planning on doing the florabama 4 mile tomorrow. I'm hoping for a 40-44 time. I did do an hour run last week and stayed at a 10 minute/mile pace.

2 weeks ago daniel got sick, I didn't until Wednesday morning this week when I couldn't take it anymore. I got up extra early to go to the gym.

Stair for 30, row for 10
Thursday, tried to make it for the spinning, but the place was full and I was too late due to the club computer problems to feel comfortable going in. So I did the treadmil for 30 (walk adn a little jog)

Friday
really didn't want to go, but said I should do 30 minutes anyway and I did. eliptical
Saturday
Swimming for 1/2 hour with Ken. I beat him, slaughtered really, in a back swim with no arms. (He can beat me with the freestyle)

I need to get in gear for the 4 mile in alabama. so,
sunday rest
monday weight class
tuesday cycle class
wednesday speed work on treadmil
thursday cycle class
friday 44 minute jog on tread
Remember ipod for all workouts in case you are late.

saturday-none, visitors

sunday-don't remember

monday-killer weight class at the health club, still sore today
tuesday-daniel was sick so couldn't go to the health club, really wanted to try the spinning class, although I'm a little scared of it
wednesday-daniel still sick adn had to go to a meeting at grace's school. did let luci talk me into a walk to the bridge. It felt sooooo good to get out. Needed the stress relief. I'm definately in need of, if not addicted to a good work out every day. very testy if I dont' get it.

tomorrow, still not excited about bringing daniel to the health club, we'll see. Maybe a late night workout after the boys go home.

got up early thinking I'd get lots of exercise shopping the t-day sales. Instead I stood in line for an hour. :-)

3 mile run today. Really wanted to do the 4 minle poultry predictor, but it just didn't fit our schedule. 2nd year in a row it didn't. I'll try again next year I guess.

Ended up swimming on Wednesday. 20 minutes

Thursday, back to health club. I did the "alli" workout from the biggest loser. 20 minutes on stair climber and 5 on the row machine.

Friday back to health club for kickboxing. Wasn't as smooth a program as I would like, but it was fun playing with the heavy bags.

Today, rest day. Did play basketball with Ken. Lost, but I did score my goal of 4 points.

Think I'm joining the gym for the winter months. Leaning strongly toward that. We'll see.

today, woke up for laps around campus. Had to wake boys up early for detentions so came in for ab workout. Swimming again (or something at the health club, havent decided yet) today.

Yesterday, slept in, but went swimming on a free passat LA fitness. Unfortunately there are no free lunches and the salesman gave us a long speel so we were only able to swim 15 minutes. Hopefully longer today, but have a playdate so we'll see.

Got up this morning!!!

35 minutes. Mostly jogging. Cold, but did take off hat and uncovered hands.

I played basketball with the boys Friday. It was great. full court.

5 mile run saturday. Slow, but steady.

I'm way off this week with exercise. None again today. It's been crazy in the cottage with bulls game, bible stufy and cottage trip. Hopfully we'll get it together tomorrow.

Up late becasue kids went to Bulls game and had to watch biggest loser. No Dana due to Brook being sick and I having a birthday party.

No Ken. Ran 2 laps after snoozing mulitple times. Cold but felt great.

Off day

Just updating from the last week.
Monday, got up and did boot camp, it skipped in the middle, so I went for a jog to finish. Then did cathe weights with Dana, but it was a nice day so we went for a walk about 15 minutes into the video. It was great.

tues., did cathe warm up with ken, then went jogging 2 laps. after 8 dana and I went for a bike ride, had luci and daniel in the trailer. I also used the bike to take Luci to school, vote and go to the bank.

wed., up late with election, slept in. can't remember if I met dana or not

thurs., 8 minute tae bo with ken, no cathe, no dana

fri., 8 minute tae bo and jogging 5 miles because the kids were with the inlaws

3 mles. running hte whole time. Feels great!

Cathe boot camp. Was interupted to make breakfast and went back anyway (that was really, really hard) Good job. I finished almost the whole thing! Probably just died early on 3 of them and only 10 seconds (of the 1 minute intervals). Yea!

Did a 5 mile run today! It was great. I need to do that much more often. I'm so tired though.

Horrible week.

Dana had dr. apt on Monday, I skipped
tuesday, walked
wednesday, I had meeting so we skipped
thursday, walked
friday, dana slept in, I walked one lap and then got the boys up for early details
saturday, busy busy busy
sunday, cleaned all day, no exercise
monday (today) dana slept in again, I had a bodybugg meeting

I need to change something up!

No today.

just to catch up, I did 3 fast miles on Sunday.

tuesday jogged. dana is pregnant! she said she will keep working out as long as she can. We basically jog 2 campus laps and walk the rest. I know I wouldn't get up if she wasn't there though so even though I'm not joggin ghte whole time, it's worth it.

Ken says he'll get up with me when dana doesn't anymore. I can see lots of "do you want to skip today? Yeah. Ok let's do it." We'll see. I think I still have a good month with Dana. She also has exercised induced asthma so when it gets colder she will probably be out.

Wednesday we did the weight routine.

thursday same as tues.
friday track work, 4.5 at race pace

I really didn't want to today, but Grace said she work out with me, so I went to the front to do Cathe boot camp. It lasted for a bout 30 miutes until Daniel wanted more cereal. I just lost it then. No motivation. I stopped. Bummer. so when I checked my bodybug, I actually burned more calories today cleaning the house tonight than working out.

Saw Ken's game last night that lasted late when I needed rest, so I skipped this morning. Call a rest day.

did 4 fast laps, walked the rest.

It's getting chilli. Hopefully I can keep Dana on until Thanksgiving, at least. Then I may give in and move indoors. Ultimately it would be great to keep it going until Christmas.

