good news and bad news..

Bad news first!  Unless you want the good news, then scroll down first.

Bad News

So.  I've discovered that I might hate running.  I couldn't run for very long and everything started to hurt!  Randomly the side of my lower left leg hurt!  How do I stretch that?  I think maybe I carry too much weight to run and that I'm only damaging my feet/knees/hips by running with extra weight.  Or maybe this is my new rationalization.  In any case, I might hate running. 

Good News

I got up at a reasonable time and actually made it out the door!   I was out for about 30 minutes.  Not all running, but I tried to mix it and power walk when I wasn't running.  This time I decided to actually make my way to High Park and take advantage of the neighbourhood.  It was nice!  Lots of people out running and walking with their dogs.  Lots of boot camp classes going on - I'm trying to resist the urge to sign up. 

Just News

I am going to focus more on other activities, such as the classes and my sporting activities and maybe actually do some strength training at the gym to build up my muscles and cardio so I can try running again. 

So maybe my thought of doing a 10k in the fall isn't so farfetched.  Denise has recently started to talk about taking up running and Olessia might do the 10k with me, too!  So that's fun! 

And! Erin is interested in Dragon Boating!  So maybe if I can round up a few more troops, this might actually happen!  I am super excited and think it will be super fun!

I'm also enjoying writing in this blog again.  I'm very happy that it's not just another blog I started then kicked to the curb.  I'm thinking I should add some pictures.  I see other blogs and they are entertaining.  But what would I take pictures of?  Me running?  Not fun. 

Also, on a side note: I need a new camera since mine got fried in Cuba.  Maybe once I get that then I will also showcase my photography skillz.

my pledge to you, my friends!

I seem to experience quite the ebb and flow in my activity levels, as evidenced by my recent and not-so-recent blogging efforts.  I still feel that this is the year that I make a significant difference to myself.

As I mentioned in my last post, ultimate frisbee is starting up again soon, and beach volleyball starts next week!

Also, I just joined Goodlife Fitness and plan to pick up my membership card on Thursday. And will start going to the classes soon!

And to kickstart my new pledge, I am planning to get up early tomorrow (like I used to) and go for a run.

I know, I know, this isn't the first time I've said this, but now that summer is coming, I have no excuses.  Um, unless it rains.  Who runs in the rain?!

So this new surge of wanting to do something may have something to do with the fact that it's Tuesday night and we are flipping between the hockey game and The Biggest Loser.  It's makeover night on TBL and it's very inspiring!  It's amazing to see the transformations and what difference a bit of weight loss can make.

If only Montreal would focus more on scoring a goal than knocking the hell out of Pittsburgh!

In any case, this is a short, but sweet blog just to say that I am giving running another go and am very vaguely contemplating running a 10k at the end of the summer.  Vaguely. 

So!  For the summer, in addition to ultimate and volleyball, I propose to:

• run at least twice a week
• take at least one class per week at the gym
• make better food choices

I mentioned in a previous blog that I want to also try some racket sports this summer and I am going to do it.  Dammit.  Soon.

Also, I'm really curious about Dragon Boating!  I recently met someone who coaches DB teams and has said if I can put together a team of 22ish people who are willing to pay ~$160 each for 2 months of training (once a week) with coaching and a race, we can do it!  Who's in?!

Alternatively, Mount Sinai has a DB team, although they seem really hardcore.  They practice twice a week and started in January!  I may consider trying it out, but I'm scared.  But!  As Chow so kindly (read: rudely **UPDATE** read: rudely, but supportively) pointed out - it's time for me to break out of my comfort zone!   So maybe I'll suck it up and go to one of their practices.

Life is good, people.  And I want to enjoy it!  :)

hopefully not another false start!

Ah my friends - how I've missed you all!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful 2010 thus far! Mine's been pretty good, but filled with too much laziness and inactivity until now.

The first hint of real activity I had was that first nice day back in March? We hit the beach and played volleyball and ran around with the frisbee like madmen. It was awesome! It felt so good to be out and running around.

But then I fell back into my old rut and started getting lazy again. Don't get me wrong, I was still playing dodgeball every week, but it just wasn't enough activity - although dodgeball is more exercise than you'd think! And can be really fun! Someone once told me (or thrice told me), you get as much exercise as you want to when playing dodgeball. You can hustle and run around and go nuts, or you can hide in the corner. Guess what I did most of the time.

Fortunately, we are now coming up to ultimate frisbee and, more importantly, BEACH VOLLEYBALL season! /cheer. Just thinking about it makes me want to get active again.

Also fortunately I have some new friends who are active and old friends who are newly active.

This has resulted in my having gone jogging on Wednesday night. Admittedly, I did try to cancel on Ylona. But she made me :( So I went over and we ran near the Lakeshore from about her place until close to Parkside, I think. I just checked on Google Maps, that's about 10k total there and back. We obviously did not run the entire way. I wimped out pretty early, but I kept trying to run when I could and so we were out for about an hour and a half total.

This is the first time I have ever gone running with someone else, other than in the 5k "marathons" I did last year. It was good! It was motivating to try to keep up with someone else and not let them down by having to walk - although I did it quite a bit, but not as much as I wanted to. Thankfully I didn't get shin splints, but I did get this pain in my hip that I've noticed I get when I run. It sucks. Otherwise, I could have run more that evening. I think.

So it was good! I felt good. Motivated.

I woke up feeling a bit sore in the legs, but I had to suck it up because!

Charles was back in town so we decided to celebrate by going out for a Mandarin dinner. Mm. Chow has recently been on a big Muay Thai kick so he invited us to join him for a class prior to dinner. We obliged. Then we regretted our decision. Then we thanked him.

We had this "warmup" for 30 minutes. Clearly, the instructors and I had a different idea of what a warmup is! Me: 5-minute walk/jog. Instructors: trying to kill us with running, skipping, jumping jacks, squats, burpees, pushups, situps, etc. This was the phase where I wasn't so happy with Chow.

Then finally the warmup ended and the fun began! We learned the Muay Thai stance and how to punch and kick. It was SOFUN. The hardest part was holding up the pads for someone else! I have talked before about how I wanted to do some kind of martial arts/boxing class. So I'm thanking Chow for finally getting me to try one.

Unfortunately, my job requires mostly sitting so I'm fine when I'm sitting, but every time I have to get up, I get more and more sore. But I like it. It means I did something useful for my body, right? This feeling (where I'm not so sore I'm practically disabled) is what motivates me to keep going.

