Days 481-484

Per my trainer's instructions I took the break. Of course, I doubt he meant for me to eat 5 tons of food while lazing around, but...

Friday night I worked an event on campus that allowed for dancing - which I LOVE. And, followed it with Mexican food - which I also LOVE. :) Saturday I spent at the beach with my parents bobbing in the salt water.

So - though, I had planned to do my home routine on Saturday, I forgot to do it until Sunday at 10pm! The first part of Sunday was spent cleaning, shopping, baking the most amazing chocolate and caramel cookies, and making paella for dinner. It was my first attempt at paella and it was a SUCCESS :) My mom loved it so much that she ate the leftovers that were supposed to be for Dad. :)

Yeah - so at 10pm I got off my butt and did my home exercises. It is ridiculous how quickly I was huffing and puffing! The hip thurst thing was alright minus the fact that my stabalizer ball was rolling the whole time (I think I am going to try a chair instead next time). The squats and lunges were alright minus the quaking in my legs and the sweat rolling down my back. Even the hip raises were alright, minus the fact that I waited to do them until last and was shaking so bad I almost fell of the chair I was standing on. Overall, I was kind of impressed with myself. However, the ball pass V thing was a total failure! I did 10 of the 30 I was supposed to do and don't think I did any of them correctly. It is like doing a sit up and a leg lift at the same time and my body just does not move like that. So, I gave up and subsituted 30 sit ups instead. Hopefully, that will suffice for now. I went to bed TIRED, but not sore as I was expecting so that made me feel good.

Then - I woke up this morning and had to walk down 3 flights of stairs to leave my apartment. It was not until then did I notice the tightening of my bum and the shaking, jello feeling in my thighs. UGH! It doesn't hurt (in a bizarre way that would be better), but you can tell I used muscles I have not EVER used. I am definitely going to regret waiting until last night when I get out there with K today!

Day 480 - Personal Trainer Baby!

That's right people - I broke down and hired a personal trainer! K is a former student ambassador in my office and opened his own gym over the summer. Today he was nice to me - or so he says. After some warm up, he had me jog my steady slow pace while timing my laps. He said he wanted to get my base so that he knows where I am starting at. I did it in about 13mins. He has the specific number in his notebook. After that he jogged/walked a mile with me so I could talk to him. He said it was important to find my "conversational" pace. Apparently you are supposed to be able to talk without difficulty when you are jogging at your body's best pace. I didn't make it the whole mile though and had to walk some of it. The warm up stuff hit me harder than I thought it would and my chest felt like it was going to explode.

After jogging he showed me how to do the 5 moves he wants me to do on our off day. For now, I am supposed to meet with him Mondays & Wednesdays for jogging and then do the in home routine on either Friday or Saturday. It sounds easy, but I am quite sure it will HURT! And of course - this is just the beginning.

I am a bit nervous about not being able to keep up and make it through, but having someone to be responsible to is going to help me for sure. I hope.

Days 477 - 79

This week is busy as always. Sunday was spent with my friend before he left. Monday night I had dinner with my parents and went shopping for the perfect b-day gift for my best friend. Tuesday I had coffee with a friend. Geeze louise! I need time to do laundry, clean, and cook the amazing meal that I bought all of the supplies for on Sunday! OH yeah - and to jog!

Day 476

Today I dragged my friend that came to visit me to the park to jog. Last night we hung out with 16 of my nearest and dearest family members at our favorite Chinese place followed by dessert at my aunt's. As always - there were left overs, which I happily ate for breakfast. This was an awesome idea at the time, but two hours later when I decided to jog at noon in the summer, in Texas, during an almost record breaking heat wave it was most definitely NOT a good idea. Though I am realistic in knowing that I am out of shape and have a lot of work to do, I was not expecting to do as poorly as I did. I suppose considering the circumstances, I should be thankful that I didn't die and did finish jogging the full 5k. Which I am on both accounts.

1st mile - 13:44 mins
2nd mile - 28:43 mins
3rd mile - 43:52 mins
.1 mile - 45:20 mins

Oh - random bonus realization - Wild Strawberry Gatorade is NOT helpful and is gross. From now on I am sticking to the blue flavors.

Days 471 - 475

This was a long week at work and I honestly don't remember what other reasons/excuses I had for not jogging. Things (not just jogging, but everything) seem to be getting away from me while I sit on the couch. Who knows.....

Day 470

Today is the first day in 10 days that I don't have a headache! If it weren't for the persistent neck and shoulder aches I would say it was a miracle! Ugh - I will take what I can get though. And, without the headache I was able to go jogging. It has been way too long and I really need to work off the ridiculous amount of pizza I ate last night. I don't know if I made up for it completely, but I did at least put a small dent in it. :)

1st lap - 6:10 mins - j
2nd lap - 12:30 mins - j
3rd lap - 18:48 mins - j
4th lap - 26:44 mins - w
5th lap - 33:00 mins - j
6th lap - 40:22 mins - w 1/4, j 3/4

Days 465 - 469

UGH - I have felt bad all week! I am not sure what the deal is, but a headache for a week is NOT fun! That plus being crazy busy has led to a week of no exercise for me. Not even my work day routine has survived :(

This week though, I was reminded the necessity for health. I lost my Uncle Roy on Tuesday. Granted he was in his 80's and went peacefully in his sleep - which is the best any of us can ask for, but still it was unexpected. He was a good man and will be missed. The funeral was held on Friday in Rockport. I always love the opportunity to be with my family, but it is unfortunate that it had to be under these circumstances. :(

Days 463 - 464

On Sunday, we ate what I like to call "my last meal" at a great little Mexican place in San Antonio before heading back to Houston. I had every intention of walking when I got home, but a lack of sleep and the left overs from last week's massive headache (which combined with the swollen glands and sore throat left me home sick on Friday) kept me in once I finally got home. I did however, do a few arm exercises with my 3lb weights and 10 cowbell squat things while watching TV. So, it wasn't a total loss.

