I like to ride my bicycle

The thing that I love about the summer time is how out of nowhere, a rainstorm can hit.

Like today for example.

Perfect day for a lazy bike ride. I had no intentions of really pushing myself. Just a good hot, sunny summer day to jump on my bike and ride. It's my newest addiction. I've been going to spin classes pretty regularly lately and have loved them! I didn't get to go this past week so to make up for it, I thought I'd go for a ride around town and just have some good healthy me time on my bike! Until I got downtown...

I noticed the big, dark cloud way in the distance when I left. In the five minutes it took me to peddle down the ominous hill that got me started going to spin classes in the first place, the ominous cloud was gaining speed. I kept peddling thinking that I could at least make it into town.

By the time I got to the strip, it became a race: who was going to make it back to my place faster? Me or this storm?

Then I heard thunder!

I peddled my ass off and made it back up the hill in record time. Didn't get a drop of rain on me. By the time I made it to my stairs, the rain began to pour.

That's when I decided to play on Blogger a bit and found the new templates. I was ready for a face lift anyway. What do ya think??

How did I do?

So the race was Sunday.

It was awesome! That was one of the best experiences of my life and I will definately be participating in another half, maybe a full marathon, the future!!

My finish time was actually faster than I thought, 2:32:20. In women 25-29, I finished 214, overall I finished 2294 (that's out of 2954 people), I finished 1,040 out of all women and ranked 214 for my first half-marathon.

There were so many people! I don't think I've ever seen that many people before in my life! I was running down one street and watching a herd of people run down another street a few blocks away from me, meanwhile, there is still a huge mass of people behind me! It was I.N.S.A.N.E!!!!

My favorite part was the two women playing "Eye of the Tiger" under the train tracks on there accordian. Oh, and the runner in the too-too. They were great!

Rattling Nerves

The race is Sunday! I'm so nervous!

I'm so excited at the same time! I can't believe it's already here!!

I've finished all the training and right now I'm tapering so the only thing I have left to do is run 13.1 miles!

I'm still dealing with some life changing events right now so I can't tell you how good this race has ended up being for me. It's really helped me through a difficult time in my life right now. I really don't care to go into any further detail about my life - eventhough this blog is about my personal life. But believe me, there are some funny stories going on right now that I will be able to laugh about until my sides hurt! I'm just not ready to discuss it, yet, and quite frankly, I'm not sure when I will be ready. Just pray for me! And pray I don't get injured this weekend!

I'm so excited! I hope I don't get stuck behind the balloon lady!

I left my coffee up front

It's the end of 2008 and every body is getting ready to diet and exercise again. Haha! Good luck with that resolution, it will be nice working out with you new people for one or two days. Let me know how it works out for you!

Here's a great reason to get started now rather than cheat today: I gained 10 pounds on Christmas. Don't say it's just muscle, either, because I've already lost it again but - holy crow - TEN POUNDS in one day!

I weighed in on December 22, 2008. I register XXX on the scale. I ate perfect until Christmas Day, when I hate two peanut butter balls and some corn casserole. I weighed in again on December 26, 2008 and registered XXX+10.

I ran my tootie off! Drank lots of water and have religiously followed my diet with the exception of December 28, 2008 when I had another Christmas party. I now weigh XXX again. Sigh

I just hope that now after I got rid of what was probably a bunch of water weight and hormone side effects (nasty, mean ole aunt!) I won't be gaining it back again while I take the next two days off from my training regime. Hopefully, this pain in my hip will go away soon; or I'll be running with a bottle of Advil. I'm not missing this race.

Seriously, people, if you really want to get fit in 2009, don't wait until you've finished all of your cheating. Don't go buy new work out clothes just so you're motivated. Just go do it! It's not that hard! Start with walking a little bit every day, then walk some more, then jog. Lift a few weights but don't kill yourself or you will burn yourself out!

I am on the crash diet from hell, if you haven't noticed. Fortunately, I've been hitting the gym for awhile now so changing everything for my half-marathon goal wasn't as difficult as if I'd just started my first day on a treadmill after eating six Big Macs and a biggie fry the previous day! If you don't go to the gym now, your body's not accustomed to the tough stuff you think you have to do to succeed. Take your time, start slow and push yourself but don't kill yourself!

