Sick..Day 5

This is getting old and it's also painful for my head and sinus. I want to feel 100% again but until then... I'm taking it easy at the gym. I got in my 6 miles this morning on the cross ramp but had the resistance down to 10 & 11 to make it easy.. the cold meds finally kicked in around 45 minutes. 

We pretty much had the gym to ourselves this morning. It's probably a good thing.

This little dogie goes home on Sunday morning.. 4 more feedings.. and 2 more barking nights. Dog barking and being sick don't exactly go very good together.. And I wonder why my head hurts so much!

 I'm 100% done with wanting a puppy.. Dog sitting is enough. 

Another cold day ahead.. and you can tell how Steve feels about that! I'm hoping I'll feel better Saturday when it's suppose to be back in the teens.. I really want to feel better to go skiing. 

Today, I have Friday massage on my schedule, along with lots of rest, fluids and meds to feel better. I hope this works and I can get over this cold.. I think it's time to go back to bed.. Wish I was up for more then resting.... 

S i C K.. and not liking it!

Sick, sick, sick... This pix obviously was not taken today. I'm looking forward to getting back to normal-healthy.. cold, please go away! 

I took it easy once again working out this morning. We had to cut the workout 9 minutes short and that means only 5 miles on the cross ramp. I took it nice and easy cutting back on the resistance.. but still burning 600 calories. 

I am definitely a stress junk eater. One little black box sent me into stress mode. The internet was bumping us off, one by one and yesterday it crashed... I was on the phone way too long with Comcast.. I just hate it when they tell you to go on line to their web page. Clearly if I'm calling about the Internet, I can not get on the web page. Ugh!!!! Found out we need a new box, the first issued ones experienced issues. Go figure!! I just happened to pick the day where the Comcast employees were in a meeting till 2pm. I showed up 35 minutes early so I headed out to shop. Came back at 1:55 to see a line out the door. What the ??? Long story short.. got a new black box, had to wait 2 hours before I could set it up.. then we were back on line.. everyone happy once again. Then I needed a cookie and cookie dough... plus a scoop of ice cream. Was it due to Internet stress, being sick  or all the above? I caved and I was okay.. today.. back to eating healthy no sugar and cutting back on calories (something which I haven't been doing). 

No skiing again for me today. It's nice enough to ski but with a cold.. I'll be spending my afternoon with the 3R's,  reading, resting and relaxing. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow 100% better.. wishful thinking because I'm not liking feeling sick! 

Taking it slow..and easy

I have a full blown cold. Sneezing up a storm and feeling less then energized. I'm still well enough to run.  The cross ramps were all full. Must be a Wednesday at the gym. I think most that haven't worked out Monday or Tuesday finally realize they better get to the gym and that always happens on a Wednesday. Without the cross ramp to run on.. I headed for the treadmill. I wasn't really ready to run so I walked for 2 minutes then did my running at 6.0, Zero incline today. Nope, no hills just flat running. Today was a great day to test out my walk thought my run to drink water. I walked for a minute after 30 minutes of running then again at 45 minutes, I walked another minute. I finished the last 2 minutes at 7.0mph to almost make 6miles. I was just under at 5.85miles. Close enough. Then off to do my ab workout and head for home... 

Last nights dinner was a frozen pizza. It had zero tomato sauce and luckily we had some garlic-herb roasted cherry tomatoes that I could add along with hot pepper flakes. Frozen pizza always tastes better once fixed up a bit. 

Look who's back in our care. Bandit the 16 year old dogie. We have him till Sunday morning. The only bad part is that he is use to being awake all night long.. we hear barking from midnight till 4am... They work 2nd shift and we think that's when they go to bed.. Ugh!!! 4 more nights of barking. 

I'm pretty sure I won't be eating pineapple any time soon. I had too much.. it started tasting bitter and I could not get that bitterness out off my taste buds. I tried peanut-butter, peppermints and brushing my teeth. Nothing.. only time.. at least I'm back to normal this morning. I won't forget any time soon. No more pineapple for me. 

I'm still going Cross country skiing today even if I'm not feeling the best. It's finally warm enough and I have to get out there! 

It might be -15, wind chill -45 but I'm going out there!

It might be -15 but at least it's sunny. The warm up is on the way.. tomorrow back into the teens and back to cross country skiing! 

