10 miles!!!

Over the past few weeks I have attended a few classes at the Y (less than I should, but more than I would wihtout the membership) and jogged every Sunday with W and his dad. I still need to be more deligent for sure, but I am not totally off the path. My friend A recently joined the Y also and talked me into joining her for Thursday night Zumba classes. I love it. Dancing has always been my favorite form of movement and the energy in the room is so positive. I think I will enjoy it more when I get the routines down and can get more into the music instead of concentrating so hard on the steps. She has also gone with me to two Saturday morning Bodypump classes. Of course for one of them, I was late and then had to go sit down because I was dizzy and nauscous. With the jogging things have gone much better than with the classes. Of course that is only because I am trying not to let W down and am trying to impress his dad. I think it is working - somewhat at least. The weekend after our 6.4 mile run, W and I went camping at Brazos Bend State Park. That Sunday his dad came out and we did a 4.2 mile jog around the park. The weather wasn't great (it started raining on us), but it was a neat trail. The alligators were out and the birds were beautiful. The following weekend we went back Memorial Park to do his dad's River Oaks trail. He told us that it would be a little longer than the last trail we had done so I was expecting 7 miles. That is the furthest I have ever gone before, but I felt confident that I could do it. However once we got going it felt like we were never going to stop! I don't know the route so I had no context for where we were on the trail or how much further we had to go. That was frustrating and I resisted the urge several times to ask how much more we had to go. I finally broke down and asked when every joint in my right leg started to hurt. I was told that we were well over half way. That didn't help much, but I kept trucking along as best I could. It was SLOW going, but at least I was going! When we finally got back to the park, W split off to do an extra mile loop around the park while his dad and I finished the last mile stretch. He is easy to run with because he is so calm. He is in great shape and can chat while he jogs. I feel bad because I can't breathe well enough to chat back. But, he did push me to push it the last few yards so that I could finish strong. It wasn't until we finished the trail that he told me that we had just completed a TEN mile run!!!!!!!! WHAT?! I would NEVER have thought that I would be capable of going so far. (It took us 2 hours and 11 minutes.) It was an awesome feeling to know that I accomplished that!!! Of course, the physical feeling was MISERABLE - my hips, knees, ankle, and feet were KILLING me!! I moved like a 100 year old woman for the entire rest of the day. UGH. R and W keep telling me that I should try a half marathon with them. I suppose that if I can go 10 miles that I should be able to go 13 - right? They are doing one at the end of January. I am not sure that I want to attempt that one just yet. Instead I am going to aim for the Bearathon in March. Two of my sorority sisters want me to do it with them. It is the "toughest half in Texas" becuause it is not a flat trail which is going to make it a crazy challenge. So, I may have to try one in late February just to get my feet wet on a flat trail before trying the ups and downs of the Cameron Park area. Either way I finally think that I can do it! :)

New Trail New Triumph!

I didn't realize until just now how long it has ben since I had posted. Despite my poor devotion to the blog, I am happy to report that I haven't totally abandoned my attempts to improve my health. In fact, this week I have worked out 5 times!! That's awesome right?! In October, I joined the YMCA and started trying out some of the classes they offer. I haven't been as consistant as I should be, but I do really like one of them. It is called Boypump and meets every Tuesday at 4:30pm. Basically, i is aerobics with barbells. Man, it kicks my butt! I also kind of like the 4:30pm Curcuit Training class on Wednesday nights. That time works really well for me because it is right on my way home after tutoring. This week, in addition to the two classes, I jogged in the park Monday and did the curcuit machines on my own Friday. But the major achievement of my week was this morning's jog with my boyfriend W and his Dad. His Dad is amazing. At almost 70 years old he has run 20 marathons and does the 5.25 mile trail he took us on for his "recovery" runs after big races. Today he was "slow" because he is recovering from foot surgery. Of course by "slow" he means my 12 or so minutes mile time which I worked very hard to get down to. I am SOO proud of myself! I've jogged a few times in the past few weeks, but I haven't made it past 2 miles. I had no idea that I would still be capable of 5.25. He refused to tell us how long the trail was, which was actually great because it allowed me not to stress or pysch myself out. Instead I just enjoyed the beauty of the trail, which lead through the Houton Polo Club (a place I didn't even know existed). The whole trip took 1 hour 20 minutes for me. I picked up my pace for the last half mile and was able to sprint the last few yards, which is amazing to me after the first 5 miles. :) I feel GREAT!!!

Long over due!

So, I am a total slacker lately! I really need to get off my butt more regularly or it is going to get MUCH larger than I want it to be. I have gotten a lot of fun new size 4 clothes and have donated most of my larger things, so on top of not being physically as cute - I quite literally cannot afford to get fat again. UGH! As if that's not pressure. So anyways - Now that I am done lecturing myself, I am happy to report that I have gone jogging recently. Tuesday to be exact. Keeping in mind my goal to increase my speed, I started with a half mile walk. After that, I moved as quickly as I could through the mile trail. Though I am not a speed demon yet, I am really proud of the results: 10:09:28 minutes! It is weird that I am so shockingly consistent. My fastest mile ever is 10 minutes flat (well, my fastes mile as an adult at least). Consistent doesn't equal progress, but it is a great start. :) I followed that with a circuit of squats (30 total), sit ups (50 total) and pushups (10 total) and a slow jog mile that took 13:94 minutes. Another weird thing is that if you average the times for today's two miles it would be about 12 minutes per mile, which is my most comfortable pace. Haha! Consistent all the way. Now if I could just get back to the consistent number of jogs per week I had made my habit during my 100 mile challenge. Maybe the speed thing isn't the only goal I need to have..... Maybe I should challenge myself to do the body exercises EVERY day and to jog 4 times a week. Yeah - that sounds reasonable. :) Let's do it!

Halfway to "Lean"!!!