Weight loss and good health takes time. It's not like how the Democrats perceive our economy; it won't get better overnight. Your body is a machine and you have to keep it well oiled and spend some time and effort on it to get running properly. Take your time.

Here's my advice on how to succeed in the gym in 2009:

• Make a goal. I want to be able to run 1 mile without stopping. That's a great goal to start, then move to two miles and so on..
• Give yourself a cheat day. Once a week, go to Los Torascos and eat a chicken chimichanga for me, and dip it in a lot of that cheese sauce...oh, my mouth is watering...
• Schedule gym time. Find 20-30 minutes in the day and make that your gym time no matter what. Treat it like an appointment.
• Push yourself but don't kill yourself. Every work out needs to be a challenge but if you are seeing spots in your eyes when you are doing cardio, you are working too hard! Work on the Perceived exertion scale of 1-10, 10 being the hardest and feeling like you are about to die! Try to keep it between 5-8.
• Get a partner. Nothing helps more than having someone meet you at the gym and push you when you can get one more rep. You don't want to stand them up, either. Bad form.
• Reward yourself for the small things. Weight loss will never happen overnight. When you lose your first five pounds, go buy a shirt or jewelry or something. Give yourself a pat on the back for the hard work. Five pounds really is a lot to lose considering one pound = 3500 calories (or a lot of time running on the treadmill) and the average amount of weight lost in a week is about 1-2 lbs!
• Don't make your diet too hard! Plan ahead, meal plan, but don't limit yourself to salads only. Actually, most salads have more calories and sodium than other foods which means you not only have more to burn but more salt to store water! Add fruit to your breakfast plan. Grill chicken for the week in advance and use a tasty marinade for flavor! There are tons of healthy recipes you can make yourself with little effort! It just takes a little creativity!
• Have fun. If you aren't doing something you like, you won't go back. Find a fun spinning class, go to a karate class; don't be afraid to try new things or you won't find what's fun! Keeping it fun keeps you going!
• Just Nike it! Just go to the gym and do it. Stop procrastinating and go. Actually, quit reading this and go to the gym or park or somewhere and get active. Just go do it!!

Not good.

If you've asked me about my training lately, I may have mentioned the pains in my hip I've been having along with my sprained ankle. One of my worst fears is a stress fracture during this training.

Stress fracture + less training = not ready for half-marathon in February.

Now, normally when I go running, the pain in my hip disappears. It feels find and I feel great when I run. It's when I first start my run and right after I finish my run that I hurt. Except this morning, that is.

I couldn't run. I was doing a tempo run and had to quit. It felt like my hip was dislocating. So I started walking. I couldn't put weight on my hip. I was thinking, "I have to get some activity in!" so I got on the cross trainer. Not any better. So I went home and went to WebMD and read about stress fractures.

I'm going to take a few days off from running before my next long run cause what I saw on WebMD concerns me. Say a little prayer, eh?

See you at the starting line!

I am now officially registered for the Mercedes Half-Marathon on February 15, 2009!

I can't believe how close that is; it's just around the corner! I just hit the halfway mark of my training schedule so it's six weeks till race day! I'm so excited!

Talked to Trey just a minute ago; apparently the cousin is in town tonight and wants to meet for dinner. Now that the holidays are over, I just can't wait to get a side salad and watch them eat steaks!

Don't forget that you can go to these viewing spots (family! friends! hint! hint!).

America's First Federal Credit Union: 1200 4th Avenue North, 35203
Civil Rights Institute: 520 16th Street North, 35203
McWane Center: 200 19th Street North, 35203
B&A Warehouse: 1531 1st Avenue South, 35233
University of Alabama, Birmingham Arena: 617 13th Street South
Western Supermarket: 2230 Highland Avenue, 35205
Java and Jams: 321 20th Street North, 35203
V. Richards: 3916 Clairmont Avenue, 35222
Caldwell Park: Highland Avenue and NiazumaRushton Park
Avondale Park
Marconi Park
5 Points South district (Starbucks and the Original Pancake House)

Oh, and Mum, you're my emergency contact so make sure you turn on your cell!