If I lose Dana to pregnancy (it's like the plague with my running partners), then I will have to consider getting a membership and maybe go with another. we'll see

Monday, we decided we were tired of muscle endurancea nd did boot camp instead
Tuesday, mostly walking campus loop with 1 1/2 jog laps
Wednesday, no Dana, but Luci filled in. That was good in some parts for weight lifting, but sometimes I can only take so many, Like this Mommy? But if she didn't start with me, I probably wouldn't of done it. So yeah for us. And she always makes sure I have a ball for the ball parts.

1:05 total. Still didn't make 7 miles, but it was a strong 5. No music either! Need to concentrate on not slowing down.
2 laps around campus
2nd bridge and back

Need thicker pants or layers
mittens
ear cover
more layers on top

13.20 first campus lap
12.25 2nd
7.46 to mile marker
10.40 ~ path mile
1.35 rest
10.50 2nd path mile
~8.21 to the house

Dana had a migrane. I went anyway. Yah!!! 40 minutes continuous run. Felt great!

Also did coach vs. players at volleyball. I'm a good coach becasue the kids are beating me now. I used to whomp on them :-)

Did weights today. Good

didn't run this weekend :-(

Just to update, I did workout all week last week except Wednesday due to a mops group.

35 minutes+5walking

Partner missed becasue of alarm. Went anyway adn it felt great!!!

AAUUUUGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
Well I missed the race. I'm so bummed. We were on the road ready to go in time and then 2 minutes into the trip Grace threw up. So we turned around, then decided it was probably car sickness, gave her something to eat and headed on our way sure that we would still be able to make it since there would be no traffice at 7 am on a saturday morning. Wrong! We ran into a 15 minute delay on 80. Last year I rememberd JH tried to sign up 5 minutes late and got turned away. So instead of having Ken use super speeds to get us there or killed, and since I didn't want to do it if I couldn't get an official time, we slowed down and I missed it. So I will wait until at least the 5th when I can go to a local race.
But then I saw the t-shirts on someone who did the race downtown. SUPER BUMMED! They were yellow and I think they even got a little bag to go with it. Super, super bummed. I'll get over it I guess.

Did weights and upped it 10 pounds!!! Felt good. Abs are easier too. also played hopscotch and basketball with Luci and Daniel. And cleaned a lot!

ran the path today until a guy on a bike scared us with his squeaky brakes. As much as i'm willing to let the whole thing go and go back, I'm pretty sure Dana has different plans. Stupid guy on the bike! Ok we were also a little freaked out that a whole racoon family crossed the path right in front of us without care. We were seriously hurried up hoping another wouldn't quickly waddle across while we were jogging across their path. I'm also thinking there may be a cyote out and about at that hour if other animals are, so anyway we are sticking to the boring cyclical loop of campus until the spring thaw.

45 minutes of mostly jog, some walk, with racing heartbeats thrown in

partner had back issues and skipped this morning. I would have jumped in a did it anyway, but, the carpet cleaners were coming today so I moved a bunch of heavy stuff around instead. That doens't get me as close to 9 minute miles as I would have liked, but I didnt' sit down more that 30 minutes from 6:20 to 2:20.

5 separate laps of 9 minute mile pace. Not bad for the time given. Walked the rest. Long run scheduled for this weekend. Maybe change of scenery.

So again, my goal is 9 minute miles at Harvest Days. On a long run I calculated that as 27:56. I will double check. This is not a weak goal for me. It is actually quite lofty. But I am doing track work every week and at least 5 miles long runs on the weekend (hopefully more this weekend) and I want to up the weight I use on Cathe muscle enduance for the next 2 weeks and tailor off the last week. I've told lots of people too so that is motivating.

Haven't posted in a while due to keeping the log in anthor spot, but not taht the shcool year is in gear I think I will try doing both.

Skipped today because of rain (we were supposed to bike)

Just wanted to update long runs...

2 weeks ago I was as slow as slow could be without walking.

then I ran with Dana last week one morning and realized I can go faster.
So last weekend my long run mile times were
11:35
9:38
9:35
10:59 (remember the middle 2 aren't acutally full miles)
The consistency is awsome and I even sped up at the end.

Ran the 5 yesterday. Walked the warm up and cool down, mostly becasue I did it in the afternoon, but glad I did it. took off most of the week, mostly becasue my partner did, also because it is the semi last week of vacation adn I enjoyed sleeping in. I think I'm getting back on track this week.

Sun-5 mile run. Ran the whole time, although VERY slow. weather was great.
Mon. weights. only 1/2. Needed a small break
tues. day off to sleep in, since storms were doomed to ruin plans anyway
wed. bike to lansing
thursday. weights, whole tape---did the side planks with wide leg!!!! 8 of them. I'm getting stronger. (At least there is some good news as the scale is not moving)Did lighen up on shoulder and arms due to shoulder/neck pain.
tomorrow?

Started Cathe boot camp with Ken . He couldn't finish and so I stopped too. A day off is not a bad idea. Hopefully tomorrow a long run.

Juli

Traveled to Wisconsin the last 2 days. did wake up and do weights Thursday. Whole tape. Swam in the pool for probably less than 5 minutes. But woke up this morning to make it to the health club in time for 30 minutes on the eliptical. Perfect because my ankle has been hurting.

Great! I got up even though communication didn't happen between us. track work, 6 400s at 9:00 pace. lap 5 was slow, then 2 cool downs. Walked between laps. 40 minutes workout.

did weights today. Planned on just half with Dana, but I finished the whole hour even though she had to leave. great!

Joined peertrainer.com. It kept me honest this morning when I was exhausted, but still got on my bike even though my partner cancelled. but a train stopped me from going where I wanted so I gave myself a break and only did 7 today.

