True Confession Tuesday

In my last confession, I wrote about how I felt like I was drowning.  Things have definitely started to look up, but I think until I get to June 10, my life is going to continue to feel crazy and out of control.  Because I'm getting a very brief moment to write, I'm going with bullet points.  Don't judge.

• I managed to finish a 10 mile race on Saturday, even though I hadn't run more than 6 miles in over 2 weeks.  I'm sore, but I survived. And I didn't come in last.
• I'm working with my sports chiro on my breathing issues.  I saw him at lunch today and he said my psoas muscles (deep in the hips) are extremely tight, locking up my lumbar spine, and torquing on my diaphragm.  This is why I can't seem to get a deep belly breath - my diaphragm is being tethered in place.  So, I now have MORE stretches and exercises to do, but if it helps me be able to breathe, I'll do them.  In the meantime, the feeling like I'm suffocating is very scary.
• Somehow, I managed to get to my lowest weight EVER this past weekend.  132.6!  I don't think I've been this small since about 7th grade.  However, Easter dinner and Easter candy have managed to add 2 pounds since Sunday.  Oh well.  Shit happens.  It was good while it lasted.
• This weekend, I get to go visit Roo!!!!!  I'm reworking my long run day so that I don't have to sit in the car for 3 hours, attempting to drive, after running 14 miles.  Yes, my longest run ever.  I'm hoping to get it done Friday after school instead.  It might make for a late run, but I'll get it done.  How does one fuel for a 2.5+ hr run you are attempting to do in the afternoon?
• I think most of the plague has left my house, but I'm still coughing some.  At this point, I think it's mostly allergies making me nuts.
• My girl is doing better, too.  She ran the 70 meter dash yesterday and won her heat.  (Granted, she should have been paired with faster girls.)  She was also given the job of measuring for long jump, which she said about killed her because she wanted to be jumping so bad and knew she would have won if she'd been allowed to jump.  Her exercises and gym workouts went well last night, so she is now on the schedule to jump in Wednesday's meet.  The girl is nothing if not driven. Pray for good landings.

Okey-dokey, back to work I go.   I hope your transgressions were minimal!

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 16

Hard to believe we are 16 weeks into 2011 already.  That means we only have something like 7 weeks left in the school year!  I've already started planning sports and music camps for the wondertwins - crazy.  Anyway, here is a glimpse into last week.

Saturday

4-16-11

I was sick with the flu all weekend, but got some nice packages in the mail.

Sunday

4-17-11

the ferocious hunter, attacking my straw

Monday

4-18-11

I swear the calendar says mid-April.  Michigan weather is nutso.

Tuesday

4-19-11

Another fun package in the mail!  My new "Juice Box" flavors of Nuun :)

Wednesday

4-20-11

First run after being sick - totally craptastic suckitude

Maunday Thursday

4-21-11

David and Kaylee took First Communion tonight.  Mom and Dad were very proud.

Friday

4-22-11

Packet pick-up for my "little" 10 mile race in the morning. 

You'll have to check back next week to see how the race went :)

True Confessions: I'm drowning

• I want to scream and cry, but I can't because I have to be professional and be the one that has all the answers.
• I have been sick for 2 weeks and have now missed 2 long runs.  I'm seriously freaking out about my ability to run, not just the 10 miles on my schedule for this weekend, but the 14 the week after that and then the 15.5 on May 14. 
• I still feel like shit but I'm at work.
• I missed a meeting this morning because I completely forgot about it.  I never even put it on my calendar.  This is so not like me it scares me.
• I have a meeting tomorrow with a parent who speaks primarily Spanish, but also speaks English.  She conversed fine with me over the phone 3 weeks ago when we scheduled this meeting and again this morning when I called to reminder her.  2 hours later, she called the school asking for an interpreter for the meeting.  It is highly unlikely I'll get an interpreter with 1 day notice.  I'm screwed.
• I ate an entire bag of pretzel M&Ms in 2 days.  That's 7 servings for a total of around 1200 calories. In 2 days.
• Our home computer had the blue screen of death again this morning.  It recovered, but I have not.
• I ate a cookie at lunch today, not because I needed it but because it was pretty and had pink sprinkles. I don't even like sugar cookies.
• The day has just gone from bad to worse to let me crawl under my desk and never come out.