Monday at work I decided to start a new workout regiment to help me move more during the day. I read an article recently that said that people who have a very seditary job are at a higher risk for heart disease than those who are active throughout the day despite what they eat and the exercise they may do at home. This combined with my disgust at some of the pictures from our trip to Enchanted Rock (which clearly showed a not so cute tummy pooch)and the results of my weigh in at the doctor's on Friday (which shows that I have gained almost 5lbs since March) has inspired my new goals. Last week I had a meeting on the third floor of my building and realized sadly that I could not climb the stairs without getting winded. You would think that a person who lives on the 3rd floor could easily do stairs, but these are KILLER! 4 flights of steep, thigh and butt burning stairs. So - my goal is to climb the stairs three times, twice a day. I am hoping that in a realitively short time, I will get to the point at which I can climb this amount without breathing hard. :) I plan to do this EVERYDAY! I also went to the other building during my lunch hour and walked the 7 laps around the third floor (not including the stairs to get up there) required to make a mile. I did the mile in 20 minutes. This I aim to do 2-3 times a week. To keep me on track I created a chart that is housed on the inside of my desk cabinet. Yay me!

To further my healthy choices of the day - I said "NO" to all of the snacks that had been set out for our event and went with a grilled chicken and veggie dish instead of splitting pizza with my parents for dinner. Every ounce of food I ingest is a choice. The question is - is this food worth the embarrassing tummy pooch?! Most of the time the answer is "NO". :) Sadly, though - something did not sit well with me and was sick most of the evening. On the upside though, of the calories I ate today, very few were absorbed.

Day 462 - Enchanted Rock

Today, I think I made up for at least some of my recent laziness. I convinced my friends that we should hike Enchanted Rock which isn't the MOST strenuos hike in the world, but is still a pretty decent trek. And of course it seemed longer because we went at the height of a heat wave and in during the hottest part of the day. Thanfully there was a good breeze once you got up on the rock. We moved very slowly due a friend's ashma, but overall I did pretty well. I didn't panic and the steepness and was only a little bit winded. I would have loved to hike Turkey Peak as well, but.... heat, hunger, and fatigue got the better of some of my friends. So, instead we went back to town for a huge lunch/dinner. I don't know how that played out in the scheme of food intake vs. exercise, but I like to think we earned it. I am probably kidding myself though. Oh well - I got sherbert instead of ice cream for dessert and only ate half the pint. Victory in my eyes :)

Days 457-461

This week was a busy one. I went to a movie and to a wine bar with the ladies, got sick and went to the doctor, and then went out of town with friends. So - no exercise for me :( Unless you consider the small bit of dancing I did at Pat O'Brien's and the nice long walk down the Riverwalk, exercise - which I do :)

Day 456

Today is day two of my "fresh start". I started it with half a cantalope for breakfast and an 11am jog. 11am is apparently too late in the day for that though - it was HOT. Thankfully there was a good breeze so I didn't totally die. It has become clear that I need to start stretching more, but overall my lungs and heart got tired way before my legs. Today was much more rocky than yesterday, but I am still proud of myself. Unfortunately, my stop watch broke so I had to use my cell phone to do a rough timing.

I started at 11:10am by jogging 3 laps around my complex. I then walked the fourth lap and half jogged/half walked the last 2. I ended my outing at 11:50am. Not the sprint out of the gate I was hoping for as my return to jogging, but.... what can you do other than keep going? :)

After showering, I dug into my new stash of fresh veggies for lunch: salad, corn & okra cooked with margerine and spices, and spicy boudain. Yummy & overall pretty darn healthy!

I offically signed up for the Race for the Cure which will be on October
1st. Last year, I jogged the 5k in 39minutes and 44 seconds. I would like to decrease my time by 3 minutes this year. To help with that I paid extra to be in the "competitive runner" catagory. I have no delusions that I am competitive or a runner, but this will allow me to jog unimpeded by old people (the ones actually slower than me of which there are a few), children (who would be faster if their parents would allow them to run ahead), and dogs (same as children). I am hoping that this will help with the time decrease goal. :)

Day 455 - Fresh start

In addition to the lack of exercise, I have also drastically increased my intake of not so healthy foods. What can I say, comfort food rarely equals vegetables and water and I am an emotional eater. But, the pounds I have put back on are making my recently purchased and greatly appreciated size 4's a little more snug than I would like. I could barely afford to purchase new clothes in my new size, I definitely can't afford to buy new clothes in a larger size right now. I am also pretty sure that the 2% body fat I had lost, I have probably gained back thus taking me in the total opposite direction of my goal: to lose 8% body fat.

Last week I visited my brother and sister in law in Nebraska with my mom. The best part of the trip was a stop at the local farmer's market. The farm fresh veggies were HUGE and cheap. Not to mention the homemade gourmet cheeses and fresh baked breads. I bought 2 stalks of corn. :)

It inspired me to look for similar markets around my area. Unfortunately, there aren't any like the one in Omaha (music, wide variety, etc..), but I was told about one in Alvin. So, my friend and I went out this morning to check it out. It was great! I got tomatoes, lettuce, a pickle cucumber, okra, cilantro, red potatoes, mango, cantelope, red pears, salsa, and spicy boudain. Jenn and I also split two small fried pies for breakfast. The blackberry one was disappointing because blackberry pie is my favorite dessert. But the plum one was AMAZING! (Not on the diet, but DEFINITELY a great way to end my bad habits.)

When I got back from the market and running other errands, I decided to continue my healthy kick by going jogging. Its been forever and it was really hot outside so it was not my best showing, but I was very proud of myself for at least getting out there. Also, after jogging 4 laps I had to walk one. I ended the outing by jogging the last lap.:)

1st mile - 11:45 minutes
2nd mile - 24:14 minutes
3rd mile - 38:36 minutes

Days 436 - 454

The last 20 days have been pretty bad for me. The only exercise I have gotten lately is from crying - a lot. Without going into unnecessary details, July has basically been "kick Julie when she is down" month. Awesome.

