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By kilax, January 31, 2009 5:52 pm

Our Denver Ski trip is official! We bought our flight tickets last weekend (for mid February) and visited the Columbia Outlet Store today to get our jackets and pants.

I’m getting more and more excited as the details get squared away. It will be fun to try skiing, and possibly, some other winter sports. I wonder if we’ll get hooked on skiing and it will become an annual activity?

It will also be fun to spend time with friends! We are going with one of Steven’s high school friends and his wife. And we are staying with the friend’s parents, who live in the foothills of the mountains just outside of Denver.

All of my memories of these friends and the parents are of good conversation and good times. They’re the kind of intellectual people who listen, have a lot to add to the conversation, but know when it’s time to have fun and not be serious.

We had lunch with the friends today before going to the store. We were telling them about our fitness goals and half marathon training. Sometimes people brush this off or make a joke about how inactive they were, but they listened to us, and showed enthusiasm for our goals, and shared a few of their own. It turns out Steven’s friend is training for a half marathon as well! We all even talked about running the Disney World half marathon next January. After reading Laura’s Disney Marathon Race Report, I really think that half (or full?!) marathon would be loads of fun.

It’s too bad we don’t see these friends more often. They also live in the suburbs, but… the Chicago suburbs can be very far apart. And ours are. Add in all of our busy schedules, and it’s not often the four of us can meet up. Even more reason to look forward to the trip!

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By kilax, January 26, 2009 10:34 pm

“When you swim, you’re gonna get water up your nose. When you ski, you’re gonna fall down. When you fence, you’re gonna get stabbed.”

That’s one of the first things our fencing instructor told us tonight. He was being humorous, explaining the different pieces of clothing you wear to protect your body (I remembered the chest protection, Kyra!).

Are you intimidated? Or at least laughing?

The first night of class was a lot of fun. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, since I have a nasty cold, but moving about seemed to lift my spirits.

We covered equipment, basic footwork and a few positions (if that’s what they’re called?). I can tell this is going to be another sport that adds definition to my already rock hard quads. There is a lot of lunging, and footwork that involves balancing your body weight on slightly bent knees (so much for focusing on different muscle groups on my “cross-training” night).

I am looking forward to when I actually get to fence with Steven. We are already prancing around the house with wooden spoons, practicing our moves (okay, I had a wooden spoon – he was holding Data). I have a feeling this is going to take a lot of practice, since I am a naturally uncoordinated, and this requires a lot of… coordination! But I think it will be a fun diversion from our normal day.

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By kilax, January 25, 2009 9:32 am

I just finished reading The Nonrunner’s Marthon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. I read a description of it a few years ago in Women’s Health Magazine and thought, “That sounds like a good book, but I’ll never run a marathon! Ha!”

Yeah – I never thought I would run more than a 5K.

Anyway, when we decided to run a half marathon, I remembered the book and ordered a copy, anxiously awaiting its arrival…

Unfortunately, the book wasn’t all I had made it up to be in my mind*.  The book was set up well – organized into chapters on training, accessories, the mentality of running, etc. It just didn’t have the full technical background I was hoping for. Dais was very clever and witty with her writing – the book is filled with jokes that made me laugh. And I loved the journal entries from the author’s marathon training – I could actually read a whole book of her journal entries!

But in the end, it was just a light read that gave me a few helpful pointers, but didn’t cover everything I was hoping it would. And that’s okay. I shouldn’t have expected it to!

Any recommendations for other books?

Training Update: I will complete my first FULL WEEK of half marathon training today. That means my schedule has been so off-wack since since the beginning of December that I only now can do a full week of training. And I am behind.

I am about to complete Week 4 of training. Steven is about to complete Week 6 or 7! He chose to stay up late and run during December and the beginning of January, while I chose to sleep, or eat too much food then not feel like running.

I am not only behind in weeks though, I am behind on speed. I had to slow down my speed big time, to accommodate the weeks of not training so much, and uh, the few extra pounds I put on during the holidays. Right now, all of these 4-miles runs are killing me. And I get a 5-miler on Thursday. Yay…

I know the extra weight will come off and I will get back to my normal speed soon. I am just worried that Steven will be so far ahead of me that we won’t be able to stick together during the half marathon. I don’t think he is going to want to slow down for me. And I don’t want him to have to… but I don’t want to run the whole damn thing by myself!

