A few more days of weekend, please!

And it is Monday again! Sadly this weekend went by a lot fast than usual, but wha cha gonna do?

Saturday I had my first workout with Boulder Running Company Women’s Fit Team. Ok, the waking up at 6:30 on a Saturday was not fun, but I was excited to get down there and start! It was blowing like mad, but otherwise it was wonderful running weather. On the agenda for intermediate runners was 4 miles, so that is what I had planned. I had my new watch ready to take on its maiden run, I was excited! I got down there, signed in, the coach went over some information, we stretched and off we went! I hit play on my iPod and start on my watch. I took it a lot easier than I needed to, but I didn’t want to kill myself the first time I was out running. I ran a song, walked a song or two, ran a song… enjoyed the scenery. It was a very enjoyable run. My goal was to finish in under an hour (told you I was taking it slow) and I did that with no issues. I do need to fix my running play list. For some reason it has a run song, two or three walk songs, and then another walk song. Right now I want to work on run a song, walk a song. Once I have no issues with that again, I got up to two run, one walk, then three run and one walk, then run (up to five miles) non-stop. But right now, it is baby steps! Sadly, I had to go home, get cleaned up and then go into work (I am normally a Monday – Friday type of gal).

Sunday all I did was shopping, but trust me, that was a workout in itself!

So, this week’s schedule looks nice and calm with a 3 miler today and tomorrow, a 3.5 – 4 miler on Thursday and a 5-miler on Saturday. Cross training days on Wednesday and Friday. That is just what is on the schedule. Now, I do have my century ride, so I will need to get in some extra workouts in. Today for example I am thinking bike during lunch and 3-miler RIGHT after work. Might hit the trail on the Air Force Academy or might go a little further north. We will see where my car takes me! Oh! And weigh ins have moved back to Wednesday nights.

OH! Can you believe I almost forgot… My new toy! Saturday I had my new Forerunner with me. First thing I noticed was it didn’t have all the fields I wanted, easy fix. I turned my alarm noise off, but I kept vibrate on. It was easy to ready, it was easy to use, I think I can say I am in love! I am looking forward to putting on a LOT of miles with my new friend! As far as the HR monitor goes, I didn’t even notice it was there!

Not a spin bike, but I got a cool new toy!

So after much soul searching I decided I am not getting a spin bike. I will do the best I can to keep the noise down (if the bike is to loud I will just crank up the music!). I ended up getting something that will get a lot more miles! Let me start off by saying I have had a Forerunner 405 for a couple of years now and I love it! BUT the battery dies before I am done with LONG races and it isn’t water proof and blah, blah, blah. So, I got a new toy! I just picked up a Forerunner 310XT, it is charging right now and I am so excited to take it out tomorrow! We are at 18% charged! I might give my old Garmin to my sister to motivator her get out and get moving, or I just might be greedy and keep it to myself!

While I was out and about I stopped and picked up my paperwork for the training team, first run is tomorrow between 1 and 5 miles (I think I will shoot for 4). After picking up the paperwork I decided I would be bad and stopped at Fizolli’s for their baked ziti, I love the stuff and I said multiple times no meat sauce. I get back work and guess what, meat sauce! Luckily I work near multiple young guys so I had no problem finding someone to dispose of it for me. I called Fizolli’s and told them what happened and I got the usual “well, you can bring it back in.” I stayed calmed and explained that I work on the a good 20 minutes away from them so they said next time I come in they will give me a free meal. Luckily I had “daffodil wings” in the freezer at work. They are actually MorningStar Farms® Buffalo Wings Veggie Wings, one of my coworkers informed me a while back you can’t get buffalo wings from a vegetable (not that you can get wings from a buffalo) so they are now referred to as daffodil wings!

I get to work late tonight and again tomorrow, so I am not sure I will get my workouts in today, but I know for a fact I will get my group run in tomorrow! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and expect a nice report on my new toy on Monday (maybe sooner!)

Buyer’s remorse without even buying anything!