Two years ago when I started this blog, I did so to track my progress towards my ultimate goal of losing a total of 8% body fat. My first bod pod reading was astounding and really opened my eyes to the necessity of exercise not just watching your food when it comes to one’s health. To be really healthy you have to do both! I had thought I was golden because I was at my goal weight of 135 which I had worked hard to get to. Unfortunately, having less fat over all had not in any way increased the amount of muscle I had, so I was 29.7% fat. That is only .3% from being considered excessive fat!!! It was CRAZY! Well, it has been a long road during which I have jogged my first 5k, my first 10k, and completed a 100 mile challenge. All are things that not too long ago, I would not have imagined myself capable of doing. I am VERY happy to say that my efforts have been paying off. Last May my body fat was down to 27.9%. Last night, I got my third scan done. My body fat percentage has decreased another 1.9%!!! Officially at 26% body fat, I am exactly halfway to my original goal and am safely in the middle of the “moderately lean” category which is a good level for healthy living. I am hoping that it doesn’t take another two years to get down to the 22% I would really like to see, but it might. Either way, what I am doing is working. If I increased my strength training – which is my plan with my body exercises and working on my speed – then I just may be able to reach it a little faster. 

The break is over!

After I got back from my vacation to Chicago, I told myself that I deserved a week off from working out as a reward for all that I had accomplished. Well, that week turned into a month! Since coming back on July 2nd I have only worked out three times!! The first time, I actually ventured back into the gym. There I did 50 sit-ups, 30 squats, and attempted 5 real push-ups. Holy geeze I hurt afterwards! It took almost 4 days for my legs to feel normal again. The second time, I did the body strengthening workout at home. This time though, I alternated the moves to create a circuit. 10 sit-ups, 6 squats, and 2 “girl” push-ups – repeated 5 times. That was a pretty good workout I think. It got my heart rate up with the going up and down, but didn’t hurt as bad afterwards because I had spaced things out a bit. My third workout was on Friday, July 27th which I thought was fitting since it is exactly 1 month from my birthday and the end of my 100 mile challenge. I need a new goal – That is clear. Without that I will not have much motivation to keep to me going. So, I decided to go back to a goal that my friend Chrissy had set for us in graduate school when we briefly attempted to become joggers. Being much more athletic than I was/am she threw out the lofty goal of running a mile in 9.5 minutes. The closest I have ever gotten was a 10 minute mile. (Minus the one shining occurrence in 7th grade in which I ran a mile in 8 minutes and 11 seconds.) Since jogging for distance, I have settled relatively comfortably into a 12 minute mile pace. I think I have hit as much distance as I am going to strive for for awhile because that takes much more training time. The idea of pushing myself speed wise though, is interesting and would allow for shorter workouts. My first attempt at this went pretty darn well if I do say so myself. I ran the mile in 10 minutes and 17.93 seconds!! After that, I walked two more miles, did some lunges, and stretched a lot. Stretching is something I also need to be more careful about. Flexibility is my only natural athletic gift, but it badly needs to be nurtured. My new plan going forward is to do the squats, sit-ups, and push-ups combination daily and to run 3 days a week. We will see how that works.  To be totally honest, I haven’t tried it yet. Today is the day though! While watching TV tonight I WILL workout!

1150 steps & Dirty Girl 5k

There is no rest for the weary. :) Three days after completing my 100 mile challenge I flew to Chicago for my birthday vacation/to visit my friend Chrissy. Instead of the basic sight seeing stuff you might expect, we spent about 90% of our time outside doing some form of physical activity. When I arrived on Thursday we drove up to Wisconsin to Lake Geneva. It was BEAUTIFUL! And they are experiencing an unusual heat wave, so it was a great way to spent a hot afternoon. The water was clear enough to actualy see the botton of the lake! It was amazing! Treading water for an hour took some work though. Upper body strength is definitely not my forte. Friday was spent at Starved Rock State Park. The park is gorgeous and has about 13 miles of hiking trails. We did not walk all the way, but I would estimate that we made it probably 4 miles or so. Of that, Chrissy counted 1,150 stairs that we climbed. Thankfully, we did most of them going down because Chrissy remembered the path that she did with her mother and we went backwards through it. The best part though was the Dirty Girl 5k Mud Run that we did Saturday morning. It was a 3.1 mile long obstacle course that was scattered with mud pits we had to crawl through. Unfortunately we were not able to actually run most of it becuase of the mud and the water socks I was wearing (I forgot that I had donated the tennis shoes I had planned to wear until the night before my trip.)Plus, the grounds were the run was held was clearly not designed for a run. Our best guess is that it used to be farm land based on the neat little rows covering all of the fields. To keep from rolling an ankle (which I did towards the end of the run) you had to watch your footsteps and make sure they stayed in the valley between two rows. But, it was still a BLAST! All but one of the mud pits were bascially giant baby pools filled with water and mud. The second to last pit though was PURE mud keep icky with a continual flow from a sprinkler. We had to army crawl through all of them. We also climbed a wall, a cargo net, a hill of hay bails, and dodged our way through tires, and climbed a hill with a rope. I was surprised by how easily I accomplished each task. :) It was really fun, but very gross. That night we went to a concert at a football field which required us to stand for several hours anad then trapsed through the city, including Navy Pier, on Sunday. Other than some kind of outdoor activity most of what we did was eat! Chicago has some delicious food!

Challenge Jog 28 - THE FINISH LINE!!!!!!!!

With only three miles to go, I knew that I could finish my challenge today. Since I am a scrapbooker, my mom agreed to go with me to Franky Carter Park to take pictures of me crossing the finish line. :) YAY! Being the last few miles, my body was very very TIRED. My legs, especially my left leg, was tight and my knees are hurting. So, instead of being able to be consistant, I had to stop between miles to stretch. That is not a big deal though. I got it DONE!! And that is what counts!! :) :) :) :) :) 12:09 mins - 1 mile - j 12:51 mins - 1 mile - j 12:15 mins - 1 mile - j There were a few moments in that time that I thought I would have to hobble my way over the finish line, but somehow right at the end I got a small rush and was able to finish decently strong. However, my mom wasn't in a good position to take the picture I needed/wanted so we had to redo the "finish" a few times to get a shot somewhat close to what I was hoping for. The whole thing was oddly anti-climatic. I was picturing this huge rush of pride and joy and possible tears of accomplishment like you see in Olympic runners who win the Gold medal. But, that was not at all the case. Oh - well. I am still VERY proud of myself! I have never made a challenge like this for myself before and would have never imagined that I would. :) I still can't fully believe that I actually did it!!! And - 2 days early!!! :) :) :) YAY ME!!!!!

