back to work tomorrow

i have been off since christmas and loving it. i wish i never had to work ever. i would be so happy.

i have been busy with hayden's hockey tournament.  fun to watch the little ones play. he has had games early though so no sleeping in on my days off.

i haven't had dinner at home since the day before christmas eve so pretty much a week. i am bloated beyond belief from all the holiday dinners and take out food. this is the only reason i am happy to be back at work cause i will eat somewhat better. except our fridge is baron.  >>>>>>echo<<<<<<<<<<

worked out for the first time since the day before christmas eve today too. my legs are killing me right now after 4 miles on the treadmill and some light weights. killing. i realized though i am only 7 miles away from hitting 1000 km for the year so going to try to squeeze them in. i am sure i probably missed tracking a run at sometime and i am probably already over but i am thinking i may still go for it. i planned on doing 4 more on the mill tomorrow and 3 on new years eve.

on new years day h and i may do a 2k run to kick off the year if the weather isn't too rainy. forecast does not look good.

we sold the truck! finally. big sigh of relief.
SIGH

lazy

so being lazy this week. i think my vitamin d from the cuba trip has run out and i am on empty.

at least i am done my christmas shopping. just need to wrap presents.

i have done something to my foot. i have had a bit of pf issues in my right foot suddenly. normal, i can deal. new issue though on the inside side of my foot. feels bruised. doesn't hurt with weight or touch. sometimes it sends weird zings up my leg too. not sure this a pf issue. never has happened before.

i have done 2 workouts this week. yes i could be working out even now but i am not. not even bothering with an excuse. likely the next time i will workout is christmas day. i am looking foward to it.

been tracking lots. not losing weight though. i have lost inches. well i don't know if i have but my clothes are fitting better. i keep hitting 147lbs then i bounce back up a couple of lbs. can't seem to get below that.

tomorrow the truck should be officially sold. that will be a big relief!

catch up

i haven't posted in a bit. just busy with work and hayden's hockey schedule. last week i worked out a ton. this week just 4 days and one of those was extremely little. got a little off track with food but i will be back on track asap.

went to h's christmas concert on friday. i couldn't see him nor could he see me the way they were seated so i was video camera ready in hand with no video after. we have many concerts to go though.

all my runs this week were on the treadmill. 2 of them i did in super speedy fashion. i was quite impressed with myslef.

last night we had a little christmas party for our neighbours and some family. it was fun. a little spiked puch always makes it a little easier for me to enjoy. i haven't worked since thursday, i work monday night and then i don't work again to thursday so it is almost like i have a week off.

christmas time's a coming!

if you know me you know i am a bit of a scrooge. if it wasn't for my son i would probably have nothing to do with christmas if i can help it. i just don't enjoy it. i hate all the hoopla, the spending of money most people don't have to spend and i am not a huge fan of turkey dinner so that isn't even a bonus for me. i am not a religious person either so for me the religious aspects have very little meaning. as i said, i am a scrooge and i know it!

saying all that our tree has been up for a couple of weeks now, our lights our hung and i even made a special door wreath which i got the idea from pinterest. it is pretty cute non?  (it's supposed to be a snowman if you can't tell)

i even baked yesterday. i know that is just CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZAAAAYYYY!  i made these smore things which were yummy. that idea also stolen from pinterest. check out the blog the recipe came from. i didn't follow the recipe though so they didn't turn out quite as pretty but they were yummy. http://texascottage.blogspot.com/2011/08/smore-cups.html

it still freaks me out a bit that my iphone and my home computer link up somehow and music from my computer magically gets on my phone and pictures i take with my phone magically end up on my computer without me EVER attaching the 2 via a cord. i love it though.