*I have to remember to approach things (books, movies, games, etc. – NOT PEOPLE) with lowered expectations. If you approach something with too high of expectations, it never lives up to your standards. I’ve become much better about doing this with movies, but apparently not with books.

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By kilax, January 20, 2009 1:01 pm

Someone in my office is organizing a 12-week biggest loser (weight loss) challenge. You buy in for $12.  You weigh in each week by Wednesday afternoon (I’ll weigh in on Tuesdays). You pay $2 for each pound gained a week, and $2 if you miss a weigh-in without advance warning. To buy out of the competition, you have to pay out $2 for each week remaining. The cash prize is split between the top 3 losers in the end (55%, 25% and 20% – the winner is calculated by percentage lost, not total pounds).

This has “bad idea” written ALL over it, right?

Of course, I signed up.

I don’t think the idea of winning money will motivate me to lose weight. Or the idea of having to pay money for weight gained. And I don’t even think having someone holding me accountable will make me work any harder either. It might make me feel guilty if I gain weight, but that’s about it.

I think I just thought, “What the hell – I am training for a half marathon and pretty soon I will be putting in between 20-25 miles a week on the treadmill. I might end up losing some weight naturally.” We’ll see what comes of that.

Would you participate in something like this? It seems a bit too private to take to work, but because I’ve just started at this office, and barely know anyone, I don’t care if one person knows what my weight is from week to week.

Revealing it on this blog though, feels impossible. It’s not that I am embarrassed by it; it’s just information I would prefer not to share with family. They already know enough about me and my food struggles as it is, reading this crap. I feel like a number makes my problems even more tangible.

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By kilax, January 19, 2009 9:16 pm

My entire right arm, right shoulder and the right side of my neck are sore. It’s the result of carrying too heavy of a purse for too long, bowling* for the first time in months on Saturday, and playing Wii Tennis** a bit too intensely on Sunday.

The funny thing is, I’ve been ignoring the neck pain caused by my purse for a couple of months. It wasn’t until this Saturday, when the pain spread to my shoulder, that I thought I better do something about it, because I was worried it would affect my running. Since I’ve been training for the half marathon, I’ve really become more in touch with how my body feels when running, and what I need to do before and after running to make it feel its best. My neck wasn’t bothering me too much while running, but I could tell the shoulder pain was going to turn into something awful if I didn’t act on it. So I am acting on it. So I can run better.

It’s really interesting, to follow a half marathon training program, and learn so much about my body while I am doing it. I just never expected to become so in touch with what my body likes and doesn’t like. I won’t go into details, but I’ve learned how important my diet is when it comes to running. If I am running that night, I need to stick to my healthy diet throughout the day, or I am going to be sluggish and uncomfortable on the treadmill. And the thing is, when I am running that night, I DO want to stick to my healthy diet. I am enjoying the training so far and how it makes me feel. I just hope I don’t have any more interruptions in my training schedule. December through mid-January has been hell on my schedule.

*Remember when all I used to blog about was bowling? Then our summer league ended, I and quit playing, because my hip was killing me, and I wanted to focus on running. Well, even though it took me an embarrassingly long time to get back into the swing of things on Saturday, I had a lot of fun, and I miss it.

**Christina and Kyle came to visit us this weekend! We spent ALL day Sunday at home, playing Wii and… playing Wii. Maybe we watched a DVD? I don’t recall. Anyway, I’ve had the Wii for over 5 months and NEVER played Wii Tennis. Kyle and I were fooling around with it, and convinced Christina and Steven to join us after our late lunch. We ALL became ADDICTED! Christina and I had to go change into gym clothes because we were working up such a sweat! Why didn’t anyone tell me Wii Tennis is so fun? I think we spent over 3 hours playing it yesterday. Christina and I were teamed up against Steven and Kyle most of the time, then we let the two of them duke it out, “competitive ass” style.

Competitive asses in action.