1/2 a gift

This is one of the two gifts I won at our Supper Club Ornament Swap the other night. Isn't it pretty!

I had so much fun that night, cheating on my diet, chatting with my friends, catching up and stealing gifts. It was a blast! Can't wait to see everybody again next month!

I have a pretty quiet day ahead of me. Trey spent the night with his cousin in Birmingham last night. He won't be back till later today. I've just been tootling around the apartment, cleaning up a bit, eating egg whites and sipping on some Irish Breakfast tea. The weather is absolutely crazy in Alabama right now! It's a great day to stay inside and cuddled up to a blanket!

That being said, my plans are the opposite! I didn't have as good of a run as I wanted yesterday morning so I'm going to go outside and run again today. I plan on killing a few birds with one stone; get my first outside run, start getting used to running in cold weather since this is about how chilly it will be in February and I also want to get a better workout than yesterday in. Then I'll come home, fix another pot of tea probably, watch a few movies and wash some clothes. I may even drive around with my camera and get some new stuff. I went through my unedited files last night and, good grief, there is a lot of crappy stuff!

Wow - I really don't live an eventful life! But it is nice to have some time at home to myself every now and then and I'm glad my husband's been able to spend some time with the boys.

Success is not eating the leftovers

Oh! I am still so full from lunch today! Everything was delicious! Everybody who brought something did a great job! The smoked chicken was e.x.c.e.l.l.e.n.t!!!!!

Unfortunately, not all the Peanut Butter Balls got eaten so I'm taking some home with me. Looking on the bright side of that, there are enough left that I won't have to make another batch for my Mum's Christmas after all. I can just stick these in the freezer and thaw overnight in the refrigerator! Another reason for me not to eat them!

I did get some left over BBQ and some left over smoked chicken to eat. That will be a big help in getting back on the bandwagon. I didn't get any sauce but the chicken didn't need the sauce! It fell right off of the bone! It was perrrrfect! And my dear, sweet husband can have the BBQ; I'll even make him some white BBQ sauce to go with it.

Also, I have some, maybe a serving, of my casserole left. Trey can eat that for lunch one day this week if I can keep him out of the fast food line. Not a lot of people are brave enough to try my cooking and what I can cook is limited. That means Trey's menu from Restaurant Stephanie is limited to about....oh....5 items? Chicken and rice casserole, chicken tacos, pork and rice casserole, ham wraps and...and...um....OK 4 items are on my menu!

Needless to say, he gets a little tired of redundancy and is scared to try my food when I experiment. In my defense, I haven't burnt anything in at least a month and I haven't technically set anything on fire in two years! So I am getting better!!

Just to let you know, I only had one piece of the big "O" cake-- come think of it, I don't think I even ate the whole piece! I'm still stuffed though! What I missed in caloric intake from the cake I made up for with the chicken and rice casserole, hash brown casserole, dip, chips, bite of brownie, bite of peanut butter cake and peanut butter balls. I lost count with the peanut butter balls.

Soooo...I have some running to do Friday...

The Full Spread

Look at all the goodness! The tinfoil is BBQ. The blue top is mash potatoes. The end of the table has an assortment of pies and the big O cake.

And that's not all the food!

Now do you see why it's better for me to cave today??

Honesty

con-fes-sion   /kənˈfɛʃən/ Show
Spelled Pronunciation [kuhn-fesh-uhn] Show IPA
Pronunciation
–noun
1.acknowledgment; avowal; admission: a confession of incompetence.
2.acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness, esp. to a priest to
obtain absolution.
3.something that is confessed.
4.a formal, usually written, acknowledgment of guilt by a person accused of a crime.
5.Also called confession of faith. a formal profession of belief and acceptance of doctrines, as before being admitted to church membership.
6.the tomb of a martyr or confessor or the altar or shrine connected with it.

