Breaking the circle

I saw this comic today and it is pretty much the circle of my eating habits. I don't think it is a good system at all, but it is what it is. How do you go about breaking the circle, though?

They say exercise is a good stress reliever. And yes, I feel great while I'm doing it. But what about the rest of my day? What is a good stress reliever then?

I need you, my few and far between readers... tell me what do you do to relieve stress when you can't exercise it away?

This guy is my hero!

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/23264975/detail.html

I've been tracking my miles... hopefully I can make it that far!

Enough said!

Mentality

Sometimes it is just so hard to jump that mental hurdle. I literally have to scream and yell at myself to get my butt in gear. Once I get moving, I'm good and glad I did it.

But that initial moment when it is that 'do or die' second of actually making the decision to move is hard.

I get into these funks where I am not so careful about what I eat or the exercise I do. Training for the half-marathon isn't always enough. I have no reason other than to just prove it to myself that I can do it.

Every time I go to the doctor, for anything, they seem surprised at how healthy I am. I mean besides my weight, I have nothing wrong with me. I do not have high blood pressure. I don't have high cholesterol. I'm not on the brink of getting diabetes. I can do strenuous exercise and not get winded.

Because of this, it isn't always easy for me to get and get moving. I have to conquer that mental hurdle to say that I *need* to do this to become even more healthy.

I had a cute catchy title

But forgot it. Such is life these days.

This past weekend went wrong, just one thing after another!

Saturday morning was a beautiful day. I was looking forward to running the 5K with my dad and step-mom. They arrived at my house around 8am. The race started at 9. We left around 8:15 and drove to the community it was being held in.

Part of this is my fault in that I forgot to write down the exact address that was listed. But I figured that there would be signs. The event was called "Relay for Life 5K." So, we saw some Relay for Life signs and followed them.

We ended up at some high school parking lot. We got out of the cars and headed towards the area with all the tents. A lady saw us and stopped us. She said "Are you here for the 5K?" Well, yes, of course.

Oh, but it isn't here. You need to go back to the main road and it is at one of the club-houses.

What?

Um... ok.

We left and drove around and couldn't find it at all. I called Steve and got the address and he told me how to get there. We weren't even close.

But we drove and once we got to the road it was on, we saw all the runners (it was close to 9am at this time). However, I didn't see ANY cars. Where was parking? I rolled down my window and asked. They said parking was at the clubhouse. We drove down the road and found the clubhouse (3 miles away - the parking was at the end of the run)!

We parked and found our way to the registration table. My dad and step-mom received their packets, but my name was no where to be found. They gave me a packet anyway but told us the race had already started since it was after 9. The last shuttle bus to the beginning of the race had already left. We could drive down to the beginning and have a bus take us back to our cars after the race was over.

No, thanks... we just got in our cars and left. As I was pulling out of the clubhouse, I saw the first of the runners. We would definitely have been the last ones past the finish line if we had decided to run anyway.

Well, I had a nice visit with my dad and step-mom as we decided to sit in Starbucks and enjoy a cup of coffee.

After that, they left to go home and I went back to my house.

There was a Healthy Kids Fair at the local YMCA. It was free to everyone (not just Y members) so we decided to take the kids. We pack everyone up and head there.

As we pull into the Y parking lot, we don't see anything. We unpack the kids from the car and start to head inside. A worker stopped us on the way in and said we were in the wrong place. The fair was at their other location a few minutes away.

Back into the car we got and away we went. Once we got there, it was a good time. I wish I had known about their water park, though. Meghan had a blast in the water. I just wish I had her bathing suit so she could've gone more than knee deep.

Saturday night was the Bon Jovi concert - at least that was awesome.

Sunday was my day to run 6 miles. However, we woke up to rain. I checked the radar and it was supposed to rain all day. So Steve and I decided to head indoors to the gym instead. I got on the treadmill, ready to do 6 miles on it and couldn't get past 1.5 miles. I did 4.5 total - but I walked 3 miles and ran 1.5 miles.

It was just a bad weekend all around.

Hopefully this week will be better.

Oh the gusts!

I thought today's run would be pretty easy. I mean it was a mere 3 miles, like I've been doing since the beginning of time. Last night's 4 mile jaunt was a breeze. Today's 3 miles should've been even easier.

Boy was I wrong!

I looked up the weather before I left. This is not something I normally do, but was just curious to see how warm it was outside before I went out there. It said it was a nice 72 degrees. However, the wind was blowing at 9mph with gusts up to 19!

