Skeleton, You are my Friend

Having good gear is important.

It has been a solid month...maybe more since I took the plunge in the pool. Boy oh boy did I feel it tonight. But before I did...I absolutely had to purchase a new suit. I had heard Marshalls is the way to go, so after work today I stopped in. Definitely going to start buying more work out attire there! I got a sweet new dry fit top for $8! Oh and I literally bought the ONE and ONLY one piece they had...and it happened to fit me...and I happened to actually like it. Destiny, thy name is Lycra.

Do you like it? I love that it is reversible! I can totally get away with wearing it several times and switching it around and folks not thinking I am a disgusting piece of poopie! WIN!

I wish I could say it made swimming easy, but like running nothing makes swimming easy. I tried to ease back in, and did 40 minutes. Then I took Goliath for a walk so I could have a solid hour of activity today.

I didn't even take my suit off.

My next project is to get organized about training. I need to plan my work outs better, so standby.

Obligatory Goliath photo, him tweaking out on peanut butter.

...and I am still working on my produce.

What's left? Left in my fridge:
-a pound of cherries
-2 1 granny smith apples
-1 nectarine
-1 pound of green grapes
-3 limes
-1 0.5 0.25 of the GIANT zucchini
-half an onion
-8 2 tomaters


What color is your swim suit?
How often do you try to work out?
What kind of bicycle should I get-suggestions? Tips?

Do That Booty Work

AHHHH IT'S FRIDAY!!!! Do you know how excited this makes me!  Here's why:

1. No Class

2. F is for Favorite, and it's also the first letter of Friday, so naturally favorite!

3. After Friday comes Saturday and that means epic nap time.

4. Friday is Latin for fun

5. I am unofficially dubbing Friday: Frozen Yogurt Friday.

Do you like my Friday skirt? I am on the fence.

Yesterday was a good day!  Work was not hectic.  I finally got out of my three day slump and worked out.  Had a good night with friends...and food.  Food and I are good friends.

My work out was a 40 minute free swim, just doing laps back and forth.  I am not ready to do sets and be hardcore about swimming.  So I just gave myself a time goal, and called it good.  Didn't even count laps.  In the three lanes, from right to left, there was me, a girl and a trainer learning to freestyle, and some cracked out middle aged woman who kept talking to herself and the wall. 

Do I go to a sketchy gym?  This lady totally freaked me out.  She was audibly cussing, and complaining about pain.  She also kept looking at me and watching me swim, and would make comments about my laps-I don't know if they were to me ooor just ya know-rhetorical?  But it was pretty hard for me to finish 40 minutes and focus.

After a quick dry off and change, I did some easy lifting. That may be an oxymoron: easy lifting.  I did:

3 Sets of:

25 static lunges with bicep curls, both sides

20 balance ball crunches with arm raise, both sides

20 tricep dips

25 lateral lunches with lateral arm raise, both sides

25 squats with arm press



Pretty good sets for just winging it, right?  Alls I know is I am sore today!

So I have decided to get myself motivated to lift more I need to do the following things, today is a list day:

1. Invest in a program: I have reserved the New Rules of Lifting Book at B&N, everyone seems to being going nutso about this book, so might as well try it!

2. Invest in cuter work out clothes:  I really need to stop dressing like a dude, and feel cute and confident in my exercise clothes.  I love my running stuff, not my gym stuff.  If I am going to have people judging me, I might as well give them something to look at?

3.  Invest in self tanner:  Sorry, but everyone knows muscles look better tan.  I hate to admit it, but it's true.

4.  Develop a lifting playlist:  Suggest songs!  My running jams don't fit, they make me want to lift really fast.

I finished my night with a Long Island and some buffalo wings! Hello heaven!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK?
WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT FRIDAY?
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF WORK OUT ATTIRE?

Back in Your Head

I am officially doing two-a-day works outs to become adequately trained for the triathlon.  Are you guys so over me telling you how tired I am?  Because, you should be prepared for the onslaught of exhaustion posts.  I am renaming the blog The Tired Tales of Go-Go Goliath and Naptime Julia.  Yesterday, I had that stinkin run in the morning that totally whomped my butt.  Then, I swam half mile after work.  Running is so easy.  When you compare it to swimming. Running requires sneakers and grit.  Swimming requires a swim suit, goggles, skill and coordination. OH, and the fortitude to not panic every time your head is under water.

Maybe I spoiled myself with oxygen the last two years running, but I REALLY like being able to inhale whenever I so decide.  The biggest thing for me with swimming and keeping a steady pace is that to keep form, I will only have a quarter of a second to inhale when I'd really like to turn on my back and float down a lazy current.  Are floaties allowed in a triathlon? 



I am pretty sure a certain gym could sue me for this picture...

Infringements aside, I really am enjoying all the cross-exercising this triathlon has forced me to tackle.  I tell myself over and over again to try different forms of cardio and to build new muscles, I just like...never get around to it on my to do list?  Trails will always be my first love, but it's nice that I've officially used my gym membership more in the last month than I have all year so far.

 



If you look really close, you can see a fellow blogger....ahah, prize if you know who it is!



 

Last week, I posted about how I am tackling the little weight gain monster.  So I am gonna briefly give you the low down on my week and tell you how I did with my rules, they aren't goals-and for reference you can find HERE:

1. My sugar intake is low. Not all time low, but I'm at a minimum.  I feel good about this.  Only one day this week did I find myself spooning ice cream out of the carton in my mouth.