7. I deviated from my diet plan last night and plan to do it again today.

So I have to admit something. I had the Shrimp Cypress Inn at Cypress Inn last night. I know, I know! How horrible! I've done so good! But I thought, "I have done so good! I need a reward!" so I ordered it! And I enjoyed it!!!


I had a really bad run this morning. I got very frustrated and just quit. I know, I know! I shouldn't quit! I'm blaming the bad run on the Shrimp Cypress Inn. Excuses! Excuses! The real reason I got frustrated was because I couldn't get my breathing in a rhythm and when I did, I'd have other problems. Plus, my iPod is out of juice and I'm already bored enough on the treadmill. I think I'm going to have to move my runs outside sooner than I thought. I'm going to have to find a running partner, too. The epiphany of running outside by myself doesn't sound that great.

In the meantime, today is our Christmas dinner at the dealership. All that gooey, yummy goodness. I had already planned on allowing myself to splurge today. It's really tough to ignore the BBQ, the potato salads, mashed potatoes, hash brown casseroles (I'm noticing a potato theme, here), slaw, the Orgasm cake from Thanksgiving, the peanut butter balls I made, my chicken casserole (Thanks, Paula!!), the pies, the macaroni and cheese, the dips, the chips - Oh! There is so much stuff to tempt me!

Don't chide me! I don't plan on eating everything! Moderation is key! I know that! I won't have the sauce, I won't have the potatoes, probably - well maybe the hash brown casserole - I'm only sticking to a piece AND I MEAN A PIECE of the Orgasm cake. I'll be a good cheater! Just consider my diet for the last three weeks: salad, sweet potatoes - no butter, chicken, chicken, salad, chicken, oranges, bananas, oatmeal, chicken, egg whites, chicken, protein shakes, chicken, salad and chicken!

I think this will be good for me. Help strengthen my resolve, maybe move me over this boredom hump AND give me some more incentive to push myself harder in the gym!

Mental Health Day

I am so excited today! I have the day off from work! While it doesn't take my mind off of some of the stresses there, it does help me relax in a big way. I already have a packed schedule this evening and work on top of it was pulling me thin. So yesterday, when I asked if I could have the afternoon off a little early, I was very surprised when Clint said, "Just take Tuesday off."

That means I have a whole day to get stuff done today! Here's a little why I was getting stressed about this evening. Every month, my girlfriends and I have our Supper Club. Usually it's the second week of the month but with the holidays and all, it was much easier for all of us to get together the third week of December. We are having an ornament swap and eating dinner at a nice restaurant. We'll catch up with each other, ask how the babies and husbands are and then we'll laugh, cut up, relax and enjoy each others' company with no husbands or children around. I look forward to this every month! Especially since I work around 11 men all day, every day! That's not even counting my husband!

Tomorrow is our Christmas at the dealership. Not that I've been procrastinating at all, I haven't, I just need to get the ingredients to make my dish. I wasn't able to get to the store on Sunday and I have gotten to where I refuse to go to Walmart or Food World by myself at night over here. There was a mugging not too long ago and I don't particularly want to be the next victim. That being said, tonight, I would have to go to the store tonight to get the stuff I need for my dish. That's why I asked Clint if I could leave a little early: I wanted to be able to leave before it was dark, get my ingredients, go to Supper Club and come home to mix it together. Plus, tonight is the Biggest Loser Finale so I didn't want to be up late watching it or make my dish - a Paula Dean dish, no less - while watching people tell me how dishes like mine made the fat! Go Michelle!!

That being said, my schedule today is as follows:

• Call the radio station check
• Eat oatmeal check
• Play on the internet while oatmeal digests checking
• Go run three miles Maybe I'll run outside today, weather permitting...
• Circuit train Or maybe I'll run four miles outside today and say I had a good enough workout
• Eat egg whites Breakfast of champions!
• Grocery Shop Home and Holidays shopping!
• Cook But don't eat!
• Eat chicken and salad lunch of champions...
• Play on the internet some more
• Go to Supper Club
• Watch Michelle win the Biggest Loser! Or Ed - not Heba or Vicky! BTW, I voted for Ed!

