Bunny Run and other stuff.

Life is pretty incredible these days. I had a great run this morning in the arboretum with the Davis Fleet Feet. It was their 3rd annual Bunny Run, an untimed walk/run in honor of a girl who lost her fight with Osteosarcoma at just twelve years old. Runners were asked to donate stuffed animals to bring to kids in the hospital during Easter time. It was very heartwarming.

I met up with some of the ladies I had met in the beginning RFW class. I decided to run with them because I hadn't brought my own interval timer as I didn't know if the run would be led or a free-for-all.

We ran the arboretum, which was a beautiful course. It has more hills than I'm used to on the greenbelt, so my shins were real tight at first, but soon loosened up. I don't feel any after-effects so I think I dodged shin splints. It's been almost two years since I had them but I'm still nervous whenever I start feeling anything in the front of my legs.

I went to school to start the second part of the MMLC class only to find out that I'm not required to attend at this point, as long as I keep doing about one module a week. I got a 90% on the first module this week, so I'm set.

I'm considering a half-marathon in Janurary. My friend Ray is interested, too. Even my mom is curious about it, but I think that's partly because she's going to love where it is. It's the Tinkerbell run in Disneyland. It's happening far enough in the future for me to just be completing a half-marathon training class this fall, after this 10k class. Oh, and did I mention it's in Disneyland? Looking forward to it!

2013 is turning out to be much better than 2012. I have more to write about, but for now I'm putting things in a journal. I want my head clear in order to improve my blogging skills. I'll update more again, but I'm going to end it for now. I've had a great day and I'm going to just relax and enjoy the end of it.

Logging Miles

I've used a few different running apps, but the two best are Runkeeper and MapMyRun by far. Those two I've created accounts with and have used to track my progress.

Between just those two apps, when I've used them to track my runs, I've run 163.48 miles. This isn't counting the running for women classes or the first two months of my running when I first started.

Even though there have been breaks, I'm still pretty proud of that, seeing as how that's probably 100 times more than I had ever run in my adult life before July of 2011.

I expect to break 200 before April is out, but that's only if I record my workouts. I kind of like being able to keep a record. The races are a bit easier; I've run 15k total. :)

So, Blogger, Updates and Stuff.

So, the last blog I posted was very hopeful about my Gram. I found out a few days later that she had three strokes and two were bleeding. She wasn't going to get any better. She lost her ability to speak very soon after I had written that post and when I saw her that Friday, she barely opened her eyes. My grandma may or may not have understood the things that my sister and I told her when we were telling her how much we loved her and how much she meant to us, but that doesn't matter to me. There's not much that I believe without evidence, but I want to believe some part of my grandma heard me. She passed away a week later.

Friday, we went to her funeral and it was pretty much the worst day of my life. I don't really want to talk about it. I got to see a lot of family and we got sing her favorite hymn (yes, I sang it; it holds a lot of memories for me even if I don't hold the same religious sentiments of the song) and hear about how my Gram's love made people feel safe and loved and comfortable, but it was the hardest funeral I've ever been to and nothing that was said can give me my Gram back. That's all I'll say about that.

My Grandpa is probably moving far away to live with his daughter and I don't know when I'll be able to see him again. Isn't it just fucking ridiculous that I couldn't stop in my stupid, busy schedule of getting married, working dead-end jobs, playing on the internet, etc, to visit them more often before this? So, I'm a little bit angry. Angry at myself. Angry at life. It just hurts, you know?

Ugh. I'm reading this and it sounds horrible and angry and damnit, I'm just going to leave it because it's real. Any of you that know me IRL will understand and I just want to thank you for that. I have the best friends, family and husband in the whole wide world who texted me, facebooked me and loved the crap out of me and my family while we were going through this. My birthday was the day after my Gram's funeral and my friends and sisters made it a wonderful day, regardless of the pain we all felt.