So I was at the store last night checking out the bikes and I got information on the two bikes I am considering and they both have their benefits (one has a squishier seat while the other has better aero bars, one has shows RPMs while the other shows MPH, etc.). I woke up this morning with buyer’s remorse and I haven’t even bought the damn thing yet! The way I see it is I have a bike, I have a trainer, the reason I really don’t use it is because my sister says it is really loud! Instead of getting a spin bike, we are going to get a pad to see if that will muffle the sound and if that doesn’t work, then we will see about making the investment. Another thing we are planning on doing is ripping out all the carpet and putting hard wood floors in, not sure that will muffle the sound any, but it is time to change the flooring!

Today is a forced day off, I had mommy duties to do this morning so there went my lunch time workout and then I have class tonight which means I can’t do it after work. All of this is fine, tomorrow should be a two workout day, one during lunch and one again after work (hitting the pool after work!). Saturday is the run group, I don’t know what the plan is other than dressing warm. Sunday (not supposed to be great weather) there is a spin class at the gym followed by a yoga class, might see if I can get into the spin class and then recover with the yoga class, if not, who knows!

While on my mommy duties this moring the lady at the front office asked if I was still doing Weight Watchers, I told her I was but I am going to a different meeting (we had seen each other at the Wednesday meeting, but lately I have been hitting up the Saturday meeting). I told her I will be running with a local run group on Saturdays so I will be coming back to the Wednesday meetings, I like the leader in that meeting better anyway!

One more day until Friday!

Sam I am!

I am excited to report my bike jersey was waiting for me when I got home from class last night. The site said “•Runs slightly small, order one size up”, little did I know it was a blessing that the only size they have left was a 3X! That thing fits me like a XL usually does! But it does fit, the only it can do now is get looser! My boys love the jersey and I can’t wait to wear it for the century ride!

Even though life has been busy I still managed to get down to the gymlet today for a workout. As I was heading downstairs (I am getting really good about using the stairs) I decided I would do a high RPOM/low resistance ride today. The entire 45 minutes I maintained a 90+ RMP, ok, I am sure I dropped a time or two into the upper 80s, but what do you expect? Next time I will raise the resistance level. All in all it was a very enjoyable ride. It was nice having a flat ride!

I plan on sneaking by the fitness equipment shop this afternoon to see if they have my bike (I can’t get it until the weekend, but there is no harm in visiting it!). Last time I was in they had three but only two caught my attention. I will update what I decide tomorrow!

Honey Nut Cheerios and a banana

Don’t ask me what the title of this blog has to do with anything other than it is my breakfast this morning. Actually, lately all I have been wanting for breakfast is cereal! Usually I have egg whites and stuff, but right now I want my cereal! Yesterday I was sitting at my desk with my cheerios in a styrofoam coffee cup and a coworker asked where the banana was. So, now I have to have a banana with my cereal! Ok, so I am rambling, it is good for the health, you know!

On the training front I since Thursday, I made it to the pool once and to a spinning class. Friday night I managed to get about 30 minutes in before the water aerobics class came in and took over the pool. It felt amazing to be back in the water! Nothing was hurting, everything just felt like it let out a great sigh of relief when I hit the water. I am considering getting custom made ear plugs. Year ago, I was screwing around on the diving board and when I jump in I managed to rupture my ear drum/channel (can’t remember) and my sister and I thought it was so cool that I could blow bubbles out of my ear! I have been able to get by using the $5 ear plugs you can get at any sports store (yes, I wear them even during triathlons!), but they haven’t seem to be working so well lately. It is something to think about! As far as spinning goes, I was debating whether or not I should get up and go; I got up! I got in and this teacher is a trip! She is not the annoying perky bouncy type, but she was a lot of fun! I was dripping after the class (yea, I know ewwwww). We did “rolling hills” all at “our cadence” and some sprints that were within 5 – 10 RMPs of our cadence and then within 1-2 (she didn’t want us to kill ourselves quite yet!). Good class! Then it was off to Weight Watchers, I am down another .6 pounds YAY! But I didn’t stay for the meeting, I had more important things to attend to! Namely making my sister want to kill me. It was her birthday on Saturday so I stopped by King Soopers (grocery store) and I had planned on only getting her four balloons. I picked out the balloons I wanted (Betty Boop from me, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger “It’s a girl” from the puppies, a cupcake one from the boys and a noise one just for good measure). I went up to the counter to had them filled and the lady asked if I wanted any latex balloons, then this idea popped into my head! Yes! By the time I walked out I had one balloon for every year she is old! It was a good thing I had my SUV with me, there is NO way those balloons would have fit into my car! I also picked up a cupcake (vanilla, so she could give it to the dogs). Needless to say, when she saw the balloons she was going to kill me, but I also gave her the watch she has been drooling over for a while now so I lived to tell about the balloon trick I played on her! Saturday night I really blew any calorie level I could have possibly imagined! My sister and I took a friend to the Melting Pot (love their fondue!) we all had a great time!

