This is who I am

Here's to the week that won't end

Posted on October 12, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

I’m ready for a weekend. A 2-day sort of do nothing weekend. Unfortunately that won’t be this weekend.

I feel like it’s been one thing after another since Monday and I’m tired. We were busy going places and doing things on all 3 days so that weekend went by fast.

Tuesday, Kahuna had his stitches removed and was told by his doctor to go forth and train. So he ran at lunch. Then later that afternoon he jumped in the pool and kicked off from the edge and immediately ripped his incision open. One guess as to where we spent Tuesday evening. If you need a hint there’s a huge and very popular tv series just starting it’s 14th season that revolves around this wonderful place to hang out on a Tuesday night.

Wednesday, I was dragging at work all day. I think it was because I just didn’t sleep well Tuesday night. Stress does that to me sometimes. I did manage to walk 1.5 miles in my new running shoes that evening. What a huge difference!!! My calves ached equally, instead of the right one give me major grief and Thursday morning when I woke up my heel was barely bothering me.

Thursday, was yesterday, and I don’t remember that much about it, other than I though Kahuna and I were going out to dinner and then tattoo “shopping” after I got home from my salon appointment. Turns out we only went out to dinner and I was a little miffed about that since if I had known we were only going out to eat I would have stayed home and cooked us dinner so I could strength train afterward. Oh, I was also bummed because I finally called the Y, since they hadn’t called me, and was informed that none of the coaches work after 5 and that’s what time it is that I get back into town. So here’s hoping I can hook up with someone on 1 November, when I’ll be back in town by 4. Of course, the weather will be much cooler by then, and it’s an outdoor pool. I did receive my swimsuit in the mail yesterday…so that’s one good thing, I guess.

Friday. Today. Payday. That’s about the only good thing I have to say about today. I walked my mile loop this morning and had no umpf. In fact, it took me 1.5 minutes longer than when I first started the new c25k program. Crap. I have the blahs, and don’t know why.

Saturday. Tomorrow. I’ll be gone almost all day. I’ll get up at 6 to do my 1.5 mile walk, then I have a mani/pedicure appt., and from there I’ll be driving up to Anaheim to go to a stitch-in with Melissa and Darla. I’m taking stitching with me and am hoping that this will help me get my mojo back. Of course, I’ve already emailed Melissa and joked with her about having to find my scissors. I am worried about the eating tomorrow too. Stitch-ins are such social eating events and I’m determined not to get caught up in whatever is there to eat. I’m also going to be on the road, so to speak, most of the day, and need to sit tonight and figure out my nutrition for tomorrow. I also wanted to watch Kona on the computer and will miss that, which is a bummer.
Sunday. Future. My house needs a major cleaning and there’s no way I want to spend all day Sunday doing that. I’ll have weigh in first thing, then the weekly trip to the grocery store. Laundry needs to be done…see! My week won’t end and I’m not going to get a weekend 🙁

And have you noticed I still haven’t mentioned how my cycling has gone? That’s because I haven’t even sat on it yet 🙁

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Puppies! (picture intensive)

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

It sure doesn’t seem like we’ve had her very long, but my little Harley Quinn has gone from being a chubarita at 3 months old to a pretty little runway model at 1 year old.

She and Bandit are usually in the bed or on their perch. They’re always together and go from fighting to snuggling in 2 seconds flat. Since getting the two of them, we’ve given up on making up our bed all the way (and some days at all) or being able to sit by ourselves. But that’s okay, we got them to spoil. She is Kahuna’s Honey Bunny and he is my Sweetie Baby. They both bring much joy and laughter and sometimes a bit of aggravation, but they are completely worth it.

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Posted in Puppies

Gooooooaaaaaal!

Posted on October 7, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

G.E.A.U.X. LSU! Man, what a football game!

If you’ve ever watched Mexican Football, you’ll understand my title! It’s usually the only word I can understand, and the announcer yells it at the top of his voice for as long as his breath with last.

Today I met my 1st weightloss goal. I lost 4.2 pounds this week to meet my 5% goal! Wikka wikka wheeee! As shown on my Fitness Rewards page (tab at the top of the page) I’m ordering my swim suit today.