600 miles for the year

today i broke 600 running miles for the year. i am at 603 now. planned on doing it yesterday but life got busy.

last week i had a great exercise week. food was pretty on track too. still tracking most i am eating. i did the "asylum plyometric" workout on one of the days too. it was another toughie but was so good. i was dying and dripping in sweat. in 40 minutess i burned close to 400 calories and i NEVER burn that many calories while doing strength training/workout dvds. i love me some jillian michaels but shaun t is giving her some competition! if you want to read about the workout in more detail and all it's craziness check out this blog. http://blog.charleslloydfitness.com/2011/05/11/insanity-asylum-vertical-plyo-review/

trying to figure out what to get s for xmas still. he is talking about doing yoga again so i may get him a 1 month pass. why is yoga so expensive? i kinda want to do it too but 2 things hold me back; expense and no child care. i have to figure out where the money comes from and what the heck to do with my kid. too bad it isn't appropriate to leave your kid in the car anymore??? lol

yes i know i could do yoga from home but i have 2 problems with that. i get bored easily with yoga so i tend to get distracted and my house is too full of distractions. the other reason is there is no one checking on your form. i know in a group class there isn't a ton of help but still a little is better than nothing. i am getting stiffer and stiffer in my old age so things like yoga are going to have to become a priority!

i did my own version of an "Asylum" workout at the gym on saturday morning. some of the moves are new and i can feel my core tightening up which is awesome!!!  ate out a couple of times this weekend so my body is retaining some water from the sodium. feeling good though.

hoping it doesn't snow tomorrow like they say it will. so don't want to work overtime but so hard not to say yes to the extra moola. sometimes i love my job. ok, that is crazy i never love my job. most of the time i like my job but right now i am in a rut. i know like always though i will come out of the rut eventually. just gotta go through some bumps first.

back to the asylum - core workout

so i tried my second asylum workout today. i did the core one which is pretty much a back workout with no weights and it is tough.not ONE sit up in the whole workout. you use a band for a couple of exercises.

if you don't like jumping jacks than stay away from this workout. the first 12 minutes or so of the dvd are jumping jacks!  killer.

my one criticism about this workout is it doesn't really offer any variations on any of the exercises if you can't do them yet. i physically couldn't do a couple because of my lack in flexibility or strength or combination of the two. these were very hard exercises like the reverse plank with leg tucks.

good workout out though. this dvd is not for beginners!

new work out

today i tried a new work out. simon bought the asylum workout from beach body back in september i think. i believe it is an extension of the insanity series. i also own the turbo jam series and find beach body products are good quality. i didn't feel like going to the gym and the workout i did today did not disappoint. 

before doing the dvd i ran to save-on-foods and back to buy some peas for dinner. so that is a 3.2 mile run. when i got home i got my weights ready and started the dvd. at home i have 5, 7, 10lbs dumbbells and a band. for this workout i only used the 5's and 7's. i will be honest. by the end i was just laying on the floor watching them do some of the exercises. however, i noticed even the people in the dvd were also taking mini rest breaks. it is intense. this is the warm up!!

Halo Deadlifts (new exersie to me)
Skull Crusher Press
Knee Drive Curl
Later Squat Row
Shoulder Tap Push-Ups (i did most of these from my knees and they still killed)





then the main workout starts!  although the dumbbell rotations kicked my butt they were new and challenging. an example of a dummbell rotation is:

squat
curl
squat
plank
push up
stand up repeat

this is the easiest one of 3.  it continues on and does chest and back stuff to. part of it is pull ups but i saw some different variations so maybe one day i can do a pull up (not just in my dreams).

after this i went and put up all the christmas lights. simon is not so handy so i waited for him to do it would never happen.
 

quick blog

hi everyone.

i am really tired right now so not sure if these is even coherent.

i have been tracking!!!! yeah me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

however, what i have tracked the last couple of days is not that positive. the words mcdonald's and pizza in the tracker???? not good. no i didn't chose the better choice at either. oh well. at least i am tracking.

for exercise last week:
3 runs
1 spin
2 st

we put up our christmas tree today. hayden has been bugging me for about a week and i gave in. he is really excited about christmas. this may be the last year he believes so we will woop it up for him.

hayden also played goal for the first time at hockey today. it was his first "away" game and the other team was really really good. they are not in our league normally and our boys had their butts kicked. hayden was in good spirits and even said he wanted to try goal again.  he could barely move in all the equipment.

so my plan for this week is:

-drink water and tea
-2 cups coffee max
-eat between 1400-1600 calories a day/track daily
-1-2 spin
-2 st
-3-4 runs

have a good week everyone.

Scarf Video

Last blog for today!!! A friend of mine posted this on facebook and i love it. loves me some scarves!!