FYI: I haven’t really been feeling like myself lately, and I realize that this blog post is a big steaming pile of crap. And… it took me almost 2 hours to write. I mainly wrote it to make Christina happy… are you happy now Christina, are you?!?! Ha ha. Come back to Chicago!

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By kilax, January 9, 2009 9:19 am

Is it harder for you to eat healthy or get exercise?

Last week a friend told us he had lost 40 pounds since the last time we saw him. We asked if he changed his diet and started exercising, and he kind of laughed, saying he was just eating healthier, not exercising.

Of course, that got me thinking…

Whenever I start on one (ha) of my healthy lifestyle quests, I always start by eating healthier. For me, that is easier. I can’t even begin to think about exercise until my body feels a bit healthier/lighter.

Even now, if I eat something crappy during the day, I feel awful when I am exercising at night. That’s kind of where I am right now, getting my diet back on track so I can start exercising 5+ days a week again.

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By kilax, January 4, 2009 1:21 pm

Yesterday was our first run of the new year, in Steven’s parent’s very, very hilly neighborhood.

When we were driving into their neighborhood on Thursday, I thought, “Wow! These hills will make a good challenge!”

Ugh. My quads are so stiff today.

Steven used his new training watch to keep us at our normal pace, 6 mph (10-minute miles). I was struggling though. I was out of breath, my heart rate was too high, my nose was running like crazy… yay.

And I suppose the fettuccine alfredo, curly fries, sesame seed bread, mozzarella sticks, pie and soda from the day before weren’t helping me feel any better.

I think I am going to have to slow down my pace a bit, and build it back up for the half marathon. I’m kind of disappointed in myself for slacking so much in the last month and a half. I knew I was going to have to cut back on exercise and be less strict with my eating during the holidays, but it got a bit out of hand. And I let it.

But at the same time, 2008 was a very good year for me (and Steven!), health-wise, and I should be proud of myself for that. I not only ate healthy (most of the time) and lost some weight, but stuck with running. I’ve gone on and off running a few times. But now, I feel a deep commitment (and desire!) to it that I haven’t felt before. It’s great to be training with Steven, and we are both really excited about running a half marathon.

And now, with the holidays over, I am excited to reevaluate my exercise schedule and recommit.

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By kilax, December 23, 2008 5:38 am

Yeah, so… that half marathon training I mentioned… it’s not going so well actually, uh… cough cough.

Maybe a week and a half before Christmas isn’t the right time to start a training program (EXCUSES! BS ALERT!). We were only home two nights out of five during the week, and out of the house all day Saturday. Steven still ran on Sunday night (he is doing great with the training), but I had that sugar overload, and felt sick even thinking about running.

Do I even deserve the awesome running gal necklace I ordered myself for Christmas? (Thanks, Kim! But uh, can you still call yourself a runner? You only ran once last week!)

I spend a lot of time imagining how things are going to be. When I was in college, it was what it would be like living with Steven. I also imagined what my first job would be like, what the wedding would be like, what the honeymoon would be like. I even think about simple things like what my evening, or weekend, or someone opening a gift will be like. I work out this optimistic, perfect scenario in my head.

Well, those things are never what I expect them to be, because they have other people involved. That’s just the nature of life. But my running is all about me. It is one of the only things I can imagine and actually see through on my own. Yeah, I run with Steven, but our records and exercise plans are still ours. Neither one of us controls the other’s routine, goals, or body.

So, maybe I should take more control. Since I actually have the opportunity to do so.

And I am sure I will. Once I have some actually freaking FREE TIME. Ugh. Really, I love the holidays, but they are STRESSFUL. Just because we aren’t hosting them, doesn’t mean we get to relax 100%. We have to drive there, fly there, get the presents there, pack the bags, pack the house… blah blah blah. It’s not fun. It’s a PAIN IN THE BUTT.

Hmm. Where did all of that come from?

Back on track. I bought Steven the Garmin Forerunner 405 watch for his birthday. (Yes, another watch. And yes, he knew what I got him.) Whenever we run outside, he is always saying how he wants to know our pace, and how far we actually ran and so on and so forth. Well, this watch will tell him all that. And more. I’m excited to do some long runs outside, with it. I mean, with Steven wearing it. Of course.