This upcoming Saturday, I start running with a local training group, which mean no more Saturday morning spinning class, but in a way that is ok, because I plan on getting a spin bike within the next week or so. This group also means I am looking into signing up for another race; it would be a 10-miler in Garden of the Gods! (I will be updating my "Upcoming Races" section if you want to check out what I plan on getting up to this year!)

OH! And most importantly, my new bike jersey should be in today!!!!!

Not doing to well

Something is not right, I don’t feel right. My energy level has tanked and my muscles twitches are back and blah, blah, blah. I am hoping I am not going into another flare up, I can’t handle that right now. I took yesterday completely off I didn’t hit play, I didn’t hit the gymlet I did nothing. I am still so tired I can barely keep my eyes opened. I would like to get into the pool for a little while even if I am just kind of floating in the deep end, maybe that will make me feel better, who knows! I have signed up for the spinning class for tomorrow, if I make it, great! If not, such is life. Last flare up I tried to push through it and only made it worse.

Tomorrow is my weigh in, I will be happy to see another pound gone. My eating hasn’t been to bad, but it hasn’t been great either. Last night for dinner I had chips and salsa, that is all that I wanted!

On an entertaining note, I ordered my bike jersey for the century ride, I can’t wait until it comes in. I saw it months ago and figured it was a must get. Well, today I was looking around and saw they only had one size left (luckily nice and big) so I figured I had better order it before its to late… Yes, it is a Sam I am jersey, what else did you expect?

Let me sleep!

Yesterday I had a chance to look back over some of my previous blogs and it got me thinking. My first blog was 20 Apr 10, almost coming up on a year! On 27 Apr 10, I blogged about the last 10 years and how trying it has been but on the same token how I have accomplished things I would never had dreamed possible! Less than a month later I was blogging about the tentative diagnosis of lupus!

Over the past almost year those of you who read this have piped in a time or two with some much need support or advice of kudos which are all much appreciated! The support I received when Carin passed away I can’t even start to express my gratitude.

I did not get my 30-minute shred in last night, by the time I got home Cuervo had decided to set his chair (he has a papsan chair) up in my room and go to sleep. I at least got a laugh out of it… I was in bed settled in and I hear little squeals coming from his direction, I sit up and see that Charlie had climbed into the chair with him! Luckily whenever I go into the bathroom Charlie follows, which meant he got off Cuervo (who didn’t even really wake up). Later in the night the elusive Diamond (the cat who shares the upstairs with me and was willing to put up with Carin but no other dog) got cornered by Charlie. That was some excitement! Everyone in the house woke up trying to pull Charlie away from her and I got the job of picking her up and getting her under my bed (one of her favorite places to hide) without getting scratched. Freddie sat in the middle of my room watching all the excitement but not moving. Diamond try to put Charlie in his place by giving him a nice scratch on his nose but it didn’t work! Diamond is usally pretty good about avoiding Charlie, but last night just didn’t pan out for her. She is fine. When Charlie went out this morning she came out of my closet (she went from under my bed to the closet sometime last night, she has food, water and a box in both locations) and stopped by for some love and then returned to under my bed. Diamond is a true cat, she will let you know when she wants attention and if any of her bowls are lower than she likes the entire house will hear about it!
Today I have a nice ride on the stationary bike again and hopefully a 30 minute workout tonight. I might stray away from the 30-day shred and do yoga (right knee is a little cranky today), not sure yet I will figure that out when I get home and I am putting in a disk

Day 5 of the Shred, Day 9 of the challenge

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day which is usually a depressing time for me and the lovey-dovey crap and the blah, blah, blah isn’t the greatest thing for a single gal. Yesterday was oddly peaceful for me. I have been a single gal for going on eight years (yes, there have been dates here and there, but nothing really special), during these years I have taken the opportunity to find me. Even with a crappy diagnosis I think I can honestly say I am happy with where I am, with who I am. But if anyone knows any great single guys!

