I DID IT!! 101 km in the month of Sept! YAY ME!!! Not fast, but determined!
So far:
June = 45.56 km, 10:45/km
July = 63.93 9:49/km
Aug = 78.67 9;05/km
Sept = 101.13 km, 9:15/km
WOO HOO
The one bad thing about this hotel is that the room comes with a scale, ironically the very same one I have at home. According to that device I have added exactly 2 lbs in the last 4 days. Might be true - monthly bloating, and although I don’t feel I have been out of control I have been eating in restaurants and food courts so the food is heavier and fattier that I would normally have. I am not going to panic, it is all over and I am on my way home.
The trade show weekend is going very very well. The booth is drawing in lots of people, I was able to arrange to have dinner with my sister and some friends, and the hotel is very nice. I have been eating well, and have not joined the groups heading out on the town each evening. I went for a one hour bike ride Thurs, travelled here, did the treadmill thing on Fri, took yesterday off and will try the treadmill again after we shut down our booth this evening. By the 30th, I will have logged over 100km in September wunning - I would say 50% running (slowly, oh so slowly) and 50% power walking. I never, ever thought I would be able to say anything like that.
The Toronto Marathon is today, and this morning I walked over to the finish line and watched the 1/2 marathon run. All shapes and sizes cranked it over the course, and the marathoners were blowing by in their own lane at the same time. I have no desire to race, but I would like to think that I had the ability to cover the distance. I am going to spend the next month getting better at covering 5km at running speeds, and then start the ‘from 5k to 8k’ training plan for my nike ipod thingy from podrunner.com. Maybe that will get me through the winter even if I am mostly forced onto the boring treadmill.
I should be getting caught up on the tremendous backlog of work I am facing but I can’t make myself do it. I am causing big problems for myself, I need to get myself back to the grindstone.
Wine is definitely not my friend. More a frenemy. I like it and all, but I had 2 glasses last night and immediately puffed up again. It also did not help the insommnia. Skinny healthy people only have alcohol on special occassions, right? A two hour phone call should not be classified as a special occassion.
Got up early this morning and went for a 40 minute bike ride (10km, according to googlemaps) before work. Although I am not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, I must say I did feel really good for the rest of the day. So much so that while still floating in the cloud of endorphins I agreed to buy a new car. I’ll go arrange financing tomorrow and if all goes according to plan I will have a new Honda FIT by next week. I am a bit worried about insurance rates, but other than that I am pretty excited.
Then I am going to plan a road trip to meet a friend in Chicago for a weekend at a fancy hotel. I need a change of scenery and that would be just the perfect break. (I have completely abandoned the ‘get control of the finances’ plan).
Now I am going to bed early - another new habit I am trying to develop - so I can force myself out into the cold morning air again tomorrow.
Dagnabit, the scale is FINALLY moving in the right direction
but v e r y s l o w l y. Seems to me it went UP a lot faster.
Still working hard and feeling better about myself. I need, need, need to have a better self-image than I have had for the last few years. Since moving here, I have really struggled with feeling out of my element, unattractive and unfocused. All of that is starting to fade.
Exercising again is so important to changing this thought pattern. If I am the kind of person who can make her body do all these wondrous things, then, I can do anything. Also, being back on my own, sans man, sans offspring, has given me lots of room to eat healthy on my own terms. In my experience, men are fattening! For all sorts of reasons.
Hey, I know this. I know that being an active person is healthy, in all dimensions, and it makes me feel fantastic. I am almost ready to face the gym…torture because there are so many acquaintances there and I feel on display…like anyone is doing anything but obsessing about their own appearance.
Speaking of gyms, the last time I was there I was watching a ‘kettle boot camp’ class. OMG it looks so dangerous - they were throwing those heavy things from hand to hand! I would be terrified of a broken foot. I wonder if steel-toed shoes are mandatory?
PS - 6km 48:19 after work
Went shopping for black pants yesterday. ugh. I do not enjoy shopping for clothes, really. Good news is I am down a size and also, when I got home I tried on the several pair that were in the ‘too small’ section of my closet, and almost all of them fit or almost fit. That was a nice surprise, since some of them still have price tags on them.
Next challenge is to get them shortened. I would like to chat with the person who decided that as women’s hips get wider, their legs get longer.Every pair I have has at least 4 inches of extra length, one pair has 8″!!. So the average size 12 is 6′ tall??
I am very happy to report that I have reached my goal of being able to run for 5km without requiring a trip to the ER. Yesterday I ran the 5km loop of the hiking trail, and I could have kept going, but instead I walked the second loop for a total of 10km in one hour and 27 minutes. (I never claimed I was speedy, just persistent.) My legs are sore but not crippled… I am completely and utterly proud of myself.
later..instead of walking today I did 14.4km on the bike, in 55 minutes, so again, not speedy but consistent.
I have been test-driving new cars, building myself up to having to buy one soon. The thing is that I really don’t care enough to comparison shop - I want economical, adequate and fuel-efficient. Other than that I don’t really notice things. The salespeople get carried away with sound systems, colour, tinted windows, storage, etc…goes right over my head. Clearly they haven’t noticed the vehicle I arrived in!
Next weekend I will be in the city for the big trade show, and somehow I have lucked into a solo hotel room. We are bringing a big team and most people have to share…my room-mate is only there for one night of the four. I was dreading sharing the space so this is a relief. I do not make a good room-mate, I am too inconsiderate. I am off to buy the prescribed colour pants for this booth, and then I will go for a hike in the rain. I feel like I need to get all the outdoor exercise I can over the next few weeks. Also, it makes me feel good.
Ok, one good night’s sleep and all is right with the world again…lol.
Finished my “75km in 4 weeks” self-challenge and have set a new one - 80km in 4 weeks. I think that is where I will cap my distance for a while, that is a lot of time devoted to wunning at my speed, and my weeks are already full enough.
This will be the last weekend I will have in my home for about 5 weeks, too. Lots happening in the near future - some of it work stuff, some family stuff, some fun stuff. Trying to maintain the pace and keep things balanced.
My weird little mind is trying to sabotage me…suddenly I am panicking because I won’t be able to ‘wun’ outside when winter comes, and I don’t want to spend hours a week in the gym, cause I’ll get bored, and I don’t like the treadmill and the nike ipod thingy doesn’t work on the rowing machine, and then I’ll stop, then all this healthy living will come to a crashing halt, and guess I’m not as committed as I think I am, if I will stop just cause I get bored….yada with the volume increasing….this is nuts. Take a breath. Deal with today. Feel good today. I will figure it out when I have to and why is this so distressing anyway? Maybe I’ll just go stand in the shower for a while….aargh!
