Me in Place

Okay – here’s how I got back on the treadmill today:

1. I watched a taped episode of “Fat March” last night. A friend had told me about this show and while I question the title of it (Is that really appropriate?), I was motivated by the people who were walking every day and making better choices for themselves.

2. I got a motivational speech by Mr MIP which was kind and thoughtful and very nice of him.

3. Then I got a motivational speech from my Brother Jeff, which – in its own way – was just as kind and thoughtful and just the kick in the rear I needed.

4. I was reminded to keep a goal in mind and aim toward that instead of looking for daily results. My goal is the 5K on September 30… I need to keep that in mind and work toward that.

5. The first song playing on my iPod when I got on the treadmill this morning was “Eye of the Tiger!” You know,

Risin up
straight to the top
had the guts got the glory
went the distance now I’m not gonna stop
just a man and his will to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger
its the cream of the fight
risin up to the challenge of our rivals
and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
and he’s watching us all with the eye of the tiger

Woo-Hoo! Bring it on!

My LDWB (Long Distance Workout Buddy) is out of town on vacation. And I don’t know what’s happened, but I’ve lost all interest in walking or running or swimming or crunches or those stupid squats. After doing really well last week with my walks up the slight inclines, I started having trouble with shin splints (declines are the killers, you know). And I started wondering that if doing exercise and eating right is not really good or bad, just a choice, then why make the choice?

Brother says I’m very Ecclesiastes – you know “vanity vanity all is vanity.”

I say pass the Dove Bars, baby. Yum.

I need you, friendly dear readers, to help kick me in the pants. What’s your motivation to walk or run or crawl? I’m a sanguine, I need cheerleading!

Or else I’m going to go back to this:

While vacationing at my in-laws, I resisted the urge to take a vacation from my walking/running. And seeing as how I was reading Bear Gryll’s book “The Kid Who Climbed Everest,” I was inspired to see if I could climb the local Everests. I wanted to be “The Kid Who Climbed the Slight Inclines.”

Hello, Incline. I’m not really inclined to like you.

I went up as fast as I could, because this is the view over the incline:

Ooh, cute shoes…

At the beginning of the second (and much steeper) incline, I felt eyes on me, and a little voice telling me, “You go, Girl!” And a little friend was standing there to encourage me on:

And I truly believe I would be a much more motivated runner if this was the view from my treadmill:

Ah, yes, another month of walking aimlessly on the treadmill is done. I mix up the treadmill and a couple DVDs I have. My favorite DVD trainer is Kathy Kaehler – her workouts are just the right difficulty. Look her up if you’re looking for something. My LDWB (Long Distance Workout Buddy) and I have set up a prize system for each other – if we both workout at least five days a week for at least half an hour we get a “reward” at the end of the month. That’s motivation for me!

Anyway, on to August:

August 1: 3.5 miles; treadmill

August 2: 3.5 miles; treadmill
August 3: Kathy/Cindy DVD

August 4: 4 miles; treadmill & 100 crunchies

August 5: 3.35 miles; treadmill & 100 crunchies; 5K in 35:52

August 6; 1.75 miles; 70 crunchies

August 7: 2 miles; 100 crunches

August 8: 2.5 miles; 100 crunches

August 10: 2.03 miles (exactly!); 100 crunches

August 11: 2 miles

August 12: walking: about 2 miles

August 13: 2.25 miles; 1 m @6; 100 crunches

3 times during August 15-18; 2.5 mile walks (incline!); 4 times swimming

August 22: 4 miles; treadmill; 50 crunches

August 24: 2.75 miles; treadmill; 50 crunches

August 25: 2 miles; treadmill

August 27: 2 miles; treadmill

August 29: 3 miles; treadmill; 30 crunchies

August 31: 3 miles; river walk

July 1 – 2 m walk
July 2 – 30 min; bike

July 3 – 1.5 m hike with my darling family; 100 crunchies

July 4 – no dedicated exercise, but I think I walked about 3 miles toting my 3yo back and forth to different events and that counts for me!

July 5 – no treadmill, but I exercised my patience!
July 6 – tdmill; 30 min; 100 crunches

July 7 – 2 m; 200 core

July 8 – 3.1 m; 100 core

July 9 – Denise Happy Girl Austin; core

July 10 – treadmill; 30 min; 100 core

July 11 – treadmill; 30 min; 100 core

July 12 – treadmill; 30 min; D. Austin – 20 min; 100 core

July 13 – treadmill; 60 min; 100 core

July 16 – Treadmill; 30 min; 100 core

July 17 – Cindy/Kathy Kaehler; 45 min. ouch

July 18 – Cindy/Kathy Kaehler; 45 min. a little less ouch (inc. core)

July 19 – Cindy/Kathy Kaehler; 45 min. (inc core)

July 20 – Treadmill; 200 core

July 23 – Treadmill; 100 core

July 24 – Treadmill; 100 core

July 26 – Treadmill; 100 core

July 27 – Walk with family in rain; 100 core

July 28 – Walk; 100 core

July 31 – Kathy/Cindy -

Okay, I got over my little “issue” of not wanting to compare myself to others who walk farther, faster, cuter than I… I remembered, I’m doing this for myself and this is MY blog, and it’s good for me to keep my lists on here – otherwise they drift around my house on little pieces of paper. So, here goes:

BTW, I checked my treadmill and it’s up to 275 miles I’ve walked on that (dumb) thing. I still haven’t actually arrived anywhere on it, but 275 sounds far!