Yesterday morning my feet were a little tender so I figured I would not do my 30-minute shred in the morning. I got down to the gymlet for a good 45 minute ride (I really can’t wait until I get a spin bike), I picked up one of my monkeys (my sister picked up the other one), we hit the grocery store and picked up the last of our week’s groceries and then headed home. We were having fish sticks for dinner so I left my sister and my boys to cook the fish and I ran upstairs to get my shred in. Yesterday was the first day I used weights, ok, they were 3 pounds but I still got a good workout in! I was heading back downstairs right as the kitchen time went BEEP! I got everyone salad and their rice and veggies, we all sat down and had a good dinner and I was out before 9pm!

This morning my feet were tender again, so again I didn’t get up for my workout. During lunch I got to the gymlet and got a 2.5 mile run/walk in. Felt good. I am not sure I will make it home after class in time to do my 30-minute shred, but I have come to grips that I will not be able to do 30 days straight of the video, but it is a supplemental workout, so I will do what I can (while listening to my body!). My water consumption is not doing so well right now, that is something I will get back on track. My eating has been pretty good, I did splurge a little over the weekend but I still managed to come in around my calories, so I couldn’t have been to bad. In the past I was horrible about eating fruits. They were one thing I really wouldn’t eat, but lately have been enjoying some fruit with my morning snack (strawberries or pineapple) and in the afternoon a nice big juicy orange! My boss came to talk to me and he had just finished eating one, since then I have made sure I have packed on in my lunch and boy of boy are they good!

While reading another blog (when I remember whose I will update this) I saw something about Cool Running’s running plan. Using their plan I start training for the Denver Marathon on 23 May 2011. Obviously I have a few conflicts, but that is no big deal. But I am hoping to join the women’s training thing around here and see if that helps any. I still have time to figure all that out! My focus for now is my century!

Oh! And my boys (the two legged ones) did get me a thing of daffodils of Valentine’s Day! (I am not a fan of roses)

Day 7 - Taking a day off

Here we are ¾ of the way through the weekend and I have to say I am not doing so well on my 30 day challenge. I didn’t not hit play on Friday, instead I was outside trying to shovel water away from my driveway. There was just the right mixture of snow, ice and water that I could see having some major issues Saturday morning. Saturday I didn’t hit play either but I did make it to spinning and let me tell you I was so happy to be there. It was great to be on a spin bike again (I can’t wait until I am on MY bike again). Today, well, I am just tried so I am taking a day off from workouts. My water intake has also slipped over the weekend. I am excited to report that I did go down 6.6 pounds at my Weight Watchers weigh in yesterday. I was wishful thinking a 7 pound loss, so when I was the 6.6 loss I started doing the happy dance!

I picked up my bike from the shop on Saturday, hopefully the warm weather we are having will make it possible to hit the roads sooner rather than later. Either way, she is home and ready to go!

Tomorrow morning is back to waking up and getting my 30 minutes in. Tomorrow is also a stationary bike day, I think it will be hills.

Well, tomorrow is back to work, even though I could use about another three days of sleep!

OH! I signed up for the Denver Marathon today. I think that means all my races for the year are now paid for.

30-Day Challenge

11 – 12 Feb 11

Ø 76 oz of water every day – got it in for Friday, but not quite on Saturday

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (Still doing well on this one!)

ü Down size Startbucks (I am sitting in Starbucks right now and have my tall next to me, I didn’t have any yesterday!)

ü Logging intake – haven’t writing down yet, but that will be easy to do.

Ø 30-day Shred – nope! L

Day 5 - Ready for the weekend

Here we are, it is finally Friday! I decided I would sleep in this morning and hit play tonight. I did get down to the gymlet for a nice 30 minutes of 2 minutes running/2 minutes walking. I didn’t make it yesterday before class, so I figured I would get it in today!