Jog Challenge 27 parts 1 -3

WOW! Sunday was NOT an easy day. As was yesterday, today was a MUST DO 6 mile day, which was tough yesterday and killer today. My body is not at all used to this kind of punishment. So again today I had to break up my 6 miles into three smaller jogs. Again I started at Franky Carter Park and again it was too late in the morning to avoid the ridiculous heat. So, I only made it 2 miles. 12:21 mins - 1 mile - j 25:03 mins - 1 mile - j After that I went back to the gym at my complex to knock out another two miles. 23:01 mins - 2 miles - j By that point I really badly needed a shower and food. So, I took a several hour break and scrapbooked for awhile after having lunch. But, to my credit I did manage (I am still not sure exactly HOW) to drag myself out of the apartment to do the last two miles around the complex. 6:31 mins - .5 mile - j 12:44 mins - .5 mile - j 6:32 mins - .5 mile - j 12:34 mins - .5 mile - j untimed - .25 mile - w

Challenge Jog 26 parts 1 and 2

Saturday was a MUST DO 6 mile day. It was crazy. I was tired, my motivation was low, and my calves have gotten tight which makes jogging uncomfortable. But, with some spacing and dedication I managed to make it happen anyways. :) I started the day at Franky Carter Park where I was able to complete 2.5 miles before it just got TOO hot. I definitely should have gotten out there earlier. Oh - well. 12:26 mins - 1 mile - j 25:10 mins - 1 mile - j untimed - .25 mile - w 6:03 mins - .5 mile - j untimed - .25 mile - w 12:42 mins - 1 mile - j Later that afternoon I went to the treadmill at my apartment complex which worked out well since the gym is air conditioned. I still am not a fan of treadmills though. 2.5 miles - 29:48 mins - j

Challenge Jogs 24 - 25

Again, even though I have not been blogging consistantly, I really have been jogging - I promise. :) The time I took off for business, laziness, and/or illness caught up to me QUICK! Thus with A LOT of miles to go, I have had to go to an everyday routine. Well, almost everyday. After doing so many miles throughout the week, I had to give myself Thursday off. My legs really, really needed the break. Plus, my crazy work schedule (6 events in one week) on top of the insane jogging - my whole being was TIRED. But, I picked myself off the couch and got back out there on Friday. :) I will start with my Wednesday night jog times and then describe my crazy adventures in approaching the finish line. Wednesday's jog was alright. Every time I got out there it was a struggle between mind and body, but I did manage to squeek out the 3.65 miles I needed to give myself and even number to go from. That .65 mile was driving me nuts! June 20th at Franky Carter Park 2 miles - untimed - j .2 mile - untimed - w 1 mile - untimed - j .1 mile - untimed - w .65 mile - untimed - j .26 mile - untimed - j My motivation on Friday was difficult to muster. After getting off of work, I went resale shopping with my Mom and Nonnie for my upcoming birthday. We BANKED with a massive amount of nice clothes for only $65! (And by we, I mean me since they were shopping for birthday gifts). :) Following our spree we went for dinner at my Mom's favorite Mexican place. I LOVE Mexican food, but had to be careful not to over do it considering I had to jog 3 mils that night and had already eaten a TON at the office potluck the students threw for me. But, depriving myself of queso for the night paid off when I was successful in completing my miles later that evening at my apartment complex. Each lap is half a mile. 6:35 mins - j 13:12 mins - j 19:50 mins - j 26:17 mins - j 32:35 mins - j 39:04 mins - j .5 mile untimed - w

Challenge Jogs 16 - 23

Yes, it has been a VERY long time since I have blogged about my progress, but I PROMISE I have actually been jogging. Though, I must admit that I have not been making as much progress as I really needed to have. Some of the problem came from a dive in my motivation, then came legitimate evening time consumers, and then came the week in which I could barely move my hands. Yeah, the past few weeks have been interesting. Preparing for the baby shower took time, visiting Sarah took a weekend (which was a lot of fun and did actually include a morning of jogging), and one day I seriously almost passed out after giving blood. I decided that it would be a BAD idea to attempt a jog after spending the whole afternoon shaking. It was the following week that I encountered the problems with my hands and big toes. I have no idea what caused the problems and am still waiting on the results from the blood tests the doctor ran. Apparently he thinks I have a dog virus called Parvo. Awesome right?! I mean 6 years ago I had Cat Scratch, which is usually given by kittens under 2 years old to children under 10. UGH! Anyways, the doctor told me that I needed to take a few days off from working out to help myself get better and not hurt myself. He also told me that my blood pressure has dropped (not dangerously low) due to my weight loss which may have contributed to my illness following giving blood. He says I need to be even more careful about hydration now that I am working out regularly and have lower blood pressure. I had been doing very well with my personal water drinking challenge, but have gotten lax on that lately. It is something I will have to recommit myself to. Well, back to the jogging. At this point I have 21.65 miles and 8 days left of my challenge. I can't believe I have been backed into this corner with such a significant amount of my miles left which such a short time. Basically, I have to do 3 miles a night EVERY night in order to make it. I WILL make it - I am just not exactly sure how. I have jogged 15 miles in 4 days, but because of that I was only able to do 2 miles tonight. So, I am already 1 mile behind on my neccessary 3 miles a day plan. Hopefully, that "break" will make it easier for me to jog tomorrow and I can make it up without much trouble. We will see. As of now, I am anticipating spending pretty much my entire weekend at the park. Oh the joy! But, I have to do it! I am WAY too close to give up now. Plus, I have already bought a personalized "medal" that I can't wait to wear! (It is a necklace I had made.) :) I am already planning in my head how to talk my Mom and Dad or some friends into joining me at the park to hold up a streamer finish line and take pictures of me crossing on my 100th mile! :) :) As for my times I will start with tonight and work backwards. June 19 at The Bradford (each lap = .5 mile) 1st lap - 5:59 mins - j 2nd lap - 11:56 mins - j untimed lap - walking 3rd lap - 18:12 mins - j 4th lap - 24:03 mins - j June 18 at The Bradford untimed 3 miles - j June 17 at Memorial Park (each lap = 3 miles) 1st lap - 36:53 mins - j 2nd lap - 37:15 mins - j June 16 at The Bradford 1st lap - 6:12 mins - j 2nd lap - 12:20 mins - j 3rd lap - 18:28 mins - j 4th lap - 24:39 mins - j 5th lap - 30:51 mins - j 6th lap - 36:59 mins - j 7th lap - 43:04 mins - j 8th lap - 49:01 mins - j June 10 at track in Waco 1st mile - 13:25 mins - j 2nd mile - 26:50 mins - j 3rd mile - 39:55 mins - j .25 mile - 42:41 mins - j .25 mile - untimed - w June 5 at Franky Carter Park (each lap = 1 mile) 1st lap - 11:49 mins - j 2nd lap - 24:02 mins - j .5 mile - untimed- w June 4 at The Bradford 1st lap - 5:52 mins - j 2nd lap - 11:42 mins - j 3rd lap - untimed - w June 3 at The Bradford 1st lap - 5:46 mins - j 2nd lap - 11:27 mins - j 3rd lap - 17:11 mins - j 4th lap - untimed - w 5th lap - 23:15 mins - j 6th lap - 29:08 mins - j 7th lap - 35:03 mins - j .1 mile - 35:55 mins - j