 When I'm ready, I'll post more pics of my birthday (wasn't a party or anything, just dinner and frisbee). I have some videos of me learning guitar again. Chris's mom has an old, cheap classical guitar I'm learning on because I'm having a lot of trouble on the Ibanez. I have some new running and weight goals, too. I feel pretty good about how I look right now, but I want to be more fit.

That's it. That's all I got for the night. I'm going to bed.

My last blog was almost two weeks ago! How ever shall I highlight the events that took place? Busy, busy, busy, I've been!

ASL 2 class is going well. I have a final coming up next Tuesday. I feel pretty confident sometimes and other times I sit up in bed while I'm trying to go to sleep and start signing in the dark to make sure I really know what I'm doing.

Last Friday Chris and I went to the Linguistics Dept. welcome dinner and I met a lot of his professors. I also met a researcher from Center for Mind and Brain who does a lot of work with ASL. He told me he knew my professor and so I told my professor last class that I had met him. I had a whole conversation with my teacher in ASL about it and felt like a million bucks afterward. I hadn't been able to really have an impromptu conversation in ASL with any Deaf people yet. I remember the first time I spoke to someone whose native language was French, all in French. It's a good feeling.

There was also Marzipan torte there from Konditorei on 5th Street. It's the same bakery Chris and I went to on the day after we got back from our honeymoon while we waited for my flat tire to be fixed. I fell in love. It will forever be my birthday cake from now on. I had just one slice, but I didn't want to eat anything else ever again because I wanted to remember that taste. I am looking forward to February 25th.

I went back to Cross Fit. It was a lot better the next few times. I have five classes under my belt and I feel stronger each time and I'm a lot less sore the next day than I was that first week.

I went and saw my little sister Michelle, and her boyfriend Graham in Daly City last weekend. I played with her bunny, Waffle, who looooves pets and lets people hold him all day long. He's so soft and cute! I want a Holland Lop!!!

We had a great time! Sushi Saturday night and our own Star Trek original series marathon the next day, followed by The Wrath of Khan (because no one but me likes the V-ger movie), and IHOP and In and Out Burger. So, free calorie Saturday was more like Free Calorie Weekend, but it was okay because I'm still down to 150 as of today. Right on target.

I've also said before that I'm not going to let my goal to lose weight and be healthy get in the way of enjoying life and special occasions. I am able to curb the amount I eat without having to count every calorie, so I don't just completely go off the wagon, but I'm not torturing myself either. It's important to have that balance.

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, which was very sad. I'm sure you all have heard it all over the news by now. I think that it's amazing that so many people heard the news on iDevices and that it was headlined everywhere, taking up whole pages in some newspapers. It could very well have been a little blip on the radar in the last section of the newspaper about the inventor of the Apple II if Apple hadn't taken him back in the '90's. His was the greatest comeback I've ever seen and his innovation will inspire generations. Rest in Peace, Steve.

I think I'll end this blog entry on that note. Have a good evening everyone.





-This blog entry was made on a Mac.

Headache

I've had the worst headache I've ever had since yesterday around 11am. I am not going to work today. I called in and tried going back to sleep, but the garbage truck and now the lanscaper leaf blowing is getting to me. I've made myself a pot of coffee and can't seem to find the energy to get off the couch and go make a cup. This is miserable and I don't know what I did. It's like all the energy has been drained from my body.

If I don't feel better by this evening, I'm not going to be doing any running. I did a mile on Sunday night after taking time off to let my legs heal from Cross Fit. I went on the treadmill at the apartment gym because it was already dark out. I had no motivation to keep going, though. When I run outside and I hit a mile, I at least have to come back, right? Not so on the tread.

I really hope I feel better soon. This gas leaf-blower guy is driving me nuts. I wish Davis would go through with the ban on those already. Ugh.

Crossfit, Week 1

Monday I decided to start using my Groupon. I got twelve classes for twenty-five dollars, which is a small portion of what they usually charge for that many Crossfit classes, which I can't find rates for on their website here, but it was close to my last car payment if I remember correctly.