If it can, it will

I got a great work out in at the gym this morning. So good that I lost track of the time and had to run in the shower before I'd be any later for work.

I ran in the locker room, sorted out my shower gear, slipped out of my sweaty gym clothes and dashed into the shower. As soon as I was done, I started drying off. First my hair - since it's so thick I have to start drying as soon as I'm done. Then the rest of me.

I wrapped the towel around me and headed to my shower bag to grab my baby powder and deoderant. For some reason, I thought I'd do things a bit differently today. Instead of smelling good first, I thought I'd blast my hair some with the hair dryer and then deoderize. I plugged in my hairdryer and got started.

I turned my head upside-down, feeling the hot air through my damp fingertips and hair. I then turned my head up and continued brushing my hair with the tips of my fingers. Accidentally, I kept hitting the "cool" button on the back of my hairbrush. It got me tickled because I noticed how the lights would get brighter whenever I pushed it. I have to admit, it made me a little distracted; I kept hitting the "cool" button! That's when I noticed the bright flash of light.

Out of the corner of my eye, whenever I'd hit the button, the fire alarm would light up. I really thought it was my hairdryer tripping this light. So I hit the button some more. Then the light was out of sync with my hairdryer and I realized that the fire alarm was really going off!

Oh, shit! I'm naked! was my first thought. The second was Did my hairdryer do that? Nooo...

So I did what any normal human being standing naked in the gym locker room playing with their hair dryer would do: I kept getting ready for work! I combed out my hair, put in some mousse, laid out my make-up, etc. etc. Finally, the alarm started talking. It said, in so many words, "The alarm sensor has been tripped. Calmly walk to the nearest exit, please."

Well, I couldn't. I'm still wrapped in a big, red beach towel!

So what do I do now? was my next thought. I'm the only female in the locker room. Surely if this is a real emergency, somebody will knock and tell me to get out of here!

Then I did what any normal human being standing naked in the gym locker room listening to the fire alarm would do: I got my clothes on and walked out to the floor barefoot with my hair wet to find out what was going on.

I found two groups of people. The first group was the biggest. They were ignoring the alarm and working out. The second wasn't really a group. It was three people. Two employees and a member. One employee was on the phone with the alarm company while the other was laughing at me and the member was asking me why the alarm was going off. I had several thoughts at one time. They go as follows:

Oh, it's tripped.
Oh, they're trying to fix it by the phone.
Do I look like I'm holding a magic 8 ball lady? I'm standing half-dressed and barefoot lady!
False alarm.
God, I hope it wasn't my hairdryer!

I finished getting ready and headed to my car. I just kept my head down in case it was my hairdryer and I was not going to get caught!! I got to my car, looked up and saw the air conditioning people, apologizing profusely about tripping the fire alarm.

Cruel and Unusual

Text message from Trey: Go get Los Torascos for dinner. (FYI - That's my fav restaurant IN THE WORLD!!! It's Mexican, fried, cheesy, crunchy, chickeny, yummy, scrumptious, delicious, fuzzy-feeling-in-the-stomach good! And bad for my training diet.)

Me: I can't eat that.

T: I can.

Me: Then go get it yourself. Are you torturing me???

Trey didn't respond.

Me: Did you get Los Torascos?

T: No.

Meaning?
I get to stand in Los Torascos tonight to pick up my dear, sweet, loving, never-would-let-me-get-tempted husband's dinner.

Bird Lessons

The air in Tuscaloosa is sooo sweet right now. You know how characters of a sitcom are in an unusually good mood the day after they have a "successful" date? That's what it's like here in Tuscaloosa - like all the citizens got a really good -er- massage.

Any Auburn fan in town is very quiet. Or already talking about next year. Plenty are talking about how dirty Nick Saban is because of how he acted at half-time. I disagree. I think he did what any coach would do - his job! This bud's for you, Nicky!