I think that little tidbit of info really screwed with my mind. I went out there and felt like I could've walked faster than I was running. I felt like I was fighting the wind the entire time. I know I wasn't, but in my mind I felt like I was.

However, I didn't give up. I almost did, a couple of times in fact. I just kept telling myself that when I get to my turn around point, the wind will be at my back and the rest will be 'a breeze' compared to this. And yes, when I turned around it was great! Except for the fact that I had used up all of my energy running against the wind up to that point. So even running with the end for the last part of it, I couldn't use that to my advantage and run faster. I just didn't have the energy within me to kick it up a notch.

On another note - I was thinking about getting an iPod Nano. I think my big 30GB iPod is getting to be big and bulky the farther I run. I need one of those little ones that just clip onto my shirt. I'll have to look into that. I also think that I need one of those water bottle carriers. I saw some online at Dick's Sporting Goods for pretty cheap. I don't think I need a big one (I saw one that carried 6 (6!) water bottles). But when I was running on Sunday for the 5 miles, I got pretty thirsty. It would probably be a good idea to get one for my longer runs.

Another Biggest Loser Challenge?

Steve and I have decided to try to get a "Friends and Family" Biggest Loser Challenge started. This one will be more 'loose' than the one I did with my co-workers. But that is only because of time and geography. We will have weekly weigh-ins and weekly reports on the weight that was lost. But we won't all be together for the initial and final weigh-ins.

If anyone who is reading this (I know there are only a few of you - but I love you all) and is interested, let me know. I think we are going to start on Monday the 19th and let it run for 8 weeks. The cost is $20 per person and currently is set to winner take all. However, depending on how many people we can get signed up - we might be able to split the pot into 1st and 2nd prizes.

We have a couple of friends that don't want to share their weight with us. We said that was fine, they could just tell us their percentages. It definitely is totally on honor-system and will be on the honor-system the whole time; again having to do with geography, since we have a couple from Orlando joining us in the challenge.

So - let's get moving, people!

--------------------------
And on a side note:
Don't think that I don't see you, but I do. I know you're out there. It's ok, though. I guess it is good enough that you are kind enough to visit my lonely blog - even if you don't leave me a message letting me know. :)

Yay for me!

For the first time ever, I ran 5 miles outside. I've run 5 miles indoors on a treadmill before. But the treadmill pretty much makes you go. It keeps your speed for you.

Outside, you are doing it all yourself. And I did it!

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it, but I just stuck to it and kept going (remember my new saying? "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop!" ~Confucius). I almost stopped a couple of times to get some water. But I kept going.

I tried a new place yesterday. It is Lake Park in the Northdale area of Tampa. It has a jogging trail that I tried. Going in, I had no idea how long the trail was or what it was like. I had never used it before. I was pleasantly surprised to see distance markers along the path. However, the first marker (0.25 miles) seemed to come pretty quickly. And the path extended past the last marker (of 1.0 miles). I ran to the end of the path anyway and turned around since the first marker seemed really close to me.

So I ran down and back, down and back then down to the 0.5 mile marker and back for a total of approximately 5 miles. I was disappointed that the trail didn't loop around and that it just ended. However, I did notice one other jogger on the trail and the 2 times I saw her, she was going in the same direction. I never left the path, so perhaps it did loop around and I just didn't notice it.

I went home and looked up the park map (why I didn't do it beforehand, I don't know). It shows a trail that goes all the way around the park, but I don't know if it was all jog-able or not. I mean, when I got to the end of the trail I was using, it ended at a parking lot. So I don't know where to go if I was to keep running. I'm sure the trail picks up again somewhere, I just don't know where. And I don't know how much of it is marked. I guess I'll need to walk it one day and just see what happens.

Isn't it ironic?

Yeah I really do think...

Sometimes when I run, I get this song in my head (even with the background noise of my iPod).

When I was a kid, my Dad would take us running just before dinner. He made us run 2 miles with him. He thought it would help us to be fit. I HATED that time. I dreaded it every day. We ran regardless of the weather. He measured out a mile from our house and we ran to that point and turned around.

Of course my sisters and I all 'ran' at different paces (me being the slowest). So my Dad would run circles basically running with Helen (the fastest) and then turn around to find me and run with me a bit then speed up to run with Janice and back up to Helen and so on and so forth through the run.

He caught me walking quite a few times. I just hated it, I never wanted to do it.

I'm not sure if ironic is the right word I'm looking for now, but I do find it funny that my choice of exercise now is running.

I signed up for a 5K on Saturday the 17th to benefit the Cancer Society. My Dad and step-mom are coming in from Leesburg to run it with me. I'm sure I still won't be as fast as my dad is but I'll be faster than Lynda (with her bum knee).