I went in and we started with a warm up in three lines down "the track," which consisted of many different types of lunges, squats and hop-scotch like jumps. Next, he showed us different exercises that are included in Crossfit and explained the process of a Crossfit exercise. There were two sets of exercises that were done, the second being more intense than the first, which was mostly pull-ups and such. The second part involved throwing a weighted ball at a target on the wall while doing squats, doing squats while swinging a kettle bell, and doing these crazy, backward push-ups on a rigged-up PVC pipe. I don't know what these exercises are called and I have a bad memory anyway, but it doesn't really matter. I call them hard. We did as many of these reps as we could in ten minutes.

I really, really liked it. Afterward, the top of my thighs burned like crazy (what are those muscles called? I have no idea), and the next day I almost couldn't walk. I was really excited about it, and felt better today, so I went after work.

This time, there was a different trainer and, yes, there were a lot of people in the class, but I didn't think there were more than on Monday. So he felt that it was necessary to not actually have a Crossfit class and to do a basic Tabata instead. He didn't tell us that, I just overheard him talking to one of the "regulars" after he ended the class fifteen minutes early (I decided to use that fifteen minutes on their elliptical, because even though I got a discount, I still think that I deserve a full workout). The "regulars" were saying things like, "So you're not doing a real workout today?" and he glanced at me watching him and said, "Yeah, it's a real workout, we're just short on equipment." Tabata is 20 seconds of an exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 cycles.

We did squats, pushups, sit ups, and some running/walking intervals.  I asked him when the morning classes were so I could come when there were less people and possibly do some more exercises that I can't just do on my own in my own living room. After all, that's why I'm going to a GYM. In other words, I was kind of pissed off a bit. He said he never does morning classes, so I'm thinking that maybe I should start going on the Tuesday/Thursday 6am classes. That means waking up at 5am and driving to Sac, but I can do anything just 10 times, right? I got through the sit ups, didn't I?

So that's the end of week one. I hope that my next ten classes are a bit more serious than Jay wanted to take them. If not, I think I might write a strongly worded blog about it (that'll show 'em). One class was good, one not so good. I'll update more later.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

I've been running two miles since last week. I ran friday night, monday night and tuesday, thursday and friday morning. I dropped to 154.8 this week after being stuck at 157 last week. I upped my water intake as well; I had been slacking a bit and started taking a refillable water bottle to work again. I still have free calorie saturdays, which is nice because I don't want to have to worry about calories tonight at my friend's bachelorette party. It's going to be an awesome party, even if I'm missing the Capitol Air Show for the first time. Chris will take pictures for me.

So, in summary, I'm eating healthy and exercising and it's still working. Down seventeen pounds now. Have a good weekend, everyone.

Falling In Love

I think I'm falling in love. I don't know how Chris is going to take it. I think I love running. And I hope running loves me back.

I look in the mirror and I can see the difference that 14 pounds makes. I put on shirts I haven't worn in awhile and I don't have to pull them off right away and find something fluffier to wear. I start running and I don't want to stop. I can do over 15 minutes without stopping. Granted, I slow down and speed up, but that comes later, just like running past two minutes would come later when I was very first starting.

I went on two runs today because I wasn't really satisfied with just doing the mile I did at the track. I decided to go around my block. Halfway through, I was remembering July, in the beginning, when I was cheering myself on just to get through two minutes. I remembered the otter pops on my legs when the shin splints got too much to bear. I remembered thinking that a 5k next spring might be a reasonable goal. Now I'm considering an autumn run. In the back of my mind, I dare hope that someday I'll do a half marathon. Someday.

I noticed that when I don't know how far I'm going or how much time I'm spending, I tend to run faster. I scared myself on the track today, thinking I should pace myself lest I wear myself out before the mile, but this evening I pushed myself a little harder and came home faster than I expected. I can do this.