I'm not spending much time outside. It's more like run from the car to inside quickly as possible. The gym is always the right temperature in the winter. I actually look forward to a little blast of cold air now and then.. 

I want 2014 to be the year my kids start running with me every day. I'd love to get them to run races with me. It would be a fun family activity. 3 to 4 miles races would be a good distance for them to run every day. Plus I'd love the company. Steve is just going to bike along since he doesn't want to run. 

Day 19, Healthy eating.. What changes have I made over the last 19 days? 

I still eat while sitting on the computer. I really wanted wanted to stop doing this.. 

I substitute high calorie snacks for low calorie ones like popcorn, veggies. When I want some thing sweet I eat fruit. 

Cutting back on calories to under 2000 per day. When I'm having a tough day and just want to eat, I make sure it's all low calorie and healthy and don't worry about the number total number of calories I'm eating for the day. Some days I have less others more.. It all evens out. Just trying to be more healthy and still lose a few pounds. 

I'm still doing my challenge to do squats, planks, and pushups every day and I'm guessing I always will. 

Its hard to believe.

Sitting inside a warm house with the sun shining doesn't really look like an extremely cold day.. Looks can be and are deceiving!

I'm making the most out of my day with the kids home , No school day.. 

I am treating myself to 20 calorie hot chocolate. It's just what I needed after my all morning workout. 

I thought today would be a tough day for me working out. Was I ever wrong! Even if I got up at 5am.. went back to bed till 8am, got up Stretched till 9am.. and out the door in the freezing cold I went to the gym. I had no plans to do more then an hour of cardio. I was on the cross ramp, feeling kind of good so I increased the resistance to 12 going forward.. then 15 minutes later while running backward I increased the resistance to 13.. for an hour I ran on the cross ramp and every 15 minutes switched from forward to backwards keeping the resistance a lot harder. Who knew I'd feel this great with extra sleep. Pays to go back to bed and rest. 

Weekends are suppose to be when I can do more miles of running then just 6. Its harder then you think to go beyond an hour when running indoors so I usually just talk myself out of doing any second longer then minimum. I figure.. good enough at least I'm running 6 miles that's enough! Well, today I not only did 6 miles but I decided to run on the treadmill for 30 more minutes or 3 miles. I took it a bit easy running most at 5.5miles per hour. I realized I'd never reach 3 miles in 30 minutes if I didn't pick up the pace. Last 5 minutes I ran 6.5 and then 7.0mph.. done in 31 minutes. 9 miles total for today. 

I always finish my workout with ab exercises and then lifting a few weights to work on my shoulders and arms) Got to tone up anything that wants to flap around. 

My healthy eating on day 18 included cutting up this fresh pineapple and freezing it. I'm trying to make my own frozen fruit since I can only find it at Walmart. The best kind of dessert real fresh fruit. 

It's time to clean up.. wash my gym clothes, read and nap. A great way to spend the rest of a Polar Vortex, -7 degree day!

If Only!

If only I could actually sleep in on days I don't have to wake up early! I still feel tired

I think it's time for long bangs.. or shorter long bangs. I really like being able to get every last strand of hair up in a pony tail. This is why I haven't made the big change to shorten up the bangs. I do need a new style that's easy. 

Woke up feeling like I could be getting a cold. Might need to load up on vitamin C. I am still going to workout..I have to be super, super sick with a fever before I decide to rest. 

Last night for family dinner we celebrated the Chinese New Year with homemade (our version of Chinese food). I loaded up my plate. I was waiting for dinner to have all my favorites, ribs, rice, noodles, veggies and a egg roll 

I've gone 18 days now eating healthy. I did have a tiny slice of apple/pear tart and lemon pie. Steve made the tart with my crust and his mother made the lemon tart. They were both delicious but I know a bite or two is enough. Instead of no sugar challenge after 18 days it will just be healthy eating with extremely limited sugar. Diets never last, but healthy eating 99% of the time is a much better life style. I'm not stopping the challenge just because I ate some sugar over the weekend. I'm going for healthy eating, more veggies, fruit and keeping my calorie count down with the hopes to lose a few more pounds. 

We are in once again another Polar Vortex.. the cold, cold air from Canada is here for the next 2 days. No school for the kids and lucky me... no work for today. A little cold isn't going to stop me from running. 

