Pavement or Dirt

Way back when I was in junior high my sisters and I did cross country running for our after school sport and we kicked ass.  We were consistently in the top 5 and it was great.  Come high school though we had other things to get into so we didn’t do it.  Now almost 19 year’s later (eek I just dated myself) I am getting back into it, loving every moment of it.  In September I have my first 5k.  This is the first one that I have done in a few years that is not the kiddie course or have obstacles to play on. Don’t get me wrong, those were really fun because I was doing them with my nieces.  But this one is for me.  To prove that I do still have it.

While I’m training to get my ass back into shape to be able to actually run the full 3.5 miles I have been plagued by really sore hip joints the day after running. Shin splints are much more tolerable than hip joint pain.  At least to me they are, and my shin muscles are getting stronger so it’s not bad anymore.  But the hip pain…Holy Hannah!!  Sundays are usually my rest days, but since I was frustrated with hubby I decided to go for a run.  I started out walking to get the blood flowing and all warmed up then started my running route.  I have discovered that I actually run better and longer on dirt than on pavement.  This brings me back to my cross country days as the scenery is much better on dirt trails than pavement and you get to jump over tree roots and rocks.  That is just fun and adds a bit of a challenge as you try to not trip.  I’ve noticed my body is getting stronger each time I go out.  It is also fueling my old desire to get out and run more.  Sunday I was proud of myself as I ran a total of 1.5 miles out of the full 4 mile route I chose. 

Not too shabby for a gal that just started a little over a month ago and could barely run 20 feet without feeling like I was going to pass out from breathing so hard.  The best part about it is my hip joints barely hurt the next day unlike when I run on pavement.  So from now on, I will be running on dirt or grass, exploring the horse trails and staying off the pavement unless there is no other option.  I can deal with the pain later as it’s usually nothing a hot bath can’t cure.

So mad at myself

So last night was weight and measurement night.  I usually get nervous on these nights as I don’t want to see the results.  But sometimes it’s not that bad.  Well, except for last night.  I was doing great.  I was eating like I was supposed to and exercising my ass off (it was shrinking).  And then…WHAM!!  I was so disappointed with myself last night.  I could tell Master Trainer was disappointed as well. 

I kept up the exercise and was slowly starting to get back into my old eating habits.  During the week it’s super easy, I can control it.  But it’s the weekends that I have issues with now.  I guess I still have the mentality of “I can eat anything and work it off later”.  Okay, that’s fine but I’m not 20 something anymore and I can’t eat just anything and work it off later.  The weekends are going to a huge challenge as everybody slacks off on the weekends.  It’s a given.  Weekends are time to relax, enjoy and just go with it.  I stay active, but don’t eat well enough for my body to start dropping like it should have done already.  As my trainer put it, my body is happy where it’s and doesn’t want to change.  And why should it if I don’t force it too.

So tonight the fridge gets purged and my beloved husband can have his chocolate and sweet things as long as it stays off of my shelf.  Out go the sweet thing and in come the healthy fruits and veggies.  I’m thinking maybe we should put the sweet stuff in the garage fridge and the healthy stuff in the house so that way I have to really think about it and if it’s worth the time to go out there when I can grab a snack right then.  That might be a good idea.  Will have to think this one over.

Let's start from the beginning

It’s a very good place to start (Sound of Music is stuck in my head now).  I have always had a distorted body image, but then again who doesn’t.  Even when I was a size 2, I thought I was fat.  Its amazing things you hear as a child that roll over into adulthood and you still believe it even people tell you different.  It’s those stinky little voices that just won’t be quiet.

My sisters and I were always active kids, but then again growing up in the country there was so much to get into.  Didn't do much in grade school, but we always kicked ass in the physical fitness tests.  Junior high we got into cross country and did well in that, but were not able to keep our grades up enough to continue doing it.  Then we moved and were so bored the first summer we were at our new house.  We went from almost 10 acres of playground to just 1 and didn't know anybody.  Once school started, we made new friends and found some amazing swimming holes that we had to hike too.  It was the best of both worlds.  Hiking and swimming all day?  Sign me up!! Didn't get into sports in high school though. 

Junior/Senior year in high school my dad and I got really into bike riding on the weekends.  We were up to 100 miles easily.  My mother was afraid that he was pushing me too much so we both backed off and it made me sad as I loved every minute of it.  Then just stopped altogether.   After I graduated from college, I joined a gym and went faithfully every day after work.  I felt great about myself and started to look fantastic too.  Or so I thought until my brother-in-law that I love dearly told me that I was getting too skinny and needed to back off just a little bit.  And then I got in a car accident (one of many and non were serious, just another rear ender to add to my resume) and the doctor told me that he didn’t want me to go for a bit as I needed to do physical therapy instead and he didn’t want me to injure myself further.  So I took that as a sign to just not go.  So that’s what I did.

