Tag Archives: exercise

Dustin’ off my running shoes

19 Aug

Ever since we went on vacation in early-to-mid July, I haven’t been exercising much. As in only 3 times in the past month. It’s crazy how time flies! I kept telling myself “Tomorrow I’ll start again.” “Next week I’ll start again.” Then all of a sudden, it was a month later and I have nothing to show for it.

But I’m okay with that. We’ve been really busy with work, moving, unpacking, decorating, watching the Olympics (they only come around every 4 years you know!). But lucky for me, when I get busy, I don’t eat as much. Eating is more of an inconvenience–I am really hungry so I have to eat but I’d really rather just get down everything I have to do. That’s my personality–I hate stopping in the middle of things. Even if it’s a task I loathe and it’s mind-numbing, I will sit there patiently, meting out my time minute by minute, until it’s done. When it comes to food and exercise, though, it means that I don’t gain weight even if I stop exercising (but ONLY if I’m really busy! Other times, it doesn’t work like that.)

So I started exercising again this week. Yesterday morning, I got up and did one of my new workout videos–called Super Slimdown with Ellen Barrett. It’s a combination of yoga and pilates. It was a fun workout and boy did my arms feel it today!

Tonight, Trav and I are going to go on a run. The first run I’ve done in weeks. I have no idea how it’ll go but here’s hoping.

Ever since I completed that half marathon back in May, I’ve been kind of here and there on my exercise routine. I tried to balance it out but it wasn’t exact. So now I have developed a routine. Mon, Wed, Fri, I’m going to do yoga/pilates. Tues, Thurs, Sat (so I can do longer runs on the weekend), I’m going to run. Sat I’m going to do full body weight lifting as well. And Sunday will be my glorious day off (so I can take my 2-hour Sunday afternoon nap without feeling the slightest bit guilty!!)

Now comes the hardest part: sticking with it. 🙂

Tags: , ,

This may not be normal…

16 May

But I love exercise.

As I was reading the book my mom gave me called “Comfortable in Your Own Skin,” the author was suggesting ways to live healthily. She said “You should exercise at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. I know, I hate exercise too but for the past 5 years, I have been diligent in exercising 3 times a week.”

First of all, three times a week isn’t really that much. I probably exercise 6 days a week, if not 7. But I’m not in a gym all 7 days–probably not even 2.

Second of all, how do you hate exercise? This is mind-boggling to me. Humans weren’t meant to sit around on their butts, doing nothing all day long. We were meant to DO things and be active! I can’t stand how I feel after sitting down all day.

But here’s the thing. I think most people think exercise = gym = bored out of my mind. Well, good news for them! There are many forms of exercise that don’t require a gym AT ALL! You can rollerblade, bike, run, hike, walk, play tennis, basketball, soccer, ice hockey, go canoeing, kayaking, swimming, dancing…really, the possibilities are endless. And I bet that if you asked the author of that book or anyone else who says that they “hate exercise,” they could probably name at least one (if not two or more) things on that list that they would enjoy.

Anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox now. The reason why I say all this is because I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read what that author wrote and also because last night and this morning I’ve had 2 great “workouts” that were extremely pleasant. Last night, Travis and I biked to McDonald’s and got their free Southern-style Chicken Sandwich (with the purchase of a medium drink). We also split a hot fudge sundae (yum…) Then we went on a 10-mile bike ride around Boulder. It was so peaceful and relaxing and a lot of Boulder’s Greenways go through undeveloped parts of the cities. So the ride was very scenic, spring-like, and wonderful.

Then this morning, I went on a 3.7 mile run. I normally don’t run in the morning (because the sun doesn’t come up until 5:45) but Stacey from work asked me to run a leg of the Colfax Marathon this Sunday. I’ll probably be running a 10K (6.2 miles) so I wanted to get out and run a little before Sunday, just to reassure myself that I can still do it. And I found out this morning that not only can I still do it, I can do it faster than ever! I ran 10 minute miles–I had been consistently running 11 or 11:30 minute miles before! Granted, I was beat by the end of my run but I did it!! YAY!

