Sick

I feel like crap. I've pretty much eaten cough drops for every meal. I'm afraid I'm getting what my son had. No workout today obviously.

Change of plans. Already.

I have a sick kid so I've been working from home the last couple of days. So today instead if cardio on the elliptical I tried Breathless Body by Amy Dixon. It's a cardio tabata style workout that I bought last summer and then have been too scared to try ever since.

I made it through 5 of the 8 drill cycles and then I needed to get back to work. It was definitely intense. I feel like I got a good workout and it was actually fun even though the moves are really simple and repetitive. I'd do it again.

I weighed myself yesterday morning. 133. Not bad, but its pretty much all saggy and flabby. I got weighed on the evil dr scale last week and it was 139. Of course, that was fully clothed in the middle of the day on a full stomach. So it doesn't count right?

Ha! Anyway I've been hungry for 3 days now. It's a drag.

Jillian Michaels Killer Abs Workout 2

This morning I remembered why I stopped working out in the mornings. It's hard to get out of bed that early and really believe that it's for your own good. Sleep is for my own good too.

My decline back to inactivity began when I started thinking I'd use my lunch break as my only workout time. It's fine sometimes, but there are always meetings or one more thing I want to get done that turns out to be more complicated than I imagined. I end up working through lunch or, worse, taking a bunch of mini breaks surfing the web that could have added up to a productive lunch time workout.

Anyway, Killer Abs. I've had this DVD for a couple of months. I've done workout 1 a few times and its good. Workout 2 is definitely my level right now. Meaning, I have to modify some of the moves so there's something to aspire to, but I can make it all the way through and I break a decent sweat.

I've decided the key to Jillian's amazing arms is that she uses them during every exercise! Really this could almost be called Killer Arms and Abs. That's great for me because I feel the sexiest when my arms are toned. I'm planning on keeping with this workout three times a week for two weeks and then I'll switch it up to No More Trouble Zones before diving into Workout 3.

My goal for tonight needs to be lights out before 10. I was in bed at 9 last night but I read and googled and youtubed for a while before finally sleeping. The soothing nighttime cup of tea also backfired because I had to get up to pee a few times.

Here's a pic of the Spinach Lox Egg Onion breakfast I'm about to enjoy. I had to use spring mix instead of spinach since that's what I have.

Let's try this again

It's been half a year since I posted and, people, I slacked big time. Summer's ever changing schedule gave me an excuse to skip workouts. By November I added bad eating choices to my no working out routine and now here I am, squishier than I'd like.

I just barely got over the ickiest cold I've had in years and now I'm motivated and ready to get back at it.

Today was an hour on the elliptical and pretty ok food choices but I didn't have a plan going into it. Tomorrow I'm getting up early and doing killer abs with Jillian and I've got a pretty good idea what I'll eat, starting with Spinach LEO from the Body Revolution kickstart recipe guide.

I'm back on myfitnesspal. I couldn't remember my old password so I created a new profile. I'm catjean22 if anyone wants to follow along.

Tonight I'm sipping herbal tea and watching Biggest Loser on Hulu. I love that show for motivation and the kids this season are great. I can't wait to see how things go for them.

I won!

Ok, I didn't actually "win," technically, but I had a great time! I'm telling you, these relay races are where it's at. So much fun. I had a few people in my van that I didn't know very well, but we sure know each other now. 24 hours together in a stinky van will do that for you.

My first leg was 6.5 miles and started at I think 2:30ish in the afternoon. The weather was misty and cool. It's a really good thing the race was so well marked because I only saw 3 other runners the entire time. I was hitting solid 7:30 min milesthe whole way until I got stopped at two stoplights in a row for several minutes about a mile from the finish. So irritating!

Anyway, My 2nd leg was 5.5 miles through farmland at 11:30 at night. It smelled like poop out there, but no stoplights so that was good. I passed several more people on this leg, but couldn't make it past the chick in front of me. I stayed with her for the first 3 or 4 miles though at between a 7:15 and 7:30 pace, but then had to let her go. I finished at an average 7:38 per mile.

Yeah, so the last leg I was out of energy AND there was an out and back portion, which is just mentally demoralizing. Luckily it was only 3.5 miles. The people who thought it was 6 were mistaken. I slowed to maybe an 8:15 on this one and it was clear that I'd spent everything on the first two legs. This picture is of me just finishing the third leg. I'm a lot happier than I look in the picture.

In conclusion, everyone should run a relay race. This was my 5th one. I've done Hood to Coast in Oregon 4 times and this was my first time doing a Ragnar relay. They're all over the place.  It was much less crowded and better marked and just a fantastic time. I can't wait for next year.

Now I

Race day

Just a quick check in from the van. We're driving up to the start of the relay. Yesterday I had my leg switched from one of the easiest to one of the hardest. Yikes! It only adds three miles total, but my elevation gains are more extreme. About now I'm thinking I should have trained a bit more. Im still hoping to average an 8 min mile but we'll see.

It's raining and i forgot to bring a hat but that's ok. I was worried it would be too hot.

It will all be over in about 28 hours. Woohoo!!!

Sleeping (or not) and Reading

I opted out of running yesterday because I was sleepy. I took a nap during my lunch break instead. As a result I had a hard time sleeping last night so I ended up getting just a little more than 4 hours of shut-eye. Not cool! I ended the day at about 1400 calories and 105 grams of protein and zero beers even though I considered it.

Today I'll go for a short jog - maybe 20 minutes - and do my lower body strength training. I also plan on drinking lots of coffee. I love coffee so this won't be a problem. I have a work function tonight and I have no idea what will be served, but I'm planning on staying away from the inevitable free booze. I've packed a healthy lunch and snacks so I'll be able to arrive not starving.

My main goal for the next two days is to sleep at night. Friday is the relay race so I'll maybe get 3 hours of sleep that night in between running and riding around in a van. I don't know why this sort of thing is so much fun, but it is.

I'm reading an interesting book right now called Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. It's not a diet book. It's also not a "this isn't a diet, it's a lifestyle" book. It's about the history of nutrition science and the political and social forces that made the low-calorie, low-cholesterol, low-fat hypothesis become the most mainstream opinion about how to lose weight and avoid heart disease. It's a slow read, but fascinating. I recommend it. I was able to check a copy out of the library.