I had vowed I wouldn't write again until I did a solid week of exercise. This never happened. But I'm getting close so I thought I would write anyways. My next step is to go to a Boot Camp class that Ylona's building is putting on for free for the month of May. This happens on Saturday morning. Then tossing the frisbee around in the afternoon with the ultimate frisbee team.

Then soon, very soon, the leagues start!

Oh! I've also joined a gym, which I now have mixed emotions about. But I'm determined to treat it as a good thing and make the most of it. I've discovered I work best in a classroom setting with other people vs. trying to work out on my own. Luckily, Goodlife has a lot of classes to choose from so I should be good to go. I would like to do more Muay Thai or something similar, but it is so much more expensive :( We'll see how this gym membership goes! I think it starts this weekend!

Anyways, I hope you've missed me as I've missed all of you! And I hope you're ready to follow my exploits over the summer! Not the really fun exploits - those might be more of an in-person conversation :)

a new year, a new me!

..or maybe just a slightly improved me.

I'm still walking to work intermittently, although my trips are getting a little shorter. I have taken to hopping on the streetcar about halfway to work, but I'm still walking at least 30-45 minutes in the morning. The big problem is that I am usually running late and showing up at 10am every day is probably not great. I am trying to leave earlier though - I just have issues!

I was a bit of a slacker in December, but I'm trying to pick it up again. Dodgeball season starts this Friday, I'm walking to work more, Michael and I are swimming a bit more, and will try skating more often, too. Also, I am going to seriously reconsider the boxing gym again and try out a few this month.

I also just researched triathlons in Ontario and there is a "Try a Tri" in August, which consists of a 375m swim, 10km bike ride, and 2.5km run. That seems pretty reasonable, eh? I will have to bike and swim more, but I'd like to give it the old college try.

There is also a duathlon in July, I believe. This consists of a 5km run, 20km bike, and 2.5km run. This doesn't seem terrible either - well, the 20km bike ride looks like it might be hard.

If I do one of these, it will probably be the Try a Tri. I'm excited to have a goal again since I've fallen off the wagon over this last little while. :(

I am ALSO trying to eat more vegetarian foods thereby limiting my meat intake. I have decided on Tofu Tuesdays. (I can't think of a better name for it). So I am at present eating an avocado and feta wrap. It better be delicious.

AND Michael made a yummy chickpea curry last night for dinner. I used to hate chickpeas in all forms, but I have decided that I need to try foods I previously disliked and try new foods. It wasn't horrible. I'd eat it again.

We also tried a new vegetable over the weekend called kolrhabi, which is a German turnip. It wasn't horrible. I'd eat it again.

I'm looking forward to trying new vegetables, fruits, and foods. Particularly grain products. I need to find an alternative to white rice. Even though it's so delicious. Mmm rice and meat.

Resolutions for this Year

1. Lose 20lbs by, oh - let's say.. May 1. Reasonable?
2. Walk to work (at least part of the way) 4 days a week minimum.
3. Go swimming and/or skating at least once on the weekend.
4. Find another regular activity outside of dodgeball, swimming, and skating (ie. boxing gym).
5. No meat on Tuesdays.
6. Reducing red meat overall.
7. Triathlon in August!

Easy peasy. Right?!

the correlation between motivation and blogwriting..

Hello dear friends,

I am writing tonight in the hope that I can become remotivated to do more again. I'm starting to feel intensely lazy and sluggish. It's so nice on the one hand to just be idle and lounge around, but it's not so nice feeling inactive and being mentally slow. I've been so swamped at work that it's all I can do to get through the day, but I want to believe that being more active outside of work will give me more energy through the day or at the very least let me destress.

Now that booty camp is over I need to get started on something new soon. I'm still playing dodgeball but that's only once a week and not nearly enough exercise. I am going to try running again in the mornings now that the time change has happened and it should be lighter in the mornings now, which should help! Also, I'm going to look into that boxing gym for reals. Try out a class next week in fact!

I also want to look into squash (*cough* Ryan) and badminton (*cough* Chow). Ryan did mention some courts up in the far north, but where can we play badminton, Chow?

But let's be real. My big big problem right now is food. I was trying to be good for a while, but I seem to have fallen off the wagon a little. Well, ok maybe I can't actually see the wagon anymore.. But I will have to run a little (literally) to find that wagon again!

So we're currently watching The Biggest Loser. I find my reaction to it very interesting. I think out of a need to be perverse/rebellious (I can't find the word I'm looking for!), I find myself inevitably eating junk food while I watch it. At the same time, I'm agreeing with a lot of the things they're saying and working myself up to be motivated to do more. It's kind of a weird duality. In any case, it's inspired me to write some more and go running in the morning. So we'll see how that goes! The chips I was eating during the show were delicious by the way.

Watching the show makes me reflect on my psychological barriers. I think it's hard for people who have always been fit/lean to know the psychological difficulty that exists for someone who has not been fit/lean for most of her life. It's not just about the willpower to eat less or exercise more - it's all about the hidden reasons I almost refuse to do the right things. This is me baring my soul a little! Since I've been this way for so long I find it hard to imagine a life or a body that is different. I have had glimpses here and there of what could be, but it's still really hard to picture. This is what holds me back - the fear of the unknown, I guess. And the even more secret fear that no matter what I do it won't make a difference or change my life in any significant way. And rationally I know this to be a ridiculous thought on so many levels so I'm working on it!

I do appreciate all your support, but I do also kind of feel like my milestones are things that any "normal" person can do with ease and that my achievements aren't that epic. But I can't compare myself to other people, right?

Anyways, enough soul-baring! I'm sure this is terribly boring and I'm not trying to inspire piteous or "poor baby" feelings. Just letting you know some of my thoughts. I'll try to inject more hilarity into my next post - which will hopefully be in the next few days and it will be all about the running I will have done in the morning. We'll see!

Ohya - I need to set up an *indoor* rock climbing event soon! And I have to remember to call the school nearby about their pool!

Love,

Connie

xo! :)

i'm ba-a-a-a-ack!!

Yay!

So many things have happened since my last post and I will most likely not remember them all, but well you can't miss what you don't know!

Wow - I just realized it's been well over a month since my last post. I'm sorry to have left you without my pearls of wisdom and energizing humour for so long!

But ok where to start..

Booty Camp

I successfully completed the 4-week Booty Camp session! I lost a few pounds, lost a couple inches, and gained some muscles I never knew I had. I signed up for another 4 weeks and am now entering week 3 of it! I missed a day, but I think I'm going to make up for it this week by doing 3 sessions. I am not sure I will continue on past this next 4 weeks but it was good while it lasted! Kept me motivated and active when I was having trouble doing it on my own.