I think the sportsmanship is all in good fun, though. I always have. It's healthy! Everybody treats me like I'm this die-hard, asshole type fan and I'm really not! I'm really just having a lot of fun! And 99.9% of the people who really know me know that when I flip you off it's in good humor. I don't really mean any offensive gesture, and to be honest, I don't think I ever have meant it. It's sort of my signature. Several people I work with haven't had a complete day until I give them the finger!

So, when I made up the joke, "Hey, Auburn fans, fear my finger!" and held up my middle finger - it really was meant as a joke! Not in bad sportsmanship! Not in low-class! Not in smart-ass! It really was a joke! And I didn't just go around flashing my joke to just anyone! I mean, if you know me, you know it's a joke right? I thought so!

So the other day, well Saturday - the day of the Iron Bowl - I ran into this guy I know at the gym. He's tall, middle-aged, very sporty, salt-and-pepper gray hair. He is always very nice and from what I know of him, he and his wife are very genuine people who will get their reward in heaven. I was working my legs in a circuit when he waved and we started chatting. He finished his workout and I didn't think anything about the routine "Roll Tide" I offered as he said good bye.

"Oh, no!" He shook his head. "War Eagle!"

"Seriously?" I'm always dumbstruck by the Auburn fans who reside in Tuscaloosa, Alabama of all places!

"Yeah, that's where I went to school!" I then remembered that he's also originally from my hometown. Where I grew up, the ratio of Alabama to Auburn fans is close to 50/50. Still, very few homes are divided there. I find it hard to imagine that you can't marry a fan of the opposing team but can reside in the territory of the enemy...just seems weird.

"Oh! Well, looking forward to today's game!" I said cheerfully, "It's going to be a great game! I think the streak is going to be over, though!"

He laughed, "Yeah, Auburn's got to get it together to beat Bama."

"I get kind of tickled by all this 'fear the thumb' crap! It's just funny how serious some people take it" FYI - all fans Alabama or Auburn take it serious. Say what you want, we're serious about our SEC football and the Iron Bowl. Get over it!

"Yeah, we're going to be out of jokes for a year!" he agreed.

He stood there laughing for a second while I thought, Surely, he'll get my joke! "Hey, I've been teasing my Auburn friends all year!"

"Oh really?" He raised his eyebrows, "How?"

"Oh, I've just been telling them to fear my finger!" And I held up my finger, very flemsly-like - to be sure he knew it wasn't to cause offense.

I laughed at myself, thinking certainly he would know I obviously didn't direct the joke towards him! These birds are delicate matters you see - I know when to make sure my joke is intended to be a joke! Well, it wasn't flemsy enough! This kind of moment can only happen in a movie... or to me!

His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. His hand waved me off and flew to hold the top of his hat as he literaly jumped up in the air, turned and ran out of the gym. The door slammed behind him and I was left with my middle finger halfway up in the air, speechless.

Oops...Note to self: Don't joke with strangers. Worse than taking their candy!

From where are you going to watch?

This is from the marathon website:

This year's course is VERY spectator friendly as it is a double loop course
for the full marathon. Some of the best places that we have found for watching
are:
America's First Federal Credit Union: 1200 4th Avenue North, 35203
Civil Rights Institute: 520 16th Street North, 35203
McWane Center: 200 19th Street North, 35203
B&A Warehouse: 1531 1st Avenue South, 35233
University of Alabama, Birmingham Arena: 617 13th Street
SouthWestern Supermarket: 2230
Highland Avenue, 35205
Java and Jams: 321 20th Street North, 35203
V. Richards: 3916 Clairmont Avenue, 35222
Caldwell Park: Highland Avenue and Niazuma
Rushton Park
Avondale Park
Marconi Park
5 Points South district (Starbucks and the Original Pancake House)

So pick your viewing spot. I'm going to race the half-marathon on February 15, 2009. Let me know where I need to look so I can wave!

Something I've always wanted to do...

I was talking to a friend of mine on Facebook last night and she put an idea in my head. Scary, I know!

I think I am going to run in a half-marathon.

I'm not absolutely positive yet. There is a lot, and I mean A LOT, of work I have to do to get ready for 13 miles. In downtown B'ham...around hills...

Something to think about. You think I can do it?