Tomorrow is class. I bike to ASL and I've been going over the overpasses lately instead of around or through the tunnels. It burns my lungs and my thighs, but I get through it. I'm even considering maybe doing a vegetarian diet again. It's just so refreshing. Meat is so heavy...

It's later than I should be up (one thing I haven't been able to change to a healthier habit is getting enough sleep), so I'm going to end this blog entry now. I feel good, I feel healthy, I feel beautiful. That's new for me. Goodnight everyone.

Mile

I upped my running time to three minutes and then yesterday, to four. I realized I could go longer when I would begin to run and then realize that I had forgotten to start my interval clock. So I decided to test my mile today at the Davis High track. For some reason the iMapMyRun GPS was wildly inaccurate, as you can see on the website. Their bike app seems to be pretty spot on, so I might shoot them an email and let them know. Anywho, it was a thirteen minute mile, which isn't anything special, but I did run continuously for thirteen minutes, which is freakin' amazing to me.

Now that I've done it I can't go back to three and four minute runs, though. I'm really on my way to a 5k, though.

Evening Ride

I rode the Green Belt this evening, which is a network of trails through North Davis that goes through different parks and barely touches any streets. Chris and I have explored it before, and I've gone on my own, but it's still new enough that I can get joyfully lost and then find my way back.

The sun was going down when I reached the dirt path that runs along the corn and sunflower fields that we usually get to from F Street. The sky was golden in the west with rays reaching for the last bit of blue on the other side. Flaxen fields of cut wheat met me near the end of the dirt path after I passed the weeping sunflowers. I got back on the Green Belt and headed back toward Anderson. I'm going to miss moments like this when winter comes.

I'm going to have to start thinking about a plan of action for the winter, whether it's running through the rain or getting back into the apt. gym room. I'm going to do some consulting over the next few weeks and see what other people have done during those dark days. I don't want to lose momentum because of the cold. It's so easy for me to use that as a cop-out.

Today was a good ride through the Green Belt and a good run on the American River Bike Trail. Tomorrow I start my ASL class, which I plan on biking to, of course. I feel really bad because I haven't practiced all summer! Hopefully, the little bit I use at my job will keep me sharp enough to not look like a total failure. We'll see. Now that the day is over, it's nigh time for bed. I'm pretty worn out and it's only Monday. Goodnight, world.

It's a free Calorie day, which means I put a quick-add Calorie count of 1200 in my fit pal for the day and I don't worry about what the actual number might be. Two and a half hours of hiking is an estimated 1296 Calories burned, so it's a wash. I wouldn't have even put anything in the app, but if you log food and exercise for a certain number of days, it tells you, "You've logged in for such-and-such days in a row" and I didn't want to miss that.

It was a great hike, but a bit difficult to stay on the trail, especially after letting Jimmy navigate (wink-wink, Jimmy, just teasing). The falls are gorgeous and the scenery is magnificent. Chris took the best pictures, but here are a few from the hike:
















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thursday, 18 August, 2011

Updates for Thursday, 18 August, 2011

I am over on my calories today and under on exercise. I got home from work and all I could do was take a nap. I'm really worn out, not going to sleep early enough (my own fault), and have had a really, really rough couple of days at work. I feel fried, burnt out. I hope I feel better by tomorrow.

This weekend is Horsetail Falls with some friends. I'm excited! Can't wait to spend the day with the trees and nature and good company.

I bought chocolate milk today. Runner's World mag keeps telling me one serving is a good way to replenish and restore after a run. Rock on, I get chocolate!

I'm considering putting a bike rack on my car. There may be one available via the in-laws, but we'll have to see if my car supports it. I want to take it on the American River bike trail that I sometimes encounter on community outings at work. I just want to ride.

It's been a long day. I'm ready for bed. This week is kicking my ass. That's all for updates today, folks. I'm out of here.

Run and Bike

This morning I went on a run with my mom around the block. She let me do my run/walk thing and supported me all the way. She's always been a runner, so she has a bit more endurance than me but understands that I have to take my progress slowly. We talked a bit and laughed a bit during the walking intervals. She told me it's probably time to push myself and try three minutes. I think I'll try that tomorrow.