Friday, I signed up for private swim lessons at the Y and am waiting on the instructor to call me to work out a schedule. I also had an appointment with a orthopedic sports doctor who is not ready to do surgery on me. He says on a scale of 1 – 10 (10 worse) I’m about a 3 and he wants to try treatment. I told him about my fitness goals and he was very encouraging and told me to keep on keeping on and to stop if it hurts. I’m to return in 3 weeks for him to check on my progress. Honestly, he was more concerned about the oncoming carpal tunnel in both my wrists than the ulnar neuropathy in my elbow and is treating me for that as well.

Today, as soon as I get home from the Commissary, Kahuna and I are headed to our LBS to buy handlebar and seat stuff to rig his mountain bike up so I can learn to ride and shift gears at the same time. I am on a roll people! 🙂

I am having a nice time with my new c25k program, although I’ve walked further and longer than what the schedule has called for. I just have not been able to drop myself down to 10 minutes since I have worked so hard. I cut 59 seconds off last week’s mile. Some time this week Kahuna will pick me up at lunch and we’ll head over to Roadrunner Sports to buy some new running shoes for me.

The other stuff I managed to accomplish this past week was to officially become a member of our local tri club and to suffer from my first bike lust. I’m in love with a pretty little Bianchi I saw at Hi-Tech bikes this past Thursday. Drool! 😛

Have a great rest of the weekend! Oh, and I have pictures of puppies and will download them later today.

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Posted in Goals, surgery, Weight

When w6d2 = w1d2 and a whole bunch of other stuff

Posted on October 3, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

I’ve had a lot of stuff going on in my head that I’ve wanted to blog about but for some reason just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

First, my heel is feeling so much better. I’ve pretty much figured out that I’m wearing the wrong type of shoe for my foot and for running. I remember when I got them that I told the fitter I needed shoes for walking. I think I remember telling her that I had a high instep; however to be fair to her not everyone knows that a high instep means high arches. I’ve also been wearing an insert and have taken to icing and massaging the area and have been using the time between when my alarm first goes off and the second “snooze” alarm to stretch.

Second, I’ve changed my c25k program. I’m doing the program on the tri board I frequent. It’s a less aggressive program, which is probably another reason why my heel is doing much better. Surprisingly I’m not too upset that this means I still won’t be running much come time for my 5k but it’s not deterring me from continuing on.

w1d1 of this program required me to walk 10 minutes. I cheated and walked longer because I have also signed up for a run challenge for the month of October and I dedicated myself to run/walk 25 miles.

w1d2 required me to walk 15 minutes, but I cheated again. 🙂 Patience is a virtue that I need to work on quite a bit.

Third, I have received the insurance approval for surgery and am meeting with the surgeon this coming Friday. Eek! I’m hoping he can get right on this so I’ll have plenty of time to heal and be able to get right back out there to train.

Fourth, and probably the biggest WOW is that I am going from working full-time to 3/4 time. I have been looking for a job closer to home since I absolutely HATE the 2 hours I lose daily on my commute. What I’ve found is that I’m going to have to take a cut in pay to get one of those jobs and I’ll still be working 9-5. So I asked Boss if I could transition into leaving daily at 3 and keep my job. I really believe in what we do (Plaintiff’s Employment Law) and while there’s a couple more things that I like to complain about where I work, overall it’s a good job. Another employee is being let go and I’m hoping that I can take over some of those duties since they revolve around a program that would look good on my resume. Even doing those duties I still can get everything done in time to leave at 3.

So this coming Monday I’ll start leaving at 4 and then beginning November 1 (when my current train ticket expires) I’ll be back to driving everyday and leaving at 3. I’ll be able to get home by car much faster than by train since there won’t be very much traffic at that time of the day.

I’m sure you’re wondering what I plan on doing with all my free time? I plan on using some of it to get back into cross stitching, but mostly I’m hoping to use it to train for my first triathlon. There’s just never enough time in a day to run, ride a bike, swim and strength train and pay attention to puppies and keep my horrible housekeeping skills honed and love on the Kahuna.

Kahuna is thinking of getting a tattoo today. He’s had a teeny minor surgical procedure that’s keeping him out of the water for awhile so this is the perfect time. He’s also thinking of going to a newbie meeting at the San Diego Tri club tomorrow and I’m hoping to go with.

On the weighloss front I’m still under 10 pounds however since September 11 I have lost 4 1/2 inches off my hips and 2 1/2 inches off my waist. Bring on the baggy britches baby! LOL

Next update should include a picture of my sweet pea Harley Quinn, whom I think I’ve completely lost to Kahuna. Daddy’s Darlin’ is going to be 1 year old on Saturday.