After a couple years, I piggy backed onto my father’s gym membership at a completely different gym and fell in love with it again.  But didn’t go nearly as often as the first go around, but I still went.  Then it became an off and on love.  Go for a while, do really good then not go.  This repeated itself for a long time until I finally just stopped going.  But I stayed (or tried to) fairly active.  I would go for walks around my neighborhood or take the occasional spur of the moment hike on some trail somewhere.  I wasn't completely sedentary. 

January this year I decided to get my ass back into shape and hired a trainer.  My sister was the inspiration that I needed to really do it.  So I started changing my eating habits and was doing well.  Could have done better but hey everybody starts somewhere.  And it’s been proven if you try to make too many huge changes at once, you fail at them all.  But it was when I got married at the end of February and saw what I looked like at my ceremony that I really got that swift kick in the ass to really bear down and do it.  I was over weight and out of shape (still am).  How the hell did that happen?  I was doing great for quite a while.  I was working out 4-5 days a week, eating as best as I could and even wrote everything down.  Well, that 4-5 days a week turned into 3-4 and my eating was starting to slip a little.  Then I decided to sign up for a 5k in September.

I asked one my girlfriends (who is always road biking, mountain biking, running in duathelons, marathons and whatever else she can get into) to join me and to also help train me.  She’s an amazing person.  She’s lost over 100 pounds on her own and is so driven, she inspires me.  She gladly accepted and this is what we do now on Monday nights.  So now I only go to the gym 2 nights a week and that’s when I meet with my trainer.  My eating is slipping and I’m trying so hard to keep everything on track.  I still write everything down that I eat and drink.  Not only does it look bad on paper, but I am started to feel terrible again.  I enjoyed having energy and being pain free from sitting all day. 

I have never had to worry about these things since I was lucky when I was younger to have a fast metabolism and be naturally skinny (don’t know why I thought I was fat).  So now that I am older I have to watch what I eat and how much.  I have always been fairly active to a point, but the need has come back to get back into bike riding, the gym and running.  I did all of these things at one point in my life and really want to get back into it.  I know where there is a will, there is a way.  I am finding my way and am excited to have a new journey in life.  Being newly married I was afraid that I was going to lose identity that I had for so long.  I didn’t want to lose me.  But my husband is an amazing man and encourages me to do what makes me happy. 

Some things I have slowly given up or at least don’t do them as often anymore like my Dimple music runs, and I’m okay with that.  Those who know me, know that I have more than enough music to last through a Zombie Apocalypse, but I still do them.  I just don’t go in with a huge list anymore.  It’s only 3-4 now instead of 10.  I now have to get the courage to do the “before” picture which I am dreading, but want to do it.  I have the exercise part down pretty well I believe, it’s the other part that comes with it that I now understand why people say that is the hardest part.  Cheers to a new journey in life!!

New Journeys, challenges and sadness

I have started a new journey of getting myself healthier.  I guess you could say this has been inspired by a couple things.  One being I sit all day and am tired of hurting from it, so I have decided to do something about that.  I got a stability ball to sit on at work and go between that and my chair.  It seems to help.  The second one being I am tired of being tired all the time and don’t like the way I look anymore.  I used to be so active, I don’t know what happened.  So I have decided to fix that as well.  The third one is the inspiration I have gotten from my sister.  She’s been going to her trainer for almost a year now and looks fantastic.  Every time I see her she looks even better.  So these three things combined have kicked my ass into gear to hire a trainer and get my shit together again.  I have been changing my eating habits and can’t say I no longer eat crap, but it’s a lot less frequent.  Instead of going for the chocolate donuts at night, I go for the sweet baby carrots instead. 

I made this decision 3 weeks ago and have to say it’s the best decision I have made yet.  I didn’t feel guilty about hiring my trainer since I no longer have credit card payments and don’t have a car payment.  So I looked at it as paying off one of my old credit cards.  And I love my trainer, he’s funny and very encouraging.  When I do certain exercises on my own I can hear him in my head “suck it in and butt butt butt”

Challenges
The new roommate is leading to some discouraging challenges.  I like him, he’s a nice enough guy.  Narcissistic, but nice.  Craig and I had two weeks together in our new home.  I was excited that Ryan got a new room he could decorate how he wanted and we had a whole house to ourselves.  Just us with the occasional Ryan.  Life was going to be great.  Yeah, not so much.  I mean life is still great with Craig, just have the roommate who screwed up his life living with us now.  It’s been a little over a month now and he still has no clue what he’s going to do.  He thinks he is just going to hang out here until he and the wife figure out their relationship.  In the beginning I was like “okay then we will put his ass to work”  and now it’s like “oh look he’s home, there goes my quiet night with Craig.” 