MarathonS!

On September 27 I successfully completed the Scotiabank Marathon - 5k :D It always seem so misleading to say I did a marathon. I did it in 42:26 minutes. Yes, I run really really slow, but I don't care! I ran the entire way and didn't stop at all! I thank Shyn entirely for this one! If it hadn't been for him I would have stopped at the 1km mark. He put up with my whining for 42 minutes and kept encouraging me. My favourite line he gave me was, "Just think - all that time you spent grinding on WoW has trained you for this! Just keep pushing through!" Ok, that was highly paraphrased, but it made me laugh. Though of course only the people who play WoW will appreciate that, but I think most of you do :D

IRREGARDLESS, I ran the 5k and it was glorious!

Riding this high, Mike calls me at work a few days later and says, "Hey, I have a GREAT idea, let's do another 5k!" I foolishly agree and this brings me to today.

On October 18, 2009 I ran my second 5k! In the Goodlife Fitness Toronto Marathon! Despite not having run since the last 5k, I ran it in 40:00. Dammit. I thought I ran it in under 40. At least I improved my time.. by 2.5 minutes. Boo. Oh well! I did walk a few times for a few seconds here and there, though. Mike stayed with me the whole way and played alphabet games with me to keep me distracted!

Now Sharon posted on my Facebook that she is running one in the spring! Should I or shouldn't I? I hate it up until the last km. Then I start to feel more enthusiastic about the whole thing. We'll see!

Boxing Gym

Since I need constant variety, my next new challenge may be joining a boxing gym. I had originally thought that I wanted to do Judo or Karate or something, but then I realized I don't like to touch people. Therefore, sparring activities are not for me. Then I had a brilliant idea that I could join a boxing gym! I just want to punch a bag. Build some muscle, work on my cardio. I found one in the southeast end of the city that I am going to look into once my Booty Camp is over. I can pay $500 for a year's membership and I can go to all the boxing classes I want. These classes are 2 hours in length and offered every day and involves cardio and work with the punching bags. Maybe I won't sign up for a whole year yet, but I will definitely check out a few classes!

I know some of you might be thinking that if I'm willing to spend all that money maybe I should join a gym instead. It would be about the same amount of money. $40ish/mo for a gym=$480/year. But the question is, Will I go to the gym? I do hate it quite a bit and can see myself quitting after a month or so. Stupid gyms. We'll see if I even like the boxing class and go from there I suppose.

Dodgeball

This is so fun! And way more work than I had originally anticipated! Unfortunately, the first two games we won by forfeit when the other teams didn't show up :/ Then in our third match when a team did show up, we lost! :( But tomorrow we will kick ass, I'm sure of it! I think they're the 7th place team and so we should be able to win win win! :) Either way, it's a lot of fun. We have 5 more games, I believe.

Then my new plan is to rent a school gym for January and play various sports. If that doesn't pan out, then maybe indoor volleyball. Or maybe a new sport?? I have recently had my eye on basketball and learning how to play that. This is partly why I want to rent the gym - so we can play bastketball and see how good or bad it is!

Food

All I have to say is that I love food and am finding it hard to cut back and bad foods are creeping back into my diet. I don't like it! I am hoping that writing this blog again will keep me motivated and in a better mindset about my health and wellbeing in general! I was falling off the wagon so often and for longer and longer that I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to find the wagon again! But I always do. Food is so delicious, though. Mm.

Lessons Learned:

1. I get bored of things after about 2 months and have to change it up. This is why I don't believe the saying that it takes 3 weeks or whatever to build a habit. Oh, maybe it's 3 months to build a habit? Hm. Well, whatever :P
2. My body is stronger than I think. It's the mind that's weak! This was another of Shyn's motivational speeches when I was complaining that I needed to stop.
3. October is very cold :(
4. So apparently I haven't learned much in my month-long hiatus. C'est la vie!

surprising results!

I have decided to write my post tonight because I can guarantee right now that I won't have any time tomorrow. Work is going to keep me tres busy all day.

So I attended Day 2 of the Booty Camp with surprising results!

Despite being broken and mucho sore (and therefore scared of what the evening would entail) I found it not too ridiculously hard! I had thought (mistakenly apparently) that physical exercise would make my muscles feel worse, but I guess warming them up actually made them feel ok. Not better necessarily, but not worse! I was pleasantly surprised.

Don't get me wrong, it was still ridiculously hard and I think I worked new muscles I've never used before, but it wasn't excruciatingly painful! *confetti*

I've also learned a lot of exercises that I can do myself. I just have to remember them and put them together in some kind of routine later. Although I will probably sign up for at least 4 more weeks following this. It's amazing what you can do with a little space and a mat, eh?

Tonight we did a bit more cardio and I have to say that running has really improved that. I'm not stellar, but definitely much improved from the beginning of the summer. I think back to when I signed up for that volleyball skills clinic. They made us run around the gym a few times and, man, I was wiped after maybe one lap around the gym. It was positively brutal. But now, we ran around a bunch of times, did grapevine-y type things, skipped, etc. I couldn't keep up for the entire hour, but I did a fair bit! So I'm proud of myself :D

Although, my secret shame is that I'm not actually doing as much running as I would like to these days. I am not going to be able to tomorrow morning because I'm aiming to be at work for 7-7:30, which leaves no room for running. However, I will try to get a good decent run in on Sunday morning. The marathon is coming up very soon!


Lessons Learned:

1. Holding a plank is actually better when someone is there watching you and encouraging you. And when there are other people there that you can't show weakness in front of :D
2. The above holds true for most of the exercises actually. I think I pushed myself harder because I didn't want to be the suckiest in the group.
   
3. I'm actually less hungry after I work out. I ate maybe 2/3 of what I would normally have eaten for dinner. Although, I foresee that tomorrow morning I will be famished. :P More cake perhaps?
   
4. Keeping your keys in your pocket while you workout is not smart. Especially when your session starts at 8pm and it starts getting dark at 7pm. *sigh* I had to get Mike to rescue me with a flashlight - luckily we found them pretty soon after that! What's extra funny is that on Tuesday another girl lost her keys. And I secretly thought she was retarded. Karma? It might be. If I believed in such nonsense. ;)

Ok, I'm sleepy now. Nini.

Then I have to get up and wear heels all day. My poor legs. What is that, class? That's right. Brutal.

Hope everyone has (or had) sweet and lovely dreams!

:)

i hurt. lots.

