Grow Up a Little

After I wrote that post last Friday* about how I could absolutely not run at 7 a.m., all I could think about was how stupid that sounded.

Really? I'm physically incapable of running at an early hour? All I can manage at 7 a.m. is to drive myself to the gym, wriggle into my swimsuit and dive into a pool?  No, try again whiner.

So today I challenged myself to grow up a little and do something that I didn't feel like doing. I started my day with a run.  And it was, eh, okay.

Let's face it, running is going to be hard no matter what time of day I do it.  And while swimming is definitely a preferred form of exercise, I really do want to kick running's (beep).  I want to get to the point again where running three miles is no big deal. I want to participate in another triathlon.  I want to not give up on this, because somehow in my mind I've tied up succeeding at running with succeeding at being healthier and losing weight. Crazy, but true, and possibly not a completely detrimental way to look at things.

Sunrise in the park.

There were some benefits to a morning run, including:
It was a little easier to zone out at a time of day when I'd prefer to be asleep.
I got to shower and dress at home instead of in the locker room after swimming.
I got to see a beautiful sunrise.  (see picture.)

So for this week, at least, I'm committed to running twice in the morning before work (I'm halfway there!). The other three days I'll swim, which will be my little reward for sticking it out on the runs.  And Saturday, I have a run date scheduled with Cindy. That means I've got to stick with my running plans this week so I'll be ready to keep up with her.

*BTW, thanks for your comments, Jess and Kristen.  I think you're both right.  Swimming is a great form of exercise that it is great for you, but easier on your joints.  But I also need to diversify a bit.


PS Today is my baby sister's 24th birthday! 

The Pros and Cons

I'm happy to report that I loved my 7 a.m. workouts this week.  It really is a great way to start the day.  Plus it's nice to have it accomplished before the day even begins.

Here's the thing, though, for each of the four 7 a.m. workouts this week I swam.  I just couldn't bring myself to put on clothes and shoes and figure out a workout to do in the weight room. And the thought of the dreadmill or running the track made me want to stay in bed. I am not a morning person. I promise. Ask my mom if you are unsure.  I couldn't convince myself to do anything else but drive to the gym, pull on my suit and dive into that beautiful blue water.

So I've been thinking a lot about what I'll do next week.  Should I continue the 7 a.m. pool swims or go back to lunch time workouts to try and diversify?  I don't think I could do some early morning workouts and some mid-day. My body get stuck in a rut and wakes up at the same time every day. Now that I've adjusted to the earlier schedule, I'm good to stick with it.

So I decided to make a pro/con list of my swim workout. Help me decide what to do!

Pro: I can do so many different variations on my swim workout that I could do it every day and not get bored. Kickboarding, pulling a buoy, swim running, freestyle, back stroke, etc.

Con: It's probably not good to do the same general type of exercise every day, right?

Pro: no sweating.
On Thursday (a 79 degree day) I walked at lunch with co-workers.  And walking, to them, is like an Olympic speed sport.  It was a sweaty experience, and it made me appreciate the decidedly unsweaty sport of swimming.

Con: If I'm not sweating, how do I know how hard I'm working?
I worry about this a lot.  I'm not sweating. I'm holding my breath, so I can't tell if I'm breathing harder. I can't wear a heart rate monitor in the pool (not that I have worn a heart rate monitor ever). How do I know if I'm working hard enough?

Pro: It's refreshing and thought-full.
I love zoning out in the pool. I think about a lot of things.

Con: If I'm swimming all of the time, how am I keeping up with my running so I can actually complete another triathlon?


What do you think? Is it detrimental not to have variety in my workout? Do you vary your exercise routine?
I think the answer may be that I have to change my attitude on a few things.  Either doing other workouts at 7 a.m. besides swimming or doing the swimming at 7 a.m. and the occasional lunch time workout for other stuff. Just not sure.

Thankful Thursdays: March 1

Today is March 1.  I love the beginning of a new month.  Not just payday, but also a start of something new.  A great day to start a new streak or routine or habit.  Also a great day to be thankful.  Today I'm thankful that:

I read 5 books, (even if I only ran 14 miles) in February.
I blame the never-ending sickness.


