"I am not" does NOT mean "I cannot"!

I know I said a post about family today, but something cooler happened!

I was heading off to dreamland last night.  I usually forget these half awake thoughts, but this one stuck with me.

C25K.

Yeah, yeah.  Everyone's done it.  Well not me!

Last fall, my friend Ali told me her and her roommate had started it.  I remember looking it up and thinking "OH HELL TO THE NO!  RUN FOR ONE MINUTE STRAIGHT?  SOMEONE IS OUT OF THEIR DAMN MIND!"  After having the urge to run a few weeks ago, and running for over a minute at one point, I decided to give it a shot!


I had planned to go to the Y after work, but after I remembered Couch to 5K, it wasn't so!

I need to plan my workouts.  For our "Try-athlon", I have been all over the place.  In my mind, if I walk, bike and swim, I feel I have done my job.  However, by doing this, not only am I at the gym for at least 2 hours a day, I am not focusing on any one discipline.

But WHERE do I run?  The Y?  Not a chance!  Em+Running on treadmills = me ending up on one of those 'funniest' shows, or worse YouTube.  I was always that kid who would trip over their own feet in gym class (at least once a year, if not more!).  This is why:

ASICS.  Size 11.5!

My apartment complex would be fine to run in, but the paved path that goes around the perimeter is occasionally riddled with holes/uneven pavement from a rush/careless paving job.  But SwimSis was babysitting tonight.  Not to far away.  In a NICE subdivision.  A nice/new subdivision = smooth road/sidewalks.  Here is the route that I ended up running.

En route to running destination w/SwimTot.

Coach let me borrow his watch.

SwimTot and H happy to hang out.

I was scared to go!  SwimSis kept yapping and I told her I had to go right then because I wanted to be back in time for Glee! :)  If you are not familiar, it is a 5 min warm up walk, 60 seconds running, 90 seconds walking for 20 minutes (for the first day).  Here is how I felt:

5 min warm up walk: Nervous, walking out the regular hip and/or knee discomfort.
1st min running: I'm doing it!  I'm doing it!  Yay!  Oh, a minute already?
Mins 2-5 running: Oh em gee.  People who subject themselves to running are masochists.  This is terrible, I'm fairly certain I walk faster than I run.  But you can just do 1 more.  1 more and you can be done!
Minute 6 running:  Oh, I guess this may or may not be too terrible.
Minute 7 running: I can't believe the mom SwimSis is babysitting for is 6 months pregnant and barely showing.  I guess that's what you get for having your own pilates DVD.  Oh wait...running again? Psh!
Minute 8 running: Oh em gee oh em gee nearly done, nearly back.  Did I really do all of that?  Disbelief!

I did it!

(Not my house.  Too nice.  Slightly amused by the giant (4ft) fork to the right)

What?  When I started I gave myself permission to stop early.  Guess I am still left holding that card!
Right after the walk/run I felt: Good!  I need of water and stretching.
10 minutes after: Terrible!  Tummy ache, headache, slight back ache.
An hour after: FANTASTIC!  I drank water, stretched, foam roller and ate. And was watching Glee.  Le Sigh :)

Just because I am not "a runner" does NOT mean "I cannot run".  Truth!

And finally, today is my mom's birthday.  She would be 58.  It's been a year and half since she's passed.  I miss her so much.  My soul often longs for her!  Here's a pic from SwimSis' baby shower (when she was prego w/SwimTot!)

And here is one about 8 months after that (just because she would be mad I put that first picture of her up there!):

Vegging out.

Today was an unplanned rest day.  No real reason except for laziness.  SwimSis and Coach decided to take a day off and I quickly followed suit because they were going out to eat.  I know, I know.  I am sooo swayed by food! 

So I vegged out today.  I was home at 8pm and had nothing to do!  Which happened to be a bit of a good thing.  I have lunch ready for tomorrow, as opposed to today where I did not have any breakfast or lunch.  I stopped at Starbucks and got a protein plate (seriously getting a bento box and making this myself!) and then we had a bit of shredded chicken left over, I tossed in some black beans, corn, and salsa and ripped a few romaine leaves off the hearts and scooted out the door!

I have seriously been missing my veggies tho!  My last Green Bean Delivery was only fruit (seems to get eaten faster that way!) and although I'm still working my way through it, it has cut down on my veggies :(  I knew I had a yellow squash in the fridge, so I did a little salt, pepper, and splash of terriyaki sauce made it in the microwave.  Excited!  Then SwimSis must have bought the biggest bag of baby carrots I have ever seen, I grabbed a lot of those too!  I had leftovers from eating out tonight, so that will be my main thing tomorrow.  Glad the "Vegging Out" is chilling at home, but also including more veggies!  Here's to hoping I actually plan my meals next week!