So ok. I did the Booty Camp Tuesday night and boy am I feeling it. Brutal.

I walk all gimpy and can barely manage stairs. Sitting down is very awkward, too. Brutal.

It's all good, though. I'd much rather be feeling the pain of my "tearing muscles" (as Tammy put it) than nothing at all following the workout. So I've been walking around like I have never walked before.

The best part is that I get to do it again tonight! It is day 2 of booty camp. Hopefully I will be able to go running Friday morning. If not, at least I'll have volleyball Friday evening!

We have finally signed up for dodgeball and I am looking forward to that! It doesn't start until September 21, though. However, this Sunday some dodgeball league is holding a free session that some of us will most likely be attending. If anyone else is interested let me know, it should be fun!

It's too bad being active costs so much money. I also want to go to Mont Tremblant, which Chow is trying to plan for December/January, but that will cost lots of money, too. Along with all these leagues. Pff. It's so much cheaper to be lazy! But less fun. Cost-benefit, right?

I don't know what else to say about that.

Confession:

All I had this morning until noon was a slice of cake for breakfast and a cookie and coffee for my morning snack. Brutal.

The rest of my day will be better. I swear.

i love short weeks!

I'm sorry. I've been so lazy this past week or so and have completely fallen out of my routine. This has also meant that I've been too lazy and ashamed to write much in this blog! It would have just been excuse after excuse and I thought I would spare you.

I've been having trouble forcing myself out of bed and I have been tired all the time. But! As you all know I signed up for Booty Camp. This is now kicking me back into being motivated!

So I came home after work yesterday and had a quick dinner and went out in search of the group. The problem was that I had originally signed up for a different location because of Breanna, but due to the fact that she had to go away for work for 2 weeks she rescheduled and I tried to get into the session near my house. I called them up last week and they told me they had no record of me having paid. Awesome. I sent them the Paypal confirmation and they were saying they'd look into it and in the meantime I should just go to the session.

I asked Tammy if she received an email upon registration about what to bring/do/expect, etc. Good thing I did because there were waivers to sign and instructions about what to bring. It also mentioned I should show up an hour early.

In the past as I've walked up Keele I've seen their sessions in the park and figured that's where they would be for my session.

Therefore, I show up at 7pm expecting to find people - and nothing! Only families and this couple who were randomly throwing balls. It was very peculiar. They'd stand and one would toss a ball. Then they'd each pick up 2 other balls and throw them towards that one. From what I can gather they were trying to throw it as close as possible to the original tossed ball? But I don't know why. What the hell? Anyways.

I didn't bring my phone with me (See what happens?? Never again!) So I kind of mill around and hang out. Then I think, hm, maybe I'll walk up this hill over here and see what's what at this half of the park. I'm also wondering if I can get home from this path at the top of this hill.

Lo and behold! There's the 6:45pm class doing their thing. I figure it's probably close to 7:30pm I'll just wait. But then the bugs start coming out. And I also start thinking that showing up an hour before is probably only necessary for the earlier class since it runs from 6:45-7:45pm and then the next one is 8-9pm. I go home and get bug spray and return closer to 8pm where the instructor does, in fact, inform us that we'd be staying afterwards to do the measurements and all that. Pff. What a waste of an hour!

It begins! Parts of it were really hard! It was also getting really dark and the bugs were out in full force. Gross. I was sweating and tired, but I felt good! I really think I needed this to break me out of my funk and get me active again.

I have grandiose plans to go to spin class Wednesday morning, which almost happens. But then doesn't :( I was already running late then I realized I forgot my wallet and had to go back, which made me more late, and ugh. So as punishment I went running - which I haven't done lately.

Taking a break from running is not such a great idea. I ran for about 11 minutes then took a 2 minute break and ran for another 9 minutes. It's bad that I'm really starting to dislike running. I keep telling myself I just have to hold on for a few more weeks until the marathon. So I'm going to start sucking it up and running more often so I can get back to what I used to be able to do just a few short weeks ago - as well as improve. Two and a half weeks to go!! I'm in trouble.

Anyways. Hopefully now that I'm back on track, my blog posts will be more frequent again. And joy and laughter will be brought back into all your lives!

:)

the rise and fall of the connie empire

Forgive me, dear readers. It has been 8 days since my last confe-.. er... blog post.

I can't do penance, though, since I don't know my Hail Marys or whatever - despite being Catholic. I can do the Lord's Prayer, though! :)

The last post I made was pre-rock climbing and I think I've already told most of you about it or you were there, but too bad. It was super fun! It was actually much harder than I expected it to be. Even once I got there and saw other people doing it, I was inwardly scoffing because it looked fairly easy. That cliff showed me who was boss, though. It showed that my overall muscle strength and flexibilty is sorely lacking. Brutal. Also, it showed me that I bruise like a peach. It was fun and challenging, though! Very different than anything I've done before. The second time up was also a bit easier since I knew what to expect and wasn't such a sissy about letting go. I wasn't really worried about death or dismemberment, which was good.

Well, let me clarify. On the way down the side of the cliff to get to the bottom was a harrowing experience! There was supposed to be a "scramble path" that led down to the bottom - that we completely missed and had to practically machete our way through the forest to get to the bottom. I was worried I was going to tumble down the mountain or break a leg. Luckily, no disasters. Then we found the path after climbing over and under trees and rocks galore. The path was glorious. I maintain that we wouldn't have fully appreciated the scramble path unless we had gone where we had :P So, I guess that's something!

So I would definitely go again! Well, I have to since I bought a harness :) I think I'd like to try indoor next time. Or if I do outdoor again I will wear better shoes. I brought shoes that were small and would fit into crevices instead of shoes with grip on the bottom. A big mistake considering there were not really any crevices, but rocks that were slightly jutting out that you had to leverage against. I blame my shoes for my poor showing. :) Also the arduous journey that preceded the climb itself. Oh, and the burning sun. :P

No, but really, I had a blast. Especially with the camping and the fire and the company! :) I could have stayed another night.

So after that I got lazy. So lazy.

I had Friday off and I feel like I slept and lazed around most of the day. Oh, we did bike to High Park for breakfast and back :) That's something, right?

And there was volleyball on Friday evening. Always a good time, despite the crazy ridiculous wind. It was impossible to play actually, but we did our best!

