Monday, July 28, 2008

Sunrise

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Schmap.com about a photo I had posted on Flickr from last year's AFC Half Marathon. They asked my permission to use the photo on their map page of San Diego, but it still had to go through their selection process. It wasn't a sure thing, so I didn't get too excited. I was contacted by Schmap.com today and found out that they are using my photo on their site. Now I'm excited! Woohoo!


This is the photo they've used.


This photo was taken on August 19, 2007 near the AFC Half Marathon starting area on Point Loma, looking east, towards the sunrise.

Last week I was feeling rather lack-luster, with little to no energy, and if I did have any energy it was quickly zapped with no rhyme or reason. I thought I might be coming down with a cold or dealing with an allergy -- who knows? This week I've decided to take a closer look at what I've been eating. Perhaps I didn't make the best choices last week. This week I'm making a conscious effort to eat more vegetables. I do eat a lot of salad, but perhaps I need to incorporate different vegetables into my salads, not just the standard green lettuces and tomatoes. It's not a huge stretch, but this week I'm adding more broccoli, carrots, celery and squash into my salads, or just steam a few of those vegetables together to have with my dinner. It's not like I don't eat vegetables, I just need to eat more. Of course, I am working on a balance of everything else, such as lean proteins and whole grains and fresh fruits.

For the first time since the surgery, I've been able to do push-ups. I was able to do one set of 10 - knees up, then 3 sets of 20 - knees down. Before all of this hip stuff, I could whip out regulation knees up push ups with no problem, probably about 50 to 75 reps at a time. I tried doing push ups a few weeks ago and it was way too difficult and stressful on my hip/leg and core. I couldn't even do one. I used The Bean to do push ups, which helped to keep everything going, but those are way too easy and only use the upper body. Today I could do 10 reps -- it's better than 0 reps.

Yesterday's song:
No Sympathy - Bob Marely - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Vegetable photo from Wikipedia.org

8 comments:

Aka Alice said...

Awesome photo...I remember the sunrise that morning...and simultaneously thinking how beautiful the sunrise was...and how sad I was because the sun was coming out and I wanted/needed a foggy-cool morning that day :-)

Good job on the push-ups!

Anne said...

Very cool, Irene. Both being selected and the excellent shot. No doubt why they picked your photo. And hooray for your pushups!

leslie said...

LOTS of great stuff happening for you! The picture? Fabulous! The new and more veggies? Terrific! (May I recommend green smoothies -- I'm still doing them and they're GREAT!) And hooray on being able to do pushups again.

Things are definitely looking up, my friend!

barbie2be said...

norah jones?

that picture is amazing! yay for you!

veggies are always a good thing. remember slow and steady wins the race!

NotSoccer Mom said...

gorgeous photo! i'm not surprised they wanted it!

in your post-surgery condition you're still in better shape than i am. so good for you! makes me want to get my butt in gear....

KatieFeldmom said...

Awesome picture! Congrats!!!

YAY for the veggies and the push-ups!!!

Miss Rachel said...

Beautiful photo - congratulations on being selected.

Good job on those push-ups, woman! (One of my goals is to do just one knees up push-up.)

Irene said...

AKA Alice,
That year's AFC HM was icky for everyone. I've never seen so many people down and being attended to by medics before. At least the morning was beautiful. Thanks for the compliment. :)

Anne,
Thanks. As you very well know, getting that one shot is everything!

Leslie,
Thanks. The veggies aren't really new, I just need more of them.

Barbie2be,
Winner! Thanks. I just remember being incredibly sleepy that morning, but it was an amazing view.

NSM,
Thanks. It's always nice to receive that kind of recognition. I was pleasantly surprised. My armpits are sore today...

Katie,
Thank you. I think I slacked a little last week. This week will be better.

Rachel,
Thanks. It was unexpected. Last year I felt like I couldn't win for losing, with a few things I had been involved with. It felt good to get that e-mail saying they wanted to use my pic. Keep at the push ups. It will happen.