Nothing the rest of the weekend. purposeful break both days, Sat. becasue of a late party and cubs game into the morning where I had to get luci's cake ready. sunday becasue I needed to sleep in.

warm up 10
run up viaduct 6 times, walk down
cool down 12

the walking down is too long. I should probably take one minute and then start running again even if it is not up.

weights today. Easy, probably too

We tried the adventure trail today, turns out it was too much adventure for us. Not many people use that path obviously and so we tuned around and did the normal. In all 1 hour bike ride at a very easy pace.

Tomorrow, weights. Speaking of, I'm very sore today, inner thighs and a little bicepts and chest.

too much to eat at chucky cheese for Luci's birthday. I wish I didn't like susan's cake. Also just oto much pizza. Ken and I are trying all fish and chicken, but I thought we could eat pork so I took the meat pizza. Turns out we are not. so I need some real good workouts the rest of the week.

Dana came over for weights this morning. It was great. We did half the video. I used the same weights I was at and it was quite exhilerating, ok maybe not that, but it felt good. Still can't do all the lunges. We stopped before tricepts, yeahhh!

tomorrow an adventure ride.

Sunday--nothing
today--bike to Lansing. Easy. No headphones. Felt good, but hard to get up and going. finished with a cool down rain again...perfect.
Tomorrow I'm back to workout with my partner. We are adding weights to our rep. I'm so excited. Cathe muscle endurance. We are doing 1/2 to start with. I better get it set up tonight.

Great!!! Got up even before the alarm went off. Did the whole path. 4 miles. 8min jog, 1 min run, 1 min walk intervals. Walked a little extra at the other end.

It was raining so perfectly out the door and the first mile and a half. Then it stopped, I got hot and pulled up my pants, took off the hat. The animals were great. Itty bitty bunnies acting all grown and brand new deer learning the ropes with mom. Then the last 2 minutes it started raining again. Awsome! God was with me all the way on this one.

I need to get good running shorts. Probably the skirt at Target would be good.

sick, sick and more sick

so I finally felt good enough to go to the health club in Wisc. on Monday for our 3rd trip. (I found out that Ken's use of yahoo maps is poor and I could actually see the place from our bedroom). but it closed at 8 and I got there at 8:03. so I went for a walk on the lake. I couldn't help but jog for a little bit. It felt so good. Total workout time was 20 minutes, perfect for coming off a week of sickness. I also did a lot of moving around in the pool.

Tuesday nothing, bus trip and the health club and pool opened too late.

Wednesday, bike to Lansing, no time just trying to get back in the swing of things.

Thursday, track work. warm up, 4 400 at 9:10 pace (I was going for 9:00 but couldn't quite get there), walk 200 in between. No ipod and it still felt great!

Now today I had weights scheduled in and I of course have a block. I did cough quite a bit last night and got to bed late so good excuses, but I still have a block on that. I didn't get my clothes ready last night either. That seems to make a huge difference.

sick

thought I was giong to wake up and work out before out trip to Wisc., but daniel woke at 3 and idn't fall asleep again until 8. By then there was no way I was going out.

I also planned on working out at the workout room at the hotel, they didn't have one, but had a membership to a health club. It was too far away, and then I woke up sick anyway. Kena dn I did go to the pool and I ran around in it fora bout 10-15 inutes.

Very sick today.

Hills I asked for and hills I got in Or. Monday I did get in a work out. I forgot what it was. Tues I ran a warm up 15, up a hill 2 min, r1. for 6 times, then cooled off 15 minutes. but even when I asked for a non hill warm up, that was hard to come by. It was definatly a good workout.

Wed, I did the treadmill for about 15-20 minutes, but very fast. We also went on a nice walk in a beautiful park.

Thursday I relaxed my legs knowing I would be at least walking a little in airports. I was also preparing for a race the next day and didn't want to be too spent.

Friday was the race. a 5K in Homewood. I rode my bike there and got there just in time. I'm glad I did it, but I think due to an 10 hours of traveling the day before, I just didn't make the 9:30s that I wanted. I was close I think, but not quite (I haven't actually done the math yet.)

Next I need to do a little more speed work to get into that 9:30 and eventually (hopefully for Harvest Days) 9:00s.

that's all.

Friday I ran the viaduct (did i write this already) 6 times, 2 min run, 1 min recover, 15 warm up and cool down

Saturday I rode the bike trail--25 out, 26 back
Sunday off
Today bike trail, 25:15 out, 24:08 back. There was a train on the way out, but good that I beat Sat. times and they are mostly even.

Hope to do some runing in OR. Hopefully hills. Get back the 3rd and the 4th is goal day for 9:30s. It will be tough though since I get back at midnight hte night before. I should probably change, we'll see.

Got up and went to the FP this morning and did the viaduct. I read to improve time you should run 2 minutes up a hill and recover for 1, 6 times. I warmed up 15 minutes and cooled down 10-15. It was great. I'm so glad my watch counts intervals for me becasue I really didn't know how many I had left at the end of 5. But i just looked at my trusty watch and there you have it...perfect 6. I definately need a nap on exercise days. And they are hard core naps.

So I "took the day off" on Monday. But I wasn't inactive. I painted the whole basement. Tuesday I moved everything back into place and spead mulch in the bushes. Ken's back is jacked so I did do most of the work.

I need a plan for what to do next. I definately have a fever. I want more. I can't decide if I want another sprint tri or the next step up. But I definatly need to talk to Dana and see what her plans are. Because my history is do an event (2 marathons, a run up the Sears, a tri last year, etc.) and stop altogether. I need a plan to to keep going because it feels great to have so much energy. I was really happy to do so much work the last 2 days. So I will make a plan by the end of today.

my time was 1:50:52

Triathlon today...I did really well! I think I did it in under 2 hours, which was my goal, but I was so nervous about the swim that I forgot to start my watch. I did bump into people adn they bumped into me, but it was all good. I feel very confident, well maybe not very, but more confident now about competitive swims so I will definitely do another one. I just checked for results and they are not there yet. It was tough, but I felt strong, so I'm happy!