On Saturday I think I did more of nothing. Well I went out in the evening, but nothing much that day I think. The less I do, the less I want to do :(

More of the same on Sunday (although I can't actually remember what I did on Sunday so I could very well have done something fantastic - but I doubt it :P)

Monday morning I went for a run! But it was a piddly one. I was so tired and felt ridiculously out of shape after not having done much for a few days. :(

Tuesday more of the same. I went out for a run in the morning, but it was also piddly. And apparently I forgot to pee before I went out so that cut my run a wee bit short, too. Yes, I'm 10 and can't hold it. I don't know about you guys, but for me if I really have to pee and I'm rushing it makes it worse. I have to walk a fine line of hurrying, but not too much or else it increases the urgency of the pee!

Tuesday evening was ultimate frisbee! Our second to last game. It was also harder than it has been because of my few days of laziness. It's amazing how quickly my body forgets. But at least it got me out there and running around. Then we had Hakka food after. My first time! It was pretty good. :)

Wednesday morning I missed the spin class. I almost could have made it, but then didn't.

It's getting harder and harder to get up in the mornings, I tell ya. I think I've also realized I might dislike running. It's just so mind-numbingly boring! But I will persevere at least until the 5k and re-evaluate.

So, this morning I also didn't run, but I did lunges and squats. So I should feel those tomorrow. And I plan to run tomorrow morning. For reals.

The one good thing coming up despite my laziness is that booty camp starts next week! I'm still really looking forward to that - even though Breanna can no longer join me for September :(

So maybe that will kick my ass out of this lazy funk I'm in and re-motivate me. One can hope!

That is all. Not a great post, but a post nonetheless. :)

Happy Thursday!

Ps Please sponsor me for the 5k Scotiabank Marathon! Click Me!

Thanks <3
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a balanced life.

Yesterday morning I went for a bike ride through High Park. Instead of my usual loop through, I took a few extra side streets. Also, in light of the spin class I took last week, I tried to push myself to go faster and not just coast along whenever I could. So that was good! My thighs aren't thrilled with me today, but what can you do :)

Last night we played ultimate - and we won! /cheer!

We all played really well and there was lots of running. Lots of running.

The best part is that I SCORED A GOAL! YAY! And it was an epic score, too. So, it was the longest point ever and you can't sub out until someone scores. And I was getting tired! We were finally in our endzone and the frisbee came in low and I dove for it (aka crashed to the ground) and managed to catch it! GO ME! lol. The other team members made some more frequent epic catches and goals, but this was my first :)

I was soooo sore when I got home. Still from softball on Sunday and the bike ride Tuesday morning and then all the running from ultimate. But it's good. I feel good.

Tonight, as most of you know, a bunch of us are going camping then rock climbing tomorrow!

I'm so excited!

I think I've said this many times before but I just like to stop and marvel at the fact that I'm trying all these new things now. I feel like I'm chomping at the bit wanting to try everything. I really like it. I've spent a lot of my life reading and learning and it's nice that I am now balancing that out with being more active. I'm, like, perfect. ;D

Also, I can't actually see much difference, but according to my scale I'm at my lowest weight that I've been in a while. I still have a long way to go, but booty camp starts soon! /confetti

oh. my.

Where do I even begin??

I guess from the beginning :)

I don't think I wrote a blog for Friday so here's my delinquent post about that day.

Friday:

I ran Day 2 of Week 6 that morning. This involved:

5 minute warm-up
10 minute jog
3 minute walk
10 minute jog

I did:

5 minute warm-up
10 minute jog
3 minute walk
5 minute jog
2 minute walk
7 minute jog

Close enough, right? I hadn't run since Monday morning so I wasn't as prepared as I should have been. But I ran a little extra so that's something, I hope.

After work was, of course, beach volleyball. I was so late for that because of work so I really only played 3 games. So, all in all, not a super day for exercise. Ah well!

Saturday (aka my birthday YAY):

I slept in and got breakfast in bed a la Michael :)

I am trying to keep this about the exercise parts of my day so I won't bore you with the rest of my birthday minutiae. Except to say that I have never drank so much and therefore have never been so drunk as I was that night. I blame Chow and his dirty Jagr bombs. Before the badness happened though I had a great time! :) Thanks to everyone who made it out and I hope you all had fun, too! xo

Sunday:

I woke up way too early to play softball for work. It was such a rough morning. But I still went! Why, you ask? Because I'm a TROOPER :)

Michael and I got to the field at 8:30am only to find out we weren't playing right away after all and we wouldn't be playing until closer to 10-10:30am. -.- We were not very impressed, but what could we do! After some tea and forcing down a granola bar I felt a bit better.

Softball is actually kind of fun! Batting is the best part! I got the first run in in the first game! /cheer. I didn't make any fancy catches, but I had a lot of fun. I'd play again! So there was lots of running around and so I did get some exercise! Although I seem to have pulled a muscle in my hip/groin area :( It hurts like a bitch to walk.

Monday:

I went for a run this morning. I tried to do Day 3 of Week 6. From here on out they are all long runs - no more interval training. I was supposed to do 23 or 25 minutes, I think. With my injury I was only able to run for about 6 minutes and I had to stop :( Brutal. I walked for a bit and tried to run some more, but it was really painful! But I tried!

I will endeavour to run more frequently this week, but I am on the home stretch now! At this point I should be able to run for 25 minutes and will check in the next few days how far that actually means. And I am still at one month until the marathon! /confetti.

It is all going splendidly. Well, except for this gimp leg I acquired.

Oh! I also got 5lb weights for my birthday. I used them today!

I did 3 sets of 10 reps of bicep curls, tricep curls? (I'm not sure what they're called). Um, and shoulder thingies. Where my arms are to my side and I lift them straight up and out so I look like a T (or a cross, I suppose, if you count my head). Oh, I also did some more stair pushups.

PS. I am never drinking again.

the long fight continues..

Yesterday after work I went to a softball practice. It was hilarious.

What I Learned at Softball Practice:

1. I am afraid of the ball. Therefore, I close my eyes when the ball gets close enough for me to catch, which luckily so far has only resulted in me missing it, rather than getting beaned in the head. Though I do catch it on occasion!
2. I have pretty good hand-eye coordination otherwise. In terms of hitting it that is. Nine out of 10 times I can connect with the ball. I mean it helps that our own team is pitching it, I suppose. Details, details!
3. Sun in the eyes is the absolute worst when trying to catch balls. The worst. I just want to duck and hide because I panic when I can't see it.
4. Apparently, you're supposed to run towards the ball when it's rolling/bouncing towards you rather than back up to let the ball slow down before you pick it up. I suppose I can see the logic in that.
5. I cannot throw a ball. I understand the basic principle, I do. I also know I have the power. I just can't put it into practice! I release too early or too late and can't channel the power into the throw itself. I think I use the wrong part of my arm for power, which is why it always feels like I'm going to wrench my arm right out of my shoulder socket. Ok, maybe I don't understand the basic principle after all. Hrm.
6. Batting hurts. The whole bat reverberates and now my hand hurts! I didn't notice until this morning, but using doorknobs and even holding a pen hurts. Stupid bats.
7. In light of all of the above information, I am going to predict that my gameplay on Sunday (in conjunction with the fact that the night before is my birthday party) will not be stellar. But hopefully still fun! :)
8. I don't like people who don't think I'm funny. Not just because I think I'm hilarious and everyone should, too. But these people just don't get me and it's hard to connect with people who don't find the same things funny, you know? It's awkward.

