Friday, June 30, 2006

Out of left field...

Padres
Yesterday I went to a Padre's baseball game with a friend who had an extra ticket. (Padres VS The Oakland A's -- the A's won in extra innings.) It was cool hanging out with the "girls" at a baseball game, since the conversation is geared around how "hot" and "cut" some of the players are..The One Writing The Message Is Winking On the way home in the car, we chatted about family and what everyone is up to. I casually mentioned something about my sister getting on the fitness bandwagon per her doctor's suggestion and that she probably needs to lose a good 40 pounds or so. My friend just started crying... She went on to say that she is so disgusted with her weight, that she just can't get a grip on it, and she needs to lose about 70 pounds, but it's so hard to get going with everything because life is so busy, etc... Wow... I wasn't quite sure how to react. I tried to be as sympathetic as I could. I truly KNOW how she feels, as I was over-weight myself, but I wasn't dealing with the weight she is dealing with. I offered to send her some links. I want to help her without being overwhelming... She's one of the people who wants to run the marathon with me one day, but I told her to start off with just walking until she's able to get up to running, then to look at something like the Couch to 5k program... I could really feel for her and the tremendous angst she's carrying around that's associated with her weight. She's a very dynamic, get the job done, work hard kind of person. I want to help her. Any suggestions of how else I can help her???
Help


Peace
Peace Sign

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Motivation

A while back, Angie posted on her blog about needing motivation. This got me to thinking about it because I'm sure all of us need to pull from somewhere for motivation, especially when we really don't feel like doing anything... Here are the questions she asked:
1. What or who keeps you motivated to keep going?
2. How do you schedule your workouts?
3. What or who is your primary means of support?
4. How do you feel when you skip a workout session?
5. Do you maintain your diet/nutrition even when you can't workout?

Thinking

These were my answers:
1. My before pictures keep me motivated... Ugh... I don't want to go back there... I also set new goal every so often, like for running in events, or even lifting a little heavier.

2. Scheduling workouts depends on, well, my schedule. If I'm working,I usually make the effort to wake up at the crack of dark to work out. If I'm not working I workout about an hour after I eat breakfast.

3. Support... That's tough. Everyone thought I was nuts when I signed up at the gym and started working out. I was very much alone on that. I had do dig down deep to want to do this workout thing and keep it going. I had to find on line support groups to help stay focused, but it would have been nice to have a workout partner or someone on my inner circle of friends and family to cheer me on. (Edit -- I'm slowly finding that people want to join me on run events!)

4. When I skip a workout I don't beat myself up over it. I just go on to the next day and do that day's workout. I never make up missed workouts. I must say that I do feel physically and mentally better when I don't skip workouts. Workout time is my time...

5. I try to maintain my nutrition when I don't workout, but that isn't always the case. I must say that I'm better at maintaining nutrition now than in years past.



Any one else?

Peace
Way To Go

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Achilles Tendonitis

Foot

"What is Achilles Tendonitis?"

"The Achilles tendon is the large tendon at the back of the ankle. It connects the large calf muscles (Gastrocnemius and Soleus) to the heal bone (calcaneus). This tendon can become inflamed through overuse as well as a number of contributory factors.

It is estimated that 11% of all running injuries can be due to Achilles tendonitis. The Achilles tendon has a poor blood supply which is why it is slow to heal."

Just Peachy. I think I may have Achilles Tendonitis in my left foot/ankle... Of course, I have yet to see a doctor, but I'm pretty sure that's what he/she will tell me... It's not painful, I just have a constant dull ache.
Shock 3

The bad news is that I'll have to put off running and just about all forms of cardio for a while, perhaps a month or two, IF it is what I think it is.
Sad

The good news is that I can do circuit training to get my heart rate up.
Good

PEACE
Winky 2

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

"The Marathon Generation"

Did anyone happen to check out the article in the June 26, 2006 TIME magazine titled "The Marathon Generation?" It states that "43% of marathon runners in the U.S. are 40 or older." The article goes on to say how much healthier the baby boomers are than in past years... Interesting article. Now, for all you young-un's out there, you now have something to look forward to.