Day 435

Man it has been FOREVER since I have gone jogging! I decided today was a good day to end that streak, so I went jogging around the complex. I had a good rhythm going and I was surprisingly not tired, but the heat just go to be too much for me. More than that really, it was the humidity. On my last lap my face got hot and I felt like I couldn't get a full breath of oxygyn because it was half water. Though I had only gone two miles I had to stop.

1st mile- 11:58 mins
2nd mile - 23:53 mins

Days 415 - 434

This is a LONG stretch without jogging, but I must claim my vacation exercise :) For my "I am not getting married, but I am still turning 30 and need a major distraction from both events" celebration, I went to Las Vegas with my best friend Sarah. We were there for three whole days and though we ate WAY more than normal people ever need to, we also walked MILES every day. I am not sure how many it was exactly, but we definitely did at least two miles each day at minimum. I also participated in the Slutwalk Houston which was a 3 mile march.

Day 414

Today I decided to get off my booty and burn some calories. 3.1 mile in 36:51 minutes! I love it - I have finally found a rhythm that is consistent. 12 minute miles seem to work pretty well for me :)

Days 410 - 413

Hmmm - Things haven't slowed down yet. I have been go, go, go, but haven't had a chance to phyically go anywhere to jog. Its a good and bad at the same time.

Days 407-409

I took two days off from jogging to rest. Having not jogged in so long made it pretty easy to get soar! But, I went back out today. I only did 1.5 miles and it took me 18:48 minutes. Not record shattering, but consistent. So that has to be worth something right?

Day 406

Yay for getting back out there - FINALLY! Today I jogged 3 miles in 36.19 minutes. Not too bad considering I haven't jogged in forever. :)

Days 394- 405

Yeah - so clearly that whole Back on the horse thing didn't so much work out. I have been crazy busy - busier than normal by far. Between hanging out with friends, family stuff, work stuff, and my adventures in online dating I have had no time to exercise. :(

Day 393 - Back on the Horse

YAY!! Today I went to the park and jogged a full 5k! No I didn't break any speed records like I did the last time I went, but I did complete the task at hand. Which considering it has been almost a month since I have attempted it, is pretty spectacular in and of itself. A guy I went out with a few weeks ago told me that I should always strive to make my jogging experiences good ones. When it starts to really hurt or I stop being able to breathe and such, I am burning muscle not fat and makig myself miserable. Both are defeating the purpose of the activity. So, on his advice I decided not to torture myself about times or distance, but to just go as far as I could at a pace that allowed me to take full, non-weezing breaths. And, it WORKED! Not only did I accomplish the distance I was hoping for, I actually felt good afterwards instead of like I was going to die.

1st mile - 12:06 min
2nd mile - 25:19 min
3rd mile - 39:15 min
.1 mile - 40:33 min

Days 352 - 392

So, it has clearly been awhile since I have updated the blog. Over a month has gone by and despite having paid for the pole dancing classes I have missed twice and my jogging routine has been pretty much put on hold due to bummishness. Well, its not all about being a bum - I have also started dating again. It is weird but I have actually been enjoying meeting new people. Dating is hard and starting over really sucks. But, I am proud of myself and happy that I am able to put myself out there already. I am not 100% okay, but I am getting really close. I suppose I needed to take time off from working out to work on the rest of me.

Day 351

Today I jogged my personal BEST time for a 5K!! YAY :) :) :) It was a gorgeous day and I loved being outside.

1st mile: 11:23 min
2nd mile: 23:20 min
3rd mile: 34:58 min
.1 mile: 35:48 min

Correction - Okay, so I looked back at some of my previous posts and realized that though this time is STELLER for me - it is not actually my personal best. The best thus far was jogged back in March, but only beat this time by about 30 seconds. Either way though I am impressed with myself considering I have far from kept a consistent running routine. :)

Days 346 - 350

This was another busy week. Glee night, pole dancing, dinner at my parents, out with the girls, a birthday party, and the PD banquet kept me going and going. The pole dancing was the only part that involved excersise. Sadly, our instructor has a hernia so she didn't push us as hard as she did last week. Though it took three days for the soreness to wear off - I prefer the more difficult workouts. Instead of a lot of arm work, we focused more on abs. That hurt!

Day 345

Tonight I jogged a mile. I should have done more, but I was hungry when I got home so I ate a snack. That is not a good idea before jogging. Plus, I got home later than usual (I had to stop to check and be sure that the guy who "bumped" my car with his didn't actually do any damage and had to get gas) and walked into a puke soaked carpet. Apparently breakfast did not sit well with one of my fur babies. :( I dislike puke on my floor A LOT! Anyways - I had intended on doing more but am happy with the mile that I did. I pushed myself on the speed and was able to finish in 10:06 minutes! Pretty darn close to a personal best :) Yay me!

Days 343-344

Saturday morning I went paddleboarding for the first time ever! Michelle has been wanting us to go for awhile now, but I haven't been able to make it until now. I am glad I went - new experiences can be a good thing. But, it is not a sport I am gung-ho to take up. In fact, I think I would perfectly alright if I never did it again :) It was not too bad: I managed to not fall in and it was not nearly as difficult to maintain my balance as Michelle had made it out to be. However, the current and the wind made it very easy to get away from the docks and VERY hard to get back. Thankfully, one of the guys in the group was able to help me get turned around. Man though, 20 minutes of paddling like a surfer (I had to lay down to go anywhere at all) HURTS! I thought my arms were going to fall off! So, there you go: I got cardio & an arm toning workout. :)

Saturday afternoon Johanna and I drove up to College Station. This past week was their GLBT Awareness Week on campus and they were having their annual Gender Bender Ball fundraiser. Marco invited us up for the festivities. It is awesome how defined my calf muscles now look when I wear high heels! I wore shorts to show them off :) Joh & I looked HOT!!! We ate a HUGE Mexican dinner before going dancing though and that was a bad idea! THankfully, the nausea passed quickly once I sat down for a few minutes. The show was super fun! These queens were borderline pro and were over the top flashy. We also saw Erin which was good - I hadn't seen her in over a year. Overall, I think I must have burned off at least my dinner sweating and dancing!