2. Revolving my meals around nutrient rich foods has not been a problem in the past, and no real deviation as of late.  I am going to get around to have a food journal up on this blog shortly, but give me time-it's taken me a while to get back to regularly blogging.

3. I am pleased to report that this goal was met, I really focused on water.  I didn't even gorge on gatorade-which is crazy, because I am pretty sure I bleed fruit punch during marathon training.

4. My drink balance from last week, I broke even. This week I am +5 drinks, and check this: I've gone out three times.  Woah, there Charlie.  I think this week I really couldn't bear the idea of any additional cardio.

5.  Did not have to adhere, see above. HIGH FIVE!

OK, with that said I am amending my Constitution with the following:

6. You must weigh yourself weekly. Do not avoid the scale.
7.  No more weekly pedicure until you get back to 140.

DO YOU HAVE ANY RULES FOR YOURSELF?
WHAT ARE YOU PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND?

Young, Wild and Free

So as you may have read, but probably not, because do people actually read this(??), that I am an active participant in my Kansas City Corporate Challenge.  Being a newbie to KCCC, I signed up for way too many events.  More than my little heart could handle. 

I do most of my thinking while I brush my teeth, which explains why I do a lot of things without thinking

One event that I signed up for was the TRIATHLON.  Which, admittedly was an accident.  I was trying to sign up for the team Tri, and do the running leg-but I unintentionally slated myself for the individual event.  Sure, I could bail-but that ain't my style.  So I decided, heck might as well train.  It's just unfortunate, that I only realized my mistake about two weeks ago and the triathlon is June 12th.  Not a lot of time, but I can work with it.

Here are my hurdles:

1. I don't REALLY know how to ride a bike.  The last time I really rode was for a bike ride for my Mom's birthday, and I ended up walking the bicycle 6 miles.  The time before that, I was on training wheels and I managed to fall off of that.  When I went inside to get a band aid, some jerkface stole it-and I never got a new one.  When lived in Honduras, we rode bikes all the time-but I rocked the handlebars and pegs. 

2.  The last time I REALLY swam was when I was like 13, and took swim lessons.  It's not that I am a bad swimmer, I just never took to the lap lane because not being able to breathe freely kinda makes me panic.

3. The tri is open water, and I will only have access to a pool until the week before the race, since the lake doesn't open until Memorial Day.

4. My classes will be back in full swing two weeks before the race, which knowing me is going to crunch my training.

5. My Swim suit is from the 80s and is cheesy.(see below)

Now, am I crazy?  or am I crazy?

I swam last night for the first time in a long time.  I finished a whole mile.  Holy balls kids, that was rough-but I lived through it.  Which I am pleased to report, that if I wasn't able to swim last night I was going to consider pulling out of the whole bag.  Since it went well, I am in.  I am doing this.  I can learn to ride a bike.   

I had a poopie day yesterday, so I bought myself a little treat: ipod shuffle.  I am so sick of trying to figure out what to do with my other ipod, I wanted something I could just clip and go!

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC PLAYER DO YOU USE?
WHEN YOU ARE UPSET WHAT DO YOU DO TO CHEER YOURSELF UP?



I Want It All, and All

Last week, I was recovering from HHR and worked overtime. The overtime served as running prevention since I was not sore from the race but some tendons in my foot were causing me a good amount of pain. When I walked it felt like there were cotton balls being shredded in my foot, except the cotton balls were on fire-catch my drift? Not wanting to make whatever it was worse, I refrained from running and only did some light walking.

Friday evening, Goliath and I had a date with a creek and a trail and 90% humidity. There was a jazz festival taking place alongside the trail, so there were hundreds of people in lawn chairs and picnics. Somebody desperately wanted to have a meet-greet-and eat, he tugged in a direction opposite of the norm: sideways, not forward. We walked about a mile and a half to our "spot," you know the place. The mini-waterfall, the ducks and slabs of concrete. Unlike every trip there, I decided it was my turn to test the waters. I slipped off my lunarglides, and tiptoed into the frigid rushing creek.

The water felt uh-ma-ZING. I had to control myself from just jumping all the way in, the humidity was out of control and even though we had only walked sweat was pouring down my face and chest. Goliath batted at my toes peeking up, I think he wanted me to swim with him. That is until he saw some mallards. You know what's next right?

He was off, but not in the speedy running prey-drive sense. He was off, in the swimming-for-my-life-dog-paddle-as-fast-as-I can sense. He was also off in the "hey, I'm the most subborn dog alive and am gonna pretend not to hear you." Usually, when Goliath nears the ducks they fly away, and he swims back. This time, unlike every other time, they just kept swimming. They swam, so he swam. Mind you, I was hollering for him incessantly and then he swam the bend and was completely out of sight.

Shoeless and panicked, I darted off after him along the trail. The trail intersects the creek again in a few hundred meters and I knew I'd beat him there, but by the time I got there the ducks had arrived but my precious pup was no where to be seen. Fearing he'd drowned, I ran down a steep embankment completely barefoot only to see he had swam back to our slabs, and was guarding my shoes and cell phone.

Unlike EVERY other time.

Total Mileage: 3.0