BACK ON THE WEIGHT LOSS TRAIN

CHOO CHOO! (said with ZERO enthusiasm and a ton of sarcasm)

weight is at a scary level. very scary. i haven't been this heavy since i was 16 i believe. i have been really struggling with either i am ok with how i look and i need to lose weight. at this point i do believe losing 5-10lbs is about health and not really vanity. i don't think i look bad in a bathing suit but i feel bleh in my clothes. yes i know this makes NO sense.

i am doing something new this time though. i am NOT focusing on fitness at all. i will workout when i feel like it and frequently but i am not planning on doing my typical killer workouts that leave me famished and fatigued. fatigue is a huge food trigger for me. more so than stress. what is the point of me working out if i end up eating the calories i just burned.  i will track my calories burned but just for statistical purposes.

my focus is going to be on what i put in my mouth and counting calories. i will track everything i put in my mouth a minimum of 5 days a week. i have no excuses. i can track on my iphone. to lose 5 lbs by christmas i need to eat between 1300-1600 calories a day. focus will be on fruits and veggies.

today was day one and i was very irritable. this is my favourite part of cutting calories. (said with ZERO enthusiasm and a ton of sarcasm)

i made a yummy soup for dinner in the crock pot. very basic:
*onion
*carrots
*celery
*left over turkey
*barley
*chicken stock
*tomato paste
*pepper

throw it in the crock pot on low at 11am and was ready for dinner.

some cuba pictures

run after storm

Airport fence and back 4.25 mi 00:50 11:45 pace
 

Calves are soooooooo tight. lots of debris on the dyke/trail today thanks to the windstorm last night. a couple of times i had to come to a full stop to figure out how to get me and the dog passed/over a fallen tree.used run keeper again.


random: the other morning i didn't want to listen to music but i put run keeper on and put my phone on mute just to track the mileage. all alone on the trail when run keeper chick comes on LOUD saying my pace/distance/time. don't know who it freaked out more... me or the dog?

now i have a really bad headache. bleh. i think i left my sport bra on too long after my run.

cuba (pictures to come)

we had a great trip to cuba. the weather was pretty great. the resort was beautiful. we stayed at the iberostar laguna azul in varadero and we loved it. we went with another family who also have a kid about h's age.

we had a super fun time. it was my first time at an all inclusive so i was unsure what to expect but i loved it. i loved not worry about meals. yes, i am not the hugest fan of buffets in general so for me the food was just ok but that is because of my dislike of buffets. i still found enough i wanted to eat. the odd thing though was the lack of fresh fruit. found this odd in a tropical place!!!!  buffets are great with children though.  i also loved that you could eat whenever you want. i also loved drinks by the pool. my friend and my drink of choice was the havana special (rum, pineapple juice and a couple of other things?). the kids liked the all day icecream bar (ok i did too). the japanese a la carte restaurant was good and so was the italian one.

the people that worked at the hotel were wonderful.  the entertainment staff were friendly but never too in your face about joining in. the kids loved the mini disco every night too. he got to sing and dance on the stage. we also watched a few of the shows put on by the staff which were entertaining. i never went to the disco. s went a couple of times. i was pooped from being in the sun all day.

i did visit the gym once for like 30 mins? i thought i was going to do more but i was enjoying laying on my back watching my kid play and reading a book.

the first couple of days we were there it was really windy. not ideal however it created waves which are rare in varadero. so we got to play in the surf. the rest of the week the ocean was calm. it is nice that is calm because you can let your kids play without having to hover constantly. we only had rain on the night we arrived.

the pools were beautiful too. one very large main pool and then 2 smaller (still ridiculously large) pools which were quieter. so when you felt like being around people/music you could and when you wanted quiet time there was a place for that too.

hayden liked the beach but loved the pools.

our room was nice. we stayed on the ground floor which i liked because we could go in and out our sliding door too. the hotel is only a couple of years old and the bathroom was starting to show a bit of ware and tear but nothing too concerning. i expect when i am staying somewhere tropical there will be a bit of damp issues like our bathroom door was very hard to open and close at times but nothing that ruined my holiday.

my only problem with my holiday. it wasn't long enough. we went for 7 days/nights. we just think 10 would be better. that way we could have had just as much time relaxing and a couple of extra days for excursions. we only left the hotel once to go into varadero for the day. we would have like to go to havana but we don't think 2 five year old boys would have loved that.