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 15

I'm composing this week's post a couple days late, home sick with the flu.  At least the fever seems to be gone now (but I thought that yesterday, too, and it came back).  Needless to say, the end of this week wasn't nearly as nice as the beginning.

Saturday

4-9-11

The finale to our anniversary weekend - mimosas and Guinness for breakfast

Sunday

4-10-11

Since I missed my long run on Saturday, I attempted 8 miles on Sunday - it didn't happen.

The temps had spiked to 83* and I only made it 6 very slow miles. total suckage.

Monday

4-11-11

caught a bit of K's track practice - the girl can fly

Tuesday

4-12-11

having a subscription to a running magazine makes you officially a runner

Wednesday

4-13-11

K's first track meet of the season - she won long jump with a PR of 14'11", over 2 feet farther than her closest competitor and 2" shorter than the winner for the boys team!

Thursday

4-14-11

awesome Disney pin from the lovely Kirsten came in the mail today

Friday

4-15-11

Definitely NOT how we wanted to end the week or start the weekend.

A bad landing during long jump drills at practice resulted in a nasty sprain on her jumping leg. Her gymnastics season is over, but we are praying that she is able to come back and finish the track season, and maybe still make the conference finals.

So there you have it.  Hopefully everyone else's weeks finished on a brighter note.

Spring In 2 Action Week 6: Buff Brazen Bunnies

First off, I have to apologize if my blog looks a bit wonky.  For some reason, Photobucket is screwing up all my buttons and backgrounds, but they say it should be back to normal in the next day or so.  Still, me no likey.

Anyhoo....

I cannot believe we are at Week 6 on Shrinking Jeans' latest challenge yah, I know, I say that every week - so sue me.  My fellow bunny, Kirsten, and I keep busting out those push-ups for the 100 Push-Up challenge and we are nearly to the end!  Can I get a Woot-Woot? 

Both of us are also running like the crazy women we are.  Kirsten has a 1/2 marathon coming up and my 25k is 1 month from tomorrow.  I have a 13 mile training run coming up on Saturday that I'll probably tack on another 1/10 to so I can say I ran another 1/2 mary cuz we've already established my craziness.

But, it is check-in day, so here we go...

1. Run 2-3 days per week as outlined in my 25k training plan. Amazingly, Check!  That plague I talked about last week nailed me too.  I spent most of spring break week sick with a nasty sinus infection and scrapped my long run.  I was feeling better on Thursday, though, so my girl and I went to the track and she coached me to a 7:34 mile in my 4x400!!!!  It was also my anniversary this weekend and we went out of town, so I didn't run again until Sunday, when crazy-@$$ Michigan decided to jump from 40 to 83*.  My planned 8 miles became one of the worst 6 mile runs I've ever had.  Hubs tried running with me and he quit at 1 mile!  I needed some redemption and got that last night with one of the best (almost) 6 milers ever.  5.89 miles in 59 minutes.  The weather was glorious and I ran with an old friend.  (A running hint-if you want to improve your speed, run with someone a bit faster than yourself.  Our first mile was around a 9:20 pace!)
2. 100 Push-ups Challenge 3x per week. I finished week 6 with a total of 245 push-ups!  I seriously thought my arms were going to fall off!  The next workout says "try and do 100 push-ups", so I'll be giving that a shot tomorrow.
3. Add 2 (or 3) Nike Training Club app strength workouts per week. Yah, I got nothing.
4. Really work on getting enough water. This continues to go well. 

All-in-all, not a bad week. I even got on the scale this morning and saw my lowest weight ever.  I don't think I've been this small since probably middle school!  That little number on the scale was a nice surprise this morning :)  Now it's your turn to hook up with Shrinkingjeans and let us all know how your week went!