Biked 40 yesterday and ran the normal today.

The swim will be fine. I will start in the back opposite the turn. I will calmly breath and if someone gets in my way, I will calmly wait until the situation is rectified and continue on my way to the finish. My goal is just to finish the swim. I will then go as fast as I can on the bike. I will slow to low speed about 1/2 -1 mile before the end so the run transition will be smooth. Smooth is the name of the game Sunday.

Got my tri out fit. It fits just as expected...like a marshmellow being tied up in a couple spots. Ken said it looked good though (except for my belly mass).

Gotta get my bike tuned because the gears aren't very smooth and I couldn't get back into 1st the other day. I also need to go through a list of gear to make sure I have everything.

Swam at Naperville. The lifeguard said it was a 50m pool. We warmed up with 4 laps. then did 750. Then cooled down with 2. then practiced swimming over the deep end adn jumped off the diving board. Fun! I got slower by about 1 second with every lap. Not too bad I think.

Today we jogged for about 30 minutes. We were cut short by the smell on the path that has spread to before the 2nd bridge. (It normally doesn't show up until a few hundred yards afterwards). When I looked at the training we were supposed to do 45 minutes. Ooops.

I really want to add weights today.

Tomorrow is 1 1/2 hour bike, 20 minute run. Should be interesting.

Bike ride at Apollo. Not the best place for a ride since there is a lot of turns and it's scary to run into people in the wood part becasue I'm scared I'm going to run them over. So we rode for an hour, but an easy ride with lots of stops in the beginning due to dead ending on the path.

Juli

Swam today for 40-50 minutes. It was hard. I think becasue the pool was crowded. Feeling a little clostrophobic or something. I have definate reservations about the swim part of the the tri. My plan is to just relax and make up time in the bike/run.

Took a Saturday run in Indy (in the rain, my favorite, it was awsome). Good job Juli!!! 3.3 miles according to Bean.

40 minutes biking

Things are going pretty well. Had computer problems this weeek and Flag Day the last so havent' posted much. this week was....
mon, 12 mile bike
tues., 3.6 mile run and 750 swim
wed. easy due to the 2 hard days before...750 swim but with different drills
this day was the best becasue I learned how to breath every 3 stroke instead of every 2. Not sure if I'll be able to do that during the race, but maybe I could at least wait for 4 strokes.
today, 20 minu eliptical, to mix it up and 750 swim

We've been making our rounds to the free days, this week was LA fitness. I would totally join there if I needed one. My main tester, Grace, was not htere though. She has had problems with some of the clubs. she just doesn't like them. but she did like the raquet club. the other 2 liked LA today.

tomorrow is another 12 mile bike. then away for the weekend so we'll see. I hope to get a 30 minute run in somewhere. i may have canoeing depending on the weather so we'll see if I get an arm workout then.

My weight is down a few pounds according to our mixed up scale. Yahoo!

Hmmm. Somehow took 2 days off and ate horribly, except for Sunday night dinner. I did garden today, digging and pulling weeds so a positive.

It paid off!!! I broke 10 minute miles in the 5K this morning!!! ~29:55. It averages out to about 9:40s. My goal for the 4th is 9:30s so I'm not far off. I can definately feel the Cathe muscle endurance kicking in that last mile and then pure mental toughness the last 1/4 mile. Ran the whole thing except the water stop. Breakfast was an apple breakfast bar. It was hard though. Especially because of the small hills. I think that is mostly a mental block though. But so worth it at the end. I hate that they have awsome food (Rookies catered) but I don't feel like eating that stuff until I've already left (like right now!).

Did speed work. One lap took 20 sec. off the goal! Felt great.
Then we had to take in the car for brake work, so as not to wake the kids I took the car and jogged back. About 1.5 miles. Awsome!

Yesterday was insane working out

Biked in the morning, about 7 miles.
Swam mid morning, 30 minutes
Then went to swimming thing at night and chased the girls around, up stairs for slides, ect.

Today, did Cathe again (again only thanks to my wonderful plan and my supportive sister who never misses a call!) It was tough. I realized after swimming yesterday that I really need to grin and bear it through the tricep exercises as they will greatly impact my swimming and the triathlon. I gag during kickbacks, but did them anyway. Only 8 dips though. More next week.
Abs are still hard, but getting easier.
Congrats! With speed work tomorrow on the track and a bike to and from a 5K race, this is definately a killer week. I'm hoping for some obvious physical gains. (on the down side I do notice the fatigue and need to make sure I'm only eating/drinking good stuff. I did well today until the diet pepsi at 8:30 which will keep me up and missing sleep tonight.

Eat less!!!!

Did the entire Cathe video! It was tough. I still skip glut raises and 2 tricep workouts becasue I just hate them.

Also resigned to doing 8 reps of the ab work. That's where I need to improve.

Good job!

just 1/2 hour because of Monday morning drop offs. Also Dana got a cramp in the middle and we never started back up again.

1:58:17 is the number to beat for this tri.

Although I didn't finish the swim of my first one (which in many ways makes this my first one) I still spent much time figuring out what to do next and pretty much started in the middle of my heat on the bike, which was the slowest heat (of a very small tri). Plus there were hills in MI, I believe none in Naperville, and the run also had slight hills plus sand to run through.

Also I have lost weight since then and I think I'm training more consistently, although my bikes are not as intense and I'm not swimming as much.

Just remembered the swim is longer, so I can add on to the 1:58:17 twice the swim time to get the real time that I need to beat. The bike is also 2-3 miles longer so add on 5 minutes as well.

I think considering this technically is my first, I set goals that way. It's hard not to want to set a goal of finishing in 50 %. But I think that is unrealistic right now...next time.

So goal is 1:58:17 + 2 swim times + 3 average mile time.

Yesterday we did the bike and then a short brake since Brook needed breakfast, then back out for the jog. It went well, but we definately need to set up a water stop for these days.