Same old stuff... The painters are at the "new" old house today scraping the lovely acoustic popcorn off the ceilings so that the electrician can install new lighting... Oh, I do have gardening news... I have yellow squash and it's fabulous! I had some with my eggs this morning...

Reality Check:
Scale
I haven't really weighed myself in about a week. I'm semi-reluctant to because my eating has been less than stellar. I haven't mapped out a workout plan yet but we've been so busy with the house....

Things that went right:
*I went to the gym today and ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill, which was about 4.1 miles.
*We purchased a new washer and dryer... They work. Now if I could only get other people to get excited about using those, it would be perfect.
*Yellow squash is ready!

Things that need improvement:
*Make a new workout plan and stick to it.
*Find a window contractor who will actually return my calls...

PEACE
Kitty 1

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Dreamboat Annie & Other Mussings...

Now, where was I?

I've been staying at the "new" old house since Thursday.... No TV, no computer. In a way it's kind of nice, but it makes it hard to update and be accountable...

Thursday
After spending and entire day working on several projects at the "new"old house, Michael actually forced himself to leave work early and we went a concert. We saw 'Heart" at the San Diego County Fair (AKA: Del Mar Fair) This time we had awesome seats on the floor level. They did a "Who" song "Love, Rain On Me" that knocked our socks off, in addition to their own standards, like "Barracuda," "Crazy On You,"Magic Man," etc...
They closed with "Dreamboat Annie."
That's the song I got my blog title from:

"Heading out this morning into the sun
Riding on the diamond waves, little darlin' one

Warm wind caress her
Her lover it seems
Oh, Annie
Dreamboat Annie
little ship of dreams

Going down the city sidewalk alone in the crowd
No one knows the lonely one whose head's in the clouds

Sad faces painted over with those magazine smiles
Heading out to somewhere won't be back for a while"


Since this concert was at the fair, we had to venture out into the food area after the show... We actually found some decent food, not greasy... An Chinese chicken bowl with rice and veggies... Michael broke down and just HAD to get a cinnamon roll... I had a bite...

Friday
I actually ran! I ran in my "new" neighborhood, and ran down part of the marathon route, which is a couple of blocks away. I didn't realize how short a distance that is from the house so I had to run around a couple of blocks a few times to make at least 2.5 miles.... I spent more time working at the "new" old house... I can now put my car in the garage, plus, I got to use the power tools... Hey, I put up brackets for the curtains! John (from Muscletank) ended up working longer than he had expected and didn't get return as soon as he was anticipating, and he had tickets to the Padres game, SOOOOOOOOOO we didn't get together. Sorry, no pictures BUT he will be back here at some point in the near future and we WILL get pictures. If there's any consolation, he looks awesome. Michael and I spent the rest of the day moving bricks from a pile in the patio to a walk way in the garden area while there was still sunlight... That was my bicep workout... PS...Oh, and Erik finally got his driver's license...

Saturday
The electrical contractor came over and we're gonna have grounded outlets! Wooohoooo! In addition, new phone connections, cable wire, and everything else will be wired to bring the house up to code... I had one of my 5k event T-shirts on (perfect for doing yard work) and the electrician noticed it and started asking questions about running. Turns out that he runs and participates in the "America's Finest City" event (half marathon) in August. In addition, we signed the contract with the painter. Yay! Later on, Michael and I attended an Andy Warhol exhibit/reception at the museum. They served wonderful food that was actually "clean" but there was the desserts.... They had these brownies, and well... ya know... they *were* chocolate.

Sunday
Not sure what today has in store, other than visiting Lowe's for a washer and dryer, look at ceramic tiles and bathroom vanities. Michael wants to take his folks out for dinner. I think I'm gonna pop. Most of my working out will have to do with the "new" old house.

Retrospect:
*I need to have REAL workouts and get back to eating clean again.
*I need to make a photo copy of the photo copy I have of the "authorized foods" list on my fridge from the BFL book for the "new" old house. Yeah, I know the list but sometimes it's good to have that list staring me in the face.
*I still need to take before pictures.