Sunday I was SO tired. We drove back after lunch and got home around 3:30pm. I laid in my chair on my porch watching TV for a bit and almost fell asleep. To avoid that I moved inside and began cleaning out my craft room. It has been the dumping ground for all of my stuff lately and if I am ever going to scrapbook again I need to reorganize it. Unfortunately, that kept me awake until almost midnight.

Day 342

Today I got back out to the park. :) It is pretty outside with a cool breeze and I had nothing interfering with the time. I am happy with my success today. I am still VERY sore from the pole dancing, but still managed to get in a significant workout.

.5 mile - walked - 9:42 min
1 mile - jogged - 10:53 min
.5 mile - walked
1 mile - jogged - 11:49 min
.5 mile - walked

Tonight I did Relay for Life with my parents. Because I have early plans tomorrow to go paddleboarding, I was not able to stay out all night. Instead, my Dad and I stayed for about three hours. In that time I walked 2.25 miles. :) The remaining time was spent listening to the speakers, searching for the luminarias for our loved ones, and hanging out at the "camp" site. I wish I could have stayed all night. I would love to have seen how many miles I could have gotten in. Oh - well, I will have to join the team in advance next year and formally plan for the event.

Day 341

Today I toyed with the idea of going jogging before work just long enough to decide to hit the snooze button on more time. That evening I had my second date with the guy I met dancing last week. He is BEYOND good looking and so very sweet! I don't forsee this becoming a true romance due to our places in our lives right now, but it is nice to have him around.

Anyways - on a differnt note - MAN I AM SORE!!! Those pole dancing lessons really did a number on me. My arms, legs, butt, abs, and ribcage area are all painful. My forearms are still very sensitive from the pole burn. And to top it off, I thought for a bit that I had seriously hurt my foot because I limped for most of the morning. SHEESH!! Jenn was as sore as me, but Johanna acted like it was nothing new. I suppose that is because she is much more used to getting banged up and being active than we are. Derby will toughen up a girl. Still though, I am excited about going back next week.

Day 340

Tonight I talked Jenn and Johanna into joining me in a new excersise venture: Pole Dancing lessons. :) I learned about them at the conference I went to last week. They are only $15 a class or $100 for 8 classes. Having never done this before we all decided to try it before signing up long term. I am SO glad that I went! It was a blast and an amazing workout! I didn't really believe that it would be as difficult as I though that it was. The instructors all look like gymnasts, but they make everything look so easy. It is NOT easy! I have pole burn on my forearms, a knot on my shin, and jammed my foot - all recieved while attempting to master the art of the Firefly (the most basic of the pole spins). I totally have the sexy walk, floor, and wall work down. I suck at the pole work though! We all enjoyed it though and are definetly doing the 8 week plan :) YAY!

Days 336 - 339

This again has been a jam packed week. Chili cook-off, my first date in over a year, shopping, dinner, and Glee Night. Other than being spotted with boughts of tears, it was a pretty great week.

Day 335 - DANCE

Today was a dance marathon for me! I spent two hours deep spring cleaning my apartment, all the while shaking my rump. I have two CDs that are compilations of "booty music" from the early 90's. They are cheesy, but upbeat and fun. I am sure my neighbors got a very interesting show of me showing off my moves with my Swiffer. :) After that I went to the Glitter Masuerade Drag Show. I spent the evening dancing to the lipsyncing Queens. Then, Jenn and I broke a sweat at Big Texas. I met a guy there who reminded me just how much I truly love two-stepping. Swaying to the music in the arms of a sexy man who looks at you like you are the only woman in the room is the best feeling on ever! No matter how temporary. :)

Days 332- 334

In the healing process comes a great deal of activity and support from friends and family. This is a very good thing, but it takes a great deal of time away from excersise. This week was Glee Night, a conference in Galveston, and dinner with Kristen.

Day 331

My heart is still shattered, but I am able to focus today (and wash my hair). I took a personal day from work to grieve and care for myself a bit. Unfortunately I woke up at 6am and was not able to get back to sleep. After an hour of laying in bed torturing myself with worries and sad thoughts, I got up. I emailed Jon and sobbed for an hour. Then I got off my butt and went jogging around my complex. I needed to expend energy on something other than crying and worrying. Some people say that jogging gives them time to think to clear their heads. For me it is a chance not to think. By the end of the first lap all I can think about is putting one foot in front of the other and breathing. I count my laps and keep track of my times... it is a great break from real life. Today I was able to jog a full 5k at what I believe to be a personal best time!

1st lap- 5:39 min - j
2nd lap - 11:19 min - j
3rd lap - 17:04 min - j
4th lap - 22: 55 min -j
5th lap - 28:40 min - j
6th lap - 34:31 min - j
.1 - 35:12 min - j

Days 329 - 330

March 26, 2011

This morning I jogged around my complex and did pretty well.I did a full 5K, but had to walk .5 miles of it. Still though, I am happy with that.

1st lap - 6:01 min - j
2nd lap - 12: 11 min - j
3rd lap - 18:23 min - j
4th lap - 24:50 min - j
5th lap - 32:08 min - w
6th lap - 38:15 min - j
.1 - 39.04 min - j

After my jog, I showered and started on my list of chores. Jon said we could Skype for a while before he began working on his project. So we did - one thing lead to another - we got angry, we became sad, I became hysterical and sobbed - and.... I finally forced him to say it: "The engagement is off. I am done." He had been dancing around it for a long time and I believed I could make everything alright if I just got him to say "I do". If I could become his wife and move to Florida, everything would smooth itself out. That is what I convinced myself of. I was wrong - we love each other dearly, but we aren't meant to spend our lives together. I couldn't admit it and I don't think he wanted to. Either way, it is over.

Needless to say, jogging was not exactly my priority after that. I spent most of the day sobbing. As an act of defiance against myself, I decided to follow through with my idea of chopping off my hair for Locks of Love. The only reason I was keeping it so long was because of the wedding and Jon likes long hair. So I got it cut and colored. They told me I shouldn't wash it for two days to let the color set fully. So, even if I had been interested in jogging on Sunday I wouldn't have. It would be gross to get myself all sticky and sweaty and not be able to wash my hair.