My boys, my sister and I went to HuHot the other night and my sister was about to take Cuervo out (he had reached his limit of people and noise) but she had to stop because of a song that was playing. I could barely hear it because of the surrounding noise (my hearing isn’t great in crowded areas due to being in the military). She sent me the info and I have to say, I can see why she didn’t want to leave before the song was over. The song is great and the video is really well done.

Anyway, tomorrow is weigh in day, ok, I would like to be down 7 pounds (just because of the 5 pound gain from last week) but I will be happy with any weight loss!

30-Day Challenge

10 Feb 11

ü 76 oz of water every day (3+ bottles )

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (I fell asleep a few minutes before it went off!)

ü Down size Startbucks (I am getting used to having talls now)

ü Logging intake

ü 30-day Shred – Every day

It is now Day 4 and I am off and running!

Last night was another one of those nights I was to tired to cook, my sister was still not feeling well, we decided we would go to Applebee’s (kid’s eat for 99 cents on Wednesdays), when we got there the parking lot was full! So we figured we had better go elsewhere. Up the street a smidge (in the same block) was a new place we have wanted to try HuHot. The smell of it when driving by YUM! We got there and found out it is an all you can eat Mongolian BBQ. Still smelled good! You get to pick out everything you want and then they cook it up for you while you wait, easy enough. When I got up to the grill I asked it would be possible for my food not to touch any meat, “vegetarian?” ‘yes’ (I wasn’t going to go into the whole fisheterian thing). The cleaned a spot for my food, put utensils around it to make sure nothing could touch it and announced when my food was going on and coming off. After speaking to our waitress (very nice lady) she said they have no problems working people and their dietary restrictions. I have every intention of going back again. I only went through once, but my older son got four plates!

This morning I did not want to get up! Freddie kept me up all night chewing of stuff and getting into stuff he shouldn’t be. When I actually cracked an eye opened I saw my jeans that are two sizes smaller than what I am in now hanging on my door. Grumbling I got up. This video is kicking my butt, well, actually it is kicking my calves and thighs (I was going down the stairs as I was leaving work yesterday, talk about sore!). First set of jumping jacks I had to stop before it was time because of a twinge in my knee, but rest of them I was able to do. I got interrupted midway through the workout because two puppies and one child all tried to go down the stairs at the same time. Puppies were fine, kid was not! After making sure everything was ok and giving him a reassuring hug I started the “butt kicks” section again and continued on. I finished up got cleaned up, Cuervo is fine, he and the stairs have just had a few to many issues this week (he feel down and hit his knee on Monday). I think part of it is because his mind is elsewhere. I know he will kill me if he found out I posted this but he and his girlfriend are planning to have their first kiss today (isn’t young love cute!). He has asked if we can get her a Valentine’s Day present when we go shopping this weekend (he is in 4^th grade and is already thinking about all that).

I am hoping to get a short run in today (Jose has an appointment, I have class, not much time, but I will try!), tomorrow is the pool with the kids (we all swim laps and then it is play time, good way to end the week). Saturday I am signed up for a spinning class and then I have WW weigh in. This morning I couldn’t help myself, I had to get on the scale, I needed to see if all this work is doing anything for my numbers. I was in my work clothes (my heaviest work pants) and my boots on I was down 2+ pounds since last Saturday’s weigh in! I have a feeling I will have no issue getting my rump out of bed tomorrow morning!

OH! And the countdown to CDA is under 500 days now! I know I am only guessing at the date at this time, but it is still exciting!

30-Day Challenge

9 Feb 11

ü 76 oz of water every day (3 bottles [24 oz] of water plus two cups at dinner)

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (fell asleep before TV went off, but kept getting woken up L)

ü Down size Startbucks

ü Logging intake (had to do an educated guess for dinner, but I did log everything!)

ü 30-day Shred – Every day

Day 3 (10% done!!!!)