Peace
Hearts

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Needs....

I found this one on the lovely Cherie's blog...

Google in your name and your needs.

Here's what I got:

"Irene needs a skirt or two." If you say so. I really need more running socks.
Off The Rack

"Irene needs a refill on her medications..." Well, if you count Elidel cream for eczema, well, then, yeah...Pill Bottle

"Irene needs to make a decision: should she try to lose weight with a diet program again or should she see the psychologist?" Perhaps a diet psychologist? What The Hell?

"Irene needs a purse..." Kate Spade or Coach would be nice.
Shopping 2

"Irene needs to raise 4500.00 euros." Don't we all?

"Irene needs more "personal psychic details" so she can complete my Personal Forecast & Life Development Chart." Sure thing. I'm on it.
Crystal Ball

"Irene needs a friend." There's always room for more friends.
Beach Party

"Irene needs adventure like most of us need air."
Diving

"Irene needs all the moisture it can get in the current environment it has. Chances for anything more than that are too low to really mention." Hmmm... I was a tropical front!
Hurricane

Irene needs another "Paris." Well, if you count the Las Vegas Paris, then, I could even deal with that... Never been to France.
Eiffel Tower

Peace
Need A Hug

Update...


The past several days have been great! My sister came out for a vacay. She decided to get a hotel room at the beach and managed a really good deal at a place in Coronado... Needless to say, I spent most of my time with my sister at the beach. Duh!

Ohhhhh! The really cool thing is that my sister has started running. She's starting out with a walk run pattern until she's built up to just running. I told her about "Couch to 5K" that many people have used to get running. I think she's going to give that a whirl. We went running on the beach yesterday, ran past a several Navy Seals on their morning run and did about 2.5 miles. Once she gets to running at least 4 miles with out stopping, she wants to come back and run a 5K with me, and perhaps my brother, if he wants to make the trip down... My sister has even lost about 15 pounds since she started running. She needs to lose weight, per her doctor's orders... She probably needs to shed about 25 more pounds. I'm glad she's on the right track.

Nutrition and working out have been so-so... I really haven't paid close attention, though, but I guess I'm maintained...

John from Muscletank is here in SD! We might meet up today.

PEACE

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Quick...

*Yesterday's workout turn out to be a 2.5 mile walk instead.
*Not carb-loading is bringing the weight down already. I dropped 5 pounds since the marathon. I'm already down to 124.
*My sister is in town... Planning on hanging out at the beach with her.
*It must be dentist season... I visited mine today. Everything is good, I just need a filling replaced.
*Working at the "new" old house today.

PEACE
Music

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Swim!

Swimming
Yesterday I went swimming instead of running. I swam several continuous laps for a good 30 min. I hadn't swam laps in ages. It felt good. The only thing is that I need to remember to bring a soap or fragrancePerfume (like the tangerine spice one Bath and Body Works makes) that will cut the smell of the overly chlorinated pool water at the gym... Even after showering the chlorine lingers. :crazy:

I was invited to yet another lunch with a different set of friends today. They chose the little Italian place near where we used to all work.... I don't remember if there's anything not pasta or cheesy pizza on the menu, besides salad... This will be interesting.

Reality Check:
Pizza Pie
I can resist temptation of cheesy pizza... I can resist temptation of cheesy pizza... I can resist temptation of cheesy pizza...

Things that went right: (Yesterday)
*Swam laps for 30 minutes at the gym pool.
*Eating/water was on track.

Things that need improvement:
*My left foot is a little sore from yesterday's swim... Not sure what I did but it's the left foot that was having some minor issues pre-marathon. I need to R.I.C.E.
*Fit in some sort of LBW today. I need it.

PeaceRolly 2

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Beverly Hills

Last night we attended yet another guitar recital, small kids to adults. It seems that at each recital there's one song that gets played over and over. Last time it was Metallica's "Sandman." This year it was Weezer's "Beverly Hills." One of the highlights (besides my son, of course) was a kid that couldn't of been more than 6 years old. He played Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water." It was great... Erik played the Guns N' Roses version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." I guess you know you're playing a song right when the adults in the audience start singing along.... The only problem Erik had was the ending. His teacher was supposed to change an amp setting and forgot to, so he sort of faked it and ended it... Oh well. I'm very proud of him. I took pictures but they looked exactly the same as his last recital, from November of last year...