Challenge Jog 15

Today was my first jog of the 2nd half of my challenge. With Sarah in town for the holiday weekend we definitely did not spend time exercising. Though we did eat nothing that was actually good for us, I am proud of myself for not making the junk food eating a non-stop kind of thing. I showed much more restraint than I would have not too long ago. I think this is a great sign of the progress I am making with the other healthy choices I have been shooting for such as eating less totally worthless calories and drinking more water. :) Yay - me! 1st mile - 12:05 mins - j 2nd mile - 24:35 mins - j .5 mile - 30:52 mins - j walk back to start line 3rd mile - 43:55 mins - j .2 mile - 46:31 mins - j .2 mile - untimed - w

1/2 Way There!!!! Challenge Jog 14

Today I went out to the park with 5.7 miles left before I hit my halfway mark in my 100 mile challenge. Technically I had 3 days left to make it there, but my best friend Sarah was coming down on Friday for a weekend at the beach so I really didn't feel confident about getting any jogging in while she was in town. Of course, I could have done some on Friday, but the odds of that happening were small. So, I decided to hunker down and make it happen! It wasn't easy and I had to take some walking breaks between the laps, but I made it!!! :) :) And, I did an extra .3 miles just to be sure I could cross of that '50' on my mirror! :) I can't believe that I have actually made it so far! I mean, I knew when I made the goal for myself that I could theoretically do it, but I wasn't 100% sure that I WOULD actually do it or not. Most of the fitness goals I have made for myself over the last few years I have quit caring about or trying for well before I actually met them. In many ways this challenge is more mental than physical for me. So far, I have conquered both :) 1st mile - 12:05 mins - j 2nd mile - 24:15 mins - j .25 mile - untimed - w .75 mile - untimed - j 3rd mile - 36:27 mins - j .25 mile - untimed - w .75 mile - untimed - j 4th mile - 49:06 mins - j .5 mile - 55:14 mins - j 6 miles - jogged!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) Now I only have 49.7 miles left to go!!!!!!!!

Challenge Jog 13

I totally rocked my 5k on Sunday, so I gave myself a day off. Tuesday I went jogging around the complex to save on time and gas money. The jog was good, but it is definitely not my favorite place to jog. It is ugly and it gets annoying to run in circles and see nothing but parked cars and smelling paint fumes from the garage near the mailboxes everytime I pass by. 1st lap - 5:38 mins - J 2nd lap - 11:09 mins - J 3rd lap - 16:30 mins - J 4th lap - 22:40 mins - J 5th lap - 28:08 mins- J .1 mile - untimed - W 6th lap - 33:39 mins - J .1 mile - 34:41 mins - J

Challenge Jog 12 - 5k RECORD TIME!!!

This morning I pulled myself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 6am so that I could support one of the student organizations on campus who was hosting their first charity 5k. They were raising money for a good cause (an organization that provides educational afterschool care for children in need). I figured that I would need to do a 5k that day anyways so I might as well get a t-shirt for it. Of course, I would have much prefered that it be held a little later. However, because of the time the weather was really nice. No too hot,just really humid. That though can't be helped. When I got there, I was disheartened to see that there was only a small handful of people participating. I was logged in as runner #10. (Of course, I still and most likely will never consider myself a runner - I prefer to jog. It is less fast and competitive.) When the student registering me gave me my number I joked with her that my number was fitting because I would be the last place jogger. She reassuringly told me that we are not competing with each other, but only with ourselves. I responded with, "Oh that is for sure. I already consider myself a winner because I got up early enough to be here. I am worried only with finishing." Which is totally true. I am self-aware enough to know that despite my fairly successful forray into jogging, I am by no means an athlete. I say that, but when I got started on the 5k a small amount of competitive spirit awakened inside me. I didn't want to be last. Winning, or anything close to that would be a ridiculously unrealistic goal, but not losing didn't seem like such a bad idea. But from the start I was about a minute behind the two girls closest to me. An 8 year old boy took off like a bullet from a gun, the 60-something year old man who registered right after me was much closer to the kid than to me. Thankfully, for my fragile ego's sake, one of the women who had been well ahead of me started at a faster pace than she could maintain and ended up having to walk for awhile, which allowed me to pass her. I am not sure why it matters, but coming in 10th out of 11 joggers some how feels better than coming in 11th. Plus, I totally called my place before the race even started. I wouldn't want to make a liar out of myself. :) The best part of the whole experience though, was the fact that I set a new personal record time!!!! I completed the 5k in 33:23 minutes!!!!! That is almost 3 minutes faster than the 5k I completed just the day before and approxiametly 5 minutes faster than my Race for the Cure time!!! :) :) :)

Challenge Jog 11

Man - I am was dragging Saturday morning. I didn't get home from Relay until almost 1am and for whatever reason I haven't really been sleeping much so I was TIRED. But, I knew that I had to get back out to the park. I am fast approaching my halfway mark and need to keep on track in order to make the millage needed. So, I forced myself out of bed, to the gas station, and to the park. I should have gotten moving earlier because it was starting to get hot when I finally got there. That combined with the exhaustion and leftover soreness from the uneven 6 miles the night before the jog was not an easy one. I had to take two walk breaks just to make it through. But, what really counts is that I got the 3.1 miles I set out to jog - jogged! And for that I am proud of myself. 1st mile - 11:51 mins - j 2nd mile - 23:49 mins - j .1 mile - untimed - w 3rd mile - 35:33 mins - j .15 mile - untimed - w .1 mile - 36:37 mins - j