When I got home last night I was COLD! Cuervo was curled up in his chair and Jose was on my bed and they were watching TV, my poor sister was in her room sick as can be. She came up to greet me and told me my boys had been really good all day. They watched TV and when they needed something they would come talk to her, otherwise they left her alone (they are amazing at doing that). Before I did anything else I got changed and hit play! The first round of jumping jacks I realized my calves for one heck of a workout on Monday! Freddie and Charlie tried to help me again. This time Freddie figured I need help staying up so he stood under my upper chest while I was trying to do push-ups. My sister came and rescued me! I was able to finish my workout (my knee played nice, thank goodness). Then it was dinner time. Quesadillas! I did have two, but I measured everything out. I only had a little bit of fat free cheese, and I did stack on the lettuce and cilantro, some no salt black beans and some other stuff. I thought I had made good choices, that is until I figured out the calories! According to Body Bugg and entering in everything I did eat yesterday I still came out without any issues. I was just shy of my goal calories in for the day. Monday it looks like I was way lower than I was supposed to be. I can now see where I am falling to short or going to far over. I figure 100 calories either way is manageable.

This morning I was back on schedule. I figured out how to get out of bed and Cuervo decided it was necessary to sleep in my room again (I think he just likes sleeping in his chair [it is one of those big round ones] and Charlie has no issues climbing up into the chair with him!). When I got out of bed Cuervo had packed up his chair and got it out of my way so I was able to get right into it. I hit play and again my calves started asking me what the heck I thought I was doing! This time during push-ups Freddie came over and started giving me kisses every time I came up. Then he decided it was play time with Charlie so they went outside. I have been doing the 30-day shred without weights, I am hoping to get to the store to pick up some dumbbells tonight. I don’t think I will need anything more than 3 – 5 pounds (for now). With my shoulder not back to 100% yet, this workout is great, it is not to strenuous on it but it does work out.

New bike pants (don’t worry, I did laundry Monday night) + running skirt (put on backwards [oops]) = perfect combo. My boss was in the gymlet today and I was so glad I had my skirt on. I am sure he wouldn’t have cared, but I would not have been able to get a good ride in trying to fix the back of my pants (they don’t go WAY down, but they are further down than I am happy with). After chatting with my boss for 5 minutes I got into my ride. Little hilly (nothing like what I am going to need for Elephant Rock – stayed between levels 5 – 9 with RPMS between 87 – 95).

30-Day Challenge

8 Feb 11

ü 76 oz of water every day

ü TV off no later than 10:30 (I have been falling asleep before my TV even think about shutting off!)

ü Down size Startbucks

ü Logging intake

ü 30-day Shred – Every day!

Day 2

My background on this blog is very fitting today! It is snowy and COLD out there! I think I heard our high is supposed to be a whopping 8 degrees (the low is -14 [that is without windchill!], who knows!

I have not hit play yet. Cuervo had a very rough day yesterday so he sent up camp in my room. Today is a snow day and sadly (luckily for me) my sister is coming down with the same thing I just got over! So my sister and my boys are staying home. Since Cuervo wasn’t getting up his “nest” didn’t move so I didn’t have space, but that is ok. I WILL press play tonight! Walking in this morning my knee kept bucking backwards (and having to be on the phone with my ‘boss’ for two hours) my lunch time workout got moved (if class gets cancelled tonight, I might sneak in a treadmill workout before I go home). Which means I absolutely will hit play tonight!

Yesterday I managed to get more than 100oz of water in! We ended up going to dinner at Red Robin (Cuervo loves that place and we thought it might help). They have veggie burgers there, but I didn’t want all those calories! So, I was very good and got a Cobb salad with no meat or dressing. When I got it I removed more than half of the blue cheese and about half of the olives. I was a little surprised that my sister didn’t realize how fatty olives are (she couldn’t figure out why I had removed them). Anyway, I did log everything I ate, to include my night time snack of popcorn!

Here is to Day 2!

Day 1

Here we are Day 1 of my 30 days. This morning when my alarm went off I told myself I can go ahead and sleep some more and I will do my work out this afternoon.

Let me rewind a bit. I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday morning and found I out put on 5 pounds, no real surprise, but DAMN! That is ok, I am getting back on track, I am not drinking a gallon of orange juice a day and laying in bed and doing no real physical activity (hey, I was sick!).