So there wasn't much exercise during the practice, but I was still out and about! Then I zipped off to pool and then, um, Korean all-you-can-eat BBQ. Oops. Although! I didn't eat as much as I could have. I did stop myself. Relativity!!

To make matters worse, I also did nothing this morning. But tomorrow morning I will run for sure! And will try to run Saturday again, too.

I'm really excited for boot camp to start, fyi. :)

j00 can DO it!

Morning!

This morning was the dreaded spin class. I trudged over to the studio for 7am!

I got all set up on the bike and away we went! It was actually pretty good! Though my knees were hurting a little, I enjoyed it! Admittedly, I did not go as hard or as fast as everyone else in the class (though everyone else seemed like spin class veterans!), I think I still pushed myself. All I know is that I was ready to quit after the first 15-20 minutes, but how embarrassing would that have been!! So I stuck it out. I got my second wind in the last 20ish minutes of the class and actually got "out of the saddle" for some of it and pushed even harder.

I was positively dripping. Gross.

I think I probably could have done more, but I'm pretty proud of myself for having gone and done what I did! Did what I did.. done what I done? Hm.

Anyways.

The good thing about the class was that it made me tough it out for the full 45 minutes because I didn't want to look like a pansy. And that there is so much room for improvement. It makes me want to go back and do more and do better. Good times!

Today after work I am going to a softball practice. That should also be interesting.

So, Chow brought up the issue of my diet these days. First, I have to say, I am hungry all the time. I am usually good for about half the day. Then start to slip.

Take last night for example. Gary came over after ultimate frisbee and we had pizza. And a few wings. It was SO GOOD. I felt like I hadn't eaten in days. I almost couldn't stop eating! HOWEVER, I did not have any pop. That's something, right? The coke was looking mighty delicious, but I refrained. I am off the pop. :D So even though I had a thousand calories - I didn't have a thousand PLUS 200 :)

This morning I had a piece of toast with peanut butter and jam before the class. Then I picked up a yogurt parfait (yogurt, granola/oatmeal, raisins, strawberries) at the cafeteria downstairs and a coffee. Oh and I bought a banana. Now I'm starving again.

I am sure this play-by-play of my food intake is fascinating - too bad. :)

I will try to eat better the rest of the day, but it's hard when I'm so hungry and food is so delicious. And when I'm not at home. Le sigh. Life is hard. :)

PS. Don't forget to read yesterday's post. I posted it late last night, but I did post!

the problem with exercise..

Good evening, folks!

I am clearly a little delayed today. I actually had too much work to do today :(

Today I finally dragged myself out of bed around 7:30 and went for a little bike ride. I prayed that the gears would be ok and that no one would hit me because I hate helmets. (NB: I would wear one if I was city cycling :) Randomly my gears like to f*ck up and either fall off or just grind like something is dying.

Praise be!

Nothing calamitous happened! Well, except :( hmph. Except for the fact that as I was cycling along I passed a jogger. I didn't think much of it until! I heard him picking up the pace behind me and he passed me.

What the shit.

Is that supposed to happen?? So then _I_ picked up the pace and finally managed to pass him and I was triumphant! I can cycle faster than a jogger! -.-

Clearly I need to work on the cycling! I was talking to this girl who did the triathlon recently. It was 750m swim, then 30km run, then 7.5km run. So, maybe a triathlon won't be in my future for the next year. But I would really like to do one of those Ride for Heart or whatever cycling things. I'll show that jogger!!

So anyways. I was out for about 25 minutes and forced myself to do one last lap around the block before going home. Good times.

Although, I still don't like bikes and I still am not quite able to sort out the gear business. I just stay on 2 or 3 and go with it.

Tonight I went to play Ultimate Frisbee. We lost. Again. 16-6. Brutal. But seriously, those guys could run. They only had 2 girls who had to stay on the whole time and they were go! go! go! for the entire game! It was disgusting. :P

So, ya, they creamed us. But this one girl I was following kept making me sprint across the field to chase her down. Also disgusting! But I think I noticed a difference when I was doing it. If they had been one of the teams we played before I started running, I think I would have been dead on the field a lot sooner. Admittedly, we had more subs this time, but still, I think I ran a lot! Not faster than that damn girl, but still! Fun!

Tomorrow is *gulp* spin class day! dun dun dun. It keeps slipping in and out of my mind. I think part of my subconscious is trying to make me conveniently forget it. But now that I have written it out here, I have no excuse!

I am going to get up at 5:30am. Then get down to Spadina and Adelaide for 7am. SEVEN IN THE MORNING. It is going to be torture, especially since it has been getting increasingly harder to drag my ass out of bed in the morning. I am scared.

Also, after work, I promised a co-worker I would join a baseball practice. The hospital puts on an intramural softball tournament every summer and our department always puts a team together. They bullied me into joining even though I will suck. And they caught me at a weak moment when I was contemplating other sports/activities I could do. The big problem is that the tournament itself is the day after my birthday. I warned them I might still be drunk then. So I agreed to go to the practice tomorrow and if I absolutely hated it then I wouldn't play, but if it was bearable then I would come on Sunday. I do like to try to hit the ball...

This is the same co-worker I am going to spin class with. She is hardcore.

So then I have to go to pool afterwards, which means I will be bringing like 8 changes of clothes.

Oh! I almost forgot - the reason for my title.

Now, I don't know how many of you read my Facebook note about 25 things about me, but one of them is about showering. I know, it's gross, and it will probably make me out to be some kind of pariah, but I just don't like to shower. I do it. I just don't like it. It's so much work. I just want to be clean and smell lovely all the time with no work. So the problem with exercise is that it is making me shower twice a day most days! This is unacceptable. :P Clearly this means I have to do less exercise :D

Just kidding. I guess. ^^

/sigh. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

It's-a me! Wario! I'm-a gonna win!