June 10 – 3.5 m treadmill; 51; 480

June 11 – Denise Austin’s Happy Little Self on her Lifetime Show: Denise Austin’s Daily Workout; 30

June 12 – 3.35 m treadmill; 43; 3.1=38; rt foot
June 13 – Wednesday; day off!
June 14 – 2.25 m treadmill; 40
June 15 – Friday; day off
June 16 – Denise Austin and her Oh So Chipper Abs; 30

June 17 – 2m tdmill; 35
June 18 – 2m tdmill; 28; 50 abs

June 19 – 45 min; Denise Happy Girl Austin

June 21 – 30 min tdmill; 2; 20 minutes-core
June 22 – off – but should get credit for running around like a crazy woman getting ready for company
June 23 – Tdmill – 2 m
June 24 – Tdmill – 2 m
June 25 – 40 min – DA and core

June 26 – 3.1 – 34;.25 3.5; 80 core
June 27 – Denise Happy Buns Austin; 30; 80 core
June 28 – Tdmill; 30 min; 100 core

June 29 – Tdmill; 30 min

June 30 – Tdmill – 30

In a complete “Duh” moment, I figured out that a 5K is only 3.1 miles, not 3.5 miles, as I had previously thought. This proves that 1) I have never run a 5K and 2) I do not understand the metric system! I’m embarrassed to admit it in public. Please forgive my ignorance on the subject!
So, my newly remodeled goal is to Run a 5K in under 30 minutes.

Running Info: 

Find running info at Cool Running’s site. They have info for beginner’s and advanced runners.

Kristin Armstrong’s blog is interesting at Runner’s World’s site. (You may know her as Lance’s ex) I enjoyed reading her past posts on running marathons and training and raising three children.

My Motivators: 

Little Miss Chatterbox is my LDWB (Long Distance Workout Buddy), it’s better that we’re not LRNDWB (Lives Right Next Door Workout Buddies), otherwise we’d be talking and eating ice cream too much to workout.

My brother, he of Anti-Itch Meditation fame, is my Coach. He may not know it yet, but he is.

And Pastor Mark, of Runalong, is my new Running Hero. (His blog link is in my sidebar) I didn’t know I needed a Running Hero, but now that I’ve read some of his posts, I knew he was the only one in the running for the title and have elected him as such.

My motivators may not know they’re my motivators, but hey, sometimes a girl needs more than cute clothes to motivate her. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t check out Sundance Catalog’s site often. (Those clothes support my inner “Live On a Ranch” dreams, but more on that later.)

You can use the formulas below to determine your calorie-burn while running and walking. The “Net Calorie Burn” measures calories burned, minus basal metabolism. Scientists consider this the best way to evaluate the actual calorie-burn of any exercise. The walking formulas apply to speeds of 3 to 4 mph. At 5 mph and faster, walking burns more calories than running.
Your Total Calorie Burn/Mile                 Your Net Calorie Burn/Mile
Running
.75 x your weight (in lbs.)                    .63 x your weight
Walking
.53 x your weight                                .30 x your weight

Adapted from “Energy Expenditure of Walking and Running,” Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, Cameron et al, Dec. 2004.

Mood:

You may be asking yourself why I feel like Marie Antoinette. I watched this movie a few weeks ago and loved the scenes where Marie (Played by Kirsten Dunst) is choosing new fabrics and shoes and the song “I Want Candy” is playing… and thought of that scene as my mom and I shopped at the local outlet mall. I tried my best to Shop Intentionally -and had some success. Here are my Shop Intentionally Rules:

1. Know what you’re looking for. Make a list, if you have to.

2. Try things on. This is such a basic rule; but a rule I hate. I hate trying things on. But today I tried it alllll on.

3. Don’t buy it unless you love it. I tried on two shirts that I liked, but wasn’t sure if they were “right.” So I put them back.

4. Buy in outfits. Today I was looking for a nice, put together casual outfit for summer. I found cute khaki capris (isn’t that fun to say? “cute khaki capris”) and didn’t stop looking until I found two shirts that can be worn with them. Did I stop there? No, I Intentionally looked for a necklace to complete the outfit and walked out of the Ann Taylor Outlet with cute khaki capris to wear to a cute kebab cookout.

5. And here’s the latest fashion rule I’ve learned:
-Shirts with short sleeves should hit you either 1 inch below the bicep, or 1 inch above the bicep. If it hits you right at the bicep, it will make you look wider than you are.

6. And my Number ONE rule for Shopping Intentionally is: Never buy clothes in a store where you are pushing a cart.

There you have it! Go Shop Intentionally and Enjoy!
Ed. Note: Ref. Rule #5 – You have to have a bicep for this rule to work. So get your arms moving and use a great toning exercise DVD! My favorite is Kathy Kaehler.

Update to Yesterday’s Post on Water:
Fiji Water’s Headquarters replies:
“Thanks for your comments. You obviously have excellent taste!”

Which is true, of course.

Their kind email also included the following blurb, which apparently is important to them:
FIJI Water is natural artesian water bottled from its underground aquifer on the Fijian island of Viti Levu , thousands of miles from industrialization and pollution. FIJI Water is all natural, free of additives and never exposed to the environment until you unscrew the cap. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to write again.