Its probably time I start doing a different treadmill workout. Yesterday, I took it easy and dropped my speed down to 5.7mph on the big 1.5 hill. I feel like most days it takes all my will power to keep running. Today, I'll run by how I feel since I'm not 100%. I want to try doing some speed work.. staying at 7mph longer then just the last 2 or 3 minutes. I need to go back to the every other minute make it easy running 5.5 to hard 7.0mph with random hills because it's not flat outside. I have to keep it as real as I can. I'm also sticking with 30 minutes.. It's not my favorite running on the treadmill. I get the best of both worlds doing 30 on the cross ramp too which is all hills. Plus, I can run backwards on that and work other muscles. 

Last week miles

Cross ramp running= 21 miles
Treadmill running= 21 miles
Biking = 9 miles
X-skiing = 0 miles (too cold) 
Total miles = 51

Melting away the buns!

Are my buns melting away? Hard to tell... as that's what this whole blog is about. Running my buns off. The hardest muscle to tone up for me.. my sad glutes! I thought running would make them super tone to the point where I wouldn't have that extra jiggle.. wiggle.. jiggle.. I'm just not sure its possible for everyone to tone up 100%.. but I sure keep trying!

There is also that 6 pack abs.. Is that really a possibility? I'm far from a 6 pack but I can see some results.. those muscle are just really hidden.. but I'll keep working on them a few minutes every day.. 

Yesterday, I was wondering if my socks were the reason my feet have been burning while running. I was under the impression the best socks to run in were the brands made for runners. Moisture wicking and about $15 per pair. Not exactly cheap. then I found some at Target I really liked for half the cost. The socks I tried out today are your miss matched, cheap $4 for 6 pairs of socks at good old Walmart. You know what? No burning on the bottom of my feet. My feet were dry and felt great! I did tighten up my shoe laces since that could also be why.. tighten them up to keep my feet from moving around. My conclusion.. save your money.. wear what ever socks you want but make sure your shoes are a good tight fit. But not too tight! 

We spent Saturday looking at shiny new Trucks. Steve's 11 year old truck is now having repair issues. We came home with this Bright Red Sparkling New 2014 Chevy Truck, loaded with all kinds of fun stuff. Nice that he can keep working and making money now that he has a good work truck again. 

I have to admit.. we were at that dealer for a long time.. over lunch and almost to dinner. I was starving. The sales guy brought us a chocolate muffin and animal crackers. Now If I'm going to break my challenge of no sugar after 16 days it better be worth it. I had half the chocolate muffin. I am 100% okay with eating that muffin with chocolate chips. I got right back on track with no sugar junk. Sometimes life happens and that doesn't mean its all or nothing.. make adjustments and get right back on track the very next meal and day.. 

Day 17..Challenge continues.. still need to lose 10 pounds. slow and steady I'll get there. 

Maybe its all in the socks?

I've been having this bottom of the feet "burn". I didn't even run 30 minutes on the treadmill and I could feel the bottoms of my feet hurting. I stopped after my usual 30 minutes/3 miles and it was over to the cross ramp where  my feet stay in the same place.. the bottom of my feet still burned. These socks are suppose to be moisture wicking, keeping the feet dry. They might be causing too much friction? 

Maybe it's time to try some other types of socks when running? 

I'm not 100% sure the foot pain is coming from the socks. It's definitely something to check out! I just don't like my feet feeling like they are on fire. 

I probably should have taken a body selfie before I started this challenge of no sugar 16 days ago.. Better late then never.. this is after working out.. Pretty sweaty. I'm seeing some slow progress in my body weight and being a little more tone. Losing a little around the middle.. back to fitting in all my jeans comfortably. That's the key.. must be comfortable.. Well, some are only comfy with a belt but its not a struggle to get them on and nothing over flows. 

I know it isn't the best decision to drink 4 glasses of wine and expect to feel okay the next morning. I really struggled today with my hour of cardio. I tried getting up at 5, 7 and finally at 8am I was up and by 9am out the door to the gym. Lots of recovery before I could even think about running. Lesson learned.. Drink more water and a lot less wine. I think 2 will be my max from now on and unlimited water.. 

I am not going to do a book review.. but, I did finished book 1, the Maze Runner. On to the 2nd book in the series. All I'm going to stay about the book I.. it never ends and goes right into the Scorched Trials. It's really not the type of book I'd normally read, subject wise, but since the kids got all the books for Christmas and I have nothing else to read in the house.. I'll keep reading. I really hope there is some good out come in the last book.. #4.. I usually hate finishing books, but this one left me..with what??? What??? 