Next weekend we plan on riding to Apollo for the run, do the 5K, then bike back. We're also planning a swim on Tuesday.

Also, found out the tri is much longer than I anticipated. 10 miles longer on the bike and 3 times as long on the swim! Uh oh.

Not being too serious about my training right now with the pomegranate martinis and all.

Jogged 45 minutes. It seemed like a faster pace than usual. It felt really great at the end! We only walked the warm up cool down and to the bridge.

Tomorrow, same bat time, first same bike, then same run following to get ready for the triathalon.

We went for a bike ride and had very pleasant conversation, just not sure if our heartrate was up or not :-).

Dana and I made the decision not to go this morning for a number of reasons. We are going to go tomorrow morning, biking.

I have realized I am now addicted to exercise. I need exercise to start me up in the morning. It helps me to cope with everyday difficulties.

Cathe boot camp today, the one with cardio, upper and lower body weights. I thought it had core too, but it didn't, no worries though, it kicked my ass! Felt great to burn off the 20 thousand pieces of cake and pizza from the weekend! Do it again Thursday.

And definately would have not gotten up today if not for my wonderful sister! What am I going to do this summer?

Saturday I danced with Luci. Sunday nothing.

Today we walked campus. I didn't mention running because my stomach hurt and she didn't either. We will bike on Wednesday in training for the tri.

Yesterday I did do Cathe, just the one, but I did warm up this time. I am very sore today in my neck and upper back. I did shoulders so I'm guessing that is what it is from. I also felt slight pain in my left arm in the middle of the day yesterday. Alieve helped.

I'm thinking back now and I think I had that left arm pain a year ago and the trainer I went to said it might be from the tricep exercises. Need to check that out.

Today we went to the track and ran one lap at 10 min/mile pace then walked a lap. It went well. The pace was perfect or whithin 5 seconds on all 4-5 laps.

45 minutes Felt Great! walked to curve in the middle.

Did it, just the 2 though. I think that is good. added 10 pounds to my "step ups". Makes a big difference.

It's hard to get going on Mondays and it's our short day. We did the campus and ran one and a half laps, walked the rest.

Wow! I expected to sleep in and no exercise. Instead, at 6:00 I woke up to bright sunshine and felt terrific. I got up and exercised. I did Cathe boot camp. I wish I would've done the kickbox with it, but if I cut it early then I could make it to 8:00 mass. So I'm excited that I woke up and exercised without dread. Good job!

I try to take my "off" days literally. I was off my feet almost the whole day. Not exactly good for the mood or body.

Yesterday I did the warm up and the 3rd part of Cathe. Then watched tv for a little bit. But that was ok. Next week you should plan on doing 2 sections each day.

Today was the first day of running that I was really wishing hard it would rain so we wouldn't have to go. And Wednesday I was tempted to call Jane to cancel my morning call as well. I'm in a slump and would normally stop now if I hadn't set up my morning partner and phone call. So kudos to you! Now find some inspiration. Ok i already have, Dana suggested a triathlon. Didn't do the swim last year due to 60 water temp and no wet suit so I'm excited about this this year. I just hate the bike training. I will look into joining the gym again for swimming and maybe spinning.

Anyway, I did do 45 minutes of walking warm up, cool down and 2nd bridge to the curve and a little more. More walking today than normal, but still a good work out and of course better than what you know you would be doing without a partner.

Let me add that I dragged? mulch for about 15 minutes and squatted all day painting the basketball lines for Kaboom!

Did it. 45 minutes, warmed up, cooled down and only walked about 3 minutes, made it to 2 bridge.
Hard in the beginning, felt great the 2nd half

Cathe, first 2 sections. Started by 6:08. Daniel woke up right away, but was an angel. Luci did the last 10 minutes with me. Jane called (the main reason I actually get up right now). Hopefully after a few more weeks (especially before summer break) I will be able to get up because it is healthy and very good for me :-) 'cause I don't think she's going to want to keep up the early morning phone call in the summer.

Good job!

Nothing over the weekend. Felt horrible.

This morning went walking, no jogging.

45 minutes today!!! With warm up and cool down included. Felt elated! Have a great running partner. We made it to the 2nd bridge. (note me doing the running man with crazy sounds coming out of my mouth, also the shopping cart and sprinkler--runners high I guess)

Almost didn't do it, but then remembered Jane would be calling. Then had to find the dvd. It was in the vcr (Daniel I'm sure) But you didn't flinch and finished first section. Start getting up at 5:45 to match the mon, wed, fri routine.

(8?

Partner didn't show today. Went anyway. Felt great!!! Cut it short by 3 minutes. Still worth it.

Good job today. You were sick, but went anyway. We had to cut off the time short because of the job and then you asked to walk because of your cold...but really you got up and went, no excuses, just real reasons. Also we are planning on meeting at 6:00 Mon, wed, fri now, and running until 6:45 every day but Mon. (due to work). Excited!

Saturday I was lazy in the morning, but I made sure to pack running clothes so I could take a jog after church while at mom's. It ended up being after dinner, and it ended up being with all of my and Jane's kids. Needless to say, my 4 mile plan dwindled to about 2 miles jogging only half at best. The highlight was Luci had to go potty and the others were tired of it so Jane took them home and Alexis and I stayed for 3 more laps. We jogged 100 meters of each lap and walked the rest then walked home. We freaked out on our 2nd lap when a bunny ran across our path!

But kudos for remembering clothes and getting the whole family involved.

Nothing today, Benny's birthday and I'm very sick right now so no problem. Should you cancel running in the morning? I'm not going to because Grace's sickness didn't last too long so I should be able to make it. Don't want to lose momentum. Just remember kleenex.