Days 325 - 328

This week was a busy one. Tuesday night the Glee Girls came over to hang out, Wednesday night I hosted Mayor Parker at an event for work then had dinner with my family for my Papaw's 81st birthday, and Friday I went out for sushi and cupcakes with the girls before going to the dress shop for my alterations apointment. Turns out the dress (the second one I had ordered) was made incorrectly from the factory AGAIN and couldn't be fixed. So I had to order a whole brand NEW dress at $165 more than the original. SO annoyed. On the plus side though it is a full size smaller than the original dress.

Day 324

Today I was actually able to talk almost like I normally do! YAY! the whole squeeking like Minnie Mouse thing was getting very old! And, I can finally breathe through my nose again :) Oh the simple joys that make me so happy!
To celebrate my returned abilities, I joined Mi on her lunch hour walk around the building. We did a full mile again. I am definitely going to need to bring better shoes for the future though. Mine today were alright until I noticed the blister that had been rubbed on the top of my foot. Anyways...
When I got off it was GORGEOUS outside! Seriously, today's weather was perfect!! So, I decided to get outside and push myself. I am SO proud of myself - I jogged 2 miles!Of course I would have LOVED to do 3.1, but considering I haven't jogged in forever and have been sick all week I am thrilled I accomplished what I did. :) I even managed to make it at a decent rate - averaged 12 minutes a mile, which is pretty much my normal speed. I also got a bit of a bonus - one of the guys in the complex (I jogged around my apartments) said, "Geeze, you make it around quick". Hehe - I am SLOW according to athletes, but to this guy I was a speedster. :) I love perspective! My times were:

1st lap - 5:59 min - j
2nd lap - 11:59 min - j
3rd lap - 18:26 min - j
4th lap - 24:53 min - j
5th lap - 33:11 min - w

Oh and today I ordered one of the ab mat things that I used at the gym last week. It was a bit more than I would have liked it to be ($30), but I really think it will be worth the investment! I LOVED how easy it made doing sit-ups. :) I just hope it doesn't take too long to get here.

Day 322 - 323

This weekend was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! Too bad I felt AWFUL and wasn't able to take full advantage of it. I was supposed to go paddle boarding with Michelle, but couldn't pull myself out of the house to do it. Instead I spent Saturday morning curled up in the lounge chair on my porch watching a marathon of 24 on Netflix. Oh how I adore Jack Bauer! That afternoon, I went shopping with Mom. It has finally warmed up enough to justify the swimsuits in every store and Mom decided to buy me a new bikini. I ended up paying for one too - they were reasonably priced and looked pretty good on me. They will look better when I get back into my workout routine :) Now I have something new to shoot for. Sunday was spent cleaning my house, lounging in my new porch chair, and watched the Lady Bears kick butt! I LOVE Baylor Women's Basketball!! The only exercise done was 25 reps of the cowbell move Michelle showed me at the gym. I bought a 10 lb dumb bell with Mom (they were WAY cheaper than the actual cowbells). Man do my thighs hurt! Its basically a squat with a weight to work the arms too. My arms are fine, but my thighs are killing me.

Day 321

Man I am TIRED today! And, I still feel like booty. I haven't slept a full night all week and can't hardly breathe. But, I am a trooper and still hauled myself to work this morning. I almost fell asleep at my desk, but I was there. I took a nap after work for an hour before Johanna woke me up. She and Ricky are moving this weekend and I volunteered to help out. I made up for my recent laziness with multiple trips up and down the stairs with armfuls of heavy boxes. At her new place, I managed to dodge a ton of giant bees and wasps without dropping any of her breakables. Grr... I HATE things that fly and have stingers!I am not sure how much good my workout did though considering we celebrated the start of the weekend with free nachos and a frozen beverage after we finished unloading. It should even out - right?!

Day 320

This has been a really, really rough week. Instead of working out I grabbed dinner with Michelle before class. Between my allergies and yelling at 17 women for 3 hours, I ended up with coughing fits and a very sore throat. YUCK! I feel like crap!

Day 319

Today was the third day of class. This is the fully physical day, so I got a bit of exercise while demonstrating all of the techniques. The most excersise though came in the hour between work and class. Michelle got permission to bring me as her guest to the campus Fitness Zone. She had taken the Crossfit classes and works out regularly. She also took a rowing class off campus. So, today she showed me some of the things she has been doing at the gym. We started with the rowing machine. I have never done it before, but it was actually pretty easy. I managed to do 1500 meters without breaking a sweat. After that we did 50 sit ups using a back supporting pad. I am not very good at ab workouts. I always seem to screw it up and any attempt at sit ups make my back and neck throb, but do very little for my abs. This pad thing though was awesome! I did all 50 sit ups and I only felt it in my abs :) Then she showed me how to do an arm workout using cowbells. She wouldn't let me off easy (I wanted to use the 4 pound one). I am happy that she didn't though, because I was able to do 20 reps with an 8 pound weight. It didn't hurt at the time, but man I was sore the next day!

Day 318

Today was the 2nd day of RAD. In the hour between getting off (they are letting us out at 5pm this week for Spring Break) and the class, I walked around the campus with two of our students. I have no idea how far we went and it was at a stroll speed, but it is better than sitting at the computer for an extra 45 minutes.