I completely forgot!

I forgot to do my daily squats yesterday! I have zero excuse even if I was about to come up with a few really lame ones. The real reason? I put off doing it and then completely forgot! That's the reason it's best to do a workout the same time every day. It's pretty hard to forget if you just stick to a pre-determined schedule. I usually am all about the non-schedule but for exercise and making it work for me.. It's a must!

To make up for my memory loss.. I've decided I'll do 100 squats today instead of just 50 using 8 pound dumb bells in each hand. I'll just do 2 sets of 50 and give myself a rest in between. I'm not going to start using/ thinking working out as a punishment. I want to have it be a reward. I just don't want to lose what I've gained in fitness plus, it's time to once again.. step it up. 

Last night it was Game night at the neighbors. I ate dinner and even though all this yummy food, dips, bacon was in front of me.. I didn't eat any thing but a small taste of the 2 dips. I did manage to wash it down with a small bottle of wine over the course of 5 hours. The wine more then made up for not eating any of the food. 

We played "Things".. funny game and a good time. 

I've been treating myself to a every Friday massage. I always think I'm going to really enjoy the massage and it will be relaxing. It's nothing like that. I go to my chiropractor office and this tiny woman has hands of steel. It's a little painful.. and that might be an understatement.. I know she's working on my shoulders/neck but really.. I just want to relax. I do let her know when it's too much and she's backed way off on the pressure. I've just had way better massages but I can't complain.. I'm still getting a weekly massage and it's all covered, so no paying out of pocket. 

One of the best parts of my Friday that I looked forward to all day.. Spending time with Evan. He was once again a tired baby. Didn't wake up for more then a few seconds for me.. Then off to sleep again. 

Not Healthy enough, Fit enough, Fast enough, Thin Enough..

Back in 2012 we made a 2+ hour hike up the tallest mountain in Minnesota, Eagle Mountain. We almost didn't make it to the top thanks to a wrong turn.. We both felt so good making it to the top. What an accomplishment.. then the hike back down.. why is it going up seems to take forever and back down was so quick? 

July 2011.. was my very first 4 miles timed race. I didn't train for this other then run on the cross ramp.  I had slip on running shoes with no backs and no socks. This was my running shoe. I've made a ton of running mistakes but I learned from each one. This was a big first step of many that I've made over the last few years to get Healthy, fit and thin enough to be happy to be me! I might have some set backs.. a little weight gain, not as fast, not eating as healthy.. but I get right back on track. I never stop exercising.. never stop thinking what's next.. 

I miss being able to horse back ride. The fun was in the learning part. So much to know and I had so far to go.. I'm looking for another challenge.. Maybe its my mid life crisis? Some other new fitness challenge hobby to enjoy along with running, skiing, swimming, biking, mountain climbing, boating, and ? 

Any suggestions?

I can't look at Cook Books!

Last night I decided to make some cookies.. It's similar to a sugar cookie but rolled into a ball and dipped in frosting, almond and vanilla flavor. I tried to resist eating any but I must confess.. I tried one and stopped! 

 I've packaged up the rest of these cookies and out of the house they go! No more temptations around!

I had some kind of sugar break down last night.. I started looking at all my cookie cook books. Not a good idea. I felt the urge to binge on sugar.. what to do.. put down the cook books.. quit looking at sugar treats and go have one slice of wheat bread with my chunky Skippy all natural peanut butter. It did the trick. I do know my weakness and it's cookies! Best to avoid contact because I'm not where I want to be yet!

Running Project

This was the project I was going to make for Christmas. Some place to keep all my running metals.. 

The biggest step was to find a paint brush. After getting the paint, brush and wood all in one place,  there was nothing more to do, but paint! Wood, paint and paint brush (free)

Waiting to let the paint dry and seeing if my Runner Letters would fit? 

I just bought pre-painted letters 99 cents each and hot glued them to the board. Easy!

Hand screwed in the hooks that were $199 for 6.

I'm going to have to start racing more to collect a few more metals! 2- 1st place and one for the 1/2 marathon finisher

My runner trophy is my favorite.. for 1st place 

I even made a soccer metal hanger for Logan. Now to find out if Celina want one for Running, Tennis or Soccer? 

Cheap, easy project.. DONE!

The kids wanted a smoothie.. I guess being in a polar vortex does not prevent them from wanting to eat ice cold treats!