signs that the times might be a-changin'.

December 23rd, I made a goal to workout every day over my 10 days off. Yes, I realized at the time that this included half of Hanukkah and all of Christmas. Yes, I also realized this included a two day road trip to visit my grandparents. I figured if I set the goal, I would at least work out a few times and not be a lump the whole 10 days.

Today is the 19th day since I made that goal. So far I'm at 15/19. I made it all 10 days, and then some! That 15 also doesn't count tonight's probable workout (so that would make 16/19, in case you're lazy). 

 

Last night's workout almost didn't happen, though. I usually meet with my mom on Monday nights, but she's getting over a virus so we figured it'd be safer to take a rain check. When I got home around 7, I immediately changed and headed downstairs. MISTAKE. I think the combination of it being right after work (well, relatively) and it being the first couple weeks of January (not that I hate on everyone with resolutions, y'all are awesome! Keep at it!) made for a very cranky adie. every.single.machine was taken. I sat there for a couple minutes waiting, and then gave up and went back upstairs. The kicker? I actually went back at 10, after dinner was done and digested, for take two. The fitness room was empty! Score. I guess I know when I need to workout now...if someone could just teach me how to not fall asleep while doing cardio that late at night, that would be great.

I'm patting myself on the back for this. Majorly.

i'm totally prepared for the hurricane. bring it, irene!

Some people are boarding up their windows.

Some people are at the grocery store, stocking up on milk, eggs, and any other perishable item they can think of that clearly won't survive a power outage. Except toilet paper. That will probably not need to be refrigerated. (Incidentally, I never understood why people bought toilet paper. It's not like you need more of it when the power goes out, unless you plan on stopping rain leaks from getting into your house, at which point I think you have bigger issues than whether or not you have enough toilet paper).

What did I do to prepare for the hurricane?

I went to the gym. You know, in case the power goes out and trees fall everywhere and I can't get to the gym.

Clearly, I have my priorities straight.

Well, I'm off to go buy some toilet paper.

Just kidding.

i love being outside but then i get silly tan lines and never have time to fix them.

I really haven't felt like exercising lately. 

Like, really really.

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, and all I've done so far is sit outside for 20 minutes or so soaking in the rays and chillin' with the dog.

blog, meet dog. Isn't she just the cutest thing ever?

Once y'all are done getting over the cuteness, I'll continue.

...

...

...

Ok seriously, that's enough!

Today, I went for a 40 minute walk. The positive? I've got a tan. Also, I exercised. The negative? I've got awkward tan lines. I tried to pick a shirt that would at least not give me sleeve lines (aka a tank top), but I don't have any strapless shirts, and I thought that would be inappropriate for a power walk anyway. C'est la vie. At least I'm out there, right?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's WI!

when i cleaned my room, i found my motivation.

I haven't worked out in over a week. If my shoes had emotions, they would have been silently crying in the corner for days. (Could you imagine if they did? They would probably yell at me on my runs and freak me out a bit). Or maybe they wouldn't have been silently crying, but their sounds would have been muffled by the plethora of clothing on my floor. Once I had cleaned up a bit, it was as if my motivation and energy were restored. I think the state of my room is a good tell for my mood and stress level...although my dad may tell you that it's just a mess regardless.

Ok, I think that's enough personification and passive voice.

With a high of around 25* today, I decided it was as good a time as any to get back out there. I've been making excuses about the weather for weeks, when I know full well I have the appropriate gear for the cold. Today, I sucked it up and geared up:

Pretty Badass, right?

In case anyone is wondering, here's what I've got on: 2 pairs of running tights (one pair of all-weather and one pair of cold gear), a cold gear hoodie under a running jacket, an awesome help-you-breathe mesh face mask, and a knit wide headband to keep my ears warm. That thing is perfect because it shields my ears from the cold air, but it doesn't make my head too hot! The knit is pretty loose so it's super breathable.

Anyhoo, I went out for just sub-2mi today. I know I won't have time tomorrow because of work, but I'll be back out there on Wednesday!

Oh also, I lost .4 this morning. How the hell that happened I have no idea. Apparently I made better choices this week. I'll have to go back through my journal. This week I'm attempting to save my weeklies for the few dine-out meals I already have planned (and the few I'm sure I'll have that aren't planned, as I seem to have a sort of affinity for many restaurant meals each week...). 

roar.

That's how I feel today. Let me explain.