Day 317

Tonight was the first RAD class of the week. Because I knew that I wouldn't be able to work out in the evenings, I walked around the building with Michelle at lunch. I think we managed to do a full mile. It killed my heels though. My flats were definitely NOT made for walking laps. UGH! On my way back to the office, I swung by the Fitness Zone to use thier scale. Mine at home has been acting weird so when it showed me at 122 lbs this morning, it made me curious. I have not been exercising regularly and haven't been great with my diet so iti seems strange to me that I would have lost weight. Anyways, I wore a light sundress so the scale in the FZ should be pretty accurrate. The guy working there checked to be sure it was adjusted properly before I stepped on. It showed that I was actuall 120 lbs!! How crazy is that?! That's almost 7 lbs since October. Everyone says that its because I am losing muscle, which is really not good. :(

Day 316

This morning I walked a 5K with Unity Club for AIDS Walk Houston. I would have liked to jog it, but I wanted to stay with the team. So, we walked instead. It was still good for me though and I was even a bit sore afterwards. But, I was inspired and it was such a pretty day that I decided to go to the park after the walk. I walked one mile while chatting with Sarah, then jogged a 12 minute mile, and walked half a mile as a cool down. Again, not my best showing, but not all together a bad day. Total of 5.6 miles :)

Days 310 - 315

Last week I bought a workout video that has 5 different 10 minute long Pilates workouts. Each workout focuses on a different part of the body. My plan was to wake up a smidge early each morning and do one of the routines. Sounds like a great idea & it actually is. In practice though, it is difficult to make myself get out of bed even a few minutes early. That is why I bought the video last week and just opened it this week. I started on Monday doing Pilates for the lower body. My living room is too small though and I was unable to effectively do each of the moves. Tuesday was upper body. Man - That one worked! My arms were shaking all day long. Wednesday was for the abs. I feel like I will eventually be able to use this to help sculp my midsection, but I need to become more familiar with the moves first. My the time I figured out what I was supposed to do, the instructor had already moved on to something else. Thursday and Friday I was supposed to do full body and for flexibility, but that didn't happen. The snooze button won.

Day 309

OMG! Today was rough! I tried to go jogging, but it did not really work out all that well. I managed to do 1 mile before giving up, but I really felt like I was going to die! Half way through the first lap I got a pain in my side and got very winded. It was just sad. I did pretty good time wise, but I should be able to go further at that pace than I did. I walked a cool down lap and then did light weights. It wasn't a total waste, but it was FAR from my best showing. Just goes to show that I have A LOT farther to go than I thought. Feels like I am starting completely over.

Day 308

Today I defintely should have gone jogging. It was so pretty outside. Instead though, I went to downtown and volunteered at the Race Against Violence. I didn't walk, but I did do self defnse demonstrations so I got at least a little bit of excercise. Sorta. Then I ran a few errands, made 25 napkin rings for my wedding, and hung out for 6 hours with a friend from high school. It was a good day!

Day 307

Today was beautiful! Jenn can't jog because of her athsma, but she has been walking. We decided to explore the natural trails on campus. I have no idea how far we walked, but we walked the trails and then down the sidewalk to another main road and in a giant loop around campus. In total we walked for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Jenn says that walking an hour is usually about 4 miles for her. So, I suppose I can guestimate that we about 4 miles.

Days 302 - 306

This week got away from me too quickly. An Oscar party on Sunday came complete with even more junk food, so I ended up eating more this weekend than I have in months! It was crazy! Monday I didn't feel so hot and Tuesday I left work after only 30 minutes because I was too dizzy to focus. I spent all but 2 hours that day on my couch. Wednesday and Thursday are a blur. They were boring and felt like they took forever. Eventually though my tummy settled - thankfully. I thought about trying to jog, but I was pretty sure I would be sick if I did.

Day 301

My friend Hailey came into town for the show. She doesn't jog, but can walk forever without stopping. So, we decided to go to the park today and walk while we caught up. 5 miles and a lot of conversation later we decided it was time to shower and get lunch. :) We had shoe shopping to do & a fun filled evening of movies and junk food to prepare for. I defintely ate more than the 5 miles burned off! And, I totally paid for it too.

Day 296 - 300

Wow - This past week was crazy. The Monologues was on Friday, so I have been very very busy all week. The show was awesome though. We raised $5984 for our charities and everyone said that our performance was very professional. :) Needless to say, with as much as I had to do getting everything set and ready to go, I didn't have time to jog this weel at all. I know I need to, but.... hopefully next week. :)

Day 295

Back at the park :) It was so pretty outside! Today, I pushed myself to jog more. I seriously need to work back up to the 5k so that I can push for more! Anyways - today I jogged 2 miles and walked half. I did the first mile in 11:36 minutes. Ten seconds better than yesterday's pace. Go me! I hit the 1.5 mile marker at 17:41 minutes and completed the two miles at 23:57minutes. Not half bad! Now I just have to go further! Haha! I am going to try for 2.5 miles tomorrow. We will see how that goes. Also, after jogging I went to Walmart and picked up a workout video. It has 5 ten minute yoga sessions (or something like that) on it. Each session targets a different region of the body and it comes complete with a resistance band. My goal is to get up ten minutes earlier each morning and do one session a day. Yoga (or is it Pilates?) for a few minutes should be a great addition to my routine. I am also going to have to find time to add back in the llight weights. Hmm.... if only there were more hours in the day!

Day 294

Yay for getting back to work on my body! It was gorgeous out, so I went to the park. I walked one warm up lap while chatting with my best friend. Then I jogged 1.5 miles. I was VERY slow and I couldn't have gone further, but it was a good start after so long of a break. The first lap was done in 11:45 minutes and I made the 1.5mile mark at 17:53 minutes. I completed that mile by walking the second half and finished up at 26:09 minutes. I guess if you really look at it, I was averaging about 12 minute miles when I was a the peak of my training right before the race in October. So... I did pretty well considering I walked .5 miles of it. Or, did I do really poorly since it only took me 2 minutes longer to walk part of it than it did to jog it? Hmm.... I choose to be positive! Maybe I just walk fast :) Either way, I am glad I have gotten back to the trail. I like the chance it gives me to be outside.

Day 281 - 293

These last two weeks have been crazy. In the first of the two weeks, I had a late evening program one night and it was really cold for several of the others. Also, I made chili - my first ever attempt at homemade chili. It was AWESOME! The combination of amazing chili and cold nights made it very unappealing to get off the couch. The second of the two weeks was a combination of sad and happy. A good friend of mine lost her mother suddenly on Thursday and the memorial service was in Dallas on Wednesday. After spending extra time at work on Monday for a fundraiser at school, I took off early tuesday to drive to Waco. My college roomie met me there andwe stayed with my best friend. Wednesday morning, the 3 of us drove up for the service. I went back to work on Thursday afternoon for my late night and then had a VERY long Friday rehearsal. Basically, all of this added up to me not doing any form of exercise for two weeks. I so badly need to get off my butt!