Hahaha. First, I would like to share that there is a Mario Wiki! How fantastic is that.

http://www.mariowiki.com/Main_Page

Anyways, back to me :)

Busy, busy weekend. Filled with a bit of overeating, but also activity! And though it may not have seemed like it, I actually didn't binge as much as I could have. If that's any consolation. :) It's all about relativity, right?

So Friday I finally got to play volleyball again! Apparently taking a few weeks off means one forgets how to play and is dismal. I started getting it together a bit more near the end, but it was a rough start! But fun! I definitely missed volleyball. I'm sad about the end of summer, which spells the end of beach volleyball. But I am really interested in playing indoor court this fall/winter!

Saturday was d-

Urgh. I think I just swallowed a hair. Gross.

As I was saying. Saturday was do or die day. Mostly because, as I had previously mentioned, I needed to finish up week 4, which involved a 20-minute run. Also, it was an especially important day because not only was it the weekend, but since I stayed out a wee bit too late on Friday night, I could not get up for 7am. Therefore, when I finally did get up and was ready to go around 10:30am, I didn't want to! I have never run during the day before. Only in the early morning or in the evening once the sun had gone down. I was scared :( But I knew that if I didn't run then, it would only get hotter in the afternoon and then I was going to be out all afternoon/evening and wouldn't be able to run in the evening. And I'd most likely be out a little late and so would repeat this whole conversation again Sunday morning. And! The more I put something off, the less likely I am to want to do it.

Therefore, with all of this in mind, I finally forced myself out the door around 11am. I armed myself with sunscreen and a hat. It wasn't as horrific as I expected it to be. I think the hat really helped!

I was supposed to run 20 minutes. I tapped out at 15 minutes. Although I wanted to quit at, like, 8 minutes. So it was quite the achievement for me! I walked for a minute or two, then finished up the last 5 minutes. I'm quite proud of myself! /beam

Not only because I ran 15 minutes, but also because I actually went out running.

Let's recap:

1. One month ago I was thrilled to bits when I ran my first 6-minute stretch. Now I have successfully run 15 minutes. If that's not progress, I don't know what is!


2. Last year the idea of running a 5k marathon would have reduced me to tears from laughing so hard at the idea of it. Now it's almost a reality!


3. Three months ago the idea of taking a spin class would have left me horrified at the prospect. Who would subject themselves to such a thing!? Apparently I plan to! Although I'm still dubious about the enjoyment factor. We'll see.

There are probably more things, but I need to get back to work and still have more to write about!

On Sunday we went to High Park and we biked there and back. There was also a bit of frisbee playing. Not terribly active. But! Ara said that I was the most active person he knows! He was probably exaggerating slightly, but it still made me feel warm and fuzzy. ^^

Mondays are rough. I had to force myself out of bed and out the door this morning for my run.

Today's regime was:

5min walk

5min run

3min walk

5min run

3min walk

Much more manageable! Though my leg muscles did protest quite a bit. But even my thought processes have changed. I used to think, "Oh man, 5 minutes??". Now I think, "5 minutes should be easy peasy!". Amazing, isn't it? Granted, it was still harder than I expected it to be, but I did it! Despite the screaming leg muscles. Brutal. I need to stretch more. It just seems like such a time-waster. :)

In addition to all of the above, I discovered that my friend Mai is a personal trainer! She is going to help me come up with a program to do in addition to the running. I'm really looking forward to it!

Lessons Learned:

1. I do much better with following a program (ie. the Couch to 5k program). I think if I had continued on as I was originally doing, I would have quit by now.
2. I have to work further on my diet. I need to make better choices :( Why does food have to be so delicious!
3. I have to stop talking about the people I work for when I keep my doors open. It never fails that they walk by just at that moment. Ok, maybe I should stop talking about people, period. But I feel it's ok to bitch about the people you work for (not with) because it's expected. I just have to find a more private place to do it :P

Happy Monday, folks!

new pain, new gain..

When I was running this morning I developed a new pain. It didn't last the whole time, but it felt weird. I guess it was my Achilles' heel on my left leg. Like I said, it went away, but it was new so I thought I would mention it.

So let me first talk about last night. We had an ultimate frisbee practice at Trinity-Bellwoods Park. It is actually quite a nice park! And pretty big! Lots of trees, too. So we found a nice shaded patch of field to run around in. I practiced a few different throws and have decided that the hammer throw is where it's at. I'm getting pretty good at it! Also, I'm getting pretty good at throwing curving frisbees. I'm less good at throwing them backhanded or other variations, but I'm getting better. It's fun to do the hammer!! Also I need to work on catching the frisbee and being able to tell where the frisbee is going to end up. I am usually running all over chasing a curving frisbee and I have to stop that :P

We played a bit of 4v4 and it was fun. The more I play the more I get a sense of what to expect and what I am supposed to do (weird how that works out, eh?). Although during a real game I am still a bit like a chicken with its head cut off :( But I can only get better, right?

Also! Tammy said my calves looked more muscle-y. /beam

Therefore, even though I did not run yesterday morning, at least I ran around for a couple hours last night!

This morning I was determined to make it out for my run because I knew the longer I kept putting it off, the harder it would be to start again. So I did it. I am a little messed up on my Couch to 5k training sessions because of the various missed days. I should be on Day 3, Week 5, so I skipped a couple sessions over the past 2 weeks and today I did Day 2, Week 5. That's not too shabby, eh?

This morning's plan:

5 min warmup
8 min jog
5 min walk
8 min jog

Easy peasy! I did it with barely a hitch (except for the aforementioned new pain). I think I probably could have run a bit longer than 8 minutes, but it was getting rather hot outside!

I plan to run this weekend and finish off Week 5 so I can transition into Week 6 without being behind. However, day 5's plan is: 5 minute warmup followed by 20 minute run.

What the hell?

What kind of transition is that?? So I'm not going to lie, my friends. I am a little nervous. But the only thing I can do is try, right? :D I'm such an after-school special. You can do it, Duffy Moon! (That was for you, Denise).


Lessons Learned:

1. I think my cardio has improved slightly. The reason I want to stop running is not usually because I can't breathe, but because my legs are tired. Although when I do stop I am breathing pretty hard.
2. I need to strengthen my legs. Are there home exercises for that? Other than the lunges and squats for my upper legs. Any actual exercises to strengthen my lower legs or do I just have to keep running?
3. I need to stop buying cheap flip flops. Another pair just bit the dust. Sigh. Luckily it happened while I was already in the hospital and luckily I have a pair of shoes here. But I really didn't feel like wearing heels today :( And! I have to go to the beach after work and can't wear heels! Brutal. You know what this means, right? Yup, I will have to go find another cheap pair of flip flops before the beach!
4. Lunges and squats seriously work. Or at least they seem to since I'm still feeling it a million days later.