P-FREAKING-S....EASTER IS THE WEEKEND!!!  Guess what that means?!?  CHOCOLATE!!!!!   I gave it up for Lent.  Chocolate  was seriously out to get me.  I'm fairly certain I've day dreamed about chocolate every day.  Well, did sacrificing something (chocolate) get me closer to God?  Probably not.  But it did get me closer to speaking like a sailor if you know what I mean! :) 

Yesterday at the Y, I walked 1.31 miles in 27 mins (inc warm up and cool down).  And I biked 4 miles in 23 mins.  I was also going to swim 500 yards, but I grabbed the wrong bag on the way out the door!  All my swim stuff was at home!  Walking and biking (and abt 10 mins of weights) felt good enough, so I went home and showered.  Which was weird because the last time I had a shower at home was Friday morning!  I didn't realize I shower at the Y a lot

Week thus far in pics:

Too happy for 8am

 I don't have a key to my office (I'm a temp) so the security guard lets me in.  But on Tuesday, HE GAVE ME THE KEYS.  Oooh what trouble I could get in!  haha riiiight.

Hot Mess.

 I was looking for my debit card (not in there).  But I did dump my whole purse out.  I could CLEARLY win any game where ladies have to find scavenger hunt items by looking in their purses.

Yummy!

 This date box hold 3 lip gloss/balm/chapstick.  Love it!

Don't love.

 The boss actually went through some of the things on her desk.  And then they ended up on mine! Gross!

So brown :/

 This was on Tuesday, the 4th day of pizza.  Wait, what?  I had leftover pizza for MORE THAN 24 hours?  Victory for the healthy side of life!  I am ALMOST done w/these pears (Bosch pears).  They have a slight alcohol taste to them, but other than that they are pretty good!  And I totes at that kiwi with a plastic spoon and knife!

Good, but expensive!

 Starbucks kept me full till 1:30 this afternoon!  But $7.42?  Not cool.

I wanted more!

 My shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and salsa salad creation.  Pretty good for a last min meal.  Remind me to tell this blog about one of the first times I had black beans.  That's a good one.

MY FAVORITE

 Oh SwimTot.  I just call her "My Favorite".  I tell my siblings that even if they have other kids, they won't be my favorite :)  She is so sweet!

APRIL FOOL!

 And silly!  At dinner she kept calling us "April Fool".

Aunt Em and SwimTot, windblown.

 SwimSis thought her windblown hair and outfit from playing outside needed a quick change before dinner.  See below!

Princess!

Seriously adorable.  It's hard to believe that 2 years ago I was living in another state and when I would come home she would ask "who's that?".  Makes me cherish the time my wonderful niece puts her arm around me and says "Best Friends!".

Wow, I didn't know this would get so sappy!!!  Till next time amigos!

Why I Wear 3 Swim Suits

Whew, before shot?  Yikes can I look any less enthused?

I thought I would give an explanation to my madness.  Yes, 3 swim suits.  Why?

Short story:  Because I am cheap.

Long story:  (1) Blue suit underneath.  Acquired 05/2007.  Size: 40.  Shape: Decent
(2) Orange Lifeguard Suit on top (it is orange with blue lining) Acquired: Summer 2004/2005?  Whatever summer our lifeguard suits were orange!  Size: Unknown. Shape: Almost in pieces.
(3) Swim shorts.  Acquired: 05/2010.  Size: 2x.  Shape: Good!

The blue one underneath covers all the basics...pretty much.   If you can tell on the side view, my orange suit is necessary for covering the tatas on the side.  Swim shorts -- 25% to cover my inner thighs, 75% I'm too lazy to shave.  (Don't hate!)

So I could lie and say that 3 suits are for extra drag (resistance), but I am waiting to buy something better.  Swimoutlet.com?  I love that site!  I also want to check out 2 local swim stores (the only 2 I know in this area!)  1 I have been buying from since I was little (they would sell at swim meets) and the other is relatively new (to me).

Sunday I went to the Y and walked 1.03 miles on the treadmill in 24 minutes, including cool down. 0.5 incline.  I then swam 1700 yards.  (Couldn't let the treadmill out do me!).  The swim was rough!  My arms are still sore from that set on Thursday!  I am hoping to find my swimming instruction book (it is by 2 Olympic swimmers -- husband and wife).  The name is not coming to me right now!  They details some sets that I will not have to make up...yay!