Reality Check:
I realize it's going to take a little time to build back up again. My UBW yesterday was lack luster... Perhaps I'm all partied out...

Things that went right:
*Yesterday I did a UBW, however modified. It WAS movement...
*I did more heavy duty gardening...
*Put another coat of varathane on the floor.
*Met with another painting contractor.
*My son's guitar recital

Things that need improvement:
*I realize I need to kick my workouts into full gear.
*Get the 4 bags of bark out of the trunk of my car.
*Distribute the bark under the roses in the front yard of the "new" old house.

Peace
Roll

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Is It 29 Again?

Yes, it's true. I had another birthday on Friday. 47. Birthday I really do enjoy celebrating my birthday and I feel that age is a gift. On the day of my birthday one of my wishes did come true. I didn't have to attend the AIA convention with Michael in Los Angeles this weekend. I suppose staying at the Bonaventure Hotel might have been interesting, but other than that I would have been bored. New innovations in roofing material, state-of-the-art door knobs, and the latest in computer drafting does not excite me. I spent the day at my "new" old house sanding the floor in the master bedroom. Yeah, I know how to have fun... I actually enjoyed sanding the floor. It sure beat painting. Michael said he felt bad about not being there for my birthday but we'll celebrate later. When he called me after a day at the convention at dinner, his business partner made the whole restaurant sing "Happy Birthday" to me through the cell phone... That's a first. A friend of mine did take me out for a birthday drink, which was a nice gesture. He kind of went out of his way to do that but he thought I should do some sort of celebrating on my day. I came home early and was looking forward to a long, uninterrupted sleep...

At about 4:00 AM, I am jolted out of by sleep my Evan, my grandson. For some reason he felt like visiting me, not mommy... He usually sleeps well, so this little EARLY morning visit was unusual. He climbed up into bed with me and wanted to chat... "Mimi, where's Lumpy?" (The cat)... "Mimi, MY moon is outside." "Mimi, where's baby bear?" "Mimi, where's my blankie?" after several more questions and statements he became quiet and fell asleep. He woke me up at about 7:00 AM, with his finger in my ear and said, "Mimi's ear!" Yay me... He then went and woke up his mommy and she took care of things from there. Since I was up, there was no use sleeping in. Oh well.

I had a mini reunion with three of my friends from high school. We TRY to meet every 6 months or so. We met at PF Changs for a feast. Chinese Restaurant I think there was one plate we didn't even get to try because there was so much food... THEN, my friends pulled a fast one on me and the waiter brought out a birthday cake... It was a cake from the little Chinese bakery known for their cakes. It was chocolate. Yum... I'm gonna pop...


Michael is now on the road home from Los Angeles. Tonight we're going out with friends, but I'm gonna keep the food and drink light, very light...

The marathon pictures were finally posted but I couldn't post anything while Blogger was down for maintenance.... Since the photos have a copyright, I can't post them here, but I can post the links... In this first picture, I think it's around the half way point because I still have a decent stride. In this next photo, I'm crossing the finish line. Finally, this is how things looked when we started the race... It was like "running down a dream" in the fog...

Peace

Thursday, June 08, 2006

"Hello Lover!"

WHAT?????? I'm talking about shoes.... Sheesh!

I have an upcoming event to attend in August. It's Michael's 30th high school reunion. Yeah, we're THAT old... I purchased a multi-colored, wrap around, silk dress with beads for straps, and it has a handkerchief hem. I purchased the dress MONTHS ago, on line, just in case it would take a while, and it did. Now that the dress is here

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting and it fits, I needed shoes to match. I tried to order shoes on line but my size was not available. I waited too long...

