The long and short of it

This was the longest short week in school teaching history. At least my school teaching history. Between Gatsby's slipped disc (yeah, my dog is walking like a 90 year old man....when he can walk at all) and tomorrow's math placement test, a potential poetry workshop and balancing work/theater/conferences, well, I'm plum tuckered out. Yeah, I said that, you read it right.

Gatsby spent a very miserable day at home but now is on drugs and bed rest. Apparently dogs can slip discs. While it's painful for him and a hassle for me, I'm so glad that he's okay. The vet today and poetry class tonight prevented me from studying for my math test tomorrow (all part of Operation: DBH, beans to be spilled in an upcoming post) but I think I'll be okay. I need to keep my head on my shoulders, remember formulas, and remember that I totally schooled the GRE and this test will be (should be!) cake compared to that.

That's all I got...OH, except I signed up for Yoga. Yep, sure did.

Back to the weight room

I headed back to the weight room yesterday after work because I just can't motivate myself to run when I get home at the end of the day. So, with my head hung low I slunk back in and hit the old routine.

I have another few weeks to get myself motivated to actually run outside again. My foot is healed (finally!) and I have no excuses other than when I get home from work I turn into the laziest person alive.

I'm signing up for a half marathon on August 4th...the heat will be god-awful, I'm guessing, but I'll have plenty of time to train this summer. Motivation? That remains to be seen.

Back on track

Well, it's day four of the detox and things are going fairly well. I totally cheated on the night of day two (there was a pizza in the freezer...couldn't help it) but since then I've been totally focused. No caffeine, no alcohol, just the foods listed in the Fat Smash Diet courtesy of Dr. Ian. I know that if I'm careful and don't blow my wad on Friday at the party my eating habits can stay changed. But, if I eat like a pig then Saturday will be like the detox week never happened.

The half-marathon is August 4th and I start training next week. My foot has been feeling better on a more consistent basis and I'm confident that I can start my training without doing further damage. It took so long to heal. The half marathon I was first supposed to do is this weekend...I can only run about 2.5 miles right now. Youch.

But, I'm really glad that things are coming back to center for me in terms of food and exercise. Now I want Friday to get here so I can eat a hamburger.

If it ain't broke.....

I finally went to see Hottie Doctor today about my foot to see if I was nursing a break or a fracture or what. I tried to work out for the first time yesterday in nearly a week, with somewhat catastrophic results. I ran at about half my normal speed for two-tenths of a mile and then had to stop because I was twisting my feet so much to avoid pain I was worried about falling off the treadmill. So, I went to the elliptical and managed a mile on that, but my heart rate stayed so high (in the 170s when my fat burning range is 122-125) that I knew my body wasn't liking it. I finally ended up biking for about 45 minutes and then lifting weights with Joe. The last time we worked out together was before last weeks snow days, so it was nice to get caught up with him.

At any rate, I'm not broken, sprained, fractured, or otherwise injured in such a way that I shoudn't be back to running in another week or two. Dr. Hot recommended that I cross train so I stay in shape and he said I should still be in fine shape to run the half in May. WHEW.

So, I've readjusted my workout regime and Dr. Hot gave me a boot/cast thing that should help me prevent further injury from favoring my foot so much. It's already working wonders and I'm hoping that I'll be able to get my first run in late next week.

The bummer is I know I lost ground. I can already feel my abs and leg muscles starting to loosen. Good news is, though, the weight loss is starting to kick in, and my blood pressure is 117 over 72. That's after the most stressful week of the school year yet this far, so I'm pretty damn excited.

Hitting the showers

One of the ways I've come up with to reward myself for a "level 5" exercise day (when I work myself so hard I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to move the same way again) is by treating myself to the Ultimate Shower. I take my time (Al Gore would so shake his finger at me) and I use my favorite yummy smelling body wash and I breathe deeply and relax all of my muscles. People who know me well know I do my best thinking in the shower, but on these days I don't think about anything except myself and how awesome I am. How much better I'm treating my body. How hard I'm working and how, for the first time in my life, I'm doing it all for me and not for a boy, or for a job, or to get someone's attention, or to win a contest.

