The Return of American Idol

Not that I have watched it yet, as I have been going to bed so early, but AI started Tuesday night. Just thought I'd through that fun little fact your way. This morning, the weather was a balmy 35 with calm winds and 70ish% humidity.... aka it was pretty cold for this southern girl's thin orange/duke blue blood. I had four tops on, one of which was a fleece, and two pairs of pants on, not to mention the ear muffs, gloves, and tobagan. I have no idea how to spell that word, but it is a hat, not a sled. We ran about 3 miles then did some weight lifting, went up/down the stadium 5 times, lifted some more weights, and then went to star bucks to try to thaw out the fingers. That was really the only really cold part of me. I even shed the fleece when we were running because I was that warmed up. Now, Friday morning is another story that I will have to catch up on. I hear that it is supposed to be atleast 10 degrees colder than today, if not more. Someone even said 19. Now, for all y'all that exist in these colder temps, I'm sorry. Move down to the south. Too bad I've been watching what I eat and not having the normal Paula Dean "butter on a stick" that adds fat to your tire to keep you warm on these cold mornings. I guess I'll suffer through it with another shirt and maybe two pairs of gloves :) So, pray for the warm weather to return to this beach girl, for the cold is for those above the dixie line. I mean, if it is going to be this cold, the least it could do is snow for us. I'm sure that it would be quite unsafe for me to drive that really long mile to work in the snow... I'm a safe driver, but all those other loonies aren't! Till next time, warm thoughts.

Time flies by and so do most resolutions

Ah, the new year... a time for reflecting back on the past year and looking forward to the new year. We all dream of the many things we are going to accomplish this year, as opposed to the same many things that we said we'd accomplish last year, yet didn't. Why is that, that we seldom do the things we say we will around new years?? In my mind, it's because it's a time when are forced by society to take measure of our lives and hope for a change for the better. The key word in there is hope. How can we possibly achieve something that we only hope for? I think that it takes a lot more than just hope to accomplish our new year's resolutions. This is the last year that we can wear those 2000-something glasses that have the zero's where our eyes are. Maybe next year they will put the one over the bridge of our nose and have the two zero's on either side for our eyes. Who knows? Some kid trying to make his/her big break in NYC will come up with something clever for Ryan Seacrest and Dave Clark to wear.

In truest fashion, here is my reflection on the last year and the hopes of this new year, of course there are always my twists... This past year was my first total year to be a working, tax-paying citizen. Who knew that I'd actually work a solid year and get paid to do it? There is always a first for everything. The other big thing was to start this blog and start training for a triathlon. Obviously, I did good on the blog thing till Oct 21, but I did even better with the running, which I am still doing today. Well, maybe not actually today because it is raining and feels like 36 degrees outside. I maybe crazy but not that crazy. I have my limits. Since my last writing on here, I have continued with my boot camp 3 mornings a week and have even added in a run or bike ride on some of the off days. I even got a picture of the last mountain biking trip we did down near Charleston when it was under water. Next time I'm going to take my snorkel. It might do me more good than my bike. The whole 13 miles I kept saying, "Are we there yet?" and "How in the world did you talk me into this?" I wasn't even worried about the roots under the 3-4 ft of water as much as I worried about the possibility of actually seeing some wildlife. Thank goodness the snakes were more afraid of me that day than I was of them. And so ends my days of that trail, at least until drier days and I can see the roots. 2008 ended with the end of a year long bet with my mom and my aunt, as to see who could lose the most weight from one Christmas to the next. Without going into the details, let's just say that I won, thanks to all of those early mornings and maybe a little to the swamp swim/bike rides.

This brings us to the part where I am supposed to resolve to do some great and new thing to change me for the better... aka, I'm supposed to hope that something great happens to me this year. So, instead of making a new year's resolution and hope for the best, I am going to make new goals for the new year. Goals are totally different from resolutions because one can actually meet and/or surpass a goal, where as people typically fail at their resolutions after the first three months. Resolutions are too big usually in nature, hence the high probability of quitting before you even start. Goals can be small in nature, and can be met much more easily. So, here are my goals for the next few months...

Goal #1: (This is the lofty one) - Stay healthy.

Goal #2: Go to boot camp 3 days a week, rain or shine, hot or cold.

Goal #3: Finish the Myrtle Beach half marathon on Feb. 14, 2009.

My other perceived difference between resolutions and goals is that there is a plan behind a goal, and that there may not be a plan behind a resolution. It is the difference between planning and hoping for the best. Here is my plan...