The 5K actually messes up my training schedule as Saturdays are usually 'off'' days for me. I can swap Saturdays and Sundays out if I want to - my training schedule is that flexible. But the issue is that per my schedule, I'm supposed to be running 6 miles that weekend, not the 3.1 of the 5K. I guess we'll just have to play it by ear and see if I need to run 6 miles on Sunday or if I can just run another 3 miles that same day (saturday).

The tools of the trade

I have a bunch of 'tools' that will help me in my journey.

The first is www.gmap-pedometer.com. It is an application by Google Maps that you can use to lay out a course on regular roads and it will tell you how far of a distance it is. I use it to plot my running courses to get an accurate measure of how far I've run. I use the 'satellite' option so that I can spot landmarks when I don't know the name of the streets. And if I don't want to follow the main roads (like at work, I use backroads to run) I use the 'manual' option in recording my route. Have fun playing around with it, I love it.

I also use www.dailymile.com. It is a training log for workouts. It tells me my average speed if I put in my time and distance. It keeps a log of how far I've run, how many times, etc.

I also have an excel spreadsheet where I also keep this information as well. It is easier for me to see my speeds and distances in this spreadsheet than dailymile and comopare them than on dailymile. Plus I have different tabs in my workbook to also keep track of my weights and my training schedule to make sure I'm following it.

My watch, which helps me with both of the above tools. I bought a cheap $15 watch at Target. All I wanted on it was a stopwatch. I use it to time my runs. It works great except that it is giving me a watch tan line ;)

I bought face sunblock for my runs that occur during the daylight hours. I was told that I looked like I was getting a tan and that worried me. I was worried about getting skin cancer on my face because I was running out there in the sun 4 times a week. So I bought some facial sunblock and have been using it. Don't know if it is working or not, but it makes me feel better that it is there.

I also bought a headband from Fit2Run (the running store here in Tampa). It is one of those ones that helps pull the moisture off of your head (that's what they're for, duh!) but supposedly it 'wicks' the sweat away from you and out into the air. So it helps keep you dry. Yes, I look like a dork wearing it, but hey, anything to help keep the sweat and sunblock out of my eyes.

FitDay is the one I don't use enough - www.fitday.com. It is a free website where you can log your food intake. If you don't have the nutritional information on what you are eating, you can look it up and it gives you the average of all the different brands out there (from my understanding anyway). It really helps you keep track of your food intake and you can see what foods you need to eat more of (like protein over carbs).

As I'm typing this, I'm unable to connect to FitDay. I'm at work and it is a possibility that the site became blocked (though I don't know why it would be). I was going to share with you my specific FitDay page. Perhaps that would keep me on track better, if I was thinking that you all were watching what I was eating as well.

You can use FitDay to also track your exercise if you want to. But I've not done it before. I have used it to track my weight, but again - not consistently.

The biggest and best tool of the trade is my iPod. I don't know what I would do without it. I need the background noise. I don't use it to set my pace as I listen to all types of music with different beats. I just need the noise and the distraction of it.

Those are my tools and the items that help me get through my workouts. Hopefully one of them will help you as well in your journey (whatever it may be).

I feel so lazy at times

I know everyone goes through lazy spurts but I seriously feel lazy all the time lately.

I mean I get out there and am doing my runs. But if I'm not out there doing it, then I just want to sit and do nothing. Literally nothing.

I thought that if people were eating right and exercising regularly, they were supposed to have more energy throughout the day. Are they not? I just don't seem to have a lot of energy the rest of the day.

Perhaps it is because I feel like I don't get enough sleep. And I know sleep is important. But I just don't have enough time in the day it seems. I mean I get up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:30 (at the latest). I get off work at 4 and head to pick up the girls from school. I'm home around 5. I get to play with the kids for about 30 minutes, then I'm up and making dinner. After dinner then comes cleaning up (BAH - I hate doing dishes!). Then it is time for baths (if it is bath night) and first Melissa goes to bed. After that I get a few minutes to spend on the computer. Usually I just check my e-mail and spend a few minutes on Facebook catching up with people and playing a couple of games. Then I get the kids stuff ready for school the next day - I have to pick out their clothes and lay them out, if I don't, who knows what the heck they will end up in. After that, I get Meghan ready for bed and we got to bed. Yes Meghan is a night owl. She often falls asleep after me (and I go to bed between 10 and 10:30).

Then the alarm goes off at 5:30 and it starts all over again.

Wow, I'm exhausted just typing it all out.