The reward doesn't end with the Ultimate Shower, though. Afterwards I take time and use my favorite lotion, I brush my teeth, and I smile a lot in the mirror. If I'm staying in for the evening, I don my favorite pair of sweatpants and a tank top. If I'm going anywhere--even back to work or out for coffee--I dress myself up. I do the make up, the hair, cute clothes; I totally girl myself out.

My level 5 work out days are my favorites. Today I ran four miles, and I kept a pace I haven't been able to keep before. Joe pushed me during the last quarter mile, encouraging me and getting me to amp up my speed even more for the last tenth. Tomorrow is a two mile day, nothing after today's push, and it's 3-4 miles the rest of the week except for Thursday, the day of rest.

Craving the miles

Today I realized how accustomed my body has become to exercise over the course of just a few weeks. I've been crabby the last few days, no idea why and no real reason, until I packed up my workout clothes this morning. This afternoon I ran two miles in 30 minutes, my speed wasn't huge but I've never run 30 solid minutes before without walking.

I'm stress free when I run. I don't think about grading, students, really anything. All I do is concentrate on getting to the next tenth mile. It's amazing.

"Results Not Typical"

So I weighed myself this morning, after a full week of improvement in the way of food, beverage, and exercise.

I gained a half a pound.

This is discouraging. I wasn't expecting to lose a lot of weight, I was hoping for a pound. My doctor says if I can lose a pound a week, I'll make my twenty by the time I have my physical. I've heard that the weight virtually flies off in the first week and then gets a lot harder during the second and third weeks.

I'm bummed and tired. What's the worth of this? I don't feel better, I don't have more energy, and I'm not losing weight. Clearly I'm doing something wrong, but what?

Frustrating. I've also fallen back on my tv watching and haven't been able to manage keeping track of my budget like I've wanted to. I'm pretty much having a full breakdown of all of my goals, and it's a pretty icky feeling. Plus I haven't been writing for, well, forever.

Um, ow.

Today was my first Monday workout. I exercised last week Wednesday through Friday and, while I struggled a bit with the cardio workout on the treadmill at level 5, I did it. Today Joe came to keep me company because I forgot my ipod (well, okay, he was planning to work out too) and I discovered that talking while working out is fucking hard. "They" say that if you can't have a conversation while running then you're running too fast. Joe and I carried on a conversation, but it definitely cut about 3 minutes off my workout.

I've decided I'm going to do a MWF treadmill workout, and Tue/Thurs/Sat/Sun aerobics. That's 20-30 minutes of exercise per day, all of which can be modified to a higher or lower level of difficulty depending on my energy.

The Diet Coke rationing is going well--I've not had more than two cans a day since last Tuesday, and I've been drinking at least as many ounces of water as of DC. That's not great, I should drink more, but it's an improvement.

Tomorrow is aerobics, and I need to definitely buy a sports bra. My girls are bouncing around way too much for a high school weight room.

Day 1 of Operation: Lower Blood Pressure

Since Hottie Doctor Goodwin told me yesterday that I have inadvertantly stepped onto the path of my mom, grandma, great-grandma and further back than that, I decided to dive right in. I usually plan things to death until I get bored with them. I love to plan; I'm not so hot on the action. But, with my health at risk, I'm all about the action.

Here is the list of what I did today to better my health:

1. Ate Smart Start for breakfast

2. Skipped my mid-morning visit to the Focus area fridge/snack cabinets

3. Drank only two cans of diet coke

4. Drank four bottles of water

5. Worked out for twenty minutes on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the elliptical

6. Did NOT stop at Chipotle on the way home

7. Made popcorn and left the butter off

8. Finished my ninth day without smoking

So I'm pretty happy. The changes aren't really that major and I don't know if they'll help at all, but at least I feel like I'm doing something about it.