DAY 280

Today I went back to the gym again today. :) YAY me! I did one mile on the eliptical machine in 12:01 minutes (half of it was done backwards). After that I did arms at 20lbs and legs at 40lbs. Then I stretched and walked one cool down lap. It was really pretty outside, but just a bit too cold to jog outdoors for my whole time. I am proud of myself for working out at all :)

Day 279 - "Snow Day"

The winter blast worked its magic and got me released from work three hours early yesterday and off all day today :) Silly and unneccessary - yes, but am I complaining - HECK NO!!! I slept in a little bit (about an extra hour) and then decided that it was about time that I stop using the cold as a pathetic excuse to not get off my couch. So, I went down and used the elitpical machine for 30 minutes plus a 5 minute cool down that I did backwards. I think I have finally gotten to the point at which excersise feels good :) I am still not a full blown athlete or anything, but I don't hurt and I feel more accomplished than I used to. Today I pushed myself to do 3 miles in 30 minutes. Jogging outside I average about 36 minutes for that distance. The eliptical is a different movement so I can usually go faster. I was pretty impressed with myself really - I kept my pace pretty steady and was able to speed up at the end as I needed. I didn't QUITE make the 30 minute goal, but was only 18 seconds over it so I am going to count it as a success anyways. :)

1st mile - 11:14 min
2nd mile - 21:24 min
3rd mile - 30:18 min
.34 mile - 35 min

Days 273-278 - Winter Blast

Yeah, I know that considering I am in south Texas, the idea of a "winter blast" is kind of ridiculous. But, we have had a huge winter storm roll through the middle of the state literally blanketing Chicago and other areas with several feet of snow. Dallas and El Paso are covered too. Houston, not so much - what we got was freezing temperatures, a little bit of ice, and a lot of overblown panic. Either way though, it has been very cold lately - too cold to jog outside for sure. Instead of going to the gym at my complex like I told myself that I would, I used the weather as an excuse to be lazy.

Day 272 - It's a miracle!

I went to the park this afternoon with a friend and accomplished the unthinkable - I jogged 4.25 miles!!! The weather was absolutely perfect and I really needed to be outside. I have been feeling crazy and overwhelmed all week so the fresh air was something I have been looking forward to since Sunday. Anyways - I am not sure which stars aligned just right, but I trudged through and didn't even get super out of breathe until the last quarter mile. And that was because I was trying to catch up with my friend and she was listening to her head phones too loud to hear me. I finally gave up and threw something at her to get her attention. Either way though - I am BEYOND surprised at and proud of my achievement. And not only did I jog all of 4.25 miles, but I did it at a fairly decent pace.

1st mile - 11:37 min
2nd mile - 23:55 min
3rd mile - 12:42 min
4th mile - 24:45 min

I didn't time the quarter mile. After the jogging, I walked a quarter mile as a cool down.

After the miracle - my friend and I met up with a 3rd amiga for happy hour. We celebrated with delicious frozen beverages and free nachos. Haha - not the best way to suplement the calories I burned, but it tasted great! Until... it didn't anymore. But, the queesiness passed so I was able to enjoy an evening roaming around the boardwalk with the 3rd amiga. :)All in all - an AMAZING day!

Day 268 - 271

This week was crazy for me with work stuff. I had two days of Bake Sale-ing for the play I am producing. It was fun, but hectic. The first day I did really really well and only had one cookie the whole day. I caved more on the second day and had two cupcakes. Still not bad considering the amount of sweets I had readily available for 16 hours straight. Anyways we raised almost $700 for our charities. Then on Thursday, I had my Stalking Awareness Month program. It went pretty well. The speakers were amazing and the turn out was respectable. On top of being busy with these programs I also stayed late each night to teach RAD - the basic self defense class I teach. We had a small class so I decided to go through the attack simulations with them. I haven't done them since I went through instructor training last year. I was hoping for more of a fight, but I am proud of myself for the good shots I did get in. In my second attack, I was taken to the ground and managed to get a heel to the groin shot which would have definitely put him down. In my third attack I did a text-book shin scrape/heel stomp on the first guy after getting him to put me down and a perfect sweep kick on the second. I am happy to know that I can still do it and not just teach it. :) Needless to say though with getting home at 10pm each night there was no time for jogging.

Day 267

So, last night I ate myself into a pizza comma. That of course, totally negated the calorie burning I had done earlier in the day. Today, I decided to make up for it - at least a little. Sadly though, the 1.5 miles I had started out trying to do didn't happen. I made it a mile before I thought my lungs would explode. After that I went to the gym before heading back out on the trail. In total I did 3 miles, but it was much more spread out and included a lot more walking than I had desired. However, it was the first time I had done 3 miles in a LONG time. I am pretty proud of myself actually.

1st lap - 5:45 mins - jogged
2nd lap - 11:27 mins - jogged
Gym - 20 lbs with arms and 40 lbs with legs
3rd lap - 7:36 mins - walked
4th lap - 13:13 mins - jogged
5th lap - 6:08 mins - half walked, half sprinted
6th lap - 14:33 mins - walked

Day 266

After spending most of the day in the house taking care of the chores I needed to do, I got off my hiney and went jogging. Although, I had pipe dreams of doing all 3.1miles I used to do, I was only able to squeek through 1.5 miles. I supose I should be happy, it feels like I am starting over completely, but this time around I am starting at 1.5miles. When I first started this little venture, I was barely able to push through 1 mile. Anywys - here is the breakdown.

.5 mile - 5:33 minutes
1 mile - 11:05 minutes
1.5 miles - 16:32 minutes

I hit the gym again when I was finished. All of the arms was done at 20 lbs and the legs at 40 lbs.