I've finally kicked the never-ending sickness to the curb.
Heck, yes!


Books take me to faraway places.
The books I've been reading lately have taken me to Paris, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Berlin and London. Reading about them is much cheaper than actually visiting. Someday I would like to see all of these cities in person, but for now, I see them in my mind's eye.  Also, the books are all period set in the 20s and 30s, so I'm actually travelling to different cities and different times.

World War II is over.
Hand-in-hand with the above, I've been reading a series of historical fiction books about the start of WWII.  It makes me angry and sad at the same time, but yet I can't stop reading. I've been blaming France and Britain's leaders for not stepping up to stop Hitler earlier.  And all of the Germans that didn't agree with him.  But it makes me wonder how I would've reacted during that time. It's too easy to be outraged at the circumstances now.


I have group text messaging capability.
It's how I plan all of my social functions. It awesome to be able to have everyone on the same page and chiming in and all via text.  Thank you IOS 5.


Today was so warm.
Today was BEAUTIFUL. Need I say more?

I can swim with abandon. 
I'm sorry to report that I did not hit the pool this morning at 7 a.m., like I have every other morning this week*, because I missed it mightily.  It's just such a good time for thinking and not thinking.  Thinking about life, blogs, etc, but not thinking about what I need to do to get my workout on.  Swimming is just so natural to me. Thanks to mom and dad for getting me swimming at a young age.

What are you thankful for this week??  Tell me, tell me, tell me!

Happy Leap Day!

I don't know about you, but I'm super excited about Leap Day.  I think it started because 30 Rock had a whole episode about celebrating Leap Day. And it was really funny.  It's a whole extra day to your year!  What can you accomplish with an extra day?


Me? I got up early and got a swim in before work.  I hope to start (again) on a strength training routine during lunch.  Tonight?  I'm celebrating Leap Day in style with some friends.  There will be lots of leaping throughout the day, guaranteed.  Extra cardio and all that.


And, because leaping is a specialty of my friends and I, here are some leap day greetings to brighten your day. In no particular order.

My first leap picture, ever.

Gee, I hope  I didn't go overboard on the Leap Day pictures.* 

Also, to help you be knowledgeable about Leap Day, here are some facts I found on the WWW.

Why do we have Leap Day?

A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit about the sun, which is about 365¼ days.

The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365¼ days—by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years.

In other words, a century year cannot be a leap year unless it is divisible by 400. Thus 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but 1600, 2000, and 2400 are leap years.

What are your chances of being born on leap day?

About 1 in 1,500.

How many people were born on leap day?

There are about 187,000 people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day.

Read more: Leap Year Explained — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/leapyear1.html#ixzz1nggTBWit

So, how will you celebrate? I think you should start by standing up right now, and leaping across the room.  Let me know about your Leap Day plans. Or you could just tell me which of the above leap day pictures is your favorite. I would like to know that too.

*My leaping photo selections were somewhat limited by the exodus of my friend Amie from facebook. She is and always has been the true jumping picture instigator.

A Little Pop!

 I went shopping this weekend!  Used a little of that tax refund money to upgrade my wardrobe a bit.
This is both good and bad. Are you a good news first kind of person or a bad news first kind of person?  I guess I'm a bad news first kind of girl , because today we're starting with the bad news.

 It's bad, because I really, really needed to buy new pants that actually fit because I've gained weight this winter.  So it's bad that I gained weight, but the good news is that new clothes, and especially clothes that fit properly, make me feel better about myself. Might be shallow, but it's true.

So tonight, you get a photo blog of my outfit yesterday!

Now, as I was shopping, I tried to channel my inner April G, of the fabulous A Little of This and That blog.  She gives a lot of fashion advice on her blog, and I need all of the help I can get.

I purchased this new shirt and wide belt. I like it a lot. The wide belt gives shape to the waist, giving me more of an hourglass figure...at least I think that's what I learned that on What Not to Wear. (PS ignore all of the flyaways in my hair. It's one of the side effects of having crazy curly hair.  I probably should've checked the hair before I had this little mini-photoshoot.)

But my inner April says, "Jill, where is the color in this outfit?"  (April is a big fan of color)

So I say, "Here it is, Bam! In my shoes!" 