Yesterday I went out shopping. I've spent a lot of time working retail in the early years of my marriage and it pretty much took away the thrill of shopping. Shopping just doesn't float my boat. I made my way to DSW shoes. This store has a bazillion shoes. It's overwhelming. I found my discontinued Asics there, but they still weren't marked down enough. I found shpprgrl's Keds flip flops... I finally went down the high-heeled, evening shoe and strappy sandal aisle. I found a silver pair of Manolo Blahnik knock offs, like the ones Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City) is admiring in the picture above. Suddenly, there's the shoe I'm looking for. I see it up high, just down the aisle. It's the right color, in red, high heeled and strappy, and in my size. Perfect. Then I see a red, pointy toed pump, High Heels perfect to wear with my jeans that I'm too lazy to hem up. Hmmmmmm, that might work. I sit down and take off my old Nike running shoes to try these heels on. It's never good to try on high heeled shoes a few days AFTER running a marathon. I could barely stand up... My left ankle is sore Ouchand my toes on both feet felt squashed... I've been wearing flip flops and old running shoes since the marathon because my feet are still a little puffy... Should I check the sensible shoe aisle? NOPE... I purchased both pairs of shoes AND a pair of pink Nike flip flops. My feet should be recovered by August, just in time for the reunion... I hope.Perplexed

Peace
Heart In Hand

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Gardening Stuff


Things are looking a little more green and taken care of, instead of weed-laden and unruly. I didn't have my camera yesterday, but the above flower bed is in bloom with assorted colors of zinnias along the left side of the picture. When I started out, this flower bed had weeds gallore. Also, growing in that particular flower bed, are California poppies and dianthus.



This photo, taken last week, was the first bloom of the zinnias I started from seeds...


I'm not sure, but this is a shot of either the yellow squash or cucumbers, also started from seeds.

It kind of sounds odd that I'm saying "started as seeds" because most plants start out that way, but I didn't buy the plants already started. I bought seed packets...

Gardening

Peace

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

In Retrospect





Above are pre-race pictures. On the left is me with our dear friend Sam. In the middle is me with my hubby Michael. On the right (in case you haven't guessed) is Michael and Sam. Notice the fog in the background. Notice how cheery and excited we look :) I'm still waiting for the post marathon pictures my friend Rich snapped as we were resting. Happy

After last year's marathon my weight topped off at over 130 -- probably somewhere around 132-135 with all the carb loading and water retention. It took about 3 weeks to lose a good 7 of those pounds, and 12 weeks after that to bring it down to 120... This year I paid closer attention to nutrition and made better choices, like cutting out alcohol for the last month and a half of training. This morning I weighed in at 127. Yay. If I plan things right, I'll be back down to 120 in less time than it took last year. I know it doesn't sound like much weight to lose, but for me it's the difference between fitting into the majority of my clothes and not. I got rid of all of my big clothes after I lost the initial 30 pounds 6 years ago. There's no going back.
I'm already walking like a normal person this morning. The sorness in the calves have diminished tremendously, but they're still a little tight. Last year it took me well over a week to feel normal again.

Weight training starts again on Monday, plus some moderate running. I have the 4th of July 5K next, and my goal is to have a sub 9 minute mile pace for a post marathon event. I think I can do that.

I'm headded out to the "new" old house for some touch up paint work and to water.

Peace

Monday, June 05, 2006

Marathon Length Post

Here's the scoop…

Saturday – Day before the marathon:
It was unseasonably hot here in San DiegoSweating 2. In early June we usually have “June Gloom” weather, which means night and morning overcast skies, mild temps in the low 60's, but it hit the mid 90's with clear skies in my neighborhood and high 80's where the marathon route is… Panic didn't really set in, but the thought of having to run in full hot sun is somewhat daunting, especially 26.2 miles when you're not used to it. We trekked out to the expo at the convention center to pick up our t-shirts, goodie bags, race bibs and timing chips, and happened to walk past a lecture on electrolytes. Someone asked about running the marathon in this warmer than normal weather, and the reply was to load up on electrolyte drinks the day before, and drinking plenty of electrolytes/water provided through out the marathon…. Hmmmm… At the expo I purchased a purple SDRNRM cap and workout top, a small fanny pack (just big enough for gels, cell phone and ID), and Michael bought a cheapo pair of polarized sunglasses… After milling through the expo, our son joined us for Chinese cuisine for our last carb-load meal. In addition to carb-loading, both Michael and I loaded up on extra electrolytes that evening per the suggestion we heard at the expo.

