Stretch

One of the most obvious things that makes me feel ready to exercise is stretching.
A lot of the time when I feel sore and don’t want to exercise if I stretch it gets rid of that sore feeling and replaces it with this tingly feeling. It is incredibly invigorating and makes me want to zoom.
That does seem obvious, doesn’t it? Yet… It is one of those things that I know works but my brain conveniently forgets when I’m feeling less than motivated to work out.
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I’ve been aching in my joints lately. Yesterday’s run was a hard 3.3 and today I just pushed to a 1.6 before I started feeling, just, achy. I have a twang that, if i don’t stretch it well, starts up aout one mile into my run. I told Bradley about it and he pointed out that I’m not doing two things: hydrating after my runs well enough or eating protein after my workouts to rebuild muscles.
Looks like I need to be doing more of that.
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I challenged my students to run/walk/hike a marathon over the next month. They have until June 14th to log 26.2 miles. Every kid who does it gets a prize. I also challenged my families with a mileage challenge- whoever gets the most averaged human miles will win a gift basket. I’m thrilled with their enthusiasm! So many of my kids came back to school reporting that they went out for a run with their parents or they went for a walk all together. I’m delighted that I was able to get some people moving! Our bodies are AmAzInG!!!
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Workout Tally
Abs Workouts: 2
Goal: 3
Goal for prize: 4
Miles ran this week: 13 (WOOT!!!)
Goal: 15
(All signs point to making my goals AND my reward ab goal! Woot !)

Couldn’t Wait

This was me about 20 minutes ago:

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Yup.
It’s not my fault. We went to Ross and Bradley encouraged me to get a bunch of new running pants. They were all so inexpensive and once I got them home I just had to try a pair out. Don’t judge. I also needed to work off the 1/2 burger, salad and deep fried habanero macaroni and cheese ball that I happily consumed when I got surprise taken out to eat to kick off Mother’s Day weekend.
So I had to run. And run. And run. I planned on the big block which is about about 1.8 and when I finished that one I felt pretty stinking good so I did the short block which is an even 1 mile and when I finished that one I realized how close I was to finishing a 5k so went around and short cut through the school to finish the whole thing, totaling 3.4 miles in 37 minutes! I felt amazing! Taking the time off was a smart idea. Running tonight was an excellent idea. Plus, I made my goal of 12 miles for the week! Anything I do tomorrow will be gravy.
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I fit a size 16 today when I was at Ross. A SIZE 16 PEOPLE. I bought those pants. You bet I did.

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Day Off

Yup… This cowgirl is going on day two of not exercising. It’s amazing how good I feel. I’m getting all healed up. Bruises are losing their vibrancy, joints are less hurty. I felt like I could run today, but I forced my hiney back down into the hot tub for more soaking. Rest through tomorrow, then I can run again. I’m looking forward to it.
I get a little, well, manic when it comes to getting my burn on. On a no exercise day like today it will get to 8:00 at night and all of the sudden I’m either changing into my running gear or I’m reverting back to being eight years old, pouncing on my kids and getting all wild with them right before bed, OR I’m aggressively challenging Bradley to tickle fights, king of the mountain trials and wrestling matches. You think I’m kidding? Talk to the hubs. I have gas in my tank, my babies. I have to move.
Several days of this and I really do remember what it was like to be that crazy kid who could rollerskate for hours then talk a million miles an hour in a made-up language to my BFF while turning cartwheels in the front yard after spending the day swimming and riding my bike around and around the block while singing camp songs at the top of our lungs. Think I’m kidding? Ask anyone I graduated with who lived in my hood. All of my neighbors. They all heard me.
For years I was told to calm down, to settle down, that I was like a fart in a skillet, that I would spin like a top, that I just. Never. Stopped. Miss Wiggle, squirmy wormy, that was me. I eventually ended up doing an excellent job of settling down. But I won’t ever do that again longer than a day or three. All of that energy that was inborn was for a reason- I need to move or I get unhealthy. Now that I have my chutzpah back I’m determined to keep it.
I really pushed myself during the past two weeks. I took that weightloss warrior thing to heart and didn’t take a day of rest for the entire time. This rest is good, but I’m anxious to get back to training. Squirm on, wiggle on, and just. Never. Stop, lady.

Sunshine

Sunshine. We are getting a real dose of it right now, and usually we don’t have this much. The result? We are staying outside until all hours playing then dropping into bed exhausted and crashing to sleep. It’s a good feeling, but one that doesn’t lend itself to keeping a blog!
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We headed out to the beach on Monday. It is the earliest we have ever swam before, which made frightening visions of global warming go through my head (so sad that I can’t just enjoy the sun- I have to shame myself about global warming on a gift like that day). The beach was beautiful, the sun was shining, the kids were splashing, and I wore my bikini to the public beach. Guess what? Nobody laughed or pointed. Nobody stared. Nobody cared, even when the dude’s dog came and dropped a ‘package’ 3 feet from my hip and he apologetically came over and conversationally cleaned it up- he didn’t care! It was no biggie to anyone- except me. Enter bikini season!
I sit in a funny place in the fat acceptance movement. As I have said before, no matter what size I have been, I have always liked myself. My husband has always been crazy-nuts for me since the moment he first saw me. (he can tell the story sometime, I was a size 20/22) While my weight did keep me from doing some things, it wasn’t from worrying about embarrassment (usually), it was actual physical limitations.
I was thinking about how I fit into the fat acceptance movement now, and realized that my current size will never matter. I can support my bikini wearing brethren no matter if I’m fat or thin. Certainly, the fact that I’m choosing my weight right now (and that it is a lower weight) is helpful in allowing me clarity to advocate and understand my place, but shouldn’t we all be able to wear what we want regardless of our size? Shouldn’t a ‘bikini body’ just be a body with a bikini on it? Why was I so scared to go do that?