P.S. If any of you have any experience with the Susan Komen 3-day walk I’d love to have your input. San Diego’s 2007 walk is in November, which I’m nowhere near trained to do, but I’m considering putting 2008 on my long-term goals list.

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Posted in surgery, Training, Weight

w5d3 – doing it in the dew

Posted on September 28, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

When I opened the door to head out this morning, it was raining. I immediately turned to Kahuna and said, “It’s raining!” Never once did it cross my mind to not go out, but was wondering if he was going to surf. I had to remind myself a few times that I can’t let the rain stop me on race day, so I might as well train in it. I don’t know if it’s the girl in me that didn’t want to get her hair wet, or the ickiness of my clothes sticking to me, but I cut 36 seconds off my time 🙂 At the almost-home point I found myself mentally planning a 2-mile route that I know I’m going to need sooner rather than later. I even caught myself thinking I should try to run, but smacked that thought down and made myself walk to preserve how much better my heel has been feeling. Finish time 0:27:59. 18.4-minute mile. ~~My butt~~ the part of the human body that you sit on hurts!

Had a very long (for us) conversation with Kahuna last night about me. I told him that all I can think about is starting to swim. I probably have the pool hours memorized for the local Y, I’ve looked at their webpage so often. I’ve also decided to put the job hunting on hold until after my surgery. I can’t in good conscience go to a new employer knowing that I’m going to have to miss work for maybe an extended amount of time not too long after I begin working for them. Sometimes I don’t realize I’ve made up my mind about something until I say it out loud to Kahuna, even though it’s something I’ve thought about for maybe forever.

Right now those thoughts include: Is this my mid-life crisis? Is it all of a sudden going to stop being important to me? It’s so not like me to feel this way, I wonder if it’s going to go away when it stops being “new.” Am I just doing this for the new stuff being involved in something like this allows me to buy? Is it my age that is causing me to care less when I think of putting on a suit and swimming in public? Is there really a bike out there I can ride? Are the end of tri-season bikes on sale yet?

To keep some of those thoughts tamed I’ve committed myself to a couple of challenges on the tri board I visit.

walk or walk/run a minimum of 1.5 miles a minimum 3x a week – or 25 miles – from 1-31 October;
between 28 September and 28 December lose 16.2# and start swimming

Oh, and major accomplishment – since I started this wonderful journey, I’ve cut my body fat by 8%. Measurements on Sunday.

Kahuna has his last triathlon of the season on Sunday, so we’re headed out to grab his race package tomorrow and I’m hoping if we don’t get back too late I can swing by the Y and talk to them about my swimming.

Have a healthy weekend!

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Posted in Training

w5d2

Posted on September 26, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

Back on track and determined to keep at it. My heel did bother me just a little this morning, but once I was warmed up I forgot about it. I didn’t really know how far I’d walked until I got home and mapped it out. I managed to walk through my calf pain the first time, and it didn’t return until the end. My goal was to walk for 30 minutes this morning, but I was thinking my route would be smaller. So, I walked 1.5 miles in less than 30 minutes. 18.6-minute mile. Cool! That still puts me under an hour for a 5K, just barely.

Dr. has decided I need surgery on my elbow. He’s convinced that sometime in my life I had to have hit my elbow and scar tissue is now interfering with my ulnar nerve. He also sees carpal tunal in my future. Getting old sucks! I told him to do whatever it takes to get me healthy. I’m on a roll and don’t want to let anything stop me. He has referred me to a surgeon that specializes in elbows down to fingertips. I’m now waiting to see if military insurance will cover it.

Sweet pea Harley wasn’t feeling well yesterday so I ended up shampooing my dining room and bedroom last night. I’ll take exercise in any form I can get it! She seems to be feeling better this morning, wanting to snuggle and it would have been soooo easy to be late for the train.

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Posted in Puppies, surgery

Rewards

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

I’ve made a change to my fitness rewards. The more I think about it, the more I want to start swimming sooner rather than later. The only way to do that is to quit putting off buying a suit and get in the water. So, my first reward is to buy the suit I blogged about here and get myself to the Y. No need to buy a bike helmet for now since Kahuna has found his old mountain bike helmet and it’ll do while I learn to ride his bike, which I still need to get out there and do. I’ve sort of been waiting on the time change and earlier daylight hours though.