Loosened up on the jogging routine and offered a let's jog until we are tired of it and then walk a little and then jog again. We ended up making it about a mile, walking a little and then another mile. So good times. Loved it. Spicing it up even more with headphones on Monday.

yesterday....fog 3 walk 2, path

today. Thanks to Jane I was up even before she called and finished the workout I started Tues. I am fine, for now, with half a weight workout each day as long as I get a full one in on the weekends.

4

I woke up on time, but Jane got me out of bed. I only finished half, so I will do the other half Thursday. When I get used to this I will wake up earlier in order to get the whole in.

Good plan!

3 jog, 2 walk path on Wed.--cold, but felt great

Just a side. It's getting somewhat easier to get up, but I also wake up at this time on the weekends too! Annoying.

I did plan on doing something today after I attended church and cleaned the house, but instead Ken arranged to go to Villa Olivia with his mother, sister, grandparents and corinne for our anniversary gift. We ended up staying the whole day so there was no time.

I did make up for it though Saturday night. Grace, Luci and I danced to the Hanna Montana and Princess dvds. It did cause heavy breathing at times, but it was fun. Normally I would have sat on the couch vegging, so I think it counts for today's exercise since I do need to make sure Sunday exercise is light and low impact to counteract the rest of the the week.

4/12

Good job today! Knowing it wasn't going to be a great eating day wiht Cheesecake Factory on the agenda, you made sure to fit in a workout...Cathe muscle endurance. You have to plan to work it in on the weekends, and you did. Still feel like a fat pig, so work on not eating quite so much.

4/11

jogged 3, walk 2

felt great!

4/10/

Ok. Jane's on board with calling me T, Th to make sure I'm out of bed. We'll see how it works, cause I couldn't do it on my own today. I did finally decide to get out in time for 30 minutes of the hour long tape, but had technical difficulties, then got it going and had to restart due to itty bitty fingerprints ruining the dvd, then an unexpected door opening, then had to wake the boys and 30 minutes was up. It's vital that you get going by 6:00 or it will never happen!


4

4/9

30 minutes walk/jog. Walked a dog too! How fun.

Wrote Jane to see if she wants to give me a 6:00 call on T, Th to make sure I'm up doing weights. If anyone else reads this, is up and wants to do this duty, I would truly appreciate it!

4/8

Should've gotten up for weights. Didn't!

Get in 32 weight sessions before the big game (July 25th) and you will be able to buy a COOL shirt this year!

Alternative motivation, find a partner?

---Later that day I had to take the car in for a flat and decided to walk home instead of waiting or calling for a ride. Probably a 2 mile walk in rain and cold blowing wind. Good choice.

4/7

30 min. jog2, walk 3

4/4/08

Yesterday nothing. Today jog 2, walk 3 for 30 minutes. Went well. Feeling like I'm getting a workout, but not overdoing it.



adding a bowl of whole grain cereal with nuts and dried cherries on days I run.



Make a plan for a weekend run.

7

4/2/08

30 minutes, jog 2, walk 3 with Dana. Feels so good. My body is getting back to normal. (Been feeling blah lately.)

9

1/1/08

Break has been a blah fest in the areas of exercise and eating, although I must say we haven't gone overboard as in past post diet experiences.

Sunday night I made sure to call up another partner. We started a walk/jog routine Monday morning! Great. Partners are the best.

3/29

Blah Blah Blah. This is how I feel when I haven't done any serious aerobic exercise for over a week, aside from one hike in Southern Illinois, holding Danny 1/2 the way (he really was a trooper walking the first 1/2 mile of the hike).

Back into it Monday (lots of work to do tomorrow so I will at least be active and not blob.

3/23/08

Well today was the big weigh in. I was 5 pounds off yesterday thanks to the good friday fast for the last 2. I think if I had gone wrestler style, I could have dropped the last 5, but had a miserable night last night. so I guess I choose comfort and happiness to money. a trait I have always wanted in myself, I now know I have. I guess I wouldn't do so great at the biggest loser and I've always known Surviver is not for me.

So the plan is to keep up the low carb and add berries and more fish. Plus whole grain, low sugar cereal on days I work out in the morning. I also feel I need to stay away from the pistacios. Too salty and I eat too many. Unsalted almonds are the way to go for a snack attack.

I also need to find a race and a running partner for weekend longer runs (I'm not sure how long I want to go so I will refrain from calling them long runs, just longer.)

5

3/19/08

Yesterday too tired adn stressed. Today, even after an awful night with daniel sick, I got up and walked. Slowly (3.5), but with incline. It was only supposed to be for 15 minutes, I did 25 and would have done 30 if i had time. Good job.

3/18

Too stressed to fall asleep so no workout this morning.

3/17/08

So I surprised my self this morning. WHen I went to bed I thought for sure I was going to run. I told myself if I felt like weights that would be great too. Low and behold I chose weights this morning! Not like me. But I did the whole thing (well except glute raises and kickbacks because I hate them and some more challenging core moves didn't get my full attention).

This weekend I did some major kick butt cleaning yesterday like hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom. I think that counts for something. And I did go for a walk with Luci Saturday night so at least I got outdoors, but I can do better.

Motivation right now is my shopping trip Saturday. I'm almost down 2 sizes! I fit into a dress that was actually 3 sizes smaller...and I bought it!!!! I love it. I still have some roll issues in it, but the dress is made so well that it was still worth it. The nice part was being able to shop in petites for a pair of capris. They are jean and tight (the white ones will not work right now) but I think they look great...and so does Ken.

So keep it up. 2 days of weights/week and cardio the other 5.

Now really I have to admit to doing low carb the past 3 weeks to get to where I am right now, but it hasn't been too bad and I really want to stick to no processed sugar/flour. I think after the weigh in on Easter I'm going to start adding berries and homemade raisin or cranberry bran or Kashi cereal for breakfast right after working out to help keep energy up. I found a nice treat is frozen raspberries and I bought some blueberries yesterday to try that too. We'll see.