Goal #1 - Stay healthy

Since this is the lofty goal, the plan is a bit broad, but do-able. The first part of becoming more healthy is to watch what I eat. I am not using the d-word or following any crazy eating scheme. My plan is to just watch, and I mean watch, what I eat. By really looking at how much of some things I eat (pure volume of food) and how little I eat of other things (like vegis), I can start to make changes for a healthier lifestyle. Another part of staying healthy is the mental health of my psyche, aka my happiness. This part is naturally like a rollercoaster in that I have good days and bad days. The key for me is to have the good days way out-number the not-so-good days. Currently, this is good for me. The last part of my stay healthy goal is to exercise, and that is accomplished by goal #2.

Goal #2 - Go to boot camp

Aside from the physical difficulties of boot camp, the hardest thing is getting up between 4:15 and 4:30 AM to go exercise. For those of y'all who really know me, you know that I love my sleep and don't really function all that well without it. To accomplish this goal, I need to get my sleep so that the early hours really don't seem that early. My plan is get my 8 hours of sleep. This will really help my mental-ness as well. Also, by going to boot camp at least three mornings a week, I will be working towards my goal of being healthy by exercising.

Goal #3 - Finish the half marathon

By working towards the first two goals, I will be training for this day. I have roughly a month left until the marathon. I consider this half marathon a stepping stone to the triathlon that I want to do later this spring... the original goal of all of this.

So there it all is for all those who have been asking for the updated blog. Maybe it'll inspire me to keep up-to-date on this and continue as I originally planned. A week ago, we "re-started" boot camp, made goals, and weighed in. My goals were the same there as they are here. Yesterday we ran ~4 miles and then did weights concentrating on the chest area, lots of push-ups, bench presses, and military presses. As I said earlier, no running today due to the weather. Tomorrow we are the football field for a fun filled, very cold morning. I hear the wind chill is 27, but I'll be there... hot or cold.

May the new year bring success to all of our goals.

The Newest Start :)

So, ok. I've been a complete and utter slacker when it comes to writing lately. This is partly because I've been a little busy with working, having fun, and little working out. We had three weeks off of boot camp, but I managed to work out about 3 days a week while we were off. But... they were never with the intensity or duration (don't I sound like a PT) that our boot camp workouts were. Luckily, we started back with boot camp on Oct 13, or around there... whatever that Monday was. 

The first week... 

Monday - Ran 2 miles, lifted a bunch of weights, and caught up with some of the buds at Market Commons. 

Tuesday - I ran, get this... 4 miles!! And yes, I ran the whole four without stopping down in Surfside (5 am of course.) I was quite happy with this and it didn't even feel that hard after I got past the first two miles. This is the day I made up my mind that I am not a sprinter, but a distance athlete. This should not surprise me as I was not a sprinter in basketball, swimming, or soccer. Maybe that's why they made me goalie :) That, or because I was the only one tall enough to reach the crossbar of the goal. 

Wednesday - Ran a little less than 2 miles, lifted more weights, and then did some 100 meter sprints on the track. We were supposed to be running up the stadium steps, but my right knee was still giving me a little trouble since the Charleston Challenge. 

Thursday - Got up early and met my friend Lisa to run about 4 miles total... only this was more like run and walk along ocean blvd near my house. 

Friday - Sunday - I had all good intentions of waking up early and going for a quick run/walk before any and all festivities. But, my slacker self decided that I needed the rest. However, I had a great weekend and got to catch up with the Duke crowd. I also got to have dinner with my parents and Nana on Thursday night and with the Dobbins crowd and Nana on Sunday morning for Carrie's 19th birthday. 

That brings us to this week. Monday (yesterday) I woke up at 4:15 and we did about 3 miles running/walking, lifted some weights, and got some starbucks. You gotta have a good end to a long morning. We were running along and crossed over 17 at the light. Unfortunately the light was about to change while we were in the middle of the intersection. I sprinted ahead in attempt to avoid the oncoming traffic that could run me over like a deer in the headlights. Right after that, I had a pretty horrible cramping feeling in my left quad muscle, right along the rectus femoris, on the top half of the leg right in the middle. From that point, Jen (who's knee was hurting from Charleston as well) and I ran/walked the rest of the distance. At that time, I thought that I just had a horrible cramp in my leg. But, I tried to do some squats and lunges afterwards and wasn't really able to do them without pain. I took it easy most of yesterday and iced my leg several times, plus I took my advil. Today it feels a good bit better. I can feel it only when I stretch. And, I went up to the third floor several times today and took the stairs with no pain. I think that I strained the quad muscle a little bit. My plan is to take it easy in the morning and run/walk based on how it is feeling. No sprints for me tomorrow :) 

So, there is the update thus far, Heather. Thanks to everyone that has supported me along this journey. It's been a good road so far. 