As I was praying on the way to work, I was thanking the Lord for my body. It’s a lot of hard work to get in shape but once you do, it is one of the best feelings in the world. I wish more people could experience it. It’s worth it. (Plus, all that hard work builds character.) 🙂

Tags: , ,

I DID IT!

4 May

I finished the half marathon today. My time was 2:30:46. I was hoping for 11 min miles. It turned out to be about 11:30 min miles. But as Travis lovingly pointed out, 11:30s were what I trained at so that was what was realistic for me. But I finished nonetheless.

We got up at 4:30 to make it to the buses by about 5:15. They bussed us up to the starting point and then let us stand outside and freeze for an hour. It was probably in the 30s when we got up there so everyone–all 1,000 of us–were all huddled over on the same end of the field. It was a long hour. My feet were the coldest.

I had debated about whether to wear pants or not but I did. And then we forgot to bring a plastic bag to put our sweatshirts in so I had thought about just leaving my sweatshirt in the car and not having to deal with it. I’m so glad I didn’t! I would’ve been completely miserable without those two things.

The race started off fine. I was a little tired but around mile 4, I got into my stride and we were running about 11:05 min miles. Around mile 8 though, I hit a wall. My feet were hurting (and that’s no wonder considering the giant blisters I have on my toes!! My running shoes have officially been retired from long distances) and my boob was hurting and my hip flexors and my knee. I wondered to Travis why my training runs seem to go better than the real thing.

About a year and a half ago, I ran a 10 mile race in Minnesota. I trained for it for about 3 months and even ran 10 miles before the actual race. No problems. But the day of the race, the first 7 miles were great. I was running faster than in training (9:30 min miles) and feeling good. But then I developed this huge blister on the bottom of my foot and it felt like I was running with a small pebble lodged between my toes. I even stopped to get the “rock” out of my shoe, only to discover that it wasn’t a rock. It severely slowed my pace so that I finished averaging 10:00 min miles.

Anyway, so after mile 9, I stopped to walk a little at every water station. It was so hard to will myself to keep running. But I did and I ran the majority of the race. And it’s exciting to me to finish so close to what I trained at, even with all the walking I did.

And I pumped it for the last .2 miles, especially the part where all the people were standing and cheering.

I”m glad the race is over so I can start doing stuff besides running. I want to start doing yoga and I want to do more weight training and less cardio. Yay for my first half marathon!

Tags: ,

The countdown is on

22 Apr

It is officially 12 days until the half marathon. The past 2 weeks have been so busy and semi-gross weather-wise that I haven’t done much running outside. And then Travis got hit in the shin with a puck while playing hockey so he has pretty much been out of running commission for the past 4 days. I had to run this past Sunday without him (so I only did 5.5 miles instead of 10).

But this week and next week, I have to be on top of my game! No more laziness or playing around. It is crunch time. So yesterday I ran 5 miles and today I ran 7. Tomorrow I am going to recover by doing some cross-training at the Y, Thursday I will run another 5, Friday will be my rest day, Saturday will be cross-training and Sunday will be running 10 or 11 miles, depending on how the run goes. I would really love to run 11 because then I’d be a little more confident about the race. But we shall see…

Today on my run, my little toe on my left foot really hurt for a couple miles. It went away (probably went numb) after a while so I ran the whole distance. I know that I need to get new shoes–I’ve been getting big blisters on the outsides of my big toes from rubbing against my shoes–but somehow, I don’t want to. I like my running shoes, even if they are destroying my feet. And now that the half marathon is so close, I don’t really dare get new shoes. I would have to break them in first and I don’t have time for that! So my little Saucony Grip Propels will have to do for now.