3/13

Monday-ran on the tread. I was planning on walking, but hopped into the mood for jogging while listening to my ipod. It felt great.

Tuesday-Cathe mucscle endurance. I stayed in bed too long. Got through about 15 minutes. Daniel woke up grumpy, it was all over.

Wednesday-planned on kick boxing and boot camp combo. But the dvd was messing up. I got through kickboxing which really is great. I'M SO BUMMED! I hope it's an easy fix.

Thursday-Today-I was up late due to getting back from a cottage trip late and so slept in since I have volleyball tonight.

3/9

have to work on the weekends

3/7/08

yesterday, yoga for 15 minutes
the day before, walked on tread for 45 minutes
last night, volleyball
today, cathe muscle endurance

Great week so far!!!

3/2/8

what a horrible week for exercise. I didn't once. Blah. I was sick though and they cut the door for the new room so I was not sitting down resting, I was definatly moving things around and burning some calories.

Tomorrow I should be back in the swing of things. I may need to start low carb a week early to win the weigh in. I'm make the final decision by tonight.

2/27

not quite there yet and I have to move the computer for the new room.

Hopefully tomorrow.

2/26

Daniel was up from 4:00 on. And probably still too sick.

2/25

too sick

2/23/08

Swam at the health club yesterday for date night. It was about 15 min. (I think I'm being generous with the time.

After the health club we did dinner and drinks and there was no way I was able to work out today.

2/22/08

Was going to tread since my arms are still sore from weights, but then I had to take time for one of the cottage girls, then Daniel and Grace woke up and it was over.

We have plans to go to the health club tonight. Ken has joined and it's a guest day. We're planning 20 min. of pool laps and then hanging out in the therapy pool. Should be sweet. Then dinner. I'm excited.

2/21/08

Cathe boot camp. Tough! But you did it.

Oatmeal for breakfast to boot!

Get out of bed earlier though. Tomorrow full weight tape (minus glute raises) so you need to be ready early.

Sunday-birthday party. too much cake (it would be nice to one day ban cake althogether or just take 3 bites and done.)

Monday I had good intentions. I got on the treadmill, but then the house started coming alive and it just didn't work.

Tuesday- treadmill for 30 min. filled in for another houseparent so had 2 full matches of volleyball...makes up for Mon.

today--CATHE!!! muscle endurance. Did the time saver premix. It's about40 minutes long. I think I will soon just do the whole thing and skip the glut raises because I just can't stand them. I'm going to investigate the length though. This morning was a nice length, but I need some major muscle fast for calorie burn so I can win the shopping spree. I'm already dreaming about going to Macy's and asking for a personal shopper! Silly. I also don't think we thought through where the shopping spree money will come from. Anyway

Do Cathe Friday and next Monday. I also feel like volleyball was great the week I really did weights and I have been slumping since. So hopefully this will help.

8

2/16/08

So since this blog isn't all about running. Thought I'd also share healthy eating habbits. I was so happy when we went Fuddrucker's tonight (for Valentine's Day). I asked the girls what they wanted for dinner and then gave them the side choices. I told them fries, fruit cup, and 2 other options that I can't remember. Grace chose the fruit cup and Luci followed her lead. I always split their sides (when we get them which is rarely) with Daniel. They all ate the fruit first!!! I must be doing Something right.

So anyway, I also slept in, but when I woke only Ken was up. Grace got up too but the other 2 slept in . So I went up front and did Cathe boot camp and kickbox mix. It was tough by the end, but I made it through with one 2 minute break in the middle because I wanted to see the Made ending with the nerd girl who learned hip hop. 53 minutes.

I pinched by ciatica though. I need to make sure to stretch that better after every workout.

Other good news, I'm using weightwatchers to try to beat ken in our competition. Today I was having a hard time eating enough to get all the points I was supposed to have!!! Way cool feeling. Especially after last night when I was starving before bed, finally fell asleep adn then was awaken again by the phone. (Too many fish fillets.) Also, at Fuddrucker's the chicken taco salad was so good and pretty low cal. It had 3 chips in it instead of a shell, I only used half of the dressing. The guac was like all this year, pretty bland, but the chicken was good.

ok, blah blah blah.

2/15/08

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill. I always go for 30 minutes but got cut 5 minutes short to explain covelant bonding to the Glenwood science teacher, then the kids woke up.

Did a volleyball game thursday night, so that counts for Friday morning, because I was too tired to get up. Lazy.

Ordered another muscle endurance by Cathe to replace my broken one. I just can't bare to do the 90 minute one. Plus the muscle endurance is the one that always kick starts major weight loss. (Especially after Luci was born.) Got it 40% off on ebay.

2/13

I really have to work on weekends. If I don't do it first thing, it's lost. I'm sure it will get better with the weather, but now I've just learned there are wolves around the woods and one mutilated a buck. More about that as I hear.

So Monday I ran on the treadmill. We moved it into the living room again and it's nice being able to watch a taped show. I'm easily able to go more than 1/2 hour. I skipped on the weight routine Tuesday because my dvd wasn't working and basically I was pouting abou that. Poor excuse. I did go to the gym and practice serving so got a 25 minute workout. Tread again today for 34 minutes. I was determined to jog the whole time biggeste loser was on, and I did, but it got cut short for some reason last night. I was expecting closer to 2 hours.

Gotta' get wireless headphones for the tv so it's not so loud in the morning.

Eating is good, could be better.

14

2/6

wasn't going to get up this morning becasue I had a late night with the cottage issues last night. But I woke up without the alarm anyway and found myself desiring to workout. So I did kickboxing, core and stretch.

Good job!

I taped my toe with scotch tape. It definately helped, but didn't last. I guess once it was warmed up it felt better. It looks awful today.

New motivation!

Ken wants a contest. 10% of body weight for a shopping spree at the end of Lent. I'm stoked!!!