Relay for Life

I gave myself Thursday off since my attempt at jogging Wednesday didn't go so well. I had intended to make up for it by jogging before taking my cats to the vet on Friday. The vet's office is only a few blocks from the park I like to jog in. Eh - nothing ever goes as planned. Instead, I took a friend to a doctor's appointment downtown, went to lunch (her thank you for the ride), then took the cats to the vet. :( Tang requires a special diet to help him lose weight and hopefully to stop the vomitting that has me scared for him and in desperate need for new carpet. Bunni is going to need dental surgery :( UGH - It is a good thing I picked a sport that is basically free. I am going to need every penny I can save. Anyways, after dropping the cats off at home, I went out to the local Relay for Life to meet up with my parents. I figured that I would have plenty of time to jog at an all night relay. The location of last year's Relay was too far from home to be easy to get too, but it was a nice wide college track with plenty of room for everyone who was walking. Thus year's location was much closer to home, but also much smaller. Too small for all of the people that were there trying to walk and play and hang out at their booths and shop at other booths. I had to step over the luminaries to walk on the grassy inside of the path just to walk at all. Jogging was totally out of the question, except for one guy who literally ran circles around everyone for almost the whole 4 hours I was there. I on the other hand stuck with the walking. In my defense though - I managed to go 6 miles. :)

Challenge Jog 10

Today was not my best day for jogging. After the 10k I jogged on Sunday my hip and knees hurt - a lot. :( I was hoping to hold off until the end of my challenge and buy myself new shoes as a reward, but I think I am going to have to cave at the begining of the month instead out of necessity. But, we will see. Either way, on David's advice, I took Monday off to let the soreness work its way out of my legs. Then I took Tuesday off because I was too tired to get off the couch. Seriosly, when you are too tired to even watch TV you know something is not right. I haven't been sleeping well, was achy all over, and just mentally drained from another mind numbing day at work. I thought about jogging, but as soon as I sat done that was IT. But, I did the math and realized that I needed to jog 16.8 miles in 12 days in order to make it to 50 miles by May 27th, which is the halfway point in my timeline. If I stick with my plan to do 5ks each time out, I would need to go 6 of them in 12 days. That doesn't seem too terribly hard as long as I don't get lazy. Unfortunately, I have been lazy this week. That will change though! I made myself get off the couch tonight. Again, not my best showing, but it was better than nothing. 1st lap at the complex: 5:39 mins - j 2nd lap: 10:53 mins - j untimed .1 mile - w untimed .4 mile - j untimed .1 mile - w untimed .4 mile - j The total of 1.8 miles jogged leave me with an even 15 miles left! :)

Challenge Jog 9 - a 10K!!!!

Man this week got busy quick! Thursday, I spent the day at a Women's Conference. It was fun. I bought a super cute ceramic snail from one of my favorite charitable organizations (Hope Village), sampled a mushroom risotto cake, and learned about fun day trips to take throughout the state. But, I had to get there early (I left the house at 7am) and then had to go back to work for my late night (I didn't get off until 7pm). UGH! Friday, I was at the banquet hall at 7am for the annual meeting for another of my favorite charitable organizations (Bay Area Turning Point) where I was recognized with the Educational Partner Award. It was a great honor and a nice event, but again - an early morning. After that I went to work for a graduation potluck and a recognition potluck followed by helping David move his stuff to his uncle's house before dropping him at the airport. Instead of getting a good night's sleep, I spent most of the night trying to keep Tang from hurting himself while running from the thunder. Saturday was spent painting my bedroom, cleaning, and redecorating my apartment. It was a LONG, productive day of work. I have a few more projects I want to do (mainly I want to make a new headboard to match my new bedding), but they wil have to wait a bit. Bank roll and time do not allow for much more right now. Sunday morning I was rudely awakened at 6am by nighmares of home invasions. Awesome right. So, after staying in bed pretendng to sleep for another 2 hours, I hauled my butt out of bed and to the park. While was rounding the turn towards the half mile mark on my 3rd lap, I heard my Dad yell "JP" from across the parking lot. He and my mom have started walking again. :) I am not sure what possessed me, but I thought I would jog until I caught up with them. I figured it would get me to 4 miles. I was wrong. Even though the park isn't that big, I couldn't find them after that first wave. When my feet crossed the line on my 4th mile, my head said "What the hell - Keep going". Then, as I moved on - I started thinking "I wonder if I could make it all the way to a 10k? I wonder if I could do it. Hmmmm.... My legs are still moving steady, I am still breathing fairly well, maybe I could do it." So, I decided that I would go as far as I could just to see if I could. I figured that whatever distance I logged past the initial 3.1 miles would be a bonus regardless and anything past the 4 mile mark would be a new record for me during this challenge. :) I am VERY happy to report that I did in fact make it all the way to the 10k mark!!! And, I even found my parents at the 3/4 mile mark during my 5th lap. It was kind of cool to be able to wish my Mom a Happy Mother's Day while jogging past them. :) 1st mile - 12:12 mins - j 2nd mile - 24:16 mins - j 3rd mile - 36:08 mins - j .1 mile - 37:20 mins - j .9 mile - 47:40 mins - j 5th mile - 58:55 mins - j 6th mile - 1hr 10 mins - j .2 mile - 1 hr 12 mins - j .3 mile - untimed - w

