Health

Our health is everything. It's easy to ignore when we feel great. We don't even think how much it matters until you are sick.

I'm happy to report, I feel better today. Not 100%, but still better and on the mend. I actually worked out today on the cross ramp for an hour. I made sure to keep it easy, not too much resistance and slow to keep my heart rate under 121 for most of the time. I had company today while I ran. I had another women I know run next to me and we talked the entire hour. Thankfully, the time went by quickly.

Even being sick I was still hungry. I wanted Ice cream last night sooo much. I thought about getting myself a bowl from 7pm to 9pm.. I resisted. I could have written a whole blog page last night just on how much I wanted that ice cream. How hard it was to resist. Instead of getting ice cream I did some homework, watched TV and spent time on the Internet. It's funny how certain times of the day we crave specific foods. In the afternoon and evening I want sugar. It's my comfort food. It's what I think I need to calm me.. I need to change my thinking and start craving healthy fruit instead or popcorn.. anything to stay away from candy, cakes, cookies and ice cream.

This is to be continued.. it's another night ahead and we will see how I do without sugar.

Formulas

Running Distance

Now that I have been running for almost 1 year.. week #50, 2 more weeks to go that I can add to my total miles ran.

Here is the statistics:

Most miles ran/cross country ski = 92 Miles back in March..
Most miles just running = 75 miles

Total miles so far on Week #50 = 2,283.02 miles

I could have almost ran from New York to California  which is 2,461 miles.. just 177 miles.. now I still have 2 weeks but my average miles are around 40 per week.. I already added in  Monday's total so I'm not going to make it to California this year, close enough!

Going Banana's!

I'm still sick today. Feeling a little bit better since going to the doctor and getting some horse pills.. well antibiotics for a bad sinus infection. They do look like horse pills.. huge.. but I'm not complaining because the way I felt yesterday I would have swallowed a cupcake in one gulp to feel better.

I got up this morning all ready to workout.. Steve just said really? Don't you think it's best to take one more day of rest? Here's my thought process... I felt better then yesterday.. my teeth didn't feel like they were going to fall out of my mouth. I could breathe.. Still had a headache, still sneezing and my face still hurts.. plus my body aches.. I took some Excedrin, hoping that would kick in and I'd feel 100% better.. Nope.. all I did was lay on the floor, in blankets trying to stretch and realizing once I started coughing.. it's probably not a good idea to workout. I need to save my energy for working today because I can't take another day of rest. I got lucky yesterday and could change my schedule.

I am going a bit bananas not working out. It's always on my mind. I want to go run to burn off the calories I'm eating and to stay fit. Plus, I don't want to start on a path of not going. I don't want to start talking myself into thinking.. Oh I will just run later on today. Because later on comes and goes and I don't feel like working out. It's just never a good idea to save it for later! It's only okay to do that if your getting extra exercise in addition to your normal cardio/resistance.

You would think being sick.. I'd lose my appetite.. not the case.. it's just that food doesn't really taste as good. I attempted to stop at the store yesterday for my favorite fruit.. bananas. I couldn't even bring myself to go into the store. I felt and looked awful.. I drove right on by even thought I knew today I would be wanting my bananas. What do you know.. there they were.. waiting for me.. my banana. Steve had picked some up at the store yesterday. Does he know me or what?

So while I feel like I'm going bananas today by not working out.. It's good for me.. I need the rest and I will be back at it tomorrow. Healthy and able to workout without hacking up junk or sneezing all over the place. I'm sure everyone will thank me and my germs for keeping them away.

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

I Must Be Sick!

If I skip a workout that I woke up for, got dressed for but never made it to the gym... You know I must be too sick to go. I'm ache.. my head hurts and I'm sure I have a sinus infection from just a really bad cold.
Life must go on.. so I'm taking it easy today. I'm not working out unless I feel better later on.

I want to workout... but my head isn't feeling it and I know to get better sooner then later, I need a day of rest. I'm 100% sure the others in the gym will appreciate that I did not take my germs and spread them all over every piece of gym equipment, only to pass on my cold. I hate it when I see people who clearly are too sick to workout, touch everything.

Yesterday, I did run for today. I ran 2 hours total and 12 miles. I felt good enough to do my morning cardio on the cross ramp at Zone 2 for an hour then I ran the lakes for another 65 minutes. I really do think this new cardio workout where I have to force myself to slow down is giving me more energy to go longer. Which is what you want if your training for endurance and fat burning.

Well, off I go to class because I have to.. Can't miss a day. Then off to work (need to check my schedule to see how long I am working) then to the bank.. back to bed and rest. Drinking lots and lots of water, take some vitamin C and hopefully get into see the doctor, so I can get some antibiotics for by sinus infection. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow.. Tomorrow is a new day.. today is a day of rest.

Clear your mind of can't.. Samuel Johnson..

1st Race Ever!

There is nothing quite like your first race. I didn't know anything about running. I didn't even have the correct running shoes. It didn't stop me from running my first race in Rosemount 4 miles in 2011. It was a huge 1st step I would take..