So, like I said, here we are Day 1. First thing is first, I did get my butt out of bed and hit play! My boys were supposed to keep the fur kids out of the way, but that didn’t quiet go as planned. I found out that the proper way to do crunches is ever time you come up, you get a puppy kiss! Jumping jacks a puppy needs to sit in front of you and wiggle his butt and then when you start butts kicks (I was very careful) he grabs onto your workout bottoms and provides more resistance for you! Mind you this is after only one time through… it was a good workout, I was sweating! And the 30 minutes (well, 27 something) flew by! I am looking forward to hitting play again tomorrow.

I also made it to the gymlet during lunch! I got a new pair of bikes pants (capris) this weekend and I had to take them for a test ride! I went to the bike shop to drop Baby off (she needs a new chain, so far, they had just started on her when I got that call), I can’t honestly be expected to walk in the front door go all the way to the back drop off my bike and walk back out the front door without doing some shopping! Plus I found out that their big sale will be the second weekend of March so I started my wish list! J Anyway, new bike pants, when I tried them on at the store I didn’t realize they were low riders (add in the fact my rump is on the large side-plumber!)… note to self: wear skirt over the top! It was a good thing no one else was in the gymlet with me! I did 45 minutes interval (2 minutes at level 5/2@level 10) today and my tush didn’t start hurting until I had 11 minutes left. Except for trying to pull up the back of my pants the entire time I like the pants. The padding is good. Usually I am uncomfortable about 10 minutes, it took me 34 minutes to get there today.

I am very proud to report I got my tall iced, non-fat, decaf latte; trust me my Starbucks people were shocked! I packed my food for the day… two serving of egg beaters egg white, ½ a serving of non-fat cheese, Morningstar sausage patty for breakfast; Greek yogurt and strawberries for morning snack; hummus, cucumber, cilantro wrap and carrots for lunch; and then cheese and crackers for afternoon snack. I think we are having non-fried eggplant parmesan for dinner (a guy in the grocery store told me the recipe, hope it works out well!).

Water – one plus bottle down, a little less than two to go!

1 Month

So Monday is the big day! The day I start Jillian Michael’s 30-Day shred AND a 30-Challenge! This will be in addition to bike time and running time.

After the 30 day challenges I have done in the past, I know there are some things that will just be setting me up for failure if I add to the list. So, my biggest goal is to make it as realistic.

First thing is first… water intake! I drink water, but nowhere near enough. I have my nice little CamelBak water bottle on my desk and I have one at home (if I bring my work bottle home I forget it there for a few days and that is annoying). So, Item 1 will be drinking 3 bottles of water (76 oz) each and every day! This is water, not Starbucks, not soda. Water!

Another one is my TV. Yes, I am one of those millions of people who have a TV in their room and I go to sleep to it. I have it set to go off at 10:30 every night, but sadly more often than not I turn it right back on for another hour or so. SO, the TV goes off, it stays off! This includes the weekends!

30-days of nothing larger than a tall drink at Starbucks! I know it sounds crazy. I have managed to go from a venti to a grande, now I just have to go down to a tall! This means less money AND less calories. OH! And getting multiple Starbucks in one day is a no-no!

Oh! This is one I need to work on (for both WW and Body Bugg!) – tracking my food! I suck at it! During the week I am ok, but once the weekend hits… forget it!

Since the 30-day Shred is a 30 day program my last goal is to get my workout in every single day! All 30-days I will hit play!

On a side note, I love the tri gear from De Soto. I can’t stand my legs and they have tri Capri bottoms. Every so often I go to their site and check out what they have, more often than not I hit the clearance bin. The other day I went in and my favorite bottoms were in there AND they were the pink and blue but they didn’t have my size, they had one size down! So I ordered it.They also had tops on sale, again, in pink and again a size smaller.

Now, realistically I will never wear a bikini (I bought one a while back as an inspiration outfit), but this is a whole different story! I also found a tri suite I like (the picture at the top)!

Gotta love it when you find stuff that is at least 50% off!!!! For those of you who know what I look like… don’t worry, I will not wear the top by itself after I get out of the water!