I've made some really good friends on the Weight Watchers message boards over the last year (has it been a year already?). We chat almost every day, and motivate and encourage each other in a way that other people can't - because we're all in this together. We've branched out from the message boards and are now challenging each other on dailymile, which is a kind of athlete's social networking site where you can track your activity and that of anyone you're friends with. You can also join challenges, or create one! A few of us were talking the other night about how we're kind of in an exercising funk, and we decided to setup a walk/run challenge for the next month. Whoever gets the most mileage in, wins! Sounds simple enough, right? We figured if we were competing against each other, we would be more motivated to get out there and pound the pavement, so to speak.

Well, for the first week I was a total lazy bones. I logged like, 2.5 miles. Lame. I had been making excuses to not go out for runs, and I was falling behind in the challenge.

This morning, something clicked. I was looking at the challenge board (I often check in the mornings because I'm 5hrs ahead of these ladies so when I go to bed they're just getting out for their exercise. Oh also, I'm obsessed with looking at the challenge board. I'm a nerd.) and noticed that Bebe was at 16 miles already. 16! I was at 2. I wasn't really in the mood to run, but I had to do something, because this gap was only going to get wider and it would be impossible for me to catch up. So I decided to walk. I started out around my neighborhood, turning when I felt like it and ogling at the nice houses that I don't live in. Eventually I found a park and I knew I was at least a mile from my flat, since I've looked on a map for parks before and there really aren't any close by. I decided I wanted to run. I like running in the park, and I was in a park. So I ran through the park. On the other side of the park? A footpath on the River Thames! Sweet. Not only was I running in the park, but I was running in the park with a view. Before I knew it, I had run 15 minutes and still didn't feel tired. I felt like a rockstar. Then I turned back to go home and got slightly lost, so by the end my mileage looked like this:

Yes, that reads 9.54km. This would be an appropriate time for one of these: (((LTE)))

Oh yeah, and some of these fabulous ladies have blogs! I read them, and you should, too. Thanks to JB, Di, Kate, Bebe and Kelly (and the others who don't have blogs) for always giving me a swift kick in the behind when I need it most!

lesson learned.

Yesterday was less than perfect. It started out well enough, but kind of went downhill. No, nothing's seriously wrong, but I just didn't plan the way I should have. In my efforts to be super OP, I may have starved myself a little unintentionally.

See what had happened was, I went for a run in the morning. Yay me! It felt so stinkin' good to get back out there. This was only the third time I've gone running since being back (please, put away your stones! Pretty please?), and the first time I went out for 5k (my happy distance) since the Beach House. I tried all afternoon to get that snapshot thing of my run like all the other cool Nike+ users out there, but I was having a bit of trouble...finally, I think I got it! Let's see...

HA! Genius. I always thought it was so cool that people could do this, and now I can do this. I think I may start posting these run recaps on here to hold me accountable. I also have no idea why the distance is all wonky (wonky = possibly my new favorite word). See how it's all upside-down? odd. Oh well. You can deal, since it displays all the stats at the bottom.

Right. I was in the middle of something. Why my day wasn't super fabulous like it should have been.

So as I generally do when I go to uni to work, I packed some food. I was all excited for my couscous with veggies and my orange! But I got really hungry before dinner because I never really ate my lunch because I ate my pre-workout snack and then when I got back from my run it was noon which is lunch time but I hadn't eaten breakfast so I ate my breakfast and then brought my lunch - the couscous - with me for dinner but my breakfast wasn't a good lunch so I got hungry. Then I had a piece of cake. Totally not worth it. By the time I got home last night it was 9pm and I was lazy and really didn't feel like cooking. So I had a big mug of this delicious smoothie drink I buy over here, which I thought was enough. I was full. For the time being...

I.couldn't.sleep.

At about 3am, after trying to sleep for a good 4hrs but not succeeding because I was too hungry, I realized that smoothie =/= acceptable dinner. So what did I do? I had more smoothie. But this time it wasn't because I was lazy, it was because it was 3am and who needs to be eating real food at 3am? I finally fell asleep at 4. And woke up at 8. Which I think accounts for the general lack of punctuation in this post. I make no apologies (because I'm stubborn like that).

So why is today better? I learned my lesson. I ate a nice filling breakfast this morning, and I packed lunch and two snacks! I've got the same veggies I made yesterday but this time I'm having quinoa instead of couscous, which is way more filling. I have some hummus and bread, and an orange.

I'm prepared, yo.