a job lined up and I'm not *technically* qualified for anything.  University degree?  Check!  Office Ed certificate?  Nope.  Looks like there won't be a job with the health region anytime soon.

I've got a few options.  I've applied for a few and will apply for a few more.  I might waitress at a golf course for the summer and make some tips.  Maybe something fantastic will come up in the next three weeks while I'm doing *just enough* work for my boss not to let me go sooner.  (I don't get paid for anything I sell after my resignation date.)

We got our wedding invitations out.  My dress is in.  Now we have a list two pages long (albeit the paper is small) of things we have to do/decide/discuss.  The wedding is 15 weeks away.  Holy moly.

One might say I'm a touch overwhelmed.  I can't even think about the next 15 weeks because, not even including wedding stuff, I have to be at 2 stagettes, 1-2 showers, a race, a concert, Relay for Life, a hockey draft in Hodge, potentially a weekend at home and one at the lake.  Did I mention that only one or two of those things are happening here?  Did I also mention gas is $119.99/litre?  And that I don't have a job?

Where's my paper bag.  I'm hyperventilating.

I know that these are all little things, but so many little things happening at the same time are causing me to be very close to panic attacks.  I know things will work out.  I know I'll get through all of the events.  I keep adding things on, but these are the things I want to do most.  No, it doesn't make sense for me to do a 12 hour, over-night relay 5 hours from where I live when I will have to work the day after.  But it's in honor of the best woman I know, and with my best friend.  I'd rather do that than a few other things on my list (except Elton John.  Sorry Red.)

I need to find a balance between all these things and make sure I don't become Bridezilla, and make sure things stay fab between me and D.

Which they are.  Fab that is.  The day I gave my notice at work became the beginning of great things for us.  We met when I worked for the same company as I do now, just in a different city.  I've never loved my job.  For the past 5 years I've stayed because I felt like I owed them, because they were very good to me when my life fell apart.  I'll never know how much was the company, and how much was my boss himself, but I've felt indebted to them this whole time.  I finally realized that five years is much too long to feel like you owe someone, and I can't continue to be unhappy for someone else.  And I've felt *mostly* awesome since it happened, and we've both been happier people.  I feel like I did five and a half years ago, when things were easier.

And even with all the things to do, places to go, people to see, and jobs to find, it's a great feeling.

OWW!

Thoughts from today's run:

1.  If it looks calf-deep, it's probably knee-deep.

2.  At 6:15, it's probably cold.

3.  If you leave your soaked shoes in the sunshine-less garage, they will still be wet the next day.

4.  Knee-deep puddles make your feet feel like blocks of ice.

5.  Supper should be made before the run, to be eaten after the run.

I never found a groove today.  I was cold, tired, and almost peed myself twice.  Oh.

6.  Don't drink 2 giant bottles of water an hour before running.  And if you do...

7.  Stay close to home.

Supper is a teriyaki beef and brown rice skillet thing.  It's ok.  It burned my tongue.

Tonight shall consist of What Not to Wear and addressing invitations.

Best get a move on!

Windy Run

I have to make this short.  I'm starving.  And there's a pita waiting for me in the fridge.

Did 5 miles again today.  1:09:14!!  Three full minutes faster!

Things I noticed:

-- There is way too much water in this city.  With nowhere to go.  Except in my shoes.
-- My socks are surprisingly absorbent.
-- It takes me a good three miles to get into a groove.  I feel great for the last two, but the first three seem to take forever.
-- Five miles is a good distance.  8km.  I'm making up my own training plan.  Right now, it's "run 5 miles faster than the time before".  After two runs, it seems to be going ok.  Once I can run longer and walk less I'll up the mileage.  I only have 1.2-ish miles further.


Yesterday I would run for one minute, walk for two minutes.  Today I ran for one minute, walked for 1.5 minutes, and once every 15 minutes I walked for two minutes.  At 40km/hour, the wind was just a bit much today.

My leggies need to rest, but the forecast is calling for +3 and sunshine tomorrow, and +1 and RAIN on Wednesday.  I think Wed is a good rest day.  Plus, D is in the big city for training tomorrow night and I will want something to do.

Maybe I can address the 200 wedding invitations sitting on the counter....

Pita time!!

Record Weekend

I broke two records this weekend:

1.  I spent 4.5 hours talking on the phone Saturday night.  Excuse me?  Four and a half hours?  Couldn't believe it.  But it felt like I spent the entire evening hanging out with my bff, so it's cool.

2.  I did 5 miles outside.  Longest outside run.  I've done a wee bit longer on the treadmill, but running outside is so very different.  

I feel awesome.  It took me 1:12:23.  Something to work on.  I would run a minute, walk two, because I'm still not completely healthy (and I was scared I would fall on the mucho ice that is covering most sidewalks.