I don’t know if Craig has spoken with him about how long he thinks he will be here or what he plans on doing, but I’m thinking if he’s going to be hanging out here, then he’s going to be paying a portion of all bills as it’s not fair to Craig and I to pay for everything while he gets the free ride.  He does the occasional cooking and grocery shopping, that ‘s it.   Have no idea how much bills would have gone up because we haven’t been able to judge that. I do know that I am dreading the water bill that is coming up.

Sadness
Two weeks ago my beloved sweet little girl Bluka went missing.  At first it was both of my furbabies, but I got Fabio back due to being persistant with the neighbor who’s garage he was locked in.  How she could not hear him meowing or said she didn’t, but I was pushy with her and she finally let me in so I could get him out and bring him home.   I was so happy to have one back and the search began for the second.  I walked the neighborhood so much that first Saturday and Sunday calling her name but nothing.  Did the same thing that first week, put up flyers that she was missing, stalked the lost pet websites and still nothing.  Week 2 came and went, Craig took down the flyers and all I can do is hold out hope that she will come home and wherever she may be that she is warm, has food and water and is being loved.  I get mad at myself thinking I shouldn’t have let her out that Thursday night and she would still be home.  Fabio is bored and he keeps checking the house for her. I tell him every time he goes outside to not come home without her.  I did get him microchipped so if he does he get lost again I have a better chance of finding him.  I miss my sweet little spastic girl.

It's list season

I love this time of year.  Everybody releases their “Best/Worst of” for the year.  Everything from video games, movies, music, technology; you name it, they probably have a list for it.  I have already started going through the top albums and songs for the year from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Flavorwire, Yahoo Music and NPR.  There are so many more lists out there, but these are my favorite ones.  This gives me a chance to go over what I missed in the music world.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of lists out there, but after a while they all start to have the same artists just in different rankings.  I get excited when I do see one of my purchases on a list.  I like to think that I made the extra yummy music choice when this does happen.  Yes, I said yummy music.

After I get all moved in and settled in my new home I will be spending time scouring my favorite sites again for new/old artists and the wish list will continue to grow.  I will be reviewing these new lists in the process as well.  I cannot wait to continue to my love of all music and to have back my long day at work just want to listen to some Crooners, musical Saturdays, hot bubble baths with Frankie and some candles, iPod update fests where I spend quite a bit of time combing through what I have, wiping my iPod clean and reloading it.  Feeling like I’ve rekindled an old love interest when I hear a cd that I haven’t heard in a long time.  And will post my own lists of my favorite top ten songs/albums/artists I think should be heard.  My calendar will once again be filled with new releases and my presence at a different Dimple store will be a regular occurrence.  It’s good to be back.  And Thank You music industry people for your lists.  They are greatly appreciated!

Leap of Fatih

 

Earlier this year I sold my house and moved in with my fiancé.  I’m a country girl, was raised in the country and would have loved to stay there.  But I moved to the suburbs and became a flatlander.  Unsure of how things would play out, I took that leap of faith to move forward with our relationship.  We had no problems adjusting to each other.  I had the problem adjusting to suburb life.  It’s loud, bright with street lights, no frogs to listen to, hardly any trees (mostly concrete jungle), crowded and the houses are pretty much piled on top of each other.

So the search began for a new place to call home.  80 houses were looked at in one form or another (internet, drive by or actual viewing).  I finally found a place to call home.  It’s across the street from creek bed, there are frogs to listen to, its a nice corner lot so I don’t feel claustrophobic as there is a nice sideyard to give space between the homes.  The backyard is a little small from what I am used to, but the creek makes up for it.  Escrow is scheduled to close in December so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Have a new home, next year the wedding plans start.

Jersey Boys

 

 

Craig surprised me with an early birthday present to go see Jersey Boys live on stage.  It’s the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons.  They were inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame back in 1990 and then one of the original members passed away not to long after.  I am a sucker for music back from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  They stood out due to the uniqueness of Frankie’s voice.  I learned a lot about the band and the origination of certain songs.  I loved every minute of it and would go see it again in a heartbeat. I will get the program and the ticket framed and it will go up on the wall.