I know it's hard to see me.. with all the young guys who decided to go shirtless. Makes me feel over dressed in long pants and a tank top.. It was July.. I think it was in the 90's if I remember??

Never Too Late!

It is never too late to be who you might have been.” — George Eliot

I'm going to be doing 28 days of Inspirational quotes.. This is the first of more to come..

Maybe these quotes will get me to do something. Something I didn't think of before.. get me to do more then I thought I could.. After 28 days.. I will base my 2013 resolution on my findings..

Who might I have been?? Right now.. I might have been a personal trainer.. Working at my own business. This is what my plan is to be... and it's not too late to follow my new dreams... of adding exercise into my life and into others..

Fog!

Woke up to thick fog this morning. What happened to weather reports of sun this weekend? Where did it go? here it is almost 2 in the afternoon and I think the fog is thicker then this morning.

I ran again today around the lakes 3x's and I ran them slow.. or tried to. I had a little malfunction with my heart rate monitor, it got stuck at 100.. I'm sure I was not running that slowly and the fact that it stayed constant made me really know it was so off.

Tomorrow.. back to the gym.. early in the morning.. no more sleeping in until 7:30am.. It will be up at 4:30am.. and run...I'm looking forward to seeing any new changes at the gym.. There will be fresh paint.. and I'm not sure what else if anything..

3 more weeks left until my classes are over.. 3 assignments to finish and I'm 100% done! I'm procrastinating on these last 3.. I've been working on them little by little, but have not tried very hard. I want them done.. done so I can have time to study and not think about another thing to do!

So off I go.. back to homework.. I plan to have it all done by Monday.. 100% done!

Food For Thought

I was reading Prevention magazine the new issue yesterday. There was an article about how you think of food to make better choices.

Here's an example.. Say your tired and hungry for a mini Snickers. Sure.. it's going to taste good and you really want it.. but you might not want to eat that candy bar if you change your thinking..

Snickers = energy crash and burn... . that's right.. the 2 seconds I'm actually eating that candy bar I'll feel satisfied but no sooner then I finishing downing it.. and I'll experience a sugar level crash.. It will zap my energy and so I might just reach for another candy bar to prevent the crash.. only the crash will be much bigger once I come down from that sugar high..

Apple = Fiber my body needs, so sugar to satisfy my cravings and it's still a healthy choice. It will give me energy and if I eat another.. then I'm getting in more of the fruit my body needs every day.. at least 4 to 5 servings a day.

You can pretty much do it for every kind of food. Just think of how your body will respond to that food.

Bread.. fills you up, but won't keep you full for long so you need to eat more and more just to stay full and not hungry. Plus.. do you really need all those carbs? Sure.. have some but choose something that's going to keep you full.

Some thing to think about.. now go make your Food for thought list.. Conquer those self defeating eating habits.. and start thinking about your food in a new way.. what your body really needs and how it's going to respond to what you put into it. You might not reach so fast for that candy bar?

Later Still Works

To sleep in on a Saturday morning felt so good. No pressure to get to the gym by 7am for fear of all the cross ramps being taken. This is a weekend of running outside. Good thing it's a nice weekend for December 1st. It was only 39*F when I ran at 9am (really late for me), no wind and cloudy the perfect conditions for a good run. The only big decision was how to dress? I wore my new fuzzy inside leggings.. which I love! A tank top.. and 2 thin jackets with hoods. The outer jacket is more like tent material or thinner . just enough to break the wind and keep the rain from getting me soaking wet. I wore it more for another layer to take off that was light weight and would not bother me much after I took it off and  wrapped it around my body. I didn't even make to the 2nd lake.. 10 minutes into my run and I was already taking off layers.. first the hat, then the wind breaker jacket.. soon followed by the other jacket.. so I was running in a tank top with mittens on my finger tips. I determined it was best to just carry my mittens in my hands to keep my finger tips from getting cold. It provides just enough warmth to keep them at a nice temperature. I'm almost tempted to make or buy those weird arm covers, they are kind of like legging but for the arms.. just because I'm always a bit chilly and I think that's what I need. Why not just wear a long sleeve shirt? I might if it had a build in bra top like my tank top because it has to keep all the wires in place for my ear buds.

So how was my run? I ran at the park.. love the park.. love going around the lakes and seeing the chipmunks, squirls, geese, birds, dogs and other walkers/ runners. It feels great running on a dirt path instead of hard road. I do have to run a little on a cement paved sidewalk but not for long.

I tried hard to stay in Zone 2.. not much luck.. my heart rate was around 125, 127 and sometimes 130.. but for the most part, I tried to run slower. I tried to follow the new cardio plan as much as I could. It's not that I try to run fast. It's just what I do when I'm not thinking about slowing down. I did feel better, not so tired and  I really did enjoy the run a lot more just by slowing down. While it was more challenging than I thought and I still didn't slow down as much as I should have. I felt great, like I could have kept going for longer then the hour. I ran 3'x around those 2 lakes and headed for home.. After all.. it's the weekend and I have french toast with maple syrup, and home made hash browns waiting for me.. 1 hour of running and 6 miles is plenty..