Day 264 - 265

Thursday was a late night at work and Friday was Dad's birthday. So, I was a busy lady and working out wasn't able to be squeezed into the calendar.

Day 263

Tonight I went jogging with Michelle for the first time of the new year. I love jogging in the park because its prettier, but it was cold outside that night. Not as cold as it has been, but cold enough to require that I wear the new "winter" work out clothes that I got for Christmas. I would like to believe that the cold was what slowed me down, but if I am being honest with myself it was probably my lack of consistancy. Either way, I managed to limp through 1.5 miles before we shut it down. The first mile took 11:21 minutes, which is actually a pretty good time for me. The .5 miles took longer than I would have liked and I finished in 17:34minutes.
To make myself feel better about being so slow, I decided to head over to the gym at my complex when I got back from the park. The workout was followed by stretching.

30 reps on the bicep curl at 10 lbs
15 reps on the bicep curl at 20 lbs
30 reps on the row machine and the shoulder pull down at 20 lbs
30 reps on the shoulder press at 20 lbs
30 reps on the bench press at 20 lbs
30 reps on the thigh machines at 40 lbs both directions
20 reps on the leg press at 40 lbs
10 reps on the leg press at 60 lbs
30 reps on the calf machine at 40 lbs

Day 255 - 262

Nine days worth of couch surfing most likely does not count as excercise. If only it did... can you imagine the shape I would be in?! Let's just say, I would be bikini ready for sure! :)

Day 254

Yay - for getting back on the horse, so to speak. Tonight I did a quarter mile on the treadmill with the speed set at 3 and the grade set at 5. Man that was a workout! After that, I did 1.5 miles on the eliptical machine. I had originally intended to do 30 minutes on the eliptical machine because it was crazy cold outside. Jogging outside would NOT have happened. Unfortunately, I am so out of shape that 30 minutes was also NOT going to happen. I had to work with all of my might not to give up before the 1.5 miles that I did. I had also intended on doing some light weights following the eliptical, but again once in there I realized that was NOT happening. So, overall, not even close to my best showing, but you have to start somewhere right? Anyways - I did the first mile in 10:43 minutes and the total 1.5 in 16:41 minutes. As a cool down, I stretched before heading back to my apartment to crash.

Day 250 - 253

Yeah, so I am a bum...

Days 239 - 249 Christmas - the New Year

Wow - Anyone who believes that a diet/excercise plan of any kind be properly maintained over a holiday break is a nutjob. Between all of the holiday food, eating out with Jon, and massive amount of things we had to do and people we had to see I have done nothing remotely close to excercise (accept for trapsing around San Antonio, which does count because we had to have walked at least 3-4 miles New Year's Eve alone) and have most certainly gained back at least 3 of the pounds I had lost. Thankfully, my new, smaller sized work pants still fit, but the hint of a muffin top creeping out over the waist band and the bloated puffiness of my belly suggest a deep need for rededication to working out and eating less. Tonight I my last night with Jon and we are going out to dinner with our families. After this dinner, I will be adherring strictly to the "eat less & eat less crap" moto that had carried me through my initial training. I will also reestablish a consistant jogging routine. Twice a week with Michelle and once or twice over the weekends on my own. I have to do this - for me!

Day 238 - Christmas Eve

Yes, today I jogged! Jon went to a movie with his Dad leaving me with a few hours to kill before picking up Michelle to take her to the airport. Overly ambitious (haha) me, decided to use some of that time to take Chance, one of Jon's dog's, jogging with me around the complex. He is a huge dog (about 80 lbs) and as a hunting dog is very used to running. I was told he would be a good partner. Ehhh --- he wasn't bad, but I definitely prefer to jog alone. We managed to do 1 mile before I couldn't deal with his weaving in front of me anymore. He is a good dog, but can't seem to walk a straight line to save his life. The last thing I need is to trip over him and bust my face on the parking lot. Anyways - not the progress I was hoping for, but at least I did something - right?!

Days 234 - 237

Jon is home! :) Needless to say, with preparing for his return (cleaning my apartment), working, and enjoying his company I have not found time to jog.

Day 234

Today Michelle and I decided to attempt a full 3 miles. She is training for a 5k in January and I haven't done a 5k since Novemeber 2nd when I attempted it in honor of the October 2nd Race for the Cure. :) Yes, I am a dork. Anyways - I am depressed at my results. Pacing Michelle wore me out and I ended up having to walk a bit to keep my chest from exploding. Again, I had to wave her on and meet her at the end. She has this need to finish her race in approximately 35 minutes because she heard somewhere that people can walk that distance in 40 minutes. I did the Race for the Cure in 39.44 minutes. Of course that was dodging a ridiculous number of people and waiting for my two friends. I am condifident that I could have finished quicker. Anyways - I am so out of practice that I can't now. I did my 3 miles in 39:09 minutes with the walking. That is not good. I had been averaging 12 minute miles, now - not so much. I have done this to myself, but I am basically going to almost have to start over with my training. Anyways - here is the breakdown:

1st mile - 12:56 minutes
2nd mile - 26:20 minutes
3rd mile - 39:09 minutes

Days 231 - 233

We are getting into the Christmas holiday time frame and things are getting hectic quick! Not the best reason to be a bum, but what can you do?

Days 228-230

So, for two of these days I have no excuse. Pretty much just being lazy - again. On day 230 though, Michelle and I ventured back out to the park to try our luck at speeding up a shorter jog. As Jon has suggested in the past running shorter distances faster can help build muscles, whereas slower longer runs simply burn calories. Thus, we have decided to try alternating between the two options. This week we did 1.5 as fast as we could. I am not thrilled with my time. I was trying to keep pace with Michelle who is in much better shape and jogs much quicker than I do, so I thought for a bit that I was going to die. Instead, I waved Michelle on and told her I would meet her at the finish line. I ended up doing my 1.5 miles in 15.31 minutes. Which isn't too far off from what I had been doing previously. It is still not great though and I definitely need to improve. Michelle did her's in 14.30 minutes. I will get there - eventually.