Think I’ll (we’ll?) actually run over the holidays though?

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By kilax, December 15, 2008 5:38 am

Last week I went to a coworker A’s* desk for some training. When I got there, she was in the middle of a conversation with coworker B. I think they were complaining about their family and the holidays. I felt kind of weird interrupting their personal conversation, so when they were done talking, I asked coworker B where she is from, kind of trying to break the awkwardness.

“Champaign,” she answered.

“Oh,” I said, “I’ve never been there! How far away is it? There is a half marathon there in April and I was thinking about training for it.”

“It’s only two and a half hours away! This is the inaugural race – I was thinking about training for it too – how far away do you live?”

That’s when I broke it to her that I live in the boondocks and we wouldn’t be able to train together. But we did go on to discuss the gym in the building, and talk about our exercise routines for a bit.

I tried to keep the conversation short though. The day before, I had told coworker A about a 5K, and she said “You’re a runner? I couldn’t even jog a minute!”

I tried to encourage her and said, “That is how I started off!” but I stopped and left it at that. In my experience, people don’t want to talk to you about running or exercise, or whatever fitness thing you are into, unless they are into it as well (this generalization does not apply to all of you wonderful readers though – you’ve given me tons of support, no matter what your routine is – and I thank you!). That is why I cut the other conversation short as well. I don’t want to get on people’s nerves, talking about exercise.

I hate that I feel like that though. I want to talk about what interests me, and I want other people to care. Is that too much to ask for? I feel like it is, when it comes to exercise and running. There are only a few people I feel really listen to me (and again, I am not talking about the blogosphere). It just hurts… to be so passionate about something, but mention it and get… nothing.

I consciously try to listen and ask questions when other people are talking about their interests. I really enjoy learning about what other people are interested in. Maybe some people just don’t.

Please tell me – do you hate it when people talk about exercise? Do you feel like they are bragging? Do you get bored? Does it make you feel guilty? What is it? What is too much?

Steven and I often talk about how no one (again, in the REAL world) seems to care much about our running. I don’t expect people to remember when we are running or be enthused, I just want people to act like they care when we talk about it. Or maybe ask, “How did the race go?” “How is your training going?” “Do you run in this cold weather?”

Maybe I am too selfish.

*Sorry for the confusing… titles. I just wanted to keep them straight. It isn’t really important who the conversation was with, just that they were coworkers.

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By kilax, December 14, 2008 9:26 am

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to my little weight-loss tracker on my sidebar… but it has gone up! As in, I’ve gained some weight.

It all started when my family was out here baking cookies, and I ingested 12 pounds of cookie dough/baked goods. Then Thanksgiving came. I tried to eat healthy, but that didn’t last the whole day. Then, with the stress of changing jobs…

See how wonderful I am at making excuses for myself?

It’s amazing that I can be so hard on myself when I make what I perceive as one little mistake (like eating an extra cookie or something) but so easy on myself when I have been just eating away, piling on the pounds, not really taking care of myself, or caring.

What is that about? Really? Where does this mentality come from? “Oh, it’s okay if I pack on a little weight around the holidays! Everyone does, and it will come right off!”

No, it is NOT okay. Because once I start down that track, it is hard to get off of it. I recognize that right now is not the most sensible time to be losing weight, but I do need to stay on track and only allow myself a few indulgences (except Christmas Day – no restrictions then).

The sad thing is, I recognize the triggers that make me overeat – boredom, stress, frustration, guilt, restriction – but I’ve just been ignoring my inner voice. Well, it’s time for that to stop.

I don’t know HOW, but it is time for that to stop. Or at least, for me to stop making excuses for myself.

In other “health” related news, Steven and I have discussed our plan of attack to train for a half marathon (13.1 miles). We are following two  guides from Runner’s World – an 8-week program that takes you from 3 miles to 6 miles, then another 8-week program that takes you from 6 miles to 12 miles. We’ll start the program tomorrow.

There are two half marathons in Illinois in April, but I don’t think we will be ready for them if we follow this training, but I am going to search for a target race for us. I am excited about it! I think this will be a fun adventure to embark on together.