Rock The Boat

Yesterday's song:
Under The Sea - Sebastian from the Little Mermaid - Katiefeldmom

PEACE

Under The Sea

It figures that my husband still has his camera and the formal picture in his possession at work. The plan was to post those pictures last night when he came home but we had no internet service from about noon yesterday until this morning. He forgot to leave the formal picture and his camera. Here's what I had on my camera:

Maggie and Chris

Kyra and Chris

Michael and me

From the formal night dinner, stolen from the Pinkdumbbells.com site. Top row - Me, Michael, Maggie, Chris. Bottom row: Phil, Cathy, Kyra, Chris. Phil (Phillydude) is from the Johnstonefitness.com group and was Cathy's dinner partner on the cruise.

Top 10 favorite things about the cruise:

10. A vacation in hot and balmy weather!

9. Not having to be the designated driver.

8. Someone else made our bed and brought us fresh towels daily. (I wish someone else would do that at home!)

7. Snorkeling amongst the colorful tropical fish and plants. I could almost hear the song "Under the Sea."

6. Swimming without pain.

5. Having dessert at the midnight buffet with the PDB group.

4. Finally getting to hear Maggie sing at karaoke. She can really sing!

3. Beating tropical storm Fay out of Florida.

2. Meeting Maggie, Chris, Kyra, Chris, Cathy and Phil, and the rest of the JSF gang.

1. Meeting Maggie, Chris, Kyra, Chris, Cathy and Phil, and the rest of the JSF gang!


I promise not to drag out the cruise pictures/posts. Just one more post once my husband scans the formal picture and downloads everything off of his camera.

Tuesday's song:
Storm Coming - Gnarles Barkley - Barbie2be

PEACE

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

I can't remember if I've mentioned before, but my husband and I will be going on a cruise this week. We fly out Thursday for Orlando, Florida, then we leave on a cruise liner on Friday from Port Canaveral for Nassau and Cococay. It's a 3 night 4 day cruise with about 17 of us from the Pinkdumbbells.com and Johnstone Fitness Forums. Technically, I belong to both groups, but I'm active on PDB. The great thing about this cruise is getting to meet some wonderful people. I'm looking forward to meeting Maggie, Kyra and Cathy, who I've only known from fitness sites as well as PDB. I still get the same perplexed looks when I tell someone I'm meeting people from the internet. No, they're not psycho maniacs. They've all been wonderful people. I've met several runners through blogs and running group sites, plus people from other fitness forums that have disbanded, but it's has always been a good thing. The common thread is the fitness and/or running thing. With fitness and running folks you can discuss your workouts, schedules, nutritional plans, sore muscles, aching limbs, PR's, and everyone knows what you're talking about. No blank stares back. It's so cool. I've had the chance to participate in a few runs with some of my blogger buddies, but I have yet to do a gym workout with any from the workout group. Perhaps a gym workout will happen on the cruise.

Needless to say, packing will be involved, and I really need to get with the program. We really don't have that much to pack, but we have a bad habit of over-packing. As I see it, we're not flying to Mars, we're going to Florida and sailing through the Bahamas. It's going to be hot and humid, and we'll probably be spending the majority of our time in shorts and swimsuits. We should be just fine.

Yesterday's song:
Some Like It Hot - Power Station - Run-DMZ

PEACE

Cake

I've really been stretching for food topics over the past few days. It has been a long week, my mind is fried, and my computer has some sort of virus that is preventing me from really searching the net for food information. Here's a photo of a dessert we had on the cruise back in December. I honestly can't remember if I ate any of it, but the cruise was a lot of fun. :)

Yesterday's song:
Apples and Pairs - Slow Club

PEACE

Beat Of Progress

Per the PDB Mega Challenge, we were to evaluate ourselves and grade our own progress or where we're at in this challenge. I had to go back and reread what I had originally posted in the sign up. I had more than one thing to work on.

The biggest issue I had was motivation. I was going through the motions but not mentally, spiritually, emotionally there. I also felt tired, sort of like I could care less, weak. I had run events that I was signed up for during the summer, and I did them, but I didn't find the satisfaction that I normally do. Workouts were the same, no spark, but I didn't quit. I even went to the doctor and had tests but that was inconclusive. He didn't seem to think it was depressions. I kind of think I hit a wall that lasted 3 months long.

That lull I felt all summer has diminished, and it's showing in my progress and performance. One of my goals was to improve my 5K time, which is slowly getting better, but in turn I have smashed my half marathon time by almost 6 minutes, which happened this past Sunday.
Grade A

My weight loss is also progressing. This morning I weighed 123, which was a surprise, because of all that pre and post half marathon carb loading. I'm not planning on owning that number until it stays there for a while. If that number sticks, that puts me at my goal for the last challenge, and I get to claim my prize of the new running garb I purchased months ago, that's still in the bag. It also puts me with in 2 pounds of my goal for THIS challenge. An added bonus is that I was able to fit into my Nike running skirt and wore it at the HM this weekend. (The skirt wasn't fitting at all this summer. It used to highlight a bad case of muffin top and muffin thighs, which are now gone.)

Grade B+ ~ 2 pounds to go.

Another item on my list was to join a running group. I'm going with the SDTC. I found the info for 2008 and sign-ups are soon, especially for the SDRNR Marathon 2008 training. I'm also signing up my husband. Even though he says he's just running in events to do something with me, I know he would like to be a little faster. He just needs to train.
Grade B (I found the info, I just need to wait for sign ups, so I don't get an A yet.)

My next hurdle to get over is the 8 day cruise we have planned next month. I'm going to try hard to eat and drink as clean as possible. It's so easy to go off track on a cruise, and it's no excuse for slacking. The key is to be as active as possible and stick with the healthier selections on the menu. I know, it's all easier said than done, but I can do it.

Back to working out with weights tomorrow.

Peace