Challenge Jog 8

I decided that it would make more sense to title my blogs "Jog __" rather than "Day __" because I am taking days off between jogs. For example, after my jog on Monday, I gave myself Tuesday off. So, my next successful addition to my challenge goal occurred on Wednesday, May 9th. To save time and gas money, I jogged around the apartment complex while David was at practice. I MUCH prefer the park, but this is better than nothing. Plus, here I have the opportunity to be awkwardly stared at by people who either don't exercise or are in awe of my PERFECT jogging technique (sarcasism of course) and who doesn't love being awkwardly stared at?! The particular person of interest during this jog was a teenage boy who was hanging out in the garage responsible for the paint fumes contact high I get once each lap. I felt strong today which was nice. Strong enough to push a little harder than I had originally intended. :) As normal, I had planned to do a 5k, but ended up doing 3.5 miles! That's not a massive increase in distance, but every step counts! And, just for fun during my 7th lap the teenager gave me a high five because I was "getting it". Maybe it was that high five that motivated me to finish the lap instead of stopping at the .1 mark. Who knows - but it is a bit nice to recieve some on the spot encouragement. I guess that is why they station people along 5 and 10k routes simply to serve as cheerleaders. Having someone watch you can encourage you to push further than you thought you could. 1st lap - 5:55 mins - j 2nd lap - 11:48 mins - j 3rd lap - 17:37 mins - j 4th lap - 23:30 mins - j 5th lap - 29:22 mins - j 6th lap - 35:16 mins - j .1 miles - 36:06 mins - j .4 miles - 40:46 mins - j

Challenge Day 7

After my 4 miles on Saturday, I decided to give myself Sunday off. Well, not off so much as busy with other things. Saturday night, David had a brillant idea for a fun art display for my living room and helped me start making it. He also helped me rearrange my living room. So, Sunday I bought a new coffee table (which he was sweet enough to put together for me), attended an induction ceremony for a student organization on campus, and had dinner at a friend's place. She was attempting her first roast beef and yorkshire pudding, so I contributed my first attempt at cookie dough cheesecake. Well, technically it was my second attempt because my first attempt ended up all over the kitchen when the pie tin buckles as I moved it from the counter to the stove. The second one turned out really good though. Next time I will add a bit more sugar because it was a tad tart for me, but everyone else really liked it. Anyways - today was a good day to start my week's worth of jogging. Instead of driving all the way to the park, I just went around the complex. It is not as nice of a jog, but is more convienant. Compromises-ugh. Regardless of location, I am happy with my success. I jogged a little faster than normal and felt strong at the end. Also, my knees don't hurt as much. I think I need to be more careful about taking breaks between jogs to prevent too much stress on them. 1st lap - 5:50 mins - j 2nd lap - 11:41 mins - j 3rd lap - 17:22 mins - j 4th lap - 24:57 mins - j 5th lap - 28:58 mins - j 6th lap - 33:25 mins - j .1 lap - 34:23 mins - j 3.1 miles down and 76.6 miles to go!!! :) :)

Challenge Day 6/Week Two

Today was my first jog of the 2nd week of my challenge. In my first week I jogged 16.4 miles!! I am stoked about my success thus far and ready to celebrate my completed challenge. :) I have a ways to go still, but at this rate it won't be a problem! This morning I put in 4 miles!! Now, I got winded much quicker than I expected to so I walked .5 miles after jogging the first two miles. The break allowed me to catch my breath enough to do the last two miles without much trouble. My knees are bothering me though and it started to get really hot towards the end of my jog. I need to go out about an hour earlier tomorrow to avoid the heat. I am not sure what to do about my knees, but I am hoping that there isn't any kind of permanent problem that I need to worry about. Maybe I just need to stretch more before and after the jogs. I also need to include some strength training to keep my arms and abs from getting or staying flabby. Anyways - My times this morning were: 1st mile - 12:26 mins - j 2nd mile - 24:33 mins - j .5 mile - untimed - w 3rd mile - 36:51 mins - j .1 mile - 38:07 mins - j .9 mile - 49:04 mins - j .25 mile - untimed - w Total of 4 miles jogged and .75 miles walked.

Challenge Day 5

So, following my first four days of gung-ho jogging I decided it really was time to take a break. So, I took off Monday and Tuesday. Monday I went to my neiece's baptism, got a new mattress, and scrapbooked. Tuesday I worked and then waited for the delivery man to bring me my new queen sized mattress set!!! :) :) Which I then spent the night watching Hulu on. :) Wednesday though was a make or break night. I HAD to go jogging. Because I covered the late night for a co-worker, I didn't get of until 7pm so I didn't make it to the park until almost 8pm. I could have gone around the complex, but it is not as nice of a jog and seems longer because I have to do 6 laps. Same distance, but pyscologically I prefer only having to run the circle three times. I started off a bit slow, but pushed myself towards the end and ended up going pretty dast - for me at least. Anyways - I was VERY happy with my results. :) 1st mile - 13:14 mins - j 2nd mile - 25:38 mins - j 3rd mile - 37:06 mins - j .1 mile - 38:05 mins - j .15 mile - untimed - w

Challenge Day 4

David told me that I should take a day off after jogging three days in a row and was probably correct. My body needs to recover properly or I could hurt myself. BUT it was just soo pretty outside that I didn't want to be stuck indoors all day. And, I figured if I am going to be outside, I might as well add to my miles. :) So, I jogged 3.1 miles around my apartment complex. It is not my favorite place to jog, but I did pretty well. I had to take a walking break after jogging the first two miles, but considering that it was 3pm and hot and it was my 4th day in a row of jogging, I was okay with that. :) Each lap is a half mile. 1st lap - 6:05 mins - j 2nd lap - 12:07 mins - j 3rd lap - 18:11 mins - j 4th lap - 23:53 mins - j 5th lap - Untimed walk 6th lap - 29:48 mins - j 7th lap - 35:37 mins - j .1 mile - 36:26 mins - j

100 mile challenge - day 3

Holy smokes people - I jogged 4 miles this morning! 4 MILES!!! That is the furthest I have gotten since I completed my 10k in December. I am sooo excited! And to have done it after two days of jogging - that says something to me! I think it means that my body may actually be getting good at jogging! Admittedly, I have been jogging slower than I used to (averaging a 13 minute mile rather than a 12 minute mile, but at least I am finally making the whole 5ks again. My most recent attempts to jog prior to these past few days, I was barely able to make it a mile. Ugh - I thought I was going to have to start completely over with my training. Thankfully, with a slower pace I have been able to make it through fairly easily. My legs are doing really well; its my lungs and heart that are still working their way up to in shape. But, the jog hasn't gotten really tiring until the 3rd mile, which seems natural. David wrote a tracker for me on my mirror to help with my motivation. I am not sure why, but my urge to cross off those numbers is ridiculously high. (He listed by tens backwards to 'Happy Birthday'). :) Between the first two days of jogging I had made it 6.2 miles. I can't fully explain it, but I really wanted to cross off the 90 TODAY. So, while jogging the first few laps, I did the math in my head and realized that I would only need .7 mile more than I had planned to jog in order to earn that mark. I was already jogging a tad faster than I had been the two days before so I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it or not, but I decided that I would decide as I was crossing the finish line for my pre-planned 5k. Thankfully, when I got to that point my feet kept moving. From that point on, I knew that I HAD to finish the mile. I couldn't get THAT CLOSE and stop. Coming up a half mile or so short of getting to cross of that 90 on my mirror would have frustrated the hell out of me. Is it weird that I am that motivated by a number on my mirror? Bizarre what gets people going. Anyways - I am proud of myself for making such great progress and thankful for all who have helped me to determine a goal and encouraged me to attain it. :) 10.2 miles down. 89.8 to go!!