In addition to the boot camp and the rock climbing, I am also going to try spinning! I am going with a co-worker to a Wednesday morning spin class at 7am (eep) . I'm a little scared, but looking forward to it, too!

I just want to say that having started running has really expanded my life in a lot of unexpected ways. I am trying things that even a year ago I would have seriously scoffed at or been horrified by. Taking this spin class is just a further progression of that. I know this sounds smarmy, but I am really looking forward to the new direction my life is taking :)

Life's good! And my future looks even better. /dimple

ah shiz.

So last night was pool. Gary's birthday is today (Happy Birthday, Gary!) and so we had to buy him some shots, which meant we had to have one, too. Obviously. So I didn't get plastered, but I got a wee bit tipsier than I meant to get. Oops.

This meant I got home later than I meant to, which means I got to bed later than I meant to. And the point of this story is that I did not get up in time to run this morning. /sheepish.

I didn't even have any rational thought processes happening this morning, though. My alarm went off as usual at 6:30am and I just insta-snoozed until 7:30am. I didn't realize until around then that the loud noises every 10 minutes actually mean something!

So then I actually got out of bed closer to 8am and had to scurry off to work. The only plus side to this sad little story is that I have an ultimate frisbee practice tonight so I will be working up a sweat tonight at least!

And tomorrow morning I will go running. FURREALZ.

I have also decided to break my no-running-on-the-weekend rule because I've been such a dirty slacker all week.

AND! My thighs hurt from the lunges/squats I did yesterday! Brutal.

I am going rock climbing in a few weeks! On a real cliff face or whatever they are called. Shyn assures me I can trust him and he won't let me die.

That is all. Have a lovely day!

"vanity is my favourite sin" -al pacino

Morning!

Of all the times of the day I prefer to look at myself in the mirror, it has to be in the morning. From what I understand (and what I see to be true), the body is at its lowest weight of the day at that time. So even though I don't think I have lost a significant amount of weight pound-wise, I think the last few weeks have still made a difference. Or maybe my view of myself is skewed because of the morning mirror looks. Either way. It works for me! I think I might be ready to start measuring myself.

Last night I played ultimate frisbee finally. It was slightly easier to run around than it was the last time I played, which was 3-4 weeks ago? I was told that I did run a bit faster and didn't seem as winded as quickly. All good things! Although it was bloody hot last night! And we lost. By a lot. Really a lot.

Oh! I usually got shin splints playing ultimate frisbee, but not a twinge last night!

As I mentioned on Charles' blog, I am all about the small triumphs and victories. So I am a happy camper today all things considered.

This morning I did 3 sets of 10 lunges and squats. I should feel that tomorrow or even later today.

The one thing I have been slacking on is snacks for the day. I am constantly starving between meals, which can't be good for me. I really need to work on this!

Also, I am excited for September when booty camp starts! I haven't signed up yet, but I will soon! Oh, that reminds me, I should also sign up for the 5k marathon :P

I have been considering signing up at the UofT Athletic Centre to use their pool and track in the winter. As long as it is not too expensive. But that would be good. It's close to my work so I could go afterwards maybe. Or zip over early in the morning. So that's an option. Or maybe the Y.

Or maybe I will hibernate all winter and pack on the pounds. So I can struggle through this all over again next summer!

the importance of being earnest

So the last time I went running (other than this morning) was Friday morning. Then I went up to a cottage (a fancy one! :) and ate and drank way too much! But, hey, I was on vacation. And while on vacation - anything goes! :) There was bacon. Mmm bacon.

Tomato carbonara sauces are really quite tasty! So there was much food and alcohol with sweet juices. However, on the Sunday we finally made it out to the swimming pool. It was a humid day, which made it perfect for the pool! It was rather small, but luckily not terribly busy. We tried to swim laps when there were gaps in the crowds. I love swimming and being in the water! :) Have I said that enough?

Along with that and my issues with feeling self-conscious and all that, which I mentioned in my last post, I have decided to just suck it up (literally and figuratively ;p ) and get over it. If strangers are judging me - who cares? If my friends are judging me, well, then maybe we're not really friends and in which case - who cares? So there.

So anyways, I got home late on Sunday night and just wasn't feeling it Monday morning. I now regret not having gone for a run, but there's nothing to be done about it now. So this morning I did finally go out for my run.

During the running bits I was trying to focus on the song I was listening to. I have decided to try to take this time and learn the lyrics! I figure that will get my mind off the running. I had some success with it. I am seriously considering books on tape, though. I worry that it won't really give me energy as music might, but maybe it'll work for me. Now I just have to figure out how to do the audiobook thing. :P And soon because I will be doing 8-minute running

So. The reason for my title is that I had to give myself some serious pep talks during this run. Especially the last 5-minute run. I had almost convinced myself to walk the rest of the way home. I was too tired. I was too much of a sloth this weekend to recover so quickly. I couldn't do it. Etc.

But! I forced myself to again suck it up and man up! I told myself not to be such a sissy and just do it. I told myself if I wanted to make a lifestyle change I couldn't just keep quitting. Did I want to be 40 and still a lazy bum? Did I want to continue to feel self-conscious about myself (even though I'm supposed to be over this, too :D ). If I didn't do it, how was I going to run the 5k and continue to progress. Etc. I pretty much berated myself into submission.

I just realized I sound crazy :P But whatever works, right?

Lessons Learned:

1. Scolding works.
2. I need to figure out audiobooks. Free ones preferably. I have a blackberry, an ipod, and an itouch. One or more of these things must be amenable to audiobooks :P Oh, I suppose this isn't so much as a lesson I learned as it is something I need. :)
3. I need a part-time job. This isn't so much a lesson I learned during running, but well, I am quickly learning I need one. Anyone know of a place I can work a few hours a week and make hundreds of dollars? I'm pretty sure we can leave stripping/escorting out of the brainstorming process, though.
4. Running early in the morning is really the best way to go. I need to go and be back before the sun starts cresting the houses, which is usually around 7am.

I have also been rather remiss in going out on alternate mornings for a blade or bike ride. And doing my lunges/squats/dips. So I am going to start being more regular about my workouts/runs again. I was so good for a while! I will try to be again! :)