I had a great weekend. It wasn't always like this with my mom. There were times when I was certain I'd never talk to her again when I was growing up. I'm glad that's not the case. As I've gotten older, my mom has become one of my best friends. She comes over and spends the night and just hangs out with us. Imparting the wisdom she's learned from her life the mistakes she's made (she's been married four times; maybe my once will be enough), she's one of the greatest sources of advice and someone whom I can just vent to about anything. I realize how much strength I have just from being her daughter. She's truly a source of inspiration for me these days.

I did about half the Davis Bike Loop today, going the opposite direction I used to, which was a nice change. I got as far as the UC before I got hungry and came home for dinner. Just in time for enchilada casserole! Chris pulled a muscle yesterday, so I'm trying to take good care of him tonight. I hope he feels better tomorrow because I want to ride some more on my new bike! Such a sweet ride...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday Comes Afterwaaaaards

Yesterday was free calorie day, according to Mom and Chris. I was not allowed to count up all the ingredients in the crepes and pizza that we had and mom insisted I have a Pepperidge Farms Milano cookie. We went on a long bike ride on my new hybrid, 21-speed Marin, and I tried to keep my portions small, so I'm hoping that not much damage was done, but sometimes you just have to live and my mom coming to hang out would have been dampened by my obsessing over food and diet. So I gave in.

Today I'm going to start running again. I was fitted at Fleet Feet and they suggested some motion control shoes by Mizuno. They weren't as cushioned as the other ones they had me try on, but they felt a lot more stable. I'm going to keep doing the two-minute run, three-minute walk because I still have shin splints, which,according to Fleet Feet, is more of a results of being out of shape than the condition of my shoes. I have to keep working and the pain will go away as I get stronger. However, I can't help but remember the girl on my softball team last year that had permanent damage and scarring from shin splints. Of course, I don't know the full story and don't have all the facts of that case, so I'm just going to stay alert to what my body is telling me.

Everyone is still asleep, but it's time for breakfast so I'm going to wake these sleepyheads up! Time to get moving!

August 11, 2011. Mom's Bday, Seven Pounds, Biking, and Work-out Friends.

I took it pretty easy yesterday, walking on an outing at work and then swimming with Chris. My scale at one point this morning said I was under 164, but I'm not recording it because again, the drop seems to large since my last weigh-in and after I got out of the shower, it was 164.3 which is .1 lb less than yesterday, which makes more sense. I'm just saying I've lost seven pounds, because it's close enough. I really, really need a new scale.

This weekend I'm getting running shoes, and my mom wants to get me a new bike, too! Even though it's her birthday. I've been using Chris's 21-speed Diamond Back and the gears are horrible. I can't shift to go up hills because it doesn't stay in gear or it sits there and clicks. It's all messed up. It probably just needs a new derailleur, but I want something faster, too. It just won't keep up with Chris, even in gear 21, and at that point, I'm practically standing on the thing to get it going. It's also too big; I have to have the seat so high that I am uncomfortably far from the ground when I stop or else I have to ride it with my knees in my chest. There's no happy medium.

What I don't want is a girl's bike. I don't want the curvy little wimp bikes I see all over the place. I want one with speed. I don't think I could live with one of those cruisers these college students are riding around on these days. My bikes going to have to be fast if I'm going to be happy. Unfortunately, no matter what style I get, it is looking like it's going to be over 300 dollars for a new bike. On the bright side, it should last a long time.

Tonight, my stomach isn't feeling too well, so we cut our ride short and I don't know if I'll be going to the apt. gym or not. I look some medicine and am staying hydrated, but I might just call it a night. I burned over 200 calories riding through the arboretum with Chris. We found a whole new section of it we had never explored before-didn't even know it was there (how long have we been hanging out there? Years? And we never knew). Hopefully, tomorrow, we'll get to explore some more.