Sunday – Marathon DayYippee
The alarm goes off at 4:20 AM… I get up; get the coffee going, then get dressed. Michael, not a morning person, surprises me and is up and getting ready to go instead of waiting until 5 minutes before leaving . My brother-in-law, Jim, picks us up at 5 AM. It's really foggy outside. Last year, Jim drove us and took the suggested route but it was very trafficy. This year he went a back way and we arrived at the starting area with no worries or traffic issues. After dropping off our gear bags at the UPS trucks, I go wait in line at the port-o-potties… Michael finds our friend Sam and hits the bagel tent. It's a good thing I got in line when I did because it took about 20 minutes to go through the line, and as soon as I was finished, the call to the starting corrals began. I end up in Michael's and Sam's corral. I'm supposed to start in a different corral ahead of Michael and Sam, but it really didn't matter. I suppose it only really matters if your bib number is in the single or double digits.

After all the formalities, national anthem, and wheelchair start, we're off. It takes us a good 7 to 8 minutes to make it to the starting gate, and that's where the actual timing begins . The nice thing is that it's still foggy, however humid, but the temperatures are still in the 60's. At the first mile, I'm running about a 10:30 minute mile, which is comfortable marathon pace for me. After the first mile I lose Michael… Keep in mind that he really doesn't run, so he's doing a walk/run pattern. Sam is still with me. I'm feeling pretty good and maintain the 10:30 to 11-minute mile pace through out most of the marathon. Somewhere along the half way point I lost Sam. He zoomed ahead and I had just assumed that he kept the faster pace… The skies are overcast for most of the run but the temperatures start rising towards the latter part of the run. I'm on track with my gels and all the liquids I'm taking in. I even had a salt packet. I made it past the 18-mile point without issues – That's where my knees had problems last year. I'm feeling really good and amazed that I'm on course with no pains. Somewhere around mile 22, that's when I got some serious calf cramps. UGH! I had to walk -- no choice there. I slowed down. It's was killer because I was all set to finish the marathon in just under 5 hours. At that point I just wanted to finish. It's too late in the marathon to quit. I've come this far already! I'm ALMOST there. I walked with long strides, which helped to stretch out the calves, and ran when I could…

I finally made it to the gates at MCRD, and then it's less than a half mile to the finish. I jogged in… RunningIt wasn't exactly the sprint I was planning, but I was thrilled to be finished. I was thrilled to have chopped 17 minutes off of last year's time. I heard someone call my name, but there's so many people that I didn't know who it was… After making my way past the finish line, they handed out WET, ICE COLD TOWELS… OMG, that was the best thing ever. They didn't have towels last year… Then the medal, then pictures with the medal...



...then to get liquids and food, groovy Spenco rubber slippers, a mylar blanket and look for Sam and Michael.

Sam and Michael finished just a little over 6 hours. I thought Sam was ahead of me, but after he went ahead of me, he came upon a woman who was having a serious asthma attack, and he stopped to help her. He waited with her for the medics to show up then tried to get going again, but his legs cramped up.

After retrieving our things from the UPS trucks, we went to chill with ice cold beer, and sat on the grass, under the shade of a huge tree. We found our friends who offered to ride us home… They were the ones who called my name… Michael's brother even showed up, which was a total surprise. Sam ended up at the medical tent and they strapped bags of ice around his legs, then he joined us under the tree with his girl friend. The clouds had cleared by then and the weather was warm… Life is good.

Today
The backs of my legs are very stiff and my left ankle is sore, but I'm in pretty good shape. Last year everything hurt, so I guess I'm already ahead… Michael went into work this morning with his medal for proof that he finished and camera to show off the pictures… He was moving really slow, but he was moving… I'll post pictures when he brings his camera back home…

Peace
Origami