Today, SwimSis and I went to the Y, dropped Swim Tot off in Childcare, and hit the treadmill.  I did 1.06 miles in 22 minutes with 1.0 incline, 3.13 miles in 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, and several sets of free weights and different weight machines.  Honestly, I would not have done any weights ever is SwimSis wouldn't have been there!  There were all these macho men lifting weights and she just marches right over and picks some up and goes to town.  Go girl!

I brought up a challenge to her today:  Triathlon.  Not a real one.  But one where the two of us set a day and do a certain amount of biking, running, and swimming for time.  The date  we (read: she) chose is May 24th or 25th.

Of course, we would do it in the YMCA as neither of us have bikes in town and there is not suitable running distances around the YMCA.  One thing is for sure:  swimming will be last!  It is the easiest for us and really, why not keep the dip in the pool till the end?

I know how hard it is to get a swim suit on when one is sweaty, especially over my stomach!  I have been wearing my swim suit and putting a sports bra under it to do the treadmill, etc.  It works, for now.

But guess what happened again today:  SLIGHTLY SOGGY SWIM SHORTS!!!!!
Well, sort of.  I wore my Adidas shorts to walk in and forgot my swim shorts.  We took a dip in the therapy pool, lap pool, and hot tub, so I just wore my shorts, used the spinner to dry them (mostly) out, and then had some slightly soggy shorts.  :)

Life is Exhausting!

I wanted to post on Thursday, but when I turned on my computer, the screen looked like this:

Yeah...problem!

Turns out it is an easy fix.  (AND POTENTIAL EASY APRIL FOOLS JOKE!)  Just hit Ctrl + Alt + one of the arrow keys.  Apparently I had hit Ctrl + Alt + Up.

Thursday was great though!  I went to work (blech), went to the eye dr. (first time in 5 years!...and now I have astigmatism).  On Wednesday SwimSwis and TeenSwimSis and myself had packed our workout stuff in order to go to the Y after shopping, but we were shopping FOREVER!!!  Thursday morning, I made sure to put my already packed bag in the trunk of my car.  No excuses not to go work out!

I walked a mile + 5 min cool down (28:48 mins).  0.5 incline.  Would have been faster, but I could not figure out how to work the machine, so I just did a quick start and figured it out from there. 

Then of course I had to swim!  Ended up with a lane to myself = <3!!!  I was worried I would be bored because I did not look up a set beforehand and would probably have to make it up.  Miraculously, there was a set stuck to the wall of my lane!  It was 3100 yards and faster than I would like, so I modified it to my liking:

Warm up: 1 x 200 freestyle (all freestyle.  Freestyle tends to be painful, but if I can push through this 200, I find myself being able to do a lot more!)
5 x 50 kick (2 freestyle, 1 breastroke/butterfly, 2 freestyle)
4 x 50 ( 12 yds all out, 38 easy recovery.  Mine was more of 60% for 12 yards)

Main Set:

x 4
1 x 100 (25 drill, 25 swim, 25 d, 25 s)
1 x 100 (focus on technique)
1 x 100 (FAST)

I alternated freestyle and backstroke for 1200 yards on that main set.

Cool down: 1 x 150 Eeeaasy

Did you catch that that was 2000 yards?  Slightly under 1.25 miles.  I couldn't let the treadmill outdo my swimming!

After the eye appointment and 2 hrs at the Y, I got home at 9pm.  So tired!  This is what I whipped up for dinner:

Gourmet, non?

Here are some other things that I captured with my 6 year old camera this week:

Don't mind my dirty clothes there at the bottom.

 I got another Green Bean Delivery.  Specifically fruit because TeenSwimSis was in town for her spring break and alone at the house all day.  Had to make sure she ate well!  We got pineapple, mangoes, kiwi, limes, oranges, pears, apples, bananas, avocados, and I ordered extra Medjool Dates!  I love Medjool Dates :)

Uh oh spaghettios!

 I left the coffee pot on at work all night.  That DID NOT smell good.

Not a lotta latté

I got a latté as usual, because Tuesday is "Two punch Tuesday" for rewards cards.  One more Tuesday and I will have earned a free latté!  However, wtf, what happened to my 16 oz latté?  It felt a little light!  Did they make it a 12oz?  Hmph.  Just figured the universe was telling me not to drink so many lattés!  In reality, I only drink 1/2 latté on the day I get it then finish it the next day!

I felt so exhausted again this week that I spent yesterday (Saturday) sleeeeeping!  I went to be bout 11:30 or midnight on Friday night, woke up shortly before 10.  Took a nap around 2-4, and then went to be around 11:30 or midnight again!  I was really tired!  Thank God for the weekends!

Well, SwimSis should be back from the store soon and we are going to the Y.  Look for my next set sometime soon!