True Confessions

Last week was my anniversary week and also my spring break.  I could have gone crazy but I didn't.  Basically I hardly worked out at all because I ended up with the sinus infection from hell, but it was a little better by Thursday so I went to the track and ran with my girl.  I also attempted to run yesterday but the heat had spiked to 83* and my planned 8 miles turned into 6 really slow miles with lots of walking which made me feel like a loser for not being able to run 8 freaking miles and now I'm panicking that I'm never going to be able to run 13 this weekend or 15.5 in a month.  The day of our anniversary, I made super healthy choices except for not eating lunch and then having 2 glasses of wine with dinner but we won't talk about that.  I ended up not having any beer this weekend because the places we went only had domestic nasty crap and I won't waste calories on beer that doesn't taste good.  We even walked the 1/2 mile (we really had no idea how far it was until after we walked it and I checked my gps) from Greektown to Joe Louis, rather than wait in the super long PeopleMover line.  I didn't eat or drink anything at the game.  I did end up very dehydrated though, because I also barely drank any water all weekend.  I felt hungover Sunday morning, even though I'd only had 2 glasses of wine.  I even passed up red velvet cupcakes this weekend and they are my all-time favorite. 

So overall, I had a pretty good week considering how sick I started out and the potential for disaster over the weekend.  I weighed myself Monday morning and was at my lowest weight to date.

So why do I feel so fat?  Why did I spend the whole day yesterday hating my fat, pasty legs showing under my dress (that is now too big)?  Why did I feel like I had to wear a sweater over my tank top because my arms don't seem any more defined/less flabby than before the push up challenge started?  Why can't I just be happy with how I look now and be proud of what I've accomplished?

Clearly I need to work on my head.  My inner mean girl is on a rampage.

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 14

I had full intentions of getting this post done on Friday, but that was hubs and my 16th anniversary and we drove out of dodge to meet up with good friends in the D for some Red Wings hockey and other assorted good times (Thanks JB and db, T and K!).  So, here it is on Sunday and I'm finally putting last week's photo post together.  Today has turned unseasonably warm and I'm still trying to recover from the run I attempted this afternoon, so forgive any incoherency - it's just the deydration talking.

Saturday

4-2-11

This week started out with a 12 mile training run. Nice, flat course and it should have been easy - I didn't know it, but I was getting sick and the run suffered.  Felt like quiting about a billion times.

Sunday

4-3-11

Headed to Founders Brewing for jazz night.

Monday

4-4-11

A (somewhat) disappointing treat.  I'm going to stick with the red velvet things from sbux from now on.

Tuesday

4-5-11

Went to see if the fish were jumping yet at the Fish Ladder (not yet).  A beautiful day, though, so you get two pictures :)

Wednesday

4-6-11

Some days, I wish I could be Squirt.

Thursday

4-7-11

Went to the track to do speed work with my girl.  With her coaching, I ran a 4x400 in 7:34!

Happy Anniversary!

Friday

4-8-11

Scenes from the Joe - Sadly the Wings lost, but it was still a fun game (I have a bit of a crush on #43 Darren Helm & I got to see him knock a few Blackhawks into the boards).  We had a great time hanging out with our friends.

There you have it.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go fill up my water bottle again and find a sunbeam.  Hopefully you are getting to enjoy some sunshine wherever you are. 

Spring In 2 Action Week 5: Buff Brazen Bunnies

Can you believe we are at Week 5 on Shrinking Jeans' latest challenge?  My fellow bunny, Kirsten, and I have been busy cranking out those push-ups for the 100 Push-Up challenge.  I wish I would have taken some arm measurements or something at the beginning because I don't see much of a difference, but the push-up count is rising, so I must be doing something right. 

Hopefully, it is becoming spring-like where you live.  Here in SW Lower Michigan, we have rain, rain, and more rain.  We also have the plague in my house this week, which is exactly how I wanted to be spending spring break.  Catch the sarcasm there?

Anyhoo, it is check-in day, so here we go...