Feb. 22, 2012 - 5k Bliss!

I know it's been a while since I have posted, but I promise I have actually been working out. :)I have been doing strength training at the campus gym 2-3 tmes a week. The only exception being the week of "The Vagina Monologues" (which was last week). In addition to working out in the gym, I have also decided to add into my diet a lot more water. To help me do that, David helped me pick out a nice water bottle to take to work with me. I have been using it for three days now and it is definitely working. I have had 2-3 bottles of water each day during the work day and drink either water or juice when I get home. Of course, I still allow myself one 12 ounce Diet Coke at work each day. I wouldn't make it through without it.

100 mile challenge!

So, I don't carry cash and I work out far fewer days than I should, but have not been counting. Thus, the dollar a day thing isn't working well for me as a motivational tool. (There are already $20 in th jar!). I have no desire to train for a half marathon and am not really into theh whole weight lifting things as much as I should ne. So, again - I am struggling for motivation. This past weekend I mentioned the dilemma to a friend of mine. She said that a friend of hers set a distance and time period goal for herself rather than working towards running a certain distance at one time. After giving this idea some careful thought and taking notice of the softening around my tummy and chin areas, I decided that this may just be the best plan for me. That in mind, I did some math and calcutated out what I thought would be a reasonably attainable, yet sufficently taxing distance goal. My time period goal is between now and my birthday (2 months & 1 day). My birthday plans this year are to visit my jogging buddy, Chrissy, in Chicago. It would be great to celebrate with her not only my birthday, but also our combined success. She has already proven a champion of the dollar a day challenge and recently set a new record for herself by jogging a little over 7 miles in one run!! Amazing right? Well, I know I probably won't get to that point anytime soon, but jogging a full 5k (3.1 miles) 4 times a week for the next 2 months will get me to my 100 mile challenge goal!! (To be specific it will get me 99.2 miles of my goal. I will have to throw in an additional .8 miles along the way somewhere.) In addition to jogging this amount, I am planning to track the miles I walk as a bonus. No, I am not fancy or dedicated enough to invest in a top notch pedometer, so I am only going to count the miles walked intentionally for the purpose of excersise. It has only been two days, but I am off to a very positive start!!(It doesn't hurt at all that I have been off these past two days so that I could hang out with my stunningly beautiful niece.) And, I came home to the sweet surprise of a tracking log on my bathroom mirror curtousy of David. :) April 26 - Day 1 of the challenge at Franky Carter Park 1st mile - 12:50 mins - j 2nd mile - 26:05 mins - j 3rd mile - 39:36 mins - j .1 mile - 40:55 mins - j .4 mile - untimed - w April 27 - Day 2 at Franky Carter Park 1st mile - 12:48 mins - j 2nd mile - 26:06 mins - j 3rd mile - 39:00 mins - j .1 mile - 40:18 mins - j .4 mile - untimed - w 6.2 miles jogged - 93.8 miles to go!!! Plus .8 miles walked!!!

Dollar a Day & Monterrey

I don't think that my friend Chrissy reads my blog (I don't think ANYONE reads my blog to be honest), but I do think that she read my mind. It must be a mark of true friendship since she is all the way in Chicago and we haven't gotten to talk nearly as regularly as we should.
Anyways - just two days after my last post she messaged me on Facebook proposing a challenge. She was my accountablity buddy in grad school and would jog with me around the Bear Trail. Well, I think I was only able to jog the 2.something miles once at a snail's pace. Instead, we would do 1 mile as fast as we could and walk the rest. Our goal was to do 1 mile in 9:30 minutes. FYI - The closest I ever got was 10 minutes. Since graduate school we have both recommitted ourselves to jogging and general health-related eating habits. We jogged our very first 5k together in October, 2010. I have since jogged what will most likely be my only 10k and she has competed in a variety of 5k events. Most recently she signed up for a Tough Mudder event that is pure insanity. This is what inspired her to issue me the challange: Every day we do not jog/work out we must put $1 in a jar. Sometime next year we will go on a long overdue trip. On this trip we will either be hotties on a budget or fatties with spending money. :)
Today is April 2nd. In the 15 days since the challenge was issued, I have deposited $10 in the jar. Not a great start I must admit. In my defense on the first day of the challenge, March 19th, I spent the evening losing my breakfast and trying to force myself to eat Saltines and broth.
Then I went on my ery first ever trip outside of the U.S.! Normally, vacation is one of the hardest times for people on a diet or exercise routine. However, my boyfriend is a very active man and helped to ensure that my sightseeing also burned calories. On our first full day there, we started the day by hiking in Chipinque National Park. For those who haven't been there, basically I climbed approxiametely 4 miles of stair cases up the side of the Seirra Madre Mountain Range. I honestly thought that I was going to collapse at one point. I can walk a meandering trail for several miles no problem. But steep stairs up a mountain while literally losing oxygen really kicked my butt. On the bright side - I DID IT! And, the view from the top of the trail was spectactular. There was a little lookout point that had a panaramic view of the city and a cafe with fresh squeezed orange juice. I caught my breathe and regained enough strength to jog up the stairs to the giant slide several times too. Its amazing how easy it is to revert back to childhood when presented the opportunity to slide. :) The way down was much easier on my legs, but I had to be slow and step carefully to prevent slipping and breaking my ankle.
Our second day's afternoon was spent walking up and down the city's newly finished Riverwalk Park. It was absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear water, brightly colored flowerbeds, a perfect view of the Saddle Mountain and sandia palettas (watermelon popscicles) that are by far the BEST popscicles in the world! It was also approximetly 5 miles of trapsing.
The next morning we hung around the house so that David could study for his test. Tired of being trapped inside on such a gorgeous day, I decided to go jogging in the park by his parent's house. He walked into the room with the same idea as I was lacing up my shoes. :) It was HOT and I was worn out from the previous two days of work, so I was only able to jog 7 laps around the 500 meter track and walk 2 more. I had hoped to jog 10 laps which would roughly translate to 3 miles, but just couldn't do it. Either way - This was by far the most physically active vacation I have ever been on. :)
Once home though I pretty much gave myself a week off. It wasn't really intentional, but I had to grocery shop, made a date to watch Hunger Games with my Mom, and other things that were important at the time, but my head hurts too bad right now to remember. (I have been fighting a headache for a majority of the day.) I had planned to make up for that over the weekend, but.... yeah....
Yesterday I decided that it was time to get back on the trail and off my couch. So, after spending the morning and early afternoon in Chapel Hill looking at the bluebonnets (one of my FAVORITE things to do), I took advantage of the beautiful weather to jog at Frankie Carter Park.