What an incredible journey this is. I'm getting advice from people who have already changed their lives or who have always incorporated being active as part of who they are. I even was asked by someone at work if they could get together with me after work a couple of times a week to do something active and fun (but not exercise, because exercise sucks) and so we're looking into some of the trails in Sacramento. I'm excited! I love doing this stuff with other people because then it doesn't feel like work, it feels like fun!

So here's to another incredible week. I will post again soon.

The stairmaster was easier today. In just a couple of weeks, I went from barely getting through fifteen minutes to doing the entire thirty without stopping. That last two minutes were the longest, but it was worth it when I stepped off the machine, victorious. There's almost no greater feeling.

I also did some work on the resistance machines. Lat Pulldowns and the like. I was forced to stay away from the treadmill due to my shin splints, but I did some more crunches on my fitness ball, as well as some other work. I'm really thinking about Yoga lately, and despite my own lack of confidence after having only taken one class two years ago, I think I should start doing some at home. I could use the stretches. Simple stretching isn't really doing it for me.

I may take tomorrow off to give my body a day to rest. I'm down almost seven pounds since I started. It's incredible, it hasn't even been a month yet. All I want to do is more. As soon as I'm done working out, I want to go back. It's like a high, but I have to be careful because overdoing can cause injury and throw a wrench in the whole thing. Pushing myself too hard could have contributed to my shin splints, after all.

Mom's coming up to visit this weekend, so that will be fun. I am getting new running shoes and I might have to see how much money I have for some more work-out pants. It might be time for a trip to Ross. It's going to be a good week.

Shin Splints and Progress

I've tried to be careful and keep away the shin splints I was getting last summer when I was playing softball in the crappy New Balance shoes I have, but alas, they have returned in full force today. It's cut my run/walk to ten to fifteen minutes, but has pushed me to get my cardio done bike riding and on the stairmaster, (warning, Pokemon joke imminent): It's super effective!

I worked out on my exercise ball yesterday, the majority of the time spent doing crunches. I could feel it today, but not so bad as to be irritating or painful. I'm going to do those every other day and probably stick to biking this week until I get new shoes this weekend. Mom's coming up! Yay!

I was looking at myself in the mirror tonight while I was working out and I thought I looked slimmer. Wondering for a second if maybe my own self-image, improving due to my following my commitment and reaching my goals, had caused my mind to think I looked slimmer, but I realized I can actually feel it in my work-out pants. I had to be sure, so Chris measured me and sure enough, a half-inch off of my neck and waste and a whole inch from my hips.

This is progress, even more so than the numbers on the scale, because muscle mass can add pounds. I've now been at this for about three weeks and I'm still not slowing down. I'm encouraged and inspired, determined and committed. I'm already considering trying a 5k sometime this spring. Even with the progress I've made, though, I don't want to lose sight and say, "good enough," or start slacking because I feel confident. This is a life-long goal, not just a new diet and exercise routine. My goal to be 135 in January isn't the end, but the beginning. I'm ready.

I Am Not A Runner

But I want what runners have. I want endurance and I want pride. Biking is awesome, but I don't have the money or equipment to take it to the level that it takes to get really fit on a bike. Running just requires shoes. Swimming and biking are my faves, but I can't do them in the winter due to my ears being extremely sensitive to cold from being prone to childhood ear infections so many years ago. There's a tread at the gym at my apartments. I can even time my intervals easily until I get to a point where I can run continuously.

Beginning is the hardest part and today was day one. Two minute sprint and three minute walk for thirty minutes. I burned 170 Calories. This is the second day in a row I've had over half my calories left before dinner time and that's rare. I feel good. I feel accomplished. The last two minute run interval I was screaming at myself in my head, "Do it for you." It was beautiful, one of those magical moments that people talk about.

Tomorrow I have another date with myself. Give my body the food it deserves and release it from the years of disinterest and laziness, procrastination and excuses. This is the beginning.