1. Run 2-3 days per week as outlined in my 25k training plan. Check!  Even with the plague descending on my house, I did get 3 runs in the week.  On Thursday, I ran my first-ever (outdoor) sub-30 minute 5K!!!!  Then Saturday I did my 12 mile training run as I was just beginning to get sick and it sucked royally, but I finished it.  Today I did a short, 2 mile TM run just to shake out the legs.  I've had 2 doctors now tell me to bag my 13 mile run this week and focus on banishing the crud from my body, so no long run this weekend for me.
2. 100 Push-ups Challenge 3x per week. I finished week 5 with a total of 175 push-ups.  Holy Moly!  Yesterday I took my test and hit a max of 53.  How in one more week I'm supposed to get to 100 is totally beyond me.
3. Add 2 (or 3) Nike Training Club app strength workouts per week. Uh, FAIL.  I did take a 15 minute core class at the Y this morning - we used the Bosu for the whole class and my abs were crying.
4. Really work on getting enough water. This continues to go well.  Being home this week for spring break and remembering to drink is a bit more of a challenge, but my Sahara-dry mouth from not being able to breathe through my nose is a good reminder to fill up my glass.

So, some good, some not so good, but all-in-all a decent week.  Now if I can just shake this sinus infection so I can enjoy my anniversary this weekend, I'll be golden!  We are heading to The D to go to a Red Wings game with 2 other couples.  A totally grown-up weekend!  SQUEEE!

Now it's your turn, get blogging and link up with Shrinking Jeans.  Let us all know how your week went!

True Confessions

GAH, what a difference a week makes.  I'm sick, my daughter is sick, the house is full of the plague.  Because I'm sick, my workouts have really suffered.  I managed to run my 12 mile training run on Saturday, but really slogged through the whole thing and felt like crying about 50,000 times (quitting wasn't an option - I was in the middle of nowhere and hubs couldn't have gotten a car to me anyway).  I ended up with my hip out of wack because of said slogging.  My doctor (chiro-sports guy) has told me to bag my 13 miler for this week and try to kick this stupid virus (the hip is totally fine now, thanks to his miracle hands).  I've got another 13 miler on deck for next week, so I should still be on track for my 25k.

So, here I sit.  I did my push-up test today (a disappointing number, but I did it anyway).  I'm stretching, foam rolling, and trying to drink tons of water.  If my girl and I feel better by Thursday, we are going to try to run at the HS track together.  She is dying to try out her new sprint spikes and I want to try a speed workout on the track vs treadmill.

This coming weekend is my anniversary (16 years - dang!) and hubs and I are going to a Detroit Red Wings game with 2 other couples.  I'm sure there will be plenty of food and drink porn to confess next week at this time.

LLRB 365: 2011 Week 13

Yippee!!! We've made it to April 1st and I'm officially on Spring Break.  I have no plans and all of my students talking about their trips to Disney and Mexico and Cruises and OMG I'm so jealous other than getting my homework done for my grad class and going to a Red Wings game at the end of the week.

Here's what happened in my neck of the woods this past week.

Saturday

3-26-11

after the best 10 mile run I've ever had (1 hr, 43 min - a 10:14 pace!) we met up with my Sis and her fam and took the kids to see the butterfly exhibit at Meijer Gardens

Sunday

3-27-11

another great trampoline and tumbling meet for K

Monday

3-28-11

Bell's Oberon is out!  It's like summer in a bottle.  M and I went to a release party at Midnight (Sunday night) so these pictures were technically taken on Monday :)

Tuesday

3-29-11

Squirt does her best Elvis impersonation

Wednesday

3-30-11

I found out I'm allergic to this stupid plant after I pulled all the old landscape lights out

Thursday

3-31-11

today I reached a milestone - I ran a sub-30 min 5k on the trail by my house!

I also ran without any music or my gps giving me feedback

Friday

4-1-11

changed out my antenna topper in honor of the start of baseball season

today was the home opener for the Cubs - didn't win-but it still means spring!

There you have it, folks!  For the rest of today, I'll be hydrating and carb-loading. I have a 12 mile run on the schedule for tomorrow morning.  While the weather in the picture for today LOOKS nice, it's actually very cold and they are predicting rain and SNOW for tomorrow.  GAH.  Wish me luck!