Don't you love the pop of color on the feet!  Now another thing, that I think I will work on for next time, is using the color somewhere else.  I am wearing a necklace that has a coral pendant, which you can't quite see in these pictures. I think if I had a bigger/chunkier necklace in the same color, it would tie the whole thing together a little better. April would say I need a cardigan or belt in the same color, but it's such a weird color that I'm afraid I would not be able to find that.

And now here's a close up of my super-cute new shoes! Hooray for tax refunds.

What do you think? Should I become a fashion blogger? Aren't you oh-so-impressed with my ability to describe my outfit?

Return to Goals of the Week!

It's been awhile since I've set any real goals for myself, so I think that justifies the GotW picture being extra big, right?

Anyway, I'm finally starting to feel better and kick that sickness to the curb. More than that, I'm starting to feel disgusted with myself and how lazy and bad food habity I've been lately. A little bit of self disgust is a good thing, right? Only if it elicits positive change, you say?  Okay, then here's the positive changes I'm making:

1) One diet coke a day.
Seriously, this has gotten out of control.  To the point that last week, when my teeth started hurting from what turned out to be a sinus infection, I thought I had drank so much diet coke that I had rotted out all of my teeth at once. Not okay. Nor is the lecture I'm going to get from my dental hygienist when I go in April.  I'm starting to think about giving it up all together again, but for now, I'm just cutting back.

2) Drink more water.
Goes hand-in-hand with #1.

3) Work out at 7 a.m. five days this week.
What?? Am I crazy?  Didn't I write a whole blog once about how I'm not a morning person, and I will never work out in the morning? I don't know, I just have the feeling I need to try something different.  I've been skipping my lunch time workouts a lot lately. Just not motivated to change clothes, get sweaty and change back mid-day.  Call me crazy.  So this morning, I rose before the sun and made it into the pool by 7 a.m..  I was worked out, showered, dressed and at my desk 10 minutes early. Bonus: I got in extra praying and thinking time while doing laps and I was wide awake at the start of the work day.

4) Purchase no meals outside my home this week.
Another bad food habit I've slipped right back into is eating out a lot. There's just no call for it during the week. I have leftovers in my fridge. I have sandwich-making material.  I have food in my house.  I do not need to purchase meals. This is getting out of control.

I'm not exactly considering this a reboot.  I'm not tracking my calories or trying to eliminate all bad foods from my diet. I'm just trying to make some better choices.  Here goes nothing!

The Body as a Machine

Today marks the third straight week I've been sick. Coughing, sneezing, nasal drainage and pressure, you know, all the typical cold-like symptoms.

I'm sick of being sick, if you know what I mean.

I had not been to the doctor until last night.  I hate going to the doctor, and they don't always give me antibiotics.  I always have the wrong kind of cold (is it viral or bacterial or something? I can't remember) to get the drugs.  I HATE spending money on the doctor, but it makes it worse if they don't even give you a prescription.*

Yesterday when my teeth started hurting, I became convinced that my simple cold had transitioned into a sinus infection (which is typically worthy of antibiotics) so I ventured to the doctor. Now I have medication and will hopefully be feeling better in just a few days.

But first --before I went to the doctor--, I took my car in to get the oil changed.  It made me realize that I'm much more faithful in taking proper care of my car then I am of my body.  I get my oil changed regularly, never going much past 4,000 miles between services (Monica can testify- she usually has to drop me off at the car place to pick it up).  This is partially because I know nothing about cars and partially because I'm over 100,000 miles and trying to ward off replacing GeorgJetta as long as possible.

The point remains, though, that I put off going to the doctor for three weeks just hoping I would get better, but I took my car in on the first available day.  Why would I not treat my body with the same respect and care I give GeorgJetta?

However, even with this realization, I don't expect things to change the next time a sickness comes a'calling.  I will probably still put off going to the doctor. It's just the way I am.  And actually, the doctor did say that it probably was not a sinus infection at first and it morphed into one (morphed is my word, not hers). If I had come earlier, I might not have come away with antibiotics.

What about you? Do you go to the doctor as soon as you get your first symptom or put it off as long as possible?


*Much better to spend money on delicious Moe's or similar.