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So far I’m keeping with my goals for the week. I am letting myself have my miles from Sunday’s hike as part of my mileage this week. Before you call cheat, let me just explain that the hike really took it out of me and has required a bit of muscle swelling and bruised joint healing. I have managed to run both Monday and Tuesday nights, but just once around the big block (1.8 miles)*. Add the heat to my recovery and running has been tough this week. So at this point I’m at about 9 miles for the week. Clearly I’ll make my goal, hopefully I’ll pass it. I’m starting to think I will have to be a morning runner this summer. The heat really makes me feel sick right now. I’m hoping that will pass once I’m at a lower weight and every step I take isn’t quite as difficult. I keep wondering when I will start to feel like a normal runner- one who is not sore all the time and who can walk up and down her stairs without doing some weird hurky-jerky sideways step to save her aching muscles and joints. I’m assuming that will happen when I hit around 200 and I’m not having to work quite as hard.

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I also made a goal to do my abs workout five times this week. So far I’m at two and holding strong. My ab workout is starting to feel easier which makes me fear the change-up and how it is going to change as I amp it up. I was looking at pictures of myself realizing that my legs are looking pretty skinny, and my torso is not shrinking as fast. I recognize that this may just be the way I’m losing weight, but I also think it has to do with my exercise of choice. I use my legs to get the burn, and I need to burn the belly more. So that’s why the big ab push- get that shape going so I don’t look like a jelly bean on stilts!

*Yesterday a friend of mine pointed out and we laughed about the following statement: I went out and ran a quick mile. A “quick mile” has such a casual sound to it. Just a mile, a quick mile- any phrase implying any amount of ease with running is pretty funny considering what kind of runner I was at the beginning of this year! I laugh at some of the things I hear myself saying now.

Wallace Falls

We did it! We headed up the mountain, past the first level, past the midpoint level and all the way to the top to the difficult, high level! We did it! All totaled, we put about 7 miles under our Lj feet, including the hike in from the car. Most importantly, though, we had a great time.

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But now I’m tired. We came home, hot rubbed, I painted toenails and I could just about fall asleep. Yaaawwwnnnn…
🙂
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Before I go- I made a new goal. My legs are shaping up nicely, and I’m starting to look disproportionate. To move things along I need to start working my core a lot more. So, daily abs. Every day this week should have an abs routine. Day one? Check.
Now, yaaaawwwnnnn….

Fry Like Bacon

The heat and I are pretty tight when it comes to laying in the sun, sitting in the hot tub, curling up in bed… But when it comes to exercise, I have not been a fan in the past. Today it was beautiful out.

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Enjoy my derpy face?! I think I look funny when I run, but don’t really care too much. For some reason I continue to feel the need to photo document my runs so I can include a picture here as often as possible. 😉
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We rallied the troops and, after taking advantage of the double bonus: Free Comic Book Day coupled with Unofficial Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you), we headed to the track to hit a few miles. Gigi has a goal to hit a marathon over the next few weeks and I had 1.5 miles before I made my weekly goal of 12 miles.
Today is the first beautiful day in Seattle. I was hoping that at my new weight the heat wouldn’t affect me in the same way- like I would cool off faster now. I do cool faster but not fast enough! Running in the heat made me nauseous. I had to stop a bunch to drink water, and I walked more during these miles than I have in a long time. I also ran way slower than I have in a long time. I started out by trying to push myself and then realized my folly when my back, arms and neck started cramping up. By the time everything was said and done I ended up walking about a quarter mile of my 3.6. Today I was totally cool with that! Plus, I MADE MY GOAL! Scratch that, I BEAT MY GOAL! I actually made 14 miles this week. Color me happy. I’m keeping my goal of 12 miles again.
I also realized today that I’m not a big fan of track running. Going around and around that circle is a little boring. I definitely like the variety of running on the street and being able to people watch, observe pretty little houses and marvel at nature. Not to mention the track seemed to hold the sun’s heat, coupled with no shade and the whole place was broiling! While the track is level and better on my knees, I missed the hills. I like climbing them, and I like heading down the other side.
Downhills always seemed like a cheat to me when I was not a runner. It was the part I would pick if I ever did have to run because I could keep my breath a little easier on the decline, of course. That was all that mattered. Now, though, I see the downhills in a completely different way. I have the breathing endurance thing down somewhat, so the downhills became something different. They became where I get to see my potential. That little bit of gravity helps me to extend my stride as I get pulled down the hill and I fly! It is thrilling. And as the bottom of the hill levels out, I feel my thighs and calves working, striving to extend and I feel strong, incredible, powerful. The downhills leave me breathless and tired, just like running uphill.
So I guess I’m saying the track is just not as exhilarating or exciting. Given the choice, I think I would usually pick the streets. 🙂
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We bought the domain www.tamarashazam.com today!
Just a head’s up that the address will be changing. There should be a redirect in place, but it’s fair to let you know if things all of the sudden look or act strange.