30-Day Challenge

Ø 76 oz of water every day

Ø TV off no later than 10:30

Ø Down size Startbucks

Ø Logging intake

Ø 30-day Shred – Every day!

Back in the saddle!

I am so happy to report that yesterday not only did I finally make it down to the gymlet I got an amazing workout in! Because of a century ride coming up in four months I am trying to get on the stationary bike 3 times a week to get my butt back to being in a saddle and to get my bike muscles woken up. I got on the bike, selected a nice hilly/flat ride, put my headphones in and something sparked! I don’t know if it is what was playing, but I got into that ride! My tush wasn’t hurting to bad by the time I got off 30 minutes later (I only have a lunch HOUR plus I figure 30 minutes is a good place to start), as soon as my time was done I hopped onto the treadmill for a song. Started off at a 5.0 (I am a slow runner, I know). During the chorus (refrain, whatever) I pushed it up to 6.0 (still slow, I know). Three and a half minutes I did a short cool down. When I got on the treadmill my legs had the attitude of ‘excuse me? We did our bike workout, we are done now. Hey, wait, I like this!’ I only have two tris on the books this year, but one of them is a half ironman and my hardest park is the bike to run. I will work on my legs to get them used to that transition.

I have trained for multiple marathons, triathlons and so on. But cycling, not so much. I mean I got miles in for the triathlons, but it is something I need to work on, big time. I was sitting here trying to figure out who might be able to give me pointers and it occurred to me John from John’s Ironman Adventure might be a good person. So I cheated and contacted him, luckily he said he would help! I have 121 days until my first century ride (which is my first true step towards my first IM) over the next 121 days I will be posting how everything is progressing. First thing is first, however, Baby (yes, I named my bike Baby) will be going in for her annual check-up and I might get her tape changed too! Sooner rather than later I plan on getting a new rim. Two summers ago (sadly I didn’t take her out at all last year) I was out on a lunch time ride and hit a pot hole at 30+ miles an hour (by the pure grace of God I did not lose control of my bike or go flying), I brought her into the shop, and they said it was ok, but I am not happy with it, so I will be getting a new rim!

30-days

So someone somewhere was kind enough to share their bug with me and like a good mommy I shared with my kiddos. Because of everything else that I deal with I got smart and only waited a week before heading to the doc. A week later, Z pack and some really good cough meds I am returning to me! Over the weekend when I begrudgingly went grocery shopping with my sister I picked up three workout videos by Jillian Michaels. 30-day shred, Yoga something and weight something or another (did I mention the cough medicine was the good stuff with the codeine in it?!). Obviously I have absolutely no intention of starting this week but I will start hitting play next Monday, and I will see what Jillian can do for me. Today I am excited because I feel I will be able to make it to the gymlet for a nice easy workout.
To add to the whole weight loss battle, I have restarted Weight Watchers (I was so excited when I had only put on 9 pounds after my marathon weekend trip [we were there for two weeks]). When I went to my first WW meeting I was still under what I had been when I had first started. YAY! I also got a BoddyBugg, hey, I want to see how my calorie burning goes throughout the day. It has been interesting so far, but I haven’t had it during a workout, let alone a good workout! I need to be close to MY goal weight by next June (no, I am not getting married this is even better… I will be doing my first full Ironman!) Between now and then I have a century ride and a half Ironman that I do not want to be carrying all this weight for.
So, from 7 Feb – 9 Mar 11 I will be doing the 30-day shred and to make it a little more interesting I will throw in a 30-day challenge! (Oh, and trust me, a full review of the videos will follow!)

Walk for Lupus Now

So I am doing my damndest to come to terms with my diagnosis. And working on dealing with it in my style I am looking for people around the Denver area (you can come from anywhere, I am not picky) who are willing to go for a walk on Sunday, 22 May for a good cause! The Lupus Foundation of America has Walk for Lupus Now walks all over the country to raise funds and awareness for/about lupus. It is an incurable disease that, trust me, can be so painful it isn’t even funny. If you are interested in donating or want to join my team and help raise money (and walk with me) please drop me a line. I will give you ALL the info you need