A little motivation that keeps me going is how many calories I burn running. They say you’re not supposed to use food as a reward for exercise but when you’re running long distances, getting to eat whatever you want is about all the motivation you can muster sometimes. I have already planned out my post-half-marathon meal: boneless wings from BWW smothered in honey mustard BBQ sauce. YUM…

 

Tags: , ,

Perfect Saturday

2 Mar

Travis and I had a fantastic Saturday yesterday. It was the best day I’ve had in a while.

The morning started a little rough because we got into a tense conversation regarding money (never fails). But once we got through that, it was a great day. We went out to breakfast at Einstein Bros. (where I ate a egg/sausage/cheese bagel sandwich containing approx. 720 calories–seriously, eating out at restaurants is sooo frustrating!) The sandwich was delish though.

Then we went hiking with our friends Paul and Carrie and their 13-month old, Ruby. We hiked almost to the top of Flatiron #2 but the snow and icy conditions (and the fact that Paul was carrying a baby on his back) prevented us from summiting. It was a good hike anyway!

Some more friends, Brandon and Reina, met us at the park and we all had lunch together (Travis and I just ate some chips because we hadn’t brought food and had just eaten breakfast). Paul and Travis threw the frisbee around some and Carrie and I walked Ruby over to the playground.

Travis and I then went to Gateway Park in north Boulder to go mini-golfing. Since neither of us have played for over a year, the first couple holes were a little rough. We got our groove down on by about hole 3. (But he still beat me by 6 strokes). We also did the batting cages, me with slow softball pitches, Travis with fast baseball ones. I actually hit every ball out of 20 except one. I was so proud of myself! My forearms and back are sore today. Interesting how you can be in decent shape but do something that works different muscles and still get sore. My calves are a little sore too from hiking.

After that, Travis and I walked around Pearl Street, looking at the shops but not going in (I hate shopping with no money. It’s like going to a restaurant and not eating.) We ate dinner at the Boulder Cafe. I had a glass of white zin (my favorite wine–and always the cheapest) and a goat cheese salad. I didn’t know if I would like goat cheese but I LOVED it! I want to go to the store right now and buy some. Anyway, the salad was spinach, pine nuts, tomatoes, and balsamic vinegarette with flatbread covered in goat cheese. Mmmmm… Travis had 2 beers (Twisted Pine) and a double-cheeseburger with french fries (our meals couldn’t have been more different).

After we ate dinner, we rented American Gangster and watched it at home. It was an interesting movie but not as gang-bang in-your-face as we had expected it to be. (That’s fine with me.)

Anyway, after a long string of Saturdays in which I did nothing much (except maybe exercise, read, and play games at night), this Saturday was a breath of fresh air. And you can’t beat 70 degrees in Colorado. Perfect.

Tags: , , ,

Hobby Rant

29 Feb

I’ve been bothered lately that I don’t really do any of the activities that I say are my hobbies. I like scrapbooking–haven’t done it since August. I like writing–that is like pulling teeth. I like cooking–I use being tired and not having enough grocery money as excuses to not do this often (although this is one thing that I do still do).

So tonight, I finally made my personalized travel coffee mug all cutsy (until now, I had been using the insert that came with it). You have to see all three angles: the front, the side, and the other side (it’s round). Isn’t it cute? The pictures aren’t so great because of the glare and I didn’t want to go to the trouble of taking the paper out again (because it isn’t very easy to get in there).

But there is one hobby of mine that I do on a very regular basis (nearly every day) but I feel like I would get scoffed at if I actually said I enjoyed it…exercise. I really enjoy exercise. I like going to the gym, I like lifting weights, I like running (except in CO where the air is so freaking thin!), I like feeling healthy and strong.

But there’s this aura of jealousy and sabotage surrounded weight loss efforts and health. It’s the reason why overweight co-workers jump on the free food in the lunch room and get disgruntled when I don’t. (My fellow Nesties know what I’m talking about–www.thenest.com) Anyway, I’m not going to get on that soap box.