I might find out today if I have to have surgery on my arm, so that’ll be something to keep in mind about starting swimming and getting the tattoo I want for my 2nd reward.

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Posted in Goals

w5d1

Posted on September 25, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

Don’t adjust your TV folks, I’m off a day, not you 😉

I felt awful yesterday so didn’t get out of bed. Went to an outdoor concert Sunday and got sunburned. Then went out to eat and had a hamburger and fries. I ended up not eating all of the hamburger, and remember saying several times that the fries were so salty tasting, but that didn’t stop me from eating them! Yesterday morning, I paid for abusing my body. I was dehydrated from the sun and the salt and didn’t sleep well from the food and the sun. Tried to walk when I got home from work last night, but no go. I had to fight to keep food down all afternoon.

I did get my butt out of bed this morning, though, and had a great walk (0:18:40)! I cut 50 seconds off my time from last Friday. I’m going to have to start walking further because it’s no longer taking me 30 minutes to walk a mile, so starting tomorrow, I’m going 1.5 miles. Yay me! I’ve got my positive attitude back.

Lesson learned? I don’t eat that way anymore.

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Posted in Life

Oh, what a beautiful day…

Posted on September 23, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

Most excellent WI today! My goal was to kick the .2# I gained last week to the curb, and maybe even lose an additional .2# — I managed to lose 3# – yay, me, even if I say so myself!!! However, part of that 3# is probably from all the hair I cut off yesterday. For the first time in 20+ years, my hair is soooo short it doesn’t touch the back of my neck!

There’s an organization in the city where I get my hair cut that makes hair pieces for little girls who have lost their hair due to horrible health issues. The minimum they’ll take is 6″. In order for me to be able to contribute I had to cut my hair a couple of inches shorter in the back than what I had planned on but I figured if I didn’t like it, MY hair would grow back, so I told her to wack it off. When she made the first scissor cut, I thought I was going to hurl! LOL I have to tell you though, except for the fact that it feels unbelievably weird to not have any hair back there, I love it. Kahuna’s comment…”I suppose I’ll get used to it.” He wasn’t excpecting it to be this short either.

I was in such a great mood after that, and the most excellent LSU football game, I went out and spent $400+ on shoes. Kahuna was with me and was even picking them out for me, but the kind he wants me to wear will have to wait until I’m a bit smaller since I was afraid I’d get a nosebleed from the height of the heels 🙂

This afternoon I’m headed to a Boney James concert on the beach. Melissa’s driving down to join us. Smoooth jazz, great friends, beautiful weather and new shoes. What more could a girl want?

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Posted in Weight

w4d3

Posted on September 21, 2007 by Terri | Comments Off

Ode from my heel:

STOP IT! ..

and I’m going to have to listen 🙁 I ended up walking my route this morning. When I got back home I asked Kahuna to please explain to me what it says about my ability to run, when I can walk my route faster than I can run/walk. I was a little surprised by his reaction. I think he got a little po’d at me! Instead of answering me, he asked me another question…”how long has it been since you ran last?” Ummmm. “Forever” gives a better indication than “I can’t remember.” Point taken. I’m so glad I have him to keep me grounded. He’s refusing to let me beat myself down.

In the past I would have given up and turned off the alarm. Now there is no past, only the future and I don’t want my future to find me as an fat old woman who can’t pick herself up off the floor if she happens to fall. I want to feel strong and I have just got to deal with the fact that it’s going to take me a long time to get there. I tried to find a positive in our discussion and focused on the fact that I cut 4 minutes off the time I first walked that route, oh about 4 weeks ago, and at the pace I walked this morning (1 minute less than I ran/walked it just 2 days ago), I know I’ll finish November’s 5k in under an hour.

So for now, I’m taking 2 weeks off from any attempt to run and see how my heel is feeling. Kahuna also gave me some inserts that he had to use awhile back for almost the same problem, so I’ll use those. Depending how tomorrow’s 2-mile walk goes on the beach, I may even increase my walking to 1.5 miles in the mornings for the next couple of weeks.

Oh, and I had to walk in gloves this morning! Brrrrrr! I cannot believe just 2 weeks ago we were sweltering here. And, my home scale shows me down 2# so I can’t wait to see what the WW scale shows on Sunday.