our next big trip is hawaii in august. we are thinking february of 2013 will be our next all inclusive holiday!

home from cuba & 1st run in 26 days???? yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we are home from cuba and we had a wonderful trip. we brought my parents camera and i don't have the adapter yet so no pics yet. i will do a separate blog on that when i get the pics from the camera to the computer.

first the bad news, i am still not coughing nor feeling 100%. ok, i think i feel ok besides the jet lag today however i can NOT get rid of this cough. seriously depressing. my last run was on the 25th of october so that means it has been 25 days since my last run. i have taken it easy and the cough is still not gone. sigh.

sigh.


so..... i did my first run today. i did 2.75 miles with the dog. it felt ok. was very cold at -3 though. big change from being in my bathing suit on a pool deck the day before at the same time. sigh.

sigh.

i miss the beautiful weather already.

not sure if i will workout now tomorrow or monday due to work/h's hockey schedule. we will see.

What's happening?

I will be honest a lot isn't happening. Working 3 afternoon shifts in a row to make up for some sick time last week.

I have got back to working out though. No runs yet. I think I am kinda scared and being silly I lost all my fitness when I was sick. Will try a treadmill run in Cuba. No outside runs! The heat + humidity could kill me or at least leave me with a super sick tummy.

I did MTC day 1 yesterday. Omg Jillian you still kick my ass. Probably not the smartest workout to do after time off. Actually thought I was going to puke. Jillian would have been proud. Also like magic I lost 2 lbs overnight. I swear every time I do day 1 of MTC this happens. I also have very sore muscles! After MTC I did an hour spin class. Today I did a 45 min spin class and tomorrow I plan on doing MTC day 2 and 60 mins of spin.

Not sure I will check in again before I leave so...

Hasta luego!

No race

I so wish I felt up to running today. Perfect weather. Clear and about -1.

Took the dog for a walk instead. Back to working out tomorrow!

No race tomorrow

So I already typed this but it disappeared.

Not racing tomorrow. Still not feeling 100% and coughing a ton. I don't want to push it. Can't risk relapse since we leave for Cuba on Friday. The race is just too far to go for an easy run. I didn't even bother picking up the shirt/race packet.

This week I plan on spinning 3 days. When in Cuba I am going to workout a minimum of 3 days.

still sick

at least i am back at work though. doing my job... sorta. still coughing, tired and i really have not much of a voice. so i got dressed and caked on the makeup this morning so i could at least fake feeling better.

starting to think unless i feel drastically better i may be just picking up my race shirt and not racing on saturday. we will see though. it has been over a week since my last workout. i so need a workout mentally but seeing i get winded going up the stairs it would probably be best i don't. 

i hate that i do not lose my appetite when i am sick. unless i am puking my guts out i still love to eat. probably even more than when i am not sick. i am bloated and i have put some weight on. hoping that some of it is due to upcoming "girl" issues but i was not happy with the scale this morning.

Sick. Round 1 this winter.

Dear Antibiotics,

Please kick in as soon as you can so I can do my race on Sunday and have a healthy vacation starting next Friday in Cuba.

From,

Jen

I wrote a long blog the other day but it was lost. It was a vent blog about asthma sucking and my frustrations EVERY year dealing with this. Seriously, since I was in grade 8. I cried it out while writing that blog while sitting on the tubs edge while steaming my lungs with the hit shower steam.

I went from easily reaching 50 miles last month to not making it. I went from worried about doing well at my 5k this coming weekend to hopefully I can finish it. I haven't worked out since last Wednesday which was even half ass since that was the first day I wasn't feeling well.

When I get a cold I always end up with sinusitis and the resulting cough. Today I finally went to the doc and she thinks I have sinusitis, laryngitis, and bronchitis. I think she ran out of words ending in IS. I am in antibiotics again which I really try to avoid.

Really should blog more no?

I planned on using this blog a ton and it has almost been a year since i used it last. geesh. need to start blogging more again.  did my half in seattle in june. i think i did it in 2:11.  wow, you know you have done a handful of halfs when your time isn't so important to you any more. the rock n roll in seattle was my  5th?  i have a cold right now and my brain isn't working so well. it could have been my 6th? i will just list them.