1 mile - 11:40 mins - jogged
2 mile - 24:41 mins - walked 1/4 jogged 3/4
3 mile - 38:05 mins - walked 1/4 jogged 3/4
4 mile - 53:03 mins - walked 1/4, jogged 1/2, walked 1/4

Today, I took to the parking lot of my apartment complex despite the nasty, humid overcast weather leftover from this morning's downpour. I was proud of myself for going when I didn't really want to, but am not super impressed with my performance. I jogged one lap (half a mile) and couldn't do more. I think I need to devote more time to stretching (my legs have been sore all day from yesterday). Anyways I still managed to do 3 laps, but wish I could have jogged more of it.

.5 mile - 5:20mins - jogged
1 mile - 12:39 mins - walked
1.5 miles - 18:08 mins - jogged 3/4, walked 1/4

Wow - I need to workout & blog more regularly

Yeah, I would like to clarify that my lack of blogging is not a direct reflection of my workout schedule. Though I admit that I am not as dedicated as I was when I was paying a trainer or as dedicated as I probably should be, I am still chugging along towards my goal. Today is March 17, 2012. So, let me back up a bit.

From January through the end of February my life was dominated by Vagina Monologues. The long rehearsals, working 6 days a week, and general chaos of this season made working out a backseat priority for a while. As I mentioned in my last blog, I have somehat switched my focus from jogging to strength training. Thus, instead of heading home to jog at my complex, I have started visiting the gym on campus. Still not a powerlifter by any means, with some coaching from David, I have managed to figure out how to use most of the machines available. Since starting this new focus, I have succeeded in benchpressing for the first time in my life! I was only able to lift the bar, but I am still pretty impressed with myself! I have also done 5 real push-ups at a time (also a first for me) and have increased my bicep curl weight to
8 lbs! Upper body strength has never been my forte, so I am happy to be addressing that issue. I have also gotten to the point at which I can do 30 squats without pain. :) These accomplishments are baby steps, but I am really proud of them!

I am not sure whether or not I have mentioned this before, but I deeply despise treadmills!!!! Really, I absolutely hate them! They were necessary while training for the 10k due to the gross weather, but now I just can't make myself get on one. Thankfully, the weather has brightened and warmed up so I can go outside again!!! I never thought I would say this, but I actually enjoy jogging outside now. Now that I do not totally suck at that is. :) Anyways, over the last few weeks I have managed to get out on the trails again a few times. It is hard and not all of the trips were sucessful, but they were worth it. The times of the successful jogs are:

Feb. 22nd (jogging at my complex)
.5 mile - 6:02 mins
1 mile - 11:51 mins
1.5 miles - 17:37 mins
2 miles - 23:21 mins
2.5 miles - 28:59 mins
3 mils - 34:52 mins

Feb. 27th (at Franky Carter Park)
1st mile - 11:23 mins
2nd mile - 23:13 mins
3rd mile - 34:42 mins
.1 mile - 35:33 mins

Mar. 16th (at Franky Carter Park)
1st mile - 11:12 mins
2nd mile - 23:09 mins
3rd mile - 35:20 mins
.1 mile - 36:29 mins

OMG-It's been a long time since I blogged!

Today is January 14, 2012. My last post was in August, 2011. That is too many days to count! :) So, I am just going to have to come up with another title system for my posts. Haha! Over the last few months, I have worked my tail off! My personal trainer Kent helped me prepare for my 2nd 5k and my first ever 10k! I took several months off from my routines prior to begining my work with Kent, so I was very proud of myself when I completed the 5k in a minute less time than last year's jog. :) That, though was a halfway point. THe work continued with 2 days a week of jogging and strength trainging (no weights, just body movements to help steady my legs) and one day of homework. During that time, I met and stared dating the most amazing man. David is getting his master's in Human Fitness and Performance and is an athlete. His encouragement was a huge help when I got tired, or lazy, or felt like giving up. And it was him who paced me throughout my whole 10k so that I wouldn't have to do it alone. He keep me going when around mile 4 I started getting really crabby and tired and wanted to stop. I kept tell him that he could run ahead (he was basically walking because I was so slow and he has long legs), but he told me that he would rather stay and do it with me. I don't know that I could have finished without him by my side. I had only jogged over 6 miles twice before and both times were on the treadmill. So, I was nervous about jogging outdoors. But, I did it! :) And, I did it in a minute less than my goal time: 1 hour 15 minutes! :) David is so great that he even took pictures of me crossing the finish line! :) The Ronald McDonald 10k was held on Dec. 3, 2011. My friends Michelle, her boyfriend Michael, and my friend Jennie did the race with us. Michael and Michelle work out all the time so they were much faster than me. Jennie hadn't trained much so she walked most of it. Either way though - we all DID IT! :) :) :)

Since then, I have worked with David. He is helping me to switch my focus from jogging to muscle building so that I can reach my 8% goal easier. I have already lost about as much weight as I can (I am at around 125 according to a recent physical), so now I just have to replace fat with muscle. Let the work begin!!! :)