Actually, I am. Why do people think that they can comment on healthy choices, making the person feel like they’re being stuffy and boring by eating right, saying “Wow, a salad, you’re being so good today.” I mean, it would be a major faux pas if I said, “Wow, you’re eating a really big burger. You’re being so bad today.”

And it’s not just limited to food choices either. I had a person at work (who happens to have a louder personality) ask me the other day if I was “always this quiet.” I replied, “No, I just don’t say anything if I have nothing to say.” For a couple days after that, I was really bothered. What if I asked that person, “Are you always this loud?” They made it sound like it was a bad thing that I don’t talk all the time. Being shy/quiet has been a source of beef with me since I was little. People always say I’m shy but I correct them saying, “I’m not shy, I’m just quiet.” There’s a big difference between those two, believe me.

Man, what happened here? I came to post my new coffee mug and I got riled up. Sorry.

Tags: , , ,

Relaxation

7 Feb

Last night was the most relaxing night I’ve had in a while. When I got home from work, I cleaned up the kitchen for about 5 minutes (so Travis wouldn’t come home to a dirty kitchen). Then I read the Bible for about 20 minutes and took a 20 minute nap. I really could’ve gone to bed right then but it was only 7:00 and I had other things I wanted to do.

I think that I am severely sleep-deprived because I can’t read a book or watch a movie without falling asleep within 20 minutes. I try to sit up straight and concentrate but it doesn’t work. I end up falling asleep anyway. I read about 5 pages of a book each night and there is a list of movies that I’ve only seen the beginning and end of. I keep telling Travis it’s because our bed is too small (we just have a my full-size from pre-marriage days) but we really don’t have the extra cash to spring for a bigger bed right now. Maybe if we buy a house, we can roll one into our mortgage…

Anyway, after my power nap (as my mom calls it), I did Pilates and then took a bubble bath while singing along to Christian worship songs. I like taking baths but really wish I had one of those clawfoot tubs that were actually made for taking baths in. The bath/shower combos today really aren’t made for adults to relax and take a bubble bath. It’s too short for my 5′ 6″ frame and my neck has to stay rigidly straight because of the wall. Why do they even make tubs like that? I guess if you wanted to give your kid or your dog a bath it would work well.

After that, Travis came home and we fell asleep reading in bed, me about 20 minutes before him. What a great night.

Tags: , ,

The Wild Rules!

25 Jan

Last night, Travis and I went to the Y and I did intervals on the treadmill. I walked for 1 minute at a 15-minute pace, ran for 2 minutes at a 10-minute pace, and ran for 1 minute at a 8.34-minute pace; then repeated that cycle. It was a good workout and I was definitely ready to be done after 30 minutes!

Then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and ate back all the calories we had burned off. 🙂 I keep reminding myself that exercise is just as much about physical fitness as weight maintenance. My new guilty pleasure is boneless wings with Honey BBQ sauce. Usually I don’t like spicy things because of the mouth tingle they give you. But I love these wings! They are especially good with ranch and the tingle is just enough–any more and I wouldn’t be able to eat them.

We went to BWW to watch the Colorado Avalanche vs. the Minnesota Wild. It was such a good game. So many times the Avs got close to scoring but didn’t–sigh of relief. Minnesota won 3 to 2. Yay! It’s so fun to watch a really good game and then have your team win.

Now for the Superbowl, Travis and I are going to be cheering for different teams. I don’t really care about professional football enough to follow teams all the way through the season or even know what’s going on. But amazingly, I am aware that as of right now, the Patriots have a perfect record for the season. If they won the Superbowl, it would be a major record. So I’m cheering for the Patriots. Travis, on the other hand, is cheering for the Giants because, as he says, he doesn’t “like a dynasty.” He doesn’t want the Patriots to set that record. I think it would be cool!

Tags: , ,

Newer Entries →