And the bass keeps running, and running running

Go me is all that I have to say. This morning, a group was supposed to meet at the 48th trail for a run, only it wasn't really a group that actually met. You could say it was just me and Guy, and you'd be right. But run is what we did. Overall, I think that we did close to 6 miles, and that included running a bridge 2.5 times. Well, we went completely over the bridge crossing the waterway on the Bob, then we ran back over it. At the bottom of that hill is when Guy said, let's sprint up the bridge, just till it meets the water and then run back down on this side. I guess that's how I came up with the 2.5x across. I thought I was going to die running up it the second time, but then I realized that it doesn't even compare in the slightest degree to the Charleston bridge, so why was I complaining?? That's when I yelled "We are woman!!" (A very familiar quote from both our muddy bike ride and the Charleston Challenge.) We did the whole run a long ways, then walk a little bit for most it. However, the last 1.25 miles, he told me to run the whole thing without walking... telling me that it was mostly downhill and a fast run. He was right about neither. It was pretty slow (seeing as I was exhausted by my bridge runs) and it was mostly up hill. But hey, I finished it all, including the final run! Woohoo!!! What's even better, my knees didn't bother me. I did get a few blisters on the tip of my 2nd toes. I'll band-aid those tomorrow.

As for tomorrow, we are meeting at 5am at the stadium to run the bleachers. Wish me luck!

A new week begins

I'm sitting here on the couch icing the knee after working out today, the first time since last Wednesday. I'm in the middle of my 12 day working period. When I first started boot camp, it was the middle Monday of my 12 day working period. I thought it started out good that time, so why not try it again. I rode the stationary bike for 30 min on level 9 interval, then did some weight lifting for my arms and abs. Tomorrow morning we are running again, so hopefully my knee will hold up. So, four more days of work and then I get to see the whole fam!

Thought for the day:
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
Mahatma Gandhi

Rest begins

For the next three weeks, we are on a break/rest from boot camp. Luckily, we are still meeting some to run/bike. Monday, I was still so sore that I couldn't hardly work. Tuesday, I got up super early to run down in Surfside. I did about 4 miles, most of which was running, but some walking in the middle. Today I did a little bit of lifting and pushups. Ok, I'm going to back to watching tv... didn't you know that it is couch week. (AKA season premere week!)

The Big Challenge

Here's the review of the last week....

Monday... OMG... in my world that's known as Oh My Gosh, I can't believe you want me to do WHAT?!?!? So, I was quite tired from the awesome concert (thanks Heather), but it was worth it. On three hours of sleep, I headed to the five mile run. I ran about the first two miles and then did the walk/run thing for the rest of it. We finished off that morning with some lifting and such. At least I finished it 3 min faster than I did the last week.

Wednesday... The official last day of morning boot camp for this round. We ran 3 miles, and yes, I ran the whole 3 miles. The temperature decided to finally cool off a little and it felt great. And then we did some monster lifting. Guess that we had to get it all in before it was over.

Thursday... The first meeting for the big challeng on Saturday down in Charleston. We got the clue of about where to meet, which we thought was around Bagel Nation at the corner of 17 and the Isle of Palms Connector.

Friday... I sat in Wally World for 2 hours for an oil change and then decided to stay the night in MI since it was 30 min closer to Charleston.

Saturday... Here is the big day!!! We got up at 4 am, packing the two cars, loaded the bikes, and headed down to Charleston. Kitsy couldn't find her helmet, so we stopped by the Walmart to grab one on the way down. We got our next clue promptly at 7am, which told us to bike to Patriots Point. Here's the way it went. We biked down the Isle of Palms Connector, over the bridge and then turned right on the main road in Isle of Palms. We went over the little bridge to Sullivan's Island and then turned right onto the road back to Mt. Pleasant all the way to Patriot's Point. The whole ride was about 13 miles. Then we hopped off of our bikes and took off running over the Ravenel bridge, down East Bay St all the way to battery. We did a loopy thing by taking a right onto Murray, a right on King, a right on Broad, a left on Meeting, a right on Calhoun, and another left back onto East Bay St. We finished the run by going back over the big bridge. The whole run was over 10 miles. We then biked the reverse path back to bagel nation.

All I can say is over 37 miles in a little over 4 hours. I was and still am exhausted. We then went out and enjoyed some of Charleston before returning home Sunday. What a weekend!!!! There's nothing more to say. So, now I'm about to head out to the pool and enjoy some sweet tea. Tomorrow we start running again, down in Surfside. I'll keep you posted. :)