4/5/08

I have a badly bruised toe. so I did get up to do the walk test that came with my heart rate monitor, tried the warm up, but it hurt too much. I hope it goes away before our big game tonight.

21.5

2/4

This weekend I did not do weights. No goal this week.

Already today I skipped on working out. I think I needed a break after our fun packed weekend and superbowl.

So I was reading in a book, although a very cheap book, that the ultimate fat burning zone is really the highest percentage of fat burning. Overall, you burn more fat when your heart rate is higher. So I think I'm not going to worry so much about my heart rate going over the "fat burning zone". Just work it as long as it is at least in that zone. And as long as I'm not getting burnt out.

Drink more water.

Do the treadmill tomorrow with your new shoes!

2/1/08

I was up way too late dealing with cottage issues to get up this morning and do 90 minutes of weights. Will make it up tomorrow. Of couse the kids woke me up early anyway! Bummer

Did do volleyball last night and got a workout, although didn't keep heart rate. That's ok.

1/31/08

Started the video, then Luci woke, then Daniel, then I realized I had a lot to do before my parents arrived and I left to accompany Ken on the field trip. I'll have to make it up this weekend, unless I count the 40 minutes of volleyball serving I did yesterday and the volleyball game tonight. Maybe I'll wear my monitor to see what kind of a workout it is.

1/30/08

boot camp adn core. Luci woke up for this one. She did a lot of the drills with me. Once I was again tired and ready to really slack and then she piped up and we had fun doing the drill. Sometimes the kids are motivators

19

1/29/08

90 minute weights. by the time I was done, all three kids were up. I was ready to stop and Grace said, "I'll do it with you" So I was prety close to finishing, but then they were hungry. They day still counts towards my goal

1/28/08

Kickbox and core.

48:17 total
29:55 in zone
134 average

Warm up and cool down, core and stretch were 17 min.

Wake up girls was down, but otherwise out of zone was too intense. I'm not able to jump for more than 1 min. and stay in zone.

1/27/08

Good job! You tried to catch up for the week. I'm gonna' say it's a no go because there was no cardio, but 90 min. of weights was great.

Strategy. Just keep the tape rolling even when interupted by kids. Let's face it, missing a few reps or even a whole round is better than quitting.

Good job!!

New strategy for the week:
2 days weights, 3 cardio and core

Thinking back to weightloss before Daniel, this is how I did it. Pack the weights into one day. I hate them adn so doing them every day is not motivating. But knowing I can just do them and get it over with in one day is manageable. And generally I like the cardio.

Now make sure to do weights 2 days before volleyball so you are not fatigued for the games. Your serve is the strong point right now and we can't lose that. When volleyball is over, Tuesday Thursday.

By the way, volleyball is a motivation for getting the weights and cardio done. So remember to be involved in a sport to help motivate your fitness.

1/25/08

Frustrating

Luci woke up, Daniel woke up, I think Ken and I woke up even without kids.

I was determined to make it through though..but Daniel woke at 5:40 and didn't go back to sleep. So I said maybe he's tired enough to sit it out on the couch while I workout. He did for the warm up (which is an intense warmup) and the first round and a half of weights. Then he tried to join in and fell off the step. No real harm done, just scared, but that was the end of working out for me.

I switched up weights and the aerobic segment because I know if I gain some muscle it will be good. Do this every day. You can get strong for volleyball which will help.

In zone 17:40. Not too bad for a cut off. Good job for getting up and trying.

1/23/08

It's a no go because I was busy busting out some love birds and writing incident reports.

so what do I do? I could get up extra early tomorrow and do double aerobics/weights. I'd accept double aerobics as long as you did legs and then added some push ups.

Got a good nap today so with an early bed time, it's feasible.

1/22/08

Treadmill work for 30 min.
Due to technical difficulties I shoveled snow instead of shoulder and back weights.
Due to other technical difficulties I don't know how much time was spent in zone. Probably about half because I was trying to run the whole time and it would go higher. 4.0 walk is right at the high limit.

1/20/08

Treadmill for 20 min.

1/17/08

forgot to get Grace's goodies for her class at school for birthday. So I just treadmilled for 20 minutes

I believe to have figured out the problem to using exercise for weight loss with me. When I run I am out of my estimated fat burning zone. When I checked this morning I had only 4 minutes in out of 11 (watch stopped when I checked time). So I will work on this. Looks like walking, as much as I hate it would be a better option to burn some fat, which is the main goal right now.

1/16/08

I skipped out on today because it was Grace's party, Ken took the day off and had me up late watching a silly little movie. Also, I figured I was playing volleyball tonight and that could substitute.

So why do I always have to lose at volleyball!!!!!!!!

I know why. It is because I don't have the heart. Jose Soto ruled the game, becasue he can't lose. Why can't I do that? It may also be that he is a young teen boy that has vertical jump I am an old lump.

LET'S FIX THAT NOW!!!!!!

(Also this is a team sport and I know I wasn't the only one on the court. We will actually be good.)

1/15/08

Cathe low impact step and weights
25 min. in zone, of 35 min. workout.
tough to get the manuvering, but should be better after about 2 more tries.
1hr15 min.

1/14/08

Goal: 1 hour work out 5 days/week for 2 weeks straight with aerobics in heart rate zone.
Reward: New Nike or Addidis outlet outfit.

Today: 1 hour 15 minutes, 39 in heart rate zone

Kickbox is not too tough. I didn't have to modify much to stay in heart rate zone. Distractions were answering door for late arrivals, waking girls up, getting proper weights and Grace and Daniel waking up before the video was over.

Felt good.

18

1/04/07

Did the 4 mile in 41 minutes, 40 seconds!!! The first mile was in 8:30. I need work on pasing now.

I also ran on the beach twice and walked on the treadmill once. So 4 out of 10 isn't bad when you consider that 4 of those days were 8 hour traveling days. So really 4 out of 6.

Good vacation. Now the eating, well.....