1. Historic Half (2:09)  2008
2. BMO (2:04) 2008
3. Victoria (2:01)  2008
4. Seattle Rock n Roll (walked most of it with a friend)  2009
5. Scotia Half (2:16) 2010
6. Seattle Rock n Roll (2:11) 2011

You notice how my first few were my fastest? i long for the days when i weighed 15 lbs less and had post baby hormones helping me along.

I do run in other races too. not nearly as many as when i started out though.

i have done a trail race this year and the half. that is it!

my next race is next weekend. it will be my second 5k race. i am looking forward to it and fearing it at the same time. running 5k are more painful for me than running 13? i know to most people that sounds crazy but my fellow runners would understand (unless they are unbelievably gifted speedy).

they cancelled the muddy buddy here in august. i was really upset about that and so was h. next summer we are going to do the mud run outside of seattle cause they do it for sure. 

back when i last blogged i was also pretty much vegetarian. i think i need to go back to that for weight and health management issues i am having now. i am sitting in the 147-149 range which is scary. i haven't been this heavy since i was pregnant. bleh. 

My Half Plan for Seattle

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?hl=en&hl=en&key=0ApI-LWWBocx4dENnSThEX2dKR0xiR0xoU1EzRjYxS1E&single=true&gid=0&output=pdf

november was my last blog - whoa have things changed

i can't believe m last blog on here was back in november. november feels like an eternity ago. so much has change. i finally shook that "cold" which was really actually allergies. a spark friend suggested it may be allergies. 2 days on aerius and all cleared up. i suffered for no reason. our fall came earlier this year and with it a ton of rain in september so i am guessing my mould and dust allergies were going nuts. at least i am cured and healthy!

back in december i also started toying with the idea of going vegetarian or significantly decreasing the amount of meat i eat. i had watched some documentaries on the food industry. i honestly have been avoiding them because i knew they would disturb me but one night simon was watching and i got sucked in. apparently it didn't change his view on food but momentarily but it has pushed me to really think about my diet and what i am feeding myself.

another spark friend who is also an ultra marathoner has also gone completely vegan and she has inspired me too look at my life and diet in such a new way. i am not sure i will ever go down the vegan road but it is nice to know there are endurance athletes and mainy professional athletes that not only survive but thrive on a vegan or vegetarian diet.

as i don't want to be cooking seperate meals at every meal for all members of the family i decided that when i can i will chose not to eat meat. in reality with shift work and social activities we only eat dinner together a couple of nights a week. so on nights i am solo or it is h and i, i have decided to be as meatless as possible. i am still eating eggs and dairy. i rarely eat fish. in the past couple of weeks i have only eaten tiny amounts of chicken twice. that is it for meat. i am honestly not missing it. it is forcing me to find different foods that are filling and have the protein i was getting from meat. i am using a lot of beans and i am filling up as much as possible on veggies.

as i seem to struggle with food and seem to focus normally on my odd small bad days i am really taking the time on what i did right with food in a day and i am logging that daily. focusing on the positive for this "half empty" girl has been a real mental struggle but super rewarding at the same time.

running has been going great lately. trying some new routes. running lots more miles. i had cut my miles back a ton last year and seemed to have constant hip and itband issues. i looked back at what i was doing when my running was GOOD. what st i was doing, what cross training i was doing, my weight.

well i was running more. averaging about 80 miles a month. last year my highest mileage month was june at 60. most others were 30-50.

i was doing hill runs and repeats. i am not doing them at all anymore. i will get on that.

i was also doing making the cut circuit training type workouts 2-3 times a week. these are full body workouts. this past year i have been focusing on heavy weights. bigger muscles but not good for running it seemed.

i weighed less. i weighed then about 127-130lbs. as of january 1, i was 145lbs. yikes. since january 1st though i am down to 141.5 lbs and i am looking to get back into the 130s and hopefully maintain there again. i have never seemed to be able to be 135ish though. i tend to be 140 or 130. weird?

this year i have 2 races i am doing for sure. i am doing the seattle rock n roll 1/2 at the end of june and the muddy buddy in august. besides that i am trying to find some other smaller races to do. still trying to figure out if i want to trail race or not. when my injury issues started it was the same time as trails. not sure it is related but i get a bad feeling in my gutt about it. i may just train on some trails for less structured hill work.