I updated my Ipod prior to heading out and found a few gems for running to:

Hold On -- Good Charlotte (words to live by)
Open Road Song -- Eve 6
All These Things I've Done -- the Killers

Now with that out of the way I can spend the rest of the day hanging with D and Roger!

Enjoy your sunny Sunday!   

Thursday

There's good food at Pennie's house today!

B-fast

Overnight Oats!  (1/3C Large flake oats, 1/3C skim milk, 1/3-ishC water, half a "should have been tossed 3 days ago" banana, 1/4C raisins.  4 humungo strawberries added this morning)  Mix it all in a tupperware dish (since I transport) the night before and by morning the liquid has soaked into the raw oats.  It's good, if you can get your head around cold oats!

Lunch

Leftover hamburger
Salad made with radishes and lettuce from a bag (why does it always taste like the bag?)
Pear

Since the rest of the day is planned, I won't bore you with a supper post later.

Afternoon snack

Grapes
1/2 a chocolate almond fudge Clif bar because....

Exercise

I'm going running after work!  It's PLUS 2 today!  My lungs aren't completely back to normal so I'll have to take it easy, but I'm pumped to get out there!  And half a Clif bar is a good pre-workout snack for me.

Supper

1.5 Cups of Chili!  So easy.  It's like the chunky chicken chili I raved about a month ago, but with extra lean ground beef.  I made it in the slow cooker last night so we just have to heat it up at supper time tonight.  It's not as good as Jean-O's (she makes a mean chili) but it's easy and doesn't involve a dozen of cans having to be opened...just 4.


Think on this:  If money didn't matter, what would you do?  I think I'd go back to school for nutrition.  Or, you know, be a nanny to a couple red heads!

Sur la table

Today's eats:

Breakfast


3/4C honey nut cheerios
10 mini-wheats
Source Exotic yogurt

Lunch

Egg salad sandwich (2 eggs, 1T calorie wise coleslaw dressing) on some weird bread from Safeway.
Pear ----> I realized my love for pears last summer and they're starting to not be complete crap again!

*no afternoon snack because I came home for lunch, got freaked out because D forgot to lock the door, then scurried back to eat lunch at my desk

Supper

Homemade hamburger (extra lean ground beef, onion, safeway saltines)
Roasted baby white potatoes

Nighttime Snack

Peanut butter and honey sandwich
Orange

Fairly normal day.  Tomorrow's breakfast is not cereal for the first time in a few weeks....stay tuned!

Something to think about:  Within literally 3 minutes I got a text from two different friends saying they missed me.  I MISS YOU TOO!  I realized if I could be anywhere right now, it would be on a farm with two dogs, some bulls and horses, and three red-heads inside (with a stop in the big city on the way through to see the best pal).  Where would you be?

Like Forrest...

I just want to RUN!  I'm having dreams about running half-marathons (which I'm not planning on doing until Feb/12).  In the dreams, my friend is ready to go and I can't find my socks or need to grab my Garmin, and then we run through a building and get in an elevator and are supposed to know to turn left leaving the elevator.  It's bizarre.

But I want to run!  I walked to the library after work (and froze my little nose) and that was the best I could do.  I know I can't push it or I could really be in trouble.  I just feel like I'm losing training time (the 10k is May 15) and it still takes me 37ish minutes to run 5k.  I have goals for my first race, and it's not to collapse in a heap 3 meters before the finish line :D

Perhaps I can chalk this up to cabin fever. The next few days are supposed to hover around zero and if the sun shines it will do all of us a world of good. I've heard this cold will last through an entire dosage of sugar pills amoxicillin, require a second trip to the doctor, then a $40 prescription before finally easing up. I guess I'm in it for another week and should pipe down.

On another note, I realized yesterday that if I recommit now, I can still make my goal weight by the wedding. I need to lose 1.5 pounds per week and it will happen. Tall orders, but I'm thinking of it as 3 pounds every two weeks to make myself feel better.

Speaking of feeling better...good night!

Cough Cough, Sniffle Sniffle

If there's anything to make me not want to work out and eat well, it's being sick.

If I actually have the energy to exercise, it's thrown out the window by not being able to breathe.

If I actually have the energy to meal plan, grocery shop, and cook nutritious meals, it's thrown out the window by lack of taste buds and cravings for chicken soup and box salt and vinegar chips (aka sick chips).

So here I sit.  Day 8 of being without a sense of smell, enough energy only to walk up half the stairs at work, and a voice that makes me sound like either a man or a phone sex operator.

It's snowing again.  I just want the sun to shine, the snow to melt, and to be able to run outside.

After this pity party, I just remembered that a friend of a friend is having a biopsy today to determine if she has cancer.  I've been brought back down to earth.  There but for the grace of God go I.  I'm thinking of y'all today.


Something to think about:
"When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse.  And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better."  -- Malcolm Forbes